The Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1926. THE W.C.T.U. AND BEAUTY CONTESTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17995, 4 November 1926, Page 8

The Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1926. THE W.C.T.U. AND BEAUTY CONTESTS.

Beauty competitions, one is bound to admit, are not the only things that the W.C.T.U. complains about in its latest tirade, but as the “ Miss New Zealand ” Beauty Contest is still in progress, and the W.C.T.U. seems to have its facts all wrong, the matter is one of general interest. In the first place, no entrant in the New Zealand Beauty Contest has been asked to produce a bathing suit portrait. There was certainly no prohibition against it, and normal people would find nothing objectionable in the publication of such a portrait. It was simply not demanded or even asked for, although it is safe to say that ninety-nine out of a hundred entrants would have supplied a portrait if they had been invited to do so. The selection of “ Miss Canterbury,” who is at present in Wellington on her way to the final judging of “Miss New Zealand” at Auckland, was conducted in a manner that nobody could have taken the slightest exception to. The fact that the Canterbury judges were Dr Lester, a past president of the Canterbury Society of Arts, and an acknowledged authority on art subjects; Mr Archibald Nicoll, director of the School of Art, and Dr Jessie Scott, is a sufficient guarantee that the competition has been free from objectionable features; and in fact, the competitors themselves would be the first to acknowledge it. The contest was, however, a test of physical perfection—a fact to which the W.C.T.U. takes exception. The inclusion of two doctors in the judging committee certainly had the effect of eliminating candidates who were not in absolutely good health, and the twelve Canterbury finalists were all young women in whom no blemish—not even a false tooth -—was to be found. No objection has ever been raised as to the manner in which “Miss Canterbury,” “ Miss Otago,” “ Miss Auckland ” or “ Miss Wellington ” are being selected. The four South Island young ladies are touring the North Island with their mothers, and there is not one person in a hundred who imagines that the competition, or their good fortune, will be attended by any accession of frivolity or the pursuit of pleasure on their part or among young women generally. Beauty contests, indeed, are an incentive to healthy living and outdoor exercise, and in promoting the physical betterment of the race they are all to the good.

Very wisely, members of the Waimakariri River Trust decided yesterday to postpone the poll on the scheme for the control of the river. The proposal which it was intended to put before the ratepayers—most improperly on the.eve of the dissolution of the old board and the re-constitution of a new board—was the old proposal which had been turned down, mainly because people generally felt that there should first be an exhaustive, independent report. At that time various predictions were made of the dire events that would follow almost immediately on the rejection of the Trust’s flood prevention scheme. Those predictions have been repeated recently with more or less emphasis, but they are empty threats. Even if the poll were carried to-day, the work could not be completed for years. The attempt to stampede the voters failed, and that failure was the real reason behind the Trust’s change of mind yesterday. The scheme of river control is of too much importance to be disposed of lightly. When the new Trust is in office we hope to see it tackling the problem in common-sense fashion, first discarding the persistent notions of its predecessor as to the absolute soundness of the present plan and then seeking the critical advice of outside experts. Independent investigation is the vital thing.