Sewty-Third Year
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Truth Will .PrevaiJ"'
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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TAX PLAN:
The Governor Joins His Party
"What Do You Mean, We Haven't Been
Producing? How About That Valachi
TV Show We Put On?"
TURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: STEVEN HALLERI
Romney Caused Tax Reform
To Die Slowly
GOV. GEORGE ROMNEY'S tax reform
may have officially died Thursday, but
it has really been dead for well over a
week.
Many people wondered why the legisla-
tors were delaying in giving the reform
package the final axe, since it obviously
couldn't pass.
Many of the legislators were admitting
that the reform program was dead, but
refused to say so on the floor of the Leg-
islature. This refusal points up the reason
why the reform plan died a lingering
death instead of a sudden death.
THE MAIN OBJECTIVE of the state leg-
islators seemed not to have been the
passage or defeat of a tax program, but
gaining as much or losing as little as pos-
sible politically.
Statements made by both the legislators
and the governor indicate this is true.
Letters
SOUTHERN COMMITTEE chairmen are
not the only reason why New Frontier
legislation has little success in Congress.
There is a built-in mechanism that han-
dicaps almost any piece of legislation.
That mechanism is the greater inclina-
tion of citizens to write letters against
legislation rather than for it. A greater
proportion of people against the civil
rights bill, for example, will write to
their congressman, than the proportion
for it who will write.
A congressman who is neutral on a'
piece of legislation will be inclined to vote
against it when most of his constituents'
letters are against it. And chances are
that most of these letters will be against
it. Thus it is not really surprising that
controversial measures such as medical
aid for the aged fail year after year; the
negativism of letters handicaps passage.
IT FOLLOWS that a citizen has more in-
fluence in governmental decisions when
he writes a letter pro than when he writes
a letter con because there is less competi-
tion from other letter writers. But, more
important, not only is there an advantage
but also a necessity of writing pro letters.
For, a citizen, if he wants the balance to
be evened, has an obligation to write his
government about the legislation he sup-
ports. -R. SELWA
Early in the campaign for passage of his
fiscal reform program, Romney made it
quite evident that he would actively sup-
port any Republicans who backed him.
And although he said that he would be
grateful to any Democrat who voted for
the ,program, he made it quite obvious
that he considered Democratic support
secondary, and wanted their support only
if it was desperately needed.
Thus, the governor made it obvious that
tax reform was a partisan issue as far as
he was concerned.
This stand by the governor simply serv-
ed to reaffirm the opinions held by the
Democrats who had been invited to but
ignored at the meetings Romney held be-
fore he drew up his tax plan.
BECAUSE OF THIS, most of the debate
in the last week or so of the session
didn't center around the fiscal reform
package itself; but around the obvious
lack of bipartisan support for it.
The Democrats accused the Republicans
of sabotaging the program by refusing to
consult with them during the session. The
Republicans, on the other hand, blamed
the Democrats for the apparent failure of
the program on the grounds that they
weren't opposed to the tax program but to
the governor, and were just using this is-
sue to illustrate their opposition. The Re-
publicans offered support for this accusa-
tion by citing the fact that the Democrats
had supported the same type of tax pro-
posal in the past, and there was no other
reason than opposition to the governor,
for their being against it now.
THE DEMOCRATS were opposed to the
program on several counts. One of
these stemmed from the fact that Rom-
ney thought that'his program was so close
to those which the Democrats had sup-_
ported in the past, that the Democrats
would be sure to support it now. So be-
cause of this the governor made some spe-
cial concessions to the conservative Re-
publicans, which created additional ani-
mosity among the Democrats.
So although the delay in the actual
death of the tax reform program was a
result of the two parties trying to blame
each other for the plan's failure, Romney
actually was the cause of this argument.
It was he who had initially made tax re-
form a partisan issue, instead of simply
a matter of what was actually best for
Michigan. -THOMAS COPI
By MICHAEL HARRAH
THE POLITICAL SINS of George
Romney returned to haunt him
the other day. The Republicans
whom he has been holding in con-
tempt as reactionaries and nean-
derthals joined with the Demo-
crats he has been sniping at to
bury tax reform deeper than it has
aver been buried before.
And in a way this is really tra-
gic-not so much because George
Romney's tax plan died, for there,
will be other tax plans, but be-
cause a part of George Romney
died with it.
The Governor staked his pres-
tige on the line for the passage of
his program. He lived it and he
breathed it. And while it had many
faults, George Romney believed
in it. Perhaps this was the trouble.
* * *
I THINK the Governor has dis-
covered, in this past ten and a.
half years, that state government
does not conform to the illusions
of a high school civics course. A
plan will not always be adopted
because it is the best or because
the leader wants it. A man will
not always succeed just because
he believes in a thing.
George Romney had a vision for
Michigan, and in the abstract it
was brilliant-it offered real hope.
Plans in hand, he mounted his
shining steed and charged his way
to thieGovernor's chair. His was
the Don Quixote story of the six-
ties.
BUT as is so 'often the case
with novice politicians, he as-
sumed that he had been elected
because of the positive qualities
of his candidacy. In fact, that was
not wholly true. Republicans vot-
ed for him in a frenzied effort to
end 14 years of Democratic rule.
They would have voted for any.
Republican. Independents voted
for him because they were dis-
couraged=with John B. Swainson.
GOV. GEORGE ROMNEY
... political sinner
They too would have voted for
any Republican. Democrats voted
for him as a protest against
Swainson's leadership. They also
would have voted for any Repub-
lican.
In Michigan a year ago, politics
was ripe for change, and George
Romney had the good fortune to
come along at the right moment.
It was only incidental to the case
that George Romney was an out-
standing citizen and a tireless
worker. Perhaps it even made the
protest easier.
*
BUT unfortunately G e o r g e
Romney took it for granted that
his victory signified support for
his program, when this in fact
may well have not been the case.
Good argument can be that the
electorate could not have been
expected to support George Rom-
ney's program, because it was al-
most identical to the programs
which they had opposed under the
Democratic regime. Only the label
was changed.
CINEMA GUILD
'Saturday Night'
:Inept
Muddled Mandate'
TE NEW YORK TIMES has, for several
years, conducted a charity appeal for
New York's hundred neediest cases. This
year, the distinguished publication has
kicked off its campaign a bit early by pub-
lishing the memoirs of former President
Dwight Eisenhower.
This is a publishing event of the first
order, for the general's memoirs have
achieved unheard of literary heights. As
far as we know, this is the first attempt
ever to effect a synthesis between Samuel
Pepys and Dr. Seuss.
EISENHOWER'S recollections are un-
doubtedly the product of years of in-
tensive effort, painstakingly transcribed
when the general could take a few mo-
ments from his attempts to understand
the sophisticated politics of Senator Gold-
water. And yet the former President's
narrative flows inevitably from one great
event in his historic presidency, to anoth-
er, told in earnest but unemotional tone.
There is, for example, none of the liquid
highly articulate prose which used to
characterize the President's press confer-
ences.
Ike has undoubtedly replaced his
speechwriters with his. own homespun
view of the political process. In short, the
memoirs have all the literary flair and
inner tension of Charles Goren's bridge
column.
Editorial Staff
RONALD WILTON, Editor
DAVID MARCUS GERALD STORCH
Editorial Director City Editor
BARBARA LAZARUS.............Personnel Director
PHILIP SUTIN............ National Concerns Editor
GAIL EVANS ................Associate City Editor
m rimP' Dnmum A --A c a Mitorial nirectnr
T HUS, Mr. Eisenhower's public career
has been capped by a verbal effort
equal only to the decisive effect he has
had on the course of world affairs. Surely,
such an. incisive account will not appear
until Francisco Franco brings out his
memoirs, "Mandate for Flange."
-THE DAILY PENNSLYVANIAN
Alien Corn
IT IS VERY GOOD NEWS that the United
States is considering the sale of a large
quantity of wheat to the SovietUnion.
Up to now East-West trade has been one
of the subjects where the Kennedy ad-
ministration has not moved an inch from
the cold war rigidities of John Foster
Dulles.
But in the new mood induced by the
test ban treaty it seems at last to have
realized that its own interests are not
well served by economic hardships in
Russia. If America's wheat surplus and
her growing difficulties in her agricul-
tural trade with Common Market have
also helped to bring about new attitudes,
no one will grumble.
Can we now hope that United States
representatives will stop making rude
noises in NATO when British engineering
companies manage to sell some steel pipe
to Russia?
-LONDON OBSERVER
Get Moving
CONGRESS HAS BECOME so inept that
one senator, Thomas Dodd of Connect-
icut, has twice stood up on the floor of
4h a+.. +in 4oimnlnria +he ioner nf Ifader..
EVEN AS IT FAILS, "Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning"
rises far above the ruck of motion
pictures. It is a desperately ambi-
tious picture with an undeniably
disturbing social viewpoint. Un-
fortunately, its impact is dis-
sipated by inept and clusmy exe-
cution.
The protagonist,' Arthur, is a
lathe operator in an English mill-
town. He has declared war upon
the environment that threatens to
crush the flame of humanity
which burns within him. "Don't
let the bastards grind you down"
is his credo.
AT HEART, he is an adolescent,
with all the virtues and vices of
that species. His zest for a pa-
sionate existence involves him in
childish pranks (shooting an old
lady in the rear end with a BB-
gun) and adult vices (cuckolding
a fellow worker). He pursues his
pleasures with all the irrespon-
sibility of the adolescent, but re-
mains a far more appealing in-
dividual than the more "respon-
sible" lifeless automatons around
him.
The film's political viewpoint
cannot be pigeon-holed as either
right or left. It moves beyond the
welfare state to consider the deep-
er problems of the human spirit
in a materially comfortable world.
As Arthur phrases it, "There's a
lot more to life than what me
parents 'ave got."
His parents enjoy all the ma-
terial security of the welfare state
-decent jobs, a home, a TV, womb
to tomb social security-but are,
they alive? There is a lot more'
than this, but where to find it
in the oppressive urban-industrial
environment? Arthur's blind, in-
stinctive groping leads only to
trouble.
* * *
BEFORE THE FADEOUT, Ar-
thur can manage only limp defi-
ance: "It won't be the last." His
future is bleak-either he capitu-
latelates or his passions will lead
to greater tragedy-and the film
ends on a disturbing note.
Unfortunately, the immediate
impact of this film is not what
it could have been. The director
and script writer were not content
to let the action speak for itself
when in many instances it speaks
with great force. Someone always
pops up and points out the ob-
vious.
* * *
RACHEL ROBERTS, pregnant
and bitter, confronts a bewildered
Albert Finney. Her burning eyes
speak a thousand passionate
words, and it is a scene of intense
emotion. But then she must utter
the banal "You don't know the
difference between right and
wrong," and the scene is ruined.
Throughout, the actors are forc-
ed to serve as commentators upon
the action, always stating the
obvious (i.e. "There's a lot more to
life . . ."; "Why did you throw
that?" "It won't be the last"; etc.)
These observations are conde-
scending, superfluous and they
- - - a^1 nt + --l - - ita+ Af0P o
mune. Mere presentation of the
"real" is not to comment upon it.
For aesthetic effect the real
must be raised to the nightmarish
level of the surreal. Federico Fel-
lini has made this transformation
and his later films are far more
effective as social criticism.
* * *
TRIBUTE must be paid to the
superb 'acting. Rachel Roberts'
fine performance has already been
alluded to, but it is Albert Finney
who carries the. film. Exuding
virility as Marlon Brando once did,
he injects life into a deathly slow-
paced and heavy-handed film. In
addition to a commanding physical
presence he has the subtle man-
nerisms which bring the creation
of character to completion.
-Sam Walker
MICHIGAN:
'Take Her,
A nybody
PUTTING SANDRA DEE in the
same film as James Stewart is
as tasteful and understandable as
including Bo Diddley in the May
Festival Beethoven Concert.
But that's what they did and
"Take Her, She's Mine," now,
showing at the Michigan Theatre,
deserves every bit of what
happens. As usual, Hollywood has
taken a delightful Broadway com-
edy and disguised it almost be-
yond recognition. All of the nat-
ural warmth of the play is bludg-
eoned to death and then the man-
gled remains re-inserted at stra-
tegic positions. The result is silly,
senseless and embarrassing.
JAMES STEWART is especially
embarrassing as he valiantly at-
tempts to win a picture that San-
dra Dee has lost by default. Only
in the scenes with Robert Morley,
the only decent addition to the
original script, does Stewart make
any advances. But Audrey Mead-
ows whines and Sandra mumbles
and the battle is over before it's
begun.
As the movie portrays him,
Stewart is the typical American
father sending his daughter away
to school. One gets the idea in the
parting scenes that Stewart is
really sincere in his efforts to send
Sandra away .. . anywhere.
But to no avail, for the plot, as
Nunnally Johnson has created it,
forces Stewart to follow and get
into typical American tangles. Per-
haps William Bendix would have
been more suited; Reilly wouldn't
have been so out of place.
* * *
OF ESPECIAL INTEREST is the
portrayal of typical teenagers
again. The same cast that thrilled
you with their credible portrayals
in every other teenage movie are
back again, slightly older, a little
coarser but, oh, so teen.
But the worst part of the film
isn,' '- ,nn n urin . n r A.itn,..
The first indication of this non-
support materialized last April
when the new constitution, the
heart of Romney's program, was
approved by the voters with only
the thinnest of margins to spare.
In addition to that the vote was
light, indicating a general dis-
interest in the Romney program.
YET THE GOVERNOR still ap-
parently labored under the im-
pression that he had widespread
support, and with this in mind he
labored hard to shape a program
of tax reform, which he submitted
to the Legislature in September.
Or perhaps I should say that he
sprung it on them, for until he
addressed the body in formal ses-
sion no one was quite sure what
he intended to propose.
When the program was unveiled,
Republicans were annoyed to find
it distressingly similar to, the
Democratic programs which they
had been opposing all this time.
Democrats were annoyed to find
their own proposals mutilated and
called a Republican program.
** *
AND ROMNEY played both ends
against the middle. He hadn't
secured full Republican approval
before unveiling the plan-Tper-
haps because he knew full well he
couldn't secure that approval, or
perhaps because he thought that,
by dint of his own forceful per-
sonality, he could carry the day.
At any rate, he was losing from
that moment on. Those legislators
who were caught off base im-
mediately set themselves in op-
position. They seized upon the
more unpopular elements of the
plan-notably the income tax, the
sales tax rebates and school tax
rearrangement-and literally talk-
ed the plan to death.
IN A WAY we cannot blame the
legislators. They had pledged to
their constituents to fight this
sort of program and Romney or
no Romney they didn't dare back
out.
Moreover, the Republicans in too
many cases felt no real allegiance
to the governor. He had wanted to
be elected as an independent, a
citizen's candidate and he made
every effort to disassociate his
name from the Republican label.
Thus it is not surprising that GOP
legislators, who received little or
no help from Romney, were in no
hurry to help him.
What's more, Democrats in Lan-
sing found themselves in a real
quandary. They were faced with
the prospect of backing a tax plan
which was essentially theirs and
then having to explain their sup-
Port of a Republican program to
their constituents.
So Democrats took their only
out. They too dug out the flaws
and magnified them all out of
proportion.
THINGS WENT ALONG this
way for six weeks, and no one
got anywhere. When at last the
Romney leaders got down to
counting votes, it became un-
comfortably apparent that there
were nowhere near enough.
So the Governor reached into
his bag of surprises and pulled
out another. He sought to join
forces with the Democrats and
get enough votes to pass a modi-
fied proposal. This only served to
alienate more Republicans, who
disliked the thought of a Republi-
can governor working with the
opposition. Democrats on the
other hand still could not recon-
cile themselves to supporting' a
Republican, and so their help was
not forthcoming.
THIS THEN brought us to last
Thursday. Thanksgiving and the
deer hunting season were ap-
proaching and the Legislature was
no nearer tax reform than it had
been in September. Members were
tired and discouraged; taxation
had become a touchy topic both in
Lansing and on the hustings at
home. Resolution seemed nowhere
in sight. The governor would not
give in and neither would the
Legislature. Sothe lawmakers
packed up and went home.
At last Romney seemed\ to un-
derstand what was at fault. He
emphasized thatonly "a minority
of Republicans" had opposed the
program, and he belabored the
Democrats for "going back on
their principles."
It seemed, finally, that George
Romney was becoming a Repub-
lican-perhaps out of necessity
more than anything else. He did
not talk of pressuring the GOP
lawmakers, though this had been
an important tactic throughout,
his campaign for tax reform. He
did not emphasize the salesman-
ship aspects of his plans, though
salesmanship had been quite evi-
dent the past few months.
* * *
RATHER he emphasized the fu-
ture-implementing the new con-
stitution, welcoming Republican
presidential hopefuls to the state,
passing Republican welfare, labor
and other proposals at the regular
legislative session next year.
Gone from his tone was the
feeling of the supreme person of
George Romney, and now it was
the Republican Romney leading
the fight for better government.
His words were just the same; but
most important, the tune was a
limtlrdim.aran
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To the Editor:
THE DIRECT ACTION Commit-
tee voted unanimously to sup-
port and participate in the nation-
wide boycott of all businesses dur-
ing the Christmas season. The
boycott is being called by various
civil rights organizations through-
out the nation.
Christmas is a holiday tradi-
tionally celebrated; by Christian
people and is supposed to be a
time of peace, brotherhood and
good will. But in America the
lynching and bombing of my
people continues, and in fact goes
on without being stopped.
*, * *
OUR PEOPLE will not partici-
pate in this mockery. DAC will
conduct a boycott of all businesses
in Washtenaw County for the
Christmas season, employing pick-
ets if necessary.
We urge every so-called Chris-
tian to join with us in, rejecting
this colossal fraud. The following
is a letter sent to DAC by our
brothers and sisters. We think it
is relevant and worthwhile enough
to warrant its printing.
--Charles Thomas, Jr.,
Chairman,
Direct Action Committee
To the Editor:
WE BELIEVE in Christmas, be-
cause it is the birthday of the
Prince of Peace and Brotherhood;
the birthday of! the Christ who
chased themoney-changers from
the temple; who said, "Love thy
neighbor as thyself"; who said,
"Suffer the little children to come
unto me, for such is the Kingdom
of Heaven." This is the Christ
we will celebrate; the great Jewish
carpenter-philosopher who was
born in the manger in Bethlehem.
Thousands of atrocities com-
mitted against humanity and the
Negro people from slavery to the
present time have gone unpunish-
ed. And now we are mocking the
Prince of Peace; throwing bombs
in the Holy Place of God; blasting
the brains of His children against
the high walls of His tabernacle
in Birmingham; turning His day
of days into a sabbath ritual of
blood and destruction.
WE ARE GUILTY. Not only
those who planted the bomb, but
those who condone injustice and
segregation and thereby give it
sanction; those who profit from
it and those who do not work to
eradicate it. We are guilty. And
who among us can participate in
life as usual. in business as usual,
or even Christmas as usual?
Let, us celebrate this year in a
way that will bear witness to the
life and love of Jesus. Let us re-
create from His life that image
including all the Adams and Eves
and their countless generations.
Let ups repent this most recent of
our crimes against humanity and
God; the murder of our tender
six of Birmingham, with the de-
termination that it will never be
sixty, or six hundred, six thou-
sand, or another six million.
THIS YEAR we will give our
children the profoundest gift of
all; the gift of truth, which is the
gift of love. And we will have the
duty to tell them that Santa will
not come this year because he is
in mourning for the six children
of Birmingham, who will get no
gifts this year or the next year
or the next. And for the children
too young to understand we will
make toys and gifts with our
hands from boxes and cans and
string and last year's toys and
paste and paint and wood and
love.
To the sellers of trees and trans
and pins and pianos, we urge you
to underst lnd and to pledge with
us, that this Christmas shall come
from. our hearts and minds, not
from our pocketbooks. To the ones
who must give something, notwith-
standing, we urge you to give to
the organizations and institutions
working to build and strengthen
the moral and religious fibre of
our nation.
It is in this spirit that we ask
all Americans of all colors, creeds
and religions, to join us in this
determination to put Christ back
into Christmas and His Great Life
back into moral and religious per-
spective.
-James Baldwin
Ossie Davis
Ruby Dee
Odetta Gordan
John 0.Killens
Louis Lomax
Association of Artists for
Freedom
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
IJAC Plans Boycott
Of Merchants
WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST:
A Perilous Posture I
By DICK POLLINGER
HIS UNIVERSITY, it has always seemed to me, is poised precar-
iously on that line which separates the so-called "play" schools
(like Miami, Colorado, Arizona, to name some extreme examples) from
the even more so-called "intellectual" ones (like Harvard, Chicago or
Oberlin). From year to year it teeters one way or the other but
somehow never falls irretrievably onto either side.
Naturally, the situation is of mixed blessing. While there is
no Cotillion to compare with Alabama's, there certainly exist other
peerless extravaganzas, like Michigras, or everybody's favorite, Spring
Weekend. On the other hand, while the undergraduate Classics depart-
ment withers on the vine, there is also a substantially low suicide
rate (of both the real and "academic" varieties), and a marked lack
of the wholesale conceit which students at the more academic schools
find it so fashionable to affect.
* * * *
A FRIEND OF MINE remarked that the smartest'. people here
are as smart as the smartest people anywhere, and although this
allegation doubtless extends also to the dumbest among us, it is
the relative concentrations which make all the difference. The Inter-
Fraternity sing is not a solo event, but, unfortunately, neither are
the student publications.
The University, I think, keeps its balance like any tightrope walker
who carries a pole to maintain his extremes below his center of
I