THE LEDGER OF LIBERALISM

In a striking column headed "1925's Account with Liberalism," the current issue of the Nation lists near the top of the credit side of the ledger the overwhelming evidence that the youth of today intends to think for itself. At approximately the same time that the Nation's editorial was written, nine hundred students, representing twenty denominations and one hundred and seventy-six colleges in the United States and Canada, met together in an interdenominational conference at Evanston Illinois. The list of opinions expressed by the convention provides interesting confirmation of the Nation's conclusion that youth intends to think for itself as well as more exact information as to exactly what it intends to think about.

The conference scored racial discrimination, called for the abolition of compulsory military training in land grant institutions, exhibited sentiment calling for personal non-participation in future war of any sort, advocated a free pulpit in the expression of opinion on labor matters attacked Greek Letter Societies, voted for the United States entry into the League of Nations and the World Court, listened to villifications of contemporary religious education, listened to reports attacking the American Defense Society the National Security League, and the Klan, and more astonishing still, voted to withdraw support from foreign missions so that the money might be used to encourage intelligent birth control.

Such an array of opinions, particularly coming from a religious conference meeting in Evanston, Illinois, is as surprising as it is encouraging. In that one item on the credit side of the Nation's ledger which is thus substantiated, there may be greater significance than in all those on the debit side: and these range from "one burning alive and fourteen other lynchings" and "the Scopes prosecution and its revelation of American superstition and bigotry" to "the continued failure to enforce the prohibition law and the resultant demoralization," and "the retention of Wilbur and Kellogg in the Cabinet".