Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-16
WOMEN IN POLITICS
They Take an important Part
in British Elections.
ELECTlONEER AND CANVASS
The Work They Do May Decide Con-
troll of Parliament.
MAKE CLEVER POLITICIANS
Candidates Coming to Depend More
and More on Their Wives.
Society a Weapon.
ELECTIONEER AND CANVASS
MAKE CLEVER POLITICIANS
orelgn Correspondence Of The Star.

Foreign Correspondence Of The Star.
LONDON, December S. 1910.
Women play a big part in British cleo
tons. which is utterly unknown in Amer
lea. No phase Of political thought is I'M
not by the amateur wom
an electioneer of other times.
Her day has gone forever. Facts, not
in the armory of the modern-day woman.
who takes up" politics.
How much the fate of an election de-
Ponds upon the number of experienced
woman eIectioneers at the disposal of the
candidate only the election agent can tell
and only he and the women themselves
know how much of the really hard work
Of electioneering is put on to their willing
shoulders. Canvassing-a task from which
many brave man shrinks-has come to
be regarded almost as wOmans prerOga-
tive. The dreary and uninSpiring work
of tracing the removals is handed over
to the women, and they can be relied
upon to put in long hours of dull clerical
work. the entering up of canvassing
books. the addressing Of envelopes and
tie hlling up of polling cards.
Grown in Importance.
The political woman has. indeed. in
creased in Importance and numbers since
those early days in the long ago SOS.
when political man, recognizing that
women might become valuable allies in
the electioneering field, first made a
serious and systematic attempt to bring
about the political combination of women
by laying the foundations of an organiZa-
ton which was to become a potent force
in parliamentary elections-the Primrose
League, the great tory women's organiZa-
ton.
The liberal party quickly replied. Women s
liberal associations sprang up in the con-
stituencies. until today the great organ
iZations of liberal wOmen-the Women 8
Liberal Federation and the Women's Ma
tiOnal Liberal Association-are a tower of
strength to the men of their party. The
Ladies' Grand Council of the Primrose
League has rendered valuable service to
it's party by undertaking the task of can
wasting all voters resident within the
metropolitan area who are also qualified
to vote in county constituencies outside
London by virtue of property which they
own. The enormous amount OF detail work
involved in this process is enough to make
the stoutest heart quail. A year ago,
when the Primrose Danes, as they are
called, undertook this colossal task, they
successfully traced II 600 such voters.
The tracing of removals is another
branch of electlOneering which calls for
the service Of women on both sides Of
alone as many as 5000 removals have to
be traced. None of the supposed glamour
of electioneertng surrounds this work. 1t
entails endless trouble and is a severe
task upon the patience, but it may decide
the fate of an election.
Cabinet Women Active.
Quite women's cabinet is the Women's
National Liberal Association, so numer-
Gus are the ladies Of Whitehall on its
executive committee. One of its vice
chairmen is Mrs. McKenna, wife of the
first lord Of the admiralty. Mrs. Har-
court. wife of the colonial secretary, and
Mrs. Joseph Pease, wife of the chancel-
lor OF the Duchy of Lancaster, are on it's
executive committee. and it also includes
the wives of many members of the minis
try among its members.
The women of this association have the
are very loyal supporters Of the liberal
party. Their services are chiefly in de-
mand for the work of canvassing and
tracing removals. but the more RESPONSE
BILE, though not more important, work
of organizing the women's committee
rooms and workers meetings is also
intrusted to them.
This also applies to the Womens Lib
eral Federation, an organization 200
strong. which yields enormous power at
election times. Some of the most expert
woman electiOneers In the country are
attached to the federation. and SO great
is its power that the suffragists have
often declared that the solution of the
hands.
Plays Part in Society.
There is no department of social life
into which the election does not enter.
directly or indirectly. All over the coun-
try house parties have suffered an amaz-
ing change. The parts of which they were
composed have blurred, melted and
changed, and instead of little personal
groups Of friends they are now solid little
political phalanxes, and the hostess finds
no trouble about pauses in the conversa-
ton, but, on the other hand, she can
scarcely get her guests from table, so
engrossing is the one general interest.
Some social leaders have already fled to
the south, finding England altogether i'm
possible when wrapped in the double fog
and black frost of politics and winter
Another way in which the general ac-
tivity is shown is in the. tremendous run
on the services of motor car makers and
repairers. People who have housed one
have them out again: carri; yes must be
revarnished, liveries overhauled and
smartened and Innings of broughams and
motor cars, when very light, must be
serviceable. with a view to the days when
voters must be taken to the polls.
Even Peers Get Busy.
Everybody is active; even peers, who
used to take no part in elections, are now
busy with this one. for the rule that they
should not do SO has been removed; type
writer's click In brocaded boudoirs where
a mother-o'-pearl penholder has till now
been the nearest approach to tool: bud
ding orators read Burke and histories of
electioneering, and pretty women take
on a new Importance in their husbands
eyes, and find themselves called upon to
give up every interest they have in favor
of their husbands.
Women, indeed, all over England, apart
from organizations 1 have mentioned. are
almost as active as the men. Many of
them blossom into public speakers, and
many more into canvaSserS. Every YES
tige of tact she has must a woman pro-
duce now. She must say the right thing
to the right person not only at dinner,
but at political meetings, in the slums,
and at her own dinner or luncheon table
when she sees it surrounded by people
she would never have dreamed of invit-
ing there at any other time. She must
make UP her mind to kissing dirty babies,
to spending days in mean streets where
she has never been before, and Is pray