Letters

An Arctic Program

To THE EDITOR: My congratulations to Baker Library for its "temporary" acquisition of the Stefansson library! Let us hope that this valuable collection will soon become a permanent part of their fine collection.

It seems to me that this good fortune, combined with that of the recent receipt of a portion of Mount Washington, should help to point the way toward a role for which Dartmouth is probably the best equipped of any U.S. college or university. That is, the development of an Arctic program of teaching and research; or, rather, the consolidation of all such work that is going on there at present. I doubt whether any student body has a greater interest in the outdoor life of higher latitudes; and certainly their interests could be successfully channeled into a useful and significant program by those already on the staff—Trevor Lloyd, "Dick" Goddard, Dave Nutt, and John Rand—not to mention the seminars of Dr. Stefansson himself. If such a program is being organized (things change rapidly at Dartmouth), all to the good; if not, I hope this may add one more straw to the pile of evidence in favor of such an under- taking. Here, truly, Dartmouth could find an outstanding place, not only in our own country, but among the world's institutions of higher learning.

Before closing, I would like to cross the equator briefly to note Mr. Morris' letter concerning Dartmouth Culture (note the big C). Either he or Irwin Edman, author of Tienencultura los Estados Unidos, is sadly lacking not only culture, but also a rudimentary knowledge of Brazil. The title of Edman's article is in Spanish—the language of Brazil is PORTUGUESE!! Half the population of South America, therefore, speaks the latter language; and they become annoyed when this fact is overlooked. Let us hope, then, that this article was not "primarily for the benefit of readers in Brazil"; and that Mr. Morris, upon leaving the sanctity of the English-speaking Copacabana Hotel in Rio, met enough "natives" to realize his mistake.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Religion and Science

To THE EDITOR: The publication of Dr. Ballard's article, Two Sides to Science, calls to mind the enormous debt of gratitude owed by recent Dartmouth graduates to those statesmen of education whose breadth of imagination has made the Great Issues Course a vital part of the curriculum. I write with a sense of obligation which is not lessened by my own experiences as a member of the second class to take the course; experiences which were predominantly but not always happy ones. The "perfect course," especially one of G. I. magnitude, is but a dream of the undergraduate mind. The faculty mind, contrary to some illusions which I may have fostered in earlier years, is all too aware of its own frailties. Yet the faculty mind must go on answering the needs of students who demand, not infrequently, a perfectionism which is, inevitably, just beyond the reach of the all too human capacities of both. It is certainly not with a carping attitude, then, that I wish to comment upon Dr. Ballard's article.

I must confess that I found in the "delicate fabric" of Dr. Ballard's logic the sort of fragmentary intellectual patch-work which has increasingly become the resort of the scientific Weltanschauung as it attempts to bridge the bifurcation of human loyalties which has been its heritage ever since 17th century Rationalism fell for the Cartesian "faux pas." A less fragmentary logic would surely question the premise which Dr. Ballard accepts with Russellite certainty: that "there exists potentially within each one of us a conflict of religions."...

Lest I become too easily identified with the dread "counter-revolution against the secular revolution," let me make it clear that I am not a Buckley rebuking his academic elders for expressing views which it is their right to hold. Nor am I a Protestant who fears "both secularism and Catholicism." There is no reason to fear, pace Buckley, Blanchard and Sen. McCarthy, either secularism, Protestantism, Catholicism or Stalinism unless, like Stace, Kallen and, now, Dr. Ballard, we are willing to mix up our politics and religions into that dangerous cocktail called "Americanism."

There is no need to deny that Dr. Ballards article throws light on a number of issues, both great and small; but is there need to revive the antiquarian and fruitless debate over the alleged "conflict" between religion and science which so engrossed the minds which lost the peace? The 19th century's "Modern Mind" has long been outrun, and the ghost of atomistic "rugged individualism" in religion— sic "Each one of us has his own religion" (p 15)— survives only to mark its burial place. Religious isolationism, as even the Vatican knows, is no more a possibility than is its political counterpart; which is not to say that one must relinquish the critical principle which demands individual surveillance over collectivism and authoritarianism in any area.

The free orientation towards the future which Dr. Ballard envisions for democratic man can be accomplished only by facing in that direction. It requires the kind of nerve with which Robert Ingersoll used to face the past, not realizing that his future would die with him. But even more than nerve, the future requires from man the vital strength of imagination which was singularly lacking in Robert Ingersoll. The founders of the tolerant attitude which Dr. Ballard praises had that kind of imagination and they had their sectarian loyalties as well, yet they suffered less from loyalty schizophrenia than seems to be the case with our "tolerant" .secularists... The heritage of tolerance is both older and newer than either the French or American Revolutions, and the keystone of tolerance in any time is the recognition of the dialogic relationship between men (and their leaders) which knows of no ultimate inconsistencies between the constancy of faith and the shifting sands of seientific knowledge. The break- down of this relationship for our time can probably be dated from Stalin's singularly unimaginative inquiry as to the number of divisions under Papal control. Just as this ended the possibility of communication between East and West, Dr. Ballard's confusion of Democracy with secular society might end the dialogue between men of religion and men of science....

It seems to this writer, a short three years removed from the reagents and reactors of Dartmouth's Public Affairs Laboratory, that the value of Dr. Ballard's laudable, though unimaginative, attempt to picture these American Issues and Democratic Values in the clear cold light of science is vitiated by an unscientific failure to recognize that the American faith in secularism, Kallen's "American Religion," is the resultant by-product, not the cause, of our scientific, technological and political enormity.

The Revolutionary expanded imagination, not of but for the future, could not use the literal language of the laboratory. But where Jefferson succeeded in enlarging his vocabulary to make it commensurable to a non-literal future, other scientists and other statesmen have failed. Surely we cannot have forgotten the very unliteral language of a President Tucker who was able, with a degree of success rarely surpassed, to communicate some of the strength of his very sectarian faith with- out sectarian intolerance. Perhaps President Tucker's familiarity with the great values of intelligent heresy may account for his achievements. But then, perhaps Dartmouth men, in his day, were regarded as something more than democratic vertebrates out for a wild ride into a technological fairyland future. Perhaps they sought a way for the future as well as a way on.

Truly the scientific cup runneth over, but are its drippings sufficient to fill the cup of religion?

Queens College, Flushing, N. Y.

Concerning Murals

To THE EDITOR: I am sure that if the February issue of Holiday comes generally to the attention of prep school and high school seniors around the country, applications this year will have a tremendous upsurge, particularly when a work of art in the form of a color photograph in the lower left hand corner of page 52, rivets their attention.

I am sure that perhaps for the first time in Dartmouth history, the classes from 'OB through '18, will be in complete, although perhaps private accord, that "we were born 40 years too soon."

Holiday, however, either naively or with malice aforethought has made a major con- tribution to Dartmouth by reproducing this alluring work of art that, as the Chinese have said, speaks more than ten thousand words. Holiday has successfully diverted attention from the monstrosity covering page 53.

I am sure that thousands of Dartmouth men have joined me in seeing for the first time, pictorially, the reason that George F. Baker gave a library to Dartmouth.

There is however some saving grace avail- able, because many years ago, a Dartmouth painter of renown [Dr. Seuss] created a mural that for a long time adorned the wall of the Dartmouth Club of New York, at 38th Street.

This mural depicted one of the great issues of all time, antedating by several thousand years the conception of Dartmouth.

The Alumni Magazine should attempt to locate this mural and have it placed in a quiet corner of Baker, where Great Issues are studied. Dartmouth men of whatever vintage will realize that one of the greatest issues of life and time is that primeval instinct of Anticipation.

Middleboro, Mass.