To the Editor of the NontH-CutNa Datty "News"
Sin,—In the report of the meeting of the American Woman's University Association, printed in your paper on February 22, 1 see that the Association "voted to endorse Dr. Margaret Polk's plea that. women should have equal voting: privileges with men, in the International Settlement.
The reporter made a_ mistake. In the first place, to ask for "privileges" would have been contrary to my thought that voting on_publie affairs is not the privilege of either man or woman but the-right and the duty of both. In the "second place to have asked for the vote would have shown me ignorant on the subject which I was trying to Randle, as it ix a fact that both men affairs of the Settlement—I having. voted on all questions which have been before the ratepayers' mectings for ten years. This is past of the reason I am asking you to let me correct this mistake in the paper in which it appeared.
What I did was to send to the three Associations of women Shanghai which T thought represented the largest number of people in Shanghai letters telling, them of a correspondence I had with the Shanghai Municipal Council three years ago in which they told me that women were qualified to a seat in the Council on the same terms as men, which was the payment of j a certain amount of taxes and that} notwithstanding: my protest three years ago, and their acknowledgment that women were—eligible to the office, this year's list had appeared with every woman's name eliminated. I then made copies of the letters which I wrote to the Council and replies from the Cou cil, this year, and made my "plea."
Tam sorry. not to have Kept exact copy of the plea, but it was: about as follows, want to ask organized women carefully to consider these facts, You may protest by saying that you do not want women on the Council, or that the Councilmen do mot want women on the Coun-
—but this is not the point. You may further protest that the Ratepayers do not want wonien fon their Councit—but this is not the point either.
"No man is on the Council but by the vote of the people so there no question of forcing Council women. on the Comnnunity, for they need not be nominated, and, they are nominated, ' thes can be voted down, as many man has been. The question—does not self-respect and. class loyalty, consider that it ix. not! best that this action of the Coun-
(in going over the list and marking off every woman's name) demand a challenge from women, the point to be considered, Clubs ike yours have influence, and Lam asking if you will use this influence, to let. the Council know that you expect a full list of people qualified to a. seat the Council, and not just the names of people whom they think desirable." will appear from this that 1 was not referring to vot the fact that Tam not will show Uhat 1am ask for myself but for my "d Thank you for inserting thie in your paper.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.