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We invite all members of the University to contribute to this column, but we are not responsible for the sentiments expressed.
To the Editors of the Crimson:
The purpose of the Harvard Republican Club is not to develop partisanship, but to stimulate into activity the convictions of the republican students. Membership in the club shows a man's devotion to the principles in which he believes-principles which seem to him essential to the welfare of his country. Politics and religion are both vital subjects. The rule of the University has not been to disallow privileges to religious organizations of one sect or another, on the ground that some of them must be wrong, and therefore all must be excluded. The rule has been, rather, that all should be given the use of the University buildings, in order to allow free play of opinion and contact of antagonistic ideas; all this to further Harvard's unending search after Truth. The sentiment has been that of tolerance: not the suppression of free discussion, but the promotion of it.
It is a poor excuse to say that the rule applies equally to clubs of the several parties. Is the all-important subject of politics to be excluded from Harvard University? Are not political organizations entitled to accommodation as much as the musical, the athletic and scientific associations?
If any club had desecrated a place of meeting or had behaved in an unseemly way, or had lost dignity to an extent not to be excused by a plea of enthusiasm, there would seem to be reason in the new rule on grounds of University policy. But the students have seen no such disgrace.
AUSTIN HALL.
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