WOMEWS MOVEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 63, 15 March 1934, Page 13

WOMEWS MOVEMENT

NEW ZEALAND. IDEALS

JUBILEE CONVENTION

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

"A short review of the last fifty -n- years seems to be in order tit this conng ventign, for the story of the Women's Lb- Christian Temperance .Union is essento- tially the story of the growth of the :re woman's movement in New Zealand," of said the president, of the AV.C.T.U., in ;a- opening the convention this afternoon, he "Prior to. 1884, here as elsewhere, wove men's activities were almost entirely he limited to the home, the Church, and ,™ the school, while the right to women dh to higher and university education was )} r only then becoming "a recognised fact in national life." jle ■ The speaker alluded to the- fierce and 110 unreasoning opposition encountered at x" the beginning, to the breaking down of n" traditions of centuries, to women entcrj>- ing business and the professions, and P to such pioneers in feminine emaneipa^ ly tion as Elizabeth Elstob, Mary Wollr" stonecraft, Josephine Butler, Florence at Nightingale, the Bronte sisters, Jane so Austin, George Eliot, and other brils' liant British women. NECESSITY FOR POLITICAL )V POWER. ct) "Parallel with all this, in America, jf Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady j s Stanton, with other leaders, had sensed i s and voiced the necessity for political lc power in the hands of women; through ss calumny and opposition they, worked on, even the Church itself lending a hand in persecuting them," said the speaker, "America, too, had her r- strong sweet singers amongst women writers who saw the Ohrist ideal shincl ing afar and sought to bring the vision y nearer. Of such were Harriet Beccher i- Stowe, author of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' :e and Ann Ward Howe, composer of : - 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'—iinmoru tal productions both." Then came i- Frances Willard, one of £ke greatest women of her century. A leader and ) organiser of exceptional ability, she ) wis one whose work resulted in the f oris mation in America of the Women's c Christian Temperance Union, the pioneer n of all future women's organisations. As t t organised by her the W.C.T.U. was a a prototype for nationally and interna--0 tionally organised bodies that had reh quired little, if any, alteration in ' all I- the years that had passed since then, c- with a comprehensive platform for the r good ofc humanity; A few years later ),• Miss Willard travelled in company with a two friends round the world organising 1 national branches of this union in al- '- most every country. A little later Miss c Leavitt, another world missionary of the W.C.T.U., took up-the work, and ) helped to establish its branches in New ) Zealand in 1885, the first branch have ing been formed in Invercargill in 0 1884. In the. years that followed New g Zealand women sought to carry'on the r- work of their great founder, inspired by the objects of the ."Women's i. Crusade" of a few years earlier which i, aimed to save men- from drink by the .. voluntary signing of the total abstin- !- ence pledge and the voluntary closing I- of the saloons in many American States. VICTORY OF THE FRANCHISE. "New Zealand women quickly found, s however," said Mrs. Taylor, "that, in common with their American sisters, ;- they were powerless in the end against the huge vested interests and other national evils. They became 'convinced • that Frances Willard's attitude towards the franchise was the right one. • Loaders iit this reform were not wanting, and following in the footsteps of • Mrs. Mueller, the AV.C.T.U., led. and • organised by Mrs. K. AY. Sncppard, • began its hard fight for the franchise. Public men of sympathetic understand--3 ing and influence like Mr.- Alfred ' Saunders and Sir John Hall put their whole weight on the side of W.C.T.U. 3 and its demand. And ■ this reform was finally granted in 1893. "But the fact remains that although women had until last year no direct representative in Parliament, • women wore not idle, but worked through men > who were sympathetic to their ideals, and in New Zealand there are many men of this stamp:" From its very inception, said Mrs. Taylor, the W.C.T.U. had been opposed to war as a means of settling international disputes and was the first group of women to advocate peaceful 1 arbitration and international understanding in its place. Public opinion had gone forward a long way now, and groups of men and women everywhere had become organised for the same \ purpose and with the same ideals, including the League'of Nations-and its many auxiliaries. ■ They voiced for New Zealand women their support of and faith in disarmament and their intense opposition to the traffic in arms for private profit which had boon hitherto so largely the cause of failure of the Disarmament Conference. WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT. The outstanding event of this last ] a year had "been the election to Parlia- -^ ment of our first woman represcnta- j T tive, Mrs. McCombs, to whom- they tendered their very heartiest eongratulations and wishes for long years of „. health and service. This was the open- t^j ing of a new era for New Zealand wo- y ( men if they would but realise it and ' e( use the opportunity when it came, as come it would very shortly, to elect f other women members to keep Mrs. Me- -v Combs company. a] "With regard to our main objective, the abolition of the liquor ■ traffic," Mrs. Taylor proceeded, "owing probably to the fact that we have had no poll for nearly seven years, there seems to have developed, even within our own ranks and amongst the people of the T , churches, .a false sense of security, or shall we say, indifference, with regard to_ the strongth and influence of the drink evil in this country. "Somo people might find cause for i[ gratification in the fact that young M people in Britain anyhow are drinking fi, less beer. But if this is to be so countered by the consumption of greater pi quantities of wines and spirits as seems ' probable amongst the more well-to-do t; classes, then the position for the nation is worse and not better. Let us hope | X and earnestly pray that the general run of youth is at last learning to drink less; certainly national drink bills are lower than they were in prosperous G: tunes." . 2f. OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE. sl) The president then concluded by say- kl ing:—"From these few very sketchy remarks it will bo seen that since its inception fifty years ago much has been attempted by the AV.C.T.U., and much has been achieved. Much more, howover, remains for us to do. An immenso tr field of research and education stretches jj out before us; most, of our major ob- v , jectives lie ahead of us still, awaiting solution; our activities, so far from eas- ti ing off, must gather fresh incentive, a new dynamic, a strong and lasting purpose, which will endure as long as man g has sorrows and Christ has work for us to do. The ravages of the liquor traffic are still with us. The gambling evil is pushing its tentacles into every avenue of our national life. Tens of thousands of New Zealand children are still ~ ignorant of Bible teaching and the message of Christ. Thousands of NewZealand children are- being cared for far from the love of home and parents, ]]a in State, church, and private institu- « n tions almost entirely as a result of drink ye and drink-induced condition." | De