Evening star., 1921-05-06
Editorial Digest
Reds or Rah-Rahs ?

| ~s~NS W AsoA- ASAAAos
The statement of President Hodg-
son. who recently resigned as presi-
! dent of Valparaiso University. which
declared that the institution was
/ ''hotbed of bolshevism." is regarded
by the majority of the press as trace
| able to what the New York World
| tdemocratic) calls case of nerves"
on the one hand and adolescence on
the other. A few writer's feel that
there is a real danger that Americas
institutions of learning are honey
combed with revolutionary tenden-
cles, but. for the most part. editorial
writer's either make light of the
charges or withhold Judgment until
the retiring president presents proof
Many consider that the fact that he
retreated under fire by no means
helps his case
The Boston Transcript independent
republican, declares that DIR. Hodg-
son will have to present a new and
better kind of evidence" before the
pubic Will accept his charges: rs
Valparaiso a new phenomenon in the
educational world, or may it not be
that an excited Imagination has mis-
taken ordinary. and perhaps not
| overbrilliant. american students for
! lCns-halred bolshevists. sworn disci-
pies VI lne communist cults OF Lenln,
Trotsky ct al?"
The fact that the university head
declared that the red" propaganda
leads to "the very heart of the fed
eral government" calls forth a great
deal OF comment, since he is sup
posed to refer to the 100 ex-soldierss
sent to the university by the federal
board for vocational education. The
st. Louis Post-Dispatch independently
suggests that ''it may be more than
a coincidence that the worthy doctor
traces the stream of propaganda to
we'll qualified as he to speak on
America niSm."
The Presidents statement that he
| has preached loyalty to "American-
/ ism and American industrial life"
! suggests "a state of nerves to the
adds. loyalty to Americanism is all
right, but how can anybody be loyal
to American or even Russian indus
| trial life? The thing simply cannot
! be done"
| AS to the accusation against the
/ ex-service men, the Johnstown Demo-
crat (democratic). Is emphatic. Its
! impression" is that Mr.. Hodgson is
! talking through his hat" 1t adds:
THE ex-soldiers at Valparaiso are
not communists They are young
Americans who have grievance. or
!
often the same thing. The ex-presi-
dent should calm himself"
| To the New York Mail independ-
ent the doctors statements seem
rather hysterical' and his action in
deserving, ''un- American" Generally
spea king, the Mail remarks. the best
way" to deal with such "vaporous de-
| votions to radicalism' as manifests
itself often in colleges is to allow it
ito blow itself off as long as it re,
mains in the realm of theory; and
keep watch that "the mental discon-
! tent of adolescence does not grow
to "scheming against law ond order"
! The Lexington Leader (republican)
thinks "a good deal depends upon
what DR.. Hodgson's views are" sug-
gesting that it may be that what is
merely progression" he reads as
| disaster" According to the Des
| Moines Register independent repub-
! lican), the fault lies with the accuser
' and not the accused. There is no
bolshevism at Valparaiso. 1t says.
hut there is a very considerable de-
termination to continue the school
on the lines of it's development and
according to the plans of its foun-
! ders. President and Mrs. Hodgson
are not the first to discover that
| Poor Richard was right when he said
| that 1T is hard to teach an old dog
new tricks especially in the good
| old state of Indiana"
| Speaking from the state which ap-
iparently has considerable pride in the
institution | attacked, the Fort Wayne
iJournal-GaZette (democratic) de-
mands a thorough investigation ana
declares that the time has come for
! a definition Of bolshevism, to the end
that the present disposition to de-
nounce all enemies as reds may be
definitely ended"
| The "American people will demand
more proof" agrees the Pittsburgh
iGazette-Times republican) before
they will condemn the former SOL
diers of disloyalty, and the Chatta-
nooga Times independent democrat
ic) believes that the government
should get the facts that will clear
the institution cor give the lie" to its
president. Both the Akron Bea-
Journal trepublican) and the
Utica Observer (democratic) demand
| further particulars. and the latter
feels that IL DIR. Hodgson 10 right he
should have died with his shoes on"
| fighting the peril he names. rather
! than to have resigned in it's face.
, However. some writer's look upon
| the matter gravely and feel, with the
| iSteubenville Herald-Star (republi-
CAM, that in the affair lies a warn
| ing" that "should be needed by every
good citizen and well wisher of the
lcountry," and to the Cincinnati Com
mercial-Tribune (republican) the in
cident "suggeSts the wisdom of tight
ening up all along the educational
line in the matter of loyalty among
teachers Of American principles Of
|