WL Garrison Jr. to AC Pleydell, 19120608
PERRY, COFFIN AND BURR INVESTMENT BONDS ARTHUR PERRY WINTRHOP COFFIN ALLSTON BURR WH L GARRISON JR PHILIP S DALTON
60 STATE STREET BOSTON June 8, 1912.
A. C. Pleydell, Esq. 29 Broadway, New York City.
My dear Mr. Pleydell:--
I have not the pleasure of your personal acquaintance, but I happen to be one of the small group which receives the carbons relating to the Fells Fund correspondence.
I write to express my appreciation of the sentiment set forth in your letter to Mr. Kiefer, dated May 31st. I agree absolutely with your position, and feel that the single tax stands for a great social reform, which is a matter of principle and not expediency. Opportunism is, in my judgment, a serious detriment to the cause. We can well afford to be patient while the campaign of education continues to go forward and build up adherents and sympathizers.
The single tax idea is, I believe, as sure to advance as is the idea of Christianity, inasmuch as it is essentially a form of applied Christianity. Political victories here and there are mere incidents, and in may cases are hollow victories, when they embody a partial denial of the central principle. The important thing is to create a public sentiment in favor of this great reform, which must ultimately find expression on the statute books because the public has come to believe in its ethical and practical benefit to all. Your lucid and effective statement of the case comes at this time like a breath of fresh air off the ocean.
Sincerely yours,
William L. Garrison, Jr.
