BLACKWELL FAMILY ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Correspondence Letters to the EditorsBallots And Bullets ALICE STONE BLACKWELL WRITES ON THE PHYSICAL FORCE ARGUMENT WHILE FIGHTING FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE, SHE DEVOTES SPARE TIME TO FINDING MEN POSITIONS AS KITCHENMAIDS. To the Editor of the Tribune, Sir: Helen Kendrick Johnson in her recent book against equal rights or women lays great stress upon the physical force argument. So much is made of this point by opponents of equal suffrage that is perhaps worth a little fuller discussion than it has yet received. The objection is, in brief, that if women's votes turned the sale at a contested election the men in the defeated party would refuse to abide by the result. This is a matter in which we have been voting for many years, in many different places and upon a great variety of questions. There had never been any refusal to abide by the result. For the last nine years the women voters of Boston have turned the scale at almost every school election. The defeated candidates have never tried to reverse the result by force of arms, and every one knows there is not the slightest practical danger of their doing so. In Kansas women have had municipal suffrage since 1887. They have often defeated corrupt candidates at exiting city elections. There has never been any attempt at insurrection. In Elk Falls the municipal election was once decided by a single vote, that of a women of eighty-six years old, Mrs. Prudence Crandall Philleo, of anti-slavery fame. There was no rebellion. And if there had been, what practical difference would it have made, for fighting purposes, whether the casting vote had been given by a women eighty-six years old or a man of the same age? In Colorado the women's vote defeated Governor Waite, who has become an "anti" in consequence; but there was no insurrection. In Wyoming, where women have had full suffrage since 1869, they have often defeated bad candidates, but no disorder has ever resulted. Thus far experience has borne out Colonel Higginson's prediction: "When any community is civilized up to the point of enfranchising women it will be civilized up to the point of sustaining their vote, as it now sustains their property rights, by the whole material force of the community." There is no reason to believe that the men of the Eastern States are less civilized than those of the West. Alice Stone Blackwell. Dorchester, Mass., Aug. 4, 1897 Food in our prisons To the Editor of the Transcript: Events at the Philadelphia County Prison have shocked the country. The trouble began because more than 600 men were so dissatisfied with their food that they went on a hunger strike. This recalls a sticking story told to me by Prof. George Kirchwey. When he was appointed warden of Sing Sing many years ago, he found the prisoners' diet was very monotonous and unappetizing. He got a nutrition expert, a Quaker woman from Columbia University, to map out a new diet that should be at once wholesome and appetizing. The prisoners received it with enthusiasm. Presently the man in charge of the prison farm applied to him for money to buy corn to feed the hogs. It was the first time in thirty years, he said, that he had to ask for it. "Why, what have the hogs been fed upon?" asked Prof. Kirchwey. "The scraps from the prisoners' table," was the answer, "but now there are no scraps." Next came the prison doctor. He said, "I believe somebody has been poisoning the prisoners' minds against me. There are not one-tenth as many calls for my services as usual." Then came the man in charge of the prison court, a tribunal that had been set up by Thomas Mott Osborn to try cases of quarrels and fights between the prisoners. He said, "There is something going on in the prison that I do not understand. We used to have a case or two before the court almost every day; now, for a number of days, we have not had any. observers come out from the city to see the prison court in operation and we have nothing to show them." Prof. Kirchwey added proudly, "And the new diet did not cost a cent more than the old one." Letters to the Editors True Worship of God No Bar to Respect for the Flag Editors, Vineyard Gazette: In the Gazette of July 2, I noticed a letter written by Alice Stone Jackson(Blackwell). In trying to excuse the treatment of the flag by a group called Jehovah's Witness, she likened them to a foolish little boy, who wouldn't kiss his mother. That is not a parallel case. The leaders of this group are not children, but mature men and women. With little children we make an effort to train them to be polite, although we excuse a great deal knowing that much they do is only a passing caprice. With grown people the matter is very different. I personally have never heard of any good that Jehovah's Witnesses have done, only of the trouble they have made in the schools and elsewhere by their lack of affection and respect for the flag. The true worship of our God does not interfere with the love and respect that we have for our family and friends. Instead of hindering, it should intensify our affection and respect for the flag that protects us. Lucy E. Cyr. Oak Bluffs. Editors' note: The corresponding to whom Miss Cyr refers is Alice Stone Blackwell (not Jackson), Vineyard summer resident for seventy years, who, among the many honors of a long and rick life in the service of others, was, in 1934, awarded the Public Hall Forum gold medal for pre-eminent service to human welfare. The award was made to Miss Blackwell as a "worker for the oppressed, the unfortunate, the misunderstood and the underprivileged, no matter of what race, sex, creed or color". Tongue-In-Cheek Protest? People's Editor: A current news item is enough to make a cat laugh, if the issues concerned were not so serious. The Latvian consul gravely protested, along with the representatives of Britain and the United States, against the resolutions passed by the comintern (communist international), as an interference with Latvia's internal affairs. Anna Louise Strong, in the New Republic, lately answered a question regarding the executions that followed Kirov's assassination. She said: "One hundred and three persons were executed as members of murder gangs who crossed the Soviet border with revolvers and hand grenades to commit acts of violence against c communists and Soviet officials. Such gangs have existed ever since the revolution drove out the White Guard armies, but Berlin gave them shelter after Hitler came to power. They have for two years been bragging in newspapers publishes in Berlin and Jugoslavia of their successes in murder and destruction beyond the Soviet frontier. Today the whole world knows about Nazi terrorist tactics across frontiers. "These cases were handled by border guards until the assassination of Kirov aroused a storm of popular resolutions calling for drastic action against terrorists. A court-martial composed of well-known members of the supreme court thereupon made a rapid clean-up of all these cases in several cities, publishing the fact that the terrorists had been armed when arrested, had run the border from Poland and Rumania, and had plotted and carried out murders. The trials were in camera. since open discussion of details was tantamount to accusing several governments of acts that rank as causes of war. "In the Kirov case itself, 14 persons were executed, who confessed that they had formed a 'Leningrad Center' to assassinate Soviet leaders. They connected abroad through the Latvian consul-general, who on evidence shown was recalled by his government," The Latvian consul-general who protested the other day was the successor to the one who had lately been recalled for cause. "C.M.G." Boston.[*1937*] Springfield Republican Sept 29, 1937 FROM NATIONS ON PACIFIC International Conference of Women at Vancouver, B. C. To the Editor of The Republican:— A conference of women room nations on the Pacific was lately held at Vancouver, B. C. An interesting inside view of it is given in a letter from a delegate who had traveled half around the world to be present. On her journey home, she wrote to a friend in Seattle:— "The conference was an exhausting experience, and now that it is all over, people say, 'Was it worthwhile?' It was a strange experience, for one could feel personality clashing against personality, creed against creed, fads against fads. Some people were so illprepared; others had an ax to grind; and the general mental array was so varied that one had to regard it as a triumph for tolerance and goodwill that everyone was comparatively patient and forbearing. It was a strain on us who work, intense work, from 8 to 5, with evening lectures, an arduous program. You will not wonder that I am just getting my second wind now. "What did I get out of it? First, many useful facts, and a knowledge that I had smugly assumed that a superficial grasp of many problems was knowledge. Secondly, a realization of the complexity of the world and the Pacific situation, and yet a firmer conviction that the solution lies in the hearts of the people. Thirdly, a glimpse into many rare and faithful hearts. Mrs Gauntlet, the Japanese president, is of exquisite quality; it grieved me to see the obsequious familiarity with which some delegates fawned on her, as if, being oriental, she was a curious phenomenon. The Chinese and Japanese had a scale of values, although, naturally, they were aristocratic and wealthy, the educated leisured group, and so were not of the people. One felt that each one was an integrated personality. "Then came contact with others I shall not forget, including Mrs Mitchell, whom you know, and Mrs McNaughton. Mrs. McNaughton and I lunched together one day, and then, by a stroke of good fortune, we spent a whole day together on the train as I left for the East. That energetic deep-seeing woman is a stimulating companion. She gives and gets from you with no waste of time and her range of interests is immense. She is wholesome. "The conference did not aim at coming to conclusions; it strove rather to reveal various situations. It was interesting to watch the part played by the outsiders. Catholic Action was there, fighting, for instance, against birth control, and bringing strange arguments to demolish theories that no one had advanced; the left groups had their speakers, who provided a wholesome antidote to the vague idealism of the church people; and W. C. T. U. advocates were much in evidence. Reality kept breaking through, in the common-sense of the woman of the "dust-bowl," in the pathetic appeal of the husbandless woman with seven children; in the challenging utterance of the Chinese woman. 'We have not to teach our people to be peace-minded. We are peace-minded; now we have to teach them to resist. In the North we did not resist, and there has been no peace. In Shanghai we resisted, and there is peace.' {This letter was written on August 2.} One's pacifism had to be firmly rooted to meet the cry of China. "There was a decided tendency to find the root of war, prostitution, traffic in arms, nervous ills, population problems, in the economic system, despite the occasional tory who found that the unemployed would not work, and who would make every lowly-born woman a domestic servant. Yet we all knew that there was a fear of following that line too far; one knew that if one pressed the point too far, the well-bred tolerance might crack, revealing sharp antipathies below. "Many people went away disappointed that more was not done to suggest means of removing the major ills. It was really a serious defect, I think, that there was little debate, but simply an exchange of data. The overloaded program also militated against success. One could only scratch the surface in a 2 1/2- hour session where eight or nine lands explained, e.g., their labor situation. Next program will be lighter. Two-thirds of the time will be given to the study of economic interdependence, based on knowledge that is already being accumulated on the economic position in each Pacific country—a method both simpler and deeper. From beginning to end the orientals pleaded for and demanded simplification, that they might interest the ordinary woman in constructive work for peace. "I, personally, feel I had a rich experience. I made many outside contacts. There were hosts of fine souls. One almost begrudged the hours spent in listening to paid speakers, for there was so much to garner both among the delegates and without." A. S. B. Cambridge, September 25, 1937. Letters to the Editors VIOLENCE CANNOT PROMOTE PATRIOTISM Editors, Vineyard Gazette: Let me thank you warmly for advocating gentle treatment of "Jehovah's Witnesses". To me it is a pleasure to salute the flag; but one of the good things that it stands for is religious liberty. It makes one heart sick to read of the violence inflicted upon members of this queer sect in some parts of the country. One of them was even forced to kiss the flag by a severe beating. This was a desecration of the Stars and Stripes; and it certainly did not promote love for the flag in the heart of the victim. If some foolish little boy did not want to kiss his mother, would any wise mother wish his father to say to him, "You shall kiss your mother regularly every morning, or I will beat you black and blue"? Alice Stone Blackwell. Cambridge, Mass. [*July 2, 1940*] RELIGIOUS FREEDOM To the Editor of The Republican:— Let me thank you for your editorial on the case of the little schoolboy in Lynn, member of a curious religious sect that believes it is wrong to salute the flag. To a reasonable and patriotic American, it ought to be as easy to salute the flag as to kiss his mother. But I should have grown up loving my parents less if in my childhood my father had made a castiron rule that I must kiss my mother every morning or be spanked. That is one reason why I am opposed to these compulsory salutes. A genuine religious scruple deserves respect, even when it is unreasonable. Some way should be find to excuse the child from giving the salute. Religious freedom is proclaimed in the constitution of the United States. Yet thoughtless persons try to prove their superior patriotism by persecuting those who believe they must obey God rather than men. This is keeping the letter of the law while disregarding its spirit. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Boston, October 2, 1935. Refugees TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: When a city is wiped out by fire or flood, the neighboring towns take in the refugees, even at much inconvenience. The Jews in Germany and Austria have been overtaken by a calamity worse than fire or flood. It is caused by the wickedness of men, not by the wrath of nature. The calamity is on a gigantic scale. All countries ought now to modify their immigration laws to give shelter to the refugees. In great emergencies, ordinary rules should yield to humanity. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Cambridge, Mass. Help the Jews [*Zion's Herald*] [*Oct 26th –38*] When a city is wiped out by fire or flood, the neighboring towns take in the refugees, even at a great inconvenience. The Jews of Germany and Austria have been overtaken by a calamity worse than fire or flood. It is caused by the wickedness of men, not by the wrath of nature. It is calamity on a gigantic scale. All countries ought now to modify their immigration laws so as to give shelter to the refugees. In great emergencies, ordinary rules should yield to humanity ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge.UNITY Oct. 3. 1938 47 Correspondence the Jew is wealth. Will these two mights united prevail to oust the Arab from his home? P. M. Matthéeff, Sofia, Bulgaria Bulgarian Correspondent An Object Lesson Editor of Unity: The shocking events at the Philadelphia County Prison recall a striking story told to me by Prof. George Kirchwey. When he was appointed warden of Sing Sing he found that the prisoners' diet was very monotonous and unappetizing. He got a nutrition expert, a Quaker woman from Columbia University, to map out a new diet that should be at once wholesome and appetizing. The prisoners received it with enthusiasm. Presently the man in charge of the prison farm applied to him for money to buy corn to feed the hogs. It was the first time in thirty years, he said, that he had had to ask for it. "Why, what have the hogs been fed upon?" asked Professor Kirchwey. "The scraps from the prisoners' table, but now there are no scraps." Next came the prison doctor; he said, "I believe somebody has been poisoning my prisoners' minds against me. There is not one-tenth as many calls for my services as usual." Then came the man in charge of the prison court, a tribunal that had been set up by Thomas Mott Osborne to try cases of quarrels and fights between the prisoners. He said, "there is something going on in the prison that I do not understand. We used to have a case or two before the court almost every day; now for a number of days we have not had any. Observers come out from the city to see the prison court in operation and we have nothing to show them." Professor Kirchwat added proudly, "And the new diet did not cost a cent more than the old one." He told me he believed that when there is trouble in any prison the real cause is generally the food; and that the attitude of the prison authorities toward the prisoners needs to be changed. There are apt to look upon them merely as a bunch of crooks who ought to be only too glad to get anything at all to ear. More men come out of our prisons and jails every year than graduate from all of our colleges and universities, and it is a matter of importance to the public whether they come out of prison better or worse than when they went in. The recent terrible events in Philadelphia County prison began with a hunger strike of more than 600 prisoners against the monotony of their diet, and this led up to the developments that have horrified the country. It would be as cheap in money, and far cheaper in every other way, to see to it that prisoners should get plain but appetizing food. Alice Stone Blackwell. Cambridge, Mass. College Women as Wives TO THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: A writer in your columns argues that college women do not make good wives, because, out of a number of Boston University girls questioned as to what profession they meant to follow, only one answered "Marriage." There is no reason to suppose that the others would make bad wives. Divorce statistics, published two or three years ago, throw some light on this question. In the population of the United States at large, there is about one divorce to fifty-five marriages; and among the women graduates of the co-educational colleges, one divorce to seventy five marriages. This indicates that the college women make better wives than the average, and also show more judgement in picking out young men who will make good husbands. Someone -- was it Benjamin Franklin? -- has said that no young woman is fully equipped for marriage unless she is mistress of some trade or profession by which she can support her children if she should be left a widow. Boston A.S.B PRISON CRUELTY Pros for Traveler SHOULD BE ABOLISHED People's Editor: Cruel and unusual punishments are forbidden by law. This should apply to men in prisons as well as to men outside. The apparatus for baking prisoners in the Philadelphia county jail was not meant to kill, but it was obviously designed to torture. The whole infernal outfit ought to be scrapped. Charles Reade's old novel, "It Is Never Too Late to Mend" is based on an actual case in England, where a man who took pleasure in torturing became warden of a prison. He was ousted only with great difficulty and after his cruelties had cost many lives. This book is said to be a favorite in prison libraries, wherever it is found. There are better ways of punishing refractory prisoners than baking them. The mocking name of the cold Klondike given to the roasting apparatus shows the spirit in which it has been used. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge. TRIBUTE TO WATSON To the Editor of the Post: Sir -- A high tribute is paid to the late Sir William Watson by Unity, not only praising his poetry, but stressing his courage. It says: "Not since Shelly, unless it be Swinburne, has a poet so passionately and eloquently voiced indignation against injustice, cruelty, oppression. He it was who branded the Sultan Abdul Hamid to all eternity as 'Abdul the Damned.' denounced England's neglect of the stricken Armenians, espoused the cause of the Boers when the empire was conquering their country, appealed for Irish freedom when Erin bore the hate of the all patriotic Englishmen, and in one of the savagest satires since Pope ('The Woman with the Serpent's Tongue') held up to furious scorn the wife of the Prime Minister. Hat Watson learned to restrain his passion or subdue his idealism, he would undoubtedly have rivaled Kipling in popular favor, and won the Laureateship. But his spirit never tamed itself to obedience and conformity, and it was the insignificant Alfred Austin who received the royal favor." A. S. B. Sept 1939 [HOLYOK?] Alice Stone Blackwell At Four Score Not enough attention has been paid to the face of the eightieth birthday of Alice Stone Blackwell. Miss Blackwell is that extraordinary person -- the second generation of prophets and able to take up the work of her father and mother and aunts and carry it to the triumph that would have thrilled them. Prophets are of the stuff who expect to win at sometime and in some way. They are not so much concerned with themselves as with their cause. Alice Stone Blackwell, child of Henry Blackwell and Lucy Stone, is one of the most selfless people who ever lived. More after her father's pattern than that of her lovely mother, [Miss] Blackwell is one of the intellectuals who flames with the power of a great wisdom. She was born into the dream that makes the American Declaration of Independence so dazzling a document. Human liberty, individual opportunity, the freedom of all peoples, equality, tolerance, those are all the expressions of this great American woman. Part Missing Nov 25, 1875 Anti-Slavery Anniversaries. EDITOR COMMONWEALTH: Edmund Quiney once said the "Abolitionists had a good many 'All-Saints days' to observe." We have just passed the fortieth anniversary of the Boston pro- slavery mob, and the thirty-eight anniversary of the death of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy. Aside from the anti-slavery question, we hope the represnt- atives of the press will erect a monument to his memory as one who died in defense of the free- dom of the press, acting at the time under the authority of the government of the city of Alton. It matters but little whether the ques- tion was the right to discuss the subject of slav- ery, the platform of a political party, or the corruption of a political ring; he was contend- ing for a great principle and right, and died in defense of it. The next in order is John Brown's day, the second day in December. And some of the abolitionists wish to remember the eight of December. It will be thirty- eight years that day since Wendell Phillips de- livered his first anti-slavery speech. It was in Faneuil Hall, in answer to a speech of Attorney- General Austin, who said that Lovejoy was "presumptuous and imprudent, and died as the fool dieth." Just twenty-two years after that, the eight day of December, Wendell Phillips, with the wintry blasts of the desolate regions of North Elba sweeping around him, stood by the remains and open grave of John Brown and delivered a funeral address. Next in order is emancipation-day, the first of January. We hope that day will be celebrated in future time as a landmark in the progress of the human race and the triumph of right over wrong. But it is too soon yet; for church and state have hardly done erecting statues and monu- ments to the memory of the advocates and de- fenders of negro-slavery. H. W. B. NEPONSET, Nov. 25, 1875. LINCOLN AND WAR July 7th TO the Editor of The Herald: Abraham Lincoln did not believe in the shocking sentiment, "My country, right or wrong." He opposed the Mexican war. Lloyd George opposed the Boer war while it was in progress. Lord Chatham sided with the American colonies in the war of the revolution. Those who oppose unjust wars are recognized afterwards by history as an honor to their country. Everybody ought to be glad that the court of appeals has decided that a man is not disqualified for citizenship because he puts his allegiance to God first. He is likely to make the very best kind of a citizen. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Boston, Mass, July 3. 1930 LINCOLN NO PACIFIST. July 1730 Alice Stone Blackwell's Mail Bag Letter of this morning calls for comment. Abraham Lincoln can not be shown to have been a pacifist on the basis of his record in the Mexican war. In those days he was a Whig and a fervent admirer of Henry Clay. In 1846 he was a candidate for Congress and the only member of his party to be returned from Illinois. During the campaign, enthusiasm for the war with Mexico ran high and tidings of the victories of the American troops kept the popular temper at fever heat. The Whigs of Illinois did not like what President Polk had done,but they enlisted in great numbers when the call came for volunteers. Lincoln was elected in the fall of 1846, but as Congress was not called in special session he did not take his seat in Washington until December, 1847. Early in November Henry Clay spoke in Lexington. Lincoln, visiting at the home of his wife and on his way to the capital, heard Clay insist that the war might have been averted had not Gen. Taylor been ordered to place cannon on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras within the region in dispute, about which diplomatic negotiations were in progress. The orator denounced the war as one of aggression and the meeting adopted resolutions to that effect. Lincoln regarded the war as largely a measure for the extension of slavery, but he did not inveigh against it during his campaign for Congress. The Whigs were placed in a rather ambiguous position; they did not like the cause for which the war was fought, yet they supported the army in the field once the actual war was under way, and the brilliant achievements of Scott and Taylor placed all critics at a disadvantage before the public. Within three weeks after his arrival in Washington, "the Lone Whig from Illinois," having made his own investigation of the matter, introduced his famous "spot" resolutions. The President had referred repeatedly in his public papers to the invasion by Mexico of "OUR" territory and the shedding of the blood of "our" fellow citizens on "our" soil. Lincoln never accepted that statement as historical fact. In the resolutions, he called upon the President to name the precise "spot" where American blood had first been shed. Everybody knew that in fact the "spot" lay within the territory under debate, which Mexico held to be no part of the independent state of Texas. The resolutions were drawn with skills and they turned the laugh on the administration, as Lincoln desired. The resolutions were introduced on Dec. 22. On Jan. 12,1848, Lincoln made his well-remembered speech on them. They were never voted upon. The intent was merely to embarrass the President. Three weeks later the treaty of peace was signed. During the remainder of the session, Lincoln took small part in the proceedings of the House, but he voted repeatedly for the Wilmot proviso against slavery in any lands that might be obtained from Mexico. But the Sangamon congressman heard a great deal about that speech back home. Both foes and friends condemned him for an attempt to hamper the operations of the army in the field and to discredit his country before the world. The politicians made the most of their opportunity, Herndon was greatly disturbed. The unpopularity Lincoln thus incurred among his constituents made his election for a second term impossible. Ten years later, the matter came up in the debates with Douglas. The senator accused his rival, in the debate at Charleston, of not standing by the soldiers in the field. In his reply Lincoln did something that was talked about over the state for weeks afterward. He stepped back on the platform, pulled Orlando B. Ficklin forward, and demanded of him, as a fellow-member of that Congress in which Lincoln had served, if he had not voted constantly for the support of the troops in the war. Ficklin replied that Lincoln had voted just as Douglas had done in the Senate for the benefit of the soldiers. The fact is that Lincoln consistently supported the men who did the fighting and who were not responsible for the war, although he believed the war itself was unjust and unnecessary. Gen. Grant held essentially the same position. He fought brilliantly in the war yet when years later, he composed his Memoirs he said: "To this day I regard the war as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation." Lincoln as a young man enlisted in the Black Hawk war, and he was commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States in the civil war. To say that he opposed the Mexican war is one thing. To imply that he opposed war is another. The argument for his pacifism is not well sustained. Zion's Herald Mar.19.1930 Aztec Courtesy To The Editor of Zion's Herald: So pretty a story was told me the other day by Mrs. Esther T. Wellman that I send it to you. She and her husband were doing missionary work in a small Aztec town at the foot of My. Popocatepetl. The people made many apologies because their church had only a floor of earth. But when Mr. and Mrs. Wellman went into the church to give their addresses, they found the whole floor covered deep with layer upon layer of rose petals. Alice Stone Blackwell Dorchester Jan 5 1930 Getting Evidence To the Editor of the Herald: The watch and Ward society has for many years been doing a useful and disagreeable job, and doing it, in the main, with much discretion. It occasionally makes a mistake -- naturally, since its officers and agents are human, and not infallible. But that is no reason for raising a hue and cry against it, and forgetting the vast amount of valuable work it has done, for which all good citizens have reason to be grateful. I have not read the book just now under discussion, and cannot give an opinion as to whether its sale ought to be forbidden. Of course, the friends of free speech and a free press have to be always on the alert against any attempts to suppress social or economic heresy under the plea of suppressing indecency. In any case of serious doubt I should give the cause of a free press the benefit of the doubt. But, leaving aside the question whether this particular book ought to be forbidden, I fail to understand the outcry over the method used to get evidence against the bookseller. It is the method used by the government to get evidence against law breakers in all sorts of lines. If a man is suspected of peddling narcotic drugs, for instance, it would be thought perfectly proper for someone to ask him to sell them a supply, in order to get evidence of the fact. It would be the act of a respectable detective, not that of an agent provocateur. And, if a bookdealer is selling illegal books, how can it be proved unless some such method is taken? ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Dorchester, Dec. 31, 1929 [Spfld.] Republican Dec. 18. 1929 A DETESTED PRESIDENT To the Editor of the Republican:-- "Down with borno!" shouted the rioters in Haiti. This recalls the fact that the president of the little republic was not elected by the people, but installed by the American marines. Under the new constitution which we forced upon Haiti, the president appoints the council and the council elects the president, a most undemocratic arrangement. In this way Borno has been able to keep himself in power, though he is intensely unpopular. In the face of the recent widespread disturbances, he has announced that he will not be a candidate for re-election, and the news that our state department approves his decision is reported to have had a soothing effect in Haiti. So far so good. Now let the other Haitian grievances be redressed. In the words of Lucy Stone, "justice always satisfies." A. S. B. Dorchester, December 9, 1929. AN AL SMITH STORY To the Editor of The Republican:-- They say that a more than usually intelligent immigrant lately applied for naturalization. He answered every question right until he was asked who is now president of the United States. He said, "Al Smith." "What in the world makes you think that Al Smith is President?" asked the Examiner. He answered: "Before election we were told that if Al Smith was elected, the stock market would crash, the factories would lay off men right and left, and we should have unemployment and hard times. I saw all these things happening, and I supposed of course, that Al Smith was now President." F.J.G. Boston, Match 6, 1930 For the "Little Grandmother" To the Editor of the Transcript: Catherine Breshkovsky, "the Little Grandmother of the Russian Revolution," has passed her eighty-sixth birthday. A nobleman's daughter, she espoused the cause of the people, and spent much of her life in prison and in Siberia. Unable to live in Russia because she is out of sympathy with the Bolshevikl, she has founded several boarding schools for poor children in Russian Carpathia, which is now a district of the Czechoslovak republic. The people there are or Russian stock, very poor and ignorant, but highly gifted by nature, and eager for education. She has supported these schools for the last nine years, mostly with American money; but she is always hard pressed to maintain them, and anxiety about them is preying on her health. Anyone wishing to send her a birthday gift for this good work may address Catherine Breshkovsky, care A. Milashevsky, Zemgot, Rumunska I, Praha II, Prague, Czechoslovakia; or I shall be glad to forward any contributions. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL 3 Monadnock street, Upham's Corner, Boston Mass. 1 - 11 - 30 JAN 6 1930 Count Karolyi To the Editor of The World: Let me thank you for your editorial on the Karolyi case. Count Michael deserves a warm welcome in America. Owner of the largest estate but one in Hungary, he knew that the breaking up of the great landed estates was necessary for the welfare of the county. When he was President of the Hungarian Republic he sponsored a measure for turning over the bulk of the land to the people, including his own huge estates. But the other great land owners were less altruistic. When the Countess Karolyi lectured in Boston several years ago she said that the Royalists actually intrigued with the Communists for Karolyi's overthrow, because they knew that the great powers of Europe would not allow a communist government in Hungary, whereas a democratic republic, such as existed under Karolyi, might have lasted. It is significant that the same two elements have been trying to keep Karolyi from getting a hearing in the United States -- the extreme reactionaries on the one side and the communists on the other. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Dorchester, Mass., Jan. 3. The New York Times April 30, 1944 Pioneers in mercy LINCOLN'S DAUGHTERS OF MERCY. By Marjorie Barstow Greenbie. 211 pp. New York: G. P - Putnam's Sons. $3. By Mary Poore IT seems incredible - but there is proof enough in this book - that less than a hundred years ago an army went into battle with no provision for the care of the wounded than a few surgeons. In spite of the well-known findings of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, no changes had been made by the beginning of our Civil War. But certain spirited women had read the Nightingale reports and when the trainloads of unnecessary dead came back they took things into their own hands. Miss Dorthea Dix went to Washington to guarantee a hundred trained nurses if the Army would give them official status - even Miss Nightingale had not possessed that. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman Doctor of Medicine, backed by the Ladies Aid societies, persuaded four doctors to ask the Government for a United States Sanitary Commission on the British Model. They were politely ignored for months till it became evident that the President would not get a new batch of volunteers unless conditions were improved. At the battle of Bull Run the new commission was present in force and Dr. Blackwell was more than able to test out their theories on the 8,000 wounded. As a result, it issued reports, suggestions and pamphlets, which were surprisingly listened to. Out West Mrs. Mary Livermore organized 4,000 societies into the Northwest Sanitary Commission, with an effortless ease and a gift of improvization which is amazing to read about. Her test came after the surrender of Fort Donaldson, when 7,000 wounded were left in the snow with only three surgeons to take care of them -- without blankets, dressings, or stimulants. Her supplies got through -- as they proceeded to do till the end of the war -- and a wonderful character called Mother Bickerdyke got the nursing done. There was nothing that Mother Bickerdyke couldn't do and nobody she wouldn't order around. She fired a surgeon for being drunk, and when he appealed to Sherman the general said: "If it was Bickerdyke, I can't do anything for you. She ranks me." From Grant she had a special pass so that she could be on hand for the fireworks. Again, with Sherman in the bitter winter of '63, when she ran out of firewood for her 1,500 wounded she burned the old and useless breastworks without the authority she well knew she needed. Her speech to the military afterward is a joy to anyone who has ever been frustrated by red tape. It is curious that she did not become a legend like Clara Barton, whose great achievements according to the author, were not as great as Mother Bickerdyke's. There are so many figures in this book to fire the imagination that one regrets its unhappy title. There was frail-looking Mary Safford, who was Bickerdyke's right hand, and Mary Lee, who fed 4,000,000 soldiers in her Union refreshment saloon, and Kady Brownell, who fought alongside her soldiers and took care of them afterward. The list goes on, a catalogue of courage, resourcefulness and fortitude that explodes forever the myth of the Victorian woman's ineptitude. Dr Eliz Blackwell Commends Women Doctors To the Editor of The Herald: With some surprise I have read the letter of Betsy Crabtree about women doctors. During the world war the women physicians and surgeons showed what they could do, and won general respect and admiration. Since then there has, undoubtedly, been a reaction, due in part to the lowering of morale and the widespread demoralization that follow every great war, in part to the professional jealousy of the less generous among the male physicians, and in part to the fascist movement which seeks to restrict all women by force to the kitchen and nursery. But the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, founded in 1857 by Drs. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell and Dr. Marie R. Zakrzewska, and staffed wholly by women doctors, is still in successful operation. So is our own New England Hospital for Women and Children founded only a few years later, and likewise staffed wholly by women. Both institutions are doing much good. In her "Pioneer Work for Women," Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell describes the obstacles that the early women doctors had to meet. When Johns Hopkins opened its medical school to women, there was a brilliant celebration. Among those taking part in it were the wife of the then President of the United States, the wife of the President-elect, and a long list of dignitaries. Dr. Emily Blackwell said to me that this marked the great change since the early women doctors in New York were almost ostracized. Hardly any one but the Quakers would employ them. Betsy Crabtree says she can think of but few famous women doctors. Many doctors, both men and women, who are only locally famous, are doing admirable work. Dr. Charlotte J. Baker of Point Loma, Calif., has assisted more than 1000 babies into the world and has never lost the life of a mother. A medical missionary in Manchuria, only 27 years old -- Sister Maria, sent out by the Maryknoll foreign missions -- is doing most remarkable work, medical, surgical and philanthropic, and is almost worshiped by the people. (By the way, when someone is wanted to do difficult and dangerous work in foreign lands, without fame or pay, no doubt is expressed about the competence of women.) Betsy Crabtree can have but a small and superficial acquaintance among women doctors if she thinks they are generally "dehumanized." But it is true that there is still plenty of anti-woman prejudice. Therefore every man or woman who believes in fair play ought to hit it and hit it hard, whenever it shows its ugly head. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL CambridgeScott's Thrillers To the Editor of the Post: Sir - Let me thank you for the editorial in praise of Sir Walter Scott. Let me also protest against the suggestion that if his tales have gone out of fashion, it is because they are "too tame and too prolix." They are long winded undeniably, but they abound in thrilling scenes. In Ivanhoe, think of the tournament, the interview between Rebecca and the Templar in the turret, and the siege of Tourquilstone; the flight of Queen Mary from the Lochleven Castle in "The Abbot"; the interview between the Swiss deputies and the Duke of Burgundy in "Anne of Gelerstein," and the final rout of the duke's great army; the murder of the bishop in "Quentin Durward"; the trial of the prisoners accused of a share in the fantastic "Popish Plot" in "Peveril of the Peak"; the death of Meg Merrilies in "Guy Mannering"; the escape of Rob Roy; the rescue of King Richard from assassination in "The Talisman"; the interrupted wedding in "The Black Dwarf" and the scene in which Jeanie Deans begs her sister's life from Queen Caroline in "The Heart of Mid-Lothian." It would be easy to fill a column of the Boston Post with Examples. Even "Count Robert of Paris," though it was written after the author had had a "stroke," and is considered one of his poorest tales, is full of dramatic incidents, and I have often thought that it might make a brilliant "movie." ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Boston, Mass. Sees Privacy Invaded To the Editor of The Herald: Two measures very dangerous to our civil liberties are not before the Legislature, and the public in general is entirely unaware of them. The first, H 1906, under the excuse of protecting us from communism proposes to set up in Massachusetts a committee similar to the Rankin Committee, which has violated every procedure of legal justice in smearing American citizens from Prof. Harlow Shapley down, and at the same time has utterly failed to uncover the truly subversive organizations menacing American freedom. The second measure would empower a single man, the Attorney General, to prepare a public black-list of subversive organizations, any member of which would, if a state employe, be fired from his job, or if a private citizen be held up to contumely and discrimination. There would be no hearing and no appeal from the arbitrary decision of this one man. There is ample law already on our statute books to defend us against, and to punish, any person or organization guilty of treasonable acts against our government. Every Citizen should protest at once to his Legislators against the passage of these repressive measures dangerous to the freedom of American Citizens. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Cambridge. TO AID CZECHO-SLOVAKIANS Appeal by the American Committee for Relief To the Editor of The Republican:-- Startling facts are given by a committee of which the president is Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler and the treasurer Thomas W. Lamont. Their appeal is as follows:-- "There is a new emergency in Czecho-Slovakia. The work of the Czech Red Cross and other national organizations through which, subsequent to last September, the American Committee for Relief had been assisting refugees from the Sudeten areas was interrupted with the recent overthrow of the Prague government. Thousands of these unfortunates have thereby been left to starve unless private charity and foreign sources can meet their needs. Our representative in Prague has assumed responsibility for 600 of them who had been without food for several days until he secured permission to feed them. "Another problem is -- (quoting from a letter from Prague) '600 to 1000 people are moving about Prague without food, not daring to sleep in the same place twice' -- former officials, teachers, leaders of Czech organisations, social workers, demobilized officers who are hounded by Nazi police -- 'for the sole crime of being loyal democrats and having constructed the best governed and most progressive state in Europe.' In fear of concentration camp of summary death, they can only hope, our correspondent says, to flee to any country which will grant them visas. "Heartrending scenes occur when groups of refugees are held up at borders. Treated to indignities on one sire, met with refusals on the other, without any funds to buy food in the days they wait in the open for permission to pass. Considerable numbers of them are said to have committed suicide from desperation at border stations. Then there are hundreds of children brought out to safety who must be kept until foster homes can be found for them. There are students and Czech representatives abroad who are suddenly cut off from means of support and unable, of course, to return home. "The American Committee for Relief in Czecho-Slovakia is the only organization in this country concentrating on saving these innocent victims of foreign aggression. Twenty cents cares for a child for a day. One hundred dollars will take a family out to safety. Will you save a family? Since administrative costs are covered from separate funds, your entire contribution goes to those in need. Our representatives in Czecho-Slovakia, France and England are serving voluntarily. Time is precious. Please do not delay." Contributions should be sent to the Guaranty Trust company, Fifth avenue and 44th street, New York City. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Cambridge, July 2, 1939. Aug 30 1938 [Spfld] Republican Prison Food The Philadelphia Tragedy and a Sing Sing Object Lesson To the Editor of the Republican:-- The shocking events at the Philadelphia county prison recall a striking story told to me by Prof George Kirchwey. When he was appointed warden of Sing Sing, he found that the prisoners' diet was very monotonous and unappetizing. He got a nutrition expert, a Quaker woman from Columbia University to map out a new diet that should be at once wholesome and appetizing. The prisoners received it with enthusiasm. Presently the man in charge of the prison farm applied to him for money to buy corn to feed the hogs. It was the first time in 30 years, he said, that he had had to ask for it. "Why, what have the hogs been fed upon?" asked Prof Kirchwey. "The scraps from the prisoners' table, but now there are no scraps." Next came the prison doctor. He said, "I believe somebody has been poisoning the prisoners' minds against me. There are not one-tenth as many calls for my services as usual." Then came the man in charge of the prison court, a tribunal that had been set up by Thomas Mott Osborne to try cases of quarrels and fights between the prisoners. He said, "There is something going in in the prison that I do not understand. We used to have a case or two before the court almost every day; now for a number of days we have not had any. Observers come out from the city to see the prison court in operation and we have nothing to show them." Prof Kirchwey added proudly, "And the new diet did not cost a single cent more than the old one." He told me he believed that when there is trouble in any prison the real cause is generally the food; and that the attitude of the prison authorities towards the prisoners needs to be changed. They are apt to look upon them merely as a bunch of crooks who ought to be only too glad to get anything at all to eat. More men come out of our prisons and jails every year than graduate from all out colleges and universities, and it is a matter of importance to the public whether they come out of prison better or worse than when they went in. The recent terrible events in the Philadelphia county prison began with a hunger strike of more than 600 prisoners against the monotony of their diet, and this led up to the developments that horrified the country. It would be as cheap in money, and far cheaper in every other way, to see to it that prisoners should get plain, but appetizing, food. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL Cambridge, August 28, 1938.