PLUNKET SOCIETY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9593, 24 February 1917, Page 8

PLUNKET SOCIETY

CONFERENCE ENDS ELECTION OF OFFICERS. , The conference of the Societv for the Health of Women and Children resumed its sitting at 10 a.m. yesterday, when further remits from the country branches were considered. The nresident, Mrs Algar Williams, raised the question of continuing tbe supply of babies’ clothing', which is made by sewing guilds of the various branches and sent t 0 England for the benefit of thts children of solders and sailors, for use among the babies attended by the X'iunket muses, and fur war relief work. Mrs Williams invited the opinion of th© delegates. Several spoke on the subject, all expressing willingness to go on with the work. Several pointed out that the schools bad helped greatly with the sewing. Mrs Chilton, spoke enthusiastically of the work in Christchurch and the help given by the Technical School there, the boys supjjlying the funds for the material.

Mf Arrowsmith read two letters, one from tho National Union of AVomen’s Suffrage Societies, signed by ; Lady French, Lady Balfour and Lady Fawcett, saying how much the clothing sent to England was appreciated by the mothers to whom it was given. The second letter, from a lady doctor, also expressed deep gratitude for the clothing and high approval of the patterns of the garments. Mrs Carr stated that in Dunedin the improved patterns were now sold at a shilling tho set, and she suggested other branches might do tho sameSeveral delegates spoke of the help given by different schools, .including Wanganui Girls’ College, Petone School and various schools, both public and private, all over the Dominion. The conference, on the motion of Air Arrowsmith, passed a vote of thanks and appreciation to the shipping, companies for carrying the cases of garment to England free of charge, and it was decided that tho branches continue the work of sewing guilds. Mrs King spoke of tho insurance of the nurses, reminding the delegates of a recommendation passed at the last conference that branches should ensure their nurses against accident. Mrs Chilton wished to draw tho attention of tho conference to the educational work of tho society, and paid a tribute to tbe work done by Mrs King for the society, and especially lot the "Our Babies" column. A hearty vote of thanks to Mrs King was carried by acclamation. Mrs Chilton also recommended that tho Minister for Education be approached. to see that some of the Piunket teaching be embodied in the domestic .training required for the matnculationi examination for girls. Dr King also spoke on the, same subject. which he said was a difficult one. Ho considered it a disgrace to onr civilisation that girls were allowed to go ont into the world without some knowledge of the care of themselves and of babies. Every girl should have some time in an institution which would teach her something of the care of children. He heartily approved ot the suggestion made; anything which tended to equip a girl with the kind of knowledge needed should Have everyone s that a knowledge of the care and feeding of children should be incoi'porated in tho certificate of hygiene which every sirl has to present before she can sit for her examination was endorsed by the conference. The motion was heartily endorsed by several members from different districts. INFANT MORTALITY.

Dr Truhy King addressed the meeting on tho subject of infant mortality. He drew attention to the figures contained in the letter received by the conference tho previous day from the Hon. G. W. Bussell, which showed that the death rate in Dunedin appeared to have increased enormously in the last yearT'his was by no means as serious as it looked; indeed the fluctuations in "the death rate from year to year were a hopeful sign for if under any circumstances the death rate could bp so low as under 4 per cent., as it was in Dunedin in 1912 then there was some reason for the rise from 4 to 7 per cemt., and that reason was almost invariably an avoidable cause, but one that could only bo avoided by training the mothers to protect their children from prevailing epidemics. The mother must be taught to be ten times as vigilant In hot weather, because then there was a greater tendency to the growth of microbes. Otherwise there was no reason why the death rate should bo higher in hot seasons than in cold. The best way to study statistics was to take the averages over several years, and in this way it was found that the death rate among infants had been-.—Auckland 6.5, Wellington G.G, Christchurch 6.3, and Dunedin 5.8 per cent. Thus it was seen that there was not any marked deviation between Wellington and any other town. ' Among other tilings the consideration of the milk supply must bfe taken into account. Dr King congratulated Christchurch on its low death rate in recent years, and paid a tribute to the work of tho committee there, whose members Had carried out the blanket work when a nurse was not available. The society had encountered as much opposition tbere as elsewhere, yet in tho third or fourth year of its existence the public health officer had drawn attention bo tho declining death rate, and attributed it to tho good work of the Blanket Society. At , a health conference held there a short time ago medical men hod paid high tributes to tho work of the society. In. speaking of Christchurch be did not wish to deprecate the work of other centres. Thero should be no rivalry among the different branches, but each should rejoice when a step forward was taken, and feel nothing hut gratification at its success, and ’work to do as well itself. Dr King said he felt strongly that tho Government should be approached for permission for the society to have access to the Registrars' certificates of statistics, so that if the death rate among infants advanced suddenly in, any place the Blanket Soceity could at ouco find the cause and grapple with tho need. The conference adjourned at 11.45 in order that a deputation should wait on the lion. Sir Janies Allen and the Minister of Bublio Health and lay the resolutions passed at the conference before them. ELECT!OX OF OFFICERS. On resuming for the afternoon session Mr Arrow smith proposed the election of tho Central Council. Ho paid a tribute to the work done by the present council, but said that since the constitution had been altered it would perhaps he as well for the larger societies to have representation thereon. He therefore proposed that Dr. and Mrs King continue as honorary vice-presidents, and that tho officers be :—President. Mrs Carr; treasurer, Mrs Theomin. and secretary Miss Glendining (re-elected); vicepresidents, tho president of the Wellington branch for the time being (Mrs Algar Williams) and Lady Allan; committee, Mesdames Bloomfield (Auckland), Morton. (Christchurch), R. W. Gibbes, McGeorgo (3), J. A. Johnson, W. A. Moore (Dunedin), Pearce (Invercargill), and El worthy (Timaru). Later a representative from Hawke’s Bay was asked for and the name of Mrs Henley suggested to the council for election. Mrs Algae Williams (Ivaritnne Home) stated that Wellington had decided to

donate <£2s yearly for extending the training of nurses at the Karitane-Har-ris Home in Dunedin. Christchurch would do the same. Mrs Morton said, and Invercargill had promised XIOO to the endowment fund. Other branches had made promises of money or recommendations to thoir committees to forward donations for the same purpose. In answer to a question it was stated that the war bonus agreed upon for Plunket nurses should be paid also to Karitane nurses. Dr King, on behalf of Dunedin and the Central Council, said he wished to express their thanks for the election of so many local members on the council, and also to express their appreciation of the trust and loyalty shown by so many of the country branches in the work of the council. He quoted a letter from Wellington, expressing entire confidence and sympathy with the council in its work ami difficulties. He later expressed his personal thanks and gratification at the. whole-hearted way in which the delegates had come forward to support the Karitane Home on behalf of their branches. Mrs Carr, president of the Central Council, expressed her thanks for reelection, and those of the council for the loyalty and confidence of the branches. Mrs IBlamires /(Hawera) proposed; “That the conference place on record its appreciation of tlie splendid work of Nurses Harrild and Gully, and expresses the loss the society has sustained at their passing away." Other members spoke also, and Dr King paid a touching tribute to the devoted work of Nurse Harrild. It was decided also that the Central Council be asked to formulate a scheme for a memorial to these nurses, and send St to the branches for their approval. Mr Arrowsmith thanked Mrs Algar Williams, on behalf of the conference, for her work as president, and Mrs Williams suitably replied. . Dr King expressed the appreciation tho conference felt 'at the help given them this year by those gentlemen who had attended as delegates. Mr .Young (Hamilton), m T OP‘. V . thanked tho Wellington secretary .(Miss Kirkcaldic) and committee for their nssistance, and hoped all would lay the matters of the conference before their members. It had been a most important one, and members must see that the work was kept going. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the hon. solicitors for drafting the rules; to Mrs Theomin, the treasurer of the council, whose work was often very arduous; and to Mr Hunter and. the Accountants’ Society for the free use of their room, for holding the meetTho concluded with tho singing of the National Anthem. DEPUTATION TO MINISTERS ' APPRECIATION AND SYMPATHY. Representatives of the Plunket Society's conference waited on the Hons. Sir James Allen (Acting-Premier), G. \V. Russell (Minister for Public Health), W. D. S. MacDonald (Minister for Agriculture), and Arthur M. Myers (ActingMinister for Finance) yesterday. Mr J. A. Young, M.P., for Waikato, who was the only speaker on behalf of the deputation, stated that the work of the society, which ho claimed was a very valuable work to tho community, had been established and developed by voluntary effort, and he regretted that a certain feeling of disquiet had been aroused by tho letter sent to thet president .01 the conference by the Minister for Public Health. It appeared from the letter that there was ground for tho fear that it was the intention of the Government to alter the constitution of tho society, or in some way to nationalise its work, thus possibly doing an ay with the voluntary work of members.- He asked, therefore, for an assurance that that would not be done. , Mr Young re. ferred also to the Minister’s announcement with regard to the payment of subsidies—-his proposals that in tho case of branches collecting more money than they actually required for the payment of nurses’ salaries the subsidies allowed should be proportionately reduced and tho balance should bo given to other branches in greater need of funds. He asked for an assurance that .for this year, at any rate, the subsidies to be paid would be paid on the old plan. Sir James Allen stated that the present Government and past Governments fully appreciated the self-sacrificing work nf the society. They recognised that its work had not only been of benefit to New Zealand, but had attracted widespread attention in other countries; and, os far as the Government was concerned. nothing whatever would ho done to hamper the splendid work done by tho society or to interfere with the voluntary basis on which it was founded. Nothing would he done to curtail the Government assistance. AN UNFORTUNATE MISUNDERSTANDING.

The Hon. G. W. Russell said it seemed to him that there was an unfortunate misunderstanding between the society and tho Public Health Department; and there appeared to bo a danger of members of the society getting a wrong impression of the relations of the Government to tho society. He most heartily endorsed everything that Sir James Allen had said as to the good work accomplished by the society, and claimed to have done more than a little to assist that work. Ho had never done anything inimical to the interests of the society. Last year he had suggested certain proposals for the expansion of the society’s work, with the one object only of assisting in a more complete organisation of the society to enable it to extend its operations. His proposal was that the branches should be the units, that there should be provincial unions of branches, and that those unions should elect the central executive, which might remain with headquarters at Dunedin as at present. Tho reason for this was the fear that the people in some districts, by reason of their isolation and their distance from headquarters, might under the present scheme of organisation feel that they were being overlooked by the central executive. NO DISTRICT MUST BEI NEGLECTED.

There had been no idea of nationalising the society or that the Government should take it over or interfere with it in any way. He gave tho conference an absolute assurance that while he was Minister for Public Health no effort would be made to interfere with the voluntary work of the society. He wanted, however, to point out, from the point of view <>f Minister for Public Health, the difficulty of their position. He could not, in his desiro to save iu•fant life, refrain from operating in districts where the Plunket Society did not operate, and the only way to cope with that difficulty was by employing trained nurses through the Hospital Boards. He had a responsibility to the people of the country, and while ho was prepared to extend every assistance to tho society, he had to see that there was no part of the country the requirements of which were neglected in this respect. THE FIRST PROBLEM TO BE TACKLED.

Some figures ho had by him showed that in' the largo cities the death-rate of babies was far greater than the average throughout Mew Zealand. He could quite understand that there were causes which brought that about, but he felt that the matter of the high infant death-rate was the first problem that must be tackled, and if the society was only able to supply three nurses in Wellington and onlv three in Auckland, some other means must be provided by which they could increase the number of nurses who were prepared to undertake the work. Dealing in detail with the financial side of the society’s operations. the Minister emphasised the point that it was contrary to the policy of the Government to pay subsidies when a society had unexpended cash available. If the society was prepared to increase The number of nurses from, say, 29 to

-10 he was prepared to increase the subsidy from J23CHJO to X4COO, on the understanding that if one branch did not require the whole of the subsidy it should divert it to a branch which was in need. All tho Government desired was that any money paid should be immediately devoted to the purpose for which it was paid. For the present year the society was receiving .£IOO for every nurse who had been in the field, and that scheme would not be altered. STATEMENT BY DR. TRUDY KING.

Dr. Trnby King said that the experience of the Plunket Society had shown that there was no such clamant need as the Minister supposed for the placing of nurses in numbers of small localities such as thoso named by him in his letter Indeed, nurses had been establishe,d in some districts, and it had been found that there was not sufficient work there to keep them fully occupied, and they were withdrawn. Dr. King also stated that the society was proposing to applv to the Government this year for additional subsidies, bringing the total amount of the Government subsidies up to Xl-200. That meant that thev would be able to place twelve new nurses. He added that n sufficient num-b'-r of nurses to sunnlr all the needs of New Zealand could he trained at the Karitane Hospital. Dunedin; and pointr,-| out to tho Minister that in every single instance the moneys supplied by the Government bn wav of subsidy had been expended promptly for the purnoso of supporting Plunket nurses. The Government naid a subsidy of .£IOO per nurse, but the annual cost of P nurse was never less than .5183, and in most instances it was .£2OO.