"FOR HOME AND COUNTRY."

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 29, 11 December 1930, Page 17

"FOR HOME AND COUNTRY."

WOMEN'S INSTITUTES IN NEW

ZEALAND.

(By K. R. V)

How many women living in or near a thriving town, with all its social opportunities and conveniences, its '' talkies " and other with, friends living close by or within a eomfoTtable train or bus ride, can realise what the lives of many of their sisters in the .baekblocks can be? The nearest neighbour is probably miles away over roads -that are little if any more than cattle tracks, which in winter are rendered almost impassable by mud. A trip to town is an event and a visitor a veritaible God-send! Is it any wonder under these conditions,that a drift\to the towns sets in. - ■ Yet these, conditions do exist in many parts of New Zealand to-day and there are plucky-women who are making tie best of them, .bringing up families and cheering on their men folk to develop and expand this wonderful country of ours. It is true that recent years have produced some ameliorations in the r£orm of wireless and the gramophone, but still the human touch is lacking; a record however good, is cold comfort compared with the hand clasp of a ifiiend.' Thirty-three years .ago, similar eonidtions existed in the more isolated parts' of Canada and the need for intellectual intercourse, mutual support and encouragement, the interchange of ideas and the brightening of lives often lonely and difficult, led to the founding of Women's Institutes. In 1915 Mrs Alfred Watt who had ibeen Secretary to the Advisory Board of Women's Institutes in British Ooltan'bia Dept., of Agriculture, introduced the movement to; Great Britain, Singleton, West Sussex being the first to;sign the rules in September 1915. The .Governments of both Canada and iGreat Britain were quick to realise the value of t>he movement and assisted both financially and by providing demonstrators under the control of the Board of Agriculture. That this interest and assistance was amply justified was shown during tihe. -war, when Women's Institutes proved themselves invaluaJble in helping the Government, in its campaign for food'prodivetion and conservation. ._Toiday, after 15 years, the number of Institutes in England and Wales is 4586 and the movement has spread to 40 countries in all—even to India. To quote Miss Stops, now in New Zealand, ' * the Institutes are forming friendships which in time will do away with waTS&ips." WHAT ARE WOMEN Handbook says "Women's Institutes are gatherings of Country women who meet once a.month to discuss matters of interest to them all," and their object is "to unite in promoting any work wMch makes for the "betterment of our homes the advancement of our people and the good of our country"—hence the badge "For Home and Country." Therr watch words are "Co operation, Home-making and Citizenship." - ,

Tie foregoing is a good general definition but to thousand of women their Institute means something far deeper. It means life instead of mere existence vital interests instead of hopeless drud-

gory, contentment instead of active discontent or what is even worse, deadly apathy. They have something to look forwards to in the' monthly meeting and what they learn at one meeting can usually be tried out in the home during the month and the results compared at t>he next one. No wonder many travel smiles over what' are called only by courtesy "roads" rather than miss a I-meeting. And these, meetings have an ' atmosphere all their own. To start with there is no scandal! It's absbr lutely barred and even if it were not, no one has any time for it—all the members are far too -busy learning a handcraft, listening to a useful talk or exchanging household' and other hints; the time passes faT too quickly. Then too, social distinctions are entitely forgotten—everyone knows everyone else, | even Her Majesty the Queen, who is a anember of Sandring&am Institute takes part as an ordinary member in the meeings when in residence at Sandringham House. The'lnstitute spirit is the spirit of Unity, of Happiness and Helpfulness, and above all of tolerence and understandings—of*'give and take." It

is curious and interesting to see quarrels and bickering die out under its influence. For years a certain district was famous for its "raws," usually one half of the inhabitants were not "playing speaks" with the other half! xin Institute was started and now the rows have "fizzled out"; one man is reported to -have complained that "the place was deadly dull now, everyone was so friendly since the Women 's Institute started." Be that as it may, life in that district is much pleasjanter for all concerned.

WHAT DO THE INSTITUTEIS DO?

It would be quicker to say. what they db. not do—their interests are so wide and varied, 'but whatthey do is so much more interesting that it is worth while to enumerate at any rate some activities. we may divide these into ,four general classes—namely Handicrafts, Lectures^ Artistic or >Social and Community Work-. A notable feature in the Handicraft section is the elimination of waste. Everything usable is used and used in a practical and artistic way. All w»ho saw the exhibition of WX Handicrafts shown recently in Wellington were astonished at the ingenuity displayed in using the apparently useless; the dainties handbags were made from old motor tyres, dyed flour-bags appeared in the guise of most fascinating little frocks and bonnets with the addition of smocking and simple decorative stitchery—' * comfy" slippers were produced from old felt hats and odds and ends of fur-—and dozens of other ■ "thrift" articles were to be seen. Another branch of crafts work is the making of soft toys. At t2ie Exhibition s ' many of these appeared, made from old silk and wool stockings, odds and ends and cloth, etc., but stuffed and finished in a workmanlike manner. One in particular was a most lifelike Sunny (in fact his skin was the actual skin, of a ra'bibit, cured and stuffed by the exhibitor) almost asking to toe cuddled by a child! .Then, too, there is Tug tmak4ng of all descriptions, upholstery, the making- of seagrass stools and 'baskets from various materials. One member I bought 2/- worth of raw wool, spun it, dyied it with natural vegetable dyes and finally lcnitted it into a coat which was both a delight to the eye and a comfort to thebody. One -v&ry important handicraft is Leather Work, particularly the curing of skins and making of gloves. As yet this is in its infancy in N&fr Zea- ! land (but Miss Stops hopes that during the coming year great developments will take place and by using New Zealand skins, glove making will become a profitable home indmstry v •■ As a change from .Handicrafts, lectures on an endless variety of subjects are given from time to time. Some recent ones given in Wellington District are on "The League of Nations^' "Maori Customs," "Pruit Tree Pruning with practical demonstration, '' and "Btush .Floraof N.Z." I The Social and Artistic-side is catered for by the revival of Folk Dances and Songs, Play Beading, Games and 801 l Calls; in the latter a subject is chosen, say for instance, a cookery re-' eipe, a funny stoTy or anything amusing or interesting and each member responds with one when her name is call-

Ed or else pays a forfeit, with the general result of creating an atmosphere of freedom and friendship.

The Community work takes many forms—one Institute in a very wide dis triet where the children had to come long distances to school over ibad roads and paddocks, set to work and made slippers (from old hats) f6r every child. These were kept at the school and now wet -feet are a thing of the past. Representation on School Committees, District Beautifying Societies and Kindred* Associations is welcomed and in fact any cause for the betterment of humanity has the sympathy and assistance of the Institute, providing its object is non-political and nin-sectarian.

AfteT the great earthquake last year the Institutes raised the sum of £250 to assist members of a small Institute who had suffered severely and. whose •household losses would not be met from the public fund.

Bach Institute is self-governing within limits. This tends to develop initiative and an understanding of cooperation in the- members which, is in valuable for good citizenship.

In England some Institutes have combined to form «o-operatlve shops for selling handicrafts, At present in

New Zealand this is only done byspiean.3 of a stall at & W.I. meeting or an occasional exhibition, but it is hoped that the coming yeaT will see a big develop-

ment in this direction. A small com*- ' mission is * kept by the Institute, the

rest going to the maker of the article sold.

PROG-BBSS IN NEW ZEADANB.

' It is now nine years since the first New Zealand Women's Institute was farmed at Rdssington, Hawko's Bay,

through the influence of Miss Jerome

: Spencer, who is chiefly responsible for i making the movement the power iv New Zealand it is to-day and who is still Chief Organiser of a sisterhood! which is Tapidly spreading in both Islands and even to Apia in Western

Samoa.

I DtvTing the past twelve montiis Miss Agnes Stops has returned to the 2>o- ' minion and has been touring both Islands leaving a trail of thriving Institutes in her wake. Miss Stops believes in putting the Institute slogan t4J£ yotu know a good thing pass it on 7; into practical operation and is passing on the "good thing" to a very grateful community. •

Sometimes it lias been difficult to get a suitable meeting place, but here there's a will there's a "way and no Institute member willingly says 'die.* 3?he following Extract from v letter written by a member of a newly formed Institute in the North Island will sioiw how they meet and overcome such' difficulties. She says i:Once otar W£ was formed we turned our thoughts to a suitable meeting place and when one member suggested the old hayshed we all wailed with mirth at the idea odß such a place -being put to. such a purpose. But some of us inspected it all the same and despite the fact of itg having three feet of hay and \lirt <mr the floor and not a pane of glass in &' window, we saw its possibilities and t&tt upshot of everything was a visit to thai owner and permission to use the place, if ore could make it fit. So we set to work. One member gave a card evening and that provided sufficient casK for the. windows and a few enthusiasm tic husbands put it^ in for us—^blessings on them! Th«n the cleaning up! The Working bees! If you could have seen us shovelling Lay and chaff out of the door and scraping the floor with hoes, for the door had been left open and the cows hud camped there many a night! We looked like sweeps at the end of> the day bn<t oixr hall became clean. an&-

(Oontinued on page 20).