Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-07-22
CHI A 4

Once upon q time. not many years
ago. there was q great question before
the people OF Atlanta; her mayor mad
been a man whose personal character
was simply unmentioanble, the good men
OF the city decided that they would have
to leave their offices. banks and studies
and take the matter in hand. They pa
raded. had speeches and bOn-hres. the
women simply would not associate with
those who advocated a continuance OF
the man then mayor. People knew that
q man had TO be selected whose life
was hawless. for the opposition would
be sure TO magnify even the slightest
.ndiscretion- Such man was found IN
Hon. Robert Maddox. and he was elect
ed. 1t took hours of pleading to get
him to consent, but when he did he
threw himself heartily into the work,
and the offenses that had been q dis
grace 10 this city have been put down
A few months after that there was an
effort for and against bonds There has
never been any question OF the right
eousness OF them. but there were the
''ins and outs" The present admins
tration had determined on them and
those disgruntled by the clean mayor
were doing all In their power to kill the
measure. Again the men Of Atlanta saw
that the crisis rested on the women OF
ALlGnNA. ana NlWI very Dc@N
we're sent TO the Woman's club with its
go members; the Young Women's
Christian association. with Its 900. and to
the many auxiliaries that flourish In
this city. The story was put fairly and
scuarely. intelligent questions were ask
ed by young women who work In stores,
offices and banks. These questions as
tonished some Of the men who went
with the speakers. One said:
Miss Thomas. the questions put to us
by the young business women Of At
lanta were clearer and more TO the point
than those at Such and Such wards. The
day that hnds woman suffrage in Allan
"a Will find a body Of women ready for
It"
There was no lobbying, no log-rolling
nor flirting. the women simply said the
man who failed 10 vote would be
coward The men voted. and voted right
As I am a business woman IL always
amuses me to hear people talk about
n business life sinking the woman to the
mans level Put q flower in a tenement
window and watch the gradual transfer
nation OF that room.
Put a nice refined girl. one that has
been raised right. IN an office or store
and see the difference IN the atmos-
phere- There are weak-silly women who
flirt when their husbands bacAs are
turned, who never saw in an office. Who
starts every crusade against evil, and
who bears the burdens OF the worm!
The women. those in the homes. and
elsewhere. and the day that the ballot is
given to them will see them unshackled-
know there will be mistakes made, but
the majority will be on the right side.
In a manner capital has labor by the
throat Women are the ones who suffer
when the strikes are on Yet, where has
there ever been a more obstinate strike
than the 10000 young women wnOs as
shirtvaist makers. were ground to the
dust by the conditions they worked I'M
der There is no use trying to gainsay
the question ] am not in the business
world for the fun get out OF IL, nor are
those 10000, and IL was a credit to them
20 be brave enough TO join the army.
They were underpaid and subjected TO
long hours Of toll. Fines and exactions
reduced their wages to a fraction
Of what they needed. And as Mrs.
Sangster said in The Woman's Homo
Companion: To watch the progress
Of that strike was to have ones eyes
opened TO the helplessness Of woman as
competitors in the labor market when
she has no voice in the making Of the
laws affecting her. The answer may
for similar reasons they incur similar
hardships at the hands OF those who op-
pose them. II cannot be made with
truth. The brutality OF the police and
the snap judgments OF the magistrates
before whom many Of these girls were
dragged on the complaint Of their en-