The Suffragette: The History of the Women's Militant Suffrage Movement, 1905-1910

by E. Sylvia Pankhurst

But Christabel appeared not to notice his discomfiture: "'Urgent pressure of business.' That is another meaning. Now, if you were asked to help the Suffragettes to make an eager demand to the House of Commons that they should give votes to women, would you feel that we were calling upon you to do an illegal act?" "That is not for me to say." Here Mr. Curtis Bennett interposed. "The witness is perfectly right. This is for me to say on the evidence. I have not interfered so far," but Christabel went on unheedingly and continued gravely reading from her list of definitions. "There is another sense in which the word 'rush' is used and I think it will be of some interest to you. We use it in this connexion, to 'rush' Bills through Parliament." Mr. Lloyd George smiled in spite of himself. "Yes, I think I have some experience of that!" he said. "'On the rush' we are told in another dictionary means 'in a hurry.' There is nothing unlawful in being in a hurry." Mr. Lloyd George shook himself impatiently, and the Magistrate again interposed; this time with more severity. "I have already said you must address those remarks to me afterwards." But quite impassively she held to her point and with her eyes upon the witness continued, "Did you understand you were asked to go in a hurry to the House of Commons to make this eager demand for enfranchisement? Was that the meaning which the Bill conveyed to you?"

In spite of his remonstrances Mr. Curtis Bennett was evidently enjoying the scene, and his eyes twinkled as he listened to the quickly and pleasantly directed questions and to the slow, grudging replies. Mr. George kept glancing at him angrily, and again looking severe he said at last, "Miss Pankhurst, you must take my ruling, please."

At this she changed her tack a little, questioning Mr. Lloyd George as to the speeches he had heard in Trafalgar Square and the demeanour of the crowd and always making her inquiries with a polite air of expectation that valuable information would be forthcoming. When Mr. Lloyd George admitted that he had heard some part of Miss Pankhurst's speech, Christabel gravely inquired whether her mother had threatened violence to any member of the Government. "She did not invite the audience to attack you in any way?" she asked. Then gradually, through his fear of being made to appear ridiculous, she brought him to admit that he had thought that, if the public responded to the invitation to "rush" the House of Commons, the consequences would not be formidable and that there had been no suggestion either that public or private property should be damaged or that any personal violence should be done.

Then she suddenly asked, "There were no words used so likely to incite to violence as the advice you gave at Swansea, that the women should be ruthlessly flung out of your meeting?" This was unexpected. Mr. Lloyd George frowned and remained silent. Mr. Muskett stood up and appealed to the Magistrate who interposed as was expected of him. "This is quite irrelevant. That was a private meeting, and not of the same character," he said reprovingly. Christabel shook her head. "It was a public meeting," she insisted. The Magistrate waved his hand. "Well, private in a sense." "They are private nowadays, that is quite true," she said pointedly, and obviously referring to the fact that ticket meetings only were now addressed by Cabinet Ministers, all women with a few selected exceptions being rigidly excluded. Then she went on to question Mr. Lloyd George as to the reason for which the "rush" had been planned, but he obstinately refused to answer.

Turning to the events during the so-called "rush" on October 13th, she elicited the fact that Mr. Lloyd George had taken his little six-year-old daughter with him to watch the scene. "She was very amused," he said with a malicious air. "You thought it was quite safe for a child of those tender years to be amongst the crowd?" asked Christabel, and this time it was her turn to be a little severe. "I was not amongst the crowd," he snapped, and later, as if anxious to justify himself, added, "You see, I only brought her from Downing Street to the House, and I think that was clear." "The Prosecution asserts that a serious breach of the peace took place," was her next question. "Do you agree with that statement?"

The Magistrate interrupted, "The Chancellor of the Exchequer would have nothing to do with that," he said. "I believe you are a lawyer?" with a quick change of front, she asked, turning politely to Mr. Lloyd George. "Well, I hope I am," he answered with a surly air. "Don't you think the offence alleged against us would be more properly described as 'Unlawful Assembly'?" "There again, I was not put in the witness box to express an opinion of that sort," he objected and the Magistrate again supported him. She made another attempt: "You have seen the form of summons against us?" but he protested that he had not and did not know with what offence the prisoners were charged. She explained to him the form of the summons and explained that, owing to this, the defendants were denied the right of trial by jury. He merely replied, "I take it from you, Miss Pankhurst, but I do not know."

An awkward question for Mr. Lloyd George was: "Do you think that coercion is the right way of dealing with political disorders?" He remained silent, and the Magistrate tried to help him out, saying, "It is not for the witness to express an opinion." Christabel looked full at Mr. Lloyd George, asking, "You refuse to answer?" "I do not refuse to answer," he said, not very honestly, "but I must obey the decision of the Bench that I cannot express an opinion about things in the witness box." "Am I to understand that an answer must not be given to that?" she appealed to the Magistrate. He replied, "No." "Not even if the witness would like to do it?" "No," he said, but she tried again. "Well, is it likely to be a successful way of dealing with political disturbances?" But the Magistrate said, "That again, is not admissible." "But for these restrictions, your Worship"—she broke out with some heat, but he waved her aside and she understood that he was implacable, so she turned cheerfully to the witness and said, "Can you tell me whether any interference with public order took place in connexion with previous movements for franchise reform?" "I should have thought that that was an historical fact, Miss Pankhurst," he replied. Again the Magistrate interposed to save him. "That is cross-examination. The witness cannot go into that." "In a sense he is my witness," she said, but though Mr. Curtis Bennett smiled, he replied, "In every sense at present."

Nevertheless he had evidently seen the justice of the remark and he did not object when a similar question was now put. It was: "Have we not received encouragement from you, or if not from you, from your colleagues to take action of this kind?" "I should be very much surprised to hear that, Miss Pankhurst." Mr. George gave his answer pompously. "You deny that we have been encouraged by Liberal statesmen to take action of this kind?" she said eagerly. "I simply express astonishment at the statement," he said casting up his eyes with an exaggerated, but not very convincing air of indignation. "Have you ever heard these words spoken by us at Trafalgar Square or by any Liberal statesman:"

I am sorry to say that if no instructions had ever been addressed in political crises to the people of this country except to remember to hate violence, to love order, and to exercise patience, the liberties of this country would never have been attained.