Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-06-09
POLITICAL POWER GOES
TO THOSE WHO TAKE IT
N the Women Expect to Be Influential
In Party Management They Must
Prove That Il Is Not Safe to
Ignore Them

Mo ONE familiar with capabilities Of
~ tho sex will deny that women can do
anything in politics which thcv set their
minds to do
That their achievements in engineering
in medicine, in art and in literature, as well
as in politics, have not cuualcd those of men
is not necessarily due to their incapacity.
They have been so busy with other mat
ters that they have not given their attention
to those things with which men have been
seriously concerned for centuries
The ratification Of the equal. suffrage
amendment to the Federal Constitution is a
challenge TO their political capacity. Al.
though they have had the vote in several
states for many years. the inducemCnt to
show what they could do nationally has been
lacking because of the disfranchisemcnt of
women in tho other States
The amendment was ratified too late for
the women TO be taken wholly into the coun-
ellis of the political managers in the last
presidential campaign. The Democrats
however, gave them honorary places on their
National Committee and permitted them to
take part in tho National Convention. The
Republicans did not 60 So far. but they had
an advisory committee of women
rlanS arc now under way 10 admit women
on m equal footing with mon in tho political
committees. The Republican National Com
mittoo. now in session in Washington. is
about to open the door to them. They are to
be prepared for co operation in national
politics by training in local and State poll
tics, for the Republican City Committee has
just appointed a sub committee 10 co operate
with the Republican State Committee In
securing recognition for the women. The
State Committee, which is to meet on June
IS. is expected to mako arrangements for
tho election Of women members next year.
,t.in hn gtnL, 60 tl,ot,
will be put on the political committees
merely because they arc women. They will
sit there because they will have demonstrated
their capacity for leadership or their will
ngness to take orders.
Political parties are managed by political
leaders. The word leader implies followers
man seeking political power begins by
organizing the voters in his district. He
proves his ability to deliver certain mum
bcr Of votes on election day. Then hc makes
combinations with other little organizers and
demands recognition. He becomes n member
of his ward committee and then of his city
committee and thcn Of his State committee,
and II he is big enough he may become a
member Of the national committee.
There aro ten horsepower politicians and
forty horsepower and five hundred horse
power politicians. The influence of each
of them never exceeds his horsepower: or.
to put il in another way. It never exceeds
his ability 10 swing votes either directly or
through his lioutPnants.
While rho political leaders regard It as
expodient at tho present time to admit the
women to the party councils. this condition
will not always exist. When the woman
voter has ceased to bC Il novelty she will
have to force her way into positions of
power by tho methods used by men. She
must develop hcr capacities for leadership
and she must fight her way to the top. not
necessarily in competition with mon. but
certainly in competition with other women.
Unless she docs this she will be virtually
poWcrlcss.
When matters have adjusted themselves
and when thc men have discovered exactly
what concentrated power there is in the
woman vote. the women leaders will got
what they have the power to take and very
little more.
Their far sighted leaders are aware Of
this fact. This is why they have organized
their voters leagues and why they are seek.
ing to keep alive tho spirit Of tho organiza
tion which waGed tho successful fight for
the ballot They labor under no illusions.
and they know that when political fight
gets hot little can he expected from the gal
lantry Of tn" men hungry for power. They
expect to meet the men on their own ground
and to fight them with their own wcapCnS--
that ia. by the organized voting strength.
The women have n long way to 60, for
they arc not yet voting In large numbers.
In this State, although they had tho fran
chisc. last year the total vote. male and
female. was only twenty ono out Of every
100 Of the population. II Is ordinarily
rcckonrd that there is one adult male Of
voting age out Of every five Of the popula.
ton, or about as many eligible male voters
as tho total male and female vote in this
State in the presidential election last year.
There mr." only two States, Delaware and
Indiana, in which the voting strength nt
tho polls last year exceeded forty out Of
every 100 Of m" population In New York
il was only thirty three. in New Jersey
twenty niuo. and in Texas, Louisiana
Georgia. Mississippi and South Carolina it
was loss than ten.
The women have an orportunity N bring
idcalism into politics and TO organize 10
secure economy and efficiency IN government
and to force tho men 10 nay less attention
10 snoils and moro 70 public service, This
i really what they arc dreaming Of doing.
Many of uS have enough confidence in the
sincerity NJ purpose NJ the mass of voters.
male and female alike. to believe that the
women will not be compelled TO admit that
it is only dream,
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