SOCIETIES.

White Ribbon, Volume 8, Issue 96, 1 May 1903, Page 4

SOCIETIES.

•fcafiaCanterbury Women’s Institute.

At a meeting of the committee of the Canterbury Women’s Institute, correspondence was received from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Socialist Party to the (.fleet that delegates had been appointed to attend meetings of delegates in reference to the quarterly public meetings. In regard to the first public meeting, it was

decided that the Institute’s delegates should be instructed to vote in favour of the subject being “ Children of the State.” Mrs Sievwright, president of the Nationa Council of Women of New Zealand, wrote, forwarding the following resolution: “That whereas the disparity between a woman’s working week or day and that of a man, the payment of women on holidays, and other arbitrary differences between the sexes, established by the Factories Act, 1901, have nothing to commend them, are vexatious to employers and employed, and must necessarily tend to the rejection of women in the printing and other trades eminently suitable tor women, the National Council of Women respectfully recommends that the said Factories Act, 1901, be so amended—(l) that except as to sub-section 3 of Section 23, ‘ woman shall be held to mean ‘ man ’ and ‘ male worker ’ to inc'ude ‘ female worker,’ and (2) that the work, hours, and rate of pay, etc., of girls under sixteen, shall be subject to the same regulations as those of boys of the same age.” Mis Sie\ wright explained that she intended bringing this resolution before the Executive of the National C .uncil, and *iiked that the Institute should strongly endorse it. The matter was discussed last August, when the Institute decided :— ‘ That this Institute while desirous that the hours of labour should be shorter for both sexes, and especially for boys and girls, is yet opposed to a privilege being granted to girls which may be used to cut them out of trades in which they have already obtained a footing.” Members of the Institute felt that a principle was involved, that not privilege, but justice, was what thinking women weredesirou c of, and it was resolved that the Secretary should write to Mrs Seivwright, enclosing the resolution The subjects to be discussed at the Executive meeting of the National Council were then considered, and the following were agreed upon :—“ Removal of all Disabilities from Women,” “Children of the State,” “ inspection of all Institutions to which Persons are Committed,” “ Universal Old Age Pensions,” “ Municipal Reform,” and “ Women Sanitary Inspectors.” At a general meeting, held on May Ist, furl her arrangements were made for public meeting to be held on May Bth re Children of the State. Attention was called to the fact that official documents addressed to recipients of old age pensions were enclosed in envelopes

bearing the inscription, “ On Old Age Pension Business.” The members of the Institute were unanimously of opinion that this was making the affairs of old age pensioners unnecessarily public, and was calculated to cause unnecessary distress to sensitive old colonists. It was resolved—“ That this Institute is of opinion that an alteration of the law, which allows Crown lands to be offered for sale, is urgently needed, and trusts that a law prohibit - ing these sales will be passed during the coming session of Parliament.” *