WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
12, Rue du Vieux-College, Geneva, Switzerland
November 24, 1927.
Dear Executive Member,
Since my last letter to you of November 5th one or two questions have arisen on which I have to consult you but first of all I will state what has happened in regard to the questions raised in my last letter.
1) with regard to Indonesian prisoners, Madame Ramondt and Dr. Jacobs are carefully following this question which will soon come before the courts. The charge against the Indonesians will then be made public and that will be the best time to protest.
2) Re economic expert on the I.C.W. Three nominations have been received and sent out for a vote. Up to the present only two voting papers have come in. As soon as I receive the remainder I will write to the elected member.
3) Re political prisoners in Bulgaria. I have been following the question of political prisoners in Bulgaria and getting what evidence I can. Cf. my circular letter. I suggest that besides other action we do as other bodies are doing and petition the Bulgarian prime minister for an amnesty. I am confirmed in this by having received the same suggestion from Madame Andrée Jouve who, on behalf of the French Section and at the request of a delegation of women from Bulgaria, has sent a telegram to Mr. Liaptcheff begging for an amnesty for political prisoners. I have written to Hilda Clark as she is so intimately acquainted with the Balkans and is the chairman of our Minority Commission, to ask whether she would object to such a course of action.
4) Re vacancies on the Executive. I have now heard from Catherine Marshall who, owing to absence from home and to not having had letters forwarded, had not received any of our letters written since the September Executive, she now writes to say that although she is still very crippled and has to walk on crutches and cannot therefore attend our [page 2] board of officers meeting at Christmas, she will do as requested by the Executive and withdraw her resignation. She will then see how she is at the time of the next Executive Committee. Meanwhile, owing to her own ill health and to her mother's illness, she cannot do any work for us. I have also head from Miss Balch, not giving her views as to the method of filling vacancies on the Executive, but saying that she will attend the next Executive at which the question of vacancies will be considered. No reply from Miss Addams.
The next board of officers meeting will be here on December 17th. I assume that the officers who will attend it will be Madame Ramondt, Madame Duchêne and Frl. Heymann.
5) I now have to ask you whether you would agree to my accepting an invitation from the Swedish Section to speak at their peace week meeting from January 7th to 12th. They would pay my expenses part of the way, but if the Executive is willing in principle that I should attend the meeting, we could consult at the board of officers meeting whether the office could pay any part of them or not, but I suggest that it would be a useful thing for me to do. The Scandinavians would like it and Dr. Sahlbom says that they would suggest my going to Copenhagen and Oslo as well. They say they feel rather on the outskirts of our movement and that it would be a great encouragement to them to have the international secretary. They specially wanted a speaker on Colonial Imperialism and they wanted to have an English speaker. They tried to get Mrs. Swanwick but she was, of course, unable to go and the other English speakers suggested would require a payment beyond the means of the Swedish Section. I think myself that this would be a good opportunity for me to visit the Scandinavian Section because just at present the work here is not so overwhelming as it is likely to be a little later on and for this reason: this year is an interval between the year needed to prepare for a congress and the year following a congress when the report has to be written. Owing to the three years interval between the Dublin Congress and the proposed Balkan Congress this year leaves a little spare time and I suggest it would be ↑a↓ quite useful little piece of work for the secretary to attend this meeting. It would probably also give me suggestions for helping the northern sections by getting into closer touch with them. Dr. Sahlbom wants me to cable my reply so I am cabling that I will go if the Executive agree and I beg you therefore kindly to let me have an immediate reply as to whether you have any objection to this scheme. I might say that our present office staff is particularly competent and can, I think, deal with the work in my absence. Dr. Sahlbom writes that the wife of the Swedish Foreign Minister invites me there if I go; all of which is quite useful for our cause. [page 3]
I would also like to have your permission for the telegram or letter to Mr. Liaptcheff for the amnesty of political prisoners.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
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