Page Two SCARLET AND BLACK Friday. April I3. I962 $rarh>t anti Zillark GRINNELL COLLEGE Grinncli. Iowa eiyiy newspaper nnhlnhni eiclr rridiy ot \‘nc tolls lin Giinncll Com. 'iicr- cn Student. Public ’escnled hi. L . il _ him, iindci licr school iliilriclll mu Neils rllnnr ,, Feature cbici rlicic Circulalinn hlali rum in. .lnhii , “on a nilr Miller . LPblle nrnslcacn. snc Luncc The court of public oblivion Last month, Gus Hall and Benjamin Da\ . top Ameri— can communists were indicted and sentenced for failing to make the iequii‘ed registration of their party under the 1950 Subversive Activities Control Act. Jailing‘ communists is» no novelty in this era, but every time the justice de~ artment singles out part members for exemplary pun— nient civil libertai ans use disturbing questions. Although the Supreme court last June upheld the 1950 legislation by a majo ty of one, attorney John Abt is still actively pressing the party’s court case. The ai 'ument rims somthing' like this. If party members register under the 1950 Act, they subject themselves to prosecution llnder the Smith Act (1940) as advocates of “the violent overthrow of the government.” In effect. the melnber is forced by law to testify a- gainst himself (Fifth Amendment). The high court will probably have another go at this appeal, but the broader qlies n of free speech guaranteed b_ the first amend- ment is involved in the whole network of anti—Red leg- islation. Professor David Shannon’s assessment of the party as “the willing instrument of the Soviet Union” is quite true. especially since a mass exodus of moderates from the [arty after the Hung rian r iolution left only a “hard core” of wornrout militants. Those who defend oppressive measures against these left-overs feel no enemy “line” should be allowed to contaminate the air of public life. The days of a sweeping and absolute attitude toward ~"il libeiies are over, it appears There are circum- stances in which a “fifth column" or a communist party might constitute “a clear and present danger," but that time is not now. John Stuart Mill's conception of liberty ' an ideal that antedates the rapid and brutal coup (l‘etat (it the Twentieth century. The ideal must be approximated rs closely as possible but should also correspond to political leality. The “New Yorker" cartoon showing a communist addressingia party meeting with the remark. “Dear Comrades and the FBI," correctly gauges the impotence of the present party (membership estimated by Shannon at 3000). Thi. is the kind of circumstance that should lead to legal ins; the party, not destroying it. Strategic infiltration has been security-checked out of existence, and police laws are quite able to handle saber tzlge. All the Communists can do is talk softly in a country which is quite unreceptive to their message. Overt acts can undermine America's national existence but the “Worker” or the public rostrum of Archie Brown cannot. 11‘ these tiny Communist “advocacies” become open acts of sedition, which looks rather unlikely, the party should lose its liber- ties but not until then The distance between “talk and "act” here is more than semantic; it is the historic ground between democracy and totalitarian supre . on of thought. 01' all the Western democracies the U. 5. alone has seen fit to outlaw the party, evidence of a hysteria that blinds us to the reali ies of American communism. In some countries. Italy for example, there has been a pro gressive evolution witllin the party itself, a relaxing of the Moscow party line, and the development of a ”grey flail- nel” communism capable of governing its provincial strong: holds in the Western democratic tradition, We allow the “Nazi" George Rockwell to organize and deploy his station-wagon storm troopers but deny legality to a party whose voice is small, political opportunities lime ited and espionage potential slim. The time and circum- stances seem right for a pragmatic revival of J. S. Mill. As tor the recent arrests ill have to agree for perhaps the first and last time with old rabble—rouser, Gus Hall, “I’m agin it." Larry Smucker News (Io-editor Principia conferees say U.S. should continue arms parleys by Dick luiilliiis Lin wreck, April 4—7, ri-iiicipin Cnllcgc near St. Louis hold lhclr silh annual Fu‘blic Alicirs Cone tereucc, Thc title of this ccnici» cncc was “The Strategy cl Nu— clcar Politics.” Students came ircm lil cliiicrcnl schools rcprc senting all parts of the Country, including the ruin military acadr emies Thc major portion or the coii~ ference was spent in Commis- sion incclings where small groups of students debated and decided us. toreign policy just as a planning conlmillee in the State Department might do in the spemfic proposals that lhesc commissions finally agreed upon, 1 could see a dcfiiiilc political philosophy and policy that was indicative of most of_ the stu~ dents at the conference. and pr ‘bably also of the great ina- 10 13’ 0f students on most of their home campuses. A: the outset, most or the commissions felt that the goals cf the United States were to promote our own national interr esl and sciluprcscrvalion, and to preserve the American way of life. hopefully without war, but at the expense nl peace is nec- essary. This statement of basic goals gives the basis on which most of the students felt we should approach our relations \\'ltl‘i the Communist bloc These goals Commit the United primarily to n hardrlinc in . policy, given the state of ten- sion in the world today and the obvious desire on the part oi Russia to promote her own self- interest pii ations. as- and revolutionary The conference felt that lhc (is. should not take nny ac— llcn that would jeopardize our iinlluiml security in the power riicc wilh Russia. \Ve iniisl keep up with the Russians in the arms race, although we should iun cxciudc negoti tions for test bans and dis- nrinnincin (even though the coiilei-eiice icll that there was not a very great probability liiiil anything meaningful could be reached in such negotiae tions at lhc present. stage). The United states should use its nuclear strength to back up our diplcmclic strategy nun he prepared hi use nuclear weapons ii we nrc threatened by Soviet aggression, The conierence was not gen- erally in ltz‘lvor or pi- emptive war, although the majority of the commission that I was on felt that -we should covertly support guerilla movements in Communistrcontrolled countries. and overtly support them if they represent llic feeling the people oi that counli are about to win in open revo» lution. This was the most mili- larislic and aggressi c statement made by any group at the cone lei’cncc. however, Wlost of the statements made by [he Commis- sions did reflect a very power politics-oriented approach to for eign policy. The students felt that there were values more im- portant to the United States than peace at any price, and even more important than life itself. It‘ is my iudgmenl that these views represent the opinions of students today, ai‘C not. against disarmament per se, but they l'ccl that the Us should not take any unilateral cclion with- cui cllcclivc chcck< and satcr guards so that our security is not endangered, The old prob- lems at inspection and control winch have plagued every ale tcmpt at negotiations in the last ten years.do not seem much closer to solution today. The students at the confer ence are willing to risk the pos- sibility (and who can accurate ly Judge the probability) of ntlr clear ‘war in order to preserve the ideals and way of life of the United States. They feel that only when there is some eueclivc form at lvurld govern- merit which can guarantee the security of all nations \Vlll coun- tries lbe Willing. to surrender some at their own nationalistic self—concern and become trus- ing enough to significantly di arm. The hopes for this sort of world government are rery dim today. most college Most of them The students at Priiicipia were very much aware that no policy is without risk in is an easv course to follow The awareness shown by the delegates in judg- ing the alternatives in nuclear politics impressed me greatly The students were willing to Mr cepl rhc consequences of lhcir pclicics, and felt that this pow- er politics approach in all areas of foreign relations, economic as well as mililary, was most advantageous to the United States today, Hart lauds Oberlin College Choir; cites ability of Director Fountain ' Hebrew divided among three soloists, and the combination of cantor phi-ls ensemble was good. The organ by Ken uni-l Last Thursday, Griniiell was privileged to hear a concert by one oi: the finest amateur shows in lhc United States. The Ober- lin College Choir, directed by Robert Founlain, combined a high quality of musicianship and precision in singing to provide a most successful evening cl choral muSlc Much oi the credit he longs to Fountain, who is con- Sidercd to be among the lop di- vectors and interpreters of choral lilcrnlurc today. The choir, loo. ‘niust be commended an as flex- ibility and excellent ensemble throughout a lengthy and (lllli‘ cull concert The program began with three examples of late Renaissance polyphony by three oi the best masters of tile period: Heinrich Schultz. William B d. and Or. lando di Lasso. The Ave Vcrum Corpus (Byrd) was sung with remarkable control in tone and dynamic The dynamic changes. while very ct'iecthe, wcre 317 ways subllc and in keeping with the nature of lhis motel. J. S. Bach's ‘Cantata No 10' ("Mclnc Seel' erhcbl den Her— ren") was pcriornicd as a sec- ond group. This cantata. one oi Bach's early- Compositions. shows somewhat less discipline than his later works bill cciilziins an abundance oi musical ideas and moves over iorwnrd by the lie— qtlcnt inlrodllcllon of additional nlatei'i This technique pro- vides an ever fresh and master- ful, it slightly disorganized, unit, The olici-lin Chair's perform- ance was equally fresh and in good taste. Although a few ensemble problems nrosc. especially in the vital and etc citing Aria ior Basses (”God thrusts the mighty down”), these were insignificant when compared to the many lhrill— ing and heautitul nioiueirls such as the superbly snug Duet for Alto and Tenor (“In Re- nicmbrance ol his mercy"). The instrumental ensemble added to the performance of lhc cantata as well as giving variety to the evening's program. The tull and glorious choral sound of the final chorale section was an appropriate conclusion to the work The third group, again well sung, included lhe greatest va— riety in composers and . >5 Georg Schumann’s ornrn heii’ger Geist” appears to bc a talc, late, German Romantic number and, in this \vritei" opinion. not worth the dcmun it makes of the Singers. Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Vallanteforr Truth however, is a masterful comiinnlicn of styles and ,cam. positional techniques. Thc text painting (c. —all the num— pcls soundedi) is vcry cffec» llvc Variety in slylc. dynamics and textures are a 'imiiated iii an extremely inlcrcsling \rork. William Schuman's “The Last Invocation" is fascinating alsc and a happy marriage oi Ainci can music With Ailierican pccl (Wall Whitman), Part Two ircm “Sacred sci-vice" by Erncsl Bloch, provided sllll lurlhci i-nricly in this group oi scicc. tions. Although the one per- iormance seemed rather drama- tic for Service music accompaniment was especially important and well done. Among the pieces in the secular repertoire, the Ravel was unusually pleasing. n was sung with the comic loucli necessary to ninke this charm~ ing talk tale ii success, siich small additions ns lhe use of a bass in falsetto (a tenor us- “ally sings the part) lor the voice oi the gentle, comely page. are further examples oi the ingenuity nnd‘ musical un. derstanding on lhc part oi Fountain and his chair. The three spirituals, though not as musically exciting. did furnish a lighter ending lo an impressive and heavy program. This group quite iusliiinbly met with a great deal oi audiencc approval. Especially enjoyable was thc soprano solo by Hazel Bryant in “Sometimes 1 Feel Like a Motherless Child" Throughout the concert the choir demonstrated Excellent diction whether singing in Ger» man. Latin, Hebrew, French or laugh i. in this, as in all othel way . the ensemble Showed ex. ccllenl t alning, care and aroma acy in presenting a wide variety of music _li-cm lhc best choral rcpcrlnirc of the last live Cen- tuiies. When asked l‘or a general Comment on the Oberlin Choit one can only rcly wilh the question: “How soon can Ihey return?”