- March 7, 1929 – Theodore Dreier, Brooksville, Florida to JSA. Copies to Ethel Dreier, Irving Langmuir, R.R. Lewis, Richmond Moot –
I have just received a telegram from mother telling me of MacDonald’s reappointment. I do not know whether that is about all the help we can expect from Roosevelt in everything we try to do or not. But it seems to me that our one hope for an Adirondack Park or wild forest land is to get the public opinion really aroused. Otherwise it will keep on being the same old story no matter what we do.
I think that we have got to make a Plan for the Adirondack Park ourselves and bring that Plan before the people. I don’t think we can do much without an organization, but we’ve got to make one that we can keep control of and then see that we do keep control of it. Otherwise we would lose more than we gain. I think that the plan should be in the by-laws, and that the avowed purpose of the organization should be to bring about the adoption of the plan by the state. With a fair, constructive plan I think that we could win the support of a great many people whose active support it would otherwise be difficult to obtain. We have a good nucleus for an organization now, and I believe that if we are careful we can keep it a small, fighting group . It will be a great advantage to have support from different parts of the state, and I think that we should then try to get some “key men” interested in our program: such as one or two newspaper men, etc.
I wish you would get together and talk it over. I expect to be back in about a week.
Sincerely,
Theodore Dreier
Also enclosed:
Dear Ap:
It is sad about MacDonald all right, but I guess the Governor couldn’t help himself. I think he should have made it a part of his fight, however, and not left it until it was too late, don’t you?
I don’t know what I’m going to ask this bunch to do in New York on Monday night. I was going to ask them to write the Governor asking for a new Conservation Commissioner and also asking for the appointment of a Commission to make a Plan. However, it’s too late for the first, and as far as the second goes, we might find ourselves in a worse hole that we are in now unless we could be very sure of who would be on such a Planning Commission. I’m going to speak to them about the need for a plan at any rate, and perhaps I’ll think of something constructive that I can ask them to do before Monday evening. Possibly I’ll call you up during the day Monday. I would appreciate it if you would write me a note to 35 Remsen St., Brooklyn, N.Y. with any suggestions that you may have. I understand that Raymond Ingersoll is going to speak also. I don’t know what he will have to say.
We’ve been having a wonderful time down here. – off in the woods riding nearly every day. Swimming, boating, etc. Bobby is going to stay down here an extra week, but I’ll be back Tuesday morning. I’ve got an exam right after I get back in the darn course, so for the first couple of days I’ll probably be up to my neck, as I don’t even know what has been going on.