Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Upheaval in Portuguese countryside
Saturady, January 10, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Chou: A great leader dies
By HOWARD DRATCH
TORREBELA, Portugal, Jan. 8
(PNS) - While most of the in-
terest in the tumultuous Portu-
guese revolution has been fo-
cused on the political struggles
and civil unrest in Lisbon, that
city is hardly the only part of
Portugal which has undergone
radical transformation since the
coup of April, 1975. In the coun-
tryside, farming has become
communalized, and the farm
communalism is working in the
Chinese rather than the Russian
tradition in that it is efficient.
We visited a farm near this
city about 40 miles north of
Lisbon. The farm's organiza-
tion reflects the large agricul-
tural revolution that has swept
rural Portugal in the last 20
months, particularly in the
South. Farm production - long
held back by the old system of
absentee landlords, game pre-
serves and undercultivation -
is now surging ahead. One re-:
sult: today, for the first time,
Portugal does not need to im-
port* wheat.
THE ROAD to Torrebela winds
past an ancient 10-foot-high wall
encircling the farm. Stretching
for 27 kilometers, the road
winds through rolling hills of
olive trees, vineyards and cork
- where deer were once kept
for the pleasure of royal hunt-
ing parties and privileged
guests.
Today a painted slogan stands
below the aristocratic seal on
the gate: "Welcome to the Cen-
ter of People's Power." A wrin-
kle-faced peasant woman ap-
peared, swung open the big met-
al door, and waved us in.
As our car bounced up the
road, lined with eucalyptus
trees, we were told that in re-
cent weeks several incendiary
bombs had been hurled over
the wall.
We pulled up to a cluster of
large stately buildings painted
white with orange-tiled roofs.
In the courtyard, lunch was
being prepared in two large
iron pots over an open fire.
While the vegetable soup and
noodles stewed, a cluster of
people ranging in age from six
to 60 gathered to listen to the
FEW OF US will pause this weekend
for somber reflection on the
death of China's great premier, Chou
En-Lai. For many years he was, after
all, a distant figure in an unknown
nation. We were taught to see his
people as an enemy, and his ideology.
as a deadly threat to our own. Sadly,
our government has only recently
given the People's Republic of China
some of the recognition it deserves.
Thus, the passing of Chou will
hardly stir the sense of national
mourning felt in America when
Western leaders like Winston Chur-
chill or Charles DeGaulle died.
This is most unfortunate. In this
Bicentennial year, we waste an aw-
ful lot of verbiage on America's sup-
posedly revolutionary spirit, and on
reviving a cult of hero worship for
our early leaders.
IN PRINCIPLE,.THERE is nothing
wrong with this. But what of the
world's surviving revolutions? For
50 years, Chou and his comrade,
Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, led the
greatest revolution the world has
ever known. They changed the lives
of 600 million people, bringing the
hope of economic and social equal-
ity into a nation of feudalism.,
A careful examination of the revo-
lution and its ideology provides stir-
ring reminders of the revolutionary.
principles upon which this country
was founded. There lies one of the
great differences between Chou's
revolution and our own; in America,
the revolution vanished in the long
shadow of our wealthy, militaristic,
unequal society. While China is far
from perfect, the revolution there
continues. Under the leadership of
Chou, Mao, and Teng Hsiao-Ping,
China has continued innovating and
re-examining its domestic policies in
search of a better life for*its people,
WITH OUR USUALLY wretched,
rarely trustworthy government,
that statement has the ring of dis-
tant thunder. We must remember
Chou for engineering and carrying
forward a noble spirit that has sadly
eluded our own leadership.
i
Letters to The Dal/y
A erican hunger politics
IN WHAT IS NO more than a cloak-
ed bribe to entice foreign govern-
ments to support our ideologies, Hen-
ry Kissinger has formalized a policy
of slashing American aid to those
nations that have opposed the Unit-
ed States in UN voting.
Considering that the aid has con-
sisted partly of food and humanitar-
ian assistance, it is particularly rep-
rehensible to think that the United
States would apply bullyish strong-
arm tactics to the nations that have
sided against us.
Also very distasteful and much
more revealing of the intent of this
policy is the fact that Egypt, which
has also voted against us in the UN,
will not be subjected to these em-
bargos.
The vote of a UN delegate is hard-
ly the criteria for determining whe-
ther or not a country should receive
humanitarian relief. Innocent citi-
zens should not have to suffer be-
cause of questionable opportunistic
politicking on the part of the U.S.
rent strike
To The Daily:
AS YOU MAY already know,
the Ann Arbor Tenants Union
has been on rent strike against
Trony Associates/ Sunrise Man-
agement since December 1st.
The issues which precipitated
the strike are, essentially, the
classic Ann Arbor ones: soar-
ing rents, almost non-existent
maintenance, humiliating lease
clauses which are designed to
keep the tenant submissive, etc.
While Trony Associates is one
of the worst landlords with re-
spect to these problems, the dif-
ference between their practices
and those of other landlords is
jest one of economics: Tony
Hoffman and Ron Ferguson
(Ron + Tony = Trony) were
looking for the quickest dollar
they could get while other land-
lords are more interested in
making the long-term invest-
ment dollar. The Tenants Union
rent struck against Trony for
the simple reason that the eco-
nomics of their business was
causing them to exploit tenants
in a more vicious style.
On November 13, two Tenants
Union organizers approached
Tony Hoffman and Dewey Black
(the newest addition to Trony
Associates who is currently
slowly buying the business from
Hoffman and Ferguson) to in-
form them that the majority
of their tenants were now Ten-
?rts Union members and to ask
them to recognize us as the
bargAining and legal agent of
these tenants. We were told that
we would be recognized as the
legal representative of these ten-
ants once we produced a list
of names. Not prepared to jeop-
ardize our members needlessly,
we asked for a written state-
ment to the effect that we would
be recognized upon producing
our authorization by the tenants,
and b) a guarantee of no ha-
rassment. Their response to our
first request, that they put in
writing what they had verbally
promised us, was a flat "no,"
and the response to ourtsecond
request of "no harassment" was
"that's your problem."
THEREFORE, we initiated a
rent strike, since we had met
with a clear refusal to act in
good faith, much less recognize
our union. At this point, we still
have only one non-negotiable
demand: recognition of the Ann
Arbor Tenants. Union as the
sole bargaining agent for Trony
tenants.
Rent strikes usually have some
good side effects and this rent
strike is no exception. We have
forced Trony Associates to fix
fire escapes, replace doors, -lay
new carpets, put on new locks,
as well as dozens of other re-
p irs. Trony has had to do these
repairs since, even if they are
able to hold out against our eco-
nomic pressure, they would still
have to face the displeasure of
juries.
The goals of the Tenants Union
are just: we want good housing
at reasonable rents. When Trony
Associates /Sunrise Management
tries their hardest to break the
rent strike,dit is because the
societal need for decent hous-
ing at affordable rents conflicts
with their own desires for per-
sonal wealth. Our position is
that, if Dewey Black wants to
be a millionaire at the age of
thirty, he will have to look out-
side Ann Arbor's nationally ad-
vertised housing market.
The Ann-Arbor
Tenants Union
January 7
news on a portable radio.
SOON OUR HOSTS invited
tea into the old royal banquet
room, where colorful political
posters alternated with old deer
antlers on the walls. As we shar-
ed a meal, a lively peasant of
about 55 with a black beret and
jump suit told the story of re-
cent changes at Torrebela.
"The people who used to own
this place had many estates,"
he began. "After all, they were
part -of the old royal family.
They even had a big place in
Lisbon on a street with their
name, Costada Duque de. la
Lafoas."
Where are they now, since the
fall of Caetano and the end of
the fascist regime?
"Some ran off to Switzerland
and others had already moved
to Brazil," he said.
Before the April 25 occupa-
tion, the estate was virtually
unproductive. It hadonly eight
farm workers who cut a small
number of eucalyptus trees for
lumber each year. The absentee
landlords paidtan engineer from
a big corporation in Lisbon to
drive out on Saturdays and
supervise the, estate.
SURPRISINGLY, the engineer
had supported the occupation
and even helped negotiate with
the Fourth Provisional Govern-
ment, which legally recognized
the new owners.
Today 20 people - including
three of the original eight-live
and work on Torrebela. Forty-
five more live nearby and come
here to work.
Important decisions on the
organization of farm work are
taken at collective meetings of
a general assembly, while the
farm is managed on a day-to-
day basis by a workers' coun-
cil. Workers have divided them-
selves into different sectors:
animal husbandry, wheat, vine-
yards. In, addition, Torrebela
has formed an alliance-with six
othernearbynagricultural coop-
eratives to share farm equip-
ment, marketing arrangements
and other resources.
This year, despite dry weath-
er, Torrebela's rich soil yielded
a bumper crop of wheat, barley,
kale, oats; grapes, olives and
vegetables. Many acres once
used for hunting and small-
scale Ilmbering werednow un-
der cultivation, with dramatic
results.
TORREBELA is hardly typi-
cal. Portugal's landless peasants
have not restricted themselves
to huge estates with absentee
landlords. They have seized rich
but unused land on medium-
sized farms as well.
This movement inevitably has
sparked a rising tide of reac-
tion among medium and small
landowners who feel threatened
by the collective principle and
the idea of legal land occupa-
tions, even if their, own land
holdings have been untouched.
In recent months they have
been increasingly active, clam-
oring for the new owners at
places like Torrebela to be
thrown off the land. Their ef-
forts received a boost Novem-
ber 25 when the Sixth Provision-
al Government crushed a mili-
tary revolt and began a series
of arrests and other measures
against the left.
While media attention was fo-
ensed on Lisbon, the country-
side had its-own share of ten-
sion. The farm workers describ-
ed how, on the night of Decem-
ber 1, a unit from the Practi-
cal Cavalry School in nearby
Santarem - ostensibly searchr
ing for illegal firearms-crash-
ed through the farm's gate with
an armored car, overran the
farm, and arrested five of the
cooperative's members.
SINCE THEN; the five have
been held incommunicado -
"The farm's organ-
ization reflects the lar-
ger revolution that has
swept rural Portugal in
the last 20 months.
Farm production -
long held back by the
old system of absentee
landlords and under-
cultivation--is surging
ahead."
snome without charges - in a
prison near Lisbon. Six more
people from nearby coopera-
tives were arrested in the same
sweep. One man was taken be-
cause he was the farm's ac-
countant. Another was accused
of hunting rabbits with an Air
Force jeep.
Since the arrests, a local right-
wing paramilitary group-prob-
ably responsible for the incen-
diary bombs and the threats
painted on the highway - has
been marauding in the vicinity.
And on the afternoon of our
visit to Torrebela, a rally was
held in a nearby town to gath-
er strength for future moves
against the newly formed coop-
eratives.
So the mood at. Torrebela
that crisp winter afternoon was
more tense than usual. But it
was clear that the cooperative
farmers had no intention of giv-
ing up their farm without a
struggle.
Howard Dratch, a military
affairs analyst for Pacific News
Service, is currently on a writ-
ing tour of Europe.
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol 11111,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Rep. Marvin Esch (Rep), 2353 Rayburn Bldg., Capitol 11111,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Gilbert Bursley (Rep), Senate, State Capitol Bldg.,
Lansing, Mi. 48933.
Rep. Perry Bullard (Dem), House of Representatives, State
Capitol Bldg. Lansing, Mi. 48933.
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Rally round the rent strike
ANTS. LOCKS THAT don't safeguard
valuables. Fire escapes that do
not meet with city code safety regu-
lations. Doors with the hinges on the
outside-the ideal position for any
passing burglar.
Are these the kinds of accoutre-
ments a rental agency should throw
in along with the lease and front
door key to an apartment?
Tenants who made the mistake of
renting from Trony/Sunrise Manage-
ment Company have been asking
themselves that question now for a
while. The good folks down at the
Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU)
believe they know the answer. Back
in November, fed up with Trony/Sun-
rise's deplorable and archaic main-
tenance and security measures, the
AATU mobilized themselves and al-
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Gordon Atcheson, Ann Marie
Lipinsky, Steve Selbst, Tim Schick,
Bill Turque
Editorial Page: Marc Basson, D a n
Biddle, Nancy Grech, Paul Haskins,
Stephen Harsh, Ted Lambert, Jon
Pansius, Tom Stevens
Arts: David Blomquist, Chris Koman-
ski
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
most half of Trony/Sunrise's tenants
in hitting landlord Dewey Black and
cohorts right where it hurts-in the
money belt.
RUT THINGS ARE beginning to dim
now for the Tenants' Union and
the renters they've so diligently sup-
ported throughout the last few
weeks. Black continues to refuse to
recognize the existence of the AATU
as a bargaining team in the dispute.
Three district court judges struck
another blow last Wednesday by or-
dering the tenant escrow fund to
come under their own control, rather
than that of the tenants' union. The
judges honored another of Black's
requests by turning the affair over
to University Mediation.
And then there is the saddening
instance of slackening tenant sup-
port.
rHE TRONY/SUNRISE rent strike
is just. one example of renters
falling prey to management's despic-
able shenanigans.
Lend your support, whether you
rent or not. Involvement in this kind
of management dispute is just one
way in which we can achieve the
kind of democracy we all richly de-
serve-but not always enjoy.
m.
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New York's theatre thrives
despite Gotham's troubles
5l
By MARK
takes more than
andragola to convince
is doubtful prince
FRIEDLANDER
By ANDREW ZERMAN
Special To The Daily
NEW YORK - Even as it ap-
proaches financial bankruptcy,
the Big Beautiful Apple remains
culturally the richest city in
America. My favorite jewel in
'New York's crown of the arts is
the theatre. In the English-
speaking world only London's
theatre rivals New York's in
quality, quantity and variety.
A curiou$ thing has been hap-
pening to the New York s'age
in the last few seasons. After
a distressingly lean period 'n the
late sixties and early seventies,
a palpable revitalization occur-
red. At the booth in Times
Square where unsold seats are
sold half-price on the day of
performance, it is not unaisual
to see two lines, each two bl)cks
long, of people who know they
aren't going to see the biggest
"hits" but who just have the
itch to see live people on stage.
As the economics of Off-Broad-
way began to prevent the in-
novation, evperimentation and
eclecticism of the fifties and six-
ties, off-off Broadway theatres
- countless numbers of them -
sorang up and received atten-
tion and support from audiences
and critics. Producers discover-
ed the efficacy of television com-
mercials in luring and cultivat-
ing audiences who may not read
the New York Times but who
may- want to go to the theatre
anyway. The River Niger and
Raisin brought blacks to Broad-
way in big numbers. '
Then came the glorious sea-
son of 1974-75, which was the
finest in quite a long time and in
addition had the distinction of
being capped off with a pheio-
menon called A Chorus Line
which will undoubtedly run for-
ever. That silly obituary Rkep-
tics had been writing for I i v e
theatre in New York is now good
for scrap paper, perhaps, b u t
nothing more.
lis Rabb has directed an ex-
quisite production of The Royal
Family, a celebration of theatre
by George S. Kaufman and Ed-
na Ferber. Luckily, the Brook-
lyn Academy of Music broaught
the production to New York.
The family in question is bas-
ed on the Barrymores. Over
the course of the play, three
members of this distinguished
theatrical family attempt to get
out of the theatre and set up
more "normal" lives. 3ut they
discover that acting is in their
blood and "normal" is liust a
nice word for "boring."
Watching over the follies of
the second and third generations
is the first generation matriarch,
played by Eva LeGallienne -
and what could be more perfect
than LeGallienne playing a
great lady of the stage?
Nothing, except maybe Rose-
mary Harris playing her daurh-
ter. These two superb actresses
express the almost unreal style,
sophistication and elegance that
America in the 1920's (and the
'70s?) associated with the thea-
tre.
David Merrick, whose lessen-
ing of activity in New Yvk is
to be lamented, has brought in
a charming revival " of Jerome
Kern's 1915 musical, Very Good
Eddie from the Goodspeed
Opera House in Connecticut.
Like The Royal Family and
unlike the kitschy No No Nanette
of a few seasons back, this pro-
duction is respectful of The ori-
ginal material and the era trom
which it came.
Under the wise direction of
Bill Gile, this show presen's a
bit of our musical comedy: heri-
tage, authentically and honestly.
It is history, not nostalgia. Most
impressive here were the danc-
es staged by Dan Siretta and the
marvelous rm'sicvl arrange-
ments of Russell Warner. On a
small stage, with only four or
different part of the same house,
during the same period and w;th
the same six characters. la oth-
er words, when a character an-
noonces that he's going into the
living room, you can see him
there in the play "Living To-
gether."
It's a little less ingenious than
it sounds. There's no denying
it's a fun concept and the two
parts I saw - living room and
dining room - were good, en-
tertaining comedies. But what's
the point? The content of the
plays doesn't seem to suggest
or warrent this concept.
Each play is self-contained
and the three can be seen in
any order. Although I enjoyed
the two plays I saw, I felt cheat-
ed- because I'd hoped more use
would be made of this poten-
tially exciting idea. The whole
should be greater than the sum
of its parts but here the parts
don't even sum up.
Habeas Corpus, by Alan Ben-
nett, is another British comedy
and one that fits into the age-
old genre of British sex com-
edy, a genre that has its raots
in Shakespeare's dirty double
entendres. It would not be a
gross exaggeration to say that
Habeas Corpus is a play about
the size of women's breasts.
What's more, these breasts are
not a metaphor for Godot or
man's inhumanity to man or
anything. They're just breasts.
No classy drawing room corn-
edy this.
But Bennett is a literate and
imaginative farceur. I sensed a
kind of tongue-in-cheek humor
about the entire play, along with
a deft, absurd zaniness. Some
of thes jokes were unforgivable
but parts of Habeas Corpus were
roitously funny. Or maybe I'm
just a sucker for sex farces: my
comnanions remained p r e t t y
stony-faced.
Responsible for most of my
North was' quickly assembled. They
4 2 cut for partners, and Machiavel-
,V 5 4 2 li found himself partnered by
West * A K Q J 10 5 the man who only a moment
A Q J 10 ..852 earlier had claimed a control-
V 10 6 ing interest in Niccolo's life
* 9 7 2 with the intention of liquidating
mY. A Q J 6 3 South his assets.
A A K 7 5 3 East The Prince shuffled, cut, and
V A K Q 3 A 9 8 6 4 out dealt off the bottom, it
+ 6 4 V J 9 8 7 would still have passed without
4, 7 4 4 8 3 apparent notice.
*'K 10 9 Machiavelli opened third seat
North East South West with one spade and rebid two
hearts over partner's two dia-
pass pass 1 A pass mond response. The Prince bid
2 f pass 2 V pass three hearts, which Machiavelli
3 V pass 4 V All pass carried to four explaining, "I
certainly think it is better to be
Opening lead: Q of spades impetuous than cautious. For
"A book?" the Prince half- fortune is a woman and it is
asked, half-demanded. necessary to conquer her by
"Yes, sire," replied.Niccolo force."
"Ychiaesliisrk,"neeseginni Superficially it appeared that
Machiavelli, his knees beginning South needed an even break in
to ache from having supported trumps. "Yet while seeking for-
his weight for so long. "An tune," Niccolo rambled on, "one
extraordinary book, a book of soud avoid depending on her.
great -" Men and princes rarely consider
"Silenzio!" roared the mon-. that in quiet times, things may
arch. "Why do you try to em- change. It is a common fault
barrass me?" of man not to reckon on storms
"Embarrass?" queried Machi- in fair weather."
avelli, rising, still rubbing his The Prince mumbled some-
knees. "How do I embarrass thing about unnecessary chat-
youl?" ter at the bridge table and or-
"You know I cannot read! dered the play to begin. Machi-
Your gift is one of impudence avelli won the queen of spades
and you will pay with your life, with the ace and cashed the
Guards!" . king, ditching a club from dum-
"No! Wait! I have an idea. my. Then, with only the small-
I can teach you the principles est of hesitations, he led the
of my book in another way. three of hearts from his hand.
You play bridge, don't you?" presenting the defense with a
"Of course," claimed Lorenzo free trump trick!
di Medici with the practiced The Duke and Earl cashed
indignance of a ruler who had two rllibs, but declarer was in
condemned innocent men to control and took ten tricks. No
death by the thousands. A scion other play works against a 442
of the most notoriously cruel trumn break because declarer
family of all time glowered at has to guard against the twin
Machiavelli. "What do you think dangers of being forced to ruff
I am, a barbarian? Of course a club in the closed hand and
I play bridge. You and you," being locked in dummy with
he ordered, pointing at a Duke nothing to play but diamonds.
and an Earl in his court, "will A wearier Machiavelli tabled
.aa~ ~ -1115aW f~. "A,,d' ~.I 11 1