The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1914-01-09

ever, ludt IlS SVlu0ilCe 10 HVe oSAo
in all the cases reported.
But why militant suffragists, wlss
seem to be peculiar to Great Britain
To attract attention, says one; to force
the government to consider our oe-
mands, says another; to gain money
and notoriety for few leaders, says
a third. 1T seems to be law OF po'
litical evolution" quoted militant SUI
fragist in her own behalf, that ho
great advance in human freedom caa
be gained except after the display OF
some kind of violence. We are only
adopting the methods of men to &C.
complish our ends"
Helped by Brutal Treatment.
Militancy has been met, in many In
stances, by brutality. The Cat-ano-
Mouse Act, which releases for time
from prison offenders who are i'll OF
go on a hunger strike and then per-
mits their rearrest, has been suostl-
tuted for the barbarity with when
forcible feeding was carried on. Inc
unnecessary severity with which some
policemen dealt with some jealous or
fanatical women caused public opln'
ion, which had been almost unanimous
in condemning militancy--the reVolu'
tiOnary rather than the constitutional
method of propaganda-to change Tor
a time. if not to actual approval, to
kind of tacit Endorsement or indltfer'
ence. This brutal severity, shown IN
a number Of cases, by the police au'
thOritieS has also tended to unite the
disCOrdant elements that favor Wom'
ans suffrage into one somewhat har'
monious whole. On the platform OF a
large hall in the West end of London
the other evening were in vocal har.
mony speakers representing all phases
of the movement, from the militant,
who threw rocks, to the lady who only
wrote letters to the neWspapers-and
for reasons of domestic tranquility
wrote them anonymously. Severity
had the usual effect or creating sym
pathy for the person punished and less
opposition to the cause. Recently the
severity has been lessened and the
punishment has been made more near
ly to fit the offense. Narrating what
was done only few months ago, an ar
dent suffragist said that minor breach
es Of law, such as waving flags and
making speeches in the lobbies Of the
houses of parliament, were treated
more severely than serious crime on
the part Of men had often BEEN A SEN
tence of three months Imprisonment
as an ordinary offender was passed IN
one case against young girl who mad
done nothing except to decline to be
bound over to keep the peace, which
she was prepared to swear she had
not broken. The turning of the hose
upon suffrage prisoner in her cell on
a midwinter night is another example.
This has been, fortunately fer all con-
cerned, changed for the better by the
more recent administration of the
much-reviled Cat-and-Mouse Act.
Militants Small in Number.
The militant suffragists first organ
lied into society ten years ago, are
now divided into two or more inharmo
NOUS groups. Their work is largely
associated in the public mind with the
! names of the Pankhursts, mother and
y daughter. The militant suffragists
constitute, but handful of the advo
Gates of the franchise for. women
They get 80 per cent. Of the public at
tention but they are in number and
Importance scarcely one per cent. The
National union, which advocates con
stitutional methods, includes or rep
resents the greater part of the suf
fragists. There are scores Of other
womens organizations formed with
the same general purpose. The Ma
tional British Woman's Temperance
union, the National Union of Womer
Workers (the largest women's union)
the Association of University Women
Teachers, the Society of Registered
Nurses, the Women's Cooperative
guild (the only organized body repre-
senting the married working women)
are some Of the numerous societies
that favor womans suffrage. TT
town councils of Liverpool, Manches
ter, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds
Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin
and Cork are among the 200 town
councils which have petitioned parlia
ment to pass woman's suffrage bill
ireland for Woman's Suffrage.
Ireland, with characteristic tempera
ment, next to home rule, has given
largest time to discussion of woman's
suffrage The Irish Nationalist gen
orally favor it and the Ulster Orange
men have included in their so-called
provisional government scheme the
franchise for women on the basis OF
register for local government pur
poses On the contrary, it was an Irish
preacher who, having described Jeze
bel as a type Of the modern woman
suffragist, said that she painted her
face, tied her head and looked out oil
the window at Jehu, and would you
believe it, the hussy was nigh on six.
ty years old