| PAGE | ||
| Foreword | [xv] | |
| Preface | [xvii] | |
| Chapter I. Politics and Woman’s Interests | [1] | |
| The Duties of Government—The Relation of Government to theHome—Duties and Obligations of Citizenship. | ||
| Chapter II. Town and County Government | [8] | |
| The Town Meeting—Officials, Duties, the Kind of Men Needed—Whenand How Elected—Political Honesty—The Relation of Country to City, State, and Nation. | ||
| Chapter III. The Incorporated Village and City Government | [24] | |
| Classes, Charters—Officials, Duties—When Elected—Wardsand Election Districts—FranchiseRights—Commission Form of Government—City Manager. | ||
| Chapter IV. Greater New York | [37] | |
| Mayor, Comptroller, President of the Board of Aldermen, Presidents of the Boroughs—TheAldermen, Presidents of the Boroughs—TheBoard of Aldermen—The Board of Estimate andApportionment—Corporation Counsel—CityChamberlain—Taxes and Assessments—Board of Education—Board of Elections—LocalImprovement Boards—County Government—Courts—Charities—Civil Service—The Budget. | ||
| Chapter V. State Government | [50] | |
| The Constitution, Constitutional Amendments—TheLegislature, Senate and Assembly—How toGet a Law Passed—The Governor and OtherOfficials—Appointive Offices—Public Service,Health, Excise, Conservation, Civil Service, andOther Commissions—State Employees. | ||
| Chapter VI. National Government | [62] | |
| The National Constitution—Congress, Its Powers—HowConstituted—Sessions of Congress—CongressionalCommittees—The President, HowElected, His Powers—The Cabinet—Centralized Government. | ||
| Chapter VII. Who Can Vote | [72] | |
| Citizens—Aliens—How an Alien May Become aCitizen—Naturalization Laws—A Married Woman,an Unmarried Woman—Qualifications forVoting—Who May Not Vote—The 14th and 15thAmendments—The Woman Suffrage Amendment. | ||
| Chapter VIII. Political Parties | [80] | |
| Republican, Democratic, Progressive, Prohibition,and Socialist Platforms—Party Organization,National, State, County, and City Committees,Election District Captains—PartyFunds—The Use and Abuse of Party—The Independent Vote. | ||
| Chapter IX. How Candidates Are Nominated | [91] | |
| President and Vice-President—Enrolment ofVoters—Direct Primaries—Objections to DirectPrimaries—Nomination by Party Convention—Objectionsto the Party Convention—Importanceof the Primary—Nomination by Petition. | ||
| Chapter X. Elections | [98] | |
| Registration of Voters—Time of Elections—ElectionOfficials—How to Mark the Ballot—HowBallots Are Counted—The Australian Ballot—TheShort Ballot—Corrupt Practices Act—Voting-machines—School-housesfor Polling-places—Cost of Elections. | ||
| Chapter XI. Taxation | [108] | |
| Direct and Indirect—Village and School Taxes—Town,County, City, and State Taxes—TaxDistricts—How Taxes Are Assessed—CountyBoard of Equalization—The Collection of Taxes—StateTaxes: Corporation Tax, InheritanceTax, Other State Taxes—State Board of Equalization—FederalTaxes: Custom Duties, InternalRevenue and Excise Taxes, the Income Tax—PublicDebt, Bonds—Sinking Funds—TheBudget—The Pork-barrel. | ||
| Chapter XII. Public Highways | [121] | |
| State Roads, Their Cost and Maintenance—Townand County Highways—Bond Issues—CityStreets—Street Cleaning—Parks—CityPlanning—The Value of Beauty. | ||
| Chapter XIII. Courts | [130] | |
| Criminal and Civil Cases—Justices’ Courts—Policeand Magistrates’ Courts—County Courts—Surrogates’Courts—Court of Claims—SupremeCourts, Appellate Divisions—Court ofAppeals—Courts of Record—Federal Courts:United States District Courts, United StatesCourt of Claims, United States Circuit Courtof Appeals, United States Supreme Court—Constitutionalityof Laws—Injunctions. | ||
| Chapter XIV. The Punishment of Crime | [141] | |
| The Grand Jury—Trial by Jury—Jury Service—WomenJurors—The Police—Prison Reform:—TheIndeterminate Sentence, Probation—Jailsand Prisons—City Farms—The Preventionof Crime. | ||
| Chapter XV. Women Offenders and the Law | [150] | |
| Drunkenness—Prostitution—Night Courts—Fines—DelinquentGirls—Girl Victims—Housesof Detention—Women Judges—Policewomen. | ||
| Chapter XVI. Public Education | [161] | |
| The School District—The Township Board ofEducation—The Annual School Meeting—TheSchool Budget—The Supervisory District—TheDistrict Superintendent—The UnionFree School District—Physical Training—SchoolMoney—Normal Schools—University ofthe State of New York—Board of Regents—NationalCommissioner of Education—AgriculturalColleges—Farmers’ Institutes—VocationalTraining—State Scholarships—Domestic Training—Schoolsas Community Centers—Health—Co-operation. | ||
| Chapter XVII. Health and Recreation | [174] | |
| Housing—Tenement House Inspection—Dance-halls—Playgrounds—VacationSchools—Recreation Centers—Municipal Dance-halls—MunicipalBathing Beaches—The Movies—Causes of Juvenile Crime—Rural Needs. | ||
| Chapter XVIII. The Care of Dependent and Delinquent Children | [185] | |
| By County, City, and State—Institutionalversus Family Care—Lack of Definite Authority—BoardingOut—Boards of Child Welfare—Widowed Mothers’ Pensions—The DelinquentChild—Children’s Courts—Feeble-minded Children. | ||
| Chapter XIX. Child Wage-earners | [197] | |
| The Federal Child Labor Law—New YorkState Child Labor Laws—Child Workers andDelinquency—Street Trades—Night-messengerService—Rural Child Workers—War and Children. | ||
| Chapter XX. Public Charities | [209] | |
| State and Private Control of Charitable Institutions—StateBoard of Charities, Duties, Powers—Proposed Changes in the Reorganizationof the Board—County and City Institutions—Department of State and Alien Poor—LocalBoards of Managers—State Departmentof Inspection—Provision for the Feeble-minded—Recommendationsof the State Board—State Commission in Lunacy—State Prison Commission. | ||
| Chapter XXI. The Protection of Working-women | [221] | |
| Conditions Before the War—Number of WomenWage-earners—Clothing Manufacturers, Laundries,Restaurant Workers, Textile Operators—Warand Woman’s Work—The Eight-hour Day,New Occupations, Messenger Service, Wages—MinimumWage—Protection Needed. | ||
| Chapter XXII. Americanization | [232] | |
| The Need of a United Country—The Immigranta National Asset—Housing Conditions—ACommon Language—Night Schools—NeighborhoodClasses for Women—Home Teachingof Women—Naturalization—Uniform Laws forNaturalization—Ignorance of Laws—The Studyof Citizenship. | ||
| Chapter XXIII. Patriotism and Citizenship | [243] | |
| Appendix | [253] | |
| Some Definitions: Habeas Corpus—The Initiativeand Referendum—The Recall—Injunctionand Abatement Act—The Tin Plate Ordinance—Prohibition,High License, Local Option, theGuttenburg Method of Controlling the LiquorTraffic—The Single Tax—The House of Governors—ProportionalRepresentation—Workmen’s Compensation Laws. | ||
| Chart of Officials for Whom You Can Vote | [261] | |
| When Elections Are Held. | ||
FOREWORD
It is one thing for women to win the vote and a totally different one for them to know how to use that vote so that it will count to the greatest good of the state. The keynote of woman’s long struggle for the ballot has been her ardent desire for service. Now that she has been given the vote, she is eager to learn how she can best render that service.
Citizenship has been very lightly regarded by our country in the past. It has been given to the immigrant without any ceremony, in the midst of the sordid surroundings of a local court-room; it has come to the boy of twenty-one without any special preparation on his part; it has often been bought and sold. It remains now for women to treat it with a new dignity and to give it the importance it deserves.
Civics should be taught in every school in the land. The ballot should be regarded as a sacred trust. Every man and woman who grows up under the protection of our flag should feel the obligation to give of his and her best to make our democracy a better expression of our ideals.
I hope that this book will help to start some new citizens in the right way.
Carrie Chapman Catt.
PREFACE
There never seems to be just the right book on a topic that one has very much at heart.
When the vote for New York women was an accomplished fact there came a sudden and pressing need for a book on government that would give the busy housewife or the overworked woman in the factory the simple outline of her government and the officials for whom she was going to vote, with the duties and requirements of their positions; but that was not all. There are certain problems of government to-day and certain departments of politics which have to do with things which are of special interest to women. The protection and care of human life has always been woman’s great business in life. So a book on civics for women must include an outline of what the state is doing for its children, for its poor, for working-women, for public health and recreation; in short, for the same things in government with which she is concerned in her individual capacity as a woman. These are also the departments of government which seem to need her attention the most. It is natural that men should have given the greater care in government to business and material affairs. To counterbalance this, woman’s work and votes are needed for the human side.