WOMEN'S INSTITUTES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13090, 25 October 1935, Page 5

WOMEN'S INSTITUTES.

BUSH-WAIRARAPA FEDERATION.

H A LF-Y EARLY MEETING

Well over 200 women, summoned from Institutes as far removed as Pirinoa in the south (the most southern Institute in the North Island, in fact) and Woodville in the North, gathered in the spacious Hamua Hall yesterday morning for the halfyearly council meeting of the Bush-Wairarapa Federation of Women’s Institutes. The president, Mrs J. D. C. Crewe, occupied the chair, and cl so on the flower-decked stage were the following members of the Federation executive: Mesdames C. Jennings, Makuri, and X. M. Burnett, Woodville (vicepresidents), W. H. Nixon, Woodville (treasurer), R. C. Austin, Pahiatua, (secretary), F. Cowlam (Eketahuna), S. J. Hobbs (Hamua), E. C. Jolly (Nlartinborough), F. W. Joblin (dadstone), E. 1). McLachlan (Mount Bruce), P. R. Welch (KaitunaFer n ridge) and T. A. Weston (Alfredton).

The meeting formally opened "with the “Ode to Friendship,” the aspirations and a prayer for peace and afterwards a welcome was extended to the district by the chairman of the Eketahuna County Council, Mr J. B. Carruthers, the “unofficial Mayor” of Hamua. He said that Hamua was rich in past history but that day was making new history with such an unique gathering of women Never before laid Hamua experienced such a distinguished gathering. He referred to the, fact that Institutes were not a new fad but were firmly established now. The movement lifted the women from narrow individualism and gave them a broader outlook. Me finally welcomed the delegates and members to Hamua and >aid he trusted that their deliberations might be happy and helpful. Mrs P. R. "Welch (Kaituna) thank■ed Nlr Carruthers for his able and wonderful welcome to the Eketahuna Countv.

As president of the “hostess” Institute, Mrs S. J. Hobbs extended a warm welcome to visiting members. adding that Hamua felt indeed honoured when the Federation Council accepted its invitation to hold the half-yearly meeting there. Mrs A\ . H. Nixon (Woodville) thanked Hamua for the sincere welcome.

Mrs Hobbs presented lovely bouquets to Mrs Crewe and Mrs Austin, and Mrs Crewe, on behalf of the* members of the executive committee, presented a bouquet to Mrs Hobbs. All members of the executive received a spray of kowhai fxcm the Hamua members. PH ESIDEXT' S W’ELC X)ME.

The Federation president (Mrs Crewe), in her address of welcome, said:

"Again it is my privilege and pleasure to preside at this, the third Council meeting of the Bujsh-WTii-rarapa Federation. On behalf of the members of your executive committee 1 extend to you, one and all, a very hearty welcome and particularly Miss Maddever, of Wellington. "It- is in gatherings such as these, where we come to discuss with our fellow delegates matters which aff< (t the whole of the Institutes* in the Federation that we lealise the importance of holding these Council meetings.

‘1 give very special welcome to tlie delegates (if there are any present) from our newly-formed Institutes— Sol way-Manaia, Cross Creek .■’id Ngawa-purua. This is the opportunity for delegates, especially the n -S I nave just mentioned to dis-

cuss their difficulties and problems with their fellow delegates as the Women s Institute badge opens the door for members to speak to one another without any other introduction.

It was a happy thought of Hamua W .1. to iiivite us to have our meeting here to-day and I am glad to see so many from around this district, as well as other delegates and friends attending. -‘lt bears out the fact that it is in the interests of us all to have the place of our Council meetings c hanged from time to time as it enables those near at hand to so easily have the opportunity of being (present and taking a part in our deliberations. “As 1 have said to you many times, fellow members, vour Institute must be your first consideration and the letter the Institute the more it reflects on the whole movement, but don’t neglect your C ouncil meetings because it is there wo come in contact with, shall 1 Ka y* the true Institute spirit from broader aspect, which embraces the spirit of friendliness, co-opera-tion, home-making and loyalty to one another and we realise we are members ol a great sisterhood—the roister hood ol the Countrywomen of the World. ioel I cannot let this opportunity pass without referring to the action ol the National Council of W’omcn, which represents 50,000,000 (women, m sending through' the -League of Nations, a plea for the peace <>f the world. My friends, I C,k< ‘ to , set ‘. a l jlea lor peace, IH, ed arises, said at every Institute meeting and Council gathfc short leaver this morning a ‘ ter cur “^rations

“Since our last meeting many of us have had the privilege* of attending the fifth annual conference, which took place in Auckland in July. It was a joy and an inspiration to all who were present, about 462 delegates, bringing the total up to 1,000 members and friends. Ihere are now 824 Institutes, 27 Federations and 31,853 members in New Zealand. An informal reception was held in Milne and Choyce's rooms the furst afternoon, but the ii rece P l tlol t was at night in Scots Mall, and oh! what a meeting of and fel low-members. Mrs 1 lumps, president of Auckland Federation, welcomed us all in her pleasant- manner. Miss Ellen Melville (oil behalf ol the Mayor) said that *ne believed that this movement \vas one of the most valuable that bad taken place among women since wo began ‘The Modern Women Movement.’ She stressed the point °k- AVOU J en S^ ttin £ together in friendship, for whom the Women’s Institute provided a social centre and a place where women could go and exPress themselves, hence our Council meetings anc! dominion Conference Sir C'lutha McKenzie, the W.D.F.U. and other organisations gave us welcome. One felt honoured that our Mrs Paterson, being a member ot our Federation, should be the dominion president and thus preside oil such an auspicious occasion as the .annual conference. Her speeches were inspiring ones reminding us of our sisterhood,' the need ot a scheme for country libraries, the importance of cncouragii'g oji young members, and many other words of wisdom and advice Much business was dealt with in the two days, of which your delegates have reported on to your Institutes. I lie handcraft exhibition was outstanding, and altogether it was a wonderful conference and a' great credit to those who had the arranging and running of it. ‘during the last eight months’ 1 have tried to visit many of vour Institutes and have had ~ the pleasure of getting to know you personally and X have been struck bv the atmosphere of fellowship and goodwill at your meetings, which must help the movement . to continue. m the highest sense of the

‘lii striving to keep our ideals we will be placing stepping stones for nitnre generations.

I extend to you greeting and Hearty welcome and a happv meet-ing-hoping you will take back the wishes and deliberations of your Council meeting.” (Applause). Apologies for absence were read T.-°i n : ' H ‘ Paterson (dominion federation president-), ills GibsonVoimg (ot Wellington), Horoeka a "r, Institutes. the halt-yearly report (published elsewhere) was presented. lr ' n commenting on tile report, Mrs Crewe said :

-I should just like to speak to tins report before putting it for your adoption. You will notice that mir committee meetings have been yell attended and I should like to take Alls opportunity of thanking each and every member of my committee for their enthusiasm and the loyal way in which they have supported ine during tile last six months. Especially would 1 thank the vice-presidents, Mesdames Burnett and Jennings, Mrs Nixon (tlie non treasurer), who lias so well looaea after the financial side of our yoik, and lastly Mrs Austin (the lion secretary), who has again fultiled her duties so noblv: also the voluntary organisers for forming die different Institutes and helping 111 *’' ! r ways when needed. •On; drama, folk dancing and musical festival held last .July was a huge success, the standard beiimas one judge said, almost professional, and 1 should like to take this opportunity of thanking and congratulating the different teams " entered. [ hope that our next re.stival will l Je as outstanding and successlul as the last and should also nice to add my personal thanks to Miss Sargent, Mrs Wylie and the committee, who, by their efforts, brought about such a wonderful rc-

" I lie financial statement to be presented to you is, 1 think a verv satisfac-tory one and gives ’ a clear outline Of the manner in which >ve conduct the financial side of our uork. I would thank those Instielites and individuals who have assisted us to be- in the satisfactory position that we are. V\y did not show a t the Carterton Show this year as we did last J ear as the Institute for the Blind wanted the space and we felt that was lor such a noble object ■ln conclusion, I wish von all every success in the next six months that you will all attend vour Federation annual meeting.”” 1 he motion for the adoption of tlie report was moved bv Mrs ' seconded by Mrs Weston, and carried. ’ Miss M. C Maddever, president of the Southern Wellington Federation, conveyed a welcome from her * ,u 11 federation and expressed .svmpatliy with this Federation in 'the los* ot Mrs O. Walker (Mangataitnoka). i • Miss Amy Kane, a member of the dominion executive and president of the Nomad Club, Wellington, dclvered an address on her recent trip to Europe which was enjoyed >y <ill find which will be reported more fully in a. later issue. At this stage an interval was t alien 1 °r lunch, delegates ha vinoprovided their own food while tea ■was obtainable in the supper-room ivhere the Hamua and neighbouring district women had prepared buffet refreshments for those officials who nad not made provision. Cpon resuming the meeting the meeting the Assembly rose to sing the \> omen’s Institute song, a paen of Empire, “Comrades and Friends ” Lh<> wards being by Mrs J Bibby and sung to the tune of Londonderry Air. FIXAN( EK SOUND. I ho half-yearly financial statemeiit was presented by Mrs W. H -Nixon (Woodville), the treasurer" and it showed a splendid credit in hand of £46 Is 0(1.' Miss M. C. Maddever (Wellington i said it was a very remarkabTe amount to have in hand. Jf her

Federation had a credit of £lO they tliought they were well off.

Mrs G. Bailey (Hamua) congratulated the executive on the state of the finances. She thought it marvellous.

On the motion of Mesdames W. Nixon and N. M. Burnett (woodville) the balance-sheet was adopted. telegram was read from the Dominion Federation president, Mrs H. Paterson, of Pahiatua, who is in tlie South Island at present. It was sent from the Christchurch railway station and read:

“A\ ishing you all a happy time. ”

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER. Mrs Nixon mentioned that Mrs Crewe had been the second Federation president in the Dominion and except for one year when she was in England had been a Federation president ever since. As could be seen from tbe half-yearly report Mrs Crewe’s name was now on the roll ol honour reserved for deserving foundation members. Significantly enough this particular Federation had been a stronghold for the Institute movement. From their midst had come the Dominion Federation president (Mrs H. Paterson) and the editor of Home and Country (Mrs Burnett). Then there was Mrs R. C. Austin, Bush-Wairarapa Federation secretary. Federation members were of the opinion that it would he veiry nice indeed if they could place JMrs Austin’s name on the roll of honour as soon as possible. (Applause). Both .Mrs Austin and Mrs Crewe were silent, strong members who worked shoulder to shoulder in double harness. They had really formed the character of the Institute movement in this district to a very great extent. (Applause).

Mrs Austin said she had merely been the mouthpiece oi her eleven companions on the executive. They did the work and she simply conveyed the work to the members. Someone * in' the body ol the hail started the singing of “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows” and ail joined in heartily.

“ r l hank you all for the honour,” said Mrs Crewe. T know J don’t deserve it but Mrs Austin does.” (Laughter). Opportunity was taken by Mrs Crewe to publicly thank the executive for placing her name on the roll of honour. But in point of fact her executive did the work and she got the honour and glory. Mrs Crewe paid a tribute to Miss Maddever, who used to be on the local Federation executive hut was now president ol the Southern Wellington Federation. Miss Maddever was originally a member of the Pahiatua \\ .1. for many years. (Applause). “HOME AND COUNTRY.” Mrs N. M. Burnett (Woodville), editor of “Home arid Country,” reported that the new calendar was on the market again at 6d per copy. Samples had been posted to all Institutes. As far as “Home and Country” was concerned she felt rather like the naughty girl of the familv. “Home and Country” did its best it was not pleasing everybody. Ihe journal, in fact, was the vexed question in the montlilv reports of the executive. Tbe trouble was, one section liked the reports of Institute meetings in lull, which was quite right, but others preferred less ol these reports and more general articles of interest. Sometimes \ ery lengthy reports were sent in hut they could not be published owing to lack of space. The journal was managed by a sub-committee comprising the Dominion Federation president, Mrs C. McCorkind ale Miss M. Grant and the spe-ik-er. J hey simply did their best. However, there would be little ::n----provenient until a new editor was appointed who could “put a quart into a pint pot without having a :v overflow.” Mrs Burnett appealed to the members to support their journal It was published once a month and tlie subscription was only 2s Bd per annum. f -Y''S ('reive said that despite the .net that “Home and Country” was the mouthpiece ol the movement only 0.000 members out of a total of 31,852 subscribed, to it. REMITS. Two remits were considered. The first was from the executive committee, sponsored bv Mrs R C Austin, which read: “That the same II unclose as that- obtaining in the towns be extended to rural electors tor the election of representatives on Hospital Boards, Harbour Boards, etc.” ■ Y, ter som e discussion it was decoded, on the motion of the president, to send the remit (which originated at Wanganui) on to the Dominion Federation executive committee to deal with.

A remit from the Gladstone AV.I. lean: “That all Institute members be urged to take an active interest 111 the League of Nations and its activities, and so help in building up m -New Zealand a strong public opinion 111 support of the League ” Hie remit was carried. ROLL CALL. Followed the roll call of Institute's which disclosed that out of a total of 37 Institutes in the Federation 01.ly five were not represented at the meeting that day. Mrs Crewe said that was very good indeed. Competitive reports were next taken from 12 nominated Institutes, the appointed speaker from each one being allowed a. limit of three minutes. This proved to he very interesting indeed and tlie speakers, each one, pen-formed with credit. The Institutes which competed were Alfr cn ton > IDllance, Carterton, Dyerville, Eketahuna, Gladstone, Hamua, H iikanui, Hastwolls, Horoeka, Ko--111111 and Ivopuaranga. I he judges were Mesdames C. ( ‘‘*ke (Pahiatua) and McCormack <\Uoodvil!e) and the winner proved tv DI a d stone (speaker, Mrs Noil McKay). Alfredton came a verv close second (speaker, Mrs White). I hq judges reported that a written entry ironi Horoeka, in nanticid vein was really the cleverest but the Institute (lid not have a delegate present to recite the activities. ROTA TO < DMPETIT lON. Mrs C. Jennings (Makuri) reported cm the Federation’s potato eom-

petition and mentioned also that now was potato planting time. The competition was for Mrs Crewe’s challenge rose bowl, the prize going to the Institute returning the greatest weight of potatoes in proportion to its membership, each member having been allotted three seed potatoes. Last year’s winners were: eon 1 v ° ma ko Institute, 34 members, 930(1 bs, average per member 27.31b5,

Makuri Institute, 41, lOolbs, 25 7 lbs, 2. ■ Hukanui, 43, 7281b5, 16.91b5, 3. Ihe president of the . Makomako Institute, Mrs W. Eising, accepted the rose bowl from Mrs Crewe amidst applause. Mrs Jennings mentioned that Konmi had also shown a return ot about 181bs per member but the figures had 11014 reached her before the closing date. Some individual members had achieved amazing results. Cue Hukanui lady actually grew as many as 1371bs of pot.a toes from her three seed potatoes. Hie “Ode to Friendship” (in Maori) was sung, also “God Defend New Zealand.”

A delicious afternoon tea was handed round. Two songs by Mrs R. Smart (Mak--1111) were much appreciated. DRAMA FESTIVAL.

A report on the recent drama festival ill Pahiatua was given by Mrs C. Jennings. Instead of one big festival, it was suggested that elimincontests be held, as many Institutes did not compete last time. One contest could he held in the Busii district and one in the AVairarapa end the winners could meet lor the final.

Miss Maddever suggested that the winning team could then compete m the Wellington area festival tor tlie British Drama League. A competition for a lavish turkey dinner was drawn and the winner proved to be Mrs O. Menkin (Makuri). v

Mrs E. C. Jolly (Ma rtin borough) spoke of her work as organiser for the h edaration. In the last six months three new Institutes had been formed: Xgawapurua, SolwayManaia an! Cross Creek. Mrs P. R. Welch (Masterton) retei 1 eel to the rapid development of handcrafts, a branch of which is under heir supervision Community singing, ably led bv M.s McCormack, proved to be a Drignt diversion.

011 the motion of the president, very nearty votes of thanks were accorded these local Institutes responsible for the arrangements of the meeting that day. namely H-i----mua, assisted by the Hukanui, lutaekara, Konmi, Alfredton and Eketahuna Mrs Crewe particularly mentioned Mrs Hobbs, who had not spared herself in any way. Musical honours weie eiithusiastieaUy accorded these workers. Votes ot thanks were also passed to Airs W. Iwentyman and Miss Kathleen r-V i l (« cc ;°mpnnists), Mesdames C. Aw i b,, lat ? a) and McCormack (Woodville), who judged the compepress reports competition, and the

A remarkable display of Federation handcrafts was the. subject of Mattering comment from all sides