My dear Miss Addams:
I want to give a brief report to you of what was done at the informal meeting of Mrs. Spencer, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Thomas, and myself last Saturday morning at Mrs. Leach's. Mrs. Cothren was moving on that day and [although] we heard from her by telephone she was not present. Mrs. Lewis wanted to turn over her minutes, etc. to me and talk over the situation.
We had a wire from Mrs. Allender, saying she could not accept the position of Office Secretary. We decided to send Mrs. Thomas to Washington to talk with Mrs. La Follette about the Chairmanship. We wired for an interview and if this can be arranged Mrs. Thomas will go this week. Mrs. Leach after much urging, agreed that if it was absolutely impossible to secure Mrs. La Follette her name might remain on the letterheads until fall. Mrs. Cothren accepted the position of Treasurer and agreed to fin supervise the office this summer, (if it remained in New York) and secure an Office Secretary for this time. Thereupon it was decided to keep the office in New York until fall anyway; nothing would be gained during the summer by a change to Washington. Mrs. Thomas while willing to do all she could for the League, felt she was not yet strong enough for the steady strain of office work and would therefore not accept the position of Executive Secretary, resident in Washington.
We discussed the possibility of having a representative at the Board Meeting ↑in Geneva.↓ [Although] Mrs. Leach is leaving soon for Europe her plans are such that it will be absolutely impossible for her to attend the meeting.
We found that Mrs. Thomas could go if her expenses were largely covered. And as is it [page 2] seemed imperative that we have a representative, especially in view of the fact that we had heard that Mrs. Villard was sending a representative, we decided to try to secure her expenses. If she goes she will have to secure passage at once; we therefore wired Mrs. Johnson of California, asking if she and Mrs. Dummer would be willing to guarantee one thousand dollars, with the understanding that we would do our best to raise a large part of the money elsewhere. I have not yet received an answer. I hope this will meet with your hearty approval. If Mrs. Thomas goes, she will want to have credentials from you and I suppose if possible a letter stating your position in reference to Mrs. Villard's group having direct affiliation with the International as a group, or forming another International.
Mrs. Kohlhamer has written Mrs. Leach that she expects to be at Geneva at the time of the meeting. It would be tragic if she were our representative and the only one. The reports from the Chicago meeting certainly are enthusiastic.
On May fifth, I am leaving the office definitely. I expected to go on May first, but it seemed better to stay for a few days to get things started after the meeting; but on the fifth, s'help me God, I am leaving.
I am sorry to go after this long time but the League is flourishing now and some one can take up the work.
Affectionately yours,
Eleanor Daggett Karsten [signed]
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