Foreign Policy Decision
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATI
-
Sixty-Ninth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY 'STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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n Opinions Are Free
uth WiD Preail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
RSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1959 NIGHT EDITOR: LANE VANDERSLICE
o ff4Broadway Theatres
Serve Rich New Fare
By RICHARD CONDON
\ Daily Staff Writer
IT IS NO SECRET that for the past decade or so the number of
thoughtful, intellectually inspiring plays produced on Broadway has
been rapidly diminishing.
True, there have been dramas like "The Death of a Sale'smna," "Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof," "Streetcar Named Desire," "A Touch of the Poet,"
and "Shadow of a Gunman," but works of this quality have been few and
far between. All too often on Broadway, intellectually void, trite, vulgar,
puerile and uninspiring melodramas have gained prominence instead,
catering to an audience which is fundamentally opposed to intellectual
r ALTER -p l-'ASP(TAL
Dorm's 'Confidential Files'
Need Close, Hard Look
ECENT DISCLOSURE of the Residence
Hall's pink slip has caused many students
see red. Much of the reaction is deserved;
>me .of it isn't.
The rational given for the existence of the
pink slip" by John Hale, senior resident
rector of the men's residence halls seems
gical at first examination. Hale calls the
ports, a sheet of data on each student, "insti-
itional m mory," and says they are essential
filling out questionnaires by prospective em-
oyers.
The "pink slip" helps the student in this
spect by enabling the quadrangle directors
give what' is usually a most favorable recom-
endation. How many of these men did the
rector actually know, or how many does he
member? Considering the number of men
the quadrangles, it does not seem likely that
ve years after a man. has graduated the
rector would have very much first hand
nowledge. He must rely on the "pink slip."
TILL THE "pink slip" give him adequate
information to make an intelligent sum-
.ation? Assuming the report is correctly filled
it, yes. But the questions call for more than
ie average staffman is able to offer.
The staff assistant is asked to comment on
tudy habits, motivations and attitude, and
nancial and family problems." The first he
n answer through observation, the third only
the student has discussed the problem with
ie staff man, the second question is' usually
far beyond the staffman's ability to answer.
Very few staff assistants qualify as motivational
psychologists. This is not the staffman's fault.
but rather the fault of a question he should
not be asked to answer..
Another sore spot is the inquiry into personal
neatness and the neatness of the student's
room. Few students on this campus are so
slovenly that they do not present a respectable
appearance. But most students feel that their
appearance is no one's business but their own.
In addition to this, what a student may choose
to wear while attending school, and what he
may wear five years later does not necessarily
have much connection.
In all fairness it must be said the information
on the pink slip is handled as objectively as
possible by the quadrangle directors, and that
some of the information is necessary in room-
mate selection, considering applications for
loans, and considering a student's application
to reenter the quadrangles.
BUT . . . MUCH OF IT is unnecessary, some
of it, as in the case of neatness, is ridiculous,
and in the case of student motivation, the ques-
tions are unfair.
This plus the fact that a staffman's bias
almost invariably enters his report calls for a
careful reevaluation of the "pink slip."The re-
ports take up much of the staffmen's time
with questions they are uncualified to answer,
or for which there is no need.
-THOMAS KABAKER
;;:
.. CAPITAL COMMENTARY
'With Plodding Courage'
<y WILLIAM S. WHITE
Those Big Shoes
'RiTICS of Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles have changed their tune. They have
ined with supporters in proclaiming 'Dulles
s the "indispensable man."
Unfortunately this is both commendation"
rd condemnation. The United State's one-man
)reign policy machine is in the hospital with
ancer and the German negotiation talks are
oming up. Even though physicians have an-
ounced that Dulles may be able to retain his
osition and return to work in a limited capa-
:ty, he probably will not make it in time for
he German talks sometime in April or May.
Dulles' very value and the gap created by his
bsence reflects the one-man state department
hat he has run. In addition the team of Dulles
nd President Dwight D. Eisenhower have
retty much formulated all of American policy
)r six years. Now the most active member of
hat team is incapacitated.
As one prominent Democrat said, "Mr. Dulles
nows more about this whole foreign prob-
im than any other American." This is both
muq and unfortunate. Secretary Dulles is a
ynamic man and has for many years person-
Bly seen to the details of the department. It is
ripossible to fully replace him now and substi-
ites lack the infor-mation and experience only
ulles possesses.
jERMAN OFFICIAtS are reportedly quite
upset over the probability that Dulles won't
e at the talks. West German Chancellor Kon-
rad Adenauer considers Dulles a personal friend
as well as a good man to have on his side of
the conference table when dealing with the
Russians. Adenauer is the advocate of the "stern
strength-without experiments" and considers
Dulles as a close companion in this policy.
And well he might. Dulles is an anti-com-
munist of the first order. Since becoming Secre-
tary of State he has traveled nearly 600,000
miles in carrying out his opposition for the,
communist theory and its practioneers.
Even those, who have criticized his hard-
headedness and lack of imaginative policy
formulation or his tendency 'to say things in a
very undiplomatic manner or with less than
brilliant perception, agree that Dulles has been
a hard-working Secretary and a resourceful
representative at the negotiation table . . . his
"brink of war" statement notwithstanding.
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER says he will not
replace Dulles unless Dulles himself feels
that he cannot continue. If the Secretary makes
this decision, his replacement will have pretty
big shoes to fill.
For if Dulles really is the "West's indispens-
able man," and many people have suddenly
decided that he is, then it is doubly unfortu-
nate; first that he is indisposed at such a cru-
cial time-the German talks, and secondly that
he was "indispensable" at all.
-RALPH LANGER
WASHINGTON - Powerful Re-
public an Senators have
warned the Eisenhower Adminis-
tration thatthe illness of Secre-
tary of State John Foster Dulles
must not become the occasion for
any softening of our policy in the
cold war.
Through their leader, Senator
Styles Bridges of New Hampshire,
they have let the White House
know:
1) That they will keep a special
surveillance over the State De-
partment actions and attitudes in
Mr. Dulles' absence.
2) That if the Secretary's can-
cerous condition forces his total
retirement any successor nominat-
ed by the President would have to
satisfy the Senate Republicans
that he did not propose to liqui-
date the "tough" position Mr.
Dulles so long maintained.
THESE representations have
been made by the orthodox Re-
publicans because they are per-
fectly aware of a most significant
fact of life. This is that almost any
foreseeable change in top com-
mand at the State Department
would bring in a man much less
deeply committed than Secretary
Dulles to the line of giving no real
ground to the Russians, over Ber-
lin or elsewhere.
For. Mr. Dulles personally has
been that policy, even if he ap-
peared to be turning slightly more
flexible before his most recent ill-
ness struck. He has literally em-
bodied that policy. And it is for
this reason, and this alone, that
as foreign minister for a "modern"
Republican administration he has
nevertheless been able to main-
tain the consistent support of Athe
party's Old Guard wing in Con-
gress.
John Foster Dulles, in a word,
long has been very close to being
the indispensable man to the Re-
publican party in the United
States, just as now he begins to
look to be very nearly the irre-
placeable man in the Western al-
liance.
* * *
THIS IS one of the underlying
reasons why all concerned - the
President, the Congressional Re-
publicans - are almost desperate-,
ly hoping that any formal sup-
planting of Mr. Dulles can be
avoided, or at worst long post-
poned. Such a changing of the
guard, so late in the President's
term and quite apart from its ef-
fects abroad, would bring some-
thing approaching a convulsion
within the United States govern-
ment..
For John Foster Dulles' widely
discussed "personal diplomacy" is
not the only unexampled aspect
of his tenure. Another is the
uniquely personal bridge he has
formed between the conservative
and liberal wings of his party. Be-
cause he has symbolized the
"hard" line against imperialist
communism he has made it neces-
sary for the Old Guard to back
the Administration in foreign af-
fairs generally 'far more than it
might have done - and some-
times more than the Old Guard
really wished to do.
He has been a peculiar ambas-
sador between the dominant Re-
publican conservatives and the
overshadowed but aggressive Re-
publican liberals in the Senate.
Neither wing has ever quite cap-
tured him; but neither wing has
ever quite lost hold of him, or ,he
of it.
In short, John Foster Dulles has
not only overshadowed his own
President in making foreign poli-
cy. He has also far overshadowed
his own President in the tricky
task of giving to that President's
party the strictly political lead-
ership required to keep that par-
ty's diverse wings reasonably unit-
ed for that policy.
THIS IS why Dulles became the
indispensable man or as nearly in-
dispensable as to make no differ-
ence. The traditional practice has
been for a President to let a Sec-
retary of State run the State De-
partment, subject'to Presidential
high-policy, guidance,! while the
President made himself solely re-
sponsible for providing the neces-
sary political protection for the
Secretary to do his job. ,
Mr. Dulles has done the whole
business. lie has done it with plod-
ding courage and a kind of puri-
tariical resolution. And - in or-
der honestly to balance the whole
set of b'ooks - he has occasion-
ally done it with a massive tact-
lessness. The old gentleman him-
self probably would acknowledge
this in this wry hour when those
who used to have, no single good
word for him now positively
drench his hospital bed with un-
critical praise.
stimulation. Needless to say,
Broadway has lost its place as the
center of better educational thea-
tre presentations.
In New York. City several off-
Broadway companies have arisen
to fill in the gap which has been
created by their neighbors on the
"Great White Way." These -groups
have taken to the production of
better plays by better playwrights.
Though the plays off Broadway
are of a higher quality insofar as
the literary content is concerned,
the theatres in which they are pre-
sented are small and ill-equipped
to handle difficult stage props, and
despite the large audiences which
they frequently draw, the theatres
themselves are often run down.
The actors and actresses found
there lack the universally big,
names to be found on Broadway
and in most cases often lack ex-
perience and technique as well.
Seldom, as spectacular as, those
on Broadway, but the intellectual
quality usually found in these pro-
ductions more than compensates
for what they lack in finess.
A TYPICAL example of an off-
Broadway play is Dennis Cannan's
and Pierre:Bost's adaptation of
Graham Greene's novel "The Pow-
er and the Glory," currently play-
ing at the Circle in the Square,
just west of Greenwich Village.
While the "Power" is very real, the
"Glory" is questionable. It is the
story of a Mexican priest who is
hunted and finally martyred in
an obscure Mexican state during
the early twentieth century anti-
clerical movement in Mexico. The
priest is slovenly and discreditable
--to say the very least, he is weak.
He is a drunk, a lecher and an
adulterer. In his own words, "I am
a bad priest." Yet this weak man
possesses a laudable tendency to
sacrifice himself for his fellow
men. He is tricked by a material-
istic mestizo into returning to his
own state in order to give the Last
Rites to a dying man and is con-
demned to death by a Socialist
police chief.
Greene presents his work in an
artistically ambiguous fashion.
Showing signs of anti-clerical ten-
dencies, he is at the same time
distrustful of Socialism. The play
has a powerful effect upon the
audience, yet the gory is some-
what tarnished by this ambiguity
and the cowardly death Qf the
immoral priest. With the possible
exception of Eugene O'Neill's "A
Touch of the Poet," it is a fart
more profound play than any-'
thing to be found on Broadway.
Other off-Broadway shows in-
clude Arthur Miller's "The Cru-
cible," and "An Enemy of the
People," which are playing at the
Martinique and the Actors play-
house respectively. "Heloise,"aa
medieval love story playing at the
Gate by James Forsyth is also very,
worthwhile. "Ivanov," a careful
scrutinization of provincial life
by Anton Chekhov, is now at the
Renata.
One hopes that the example of
these. off-Broadway successes will
prove to serve as the renaissance
BREAKFAST:
Capote
Turns Cute
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. By
Truman Capote. Random House:
1958. 178 pp. $3.50.
HOSE FAMILIAR with the Tru-
man Capote of "Other Voices,
Other Rooms," and the short
stories contained in "A Tree of
Night" may not recognize the
author in his latest work, "Break-
fast at Tiffany's." The book marks
Capote's first major literary work
in seven years. Reading it, we
find how facilely Capote can write
off the top of his head when he
wishes to.
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is not
an important work, nor one that
will add much to the author's
reputation as a writer. The short
novel is written in a glib, free-
wheeling style best described as
cute. It is professional, if that is
saying anything, but one can find
the same kind of professionalism
in any number of stories gracing
the pages of the latest New York-
er.
This is not to say that Capote's
sensitive insight into the mechanics
of human beings ad his master-
ful ability to construct a story is
lacking.
It is to say that the book suf-
fers because of his detachment
from the people he is writing
about. We get the feeling that
Capote really has no love for his
characters. At any rate, love is
replaced by interest, and even that
often dissolves into a stultified
slickness, In a way, this is tragic
for a writer of Capote's ability.
* * *
THE STORY, told in the first
person by a young writer set-
tling in Manhattan to practice his
art, concerns the escapades of
Holly Golightly, a young woman
with a fondness for 'older men,
brandy, easy living and "hip" talk.
Holly lives a fast life, chatters
incessantly of her love for 'horses
and her younger brother Fred, and
shocks her neighbors who com-
plain of her continual flow of male
callers to whom there seems to be
no "decent" visiting hour.
Living in the same brownstone
tenement dwelling, our, young
writer friend, whom Holly chooses
to call Fred after her brother,
meets this fascinating female.
They establish a strange fondness
for each other. Later, when Holly's
long-lost husband, Doc Golightly,
shows up in New /York fro.i his
Texas farm, it is revealed that she
was really a southern child-bride
who somehow found her way to
the big city, soaked of much of its
sophistry, and decided to live there
by her wits and sexual appeal.
AS THE STORY unfolds, Holly
takes up with a handsome young
Brazilian diplomat, becomes preg-
nant, and settles down to the
thought of marriage along, with
an easy life in Brazil.-
Her Latin boyfriend deserts her
when she is accused of being a
"liaison" between an imprisoned
gangster and his chief-lieutenant
attorney, leaders of a nation.wide
narcotics ring.
Holly, fresh out of a hospital
ward, illegally takes a plane to
Rio de Janiero and later sends a
postcard to the young writer:
"Brazil was most beastly but
Buenos Aires the best. Not Tif-
fany's, but almost. Am joined at
the hip with duhvine $enor. Love?
Think so. Anyhoo'am looking for
somewhere to live ($enor has wife,
7 brats) and will let you know ad-
dress when I know it myself. Mille
tendresse."
* * *
ESSENTIALLY, that is the
story. It is funny in parts, and at
times the author manages to give
us some very imaginative moments
which indicate his fine lyrical
power. At most, he achieves little
more than readability, demon-
strating his knack for portraying
the unusual character.
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" makes
one wonder if theater -and movie
writing, or being too much in the
limelight as a "literary personal-
ity" hasn't crippled Capote, the
creative writer.
One thing can be said about the
book however - it's entertaining
even if it doesn't stand up as a
good piece of literature. But so
are the antics of Damon Runyon's
characters, of which Capote's at
times appear to be sophisticated
counterparts,
Three shorterv ieces. all earlier
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JUST - INQUIRING
by Michael Kraft
Through Red Glasses
for the "Great White Way"
fessional financiers.
pro-
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Letter, Governor Evoke Complaints
IUSSIANTSscontrary to popular thought,
is not a disease affecting campus coeds
nce a year, but an epidemic of national pro-
ortions.
It's symptoms of course erupted with the
putnik. "We're way behind the Russians .. .
ur educational system is sick," said those who
ake it their business ,to take the pulse of,
merican life.
And the adoration of Continental culture has
een replaced with a more easternly orienta-
on. If the Russians do something, it must be
retty good. So now the world has a space
ace, a rocket race and an education race to
o along with the usual rat race. (The Russians
ave long boasted about Moscow's superior sub-
ay system.)
Russianitis has even infected other areas of
ctivity. A young Texan won a Russian piano
ontest and suddenly the name Van Cliborn is
unous. An already well-known personage by
Editorial Staff
RICHARD TAUB, Editor
ICHAEL KRAFT JOHN WEICHER1
Editorial Director City Editor
DAVID TAR
Associate Editor
ALE CANTOR...... .,........ Personnel Director
AN WILLOUGHBY......Associate Editorial Director
LAN JONES ................. Sports Editor
EATA JORGENSON ..........Associate City Editor
LIZABETH ERSKINE....Associate Personnel Director
: COLEMAN ............. Associate Sports Editor
AVID ARNOLD.............,.....Chief Photographer
the name Hubert Humphrey went to Russia,
talked eight hours with Khrushchev and sud-
denly (with sly planning), found himself men-
tioned as a possible presidential nomination.
(A couple of years ago he spent two hours
talking to students in South Quad, but some-
how, that didn't do the trick.)
However, the Russians may suffer from the
same lack of self confidence in their own
judgment-just look at their chromed car de-
signs-and perhaps Mikoyan is being mentioned
for the Premiership.
IF SO, it may mean good news for the United
States. Supposedly, the recent visitor isn't as
dangerous as his fellow traveler who was edu-
cated in American schools.
For Mikoyan's interpreter is more dangerous
than the Deputy Soviet Premier himself, ac-
cording to Admiral Arleigh Burke.
The Navy officer said, in recent testimony
released this week oy the Senate Disarmament
subcommittee, that "Mikoyan himself is not
the dangerous man, it's the'minterpreter."
The man on the list is Oleg Troyanovsky, son
of a former Czarist Ambassador to the United
States. Burke calls Troyanovsky "a brilliant
young man" who has had more experience
negotiating that most Russian officials.
This should help those with Russianitis
breathe easier, for Troyanovsky was educated in
American schools.
And if it's good enough for the Russians,
according to their thinking, it's good enough for
the United States.
All this suggests that if people have Russian-,
itis long enough, they might cure themselves
. * .If they don't die of something else while
Independence
To the Editor:
ALTHOUGH I am not particu-
larly impressed by the depths
of insight shown by some of the
music critics of The Daily, I was
positively sickened by the little
girl who wrote a letter asking how
your critic "dared" pan Miss Te-
baldi. If it were impossible for an
artist to give anything but a flaw-
less performance, there would cer-
tainly be no need for a critic. If
all of the reviews in The Daily
were intelligent, many of the
chuckles enjoyed by the readers
of the paper would be missed. But,
more important, this horrible at-
titude that a young critic must
conform to the opinions of "the
outstanding critics of the world"
is totally ridiculous. If forced with
a choice, I, for one, would much
rather see independent than
merely competent reviewers.
-Ken Appel, Grad.
Clay Feet . .
To the Editor:
THEFEBRUARY 14 Chicago
DAILY NEWS had a banner
head story re the $31 million sent
by 17 big corporations to the State
of Michigan to get Soapy's ad-
ministration off the hook. This tax
money was not legally due until
7... It a A Q M 'hL... ;, ....7Tf1 T h7 RI'_
wage earner and a tax payer. My
own convictions are liberal, but I
do not wear a blindfold. My objec-
tive in writing you at this time is
to hope that the liberal campus
element will at long last see Soapy
for what he is--a parlor pink, who
caters to organized labor no Mat-
ter what, who never had to earn a
day's wages and never will, and
to whom paying taxes is a mere
gesture. His sheltering of one of
the Kohler strike labor goons was
bad enough. Now he turns on
those who help his administration
in its hour of need. You might
realize that Big Business' gesture
at this time is all that is keeping
the University in operation.
I do not say that Management
always is in the right-but I do
hope that the DAILY staff and
the students and faculty generally
will observe that the popular gov-
ernor's clay feet are noticeable as
hell.
Has the DAILY staff guts
enough to put this in print?
Sincerely, and with good wishes
for 'the continuation of your good
newspaper.
-Whit Hillyer, '32 Lit.
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bujietin is an
official publication of The Univer-
'sity of 'Michigan for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no edi-
torial responsibility. Notices should
be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ig, before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication.. Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1959
VOL. LXIX, NO. 97
General Notices
The Printing Office will close its
campus office at 412 Maynard St. (U.
Press Bldg.) on Feb. 20. All activities
will be concentrated at the Printing
Building on North Campus.
The Office of Service Enterprises at
1060 Administration Bldg., Ext. 2622,
will serve as a receiving center for
printing on main campus, and the
special messenger service formerly car-
ried on will be continued at this new
contact point.
Please use campus mail if time al-
lows, otherwise bring orders and proofs
to 1060 Administration Bldg., or. direct.
to the North Campus. Dial 86-472 for
consultation or for appointments with,
the manager or staff when questions
arise which concern your printing
needs.
International Center Tea: Thurs., Feb.
19, 1959, 4:30-6:00 p.m., at International
Center.
Lectures
University Lecture in Journalism:
Mr. Samuel Lubbell, director, Opinion'
i
C
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Sen imore Says ..*
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1 V V Y t.33