A MONUMENT TO MEN

The question has been raised in connection with the proposed Memorial Chapel, as to whether the dedication should be made to include the Harvard men who died fighting in the World War on the side of the Central Powers. A War Memorial erected to the memory of men who died as enemies must involve a paradox unless the dedication is made in a spirit broader than that of war itself, for war is an essentially partisan affair. Only through a disregard of the limited nationalistic point of view can the paradox be eliminated from such an impartial dedication. As the Chapel is to be a Harvard Memorial and as the idea of the University, in a certain sense transcends nationalism, it is only fitting that honor be paid to all its War Dead.

No finer monument could be devised to the futility and the translent character of war hysteria than a Memorial to all who fought in the Great War regardless of what flag they followed. For now after twelve years of peace the issues are being analyzed and weighed, and the struggle is losing its partisan character.

Without regard for the other qualifications of the Memorial Chapel, already discussed in the past, and the comparatively small number of Harvard men who fought on the German side, their inclusion strengthens the ideal for which the Chapel will stand. The proposed Memorial will be at once a monument to the courage of the individual in sacrificing his life for an ideal of right, and an indication that blind hostility must pass and eventually be replaced by the ideal of international peace.