SUFFRAGIST RIOTS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1329, 5 January 1912, Page 6

SUFFRAGIST RIOTS.

UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON ST. STEPHENS. . OVER 200 AH RESTS. Owing to the alleged unsatisfactory answers which the Primo Minister gave to ii deputation of women, the militant suftragettes on November i:J. carried out their threat to attempt to invade the Jluiiso of Commons, and as » result of llio ewiips of rowdyism some 220 of them found themselves in the hands of the police. lirctit excitement prevailed inside and ouUiclo Caxlou Hall when the ladies who are demanding do sutl'rngo foregathered to select a. deputation to proceed to the Mouse o)' Commons to see the Primo Minister. The building itself, was crowded long before the time fixed for the meeting. A resolution was carried with acclamation, condemning the Government tor (heir .Manhood Suffrage Bill. J. no deputation emerged from Caxton IJall in orderly formation, led by Mrs. Pelnick Lawrence and Mrs. Solomon. It numbered between forty and fifty, and proceeded in lines of two's and threes. The processional formation was not kept for many yards. The street was thronged Willi an encrmous crowd, through which tho police in hundreds moved in irregular lines. By the time tho deputation reached, the corner turning on to Victoria Street it was quite broken up, tho militants being distinguishable from the conglomerate crowd only by their clinging to each other in groups of threes and fours. .. . .

In Victoria Street the first of the arrests woro made. Vehicular traffic on this occasion was not suspended over tho battle ground, and from a bus top ono had an eftechvo view of the warlare. Firjhts with the PoMce. By ten minutes past eight a score of women had been led oil' by tho police, and in all of those ca«s the arrested parties walked peaceably to tho jeering comments ot amused onlookers. Within a few minutes of eight the advance guard of tho women appeared. They had been compelled by the policq to abandon altogether any attempt to maintain processional formation, and coming iu ones and twos upon the solid cordons, found the possibility of breaking through utterly out of the question. They wero impeded, too, by the crowds which formed round them. So remote was any hope of reaching tho llouse that the women appeared to make their objective tho endeavour to secure arrest.

A series of struggles, in which police and women were involved, resulted in further arrests, ona young lady attirod in a black velvet coat making herself conspicuous by her vigorous resistance to tho police officers.

Just after 8.15 Mrs. Pethick Lawrence and a friend wore brought across tho square in the custody of three officers. A party of half-a-dozen women mnmiged to make their way to tho main entrance of the Houses of Parliament, where thov demanded to be admitted. Their requos't was, ot course, refused, and upon the women endeavouring to enforce their claims for admittance by pushing through "•e; police lines, a sharp struggle ensued. J. ho police themselves good-humouredly pushed the women back, but the presence of a hooligan clement in the crowd increased the turbulence of tho encounter and soon there was a large disorderly crowd engaged in pushing one another about and rendering the work of the police a difficult one. A squad of mounted police came upon the scene, and reinforcements oi loot police were brought up from Old falaco lard. Soon they succeeded in quelling tho disturbance, and were able to resume their original positions. In the meantime other demonstrators had appeared at various points of the square and they were quickly on unfriendly terms with the police. Several arrests wore made, and the women, as they were taken charge of by two or three "officers and escorted to Cannon Row Police Station were followed by hooting and disorderly crowds. Various desultory encounters continued to take place in tho square, and a good deal of horse play was indulged in by tho rioting characters amongst tho crowd.

Window Smashing. \v?Tt il'f? o 'f?? k •™ r ? s of windows in W hitohnll and tho vicinity within the proverbial stones-throw had been shattered. H,., Wa ?i h < -'.°V ernm e»t' offices alone that the suffragist paid attention. A number of floor windows at the National Liberal Club wero smashed The popular method adopted was to tie a stone m a handkerchief attached to a piece ot tape or string, and swinging tho missile to give more impetus to the throw. The mV -7 i p ? tc " g ass windows of shops in \\ hitohnll and Victoria Street suffered in the iusilace which went on during the evening A broken window caused an arrest, and that evidently was the desideratum ot each of tho women. The operations of the suffragists in the direction of window-smashing extended to the btraud, even so far as Somerset Hou'c to the windows of which slight damage was done. In practically every case the women went about singly or in two's Several shops adjacent to tho Hotel Cecil wore attacked. The Charing Cross Po Office, on the other side of tho Strand, £ s 1° , attacke( l. A second attack was attempted on the Post Office about nine o clock by two women, who wero immediately arrested and taken.to Bow Street Police Station, to which already nearly thirty had been conveyed. J

Mr. John Burns Hooted. About toil o'clock Mr. John Burns win st going to the House from tho direction of Whitehall, was discovered bv a mounted police constable in tho centre ol a surging crowd. Two mounted policemen at once rode up to him, and the right hon. gentleman was escorted across the roadway. Hero he was recognised by tho crowd, which hooted and .leered at him, this hostile demonstration being accompanied by some cheering The arrest of one of tho most notable A?,'iV es , m ™ e suffrage' movement—Miss Billinghurst-crcated more than usual interest. Miss Billinghurst, who is a cripple, uses a hand-propeljed evele bho was arrested about ten o'clock, and, still seated on her quaint cycle, was carried through the thick crowd iu Whitehall and Bridge Street by half a dozen stalwart policemoa. Immediately after the ' stone-throwing incidents in the Strand the authorities collected a detachment of police from various divisions, and stationed a constable outside every business establishment along the Strand on each side of the thoroughfare. They remained on duty until'a lato hour, but matters quietened down about 10 o'clock. The Arrests. The official figures of tho arrests effected up to 11.40 were the following-— Cannow Row jg^, ' Bow Street " 31 Rochester Kow „,[ < Vino Street " oBridewell \\\ j> Total 223~ After tho House of Commons had risen, the prisoners were released on bail, lit-. Pethick Lawrence and other representatives of tho cause becoming sureties. Many of tin; 223 women arrested during the demonstration appeared at Bow Mrccl Police Court the next, day. Tho Court was crowded with well-known sympathisers wit It the women's agitation, and hundreds were unable to gain <idniitlaucp. . Mr. M.ufkett appeared for tho prosecution, and the defending counsel was Mi-. I- , . T. H. Heule. The first, thirty-six eases appeared tu bo of malicious damage in breaking windows, in or near the, Strand. In somo cases the amount of damage was over Jill), and such cases could not lie dealt with at the Court. Fines of from IDs. to .£2 were, inflicted for window-breaking, and prisoners were ordered to pay the damage. In cases where the dainago was over Jilfl, the defendants were committed for trial at the London Sessions, bail being allowed.

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