CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



To the University came naturally from time to Alfred 

 time various distinguished men. We once had a 

 visit from Alfred Russel Wallace, a wonderfully 

 sincere and intelligent observer who in his wide 

 range of experience had seen nature in many phases, 

 all of which he reported faithfully and in most 

 interesting fashion. And in the early days of his 

 fame Henry George spoke at Bloomington. This 

 gave me the opportunity to talk with him on the George 

 application of the Single Tax to actual conditions. 

 I wanted to find out whether he thought the scheme 

 should be put into operation all at once, or by 

 degrees, and whether in his judgment the public 

 ought first to buy out vested rights in land. 



Sudden action, it seems to me, would immediately 

 unsettle or destroy land values, and would be, more- 

 over, a breach of faith with legitimate vested inter- 

 ests, such values having been recognized and guaran- 

 teed by the government from time immemorial. 

 Furthermore, farm lands as well as city lots 

 are owned by "innocent purchasers" who have 

 largely invested all and often more than all their 

 personal capital in such holdings. A violent over- 

 turn I thought politically impossible and purchase 

 by the state financially so, while confiscation by 

 degrees might be politically acceptable and yet fail 

 in justice to the individual. 



Mr. George did not answer me directly nor did 

 he make clear his views in this regard, being inter- 



C 303 3 



