BEAUTY CONTESTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 18 November 1926, Page 4

BEAUTY CONTESTS

rOR COMMERCIAL GAIN

CONDEMNED BY METHODIST MINISTERS i

(By Telegraph.—Speeial to "The Mail.")

CHRTSTCHUROH, lth Nov.

"It is a case of 'will you come into my parlour, slid the spider to the fly' " said the Rev. Thomas Fee (Christchurch), in reference to beauty contests, at North Canterbury Methodist Synod to-day. "Many of the girls who entered for the beauty contests conducted by the newspapers did not know what was behind the schemes. Had they known, they would not have touched them with a long pole," continued Mr Fee.

The discussion was evoked by the presentation to Synod of the Temperance and Public Morals Committee's Report, in which some'of the sub-headings were "Licensing bill",, "wine drinking", "art. unions" "picture films and posters", "Bible in schools", "drugged chocolates", "racing and racecourse gambling" and "roil downs".

The Rev, E. P. Blamires said he wished the report had included a, paragraph about beauty contests, than which nothing had been mora to the fore in the public, mind in the last two months. Nothing had damaged the spiritual life mere. The speaker was glad to see that a member of the New South Wales Government had gained support from all sections of the House when he had condemned the degrading influence on the community of journalism in the form of beauty contests. "There is" continued Mr Blamires, "a strong feeling in the community that those newspapers that have commercialised beauty and made money have—have 1 am getting tangled up with too long a sentence. There is a strong feeling that New Zealand Entertainers lid. are also identified with it. The girls entered the contest not. realising at the time that it was a money-grabbing competition.

The chairman (Rev. E. D. Patchett) said Synod should congratulate those beautiful girls in New Zealand who.did not enter, lie had felt that many of the girls of the better families would not go in for the competition, which was deeper than modern frivolity and pandered to a phase of human nature that should not be brought, to the, forefront. "I agree with Mr Blamires" said the Rev. VV. A. Hay, "but we should be careful of the effect on those girls who have entered (he competition. We rto i of say, and we have no right to say, that the contestants themselves are bad. • We can say that the,' spirit of commercialising beauty is wrong." The Rev. Thomas Fee having delivered himself of the spider and Hie fly philosophy, the Rev. 11. L. Blamires raid he wished to dissociate himself from the remarks of tho. Rev. E. r. BlamJi'cs. Congnttulatioln.s should be given to those girls who had avoided the Trail that had been set. "I spoke not. against the girls bill against journalism," replied tho Rev. E. P, Blamires. "It is a good thing that many newsnaners in New Zealand have not touched the scheme, and there are others who have condemned it.'?