TLS, one page, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, February 7, 1929. Letter to J. H. Kauffman, Secretary of the Ohio Single Tax Association. In full: “I have your letter of January 20th. I am in Dayton most of the time, and will be glad to see you any time at your convenience. As I have to be out of the city occasionally for a few days, if you are making a special trip over, it would be better to advise me a day or so in advance so that my office can inform you if I happen to be away.” In fine condition, with a uniform shade of faint toning. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, as well as a carbon of a January 25, 1929, letter to Wright from Kauffman trying to arrange a meeting “because I understand you are an advocate of the single tax.”
In addition to making aviation history with his brother Wilbur, Orville Wright was an Ohio businessman and as such would have been interested in matters such as taxation. It is that latter point that Kauffman, an unsuccessful candidate for state auditor in the Democratic Party’s 1928 primary election, wanted to discuss with Wright. Both men were supporters of Georgism—an economic ideology that supported the idea of a tax on the value of land that is efficient, fair, and equitable, and will generate sufficient revenue so that other taxes can be reduced or eliminated...the single tax referenced in the original letter. Much of that aspect of the aviator’s life has been forgotten, however, and replaced by the events at Kitty Hawk. That accomplishment was still earning him recognition in 1929, as less then three weeks after this letter, he and his brother were presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross by Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis...one of the occasions requiring him “to be out of the city...for a few days.” Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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