HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Within a few months of each other, two universities celebrated important anniversaries. Harvard was 300 years old-Heidelberg 550.

The anniversary celebrations were quite different in scope and character.

Harvard's tercentenary was an occasion for pride in the accomplishments of a great center of learning. Heidelberg's anniversary celebration was a mockery of learning and an object lesson in oppression.

At the opening sessions of Heidelberg's festivities, those who attended were told that "The new science is entirely different from the idea of knowledge that found its value in an unchecked effort to reach the truth. The true freedom of science is to be an organ of a nation's living strength and of its historic fate and to present this in obedience to the law of truth."

This statement of ideals is exactly opposed to the theory of learning under which both Heidelberg and Harvard became great universities.

Harvard is a fine example of what a school may be when it is not tied by the bounds of an egocentric government living for an emasculated tradition. Germany's intervention in education is as ruthless as her 1914 march through Belgium.

That Heidelberg can continue to make contributions to learning and progress by subverting the search for truth to the purposes of the state is questioned by the skeptical world.

By the philosophy that produced Harvard and the old Heidelberg the world progressed from barbarism to its present level. The "new science" forced upon Heidelberg seems to be an excellent conveyance for the return trip. Daily California