PAGE- FUNK THE MICHIGAN DAILY THURSDAY, IMARCH 16, 1939 PAGE FOUR THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1939 THE MICHIGAN DAILY 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 Sumnh r 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 republication of all other matters:herein also reserved., Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as seconld'class mail inatter. Subscriptions during regular school year by carrier, $4.00; by mail, $4.50. REPRESENTED FOR NATIONAL ADVERTISING BY National Advertising Service, Inc. College Publishers Representative 420 MADISON AVE. NEW YORK. N. Y. CHCAGO oso, . LoS ANGELES SAN FRANCISCO Member, Associated Collegiate Press, 1938-39 Board Managing Editor Editorial Director . City Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Book Editor Women's Editor Sports Editor . of Editors . Robert D. Mitchell . . Albert P. May1o * Horace W. Gilmore Robert I. Fitzhenry S. R. Kleiman * . Robert Perlman Earl Gilman William Elvin Joseph Freedman * . .Joseph' Gies . Dorothea Staeber . . Bud Benjamin Business Department Business Manager . . . . Philip W. Buchen Credit Manager . . . . Leonard P. Siegelman Advertising Manager . . . William L. Newnan Women's Business Manager . . Helen Jean Dean Women's Service Manager . . . Marian A. Baxter NIGHT EDITOR: NORMAN A. SCHORR The editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of the Daily staff and represent the views of the writers only. The New Peace Bill . A CONGRESS that is determined to regain some of its powers, which it says the President has "usurped," is now con- sidering a proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit the United States from waging an overseas war without first being authorized by a popular referendum. The 12 Senators who have introduced the measure are making expert use of emotional pro- paganda to drum up popular sentiment in sup- port of it. The people are the ones who must pay the cost of war, they argue, and it should be they who decide whether a war shall be fought. The young men will be sacrificed, and they should have a voice before the country enters a conflict. The Senators hammer home the fact that the measure would provide for "true democracy." These appeals to emotional stereotypes, as usual, befog the issues actually at stake. Democ- racy, as used by the Senators, becomes merely a handcuff for the Chief Executive. To weaken President Roosevelt is far more the aim of the Senators than any philanthropic extension of the democratic process. An appeal for support of the bill on the grounds that it is a reinforcement of democracy avoids the basic truth that the proposed referendum would be an extremely cumbersome piece of legis- lative machinery. A vote by the people is a slow process at best, and the additional time necessary for popular debate of the issues would slow American diplomacy to a walk. And probably at no other time in history has diplomacy been so fluid a matter as it is now. With dictators deciding the actions of regiment- ed nations, nothing in diplomacy can be static. The most carefully planned strategem can be made obsolete by a sudden shift in the policies of a Hitler or a Mussolini. Democracy's diplo- matic reflexes are slow enough; they should not be drugged further by a war referendum. To look forward to a time when the referendum would be called reveals another serious weakness in its use. We know how the mobilization of troops was used as a barometer of war in 1914. One country cannot permit its enemy to get the jump in war preparations, and Russia's mobiliza- tion in 1914 was a warning and an excuse to the Germans, who answered the mobilization with a declaration of war. The war referendum would receive the same diplomatic interpretation. To call it would precipitate war. But above all, there is no guarantee that a vote of the people would'insure a sane and cool- headed consideration of war. Americans are probably little less susceptible to mass hysteria than the Japanese o.r Italians. The roll of mar- tial drums and the show of uniforms have usual- ly quickened the 'American 'pulse as much as they have Europe's. Despite our rock-like anti- war viewpoint, we are probably just as gullible to martial propaganda as we were in 1914. We have already carefully catalogued dictators in our stereotypes, and have acknowledged Great Britain and France as the "defenders of democ.- racy "-a stage we had not yet reached when the World War broke out. We may not want hot- headed administrators to plunge us into war, British View Impressions Of America (This is the first of a series of articles on four American cities which the "Manchester Guardian" is publishing.) By ROBERT DELL I arrived in New York in November in beautiful spring weather-brilliant sunshine and a temper- ature of 65 in the shade. It did not last long, and after several variations we had on Thanksgiving Day in the east of the United States the heaviest snowstorm (it was, in fact, a blizzard) that has been known for years at so early a date. Never- theless, I saw New York under the best possible conditions. The impression that New York makes on a new-comer, at least it was so in my case, is stupendous. After a stay of nearly four weeks the effect was not diminished. It may not be the most fascinating city in the world (I have not visited all the cities in the world, so I cannot say), but it is certainly the most fascinating city I have visited. To begin with, it is so beautiful. Some of the old skyscrapers, especially those down town-that is to say, the Wall Street quarter,- are ugly, but the more recent ones are architec- tural masterpieces. On the day of my arrival a couple of my Ameri- can friends came to the studios of the Columbia Broadcasting System, and were allowed to come up to the room where I was broadcasting on condition that they remained behind a screen and did not say a word. When the ordeal was over (it is something of an ordeal to broadcast all over the United States) they came out from behind the screen, carried me off to dine at an excellent restaurant on Lexington Avenue, and then took me to their flat on a twenty-second floor. From their studio window I saw for the first time one of the most exquisite scenes that I had ever seen in my life-the great buildings of New York lighted up. I saw it again many times, but never tired of it and never shall. It is not only by night that New York is beau- tiful. One Sunday afternoon I was walking with Ernst Toller across Central Park from East 87th Street. The sight of the great towers on the west of the park made us both exclaim simultaneously, "This is a twentieth-century Florence." All is not perfect, of course. Opposite that beautiful build- ing the Rockefeller Center, on Fifth Avenue is St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the worst examples of churchwarden Gothic that it has ever been my misfortune to see. Why do they build sham Gothic churches in the United States? They are still doing it. At Washington, for instance, the Episcopalians are at this moment building a Gothic cathedral. How is it that they do not un- derstand that to say that modern architecture is suitable to a church is to admit, in effect, that, religion belongs to the past? The Middle Ages are farther away from us in everything but time than ancient Byzantium, Greece, or Rome. The people of New York are as fascinating as their city. Was there ever in the world a people so kind, so friendly, and so hospitable as the Americans? I have never felt like a foreigner form the moment I set foot in the United States. American hospitality is overwhelming. Invita- tions to lunch, to dinner, to cocktail parties, and whatnot poured in in such numbers from the first day of my arrival that it was physically im- possible to accept them all, apart from the fact that I had other things to do. I stayed at an hotel in Greenwich Village, close to Washington Square, which was once the most fashionable hotel in New York. Edward VII stayed there when he was Prince of Wales. Until a few years ago it was under French ownership and management, and, although it has now passed into American hands, it is still exactly like a French provincial hotel. Its restaurant, more- over, which is one of the best in New York, al- though far from being one of the most expensive, is still French-with certain concessions. CnT of the French waiters told me that it went to his heart to be obliged to serve oysters with tomato sauce, celery and horse-radish. "People who smother the taste of oysters like that;"' he said, "do not really appreciate them." I was asked out so much that my experience of New York restau- rants is limited, but my impression, for what it is worth, is that most of the cheap restaurants pro- vide American cooking at its worst and most of the expensive ones a bad and unwholesome imi- tation of French "haute, cuisine." On the other hand, the cooking in the private houses is usually very good indeed, which shows that there is nothing the matter with American cooking if it is properly done. New York is the easiest possible place to find one's way about, but it takes a long time to get about, for the communications are slow. The suit- ways are far inferior to the London Underground and the Paris "Metro." To begin with, there is no network as there is in London and Paris. Ty;. lines are separate, and one has to go to differ- ent stations for different destinations. There aid no lifts or moving staircases, and one has to mount and descend long flights of stairs and sometimes even to cross one platform to get to another. This means going down and then up two more flights of stairs, and the platforms are of immense length. The carriages are un- comfortable and far from clean. The overhead railways which are an eyesore, are all to be demolished in time. A beginning has been made with that going down Sixth Avenue, which was' closed for demolition the other day. New sub- ways are to replace them. On the surface the traffic congestion is much worse than in London or Paris. Fifth Avenue was a perpetual joy to me. When- ever I could I sauntered up and down part of it. The shop windows are arranged with excellent taste. There is nothing like them in London or Paris, and the feminine population of New York is so attractive. A taxi driver asked me one day whether I were not an Englishman. I replied in WASHINGTON, March 14.-Relief from the burdens of taxation has become one of the cen- tral points of the present drive to bring about economic recovery. For a long time this subject has been confused with the question of "soaking the rich." Today the inequitable taxation is being discovered to be a direct cause of unemployment, especially in its devastating effects on small busi- nesses. The biggest single factor in present-day busi- ness conditions is the payroll tax. Adopted for benevolent purposes, it has done more to unsettle business conditions than any other single factor in the last three years. The business recession which began in the summer of 1937 and from which the nation has not yet recovered happens to be coincident with the imposition of the heavi- est payroll taxes. Today American business and industry is pay- ing as its share of the payroll taxes as much as was paid in 1929 for corporation taxes. In other words, the tax burden on business today is double what it was at the time of the Nation's biggest national income and prosperity. In the mails almost every week come letters to Washington protesting against the payroll taxes. Here, for instance, is one from a Mid- western city where * survey was made of eight photo-engraving plants by the secretary of a trade association, who writes: "I thought you might be interested in the way the unemployment compensation rates of tL Social Security law are not only hindering recoV- ery in this industry, but are actually causing un- employment and loss. Realizing that mere state- ments are not conclusive, I am going to give you some facts and figures which show more clearly than words just how the social security laws are ruining our business. "I recently took a survey of eight photo-engrav- ing plants in our city to see whether,the com- plaints against this law were justified. These eight plants in 1938 did a combined gross busi- ness of $505,329.38. During 1938 their assess- ments for old age coverage was $2,946.98, and for unemployment insurance $10,100.18, making a total for social security taxes of $13,047.16. "As you see, these taxes were just a little over 2% per cent of sales, and cost the various firms just about as much as the rent on their plants. I also discovered to my amazement that these eight small business had paid a total of $27,- 273.13 in social security taxes since the law has been in effect. When you consider the stagger- ing proportions of these taxes and realize that they are but a part of the general tax burden on industry, which is throttling the small busi- ness man, you can realize why recovery and re- employment are still but a vague promise for the future. "We are not against the social security laws. The old age provisions seem all right, and equit- able. "The unemployment provisions of the law, however, are inequitable in that they penalize the high-wage industry where labor cost is a large proportion of the selling price. "There is no maximum on which the unemploy- ment taxes are collected, although in claiming compensation, the employee cannot be consid- ered as having made more than $30 a week. "It is just as though one paid for $6,000 worth of insurance on his home and in case of fire the law provided that the most he could recover would be $3,000. To be fair, and not discriminate against the high-wage industries, $30 a week should be the maximum on which the unemploy- ment taxes should be paid. While taxes on that amount would still be a burden, they would not cause the unemployment and unprofitable oper- ation of plants which unrestricted taxes do cause." The foregoing letter, which is typical of many, relates to those businesses where raw materials represent a small proportion and labor a high proportion of the sale price of an article, but the unfairness of the payroll tax which applies to all kinds of business is that it must be paid irrespective of whether the owner is running at a loss or making a profit. Thus, a business which is having a hard time meeting interest charges on its borrowed capital and is not making any profit may find itself forced to pay in payroll taxes sums in excess of all its interest charges. The theory of the income tax has always been that it is based on actual capacity to pay. But the social security taxes are levied irrespective of capacity to pay and thus constitute a greater burden on the businesses of a marginal sort than on the successful ones. And it is the marginal business which is forced to liquidate and throw workers out of jobs. The well-heeled corporation with a surplus need have little concern about what is happening to weak competitors, for the same government which de- cries monopoly helps the entrenched businesses to stay in the game while the little ones are strangled and the sales volume is gobbled up by the stronger units. Thus do payroll taxes aid monopoly and kill competition and force unemployment. The alter- native, of course, is to do away with the unneces- sary reserve fund for social security and put the unemployment insurance and old age pensions on a system of pay-as-you-go, with the financing to be done out of general taxation or on a capacity to pay basis. In Metamora, O., a man who was rejected for disability when examined for service in the Civil War, has just died at the age of 99. There is an example of the longevity value of frail health. "If Washington were here, would he let the TODAY in WASHINGTON -by David Lawrence- V THEATRE By NORMAN KIELL Hospital Hill This Friday and Saturday night at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, the Hillel Players will present Harold Gast's and S.H.S. Danns original drama, "Hospital Hill." This production carries on thetra- dition of the Hillel Players to present plays written, directed and acted by studentsof the University. Beginning four years ago with Theodore Cohen's Hopwood Winner, "Unfinished Sym- phony," then Arthur Miller's "They Too Arise," and last year Edith White- sell's "Roots," (the latter two also Hopwood winners), the presentation this year of "Hospital Hill" seems to I reach some sort of a pinnacle when we realize that the play is being direc- ted by one of the authors, Mr. Gast. "Hospital Hill" is a character study of the disintegration of the central figure while at the same time a study of the integration of another central figure. Four American doctors, at the invitation of the head of a liberal government of one of the South American countries, go there to run a hospital. The hospital is situated on a hill overlooking the capitol, three miles away. Opponents of the liberal gov- ernment want to seize the hill in order to bombard the town. Interesting to aote, the situation of the hospital it- self was suggested to the playwrights by the location of University Hospital in Ann Arbor. But, we must remember, the play is not about a fascist revolution but a study in character portrayal. The revolution is there to intensify the struggle centering about these char- acters. This afternoon at 3:15, we shall be able to hear a pre-view of the. play. The Michigan Theatre of the Air will broadcast scenes from the first two acts over Station WJR, with members of the original cast partici- pating. It should give us ample op- portunity to sample the work of the Hillel Players and prepare us for the complete production at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre Friday night. The Editor Gets Told.. . DAR Americanism To the Editor:t About -two weeks ago the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution de- nied the use of their hall to a woman1 whose voice, says Arturo Toscanini, is "heard but once in a hundred years." Mrs. F. D. Roosevelt resigned1 her membership in the organization for the sole purpose of attracting pub- licity to the affair. Her attempt failed; the papers that printed the news played it down as much as they could. Heywood Broun, in a column printed in The Daily of March 3, said, "It ist up to some radio chain or musical organization to offer, and, indeed, to plead, with Miss Anderson to accept the facilities of a national hookup so that everyone in our nation can hear one of the most glorious voices now1 vital in the world." On last Sunday night Miss Ander- son broadcasted over the National9 Broadcasting Company network on a program known as The Circle, which stars Basil Rathbone and Groucho and Chico Marx. The Circle is run in in a manner which is unique, to say the least. The principals converse, and manage to work in narratives which are dramatized, songs, and the tther concomitants of the successful variety program. On the program last Sunday night were Madeleine Car- roll, Miss Anderson, and the afore- mentioned principals. Miss Ander- son's voice was marvelous-no one can deny that. Here is the rub: Miss Carroll joined not only in the dramas, but in the conversation; Miss Ander- son, on the other hand did not say a word except, of course, for her songs. I want to know why. Was it be- cause she didn't want to speak? Or was it rather that her desires to speak were deliberately throttled by the script-writers of the program, which, incidentally, came out a few weeks ago with the prettiest piece of pro- Chamberlain (and thence, conse- quently, pro-fascist) propaganda ever to come over the air except for Father Coughlin's weekly utterances. There must be a reason. And why doesn't somebody do something about it? -David J. Grossman Think Twice It is encouraging to learn that the bill to stop "gin marriages" is well on its way to passage. If it becomes law couples henceforth will have to wait three days from the time they file their application until they receive their marriage licenses. This delay should give youngsters ample time to sober up, if perchance they had made their decision to enter (Continued from Page 2) lecture is to be given in 1025 Angell Hall. SConcerts Carillon Recital: Sidney F. Giles, of Toronto and Indianapolis, will serve as Guest Carillonneur for a period of six weeks. Mr. Giles will play short recitals each noon at 12 and will give formal programs Thursday night at 7:00 and Sunday afternoon at 4:15 except on such Sundays as faculty concerts may be scheduled, when carillon recitals will be played at 5:15 p.m. Exhibitions Exhibition of Modern Book Art: Printing and Illustration, held under the sponsorship of the Ann Arbor Art Association. Rackham Building, third floor Exhibition Room; daily except Sunday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; through March 25. Exhibition of Prints from the Col- lection of Mrs. William A. Comstock and Water Colors by Eliot O'Hara, presented by the Ann Arbor Art As- sociation. Rackham Building, third floor Exhibition Rooms, daily except Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m., March 7 through March 21. Botanical Photographic Exhibit An exhibit of photographs of botani- cal subjects will be on displayin the West Exhibit Room of the Rackham Building, in connection with the meetings of the Botanical Section of the Michigan Academy, Friday, March 17, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 18, 9:00 a.m. to 12 o'clock. The prints illustrate the use of photography in research and instruction in botany. The public is cordially invited. Lectures University Lecture: Dr. P. Sargent Florence, Professor of Commerce at. the University of Birmingham, Eng- land, will lecture on "The British Cooperative Movement" at 4:15 p.m., today in the Rackham Lecture Hall, under the auspices of the Department of Economics. Tne public is cordial- ly invited. French Lecture: The sixth lecture on the Cercle Francais program will take place today at 4:15 p.m. in the' Natural Science Auditorium. Madame Arline Caro-Delvaille, dis- tinguished French author, journalist and lecturer will speak on "Voyage au Perigord." The lecture is accom- panied with motion pictures. American Chimical Society Lee-i ture. Professor Edward Mack, Jr.,! of the University of North Carolina,; will speak on "Structure of Some Typical Organic Molecules as Illus- trated by Scaled Models" in Room 303, Chemistry Building, today, at 4:15 p.m. The public is invited. Events Today Mr. Louis Untermeyer. Schedule for today. Coffee hour at Michigan Union, Room 308, (Quadrangle Room). 4 p.m. Please note change in room. Lecture to engineering students. 8 p.m. Rackham Lecture Hall. Sub- ject: "Poetry as a Function-And How It Works." The 'English Journal Club will hold its regular monthly meeting this eve- ning at 8 p.m. in the West Confer- ence Room of the Rackham Build- ing. Mr. Jolt Weimer will speak on "A Method of Research in Renais- sance Biography." All who are in- terested are invited to attend. The Observatory Journal Club will meet at 4:15 this afternoon in the Observatory lecture room. Mr. Harry Bendler will re- view "The Stellar Temperature Sc'ale" by G. P. Kuiper. Tea will be served at 4:00. German Journal Club: There will be a meeting today at 4:10 p.m. in Room 304 Michigan Union.j Sigma Gamma Epsilon: Prof. Ralph L. Belknap will give a lecture entitled "Greenland" tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Room 2054 N.S. Association Book Group: McNair's "The Real Conflict Between China and Japan" will be reviewed by Cur- tis Manchester, today, 4 p.m., Lane Hall Library. Upper Peninsula Men and Women: Students from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are reminded of the mix- er sponsored by the Hiawatha Club, tonight, 7:30 p.m. in the Michigan League ballroom. Refreshments will be served. Parapsychology Club. There will be an important business meeting to- night at 8 in the West Lecture Room hearsal tonight at 7:.15 in the League; all girls who belonged to Freshman Girls' Glee Club last semester are asked to attend the rehearsal, as both Glee Clubs have been combined for this semester. All members please bring your eligibility cards. Varsity Glee Club: Rehearsal for Saturday's broadcast will begin at 7:25 tonight. Meet in the regular re- hearsal room. It is necessary that everyone be dressed in dark suits with dark shirts and be ready to be- gin at 7:25. The Hiawatha Club extends a cor- dial invitation to all Upper Michigan men and j-omen to attend the Club mixer to be held in the League Ball- room this evening, from 7:30 to 10. Movies of out-of-town football games will be shown, and refreshments will be served. There will be no admis- sion charge. Zeta Phi Eta: Actives and pledggs are reminded of the regular meeting tonight at 7:15 in the Portia Room. Try-outs will be heard, and all ac- tives must be present to receive in- structions for the national examina- tion to be given in two weeks. If you cannot be there, get in touch with your president at 6765. M. Rover Crew meeting tonight at the Union at 7:30. Room to be an- nounced on the bulletin board. All those interested are invited. The InteriorDecoration Group of the Faculty Women's Club will meet at the League this afternoon, at 3 o'clock. Mrs. Elsie McCoy, Sewing Instructor for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, will demonstrate "The Construction of'Slip Covers." The Michigan Dames Child Study Group will meet this evening at 8:00 o'clock in the Music Room of the Rackham Building. Mrs. Donald Stillman will speak on "Presenting Music to Young Children." All wives of students and internes are invited. Attention Senior Engineers: There will be an important meeting of the Senior Engineering Class in Room 348, this afternoon at 4 p.m. In order to avoid conflicts and make sure that everyone gets a chance to attend, a duplicate meet- ing will be held Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. in the same room. It is important that all seniors try to at- tend the meetings because the policy of the class in regard to a composite class picture, the swingout, and class dues will be discussed. Come and get acquainted with your classmates and make sure that the class is ad- ministrated the way you want it to be. Coming Events Suomi Club: Dr. Hirsch Hootkins, of, the French Department, will be the guest speaker Friday evening, March 17, at Lane Hall. Also, a group of Finnish songs will be pre- sented by Mr. Matt Lappinen of Ypsilanti, and Bill Sahi, 40E, will entertain with several schottisches and polkas on the harmonica.The program is scheduled to begin promptly at 8 p.m. to allow sufficient time for discussion and refresh- ments. Outdoor Club: The bicycle hike which was postponed last week will be held this Saturday. All who en- joy bicycling are invited to meet at Lane Hall at 2:30 for a short ride. The Graduate Outing Club will mtiet at the Rackham Building Sat- urdlay, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. and will go in argroup to the Coliseum for indoor skating. There will be 1 Open House at the club room for those who do not desire to skate. Re- freshments will be served when the group returns. Sunday, March 19, the club will meet at the Northwest door of the Rackham Building at 2:30 p.m. and go in cars to Patterson Lake. Supper will be served either indoors or out depending on theweather. All Graduate students are invited. JGP: Ticket committee will meet at 4 p.m. Sunday in the League Un- dergraduate Offices. All members must be present. Ping Pong Tournament: A 11 matches in the women's ping pong tournament should be completed by Friday, March 17. The managers should have the names of the four highest contestants handed in by March 20. The Box Office at the Lydia Men- delssohn Theatre will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., at which time re- served seat tickets can be secured for the play, "Hospital Hill," which will be presented by the Hillel Players, DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN Publication in the Bulletin is constructive notice to all members of the University. Copy received at the office of the Assistant to the President until 3:30 P.M.; 11:00 A.M. on Saturday. 4 I I