The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1946 21 YEARS OF SERVICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 2, 22 July 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1946 21 YEARS OF SERVICE

THE “coming of age” of the Women’s Division of the Farm- • ers’ Union, celebrated at the Wellington conference last week, is an occasion behind which lies an impressive record of valuable practical achievement. The organisation had its origin in 1925 in Wellington when a small group of farmers’ wives banded themselves together in an effort to lighten the burdens of isolated and over-worked women in the backblocks. Under the guidance of its first president, Mrs W. J. Poison, the ruling principles were set out and a “creed” formulated which is still repeated at every meeting and which voices the high ideals of the service aimed at. How well the early standards have been maintained is evidenced by the nature and value of the work accomplished. Practicality has been the essence of this work. A serious problem facing country women was that in many cases' and in many lonely places they had no help to fall back on in event of sickness or necessary absence from home. This need was met by the provision of rest homes, emergency housekeepers, special nurses and household helpers. In the case of convalescent mothers the value of this service can scarcely be exaggerated. The cultural requirements of women in far-out settlements v/ere catered for by the establishment of travelling book clubs, under the auspices of which parcels of literature were distributed where they were most needed. Another aspect of this service is to be found in the correspondence schools, which have provided educational facilities that would otherwise have been impossible, and in the supply of the Division’s cookery book, whose usefulness and popularity are substantiated by the fact that it has run to nine editions. The community spirit of the women on the farms has never been more impressively illustrated than during the war period, when they gallantly undertook the greatly increased work thrown on their shoulders by the depletion of manpower, not only maintaining production but increasing it. Even women who had earned their rest after years of toil got into harness again and helped the country along. Such service does not carry much advertising with it, but it is fitting that on this occasion tribute should be paid to the wartime service of the women on the farms and of the organisation that stood behind them. The momentum of the movement’s popularity is evidenced by the fact that what began. 21 years ago 'as a small, informal gathering of a score or so of earnest women keen to help their kind, is now a powerful, Dominion-wide organisation with a membership rapidly approaching 20,000. No reference to this influential body of women would be complete without noting the high ethical plane upon which their work is accomplished. Their theme-song makes mention of the need for the community spirit and the sharing of work with one another, and their creed takes the form of a petition to be freed from pettiness, fault-finding and self-seeking; to be prevented from hasty judgments; to be given serenity and gentleness; to realise the truth that differences are caused by little things and that in the ultimate issues of life all are fine. In the spirit of their creed it can be said without reserve that the women of the organisation have kept the faith. It can be confidently prophesied that their splendid record of service constitutes a solid foundation for still greater and wider work in the years to come.