NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF WOMEN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2785, 1 June 1916, Page 3

NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF WOMEN

SPEECH BT-HON. G. W. BUSSELL.i] .Ti a great .amount of interest is tyeIS®* ®ken by women scheme .'if too national registration of shown by the largo attendance at t'ho ineeting which was held, in the Newtdirn library yesterday afternoon, and. addre&s-. ed.by the Hon,. G. ,W. Russell, Minister : of Internal Affairs. j 4 'Mts. W. A. Evans presided at tho.ro<jet- , . -m, and in. introducing the Minister' to fthe audience, eaid that it was difficult; for Sua in 'New Zealand to comprehend, I all that this war really meant, owin# t<Uour . distance from the scenes of conflict/, it was therefore incumbent upon nis to V do what we j could to help tho Eifajpiro. 'fhn scheme which was to bo outlineil/that ■ afternoon was one that had a niircct . bearing upon 'the matter for /fevery • woman. " 1 / In proceeding'to discuss his subjebt,the Minister said that although living, so far away ,we were in reality as deep?/ inter- , ested in.'the result of tho war tys'-if wo were living in London, and if itlvere not ; for the splendid work of the British Navy i we would mos.t certainly lavewoeen. at- : tacked br the . German. had , . till heard of the horrors v'cnatJ liad lie- ' |. fallen tlie women of Bvgium ' land : llie |- North of Prance, for rfur Navy ! 5 • that , would have Ken ,the- fajfi- of the i women in this co\4itry. Tlio 'finances of ! Now Zealand Km not been lita .ined ns j yet, butin sr./uase the Government was prepared t</uarry 'out its rckiionsibili- ' ties. ./ ■ lj . : The Government looked for n jjjtn, but it ■ j desired- 7 that these men should, ■do voluntary soldierß, not conscripts, aird the Dill • which, waa beinj discussed in .'parliament ■; -was to provide a. system wh fch should lie behind that of. voluntatis m, bo that ■ each district, town, and outlyj'tnj? district snould do ite share. (Applaiys<!.) Any place not doing its fair share 'would he compelled by billot (this Iml /lofeng to be under the control of the Mfajister, the Hon. 6. W. Russell), to malife, nap the deficiency. The Compulsibn. B Ql'would not '' come into force ,nntil it +ws . necessary. The Minister then proceeded tj> say that lie knew the caseß of wealthy men who would not allow their sojrts to- go to the war.- They saidthe.Gd vote,merit could ?'• take tbeir money,; but tfer would keep their sons. By a specisl't. olause in the ;.:Bill, where nono of these J men have offered, the Minister will '(iave power to conscript the lot of them/. (Much applause.) The Government j'and tho Minister of Deferao were,. pontynued Mr. Kus- ' sell, prepared .to do duty to tho coan) . ry Tvasj tiding drained of : its manhood it had become necessary to :. try and devise some soh'ime by means of ; which its woman couj/d come in. and i ; help ia the work to wj&ih we were oom- - i mitted. As; Ministac ,'Jif Internal Af- . fairs, he wished to esrosss his gratitude ■ 1 for the work which : £nj!t been done by : women in conneotioui'vmh the war. He could say without hesitation that the i work they had-done in.]iegard to the Red :-. Cross arid in. providi'Dir* gifts for' the sol- ; diers was simply. magrjiScent. Since the : beginning of tho war; =6150,000 worth' of : gifts had' been; made j by the women of this country and-sopfc, away to "the men at the front. Thef/o {rifts hail been ' ! Gent to Egypt, 1 to go' iito the-"common pot"—not for New' jHealand soldiers only, ; which, he, was surej *was what t'he women desired. (Applausejil' . . i A largo'number/'of men wero being : drawn from the bHnks, the offices, from • commercial: arid jiuldustrial occupations, and they would continue to be so drawn. • ; . The Government was not exempted, L and members of of military ! age would be called npon like everybody : else, the Govornraojit service, just as i much as "that o£private : employers, j There were eertaiin ' Government services

which, however, would have to be car- ' tied on, such us tho railway service, which could not be subordinated to the': Avar , in- any groat degree, 'l'lio primary (industries, also, hud to be carried 'on, and they could not' be denuded of men. In regard to tile Women's National Reserve, which had undertaken tho registration of the women of tho country, ho hoped that those women who possessed qualifications for clerical work would send in their names as being willing to fill tho places of the men who would bo going to the war. The original scheme of' the Women's National Reserve had been to organise women for general, professional, clerical, industrial, and agricultural work. This had been modified, aiid as farming in New Zealand meant largely sheep and cattlo work, it was not suitable for women. Under tho heading .of general work was placed that of tram conductors, shops, etc. He thought they might .organise a shop-keeping department to supply drapers with assistants. In. regard to domestic work,; there was no need for it yet until employers in hotels, -restaurants, etc., had parted from their, men cooks, waiters, etc. For clerical'work thiero was a special need. In all Government Departments a census was to bo taken of all men of military age, and their places would, be taken by women. Ho hoped that the men when they came back would become farmers, and develop the country. The women who handed in their names for clerical work would be asked to submit to some simple tait to show their. capacity in that direition. It was proposed that classes should be established for the training of the women who are to be employed under the scheme, and those anxious to learn typing, shorthand, etc., will be given assistance 'to qualify. It was further proposed that the Hon. Mr. Hanan should be approached, and through him that the teachers in the schools in and aroundWellington be asked to assist in tho training of those seeking clerical work and so contribute to this voluntary work to the need of the Empire. It was also proposed that one of the inspectors be appointed to undertake the examination of all candidates to whom certificates will bo given for fitness. By these means ho thought the managers of the Reserve would be justified in offering to employers any of these prepared women to fill the : place of tho men who had left for the: war. In regard to the payment for those, services he had no idea of asking the women of New Zealand to provide employers with cheap. labour. If a woman went into an office to, do the work of a man then the employer should pay her the same wages as they paid the man. At tho conclusion of. his address ■ the Minister was for a time inundated with questions from members of the audience. Asked when was the Government going to do something to reduce the cost of living, Mr. Russell smilingly replied that lie was not there as a candidate for Parliament, but judging from the well-dress-ed and smiling audience before him the question of the cost of living had not yet-begun to hit them.

Yet another questioner asked him when were they going to train women to become politicians, to which the Minister icplied that they need only go to Avon to see that women needd' no training to become politicians. One member of the audience accused the, Minister of having stated that he hoped that women would, after the war, retain their old positions. This Mr. Russell replied to by saying he had been misundorstoojl.: ,What lie intimated was that the Government was making provision by means of which the returning men could become farmers for themselves. If they, could, get the men out of the cities and have them on the land they would make homes for themselves and go to the towns to getuvives, a thing which men engaged in clerical work in the cities were not doing. Until the men were distributed out of the cities into the country the marriage rate would not increase as it ought to.

A very hearty vote of thanks was passed .to the Minister and at the close of the meeting several registrations were taken. One girl who registered said that she would hand over all the salary she received for whatever position 6he might fill to the dependants of the man whose place she took.