18
PARTISAN REVIEW
at M.I.T. and contributes discussions of Marxist philosophy to such
magazines as the
New Masses
and
Science
&
Society.
Somewhat to
our surprise-in view of the
cordon sanitaire
the Communist Party
has tried to draw around PARTISAN REVIEw-Mr. Stroik wrote back
at once that he thought he could make a "reasonable" reply to Mr.
Wilson's article. But on October 8, a week or so later, we received
this letter from
him:
"Gentlemen-
Last week I received your request for an answer to an
article by Mr. E. Wilson on Marxist dialectics. At that time
I
wrote back that I should be glad to collaborate and send in a
reply. In the meantime, I have seen recent numbers of PARTISAN
REVIEW, and I find that this periodical stands for a policy to
which I most strongly object. The difference of opinion between
the editors of PARTISAN REVIEW and myself is so considerable
that I
am
afraid that it
will
be impossible for me to send in a
reply to Mr. Wilson's article."
We would like to assure Mr. Stroik of two things: (
1)
our genuine
regret that we cannot present to our readers his vews on Mr. Wilson's
article; and (
2)
our feeling that it is less important for the future of
Marxist thought that the interests of the Communist Party be protected
than that such problems as the dialectic be discussed freely and
openly. For such purposes, our pages are
~nd
have always been open
to both the opponents of and the sympathizers with the Communist
Party.
THE
HENRY SAGA
(continued)
Some new members have been proposed for the
Henry Club. Henry Osborn Taylor, a pillar of
the National Institute of
Arts
&
Letters is a great
addition. (He is not to be confused-though, by
very definition, he inevitably
will
be-with Henry Fairfield Osborn,
elected last issue.) We are also glad to welcome Henry Dwight Sedge–
wick, of the American Academy of Arts
&
Letters, Henry Sloane
Coffin, of Union Theological Seminary, Henry Noble MacCracken,
of Vassar, and Henry Morton Robinson (unindentified). Two new
honorary members seem eligible: Henry Van Doren and Henry Leslie
Buell. Henry Lewis Mencken is a border line case: he would unques–
tionably have been blackballed fifteen years ago, but he has by now
achieved a respectability perhaps solid enough to warrant his election.
Eunice Clark, who suggested the idea to us in the first place, suggests
that the Club appoint local representatives. Every community must
have its Henry, unknown to national fame but filling the gap in local
affairs that only a Henry can fill. For Rochester, N.Y., she nominates
