THE EINSTEIN MENACE

Mrs. Frothingham of the Women's Patriot organization is convinced that Dr. Albert Einstein should not be admitted to the United States. Her arguments are sound. Einstein is affiliated with the War Resisters International, the World Congress Against Imperialist War, and the Workers International Relief. Mrs. Frothingham's letter to the head of the visa department at Washington points out that in the past nonentities have been refused admittance and expelled for having views even less radical than those of Dr. Einstein. It protests against giving preference to the scientist. A test case arises here challenging the consistency of the lawn when applied to different individuals.

If Dr. Einstein is excluded, the Department of State will be criticized by intellectuals and liberals. Yet those intellectuals who esteem Einstein so highly have never given much thought to the problem of the unimportant pacifist spurned at Ellis Island. Should he be admitted, the Women's Patriot Organization will attack vigorously and with justification.

As the laws stand, the result of the case should favor Mrs. Frothingham and her league. Whether it initiated the question with hopes of gaining world-wide publicity so that it might be a formidable competitor of the D.A.R., or whether it was making a sincere effort to try the consistency of the laws is of little importance. But it has raised the question concerning the validity of the principle of excluding pacifists. That such a man as Einstein will be a menace to the American government is obviously absurd. This case should convince the public that those laws which condemn pacifists and place them in a class with potential bomb throwers and criminals are outdated.