THROWING THE WOMEN OVERBOARD IN 1884
"We have filled the well-fed with good things, and the hungry we have
sent empty away."--From the _Politician's Magnificat_.
The year 1880 opened cheerfully for suffragists. There was a series
of great demonstrations of women only, beginning with one in the Free
Trade Hall, Manchester, in February. The first little bit of practical
success too within the United Kingdom came this year, for suffrage was
extended to women in the Isle of Man. At first it was given only to
women freeholders, but after a few years' experience of its entirely
successful operation all feeling of opposition to it died away, and it
was extended to women householders. The representative system of the
Isle of Man is one of the oldest in the world, and the House of Keys is
of even greater antiquity than the House of Commons.
The general election took place in March and April 1880, and the
Liberals were returned to power with a large majority. Mr. Gladstone
became Prime Minister, and it was well known that the extension of
Household Suffrage in the counties would be an important feature in
the programme of the new Government. Mr. Goschen declined to join Mr.
Gladstone's Government, because he was opposed to the extension of the
Parliamentary franchise to the agricultural labourers. It is strange
how the whirligig of time brings about its revenges. Mr. Goschen
held out to the last against the enfranchisement of the agricultural
labourers, but after the election of 1906 he publicly congratulated
a meeting of Unionist Free Traders on "the magnificent stand the
agricultural labourers had made for Free Trade!" If his counsels had
prevailed in 1880, not one of these men would have had a vote and could
have made a stand for Free Trade or anything else. But in politics
memories are short, and no one reminded Lord Goschen, as he had then
became, of his stand against the labourers' vote a few years earlier.
As the time approached when the Government of 1880 would introduce
their Bill to extend household suffrage to counties, the exertions
of the women's suffragists were redoubled. One of the methods of
propaganda adopted was the bringing forward of resolutions favourable
to women's suffrage at the meetings and representative gatherings of
political associations of both the great parties.
Resolutions favourable to an extension of the Parliamentary suffrage
to women were carried at the Parliamentary Reform Congress at Leeds in
October 1883, at the National Liberal Federation at Bristol in 1883, at
the National Reform Union, Manchester, January 1884, at the National
Union of Conservative Associations (Scotland) at Glasgow in 1887, at
the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations'
Annual Conference (Oxford) 1887, and so on yearly, or at very frequent
intervals, down to the present time.[17]
At the Reform Conference at Leeds in 1883, presided over by Mr. John
Morley, and attended by 2000 delegates from all parts of the country,
it was moved by Dr. Crosskey of Birmingham, and seconded by Mr. Walter
M'Laren, to add to the resolution supporting household suffrage in
the counties the following rider:--"_That in the opinion of this
meeting, any measure for the extension of the suffrage should confer
the franchise on women who, possessing the qualifications which entitle
men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local
government._"
It was pointed out by Mr. M'Laren (now a member of the House of Commons
and one of our most valued supporters) that in the previous session
a memorial signed by 110 members of Parliament, of whom the chairman,
Mr. John Morley, was one, had been handed to Mr. Gladstone, to the
effect that no measure for the extension of the franchise would be
satisfactory unless it included women. Mrs. Cobden Unwin and Mrs. Helen
Clark, the daughters respectively of Richard Cobden and John Bright,
spoke in support of the rider, which was carried by a very large
majority. But when the Reform Bill of 1884 came before the House of
Commons it was found that the inclusion of women within the Bill had an
inexorable opponent in the Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone. He did not
oppose Women's Suffrage in principle. In 1871 he had taken part in a
woman's suffrage debate in the House of Commons and had said:--
"So far as I am able to form an opinion of the general tone and
opinion of our law in these matters, where the peculiar relations of
men and women are concerned, that law does less than justice to women,
and great mischief, misery, and scandal result from that state of
things in many of the occurrences and events of life.... If it should
be found possible to arrange a safe and well-adjusted alteration of
the law as to political power, the man who shall attain that object,
and who shall see his purpose carried onward to its consequences in
a more just arrangement of the provisions of other laws bearing upon
the condition and welfare of women, will, in my opinion, be a real
benefactor to his country."
It is somewhat difficult to deduce from this statement the condition
of the mind from which it proceeded; but it was generally thought to
mean that Mr. Gladstone believed that women had suffered practical
grievances owing to their exclusion from representation, and that it
would be for their benefit and for the welfare of the country if a
moderate measure of women's suffrage could be passed into law. When,
however, it came to moving a definite amendment to include women in the
Reform Bill of 1884, the most vehement opposition was offered by Mr.
Gladstone; not indeed even then to the principle of women's suffrage,
but to its being added to the Bill before the House. The idea that
household suffrage was not democratic had not then been invented.
The Prime Minister's line was that the Government had introduced
into the Bill "as much as it could safely carry." The unfortunate
nautical metaphor was repeated again and again: "Women's suffrage would
overweight the ship." "The cargo which the vessel carries is, in our
opinion, a cargo as large as she can safely carry." He accordingly
threw the women overboard. So different are the traditions of the
politician from the heroic traditions of the seaman who, by duty and
instinct alike, is always prompted in moments of danger to save the
women first.
Comment has been made on the curious ambiguity of the language in
which Mr. Gladstone had supported the principle of women's suffrage
in 1871. There was no ambiguity in what he said about it in 1884. In
language perfectly plain and easily understood he said, "I offer it
[Mr. Woodall's Women's Suffrage Amendment] the strongest opposition
in my power, and I must disclaim and renounce responsibility for the
measure [_i.e._ the Government Reform Bill] should my honourable friend
succeed in inducing the committee to adopt the amendment." This was on
June 10, 1884. The decision resulted in a crushing defeat for women's
suffrage. The numbers were 271 against Mr. Woodall's amendment to 135
for it. Among the 271 were 104 Liberals who were pledged supporters
of suffrage. Three members of the Government, who were known friends
of women's suffrage, did not vote at all, but walked out of the House
before the division. To one of them Mr. Gladstone wrote the next day
pointing out that to abstain from supporting the Government in a
critical division was equivalent to a resignation of office. But he
added that a crisis in foreign affairs was approaching which might be
of the deepest importance to "the character and honour of the country
and to the law, the concord and possibly even the peace of Europe. It
would be most unfortunate were the minds of men at such a juncture
to be disturbed by the resignation of a cabinet minister and of two
other gentlemen holding offices of great importance." He, therefore,
was proposing to his colleagues that he should be authorised to request
the three gentlemen referred to, to do the Government the favour of
retaining their respective offices. As they had never resigned them,
this petition that they should withdraw their resignation seemed a
little superfluous.
The blow to women's suffrage dealt by the defeat of Mr. Woodall's
Amendment to the 1884 Reform Bill was a heavy one, and was
deeply felt by the whole movement. But though fatal to immediate
Parliamentary success, the events of 1884 strengthened our cause in
the country. Everything which draws public attention to the subject of
representation and to the political helplessness of the unrepresented
makes people ask themselves more and more "Why are women excluded?"
"If representative government is good for men, why should it be bad
for women?" "Why do members of Parliament lightly break their promises
to non-voters?" It will be remembered that the Reform Bill of 1884 was
not finally passed until late in the autumn. While the final stages of
the measure were still pending, the Trades Union Congress meeting at
Aberdeen passed a resolution, with only three dissentients, "_That this
Congress is strongly of opinion that the franchise should be extended
to women rate-payers._" Thus at that critical juncture the working
men's most powerful organisation stood by the women whom the Liberal
party had betrayed.
New political forces made their appearance very soon after the passing
of the Reform Act of 1884, which have had an almost immeasurable effect
in promoting the women's suffrage cause. The Reform Act had contained
a provision to render paid canvassing illegal, and in 1883 Sir Henry
James (afterwards Lord James of Hereford) had introduced, on behalf of
the Government, and carried a very stringent Corrupt Practices Act. Its
main feature was to place a definite limit, proportioned to the number
of electors in each constituency, upon the authorised expenditure of
the candidates. Political agents and party managers had been accustomed
to employ a large number of men as paid canvassers, and to perform the
great amount of clerical and other drudgery connected with electoral
organisation. The law now precluded paid canvassing altogether, and,
by limiting the authorised expenditure, severely restrained the number
of people who could be employed on ordinary business principles, of
so much cash for so much work. But the work had got to be done, or
elections would be lost. It was necessary, therefore, to look round
and see how and by whom the work could be performed now that the
fertilising shower of gold was withdrawn. The brilliant idea occurred
to Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Algernon Borthwick, and others to
obtain for their own party the services of ladies. This was the
germ of the organisation which soon became known by the name of the
Primrose League. Ladies were encouraged to take an active part in the
electoral organisation; they canvassed, they spoke, they looked up
"removals," and "out voters," and did all kinds of important political
work without fee or reward of any kind, and, therefore, without adding
to candidates' expenses. The ladies were highly successful from the
very first. They showed powers of work and of political organisation
which heretofore had been unsuspected. Their political friends were
delighted. The anger of their political opponents was unmeasured. It
was then that the expression "filthy witches" was used in relation to
the Dames of the Primrose League by an excited member of the Liberal
party, who attributed his defeat in a contested election to their
machinations. But anger quickly gave way to a more practical frame of
mind. If the Conservatives could make good use of women for electoral
work, Liberals could do so also and would not be left behind. The
Women's Liberal Federation[18] was formed in 1886 under the Presidency
of Mrs. Gladstone, supported on the executive committee by other
ladies, mainly the wives of the Liberal leaders. The idea of the
officers of this association from the outset was that the object of its
existence was to promote the interests of the Liberal party, or, as
Mrs. Gladstone once put it, "to help our husbands." Events, however,
soon followed which created great dissatisfaction among the rank and
file with this limited range of political activity. There were many
women in the association who desired not merely to help their party
but to educate it, by promoting Liberal principles, and of these the
extension of representative government to women was one of the most
important.
The Federation was formed in 1886; the very next year a women's
suffrage resolution was moved at the annual council meeting, but was
defeated. The same thing happened in 1888 and 1889, the influence of
the official Liberal ladies being used against it. In 1890, however,
a women's suffrage resolution was carried by a large majority. The
earnest suffragists in the Federation continued their work, and in 1892
they became so powerful that fifteen of the members of the executive
committee, who had opposed suffrage being taken up as part of the work
of the Federation, did not offer themselves for re-election. Mrs.
Gladstone, however, did not withdraw, and continued to hold the office
of president. The retiring members of the executive took a considerable
number of the local associations with them, and in 1893 these formed
a new organisation called the National Women's Liberal Association.
Some of those who formed this seceding Women's Liberal Association were
definitely opposed to Women's Suffrage; others thought that while in
principle the enfranchisement of women was right, the time had not come
for its practical adoption. In practice, however, the Women's Liberal
Federation has stood for suffrage with ever-increasing firmness since
1890, while the Women's Liberal Association has continued to oppose it.
The formation of women's political associations was encouraged by
party leaders of all shades of politics. There is probably not a single
party leader, however strongly he may oppose the extension of the
suffrage to women, who has not encouraged the active participation of
women in electoral work. The Liberal party issues a paper of printed
directions to those who are asking to do electoral work in its support.
The first of these directions is:--_Make all possible use of every
available woman in your locality._
Suffragists contend that a party which can do this cannot long maintain
that women are by the mere fact of their sex unfit to be entrusted with
a Parliamentary vote.
Even as long ago as his first Midlothian campaign, and before any
definite political organisations for women existed, Mr. Gladstone had
urged the women of his future constituency to come out and bear their
part in the coming electoral struggle. Speaking to a meeting of women
in Dalkeith in 1879 he said:--
"Therefore, I think in appealing to you ungrudgingly to open your
own feelings and bear your own part in a political crisis like this,
we are making no inappropriate demand, but are beseeching you to
fulfil the duties which belong to you, which so far from involving
any departure from your character as women, are associated with the
fulfilment of that character and the performance of those duties,
the neglect of which would in future years be a source of pain and
mortification, and the accomplishment of which would serve to gild
your future years with sweet remembrances and to warrant you in hoping
that each in your own place and sphere has raised your voice for
justice, and has striven to mitigate the sorrows and misfortunes of
mankind."
In less ornate language Mr. Asquith, in January 1910, thanked the
women of Fife for the aid they had given him and his cause during the
election, and said that "their healthy influence on the masculine
members of the community had had not a little to do with keeping things
in a satisfactory condition."
The organised political work of women has grown since 1884, and has
become so valuable that none of the parties can afford to do without
it or to alienate it. Short of the vote itself this is one of the most
important political weapons which can possibly have been put into our
hands. At the outset, while the women's political societies were still
young, and were hardly conscious of their power, the women's suffrage
movement benefited greatly by their existence. If the Women's Liberal
Federation had existed in 1884, the 104 Liberals who voted against Mr.
Woodall's amendment would have probably decided that honesty was the
best policy. In 1892 Sir Albert Rollit introduced a Women's Suffrage
Bill, as nearly as possible on the lines of the Conciliation Bill of
1910-11. Before the second reading great efforts were made by the
Liberal party machine to secure a crushing defeat for this Bill on its
second reading: a confidential circular was sent out to all Liberal
candidates in the Home Counties advising them not to allow Liberal
women to speak on their platforms lest they should advocate "female
suffrage." In addition to this, Mr. Gladstone was induced to write a
letter addressed to Mr. Samuel Smith, M.P., against the Bill, in which
he departed from his previous view that the political work done by
women would be quite consistent with womanly character and duties, and
would "gild their future years with sweet remembrances." He now said
that voting would, he feared, "trespass upon their delicacy, their
purity, their refinement, the elevation of their whole nature."
In addition to all this a whip was sent out signed by twenty members
of Parliament, ten from each side of the House, earnestly beseeching
members to be in their places when Sir Albert Rollit's Bill came on
and to vote against the second reading. But when the division came,
notwithstanding all the unusual efforts that had been made, it was only
defeated by 23. A general election was known to be not very far off,
and members who were expecting zealous and efficient support from women
in their constituencies did not care to alienate it by denying to women
the smallest and most elementary of political privileges. In surprising
numbers (as compared with 1884) they stood to their guns, and though
they did not save the Bill, the balance against it was so small that
it was an earnest of future victory. This division in 1892 was the
last time a Women's Suffrage Bill was defeated on a straight issue in
the House of Commons. Mr. Faithfull Begg's Bill in 1897 was carried
on second reading by 228 votes to 157. After this date direct frontal
attacks on the principle of women's suffrage were avoided in the House
of Commons. The anti-suffragists in Parliament used every possible
trick and stratagem to prevent the subject being discussed and divided
on in the House. In this they were greatly helped by Mr. Labouchere, to
whom it was a congenial task to shelve the women's suffrage question.
On one occasion he and his little group of supporters talked for hours
about a Bill dealing with "verminous persons," because it stood before
a Suffrage Bill, and he thus succeeded in preventing our Bill from
coming before the House.