WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
18 February 1924.
Dear Miss Addams,
I feel very thankful for the days I have passed at London and Paris with our friends, getting at the same time a glimpse of these huge cities. It was again, as [illegible] every time we meet; there is a spirit between us which is more precious than any great amount of formal and constitutional exactitude, although I often wish in Geneva that we might have somewhat more [illegible] of this latter. The only sad feature of our meeting was that both Miss Marshall and Miss Courtney are in a bad state of health and it seems as if none of them would be able to attend the Washington Congress. Mrs. Swanwick says she cannot leave her husband who is old and suffers of a painful illness and so it is not yet decided who will represent Great Britain at the Congress.
You will see the main points of our deliberations from the draft of News Letter I enclose and from the Minutes the draft of which you have perhaps got from Gertrud Baer and the final text of which will reach you within a week.
Besides, we had a good public meeting where people were kind enough to listen even to my English and where Mme. Duchêne and our German friends gave extremely good speeches. The interview with Mr. Ponsonby was a very encouraging one; he treated us really as friends and it is a great merit of the British Section to have their work made so much appreciated by the members of the present government.
We were also present at a reception in the house of Mr. Trevelyan, the Secretary of Education, where we saw like in an historical pageant appear and even heard to talk to us a good number of the most prominent men of [today]. We could congratulate the Secretary of Indian affairs, Sir Sydney Olivier, for the release of Gandhi and see and hear what an optimistic attitude the members of the [page 2] Labour Party and the people related with it take on the present situation and the possibilities of Great Britain to help in improving international relations.
In the matter of Gandhi I had the enclosed and very discouraging letter from Mrs. Jinarajadasa which I sent at once to Mlle. Rolland, the best informed person perhaps in Europe on this question. I enclose her answer too, and I suggest not to invite the Indian Women's Association to join our League (she thinks they are a section, but they never have joined our League).
Many thanks for you kind invitation to come over; I should love of course to do so, if I only can finish the work here so far as not to leave too much responsibility on the shoulders of Mme. Tunas. But I should be very grateful indeed if I could go as Secretary and not take the place of somebody coming from my country. Mrs. Ramondt thought she would consider me and somebody else as Hungarian delegates, but this would seem very immodest as other countries cannot send more than one.
The Swiss Section will send Dr. Woker; I first tried to persuade Mrs. Ragaz, but did not succeed. Mlle. Gobat was afraid that besides the [traveling] expenses she would be obliged to spend a great deal of money for her personal outfit (that is true unfortunately) and therefore refused. Mme. Jouve is trying to get one month' vacation and to use the Easter holidays for the journey; Marcelle Capy is sure to come, Mme. Duchêne also and possibly Mlle. Dumont.
Mme. Duchêne told me that she has written you to suggest that Rosika Schwimmer may be asked to take an active part both in the preparations and the Congress. I was very glad to learn this; I am in a very bad position to give an opinion in this question, because it always might seem a personal and not an impartial one. And still I feel that we need her great activity very badly and if her [unpopularity] does some harm to our conservative membership, the motive force of her [organizing] work and of her personal suggestive power would help us very much in getting the [cooperation] of young and progressive people. I know that she has grown bitter and [sensitive] and it is not always easy to work with her; but she deserves it for what she has done and suffered for our cause and it is worth while for what she still can do to indulge in some human weakness of a personality of great human qualities. I hope you will excuse me for extending on this question; you cannot imagine how guilty I feel when other people [page 3] come to remember me what we owe her and that we absolutely ought to profit of the opportunity the Washington Congress offers for her "rehabilitation." I answer them that 1) she does not need any rehabilitation, because she has not done anything wicked or dishonest; 2) that I am but an executive organ of our League and have no right whatever to take dispositions. But quite confidentially I think we should find some place for her on the program where she will certainly be useful and show thereby that we consider her one of our prominent fellow-workers. She has been hurt in a quite unnecessary way at Vienna and there has passed no month since I am here that people have not reproached me about this. Perhaps you talk over the question with Gertrud Baer, in order to hear what people in Europe think of it.
Yesterday Miss Honegger from Zurich was her whom I had invited to be auditor of my accounts, or rather of those of our bookkeeper. I have not heard a word about Mrs. Ramondt being Financial Secretary; I am sorry because I wrote her just a few weeks ago a quite unfriendly letter for having proposed to stop sending money from The Hague, as I am so rich according to the Balance Sheet of July showing all our money in the New York Bank as "argent en main." She understood my explanations and very kindly [apologized]. Had I known that she has got some special kind of [authorization], I should not have been as angry as that; but while I try to be as economical as possible, I feel always shocked if I see the possibility of being obliged to drop some action which seems important to me for lack of money. Especially now it could happen that I should be obliged to omit some kind of Congress propaganda for reasons of economy; I am sure we did not spend until now any more money than proposed in our Budget, even the Summer School brought some benefit.
I am very glad to hand over [traveling] arrangements to Mrs. Ramondt who is much more fitted to and trained in such matter. Miss Marshall has asked Mme. Duchêne to act for her, because she is ordered to rest for some time and has gone to the country for a short time.
May I remember you the great [favor] for which I asked you in my last card: to write an article on Wilson for the next (March) -- Bulletin? I am looking forward very much for it.
It is of very great importance that the history of our League may be told by you; Mme. Tunas is collecting the material and I hope it will not give you too much fatigue to draft it. It has been suggested to begin the Congress by it, so as to spare you a special opening speech besides; I wonder whether you would like it.
With kindest regards
devotedly yours
Vilma Glücklich [signed]
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