SUFFRAGETTE WAR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1722, 12 April 1913, Page 7

SUFFRAGETTE WAR.

♦ ■ MEN ASKED TO JOIN. APPEAL BY MR G, LANSBURY, By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Roc. April 11; 9.55 p.m.) London, April 11. . Mr. George Lansbury, the well-known Socialist and ex-member of the House of Commons, at a suffragette demonstration at the Albert- Hall, urged all men supporting the militant suffragettes to burn and destroy property. They were engaged in a war in whicli they qhould not regard property of any! kind. The secretary announced that tho selldenial week had resulted in the raising of .£15,000, and that a telegram liad been sent to Mr. Asquith and Mr. M'Kenna that tho collection of tlie sum was an answer to Mr. M'Kenna's cat-and-mouse Bill. Annie Bell, remanded on a charge of obstruction at Holloway Prison, declared that she intended to use a revolver if men interfered* with her. BOMBS IN BAIL WAY TRAINS. 1 London, April 10. A canister containing live cartridges exploded, and set fire to a third-class compartment of a passenger train at King-ston-on-Tiiames. A bomb, witli a burning fuse attached, was discovered in a third-class compartment of a train at Battersea. It was inscribed "Votes for Women." MR. LANSBURY EXCITED. EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN PARLIAMENT. Mr. Laisbury was tho principal actor in a scene' of an extraordinary character, and without a parallel of its kind iu modem times, whioh occurred iu the House of .Commons in June of last yeai\ • Questions' in 'relation, to' tho Suffragists' hunger strike in prison were being asked, and » suggestion was made to Mr. Asquith that ho should at onc-o order the release of the women who aro to be liberated in tho ordinary .course on Saturday. To t'his the Premier replied'. that he could not interfere with his 'colleague, tho Homo Secretary, and that the prisoners could securo their freedom on the spot by undertaking not to commit tho offence in future. . Before tho Prime Minister had quite completed his sentence Mr. George Lansbury sprang to his feet and shouted angrily, "you know they cannot do it. It is ridiculous to-ask them for an undertaking." . 'Erom all parts of tho House cries of "Order, orde?!" wore at once rami, but Mr. Lansbury, now more excited, could bo heard pitching his voice above tlio tumult and asking repeatedly, "Why didn't you ask Mr. O'Brien to give f.n undertaking? Why didn't the . Liberal party ask him to give an undertaking when ho was in prison?" Mr. Asquith, at the beginning of the disorder, remained standing, but as Mr. Lansbury showed no intention of giving way before tho 6teady roar for "Order," ho resumed his seat. Mr. Lansbury up to this point had stood in, front of his usual seat at tho lower end of the front bench below tho gangway, but suddenly he camo forward to within a yard of tho Treasury Bench, and, shaking a trombling finger towards Mr. Asquith, screamed out: "Why, you are beneath contenpt. You call yourself a gentleman, and you forcibly feed and murder women in this fashion. You ought to bo driven out of public life." Shouting in the Premier's Face, . So soon as Mr. Lansbury advanced up the floor of the House tho Speaker rose, and as ho was noticed members who had been continually calling order one by ono ceased to shout, until there could bo heard tho cold, clear tones of Mr. Lowther himself repotting at intervals "Order, order." But Mr. Lausbury either did not hear tho Speaker or would not hear him. Almost choking with emotion and passion, tho member for Bow and Bromley continued 'to shout in tho face of tho Premier: "It is tho most disgraceful thing that has happened in England You are going down to history as tho man who tortured innocent women. The Government have tortured women. It is disgraceful, disgusting, contemptible. You are murdering these poor women. You cannot tell them that they have tlio opportunity cf walking out of prison. You know they can't <to it." At this point a few Ministerialists, when Mr. Lansbury just seemed likely to atlack Mr. Asquith, pressed forward, in their places, but, seeing the calm on tho Treasury Bench, they too remained passive. Premier Perfectly Still. Mr. Asquilih sat perfectly still, his arms crossed, and his eyes fixed upon some point above the rows of Unionists on the benches before him. Only by his tightlyclosed lips could one eeo that ho know himself the object of Mr. Lausbiiry's sentences. No other Minister on tho bench moved in his seat, . All this timo tho Speaker stood motionless. Several times ho quietly said, "Order, order." Mr. Lansbury continued to speak, but at length went slowly back to his seat, burying his faco in his hajids. Ho at first doggedly declined to obey tho Speaker's ruling to withdraw from tho House, hurling epithets at tho Premier tlie while, intimately he consented to withdraw and rubied from the House. Tho suspension lasted only for tho sitting, which ended at 7.10.