TACTICS
[Mr. Cholmeley's article contains many valuable criticisms, but it would hardly be accepted by most of the other contributors to this volume, certainly not by me. In the first place Mr. Cholmeley seems hardly aware of the extent to which the "shock tactics" of the Westminster demonstrations was deliberately planned for the end which he admits they have fulfilled. Again, we have two guides only to the opinions of the average British working man on the subject: By repeated declarations, through their Trade Unions, working men have declared, by enormous majorities, in favour of universal, not merely manhood suffrage; the recent conference of the Labour Party at Belfast, representing nearly a million Trade Unionists, while rejecting unfortunately the so-called "limited" bill, was absolutely unanimous in favour of "votes for women." Again, working men form the vast majority of the present electorate, and that electorate, only last year, returned to the House of Commons 420 men pledged to Women's Suffrage. As against these facts what is there to prove Mr. Cholmeley's assertions that " Women's Suffrage is not a democratic policy yet," and that " the working class have still got to be converted to it?" In view, too, of the above large Parliamentary majority, and the striking simplicity of the Bill drafted by the Labour Party and quoted in the introduction to this volume, what is there to justify his assertion that Women's Suffrage is "not yet a matter of practical politics?" Is nothing "practical politics" until it has been accepted by Mr. Asquith?—B. V.]
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