Conciliation Bill + HoC march on Nov. 18 (jan 1, 1910 – dec 31, 1912)
Description:
With the public’s support of the suffragettes, and the subsequent pressure on Parliament, the government had to responding some way, though they’d been trying to ignore the issue “as long as possible. In 1910 the Conciliation Bill was drafted in Parliament, its intent to ‘embody a degree of women's enfranchisement that would be acceptable to the greatest number of MPs of all parties.’" The bill would grant the vote to women based on how much property they owned and their marital status. The WSPU thought that they would finally get some justice, and called a truce on their (still mild) militant tactics for nine months so that Parliament would have no reason to stop its passage.Then MP Asquith made a speech saying that he intended to “shelve” the bill. Angered, Emmeline Pankhurst led 300 women to the House of Commons on November 18, 1910, in protest. It was here that some people saw their first instance of police brutality. Sylvia Pankhurst reported: "’I saw Ada Wright knocked down a dozen times in succession. A tall man with a silk hat fought to protect her as she lay on the ground, but a group of policemen thrust him away, seized her again, hurled her into the crowd and felled her again as she turned. Later I saw her lying against the wall of the House of Lords, with a group of anxious women kneeling round her. Two girls with linked arms were being dragged about by two uniformed policemen. One of a group of officers in plain clothes ran up and kicked one of the girls, whilst the others laughed and jeered at her." The WSPU resumed their tactics and Parliament still dawdled; thus public support grew.
“Thanks to the press, soon the whole country knew of the horrors that were being inflicted on the suffragettes in London, where the effort was centralized, and ‘public opinion was undoubtedly beginning to assert itself on the side of the women.’ Suffrage had become a national issue, and support grew even more between 1910 and 1912. More than 150 local councils passed resolutions supporting the enfranchisement of women, and sent them to London.”
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