NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 199, 8 September 1903, Page 2

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN.

OPENING MUBTING. I PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. The opening meeting of the Executive j of the above Council was h<ild at tr> | Borough Council Ohtimber on Monday -veiling, when there was a good attendance considering the unfavourable etati f the weather, The Oouncil was represented by the president, Mrs Siavwright (Qisborne), the vice-president, Mrs A. R. Atkinson (Wellington), the treasurer, Mrs Hd (Napier), the chairwoman of the Peace and Arbitration Committee, M'B3 Bain (Inglewood), and the scretary, Miss Htndtreon (Christchurch). Amongst the audience were the M*yores«, M<sdaraes Douglas, Gray, and many other ladies, whilst the oth; i vfX was rfpresented by the lfcv. J, IS'. Buttle, Messrs MaeDiarmi), Courtnoy, Vlauodor, Co:corarj, T. White, and ■thers. An npology was made for Mi Roy's absence.

His Worship tbe Mayor (Mr R. Ootk) presided and in corditlly welcoming the Oouncil to Now Plymouth regretted that tho weather was unfavourable to a larger gathering, but hi was sure that as the Press representr,tivfs were present the proceedings would be reported and would bo read with interest by the public at He then formally introduced the President of the Council, Mrs Sievwright. On rising fo deliver the annual presidential address Mrs Sievwright met with a very hearty reopption, After referring to the pleasure of holding the meeting at New Plymou'h and beiog ea hospitably received, tha President expressed regret at the unavoidable abseno? of Mead»m s Sheppard and Daldy, two of th 9 oldest friends, ablest workers, and beal sponkers cf the Council. The work of the Council had for itg aim no; only rescue and relief but by probing to th? root of matters to remove, if possible, the re mote caus.-B of failuw, md the establishment of the radio*l princip'e of success in the now conscious evolution of a humaoi'y travelling heavenward. The International Council had thrown a strong chain around the woild. The golden ml* was their common mo'tf>, th brotherhood and sisterhood of rmn, Sheir creed. Before proceeding to de»l with matters in general, touching refe[•eno was mxde to the los? sustained by the deaths of Mrs Mirgaret Bullock I (Wanganui) and El'zibeth Cady S:ancon, the American advocate of suffrage, whrse 50 yerre work wou'd speak for generations to cumo, and memory woild be revorenced by womet, f all lands an tfcey joined hands foi the good of the worid. Turning to Mew Zealand, the women here were s-.rusrg ! t v g on in the fame Ciusa of freedom and rqujlity. R-plying to an artich i>< Hi. Lyttelton Times, in which the Oi.uuu,'. was advised to orginist public opinio i instead of addressing already converted societies, Mrs Si'V wiight said this was exactly whit they we'e doing to tin extent of present resources. She a's > claimed tint th" Council was thoroughly representative if those whi were in sympathy with is _ p'atform—those whose thought*, desires, end aims were at'uned to the higher evJution of a bi-s ; xua', and therefore a complete humanity. Touchng on a criticism of the Southland p pr on the question of the economic inrfep ndecoe of husband and wife, th« president esked : " Why should every other servile to the community be 'ecogoiitd as of money value, except that of wife and mo'her? Tha overdght was a relic of skvery and an ex'.mplexjf how hard it s-ems for the average nnsculioe mind to get rid of he idei that woman is a mere annex of man. In reply to the argumen hat a woman csull fill no better or nobler plare than thatofagrsd wife and mohf-r, the president rematked hat though this was 'rue and undisputed th re wero many women who never could be moth°rs, and very m\oy i ore who, before marriage, showed particular aptitude for outside work and who, when their children wero grown up, couli bring valuable expeii ences to bear on most social subjects Women were at least carrying men, as the last poll had showD, towards the £al of prohibition. It wns their lesire to kill the trade, not torture it, but it was admitted the Oouncil was not unanimous on this question. The question of education was one chat greatly interested the Oouncil and '.bey were glad to sea the Premier recognised the necessity of increased expenditu e in that direction, as much mire was required for schools. They wera coLcerned at seeing hundreds of p ..unds wasted on rifles, military drill, a!c, and they protested aguast; this f in the rising generation a spirit of milita-ism or any other antisocial bh 3 . The action of the Department in withdrawing t! e provi-ion for sewing teachers was criticised, and it was urged that in schools where boys and girh w-re taught by only ore teacher, prsf( rence should be given to a woman thus obviating the sewingdiffi u'ty. It was, however, contendoi that women shou'd receive equai pay to that given to men for the Fame woik. There was no more cruel in jusice than the assessment of women's work at a lower value than mei.'s. In the work of securing wise and well-con-sidered expenditure, in the work of education and the training of a nappy, enlightened, and self-respecting people, woman's aid was specially necessary, and to this end was Mr Ell endeavouring to get Ministers to redesm their promises of popular election for school ho'ids and committees, as well as hospital boar.ls, o-pannages, rtformatories, and asj lums It was oofc gojd fjr man to be alone, and until he accepted the helpmate provided for him he coald »' articulately express himseF, The reforms ndvocated by the Council wero unassailable by aoy u.biased mind. Already the franchise had been granted the wouun of this colony, and 75 per cer.t, of those reg s'.ered lad voted.

As to tbe social side of the Council's work, it was particularly urged on tho young6r friends to use their faculties fo spread the geod tidings of evolution is well as the serious warnings emanating from modern writeis. It was a pi y that every girl bhould not be bound to earn her own bro>d and te thus equipped to embrace that trade or profession most suitable to hoc tendencies. Th«y would not thereby bi the less equipped for matrimony, a: d was under 'ho Bt.adow of beautiful Mount Fgtuont that the speaker on bahalf of motherhood itsalf, for that Urger life, 'iho sophism that it was man's prerogative to work and woman's t> lova was, in the humbler waltcs cf life esptcially, so absuid that it was surprising it has lived so loDg. Siiice John S-uart Mills' assertion, that man mus; be aroused to assibt the woman's ema;.»c'pation, every year had brought freah recrui's, M. Bois had raid 'hat " tho solution of tho wom.;:i pioblem lies iu work; but one faUil

consequence of the feulal pystem was 'hat when doing equal work woman r was still considered inferior. She will ive cotne this churlish time serving ' [resistance of society by redoubling her ' I ic'ivify, energy, perseverance, and by [compelling men to rfspect her co op-ration. The arbitrary division of iummiy into "spheres" of Übou' vas hur ful and enslaving, etp.?tia!l\ vhen one half was thus handicapped. Tne home would not become extinct, ut remodelled to suit the higher, pur/6r, and happier requirements of thi ige. Iu the animal world the fema'e was usually the dominant pirtner, and in lower species of life the male was non-existent or a mere acnes. Why then this inexplicable turoirg of tables when we reached man's estnto ? The woman's movement then should be litiled by all right-thinking people as ha beat birth of oUr century. The antier advanced p-cclaimrd " equality b.-fore the law." woman's share in piiicil reform. With freedom such independence, such Wider union becomes possible \ also a union between tmn and woman such as the wot Id has long dreamed of in vain. This was a subjict that legislators, preachers and publ c men would do well to study. Sixteen natiocg had federated in •she International Council to repl-ca woman on her pedestal by the side of her mate, and New Zealand is asked to keep her link of the globeencircling chain bright, strong, and serviceable, and to ask for help in that beautiful work waa the objget of the present visit of the Council to New Plymouth. {Loud applause). Mr Courtney considered the Council had paid Taranaki a greit cQuplimect in coming to New Plymouth. As a strong advocate of temperance, he considered that women could do more than trey hed done for that cause. He referred to tb.9 hardships friquontly indicted on women and their courage in meeting misfortune. He considered the Oouno ; l was deserving of every encouragement, and he bopad that their visit to Taranaki would ba productive of good, The Mayor referred to the question of girls being taught in schools. His experience was that girls were not taught to make their own garments and all tint many of them jould do to read novels. He was sura that in country schools where only one teacher was in charge that tescher should be a woman. He could not agree with the contention that drill should be omitted from school! work as he deemed it the duty of all pirts of the Enpire to be prepared for war. He believed that ladies would do far batfef r at home and, a? stated by f .ho Premier he felt woman were far too emotional for such work as reiving on juries, bu v , there was no denying the t'ict i.bat th"» entry of w men in f o public life was now a burning question. Mr Maunder proposed that the thanks rf the meeting be conveyed to Mrs Sievwright for her able and instructive address. He agreed with the President that drill shou'd be' omitted from school work. j Mrs Atkinson (Wellington) ia seconding the motion, said she hid learnt ' something that evening on the point of 1 the lower a imals setting au example 1 in raising the male to his padestal. | She contended that on the trhl of wom9n the jury should be oomposed of women and that cases in which child--1 ran of tender years were dealt with ! half the jury should be tmthtrs. She did cot think women were emotional, but rather-thai they were harder and ' juster. On the temperance question ' she considered that it was the men who were net doing as much as they might 1 and she invited them to become mem- ! b»rs of the Women's Christian Temperance Society. Rev. '"J. N. Buttle, wnile not committing Ks support to thi whole of the phform, boartily supported ' the Society. In pointing to the splendid work of women in hospital nursing, he expressed an opinion that women should 1 be elected to Hospital and Charitable ' Aid Boards. A fter a few remarks by Mr Courtney, ' in which he pointed out the nerve of ' women, as exhibited in the case'of the stewardess of the Wairarapa, The motion was carried with much applause. ' In acknowledging the compliment, 1 Mrs Sievwright said she knew of no grander work for women thin nursing. 1 No nutter what a woman's destiny 1 might be, they would all be the better for being trained in some useful art, ' science, or other scope of work. 1 A vote of thanks to the Mayor ter- ' minated the proceedings. 1 Tbs Executive will meet daily at 3 ', p.m. at the Council Chambers to deal with international correspondence. < The election of officers takes place 1 to-day, All ladies interested are cordially invited to be present at the meetings This evening the Council insets at \ St. Mary's Hall at 8 o'clock, when ' pipers will be read by Mrs Hill and 1 Mrs Brscher. 1 On Wednesday evening the mesting 1 will beat the Town Hall, the subject ' of discu3siou being " The Children of 1 the State."

On Thursday the Executive will be entertained at asocial.