Page:The case for women's suffrage.djvu/16

 select their candidates almost without consultation with their women comrades, and then invite the Primrose League and Women's Liberal Associations to work for them! Hence it comes about that the male supporters of either party are, for the most part, profoundly ignorant of the women's view of any question, and the women have no guarantee that, at any time, a candidate distasteful to them may not be thrust upon them. In that case they may be faced with the alternative of working for an opponent or of appearing at least to be disloyal to their party. Every authoritative party organisation should be so constructed as to be equally accessible to people of either sex. A party that desires to democratise the nation should begin by democratising itself.

The new policy of the Liberal women, then, though it has done something to advance the suffrage movement within the ranks of the party now in power, lacked the leverage to do as much as it ought; and even now Liberalism is hardly in advance of Toryism on this question. Many years of patient effort have failed to get Women's Enfranchisement recognised as a fundamental item on the Government programme. It is still perfectly possible that the largest Liberal majority for generations may do nothing for women; it is almost certain that it will do nothing unless compelled by outside pressure. Fortunately this outside pressure is now being applied, and that in a number of ways hitherto unattempted.

Our civilisation shows many pathetic figures, one of the most interesting of which is the aged lady