Defense Group Galls for No Compromise
IN A STRONG STATEMENT the central and sub-committees of the AmericanDefense Dartmouth Group have expressed their beliefs in respect to essential action of the United States in the world crisis. The credo, announced by J. M. McDaniel, chairman of the Dartmouth Defense Group, is given below in full:
THE MISTAKES OF THE LAST TWO DECADES seem to the Central Committee of American Defense Dartmouth Group to have shown clearly that there can be no isolation of the United States, or of this continent, from the rest of the world. Therefore we reject isolationism. And we urge President Roosevelt to stand firm against the arguments of would-be appeasers, whether self-deceived or deceitful.
What are we willing to fight for?
This question can only be answered by those who understand what is at stake in the world straggle. It cannot be answered by men who take a cherished way of life so much for granted as to believe that it automatically will always be theirs. It can be answered by the colleges, and by the students and alumni of the colleges, who know that in our vast educational system there can be no room for oppression, ignorance, and blackouts of truth and tolerance. It can be answered by those who have made up their minds that the world is not large enough for powers that thrive only on aggression and slavery, and for the peoples that crave independence of thought and action.
As men of Dartmouth College, as citizens of our country, we know that the battle is one for survival, not only of ourselves, but of those values without which life would not be worth living, and for which Dartmouth College has stood for 172 years. In the words of a great Frenchman, "Where liberty is violated, there is our country."
A noble purpose shared by men of all times has been the ever-widening search for knowledge and truth. We seek for ourselves, and even more for our children, a breadth of educational opportunity that fosters intelligence, tolerance, understanding, and vision. There is a word for the American way of life. It is—freedom. We believe that freedom is the keystone of every academic arch in the nation.
The events of the last ten years have made it abundantly clear that the Gestapo cannot permit anything worthy of the name of education to surviv.
The time has come for each nation that is concerned about defending democracy, peace, and freedom to throw its full weight against the aggressors. We believe that the United States should take vigorous action for the destruction of the Nazi tyranny. There can be no half-way measures, no compromises. If this means entering the war, then let us enter it.
The Central Committee DARTMOUTH DEFENSE GROUP
Hanover, New HampshireOctober 10,1941
