Starr, W. B.

Letter, March 5, 1928163

[W.B. Starr, a Quaker, read of floods in Gujarat and sent Gandhiji a donation of five dollars. In a letter on January 15, 1928, he expressed his admiration for Gandhiji, and wrote: "I would dearly love to have the privilege of a talk with you. You have been a lawyer and know first hand of the social inefficiency of the ordinary member of that profession. The United States is a lawyer-cursed land. We, as a people, have in the past largely turned over to them the making of our laws, also the organising of the legal machinery to enforce them. Things are in an almost hopeless muddle. The only remedy suggested to us by the lawyers is more laws with additional lawyers as judges to construe them. Here in Texas next year we (the people) hope to start an organised effort that will end with the reorganising of our judiciary, so that justice may be secured in our courts by all litigants with a minimum of expense and time."164]

Satyagraha Ashram
Sabarmati
March 5, 1928

Dear friend,
I have your kind letter enclosing your donation, for both of which I thank you. There was no occasion for you to apologise for the smallness of the donation. The smallest donation in monetary value is a big thing when it comes from a big heart as I am sure yours has done.
The question of reform of the legal profession is a big one. It does not admit of tinkering. I am strongly of opinion that lawyers and doctors should not be able to charge any fees but that they should be paid a certain fixed sum by the State and the public should receive their services free. They will have paid for them through the taxation that they would have paid for such services rendered to citizens automatically. The poor will be untaxed but the rich and the poor will have then the same amount of attention and skill. Today the best legal talents and the best medical advice are unobtainable by the poor.

Yours sincerely,

W. B. Starr, Esq.
Manager
Highland Springs Farm
Cisco, Texas

Back       Next