WOMEN’S COUNCIL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11226, 25 March 1897, Page 6

WOMEN’S COUNCIL.

/ ANNUAL CONVENTION. The National Council of Women of New Zealand commenced its annual session at the Provincial Council Chambers at 2.30 p.m. yesterday ; present—Mrs Sheppard (president), Mesdames Hendre (Tailoressea’ Union, Dunedin), Sievwright (Women’s Political Association, Gisborne), Isherwood (Women’s Institute, Malvern), May (N.Z.W.0.T.U.), Simpson (Canterbury Women’s Institute), Tasker (Women’s Democratic Association, Wellington), Bullock (Women’s Political Association, Christchurch), Wells (honorary secretary), Cunnington (Women’s Political Association, Christchurch), Izett (Women’s Social and Political League, Christchurch), Eobison (Women’s Political Association, Christchurch), Daldy (Women’s Political League, Auckland), Miss Hookham (i’abian Society, Christchurch), Miss Sherrill-Bain (honorary treasurer). Adjutant Moreton and Ensign Hicks (Salvation Army, Christchurch). There was a fair attendance of spectators. The President said she had pleasure in contradicting a leading article in the Lyttelton Times, which stated that many representatives would bo absent in consequence of a disagreement as to the place of meeting-. This statement was incorrect, as the only delegates at present absent were the delegates of the lied Cross Society and some Auckland delegates who would arrive later on. She regretted that the National Association had withdrawn its delegates. Dr Jennings had written that the National Association, while agreeing with some’.of the objects of the Convention, differed from others, and that therefore the delegates would not attend. She hoped, however, losco delegates from that Association present next year, for even those present were not thoroughly agreed on everything. After referring to the growth, of the movement, the President said : —“ Your presence here to-day, representing, as you do, so

many different societies throughout the affords gratifying evidence of the •fact that onr Associations _ of women are growing in solidarity. It is quite possible that it may be said that as our Council is entirely composed of women, we should coniine ourselves to subjects which affect women onlv. With this view I nave no sympathy. " Wo are human beings as well as women, and our humanity must take precedence of our womanhood. Wo are New Zealanders, aud_ therefore citizens, and whatever affects the well-being of the commonwealth is our immediate concern. It is our duly to consider as far as possible every plan and method which is suggested as likely to increase the happiness of our fellow-beings. In doing so wo arb not likely to be unmindful of the rights and wrongs of onr sex find of our children. It may 'bo asked what need there is of a Council composed exclusively of women to discuss general subjects. Our answer is that thei’o is a twofold need. In Wellington is every year assembled a National Council of men, which holds .a session lasting several months, and every member of which is not only granted a free-pass over all the railways, but also receives a salary sufficient to.maintain him throughout the year. 'That National Council of men not only deliberates and legislates on matters of general interest, but also on matters which specially affect women and children. From that Council women are excluded not only from taking part in, but also, if it is so wished, from even hearing the discussions that may arise, in this respect our law is loss fair to women than that of onr sister colony of South Australia, where women may he elected to Parliament. It must necessarily .follow that subjects discussed by men are likely to be discussed from a man’s point 1 of view'. That this, is not an idle supposition it is only necessary to refer to the indignities imposed on onr sex by the C.D. Act, and the' arguments used .by respectable men in defence of perpetuating the inequality of the divorce laws. Under these 'circumstances' a National . Council which largely' represents the thinking and working women of the colony (and which, it may be remarked, costs the country nothing) becomes a necessity. I trust the day is "not far distant when men will no longer exclude women from their deliberations, when' legislation will no longer be one-sided, and when the necessity for men’s councils and women’s councils, as such, wdli bo swept away. Then wc are modest enough to feel that -wo women need self-education, and .wo. know' of no more thorough method of educating ourselves and each other than by discussion and study. Having obtained the franchise, it is of the utmost importance that our women should be thoughtful and wellinformed. In view of the great change that has occurred in regard to the scholastic education of women, it is rather curious and interesting to find that there are still men who resent and ridicule onr desire for selfimprovement. Only last week there appeared in a daily paper which professes to represent the cultured classes in this city two paragraphs.' The one at the top of the column announced that the National Association would devote an evening to old age pensions, and the one lower down referred to the same subject as one of those to be discussed by the National Council of Women. The fact that the National Association should give an evening - to an important subject like this excited no comment. But the announcement referring to the National Council of Women seemed to arouse a feeling of contempt in the writer of the paragraph. Ho waxes almost eloquent at the presumption of these women. These subjects, bo says, ‘have occupied the attention of our public men for some considerable time without any probable result. The ladies, however, seem to think that one-evening each is sufficient for their discussion.’ It may console the author of the paragraph to know that we do not expect to solve these knotty problems in an evening’s discussion. We shall be quite satisfied to have helped to do so in some small degree. Personally I do not object to such paragraphs. They are surviving illustrations of the difficulties that beset the intellectual path of bur grandmothers, who if they presumed to take more than the scantiest interest in literature were reproachfully termed ‘ blue-stockings.’ It was not until Mary Sommerville was a widow, at .twentysis years of age, that she was free to buy books in order to'pursue the study which ,Jiad become a passion with her; and Mary Wollstonocraft, who did such ■grand pioneer -work for women, was called by Horace Walpole ‘A hyena in petticoats.’ Such women live in onr hearts to-day. They were bravo and strong. All honour to their memory! But although of late years women have learned to depend more on their own judgment, there are still many who are keenly sensitive to the shafts of unfair ridicule, and scarcely dare to admit that they possess opinions on many topics of public interest. That this should be so is a misfortune. Every law, existing or proposed, affects women more or less, and there is nothing unseemly in a woman forming opinions about these law's, and, at proper times, giving expression to them.” Reference was made to the movement for the repeal of the Contagions Diseases Act, and it was added—“ The possession of the franchise gave force to the request from women, and the most representative Lower (. hamber the colony has yot seen passed a Repeal Bill. We owe our thanks to the Government for attempting the repeal of this Act. The shame of continuing this insult to the womanhood ot the colony rests with the Legislative Council. I trust our National Council will not dissolve without expressing emphatically and unanimously its opinion of this vile Act. Dear to my own heart is the question of temperance reform. Wc may not all see eye to eye as to the best methods to be adopted. . But I find it bard to conceive of a truly earnest woman who is not appalled at the evils of the traffic in alcohol. The physical, mental and moral degradation that arises from the drink trade is everywhere apparent. Women, on the whole, receive ■little gratification from .this trade, and yet it is on woman and her children that the miseries of the traffic mainly fall. I shall be sorry indeed if this Council does does not declare its hostility to the trade which brings terror, misery, poverty and disgrace into so many homes. The subject of prison reform is one of great importance. The tendency of our present system is to make criminals rather than mend them. So well-known is the frequency with which a term of imprisonment but seems to harden, debase and brutalise that our judges hesitate to commit new offenders to prison. The probationary law is a step in the right direction. But it does not touch our prison reform. Under our present social conditions, we must expect a certain proportion of moral idiots, persons whoso moral faculties are either dormant or abnormally small. These it should he cm - object to restrain and cure. Another question which touches women closely is that of ‘ equal pay for equal work.’ ’ At present it is cusmary to pay women at a much lower rate than men are paid tor precisely the same class of work. This usage is unjust to both men and women. Women are deprived of a portion of their earnings, and men are frequently crowded out of employment merely because women’s labour is cheaper. We ask for no favour, but that women shall be placed on an equal footing with men regarding payment for a given quantity of work that is equally well done. 1 am anxious that the subject of parental responsibility should engage the most serious attention of the Council. The thoughtless indifference with which many people neglect the duties of parentage must arouse the deepest concern in those who believe that the future welfare of this country depends largely upon the moral excellence of its citizens. *ifc is a vexed question as to whether the children of our colony receive less parental training than do the children of England; hut this is certain, that everyone who visits the streets of our large cities during the evening must be struck by the large number of young- people who possess a liberty that is perilously near to license.” In conclusion, the President trusted that the present session would be useful and harmonious, and that it would tend to cement the various organisations of women in the colony, by showing that while their

methods may be diverse, yet that their desire was one, viz., the uplifting of humanity. A vote of thanks to the President for her address, moved by Mrs If end re and seconded by Mrs Sievwright, was carried by acclamation.

Mrs Wells gave an address on health. She said that the drug treatment was pure speculation, and the only certainty about it was the mischief it would do. The principles of hydropathy were in unison a like with the laws of nature and reason. Water, with its concomitants air, light, heat and temperature, was one of the greatest natural remedies. The speaker detailed the various hydropathic methods, and also the treatment which, she said, had proved successful in obstinate cases of diphtheria, bronchitis and typhoid. The orthodox idea that all fever must run its course was all nonsense. Medical exports had declared that man was in reality an her- N bivorons animal. Physiologists had shown that after death the corpse of the mcatoater decomposed rapidly, while that of the vegetarian remained fresh for a considerable time. The' lecturer prophesied the growth of psychic phenomena-, or in other words a return to the age of miracles, and expressed the opinion thaii many ailments would yield to psychic force which were unapproachable in any other way. Mrs Cunnington expressed unqualified approval of the address. Mrs Hendre said that as women they would never do anything socially or politically, unless they investigated those subjects as thoroughly as Mrs Wells had investigated hers. Mrs Simpson agreed with the remarks of the last speaker, and read a number of statements by doctors to show the very poor opinion they entertained of their own profession, Mrs Wells had, • however, pointed out a higher method. Mrs Williamson said that she was going to stand up for the doctors, who' had received some hard knocks. Some, at ail events, of the credit of onr lengthened existence must be given to the doctors. Mrs Isherwood- was sure that the water cure was the ■ proper thing. ’Alcohol, tobacco and rich foods were always detrimental to health. She was of opinion that young people should be trained to an adequate knowledge of the laws which, governed health.

The President said that she was very much against the .use of- drugs, and thoroughly endorsed the • views expressed l in the paper read by Mrs Wells. , EVENING SITTING. TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Mrs Tasker read a paper on “ Technical Education.” If technical night schools could only be established it would keep young people off the streets. Germany was our great industrial rival, and political economists would do well to take a lesson from Germany in that respect. Sanitation and cooking should be taught alike to girls and boys. In England there was nothing parallel with the technical schools for girls on the Continent. Technical instruction in athletics was also necessary. Technical instruction in swimming, cases of accident and the general laws of health would be more useful to girls than wearing out their eyes with fine needlework. Tight-lacing, which caused much illness and, sometimes, death, was a relic of conservatism which should be done away with. It was to be hoped that the coming generation would ho more amenable to reason and the laws of-health. Agricultural teaching could easily be introduced into our schools and State farms. Shortness of money was always the cry in relation to educational matters, and yet every municipality could lavish money on schemes which brought no benefit. Every Education Board should be obliged to provide a truant officer, and women would make the best truant officers.

The following motion was then put to the meeting—“ That in the opinion of this Council, a large measure of technical education in connection with, and in addition to, onr primary, and secondary schools is much to be desired, and that the sum at present appropriated to technical • education is altogether insufficient.” : In the course of the discussion, Mrs Williamson said that much of our present system of education led to no good object. Every label in this country which bore the words “made in Germany” was a biot on our system of education. Miss Hookham pointed out that children in Germany, who worked half their time, were by no means backward in their school work. Boys should be taught cooking and sewing, and girls carpentering, Ac. It was unfair that girls, just because they were girls, should always have to perform work for which, in many cases, they were unfitted. She had been trained to row a boat and fire a gun, and to chop enough wood to cook a meal without sweating. She thought many of the existing complaints arose more from the inefficiency of the parents than of the teachers. Mrs Bullock thought that onr children were rather over than under-worked. It seemed to her that the ordinary education was enough for a child up to twelve years old. It was time enough after that to teach them their life’s trade. She did not believe in cooking classes in connection with primary schools, as any girl could learn cooking in six months. Mrs Sievwright thought that technical should follow primary education. She did not see why every girl should be a dressmaker, any more than every boy should be a sailor. (Applause.) Mrs Izett thought our children should go to school till they were twenty-one. A great evil in Christchurch was that boys were steadily filling men’s billets at a low wage, and actually driving their fathers from their employment. It was humiliating for a father to have to live on the scanty wages earned by his children. She did not think much of the practical outcome of German technical education, for they all knew that German articles were not made to last. At a recent exhibition of needlework she had seen parents rejoicing at what to her were evidences of ruined eyesight, bent shoulders and aching backs. There were altogether too many young girls wearing spectacles about Christchurch. She heartily congratulated Mrs Tasker on her paper. A gentleman in the audience who described himself as a mechanic, referred to the old system of seven years’ apprenticeship which obtained in the Old Country. This apprenticeship did not exist here, and perhaps it was right for the State to see that apprentices were really taught their trade. He did not believe in children in primary schools being taught, say carpentering. They would only spoil the tools entrusted to them, and get into a slipshod way of doing things which would neither benefit themselves nor anyone else. He favoured object lessons instead of taxing the memory of children so much. Mr G. \V. Russell pointed cut that if £'20,000 were required, the existing machinery lately introduced by the Hon W. P. Reeves would provide that amount. Every Education Board could -put in its claim if it so chose. With regard to technical education, what was really wanted was a Masters and Apprentices Act, by which masters and mistresses should be compelled to thoroughly teach their apprentices. The resolution was carried. Mrs Izett moved, ;ind Mrs Robison seconded the following- motion, which was carried;—“That this Council views with concern, and calls the attention of the Government to the large number of children growing up with no education in this colony owing to the non-enforcement of the compulsory clauses of the Act.” '

To-morrow afternoon Mrs Cunnington will read a paper on the Criminal Code Amendment Bill.