FAMILY LIFE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26916, 30 October 1948, Page 9

FAMILY LIFE

HAPPINESS ESSENTIAL

CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND

MINISTER’S IMPRESSIONS The Rev. E. P. Blamires who was recently in Dunedin organising a Home and Family Week, a church and community effort stressing family life, has again returned to the city. He will be attached to Trinity Church for six months, and will then go to Australia where he will continue his campaign for the improvement of home life. Mr Blamires recently returned from England, where he spent all the war years, and of this period he spoke in most interesting vein in an interview with the Daily Times. Mr Blamires, who is a brother of that cricketer so well-known to residents of Dunedin, the Rev. E. O. Blamires, has been stationed in various parts of the North Island during the greater part of his ministry. For 17 years he was director of youth work for his church, and over a period of 12 years was secretary of the New Zealand Council of Religious Education which has since merged into the New Zealand Council of Churches. Mr Blamires speaks with some authority of conditions in England during and after the war. He was in Germany just prior to its outbreak and attended the World Christian Youth Conference in Amsterdam in 1939 at which 70 nations were represented. “I have officially retired,” Mr Blamires said, “but I am engaged on the most important work of my life now—the improvement of the home, and family life. This is the basis of all things, for there cannot be harmony among the ' nations unless the individual family life is so.”

There was more milk consumed in Britain to-day than in pre-war years, Mr Blamires said, and there was less actual starvation than ever before. The diet for all was monotonous, but there were not the great extremes between the wealthy and the poor. Food was more evenly distributed and there was less malnutrition now than before the war. Britain welcomed the food sent from New Zealand, especially the fats, of which she was in short supply, but even while short of some foods herself her people were continually sending foodstuffs, mostly tinned goods, to their less fortunate neighbours in Europe. The crisis in Britain, as the London Times had said, was not due to any Government or party but to two world wars and a period of maladjustment in between. It was part of a world crisis, but Britain had a tremendous responsibility to carry. Of the homes in Britain, Mr Blamires said that one third were beautiful, another third were modern and comfortable and were built between the two wars, but the other third, as

stated in the House of Commons last year, were unfit for human habitation. There were 3432 villages throughout the country with, a population of 865,000 without water supply, and these people had to get their water from a village well or spring. The health of the people, however, was never better than to-day, due to a more equal distribution of food, humanitarian progress and concern for human welfare. The infant welfare system introduced into Britain years ago by Sir Truby King and Sister Patrick had spread throughout the land, and was also instrumental in improving the health of the young people. During the war Mr Blamires was stationed at Sheringham, Norfolk, on the east coast, which was bombed 12 times. On one occasion as a result of one bombing, when whole streets were wiped out, he had to bury three generations of one family. Whimsically, he spoke of two of his church officers, a Mr Grief and a Mr Joy. The latter had charge of a church canteen and in the course of a day would serve 4000 hot meals and 3000 cups of tea or coffee. The air raids on Britain had devastated the churches, Mr Blamires said. There were 25.000 churches either totally destroyed or very seriously damaged during the war. In an endeavour to combat the drift in home life, a Marriage Guidance Council had been commenced in 1940 by a Dr David Mace. Its influence had grown tremendously. Church and State were alarmed about the decline in family life. The guidance movement had spread to towns in Britain, and last year there was a conference at which the National Council was set up. This year it had received full State aid. Judge Denning had described the movement as the most striking and valuable civilian movement in recent years. Mr Blamires said he was convinced that the movement would halt the alarming increase in the divorce rate. In 1942 there were 12,000 divorces, and las* year the number increased to 50,000.

In an endeavour to educate the young people, the organisation brought together the doctor, teacher, minister, lawyer, magistrate, social service worker and the parent. All shared the responsibility for a new and better order, and only good could result.