Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-12-18
The Social Service League.

Il
noting more vital and intelligent relation
among organizations and individuals of gu
county in order that our resources may &C
complish the greatest good for the commu
nifty. Although the League has a fell
peculiarly its own. nevertheless it is on
which is related and inter-related with al
the affairs and organizations of the county
One of the first things that impressed
me about this organization was its atti
tude toward the County Government. WheI
the League wishes to accomplish som,
particular end, that brings it into relation
to the county officials there is no desire
to find fault or waste time in useless crit
cism of these officers. 1t is realized thai
these men are duly elected or appointed
representatives of the people, and through
them, whatever they are, it must accomplish
as much good as may be possible, Taker
as whole, our officials are fairly repre-
sentative of Montgomery county. and, as
counties 90 in the United States, we are
proud of the fact that ours stands among
the best. Sometimes the League thinks
that the officials are not furthering the
best interests of the people then it i:
necessary to make patient and thorough
investigation as to the underlying causes
we generally find that they reach far be.
yond the official and If permanent results
are to be obtained, we must 90 to the ROOT
Of the matter. We are not concerned with
politics. and do not care to be used to pro.
mote party ends. or those of ring within
party; but we are concerned with gov
eminent, take immediate notice of its
failure and seek out the remedy.
We lay down as basic principle in this
country the idea that our Government is
representative, Is itH 1t fairly represents
the will of the men. but has it even to the
same extent represented the will of the
women and the needs of the children? II
is needless to say it has not A commu-
nifty of men by themselves. community
of women by themselves, or a community
of men and women without children very
soon becomes devilish II follows logically
that any normal community that is not
represented in all its elements by Govern
ment must suffer. am not concerned in
this article as to how it is best to attain
fairer and fuller representation in our Gov
eminent This | will say, that such a
Government is at hand, and the results
will be in accord with the theory stated.
In saying this, am not merely theOrizing,
we have in our county already measure
of the practical results.
There are in Montgomery county twenty
four Woman's Clubs, with a membership
of over one thousand these clubs are fed
Grated and work for general purposes as
an intelligent and effective unit. This Or
ganizatiOn is one of the greatest supports
of the Social Service League, and has its
representatives on the Board of the League.
Men may be overpowered with selfish po-
litical aims or the glory Of party success
but women see. above all, the actual needs
and are impatient of anything that stands
in the way of remedy. When you explain
are being Numbered in house filed with
tuberculosis germs. and that her children
are at the age when the disease is gener-
ally contracted. she will not exercise much
patience with mems politics. but demand
the remedy for such a situation at once.
If the legislators at Annapolis during
their last session had been aware of the
close scrutiny of their acts by the Women's
Clubs, they would have wondered what
politics is coming to. I'll venture to say
that the women of this county looked after
our interests at the last meeting of the
State Legislature as closely and with as
much intelligence as did the men. These
twenty-four Women's Clubs are nvestiga-
ting public affairs with an intelligence and
thoroughness that finds no counterpart
among the men.
| Representative Government besides being
representative needs vision. skill and effec-
tiveness. We cannot ignore the fact that
our local government in the United States
has always been stupid, and too often
worse than stupid. Men have displayed
no haste to remedy these conditions; at
many points the women have felt the
pressure and endured with patience. 1t is
needless to say that the awakened and
enlightened woman will not be so patient
in the future as she has been in the past
We boast that this is one Of the greatest
and richest countries in the world when
we compare the condition Of public educa-
ton in our rural districts with that Of the
leading countries of Europe-we are hope
lessy outclassed. The League is interested
and has begun work along certain lines for
the betterment Of our schools. The women
Of the county are awakening to the short
that such a revival of interest may be SC
far-reaching that the intelligence Of our
enlightened county may be applied to the
problem Of accomplishing the greatest pos
sible results with the means available. We
need school buildings that are sanitary
and up to date, some buildings need proper
fire escapes, most have insufficient equip
ment we need revision of the curriculum
adjusting it to the particular conditions OF
widely different communities. but above
all we need thorough consideration Of
the best way to provide fully trained and
competent teachers.
Again say that the woman feels the
pressure in the danger that threatens hel
children in some Of the districts adjacent
to Washington. Take for example a stu
alton like that at Bethesda; there are OF
the county road about one hundred anC
fifty children Of school age going to anC
coming from school every school day. Wher
you realize that these children are com
PEELED to walk on narrow road where a
times a score Of automobiles can BIZ
counted, il is easy to understand the burdei
that every mother carries daily and yo