Speeches by Dr. Ralph Spitzer and Dr. L.R. La Vallee

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... All of you, even the most casual reader, have read of these attacks. A little more than a year ago, ten leading artists and writers were fired from the movie industry, because of pressure being brought by the Un-American Activities Committee. Since that time, the movie industry has concentrated on the production almost completely of the Hollywood romance. The federal government has used to do a loyal deal with an investigation. Dozens of organizations have been branded as subversive by the Attorney General Park.

Membership in such organizations has considered evidence that one is subversive. This is to determine guilt by association without regard to an individual's personal activities. Similar to loyal to those, currently are being enforced or adopted by states by private business organizations. Another aspect, 1947, 17 liberal news commentators were fired from National Hookups in the radio industry. All these attacks, only a few of which I have mentioned, have been directed primarily against communists, although individuals and groups with political views anywhere from extreme left wing to liberal are being persecuted. Within the past year, tax against civil liberties have been particularly felt among nation schools and colleges.

Before we can go into this specific aspect, it is important that we understand the basis for the general infringement of all our civil liberties. One looks around, he sees our guarantees of freedom gradually, but very definitely, becoming promises on paper. Right, which are free, only in so far as one does not seek them. What has happened to freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly? Why are these foundations of freedom upon which our country has prospered for two centuries, being taken from us? It's all part of the Cold War. We are behaving just as though we actually were at war, so that any opposition to what is happening is labeled disloyalty. This is done in order to break down resistance to the war drive.

Our pattern of behavior is daily bearing more and more of the resemblance of the pattern of fascism in Germany and Italy. And House Document No. 401, 1947, entitled Fascism and Action, a study prepared or sponsored by Representative Pat Men of Texas, it is indicated that concentration of economic power in the hands of big business gave rise to Hitler and Fascism in Germany, Mussolini, in Italy, to quote that pattern. It was the monopolist in nation after nation who fostered the nasty fascist movements, helped to give them state power, fed them with the victories to make them strong, and prevented the democratic peoples from uniting against them. What is the situation in regard to economic concentration in the United States?

The examination of government publications in the past decade indicate the growth of monopolies in this country. Let me cite a few significant studies that have been released by the Federal Government. 1939, the structure of the American economy, published by the National Resources Committee, showed that the economic resources of our country will concentrate. Of the 250 largest corporations in the country, these corporations control over 60 percent of all the assets in industrial, that means any kind of manufacturing, certain, rail, utilities, and financial institutions, and that these 250 largest corporations in turn were controlled by the eight financial groups, investment bank groups, commonly referred to as the Wall Street Group. Let me list them briefly.

Amorgon, Mallon, Rockefeller, Dupont, CUMLO, the city banking groups of Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston. In 1941, the Temporary National Economic Committee, set up by Congress, published its 43 volume report examining in great detail the findings already made by the structure of the American economy. These reports reiterate the concentration and economic power of the previous reports. In 1946, the Senate Committee on Small Business, set up to protect the interests of small business, released a report which noted with alarm that this concentration of industry in the hands of huge corporations had been greatly accelerated during the war. Finally, in July 1948, the Federal Trade Commission, in a special report to Congress, warned of the tremendous growth of monopoly and the concentration of economic power since the war, to quote it. No stretch of the imagination is required to foresee that if nothing is done to check the growth of concentration, either the giant corporations will ultimately take over the country, or the government will be impelled to step in and impose some form of direct regulation in the public interest.

What does concentration of economic power have to do with academic freedom? Let me slide briefly, several recent reports in the field of education, which I believe will throw light on this question. The most significant study in the field of higher education is one made by Dr. Hubert Park Beck, 1947, entitled Men Who Control Our Universities. This is published by Columbia University Press, and the copy of it was donated to the OST Library by Dean and Mrs. Guilfellant. Dr. Beck shows statistically the relationship of business interests, and to 30 important universities and colleges in the country. An introduction to the book is given by Dr. George S. Counts, noted educator of Columbia University. Counts laws Beck for his scholarly and thorough study.

Here is what Beck did. Examine these 30 institutions, 16 of which were private institutions, and 14 of which were public. And the private institutions were Brown, Caltech, Catholic University, Clark, Columbia University, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Washington University, St. Louis, and Yale. And the public institutions, or Ohio State, Indiana University, State University of Iowa, the University of California, the University of Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Minnesota. These institutions have under their jurisdiction 24% of all the faculty in the higher education in this country. They have 20% of the students in regular sessions. 50% of the graduate students in the arts and science. 47% of the graduate students in the professional schools.

They graduated 50% of all masters degrees awarded in this country. 77% of all the PhDs. Yet these 30 institutions only comprise only 2% of the institutions of higher education. The total number of trustees and board members of these colleges and universities was 734. 42% of which was chosen for life. Moreover, these organizations are self perpetuating. Not only one that is deceased, the rest of the members elect the other, refill his place. Typically, such board, both such boards have rather complete control of the administration of schools, which is the election of the president, employment discharge of teachers, describing the forces making rules for the clinical students. According to back quote, almost without exception in this country, governing boards exercise these powers and functions without the consent of the government.

Back then, breaks down these trustees and board members according to age, sex, incomes, business, and related occupations. Particularly important in this study is the occupations of the board members. He breaks them down by the various categories like banker, broker, so forth. Overall, he found that at least 66% of these members held major offices or directorships in one or more business and a prize. Moreover, about 25% of the total number of trustees held offices or directorships in the 400 largest corporations in the country. Backfound complete omission on governing boards of members in a lower social economic straight up.

Formals, skill workers, semi-skilled, clerks, and unskilled workers in small farmers were not represented at all. Regarding his trustees, the average taxable incomes for 1924, the only year for which data could be found, was $102,000. This is based on a 41% sample. Another citation from the field of education. According to the New York Times of January 11, 1949, in the three-day conference from January the 10th to 12th of New York City, are the Association of American Colleges, Dr. Kenneth I. Brown, President of this Association, and of Denison University, scored college administrators for the vast building expansion program that are being undertaken, and for which they seek billions of dollars. Attempts to raise such funds according to Dr. Brown, cause administrators to woo wealthy businessmen and on to obtain the diamonds for such purposes.

To quote him, academic integrity has always disappeared on many campuses. Bit of hostility exists among universities. The ethics of the county house and the codes of competition have too often replaced the higher standards once common in education. The school catalogs stress the development of the individual student. With one one listening on trustee meetings, one gathers the irrefutable compression that the item of major concern for the administration is not the maturing of the individual, but buildings large, spacious, attractive buildings. A third citation. The committee on tax exemption. The American Council of Education made a report on December 6, 1948. Dr. Carter Davis, the president of Union Colleges, connected it with the chairman of this committee. The report indicates some of the business holdings of colleges and universities throughout the country. I mentioned just a few.

Great.