In The Interest of Votes For Women. The Knoxville Equal Suffrage League, Edited by Emma Farrand Tyler.
"A good number of representative men
and women, responded to the call issued
by Mrs. H. C. Milnor, president of the
Equal Suffrage league last Friday for a
meeting to consider present work in suffrage lines.
Knoxville women, as full fledged citizens now have responsibilities that they do not wish to assume ignorantly
and they are
therefore taking steps to gain thorough information regarding questions of civic interest which will hereafter be incumbent
upon them to help their brother-citizen
in deciding, here in our own beautiful
Knoxville. We were never more proud of
its beautv and its promising future than
today, and we desire with all the things
we have in trust to serve our city well.
Therefore, the Equal Suffrage league
realizing that its initial work was done, called this meeting where was formed an orgainization with larger aims, the non-
partisan political league, with which the
old Equal Suffrage league has become
merged.
This league which has thus been dis-
solved, is the parent suffrage league of the
city, having been formed in 1910, at the
home of Mrs. L. Crozier French. There
were 36 charter members. Its first officers
were: president, Mrs. French; vice-
president: Mrs. N. K. Cooper, secretary:
Mrs. H. W. Curtis and treasurer Mrs. Fred-
erick N. Jones. Its object has been "to ad-
vance the educational, industrial, legal and
political rights of women, and to secure
suffrage to them by appropriate state and
national legislation."
From this league has been formed two
other suffrage organizations in the city,
"the Political Equality league and the Mar-
garent Brent club, whose presidents are
respectivelv, Mrs. C. H. Lucky and Miss
Ada Fanz. Much interest in the new or-
ganization is expressed by both men and
women and it promises to become a liv-
ing center of great benefit to the city.
LETTER PROM BULLS GAP Some weeks ago a letter came into my hands, addressed to the "Equal Suffrage League, Knoxville."' It was from Mr. J.C. Self, principal of the high school at Bulls Gap, Tenn., stating that some of the high school girls were preparing to enter a contest on essay writing on some phase of the woman suffrage question, and asking for suggestions and literature. Complying with these requests and expressing a keen interest in the undertaking, I asked that the 'prize essay' should be sent to me.
Feeling sure that our readers will be interested in this effort I am presenting the
following essay, which was received this
week. It is the essay which won the
prize at the high school meet held at
Rogersville. recently. The author is Miss
Velma Hale Addington. E. F. T.
WOMAN'S PARTICIPATION IN CIVICS
To know the new, search the old. War
has shown how valuable women can be
in civic work. It has proved that they
are not only willing to serve their country but that they are abundantly able. They are revolting against the ill health of
body and mind incident to their condition. They are becoming ashamed of their
own faults and vices, the sense of help-
lesness and of irresponsibility which belittles them. They know things, they
are learning more every day, and they
want to work off this energy and know-
ledge. This nation must awaken to a
realization of the fact that the most dangerous thing on earth is a highly trained intelligent woman who has nothing to do.
Thw war is finished now with its great
emergencies which offered them so many opportunities
for service. Something must be done
and done quickly to keep them
honorably employed.
No man is a good father who is not
also a good citizen. He may provide
everything for his family and still vote
against his wife and children. No woman
can be a good mother who is not also a
good citizen. She may train her chil-
dren in the way they should go while they
are in the home and accomplish every sacrifice, and
still be unable to protect her children
against conditions outside the home.
We may abuse the force of nature but we cannot
obstruct any force in nature
without suffering disastrous consequences.
The woman has seen the great need of
her service and since she has so readily responded to the
call the stupid effort to close her up will
prove ineffective and even more disastrous in the future than it has been in the past because there is a
rapidly developing intelligence and a good growing desperation to try Eve's fate with Adam in the open, where the curse imposed was the blessing of being obliged to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Women have taken and are taking today great interest in the civic reform educationally. The women of today are see- (missing)
