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December 14, 1928 WILMETTE . LIFE 15 field, ·in order to pass or defeat a Woman· ' s Part in law. "Get in touch with the people Lawmaking Brought ' who are serving you in Springfield," she pleaded. Women should study the Out at Conference issues under their legislative chairmen By R. L P. A comparatively small but extremely alert group of women, most of them legislative chairmen, club presidents, and district chairmen of women's clubs in the Tenth district, met at the Woman's club of Wilmette on Wednesday, December 12, to give serious .consideration to what is being done in the state legislature and what part women play in having laws defeated or passed. Keen attention was paid to all speakers, and intelligent questions put 1o them showed that here was a representative body of women who were not only aware themselves of bills that are to come before the legislature, but who are eager to acquaint other club women with the importance of supporting bills and_taking an active han<l in the legislation of our state. Mrs. William S. Palmer, legislative chairman for the Tenth district, presided at the morning meeting, holding an ioformal discussion Gn the automobile license bill and the educational bill. The women expressed themselves as feeling that besides a tax to drivers there should be tests to determine :£ drivers are capable of driving. Mrs. May Wood Simons of the department of economics of Northwestern university, president of the \Voman's Univ~rsity club, and - citizenship chairman of the Illinois League of vVomen's clubs, was the speaker of the morning. In mentioning the legislation that faces Illinois, she stressed the respo,1sihilitv of individual citizens in learning about the bills · that will come up during the coming year. She told of the work being done by the Joint Legislative Council of Illinois. This council has a nuh1ber of sub-committees that study and push legislation o n certain definite topics. One has been busy with the educationa.l problem. A survey made by the committee a few ~r ears ago in twenty-five counties of Illinois showed that the yery greatest amount of diversions exist between counties in the educational opportunities they offer to young people. Education, she pointed out, is a matter of dollars and cents, and equality of education is not possible upon the basis of taxation. She said that twentv-one states in the Union are ahead of IJli .. nois in the matter of literacy. Education, she felt, should fit a person to earn a living, to fill his position in the home as father or mother, to take up the responsibility of voting, to satisfactorilv use leisure time, and fit him in his -relations with other men and women. Touching on election laws, Mrs. Simon told of a committee that has suggested there be a central counting place for ballots, where trained stati~ ticians could take care of that bustness, and that there be a permanent registration for the entire state of Illinois, brought about through central registration. The Massachusetts form of ballot is being advocated by the council, she said, instead of the present party form of ballot. During the luncheon hour, Mrs; Lottie Holman O'Neill, who was · the first woman representative in Illinois, gave an interesting talk. She encouraged women to have "lots of nerve" and get into politics. She spoke of herself as being a woman's candidate, saying she would remain s~ as long as discriminations are practiced against women in politics, and that. sn~ liked to champion the cause she thmks is right whether might is on her side or not. The mechanical end. of the game-the method of pre.sentmg and passing bills in the legtslature-she spoke of as being the minor end. "We must understan4 ~hat haum~n nat~re is the great dectdtng factor m· passmg taws," she said. Business mu~t be ~one with the actual law makers m Sprmg- so that they can talk intelligently with their _represent~tives. The state-wide influence of women is invaluable to any legislative program, and she expressed herself as eager to see the womeQ line up with the men on some things. She advocated more vocational training in Illinois, pointing out that women know best about the handicapped child. She suggested that all the women's clubs in the state get together and appoint some woman to attend sessions of the legislative bodies in Springfield and inform the clubs as to th_ e progress of bills they are interested :n. Mrs. O'Neill also spoke about women serving on juries, likening it to dishwashing-both may be unpleasant, b~t (Continued on page 16) 320 MICHIGAN AVENUE· NORTH GOWNS · WRAPS · MILLINERY · ANNOUNCES A PRESENTATION OF CChe CYflz·J:_cfeason s cYflode/s Beautiful new fashions for coming holiday functions and Southern Resort wear · . . are these models from the important Paris Openings. Copied to your individ~l measure sgs and upwards Ready-to-be-wom · f . and :upward& I --- ------