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'MAHA Sunday - Bee Magazine Page
Violence of England's "Furies" Delendc
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Called Forth by "The
Lurking Brutality in
so Many Englishmen,"
It Is the Only Argu
ment That Can Con
vince Them, of the
Justice of Woman's
Cause, Says Mrs. Bois
sevain, Answering Sir
Conan Doyle's Predic
tion of "Wholesale
Lynching"for the Mili
tants. By Mrs. Inez Millholland
Boissevain,
The Famous Woman Lawyer and American
Militant Suffragist.
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE has pre
dicted that wholesale lynching will bo
the answer of tho mon of England to tho
demand of tho women of England for political
liberty. J would not bo surprised. Sir Arthur
knows his Englishman; so do the militants.
Militancy is tho result of that knowledge, and
the losors In tho game are not tho women.
Brutality, oven whon tho origin of the In
stinct that employs it Is righteous, always re
acts to tho harm of tho person who mokes use
of It It obliterates tho faculties that we havo
come to look upon as necossary to civilization
It deadens tho Bonslbilttles, It blurs Imagina
tion and sympathy It coarsens tho spiritual
flbro and dims the perceptions. When the or
igin of tho instinct to brutality lies Itself la
injustice thoso results are multiplied a thous
andfold. That is why any such outbursts on tho
part of Englishmen as Sir Conan Doylo pre
dicts, would bo fraught with danger to tho
spiritual progress of England.
In fact, thoso results are already apparent
The hardening process which officials and
spectators havo had to go through In order to
carry through, tho porsecuUon of English wo
nea fighting for their rights has led the au
thorities from depth to depth of degradation.
England has become, as tho London Times
truly sayB, "the laughing stock of the na
tions" not because of the repeated triumphs
of the militants over tho Government but be
cause of the repeated exhibitions of spiritual
poverty among her statesmen.
Now, I am not disputing tho fact that Sir
Arthur Conan Doylo'e predictions an to tho fu
ture attitude of Englishmen towards English
women Is likely to result in lynching. On tho
contrary, It is tho oxistence of such lurking
brutality in tho nature of so many Englishmen
that 1b responBiblo for the charactor of tho ac
tivities of England's women. Tho militants
are not betraying their own natures by their
activities. Thoy are betraying their intimate
knowledge of the naturoa of English men, who
have for centurlos looked upon women as
"something better than his dog; a Uttla dearer
than his horso." and havo treated thorn ac
cordingly, privately and publicly, Jn police
courts and tho sanctity of tho homo, permit
ting, for example, the husband to boat his wife,
and, when battorod and brulsod, she appeared
in court against him, to punish him with a
flno of $5,
Any reflection cast by tho ,violonco of the
actions of tho militants should fall where it bo
longs on tho statosmou who are responsible.
Brutality begets brutality; vlolonco bogots vio
lence; law-breaking bogets law-breaking; and
If English women havo disregarded tho law, in
tho making of which thoy havo had no say, you
may bo quite Biiro tho law-broaklng game did
not begin with them. It bogan with tholr op
ponents, and, apparently, If what Sir Arthur
Conan Doylo says Is truo It is llkoly to end
where It began,
That the Oovernment was the first to disre
gard law and constitutional rights many peo
ple do not know. Tho women who were first
arrested as a result of their interruptions of
political meetings interruptions which aro by
no meons Illegal were confined, as every pris
oner in confined who Is committed for political
offences, even though that offonco bo murder.
In the first division of tho English prisons.
Later, tho Government, la order to Intlmldato
the women, committed them to the Third Di
vision, although at no tlmo was It suggested
that tholr offenco had any other than a politi
cal motive. The Third Division Is tho ono re
served for common criminals, and henco the
tncarceratiou of political prisoners there was
a denial to tho women of a right that had
never been denied to men.
This fact, and this fact alone, was responsi
ble for the hunger strike.
Tho hunger strike is not a protest against
Imprisonment it Is a protest, and tho only
protest possible, to prisoners prisoners being
individuals who are one dogroo worse off than
those who aro outside the Constitution
against imprisonment In tho Third Division.
So long as the women were granioa moir
rights and imprisoned in the First Division,
there was no hunger striking. When their
"prison" rights wore denied them, they struck.
Now, if tne uritisn uovonimoni is in ma
right, why does it not allow these hunger
striking women to die in prison? Tho answer
Is simple. They dare not It is becauso the
actions of thoso who would be responsible,
v J. oH of the British Oovernment, will not bear
Vx the investigation that such deaths would entail.
Further, the public does not reallio that It Is
a denial of a constitutional right that Is re
sponsible for the outbreaks In Parliament
Square and Buckingham Palace. The Bill of
Rights provides that every subject shall have
, t the right to petition the King or his represen
tative, the Prime Minister, for the redress of
any grievance, provided that such subject or
subjects- do not approach the King or his rep
resentative In a deputation larger that thirteen.
Now, it Is because the Prime Mlnlstor, Mr.
Asquith, has steadily refused to receive such
' ' a deputation from the Women's Social and Po
: litlcal Union that all outbreaks, with tholr at
tendant outrages to the women, like that of
Black Friday, have occurred. The women have
.- attempt n approach the Prime Minister in
3S
t -
.1'
-TP"
Mrs. Xnes Millholland Boissovain. the Beautiful American Militant Suf
fragist. On the Bight Mrs. Pankhurst, Arrested in a Raid on Buck
ingham Palace. Mrs. Pankhurst and Her Militants Are the Only Eng
lish People of Heroic Stuff Left There, Thinks Mrs. Boissevain.
deputations never larger than thirteen, and
their approach has been blocked by tho police.
The women wero perfoctly within tholr rights
the Prime Mlnlstor was tho outlaw.
After repeated and futile demands to inter
view the King's ropresontativo, tho women de
termined to lay tholr grievances boforo the
King himself, In accordance with tho BUI of
Rights. The samo refusal of a constitutional
privilege followed, and tho same disturbance
resulted. And the King is In the same posi
tion as the Prime Minister, except that the
King is supposedly above the law, and hence
It Is impossible for htm to be guilty of out
lawry. Tho important point Is this: That the women
wore at all times constitutional in their beha
vior when acting officially. As Individuals
they have protested against dentals of constitu
tional recognition of their organization In va
rious ways.
Thoy have slashed pictures, broken shop
windows, burned houses, and aB the public
knows, protested in every possible manner.
Such form of protest is tho only one possible
to people who are outside the Constitution.
Ignored by the Press, unrepresented In the
Government, they havo no means of making
their grievances felt except by actions which
stir to attention people otherwise apathetic.
If they did not do this, tho' struggle would be
simply ono betweon themselves and the Gov
ernmont of which tho public at large would
not be aware, and since tho Government Is
obedient to the mandates of tho people, the
people must be stirred to givo mandates suf
ficiently vehomont to mako tho Government
act
Now, masses of the pooplo aro, as I say,
apathetic They care very little; or at least
they do not caro enough, to get fighting mad
about abstract principles of right and wrong.
Tho trick, then, Is to get them Into a state of
fighting madness. This you can only do by
touching them at some point very dear to
themselves, i. e., their purso, their ploasuro,
their comfort or their secuH
Copyright.
evlrl nroio T roJ,ed ev"X class and
men? SSPJmL JX!Lnn that ho Oovaw
wom.frtuf. ? ?'th "Wrd to votes for
women artists, by the destruction of pictures,
' ' ""icrreronce at racetracks.
"ahmeVtC; chuhmen, by the de'.truc!
ton of churches; merchants, by the smashing,
of shop windows: the nohim , k.V. 7.!"?
h 1 'th. ""J funct,0"; Property owners,
by the burning down of manoVs; and, In fact
tZJltV' Vl080 who 'have 'enrolled
themselves on their side the working class.
Their strategy Is worthy of Napoleon. Of
course, some of the groups I have mentioned
are roused to demand only that the Govern-
HI!!-i'epI!C!ihc wo.men fay way of Improving
matters, but the majority of the people do not
caro how tho Government solves the problem,
provided only that they do something so that
trade may be resumed and the normal life of
England revert to Its accustomed course.
"Now, here 1b only one thing that the Gov
ernment can do to solvo the problem, and that
is to grant votes to women. Nbthing elao will
kill the Idea and the character of its manifes
tation. Thoy may torture and murder Mrs.
Pankhurst and her daughters, imprison or de
port every militant in England, and tho ques
tion will not be solved.
As Mrs. Pankhurst says: "You cannot kill
an idea," and for every militant tortured, dead
or imprisoned, ten others arise to take her
place. The movement, like every movement
of truth and vitality, simply gains force
through evory attempt at suppression, so that
tho business and pleasure of England will re
main In 'Jeopardy until votes for women Is as
sured. Tho King will not bo ablo to take hs
morning rldo in the park in comfort, nor hold
his court, nor attend his dinner parties, nor
hoot his pheasants, nor play hla races. The
Ministers are likewise "hobbled" in all their
activities, and the people of England can never
be certain that tho next outbreak won't occur
at tholr door.
Such a steady and general discomfort must
have an end, and there la only ono -end. For
1014, by the Star Company. Great Urttaln Rlchts
" UOJf wtfOft & Ut OB k. wo oo- f y
evory person who is alienated in sympathy by
such outbursts, thero is ono who la won over
by the courage, tho fortitude, tho statesman
ship and tho determination of tho women, and
the spiritual force represented by this group
outweighs a thousandfold that represented by
its opponents.
It is this spiritual force that tho Government
is so afraid of; for when truth, righteous de
mands, vigor, vision, political sagacity and un
compromising courage are allied against them,
the government that opposes 1b doomed.- Even
those who at first opposed the militants are
obliged to admit their foresight and right
thinking by adoption of their tactics. The
constitutional Buffraglsts who have condemned
militancy, havo nevertheless been condemned
to revise their first condemnation of opposi
tion to the Government, and aro now them
selves busily engaged in defeating government
candidates.
In conjunction with their extraordinary
political foresight thero exists an administra
tive and executlvo capacity, and a practical
business shrewdness that have built up a fight
' ing organization, which is unexcellod through
out history. Consider for a moment, what a
vigorous element will be Injectod into English
political life when these women are enfran
chised. Tho argument that women should not
vote because English militants aro noisy and
unpleasant is the silliest of all.
Let no one imagine that their actions do not
' require fortitude. Swarming into the army
ranks and presenting a united front to the
enemy is child's play in comparison. Alone,
unarmed, unaided, tho women make their pro
testa exposing themselves to tho fury of ths
mob, the contempt of their neighbors and that
most difficult of all oppositions -public ridi
cule. It Is a rebellion titanlo in tho propor
tions of tho spiritual prlco that it represents.
As one lusty cockney expresspd it in Hydo
.Park, whore the women wero holding a meet
ing, "Go it and Gawd bless tho militants I
They're the only folks left in England with
a drop o' John Bull blood In their veins."
No wonder "God's Englishmen" of tho bulj-Iteservod
Police Fighting to Keep Militant Suffra
gettes Out of Buckingham Palace, the
London Home of Xing George. Tho
Three Women to the Bight Havo
Chained Themselves to the Bailings.
Photo br Undtnrood and Underwood. Nw York.
dog, beef-oatlng, bullying variety are afraid.
And I daro Bay that at tho last ditch in the
struggle, which, with characteristic doggedness,
they recognize as inevitably victorious for the
women, they will take to lynching. If it were
not for that possibility among Englishmen
there would be no mllitanoy.
To be sure, there are men in England, gal
lant men, and many of them, who understand
and are proud of and support the women in
their struggle, but they aro not included la the
Government Tho Government as such, will
only receive the quality of spiritual enlighten
ment it so Btrongly needs, when womon as
1 well as men are included in it Being such as
it is at presont it must bo dealt with with
methods that it understands. With the methods
that Magna Chartists, Cromwell and American
Colonists of '77, tho Corn Rioters, and tho
Homo Rulers have employed so successfully
against it it must be beaten and bullied into
liberal and democratic action.
The women are not responsible for the rules
of the political game, unless they themselves
are able to la down those rules; until that
time, they must play p-olltlcs according to tho
rules laid down by men.
And that is the finest thing about them.
While, deploring tho necessity for militant ac
tivity, they havo recognized that In the pres
ent political condition of things it 1b impera
tive, and havo played tho game according to
alien rules, In a way that has made the whole
world stop and look and listen, and consider
their demands.
Incidentally, they havo done so on the advice
of a man a statesman who, llko Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, knew his England. Tho lato Sir
Henry Campboll-Bannorman, when, as Prime
Minister, ho was approached by the women
with the euggestion that ho handle their ques-
tion in Parliament, replied: "My dear ladles, I
would do bo, being a hearty believer in votes
for women, wero your question ono of practical
politics. Take It out of the realm 'of philosophy
and academic discussion, and make it such, and
I will gladly deal with it"
"But how are we to do it Sir. Henry?" tho
women asked:
"In tho same fashion as men havo done." he
replied."
"And that Is?" -
"Kick up a row."
And they did. Thoy took his advice. They
kicked up a row. They have been kicking up
a row ever since, and like the American Revolu
tionist and the Home Ruler, they will only
cease when they havo kicked an obtuso gov
ernment into recognition.
rJ? Wh.ethm, or ot one E8 tho Political
wisdom of militancy, one cannot help but admire
tne courage of the women in carrying through a
programme which they believe tho situation de
mands. Think of the skill, daring, self-sacrifice and
determination of Emily Davidson, who threw
herself before the King's horse, In order to call
His Majesty's attention to the outrages endured
by women In His Mnjesty's prisons. What
man has done more for a cause In which he be
lieved? Think of tho pluck of the little debu
tante, who in all the pomp and circumstance of
a court function, dared to raise her voice to
implore the King to havo pity on women. She
drew down upon herself tho disapproval and con
tempt of family friends and unsympathetic fSnc
Uonarles, who themselves were overawed by the
"divinity that doth hedgo a King" to the extent
of considering such a pitiful little plea for mercy
as a deadly Insult to His Majesty mercy
80.000 pictures by tho Greatest aSKX 1, '
What are five pictures inTour gatt damirt
compared with 80.000 women BentSedTthJ
gutter by your laws and your envrnmI5?
SeTlLUcWg?J.ed' "BESS'S
ondols," etc., by a time-serving prlss fife.
