Emily Greene Balch to Jane Addams, December 4, 1915

REEL0009_0532.jpg
REEL0009_0533.jpg
REEL0009_0534.jpg
REEL0009_0535.jpg
REEL0009_0536.jpg
REEL0009_0537.jpg
HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT
NEW YORK
MAIN HOUSE
265 HENRY STREET

Saturday

Dear Miss Addams

I trust you were not too tired by the Detroit trip and that you are now safe under Mrs Bowens guardianship. Please give her my greetings.

Dr. Batten was here to see me on Tu Wednesday at 2 p.m. and we had an interesting talk which I am very glad to have had. I also had a good talk with Plantiff. Yesterday {I take for granted that you know that the boat postponed sailing till Saturday! I did not learn it till 10 the morning I expected to go} [illegible] I saw Norman Angell and had a long talk with Professor John Bassett Moore by telephone and in the evening, by voice also, a long good talk with Mr. Kirchwey. [page 2]

Now to begin with the last: Mr. Kirchwey cannot tell when he will be free but I think if he is invited by Mr. Ford or by even by Mr. Plantiff he would go over when he is free. He wants to speak with Mr. Ford and I hope Mrs. Holt will arrange this.

Mr. Plantiff seems really interested which is at least that to good so far as it goes. I rather think he will come over again himself before long if I he can get away. He sees that there ought to be some one to handle the publicity here and after consulting Mr. Kellogg I am suggesting Florence Lattimore who wrote up the peace ship for the Survey on a half time basis. Miss Wald thinks she lacks "punch" but I think her inside information understanding the movement from the inside and her strong and more or less intelligent peace feeling make up for this and a perhaps not highly-expert newspaper approach. [page 3]

Mr. Plaintiff thinks the best way to spend money is on publicity and no experts calling in experts and publicity: "don't economize on cables" and this after so much criticism of extravagant cabling.

Mr. Batten Batten thinks the [illegiblemost useful thing the [Comtee] can do is to bring together if possible <an> Englishman and a German, not with the appearance of connivance of Foreign office.

Mr. Angell said the same thing but suggested socialists and specifically Anderson (or Snowden) and Bernstein.

Professor Moore seemed to me very friendly and interested. [illegible] I wanted to learn personally whether there will be a chance of his coming over [illegible] as a consultant later in case he [was] wanted but he thinks he could not. If he can do [illegible] If there is anything that he could do he could probably do it officially. [page 4]

Have you seen what came out in the N.Y. Evening Post and some other papers. Dear me what a treacherous instrument an interview is.  I [am] [illegible] wax in the hands of the insinuating and friendly interviewer. I hope that you do not mind too much that the statement as it concerns yourself and at other points is not just what it ought to have been. It is partly my fault and partly not my fault at all. I must have mentioned the [illegible] [though] I did not remember doing so, I did not mean her to put it in but that is where I am [illegible] stupid and I have had too much experience to have any right to be stupid like that. Apart from some [illegible] other details I thought we did pretty well in this effort to get the neutral conference fairly stated.

Miss Leckie and the others of the Peace ship have been very cordial. I lunched with Mr Huebsch [etc.] and dined with a considerable group of women [page 5] last night -- Miss Walton, Watson, Chamberlain, Kittredge, Carpenter, Mrs. Cothren, Mrs. Gilman, an Irish enthusiast, Dr. Kelley, Miss Leckie, Miss Lattimore, Miss Ann Moore (?) and others. All were so eager for news of you and I give people a pretty optimistic account because I am hoping to [find] you such a credit to Dr. Herrick and to your own [wisdom] when next I see you at Amsterdam or elsewhere.

I am now having qualms lest we ought not to have spoken of Gilbert Murray -- still that must have been public, mustn't it?

I find however that there is no reason to suppose that he came over to Stockholm to meet the Conference he may have happened to be there. Even so it is significant. Mr. Angell said if that [had?] been and I think he referred especially to Murray's [appearing?] -- "That comes pretty close to official recognition." [page 6]

I also find that it is apparently Mrs. de [Jong] van Been en Donk who is at Stockholm, not Mr. de [Jong] etc.

I hope I have covered the main points.

Dear lady, do please be very good and nice and prudent and obedient -- however stupid and trying it may be to be so. Invest 8 or 10 months of weariness to the eager spirit and of lost opportunities for service for the sake of indefinite years of service to come. You cannot know how much greater opportunities may be ready for you a year hence in case you have not set on any platforms or read too many worrisome letters like this one meanwhile.

I cannot tell you how good Miss Wald has been to me. Nor will I stop to [more] than mention how very fine the Carnegie Hall meeting was. I think I never saw a big [mixed] audience more enthusiastic and unanimous. And how long applauded Ford and the Peace ship.

They are looking up your [air?] jacket for me!

Your loving Emily G Balch