t3f)£ Decerning T7oter Official Organ South Dakota League of Women Voters
VOL. 1. HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA, OCTOBER 1925 NO. 3.
"No Free Government Can Long Exist Which Is Based Upon An Illiterate People."
DISPLAY OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE FAIR, SEPTEMBER, 1925.
The crowds who paused The copy of the prize- to view the exhibit of the winning Peace Symbol League of Women Voters and the life-size figure of at State Fair impressed one anew with Edmund Justice are cut-outs done Burke's assertion that ed in oils on heavy wall- ucation is the cheap de board, and placed against fense of nations. Men, a dark blue back-ground. women, and children made They are the artistic work a thoughtful survey of of Mrs. E. M. Bishop, of the whole display, the Huron, who combines a flags of the nations, of rare conception of idea blind Justice, and of the with her talent in execu miniature Court flanked tion. The miniature Court by constumed dolls of is a replica in paper dolls various nations grouped of the Minnesota display as being in or out of the at th,eir State Fair, and World Court. The most was purchased from their frequent comment from artist. observers of any age con cerned the sort of com ISN'T IT TIME pany in which Uncle Sam "Isn't it time that we found himself. should give up blind The Senate of the Unit fighting against opposi ed States votes on Decem tion and try to preserve ber 17th on the question ourselves and our racial of our entrance into the civilization by establish World Court. It is for us ing adequate world gov to say to our Senators ernment? Isn't it time that we should give up Hffi how we feel in the matter. world anarchy and estab Unquestionably the Court lish world law and order? is a step on the way to That is the issue before universal peace. this country." We of to-day will pass —Des Moines Register. on to our children, and to our children's children, twenty billions of dollars of Some think that the government has no right to help education because it is not so specified in debts for them to pay. How cheerfully, think you, the Constitution. will they pay the proportion that represents out Our government has done many things for the lay for wars? welfare of this nation which are not 'so specified, And we may well ask ourselves if that civilization because the growth of our nation and of modern in is a success which requires five or six times as much ventions and industrial development has made them necessary. Departments of agriculture, commerce, outlay by the national government for war and pro and labor have been created and much money spent tection as for the support of all its constructive and on good roads, inland waterways, reclamation and peaceful functions irrigation projects and development of water power. aS
The Discerning Voter.
THE DISCERNING VOTER QUESTIONNAIRE FOR WOMEN VOTERS Published by the South Dakota League of 1. Is the state party platform drawn up before Women Voters or after the candidates are nominated? 2. What state of the Union showed the highest Ethelyn Miller Hartwich, Editor. « percentage of eligible voters voting in 1924? What Mrs. John L. Pyle, President the lowest? How may the low rate be. accounted for? Huron, S. D. Subscription, 50c per annum Answers to September Questions. Application pending for entry as second 1. The Constitution does not confer the right to class matter. vote. The 15th Amendment prohibits denial or abridgment of the right to vote "on account of race, THE EDITOR OBSERVES color, or previous condition of servitude." The 19th Amendment specifies no discrimination oh account THE NEED TO STUDY SCHOOLS of sex. That is all the Constitution does provide. This issue of The..Discerning Voter features:tha It confers citizenship but not suffrage. Department of Education as outlined by the national 2. Technically, every citizen of 21 may vote. league. Our State" Chairmaiv'Mrs. Feige,^presents , Practically many cannot. There, are five classes some interesting material for county leagues to excluded. First, 25,000 resident citizens of voting work with. ' /• .=-; age in the District of Columbia are disfranchised. School students of today will be handling world Second, felons are disbarred and third, also the problems tomorrow, and our part is to equip them feeble-minded and insane, these two classes num to meet even greater complexities than we ourselves bering probably a million people. Fourth, about face. To aid in. this presupposes knowledge of "the 250,000 soldiers, sailors and marines. Some few .machinery and spirit of the schools of ou£ state. manage to preserve their vote. Fifth, about 110,- i P ...V. 0--M 000 Indians on reservations. WHY I AM GOING TO CONVENTION 3. South Dakota United States Senators are Because the League is making a significant co%~ Peter Norbeck and Wm. H. McMaster. tribution to our times. '. - v, 4; The duties of the attorney general of South .Because I will meet South.Dakota women who are Dakota include representing the state as an attorney alert, keenly intelligent ^and interesting. in all instances in which the state is interested as Because the presence-of Miss Wells will bring the a party. He exercises supervision over states at national League into clearer and nearer focus. torneys; submits opinions on request of legislature Because, Julia Lathrop, the chief speaker, is a or certain state officers; prepares contracts and famous woman, whose celebrity rests upon a';,$rac- . forms for state use; prosecutes state officers under tical service to humanity, and because hearing her certain conditions; protects title to state lands, and talk will give.me a new grip upon what is worth many other things. The salary for his work is while. -T'r\Sk- $1000, which can be changed only by constitutional Lastly, because I want to give my service in some amendment. degree, and to add my influence, however small, to 5. South Dakota statutes do not provide for a fostering a nobler, citizenship in America. --.' health certificate to be furnished by school teach ers, even for uberculosis. TWO NEW LEAGUES 6*. . The superintendent of the. county hoard of mm We are glad to report two new leagues. One is health receives, his authority from the State Board at Lead under the leadership of Mrs. Wilhoyt and of Health. ... Mrs. Clough.- The Armour League is established with Mrs. H. H. Loessler as president^ Mrs. Carlin, PRECINCT INITIATORY ELECTION Vice-President, Mrs. Rubin, Secretary, Mrs. Car- NOVEMBER 10 mody, Treasurer, and Miss Emma Meade, Cor wm responding Secretary. "The new woman voter is interested in the direct primary. She hears that direct primaries have their defects. She answers, 'So has the democratic form The News Bug of the Davison County League of of government.' She is told that direct primaries Women Voters came to our desk recently. It is a are expensive. She answers, 'So is all government crisp, little sheet full of suggestive materia! on of the people.' She is exceedingly interested in the League matters. The Davison County women feat direct primaries."—Marguerite Milton Wells. ured the World Court in an interesting booth at the Corn Palace. .. • -• • If government by the people is to be made to Compare almost any kind of pay with teachers' work, the people themselves must some way, some pay. • • : '•• time, become educated. •
.'• ~~ .- . .'-'- - -O The Discerning Voter.
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DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATI ON AND CHILD WELFARE Chairmen Mrs. E. W. Feige, Huron Mrs. Franklin D. Smith, Deadwood
Equalization of educational opportunity is the KNOW YOUR OWN SCHOOLS m slogan and the goal of the National and State Com mittee on Education. The. educational program of A Suggested Study 1. Name the members of your school board. the League of Women Voters is conceived in the What is their term of office? What is the occupa spirit of the voters concern for, and activity in be- tion of each? What is the main hobby of each in half of the fundamentals of educational effectiveness, raising the standards of the school in your district? Educational Law, Appropriations, and Qualified 2. What are the various items of the school bud Personnel. get as to building program, teachers' salaries, gene ral expense account, and interest on bonds ? Its objective: An educated citizenry through 3. Are your school plants adequate ? Are they equalization of educational opportunity for the child, properly lighted ? Heated ? Ventilated ? Safe ? continuation schools for the adult and foreign born. Do they satisfy the'S. D. school building code? The National League is working for the estab 4. What are the main provisions of the school lishment of a Federal. Dep't.. of Education, believ attendance laws? Who enforces the school attend ing that in a country like ours education is a national ance laws. What should be done to induce attend function, because popular education is an absolute ance in high school? necessity in.the permanent endurance of a republic. 5. Do your school attendance officers, if you have All the people must become educated to the ex them, understand the principles of social work? tent necessary to secure the basis for democratic 6. Is there allowance for poor relief out of government,, or we fail to secure that degree of school funds where children need shoes or clothes ? education essential for the preservation ;of. a free Are requests for this form of relief investigated? state. By whom? 7. Are there feebleminded children in the same A SQUARE DEAL FOR EVERY CHILD classes with normal children in your district. If so:, Every child has personal and social rights which why are they not in special classes? Is special pro all agree are necessary for ourselves and our own vision made for exceptionally bright children? children, but which we.have not yet.secured to that 8. What proportion of the grade children go on large group of children, who, handicapped by birth, to high school or technical schools ? . How many of are unable to defend their own rights ftnd.have no these complete the course of study? What pro one to speak for them. . portion of high school graduates enter higher in The fundamental needs and rights of all children stitutions ? Is guidance, vocational or otherwise, are the same, and the first great need is a home, offered in the upper grades and high schools? and this home should be carefully selected and 9. What assistance to the education of adults supervised before final adoption. Then too, each and aliens is given through extension classeis of human being has an inalienable right to know public schools and universities? .. - .. vvhence he came. Under our present law the cus (Your county superintendent will furnish you tody of the child can be changed without any court with a copy of the school laws) - .-.. , records being made, so there is no way of telling who his parents were. ' Deans of Girls The Children's Bureau, Bureau of Education and There are many girls * 'between fourteen and every Child Welfare Association, both public and seventeen, for the first time away from home, at private, has recognized standards for child care-and tending a town high school, who are lonely, or who placing. It should be part of our study to*bring need mother's advice or the protection of the home. the J^ws of this state up to the standard establish An attempt to solve this problem is being made ed in most states. in Huron by hiring a Dean of Girls in the high —Mrs. Franklin D. Smith, Chman Child Welfare. school. She teaches a couple of classes in order to (Ed. Note: Mrs. Smith goes to the Mitchell Con preserve the teacher's relation with the girls, and tention (straight from a Child Welfare Conference then acts as Friendly Advisor. and.will have much for us.)
. We are worried if a neighboring nation posseses It is said that by small expenditure the schools a gun of wider range and higher elevation than our can be made adaptable for uses other than purely own, but we are indifferent if another nation pos educational and thus become the focal points of the sesses an idea of wider range or loftier elevation neighborhood, from a civic and community stand than our own. Ideas are our most vital wealth. point. The Discerning Voter,
LIVING COSTS Mrs. G. B. Tuttle, Chairman, Mitchell. STATE CONVENTION Tariff is a problem that all thinking women should October 27-28, Mitchell, S. D. be studying. True, when viewed in terms of Paris Headquarters—Hotel Widman. gowns and luxuries the tariff seems far away and Write hotel for rooms—$1.50 to $3.00. vague, but when seen in terms of necessities of life Rooms in homes $1.00. Write Mrs. Edith such as sugar, salt, cotton, thread, knit goods and Monroe, 904 E. 1st Street. cutlery, it becomes a grim reality. First Session, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 10:00 A. M. In September, 1922, the FordneynMcCumber Tar Banquet, Tuesday Evening, $1.00. iff Bill was passed. Rates were raised on many Julia Lathrop, Speaker. commodities and taxes levied on others which pre Write Mrs. G. B. Tuttle for plates. vious to that time had been free. Take sugar, for Luncheon, Wednesday Noon, Oct. 28. instance, most of which comes from Cuba. Under Marguerite Wells, Speaker the Fordney-MeCumber tariff we pay a duty of 1.6 Last Session, Wednesday Afternoon. cents on each pound of Cuban sugar, and American producers also add 1.6 cents on each pound of do PERSONALITIES mestic sugar. Miss Julia Lathrop, who is a Vassar woman, Our sugar tariff bill is yearly about $216,000,000. worked with Jane Addams at Hull House, as a volun Is this a fair rate? Is it too high or too low? teer resident. She has always been devoted to child Women as purchasers should consider this serious- welfare work, and has been abroad for observation ly. and study. She was for many years a member of The Living Costts Committee of the League of the State Board of Charities in Illinois. The work Women Voters stands for a non-partisan tariff based for which she is justly famed is that of Director on the report of a fact-finding commission, rather of the Children's Bureau at Washington. She was than a partisan controversy. the first executive and shaped its work for many Living Costs is a subject in which every woman years. As a speaker, she is different. No woman should be vitally interested. ever wishes to miss a second opportunity to hear her. A WORD TO THE WISE A nation which lets ineapables teach it Marguerite Milton Wells is Fifth Regional Di while capable men and women only feed, clothe rector of the National League of Women Voters, and amuse it, is committing intellectual sui with headquarters at Minneapolis. She is also presi cide. Keep your eye on the plan of the State dent of the Minnesota League. She is a trustee of Department of Education to raise teacher Smith College where she graduated. Miss Wells is standards. You will want to help with your in mistress of the art of writing briefly with clarity. fluence. When she talks she says something in every sen tence. FIGURE ON THIS ITEM The feeble minded inhabitants of our state num Mrs. Parkes, our Regional Secretary is well ber about four to a thousand, making an approxi known to all our League members, and much-loved mate total of 280O. Most of these would be hap throughout South Dakota. Her message is always pier housed, and many of them should be housed electric. for the welfare of society at large. The Redifield Hospital has 450 occupants. MODERN PHILANTHROPY "All who have meditated on the act of govern Last summer Bernard M. Baruch gave $250,000 ing mankind, have been convinced that the fate of to the Walter Hines Page School of International empires depends on the education of the youth."— Relations at John Hopkins University to cover re Aristotle. search into profiteering as a cause of war. i JOIN THE LEAGUE And identify yourself with informed voters. \ Dues with subscription to THE DISCERNING VOTER are $1.00. Join the local League if i there is one or become a State Member by filling out the blank below and sending it with $1.00 ?t ftjaMMBgSfii to Mrs. E. F. Wilson, Treasurer, South Dakota League of Women Voters, Huron, South Dakota. Y Name Address Y League Members and others who desire Sustaining Memberships, $10.00, write to the Finance Chairman, Mrs. C. H. Dillon, Pierre, South Dakota. Y 4 BHH