Stir ty-Thbird Y e~w EDrrE AND MANAGEDBY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIC MGAN UNDER AUTHORiTY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS "Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE No 2-3241 Truth WWl Prevau" Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must b noted in all reprints. DOWN, BUT BY NO MEANS OUT: Menon Essential to Nehru's Program THURSDAY, MARCH 7,I963 NIGHT EDITOR: GAIL EVANS Union Supporters Face Problems in New York Strike THERE SOMETIMES comes a moment when, even friends must question each others in- tegrity. The friends of Bertram Powers and his typographical workers' union face the un- pleasant task these days, as the New York newspapers continue to be struck, now in the 90th day. Friends of organized labor often must de- fend their position against extreme and non- factual arguments. The habit of continual de- fense, however, tends to blind the defender to legitimate complaints, just as the perpetual and oft incorrect attacker prejudices others aaginst his occasional well-founded irritation. The exact and detailed positions of the news- papers and the unions are difficult to find among all the reports, but a few positions have become clear. ONE LARGE ISSUE behind the intransigence of both parties is a particular work rule, long in existence, which allows the type- setters to compose all advertising which comes to the paper, even if the ads come already set and ready for the page. It is a question of interpretation if the rule extends to all ma- terial which runs in the paper, but to this date it has applied only to advertising, all news being set originally by union members at the paper. The newspaper owners now wish to abolish this rule, looking forward to the day when they, will replace type-setters with machines that set type automatically, machines that "read" and set whatever news copy is placed inside them. Such machines are now successfully being developed:. Powers is justifiably concerned with insuring the jobs of his union members. He therefore insists that no man be laid off as a result of installation of these machines, and that his workers set all type that goes into the paper. It is the issue of job security which motivates Powers. THIS IS, of course, the legitimate concern of a labor leader, and in fact ought to be the vital concern of every member of the community. The newspapers, however, have apparently taken steps to meet the problem, or at least offered a compromise for a reason- able settlement of the question. It has been the position of the newspapers that no presently employed type-setter shall be dismissed or have his hours curtailed as a result of automation, and that advertising shall continue to be set at the paper. But, as excess workers retire or die, they shall not be eplaced. This position seems to afford the Union man considerable job security against the threat of automation, but does not guaran- tee a level of typographer employment in future generations. Powers insists that all present workers be replaced in the event of death or retirement. Management refuses to go along with this plan, and presently rests on its guarantee to all present workers. NOW, IT CAN BE argued that a newspaper should be responsible for hiring labor. This lies at the heart of Power's position. A news- paper should indeed be responsible for the labor which it hires, but Powers' demand that the papers be held accountable for hiring fu- ture generations is unjust. The question of automation and job security is a most complicated one. Let the analysis begin on the premise that an employer is i. some sense responsible for his workers' security and well-being, and on the further premise that all men have the right to work if they so desire. Among the glib solutions to the problem are retraining programs, financed by government, labor and management, "featherbedding" and other less severe forms of job continuation. What the New York papers are suggesting is a program of featherbedding with a time limit, the tenure of the marginal worker. While this is not a productive solution, it offers job secur- ity. What Powers suggests perpetuates a ques- tionable and unproductive make-work policy far beyond the short-range inefficiency of management proposals. The friends of labor must pause and wonder that Powers is not more imaginative.- -MICHAEL ZWEIG Post Against The Economy By PHILIP D. SHERMAN Daily Guest Writer MADRAS, INDIA-The Bombay MP who came here recently to speak to a student group slipped quietly into town and received only the barest newspaper cover- age for his stock speech. Clearly, things had changed for V. K. Krishna Menon. Four months ago, he seemed firmly in power, defense minister of the Republic of India and a prime candidate to succeed aging Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But after India's armies were caught unprepared in the Assam hills, his fall was quick. Nehru took the defense portfolio himself, demoting Menon to minister for defense production. But even then, Menon's critics weren't satisfied, and used the army defeats as a lever to force Menon completely out of the government. * * * THOUGH MENON has fallen neither so fai' nor so fast as the outward facts would indicate, or his political enemies would like to think, his future, to say the least, looks a good deal less prom- ising than it once did. Menon declined to make the customary resignation statement in Parliament, and since his fall has pursued a subdued speaking program. Though his touring has occasionally drawn fire from op- ponents in Congress itself, his speeches have been sober and self- effacing. Menon generally con- fines himself to a review of the border situation and a firm boost for Pandit Nehru and his nation- building program, the nebulous "socialist order of society." Menon's Madras speech was a good example of what he's now doing. Gone was the infamous acid tongue, the contempt for audi- ences, the invective Americans have been taught to expect. All that was left was the perpetual scowl and a couple of cracks about the old enemy, the Press. * * * MENON BEGAN by tracing the history of the border problem, marshalling all the evidence at his command to show that China had at various times accepted what India says is the border. He unhesitatingly labelled the Chinese attack as perfidious aggression and said China must be resisted, not for "three or five months" but for many years. Though she must and will seek selective outside assist- ance, he said, India alone mustebe strong enough to protect herself. The only way to be strong, Men- on argued, the only way to gen- erate anew "the force that dis- placed a mighty empire," is to build a popular partnership in "the legacy of independence." "Everyone must share equally, in the fruits of independence," he said, echoing Nehru's argument that national independence must have economic and social as well as legal content if it is to mean anything at all. Menon's reasoning was signifi- cant only in the insight it gave into the ideas that have been guid- ing Nehru since the late 20's, when he took the lead in bringing con- gress round to a program of eco- nomic development and social re- construction along lines of West- ern equalitarian theory. These were ideas that pleased neither the Ghandians, who looked to an older, more purely Indian idea, nor sections of the capitalist and landowner classes which were ob- viously not so enamored by social and economic reconstruction. * * * THE OPPOSITION still exists, but Nehru, Menon and their fol- lowers and allies are still pushing to carry out the noble "directive principle" of the Indian constitu- tion-that the state shall strive "to promote the welfa'e of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, eco- nomic and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life." Nehru's effort to attain this goal adds up to what Menon term- ed "a full-fledged social revolu- tion by consent." In this program, all economic and social policies are drawn up*in terms of benefits for the nation as a whole and not for a small owner class. The program, Menon explained, in- volves industrialization, govern- ment ownership and regulation of at least some of the means of production to keep their use social, national integration (breaking down barriers of caste, religion, localism, language; building a "sense of belonging" to the na- tion) and continuous democratiza- tion of all phases of. the national life. Menon's close intellectual and personal connections with Pandit Nehru have always been his first source of strength. He got to know Nehru in the 30's when he served as de facto London representative of the independence movement. As an editor of a major publishing house, he saw several of Nehru's books (Autobiography, The Dis- covery of India) through the press, and was with Nehru when Nehru's wife Kamala died in a Swiss hos- pital. During this time, both Nehru annd Menon.who toured Enrone n- n serving the Republic's Common- wealth connection, a fact often forgotten by Westerners who blandly label him a pro-Commun- ist. Menon later returned to New Delhi to serve in the External Af- fairs Ministry under Nehru (who always kept that portfolio for him- self) and then moved over to de- fense. His prime responsibilities were always in foreign affairs, though his domestic views were quite clear. of socialism and government ac- tion is the most popular. But the rural areas are the back- bone of India and the real center of gravity of the Congress. They are conservative. As a Congress- man, Menon would have done well wherever he ran-as one observer says, Congress could stick a poll in the rural ground, run it for the Lok Sabha, and probably get it a thumping majority. The fact is, however, that the kind of program Menon stands for doesn't com- mand the same support in rural India as it does in the cities. In the country, politics are more a matter of caste than class. Local vested interests are powerful. Landlords and the wealthy wield great influence over the illiterate masses of voters. Political con- sciousness does exist, but it is amorphous and not directed to- ward well-articulated ends. And it is here the Ahaordian traditional opposition fuels its base. For all these reasons and more, the wvest- ern ideas of Pandit Nehru are neither liked nor understood-it is the Prime Minister's personality, his charisma, his close association with Ghandi that are important. Country politics and politicians thus spell obvious trouble for the likes of V. K. Krishna Menon. * * * ANOTHER SOURCE of weak- ness for Menon and his program is his vast unpopularity among the urban upper classes who are Con- gress' chief financial prop. Big Business has more or less figured that it will make out as well with Congress as anybody, but it has not been enthusiastic about the left wing of the party. Its support goes to the so-called right wings, anti-Menon, pro-Western clique. (However, the conservative rural Congressman is a figure the upper class often ridicules.) Despite these weaknesses, weak- nesses which spring out of a prob- lem more basic than his own poli- tical standing, Menon retains, on the balance, a good deal of politi- cal strength. It is almost all from the left elements, and much of it is outside of Congress. Even more important, Menon re- tains Nehru's confidence. He has been Nehru's man too long to lose this, for if Nehru were to abandon Mernon it would be tantamount to abandoning himself. This Nehru will never do. Menon's personal fate will perhaps point up the fu- ture movement of the great poli- tical forces at work in India to- day. * * * THESE FORCES are largely at work in the Congress itself, and revolve around a developing "split" between right and left elements. While this split can easily be exag- gerated, especially given the party's immense organizational cement, still it is (and always has been) possible to detect two broad groups in Congress. (Before Independence, common opposition to the British helped paper over the differences. This unifying force no longer exists.) Both groups would be considered extremely "liberal" by American Standards, but there are dif- ferences of approach. Bared in the country and the upper classes, the right would be more lenient toward the capitalists and local interests, and also to foreign in- vestment. They would be less "advanced" in social policies. They would perhaps be inclined to align more closely with the West. Based in the city proletariat and middle classes the left would be more "socialistic" (though Indian so- cialism as articulated by Nehru is more humanitarian and demo- cratic than doctrinnaire and nearly as pragmatic as the so- called New Frontier) and it would hew more stringently to non- alignment, the fancied interna- tional concomitant to national in- dependence. Congress maintains its unity despite all this, and is thus getting to look more and more like the syncretistic American national parties. Add a strong tendency toward localism, support of vested interests, a growing lack of con-. structive national vision and a fair amount of corruption and Con- gress looks less and less like the revolutionary party its leader wants it to be. Observers like Prof. Myron Wei- ner of Princeton University argue that the growth of interest poli- tics is both the inevitable accom- and the necessary trigger to politi- cization of the locally-compart- mented masses. There nonetheless remains the tension between con- V. K. KRISHNA MENON JAWAHARLAL NEHRU T HE MARXIAN DIALECTIC has done a complete turnabout, or so it seems. Sup- posedly downtrodden proletarians, instead of bemoaning their accursed lot and rising in armed revolution, are now holding great re- sources of power, vested in the labor unions, and dangling the fate of the United States', economy over the heads of her bewildered citizens. In many areas, the membership has allowed unions to make outrageous demands on man- agement and threaten to strike if these aren't met. The power equilibrium of the classes that was expected to arise out of the strengthening of the American labor movement. This equili- brium has been reached and surpassed by the unions in the political area. Such a union is Local Six of the International Typographical Union. Bertram Powers, presi- dent of the union, has made ridiculously out- landish demands. Efforts by the federal gov- ernment and Mayor Wagner of New York have proved fruitless in settling the strike. The New York. Publishers Association has made reasonable offers. They have been categorically declined. LAST THURSDAY Mrs. Dorothy Schiff, edi- tor and publisher of the New York Post annnounced that her paper had relented to the union's demand and would resume publication on Monday. Monday was quite a profitable day for the Post. At least 500,000 copies were re- ported sold in the early editions (compared to a usual daily circulation of 375,060). New York- ers waited in line at thenewsstands to buy the Post. The paper was 20 pages longer than usual, due to heavy advertising. Quite a profit- able day, indeed. And that was only the first day. Monday wasn't so profitable, however, for the other metropolitan dailies. Their prestige was shattered. Their only hope for defeating the striking local was to wait until the strike fund had been consumed, and the union would not be able to continue the walkout. But Mrs. Schiff took care of that. Salaries of the Post's workers, and other union printers hired to meet the expanding needs of the paper will no doubt find a way to union treasuries and strike funds. The union has cheered and will now be encouraged to continue the strike longer than anyone had anticipated. It may well be possible that the Post might never have reopened, had they not resumed publication Monday. But if the union wins, it may/ be that all the metropolitan dailies will fold in the near future, after the strike has been settled and the papers are, laboring under union-imposed financial bur- dens. IN THE INTEREST of the American press, in the interest of the entire American economy, this strike must be broken. Mrs. Schiff must have realized this, but she chose to publish. If the Publisher's Association does win, and the other six New York dailies open, Mrs. Schiff would be ruined by financial pres- sures. By re-opening the Post she has violated every basic tenet of journalistic integrity, and of in- dividual responsibility. -ROBERT GRODY He worked closely with his chief all the time and his numerous critics both in and out of India pictured him as an eminence grise (or, rather icinence pinto), in- clining his chief away from the free world, into Communist arms. * * * HIS VIEWS, which were not necessarily what his critics said they were, did carry great weight with Nehru, says Prof. Michael Brecher of the University of Tor- onto, author of the latest full length study of the prime minis- ter. But "it would be a great error ... to exaggerate (his) influence on the fundamental character and direction of Indian foreign policy." Prof. Brecher says Nehru form- ulated all the leading ideas of In- dian policy "long before Menon ,arrived on the scene." Likewise, Nehru has taken all of India's "strategic" foreign policy decisions. In a word, he has always been in the driver's seat. Menon's role has been a humbler one-a technician who helps to shape specific policies and carry them out. His close affinities to Nehru's thinking make him an ex- cellent choice for the job. And he would not, Prof. Brecher believes, "steer Indian policy into another course even if he had the authority to do so." MENON'S CLOSE identification with Nehru probably explains a good deal of the criticism levelled at him. The Prime Minister is personally inviolable, especially to members of his own party, so Men- on makes a very convenient target for those who don't agree with government policies. The critic is only stimulated by Menon's acerbic personality. "Bril- liant but rude,' says a Congress MP who agrees with him. A stu- dent who knew him in England, and supports his political convic- tions, agrees. Yet despite his unpopularity with large segments of opinion, especially in the upper classes and even within his own party, Menon also commands widespread sup- port. His recent Parliamentary electoral victory made this clear. Before the national election a year ago, one of his major liabili- ties was apparent lack of a solid connection to the electorate. He had been out of the country most of his adult life, and no longer spoke any Indian language fluent- ly, not even the Malayalam of his native Malabar. He had held a Parliamentary seat only in the ap- pointive upper house. * ,.* NEHRU SET OUT to change this. He posted Menon to stand as Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) for north Bombay, a collection of mostly lower class industrial sub- urbs on the landward side of In- dia's most westernized metropolis. Seeing their opportunity, all other parties joined forces to de- feat Menon and by implication his master's foreign and domestic poli- cies. They nominated Acharya J. B. Kripalani, a popular appostate congressman whose tongue is every bit as sharp as Menon's. Neither Kripalani nor Menon came from Bombay, so the election could not have been fought on purely local prejudices. But as an American correspondent has point- ed out, Menon was the only poli- tician who campaigned on a plat- form of social and economic im- provement. The others campaigned on Menon. Menon won the election and he won it good. Bombay City North has the largest number of regis- tered voters in uniformly-districted India, and Menon took two-thirds of the 475,000 votes cast. He sailed to a cool 150,000 vote plurality, one of the biggest in India. He did quite as well, percentage wise, as S. K Patil. the conservativ Con- WARM AIR IN WASHINGTON: Filibuster Versus Values By KAREN MARGOLIS PERHAPS the most flagrant im- pediment to democracy and to the efficiency of the United States Senate is the filibuster. For al- most two centuries it has succeed- ed in stifling the efforts of the majority and has contributed di- rectly to the denial of civil rights. Pertaining to the Senate, the filibuster is a device used to pro- long debate for the purpose of pre- venting a vote on a pending issue. Its intent is to wear out the ma- jority so that from fatigue or as a price for time to consider other and often much more important matters, it will lay aside the pend- ing issue. The filibuster does not apply to all long debates-just those aimed at blocking a vote. At present, Senate Rule XXII permits cloture (termination of a debate) by a vote of two-thirds of those present and voting. By a relatively narrow margin, the Sen- ate recently defeated a stronger antifilibuster resolution. In two years, the question will be brought up again. At that time the Sen- ate must vote to make it easier to invoke cloture. Such a rule is absolutely vital for the preserva- tion of democracy. * * * A BIPARTISAN band of eight Senators vigorously encouraged a new cloture rule that would end debate by a simple majority of the Senate membership (51). The band included Senators Hubert H. Humphrey (D-Minn), Paul H.' Douglas (D-Ill), Joseph Clkrk (D- Pa), Philip A. Hart (D-Mich), Clifford Case (R-NJ), Kenneth B. Keating (R-NY), Jacob K. Javits (R-NY), and Thomas H. Kuchel (R-Calif). A compromise proposal provid- ing cloture by three-fifths of the Senate membership (60) was sup- ported by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansifield (D-Mont). The filibuster is most destruc- tive in the area of civil rights leg- islation, which has always been the classic example of an appro- priate issue for filibustering in the Senate. Indeed, Sen. Case has called the filibuster "the grave- digger of much effective civil rights legislation." Sen. Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ) also had some strong words on the subject: "The closing down of certain public schools in Arkansas and Virginia in an attempt to nullify the Supreme Court's decision or- dering desegregation makes it im- perative that Congress . . . act to secure equal protection of the law for all our citizens. However, the ability of Congress to fulfill its heavy legislative responsibility in this area . . . is critically endan- gered unless the fight to end the filibuster is successful." * * * IN A RECENT article in the Wall Street Journal, Robert D. Novak predicts, "Barring a racial holocaust in the South that would generate a massive public demand, there seems little chance over the next several years for sweeping federal laws to speed up desegre- gation-mainly because the lili- buster remains a weapon of im- mense potency!.. " And without civil rights legis- lation, we are not only denying many people their inalienable rights; we are handing the Rus- sians a propaganda victory. This is the greatest single item of pro- paganda used against the United States throughout the world. Many people are losing faith in demo- cracy because of its repeated fail- ures to perform its implicit duties. One of the basic principles of American democracy is rule by the majority along with recognition of the rights of the minority. Under the present filibuster rule, it is possible for a few filibusterers to deny the majority its right to rule. * * * ONE MUST ALSO keep in mind the indignity caused by filibuster- ing. At a time- when prestige is so important, we cannot afford to have the United States Senate the laughing stock, of the world. Then there is the cost to con- sider. Many days and weeks of valuable time are tied up in fili- busters, and so are many pages of the Congressional Record-at $81 a page! Champions of the filibuster have a weak case. They argue that the Senate is the last citadel of un- limited debate in the world and that the minority must be given this opportunity to air its views to the fullest. * * * OF COURSE the minority should be allowed to defend its interests, but must the will of the majority be thwarted in the process? This is supporting the anti-democratic doctrine that the end justifies the means. Under present rules, the filibuster is not limited to debate pertaining to the subject at hand. A Senator is not supporting his point of view on the pending issue if he reads addresses from a tele- phone directory or his favorite fried fish-recipe from a cook book. Since he is not attempting to win others to his side of the issue, he is not even debating. He is simply preventing a vote, and, in so do- ing, is disregarding the majority rule principle. There comes a time when each Senator should be pre- pared to stand up and cast his vote on the pending question. i The filibuster advocates also claim that unlimited debate in- sures careful passage of bills. How- ever, this is already insured by such institutions as our bicameral legislative body (it is already hard enough to get legislation past the Rules Committee in the House), Presidential approval of bills, and judicial review. ONE WEARY SENATOR, Norris Cotton (R-NH) describes filibus- tering from an insider's point of view: "It is a highly organized project with one side appearing in shifts to keep the ball rolling, while the other side stations sentry squads for 24-hour vigils with the re- mainder of its forces sleeping in cloakrooms and offices ready to produce a quorum and grant no respite. Even the elements make a.backdrop for this historic strug- gle. A blanket of snow lies over the Capital while passions seethe within. Mechanical equipment is failing. One of the tram cars from the office building, is out of kilter and the other is limping. At times the electricity goes off 4r servative interest politics and the nationally-oriented Nehru pro- gram. THE TENSION may conceivably resolve itself in a formal split within Congress itself. The "left" elements would ally with some of the socialists to form a national non-Communist "liberal" party while the "right" would pick up some socialists of its own, the new Swatantia Party (which stands on incompatible bases of big cap- italism and rural sentimentality) and perhaps some of the Hindu communal and one-state parties to form a coalition on the other side of the political fence. It would be the left that would carry forward the rather idealistic Nehru program with the most vigor. The right would temper it --at least to an extent. Menon is a logical leader for the left group, and his political fortunes could well be a prime in- dicator of its progress, whether in or out of Congress. '1 Unon Should Check Out AT ITS LAST MEETING, the Michigan Union Board of Directors took the laudable step of opening the Union's check-cashing facilities to female students and University faculty mem- bers. In addition to these two groups, the male students on campus will benefit from quicker service since present plans are to move the service away fron the front desk to a separate location. As a matter of fact just about everybody who handles a check will benefit except the Union itself. It will be forced to hire an extra per- son specifically to take care of this area as well as keep extra cash on hand at all times when it could be put to more profitable use else- where. In addition the Union will now be fair Editorial Staff MICHAEL OLINICK, Editor tTT T'T'XP.NTK4' NiU YR . UA P1 £ game for more people who want to use it as a lending agency when their own funds run out. The wasted time and effort needed to locate these people is also something the Union can do without. WHAT THIS all boils down to is that the Union is not the best organization on cam- pus to handle such a service-the most obvious choice is the University itself. The facilities and personnel are available at the Administra- tion building, and the University has greater financial resources than the Union, permitting higher monetary limits on checks cashed. Yet despite all this a University official commented that it was better to improve the existing service (meaning the Union's adoption of new policy) than start a new one. As of now the Union usually sets a limit of $20 per check and won't cash any University payroll checks. It also refuses to take checks made out to the casher by anyone except his parents or himself. These limits are necessary To The Editor To the Editor: I TNTIL RECENTLY I had viewed with growing nausea the spirit of good feelings which imbues both the Young Republicans and the Young' Democrats on this campus. As a close observer of those organizations, I have noticed a lack of partisan activity on their parts, when indeed they have shown any activity at all. With a few meager exceptions, they have expended the bulk of their severly limited energies in vigorous, mu- tual back-patting. But why must we deplore when we may rejoice? Let us carry the students away from the Student Government Council polls! Warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it? Doubtless, there will be some few dissidents, thoughtless characters blind to the virtues of unity, te- nacious in their endeavor to pro- mote political activity. But h're ,the solution is beautiful in its simplicity: such extremists, in- domitable foes of political in- activity, will inevitably coalesce into the Young Communists and Young Fascists. As a minority of one or two per cent, their cries will be lost in the deadening roar of apathy. Sensible people of the __r1.A _ m, fa i