tence of women! “Poor women!” The overburdened mothers, the sweated
workers, the outcasts of the streets, the orphan of the Workhouse.’^36 When
Hardie drew no place in the ballot on 21 February, Emmeline despaired. Hardie
reassured her that there was hope if they could find an MP who had drawn one
of the first fourteen places. One such member, Dr. Shipman, had pledged to
another ILP member, Mrs. J. R. MacDonald, that he would sponsor a bill quali-
fying women for election to local government bodies. Emmeline’s plea to them
both to give preference to the more important measure for women’s parliamen-
tary voting rights was all to no avail. The only member who had not said ‘no’
was the Liberal MP Bamford Slack, who had drawn fourteenth place in the
ballot, and was not in the Commons that day. Hardie immediately telephoned
to ascertain Bamford Slack’s whereabouts while Emmeline and Isabella set off
in a hansom to search for him. When found, Bamford Slack was persuaded to
introduce the measure. Writing to the London-based suffragist Dora Montefiore
on 19 February 1905, Emmeline recounted the event, expressing her disgust
with the lack of support from members of the NUWSS as well as her concern
over Adela’s health:
I got home last night very tired, to find my younger girl in bed with a
slight attack of pleurisy. Fortunately, she is getting better.
Would you believe it, that with the exception of Miss Ford, none of
the W.S. women came to help either on Wednesday night or on
Thursday. ... The official Suffragists never made a sign. ... All this
makes me feel that years have been lost. If women had worked in the
House as the trade unionists do, we should have had Members battling
for us session after session. This time we owe it all to Keir Hardie, but
we have no right to expect M.P.’s to do more for us than they do for
others. The people who secured good places for their measures have
done so because they have lobbied incessantly for years.
Of course, it is horrid work, but it has to be done. ... Now we must
get to work to get pressure brought to bear on Members by petitions,
deputations, lobbying etc., in support of the Bill. Is it possible to form a
Women’s Parliamentary Committee in London to do this lobbying
work? The old-fashioned and official gang will never do it. I have no
confidence in them.^37The Women’s Enfranchisement Bill was set down for 12 May but only as
Second Order of the day which meant that anti-suffragists could, if they so
desired, talk it out by prolonging discussion of a First Order measure, a bill to
compel carts travelling along public roads at night to carry a light at the rear.
Those promoting the latter refused to yield to Hardie’s plea to withdraw it so
that Emmeline became ‘almost frenzied’ at the foolishness of men who could
hold this ‘ “trumpery little measure” ’, as she termed it, against the citizenship
claims of women.^38 Despite this drawback, Emmeline recalled that a ‘thrill of
FOUNDATION AND EARLY YEARS OF THE WSPU