A NOTABLE WOMAN

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 110, 11 May 1934, Page 7

A NOTABLE WOMAN

DAME A. M. ANDERSON

A FRIEND OF CHINA

(Written for "The Post" by Sir Thomas Wilford.) No. XI. . The subject o.f this article is Dame Adelaide Mary Anderson, whose genius

in social work and whose efforts for the

amelioration of the condition of the "^under-dog place her high in tho hearts j of the people of this country and of j America and China. Dame Adelaide Anderson, who was born in Melbourne, is the daughter of the late Mr. Alexander Gavin Anderson, and was educated at Queen's College, Harley Street, and Girton College, Cambridge. After finishing her studies in these two places she went to Germany and France, and came back and won the Moral Sciences Tripos a.t Cambridge, and afterwards the Gamble Gold Medal - at Girton College. All her life she has devoted herself to the furtherance of happiness, hygiene, and health among people who have little chance to help themselves. She made her mark quicltly, and her judgment and advice was sought for eagorly. In 1597 Dame Adelaide became principal lady inspector of factories to the Home Office. Sho had been an inspector of factories prior to this. When a commission was appointed, mostly of men, to go into the very vexed and intricate question of child labour, tho Municipal Council of the International Settlement of Shanghai sent for her, and subsequently she was appointed by tho council to represent them on this important conimittee, which had every j angle of child labour to discuss and con-1 sider. MEETING WITH SUIT VAT SEN. Quite recently, when I was sitting with Dame Adelaide Anderson in her I study at Kew, I asked her what she j thought was the most striking incident j that had occurred in her life. She said ) it wa3! ( very difficult to answer such aj question off-hand, for her life had been ! a busy one, and she was still hard at work, but sho said she thought that her meeting with Sun Tat Sen, arranged after great difficulty, was one of the ! most interesting that sho had ever ox-! perionced. "When she tried to got to \ Canton to meet Sun Tat ,Sen, the I authorities in Hong Kong refused her i assistance, and stated there was no way in which she could get there. She persisted, however, and, explaining the business in which sho was engaged, asked if her transport could be arranged. She vas told by the authorities an Hong Kong that the way was blocked for her, and that there were no methods by which her locomotion could bo arranged on land.

On hearing this, Dame Adelaide stated that she -would go by water. As there was no ship to carry her, except one flying the American flag, she ao- a in returned to the authorities at Hong Ivong, explaining her mission to Sun lat Sen, and prevailed on them to procure her a passage by a ship carrying the Bntish flag, which meant so much to her mission. She described how difficult it wa=s to get an interview with Sun Tat Sen, even after sh.o had arrived, and it was eventually arranged through the -wife of Sun Vat Sen Asking her to tea. While they were having tea Sun Vat Sen appeared, and then ! sno had an opportunity of accomplish- j ing her mission successfully. ■ I ENGLISH WITHOUT AN ACCENT. asked Dame Adelaide whether Sun -tat Sen gpoke English as well as Dr. len and Dr. -Wellington Koo. and she replied: "He spoke English without an accent at all." She further said that she had travelled over thousands of miles of China and had seen many'wonderful things aud met many' wonderful people. She is, without doubt, a'ereati r.dmirer of the Chinese people, and is always welcome at the Chinese Emoassy in London.

Dame Adelaide.was one of the mem..firs^of the delegation in China which decided the destiny of the Boxer Indemnity, and she was also a member of ?09^ e c,.a6legation t0 China as late as U2S. She was in Shanghai the night I was there, when Karakhan was banqueted by tho Chinese millionaire -, men the Chinese People deeded to look into the question of creating a factory inspectorate for China she was selected to go, and served on a mission from the International Labour O&ce to Nanking, whore her advice gained from experience as principal lady inspector of factories to the Home Office, was followed. This was a great achievement. In 1932 she was appointed a member of the Universities' China Committee m London, and her work on Sst vaTuTble 6. 6 " leCOgnisCd aS bcin *

miMirt f v W? Adelaide Anderson published a book which all could with read. It i s called "Women in the Factory: An Administrative- Adventure, 1893-1921." She also wrote ''Humanity and Labour in China: An 1926S» ViSit aDd itS SC<IUCI' 1923"

I have known Dame Adelaide Anderson for four years. She has been known W^3^ P ™plC neav]y all her teller brother Walter Gavin Anderson S a° years of his lifo * Auckland. Another brother, Maxwell Gavin Anderson, „ inthe .shipping line in Adelaide. Another brother, Sir AlexTJZL I ? aviß Person, has gamed great kudos for his work in India and Burma. Apart from being a member of the Legislative Council there, and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, he has also acted as Commissioner for the Port of Kangoon, and served, m the European War at MosoPotamia and Kut, where he was taken prisoner. Dame Adelaide Anderson also has as cousin the famous Sir Alan trarrett Anderson, shipping magnate, r Z 7 i he son o£ the fam°»s Dr Crarrett Anderson.' MUSIC AND GARDENING. This remarkable woman is today keenly interested in world affairs, and m the attitude of the League of Nations With relatwn to the Chinese-Japanese position. We had a long talk over what had happened at Geneva, and she was surprised to learn that there never had been a vote taken at Geneva on the question whether China or • Japan had caused the trouble in the East. Dame Adelaide's recreation's today are music-on which she is an authority—and gardening. She has a beautiful home at Kcw, and when I was there V« r/. s rt Vrhlle a§° Bhe ha^ masses of Christmas roses still to bo seen in her garden. On the Wednesday following my _ visit to her sh ß made a big speech m London dealing with social conditions of the people. In that speech she quoted the words of the King when he thanked tho nation for their good wishes to him during his very serious illness some years ago. Dame Adelaide Anderson, has been an asset to the Empire, has been a source of hope and inspiration to every factory employee in England and Scotland, and her knowledge and advice freely available at all times, have made' an indelible mark on the social progress of the United Kingdom. She was -personally decorated by the King in the .presence of the Queen. CAPABLE YOUNG QUARTET. Although, there are many men, old in age ana experience, in the House of Commons today, there are four youne men •who lave already made their mark and ■who -will be, one feels sure heard of In the future history of their country. Two~of them. I lave already, writ-

ten about—Mr. Walter.Elliot and Mr. Anthony Eden, Lord Privy Seal. The other two who will make up the quartet are, in my opiniou, Mr. Duff Cooper and Sir Phillip Sassoon. Mr. Duff Cooper and Sir Phillip Sassoc)n are not Ministers, but act as number two in the Military and Air Services of the Cabiuofc respectively. They have been steadily 'advancing in. public opinion, and have over and over again justified the positions they hold. Both are men of simple diction and simple words. They arc direct in their utterances, never repeat themselves, and, unlike many other speakers in debate, never seem to be carried away by any occasion, no matter how important.

I am full of unqualified admiration of the way in which these comparatively young men, in a House at times seething with excitement and almost out of hand, calmly, and without the slightest emotion, proceed with their speeches, undeterred, undisturbed, and, one would almost think, oblivious to interjections. They never raise their voices when stormed at—they may repeat what they have said during the- storm—but the repetition is in tho sumo quiet, unostentatious way, which, somehow or other, makes a. New Zealander proud of them every time he meets them or hears thorn speak. They do not indulge in repartee to any great extent, and if they do it is rather nu admonition than a lash of the whip.

When Mr. Lloyd George on one occasion attacked the Government with all tho forensic ability "possessed by him, I remember ono of these young men vising, bnt. giving way to Sir Robert Home, a former Chancellor of tho Exchequer. Sir Robert got up in his quiet and very convincing style to answer Mr. Lloyd George: ho did not tako two minutes to do it. He merely stated that tho diatribe of the right "honourable gentleman was typical of him, and that he would leave him to himself with the statement that he (Sir Robert) looked upon Mr. Lloyd George as the shepherd and crook of the Liberal Party. A shattering reply and quite Parliamentary. It answered Mr. Lloyd George's attack and left him writhing, and the House convulsed with laughter.