HARD-WORKED MOTHERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20930, 8 January 1938, Page 9

HARD-WORKED MOTHERS

PLEA FOR HOLIDAY WITH PAY

Glasgow's first woman M.P.. Mrs Agnes Hardie (Labour) made a very favourable impression when she made her maiden speech in the Commons. She was pleading the cause of holidays with pay for the mothers and grandmothers of Glasgow who have never j even been for a trip on th river Clyde, I which runs right through the city, j Mrs Hardie was speaking in sup- ! port of the bill to make holidays with I pay compulsory for all workers. The ; Bill was refused a second reading by I one vote—l 34 to 133. I In her plea for the women of Glasgow, Mrs Hardie said: “I know many people in Glasgow who have never seen the Highlands. They know nothing about the country, but when it comes to a war they are expected to fight for a country which they have never seen. “I know mothers and grandmothers who have never been out of Glasgow and who have never been on the Clyde. Tney have never been able to afford a i holiday. Those are the people who ought to' have holidays with pay.” Mrs Hardie succeeded her husband, | the late Mr F. D. Hardie, at a byj election in September last, defeating h°r Conservative opponent by nearly 6000 votes. She has had considerable experience in trade union and public affairs. She was the first woman organiser in Scotland of the National Union of Shop Assistants, and for a time was women’s organiser for the Labour Party in Scotland. She was also a member of the former Glasgow Education authority.