1891.—Parliamentary prospects grew brighter and Mr. William Woodall, who had charge of the Suffrage Bill, obtained May 13th for its consideration. The first Lord of the Treasury, Mr. W. H. Smith, had received a deputation appointed by the Suffrage Societies April 20th, to present him with a largely signed memorial praying that Her Majesty's Government would reserve the day appointed for the discussion of a measure "which suffers under the special disadvantage that those whom it chiefly concerns have no voting power with which to fortify their claims." They received the assurance that the House would not adjourn before the 13th, and that the Government had no intention of taking the day for their business.
On April 30th, however, when the Government proposed to take certain specified days for their business, Mr. Gladstone objected, insisting that they should be uniform in their action and take all Wednesdays up to Whitsuntide. This afforded a manifest opportunity for shelving the Suffrage Bill which the opponents were quick to perceive and, although Mr. Smith declared himself unable to take this day, Sir Henry James moved that all Wednesdays be taken. This was carried and the Government, for probably the first time in Parliamentary History, had a day forced on them.
1892.—Better fortunes attended the endeavours of the Parliamentary leaders in the following session. Mr. Woodall having accepted office in the Government, Sir Algernon Borthwick (now Lord Glenesk) undertook the necessary arrangements for the introduction of the Bill. This was placed, by the result of the ballot for a day, in the hands of Sir Albert Rollit, who set it down for April 27th in the following terms:
Every woman who (1) in Great Britain is registered as an elector for any Town Council or County Council, or (2) in Ireland is a rate-payer entitled to vote at an election for guardians of the poor, shall be entitled to be registered as a Parliamentary elector and, when registered, to vote at any Parliamentary election for the County borough or division wherein the qualifying property is situate.
This Bill was brought forward for second reading on the appointed day by Sir Albert Rollit with a powerful statement of the question, and a debate followed marked by a high and serious tone. For this brief narrative it will suffice to note the closing speech from the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, who concluded by saying that whenever any important extension of the Franchise was brought up "they would have to face and deal with the problem of Women's Suffrage—and deal with it in a complete fashion." The division showed 175 for the Bill, 192 against—a result which was a surprise to both sides, for the opponents had exerted themselves in a manner beyond all precedent; they had sent round a whip signed by twenty members, ten on each side of the House, and Mr. Gladstone had written a letter to Mr. Samuel Smith, that had been circulated as a pamphlet, in which amongst other points he urged that at least it should be ascertained "that the womanly mind of the country was in overwhelming proportion and with deliberate purpose bent on procuring the vote."
1893-1895.—At the opening of the Parliament it was a great satisfaction to the Women's Suffrage party that Viscount Wolmer (now the Earl of Selborne) had undertaken the Parliamentary leadership of the question. It will hardly be needful here to go into all the causes which thwarted the vigilance of the leader in procuring a hearing for the measure in that Parliament.
On June 1st, 1895, a representative Conference was held at Westminster Town Hall to consider a plan for an appeal to the House of Commons from women all over the United Kingdom. Miss Florence Davenport Hill, who presided, briefly explained that the object of such an appeal was to convince the country in a more emphatic manner than could be possible by the petitions, memorials and demonstrations that already had been tried again and again, all of which were necessarily limited in their scope. This appeal should be from women of all ranks and classes in all parts of the United Kingdom. The Appeal for the Parliamentary Franchise then agreed upon was managed by a committee appointed from the chief organisations amongst women.
1896.—This effort to "focus the diffused interest of women in the suffrage into one concentrated expression" resulted in the collection of 257,796 signatures, nearly every constituency in the United Kingdom being represented. Although the Appeal was in readiness for presentation in the session of 1895, a suitable opportunity did not arise until 1896, when a fairly good place had been drawn in the ballot by Mr. Faithfull Begg and the Bill was set down for May 20th. Permission was obtained to place the Appeal in Westminster Hall on May 19th, and passes were given to the Committee to enable them to show it to any Members of Parliament who might wish to inspect it. Accordingly—although it was already known that all Wednesdays had been taken in Government business—the Appeal of the women of this day and generation for constitutional rights was placed in that grand old Hall, round which the Parliamentary associations of a thousand years are clustered. Many Members showed great interest in studying the signatures from their respective constituencies.
Irrespective of the interest called forth, other good results followed, for the Women's Suffrage Societies had been drawn into pleasant relation with a great many new friends and helpers all over the country. It was also shown that women who differed widely on political and social questions could work cordially and unanimously for this common object. The closer union which this work had brought about led to the modification of the Special Appeal Committee into a combined Committee for Parliamentary Work. A Conference held in the Priory Rooms, Birmingham, October 16th, attended by delegates from all the Women's Suffrage Societies, greatly assisted concerted action.
1897.—All was thus in good working order when at the opening of the session an excellent place was drawn in the ballot by Mr. Faithfull Begg (M. P. for St. Rollox division of Glasgow) and the Women's Franchise Bill was set down for February 3rd, when it passed second reading by a majority of 71. The old opponents sent out a strong whip against the Bill and mustered in force, but they were exceeded by the old friends, nor did the division show the whole strength of the movement, as many known to be favorable were still absent at that early date of the session.[485] A statement issued by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, said: