WOMEN’S DIVISION

Northern Advocate, 23 October 1936, Page 4

WOMEN’S DIVISION

HALF YEARLY MEETING OF i COUNCIL The half-yearly meeting of the Provincial Council of the W.D.F.U. was held at Ohaeawai yesterday, Mrs W. Lane (Kaeo) presiding over a good attendance. As Miss Andrews was in the district, she was invited to address' the meeting and gave a very , interesting talk, , mainly dealing with educational matters. , The roll call showed the following members to be present:—Whangarei, Mesdames A, C. M. Finlayson, Horrobin, W. Orr; Puwera, Mesdames Lord, Steedman, Gunsoii; Towai, Mesdames L. Williams, Hauraki, Timperley, Doyle; Kawakawa, Mesdames Taylor, Wyatt, Smith, Cleary; Pakaraka, Mesdames G. {Ludbrookr, C; Jones; Miss Jones; bhaeawai, Mesdames Pennefather, Griffin, McNamara, Brown, Hatrick; Whangaroa, Mesdames W. Lane, Maddon, H. Hayes, ’J; Whitehead, Hows; Kaitaia, Mrs Buckle; I Kaikohe, Mesdames Orr, Young, Roc : kell; Mangamuka Valley, Mesdames Stevenson, Douglas, Parrot,' D. Rintoul; Kerikeri,. Mesdames- Cleave, Marples, Jones. Apologies were received from the Puhiptihi abet Waimamaku branches. A letter was received in reference to the Health Stamp campaign and branches agreed to give their help and support. The W.D.F.U. magazine was- discussed and referred back to branches. Quality of Flour.

Mrs Williams, delegate to the Farmers’ Union, gave her report. She stated that she had seen the principals of the flour mills in regard to poor quality flpur for bread making* with very satisfactory results. The president gave an excellent report of the annual conference in Wellington, and she said that it was very satisfactory to note that there were now over .17.000 members and 34 new branches formed. - There had been 570 housekeeper engagements and there were 57 registered housekeepers and one registered sewing woman. A W.D.F.U. Union was to be formed to cover these housekeepers whose wages were to be 30/ in * the future.

The new mottq of the division* “We serve,” was adopted. Mrs Buckle, North Auckland housekeeping secretary, read her report, which showed a very busy months’ period and also a demand for house-!-keepers who were hard to obtain.

Several remits were discussed. One' that was carried was in support of a general policy of consolidating country schools, and also expressed the opinion that the present system, requiring almost a unanimous vote of parents in favour of consolidation before it could be carried out, was wrong, and should be altered to the bare majority principle. ' The next conference will be held in Whangarei oh the first Wednesday in May. ' • '■ . ‘ ,f u Reply To Letter. Reference was made to a - letter appearing in the “Standard” on Octor her ;7 reading; “I am an old-time battler for Labour and am deeply concerned about our future. Thus I am writing you for an explanation concerning the Women’s Division. Is this an offset from the Farmers’ Union? As I know the farmer, he has always been a tool for the Tory masters and; I am not sure about this Women’s Division, "as -I believe all money is pooled into one quarter in Wellington, v / V “I am. given to understand that it is distributed for charity. f What I want to know is this: Is a portion of the funds shelved for political purposes? If so, many women over here are joining jap perhaps not knowing the true position. If you caA help me I shall use the information to convince some of these innocent people.” It was decided to reply as follows; “A letter in your paper of the 7th instant asking for an explanation concerning the funds of the W.D.F.U. has been read at a meeting of the North Auckland Provincial Council and I shall be glad to endeavour to give an explantation. The W.D.F.U. is most certainly associated with the Farmers’ Union, and proud of the fact, but if your correspondent has been informed that the F.U. or W.D. is party political he has been grossly, and, I venture to say, deliberately misinformed.

“In reference to the funds of the W.D., not one penny has ever been spent for political purposes and .1 am sure a detailed balance sheet for the past year could be obtained from the Dominion secretary. The pooling of funds in Wellington, I take it, refers to what we call our ‘community chest’ from which we draw to dssist necessitous cases. In conclusion I would absolutely deny that any money collected by any method has been shelved for political purposes.”