Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-11
Explosion in Westminster Alb
hey Attributed to Mill
tant Suffragettes.
HOME SECRETARY STATES
POLICY OF GOVERNMENT
PROPOSES to Make Subscribers to the
Sufragette Fund Liable for
Destruction Caused.

LONDON, June 11.-An attempt to
blow up the coronation chair which
has been in Westminster Abbey since
1896 was made this evening. The out
rage is attributed by the authorities
to militant suffragettes.
The chair. generally called st. Ed
wards chair, out of respect to Edward
the Confessor, near whose shrine 1t
stands. was made by order of King
Edward l to hold the coronation stone
or "stone of destiny" on which the
ancient Scottish kings used to sit when
they were crowned. 1t was captured
by Edward 1 from the Scotch.
The damage caused to the chair by to-
days explosion was slight. The ex-
plosive had been placed beneath it, but
its effects seemed not to reach the chair
itself. which is of solid oak covered with
gliding and ornamental work. The IA
nous old stone, however, was badly
Clipped
The history of the stone so far as it
is known goes back to the year $50.
when 1t was placed in the Abbey of
Scone, Perthshire, by King Kenneth. 1t
is not known whence it originally came.
but a legend connected with it says it
is the identical stone upon which the
biblical patriarch Jacob laid his head
when he had the vision Of the angels
descending the ladder that reached to
heaven. 1t is known that the kings OF
Scotland for many centuries were
crowned while seated on it.
the abbey after the outrage. The eN-
plosion occurred while Reginald Nc
kenna was talking on the suffrage
question in the house of commons.
The detonation was plainly heard In
the parliament house, and members of
the commons and the peers fiocked out
into the parliament square to ascer-
tain what had happened.
The home secretary announced in the
house of commons today that he hoped
the government had obtained sufficient
evidence to enable 1t to bring suit against
subscribers to the funds Of the militant
suffragette organization.
He added the further hope that the
government would be able to make the
subscribers liable for the full extent of
the damage done by larson squads" de-
stroyers Of mail and picture slashers. The
was made in response to
bitter criticism Of the inactivity Of the
government against what Lord Robert
Cecil described as nothing less than an
archy'' for which, in his opinion, the
only real remedy was deportation
Mr.. McKenna pleaded that the gov
ernrnent was faced with a phenomenon
absolutely without precedent. The num-
Der of women actually engaged in COM
mitting crimes connected with the mill
tant suffragette movement is small, he
said, but synpathizers are numerous
He admitted the crimes were increasing
in seriousness, and he recognized the
growing sense of public indignation
against the militant suffragettes. more
especially in regard to their gross rude
ness to King George and Queen Mary.
In discussing various suggestions for
dealing with the militants the home sec
retary said he believed the "let-them- die
policy would act only as a greater incen-
tive to militancy and would in due course
lead to a reaction in public opinion. De-
portation, he considered impracticable
As to treating the militant suffragettes
as lunatics, Mr.. McKenna said he could
not ask parliament to sanction an act
defining people as lunatics who had not
been medically certified as such.
The last proposition, said Mr.. Mcken-
ma, was to give women the vote, but he
thought that could not be seriously con-
sidered as remedy for existing condi-
tlonS,