The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1921-11-18
THE MIDDLE.AGED WOMAN.

TO the wife, mother and home max
er fmiddle-age, suffrage offers both
satisfying outlet for her energies
and golden opportunity to serve her
community. Properly guided, she will
reduce local politics to municipal
housekeeping - and the average town
stands in sad need of efficient house
hold management.
For various reasons this type of
woman is admirably suited to under
take municipal housekeeping. In her
own home and by experience, more Or
less bitter, she has learned the grave
Importance of sanitation, year-round
cleanliness, nourishing diet, economy
and true thrift. She knows what
heavy prive the community will pay
l fits water is polluted, its alleys and
markets are dirty, its school children
under-nourished and its taxes wasted.
The woman who has raised a family
of healthy children on a limited in
come or who has run her household
on the budget system is a real addi-
ton to town or county board
Then the middle-aged woman-and
by this | mean the woman between
forty and sixty-has developed GER
tain traits of great valu Elm municipal
service. She has acquired balance and
is less apto to scatter interest and en-
ergies than younger an dless ex-
perienced woman might be. She is
more patient, more willing to give
time and thought to problems al
which youth, like 1921 Dox Quixote
might ride full-tilt. And she has
/ learned how to handle men, to gel
what she wants without making the
so-called seX-appeal and without rous.
ing seX-antagonism. The tact by
which Father" was induced to hanG
out the price of dancing lessons fol
the girls and sport toys for the boys
will help her in extracting municipal
improvements from aldermen.
Finally, she has the time for mum
cipal service. Her children no longer
require continuous maternal super,
vision. Her house almost runs itself
Her husband and she have begun tt
jog along in quiet, uneventful doubl,
harness She is beginning to wisl
something might turn up to be done
something more interesting than clul
and church socials ami the movies
Her energies, her habit of activity, de
mand an outlet. Municipal housekeep
ing furnishes just the form of self
expression for which she has been fiji
ted by years of unpurchasable train
ing.
am looking to the wives and moth
ers of America to do wonderful thing
practical things, with their vote,
starting in their home towns. Alread
women are proving their worth a
town officials. More and more of thei
sex will find work congenial and wi
have the backing of their fellC'
housekeepers.
One frequently hears criticism c
the younger generation, especial
college students and working girl!
for their lack of interest in politics
think this is unjust criticism. Bioloe
lists and sociologists will agree tina
these girls face other and more impol
tant tasks than participation in actiy
politics. They-are learning how to liy
and how to work. Soon they will b
learning to love, TO bear children, t
make homes. These are absorbin
! tasks. We shhould ask no more c
these girls nor Of youn gwives an
mothers than intelligent voting unde
the guidance of intelligent olde
women. For the good of homes ye
unbuilt, Of children yet unborn, par
ticipation in politics and government
should be left in the hands of wome
who have already made their contri
button to society as wives, mother
and home-makers.
Attend any working convention c
women interested in community sery
ice, municipal government or nationa
politics, and you will find that 80 pc
cent. of the leaders, workers and in
spirational figures are women pas
forty. The ballot and what it will bu
for her community represent not onl,
an opportunity for service, but tn
chance for the middle-aged woman Il
renew her youth by expressing hersel
along new and progressive lines. =
Anna Steese Richardson in The Won
an Citizen