THE WOMEN’S DIVISION

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1930, Page 7

THE WOMEN’S DIVISION

ITS ORIGIN AND ACTIVITIES. ■Some five or six years ago one of the organise™ of the Farmers’ Union during his travels throughout the farming districts was deeply impressed with the lonely and depressing conditions under which many of the women there lived their lives. He discussed the subject with one or two of the more fortunate women, who, while their lot had been cast in somewhat similar conditions, yet had a freedom and variety of interest which had been denied to the woman in the backblocks. And so by conversation, rumination and cogitation, he finally conceived the idea of getting together the lucky little group of fanners’ wives who had accompanied their husbands to Wellington, and told them of these lonely women. He suggested to them that they might write to the women in the distance, for he said that even a shop advertisement in the letter box was like a gleam of life to them, in the monotony of their existence. The lucky women were deeply touched. Their feelings were stirred by what they had heard, and in the moment of climax, one of them arose and said, ‘‘Why not form an organisation.” Thus it was that an organisation was formed and called the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union of New Zealand. For the first year the main activity was a literary one. Then the president, (Mrs. W. J. Polson) departed on a world tour, and leadership was left in the hands of Mrs. C. C. Jackson, Wairarapa. Throughout the year Mrs. Jackson wrote and received countless, letters —letters which opened up a vista of loneliness and hardship and heartbreak that had till then been practically unseen and silent. Women wrote telling how they had had to travel long, difficult miles in all sorts of unsuitable vehicles to nursing homes, where because of their hardships infants were often born dead. One woman had had this experience four times, the last time travelling on a lorry over mud roads, when the conveyance was finally bogged,' and she spent the night alone on the spot. Others had returned successfully and safely, to find that for want of proper care the little one had died. There were many more letters full of sadness, and with the wistful hope that here at last was’ the beginning of help and relief in time of trouble.

It seemed that the most pressing need was that of domestic help in times of emergency, besides the skilled attention of trained nurses where desired. And this help must be available whether the individual requiring it coould afford it or not. Working steadily on, preparing constitution, forming branches all over New Zealand, the division has evolved a practical scheme for giving the help most urgently needed. The bush nurse and housekeeper scheme, first propounded by Mrs. Polson, is a going concern, and as time has passed every effort has been made to eliminate all unnecessary regulations and to add whatever has seemed likely to make for better working, to the original scheme. As membership has become stronger, and the demand for emergency help lias increased, a further step in organisation has’ begun, that of forming provincial executives. These are formed where five or more branches can cooperate in carrying out the work of employing and directing all the domestic relief required in their district, while at the same time contributing towards the Community Chest. This is the central fund of the whole organisation, from which subsidies are given in cases where the. employer cannot pay the housekeeper's or nurse’s salary in full. Advisory committees are elected in every • branch, and recommend for this subsidy those they are satisfied are fit recipients. There are now a large number of housekeepers employed by the division in all parts of the Dominion. The demand for maternity nurses is not so great as was expected, very many farmers’ wives regarding their sojourn in a nursing home as a welcome and only chance of a holiday! The supplying of a housekeeper in her absence, relieves the mind of the “holiday-maker,” and must surely contribute to her better and quicker recovery. Besides this, the principal work of the division, an activity only second to it in importance is that of the Book Club. From the headquarters of the club parcels of books are sent out to members in the far away, who, as far as possible, form themselves into groups and pass on the books as they come and are read. The books are not expected back at headquarters, but are intended to pass on from home to home, until they have fulfilled their mission and sunk into oblivion. The membership fee, like that of the division itself, is 2s 6d per annum.

Other work is done in connection with new settlers . and young immigrants, more especially the Flock House boys and girls, and the division co-operates actively with the Government Health Department, especially in matters relating to children’s dental clinics, and maternal and .infant welfare, and includes also co-operation with the Red Cross Society and the Plunket Society. The division now has a strength of over 5,000 members. The Lady Alice Forgusson graciously consented to become patroness of the organisation and took deep personal interest in the need for its activities, and in the conditions under which so many farmers’ wives and families have to live. The Dominion president is still Mrs. C. C. Jackson.