The Russian revolution owes much to the valorous women who from the formation of the Tschaikowsky circles in the early ’70s have worked as comrades for the cause, and this is well known to the “intellectuals” of the East Side. I doubt whether a single man or woman could be found among them opposed to granting the franchise to women. If they seem indifferent, it is doubtless because they think it a matter of course and strenuous effort to secure votes for women unnecessary. From the party organization men there is not so much encouragement. [Illustration: A MOTHER IN ISRAEL] Commissioner of Corrections Katherine Davis testifies that the inmates of the girls’ reformatory disapprove of women voting as “unladylike,” and it may surprise those who do not know the thought of these poor women to learn that they cling to orthodox ideals. I understand that I shocked one girl, who had been sentenced to the “Island” from the Night Court, by advocating the appointment of women police. The probation officer who called upon her asked her opinion of my recommendation, which was then sufficiently novel to attract newspaper attention. “Oh,” said the girl, “it’s not right. Woman’s place is the home.” [Illustration] CHAPTER XV SOCIAL FORCES, CONTINUED The drama is taken seriously in our neighborhood, particularly among the people whose taste has not been affected by familiarity with plays or theaters classed as typically “American.” In the years of our residence on the East Side there have been several transitions in the Yiddish drama[17] from classic to modern and realistic. Feeling has at times run high between the advocates of the different schools, and discussions in the press and disputes in the cafés have reflected a very lively popular interest. Jacob Gordin, the Yiddish playwright, contributed an important chapter to the history of the stage, and his art was, I think, a factor in drawing intelligent attention to the East Side. The Yiddish drama, before his time, had not been looked upon with great favor, and there was in this, as in other instances, an implication of the contempt that Americans not infrequently feel for the alien, and also a fear, on the part of members of the older Jewish communities, that the Yiddish theater might retard the Americanization of the immigrant.