The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-08-19
CLUB NOTES

The civil service REFORM committee
OF the general federation is ndu
ing a national publicity campaign Of
It's work and is urging local clubs to
part of their civic work. The chair
man in a recent communication said:
The Intelligent clubwomen is known
py the interest she takes in the social
ana economic conditions around her,
She looks at the streets. She ascer-
tains the source of supply of the
drinking water and the milk. She
studies the coal smoke nuisance. She
hoLiows the work of the pure food in
Vestigators. She concerns herself over
the housing conditions in her town.
She gives aid and sympathy to those
who work systematically for the i'm
provement of jails, reformatortes and
almshouses.
s h knows that there are laws thai
bear upon all these social problems,
and she wonders why, with so many
excellent laws, that the streets are still
dirty, foods adulterated and children of
tender g toiling long hours in mines
and factories. Presently she discovers
that while laws are multiplied every
year and the statute books crowded
from cover to cover, very few laws are
really enforced and many are neglected
altogether.
eff she studies the matter still furth-
err she finds that laws are not enforced
for the simple reason. that the officials
who are appointed for the ostensible
purpose of enforcing them are absorbed
in a very different occupation. These
officials belong for the most part to
the political party that happens to be
dominant in her town or state, and it
is their chief business to see that this
party Is kept in power-hence they
have to organize ward meetings, raise
party funds n get out the vote on
election day. The cleaning of streets,
the inspection of factories, the superin-
tendence OF schools, and similar duties,
become merely Incidental, their chief
obligation being always to secure more
power for their party leaders.
eff the intelligent clubwoman stops
at this stage of her public education,
she is very likely to become discour-
aged and to a there is no use in try
ing to improve conditions in our party
ridden cities, but If she pursues her
observations a little further she will
find there is a remedy, a simple rem
edy that has proved it's efficacy in
many communities. Instead of APP
pointing public officials for their parti-
san activities, or their service to some
political overload, they can be APP
given position, q illness that is ascer-
tanned by impartial competitive ex-
"The Intelligent clubwomen who
reaches this stage Of knowledge, at
once Joins her clubs civil service re-
form committee, and gives as a reason
for the faith that ts in her that only
by a reform In the civil service, that 1S
by a chance in the method of appoint
ment to office, can there be any surety
| that laws for the public good will be
fearIessly and impartially enforced"
Mrs. Robert M. La Toilette, who has
been active in woman's club work In
| Wisconsin for many years, and who il
now equally Interested in woman SUI
frage. naturally watched the situation
in regard to suffrage at the San Fran
| cisco convention of won1en's clubs very
closely. Mrs. La Toilette says
while I was not present at the
biennial held in San Francisco recent
~, and cannot speak from personal
knowledge, reports OF the proceedings
indicate that the failure of the general
federation to pass a resolution for
oma suffrage, did not express the
sentiment of the convention, but was
due to fear on the part of some OF the
leaders that because there was a diff
ference of opinion among individual
women and clubs, such an endorsement
might harm the club movement.
colder club women well remefnbel
the struggle between the conservative
and progressive element when ths
clubs were evolving from the stage Of
social exclusiveness and sales.--future
into the broader field OF democracy and
1 Dub1fc usefulness. What would have