Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-24
WOMEN LAW MAKERS
LIKE THEIR NEW JOBS
Men Legislators Courteous but
Think Suffragists Are Not
Practical; Give Dignity
to Albany.

Albany, Jan p Tho two women
members IF the State Assembly. Mrs
Ida Is SammiS of Suffolk county and
Mrs Mary VI Lilly of Manhattan, like
their new Jobs Both have worked at
them for three Legislative weeks and de
clare that they are satisfied that women
have a place IN legislative bodies, that
thcV can bc effective members and that
they are sincerely welcomed by the men
rs bringing to the deliberations first hand
the point ut view Of the ncwly-cnlranchlscd
women voter,
1t j. the first time in the history Of the
Empire State that women have sat as
voting members of IT'S law making body
and what changes 1t Will effect IN the pro-
Ccedings and results at Albany are un-
answered questions the topics ct much
speculation here Among most hard
headed legislators the opinion prevails
that the only effect S going to bc a more
definite impression of women : views upon
legislation passed
- far as any changes III custom,
courtc>ics and forth. there viii he
httlc, ii any, largely because ~ one
rc..son--thc women demand treatment
AZ equals with the men hy the men n
and thcv are getting il Their position,
III the words OF Mrs. Lilly Is this: There
/ IS no sex in work We are all working
/ together
4 Of course their presence in the House
/ NAV tone down the boIStcrouSnCss Of the
| closing DAYS tins YEAR that IS really he
/ only time thu Assembly otherwise as
/ dignltlcd rs any dchberative body IN the
+, world lets loose and perhaps il should
be excused for that II usually occurs
| following anywhere from - TO 4S hours
| of continuous work in order TO clear the
7 calendars somewhere near the hour ~Ct
for adjournment sine die and who would
not fccl like . little fun at that pcrIod-
Ii Is we'll within the memory Of those
hero now when thu closing session WAS
+, marked hv horse play and rough house
4 that would DO credit tn 4 college h2nng
daN
Perhaps the presence of women a this
wear : closing session viii serve n 4 re-
6nng influence But 80 lar ~ their effect
nov Il i IntuIteSsimai hc dclibcra-
tInnS 81 lie House - on Just Al before.
fh, women ar. here and thcN part Icipatc,
wholly and solely as memhcrs ot the
Hous,, and nothing more. They senk no
preferences hy reason of thcr ScX. For
Instance-although III churches, rcsIau-
I rant- and many other places women
Keen their hat- on where men are eX-
Lt.t :sAi ttG AMI tAtt lt0k 8tltlt'Nt. t44tNLIi
The two women members Of the Assembly
occupy their seats with barred heads IS
do The men ,IuSt outside the Tal-In he
visitor seat women sIt with their hats
on.
cTsPIDoR BECosE~ FERN DISH
There are. at course. signs ot the
woman touch her. and there Mrs
Idn Il ~anmi~ has converted the Gus
pldoT ~ her desk INTO . fern dish
remarked 2 & group 81 friends she said
jhA, ! dl4n know just what use 70 make
oi mat but thought would put a fern III
I- " hereuprn Mrs Ruth Lltt. the ~ul-
rag, leader of suffolk v hr heard nae. went
rga- ip - b, iyrists and mad fern sent
mc
i Low growing nicely in the brass
cJisp.dor which stands beside her desk and
perhaps - is the only marked change that
c.u j.. seen ju either the appearance or
ync proceedings Of the Lower House ss
the result III the election Of the first
women members to the body
i}oth arc earnest students ol theIl jobs,
too which Is more than ran bc SAID OF
great many legislators %, he opposite
faltA who trV 1u spend a> llttlc tune ~
possible IN Albany without .afing them
selves open "a the condemnation of the
EHlDtlE EtDtE&lfN- h-flliti ti~A lii EtLDiL u
Mrs Samuis III her own words.
Il came UP here III the middle Oi De
cember TO GET acquainted with the job
J wanted t0 learn my way about, study
the tnlng- / was u deal with and put my
self in a position 70 act intcllIgently
upon them
Perhaps, m q way. too, the women rep
resent q better maturity Of thought than
that of the average man assemblynan
IN recent wears particularly the job Of
asscInblyIuan has deyolyed upon d young
man. Usually young lawyer maybe
jilsi out Of law school or just admitted 10
the bar More than once men have sat
here who have voted less than three times
They brought, Of course, all the VigOr
and daring and ambition and aggressive
ness OF youth. but they showed much lack
i'm that maturity Of judgment which is an
INDISPENSABLE necessity In the making Of
new laws.
WOMEN LEGISLATORS MATURE.
In contrast TO this are The two women
mctubers Mrs Sammis i proudly in
PRODUCING to friends her son, Alden with
the words that he cast his first vote for
me last November and is now studying
law at the Albany Law School Mrs
Lilly is a woman who boasts sllvery gray
hair and broad experience as a practic-
ing woman lawyer and fund Of knowledge
gained by European travel.
Their interests are Of course first those
that come nearest TO women but at the
same time they show disposition to
grapple seriously with all the big problems
here and on many Of them they have well
defined opinions already in each case
based upon reasons worked out by study