1913: The Warning to the Women's Social and Political Union

Dear ladies of Great Britain,

I beg of you to stop your violent actions. I have formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage to gain suffrage through peaceful negotiations and promotion but your new organization is pushing our movement too far. I suggest that the Women's Social and Political Union stop their violent behavior immediately. I know that your organization started up as a peaceful organization. However, your recent actions, such as interrupting a political meeting in Manchester to ask two Liberal politicians (Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey) if they believed women should have the right to vote and then shouting at the said politicians is not acceptable. Yes, I’m talking to you, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney. I suggest you to stop destroying public property, stop burning down churches, stop vandalizing Oxford Street, stop chaining yourself to the Buckingham Palace and statues and hurting police officers. Pay your taxes and stop attacking politicians. This is getting you nowhere. You are only hurting yourself and sending yourself to prison and what do you do there? You starve yourself to death and let them force feed you. Yes, at first people felt sorry for you but if you are aware of the recent developments of this movement, this starvation is no longer working. Police is just letting you starve yourself till you’re exhausted and then letting you out and you’re throwing yourself back into there. Do you know what they call this? The Cat and Mouse Act with us as the mice and them as the cats. Think of how pathetic we look in their eyes? This is an embarrassment to the whole female population.

I know that the waiting is killing hope and that we are moving very slowly to our goal but this is not going to help. Actions speak louder than words. No matter how educated we sound when we talk, if we act like barbarians, they will treat us like barbarians. Do you want men to take away our right to keep our children because now that we are acting violently, they can’t trust us with educating children? Do you want universities to reject your daughters just because our actions prove us to be uneducated? Please, reconsider your actions and stop this barbaric behavior before we will be left with no rights what so ever.