Something must have happened in the course of those eight years to make such an astounding change in the attitude of the club women.
The fact is that until the club women had been at work at practical things for a long period of years, they did not realize the social value of their own activities.

They thought of their work as benevolent and philanthropic.

That they were performing community service, _citizens_' service, they did not remotely dream.

There is nothing surprising in their _naivete_.

It is a fact that in this country, although every one knows that women own property, pay taxes, successfully manage their own business affairs, and do an astonishing amount of community work as well, no one ever thinks of them as citizens.
American men are accustomed to women in almost all trades and professions.