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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
The City Hall Sit-In: Was It Justified?
)AY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: GAIL EVANS
Buddhist Flag Flying
Can Wait for Peace
;QW THAT the "Down with the Tyrants"
boys have substantially subsided, perhaps
he crisis in Viet Nam between the Diem re-
ime and the Buddhists can be viewed in a
iore detached and unemotional light.
It must be granted that the Nhus and Diem
hose a rather brutal and unpopular method of
ealing with the Buddhist protest; but let us
nalyze just exactly what the Diem regime was
n fact dealing with.
Perhaps acclaimed war correspondent Mar-
,uerite Higgins of the New York Herald
'ribune has been the most perceptive in this
natter, as she reported from Viet Nam recently
tiat the Buddhist issue is really only a local
ne, confined to the cities of Saigon and Hue.
y and large, according to Miss Higgins, the
ank and file Buddhists in the cities have no
nderstanding of the issues involved in the
ispute and are simply following the orders
anded down by the priests-i.e., to demon-
trate and protest. Outside the towns, across
he countryside, the Buddhists in an over-'
helming number of cases are not even aware
ny problem exists. '
'O TO SAY, as the New York Times has in-'
timated, that the Diems, who are Roman
atholics, are engaged in mass religious perse-
ition, is ludicrous, unlpss we are to believe
tiat the regime only wants to persecute a few
Blessing?
[ETROIT CIVIC LEADERS are launching a
study which could have significant impact
n the whole Southeastern Michigan area. They
.re applying to the area Redevelopment Ad-
ninistration for funds to investigate Detroit's
otential as a major research center.
The idea basically is a good one. Detroit, like
nany large cities, has financial problems and
high unemployment rate. Research, and the
usinesses which would follow it, would be an
conomic boon to the area.
However, there are two disturbing aspects of
he idea which should be noted.
[,HE FIRST i$ that Detroit is considering
going after defense contracts. Economically,
f course, military money is as good as any
ther. But to what extent do we want to see
he area's economy dependent upon the per-
etuation of the arms race?
The second concerns the University's role.
'he Detroit planners expect the University to
e useful through its educational programs, its
braries and its specialized equipment. The
Jniversity, undoubtedly will cooperate, if for
o other reason than that it will win friends
nd funds by doing so. Already the University
s using its "research image" as a major fea-
sure of its soft-sell in the Legislature and else-
where, now emphazing the "look at how much
re can do for Michigan's economy!" appeal.
'he question here is what happehs to the
unctions which the University should be ful-
illing-the educating of its stu'dents and un-
ertaking truly basic' and important research?
[N SHORT, the proposed study is an impor-
tant one with great potential for attracting
esearch. But few things in the world are
inmixed blessings-and research is not one of
hem. -K. WINTER
Buddhists at a time--sort of a slow harassment
policy. And it is hard to believe that the Diem
regime can afford to do anything slowly at this
point.
Therefore it would seem that, if religious
persecution is not the case, it must be some-j
thing else-and surprisingly enough it is.
Lest we forget how the whole matter got
started, let us recall that last May the Diem
regime got touchy about the Buddhists flying
their own flag instead of or in addition to the
Vietnamese colors. The Buddhists deicded to
make an issue out of the government's annoy-
ance for some unknown reason, and the gov-
ernment, instead of giving in on an essentially
trivial point, decided to enforce it's originalj
policy.
Now granted this is rather a picky issue, but
the fact remains that it exploded anyway into
an international incident. Whether or not the
Communists in Saigon had anything to do
with its original genesis, they certainly had
something to do with its gory climax. If they
didn't, they wouldn't be a very formidable ad-
versary.
SO PICTURE the Diem regime, faced with the
Communist-fanned demonstrations by the
Buddhists, being forced to devote time, effort
and money to a ridiculous civil incident when
all their concentration should have been on the
war at the front. Against this background, it
is not hard to understand why the government
moved swiftly and militantly to quash a dis-
turbance that could prolong or defeat the whole
effort against the Viet Cong.
But unfortunately no one ever has enough
problems in international affairs these days
that worldwide busybodies can't stir up a few
more. And so, egged on by short-sighted but
truly humanitarian demands for Buddhist
rights, a handful of priests set themselves afire.
NOW QUITE OBVIOUSLY this was calculat-
ed to appeal to world sympathy on no
better grounds than wild emotion, and the real
problem involved in the Buddhist crisis was ob-
scured, by the horrified world reaction to the
flaming monks and the Diem strongarms.
But to be coldly objective it would seem that
the Buddhists should have waited their turn.
Whether or not their wretched flag flew crum-
bles to insignificance when set against whether
or not the Hanoi Communists take over all of
Southeastern Asia.
The Diem government has trouble enough
just battling the Viet Cong without having to
deal with unreasonable demands of civilians
During the Second World War, Americans put
many of 'their own domestic battles aside to
fight for the common cause, but apparently
the Buddhist heirarchy was unable to be so
magnanimous.
JF THE VIET CONG is to be routed in Asia,
the allies for freedom just can't put up with
such nonsense as riots over whether a flag flies
or not in time of war. Such issues can be
settled when the peace comes.
Certainly the sensationalism of the press ac-
counts of the riots, the arrogance of the Nhus
and the largely emotional claims of the world
busybodies should not be allowed to cloud a
rational analysis of the problem in Viet Nam.
Such an analysis clearly reveals that now is
not the time for an argument over a flag
regardless of who may be right.
-MICHAEL HARRAH
To the Editor:
THE STUDENTS and towns-
people who sat-in after the city
council meeting Monday night
broke the law in order to express
and give weight to their disap-
proval of the token fair housing
ordinance. I believe they were
wrong to do so, and, in reply to
Marjorie Brahms' position in yes-
terday's Daily, I would argue as
follows:
Admittedly, law does not define
justice, but serves it, and so no
one can condemn the demonstra-
tors by using the words of the
prosecutor in Prof. McLoughlin's
case-that "The law is above man"
and so must always be obeyed.
Most would agree that unjust laws,
e.g., those of Hitler Germany, need
not be obeyed.
However, the anti-loitering law
was not under dispute. It was
broken in order to protest an in-
justice unrelated to it. If it is
maintained that anyone with a
complaint can break any law, how-
ever irrelevant to his concerns, as
a legitimate gesture of protest,
then only the good sense and
moderation of the protester pro-
tect the rest of us from violations
of the law that are violent and
harmful.
TO PEACEABLY sit-in at city
hall causes little expense and no
serious harm. But it is clearly un-
desirable to sanction lawbreaking
while leaving the kind of law to
be broken, the kind of illegal ac-
tions taken, purely up to the good
sense of the aggrieved activist.
As an example of this, consider
the civil disobedience of Gov. Wal-
lace in Alabama-a relatively
peaceful disobedience-and the
murder by segregationists of the
Negro girls in Birmingham. The
white community, to the extent
that it supported the activist gov-
ernor, encouraged the more mili-
tant protesters (the murderers) to
register their own expression of
racism.
The above is to show that illegal
activity should not be treated as
just another form of political pro-
test. It is a very serious thing
apd one should carefully decide
just when, and why, one is going
to use it. * * *
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE is a re-
jection of the government's au-
thority. Unless we are totally ca-
pricious in our practice of it, it
should also imply rejection of the
legitimacy-the right to exist and
to rule-of the particular govern-
ing body against which it is direct-
ed. No one could say that a gov-
ernment loses its legitimacy from
mere wrongheadedness or inef-
ficiency. All governments are to
some degree foolish and stubborn,
and if that alone permitted us to
break laws,not in themselves ob-
jectionable, then we would have
perpetual and continuous unrest.
The occasions which justify civil
disobedience may be determined
from the following argument:
Governments are instituted, ac-
cording to the Declaration of In-
dependence, to guarantee the na-
tural rights of man. If government
fails to protect these, it does not
serve its purpose, and becomes op-
pressive. At such a time all its
laws lose their force, except in so
far as we choose to follow them.
(Thus, if I lived in a town that
denied Negroes an equal right to
vote, and also had a law against
theft, I would not refrain from
stealing because of any felt obli-
gation to obey the law. If I did
not steal it would be merely be-
cause I happened, personally and
for private reasons, to disapprove
of it.) But can such a clear-
cut situation be said to prevail in
Ann Arbor?
p 4 ,k
FIRST, it must be admitted
that an elderly, peaceable and big-
oted lady who rents her rooms
only to white students will not
agree that it is wrong to do so.
More than that, she will be fright-
ened and unhappy if forced to rent
to Negroes, and so her pursuit of
happiness will be hindered to sat-
isfy others. This is by any reason-
able standard an interference with
her rights; the same might be
said, but with much less force, for
the absentee landlord forced to
alter his prejudices and adjust to
this new limitation on his pro-
perty rights.
(One should not say, as is often
said at this point, that "anyone
who rents to the public must not
discriminate," for the whole point
is that the bigot doesn't want to
rent "to the public," but only to
a part of it.)
To the Negro belongs the right
to good housing, a right denied
absolutely by town's such as Dear-
born, which bar all Negroes from
living within their boundaries, and
granted only in part by Ann Arbor,
which is segregated.
I There. is no clear and obvious
right to integrated housing per se,
but to good or "fair" housing,
which however cannot be guaran-
teed so long as segregation exists.
If it is maintained that not
quality housing, but integrated
housing, is a basic, a non-negoti-
able, right, then how could any
private group, e.g., an all-Jewish
fraternity, be allowed an avowedly
racial or religious principle of or-
ganization? If freedom of associa-
tion is not granted in the field of
hnsino- iarith a vanial ntivt +kavn
sent a "membership card" before
being admitted? Or an apartment
house without such cards? Or a
rented room?
* * ,
BECAUSE segregation must go
before goodhousing can be guar-
anteed to the Negro, these two
rights-that of the tenant and
that of the landlord-conflict, and
are diametrically opposed. The city
council, in favoring one over the
other in its housing ordinance,
cannot be accused simply of vio-
lating a basic right of its towns-
people. What it did was strike a
balance that did not, in the eyes
of many, represent a fair com-
promise between Negro tenants
and segregationist landlords. The
balance should be righted, but
since any new housing bill will be
a compromise =between two parties,
both of whom are partly right,
the law should not be broken by
either side, unless that side agrees
to permit anybody, whatever his
stand, to break the law to advance
his interests.
If the activists do not see that
the landlords have a right-a lim-
ited right-to rent out rooms in
accordance with racial prejudices,
then the issue is, to them, a simple
one of force: the government up-
holds for others a right they do
not recognize, and does not grant
them in full a right which they
consider basic. They can fight, in
3lear conscience, and perhaps they
may win.
But I do not see why anyone
who concedes any rights at all to
the landlords should join them.
IF ANYONE does see why, and
also sees how such support does
not imply letting anybody at all
break the law whenever it suits his
interests (interests which, like
those of the fair housing demon-
strators, have only half the right
on their side), then would he
please write to The Daily and ex-
plain his case?
-Peter Steinberger
Prejudicial . .
To the Editor:
SURELY when we assess irre-
sponsibility in Ann Arbor, we
must include those editorial writ-
ers who have forgotten that the
right to trial by jury carries with
it the guarantee against "trial"
by newspaper. The fact that Mr.
Ellery is unaware of the charge
filed against the 51 people arrest-
ed Monday night raises serious
doubts as to his qualifications to
decide that the actions of these 51
were "clearly illegal" and could
not have constituted "clearer evi-
dence in this city of conspiracy to
commit a mislemeanor."
If these actions were illegal, if
the guarantees of the First Amend-
ment are not to cover this case,
surely this is for judge and jury
to decide, and not Mr. Ellery. It is
unfortunate that Mr. Ellery's legal
opinions have been printed prior to
jury selection and prior to triad.
* * *
THE POINT is not trivial. Mr.
Ellery is certainly entitled to his
opinions. However, to me it is
frightening that The Daily has
allowed its columns to be used in
a manner prejudicial to a pending
case. Such deviations from the
legal guarantee for any defendant
in any pending case are all too
common in much of the press in
this country. I, for one, am sorry
to see The Daily join its ranks.
-Michael Rosen, Grad
Unfair to DAC *.*.*
To the Editor:
JEAN TENANDER'S Sept. 17 edi-
torial, dealing with the Direct
Action Committee, is a distortion
of DAC's program and a misin-
terpretation of its philosophy. Edi-
torial license does not include the
right to allow personal feelings to
poison a writer's journalistic ob-
jectivity when dealing with mili-
tant organizations.
Contrary to Miss Tenander's
allegation, a person usually is, in
fact, either "for or against" civil
rights. Miss Tenander does not
understand that when the black
man talks about civil rights,.he
does not mean assimilation or in-
tegration with the white man and
his society.
The black man is concerned pri-
marily with equality and freedom
--the right to have, in large num-
bers, the same jobs as the white
man, the right to have low enough
unemployment and high enough
pay to live like a human being.
The black man wants freedom" to
walk down the streets at any time
"And Remember, Nothing Can Be Accomplished
By Taking To The Streets"
)C r r
Ri
,x PJR(C
---- AcrPmUBLIC 1
+i
F
i
^ W'OB
of day, without fear of being shot
or harassed by a racist cop.
* * *.
IF A WHITE PERSON fails to
recognize these as the basic goals
of the civil rights movement, he
is against civil rights. To the
Negro it is immaterial what public
opinion thinks of him when he is
fighting for jobs and freedom.
Hostile public opinion is a low
price to pay, if, in return, the
Negro won't have to worry about
a bullet in his back.
Miss Tenander, in minimizing
DAC's effectiveness, seems to be
judging DAC in terms of how re-
spectable it is. DAC has picketed
city hall three times in protest of
police brutality. In response to
DAC's picket, Patrolman Miller,
who we contend had unjustifiably
shot a Negro youth, resigned from
the force. In response to DAC
pressure, three A&P stores in Ann
Arbor, previously all white, have
hired seven Negroes in the last
three weeks.
WHITE LIBERALS, including
Miss Tenander by her own admis-
sion, pray for a paradox. They
want the Negro to free himself
from exploitation from the white
power structure, but at the same
time they want the preservation
of stability. They seem more con-
cerned about a white person's
evaluation of black leadership and
methods than they are about the
results of the methods, Living in a
white community since birth, ac-
cepting a state of society which
has institutionalized racism, the
white liberal can only stand back
in horror when he sees militant
blacks completely destroy a society
which for them has only meant
misery, poverty and death.
-Howard Salita, '65
(Letters to the Editor should be
typewritten, doubiespaced and lim-
ited to 300 words. Only signed let-
ters willbe printed. The Daily re-
serves the right to edit or with-
hold any letter.)
qs 4o +s a lmcr
FISCAL REFORM PLAN:
Food, Drug Taxes
Constitute Inequity
AT THE MICHIGAN:
Broken Toy
In a Dusty 'Attic'
'TOYS IN THE ATTIC" now showing at the Michigan Theatre is of
that particular breed of American pictures known as the magnifi-
cent failure. It is a picture which honestly aims for artistic heights,
which sincerely attempts to present serious drama and yet which is
doomed to failure from its beginning.
"Toys in the Attic" is way beyond the meager ken of the average
Hollywood drama in its goals, but it is hampered in several major
respects from ever achieving any of them. As in the case with almost
all adaptations "Toys" remains first and foremost a stage play and
one is constantly reminded of this by the confinement of scenes to
a few choice locales.
The power of the camera, an entirely different mode of emotional
expression as well as factual implications is never realized. One
always feels the camera is in the theatre photographing the stage.
The shades of meaning and interpretation which can be projected by
visual means such as shading, closeups and background settings are
seldom used. Again -the presence of the stage is heavily felt.
"TOYS" SUFFERS FURTHER from the poorest musical back-
ground that a really decent drama has yet produced. The music often
detracts and never adds to the impact of the action.
To its credit, and greatly so, is the casting. Geraldine Page proves
again that she is the finest American actress alive on the stage or
screen. Wendy Hillar is as powerful in a minor position as one could
ask. Yvette Mimieux is superb as the adolescent wife, easily her finest
role. The.surprise of the film is the fine performance of Dean Martin,
who more than holds his own. with the talented females.
The plot also is a fine one, to'uching many controversial subjects
without pretention or meekness. But it is still a stage plot, not a movie
plot. The script adds to this void by emphasis on dialogue quite suit-
able for the stage but cumbersome In a movie. The' visual action
drags and drags as lines are produced, lines which the camera, direction
and imagination could and should have conveyed.
* * * *
"TOYS IN THE ATTIC" is an honest, sincere and outstanding
film attempt, but it is still a failure.
-Hugh Holland
CINEMA GUILD:
Cocteau s Orpheus :
Self-Apotheosis
4.
Punch-Card Administration
HERE IS a growing trend in the adminis-
tration of the University toward "computer-
ization." This is the tendency of bureaucracies
to make decisions on the basis of technical
expediency. This trend springs from the con-
temporary belief that administration, as such,
is a skill apart from whatever is being ad-
ministered.
The greater use of the computer has led
those concerned with decision making to devise
policy on the basis of what systems are most
expediciously administered -by the IBM ma-
chine. It seems reasonable to assume that per-
sons with any pretentions of academic integrity
would find it difficult to allow themselves to
be swayed by this sort of logic.
FOR EXAMPLE, under the guise of a "calen-
dar change" the University was saddled with
the "two hour final exam." In addition to the
fact that such an examination would, of
necessity, be a less comprehensive measure of
the students' knowledge, it involves further
ramifications that have become painfully ob-
vious of late.
It seems apparent that requiring a student to
take three finals in one day-which is possible
under the new system-imposes an undo psy-
chological and physical strain on him.
IT IS INDICATIVE of current administra-
tion attitudes that, not only was this policy
enacted in light of this obvious objection, but
that it was accomplished without any public
breast-ehating hout the tension between
able increase in academic pressure, not only
on the more advanced levels but in the fresh-
man courses as well.
This heavier load derives from two sources:
the felt need on the part of faculty and staff
to cover the same material in 14 weeks that
they did in 15; and, a necessity to test the
students' knowledge more thoroughly during
the course of the term due to the shorter final
exam.
The stultifying effects of this on the educa-
tional process seem obvious. The student, al-
ready straitjacketed in his approach to ideas
due to all sorts of banal academic chores, finds
himself increasingly unable to explore the
universe beyond the confines of his texts. Stu-
dent activities, from fraternities to the Michi-
gan Union and The Daily, are feeling the
effects.
Perhaps the most noticeable example of ad-
vanced computerism is the pre-registration
program. Not only is it still necessary for the
student to go through the annual Waterman
pilgrimage, but he has to go through an
ordeal by bureaucratic paper work that in-
cludes all the forms of previous years.
M ORE IMPORTANT academically is the fact
that the student desiring to elect a course
with any degree of surety, has to select all his
courses in the middle of the previous semester.
Thus we find a host of students, while the
University moves well into it "new improved"
14-week term, running frantically from line to
counciling office to departmental rat race and
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the
third in a series of articles investi-
gating Gov. George Romney's pro-
posed fiscal reform program.)
By STEVEN HALLER
THE EXEMPTIONS of groceries
and of prescription drugs from
the sales tax are generally con-
sidered as a team, although they
comprise the third and sixth spe-
cific legislations, respectively, in-
cluded in Gov. George Romney's
12-part plan.
Both proposals are similar in
nature and both are designed to
remove a substantial tax burden
from the shoulders of those people
who can least afford it.
ROMNEY explicitly cites as an
equitable measure his plan to re-
move from Michigan's four per
cent sales tax "the food that the
housewife buys to prepare for her
family."
According to Romney, "this ex-
emption is necessary to help re-
store equity to our state structure,"
since the families who require the
most food for their famhilies are
often the ones who can least af-
ford to pay an additional four per,
cent to the state.
The governor wisely cautions,
however, that such exempted items
"must be closely defined so that
the principle of exempting the
food necessities will not become a
loophole for exemption of other
non-food items that can be pur-
chased in food stores . . . This is
tax justice, helping those who need
help most."
Romney is no less enthusiastic
about repealing the sales tax on
those drugs which cannot be
bought without a doctor's prescrip-
tion. Noting that such commodi-
ties are "life-giving and life-pre-
serving necessities," the governor
favors their exemption as "tax
justice of the highest order."
* * *
FOUR PER CENT of one's food
and drug dollar may seem like a
relatively small matter compared
+a .nnrci'h1wnm nr ep n nt 1erv n
rate to five per cent earlier this
year is hardly comforting to the
Michigan housewife.
* * *
TO BE SURE, the sales tax is a
stable tax,, bringing in its share
of the state's revenue in good times
and bad times alike. On the other,
hand, it is this same stability
which composes the sales tax's
major fault: as the economy rises,
the sales tax does not reflect this
new prosperity equitably.
The proposals are in for some
trouble at the hands of out-state
Republicans who oppose sales tax
exemptions first and consider the
details of the plan later. This
comes about because their constit-
uents contribute a comparatively
smaller amount of tax revenue
from sales levies than do Detroit
area residents.
ADDED TO THIS is the fact
that the loss of revenue from the
sales tax (about $92 million on
drugs and food) will have to be
made up by the income tax. The
idea of a sales tax is generally
considered more acceptable to the
public than is an income tax.
Where the removal of the sales
tax on prescription drugs is con-
cerned, there should be no hesita-
tion. The loss to the state would be
slight compared to the aid such a
move would give many persons who
need continuous medical care and
to whom prescription drugs are no
more of a luxury than food or
clothing.
The removal of the sales tax on
food consumed off the premises
will not be much help to those who
eat in restaurants most of the time,
but presumably such individuals
can afford to maintain themselves
and pay for state-supported serv-
ices at the same time.
THOSE WHO are not so in-
clined or so fortunate will be
helped greatly by the removal of
the food tax. Here Romney's sug-
gestion that such an exemption be
limited should be carefully con-
sidrvd tn c nm euith the best
IN JEAN COCTEAU'S stage ver-
sion of "Orpheus," the poet's
persona slipped momentarily when
the head of the decapitated Or-
pheus announced that his name
was "Jean C-O-C-T-E-A-U." In
his last film, "The Testament of
Orpheus," this persona is com-
pletely removed. Cocteau himself
moves through a world of his own
creation.
He is responsible for bringing to
life one of his own characters,
Cegestes, from the film Version of
"Orpheus." He must sit and jus-
tify his own art before a court
headed by the Death figure from
this same earlier film. And finally,
bearing an offering to a figure who
suggests both Death and the Muse
from his first film, "The Blood
of a Poet," Cocteau is killed and
laid on a funeral pyre. But the
artist is resurrected, as his own
poet-persona Cegestes was.
IN A WONDERFUL bit of self-
apotheosis, Cocteau demonstrates
that art is the medium "That al-
lows us to jump that mysterious
fourth law on which men write
of Cocteau's own creations). Ap-
proaching the Death-Muse figure
he is warned by the watchman
(Yul Brynner) "Abandon all hope,
ye who enter here."
On the excursion he encounters
his Scylla in a three-mouthed idol
of Fame that spits out novels,
poems and films when fed the ar-
tist's autograph and, by implica-
tion, eventually the artist himself.
For Cocteau this rseemsto be the
greatest danger to the artist's im-
morality for after being consumed
by fame no resurrection is possible.
This theme is. resolved at the end
of "Testament" when Cegestes,
one of Cocteau's own creations
pulls him away from the auto-
graph-seeking policemen.
IN "The Testament ofOrpheus,"
Cocteau calls the film'. medium
"That petrifying fountain of
thought. This is, at least, a fine
characterization of Cocteau's own
statically conceived cinema with
its language of symbol and re-
created legend. Cegestes' remark,
for example, that a flower, the
work of art, has been created from
e
c