My own story
Before the Deputation had gone forth, I had made a short speech to them,
warning them of what might happen, and my final message was: "Whatever
happens, do not turn back." They did not, and in spite of all the
violence inflicted upon them, they went forward, resolved, so long as
they were free, not to give up the attempt to reach the Palace. Many
arrests were made, and of those arrested many were sent to prison.
Although for the majority, this was the first imprisonment, these brave
women adopted the hunger strike, and passed seven or eight days without
food and water before they were released, weak and ill as may be
supposed.
CHAPTER IX
In the weeks following the disgraceful events before Buckingham Palace
the Government made several last, desperate efforts to crush the
W. S. P. U., to remove all the leaders and to destroy our paper, the
_Suffragette_. They issued summonses against Mrs. Drummond, Mrs. Dacre
Fox and Miss Grace Roe; they raided our headquarters at Lincolns Inn
House; twice they raided other headquarters temporarily in use, not to
speak of raids made upon private dwellings where the new leaders, who
had risen to take the places of those arrested, were at their work for
the organisation. But with each successive raid the disturbances which
the Government were able to make in our affairs became less, because we
were better able, each time, to provide against them. Every effort made
by the Government to suppress the _Suffragette_ failed, and it continued
to come out regularly every week. Although the paper was issued
regularly, we had to use almost super-human energy to get it
distributed. The Government sent to all the great wholesale news agents
a letter which was designed to terrorise and bully them into refusing to
handle the paper or to sell it to the retail news agents. Temporarily,
at any rate, the letter produced in many cases the desired effect, but
we overcame the emergency by taking immediate steps to build up a
system of distribution which was worked by women themselves,
independently of the newspaper trade. We also opened a "Suffragette
Defence Fund," to meet the extra expense of publishing and distributing
the paper.
Twice more the Government attempted to force me to serve the three
years' term of penal servitude, one arrest being made when I was being
carried to a meeting in an ambulance. Wholesale arrests and hunger
strikes occurred at the same time, but our women continued their work of
militancy, and money flowed into our Protest and Defence Fund. At one
great meeting in July the fund was increased by nearly L16,000.
But now unmistakable signs began to appear that our long and bitter
struggle was drawing to a close. The last resort of the Government of
inciting the street mobs against us had been little successful, and we
could see in the temper of the public abundant hope that the reaction
against the Government, long hoped for by us, had actually begun.
Every day of the militant movement was so extraordinarily full of events
and changes that it is difficult to choose a point at which this
narrative should be brought to a close. I think, however, that an
account of a recent debate which took place in the House of Commons will
give the reader the best idea of the complete breakdown of the
Government in their effort to crush the women's fight for liberty.
On June 11th, when the House of Commons had gone into a Committee of
Supply, Lord Robert Cecil moved a reduction of 100 pounds on the Home
Office vote, thus precipitating a discussion of militancy. Lord Robert
said that he had read with some surprise that the Government were not
dissatisfied with the measures which they had taken to deal with the
violent suffragists, and he added with some asperity that the Government
took a much more sanguine view of the matter than anybody else in the
United Kingdom. The House, Lord Robert went on to declare, would not be
in a position to deal with the case satisfactorily unless they realised
the devotion of the followers to their leaders, who were almost fully
responsible for what was going on. Ministerial cheers greeted this
utterance, but they ceased suddenly when the speaker went on to say that
these leaders could never have induced their followers to enter upon a
career of crime but for the serious mistakes which had been made over
and over again by the Government. Among these mistakes Lord Robert cited
the shameful treatment of the women on Black Friday, the policy of
forcible feeding and the scandal of the different treatment accorded
Lady Constance Lytton and "Jane Warton." There were Opposition cheers at
this, and they were again raised when Lord Robert deplored the terrible
waste of energy, and "admirable material" involved in the militant
movement. Although Lord Robert Cecil deemed it unjust as well as futile
for Suffragist Members to withhold their support from the woman suffrage
movement on account of militancy he himself was in favor of deportation
for Suffragettes. At this there were cries of "Where to?" and "Ulster!"
Mr. McKenna replied by first calling attention to the fact that in the
militant movement they had a phenomenon "absolutely without precedent in
our history." Women in numbers were committing crimes, beginning with
window breaking, and proceeding to arson, not with the motives of
ordinary criminals, but with the intention of advertising a political
cause and of forcing the public to grant their demands. Mr. McKenna
continuing said:
"The number of women who commit crimes of that kind is extremely small,
but the number of those who sympathise with them is extremely large. One
of the difficulties which the police have in detecting this form of
crime and in bringing home the offence to the criminal is that the
criminals find so many sympathisers among the well-to-do and thoroughly
respectable classes that the ordinary administration of the law is
rendered comparatively impossible. Let me give the House some figures
showing the number of women who have been committed to prison for
offences since the beginning of the militant agitation in 1906. In that
year the total number of commitments to prison was 31, all the persons
charged being women. In 1909 the figure rose to 156; in 1911 to 188 (182
women and six men); and in 1912 to 290 (288 women and two men). In 1913
the number dropped to 183, and so far this year it has dropped to 108.
These figures include all commitments to prison and rearrests under the
Cat and Mouse Act. What is the obvious lesson to be drawn? Up to 1912
the number of offences committed for which imprisonment was the
punishment was steadily increasing, but since the beginning of last
year--that is to say, since the new Act came into force--the number of
individual offences has been very greatly reduced. On the other hand, we
see that the seriousness of the offences is much greater."
This statement, that the number of imprisonments had decreased since the
adoption of the Cat and Mouse Act, was of course, incorrect, or at best
misleading. The fact was that the number of imprisonments decreased
because, where formerly the militants went willingly to prison for their
acts, they now escaped prison wherever possible. A comparatively small
number of "mice" were ever rearrested by the police.
Mr. McKenna went on to say that he realised fully the growing sense of
indignation against the militant suffragists and he added, "Their one
hope is, rightly or wrongly, that the well advertised indignation of the
public will recoil on the head of the Government."
"And so it will," interpolated a voice.
"My honourable friend," replied Mr. McKenna, "says so it will. I believe
that he is mistaken." But he gave no reasons for so believing. Referring
to what he called the "recent grave rudenesses which have been committed
against the King," Mr. McKenna said: "It is true that all subjects have
the right of petitioning His Majesty, providing the petition is couched
in respectful terms, but there is no right on the part of the subjects
generally to personal audience for the purpose of the presentation of
the petition or otherwise. It is the duty of the Home Secretary to
present all such petitions to the King, and further to advise His
Majesty what action should be taken. It was therefore ridiculous for any
Suffragist to assert that there had been any breach of constitutional
propriety on the part of the King in refusing, on the advice of the Home
Secretary to receive the deputation."
Also, said Mr. McKenna, in view of the fact that the petition for an
audience was sent by a person under sentence of penal
servitude--myself--it was the plain duty of the Home Secretary to advise
the King not to grant it. He referred to the incident, he said, only
because it was illustrative of the militant's methods of advertising
their cause. He gave them credit, he was bound to say, for a certain
degree of intelligence in adopting their methods. "No action has been so
fruitful of advertisement as the recent absurdities which they have
perpetrated in relation to the King."
Coming down to the question of methods of meeting and overcoming
militancy, Mr. McKenna said that he had received an almost unlimited
correspondence on the subject from every section of the public. "Four
methods were suggested," said he. "The first is to let them die. (Hear,
hear.) That is, I should say, at the present moment, the most popular
(laughter), judging by the number of letters I have received. The second
is to deport them. (Hear, hear.) The third is to treat them as lunatics.
(Hear, hear.) And the fourth is to give them the franchise. (Hear, hear,
and laughter.) I think that is an exhaustive list. I notice each one of
them is received with a certain very moderate amount of applause in this
House. I hope to give reason why at the present time I think we should
not adopt any one of them."
The first suggestion was usually, not always, based on the assumption
that the women would take their food if they knew that the alternative
was death. Mr. McKenna read to the House in opposition to that view "the
opinion of a great medical expert who had had intimate knowledge of the
Suffragettes from the first." "We have to face the fact, therefore, that
they would die," continued Mr. McKenna.
"Let me say, also, with actual experience of dealing with suffragists,
in many cases they have got in their refusal of food and water beyond
the point when they could help themselves, and they have clearly done
all that they could do to show their readiness to die.... There are
those who hold another assumption. They think that after one or two
deaths in prison militancy would cease. In my judgment there was never a
greater delusion. I readily admit that this is the issue upon which I
stand and upon which I feel I would fight to the end those who would
adopt as their policy to let the prisoners die. So far from putting an
end to militancy, I believe it would be the greatest incentive to
militancy which could ever happen. For every woman who dies, there would
be scores of women who would come forward for the honour, as they would
deem it, of earning the crown of martyrdom."
"How do you know?" called out an Opposition member.
"How do I know?" retorted the Home Secretary. "I have had more to do
with these women than the honourable member, much more. Those who hold
that opinion leave out of account all recognition of the nature of these
women. I do not speak in admiration of them. They are hysterical
fanatics, but, coupled with their hysterical fanaticism, they have a
courage, part of their fanaticism, which undoubtedly stands at nothing,
and the honourable member who thinks that they would not come forward,
not merely to risk death, but to undergo it, for what they deem the