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FOR BETTER RURAL LIVING The objectiVe of the Women’s Instiâ€" tute Branch _of the Ontario Depart- ment of Agriculture is to work With Institute members for "the promotion of better rural livmg”. To further this objective the Women’s Institute Brunch has presented_again the Go- operative Programme in Home Econ- omics, with serVices planned for both districts and Institutes. Copies of the Co-operative Programme have been sent to each Institute secretary but, realizing that the number of copies is limited, We should like to draw to your attention some of.the highlights and to answer questions Short Courses Are Varied Any Institute may apply for a short [gm-59, whether or not they partici- pale in a district proiect. Whenever possible these courses have been limited to afternoon sessions and to only two or three days, This has bee-ii done in appreciation of the 13mm and time problems of busy wo- men everywhere. Full details will be found in the (Io-operative Pro- grmume pages 9 to 11. I . 12 your members interested 1n am of the following timely topics :â€" .\lmlern Dressmaking, Remodelling Clothing, Making the Most of Food, Fwd Conservation, Knitting, Leather lee Making, Quilting, Braided Burs, Furnishing the Living Room, The Time-Saving Kitchen or Health Education? If so, the Women’s In~ .llmte Branch would like to work \nrh you by arranging for a short w r . We should like to reach all in nested women in. your com- munity, too and anticipate that you udl exten an invitation to all. Tin re are some Institutes which have in had a short course, and others ~h have not bad one recently. To llu >9 Institutes we especially recom- n ud these services. \ll applications should reach the In uartment not later than July 3rd. District Services My the time this reaches you your Allsli'ict may have already decided on ll district service for 1944â€"45. All i; WES of service may be held in sev- m .l centres in the district, as, decided nl ilie district annual meeting, but \msrever possible several Institutes \ll luld meet together. It is the re- ibility of district officers and . ctors to support the programme alerted. Careful organization, good publicity and enthusiastic support are. llw keystones for success. Has your district selected a study in nference in Care of Clothing, Wise liming of Clothing or Today’s Food I'wblems'! If so you will plan for an vii-day meeting with a member of the K: of of the Department. Here mem- will bring questions on _these »the-minute topics for discus- Then each Institute will follow lbw with two or more local study \ ratings. I ‘ Possibly your interests may lie in we of the following fields:â€"House- Wlil Accounting (one afternoon), Hl-nlth Education (one whole day) _or utizenship in the Rural Community (one afternoon). All these topics, which are offered as district services, me much to the fore these days. Ipiisideration of them will make both ln tier homemakers and better citizens. Rallies for Officers and Members Have you problems of programme manning, parliamentary procedure, nmanization and administration With you would like to discuss? Th0“. We hope you plan for a one "H." Rally, selecting one or two of the “"185 on page 8 of the (Io-operative l-‘l"l’:1"eimine. There are districts which have not had this service for several years. I’Ul'lniz that time officers have chang- ed. new members have joined and these officers and members have not had the benefits of this serVice. We “Tge that all districts have a rally at least once in three years. The Women’s Institute Branch looks forward to the opportunity to work with you during 1944. in the de- "EIODment of an educational ' pro- gramme for your Institute or district in the interests of rural living. . .,..$ . .. HOME AND COUNTRY HOME ECONOMICS FOR HOME AND COUNTRY The motto of the Women’s Insti- tutes, “For Home and Country,” is a direct challenge to every member of the organization to live daily at her absolute best, to study the needs of her community and her nation, and to see how her home contributes to the iyfelfare of community and national l e. The Co-operative Programme in Home Economics is designed to assist homemakers to meet the changing de- mands of daily living as they arise and to plan for a better post-war world. Let us study carefully this programme and give it our whole- hearted support to make it of the utmost service to every homemaker in rural Ontario. Homemakers Are Economists We homemakers are the real econ- omists of the nation. In Canada we spend 80% of the income. The last four years has put many demands on our way of living. Many changes have been made, many more must be made. Do We face these changes in the spirit of willing co-operation? We all remember very well the acute shortage which preceded the rationing of butter. Many house- holders paid early daily visits to the stores where butter was available in order to lay in a supply of this coni- modity. The story is told of one lady who, finding butter for sale, asked the clerk for ten pounds of it. The clerk said, "But surely, madam, you don’t need ten pounds of butter, do you'l” whereupon the customer re- plied, “Well, no. I don’t need ten pounds, but I want to beat those boarders." When care and consideration for others is replaced by greed someone gets more than his or her share, while others go short. This results in ill- will and faultifinding and paves the way for a dictator to tell each of us what we may or may not have. This is not something the government can prevent. It can be prevented only when you and I accept our responsr bility as homemakers to work unitedly and unselfishly for the sake of Home and Country. Quite in contrast to the greed of the shopper for butter comes another story of a homemaker who went'on a shopping expedition for her family. The grocer, who was a personal friend, said, “Because we're neighâ€" bours I’ll give you twice your allow- ance." “But,” answered the house» wife, “I want only the amount am entitled to have." The grocer insisted, saying, “Everybody else does this." But the homemaker was adamant and soon showed the grocer that it is now time for the homes and tradesmen to set a standard of “what is right” rather than “what everybody else does." The Home Front In the early days of the war hinge lish women issued a manifesto entitled “Women and the Home Front”. In it they said, “We light to conquer the fear, greed and selfishness, which are the ultimate causes of war itself. _Such a spirit cannot be rationed. It is as vital a need as our daily bread, if we are to build a world where we and our children can rejoice in the free- dom and fulness of life. We_deter- mine (1) to carry out the spirit as well as the letter of regulations in regard to buying; (2) to consider the needs of others and refrain from scl» fish hoarding; (3) to make frank en- quiries if we are puzzled by a rise in price instead of suspecting profiteerv ing and gossiping about it; (4) to co- operate with our tradesâ€"people by paying the bills_ promptly; (5) to recognize difficulties caused by short- age of stafl’, to wait patiently for our turn and choose quickly .when' it comes; (6) to take a pride in thrift, to remember that many of our daily necessities are brought from overseas at the peril of men’s lives, and to see that nothing is wasted or carelessly used." As homemaker-s of Ontario and this great Dominion we women, whose motto is “For Home and Country," must fight now to establish nationally the qualities of character, ruggedness, self-sacrifice, faith in our country and in our God which alone can bring vic- tory, ensure lasting peace and build a new world. I hope you have all read in the Winter issue of “Home and Coun- try" the highlights of the meeting of the International Women Presidents in North America, as given by Miss Clarke after her return from New York where with Mrs. Alfred Watt, M.B.E., President of A.C.W.W., she attended this meeting. I am going to quote from the report because I be- lieve we must see the importance of these statements and really enlist in this fight for freedom. “That the two basic principles which the AC. W.W. believe to be held in common by all members were ceded to be fundamental. These are: (1) That no peaceful future can exist for the world in general unless national and international law is based on the idea of Spiritual Power; and (2) That no one generation can own the earth. Each is but a trustee for the gener- ations to follow." How then can you and I meet this challenge? Let me suggest that we adopt a plan of action based on Christian principles after this fash« ion. Call it, if you will, “The Homemakers Creed" We will treat our land as a herit- age from the past which we will hold in_ trust for future generations. We will live daily for the cause for which our sons are dying. We are called on to feed the nation now in time of war, and a starving world when the war is won. In a spirit of unselfish patriotism we will play our full part in the nation's war effort and in her task of remaking the world. We can defend Canada from the foe within, while the men at the front de- fend her from the foe without. Canâ€" ada has no more deadly enemy than those forces which work to break down moral character, to destroy her faith in God and divide her by setting class against class and race against race. When homemakers stand firm and fight for the moral re-armament of the nation, Canada will be proof against these evils. We wil] make our home life a pat- tern for the nation. A country is as strong, healthy and united as its home life. Sound homes in which every member of the family plays his part make sound communities; sounrl coili- munities make sound nations. We will be good neighbours. Neigh- bouring was once the secret of our democracy. Now is the time to bring that spirit back. We need each other today. “Each man for himself" will not build the community or Canada we want. But we must cnch “seek the common weal, the good of all inanâ€" kind.” We will end all private wars. Honâ€" est apology starts teamwork. National unity begins when you and the fellow you don’t get along with straighten things out. Unity between the nations will come only through the same spirit. We will be thrifty in the home. There will be no waste in cash-box, ice-box or brain-box. ' Whatever we do we will always think first of what we can give to the nation rather than what we can get from it. The homemakers of Canada are guardians of the nation’s character as well as of her hearths. “He shall have Dominion from sea to sea" was the vision of the Fathers of Confedera- tion. With our dependence on God, we can make that vision live again as the secret of Canada's strength. (Contributed by Mrs. Wilmer Keyes, Provincial Convener.) .c :WJnx ' .'.|>“ NEWS FLASHES Uttoxeter, Lambton 13.: Have a Food Basket at each meeting. Four or five members are chosen to bring anything they Wish, such as fruit, vegetables, eggs, cream or baking. These are sold. Someone always has something that someone else does not have. Contest: Naming the new On- tario Cabinet Ministers with their posts. St. Lawrence. Frontenac: Roll Call, "How I helped raise production on our farm" brought forth some interesting facts. Adolphustown, Lennox: Have form- ed a group of ten members who are now enrolled in the Hospitalization Plan. Collins Bay, Frontenac: Frontenac district participated in the Kingston W.V.S. week by having an exhibit, featuring two Junior projects, “Gar- den Brigades" and “Being Well Dressed and Well Groomed". Also on display was a quilt, Bundles for Bri» tain and a sample of W.I. Jam for Britain. This was good publicity. Horning Mills, Duflerin: Held a mortgage-burning party marking final payment on their fine community hall, building of which was completed five years ago at a cost of $5,000. Sudbury District: Five of the six Women’s Institutes in this district are now participating in the Hospitalizae tion Plan. The newest Institute on Skead Road has been given the materials to build a hall which was opened on 20th Dec. with a Christmas tree for the child- ren. Rednersville, Prince Edward: Have been holding evening meetings and find they have much better attendance. Membership has nearly doubled last year. WOMEN’S INSTITUTE PINS We regret to have to explain that, because of wartime priorities, der livery of Women’s Institute mombcrs' pins and life membership pins can not be guaranteed at short notice. We are sure that you will understand the re son for this situation and ac- cept i . Only L1 limited number i'cacli us from time to time and all requests for pins have been filed carefully and arc being filled in order of receipt. (Continued from Page 1, Column 4.) mothch and girls of your community at (lill'ci'enl. meetings. Special pm grammes at the anniversary month meeting of the organization of your W.I. will prove stimulating. To this invite all the ladies of the community, so they may have the opportunity to become acquainted with your Institute programme. Provide several coni- munity features (luring the year. This might include “Men’s Night“, "Fam- ily l‘ai-ty”. “Bride and Groom Night”. Be friendly and sociable. Get together and forgot the things in which we differ, but concentrate on those things in which we agree. Helping War Brides to get estab- lished in their homes and community will be a national project for all women's organizations this year. Our Women's Institute must stand ready to serve and give leadership in the reconstruction period. It will be a responsibility, but an opportunity. One of the best ways to be prepared to meet this challenge is to improve our W.I. efficiency through increased membership. Where there is no In- stitute, it is our job to organize one. Nearly every family in this province has given their “own” to the cause of war, and through membership in the Women’s Institute may particiâ€" pate in peace planning. (Contributed by Mrs. Clarence Hol- mes, President, F.W.I.0.) a"