The Washington herald., 1912-04-30
BY FRANCES ,sHAFFER.

Who of us can help standing aghast
at the stories that are flashed over the
sea. stories in which women. window
breaking and lawIessness are mixed
/ in unpleasant confusion? For London's
suffragettes are forcing the attention OF
the world.
Perhaps you say. How can they?''
And may add, They are misguided"
the bltterest denunciation and the sharp
est demand for punishment, up to SYM
pathy and approval.
Riot-the very name Is suggestive OF
something repellant Of our IDEAS Of good
citizenship, quite foreign to our notions
OF womanhood. and 1t is rare indeed that
we are put to the test of associating
the women we know and admire with
disorderly attack upon property.
And when such a test comes and we
look, from a personal standpoint. at
some Of the participants in a raid upon
windows, possibly we may still say
mistaken" but we also must try to
look through their eyes and learn their
reasons.
Riot Il Just Riot.
England IS far removed from America,
and a riot is Just a riot until II hap
pens that IL il not Lady This, or That
or even q plain Mrs. Nobody who is ar
rested for a breach OF the peace. but
one Of our own gentlewomen from this
side the water, a young woman OF cul-
ture, delicate nurture. familiar with the
art and the beauty OF the world.
And when II chances that we know
her, as some OF us do, and have had
II ever so briefly. a glimpse of the spirit
and force that dominate her, the word
riot does not lose any of its old mean
ing or its inherent ugiiness, but we in
stinctively. ask what can be back of Il
that prompts young woman OF the
stamp Of Miss Wright TO throw of natural
reserve and become demonStratively
militant with the rest.
And in this case the question IL ask
ed In the simple endeavor to learn her
viewpoint, her Justification for mill
fancy and violence and her willingness
to invite ridicule and arrest.
One cannot undertake to speak for
Miss Wright. and is neither excusing nor
defending. neither condemning nor ap-
proving her course; but, slightly familiar
with her mental habits, one fancles she
has turned the pages OF English history
and has been inspired, rightly or wrong
ly, by the action Of men when suffrage,
rioting, and bloodshed were sadly inter-
mingled.
When she read that in 1sS2 much blood
was shed and riots were all too familiar
because a bill broadening the franchise
for men was held up in Parliament, per-
haps she thought, as many others
thought before her, that there have been
few great steps looking toward an ad-
vance in the way OF human freedom or
rule by the whole people except as they
have come by might-mlght helped along
by violence. by rioting, burning, even
by bloodshed.
Does Not Invite Sympathy.
1t is not an orderly proceeding. not
one to invite sympathy, and some OF US
believe il is not a course that will benefit
the movement but there Is no lack Of
precedence for the destruction Of prop-
erty. and still worse upheavals when
there was involved such q principle as
the one very familiar to the student Of
American history-''No taxation without
representation" You know, in the old
Boston Tea Party, that favorite bev-
erage of the colonists was ruthlessly
dumped into the water simply because a
lot OF self-respecting, law-abiding, and
very Independent men rebelled at the
notion of being taxed without repre-
sentation. And our Tea Party was a
very mild demonstration compared with
some Of England's stormy, bitter pro-
testS- ana the strange part OF II Is thak
as we read Of the defiant militancy Of
our ancestors and the belligerent atti-
tude Of Englishmen when they asked for
more power. and backed Il up by lawless-
ness, we deeply admire their independ-
ence, and are enthusiastically in sympa- |
thy with their hardihood.
And one ventures the belief that Miss
Wright and London militant suffra-
gettes. take the attitude that they deplore |
the necessity. but have found It the only
way out; and that while It has not sue
ceeded yet, time may prove their best
justification and award them the approval |
withheld to-day.
As to what you and think, that is |
another matter
Personally, there is the hope that mill |