Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1911-08-01
WHAT ONEWOMANTH|NKS
One Lady Voter Has Followed
The March OF Suffragettes
From London To Arundel
0n-The-Bay.
PATRIOTISM GONE WRONG?
Our English Sisters Would Suggest
WOmanhOOd Degraded By Political
Methods Instead OF Political
Methods Purified By
Womanhood.

hetnOuS Eufuleu Dy
WomanhOod.
The election at Arundel-on-the- Bay
/ for seven commissioners to regulate.
under a Mayor, town affairs for the
next two years, is over, and so har-
/ monious were the proceedings, so sat
/ isfactory the result that everyone is
happy.
/ 1t was pleasing to note the intense
| interest displayed by practically
/ everyone in the township. Most of the
/ property owners who CHANGED to be in
| Washington on business or pleasure.
managed to take late train for Arun-
del and before the polls closed at s D.
m. had registered a vote, having trav-
| eled by train and carriage nearly fifty
miles to do So
The unique part of the entertain
ment, for it was entertaining to all,
was the equal rights of property
owners without regard to sex, to cast
| vote. What so many women are
striving for with tongue and pen and
much personal inconvenience, a say in
municipal affairs, came to the ladies
of this little township by the Bay
without being sought; Longfellow
must have seen it in prophetic vision
when he wrote all things come round
to him who will but wait"
Speaking of a vote coming un-
sought. one lady voter declared that
she had followed the march-as an on
looker-of the suffragettes from Lon
don straight across to San Francisco
and back to the National Capital and
then pausing to rest awhile, at Arun-
del-on- the-Bay the vote came unasked
to her. There may be a moral some
where in this for the strenuous sister
hood.
/ asked one lady who cast her first
vote with an air of great seriousness,
how she liked the privilege. In eff
feet she declared that every woman
owed il to her town TO take an active
part in all affairs when permitted to
do so. / am eighty-fve and | have
walked half a mile to cast my vote; it
is the first time ! have had the oppor-
tunity in my long life, and nothing
but physical infirmity could prevent
my taking part. do not say that the
retiring Commissioners have not done
all possible for the general welfare,
but this is a time of personal respon-
sibility and | woud not shirk it, though
| was very weary from thewalk. But
my dear, ! fear we women are very
weak vessels when it comes to such
matters, not strong enough to stand on
our political feet, not yet out of lead
ing-strings, as it were. Here was |
so anxious to do my duty, and yet |
fell into a trap, practical joke that
made my labor vain. One of the
citizens, half in fun and half Influenced
by a certain broad-minded chivalry,
thought as so many ladies owned land
at Arundel, it would be only fair to
give them a chance of holding office;
so in addition to the regular ticket
he drew up list of ladies' names by
way of an opposition. 1t was written
in ink and my eyes not very strong, so
| thought it a mixed ticket headed by
the editor of the Evening Capital,
whose personality carried so much
weight with me that l barely glanced
at the other names, not realizing that
all carried the prefix, Mrs, so | voted it
straight, believe is the correct form.
| do not understand why, if it was just
joke, l was not permitted to vote
again: one of the Commissioners said
was learning the game of politics too
well, that wanted to be repeater
| did not quite catch the drift of the
remark. All the gentlemen are cleo
ted that | would have chosen, so it
| doesn't matter greatly about my lost
vote, still having waited all these
years for the franchise, it is a dis
appointment. to know it is a case of
loves labor lostr y
Would not our English sisters envy
US could they look in on this equal
/ rights tea party?" asked a recently
returned wanderer. 81 happened to
| be in England when the vote for
women battle cry was new and very
| Iusty Just when the conversational
method of moral suasion on the part
of those asking suffrage for women
was assuming the vigor of brute force.
as expressed by the hurling of over
ripe fruit at cabinet ministers; who.
/ by the way, deny the allegation that
women cannot throw straight. Look
/ ing at these jealous sisters, / was
much tempted to think it a matter of
i enthusiasm and patriotism gone
wrong; womanhood degraded by politi-
cal methods instead of political meth
DDS purified by womanhood. / tried to
do the Houses of Parliament, but en-
trance was barred unless l was not
| only vouched for but escorted by a
Peer. / had some schoolmates who
/ had married titles, but this did not
justify my hunting up an escort for
my tour of inspection, so gave it up
as gracefully as | could, and so i'm
pressed the bobby that he ventured
to explain why couldn't get in for a
! peep.
-''In rather graphic English he told
me how a band of persistent danes
had gotten into the gallery, none on
the door guessing their object. When
| seated it was noted that all had selec-
ted places next to the heavy iron grill