Dear Editor
DEAR EDITOR THE FUND I read with interest Arnold Beichman's indictment of the Fund for the Republic ["Robert Hutchins Meets the Press," NL, November 21]. I would sympathize with some of Mr....
...Hutchins has said he would hire a Communist provided he could watch him (how, he didn't say...
...For instance, I am enthusiastic about the value of two reports that have appeared, subsidized by the Fund: (1) Rowland Watts's report on the treatment of draftees suspected of improper associations when very young, and (2) the Adam Yarmolinsky report on security procedures in Government...
...I have not suggested that a Communist party member is automatically disqualified from "any job...
...I hope Mr...
...In the general nature of things, every educational institution adopts one set of values in regard to its subject matter...
...Aside from the problem of whether the employment of a Communist should be a basis for removing the tax exemption from an educational foundation, there is the serious problem of whether automatic disqualification of a Communist for any job is consonant with civil liberties...
...The debate is really on the "formulations and concepts" of the Fund for the Republic's president...
...In the absence of proof that Hutchins has been guilty of gross impropriety or error in his formulations and concepts, The New Leader should be rallying to his defense rather than lending support to the chorus of his attackers--a chorus that counts among its loudest voices the American Legion, Fulton Lewis Jr...
...Beichman is vitriolic in his attack, which is based, in part, on an interview in which Hutchins said that he would not automatically disqualify a Communist party member from employment with the Fund...
...Lyford of the Fund, I repeated this at greater length...
...Rovner does not intend to imply that Hutchins's views as president of the Fluid are above criticism simply because David Lawrence doesn't like him...
...New York City Norman Thomas Arnold Beichman's article leaves much to be desired from both a logical and a libertarian point of view...
...If Mr...
...the Fund but Hutchins vs...
...It is questionable whether it should peddle Hutchins's idiosyncrasies as revealed truth by indicating a belief that Griswold, Taylor and Barth comprise supreme trinity as far as judgments on civil-liberties issues are concerned...
...I am, moreover, informed that the largest grants have been made for studies of racial discrimination in housing and for various books on important aspects of Communism in America...
...There is a sharp disagreement between Hutchins and myself as to the nature of Communism and the Communist party...
...Nevertheless, I would think it most unfortunate if the Fund should be judged on certain mistakes made in speech or in relatively small grants, to the exclusion of appraisal of its larger gifts and the general direction of its activities...
...Regarding Griswold, Taylor and Barth, of course there are "two sides"--not, perhaps, on civil liberties but certainly on civil-liberties issues...
...I am also a strong supporter of Sidney Hook's position on Communist teachers in the schools...
...Regardless of whether one agrees with the general school of thought which underlies their writing, it must be recognized as an acknowledged and scholarly position...
...This, I think, is entirely consistent with my belief that the Smith Act needs drastic revision...
...Rovner thinks that question is unfair, let him answer whether he would automatically disqualify from employment as his private secretary an exposed member of the Communist party, or whether he would hire an individual who, accused of Communist party membership, took refuge in the Fifth Amendment...
...Is there such a thing as "two-sided" or ambivalent thinking on such issues, or does Beichman mean to suggest that these men are Communist propagandists...
...I take it, from past and recent utterances, that he regards the Communist party as fundamentally no different from any other party in the United States...
...How else explain his answer, when I asked him whether he regards the CP as an adjunct of the Soviet Union, "My opinions aren't important...
...Professor Paul Hays, in the November Commentary, reviewed two recent books by Barth and Taylor in the most critical terms...
...He advocates that Robert Hutchins resign as President of the Fund for the Republic because his views on civil liberties and national security make the Fund prey to the criticisms of those who disagree with him...
...I take it that Hays's credentials are not in question, for his opposing views certainly make a "two-sided" controversy...
...I stress this because the debate is not Beichman vs...
...Disagreement with the conclusions and the approach cannot suffice to warrant discrimination against such a foundation...
...No educational foundation can justifiably be penalized so long as it does not exceed the bounds of intellectual investigation of matters affected with the welfare of the body politic...
...Contrary to Beichman's implication, Hutchins did say that he would not ignore the Communist affiliation when deciding if the man was to be hired...
...Beichman's detailed criticisms of certain comparatively minor grants of the Fund and the occasional speeches of its head...
...It is no secret, for instance, that I preferred C. Dickerman Williams's discussion of the Fifth Amendment and its uses to the Erwin N. Griswold book, which the Fund distributed so widely...
...Rovner exculpates the Fund by saying that "every educational institution adopts one set of values in regard to its subject matter...
...That's just the point--the Fund is chartered to strengthen civil liberties in America...
...It is on these that the Fund ought to be judged...
...This is not only a widely held concept, but is equally endorsed by Sidney Hook, who would prefer to have violations of professional standards punished on "professional, not political grounds" (Heresy Yes, Conspiracy No, pp...
...Instead, he would evaluate the man's suitability in terms of the job and the man himself, giving due regard to the complete subservience of Communist party members to their leaders...
...In a radio appearance a few nights later with Mr...
...All this I have set forth in my own book, The Test of Freedom...
...44-45...
...More important, if Hutchins's right to speak were the issue, The New Leader would need little prodding to defend that right...
...The real question is whether, as an agency dedicated to uncovering the truth on civil-liberties issues, the Fund should ship out wholesale the views of Griswold, Taylor and Barth (no, I don't think they're Communists) without somehow balancing this distribution with literature which, being equally for civil liberties, discusses, say, the use of the Fifth Amendment in different terms from Griswold...
...Beichman replies: "The Fund itself," I wrote, "is doing important and even necessary work...
...Beichman also seeks to indict Hutchins's stewardship of the Fund because of the nature of the authors the Fund has sponsored...
...and David Lawrence...
...I do not want to see irritation against the Fund or its chief turned to the advantage of the kind of criticism that the American Legion has made of its notable services to civil liberties...
...Washington, D. C. Edmond F. Rovner Mr...
...Unless Beichman can show that Hutchins has used the Fund for personal economic profit, or has attempted to injure the United States by violating its laws or advocating such misdeeds by others, The New Leader and Beichman should seek to protect such institutions...
...The issue is more specific--and whether civil liberties are involved is another problem: Should a Communist party member be on the Fund's staff (and I'm not talking about janitors...
...Such men as Dean Griswold, Telford Taylor and Alan Barth are accused of being "one-sided" on civil-liberties issues...
Vol. 38 • December 1955 • No. 49
