THE MICHICAN DAILY
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
America's Fifth Column Fright,
The First Stage Of War Hysteria
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Edited and managed by students of the University of
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By EMiLE GELE
Column 1-2-3-4-SWASTIKA. Again a
campus wag .has expressed his distorted sense
of humor at the University's expense. But his
crude joke contains more substance than satir-
ical whimsy this time. The Fifth Column is
growing on the American public's minds and
on government officials' nerves. General un-
easiness is gradually mounting toward a hys-
teria reminiscent of 1918.
Martin Dies has been dashing about the
country with his ism shovel for several years;
but last week, for the first time in months, one
of his stereotyped reports aroused vigorous ap-
proval in the House. Thousands of aliens in
Detroit now face unemployment as a result of
a government order prohibiting their employ-
ment in plants manufacturing materials of war
for the Army and Navy. German aliens were
not specified, nor Russians, nor Italian, nor
Spanish. But all aliens. And they cannot get
on relief rolls! Roosevelt shifted the immigra-
tion and naturalization service from the Depart-
ment of Labor to the Department of Justice.
All aliens are to be under the direct supervision
of the '.I.
The governor of Georgia demanded that all
aliens be fingerprinted and registered. The
Michigan Unemployment Compensation Com-
mission asserted that only citizens will be given
jobs. The New York City Council passed a reso-
lution -insisting that the governor convene a
special session of the legislature to prepare
anti-fifth column statutes. Professors Hyma
and. reuss have both expressed resentment
against the campus "potential traitors" and
were probably convinced of fifth column ac-
tivities by the incident Thursday.
What does it all mean? It means that public
opinion is swinging at a modern blitz tempo to-
ward the sentiment that produced the Espionage
and Sedition Acts of 1917-18. First come the
aliens. Not aliens of particular nationalities,
but all aliens indiscriminately. These indi-
viduals, because for various irrelevant reasons
they are not citizens, are arbitrarily deprived
of a fundamental civil liberty-the right to earn
a living.
Second will come those who call themselves
peacemakers, "the Irish, the Communists, the
Anglophobes, and the Naziphiles," as they were
listed recently. As public opinion is infected
with war fever by the political and intellectil
leaders of the nation, the pacifists (their even-
tual epithet) will become a minority and receive
the treatment always afforded minorities in
a period of hysteria. Absurd? What could be
more absurd than a man murdering his neighbor
on the mere suspicion of subversive activity?
Yet it happened in Grand Rapids this week.
Suspecting his neighbor of sabotage, the man
walked up to him, said "Fifth Columnist, I don't
like your actions" and shot him down. An indi-
vidual case of national war neurosis.
Preparedness is the word of the day. It takes
the form of billions being properly spent for
defense and thousands being improperly treated
because they dare to practice democratic pre-
rogatives. How fast the reaction, will progress
cannot be prophesied. But the extremes of
its progress can be measured by, the Sedition
Act of 1918 which imposed a $10,000 fine and
20 years imprisonment upon any persons who
would "wilfully utter, print, write or publish
any disloyal, profane, scurrilous or abusive
language about the form of government of the
United States, or the Constitution . . . or the
flag ... or the uniform of the Army or Navy.
or bring the form of government. . . or the Con-
stitution . . into contempt . .. or advocate any
curtailment of production in this country of
anything necessary or essential to the prosecu-
tion of the war."
Modern celerity can whirl the United States
to the brink of this despotism even during peace-
time. Arbitrary discrimination against aliens
is the first step. How far the witch-hunt will
spread and to what extent Ku Klux Klan meth-
ods will be legalized time alone will tell--and
probably soon.
Editorial Staff
Hervie Haufler
Alvin Sarasohn .
Paul M. Chandler
Karl Kessler
Milton Orshefsky
Howard A. Goldman
Donald Wirtchafter
Esther Osser
Helen Corman
Managing Editor
. . . . Editorial Director
. . . . City Editor
. . . . Associate Editor
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
. . . . . Sports Editor
Women's Editor
Exchange Editor
Business Staff
Business Manager .
Assistant Business Manager. .
Women's Business Manager
'Women's Advertising Manager
Irving Guttman
Robert Gilmour
Helen Bohnsack
. Jane Krause
NIGHT EDITOR: WILLIAM NEWTON
The editorials published in The Michigan
Daily are written by members of The Daily'
staff and represent the views of the writers
only.
Music
And The War . .
TWENTY-THREE YEARS and some
odd days ago Americans were play-
ing the band, waving the flag and dying for
their native land-all three actions excellent
ways of displaying patriotism and letting the
world know that it is about to be made safe
for the continued existence of Democracy.
Sunday night the band was played again,
and the tune was patriotic. A comparatively
new song, "A Ballad for Americans" has been
termed "jingoistic" by some people, "isolation-
ist" by others. At any rate, the piece, featured
Sunday over station WGN, has caused quite
a sensation of late, and its popularity calls to
mind the effect music had on Americans during
the First World War.
What really matters is the fact that the
American song-smiths and song-swingers have
begun to turn out and feature patriotic airs
at concerts and on radio programs. Music ob-
viously has charms, and it also has a great
deal of power, a strong capability of moving
people blindly and hysterically to action. Mu-
sic is one of the world's most forceful forms
of propaganda, partly because many people do
not recognize it as such.
IF WE DECIDE to enter the war-IF-we cer-
tainly do not want to do so because of a
patriotic tune. War is a serious business, as
Hitler is demonstrating today. One who is
about to embark upon a course of war is en-
titled to know, at the very least, what he is
getting in for, and he should not be driven
into it blindly, his ears ringing with "God Bless
America" and pretty speeches by Congressmen.
Let the music agencies of the country give
voice to our collective patriotism. But at the
same time let us know ourselves what they are
doing, and let us count ten slowly every time
we feel ourselves being enveloped with patriotic
feelings when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is
played. That way, we will enter a war-IF we
enter one-knowing that it is the right course,
not merely feeling that it is because some com-
poser of music has extolled the glorious history
and unparalleled virtues of this country.
William Newton
The Allies
I Our Markets .. .
T HE SUCCESSIVE STEPS of the
British Government in taking over
British holdings of American stocks and bonds
obviously point to the time when these secur-
ities will be needed for payment for American
war supplies. This problem of payment, how-
ever, is clearly a matter more for the future
than for the immediate present, since Allied
war purchases from the United States have
not, at least until recently, represented a heavy
financial burden.
The extent of this burden and the degree to
which purchases to date have consumed Allied
financial resources cannot be measured by the
value' of their purchase of war goods from the
United States. While the Allies have bought
heavily of American aircraft, iron and steel,
copper, aluminum, etc., they have offset these
in part by reduced purchases of American farm
and other products. Part of the cost, moreover,
has been met by the increased value of their
own exports to the United States.
Washington Merry-Go-Round
By Drew Pearson and' Robert Allen
(Editor's Note-Subject of the following sketch,
Representative Ross Collins of Mississippi, gets
The Washington Merry-Go-Round's Brass Ring for
his efforts to improve the Army. This is the first
of a series of Merry-Go-Round disclosures of in-
efficiencies in our national defense.)
WASHINGTON-During twenty somnolent
years after the World War, the U.S. Army drilled
its men, policed its posts, played polo, counted
out army property from socks to ash-cans, ran
its post exchanges, and performed all the other
humdrum, prosaic duties of a peacetime army,
unworried over the modern military trends
which were to make Europe a shambles.
During most of those twenty years, the chief
thorn in the side of the Army was a cherub-
faced, rotund Congressman from Mississippi
who refused to let the Army go to sleep. His
name was Ross Collins; and with disconcerting
consistency he kept taunting the Army with
the fact that what it needed was more tanks,
armored cars, airplanes and fewer horses.
"Have you investigated the number of horses
in the Air Corps?" Congressman Collins once
asked General John F. Preston, Inspector Gen-
eral of the Army.
"No, sir," replied General Preston, who was
testifying before Congressman Collins' Appro-
priations sub-committee. "I know at San An-
tonio they did have some for polo and exercise."
"For the officers or for the womenfolk?" in-
quired Mr. Collins.
"No, sir, for the officers."
"For airplane duty?" persisted Mr. Collins.
"For airplane duty," General Preston replied.
"They must be flying steeds," grunted the
Congressman.
Watches Army Money
Ross Collins is in a strategist position. For
years he has sat on the sub-committee on mili-
tary appropriations, where he could watch every
item spent on national defense, and help to
shape the policy of the Army.
And the Army came to hate him. They called
him a pacifist. They tried to contribute to
his defeat back home in Mississippi.
They hated him because he was always trying
to goad them into adopting the type of wea-
pons with which Hitler is now sweeping Europe.
And today the Army, a little belatedly, admits
that Ross Collins was right.
When asked why he began to urge a mechan-
ized army ten years ago, when the General Staff
was none too enthusiastic, Collins drawled:
"Look up and down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Do you see any horses and buggies? No! People
are all travelling in motor cars. Then why should
we handicap the Army by putting them back
in the horse and buggy days?
"Or take khaki cloth. We all know that it
will not stop machine-gun bullets. So why
expose our soldiers to them? Hitler doesn't.
He manufactures armor for his men, armor in
the form of tanks.
"We are the greatest scientific and industrial
nation in the world, but we have applied our
science and industry to everything except our
military defense."
MacArthur's 'Chinese Army'
Congressman Collins blames General Douglas
MacArthur for handicapping the mechanization
of the Army, and pays tribute to the present
out of his weapons. That's why Germany de-
veloped the airplane, the tank and the armored
car to such perfection.
"That's the secret of our national defense
today. We don't need a lot of foot soldiers,
as MacArthur would have us. It is harmful
to mobilize them without equipment. It is far
easier to train men and to equip them, and if
you train them with outmoded weapons you
have to train them all over again.
"What our army needs is less gold braid and
trolley wire on its uniforms, and more overalls.
Put every man in overalls, and you'll have a
lot better defense than if he has stripes on
his pants."
Old Officers
Another complaint Congressman Collins makes
against the Army is that it is run by old men.
Many of its officers, he says, are war-time
clerks frozen into the Army during the World
War, who remain because they couldn't make
a living elsewhere.
During the Hoover Administration, Collins
inserted in the army appropriation a cut of
2,000 inefficient and old officers from the rolls.
A howl went up from the Army such as has
not been heard since Admiral Cockburn burnt
the'Capitol in 1814. Eventually toe provision
was defeated in the Senate, and there has been
no tampering with the Army's outmoded pro-
motion system until this year, when a provision
for the retirement of officers over 60 seems
sure to pass Congress.
Today the Army has come around to consider
Ross Collins a real friend. But he still is criti-
cal, and recently held the 1941 War Department
appropriation bill up to ridicule because out of
about a billion dollars only $100,000,000, or
one-tenth, is to be spent for equipment-and
Collins considers equipment far more important
than manpower.
Army Hostesses
However, the Army will never forget those
pungent days when the sarcastic Gentleman
from Mississippi was trying to rouse it from
its lethargy, and when he cross-examined Ma-
jor General C. H. Bridges regarding army host-
esses:
"I know you want ladies around the post,"
said Collins. "These schools have 4 way of
putting uniforms on the best looking girls and
making honorary colonels of them. It's part
of a plan to play up sex appeal. You are putting
women into the Army every chance you get."
Or again, when examining the Chief of the
Air Corps as to why aviators needed bands,
the Gentleman from Mississippi said:
"I suppose you take your bands up in the
air with you--an instrument in every plane-
to play heavenly music to the angels."
Cabinet Shake-Up
In the works behind those secret White House
powwows with Republican chiefs is a triple
Cabinet shake-up. The President wants to re-
place Navy Secretary Edison, who will retire
shortly to run for Governor of New Jersey, with
Colonel Frank Knox; Labor Secretary Fran-
ces Perkins with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia:
and War Secretary Woodring with a choice not
yet made. The whole plan depends largely on
whether Knox can be persuaded to enter the
Z~ EDITOR
;etioii
A Nomination
To the Editor:
My nomination for the most ludi-
crous statement ever made by a
United States Senator is the follow-
ing excerpt from Senator Key Pitt-
man's speech of May 22: "It was the
,oncensus of the foreign committee
members that the legislation"-re-
'erring to the proposal to sell U.S.
;army and navy planes to the Allies-
"would violate international law."
WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW?
This thinking in a vacuum can
lmost rival the choicegems that
one encounters in the Daily editorial
columns.
Please include me with such not-
ible bloodthirsty warmongers as
President Roosevelt, Professors Slos-
-on, Hyma and Preuss.
Hopefully yours,
Fred Niketh, '41L
Wipe Out Hiderism?
'o the Editor:
What about this war? It is on
everyone's mind, and we are con-
cerned about it--at 22, single and
in apparent good health I don't see
how I could miss the first draft-
for what? To fight another war to
end all wars? To wipe out Hitler-
ism?
Hitlerism represents a disease-a
symptom of the society that allowed
it to develop and accepted it.
What if it is wiped out? Might
it not return in worse form follow-
ing a major war in which we were
involved? Hasn't democracy a bet-
ter chance to survive in those coun-
tries that are not drained in man-
rower, resources and animosity by
becoming involved?
Isn't collectivism in some form
bound to come? Wasn't Mr. Barnes
on the right track when he id
that this is a question "of the wr g
people doing the right thing, though
more brutally"?
None of us is anxious to see Nazi
Germany returned the victor, but
we, the youth of America, would be-
ware of this "neutrality" that is 95%
pro-Ally.
We know that Hitlerism trium-
phant constitutes a threat to us,
but how direct? How soon? Can,
we lend effective aid to the Allies
by joining them now or in the near
future? An important phase of the
War is to be decided in these next
few days, before we could give any
more effective help to the Allies
than now. And too, some think Ja-
pan is a more vital threat to us.
Perhaps we should take "all effec-
tive measures short of war" to aid
the Allies, though this might involve
us at some future date.
But when we know the wreck of
humanity that is caused by modern
warfare, when one of every four
Dutch soldiers is reliably reported
killed in only five days of fighting,
the youth of America, certainly the
college youth of America, are not
blinded by the brass bands and pa-
triotic fervor of the moment. This
is no glorious adventure.
As one observer has said, we would
do well "to be cool in our thinking,
while heated in our indignation."
- R. A. Hirsch, '40'
Another View
On Lindbergh
In his radio broadcast recently
Colonel Lindbergh advised the Amer-
ican people to "stop this hysterical
chatter of calamity and invasion that
has been running rife these last
few days." Let us put to one side
the question of "invasion"-since
Colonel Lindbergh himself believes
that the country needs "a greater
air force, a greater army and a
greater navy," which is all that the
advocates of more adequate national
defense have themselves been saying.
Let us consider instead "this hyster-
ical chatter of calamity" that also
annoys him. The "hysterical chat-
ter" is the talk now heard on every
side that the democracies of France
and Great Britain stand in immi-
nent danger of defeat by Germany.
Colonel Lindbergh is a peculiar
young man if he can contemplate
this possibility in any other light'
than as a calamity for the American
people. He is an ignorant young man
if he trusts his own premise that it
makes no difference to us whether
we are deprived of the historic de-
fense of British sea power in the
Atlantic Ocean. He is a blind young
man if he really believes that we
can live on terms of equal peace and
happiness "regardless of which side
wins this war" in Europe.
Colonel Lindbergh remains a great
flier.
- New York Times
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1940'
VOL L. No. 172
Notices
Seniors: The firm which furnishes
diplomas for the University has sent
the following caution: Please warn
graduates not to store diplomas in
cedar chests. There is enough of the
moth-killing aromatic oil in the aver-
age cedar chest to soften inks of any
kind that might be stored inside them,
resulting in seriously damaging the
diplomas.
Shirley W. Smith
Commencement Tickets: Tickets
for Commencement may be obtained
on request after June 1 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 All Members of the Faculty and
Administrative Staff: If it seems cer-
tain that any telephones will not be
used during the summer months,
please notify the Business Office, Mr.
Peterson. A saving can be effected
if instruments are disconnected for
a period of a minimum of three
months.
Herbert G. Watkins
American Red Cross: Will all those
who wish to contribute to the fund
now being raised to aid the suffering
thousands of Europe please bring
your donations to the office of Assist-
ant Dean Lloyd Woodburne, Angell
Hall, or to the Information Desk in
the Business Office,University Hal.
You may have a receipt for your
contribution and may also designate
the country in which you wish your
contribution to be used.
Lloyd S. Woodburne
Herbert G. Watkins
Committee
Student Loans: There will be a
meeting of the Loan Committee in
Room 2, University Hall, on Tues-
day, May 28, for the consideration
of loans for the Summer Session%
and fall. All applications to be con-
sidered at this meeting must be filed
in Room 2 today and appointments
made for interviews.
Candidates in the recent Engineer-
ing Council, Union, Daily and other
elections may call for their Eligibility
Cards at the Student Offices in the
Michigan Union.
To Members of Phi_ Eta Sigma
there is offered one or more scholar-
ships of $300 each from the Thomas
Arkle Clark Memorial Fund, to be
used by a member for the first year
of graduate work. The scholarship
grant is based on high scholastic
record, evidence of creative ability,
evidence of financial need, promise
of success in the chosen field, and
individual personality. For further
details, inquire at the Dean's Office
in Room 2, University Hall.
JGP script deadline is November
15. The deadline for synopses or
first acts is July 1. All material
turned in during the summer should
be sent to the League in care of Miss
Ethel McCormick. The writer of the
script used for production will be
paid $100.
Academic Notices
Notice: By error the name of Vse-
volod Lawrovitch Skitsky was incor-
rectly given in the notice of his doc-
tor's examination in yesterday's Daily
Official Bulletin.
Doctoral Examinations: Florence
Ely Day, Fine Arts; Thesis: "Meso-
potamian Pottery: Parthian, Sasani-
an, and Early Islamic." Today, 9:30
a.m., 2009 A.H. Chairman, J. G. Win-
ter.
Ang-Tsung Liu, Civil Engineering;
Thesis: "Density Wlationships as
They Affect the Structural Properties
of Stabilized Soil-Cement Mixture."
Today, 10:00 a.m., 1026 E. Eng. Chair-
man, W. J. Emmons.
Herbert Clay Weller, Speech; The-
sis: "Vegetative Rhythm Determina-
tive of Speech Patterns." Today,
2:00 p.m., 2006 A.H. Chairman, J.
H. Muyskens.
Marion Elizabeth- Pellett, Bacteri-
ology; Thesis: "The Gas Metabolism
of Saprophytic Acid-Fast Organisms
with Special Reference to Bacillus
Canadian Chrysler Plant
Imposes Language Rules
WINDSOR, Ont., May 24.-U)-
Disturbances between Canadian em-
ployes and those of German extrac-
tion prompted the Chrysler Corp. of
Canada today to post notices in its
three Windsor plants prohibiting the
use of any but the English and
French languages on company prop-
erty.
Violations of the order, the com-
nanv said. wonli raeslt in dmiil-
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
Phlei." Monday, May 27, 2:30 p.m.,
1564 E. Med. Chairman, M. H. Soule
Milton John Roedel, Chemstry;
Thesis: "The Structure of the Diazo-
phenols." May 27, 2:00 p.m., 309
Chemistry. Chairman, C. S. Schoep-
fle.
Hattie Bell Q. Ross, Speech; The-
sis: "Dietary Consistency and 'Hab-
its and Affective Nutritive Processes
in Their Relation to the Development
of Specificity, Including peech."
May 27, 1:30 p.m., West Council
Room, Rackham Building, Chair-
man, J. H. Muyskens.
Carl Henry Schachtsiek, Germanic
Languages and Literatures; Thesis:
"Eugen Wolff als Literarhistofiker.
Ein Beitrag zur Beurteilung der
Schererschule." May 27, 2:00 p.m.,
East Conference Room, Rackham
Building. Chairman, H. W. Nord-
meyer.
The Bluebook in Geology 130 will
be given Wednesday, May 29, instead
of Friday, May 31.
English 32 (Mr. Rowe's section):
The assignment for Mon., May 27, is
King Oedipus.
Psychology Master's Examination
will be held today at 2 p.m. in Room
3126, Natural Science Bldg.
English I and II: Final Examina-
tion Schedule, Saturday, June 1, 9-12
a .m.
ENGLISH I
Halliday, 205 M.H.; Hanna, 205
M.H.; Stocking, 205 M.H.
ENGLISH II
Arthos, 2003A.H.; Bader, 1035A.H.;
Baum, 1025A.H; Bertram, 1025A.H.;
Boys, 1025A.H.; Calver, 103A.H.;
Engel, C Haven; Everett, C Haven;
Ford, C Haven; Giovannini, 25 A.H.;
Green, 25A.H.; Greenhut, B Haven;
Haines, B Haven; Hart, B Haven;
Hathaway, 2225A.H;
Helm, 2013A.H.; Helmers, 16A.H.;
Leedy, 103R.L.; Ogden, . 103R.L.;
O'Neill, W. Phys. Lect.; Peterson, 212
A.H.; Robertson, W. Phys. Lect.;
Schenk, 2225A.H.; Schroeder, W.
Phys. Lect.; Stibbs, W. Phys. Lect.;
Walker, 2029A.H.; Weimer, 35A.H.;
Weisinger, W. Phys. Lect.; Wells, 1035
A.H.; Woodbridge, 2029A.H.
English II Make-Up: Saturday,
June 1, 7-10 p.m., 1025A.H. Only
those students with a conflict at the
regularly scheduled time (see above)
will be admitted.
Physical Education for Women:
Individual sports tests will be given
during regular class hours -on Mon-
day, Tuesday and Wednesday, May
27, 28 and 29 in the following activi-
ties: Archery, Golf, Riding, Swim-
ming and Tennis. The canoeing test
will be givenon Tuesday, May 28,
at the Canoe Livery from 1:00 to
3:00.
Students wishing to take these tests
are asked to sign up at the desk in
the Women's Athletic Building.
Concerts
Graduation Recital: Beryl Hrri-
son, violinist, of St. Louis, Michgan,
will be heard in recital, in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for
the Bachelor of Music degree, Mon-
day evening, May 27, at 8:15 oclock
in the School of Music Auditorium,
on :Maynard Street. The Public is
invited to attend.
Today's Events
Biological Chemistry Seminar to-
day at 10:00 a.m., in Room 319 West
Medical Building. Subject: "Some
Relationships of the Essential Ami-
no Acids." All interested are invit-
ed.
Suomi Club meeting at the Inter-
national Center, 7:30 tonight. Elec-
tion of officers and social hour.
Pi Tau Pi Sigma members, who are
making the inspection trip to pe-
troit today, will meet at 1:00 p.m. in
front of the West Engineering An-
nex.
Coming Events
German Table for Faculty Xm-
1rrs will meet Monday at 12:10 p.m.
the Founders' Room, Michigan 'Union.
All faculty members interested in
speaking German are cordially invit-
ed. There will be a brief infornal
talk by Professor Henry W. Nord-
meyer on "Thomas Mann's 'Lotte in
Weimar'."
Graduate Tea on Tuesday, May
28, 4:00-6:00 p.m., in the West Con-
ference Room, Rackham Building.
Dean C. S. Yoakum of the Graduate
School will speak on "Personnel Ad-
justment."
Acolytes meeting Monday at 7:30
in the Rackham Building. Arthur
Burks will read "A Modification of
One of Charles Peirce's Classifica-
tion of Signs." The Annual Picnic
will be held Sunday, June 2, at 3:30
p.m.