FOUR
THE MICi-IIGi\N 1 It,
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17', Y1999
FOUR THURSA-,- -- - -------,
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1929
A CASE OF POOR JUDGMENT
Highest praise should be given,
to the contest for one-act plays byF
student playwrights recently stag-
ed by the Division of English. It
is an endeavor which should re-
ceive the hearty support of the
campus and of all those people who
believe in the existence of literary
talent anywhere but in Green-
wich Village and the snobbish
strongholds of Yale and Harvard.
It is unfortunate, in the light of
the excellent results which have
been obtained, that the backers
ignored the two first principles of
a good contest; to wit, to select
judges who have no possible con-.
nections with the contestants, and
to avoid any appearance of haste
or premeditation in the selection
of the winners. Both of these rules
were so openly ignored that the
campus has every right to doubt
the openness and the representa-
tive quality of what was called "an
all-campus contest."
The fact that a professor served
on the judging committee thatI
selected five plays out of six from
his class in playwriting is unfor-
tunate. We are sure that there
was nothing wrong with the select-
ing. But the case from its very
appearance is dubious. And when
onq adds to this the fact that only
twenty-eight hours elapsed be-
tween the closing of the contest
and the announcement of the win-
ners, the validity of the selections
is open to a very fair doubt.
The Daily is pledged whole-
heartedly to the encouragement of
a campus theater, and will do
everything in its power to bring
about a state of healthy campus
dramatics. It sees in the idea be-
hind this contest the germs of an
annual or semi-annual event which
will make the campus theater a
part of the student body, and not
just an amusing spectacle put on
for its edification. It is sincere in
the sponsoring-of this activity and
it awaits the outcome and the
production of the plays with the
greatest interest.
But, with the rest of the campus,
The Daily challenges the way in
which this contest was handled.
For the best interests of campus
dramatics it seems wise that some
statement of the conduct of this
contest be forthcoming. Only in
this way can progress be held and
the sympathies of the campus en-
listed.
VIRGINIA SPEAKS
the liberty of publishing here ex-
cerpts from President Alderman's
letter:
"The situation as regards drink-
ing is not ideal, or even satisfac-
tory, in American institutions of
learning, and I am confident that
no honest president of such an in-
stitution will deny this statement.
The same remark may justly be
made of American urban society in
general, and it may be remembered
that universities are in definite
measure the resultant of social
forcedi playing upon them, how-
ever hard they may strive to lead
and elevate these forces ....
"There is a stubborn drink-
tradition in American college life,
which I greatly deplore. I believe
the' prohibition laws have helped
and are helping to break down
this tradition, but they have
brought their own particular troop
of grave problems, which as yet,
in both general society around us
and in colleges, remain unsolved.
Drinking now tends to become
more an occasional excess, induced
by excitement and emotion, than
a constant habit. The whole move-
ment, however, is upward and not
downward, a process of improve-
ment and not deterioration ....
"In this connection I wish to re-
fer to the Virginia-Carolina foot-
ball game, which has been criti-
cized for exhibitions of excessive
drinking . . .. There were thou-
sands of young men there who were
not students, some of whom, I fear,
came to get drunk rather than to
see the game. It would be mani-
festly absurd to tag every drinker
as a student. The assumption that
you, Governor Byrd, or I, or
Mussolini himself, could insure
perfect sobriety on such an occa-
sion is not an intelligent assump-
tion.
"I have stood and do now stand
fo prohibition, and have faith that
the slow process of national dis-
cipline will yet emerge triumphant-
ly, under honest leadership, from
the present confused and menac-
ing situation.
"A student here will promptly
report his best friend if he lies or
cheats, but he will not report him
for taking a drink of liquor or
neglecting his work. That is his
code of honor, and who shall
describe it as an unworthy code?
"There remains another matter
in the open, etter addressed to you
by the Superintendant of the Anti
Saloon league, upon which you ap-
parently ask my advice. It is the
proposal 'that dthe secret service
men of the federal prohibition unit
be allowed as free and uninter-
rupted access to the University
life as bootleggers are now report-
ed to have.' Bootleggers are not al-
lowed any access to University
grounds or University life. They are
a nefarious tribe and do, of course,
gain access by nefarious ways. I
obviously would welcome any help
from any source that could be
legitimately used. All American
universities need help in battling
with this problem. But I think
there is no law that exempts the
domicile of a student from the
same supervision that officers of
the law may exercise over the
home of any other citizen. The
law officers have this right now,
for that matter, and could and
ought to exercise it.
"We would willingly cooperate in
curbing this evil in ways that do
not transform this University into
an institution of espionage by the
president and faculty.
"The dormitories of the Univer-
sity are those which Thomas Jef-
ferson built for a student popula-
tion of a few hundred, and hold a
mere fraction of the great student
group of today. I have again and
again plead for more. At present
the student group is housed over
an area of several square miles, all
of them, it should be said, in the
homes of worthy people. The lack
of adequate dormitory facilities
manifestly increases the difficulty
of disciplinary problems.
"It is fundamentally unwise to
attempt minute supervision of the
daily lives of students, though
sympathy and interest in them
should and do exist. Their testing
hour has come. They must one
day learn to use their wings, if they
have got any, and their day has
now come.
"The creation of a satisfactory
public ,Dpinion among students
against the use of alcohol, is neces-
sarily a slow process, but it is the
only enduring process. High-
minded American youth cannot be
drilled and tossed into good be-
havior like soldiers in an expedi-
tionary force. They grow into this
state by example, persuasion, en-
vironment, and character." .
This frank and honest exposition
of student drinking by a Univer-
sity executive is nothing if not re-
freshing. It recognizes the problem
fearlessly and describes how it may
be met. Above all it denounces
faculty espionage and mollycoddl-
ing the college man with a just-
ness that demands the attention of
every student on an American
campus today. In the facing of
this problem the individuality and
the independence of the American
student are at stake.
ratification is that it shows con-
fidence in our own statesmen, but
further than that there is little to
be said in favor of the signing ofc
such a pact, unless it be that the
psychological effect on some people
made it worth while.,
To even think that all the im-t
pulses and hatreds that cause wart
between nations can be wiped out1
by a pacifist movement culminat-e
ing in a treaty is as absurd as to1
think that the American public's
thirst for beverage could be elimi-
nated by the- terms of the Eigh-!
teenth Amendment. Although war I
is not quite as common as alcohol,
a sealed document will probably
have the same effect on put-t
ting an end to war, as "prohibi-
tion" has had in putting an end
to drinking. War is rather an old
institution to be crumbled by the
rumblings of one generation of1
pacifists.
The United States is primarily a'
peaceful nation. We have seldom
been known to enter a war just
for the fun of it, or for the terri-
torial gain that might be ours. We
are not the ones to advocate war
at specified intervals, neither are
we the ones to turn a deaf ear to
the dictates of common sense, and
eliminate, partially or wholly, all
defense preparations, on the advice
of a class who simply shudder at
the facts of life, and keep a shaded
eye on their own Utopia.
American needs defense power
sufficient to guard against a situa-
tion which might arise should the
treaty, due to unavoidable circum-
stances, become a "mere scrap of
paper." The treaty has no reserva-
tions, but it is interpreted by the
foreign relations committee to
mean that each country has re-
served to itself the right to deter-
mine and execute its own defense
program. In other words, the
signers do not have to go to war,
but if they are forced into it, go
ahead.
Inconsistent as it may cound, the
most sensible thing that the Con-
gress could do would be to back
up the treaty by passing the bill
for the enlargement of the naval
power. We might guarantee world
peace by making it known to all
nations that to start a war with the
United States would be little short
of national suicide. No harm has
been done by the mere ratification
of the pact, nor has much been ac-
Icomplished; but a great deal ofj
harm might be forthcoming were
we to discard adequate defense
powers, consisting of ships, arms,
and men, in favor of something
far less substantial in the form of
a rather "lady-like" treaty.
FIRE
The death of Mrs. M. B. Sheley
on Tuesday afternoon as the re-
sult of inhaled smoke and the ac-
companying fire shock when her
home was burned the previous
night should call attention to the
inadequacy of the Ann Arbor fire
department to cope with sudden
emergencies.
Mrs. Sheley was unconscious
when she was removed from the
burning building by students who
effected entrance wile firemen
attacked the flames from outside.
That her's should be the first
death as the result of fire to take
place here over a period of years
[is a record to which the local fire
department, no doubt, will point
with some degree of pride. Even
momentary recollection, however,
of the more important fires which
have broken out in the past three
or four years is sufficient to recall
that this record is in no way due
to the efforts of the city's fire
fighters.
Instead, it becomes readily ap-
parent that fire hazards in Ann
- Arbor due to the absence of a com-
petent fire company are unusually
great. Whether the Sunday after-
noon's entertainment that was
furnished the student body and
townspeople when flames broke
out in the. Arcade theater and a
little later in the Parrot restaurant
came as the result of a lack of
equipment or of a lack of organi-
zation and fire-fighting ability,
it is not easy to say.
There can be no difficulty, how-
ever, in recognizing that the pres-
ence of millions of dollars in Uni-
versity buildings and equipment in
Ann Arbor,occupied during many
hours of the day by hundreds and
sometimes by thousands of stu-
dents, is every reason for the in-
stitution of those missing factors,
what ever they may be, which will
Smake it possible for the Ann Arbor
fire company to successfully cope
with dangerous fires of any nature.
Preparedness of this sort is a good
investment in plain common sense.
-o-
"Influence Of Diet On Stature Is
Seen In Experiment In India And
China" is a headline in theNew
York Times. Do they have to go
there to find that out.
0
AWstudent at theUniversity of
West Virginia writes on "How I
Should Act If I Were a Girl." They
must have an opera at West Vir-
ginia also.
0
"REDEMPTION"
Critical reaction to Moissi's in-
terpretation of Fedya in "Redemp-
tion" and the general Reinhart
school of production seems to gen-
eralize itself into the remark that
by comparison, the art of acting in
this country is still rather deplo -
ably in the diaper stage. Like all
generalizations such outbursts areI
more enthusiastic than true.
Which is not another way of de-
fending American productions or
domestic acting.
Reinhart's manner, however,
owes its effectiveness to his frank
admission of the technical limita-
tions of the stage as it is now, and
his Spartan fortitude in clinging
to the ideal of drawing every bit
of emotion possible out of the
actor. If this is expressed as his
rebellion against the tyranny of
the spoken word it is merely an in-
version of the first principle, and
his success is abundantly proven
in the clarity with which the
drama of "Redemption" penetrates
an audience not entirely familiar
with the German language. In his
staging Reinhart is simplicity it-
self. He prefers to omit the un-
essential detail, to simplify the ne-
cessary adjunct to the actor's per-
formances, and to use baldly and
unaffectedly his lights and other
technical devices when their use -
fulness conflicts with the natural
desire to keep the machinery of
art hidden. In the power of the
effect produced this technique
far surpasses the more western F
convention of a completer natural-
ism. But its highest virtue lies in
applying it to suitable types of
drama. In "Redemption," with its
allegorical theme, its episodic form,.
and its melodramatic treatment,:
it is eminently successful. Imagin-
ation forbids the western method
of production, after seeing Rein-
hart's success, but enthusiasm
must be tempered by this awae-
ness of its limitations.
But "Redemption" has the addi-
tionally important factor for its
success, Moissi's genuis for inter-
pretation. And here again the
conventions differ. In the lines of
dialogue German gutturals thund-
er with drama (excluding Rein-
hart's liberties with the 'script,
and the original German version
which is vastly dissmilar from that,
used by Barrymore in 1918-1919),
where the English lines would
have rattled in the 'clipped-
speech' manner. But a more es-
sential difference lies in the Con-
tinental idea that interpretation
should spring from the actor's whole
body, assisted by the tones of his
voice. In this school an actor can
consider himself as an athlete,
more than a mannered puppet.
I The voice becomes an instrument;
not a vehicle. From that point of
view, Moissi's performance was
superb. He has apparently absolute
control of his body, and what is
more, he has awareness of the im-
plications inherent in attitude and
general physical movement and
makes use of them. With these
important powers the face as an
instrument of expression loses the
primary importance which our
actors give it. Moissi's realization
of this modified his actions so
much that he was able to tell two!
stories at the same time. With his
body and his voice he told the im-
mediate emotion each line of dia-
logue carried; with his face he con-
veyed the general mood that un-
derlay each scene, and as the play
progressed it became obvious that
the character of Fedya was assum-
ing, in addition to his significance
as a human being in a tradgedy of
human relations, the further
symbolism of Christ and His sacri-
fice on the cross.
Only very complete control of the
actor's instruments, dominated by
a brilliant sense for their use, could
have achieved Moissi's success.
Reinhart is further to be con-
gratulated in his dramatic hon-
esty. The entire cast was made up
of very capable actors who provid-
ed an admirable background for
the progress of the Fedya drama
as Moissi unfolded it. There were
no weaknesses in interpretation to
bear witness to economy in pro-
duction, and if Reinhart finds his
tour less profitable in money than
in laudatory criticism this will be
one of the important reasons which
discriminating critics will appre-
ciate.
One of the debatablepoints is the
liberty a producer may take with
a manuscript. Certainly the
Thomas version, prepared for;
Barrymore, differs almost funda-
mentally from that prepared by
the German translator. John
-Barrymore plays with great success!
the more Italian type of swash-
buckling hero who still has his
soul pretty much at heart. To this
end the play was clipped of what
might be considered an excess of!
introspective action, John prefer-
ring to strut than to think. Moissi,
on the other hand, succeeded soI
magnificently with the sensitive
i Fedya'swonderings about himself
that critical opinion cannot avoid
deploring the American distortion
of Tolstoi's essentially spiritual
conception of his character.
F~nr fthoestudent wihoi has znot the
Music A,
d Dramia Strh
A
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'M
K
a.lp
T -IA'F'S the telephone"Hello" iiiMadrid. In London, it's"Are
you there?"But in many foreign countries, Americans find a
universal language in the telephone salutations. It's good old
"Hello"-a subtle tribute to the fact that the telephone is an
American invention.
And so it is with elevator service. Even though they say "Diga"
in Spain, the architects of the magnificent new Madrid Telephone
Building unhesitatingly said "Otis" because Spain demanded the
last wordin elevators. You will findin Madrid the same type of Sig-
nal Control Elevators that are now installed in those monumental
telephone buildings in America, in New York, Cleveland, St. Louis
and San Francisco.
4 ,. .,...__ _ .-
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