NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1423, 8 June 1899, Page 17

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.

A WOMAN'S EE PORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS. SOME CANDID CRITICISM. RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT LIGHTNING SPEED. Miss Catherine M. Boyd has addressed to the Women’s Democratic Union of Wellington the following racy report of the recent convention of the Women's National Council at Auckland: Dear Old Friends,—lt is with great pleasure that I received Mrs Tasker's invitation from you to represent tlio Wellington W.D.U. on the National Council. individually, I am not a very warm supporter of the Council. Here, in Auckland, the leagues are very weak numerically, and, with the exception of the Conservative body, very poorly supplied with funds. To pay thg delegation fee and delegates' expenses yearly is a tax that prevents much useful local work. Work which, I consider, Of far more importance to democratic unions, for we can secure through tiie ballot box many more advantages than we can ever hope to attain through any National Council; and our own women are not fully alive to thi3 fact outside the leagues. But we must take all the consolation possible, and I must admit Auckland appeared to take a very great interest in the proceedings, for lac room v«s crowded nightly. We received several lettei'3 of sympathy, and the editor of the ‘'Star" sent us a large bouquet of beautiful flowers.

The session opened at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12th, by a meeting of delegates The visitors were introduced, seats were allotted, a Reception Committee was appointed, and also a committee for revising resolutions. Of this last Mrs Tasker was elected a member. In the evening . Mrs May , of Auckland, formally welcomed the visreing delegates. Incidentally she informed us that only cne privilege had been withheld. The Mayor’s chair had been removed from the Council chamber and placed in the small room which we used as' a dressing-room. As you may imagine, the comforts of its seating capabilities were well tested. The presidential address and the secretary’s report occupied the first evening. They were listened to attentively, and I must say the secretary deserves great praise for the manner in which she had fulfilled her duties throughout the year. She read correspondence from Mrs Wilson, hon secretary of the Women's International Council; Dr Macgi*egor, Inspector of Hospitals and Asylums; and Dr Pabst, hon secretary of the Medical Congress, Auckland. The hon treasurer of the Council was not prepared with h or balance-sheet, which was not completed and audited until Monday, April 17th. I enclose a copy of it. You will observe that affiliation and delegation lees only total <£l4, so that the number of affiliated bodies is very small indeed, and liow. the expense of printing (.some A3O) is to be met, I am glad the Executive of tlie Council is to decide, and not yself. Mrs Williamson, of Wanganui, lion treasurer, proposed a levy of 3d per member be made on its members by each affiliated union. How the Wellington unions may be prepared to meet any demand for additional support ot the Council’ 3 lands ! am not able to say, as I have no knowledge of your funds; but I am positive the Auckland societies will Ijp 'unable to accede to any such request. Mrs Garstin, Christchurch, fulfilled the duties of recording secretary. A printed form for motions was handed to each delegate, but the motions on the form were taken in a very haphazard way; and some, so far as I know, were not taken at all. But Mrs Tasker can give you detailed information on this motion. Many motions other Gian tiiese were brought forward. I only tabled cne motion, and thereby hang 3 a tale. The following motion was prepared by Mrs Shepherd:—“That a reform in the method of nomination and appointment of the members of the Upper House is urgently needed." “ That this Council recommends that members of the Upper House should be elected directly by the people by the Hare system of voting, and the number limited to half the number of the Lower House/’' This was carried. But in the discussion that took place, many attempts to explain the Hare system were made, and Mrs Shepherd said that in Christchurch they had sometimes used this method in their meetings as an object lessen on the system. She thought that to try it for the election of Upper House members would be a very good thing. Now, I thought that as the National Council is a kind of Upper House for the different unions it would be a good plan, and an educative one, if we elected the National Council Executive by this system. My suggestion was met by dubious shakes of the head and a murmur of “ We are too few.” Mrs Wells, in tlio chair at the time, thought the suggestion a legitimate one arising from the previous motions, but would I give notice of motion. Accordingly, I passed on this resolution to the Resolution Committee: —“That, the National Council of Women, having by a large majority approved of the Hare system as a juster method of election, than that now S revailing, should elect the Executive of le National Council by this system." The fate of this motion I was not able to discover. Enquiries proved futile. It was not of the “right colour." It was baulked, even though the president had to turn her back on me to excuse herself from catching my eye. Is it any wonder I exclaim, “ Inconsistency thy name is the Women’s National Council"? . . In rageard to the appointment of visaing women justices of the peace to our asylums, I took it upon myself the responsibility of voting against the measure. There are only thirteen women in the Auckland gaol this month. The number rarely rises to twenty. There are two women in charge, a matron and assistant, and there are two female official visitors. Only the insubordinate are brought before the J.P., and a man must come to tlfe gaol, as there are 154 men. Now, possibly there are no women to be reprimanded, so that the expense of an additional J.P. is not required. , jYnd, even if no r sxpense is involved, the extra duties do" not call for a separate visitation. No. .10 on the Order Paper, “ That the mLiP. ■ lit'.- /.M'' ■:. vr„-•v'k.-.'v -/-■ • - - • /.-re > ■ • •

C.D. Act be immediately repealed,” was carried. In discussion, the miserable position of the unfortunates suffering from the horrible disease the Act was originally passed to aid, was brought forward. To meet this difficulty, a further resolution was passed:—“That special homes or hospitals to meet such cases should be established.

The question of affiliating with the International Council was brought forward by Mrs Shepherd. Miss \viion. ion secretary of the International Council, had asked tlie National Council of New Zealand to make an offer as to the amount of fee they could pay on affiliation. The Council therefore decided to offer ATO, one half of the fee demanded by the rules of the International Council. This sum to be paid within five years by yearly instalments. A further charge of Jbl per year for postage would have to be paid, making a yearly payment of £■} per year for five years. The N.C., out of the present funds, was quite unable to meet this. Mrs May and Mrs Sievwright pledged themselves to collect this amount; accordingly, on this understanding it was decided to affiliate with the International Council, which holds its next meeting in London in June of the present year. Should the offer of All) be accepted, the New Zealand Cornell will be affiliated and represented by proxy delegates, in the following order ; —Mrs Reeves, wife of the Agent-General; No. 2 I have forgotten; No. 3. Mrs Sibthorpe, or anyone she chooses to nominate, if she is unable to accept the position her i 1 ' Mrs Met*osh Clark, an old Aucklander.

All our spare time, and some of the time which ought to nave been taken up with the business, was devoted to passing Mrs Wells’s motions, which were so numerous it would be impossible to enumerate them. One evening, after listening to two papers on “ Education " and “ Agricultural .State Schools," we passed eighteen resolutions which tins lady had bled la„t year, arising out of a paper sh? rad ther . She does not always remember her own resolutions, so all other delegates may be excused if most of them go in at” cne ear and pass out at the ether. If this lady ever gets into Parliament I am convinced she will make a first-class “stonewaller."

The question cropped up of the liability of an affiliated society who did not send a delegate or appoint a proxy. There was no rule ou the mailer, evidently, but it: was felt that such a society should be made to pay the delegation i> > Mrs Wells, the ever-ready, was •■n her .ft < t with a resolution making the payment of one delegation fee compulsory. We passed it at once. A morning or two afterwards an Auckland delegate handed me a report of last year's proceedings, and a resolution stood tabled in Mrs Well’s name which met this delegation fee case exactly. It had been quite forgotten, and so a lot of time was wasted going over ground that had been thoroughly threshed out last year. If any order characterised the business of the Council such mistakes as this could not occur. For an explanation, Mrs Wells said her resolution of last year could not be passed then, as sufficient notice of motion had hot been given. This year a similar motion could he brought forward and passed immediately. A few remarks on the many excellent papers read may not be unacceptable. “ The Unfit ,” by Mrs Weils, headed the list. These were to be treated so liberally, that a good many “ fit ” may be excused if to enter such a paradise they deliberately chose to become “ Unfit.” In my opinion, the earnest cry of reformers must Go to help the “ fit.” The “ Unfit ” are very few. It is the horrible circumstances of our civilisation which makes so large a number of “ Unfit.” The sturdy and independent will not deign to beg for relief. The whining hypocrite will have no scruple in accepting charity. Provide honest work for all at an honest wag?, and the parasite class at top and ot bottom must disappear. But the dawn of such a period has scarcely sent a ray of promise across the blackness of our present night. “ Economic independence/ by Mrs Shepherd, was a very excellent paper. lam sure I feel deeply for ill-used wives; but the passing of such a law removes all sanctity from the marriage relation and places it on a sound commercial oasis. No doubt this is the honest view to take; but how the sensitive wives who cannot ask their husbands for money are going to overcome ims sensitiveness and ask the Magistrate to compel them to give them half, I cannot understand.

“ Women’s Work and Wages,” by Miss C. Henderson, was one of the papers f liked best. It showed what a lot of women outside the marriage relation stand in need of some law to secure to them “ Economic Independence.” Mrs Tasker’s paper on "Master and Apprentices’ Act” J. need not dwell upon. Doubtless you have or will hear it in your own meeting room. Little Mrs Gibson, of Auckland, proved an ardent champion of the servant girl. Here is yet another class of women outside the pale of “ Economic Independence.” A resolution was carried, “That a compulsory half-holiday for servants should be passed by the Government.” No doubt we want better trained and better < ducated servants than we now have. But before we get them we must be prepared to pay better wages, and make some clear definition of a fair day’s work and a reasonable number of hours the mistress can claim daily. I once heard that a great actor rebuked a superintendent for the way lie spoke. “ Say it like this, man,” cried the actor, expanding bis chest and rolling forth the words. “ All, master,” sighed the super., “ if I could say it like that I should not work for 12s a week.” And when we get the domestic treasures mistresses sigh for, we shall be forced to pay their time value. “Parental Responsibility” was all that was good and pure. It lies at the root of all reform. When we nr* sexually chaste, the generation will be born who will carry into effect the ideals we sigh for. No law can force this; the individual alone is responsible. “ Removal of Women’s Disabilities,” by Miss S. Henderson, was a very disappointing paper. It really had nothing in it. “Education,” by Miss Fraser, was also a paper that cast a very dim light on the reforms it gpppled with. And so the session ended.' The newspapers then took us to pieces. “ Moderna ” in the “ Herald ” said we wanted “ grooming.” Others

said we were fond of laces ud ruffles. Like the old man with his ass, wc find we cannot please all, so it is best to try and please ourselves. And may we succeed, especially the Women's Democratic Union of Wellington.