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THE MAIL

To the Editor of the Crimson:

On October 4th, the Crimson published an editorial in which were expressed the attitudes of various student organizations towards the present war. The Crimson made a distinction between aid to England for our defense and "aid for the purpose of incitement to war"; moreover, it warned against following "Mr. Roosevelt blindly in his risky foreign policy."

(1). The Crimson has, however, failed to explain its distinction between aid to Britain on the one hand, and possible intervention. Mr. Roosevelt's foreign policy is termed risky; if it is "risky" to send 50 over-aged destroyers to England in exchange for needed defense bases, what aid can be sent without involving a risk? At what point will the Crimson make the distinction?

(2). If the Crimson favors aid to England for our defense, it is in agreement with the policy of the Harvard Chapter of The American Student Defense League, which favors peace as much as does any other student group. It becomes difficult to understand, therefore, why the afros-mentioned editorial should refer to the Student Defense League as taking "a thinly-veiled interventionist stand." Wingate Green, Jr. '41   Lee Dimond '41   Harvard Chapter,   American Student Defense   League.

(1.) "Today we are asked to aid England with supplies, and that is right. Tomorrow the German attack may shift to the outposts of Britain's Empire, and many will feel that the time has come to send men and ships. But it is there that we must steel ourselves to say no. If lives are to be lost in defense of our nation, we must not meet the enemy on his own terms and send our men to futile slaughter." (From an editorial entitled "Masters of Our Destiny."

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(2.) "The organizers of the Student Defense League were anxious to avoid being branded at the start as a war group. This may remain their intention, but the League as a whole lost a good chance when it shouted down a resolution in favor of keeping American forces in this hemisphere." (From an editorial called "Defend and Preserve Us.")

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