MRS PANKHURST

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14829, 21 November 1913, Page 3

MRS PANKHURST

LECTURING IN* AMERICA

HOW SHE GAINED ADMITTANCE, j (riOU OCR OWN CORRierO.NtIE.VT.) ; .SAN FUANCI.SCO, October I'O. j Did Mrs Kinnielino l'ankhurst sue- j coed in playing ou the Americans thoir j own national game oi Mutt's* The qiuvs- 1 lion is suggested by the very surMen right-übolu-i aco executed Uy IHited ! Suites officialdom relative to tho admis- j sion of the English iniJituiit suftragist t leader into this country inimeitiately j upon her threat to initiate a hunger | strike it she should be deported. Upon ( her arrival the door was, in eff«"Ct, ■ slammed in her face. Sh<> was detained \ as ;v prisoner in the immigration station ! on Kllis Island, and a special board of I enquiry, alter lindint; that sht- was an j undesirable because ot conviction in her own country of nets involving •'moral turpitude.," ordered heir doport-ed. This all happened on October -Oth, the day j she landed. The next day came the threat of a hunger strike, conveyed in the form of a statement that il she ! were deported sho never would reach j Europe alive. Then Piesident Wilson i took a hand in tho matter, and all objections to Mrs Pankhtirpi on- ' tering tho United States or lecturing j was withdrawn. i

Loug before the militant leader entered this country tho problem of her treatment must have been considered by the authorities. It is undoubtedly true that tho original intention was to refuse her admittance and adhere to that. The hasty and inadequate

"trial" hold by The enquiry luianl on Kllis Island s<>onio(l to iinlivj»to that that body was merely taking certain perfunctory .stops leading to a torfordained conclusion. Hut when Mrs Pankhurst said, 'I will so to any e\trenie to secure entrance to the United States'' and threatened that her death would be on the heads-of those refusing her admission, then official opinion underwent a mighty change overnight. It must Ik* said, too, that so iar as popular opinion had an opportunity to oxpmss iteolf, it was well-nigh unanimous in favour -of allowing Mrs Pankhurst to enter the United States. Not only woman suffrage organisations, but ihf» people generally took this attitude, and tho newspapers were in unison in criticising the action of the board which ordered her deported. The prevailing view was thafc the offence of which she. •was convicted in England was a political crime, and not one involvingnior.il turpitude; and the United Stales prides itself upon ncvor refusing a haven to political offenders. As to the conditions upon which thtmilitant, suffragist wax permitted to enter the United States, they are not such as will allow her to remain indefinitely, however. »Sho is allowed in "on her own recognisance," 'with the. understanding that she should depart as soon as sho has fnlfilletl her lecture engagements. An assurance has been given that she will preach no violence or anarchy whilo in the United States, and that "her object is merely to explain th« peculiar situation in England. Should she infringe any of the laws of this conntry she is liable to .summary deoortation.

it has frequently been stated that tho British Government desired this country to refuse Mrs Paiikhurst admission. This is directly donitxl .it, Washington. The Commissionor of Immigration in a public statement asserts that £here is nothing in tho roeord lioforo him to indicate thafc th'o British Government desires Mrs P.inithnrst returned to England, and that, as a matter of fact, tlie English authorities havo shown marked lonionoy try wards her by apparently making 110 endeavour to compel her to serve tho re~ Tnswmler of her throe-year sentence. "Shall this country," the official asks, "deny even temporary asylum, -when by so doinp: less consideration would be show-n Mrs Panlrinirst than England has displayed?"