Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-10-20
NATION WIDE CAMPAIGN BEING WAGED
10AWAkEN CITIZENS TO DUTY At POLLS

Ine duty to vote rests on every
Man ana woman In the countrv
Eaufe 70 go to the polls Is eouiya-
nt 20 casting . silent vote against
tne conttnuauce sof thu democratic
form OF goy4rnmsnt. :
ahis meseaee IN the form Of n
tuH-pase advertisement has been
yroaGcasted to magazine readers in
Tug NovemDer iAsues OF national pub.
IL Ine advertisement II pub.
Isned oy the Metropolitan Life In.
OF unique ADVERTISING editortaIs nuh-
iished in mediums having a com.
oined circulation Of sixteen milliona.
most OF which have urged good
health habits and warned asainN
things nkely to cause untimely death,
statistics OF the past two or three
elections reveal voting bashfulness
on the part Of women voters. Thfs
election Is the first in which com
piete universal suffrage viii be ef-
1ective though IT. was nearly 80 In
From 1883 to 1912 the vote for
PRESIDENT of the United States in
creased at the rate Of about COO, coo
oailots every four years. In 1915 It
a re- 6 Iea ~ 19s;52s,74S votes an increase
or 3.4S7.674 In four years. In 1920,
with women voting in many states,
the total vote was "a, 7O5 ,346.
Large as this figure was 1t was
disappointing since the men who
might have voted numbered 27.661,-
S6O ana the women numbered &c.
750.052--a total Of 54,421 ,S32. When
compared with the 1915 vote this
small showing Is attributable to a
large extent to the failure of women
to 80 to the polls. President Haley
Fiske OF the Metropolitan addresses
to them a direct appeal.
III the fidelity Of women to civic
duty equals their devotion to home
and family" he states. their vote
should equal the vote Of the man
COO
THE task before the people Of the
United Statesmen and women-is
to mako democracy secure and keep
1t secure. That will tax all our
strength. will tax our intelligence to
the utmost. and call for our keenest
vigilance. Voting Is our privilege.
our obligation-perhaps even our
burden. But It Is also our most ef-
fective weapon. Short OF serious
illness, no excuse for failing to vote
can pass muster. Whether election
day brings heat or cold, rain or
shine. calm or blizzard. get to the
polls and vote"
This campaign to register the high
est possible percentage Of the eligible
vote in the coming national election Is
being waged forccfully by other great
commercial and Industrial organiza-
tions and by civic and patriotic clubs
throughout the country. The general
tone OF the propaganda Is "no matter
how you vote. but vote anyway"
A great metropolitan banking house
Is sending an enclosure in all it's cor
respondence inviting the citizens to at
tend and cast their vote at a meeting
on November of the United States Of
America, in which they are stockhold-
crs.
The American Legion has since its
organization held that it was one Of
the primary duties of veterans in times
Of peace. who have the welfare of
their country at heart. to exercise their
franchise on election day. This great
body of men who have worn the uni
form of their country in war time is
actively engaged In the campaign to
raise the voting per centage from the
sorry less than so per cent. to a more
respectable figure. ~"
Other patriotic and civic groups are
similarly cooperating to this cad. and
among tho most active and influential
are the Kiwanis clubs. Twelve hum
dred Of these clubs in the United
States are engaged in the campaign to
help secure record vote this year
and are working not only with their
own membership but in the entire COM
munitles in which they are located.
An effective piece OF campaign litera-
ture I'm that 1t graphically represents
the situation is contained in n poem
by II. Armistead Grady. secretary of
the Kiwanis Club Of Duluth, Mimi,
which Is entitled Awaken" and which
Is as follows:
Need we the belching lannon's roar,
The managing of our youth In war.
Need we the stencil OF poison gas,
Need we the cry They shall not pass.
TO Danish lethargy.
TO awaken loyalty.
Need We the Anguished means
OF women left alone,
The sight of faces scared by pain,
Mems spirit broken by the strain.
To rouse us from our apathy.
TO send us onward Loyalty.
Need we the hell OF revolution.
The scorning of our constitution.
Today a feet in fevered mind.
Tomorrow n nation undermined.
Need we from history further quote
To urge Americans,-to VOTE.
Copyright by The Kiwanis Magazine)
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