I’ll finish off this year-long series of this-day-in-The Vote tax resistance history posts with a bit from the issue. You can find a chronological index to the entire series at this link.
Come and protest against the official robbery of married women carried on by
the Government for their own benefit. Earl Russell and Mr. [Israel] Zangwill
will speak on the subject at the Caxton Hall on
The meeting is organised by the
Women’s Tax Resistance League.
Distraint on a Duchess.
Distraint was levied, on , upon
the property of [Mary Russell] the Duchess of Bedford in non-payment of
Imperial taxes due in respect of the Prince’s Skating Rink, and a silver cup
was taken to satisfy the claim. The Duchess has instructed the Women’s Tax
Resistance League to point out that this is quite out of order, because as a
married woman she is not liable to taxation, and therefore neither assessment
nor demand note should have been served upon her, but upon the Duke of
Bedford. She, however, allowed the authorities to proceed in this perfectly
irregular manner because she wished to use their mistake as an opportunity of
making her protest against the treatment of Woman Suffrage by the present
Government in the practical way of refusing to pay taxes until women are
enfranchised. Her comment is: “Obviously it is not my business to point out
the law to those whose duty it should be to understand it.”
Women’s Tax Resistance League…
A quantity of silver, the property of Miss Rhoda Anstey, Principal of the
Anstey Physical Training College, Erdington, Warwickshire, was sold on
, by public auction, under
distraint for King’s taxes. The sale and protest meeting took place in the
gymnasium of the college, and the speakers at the meeting were Mrs.
[Margaret] Kineton Parkes and Miss Dorothy Evans; Miss Leonora Tyson presided.
On goods, the property of
Dr. [Francis] Ede and
Dr. [Amy] Sheppard, of Upper
Berkeley-street, Portman-square, W.,
were sold by public auction at 26, Lisson-grove,
W.;
Dr. Ede made a protest against
the sale in the auction rooms. The speakers at the protest meeting which was
held after the sale were Miss Amy Hicks,
M.A.,
Dr. Ede, and Mrs. [Anne]
Cobden Sanderson.
On , Miss Rose, of Frinton-on-Sea,
had goods sold under distraint for King’s taxes, and Miss Amy Hicks,
M.A., was the speaker at the protest
meeting held in the small Town Hall, Miss Rose being in the chair.
The first tax resistance sale in the Lake District took place on
,
when Mrs. [Kate Raven] Henry Holiday had goods sold by public auction at
Hawks-head, Ambleside. A most enthusiastic protest meeting was held after the
sale, the speakers being Mrs. Kineton Parkes and Miss [Winifred] Holiday.
On , goods, the property of Miss
Corcoran, were sold at Loughborough by public auction, followed by a
successful protest meeting.
Miss Beatrice Harraden’s goods were sold on
, at Gill’s Auction Rooms,
Cambridge-road, Kilburn. Miss Harraden explained, in the auction room, the
reasons for her refusal to pay. At goods belonging to
Dr. Mabel Hardie and Miss
Gibbs were sold. There was a procession after the sale to public meeting at
corner of Harrow-road and Elgin-avenue.
Dr. Jessie Murray’s goods were
sold on , at Davies’ Auction Rooms, 15,
Upper-street, Islington, and a protest meeting held after sale at Highbury
Fields.
On goods of Mrs. Beaumont Thomas
and Mrs. Mary Sutcliffe will be sold at Warren’s Auction Room, 73, Battersea
Rise (five minutes from Clapham Junction) at
Protest meeting after sale. Supporters urgently needed.
