Suffragette by Carol Drinkwater

Author:Carol Drinkwater [Drinkwater, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781407156866
Publisher: Scholastic UK

24th September 1909

I attended a meeting at the WSPU offices this evening. It is the first I have been to since school began. Usually I arrive early and make tea. We always serve cakes on these occasions, but as a mark of respect tonight we drank water. The place was packed. Women had come long distances to be with us. Christabel Pankhurst was chairing the evening. There was real concern about the welfare of the imprisoned women.

The meeting began with the reading of a letter written by our treasurer, Mrs Emmeline Pethwick-Lawrence, and published in today’s edition of Votes for Women. Naturally, it denounces the force-feeding of women. It received applause and cheers. Questions followed. These were answered by Christabel, who assured us that her mother has a plan. She stated that, as leaders of the WSPU, she and her mother and Mrs Pethwick-Lawrence are officially supporting the acts of the prisoners, including the stone-throwing, and that they intend to make a public statement tomorrow.

During the break, the point at which we usually serve tea, I heard one or two members suggesting that Emmeline and Christabel had no choice but to stand behind the stone-throwers, even though the Birmingham women acted on their own initiative. I have no idea whether this is true or not.

Afterwards, another letter was read aloud to us, a truly shocking one. It had been written to Marion Wallace Dunlop by a force-fed prisoner and described her ordeal. When Marion had finished, the room was silent. Another lady, who announced herself as a doctor, rose to inform us that the inserted tubes used for force-feeding are frequently unsterilized and infection is possible.

I walked to the bus with Harriet Kerr, but we didn’t talk much. I think we both felt sickened.

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