Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/1148

 prised and bewildered to discover that this is wholly ineffectual when brought to bear upon men in legislative assemblies. They find that it is not sufficient to have personal attractions or family position — not even to be a good wife, mother and worker in church and charities — they must be also constituents. This is a new word which was not in the lexicon of woman in past generations. They investigate and they see that whatever may be the private opinion of these legislators, their public acts are governed by their constituents, and women alone of all classes in the community are not constituents.

This knowledge could come to the average woman only through experience, and that which as an individual she might not get in ages she is gaining rapidly through organization. A summary of the preceding list shows about 2,000,000 women enrolled in the various associations. The number which may be duplicated by a membership in several, is probably balanced by the number in those which do not state the membership. This list includes only national associations and it is reasonable to assume that not more than one-half of the local societies are auxiliary to national bodies. This is known positively to be the case in the General Federation of Clubs, which includes less than half of those in the different States. It would be a decided underestimate to say that 4,000,000 women in the United States are members of one or more organizations, and it is clearly evident that this number is increasing. The scope of these associations is constantly broadening as women themselves are emerging from their narrow environment and seeing the needs of the world in wider perspective. They are slowly but certainly learning to devote their time and energy to larger objects, and they are awakening to a perception, above all else, of the strength that lies in combination, a knowledge which was a sealed book to the isolated and undeveloped women of past generations. No other influence has been so powerful in enabling woman to discover herself and her possibilities.

There will be no more important clement to be reckoned with during the coming years of the new century than these great associations of women, constantly gaining strength and momentum, not alone by the increase of membership but also by its personnel,