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February 9, 1915
My dear Miss Gordon: --
I have been meaning to telephone you to see if I could meet you some time when you are in Chicago and talk over with you a plan suggested by Mrs. Catt. However, it may be better to send you an extract from her letter so that you may think it over and perhaps later we can discuss it. I will quote from one of her last letters: --
"What would you think of this proposal: Let us take up correspondence, I with the Auxiliaries of the Alliance, Mrs. Barrett with the International Council of Women and Miss Gordon with the International Women's Christian Temperance Union".
"Let us make the proposal that as soon as the war is closed and settlements are to be arranged, an international conference of women shall be held which shall present resolutions, appeals, or whatever may seem best at the time, to the group or groups determining the terms of peace".
"If this was to be done at all, all the arrangements would have to be made in advance and the women [page 2] of the different countries would have to give their approval. I doubt very much if we can get word or delegates from many of them, but we ought to be able to gather the women from the chief of the warring countries. This looks to me to be more satisfactory than to attempt any international action at this time. If, meanwhile, we have developed our own American Woman's Peace Party to a status of real influence, it would go far as an international power. In any event, I am going to propose this as a tentative plan to the National Union of Great Britain. It would be only a private proposal".
If we could begin some correspondence of this sort we would then be ready to take up the matter more formally if it seemed best for the Woman's Peace Party to undertake it. It seems so difficult to begin and it is quite likely that this informal method would be the best.
Hoping you can come and see us at our new Peace offices, Room 505, 116 S. Michigan Avenue, I am
Sincerely yours,
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