On Thursday at the Old Bailey Mrs. Pankhunt was sentenced
to a term of three years' penal servitude for inciting persons unknown to commit felony at the house at Walton Heath which was to have been occupied by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The passing of the sentence by Mr. Justice Lush was followed by a scene of great disorder. Considering the greatness of the crime, it cannot be called severe, nor does it justify in any way the hysterical emotion of Mrs. Pankhurst and her supporters. Thanks to the fact that the sentence is for penal servitude, the authorities, even without the so-called "Cat and Mouse" Bill now passing through Parliament, will not be placed in the dilemma of having either to let Mrs. Pankhurst go free altogether or run the risk of letting her die of starvation or from the results of persistent resistance to forcible feeding. If Mrs. Patnkhurst, by refusing to eat, procures, when her condition of starvation becomes dangerous, a temporary release, she will be reimprisoned as soon as her health is restored. In this conflict as to which shall wear the other down we are inclined to back the public department. Meantime all the signs show that the new militant campaign is sinking the cause of votes for worn en lower and lower in public sympathy.
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