REGISTRATION
PLEASES WOMEN
Delighted With Showing Made
During Biennial Period.
Chairman of Non-Partisan
League Urges All Qualified
to Go to Polls and Vote.
Mrs. Thomas Peacock Miller, chairman of the Knoxville Non-Partisan
league, stated Thursday afternoon that
she and other members of the league are
more than delighted with the results of
the campaign to secure a heavy registration for the coming municipal elections
"It is perfectly splendid," Mrs. Miller
declared in discussing the total registration of women. "To be frank, when we
began I did not expect anything like such results. The success of the women's
part of the registration is due
to just one thing--a large number of splendid women put their shoulders to the wheel
and helped the league carry out the plans it made even before it was sure Knoxville women could vote.
"One thing I should like to deny in the name of the league is the statement that it was organized as a political
machine to be used in the interest of any one group of candidates. I was surprised the other day when a woman told me that we have been accused of being a political machine. I told her, as the league will tell the Knoxville public, to kindly recall the fact that the league was organized May 9, before we were even sure that we could vote. The state legislature had given Tennessee women municipal and presidential suffrage, but even the authorities were declaring the act unconstitutional.
"I also referred to the fact that at the time the league was organized that candidates in questoin had not come out when our work began and that for that reason, as well as others, we could not have formed the league to promote the interests of any one group of candidates.
Purpose of League.
"The purpose of the league is solely
the betterment of conditions in Knox-
ville and the careful study of the vari-
ous phases of municipal activities. I
challenge any one to prove that candi-
dates have not been given equal advantages at our meetings or
that we have at these meetings attempted to secure
favor for one man at the expense of his
competitors. We have solicited interest
for all of the candidates—we have asked
both men and women to register and
vote for the men they think best quali-
fied to hold office and have urgently re-
quested the public to study Knoxville
carefully and to use its own judgment
in casting its ballot.
"Our aim in the work to create interest in registration has been to give each
candidate a fair chance to present lhs
claims for office as well as to give the
Knoxville public a "fair chance to hear
what he has to say on certain vital
questions. In the meetings to be held
throughout the wards for the purpose
allowing all of the candidates to open
active campaigns, our purpose will be
the same. Before registration was com-
pleted we asked taht (sic.) campaigning be
postponed until after Thursday night,
but stated that atfe (sic.) rthat (sic.) time each
candidate would be free to appear at
meetings arranged by the ward committees in campaign speeches. Some of the
wards are already busy completing ar-
rangements for such meetings, and, I
understand every ward committee will attempt to hear
every candidate before elections are held.
Permanent Organization.
"The Non-Partisan league will be a
permanent organization. It was formed
not only to use its influence toward securing city officias best fitted for the
work, but also to carry out a program
of studies on local conditions and to foster movements for correcting unsatisfactory conditions. The school question
was taken up first because recent agitations led us to believe that of the
many questions which the city must settle sooner or later it was foremost in
the public mind. Other questions will be
taken up as time goes on and the league,
with the co-operation of the Knoxville
public, will try to help make the new
administration the best in the history of
the city. The personnel of the new commission will not heighten or lower our
interest in the welfare of the city and
will not change our plan to stand by it
during the next four years."
Ask Women to Vote Early.
Mrs. Miller, as chairman of the Non-
Partisan league, and Roy Beeler, as
chairman of the election commission,
are planning to ask women to go to the
polls early on election day in order that
the noon hour and the early evening
hours may be given over to men and
women who work during the day.
Women employed in house-keeping or
other occupations, which will allow a
few hours' freedom during the morning,
are asked to vote before noon. If this
is impossible they are asked to vote during the afternoon.
Wants All Women to Vote.
"The registration has proven such a
success that it would never do for the
women who have their registration certificates not to vote," Mrs. Miller concluded. 'I hope that every woman who
has registered will vote. We want a
heavy vote."
Certificates to be Mailed.
Announcement was made Thursday
afternoon that registration certificates
for people who registered from out of
town will be mailed to their home addresses within a few days. Mrs. Miller
especially requests that all women who
have registered in this way watch for
their certificates and preserve them carefully.
Women's Suffrage
