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THE MICHIAN DAILYT
P-ortal Pay Suits
hE AVALANCHE of suits for retroactive
portal-to-portal pay for union workers,
set off last June by the United States Sup-
reme Court decision in the Mount Clemens
case, has reached the unexpected total of
more than $3,250,000,000, and is apt to
reach the $6,000,000,000 mark before it
slows down.
The unions' suits for the payment of un-
collected portal pay since 1938, the year of
the passage of the wages and hours act,
would affect particularly companies with
widely scattered work places distant from
the entrances to company property or with
large buildings, companies where workers
on their own' time must make certain pre-
parations such as changing clothes, and
. plants in continuous operation where one
shift must be on the spot ready to work
before the preceding shift can leave.
In June of last year the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled, in a case involving the Mount
Clemens Pottery Company, that travel
and .job preparation time at the plant is
part of a normal work week, and, more-
over, that if such time is not paid and an
employee wins a suit over it he is entitled
to "triple time" and legal fees.
There was some legal. precedent for the
Supreme Court ruling. In 1939, Lee Press-
man general counsel for the CIO Mine, Mill
and Smelter Workers union, petitioned the
wage and hour administration of the De-
partmerit of Labor for a ruling, and was up-
held in his contention that portal pay was
a legitimate demand. And southern coal
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: MAL.ROEMER
=-- .--- -
THE BIG NEWS yesterday was the resig-
nation of James F. Byrnes and the
appointment of George C. Marshall as Sec-
retary of State.
We do not mean to appear lethargic;
nevertheless we just can't seem to get as
excited about the whole thing as the Hearst
newspapers which interpreted the event as
"61e of the great dramatic turning points
in American history." These observers have
decided that the change means a definite
break with "the whole policy of appeasement
of Russia."
Although we cannot claim the avail-
ability of all three major news services,
we can see absolutely no reason to expect
any significant change in U.S. policy to-
ward Russia. An "about face" on principles
or tactics now might well be the final blow
to that already battered American prestige
upon which other nations of the world
are pinning their hopes for a lasting peace.
Speculation that Byrnes was removed be-
cause of a disagreement on policy with
Truman seems to have no foundation in
fact. Byrnes had been warned by his doc-
tors that he would not live long if he con-
tinued the strenuous brand of diplomacy
IT SO
HA"PENS
* The Old Drawingboard
All in Favor?
rH E NEW YEAR got off to a promising
start early this weekj We rolled back
into town, ignoring witty allusions to the
Yale Record's take-off on the New York
Daily News and smiling vacuously at all
talk of resolutions.
Since our return, life has gone on out-
wardly much as before, but we note a
certain change for the easier, the more
pleasant. Without hesitating a moment, we
hereby come out unequivocally in favor of
Vacations and Freedom for Free Vacationing
gtudents.
On an Informal Note
ONE OF THE bright lights of our weekday
mornings brought down the house in
class recently by opening the top button of
his White Shirt with a flourish of obvious
relief.
"I can't afford to throw it away," he ex-
plained, "and I've been holding my breath
for an hour nd a half."
Careful The-e, .rofessor
P ILOSOPHER'S Comment on John
Dewey (Columbia University's Sage is
not only still writing at 87, but he remar-
ried last fall):
"I don't want to make any predictions,
but he's still productive."
And Like It
WE WERE WALKING and sliding across
campus this morning, humming a happy
little tune inspired by thoughts of J-Hop
and other approaching festivities, when the
following overheard conversation jostled us
right out of our pleasant male-superiority
mood. One coed was explaining to another
just how she expected her date to dress for
operators lost in the Supreme Court a suit
to prevent AFL United Mine Workers from
collecting pay for travel and job preparation
time.
But since the Supreme Court's attempt to
define the terms of the wages and hours
act, the unions, fascinated with their new
toy, have instigated suits which, if granted,
would represent a serious threat to the
prosperity of the country. In some cases
the claims even exceed the working capital
of the concern; one company, from which a
union is demanding $3,000,000 in back por-
tal pay, has a net worth of $4,000,000 and
a working capital of $900,000.
The United States Treasury would do
much of the paying if the unions win
their suits, because wages are deducted
from gross income of a company in figur-
ing taxable income, and the treasury
would collect less or no taxes from the
employer for the year in which back
wages were paid.
Although these suits will prove a bonanza
to the legal profession, in the words of
Raymond Moley, columnist, "This legal de-
luge cannot help but depress business pro-
spects for 1947. And, what is most serious,
it may well precipitate failures which will
materially and psychologically depress the
entire economy."
The basic cause of this predicament lies
with the lawmakers who passed the wage-
hour law back in 1938 and failed to define
what they meant by "working time." Por-
tal-to-portal pay for the future is a legiti-
mate demand. But the demands for portal
pay for the past, when workers did not even
know what they were missing, particularly
when such demands will exert a "depressing
effect" on the national economy, can and
should be limited by legislation. It is up to
the new congress to tie the legal loose ends
left by its predecessor of 1938.
-Frances Paine
ppoin iment
which has become necessary in this post-
war world. It might have seemed more
heroic if Byrnes had insisted on finishing
his job even at the expense of his health, but
recent experience has shown that noble ef-
forts of this kind are usually detrimental
to the country in the end.
Marshall is a trained professional soldier,
possessing not only a broad military grasp
of world conditions, but essentially familiar
with all the international negotiations dat-
ng back to the first Roosevelt conferences
with the heads of foreign states. Marshall
returns to the United States after 13 months
as a special envoy in China where he at-
tempted to unite the Kuomintang and Com-
munist factions.
It remains to be seen whether the ap-
pointment of a military leader to Secretary
of State will be regarded as a "slap in the
face" by nations which are trying to rid the
world of m i 1 i t a r i s m and militaristic
diplomacy.
-John Campbell
Marshall Record
PECULATIONS on the success with which
George C. Marshall wil meet as the new
Secretary of State must be based chiefly on
his military career. This plus reports on his
diplomatic mission in China compose the
only basis for an evaluation of his abilities
for his new office.
Marshall rose rapidly in the first world
war, and after great success as operations
chief of the First Army, planning the se-
cret movement of men for the Meuse-Ar-
gonne offensive, was chosen aide-de-camp
to Gen. John J. Pershing.
His organizational ability and original
thinking, prompted President Roosevelt
to promote him over many officers with
longer service to the post of Chief of
Staff the day Germany invaded Poland.
Immediately he began the hard fight for
peacetime training, declaring bluntly that
the United States was not even prepared
to defend itself.
During the war, Marshall worked to ob-
tain the right to promote officers by ability
rather than seniority, and used this policy
successfully in preventing any serious fail-
ures in command after the first few months.
It has been reported that Marshall was
Roosevelt's first choice for supreme com-
mander of the European theater. However,
following Churchill's objections, he quietly
stepped out of line for that glamorous job,
stating that allied cooperation was of pri-
mary importance.
Following the war, President Truman sent
Marshall on the difficult task of reaching a
settlement between China's warring factions.
In his recent statement summarizing
the results of his 13 month mission, Mar-
shall has admitted failure. He placed
blame on extremist elements in both the
Communist and National Government
groups for frustrating the efforts to ob-
tain peace.
Marshall will come to his new post with
the record of a brilliant soldier and of a
man who fights for his ideas. Since his only
experience in diplomatic service has been
the China mission, Marshall's merits as the
spokesman for American foreign policy will
become clear only when he tackles such
problems as creating a peace treaty for Ger-
many, and consolidating peacetime allied
unity.
-Harriet Friedman
Al/ O4P7totuhi
IN THE MIDST of the "quiet," which seems
to have spread as a pall over the liberal
forces in America since the last elections,
the recent merger of the NCPAC (National
Citizens Political Action Committee) and
the ICCASP (Independent Citizens Commit-
tee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions)
was an essential and welcome step in the
direction of reaching the small voter. The
new organization calls itself the Progressive
Citizens of America.
Mr. Wallace struck at a truth when he
stated in an address to the PCA conven-
tion thaat a "genuine" two party system
was needed to replace the existing "fake
one-party system under the guise of a
bi-partisan bloc." The people had little
choice in November between the majority
of the Democratic candidates and their
Republican opposition. The line became
more sharply drawn between the pro-
labor, pro-small business man element
and the representatives of monopoly cap-
ital.
The newly-formed PCA gave warning to
the Democratic party to return to the Roose-
velt policies embracing broad social legis-
lation; otherwise, a third party will be in
the offing.
In another month, the Congress of Pro-
gressives, which was formed several months
ago in Chicago, will meet in Washington to
carry out a similar program--the solidifi-
cation of progressive, pro-labor forces.
The problem of reaching the broad masses
of the population on a liberal, renovated
New Deal platform will vary according to
the local area. Where the old Democratic
machine cannot be purged of its reactionary
elements, new parties will have to be formed.
Where the population is primarily industrial,
men will have to be chosen as leaders out of
the working people, men who have already
gained their associates' confidence. -Poli-
ties, as a game in which one element is
played off against another as a vote-getting
means will have to be replaced by active
educational programs. The working people,
the farmer, the small business man, the
professional groups will have to be ap-
proached with facts and figures, rather
than with the sentiments of liberalism. Too
often, in fact, for the most part, the men
who have in the past been selected to lead
the people have underestimated the intelli-
gence, the ability to act with conscious will
of the underpriveleged groups. The energy
of these people have never been directed
with a maximum of efficiency and honesty.
SEVERAL MEN, who have the audacity
to call themselves liberals, have formed
a group to counteract the work which the
newly formed PCA and the Congress of
Progressives have begun. They go under
the heading of Americans for Democratic
Action. More important to them than
solidifying the potential progressive forces
is to ferret Communists and their sympa-
thizers out of Progressive organizations.
They wish to imply that the newly
formed PCA is not truly progressive be-
cause it accepts the cooperation of Com-
munists. This, at a time when division of
the progressives will play directly into
the hands of reacton.
The action of the ADA means harder work
for the PCA and the Congress of Progres-
sives. It means more door-bell ringing, mass'
meetings and pamphleteering.
The people of this country are waiting
for leadership which is truly progressive.
The issue for them is wages and prices, bet-
ter housing, better working conditions, hos-
pitalization, social security, lower taxes on
essentials, and all the other things which
pertain to the standard of living; not
whether Communists should be allowed to
participate in their organizations.
-E. E. Ellis
Center Movement
By SAMUEL GRAFTON
Since we live in a terminological culture,
in which a great part of the process of
thinking consists of giving names to things,
it is perhaps important to put an identfy-
ng label on the Presdent's message to Con-
gress. Is it liberal, is it conservative, what
is it? It is a little hard to say, because it
s a kind of mxed product; it might be called
a liberal speech which has been put through
a conservative, mangle. The marks of our
recent conservative shift are on it; and while
parts of the Roosevelt vision are still there,
it is like a dream which has been edited
by a man who does not believe much in
dreams.
Perhaps, then, this is the first state
paper of a new American centrism. There
has never been much of a center move-
ment in American politics, which is us-
ually a politics of the right, except for
brief moments, when it fractures itself
against a depression, or something, and is
temporarily replaced by an improvised
left. But in the Truman message we have
something different, a strange combina-
tion of conservatism without animus, and
liberalism without the glow.
We could use a center in American life;
but it remains to be seen whether conserva-
tism, to help construct one, will be willing
to move to the left.
(Copyright, 1947, N.Y. Post Syndicate)
Copr. 1447 by Unted Feature S'aonicate ,'1.
7,,. Reg. U S. Pet_ Off-All ,righsreserv'edr
Letters to the Editor...
BILL MAULLDIN
I.
S4
b Q
~~r.
"A professor's salary is $45 a week. His living expenses are S75.
How many nights each week must he tend bar at $5 per night
to make up the deficit?"
iOR'S NOTF:i -o letter to the
odi .or will he printed unls 5igned
:nd1141 ~nillgodtaste. Setters
over 300 weds in length will be
shortened or omited; in special in-
stances, they ilt he printed, at the
discretion cif the editorial director.
i2(ilSil IiQPObllem
To the Editor:
HORTLY before the Christmas
recess began, a letter by Mr.
Subrahmanyam appeared in The
Daily, relative to the Palestine
problem. The writer discussed a
vital issue, but in order that the
readers of The Daily may get a'
true and undistorted picture of
the facts, some of his erroneous
as-ertions must be corrected.
I: his opening paragraph Mr.
I Subrahmanyam asserts that Pal-
estine "was the' irthe Jews') home
one~ upon a time, but it has not
been theirs for centuries." Ile
does not state when or how they
lost pos.session, and the facts,
moreover, indicate that the his-
torical connectiUon of the Jewish
people with Palestine, and their
right "for reconstituting there
their National Home," were first
enunciated by Great B r i t a i n
t _rou the Balfour Declaration
i 11, assented to by the Peace
Confern c;rin r reaffirmed at
DAILY OFFICIAL L.
(Continued from Page 3)
cards and the blank cards will be The Art Cinema League pre-
posted on the bulletin board ad- sents "They Were Five," director
jacent to Prof. Brier's office. Duvivier, starring Jean Gabin.
English titles; French dialogue.
~ y,,; ~ C- -v
January 14, Rm. D, Alumni Me-
morial Hall; auspices of Le Cer-
cle FRancais.
Academic Notices
Mathematics Seminar on Sto-
chastic Processes: 3 p.m. today in
317 W. Engineering. Mr. Max
Woodbury will discuss Markoff
chains.
A. 11. Copeland
Pre-Medical Student Profes-
sional Aptitude Test: The Associa-
tion of American Medical Col-
leges Professional Aptitude Test,
the Graduate Record examia-
tion required of all applicants to
the 1947 freshman class at the
University of Michigan and other
medical colleges, will be offered
Sat.. Jan. 11, 9 a.m.-12:00 noon
and 1:30-4 p.m., Rakiam Lecture
Hall. Each applicant must pre-
sent a check or money order for
five-dollars ($5.00) made payable
to the Graduate Record Office be-
fore entering the examination
room. Cash will niot be accepted
in payment of the fee. Applicants
are requested to appear at the
testing room at 8:45. No students
will be admitted after 9 a.m.
Conflict, ]Final Examination,
College of Engineering: All stu-
dents having conflicts will report
to the office of Prof. J. C. Brier,
Rm. 3223, E. Engineering Bldg,
during the week of January 6, but
not later than 12 noon on Sat.,
Jan. 11. Complete instructions for
filling out examination conflict
DRA MA
THE Glass Menagerie by Ten-
nessee Williams, starring Paul-
ine Lord, played a one night stand
last night at the Michigan Thea-
tre. The play is, as the narrator
states at its beginning, a memory
fragment, "dimly lit, sentimental,
and vague." Its story concerns
the somewhat obvious plottings of
a middle-class mother to obtain
"gentiemen callers" for her piti-
fully shy daughter. Her tool in
this is her son, whom she alter-
nately bedevils and cajoles into
bringing nome his friends. He fin-
ally shows up with one.
The cast, numbering four, did
a nice job with the alternating
comedy and pathos they had to
handle. Pauline Lord's deliberate-
ly halting delivery went well
with her part of a mother using
memories of the past in a groping
attempt to set right the present.
Richard Jones, the son, did better
on his action lines than on the
narration. Jeanne Shepherd gave
a convincing performance as the
only shy and crippled daughter.
And Edward Andrews as the gen-
tleman caller lent good contrast to
the half-dream world of the other
characters.
The production was well staged,
the single set being neatly de-
signed to project the veiled, mem-
ory-like quality on which so much
of the play is based.
-Joan Fiske
Graduate Students: Results of
the Graduate Record Examina-
tions given in December of 1945.
April of 1946, and the Summer
Session of 1946 are available in
the Graduate School Office.
Concerts
Cancellation of Concert: The,
concert scheduled for Tuesday,
Jan. 14, in Hill Auditorium by the
University of Michigan Choir has
been cancelled. It is planned to
have the Choir participate in the
concert to be given Saturday eve-
ning, Jan. 18, in Hill Auditorium,
as part of the program for the
Mid-Western Con f erence on
School Vocal and Instrumental
Music to be held in Ann Arbor be-
ginning Jan. 17.
Exhibitols
The Museum of Art presents
The New Spirit (the art of Le
Corbusier), and Art of the Middle
Ages, in the galledies of Alumni
0as, 0 ., a ., : 1. . I
office opens 2 p.m. daily. Phone
3300 for resrvat iols. Lydia Men-
deissolil Theatrme. .
COMing Events
V. of 11. Section of the Ameri-
cani OchniivaU So iet~y meet at
4:15 p.m., Jan. 10, Rm. 151,
I Chemistry Bldg. Dr. W. M. Stan-
ley, Department of Animal and
Plant Pathology, The Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research,
Princeton, N. J., will speak on
"Studies on Purified Influenza
Virus." The public is cordially in-
IE onmiics Club: 8 p.m., Mon.,
Jan. 13, East Conference Room,
Rackham Bldg. Professors Ren-
sis Likerr and George. Katona, of
the Survey Research Center, will
speak oil "The Sample Interview
Survey as a Tool of Economic Re-
search." Business Administra-
graduate students are invited.
the San Remo Conference, incor-
porated in the Treaty of Sevres,
endorsed by our own governent
by unanimous-resolutions of both
houses of Congress, and sanc-
tioned in the Palestine Mandate
by 52 nations of the world. This
claim cannot be controverted by
the mere assertion that "Palestine
belongs to the Arabs."
Furthermore, Wr. Subrahman-
yam wrongly alleged that the Jew-
ish people settled in Palestine "in
spite of the bitter opposition" of
the Arabs, "a nation too weak to
effectively resist." Can anyone
possibly believe that a race com-
prising 40 million Arabs and em-
bracing 3 million square miles of
territory could not have prevented
the efforts of 15 million people
dispersed throughout the world?
On the contrary, except for the
leaders of the Anti-Zionist Arab
Executive, the half million Jaws
who have entered and settled in
12,000 square miles of the Holy
Land since 1922 (and compare
this to the 3 million square miles
cited above), were not opposed but
were welcomed by the Arabs, who
have profited greatly by their
work of reconstruction. As was
testified before the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Ouse
of Representatives on February
15, 1944, the Jewish pioneers im-
migrating to Palestine "drained
its swamps, reforested its naked
hills, built cities, established in-
dustries, planted great stretches
of orange groves . . . In short,
they took a neglected and derelict
land . .. and transmuted it .
into a thriving, modern, progres-
sive, semi-industrial country." It
is self-evident that improvements
wrought in a territory affect all
of its inhabitants, and it is pre-
cisely because Jewish colonization
has improved the economic and
cultural level of the Arabs that
the population of the Moslems
has grown to over one million-
almost double that of 1922. he
official reports of the British oyal
Commission that investigated Pal-
estine in the winter of 1936-37
contain many statements that
confirm the beneficent effect of
Jewish immigration on Arab wel-
fare. All of these facts explicitly
refute Mr. Subrahmanyam's fur-
ther allegation that "Had there
been no restrictions . . . the Arabs
would have been reduced to an
insignificant minority and soon
been eliminated." It seems some-
what irrational to assert that
Jewish colonization, which has in
fact led to a growth in Arab pop-
ulation, might in theory lead to
the disappearance of such a pop-
ulation.
It is not my intention to mini-
mize the complexity of the Pales-
tine problem, or to condone the
extremes to which some terrorists
there have gone. It is my sincere
belief, however, that facts and
not fallacies should be the basis
for our judgments. And it is my
hope that the statement of the
late King Feisal of Mesopotamia
will set the spirit for the solution
of this problem. This great Mos-
lem leader declared that "the
Arabs, especially the educated
among us, look with deepest sym-
pathy on the Zionist movement
.Interested parties have been
nabled to make capital out of
what they call our differences
I wish to give you my firm con-
viction that these differencesg..
are easily dispelled by miutual
good-will."
--Harvey L. Weisberg
1
1
Memorial Hall, current through
January 26. Week days, except Geological Journal Club: 12
Monday, 10-12 and 2-5; WN dnes- neon, Fri., Jan. 10, Rm. 3055, Nat-
day evenings 7-9; Sundays, 2-5. ural Science Bldg. Prof. A. J.
The public is cordially invited. Eardley and students will sum-
marize the field work at Camp
Michigan Takes Shape - a dis- Davis, Wyoming, during the past
play of maps. Michigan Histori- smnummer.
cal Collections, 160 Rackham.
Hours: 8-12, 1:30-4:30 Monday English Language Institute
through Friday; 8-12 Saturday. weekly program: 8 p.m., Fri., As-
sembly Hall, Rackham Bldg. Re-
Events oday port on"Universities of the Ameri-
cas," by students from various
University Radio Programs: countries. Miss Margaret Moye,
3:30 p.m., Station WPAG, 1050 English Language Institute of
Kc., World Masterpieces. Mexico City, will speak. The pub-
lic is invited.
Wood Technology Lecture Post- -mtd
poned: The lecture by Mr. Leo Uo
Jiranek on Furniture Design University Women Veteran's
scheduled for today has been post- Association: 7:30 p.m., Mon., Jan.
poned to 11 a.m., Thurs., Jan. 16 13, Michigan League. Pictures will
East Lecture Room, Rackham be taken for 'Ensian. All women
Bldg. veterans invited.
University Men's Glee Club: Im-
portant rehearsal Thursday, Jan.
9. Concert for Midwestern Music
Conference, 7:15 to 7:30 p.m., Fri-,
Jan. 17. Plans for trips.
Association of U. of M. Scien-
tists discussion group on atomic
energy meet at 7:15 p.m., Thurs.,
Jan. 9, West Council Room, Rack-
ham Bldg.
Alpha Phi Omega, nationalj
service fraternity: 7:30 p.m., Un-
ion. Nominations accepted for
next semester's officers and dis-
cussion of the J-Hop plans.
Camp Counsellors' Club: 7:301
p.m.. W.A.B. The meeting will be
a handicraft workshop.
The Modern Poetry Club: 7:15
p.m., League. See bulletin board
for room. Prof. Rowe will speak on
poetic drama.
Potluck dinner: 6 p.m.,.Fri., Jan.
10, Pine Room, Methodist Church.
Dr. Frank Huntley will speak. For
reservation call 6881. Any young
couples are welcome.
Graduate Outing Club Hike or
Ontmr Sports: 2:30 p.m., Sun.,
Jai. 12. Sign up at the check
dek i the 11.akham Building be-
fore noon Saturday.
'T'he
scred
Club
Thurs.
Eldg.,
square dancing class spon-
by the Graduate Outing
originaliy scheduled for
Jan. 9. Women's Athletic
has been canceled.
Cyargoylc: Students who desire
to lWx c)c .r affiliated with Gar-
:oy h lirary staf f next semester
ac welcome at the Gargoyle of-
fice, firr floor Student Publica-
tions Bldg., Wed., Jan. 15, be-
tween 1 and 5 p.m. Bring your
own pencil.
L A.g. Banquet: 7 p.m., Fri., Jan.
10, Sth Catering Service. Tick-
ets on sale in Ae. Office. Mem-
bers oly. >
Gernan Cuffee' our will not
meet again this semester.
Fifty-Seventh Year
Edited and managed by students of
the University of Michigan under the
authority of the Board in Control of
Student Publications.
Editorial Staff
Robert Goldman .....Managing Editor
Milton Preudenbeim.Editorial Director
Clayton Dickey...........City Editor
Mary Brush.......... Associate Editor
Ann Kutz...........Associate Editor
Paul Harsha..........Associate Editor
Clark Baker.............Sports Editor
Des Howarth ..Associate Sports Editor
Jack Martin ...Associate Sports Editor
Joan Will;k........... Women's Editor
Lynne Ford _Associlate Women's Editor
Business Staf
Robert E. Potter ....Buslnese lfnagel
Evelyn Mills
....* Associate Business Managet
Janet Cork Associate Business manager
Telephone 23-24-1
Member of The Associated Press
Un derwr iters:
Luncheon, 12 noon,
Room, League.
Thursday-
Russian Teae
La P'tite Causette: 3:30 p.m.,
Grill Room, Michigan League.
BARNABY
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