The San Francisco call., 1906-09-02
By Elsie Haicht.

tii:tt MISS lNal" Alles - 4Ath -
fer the Republican nomination
Tor state Superintendent o. Tuh-
Tic instruction. 1he mere fact t'sat s;le
is the. first woman i'm california te ruu
for State Office is in itself OF vpusaaf
interest. a'thoUg.s the-csnliGaJe aarse,f
insists upoa il that there is nothing
exttaordinary in lac situGtlnn Sac is
utter}y- ohlsa ious Of anything exc ptiol-
M fn aler position.
YES. r am the first woman 10 r'sn
Tor a states sofuce. size answered. wien
Il WAS lntimated 10 her thGt 4 woman's
entrancc Hg tho political neld Of Cali
foraia was somewhat OF a sensation
shut what Of it, Everything must
ilare a beginning. and I don't shrink
from pioneer work.
Nothing could be more appropriate
than. a woman occupying the position
Of state School Superintendent" she
said. settling herself comfortably in
her chair, and with the deftness and
concern OF the truly feminine woman
tucisfag Up the ~scolding locks in the
nape Of her neck. 1T is The most
natural thing in the world that chill
HFEfl- ana lnClI EQACdLiDl cHONtu Rr
under the supervision OF a woman" she
went on softly. her voice and manner
more suggestive of the cooling mother
than the aggressive politician.
An Unaggressive Politician
And therein lies Miss Amss strength.
She is not aggressive. She is depend
ing upon weman's wit. intuition and
tactfulncss TO take the place of yigor-
]
conduct. Not that she claims that her
male opponent for tbe nomination is
resorting TO the usual political pro-
gramme for votes. She ignores that
esIindble gentiemans name with the
sweet unconsciousness that only a
woman can command
Quite after the fashion Of q woman.
she is making her campaign in her own
way and according to her own indi-
-vidual ideas She is employing no
sbuttonhoisnE methods. no long har-
sngues beat upon the eardrums OF
-csptivated voters; there is no giving
and exchanging of promises; there is
no mysterious sum known as the cam
paign fund. She doesn't even have to
stand treat" AS far as she is con-
heerned, she declares. all political wires
are down.
I'm not entering politics as a game.
fve no intricate nor strategic maneu-
vers. It has always been ray way. if
7 sTant anything. TO go straight for it.
She leaned back and smiled as ert-
lesslv as a child confessing 2 fond
ness for something. Her brown eyes
danced with the humor OF frankness.
II CALI upon a man. and il ! see he's
busy ] marshal my facts. present them
rs briefly as possible and then leave
him"
without asking him to promise to
-s.,.r ca
sbstemious seemed superb unan.
Certainly. After I've left him he
has time to think over what has been
said and ID s going 10 vote the way he
pleases. There's no use in arguing
with man. The remark was not
made IN a tone OF superiority; il was
one Of fnality-
a politician. and you don't argue.,
What's the use2 ! might argue with
a man and then not convince him. and
in the end hell vote the way he in
tended TO IN the first place. I've wasted
the time and energy trying 10 make
one man change his mind that might
have used getting three votes For
instance I met one man who bluntly
told me 7 should be at home taking
care of the house. cooking, mending
and doing whatever else there was to
do and should leave politics and public
life 10 men. In his old-fashioned mind
I no doubt seemed 10 court publicity.
Would there have been any use dis
cussing the subject with him2 / lis
tened TO what he had to say, smiled
and left him. In a situation like that
absence makes the air grow clearer
Z know that politics and religion arc
supposed to be the two big vehicles for
Arguments. but I've yet TO learn when
lengthy discussions ever disentangled
the complexities Of either subject
But you make speechesg'
Yes when called upon. / put what
have to say in the fewest words pos
sible"
"Extemporaneous speech2"
.'Of course. one that it took me two
DAYS to write. But my first speech was
2 real stump speech. I'd no Idea that
I was going to be called upon. II was
when / FIRST entered politics, over ten
years ago. I was running on the Re
publican ticket for superintendent OF
schools Of Napa County and was at
tending a meeting OF over $50 people.
Suddenly some one in the audience
called out my name and / nearly stam-
peded for the door. Up TO that vital
thrilling moment my life had always
been rather a retiring one ~ never
could affirm or deny afterward what 1
said. because I didn't know"
But now2''
.Oh. now, I'm not conscious Of any
publicity at all ] take everything as
matter of course. I'm hardly conscious
OF the fact that when ] go TO hotel