The Alaska citizen., 1915-11-22


 uupJls. Let me quote for the edi iication of cur readers few state meuts from Mary Ritter Beard book "Woman's Work in Municl- palities." She says that "wh.le distinguished woman is superinten dent of public schools in Chicago, vet she has not one word to say regarding how much. or in what way the taxpayers money shall be devoted to school purposes. But ill New York the situation is quite different There the incumbent Of the superintendent office is a man; but it is a woman who tells him equip and conduct his schools to the best advantage. And she is careful but not in the least parsi- monious or illiberal, for she gives him over forty million dollars each ElaT. The woman who wields such swaying financial power is Mrs.
 IGlI4Hut |. OI u tNdlIlIilIIS iilopNN- tor for the Bureau of Municipal In Nestigation and Statistics, in New York city. and her salary is $3,50O per year. Does she earn it? Well we might feel quite hopeful of bet ter government if one politician out
 every fifty earned his salary ..;+ 1T -t,-ip !y and legally speaking Mrs. Ford does not have the unquestioned dis posal of this forty million dollars, but so profound is the esteem in which she is held, so highly do the leading city officials value her hon esty and judgment, that she in reali- ty does have the absolute disposal of it. Not one dollar is expended by the Board of Estimates upon the New York school system un- less Mrs. Ford has looked into the proposed expenditure, studied it's educational value and drafted res olution for the Comptroller to sign. Think of one important work this woman has brought to successful issue within the past fourteen months The superintendent of schools asked for forty-siN new build. ings in five burroughs of the city and named the sites for each build ing. His request, the requests of parents and neighborhood improve ment clubs on the subject, were all submitted to Mrs Ford for a final decision. In three months she in spected every one of the proposed sites, and her judgment outweigh ing that of the superintendent, she, fiSuratively speaking, with her slen- der woman's hands, lifted some of the school buildings bodily out of the proposed sites and placed them seemed more vitally needed In each case she framed up a report stating clearly her reason for making these changes, and what do you think the comptroller of New York did with those reports? He approved and signed every one of them with out moments hesitation. Was the superintendent peeved? Not a particle! He gracefully informed the comptroller that when it came to schools and school buildings he would back Mrs. Ford's judgment against the whole city. Now here, you see, one honest, earnest. cap dollars worth of shopping for our greatest municipality, and it was without doubt one of the biggest shopping tours we ever read of, but the most significant and striking feature about it was-there did not appear one breath of scandal, graft, or crooked politics in the whole deal
 Judge Gary, head of the steel . trust, or any other big promoter, would coolly ask one hundred thou sand dollars to exploit piece of work of such magnitude. Mrs. Ford gets s3.50O per year, 1 wonder if the average voter in New York knows of these things?
 I wonder who could trust Barnes, of New York. Penrose, of Pennsyl- vania, or any other political boss to manipulate twelve million dol lars without feeling an extreme de- gree of tIepidation.
 l have upon my desk at this very moment record of at least five hundred instances of a similar char acter to the foregoing, setting forth very clearly the importance of wo- mans work in municipal govern ment in many large cities of our country, and yet in nearly three fourths of these United States she does not possess the right of fran chise. When it comes to promot- ing the welfare of the common wealth in which they dwell, or trans hitting to their children high standard of government, doesn't it beat the very devil how obtuse men are?
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