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23 - Suffragette The Militant Fight for Womens Voting Rights by E. Sylvia Pankhurst · Suffragette The Militant Fight for Womens Voting Rights

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Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen of This Suffragette, The History of the Woman's
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Speaker 1: Militant Suffrage Movement by E Sylvia Pankhurst. This LibriVox recording
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Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Nineteen June and July nineteen
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Speaker 1: hundred nine the Ninth Woman's Parliament attempt to insist on
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Speaker 1: the constitutional right of petition as secured by the Bill
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Speaker 1: of Rights, arrest of Missus Pankhurst and the honorable Missus Haverfield,
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Speaker 1: Miss Wallace Dunlop and the Hunger Strike the fourteen Hunger Strikers.
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Speaker 1: In the Punishment Cells, mister Gladstone charges Miss Garnett with
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Speaker 1: having bitten a wardress her acquittal. When the authorities had
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Speaker 1: first raised the threat of punishing women under the statute
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Speaker 1: thirteen Charles the Second for proceeding to Parliament in a
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Speaker 1: body of more than twelve persons with the object of
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Speaker 1: presenting a petition to the Prime Minister, these suffragettes had
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Speaker 1: decided to defy the statute. We were indignant at the
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Speaker 1: proposal to enforce against us. In the supposed free and
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Speaker 1: enlightened days of the twentieth century, a coercive law passed
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Speaker 1: in a by gone time of great upheaval and of
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Speaker 1: great tyranny. Moreover, the police authorities had stated that if
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Speaker 1: tried under this Statute of Charles the Second, these suffragette
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Speaker 1: cases must be decided by a judge and jury, instead
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Speaker 1: of being hustled through the police court. Deputation after deputation
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Speaker 1: of more than twelve women had therefore gone forth. But
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Speaker 1: though these women had again and again been seized and
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Speaker 1: imprisoned for periods as long as that prescribed by that Act,
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Speaker 1: the authorities still did not charge them under the Act
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Speaker 1: of Charles the Second. At last, as the seriousness of
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Speaker 1: the whole position grew, our Committee decided that it would
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Speaker 1: be wisest to comply with the very letter of the
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Speaker 1: law and to stand on the constitutional right of the
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Speaker 1: subject to petition the Prime Minister, as the seat of power.
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Speaker 1: We were advised that the right of petition, which had
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Speaker 1: been to some extent limited by the Act of Charles
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Speaker 1: the Second, had existed from time immemorial. It had been
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Speaker 1: confirmed by the Bill of Rights, which became law in
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Speaker 1: sixteen eighty nine at the beginning of the joint reigns
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Speaker 1: of William and Mary. As one of these securities for
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Speaker 1: the liberties of the British people. The complete preservation of
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Speaker 1: which had been a condition of the accession of that
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Speaker 1: King and Queen. The Bill of Rights declares that it
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Speaker 1: is the right of the subject to petition the King,
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Speaker 1: and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.
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Speaker 1: As the power of the King had now for all
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Speaker 1: practical purposes passed into the hands of Parliament, the Prime Minister,
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Speaker 1: as the chief parliamentary official, had become the King's representative,
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Speaker 1: and therefore the right to petition the Prime Minister clearly
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Speaker 1: belonged to each and every member of the community. This right,
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Speaker 1: though it should always be zealously guarded, is of course
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Speaker 1: most essential than the case of persons place outside of
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Speaker 1: the pale of the franchise. A ninth Woman's Parliament having
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Speaker 1: been called missus. Pankhurst wrote to Mister Asquith stating that
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Speaker 1: a deputation from the Woman's Parliament would wait upon him
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Speaker 1: at the House of Commons at eight o'clock on the
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Speaker 1: evening of June twenty ninth. She informed him further that
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Speaker 1: the deputation could accept no refri re fusal and must
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Speaker 1: insist upon their constitutional right to be received. The Prime
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Speaker 1: Minister returned a formal refusal to receive them, but the
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Speaker 1: women proceeded with their arrangements. On Tuesday, June twenty first,
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Speaker 1: exactly a week before the day fixed for the Woman's Parliament,
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Speaker 1: Miss Wallace Dunlop visited the House of Commons with a gentleman,
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Speaker 1: who left her and went on into the lobby to
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Speaker 1: interview a member of Parliament. She passed into Saint Stephen's Hall,
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Speaker 1: and sitting down on one of the seats, there unfolded
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Speaker 1: a large block covered with printer's inc. She was pressing
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Speaker 1: this block to the stone wall when a policeman rushed
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Speaker 1: up and dragged her hurriedly away, but there remained displayed
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Speaker 1: upon the wall the words Women's Deputation, June twenty ninth
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Speaker 1: Bill of Rights. It is the right of the subject
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Speaker 1: to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for
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Speaker 1: such petitioning are illegal. Miss Wallace Dunlop was taken to
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Speaker 1: the Police Inspector's office opening out of the palace yard,
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Speaker 1: but after an impression of her notice had been solemnly
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Speaker 1: made on a sheet of blotting paper, she was allowed
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Speaker 1: to go. She had been pulled away too speedily to
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Speaker 1: look at her own handiwork in Saint Stephen's Hall, and
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Speaker 1: the policeman told her that it was only as much.
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Speaker 1: Two days later, therefore, she set out to make a
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Speaker 1: second attempt to stamp on the wall of Saint Stephen's
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Speaker 1: her reminder Deparliament that the people's liberties must not be violated.
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Speaker 1: She was able to carefully affix her notice before a
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Speaker 1: policeman appeared, but she was not to be let off
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Speaker 1: this time. On June twenty second, she was tried for
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Speaker 1: wilfully and maliciously damaging the stone work of the House
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Speaker 1: of Commons. She urged in her defense that any damage
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Speaker 1: which she had caused by fixing the notice was entirely
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Speaker 1: outweighed by the great constitutional issue which it had been
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Speaker 1: her intention to impress upon the members of the House
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Speaker 1: of Commons. It is claimed by the prosecution. She said
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Speaker 1: that it cost ten shillings to erase the impression of
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Speaker 1: the first notice, and that it will cousse probably a
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Speaker 1: similar sum to wipe out the second. It seems to
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Speaker 1: me that it would have been better if the authorities
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Speaker 1: had spent no money at all, but had let the
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Speaker 1: impression stay. She was found guilt in order to pay
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Speaker 1: a fine of five pounds and one pound one shilling
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Speaker 1: two pence damages or in default to undergo one month's
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Speaker 1: imprisonment in the third division without hard labor. Meanwhile, very
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Speaker 1: great interest had been aroused in the attempt of these
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Speaker 1: suffragettes to force the Prime Minister to receive them by
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Speaker 1: constitutional means. There was keen discussion as to what would happen,
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Speaker 1: and when the Fateful Tuesday came, vast throngs of people,
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Speaker 1: greater perhaps than that any other demonstration, lined the streets
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Speaker 1: in the neighborhood of Parliament. In the House of Commons itself,
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Speaker 1: there was a strong feeling that the deputation should be received,
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Speaker 1: and this was expressed at question time by many members.
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Speaker 1: Mister Keir Hardy asked the Speaker whether it was by
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Speaker 1: his instructions that a deputation of eight or nine ladies
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Speaker 1: was to be prohibited from entering the house, but mister
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Speaker 1: Speaker replied that this was the first he had heard
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Speaker 1: of it, and that he had issued no instructions. When
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Speaker 1: the same question was put to the Home Secretary, he
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Speaker 1: also answered, I gave no instructions and declared that it
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Speaker 1: was the place these who had the responsibility of keeping
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Speaker 1: the approaches of the House open. Mister Hugh Law asked
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Speaker 1: leave to move the adjournment of the House on a
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Speaker 1: matter of virgent public importance, namely the refusal of the
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Speaker 1: Prime Minister to receive the deputation and the consequent grave
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Speaker 1: and immediate nature to the public peace. But the Speaker refused,
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Speaker 1: saying that the question had been before the House for
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Speaker 1: at least two years. Mister keir Hardy then asked if
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Speaker 1: the Home Secretary would give instructions that so long as
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Speaker 1: the deputation was orderly, it should be admitted to Saint Stephen's,
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Speaker 1: but mister Gladstone refused to accept responsibility, saying I cannot
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Speaker 1: say what action would be right or wrong for the
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Speaker 1: police to take. At half past seven, the Woman's Parliament
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Speaker 1: met and a petition to the Prime Minister having been
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Speaker 1: adopted Missus Pankhurst, Missus Saul Solomon of South Africa, Miss Nelligan,
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Speaker 1: who from eighteen seventy four to nineteen hundred one had
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Speaker 1: been head mistress of the Croydon Girls' School and was
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Speaker 1: now seventy six and five other women were duly appointed
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Speaker 1: to present it straightway. Then Miss Vera Holme was this
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Speaker 1: dashed on horseback with an advanced letter announcing the deputation
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Speaker 1: was about to appear. With all possible speed, she rode on,
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Speaker 1: forging her way through the masses of people, until close
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Speaker 1: to the house itself she was met by a body
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Speaker 1: of mounted police, who demanded her business. She handed the
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Speaker 1: letter for mister Asquith to the inspector, but he merely
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Speaker 1: flung it on the ground, where it was lost to
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Speaker 1: sight amongst the crowd Note thirty five. Meanwhile, the little
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Speaker 1: deputation of eight women were preparing to leave the Caxton Hall,
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Speaker 1: and the woman's drum and fife band, ranged up the steps,
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Speaker 1: was playing out to them the Marseilles. The shrill, shrill
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Speaker 1: notes of the fife were a call to battle. The
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Speaker 1: heart beat quicker in unison with that drumming, and the
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Speaker 1: breath came hard and short. On the deputation went, whilst
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Speaker 1: the cheers of their comrades mingled with the deeper answering
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Speaker 1: chair of the crowd outside. On they went up Victoria Street,
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Speaker 1: and all the way from the masses who watched them
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Speaker 1: was heard no single cry against them, nothing but one
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Speaker 1: great cheer. They pressed on, first Missus Pankhurst in her
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Speaker 1: light coat, then the two little old ladies and the
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Speaker 1: other woman following behind, but just at the corner of
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Speaker 1: Saint Margaret's Church, a long line of police on horse
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Speaker 1: and foot blocked the road. For a moment, there was
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Speaker 1: a strange pause and the crowd was hushed. Then the
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Speaker 1: police lines opened and the deputation passed through to the
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Speaker 1: clear space around the house. The crowd cheered and they
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Speaker 1: were lost to sight. Every one believed that the woman
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Speaker 1: were to be received, but Saint Stephen's was closely guarded
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Speaker 1: by police, and as the deputation reached it, Chief Inspector
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Speaker 1: Scantlebury stepped forward and handed a letter to missus Pankhurst.
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Speaker 1: She opened it and read aloud the Prime Minister, for
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Speaker 1: the reasons which he has already given in a written
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Speaker 1: reply to their requests, regrets that he is unable to
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Speaker 1: receive the proposed deputation. Then she let the missive fall
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Speaker 1: to the ground and said, I stand upon my right
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Speaker 1: as a subject of the King to petition the Prime Minister.
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Speaker 1: I am firmly resolved to stand here until I am received.
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Speaker 1: But even whilst she was speaking, Inspector Scantlebury turned away.
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Speaker 1: He would not wait to hear her statement. She called
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Speaker 1: to him to stay and pleaded with the bystanders. Members
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Speaker 1: of Parliament and others to bring him back to listen,
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Speaker 1: but he disappeared through the door of the stranger's entrance.
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Speaker 1: Then Missus Pankhurst turned to Inspector Jarvis, appealing to him
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Speaker 1: or to any one to take her message to the
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Speaker 1: Prime Minister. But she was merely told to go away.
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Speaker 1: I absolutely refuse, she said, and the other ladies chimed in,
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Speaker 1: we absolutely support Miss Pankhurst. At that whilst the rows
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Speaker 1: of members of Parliament, policemen and newspaper reporters looked on
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Speaker 1: with interest, Inspector Jarvis seized Missus Pankhurst by the arm
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Speaker 1: and began to push her away. There was no hope
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Speaker 1: now that the deputation would be received, and she well
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Speaker 1: knew that if the women persisted in their demand to
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Speaker 1: enter the house, they would be arrested. In the end.
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Speaker 1: For the sake of their cause, neither she nor they
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Speaker 1: could ever consent voluntarily to retrace their steps. They must
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Speaker 1: refuse to go, and when, as they would be, they
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Speaker 1: were forced rutily back, they must return again and again
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Speaker 1: until they could do so no longer because they had
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Speaker 1: been placed under arrest. This would mean a hard and
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Speaker 1: a long struggle for the police. Would first, try every
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Speaker 1: other means to overcome them. She knew that in a
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Speaker 1: moment the violence would begin, and that the frail old
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Speaker 1: ladies behind her would be hustled and jostled and thrust
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Speaker 1: ignominiously aside. And so not for herself, for she had
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Speaker 1: borne this sort of thing before, but to save these
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Speaker 1: older women from ill usage, she committed a technical assault
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Speaker 1: on Inspector Jarvis, striking him lightly on the cheek with
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Speaker 1: her open hand. As she did so, he said, I
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Speaker 1: know why you have done that. But one blow was
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Speaker 1: not enough for the police began to seize the other women,
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Speaker 1: and the pushing and hustling began. Then she said, must
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Speaker 1: I do it again? And Inspector Jarvis answered yes. At
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Speaker 1: that she struck him again on the other cheek, and
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Speaker 1: he said take them in, and the eight women were
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Speaker 1: placed under arrest and led away. Meanwhile, the people outside
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Speaker 1: the police lines had waited patiently until at last the
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Speaker 1: news filtered through that the deputation had not been received.
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Speaker 1: Then suddenly a woman was seen struggling through the crowd
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Speaker 1: bearing the colors. Cheers were raised at the sight, and
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Speaker 1: the policemen rushed towards her. This was the signal for
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Speaker 1: a general attempt on the part of the suffragettes to
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Speaker 1: reach the House of Commons, and in ever recurring batches
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Speaker 1: of twelve that only too soon were to be torn asunder,
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Speaker 1: the woman bravely but hopelessly pressed on, whilst more than
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Speaker 1: it had ever done before. The crowd showed a disposition
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Speaker 1: to help them and to prevent their arrest. But Parliament
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Speaker 1: went on as though nothing were happening. And when a
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Speaker 1: man in the central lobby suddenly shouted, the women of
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Speaker 1: England are clamoring outside, he was at once seized by
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Speaker 1: numbers of bystanders and police, and bundled through the door.
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Speaker 1: Then tranquil reigned once more. It turned out that the
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Speaker 1: interrupter was mister Laurence Houseman, the well known writer and artist.
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Speaker 1: At nine o'clock a great force of mounted police cleared
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Speaker 1: the square, beating the people back into Victoria Street, into
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Speaker 1: Parliament Street, across Westminster Bridge, or along Millbank. It was
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Speaker 1: a familiar stratagem, and as on so many other similar occasions,
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Speaker 1: Parliament Square was soon in a desert. But now a
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Speaker 1: strange thing happened. For little groups of women, six or
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Speaker 1: seven at a time, kept tissuing from no one knew where,
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Speaker 1: and making determined rushes for the house. As a matter
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Speaker 1: of fact, the WSPU had hired thirty different offices in
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Speaker 1: the square for that night, and in these offices women
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Speaker 1: lay concealed and dashed out at preconcerted moments. Whilst this
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Speaker 1: was happening in the square, other suffragettes succeeded in carrying
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Speaker 1: out a time honored means of showing political contempt by
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Speaker 1: breaking the windows of the official residence of the First
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Speaker 1: Lord of the Admiralty and of the Home Office, the
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Speaker 1: Privy Council Office and the Treasury Office in Whitehall. Having
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Speaker 1: gone just after dusk, when the lights are lit in
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Speaker 1: rooms where people are, they chose windows on the ground
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Speaker 1: floor that were still dark. Then to small stones around
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Speaker 1: which were wrapped petitions, they tied string, and holding fast
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Speaker 1: to the end of the string, they struck the stones
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Speaker 1: against the windows, and, having thus made halls, dropped them through.
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Speaker 1: So they accomplished their purpose without the risk of injuring
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Speaker 1: any one. One hundred and eight women were at last
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Speaker 1: taken into custody. Long accounts of the affair appeared in
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Speaker 1: the press next morning, and these were on the whole
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Speaker 1: very much more favorable to the women than any that
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Speaker 1: had gone before. As the following gleanings from some of
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Speaker 1: the papers indicate, the record of these attempted raids has
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Speaker 1: been one of remarkable persistency in the face of every
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Speaker 1: possible discouragement from the authorities. Daily Telegraph. The same paper
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Speaker 1: also published a humor spend and ink drawing of amounted policemen,
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Speaker 1: four constables and an inspector marching off to prison the
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Speaker 1: tiny figure of Miss Nelligan, with the inscript seventy nine
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Speaker 1: years old Liberal treatment. It is the most successful effort
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Speaker 1: that the militant section of the party have made. However
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Speaker 1: much one may deplore their methods, one cannot overlook their earnestness.
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Speaker 1: They are out to win the scotsmen, principal and tact alike,
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Speaker 1: are wanting in the Asquith administration. Otherwise they would have
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Speaker 1: been none of the Suffragette scenes in today's police court,
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Speaker 1: and none of the tumult and expensive last night. No
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Speaker 1: one supposes for a moment that such a large and
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Speaker 1: influential body as the Suffragettes would have been denied a
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Speaker 1: hearing by mister Asquith and his colleagues had it possessed
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Speaker 1: voting power. The Manchester Courier. It is not likely that
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Speaker 1: any one of the thousands of men and women who
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Speaker 1: saw the suffragists deputation to mister Asquith to the House
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Speaker 1: of Commons on Tuesday night will ever forget the scene,
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Speaker 1: much as he or she may wish to do so.
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Speaker 1: There are some things which photograph themselves indelibly on the
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Speaker 1: sensitive plate of the brain, and that was one of them.
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Speaker 1: East Anglican Daily Times. The Prime Minister has shockingly mismanaged
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Speaker 1: the business. From the beginning Yorkshire Weekly Post. There is
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Speaker 1: some concern amongst liberals of the Prime Minister's persistent refusal
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Speaker 1: to receive a deputation from these suffragists. They doubt if
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Speaker 1: he is wise in showing so unyielding an attitude to them.
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Speaker 1: Manchester Daily Despatch. As the deputation of women had complied
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Speaker 1: with the very letter of the law, the w s
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Speaker 1: PU determined to prove, if possible, that the Government had
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Speaker 1: broken the law in refusing to allow them to present
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Speaker 1: their petition. Mister Henley was retained to deal with the
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Speaker 1: legal aspect of the case, and he pressed home his
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Speaker 1: contention with so many forceful arguments that when he had finished,
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Speaker 1: mister Muskett, who was conducting the case for the prosecution,
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Speaker 1: as to be allowed time to prepare an answer. When
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Speaker 1: the case was continued on Friday, July ninth, a sensation
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Speaker 1: was created by the discovery that Lord Robert Cecil had
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Speaker 1: been retained to defend the case of Missus Haveerfield, upon
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Speaker 1: which all the others hung. Mister Musket now began by
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Speaker 1: suggesting that the Wold had had no intention of presenting
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Speaker 1: a petition, and that the claim that they had gone
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Speaker 1: to the House of Commons in the endeavor to do
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Speaker 1: so was an afterthought got up for the purposes of
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Speaker 1: the defense. He was soon obliged to abandon this line
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Speaker 1: of attack, for the speeches and articles of the leaders,
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Speaker 1: the leaflets published by them, and the official letters of
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Speaker 1: the w S p u To Mister Asquith, together with
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Speaker 1: the fact that each member of the deputation had carried
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Speaker 1: a copy of the petition, clearly demonstrated the absurdity of
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Speaker 1: this contention. The whole case as to the right of
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Speaker 1: petition and of the way in which that right should
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Speaker 1: be exercised, was then discussed first by mister Muscot and
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Speaker 1: then by Lord Robert Cecil. Afterwards, Missus Pankars quietly told
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Speaker 1: her own story of the happenings on June twenty ninth.
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Speaker 1: In conclusion, she said to Sir Albert de Rudson, I
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Speaker 1: want to say to you here, standing on this doc
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Speaker 1: that if you deal with us as you have dealt
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Speaker 1: with other women on similar occasions, the same experience will
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Speaker 1: be gone through. We shall refuse to agree to be
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Speaker 1: bound over, because we cannot in honor consent to such
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Speaker 1: a course, and we shall go to prison to suffer
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Speaker 1: whatever awaits us there. But in future we shall refuse
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Speaker 1: to conform any longer to the regulations of the prison.
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Speaker 1: There are one hundred eight of us here to day,
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Speaker 1: and just as we have thought it our duty to
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Speaker 1: defy the police in the street, so when we get
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Speaker 1: into prison, as we are political prisoners, we shall do
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Speaker 1: our very best to bring back into the twentieth century
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Speaker 1: the treatment of political prisoners which was thought right in
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Speaker 1: the case of William Cobbett and other political offenders of
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Speaker 1: his time. Then, looking rather pained and blinking his eyes
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Speaker 1: very nervously, the amiable looking elderly magistrate proceeded to give
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Speaker 1: his decision. He said that whilst he agreed with Lord
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Speaker 1: Robert Cecil and mister Henley, that the right of petition
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Speaker 1: clearly belonged to every subject. He yet thought that when
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Speaker 1: the police had refused permission to enter the house, and
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Speaker 1: when the Prime Minister had said that he would not
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Speaker 1: receive the deputation, the women had acted wrongly in refusing
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Speaker 1: to go away. He should therefore find them five pounds,
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Speaker 1: and if they refuse to pay, should send them to
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Speaker 1: prison for one month in the second division. This punishment
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Speaker 1: should not take immediate effect, because he understood he was
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Speaker 1: desired to state a case upon the legal point as
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Speaker 1: to the right of petition, and as he was quite
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Speaker 1: prepared to do this, the matter would be taken to
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Speaker 1: a higher court for further consideration. Missus Pankhurst then claimed
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Speaker 1: that the charges against every one of her fellow prisoners
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Speaker 1: should be held over until her own case had been
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Speaker 1: finally decided, as they all turned on the same point.
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Speaker 1: This was agreed to, except in regard to the fourteen
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Speaker 1: women charged with stone throwing and attempted to rescue, who
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Speaker 1: on Monday, July twelve were tried and sent to prison
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Speaker 1: for periods varying from one month to six weeks. And
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Speaker 1: now the Evening Paper placards were announcing a strange thing
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Speaker 1: that had been taken place in Holloway Jail. Miss Wallace Dunlop,
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Speaker 1: who had gone alone to prison, had set herself to
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Speaker 1: rest from the government the political treatment which her comrades demanded,
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Speaker 1: and had seized upon a terrible but most powerful means
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Speaker 1: of attaining her object. On arriving in prison on Friday evening,
18:58
Speaker 1: July second, she had at once claimed be treated as
19:00
Speaker 1: a political offender, and when this had been denied, she
19:03
Speaker 1: warned the governor that she would refuse to eat anything
19:06
Speaker 1: until she had gained her point. On Monday morning, she
19:09
Speaker 1: put her breakfast aside, untasted, and addressed a petition to
19:12
Speaker 1: mister Gladstone, explaining that she had adopted this course as
19:15
Speaker 1: a matter of principle and for the sake of those
19:18
Speaker 1: who might come after. Miss Wallace Dunlop has not the
19:21
Speaker 1: vigor and reserved force that belonged to youth, and she
19:24
Speaker 1: is a fragile constitution. But she never wavered and went
19:27
Speaker 1: cheerfully on with her terrible task. Every effort was made
19:31
Speaker 1: to break down her resolution. The ordinary prison diet was
19:35
Speaker 1: no longer placed before her, but such dainty food as
19:37
Speaker 1: at other times is not seen in holloway, and this
19:40
Speaker 1: was left in her celf both day and night in
19:43
Speaker 1: the hope that she would be tempted to eat. But
19:45
Speaker 1: though her table was always covered, she touched nothing. Tuesday
19:49
Speaker 1: was the day on which she felt most hungry, and then,
19:52
Speaker 1: as she says, I threw a fried fish, four slices
19:55
Speaker 1: of bread, three bananas, and a cup of hot milk
19:58
Speaker 1: out of the window. Thread and coaxing alike failed to
20:01
Speaker 1: move her. The doctor, watching her growing weakness with concern,
20:05
Speaker 1: came to feel her pulse many times during the day,
20:08
Speaker 1: but her calm, steadfast spirit, and gentle gaiety never deserted her.
20:13
Speaker 1: She had always a smile for him. What are you
20:16
Speaker 1: going to have for dinner to day? He would ask,
20:18
Speaker 1: and she would reply, my determination, indigestible stuff, but tough,
20:24
Speaker 1: no doubt, he would answer. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
20:29
Speaker 1: passed by Friday, it was clearly realized that she would
20:34
Speaker 1: not change her mind, but would carry on her hunger strike,
20:36
Speaker 1: even to the gates of death. Hourly she was growing
20:40
Speaker 1: more feeble, and so on Friday evening, July ninth, she
20:43
Speaker 1: was set free. The fourteen women who had been sentenced
20:47
Speaker 1: on the day of her release, and heard the news
20:49
Speaker 1: of what she had done as they were being hurried
20:51
Speaker 1: to jail, decided to follow her example. On reaching Holloway,
20:55
Speaker 1: they at once informed the officials that they would refuse
20:58
Speaker 1: to deliver up any of their private property, to undress
21:01
Speaker 1: and to put on the prison clothing, to obey the
21:03
Speaker 1: rule of silence, to perform prison tasks, and to eat
21:06
Speaker 1: the prison food, and that in every way that was
21:08
Speaker 1: open to them they would protest against the regulations. The
21:12
Speaker 1: governor agreed for the time being to allow them to
21:14
Speaker 1: retain their own clothing, but told them that when the
21:17
Speaker 1: visiting magistrates next came round, they would be charged before
21:20
Speaker 1: them with mutiny. The women then addressed petitions to the
21:23
Speaker 1: Home Secretary demanding that, in accordance with international custom, they
21:28
Speaker 1: should receive the treatment due to political prisoners, and decided
21:31
Speaker 1: to wait a day or two for a reply before
21:33
Speaker 1: beginning the hunger strike. These suffragettes had always condemned the
21:37
Speaker 1: inadequate ventilation of the cells, which they felt to be
21:40
Speaker 1: exceedingly injurious to the health of every prisoner. On those
21:44
Speaker 1: burning summer days, the stifling heat became almost unbearable and
21:48
Speaker 1: After several times appealing that more fresh air should be
21:51
Speaker 1: allowed to them, the women at last determined to break
21:54
Speaker 1: some of the pains. On Wednesday morning, Christabelle and missus Tooke,
21:59
Speaker 1: anxious for news of theirs, their comrades, went up to
22:01
Speaker 1: Holloway and obtained admittance to a house opposite the jail. There,
22:05
Speaker 1: from a back window, they called to the prisoners, who
22:07
Speaker 1: eagerly stretched out their arms to them through the broken panes,
22:11
Speaker 1: and in a few shouted words, told them of what
22:13
Speaker 1: had taken place. The same afternoon, a committee of visiting
22:17
Speaker 1: magistrates arrived in the prison and sentenced the suffragette to
22:20
Speaker 1: from seven to ten days close solitary confinement. The women
22:24
Speaker 1: were then all dragged away to the punishment cells. Miss
22:27
Speaker 1: Florence Sprong, one of the prisoners, describes her experience thus
22:32
Speaker 1: entering a dim corridor on either side of which were cells.
22:35
Speaker 1: I was conducted to the last one, and the double
22:37
Speaker 1: iron doors were clanged and locked behind me. The cell damp, icy,
22:42
Speaker 1: called and dark struck terror in me. But the principle
22:45
Speaker 1: for which I was fighting helped me to overcome my fears.
22:48
Speaker 1: In the dim light, I discovered a plank bed fixed
22:51
Speaker 1: in one corner of the cell, about four inches from
22:53
Speaker 1: the ground, with a wooden pillow at the head. Opposite
22:56
Speaker 1: was a tree stump clamped to the wall for a seat,
22:59
Speaker 1: and in another corner was a small shelf with a
23:02
Speaker 1: filthy rubber tumbler full of water. High above the bed
23:06
Speaker 1: was a small window, and through the tiny panes of
23:08
Speaker 1: opaque glass, a faint light filtered. Realizing how quickly the
23:12
Speaker 1: light was waning, I hurriedly examined my cell. I discovered
23:16
Speaker 1: two pools of water near the head of the bed,
23:18
Speaker 1: which never dried up. There was a small square of
23:22
Speaker 1: glass high above the door, and through this a light
23:25
Speaker 1: of a tiny gas jet flickered from the corridor outside.
23:29
Speaker 1: This was lit at five o'clock and just enabled me
23:31
Speaker 1: to see the objects in my cell. At eight o'clock,
23:34
Speaker 1: three wardresses brought me a mattress and some rugs, and
23:37
Speaker 1: again the doors clang too, and I was alone. I
23:40
Speaker 1: will not speak of that night. I leave it for
23:43
Speaker 1: your imagination. At six the next morning, I was told
23:46
Speaker 1: to get up. My mattress and bedclothes were taken from
23:49
Speaker 1: my cell, and a tiny bowl of water was brought
23:52
Speaker 1: me to wash in. And that was the only wash
23:54
Speaker 1: I was allowed every twenty four hours. It is wrong
23:58
Speaker 1: that there should be such places to day. Miss Florence
24:01
Speaker 1: Cook told the governor they would drive any ordinary prisoner mad.
24:05
Speaker 1: And she tells us I saw all means of protest
24:09
Speaker 1: had been taken from me except one, and that was
24:11
Speaker 1: to do what Miss Wallace Dunlop had done, to refuse
24:14
Speaker 1: to take any food. The hardest time was the first
24:17
Speaker 1: twenty four hours. Milk was brought to me, which I
24:20
Speaker 1: felt I could have taken very willingly, but I put
24:23
Speaker 1: it from me. Then the wardress brought me in some food.
24:27
Speaker 1: I said to her, will you please take that out?
24:30
Speaker 1: She refused. I therefore took the tin in which the
24:33
Speaker 1: food was and rolled it out of the cell, and
24:35
Speaker 1: what was in it went upon the ground. This is
24:38
Speaker 1: important because mister Gladstone afterwards charged the suffragettes with having
24:42
Speaker 1: thrown food at the wardresses. Miss Cook goes on, I
24:47
Speaker 1: was particularly careful in what I did to be polite,
24:49
Speaker 1: and I believe all the other suffragettes were the same.
24:53
Speaker 1: On Friday, I took to my bed and the doctor
24:55
Speaker 1: told me that if I persisted, I should get a fever.
24:57
Speaker 1: But I was absolutely determined to do my part at
25:00
Speaker 1: whatever sacrifice, and I told the Governor that so long
25:04
Speaker 1: as I was responsible for my action, I should refuse
25:06
Speaker 1: to take food. On Sunday night, I was removed to
25:10
Speaker 1: the hospital, and there a fresh effort was made to
25:12
Speaker 1: get me to take food. Medicine was brought to me,
25:15
Speaker 1: which I absolutely refused, knowing that it was either food
25:19
Speaker 1: in disguise or else intended to aggravate my hunger. On
25:23
Speaker 1: Monday afternoon, my head felt exceedingly bad, and I hardly
25:26
Speaker 1: knew what I was doing, but I determined that I
25:29
Speaker 1: would not give in. In the evening, the Governor came
25:32
Speaker 1: to me and said, be very calm. I said to him,
25:37
Speaker 1: there is a supreme power which gives us strength to
25:39
Speaker 1: bear whatever comes to us. He said, I have orders
25:44
Speaker 1: to release you, and I said to him, does mister
25:47
Speaker 1: Gladstone prefer this to doing us justice. The other prisoners
25:52
Speaker 1: all told similar stories, each of which unconsciously displayed the
25:56
Speaker 1: most wonderful heroism. One day, Miss Mary Allen fell fainting
26:00
Speaker 1: on the stone floor of her punishment cell, and when
26:03
Speaker 1: weakened numb with cold, she regained consciousness. She sang the
26:06
Speaker 1: woman's massies to cheer herself, and to her delight the
26:10
Speaker 1: occupant of the next sale joined in. So bravely struggling,
26:14
Speaker 1: each of the women won her way out to freedom,
26:16
Speaker 1: having pasted bravely, some for six and a half, others
26:19
Speaker 1: for six, five and a half or five days. Think
26:23
Speaker 1: of the courage of it. To be confined there in
26:26
Speaker 1: semi darkness, when a word would procure release, To withstand
26:30
Speaker 1: the terrible pangs of hunger, with food always before one's eyes,
26:33
Speaker 1: distracted by the fever of that unhealthy and fetid place,
26:37
Speaker 1: To feel oneself growing gradually weaker and weaker, and to
26:41
Speaker 1: know that but a little more, perhaps suddenly, any moment,
26:44
Speaker 1: without warning, in the heart will stop, and yet never
26:48
Speaker 1: never to falter, always to cling on to the word
26:51
Speaker 1: of their faith and the great impersonal ideal. Think of
26:55
Speaker 1: the wonderful courage of it. And after their release. It
26:58
Speaker 1: was only with utmost care and cherishing that these dear
27:01
Speaker 1: women were won back to life. And in their feeble
27:03
Speaker 1: weariness they felt, even when lying on the softest bed,
27:07
Speaker 1: as though they were stretched upon iron bars. There were
27:11
Speaker 1: some generous souls. The Reverend Hugh Chapman of the Royal
27:14
Speaker 1: Chapel of the Savoy and others who raised their voices
27:17
Speaker 1: in protest and in appeal to the authorities to withdraw
27:20
Speaker 1: their obstinate opposition to the cause for which the women fought,
27:23
Speaker 1: or at least to extend to them their recognized usages
27:25
Speaker 1: of political warfare. It was shown that even according to
27:29
Speaker 1: the strict letter of the law, the women, their stone
27:32
Speaker 1: throwing notwithstanding, had an unassailable claim to political treatment. In
27:37
Speaker 1: the case of n Re Castioni, reported in Pitt Cobbett's
27:40
Speaker 1: Leading Cases on International Law, a Swiss subject named Castioni
27:44
Speaker 1: had been arrested in England at the requisition of the
27:46
Speaker 1: Swiss government on a charge of murder. Under the provisions
27:50
Speaker 1: of the Extradition Act of eighteen seventy, the prisoner could
27:53
Speaker 1: not be extradited if the offense was of a political character,
27:56
Speaker 1: and the judges unanimously held that even such offenses as
28:00
Speaker 1: murder and assassination must be considered political if committed in
28:04
Speaker 1: the belief that they would promote the political end in view,
28:06
Speaker 1: and as part of an incidental too a genuine political
28:10
Speaker 1: agitation rising or disturbance. But the legal and moral justice
28:15
Speaker 1: of their claim and the heroic courage of the women
28:17
Speaker 1: were alike disregarded by the government, and when on July
28:20
Speaker 1: twenty first, private members of Parliament pressed mister Gladstone to
28:23
Speaker 1: relent and to do justice to the women political prisoners,
28:27
Speaker 1: he retaliated by asserting that they had both kicked and
28:29
Speaker 1: bitten the wardresses. The charge was indignantly repudiated by every prisoner,
28:35
Speaker 1: and after careful inquiry, the w SPU issued a statement
28:38
Speaker 1: denying the accusations. Three days later, it was announced by
28:42
Speaker 1: the press that mister Gladstone had held an inquiry at
28:45
Speaker 1: the prison, as a result of which he had decided
28:47
Speaker 1: that the allegations of assault against the suffragette prisoners had
28:50
Speaker 1: been clearly proved. The w s p U then wrote,
28:54
Speaker 1: urging that the case ought not to be judged on
28:56
Speaker 1: one sided evidence, and claiming that the Home Secretary should
28:59
Speaker 1: all allow the fourteen suffragettes against whom the charges had
29:02
Speaker 1: been made to put their side of the matter before him.
29:05
Speaker 1: Mister Gladstone merely replied that he had already directed proceedings
29:09
Speaker 1: to be taken against Miss Teresa Garnett and Missus Doe Wilcox,
29:13
Speaker 1: two of these suffragettes concerned, and that these proceedings would
29:16
Speaker 1: afford full opportunity for them to swear to their version
29:19
Speaker 1: of the facts before the court. On August fourth, these
29:23
Speaker 1: trumped up charges were heard at the North London Police Court.
29:27
Speaker 1: During the whole course of the agitation, the Suffragettes had
29:30
Speaker 1: never sought either to conceal or to deny what they
29:32
Speaker 1: had done, or to escape punishment for their actions, and
29:35
Speaker 1: the police had always readily admitted that they could unhesitatingly
29:39
Speaker 1: accept the word of a suffragette. It is unnecessary therefore,
29:42
Speaker 1: to give at any length the evidence put forward at
29:45
Speaker 1: the trial of these two women. Their own statements, calmly
29:48
Speaker 1: and carefully given. Even the magistrate, although he punished them,
29:52
Speaker 1: certainly believed Miss Teresa Garnett was accused of biting one
29:56
Speaker 1: mortress and striking another. In defending herself again these charges,
30:00
Speaker 1: she said, on Wednesday, July fourteenth, wardresses entered my cell
30:05
Speaker 1: and ordered me to come down to see the visiting magistrates.
30:08
Speaker 1: I stopped to pick up my bag to bring with
30:10
Speaker 1: me Note thirty six. Immediately the wardress has intervened between
30:15
Speaker 1: me and my bag to prevent me taking it, and
30:17
Speaker 1: a scuffle ensued, in the course of which I found
30:20
Speaker 1: myself on my back, and two or three other wardresses
30:22
Speaker 1: came into my cell. In this struggle, I did not
30:26
Speaker 1: strike or bite or assault any of the wardresses in
30:28
Speaker 1: any way, but used such force as I was able
30:30
Speaker 1: to put forth in order to regain possession of my property.
30:34
Speaker 1: One of the wardresses tore my dress, and it is
30:36
Speaker 1: quite likely that as I took hold of her, her
30:39
Speaker 1: dress became torn. I was then conducted to the head
30:42
Speaker 1: of the stairs, and, seeing that further attempts to retain
30:45
Speaker 1: my property would be of no avail, I walked quietly
30:48
Speaker 1: down into the magistrates room. When I was there, the
30:51
Speaker 1: charges of breach of prison discipline were made against me,
30:54
Speaker 1: and the matron further charged me with having torn the
30:57
Speaker 1: dress of one of the wardresses whilst I was being
30:59
Speaker 1: brought into the room, but no charge of biting the
31:02
Speaker 1: finger of the wardress was made against me. I was
31:05
Speaker 1: then asked whether I had any apology to make. I
31:08
Speaker 1: was sentenced to eight days solitary confinement, and I made
31:11
Speaker 1: no resistance as I was marched away to a punishment cell.
31:15
Speaker 1: Since I learned that this charge was to be brought
31:17
Speaker 1: against me, I have been wondering how it could have arisen.
31:20
Speaker 1: I do not believe that the wardresses would purposely fabricate
31:23
Speaker 1: a charge against me. I am led, therefore, to suppose
31:26
Speaker 1: that this charge rests upon a mistake. You will have noticed, sir,
31:31
Speaker 1: that no charge of biting the wardess's finger was preferred
31:34
Speaker 1: against me in the presence of the visiting magistrates, whilst
31:37
Speaker 1: a charge of tearing the wardresses dress, which occurred at
31:39
Speaker 1: the same time that my other act is alleged to
31:41
Speaker 1: have happened, was reported to them then and there. I
31:45
Speaker 1: can only suppose, therefore, that this charge was an afterthought,
31:48
Speaker 1: and that finding a wound on her finger, the wardress
31:51
Speaker 1: concluded that it had been produced by a bite. Now, Sir,
31:55
Speaker 1: I have dressed myself to day exactly in the way
31:57
Speaker 1: which I was dressed that day in Holloway, and you
32:00
Speaker 1: will notice that I am wearing this Portcullis brooch on
32:03
Speaker 1: my left side. At this Miss Garnett unbuttoned and took
32:06
Speaker 1: off the coach he was wearing, and the magistrate rudely said,
32:10
Speaker 1: I suppose you could bite as well in one dress
32:12
Speaker 1: as in another. I have already told you that my
32:15
Speaker 1: dress was torn. She went on, you will see that
32:18
Speaker 1: it is torn close to the brooch. I think it
32:21
Speaker 1: is exceedingly probable that the wardress who tore my dress
32:24
Speaker 1: received a wound in her finger from the brooch I
32:26
Speaker 1: was wearing, and this wound would exactly resemble the wound
32:29
Speaker 1: caused by a bite. Miss Garnett now unpinned the Portcullis brooch,
32:34
Speaker 1: which since April of that year had been presented as
32:37
Speaker 1: a badge of honor to every member of the w
32:39
Speaker 1: s p U who had suffered imprisonment for the cause,
32:42
Speaker 1: and which, like a genuine port Culliss, had five sharp,
32:45
Speaker 1: little tooth like projections at its base. Here is the brooch,
32:49
Speaker 1: she said, handing it to the magistrate. You can look
32:52
Speaker 1: at it for yourself. I have only this to add, if,
32:56
Speaker 1: in spite of the true facts which I have narrated
32:58
Speaker 1: to you, you send me to prison on account of
33:01
Speaker 1: the charges which had been made against me, I shall
33:03
Speaker 1: go there prepared to carry out afresh my protest against
33:06
Speaker 1: the treatment in prison. Mister Fordham said that evidently there
33:10
Speaker 1: had been a great struggle, and that at such times
33:13
Speaker 1: it was difficult to say exactly what had taken place.
33:17
Speaker 1: He believed that the wound had been caused accidentally, though
33:20
Speaker 1: he thought it was more likely that the wardress's hand
33:22
Speaker 1: had been struck against Miss Garnett's teeth than that the
33:24
Speaker 1: wound had been caused by the brooch. He therefore dismissed
33:28
Speaker 1: the case. But though Miss Garnett had been acquitted at
33:31
Speaker 1: this charge, mister Gladstone never retracted the statements which he
33:34
Speaker 1: had made in Parliament as to the suffragette prisoners having
33:37
Speaker 1: bitten the wardresses. As soon as this first case against
33:41
Speaker 1: Miss Garnett had been disposed of, a second charge of
33:44
Speaker 1: striking one of the wardresses was preferred against her. She
33:47
Speaker 1: then said, on the day following that on which the
33:51
Speaker 1: visiting magistrates came to Holloway, the wardress entered my cell
33:54
Speaker 1: and ordered me to get up off the bed. I
33:57
Speaker 1: did not do so, and she seized hold of the
33:59
Speaker 1: bedding and rolled me on to the floor, injuring my knee.
34:02
Speaker 1: I then said to her, is this what you do?
34:05
Speaker 1: And she said it is I said to her in
34:08
Speaker 1: a civilized country, and she said, you are a set
34:12
Speaker 1: of uncivilized women. I then asked her to leave the cell,
34:16
Speaker 1: and she refused to do so, whereon I pushed her,
34:18
Speaker 1: without using any unnecessary violence, out of the cell. Later
34:22
Speaker 1: in the day she was exceedingly insolent to me in
34:25
Speaker 1: her behavior, and she further reported me to the Governor,
34:28
Speaker 1: and I was moved into a more severe punishment cell.
34:31
Speaker 1: I informed the Governor of the manner in which she
34:33
Speaker 1: had treated me, and from that time onwards her behavior
34:36
Speaker 1: was marked by ordinary courtesy. Mister Fordham then sentenced Miss
34:41
Speaker 1: Garnett to a month's imprisonment in the third division. After this,
34:46
Speaker 1: two charges were also brought against Missus Dove Wilcox of Bristol,
34:49
Speaker 1: who was accused of having kicked several of the wardresses,
34:52
Speaker 1: both whilst she was being taken from the cell to
34:54
Speaker 1: the visiting magistrate's room and on the way to the
34:56
Speaker 1: punishment cell afterwards. To the first charl she returned an
35:00
Speaker 1: absolute denial, saying that when summoned to appear before the magistrate,
35:04
Speaker 1: she had gone quietly and willingly, and that when she
35:07
Speaker 1: had been charged before them, no attempt had been made
35:09
Speaker 1: to suggest that she had assaulted any of the wardresses.
35:13
Speaker 1: She was sentenced to eight days close confinement in a
35:16
Speaker 1: punishment cell, but, as she exclaimed, I refused to accept
35:20
Speaker 1: this treatment and said that if they insisted, I should
35:22
Speaker 1: have to be dragged away by force. Several wardresses accordingly
35:26
Speaker 1: seized me to take me away. I offered such resistance
35:29
Speaker 1: as I was able to, but was overpowered. Outside the room,
35:33
Speaker 1: some of the wardresses commenced to pummel me very severely,
35:36
Speaker 1: inflicting serious bruises upon me, and at last I deliberately
35:40
Speaker 1: kicked two of them. I had on a pair of
35:43
Speaker 1: thin house shoes at the time, because as you know,
35:45
Speaker 1: we had insisted upon our right to retain our own clothing,
35:48
Speaker 1: so that I could not have hurt either of them
35:50
Speaker 1: very much. They then picked me up and carried me
35:53
Speaker 1: to the cell, and on the way treated me very cruelly,
35:56
Speaker 1: twisting my arms, almost throttling me and tearing at my
35:59
Speaker 1: head with great violence. I remonstrated with them, saying, you
36:04
Speaker 1: have no right to treat me in this way, and
36:06
Speaker 1: I shall complain to the Governor of this cruelty. They
36:09
Speaker 1: carried me into the cell and threw me roughly on
36:12
Speaker 1: to the wooden bed, taking away my shoes, which they
36:14
Speaker 1: did not return for some time. At first I determined
36:18
Speaker 1: to complain to the governor and to show him the
36:20
Speaker 1: bruises on my arms, but on consideration I remembered that
36:23
Speaker 1: my quarrel was with the government and not with the wardesses.
36:27
Speaker 1: I did not wish them to get into trouble. Moreover,
36:30
Speaker 1: I regarded the incident as closed, as I heard nothing
36:33
Speaker 1: of any complaint as to my action. I consider I
36:36
Speaker 1: was perfectly justified in what I did, and that any
36:39
Speaker 1: one with arms pinions assaulted as I was, would have
36:41
Speaker 1: taken similar action. The magistrate refused to accept Missus Dove
36:46
Speaker 1: Wilcox's denial of the charge of kicking the wardresses on
36:49
Speaker 1: her way to the visiting magistrates room, but said that
36:52
Speaker 1: it was not of a very serious kind that he
36:55
Speaker 1: would sentence her to pay a fine of forty shillings
36:57
Speaker 1: or go to prison for ten days. He also found
37:01
Speaker 1: her guilty of the second charge of kicking the wardresses
37:03
Speaker 1: on being removed from the Visiting Magistrate's room, and sentenced
37:07
Speaker 1: her to pay a further forty shillings or to go
37:09
Speaker 1: to prison for ten days if she suffered imprisonment. The
37:13
Speaker 1: two terms were to run concurrently. That is to say,
37:15
Speaker 1: she would serve ten days in all. As she had
37:18
Speaker 1: already stated that she would not pay any fine, this
37:21
Speaker 1: was tantamount to punishing her for one of the charges
37:23
Speaker 1: only the two women were still weak from their first
37:27
Speaker 1: hunger strike, but they determined to again make the same stand.
37:31
Speaker 1: On their arrival at Holloway, the officials forcibly stripped their
37:34
Speaker 1: clothes from their backs, flung the prison garments upon them,
37:38
Speaker 1: and forced them into the punishment cells, where, in spite
37:41
Speaker 1: of the continual faintness from which they suffered, they steadfastly
37:44
Speaker 1: refused all food until Saturday, August seventh, the third day
37:48
Speaker 1: of their imprisonment, when the order of release was brought
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Speaker 1: Footnotes thirty five. It was afterwards brought back to Clemence
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Speaker 1: Inn by a stranger who found it still unopened thirty six.
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Speaker 1: In this bag, Miss Garnett had a change of clothing
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Speaker 1: and other necessaries, and she realized that if this were
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Speaker 1: taken from her, her determination not to where the prison
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Speaker 1: garments would be frustrated. End of Chapter nineteen