January 3, 1924
Dear Mrs Marshall:
I spent a profitable afternoon with Miss Balch, and am now following her suggestions in regard to preparing for the Congress, by sending both you and Miss Glücklich duplicate letters covering the following questions:
1- Will the International Executive Committee authorize the Section for the United States to carry on the Summer School under its auspices, or shall we have it a national School? I think it would gain prestige by being an international School, and would undoubtably be of value to the international work. Miss Addams and Miss Breckenridge are planning the courses, and it promises to be exceedingly [worthwhile]. The tentative subjects are the biological, psychological, and economic bases of internationalism. Have you suggestions regarding speakers for the Summer School or Congress, either among our own members or among others who may be coming to this country, at that time?
2- Will you let us know as quickly as possible the keynote of the Congress and the Agenda? We are getting out a second bulletin, and if we could incorporate the names of some of the members who are to be present, together with news items regarding them, it would help us much in our publicity.
3- I am following, as far as it is possible, the suggestions made in Vienna, regarding the formation of the Congress. According to Article 9, the Executive Committee will come with resolutions already taken, reaffirmed. I feel quite strongly that we should bring about in some way a realization of the principle involved in our opposition to force, -- not passive resistance necessarily, but the emphasis of the positive side of our program in economic and political matters, through the use of other methods than coercion or physical force. I hope very much that it will not be necessary in the Congress to bring up controversial matters that can be turned to our disadvantage by an opposition press. If we stand united on our general subjects and discuss methods, I think we will carry much greater weight in America.
I hope that you approve of our program, as we have outlined it. You will notice particularly, in this bulletin [which?] I am enclosing, that we make this a report of the work of the national section. We fully understand and appreciate the need of having the procedure of the Congress carried out by the International Executive Committee, and we are not attempting to formulate that. [page 2] We are trying, however, to prepare the membership and the public here for the Congress, by starting on an active campaign for a Stop the next War Congress of debtor and creditor nations. We plan this to be outside of the Congress in order that members of other national organizations may take part on equal footing with us, and as we plan it now, we shall have an [all-day] conference on April 30th, of the national organizations, in regard to the calling of this Conference.
In the evening of April 30th, we plan to have an open meeting on "Present Day Pan-American Problems", with Mrs. Catt, if it is possible to get ↑her↓ as a leader. This will bring to Washington a large number of people who undoubtably will stay over as visitors or fraternal delegates to the W.I.L. Congress.
4- Will the International Executive Committee appoint in advance an Editor to compile the proceedings of the Congress? I understand that this is a tedious task. Would it be possible and feasible for Madame Ramondt to do it, [illegible] 1924, this country while she is working on it. We have in mind the possibility of obtaining a scholarship for her daughter in Bryn Mawr, for the coming winter. This may be visionary, but we are very much in hopes that Madame Ramondt and her daughter will be present at the Congress, and we thought this might be attractive to them.
5- We are greatly in need of publicity in regard to the chief speakers at other Congresses, members of the Executive Board, and anything else that we can use for continuous publicity. Will Miss Marshall be kind enough to send us a story with her picture, interpreting present conditions politically between England and France, from the W.I.L. point of view. Will Miss Glücklich give us a short story, please, with pictures, if possible, of anything that might be of significance in Hungary. You must realize how far we are from the center of things, and that we need these stories coming in continuously, in order to build publicity for the Congress around them.
6- We are particularly anxious to have a good representative from France. It is much easier to obtain pacifists from Germany who will speak for us, than from France. One qualification which all must have, to make this effective, is their ability to speak English. We are also very anxious to have someone from Russia at the Congress. I know that you will do all you can to help us in this way, for you both have a sense of publicity value.
7- How far do you wish us to invite cooperating professions to send fraternal delegates to the Congress? Or shall that be done entirely through the International Office? We must get these invitations out rather quickly, because many of them have only an occasional Board meeting.
8- We find ourselves perplexed in regard to the Versailles Treaty, for although we are sure of the strong terms on which it was made, we are grossly ignorant of [illegible] where it has failed, and [can?] answer questions [in?] only a limited way when called upon. If you have material of any kind which would be of value to us, I should be glad of it. I am considering now, having a round table conference on the Versailles Treaty here in Washington, and any other Bulletin, I hope to bring out some telling illustrations of the actual results of working under the Treaty. [page 3]
We are all eagerly looking forward to having you come, and we want surely to see you both.
Will emphasize, please, the fact that we would like to have representatives, if possible from both the older and new groups in Austria, and a large delegation from the Scandinavian countries.
Cordially,
Amy Woods [signed]
National Secretary.
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