LUDWIG VON MISES 777 WEST END AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y. 10025 June 22, 1966 Mr. Robert Welch Belmont, Mass., 02178 Dear Mr. Welch: I feel highly honored by your and Mr. Grede's kind invita- tion to join the planned new organization, The 1976 Committee. It is indeed flattering to know that you, the acknowledged leader of political sanity and farsighted statesmanship in the present nation- al crisis, regard me as worthy of membership in this elite group. But precisely the great importance and urgency of the work to be done by this Committee forces me to point out some serious considerations that concern my membership in this body. The 1976 Committee, when fully formed, will consist of one hundred members. As the brochure expounding its purpose and organ- ization points out, preferably, but not necessarily there will be at least one member from each of the fifty states of the Union. But the total of all members will be limited to one hundred throughout the life of the Committee. That means that even the most populous states will be represented at best by no more than three or four members. Now, I must ask myself, will not even people who essentially sympathize with the designs of the Committee reflect upon the fact that among the few men representing their state in this body there is a naturalized citizen? As you know, I immigrated at the age of 59 years and was five years and a half older when I acquired Citizen- ship. There will certainly be people who will question the vocation of a naturalized citizen to serve in a committee the main objective of which is the nomination of the future President of our country. Furthermore, I must take into consideration the fact that it will hardly be possible for me to cooperate duly with the other mem- bers of the planned 1976 Committee in the impending presidential campaign. I am eighty-five years old. Although I believe that I am still able to continue for some time my work as usual, I doubt whether I am fit for the turmoil of a passionate political campaign. I see among the younger economists many eminent men -- some of them, as I may proudly mention, former students of mine -- who could much better accomplish the tasks incumbent upon a member of the Committee.