PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Otago Witness, Issue 3403, 4 June 1919, Page 58

PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

ANNUAL MEETING OF SOCIETY. The twentieth annual meeting of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children was held in the Town Hall on the 27th_ inst. The Rev. Canon Ourzon-Siggers presided. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, said that in addition to the matters dealt with in the report, he desired to lay stress on the needs of further action in the interests of children: —(1) The homing question—which implied the protected mother. Only women could make a home. We must beware lest we lost the basis of tho home —tho mother's good health. For this reason he welcomed a most necessary institution to be opened on Saturday—a home which would relievo sickly and prospective mothers of the burden of attending to their children at a time when they themselves needed every attention. Orphanages were of value for childlife, when there was no home, but if the mothers were not cared for there would be no children. (2) Allied to this was the importance of the State making some allowance to deserving mothers where the minimum wage of a careful man was not sufficient —this not of charity, but as of right. „ (3) Here he would mention that inasmuch as soldiers' widows and epidemio widows had reasonable pensions, the State had committed itself to the principle that a widow should have about 30s a week, hence the allowance for widows other than the abovementioned needed to be increased. Returning to the question of childlife, the speaker said that life was a chain of living links, each link being important. We had been neglectful of some links. It might be said that the ■ link from birth to five years of age was well looked after by the Society of Health of Women and Children, but the next link from five to 14, or rather till 16, required a good deal of attention. This he would call the link of puberty and adolescence. During this the child had much leisure which needed watching, for children at that period were tempted by every vanity, folly, and vice. Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements did much for some, but there were a very large number whom these movements did not reach. Then in connection with this period there was an urgent call upon the Government to supervise children engaged in street trading, in work before school hours and in the evening at places of entertainment and elsewhere. This age of puberty and adolescence had less done for it than any other link in the chain of life, and yet there could be no healthy race in the future unless this period had the largest possible attention paid to it. Furthermore, public opinion on tho_ subject of morals at the end of this period was rotten. Lapse into immorality was regarded too lightly, instead' of being viewed as sjn against the laws of God and the human race. We needed an entire change of opinion on the moral question. A people with lax ideas on the marriage tie and on the sexual question was a people doomed to destruction. Apart from the ethical question, the well-being of the future citizens of the State was at stake. It was satisfactory to know that the supervision by probation officers was working well in the dominion. It was a blot on our administration that the Minister insists that orphans of those who died in the epidemio must be committed by the court to an industrial institution. Reason and sympathy for the orphans should have prevented such unfeeling treatment. The guardianship of the orphans could have been easily arranged otherwise. The president paid a high tribute to the work of the secretary (Mrs AnsellHodson). whose absence from illness all regretted.

The Mayor (Mr W. Begg) seconded the motion and referred to the promises made by the Legislature as to the establishment of patrol work by womem These promises had been "kept steadily in view." and his advice was that the society should keep on agitatincr for their fulfilment.. 1 he Hen. G W Thomson spoke in support of the excellent work done. He emphasised the necessity for patrol work by women, and said they would achieve greater success if they kept hammering away at the Minister. The Rev. Oanon Nevill f=aid that in New Zealand there one difficulty to contend with, and that was young n'rls being about tho streets at night. Another difficulty was climatic conditions which permitted young girls to be about. A further difficulty was the class of houses resided in; particularly

in connection with the working classes. In a house of four or five rooms everything that was said could be heard, and as soon as boys and girls, got old enough they \-er.t out into Princes street, which became their "drawing room." ]t v.-as there they took their pleasures They could not jrot them at home. Out .'lere there v.-as a danger with the climate, and tho conditions of the homo that home life would disappear. We wanted to adopt our* methods to the open air life He agreed wiKi the establishment of women patrols as a principle, but that was like applying the ointment to r.he pimple when the disease "-as inside. Th<;y wanted so teach what the real sanctity of home life consisted in.

Mr R. Gilkison said he did not agree with the tone of the report or with the remarks made. He did not believe we wero on the down grade, and he did not believe that Dunedin was worse than other cities. He never felt so proud of New Zealand as he did now. It seemed with regard to unmanageable daughters that the daughter was not so much to blame as the parents, and it was the parents who wanted to be taught. Mr J. M. Galiaway said the society might forget that there was such a thing in the world as human nature. He did not think our boys and girls were worse than others, and it seamed to him that they had to recognise that boys and girls must have some healthy amusement. It was absurd to say that they must stay at home and keep themselves amused. In high class society boys and girls mixed and had dances, and why did not our societies provide such a thing for our beys and girls?

TJie Chairman said they must not think that because they wanted to make the boys and girls of Dunedin better, that they thought badly of them. They wanted to niako them better than they were. The motion was carried.

Mr Duncan Wright, in proposing the Rev. Canon Curzon-Siggera as president, said that the outlook was far from promising, and was such as to cause deep humiliation. Parents and guardians had failed in their duty in controlling younjr people. Fathers and mothers had not backed up the efforts of devoted men and women.

The Rev. Canon Curzon-Siggers was reelected president, and the following officebearers were also elected:—Vice-presidents, Mr J. M. Gallaway and Miss Sim; treasurer, Dr Siedeberg; secretary, Mrs - AnsellHodson; committee —the Rev. V. G. B. King, the Rev. Charles Dallaston, Mr Duncan Wright, Misses Stewart and Runciman, Mesdames H. L. Ferguson, Gordon, Jackson, Stone, Foster, and Dovey, the Rev. E. A. Axelsen, Staff-captain Park, and Adjutant Baker; hon. solicitors —Messrs A. S. Adams, R. Gilkison, C. G. White, J. B. Callan, W. L. Moore, J. R. Lemon, and H. Brasch. Mr Gallaway moved that it be a recpmmendation to the committee to inquire into the boarding arrangements for girls living away from home. . '__.'_, . The Hon. Mr Thomson said the Y.W.C.A. was • going into that. The motion was carried, and the customary votes of thanks concluded the meeting.