Chapter V
., was begun--the series of petitions from Town and other locally elected Councils for the speedy passing into law of the measure known as the Conciliation Bill. The city of Glasgow led the way with a unanimous vote of its Council.
During this autumn Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Birrell, and Mr. Runciman made public declarations in support of women's suffrage, and said that in their opinion facilities for the further progress of the Bill and its passage into law ought to be provided in 1911. A few months later Lord Haldane said he hoped "the Bill would pass quickly." The most important practical gain for the suffrage movement was, however, achieved in November 1910. Early in the month Mr. Asquith had announced the intention of his Government again immediately to dissolve Parliament; and on the 22nd, in reply to a question in the House, he said that the Government would, "if they were still in power, give facilities in the next Parliament for effectively proceeding with a [Women's Suffrage] Bill, if so framed as to admit of free amendment." These words gave to suffragists the key which enabled them to unlock the doors which barred their progress. The more astute political minds among the anti-suffragists immediately saw the importance of this promise. _The Times_, November 24, announced that it made women's suffrage an issue before the country at the coming election, and added, "If the election confirms the Government in power the new Parliament _will be considered to have received a mandate on the subject of women's suffrage_."[44]
The feather-heads could see nothing of any importance in this promise, and the _Anti-Suffrage Review_ allowed itself the treat of entitling an article "Nod and wink promises." All suffragists of any experience, however, felt that their cause had received an immensely important impetus, and that they were gaining ground not by painful inches but by furlongs. When the session of 1911 opened, the Conciliation Committee was again formed, and good luck smiled upon its members, for three of them drew the first, second, and third places in the ballot, and thus secured an excellent place for the second reading of the Bill. The member in charge was Sir George Kemp, who sits for N.W. Manchester. The Bill was, of course, drawn so as to admit of free amendment. The second reading was on May 5, 1911, and there voted for it 255, and against it 88. The majority of 110 in 1910 had thus grown in 1911 to 167. There were 55 pairs; but the number of members wishing to pair in favour of the Bill was so great that the demand could not be satisfied. Six of these wrote to the papers explaining their position. Adding the pairs, and those who desired to pair, but were unable to do so, the analysis works out as follows:--
For the Bill Against the Bill Liberals 174 48 Conservatives 79 86 Labour 32 0 Nationalists 31 9 ---- ---- 316 143
Almost immediately after this an announcement was made from the front bench that Mr. Asquith's promise of the previous November that an opportunity should be given for proceeding with the Bill in all its stages would be fulfilled during the session of 1912. There was for a time some fencing and difficulty over the point whether this promise applied exclusively to the Conciliation Bill or to any Women's Suffrage Bill which might obtain a place in the ballot for second reading. All doubt on this subject was finally set at rest on August 23, by a letter from Mr. Asquith to Lord Lytton, in which the Prime Minister stated that the promises were given in regard to the Conciliation Bill, and that they would be strictly adhered to both in letter and in spirit.
This, then, was the position of the suffrage question between the close of the summer session and the beginning of November 1911. All the suffrage societies were working in complete harmony on the same lines and for the same Bill. The militant societies had suspended militant tactics, and also their anti-government election policy. The Women's Liberal Federation, whose co-operation was of great and obvious importance, were uniting their efforts with those of the suffrage societies, when on November 7, a bombshell was dropped among them in the speech of the Prime Minister, replying to a deputation from the People's Suffrage Federation, who presented a memorial asking for adult suffrage. Mr. Asquith then announced that it was the intention of his Government to introduce during the coming session (1912) the Electoral Reform Bill, which he had foreshadowed in 1908, that all existing franchises would be swept away, plural voting abolished, and the period of residence reduced. The new franchise was to be based on citizenship, and votes were to be given "to citizens of full age and competent understanding." But no place was found within the four comers of the Bill for the enfranchisement of women. Mr. Asquith reiterated his promise of facilities for the Conciliation Bill, and then merely dismissed the subject of women's suffrage with the remark that his opinions upon it were well known. If it had been his object to enrage every women's suffragist to the point of frenzy, he could not have acted with greater perspicacity. Years of unexampled effort and self-sacrifice had been expended by women to force upon the Government the enfranchisement of women, and when the Prime Minister spoke the only promise he made was to give more votes to men. Mrs. Bernard Shaw exactly expressed the sentiments of women's suffragists, whether militant or non-militant, when she wrote that Mr. Asquith's speech filled her with "an impulse of blind rage"; she felt she had been personally insulted, and that he had said to her in effect "that the vilest male wretch who can contrive to keep a house of ill-fame shall have a vote, and that the noblest woman in England shall not have one because she is a female" (_The Times_, November 21, 1911).
It is never safe to act under an impulse of blind rage, and very soon a closer knowledge of the actual facts surrounding and explaining the situation brought the conviction home to many of us, indeed it may be stated to the whole body of suffragists with one important exception,[45] that the new situation created by Mr. Asquith's speech, so far from decreasing the chances of success for women's suffrage in 1912 had very greatly strengthened them. First of all we were cheered by the courageous and outspoken remonstrances on behalf of women made by _The Manchester Guardian_ and _The Nation_. _The Manchester Guardian_, (November 9, 1911), said that the exclusion of women would be "an outrage and, we hope, an impossibility.... No Government calling itself Liberal could so far betray Liberal principles without incurring deep and lasting discredit and ultimate disaster." The Labour party, through its chairman, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, M.P., also spoke out very plainly. "We shall take care," he said, "that the Manhood Suffrage Bill is not used to destroy the success of the women's agitation, _because we have to admit that it has been the women's agitation that has brought the question of the franchise both for men and women to the front at the present time_." Like other experienced Parliamentarians, he advised us to hold the Government to their pledges about the Conciliation Bill until we had actually secured something better (_The Manchester Guardian_, November 9, 1911).
Then we began to hear from those we knew we could trust of meetings that were being held of suffrage members of the Government to decide upon a plan of action, so as to secure for women a better chance of enfranchisement through the operation of an amendment to the Government Bill than we could have if we relied upon the Conciliation Bill alone. An invitation was received from the Prime Minister to all the suffrage societies to attend a deputation on the subject. The full report of that deputation was in all the papers of November 18, 1911. It is sufficient here to say that when Mr. Asquith spoke he acknowledged the strength and intensity of the demand for women's suffrage, and admitted that in opposing it he was in a minority both in his Cabinet and in his party; finally, and most important of all, he added that although he could not initiate and propose the change which women were seeking, he was prepared to bow to, and acquiesce in, the deliberate judgment of the House of Commons, and that it was quite in accordance with the best traditions of English public life that he should act thus. A great majority of those who were present thought that the Prime Minister had recognised that women's suffrage was inevitable, and that it would not be for the benefit of his party that he should withstand to the last this great advance in human freedom.
Mr. Asquith gave positive and definite answers in the affirmative to the four questions which were asked by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies:--
1. Is it the intention of the Government that the Reform Bill shall go through all its stages in 1912?
2. Will the Bill be drafted in such a way as to admit of any amendments introducing women on other terms than men?
3. Will the Government undertake not to oppose such amendments?
4. Will the Government regard any amendment enfranchising woman which is carried as an integral part of the Bill in all its stages?
Almost immediately after this Mr. Lloyd George authorised the public announcement that he was himself prepared to move the women's suffrage amendment to the Reform Bill, or, if it was thought best in the interests of women's suffrage, he would be pleased to stand aside in favour of Sir Edward Grey or of some leading Conservative. It has been indicated very plainly that the amendment Mr. Lloyd George himself favours will be one for the enfranchisement of householders and wives of householders. A Bill to this effect has been some time before Parliament, and is familiarly known as Dickinson, No. 2; it enacts that when a husband and wife reside together in premises for which, under the existing law, the husband is entitled to vote, the wife shall also be entitled to vote as a joint-occupier. There is a parallel for a provision of this kind in the existing franchise law of Norway. Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, and other suffragists in and out of the House of Commons concur in the opinion that the present situation gives our movement almost a certainty of success in the session of 1912.
Mr. Lloyd George opened his campaign for women's suffrage in an important speech at Bath on November 24, 1911. It was a men's meeting, the occasion being the Annual Congress of the Liberal Federation. He was received with enthusiasm and made a powerful and well-reasoned speech in favour of the enfranchisement of women. This was followed in December 16 by a meeting in London of the Women's Liberal Federation addressed by Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Lloyd George.[46] The former dwelt upon the reasons which weighed with him in favour of the representation of women, and indicated that the amendment to the Reform Bill which he favoured would be on the lines of Women's Suffrage in Norway, _i.e._ not Adult Suffrage, but suffrage for women householders, including wives (as indicated on p. 81). Mr. Lloyd George dwelt on the essential partnership of men and women in all the greatest things in human life, and urged that this partnership should be extended to politics. Thus the year 1911 ended with every prospect of a hard won Parliamentary victory for women's suffrage in 1912. Women's suffrage always has been, and will remain, a non-party question. The Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association is working as keenly as any of the other suffrage societies. We shall not succeed in 1912 unless we are successful in attracting the support of Conservatives as well as Liberals and Radicals. To aid us in the final struggle it is of no little value that we have the promise of a week's Government time for the Conciliation Bill, if our hopes of carrying a satisfactory amendment to the Reform Bill should be frustrated.
We are on the eve of the fulfilment of our hopes. The goal towards which many of us have been striving for nearly half a century is in sight. I appeal to each and all of my fellow-suffragists not to be over confident, but so to act as if the success of the suffrage cause depended on herself alone. And even if our anticipated victory should be once more delayed, I appeal to them again not to despond but to stand firm and fast, and be prepared to work on as zealously and as steadfastly as of old.
A splendid lesson reaches us from America. The great victory for women's suffrage in California in October 1911 was at first reported to be a defeat. A group of the leaders, including Dr. Anna Shaw, had been sitting up to the small hours of the morning in the New York Women's Suffrage Office, receiving news from California, 3000 miles away. The first returns were so bad that it looked as if nothing could save the situation; and the grief was all the greater because victory had been confidently counted on. Dr. Anna Shaw went away in deep despondency. Presently she came back saying she could not sleep, and walking backwards and forwards in the office, she explained a new plan of campaign which her fertile brain had already originated. This is the spirit which is unconquerable and it is our spirit too.
He who runs may read the signs of the times. Everything points to the growing volume and force of the women's movement. Even if victory should be delayed it cannot be delayed long. The suffragists ought to be the happiest of mankind, if happiness has been correctly defined as the perpetual striving for an object of supreme excellence and constantly making a nearer approach to it.
A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT SINCE ITS BEGINNING IN 1832
_Reprinted with abbreviations, by kind permission of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies 14 Great Smith Street, Westminster_
HISTORY OF THE WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN PARLIAMENT
In 1832, the word "male" introduced into the Reform Act (before "person") restricted the Parliamentary franchise to men, and debarred women from its use.
1850, Lord Brougham's Act came into operation, which ruled that, in the law of the United Kingdom, "words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed to include females, unless the contrary is expressly provided."
In 1867, John Stuart Mill moved an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill (Clause 4), to leave out the word "man" and substitute "person." This amendment was lost by a majority of 123.
In 1868, the judges in the Chorlton _v._ Lings case ruled that in the case of the Parliamentary franchise, the word "man" does not include "woman" when referring to privileges granted by the State.
Since 1869, Bills and Resolutions have been constantly before the House of Commons. Debates took place in 1870 (twice), 1871, 1872, 1873, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1883, 1884, 1886, 1892, 1897, 1904, 1905, 1908 (twice), 1910, 1911.
Altogether, besides resolutions, thirteen Bills have been introduced into the House of Commons, and seven passed their second reading, _i.e._ in the years 1870, 1886, 1897, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911. There has been a majority in the House of Commons in favour of women's suffrage since 1886.
Formation of the Conciliation Committee
In 1910 the Conciliation Committee was formed in the House of Commons. With the exception of the chairman, the Earl of Lytton, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Brailsford, it consisted of members of the House of Commons representative of all the political parties. This committee drafted a Bill which extended the Parliamentary franchise to women householders (about one million in all). This Bill, popularly known as the "Conciliation Bill," was introduced into the House of Commons by Mr. Shackleton. Two days of Government time were allotted to it, and on July 13, 1910, it passed its second reading by a majority of 110, a larger majority than the Government got for any of its measures, including the Budget.
Time was refused for the further stages necessary for its passage into law, and Parliament dissolved in November 1910.
In the new Parliament Sir George Kemp re-introduced the Bill; it was nearly the same Bill as that introduced by Mr. Shackleton; but it was given a more general title, leaving it open to amendment. The second reading of this Bill took place on May 5, 1911, and secured a _majority of_ 167.
History of the Agitation in the Country
The first women's suffrage societies were founded in Manchester, in London, and in Edinburgh in 1867, and in Bristol and in Birmingham in 1868.
These united to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.
This Union has grown into a large and powerful body, its progress during the last two years being especially remarkable.
In January 1909 there were 70 affiliated societies; in October 1911 there were 305 affiliated societies, and new societies are formed every week.
Societies of the National Union are now, therefore, in existence in all parts of Great Britain, and take an active part in electoral work. The National Union regards this part of its work as the most important it has to do, both as propaganda and as a means of bringing pressure to bear upon the Government. Its election policy is to oppose its enemies and support its friends, and in carrying out this policy it disregards all parties.
For the purposes of its peaceful propaganda, whether by public meetings, petitions, or other constitutional forms of agitation, the N.U.W.S.S. has, during the past year (1910), alone, raised considerably over £20,000. More than £100,000 has also been raised for suffrage work by the Women's Social and Political Union.
Public Meetings and Demonstrations
These have been organised in great numbers. For example:--
In February 1907, 3000 women marched in procession in London, from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall.
In October 1907, 1500 women marched in procession through Edinburgh.
In October 1907, 2000 women marched in procession through Manchester.
In June 1908, 15,000 women marched in procession in London to the Albert Hall.
In June 1911 more than 40,000 women, representing all the suffrage societies, walked in a procession four miles long to the Albert Hall.
Public meetings have been held all over the country by all the suffrage societies. It is obviously impossible to enumerate them. We content ourselves with a rough estimate of meetings held in support of the "Conciliation Bill." These amount to, at least, 5000 meetings, including a demonstration in Hyde Park, attended by half a million people, a demonstration in Trafalgar Square, attended by 10,000 people. Also six Albert Hall meetings (two in one week), and demonstrations held in other cities than London, _e.g._, Manchester (2), Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle, Guildford, &c., &c.
These figures include meetings held by the N.U.W.S.S. and other societies; but leave out of account out-door meetings held in such numbers as to make even a rough estimate impossible. During the summer and autumn of 1910 there were at least two or three hundred every week.
Growth of the Movement outside the N.U.W.S.S.
Many other societies have been formed, having women's suffrage as their sole object. Such are the National Women's Social and Political Union, the Men's League for Women's Suffrage, the Women's Freedom League, the National Industrial and Professional Women's Suffrage Society, the New Union, the New Constitutional Society, the Men's Political Union, the Church League, the Free Church League, the League of Catholic Women, the League of the Society of Friends, the Tax-Resistance League. Besides such groups as the Artists' League, the Suffrage Atelier, the Actresses' Franchise League, the Society of Women Graduates, the Women Writers' Suffrage League, the Younger Suffragists, the Cambridge University Men's League, the London Graduates' Union for Women's Suffrage, the Gymnastic Teachers' Suffrage Society, &c., &c.
There is also the Irish Women's Suffrage and Local Government Association, and an Irish Women's Franchise League.
Within the political parties there have been formed the Forward Suffrage Union (within the Women's Liberal Federation), the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association, the People's Suffrage Federation (which demands the suffrage for all adult men and women).
The following organisations have officially identified themselves with the demand for some measure of women's suffrage:--the London Liberal Federation, the Women's Liberal Federation, the Welsh Women's Liberal Federation, the Independent Labour Party, the Fabian Society.
Other societies have repeatedly petitioned Parliament, or passed resolutions asking for a measure of women's suffrage. Among them the National British Women's Temperance Association (148,000 members), the Scottish Union of the above (42,000 members), the National Union of Women Workers (the largest Women's Union, numbers not exactly known), the International Council of Women, the Association of Headmistresses, the Association of University Women Teachers, the Incorporated Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools, the Society of Registered Nurses, the Nurses' International Congress, the Women's Co-operative Guild (the only organised body representing the married working-women of this country).
Resolutions in favour of the "Conciliation Bill" have been passed by 49 Trades and Labour Councils, and 36 Trades Unions and Federations. Moreover, during the year between October 1910 and October 1911 more than 130 Town and other local Councils petitioned Parliament in favour of women's suffrage; among the Town Councils who have done this are those of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Brighton, Dover, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness, Dublin,[47] Limerick, Cork, Cardiff, and Bangor.
It is to be remembered that these bodies represent women as well as men, as women already possess the municipal franchise.
Women's Suffrage in other Countries
The suffrage movement has now become world-wide. The International Women's Suffrage Alliance, which meets quadrennially, includes societies in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bohemia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Cape Colony, Natal, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States.
Women's suffrage was granted in--
Wyoming, U.S.A. in 1869 Colorado, U.S.A. " 1893 New Zealand " 1893 South Australia " 1893 Utah, U.S.A. " 1895 Idaho, U.S.A. " 1896 W. Australia " 1899 The Commonwealth of Australia " 1902 New South Wales " 1902 Tasmania " 1903 Queensland " 1905 Finland " 1907 Norway " 1908 Victoria " 1909 Washington, U.S.A. " 1910 California, U.S.A. " 1911
It will be noticed that all the Australian States have now granted women's suffrage. That they have done so proves that they realised its beneficial effects, where they could actually see it in working as State after State came into line.
LIST OF BOOKS
_The Subjection of Women._ By J. S. Mill. _On Liberty._ By J. S. Mill _On Representative Government._ By J. S. Mill. _Essays and Dissertations_ (vol. ii.). By J. S. Mill. Article by Mrs. Mill on the Enfranchisement of Women. _Letters._ By J. S. Mill. Edited by Hugh Elliot. _Record of Women's Suffrage._ By Helen Blackburn. _A Handbook for Women._ By Helen Blackburn. Articles on Women's Rights in _Encyclopædia Britannica_ and in _Chambers's Encyclopædia_. _The Emancipation of English Women._ By W. Lyon Blease. _Questions Relating to Women._ By Emily Davies, LL.D. _Women and Labour._ By Olive Schreiner. _The Suffragette._ By E. Sylvia Pankhurst. _The Status of Women, 1066-1909._ By the Misses Wallis Chapman. _Women's Work in Local Government._ By Jane E. Brownlow. _The Life of Josephine Butler._ _Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women._ By Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. _Women's Suffrage in Many Lands._ By Alice Zimmern. _The Englishwoman._ By David Staars. _The Women's Franchise Movement in New Zealand._ By W. Sidney Smith. _Le Vote des Femmes._ Par Ferdinand Buisson, Député de la Seine et Président de la Commission du Suffrage Universel. _Women and Economies._ By Charlotte Perkins Gilman. _Common-sense Applied to Women's Suffrage._ By Mary Putnam Jacobi, M.D. _Equal Suffrage._ By Helen Sumner, Ph.D. _A Short History of Women's Rights._ By Eugene Hecker. _Reports of the International Women's Suffrage Alliance._
FOOTNOTES
[1] _Vindication of the Rights of Women_, published in 1792.
[2] See _Le vote des Femmes_, pp. 16-22, par Ferdinand Buisson, Député de la Seine et Président de la Commission du Suffrage Universelle. Condorcet had a predecessor in Mademoiselle Jars de Gournay, the friend of Montaigne. See Miss E. Sichel's _Michel de Montaigne_, p. 137.
[3] Helen Blackburn's _Record of Women's Suffrage_, also _Women in English Life_, by Miss Georgina Hill. Mrs. Wheeler's daughter Rosina, married Mr. Lytton Bulwer, afterwards the first Lord Lytton. The present Earl of Lytton is thus the great-grandson of the lady who prompted the reply to James Mill's article referred to in the text.
[4] This view has also been supported in France, see _Le vote des Femmes_, by Ferdinand Buisson, for evidence of women having in ancient times voted and sat in the Parlements of France. Taine also mentions the Countess of Perigord sitting in the États of her province prior to the Revolution (_Les Origines de la France Contemporaire_, par H. Taine, vol. i. p. 104).
[5] _Annals of a Yorkshire House_, vol. ii. p. 319.
[6] Report of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage, 1869.
[7] _The Life of Mrs. Norton_, by Miss Jane Gray Perkins (John Murray).
[8] The date of this speech is given in Miss Blackburn's _Record of Woman's Suffrage_ as 1866, the only mistake I have found in her careful and faithful history.
[9] See the interesting picture in the staircase of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
[10] Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. i. p. 571.
[11] _James Mill: a Biography_, by Alexander Bain, LL.D., p. 215.
[12] _Representative Government_, by J. S. Mill, pp. 175-180.
[13] _Dissertations and Discussions_, by J. S. Mill, vol. ii. p. 417.
[14] _Autobiography_, p. 241.
[15] The census of 1911 shows that the excess of women over men is in the proportion of 1068 women to 1000 men, and that this proportion has changed but little during the last hundred and ten years.
[16] _Record of Women's Suffrage_, by Helen Blackburn, pp. 53, 54, 55.
[17] _Record of Women's Suffrage_, p. 190, by Helen Blackburn.
[18] A few isolated associations of Liberal women had existed before this. There was one at Bristol started in 1881; but nothing was done on an extended scale till 1886.
[19] An important new departure in journalism was taken by _The Standard_ in October 1911. This paper now devotes more than a page daily to a full statement both of events and arguments bearing on all sides of the suffrage and other women's questions.
[20] See _Outlines of the Women's Franchise Movement in New Zealand_, by W. Sydney Smith. Whitecombe & Tombs, Ltd., Christchurch, N.Z. 1905.
[21] See Report by Sir Charles Lucas, who visited New Zealand on behalf of the Colonial Office in 1907.
[22] See _Colonial Statesmen and Votes for Women_, published by The Freedom League, p. 6.
[23] See letter from Miss Alice Stone Blackwell in _Manchester Guardian_, July 12, 1911.
[24] See _Anti-Suffrage Review_, No. 33, p. 167.
[25] The exact numbers in England and Wales (autumn 1911) are fifteen on Town Councils (two being Mayors) and four on County Councils.
[26] As an example I quote the canvass of women municipal electors in Reading made respectively by the suffragists in 1909 and anti-suffragists in 1911. When the suffragists canvassed, the results were:--
Did not answer In Favour Against and Neutral 1047 60 467
When the anti-suffragists canvassed in 1910 the results were:--
Did not answer In Favour Against and Neutral 166 1133 401
With such disparity as this between the two returns no conclusion can possibly be drawn from either without further investigation of the methods pursued.
[27] See Statistical Abstract from the United Kingdom.
[28] Quoted in Lord Morley's _Studies in Literature_, pp. 133, 134. The reference there given for the extract is _Order and Progress_, by Frederic Harrison, pp. 149-154.
[29] _Early History of Charles James Fox_, by the Rt. Hon. Sir G. O. Trevelyan, p. 449.
[30] _Anti-Suffrage Review_, December 1910.
[31] See p. 89.
[32] See _The Suffragette_, by Miss E. Sylvia Pankhurst (Gay and Hancock, 1911).
[33] See _Garibaldi and the Making of Italy_, by G. M. Trevelyan, p. 3.
[34] Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii. p. 371.
[35] I have in my possession positive proof that orders were given to the police not to arrest a particular lady whose name is well known and highly respected in every part of the country.
[36] I am requested by the Women's Freedom League to state that they have never resorted to stone-throwing or to personal assaults.
[37] A third protest was published in December 1911.
[38] Morley's _Life of Oliver Cromwell_, pp. 232-3.
[39] See Summing up of Mr. Justice Avory in Hawkins _v._ Muff case. _A Warning to Liberal Stewards_, published by the Men's Political Union, 1911.
[40] _More Tramps Abroad_, by Mark Twain, p. 208.
[41] See the Annual Report of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies presented in March 1910.
[42] _Standard_, Oct. 17, 1911.
[43] See resolution adopted by the executive committee of the Women's Liberal Federation, quoted in _Standard_, October 30, 1911:--
"That ... the executive resolves that until definite promises are made of a Government Reform Bill including women they will support by all means in their power the Bill promoted by the Conciliation Committee and will pursue with regard to amendments to that Bill such a policy as circumstances show to be most likely to secure for it a substantial third reading majority."
[44] See "Political Notes," _Times_, November 24, 1910.
[45] The Woman's Social and Political Union dissented from this view. They resumed militant tactics, and scenes of considerable disorder occurred on November 21 and November 29, 1911.
[46] These speeches can be obtained from the Women's Liberal Federation, 2 Victoria Street, London, S.W.
[47] The Corporation of Dublin authorised the Lord Mayor and other officers to attend in their robes and present the Dublin petition in person at the Bar of the House of Commons.
INDEX
Acton, Lord, on political violence, 66
Adult Suffrage Bill, 1909, 70
---- 1912, 78-82
America, Women's Suffrage in, 89
Amos, Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon, 22
Anderson, Mrs. Garrett, M.D. _See_ Garrett
Anti-Corn Law League, 13
Anti-slavery movement in America, 5
---- Congress, 13
Anti-Suffrage League, the, 46
_Anti-Suffrage Review_, quoted, 47, 52, 77
Anti-suffragists, arguments of, 14
---- and the Insurance Bill, 57
---- and municipal franchise, 50, 51, 52
---- letter against Conciliation Bill, 55, 56
---- movement in United States, 47
---- protest in _Nineteenth Century_ (1889), 46
---- tactics of, 33, 34, 35, 51-54
Ashton, Miss Margaret, 51
Asquith, Mr., on facilities for Suffrage Bill, 68, 77, 78
---- on position of women under Manhood Suffrage Bill, 78, 80, 81
---- on women's political activity, 32
---- on Women's Suffrage, 35, 70, 71, 80
Australia, Women's Suffrage in, 35, 40, 42, 43, 59, 89
Bannerman, Sir H. Campbell, on Women's Suffrage, 69
Becker, Miss Lydia, 10, 21
Begg, Mr. Faithfull, Women's Suffrage Bill of, 34, 60
Birrell, Mr., on Women's Suffrage, 76
Blackwell, Dr. Elizabeth, 22
Blake, Miss Jex, 22
Bodichon, Mrs., 20, 22
Borthwick, Sir Algernon, 24, 30
Brailsford, Mr. H. N., 73, 85
Bright, Mr. Jacob, 23
Bright, John, on Parliamentary Reform, 18
---- on Women's Suffrage, 19
Brougham's Act, Lord, 1850, 9
Browning, E. B., _Aurora Leigh_, 12
Bryce, Rt. Hon. James, 34
Burke on Dissenters' Petition, 54
Butler, Mrs. Josephine, 20, 22
California, Women's Suffrage in, 83, 89
Canvassing, 29, 30
Chorlton _v._ Lings, case of, 10, 11
Churchill, Lord Randolph, 30
Churchill, Mr. Winston, on militant tactics, 66, 67
---- on Women's Suffrage, 72, 75
Clark, Mrs. Helen, 27
Cobbe, Frances Power, 20
Cobden on Women's Suffrage, 13
Conciliation Committee, the, 72, 73, 85
Conciliation Bill (Mr. Shackleton's), 1910, 55, 75, 85
---- (Sir George Kemp's), 1911, 73-76, 77, 85
---- Anti-Suffragists' protest against, 55, 56
---- petitions and resolutions in favour of, 88
Condorcet, 5
Contagious Diseases Acts, 22
Corrupt Practices Act, 29, 30
Creighton, Mrs., 44
Crimean War, the, 14
Cromer, Lord, on Women's Suffrage, 47
Cromwell, on gains by force, 64
Davies, Miss Emily, 20, 21, 22
Demonstrations, public, 76, 86
Despard, Mrs., 63
Disraeli, on Women's Suffrage, 13, 24
Dissenters' Petition, Burke on, 54, 55
Divorce Act, 1857, 15
Dublin, Lord Mayor of, 88 _n._
Electoral Reform Bill, 1912, 78-82
Elmy, Mrs. Wolstenholme, 22
Fawcett, The Rt. Hon. H., 20, 62
Finland, Women's Suffrage in, 58, 59, 89
Fisher, Mr., on Women's Suffrage, 42
Five Mile Act, 54
Fry, Mrs. Elizabeth, 6
Garrett, Miss Elizabeth, 19, 20, 21
Garrison, William Lloyd, 13
General Election, 1910, 72
Gladstone, Mr., on Divorce Bill, 1857, 15
---- on household suffrage, 25
---- opposition to Reform Bill, 1884, 27
---- on women's political activity, 32
---- on Women's Suffrage, 27, 28, 33
Godwin, William, 5
Goschen, Lord, on agricultural labourers' franchise, 25
Grey, Mrs. William, 22
Grey, Sir Edward, on Women's Suffrage, 72, 76, 81, 82
Guardianship of Children Act, 22
Gurney, Miss, 22
---- Rt. Hon. Russell, 22, 23
Haldane, Lord, on Women's Suffrage, 69, 75, 76
Hall, Sir John, 37, 38
Harrison, Frederic, on powers of the elector, 53
Herschell, Miss Caroline, 12
Hill, Miss Davenport, 20
Household Suffrage, 25, 73, 74, 81
Howard, Mr. G., Adult Suffrage Bill, 1909, 70
Iddesleigh, Lord. _See_ Northcote
Indian Mutiny, 14
Infants' Custody Act, 12
Insurance Bill, the, 57
Isle of Man, Women's Suffrage in, 25
James, Lord, on Corrupt Practices Act, 29, 30
---- on Women's Suffrage, 49, 50
Jameson, Mrs., 12
Kemp, Sir George, Conciliation Bill (1911) introduced by, 24, 77, 85
Knight, Anne, 13
Labouchere, Mr., attitude to Suffrage Bills, 34
Langton, Lady Anna Gore, 20
Leavitt, Mrs., 37
Lees, Mrs., 51
Lloyd George, Mr., on Women's Suffrage, 69, 75, 81
Local Government Qualification of Women's Act, 1907, 49, 50
Lyne, Sir William, on Women's Suffrage, 42
Lytton, Earl of, 7 _n._, 73, 78, 85
MacDonald, Mr. Ramsay, 80, 81
M'Laren, Mrs. Duncan, 22
M'Laren, Mr. Walter, 26
_Manchester Guardian, The_, on Women's Suffrage, 79
Manhood Suffrage Bill, 1912, 78-82
Markham, Miss Violet, 50, 51
Married Women's Property Act, 22, 23
Martineau, Harriet, 20
Medical profession opened to women, 22
Militant Societies, the, 58
---- election policy of, 67
Mill, James, on Women's Suffrage, 6, 7, 15
Mill, John Stuart, on enfranchisement of women, 16, 17, 19
---- and Women's Parliamentary Petition, 20
---- Women's Suffrage Amendment Bill, 19, 20, 23
Mill, Mrs. John Stuart, on Enfranchisement of Women, 16, 17
Morley, Viscount, 26, 27, 62
Mott, Lucretia, 14
Müller, Mrs., 37
Municipal Corporation Act, 1835, 9
Municipal suffrage, 9, 20, 48
---- Anti-Suffragist support of, 47
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, 21, 22, 62, 81, 85
---- election policy, of 67
---- protests against militant tactics, 63
National Women's Liberal Association, 31
New Zealand, Women's Suffrage in, 35, 36, 37, 89
---- electoral roll of, 41
Nightingale, Miss Florence, 14, 20
Northcote, Sir Stafford, 24
Norton, Hon. Mrs., 11, 12
Norway, Women's Suffrage in, 51, 59, 89
Pankhurst, Dr., 10
Pankhurst, Mrs. and Miss, 60
People's Suffrage Federation, 78, 87
Peterloo Massacre, the, 7
Petitions from Town Councils, 55, 88
Pochin, Mrs., 22
Poor Law Guardians, qualifications of, 50
Primrose League, the, 5, 30
Public meetings and demonstrations, 76, 86
Rathbone, Miss Eleanor, 51
Reeves, W. P., on Women's Suffrage, 38
Reform Acts, exclusion of females, 9
Reform Bill, 1832 and 1867, 6, 7, 9
---- 1884, 27-29
---- 1912, 78-82
Rollit, Sir A., Women's Suffrage Bill (1892) introduced by, 33, 34
Royal Astronomical Society, women members of, 12
Runciman, Mr., on Women's Suffrage, 76
School Boards, women members of, 20, 21
Seddon, Mr. Richard, 37
Serjeant Talfourd's Act, 1839, 12
Shackleton, Mr., Conciliation Bill, 1910, 55, 75, 85
Shaw, Dr. Anna, 82
Shaw, Mrs. Bernard, on Reform Suffrage Bill, 1912, 79
Sheffield Female Political Association, 13
Sherriff, Miss, 22
Sidgwick, Henry, 22
Smith, Mr. Goldwin, 35, 39
Smith, Sydney, on education for women, 6
Societies, Suffrage, 87
South African War, the, 58, 59, 60
Somerville, Mrs., 12, 20
Stanfield, Sir James, 22
Stanger, Mr., Women's Suffrage Bill (1908) introduced by, 70
Stanhope, Mrs. Spencer, quoted, 9
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 14
Stevenson, Miss Flora, 21
Stuart, Mr. James, 22
Suffrage Societies, 85, 87
Swanwick, Miss, 20
Taylor, Mrs. Peter, 20
Test Act, the, 54
Thackeray, in _Esmond_, on domestic tyranny, 12
_Times, The_, on Women's Suffrage, 77
Town Councils, petitions from, 85, 88
Town and County Councils Qualification Bill, 50, 51
Trades Union Congress (Aberdeen) and Women's Suffrage, 29
Twain, Mark, on Women's Suffrage, 65
United States, Anti-suffrage movement in, 47
---- Women's Suffrage in, 14, 35, 89
University education opened to women, 22
Unwin, Mrs. Cobden, 27
Voters' Petition, the, 1910, 72
Walpole, Horace, on Mary Wollstonecraft, 5
Ward, Mrs. Humphry, on Women's Suffrage, 35, 44, 50, 51
---- on Conciliation Bill, 1911, 74
---- on representation in local government, 48, 49
---- political activity of, 56
Webb, Mrs. Sidney, 44
Wheeler, Mrs., on Women's Suffrage, 7
Wollstonecraft, Mary, 6, 6
Women, in local government, 49
---- as members of School Boards, 21
---- as municipal voters, 9, 20
---- as Poor Law Guardians, 50
---- political activity of, 13, 30, 31, 32, 56, 57
Women's Freedom League, 63
Women's Liberal Federation, 30, 31, 78
---- and Conciliation Bill, 74
Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, U.S.A., 14
Women's Social and Political Union, 60
---- election policy of, 67
Women's Suffrage, arguments against, 34
---- beginnings of, 5
Women's Suffrage, Conservative objections to, 73
---- not a party question, 23, 73, 82
---- ---- support of, 24
---- historical aspect of, 8
---- in Greater Britain, 34
---- in Isle of Man, 25
---- in other countries, 89
---- in United States, 35, 47, 89
---- Liberal objections to, 73
---- ---- support of, 23
---- pioneers of, 5, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 22
---- political aspect of, 15
---- position in 1880-1884, 25-34
---- position under Reform Bill, 1912, 78-82
---- recent developments, 69
---- resolutions and petitions in favour of, 19, 26, 84, 88
---- Societies, 21, 22, 85, 87
---- summary of movement, 84
Women's Suffrage Amendment (J. S. Mill's), 1867, 23
Women's Suffrage Amendment Bill (Mr. Woodall's), 1884, 23, 28, 29
Women's Suffrage Bill, 1870 (Mr. Jacob Bright's), 23
---- 1892 (Sir A. Rollit's), 33
---- 1897 (Mr. F. Begg's), 34, 60
---- 1908 (Mr. Stanger's), 70
---- 1910 (Mr. Shackleton's), 55, 75, 85
---- 1911 (Sir G. Kemp's), 77, 85. _See also_ Summary, p. 84
Woodall, Mr., Suffrage Amendment Bill (1884) introduced by, 28, 29
Wyoming, Women's Suffrage in, 35, 89
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. Edinburgh & London
THE PEOPLE'S BOOKS
THE FIRST SIXTY VOLUMES
The volumes now (February 1912) issued are marked with an asterisk. A further twelve volumes will be issued in May
SCIENCE
1. Introduction to Science By C. D. Whetham, M.A., F.R.S. 2. Embryology--The Beginnings of Life By Prof. Gerald Leighton, M.D. 3. Biology--The Science of Life By Prof. W. D. Henderson, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D. 4. Animal Life By Prof. E. W. MacBride D.Sc., F.R.S. *5. Botany; The Modern Study of Plants By M. C. Stopes, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. 6. Bacteriology By W. E. Carnegie Dickson, M.D., B.Sc. 7. Geology By the Rev. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. 8. Evolution By E. S. Goodrich, M.A., F.R.S. 9. Darwin By Prof. W. Garstang, M.A., D.Sc., F.Z.S. *10. Heredity By J. A. S. Watson, B.Sc. 11. Chemistry of Non-living Things By Prof. E. C. C. Baly, F.R.S. *12. Organic Chemistry By Prof. J. B. Cohen, B.Sc., F.R.S. *13. The Principles of Electricity By Norman R. Campbell, M.A. 14. Radiation By P. Phillips, D.Sc. *15. The Science of the Stars By E. W. Maunder, F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 16. Light, according to Modern Science By P. Phillips, D.Sc. 17. Weather-Science By R. G. F. K. Lempfert, M.A., of the Meteorological Office. 18. Hypnotism By Alice Hutchison, M.D. 19. The Baby: A Mother's Book by a Mother By a University Woman. 20. Youth and Sex--Dangers and Safeguards for Boys and Girls By Mary Scharlieb, M.D., M.S., and G. E. C. Pritchard, M.A., M.D. 21. Marriage and Motherhood--A Wife's Handbook By H. S. Davidson, M.B., F.R.C.S.E. 22. Lord Kelvin By A. E. Russell, M.A., D.Sc., M.I.E.E. 23. Huxley By Professor G. Leighton, M.D. 24. Sir W. Huggins and Spectroscopic Astronomy By E.W. Maunder, F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
25. The Meaning of Philosophy By Prof. A. E. Taylor, M. A., F.B A. *26. Henri Bergson: The Philosophy of Change By H. Wildon Carr. 27. Psychology By H. J. Watt, M.A., Ph.D. 28. Ethics By the Rev. Canon Hastings Rashdall, D.Litt., F.B.A. 29. Kant's Philosophy By A. D. Lindsay, M.A. 30. The Teaching of Plato By A. D. Lindsay, M.A. 31. Buddhism By Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids, M.A., F.B.A. *32. Roman Catholicism By H. B. Coxon. Preface, Mgr. R. H. Benson. 33. The Oxford Movement By Wilfrid P. Ward. 34. The Bible in the Light of the Higher Criticism By the Rev. Principal W. F. Adeney, M.A., D.D., and the Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, Litt.D., D.D. 35. Cardinal Newman By Wilfrid Meynell.
HISTORY
36. The Growth of Freedom By H. W. Nevinson. 37. Bismarck and the Foundation of the German Empire By Prof. F. M. Powicke, M.A. 38. Oliver Cromwell By Hilda Johnstone, M.A. *39. Mary Queen of Scots By E. O'Neill, M.A. 40. Cecil Rhodes By Ian Colvin. 41. Julius Cæsar: Soldier, Statesman, Emperor By Hilary Hardinge.
History of England--
42. England in the Making By Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D. 43. Medieval England By E. O'Neill, M.A. 44. The Monarchy and the People By W. T. Waugh, M.A. 45. The Industrial Revolution By A. Jones, M.A. 46. Empire and Democracy By G. S. Veitch, M.A.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
*47. Women's Suffrage--A Short History of a Great Movement By M. G. Fawcett, LL.D. 48. The Working of the British System of Government to-day By Prof. Ramsay Muir, M.A. 49. An Introduction to Economic Science By Prof. H. O. Meredith, M.A. 50. Socialism By F. B. Kirkman, B.A.
LETTERS
*51. Shakespeare By Prof. C. H. Herford, Litt.D. 52. Wordsworth By Miss Rosaline Masson. *53. Pure Gold--A Choice of Lyrics and Sonnets By H. C. O'Neill. 54. Francis Bacon By Prof. A. R. Skemp, M.A. 55. The Brontës By Miss Flora Masson. 56. Carlyle By the Rev. L. MacLean Watt. *57. Dante By A. G. Ferrers Howell. 58. Ruskin By A. Blyth Webster, M.A. 59. Common Faults in Writing English By Prof. A. R. Skemp, M.A. 60. A Dictionary of Synonyms By Austin K. Gray, B.A.
LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK, 67 LONG ACRE, W.C., & EDINBURGH NEW YORK: THE DODGE PUBLISHING CO.
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Transcriber's Notes
Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.
Footnote anchors for footnotes 30 and 37 were missing in the original and have been inserted.
End of Project Gutenberg's Women's Suffrage, by Millicent Garrett Fawcett