Half Hours with the W.E.A.

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 42, 28 April 1933, Page 24

Half Hours with the W.E.A.

Otago’s Programme

JHE W.E.A, in Otago is following this » year a similar line of wireless work from station 4YA to that adopted in the other centres. We have always heen anxious to establish contact with the numerous individuals scattered throughout the country who haye_ interests similar to those of W.E.A. members in the towns. In normally prosperous years, Wwe have organised a number of classes in country towns and villages which have studied systematically a wide variety of subjects of general interest, but even when our finances are strong, the limits to work of this kind are soon reached. and many people are unable to find a sufficiently large number of fellowcitizens with the same’ interests to justify a request to the W.I.A. to organise a full class in remote localities This problem becomes more acute, of course. when finances are restricted, and the W.E.A. therefore endeavours to solve the problem of its responsibilities to rural centres by organising a careful programme of talks. It is scarcely possible to ensure by this method the same continuity and the same stimulus to careful and regu Jar reading as is associated with a regular class meeting with tutor and free discussion, but from some points of view, the wider variety which is inevitable has solid advantages of tts own, The W.E.A,. is especially anxious to get into touch with critics of its talks, and receive suggestious which may help us to choose those topies which are really exercising people's minds. Forthcoming Series Psychological Studies N Fridays during May, Mr. Il. Fergusson, Lecturer in Psychology, will give a series of psychological studjes: I. The Working Day. If. Heredity and Feeblemindedness. III. Genius. IV. Psycho-analysis, There is a good deal of jargon and eant associated nowadays with the name of psychology, but even conservative philosophers are beginning to admit its place as a fundamental science, and a realistic analysis of the presuppositions of effective action in many spheres at once raises the definitely psychological question, "Why do presumably rational human beings not act in a rational manner?" Tt is not, surprising though the statement may seem, very difficult to state in general terms the type of action which is necessary to lead the worid out of its present social and economic difficulties. It is not very difficult even to get fairly general agreement of 4 formal or intellectual character about the trpe of action which is necessary, The real trouble arises in endeavouring to pass over from intelectual assent to the emotional drive which will compel us to mould our acts in harmony with the princip'es to which we have intellectually assented. The barriers which make so much of our thinking sterile are largely psycho logical in their nature, and there is therefore an imvortant practien} and immediate significance associated with the study of psychology in fimes like errs, In other directions. too. the reeetien) stonificanee of psychotogmal studies jis hecoming clear. TEveryone knows from experience that the — efii-

ciency of one’s owu work often depends largely on the state of one’s mind. lt is sometimes convenient to think of man as if he were a machine, but he is something more than a machine, at least in the narrow sense of that word, and if efficient work is to be done by the human organism, its character an] idiosyncrasies must be studied from every angle. ‘If we want to discover the optimum working day, for example, it is not enough to discover how much work can be done in an bour, and multiply the figure by seven, eight, or nine. It was guessed long ago by forward-looking pioneers, like Robert Owen, that better results might, in the long run, be obtained from a, shorter than from a longer Working day, but it is only comparatively recently that psychological study has made it possible to get some approximation to an objective independent measurement of the length of the optimum working day. Public Health QN the first three Tuesdays in Juue, Dr. C. KK. Hereus, Professor of Bacteriology in the University of Otago, will give three public health — talks, deuling first with the problem of water- supply and later with the problem of fuvod-supply in a modern state, It is now almost a commonplace that many of the difficulties which bewilder us to-day are not in essence new, but are more troublesome simply because of the greatly-increased scale on which they are now presented to us for solution, Many of the problems which we settie almost without thinking in a sinall isolated community, with few important or vital contacts with the oulside world, become much more complicated when they have to be tackled in an elaborately organised modern — society the smooth development of shose life depends on the maintenance of the most delicate relationships with communities of all kinds elsewhere. The problems of government are certainly of this kind. It is probably unfair to our statesmen to think of them as inferior in character or in intellect to the giants of the past. The giants of the past had ‘much simpler problems to deal with, and the scale and complexity of modern life call for new methods of approach, new techniques of government and social organisation, which demIntnd an inveutive genius of a higher order than was ever conceived of in the past. These growing complexities are well illustrated in the field of public health, and the extent to which uew techniques are being successfully developed there, in a field which is comparatively free from sectional and group jealousies and strife, is perhaps a happy avgury for the development of equally successful new technique in other and more controversial fields. The Greek Drama A LATER course on Fridays will be : given by Professor T. D, Adams, Professor of Classics at the University of Otago. Professor Adams will intro-

duce the course with a brief talk, and will follow this with a number of representative readings from Greek plays. The W..A. in Dunedin has for a uumber of years now included in the regular programme of its drama class at least one Greek play, and the wide interest which this has aroused has made it one of the most successful events of the year, and has again illustrated the permanent power of arousing human emotion and interest which the old Greek dramatists possessed. Some who were a little susvicious of this apparently "high-brow" stuff have been completely thawed out and surprised to discover this new and unsuspected source of stimulus and delight, New Zealand and the World "Tur relatively unsystematie charaeter of the Otago W.H.A. programme at least has the advantage of making it possible for us to inelude occasionally talks by distinguished visitors who otherwise would uot be available for listeners. Already this year we have had a talk from Mr. EK. J. Riches, the New Zealand representative on the staff of the International Labour Office in Geneva. Mr. Riches was in New Zealand on a short voeca- tion, being due to return to Geneva in time for the International Labour Conference which meets early in June, "The importance of the work of the I.L.0. to such a country as New Zealand," he said, "needs little emphasis. Lahour legislation and working conditions in this country are in most cases substantially in advanee of the world’s average. New Zealand stands to gain, in consequence, from every improvement in labour legislation, working conditions, and standards of living in other countries. The fear of unfair conipetition from backward countries. with low-paid, ill-protected labour, has long been an obstacle to the improvement, or even the maintenance, of standards in advanced countries. It is the aim of the International Labour Organisation fo remove the causes for this fear by bringing about progressive improvement in the conditions of backward countries, and considerable progress has been made in this direction," "New Zealand, as a State member of the organisation, is entitled to be represented at every session of the annual conference, and has in fact been represented on one occasion. T am convinced that this country, with its extensive experience of labour legislation, eould contribute usefully to the work of the econference, and I.see no reason to doubt that the opportunity which the conference affords of getting in touch with industrial leaders and experts from other countries would be of’ yalue to the members of any New Zealand delegation which may attend. "It is only by regular participation in the work of the conference that a country ean hope to derive the maximum of benefit from the work of the organisation, and it is not without significanse that some fifty countries find it worth while to send a delegation every

year, I need hardly say that the Inter- . national Labour Office and the conference itself would welcome that closer |; contact with New Zealand which the’ regular attendance of a New Zealand delegation would make possible." Answering the question, "How far, in actual practice, has the 1.L.0. advanced the cause of social justice during the thirteen years it has been in operation?" Mr. Riches observed: "To put the question in this form is to illustrate at once the difficulty of returning any exact or summary answer. Many of the achievements of the ‘organisation are as elusive, as difficult of enumeration and precise definition, as social justice itself. They escape. observation; they do not figure in statistics; they are not recorded in ‘documents. Any estimate based on recorded evidence alone must ignore these less tangible gains, and must, in consequence, be incomplete. The positive results of the work of the International Labour Conferences are embodied i}33 conventions, of which nearly 500 bknding ratifications have been regivdered to date. Here, as elsewhere in the estimates of results, purely statistical measures are apt to be misleading. Several of the conventions have been widely ratified simply because _ their ratification involves little or no change in national law and practice; others have secured comparatively few ratifieations because they set a standard which is considerably in advance of that obtaining in most or all of the States at the time of their adoption by the Conference, but yet, simply by setting such a standard, are instrumental in bringing about an almost universal advance. Experience suggests that in the long run the real effectiveness of the various conventions is likely toe be inversely. proportional to the rapidity with which they are ratified. Of the 33 Conventions, some 14 or 15 haye resulted in considerable legislative progress. Not all of these have been widely ratified, but in every case their adoption by the Conference has led, fairly directly, to a substantial improvement in the labour legislation of many countries. In assessing. the value of ratifications, it is important to remember that the conventions do not merely formulate general ideas to which the States need only adhere in principle. They lay down positive rules, in many cases highly detailed, such as those for the prohibition of harmful products or dangerous or unhealthy work for, certain classes of workers. The raj#ications of such conventions neari? always necessitates the amending of existing legislation. In some cases entirely fresh legislation has to be prepared, and a great deal of work is inyolved for the Government Departments concerned. All this takes time, so that the ratification procedure is often a lengthy one. In the great majority of cases the ratification of International Labour Conventions is no mere formality; it necessitates a definite scheme of social reform. It is difficult to estimate and still more difficult to recount briefly the extent of the influence which the International Labour Organisation as a whole has had on standards of labour? legislation and working conditions throughout the world. But all close students of the subject agree that this influence has been considerable, and most would say it is increasing." ™~