Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 3.djvu/981

888 The division took place at a late hour with the result that the clause was defeated by 271 votes to 135, being a majority against it of 136, or two to one. But though such a vote would have been a sore discouragement if it had represented the real opinion of the House, on the present occasion it meant little if anything. The government had sent out a "five-line" whip for its supporters, and so effective had this whip been, combined with Mr. Gladstone's assertion that he would give up the responsibility of the bill if the clause were carried, that 98 Liberals and 6 Home Rulers, known to be supporters of our cause, voted with the government, even Mr. Hugh Mason being among this number, while 34 Liberals and 7 Home Rulers, also friends of ours, were absent from the division. We may safely assume that had the government more wisely left it an open question, upon which members were free to vote according to their consciences, our defeat would have been turned into a victory. On the other hand while our Liberal friends thus voted against the amendment or abstained from voting, the bulk of our supporters in this division were Conservatives, a circumstance unknown in the previous history of the movement.

An important conference of friends and supporters was held the next morning in the Westminster Palace Hotel at which Mr. Stansfeld presided. To use Miss Tod's words:

The speeches at the conference were animated and full of hope for the future.. Mr. Stansfeld congratulated the meeting on having made a new departure; their question had become one of practical politics, and they had now to address themselves in all the constituencies to the political organizations.

A magnificent meeting was held in St. James Hall the following week. The hall was densely crowded in every part, and an overflow meeting was arranged for those unable to gain admission. Some of the speakers proposed as the best measure for agitation, a determined resistance against taxation.