THE MI CHIGAN DAILY THUesIAY, MAY ?, 1939 _,,_ . THE ICHIGAN 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 Sumn*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 atthe Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as second class mal matter. 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. CHICAGO,'BSTON.'LOS ANGELES " SAN FRANCISr"O Member, Associated Collegiate Editorial Staff Managing Editor . . City Editor Editorial Director . Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate, Editor: .. Associate Editor . . Associate Editor . Sports Editor-. . Women's, Editor . . Business Staff Business .Manager . Credits Manager . . Women's" Business Manager Women's Advertising Manager. Publication Manager . . . Press, 1938-39 . Carl Petersen Stan M. Swinton Elliott Maraniss Jack Canavan Dennis Flanagan Morton Linder. Norman Schorr *Ethel Norberg . Mel Fineberg . Ann Vicary. . Paul R. Park Ganson Taggart Zenovia Skoratko Jane Mowers . Harriet Levy NIGHT EDITOR: PAUL M. CHANDLER The editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written ,by members of theDaily staff and represent the views of the writer: only. Poland Pawn Of Power E UROPEAN DIPLOMACY and intrigue have again made the position of weak and disunited Poland the most precarious in the present international scene. Strong powers in Europe, striving for diplomatic suprem- acy, are at the same time seeking Polish friend- ship and threatening Polish borders. With dis- putes over her every border potential sources of a war, this nation is again in danger of wholesale partition by neighboring ambitious powers. The Polish people have had a strange and romantic history. While under the rule of another nation, their nationalist spirit has had no equal. Yet the history of Poland, as a free nation has been one of petty bickerings, rival minority groups and pitiful disunity, with the result that her independence has never been lasting. Poland's internal condition in 1772, when the first of threepartitions by Prussia, Russia and Austria foretold her ruin, was somewhat weaker than it is now; however, the European scene at the time was much the same. All three partition- ing powers were ambitious, expanding nations. Sore spots were developing at much the same points along Polish boundaries as they are now. When the partition finally took place; the Polish nation was in a state of near cdlapse. Poland's principal loss in the First Partition was West Prussia, the well-known "Polish cor- ridor to the sea." In deference to Germany in the present struggle for control of the region, how- ever, it must be said that the "corridor" was originally inhabited by a Germanic people, the so-called Teutonic Knights. The curr'ent Polish-German dispute over the region is magnified by geographical and population donditions. The "free" city of Danzig, straddling the mouth of the Vistula River thus controls the entire valley, which comprises most of Poland. Population in the city, however, is predominantly German. Immediately outside Danzig, moreover, Poles form the great majority of the population. It is this clash between .the German urban area and the Polish rural hinter- land--to which control of the river mouth is an economic necessity-which is creating today's unpleasant situation. The history of Poland's eastern boundary has been equally unpleasant. The Russians, though Slavic kin to the Poles, have tended to lean toward Oriental culture, while Poland has been pulled into the western European sphere of in- fluence. The two countries' long mutual bound- ary, promoting a clas of divergent cultures, Russia's expansionist policy and Poland's inter- nal weakness created long-standing enmity be- tween them, and culminated in Russia's share in partitioning Poland. This enmity has lasted to the present day. even now that Poland has been re-created and is once ,nore an independent nation. And Po- land's distrust of Russia is one of the primary explanations of Poland's half-hearted accept- ance of Great Britain's- new formula, as em- bodied in the tri-partite agreement with France and Russia, whereby protection from aggression would be given to any nation so asking 'for it. Poland has been fearful that Russia would "Invade" the country without being asked, on the pretense of "keeping order." France and Great Britain appear to have been taking great pains lately td insure Poland's continued independence, supposedly on moral with Russia. Chamberlain undoubtedlyrecog- nizes the necessity of immediate Russian assist- ance to Poland in case of trouble with Germany. The chief difference between Poland's inter- nal condition now and Poland's condition in 1772 is the presence of a "strong man" to keep the country united. Closely following the wise foreign policies of the late "Daddy" Pilsudski, General Smigly-Ridz, now the nation's dictator, has tried to keep on friendly terms with every- body. The hand of his able foreign minister, Col. Joseph Beck, has been forced, however, by Hitler's demands. No independent nation worthy of that title can yield to a demand of "You give us what we want or we'll annihilate you!" Yet Germany's demands for control of Danzig and for a German railroad and highway across the "corridor" have taken just that form. So now Polish diplomacy seems to be leaning decidedly toward the Anglo-French bloc, in spite of mis- givings about Russia. Poland's history as a "pawn of power" should have taught her leaders to beware supposed friends and to choose friends carefully, if she has to choose at all. Smigly-Ridz and Beck are warily attempting to follow these precepts, and the vital moves they are now making will determine their ultimate success. -Howard A. Goldman Mr. Ghost GoesToTown . . H E RECEIVED his M.A. from Michi- gan in 1931. He has an office on West 121st St. one block from Columbia Univer- sity. He uses it as an apartment also, where, surrounded by six typewriters and 2,000 books, he carries on his important work. He is a slight, insignificant-looking little man, 120 pounds, pencil-stripe mustache, sharp eyes and mussed- up hair. He is 31, but yet looks and acts younger than most of the students for whom he ghosts. Yes, that's what Mr. Smith is: a ghost. The June issue of American Mercury carries an article on this Mr. G. H. Smith by Roy Ben- jamin, Jr., disclosing the amazing $10,000 a year business "The Ghost" has built up writing themes, papers, book-reviews, etc. for students who either do not have the ability to write o who have let their work slip too late in the sem- ester. Students here at Michigan are familiar with the form letter with which Smith canvasses the campuses. It is headed: "Every Man Today Has aGhost," and says in part: "Having complete bibliographical guides, great experience and valuable clippings and research at my disposal, I can often compile an essay in two days that would cause any other person many weeks of fret and care." Then are listed the fields of work that "The Ghost" covers, with another reminder that it would be much easier to have him write your paper, assuring a good grade, than for you to labor over it with the final outcome in question. With Smith, the matter of ghosting has. taken on the aspects of a legitimate profession, accom- panied by the inevitable professional pride in hi work. In this connection, he is able to boast that a new angle is used in every assignment with individual attention given to the particular needs of each client. Prices for his work range from $10 for a short paper, with bibliography (guar- anteed for non-detection and grade), to $500 for a Ph.D. thesis. Smith does his papers in six different styles, ranging from "C" to "A." Most average students are careful to explain they don't want too good a paper for fear the professor will besuspicious at the overnight improvement. Strangely enough, most of his customers are "A" students. "This is because most curricula overload the student," he explains. "Bright men and women want time for the subjects that interest them most. Like good business executives, they give the tedious assignments to me." Of his occupation, Smith has this to say: "I am convinced I am aiding the students who use my service. My essays are always thought- fully written and carefully worked out. If a boy will study them, he will get a lot more out of an assignment than if he merely waded through old books and copied oit meaningless data. Many students hardly know what a good essay looks like. Professors as a rule fail to discuss them and do not let students read the essays submit- ted by other members of the class. My papers stand as models and examples for the students." It is not t6o strange that a man like Mr. Smith can make $10,000 a year writing papers for stu- dents. That is, it is not strange considering the mass production emphasis in our higher educa- tion. Until colleges are made to resemble assembly lines less, ghosting and other collegiate mal- practices will continue to flourish. -Morton L. Linder Relief Pln There is ground for considerable encourage- ment in the results of the first few days of the administration's experiment in Rochester, N.Y., to solve the paradox of hunger in a land of plenty. In brief, the experiment operates like this. Relief clients exchange their welfare food money for orange stamps. With every $1 worth of orange stamps they are given 50 cents worth of blue stamps free. The orange stamps are good for any purchase in the grocery store with the exception of tobacco and liquor. The blue stamps are good for only those foods which the govern- ment designates as surplus. Currently these are butter, white flour, fresh oranges, eggs. graham f-lour, dried prunes, corn meal, beans, and grapefruit. The experiment is entirely voluntary and does not involve any new taxes. It is financed by cus- toms receipts. It is designed to restrict the gov- ernment's activities to listing the surplus prd- ducts and giving the relief clients their checks. It does away with dispensing food from depots I suppose that what they get is background. It seems to work well, and I am thinking of the betterment of the university just as much as any gains which may come to the- pupils. Re- porters are not as hard-boiled as they have been presented in fiction and motion pictures, but they do possess for the most part a lively skepti- cism. And a man fresh from an assignment on a good murder story in Chicago drops into Cambridge with a disposition to say to the Elms and the Ivy, "All right, but what have you got to offer?" He doesn't take Harvard or any other insti- tution wholly on its tradition. If he is to be inter- ested he must find himself in contact with a moving and a living object. Harvard on the whole has come off pretty well when put under the scrutiny of inquiring reporters. One member of the working press on leave to grapple with "the higher things of life" told me, "I never even went to high school, so this is brand new to me, I've had a lot of shocks-some good, some bad:" He explained that in his various courses he ran into professors whose names were familiar to him through text books in libraries. He had thought of them as "authorities" and not as ordinary living, breathing mortals. When he came into their classes they were on trial to an extent which probably the professors didn't realize. They Know Their Stuff The casual student felt that the main prob- lem was not whether or not he was going to make good, but much more, "How will this learn- ed Doc shape up if put under a reportorial micro- scope?" President Conant ought to be pleased to know that a majority of professors have earned a passing grade. A few have been set down a phonies and stuffed shirts, but, for the most part, it is admitted that most of the instructors know their stuff and actually have something to offer. It is hot within my power to change a single comma in the Nieman will by which the fellow- ships have been established, and yet I think one mistake has been made. There ought to be a provisions that none of the newspapermen who receive a- grant shall have had any previous col- legiate training whatsoever. This is in my mind, because I am in utter opposition to the anti- New Deal propaganda built upon that intellectu- ally subversive stuff of, "What does that guy know? He's never been in business. He's just a college professor." Se f-Made Men Are Okay This is stuff easily sold to the general public and warmly supported by self-made men who happen sometimes to be publishers. I have noth- ing against self-made men. It's a good trick when it can be done. But it should not be the generi l rule in any nation which prides itself on the opportunities which it offers for education. If all colleges are manned by- teachers who are vision- ary crackpots, then.-it might be a good idea to tear down each little red schoolhouse and tell budding youth to start barefoot and end up the same way. Under this theory Lincoln would have been better off if he had continued to split rails and wrestle without ever having taken on a bout with Blackstone. I am no professor lover. Looking back on the grades accorded to me in high school and college', I regard teachers in general as men with small comprehension of potential talent. I am all for the recall of instructors who fail to pass pupils on final examination. TIE SCREEN By HARVEY SWADOS The Plow And The River At four o'clock on Friday afternoon, Ann Arbor audiences will have another chance to see two of the best films ever made in this coun- try. The Plow That Broke The Plains and The River will be shown in Natural Science Auditorium-, and the proceeds will go- to aid the half-million starving Spanish refugees in France. Both The Plow and The River are documentary films: there are no actors, and the social message in each is brought out through the interplay of photography of recent events and spoken com- ment. They were both made under Government auspices and directed by Pare Lorentz, a former movie critic who thought he could make better movies himself than the ones that he was re- viewing. I guess all movie critics feel that way, but Mr. Lorentz proved it. Working on a; small budget, Mr. Lorentz made two films that are the envy of every Hollywood director. He took the themes of crop control and flood control and made from them social docu- ments as moving and thrilling as anything that the Russian moviemakers have ever done. The River is the better movie from every angle, but it is fine.especially because of the running com- 4"k N-j made in American educa- tion. The fellows of the Nie- man Foundation put on a small dinner. By the terms of this bequest a dozen news- papermen come each year to Harvard to study economics, history and such other as- sorted subjects as they may choose, and then go back to their own craft. I/ fe eizuio Me Heywood Broun CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 13.-I had a chance last night to sit in for a few hours with one of the most interesting experiments which has been' The Editor Gets Told .. . Time To Shine I'm filled with wonder, fright and awe Because of what I just now saw. Now Angell Hall did not cave in, Nor was Pres. Ruthven stewed in gin. The Tigers did not win a game. (They'd still be last place just the same!) I'saw no student swallow fish; No Emily Post drank from a dish. At noon I saw no shooting stars. No horrid green men came from Mars. No empty "P. Bell" Friday night; No Phi Bete hid his key for spite. The Wolverines lost no track meet. No thermostat broke from the heat, B. Shaw gave out no compliment. Adolph to Beck no roses sent. Capone is yet in Alcatraz And Eddie Cantor no son has. Oh, hurry sir, and tell us quick; Of guessing what we're getting sick. Now you may doubt it if you choose: I saw a pair of clean white shoes! By- Shoe-white (and the Dirty Laces). Tax Revision if Senator Harrison succeeds in get- ting Congress to enact the chief changes he has recommended in our present tax laws, he and his colleagues will have taken substantial steps to- ward placing our whole Federal tax program on a sounder basis. It would be a mistake to expect too much from these changes. To call them a program of "tax relief" is perhaps a misnomer, for it is unreasonable to expect a re- duction in the total tax burden at a time when expenditures already enor- mously exceed revenues. Nor do the changes contemplate a reduction in the total tax burden. All they attempt to do is to change the form and inci- dence of some taxes so that they will bear more equitably as between one corporation and another, and so that they will put smaller obstacles than at present in the way of expansion-of business and employment. The main changes proposed by Sen- ator Harrison are along the lines un- derstood to have been worked out by Secretary Morgenthau and Under- Secretary Hanes. Senator Harrison would repeal, or allow to lapse, the present 21/2 per cent penalty tax on undistributed profits of corporations. In view of the present nominal rate of this tax compared with its original rate, it is fair to say that its practical importance has been greatly exagger- ated both by its champions and by its cnitics. But the remnants of this tax symbolize the retention of a thor- oughly unsound theory of taxation which actually places a penalty both on common business prudence and on the expansion of plant to enlarge out- put and give more employment. The complete repeal of the tax would both simplify our tax laws and have an important psychological effect for the better on business men. Under the present law, counting the effect of this 21/2 per cent tax, the tax rate on the net income of all but small corporations ranges from 16% to 19 per cent. For this Mr. Harrison would substiutte a flat-rate of 18 per cent, which he estimates will provide at least the same revenue. Senator Harrison would continue, with slight modifications, the present graduated rate of 12% to 16 per cent on corporations earning less than $25,000. These little corporations con- tribute so small a percentage of the total revenues from corporations that the tax rate on their earnings could be further reduced, if desired, without material effect on Government in- come. The tax provisions bearing on corporations earning less or slightly more than $25,000 a year are, more- over, needlessly complex and could be. greatly simplified. Senator Harrison recommends that corporations should be allowed to carry over losses for two or three years to offset against profits in a good year before being asked to pay in- come taxes on those profits., It is simple fairness to allow corporations to resume this practice. Senator Har- rison's recommendation for repeal of the provision limiting corporations' deductible losses on -capital transac- tions-to $2,000 in any one year is also in the direction of mere fairness. -The New York Times. Potent Enemies Within Far too little consideration has been given to three internal enemies, which as Surgeon-General Parran has pointed out, would be lined up against this country in case of war. Those enemies are tuberculosis, venereal disease anid malnutrition. It may seem strange that the head of the United States Public Healt-il Service should be considering the health of the people in terms of wai potential. Health is an objective which is desirable without reference to its bearing on the issue of military strength. The situation over which Dr. Par. nani.-, qn miwih conce-'rnedl is the mre~ THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1939 VOL. XLIX. No. 171 Notices Student Accounts: Your attention is called to the following rules passed by the Regents at their meeting of February 28, 1936: "Students shall pay all accounts due the University not later than the last day of classes of each semes- ter or Summer Session. Student loans which fall due during any semester or Summer Session which are not paid or renewed are subject to this regu- lation; however, student loans not yet due are exempt. Any unpaid accounts due at the close of business on the last day of classes will be reported to the Cashier of the University, and "(a) All academic credits will be withheld, the grades for the semes- ter or Summer Session just complet- ed will not be released, and no tran- script of credits will be issued. "(b) All students owing such ac- counts will not be allowed to regis- ter in any subsequent semester or Summer Session until payment has been made." S. W. Smith, Vice-President and Secretary. Student Loans: There will be a meeting of the Loan Committee on Wednesday, May 31, Room 2, Univer- sity Hall, to consider loans for the summer session and the year 1939- 40. Applications for this meeting must be filed in the Office of the Dean of Students on or before Thurs- day, May 25. Commencement Tickets: Tickets for Commencement may be obtained on request after June 2 at the Busi- ness office, Room 1, University Hall. Inasmuch as only two Yost Field House tickets are available for each senior, please present identification card when applying for tickets. Herbert G. Watkins. 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, today at 4 p.m., under the direction of Dr. George A. May. L. M. Gram, Chief Marshal. LaVerne Noyes 'Scholarships. Hold- ers of LaVerne Noyes Scholarships now in the University are reminded that if they desire to be considered for scholarship assignments ;ext year, they must file an application. Blanks for this purpose will not be sent out, but may be obtained from Dr. Frank E. Robbins, Assistant to the President, 1021 Angell Hall, and shouldbe returned to him after they have been filled out. Union Life Membership Button. All men who have been enrolled in the University for eight semesters may secure their life membership buttons at the business office of the Union any week-day from 8 to 12 and 1:30 to 5. There is no additional charge for this button. Students who are graduating after less than eight se- mesters of enrollment may make spe- cial arrangements at the business office. To All Campus Departments: No- tices of deaths of alumni which may come to the various campus depart- ments should be reported to the Alumni Catalog Office. The courtesy will be greatly appreciated. Please report by letter or by phone. Phone 422 Univ. Thomas Ralph Solomon will be held on Thursday, May 25, at 2 p.m. in the East Council Room, Rackham Bldg. Mr. Solomon's field of specialization is Political Science. The title of his thesis is "Participation of Negroes in Detroit Elections." Professor J. K. Pollock, as chair- man of the committee, will conduct the examination. By direction of the ExecutiveBoard, the chairman has the privilege of inviting members of the faculty and advanced doctoral candidates to attend the examination and to grant permission to others who might wish to be present. All Speech Concentrates and Grad- uate Students in Speech please call at 3211 A.H. at the following hours to complete concentration records: centration records: 2-4 Thursday. William P. Halstead. Economics 157: The class will not meet on Friday this week. The out- side reading in Hamilton's "Price and Price Policies" will be covered by the final examination Saturday, June 3. Geology 11 and 12 make-up blue- books will be given Friday, May 26, at 3 o'clock in 2054 N.S. This is the only time that they will be given. Students expecting to concentrate in English: .On Monday, May 29, the examination in foreign language will be given at 7 p.m. in Room 2225 A.H. and the examination in English at 8 p.m. in Room 2225 A.H. Earl L. Griggs. Concerts Band Broadcast: The University Band will broadcast over the N.B.C., Blue Network, from the Ballroom of the Michigan Union, Thursday after- noon, May 25, at 3:30. Those who desire to attend the Broadcast may obtain complimentary tickets at the office of the School of Music, at the desks of the Union and the League, or at Wahr's bookstore. The audi- ence o ust be seaed at 3:15, after which time no guests will* be ad- mitted. Graduation Recital: Virginia Hunt, pianist, will give a graduation recital this evening at 8:15 o'clock, in the School of Music Auditorium on Maynard Street. The public is in- vited. Exhibitions 41 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. Museum of Classical Archaeology: A special exhibit of antiquities from the Nile Valley, the Province of Fay- oum, and the Delta of Egypt from early Dynastic times to the Late Cop- tic and Arabic Periods. Events T oday Annual Senior Engineers' Banquet will be held in the Michigan Union, tonight at 6:15. Principal speaker will be Mr. S. M. Dean, Assistant Chief Superinten- dent, TheElectrical System of the Detroit Edison Company. His topic will be "Engineering-A Way of Liv- ing." Other speakers will include Dean H. C. Anderson, and T. Hawley Tapping, Alumni Secretary. Lists of class members will be distributed, and songs will be sung. A final farewell party for the Class of '39. Tickets for $1 may be bought at either the West or East Engineering Building Main Entrances, at any time. Spring Initiation and Banquet of Phi Epsilon Kappa is to be held this evening at 7 p.m., at the Michigan Union. This is the final meeting of Kappa Chapter for the year. Banquet tickets are available for 75 cents from George Thompson, George Reuhle, Michael Megregrian, and President Clinton Mahlke. Foreign Engineering Students: The 'Foreign Students in Engineering are invited to a round-table discussion at 7:45 p.m. tonight at the International Center to be led by Prof. H. Bouchard, who spent several years in China. It has special reference to those prob- lems of policy encountered by young engineers. Refreshments will be served. I Lunette Hadley, Director. Senior Lit Class Dues will be collect- ed for the last time today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Library and Angell Hall. It is important that dues be paid before diplomas are received. Independent Senior Ball Booths: All independent students wishing to ob- tain accommodation in the Congress booth at the Senior Ball may register in the Congress office, 306 Michigan Union, from 4 to 5 p.m. upon pre- sentation of their ticket number and payment of the 50" cents registration fee which covers the cost of furnish- ings. Engineering Council: The following men are eligible for positions on the Engineering Council. Voting will take place in the West Engine Arch today from morning until 5:30 p.m. Class of 1942: James Bourquin Richard Ebbets, Jr. Richard Higgins Ray Powell Leonard Shelley Richard Shuey Robert Summerhays Robert Wallace Alex Wilkie Class of [941 Harold Britton Gordon Hood Charles Lapworth John Lord Jerome Mecklenburger Robert Morrison R. Harry Smith Class of 1940: Herbert Blumberg 04 Archery Tournament: The women's arcery tournament for champion- ship in both advanced and novice classes will be held at 4:15 this af- ternoon on Palmer Field. All those interested are invited to participate. Michigan Dames: The Book Group will meet in the Rackham Building tonight at 8:15 p.m. Shavuoth services will be held at the Beth Israel Center this morning at 9:30 a.m. Memorial services begin at 10 a.m. All students are welcome. COmi ngEvents All University Women: There will be a steak roast on Monday evening, May 29. The group will meet at the Women's Athletic Building at 5:15. The cost will be approximately 35 cents. Please sign up at W.A.B. or .e i