Dear Miss Addams,
When I had the pleasure of seeing you at Geneva early in September, you asked me whether it would be possible for me to undertake the work of Headquarters Secretary of the W.I.L. when Miss Doty gives it up. The same request was made to me after the Dublin Congress by Dr. Jacobs, Mme Duchêne, Frau. Heymann and Mme Larsenn-Jahn, all of whom, except Dr. Jacobs, are members of the International Executive. Miss Courtney had written to me previously, when there was last a vacancy. I gather therefore that Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Norway and America wish me to undertake the work. As you, of course, know, this is not the first time I have been invited to do so, and though I have refused on previous occasions, this reiterated request has caused me to consider it very carefully, and I have just spent a week in Geneva in order the better to see what the conditions of work are. As there is no immediate hurry, I am going to wait until after Christmas before I decide whether to apply or not. I understand there are other possible candidates, and it may very well be that they are more suitable than I. [page 2]
But in any case, I hope you will not think I am presuming if I tell you what I think are great obstacles to the satisfactory work of headquarters, whether I or anyone else undertake the work.
I refused the offer of the Secretaryship after the Hague Congress of 1922, because of the inadequate salary, and that drawback still exists.
The salary offered then and now is below that paid for work requiring similar qualifications in London, and very much below what is paid in Geneva. I personally know three or four women working in Geneva, whose salaries are two or three times what is offered by the W.I.L. I think that on principle it is not right to lower the rate paid to properly qualified women, and in this case I am convinced that the salary is not enough in a city where prices are so high. Miss Doty will certainly confirm this, and it is hardly necessary for me to [emphasize] it; I think it is generally agreed that for instance, it is necessary in a place like Geneva, where a good deal depends on personal contacts, that anyone working there should be able to have a certain social position, to go about, to entertain and to dress fairly well; also being away from her own country, to pay [traveling] expenses to and fro, and as she is “living in,” to go away for quiet Sundays. The present salary is insufficient for that and really is that of a “living in” governess. [page 3]
I think that if the national sections think it [sufficiently] important to have a Headquarters Secretary they should undertake the responsibility of paying a proper salary, otherwise, I don’t see how they can expect to get the work really done.
As far as I am personally concerned, I could supplement the salary from private sources, so that I could manage, putting aside the question of principle, but I think the W.I.L. should [recognize] the duty of paying adequately.
Then, what is more important perhaps, I think that the multifarious duties and incessant petty interruptions involved in combining the work of International Secretary with that of being resident in the International Club makes really constructive work impossible. It is impossible for Miss Doty or anyone else to do her ↑best↓ work or to develop the League’s activities with the present complete lack of privacy and leisure. People drop in at all hours and on every imaginable errand, and people staying in the house take up a great deal of time and energy. Moreover, the Secretary is never quiet and free, morning, noon or night and I don’t see how this is to be met while she "lives in." For this reason Miss Balch found it advisable to live out, and I believe it is probably the best way to get the best work. When I was at the Maison Internationale in Miss Balch’s time, she not only lived out, and therefore had her evenings and Sundays undistributed, but she had a sitting room in [page 4] the Maison. Miss Doty has neither, nothing but her [bedroom]. I think if “living in” is insisted on, at least the Secretary should be provided with a [sitting room]. At present, she is not given any room rent free, and the salary does not enable her to rent an additional room.
With regard to the staff, it seemed to me that having three assistants none of whom is really trained and efficient threw a heavy burden on the Secretary, who has personally to supervise every detail. She has no competent stenographer, and really needs a well-trained efficient secretary, who could take charge in her absence. I quite appreciate the value of the house as a Club and as an outward tangible sign of the work, which attracts people and interests them, but I think its incessant demands on the Secretary’s attention interfere very seriously with the development of constructive peace work. It was suggested to me several times by members of the Executive that two secretaries were really required, but as long as the League cannot raise a proper salary for one, it is obviously impossible to employ two.
So much for the rather material, or at least tangible impediments to effective work under present conditions. What seems to me an even greater obstacle is the lack of moral support given to the Secretary by the national sections. Personally, I feel I could not do effective work unless the national sections gave hearty and effective support by agreeing on the policy they [page 5] wish to have pursued at Headquarters, bu hearty [cooperation] and supply of information, by keeping the Secretary au courant with their activities and policies and by sharing personally in the work at Geneva.
What I have written sounds perhaps rather carping -- and please do not think that I am making conditions. If I decide to apply for the post of Secretary, it will be with my eyes open to the difficulties and with a determination to make the best of them.
But as I have been invited several times in the past few years to undertake the work, and as I am really interested in the international work of the League, and would like to see it carried out effectively, I hope I may be allowed, without being presumptuous, to express my views on the conditions which at present to my mind hinder its success.
There is another personal factor, my own uncertain health. Arthritis is a nasty complaint, as it appears to be incurable and is very uncertain in the course of its development. My doctor at Aix thinks I shall not get worse, and that I could undertake regular work at Geneva, if not [overworked], but one never knows. I find doctors are as likely to be wrong as right about this very capricious complaint. But, as he said, my brain is not atrophied, though some of my muscles are! I have to have certain conditions of comfort, warmth and quiet, and a [certain] [page 6] amount of regular treatment -- these are not, I think, impossible to arrange for, and I need not trouble you with them.
I hope I have made it clear that I personally should not now allow the question of salary to be an obstacle in my own particular case, though I urge that in the case of anyone else being appointed a larger salary should be offered, and I think it is more than likely that a better person than myself will be found by the Committee, in which case I urge for her sake and for the sake of the work, that the conditions of work may be improved and that the national sections take more interest in, and responsibility for, the work at Headquarters.
↑P.S. To save you time & trouble I am sending a copy of this letter to members of the Intl. Executive.↓
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