LAST WEEK the Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club invited former President Richard M. Nixon to speak here next spring. Nixon, of course, has not made an appearance at an American college since his resignation under heavy fire in 1974. Since then he has mostly stayed within the confires of his San Clemente retreat, but in recent months he has shown signs of a re-emergence into public, if not political, life that is most distressing. Starting with his appearance in Hydin, Ky. this summer and extending to his current European tour, Nixon has demonstrated his pathetic need to be in the spotlight again, to gain the "forgiveness" of the American people for his Watergate excesses.

It would, in short, be a damned shame and an insult were Nixon to speak here come next spring. Although we have strongly disagreed with his political views for as long as he has been around, this is not a matter of politics. Nixon represents everything that is morally corrupt about America; to allow him the national attention a Harvard appearance would create serves only to uphold those values.

We wistfully hope the University could, following on the example of the Australian government, politely tell Nixon to take his traveling comeback show elsewhere. Of course, they cannot and should not have any control over speakers invited here by undergraduate organizations. While we defend the Republican Club's right to invite Nixon, we consider such action opportunistic on their part.

To some this may seem as if we're kicking a man when he's down. But the essential problem with Richard Nixon is that he won't stay down. If he does appear next spring, it is only reasonable to hope and expect that a sizeable contingent of the Harvard community will demonstrate, letting both Nixon and the Republican Club know how they feel about it.

Unsigned editorials express the opinion of the majority of the Crimson staff. Crimson policy allows equal space for dissenting opinions, which are signed.