RESPECT AND CONFIDENCE GAINED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2327, 8 December 1914, Page 2

RESPECT AND CONFIDENCE GAINED

[Br Imogen.] „ In the three years that have elapsed since the last general election have been crowded some of the most engrossing and momentous events that could possibly have happened in the history of a country like New Zealand; events that have brought in their train the worry, suspense, work, and anxiety of more than fifty years to those who have been guiding the destinies of the Dominion. The Reform Government, now to office, and hardly settled down to its new responsibilities, has had to face crises such, as never arose in all the long years of power that the Liberal Government enjoyed, and to-Klay finds it emerging from its strenuous tasks with a reputation that has gained immensely in the respect and. confidence of the peoplo of. the Dominion. • While most women who havo followed the course .of its history with *-any degree of interest caunot fail to acknowledge the strenuousness of its task, there may yet. be for them another aspect of its record of office, and that is—what has it done for women, directly or indirectly? The general good of the country includes everything that may be idone to ease the lot of the women, to safeguard their interests, and ( 'to placo every advantage in' their way for furthering their facilities and their work in life. The Backblocks Woman. If the Government had done nothing else but open up the back-blocks country as it has done, it would deserve the thanks of every woman in the . community - who realised in the least degree what the life of the back-blooks woman was. Probably not half the truth can ever be adequately pictured— ; certainly not by the townswoman, who never passes a day -without seeing some •human soul; who has distractions on every side of her, who has not got to face the terrible burden of work and worry and monotony that in so many cases has crushed the spirit, the life, and the reason ont of the back-blocks woman. ' " Existence has been hard, dreadfully hard, for the men who have been wresting homesteads out of the wilderness, but it has been upon the shoulders of the women that the vengeance of the outraged country has fallen in case after case. • It was' roads and railways that were wanted for more than fifteen years of the Liberal regime, and for want of them the finest -women of the oountry were dying from sheer heartbreak, suffering from nervous breakdowns, insanity—all the preventible things that would never have come near 'them had there been even the commonest humanity and consideration shown to . those who were making the country the prosperous Dominion that it now is. , Died of Heartbreak. One of the most tragio stories ihat couldl be told was of a back-blocks wife who for nine years never saw another woman's face. At last, getting ill, she was carried on a stretcher then by coach to the nearest hospital. She recovered, and seemed bright and happy, but it was pitiful to seo how she craved human society, and used to stand at ,the window of the house where she stayed, and, hidden behind a curtain, eagerly scan the ■ passers-by, glad to see human faces again. The' time came when, being quite cured, she waß told by her husbaiid to prepare for going home. All she quietly said was : "I cannot go -back —it'will break my heart." When the day for her departure came she was found dead in bed. The medical verdict was "died from heartbreak." , - That i 6 only one story, and there are so many of them, hundreds of them, and yet one'is told that the back-blocks missionaries could! unfold tales that would, freeze .the blood. It is to women such as these that monuments ought to be raised in. every town of the Dominion, and yet a Liberal Government; a Government that called itself a humanitarian Government, allowed these caged lives to beat against the bans and to dash themselves to death, when it might have done so much to save them.. This is'.work that the lleform Government has been steadily and quietly attacking, and'some of the worst of the hinterlands have had means of communication with the outside world brought into their reach. It is to expedite this work that the present Government has obtained the authority,of Parliament for a million loan, to be entirely devoted to opening up the back-blocks and making life more bearable to the, men and women and children there. Helping the Widow. The reduction of the pension age'for women from sixty-five years to sixty is undoubtedly a boon to many, who, in their 'old age, are faced with the depressing.spectre of poverty and want through perhaps jio fault of thoir own. Of material assistance to a widow who is left with a family (particularly in,'tile case of a large family) is the fact that by an amendment to the pensions law \yhich was passed lust session she is entitled to a pension of £6 a year for every child. Thiß is a far more practical encouragement to large families than were the empty exhortations of • the member for Avon, who was .Minister of Public 'Health in the previous short-lived Ministry; and is a slight'recognition of the debt which the State owes to every, woman who brings the world. .- ' • . , The workers' homes which have been erected during the past three years by the Massey Government are models of comfortable arrangement, and when one comes to consider the rents that have to be paid for very modest,' and often ill-equipped, houses • to-day ~ the ordinary householder, the obvious thought'iß that the' "worker" and his wife whp can get the homes are very lucky persons. The Massey Government has done more in. this way. than anyother Government has done 1 in the time; and ib'-is pressing on with this good " work. ■ '. . ' . Women and Education. ■ •An outstanding reform has been brought about by the Government in the matter of education, one that willchave an ever-widening influence as time goes on. That is the appointment of women upon the Advisory National Oouncil of Education, lie value of expert -women's advice, their outlook upon questions in regard, to the very young children, and the problems that surround the education of-older girls, should be of very great value .indeed. ; Almost more in these'matters than in any other is the woman's point of view needed. One otherimportant point among many others that must not be omitted is the fact-that since the Public Service Act has been'passed a girl who wants an appointment in the Civil Service is. appointed now solely' upon her merits, ■■ not upon any influence that may be brought to bear in securing her the position. .. No woman who recalls how splertdidly the Government behaved when thoso terriblo people tried to terrorise Wellington and other places with thoir brutal acts during ithe great strike call fail to appreciate how different it would have been had a weak like the Ward Government been in office. The law is .the greatest safeguard and protection which women have, and the strikers sought to overthrow the law. Had they not been checked and firmly i suppressed by Mr.Jlassey and his Ministers matters would have gone from " bad to worse, and life would have been unbearable. Evoryone knows how some „• of the cowardly strike leaders threatened to go into the. country and - burn : down the homes of farmers who had come to Wellington to uphold the law ' and whose homes were left in the care of their women folk. It is they who are trying now to throw out the Government to revenge themselves. The women of New Zealand, should feel very pleased to-day that they have votes, and that they can assist to defeat the purpose of these reckless people Known.as the Red Federation. • , What is more, the women cannot fail to bear in mind how the Government rose to the occasion Biiice the war broke out —how carefully they planned and provided _ for the members of the Expeditionary Forces—how they protected us against unfair prices for food supplies, and many other things . Enough has been pointed out to show that the Reform. Government has done much-for the practical assistance and advancement of women in matters that are of direct importance to them. It remains for them to show their appreciation of,this fact on Thursday by icoming out to vote 116 matter how wet it may be nor how inconvenient. They-should not be deterred from votine by any of the trifling difficulties which women 'are liable to magnify into roaring lions in the path. . 6 . ,