ABOUT FROCKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 December 1915, Page 4

ABOUT FROCKS.

A MINISTER IN PROTEST. SUITABLE DRESSES FOR SCHOOLGIRLS. (•From Our Own Correspondent}/ Wellington, December 12. When the Minister for Education (Hon. J. A. Hanan) was in Auckland the other day he had the courage—or hardihood—to say something on the ject of girls' dress. "It is painful to see many girls with appearances tint indicate shallow minds and the disposition of butterflies rather than the instincts of true womanliness," lie saiil. "Many of these young women who'walk about the streets on high heels and in uncomfortable clothing will actually tell you that they have been to high schools to learn deportment." The Minister stuck to his guns when this matter was mentioned to liim by a New Zealand Times representative. "I know that it is a .perilous thing for a mere man to tackle a question of th" sort, and I am quite prepared for sneers and ridicule from some quarter*," he said emphatically. "But as head of department which is responsible for a very important part of the training of our young people I feci justified in making reference to these silly fashions. Every competent educationist In the world admits that games play a n important part in developing and moulding the character of the child. Every reasonable person.knows the vital importance of the physical well-being of our young people. The provision of proper playgrounds for the schools of New Zealand ls( one of the problems the Education Department is facing at the present time. Yet we And some of our schoolgirls so dressed that they cannot possibly run, or even walk, with ease I and comfort.

"When I see a young girl, just at the growing age, pattering along the street in a skirt no tiglit that slie cannot take a proper step, or in those ridiculous high-heeled shoes, I wonder what her parents are thinking about. Do they really want their girls to ape the man* ners "and habits of the butterfly classes of older countries? It is more important that our girls should be physically fit than that our boys should be, since the mother counts more than the father in the making of the nation. Fashion! Why, I gather from the illustrated papers that these silly dresses are out of fashion in the countries that originated them. The girls of France are dressing for work, and not for display, to-llliv."