ORGANISING WORK.

White Ribbon, Volume 23, Issue 269, 19 November 1917, Page 7

ORGANISING WORK.

(To the Editor.) Dear Madam, —1 herartily endorse the sentiments expressed by our N.Z. Treasurer in your last issue, upon above subject, but 1 would go further. We need not two Dominion Organisers, but three, two for the North Island, and one for the South, and, as suggested by Mrs Bendely, they could change over occasionally. While it took one less than twelve months to work the South Island, I have hardly covered the North in two years. It may be said that there are a number of places in the South Island where we ought tp organise, but the same is true of the North Island, to which there has been a considerable migration of population within the last few years. The absolute impossibility of the work of the whole of New Zealand being overtaken by one worker is a thought I am obliged to resolutely put from me or I should despair. Furthermore, we ought to have headquarters in Wellington, where we couid concentrate our literature, badges, and all other requisites, and which would be a rallying ground for workers travelling through the* Dominion. A salaried White Ribboner would be in attendance during certain hours, and when not on duty there she could organise the suburban electorates. In fact, she could act as organi&er for the Wellington District, h«r place at the office b' ing occasionallv taken by a local member. Tn all these very necessary .arrangements the chief difficulty is a financial one, but it seems to me that this might be overcome. The fact ihat, in spite of the huge sums that have

within the last three years been raised for patriotic purposes, for the second time the annual missionary contributions of almost every denomination show a substantial increase, proves that money is available, and available for Christian work. Palmerston North has just successfully launched a splendid enterprise, and what Palmerston North can do Wellington can do, and in this case assistance would be given by every branch. Miss McCarthy has had some such scheme in her mind for some time, but she is looking for bequests. lam not fond of “waiting for dead women’s shoes,” nor anxious for any respectable funerals; 1 would rather sec my comrades live to enjoy the fruits of their labours. —1 am, etc., M. S. POWELL, Dom. Organiser.

DIRECT LEGISLATION. Proposal that the W.C.T.U. send a delegate to America, also that Miss Rankin be invited over from America. (To the Editor.) Madam, —As the Initiative, or Direct Legislation, has been such an aid to getting No-License in Canada and America, 1 beg to suggest that the W.C.T.U. send a delegate to America to enquire into the workings of the Initiative and Referendum in the 21 States of America where it is law. The delegate could arrange with Miss Rankin, the only lady Stnator of America, to visit New Zealand and Australia. Miss Rankin’s address is c/o the Senate, Washington, D.C., America. Miss Rankin records that first they got the Initiative and Referendum, which enabled them to get the Women’s Suffrage, then Prohibition followed.

Our League is trying to get Mr Judson King, the leader of the Initiative and Referendum League in America, to visit New Zealand. In closing, I beg to state that if the New South Wales Prohibition Party can send a delegate to America to pick up ideas, surely progressive New Zealand can do the same. The steamer fare from America to New Zealand is /40 return. I beg to remain, vours trulv, G. C. STEWART, Hon. Secretary Initiative and Referendum League. Box 4, Te Aro, Wellington, Nov. 3rd. 1017. P.S.—The Initiative and Referendum, known now by the modern name Direct Legislation, means: 1. That all questions like Prohibition, etc., are carried by a bare majority. 2. The State does the advertising of Prohibition or any question submitted. 3. Questions once carried, like the Prohibition question, are not voted upon trienniallv, as they are not recurring. The following proves that the Initiative and Referendum is not a

political question, but simply a question of electoral reform. Extract from President’s report of the United Farmers of Alberta: Direct Legislation. . . . This organisation stands for, and has been steadily working for Direct Legislation, because we recognise that through its operations great reforms can be accomplished. Direct Legislation is becoming better understood, and is rapidly making friends, because it is absolutely nonpartisan, having not the remotest relation to any party, creed, or sect, nor any other political or economic question. It is 1 1) process f making known the will voters. Its advocates are found in every party, and they hold the most varied and contradictory theories and beliefs regarding taxation, tariff, temperance, trusts and other < eonomic questions. . . . —G.C.S.