Evening star., 1924-08-10
WOMEN'S INTEREST
IN RACE AROUSED
Movement to Place Members
of Own Sex in Congress
Hailed Widely.

Women in the Republican, Demo-
cratic Progressive and Farmer Labor
parties are expressing their interest
+. in the Women for Congress-" confer
:. ence to be held by the National Wom-
i. ans Party at Westport. August Is,
l6 and II. From all parts of the
+. country and from representative
women in the political parties are
coming wishes for success and offers
of help and cooperation.
Mrs. Rebecca L. FELTON, of Georgia.
the only woman who has ever sat in
the United States Senate, has sent to
Miss Alice Paul a message of sup
port. Mrs. FELTON, has just passed
her eighty ninth birthday and is one
of the foremost Democrats of the
country.
Mrs. Arthur Cramer of Detroit.
president OF the Wayne County AZ
. Inflated Republican Clubs, one of the
largest political organizations in the
country, has wired her hearty sup
port and the hope that Michigan
may be among the States to run a
woman for the Senate this fall
Believes Maryland Ready.
Mary Gertrude Pendall of Balti-
more, delegate to the La Toilette con-
. Vention at Cleveland who is a mem
Der OF one of the Maryland commit
stees in charge of the La Toilette cleo
tlon campaign. writes that she be-
q lieveS Maryland is ripe for such a
campaign to put a woman into Con-
gress and offers her assistance
Myrtle Cain of Minnesota. a Far
mer-Labor member of the Minnesota
Legislature, offers to campaign for the
candidates indorsed at the conference
and says all party affiliations should be
laid aside. Colorado, she writes, has
definitely decided to present a woman
candidate for Congress but the name
will not be announced before the con-
terence convenes.
Mrs. Florence Bayard Hilles, sister
cot Senator Thomas HilleS of Della
ware and daughter of the former
Secretary of State of the Cleveland
administration, called at the West
port headquarters last week to offer
her support. She is the legislative
chairman of the Woman's Party for
delaware and chairman of the head
quarters in Washington, and is actively
interested in politics.
The women for Congress" confer
,ence will be called to order Friday,
August Is, by Miss Alice Paul, vice
-preSident of the WomanS Party, at
'WeStport, and the business sessions
will last through Saturday afternoon.
Besides the usual annual business
sorder of elections and other routine
IL
.tion by various States of their strong
seSt woman candidates. The confer
sence will indorse a few of these and
will centralize its strength on the
campaign that will follow for their
'election-
Research Exhaustive.
!. corps of ten lawyers has long
.been conducting an exhaustive re-
search into the legal status of women
in every State, and digeSts of the dis
ordinations against women have
.been prepared. The Womans Party
has been carrying on its work for
changed legisla ton in the State Legis-
-islatures and has succeeded in getting
many bills passed, but the work is
'Slow. The question has therefore
been brought to a national issue,
Sjust as was the woman suffrage
squestion, which was passed years
teafter its introduction as federal
samendment in 1913, when the 9
States that had given the women full
suffrage had been 65 years in pass
ing it
. Many women who have not been
members of the Womans Party have
Joined in this latest movement and
from everywhere are coming re-
quests for information about the con-
ference. Though only the national
-officers, State and national organizers
and chairmen of councils have been
sinvited as delegates. many others are
Abeing invited to attend as visitors,
for their interest has shown itself
TO be so keen.
In sixteen States the primaries have
ALREADY been held and only three
shave given nominations to women.
The Republicans have made no wom-
an nominees. The Democratic party
has nominated two women. Mary
Ward Hart Of Benton. H.. for repEe-
sentative at large and Jesse Collett
of Philadelphia for the second con.
DreSSional district hut both
,ceded to be in districts where the
Democrats have no chance. The prot
-hibition party has nominated Luella
Barton for the first congressional dis
.trict in Nebraska, Anna Van Skite for
sthe ninth district in Pennsylvania
and Elizabeth Culbertson for the
twenty ninth district, Of Pennsylya-
mia. The Socialist party has honii.
mated Jennie Dornblum for the third
district in Pennsylvania! These six
women. then, represent either the
Smaller, less powerful parties. .or.
strong party in a weak position.