WOMEN: Widow’s Maiden Speech

It is a custom in Congress that a new member shall for a time shrink against the crannied wall, and then later, being seasoned in the Congressional climate, he may open the flowers of his rhetoric. So the custom of the maiden speech has arisen, and last week one of the three ladies of the House, elected more than a year ago and present in Congress since last December, spoke forth in formal words for the first time—and her first words were a reproach.She was Mrs. Julius (Florence) Kahn, whose late husband was one of the military experts of the House. Speaker Longworth graciously introduced her:

“Under the order of the House, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kahn).” (Applause.) Mrs. Kahn faced her fellow members, mustering to her aid history and tradition:

“Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, the first recorded census was the enumeration made by Moses in the wilderness as set forth in the Book of Numbers:

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai . . . saying, “Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls.

“In 2043 B.C.* we have a record of an enumeration by the Emperor Yee in China.”

“In Rome, for the purpose of dividing the population into classes and groups, enumerations were made every five years, followed by a ceremony of purification or lustration from which these five-year periods were named lustrums, and the word “census” was derived from Censor, the name of the officer in charge of these ceremonies. …”

She went on to describe the history of census taking, to expound the fact that the Constitution directs that a census shall be taken every ten years so that representation in the House may be in proportion to population, and then she insisted it should pass a reapportionment bill, which it recently refused to do (TIME, April 19), although there has been no reapportionment since 1911. She concluded:

“Is it fair that the Detroit or Los Angeles districts, of practically a million each, should have but one representative? It is an underlying principle of our Government that the representation shall be proportioned to population. What assurance have we that this [refusal to reapportion] will not establish a precedent, and that for years to come no change will be made and large groups be practically unrepresented?

“The electoral college following the next presidential election will be based upon a census made 18 years before. In case of a close presidential election this might be a very serious matter and might possibly be carried to court to decide the validity of the election.

“Why then should not a reapportionment bill have been passed? It is a constitutional mandate—obligatory and binding—and it is our duty, as I see it, to obey this mandate.” (Applause.)

*This statement seems to contradict the Congresswoman’s first statement. Scholars declare, although not unanimously, that Moses flourished in the wilderness about 1320 B. C.