Women's Meeting

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 37, 10 March 1943, Page 2

Women's Meeting

REMARKS RESENTED

Speaking in the House of Representatives on Monday night, Mr. Thorn (Government, Thames), described the women's meetings of protest about food supplies as nothing less than unpatriotic demonstrations which do not represent the true feeling of the majority of New Zealand people. He contended that the public knew why certain items such as vegetables and eggs were in short supply. They had only to read the remarks of such noted Americans as the lease-lend administrator, Mr. Stettinius, and Mr. Sol Bloom, chairman of the United States House of Representatives For eign Affairs Committee, who had paid a tribute to New Zealand for going short in order that American forces could be supplied. Mr Thorn dealt at some length with the recent women's meeting at Lower Hutt and declared that it was a politically inspired demonstration. Meeting of Lower Hutt Womea A further meeting of Lower Hutt women was held in the R.S.A. Rooms yesterday afternoon when Mi Thorn's remarks were commentei upon. It was pointed out that the meeting under discussion was largely representative of the women of the Hutt Valley and they gave way t< no one in the matter of war effori, The meeting was absolutely m party and non-sectarian, and if, as the Prime Minister had called them "half Communists-, half Torries, i was all to the good that they wer able to meet on common ground and all resolutions had been unanimous. They were not concerned in politics : —in fact, they were tired of politics —but they were more concerned with the health of the children whose health it was their object to maintain. What was the use of Plunket Societies and the like if the nutrition in foodstuffs is not available.

One speaker remarked th:it it was ridiculous to say that the recent meeting was a political demonstration. The meeting was by no means political, but was domestic. If it was impossible to get parliamentarians to take a hand in so vital a question, then it was time the men of New Zealand asserted their rights and lead the way. Lower Hutt had been unfortunate in being disfranchised for a long time, and it was unfair, because of the women's desire to bring about better conditions that they should be called ' 'Chatterboxes" and such like.

Another speaker affirmed that the recent meeting was not called to promote strife, but rather to create peace. She attributed the cause of the whole shortage trouble to greed for money on the one hand and utter stupidity on the other. It was pleasing to see however, that the recent meeting had done some good for it had evidently "got under the skin" of many Government members and perhaps it was the first time they had felt the truth.

The following resolution was passed unanimously— "That this meeting of women of the Hutt Valley protest most emphatically against the outrageous remarks made against them on the floor of the House of Parliament and broadcast over the air. Many of these women who are the mothers and wives of soldiers serving overseas are themselves serving on the home front.. They are neither Communists, Torries or members of any other politcal party or creed, and therefore consider the attack made on them as wholly unwarranted."

Fui'tlwr Comment.

Mrs. Charlotte A. Henderson, chairman of the Women's Discussion Meeting and President of the Women's Service Guild Inc., writes:

Commenting on the press report of Marph 6th, of Mr. H. E. Combs' M.P. for Wellington Suburbs remarks in the Address-in-Reply Debate, Mr. Combs, inter alia, gave the impression that the women who took part in the recent meeting at Lower Hutt only partially read the newspapers and did not appreciate the question of supplies to the Fight ing Forces in the Pacific.

May I state in reply that members of the Women's Service Guild vv yield place to no one in their loyalty to their country's war effort. At each meeting the chairman has stated very plainly "that the needs of the fighting forces and the hospitals must be the primary consideration" but —and here lies the crux of the whole position as far as these discussion meetings are concerned —we are deeply concerned that the waste and destruction x of edible foods, unequal and insufficient distribution bf supplies, and costly duplication of wholesale marketing methods. We also discussed the high price of fish, and asked that the profits of the wholesaler in the fish trade should be limited. We made no comment on the quantities of fish available for sale, because we too were aware of trawling difficulties. Summed up, we would not be unjust if we in our turn assumed that Mr. Combs did not read the newspapers carefully.

Since Mr Coombs has the privilege, denied to ordinary citizens, of making his comments over the air, we hope his retraction of these inaccurate statements will be just as public as the remarks to which we

take exception. Such action would be just plain British justice. Closing, may I make brief reply on other interjections and remarks heard during the debate. The Women's Service Guild is a strictly lion party political and non sectarian organisation. We work solely from the viewpoint of good citizenship and are not concerned with party political issues. To allege that we have Communist, Tory, Nationalist, or any other bias is absolutely untrue. Mr. James Thorn for Thames might have used his speaking time more usefully in explaining why bad eggs were spld to the public instead of indulging in the undignified pastime of calling responsible women citizens "chatterboxes and halfwits."