FOUR. THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 1938 I I E MICHIGAN DAILY --x. . , .r / 31 Edted and managed by students of the University of rhigan tnder the authority of the Board in Control of udent Publications. Published every morning except Monday during the Ivers tyyea andS ummer Session. Member of the Associated Press The Assocated Press is exclusively entitled to the for republication of all news dispatchestcredited to or not otherwise credited in this newspaper. All iht of republication of all other matters herein also eAwed. ntered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as N rl.class malImatter. Subscriptions duinlg regular school year by carrier, 10: by _.m ., $460. ember, Associated Collegiate Press, 1937-38 REPREOENTED PO NATIONAL ADVERTISNG BY NationalAdvertising Service,Inc. 2 ollePishliskers Reresentative 420 MADISON AvE. New YORK, N. Y. CICAO- BOSTON - LOS ANGELES - SAN FRANCISCO Board of Editors NAGING EDITOR.............JOSEPH S. MATTES $OCIATE EDITOR ........ .....TUURE TENANDER OCIATE EDITOR............IRVING SILVERMAN IOCIATE EDITOR..........WILLIAM C. SPALLER OOCIATE EDITOR.............ROBERT P. WEEKS IMEN'S EDITOR .................HELEN DOUGLAS )RTS EDITOR ..............IRVIN LISAGOR Bus ns Department SINESS MANA E R............ERNEST A. JONES EDIT MANAGER...................DON WILSHER IRTISNG MANA GGR ... .NORMAN B. STEINBERG )T VNVS BUSINESS5 MANAGER ........BETTY DAVY MEN'S SERVICE MANAGER ..MARGARET FERRIES NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT PERLMAN It is important for society to avoid the neglect of adults, but positively dangerous for it to thwart the ambition of youth to reform the world. Only the schools which act on this belief are educational institu- tions in the best meaning of the term. - Alexander G. Ruthven The editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of the Daily staff and represent the views of the writers mnly. V111 POS111-TH . .. TUDWIG LEWISOHN rightly called J the fascistic movements in the world cay the "revolt of the pagans" in whom noth- g is so barbarous as their utter callousness suffering and human life, Friday in Hill Audi- -lum. Jews. Catholics, Protestants are suffering t'secutions today at the hands of the savages. 'erywhere inierance points to the crumbling ethical and moral values, to the degradation human spirit. It is for that reason that the Inter-Faith Sym- slums currently being held on Sundays are :wing a worth-while purpose. In bringing together representatives of the ur great religious traditions the Symposium iters a spirit of mutual understanding and ap- eciation. The presentation of the Jewish, the itholic, the Easern and the Protestant view- .ns by men who are local leaders in these Iths should be an enriching and broadening perience. one whi> will re-affirm the worth the individual man and faith in his future. Tuure Tenander. IeXiC() e0S Ahead. . M EXICO TODAY is making a strong play to throw off the shackles of its udal, "semi-colonial" status-a status where e two most important industries, mining and I, were 90 per cent controlled by foreigners, here the standard of living even of skilled work- s resembles that of Arkansas sharecroppers ed where 60 per cm of the adult population is eterate 'he recent expropriation of the plants of 17 fitis rnd Ameican oil companies, which was lther sudden nor unrovoked, must be consid- ed in the light of this transformation. That the oil companies have mercilessly ex- oited both labor axio the national resources of exico that they hav neither provided decent ages and hgenic wrking conditions, nor made Sa ttempt to save frnrn destruction the abundant ches of the soil in naural gases and petroleum inot be de WV. hai ls that Mexico is going imunisti. nat Ca~rdenas is a dictator and iat this bt st in- a series of attacks poi foreign in r esients which will be confis- ed by the aeinent without remuneration the priitt companies. To t;e cy th oil properties are being n a n OhIh baniswered that President 'rd as I dgc his government to pay ~indnin~ --Mexco ill honor her dent with 'J. frin Wmst get ourselves ready to egin iniedite mnemnification for the expro- rigt.d (prop.e o it would not be just to ~ave lis debt io iutire generations." the cry a, communism and of dictatorship, answer must be made that civil liberties, $450,000,000 and, according to the New York Times, more than 1,800,000,000 barrels of pe- troleum, valued at more than $1,500,000,000 have been taken out of the soil-one-sixteenth of the world's output. The present altercation began last April with a 12-day strike by oil workers. The Federal Labor Board in arbitrating' the dispute decided on Dec. 18 that the companies must establish pen- sion systems, increase by one-third the wages of their 18,000 employes and give them a degree of control in the management. The companies appealed this decision to the Supreme Court claiming that the $7,200,000 increase in labor costs yearly was greater than the annual profit. The statement of profits offered by the com- panies was smaller by millions of dollars than the figure made public by the arbitral board. But several weeks ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Board's ruling. Th, companies threatened to force suspension of operations if the ruling was imposed, con- tinuing to plead financial "inability to comply." Even were the investigations of the Federal Labor Board and the Supreme Court to be disregarded, it is extremely doubtful that the plea of the companies is true. It is difficult to believe thatI the companies were earning less than a two per cent return on their investment. And a two per cent return on $450,000,000-or $9,000,000- would have amply covered the increase. Further, immediately preceding the official announcement of expropriation it became clear that the finan- cial haggling was merely a blind pulled down by the oil companies to keep the light from the real point of difference-a point which under the Mexican law would have given them little chance for a successful appeal. That was the question of the system of control which would have allowed union representatives to exercise a certain amount of supervision over working conditions. According to the Associated Press, the com- panies made "an eleventh hour offer . .. to pay the sum stipulated in the award, if they could interpret as they chose the administrative clause of the new collective labor contract imposed upon them..." * *Y The existing political conditions in Mexico made inevitable the series of events that led to expropriation, given the obstinacy of the oil companies. Enterprising merchants, small cap- italists and other wide-awake middle class Mex- icans have found their ambitions to expand and develop blocked by the foreign control of in- dustry. Thus at many points their interests co- incide with the working class. Since the progressive business men form but a small though energetic group the brunt of the battle has been born by organized labor. And labor has received great concessions in return from the government, controlled by the radical middle class. Two unknown quantities are yet outstanding in the Mexican equation. The first is the question of whether the government, or a syndicate of workers, can successfully operate the properties. It has been pointed out that much of the oil is exported, with private companies providing both the tank ships and the foreign markets. But once the indemnity for the Mexican properties has begun to bepaid, and it becomes fairly certain that there is little chance of the plants being returned, it is difficult to believe that these private companies would refuse to accept the profit involved in handling Mexico's oil. The other unknown quantity is the interna- tional situation. For Mexico the international sit- uation means the United States. Prolonged ob- stinacy of the oil companies in the several weeks between the Suprer.e Court decision and the expropriation provides a sound basis for believing that the oil companies were encouraged by all the talk of a coming "strong hand" in Washington's Mexican policy. Continued belief in eventual aidj from the State Department may encourage the oil companies to make difficult the sale of Mex- ican oil abroad. According to the Chicago Daily News, Secre- tary Hull and Under-Secretary Wells are study- ing "the briefs filed by the oil companies pre- paratory to making further formal protests and demands upon the Mexican government." In view of the Mexican government's promise, with- out representations from the United States, that it will pay for the properties, demands along these lines are ridiculous. Stronger action along the lines of pressure on Mexico City, by threats of a discriminatory stop- page in the purchase of Mexican silver by the Treasury Department, for example, may be con- templated. Yet, it hardly seems possible that the State Department would dare endanger the good-neighbor policy with Latin America by re- turning to the policy of the big stick days when Charles Evans Hughes was tagged "Secretary of Oil" and Frank Kellogg uncovered a Bolshevik under every Mexican bed. But it must not be forgotten that powerful groups are exerting tremendous pressure in Washington. What happens in the next week may well determine the fate of progressive Mexico. S. R. Kleiman. Heywood Broun There ought to be a conference between spokes- men for the cause of "co-operative security" and those who say they favor "isolation." And these good fellows should sit together with a dictionary on the table. Undoubtedly there are fundamental differences in the point of view and some clash of convic- tion which may not be re- solved even by long debate. But, there is confusion. And there is a certain mixing up of camp followers which comes entirely out of a fail- .