Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 was viewed as violating basic human rights, not only of the suffragettes but of other prisoners. The Act's nickname of "Cat and Mouse Act", referring to the way the government seemed to play with prisoners as a cat may with a captured mouse, underlined how the cruelty of repeated releases and re-imprisonments turned the suffragettes from targets of scorn to objects of sympathy. The Asquith government's implementation of the Act caused the militant WSPU and the suffragettes to perceive Asquith as the enemy — an enemy to be vanquished in what the organisation saw as an all-out war. A related
Revenue Act of 1913 constituents wrote to their representatives and demanded tariff reform. The Act passed the House 281-139 on May 8, 1913. Wilson used his patronage powers to guide it to passage by the Senate, which occurred 44-37 on September 9, 1913. Politically, the Act was considered a major triumph for the new president. The Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857. Most schedules were "ad valorem" basis, a percentage of the value of the item. The duty on woolens went from 56% to 18.5%. Steel rails, raw wool, iron ore, and agricultural implements now had zero rates. The