THE WORK OF THE GOOD CITIZENSHIP DEPARTMENT.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 288, 18 June 1919, Page 3

THE WORK OF THE GOOD CITIZENSHIP DEPARTMENT.

It has often been asked what is the object and special work of the Good Citizenship Department, and there has been a generally felt difficulty in knowing just what should be reported under this department. Every year the same difficulty arise', and the result is that it has never been possible to write an Annual Report which shows clearly what the work has been, on account of the overlapping of the different departments, and the failure to discriminate between the special work of each one. It is easy to understand the reason of this, for when we begin to ask what is the work of the Good Citizenship Department, we find there is hardly anything we can take up which is not connected with our life as citizens, and it becomes exceedingly difficult to lay down definite lines. In this pajier I want first ?o speak of some of the general principles of Good Citizenship, and then to suggest special lines of ac'ivity to which these principles should be applied.

The aim and object of vhis Department, known in America as the Department for Christian Citizenship, is clearly implied in that name; it is to endeavour to bring Christian principle to bear upon everything which pertains to citizen life, to ensure that religion shall not be divorced from our political and civic duties, but that these shall all be guided and controlled by our religious principles. The first principle of Christian life, as it seems to me, whether for the individual or for the community, is the subordination of the part to the whole, of the lower to the higher, which in its highest aspect means the subordination of the human to the Divine. And the second, which is in fact the complement of the first, is that the mainspring of Christian, and therefore of citizen life, is devotion and obedience to the highest we know or can recognise. I hese principles seem to me to contain the e. .ence of Good Citizenship, and it is only in proportion as we make them the rule of our life that we can lay any claim to be regarded as good citizens.

From these basic principles may be deducted certain practical aspects of citizenship, the carrying out of which in all our social relationships would tend to promote that justice, purity, and righteousness which alone can

make a nation truly great. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.” (i) The practical application of the duties of citizenship bears mainly on the externa! regulations the machinery, we might say—by which all civic matters are managed ; one of the first essentials of citizenship is therefore an un derstanding of the laws and regulations for the ordering of the life of the community, and the effects of their operation, of anything which result in injustice or bears hardly on anv section of the community, and of the methods which might be adopted for the prevention of such injustice. (2) Then must follow the endeavour to foster in the public mind a of the need of regulating one’s own individual life strictly in accordance with the regulations laid down for the ordering of the life of the community. It Is only as each individual strives in everything to conform to such regulations, even at the cost of some personal inconvenience, that there can be a balanced, well-ordered civic life, and it is only such individual conformity that gives the right to initiate needed reforms in all such conditions, habits, customs, and general conduct, as are not conducive to the well-being of the w hole.

(3) Another most important point which should hr a first consideration with all possessing the rights and responsibilities of citizenship is the education of the citizens of the futute to secure that the influenc es surrounding the children, whether at home or at school, are such as are calculated to develop all the good that is in them, and to eliminate all evil tendencies, and that their occupations, whether at work or at play, shall be wholesome, elevating, and health-giving; setting before them, almost unconsciously, high ideals and principles, upon which their after live-, will be based and their characters developed in a perfectly natural manner; .end recognising the nerd of right physical conditions in order to ensure right mental *.ind moral development. Bearing these points in mind, it should not he difficult to trace the linen upon which Good Citizenship work should be canied on, and they may be classified under four headings.

1. Study of the Constitution and l aws of our Dominion, both Parliamentary and Municipal. A general knowledge of National Law is necessan for the proper understanding of Civic Law, though it is the lab#r we

specially need to make a study of for our citizenship work, but the two ate closely connected, and cannot b“ separated. I’nder this heading should also Ire included a knowledge of Parliamentary Procedure, Rules of Debate, the* conducting of public meetings, and even thing connected with the proper conduct of all kinds of c lasses and study-circles. 2. Electoral Re form. This ine lades an understanding of the principles of representation, of the defects of the present rneth.His, and the best way to remedy them; also everything that has to do with the carrying on of an election, the methods of voting, and how thev could be improved ; and the details of work in preparation for a poll. One |>oint needs to be specially emphasised here, the existence of the two rolb, the* Parliamentary and the Municipal, and the distinction between them. This might almost appear to be superfluous, but for the fact that even now many of our women do not know of the existence of the Municipal Roll, and the necessity of seeing that their name is placed upon both rolls in order to ensure the exercise of their full rights as electors; consequently, at every Municipal election, a certain number, who have voted at the last General Election, and therefore imagine they have done all that is necessary, find themselves unable to vote because their name is not on the roll. Specially connected with this also is the question of the* representation o* women, the importance of women’s presence and influence on all local bodies, and the need for women possessing the necessary qualifications and having the time* at their disposal, to offer themselves as candidates for all civic positions, not only or. school committees and Hospital Boards, hut on Education Boards, City Councils, and any other local bod*- on which they feel there is work for them to do. Why should anyone feel that electoral work cannot he looked upon as Christian work ; thcr** is nothing in life that is worth doing that cannot be brought into touch with our religious life. It is only so far as this is the case that our work is of real value, and it is because women have the power to emphasise this religious touch, that it becomes of such special importance for them to take a part in all matters equally affecting both men and women. Rut in doing so every care should be taken not to arouse a feeling of antagonism by seeming to advocate a

polir\ in opposition to that so long adopted h\ the opposite sox, hut simpiy to hi ini; forward the woman’s l>oint of view, working in ro-opr: >- tion and not in opposition. Educational conditions and reforms, including everything ’hat affects the welfare of the children, and also of the teachers: the condition of the schools and the pla\grounds, and also of the homes of the children, the moral and physical influences that play upon them and are helping to mould their characters and shape their lives; all these things should be* of vital interest to the citizens of the present, as affectiiiß to so larße an extent the char, acter of the citizens of the future. There is a wide field of work, and one in which women are specially fitted to take a larße share of responsibility, by their intimate knowledge of the needs and requirements of children, and of the conditions most conducive to their free development. 4. Sanitary and h\ Riene conditions, just so far as these at** not provided for or are not taken up by any other department of our UnWn work. This heading w ill include such matters as food supplies, pure milk, clean streets, housing reforms, town-planning, public recreation ground, etc., with the* careful carrying out of any regulations laid down in reference to these things. These four headings seem to embrace the special points to which the Good CitizenNhip Superintendent should give her attention, and which should be reported upon under this department by the l m«>a* It is in the fourth class that the difficulty of the overlapping of the different departments is mainly felt, but a lirrie careful discrimination should get over the difficulty. In even Convention num ber of the “White Ribbon” there is a li"t of che departments of In ion work, and a little book has just beer pub lished, price 4d, “A Handy booklet of the W.C.T.U.,” in which the work of each department is outlined. Hy reference to these it will not b< found difficult to decide* to which department any particular piece of work belongs and should he reported; anything which dm*s not secqp, to belong elsewhere should l>e !*.*.|>orred as (»ood Citizenship work. If Union Secretaries will bear this m mind, it will greatly facilitate the work of the Dominion Su|M‘rimendents at the end cf the vrar. and will also make it possible to gain a much clearer idea of the work of the Union as a whole.

MARIAN’ JUDSON.