Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXI, Number 43, 17 Pepeluali 1937 — SEN. SARAH TAUGHT STUFF BY FAMILY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SEN. SARAH TAUGHT STUFF BY FAMILY

1 iollowing article, by EUzabeth Peet, was published in last Friday's edition of the Honolulu Adve?tiser. "regarding Senator" Sarah Cunningham, of Hilo, who is now in Honolulu to atte»d the territorial legislature;

i Raising a family of five ehildren . taught Hawaii'e i>enatoi\ Sarah Todd Cunninghajn, more about the fundai mentajs of politics than she could learn in an entire set of Blackstone. Bluff and hearty Senator Sarah, l ! first woman lo win a senate race on I the Big Island, yesterday paused be- ; 1 tween busy rounds of social calls, set ' i her tea eup down at Lineoln L. Mc- j j Candless' home, and gave out her first j interview on women, politics and the .'rearing of children. j "Aiter a woman has spent 16 years j <of her life raising a family, she knows : ia great deal about management, i I finance budgeting, and settling argu- • ments," Senator Cunningham smileci. j J "It's the same way in politics, only on ( ' a mueh larger and more complicated t scale—if you ean manage a family\ you ■•ean hold your own in politics." The problem whieh modern women j think they face today in choosing be- ! tween a career or marriage is just a j mirage, accordiny to Senator Cunning- | ham. | "Mix 'em," advises Hawaii's woman senator. "Women ean vote now. They | aren't in chains. I think more women ! should go in for politics. Ifs a fascii nating, amazing, complex game. yet i the oldest and most necessary part of t government." ! Politics to Senator Sarah is something above the i>etty graft and selfish aims of people who have given that occupation sue.h a hluek eyo in modort\ America. "I represent Hawaii—not the Domocratic p<irty," she exdlained. "Politics, apart from a mania for acquiring votes and cut-throating your opponents, Ls

j a fine occupation. I have been closer , to it than most women, liaving servo(j j as a secretary and clerk for my husI band, Thomas, and haying been acting ,postmaster in Hilo for 13 months. It'& j a!most my whole life now. I was reaēhing out for something big when I ran ; for Senator—l've got a big job 011 my j shoulders now, but I know I j handle it.'' j Senator Cunningham's formu!a for I succe§s in politics, especially for womj en aspirants, is a simple one. \ l "I was blessed with a stubb9ch na- j 1 ture, and that's an essential csiālifi- | j cation, especially since women have a ! j reputation for changing their minds." i she reasoned. "Then too, a woman I must talk a man's language and know government. I aiways say that if a man says 'damn,' I ean say Mamn' ! right back at him." Senator Sarah left h"er nev;Ty eiected • supervisor husband ahd her five o'oil-1 dren on the Big Island, under the caro I 1 of a trusted maid. She be]ioves in keep- j ' ing her family together as mueh as ! ' she ean. She seldom travels, and is now ' in Honolulu for the second time in 14 ! ! years. | > "Two of my childi*en are studying Japanese in a Japanese languago scliool in Hilo—l think it*s a mighty important language to know. espeoi;tlly down j here." she said. "We're all pretty poli- | . tical iuinded, especially my yoongest. ! four years oW, He tells everybody his ! 1 mother*s a senator, his father*s a "stu- ' ! pidvisor'—but alwayī adds boastfully ! ' that. he's going be delegate " •

SENATOR CUNNINGHAM