August 21, 1912, Story from The Newcastle Daily Journal

Davison used this brief story, with its quiet North country humor, as a means of

responses kept the stories and letters they addressed alive in readers’ minds.

Here (says the Evening Dispatch) is a little extract of humour out of the acrid

Insurance Act. In the Border district, near Kelso, a farmer ruefully contemplated

the sixteen cards of his farm servants. ‘Well,’ he says to the steward, ‘I’ll pay the

women’s insurance, but no’ the men’s!’ ‘What’s that for?’ asked the steward.

‘It’s the men’s votes that has dune a this, no the women’s. They had naething to

da w’it,’ was the explanation!

Davison’s response: To the Editor of The Newcastle Daily Journal, “Votes for

Women”

[this is a version of letter written same day Aug. 22, and published Aug 24 in

The Birmingham Evening Dispatch]

Sir,– The story from The Evening Dispatch of the logical Kelso farmer quoted

in your issue of August 21st serves a delightful double purpose. It points the

moral to adorn the tale of votes from women to the Government, which taxes

women without so much as a ‘by your leave,’ and tried to force down their throats

laws such as the Insurance Act, in which they have had no say, thereby directly

violating their own party principles.

The story also shows that many an ordinary decent working man like the

Kelso farmer has far more sense of justice and logic than the peddling politicians

whom he puts into office, and somewhat rashly allows to do as they like. Let him

just remember for one moment that if he likes to assert himself he is the

sovereign power in this country, and seeing that ‘union is strength,’ can soon

make the Government pay for introducing measures of which he does not

approve; whilst, also, he has the power to force it to do justice to women by

acknowledging them as part of the sovereign people.

EMILY WILDING DAVISON

22 August, 1912