JOHN BELDING WIRT 2122 YALE STATION NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT November 8, 1954 Dr. Ludwig von Mises 777 West End Avenue New York 25, New York Dear Dr. Mises: It was with considerable regret that I read your letter of October 23rd. I respect your decision not to speak here under the auspices of The Conservative Society in the light of your convictions regarding the word conservative. I venture the opinion, however, that it is pre- cisely this sort of doctrinal insistence on purity which has contributed SO much to the splintering of our ranks. We would have been happy, for example, to have had you speak here regarding the political ex- pediency, as you put it, of adopting the term conserva- tive as a label for those things for which we both stand. As an educational endeavor we are prepared to explore first principles, and therefore also our ter- minology. The fact that so many of us today are possessed of a poorly stocked armory with which to combat the socialistic error which we feel in our bones to be wrong, leads me to believe that you could have accomplished much in the course of one evening here at Yale for that cause -- under whatever tag -- both of us champion. With best wishes to you and to your work, Very truly yours, tokn Belding wit Chairman, The Conservative Society of Yale Law School