This photograph of Mrs Joan Stone (left), the former Secretary-Treasurer of the Maori Women's Welfare League, with Mrs Martha Hirini, the Dominion President of the League, was taken at the Annual Conference at Wanganui last year Mrs Joan Stone Retires from The League Mrs Joan Stone, who has been Secretary-Treasurer of the Maori Women's Welfare League for four years, resigned her position last March so that she could go with her husband to Rarotonga, where Mr Stone will be teaching for the next few years. She will be badly missed by League members. Her friendly warmth and sympathy have made members very fond of her, and they have greatly valued the vision and drive she has brought to her work. Mrs Stone started with the League in February 1958, taking over as Secretary-Treasurer from Mrs Mira Szazy, and almost at once she was faced with the task of preparing for the annual conference, primarily her responsibility.

Out On Their Own It was at this conference that Mr Walter Nash, who was then the Prime Minister, suggested to members that they become independent of the Maori Affairs Department—‘Why don't you go out on your own’, he said. They took him up on this, and it was Joan Stone who had the formidable task of helping the organisation to get established on a new independent basis. To learn more about the part Joan has played in the League, ‘Te Ao Hou’ visited Mrs Wikitoria Amohau Bennett, the widow of the late Bishop Bennett and a member of the Executive of the League ever since its inception.

A Wonderful Help ‘We found her a really wonderful help’, Mrs Bennett said. Independence was a very new idea in those days, and in some ways a worrying one. Leaving the protection of the Maori Affairs Department, even with the promise of a Government subsidy for the first few years, was not easily done. ‘Joan had a vision of what the League could be,’ Mrs Bennett said. ‘She saw its potential.’ She knew how to make others share her vision, and her courage. For the first year of independence Joan was in a small office in Willis Street, carrying on without an assistant. Then, after much hunting round town, she managed to find the office in Hinemoa Flats, Hawkestone Street, where the League is now. Soon after they shifted there, Joan had to leave the League for health reasons. Miss H. Ngarimu took her place, and an assistant, Mrs Findlay, came to help. It was Miss Ngarimu who actually set up the office in Hinemoa Flats. Then, near the end of 1961, and in spite of the fact that she had a small baby, Joan took over again as Secretary-Treasurer, and was with League from then until last March.

Knowledge of Administration She has a very comprehensive knowledge of the administrative procedures necessary for the running of a large organisation, and she has as well, Mrs Bennett told us, the ability to impart her knowledge to the people she is working with. She has been sorry that because of her baby she hasn't been able to travel round the country as much as she would have liked, but she always went, and very much enjoyed it, when they called for her. ‘Nothing was too much trouble’, Mrs Bennett said. ‘She's been absolutely grand. She got into the hearts of the people, and they really loved her. Joan doesn't like the idea of having to leave so soon, but she has tided us over, and inspired us to carry on. In many ways, she has really carried us on her shoulders, but she has given us the confidence, by now, to manage without her.’