Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1495

Letter to Dr. Alban G. Widgery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

November 7, 1953

Dear Dr. Widgery:

    On looking over our correspondence of some years ago, I am reminded of the very pleasant relationships I enjoyed with you on your own home grounds and much more briefly here in New York.

     Apropos of your article from the Crozer Quarterly, I am wondering what further intellectual contributions you have been making to the current scene. For my own part, I have been doing something to expose the very widely accepted fallacies of the land communist propaganda stemming from Malthus, Ricardo, and J. S. Mill and cry­stallized in the dialectic of Henry George, which no one heretofore has seemed able to refute. I enclose copy of my review of this land communist dialectic by Henry George with supplementary discussion included.

     In general, I do not think very much of pulling down another man^’s house, unless or until it has become a menace to public safety, which I think is the case in hand since land communism has become so popular here at home and so many millions of our public money are being spent on behalf of it, as you know, abroad. I am circulating my booklet exposing the fallacies of Henry George chiefly through the sale of Progress and Poverty itself, in accord­ance with magazine advertising as per proof-copy enclosed. The positive ideas concerning the function of land owner­ship as referred to by John Chamberlain in his introduction, are set out briefly in the two pages beginning at the bottom of page twenty.

What is happening in the realm of philosophy? The natural sciences seem to lean more and more to specific technology in restricted fields. Is there becoming more reason to find philosophy gestating a general technology applicable to the entire realm of human affairs? It always seems to me that philosophy should have some such goal. What do you think?

It seems long since I saw you last. I trust every­thing is well with you and with Mrs. Widgery and your daughter, of whom I also have many pleasant recollections.

Sincerely yours,