LETTERS OF REPRISAL

Not since the "Godless Harvard" excitement subsided have there been so many communications on any single topic as have been aroused recently on the question of pacifism and the proposed abolition of the Military Science Department at Harvard. Letters, many of considerable merit, have been arriving in large quantities, and in view of the various shades of opinion expressed and the intelligent interest displayed it seems almost unavoidable that some comment should be made.

The first letter, concerning the "14 Karat Messiabs" will undoubtedly amuse the children. It does not, certainly, add anything other than a touch of color to the very sincere and serious discussion of the undergraduates, who believe that "Life is real, life is earnest" and mean to start here and now on the thorny path which leads not, perhaps, to martyrdom, but possibly to a much more desirable end.

The second letter puts forward a point of view which is probably shared by many who attended the last fiery meeting of the Debating Union. The Military Science Department was assuredly not intended to be the subject of the debate, although some warning of the impending "coup d'etat" was given in the news columns of the CRIMSON. But the agitation which its theoretical abolition has stirred up makes it evident that an opportunity to get to the root of the matter would be more than welcome. The Debating Union need not look for suitable topics as long as the R. O. T. C. is in the air.

One is next confronted with the usual arguments against preparedness. In this connection it needs only to be pointed out that there are other documents both subsequent and prior to Senator Owen's speech, which somewhat reduce the importance of this particular speech as a new discovery or bit of suppressed truth. The last communication is especially notable as a cool, and rather mature statement of one phase of Pacifism. To be a pacifist undoubtedly requires a struggle. It is a struggle with more or less natural feelings, with carefully inculcated ideas, with popular opinion. One disregards the facts who considers pacifism the easy way to tread. Whether it will prove to be the best way is still a matter of opinion. In any case, there appears to be no sound reason for treating a pacifist any more harshly than a Yale man, or an Eskimo or a Baptist. Different, no doubt: but not irrevocably lost.