How to Stop Hunger Striking

Emily Davison — Thu, 26 Sep 1912 00:01:04 +0000

September 26, 1912, To the Editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, “How to Stop Hunger

Striking”

Bare months before the 1913 Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act, also

known as the “Cat and Mouse” Act, because of the way that hunger-striking and

forcibly-fed suffragettes would be let out of prison to recuperate, and, when sufficiently

well, were re-arrested and taken back to jail, Emily Davison wrote this response to

The Pall Mall Gazette’s story suggesting that suffragette prisoners be allowed to starve

for two days, be released for a week’s recuperation, and then re-incarcerated. Her

second paragraph rebuttal uses her own experience to point out the folly of such

a scheme, for it would transform a three week sentence into a protracted period

of “freedom” alternating with imprisonment. She also wonders, given Christabel

Pankhurst’s successful escape to France, how efficient the police force would be in

rounding up suffragettes once they had been released. The letter was written from

Brighton on Sept. 24th.

Sir,– May I comment on the Gilbertian suggestion made in your columns that, in

order to find a way of dealing with our Suffragist prisoners, the authorities should

allow us to starve for two days and then release us, say, for a week, and so on,

toties quoties [repeatedly] till the sentence expires?

On July 30, 1909, I was sentenced and began a hunger strike, which

lasted five and a half days, when I was released. I was nursed up and kindly

treated at home till September 4, 1909, when I was once more imprisoned, and

again made a hunger-strike. I was released after two and a half days as it was

my second hunger strike. The absurdity of your correspondent’s suggestion, due

to want of actual experience, is now evident, for this is how matters went for me

in the days when we only hunger-struck without being forcibly fed, and I suppose

the authorities knew what they were about. At this rate the period for hunger-

striking would soon vanish, and the intervals for recovery between would

increase proportionately so that the whole time was release!

Again, in such a case how would the authorities secure the return of the

prisoner? She certainly would not walk back and surrender herself! To judge by

the marvelous ingenuity shown in the search for Miss Christabel Pankhurst, the

whole available force of constables and detectives would find their work well and

usefully cut out. If the Suffragist prisoners were many in number (as in March)

the unfortunate taxpayer would be severely touched in his pocket which, of

course, he would deserve!

Finally, may the authorities be inspired to try to experiment, as they will

soon come to the conclusion that it would be far easier to yield the vote to

women.

Yours, etc.,

EMILY WILDING Davison

13, Victoria-road, Brighton, Sept. 24

Deeds Not Words | Tag Archives: The Pall Mall Gazette

How to Stop Hunger Striking