Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-06-05

'he tale, but it should never ha fo,.
sotten that the invitation to snob
,l,:'llsn acts has arisen from the an
plieo fruits of scientific thought im-
poecu upon a world that has not vet
aciileVed the moral and spiritual CON
'lols 10 protect itself from the misery
OF their misuse i''''eiS y
we have had a one-sided develon-
ineht OF successful creative tbinlTipo Q
directed to physical problems Ne
ea.'se theSe were easiest to solve. In
any case, we need and need des-
pelalely' corresponding develop-
iiieill OF spiritual and ethical INSIGHT
ana control. OF this circumstance tha
university must take cognizance. for
Should we through a complete eco
nomlc collapse have to face the same
cohdltlons of dispair which certain
Oh the collectivist states have passed
trough, we too might find ourselves
turning as a last resort to essentially
ulctatorlal control-and with that
would go liberty of thought and
speech, the university and all the
llneSt values for which it stands. as
certainly as night follows day. You
cannot effectively control the agri-
cultural, industrial and commercial
procedure of a nation without con-
troll OF all the other aspects of its
ll1e From a practical point of view
the absolutist States are quite right
IN suppressing intellectual liberty in
the universities as they have done.
1or there can be no sabotage of the
policies of the State if a totalitarian
regime is to work at all, and free
moving thought is always a potential
disturber of the peace.
In the celebrated Bill of Rich IS
OF our Federal Constitution (Which
my own State of Connecticut and
your neighbor, Georgia, after one
hundred and fifty years of profound
dellberation, have recently summon
ed courage to ratify) there are pro-
visions guaranteeing freedom of
speech, OF worship, of the press and
OF peaceful assembly. In Russia, in
Germany, in Italy and possibly in
Spain, these liberties, with the ex-
ceptlon in some of the countries of
measure of religious freedom.
either do not exist at all or exist un-
DER such restrictions as to render
them practically void.
AT times religion has been SUBJ
Jected to ruthless repression, at times
1t has been pretty we'll let alone. And
why should we worry about all that?
simply for the reason that most DOW
erful nations sponsoring these re-
pressive doctrines are possessed of a
proselyting missionary zeal which
leads them to abuse and threaten. in
season and out, all other types of
government and especially democ-
racy. They attempt to bore from
within the boundaries of these other
governments by planting agents and
promoting propaganda to convince
the proletariat, and especially the
INDECENT and under-p privileged, that
their lot would be far more favorable,
under Nazi or Fascist or Communis-
TIC regimes, whichever the advocate
happens to favor. xxx
This enslavement of the univer-
slty by the collectivist States is ex-
tremely protentious and it contains
a lesson for us in the United States.
Behind and. beneath the great
tangible liberties guaranteed by the
Bill of Rights-liberty of speech,
liberty of the press and the rest
lies freedom of thought. This sys-
tematic, continuing, creative thought
is the sacred province of the uni
versity. Much important thinking
obviously goes on outside its walls
and always must and should. But
the university is the institutionalized
embodiment of this function of free
creative thinking and, as long as it
is vigorously protected no lasting
damage to the more practical free
doms we cherish is likely to occur.
x Xxx
"In the last analysis, it is free
dom of thought which gives all the
other freedoms their real meaning
and worth, and thought is the very
essence of the university. xxx Other
educational Institutions are primaril-
ly concerned to convey knowledge
| and. to offer technical training of
various types-both being extremely
necessary and valuable functions
which involve intellectual activity
of a high order-but the university
when it is true to its obligations, is
concerned with the larger universe
of thought, with the highest intel
lectual excellence, with the creation
and transmission of dynamic ideas
in every field.
"This is a function whic his in
separable from any advancing civ
ilization. Indeed, it is function
broadly identical with intellectual
integrity, and any impairment of it.
whether by external force or internal
corrosion, must result in intellectual
futility and moral confusion. X
"In conclusion, let me say that in
our we'll justified concern at the fate
which has overtaken intellectual and
political freedom in the totalitarian
states abroad, with its ill-concealed
| threat to our own social order, it is
expedient that we weigh thoughtful