OF INTEREST TO WOMEN Abroad and At Home THE SCHEME OF THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 57, 4 September 1926, Page 17

OF INTEREST TO WOMEN Abroad and At Home

THE SCHEME OF THINGS

(By M.H.C.)

One of the most important Bills which have becomo Acts this session of Parliament, so far as women and children are concerned, is the Guardianship of Infants'.Bill. People are apt to forget that a person is an "infant" in the eye of the law till he or she is twenty-one years of age. Therefore, the giving the mother of the infant an equal share in, and, responsibility for the family, with the' father, is a new and wonderful thing. It will no longer be possible for the fathers of children to take little ones—or big ones —from the guardianship o£. mothers without consultation with them. Those who have to do with social service know that, many a good mother-has come home after a brief absence- —or has allowed a father to take children out for a walk—and finds that tile children, for religious or other reasons, have been placed in other guardianship. The heartbreak of a good and loving mother, suddenly bereft, without- knowing where her dear little ones are, is a terrible thing to witness, and those who control the social service societies will be among the most glad of the passing of the Bill, which will prevent the continuance of such cruelty. The provision of a guardian after the death of one or other parent being a mutualtmatter of arrangement is another good point of the new Act, and there axo other minor matters, which all go to make up a measure for which the woineu of New Zealand should be most thankful. The happy married women.may rejoice for their less fortunate, sisters, and all may be glad that New Zealand has come a step nearer.tb the ideal civilisation.

A writer discourses interestingly on "Highbrows and Lowbrows," and finds very simply the fundamental differences between the two. He says that it is ttie highbrows who patronise the drama.that deals simply and truthfully with elemental things; the other must have elaborate settings, brilliant dresses, a beauty chorus, a big band, and the latest successes from one of the big centres. The highbrow's idea of a holiday'is to walk in beautiful places, and to;put up at cottages or modest inns, while the lowbrow needs a motorcar, a fashionable resort, and hotels of the same kind.' The former finds joy in nature's pageantry and music, while the latter fills what mind he has with outrageous films and the latest danco noises. -He finds that it is the'people "who are close to realities," and come near to the eternal ones, who appreciate art of the simple and fundamental kind, whereas those who are detached from those realities want something which is artificial, ready-made, and meretricious, and which does not touch real life at any time. "For people who are imprisoned in an artificial and mechanical environment" (says the writer):-"there is only one door of escape.*. Only through art and intellect cm they work their way back to the- simple elementals which the crowd disdains." This last saying is a hardi'one, for it points upward to a hard aiid stony path, most difficult to tread, for perhaps the most difficult thing, /speaking intellectually, is the learning to really care for the best in literature and art, when the mind has been accustomed to tho poorest and most showy. The point is, that the young ones should bo given the best possible, and. they will not have any time for the meretricious. A big thing will be accomplished when it is found that people will not patronise inferior works, Cor buy evil books, and this is a thing which is in the hands of the young, for it is almost impossible to alter; the habits and customs of the old. 1;

Writimg under the rather quaint heading "Hard-Boiled," an American journalist says that the philosophy which has bujilt up America is tho robust belief, th^t "most folks will make good, and that over a period of years the country can't go wrong." "Hardboiled '\ people are, apparently, those ■who only look out for themselves, and have parted with their ideals and faith in their fellow-men. Perhaps the people most to be pitied are the '' hard-boiled'-ones, for their characteristics are of -the most unpleasant. They are always i-.pessimistic and discouraging. They vjsit .tbo busy and altruistic worker/ who gives time generously to assist the good causes that appeal to him, and discount everything which he has painstakingly done. The mistakes (according to . the hard-boiled idea) which. tt» has mado and all tho things which he should have done which have not bean donel These are the _ most deadly "people to have on committees, for they are "responsible for the' withdrawali'lof the easily-discouraged and the pelt of the "stiekers-at-work." Yet they seem to get on the roll of most efforts —perhaps for the good of the soifls of j-the other workers, who might "he too . joyous without them. The mipd of the people who can only find faillt, who take a pleasura in it, and who cannot see the good points of another person's work, would make a good special study for the psychologist.

It iajßientioned in a cable message that the dictator of Italy, Mussolini, is considering the' abolishing of all local todies, .and doing away with any kind of self-government in the cities and district's! of the country. In that case, the women of" the country, who have teen given voting rights for civic elections, will bo deprived of the right withou£;even having exercised it. This brings rto mind a mention in another direction, that when a right was conferred on a body of women, very few cared £b exercise it, and many severe thing 3 Were written on tho subject. But ifris a fact that it ia extremely diffieultto get things known to women. Many have too hurried lives to read the newspapers; others have not the educated minds which would make them ds> so; others, again, only read what interests them at the moment, and do not xare about tho bigger things of life. But, in the face of the fact that the big'rthings affect women so serious-, lyj it ia'.only a matter of time for largrj numbers more to awaken, especially as tho education of tho younger generation is so much more progressive than that of the older people. Therefore, it should not cause either disappointment or derision when women do not rise to occasions at- once.