RHODES ENDOWMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1933, Page 7

RHODES ENDOWMENT

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE WORK. HELP IN DOMESTIC PROBLEMS. The purpose and scope of the Rhodes endowment was the subject of an address by. Miss McMillan, present holder of the award, at the first annual. conference of Taranaki Women’s Institutes at Eltham on Friday. The endowment left by Mrs. Rhodes was for the benefit of women in the New Zealand University district to provide someone to help women in the solution of their domestic problems, said Miss MacMillan. On her return from her foreign tour she had been appointed to the position. What she proposed to do was to take districts, of one. of which Hawera was the centre, and give each a concentrated dose of home science for seven weeks. She would commence with an organising meeting at which central committee would be set up. She worked through all the organisations for women which would be represented on the committee. One or two public meet* frigs would follow, and then study groups would ensue. For tuition these groups would pay a small amount. Each group would choose its own subject or subjects and get three days of three hours each. The groups would consist of up to six members. A wind-up meeting would conclude the series. Then there was the system of box lectures. Where it was desired to form study groups to function at times when the lecturer was not available material for study would be posted. She proposed starting in Hawera at the end of July or the beginning of August. The further she got away from New Zealand the more she found home science the leading subject, continued Miss MacMillan. Women abroad combined to a large extent to learn how to excel in conducting a home—a fit and proper profession for any woman. The art of home-making was the high profession for a woman in the countries she visited. A Danish girl, even if she could not speak a word of English, was eagerly sought in England. In Scandinavia there was the League of the North, consisting of the oldest Women’s organisations in the world, which aimed at an all-round improvement in the homes. Of the five butter graders in Finland three were women. Finnish -women were tremendously highly thought of, and sex was no qualification or disqualification for any position. In Finland girls studying home science had to spend a year at selected residences. In Norway there was a similar scheme. Ladies of high birth took employment as servants to acquire thorough training so that when they married they could make their homes happy and contented. Miss MacMillan gave a brief survey of what was done in Finland for the benefit of the labouring class, including the provision of garden plots and cheap summer cottages. Home science instructresses were employed in these Scandinavian countries by women’s associations to work on lines similar to those on which the speaker was working. These instructresses gave lectures or paid private visits to homes, They helped the people to keep family accounts, and in one instance the speaker knew the cost of the home had been substantially reduced as a result. All these organisations had their official monthly publications. One of these journals had a specialist wl > worked out all the details of family budgets. Hand-work in the home was much encouraged.