In Brattleboro, Vermont, my audience was made up of another slice of America—honest, strong, capable housewives who made their pies and doughnuts and preserves before they came. When I had finished there was not a murmur of commendation from the three hundred. The minister of the church where the meeting was held had asked me to stand beside him to say how-do-you-do when they came out. They just went by, eyes straight ahead. On the telephone afterwards, however, each was asking what the other thought. The cases I had cited were typical of their own community. “Was she referring to this one or that one?” they queried. I returned two days later to lunch with a doctor and four or five social workers, and was surprised to hear, “The women want to start a clinic.” “But there wasn’t any enthusiasm when I suggested it the other morning.” “The people around here don’t express much openly. They were moved to quietness. But just the same they’re starting a clinic in Brattleboro.” _Chapter Thirty_ NOW IS THE TIME FOR CONVERSE Side by side with the clinic and education another project had been stirring for some time in my mind. Internationalism was in the air, and I wanted that outlook brought into the movement in the United States. To this end I made plans for the Sixth International Malthusian and Birth Control Conference, to be held in New York in March, 1925. In the summer of 1924 I called a Conference Committee meeting of the League. That is, in addition to the regular Board members, other supporters were invited to attend. As soon as the matter was brought up they expostulated, “You still have to ask for money to run the _Review_. How can you pay the fares of the delegates and furnish them with hospitality? Do you know how much it will cost?” Since I wished to have the Conference important enough to make its mark I replied promptly, “Not less than twenty-five thousand dollars.” “Have you thought of how you are going to finance it?” “Certainly I have.” I was certain that the interest of many of our contributors extended beyond the magazine, and that they would see we now had a broader field of activity. They had given before and would give again. I knew money would come in. Any five of the outside women present could have underwritten the Conference, but they objected that funds were needed for other work. One by one they left in a hurry; the inevitable appointments were waiting for them. Their advice to the Board was, no Conference—and the wealthy members of the Board concurred.