Lady Constance Lytton now sent a careful statement to Mr. Gladstone asserting that the forcible feeding was performed with unnecessary cruelty and without proper care. He declared that all her charges were unfounded, and the visiting magistrates, having held a one-sided enquiry into the matter, announced that the regulations had been carried out with the greatest care and consideration.
Footnotes:
[43] A few days later the same thing happened in the case of Mrs. Haverfield, and later still in regard to the members of the Women's Freedom League.
[44] Miss Martin's promise was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post and other papers.
CHAPTER XXIV
1910
The General Election, The Truce, The Conciliation Committee, a Series of Great Demonstrations. War is Again Declared. Another General Election. Conclusion.
With the opening of the new year, 1910, whilst many of the women were still in prison, the General Election began. The Women's Social and Political Union fought the Government in forty constituencies. In almost every one of these contests the Liberal vote was reduced, and eighteen of the seats, which had been held by Government representatives at the dissolution, were wrested from them. During the election the Liberal Government's absolute majority over all sections of the House had been swept away, and they were now dependent for their existence upon the votes of the Labour and Irish parties.