The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1903. THE SUFFRAGIST MADNESS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 624, 29 September 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1903. THE SUFFRAGIST MADNESS.

. Incredulity will probably be the first t emotion of the public when it reads to- c day the ..'cable message , relating to tho abominable crime that a, section of . tho c British 'Suffragists intended to commit on the "occasion pf Me. Asquith's recent i speech at the Birigley Hall. Unfortunately ( the temper that could inspire such a t wild and horriblo/design as the firing of 1 a hall containing 15,000 pcoplo has mani- ' foEtod itself: before now. in other phases j of-the Suffragist campaign. It was t exactly this' same desperate'- recklessness j that'animated the 1 infamous attempt by i thb,!Ayomen's Social:and-Political' Union' ( to "rush" the House of Commons, in ,Oc- l tober of-last year. On that!ocpasion,.thou- 1 sands iof handbills were distributed s -in. ? Loudorfcalling on everyoneto.join in. the ; attack on the House. It was known that : a vast number of unemployed would be j in tho! streets,, and there is> some reason < ;tu believe' that the leaders of theSuf- 1 fragists were relying upon these to sup- ' ply. a violence that ; they could not them- ■ selves" exert, "It was," as tho Spectator ; reported; 1 ' "not only an act of violence;. J but 'it was,, unhappily, quite indefinite in ; its power to let!looso catastrophic-forces'.'" ', ■Tha/po]ice;,met tho situation :iri' tlio :only 1 possible, way: by making. a '. guarded by thousands of constables, for ! half. ,a'mile round the 'Houses' of Parliament. Inany cam-. ! paign'qf' fury and lunacy that.!the ■ Suffragists have, a'd6pted';>pcaks V quite' plainly' enough of a spirit which; would regard the idea of firing the Bing-.' ley Hall as a proper method pf continuing the struggle. v : . >: The Suffragist campaign : has almost ceased to have a political character. It h now a'criminal problem, and a problem of extreme'difficulty, for the forces; of justice and order, which aro ablo; to handle quite easily • any- situation that can be'ereated by mere men, , appear'to be ; almost helpless against the ingenuity and . -the unprecedented lawlessness i of a band of half-demented- women.' The Suffragists', commit a, serious offence against law. and! ordor, and , are promptly ''.imprisoned.' ; But'instqad of ending thero|.'tHc;trQubles, ,of the! machinery of ■■ punishment ; ,are ?ust boginning, for, the'prisoricrs-will not eati Turned out of gaol, they-are greeted a? martyrs and heroines by their friends, when really they should be treated. as dishonest children."' Lately the' authori- - ties, weary of seeing the machinery of. justice..reduced to a' nulliity by the obstinacy; of female law-breakers, have been, 'forcing 'tho women to take food: by means ~of mechanical ' appliances. It is impossibly'. to shut' one's' c'yca. to the ' absurd humour'of tho position, - but it is' essen-. tjal -that the humorous aspect of the case , should, ."not blind, ono to the grave'danger o" allowing anyone to defy tho law with impunity, Not only do the women refuse to 6at..tMeir food • in gaol; 1 they also assault, tho. wardresses. I Mrs.;-Garnet, for oxample/ was sentenced to a" well-deserved, month's . imprisonment - for ; -violently''' as-' ■ saulting, a wardress. She refused to oat, and .was 'accordingly!' set at r liberty! >in' thrco. days. A Mes. Dove-Wilcox achieved a reputation as ,a heroino -by tho same pleasant moans on tho samo . day.- It is impossible to imagino men acting in this way under- any 'circumstances, but if thoy did act so; it is quito certain ; that they . would not appeal for syiripathy • .along the - lines of a letter from' MissSiiyiA Pankhuust to tho Daily News. She announces the determination'of the > imprisoned . Suffragists to starve them- ■ selves, and proceeds:' • . / •; , . "Is there any way out of this world so . torrible as that of being starved- to'death? .' Do you'rcaliso ;what it,must.moati'to 1 bo ■ confined .' in '■ semi-darkness -without'! food, for ; six.;.:daj;s?:r,Six. days and .'seven' hours. 1 was! one,wbrndn'forced to-bear the.torture before sho.was . released. .Think, of the. courage of it I, To withstand tho terrible pangs of-han- ■ ger with food, such dainty food as Holloway ; does: not.ifurnish on other' occasions, before .- one's eyes.,. To' feel' bncself' growing-. weaker . and ..weaker, and to know that, but-a'little moro; perhaps' suddenly, any moment; withoub';WArhing, and. the heart,-will stop. Have you-heard now these-dear.women,havo been , won back to life by their friends , only . with-utmost caro and frequent,; stimur lants,' and' how. in their weakness they have ' felt even, when lying' upon the softest bed as . though, they were stretched upon iron, bars ? ; Aro moro women to go 1 through this torture ? Are; more-women- to-run this "risk?—-Are somo.vperhaps, to die?" .\;.^oiij' ; .can..bo'.|litUe;doubt.\fts.;to;'the.'ef>:. ; fect-:.,iwhich tho. campaign; of the Sufj fragists -has had in hardening public ■ feoling against tho movement.. It is, of course, unjust to say that the unwomanly, dishonest;, and .'wicked behaviour of tho Suffragist leaders is in itself' complete ! pr'oof-iof, the unfitness of women to exer- . cise' the -franchise; Wo know ih." New ' Zealand that this.is not so. ; At the. samo ' time it must be difficult for those in the Motherland interested in • the movement 9 to. find .'any' satisfactory reply i to' the. ; argument that'.no'cause can be quite: a good ; and worthy one which cannot bo prosecuted excepting by lawless leaders— especially when it is a cause the leaders of ..which' claim to be able to assist,in the ■ harmonious government of. the nation. ( We aro" all familiar with the stock argu- ; ment that "tho greatest causes are built .' on. the bones of .martyrs and have risen out of the.'blood of old battlefields. But i there,are two. sorts of martyrs. There is 8 such,a martyrdom—a mild one, but still typical—as that of Thoeeau, who simply - went:-to prison for refusing to pay taxes, f to a Government that supported slavery; Of the other sort, .the Hindu- Dkinqua, "■ who! murdered a British citizen in order to inllamo his fellow Hindus, to revolt) 6 is tho most recent example; And as the charactor of the martyr,'so, generally, is • tho, character of his cause.' The martyr is the leader, and if his cause jis good its p virtues must have so' filled his being as -to i.' dotcrmino his conduct. - Tlio rear truth of tlio , Suffragist campaign is' nudoiibt-odly.-this:: that there is no _gencral feeling amongst tho women o{" England that i\ths iotorests ol the oatipn require' that

■they sfiall be granted the franchise. If tjiero were such a feeling the movement would have been anything but tho carnival of that has been witnessed. The demand for the franchise is confined mainly to tho ladies who kick wardresses and make grossly ill-bred assaults on Mb. Asquith. Tho, obvioUs unfitness of such women to bo entrusted with any large responsibility has caused the 'British public to give to tho general question an amount' of attention . that it might not otherwise havo received, and the result, it would seem, has been disastrous to tho cause.