BR TO MILLICENT GARRETT FAWCETT, 26 MAY 1908
BRACERS 55597. ALS(X). LSE. SLBR 1: #150
Edited by N. Griffin. Proofread by A. Duncan and K. Blackwell

BAGLEY WOOD,
OXFORD.
May 26. 1908.

Dear Mrs Fawcett

I fear you must think me a person very easily taken in, but I cannot help feeling that Asquith’s concession is more important than you apparently think it. It is evident, is it not, that, barring improbable accidents, Women’s Suffrage must be carried in the present House of Commons as part of a Government Bill, though a part not proposed by the Government. I had supposed hitherto that our object in pressing for a Government Bill rather than a private Member’s Bill was that private Member’s Bills never get through all their stages. But this by no means applies to a private Member’s Amendment to a Government Bill, which, if carried when first proposed, has exactly the same chance as if it were proposed by the Government. So far as I can see, the only obstacle to our securing Women’s Suffrage in this Parliament is the House of Lords. That, I admit, is a great obstacle, but I should have supposed that was a reason for objecting to the House of Lords rather than to Asquith. As to Asquith’s personal opinion, and his motives for the concession, I cannot see how they concern us. As for the “Adult Suffrage Trap”, it has surely been clear for some time that this House would never pass the limited Bill. Therefore I should have supposed that friends of Women’s Suffrage would have to resign themselves to a somewhat wider measure. — I do not of course know what you know about the tricks of official Liberalism; but surely no Prime Minister has hitherto made any promise on the subject to a body of members?

Yours very truly
Bertrand Russell.