THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 194 The Michigan Daily '1 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 Summer 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 second class mail matter. Subscriptions during the regular school year by carrier $4.00, by mal $5.00. REPRESENTEO POR NATIONAL ADVERTISING SY National Advertising Service, Inc. College Publishers Representative 420 MA6SON AVE. NEW YORK. N.Y. CHICA"O - BOSTON. " Las ANGS * -.SAN FRANCISCO Member, Associated Collegiate Press, 1941-42 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-