Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
The Ever-Present Spectre of Inflation
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1967
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID KNOKE
Tomatoes and Hatchets Hurt
The March on Washington.'
THE SIZE OF yesterday's march on
Washington, considered by most sour-
ces to be far larger than the 1963 Civil
Rights march, effectively demonstrates
the intensity of anti-war feelings now
prevailing in the United States.
The march can be a useful public
relations device for influencing the rest
of the populace's attitudes towards the
administratio; and the war. But, storm-
ing the Pentagon with ax-handles and
tomatoes and carrying Viet Cong flags,.
as a handful of demonstrators did Sat-
urday afternoon, only accomplishes
what opponents of American involve-
ment in Vietnam can lest afford. It
creates strong emotional side issues for
supporters of administration policy to
capitalize on.
For outside of convincing millions of
Americans of the need to withdraw from
Vietnam, doves must malre the side issues
work for their cause. Specifically, they
must gain the sympathies of those who
are horrified by the trampling of first
amendment freedoms dissent has engen-
dered.
THE TRADITIONAL TACTICS - picket
lines; vigils, non-violent civil disobed-
ience --i- will not alienate the non-com-
mitted, waveriig segment of the popu-
lation that must be won over if a politi-
cal force strong enough to! end present
policies is to be formed.
Those who denounce these tactics as
ineffective have yet to give them their
trial on a large nationwide scale. This
means a string of perpetual anti-war
vigils across the nation, floods of letters,
telegrams, petitions and phone calls to
Congressmen and administration of-
ficials, and attempts to organize the pop-
ulation at the door-to-door "grass roots"
level on a massive scale.
And it means active non-violent re-
sistence of the draft: jamming selective
service mailboxes with thousands of draft
cards, sit-ins in jail.
VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION of in-
dividual rights must be left to the
administration and police. Those who
would put an end to violence in Vietnam
must not sully their hands by lowering
themselves to the tactics of the author-
itarians. By their refusal to retaliate,
they stand to win sympathy on the side
issue of the right to dissent with no par
of physical reprecussions; by storming
the Pentagon, by fighting back, they lose
their claim to ethical and moral super-
iority.
Ending the war is far too important
to be sacrificed now, when chances for
ending it seem to be improving. For only
now is a kind of broad based consensus
against the war shaping up, only now are
housewives and businessmen joining stu-
dents and old radicals in their opposition
to the administration's policies.
f
THE RADICALS who stormed the Pent-
agon might feel themselves so far out-
side of the present American society, that
they feel any actions to be justified in
opposing the authority of that society.
But if they earnestly want to put an
end to the war, they must place this goal
above their personal animosities against
society.
-URBAN LEHNER
By STEVE SHAVELL
OUR NATION'S most urgent
economic problem is not in-
flation in the future-it is in-
flation now. The man on the
street notices that GM, Chrysler,
and Ford have all upped their
car prices. The economist watches
the climb of personal income and
expenditures, investment spend-
ing, housing starts and many other
of the leading economic indica-
tors - or 'vindicators," as they
are known in the administration.
Although idle plant capacity is
moderate, unemployment is very
low at 3.8 per cent and what is
always the biggest quarter of the
year for business still lies ahead.
Even allowing for a widening
auto strike, the Gross National
Product will advance roughly $15
billion above last year's level,
government economists predicted
Friday. Moreover, struck auto
companies promise to recover lost
ground as soon as they are able
to resume operations.
These facts of a surging econ-
omy coupled with the very im-
portant consideration of a $25 to
$30 billion deficit in the fiscal
1968 Federal budget make it hard
to see how severe strains on prices
can be avoided. Indeed, the fore-
cast for the price rise in the com-
ing year is up from 4 to 6 per cent.
INFLATION AND the fear of
it are manifest in the financial
markets too. At the same time
that the Federal Reserve is fol-
lowing an easy-money policy (in-
itiated in order to fight the "mini-
recession" of last year), business
is accepting without complaint
the highest credit costs seen since
the 1920's. But some groups feel
the crunch. Two weeks ago Day-
tona Beach attempted to raise
funds for new sewers but could
not afford to float bonds with
over a 5 perscent yield. The city
got no bids. The Consolidated
School District of Warren, Michi-
gan, was not able to offer more
than 4',2 per cent at a $7.1 million
bond sale on Sept. 27 and sold
nothing. Investors are paying rec-
ord prices for growth stocks. Bond
prices are withering. The Trea-
sury will inflame the situation -
and incur large costs in addition
- when it finances the govern-
ment's cash budget deficit; a
sharp contrast to the cash budget
surpluses of the proceeding few
years.
A tax increase would damp the
inflationary fires in well-known
ways: spending would fall, busi-
ness would cut back on new or-
ders, investment would decline. In
the financial world less foreboding
fears of inflation among investors
would reduce the nervous, specu-
lative unease of the stock market.
Slackening demands for funds
from business and from the Trea-
sury (which would have more
money because of more taxes>
would improve conditions in the
money market.
HOWEVER, Congress and the
White House are at a stalemate
over the proposed tax surcharge
and slashes in the new budget.
The issues, of course, are just as
political as they are economic.
Basicaly, it is that the President
does not want to bear the onus
of having made unpopular spend-
ing reductions and that the legis-
lative body does not want to open
itself to the criticism that it
preaches economy while practic-
ing extravagance.
In a decision mpve the House
Ways and Means Committe led by
Wilbur Mills of Arkansas voted
20 to 5 two weeks ago to halt
consideration of the administra-
tion's proposed 10 per cent tax
surcharge until substantial cuts
in government spending are out-
lined.
But Congress is not going to at-
SJ,-'
TKe ASIIALT JUN6CE
ously of the "shambles" the econ-
omy will find itself in if the tax
increase is not passed. The struc-
ture of our capital market simply
cannot tolerate extrame varia-
tions in interest rates. he con-
tended. In addition, recent studies
as well as the current behavior
of business raise considerable
doubts as to t 'ffectiveness of
monetary stri :y in lowering
the rate of business investment.
It is felt that other cost con-
siderations and the sales outlook
dwarf in importance the interest
rate factor,
Thus the situation is that as
serious inflation threatens, is sty-
mied over whether or not to take
fiscal action and will likely rely
once more on the politically ap-
pealing tool of monetary policy,
whose potency is questionable.
What is almost certain is that
because of the essentially pon-
derous and clumsy nature of the
political process, today's dilemma
will find itself repeated in the
future. The new economics as ex-
pounded in the textbooks will be
applied only in rare times, such
as 1964 when Pres. Kennedy man-
aged a tax cut. A partial solu-
tion to the whole problem is one
that has been in the air for quite
a while: to delegate to the Execu-
tive the power, subject to Con-
gressional veto, to raise or lower
taxes within limits when certain
economic indicators act in speci-
fled ways. This is not asking for
formulas to do the decisionmaking
nor is it asking for Congress to
relinquish its right to tax. Instead,
it is putting the matter directly
into the hands of the President
which will mean that some pos,
itive legislative action will be re-
quired to halt. for instance, a 10
per cent tax surcharge. The need
for such action will likely result
in Congress finding it more con-
venient to allow minor tax ad-
Justments to be made.
tempt to cool the overheating
economy by passing a moderate
tax increase, what are the alterna-
tives? Although the administra-
tion is not speaking openly about
this question, it has temporarily
frozen expenditures on certain
-non-essentials like river and har-
bors projects some military con-
struction and - for a few days
a couple of weeks ago - the
pay of Federal employes.
The Federal Reserve will pro-
bably soon move to tighten gen-
eral credit and perhaps to estab-
lish certain selective credit con-
trols. The result, as some envis-
ion it, will be a financial kind
of chamber of horrors. In a recent
speech at Chicago, Treasury
Undersecretary Deming warned
of the grim prospects lying ahead
if no tax surcharge is enacted
to help stem the increasing de-
mand on the credit markets.
Secretary Fowler spoke omin-
4
WM'.*.V.TODAY
AND TOMORROW ... by WALTER LIPPMANN
01'7G":47V0:'ti. "5Y.t. ; \." 7"
Park the Tiger, Go Whale --Australia
Flower Power
ON THE NORTH SIDE of the Pentagon
yesterday, roughly 150 soldiers with
fixed bayonettes pointed out had been
pushed by the demonstrators' up against
the Pentagon wall. A girl of about 20
years old went down the line very slowly
and offered a flower to each soldier
at his bayonette point. The soldiers re-
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mained i completely passive. Half way
through the line as she proceeded one
soldier assumed a crouched position as
if ready to attack the flower-bearing girl.
This drew a loud laugh and applause
from the crowd.
As the girl reached the end of the
line of stone-faced soldiers, she spread
her arms wide, and offered herself to a
young gun-bearing man. She stood for
several moments and the soldier was
having trouble maintaining his stance.
When the girl reached the end of the
line of bayonettes, no one had accepted
her flower or her body. She had not been
deflowered. She covered her face with
her hands and cried.
-GAIL SMILEY
PRESIDENT JOHNSON is a
man who, having taken the
wrong road, has lost his way.
Until he corrects his original mis-
take he will not get to his des-
tination by stepping on the ac-
celerator and pushing on. The
problem that we in America face
is to find our way to the right
road. If we do, in fact, realize the
mistake we have made, it will be
clear enough what the right road
is. We can find it and be at
least wiser and perhaps even hap-
pier than we are today.
The original mistake was to
commit this country to a large
land war on the Asian mainland..
Whatever our ideals and pur-
poses are-to stop the expansion
of communism, to thwart the con-
quest of South Vietnam, to pro-
mote liberty and democracy to
defend American security - the
crucial point is that Mr. Johnson
was mistaken in believing that
he was going to achieve these
objectives by fighting a large
land war in Asia. This strategic
decision by the President is the
great mistake which will have to
be corrected.
It is often said by the Presi-
dent's apologists that if we cor-
rect the mistake we will be forced
to defend ourselves later on in
Hawaii or even in California. This
is not so. The essential difference
between what we have done in
Vietnam and what we should have
done is that we have gone ashore
on the mainland - where the
masses of Vietnam and of China
can match against us. The i'ight
way, indeed the right thing to
do now, is to take our stand on
territory separated by blue water
from the mainland and from the
masses who live upon it.
The mistake has drawn us into
a war which cannot be won even
if we beat down our adversaries
to a point where they have to
surrender or retire. No agreements
can be negotiated offering any
assurance that, without our mili-
tary presence to enforce them, a
Saigon government will be able
and willing to do all the things
I that the President says we are
fighting for. to make it do. The
notion that we can win the war
for Mr. Johnson's objectives and
then go home is either an inno-
cent delusion or a. gross decep-
tion.
It is safe to assert that there
will be no "productive" negotia-
tions as long as our objectives on
the Asian continent are such
that we must stay there to en-
force them. This will not surprise
a n y o n e who remembers the
American military tradition and
doctrine. It always has been axio-
matic that we must exert our
power offshore and must never
allow ourselves to get pulled
deeply onto the mainland. Since
Vietnam became an American
problem after the French defeat,
three Presidents have remember-
ed and restated that axiom -
Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy
to send more military advisers
and to meddle more deeply in
Saigon politics. It was not a glor-
ious chapter in his Administra-
tion. But he stopped well short of
engaging this country in an
American-Asian war. No one has
ever spoken more emphatically
than did President Johnson in
1964 about not sending Americans,
to fight Asians in Asia.
Because the strategy of the war
is mistaken, the courage and for-
titude of American fighting men
is being expended in an unwin-
able war. It is not a glorious war.
like to do but what we can do.
If the Administration could do
what it says it is going to do,
there might still be objectors:
but the debate would, in fact, be
over.
The question that needs to be
considered and discussed is, there-
fore, whether by waging a big land
war in Asia there is any real pros-
pect of achieving our official ob-
jectives. There is no prospect.
Even to overwhelm the enemy
would never bring peace. The
revolutionary war would be re-
sumed if the American forces
vantages. An American decision to
adopt a new Pacific strategy will
remove the essential issue which
makes, the war interminable. An
American , decision to pull back
to Australia will not only end
the war in Vietnam, but it will
remove any near, prospect of war
with Red China. It will make the
terms and conditidns of the pull-
back, which would inevitably take
some years, the subject of the ne-
gotiations for which' we are ask-
ing.
It is not necessary to labor on'
how much easier, cheaper and
seems to be a frivolous insult to
the U.S. Navy. It is, however, fair
to ask wlether from a strong-
hold in Australia we can exert as
tmuch influence in South Asia as
from Saigon and Danang.
If influence means that Ameri-
can officials can order the natives
around, the answer is that to pull
back td Australia is to accept the
fact that the era of ordering na-
tives around is oyer and that
policies and purposes must .be
i m p l e m e n t e d by nonmilitary
means-by trade agreements, cul-
tural intercourse, diplomatic deal-
ings and propaganda.
Before we reject the nonmili-
tary means as poor and pale sub-
stitutes for Gen. Westmoreland
and his firepower, we should real-
ize the enormous consequences in
world politics of an American de-
cision to pull back from the Viet-
namese mainland to continental
islands inhabited by Western
white men. Not only would this
c -cision remove the most immed-
iate threat of war with the Chi-
nese and the Vietnamese, but it
would remove the main conflict
of interest between the United
States and the Soviet Union. In
North Vietnam we are attacking
territory which the Soviet Union
is bound to regard as its responsi-
bility. In Australia we would be
on territory which they accept as
being outside the boundaries of
Soviet influence.
AN AMERICAN decision to pull
back from the mainland would
transform our relations with the
rest of the world. We would have
removed the bone of contention
with world opinion, which is the
almost universal fear that we are
intending to establish an imper-
ial position on the borders of
China. If we scotch that fear, we
may cpnfidently expect to find,
willing and friendly supporters
and helpers in the difficult and
delicate negotiations which will
be required to work out the po-
litical and military terms and
conditions of the great strategic
operation.
In arguing that we can correct
our mistake in Vietnam by rede-
ployment of our military forces
in the South Pacific, I realize
how much all of us hate to admit
that we have made a mistake and
that we must pull back rather
than push forward. But it is not
possible to make an omelet with-
out breaking eggs. The egg we
will have to break in order to re-
pair the mistake of 1965 is to
admit that we have involved our-
selves in a war that we cannot
win. Then, while we are still the
most powerful and the richest
country in the world, we will have
found that we were not all that
powerful. If that hurts our pride,
it will be food for our souls.'It
will do us good to learn humility.
We will be wiser for it, it less
inflated.
Such a change of policy would
not reduce the prestige and sin-
fluence of the United States. If
I
Is this the place to make our stand?
Measured by the overwhelming
superiority of American arms, the
military results in Vietnam are
embarrassing. The Air Force has
been battering a country which
has no air force. The Navy has
been bombarding a country which
has no navy. The best equipped
army in the history of wars has
not defeated the lightly armed
rebels or the men from the north.
We are, says the general. who
commands our troops, fighting a
war of attrition! A war to ex-
change casualties with the inex-
haustible masses of the Asian
continent is not a brilliant thing
to do. The military tradition and
doctrine of this country have al-
ways warned us against it.
were withdrawn or seriously re-
duced.
If we are engaged in a war that
is unwinable and, in fact, inter-
minable, then we have made a
colossal strategic mistake. We
have blundered even more deeply
into the quagmire by persisting
in our mistake. In order to ex-
tricate ourselves we shall have to
correct the mistake. This cannot
be done by giving the Air Force
a free hand or by sending to Gen.
Westmoreland another few hun-
dred thousand men. If we cannot
win or accomplish our purposes
by fighting a land war in Asia,
the mistake can be corrected only
by making it our declared policy
to pull our forces back to terri-
more secure would be a South
Pacific base in Australia than it
can ever be in Indochina. The
controlling fact about the Chinese
and Vietnamese military forces is
that they can march but cannot
swim. They have no sea power
and we are a very great sea pow-
er. If they could invade and con-
quer Australia against our Navy
and Air Force, they could block-
ade Saigon and destroy our-power
in South Vietnam. On any cal-
culation of forces, Australia and
New Zealand can be made invul-
nerable.
There is, of course, the Chinese
nuclear power. But we must re-
member that our position in
South Vietnam offers no defense
ri i:M '
~~Iu U r..
"MW
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