The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-10-26
TAKES 5000
 POLICE TO KEEP ONE WOMAN OUT
Interesting Facts Connected With Work of Mrs. Pankhurst Famous English Woman

In spite of all that has been said
 and written about the suffra gettes. few people in America understand why they go through their curious performances. or what they hope to gain by it.
 For the last sixteen years ma ority of the House of Commons has been in favor of woman suffrage. Bills to grant the Parliamentary fran> chise to women upon. the same terms as to men have passed their second reading over and over again by con- stantly growing ma jorities. Such a bill passed its second reading in the | present House of Commons by a vote
 to. three to one. But the Cabinet has
 power like that enjoyed by Uncle Joe ! ''Hrnon. and can smother any bill by
 keeping it from coming up for a third
 reading and final vote. For sixteen
 years the suffrage bill has been thus
 treated. Some of the more ardent suf-
 fragists have grown out of patience,
 and have set out deliberately to make
 the life of the Cabinet Ministers a burden to them until they let the suf-' -.-<sv cone to a vote.
 Mrs. Pankhurst's society started six
 years ago with only "a few shillings
 in its treasury. In. 1906 it's receipts
 were $13,000; in 1907, $35,000: in 1908
 $1O0, 900; and this year, nearly r$5000O0.
 Yet some people still say that militant methods are repelling public sym pathy.
 Mrs. Pankhurst began with an of- flee of one room. Her London Head quarters now occupies thirteen rooms,
 each with a, stenographer and type writer; and all these stenographers,
 and typewriters work without pay for love of the cause. In addition, the so- ciety has branch offices scattered all over the Kingdom. Mrs. Pankhurst and her friends say that they hate the means to which they are forced
 to resort. They heartily dislike vio-
 lence, but they affirm tlfat the Brit ish government has counted on wOm> ems aversion to violence, and is using methods to crush their agitation, in the belief that they will submit and give up, rather than hit back. They
 dislike very much to hit back. They give in. They would much prefer to
 send peaceful deputation to the
 Prime Minister, but he refuses to re- ceive one.
 Mrs. Pankhurst had worked for suf- frage along the customary quiet lines. on the series of strange doings, which have made her name famous.
 For forty years, ever since John stuart Mill brought in his first woman
 suffrage bill, a great and growing number of women had been holding
 meetings, sending in petitions, circu- lating literature, and writing for the press. They had converted the pub lie and a majority of the House of Commons. But a stubborn minority still blocked the, bill, and clearly meant to block the bill indefinitely.
 The woman urged the Prime Minis ter and the Cabinet to take the neces- sary steps to let the bill come to a vote. They were refused on the ground that all the time of Parlia- portant matters. and that woman suf- frage, though undeniably just, was not yet question of practical politics. Then some of the women went to Ex- Premier Balfour, who is suffragist. and asked him how they could make answered, in substance. Kick up a row Try first one way and then the other. AS soon as the public gets us- ed to one method, invent another" The women remembered this remark of distinguished Englishman, that England till the people begin to tear down the ark raihngs; and they de- cided that the EK-Premier was right. They acted upon his advice in a way that doubtless astonished him. Mrs. Pankhurst, and other women
 
 were flung into prison by scores. Women tried to get in by all sorts of ingenious devises, and sometimes suc- ceeded, though thousands of police were called to guard the sacred pre- cincts. The women being barred out
 On the land side,s a suffrage launch came up the Thames and shot off roc-
 kets laden with suffrage literature
 over the terrace of Parliament House, while Mrs. Flora Drummond from the
 deck invited the members to a suf- frage meeting. Miss Murial Matters. young: Australian lady now in Eng land, started for Parliament House in an airship, but was blown back by ad- verse winds. Mrs. Pankhurst called
 upon the men who were in sympathy to come and help the women push the way in with their petition. They came
 in thousands, and. Parliament had to
 be guarded by 5000 police, and Mrs
 She has beens to! prison three times in all and has suffered all the physi-
 cal and mental torture which has been
 inflicted upon her. Incidentally, the Imprisonment of her and the 700 oth- CT suffrag gettes has caused great re- form in the English prison system.
 Mrs. Pankhurst since coming to Ann erica this fall has visited many of our prisons, among others Sing Sing and Bellevue and she reports much better conditions here though she declares our whole criminal procedure open to great improvement.
 Mrs Pankhurst will speak tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock at the Park City Rink on State street near Yale St. A large audience is expected to hear this famous woman. She will tell all about her prison experiences and why they were deemed necessary