The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-27
JAN. 81, 1934--
Officials
Wives Win
New Deal
Picket Duty by Mate of
Pennsylvania Governor
Proves Point.
BY GRETTA PALMER
Times Special Writer

NEW YORK. Jan. 27-"Mrs.
- Clifford Pinchot. wife Of the
Governor Of Pennsylvania. ap-
peared today in the picket lines Of
laundry strikers at two Brooklyn
plants and in an address at strike
headquarters urged strikers 70 stand
firm according 10 a pithy little
item IN the papers. And with this
news a death blow was struck 70
the old-faShioned belief that a
woman must mince through life
with infinite caution simply be-
cause her husband happens TO be in
public Office.
DO you remember the days when
no Presidents wife dared 70 eX-
press her views on a controversial
matter because such evidence OF
opinion was not seemly in a First
Lady"2 They were not long ago.
Do YOU remember when it was
considered politically dangerous for
the wife OF an official to speak 70
the press on any more dangerous
question than the color Of her in
auRurati0n dress2 Then such
woman felt that she had gone as
far as was safe if she expressed
complete disapproval Of the man
eating shark.
Helps Explode MYTH
Mrs Clifford Pinchot and Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt have put
stop to all that They have ex-
ploded the absurd myth that a
woman leaves her individuality be-
hind her when she becomes an Of
fetal hostess and that the main
thing for her to remember is that
she must never offend" the preju-
dices Of potential voters.
Now. a person whose entire at
tentiOn is riveted on not offending
any one is bound to be a pretty
colOrless individual. Not only must
she keep her patrician trap shut,
but she must avoid any activity
which suggests the hOydenish to the
most conservative of her critics.
II was Mrs. Herbert Hoover who
first took the plunge and drove
herself around Washington instead
Of sitting staidly behind a chauffeur
and a fOotman. Yet driving your
own car seems, to the emancipated
mind. 70 be an activity that is nei-
Their vicious nor controversial.
Old Fear Vanishes
Wives of men who owe their sue
cess 10 their electoral popularity
have been afraid to smoke III pub
lie. They have drawn back their
skirts from the prospect Of serving
so much as a glass of legal beer.
They have SHE'D away from ex-
pressing an opinion more daring
than a whole-hearted Endorsement
of motherhood and the administra-
ton And now we have the pic
ture of a Governors wife in the
picket line.
It is. somehow, profoundly reas-
surfing. It shows that women, now
adays, need not direct their entire
lives in order to further their hus-
bands careers-that even when a
man Is in so tickliSh a position as
that Of Governor, who must stand
or fall by his popularity. his wife
may dare to be herself and to let
the world know what she thinks.
Mrs. Pinchot undoubtedly will be
criticised by scandalized PennSyl-
vanians. as Mrs. Roosevelt has
sometimes been criticised for the
many activities which crowd her
days. But their departure from
the namby- pamby position Of Off
cial wives of the past is as cour-
ageous and admirable a step as the
most ardent feminist could de-
mand.
There are more precious things
in the world than discretion. The
outspoken expression of ones pro-
found convictions, in the teeth of
a critical world. is one Of them, as
Mrs. Clifford Pinchot is wise
enough TO know