J. A.
May 14th (continuing [sheet?] in proposed Conference to be convened by the I.C.W.)
that the world is faced with today, & we want women to be something more than academic in dealing with questions of peace and war. But the other members of the Ex. Com. may agree with Mrs Swanwick and Miss Sheepshanks rather than with me, & welcome this invitation of the I.C.W. (The letter was written in order to ask Lady [F.,?] formally to do what she had said in comtee she was willing to do). Anyhow if such a conference is held I think we shall all be agreed that the W.I.L.P.F. should take an active part in it & try to make the discussions as fearless & real as possible. I shd be interested to know what Miss Forchhammer, who is a member of both I.C.W. & W.I.L.P.F. thinks of this proposal. Is she in Rome with you? [illegible]
I enclose Dr. Hoesch Ernst's letter of which I have a second copy. I have thanked her for her very generous offer, & have said it would be referred at once to our International Executive. I did not know [page 2] at all what answer we should feel we could give, but I told her we were very short of funds, & could only just afford to keep our Geneva office going. There could be no question, I thought, of giving that up, & making Godesberg our headquarters instead. (If the Rhineland is made an "independent state," under French influence ↑(if not under direct French military control)↓ it wd be the last place in the world from which it would be easy to carry on international pacifist propaganda! See her suggestion as to this). We should therefore, if we accepted the offer, have to run Godesberg as a separate institution, with the expense of staff, rates & taxes, furnishing, etc. It seems to me out of the question in the present state of our finances. But it ↑also↓ seems a pity to have to refuse so generous an offer. I wonder whether it would be possible to ask her if we might have a chance again, say in ten years' time, when we shall, we hope, be a larger & stronger & richer body? I wonder what the Executive will think -- note that Dr. Hoesch Ernst does not want the house used simply as headquarters of our German Section -- she wants it to be an international [center]. I know that she is very insistent on this -- it is an essential point of her idea. Though I imagine it might be used partly as a German [center] if it were an international [center] as well. If the Ex. Comee thinks the [page 3] acceptance of the offer should be considered as a practical possibility we should of course need more detailed information from Dr. Hoesch Ernst, e.g. What exactly do rates & taxes amount to? What does she estimate as the approximate cost of furnishing the houses, & of keeping up the garden? I wonder if it would not be run by some philanthropic international organization & used [illegible] for various different purposes at different times of year -- e.g. as a convalescent home for teachers & students, as a place to be let for Conferences, Summer Schools, etc. as a place where batches of convalescent or [underfed] children might be taken in from time to time & cared for?
After showing Dr. Hoesch Ernst's letter to those members of the Executive who may be in Rome you will get copies typed & sent to the rest of the Executive, won't you? I am sending copies of all my letters to you both to Miss Addams and to Fraulein Heymann. I will send a summary of them to the other members of Executive so that you need not to be troubled to repeat to them what I have said to you. They will know it already when you write. I shall post to them on Friday this week or Saturday.
(I am saving up to get myself a typewriter so that I shall be able to send you letters properly typed, & send duplicates to as many as necessary!) [page 4]
I shall be very much interested to hear what the meeting of W.I.L.P.F. members has done about points 1-2 of your agenda.
I hope the I.W.S.A. meetings are successful & stimulating? It is always a pleasure to meet women fellow workers. I find, in my movement, we really are much nicer than men -- individually, nationally, & internationally! There, I shall be recorded as "Anti-man," though I am not really. I have grown up among boys, & lived & worked with men all my life, & some of my best friends are men; but en gros I do like women best! Who was it said: "The more I see of men the better I think of women!"
About next Ex Comtee meeting again.[X] I am afraid the living in Geneva is dearer than most other places, and the journey to get there is so dear. Otherwise of course Geneva is the best place for our Ex. to meet. But don't let anyone imagine they can attend [illegible] Ex. Comee meetings & the L. N. Assembly at the same time; or that you can count on getting an adequate idea of the Assembly by attending just for a chance day or two. It all depends what the Ass. is doing those particular days -- & whether it is a full session, or commissions, & ↑whether↓ public or private. / Post. C. E. M.
[X] [written in left margin] V. G. & Mme Ramondt had written suggesting that the E.C. should meet in Geneva during the Session of the L. N. Assembly in September. C. E. M.
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