On there was a most interesting open air meeting in Upper-street, Islington, when Dr. Jessie Murray, of Endsleigh-street, Tavistock-square, protested against the seizure and public sale of her carriage clock, owing to her refusal to pay Imperial taxes.
Mrs. [Margaret] Kineton Parkes and Mrs. Tyson also spoke, and gained the attention of a large crowd by whom the usual resolution was unanimously passed.
Tax Resistance in John Burns’ Borough.
On , Mrs. Beaumont Thomas and Mrs. Sutcliffe had goods sold by public auction, because of their refusal to pay King’s taxes.
The sale took place at Warren’s Auction Room, Battersea Rise, and afterwards a procession with banners flying wended its way to Mosbury-road, where a protest meeting was held and a big crowd assembled.
Miss Beaumont took the chair, and Mrs. [Anne] Cobden Sanderson and Mrs. Kineton Parkes, of the Tax Resistance League, explained the reasons of tax resistance and answered the questions asked.
At the conclusion of the speeches cheers were given for the speakers, and a resolution was carried:
“That this meeting is of opinion that women taxpayers are justified in refusing to pay all Imperial taxes till they have the same control over the national expenditure as male taxpayers possess.”
In the Country.
On , goods belonging to Miss Rose were sold at Frinton-on-Sea, owing to her refusal to pay Imperial taxes.
It is with deep regret that we have to record the death, after a long and painful illness, of Dr. Jessie Murray.
All our members and friends who knew Dr. Murray by hearing her speak at protest meetings in Hyde Park and elsewhere, after her Tax Resistance Sales, or as her friends and patients, experienced her sympathetic kindness and infinite pains in bringing cheer and healing, will be grieved to hear of the death of this staunch fighter for women’s freedom.
Of those who took part in the Suffrage struggle some were undoubtedly born fighters, and will spend their lives breaking lances for one case after another.
Others had fighting thrust upon them by the conviction that only thus could they be true to principles which they believed to be of vital importance, and Dr. Jessie Murray always gave one the impression of belonging to this class.
It was, therefore, not surprising to find her in the ranks of the Tax Resisters, and year after year she was “sold up” because she believed that “taxation without representation is tyranny,” and that to submit to tyranny is to become a consenting party to it.
If she was able to do so she always spoke at the Protest Meeting in connection with her sale, and her quiet logical way of stating her case never failed to impress her audience.
Dr. Murray studied at the London School of Medicine for Women and Durham University, and qualified in .
It was natural that, professionally, she should be attracted by pioneer work, and she was greatly interested in the new psychotherapeutic methods of treating nervous and mental disorders, and here, too, she was a very clear exponent of the views she held.
Such women can be ill-spared, but of them all it may be said: “Their works do follow them.”
— A Fellow Tax-Resister.
Miss Cummins, who lives in the pretty little district of Froxfield, near
Petersfield, had goods sold in respect of non-payment of King’s Taxes
on afternoon. Miss [C. Nina] Boyle
and Miss [Jessie?] Murray attended the sale from Headquarters, and among
local supporters were Miss Cummins and her sister, Mrs. Baddeley
(W.S.P.U.),
Mr. Powell, Mr. Roper, and others. The assistant auctioneer, to whom it fell
to conduct the sale, was most unfriendly, and refused to allow any speaking
during the sale; but Miss Boyle was able to shout through a window at his
back, just over his shoulder, an announcement that the goods were seized
because Miss Cummins refused to submit to taxation without representation,
after which quite a number of people who were attending the sale came out to
listen to the speeches. Perched on the parapet of the churchyard wall, Miss
Murray opened the brief meeting, followed by Miss Boyle, both receiving
unexpected attention. Mr. Powell then spoke a few effective words to the men
present, calling upon them as voters to give effect to the women’s protest
by approaching their member and warning him that Women’s Suffrage was a
question to which he would be expected to give serious attention.
It would appear that, in spite of its remote position and quiet, uneventful
life, Suffrage has made great way in the Petersfield district. There are some
250 Suffragists, and several influential secessions from the Liberal
Association have taken place over the question.
Arrest and Release of Captain Gonne.
Captain Gonne,
R.A., was
arrested at his residence at Bognor, on
, and taken to Lewes gaol for
non-payment of Imperial taxes. Captain Gonne, whose wife is a member of the
Women’s Tax Resistance League, refuses to pay his wife’s income-tax, because
he supports her in the belief that there should be no taxation without
representation, and because he wishes to do his share towards altering the
iniquitous laws regulating the taxation of married women. He refuses to pay
his own taxes as a protest against the Government’s broken pledges to women
and their torture of women prisoners. The Women’s Tax Resistance League at
once organised a campaign of protest, in which the Women’s Freedom League and
other Suffrage societies would have joined, to hold meetings outside Lewes
Gaol. On night, however, he was set
free; and the Women’s Tax Resistance League is now raising serious points in
regard to the legality of the arrest and the treatment otherwise meted out to
him. It is well known that Captain Gonne’s health has suffered severely of
late, and his serious indisposition is attributable to the excessive violence
of Liberal stewards at meetings which Captain Gonne has attended on behalf of
the women’s cause.
The following correspondence has been sent us for publication by the
Women’s Tax Resistance League:—
To the Home Secretary, Home Office, Whitehall, S.W.
Sir, — Will you kindly inform my committee why, having decided to
release Captain Gonne,
R.A., from
Lewes Jail, you discharged him before it was possible for his family to
send for him, as they were prepared to do, rather than expose him in his
delicate state of health to a cross-country railway journey unaccompanied?
Did you not state in the House of Commons that prisoners were never released
without such necessary precautions having been taken? — Faithfully
yours,
(Signed) Margaret Parkes.
To the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Treasury-chambers, Whitehall, S.W.
Sir, — Are you aware of the fact that on
evening last Captain Gonne,
R.A., was
arrested at Bognor for non-payment of Imperial taxes and conveyed to Lewes
Jail, and that he was released with no reason given at
? Will
you kindly supply the committee immediately with
answers to the following questions, as we consider that it is most important
to know the reason for such apparently unconstitutional procedure?
By whose authority was Captain Gonne arrested and upon what charge?
Is it not usual in such cases to levy distraint upon the premises in
respect of which the taxes are due?
By whose authority were orders sent to the Governor of Lewes Jail for
Captain Gonne’s release?
If the imprisonment was a just one, for what reason was he released in
less than 48 hours?
Awaiting the favour of your reply. Faithfully yours,
(Signed) Margaret Parkes.
Magistrate Compliments a Woman Tax Resister.
Miss A[gnes Edith] Metcalfe, B.Sc.,
ex-H.M.I.,
was summoned at Greenwich Police-court on
, for non-payment of
dog license. In a short speech she said that she refused on conscientious
grounds to pay taxes while women had no vote. The magistrate congratulated
Miss Metcalfe on the clearness and eloquence with which she made out her
case. He regretted that the law must take its course, and imposed a fine of
7s. with
2s. costs, recoverable by
distraint. The alternative was one day’s imprisonment. We would like to
contrast this with Miss I[sabelle] Stewart’s case which was identical, but
her sentence was £2 fine or fourteen days’ imprisonment.
Mrs. [Margaret] Kineton Parkes has just returned from Ireland, where
successful public meetings were held in Dublin and Cork, and tax resistance
resolutions passed. She attended, as delegate for the Women’s Tax Resistance
League, the Suffrage Conference held in Dublin, and spoke upon the present
position of Women’s Suffrage. She also took part in the public debate with
the National League for Opposing Women’s Suffrage, on which occasion the
Suffragists won by a large majority.
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 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.”
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.
