Time for Decision

During the past year the CRIMSON has expressed itself editorially on a variety of issues. Often the limits of space have made it necessary to omit phrases from our statements. We have faithfully saved and classified these phrases during the year, and we now take this opportunity to say those things which must, inevitably, be said.

THE NATION

It is a long road that has no turning.

Today we are faced with a conflict of ideologies; the world is divided into two hostile camps. America stands at the crossroads. We must come to grips with reality. We must act swiftly and decisively, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. America cannot shirk her duty at this critical hour; there is no turning back.

With grim determination we must firmly embrace the principles of our forefathers, who fought and died that we might remain free. Patrick Henry's words are as true today as when he spoke them. Our 162 years of history have brought us to the pinnacle of human progress. There is only one way to go. Forward.

Let us never lose sight of the words of that great statesman, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." This is no time for partisan politics.

Whatever our differences, we must all pull together in this time of common peril. Arm and arm we must march forward into the future, with our shoulder to the wheel, our nose to the grindstone, our ear to the ground and our eye on the main chance.

THE DRAFT

Students throughout the nation are sore beset with doubts and fears; the grim spectre of compulsory service hangs heavy over their heads like the sword of Damocles. But we must remember that youth is the lifeblood of the nation. Still we cannot send a boy to do the man's job of stopping the savage hordes from the arid steppes. We must heed the clarion call of duty.

To serve our nation is not a duty; it is an honor. We must gird our loins for the struggle to come. In time of peace we must prepare for war. There are times when even the most peaceful of men must fight fire with fire. The fate of civilization hangs in the balance.

THE UNIVERSITY

Under unswerving leadership, Harvard has made an outstanding contribution to the priceless heritage of a proud nation. Bolstered by the courage and determination of an outstanding faculty and the respect of a free people, the University cannot afford to turn its ivied walls into an ivory tower.

Harvard has 315 years of tradition behind it. It owes a double duty: to its students and to the nation as a whole. It must shine clearly as a beacon in the night in the free market-place of ideas.

The quest for knowledge and truth is never-ending. This University must not become a hand-maiden of privilege, the breeding ground of a self-styled intellectual elite. Harvard has a well-defined role to play in the days ahead: to maintain the values which the forces of economic materialism are seeking to wipe off the face of the earth.