The Campaign At Harvard

"The Honorable James M. Curley, Mayor of Boston, City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts.

"My dear Mayor Curley:--

"Your letter in the CRIMSON of October 10 seemed to me both discreet and excellent. Naturally no local candidate can quite stand from under; he must, every once in a while, show that he is conscious that there is a national ticket in the field and that it has his whole-hearted and burning support. But when a man is running as a candidate of a party which is in some sense liberal locally and is on the same ticket with a national candidate who is reactionary, he has to be very careful where and how he endorses the national ticket.

"It is a well known saying among local Democrats that, 'if Curley and Walsh want to carry Massachusetts, they will have to soft pedal this Davis stuff.' This does not of course mean that there is more than usual support for Coolidge. It means that with two reactionaries in the national field, all the liberal vote is swinging to La Follette. You and Senator Walsh seem aware of this and have done all in your power to 'soft pedal this Davis stuff.' You have stood from under all that you could. But it is necessary to satisfy the national campaign managers that you still remember that Davis is running for President, is it not?

"So, as I say, your letter shows that you have kept in line, and you could have chosen no better place to show that you are so keeping than Harvard. Because whatever you say here will get most notice where it is needed, while it will not go out among the rank and file of your party and cost you votes.

"If you have any lingering doubts about the reaction which rules on the national ticket, may I call to your attention the silence of the national platform on the subject of the Ku Klux Klan.

"Accept my deep sympathy for your difficult position, and my best wishes.  "Very respectfully yours,  (Signed) "L. R. Brown,

"President of the La Follette-Wheeler Club of Harvard.