PROBLEMS OF TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 73, 28 March 1933, Page 8

PROBLEMS OF TODAY

THE PART OF WOMEN

UNEMPLOYMENT. POSITION

A civic reception was accorded noon today to the' delegates attending the annual.conference of the National Council of "Women.

; The Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) said that the present was the first opportunity he had had of welcoming a gathering representing : all * the women's organised movements throughout New Zealand, and he was very glad of that opportunity. As Mayor of Wellington he was well aware of. the magnificent work done by women's organisations, particularly in regard to the alleviation ■of distress.

Possibly, said Mr. Hislop, one of the subjects to be discussed at the conference was that of unemployment, and he suggested the necessity of the public guarding against over-emphasis .and against becoming 'obsessed with the problem, and seeing only the comparatively large number of unemployed and forgetting the much larger number of employed. A proper':.'perspective \-must be retained. New Zealand was' still producing much, not so much., as in the past, certainly, but far. more were engaged than .were without employment. When: the problem, of New Zealand's unemployment was being considered one must regard it in comparison with the- position elsewhere, for though our position was bad it was not nearly so bad as in many other countries. ..People came to him sq obsessed with •the problem^that'"they, were ready to, suggest all'sorts" of Sneasures which, on investigation^ were shown to be valueless .and would lead to a worse state of affairs than before. ; Many said that things were worse today than they were last year, and that they would be worse still. With that he did not agree. Last year the City Council was carrying just under; 4000 men on relief, works.;''Today, the: figure was, 3470, no .great difference, and showing merely that seasonal . occupations had absorbed some, men; T^he- -figures did show, however, that the position was not worse than, last year and was a little better, than a few months ago. He anticipated that when winter eamo those men.would be back on relief work, but he did not anticipate - that the position "would, be worse, and New Zealand would be able to carry on until the ono thing eventuated that would solve the. problem—an improvement in world affairs. : .. '

Miss Carnachan, the Dominion president, thanked the; Mayoress and Mayor for their charming welcome, and said it appeared to them, a'practical application of what they1 had advocated for so long, the co-partnership of the sexes in working for the common good.' In the present' extremely.. trying times there was niuch to do, and .women wished .-to carry out, their share of the national'duties. The spirit in which they essayed the task was perhaps even more important than the work they might accomplish; The parent body of tho National Councils of Women, said Miss Carnaehan,' was the International Council, linking up j.he women bf 40 countries, and their organisations were thus a real force in the wbrk towards understanding and sympathy between nations, factors which were paramount for the happiness, progress, and prosperity of the world. ■