NBWTA Report 1904-050
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96 OF GUARDIANS AND CounciL In February an the columns of the to secure the return to Urban and Rural URBAN AND ELECTIONS. RURAL DISTRICT appeal was made by your Superintendent, through WAzte Ribbon, to Branches to do all in their power of suitable candidates to Boards of Guardians and District Councils. WoMEN ON LocaL GOVERNING BopDIEs. In February the attention of Branches was drawn to the need which exists for the co-operation of women on all local governing bodies, and members were urged to do their utmost to promote the adoption during the coming session of Parliament of Mr. Channing’s Bill to enable women to be elected to, and to act as members of County and Borough Councils and Metropolitan Borough Councils. The report now presented is by no means a complete record of work done, and for two reasons :—(1) In spite of the earnest appeal of the Superintendent for short reports, only about seventy Branches have sent in any record of meetings held or work undertaken. (2) In some districts it is found wiser for Branches to work through individual members rather than in their corporate capacity. For these reasons it is impossible to completely tabulate results, but there is reason to believe that in many places good educational work is quietly going on of which no record is to hand. The work of educating women voters to a sense of their power and responsibility and of securing the return to all local governing bodies of candidates pledged to promote the interests of Temperance and moral reforms, is essentially the work of the National British Women’s Temperance Association. Until the vital importance of this work is fully realized by all Branches, a great and powerful lever on behalf of Temperance and other kindred reforms is neglected. BertHa Mason, National ROI There Wie Ale Superintendent. Ree @ Reals has, I should think, never been a time when the political side of the Temperance question was more important or required closer attention than in the past twelve months, and under these circum- stances I am thankful to think how much responsibility has been taken off my shoulders, and I think we may all be grateful to Lady Carlisle for having had the foresight to see what a time of stress was coming on us. Personally, I feel that, living so far from London, I could not have undertaken all the work. As it is, the Political Department has taken up many hours of the Sub-Committee’s time, and ail the many leaflets, letters, and pamphlets you have received on the subject are due to them and Lady Carlisle, to whom, and to Mr. C. Roberts, we owe far the best leaflets that have been written on the subject. For instance, I have been looking over minutes of the Sub-Committee, and I find such entries as the following :—June 24th, 668 letters to M.P.’s asking them to oppose Mr. Butcher’s and Sir W. Hart Dyke’s bills ; July 15th, Sub-Committee to help and supervise political questions ; Dec. 16th, 727 2-lb. parcels, 50 sets of Anti-Compensation leaflets, and 50 sets of other leaflets, and 153 book packets—these as well as many others all given by Lady Carlisle and sent to speakers, officers, and superintendents ; Feb. roth, 43 Branches undertook to distribute leaflets, 25 had arranged meetings, 5,000 sets of leaflets then sent, and many more were asked for by other Branches later; April 29th, circular ve Licensing Bill and leaflets giving details of Bill and arguments against it. This all goes into very few words, but it means much work and thought. All the work that your Superintendent can claim to have done is to have addressed a good many meetings on the question. Many Branches have done excellent political work during the past year. I fear the political outlook is very dark at present, but there are signs that the country anyhow is awakening to the dangers and bad points of the Licensing Bill. The Manchester Licensing Com- mittee has discussed it and passed a vote against it in its present form and empowered a deputation to see the Prime Minister on their behalf, voicing their objections and also their suggestions as to how it could be improved. Something on the same lines was done at Liverpool, and various other bodies have expressed their disapproval. Meetings are being held all over the country, and the Temperance Party in the House of Commons are determined to fight the Bill, line by line and clause by clause, and I would urge you to back them up by redoubling your efforts to make people understand what a disastrous thing it will be for the country if the Bill passes in its present form. WORK AMONG INEBRIATE WOMEN. Nine years ago the Duxhurst Farm Colony was opened. The little group of cottages stood out on the bare fields of the Surrey farm, the grass was still rough, and the ground sparsely planted, for all was experimental, the system, the dwellings, the scheme itself. The legisla- tion which has since been enacted was not in existence. State reformatories had not been opened, and drunkenness was punished by imprisonment only, and therefore we set ourselves the difficult task of showing that the problem could be solved in another manner, and we believe that we have the right to say that we have demonstrated this to be a fact. During the past two years, much progress has undoubtedly been made, and the amendments to the Inebriate Act, enabling magis- trates to deal with cases of habitual inebriety, by sending the offenders to a reformatory instead of to prison, is an advance in the right direction. But the very existence of reformatories under the various County Councils prepared to receive inebriates under the amended Act, has proved to us most forcibly that the necessity for such an institution as Duxhurst is most urgent. The State reformatories exist for the recep- tion of police-court cases. It is an immense advantage that there is the Sewer BOARDS 97 |