THE MICHIGAN DADILY SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1937 G.D. Eaton~VA Neo-Menckenite; Colleague Recalls 'Daily' Rebel By DELBERT CLARK ( Manager of the New York Times Washington Bureau) Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control of Student Publications. Published every morning except Monday during the University year and Summer Session Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this newspaper.. All ,rights of republicaton of all other matter herein also reserved. Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan as second class mail matter. Subscriptionsaduringregular school year by carrier, $4.00; by mail, $4.50. Member, Associated Collegiate Press, 1936-37 REPRESENTED FOR NATIONAL ADVERTISING BY National Advertising Service, Inc. College Publishers Representative 420 MADISON AVE. NEW YORK. N.Y. CHICAGO - BOSTON - SAN FRANCISCO LOS ANGELES - PORTLAND - SEATTLE Board of Editors MANAGING EDITOR............JOSEPH S. MATTES EDITORIAL DIRECTOR............TUURE TENANDER CITY EDITOR ..................IRVING SILVERMAN William Spaller Robert Weeks Irvin Lisagor Helen Douglas NIGHT EDITORS: Harold Garn. Joseph Gies, Earl R. Gilman, Horace Gilmore, Saul Kleiman, Edward Mag- dol, Albert May1o, Robert Mitchell, Robert Perlman and Roy Sizenmore. SPORTS DEPARTMENT: Irvin Lisagor, chairman; Betsey Anderson, Art Baldauf, Bud Benjamin, Stewart Fitch, Roy Heath and Ben 4;oorstein. WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT: Helen Douglas, chairman; Betty Bonisteel, Ellen Cuthbert. Ruth Frank, Jane B. Holden, Betty Latuer, Mary Alice MacKenzie, Phyllis Helen Miner. Barbara Paterson, Jenny Petersen, Har- riet Pomeroy, Marian Smith, Dorothea Staebler and Virginia Voorhees. Business Department BUSINESS MANAGER ..............ERNEST A. JONES CREDIT MANAGER ...................,DON WILSHER ADVERTISING MANAGER .....NORMVAN B. STEINBERG WOMEN'S BUSINESS MANAGER.......BETTY DAVY WOMEN'S SERVICE MANAGER ..MARGARET FERRIES Departmental Managers Ed Macal, Accounts Manager; Leonard P. Siegelman, Na- tional Advertising and Circulation Manager;. Philip Buchen, Contracts Manager; Robert Lodge, Local Advertising Manager; William Newnan, Service Man- ager; Marshall Sampson, Publications and Classified Advertising Manager. RIGHT EDITOR: SAUL KLEIMAN ON THE SIXTH DAY OF JUNE seven years ago, in the sweltering heat of a New York hospital, G. D. Eaton died. He died as he lived. Though unconscious for days before his death, he fought, in his delirium, a fearful struggle for survival. When he died there was a great void in the hearts of the small circle that knew him well. Now, seven years later, like a voice from the grave comes the novel he completed not long before he died-John Drakin. It is a difficult book to review. Some of G.D.E.'s friends say he told them he never wanted it published, that it was not up to the standard he set for himself. was doing occasional feature jobs for The Daily. Much of his writing, I can see now, bordered stylistically on the insufferable. He was one of the neo-Mencken school, in the days when Men- cken was at the height of his godhead with=those of us who were vaguely dissatisfied with things as they were, and who were looking for a Voice. Mencken was that Voice, and G.D.E. sturdily echoed it on the campus. As the year-1921-22-wore on, he began to do features and book reviews for the Sunday Magazine of The Daily, then in its first year. Thornton W. Sargent was its editor, but he turned much of the work over to G.D.E., who But it is a very ,per- sonal document, a book recalling G.D.E. the man to his friends. To those who knew G.D.E. only from hearsay, from the brash things he wrote in The Michigan Daily and afterward, from the reputation foisted upon him by those \who would not or could not understand him, it should be re- quired reading. But they - the closed minds, the comfort- able, smug minds, ever alarmed at ideas that dislocate the littlie world of wish-fulfill- ment they have built for themselves- should be cautioned in advance against the assumption that John Drakin is G. D. Eaton, for he is only a part of the man, and that the weak part. G E G. I). EATON loved it, so that be- fore the end of the year it was really G.- D.E.'s Magazine. From its pages he stormed and thundered at the closed minds on the campus, and while his thunder was not very loud. considering that he was one in about 8,000, it was heard, and many students and faculty quivered whenever they heard it. (One of the better known clergymen once preached a sermon, advertised in advance, on this dreadful young man.) By the end of that year G.D.E. was so well-known on the campus that the in- coming managing ed- itor of The Daily dared not make him editor of the Maga- zine, a position he had earned, and offered it Words To The Young. . YOUTH from all sections of the nation will meet in Milwaukee, July 2-5 to consider its problems, seek resolutions and consolidate efforts among youth organiza- tions. The meeting will mark the fourth American Youth Congress which this year will be consti- tuted as a model United States Congress with "Senators" and "Congressmen" from Y.M.C.A.'s, youth church groups, students, and youth polit- ical organizations. Endorsement has 'been re- ceived from such leaders in American life as Sen. Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., Sen. Gerald P. Nye, and 33 members of the House of Represen- tatives. Already the widely publicized campaign by the Youth Congress for the American Youth Act has received the support of thousands of young people who are interested in econopic security, peace, increased educational and recreational facilities, and race and religious tolerance and freedom. To the wise on the campus we conclude with the words of President Roosevelt in his message to the Third American Youth Congress on July 3, 1936: "Like the rest of our population, young people today are faced with problems both serious and perplexing. Their solution is not simple. But there is real hope in the fact that young people themselves are coming together to seek, through cooperative endeavour, a solution to these problems and a clarification of these per- plexities. This is in keeping with the tradition of our country; itis a real-evidence of the vitality of our democracy." Up A Tree, Perhaps?. R ECENT EVENTS have placed President Roosevelt and his court proposal in a politically embarrassing position. Opponents of the measure hail the resignation of Justice Van Devanter and the unfavorable report of the Senate Judiciary Committee as a certain sign of defeat for the administration. Those in favor of the bill see in Van Devanter's resignation a victory for a liberal court but do not say very much about the plan to reform the judiciary. Those in the middle see in the developments of the week the foundations for a compromise, something which we feel that the President will not readily accept. As a result, Roosevelt is in what might be termed a fix, unless he can regain some of the lost ground and rally the forces supporting the court plan. It has become increasingly doubtful that the measure can now be passed. But if the Pres- ident chooses to stand his ground, he stands an excellent chance of going down with the ship, accompanied by a great loss of political prestige. His ability to command the passage of "must legislation" will have pretty well vanished. In this book G.D.E. did the same thing as in the other, and better, novel, Backfurrow. That is, he married and unmarried people out of real life; split up personalities, and fused two or more individuals into one for the purpose of his story. So you won't find G.D.E. or the things that hap- pened to him in any one character. If you put together the characters of John Drakin and Jerry Clifton, make the character of Jerry dominant, and forget much of the plot, you will have a rough approximation of G.D.E. as he saw himself. And, to the credit of his powers of self-analysis, it is not a bad portrait. He liked himself, ad mired himself (as who doesn't?), yet was able to hold himself off at arm's length, coolly and dispassionately, and take a good look. 'He Had To Write It' The childhood and early youth of John Drakin are, so far as I am able to compare, largely that of G.D.E. The John Drakin who fought the World War at Fort Oglethorpe and Camp Mer- ritt is G.D.E. But the John Drakin at Ann Arbor. must be fused with his friend Jerry Clifton to get even an approximation of G.D.E., and from then on to the end of the book this is so. Drakin turns out weak, self-willed, potentially brilliant but unable to control his self-destructive im- pulses-a material, emotional and intellectual spendthrift. As the novel ends he is on top of the world because his uncle has died and left him twelve thousand dollars, once' more postponing the day when he will have to face facts. The real G.D.E., the G.D.E. who facedfacts, put his money in the bank, and never let down a friend, is Jerry Clifton. But John Drakin is G.D.E. as he might have been had he lacked that iron spine which carried him buoyant through all vicissitudes, that calm, amused skepticism which let him laugh at him- self as well as the rest of the world. Wlty did Eaton write this book? It is not a very good novel, as novel, and it is not difficult to understand why he did not want to publish it. Yet I think he had to write it. If it had turned out as good as he hoped, he would have sent it on the rounds of the publishers during his life- time, and at least had the satisfaction of doing his own proof-reading, eliminating the egregious errors in typography which occur all through it. But it was not as good, he knew, as he thought it ought to be. G.D.E. At Michigan Yet he had to write it, I believe, because he had to put himself on paper, dissect himself as he used to dissect specimens in zoological laboratory at Michigan, and see what made the wheels go round. Like Goethe, he was fully conscious of the "two souls" warring within him, and it would enable a better appraisal and mastery of himself to separate them and put them in cold type for study. And that will explain why the book really has very little plot structure, but is rather a swift furious chronicle. It is G.D.E. explaining himself to himself. Too bad he couldn't have been explained to some of those who hated him during his lifetime. There was that in him which made him strike back when attacked, and when the attack be- came general, it was not hard to understand how he repressed, so far as the public was con- cerned, his gentle, humorous, sentimental, boon- companion self, thrusting forward instead an ar- rogant, truculent, egoism self which was only a part of him. to me instead! G.D.E. gave me his apostolic bless- ing, and I asked him to take charge of the book review page. Then one Sunday we printed a nook review by G.D.E., and the Board in Control of Student Publications solemnly excommunicated him. All the student publications were forbidden to print anything he wrote or to refer to him in any way thenceforth! What was the Book? It was "Shall It Be Again," by John Kenneth Turner, and it said what everyone now knows-that the World War did not end wars, save democracy, or. do any of the other things it was supposed to do, except whip Germany. It imputed not too spiritual mo- tives to some of the interests which helped get the United States into that war. The trouble with G.D.E.'s review was that it agreed with the book, and in those days that was heresy of the first water. How strange it all seems now! But at that time we had not yet had access to the unquestioned documents which have proved again and again what that slim pioneer volume contended. Sunday Magazine Censored Yet, I think, and G.D.E. always thought too, that the severity of his sentence to Coventry was due to a remark in the course of his review that "most history professors are senile, simple, mis- guided asses." After all, there were several his- tory professors on the faculty! It was an example of G.D.E.'s brashness, and there can be no ques- tion that, had he said the same thing in a less indelicate way, he might have survived. But he never could hedge. He might have said: "Most history professors, being old men, are inclined to take the most comfortable line of reasoning, accept fallacies if they have a patriotic tinge, and permit themselves to be led astray by a partial presentation of the facts." That might have got by. Well, we struggled along without G.D.E.'s help for a couple months, and then the axe fell again. It was in the days when sex-rejuvenation opera- tions were being talked about, and in a spirit- honest!-of scientific inquiry I sent one of my staff to interview a few physiologists on the effi- cacy of such operations. Unfortunately, in order to present his findings properly he had to make use of a physiological term which is well known to medical students but was apparently taboo elsewhere. There were several other articles in that issue which didn't make a big hit with the authorities, but this article was seized upon as an excuse for depriving us of the journalistic freedom we had hitherto enjoyed, and imposing a censorship upon every line of copy that went into the Magazine. The staff met, at my call, and we decided unani- mously that while censorship might be an afflic- tion unavoidable in some instances, censorship by the then managing editor -was not to our taste. 'Student Revolt' Here We drafted a bill of complaint to accompany our mass resignation, printed it on the front page of our last issue, and mailed it to the managing editor. He didn't get his copy until after the Magazine was printed, and when he learned from a sophomore in the pr.oof room that we had slipped something past the censor, ordered all copies of the Magazine removed from The Daily before distribution next morning. Probably he was only doing his duty as he saw it, and he did it only after consulting with a majority of the Board in Control. At any rate, THEATRE By LEON OVSIEW The Merchant Of Venice The Merchant of Venice, which opened Saturday afternoon at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, is an- other in the rapidly lengthening ser- ies of inadequate Shakespearean pro- ductions presented during Ann Arbor dramatic seasons. Seemingly suf-I fering from uninspiring direction as well as from an almost complete in- ability by the cast to read poetry ade- quately, the production fails utterly in achieving any real dramatic in- terest. Especially weak are those scenes given over to the action of the ro- mantic subplots. Miss Estelle Win- wood plays Portia with a forced gig- gling gayety which is almost em- barrassing, while Philip Dakin, who plays Bassanio, reveals the charac- teristic inability of the cast to catch the spirit and flavor of some of Shakespeare's finest poetry. The other two pairs of lovers, Gratiano and Nerissa, and Lorenzo and Jessica, are played on a dead level of unin- spired and often faulty interpreta- tion. The almost total failure to catch the calm romantic beauty of the opening of the last scene of the play is symptomatic .of the failure of the production, all the inadequacies of direction, all of the inability to handle poetry, and all of the inability to rise to the spirit of Shakespeare is presented in complete force. This reviewer found his only solace in the person of Mr. Hughes. His reading of Shylock was scholarly in its accuracy and finely drawn in the action. A slight failure to modulate his voice to the size of the theatre was sometimes apparent in the more tempestuous of his speeches; but a generally masterful reading of the poetry was all the more appreciated for its uniqueness in the production It is he alone who carries the action of the play and gives it whateveI dramatic interest and subtlety o characterization that it may possess But the brilliance of Mr. Hughes results rather badly for the produc- tion as a whole. The general inade- quacy of the production is throwr into brighter relief, for the insuffi- ciencies of the rest of the cast becom the more glaring in the light of th sincerity of his emotion and the re- strained power of his interpretation The resulting effect of this situatior is that Shakespeare's plan of the play becomes lost in a single brilliani characterization. Every scene ir which Mr. Hughes is not present fail in interest and emotion, to the poin that the play almost ceases to exist a a coherent dramatic unity. It is devoutly to be wished thai succeeding plays in the current dra- matic season will atone for this aes- thetically imperfect and theatricall3 ineffective production of The Mer- chant of Venice. TIH E SCREEN Top Of The Town AT THE MAJESTIC In this musical comedy an "all- star" cast follows the well-marke path of all-star casts in musica comedy pictures and emerges with a conventionally indifferent all-sta film. Hugh Herbert gets the mar- quee headline, and plays his usua reliable broad comedy about as wel as ever. Gregory Ratoff follows suii with the dialect humour, and man- ages to be quite amusing in too few places. Outside of Gertrude Niesen's baritone singing and some fairly gooc "business" gags by the Three Sailors, the show has little to offer. Doris Nolan and George Murphy supply the romantic appeal, anc Murphy, at least, might have done well had he been allowedhevendthe slightest freedom from the strait- jacket of Hollywood definition, As it is, he has little to do save go through the motions. The story is about the struggle of a rich girl, Miss Nolan, to get in the show business against the will of her also rich uncles. Murphy tries tc discourage her at the latter's urging, on promise of a contract for his banc in the Moonbeam Room, stage name for the Rainbow of Radio City. The ending is of the category mis-namec "happy." It is said that some people enjo3 Ella Logan's singing. This may be true. --J.G. Despite all that was said of him, he was never a radical unless by "rad- ical" you mean one who goes to the root of things. He was temperamen- tally a little conservative, if anything -saved his money, bought a little country place in New Jersey, and kept a level head the greater part of the time. He liked to think of himself as a liberal, but he really meant "lib- ertarian": that is, one who loves and defends liberty wherever it is in peril. But I do not think he would have joined the American Liberty League. JOHN DRAKIN. by G. T Eatnn . Or- (Continued from Page 3) To The Members of The Guard of Honor: A meeting for the purpose of instruction and drill of the Guard of Honor for the Commencement Day Exercises will be held at Waterman Gymnasium, Tuesday, May 25, at 4 p.m., under the direction of Dr. George A. May. L. M. Gram, Chief Marshal." Leaders for Lantern Night: Prac- tice for the Leaders of the Lantern Night line of march will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Palmer Field. In case of rain go to W.A.A. Building. Attendance is compulsory. Academic Notices Economics 172: Room schedule for examination Monday, May 24, at 1 p.m. A-G-N.S. Aud.r H-Q-25 A.H. R-Z-1025 A.H. To Graduate Students in Educa- tion: The preliminary examinations for the doctor's degree in Education will be held on May 27, 28 and 29. Anyone desiring to take these exam- inations should notify my office at once.- Clifford Woody, Chairman of Committee on Graduate Study in School of Education. Psychology 34L, 36, 38. Final dis- cussion on the laboratory experi-i ments will be given Thursday night, May 27, at 7:45 p.m. in Room 3126 N.S. All laboratory students are re- quired to be there. Concerts Carillon Recital: Wilmot F. Pratt, University Carillonneur, will give a recital on the Charles Baird Carillon in the Burton Memorial Tower, Sun- day afternoon, May 23, at 4:15 p.m. Graduation Recital: Marguerite Creighton, mezzo-soprano, St. Johns- bury, Vt., will appear in graduation recital Monday, May 24, at 8:15 p.m.' in the School of Music Auditorium on Maynard Street. The general public, with the exception of small children, is invited. Lectures Chemistry Lecture: Dr. H. I. Schlesinger of the University of Chicago will lecture on "New De- velopments in the Chemistry of the Hydrides of Boron" at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, May 24 in Room 303 of the Chemistry Building. The lecture is under the auspices of the American Chemical Society, and is open to the public. University Lecture: "Continuity of Style in Near Eastern Art" by Dr. M. S. Dimand, Curator of Near East- ern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sponsored by the Research Seminary in Islami, Art. Monday, May 24, 4:15 p.m., Natural Science Auditorium. The public is cordially invited. William S. Sadler, M.D., Chief Psy- chiatrist and Director of the Chicago Institute of Research and Diagnosis, and author of "The Mind at Mis- chief"; "The Physiology of Faith and Fear," and "Theoryand Pratice of Psychiatry," will lecture in Natural Science Auditorium at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, May 26, upon: "Religion and Mental Health." Events Today Varsity Glee Club: All members re- port in front of the library at 4:15 p.m. today to take part in the swing- out exercises. Iota Sigma Pi: Mrs. C. C. Meloche will be at home in honor of the Ini- tiates of Iota Sigma Pi, on Sunday, May 23, from 4 to 6 p.m., 3060 Dover Road. Scandinavian Club: The picnic is arranged for Sunday afternoon. Those going are to meet at 2:15 p.m. at the East Engineers Arch. Hillel Foundation: There will be a dinner Sunday night at 6:30 at the Union, at which the Hillel award will be presented to Marshall D. Schul- man and the reports of the relief drive committees will be given. Every- one is invited, and reservations for the dinner which will cost 50 cents be made by phoning the Hillel Foun- dation or S. Leonard Kasle. Phi Eta Sigma: There will be a dinner meeting of Phi Eta Sigma at the Union Sunday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. Officers will be elected and a tentative program adopted for the coming year. Ann Arbor Friends: The next regu- lar meeting of the Ann Arbor Friends group will be held on Sunday, May 23, at the Michigan League, at 5 DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN Publication in the Bulletin is constructive notice to all members of the iversty. Copy received at the . f the Asitat to the Presid t IW*20;*11:-W0&m.*Saturday. w b n G n b i c i F x c z 1 , wish to be members of the meeting but who have not yet sent in their membership blanks are invited to communicate with Arthur or Esther S. Dunham (7830) before May 21. Lutheran Student Club: The An- nual Senior Banquet of the club will be held Sunday, May 23, Zion Parish Hall at 5:30 p.m. Coming Events Psychology Journal Club will meet on Wednesday, May 26, at 7:45 p.m. in Room 3126 N.S. Mrs. Mary C. Van Tuyl will speak on "The Life History Method." German Table for Faculty Mem- bers: The regular luncheon meeting will be held Monday at 12:10 p.m. in the Founders' Room of the Michi- gan Union. All faculty members in- terested in speaking German are cordially invited. There will be an in- formal 10-minute talk by Prof. M. Aga-Oglu. Staff Meeting, Michigan Technic: There will be an important meeting of all the staff members of the Mich- igan Technic Tuesday night, May 25, at 7:30 p.m. This is the last meeting of the curent year and it is impera- tive that everyone be there. Please sign up in the office. Senior Women: Senior women and others who are interested in meeting Julie Coburn of the School of Fa- shion Careers come to Miss McCor- mick's Office any time Monday, May 24. The Bibliophiles: Faculty Women's Club will meet, Tuesday, May 25, with Mrs. Clifford C. Meloche, 2060 Dover Road. Michigan Dames: The Music Group of the Michigan Dames will meet Tuesday night, May 25, at 8 p.m., in the east wing rear of Hill Auditorium. Professor McGeoch of the University Music School will speak on Richard Wagner. Anyone interested is cor- dially invited to attend. Churches Church of Christ (Disciples) Sun- day. 10:45 a.m., Morning worship, Rev. Fred Cowin, minister. 3; 30 p.m., Meet at the church for the trip to Saline Valley Farms. After a tour of the farm, recreation and picnic supper, Mr. Harold Gray will address the group on "The Philosophy of Cooperatives." Anyone desiring to go who has not signed up should phone 5838. First Church of Christ, Scientist: 409 South Division St. Morning service, 10:30 a.m. Subject: "Soul and Body." Golden Text: Psalms 86:4. Responsive Reading: Mathew 6:22- 30. Sunday School, 11:45 a.m., after the morning service. Congregational Church: 10:45 a.m., 'Service of worship, sermon by Rev. William H. Walker of Detroit. 9:30 a.m., The Adult Group of the May Forum will meet in Pilgrim Hall. The discussion on "The Effective Church" will be continued. 9:30 a.m., Post Parley meeting, continuing the discussion of ques- tions which arose in She Spring Par- ley. This group will meet in the lower room of the church, 4:30 p.m., The Student Fellowship will meet at Pilgrim Hall. This meet- ing will be an outdoor vesper service. A picnic supper is planned. 5 p.m., The Ariston League will meet at Pilgrim Hall for its third meeting of May forum discussions. Prof. Ernest Barker will be the leader. First Baptist Church, 10:45 a.m. Rev. R. Edward Sayles will speak on "Triumphant Religion." The church school meets at 9:30 a.m. The High School group meets at 5:30 p.m. Roger Williams Guild, 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening. At Guild House. Echoes from the Retreat will be heard. The usual social hour. First Presbyterian Church, 327 So. Fourth Ave. "The End of Quotes' is the topic upon which Dr. Lemon will preach at the Morning Worship Service at 10:45, a.m. The Westminster Guild will meet at 5:30 p.m. for a supper and social hour. At 6:30 a peace movie, en- titled "From World War to World Community" will be shown by Dr. Francis Skillman Onderdonk. Stalker Hall: 9:45 a.m. Student Class under the leadership of Prof. Carrothers on the subject: "Coopera- tion." 6 p.m. Wesleyan Guild Meeting. Prof. Howard McClusky will speak on "How to Make Our Lives. Important." Fellowship Hour and supper follow- ing the meeting. The Senior mem- bers of Hi-Alpha Delta will' be our guests at this meeting.