| Main Performers | The Earl of Cromer (Presiding),
Lord Chancellor,
Lord Curzon,
Mr Lewis Harcourt,
Lord Loreburn,
Mr F E Smith KC MP,
Violet Markham - speakers |
| Set List | Reading of Letters of Support from Mr Asquith, Lord Landsdowne, Mr Joseph Chamberlain, and Mr Walter Long,
Introductory Speech (Lord Cromer),
Resolution - 'That the extension of the Parliamentary vote to women would be hostile to their own welfare and the welfare of the state, and that a change so momentous and so incalculable in its effects both socially and politically ought not to be entertained except upon a clear and deliberately expressed demand by the electorate.' (Lord Loreburn),
Speech (Lord Curzon),
Speech (Miss Violet Markham),
Speech (Mr Lewis Harcourt),
Speech (Mr F E Smith)
Concluding Remarks (Lord Cromer),
'National Anthem' |
| Performance Notes | At the meeting the following resolution was agreed - 'That the extension of the Parliamentary to women would be hostile to their own welfare and the welfare of the state, and that a change so momentous and so incalculable in its effects both socially and politically ought not to be entertained except upon a clear and deliberately expressed demand by the electorate.'
"Influential support is promised for the meeting at the Albert Hall on February 28 which is to mark the beginning of a very active campaign against the granting of votes to women. Mr F E Smith MP has now promised to speak, and the other speakers whose names have already been announce in The Times, are Lord Cromer, who will preside, Lord Curzon, Lord Loreburn, Mr Lewis Harcourt MP and Mrs Humphrey Ward. Many peers, Liberal as well as Unionist, will be present on the platform, but so far no Unionist Ex-Cabinet Minister has signified his intention of attending."
(The Times, 9 January 1912)
Lord Curzon also made the following speech;
'It was because there was no class in the nation that would not suffer if the votes were granted to women that they said that the nation would be injured by the grant of votes to women. Women would suffer, in the first place, because they would be taken away from that which was their proper sphere. They would have thrust upon them operations and activities for which they had neither the aptitude, the training, nor the inclination - activities which must exercise - he thought they had already exercised - a deteriorating influence on the character, and which would draw them away from the highest and most responsible functions of woman hood (Cheers).'
(The Times, 1 March 1912)
Violet Markham also said that;
We believe that men and women are different not similar beings, with talents that are complementary, not identical, and that they therefore ought to have different shares in the management of the State, that they severally compose. We do not depreciate by one jot or tittle womens work and mission. We are concerned to find proper channels of expression for that work. We seek a fruitful diversity of political function, not a stultifying uniformity.
On the platform were Mr Austen Chamberlain, Lord Midleton, Mrs McKenna, Mr and Mrs Raymond Asquith and Miss Asquith. |
| Related Archival Material | Report (RAHE/8/2/35) |