PROF. CHAFFEE SCORES POST-WAR INTOLERANCE

"One natural aftermath of war-time conscription of thought and its resultant intolerance is the 'Nordic nonsense," "said Professor Zechariah Chaffee L'13 in the course of an address on Conscription of Thought in Time of War and Its Effect Upon Peace" at the Radcliffe Conference on "Foreign Affairs."

"I mean," he continued, "this absurd fashion of dismissing anybody you don't like with the words, 'Oh, he's a non-nordic.' During the war people became accustomed to the conscription of thought, and to intolerance of free discussion. That intolerance has continued through the years of peace following the war.

"In the course of the last presidential campaign thousands of people were easily led by a little propaganda to believe that the Child Labor Amendment had originated in Moscow, yet in reality it was the natural development of the activities of that well known radical, Henry Cabot Lodge.

"This demonstrates very clearly the enormous influence that propaganda, or the enlistment of thought, has on people. In war time, however, the enlistment becomes conscription, and then the great body of citizens readily believe anything they are told. This is strengthened by the natural patriotism of all of us into what wins a war nowadays, 'morale.' This state of mind is still with us today, in the form of intolerance and an uncritical attitude toward propaganda.

"We must get rid of it. We must make people want to hear both sides when they are presented. Our natural hostility to foreigners should be combatted. More should be said about Japanese art and less about her navy, more about Russia's attempt to educate millions of her subjects formerly illiterate, and less about her economic mistakes."

Among the speakers today at the Conference, which is being held in Agassiz House, are David Hunter, formerly of the Department of State, who will speak on "The Geneva Protocol," and Alden G. Alley of the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, who will give an address on "The United States and the World Court." This evening at 8 o'clock the Right Honorable Edward Hilton Young D.S.O., D.S.C., will speak on "The Coming of Labor Government in Europe."