Far East Experts Hit at State Dep't. Ban on Advisers

Three University Far Eastern exports agreed last night that an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty within the State Department is preventing the government from seeking advice on foreign affairs from many qualified persons in academic communities.

Professors Edwin O. Reischauer, John K. Fairbank, and Benjamin I. Schwarz joined in claiming that the State Department has almost completely abandoned its former practice of calling on University Far Eastern specialists as policy consultants.

Amplifying a statement originally made at a forum Thursday night, Reischauer, professor of Far Eastern Languages, emphasized that State Department reluctance to utilize the services of professors is directed at university personnel throughout the country, not merely at Harvard.

"Nervous State Department"

"My impression is that people in the State Department are so nervous that they hate to increase their liability by consulting anybody outside," Reischauer said. "They're afraid to call people because it might involve them in later criticism."

"People are not being called on at all," he continued. "Once they were called on often."

Reischauer, who held a full-time State Department position in 1945 and 1946 and helped to lay the groundwork for the Japanese peace treaty, added that he himself had not been called for State Department consultation since the spring of 1950.

Most students now in the field of Far Eastern studies have little desire to enter government service under the present climate of opinion, according to Schwartz, assistant professor of history.

"Those who do go into the field are more inclined to go into academic studies," he said. "Very few feel that there is much prospect in government work. There's a general knowledge of the situation in government."

The new State Department attitude toward academic consultants may have serious consequences, Schwartz warned. "Insofar as the government restricts the number of people advising it, it is harming itself," he said.

Fairbank, professor of History, claimed that State Department morale has been bady affected in recent months, particularly because of the activities of Security Chief Scott McLeod