New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-24


CITY OF NEW YORK. %
The Once Of the Mayor.
May 8, 1917 !
Dear Miss Wren:
The Mayor directs me to say that there
are no vacancies in the magistrates courts
at the present time. The appointment OF p
woman to such a position would involve 2
change of policy so radical that the Mayor
would be unwilling to establish . precedent
OF the sort until he had given the matte&
the most serious consideration. .
Very truly yours, ri
SAMUEL L. MARTIN,
Executive Secretary
About two years ago, according to Miss
Wren, the Women Lawyers Association
asked the district attorneys to appoint
women assistants. They received no ars
swer from New York City, and in Brook
Ign Mr.. James c. Cropsey sent sarcas.
tic letter to the press saying the women
wanted to sit on murder cases.
OF the $4,000 members Of the Police
Department sixty-three are women. Three
act as detectives, although, like their SIS
tiers, their status is police matron" and
with one exception-ther salary is only
81 900 a year. About three years ago
Miss Wren wrote Commissioner Arthur
! Woods letter in which she wondered"
why he was keeping Mrs. Isabel Goodwin
and Mrs. Adele D. Priess on fortune-tell-
ing cases, where it was impossible to obtain
conviction, when they might be better en-
ployed in other ways. The section OF the
city charter which deals with fortune
tellers simply says that they must be
brought before the court and give bond
to keep the peace. If they cannot give tbs
bond nothing further can be done.
Commissioner Woods replied at that
tine that the only women in the depart
nent were police matrons, assigned to sta-
ton houses, and that he had no power TO
appoint women as detectives.
A short time later, however, he assigned
Mrs. Margaret Whitehurst TO an investigs-
ton of the white slave traffic in Brooklyn.
There are still two states in the Union
that do not permit women to practise law.
Mrs. Annie Langstaff, Of Montreal, Can.
ada, applied to Mr.. Justice ST. Pierre, Of
the Province of Quebec, for permission to
take the preliminary examination required
of students Of Law. The justice not only
made her pay the costs connected with her
petition, but also said:
hold that to admit woman. ard, more
particularly, married woman. as bsrr!ss
ter--that is to say, as person who pleads
cases at the bar before judges or juries In
open court and in the presence of the public
would be nothing short Of . direct n.
fringement upon public order, and mo~l.
fest uiolation Of the iaw Of good norsls
and public decency.
In 1875, when Lavnis Goodell applied
10 be admitted to the bar in Wisconsin, the
court said, among other things:
This is the first application for the adns.
sion Of female 70 the bar OF this court.
And it is a just matter for congratulstiou
that il is made in favor OF lady whose
character raises no personal objection; some
thing perhaps not always 10 be looked for In
women who forsake the ways OF their sex for
the ways Of ours We find no statutory au-
thority. and we cannot regret that we do
not We cannot bu. think the common law
wise in excluding women from the profes-
sion Of law. TIE cruel chances Of life some
times ba.sie both sexes and may leave women
free from the peculiar duties Of their sex.
These may need employment. and should be
welcome 70 any not derogstory to their sex
and its proprieties. or inconsistent with the
good order OF society. But II is public
policy not TO tempt ,con,en from the proper
duties OF their ser By opening to them
duties peculiar to ours. II. IS counsel
threatens. these things are TO come, We Will
| take no voluntary part in bringing them
| about.
This is scattering history of the strug.
gle Of women to obtain a standing at the
bar. There are a number Of very able
women lawyers now practisIng-among
them Mrs. Humiston. who has just accom-.
plished somethincton which the men fsll
down. -