Seventy-First Year
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Dail y ex press the individual opinions of stag writers
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FARM LABORERS:
Employment Practices
Need Reform
4w
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1961
NIGHT EDITOR: RUTH EVENHUIS
Soblen Verdict
Harsh, Inhumane
THE ESPIONAGE TRIAL of Dr. Robert Sob-
len, which set one brother against another,
ended tragically for the 61-year-old psychia-
trist yesterday. United States District Court
Judge William B. Herlands sentenced Soblen,
already doomed by cancer, to life imprison-
ment.
Soblen was charged with turning over secret
American data to Soviet agents over a 20-year
span, including information from the Office
of Strategic Services, a top secret World War
II agency.
ONE OF THE KEY WITNESSES in the case
against Soblen was his 57-year-old brother
Jack, who ns now serving a seven year term
for participation in the same spy ring as his
brother.
The elder Soblen is suffering from cancer of
the blood and is not expected to live another
year. In passing his sentence, Judge Herlands,
interestingly enough, bypassed the death
penalty he could have imposed.
Reporters interpreted this as an attempt to
"spare" Soblen from the severest possible sen-
tence. Surely, for all concerned, the' death
penalty might seem instead, the most merciful
and economic course of action.
FOR SOBLEN, a year of slow and painful
dying could have been bypassed. As a free
man, outside prison bars, he might even had
made the decision to cut his life short rather
than undergo severe pain and be a financial
burden to his family. That freedom, too, has
now been taken away.
As a prisoner with cancer, Soblen will be
denied even the comforting hope of eventual
recovery from his fatal organic disease. In the
back of his mind, (if he is lucky enough to
hold it there) will always be the knowledge that
his physical recovery only leads to existence
in a cell, closed forever. He faces either im-
minent death or a living death.
HERLANDS further frustrated his family and
Soblen himself by setting an excessive bond
- $100,000. Defense attorneys called the figure
prohibitive and said Soblen had no chance of
posting it.
Thus, while the defense appeals his con-
viction and sentence, Soblen will remain be-
hind bars, uncertain of his legal future while
cancer makes deeper inroads within his body.
He will again be denied the sustenance and love
of his family, the comfort of his home.
If Soblen remains a prisoner as his cancer
grows more severe, he will cost the taxpayer
quite a bit of money to hospitalize and take
care of. At home, under private medical care,
he would obviously be given more attention and
medication and it would be at private expense.
The state then is in a dilemma: to be hu-
mane, it must either execute Soblen or set him
free. But neither of these choices is acceptable.
Capital punishment is nowhere justified. But
Soblen is a convicted spy, and his conviction
will doubtless be upheld.
THE SENTENCE of life imprisonment be-
comes for Soblen the worst possible sen-
tence, the most stringent and painful. Is this
the function of the court system and justice?
Some people would argue that it is just
this: to meet severe infractions of the law with
equally severe physical and mental punish-
ments. Without here delving into problems of
this position (for example, how do you properly
"equate" a theft or a murder with a given
number of prison years) I would reject it and
claim that the courts should exist to regulate
behavior according to the law and help those
who break it to recognize and display the ac-
ceptable reactions to the law.
For Soblen, the courts and the prisons can
not do this. A dying man with a long career
of espionage will gain nothing from a few
months of "institutional correction."
The law must be flexible and humane enough
to allow even the suspension of sentence for
convicted spies. For they, too, are men and our
society exists for their ultimate good, not
punishment.
-MICHAEL OLINICK
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Jazz Greats Star in Festival
T HE AMERICAN MUSIC FES-
tival, which many persist in
terming simply the jazz festival,
hit Detroit last weekend with the
biggest array of talent seen under
one roof in years.
Featuring both vocal and in-
strumental music, Producer Ed
Sarkesian brought in a variety of
nationally-known top artists and
two local groups that got the
program off to a swinging success
Saturday.
The big names were there: Dave
Brubeck, Four Freshmen, Julie
London. Equally well-known to
jazz buffs of any degree, Wes
Montgomery, Pete Fountain and
Bobby Troup entertained the au-
dience of some 11,000 that braved
the rain to visit the Cobo Hall
Convention Arena.
* * *
THIS WAS THE THIRD annual
festival but the first to be staged
in the recently-completed Cobo
Hall. Past shows had been held
in the State Fair Ground Col-
liseum. The colorful seats and
lighting provided a perfect back-
drop for the all-star presentation
but the acoustics proved unsatis-
factory in part of the arena. Vocal
renditions were especially difficult
to decipher due to the distortion
by sound reflection.
Australian-born Jack Brokensha
started the four and one-half hour
festival with his quartet. Broken-
sha's performance on the vibes
set the crowd for, an exciting
evening.
Another example of excellent
local talent was the Father Dus-
tin Septet, gayly bedecked in
glazers as loud as the Dixieland
they played. Leader of the group,
Father Joseph Dustin, dressed in
the somber black of the clergy,
plucked his banjo and. belted out
LAND REFORM:
Iran Undertakes
Long-Rang9e Program
Study Abroad Valuable
TE NEW junior year in France program to
be co-sponsored by the University and the
University of Wisconsin is an excellent prospect
-- and, hopefully, only the first step in a con-
tinuing expansion of this type of program.
A junior year abroad for students majoring
in a foreign language, especially students who
plan eventually to teach the langauge, should
be mandatory.
In most European universities the cost of
tuition and room and board is no more than
the same costs at the University for out
state students. With the exception of travel
costs, ,which for students seldom exceed $400,
it is really true that a year abroad costs no
more than a year at home.
AND the benefits to be gained from a year
in Europe are immeasurable, even if the
student is not majoring in a foreign language
but studying literature or the social sciences.
At the present time an ever-increasing num-
ber of University students are spending their
junior years in France and England. A few
are also going to Spain, Germany or some of
the-Scandinavian countries.
However, with most of the present junior
year abroad arrangement, students must de-
sign a course of study in the foreign country
by themselves and then, having carefully gone
over each credit hour with an advisor, wait un-
til they return to the University before they
can be certain their credits will be accepted.
Keeps Mum
BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT JANIO QUADROS
ordered his justice Ministry Thursday to
warn United Press International against trans-
mitting what he called "distorted, inexact and
malicious news."
The press service, which teletypes thousands
and thousands of words everyday, probing
every side of any controversial issue, questing
and demanding answers from embarrased or
uncooperative public and private officials, took
the role of its own worst enemy.
Its reaction to Quadros' attack was a flat
"No Comment."
-M. O.
HE MAIN PROBLEM seems to be that most
European universities do not require regular
attendance and do not give examinations. In
some instances, instructors agree to give a
special examination for the American students
or correct papers they write.
In such cases, the credit students receive
upon their return usually depends on the rec-
ommendation of the European instructor and
the kindly disposition of the University de-
partment to which the returning students pre-
sent their credits.
In certain cases this is not true. Most stu-
dents taking their junior year at the Sorbonne
(and at some other schools) know in advance
exactly what requirements they will be ful-
filling and exactly how many credits they may
be assured for their senior year.
But in other instances, the University is un-
derstandably reluctant to make any promises
beforehand.
WITH A JUNIOR YEAR ABROAD becoming
economically feasible for so many stu-
dents, however, the University ought to make
an all-out effort to encourage travel.
European universities should be contacted
and requested to furnish enough information
so that the University could, in nearly every
case, advise the student what courses to take
there and assure him of the minimum number
of credits he will earn.
All foreseeable obstacles should be met by
the University so that students, instead of tak-
ing a junior year abroad at their own risk, do
so with the blessing and encouragement of
the University and without having to sacrifice
credit hours. If necessary, certain distribution
requirements might even be waived, if doing so
would permit a student to study abroad and
still graduate in four years.
THE PROGRAM with France is an excellent
beginning. Similar programs with England,
Germany, Spain, the Scandinavian countries
and, if possible, the Soviet Union should be
organized as soon as possible.
A first-hand look at another country and a
real speaking experience with foreign languages
are worth a great deal more than many hours
in the language lab or the library.
-JUDITH OPPENHEIM
iTEHERAN, Iran - The noisiest
people in Iran, politically, are
the students. With Iran's teachers,
they toppled the government that
preceded that of Ali Amini.
Premier Amini recognized their
importance a few days ago by
promising a deputation of Teheran
University students a special hall
and a special public square where
they would be free to demonstrate
and "vent their feelings and
grouses."
But for the long run, the Amini
government is seeking the support
of the great silent mass of Iran's
peasants who constitute 80 per
cent of the population.
They are relatively silent be-
cause only five per cent of them
are literate. They are accustomed
to having their landlord think and
speak for them and tell them how
to vote.
BUT AMINI - with the ap-
proval of Shah Mohammed Riza
Pahlevi - believes the new gener-
ation of Iranian peasants who own
their own land will think for
themselves.
The Shah has recognized
throughout his nineteen - year
reign that the system must
change. As the biggest landowner
of all he began giving away his
own lands to peasant tenants and
has urged the few hundred land-
lords who dominate the country-
side to do likewise. No one took
him seriously.
Now the Shah, having distri-
buted the land of about half of the
1,000 villages he owned, has de-
cided that the time has come to
bring other landlords into line.
S * * *
THE DISTPTBUTION of the
Shah's own lands is to be finished
by the end of the year. Land in
the public domain is to be dis-
tributed in the next three months
and the break-up of big private
estates is to start within a few
months.
The main obstacle to this social
and economic transformation is
not resistance by the landlords.
They are resigned.
The :eatest obstacle is the ig-
norance of the peasants and the
lack of trained men to work as
agents in the villages and help to
organize cooperatives. This is in
sharp contrast to the Far East,
* * *
OTHER OBSTACLES in Iran
are the lack of precise records
that show who owns what. Also
the maintenance of an elaborate
irrigation system based on wells
requires central direction or co-
operation that is beyond the abili-
ties of most peasants.
The distribution of the Shah's
lands has gone well thus far. Par-
cels of land are apraised and then
discounted 20 per cent. The re-
cipient has twenty-five years to
pay off the price and his payments
go into a fund handled by a bank.
The fund will be used in perpetuio'
for land improvement.
A pilot project in thirty-eight
villages of the Shah's former lands
fifteen miles soLth of Teheran has
cost $11 million, mainly for special
training and communications.
The agricultural college at Ka-
raj outside Teheran is gradually
expanding at a rate of 250 stu-
dents a year.
* * *
HERE IS WHERE United States
aid is most directly influencing tlje
future of Iranian peasants.
There five Americans from Utan,
headed by Clark Ballatd, advisor
to the dean, are instilling an
American "get your hands dirty,-
farming philosophy among stu-
dents previously accustomed to a
French theoretical approach ttiat
was meant to lead to an appoint-
ment in a government office.
Copyright 1961, The New York Times
old standards in a husky voice with
unmatched enthusiasm.
* * *
TO SAY that the Brubeck Quar-
tet was great is only to repeat the
obvious. With Paul Desmond on
sax, Gene Wright on bass and
Joe Morello on drums the ;roup
proved, as expected, to be the
highlight of the evening. Morello
captivated the audience with his
drum solo performance.
The Four Freshmen, with a
combination of jokes, instru-
mentals and vocals lived up to
their reputations - but it was
clear that their performance was
a little longer than some would
have liked.
Jazz guitar, still among the step-
children of the jazz world, is dif-
ficult to put over in a large au-
ditorium. It demands the intimacy
of a small club. And so Wes Mon-
tegomery was immediately at a
disadvantage in attempting to
demonstrate his ability wik the
strings. But the technical perfec-
tion which he possesses was evi-
dent to those who could see his
flying fingers. He, too, suffered
from the sound distortion of his
amplifier.
COMPOSER-ARRANGER Bobby
Troup appeared next. His "inging
efforts were definitely not of the
caliber of thecother artists. His
voice is not exceptional and it was
extremely difficult to understand
his lyrics. Troup persisted in fall-
ing into a whispering voice for
effect, but the only effect was a
disinterested audience.
Troup's wife, Julie London fol-
lowed. With a mixture of sounds
ranging from the slow and misty
to the sweet and swinging, she re-
captured the ears 'of the crowd.
Miss London even sang two en-
cores, the only artist who did so.
Then as the crowds dwindled,
Pete Fountain's group came on to
present a rousing collection of
music from the 'forties. The group,
led by New Orleans clarinetist
Fountain, provided an excellent
ending to the first night of the
third annual Detroit jazz extra.va-
ganza.
-Michael Burns
Unreasoned
"I.4Fear
SPEAK most respectfully when
I say that I do not propose
to let the population of West Ber-
lin determine this issue for the
Western powers. It was not so
many years ago that there existed
in Europe another form of totali-
tarian government known as Nazi
Germany, which killed thousands
upon thousands of American boys
and boys of other Western powers,
and exterminated some six mil-
lion Jews.
"Here is one senator who has
always taken the position . . . that
it is not safe for the peace of the
world to give nuclear weapons to
the West Germans."
-Sen. Wayne Morse
By FREDERICK ULEMAN
Special To The Daily
G RIDLEY,California-There are
basically three kinds of agri-
cultural workers: migratory, local
and imported.
The migratory farm labor
force, although the best known
group, is estimated to have shrunk
from 113,000 to 65,000 people be-
tween.1949 and 1959..It is this
diminishing group which travels
from state to state, following the
crops throughout the year and
having no real home.
The locals have a permanent
residence and go from there to
their various jobs. They usually
make their homes in an area cen-
tral to the work and are eligible
to vote. Their children attend a
single school during the year.
The imported workers, known
as braceros and distinguished
from the domestics, are brought
to the United States under Pub-
lic Law 78 from Mexico as sup-
plementary workers. Under the
bracero system, the Mexican male
is issued a temporary permit to
live and work in the United
States; his, family must stay in
Mexico. He is brought to a farm
labor camp and isolated from the
outside world except for the time
he is working. When he will work,
where he will work, how long he
will work, what he will eat, where
he may go, how much he shall
be paid, and other aspects of his
life are all regulated.
* * *
BECAUSE the typical bracero
speaks only Spanish, it is com-
mon for him to be paid less than
the correct amount and then
charged a fee for having the check
cashed. Thus the Mexican worker
who is supposed to be supporting
his family in Mexico is barely able
to support himself in the United
States. Should he- try to escape
from the system after having
been imported, he isaimmediately
considered an illegal immigrant
and sent back to Mexico.
Contractors play the role of
middle-men between growers and
laborers. Their function is to find
workers for the farmers and see
that the work gets done. In ef-
fect, contractors agree to do the
work at a set rate and thenhire
workers at a slightly lower rate.
Once the job is agreed upon, there
are three ways workers can be
obtained.
* * *
THE FIRST METHOD, and the
least used, is to send a bus to the
city and pick up those unemployed
who want to work in the fields.
This recruitment method only can
take a limited number of people
and leaves many of those without
any other means of transportation
jobless. It is increasingly used to
get scab labor in the event. of a
farm labor strike. Another way for
the contractor to obtain workers
is to hire imported braceros. The
most common method is for the
domestics to arrive at the field
and sign up with the contractor
to work. Under this plan, the only
work the contractor does is write
separate checks for the workers
from the master check which he
receives from the grower.
Under Public Law 78, domestic
labor must be hired in preference
to braceros. In theory, the em-
ployed braceros must even be re-
placed to make room for any do-
mestics seeking work. In prac-
tice, however, it is very difficult
for domestics to replace braceros
in the fields. This employment
conflict is one of the main issues
facing any group which tries to
organize farm labor.
* * *
IN THIS CONFLICT there have
been numerous grower associations
helping to thwart organization at-
tempts and two major groups on
the side of labor. The Community
Service Organization (CSO) is
composed mostly of people of
Mexican origin and was the group
which tried to get enforcement of
the law requiring replacement of
braceros by domestics. The other
group, which was affiliated with
the AFL-CIO, is the Agricultural
Workers Organizing Committee
(AWOC). This group began oper-
ations in June of 1959, with the
CSO's withdrawing in favor of
it, with the purpose of unionizing
the farm laborers to replace bra-
ceros, get higher wages and im-
prove working conditions.
At that time, AWOC was given
an allotment of $100,000 for the
first year by the AFL-CIO Execu-
tive Committee with another $100,-
000 promised for the second year.
Since then, AWOO has reduced
the number of braceros employed
by 75 per cent and wages have
been raised by approximately 25
cents per hour in its area of
operation. During the course of
two years it had more than 100
strikes among its membership and
collected approximately $50,000.
BUT IN JUCE of this year, the
AFL-CIO executive council term-
ed the AWOC ineffective and with-
draw both financial support and
recognition. As a result of this
action, the farm laborers' union
has several possible courses of ac-
tion open to them. It is very like-
ly that the Teamsters Union
would be anxious to organize farm
labor.
Another alternative is to allow
former AWOC members to join
an established branch of the AFL-
CIO and stop trying to separately
unionize. Such a branch might
be the Amalgamated Meat Cut-
ters and Butcher Workmen - a
small union with neither the man-
power nor money of the Teamsters
for organization purposes. A third
possibility is to have the farm
laborers attempt to form their own
union, without outside aid and
domination. In any case, the pos-
sibility that the vast numbers of
agricultural workers will remain
non-union for an extensive per-
iod of time is very small.
THE POSSIBILITY that the
farmers fear most and which
seems most likely is that the
Teamsters will attempt to union-
ize agricultural wokers. It seems
most likely in view of the strength
of Hoffa's attitude about unioniz-
ing unorganized labor and the
weakness of the other possibilities.
And it is feared because of the
vast power and resources at the
Teamsters' disposal. Should they
decide to enter the field, they
would be able to utilize their pow-
er in both the shipping industry
and at the canneries to insure
the use of union-picked produce.
They would also' be able to pre-
serve picket lines against scab la-
bor more easily than would the
other unions. There is even a feel-
ing among some farmers that it
would have been wise to recognize
and negotiate with ,AWOC in or-
der to have avoided the Team-
sters.
* * *
IF THE TEAMSTERS were to
unionize farm labor, they would
also be able to get favorable leg
islation passed in the California
legislature, which is presently
dominated by the growers. Not
only would they use their own
power, but cooperation from Har-
ry Bridges' longeshoremen's union
is likely.
The only group favoring farm
laborers which presently has a
strong voice in California politics
is the CSO. This group, with its
approximately 2,600 membership,
is partially able to offset the
growers' dollars by vast voter reg-
istration drives and is said to have
been responsible for the election
of the present Los Angeles mayor
and several members of the state
legislature.
Some of the, legislation which
would most certainly be beneficial
involves the inclusion of farm
workers under a minimum wage
bill, the establishment of mini-
mum workin gconditiols, the right
to unionize, and the right to en-
gage in collective bargaining. One
of the main problems is that many
of the bills which are passed to
improve the lot of the working
man have a clause to the effect
that the law does not apply to
agricultural workers.
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IT IS HARD to understand the reasoning of
the Republican opposition in Washington.
It eagerly supported President Kennedy when
he asked for more money for an arms build-up.
Because of the Berlin crisis, the need for a
greater military "deterent" is universally ac-
knowledged.
R fn colv.._ -nt- - - ni nn- of n t-rr -t~r
publicans want to cut down on goes to support
the things we should be defending - schools
and conservation and water supplies.
An opposition party might be expected to
look over the request for more military funds
with suspicion, to say the least. But when it
comes to guns there is no opposition party -
that would be treasonnous. National suicide is
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