Chafee Stand Draws Attack From Rutgers

On the heels of a running controversy over the firing of two Rutgers professors for refusing to answer accusations before the McCarran Committee, a Rutgers faculty man yesterday blasted Professors Zechariah Chafee, Jr., and Arthur E. Sutherland for their stand on the legal duty of citizens to testify before judicial and legislative bodies.

Alluding to the professor's statement that it is "the duty of citizens to cooperate in government," Leopold Kohr, assistant professor of Economics at Rutgers, extended this conclusion and alleged that in a totalitarian state this would enslave the individual. "The characteristic feature of democracy," he said, "is not cooperation but opposition which in the eyes of government always looks like obstruction."

Unpleasant Duty

Sutherland last night insisted that he and Chafee limited their statement to contemporary United States. One of the responsibilities of citizenship, he said, "is participating in the administration of justice by serving as witnesses; and in making of laws by testifying before legislative bodies."

He continued, "Sometimes that duty is an unpleasant one; and testifying against friends must be one of the saddest things a man is called to do. Still...if a man is legally obligated to testify, but feels that some obligation higher than the law requires him to keep silent, he must expect legal punishment."

Chafee could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, at Rutgers a number of faculty and student groups vociferously protested the trustees dismissal of the two professors.