1869. One well-known statesman
said at the time, "This is a revolution; this vote means still
another, and there never was so great a revolution so speedily
accomplished." In 1869 the Ballot act had not been passed; this was
in the days of open voting. It was therefore possible to ascertain
with accuracy in how large a proportion the women householders
availed themselves of their restored right to vote whenever a
contested election took place. On the following November a letter
of inquiry was sent to the town clerk of every municipal borough in
England and Wales, and by their courtesy in replying it was
ascertained that the women voted in very large numbers. In our
municipal towns the average ratio of women householders to men
householders is about one to seven. This varies greatly in
different localities. In Tewkesbury, for instance, there was only
one woman householder to twenty-three men householders, while in
Bath the proportion had risen as high as one to three. The women
voters were in about the same proportion. In the larger boroughs
the proportion was especially good, while there were cases in which
the polling of the women exceeded that of the men. In Bodmin,
Cornwall, two women voted, one of whom was 92 and the other 94
years of age.

The first public meeting in connection with women's suffrage was
held in Manchester, April 14, 1868, in the assembly room of the
Free Trade Hall. The occasion was one of great interest. Mr. Henry
D. Pochin, the mayor of Salford (which adjoins Manchester), took
the chair, and the first resolution was moved by Miss Becker,
seconded by the venerable Arch-deacon Sandford, and supported by
Mr. T. B. Potter, M. P.:

_Resolved_, That the exclusion of women from the exercise of the
franchise in the election of members, being unjust in principle
and inexpedient in practice, this meeting is of opinion that the
right of voting should be granted to them on the same conditions
as it is or may be granted to men.

The other resolutions were spoken to by Dr. Pankhurst, Mrs. Pochin
(who had also written a very exhaustive pamphlet on "The Claim of
Woman to the Elective Franchise," signed, _Justitia_), Mr. Chisholm
Anstey, Mr. Jacob Bright, M. P., Miss Annie Robertson of Dublin,
Mr. F. W. Myers, fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Mr. J.
W. Edwards. This meeting, and the one which followed in Birmingham,
May 6, are fair types of those which have followed by thous