First Imprisonment for Insurance Tax Resistance.
Two Months For Mrs. [Kate] Harvey.
Undaunted, Mrs. Harvey has gone to Holloway. The Bromley police authorities,
after certain spasmodic efforts to secure payment of the sums claimed from
her, have carried the sentence of the court into effect, and, by courteous
arrangement, allowed Miss Harvey, Mrs. [Charlotte] Despard, and Miss [Mary]
Anderson to accompany her to the gates of Holloway. A plain clothes officer
and a woman warder met them at Bromley Station, and two taxi’s
[sic] conveyed them to the prison from Holborn. A great
meeting of protest is to be held against the vindictive sentence on our brave
comrade, for which has been
fixed. Trafalgar-square will be the place of meeting, and we hope to have a
great rally of the friends of freedom. Meetings also will be held in Bromley
Market-place twice a week — Mondays and Wednesdays — at 7.30
p.m., where we hope members will rally when
possible.
We venture to foretell that Mrs. Harvey will come out of prison no less
resolute a resister than when she went in, and that she will stand to her
principle of resisting Government without consent and taxation without
representation no matter what Governments may order or police authorities
execute. We wish to call attention to another prosecution, that of four
farmers in Scotland — we have republished several lately, — of men who also
resisted the Act and whose servants resisted the Act by joint conspiracy,
the latter not being prosecuted at all. The penalties imposed in none of
these cases have been so heavy as those imposed on Mrs. Harvey, whose chief
crime is that she acts on principle and not because she desires to evade and
obligation. The Scottish farmers’ case is as follows:—
At Aberdeen on four farmers from
the Turriff district pleaded guilty to having failed to pay insurance
contributions in respect of farm servants in their employ. Their agents
stated that the farm servants in this district, believing that they were
better off under the former conditions, when the employers provided for them
during illness, than they would be under the provisions of the Act, refused
to bring their cards, and declined to engage unless the master gave an
understanding not only that he would not deduct the money from their wages
but would not apply for an emergency card. The Fiscal said that in such
cases complaint should have been lodged with the Commissioners, who would
have instituted a prosecution against the servants. A penalty of
15s. for each offence in
each case was imposed, and on the application of Mr. Gerrard, who appeared
for the Scottish Insurance Commissioners, decree was given for the amount of
contributions in arrears. — Glasgow Herald,
.
C. Nina Boyle.
Letter from Mrs. Harvey.
Comrades, — When you read this you will be much in my thoughts, for I shall
be in Holloway Gaol. I will not insult you by asking you to think of
me, but when you do, will you remember that if my sentence be the means of
bringing home to but one person the kind of justice meted out by
vote-protected men to voteless women, the price will be light though the
sentence is heavy, very heavy when compared with that passed on men whose
only desire is to shirk responsibility when refusing to pay the Insurance
Tax, iniquitously heavy when compared with the sentences passed on men who
ruin the bodies of our girls, often baby-girls. Since writing the above I
have heard that, quite lately, a man was sentenced to a twenty shillings
fine or seven days for criminally assaulting two children, the excuse being
that his brain was weak. The same authorities do not hesitate to label
Suffragettes “mad,” but in their case it is only an added excuse for harsh
treatment.
Justice! We have almost forgotten the meaning of the word. “No taxation
without representation.” Men made that law, men break that law, then punish
women for not breaking it also!
Justice! It is conspicuous by its absence!
Another man-made law, “a man must be tried by his peers”; equally so a woman
should be tried by her peers!
One thing I ask. Will you strive by every means in your power to make
“Hiawatha” [a dramatic version of Longfellow’s poem that Harvey had put
together] a huge success? It is a sore trouble to leave before arrangements
are fully completed; help me by letting my absence rouse you to enthusiastic
endeavour for our paper! Many doubt as to the wisdom of the step I have
taken; none can doubt as to the lack of wisdom in a Government that
deliberately turns good citizens into outlaws! — Yours, in the Cause that is
nearest to our hearts, the Cause of women — and children, they are
inseparable,
K. Harvey.
Mrs. Despard’s Letter to Mr. McKenna
Mrs. Despard has sent the following letter to the Home Secretary:—
2, Currie-street, Nine Elms, London, S.W.
.
To the Right Honble.
Reginald McKenna,
M.P.
Sir,— A few months ago you granted an interview to me and several of
my colleagues in the Women’s Freedom League. I spoke to you then on what I
conceive to be the maladministration of justice in this country and the
unequal incidence of punishment.
I desire now to bring before you a glaring instance of that of which I
complain, hoping that if your attention has not been drawn to it, you will
immediately give it your serious consideration.
Thousands of British men and women are refusing to pay the Insurance Tax or
to deduct the Tax from the wages of those whom they employ. Some object to
this tax on principle; others desire to shirk responsibility. Suffragists — and I am amongst their number — are, in many cases resisting this in common
with other forms of taxation because their rights of citizenship are not
recognised.
There have been sundry prosecutions — mostly of men in business.
I wish to quote three cases to show you the different treatment meted out to
men and women in our law courts.
Joseph Lister, of Doncaster, defaulter for thirty-one weeks, was given by
Mr. Andrews, the magistrate, a fine of
50s., with payment of costs.
Mr. F. Hamblin (Eastbourne), who had conscientious objections, was summoned
on twenty counts. He was ordered to pay fines, costs and arrears to the
amount of £6 14s.,
8d.,
Mrs. Harvey, of Brackenhill, Bromley, Kent — a Suffragist, the first who has
been proceeded against for Insurance Tax resistance — was summoned, on
, on ten counts in respect of her
gardener. She was fined £1 on each count, £4
10s. costs, £2
2s. special costs, and
ordered to pay the arrears,
5s.
10d.; total, £16
17s.
10d.
I beg you to compare this sentence with the two previous ones. Mrs. Harvey,
deeply conscious of the injustice done to her, has refused to pay the money.
A week later a further fine of £5 was imposed upon her for refusal to
pay her gardener’s license. The alternative was a month’s imprisonment on
each summons, and she went to Holloway yesterday.
I cannot believe, sir, that you will permit this injustice to be done.
Let me remind you that the woman who, in a Piccadilly flat, used for vile
purposes, was drawing young girls to their ruin, had a similar sentence. We
hear, moreover, on good authority, that she was released after she had
served ten days.
Mrs. Harvey is one whose time, service and money are given to the rescue of
little destitute children, and to the help of those not so fortunately
placed as herself.
While such injustices as these are permitted by the authorities, can you
wonder that women are in revolt? ―Yours truly,
C. Despard
Women’s Freedom League Statement.
The following letter has been sent to the Press from Headquarters:—
Sir,— We write to protest against the extraordinary partial administration
of justice in this country. Thousands of persons are resisting the Insurance
Act in Great Britain; many cases have been brought before the Courts and
nominal fines only have been imposed on the defendants. When, however, it is
a case of a woman, and a Suffragist, resisting this Act, who from the point
of view of principle, objects to paying taxes because she is not represented
in the counsels of the nation, a heavy penalty is exacted.
Mrs. Harvey, of Bromley, Kent, who refused to pay her Insurance dues in
respect of her gardener, William David Asquith, or the license for him, was
fined as follows:—
For refusal to pay Insurance dues—
£16 17 10 £1 fine on each count £10 0 0 Arrears of Insurance amounting to 0 5 10 Court fees 4 10 0 “Special costs” asked for by the Insurance Commissioners 2 2 0
For refusal to pay the license—
£5 14 0 Fine £5 0 0 Costs 0 14 0
And since she declined to pay these fines Mrs. Harvey has to-day been
conveyed to Holloway Gaol for two months’ imprisonment in the second
division. We think these facts speak for themselves.
Mrs. Harvey spends her life in working for the betterment of conditions
under which our poorer children live, and has never failed to help those
weaker than herself. She believes that until women have a voice in making
the laws, no satisfactory legislation will be carried through for the
protection of girls and children. For this reason she protests against the
exclusion of women from full citizenship rights, and the answer of men’s
representatives is two months’ imprisonment in the second division.
For keeping a Piccadilly flat for the express purpose of ruining young girls
physically, mentally and morally, another woman was also sentenced to three
months’ imprisonment, and it is universally believed that she was released
at the end of ten days! ―We are, yours faithfully,
Charlotte Despard.
Florence A. Underwood.
A “Snowball” Protest.
As evidence of the wide interest which is being aroused, Miss Marie Lawson
writes from 5, Westbourne-square, London,
W., to inform us that she
has started a “Snowball” protest on behalf of Mrs. Harvey — a
form of protest which she worked successfully in the case of Mr. Mark Wilkes.
The “Snowball” letter, which she hopes will be copied and widely
distributed, is as follows:—
Dear Madam,— Mrs. K. Harvey, of Bromley, Kent, has been committed to
prison for two months for non-payment of a Government tax and for
non-compliances with the requirements of the National Insurance Act.
Because she refuses to submit to the tyranny of arbitrary taxation and
because her conscience will not permit her to comply with conditions which
she knows to be wrong and unjust, she has been given this extraordinarily
severe sentence.
Passive resistance is a form of protest which has been frequently and
successfully used in this country by men. A good part of our constitutional
history may be said to have been written in the terms of tax-resistance,
and it is largely by such means that some of our greatest reforms have been
won. In the case of voteless women it is the only form of protest open to
them, short of actual violence. They have to choose between passive
resistance and cowardly acquiescence. Mrs. Harvey has chosen the latter
[sic], and as a result now lies in Holloway Prison. I
earnestly request you to assist the agitation for her immediate release in
two ways:—
- By copying the accompanying form of protest on to two postcards,
adding your name and address, and directing one to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, The Treasury, Whitehall,
S.W., and the
other to the Home Secretary, Home Office, Whitehall,
S.W..
- By copying this letter and the form of protest in full and forwarding
it to at least three friends, inviting them to join in this
“snowball” movement.
Relying on your sympathy and cooperation,
Yours sincerely,
No Taxation Without Representation.
Form of Protest
I write with reference to the case of Mrs. K. Harvey, of Bromley, Kent,
who has been committed to prison for two months as a result of her refusal
to submit to the tyranny of arbitrary taxation. In seeking to impress upon
a Liberal Government the necessity of putting its principles into practice,
Mrs. Harvey adopted the time-honoured protest of passive resistance. That
being her only offence, I protest against this vindictive sentence, and
urge you to use every effort to secure her immediate release.
At Headquarters.
We look forward to a strenuous autumn and winter campaign. We shall begin
this in London by holding a demonstration in Trafalgar-square,
, to protest against the biased
administration of the law and its treatment of women, as instanced in the two
months’ imprisonment in the second division which Mrs. Kate Harvey is now
undergoing at Holloway because of her refusal to comply with the regulations
of the Insurance Act. We urge our readers to make this demonstration as
widely known as possible, and to bring all the friends they can to the Square
to protest against this excessive sentence. Vote
sellers, literature sellers, collectors, and banner bearers will be in great
demand, and we shall be glad to have names of volunteers at an early date.
“John Hampden.”
“Would 20s. have ruined Mr.
Hampden’s fortune?” “No, but the payment of half
20s. on the principle on
which it was demanded would have made him a slave.” So Burke epitomised the
attitude of John Hampden towards unjust taxation, and so with equal
conciseness might the position of the modern tax-resister be summed up.
Beyond the fact that he resisted Ship Money, the majority of people know
little about John Hampden, and we therefore commend the new edition of a
pamphlet by Mrs. [Isabella] Darent Harrison, of the Women’s Tax Resistance
League. Herself a well-known resister, the writer has depicted with sympathy
and force the struggle between Hampden and the King, and with a novelist’s
skill has made the events live again.
The character of this “rebel and leader of rebels” was marked by restraint
and dignity, by respect for order and good government. Slow to take up arms
against the King, he acted directly his duty became clear; he received his
death-wound leading his “Green Coats” at Chalgrove Field. Incidently it is
interesting to note that the loss of his case against the Crown roused people
to see how degenerate the law may become, and paved the way for the Great
Rebellion.
It was not the men alone who rebelled, but the women also refused to submit
to unjust laws. Among the twenty or thirty people who signed the protest
against Ship Money in Great Kimble Church in 1635 were four women — Mrs.
Westall and the Widows Bampton, Goodchild and Semple. Women also presented
petitions for peace at Westminster Hall. “It may be thought strange and
unbeseeming our sex to show ourselves here… but… we are sharers in the public
calamities,” so ran the first petition. This deputation was well received by
Pym. Not so fortunate was the later one of 5,000 women. Because they pushed
their way to the doors of the House of Commons, a cavalry charge was ordered,
two women were killed and several injured.
One wonders if there was not a touch of sarcasm about the meek wording of
these petitions. One can imagine the lips of these brave women slightly
curling with scorn at such words, as “We need not dictate to your
eagle-eyed judgment the way,” or “We do this not… as seeking
to equal ourselves with men either in authority or wisdom.”
But we forbear from further extracts, and advise all who wish to realise the
continuity of the struggle for freedom through the centuries to read this
little book.
M.L.
* “John Hampden” (second edition, with frontispiece). By Mrs.
Darent Harrison. (Published by the Women’s Tax Resistance League, 10, Talbot
House, 98, St. Martin’s-lane,
W.C. Price
1d.)
…some of us have just accompanied to the gates of Holloway the
comrade and friend whose letter will be found in the columns of this issue.
Mrs. Harvey, of Bracken Hill, whose splendid work and gracious personality
are known to so many of us, having been sentenced to a month’s imprisonment
in the second division for refusing to pay her Insurance Tax, and to
another month, in lieu of fine, for a license for a manservant, went to
prison on Monday.
Our readers will understand that no effort will be spared by the League to
make this iniquity known. We have reason to believe that the law has been
strained, if not broken, in the infliction of these sentences. That will be
ascertained. It is our fervent hope that Mrs. Harvey will soon be with us
again. Meantime we hope and believe that every member of the League will
help us to the utmost limit of their powers in the battle we are waging
against this gross injustice.
In particular, will every member of the League in London and the neighborhood
rally round our banners on , in Trafalgar-square, where a big demonstration of protest will be
held? We hope earnestly that you will not only come yourselves, but that you
will bring others with you. Just and righteous administration of the law is a
question which affects men quite as deeply as it affects women.
C. Despard.
