MEETING OF WOMEN

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 104, 4 May 1935, Page 26

MEETING OF WOMEN

MR. ROBERT SEMPIE, M.P.

I There can be no doubt of the enormOus interest women take in civic affairs. The Trades Hall, Vivian Street, was filled to capacity yesterday afternoon by wpmen and girls, .whose lives are .filled with strenuous household duties, but who yet made time to go to hear Mr. Robert Semple's address. It was a pleasant meeting and except for a few rather tricky questions that were1 put to Mr: Semple and which he dealt with' very effectively, a very enthusiastic one.

Opening speeches were made by Mrs. Semple, Mr. P. M. Butler, and Mrs. L. Gibson. ' .

Mrs. Semple spoke of the wonderful voluntary work that had been done in connection with the Women's Unemployment Bureau at the Trades Hall and of the generous help given them iby business firms in the way of food I and supplies. It was,,'she'said, by the i efforts of the Labour men "in,parliament and under the auspices of " c the Women's Branch of the Labour Party that this bureau' was brought into' being. At'times as many as. two' him-' dred meals had been supplied 1 to unemployed women in "one day."'" An eloquent speech, chiefly eulogising the work and character of Labour's Mayoral candidate"; Mr. Robert Semple, M.P., was made by' Mr. Butler.

Mrs. Gibson, convener of the meet-' ing, paid tribute "to the wom'en'*working for the Labour cause, and Mrs. Semple, who had been, she said, a true helpmate'to1 her husband through all his struggles. .■■■'..

Mr. Semple,' in' his address, traced, the history of woman's fight for free-, dom, and a say in the affairs- of the communityjob^c^itorpugh^toe/^age^i Marjiyrdom;' persectitibn.^and'' degradi? tion the penalties" paid; 'Ha the past for;'the franchise^ women itowfenjoyed, he said, and it made one ashamed to think of what humanity had had to suffer to gain its liberty. Only a few years ago, continued the speaker, so few that many could iremember the time, even in this couhtry, women were not thought fit to have a vote, but Richard' John Seddon and other splendid pioneers had fought for women's rights ,«id won. had been placed in- women's "hands a weapon with which, they might alter conditions and improve? th£ r-awful situations that they and their.'children iound themselves in., f* <■*' *' ' Mr. Semple quoted Elizabeth Browning's poem "The Cries of the\ Children," which, he said, Mrs. jßnjwning was inspired to write because' her heart was filled with, pity by ; 'the sight o^ little poverty-stricken children crying in what was the play-time of all other living creatures. The trail/ he said; must be blazed for those who .were to follow. At the end of his address a member of the audience asked Mr. Semple if he had voted in favour of the £50 being donated that was paid out of the Labour Party's funds towards the £500 required to purchase a painting of Lord Bledisloe. . Heire-i plied that he had, and that , voting against it would have made no difference as the majority would have been, against him,' but Lord Bledisloe had done a great deal for the people,, he said. The magnificent gift.of Waltangi, vfor instance, and- the 'Labour Party was as eager as any' to sfibw appreciation and gratitude where it was due. There was loud applause"at this and cries of "Lord Bledisloe was v a real gentleman." Questioned -by another lady abcut his religious beliefs, he said that he had always been a be> liever in the philosophy of the Saviour. He concluded the meeting by, urging all those present to >get to X booth and vole. •■ , • Candidates for the Hospital Boan* were also present