Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-07-19
WOMAN'S PARTY
NOT SATISFIED
WITH ONE RIGHT
Feminists Will Concentrate on
Issue to Cover All Minor
Details.

DSIdllSs
WASHINGTON, D. C.-f the con-
servative politician was alarmed at the
woman suffrage amendment, his hair VILE
doubtless stand upright at the latest
program planned by the feminists OF
America.
Fighting for one right" at a time is
proving too slow for the National
Woman's Party. So it has decided to
concentrate all Of its strength on one
big issue. and make that issue cover
everything. The result is a bill to De
presented to Congress which would re-
move at once all legal and political DIS
examinations against women.
Similar bills are to be introduced into
the State Legislatures. This viii serve
to arouse interest in the project through
out the country. 1t will also give the
women Of the States a chance to try
getting State laws enacted without watt
ing for Congress to act.
The bill is not quite ready for presen-
tation, but action has been started IN
half dozen States. Mass meetings are
being held, and the. war cry Is being
sounded. The women viii enter the
arena well prepared
1t is probable that the national bill
will take the form of an amendment to
the Constitution An ordinary law, the
woman's party realizes. could easily be
modified or repealed altogether at any
time by Congress; whereas repeal OF q
constitutional amendment requires APP
proval Of three-fourths OF the States.
With the women voting, a repeal Of
womens rights amendment would Dc
practically impossible.
The women's bill of rights is being
drawn up in fool proof style by expert
enced lawyers. When the last comma
and phrase is satisfactory it is to be
turned over to Senator Curtis Of Kan
sas and Representative Fess Of Ohio,
who have agreed to introduce the bomb
shell to their fellow legislators.
What the women want is a general
decree that no determinations are to be
made against women before the law.
Lfmita tions regarding women are noted
by most Of US only in isolated instances.
But the National Women's Party points
out that every woman is at a disadvan-
tage at some time because Of the
eleventh century ideas Of woman's In
feriOrity."
WONEN'S
DISADVANTAGES.
Thus they show that the woman in
business who attains to an executive
position is rare, and to reach such
position she must show phenomenal abil-
ity In the factories women are paid
less than men for the same work as a
matter of course while the woman who
APPLIES for position in the Government,
aside from an ordinary clerkship, is apt
to find that the line of work in which
she is skilled is not open to women APP
plicants or else it may be that the posi-
ton is open TO women only when men
are not available.
The woman at home gives her services
as housekeeper and cook without pay,
while her husband holds the net earn
ings Of the domestic corporation.
woman who marries a man from an
other State is apt to lose her privileges
as a resident Of her native State. More
than this, in a number of States she loses
control over her property, as it passes
into her husbands hands.
If a woman becomes interested In Gov
eminent and politics she finds that she
is permitted 10 vote for men candidates,
picked mostly by men. The important
boards and commissions that decide how
the peoples money is to be spent have
no women member And so it goes. the
womans party points out in every phase
of life
Miss Elsie HILL chairman Of the Ma
tionaI Woman's Party, believes that the
country is ready for wholesale change
in its attitude toward women, and that
the present Congress may put the rights
bill through.
Our traditions of what a woman'R
limitations should be-" according to Miss
Hill date from the eleventh century
when the common law was recognized in
n, Il
inferior to man, and society has been
guided by the decision ever since.
Even after the American colonies broke
away from England, the States held to
the tradition of the inferiority of women,
and only where a State has modified
some particular point, have we departed
from it,
LAWS NOT
CONSISTENT.
Some States have recognized women's
ability III some matters, other States have
made concessions along entirely different
lines. To take one instance, New York
gave married women property rights in
1S4S, and the majority Of the States have
followed suit
These changes show that the common
law is not the Invaluable guide it was
taken for. II q woman is capable of
managing ner property in one State, why
should a woman of another State be less
competent? And If a mother of an ille-
climate child is made by law solely re-
sponsible for her child, why should the
married mother have no legal control at
all over herS?"
To bring these Illogical laws up to a
consistent intelligent standard would be
a reasonable step, Miss Hill thinks. A
general law giving equal rights with men
would result at first in a great many
test cases before the courts, as there
would be technicalities to clear up. But
the advocates Of the bill see no reason
to fear that there would be any real
confusion.
There are two points on which the
feminists depart slightly from their
standard for strict equality First, they
do not ask that women replace men in
work for which they are not physically
suited. For instance, while they de-
mand an equal opportunity for women
in civil government, they do not ask that
girls be sent to West Point or given
chance to enlist in the Army or Navy.
The second point is that the bill is to
contain a provision that it is not to affect
existing laws for the protection of women
in industry
To fight its battle for rights most eff
ficiently, the National WOman's Party
is to set up its standard across the street
from the Capitol so that it can keep a
wary eye on every doubtful Congressman.
The house that the party has bought
is one of Washingtons oldest and most
distinguished mansions known as the
pocIy CoDftoJ IF iS an attractive IVhita