Evening star., 1927-04-30
WOMAN VOTERS
I At WHITE HOUSE
,Sex's Indifference to Ballot
= Chief Concern, Miss Sher-
win Tells President.

when he received delegates of th'
league from as States at noon toda!
in the White House.
I'VE admit the truth Of the popular
belief that in non-voting, women arr
the worst offenders" Miss Belle Sher
win. league president told the Presi
dent. but we venture the reminder
that the women of this generation
have been born and brought up il
a tradition OF participation II
Government.
THE League of Women Voters ac
cepts as its particular mission the
endeayor to overcome as rapidly as
possible this tradition and by unremit
ting efforts to instill in women G
sense Of responsibility toward Gov
ernment In these efforts, we are
happy to assure you, we meet with
much encoura cement"
Emphasized by Mrs. GelIhOrn.
Earlier in the day the question OF
women's apparent luke-warniness to
ward exercising the ballot was EN-
phasized before the session of the
general council of the league by Mrs
George Gellhorn of st. Louis. Mrs
Gellhorn declared that men are "bet
ter voters" than women, and wher
the woman is a wife and mother she
ranks far below husband, son and
daughter.
THE failure of women TO exercise
their newly won rights" she said, sis
the chief concern of the League OF
Women Voters and the reason for its
existence"
Mrs. G.. J. Otjon of Milwaukee de
clared it was extremely difficult tc
Judge to what extent women are cen
tering upon responsibilities as public
officials" but that it was interesting
to note that the greatest increase was
in the number of women holding
municipal and local Offices
Upon the close of the session, short
gy before noon, the delegates proceeded
TO the White House, where President
Coolidge greeted them and received
from Miss Sherwin the resolutions
adopted by the league during it's four
day meeting.
Condition Not Hopeless.
In assuring President Coolidge that
the women of her organization ten
dered their loyal cooperation in
every effort for the successful work
ing out of the great American expert
ment in democracy" Miss Sherwin
declared the Indifference of voters
while a problem of chief concern, is
not a hopeless one. In fact. she
said that the studies made by the
league tend to show that the people S
voting habits are better than they are
commonly reputed to be-
1T is also question whether we
are Warranted in assuming that be.
cause many people neglect to vote at
any given election they are necessarily
lacking in sense of civic-responsibil.
1ty," she said. Such a question is
suggested by a survey recently made
In certain communities which showed
that over period of the last three
Years and for six elections only 10
per cent of the eligible voters were
so lacking in this sense Of responsible.
lty that they did not once vote, and
that large percentage did vote in
most OF these elections. In such com
n1unities the voting habits are surely
far from hopeless
In her address at the general
council meeting, Mrs. Otion called at
tention to the fact that Connecticut
State which up to the very last
.steadfastly opposed woman suffrage,
mas the largest representation of
women in its Legislature than any
other.
Woman Legislators.
Fifteen women sit in it's 1927 Legis.
lature. About 25 women are holding
office under the Federal Government
at the present time, she said, and six
women have been elected to Congress-
since 1922, only one other woman hav-
ing been elected prior to that time.
Miss Elizabeth j. Hauser of Girard,
Ohio, came to the support Of voters,
declaring that wholesale condemna-
tion of the American voters for his
failure to vote 100 per cent strong is
not justified by the facts
The business session of the general
council closed today. This afternoon
at o'clock, the delegates will be re-
ceived at Annapolis, by Gov. Ritchie
of Maryland. There will be post coun-
Gil meetings Of the board of directors
Monday and Tuesday at the Congress
sional Country Club.
Radio Praised at Banquet.
Establishment of general radio
communication was hailed as zone of
the great forward steps in the most
thrilling of all human enterprise. the
stimulation Of human thought" by
II. A. Bellows, member of the Federal
Radio Commission, speaking last night
at the annual banquet Of the General
Council in the Mayf1ower Hotel.
lit is for you, not for US Of the
commission, TO safeguard the freedom
of the air. he said, after explaining
that the Government was being forced
to limit the number of broadcasting
installations. You would be quick
TO see the danger if there could be
only a small number of newspapers
and magazines published in the United
States you would rightly fear that the
newcomer, the non-conformist and the
minority would have small chance to
present ideas to the public That is
just the situation that exists in broad
casting.
The law tells us we shall not fix
any condition which shall interfere
with free spec@L, and yet if radio
communication Of any kind is to be
possible, we must sharply limit the
number Of stations. The safeguard
ing Of free speech is in the hands OF
ihe broadcasters themselves and ulti
mately in yours, for it is your good
viii the broadcasters are seeking.
Censorship Power Not Given.
Congress grasped the significance
pf radio AS a vital force in American
life when it created the Federal Radio
Commission"
The radio act, he said did not give
the commission authority to censor
programs; IL simply stated that the
commission should see that broadcast
ing was carried on according to .hf
commissions conception of public in
terest, convenience or necessity
That radio will play a tremendou.
part in the next presidential campaign
was the declaration Of Marlin Hal
AylesWOrth, president Of the Nationa
Broadcasting Co. Just as red fire anC
banners gave way 10 the iron