The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-11
.SUFFRAG|STS' RIGHT ID COMMIT SUICIDE Amusing Letter Written by
 G. B. Shaw THE MOUNTJOY CASE Says Government Must Recognize Suffragists' Right to Commit Sui cide--Believes in Imprison-
 ment of the Women
THE MOUNTJOY CASE

From the London Chronicle.
 A letter on the subject of voluntary Starvation by Prisoners has been re- ceived from Mr. G. Bernard Shaw by Miss Gawthorpe, who is preparing a petition protesting against the forcibe feeding of of Mrs. Mary Leigh and Miss Gladys Evans, the suffragists who are undergo ing sentence in Dublin.
 Until the Dublin incident. says MT. Shaw, the offenses for which suffragettes were imprisoned were trivial But the Dublin incident was not trivial
 ''ro set fire to a theatre" he writes, lis beyond all question a serious crime If the suffragists may commit arson with impnnity because their motives are public motives, then they may assassinate throw express trains off the line, blow up the houses of Parliament with dyna- mite. or. in short, do anything mschiev- ous or murderous Women who are pre- pared to go to such lengths must clearly be restrained in some way"
 The Only Method
 The only method of restraint al present available, continues MT. Shaw, is im- prisonment. Even if prison were made as comfortable a country house in q park people confined there could always by voluntary starvation force upon the community the alternative of removing the restraint or seeing them die, The gov ernment, he states have ''stupidly and angriy attempted to escape from the dilemma by the Illegal and abominable expedient of forciblc feeding"
 The moment the women go on to graver crimes, this illegal compromising of q months imprisonment for weeks tor ture is no longer possible, An attempt to give the Mountjoy prisoners an equiva- lent in forcible feeding for three and a half years penal servit6de would probably end either in killing them or driving them mad.
 The result of that might be that other suffragists might be goaded into doing something that would be punished by d sentence of penal servitude for life. In that case. what would the government do? To release a really dangerous crim- ral after fortnlght's stomach pumping i would be ridiculous: and the released prisoner might quite possibly be lynched. To keep the prisoner would mean allow | ing her to starve herself to death.
 Might Be Lynched l Tn SuCn dfl tAlitulltN II SttiiS lo lut that the prisoners right to commit sui eide would have to be recognized. As i lcng as the government placed within the prisoners s reach a sufficiency of food. do not see how it could be held ac- countable for the prisoners death any more than if she committed suicide in any other manner.
 "If a woman meets me on Waterloo 1 bridge and, says: Give me a five-pound note or I'll jump into the Thames and drq wn myself as soon as you have gone sufficient distance to prevent you from holding me- l really do not see how I could req sonably comply with the request, | because if it were established as a rule of conduct that I was bound to do so oY else be held guilty of the woman's death all the women in London might make me stand and deliver. in turn until l was a ! beggar.
 If Dr. Crippen had been sentenced to penal servitude for life, and he had fe- clared that he would starve himself to death if not released, the government might have counted on very large de- gree of public sympathy in replying lit erally and seriously "Starve yourself and be damned But if it says that to Mrs Leigh and Miss Evans the general feel ing will be that though the prisoners will be starved, it is the government who will be damned. and that will make all the difference