THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 194
The Michigan Daily
'1
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Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control
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Editorial Staffj
'Micromegus' Advocates A Federal Union
In First Of Articles On The World A
(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of number of people who had never t
two articles by, "Micromegus," a student at the tive part in political life", in the
University of Michigan. The second will appear
tomorrow.) writer for the Nation.
The practicability of the idea ofr
To the Editor:
I have been following with some interest recent federal union of the democratic c
letters and editorials relative to the so-called into the public consciousness dra
"international" problem in the columns of The June 16, 1940, when Prime Minis
Daily, and have been impressea With the general proposed immediate and permanl
note of despair for the future of liberal democ- the British Commonwealth of Nat
racy sounded by both "isolationists" and "inter- French Republic. German troops
ventionists" alike. Paris two days before, however, a
ized French cabinet rejected his of
THE FOLLOWING few paragraphs attempt to of 13-10.
provide a framework of reference which apt
BRIEFLY, the proposal is to esta
pears glaringly evident to me, but which has ap- by joint action of the remaining
parently been overlooked by men of good will in a world-wide federal state on the
Ann Arbor as well as those writing in various American federation, which would 1
national journals. I submit that it may succeed people (like the American) rather t
in reconciling some opinions which their respec- of states (like the ill-fated Leagu
tive adherents seem to believe are irreconcilable, in which no member state gave up
To summarize briefly the positions of the two act as its national interests dictat
major camps into which national sentiment on establish among the citizens of the
foreign policy has fallen, we may say that one states: (1) Free trade (to be intr
group has reluctantly concluded that "Hitler- ually, of course); (2) Common cit
ism must be crushed" even if that means their A common armed force: (4) Comm
own (literal, in the case of students) partici- (5) Common postal and communica
pation in a shooting, war. This mounting con- The union would invite other "na
viction, however, has had to overcome the tra- to apply for admission as soon ast
ditional isolationism of the middle west and the mental forms met with certain pres
deep-rooted revulsion which most of us feel for tions. The admission procedure w
war. Nothing short of possible bloodshed, they roughly that of the American states
feel, will now suffice to preserve a world order of the original thirteen,rand the le
in which American democracy (if it survives at executive bodies of the existing dem(
all) can hope to live.eeuiebde fteeitn e
new states) would bear the same r
ON THE OTHER SIDE is a group at present each other and to the Federal legis
represented nationally by America First, who state legislatures and governors of
fear that in adopting Hitlerism's techniques, we can states bear to each other and to
may surrender (perhaps involuntarily) to its Congress. Space does not permit of
philosophy of aggressive super-nationalism. Po- oration of the idea, but a' sizable
litical orders built upon military tyrannies sim- already growing up regarding t
ply do not live long, "Hitler can't invade us", political and economic problems ir
and if we build an impregnable defense and ;AND NOW for a very curious fa
strengthen our political system at home, per- posal was introduced by Streit
haps the storm will blow over and Europe will ganizers of Federal Union as a con
soon be ready for another of its armed truces. ward the establishment of a stable
If I interpret correctly the sentiments of the order as soon as possible, and as t
great majority of recent contributors to the ticable method of wresting from.
Daily, they regard themselves as men of good Communism their claims to be excli
will who wish to choose neither of these grim ions of "new and dynamic orders". I
alternatives, the first because it means blood- however, have not come mainly fro
shed, etc., the second because it is built upon in America who preach peace, bu
(and most of them know it) nineteenth century who are connected with the so-calla
American isolationism. Perhaps there is a third lo-American imperialism".
alternative as yet unexplored.
I submit that those who have bee
N 1938 an obscure publisher in France turned Daily columns withslamentations f
out 300, private copies of a book which one with despair over their imagined
critic has since described as "one of the most dilemma should give serious though
unanimously rejected books that publishers have gram of Federal Union, not as ar
seen recently", for its despondent' author., The for "crushing the axis" (a polite ,w
idea of Union Now (the book was seized by pub- "blast into shambles the achievem(
lishers in 1939 and immediately shot into the cultures and saturate the sod of
best seller bracket), like most significant ideas Asia with the life-blood of future g
in the history of mankind, had sprung into the but, as a practical proposal for br
minds of a number of men almost simultaneous- within the predictable future the k
ly. An organization known as "Federal Union" in which we want to bring up our ci
had been founded in England about sixteen Tomorrow's Daily will carry a
months before Clarence Streit's book appeared. some of the arguments on the
Also like most other world-shattering ideas, federal union now.
Federal Union "from the first attracted a great -
Emile Gel .
Alvin Dann
David Lachenbruch
Jay McCormick
Hal Wilson
Arthur Hill
Janet Hiatt,
Grace Miller,.
Virginia Mitchell
B
Daniel H. Huyett
James B. Collins
Louise Carpenter
Evelyn Wright .
Managing Editor
. . . . Editorial Director
. . . . . City Editor
. . . . Associate Editor
* , . Sports Editor
. Assistant Sports Editor
. . . .Women's Editor
. Assistant Women's Editor
. . . Exchange Editor
Business Staff
* . . Business Manager
Associate Business Manager
. Women's Advertising Manager
Women's Business Manager
taken any ac-
e words of a
an immediate
ountries leapt
amatically on
ter Churchill
ent union of
tions and the
had entered
,nd the agon-
fer by a vote
blish at once
g democracies
lines of the
be a union of
han a league
e of Nations
the right to
ed). It would
participating
oduced grad-
izenship; (3)
ion currency;
ation systems.
tional states"
their govern-
cribed condi-
ould parallel
to the union
gislative and
ocracies (and
elationship to
lature as the
f the Ameri-
the national
further elab-
literature is
Ihe multifold
nvolved.
ct: this pro-
and the or-
.tribution to-
and peaceful
he only prac-
Nazism and
Lsive champ-
ts supporters,
rm the groups
it from those
ed "new Ang-
en filling the
.or peace and
two-horned
t to the pro-
n instrument
vay of saying
ents of great
Europe and
enerations"),
inging about
kind of world
hildren.
summary of
proposal for
Micromegus
Former Daily Editor Writes:
t War Great Britain A Country At War
NIGHT EDITOR: CHARLES THATCHER
The editorials published in The Michigan
Daily are written by members of The Daily
staff and represent the views of the writers
only.
Price Control
Bill Needed...
W HILE THE HOUSE BANKING AND
CURRENCY COMMITTEE wrangl-
es over the administration's price-control bill,
the dark cloud of inflation hovers ever nearer.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics,
prices on 28 basic commodities have recorded a
steady increase since August, 1939, the month
chosen by the Bureau as the index month for
prices. During the two weeks last August, when
the committee was in session prices rose 50%.
By mid-September the Bureau index had jump-
ed up to 157. In testimony early this month be-
fore the committee, Leon Henderson, govern-
ment price administrator, pointed out that the
price index for the 12 of the 28 basic commodi4
ties now under price control had shown a de-
crease of 2.4 points while the index for the
uncontrolled products had risen from 154.9
points to 168. Foodstuffs alone rose from 159.9
to 172.2 points. Concluded Henderson (accord-
ing to Time magazine):
"To sum up, the past month has witnessed
a persistent spread of price increases from
raw materials to semi-manufactured and
then to finished goods. These in turn are
more and more being passed on from whole-
sale to retail markets, and are affecting the
living costs of the entire consuming popula-
tion as well as the operating costs of the
farmers."
O MEET THE INFLATION threat arising
from this sky rocketing of prices, the ad-
ministration-sponsored bill before the House
committee calls for the delegation of discre-
tionary powers to an administrator to place ceil-
ings over prices. In the past Henderson has been
handicapped by the absence of legal authority
for price fixing. The government bill would give
him this authority.
The bill, nevertheless, ought also to include
authority for rent control. Fixing of rents
is especially necessary in areas where de-
fense industries have concentrated large
numbers of laborers and put housing at a
premium. Official authority for wage con-
trol is not necessary as wages are gauged to
meet expenses and with prices tnd rents
fixed they will fall into line automatically.
IMPORTANCE OF PRICE AND RENT CON-
TROL cannot be over-estimated. There is
nothing so damaging to civilian morale as the
effect created when John Q. Public is forced
to dig deeper into his pockets for the purchase
of essential goods. The country is now geared
to total defense. This total-defense must include
a defense against inflation.
However, there is still another problem
that will be solved by price-control. Barn-
ard M. Baruch, testifying also before the
House committee, emphasized that without
price ceilings companies would be tempted
to go the limit in bidding for scarce products,
thus building up a private system of prior-
ities, based on high prices, as opposed to
government priorities regulation. Needless
to say, such action would impair the na-
ational defense program.
jT SEEMS CLEAR, then that price and rent
control are necessary. The stoppage of the
{Editor's Note: Robert Speckhard, former editorial
lirector of The Daily, writes here the second of a short
series of impressions concerning his summer trip to
England by convoy. He is now in Washington arranging
a more extended return visit during which he will reg-
ularly dispatch personal interpretations of the British
war effort to The Daily.)
By ROBERT SPECKHARD
ONE IS FASCINATED when one looks upon northern
Scotland for the first time, by the roller-coaster
appearance of the land. I had thought that only im-
pressionistic artists painted mountain scenes like that.
but after a day of travel past the roly-poly landscape.
I become convinced of its genuineness.
Only a day and the Scottish coast had receded be-
yond the port horizon, and we were once more in open
sea until early in the evening, when the low, soft
landscape of northern Ireland appeared off starboard-
broken only by a small cloud of barrage balloons hover-
ing over ,Belfast. About ten freighters in the convoy
turned off toward the port, but our ship with the
bulk of the convoy continued southeastward past the
Isle of Man, through the Irish Sea. About noon the next
day we sighted land once more, this time the cushioned
mountain country of northern Wales, which slowly
flattened out into the pastoral English country of
Cheshire. The sun shone brightly on the patchwork
fields, and far off there hovered in the distant sky
what seemed to be a mighty flock of migrant fowl.
the fowl were balloons, hovering over Liverpool.
TWENTY MILES OUT the pilot came aboard, and we
moved in with the tide, up the River Mersey past
Liverpool and Birkenhead to our dock. It was a slow,
cautious journey up the river that was littered with
smashed ships, some beached on the shore, and others
identified only by top masts poking above the surface
and buoys marked WRECK. Most of the ships had been
hit by bombs or mines dropped by Jerry during that
week in May when he came over 8 days running, 600
strong, dropping destruction from dusk till dawn.
Two stubby little tugs maneuvered us through the
wrecks and into our dock, which like all docks on the
lower Mersey, consisted of a walled-in lake held con-
stantly at high water by a pair of locks entering into
the changing level of the river.
First up the gangplank were the stevedores and
dockers who began that very afternoon to unload our
cargo of pig and scrap. Then came a corps of officials,
some from the Customs, others from the Admirality
and Navy. The most important officials as far as the
crew was concerned-the immigration people-didn't
show up till the following morning, so there was no
shore leave the first night. Instead we talked to the
dockers until they left at 9, and then watched the
searchlights playing on the cloudy sky. They were the
only lights in Liverpool, not even the moon was out.
The air was cool but it stank and there were many
flies from the putrid cargo of beans in the ship docked
next to us which had been raised from the Mersey after
a mine explosion had ripped her forward bottom out.
BY MORNING the wind had changed and the stench
wasn't quite so bad. It was drizzling a bit, but the
dockers were working below, in the second deck, throw-
ing the scrap into heaps to be grabbed up by the
cranes. They worked steadily, determinedly, but with
an incipient smile on their faces, always ready to crack
a joke if put up to one. The great majority of them
were between 50 and 70 years old-most .of them had
been retired-now they were working 65 hours a week
on a rationed dinner pail. But things were still thumbs
up with them; not that they weren't still scared by
a bomb that landed close, but things were still thumbs
up. It just took a while to get used to walking around
the streets doing fire warden duty on a busy night,
that's all. A guy wasn't human who didn't tremble a
bit as he lay on his elbows with half a city block flying
round his ears.
City blocks flying were no jokes; I saw many of
them that had; whole blocks of workers homes wiped
clean by a single land mine-a novel piece of des-
truction, about nine foot long and two foot in dia-
meter loaded with a ton each of high explosive and
shrapnel, which comes floating down from heaven on
a parachute with a wish-wish-wish. It looks like
the dying sun when one of these exploded, I was told.
"ya just drop down on your hands and knees like ya
was going to perform some push-ups, take a breath
and close your mouth, and bloody well hope, just
hope. The ground trembles like an earthquake, that's
why ya don't lie on it-might bust your heart, and if
your mouth is open when the blast comes by it'll knock
your guts out".
NOT ONLY WORKERS' homes but the big business
and government buildings have been hit and hit
hard. Hardly a single block in downtown Liverpool is
without its mark: here a huge office building leveled,
there a building still standing like a scarecrow, its
interior gutted by the fires that burned Liverpool so
fiercely that one could read a newspaper six miles away
by the light of the flames. First came the incendaries
to light up the target, then came the 100 pounders, and
the 200 pounders, and the 500 and the 1000 pounders
with a few screaming bombs and land mines mixed in.
Most of the women and children went to the under-
ground and other shelters while the men and boys
walked their beats putting out the incendaries and
fires. At first they were handicapped by broken water
and gas mains, but now auxiliary mains line the streets.
The streets are pretty well patched up, and trans-
portation facilities run as usual except for the per-
sonnel, the greater part of which is now female in
origin-mighty snappy looking, too, in their neat uni-
forms. They are mighty fussy about their uniforms,
are the English co-eds, but they get a lot done so no
oie seriously objects. They have to work hard, and the
hours of recreation are short'-night clubs, pubs and
such closing at 10 p.m.-but I can truthfully testify
that they are a great deal more friendly and sociable
than the majority of co-eds on the Michigan campus.
In fact, the war has made the English people as a whole
much more cheerful and companionable than in peace-
time. War is a great cooperative effort on the part
of everybody, and no one is to be slighted. Advertise-
ments even urge England's few motorists to pick up
hitch-hikers, so as to get the maximum satisfaction
out of the petrol ration of three gallons per month.
PRICES, too, are managed that no one should be
slighted. By enforcing a standard price on nearly
all commodities plus a ration card system, the govern-
ment insures that everyone will be able to buy the basic
necessities on an equal basis. Everyone has had to
tighten his belt, of course: consider these rations-per
man: two ounces of sugar a week, two ounces of tea
per week, two ounces of bacon per week, two ounces
of cooking fat per week, one small jar of jam per
month, two fresh eggs per week, and so it goes on.
Dieting is no longer a fad that people talk alout,
but the order of the day which everyone observes.
As on the ship, blackouts are also the order of the
da in Liverpool and all the rest of England. The daily
newspapers-now cut to four small tabloid sheets be-
cause of the paper shortage-announced daily the time
of the blackout, which varies, of course, with the sea-
sons. Blackouts are devilish things, especially for a
ship's company, whose time of recreation is chiefly
confined to the evenings. Even if your sober, its dif-
ficult enough to find your way back to the ship; if in-
toxicated, the best idea is to sleep it off in the nearest
hotel till morning. Some of the crew who tried to do
otherwise found themselves ten miles out in the country
the next morning; I have heard of other sailors who
stepped off from docks in the pitched darkness and
drowned. None of our crew had such a sad experience,
and, as a matter 'of fact, our ability to negotiate the
blackout improved, especially during the second last
week of our stay-during which time it must be added
in all fairness, a full moon shone brightly.
IF THE COON helped us locate ourselves in the city,
it also helped Jerry to find the city. Twice during
the second week the air alarms rang out their piercing
wails-a cross between a train whistle and a wolf
cry-throughout the country-side. But the planes nev-
er got to Liverpool; shot down by British fighters over
the Midlands was the brief account in the next day's
newspaper.
The second week went swiftly; the dockers were
making good progress getting the pig iron off the bilge:
every day the ship's draft became less--now 13, then
11 and 10, then 9 and we were closing the hatches.
On Sunday two barges came into the dock loaded -with
sand, and they loaded 800 tons of it on the open deck
for ballast. Monday we left.
Washington MerryO Go-Round
- By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN
WASHINGTON-Don't be surprised if a U.S.
warship disembarks a load of Nazi sailors and
turns tleem over to the Justice Department to
be tried on charges of "piracy".
It is even possible that in the "haul" may be
an armed Nazi raider or two that had been oper-
ating down Brazil way.
SNYTHING MAY HAPPEN these eventful days
since the President enunciated U.S. determ-
ination to maintain freedom of the seas, and
branded Nazi submarines and surface raiders
in American waters as "pirates." Armed Nazi
ships are prowling American waters and the
U.S. Navy has its orders.
It can be revealed that neither the Justice
nor War Department would be surprised if they
had some "pirate" seamen and "pirate" craft.
to deal with soon. Both have been quietly
studying for a week the law and precedents
concerning such an eventuality.
The War Department enters the picture be-
cause under the law all war prisoners landed
on U.S. soil come under the custody of the
Army. However, the U.S. is not at war, so there
is doubt over the Army's jurisdiction.
NO FINAL DECISION has- been reached, but
the consensus of the legal experts is that
any such "pirates" should be turned over to the
Justice Department.
One suggested procedure is that the Nazis
be landed at a U.S. port and then jailed by the
Justice Department as aliens without passports.
But most of the legal authorities contend that
the Nazis should be dealt with squarely as buc-
caneers.
A highly significant feature of these undercov-
er deliberations is that the Justice and War De-
partment were directed to make their legal
studies quickly.
SNOTE-Last week an important War Depart-
ment official suggested to a Navy official that
the Navy give the Army advance notice of any
captives that might have to be taken over. The
instant reply was, "Hell, we already have some."
But when pressed for details, the Navy man
shut up.
Ducal CCC Visit
On his return trip to Washington the Duke of
Windsor plans to visit a nearby CCC camp with
an ideal means of accomplishing two social
purposes-to get public work done and to
give employment to boys.
One thing Windsor was particularly interested
in was the origin of the CCC and he asked who
originated it. The answer was, Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
,i
Nazi Spuds
Although Intelligence experts have stopped
making guesses on when Germany would run
short of raw materials they have just placed to-
gether some illuminating information concern-
ing the German potato supply.
SEVERAL WEEKS AGO Berlin cables reported
an unofficial forecast on this year's crop at
65,000,000 metric tons. This is about 5,000,000
tons below the record 1940 crop of 70,000,000.
That is not so bad, except that these figures,
plus others now in the hands of authorities on
German potato consumption reveals a situation
not disclosed in cable dispatches.
For example: The effectiveness of the British
blockade in shutting off food imports to Germany
has forced the population to depend more and
more on potatoes. So much so that potato con-
sumption has risen 75 per cent in the past year.
Further, the consumption increase has taken
place in cities distant from potato-growing areas.
German railroads and trncklines, already heav-
That means they have to be hauled over
ily burdened with troop and munitions traffic.
Intelligence experts therefore anticipate that the
Nazis soon may be faced with the question of
whether to haul potatoes to the cities or muni-
tions to the Eastern front.
Franked Stone
Many a dull speech and many a heavy tome
have been sent out from Washington, postage
free, under the Congressional frank. But the all-
time record for weight was broken by isolation-
ist Senator Gerald W. Nye when, under his con-
gressional frank, he mailed a stone.
THE PRESENT MRS. NYE comes from Iowa
Falls, Iowa, and a zealous lady of a Method-
ist Church there has been put in charge of mak-
ing a collection of stones-one from each state
and colonial possession of the United States-
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 3)
must be in this office not later than
Wednesday, October 15. If the stu-
dent does not go by train, special
permission for another mode of travel
must be included in the parent's let-
ter. Graduate women are invited to
register in this office.
Academic Notices
Biological Chemistry Seminar will
be held in Room 319, West Medical
Building tonight at 7:30. "Aliphatic
,Hydroxy Amino Acids of the Protein
tMolecule" will be discussed. All in-
terested are invited.
Applicants for the doctorate in his-
tory: All applicants and prospective
applicants for the doctorate of philos-
ophy in history, who are in residence
this semster, are required to take
qualifying examinations to be given
by the Department of History. The
examinations will be held on the af-
ternoons of Thursday and Friday,
October 16 and 17, at 1:30 p.m., in
Room B, Haven Hall.
A. E. R. Boak
Preliminary examinations for the'
doctorate in English will be given in
Room 3217 Angell Hall, 9:00 a.m. to
12:00, on the following schedule:
Wednesday, November 19, Ameri-
can Literature.
History Make-up Examinations:
The make-up examinations in all his-
tory courses will be given at 3:00 p.m.
Friday, October 17, in Room C, Haven
Hall. Written permission from the
instructor in the course must be pre-
sented by all students taking a make-
up. Please do not wait until Friday
afternoon to see your instructor for
his permission.
Psychology 31 make-up examina-
tion will be given Tuesday, October
21, 7:30 to 10:00 p.m., in Room 1121
Natural Science Bldg.
Economics 53: There will be no lec-
ture meeting today nor -Wednesday.
Shorey Peterson
Speech 127: Mr. Brandt's section
will meet tonight at 7 o'clock.
Geology 11: The lecture, scheduled
for Wednesday, Oct. 15, will be held
on Friday, Oct. 17. The regular Wed-
nesday afternoon field trip will not
be held this Wednesday.
Actuarial Review Classes: The re-
view class in algebra will meet today
at 3 o'clock in 3016 A.H. The review
class in calculus will meet on Wed-
nesday at 3 o'clock in 3201 A.H.
Business Administration 3-Tabu-
lating Machine Practice: Mr. Mea-
chai, Room 106 Rackham Building,
Section 1. tonight at 7 o'clock.
Maurice Miller Rinkel, Wiljiam Le-
roy Schoofs, Harry Robert Slusser,
Gerald Martin Waters, Roy John
Weber, William Zack.
Section II, Tuesday at 8 o'clock
p.m.: Christine Sarah Bennett, Al-
phonse I. Bucko, Elizabeth M. Car-
michael, Philip N. Cassen, George A.
Fogarty, Mary Fraser, Robert Wil-
liam Gilmour, F. Allen Grier, Jr.,
Eugene R. Hartley, Jocelyn Ironside,
Robert Edward Johnson, Robert Ed-
gar Morrow, Thomas Edward Peltier,
Aubrey Campbell Roberts, Recilla
Roslyn Rudnick, Jay V. Strong, Mar-
tha Ann Wagner.
Group to e Sectioned: John W.
Clarke, Charles T. Day, Charles Ho-
mer LeClaire, Marion Mina Meyer,
Michael Monroe, Dorothy Munro,
Chester John Oosting, John William
Ross.
Exhibitions
Hopwood Exhibit: There will be an
exhibit of manuscripts and published
work by winners of Hopwood Awards
on Wednesday, October 15, in Room
160 of the Rackham Building.
Lectures
University Lecture: Professor Eu-
gene Staley, a member of the faculty
of the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy at Tufts College, will lec-
ture on the subject, "A Peace Settle-
ment in the Far East." iunder the aus-