Corporation Plays Down Moral Issues in Russell Defense; Ready for Court Action

Harvard is prepared to fight any attempted court action which might be brought against its appointment of philosopher Bertrand Russell, advocate of companionate marriage, by basing its legal case on the grounds that the Corporation, University governing body, has the absolute power to appoint its teachers without outside interference from judicial authority.

Freedom of speech will not be the point under argument, as was the case in the proceedings of Mrs. Jean Kay against City College of New York, when the latter based an unsuccessful defense of its Russell appointment on the assertion that Russell should be permitted to expound his moral views from a lecture platform.

Dorgan Case Strong

Lawyers for the University will make no attempt to establish Russell's right to air his moral opinions at Harvard. Thomas J. Dorgan, Boston legislative agent who has threatened to sue for Russell's removal, has built up his case around the allegation that Russell's moral views will corrupt his pupils.

Dorgan is conceded by legal experts to have a strong case as far as the morals phase of the controversy goes. He has cited a section of the General Laws of Massachusetts as his authority for asking cancellation of Russell's appointment. This section demands that Harvard College endeavor to "impress on the minds . . . of the youth permitted in its care . . . the principles of chastity and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society."

Students Back Russell

As yet, however, Dorgan has not been able to establish his right as an individual outside the University governing body to interfere with the power of the Corporation to appoint its teachers. Harvard hopes to strengthen its position by placing its case on the ground that Dorgan or any other outside prosecutor does not have the right to interfere with the Corporation's appointive power.

Student support of the University's action in upholding the Russell appointment has been almost unanimous. In a poll conducted among more than 200 undergraduates, only one opposed the University policy.