Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1430

Carbon of a letter to Dr. Alban G. Widgery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

March 25, 1945

Dear Dr. Widgery:

     I was exceedingly pleased to be remembered by you with a copy of your article, from the Crozer Quarterly. I admire its subtlety and commend its restraint.

     It is a little (at least) disheartening that the old issue of political or temporal power, must keep rais­ing its head. But so long as political or coercive power, rulership, remains the tolerated and even wholly accepted, technique in the conduct of public business in all lands, I suppose we should not wonder at the persistent intrigue and rivalry for it from all directions.

     Before the technique of service by contract and consent became the rule, in the conduct of private business, there could have been none but coercive and warlike relation­ships among private persons on any wide-spread scale. We may hope that the feasibility of extending this con­tractual technique into the administration of the public business may be discovered ere long. For when that is discovered and applied, all public revenues will become voluntary receipts in exchange and recompense for public services, and all coercions (except against the unruly) will cease. I have been personally engaged in research of this kind for quite a long time, and with some very happy and promising results.

     I owe to you much pleasure in having the acquaintance of Dr. Cutter, whom I have seen and enjoyed all too little, thus far, having been away from New York considerably, and only recently /at/ last returned. Cultivated minds, are all too rare and too little met with, in my experience. I shall never forget the joy of my two visits and con­versations with you. Do you not sometimes come to New York?

     Many, many thanks for your contact with Dr. Cutter and my best compliments to Mrs. Widgery and your daughter, for their well remembered graciousness and charm.

SH:f                             Sincerely,