To William Mullendore [Letter 409]

November 25, 1949

Mr. W. C. Mullendore
So. Calif. Edison Co., Ltd.
Edison Bldg.
Los Angeles, Calif.

Dear Bill Mullendore:

Thank you very much for your letter and for the nice things you said about my speech on Money.[*] I was very happy to know that you liked it.

I appreciate the two suggestions you gave me. I cannot include them in this particular speech, because, as you probably realize, it is not a speech about improper monetary policies nor even about the free enterprise system, but only about the essential, moral concept of money and the principle of trade which it represents. The purpose of this particular speech is to answer people’s personal attitude towards money which is usually based on that very vicious quotation from the Bible. Much later in my novel I will have a very long speech by the hero in which I will summarize the entire philosophy of the story and cover all the important details of the free enterprise system. That is where I may be able to use your suggestions, if you permit me to. I like particularly the idea of describing the various monetary devices practiced by government as “counterfeiting”. That is eloquent and correct.

Thank you very much for your interest and analysis of the speech. I am looking forward to the time when I will present you with a copy of the completed novel.

Best regards to Mrs. Mullendore and yourself.

Sincerely,

Ayn Rand

AR.je

*AR’s “speech on Money” (delivered by Francisco d’Anconia) is in Atlas Shrugged and is reprinted in AR’s For the New Intellectual as “The Meaning of Money.”