LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3853, 17 January 1928, Page 18

LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

A GROWING ORGANISATION ADDRESS BY LADY ALICE FERGUSSON. “This is age when things regarding the home and home life have become unsettled in many ways. It is partly owing to the enormous upheaval of the Great War, but it had begun a little before that. There have been very quick and sudden changes, and undreamed-of development in the liberty and freedom among young people. Many women need to do a lot of clear thinking to readjust their principles. So much is criticised to-day th.it used to be taken for granted; all round us old convictions and ideas have been shaken, and things have got to be taken on a different plane. It is surely commonsense to gain what help we can by joining others who are seeking guidance.' Lady Alice Fergusson, who addressed the League of Mothers in the Y.M.C.A. hall on Friday afternoon, described, with these words, one of the principal objects of the organisation that she is working to strengthen. When in Dunedin 1G months ago she addressed a gathering of women, and was instrumental in having a branch of the league formed. Her address on Friday was delivered for the benefit of new and intending members ol what is now a flourishing centre of the league.

The attendance was a large one. and the meeting was presided over by Mrs C. North. Mesdames Fergus, Taverner, Falton (president of the Church of England Mothers’ Union!, and Richards were also seated on the platform.

“ It is a great inspiration to us to know that the first lady of the land is taking such a great and active interest in the League of Mothers,” said Mrs North, in welcoming Lady Alice Fergusson to the meeting. She added that previous Governor-Generals of New Zealand and their wives had not taken the same interest in the spiritual welfare of the country, but Lady Alice was doing her utmost among women in every centre. The League of Mothers came into being through the interest she had taken, and the part she had played. Its ideals were particularly high—so high that its members would indeed be perfect if they acted up to them to the letter. They were ideals of a moral, physical, and spiritual kind, worthy of the earnest study of every mother. in these days of stress ana strain, mothers were apt. to let religion lose the place it should occupy. Each wished her son to get on in the world—to secure for himself a good income—but how many mothers could say that they had taught their sons to help others;. to work for them and assist them? It was exceedingly difficult to give the spiritual side its full value, but in starting the league, Lady Alice Fergusson desired New Zealand mothers to place spiritual things first. Their object was to feel that they were members of one big sisterhood rather than of one particular church.

In beginning her address Lady Alice Fergusson said that her visit to Dunedin, though short, was well worth while, especially as she had been enabled to meet those interested in the League of Mothers—a society in which she took a very real md deep interest. Although in a way she had been instrumental in its organisation in New Zealand, it owed its existence to the Mothers’ Union, which had been going on for a long time. It was because she had seen the benefits of the Mothers’ Union, and had been herself a member of the Scottish Mothers’ Union, that she had turned her attention to the formation of the league. Since she had explained the ideals and aims of the league to Dunedin women 16 months ago it had grown considerably. At that time there had been 10 branches in existence—four in Wellington and six in Auckland. To-day there were 34 branches, with a membership of over 1100, and she had heard of another branch which was being formed. After leaving Dunedin she would address a preliminary meeting at Invercargill with a view to setting the movement on foot in Southland. In her opinion, the league could claim fair progress, a fact that showed that it was filling a felt want. Lady Alice said she had found that it was necessary to explain the objects of the league to mothers generally. Some people fancied that their houses would be invaded by people who wanted to show them how to bring up their children, while others, when asked to join, said that they did not care for prayer meetings. These objections were, however, groundless. The league was a religious society, and opened -with a prayer, but the members did not visit homes to tell people how to bring up their children. The purpose of the League of Mothers was a very great and noble one. Its members were asked to devote themselves to realising and helping others to realise the very highest meaning of marriage, womanhood, and motherhood. The influence and beauty of home life was, perhaps, at its best during the Victorian age. Before all women lay the task of making the Georgian age equally or still more beautiful, but not the same. They could not put the clock back and make it the same without being regarded as hopeless back numbers. They had to go forward with the times, but at the same time _ see that the essential truths and principles were held fast in the scheme of home life and the upbringing of children. They had got to see that the good was kept, and used and adapted in the light of modern knowledge and modern conditions.

When two young people had on their hands the responsibility of training a soul it was often the mother who had the chief share of the work. Very often she was little more than a' child herself when she began this great task. It could be taken for granted that the ordinary mother did her best for her children in the way of feeding and clothing them, but it was obvious that her responsibilities did not begin and end with her children’s bodies. She had minds, to teach, characters to mould, and souls to train. It was not as if she could practice on a dummy family first, or bring up someone else’s children

as an experiment. She had one chance, and one chance only, to train her family, and no mother worthy of the name had ever finished learning. Lady Alice Fergusson stressed the point that the League of Mothers was not a Church society, but a religious society. It was not concerned about which church its members belonged to, or whether they belonged to any church at all. It laid importance, however, on the teaching of Christianity to the children of its members. In shirking this duty they were avoiding a duty as real and important as that of feeding and clothing them. In discussing the rules of the league, Lady Alice said that the rule instructing them to teach their children obedience and self-control was very important, because it was a bulwark against the faddist. A lot was heard to-day about the need for a child’s self-development—that he should be allowed to develop his own personality and so forth. In her opinion, the crank and the faddist might carry this doctrine a long way, in fact, too far. A prominent writer had said: “I would never have a child of mine taught to obey, because he who obeys to-day may have to command to-morrow.” It seemed to her that the old soldiers’ maxim was far more sensible: “He who does not learn to obey will never be fit to command.” But, of course, there were right and wrong ways of teaching obedience and self-control.

Another rule dealt with the necessity for parental control over the literature and amusements of children. This was of tremendous importance. She knew that most mothers were busy people and could not always be running after their older children, but league mothers should know where their children were, and should not send them to the “ pictures ” without knowing the type of film that was being shown. In closing her address, Lady Alice Fergusson said that all kinds of women were wanted as members. Grandmothers would be welcome because of the experience they possessed, old mothers and young mothers were needed, married women without children were wanted, and the league would welcome unmarried professional women as associate members. She understood that there was a membership of about 50 in Dunedin, but was pleased to see that the new Balclutha branch was only the first of many throughout Otago*. A vote of thanks to Lady Alice Fergusson, proposed by Mrs Aslin, was carried by acclamation.

Mrs Fulton thanked the league for the invitation to be present, and wished the movement every possible success. During the afternoon musical items were contributed by Mesdames M'Laren, M'Arthur, Voller, and Campbell.