The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-09-03
WOMEN NOW COUNT
This Time Last Year Who Would Have Thought That
the Various Parties Would Be Bidding for Her
Support. But It's the Case.
BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.
They're all doing it now"

They're all doing it now"
This was quoted here the other day
apropos of the same subject.
But it's worth quoting again.
One of the amazing phases of this
years presidential campaign is the
participation of women. Not only in
those states where women have the
right to franchise but all over the
country.
This time last year nothing was cas-
Ter than to raise laugh over carica-
ture of the "suffragette.
In her capacity as theatrical writer
for this paper the writer sat out num-
bers of these things at the vaudeville
and otherwhere.
1t was a sort of theatrical joke car
Mary Walker was the type of woman
associated in the public mind with
"woman's suffrage"
But here is an excerpt from the New
York Suns Sunday edition, the lead
for full page STORY" called Women
to take active part in electing presi-
dent"
the country women are to be a real
factor in the political situation this
fall Each of the three parties are bid
ding high for women's favor and the
women in turn are not failing to take
advantage of the opportunity thrust
upon them and are bending every eff
fort to come up to expectations and
qualify for this extraordinary mark of
masculine favor.
at has come about so suddenly, this
| significant situation, that some of the
women are still gasping for breath. AS
one woman puts it: 1T is like standing
ON the brink of a pool and suddenly
being cast into the water without a
lifeboat, but it won't take us long to
give a good account of ourselves once
we get our second wind"
And this is the reason that, long
before the usual time set for people to
return from the country, there are
gathered together in New York hun
dreds, nay thousands of women, repre-
sentative of every social class, prepar-
ing to make a valiant fight for their
respective favorite nominees, Install
l
the most vigorous campaign of their
lives. For it isn't just an ordinary poll
teal campaign that is being waged, at
least from the woman's viewpoint. The
latter are fighting for principle. They
have been given the chance to show
their fitness for citizenship and they
mean to qualify"
Whnp panor Of ho fbro Of q
Sun gives room to such utterances,
even in special feature story, when
the fact is known that the Sun is, in
certain phases, fun-poking conserva-
tive, with the consideration ever borne
in mind that New York has not given
women the privilege of voting, this is
going some"
Now the fact is we'll known the
country over that the hitherto domi-
mating parties have not given the ques-
ton of women's suffrage in their ma
though importuned to do so the last
quarter century or more.
That in those states where women s
suffrage now prevails it does so not
through the parties but through con
stitutional privilege.
And that the only reason any of the
state party platforms have recently
been giving it any attention is because
the national platform of the Progress,
sives made universal suffrage one of
its tenets.
That the Progressives of this state
in their state convention also included
such a provision is we'll known.
In Indiana, however, women have
long striven to gain the serious at
tention of both the Democrats and
Republicans but without success.
That they were given short shrift by
the Democrats last Spring in the lat,
ter's platform adopted for campaign
purposes.
That Governor Marshall is openly
lorposed to women's suffrage.
There is no lodging the latter fact
While the writer has the highest es-
TEEN for Governor Marshall, with
whom she has an acquaintance. and
regards him as an able and admirable
man and public Official it cannot be
denied that he made himself exceed
ingly disagreeable on the subject OF
the franchise for women.
The Republican state convention
held subsequent to that of the Pro
gressives, put in a tentative provision
for the enfranchisement of the alleged
weaker sex.
| But any Kindergarten knows the