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THE COLLEGE NEWS

-Page Three |







PUBLIC OPINION







February 20, 19389.
To the Editor of the College News.
More than three-fourths ‘of the

American people, according te the

Gallup Poll, hope for a Loyalist vic-
tory in Spain. Yet they are not ex-
erting their full pressure in the cam-
paign for lifting the embargo, a meas-
ure which would insure that. victory.
Qne cause for their inertia is the at-
titude of defeatism in the Democra-
cies which has existed throughout the
war, but has inereased since the loss
of Barcelona.

What has given rise to the belief
that the Spanish Republic is doomed,
that our help would come too late?
Surely the facts point to no such:con-
clusiofi. The strength of Spain is by
no. means broken. “We are deter-
mined to fight on. We still have ten
provinces, five hundred miles. of coast,
ten million anhabitants and a good
fleet-—why should we ask for peace?”
said a spokesman for the Spanish
Embassy in London. General Moles-
worth, British military observer and

, member of the Non-Intervention Com-

mittee, estimates’ that - the Central
Front, around Madrid and Valencia,
can. hold out for three or four years.
The: Spanish people, their government
and their army, welded into closer
unity than ever before, are preparing”
to make any sacrifice rather “than
surrender. If the Loyalists are given
their legal right to buy arms, they
will not only hold the Central Front,
but will drive the invaders out of all
Spain. Such a defeat for fascism
would mean new strength for de-
moeracy throughout the world’: the: re-
lease of France from imminent dan-
ger of attack, the stimulation of pro-
gressive forces in France and Great
Britain, the retardation of fascist ac-
tivities in the Americas, and the
threat of collapse to the tottering)
economies of Italy and Germany. A
Loyalist victory in Spain would do



But if the people of the United
States are misled into. thinking the
Eoyalist cause hopeless, they will

‘| make “no move te aid the Republic.

This is. exactly what the spreaders
of defeatism want; for they represent
powerful sections of American finance
capital, allied with German and
Italian fascism,. Such men,as the Du-

in the aggressions of, Hitler and Mus-
golini; and Morgah is closely con-
nected with British banking, which is
linked with Rome and Berlin. In
order to promote these interests, they
make every attempt. to prevent the
NMRmerican people from using their
power to stop fascism. Through their
‘spokesmen—Herhert Hoover, Senators
Vandenberg, Nye,. Johnson and others
—the reactionaries. try to block every
move of the Roosevelt. administration
toward a, foreign policy of concerted
self-defense by the democracies. They
use pacifism, isolation and appease-
ment as a blind. for granting unlimited
concessions to .the aggressors. De-
featism, which leads to complete pas-
sivity of the democrati¢-forces, finds
a logical place among these weapons
of reaction.

The influence of the press in foster-
ing defeatism has shown itself un-
=, during the past few weeks,
when collapse of the Republic and
surrender to France: were anticipated:
daily im the headlines. Reports
slurred over the unshaken resistance
of the Central Front while they mag-
nified groundless rumors of the defeat
and disunity of the Loyalist forces.
Now, when ~évents have disproved
these rumors, it is -clear that the
Daily Worker is the only paper which
has given a consistently truthful ac-
count of the situation in Spain. By
accurately reporting the war, by ex-
posing and analyzing the causes of
defeatism, and by its campaign to
lift the embargo, the Daily Worker
is serving democracy in Spain and in
America.,



more than any other single event to}

safeguard our ewn democracy; and|'
victory is: still possible.

Ponts have an immémse economic stake



The Loyalist army will fight till].

Committee. to Aid

‘Refugees is Formed|



Continued trom —_— One

portation costs and otKer items. The
committe realizes that it has a “con-

tinuing responsibility to the students |}.

it brings over until they are reha-
bilitated in this country. A National

Fund is essential in meeting this re- |,

sponsibility,” -

The committee’s sponsors, in addi-
tion to Henry Noble McCracken who
is Honorary Treasurer, includes many
prominent men. The committee has
employed a full-time publicity director
and it has urged all colleges ‘to keep
her fully informed of their activi-
ties and to make full use of her serv-
ices.



its last bullet is fired. But no army
can continue without arms, without
food. Spain must have both. We in
the United States must redouble our
efforts to lift the embargo and send
material aid.

At Bryn Mawr,
bers

the faculty mem-
circulated and signed a pe-

tition to President Roosevelt to lift

the embargo deserve hearty congrat-
ulations. The A. S. U. has also done
excellent work in circulating petitions
and collecting money... The.. Peace
Chest, although it has worked on the
principle of non-partisan relief, has
made large contributions to Loyalist
Spain. We hope that this good work
will continue.

Finally, we urge that every organi-
zation, every faculty member and
every student write or wire President
Roosevelt and their Senators and Con-
gressmen, urging that the embargo be
immediately lifted. Only the strong-
est and most persistent pressure on
our government will force the ré-
moval of the embargo on the Spanish
Republic and defeat the pro-fascist
bloc within the United States.

Signed,
EMILY DOAK,
Secretary, Young Communist
League of Bryn Mawr College.













MEA



MY.
TAKE
OF CONCENTRATION
_—THAT OFTEN

WORK
S PLENTY.

NS NERVE







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SMOKERS. FIND—

NEVER JANGLE
THE NERVES

Pn |



Elizabeth Pope Proves
Lying to be Justifiable

Socrates” Contention
Before Philosophy .Club





Common Room, February 15.—At a

meeting of the Philosophy Club,
Elizabeth Pope, ’40, read a paper
called The Philosophy of -Lying, writ-
teri in the form. ofa dialogue between

two students, with a Philosopher as
arbitrator. Miss Pope proved Soc-
rates’ contention, stated in the Repub-
lic, that lying is justifiable under cer-
tain circumstances, but only whert the
lie is “the closest attainable copy of
the truth.”

Miss Pape’s first student, who is
eventually worsted, maintains that

lie is told to avoid unpleasantness.
wire idealistically that the para-
graph in which Socrates justifies some
lies should. have been omitted from the
Republic because it “expressed opin-
ions unworthy of Socrates . .. and
because it was irrelevant. to the aim
of all philosophical discussion,, which
is to identify and value not lies, but
truth.”

The second student proves that lying
has a close relationship to truth as we
know it, which, according to the
Phaedo, is only an‘ approximation of
absolute truth. Therefore, all truth is
to some degree a lie, and if we wish
to form a standard, we must select
that which conforms best. to our notion
of absolute truth. - It is permissible to
lic when the lie comes closer. to this
notion than the truth would.

The second student shows that lying
to one’s enemies. may be - righteous,
by refuting the first studerit’s conten-
tion that such a lie is told to avoid
unpleasantness sto oneself. A man
may permissibly lie to save himself,
ror it is his duty to preserve his body,
if the lie “does not involve the nega-
ion of an absolute truth.”

The philosopher concludes by saying
that the principle of lying is not sup-

portable but “only. the abrogation of













Defended |.

‘...



Mass Meeting on Religion
On February 23, there will
be a Youth Mass Meeting at

eS

Mitten Hall, at Broad “tnd
Berks, Streets, as a preparatory
for the World Day? of Prayer |:
on February 24. Since all neigh-
boring colleges will be repre-
sented, the Bryn ‘Mawr League
hopes that. some of the under-
graduates will go in to the
meeting. The meeting wil) be
undenominational. - we

S
/
r

—







factual truth to obtain a closer ap-
proximation of absolute truth.” Both
students agree and admit that Soc-

rates was “entirely right.” :

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