News

Harvard Medical School Cancels Student Groups’ Pro-Palestine Vigil

News

Former FTC Chair Lina Khan Urges Democrats to Rethink Federal Agency Function at IOP Forum

News

Cyanobacteria Advisory Expected To Lift Before Head of the Charles Regatta

News

After QuOffice’s Closure, Its Staff Are No Longer Confidential Resources for Students Reporting Sexual Misconduct

News

Harvard Still On Track To Reach Fossil Fuel-Neutral Status by 2026, Sustainability Report Finds

Lawyer's Logic.

THE INQUIRING MIND. By Zechariah Chafee, Jr. Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, 1928. $2.50.

By V. O. J.

INTO this volume are collected the shorter writings of Prof. Chafee of the Law School on freedom of thought and action in their many manifestations. To the undergraduate perhaps the most interesting chapter is that on "The Inquiring Mind" itself. In it is to be found a very able refutation to the beliefs of such men as Mr. Slocum, who in the current Advocate, for instance, urges less time on studies and more on sports and extra curriculum activities. Prof. Chafee believes that the four years of college life can be put to better use, and in general, it must be admitted that he makes a stronger case than Mr. Slocum.

The rest of the book discusses recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court on cases affecting civil liberties. Prof. Chafee, a confessed supporter of capital and our present form of government, displays an extraordinary breadth of mind. In almost all the cases discussed, even in those arising from the famous Sacco-Vanzetti and Bimba trials, he finds that civil liberties were invaded by the powers that be. But Prof. Chafee, because he does not display the obvious prejudice of such journals as "The Nation," is very convincing. Prof. Chafee is a conservative, but he does not approve of the methods used by many conservatives in protecting the existing order from the onsloughts of radicalism. He avoids the partisan extremes of both the Watch and Ward Society and the Sacco-Vanzetti defense Committee, and as a result achieves a soundness which is rare in all writings on liberty.

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags