THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, APRIL

1, 1931

ublished every morning except Monday
ing the University year by the Board in
trol or Student Publications.
[ember of Western Conference Editorial
sociation.
he Associated- Press is exclusively entitled
the use for republication of all news dis-
hee credited to it or not otherwise credited
this paper and the local news published
in.
;utered at the postoffice at Ann Arbor,
higan, as second class matter. Special rate
vostage granted by Third Assistant Post-
Aer General.
ubscription by carrier, $4.00; by trail, $4.5o.
offices: Ann Arbor Press Building, Maynard
eet. Phones: Editorial, 4925; Business, 21214.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Telephone 4929
MANAGING EDITOR
Chairman Editorial Boar4
HENRY MERRY
FPANX E. CoOPERnCity Editor
ws Editor ...............Gurney Williams
torial Director ...........Walter W. Wilds
arts Editor............oseph A. Russell
men's Editor..........:Mary L. Behymer
sic, Drama, Books.........Wm. J.Gorman
istant City Editor......Harold 0. Warren
istant News Editor......Charles R. Sprowl
egrap. Editor ..........GeorgA.Stautei
Iy EditorG..............o .. Pypet
NIGHT EDITORS

are of little or no value to the stu-
dents, and it would certainly regu-
late the certain faculty members so
that they would find it advisable to
view their classes, students, and
grades with at least as much con-
sideration as their books, theses,
and research work.
Campus Opiion
Contributors are asked to be brief,
confining themselves to less thai. 300
words if possible. Anonymous com-.
munications will be disregarded. The
names of communicants will, however,
be regarded as confidential, upon re-
quest. Letters published should not be
construedl as expressing the editorial
opinion of The Daily.
To the Editor:
I do not purport to be a propo-
nent of capital punishment, but as
it appears to me that there are two
sides to every question, I think it
is time that someone brings out
whatever excuse there may be for
the measure, since the University
seems to be devoid of any organized
group in. favor of it. Professor
Reeves has done so, tho not very
fully, and apparently without any
support here at home.

T0ASTED ROLL
TDAY A S
APRIL
FIRST

I

p

His statement at Raleigh that
The construction is under the di-
Maynard street between the Helen
nections with large influential
ty-eight graduates of American ar-
chitectural schools participated in
in an eight-hour private meeting
SJTs.9Alun al Jo uolmnuluoa 1u sl
* *
DAILY POEM
donations of food from fraternity,+
for some time, but which appar-
productions and is being issued for
Brigode to Play for Engineers;
school, announced yesterday. Eigh-.
WHAT HO DEPARTMENT
Five ways in which students could
help the jobless of Ann Arbor and
fn L~~7rQ

eacb Conger
S. Forsythe
4 M. Nicho

John D. Reindel
Charcs R. Sprowl
Richard L. Tobin
Harold 0. Waren

Srora ASsiSTANTS
Cn rwllrn Trlln Kend~


CemUont. .. unerton. Lu enJ enney- or rawers.
Charles A. Sanford At the one meeting which I have -a snoquaataq s1 -JlE uBuaauT5
REPORTERS attended, Prof. Wood suggested that -ua au aAoE uojitsod s xooIn pa
rhomas M. Cooler Wilbur J.1Mey.ers the measure was a "red herring" -Jieaddsp ana apis guul, ak qmn
Morton Frank Brainard W. Is drawn across the trail of some oth- * *
Saul Friedberg Robert L. Pierce
frank B. Gilbre Richard Racine er activity or question that the leg-
ftoland Goodman Jerry E. RosenthalDONWT-EBRYHL
Morton Helper Karl Sei.fert islature wished to conceal. If Prof. DOWN-WITH-NEWBERRY-HALL
Btyan Jones George A. Stauter Wood knows what this "trail" is, we DEPT.
Denton C. Kun~e ohn WV Thomas
Powers Moulton John S. Townsed would be glad to have him say, as it -
Kleen Blunt Mary McCall would help clear up his contempt qu jaA su m gun gaaas paunu
Nanette Dembit Cue Miller for the bill. The general opinion department of the University and
Elsie Feldman Margaret O'Brien of most people on this campus Lloyd George today was able to
Ruth Gallmeyer Eleanor Rairdon
Emily G. Grimes Anne Margaret Tobin seems to be that the measure is s'et 'V6, 'plAaS 'g xoaapad
)ean Levy_ Margaret Thompson wnteGog .Bohtaeln
Dorothy Magee Claire Trussell worthy only of contempt, and that won the George G. Booth travellmg
Susan Manchester for several reasons.
BUSINESS STAFF In general, as to the principle it-
Telephone 21214 self, the bill intends to re-establish
T. HOLLISTER MABLEY, Business 31m70ge a "savagery," which the people of
XAXPul I. HALVERSON, Ass$sta$t MGae this state, being the first to abolish,
DEPARTMENT .ChANAGERs '- . should be the last to vote back. Ad-
Advertising.... ...Thomas M. Davis mitting that it is unpleasant, and
Advertising ........William W. Warboys
Service ...................Norris Johnson that we would do without it if we
Circulation.............Marvin . Koblace" could, I think most of the people
Accounts.......... ...Thomas S. Muir of the state feel that for the safety
Business Secretary..........Mary J. Kena of society, it is a necessary meas- and Margaret Faulkner, '31.
ssstanure. The conditions of 1847 are not Itwas decided that as a prelim-
Ve non Bishop Don WgLyonger those of today, and we shouldn't fellowship in architecture.
William Brown William Morgan Work is progressg rapidly on
obert Callahan Richard Stratemeier sacrifice the security of our persons the tunnel has made necessary the
Richard. Hier Noel D. ITiiroer . ment of policy were withheld for
Miles Hoisington Byron C. Veddet consistency. True, as Prof. Onder-
donk so eloquently argues, it may, . *l g da
Marian Atran Helen Olsen(WEL WHTD YO KNW
An Wa Vn~i ya Mler be signing the death warrant to our WELL, WHAT DO YOU KNOW
Helen Bailey Mildred Postal rrown children, or even of ourselves, A
Toselihine Convlsse* Marjorie RougeAOTTHS ET
axine Fishgrund Mary E. Watts but it seems to me that if it is de- AT D
Dorothy LeMire Johanna Wiese , served, our answer should be, "What d it asks parliament to do noth-
Dorothy Laylin vided i ssprimn od oh
of it?" Is it an argument for shirk- homes for jobs, club work, and so-
ing responsibility that we ourselves cial service.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL .1,. 1931 may have to pay? The reply of the I TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1931
opponents, of course, is that most
;ight Editor --DAVID M. NICHOL crimes are of the "sudden passion" * * *
variety, and are excusable and not CONTRIBUTORS DEPT.
THE PRESENT MARKING apt to be repeated. If so, why should
SYSTEMW we punish the innocent victim of the preliminary , contest, five of
! his own passions with a life of im- outlying districts, were outlined by
The marking system at present prisonment which, itis claimed, these being selected by a jury of
Ised in the Literary college is so the prisoner most dreads? It might Knightlinger, '33, R i c h a r d Mc-
integral a part of the entire educa- be said also that the conviction of Creary, '33E, Ralph Wurster, '33E,
tional system that 'it would seem an innocent man is providedc against week to contribute a bushel basket
unfeasible to propose any drastic as well as, humans can by Sec. 5 of
asthe curriluoperationmethod of the Act, which provides for theT
aste crrculm nd etodsofcompulsory review by the Supreme MOTHER MACHREE DEPT.
instruction remain the same, a Court of the State of all cases in
more accurate and direct means of which the prisoner is convicted, be-- asa.1 aW tl samanTa; aiU Jo auO
determining grades must wait. fore the execution can take place. Lorch, head of the architectural
To be sure, there are evils in all i These considerations drive us back porated into the decorations at the
marking systems, and also strongon Short speeches were given by
arguments against any plan that main Elizabeth M. N o t t o n, '33, Erle
points of contention in the present
would permit students to pursue controversy.
courses without receiving a numer- The first of these is that capital LIBLdlI
ical expression of the quality of punishment is no deterrent for sorority, and league houses, a sale
their work. However, since the murderers because the "sudden of tags, the canvassing of local
Michigan system is without doubt passion" murderer doesn't think of T6T '8 HO VIA 'VGSflJ,
one of the most effective and popu- the penalty, and the professional standing figures in the history of
lar, there is little doubt but that murderer kills in spite of it. I rnauuax Aq patpa aq o s uo
the dean's committee will find it think, however, that, in view of the -Ino oq J1 v i ui pai2ua oaIaq
unnecessary to bring about a com- purpose for which this bill was pro- heat and power for the new Press
plete revolution in the present posed, this phase of the question
method. doesn't vitally concern us. Every-
What Michigan needs is a closer one will admit that at the present DAN BAXTER.
check on the methods individual time we are coming more and more
professors employ in determining to the conclusion that crime is a this, therefore wili never convict
marks. At the end of each semester'- disease and should be treated on the accused man. I agree that this
there is a large number of students that basis, that the whole theory is a serious difficulty, but I think
who feel that they have been treat- of our criminal laws should not be that we have over-estimated it.
ed unfairly or that they have taken that of revenge, and that reforms Your "sudden passion" killer ordi-
a course which has been complete- are needed in laws, court procedure, narily will not have premeditated
ly without merit. As the situation and penal practice. We should nev- his crime, and therefore, under the
now stands the deans of the various er forget, however, that these meas- bill, could not be indicted for first
colleges are rarely informed or ures are not before the public at degree murder. This would save
aware of the feelings of many of the present time, and probably will from execution all those who do not
these students. When professors not be until those of us who do all deserve it, and if we ever do enact
are unable to make their courses the objecting to present conditions the proper reformatory measures,
interesting to the students, when begin to do a little constructive he may again become a useful
they fail to develop in them a spark work on the question. We might member of society. Conceding, how-
of ambition and when the grades ask why, if the murderer doesn't ever, that he could have premedi-
fail to reveal the character of the fear execution, he always seeks to tated his crime and still not deserve
work done by individual compari- avoid it, but I think we need not execution (and this seems to me to
son, then something should be be especially interested in the reply. be the only case in which there is
done, and this alone can be ac- It should be borne in mind that our any serious question), it is apparent
complished through the dean's of- objective, at the present time is the that the prosecutor, knowing he
fice. elimination of the gunman, the hi- couldn't get conviction, would not
A plan by which students would jacker, and the racketeer. If we charge first degree murder. It does
be able to express to the dean of save a few lives from the bullets of not seem to me that he would thus
their college individual feelings to- his machine-guns, we have accomp- be disobeying the mandates of the
wards courses, and the ability of lished a result which fully justifies law any more than the jury which
their professors and instructors as taking his life. Even Prof. Coffey, refuses to convict in a clear case,
teachers, critics, and m a r k e r s, who has expressed himself as op- and he would at least have done his
would certainly be helpful in the posed to the bill, has admitted that duty to society. If such a case
elimination of many complaints he does not object to the removal exists, then the bill is defective, but

which are so often directed against of such individuals from society. I cannot think that for this reason
the Michigan system. In view of present day conditions, we should turn down what seems
With the students in a position to I fail to see how the argument that otherwise to be a wise remedy, es-
judge their courses and professors capital punishment is no deterrent pecially in view of the fact that if
ad+ APnrP on.nr+ inc i iaiinl-nt han anv force. I(the defect i nractice nroves to he

F I

About Books
O PIONEER!
JONATHAN GENTRY: by Mark
Van Doren: (illustrated by H. R.
Bishop): Albert and Charles
Boni: N. Y. C.
There are certain aspects of
American history which will bear
the intense vision of a contempor-
ary imagination searching for val-
ues. Almost any chapter of the
much-neglected book of W. C. Wil-
liams, "In The American Grain,"
proves that very substantially. But
the simple fact that pioneers came
to America, got very close to the1
earth, loved it, and lived on it and
that we are no longer pioneers but
live in cities-at least if it is taken
as simply as that-is not one of
those aspects. Mr. Van Doren has
just accepted this spiritual truism
from American history and made
it the basis for some two hundred
pages of strictly lyrical writing. The
result, for all its felicity, all its
sensitivity, all its music, all its read-
ability, is essentially trivial. I shall
try to show why I think so.
The poem begins with the estab-
lishment of a family with its roots
in a sombre, deep love of the land
that had been an escape for the
first
"Jonathan Gentry, with an
English heart
Broken in two high places that
must heal"
who had sailed down the Ohio
River in 1800 his mind eager for
peace:
"But over the American mountains
The American meadows wait.
Broad with good breath,
Sea-green with only grass,
And heaving with God's promises
to men,
The American meadows, faint from
so long calling."
It then skips to the Civil War
generation, where two brothers
(Jonathan Gentry III and his ten-
der, inarticulate young brother
Charlie) are caught by a struggle
that is meaningless to them, which
they join because it threatens the
land their ancestor had so deeply
trusted. Charlie killed, Jonathan
goes home to the same "click,
click, clickety click" that had ac-
companied his leaving it. The
lovely calm of his sweetheart's let-
ters during those years of turmoil,
in which he had discovered that the
men he was shooting at loved their
land too, was reassurance that his
land lay there, a consoling peace.
In the third section, Jonathan
Gentry V of our generation watches
the finish of his race; receives his
brother Joe who on occasional
visits from the city drinks of the
farm's rest only that he may the
more fully savourhis beloved city's
speed; silently regards his city-
born wife desperately fighting the
illusions of rich living the distant
city inspires in her, weakening
into a neurotic during a cruel
drouth, dying in a shameful death.
Jonathan is alone, stays by the
land:
"At least I see some honOr in an
end
Not hastened, not escaped-an
end accepted.
The first old Gentry would have
had me stay."
Mr. Van Doren on a blank verse

norm, with occasional interfusion
of simple lyrics (the old fiddler in
the first section, soldiers' marching
songs in the second, and the fren-
zied jazz utterance of a half-witted
hired man in the third), has at-
tempted the lyrical evocation of
this family pattern of living-in its
creation, maintenance, and death.
There is no estimation of the pat-
tern from an attitude impressing
one as contemporary. Mr. Van
Doren accepts this very familiar
historical concept of the lost pio-
neer ecstacy quite uncritically and
elaborates his feelings about it. The
pattern is always interesting (in
this case, it is interesting enough to
bear a very readable minor poem
of some length, which is of course
a considerable achievement. But,
taken simply, it is not always vital.
It certainly is not vital enough to
sustain (without a narrative struc-
ture to give it depth) major poetry.
Mr. Van Doren has won consider-
able distinction as a writer of short
lyrics, notable for their concentra-
tion and tightness of design. It is
hoped, I think, that "Jonathan
Gentry' is only an interlude in a
career, whose directions in such a
volume as "Now The Sky" promisea
much. E. A. Robinson and Robin-
son Jeffers are the only poets, I
take it, who are writing significant
long poems today. The felicities of
Mr. Van Doren's long poem have no
relation to the dissimilnr work of

I
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III
it
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Wednesday evening concert

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A star of the Chicago Civic Opera Company
Thursday evening and Friday afternoon concerts

Soprano

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Contralto

FESTI


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,L

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Chicago Civic Opera Company and Staats Operas of Berlin and Vienna
Thursday evening and Friday afternoon concerts

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Metropolitan Opera Company
Thursday evening concert
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Tenor

Tenor

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Friday evening concert
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Conductor of Choral works

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Conductor or Orchestral and Miscellaneous programs

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Conductor for Orchestral and Miscellaneous programs

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