n presenting to you this our First Annual Report, we I wish to give a short account of the origin of the Society and of the work done during the year. The Society was the outcome of a movement which was inaugurated by the Women's Christian Temperance Union to consider means for the prevention of juvenile depravity, the prevalance of which had been forcibly brought before the public by the revelations made before the Magistrate's Court during September of last year. A meeting of delegates from the various churches in Wellington was held on October 20th to consider the matter, when it was resolved that a Society for the Protection of Women and Children should be formed and called the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children. Other meetings were held to decide upon rules, and on November 11th your Officers and Committee, with the exception of the paid Secretary, were elected and the rules as printed were adopted.

The real work of the Society, however, can hardly be said to have begun before May, although several cases had been reported and attended to before. The objects and aims of the Society were at first little understood, but after an advertisement had been inserted in the daily papers to the effect that the Hon. page 4 Secretary would be at home on Friday mornings to attend to cases, applications for assistance became numerous, and since then the work has increased so rapidly as to necessitate the appointment of a paid Secretary.

Our record of work for the year shows 78 cases entered in the books and 31 cases in which the Society's assistance and advice were solicited, but which were not exactly within the scope of the Society. In every case, however, advice was given and work was found for some, and others were sent to the Government Bureau and to other organisations which could render the desired assistance.

During the year, the Hon. Secretary has received 133 letters and written 151; in addition to which she has written about 12 letters in connection with adoption cases when secrecy was desired; 148 visits have been received in connection with cases and 90 have been paid by the Secretary, different members of Committee and Mr. Aitken. Eight cases have been brought before the Court by means of the Society, of which 5 have been settled in our favour and 3 are still proceeding. Three illegitimate children have, through the instrumentality of the Society, been adopted with comfortable homes and the mothers who had been obliged to support the children, as the fathers had gone away, have been given a fresh start, which was impossible when they were burdened with the maintenance of children out of small earnings.

The Treasurer's Balance Sheet, which will be found appended to this Report, shows that during the past year the receipts from subscriptions and donations have amounted to £84 12s., and the expenses £19 15s. 5d., leaving a balance of £64 16s. 5d. after paying all liabilities. As will be seen, the Balance Sheet has been carefully examined by Mr. Aitken, one of the Trustees.

At the last meeting of Committee it was decided to appoint Mrs. Waters, who had already been the Society's Collector for six page 5 months, as Secretary for a month, the appointment to be confirmed if approved by the incoming Commitee. A room has been secured as an office in the Alliance Chambers, upper Willis Street, where the Secretary will be in attendance on Tuesdays and Fridays between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. All letters addressed the the "Secretary, S. P. W. & C., Alliance Chambers," will receive immediate attention.

Considerable attention has been given by the Society to the urgent need of some means of preventing young girls from parading the streets during the evenings, the evil results of which are evident to all those who are interested in social work. In almost all the cases of seduction which have come before the Society the girls assert that walking out at nights has led to their ruin. Further means are urgently required for ensuring the punishment of the seducers. At present girls shrink from signing warrants for the arrest of the men as the cases have to be heard in open Court, and before the usual degraded class which frequents the Courts to listen to the painful details of such cases. If in cases of this kind the evidence could be taken with closed doors there would be much more chance of the deserved punishment being meted out to the seducers, and the numbers of such cases would, we feel sure, undoubtedly be lessened.

The Society being as yet in its infancy, your Committee was new to the work which has come before it, and has, therefore, been unable to enter into the question of legislation, the necessity for which has become apparent in dealing with both affiliation cases and maintenance cases against husbands. Some reform is urgently required in the law, which would make it possible to enforce maintenance orders. At present the man can drink all his earnings and then be sent to gaol if he does not obey the order. If a lien could be put upon the man's wages, and the money handed over by the master to the Court to meet the orders, some improvement might take place in the homes of those who are now living in destitution and are becoming a burden upon the Charitable Aid of the Colony.

In conclusion, your Committee desires to record their gratitude for the assistance which has been given to them by the Police, the Charitable Aid Board, the Salvation Army, the Alexandra Home Committee, the Ladies' Christian Association, the Alliance Sewing Society and others who have sent material and clothing for destitute children. It would also give hearty thanks to the Solicitors who have undertaken cases, and to Dr. Chappie, who has acted as Hon. Physician and has rendered prompt attention in urgent cases.

Your Committee also desires to thank the proprietors of the Evening Post and New Zealand Times for their courtesy and assistance, and the public who have so liberally responded to the call for subscriptions.

We hope that the record of this our first year of work, which has been undertaken and accomplished under the difficulties incidental to a new movement, will merit such confidence as will result in an increased number of subscriptions and donations, and that the public will manifest in every way possible their interest in a Society which has already proved the necessity for its existence.

The following are a few typical cases of the work done during the year:—