PAGE TWO THE MIC141GA N D A T.V SATIUDAY. IANTIARUV1219441~ .a as i 1 a a v as a ll t> 1 .Ll tl 1 .L 1 " cii G.itiLii dt : VCA.11; 1 .ki "24' I Fix Dath eily Fifty-Sixth Year WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND: How Steel Got Price Increase E I;I Editedand managed by students of the. University of Michigan under the authority of the Board of Control of Student Publications. Editorial Staff Ray Dixon . . Robert Goldman Betty Roth . . Margaret Farmer Arthur J. Kraft Bill Mullendore, Mary Lu Heath Ann Schutz Dona Guimaraes . . . . . . . . Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . City Editor . . . . . . . . Editorial Director . . . . . . . Associate Editor . . . . . . . . . . Sports Editor .Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . Women's Editor . . . . Associate Women's Editor Business Staff Dorothy Flint . . . . . . . . . Business Manager Joy Altman . . . . . . . Associate Business Mgr. Telephone 23-24-1 Member of The Associated Press The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use tor re-publication of all news dispatches credited to it or otherwise credited in this newspaper. All rights of re- publication 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 car- rier, $4.50, by mail, $5.25. Member, Associated Collegiate Press, 1945-46 NIGHT EDITOR: CLAYTON DICKEY Editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views o the writers only. New China A WHOLE generation has grown up amidst the civil strife which China has suffered for 18 years. Sincere efforts of Communist and Kuo- mintang leaders and the mediation of General George C. Marshall have resulted in a long overdue truce. The road is clear to peace in China. All the differences are probably not yet rec- onciled; all the tenseness cannot be quickly relaxed. However, devoting its enormous re- sources to peaceful pursuits rather than war waste, China can and should develop into one of the great world democracies. The great masses of Chinese population are re- putedly democratic. Three decades ago they at- tempted to throw off the yoke of century-old feudalism. They enjoyed only partial success. With the whole world reconverting, the atmos- phere is more conducive to complete success now that the burden of war has been removed. The Chiang government is encouraging na- tional unity in its program for the new order. Freedom of person, conscience, speech, pub- lication and association and safeguard against illegal arrest form an adequate basis for a new China. In addition, political parties will be able to function openly and an election has been promised. We in America, who have a background of more than 150 years in the democratic experi- ment, eagerly hope for its success in China. But more than this, we must help when we can with money, material and good will. -Mal Roemer Sentinels of Society LAST SUNDAY the Detroit Free Press ran a small news article under the headline, "De- troit Group Organizes to Fight 'Regimenta- tion' ". The article informed the public that a group of Detroit businessmen and professional men have banded together to protect America from socialism. They call themselves the So- ciety of Sentinels and hope to become a national organization someday. To help their "hope" they have begun a vigorous campaign, usually appealing through newspaper advertisements. These earnest souls are frightfully worried about the condition of the United States, es- pecially since 1933, a significant date in their estimation. They feel it their chosen duty to "educate the average man to the evils of the present American trend to state socialism". "State sovereignty and free enterprise are keys to American democracy which must be re- stored and protected," said Edward C. Fielder, SOS organizer. The proven fact that free enterprise remains 'free' only with some gov- ernmental interference seems to have been ig- nored or unknown by Mr. Fielder. The Society of Sentinels have an active pro- gram for the -purpose of restoring democarcy to the United States. They have already requested that President Truman repeal such legislation as the Wagner Labor Relations Act, Wages and Hours Act, OPA price controls, Social Security and abolish most Federal aid to states. It is almost impossible to believe that a reactionary program such as this could gather in enough By DREW PEARSON WASHINGTON.-Most of President Truman's appointments are very brief. Senators get 5 minutes with him. Congressmen get from five to 15 minutes. Cabinet members frequently get only 15 minutes. So this week eyebrows went up when the White House bulletin board listed OPAdminis- trator Chester Bowles for a full hour with Presi- dent Truman. Obeservers knew that the heat was on to increase the price of steel, and sell to inflation's No. 1 enemy on giving the nation its first big inflationary shot in the arm. When Bowles entered the President's office, the die was already cast. Truman had decided that steel prices were going up. His job was to sell the idea to Bowles. Truman himself had been sold by his old friend, reconversion czar John Snyder of St. Louis, who in turn had been wined and dined by the steel people in Pitts- burgh. Chester Bowles also had talked with big steel leaders. His talks were far more energetic, more persuasive than Snyder's. Bowles once ran one of the best advertising firms in the nation, is an excellent salesman. All his salesmanship was turned on big steel leaders. "You are going to have a bigger margin of profit than you realize," he told them. "You are now working 44 hours in the mills and 52 hours in your captive mines. When you drop to 40 hours, you will net a big saving in overtime. The price of scrap iron is now at ceiling. It will drop in the spring, which means more saving. Production per man went up to 10 per cent after the last war. It will do the same after this war, which will save you $100,000,000 alone. You can't tell what your profits will be. So why not try out a new increased wage scale without a sharp price hike? Try it out for six months-then come back and we'll examine the whole question again. If you need a price increase then we'll give it to you." "After the last war, steel wages soared even without union pressure," Bowles summarized. "So did prices. And once inflation gets going, you'll have labor coming back until they get, not a 30 per cent increase in wages, but 50 per cent or even 75 per cent. You can't tell where this thing will stop." Steel Says "No" STEEL leaders -shrugged their shoulders. Bowles offered them a price increase of $2.50 per ton to compensate for low pre-war prices on certain types of special steel. But big steel lead- ers were convinced from their talks with John Snyder that they could get considerably more. He had let the cat out of the bag that Truman could not and would not afford a strike. The ad- ministration's bargaining power was gone. So, with the battle already lost, Chester Bowles went to the White House. He made no resignation threats-though some of his junior advisers had urged him to resign if he lost the inflation battle. But he did warn the Presi- dent quietly, fervently, that this would be the first great break in the inflation dyke. If steel goes up, every other industry using steel will come back to the OPA for a price in- crease, Bowles warned-and will be entitled to get it. The automobile people will come back and want higher prices. So will the hardware peo- ple, the farm machinery people, and so on down the line until you have a whole series of price boosts. Then labor 'comes back for more wage increases and inflation is on. The President, however, had made up his mina, "Do your best," he told Bowles, as the inter-, view ended. "You know we're all behind you." NOTE-How much Truman's right-hand ad- viser and close personal friend, vivacious George Allen, had to do with increasing the price of steel is a White House secret. George Allen is a director of Republic Steel and an in- timate friend of labor-baiting Tom Girdler, whose company staged the famous Chicago massacre when the CIO tried to organize his mills. John, Snyder Forg-ot D ECISION to give a fat hike to Steel was com- municated to the cabinet at a White House luncheon next day. The announcement was to be made at 4 p.m. that day. One hour after lunch this fact leaked to Phil Murray's Steel Workers Union. Also it T HOUGHT... - ON S E CON D By Ray Dixon WE NOTE with interest the on-the-surface shift in Detroit newspaper editorial phil- osophy. The Free Press, which has been among the "give Truman a chance" papers has sudden- ly shifted to being almost violently opposed to his policies in general and his speech to the nation a week ago in particular. * * * The News, on the other hand, has been actively promoting Truman's request that the public should write their congressmen. We don't get it. Only sane note in the situation is the Hearstian Detroit Times labeling anti- MacArthur sentiment as "communistic." leaked out that fumbling John Snyder planned to announce the price hike without first get- ting a commitment from the steel companies as to how much wage increase they could give labor. In other words, he planned to throw away his chief bargaining power again. Frantically, Phil Murray's office called Secre- tary of Labor Schwellenbach. "The Secretary of Labor is very busy today," replied the young lady who guards his office. "He can't see or talk to anyone this afternoon." "Tell him that a mere :iandui of 700,000 steel workers who are going out on strike Mon- day have some ideas they want to get to him," shot back one of Murray's aides. Finally he got through to Schwellenbach. It was just in time. Newsmen had gathered to receive the 4 p.m. release which naive John Snyder planned to issue, announcing the new price of steel without getting an agreement on wages. Schwellenbach stopped the release. He got Snyder to go back and talk to big steel again-this time regarding wages. (Copyright, 1946, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.) I'D RATHER BE RIGHT: Splits vs. Unity By SAMUEL GRAFTON THE NEW REPUBLICAN LINE is that the Democratic party is badly split, and incapable of governing, and that the President's recent attack on Congress proves it. Who was the Pres- ident attacking, ask the Republicans demurely, except his own committee chairmen? It's a fam- ily fight; and the Republican party (through such spokesmen as Senator Taft) puts itself for- ward as a party which is not split, but meritori- ously whole. This is a good formulation, neat as a drugstore package; but it doesn't tell quite enough. For the country itself is so divided on the issues raised by Mr. Truman that any party which isn't split on them can be in that happy condition only because it leaves out a lot of people; it is split off to start with, which is why it isn't split from within. If the Republi- can party had as adherents two or three na- tion-wide labor unions, it would be just as split as the Democrats; it hasn't and so it isn't. As a matter of fact there are Republicans who are worried about Republican unity, who regard it as too perfect, and lacking in that variation, shade, fissure and patch which give the ap- pearance of life. Senator Wayne Morse, of Oregon, has let loose a tremendous attack against the leaders of his own party; he has denounced what he calls the "Ohio gang" for providing a reactionary leader- ship which, he says, has kept millions of Ameri- cans out of Republican ranks. Senator Morse might be accused of fomenting a split in the Republican party; what he is actually trying to do is to break open a door so that more people can get in. The party is in the curious position of needing a split before it can hope to grow very much bigger; it has had too much internal har- mony, and only a fight will prosper it. PERHAPS the fight will come; for Senator Morse's speech is not a one-shot; it is (Wash- ington hears) the opening gun in a formal war, designed to block the nomination of Mr. Bricker in 1948. A number of reporters have leaped upon the incident to say it proves that the Republican party is just as badly split as the Democratic; but in this they are merely giving way to a passion for neatness, and a lust for compari- sons; it isn't so. As compared with the truly high figures in the Republican party, with Taft, Bricker, Brownell, and Dewey, the liberal opposition, symbolized by Morse, Newbold Mor- ris, Ball and Stassen, lacks size and reach; it is quite tiny. And Mr. Taft is working hard as a kind of one-man Ejection Committee, tossing liberal vot- ers off the Republican premises. As fast as Mr. Morse brings them in at one entrance, he throws them out at another. In his recent radio speech attacking the President, Mr. Taft made it clear that he considers the full employment bill to be a "Soviet idea," that health insurance is "a left- wing Communist proposal" etc., etc.; and voters who believe in these ideas will hardly be con- verted to the Republican party by being told to just go around to the side door and ask for Mr. Morse. The Democratic party is, by comparison, really split, deeply split; but so is the country, and when the Democratic party reaches a compromise within itself, it is as if the country had reached a compromise, angl that is the best explanation' of why the party wins national elections. The Republican boast of unity is a dangerous boast, for in a democracy, unity of yiewpoint on the part of any group usually means speciality of viewpoint; it is generally a unity attained by exclusion, which is an unhandy thing around election time. Nothing would do more to increase confi- dence in the Republican party than a truly massive fight over policy within its ranks; but it is to be doubted if the Ohio grouping will give up its control over this last snug nest where no man disagrees, this island of assent, this haven for men who hate regimentation and think alike. (Copyright, 1946, N.Y. Post Syndicate) OFF T FENCE By LEONARD COHEN A FEW days ago I spoke to one of the officers of the Detroit Civil Rights Federation about the present status of the case of Fletcher Mills, the 18 year old Negro share-cropper wanted in Alabama for "assault with intent to murder." Mills had quar- reled with his landlord, a Mr. T. R. Terry, who had tried to settle the ar- gument by striking Mills over the head with a 3 foot wooden club which was used to move logs around. Mills, in self-defense, stabbed Terry on the arm with a pen finife. Mills then heard Terry's wife call for her son to get the gun, and so he left for home. Three armed men, two of them Terry's brother and son-in- law, went to Mills' home in search of him. Fearing a mob might find him, Mills fled to Detroit where he was picked up by the county Sheriff's Office on the assault with intent to murder warrant. Since Mills' arrival in Detroit his sister has received a letter from his wife stating that on two occasions mobs have come to the farm look- ing for Mills. In her communica- tion Mrs. Mills stated: "Don't come back on this side of the river be- cause the mob crowd say that wherever the sun shines that is where they will lay him down." My informant told me that already there had been four legal hearings on the case and that the final hear- ing would be at 4 p.m. Thursday. He said that pressure on the Gov- ernor to refuse to extradite Fletcher Mills had been strong and had in- cluded telegrams, letters, postcards and dozens of delegations from Re- publicans, Democrats, Negro minis- ters, and the community at large. He said that pressure in the forms indicated would be effective until the final decision was made, which would probably be about two or three days after the hearing Thursday. I felt more heartened as we talked, remembering the evening I had talked with Fletcher Mills, remem- bering his quick, sincere smile. I asked my informant what he thought of Fletcher Mills' chances of not be- ing sent back. He said Mills' chances were "fair." It wasn't until afterwards that I began to be bothered by that word "fair." I wondered what is meant to this young Alabama Negro who had dared to resist the blows of a club which was held by a white man's hand. I wondered if it was possible that there were still enough people in Michigan who would condemn Fletcher Mills to the mercy of an Alabama mob by their indifference. I keep remembering a song called "Strange Fruit," that Billie Holliday has recorded. It is a description of a lynching in the South. I think of this song now, and I hear a scream breaking the silence of a Southern night. I see a picture of Fletcher Mills smiling and talking at a party. Then I see his smile distorted and he's struggling and going down under a group of men. And it's dark And somewhere in the background Billie Holliday is singing "Strange Fruit." Immigration... To the Editor: IN HER LETTER of Jan. 8 Miss Rose Symons advocated that the United States and Palestinian ports of entry be closed to the remnants of European Jewry. She argued that we have done enough already, that "thousands were permitted to enter this country." Is Miss Symons aware that our immi- gration laws were in no way altered to meet the emergency that arose in 1933? The only change was that visas were inspected with new vigor so that the entrance of these refugees would not involve sacrifice on the part of the United States. During the time that the "thousands" were entering our country, four to six million Jews were exterminated. We must not over- look, of course, the one thousand that we did admit into the Oswega emer- gency shelter. One thousand out of the millions that died! As to the charge that reports of persecution in Poland were falsified, the Polish government itself does not deny atrocities. Oscar Lange, the Polish ambassador to the United States, admitted to President Tru- man that pogroms had occurred and were still occurring. We know from history how deep-seted is anti-Semitic feeling in Poland and that that feeling was strengthened by Nazi teachings. We know too ,that the Polish underground move- ment, supported by the government- in-exile, refused to allow Jews to join them in striving against Fas- cism, and furthermore, were utter- ly indifferent to Jewish suffering. It is inconceivable that the Polish government, even with the best of intentions, will solve the problem in less than two decades. And dur- ing those decades, as Max Lerner said: "Europe is a cemetery . . . Over the European landscape are scattered the ashes of the Jewish dead . . . You cannot live thus, surrounded by the death of all whom you have held dear, staring into the face of death for yourself. You may crouch in a ceme- tery if it is your only remaining temporary shelter. But you cannot live in it." Miss Symons suggests that the problem be handled by UNO. As- suming that UNO can find some solution, it will mean more long years of waiting. These Jews can- not afford to wait. -Harriet Sachs Carol Werner European Jews .. . To the Editor: JANUARY 8, 1946, I came upon a column in Letters to the Editor entitled "Jewish Immigration" that was written by Rose Symons, and as I read this letter I felt the necessity to write some of my opinions on the matter. It seems to me that Miss Symons personifies the type of person that had occupied the British Colonial Office, which cluring the war cold- heartedjy turned back the ship Struma loaded with 500 refugees. The ship carried the men, women, and children from port to port looking for a place merely for them to live. Palestine, which at present can ac- commodate two million more Jews, was not open to them at the time, Finally the ship was torpedoed and went down with its cargo of human life, and so they were denied oppor- tunity to live. You, Miss Symons, by your proposals to close America to immigrants, and 'leave the, Jews scattered throughout Europe' will again be denying life to a people that will go down in the undercurrent of economic and social problems con- fronting them unless the ports be open to them where they may sur- vive. If Miss Symons should take time to visualize the situation of the Jews in Europe at the present, she might not be as hasty to close vital doors of salvation. More than half the Jews in. Europe were murdered. If you were one of those who sur- vived (perhaps temporarily) you might typically find yourself with- out a family in a country desolate and filled with Anti-Semitism be- cause of years of indoctrination. What chance would you have for survival? You would have little or no opportunity to earn a living; certainly no feeling of security. There would be nothing to look forward to, only the horrors of the past and the wreckage of the pres- ent to think about. Shut to them the vital ports of salation and you also shut off from them the oppor- tunity to live. Close to them the vital ports, Miss Symons, and it would be like setting off a torpedo into a ship filled with poverty- stricken Jews of Europe. Miss Symons, I doubt that its detonation would be a way for 'the world to move closer to an everlasting peace! -Oaran Budyk o '.' 'Over play .. . To the Editor: OVERPLAY to the point of what some might believe to be "editori- alization," is the only way to describe the way in which the Daily handled yesterday's walkout in the Lawyers Club dining room. While the strike, which incidentally was all over by breakfast, had a good deal of campus interest, under no circumstances can I see how it merited banner treat- ment. In view of its short duration a box feature would have been far more suitable. This is especially true when it is apparent from recent issues of the paper that reverting from the necessities of wartime journalism, it has tended to be more sparing in its use of heavy type. It is difficult to see any point in such overplay or any policy which might merit it. However, it leaves an implication that something was intended, possibly in, the nature of a "cheap slap" at administrative authority. Although such a conclu- sion is without a doubt far from what is actually the situation, to avoid any such implications, night editors should in the future bemore discerning in their news vahes. -Monroe Fink * * * EDITOR'S NOTE: Whether the story was overplayed or not, is a matter of opinion. But let Mr. Fink be assured that the Daily did not in any sense in- tend it to be a 'cheap slap' at admin- istrative authority." Letters to the Editor DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN Publication in the Daily Official Bul- letin is constructive notice to all mem- bers of the University. Notices for the Bulletin should be sent in typewritten form to the Assistant to the President, 1021 Angell Hal, by 3:30 i. m. on the day preceding publication (11:00 a. m. Sat- urdays). SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 1946 VOL. LVI, No. 49 ' Notices Faculty Tea: President and Mrs. Ruthven will be at home to members of the faculty and other townspeople Sunday, Jan. 13, from 4:00 to 6:00. Cars may park in the restricted zone on South University between 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. To the Members of the University Senate; For the meeting of the Uni- versity Senate in the Rackham Am- phitheater on Monday, Jan. 14, at 4:15 p.m. the following will consti- tute the agenda: Election of the Senate Advisory Committee (M. H. Waterman) Disposition of the Parker Fellow- ships (h. I. Bredvold) Report of the Committee on Hon- orary Degrees (F. E. Robbins) The Housing Problem (R. P. Briggs). Admissions Policy (J. P. Adams) By Crockett Johnson Veterans' Books and Supplies. Vet- erans who are securing books and supplies under the Public Laws 16 or 346 must complete all purchases for the current semester by Jan. 15. This deadline is necessary to allow the University time to audit and pay the veterans' accounts at the various stores and, in turn, to submit invoic- es to the Veterans Administration for reimbursement before the end of the semester. Boyd C. Stephens, Cashier The Clements Library contem- plates arranging an exhibition of rare books owned by members of the Fac- ulty of *the University. The Director of the Library would be happy to hear from colleagues who think this is a good idea and who would like to participate by lending some rarity. Entries are limited to one title per exhibitor. Connecticut State Department of Education announces open compet- itive examinations for critic teach- e's in the four teachers colleges. Fur- ther information may be obtained from the Bureau of Appointments and Occupational Information, 201 Mason Hall. City of Detroit Civil Service; The Bureau of Appointments has received the following Civil Service Announce- ments : Junior Airport Control Tower Op- erator. Salary: $2542-3009. Last filing date: February 1. $1.41. Last filing date: January 15. Sheet Metal Worker. Salary: $1.55. Last filing date: January 15. Further information may be ob- tained at the Bureau of Appoint- ments and Occupational Informa- tion, 201 Mason Hall. Interviews for Spring Vacancies: League housemothers are available to interview only those girls who have applied through the Office of the Dean of Women and have been re- ferred to the League Houses in this way. Women students wishing ac- commodations in League Houses must apply as above. Academic Notices Doctoral Examination for Martin Chanin, Pharmaceutical Chemistry; thesis: Synthetic Analgesics. I: The Thiophene Analog of Demerol and Compounds of the "Open Ring" De- merol Type," on Saturday, Jan. 12, 10:00 a.m., 309 Chemistry Building. Chairman, F. F. Blicke. By action of the executive Board the Chairman may invite members of the faculties and advanced doc- toral candidates to attend this exami- nation, and he may grant permission to those who for sufficient reason might wish to be present. Mathematics: There will be a special lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 4:00 p.m. in 3010 Angell Hall by Professor Mahlon M. Day on "Some Characterizations of Inner Product BARNABY I-== .- - ---*-----3k--Mmmw-AC, I I I .