CORRESPONDING SECRETARY'S REPORT, 1914-1915.

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 238, 19 April 1915, Page 12

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY'S REPORT, 1914-1915.

Reports furnished by the Unions for .he last year show a marked increase in activity, due, of course, to the fact that the licensing poll was to be taken in December. All Unions report work in connection with this, and thus provide an excellent proof that when there is a definite object in view, even the weakest Unions arc quickened into activity. The special work done in connection with the poll consisted in house-to-house canvassing, the distribution of literature, and the organising of meetings. Many of tnc Unions he ld a series of meetings for women, when addresses were given by local speakers—mostly women- and efforts were made to secure new members. In addition to meetings of this kind, general public meetings were .ilso organised; while amongst the* most prominent speakers in the Prohibition campaign were our President (Mrs Don), Mrs Lee Cowie, and Mr> A. R. Atkinson. Literature was freely distributed by members, and in some instant es l inions print* <1 and distributed special appeals to parents. The result of the poll goes to show that more thorough educational work is a matter of urgent necessity. No one who was thoroughly educated on the* economic, physiological, and moral aspects of the alcohol question could either refrain from voting or casting a vote against the prohibition of the traffic. And our Unions w ill have to face the problem w ith a new earnestness. The education of the young in Temperance print iples is the* first step towards securing a sober nation, hut a large proportion of our Unions evidently neglect tins department of work. On the other h.pul, some have taken it up with enthusiasm, and quite a number report either that members assist 111 Hand of Hope work < r that the* Union conducts a Hand of Hope or a L.T.L. An increasing number of Unions offer prizes for Temperance essays on the subject of the Temperance wall sheets, and in most cases seem to have no difficulty 111 securing the co-operation of the public school teacheis. The gap between the Hand of Hope and the* W.C.T.U., or No-L icense organisation, has yet to be bridged. The difficulty of forming “Y” Unions and of maintaining them after they are formed has yet to be* overcome. Several Unions have made I rial efforts in this direction. The whole question of work amongst young people will come up for discussion at a later stage* of the Convention, but l would like* to draw the attention of members to the* reports of two Unions which arc* doing systematic work in this direction. Oxford conducts two Bands of Hope, a Senior and a Junior, has .1 strong “Y” Union, and last year gave six prizes for essays. Tu itaprre has two Hands of Hoiie, one in Tuataperc, the other in Te Tua. The Union arranged six soc ial meetings last year to win young

people to sign the pledge, and gave prizes for school essays. ivdfast Hand of Hope, with j 75 members, is also worthy of special m» ntion.

Pledge-taking, .mother means if winning adherents to oui cause, receives no attention from most of oui branches. Only 20 report any pledges taken. These account for a total of 274, Lyttelton leading with 37, while some have kept 110 record of the number.

During the last session of Parliament several bills wire brought for ward, which had a spec ial interest for women. The most notable of these* were the Kducation Hill and the Legislature Amendment Hill. The Kducation Hill provided tor at least one woman member on the Council of Kducation, and in the* event of the women teachers deciding to he* represented by their own sex, there* is a provision whereby three othei women may be elected. The Unions were unanimoq.s in their .q>| roval of these provisions. The introduction of this Pill gave women tt*a< hers an opportunity of claiming equality of opportunil> and equal pay tor equal work, and these demands were supported by a number of oui Unions, and a prole ,t was made when the* Minister for Kducation flatly refused to consider the demand for “equal pav for equal work.”

The Legislature Amendment Hill aimed at giving women the* to be elected to Parliament. The vote on this question was very encouraging. Dr. Newman’s proposal to make women eligible for the Legislative Council was carried by a majority of 25 votes. This was, howewer. rejected by the* Council. Mr J. McCombs introduced a Hill to make women eligible for both Houses, and this was rejected by two votes. If the* voting on this question is a genuine indication of the views of members of Parliament, then the* day is not far distant when the disability at present imposed on women will be removed. T he nomination of women on School Committee s has received special attention this year, and while all the women who have been elected are not members of the W.C.T.U., a large proportion of them are, and in mo t cases the* success of the women candidates has been due to the efforts of the* Unions. In Canterbury, where a special appeal was made* for support on behalf of the women nominated, some 2c) were elected. Christchurch Union secured the nomination of women on 13 c ity and suburban committees, and 12 women wore successful, six being members of the* Unions. This is work that may b<* undertaken by any Union, no matter how 'mall it is, or how scattered the district. The holding of “Provincial” Conventions was another feature of the* year's work. These proved very successful. An extension of the practice is recommended to the* l nions. It i> not necessary that these Conventions should be confined to Unions within the borders of what we are still ac-

customed to call “Provinces." The idea is that several District Unions should combine to hold a Convention instead of ea< h district having one of it> own.

The war has, a> a matter of course, claimed a very large share of attention, and l nions report a great deal of work done in connection with the equipment of the Expeditionary Fe.rces, the making and collecting of clothes for the pool of (ireat Britain and Belgium, th,* collection of funds, and the* promotion of sc hemes for raising special sums of money. At least c)c> per rent, of our I'nions have made this work a special charge* upon their energies.

Some of the brain hes also report having given assistance* to the lluntlc Relief Fund.

The twenty-first anniversary of the* granting of the franchise to the wo men of New Zealand wa> celebrated in a great many rases by the* holding of special meetings, the speakers at which dealt tor the most part with the history of the efforts to gain tin* vote, and with tin? effects of the granting of the right. The Kditor of the Dunedin “Star” rendered a service to the cause of woman’s suffrage by publish ing on our anniversary a symposium of the views of leading men and women on this question. Ihe articles have since been published in pamphlet form. It gives no* great pleasure to be able* to report that our movement is making steady progress throughout the Dominion. We began 1014 witn eighty Unions in active.* work; this year we have eighty-seven. In both cases “Y” Unions are excluded, lit cause only about half send .my report to me. Kikikihi and Nightcaps have lapsed, while Onehunga, Pukekohe, Normanby, and Morrinsville, after having been allowed to n main dor mant for some time, have been reorganised, and new Unions have been formed at Birkenhead. Henderson, Takapuna, Patea, Metf ven, Jnvercar gill South, and Sawyer’s Bay. Ashburton has formed a strong “V” Union, with 27 members. The total membership oi the S 7 l nion is 3371. flood as these results are, they would no doubt have been better still if \\e had had an Organiser at work all the* year, but under an old arrangement. Miss Powell was released for work in connection with the* Prohibition cam paign, and her place was not filled till |uly, when Mrs Mowlem was appoint ed till the end of the* year. Miss Wood head, our Maori Oigai i ser, has been severely handicapped by illness, but in spite of this she succeeded in keeping in touch with most of the old Maori Unions, and formed a number of new ones.

We face the year with a stronger force of members than ever before. We are ready for new work and greater work in our Masters’ service, and this Convention must set us a higher standard of attainment than we have vet aimed at. “(lo Forward” is to be our watchword, and we shall

call upon every Union to do its part in winning the women of New Zealand to our ause. C. HENDERSON, Corresponding Secretary.