CIVIC ECONOMY

Maoriland Worker, Volume 10, Issue 422, 9 April 1919, Page 7

CIVIC ECONOMY

Labor Women on the Question

ADDRESSES BY LABOR'S CANDIDATES

A ine,-tUig oi ihe \Vellia«lon BvaiuU j oi Women's .District ' Council . was ' held lasi, Thursday, fveniiitf iv the: Masonic Hall, ..BoulcoU. Street, the pre*i- \ dent; Misa M. ' England,- being in Hit-; chair. Although the wtoher condition?! »ere unfuvuui'hljio wa. a .i.ur ;i i- , tendance, | i 1:54 England, in openhig the uiceUns. ! Sidd that the a unique one ' It was. the. hr_t thn*- wum*n had voin« j forward as •.■audidaies tor the City ..'ciui-, cil. The spe&k<;is toi ik- met j on neutral _r u uudj siiui wt.ul;l their j views on hcuaLni", - nuA] hygiene. The following >>er«- tht- can-, didate.s- i'or the City Cuuncil—lvies-) dames Aitken, Gibbons, B*"k. Snow, -Mid Donaldson, ihe Hospital und \ Charitable Aid Board—-Mesdames Aitken, Beck, Cawlej, <vow. Hulber-, McVieai, I MacDonaid, tto Mis? M&c- : Donald. Mrs. Bec_, who was the iirst said she waj plodded to the Laboi ; Party's platfono. What she win ted t<.. j spenl; on particularly was town plan-: ning. It was important that children i elioutd hay,-. their playground. In this' Wellington was lacking. Not even on: the beache«, were facilities provided for recreation lor the children. To go tc the beaches nowadays was an expensive . matter for mothers. Since the beginning ( of the vr&v. measures for the protection ; of mothers, babies, and young children;! had increased in every country. The j necessity- of such measures had ."been j brought home by the losses of the. war— j losses that occurred not only on thb; battlefield, but in the inevitable and j enormous reduction in the birthrate." The losses in potential lives alone during the first 3 years of war amounted to oyer 500,000. And there was but one »vay in which, the losses could be niet, even in part, and that was by reducing th© mortality rate for infancy 'and childhood, JNo measure for the prevention of infant mortality could be satisfactory unless, the homes whero the individual children lived reached a fair standard of wholesome - comfort. They must take into account the play life, of a child. Some sort of organised- active play must be provided for the normal child. Such steps -would go a long way towards preventing: the reckle? s waste of life, that iv common with other nations, the people of tUe Dominion had permitted in the past. Mrs. Gibbons, another candidate, said she' hoped that there would be enough women elected to the City Council to carry weight. She also stressed the need' for recreation grounds for the children. There was one place in particular which was once a children's playground, i btit th« City Council came and started to -improve, and planted gums, wattles, I and willows. Now children's voic«9 were | never heard there. The tops of theI hills were left them, but were .too bleak | for comfort. Mrs. Gibbon's said there [ should be rest rooms in the City for the convenience - of women with children, I the rooms to be in. a sunny position, I and fitted with every convenience. These rooms should be. fr*»?, and should have a \ woman in charge to keep th-ein ciedn. At present there wag no place in town where a woman could Women were not getting a "fair' deal" and it was necessary that- they should* be on the Citj Council to attend to women's needs. The Town Belt, she thought, could be used for the pleasure of- the people. Preferring io the slums, Mrs Gibbons said ! it was time the Council took them in j hand. It would be necessary to build | for the people evicted, and she would advocate tUe> tenement system 7 rtu ? would meet the difficulty. But th-: Council should not allow old houses to j be used for flats. Mrs. Aitken, who is also pledged lo I the Labor Party's platform, said she ('wanted to speak very strongly on the ■ housing question. people who were, ! doing the useful work were often hud- ! died together like animals; she was out to abolish this sort of thing. Children ' played in the gutters, and it was not ! to be wondered at that they caught diseases. This would not be so if the™ wefre playgrounds The slums would have to be-cleared, but was against tenement houses. The workers should have proper homes, and not be housed like so many motor cars. Also, if there vreTe proper recreation facilities for girls wo would have a healthier Tace. Mrs. Aitken also stressed the need for rest rooms. The only rest women would get at present wa3 at the picture -threaties or in tram cars. By proyiding recreation grounds for the children, they would help to make them worthy citizens of the State. Mrs. Snow, referring to the .Housing ! question, said that during the epidemic I she saw a. good deal of the housing conI ditions, Jn on© &ouse in Little George 'Street,.she couid not open f t'he windows. I It wag time the City Council appointed | women sanitary inspectors. When ' the i epidemic came it was unfortunate that i there were no women sanitary inspector s. -Men had told her that it was difficult for them to inspect houses; i* wag a woman's work. Speaking on education, Mrs. Snow eaid it time more interest was taken in the school committees.TThe e should be more women on these committees, and on theeduca. tional. boards as well. She mentioned an instance where part of a playground had been taken whereon tc enlarge the school. Playgrounds were necessary, and if. was for th* women to see that they ! were provided. j Mrs. McVicar, it he next speaker, ?aid I she had been on the Hospital and | Charitable Aid Board for years. She. j too, wished to speak on the Housing problem. During the epidemic the morI tality was heavier in th© slums than lanr other pail of the city. Th e people imust- be taken oat of the slums, and j .pew homes built lor them. There were I hundreds of aectfons round -the city I which could be used, and the Govern- ' ment City Council, and -th* Harbour j Board could club together to raise the ' flioney. Touching on education, Mr?, j McVicar thought it should b* free from I the Primary Schools to the University. I' The children must be clothed and fed, 'land tin* State should provide for them, ; One thins women councillors, should brinsc forward would be a universal l";d ■ j fare" on the trams, with through tram; j To the different suburbs. llr*. Donaldson, who ffn? the hist ■ tpeaker, that women coming fur j ward rt* candidates for th P City Coun <?i) marked a new era in .Wellington "! Women only had themselves to L'tarm I for what was lacking; they nad ■shirker their responsibilities. One of the most vital points in connection with th* | Housins question was the number ol t people in one house. In Scotland ther* j WS9 a by-law providing for a certair iftlttVTJfi't ef for ee.cn indiTidu«il

1 ,• " . 1 flt was LlO u-e blaming luudlordr; it j ! ims th..- bad housing system that was tv : ! blame.' It was ihe duty ol women tv ' ?ee Ih.lt they had houses that were well , ! planned. There should b« women architects ' ■tects to plan the house?. She wa«t> not in . ! i favour of the tenement astern. She thought it might come too »"•. Th* 1 cottage iy-trni ?he thought ivm ideal, . i provided there was sufficient land on ■■ j either vide lo allow for ventilation, j There --hould l>e plctit v of playground* ■ I for the children. Healthy children could | : nul be reared if they had nowhere to > ! play, Women would have h"* ene^iniler all • r'.-. opposition as ■eomlidates. ;i» il>*-' 1 men did not Mke v»'»mi«-/i poaching on I t-lieir preserves, but once ther? they were • 'welcomed. Mr?. Donaldson *nid ihe ' noped ii that if women were elected ihey ' j would go before their supporters aud I ! say what they had done. She utv-ed ; j the women to work for both the men I i and' wemen candidates for the election. 1 ;