DR. F. TRUBY KING'S PAPER 255 



and well-to-do, as there was on the part of the so- 

 called " poor and ignorant." 



What our New Zealand women realized was that 

 practically none of them had had adequate practical 

 knowledge and training for motherhood, and that 

 this was not a class question but a universal failing 

 of civilized communities. From end to end of New 

 Zealand the rightness of the position taken up by the 

 Society has been confirmed over and over again by 

 the oft repeated remarks of the older mothers, " Oh, 

 if we had only known when our children were babies ! " 

 while young mothers, properly directed from the first, 

 tell us how little trouble their babies are, how much 

 time and worry they are saved, and (in the majority 

 of cases) how completely they can breast-feed their 

 infants. 



The committees were to embrace all creeds and 

 classes, and they were to meet on grounds of common 

 motherhood and humanity, without any trace or 

 suggestion of patronage or charity. As conveyed 

 in the second aim the members were first to acquire 

 accurate information on matters affecting the health 

 of women and children ; and then, having arrived 

 at what seemed best, they were expected to do all 

 in their power to convey and disseminate their know- 

 ledge personally and through the various available 

 agencies referred to. 



To make clear what the Society expected of its 

 nurses I cannot do better than quote the following 

 passage from the printed rules, regulations and advice 

 with which they are supplied : 



" The main function of the Society's nurses is to 

 educate and help parents and others in a practical 

 way in the hygiene of the home and nursery, with 

 a view to conserving the health of the whole family, 

 while directing special attention to the needs of 

 mother and offspring. 



44 The Society is extremely anxious to bring^about 



