Reiterating his claim of last fall that "Fear of war is no basis for a national policy," President Conant in a radio address on Wednesday evening urged immediate aid for the Allies in order to insure the defeat of Hitler.
Speaking under the auspices of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, Conant advocated a program for this country that includes immediate rearmament; the sending of Army and Navy airplanes to England and France "without impairing our own security"; repeal of the laws which prevent United States citizens from volunteering to serve in foreign armies; control of exports with the purpose of "aiding the Allies by avoiding leaks to Germany"; and the cooperation of the U. S. Maritime Commission with the Allies "in every possible way under our present laws to expedite the sending of suplies and munitions."
Might Tip Scales
"These steps if taken promptly by our government, would render effective aid which some experts believe might tip the scales in favor of an Allied victory," he predicted.
"Our previous fear of war might well result in the certainty of a conflict without the support of powerful nations. The pacifist would then, indeed, have dug the grave of liberalism."
"I advocate no moral crusade to distant lands," he continued. "If crusading were a proper policy, we should have had more than one provocation for war in the last dozen years. I am arguing that the changed military situation in Europe actually threatens our way of life."
President Conant was introduced by William Allen White, editor of the Emporia, Kansas Gazette and chairman of the Committee. White told of a letter which Conant sent to Governor Alfred M. Landon last September in which he expressed this same feeling that "if the Allies are defeated by a totalitarian power the hope of free institutions as a basis of modern civilization will be jeopardized."
Commenting yesterday on the speech, the Executive Committee of the Student Union expressed itself last night as "disappointed that Mr. Conant has chosen to deviate from his long standing policy of not expressing himself on current national issues. But since he has done so it is unfortunate that the President of Harvard should throw the university influence in a direction clearly repudiated by undergraduate sentiment."
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