The New Liberalism

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

His Right Reverend Chase spoke today at the Liberal Club, and I thought that after all, queer things do happen in New England and are bound to happen as long as religion intends to wear the gown of the judge and hold the club of the cop.

The man, frankly, is ridiculous; his aims, and his means of achieving those aims, to a student with even a superficial knowledge and observation of social evils, seem incredibly childish.

I swear that if that man is not a mountebank, as Mencken contends (and I am afraid Mencken is wrong) he, at least, most assuredly, is an unpardonable crank, a sort of belated Don Quixote of new puritanism, who ultimately will discredit the highly responsible office he holds, in a highly modernized society.

This fight against corruption in general, and clean books in particular for instance--is not that a fight of a Don Quixote? He attacks and suppresses the American Mercury, and lets all the carloads of filth contained in any of the Macfaddedn publications be dumped on the public squares of "puritanic" Boston.

He arrests and blacklists the poor devil gone wrong, but lets the moving picture houses, vaudeville theatres, dancing halls, and many other places where corruption is insidiously displayed and methodically preached and could be had for the asking, have their own way. Or does not Mr. Chase know that even church dances contribute to corruption? He should have come with me to a Methodist dance where a member of the church, a beautiful young lady, half naked, with hay around her waist, danced, personifying the cave woman.

Which is more conducive to "going to the dogs", the story in the American Mercury or the dance of that young lady at the Methodist dance? Which is more potent with real danger, the bookstore of, let us say, Felix, or the Old Howard or Gayety? Which are spreading more disgrace and contamination, the issues of "Birth control", "Jurgen". "the Genius", "Hatrack" or the half dozen places which I know right here in Boston (and, which cops around them know too)!

Has Mr. Chase reflected upon these problems or is he aware of then existence? Hardly. He still thinks that "Hatrack" has a special appeal to man's lower passions. And I am sure that the listeners who laughed up their sleeve while he read his "Credo" of "New Paritanism" had a pity for the man and his ignorance, especially when he was staggering to answer, why, to his mind, the Macfadden publications were not as harmful as is the American Mercury. Why that man and those who are backing him are simply one hundred and fifty years behind their time. A. Phillipoff 1L.