Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-26
DR.. Charles F. Aked
Writes on
AMERICAN WOMEN
AND MILITANCY
Bv DR.. CHARLES F. AKED
Written for The Atlanta GeOrgiGS.

TT is asserted, perhaps with lit
tie knowledge and less judg-
ment, that Mrs. Pankhurst'S
visit to America will be product
I've Of wide results in the adop-
ton Of a policy of "militancy" by
American women.
1t is to be hoped these forecasts
are wrong. "Militancy," as now
understood and practiced, has
done untold harm in England;
has shocked and grieved the best
friends of woman suffrage among
men. and has done apparently
irreparsble damage to women
themselves. Nothing in the world
can justify the action of the
Pankhurst circle and their fol-
lowers. But they have been
driven into the irrationality of
crime by the more reasonless
irrationality and more criminal
crimes Of the Asquith Cabinet. In
America, between the Pacific and
the Atlantic, there is not the
shadow Of pretense that women
are driven or are likely to be
driven out of the path of orderly,
sane and healthy methods of ad-
vocating a noble cause.
A Sympathetic Protest.
/ admired Mrs. Pankhurst and
liked her daughter, Christabel. I
have opened my church to them
in Liverpool. have preached
sermons and made speeches in
defense Of their militant methods.
Christabel Pankhurst spoke in my
church one evening In the early
days of their agitation. Her
mother was present and begged
me to preach a sermon advocat-
ing their cause. l did.
Some of the women members Of
my church went to prison. | sent
them flowers and wrote them let
tiers OF sympathy and encourage
ment, and commended their ac-
ton from the pulpit The last
meeting at which spoke in Lon
don, previous to leaving England
to make my home in America,
was a meeting in Exeter Hall pre-
sided over by Mrs. Pankhurst,
and my fellow speakers that
night were Christabel Pankhurst,
Israel Zangwill and Philip Snow
den. Up to a certain point in the
militant" movement / stood by
the side OF these women and
spent time and money in their
behalf.
1 mention these things for the
purpose of showing that mine is a
sympathetic protest and not a
hostile one.
The late Prime Minister of
Great Britain, Sir Henry Camp
bell Bannerman, told them to
poster the Government. He told
them that his Cabinet was divid-
ed, and he advised them to make
themselves an irritant to politi-
clans. They did. And they were
treated with a brutality which
passes all belief. This phase of
1fn ho AAAya
in America. Elizabeth Robins. in
her fine story, The Convert" has
told part Of it. but her book has
not been widely read here. She
has explained why one girl car
ried a dogwhip when she went to
meetings A member Of my
church, speaking in my church
after her release from prison, said,
delicately, of the ferocious attacks
made on her by the stewards" of
the meeting which she interruI :
ed. And they did not forget to
let us know that we were wom-
en-" do not know why should
not express that more plainly.
Women Ql-Treated.
1t is the custom in England to
ask questions in political meet
ings. The process is known as
"heckling." After Campbell Ban
nerman's advice the women be-
gan to attend pubic meetings,
and they asked questions. Their
interruptions angered men; they
were thrown out Of the meetings
with violence; mobs seized upon