-PA:Glg FOXM
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1931
Published every morning except Monday
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MANAGING EDITOR
Chairman Editorial Board
HENRY MERRY
FRANKE. COOPER, City Editor
News Editor ..............Gurney Williams
Editorial Director..........Walter W. Wilds
SportsEditor.........oseph A. Russell
Editor ... ..Mary L. Behymer
Music. Drama, Books......... Win. T. Gorman
Assistant City Editor.......HDarold 6. Warren
Assistant News Editor......harles R. Sprowl
Telegraph Editor...........George A. Stautei
Copy Editor .................. Wm. F. Types
NIGHT EDITORS
the government, or otherwise be-
come a thorn in the side of what-
ever government reigns. A policy
of permitting newspapers to edi-
torialize as they see fit will or ought
to lead to better government. All
parties have their official organs,
and someone will always rise to de-
fend an attack on one side or the
other.
FRANCE'S COMPLEX PARTY
LINES
After a life of less than six weeks,
the ministry for France formed by
Theodore Steeg on Dec. 13 resigned,
its downfall caused by an acrimon-
ious debate arising from an inter-
polation by Louis Buyat of the
social and radical left party, con-
Music and Drama,
ALBERT SPALDING THIS AFTERNOON: At 4:15 in Hill1
A Review. auditorium organ recital by Rex-
Albert Spalding's distinguished lford Keller, graduating student,
Albert Spf dalmerdiChiistian.
taste ard talent was exhibited last of Palmer Christian.
evening in a not too fortunate pro- DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY
gram: a program tending to be- DA
come actually annoying in the pre- Death, in the convincing tellur-
> rr iY r ro+n ~ n f 41 _ 1 4
vaiing speciousness of the last
group. I know these "last groups"
are conventional things. But Mr.
Spalding's recital in New YorkC
three days ago had included somei
Bach solo music, a Beethoven Son-I
ata, and a Mozart Concerto before
he came to his last group, which
S. Beach Conger
Carl S. Forsythe
David M. Nichol
John D. Reindel
Richard L. Tobin
Harold O. Warren
SPORTS ASSISTANTS
Sheldon C. Fullerton J. Cullen Kennedy
Robert Townsend
REPORTERS
.E.Bush
horias M. Cooley
Morton Frank
Saul Friedberg
Frank B..Gilbreth
tack Goldsmith
oland Goodman
Morton Helper
Edgar Hornik
James Johnson
Bryan Jones
Denton C. Kunzo
Powers Moulton
Wilbur j. Meyers
Brainard \W Nies
Robert L. Pierce
Richard Racine
TheodoreT. Rose
Jerry E. Rosenthal
Charles A. Sanford
Karl Seiffert
Robert F. Shaw
Edwin M. Smith
George A. Stauter
.Iohn W. Thomas
john S. Townsend
Mary McCall
Margaret O'Brien
Eleanor Rairdon
Anne Margaret Tobin
Margaret Thompson
Claire Trussell
demning the government's haste in j was identical with that last night.'
announcing its intention of pegging Last night one wanted to hear Mr.
the price of wheat. Within a few Spalding's genuine gifts in better
days, however, during which time, musical settings than even the first
the Steeg ministry held office, a half of the program had supplied;
new cabinet was formed by Pierre thus the last group was perhaps
Laval. unusually annoying. But of pro-
. grams quibbling is endless.
The downfall of the Steeg gov- TatqAlrSaindese s
ernmnt id nt cme a a urprse; That Albert Spalding deserves his
emnent did not come as a surprise
it was expected from the very first high repute among major .figures
to be nothing more than a stop- of the concert platform was suffi-
gap arrangement, a hold-over until ciently evidenced for me (in a first
a more stable form of government hearing of him) by the very keen
would be forthcoming. During the musical sensitivity which directed
time the Steeg ministry was in his technique throughout a long
office, it was not confronted with program. The technique itself is a-
any issue of importance. Parlia- bundant enough to qualify him as
ment was not in session, and the one of the lesser virtuosos. Never
government therefore was safe. But on the program last night (until
immediately upon the reconvening the last. group) was there any
of the Chamber of Deputies, the l marked disproportion between the
ministry was defeated on the wheat quantity of feeling Mr. Spalding
controversy by a margin of ten was communicating on his violin
votes, and, rather than continue in and the quantity of feeling the
office, it resigned. Unfortunately music he was playing would seem
the premature publicity in making to justify. And this consistent
public the government's decision to equality between quantities (itself
raise the price of wheat, caused the a most elusive quality) is the sur-.
market to rise, benefiting the specu- est mark I know of the mature
I
kitten Blunt
Elsie Feldman
Ruth Gallmeyer
EmuilyG. Grimes
Jean Levy
Dorotay Magee
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Assistants
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Vernon Bishop
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D1o thy Laylin
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Sylvia Miller
Helen Olsen
Mildred Postal ?
Marjorie Rough
Mary E. Watta
Johanna Wiese
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1931
Night Editor, CHARLES R. SPROWL
FREE SPEECH IN CUBA
The decision of the supreme court
of Cuba declaring the action of
President Machado in suspending
the publication of several opposi-'
tion newspapers unconstitutional
presents an interesting situation in
a country practically run by a dic-
tator. Will the president permit
the newspapers to resume publica-
tibn in pursuance of the decision,
or ,will he in true dictatorial fash-
on keep them suppressed?
- Newspaper censorship is one of
the problems more acute in a 'one-
man' country. Foreign dispatches,
notably in Russia, Italy and Ru-
mania, have been shortened, parts
left out, or suppressed altogether.
Cuba is, of course, because of its
intimate relation with the United
States, unable"to carry out any of
the above functions of censorship.
Yet recently President Machado
ordered confiscated and suspended
indefinitely certain Spanish langu-
age newspapers, ostensibly for trea-
sonable reasons, but actually be-
cause ,their editorials and stories
were extremely embarrassing to the
administration.
Freedom of the press is one of'
the constitutional guarantees to
United States citizens. Two editors
In Indiana were recently released
from prison by a superior court
where they had been placed by a
judge whose decision in a certain
case they had criticized. If news-
papers may not criticise adminis-
trative, judicial or executive ac-
tions, there is an end o the type
of government we choose to call
democracy. Yet in Wisconsin, if
memory serves us correctly, a bill
was passed by LaFollette interests
providing for confiscation of news-
papers which were guilty of attack-
ing what amounted to administra-
tive policies. This bill was aimed
at two or three particular organs
which were becoming embarrass-
ingly aggressive in their editorials.
In Cuba, it is understood that the i
President sees an outlet through an
act to be passed governing the pub-
lication of newspapers and periodi-
cals, and locating the responsibility
of "objectionable matter" upon the
publisher and his employees. This
."a. i7 _,a .. ... - -I,- - a o
lator, it was pointed out, and not
the farmer.
The ministry of Premier Laval is
the twenty-first in the space of a
little more than twelve years. It is
evident that one cannot expect
stability in a multi-party system of
government. Ever since the World
War, the trend of continental Eur-
ope has been toward a multiplica-
tion of parties. Simplification seems
an unknown quantity; and to direct
a government in which such condi-
tions exist, seems to require genius.
There is apparently no-one Presi-
dent Doumergue can call upon who
has the necessary qualities of lead-
ership; cabinets are formed with
difficulty, and it is not an infre-
quent occurrence for France to be
left without a responsible form of
government for several weeks. Until
simplicity along party lines is
achieved, France must be content
with what appears to be a future
succession of weak ministries.
Campus Opinion
Contributors are aked to be brief,
confining thesehies to less that oo
words if possible. Annyinus com-
munications will be disregarded. The
names of communicants wil ,however,
be regarded as confidential, upon .e-
quest. Letters pblisbe d should, not e
construed as expressing the editorial
opinion of The Daily.
SUNDAY STUDYING
Apparently, if one is to judge by
the condition which occurred last
Sunday afternoon in the reference
room of the library (the only one
which is open on that day), the
chances for studying at the Library
on this coming Sunday and the
week after are almost nil.
Sunday, practically every seat in
the room was either taken or piled
high with coats, and students ar-
riving after three o'clock had to
either retrace their steps or be con-
tent to attempt serious concentra-
tion in the periodical room where,
as almost everyone knows, an un-
interrupted and serious study per-
iod is almost impossible.
It is, therefore, with a great deal
of apprehension, that we shudder
to think of what will probably oc-
cur next Sunday when about twice
as many will go to the Library with
the purpose of trying to get some
quiet studying done in anticipa-
tion of examinations.
cur.
The most logical and sensible
remedy that we might suggest for
this coming condition is the open-
ing of the lower study hall which
for some unaccountable reason has
always been closed on Sundays. The
opening of this room would enable
several hundreds of students to
study without the usual accom-
panying distrubances of c h a i r
scraping a n d overcoat - falling
which are anything but few in the
larger room.
The opening of this room would
not entail any extra expense if that
is what is keeping the administra-
tinn frnm nnpninm t+ha oxvprmnn ran
musician. Its consistent presence
in performances implies that the
performer consciously or unconsci-.
ously believes in Absolutes in mus-
ical values. It takes all the talents
of maturity to make that belief
valid.
The only really disappointing
performance was of the Corelli "La
Folia" variations. At the beginning
of the present series, Kreisler with
superb ease brought this music-
possibly just a bit heavy with the,
formal eccentricities of the eigh-
teenth century-to an exalted, vit-
al life. Mr. Spalding was not en-
tirely at ease in the passage work
and there was a good deal of faulty
intonation. But in addition Kreisler
seemed to 'have found a unity of
musical idea in the score which
Spalding's performance did not
similarly communicate.
In the Allegro by Padre Martini
(an unknown composer who must
have been a contemporary of Hay-
dn's) Spalding was fine, rendering
this- delightful gaiety and grace
with clavity and unassuming sim-
I plicity. The first movement of the
Schubert Fantasy with the violin
singing a somewhat unmelodic se-
quence of long sustained notes gave
the finest moments of the evening;
Spalding's tone had fine breadth
and power. This score, seldom per-
formed had for Schubert a surpris-
ing conciseness of musical speech;
that is, there was no indulgence
of melody. And Spalding's perform-
ance was both refined and spirited.
(The Andantino seemed to contain
a theme and several variations from
a Mozart piano sonata).
The presence of a Concerto in a
recital is always, I think, a little
suspect. The best concertos have
orchestral parts that can't be dup-
licated by the piano and the pi-
ano's clumsy efforts to ape the or-
chestra's manifold appeals are al-
ways disconcerting. The second and
third-rate concertosd(where per-
haps that problem does not seri-
ously arise) entirely lack such mu-
sical thinking as can sustain or
justify the extended pyrotechnical
embellishment which the solo in-
strument indulges. The result is
generally pure display, compara-
tively uninteresting (except to vio-
linists).- But the Concerto in re-
cital still seems to be getting popu-
lar sanction from violinists and
audiences. So Spalding played the
Vieuxtemps Concerto: played it vi-
vaciously and brilliantly, the nota-
ble technical things being an aston-
ishing staccato and cleverly dra-
matic accents.
W. J. G.
PLAYS BY STUDENTS
Thursday night in the Laboratory
Theatre will see a program of one-
act plays which were written by
students in the rhetoric class of Mr.
Helm and are to be produced by
members of the class in direction
given by Mr. Windt. For various
reasons there was no one-act com-
petitive contest as was the case for
the last two years. But Mr. Helm
and class and Mr. Windt and class
muituallv reoanonizrd that the onne
ian form of Philip Merivale, hasj
been holding forth at the Detroit
Cass theatre these past ten days or
so, emphasizing the bleakness of
this current winter season and add-
ing much to its chill and austerity.
His carnation was first conceived
by Alberto Casella, but credit for
whatever excellence "Death Takes
a Holiday" posesses as a vehicle for
the theatre, belongs to Walter Fer-
ris, who adapted it from the Italian.
It is scheduled to continue through-
out the week.
It is the story of a three day holi-
day that Death takes in the house
of an English gentleman. He has
removed from the field of action
the expected guest, a Prince Sirki,
and comes in his stead (as Prince
Sirki), first exacting from the head
of the house, Duke Lambert, a pro-
mise not to reveal his identity on
pain of a visit from Death in his
real form. The purpose of the holi-
day is to discover what there is in
life to make men fear Death, which
after all is just a sleep and an
eternal peace. He may be said to
discover it in Love, which is sym-
bolized in the form of Grazia, the
only woman among all those fascin-
ated by the mystery of Prince Sirki,
who is willing to follow him in his
real form, Death. The Master of
Conclusions arrives at a number in
this holiday, some of which, while
having philosophic semblence, bor-
der on the ridiculous.
The play's unusualness is limited
to the modern American theatre,
for such impersonations are not un-
heard of in dramatic literature. But
even here ,the unusualness seemed
to me to be a misconception. It is
not a new kind of play, but a new
kind of melodrama. After the haze
of amazement has gone, it becomes
apparent that "Death Takes a
Holiday" is a sadly incomplete play,
relying as it does, on its very seem-
ing unusualness and upon fine act-
ing and setting for a great part
of its effect. To perceive this of
course, one must first remove one-
self from the worldless atmosphere,
the feeling of disembodiment and
supernaturalness with which Philip
Merivale's fine acting surrounds the
play. One is liable to forget that
a drama must be capable of stand-
ing on its own feet. Except for a
second act which possessed much
high comedy excellence, "Death
Takes a Holiday' cannot. There is
at no time an intelligent attempt at
resolution of the problems which
the second act presents. This might
be excused if there were no attempt
at all. But there is, an incongruous
bit of sentimentalizing, meant, I
imagine to establish "Death Takes
a Holiday" as a problem play, in
which the austere Prince Sirki must
assert, with the knowledge of a
Death, that the meaning of life is
love, that the reason why men fear
Death is love. It is bad philosophy
and bad lines, it lacked consonance
with the legitimate atmosphere and
was very annoying. The thing may
be simply stated. The second act
was the whole show.
The reason for the success of
"Death Takes a Holiday" therefore,
must lie someplace else. Certainly
settings well executed and good
direction, are reasons. Mainly, how-
ever, it is Philip Merivale. The diffi-
cult part of a man who experiences
mortality and yet is really Death,
who must in all his relations with
man, preserve an undercurrent of
the character of Death, was trans-
lated into a powerful man with cer-
tam idiosyncrasies which made peo-
ple afraid of him. It was done ex-
ceeding well, well enough in fact to
make the play interesting except
for some moments already men-
tioned all the way through.
The minor roles were capably
acted but never allow of any subtle-
ty of characterization. There is no
interest in the people, but rather in
their problems. A group of people
under unusual circumstances for a
few days in a country house is a
fine opportunity and it has been
taken advantage of many times.
One recalls Checkov and perhaps
"Wings Over Europe" which is cer-
tainly unfair. The part of Grazia is
an impossible one, and Helen Vin-
son cannot be criticized for some
inconsistency. To me it seemed as
if, bewildered by the part, she did
A4
n EN AVANT ever forward A
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11
From Dinner to Dream i
As Seen In
As the Hop draws nearer, armfuls of lace and
taffeta (and all the stuff that dreams are made of) are
carried into the French Room, only to be gobbled up by
those farsighted youngsters who know that to wait too
long is to lose out entirely.
These dainty creations of lace and net, with their
stiff little ruffles and off-the-shoulders sleeves, or of
crisp taffeta, with their wide sashes and great bows, or
even those smooth satins with their svelt diagonal
lines and necklace decolletage make it humanly im-
possible to wait. But if still impervious, you are bound
to capitulate at the unusually low prices. $16.75 and
$25.00.
Evening Wraps at $25.00
e
Phone 4161
French Room
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