THE SUFFRAGETTES AND THEIR TROJAN HORSE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 76, 28 March 1908, Page 11

THE SUFFRAGETTES AND THEIR TROJAN HORSE.

Following the famous precedent of the Greeks who entered Troy concealed in a wooden horse, the Suffragettes outwitted the police this week in Old Palace Yard in a fashion that was both humorous and effective. Things hr-ve come to such a pass that Parliament has now to be protected from a band of resolute women by hundreds of police. Strong men watch the gates of Parliament to protect, the trembling legislators from the womenfolk. The rumour of a Suffragette raid on Westminster is sufficient to summon a whole army of policemen to the defence of their fellow-men. No band of women, however determined, might pass through the ranks of these burly custodians of°a frighteno'd Cabinet. But the Suffragettes can be as wily as Ulysses of old. Foiled ■by bnite strength, they conquered by a ruse. Iv a contest of wits tbe police were no match for the women.

I The police had turned away all women ! from the precincts of Paliament, but they ! had not stopped the stream of vehicles. So when a big furniture van came lumbering along, it was allowed to pass through the cordon. There was no police challenge for anything so commonplace, and the van passed safely into Palace Yard. Suddenly a strange thing happened. The back of the covered van was let down, and out jumped twenty-one women and girls, who made an instant das-h for the Strangers' Entrance to the House of Commons. Away went the police in hot pursuit, and the women, all but two, were headed off just before they reached the entrance. Tbe dauntless twain in front rushed through the door and along the corridor to the outer lobby, calling "Votes for women!" until they were stopped by policemen inside and taken into custody. The women outside the door, unable to charge the entrance, refused to go away, and insisted on being arrested. They struggled with. .the.police until the-latter were obliged, very reluctantly, to take them into custody. Other ladies drove round in hansom cabs and made Speeches to the delighted spectators, Mrs. Baldwin being armed for the purpose with a megaphone. All was excitement and confusion, and a great multitude of onlookers quickly thronged the square.

Meanwhile a Parliament of women, sitting in Caxton Hall, near by, had been passing with enthusiasm a resolution protesting against " the unconstitutional action of the Government in refusing the Parliamentary vote to women taxpayers," and demanding a franchise bill. Miss Christabel Pankhurst, the silver-tongued young orator of the movement, roused her audience to fighting pitch in a slashing speech, in the course of which she poured scorn on the comfortable, wellclad women of the middle and aristocratic classes for their apathy towards this reform. The resolution was carried with cheers, and the whole audience streamed out to march to Parliament and present it to the Premier. Down -Victoria-street they surged, and into Parliament Square. Here they were met by a cordon of giant policemen, against whom the women were powerless to prevail. But they in their turn refused to go away, and eventually the leaders were arrested, bringing the total number in custody up to 54. Fiftyfour women prepared to endure the humiliation and the hardship of imprisonment to emphasise woman's right to the vote. Such determination and pluck must surely win in the end. ,