Libby Scores College Athletic Systems in Which Students "Get Their Exercise by Watching 22 Gladiators Fight"

When approached on the subject of President Lowell's suggestion for one large intercollegiate athletic contest, E. J. Libby, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War, remarked that there is "unquestionably too much emphasis on intercollegiate sports".

Libby was interviewed last night at the Liberal Club, where he delivered an address on the subject, "Is Permanent Peace Possible and Desirable?"

"The object of sports in college life," he said, "should be the development of the physique of each and every student." He favored the system in operation at Oxford, where he had spent a year, in that there was a position on a team of some description or rank for every man. He said that, in England, the number of spectators who attended university contests was relatively small. In contrast to this he placed the American tradition of comparatively recent growth in which thousands of undergraduates "get their exercise by watching 22 gladiators fight."

Asked for his reaction to the House Plan, Libby replied: "I like the whole idea, but it will take a long time to build up a tradition for the system." His experience at Oxford tended to show that the students would not gravitate into small cliques. "The college, at Oxford, is a complete unity." In reference to the possible foundation of an International House at Harvard he said: 'I believe in International Houses. There is much theory that will not stand up when people of different countries are thrown together. They must live in close contact in order really to establish an understanding. Individual friendships determine the individual's opinion of a whole nation."

"Naval Conference Will Succeed"

On the subject of the Naval Conference in London, Libby expressed the belief that it will succeed "but needs the support of enlightened public opinion in the countries participating. Unquestioned success at London requires visible reduction in expenditures and the abolition of battleships is the hope, if net savings are to be obtained. The rapid development of the airplane and the submarine during the 11 years since the war has made it unlikely that battleships will ever again repeat the Gallipoli adventure. The only other historic use of battleships is in fighting other battleships. If there are no other battleships to fight, what is a battleship to do? It can not catch a cruiser. It is afraid of submarines. It will begin to dodge clumsily about and try to hide itself in smoke if airplanes approach. The plain fact is, the battleship is as out of place today as an ichthyosaurs on Broadway."

He added: "One of the purposes of this conference is to create a psychology in Europe, favorable for the long overdue conference for reduction of land armaments. The huge armies of Europe are a menace to the peace of the world. They are a heavy economic burden, not only because of their overloading of the budgets of struggling nations but also because of a system of conscription which robs a family of its wage earners for a year or more at a period of life when this is serious and constitutes a vast economic loss to the nation. A successful naval conference will give a notable impetus to the general disarmament conference that is to follow."

Has Taught at Exeter

Libby is a graduate of Bowdoin College, studied at Heidelberg and Oxford, and was granted a degree by the Andover Theological Seminary. He taught for seven years at Phillips Exeter Academy. During the war and for two years thereafter he engaged in European relief and reconstruction work for the Society of Friends. Since 1921, when he organized the National Council for the Prevention of War to support the Washington Conference, he has devoted all his time and resources to pacifist enterprise.