National Council Of Women: Greymouth Branch

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 April 1950, Page 8

National Council Of Women: Greymouth Branch

In connection with several remits from branches dealing with the treatment of those convicted of ' sex offences, the following statement, received by Dominion headquarters from Mr B. L. Dallard, Under-secre-tary of Justice at the time, was read at the monthly meeting held recently of the Greymouth branch of the National Council of Women. Mr Dallard stated: ‘With reference to your inquiry, I have not within recent weeks, made reference to the matter about which you write but I have on several occasions suggested that women and children would be more effectively protected if legislation were devised whereby a person deemed to be a criminal psychopath could be kept in prison indeterminately. “A phychopath offender is one who, although not certificable, is defective in that he is feebly inhibited, displays poor judgment and does not profit by experience, with the result that imprisonment does not deter him from further crime. It is not a matter of treatment so much as preventative detention. The concensus of opinion among, phychiatrists is that this class does not respond to reformative influences; their conduct is quite unpredictable and that to detain them indeterminately is the only way of protecting society. Of course it would follow that prison conditions would be relaxed so far as security considerations would permit. “Legislation was introduced in Canada recently providing that where a person has been convicted of a sexual crime, the courts may require him to be examined by two phychiatrists and, on their evidence, the court may declare the prisoner to be a criminal psychopath when he is to be detained in prison indeterminately,” concluded the statement. Relief Of Children It was reported that the following letter had been sent by the International Counci?\of Women meeting in Brussels recently, to Marshall Tito, of Jugoslavia, and the prime ministers of Hungaria, Rumania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Albania on behalf of deported Greek children: — “The Board of I.C.W. met in Brussels on January 18, 1950, and was concerned as to the present situation of Greek children who have been removed from their country. The 1.C.W., an association whose aims are free from any special political or religious propaganda, comprises women from twenty-nine countries lying in five continents. “As women and mothers intensely interested in humanitarian and social problems, we are deeply moved by the distress of families who are deprived of the custody of their children. “We feel that parents should be the sole judges as to where their children should live, either’ permanently or when a temporary separation is unavoidable.

“We gather from information circulated by United Nations that a very large number of children are still maintained in your country. We also hear information that thousands of parents have applied for the repatriation of their children.

“We are therefore taking the liberty of directly approaching your Excellency in the hope that, rising above merely political considerations, you will take the decision so fervently desired by the Greek mothers, whose appeal this International Council of Women wholeheartedly supports,” the letter concluded. Mrs Stewart presided at the meeting. The resignation of Mrs Coumbe who had faithfully served the branch over a number of years was received with regret. THE BUSYUduSEWIFE The full-time posts filled by the wife and mother of a family would seem to be the same the world over, to judge by the following statistics. A Home Research Institute in Sweden examined the daily lives of 57 typical middle-class (families. The average housewife, with two children, they found, does between 80 and 140 different jobs during the day. Between 7 and 9 a.m. she gets up, makes tea, finds husband’s lost glove, dresses elder child, takes him to school, comes home, washes up breakfast things—l 9 jobs when analysed. Between 9 and 12.30 she makes beds, takes younger children to play, and prepares lunch—3o jobs. Two to six, infant put to bed, lunch dishes washed, house cleaned, shopping, “smalls” washed, elder child brought from school, dinner prepared —4O jobs. And at night—darning,, knitting comforting the younger, cleaning shoes—and so on—another 40 jobs. And they don’t have a union.