Readers' Forum

The university is a monument to the Guatemalan business leaders who saw that the true foundation for a free society is built not on short-term political activities, but is based on investment in permanent change. Because of this investment in education, thousands of people will be lifetime advocates of the freedom philosophy. One may need to be more patient for the divi dends, but they willbe real and permanent. Manuel Ayau is now rector emeritus, and the current rector is Fernando Monterroso. Rigoberto Juarez-paz is the vice-rector,and Juan F. Bendfeldt is the university's executive secretary. The trustees and faculty have a broad, international range of contacts, so the curricula are enriched by a contin uous stream of lecturers. In addition, there are vis iting professors such as Alberto Benegas LynchJr. and Eduardo Marty of Argentina, Roger Meiners and Robert McCormick of Clemson University, James Huffman of Lewis and Clark Law School, and Randy Barnett of Chicago-Kent Law School.

Thus, the students enjoy some of the best educa tional programs in the world. These programs receive supplementary support from the Founda tion Francisco Marroquin in Stuart, Florida. Francisco Marroquin students attend the sum mer seminars of The Foundation for Economic Education, Institute for Humane Studies, and oth er organizations. They inspire the other students they meet, and return to their unique university with an even deeper understanding of the freedom philosophy. D Readers' Forum To the Editors: Lee Ownby's detached depiction of the misuse of the government's eminent domain power ("Beyond Eminent Domain," March 1990 Free man) to serve private interests tends to obscure the important moral values at issue. The forced taking of private property avowedly to promote the business of another private individual is a per vasive scandal in American law. That it has gone on for over a century, and that it happens all the time-not merely in the case described by Mr.

Ownby, or in the Poletown taking in Detroit to subsidize General Motors-is all the more reason to oppose it forthrightly and vigorously.There are two sets of villains in this drama, working hand in hand. They are the business people willing to sell their birthright and their society's freedom for a mess of profits, and judges who have, for all prac tical purposes, read the "public use" limitation on takings out of the Constitution, so that it retains no pragmatic meaning whatever. These people need to be confronted with the profound immoral ity of their deeds. Thus, Mr. Ownby'sequivocalif not actuallysym pathetic depiction of the Knoxville businessman benefitting from such misuse of eminent domain is unfortunate. Justice Brandeis cautioned that the greatest threat to liberty comes from well-meaning but misguided people who erode our freedoms by degrees.Such concernssurelyapplyto the misuse of eminentdomainto fatten the pursesof business people who are unable or unwillingto compete effectivelyin the privatemarketto obtainthe prop ertytheywant,andwho insteadtum to the govern ment to get it for them by force.

The ultimate scandalinherent in this processis that the courtsproclaimthemselvesallbut power lessto enforcethe "publicuse" Constitutionallim itation,then go on in the name of "just compensa tion" to denycompensationto the condemneesfor a varietyof economicand personallossesactually suffered,but judiciallydeclared to be "non-com pensable." GIDEON KANNER Professorof Law LoyolaLaw School Los Angeles,California Lee Ownbyreplies: I concurwith ProfessorKanner in his assertion that important moral valuesare at issuewhenpri vate business interests enlist state power to forciblyobtain another's private property. As he indicated, this legal plunder is widespread and continuesunabated on manyfronts.WhileI don't believethat I was as sympatheticto this misuseof power as he suggests,I do admit to not being as forcefulas my convictionswoulddemand. Much of the public has been anesthetized to government's steady encroachment onto private property rights. My approach was to subtly chal lenge those who may have nascentseeds of doubt about the privatesector'srole in the state'swrong doing. Defenders of private property rights have no difficultyunderstandingwhat is beinglost.It is the multitudesthat have not been giventhe tools of analysisby which they can conclude that such actionsare improper.I acknowledgedsome of the positivecontributionsofWhittle,eveniftainted in ProfessorKanner'sview,in hopes that the proper.ty rights position might receive a more earnest hearing.

I welcomeProfessorKanner'sforcefuland per suasiveargumentsin the defense of private prop275 erty. I regret that I did not have the benefit of his viewpoint during my law school career. If I had, perhaps,my own awakeningto the important link betweenprivateproperty and freedomcouldhave been hastened. LEE OWNBY Knoxville,Tennessee To the Editors: In his "AcademicFreedom at a PublicUniver sity" (March 1990 Freeman),John Lott tells of what he thinks "are not unusual events at public universities."The happeningshe describesare cer tainlynot unique.In an uncannyfashion,theypar alleloccurrencesin Ohio duringa 1983incometax repeal initiative.I and a colleaguesupported such an initiative.We were assailedin the publicpress by the state'sGovernor.A trustee of another state supported university wrote to say that if he had anythingto say about it, we wouldbe fired.There werephone callsfromthe Governor'sofficeto the president of our universityurginghim to "shut us up." At times, we were accusedof "ruining" the university.An academiccampaignto discreditus was organized.Rumors were circulatedquestion ing our personal motivesand integrity.And, else wherein the state,academicswho mighthavesup ported us were threatened with zero salary raises for years to come.John Lott's story is quite famil iar. To quote Yogi Berra's malapropism,for me, it was" deja vu all over again."

LOWELL GALLAWAY DistinguishedProfessorof Economics Ohio University,Athens, Ohio. We will share with readers the most in terestingand provocativeletters we receive regarding Freeman articles and the issues theyraise.Addressyourletters to: Readers' Forum, The Freeman,The Foundation for Economic Education, Irvington-on-Hud son,New York 10533.