7 6 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



abandon it, that membership of the 

 Agassiz Association in its various de- 

 grees would gradually increase : that 

 subscriptions to The Guide to Nature 

 would grow apace, and that, well with- 

 in the period I had fixed for the ex- 

 periment, the work would be on a 

 sound business basis, suitably remun- 

 erating you and your staff for your 

 labors. 



'The work should always be on 'a 

 sound business basis' — that is, system- 

 atic and efficient. In that we agree. 

 But I and members of my family will 

 not accept in salary a cent of money 

 given to a philanthropic cause. We 

 desire to devote as much as possible 

 of our efforts to a naturalist's altruis- 

 tic work, and have selected the AA as 

 our field. Perhaps, in the ultimate 

 analysis, we, like the child dropping a 

 penny in the tin cup of a beggar, are 

 selfish — perhaps the satisfaction to the 

 giver is always of more value than the 

 thing given. But that is another and 

 psychological question. Plainly then 

 the point on which we differ is in your 

 desire that our altruistic work be- 

 come a bread earning business. You 

 state in no uncertain words, 'Not only 

 are yon unremunerated but the AA is 

 in debt to you for cash.' .... (There- 

 fore) 'I have decided to put the prop- 

 erty, known as Arcadia, to other uses.' 



"It is a strange anomaly that altru- 

 ism, self-sacrifice and devotion to a 

 Cause receive such a penalty ! Aston- 

 ishing as it is, your kindly feeling for 

 me has prevented your giving full 

 credit to the AA, its members and sup- 

 porters. I fully share with you the re- 

 gret that the income has not been 

 greater, and it is surprising that the 

 manifested interest is not universal 

 But I beg of you not to give a blow 

 to the faithful ones because of the 

 'sin of omission' of those who do not 

 understand and therefore do not ap- 

 preciate. It is true that in some 

 cases the project was misunderstood, 

 and did not have in the beginning the 

 general hearty support it merited. But 

 the lack of support and co-operation 

 has not been so extensive as your let- 

 ter shows you estimate it. 



"Please take into consideration that 



many of our members are boys and 

 girls who can pay but little or noth- 

 ing. Some who most need the aid are 

 necessarily enrolled free. The Re- 

 port shows that the total received in 

 membership dues and contributions 

 ranging from 5c to $150 per year was 

 $1,623.80, in addition to the magazine 

 income of $5,89941. Many of our 

 business patrons not only value our 

 magazine as an advertising medium 

 but are personally appreciative of the 

 AA's ideals. The excess of expenses 

 paid by me and members of my family 

 was the result of efforts to build up 

 the AA the utmost possible. We have 

 gladly added our mite to your pains- 

 taking plans and extensive expendi- 

 tures. The deficit of $472.38, partly 

 due to an increase of business demand- 

 ing more capital, is more than offset 

 by the $676.64 expended on Arcadia, 

 which should be regarded as an asset 

 for the AA work. If the business had 

 not been pushed so energetically, and 

 a few of our patrons had been more 

 prompt in settlement of accounts, 

 'Cash Received' would have excelled 

 'Cash Paid'. You recognized the value 

 of this energetic pushing and on Octo- 

 ber 7th, 1910, wrote encouragingly, 

 " 'The Guide to Nature is good. Keep 

 it up.' That has been our spirit all 

 along, but it takes several dollars as 

 well as much hard work to put it into 

 practice. We did all we could. Sup- 

 pose we had ceased co-operation on 

 the plea that you did too much and 

 others not enough ! 



"Thousands have been appreciative. 

 Many have given time and money to 

 the extent of their ability. I have 

 positive knowledge that some of the 

 contributions, even here in Sound 

 Beach, have been at self-sacrifice. 

 Gradually the list of supporters has 

 increased. Do not discourage nor be 

 discouraged. It is indeed a strange 

 fault you find that I have done too 

 much — have worked too faithfully. 

 Your discontinuing Arcadia only adds 

 to the very thing to which you object. 

 Just so much of the load as you aban- 

 don, I and others must take up. The 

 work is far too important to be drop- 

 ped so long as I have health and 



