THlE MICHIGAN DlAILY
SUNDAY. MAUIf i M~h ---W r
e
.1 04
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.
Slanted Radio News
"G ENL.MACARTHUR is a great man who
believes in Christianity and our way of
life, who if called upon to be our president
would become one of the greatest leaders and
crusaders of all times, etc. Get this over.
Again and again and again."
This is a memorandum which G. A. Rich-
ards, owner of Radio Station WJR in Detroit
sent to newscasters at his Los Angeles sta-
tion, KMPC. This station, along with WJR,
and WGAR, in Cleveland, also a Richards
station, will soon be investigated by the FCC
for slanting of the news broadcasts.
Two former KMPC news chiefs recently
made public Richards' written orders to
slant news ccpy against Jews, Communists,
the Roosevelt family, the Democratic Ad-
ministration, and a whole flock of individual
New Dealers,
One of Richards' letters to Robert Lewin,
one of the newsmen, ordered him to "keep
hammering at the Jews, who are all Com-
munists." Another letter ordered that "news-
casts of Palestine situation be discontinued
because such newscasts would give aid and
comfort to Jews and Communists."
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: BEN ZWERLING
At the same time, and directly against FCC
regulations prohibiting editorializing radio
news, Richards demanded, according to the
newsmen, newscasters boost MacArthur,
Dewey, and Eisenhower (how did Ike get
there?).
So far, in this area, no official complaints
have been leveled against WJR, and Rich-
ards recently stated, while in Detroit, that
"WJR has been under this management
(Richards') for 21 years. We have been
broadcasting news many times every day.
Our record speaks for itself."
That it does, Mr. Richards . . . but not the
way you mean.
The objective listener to WJR has only to
tune in any of the non-sponsored newscasts
to prove for himself that Richards' orders
have also reached Detroit. No better example
could be cited than the report of the WJR
midnight newscaster the night of the Eisler
incident on campus, when he asserted that
"2,000 red-blooded Americans at the Univer-
sity of Michigan joined tonight in attacking
the Communist Gerhardt Eisler."
We think that the upcoming FCC investi-
gation will uncover plenty of proof of de-
liberate slanting of the news in direct viola-
tion of FCC regulations, and that Mr. Rich-
ards loudly boasted "record" will not prove
as spotless as he claims.
-Russell B. Clanahan
and Mary Stein.
Protest Counter-Proposal
THE COOLNESS with which a small group
of students last Wednesday responded
to a protest on Czech academic freedom
was the outcome, not of the usual campus
wave of apathy, but of a two-way tempest of
antipathy and over-enthusiasm that now
threatens to smash the teapot in which it
was brewed.
In the planning stages of the rally,
MYDA's curt refusal to pay any attention
to the evidence of violence against students
presented by SLID, and the equally curt re-
fusal of the latter to consider the evidence
that MYDA presented, split the conference
in two from the start. MYDA, which didn't
want the rally in the first place, was unof-
ficially but firmly requested to leave.
Neither side's version of the situation was
substantially justified by evidence later pre-
sented; but by that time the planning com-
mittee of the conference had taken on a
violently partisan character. Leaders of the
rally itself wisely eliminated most of the
more aggressively anti-Red overtones that
permeated some of the early sessions, but
most of the harm had already been done.
The meeting and the document that came
out of it reflect only one side of the split
that threatens not only Europe but the
whole world. It is one of the larger politi-
cal tides that drown all smaller considera-
ios-like the academic concept of aca-
demic freedom.
Students, not just in Czechoslovakia, but
throughout the world are losing their free-
dom to think as they please. Arrests, dis-
missals, and sometimes shootings have oc-
curred in Europe, both Eastern and Western,
and in nearly every country in the world-
even in the United States.
From this angle, the divisive effect of
the conference is likely to produce just the
opposite of freedom. Served up the bland
disl of "academic freedom" too highly sea-
soned with Hearstian anti-Red pepper, most
campus organizations were slow either to
accept or reject the proposed rally. We can
expect equal reluctance in accepting the
resolution passed by 200 students attending
thYe rally. Against those that don't back the
proposal, some will use this kind of logic:
"We are for Academic Freedom. You
are against us. Therefore, you don't like
Academic Freedom, and you ought to be
banned!"
That's talking in circles. As an alterna-
tive, we suggest that at the earliest oppor-
tunity, an organization such as the Com-
mittee for Academic Freedom draw up a
blanket condemnation of violation of aca-
demic freedom, without any strings attach-
ed: Such a proposal might well be the
starting point for a world-wide charter of
academic freedom to be applied wherever
violations occurred.
But even that charter would remain im-
perfect as long as anyone can use it as a
lever for destroying the freedom of a group
that doesn't see eye to eye with his own
outlook.
-John Morris
Lured to Crime
AT LEAST partially responsible for the
oppressive censorship under which the
radio industry labors is the perennial com-
plaint of parents and youth organizations
that children are being led to crime by radio
programs.
Usually these complaints are so far-
fetched as to merit a liberal pinch of salt.
Most radio programs dealing with crime go
to great, sometimes ridiculous lengths to
show that law breakers inevitably receive
their just deserts. Criminals are portrayed
unsympathetically and their plots, however
ingeniou, are always shown as being fatally
weak in some respect.
It has been the contention of the com-
plaining groups that familiarizing children
with some of the basic procedures of burg-
lary, extortion, robbery and the like leads to
attempts on their part to succeed where the
radio villains fail.
Leaving aside the question of whether or
not a well-adjusted youngster would try
burglary, no matter how well versed in the
art, it would appear that this contention
possesses a certain validity. The recent
$30,000 extortion attempt by a 15-year-old
boy in Detroit is a case in point.
The boy was arrested by police after send-
ing two threatening notes to a business
man. When interviewed by detectives he
said that a network program depicting the
activities of the FBI had given him the idea.
"The program," he said, "told of a boy
my age who tried to get money that way.
At the end of the program, it listed the
mistakes he made. I thought I could do it
without making the mistakes."
This same program had been blamed by a
14-year-old for his attempt to hold u a
hat shop the week before.
Such incidents offer excellent ammuni-
tion for those who think that radio censor-
ship should be tightened.
If radio is sincere in its oft-expressed
desire for greater freedom, it had better
watch its P's and Q's a bit more closely-
not to mention its FBI's.
-Ivan Kelley
Major Error
POLITICIANS are wont to blunder, we
know, but when they start handing out
laurels for sheer stupidity, we'll take Taft
every time.
His latest vote-getting maneuver is really
a masterpiece of folly. At Taft's insistence,
the Senate is now reconsidering the Fed-
eral-aid-to-education bill. That, in itself,
is a good thing, but Mr. Taft has apparent-
ly forgotten that the bulk of benefits un-
der the measure as it now stands will go
to the Democratic South. The South may
not be solidly behind Truman, but that is
certainly no assurance that it would sup-
port Taft.
The bill will not even get support from
more socially conscious voters who favor
the principle of Federal-aid-to-education,
because it is loaded down with provisions
designed to appease racial and religious
minorities.
The measure directly recognizes the policy
of racial segregation by providing that in
states where separate public schools are
maintained for minority races, the distri-
bution of Federal grants shall be on the
same proportionate basis as was practiced
in the allotment of state and local funds
during 1947.
In an attempt to placate the fears en-
gendered in Catholic and other religious
sects by the recent Supreme Court ruling on
religious instruction in public schools, the
Taft-supported bill stipulates that "no Fed-
eral functionary shall exercise any direction,
supervision or control" over any school,
public or private, affected by the act.
In one stroke, Taft has managed to alie-
nate voters on three different fronts. We'd
hate to be his campaign manager.
-Pat James
Charge BachfirISes
DESPERATELY hoping to stave off an
anti-poll-tax bill now being considered
by the Senate Rules Committee, Southern
state officials and legislators have called
the proposed act "unconstitutional" and
"Communistic."
Their appeal to unreasoning emotion will
undoubtedly backfire right into their own
laps. The principles of conservative, white
supremacy and government by the few that
they uphold fit better their own name-
calling.
Poll taxes are just one of the many meth-
ods used in the South to see that the right
people vote. Similarly, Communists use un-
democratic methods to see that the right
people vote. Adjustments of voting pro-
cedure made in Czechoslovakia after the
Communist coup show how they go about
achieving the same end as Southern politi-
cians. Czech Communist Minister of the
Interior, Vaclav Nosek, has announced that
not all citizens will vote.
All those who "oppose the interests of the
Republic and the people's democracy" will
be disenfranchised, he announced.
Through an unconstitutional poll-tax,
Southern politicians get the same results as
the Communists, as proved by the unchang-
ing political stand taken since 1880.
Perhaps, if Stalin gets tired of rewriting
voting regulations or carrying out blood
purges, he could take a hint from some of
Difference Between Browning and Tennyson
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
For Students of Victorian and Regency Literature
Letters to the Editor
+BOOKS +
Publication in The Daily Official
Bulletin is constructive notice to all
members of the University. Notices
for the Bulletin should be sent in
typewritten form to the office of the
Assistant to the President, Room
1021 Angell Hall, by 3:00 p.m. on
the day preceding publication (11:00
a.m. Saturdays).
Notices
SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 1948
VOL.'LVIII, No. 126
Faculty, College of Literature,
Science, and the Arts: All stu-
dents in the College of Literature,
Science, and the Arts who have
from 45 to 59 hours of academic
credit, inclusive, are required to
take a series of examinations on
April 20. These examinations are
of value to the students and to
their advisers, and in order to give
them at all it will be necessary
to excuse these students from their
classes on that day. Additional
details concerning the testing pro-
gram will be given at the April
faculty meeting.
Summer Jobs: Mr. Lear, Ferry-
Morse Seed Co., will be at the
Bureau of Appointments on Tues.,
March 30, 4 p.m., to meet with
men interested in dealer contact
work for the coming summer. Men
must be at least 23 years old. Car,
expenses furnished; salary about
$150 per mo. For further infor-
mation call at 201 Mason Hall.
University Community Center,
Willow Run Village.
Tues., March 30, 8 p.m., Wives'
Club meeting. Mr. Kenneth Cav-
anaugh, General Housing Man-
ager at the Village, will speak
on 'Why Willow Run.''Everyone
invited.
The Community Center will be
open as usual during spring va-
cation.
Lecture
University Lecture: Theodore
Roethke, American poet, reading
from his poems at 4:15 p.m., Tues.,
March 30, Rackham Amphithe-
ater; auspices of the Department
of English Language and Liter-
ature. The public is invited.
Academic Notices
Speech 176 will meet at the us-
ual time on Monday, March 29, at
the University Speech Clinic.
Events Today
Radio Programs:
9:15-9:45 a.m., WJR, Hymns of
Freedom-Donald Plott, music di-
rector.
6:30-6:45 p.m., WPAG Your
Money-Prof. M. H. Waterman-
"Probable Reductions in Taxa-
tion."
Michiga Sailing Club: Meet 9
a.m., Michigan Union, for Whit-
more Lake.
U. of M. Hot Record Society:
Jelly Roll Morton will be inter-
viewed at 8 p.m., Grand Rapids
Room, Michigan League. Every-
one invited.
United World Federalists in-
vites all foreign students to a
discussion on world government
at 6:30
er.
NIGHTSHADE. A novel by Jay Mc-
Cormick. Doubleday & Co., Inc. 1948. 284
pages. $3.00.
BACK in December, 1940, a Perspectives
understaffman named Jay McCormick
sat staring for a long time at a blank sheet
of paper rolled in a typewriter. He was try-
ing to get started on a review of Ernest
Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. The
book had excited and impressed him deeply,
but he didn't know how to begin writing
about it. Finally, impatient and desperate,
he punched the typewriter keys, suddenly in
a hurry to counter the first charge which
he thought would be made against the
book-that it was just "more of the pro-
letariat."
And now another reviewer struggles with
another blank sheet of paper in another
typewriter and this time it is Jay McCor-
hnick's own book which poses the problem of
what to say and how to begin saying it. And
McCormick's initial attack, or counter-at-
tack, suggests itself once more, for McCor-
mick was more or less unconsciously wrest-
ling with that peculiarity of contemporary
criticism-the need to designate immediately
what kind of a book one is talking about.
Thus having stuck my foot in the water, I
plunge-Nightshade is not just another
"psychological novel," catering with pseudo-
authenticity to the public's current fascina-
MANY PEOPLE seem to have forgotten
that the letters ERP stand for Euro-
pean Recovery Plan and are beginning to
consider them as meaning Erase the Russian
Peril. That seems to be a dangerous mis-
direction of thinking which could easily lead
to the misdirection of resources in carrying
out the plan. Naturally we hope that one
result of ERP will be to create conditions in
Eurone less conducive than nresent ones to
p.m., International Cent-I
tion for mental crack-ups. Baldly stated, the
plot might deserve such a dismissal. The
story is about a jealously obsessed matriarch
who drives her neurotic grandson to insanity.
But the book rises above the run-of-the-mill
level of mere probing, stereotyped analysis
and diagnosis. It is the consideration of mor-
al issues and decisions which gives the book
a greater significance and worth, together
with a number of technical excellencies: a
tightly complex structure, a poetically sensi-
tive style, and a sense of dramatic intensity
in scene-setting and dialogue.
Red Tierney, immediately likable and mo-
derately successful young writer, precipi-
tates the action by deciding against a purely
physical affair with Rachel Drake in favor of
marriage with Barbara Flanagan. Spurned
and furious, Rachel is used as a tool by old
Mrs. Ferguson to bring about the final des-
truction of Hugh Mallory, her grandson and
Red's best friend. Red's indirect responsibil-
ity for Hugh's end is over-shadowed by the
machinations of Mrs. Ferguson, who, in her
fanatic determination to maintain her dom-
ination over Hugh, is really responsible.
McCormick's treatment of this wicked old
lady is one of the most interesting of the
characterizations, perhaps because of the
curious parallelism between her and Hem-
ingway's Pilar, as McCormick saw the latter
in the afore-mentioned review. He might al-
most have been talking about the character
he was to create eight years later, when he
wrote "Pilar carries the honors away from
everyone, but realize she is not a type, not in
the strict sense of the word, a woman. She
is strange, but real as Hemingway has done
her. What makes her real is her desire and
her jealousy, revealed briefly but import-
antly. Otherwise she would be freakish."
This is not to say that Mrs. Ferguson is
another Pilar, but the fact remains that, like
Pilar, she is not a type, and not unreal and
freakish as McCormick "has done her."
Student Religious Groups:
Congregational-Disciples Guild:
Buffet supper, 6 p.m., Congrega-
tional church. Evening program
of singing.
Lutheran Student Association:
5:30 p.m., Zion LutheranParish
Hall. Supper meeting, 6 p.m., fol-
lowed by a worship service with
special Easter music by the choir.
Roger Williams Guild: 6 p.m.,
supper meeting. 8 p.m., presenta-
tion of the pageant, "The Dawn-
ing," by Guild members. Mem-
bers of the other Guilds invited.
Unitarian Student Group: 6:30
p.m., special meeting in the ser-
ies, "The Scientific Approach to
Social Action."
Willow Village Church Fellow-
ship: Easter Sunday Communion
Service at 8:45 a.m. with Divine
Worship at 10:45 a.m. Nursery
and Primary Church school at the
church hour.
Coming Events
Four One-Act Plays: presented
Tuesday, 8 p.m., Lydia Mendels-
sohn Theatre, by students in the
speech department who are taking
advanced courses in theatre. Ad-
mission free to the public and no
tickets required. Laboratory bill in-
cludes: "The Intruder," by Maur-
ice Maeterlinck; "The Florist
Shop," by Hawkridge; "Neighbors,"'
by Zona Gale, and 'Corridors of the
Soul," by Evrenov. Theatre doors
open at 7:15 and closed at 7:55.
Film:'The V-2 Rocket in the
United States," 7:30 p.m., March
30, Rackham Amphitheater. This
film covering operations at the
White Sands Proving Ground, is
co-sponsored by the American Or-
dnance Association and the Engi-
neering council. The public is in-
vited.
Motion Picture: The Depar
ment of Speech will present for
speech students and others in-
terested a showing of a special 35
mm. sound-track film depicting
representative types of current
British and American speakers at
5 p.m., Monday, Lydia Mendels-
sohn Theatre.
Eta Kappa Nu: Dinner and elec-
tions meeting 6 p.m., March 30,
Faculty Dining Room, Michigan
Union.
Delta Phi Epsilon, national pro -
fessional foreign trade fraternity:
Tues., March 30, 4 p.m., Michigan
Union. All men interested in for-
eign trade and foreign cultural re-
lations are invited. Program of fu-
ture round-table leaders to be con-
sidered.
Pre-Medical Society: Organiza-
tional meeting, 7:30 p.m., Mon.,
March 29, Rm. 305, Michigan Un-
ion. Speaker: Dr. Gordon K. Moe.
Acolytes: Panel Discussion:
"Should Philosophy Bake Bread?"'
7:30 p.m., March 29, West Con-
ference Room, Rackham Bldg.
Open to public.
Willow Village AVC: Mon.,
March 29, 8 p.m., West Lodge. Op-
en meeting.
rheDaily accords its readers thet
privilege of subnttiiig letters for
pubicat ion in this column Subject
to space limitat ions, the general pol-
icy is to. publish in the order in which
they are received all letters bearing
the w riter's signature and address.
Letl ers exceeding :300 words, repeti-
tiouis letters and letters o a defamra-C
tor 'character or such letters which1
for any other reason are not in good
taste will not be published The
editors reserve the priviege of on- t
densing letters.
* * *
Once (I Year
To the editor:
rRADITIONALLY speaking, the
Union Open House, like Sadie1
Hawkins Day, ocurs once a year.
The latter affords unfortunates of
the fairer sex the opportunity to
overtake and capture helplessE
males in a cross-country race,
whereas the former gives Michigan
damsels the sacred privilege of
walking through, not the side, but
the very front doors of the Michi-
gan Union.
This is true despite the fact thatt
the University of Michigan is al
recognizQd co-educational schooll
and that women are given free andl
easy access to all classrooms, li-1
braries, and auditoriums.
This is true notwithstanding the
fact that the University of Illinois
and the University of Wisconsin,t
big nine schools,allow their wo-
men to walk through the front
doors not just one day but every
day...
This is true even though thej
University of Michigan student
body is supposedly in favor of pro-
gress and advancement as against
reaction, prejudice, and discrimin-
ation of race, color, and sex.
What is the Union defense? Of-
ficials there claim that the Union1
is a men's club and consequently
women can not be given the same1
rights and privileges as the men.1
However, the Union's three maint
sources of income, throughout the
year, derive from the Union hotel,
cafeteria, and main dining room-
all three of which can be attended
by non-Union members without'
extra charge. Thus, we see the Un-
ion two-faced policy of declaring1
that the Union is a men's club to1
deny women the right to enter the
front doors but allowing male non-
members to frequent the Union soE
that they can benefit financially.
Unlike one recent Daily letter-
to-the-editor, I firmly believe that
Michigan co-eds can enter the Un-
ion front doors without falling,t
tripping, or slipping, no matter1
how long their skirts get. Don't1
you?
-Elliot Ashare 1
Nuremnberg ' Its
To the Editor:
VOUR ARTICLE in the Daily1
Saturday, March 20, entitled
"Foolish Attacks" brings up the
subject of Nuremberg trials. We
haven't had very much authentic
material about them in. this coun-
try's press and this causes us to
distrust the project of course. The
involved procedures necessary to
dispense real justice are seldom
appreciated. I've just received an
advertisement from the govern-
ment printing office, sent along
with pamphlets. I've purchased, to
the effect that for $50.00 you can
obtain thirty seven volumes print-
ed in English entitled "Trial of the
Major War Criminals before the
International Military Tribunal
(Actual Trial Proceedings)". These
books are being published in Nur-
emberg and shipped to this coun-
try volume as they are finished.
Our reference librarian says
they will be indexed when they
get here, as follows: D804642I64.
--Thure Rosene
Antswers Slosson
To the Editor:
IN HIS LETTER Professor Slos-
son raised some questions which
I would like .to answer. .
"Was there," he asks, "a Com-
munist or non-Communist prime
minister at the time of the coup
d'etat?''
Klement Gottwald, a Commun-
ist, has been prime minister since
Sigma Rho Tau, Engineering
Stump Speakers' Society; Meeting.
Tues., March 30, 7 p.m., Michigan
Union. Preliminary impromptu
contest, circle training, and gen-
eral meeting. Debaters must be on,
time.
Toledo Club: Tues., March 30,
7:30 p.m., Hussey Room, Michigan
League. Plan Toledo luncheon and
election of officers.
La p'tite causette: Mon., March
29, 3:30 p.m., Michigan League.
the free elections of 1946 when the
Communists became the largest
party.
".Was the immediate cause of
the crisis," he asks next, "a de-
mand to eliminate all Communists
or non-Communists from the po-
lice?"
The crisis was caused by the at-
tempt of certain elements to re-
move the Communists from the
cabinet. Jan Masaryk said this in
a statement which I quoted in a
previous letter.
Thirdly he inquires if there was
"a large Russian army or large
American army in the neighbor-
hood and in a position to inter-
vene?"
Both! The American and Rus-
sian zones of Germany border on
Czechoslovakia.
'Was it a Russian high official
or an American one whose arrival
gave the signal for the coup?"
Professor Slosson asks text.
Laurence Steinhardt, the Ameri-
can ambassador, arrived in Prague
February 19. The crisis started
February 20. On that day he issued
a statement expressing hope that
Czechoslovakia join the Marshall
Plan. Henry Wallace said that this
statement was provocative.
Lastly Professor Slosson in-
quires if it was "before or after the
coup that the liberty of the press
was suspended, a rigid censorship
instituted, the frontier was closed
to immigration and emigration,
the university purged of non-con-
formist professors?"
During the crisis "a clear and
present danger" existed. If strong
measure had not been taken,
Czechoslovakia today would be
another Spain. Jan Masaryk said:
"Such changes which we have ex-
perienced usually cause civil
wars-. This change was carried
out without bloodshed, and our
people is and will remain demo-
cratic-."
-Ed Shaffer
A group of thoughtful people in
Switzerland, acting privately, have
accomplished a badly needed act
of postwar justice. Their act was
to provide for the care and edu-
cation in Switzerland of a group
of 50 children of German generals
and private citizens who were ex-
ecuted for their part in the at-
tempt to assassinate Hitler in
July, 1944.
The attempt was brave. Had it
been successful, it might have
terminated the war some months
before it did end. As it was, the
bombing was a blow to German
morale, and a boon to the morale
of the Allies.
If their fathers were "traitors"
to Hitler, they were benefactors of
mankind. The Swiss are trying to
pay this debt to the anti-Hitler
heroes by kindness to their chil-
dren. -St. Louis Post Dispatch
£id4Egan
Fifty-Eighth Year
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.1947-48
BARNABY.
rYour ideas sound splendid, Mr. Blatus. But
ri'm not sure that a
Your uncle will be delighted when / present
x"T