The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-06-07
now TO GET BID OF A PRESIDENT.

HOW TO E RID OF A PRESIDENT.
On the principle, doubtless, that an
editor, even the editor Of a strictly liter
airy paper, knows something about
everything, a member of a woman's club
away up in Quebec ~propounds this prob
lem to the Book Buyer: How can we
get rid Of our president? She is we'll
meaning, but she has no grip. She is
really a disadvantage, but has no idea OF
1t. She will never resign. and our per-
sonal liking is so great that we cannot
bear to ask her to go out" The editor
addressed, with a timidity that i'll be-
comes one of his fraternity, declines to
tackle the problem, but automatically
submits 1t to the readers of his periodi-
cal. There Is no reason why Ii should
not be answered and the cause of fem
mime intellectual and political progress
aided 1t is well understood that the
literary club at Its best Is the high-water
mark of culture. and anything that pre-
vents any club from attaining its best is
an individual and social misfortune. The
mere contemplation of a club held down
by a president who is unequal to her OPP
portunities must be a source of grief to
the sympathetic observer, and there
should be no lack of advice as to the best
means of removing the Incubus. Not
that it Is necessarily an easy matter to
get rid of a president. There, for .ex-
ample. is the present President of the
United States. He will, of course, be re-
tired for good and all lex. November,
but a large part of the population fondly
fiattered itself that his retirement was
final in 'SS, and was both surprised and
disappointed when he foated gayly into
president seems to have been elected
for a life term. The Canadian women,
inspired by the glorious example of
Queen Victoria, whose reign cannot be
too long, and whose eventual laying
down Of power is looked forward to with
dread, may have thought, in their mex
perience, that any woman in command
would necessarily fill all requirements,
and, consequently, put no limit upon
their club term of office. Perhaps, on
the other hand, they proceed upon the
civil-service reform theory-once in al
ways in. If they had only studied the
political and club system in vogue in
1.-The States" they would have seen the
beauties and benefits of rotation in office,
and would have provided against condi-
tons like that now depressing them by
limiting the presidents term and making
the incumbent ineligible to reelection.
OF course, the Quebec ladies can impeach
their president for lack of grip" but, as
the correspondent says. they dislike to
hurt her feelings, and do not wish even
to hint to her to step dow and out. This
complexities matters when masculine ad-
vice is asked, because feelings" do not
enter as an element of Importance in the
management of mems organizations. If
feelings exist they are skillfully concealed
until such time as their possessor can
retaliate for their injury. But If Cana
dian women cannot find a way to free
themselves from 81 disadvantageous pre-
siding officer without making her mad"
as feminine parlance has it, they lack
the ~shrewdness and tact commonly
dppOiil
their president to another office and
make her believe that 1t is a greater
honor than a mere club presidency. Let
them get up a reform party, with the
president inveigled into leading 1t, whose
rpo Is to revise their constitution
and bylaws according to modern, pro-
gressive methods. If the lady have not
grip. let them take a fresh grip and grad
ually loosen her hold. For it stands to
reason that a club president must have
grip if the members would soar to that
lofty intellectual plane where alone the
woman's club is truly at home. The
Quebec women owe it to themselves and
he community to get rid of their presi-
dent, but they may do it if they will by
such gentle and diplomatic means that
she will never know she is hurt, or, II
she does. will realize that her hurt Is as
nothing to the general gain.