THE LAW OF WAR

The actuality of war has called out the loyalty of our young men. They have undertaken service in that spirit of adventure which is characteristic of youth, and in that spirit of patriotism which is the honor of our race. The Faculty has done all in its power to encourage this kindled loyalty by holding early examinations, and by giving academic credit for military work. As a result many men have gone into service without restriction, where under a less generous or less far-seeing regime they might have suffered scholastically for their patriotism.

The Law School alone offers no opportunity for its students to conclude their year of study and to go at once into training. It is true that the study of law is such that it may not readily be broken off or curtailed. It is true that a lawyer's training does not fit him primarily, as does a doctor's, for military service. Yet those men who are studying law are competent by their character and ability, if not by their training, for military service. Their country needs their services. They are surely no less willing to fulfill their duty than undergraduates; nor less patriotic than graduate students of business, theology, and medicine. Are they to be penalized for their patriotism by suffering academically?

The decision will probably be made today whether they will be allowed to conclude their year of study immediately. To do so will mean that men in receiving their degrees will have less theoretical knowledge. Laws are being made by the fierce justice of armies. The whole world is threatened by a great danger before which the petty illegalities which laws are made to prevent are nothing.

Those men who end their study of law now may not be so wise in precedent as those who continue the logical courses of their careers. But they will be partisans of a higher law, pleading before a court of last appeals for the cause of liberty. They will be less skilled jurists. They will be no less good lawyers.