The speaker said the man with a family had the rough end of the stick every time. Parents were handicapped on all sides. Only that morning he had been travelling in a train and noticed a guard worrying a woman with several young children as to their ages. It was an absolute scandal that parents should have to pay on the trains for children that were almost babies. Children appeared to be an encumbrance in the eyes of the State. It was not hard to find the reasons why the country was not being populated as it should. Wherever one looked the children did not seem to be wanted. At one time it was a common thing to see advertisements in the papers by farmers wanting married couples with no children. When a house was advertised to let it was quite useless in many instances for people with children to apply. The children were not wanted. They were not wanted in the hotels nor in the boarding-houses. It was high time that something was done in this matter. What was the good of fighting the Empire's battles if we went on committing race suicide in this sort of way? There was also another insidious cancer which it was unnecessary to name which was eating the heart out of the nation. It was time the Government woke up to a sense of its responsibility.
Mr Stewart said the whole future of the Empire hinged on the rearing of healthy children. People with children were placed under a big handicap. It was only fair and just that the Government should carry children on the trains free up to a reasonable age. It was a scandal and a shame that the man with a family should be so handicapped. Everyone was aware that the Empire's population was being greatly depleted through the war, and if for no other reason the Government should make it as easy as possible for people to rear families instead of hindering them. Mr Christie referred to the baby bonus (5) in Australia, and though he could not say he was in favour of this method, it showed that the commonwealth was attempting to do something to encourage the increase in the birth-rate. He thought boarding-houses should be subsidised by the Government and set apart for the accommodation of people with children. The whole question was a national one and should not be treated with levity. The welfare of the State depended on the rearing of a vigorous population. He would move: ``That the attention of the Government be called to the depletion in the population, and that it be asked to bring in a measure to assist in every way men with families.'' This was seconded by Mr R. Houliston, and carried unanimously.
Female rabbiter
The female rabbiter is not much heard of, the work being of too strenuous a nature for most women to face. But the Oamaru Mail has heard of one in North Otago, and, what is more, she has reached an age of about three score years. She has courageously adopted the toilsome calling in order to supplement her income from keeping and milking a few cows and feeding pigs. She regularly sets her traps where rabbits are to be caught and this means a good tramp daily in rough country; but the reward derived from her courageous toiling is said to be very encouraging. There are few women who would at any age face such a task in maintenance of a spirit of independence.
Stirling riverside road
For a long time it has been considered by many that the riverside road from Balclutha to Stirling should be opened for motor traffic, and the present condition of the hill road emphasises the need for something to be done in the matter of giving motorists a better means of communication between Balclutha and Stirling.
As the result of a petition signed by 23 ratepayers in the Bruce County, and presented to Mr D. Boyd (member for the riding), a meeting was held at Stirling on Friday to discuss the question whether the road should be opened for motor traffic. The attendance was rather small, about 18 gentlemen being present. After a lengthy discussion it was decided ``That, provided a substantial fence be erected, the Bruce County Council be petitioned to open the road for motor traffic.'' At a meeting of the Balclutha Borough Council on Friday it was decided to open the portion of the road under the control of the council for motorists, the road to be properly fenced and protected. - ODT, 4.7.1917.
