A Woman for Mayor: A Novel of To-day

by Helen M. Winslow

The Common Council was made up of eighteen men, about half of whom were new to the position, so that it remained to be seen how far they could be depended upon to support any radical reform instituted by the new mayor; but as Geoffrey Mason and Albert Turner had finally consented to run on "the woman ticket" and had been elected, she felt that she might count on their influence, at least, and hoped to win over others. There were perhaps half a dozen, besides, on the "woman ticket"—every one of whom were men who would have declined to serve with any other mayor; but having pledged their word to "see her through" and been elected, they fulfilled their pledge now, like the staunch, good citizens they were. With this backing she felt that she might hope to carry out the work she had undertaken.

There were many things to harass her, however, chief among them being that the board of aldermen were strongly against her, men of the old regime mostly, ready to fight against any radical reforms and to begin work already to defeat her most cherished plans.

"She's in for two years, worse luck," said one of them. "But we'll tie her hands so she can't do too much mischief. A mayor's only a mayor, after all," with which significant utterance he winked solemnly to the reporter who was interviewing him for the Screamer.

But the new mayor went serenely on with her new duties, and if she knew all these things, gave no sign; apparently, the machinery of municipal government was running on well-oiled wheels until even the most ardent of her supporters began to wonder when she was "going to get busy."

But she was busy. The new mayor had a constructive imagination and did not fear big ideas. She dreamed already of a warfare against privilege—the privileges of the franchise corporations, the privileges of unjust taxation, and ultimately the privilege of private monopoly. Graft must be stamped out of the city administration, and a high order of men elected to the bench. Some big things must be accomplished in the city.

She had arrived at the conclusion that to most people the municipality is an industrial accident, its government rather a matter of police, fire and health administration, some public schools and a police court, a street and water department; that they wanted just enough of these things, and at the lowest possible cost, to enable men to go about their daily business.

"That," she said to herself, "is the average man's conception of the uses of a municipality. Some day we shall look back upon such an idea of a city as we now look back upon the straggling tepees of an Indian village. The city of tomorrow will be a people's city, doing countless things, all for the welfare of the people."

"And you expect to put that idea into practice here?" asked Mary Snow somewhat incredulously, as they sat at lunch together after a morning of hard work. "You expect Roma to stand for all that!"

"Her Honor" smiled back across the table. "Yes," she said, "I expect to start things in that direction, and to create such a public interest that my successor will be chosen especially to carry on the work that I mean to begin. I know of one city which already views these things as a necessary part of a good city's administration. It is not content with doing as few things as possible; it does as many things as possible for its people. Its public bath-houses give hundreds of thousands of baths every year. They are equipped with gymnasiums, where public instructors teach the children. Thousands of families are entertained free of cost by the baseball games played upon the public diamonds scattered all over the city. A number of city leagues have been organized, composed of clerks and workingmen. In the winter, skating carnivals are held and two score artificial skating ponds are maintained. The children are invited to the parks for May-day and romping-day festivals. All of these things not only enlarge the life of the people, but also identify them with the city in a way that was not dreamed of a few years ago. By following these lines, Roma may be a people's city, a city that serves, that brings happiness to thousands whose life is otherwise encompassed with the dreary drudgery of toil."

"If you could bring such an ideal state of things to pass," said Mary Snow, "Roma would call you blessed among women. And you would never be allowed to stop being mayor."