The Women's Victory—and After: Personal Reminiscences, 1911-1918 — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Women's Victory—and After: Personal Reminiscences, 1911-1918
John Stuart Mill · en
On the reassembling of the new House the Conciliation Bill Committee
was reformed, Lord Lytton and Mr. Brailsford again acting respectively
as chairman and hon. secretary. The Bill was redrafted on the same
lines as regards its provisions, but in a form which admitted of free
amendment. Our friends were lucky in the ballot, and the debate and
division taking place on May 5th, 1911, it was found that the majority
of 110 in 1910 had grown to a majority of 167 in 1911—only 88 Members
voting against it.
Militantism, or, as it would now be called, "direct action," had been
suspended from the beginning of 1911 in view of Mr. Asquith's promise
to grant time for "proceeding effectively" with all the stages of a
Suffrage Bill during that Session. It should be noted that these two
suffrage victories in the House of Commons in July, 1910, and May,
1911, had taken place, in each case, when Members were fresh from
contact with their constituencies after the General Elections of
January and December, 1910. The contrary was often most ignorantly, if
not maliciously, asserted by antisuffragists. After the big majority
for the Conciliation Bill in May, 1911, Mr. Lloyd George promised
that in the next Session a week of Government time should be given
for the Second Reading and further stages of the Bill, assuming, of
course, its having received a Second Reading. Sir Edward Grey further
explained the value of this offer, and said (June 1st, 1911) that
a definite opportunity had been promised to the House of Commons,
and that it was important that people should understand that it was
a "real opportunity," and "not a bogus offer." In a letter to Lord
Lytton, dated June 15th, Mr. Asquith endorsed what Sir Edward Grey (now
Viscount Grey of Fallodon) had said; and writing again on August 23rd,
he made it clear that his promise applied to the Conciliation Bill,
and not to any other women's suffrage measure. Therefore it was not
astonishing that suffragists of all shades of opinion had high hopes of
a real victory in the Session of 1912.