Suffragette Evelyn Sharp Persecuted For Tax Refusal

The Vote

From the issue of The Vote:

No Vote! No Tax!

Persecution of Miss Evelyn Sharp.

Miss Evelyn Sharp again appeared before the Registrar at Bankruptcy Buildings last morning, and her case was once more adjourned, this time until , in spite of the fact that she told the Registrar that she needed no further time for reflection, and was prepared to take the consequences of her refusal to make a statement of her affairs, on the ground that she was a voteless woman, and considered that taxation without representation was tyranny.

We cannot condemn too strongly the petty persecution of Miss Sharp by the authorities. They have taken away her furniture and have refused to sell it, although the Official Receiver declared in court that its sale would cover the amount of the tax and the cost of the proceedings; they intercept all her correspondence, which they open, and read, and return to her at their leisure, and keep her in the position of an undischarged bankrupt, unable to transact business of any kind. We understood that the Government had declared a truce with suffragists, but while it is dilly-dallying with women’s chances of enfranchisement in the Representation of the People Bill, it is apparently as eager as ever to persecute suffragists for their principles whenever an opportunity occurs.

All suffragists should be at the Court at .