HELP THE MOTHERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 201, 20 May 1919, Page 2

HELP THE MOTHERS

PRACTICAL SYJIPATIII' NEEDED. (By "Rona.") liy chief quarrel witli the present soheniu of things is (hat thoujh home aud mother are honoured in sentiment, in dpng, and in story, they are neglected in practice. The niothel''s' sacrintes, hur liriceieis services aro largely accepted as a matter of course. 1 Mother is everybody's servant, but she is oil nobody's pay roll. -Mother is no bargainer inlove's market, but is it right that so much of her precious time should bo spent iii the ceaseless struggle to keep pace with her work? - Is it right that so much of her precious thoughts should be spent in tho uiero sordid struggle to make ends meet? Tho world is presumably run for tho benefit of bachelors . and spinsters. Tho family man gets no concession. from tho ■State or from his employer, and tho landlord refuses to have anything to do with him; as for mother, if she has to travel by tram or train sh& and. her littlo ones are regarded as nuisances, especially if any of the little ones are misguided enough to cry. If she wants a moal, ladies' rooms are upstairs, and ' the "pram" stays on the street! If she is tired she can pay for. a 6eat in the "pictures," where her presence is accepted without enthusiasm, though the film producers are adept at commercialising tlio motherhood sentiment.

Everyone can see that mothers need more practical sympathy to enablo them to discharge their duties to home and children and State. The housing difficulty can only he met by generous loans from the Government. and municipalities that will enable working' meu ,to build their owp homes. The domestic help problem is acute, and the only scheme that promises any relief is one whereby "workers shall have regular hours, say, from 8 till 12 a.m.,- and from 2 till G p.m., and "live out." A domestic workers' hostel, from which helpers could bo hired for a certain number of half-days per week, would help the mothers who can afford occasional help,- the part-day plan having tho further advantago of : I allowing more than one mother to secure efficient help each week. The workers, who would bo under the supervision of ! the matron of the hostel,- would have the advantages of pleasant living quarters, regular, hdli-liolidoys, and companionship, and a reasonable amount of freedom when off duty. In making allotments to the dependants of soldiers tho Defence Department established a precedent by admitting that a married man roquires more money than a single man without dependants. There does not seem any valid reason why tho family and not the individual wngeearner should ho considered as tho economic unit. §omo such concession in favour of. the father of a family is necessary to make things easier for the mother.- At tho moment tho crying need is,for a lowering in_ the price of life's necessaries.. Raising" wages .is an illusory remedy, sinco the cost of everything goes up all round, and tho second stato of the.worker is worse than the first. Tho remedy lies in. increased production to meet the world's shortage of food and raw materials of all kinds. It is utter nonsense for men in New Zealand to talk:as though the workers wero down-trodden and heartlessly exploited.- Their condition compares very favourably with that of workers in other countries." Such disabilities as they labour nndor can gradually ho righted, as the work of reconstruction-after the terrible years of war goes on. You do not hear of mother going out on strike tor a forty-hour week, and mothor is the hardest worked and poorest paid worker in this counti-y, more, particularly the country mother, who does a share of the j milking or other, outdoor work on the farm. ..

It is impossible for the over-worked, over-worried mother to preserve her health and strength. The mother's ill'iealth affects tho babies, and then you havo things going round,in a dreadful circle, from which practical help from the outside can alono rescue tho mother. When I hear nion holding forth on women's sphere and' tho'holiness of tho word mother, I' think about mothers scrubbing out offices. and going out "charing" because father cau't work or won't, and lots of 'inconvenient things of that sort, and wonder when men will start in to do some of Mio many things needed to make • the world better for mothers. As .ivays of helping mother, the following might be considered 11) Additional pay for married men, recognising the family and not tho wageearner as the economic unit; (2) State and municipal housing schemes; (it) municipal markets; (4) free school'books; (5) mothers' pensions; (6) St. Helens maternity hospitals in all large towns; (7) subsidised -maternity. nurses .for tlib country mothers; (8) a Lazy Huabauds Act, to induce improvident fathers to provide for their families.