d by this section.[396]

This was the only suffrage granted to women until 1901, when the
following was enacted by the Legislature:

A woman who possesses the qualifications to vote for village or
town officers, except the qualification of sex, and who is the
owner of property in the town or village assessed upon the last
preceding assessment-roll thereof, is entitled to vote upon a
proposition to raise money by tax or assessment.

This law is believed to include about 1,800 places. The bill for it
was managed by a committee of the State Suffrage Association in three
successive Legislatures.

By the city charters of eleven of the thirty-six third-class
cities--Amsterdam, Cohoes, Corning, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown,
Newburg, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Oswego and Watertown,
taxpaying women have a vote on special appropriations. Hornellsville
also conferred this privilege but it was declared illegal by the
corporation council, because the word "resident" was used instead of
"citizen."

OFFICE HOLDING: By a statute of 1880 women are eligible for any school
office. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected by
the Legislature. Instead of county superintendents, as in most States,
New York has District Commissioners. A district may comprise either a
part or the whole of a county, but no city may form any part of it. At
present ten women are serving as District Commissioners. A
considerable number sit on the school boards of cities and villages
but no exact record is kept. In Greater New York thirty women serve as
school inspectors; there are also four supervisors in the departments
of sewing, cooking, kitchen-garden and physical culture, at salaries
ranging from $2,000 to $2,500.

The same law which enables women to serve as District School
Commissioners makes them eligible to all district offices, including
those of trustee, collector, treasurer and librarian, as the law in
prescribing qualification, omits the word "male."[397]

Women also are eligible to the office of village clerk. They serve as
notaries public, clerks of the Surrogate Court and deputy tax
collectors. Miss Christine Ross of New York City is a certified public
accountant and auditor.

Most cities have police matrons. Sixty fill this position in Greater
New York at a salary of $1,000 per annum.

Women are employed as city physicians in several places. The law
requires one woman physician in each State h