Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1943. WOMEN ON THE WAR PATH.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 February 1943, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1943. WOMEN ON THE WAR PATH.

A_T a meeting of women in Lower Hutt on Wednesday some pungent things were said on the subject of the high prices of essential foods. It seems to have been made fully clear that those who took part in the meeting are as little inclined as a good many other people in the Dominion to accept the view that all is for the best where the existing control over the supply and prices of an important range of foodstuffs is concerned. Other meetings of a similar kind have been held and it will be interesting to observe whether they lead, as they very well may, to practical and organised action in defence of the' inter-! ests of consumers. It is hardly in doubt that a strong consumers’ league, constituted on a national basis, would be able to enforce a very considerable modification and improvement of conditions which are now, with every apparent justification, giving rise to bitter and extending complaints. It seems likely, too, that the activities of an organisation of this kind, conducted from a standpoint of equity and good sense, would be welcomed very generally by tfte producers and traders concerned. Some deprivations and some increases in costs and prices of course are inevitable in war time, but in spite of a great deal of elaborate and frequently confusing official explanation, most people find it difficult to believe that the conditions in which certain classes of fruit, vegetables, eggs and some other commodities are at present being marketed, particularly in the larger centres of population, represent the best that can be expected.

It is presumably in response to criticism by women that the Government has decided to appoint four women inspectors, one in each of the main centres, “to check up on the observance of the price control regulations and the price orders made by the Price Investigation Tribunal.” Far more is in question, however, than the observance of the price control regulations. What has to be determined is whether it is possible to improve and cheapen the supply of a number of essential commodities without doing any injustice to producers and to legitimate traders. This is a question a nu'mber of the women of the Dominion have every right to examine closely on its merits. It has been indicated at Lower Hutt and elsewhere that they are doing this, and it is wholly desirable that they should pursue the matter to a practical conclusion. WORK THAT IS VALUED. PROBABLY there is little need to commend the appeal .for funds about to be made by the Masterton branch of the Plunket Society, in a house to house canvass commencing on Monday next. In spite of the heavy additional calls made upon It,he community in these days of war, the Plunket Society is being given readily the financial support Which bears witness to a growing appreciation of the national importance and value of its work on behalf of mothers and their offspring —not infants only, but children of pre-school age. The Dominion Council, in its latest annual report, states that in spite of competing 1 calls and increasing burdens of taxation, all branch reports and balance sheets disclose a. record response by the public to the appeals of the society. People in Masterton and elsewhere in the Wairarapa no doubt will be anxious, as in the past, to do their full part towards maintaining this happy and creditable state of affairs. As all who are in touch with the activities of the society know, war ’conditions have made it more than ever necessary that it should be given the financial support which will enable these activities to be maintained and extended. In time of war new problems arise where the health and welfare of mothers and infants are concerned and it is essential that the committees and nurses of the Plunket Society should be enabled to deal effectively with these problems and to give at all times and in full measure the care and help that are needed.

All branches of the work that is being carried on by the Masterton branch of the society, in town and country, are being well maintained and some branches, notably the care of preschool children, are being extended. The society is well and capably organised in all respects and.it -need not be doubted that during the coming week its collectors —a band of volunteers which includes both mothers and grandmothers of Plunket babies —will be met once again in the spirit of generosity which the splendid work of the society so well warrants.