Evening star., 1924-08-04
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

The fourth annual session of the
Institute of Politics opened last Sat-
urday at Williams College, Williams
| town, Mass.
This is an enterprise of the COL
| lege under the presidency of DR..
James R. Garfield, son of President
| Garfield and one time cabinet Of
| fcer under President Roosevelt. To
the institute come eminent special
| lists from Europe and the Orient, for
the purpose of mutually discussing
| problems of government of their re-
| spective countries and the interna
| tional relations of all civilization.
From liberal endowment, the ex-
penseS of the men who take part in
| the program are paid. They not only
lecture upon important problems of
statecraft but sit together at round
| table for the purpose Of informal in
! terchange of views.
| An open discussion of points of
| difference between natlonalitieS is
| reasonably expected to wear away
! points of divergence and show mu-
| tual contacts. Such a round table, it
| is claim ed. will tend to have the
same influence upon universal peace
| and comfy as was attributed by
| Marshal Foch to the council table of
| the an-American Union in Wash
ington. AS the marshal looked upon
| that table around which, each month,
sit the diplomatic representatives of
all the nations of this hemisphere, he
| remarked pensively:
| IF Europe had had such a table,
there never would have been a world
| war"
| Yet the men who sit about the
/ round table of the Institute of Pol
itics are without official authority or
infiueuce,-they are scholars.
| X
At the first session of the insti-
tute, in 1921. former President Taft
was permanent chairman. In his
opening speech Mr.. Taft referred to
the presence of Dr. Lowell. president
of Harvard University, and jocosely
commented:
| "Of course, he has the burden of
being. president OF university, and
| therefore of making what he says
have that characteristic that fur
nishes the political orator such an op-
| portunity-he is academic. But as to
| him l am able to give evidence, he is a
great deal more practical than a great
| many gentlemen who do not know
anything but the practical.
| And most delightful period OF
my life has been the association
| with President Lowell in league
| that shall be nameless here, (Laugh-
| ter and applause), but in which he
manifested that intensely practical
view that he takes as necessary to
bring about progress"
X X
Chief Justice Taft may have struck
the keynote of the conferences of the
Institute of Politics which have fol-
lowed-the assumption that a few
scholars assembled about a round
table, hid in the shadows of the
hills, are practical in their under
takings to calm the furrowed brow
of a distracted world, and cool the
alleged fever of militarisC, clear
ancient European animoSities, racial
prejudiceS and enmitieS, even without
the League which shall be name
less"
Among the speeches already de-
liyered at the institute this year is
one by an American admiral pro-
testing against England'S objection to
Americas elevating the guns upon
her naval vessels, to gain longer
| range He says that England has
no right to protest, and that the
guns shall be elevated. $50 the insti-
tute is not exclusively a peace con-
ference)
A speech by Richard Tawney of the
English Labor party. informs the in
| stitute that the Labor party of Eng
land will be a permanent phenome-
non in English politics''-like the
newly arrived editor OF d eountrs