English Militancy and the Canadian Suffrage Movement
Deborah G or ham
Many people who know very l i t t l e about
n i n e t e e n t h and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y
E n g l i s h feminism w i l l have heard o f
Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters
C h r i s t a b e l and S y l v i a , who l e d t h e
English militant feminist organization,
the Women's S o c i a l and P o l i t i c a l Union.
The techniques used by the s u f f r a g e t t e s
in t h e p e r i o d 1905~ 191 ^* captured a t t e n t i o n a t the t i m e , and although general
h i s t o r i c a l treatment o f changes i n
women's s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l and economic
p o s i t i o n has been p e r f u n c t o r y , the
Pankhursts a t l e a s t have found a p l a c e
in general treatments o f the p e r i o d
even though they may be regarded as
e c c e n t r i c p e r s o n a l i t i e s r a t h e r than as
l e a d e r s o f a genuine p o l i t i c a l movement.
In c o n t r a s t o n l y those i n t e r e s t e d i n
the h i s t o r y o f feminism know t h e names
o f the major n o n - m i l i t a n t p a r t i c i p a n t s
in t h e E n g l i s h s u f f r a g e movement. The
p o p u l a r memory r e f l e c t s the p o s i t i o n
the Pankhursts h e l d a t the time. I t
was the s u f f r a g e t t e s and not the cons t i t u t i o n a l i s t s who mounted v i s i b l e
a c t i v i t y i n t h e form o f mass demonstrat i o n s ; i t was the s u f f r a g e t t e s who made
h e a d l i n e s ; i t was the s u f f r a g e t t e
l e a d e r s who s u c c e s s f u l l y c r e a t e d p u b l i c
p e r s o n a l i t i e s f o r themselves.
The Women's S o c i a l and P o l i t i c a l Union
and i t s l e a d e r s r e c e i v e d world-wide
p u b l i c i t y . Mrs. Pankhurst h e r s e l f , her
daughters and o t h e r members o f the m i l i t a n t movement t r a v e l l e d abroad and
thus had d i r e c t p e r s o n a l c o n t a c t w i t h
women's groups and t h e general p u b l i c
in o t h e r c o u n t r i e s . Even when they
were not themselves t r a v e l l i n g , t h e i r
a c t i v i t i e s r e c e i v e d widespread coverage
in the p r e s s .
I t i s t r u e t h a t much o f
t h i s p u b l i c i t y was h o s t i l e and o f t e n
d i s t o r t e d , but n o n e t h e l e s s i t kept not
o n l y s u f f r a g e , but a l s o wider i s s u e s
i n v o l v e d i n the women's movement i n the
f o r e f r o n t of p u b l i c consciousness.
In
the case o f Canada, f o r i n s t a n c e , the
a c t i v i t i e s o f the E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s were
o f t e n t h e main o r even the o n l y source
of news about the equal r i g h t s i s s u e .
T h i s aspect o f t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s has r e c e i v e d l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n from h i s t o r i a n s ,
who have concerned themselves w i t h t h e
WSPU. Indeed most a n a l y s e s of t h e
women's movement have been l i m i t e d t o
n a t i o n a l h i s t o r y and l i t t l e has been
made o f the f a c t t h a t many p a r t i c i p a n t s
thought o f themselves as p a r t o f an i n t e r n a t i o n a l movement. I t would be usef u l t o know about the s o r t o f a c t i v i s t s
who thought o f themselves i n t h i s way.
Did they espouse i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s m p r i m a r i l y as a way o f s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e i r
i n t e r n a ] s t r a t e g i e s o r were t h e i r ideas
molded and developed by the f o r g i n g o f
international links?l
These q u e s t i o n s a r e o f p a r t i c u l a r r e l e vance when one examines the h i s t o r i o graphy o f the women's movement i n Canada. Whereas t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y o f the
movement i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s and B r i t ain i s r e l a t i v e l y w e l l d e v e l o p e d , i n
Canada o n l y the o u t l i n e s have been
sketched out. L o c a l i z e d and s p e c i f i c
i n f o r m a t i o n about a c t i v i t i e s i n Canada
i s very s c a n t y . Attempts t o f o r m u l a t e
conceptual a n a l y s e s have t h e r e f o r e
r e s t e d on u n c e r t a i n f o u n d a t i o n s and
most o f t h e formulae f o r a n a l y s i s have
been borrowed from the work o f American
and B r i t i s h h i s t o r i a n s . The use o f
f o r e i g n e x p l a n a t o r y models i s not misl e a d i n g i n i t s e l f , but they a r e b e s t
used when they h e l p t o i l l u m i n a t e a
c l e a r l y perceived pattern o f influence.
At p r e s e n t they a r e sometimes assumed
t o f i t by analogy.a s i t u a t i o n about
which not enough i s y e t known.2
Mrs. P a n k h u r s t ' s v i s i t s t o Canada and
the v i s i t s o f o t h e r members o f the WSPU
form a f o c a l p o i n t f o r an e x a m i n a t i o n
of a s p e c i f i c example o f i n t e r a c t i o n
between women a c t i v i s t s i n B r i t a i n and
Canada. From an e x a m i n a t i o n o f Cana d i a n r e a c t i o n t o these v i s i t s and o f
more g e n e r a l i z e d Canadian r e a c t i o n t o
the women's movement i n England, i t i s
hoped t h a t some u s e f u l g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s
about t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c r o s s c u r r e n t s
a f f e c t i n g Canadian women a c t i v i s t s w i l l
emerge, as w e l l as some new i n s i g h t s
i n t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f the E n g l i s h m i l i tants.
One major purpose o f the comparative
a n a l y s i s w i l l be t o examine the concept
of the "women's movement" i n t h e B r i t i s h
and Canadian c o n t e x t . A l t h o u g h women
a c t i v i s t s i n England, t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s
and a l s o i n Canada spoke o f themselves
as p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a "women's movement" many o f t h e i r c o n t e m p o r a r i e s
denied t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e i r percept i o n . Many h i s t o r i a n s have a l s o questioned t h i s b e l i e f .
Barbara Kanner, a
h i s t o r i a n s y m p a t h e t i c t o the causes
f o r which the women a c t i v i s t s f o u g h t ,
says t h a t the b e l i e f t h a t " t h e r e e x i s t ed i n England from t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y a steady coherent and c o n s i s t e n t continuum o f e v e n t s — c o m p r i s i n g a
'movement' by m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y - which e v e n t u a l l y ' l e d ' t o women's emanc i p a t i o n ' " i s "an assumption, s t i l l
l a r g e l y untested."3 Kanner i s w r i t i n g
o f the women a c t i v i s t s i n England,
where the a c t i v i t i e s o f the nonm i l i t a n t f e m i n i s t s had generated widespread d i s c u s s i o n o f the "woman quest i o n " b e f o r e 1905 and where, between
1905-1914, the m i l i t a n t s u f f r a g e t t e s
became u n q u e s t i o n a b l y an important
feature of English p o l i t i c a l l i f e .
If the e x i s t e n c e o f a women's movement
i n England i s q u e s t i o n a b l e , i t i s obv i o u s l y even more q u e s t i o n a b l e i n Canada. Canadian women were never i n v o l ved i n women's emancipation a c t i v i t i e s
t o a n y t h i n g l i k e a comparable degree:
whether measured by a b i l i t y t o demons t r a t e mass support o r a b i l i t y t o o r g a n i z e independent women's r i g h t s o r
newspapers, o r even a b i l i t y t o generate
o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s , the s u f f r a g e
movement i n B r i t a i n had developed f u r t h e r than i t d i d i n Canada b e f o r e the
Canadian a c t i v i s t s r e a l l y even got
s t a r t e d . Yet female s u f f r a g e was
a c h i e v e d i n t h e two c o u n t r i e s a t app r o x i m a t e l y the same time. Might t h i s
mean t h a t the whole "women's emancipat i o n movement" i n England, from the
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l phase t o the m i l i t a n t
campaign, was unnecessary and e x t r a n -
eous and t h a t t h e r e i s l i t t l e demons t r a b l e c o n n e c t i o n between t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f both s u f f r a g i s t s and s u f f r a g e t t e s and the g r a n t i n g o f the s u f f r a g e
i n 1918?
If women were g i v e n the voce
in Canada w i t h o u t any comparable a c t i v i t y , i t might be i n f e r r e d t h a t such
a c t i v i t y was not n e c e s s a r y .
On t h e
o t h e r hand, i t might mean t h a t Canadian
women a c t i v i s t s , a l t h o u g h they knew
t h a t t h e i r numbers were s m a l l , i d e n t i f i e d s t r o n g l y w i t h a c t i v i t i e s i n England and the U n i t e d S t a t e s (and a l s o
w i t h those i n A u s t r a l i a , New Zealand
and the S c a n d i n a v i a n c o u n t r i e s ) and
gathered s t r e n g t h from t h e successes
and s t r u g g l e s o f women elsewhere.
This
i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f the i n t e r a c t i o n between E n g l i s h m i l i t a n c y and Canadian
a c t i v i s m tends t o support the l a t t e r
interpretation.
Mrs. Pankhurst h e r s e l f v i s i t e d North
America and spoke about woman s u f f r a g e
on t h r e e o c c a s i o n s i n t h e p e r i o d b e f o r e
the o u t b r e a k o f World War I : i n 1909,
1911 and 1913.4
In a l l cases any Canadian engagements were a u x i l i a r y t o a
United States tour.
In 1909 she went
o n l y t o Toronto.
In 1911 she made a
much more e x t e n s i v e c r o s s - c o u n t r y t o u r .
I have not found r e c o r d s o f any Canadian v i s i t s d u r i n g the 1913 t o u r . In
a d d i t i o n t o Mrs. P a n k h u r s t , S y l v i a
Pankhurst a l s o v i s i t e d Canada. In t h e
l a s t months o f 1912, B a r b a r a W y l i e , a
member o f the WSPU whose b r o t h e r s a t i n
the Saskatchewan l e g i s l a t u r e , made an
e x t e n s i v e t o u r o f Canada i n what was
i n i t i a l l y planned as an attempt t o
Courtesy
C e n t r a l Press Photos L i m i t e d
e s t a b l i s h a branch o f the WSPU i n Canada.5 In a d d i t i o n t o t h e s e members o f
the WSPU s e v e r a l o t h e r E n g l i s h f e m i n i s t s came t o Canada d u r i n g the y e a r s
1909-1912, i n c l u d i n g E t h e l Snowdon, a
Labour P a r t y a c t i v i s t and the w i f e o f
Labour MP, P h i l i p Snowdon.6
B e f o r e b e g i n n i n g t o d i s c u s s the impact
o f t h e ideas and a c t i v i t i e s o f the m i l i t a n t s u f f r a g e t t e s on the Canadian
scene, i t w i l l be n e c e s s a r y t o b r i e f l y
review the o r i g i n s o f the WSPU and exp l a i n i t s p l a c e i n the development o f
E n g l i s h feminism. The m i l i t a n t s u f f r a g e movement emerged i n England a f t e r
1903 but n o n - m i l i t a n t a c t i v i t i e s f o r
women's e m a n c i p a t i o n began a h a l f cent u r y b e f o r e t h a t o r e a r l i e r and the
s u f f r a g e movement i t s e l f has a c o n t i n uous h i s t o r y d a t i n g from 1866.7
In the
l a s t decades o f the c e n t u r y the "Woman
Q u e s t i o n " became almost as p o p u l a r a
s u b j e c t as i t i s today, one hundred
y e a r s l a t e r . The v o t e was never t h e
o n l y i s s u e t h a t concerned women's
r i g h t s a d v o c a t e s . No one r e a l l y ever
thought t h a t the v o t e by i t s e l f was
more than a means t o a v a r i e t y o f ends
but i n the c l i m a t e o f l i b e r a l i n d i v i d u a l i s m out o f which the E n g l i s h f e m i n i s t movement a r o s e , p o l i t i c a l r i g h t s
became a symbol o f women's r e c o g n i t i o n
as f u l l members o f s o c i e t y . The c h i e f
s e t o f arguments used i n support o f t h e
s u f f r a g e were an outgrowth o f l i b e r a l
i n d i v i d u a l i s t i d e o l o g y : women, i t was
argued, were r a t i o n a l human b e i n g s , and
as r a t i o n a l human beings they had a
r i g h t t o r e c o g n i t i o n as s e p a r a t e i n -
d i v i d u a l s and a r i g h t t o a v o i c e i n
soci ety.
There was a paradox i n v o l v e d i n the
woman s u f f r a g e arguments. Male groups
f i g h t i n g f o r the s u f f r a g e (middle-class
and w o r k i n g - c l a s s groups) a l s o used
l i b e r a l i n d i v i d u a l i s t arguments. But
i t was c l e a r t h a t these groups wanted
the vote f o r c o n c r e t e ends--and i t was
assumed t h a t they would v o t e as a b l o c ,
at l e a s t about those i s s u e s where t h e i r
mutual i n t e r e s t s were a t s t a k e . Women
s u f f r a g i s t s , however, wanted the vote
l e s s because they b e l i e v e d that women
would v o t e as a b l o c than because they
saw i t as a symbol o f women's humanity.
The a n t i - s u f f r a g i s t s opposed woman s u f f r a g e not so much because they were
a f r a i d o f the woman's v o t e as because
they t o o saw votes f o r women as a symbol . In t h e i r case i t was a n e g a t i v e
symbol, s i g n i f y i n g the d e s t r u c t i o n
o f f a m i l y l i f e and u l t i m a t e l y o f the
s o c i a l order.
T h i s d e n i a l o f t h e i r humanity was f o r
many f e m i n i s t s the b i n d i n g f o r c e t h a t
would h o l d women t o g e t h e r .
However,
the p r e s s u r e s o f s o c i a l and economic
c l a s s tended t o e r a s e whatever c o h e s i v e ness women as a whole might have f e l t ,
and i t has o f t e n been p o i n t e d out t h a t ,
a l t h o u g h an i n t e l l e c t u a l framework v/as
d e v i s e d which was meant t o i n c l u d e a l l
women, the s u f f r a g e movement was almost
e x c l u s i v e l y a movement o f m i d d l e - c l a s s
l a d i e s who never f u l l y understood the
problems o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s women. The
problem o f c l a s s c l e a v a g e undoubtedly
must be taken i n t o account i n any i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the women's movement a
and i n the case of B r i t a i n i t has f u n c t i o n e d as a primary a n a l y t i c a l t o o l f o r
e x p l a i n i n g the " f a i l u r e " of the movement.8 It c e r t a i n l y can be shown t h a t
many E n g l i s h f e m i n i s t s s u f f e r e d from
the same c l a s s - c o n s c i o u s n e s s as t h e i r
bourgeois
husbands, f a t h e r s and
b r o t h e r s , and t h a t they were p r i m a r i l y
concerned w i t h e d u c a t i o n a l , p r o f e s s i o n a l , p r o p e r t y and p o l i t i c a l r i g h t s f o r
themselves r a t h e r than f o r a l l women.
But i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t r e c e n t l y the
h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of B r i t i s h feminism has
been d e v e l o p i n g an a l t e r n a t i v e approach,
one which emphasizes t h a t t h e r e may have
been more c o h e s i v e and even continuous
a c t i v i t y among w o r k i n g - c l a s s women i n
the n i n e t e e n t h and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h cent u r i e s than we have h i t h e r t o b e l i e v e d . 9
For i n s t a n c e , the WSPU's w o r k i n g - c l a s s
c o n n e c t i o n s have been re-emphasized r e c e n t l y i n an account by S h e i l a Rowbotham 10 which c o n t r a s t s w i t h most accounts which t r e a t the few well-known
w o r k i n g - c l a s s women i n the movement as
an example of tokenism.
The a c h i e v e ment of w o r k i n g - c l a s s women has been
o v e r l o o k e d because i t was, of c o u r s e ,
the m i d d l e - c l a s s women who wrote most o f
the memoirs and most o f the e a r l y a c c o u n t s , and they d i d tend to be i g n o r a n t
in many cases about w o r k i n g - c l a s s a c t i v i t i e s and problems. That such a c t i v i t y
s h o u l d have been present among
n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y w o r k i n g - c l a s s Englishwomen i s not s u r p r i s i n g .
It would
f i t w e l l w i t h what we know about male
p r o l e t a r i a n E n g l i s h r a d i c a l ism which
d e f i n i t e l y d i d see i n p o l i t i c a l enf r a n c h i s e m e n t a f i r s t remedy f o r exploi tat ion.
Up t o the t u r n of the c e n t u r y the
middle-class suffrage societies limited
themselves t o methods a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
male m i d d l e - c l a s s r a d i c a l i s m , and they
developed these methods w i t h energy,
i n t e l l i g e n c e and p e r s i s t e n c e . But as
the y e a r s went by i t became e v i d e n t
t h a t d i l i g e n c e and reason would not be
rewarded by s u c c e s s . A f t e r the f a i l u r e
of women s u f f r a g e amendments t o the r e form b i l l of 1884, the s i t u a t i o n became
i n c r e a s i n g l y d i s h e a r t e n i n g . The problem was t h a t n e i t h e r the C o n s e r v a t i v e s
nor the L i b e r a l s would make women s u f f r a g e a p a r t y i s s u e , and w i t h o u t support
from the p a r t y i n power, the s u f f r a g e
was doomed t o f a i l u r e . 1 1
P a r t l y because o f the c l a s s c l e a v a g e
d i s c u s s e d above, the emergence of the
Labour P a r t y i n the f i r s t decade of t h i s
c e n t u r y d i d not g i v e women's s u f f r a g e a
f i r m a l l y e i t h e r . Although i t was o f f i c i a l l y s y m p a t h e t i c , Labour's support
was f o r f u l l , u n i v e r s a l s u f f r a g e . Because the women's s u f f r a g e s o c i e t i e s
were concerned to e n f o r c e the p r i n c i p l e
t h a t women ought not t o be d e p r i v e d of
the vote s i m p l y because o f sex, they i n s i s t e d t h a t women should r e c e i v e the
vote "on the same terms as i t i s now, o r
may i n f u t u r e be, granted t o men."12
Such a measure would have e n f r a n c h i s e d
a v e r y l i m i t e d number of p r o p e r t i e d
women, i t i s t r u e , but the m a j o r i t y o f
women's s u f f r a g e advocates supported
t h i s l i m i t e d enfranchisement i n s p i t e
o f , not because o f , i t s l i m i t a t i o n s .
A l t h o u g h they were accused o f advocat i n g " v o t e s f o r l a d i e s " i t must be r e membered t h a t t h e women's movement d i d
not c r e a t e the c l a s s d i v i s i o n i n Engl i s h s o c i e t y , nor were t h e women r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e a n t i - d e m o c r a t i c nature of parliamentary f e e l i n g .
A few Labour P a r t y members d i d see the
j u s t i c e o f the women's cause and opposed s e x - d i s c r i m i n a t i o n as an i s s u e
s e p a r a t e from c l a s s d i s c r i m i n a t i o n .
However, many o f t h e s o c i a l i s t and
t r a d e union men o f t h e p e r i o d c o u l d not
o r would not take t h i s view o f t h e matter.
In many cases t h i s had l e s s t o do
w i t h a defence o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s i n t e r e s t s than w i t h t h e i r own male c h a u v i n ism. 1 3
The m o t i v a t i n g purpose behind t h e f o r mation o f the WSPU was a sense o f d i s enchantment both w i t h t h e t r a d i t i o n a l ,
l a r g e l y 1ibera1-dominated s u f f r a g e s o c i e t i e s and w i t h t h e Independent Labour
P a r t y ' s a t t i t u d e towards women's r i g h t s .
The WSPU came i n t o b e i n g q u i e t l y i n
Manchester i n 1903.14 The nucleus o f
i t s o r g a n i z a t i o n was a group o f ILP
women, l e d by Mrs. Emmeline P a n k h u r s t ,
the widow o f R i c h a r d Pankhurst (a r a d i c a l b a r r i s t e r who had drawn up the
f i r s t s u f f r a g e b i l l i n 1870).
Pankh u r s t was one o f t h e Manchester s o c i a l i s t s who j o i n e d t h e ILP o u t o f i n t e l l e c t u a l c o n v i c t i o n s r a t h e r than w o r k i n g class origins.
Both R i c h a r d and Emmel i n e Pankhurst had been l o n g - t i m e a d -
vocates o f women's r i g h t s .
During i t s e a r l y years ( 1 9 0 3 - 1 9 0 6 ) , t h e
WSPU was Manchester-based and drew i t s
support from w o r k i n g - c l a s s women,
c h i e f l y women t e x t i l e workers.15 A f t e r
1906, the headquarters were moved t o
London and i t q u i c k l y grew i n e f f i c i e n c y and membership.
I t a l s o gradua l l y began t o draw support from upperm i d d l e - c l a s s and even a r i s t o c r a t i c
women, and o v e r a number o f y e a r s
C h r i s t a b e l and Emmeline Pankhurst began
t o r e l y more on the support o f these
i n f l u e n t i a l u p p e r - c l a s s women than on
w o r k i n g - c l a s s s u p p o r t . T h i s was not
t r u e , however, o f S y l v i a P a n k h u r s t , nor
i s i t t r u e that the Pankhursts and t h e
WSPU as a whole turned t h e i r backs on
w o r k i n g - c l a s s women.16
The d i s t i n g u i s h i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f
the WSPU, the f a c t o r which s e t i t a p a r t
from o t h e r s u f f r a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s , was
the t e c h n i q u e o f m i l i t a n c y .
I t i s the
m i l i t a n t a c t i v i t i e s t h a t have p r e o c c u p i e d h i s t o r i a n s . 1 7 What does m i l i t a n c y
mean when a p p l i e d t o women s u f f r a g i s t s ?
The answer i s c o n f u s i n g , and t h e conf u s i o n r e v e a l s much about t h e psychology
o f Edwardian a t t i t u d e s towards women and
about the e s s e n t i a l l y i r r a t i o n a l q u a l i t y
o f much o f the o p p o s i t i o n t o women's
suffrage.
In the p o p u l a r mind, m i l i tancy meant v i o l e n t and "unsexed" beh a v i o u r on t h e p a r t o f women. I t i s
t r u e t h a t i n 1913-1914 genuine a t t a c k s
a g a i n s t p r o p e r t y were c a r r i e d out but
at the b e g i n n i n g " m i l i t a n c y " meant asking a q u e s t i o n i n a p u b l i c meeting.
The s u f f r a g e t t e s themselves dated the
b e g i n n i n g o f the m i l i t a n t campaign from
October 13, 1905,18 the date o f a meett i n g a t Free Trade H a l l i n Manchester
where S i r Edward Grey was a d d r e s s i n g a
L i b e r a l a u d i e n c e . C h r i s t a b e l Pankhurst
and Annie Kenney attempted t o f o r c e
Grey t o s t a t e t h e L i b e r a l government's
p o s i t i o n on votes f o r women. When Grey
r e f u s e d t o answer, they p e r s i s t e d ; they
were then f o r c i b l y e j e c t e d from t h e
h a l l and a r r e s t e d when they attempted
to address the crowd o u t s i d e . They
were both charged w i t h o b s t r u c t i o n and
in a d d i t i o n C h r i s t a b e l was charged w i t h
a s s a u l t i n g a policeman. C h r i s t a b e l
Pankhurst's account o f t h i s " a s s a u l t "
is r e v e a l i n g . Outside the h a l l ,
strong-armed by p o l i c e , she was d e t e r mined t o get h e r s e l f and Annie Kenney
a r r e s t e d , but with' her arms h e l d back
by t h e p o l i c e she c o u l d not commit a
"technical assault" u n t i l i t occurred
to her t h a t she c o u l d s p i t a t them: " I t
was not a r e a l s p i t , but o n l y , s h a l l we
c a l l i t , a 'pout' a p e r f e c t l y d r y purse
of the mouth. I c o u l d not r e a l l y have
done i t , even t o get the v o t e , I
think."19
This f i r s t confrontation i s revealing
because i t e s t a b l i s h e d a p a t t e r n . The
i n c i d e n t was w i d e l y r e p o r t e d i n the
press b u t , on the whole, t h e p r e s s was
unsympathetic t o the women.20 Indeed
by a c u r i o u s p e r v e r s i o n o f f a c t , v i o lence done t o the women ( w i t n e s s e s
d e s c r i b e d the young women as having
been mauled by the L i b e r a l stewards who
e j e c t e d them from the h a l l ) becomes
v i o l e n c e done by_ them. And even t h e
" a s s a u l t " was s y m b o l i c : r e a l l y spi t t i n g i n the policeman's f a c e was somet h i n g t h a t C h r i s t a b e l P a n k h u r s t , as a
w e l l - b r e d young woman, c o u l d not contemplate d o i n g . She was i n h i b i t e d by
her own c o n d i t i o n i n g from p e r f o r m i n g a
genuine a s s a u l t .
The h i s t o r y o f s u f f r a g e t t e m i l i t a n c y
f o l l o w s t h i s p a t t e r n . From 1905 t o
1909, s u f f r a g e t t e " v i o l e n c e " was r e s t r i c t e d t o h e c k l i n g L i b e r a l speakers
(the WSPU's p o l i c y o f opposing the
L i b e r a l s regardless of t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l
views was based on t h e i r a c c u r a t e e s t i m a t i o n t h a t women's s u f f r a g e would
be s u c c e s s f u l o n l y when the p a r t y i n
power was f o r c e d t o make i t a g o v e r n ment sponsored measure) and s u c c e s s i v e
attempts t o send d e p u t a t i o n s t o the
House o f Commons. In t h e case o f t h e
l a t t e r s t r a t e g y , again i t i s c l e a r t h a t
the " v i o l e n c e " done by t h e women was
s y m b o l i c : t h e o n l y r e a l v i o l e n c e was
done t o them. Only a f t e r repeated numbers o f these i n c i d e n t s , i n which t h e
women were pushed about by crowds and
p o l i c e — a n d , i n one case a t l e a s t , sexu a l l y molested by t h e p o l i c e 2 1 — a n d
then sent t o p r i s o n on charges o f unl a w f u l assembly, d i d t h e women b e g i n t o
break windows as a form o f p r o t e s t .
One o f t h e " u n l a w f u l assembly" i n c i d e n t s
was t h e o c c a s i o n when Mrs. Pankhurst was
w i d e l y r e p o r t e d t o have " h i t " and " a s s a u l t e d " a policeman (a f e a t u r e d commentary i n one T o r o n t o newspaper says
t h a t she " c l u b b e d " h i m ) . 2 2 T h i s i n c i -
dent i s an i l l u s t r a t i o n o f the way i n
which t h e " v i o l e n c e " of the s u f f r a g e t t e s was g r o s s l y exaggerated by the
p r e s s . Mrs. Pankhurst was accompanied
on t h i s o c c a s i o n by two f r a i l o l d
women, one o f them 76 years o l d . She
s t r u c k the policeman i n o r d e r t o f o r c e
him t o a r r e s t the d e p u t a t i o n a t once so
t h a t h e r companions would be spared the
usual b u f f e t i n g about. L i k e C h r i s t a bel 's " a s s a u l t " i n 1905, the p h y s i c a l
" v i o l e n c e " was p u r e l y s y m b o l i c .
Indeed
the f i r s t time she s t r u c k the o f f i c e r
too l i g h t l y , and he t o l d her she would
have t o do i t a g a i n - - h a r d e r . 2 3
The f i r s t s t o n e - t h r o w i n g i n c i d e n t s o c c u r r e d i n June 1908.24 Two s m a l l w i n dows a t 10 Downing S t r e e t were broken by
two women a c t i n g on t h e i r own and not
"under o r d e r s " form t h e Union. Windowb r e a k i n g was then taken up as a t a c t i c
by the WSPU and was i n i t i a l l y used i n a
very c i r c u m s p e c t manner. The stone
throwers a t f i r s t wrapped t h e i r stones
in paper and even a t t a c h e d s t r i n g s t o
them so as t o a v o i d i n j u r y t o anyone.
As Constance Rover says: " I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o imagine anyone but a m i d d l e c l a s s Englishwoman r e s o r t i n g t o such a
procedure."25
I t was d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d
(1908-1909) t h a t hunger s t r i k i n g was r e s o r t e d t o . A g a i n , as w i t h window-breaki n g , the i n i t i a t i v e came not from t h e
l e a d e r s h i p but from a woman a c t i n g on
her own, although i t soon became general
WSPU p o l i c y . W i t h i n a few months, the
government r e t a l i a t e d w i t h f o r c i b l e
feeding.26
The use o f f o r c i b l e f e e d i n g i s remarka b l e f o r i t s b r u t a l i t y . One can t h i n k
o f o n l y one k i n d o f male p r i s o n e r
a g a i n s t which s i m i l a r b r u t a l i t y has
been used i n t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y B r i t i s h
p r i s o n s and t h a t i s t h e c o n s c i e n t i o u s
objector.27
I t i s perhaps not c o i n c i d e n t a l t h a t both k i n d s o f p r i s o n e r s
were engaged i n a c t i v i t i e s that v i o l a t e
s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p e s . The s u f f r a g e t t e s
were women who presumed t o use ( o r were
thought t o use) t h e male technique o f
a g g r e s s i o n . The c o n s c i e n t i o u s o b j e c t o r s were men who dared t o r e p u d i a t e
it.
The f u r y turned a g a i n s t both
groups i n d i c a t e s the i r r a t i o n a l f e a r
w i t h which s o c i e t y r e a c t s t o those who
t h r e a t e n t o upset t h e accepted p a t t e r n s
in these m a t t e r s .
The f i n a l phase o f m i l i t a n c y was the
arson campaign, c o n f i n e d t o 1913 and
1914 and brought t o an abrupt end by
the war. A g a i n , the f i r s t a c t s o f arson
were i n s t i t u t e d not by the l e a d e r s h i p ,
but by women a c t i n g independently; howe v e r , i n 1913 arson was taken up as
WSPU p o l i c y . 2 8 Many who had supported
the movement b e f o r e , d i d not support
the arson campaign, but i t should be
remembered t h a t as w i t h the e a r l i e r
examples o f m i l i t a n c y even t h i s r e a l
v i o l e n c e was committed w i t h r e s t r a i n t .
A l l members o f the WSPU were e n j o i n e d
to a t t a c k o n l y the " i d o l o f p r o p e r t y "
and t o guard human (and animal) l i f e .
Throughout the e n t i r e h i s t o r y o f the
m i l i t a n t campaign, t h i s r u l e was observed. The s u f f r a g e t t e s n e i t h e r k i l l e d
nor s e r i o u s l y i n j u r e d anyone. The
Courtesy Radio Times
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Hulton P i c t u r e
Library
a u t h o r i t i e s , on the o t h e r hand, were
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the l o s s o f s e v e r a l
suffragette lives.29
What i s the s i g n i f i c a n c e o f the m i l i t a n t
campaign? What d i d i t a c c o m p l i s h ? The
most important s i n g l e r e s u l t o f the
m i l i t a n t a c t i v i t i e s was t o make women's
s u f f r a g e newsworthy.
I t seems f a i r l y
c l e a r t h a t p u b l i c i t y was the o r i g i n a l
aim.30 The s u f f r a g e t t e s r e a l i z e d t h a t
they were l i v i n g i n a p e r i o d when the
d a i l y mass c i r c u l a t i o n press had become
extremely p o w e r f u l .
But s e v e r a l a c counts o f the m i l i t a n t movement have
seen more i n i t than merely a s u c c e s s f u l attempt t o a c h i e v e p u b l i c i t y .
George D a n g e r f i e l d ' s Strange Death o f
L i b e r a l England was one o f the f i r s t
general accounts o f the Edwardian p e r i o d
t o take the s u f f r a g e movement s e r i o u s l y .
D a n g e r f i e l d saw the v i o l e n c e o f the
s u f f r a g e t t e s , the U l s t e r I r i s h and the
t r a d e union movement as connected and
as h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t .
For him, they
were a l l symptoms o f t h e same problem
— t h e breakdown o f V i c t o r i a n l i b e r a l ism.
D a n g e r f i e l d saw i n the s u f f r a g e t t e movement a combination o f i r r a t i o n a l i t y and a r e a c h i n g out f o r f r e e dom. In engaging i n a g g r e s s i o n , says
D a n g e r f i e l d , the s u f f r a g e t t e s were
b r e a k i n g down the t r a d i t i o n a l image o f
V i c t o r i a n womanhood.31
D a n g e r f i e l d s assessment c o n t a i n s an imp o r t a n t element o f t r u t h . However, when
looked a t i n another way, the s u f f r a g e t t e a c t i v i t i e s can be seen as r e p r e 1
s e n t i n g the h e i g h t o f V i c t o r i a n female
s e l f - s a c r i f i c e . As we have seen, the
s u f f r a g e t t e use o f " v i o l e n c e " was r e markably r e s t r a i n e d . The s u c c e s s i v e
e s c a l a t i o n s o f a c t i v i t y were always
undertaken i n response t o extreme p r o v ocation.
I f the s u f f r a g e t t e s had been
men, contemporaries and h i s t o r i a n s
a l i k e would no doubt comment on the
" u n n a t u r a l " mildness o f the a c t i v i s t s
r a t h e r than on t h e i r "unfeminine v i o l e n c e . " The WSPU claimed t h a t the r e s t r a i n t used was a r e f l e c t i o n o f i n n a t e
female g e n t l e n e s s .
It Is b e t t e r i n t e r preted as e v i d e n c e t h a t the women c o u l d
not throw o f f the s t r a i t j a c k e t o f
V i c t o r i a n f e m i n i n i t y even when behaving
in ways which caused t h e i r opponents t o
denounce them as "unsexed."
T h i s , among o t h e r reasons, accounts f o r
the d i s a r r a y which a f f l i c t e d the movement a f t e r 1912.
The arson campaign
was genuine enough t o f r i g h t e n people
but the r e s t r a i n t w i t h which i t was c a r r i e d out meant t h a t the v i o l e n c e was
s t i l l s y m b o l i c , not r e a l .
By t h e i r r e s t r a i n t the s u f f r a g e t t e s were announcing
t h a t they were s t i l l committed t o behaving l i k e V i c t o r i a n women and not l i k e
male r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s . A p s y c h o l o g i c a l
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n undoubtedly had begun f o r
some o f the women. The e x p e r i e n c e o f
being b r u t a l i z e d by p o l i c e , p r i s o n doct o r s and h o s t i l e crowds had f o r c e d some
o f them t o r e a l i z e that c h i v a l r y had
another f a c e . When s o c i e t y f e l t genui n e l y t h r e a t e n e d , not w i t h v i o l e n c e but
w i t h the f e a r o f a breakdown i n sex
s t r u c t u r e s , the veneer o f c h i v a l r y was
removed and a hatred and b r u t a l i t y o f
i r r a t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n s was r e v e a l e d .
But o n l y a few women had e x p e r i e n c e d
t h i s p a r t i a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n and s t i l l
fewer were w i l l i n g t o engage i n genuinely violent a c t i v i t i e s .
There were
not enough women i n v o l v e d t o e f f e c t the
r e v o l u t i o n t h a t f o r C h r i s t a b e l Pankhurst
seemed j u s t around the c o r n e r i n 1912.32
I s o l a t e d i n the g r i p o f t h e i r i n t e n s e
e x p e r i e n c e s , the women began t o misjudge
p u b l i c o p i n i o n and t o misjudge t h e i r own
s t r e n g t h . The a c t i v i t i e s o f the WSPU
in t h e years 1912-1914 have been e x p l a i n e d v a r i o u s l y as t h e r e s u l t o f hys t e r i a , l e s b i a n i s m o r most r e c e n t l y as
a r e t r e a t i n t o mi 1 l e n a r i a n i s m . 3 3
They
might b e t t e r be d e s c r i b e d as the a c t i v i t i e s o f a group which was t r y i n g t o
e f f e c t a r e v o l u t i o n b u t which misjudged
the r e a l i t i e s o f the s i t u a t i o n and
t h e r e f o r e f a i l e d i n the attempt.
As we t u r n t o the Canadian scene and
survey the f o r t u n e s o f the women's movement i n Canada d u r i n g t h i s same p e r i o d ,
the f i r s t and most s t r i k i n g c o n t r a s t
between the two c o u n t r i e s has t o do w i t h
the d i f f e r e n c e i n tone. The "woman
q u e s t i o n " was d i s c u s s e d i n Canada b u t
the i n t e n s i t y which c h a r a c t e r i z e d both
the " p r o s " and the " a n t i s " i n England
was f o r the most p a r t l a c k i n g . In Canada i n 1903 t h e r e were s u f f r a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n O n t a r i o , i n c l u d i n g one
which c l a i m e d t o be n a t i o n a l , but i n
the r e s t o f the country t h e r e was very
l i t t l e d i s c e r n i b l e a c t i v i t y . 3 4 Howe v e r , women's p l a c e i n Canadian s o c i e t y
was undergoing a r a d i c a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n
d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . These changes were
o n l y p a r t o f a general process o f development c h a r a c t e r i z e d by r a p i d u r b a n i z a t i o n , i n d u s t r i a l growth, new imm i g r a t i o n and changes i n the s t r u c t u r e
o f a g r i c u l t u r e . New s o c i a l and economic r o l e s f o r women d i d not e v o l v e
evenly across the c o u n t r y , s i n c e t h e r e
were d i s t i n c t r e g i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n
the p a t t e r n s of general s o c i a l and
economic change. These r e g i o n a l d i f ferences make f o r d i s t i n c t i v e r e g i o n a l
p a t t e r n s i n the development o f Canadian f e m i n i s m , and t h e r e f o r e each
r e g i o n has t o be c o n s i d e r e d s e p a r a t e l y .
Given the context o f t h i s paper i t w i l l
be best t o begin t h i s p a r t i c u l a r exami n a t i o n o f the i n t e r a c t i o n between
E n g l i s h and Canadian feminism by an
a n a l y s i s o f the women a c t i v i s t s i n
O n t a r i o , s i n c e O n t a r i o appears t o be
the area where E n g l i s h m i l i t a n c y had
its greatest influence.
Although women's a c t i v i s m o f o t h e r
kinds (e.g., temperance a c t i v i s m ) was
s t r o n g i n v a r i o u s c e n t r e s i n the provi n c e , i t appears that a t the t u r n o f
the c e n t u r y Toronto was very d e f i n i t e l y
the c e n t r e o f what s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m
there was.
S e v e r a l c o n d i t i o n s shaped
the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f women's r o l e s and
the development o f women's a c t i v i s m i n
Toronto a t the t u r n o f the c e n t u r y .
Toronto's r a p i d growth i n the l a s t
decades o f the 19th century and the
f i r s t decades of t h i s century was based
on commercial and i n d u s t r i a l development. As one w r i t e r s a y s , i t was dev e l o p i n g from " a r t i s a n a l p r o d u c t i o n f o r
a l o c a l market to i n d u s t r i a l p r o d u c t i o n
for a hinterland."35
Recent research
i n d i c a t e s that t h i s i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n
process was accompanied, as i t had been
in B r i t a i n , by l a r g e l y unchecked e x p l o i t a t i o n of c h i l d and female l a b o u r .
C h i l d and female labour was employed f o r
the same reasons as i t had been (and was
s t i l l being) employed in B r i t a i n ; women
and c h i l d r e n were more e a s i l y e x p l o i t e d
than men because they were in a weaker
economic, s o c i a l and p s y c h o l o g i c a l posi t i o n than men were. As in B r i t a i n ,
c h i l d and female labour tended t o be
c l u s t e r e d on the f r i n g e s o f the economy,
in sweatshops and in domestic employment. 36
It appears, then, t h a t Toronto i n the
l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century was d e v e l o p i n g a
c l a s s system c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of urban
i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t i e s , complete w i t h the
e x p l o i t a t i o n o f women and c h i l d r e n as
sweated l a b o u r . At the o t h e r end o f the
economic s c a l e a c l a s s o f l e i s u r e d bourg e o i s women was emerging. Although midd l e and u p p e r - m i d d l e - c l a s s l i f e i n Canada never approached the l e v e l o f dependence on s e r v a n t s t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e d
the E n g l i s h middle c l a s s e s i n t h i s peri o d ^ ? nonetheless a c e r t a i n number of
women were a b l e t o lead a l i f e which
a l l o w e d them c o n s i d e r a b l e l e i s u r e .
At
the same time some women began to engage in a c t i v i t i e s e x p r e s s i v e o f s o c i a l
concern, i n response t o a growing r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t t h e i r s o c i e t y was d e v e l o p ing s o c i a l problems.38 The s t r e n g t h o f
women's i n f l u e n c e i n the temperance
movement throughout Canada i s w e l l
known, as i s the c o n n e c t i o n between the
Women's C h r i s t i a n Temperance Union and
support f o r the s u f f r a g e , but women
were i n v o l v e d in a v a r i e t y o f o t h e r r e form a c t i v i t i e s as w e l l .
From i t s
founding i n the 1890s, the N a t i o n a l
C o u n c i l o f Women acted as a n a t i o n a l
f o c a l p o i n t f o r some o f these a c t i v i ties.
Most women's a c t i v i t i e s i n O n t a r i o ,
r i g h t up to and i n c l u d i n g the p e r i o d i n
which s u f f r a g e was a c h i e v e d , were a l most c e r t a i n l y o f a reform v a r i e t y .
However, t h e r e were a l s o women's equal
r i g h t s a c t i v i s t s i n O n t a r i o from the
l a t e 1870s. The f i r s t known o r g a n i z a t i o n concerned w i t h equal r i g h t s f o r
women i n Canada was Dr. Emily Howard
Stowe's Toronto Women's L i t e r a r y C l u b ,
which dates from 1876.
In s p i t e o f the
innocuous name, i t s founder intended i t
to be a forum f o r the women's r i g h t s
i s s u e from the beginning.39
Dr.
Stowe's c l u b met i n drawing rooms and
was c l e a r l y l i m i t e d t o f a i r l y a f f l u e n t
women: a l l the i n f o r m a t i o n at p r e s e n t
a v a i l a b l e i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h i s was a l s o
t r u e of the o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h a t developed
from the l i t e r a r y c l u b , the T o r o n t o Suff r a g e S o c i e t y and the Dominion Women's
Enfranchisement A s s o c i a t i o n (which l a t e r
became the Canadian S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a tion) .
Very l i t t l e j s known a t p r e s e n t about
the membership of the Toronto-based
s u f f r a g e s o c i e t i e s , e i t h e r i n terms o f
social class or professional or marital
s t a t u s , o r i n terms o f numbers o f members.
However, something i s known
about t h e l e a d e r s h i p .
It exhibited remarkable u n i f o r m i t y and homogeneity.
The f i r s t p r e s i d e n t o f t h e Dominion
Women's E n f r a n c h i s e m e n t A s s o c i a t i o n was
Dr. Stowe. She was succeeded by her
d a u g h t e r , Augusta S t o w e - G u l l e n . StoweG u l l e n was a l s o a p h y s i c i a n , the f i r s t
woman d o c t o r t o graduate from the U n i v e r s i t y o f T o r o n t o medical s c h o o l .
Most o f t h e l e a d e r s h i p o f the T o r o n t o
movement throughout i t s h i s t o r y were
women p h y s i c i a n s . 4 0 The reason f o r
t h i s c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f m e d i c a l women i n
the l e a d e r s h i p i n T o r o n t o i s not c l e a r :
i t may s i m p l y i n d i c a t e t h e s m a l l c i r c l e
from which t h e s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s t s were
drawn. But i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t t h e
o n l y woman who was prominent i n t h e
l e a d e r s h i p o f t h e Canadian S u f f r a g e
A s s o c i a t i o n who was not a medical d o c t o r
was a l s o a s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l
woman. T h i s was F l o r a MacDonald Deni s o n , who p l a y e d an important r o l e i n
T o r o n t o a c t i v i s m from 1 9 0 7 . F l o r a MacDonald Denison i s a c e n t r a l f i g u r e i n
the r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f the l i n k s between
the E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s and t h e Canadian
a c t i v i s t s , s i n c e i t appears t h a t she
was t h e main p o i n t o f c o n t a c t between the
the E n g l i s h and Canadian women and h e r
newspaper column p r o v i d e s one o f t h e
major s o u r c e s o f i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e
responses t o E n g l i s h m i l i t a n c y i n
Canada.41
Political Equality Meeting Last Night
F l o r a MacDonald Denison shares h e r prof e s s i o n o f j o u r n a l i s m w i t h a remarkable
number o f women i n t h e p r a i r i e p r o v i n ces who were a c t i v e i n the s u f f r a g e
cause. T o g e t h e r , t h i s c o l l e c t i o n o f
j o u r n a l i s t s and d o c t o r s adds up t o a
v e r y l a r g e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f women prof e s s i o n a l s among t h e l e a d e r s h i p o f the
Canadian s u f f r a g e movement, i n two geog r a p h i c a l areas a t l e a s t , and p r o v i d e s
an i n t e r e s t i n g c o n t r a s t w i t h t h e i r
c o u n t e r p a r t s i n B r i t a i n and the United
S t a t e s . There were, o f c o u r s e , some
s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l women i n v o l v e d i n those two c o u n t r i e s , but t h i s
was not c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f the l e a d e r ship i n e i t h e r country.
U n t i l more i s
known about t h e membership as d i s t i n c t
from the l e a d e r s h i p i t i s d i f f i c u l t
do more than s p e c u l a t e about the
reasons f o r t h i s c o n t r a s t .
to
The s o r t s o f a c t i v i t i e s engaged i n by
the T o r o n t o s u f f r a g e movement i n the
p e r i o d from the 1880s to the a c h i e v e ment of the p r o v i n c i a l s u f f r a g e i n 1917
c l o s e l y p a r a l l e l the methods used by
the c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i s t s i n B r i t a i n and
by the c h i e f s u f f r a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n
the U n i t e d S t a t e s . The T o r o n t o women
employed p e t i t i o n campaigns and p u b l i c
meetings, d i s t r i b u t e d pamphlets and
attempted t o get the i s s u e d i s c u s s e d i n
the p r e s s .
In the decades l e a d i n g up
to the p e r i o d o f d i r e c t concern t o us,
equal r i g h t s f o r women had made some
g a i n s , i n c l u d i n g the m u n i c i p a l f r a n c h i s e (but o n l y f o r unmarried women), a
m a r r i e d women's p r o p e r t y a c t and admiss i o n of women t o the U n i v e r s i t y o f
Toronto.
But attempts t o secure the
p r o v i n c i a l s u f f r a g e met w i t h f a i l u r e .
O p p o s i t i o n t o the s u f f r a g e in O n t a r i o
and i n the r e s t o f Canada was never o r ganized t o the e x t e n t t h a t i t was i n
B r i t a i n , presumably because i t never
f e l t as t h r e a t e n e d , but i t d i d e x i s t .
It used many o f the same arguments t h a t
opponents of the s u f f r a g e used i n B r i t a i n (and i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s ) . Opponents o f the s u f f r a g e i n Canada saw the
vote as a symbol and b e l i e v e d t h a t i f
women get the vote the consequences
would be f a r more fundamental than the
narrow t a s k of e x e r c i s i n g the f r a n c h i s e
would suggest.
Among the most v o c i f erous opponents were some members o f the
c l e r g y . A member o f the A n g l i c a n h i e r archy preached a sermon i n 1909 a g a i n s t
divorce, "race s u i c i d e " ( b i r t h c o n t r o l )
and women's s u f f r a g e , a l l of which he
saw as t e n d i n g " t o take away the r e spect f o r f e m i n i n i t y . . . . i n England
i t has reached a p i t c h o f f r e n z y , o f
p u b l i c i n s a n i t y which we have y e t t o
f i n d i n Canada. . . .the end i s Down
w i t h the Home."42 S i r James Whitney,
the C o n s e r v a t i v e premier o f O n t a r i o
from 1 9 0 5 - 1 9 1 4 , was a f i r m opponent o f
woman s u f f r a g e and one o f h i s main
arguments a g a i n s t the s u f f r a g e was t h a t
i t would c r e a t e a " s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n "
f o r which the p r o v i n c e was not ready.43
Women's s u f f r a g e advocates i n Canada
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y turned t h i s argument
around and i n s i s t e d t h a t they d i d want
the f r a n c h i s e i n o r d e r t o e f f e c t a soc i a l r e v o l u t i o n — a r e v o l u t i o n of a
b e n e f i c i a l nature.
In r e c e n t y e a r s , a
number o f American h i s t o r i a n s have
commented e x t e n s i v e l y on the f a c t t h a t
one commonly used f e m i n i s t argument accepted the V i c t o r i a n view of womanhood
as more m o r a l , more s o c i a l l y concerned
than men.44 T h i s argument c e r t a i n l y
was used i n Canada, j u s t as i t was in
B r i t a i n and i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s . As a
g e n e r a l r u l e , Canadian f e m i n i s t s do
seem t o have been convinced t h a t they
were necessary i n p o l i t i c s p r e c i s e l y
because they would engage i n c i v i c
housekeeping.
In g e n e r a l t h e i r opponents i n Canada d i d not deny t h i s but
i n s i s t e d t h a t women's b e n e f i c i a l moral
i n f l u e n c e c o u l d be e x e r t e d b e s t o n l y i f
women remained o u t s i d e the male sphere.
In a d d i t i o n t o t h e i r s u b s t a n t i v e a r g u ments a g a i n s t t h e s u f f r a g e , i t s oppone n t s i n O n t a r i o (and e l s e w h e r e i n Canada) had a t a c t i c a l defence as w e l l .
They c l a i m e d t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f
women i n O n t a r i o d i d not want the v o t e ,
o r were i n d i f f e r e n t t o t h e m a t t e r . 4 5
T h i s may i n f a c t have been t r u e , but a
comparative a n a l y s i s o f the arguments
used i n B r i t a i n and i n Canada r e v e a l s
the d i s i n g e n u o u s n a t u r e o f t h i s t a c t i c a l
argument. Even a f t e r t h e mass demons t r a t i o n s and s u s t a i n e d a g i t a t i o n o f the
s u f f r a g e campaign, A s q u i t h , the E n g l i s h
Prime M i n i s t e r , s t i l l remained unconv i n c e d i n 1914 t h a t women r e a l l y wanted
the v o t e . 4 6
Asquith--1ike Ontario's
Premier W h i t n e y — w a s a staunch opponent
o f women's s u f f r a g e , and i t i s c l e a r
t h a t n o t h i n g would have c o n v i n c e d him
t h a t women wanted t h e v o t e .
H i s demands
f o r e v i d e n c e were i m p o s s i b l e t o f u l f i l .
The O n t a r i o s u f f r a g i s t s were never i n a
p o s i t i o n t o put Whitney t o the same
s o r t o f t e s t , but one s u s p e c t s t h a t i f
they had been, they would have met w i t h
the same s o r t o f r e s i s t a n c e . An i n d i c a t i o n o f t h i s was Whitney's i m p l i e d demand t h a t the women o b t a i n the s i g n a t u r e s o f 5 1 % o f the women o f O n t a r i o on
p r o - s u f f r a g e p e t i t i o n s . 4 7 T h i s would
have been a monumental t a s k f o r a l a r g e
network o f o r g a n i z a t i o n s and was c e r t a i n l y i m p o s s i b l e g i v e n the s t a t e o f
suffrage organization in Ontario.
The y e a r o f Mrs. P a n k h u r s t ' s f i r s t
v i s i t t o Canada, 1 9 0 9 , was an e v e n t f u l
year f o r women a c t i v i s t s i n O n t a r i o .
In March, a d e p u t a t i o n o f about 300
people (mainly women) p r e s e n t e d Premier
Whitney w i t h a p e t i t i o n c o n t a i n i n g
100,000 s i g n a t u r e s . 4 8
In J u l y , t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f Women met i n
Toronto.
I t s c o n v e n t i o n was addressed
by Anna Howard Shaw, the American s u f f r a g i s t , and i n the course o f i t s meetings t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f Women
came o u t i n favour o f women's s u f f r a g e .
Lady Aberdeen, founder o f the Canadian
N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f Women, gave the
s u f f r a g e h e r open support.49 Lady
Aberdeen commanded respect from both
c o n s e r v a t i v e and p r o g r e s s i v e women's
groups i n Canada and her support i n
1909 d i d much t o propel the Canadian
N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l i n t o (lukewarm) e n dorsement o f the s u f f r a g e i n 1910.50
U n t i l t h i s time the O n t a r i o a c t i v i s t s
lacked any r e g u l a r p u b l i c forum f o r
t h e i r views.
In September 1909, howe v e r , the T o r o n t o Wor1d's Sunday e d i t i o n began c a r r y i n g a weekly s u f f r a g e
column e n t i t l e d "Under t h e P i n e s . " The
w r i t e r o f the column was F l o r a MacDonald Denison. Her column appeared
r e g u l a r l y from September 1909 u n t i l
February
1911 51 and i t p r o v i d e s a
f u l l account o f Mrs. Pankhurst's f i r s t
v i s i t t o T o r o n t o and o f the e f f e c t s o f
E n g l i s h m i l i t a n c y t h e r e . The account
must be used w i t h care s i n c e i t e x p r e s ses the views o f o n l y one p a r t i c i p a n t
but s i n c e she was a major o f f i c e r i n
the Canadian S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a t i o n i t
can be assumed t h a t h e r views were imp o r t a n t even i f they were not r e p r e s e n t a t i ve.
ft** DENISON'
When m i l i t a n t a c t i o n began i n England
i n i t i a l r e a c t i o n t o i t i n Canada from
the press and from the l o c a l s u f f r a g i s t s was n e g a t i v e . The T o r o n t o News
ran an e d i t o r i a l i n December 1907
which d e c l a r e d t h a t "most people i n
England regard the s u f f r a g e t t e s as
. . . i n t o l e r a b l e , " 5 2 and d e s c r i b e d
t h e i r t a c t i c s as " i n g e n i o u s but d i s c r e d i t a b l e . " The " i n t o l e r a b l e " and
" d i s c r e d i t a b l e " behaviour a t t h i s p o i n t
i n time c o n s i s t e d o f t h e i r d i s r u p t i v e
a c t i v i t i e s d u r i n g the 1906 e l e c t i o n
campaign ( u n f u r l i n g banners and shouti n g , "What a r e you going t o do about
Votes f o r Women") and t h e i r f i r s t a t tempts a t p a r l i a m e n t a r y d e p u t a t i o n s .
F l o r a MacDonald Denison, who was l a t e r
such an ardent s u p p o r t e r o f Mrs. Pankh u r s t , had been i n t e r v i e w e d by the
News more than a year e a r l i e r , i n June
1906.
The News wanted t o get the views
o f " o u r own s u f f r a g e t t e s " on the t a c t i c s o f the m i l i t a n t s . The i n t e r v i e w e r
records her as s a y i n g t h a t "she much
d e p l o r e s the l a c k o f womanly d i g n i t y .
. . . A l l suffrage v i c t o r i e s hitherto
have been won by t h e might o f r i g h t
r a t h e r than the clamor o f d i s t u r b a n c e . "
F l o r a MacDonald Denison was a s e l f admitted h e r o - w o r s h i p p e r , and i n 1906
her f a v o u r i t e s u f f r a g e l e a d e r was s t i l l
Susan B. Anthony, the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y American w i t h whom she compared
the m i l i t a n t s :
"Susan B. Anthony d e f i e d
what she h e l d t o be an u n j u s t law upon
more than one o c c a s i o n but w i t h a q u i e t
unsensationa1ism o f determination."53
In June 1906, t h e n , F l o r a MacDonald
Denison was offended by the m i l i t a n t s
not because they were v i o l e n t but because she thought they were c o u r t i n g
p u b l i c i t y by being s e n s a t i o n a l , and she
saw t h i s as "unwomanly." By l a b e l l i n g
the behaviour "unwomanly" she was r e v e a l i n g t h a t she would have f e l t d i f f e r e n t l y about i t had i t been employed
by men. F o r Denison, a t t h i s t i m e , any
form o f female p r o t e s t had t o conform
t o a p r e s c r i b e d s e t o f r u l e s about sex
r o l e behaviour i n o r d e r t o be a c c e p t a b l e
t o her. However, w h i l e e x p r e s s i n g her
d i s a p p r o v a l o f t h e i r methods, she r e a l i z e d even then t h a t press r e p o r t s o f
the m i l i t a n t s ' a c t i v i t i e s were exaggera t e d : " I cannot but t h i n k t h a t the
newspapers have s h o c k i n g l y exaggerated r e p o r t s . They always do, don't
theyV'5k
By 1908 t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e t h a t a number
of women a c t i v i s t s had become sympathe t i c t o the s t r u g g l e s o f the E n g l i s h
m i l i t a n t s even though they had no des i r e t o emulate t h e i r methods. At the
N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f Women's annual
meeting t h a t year a debate o c c u r r e d i n
the e x e c u t i v e because Dr. Stowe-Gullen
had i n t r o d u c e d i n t o the r e p o r t o f the
c i t i z e n s h i p committee, of which she was
chairman, an e x p r e s s i o n o f sympathy
w i t h the E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s . A number
of c o n s e r v a t i v e women o b j e c t e d t o t h i s
and demanded t h a t the " e u l o g i e s o f the
E n g l i s h s u f f r a g e t t e s " be removed from
the r e p o r t . Under p r e s s u r e , StoweG u l l e n d i d withdraw her e x p r e s s i o n o f
sympathy but i n the c o u r s e o f the d i s c u s s i o n a number of women expressed
support f o r the aims o f the s u f f r a g e t t e s
i f not f o r t h e i r methods.55 StoweG u l l e n ' s a t t i t u d e was one o f detached
sympathy r a t h e r than a c t i v e support and
the d e l e g a t i o n of women a c t i v i s t s who
p r e s e n t e d Premier Whitney w i t h the
l a r g e p e t i t i o n i n March, 1909, were a t
pains t o r e a s s u r e both the government
and the p r e s s t h a t they had no i n t e n t i o n o f engaging i n " r i o t o u s scenes"
themse1ves.56
By the m i d d l e o f 1909, on the eve o f
Mrs. Pankhurst's f i r s t North American
j o u r n e y , s u f f r a g e t t e a c t i v i t i e s were
well-known on t h i s c o n t i n e n t . But i f
Toronto i s a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e example,
these a c t i v i t i e s f u n c t i o n e d r a t h e r as
a warning and as a d e t e r r e n t t o f e m i n i s t a c t i v i t y than as an encouragement.
Although many of them admired the
b r a v e r y of the s u f f r a g e t t e s and were
ready to w i t h h o l d judgment on the s u i t a b i l i t y of t h e i r methods, they thems e l v e s were a f r a i d of being i d e n t i f i e d
w i t h a n y t h i n g a s s o c i a t e d w i t h "unsexed"
b e h a v i o u r . S i n c e they and the s o c i e t y
in which they l i v e d accepted o n l y a
f a i r l y narrow range of behaviour as
s u i t a b l e f o r women, one can surmise
t h a t the a c t i v i t i e s of the m i l i t a n t s as
they were r e p o r t e d i n the p r e s s would
have made them even more c i r c u m s p e c t
than usual l e s t they too be d e s c r i b e d
as " h y s t e r i c a l and h a l f - c r a z y . " 5 7
Mrs. Pankhurst decided t o come t o
America in October
1909 because o f the
c r i s i s of t h a t year i n the WSPU. T h e i r
triumphs o f 1908 (most n o t a b l y the g i a n t
Hyde Park r a l l y i n June where over
30,000 people marched i n p r o c e s s i o n and
where the crowd of s u p p o r t e r s and spect a t o r s was e s t i m a t e d at 500,000) had
not succeeded i n moving the government
and, by 1909, f r u s t r a t i o n began t o
mount. I t was d u r i n g t h i s year t h a t
stone t h r o w i n g , hunger s t r i k i n g and
f o r c i b l e f e e d i n g began. Mrs. Pankhurst
came t o America t o win support f o r the
cause from people here and a l s o t o
r a i s e money both f o r her own f a m i l y and
f o r the Union.
(The f a m i l y ' s personal
needs were a c u t e because Mrs. Pankh u r s t ' s son was g r a v e l y i l l and i n need
o f expensive medical t r e a t m e n t . ) 5 8
The WSPU's newspaper, Votes f o r Women,
d e s c r i b e s Mrs. P a n k h u r s t s r e c e p t i o n
in America as " m a g n i f i c e n t " and says
t h a t the t o u r was a " t r i u m p h . " T h i s
was not much o f an e x a g g e r a t i o n . 5 9
B e f o r e her a r r i v a l the North American
press as a whole had presented i t s
public with a rather l u r i d picture of
both l e a d e r s and membership: p a r t o f
Mrs. Pankhurst's success i n North Ame r i c a d e r i v e d from t h e f a c t t h a t she
did not l o o k , speak o r a c t t h e p a r t she
had been p o r t r a y e d as p l a y i n g . As the
e d i t o r o f Toronto's Saturday N i g h t s a i d ,
he had been e x p e c t i n g a " h a t c h e t - f a c e d
old dame o f the C a r r i e N a t i o n s t r i p e "
but i n s t e a d he found "a s i n g u l a r l y
a t t r a c t i v e lady."60 Every Toronto r e p o r t mentions h e r appearance, h e r manner, her c l o t h i n g b e f o r e they r e p o r t e d
what i t was she had t o say. Even today
the press i s much more i n t e r e s t e d i n
the h a i r c o l o u r , d r e s s and domestic
h a b i t s o f female than o f male p o l i t i c i a n s ; i n the Edwardian p e r i o d t o o i t
i s c l e a r t h a t a woman was seen f i r s t as
a p h y s i c a l o b j e c t . Mrs. Pankhurst's
p h y s i c a l appearance was d i s a r m i n g , because she f i t t e d a l l the s t e r e o t y p e s o f
what an Edwardian lady should look l i k e .
She was a l s o a remarkably e f f e c t i v e
s p e a k e r , both i n h e r manner and i n cont e n t . Her main concern d u r i n g h e r North
American t o u r was t o j u s t i f y m i l i t a n c y .
She made two main p o i n t s : she emphas i z e d t h a t women had turned t o m i l i tancy o n l y when o t h e r methods had f a i l e d
and she s t r e s s e d t h e q u a l i t y o f s e l f s a c r i f i c e i n t h e women's a c t i o n s . The
press had emphasized t h e i r rowdyism;
1
she emphasized t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s t o
become m a r t y r s i f n e c e s s a r y . As she
s a i d i n T o r o n t o , "Every one o f those
women has i n her h e a r t t h e f i x e d d e t e r m i n a t i o n t h a t i f t h e s a c r i f i c e o f her
l i f e i s demanded she i s q u i t e w i l l i n g t o
make i t . " 6 l
During h e r T o r o n t o v i s i t Mrs. Pankhurst
addressed t h e (men's) Canadian Club and
spoke b e f o r e two l a r g e p u b l i c meetings
(one o f which was p r e s i d e d over by t h e
Mayor o f T o r o n t o ) . She a l s o had t e a
w i t h Goldwin Smith who, a l t h o u g h opposed t o woman s u f f r a g e by 1909, was
s t i l l c u r i o u s enough about Mrs. Pankh u r s t t o want t o meet her. Mrs. Pankh u r s t r e c e i v e d e x t e n s i v e f r o n t page
coverage i n T o r o n t o . V i r t u a l l y a l l o f
the T o r o n t o j o u r n a l i s t s who commented on
her v i s i t were f a v o u r a b l y impressed w i t h
her.
In a d d i t i o n t o h e r arguments i n
support o f m i l i t a n c y , Mrs. Pankhurst
a l s o argued g e n e r a l l y f o r women's s u f f r a g e i n a way t h a t was wel1-designed
to appeal t o T o r o n t o a u d i e n c e s .
In one
speech she was r e p o r t e d as s a y i n g t h a t :
women, being women, needed t h e v o t e
because the woman's p o i n t o f view
was e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t from t h e
man's p o i n t o f view. She hoped i t
always would be because woman's
d u t i e s and man's were d i f f e r e n t
. . . . No longer d i d p o l i t i c s
mean j u s t g o i n g out t o f i g h t . . .
but p o l i t i c s had come r i g h t down
i n t o t h e homes o f the p e o p l e , and
concerned the b i r t h and t r a i n i n g
of 1i t t l e c h i l d r e n . 6 3
E d i t o r i a l comment i n the T o r o n t o p r e s s ,
a l t h o u g h moved by her p e r s o n a l presence
and the cogency o f her arguments i n
f a v o u r o f women's s u f f r a g e , was anxious
t o d i s a s s o c i a t e i t s e l f from any support
o f m i l i t a n c y i n Canada. However, the
most outspoken p r o - s u f f r a g e newspaper
(The World) was w i l l i n g t o concede t h a t
the methods might be j u s t i f i a b l e i n
England.
In t h i s p e r i o d , p r e s s o p i n ion on the s u f f r a g e i n T o r o n t o ranged
from h o s t i l i t y , u s u a l l y masked as i n d i f f e r e n c e , to o u t r i g h t support.
The
o u t r i g h t e x p r e s s i o n o f s u p p o r t had i n
f a c t been s t i m u l a t e d by Mrs. Pankhurst's
North American t o u r .
In October, a f t e r
she had a r r i v e d i n the S t a t e s , but bef o r e her v i s i t t o T o r o n t o , the World
ran an e d i t o r i a l i n which i t urged t h a t
the i s s u e o f the p r o v i n c i a l s u f f r a g e i n
O n t a r i o be taken s e r i o u s l y , "Now t h a t
Mrs. Pankhurst i s on her way t o Toront o . "The Wor_kd_ d e c l a r e d t h a t p o l i t i c s
needed women's " s w i f t i n t u i t i o n , p e r s i s t e n c e , d i r e c t n e s s and d e t e r m i n a t i o n . "64 The Mai1 and Empi r e , i n comment ing on the Wor1d's ed i t o r i a 1, i nd i cated t h a t i t thought t h a t women's s u f f r a g e was unnecessary and was i n any
case not a matter o f p r a c t i c a l p o l i t i c s :
"Mrs. Pankhurst . . . has t r i e d t o r e v i v e i n t e r e s t i n a q u e s t i o n which on
this continent i s , generally speaking,
beyond the range o f p r a c t i c a l p o l i t i c s . "65
In c o n t r a s t t o t h i s n e g a t i v e r e a c t i o n ,
was F l o r a MacDonald Denison's o v e r whelming s u p p o r t . Her June 1906 a t t i tude of d i s a p p r o v a l towards the s u f f r a g e t t e s had begun t o a l t e r l a t e r i n
t h a t same year when she r e p r e s e n t e d
Canada at the t h i r d I n t e r n a t i o n a l Suff r a g e A l l i a n c e c o n f e r e n c e i n Copenhagen
and came away impressed by and symp a t h e t i c to the WSPU's spokeswoman
there.67 By 1909, her column r e f l e c t s
support and sympathy f o r the WSPU, and
i t was a p p a r e n t l y on her i n i t i a t i v e
t h a t Mrs. Pankhurst v i s i t e d T o r o n t o i n
1909 f o r when the North American tour
was o r i g i n a l l y planned i t d i d not i n c l u d e any Canadian engagements. But
Denison's sympathies b e f o r e she heard
Mrs. Pankhurst were r e s t r a i n e d in comp a r i s o n t o the ardent support she exh i b i t e d a f t e r she f i r s t heard Mrs.
Pankhurst speak i n New York.
The comments o f women j o u r n a l i s t s i n
Toronto covered a w i d e r range than t h a t
o f men.
The most h o s t i l e comments came
from the women's page e d i t o r o f Saturday
Denison, who went to New York t o be p a r t
o f the welcoming p a r t y , underwent what
might best be c a l l e d a c o n v e r s i o n experience.
In her a u t o b i o g r a p h y , C h r i s -
N i g h t . A l t h o u g h the g e n e r a l e d i t o r i a l
comment i n Saturday Night was sympathe t i c i n 1909, the woman's page e d i t o r
accused Mrs. Pankhurst of "working on
. . . warmhearted Canadian women" w i t h
tales of Christabel's suffering in j a i l ,
and expressed the b e l i e f t h a t women o n l y
" t u r n e d on men" i f they " f a i l e d t o a t t r a c t . " " I t may be t h a t p e r s o n a l g r i e vance i s at the h e a r t of many an ardent
s u f f r a g e t t e ' s campaign," she conc l u d e s .66
t a b e l Pankhurst says t h a t the atmosphere t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e d WSPU support
was s i m i l a r t o the atmosphere o f the
S a l v a t i o n Army.68 Denison's account
of her f i r s t encounter w i t h Mrs. Pankh u r s t c e r t a i n l y has an e v a n g e l i c a l
r i n g : "At l a s t I f e l t what i t was i n
human n a t u r e that something c a l l e d
d i v i n e , " she s a y s , and she d e s c r i b e s
Mrs. Pankhurst as "a woman f i g h t i n g
f o r the freedom o f her s i s t e r , a woman
w i l l i n g t o d i e t h a t women might be
emancipated."
She p o r t r a y s Mrs. Pankh u r s t ' s eloquence as c a p a b l e o f
r e a c h i n g a l i k e the c o n s e r v a t i v e a n t i s u f f r a g i s t male and the most d e p r i v e d
among women: " I have seen audiences
t h r i l l e d , but never t h r i l l e d as Mrs.
Pankhurst t h r i l l e d t h a t v a s t audience
. . . that dear l i t t l e q u i e t mannered
E n g l i s h woman t a l k i n g i n language t h a t
Gladstone o r Goldwin Smith would understand and they every f a c t o r y g i r l
p r e s e n t understood."69
In the next few y e a r s , F l o r a MacDonald
Denison c o n t i n u e d t o e x p r e s s h e r a r dent support f o r Mrs. Pankhurst and the
WSPU i n her column i n the Wor1d. E a r l i e r i n t h i s paper i t was suggested t h a t
s u f f r a g e t t e m i l i t a n c y can be i n t e r p r e ted as an extreme m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f the
V i c t o r i a n female v i r t u e s o f s e l f s a c r i f i c e and s u f f e r i n g .
I t was t h i s
aspect o f t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s t h a t won
Denison's s u p p o r t ; she c o n t i n u a l l y
s t r e s s e d the s u f f e r i n g and f o r b e a r a n c e
of the m i l i t a n t s i n the f a c e o f unreasonableness and b r u t a l i t y , and not
t h e i r anger. Denison, who was h e r s e l f
very much concerned w i t h t h e problems
of w o r k i n g - c l a s s women, was e s p e c i a l l y
r e c e p t i v e t o one l i n e o f argument used
by Mrs. Pankhurst i n the course o f h e r
North American t o u r : Mrs. Pankhurst
c l a i m e d t h a t t h e s u f f r a g e t t e s had
"broken down c l a s s d i s t i n c t i o n among
women" and t h a t , u n i t e d i n t h e i r common
cause, o n l y one d i s t i n c t i o n remained:
i t was the " p r i v i l e g e d " women who were
doing " t h e h a r d e s t and most unpleasant
p a r t o f the work. They t h i n k i t i s
t h e i r duty t o r e l i e v e t h e i r s i s t e r s from
t h i s . " 7 0 Using t h i s l i n e o f argument,
the s u f f r a g e t t e s c o u l d be seen as s e l f s a c r i f i c i n g not f o r t h e i r own ends but
f o r t h e good o f o t h e r s .
Did Mrs. P a n k h u r s t ' s v i s i t i n 1909 and
her r e t u r n v i s i t i n 1911 have any l a s t ing e f f e c t on the f o r t u n e s o f T o r o n t o
suffrage activism?
I t appears t h a t
t h e r e was some i n c r e a s e i n a c t i v i t y during 1910, an i n c r e a s e f e l t not o n l y i n
T o r o n t o , but i n t h e p r o v i n c e g e n e r a l l y .
It was d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d t h a t t h e Canadian Suffrage A s s o c i a t i o n e s t a b l i s h e d
f o r i t s e l f a p u b l i c headquarters on
Yonge S t r e e t ( p r e v i o u s l y the o r g a n i z a t i o n had been run f o r some y e a r s from
F l o r a MacDonald Denison's house). For a
t i m e , t h e A s s o c i a t i o n operated a veget a r i a n r e s t a u r a n t a t the h e a d q u a r t e r s
as a money-making v e n t u r e . One o f the
co-managers o f the r e s t a u r a n t was an
E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t , and i t appears c l e a r
t h a t the v e r y few i n c i d e n t s o f " m i l i tancy" i n Ontario during t h i s period
were t h e work o f a small c o l l e c t i o n o f
WSPU members t h a t remained i n Canada
a f t e r Mrs. Pankhurst's v i s i t as an
"advance guard."71
One such i n c i d e n t o c c u r r e d i n March
1910,
when, at a s e s s i o n o f the O n t a r i o
l e g i s l a t u r e , a woman i n the g a l l e r y
rose and made a s h o r t statement o b j e c t i n g t o the f a c t t h a t the l e g i s l a t u r e
had done n o t h i n g about e n f r a n c h i s i n g
women. The woman, O l i v i a S m i t h , a l though born i n Canada, had spent seve r a l y e a r s i n England, i s u s u a l l y r e f e r r e d t o as an Englishwoman, and was
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the WSPU.72 There appear t o have been few such i n c i d e n t s
p e r p e t r a t e d by Canadian women. D e n i son, commenting in November 1910
on
the f e a r s expressed by a c o n s e r v a t i v e
women's group s a i d : " I a s s u r e d them
t h e r e were o n l y two ' s u f f r a g e t t e s ' i n
Canada, and t h e s e we had t o import
from England. To be a s u f f r a g e t t e ,
you have t o abandon s e l f and work f o r the
the e m a n c i p a t i o n o f your sex.
I have
been t r y i n g t o a t t a i n t h i s d i s t i n c t i o n e v e r s i n c e I had the honor and
p r i v i l e g e , o f h e a r i n g t h a t master woman
Mrs. P a n k h u r s t , but I am m i l e s down
the mountain y e t . " 7 3
Denison h e r s e l f c e r t a i n l y wanted the
T o r o n t o women to take more v i g o r o u s
action.
She was h o p e f u l , f o r i n s t a n c e ,
t h a t the s u f f r a g e a s s o c i a t i o n s would
b e g i n h o l d i n g o p e n - a i r meetings and at
one p o i n t she seems to have b e l i e v e d
t h a t women i n Canada would e v e n t u a l l y
r e s o r t to m i l i t a n c y i n some form:
"the
s p i r i t i s s p r e a d i n g , and t h e r e i s no
t e l l i n g how soon Canada w i l l j o i n her
s p e c t a c u l a r s i s t e r s o f England and the
U.S."74 But i t appears t h a t among the
l e a d e r s h i p at l e a s t i t was t o Denison
a l o n e t h a t the s p i r i t had spread.
There i s no i n d i c a t i o n t h a t any o f the
o t h e r members o f the T o r o n t o l e a d e r s h i p were s i m i l a r l y a f f e c t e d by Mrs.
Pankhurst and the E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s .
Both Stowe-Gullen and Margaret Johnson
p u b l i c l y r e p u d i a t e d the use of m i l i tancy i n Canada d u r i n g the same p e r i o d
t h a t Denison was f i l l i n g her column
w i t h d e t a i l s of the WSPU s t r u g g l e s i n
Engl and.75 There appears, i n f a c t , t o
have been a s p l i t among the l e a d e r s h i p .
It must have been c l e a r t o F l o r a MacDonald Denison t h a t she c o u l d not manage a one-woman crusade and g r a d u a l l y
even the a c t i v i t y generated by the exc i t e m e n t o f Mrs. Pankhurst's 1909 v i s i t
l a p s e d . The headquarters on Yonge
S t r e e t , f o r instance, closed during
1911
f o r l a c k o f f i n a n c i a l support.76
Mrs. Pankhurst was w e l l - r e c e i v e d by the
s u f f r a g i s t s when she returned t o Toronto i n December 1911.
The autumn o f
1911,
l i k e the autumn o f 1909, was a l s o
a p e r i o d of c r i s i s f o r the WSPU.
Between November 1911
and March 1913,
the
government k i l l e d the C o n c i l i a t i o n B i l l
(an a l l - p a r t y measure d r a f t e d by a
group of p r o - s u f f r a g e MP's) a f t e r having
agreed t o g i v e i t f u l l f a c i l i t i e s f o r
passage; m i l i t a n c y , which had been suspended f o r a c o n s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d o f
t i m e , was once a g a i n renewed.
Mrs.
Pankhurst planned another American tour
at t h i s time to r a i s e money f o r the
WSPU and a l s o because she needed a
r e s t from p r i s o n and
hunger-striking.77
Although the s u f f r a g i s t ' s r e c e p t i o n of
Mrs. Pankhurst appears to have been
j u s t about as warm in 1911 as i t had
been in 1909, press r e a c t i o n was somewhat l e s s f a v o u r a b l e . The new wave o f
m i l i t a n c y in the autumn o f 1911 i n volved e x t e n s i v e window-breaking f o r
the f i r s t time and many of those who
had admired her in 1909 found that they
could not s t i l l do so. T h i s time the
front-page e d i t o r i a l coverage in
Saturday Night read:
"Why
should
Emmeline come over the ocean to t e l l
us her t r o u b l e s and the t r o u b l e s o f
o t h e r female window breakers?"78
But
she s t i l l a t t r a c t e d a s i z e a b l e crowd
in Toronto and some of the press coverage remained very f a v o u r a b l e .
In 1909, Toronto was Mrs. Pankhurst's
only Canadian engagement.
In
1911,
however, she went to Montreal, Port
A r t h u r , Winnipeg and V i c t o r i a as w e l l .
A l l o f these places had a nucleus of
s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m , enough at l e a s t to
generate an i n t e r e s t in hearing her
speak. But why was there s u f f r a g e act i v i s m in one c i t y r a t h e r than in another?
Why, f o r i n s t a n c e , was t h e r e an
a c t i v e s u f f r a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n at t h i s
time in Port A r t h u r / F o r t W i l l i a m and
not Regina? The answer may l i e p a r t l y
in the a c c i d e n t s of circumstance:
a
very small group of people could form
the nucleus o f a s u f f r a g e o r g a n i z a t i o n .
If they r e c e i v e d some encouragement from
the l o c a l p r e s s , they might then be
a b l e to generate i n t e r e s t in the subject.
That may have been what happened
in Port A r t h u r / F o r t W i l l i a m . There was
an Equal S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a t i o n there and
the F o r t Wi11iam Times-Journal
allowed
i t space in which to run i t s own column.
In t h i s column and on i t s own women's
page, the paper f e a t u r e d a c o n s i d e r a b l e
amount o f commentary about the needs of
working women ( s i g n i f i c a n t in a communi t y with an a c t i v e labour movement) and
about the importance of the s u f f r a g e . 7 9
When Mrs. Pankhurst appeared as the
guest o f the Equal S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a t i o n ,
the paper gave her good coverage.
In c o n t r a s t , one could have read the
Regina Leader d u r i n g these years and not
have known that there was a women's s u f frage question.
In the paper's general
news s e c t i o n , the s u f f r a g e news was
sparse.
The paper d i d not even run many
h o s t i l e s t o r i e s about the s u f f r a g e t t e s .
The Leader's women's page was almost exc l u s i v e l y devoted to r e c i p e s and household h i n t s .
At the time o f Mrs. Pankh u r s t ' s v i s i t to Winnipeg, the paper r e marked r a t h e r w i s t f u l l y that " f a i r
Saskatchewan"80 was being bypassed but
the Leader i t s e l f had done almost nothing to encourage an i n t e r e s t in her or
the cause she fought f o r .
J o u r n a l i s t i c i n d i f f e r e n c e d i d not prevent the growth o f s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m in
Saskatchewan, but i t c e r t a i n l y d i d not
do the s u f f r a g e cause any good,
In
Winnipeg, by c o n t r a s t , f e m i n i s t s e n t i ment emanated from a group of women
journalists.
I t has been p o i n t e d o u t
t h a t these f e m i n i s t women j o u r n a l i s t s
had l i n k s t o o t h e r s o r t s o f p r o g r e s s i v e a c t i v i s m . These t i e s t o urban
reform and t o t h e p r o g r e s s i v e f a r m e r s '
movement strengthened women's a c t i v i s m ,
gave i t support and a l s o served t o
mold t h e d i r e c t i o n i t took.
There were two newspapers p u b l i s h e d i n
Winnipeg which had p r o g r e s s i v e , a c t i v i s t women's page e d i t o r s , t h e Manitoba Free P r e s s and t h e G r a i n Grower's
Gu i de.
(The Guide, a l t h o u g h i t s c i r c u l a t i o n spread throughout the p r a i r i e s , was p u b l i s h e d from Winnipeg.)
The Gui de ran the more i n t e r e s t i n g
women's page.
I t s most well-known
women's page e d i t o r , F r a n c i s Marion
Beynon, took over t h e j o b i n June
1912.
Beynon's p r e d e c e s s o r ( s ) a l s o
took a s t r o n g i n t e r e s t i n the q u e s t i o n
of women's r i g h t s and she/they 81 a l s o
d i s p l a y e d a remarkable breadth o f
knowledge about f e m i n i s t t h e o r y and
about t h e course o f women's a c t i v i s m
not j u s t i n Canada but throughout the
w o r l d . The women's page e d i t o r s o f
the Guide were concerned w i t h the
l a b o u r , r i g h t s and d i g n i t y o f the farm
w i f e . They were a l l determined t h a t
her e s s e n t i a l c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the farm
economy be r e c o g n i z e d by p u b l i c o p i n i o n
and by the law. The e d i t o r who s i g n e d
h e r s e l f " I s o b e l " ran a v i g o r o u s campaign a g a i n s t the p r o v i s i o n s o f the
Homestead A c t , which b a r r e d a l l women
except widows w i t h c h i l d r e n from homes t e a d i n g on t h e i r own. The Gui de's
women's page emphasized the s u f f r a g e ,
which i t c o n t i n u a l l y l i n k e d t o t h e problems o f urban p o v e r t y , c h i l d c a r e and
the s o c i a l and economic r i g h t s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l women.
The Manitoba Free Press women's page
e d i t o r " L i l i a n L a u r i e " ( L i l i a n Beynon
Thomas) became the f i r s t p r e s i d e n t o f
the V/innipeg P o l i t i c a l E q u a l i t y League
in 1912. Her women's page, however,
ran much l e s s news about women's a c t i v ism and e s p e c i a l l y about s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m than d i d the women's page o f t h e
G r a i n Grower's Guide. Most o f the Free
Press woman's page i s devoted t o s e r v i c e
a r t i c l e s and human i n t e r e s t s t o r i e s .
L i l i a n Beynon Thomas' concern f o r the
problems o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s women i s r e f l e c t e d i n those s t o r i e s o f g e n e r a l i n t e r e s t that she d i d run.
Both the Guide and the Free Press ran
s t o r i e s on t h e i r women's pages about the
E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s b e f o r e the a r r i v a l o f
Mrs. Pankhurst. The Guide was the more
s y m p a t h e t i c o f the two papers. The same
a s p e c t s o f the s u f f r a g e t t e campaign t h a t
appealed t o F l o r a MacDonald Denison a l s o
appealed t o t h e women's page e d i t o r o f
the Guide.
She admired t h e i r s e l f s a c r i f i c e and t h e i r b r a v e r y . When two
women d i e d as a r e s u l t o f t h e i r t r e a t ment by the p o l i c e on " B l a c k F r i d a y "
(October 1910), she ran a s t o r y about
i t , s a y i n g that they had been b r u t a l l y
t r e a t e d . She emphasized the w o r k i n g c l a s s support f o r the movement.82 In
one s t o r y she t o l d o f an A l b e r t H a l l
meeting a t which w o r k i n g - c l a s s women
had dropped t h e i r wedding r i n g s i n t o
the c o l l e c t i o n box: " h a v i n g n o t h i n g
e l s e t o c o n t r i b u t e . . . they gave
t h e i r wedding r i n g s . Such s p l e n d i d
s e l f - s a c r i f i c e ; I wonder i f we have
such women i n the west."83
L i l i a n Beynon Thomas meanwhile e x p r e s sed doubts about the wisdom and the
j u s t i c e o f s u f f r a g e t t e t a c t i c s , and
urged Canadian women not t o employ m i l i t a n t t a c t i c s i n Canada. She agreed
t h a t the m i l i t a n t a c t i o n s had been d i s t o r t e d by the p r e s s , she a l l o w e d t h a t
c o n d i t i o n s i n England might be d i f f e r ent from those i n Canada, but she urged
Canadian women t o form s u f f r a g e organi z a t i o n s "on a sound and reasonable
b a s i s , marking t h e i r course by cond i t i o n s i n Canada and not by c o n d i t i o n s
elsewhere."84
She urged her f e l l o w
countrywomen not t o embark on a
" f i e r c e sex war." Thomas became somewhat l e s s n e g a t i v e about the m i l i t a n t s
themselves i f not about t h e i r methods
in the weeks b e f o r e Mrs. Pankhurst
a r r i v e d i n Winnipeg and, as w i t h the
Guide e d i t o r and w i t h Denison, i t i s
the s e l f - s a c r i f i c e o f the s u f f r a g e t t e s
t h a t won her sympathy: "No Canadian
. . . can ever wish to have such
scenes enacted here . . . but t h e r e must
be some very v i t a l reason t h a t would
make women, educated and cared f o r
. . . endure imprisonment, h a r d s h i p ,
r i d i c u l e and even death f o r t h i s
cause."85
Mrs. Pankhurst came t o Winnipeg i n
December 1911
as the guest o f the
U n i v e r s i t y Women's Club. She showed
h e r s e l f t o be s e n s i t i v e t o l o c a l c u r r e n t s o f o p i n i o n because she was c l e a r l y
aware of the s o c i a l concerns t h a t m o t i vated many o f the women who were symp a t h e t i c t o the s u f f r a g e i n Winnipeg.
She emphasized w o r k i n g - c l a s s support
f o r the WSPU and s t r e s s e d t h a t the
movement worked f o r the vote not as an
end i n i t s e l f , but as a p r e l u d e t o "a
whole program o^ s o c i a l l e g i s l a t i o n . "
She d i s c u s s e d the w h i t e s l a v e r y i s s u e .
She even touched on the homestead
i s s u e , w a r n i n g t h a t the " b e s t " s o r t o f
woman emigrant would p r e f e r A u s t r a l i a ,
or the western s t a t e s , where they c o u l d
be " f u l l c i t i z e n s , " t o Canada, where
women's r i g h t s were r e s t r i c t e d . 8 6
E d i t o r i a l comment i n both the Guide and
the Free P r e s s was f a v o u r a b l e . Chipman,
the e d i t o r o f the Guide, was e s p e c i a l l y
impressed by her statements about the
program of s o c i a l reform which would be
ushered i n by women's s u f f r a g e .
Both
papers commented t h a t her r e c e p t i o n
"showed t h a t i n Winnipeg was a w e a l t h
of untapped r e s o u r c e s f o r the r i g h t s of
women, t i l l now l y i n g dormant and
a w a i t i n g o n l y the c a l l t o awake."87 In
f a c t , the Winnipeg P o l i t i c a l E q u a l i t y
Club was launched j u s t a month a f t e r
her v i s i t ( i n January
1912). Was t h i s
in answer t o the " c a l l t o awake" u t t e r ed by Mrs. Pankhurst? Her v i s i t may
w e l l have had some e f f e c t .
In her
a u t o b i o g r a p h y , N e l l i e McClung mentions
i t as a c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r i n the
emergence o f s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m i n
Winnipeg at t h i s time.88 But her v i s i t
was p r o b a b l y not d e c i s i v e , a l t h o u g h i t
may have p r o v i d e d t h e f i n a l push. The
G r a i n Grower's Guide c a r r i e d r e p o r t s o f
two women's c o n v e n t i o n s e a r l y i n 1911,
one i n Regina and one i n Winnipeg. A t
the V/innipeg c o n v e n t i o n a number o f t h e
j o u r n a l i s t s who were t o be a c t i v e i n
the P o l i t i c a l E q u a l i t y League were
p r e s e n t and made speeches which r e l a t e d
to women's p l a c e i n s o c i e t y .
I t seems
f a i r l y c l e a r t h a t the women were coming
t o g e t h e r b e f o r e Mrs. P a n k h u r s t ' s v i s i t .
In h e r a u t o b i o g r a p h y , N e l l i e McClung
mentions the v i s i t o f a n o t h e r E n g l i s h
m i l i t a n t , Barbara W y l i e . B a r b a r a W y l i e
was the s i s t e r o f a member o f the
Saskatchewan l e g i s l a t u r e .
She made a
s p e a k i n g t o u r o f Canada i n SeptemberDecember o f 1912.
In terms o f i n f l u e n c e
on Canadian developments, i t i s h e r
v i s i t t o Regina t h a t was o f most importance. Mrs. Pankhurst had not v i s i t e d
Regina because t h e r e was no o r g a n i z a t i o n
in the c i t y t o i n v i t e her. But Barbara
W y l i e v i s i t e d Regina anyway, presumably
because o f h e r f a m i l y c o n n e c t i o n s t h e r e .
Regina was unused t o s u f f r a g i s t s , so a
s u f f r a g e t t e was a n o v e l t y indeed. "No
More L a d y l i k e L a d i e s i n R e g i n a " s a i d the
h e a d l i n e i n t h e Leader: " f o r t h e f i r s t
time i n her h i s t o r y , Regina i s t o be
t r e a t e d t o an e x p o s i t i o n o f t h e s u f f r a g e
movement — the m i l i t a n t branch a t
t h a t . " 8 9 W y l i e made a r o u s i n g speech
in Regina and urged t h e f o r m a t i o n o f
a s u f f r a g e s o c i e t y i n the c i t y . One
h i s t o r i a n dates the b e g i n n i n g o f an
a c t i v e s u f f r a g e movement i n S a s k a t c h -
ewan from Barbara W y l i e ' s v i s i t , and
i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t she p r o v i d e d a
d e c i s i v e impetus.90
Barbara W y l i e made a s e n s i b l e , i f
r a t h e r outspoken speech i n Regina and
she made t h e same s o r t o f speech i n
Winnipeg. But i t appears t h a t t h e i n t e n t i o n s w i t h which she came t o Canada
were o r i g i n a l l y d i f f e r e n t from those
which appeared on the s u r f a c e , and f a r
l e s s s e n s i b l e . There seems l i t t l e
doubt t h a t the WSPU sent Barbara W y l i e
to Canada on a m i s s i o n t o e s t a b l i s h a
branch o f the WSPU and c o n v e r t Canada
to m i l i t a n c y : a m i s s i o n both presumptuous and u n r e a l i s t i c . The i n c i d e n t
r e v e a l s the l a c k o f judgment from
which the WSPU was b e g i n n i n g t o s u f f e r
in 1912.
In August
1912 Prime Mini s t e r Borden was i n England. He was
v i s i t e d by a d e l e g a t i o n from the WSPU
who demanded t o know what he was going
to do about women's s u f f r a g e and about
the homestead a c t . The women t h r e a t ened him w i t h m i l i t a n c y i n Canada:
"your r e p l y t h i s morning w i l l r e g u l a t e
very much the k i n d o f a d v i c e we g i v e
our f r i e n d s i n Canada."91
F l o r a MacDonald Denison, the WSPU's
best f r i e n d i n Canada, q u i c k l y issued
a statement r e p u d i a t i n g the d e p u t a t i o n
to Borden,92 but the WSPU went ahead
anyway, and issued t h e i r own statement
s a y i n g t h a t the Union would " t a k e immediate s t e p s t o s t r e n g t h e n e x i s t i n g
o r g a n i z a t i o n s throughout the Dominion. "93
The f i r s t s t e p they took was
to send Barbara W y l i e on her speaking
t o u r , and a t her f i r s t two s t o p s , Quebec
and M o n t r e a l , she made m i l i t a n t
speeches. The c h i l l y r e c e p t i o n she r e c e i v e d must have made i t e v i d e n t t o
her t h a t the o r i g i n a l m i s s i o n was a
m i s t a k e , because her speeches became
p r o g r e s s i v e l y less i n s i s t e n t about t h e
need f o r m i l i t a n c y as she moved westward .
Barbara W y l i e ' s speaking tour r e p r e s e n t s the l a s t major p o i n t o f personal
i n t e r a c t i o n between the E n g l i s h m i l i t a n t s and the Canadian s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s t s . The i n f l u e n c e o f the WSPU on t h e
f o r t u n e s o f the Canadian movement i n
the p e r i o d a f t e r 1912 appears t o have
been uneven.
In T o r o n t o , f o r i n s t a n c e ,
F l o r a MacDonald Denison never wavered
in her support f o r the m i l i t a n t s , even
d u r i n g the arson campaign.
Indeed,
d u r i n g 1913, when she was a g a i n i n
Europe ( t h i s time f o r t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l
S u f f r a g e A l l i a n c e conference a t Budapest) she v i s i t e d England, spoke from
a WSPU p l a t f o r m and t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e
t h a t she j o i n e d the WSPU. Although she
maintained t h a t these a c t s r e p r e s e n t e d
personal r a t h e r than o r g a n i z a t i o n a l
support f o r the WSPU, h e r p o s i t i o n as
head o f the Canadian S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a t i o n was weakened, and i t appears t h a t
she r e s i g n e d from t h a t p o s i t i o n i n
October
1914 p a r t l y as a r e s u l t o f
p r e s s u r e from a n t i - m i 1 i t a n t a c t i v i s t s
i n Toronto.
With the outbreak o f the War, C h r i s t a b e l
and Mrs. Pankhurst t r a n s f o r m e d the WSPU
i n t o a j i n g o i s t i c pro-war o r g a n i z a t i o n
C h r i s t a b e l v i s i t e d T o r o n t o d u r i n g her
North American t o u r i n November 1914
but she spoke about the e v i l s o f Germany, r a t h e r than about the s u f f r a g e .
Mrs. Pankhurst r e t u r n e d t o Canada both
d u r i n g and a f t e r the War and i n the
post-war p e r i o d she l i v e d here f o r a
w h i l e , but her post-war a c t i v i t i e s i n
Canada, a l t h o u g h i n t e r e s t i n g , a r e beyond t h e scope o f t h i s paper.94
Canadian s u f f r a g e a c t i v i s m was i n f l u enced by E n g l i s h m i l i t a n c y , but o n l y by
those a s p e c t s o f the m i l i t a n t movement
which g e n u i n e l y f i t t e d the s i t u a t i o n i n
Canada. The s e l f - s a c r i f i c e t h a t F l o r a
MacDonald Denison and o t h e r s responded
to was p r e s e n t i n the movement, but
o t h e r q u a l i t i e s , which seemed l e s s cong e n i a l t o the Canadian a c t i v i s t s , were
a l s o p r e s e n t . The s u f f r a g e t t e s ' supp o r t e r s i n Canada s i m p l y ignored those
f a c t s from which they d i d not f e e l they
c o u l d draw s t r e n g t h .
It i s revealing
t h a t t h e Canadian opponents o f t h e s u f f r a g e t t e s were much more l i k e l y t o be
aware o f the d i v i s i o n s i n the m i l i t a n t
movement and the a u t o c r a c y w i t h which
the WSPU was run than were the m i l i tants' supporters in t h i s country.
But why d i d the s e l f - s a c r i f i c e r a t h e r
than t h e anger o f the m i l i t a n t s appeal
t o the Canadian a c t i v i s t s ? The E n g l i s h
and Canadian women shared much o f the
same c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e ; why i s i t t h a t
England produced a s t r o n g s u f f r a g e t t e
movement w h i l e Canada produced o n l y a
r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l number o f s u f f r a g i s t s ?
Was i t t r u e , as George D a n g e r f i e l d
s a y s , t h a t E n g l i s h s o c i e t y was undergoing a major t r a n s f o r m a t i o n at t h i s
time and t h a t the main m a n i f e s t a t i o n
of t h i s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n was i r r a t i o n a l i t y ? There may be some t r u t h i n
t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , but i n my v i e w i t
s e r v e s t o e x p l a i n the response o f soc i e t y t o the s u f f r a g e t t e s more s a t i s f a c t o r i l y than i t e x p l a i n s the beh a v i o u r o f the s u f f r a g e t t e s .
Militancy u n q u e s t i o n a b l y had i t s own momentum, and l e d i t s proponents t o unc h a r a c t e r i s t i c b e h a v i o u r , but i t s
o r i g i n s a r e t o be found i n r a t i o n a l ,
w e l l - f o u n d e d f r u s t r a t i o n . The m i l i t a n t s ' own i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e i r beh a v i o u r — t h a t they had t r i e d a l l the
usual methods and had met w i t h f a i l u r e
- - i s i n some ways the most s a t i s f a c t o r y . The same t h i n g c o u l d have happened i n Canada had the s u f f r a g e not
been a c h i e v e d when i t was.
The most important c o n t r i b u t i o n t h a t
E n g l i s h and American feminism made t o
Canadian women a c t i v i s t s was t o p r o v i d e them w i t h a sense o f c o n n e c t i o n
to an e n t i t y l a r g e r than the a d m i t t e d l y
small group o f a c t i v i s t s w o r k i n g i n any
Canadian l o c a l i t y .
Some Canadian women
sought out such a c o n n e c t i o n more than
o t h e r s d i d : they were the " i n t e r nationalists."
F l o r a MacDonald Denison
i s one example.
E.M. Murray, a r e l a t i v e l y obscure Nova S c o t i a f e m i n i s t i s
a n o t h e r . When she was an o l d woman i n
the 1940s, E.M. Murray wrote a s e r i e s
of l e t t e r s t o C a t h e r i n e C l e v e r d o n , i n
one o f which she s a i d : "The s u f f r a g e t t e movement i n B r i t a i n had i t s e f fect.
It d i d n ' t appeal to us t o c h a i n
o u r s e l v e s t o P a r l i a m e n t r a i l i n g s or to
be a r r e s t e d and undergo hunger s t r i k e s
but we f e l t t e r r i b l y s t i r r e d over the
t e r r i f i c f i g h t they were making f o r
freedom."95
E.M. Murray's comments b r i n g us back t o
an i s s u e d i s c u s s e d at the b e g i n n i n g o f
t h i s paper. E.M. Murray, F l o r a MacDonald Denison, N e l l i e McC1ung--these
women and o t h e r s as w e l l f e l t t h a t
they were p a r t o f an i n t e r n a t i o n a l
movement f o r s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l
change. They f e l t connected w i t h women
in Canada and elsewhere who were working f o r the same ends. While i t i s
t r u e t h a t t h e r e a r e problems r e l a t e d t o
the concept o f a "woman's movement," i t
would seem mistaken t o attempt an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the growth o f women's
e m a n c i p a t i o n which d i s c a r d e d the n o t i o n .
Such an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n would be p a r a l l e l
to the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s
h i s t o r y i n vogue a few decades ago which
a t t r i b u t e d the a m e l i o r a t i o n o f w o r k i n g c l a s s l i f e t o the t e c h n o l o g i c a l e f f i c i e n c y o f i n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l i s m , and
denied the e x i s t e n c e o f a w o r k i n g - c l a s s
movement. In the case o f both women
and the p r o l e t a r i a t , such a d e t e r m i n i s t i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n v i o l a t e s the
a u t h e n t i c f e e l i n g s o f human beings who
l i v e d i n the past and l e f t records o f
t h e i r f e e l i n g s . Women i n B r i t a i n , the
U n i t e d S t a t e s , Canada and i n o t h e r
p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d f e l t and s a i d t h a t
t h e y w e r e p a r t o f a movement.
Even I f
the v a l i d i t y o f t h e i r b e l i e f s i s quest i o n e d , t h e s e b e l i e f s h a v e t o be t a k e n
i n t o a c c o u n t i n any a t t e m p t a t an h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the changes
i n women's p o s i t i o n d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d .
be1
Pankhurs t ,
Pankhurst,
p.
1 nq
the
police
arson)
in
the
of
Emne
iew
as
have
o*
Toronto
1 10,
fc-ct
by
Pp.
Star ,
that
it
the
oriqinated
the
sexual
stone
bru-
1909.
p-
11.
and
1935^ ,
organization
that
of
so
the
WSPU
many
of
is
the
(5 t o n e - t h r o w i n q , h u n q e r s t r i k i n g ,
b u t f rom t h e
tie
leadersh
fro-'
Conf1 i ct
after
the
13,
(London ,
interesting
WSPU
not
of
139-142.
Novc
the
is
occurred
G
account
Pankhurs t
the
used
18,
full
occasion.
"autocratic"
C o n s c r i p t Jon
27.
this
iphant
t cc>"i quts
should
or.
t- L i f e
123.
described
js.,allv
s i qn i f i c a - !
2i.
d a y " , November
"31ac^
•quo.
R o s e n g i ves a ve r y
cidc-nt,
1947).
(London,
esp.
Chapter
18
?8.
29-
At
least
Lady
during
W.
Thonnes5en,
soc ia l i s t
tion
As
an
menr
and
1 1
(New
Barbara
5.
the
example,
justice
4.
York,
1965)''The
Castell
Hopkins,
1^13
gives
naij'e
3
Annual
.
This
an
paper
r
1866 was
the
of
C.
Rowhotham,
.
Rover
The
of
fit
l i t t l e
arqunpnts
the
connec-
conferences,
as
the
Canadian
Move-
of
u
7.
the
6
book,
se,
o n t o__G_l
October
even
account
of
space.
3,
a 11
I
1912,
the
have
is
pre-
tie
an
Victoria
accou-t
1900
id
cam pa
'•i J o h n S t u a r t
,
Hi stor
1973)
for
Politics
of
the
in
Britain
H i dden
from
this
History,
pp.
9O-98.
that
tnat
the
I LP ' s
exc'ucec
the
urst
';e.-;
Hall
os e n .
w>~en.
formation
was
Rise
Up,
of
being
the
used
Wc-en !
WSPU was
by
a
branch
'Lon^--,
107M
of
1 bi
Pankhurst.
The
P.
39,
"
After
from
ff.
the
the
For
her.
C.
~
—
in
Christabel,
Pankhurst,
(p.
'London,
Pankhurst
and
it
true
Christabel
was
Labour
new
24i
The
book
uses
however,
Unshackled
Rosen
1911
Sylvia
their
Rosen's
Pankhurst
Movement
agrees .
—
Dangerfield,
C.
Andrew
of
1?14,
abandoned
example,
1936).
Sylvia
Suffragette
expulsion
WSPU
completely
1963) by
t^at
past,
Strange
is
this
dates
(London,
also
date,
the
but
the
not
Death
and
P-
Mrs.
before
of
most
46.
London
and
with
an
even
Great
her
B.C.
but
all
the
sex
qo
what
some
they
as
saw
(
k
were
in
he
i t '1
charge
millenarian
t^inqs
sources
in
Canada
Class
tnpir
analogy
working
black
supply
The
Paren chood
Leslie
of
at
™
in
Women
that
servant
at
Work:
this
p.
by
the
'
Work:
and
Kle
English
And
1954).
Century
~
at
Ontar
Revolut
Working
for
O n t a r o.
'
Robe r t s .
Industrial
"concet n"
before
vir-
Clc-verdon,
the
'
Wome
the
back
had
C.
ve i 1 e d
Class
Ontario
a des i
97.
20.
papers
(Box
I
tc
is
2^ ,
obtained
from
Association
University
explore
influence
n
O
f
T
Canaciai
Toronto
o
jeniso 's
dated
the
letterheads
f
Marc
orontO
in
ge
Association
MacDonaId
t'
and
Den i s o n
Library
f
future
u r t he r
pape r
us t a S t o w e - G u
27
L ib
dated
Evervorie
earlier
meeting.
Toronto
45-
Marc".
21
Saturday
Night ,
was
'
5ray_e_
December
(Chicago,
23.
'911,
1 <?69) .
P-
46.
47.
fo
and
19741.
of
~
does
of
of
girls,
Turn
and
(London,
some
ed.,
the
article
Making
See
2nd
'
Toronto,'as
the
dating
movement
isolated.
Women W o r k e r s
Thompson,
and
activities
Manitoba
was
(Toronto,
*
about
especially
maintains
had
Toronto
=
(London,
follow
s
1
neces o
doing
the
His
about
Rosen
off
he's
level
about
s
1
st-^us
suffraqettes
earlier
group
Pankhurst
England
the
nd i ca t e d
Scour
marital
love.
The
when
d i roc t i n g
(Victoria
does
the
on
in
far.
Victoria
Working
E.P.
Genevieve
Leslie
good
the
Pinchbeck
and
Suffrage
militancy.
secondary
from
Victoria,
1974),
I.
i de
Federation
fed
that.
Liberal
preoccupied
beqinninq
1959),
East
goal,
1.
Prosper ity
a
Black
Chr s ta
in
explains
accepts
too
The
that
Indeed,
unhappy
was
context
about
really
he
it
information
information
Toronto
S.
valuable
all
Movement
p.
see
1930)
This
30
if
in
interested
charts
never
were
and
Hogtown:
(London,
C1eve rdon
,
29.
he
of
Cleverdon,
(Toronto,
Banks,
on
forcibly
1912.
anrees
s t i l l
very
pushes
and
to
1974) ,
Britain,
maintain
the
beinq
—
provides
Genevieve
of
he
Suffrage
Kea1ey,
article
precipitating
Is
f
lot
understandable
(London,
J.
fully.
71 .
a
they
Ontario
1850-1930
1866-1914
now)
since
disappeared
Woman
For
brutality
of
becau
in
oamphlet.
he
interpreted
wonderinc
but
according
Kealey,
instance.
but
left
although
whole
has
there
Christabel's
us
the
he
_
(Torot.io,
i nt r o d u c e d .
Mi
police
terms.
tually
G.S.
that
made- that
Manitoba,
Sylvi
The
5
is
the
effects
isolated,
flight
odd when
to
on
suggestive,
wh i t e
Da i I y
of
one
rational,
a
not
In
m
odd
is
her
Rosen,
less
tanqents:
enemies
R
firs;
thought
very
of
the
Wharton."
especially
after
lesbian.
which
sary
them,
Suf f r
1
seem
"Jane
of
agree.
was
Paris
WSPU m e m b e r s ,
13)
o f n m
a
as
effects
died
139-214.
Pankhurst
from
was
sex
1909,
fro-
movement
the
Lytton
memoirs
pp.
lot
r-
:i -
tour
Pankhurst
Christabel
she
Publ
exam
p.
the
from
imprisonment
Dangerfield
situation?
1973) ,
I
All
her
died
Constance
31 - D a n g e r f i e l d ,
32.
"from
Woman S u f f r a g e
30.
PP • 9
discusses
d I s co v e r y
ILP
Still
P a r k-IU
for
Sc t e n d
Women
i mned i a t e ,
the
be
i
effer
lgil,
Hidden
Rover,
p .
of
r">ca'..T
M^s .
December
the
.
,
not
\ See
21,
(London , I 967) ,
bid.
does
year
Co
Rowbotham,
e.g.
V
genuine
to
'He
tn
I9' 2.
intercstinc
World,
amendmen t
'jf
instance,
favorable
Pankhurst's
S.
or
December
Toronto
eas
I
Fngland
Be
Canadian
Re / i ew ,
account
very
Times ,
suffrage
o
The
r
1969) ,
seems
international
I 905.
tours.
yiven
list
Canadian
account
h
Canadian
c
The
r e
Ij,
'
they
and
"there
bu
analysis
Women n f
Suffer
good
nf
December
Do
(Frankfurt,
Wo mo
non-soci
expediency"
J.
dary
and
Kraditor's
fed.),
was
8.
A.
"from
Kanner,
nf
internationalism,
Vicinus
war
7.
E m a n c i p a t 1 on
socialist
M.
p.
6.
The
feminist
between
two women
Friday.
Flora
MacDonald
Denison
in
ison's
Srraohook
no.
(Deni son
M l
the
Sunday
World,
papers) .
December
19,
1909,
ff'
the
48.
H. R i d l e y ,
A S y n o p s i s o f Woman S u f f r a g e
S t o w e - G u l l e n memorabe1ia s c r a p b o o k .
27,
March
49.
i n Canada
Also
S e e Lady A b e r d e e n ' s p a m p h l e t , " P r e s i d e n t ' s
quennial Meeting."
Papers o f the N a t i o n a l
P u b l i c A r c h i v e s o f Canada.
NCW m i n u t e
Denison
called
(n.d.),
p.
s e e E v e n i n g News
In
12.
book, J u l y
continued to publish
" T h e Open
Road
a column
i n t h e Sunday W o r l d
after
this
10,
52
Toronto
T o r o n t o News, J u n e
54.
Idem.
55-
Dr. S t o w e - G u l l e n , Dr. G o r d o n a n d M r s . Yeomans a l l e x p r e s s e d s y m p a t h y f o r
the s u f f r a g e t t e s .
Lady T a y l o r o f H a m i l t o n (an a n t i - s u f f r a g i s t ) and M r s .
T o r r t n g t o n , Chairman o f the T o r o n t o L o c a l C o u n c i l , e x p r e s s e d t h e i r d i s approval.
NCW m i n u t e b o o k , O c t o b e r 3 0 , 1908, NCW p a p e r s , Volume 20.
1907-
Clipping
Clipping
in Stowe-Gullen
i n Denison's
no.
2 7 , 1909.
T o r o n t o News, M a r c h
clipping
57-
The words o f H e r b e r t G l a d s t o n e
from S t o w e - G u l l e n
i n a memorandum t o G r e y .
Quoted
P . 127.
59.
For
94.
L i fe.
Toronto, see Votes
60. T o r o n t o
Saturday Night,
61. T o r o n t o
G l o b e , November 2 2 , 1909.
62.
All
the E n g l i s h
Smith--e.g.,
to o f f e r
a seal
November
2 7 , 1909,
mention
her meeting w i t h
10, 1909,
0.
170.
Gotdwln
This
seemed
of recognition.
2 2 , 1909,
G l o b e , November
64.
Toronto
World, October
65.
Toronto
Mail
66.
S a t u r d a y N i g h t , December 4 , 1909, p. 27.
b e e n a b l e to' i d e n t i f y " L a d y G r e y . "
18, 1909,
and E m p i r e , O c t o b e r
P. 5.
Sunday W o r l d .
68.
C. P a n k h u r s t , p. 83.
69.
Denison's
column,
On h e r v i ews
no. 1.
Sunday W o r l d ,
Sunday W o r l d ,
i n 1908:
December
26,
Tee
1909.
Denison's
"Open
Road
' c o l u m n , May 7 ,
P a n k h u r s t , U n s h a c k l e d , o. 186.
77.
C.
78.
Saturday
Night,
December
23,
1911.
75. E.g., F o r t Wj11i am T i m e s - J o u r n a 1 , December
f a c t o r y w o r k e r s need t h e v o t e .
Grower'
October
Manitoba
15,
19",
to identify
Guide,
F e b r u a r y 22
Free P r e s s ,
Janua ry
I 6,
I b i d . , December
5, 19",
I b i d . , December
18, 1 9 " , P. I.
'c'lie
1909,
P-
6.
"Lady
McClung,
12
P- 6 on why women
19",
P- 2.
" I s o b e l " or
•
1911,
"Mary
Ford."
They
may be t h e
37.
1911,
P
p. 9.
G r e y ' s " column.
I haven't
Christine
History,
31,
the Saint
Denison
The Stream
R e g i n a L e a d e r , December
See d r a f t o f s p e e c h t o T o r o n t o s u f f r a g e g r o u p a f t e r h e r r e t u r n f r o m
C o p e n h a g e n i n 1906:
D e n i s o n p a p e r s , Box 5: a n d a l s o u n i d e n t i f i e d 1906
c l i p p i n g o f a D e n i s o n c o l u m n i n t h e u n s o r t e d map c a s e c l i p p i n g s , D e n i s o n
papers.
III.
book
i t s closIng :
1910.
1910.
Idem.
P- 525,
n
On M a r c h 3 0 , 1911,
t h e News r a n a s t o r y a b o u t an a l l e g e d T o r o n t o s u f f r a g e t t e , M i s s Browne, who " w o u l d w e l c o m e a t e r m i n j a i l . "
Dr. Margaret
Johnson, s e c r e t a r y o f the T o r o n t o S u f f r a g e A s s o c i a t i o n wrote a l e t t e r
r e p u d i a t i n g m i l i t a n c y a n d d e n y i n g t h e e x i s t e n c e o f M i s s Browne.
News,
A p r i l 6, 1911.
Both from S t o w e - G u l l e n Notebook.
Grain
170.
p.
f o r Women, December
Toronto
70.
P- '70.
PP' 9S ,
I b i d . , December 2 0 , 191
19"
1 . p. 23.
63-
67.
1909,
(Map Case C
f r o m Owen Sound.
75.
27,
12,
I have n o t been a b l e
same p e r s o n .
P-
suffragette reports
see Votes
10,
f o r Women, December
I913
1910.
no. 111.
I b i d . , June
R e g i n a L e a d e r , December
Pankhurst,
3,
April
30,
Scrapbook
1911 .
1
fn Rosen,
the T o r o n t o S t a r ,
s a y s s h e was o r i q i n a l l y
renison
I b i d . , November
II.
Scrapbook.
from
Papers)
see Suniay World, O c t o b e r
n o . 111.
M a r c h 2 7 , ISIi
74.
Scrapbook.
Scrapbook
Denison's column,
73.
On
56.
58.
Denison
date
53
2 5 , 1906.
Sunday _Wo r l _ d ,
A clipping
t o Democracy."
News, December
F o r t h e h e a d q u a r t e r s and r e s t a u r a n t ,
Denison's column, Denison S c r a p b o o k ,
72.
Memorandum o n t h e F o u r t h Q u i n C o u n c i l o f Women, Volume 20,
1910.
5,
71.
clipping,
1909.
'909.
D e n i s o n S c r a p b o o k no.
J o h n , N.P,
Scrapbook,
Sun. D e n i s o n
no.
111.
Scrap
Toronto
Macdonald,
Runs ^ a s t
10,
"How S a s k a t c h e w a n
(October, l°48,
G l o b e , August
(Toronto,
1965,
first
p u b . 1945).
1912.
pp.
Women g o t t h e V o t e , "
Saskatchewan
1-8).
29, 1912, d . 7.
I dem.
Ibid.,
August
30, 1912,
p. I .
F o r D e n i s o n ' s v i e w s on t h e WSPU i n 1913,
s e e h e r Sunday W o r l d c o l u m n
" S t r a y L e a v e s f r o m a S u f f r a g e t t e ' s N o t e b o o k " n.d. b u t c l e a r l y l a t e summer
19)3, i n u n s o r t e d 'lap Case C l i p p i n g s , D e n i s o n p a p e r s .
For s p l i t in the
T o r o n t o movement, and a n t i - m i 1 i t a n t s e n t i m e n t , s e e a r t i c l e f r o m t h e S t a r
W e e k l y . M a r c h 2 1 , 1914, i n u n s o r t e d Map C a s e C l i p p i n g s , D e n i s o n p a p e r s .
E.M. M u r r a y
Archives
t o C. C l e v e r d o n , J u l y
o f Canada-
3 0 , 1946.
Cleverdon papers.
Public