Word: fairbank
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...John K. Fairbank, professor of History, returned from California yesterday after his planned trip to Japan had been indefinitely cancelled by the Department of the Army last month...
...unhappy case of Professor John K. Fairbank of Harvard University presents a challenge to all Americans who rejoice in the claim that they live under a government of laws. Professor Fairbank, in charge of Modern Chinese Studies at Harvard, a scholar of the first rank in his field and a man of the highest repute among his professional colleagues, was granted leave of absence for a year's study in Japan on a Guggenheim Fellowship and Social Science Research Council travel grant. Having made all the necessary preparations for his trip, he was apprised in a terse note from...
Presumably, the denial of a permit to Professor Fairbank was based on derogatory testimony concerning him by two former Communists appearing before the McCarran Subcommittee. Mr. Fairbank has filed with the subcommittee a sworn affidavit categorically denying the allegations--which were, in part at least, mere hearsay; but he has had no opportunity to make a public answer before the subcommittee which permitted the charges to be made publicly. No form of trial is available to him since he has not been charged with any crime and since the allegations about him were made under the protection of congressional immunity...
...Fairbank has sustained serious injuries--not only in terms of his opportunities for study but in terms of his reputation and his professional career. Harvard University suffers from this situation, too. The young men who studied under him, a number of whom may be candidates for Government intelligence and research jobs, are directly affected. And, what is of even graver significance, the country is deprived, until this stigma is eradicated, of the intelligence and specialized knowledge of the Far East which he could contribute to its councils. The hachet men of the Chinese Lobby have now succeeded in disqualifying...
What possible danger to American security could arise from Mr. Fairbank's presence in Japan? If he departed in any improper way from the scholarly work to which he is committed, his military permit could be withdrawn. But aparently someone in the Army's lower echelons decided to bar him arbitrarily in order to avoid any risk of future abuse from Senator McCarthy or Senator McCarran. He was protecting his own neck, and the Army's appropriations, not national security. The Fairbank case is far from unique; other citizens have suffered from the same kind of intimidation among Governmen officials...