Seventy-Fifth Year EDrrED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD m CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Condemn Rockwell Speech Where Opinions Are Piree, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, Mica. Truth. Will Prevail NEws PHONE: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL SATFINGER A leaningless Campaign: Time To Face the Issues WHEN THE REPUBLICAN Party nomi- nated. Barry Goldwater as their stand- ard bearer, they selected a choice rather than an echo-at least this is what his campaign literature claimed. Most people, whether they were Re- publicans, Democrats, or independents, thought it would be fine to have a cam- paign in which real issues were involved. Goldwater seemed to feel the same way, because shortly after his victory in San Francisco he promised to campaign solely on issues and ignore personalities. Earlier in the day, the senator from Ari- zona had called the President the big- gest faker in politics. But such a state- ment can be discounted because Gold- water did not make his promise until afterwards. And certainly Goldwater can- not be criticized for indulging in a little friendly mud slinging before making his pledge. When the furor of the convention end- ed, Goldwater began his drive for the highest office in the land. Helping him bring the issues to the public eye were several close associates. ICE-PRESIDENTIAL nominee Wil- liam Miller brought up the vital con- sideration of the candidates' war rec- ords. Miller pointed out that Goldwater had an excellent service record while President Johnson served in the Navy for only six months. Dean Burch, Gold- water-appointed head of the Republi- can national committee, promised to make an issue out of the President's wealth when it was announced that the Johnson family fortune was valued at over $4 million. Apparently Goldwater's followers don't need to follow their leader when he makes a promise to stick to the issues. But perhaps the conservative senator should not be blamed for the statements of his cronies. After all, the Constitu- tion, which Goldwater values so highly, guarantees free speech. And who is the senator to deny that privilege to any- one. A look at his own campaign messages will reveal that Goldwater has stuck to his pledge and has not brought person- alities into play. IN RECENT WEEKS Goldwater has sug- gested that taxes should be cut - a move supported by the Kennedy-John- son administrations and a bill which he voted against in the Senate. Goldwater has urged that the military draft be abolished. Such action has been consid- ered by Johnson during the last year. Goldwater also has severely criticized the Supreme Court, stating that the jus- tices were extending their power to in- clude functions which belonged to the legislatures-a point which does not even deal with the executive branch of gov- ernment. This last action was not sup- ported by the President, but does share something in common with the two oth- er issues-none of them belong in a cam- paign for the presidency. While Goldwater and his band turn anything into an issue, Johnson gives the impression that there are no issues at' all. When Goldwater brought up one legi- timate issue- Viet Nam--Democrats claimed that foreign policy should not be subject to criticism. Johnson actually refuses to start his campaign. The Labor Day speech in Detroit is the traditional opening of the Democratic campaign, but Johnson claimed his speech in the Mo- tor City was not political. The President did make oblique references to Gold- water statements, but he did not men- tion the Arizona senator by name or ex- tensively refute Goldwater arguments. jNSTEAD the chief executive stressed national unity in terms of peace; pros- perity and justice and spoke as though every American supported him. Perhaps' Johnsoni considers himself too much a Southern gentleman to involve himself in a hot, controversial issue. Thus two candidates have very differ- ent viewpoints on many subjects, but thus far Goldwater has been throwing pointless darts of meaningless issues while Johnson ignores the real issues, contenting himself with attacking Gold- water's pseudo-issues and emphasizing national unity. Americans are entitled to know which candidate is best qualified and what his convictions are. The time has come for Goldwater to stand on his beliefs and Johnson to stand on his. -CHARLES VETZNER To the Editor: DURING the height and fervor of a Presidential campaign, it is a dis-service and a disgrace for Jack Warren of the Special Proj- ects Committee of the Michigan Union to invite an avowed racist, George Lincoln Rockwell, to speak at the Union. If the Union desires to further public discussion of the great is- sues of the 1964 campaign, it should invite speakers that are more appropriate to the main- stream of political thought. If the Union persists in invit- ing men like Rockwell, Malcolm X, Ross Barnett, and Norman Thomas to the University at stu- dent expense, then it is time we re-evaluated the appropriateness of providing the Union with 12 dollars out of every man's tuition. We appeal to the better judgment of the Union to prevent the Rock- well appearance from taking place. -Ronald Gottschalk, '65 To the Editor: GEORGE LINCOLN ROCKWELL has been invited by a student group to speak at the Union. Since men have a right to knowl- edge, and since every man is en- titled to speak his mind, nothing in American society can prevent interested parties from meeting. One must ask, however, whether this event should take place at the academic lectern. Most faculty members will an- swer affirmatively on the grounds that if Rockwell is silenced today, some other viewpoint may be sup- pressed tomorrow. If we set our- selves up as watchers, they will say, who will watch the watchers? Yet the truth is that professors throughout the ages have been guardians of humanism and judges of what should or shouldn't take place in their domain. Since the faculty is an intellectually respon- sible body, it has always watched over itself. It has determined stan- dards of academic quality; it has also set limits of vulgarity, bad taste, and indencency If Rock- well were anything but an os- tensibly political figure, these standards, which operate daily, would have repudiated him almost by instinct. But academic freedom has be- come the most precious safeguard of the university community. Pro- fessors are extremely jealous of this principle, and rightly so, be- cause political events have threat- ened their freedom of thought and speech. Rockwell's invbation ap- pears to be an example of this liberty. For it seems that despite the natural impulse ttv reject hi, the fear of being politically re- pressive has inhibited the Uni- versity. Normally, a qualitative standard is used when an in- dividual or a subjectaisadmitted to the chambers of academic de- liberation. If Rockwell's message did attain this minimal level of intelleetuale quality, the doors would have to be opened. But genocide is no more a debatable topic than is rape. It is clear that in every case except a political one, the request for such a forum would be refused. But in this in- stance, the question of free speech has made the University self- conscious about its judgment. Which is as it must be, when a political issue is involved. HIOWEVER, there is no such issue here at all. Rockwell is not simply a fascist with a politico- economic system to expound. What distinguishes him from fascism is his Nazism, which enforces a genocidal form of racial suprem- acy. No other system can make this statement, and none ever will, if the lessonof World War II has been learned. This is why Nazism is, sui generis, a social crime. Fascism and Communism have the dignity of remaining, however marginally, on the human side of this atrocity. Nazism was a crime against humanity which, by his- tory's verdict and mankind's. con- demnation, was crushed forever. It is this fact which places Rockwell's philosophy within the University's jurisdiction over de- cency and humanistic values. One may study the psychology of a depraved man and analyze the consequences of his ideas, but one does not give such a man a class- room or a student union in which to preach his depravity. A pre-moral standard exists here, if not in the body politic, then certainly in a university. And this proclaims that no matter whatscriteria of morality one em- braces, if any at all, the basic premise of love for life is accept- ed by all men who live and who conceive ideas. Respect for life and culture i an axiom of academic existence and purpose. If this axiom is questioned by a Nazi, then the University, no matter how healthy, is the last place for him to have a hearing. Indeed, precisely because it is healthy, it need have no fear of barring him. To do otherwise is to commit in- tellectual suicide. * * , WHAT ABOUT the new genera- tion that knows nothing of cul- ture's perversions except what it reads in books? How is it to Iarn standards of intellectual human- ism. He appears at the bottom of a priority list of values that would be in force without hesitation, were it not for the question of free speech. It is the University's duty to set the standards for the best utiliza- tion of its facilities and time. There has never been an oppor- tunity for the depraved to speak here. In what way, let it be asked, is a Nazi exempt from this cate- gory? Fascists and Communists may speak here, yes, and all those who do not cross the line into cultural bestiality. But a Nazi must not enter this house. The tragedy of history is too black to be over- shadowed by the fictitious issue of free speech. Nazism means anti- humanism, and when this simple definitiontcannot or will not be made in the minds of a univer- sity faculty, then it is indeed a grievous day for the academic community. -Paul ITe Associate Professor of Romance Languages To the Editor: THE RIGHT for such a man a.s George Lincoln Rockwell to be able to speak freely on his opin- ions is undoubtedly guaranteed in our Constitution. However, I ontend that the Michigan Union is completely over exuberant in this respect. One should not deny a man the right to speak on his own volition. Rockwell, assuredly, has suffi- cient financial resources that if he strongly believes in the ideas which he expouses, he should be the one to initiate such a speech and he should be willing to talk anywhere that he can attract an audience. THE VERY THOUGHT that the Union has taken the position to cordially invite such a racist and hate monger to impose his voracity upon the citizenry .and more spe- cifically the Jewish members of 'this campus community is utterly and thickly disgusting. As a member of the religious and - ethnic group of which his liking exterminated six million. I demand that the Union abrogate, absolve and wi hdraw their invitation to this creature. -Scott B. Saulson, '68 Kenah To Visit Houses In response to letters ap- pearing in this column yester- day, Karen Kenah will visit th lounges of Frost House and Blagdon House in Markley Hal: at 7 and 8 p.m. respectively today. Miss Kenah was invited to visit after she wrote an edi- torial critical of honors hous- ing. WCBN will record for pos- sible use any debate which ma3 ensue. Distortion To the Editor: RECENTLY WITNESSED a fa- natical attempt at character distortion which embodied such clandestine and awesome impli- cations for the United States as a nation that I was staggered. Before I delve into specifics, I believe that this would be an op- portune moment to inform those folding their pages and preparing themselves for another satisfying one-sided outpouring of leftest hysteria, that the Daily has com- promised, as it occasionally has done within the memory of man. The article, this ugly blotch of racist hate that besmears its en- lightened fellow columns with the filth of its dark doctrine, is the result of that compromise. What gratitude exists, what re- ward, when all that results from such broad mindedness are twist- ed manifestations of hate? Let me focus my hate upon a source of enlightenment and slander it awhile. I refer the attention of my dwindling audience to a series of televised political announce- ments to which I am sure a major segment of the citizenry of the United States has been exposed. N* THE APPEALING little girl stands engrossed in that posibly cutest of all childhood activities: eating. Mothers nationwide asso- ciate her with their own. Perhaps poignant memories of half-for- gotten youth are evoked in others. Here, indeed, is goodness, inno- cence, and yes, the hope of the nation. No one could possibly want to harm this embodiment of in- nocence. Butncould he? The voice of the announcer relates the facts sur- rounding an unseen individual whose threat to the existence of ahe child pervades the atmosphere, poisoning it. The ogre will eat the child. The Fourth Horseman- Nuclear Holocaust-will ride, and nightmare things will happen. The girl's ice cream will be melted by thermonuclear heat. Her clothes will be set ablaze. Her . . . its all too horrible to relate, but make no mistake, it will happen. Unless ...Yes! There's a way out! Mem- orize this man's name. It's Barry Goldwater. B-A-R-R-Y G-O-L-D- W-A-T-E-R. Hate this man. You've seen for yourself what he'll do to your own family, Mother. That was your child he killed. All she was doing was eat- ing ice cream, and she was poison- ed. A man who knows no human- ity, who harbors no emotion, and who has signed a pact with Mars and Hitler has taken your most precious possession from you. I FULLY REALIZE that there exists a distinct possibility that this article may not be recognized as a satire, but may be taken for a bona-fide commentary in keep- ing with the flavor of this iews- paper. The preceeding therefore, has been a satire. I feel confident that I am by no means alone in rejecting the object of this ar- ticle as one of the most blatant attempts at charactert destruction ever witnessed. The terms "poor paste" and "sentimentalism" could perhaps be applied in a refutation of the aforementioned campaign technique, but they pale when pittcd against an atrocity of this nature. This is not dirt; it is un- televisable filth; The desperation, the wild, al- most frenzied attempts at defama- tion which led to the production of these saddening episodes is so evident that even an entrenched adherant to anything short of Marxism should be aware of it. For this reason I shall not attempt to convince or persuade; all is on the television screen for everyone to see and judge. After all, judg- ment of partisan evocations is a freedom we still maintain. The evident convictions of Pres- ident Johnson and his campaign committee notwithstanding, I have a sufficient amount of confidence in the basic good taste of the American people to preclude my preoccupation with the question of whether or not such things as this will be accepted. -John Scott Williams, '66 "I WiiH Now FHanrld ow n Mv DTecision OnMy Motion To R~app ortion Thy U.S. Govern ment -- a' 1'jt r Wi- c, TODY AD TMOROW PoiiclRue Change Duig onsnReg a i By WALTER LIPPMANN RESIDENT JOHNSON is hav- ing so much political success that the ordinary rules of politics are not working. For the time be- ing they are suspended,..For this election, it now begins to appear, the old established ruling powers in the Republican Party-the banking, industrial and publishing magnates in the large metropoli- tan centers-are either in favor of the election of President John- son or at least are not strongly opposed to it. This is a new devel- opment in the history of American politics, and particularly in the experience of the Democratic Party since the disaster at the end of World War I. The Democratic revival, which began during the Great Depression after 1929, was the work of Frank- lin Roosevelt. He put together a mighty coalition of the disinherit- ed: the poor; the distressed farm- ers, labor, the Negroes, the new ethnic minorities. This Roosevelt coalition held together during the Truman period and persisted in spite of the Eisen- hower landslides. The coalition was revivified by John F. Kennedy. But for more than 30 years there has been a deep alienation be- tween the Democratic Party and the American business community. Now for the first time, under President Johnson, there is more than a flirtation with individual Republicans. Indeed, there is something like an affair between the old established American busi- ness leaders and the Johnson ad- ministration. This was never pos- sible under Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy. ** * IF WE ASK ourselves why Pres- ident Johnson is the first Demo- cra .ic President to make a kind of peace with the business com- munity, it is only part of the an- swer to say that he is an extra- ordinarily skillful politician. He is indeed extraordinarily skillful. But Rockwell Shouldn't Be Coming THE MICHIGAN UNION Special Proj- ects Committee should not have in- vited George Lincoln Rockwell to speak at the University. True he has a constitutional right to speak, and true his freedom of speech should not be impaired. But inviting a person to speak is not a constitutional necessity, and not inviting him does not deprive him of his rights. That he should not have been invited because doing so somehow dignifies him or his ideas is, however, likewise falla- *.. He Should Too THE MICHIGAN UNION merits applause for bringing George Lincoln Rockwell to campus. There is, first of all, the chance-however remote some may feel it to be-that he will say something worth hearing. Even if he does not, even if his talk amounts to nothing more than the hate-infested diatribe his detractors ex- pect, the phenomenon will be educa- tional-if shockingly so. It is essential that he be received- particularly by those who despise him most-with dignity befitting the Univer- sity. Angry, emotional outbursts-which really are only a mirror image of the hate Rockwell himself displays-will serve only to intensify the bitterness it sup- posedly protests. Let those mature enough listen to Rockwell in silent pro- test. Let those who seek merely an emo- tional orgasm find it elsewhere. -K. WINTER gr pit3U di cious. Such an argument would logically imply that no one should be invited whose views differ from those of the Union or the University or the campus community. It is to place the inviting party in a position where it must pre- judge the dignity of a person or his re- marks and clearly this depends on how much one likes what that person says or does. BUT STILL ROCKWELL should not have been invited by the special projects committee. The committee is expected to' invite speakers who will stimulate thought and debate, who will convey knowledge and wisdom. Rockwell will not do this. Very few agree with his viewpoint to start with, and he has not been known to sway crowds toward him. He does not come to preach a viewpoint rationally, and peo- ple do not listen rationally to what he has to say. Most of the controversy Rockwell stirs up will be over his presence. But even here the debate is nothing new. When- ever anyone out of the "mainstream" is invited to the University, some of those who do not like his ideas look for justifi- cation for not having him come. MOST OF THOSE who oppose Rock- well's coming here feel so strongly about this issue that rational debate is very difficult. Antagonism rather than knowledge will be spread by Rockwell's presence. It is too bad that he is coming. -EDWARD HERSTEIN Editorial Director Shot Down Cr Th.7 A N rD fr. nT A 7'W n I c n Ri hin a in a democracy this means, we must remember, not only that he understands and knows how to play upon the hopes and fears of his supporters and his opponents. In his case at means also that he and, we should add, his wife have an apparently inexhaustible gift of sympathy. They seem to be able to put themselvesinside the skins of other people and o see themselves as others see them. I think this imaginative reach is the inner Johnson secret. There is also an objective rea- son why he is able to go so much further than any other President in this generation to rally a huge majority. It is that in an advanced economy like ours we are now liv- ing in a time when the' techno- logical and fiscal revolution can liberate us from the ancient quar- rel between the haves and the have-nots. There are no lingering echoes of that old quarrel in the Johnson utterances.: President Johnson is acting on the realization that in the new age that is coming upon us there is open the possibility of an enor- mous increase in the. pi'oduction of wealth. And therefore, insofar as money can solve the problem of poverty or the other problems of modern society, the money can be found by adding to the production of wealth. It does not haveto be taken .away from those who al- ready have wealth. Here in the United States, as in most of Western Europe, this is the post-Marxian age. That is why President Johnson is able to wage a war against poverty and at the same time win so much confidence among the well-to-do. (c) 1964, The Washington Post Co. CINEMA GUILD Remnant Of O'Neil At the Cinema Guild SOMEWHERE IN t h is stilted remnant of drama lurks the ghost, of Eugene O'Neill. Oca- sionally it materializes and ignites the action, but only rarely and for fleeting moments. Adapted from the play which O'Neill had adapted from Greek legend and drama, "Mourning Be- comes Electra" is a pretty dreary two-hour film. The adaptors have failed to reckon with the visual nature of the medium in which they are working and have simpy filmed a stage play. The result is tedious since there is little for either eye or ear. In some respects this film is more obnoxious than most filmed plays, for it contains some hyper- bolic gesturing appropriate to the silent film and some melodramatic chestnuts appropriate to the low- est of low-budget movies. Rosa- lind Russell sets some new stand- ard for the "recoil in horror" gesturein a key opening sequence and the scene is so ludicrous it casts the spell of farce over the entire play. THE SCRIPT includes such treasured lines as "I hate you .. I hate you . .," and a death-bed scene with the usual hysterics. The sets are rather artificial and the sound track tends to be ob- trusive. What rescues the movie from total oblivion is the fact that "I Understand You Pr ovide Accommodations For Ra dicals" 'rid 'I : "' : : 1 ... ' := ;t I