February 24, 1937.

American European Lecture Bureau

20 Vesey Street

New York, N. Y.,

Gentlemen:–

I to-day received from Miss Goldie Weisberg your letter addressed to her under date of February 16 and which runs as follows:

“Your letter of February 8th was taken up at our last committee meeting since our Mr. Talmadge is away from New York.

The committee feels, as you will no doubt agree, that you advanced the $ 29.50 to Mr. Toller without our authorization, and because the entire tour was organized for educational purposes and resulted in a financial loss to us, it is up to Mr. Toller to refund this amount to you. You may reach him at the Miramar Hotel, Santa Monica, Calif.”

Your letter of February 16th, is about the most strange thing that has ever happened to me in my many years of dealing with agencies.

If you will refer to Par. 3 of the contract signed between the American European Lecture Bureau and myself under date of November 27th 1936, you will see that your organization obligated itself to pay all travelling expenses New York and return.

Inasmuch as your bureau had made no arrangements for a ticket from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, Miss Weisberg at my request bought this ticket, The ticket cost about $ 116.00; the balance of $ 75.00 due on the lecture fee was applied thereon, Miss Weisberg advanced $ 29.50 and I paid the balance out of my own pocket.

I cannot comprehend how in view of your very definite obligations as stipulated in the contract, you now attempt to shift this responsibility and write the above letter to Miss Weisberg.

There can be now doubt in your mind that I have met your organization more than half way. You also know very well that upon your request I reduced the amount still due from your organization in the amount of $350.00, to $200.00 and agreed to wait for the payment of this latter amount until March 15th.

I shall write Miss Weisberg to-day, advising her that I have communicated with you and called your attention to the fact that your letter addressed to her under the date of February 16th was written under an erroneous conception of the situation. I must ask you to send the amount of $29.50 to Miss Weisberg immediately.

I have advised your organization exhaustively that I cannot be blamed if the lecture tour was not a financial success for you. This unfavorable result was bound to occur since the travelling expenses from one place to another at times amounted to more than the proceeds of the lectures.

If your organization had informed itself in time about the distances between the various places and the costs incurred by travel from one place to another, such a loss could have been avoided.

I lived up to the obligations which I assumed by the abovementioned contract minutely, in spite of my illness; I expect you to do the same.

Yours sincerely,

P. S. Under date of February 15th I wrote you concerning the lecture tour in Mexico. Please let me have a reply.