. ' PACE FOTIM THE MICHIGAN V A ILY I 6ATLJRIDVY, IMA Y 18,i1 2 I 1o ___ Published every morningaecept Monday duig the University a b the Board in Control of Student Publitions. Member of Western Conference Editorial Association. The Associated Preos is exclusivel en. titled to the use Por republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and the local news pub. lished herein. Entered. at tke postoffice at Ann Arb~or, Michigan, issecond class matter. Special rate of postagP granted by Third Assistant Post- ,jiaster General. Subsciption by earer, $4.00; by mail, 4&6e: Ann Arbor Press Building, May- surd Street. Phones: editorial, 4925; Business, a1214. EDITORIAL STAFV Telephone 4929: MANAGING EDITOR KENNETH G. PATRICK Editor........................Nelson Ti. Smith City Editor .............'. Stewart Hooker News Editor...........Richard C. Kurvink Sports Editor............. W Morris Quinn Women' s iditor .............. Sylvia S. Stone Telegraph Editor..... ...... :.George Stautet Music and Drama............. L. Askren Assistant City Editor...........Robert Silbar Night Editors r FphE Howell Charles S. Monroe Id J. Aline Pierce Rosenberg Lawrence R. Kl- h George E. Simons George .C. Tilley Reporters Paul L. Adams Donald E. Layman Morris AlexandE? aCharles A. Lewis C. A. Askren Marian McDonald Bertram Askwith Henry Merry Bouise Behymer Elizabeth Quaife Arthur Bernste*Q Victor Rabowitz Seton C.. Bovee Joseph A. Russell Isabel Charles Anne Schell L.. R. Chubb Rachel Shearer Frank F.. Cooper Howard Simon $elen Domine Robert L. Sloss Margaret Eckels R'uth Steadman Douglas Edwards A. Stewart Valborg Egeland Cadwell Swansea Robert 3. Feldman Jade Thayer Marjorie Follmer EJith Thomas 'William Gentry Beth Valentine Ruth Geddes Gurney Williams David B. Hempstead Jr. Walter Wilds Richard Jung George E. Wohlgemuth Charles R. Kaufman Edward L. Warner Jr. Ruth Kelsey Cleland Wyllie BUSINESS STAFF Telephone "21214 BUSINESS MANAGER EDWARD L. HULSE Assistant Manager-RAYMOND WACHTER Department Managers Advertising...............Alex K. Scherer Advertising................James Jordan Service................Herbert E. Varnum Circulation............... George S. Bradley Accounts............Lawrence E. Walkley Publications...............Ray M. Hofelich Mary Chase Jeanette Dale ernor Davis Bessie Egeland Sally Faster Anna Goldberg Kasper Halverson George Hamilton e Horwich txuHumphrey AssIstants Marion Kerr Lillian Kovinsky Bernard Larson Iollister. Mabley 1. A. Newman Jack Rose Carl 'F. Schemm George Spater Sherwood iUpton Marie Wellstead SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1929 Night Editor-ROBERT L. SLOSS AIDING THE CAUSE Governor4 Green inadvertently, perhaps, but withal wisely, further- ed the cause of capital punishment in Michigan by"vetoing the Len- non-Wood electric chair bill last Thursday. The bill in the form passed by both houses is charac- terized by overeagerness on the part of its sponsors to make the most of a needed reform. The in- strument they created is too in- flexible to be a credit and an aid to Michigan jurisprudence and the theory of death for conviction on charges of first degree murder. Depriving the judge of discre- tionary powers, particularly in the case of youths and women, is bound to create public resentment against enforcement of the law. Another consideration is the well-known sentimentality of our present bi- sexual juries who would balk at re- turning a verdict that carried with it mandatory electrocution. §hrewd lawyers have before now demon- strated their adeptness at playing I on the maudlin sympathies of jur- ors. Their efficiency in producing sobs, tears, sympathy, and hung verdicts would be at least doubled , by the hard-boiled provisions of' the Lennon-Wood measure. But the veto of the bill should 1 not be construed as another de-; feat for the proponents of capital1 punishment, for it has pointed, the1 way to success in the next session of the legislature. Governor Green produced no tenable objection to) general thesis of electrocution which other states have applieb1 successfully to the hardened crim-g inal who has no horror of mur-1 der.1 Laying aside metaphysicalI considerations of the state's right1 to take a life and the war*dj psychology of men who would as1 soon risk the hot chair, capital1 punishment is a practical measure to save taxpayers the expense of1 life terms and to preclude tle pos-t sibility of murderers' escaping. The Lennon-Wood measure has paved the way for a more flexible2 instrument of justice, aimed moret accurately at the hardened under- world murderer, which should survive our legislative process nextZ time.J CHEAP REVENGEt After losing four consecutiveC games, two while freshmen and the other two while sophomores, at9 lP ~tsr'-nnivvh~,'v rf the C i1~snis ity is set aside as soon as the spring games are' concluded, and both freshien pnd sophomores live in a quiescent state until each advances to the next higher rung of the ladder leading toward grad- uation. The situation caused by the burning of the wood was, how- ever, particularly embarrassing in 1 view of the fact that an almost negligible number of freshmen turned out to aid in gathering the inflamable material. Luckily, enough were interested in having some place to destroy their pots to rebuild the fire, so that the ceremonies for Cap Night last night could be smoothly perform- ed. But the sophomores' record for spirit during their sojourn at Michigan does not warrant their presumptive attitude toward all traditions. A few lessons in good sportsmanship would provide an excellent tonic for such bad losers. Campus Opinion Contributors are asked to he brief, confining themselvestoless thanr 30 words it possible. Anonymous com- munications will be disregarded. The names of communicants will, however, be regardedras confidential, upon re- quest. Letters published should not be construed as ex ressing the editorial opinion of the Daily. THE ABASEMENT OF MIMES Looking back over the dramatic season of Mimes that the 'Jniver- sity campus has enjoyed (?),one finds the year singularly lacking in theatrical high spots. In fact, it may well be said with certainty that not for the last ten years has the campus witnessed such poor entertainment from Mimes. The season started comparative- ly late, but.Ithis tardiness was sup- posedly to be well compensated by the lavish and extravagant prom- ises of Mr. Shuter to produce such fine plays as Galsworthy's "Jus- tice" and "Loyalties," Maughan's "The Constant Wife," interspersed with a. few well chosen plays of Ibsen, Shaw, and Barrie. Michi- gan students were prepared to be audience to dramatic fare whose excellence was. to be unparalleled in the annals of the amateur the- ater. And now that the season is drawing to a close, a rapid survey shows that not one of the promised plays was produced, but instead, four such inferior and practically unknown plays were used, that there is little wonder that drama enthusiasts have become discour- aged and even disgusted with the eminent Mr. Shuter, and have turned to Comedy Club and Play Production in order to feed their drana-starved souls. The Michigan campus has sel- dom, if ever, witnessed more flimsy and mediocre dramas than "The Marquise," "To the Ladies," "In the Next Room," and "The Queen's Husband." It is hard to under- stand just what Mr. Shuter ever found in these plays that merited the expense of his time, attention, and money. Perhaps he thought that, by appealing to the less in- telligent and less discriminating low-brow audience, he might be1 able to draw ltrger crowds and re-1 plenish the royal coffers of Mimes. If this be the case, Mr. Shuteri should be severely condemned for, attempting to commercialize and1 prostitute the dramatic art to which he is devoing his life. And even if he were aiming at finan- cial success in producing these in-1 ferior plays, he surely demostrat- ed poor business acumen in ex- pend such large sums of money for, the elaborate scenery and costumes of "The Marquis," a play that was so decided a "flop." Of course Mr. Shuter might at- tempt to excuse himself for his misdeeds on the ground, that there A.s an emphatic lack of good ac- tors and actresses on this year's campus. True, the Charles Living- ston's, Phyllis Loughton's, and Tom Dougall's of yesteryear have all vanished into thin air. But surelyj the dearth of would-be thespiansf is not so great as Mr. Shuter would1 have the campus believe. Besides, the more intelligent drama-loving portion of the student body would far prefer sitting through a good play indifferently acted than ac poor play poorly acted.a Matters have indeed come to a pretty pass when the best plays of the season have been produced by Comedy Club and Play Prdouction. The fact that. a purely experiment- al laboratory theater should havef to its credit the three outstand- ing artistic successes of the year inj "Redemption," "The Constanti Wife," and "The Beggar on Horse-1 back," must have made Mr. Shuter and his organization sit up and take notice as never before. And 1 Comedy Club, hitherto scorned byl Mimes, lays, claim to uncertain glory for its serious and well mean.- ing Dresepnta~tion of "G~ranit." o0 Music And Drama 0 0 TONIGHT: Play Production presents the final showing of that fantastic extravaganza, "The Beggar on Horseback," by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater, begin- ning at 8:15, with the cur- tain at 8:30 o'clock. MICHIGAN PLAYSj Monday of next week will see the issue of "Michigan Plays," a blue and black bound volume that' aims to be the first of a series of plays issued under the aegis of the Uni- versity. The content of the book is five one-act plays, all student written, of which four were produced by Play Production this winter. The four, in the order of their appear- ance in program before the judges of the play contest, are "Outside This Room," by Dorothy Acker- man, which is a study of domes- tic problems in a Swiss family on which as a background comes a tragedy beyond relief, "Passion's Progress" by the editor of this column, of which not another word, "My Man" by Jerome MacCarthy, a corking melodrama in a lunch room, and "The Joiners" by Ar- thur Hinkley, in which the urge to fraternize as Moose or Elks or whatnot is satirized in first prize manner. The fifth play included in the volume is "Puppet" by Helen Ad- ler. The play begins in the work- shop of two young fanatics about puppetry and moves from there to the diminutive puppet theater where the drama continues in min- iature. These technical difficul- ties prevented Play Production from producing the play, but the de- lightful whimsy of its writing made it eminently worthy of inclusion in the volume. Photographs 'of significant mo- ments in the produced plays are reproduced as a frontispiece in- troducing each play as it appears in the book. For "Puppet," Lee Blaser, whose work has been a fea- ture of "The Gargoyle" this year, was secured to skete a setting. The collection is introduced by an article from Prof. Louis A. Strauss in which, in his inimitably charming manner, he sets forth the idealism behind the book nad discusses the historical aspect of this step in the progress of the University. Credit for making the volume ac- tually possible goes to Mr. George Wahr, publisher. He has accepted the financial risk of . issuing the publication as a service to the Uni- versity and will issue the books at practically cost price. For that reason, although the date of issue is so near, no price can be quoted because the final figures from the bindery are not available yet. But the price, in spite of the limited circulation imposed on amateur work, is promised at considerably less than two dollars. Prof. Rowe of the Rhetoric de- partment is the editor of the book. Anyone who knows what editors do realizes that his services have been those delightful duties of running between practical-minded printer and idealistic author, and then reading proof of the result. Ad- vance copies indicate fully the ex- traordinary conscientiousness with which he has filled his office. It is hoped that the book of plays will be accepted by the public as a tangible step in the direction of building up a play writing, pro- ducing, and publishing tradition at Michigan in anticipation of the Un- ivesity Theater which must come eventually to meet the needs of the student body. * * * THE ROYAL FAMILY "The Royal Family," Kauffman and Ferber's gay and glamorous comedy of actor aristocrats, closes its brief engagement in Detroit on Saturday night, May 25. The usual Wednesday and Saturday matinees are announced for the final week. "The Royal Family" cast includes a galaxy of stars, headed by Haid- ee Wright, Otto Kruger, Ann An- drews, Jefferson De Angelis, Mar- jorie Wood and Joseph King. The play . deals with the home life of the Cavendish family, described as a mythical group but quite gener- ally identified by rumor as the huge Barrymore clan. The Cavendishes are an all-star entourage from the grandmother of seventy to her granddaughter of nineteen. An-i ASTED ROLLV IU JUST LIKE A DOCTOR'S THESIS -ANNOTATED Editor, Toasted Rolls Michigan Daily, Dear Sir: You admit that the editor doesn't think much of your column? Well, neither do I! There seems to be only one guy on this campus who could write your column the way it ought to be written, and it ain't you (1). Toasted Rolls oughta be funny, like it was when Timothy Hay wrote and everybdoy contrib- uted. Very few people read Rolls anymore. Why? Because very few contributions are accepted. Sure, one man can't get enough ideas for a Column every day for ten months. It's the contributors who make the funny column in any large paper. If they pay enough for dong the column in the Summer Daily (2), I'll stay here and take it over to establish my right to do it next year. This letter doesn't have to be taken seriously (3). If you'd pub- lish it, it would sound funny (4). If you are interested in my propo- sition (5), let me know through your column. Here's how to write a humor column: I went to Swing Out Wednesday or Thursday. None of the Seniors seemed to be drunk, but lots of them were smok-' ing cigars. That gave me an idea (6). If the Seniors couldn't get drunk, I somebody would have to defend our I traditions. So I bought a cigar. And did I get drunk? I took a picture of a Senior in his cap and gown and got the Chem building in upside down. The Seniors swung out and so did I-against a tree. The campus walks converged in front of the library lie the spokes of a wheel. And somebody was turning that wheel! I can't see about what the Seniors are acting so uppity. Nobody was crying about their forthcoming departure. In fact, after looking over the women swinging out, I don't feel that Michigan is losing anything. I don't suppose that the faculty likes to see the good-looking wo- men go, so they flunk 'em. (Yes, there are a few, though you'd hard- ly know it.) You isee, Lark, or Gumley, or whatever your name 'is (7), that's the way to do it. Listen on. The State Street gang has for its motto in the coming elections "Clean Up Campus Politics," and one of their leaders is the de- posed head of the corrupt Washte- naw Campus. Even they wouldn't keep him. We like him personally, but the truth at, any price. And it'll sound more daring. Stretch it a little. Timothy Hay used to print my stuff, but he was a good editor. Don't suppose any of this will get in. But if you are interested, print this line..., I'll change my name if neces- sary. Perhaps to Koki Kola. I haven't got a typewriter, so if you can't read this, throw it in the wastebasket-the ultimate fate of all Toasted Rolls contributions (8). Did this letter amuse you? Then print it. It will amuse your read- ers. Not only in building construc- tion,but in everyhuman activity, we instinctively turn to electric- ity to add to the comforts of life and to eliminate the wastes of production-another evi- dence that the electrical industry is maintaining its leadership in this changing world.. Not only industrial equipment, but electric refrigerators, MAZDA lamps, and little motors that'add to the comforts of home, are manufactured by the General Electric Company. All are identi- fied by the G-E 'monogram-a symbol of service. # . .k This HI Changing World A To-day, you can see big build- ings erected noiselessly-by electric weldin ° The structural steel worker is dropping his clattering ham- mer for the electric arc. Silently, swiftly, rigidly, economically, buildings are being fabricated by electric welding, which knits _ . steel with joints as strong as the metal itself. Building silently! Nothing seems impossible in this elec- trical age. . k. t 95-607DH.. G EN ER ___ ~ENERAL ELECTRIGC COMPAN Y, SCHEN ECTADY. NE.W YORKr l rrr. .rr. . .rrr~rr Irl-lo-mocco-1,000, 0101.. . Please credit any or part of this column "'(9). Doc Lovell's old pal, COUNT DE FLIsS, '39.? (Footnotes by Lark) (1) There is a special ruling against the use of "ain't" in Rolls, but dispensation has been granted in the case of this ambitious young man. (2) They don't; we had the job last summer. (3) going (4) help, (5) (6) (7) (8) So glad. We really were to. If you are sure that would we certainly shall. We're not. Beginner's luck, perhaps. Lark, This young fellow is trying * .....-. Edith Mason Chicago Civic Opera Company Jeannette Vreeland 'Distinguished American Artist Sophie Braslau Metropolitan Opera Company Marion Telva Metropolitan Opera Company Richard Crooks Premier American Concert Artist Paul Althouse Metropolitan Opera Company Lawrence Tibbett Metropolitan Opera Company Richard Bonelli Chicago Civic Opera Company Barre Hill Chicago Civic Opera Company William Gustafson Metropolitan Opera Company Josef Hofmann Polish Virtuoso Efrem Zimlaist Hungarian Master The Chicago Symphony Orchestra - The University Choral Union Children's Festival Chorus 4 Days - MAY 22923,24,25,1929 - 6 ncerts . HILL AUDITORIUM - ANN ARBOR EARL V. MOORE Musical Director FREDERICK'STOCK Orchestral Conductor ERIC DELAMARTER Guest Conductor JUVA HIGBEE Children's Conductor Soprano Soprano Contralto Contralto Tenor Tenor Baritone Baritone Baritone Bass Pianist i so desperately hard printed: "I dare ya dare ya!i (9) Ibid. to tu get print this it, I! popular younger school of actors. Kitty is his wife, a Cavendish only through the marriage contract. She secretly nurses an amusing resent- ment of the fame of her illustri- ous relatives. The establishment of this re- a . . Samson and Delilah The New Life The Requiem nr - t --- a - -f . l_ t'9-- S_ 1 if 'I- all's Saint Saens Wolf-Ferrari rahms I I , 1 31 I