The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-08
HARVARD AND PENN

From Golfers
 The real enemies of education are not the illiterate They are those persons who hold to the Prussian theory of ar ranging facts into patterns satisfactory to the authorities That was emphasized Meyer protested to President Lowell of Harvard. because a Harvard undergrad uate had written poem, "Gott init Uns," and a Harvard undergraduate magazine had awarded a prize to the poet. The case was all the worse from Professor Meyers standpoint. because two college professors had acted as Judges in the prize contest. But even so President Lowell was not dismayed
 AS you are aware," he wrote to Dr. Meyer. "the freedom of speech of neith. CT the professors nor the students in all American university is limited, nor are they themselves subject in their utter ances to the direction of the authori- ties. On the contrary, we have endeav- ored to maintain the right of all mem- bers of the university to express them selves freely, without censorship. This policy of freedom of speech we shall continue to pursue, for we believe it to be the only one which accords with the principle of academic freedom. I hope the time will come when you and your colleagues in Germany will recognize that this course is the only right one. and that it is essential to the cause of universal scholarship and human prog ress"
 Another eastern university-the Uni versity of Pennsylvania-has in recent weeks been something of storm cen ter. We. hope that the storm clears the air. The 'martyrdom" of Prof. Scott Nearing has been discussed in detail by the Philadelphia Public Ledger. the New York Post and World, the Chicago Herald and other journals. These thoughtful newspapers condemn the Pennsylvania trustees for doing a great wrong to one of their employees. We see the case from a different angle, how ever: Have those trustees been guilt. of betraying an educational trust-have ithey perhaps even failed to live up to that ideal of academic freedom which
 
 existence of our American universities and distinguishes them from those of Prussia? If this professor was not a l fit person to instruct young men in political economy. it seems as if that 1 fact might have been discovered at al most any time in the last eight years of his teaching at the university's Wharton school" Was he dropped. as has been charged, because certain Phil adelphia public service corporations spoke the word? Harrison & Morris, one of the executors of tho estate of Joseph Wharton (who founded the Wharton School of Enhance and Commerce in 1SS1 puts it like this:
 "The University of Pennsylvania is not free agent. It is supported b., great. sums appropriated by our cor. rupt legislatures, and 1t must obey their wishes, which are equivalent to the de- mands of the great corporations. My be- lief is that all the right minded citizens of the state would rally to the support of the university if it would free itself from an alliance with Penrose, Ware and McNichol, which controls its Judgment in a crisis like this when freedom of speech is at stake"
 This illustrates some of the draw backs of state subsidies for universities It also suggests the importance of choosing men with bone in their backs and brains in their heads as university administrators. An incident like that of a Kuno Meyer or a Munsterberg, al Harvard, or that of a Scott Nearing al the Pennsylvania instruction plant brings out dramatically just what the difference Is between a great universi- ty and "a numerous student body"