GLASS HOUSES

Another petition sponsored by the National Student League is making the rounds. The most recent target for the plentiful spleen of that belligerent organization is the appointment of Professor Corrado Gini to the Sociology Department.

The pot declares that the Italian professor is the representative of a kettle "which has crushed the rights of labor and debased culture." Then to prove that the kettle is really much sootier than the pot, the Executive Committee of the League charges that, at Columbia, the Casa Italiana has disseminated propaganda to the detriment of the university. The mildewed, but still applicable warning to those who live in glass houses rears its ugly head.

If Professor Gini were able to do no more than show us that a paucity of babies is the universal cause of depressions, he might well deserve a welcome. But he come to us with the added distinction of service in a country that is the foremost exponent of the dictatorial state. The temper, training, and background of the Italian people have made them receptive to this departure from democratic institutions. Since that departure there have been notable innovations in dealing with the social problems of the country. Some of the methods employed are indigenous to the system from which they arose. Others may not be. In any event it should be worth while to hear what Professor Gini may tell of the experiment.

The National Student League shouts for liberalism at Harvard. How can it then complain of the appointment of Professor Gini? With the selection of a professor who represents a country with institutions certainly as foreign to those of the United States, as are the institutions of a communist state, Harvard has shown a liberalism, which should satisfy the League.