Evening star., 1913-04-20

city hall asking questions it makes US
feel as though the game was all up
In the municipal campaign of 1903 the
women first took active part in aiding
the city party. They had organizations
in every ward and distributed literature
and campaign buttons with liberal hands.
To their training in tnat campaign they
partially attribute their success last year
In securing the election of Rudolph
Blankenburg, who popularity is regarded
as the "women's mayor One Of the
methods of work initiated during this
campaign was the telephone chain in
which every woman was pledged to call
up every one she knew and deliver a
vote for Blankenburg message"
The Civic Club of Philadelphia was or
ganized seventeen years ago under the
leadership Of Mrs. Owen Wister, Miss
Cornelia rockingham, Mrs. Cornelius
Stevenson and a number of other well
known women. 1t has had strong poll
teal influence from the beginning, even
though its membership at first consisted
of conservative women who would stren-
uously have opposed any movement for
political equality. Among the earlier eff
forts Of the Civic Club was the placing
OF women upon the local school board of
each word in the city, as well as upon
these efforts developed the ward organi-
cations which recently have become SO
powerful politically
In Chicago the women first achieved
political influence by the organization of
he Munich
Political Activity pal order
in Vests Metropolis. ,oa L. e as u e;
for it's first direct object the reelection of
the aldermen who had supported the mil
lion-dollar license bill. Mrs. James Frake
the president of the Illinois Federation
of WOmen's Clubs, was one of the fore
most organizers of this league. which has
had great political influence for years
The Political Equality League, which now
is working for equal suffrage in that
state. is an offshoot of this first league
which was called into existence only with
the idea of securing the indirect infiu-
ence of women in the election of better
political leaders in the municipality of
Chicago. The Chicago women also have
had strong women's organizations repre-
sentfng the different political parties
even before Miss Jane Adams entered
| the arena and called forth much criti-
cism upon her devoted head by endeavor-
ing to pledge the feminine influence of the
nation in support of Col Rooseyelt's s
party.
But, while the indirect work of women
has had no small political influence in
many localities, the time has arrived
When they are direct political power to
be reckoned with by each political party
There were six states in which the women
voted In the last presidential election, and
| these included almost a million and a half
| women over twenty-One years old who
were entitled to the ballot. A larger pro-
! portion Of them registered and voted than
out of the same number of men in any
part of the country. Since then the fran
chise has been given in three additional
states, thereby adding materially to the
political power of women In the next
election.
| OF the woman voters in the six states
represented in the last presidential cleo
ton. about two-thirds are of native par
| entage and about a third of foreign white
or of mixed parentage. There were 327.-
6S2 foreign white women entitled to vote,
IL, 1873 negroes and 17,O46 Indian. Chinese.
japanese and other Asiatics. These fig
ures were taken in 1910 and go to prove
that the percentage of foreign vote added
| by the enfranchisement of women is
| small In comparison with the large gain
in well qualified native-born American
| woman voters.