[Letter] February 12,1895,Amherst [to F.H. Giddings]

February 12, 1895, Amherst.

Dear Friend:
       The plan
that you describe is
indeed a grand one.
We should be having
German youth coming
to America to complete
their education. I
suppose the Annals
and the Quarterly
would, in some way,
be consolidated, making
an unrivaled review
in its department.
I am withholding
my answer to President
Gilman and can,
without giving offense,
hold it for a week
or more, still. You
would hardly advise
that I send a negative
answer now, would
you? For one thing,
I should have no good
reason to allege for
such a decision. I think
I could give to President
Gilman reasons that
he would understand
why I prefer specialized
work and facilities for
private study to the
headship of a large
department.
 Does not the
Wharton School consolidation
affect,cot the question of
my coming to Columbia?
Could employment and
salaries be found for
so many? It would be
delightful to work
with just the circle
of men that would
be gathered by the
absorption of the
Philadelphia school
with the present New
York school. May it
not be necessary to
settle the larger question
of securing James, Patten
and their colleagues,
and the institutions that
go with them, before
finally adding a marginal
increment of theory by
the name of Clark? I do
not need to tell you how
deeply I appreciate your own
kind wishes in this whole connection.

       Yours Very Truly,
          John B. Clark