Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-03

time women would hold a proper
tionate share Of the seats in Con-
gress
Now, nearly a generation after
the first election Of woman to
Congress, there is scarcely a
corporal's guard Of women in that
body. One Senator, Mrs. Caraway
of Arkansas, is the only woman to
be elected and reelected to that
body, and she succeeded her late
husband. A few other women, very
few, have sat in the Upper House
for brief periods, but only under
appointment by State Governors
and with one or two exceptions only
to fill vacancies caused by the
deaths of their husbands.
In the House, with its 435 men,
bers, the number of women who
have represented congressional dis
tricts has been pitifully small, al
though some OF those who have
gone to the House have proved
capable and Woodworking legisla-
tors. At least two have been elected
again and again, showing that their
constituents hold them in real
esteem-Mrs. Edith Nourse Rogers
of Massachusetts, and Mrs. Mary
Norton Of New Jersey. 1t looks as
if the men continue to dominate
the political and governmental scene
in the United States and will con-
tinue to do so for some time, all
though they are very anxious always
to have the woman vote with them
Elected in 1916.
It is a coincidence that Miss
Rankin was elected to the House
in 1916, when this country was on
the verge of war-the World War
and President Wilson, a Democrat,
was reelected on the slogan He
kept us out of war" and now she
is running again when war clouds
are hanging over the Nation and
both President Roosevelt, another
Democrat, and Wendell Willkie. his
Republican opponent, are promising
to do all they can to keep this Ma
ton from becoming actually involved
in the wars that have most of the
rest of the world in their grip.
Miss Rankin voted in 1917 against
the war resolution. In broken ac-
cents she murmured as the roll was
being called that she wanted to do
all she could for the country, but
she could not bring herself to vote
for war. That attitude is being held
against her now by some of the more
belligerent male voters in this State.
1t may help her with the anti-waI
voters, however. Miss Rankin's stay
in the House was brief In 1918 she
made a try for the senatorial nomi-
nation, was defeated in the primary
and then sought election on an inde-
pendent ticket against the late Sem
ator Tim" Walsh. which was very
much like shooting at the moon
So she passed out Of the political
picture for a score or more years
Women have not yet gotten round to
voting as a bloc for woman candi-
dates for public office. which largely
explains why more women are not
elected to public Office. They have
power If they wish to use it, but up
until now they have been content to
go along with their husbands in
elections, or if they have no hus-
bands they have shown a preference
for man candidates.
Conceded a Chance
So it is not likely that Miss
Rankin will get the great bulk of the
woman vote in her district, just be-
cause she is a woman herself. Even
Democratic leaders admit she has a
chance against her opponent, Jerry
O'Connell, a firebrand who stirred
up a lot of trouble of one kind or
another. One thing which may be
operating under the surface for Mr.,
O'Connell is the desire of certain
interests to get him out of the
State" They figure that in Wash
ington he will be less of a nuisance.
But that is just part of a whispering
campaign. The Anaconda Co-fe-
ferred to here as "the company"