Saturday, September 23, 1972

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Five

We are willing to help people who believe the way

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William Appleman Williams,
SOME PRESIDENTS F R 0 M
WILSON TO NIXON. A New
York Review Book (Vintage),
$1.95.
By ED SUROVELL
Daily Books Editor,
For anyone who is seriously in-
terested in acquiring a thorough
understanding of where the Unit-
ed States is today and how it got
there, this small book is as good
a starting place as one could
hope to find.
It must be clear to everyone
by now that at least a great part
of what has been wrong with the
operation of our government over
the years, and of the Presidency
within that government, has not
been so much the fault of par-
ticular men (and women too -
but one of the few benefits of
being excluded from positions of
responsibility is that one doesn't
have to carry the blame when
things go wrong) but rather that
there is something drastically
wrong with the system itself.
That platitude being said, it is
extraordinarily difficult to make
much meaningful sense out of
American domestic and foreign
policy in the twentieth century
in a way that will allow us to
look toward the future and see a
course of action that has any
relevance to the past.
Williams does just that. What
is wrong with us today, he ar-
gues, is that we are a nation, a

. government without any partic-
ular social commitment backed
by a social movement - that
there isnospecii force behind
our government.
In order to impose its will up-
on a population suckled on the
Rights of Free Englishmen, any
minority must rely on its own
morality, its own intelligence
and ability to devise effective
programs, and on the arts of
persuasion. The upper - class
leadership that seized power in
1784-1787 (the Founding Fathers)
fulfilled t h o s e requirements
rather impressively for a gener-
ation. Led by Presidents that
understood the problems of state-
building, they created a function-
ing political economy, asserted
the integrity of that system
against the opposition of more
advanced European powers, .. .
stopped the slave trade, and
even d i s c u s s e d seriously the
the morality, the wisdom, and
the expediency of ending slavery.
The trouble was that they did
not build a social movement
committed to those objectives. A
social movement is not an elite
that overawes or manipulates'
the population. A social move-
ment is not an interest or pres-
sure group - not even a large
one. A social movement is a
strong plurality (on the verge
of becoming a majority) of citi-
zens united by common values
and committed to action to rea-
lize and honor those values.
What we got instead of a social

Wilson, the great intervention-
ist. Of the Mexican revolution,
for example, "The President's
problem . . . was to combine
'sympathy for the revolutionaries
and their cause and his desire
to control Mexico's destiny.' Wil-
son, as usual, pecked it out on
his own little portable machine:
'When properly directed, there
is no people not fitted for self-
development'; hence the proper
American policy was one of
'watching them narrowly and
insisting that they shall take
help when help is needed.' You
know who decided when help was
needed." "It was years before
anyone except a few crackpots
(on the right as well as the left)
connected saving the world for
'a reformed and socially respon-
s i b 1 e democratic capitalism'
with the deterioration of life in
these United States."
Over and over again Williams
stresses that what is wrong with
Wilson, and later with the sec-
ond Roosevelt, Truman, JFK,
Johnson, and Nixon, is not that
they were in various degrees in-
competent or vicious (for he
points out that they were indeed
so) but that it is virtually im-
possible to "govern a continent
without a social movement that
represents the common interest
of various special interests, and
that is engaged in the process
of redefining those separate
groups as equal elements of a
commonwealth." What is wrong,

Williams feels, is that the ele-
ments of America-business, la-
bor, and the people (represent-
ed abstractly by government) -
would each have it his own way.
"If the corporations took over -
fascism. If job-oriented labor
leaders took over - a mutant,
mundane, and elitist corruption
of socialism. If government per
se took over - an elitist, bureau-
cratic, and community - destroy-
ing hell-on-earth."
There were two exceptions to
the downward trend of the Presi-
dency in Williams' view, Hoover
and Eisenhower. If both these
men were too slow and failed to
meet great needs of their times,
each one had one ability all the
others lacked, to say no or
enough to massive pressure. If
they lacked imagination, at least
they knew when not to fall prey
to the strongest interest groups.
A minor complaint to the pub-
lishers: this book is overpriced.
It is time that short but import-
ant books (Philip Slaters Pur-
suit of Loneliness is another one)
not be sold at rip-off prices just
because they are certain best
sellers.

Evil .'

. . .begets evil

movement was a society of com-
peting interest groups.
Such groups have upon occa-
sion involved a plurality, even a
majority, of the population; but
special interest groups in a mar-
ket place society are inherently
limited by the underlying ethic
of competitive individualism.

They cannot create a commun-
ity. They are at best reformist
within a capitalistic framework.
And at worst they become in-
volved in extending the market
place Weltanschauung into other
areas and over other peoples.
Which is where we are today.
Williams begins with Woodrow


JOCKS
'Boys and girls together'

John Behee, F I E L D I N G
YOST'S LEGACY TO THE UNI-
VERSITY OF MICHIGAN. Dis-
tributed by Ulrich's Books, Ann
Arbor, $6.95. Edgar S. Bacon, HI
FROSH! Equinox Press, $3.95.
By FRANKIE FRISBEE
Editor's Note.-The following
review revives an old Daily tra-
dition of introducing new Uni-
versity students to some of the
more important aspects to col-
lege life in Ann Arbor, and to
some of the more important fig-
ures in the administration of the
University - namely the alumni
and the Athletic Department.
See - and this is the truth
- one day last spring this old
guy, this alumnus, came over to
The Daily and give us this here
novel about the way college life
was in our town, and us being
bookish people over here at The
Daily, we also saw this other
book about some kinda legacy
which was left us by some cat
name of Yost.
Anyway, back to this here nov-
el. It started out like this:
The day Runny Speckle took
off for college he was sitting on'
the john relaxing and enjoying
himself when he overheard his
parents talking in the family li-
brary. An inch space at the bot-
tom of the swing door that sep--
arated the two rooms permitted
their voices to come in loud
and clear.
For a while they talked about
horses. Speck's father, Dr. Josh-
ua E. Speckle, Sr., said he pre-
ferred a ,palomino that could
single - foot and wouldn't shy
away f r o m dark shadows.
Speck's mother,' the socially-in-
clined Mary Elizabeth Hubbard
Speckle, said that she would set-
tle for a big black stallion that
could trot like the wind. She also
said that she would sit him side-
saddle, of course.
sAnd then from out of nowhere
she added, "Aren't you going to
tell him?"
"Tell him what?"

"About sex."
Man, we knowed .we had a
good one then, and it kept get-
tin' better all the time. Anyway,
while we was readin' this here
novel, my old lady (she hung
around The Daily too) was look-
in' at this here Yost book, and
started into askin' some dumb
questions.
"Hey, where the hell is the
part about women in this here
book?" she asked politely, where-
upon I answered, after a brief
pause, "Right there, as plain as
day, on page 175, lines 5 to 15,
inclusive":
It would be just as inaccur-
ate to say Yost was unsympa-
thetic to the needs of the Uni-
versity's women students as it
would be to say he championed
their cause. While not nearly as
actively interested in promoting
new facilities for women as he
was for the men's intercollegiate
and intramural programs, he
wrote to a friend: "I might say
that I am convinced that no bet-
ter use has ever been made of
athletic incomes at this or any
other institution than the de-
velopment and equipment of a
suitable place to carry on the
physical education activities of
this group of students (women)
who have, to some extent, been
heretofore neglected."
"To some extent heretofore
neglected"' my old lady scream-
ed, takin' the book and throwin'
it twenty feet across the room
and through the window! "Why
that old son-of-a-"
At this point we was saved
from mayhem by the timely in-
tervention of one of the more
knowledgeable sports editors of
the staff, who observed, "Please,
you have to give legacies time to
ripen. Why, just this year, didn't
you girls get any intercollegiate
tennis team? Isn't that some-
thing? Why, if it hadn't been for

old Fielding, just think, you
might of had to put up with all
them other terrible sports that
girls has to play. You know,
like fencing and swimming and
volleyball and basketball and
gymnastics and track and . ."
"Git lost," said my old lady,
who had been thinkin' about how
she had had to pay all them stu-
dent fees to build Crisler Arena,
but that nothin' was ever held
there that she could play in. We
tried to explain to her that noth-
in' was held there that anybody
else could play in either, except
a dozen or so unfortunates who
happened to be over seven foot
tall and who for some reason
were said to represent the whole
University out there playin' bas-
ketball. "They all just happened
to come here to Ann Arbor, you
know," said the sports staffer.
"It has something to do with
legacies or somethin', I don't
know."
Just at this time somebody
else was writin' a story 'bout
a concert and wanted to know if
it was true that student organiz-
ations had to pay $2,500 a night
to use that Crisler Arena which
was built by student fees. Some-
body said something about a leg-
acy that a fellow named Yost
had left. I went back to my
novel.
Runny Speckle arrived in Ann
Arbor late in the afternoon. His
brother Josh and another fel-
low from the Chi Theta house
met him at the little stone sta-
tion at the foot of the hill on
North State Street. They were
smothered up to their ears in
racoon coats. A racoon coat was
a college man's badge that was
worn day and night regardless
of the temperature..
Hey, I wondered to myself, do
you suppose this guy who wrote
this book might have won a
Hopwood when he was a student?

b
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- DOMESTICS -
'70 CHEVROLET
One-half ton pickup, V-8, 3-
speed, radio, 6 1/ ft. fleetside
box.
$2195
'70 MAVERICK
6-cylinder, automatic, radio,
new tires,
was $1595 NOW $1495
- FOREIGN and SPORTS -
'72 MERCEDES BENZ
250c 4-door sedan, automatic,
AM-FM radio, 12,000 miles,
beautiful dark green finish,
luggage tan interior.
Reduced to $6595
'69 MGC ROADSTER
6-cylinder, with overdrive, wire
wheels, new radialetires, AM-
*FM radio, extra clean
$2495

'66 PORSCHE 911 Coupe
New engine, and transmission,
priced for quick sale.
'64 Porsche 356C Coupe
Sharp finish, runs good, very
clean for a '64.
was $2295 NOW $2095
1971 SAAB 99E
4 Dr. Auto. 10,000 Miles, Just
Like New.
$2895
1963 MER. BENDZ 190D
Mint Cond
$1495
TOYOTAS, 100% warranty
'70 CORONA
4 -door sedan, automatic, clean
coar.
was $1895 NOW $1795
'69 CORONA
2-door hardtop, 4-speed, bright
red finish, sharp.
$1495 a

................................

in.'

10 Speed Imported B[:yce FREE
with purchase of new Toyota or "quality checked" used car

FIELDING YOST stands beside the new Packard presented to
him by admiring (male) alumni. Even the players didn't get
treated this well.
JAPANESE MOTION-PICTURE DAY
SEPT. 24 SUNDAY (start at 1 p.m.) at FIFTH FORUM THEATRE
1. LADY EJIMA AND KABUKI ACTOR IKUSHIMA
SHOCHIKU film Ichikawa Ebizo, Onoe Shoroku,
Awashima Chikage. (Historical Love. Story).
2. UTSUKUSHI SA TO KANASHIMI TO
(Beauty and Sadness)
SHOCKIKU film. Original story by late Nobel
Prize writer Yasunari KAWABATA.
English Translation Provided
ADMISSION: $2.25
JAPAN ARCADE
611 CHURCH STREET Tel. 769-6644

-NOW ON DISPLAY-USED 1972 MAZDA RX2-

Open Evenings till 9 p.m.; Sat. till 5 p.m.

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Today's writer. .
Frankie Frisbee aspires to be
the Al Ackerman of Ann Arbor
and once played second base for
the Hollin Hall School "B" soft-
ball team.

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