The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-04-29

l ga Liz auopJSu ~ IN
English militants. Some of the least
militant Americans seem most gen.
erous toward the English women. "The
suffrage question is no longer a minor
issue in England" said Miss Alice
Lord. "It is a war for personal and
individual liberty. England is rapidly
approaching a condition of civil war
fare and the destructive. violence of
the women must be taken as their dec
laration of an issue that may terminate
in actual war. The destruction of prop
erty n risk of human life is de-
plorable and the non-combatants may
be the. greatest sufferers at times.
That happens always in war. Two
cabinet members advised Mrs. Pank-
hurst that the only way the women
could hope to win was by making it a
positive issue. This advice has led
thousands of refined English women
to imprisonment, degradation and per-
sonal suffering which they are endur-
ing gladly, knowing that the greater
The severity melted out to them, the
Don will come the recognition of
the equality of the women of the
world"
English history shows that. repre-
hensible as may seem the course of
the militant suffragettes, it is only a
continuation of the methods adopted
by other political reformers in that
country. The great charter itself was
only secured from King John by dem
onstrations which included the demoli-
ton of property as well as the loss If
human life. Today John Burns is an
honored member of the British cabinet.
Yet a little more tina % years ago he
led a mob of English Workmen through
different parts of London. They
smashed windows, looted shops, burned
Nottingham castle, tore the gates off
Hyde park and committed just such
of public peace as the suf-
fragettes are now charged with. John
Burns served a six-months' sentence
in Jail. A number of his followers
were similarly punished. !
The English law never regarded
John Burns, or any of the others who
committed offenses of that kind in pro-
test against existing conditions, as
criminals, n their Imprisonment in
volved neither stigma nor hardship.
They were regarded as political Of
tenders and We're given separate rooms
in the Jail with the privilege of pro-
viding their own food and any other
desired comfort. The. women have been
differently from the beginning
and it is the refusal of the British
government to recognize the feminine
right of appeal against injustice which
is largely responsible for the increase
in militancy.
The women taken up by the English
police for actions which would have
been regarded as political %offenses if
by men, from the beginningl
beer treated with the greatest
brutality, not only by the officers who
them, but by those in charge
of the prisons in which they were con-
fined. They were thrust into the same
cells with the worst class of criminals
and given no opportunity FOR personal
privacy OF comfort. Instead of being
permitted to provide their own food, a
time-honored privilege in British pris-
ons, they were compelled to eat the
prison fare which was often polluted
with vermin and absolutely repulsive to
women of refined tastes. The hunger
strike was a protest against this. 1t
brought about the forcible feeding
has been So much condemned by
physicians and has been responsible for
at least one death, because the food
administered by nasal injection was
into the lungs. a number of
educated American women have been
subjected to this, and, while it has not
been considered a matter warranting|
interference by the United States
government, it has created a strong in
III O,af finn n caincf UN-r1frl -,~&Ial. !
especially noted among men and
of the south. So, while the
American woman feels a
sense of horror against the revolu-
acts of the English suffragettes
and admits it to be the cause of the
defeat in Michigan, thousands of Others
see in it the strongest hope for the
future. When women are willing to
die for a cause, you know it is bound
to win in the end said a southern
at a tea in Washington recent
~. "And no matter how much you
their mistaken zeal, you have
to admire their courage"
The American suffragist feels sure Of
ultimate victory without any danger of
forced to militancy. The much
regretted disorder in the suffrage pa
rade in Washington on March 3, due.
to the negligence of the police
officers, drew such a storm of protest
from many of the most distinguished
men of the nation that even the suf-
who were annoyed during the.
parade now agree that it helped them
by proving the c%hivalry If the ma
lority of American men. Incidentally
It also brought many new names to
the membership rolls and hundreds of
dollars in contributions. The. defer
shown to the suffragists who
in the parade to the capitol
upon April Z demonstrated that Wom-
nhood in America is to receive pub
lie protection.
the American women enjoy equal
in nine. states at present. They
a school suffrage in 20 states and
n taxpayers suffrage in
our states. Montana, Nevada and
Dakota will submit a suffrage
amendment to the voters either this
or next. In New Jersey, New
York and Iowa a resolution to submit
The question to the voters has passed
lne house and in several other states