the hysterical insolence of their followers. These leaders have thus condoned courses of action which, if pursued by every body of persons who deemed that they suffered real grievances, would reduce the United Kingdom to an anarchy deeper than that which destroyed Poland.
Of the features which discredit the agitation whose war-cry is 'Votes for women!' I have of set purpose said little. The antics of the fighting suffragists hardly deserve serious notice. The misapprehension both of history and of law which suggests the delusion that English women have been robbed of a suffrage which they never possessed, has, we trust, been finally disposed of by the impressive judgment delivered by the Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords. The silly and mendacious insinuation[1] that over 140 women
- ↑ 'Is it possible that in free England over 140 women have been sent to prison for only asking for votes for women?' ('Case for Women's Suffrage,' p. 140). The answer, of course, is that it is not possible, and never has happened. Every woman imprisoned was convicted of some distinct breach of the law, such, for example, as resisting and obstructing the police in the execution of their duty, or conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace.
