Evening star., 1947-12-30
Dr.. Beard Accuses Officials
|Of Fovoritism on Information

Neither history nor pOlltlcal SCI
ence has yet revealed the secret Of
the hero, leader, demagogue, or ty-
rant, he said, although rumors are
af1oat that psychiatrists have turned
the trick, without benefit of histori-
cal or political knowledge. Con-
firmation of these rumorS had not
reached the backward parts of
Connecticut as of Christmas Day."
American writings Oh govern
ment have an air of unreality and
formalism," he said. THE curious
ceremonials of our party politics
lend countenance to this superb
ciality. - Almost daily we hear
leaders of the Democratic Party
which embraces about 40 per cent
of the voters, denouncing Repub-
licans as incompetent to govern the
country, to say nothing OF man
aging the world. At the same time
we hear leaders of the Republican
Party, which includes about the
same proportion of the electorate,
paying Democrats back in their own
coin. Outside the charmed circle of
these major parties are roughly 20
per cent of the voters who enter
tain grave doubts respecting the in
tegrity and competence of both
Democrats and Republicans.
''Peace-Loving" Idea Divided.
"These are in turn denounced as
crackpots and subversives-espe-
cially if their votes are not easily
available. Yet on ceremonial occa-
Sions, the hottest of the party lead
ers can speak without smile, in
deed with the confidence of infalli-
bility, on the inspired competence
of the American people for self
government and the moral leader
ship of the world"
American political scientists have
neglected the study of war, he said,
because of "the moral concept of
ourselves as a 'peace-loving people.
Any professor who challenges the
truth of this is likely to be treated
as rude and wanton disturber Of
a prayer meeting"
He quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt,
before his election to the presidency,
as listing the wars of the United
States and asking:
Yes, We are very peace-loving
people, aren't we?"
American political historians, DR..
Beard said, do not treat war "as a
primary datum, marked by some Of
the certainty that characterizeS
death and taxes, but as a wicked
practice forced upon us, much to
our indignation, by aggressive for
eigners and then waged by us only
for enduring peace, world democ-
racy, and the rights of small ma
tions, including, by all means,
colored and other minorities."
Suggests Improvements.
DR.. Beard prescribed system OF
daily exercises to overcome the
tyranny of specialization" One of
them was:
I'VE might contribute little to
advancement of learning and good
will among peoples by trying to see
ourselves as other nations see us,
to think of them as far as possible
in terms of their thought of them
selves and to get rid of the in
sidious idea that the United States
has been designated by God as
kind OF cosmic committee for the
Americanization of mankind and
the final revision of universal his
tory"
Henry Russell Spencer Of Ohio
State University was elected presi-
dent of the association yesterday.
Mr.. Spencer, political science pro-
fessor and author, succeeds Arthur
w. MacMahon of Columbia Univer-
sity.
Representative Kefauver, Demo-
crat, of Tennessee was elected to
one of the three vice presidencis,
the others going to Hans Kelsen,
University of California, and Ros-
coe c. Martin, University of Ala
bama.
The following were elected to the
associations executive council: Har-
old F.. Alderfer, Pennsylvania State
College; Ben Cherrington, Univer-
sity of Denver; Merle Fainsod, Har-
yard University; ]. M Ray, Uni
versity of Maryland, and j. B. Shan
non, University of Kentucky.