The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-09-28
NOMINATING SYSTEM FAILS !?
New Method Creates Some Dissatis-
faction Among wisconsin FEEDER
alton Of Women's Clubs
Members.

AL IaSU III Is dSC6IIdlHeu GHdb d CdH-
didate for the Office of president of the
Wisconsin Federation of Women s
Clubs has been found. Mrs. j. III.
Rogers Of Portage, Wis, has announced
in the Portage paper that she has ac-
cepted the nomination and will allow
her name to be voted upon at the state
convention to be held in Milwaukee
next month, and so far as is known she
is the only candidate secured for the
office.
Mrs. Rogers is the president of the
Golden Gossip Club of Portage, an or
ganization of twe4ty-four members.
Heretofore Mrs. Rogers has not been
prominently known in state federation
politics.
Clubs Make Nomination.
Under the recently amended state
federation constitution, the ticket Of
state officers is not nominated by q
nominating committee. Instead, the
federation allows every affiliated club
in the state to send in it's choice of
nominee for each office, to the state
federation secretary who is Mrs. Otis
T.. Trenary of this city The secretary
is then required to count the votes
for the nominees for each office and to
select the two receiving the most votes
for each Office as legal candidates, and
the two receiving the highest number
of votes for each office would therefore
oppose one another at the biennial cleo
tion.
Miss Stearns Devised System.
Miss Lutte E. Stearns of Milwaukee
led the faction that for several years
insisted upon a change in the fedora
ton constitution, u taking the power
which she termed autocratic and ma
chine tool out of the hands of picked
nominating committee and giving the
authority to nominate to every club.
Thus, she hoped to make the nomina-
tlon more democratic in method than
it had previously been. At the time,
the objection was registered by many
women that they feared it would be
difficult to find candidates who would
enter into a political campaign for
Office on those terms and others OBJ
Jected on the ground that they feared
it would introduce men s political
methods into the federation, but in
spite of this Miss Stearns' idea was
carried by large majority.
Was Called Undemocratic.
Before the innovation the nomination
by the committee amounted to election.
AS the nomination committee usually
kept its ticket secret until il was an.
nounced on the convention floor the last
DAY OF the convention, there was little
chance for any organized opposition to
candidates. 1t was only when, as at the
GAINESVILLE convention, a large oroun
earnestly desired certain nominee for
given office that any candidate could
be found to accept a nomination from
the floor. If she did accept such a
nomination she was practically sure to
be defeated, as was the floor nominee,
Mrs. w. ?. Leeks at GAINESVILLE four
years ago. 1t was the bitterness en-
gendered at that time which resulted in
the amendment of the constitution pro
Vlding for more democratic method
of nomination.
May Discontinue Present Way.
Upon the success of the present nom
nation will probably depend its con-
tlnuance. 1t is said in Milwaukee that
concerted action to repeal the present
method of nomination for some other
to be suggested later may be inaugu-
rated at the coming convention as it
seems that dissatisfaction with the
Present system has developed.