To the Editor of The Newcastle Daily Journal “Votes for Women”
Emily Davison’s quick wit and relentless determination to advocate for the cause of
woman suffrage lay behind the brief, witty narrative of this letter which was also
sent with minor variation to The Newcastle Daily Chronicle. Under the title “Equal to
the Occasion” it was published in the The North Mail on Sept. 19, 1912, and in The
Morpeth Herald on Sept. 20th, 1912. This letter also published on Thursday, Nov. 7,
1912 in The Standard, raising the question of whether she kept a copy for subsequent
submissions, or whether the paper delayed delay publishing. The logistics of her letter
writing campaign remain largely a mystery whose solution must be prised out of
incidental details.
Longhorsley, Northumberland
Sir, — Those who carry out the machinery of the law have very often more sense
of justice and more of a saving sense of humour than those who put the laws
on the Statute book! Yesterday, the Revising Barrister for the district visited
Longhorsley to revise claims for the Parliamentary vote. As a militant, I felt that
the chance was not to be lost. Cutting the big ‘Votes for Women’ heading from
our W.S.P.U. weekly, I supplied words above and below, so that my message
ran thus:–
‘May you soon be Revising
VOTES FOR WOMEN
As Well as for Men!’
I enclosed it in an envelope, addressed: ‘To the Revising Barrister,
Longhorsley School Room.’ The missive was entrusted to one of the school
children, who came back with the message: ‘Tell Miss Emily Davison the claim is
allowed!’
Brevity is the soul of wit and the salt of life!
EMILY WILDING DAVISON
17th Sept., 1912