Sanger, Mrs. Margaret Higgens

Letter, November 27, 1936¹⁴⁴

[Mrs. Sanger (1883-1966), leader of the birth control movement, wrote to Gandhiji, before a visit to India in 1935, requesting an interview. She felt that his endorsement of birth control would be of tremendous value. She received a reply on arrival in India: "Do by all means come whenever you can, and you shall stay with me, if you would not mind what must appear to you to be our extreme simplicity; we have no masters and no servants here."145 She accepted the invitation and had an extensive discussion with Gandhiji at Sevagram on 3 and 4 December 1935. She was unable to persuade him about the desirability of birth control except by abstinence.¹⁴⁶ The text of the discussion was published in Asia, New York, in November 1936. Agatha Harrison, to whom reference is made in the letter below, was a British friend of Gandhiji.]

Wardha
November 27, 1936

Dear sister,
It was very thoughtful of you to send me an assortment of your choice dried fruit. Agatha Harrison is here just now and I remarked to her, "Whilst Mrs. Sanger went away from me without taking anything, you see how much I am taking from her even though she is so many miles away." You may judge who is the better of us two, of course apart from the natural superiority of the sex to which you belong. I have gone through your reproduction of the interview in Asia. My hurried reading left on me the impression that it was a faithful reproduction.

Yours sincerely,
Bapu

Mrs. Margaret Sanger
Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau
17 West 16th Street
New York City