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Show I . , . . : , , . H 'f omen Back Political Demands for First Timeeby Organized- Votes "Big Ten" to f I I Watch' Fate of League of Women Voters' Platform at National Conventions ' I I ; SOLID FEMININE VOTE FOR EITHER PARTY NOT EXPECTED BY " WOMEN THEMSELVES WASHINGTON. With the an-nnllnPAmAiit an-nnllnPAmAiit fhnf Ihn Ijinnin nf Yfn rmcn Voters will ally Itself with whichever which-ever political party incorporates In its platform the six planks presented by the league, a now and powerful elo-mon elo-mon has leen Introduced Into the coming- Republican and Democratic national conventions. When the suffrago amendment is " ratified the league of Women Voters will represent more than 20,000,000 votes. Without the ratification there still are more than 15.000.00Q women in suffrage states eligible to vote at the next presidential election. J Organized Power Ml It will be remembered it was con- j ceded by the Republican party thati m the women of the western suffrage E. i states wero the deciding element fi which swung the 1D1G campaign In fa ll J vor of Wilson. Tlreso women were If . ; not nationally organized at that time. Ml, Tho great .League cf Women Voters fjf as a political powor came into, being if at the last National Suffrage eonven- W. Hon. held In Chicago during Febru- - u A an of this year. It is tho 'outgrowth of tho Woman Suffrage party, and the ramifications of its organization are as closely knit as thry are fnr-reachlng. fnr-reachlng. In operation tho league Is a federation embracing not -only ouf-i frago organizations as such, but women's wo-men's clubs, church societies and lodges. The plan io to affiliate every organized body of women. In order to accomplish this the Unltod States has been divided Into seven "regions," each with its director. direc-tor. Each region is divided Into "states, and tho states divided and sub-dlvidod. Executive Board. The executlvo board of tho league consists of tho soven regional directors direc-tors and throo dlrector-at-large. Tho "Big Ten" arc Dlrectors-at-Largo: Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Boston, national chairman; chair-man; Mrs. Richard Edwards, Indiana; In-diana; Regional directors; Miss j Katherine Ludlngton, Hartford, Conn., .first region; .Mrs. F. Louis Slado, New ' York, second region; Mls3 Delia , Dortch. Nashville. Tenn., third region; Miss EliEnbeth Hauser, fourth region; 'Mr.s James Pnlge, Minneapolis, fiftli ,rog!fin; Airs. George Oellhorn, St. Woao u-PAX? j Louis, sixth region, and Mrs. C. B. Simmons, seventh region. Ever" since their electlpn the regional re-gional directors have been holding 'meetings throughout their regions both , for the purpose of perfecting the ; league's organizations In individual localities lo-calities and to find, opt what the women wo-men of tho country want in tho way of political Issues. The six planka of the Leaguo of Women Voters, obtained ob-tained In this way and long slnco filed with Republican and Democratic national na-tional committees are consequently unusually representative of the women of the country. At Both Conventions It is not tho first time women have presented planks for Incorporation in party platforms at national conventions, conven-tions, but It Is the first time they' 1 have done so as a body of organlzod j voter3 backed by a potential representation repre-sentation of fifteen to twenty million1 at the polls. The league will main-! tain headquarters )in Chicago and San Francisco to watch the fate of Its platform. Mrs. Maud Wood Park, national chairman, will be In charge. ' MeS.F.lOU SLAPS fl While the league Is non-partisan, just as the American Federation of lH Labor is non-partisan, tho planks ad- IH vocated by tho women for tho coming campaign will be so generally effective I that it is .believed tho new women "voters' interest in them will submerge party feeling." It is anticipated by masculine political leaders that tho six planks, covering' as they do economic jH and moral issues long fought for by jH feminists, will swing the women to-gethcr to-gethcr for the 1920 campaign at least. Divided Woman Vole. However, the women themselves do not antlclpato a soLJd feminine vote for cither of tho .great parties. Their belief is that both Republicans and Democrats will incorporate the league platform Intact, thus throwing the campaign back Into a party issue so far as the woman vote is con- IH The six planks of the League ol jH Women Voters' platform cover: Child welfare, including prohibition of child labor, and a federal program 'H for maternity and Infancy care; crca- iH tlon of a federal department of cdu- H cation to decrease illiteracy; in- creased federal support for training in home economics and government supervision of food marketing and dis- trlbution to reduce profiteering; laws to protect women workers; approprl-jatlons approprl-jatlons for prevention of disease, and legislation to prevent an American wo-I wo-I man who marries a foreigner from ' losing her citizenship. |
