Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1930. WOMEN IN THE LIMELIGHT

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 147, 21 May 1930, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1930. WOMEN IN THE LIMELIGHT

The outspoken pulpit utterances of a prominent Wellington Presbyterian clergyman have occasioned comment in more than one quarter, on the growing tendencies of the age, particularly on the part of some women to disregard those time honoured conventions of thought, speech, action, habit and dress, which were such marked characteristics of the older generations, the Victorian and Edwardian eras included. With the greater- freedom enjoyed by the women of to-day, who have invaded practically every department of business, social and sports life at one time regarded as the almost exclusive preserves for men, there has certainly come a marked change in the relationships existing between the sexes and, on the part of sections of the younger generation, a careless disregard of the opinions of their elders, which is anything but desirable in the best interests of the young people themselves. The age has decidedly giddy tendencies, made more so by the almost insatiable rush after pleasure of all kinds, which is anything but conducive to the more sober realities of life which, after all, are, or should be, matters of supreme concern to young people entering, or preparing to enter, upon their life’s career. The opportunities for pleasurable amusement are so much greater nowadays than they were 50, 30, or even 20 years ago, and so many new agencies have been introduced into the world for the entertainment of mankind, all catering for the public enjoyment, that the more serious and educational side of life is in danger of being largely left in the background, at a time when it should be receiving attention from all who are interested in the real welfare of the race. But are utterances such as those of the Presbyterian clergyman to whom reference has already been made really deserved? They centred around “Mother’s Day,” which was observed in many of our leading churches on Sunday, May 11th, and they formed such a sweeping indictment of the loose living of many women to-day as to call for serious attention, although we prefer to believe that the extent of the evils depicted by the minister himself is neither as serious nor as far reaching as his remarks would imply. Yet, if what he says is correct, that, “about 80 of the marriages celebrated in New Zealand each year ended in divorce proceedings ere five years had passed, and about 160 in addition ere 10 years had passed,

while “about 950 New Zealand born children are affected each year by such proceedings,” New Zealanders cannot afford to regard with complacency such an undesirable state of affairs. A reference to the 1930 Year Book shows that the actual number of divorce petitions filed during the 1919-28 decennial period was 7265, but the marriages celebrated during that period numbered 104,328, so that the actual number of petitions filed was rathor less than 7 per cent, of the total. The actual petitions filed within five years of marriage during the years 1924-28 was 505, and within 10 years of marriage during the same period 1095, so that, accepting the same relativity of period for the marriages which numbered 104,328, the divorce petitions for the 10-year period, numbering 1600, only constituted a little over 14 per cent, of the total. Bead in that connection the figures lose much of the significance attached to them in the pulpit utterances already quoted. There is no desire on the part of this journal to minimise the evils arising from divorce, but, on the other hand, objection may be taken, and reasonably so, to figures being used which give them much greater significance, and imply censure upon the moral habits of New Zealanders, which are really undeserved. For the greater part, the women of to-day are as sensible as—more so in many respects and certainly better adapted to grapple with the many problems of the age than—their grandmothers, and great grandmothers. Because of their latter day emergences upon every sphere of public and social life, women pass under a fiercer light of inspection than formerly and are subject to keener criticism, but it is scarcely fair, even on the part of pulpiteers, to charge them, as the Wellington clergyman we have been referring to has done, with so much of the loose living of this fast living age. As another clergyman said the other day—the Rev. P. Dunnage, chairman of the Division Council of the Church of England Men’s Societ}' —in Christchurch: “The power of the world is passing into the hands of women. Women have entered the Imperial Parliament. The time will come when there will be women members of the Synod. In England there are women members of the Church Assembly. The whole power of the world is passing into the women’s hands. . . . Women arc keen; men are apathetic, and keenness, amongst even a few people, will tell. Women are exercising a tremendous influence for good. Will we take our part in that direction?” Here we have both a statement of fact and a question which comes as a challenge. Women’s activities _ :n this country are seen on all sides —in the Plunket societies, the care of children’s homes, in Christian temperance societies, and the Y.W.C.A., in the girl guides’ movement (at which their grandmothers would have looked with fearful askance), and _in those recreations which are doing so much to develop the young womanhood of the country on the healthiest of lines. While there are certain evils inseparable from the advanced spirit of the age we may still live rejoicing in the further emancipation of our womenfolk and the increasing part they are playing in the affairs of the country.