GOLD FOR THE GAY SUFFRAGETTES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 19, 6 May 1908, Page 44

GOLD FOR THE GAY SUFFRAGETTES.

Now in a cell She sits and pines, And off (bin skilly Dully dines; But still repeats As if by rote. "1 want — I want —» "1 want a vote! • J. This little verse, I need hardly explain, is the song bf a suffragette, and it will serve to show that the energetic young women who are striking fear into the hearts of Cabinet Ministers and filling policemen and gaolers with dismay, are not without a sense of humour in tho midst of their strenuous campaign for the franchise. Indeed, they show a good <leal more humour than their opponents, and they combine it with a sincerity and directness of purpose which would have succeeded in achieving their object long ago if England were not one of the most conservative countries in the world. The last of the forty suffragettes who were arrested for attempting to reach the Houses of Parliament by means of a furniture van were released this week, and were joyfully welcomed back to freedom by their adherents. One lively young woman, Miss Vera Wentworth, was kept in gaol a day longer than her companions for cutting “Votes For Women” on the wall of her cell. “The inscription was well worth the extra day,” she said to a reporter. “They will never get it out. The governors of tjie prison lectured me, and said it was ho use writing our war cry on a prison wall; it would influence no one. I did not agree with him, and I told him that in years to come when Holloway was in disuse, and was one of the sights of London, visitors would be shown the inscription, and women —then with the glory of a vote—would shudder, and thank Providence they did not live in these days. I believe that inscription will stand as a lasting memorial of our work to-day. “ I do not know,” Miss Wentworth added, “how I should have stood Holloway, had I not been blessed with a sense of humour. I used to make the whole ward laugh by playing ‘Votes for Women’ tunes oil my comb. One day we organised a great lark. But putting our

ears to the walls, we could hear th< prisoner in the next cell, and so we al) agreed to roar like hungry animals at dinner-time. We male a fearful noise, but the wardress could do nothing, because there were so many of us. Another good joke was a verse, which Miss Brackenbury made up. Wc used to sing this with great gusto— Sing a song of Christabel— And her little plan; Four-and-twenty Suffragettes Packed in a vau. When the van was opened, Out tbe ladies jumped. Was not that a nasty dish, Sir Campbell-Bannerman? “By the way, it was funny how the responses to the Litany varied in chapel. When the chaplain prayed for magistrates the response was very poor. When he prayed for all prisoners and captivea there was a perfect roar!” On the evening of their release Mrsi Pankhurst and her companions attended the mass meeting of women in the Albert Hall, where fourteen thousand women assembled—the largest women’s suffrage meeting ever held in the history ofi the movement. Mrs. Pankhurst hud a; magnificent ovation when she appeared on the platform. The great audience leaped to its feet. Handkerchiefs waved from every box, from every tier, and the cheers were deafen:’ng. The welcome was almost unnerving in its abounding enthusiasm, and Mrs. Pankhurst, with smiling eyes and quivering lips, waited until comparative quietude came. But again and again throughout her speecli the gathering of women broke forth into applause that could not be restrained. Magnificent also was the response to the appeal for funds to carry on the movement. Mrs. Petbick Lawrence announced that the self-denial week had resulted in the collection of £2582, and then she called upon those present to add to this sum. A contribution of £IOOO a year from a lady who desired to remain anonymous was the first sensational announcement from the hall. “My husband and I will add another £IOOO to that,” promptly announced Mrs. Lawrence amid loud applause. Cheques, bank notes, and promises for £IOO came in quick succession. Both Dr Garrett Anderson and her daughter wero among those who contributed £IOO.

Major-General Sir Alfred Turner was an•ther member of the audience who contributed; “I will give £ 100,” called out a lady in evening dress. By leaps and bounds the figures .on the scoring-board went up, until the magnificent total of nearly £7OOO was reached. “Hard cash makes more difference to the Government than all the eloquence of which we arei capable," was Miss Christabel Rankburst’s comment on the result.

That vast audience meant business. A meeting of women who will subscribe (£5OOO in a night is a force to be reckoned with. Only political blindness and ipig-headed obstinacy can believe henceforth that women do not want the vote.