THE SUFFRAGISTS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 126, 20 February 1908, Page 6

THE SUFFRAGISTS.

It is impossible not' to admire the devotion and zeal of the. ladies' who, in England, and, as Ave learn to-day, in America also, are agitating for the extension of tlie parliamentary franchise to -n-oiuen. . The .English suffragists have caused such a prolonged /uproar'in Great Britain, however, and have so violently disturbed the peace of politicians'and the public, that they are no longer subjects for sympathetic pity. They have achieved the point of notoriety at .which' real enjoyment begins. It is difficult to realise that there ever, was a time when Miss Kenney and' Miss 'Pankhurst were novices, in martrydom, shrinking from abuse and insult, and smarting from the contact of their-tender womanhood with the sharp edges of a cold and massive prejudice. The New York cable message published in another column will remind the public that the. English women have suffered much, however hugely they may , be. enjoying their campaign now. " Twenty-three suffragists," .'we are told, "paraded New York amid the jeers of the spectators.'' . A year hence, perhaps, they may be fighting the messengers on the floor of Congress, and enjoying to the full the process of badgering the new President and checkmating all his efforts to escape.

It is certain that the English agitators will ultimately succeed. This, at any rate, is the opinion of Mr. Haldane, expressed in a-, speech-, in Glasgow on January 9 last. The great argument against.the suffrage,.,he said, namely, the great gulf fixed by society, by laws, by liature, and in every other way between man and woman," was losing its strength as' the gulf closed up. " We were advancing year by year to a state of things in which it would be impossible to withhold the suffrage from women, and his opinion was that the time was ; coming close when that would be recognised." 'The position taken up by the Government is that the. innovation, is so important that it must be demanded by the voice of the nation before being introduced. In the meantime, according to Mr. Ilrtldane, Parliament, henpecked, at every turn, is in a temper of -sullen, resistance. He urged the women to, change their methods. They might wage'war; but " do not do it with bodkins; you will only irritate people and provoke them." It is' questionable whether Mr. Haldane would have so easily recognised the inevitableness of female suffrage if. the, bodkin, policy had not been adopted' The movement is an, interesting study, in agitation. The vast majority of women, prior to the uproarious campaign, certainly did not desire votes. The agitation 1 has probably excited the indifferent into feeling that they are the victims of .iuiuatice. Bx sneer noise and unraar

the agitators have' created a public opinion. One would have had it otherwise, as one would like to believe, or to pretend, that public opinion in Anglo-Saxon countries grows in serene unconsciousness of artificial clamour. At the same time it is impossible not to admire the undaunted energy of the leaders of the movement. The granting' of the suffrage will do no injury to the British nation. But the agitation has supplied a mass of argument against the further step of admitting ■Woman to Parliament. -