LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

Evening Star, Issue 19764, 14 January 1928, Page 11

LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

A NATIONAL MOVEMENT IDEALS OF MOTHERHOOD ADDRESS BY LADY FERGUSSON. iui enthusiastic worker in the interests of the League of Mothers,' Her Excellency Lady Alice Fergusson lias been intimately associated with the development of the movement throughout the dominion. The principles and ideals of the league constituted the subject of an informative’ and lucid address delivered by Her Excellency in the Y.M.C.A. Hail yesterday alternoon in the presence of a large number ol members and others interested in the taovement. Mrs C. North, president of the local branch of the league, occupied the chair. Associated with her on the platform were Mrs \V. B. Taverner (the mayoress), Mrs Ashii, Mrs Fergus (secretary of the branch), Mrs Fulton (president of the Church of England Mothers’ Union), and Mrs Richards. in hei opening remarks Mrs North expressed deep gratification at tin attendance It gave her much pleasure, she said, to extend a very hearty welcome to Lady Fergusson. It was indeed a great inspiration to know that the first lady of the land had so keenly interested herself in the movement. There had been Governor-Generals of New Zealand and their wives who had not taken the same interest in the spiritual welfare of the country. Lady Fergusson’s visit meant a great deal, not only to the organisation as a whole, but to the individual members. The league came into being through her interest. Its ideals were particularly high, and if these were attained by the members they would all bo perfect. They aimed _at moral, spiritual, and physical training of the child, worthy of the earnest study of every mother. In these days of stress they all knew how easy it was for religion to be pushed into the background. Each mother naturally wished her child to get on in the world, but how many mothers could say that they had taught their sons to help others, to work foi them, and assist them? Lady Fergusson had the desire in her heart that the mothers of the country should learn to place spiritual things first. The league did not centre about any one particular church. It was one big sisterhood, the members of which were joined together with the desire that the younger generation would bless the day the League of Mothers was formed. (Applause.) In beginning her address Lady Alice Fergusson said that her visit to Dunedin, though short, was well worth while, especially as she had been enabled to meet those interested in the League of Mothers—a society in which she took a very real and deep interest. Although in a way she had been instrumental in its organisation in New Zealand, it owed its existence to the Mothers’ Union, which had been going on for a long time. It was because she had seen the benefits of the Mothers’ Union and had been herself a member of the Scottish Mothers’ Union, that she had turned her attention to the formation of the league.

Since she had explained the ideals and aims of the league to Dunedin women sixteen months ago it had grown considerably. At that time there had been ten branches in existence —four in Wellington and six in Auckland. To-day there were thirty-four branches, with a membership of over 1,100, and she had hoard of another iranch which was being formed. After leaving Dunedin she would address a preliminary meeting at Invercargill with a view to setting the movement on foot in Southland. In her opinion, the . league could claim fair progress, a fact that showed that it was filling a felt want

Lady Alice said she had found that it was necessary to explain the objects of the league to mothers generally. Some people fancied that their houses would be invaded by people who wanted to show them how to bring up their children, while others, when asked to join, said that they did not care for prayer meetings. These objections were, however, groundless. The league was a religious society, and opened with a prayer, but the members did not visit homes to tell people how to bring up their children. The purpose of the League of Mothers was a very great and noble one. Its members were asked to devote themselves to realising and helping others to realise the very highest meaning of marriage, womanhood, and motherhood. The influence and. beauty of home life was, perhaps, at its best during the Victorian age. Before all women lay the task of making the Georgian age equally or still more beautiful, but not the same. They could not put the clock back and make it the same without being regarded as hopeless back numbers. They had to go forward with the times, but at the same time see that the essential truths and principles were held fast in the scheme of home life and the upbringing of children. They had got to see that the good was kept, and used and adapted in the light of modern knowledge and modern conditions. When two young people had on their bands the responsibility of training a soul it was often the mother who had the chief share of the work. Very often she was little more than a child herself when she began this great task. It could be taken for granted that the ordinary mother did her best for her children in the way of feeding and clothing them, but it was obvious that her responsibilities did not begin and end with her children’s bodies. She had minds to teach, characters to mould, and souls to train. It was not as if she could practice on a dummy family first, or bring up someone else’s children as an experiment. She had one chance, and one chance only, to train her family and no mother worthy of the name had ever finished learning. ‘This is an age when 'things refardin" the home and home life have ecome’ unsettled in many ways,” said Lady Fergusson. “It is partly owing to the enormous upheaval of the Great War, but it had begun a little before that. There have been very quick and sudden changes, and undreamed-of development in the liberty and freedom among voung people. Many women need to* do a lot of clear thinking to readjust their principles. So much is criticised to-day that used to be taken for granted; all round us old convictions and ideas have been shaken, and things have got to be taken on a different plane. It is surely common sense to gain what help we can by joining others who are seeking guidAlice Fergusson stressed the point that the League of Mothers was not a church society, but a religions society. It was not concerned about which church its members belonged to, or whether they belonged to any church at all. It laid importance, however, on the teaching of Christianity to the children of its members. In shirking this duty they were avoiding a duty as real and important as that of feeding and clothing them. In discussing the rules of the league, Lady Alice said that the rule instructing them to teach their children obedience and self-control was very important, because it was a bulwark against the faddist. A lot was heard to-day about the need for a child’s self-de-volopment—that he .should b© allowed to develop his own personality and so forth. In her opinion, the crank and the faddist might carry this doctrine a long way, in fact, too far. A prominent writer had said: “ I would never have a child of mine taught to obey, because he who obeys to-day