A MEMORABLE CONFERENCE (continued from page 27) The second Conference of the Maori Women's Welfare League was held at the Maori Community Centre at Halsey Street, Auckland. The number of delegates and observers attending lay around 300. The president was Mrs Whina Cooper of Panguru, Northland. At the Hon. E. B. Corbett's arrival, all the women participated in a long and high-spirited haka in the best Maori tradition unhindered by the conditions of a well-filled conference room. A splendid performance was given by Mr Te Kani Te Ua who in greeting the Minister said he was sorry to have to welcome him to so outlandish and barbaric a place as Auckland. The Minister said in his address that he could already see the great role the League was to play in the life of the Maori people. The women's work, he said, would be an inspiration to the men's tribal committees, and would put out a challenge to them, and strengthen their organisation. The Minister was anxious that the League should not drop the word ‘women’ from its organisation. A merger with the tribal committees, he said, was not desirable. The women's problems were peculiar to themselves. They were the problems of family life which was the centre of the social and spiritual strength of the people. ‘After this conference,’ said the Minister, ‘you will have been recharged with the zeal of the missionary. Many of you have to go back to the daily grind at your own fireside. There you have the greatest opportunity to help. Remember that you are the mothers of a great race, which over the centuries has survived many tribulations: the migration from Hawaiki to New Zealand and then the impact, the terrible impact of an alien way of life. What wonderful progress has been made! Proceed with the cultivation of songs from your childhood days which take you back to the ages of the past and remind you of your heritage. It is good that your organisation should cultivate the songs and handiwork of your people.’ In the afternoon of April 1 the main work of the conference started. This consisted of the study of five major Maori social problems: housing, child welfare, employment, health and education.

housing problems The fiercest and most comprehensive discussions of the conference were centred on housing. As Mrs Cooper said in her presidential address, all social problems begin with housing. Drunkenness too very frequently results when a husband comes home Members of the Executive of the Maori Women's Welfare League. From left to right: Mrs H. Jacobs, Mrs R. Royal, Mrs M. Swainson, Mrs M. Tamihana, Mrs J. Moss.