THREE YEARS IN GAOL
' -''v-' * MRS. PANKHURST'S SENTENCE as; defiant as ever. ■■■ •••' - — 1 — ■', '■% "I WILL REFUSE TO EAT." WILD . SCENE IN COURT. By Telesrrapli,—PreosAssociation.—Copyriclvt . ' (Keoeivod lAprll 6, 12.15: a.m.) ■■■ "v" 1 " ; London, April 4. At her' trial on the charge of inciting her followers to acts of violence, Mrs. Pankhurst (the Ruffragestt't leader) refused to give evidence on her own behalf. . . In 'an address to the jury Mrs. Pankhurst made a strong' protest against the fact that women were not tried by their peers. She: g&Va«a catalogue of " yian-made" laws, and said that the divorce law alono. was sufficient to justify s a, revolution. She stated that she would refuse to eat. directly she was sentenced. In concluding her speech Mrs. Pankhurst declared that she would continue to fight, and that she would resist forcible feeding. "I will fight," she declared, " until I am fastened to the bed." She ended her remarks by exclaiming exultingly: "I am not afraid of punishment. I welcome it because it is the only way." - 1 : j • The judge told the jury that Mrs. Pankhurst's remarks were wholly outside £he case. / The jtiry returned a guilty with a strong recommendation to mercy. •' l ' A sentence of three yeairs' imprisonment was imposed. 4 The Court was crowded with women. The sentence was greeted with a wild outburst of cries , and hisses. Handkerchiefs were wildly waved by;many in the body of the Court until the building was oleared. Some of the suffragettes in Court cheered .wildly and sang " The Marseillaise " .■ V' • " Thie judge threatened to commit the women to prison if they did not stop their indecent exhibition.
=! TBE DEFIANT j MB& PANKHtTEST.t': In a speech at Cardiff on the night after the attempt was. made, to blow up Mr, Lloyd-George's house", at Walton-on-Hilt {Surrey) Mrs. Pankhurst said:—"We have blown up the house, of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The authorities need 'not look for tli© women who have done what I they did, last, night. I accept responsibility " for it, I: have advised, incited, conspired. If to-morrow lam arrested for what happened last night, ; and tried and; sent to penal servitude, I should prove int mV own person that the punishment in>j posed cannot be carried out. If they send; me'forfive years, or 100r.20 years, 1 shalli not stay; I shall at once 'hunger-strike.'-' llf they torture me with forcible feeding, that cannot keep m© alive Very long, ano.j | they will have to let me die or let me go.; At any rate, they cannot govern mo against m.y #§11?-and if I drop out of the fight a hundred will take my place," v
THREE YEARS IN GAOL
New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15269, 5 April 1913, Page 7
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