To the Editor of the Crimson:

Mr. Olum's letter to the Crimson has convinced me that any respect which he professes for the principles of free speech has been overshadowed by the delusion that he is Harvard's sole standard-bearer of American civil liberties.

He justifies his ejection of the student president of the Harvard Socialist League from the Browder protest rally with the categorical assertion that Mr. Pitts attempted to "disrupt" the meeting. He further attempts to discredit Pitts by indulging in talk about the "destructive activities of those who call themselves Trotskyites."

Had Mr. Olum as chairman been acquainted with events leading up to the rally, he would have been aware that Mr. Pitts wished to speak in favor of the John Reed Society's stand against the University. Mr. Pitts in a Crimson letter expressed his complete sympathy with the Browder protest.

Furthermore, Mr. Pitts approached Mr. Olum before the meeting with a civil request to be allowed to speak from a printed paper which he offered to show. He was flatly refused.

Thus Mr. Olum's claim that Pitts was engaged in an effort to destroy the success of the meeting is a misstatement.

Pitts was suppressed because, as a leader of a "Trotskyite organization", it was felt in poor taste to let him speak.

Mr. Jerome Greene banned Browder because he felt his appearance at Harvard at this time to be a breach of good taste.

Mr. Olum has outdone his preceptor. Alfred E. Gras '41.