Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-03
ENTER THE LADIES WITH
VOTES AND A CHALLENGE
The old.Line fractional Chiefs Ger
tainly VIII Need Tutoring


tainly VIII Need Tutoring
THE thing is done. Woman suffrage as a
reality came to Philadelphia with the
registration of approximately $4,000 new
voters yesterday and the Republican city
committee ceased to be council of mascu
| line absolutsm and. contrary to the dark
implications of hard boiled statesmen who
used to talk of the general franchise as IL
1t were the Day O Doom, the skies did not
split and fall
| NO one had any reason to feel that the
world is done for or that Philadelphia or
Pennsylvania or the country will be any
| worse off than they were in the old days
that have passed forever. Indeed, when you
| read between the lines of the narrative of
| day that will be historic it seems that they
| may be even little better off in the future
Abysses were brdged. Charley Hall rose
in the seat of his authority to bow to Mrs.
Thomson. leader of the Republican women.
Tom Cunningham, fair to see in a new
suit elegantly shook hands with the Coun-
tess de Santa Eulala and respectfully as
sured Mrs. Iarnal, Mrs. Altemus and their
associates of his desire for their advice and
co operation.
The expected things happened at the city
committee. The gentlemen were patroniz-
almost duca in his bearing And there
were painful intervals, too. Why, why did
Mr.. Hall whisper. as IL telling a secret to
these clever and informed women, that "the
Governor of the State has nothing to do
with the city? And why did Coroner
Knight drift so far in his amiable rumblings
that one woman, who had just returned in
mourning from the French battlefelds, arose
with wet eyes to cry out at him from an
angry heart because he repeatedly spoke of
politics as game?
Mrs. Thomson and her aides went eff
ciently and determinedly about the business
OF the Republican women at that session.
1t is not clear that they knew exactly what
they wanted-or that they wanted anything
more than concise information explicitly and
frankly given. Democratic women seem to
have been in eclipse during the prelimi-
naries of registration day and at the polls
We should have liked to hear more about
the doings Of the League of Women Voters,
who have fought consistently to obtain the
ballot and use it as an instrument of en-
lightcnment and independent thought.
II they were busy they were busy in
silence. There were rumors that great
many ardent suffragists forgot to give their
names to the assessors. That sort of thing
is to be expected. The technique of politics
is not easy even for those who regularly
practice it. The new voters will have to
learn. The old ones will have to learn, too.
For the Republican women, who were
very much in the foreground at the city
committee and at the polls yesterday. found
that old timers, like Mr.. Hall and Mr..
Knight, were patronzing. Women voters,
like Mrs. Thomson and her associates. were,
Nl,
are, though they do not show it, when the
lord of creation assumes his most ancient
attitude and slips joyfully into his most
cherished delusion.
They smiled family and seemed to realize
that you cannot teach an old politician new
tricks.
In the fashionable and we'll to do sections
of the city the registration of new voters
was lighter than Suffragists hoped and ex-
peCtod. Into that circumstance it is pos
sible to read an indictment of the feminine
mind If you are willing to forget that the
registration of men voters is similarly and
invariably light in these same regions.
Downtown it seems to have been other
wise. In the wards where Senator Ware is
or used to be-admircd and rcvered.
suffrage and registration werc matters Of
lively interest. A new and considerable
class of voters was created and in the Ian
guagc of politics they will be known as the
Ware Women. They are the wives and Sis
tcrs and sweethearts of the men who call
the senator chief and John Bailey friend
and prophet. Lethargy was not general
downtown. and there were few women to
hold back from the polling places because of
dsintereStedness or habit of cxtravagant
reserve. They registered chcerfully or with
enthusiasm.
The division leader-a friend Of Ed or Bill
-strollcd around to the familiar doorsteps
to pat the baby on the head and talk of the
weather and remember suddenly that regis
tration day had come. He spoke to those
who love Ed or Bill. Ware Women didn't
say Don't bother me, or Il haven't time"
or Its too silly"
The thing was done Loyalty for Ed and
Bill and the friends and chieftans of Ed
and Bill. In South Philadelphia the spirit
of the clan is hard to kill 1t has warmed
too many dark days for poor people. 1t has
brought help when help was needed. So.
in that part Of the city suffrage has created
a new class of voters which may prove for
nilabIc in future elections. Mrs Thomson
will be extremely lucky if she can provide
a balance of power in favor of the opposite
faction. Shall those of her followers be
called Administration Women? 1t is i'm
possible, Of course, to think of body of
feminine voters who might call themselves
Pcnrosc Women. Wasn't it Mr. Penrose
who, when he was told that suffrage would
have to come, said gloomily: 80 will
death. But why invite IL"
No; there will be no Penrosc Women.
These, a. the ihrurable optinRsts used to
say when the war ragged, are great times to
live in The sudden improvement of man.