Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-11-23
DEMONSTRATION
BY SUFFRACETTES
Militant Women Attack English
House of Commons.
SMILING POLICE ARE ON GUARD
Arrests to Number Of 223 Are Made
and No Damage Is Done Save
to Window Glass In
Neighborhood.

London, Nov. 22-Having promised
to return to it's formre tactics, the
militant section of the suffragettes
was not long in making the promise
good.
The suffragettss warned Premier
Asquith of this last week and last
night some 200 suffragettes were
marched tenderly by burly London
boobies to various police stations in
the neighborhood of the house of COM
ton, but it suffered in comparison
with their earlier ones.
The program which was announced
well beforehand was for the women to
assemble at their headquarters in
Caxton hail. march to Westminster
and make demands from the floor of
the house. They gathered at Caxton
hall in goodly numbers, but fewer than
on previous occasions, and speeches
were made vigorously condemning the
governments manhood suffrage bill as
an insult to woman. Miss Christabel
Pankhurst presided over this meet.
ing. Resolutions were adopted de-
handing renewal of the franchise
rights for both sexes.
Then the chosen deputation marched
forth to storm the house of commons.
A large force of police Immediately
broke up the procession, the members
Of which made their way by twos and
threes to Parliament square.
Here, and at all the approaches to
the parliament buildings, several thou
sand people had gathered to see the
fun There was also an army of pc.
lice, probably a couple OF thousand,
who effectively preserved the pre-
cincts of parliament from the slightest
desecration. A solid, smiling Gordon
surrounded the buildings, held every
approach, kept the crowd moving and
invested the whole proceeding with a
sense of good-natured, smiling dis
cipline. SO long as they kept moving
on-lookers might 90 anywhere except
through the Gordon which was guard
ing the parliament buildings. Wheeled
traffic was impeded, but not stopped
anywhere.
@GThe suffragettes, unable to ap-
proach in force, could not make very
imposing show. The usual method Of
securing arrest was for two or three
to run up against solid line of bob
bies, who would gently push them
back into the laughing crowd. If this
course of action was persisted in often
enough it would secure an arrest
Three policemen would be brought out
from their reserves behind and they
would take the suffragettes to the po
lice station, mounted policeman max
ing a way for them through the crowd
In this way 223 suffragists, including
three men, were taken to the police
stations.
There was one new feature, name
ly, window smashing, This was not
done by the "hoolgans" in the crowd
which was chiefly composed of re-
spectacle men and women, but by fly
ing suuadrons of suffrag ettes.
Three girls threw stones through a
large window of the dining room of
the Westminster Palace hotel. The
room was full of diners at the time,
but fortunately the table by the win
dow which was broken had not yet
been occupied, There was scarcely a
building on the left side of Parliament
square which did not have is win
dows smashed. The war office win
dows suffered extensively, as did those
of the National Liberal club, An
other flying squadron of danger vol
unteers" smashed windows in the
Strand.