__ _ _ __HVICHIGrAN DAILY SUDA
U t
J.S. Policy in Southeastern Asia
I
F
BOOKS
(EDITOR'S NOTE - This the last in a series of
three editorials on the present-day situation in
Southeastern Asia, and the policies of Russia
and the United States in that area.)
FALTERING AMERICAN policy toward
-the battle against Communism in South-
eastern Asia must be changed immediately
if this area is to stay on our side of the
iron curtain.
The change in attitude toward this
critical territory must be made on the
part of the American people as well as
the national legislative and executive
branches of government. It must include:
1. The start of a new interest on the part
of the public in the whole of the Oriental
area.
2. Immediate financial and military aid
a the states of Southeastern Asia.
3. Immediate plans for a long range pro-
gram of financial aid to set these lands on
their feet economically as proposed in the
President's Point Four program.
A big factor in the lethargy of the govern-
ment in developing a firm policy toward
Southeast Asian countries has been public
disinterest in the situation there. The gov-
ernment has felt little pressure from the
American people to take a positive stand
on the questions of European colonial poli-
cy, economic aid for the peoples of the area,
or the threat of Communism. -
The Far Easthas been a place of mys-
terious wonder for Americans. We have been
content to wonder at the quaintness of these
peoples rather than at realities of their liv-
ing conditions. People in the United States
can freely and somewhat intelligently dis-
cuss European affairs. But when it comes
to the East and its strange customs and
languages, they are silent.
It will not be an easy matter to stir up
interest that the public has never before
possesed. But successful operation of our
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: LEON JAROFF
policy in Southeast Asia will depend on
understanding and interest on the part
of the public.
Public interest could perhaps be some-
what stirred up if the government were to
form a definite policy in Southeastern Asia.
The administration has faltered because of
its desire to end European colonial systems
in this region and yet lend aid to colonial
powers to fight off Communism. It has
adopted a half-hearted aid program to Indo-
China now. But if the United States hopes
to gain friendship in areas that it must aid,
it should make clear to the colonial powers
that they are as much a threat to the de-
velopment of these lands as is Russia. It
must be explicitly clear that we do not want
their outmoded reign in Southeast Asia any
longer.
And it is up to Congress to give its com-
plete cooperation to the administration in
carrying out a new policy in Southeastern
Asia. As it is now, Congress is widely split
on aid to this area. Economy wise Republi-
cans and isolationist elements have long op-
posed foreign aid programs, particularly
those aimed at the Far East. Other members
of Congress hit any program that the ad-
ministration proposes on purely political
grounds.
Congressmen must realize that, if they
are sincere in their opposition to Commu-
nism, they must take part in a true non-
partisan union to support aid to Southeast-
ern Asia.
Finally a long range scheme of aiding
the states of Southeast Asia to develop
technologically along the lines of the
President's Point Four program must be
approved in a substantial way. If we are
to defend the freedom of these people
against Russia and European colonialism,
it becomes our responsibility to defend
them from their own backwardness.
Unless the American people and their gov-
ernment adopt a strong policy of aid to the
lands of Southeastern Asia, we will see
present Communist leaders there in control
of the whole area in place of any government
friendly to the West.
-Vernon Emerson
ON THE
Washington Merry- Go-Round
WITH DREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON. - Admiral Forrest Sher-
man has received a highly important
intelligence report on the strength of the
Russian navy that has him worried. It shows
the Russians already have 220 modern sub-
marines with,120 more under construction-
three times as many as the U.S.A.
He also ironclad evidence that three
40,000-ton battleships are being construc-
ted at the Schdanow yards in Leningrad,
that three former heavy German cruisers
are being modernized at East German
ports and that a total of 40 new destroyers,
specially equipped with rocket batteries,
also are being built.
As a result, the Navy may ask congress
for permission to de-mothball some of the
American fleet.
rVHE National Securities Resources Board
is slowly being unraveled by Stuart
Synington, former Secretary of Air.
Symington is one of those handsome,
smooth, soft-spoken persons who remind you
of a society matron's dream of a dinner
companion and a maiden's dream of a danc-
ing partner - all rolled into one. However,
he is the exact opposite of his looks. Ac-
D Nisl C=
tually, he is a tough, hard-hitting executive
who makes decisions, drives people hard
and makes them like it.
Symington's biggest job is going to be
civilian defense against an atom-bomb
attack; and his first report on the prob-
lem will be out Sept. 1 When it's pub-
lished the nation will be aghast at they
number of casualties to be expected from
one atom bomb, the number of ambu-
lances, fire engines, etc., required to fight
it.
The job of A-bomb defense, Symington
believes, will require more cooperation be-
tween the 48 states and the federal govern-
ment that we have ever dreamed possible.
One point along is fire hoses. Those used
by different states must be standardized,
since hundreds of fire companies from
neighboring states may be necessary to com-
bat one A-bomb explosion.
The British trained for five years before
the last war to be ready for the Nazi blitz,
Symington points out, and it will take a lot
of community cooperation by the U.S.A. to
catch up with the British. However, Ameri-
can cities which understand community co-
operation, he believes, are much better
qualified to handle this than the American
army.
NOTE - On Dec. 21, long before Syming-
ton was even thought of for the National Re-
sources-Civilian Defense Post, the President
signed an order giving the chairman chief
power on the board of cabinet members.
Now some jealous cabinet officers would
like to clip his wings.
* * *
SOMETHING strange is happening inside
the Federal Trade Commission regard-
ing the famed book, the Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica, of which Sen. William Benton of
Connecticut is chairman.
After about two years of probing alleged
unfair trade practices and amassing stacks
of evidence, FTC trial-examiner Wiliam L.
Pack has recommended that the case
against the encyclopedia be dismissed.
However, John M. Russell, the FTC attor-
ney who took the evidence in the case, is
filing vigorous exceptions and has privately
indicated that Lowell Mason, chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission, wanted to
drop the Britannica case. Mason once was
attorney for Americana, a competing ency-
clopedia, and is understood to be embar-
rassed by the suspicion that he might be
prosecuting a client's competitor.
Meanwhile, the two years' evidence
taken against the Encyclopedia Britan-
nica shows that book agents worked out
deals with local school principals where-
by for every 15 sets of books sold in the
community, the school got a free set. But
the gimmick in this was that the school
principal gave the book-salesman a list
of the school's students, and the sales-
man in.ta.n n.ael -n - hih a. -- -.-
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN
and 17 other stories by Allan Seager. Si-
mon and Schuster, New York. 278 pages.
$3.00.
THE MOST conspicuous feature of this
book is the great variety of subject,
setting and style found in its pages. Yet
what is really significant about the stories
is not their diversity, but their kinship to
each other. For they all reveal a high de-
gree of technical excellence, and a persis-
tent humanity runs through the lot.
Whether he writes of Rio and its en-
virons, of an English village, or of the
Missouri back country, one feels at all
times that Seager is completely aware of
his settings and people and all their pi
tentialities.
"This Town and Salamanca" is already
familiar to many readers, but can never
grow stale with rereading. It poises a small
town against the background of the world
as seen by a young man in whom others
have entrusted their youth. As the young
man tells his friends of what he has. seen
and done in the world outside their small
town, and as he himself finally settles into
the life of the town, both the town and the
world are seen in a new perspective.
SEAGER TAPS a rich comic vein with
"Kobold," in which we meet Brother,
a highly unusual tosspot, who has "the keen-
est legal mind in the country" but would
rather get soused on almond extract than
practice law. And Brother's brother tells
some exciting but highly implausible
yarns of Texas and spirits (not the kind
'Brother drinks).
"The Bang on the Head" and "All Prob-
lems Are Simple" should be especially in-
teresting to college students and faculty
members, for they are highly unflattering to
certain members of the college community.
They depict, in searing terms, the dehuman-
ization that can take place when ambition
overcomes integrity.
The title story, "The Old Man of the
Mountain," is typical of Seager's best work,
and illustrates the characteristics that dis-
tinguish his stories from those of lesser
craftsmen.
It shows, among other things, Seager's
complete familiarity with the subjects of
which he writes. It is packed with interest-
ing details of diction, dress and setting,
which give great authenticity to the story
and inspire complete confidence in the
writer.
The theme of the story, an old man's re-
bellion against the sham and blindness he
finds in the 20th century, is indicative of
Seager's great concern with the digity of
human relations, and his insistence that
people live acutely - that they 6bserve
clearly the people, thLevents and the spe-
cial atmosphere that set their day apart
from the centuries of man's existence.
The old man, Hank Childreth, is disgusted
by the cruelty and the disregard of fact
shown by a movie company which has come
to his home town to film the life, of Jesse
James. When he sees the movie company
disrupt the life of the peaceful Missouri
town and sees it corrupt some of the in-
habitants, he resorts to a ten-gauge shotgun
to keep people off his property, which has be-
come a tourist attraction because a scene of
the movie was filmed on it.
IT IS refreshing to find an author who is
never afraid to say what he means, but
occasionally Seager's explicitness leads him
to be too obvious. This is unfortunate, for
when he tells too much, Seager withholds a
privilege wlich the modern reac[pr has
come to expect - that of collaborating in
the writing of the story, by supplying mean-
ings and revelations which are only sug-
gested in the narrative.
All the stories in the book' have con-
temporary settings, and this is not sur-
prising. For Allan Seager, in his thoughts
and emotions as evidenced in his work, is
intensely concerned with the world of his
day.
He sees man faced with a supreme prob-
lem which goes largely unnoticed in a time
plagued by great dilemmas. It is the prob-
lem of maintaining one's individuality and
self-esteem.
Hank Childreth's solution to this problem,
in the title story, is a ten-guage shotgun. But
Seager's answer is more subtle and more
successful. It lies in a quiet awareness of his
environment, and a muted passion for people
and all life.
J-James Gregory
New Books at the Library .
Abbott, Karl P., Open For The Season
New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1950
Akeley, Mary L. Jobe, Congo Eden New
York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1950
Coit, Margaret L., John C. Calhoun:
American Portrait Boston, Houghton Miff-
lin Company, 1950
Goodfriend, Arthur, If You Were Born In
Russia, New York, Farrar, Straus and dom-
pany, 1950
Kemler, Edgar, The Irreverent Mr. Menc-
ken Boston, Little, Brown and Company,
1950
.rhnmaon Max. lm nTillnn Nm Vo+k
/etteP TO THE EDITOR
The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of
general interest, and will publish all letters which are signed by the writer
and in good taste. Letters exceeding 300 words in length, defamatory or
libelous letters, and letters which for any reason are not in good taste will
be condensed edited or withheld from publication at the discretion of the
editors.
"Birth of a Nation" .. .
To the Editor:
ALL of us are only too familiar
with the "double sandard,"
which is a procedure whereby one
set of rules is made to govern one
situation, while a different set of
rules is made to govern another
situation. This procedure has been
under heavy attack recently (and
rightly so) forits censorious ef-
fect upon unorthodox ideas and
viewpoints. The 'double standard"
was employed to ban Prof. Her-
bert J. Phillips, a Communist, from
an on-campus debate. Fortunately,
there was a group of professors
and students who were aware (it
seemed) of the dangers to aca-
demic fredom which censorship
posed. They set themselves up as
an ad hoc committee to sponsor
Prof. Phillips in an off-campus
debate. I am proud to be able to
say that I was a member of that
committee.
But the "double standard," like
any weed, is not killed by pulling
up one specimen. That is shown
by the fact that it is rearing its
ugly head again with the banning
of the film, "Birth of a Nation,"
which was to be shown under the
auspices of the Speech Dept. The
reasons advanced for this action
are that this picture is 'libelous,,
"slanderous," and "viciously anti-
Negro." Since I have not seen the
film, I am unable to attestas to
the truth or falsity of these as-
sertions, although I have excellent
reason to believe themto be true,
due to the fact that everything I
have read about this film supports
and lends weight to them. Btit
even granting the validity of these
assertions, they still do not serve
as sufficient justification to in-
voke the dreadful specttre of cen-
sorship. All of us are well aware
that many people in the United
States libel and slander Negroe
simply because of the fact that
they are Negroes. This vicious
anti-Negroism is despicable and
should be combatted. In a sense,
the banning of this film is com-
batting anti-Negroism. But it is
a question whether the employ-
ment of gad means to promote
good ends may not, in the end,
create a set of conditions much
worse than that which prevailed
in the first place. In other words,
it is the old case of the cure being
more deadly than th disease.
And it cannot be doubted that
censorship is moredangerous than
anti- Negroism, since, whele there
is anti-Negroism, there are also
those who are combatting it;
whereas censorship can only lead
to tyranny, under which there will
be no anti-Negroism, there will
also be no liberty, in which case
it won't matter what else there is
or isn't.
Thus, since the banning of both
Prof. Phillips and the "Birth of a
Nation" are both cut from the
same cloth, the effect of the ban-
ning of the film is to make hypo-
crites of most of those who pro-
tested the banning of the profes-
sor. And the worst of it is that
this nauseating spectacle will prob-
ably return to raunt these people
someday, because the censorship
action they have caused, will most
likely eventually be employed
with equal harshnes against them.
For it cannot be stressed too
ogreatly that censorship is double-
edged sword which is very likely
to be turned against the original
users. Those who would advocate
and employ censorship deceive on-
ly themselves by such unholy ac-
tion, for it is written that "What-
soever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap." (Galatians; VI:7)
-H- Carl Markle, Jr.
* * *
"Birth of a Nation" . .
To the Editor:
DURING MY three yars on
campus I have never witness-
ed such a naive, stupid, misdirect-
ed, and contemptible act as that
of the SL in approving the show-
ing of the film "Birth of a Na-
tion." Jerhaps the University is
right after all in regarding its
students as children if the 18 SL
members who approved the film
represent a like proportion of stu-
dents.
No mature mind regards the
right to libel and slander as a
right guaranteed by free speech.
There can be no controversy over
the fact that "Birth of a Nation"
is a vicious misconstruction of his-
tory. Prof. Dumond, whose spe-
cialtyis the Reconstruction Per-
iod, has stated in the Daily that
this film was largely responsible
for the revival of the Ku Klux
Klan. The Klan has been respon-
sible for thousands of lynchings
and acts of terror. Like the Nazis,
they have no rational arguments
which have a right to the arena
of free spech. They are wholly a
terroristic organization and there
is no democratic right to terror-
ize. The SL seems to think there
is.
Those who like Mr. Jasper Reid
think that it is incumbent upon
liberals who defend the right of a
Communist professor to speak on
campus to also defentd the "right"
of others to advocate Fascism are
mad on two counts: 1) Fascism
makes its appeal solely to emotion-
al prejudices - Communism has
over 100 years of intellectual dis-
cipline behind it (much of Marx-
ism has even been incorporated
into the social sciences); 2) I
know of no assassinations or acts
of physical teror in the history of
the practice of the American Com-
munist Party - the history of
American Fascism is the hstory
of lynchings and acts of violence.
Whatever its long range goals
may be, Communism in this coun-
try has nearly always defended
the ideals of "Bourgeois demo-
cracy" by attempting to make
them more than just ideals.
If racial bigotry were not a pre-
sent American disease we could
calmly look back upon "Birth of
a Nation" as a document in the
past history of Fascism. But be-
cause Fascism is a present danger
the showing of the film gives posi-
tive support to Jim Crow and
lynch law.
The Daily could perform a
valuable service to the campus
by printing the names of those SL
members who voted for and.
against this film.
-Jack G. Barense, Sec.
Inter-Racial Association
Reply to Reid .
To the Editor:
THOUGHT the Republicans
were for free speech, but be-
"Say - What If He Should Use The Veto?"
S<
$E U
f u tiy -w.
' xitActgIr.
came disillusioned when I read
the inquiries in The Daily the
other day, made by the Treasurer
of the Young Republican Club,
Mr. Jasper B. Reid. Really, I don't
know how to start to convince Mr.
Reid, that I have nothing against
the respectable gentlemen from
the Republican Party: Mr. Dewey,
Mr. Vandenberg, and Mr. Stas-
sen. However, I question very
much if they were not Republicans
when they addressed us in the
Hill Auditorium. I have great res-
pect for them, in fact, I attended
every one of their meetings. My
point of contention, was, which
aroused Mr. Reid, to hear the other
side of the political arena-the de-
bate between. Dr. Phillips, and Dr.
Slosson.
Mr. Vandenberg is not the only
famous political leader with in-
ternational reputation. There are
many Americans who are doing
good jobs on international fields
for improvement of our relations
with other great countries. Mr.
Vandenberg being a senator and
an architect of our bi-partisan
foreign and domestic policies, and
creo.i or of the North Atlantic pact-
defense against a Conmumst ag-
gressi(n, he appeared on a pro-
gram recognizing the centenial of
Dutch settlement in Michigan,
that is no bias, Mr. Reid, but a
friendship between two Atlantic
Pact countries which receives am-
munitions from the U.S.A. "to de-
fend" itself .".
We are supplying the world with
arms, a repetition of the last war.
What do you think those people
will do with the ammunition we
are sending them? First thing
they will start shooting at each
other, and start another world
war. And who are behind those
acts, Mr. Reid? Our reactionary
politicians who direct our bi-par-
tisan foreign policies, and making
the cold war possible. There are
condemnations for the Republi-
car leadership, and, that is why
we, as students of the Great Uni-
versity of Michigan should be per-
mitted to hear all sides of the
present political and economic
picture ...
On last analysis, I am sure Mr.
Vandenberg, Mr. Dewey, and Mr.
Stassen were good Republicans
when they addressed us in the
Hill Auditorium.
-George P. Moskoff
** *
"Birth of a Nation" . .
To the Editor:
LIBERTY IS even more indivisi-
ble than Union. It is all of one
piece, or nothing at all.
People have only as much lib-
erty as they use and it cannot be
protected or possessed by any-
thing but use.
Some people have the notion
that if the liberties of minority
groups, Jews, Negroes, Catholics,
the foreign-born and protesting
workers, are separately defined,
then the Bill of Rights will be
safe. All that the enemies of hu-
man freedom have to do is to
foster that belief among various
groups like the extremely foolish
people who prompted the ban on
"The Birth of a Nation."
The mistaken representatives of
these various groups who think
that they can suppress the liber-
ties of others without themselves
falling victim to the power to cen-
sor and suppress is to take a child's
or a tyrant's view of a serious
matter.
There is no such thing as Jew-
ish liberty or Negro liberty of
clerical liberty and surely no pro-
testing working class group will
ever be heard on the basis that
there is a distinct working class
liberty. There is either liberty for
all or no liberty at all.
The situation is the more ser-
ious because the majority on the
present Supreme Court is of the
opinion that it can yield to cur-
rent slogans and hack down the
liberties of persons and groups
without destroying our Constitu-
tional liberties.
For about one-third of a cen-
tury the American Civil Liberties
Union has defended, and yet de-
fends, the liberties of the racial
groups who helped persuade Uni-
versity officials to give up the
showing of "Birth of a Nation,"
thereby whittling down and des-
troying a liberty that they other-
wise would boast about on paper.
Of course, the paper gives us no-
thing much, and insistence upon
its use is the only thing that se-
cures to us the liberty.
The price for the studied vacil-
lation of the Supreme Court and
the unfortunate action of the stu-
dents who put over censorship this
week will be immediately exacted.
The enemies of human liberty were
never more active and those who
should be its friends were never
more divided, but the consequen-
aes are so instantaneous and tragic
that we must continue to hope and
work for a timely awakening.
The Civil Liberties Union has al-
ways commended University and
Public Officials for their efforts
rr E DANCE concert given by the Dud-
ley-Maslow-Bales trio last night was an
exciting- and stimulating experience. No
applause was profuse enough to express the
enthusiasm and appreciation of the au-
dience.
Jane Dudley's solos were really a treat.
Her subtle movements seemed to defy ana-
tomical laws, or rather to make the most of
them. Miss Dudley's subtle and fine sense
of humor in movement combined with the
amazing way in which she caught the spirit
of the music made "New World A'Commin' "
and "Harmonica Breakdown" tremendous-
ly enjoyable pieces. "Vagary' was a con-
vincing dance of a girl in her dream world,
and Miss Dudley's versatility was shown
in "Song for a Child," which had a wonder-
ful lyrical and soft quality.
The "Cante Flamenco" had stunning and
outstanding movement which captured the
Spanish character. The contrast between
very large and small subtle movements was
effective. William Bales "Peon Portraits"
showed his technical skill and ability to ex-
press mood and feeling in movement. How-
eve,.", the intent of the piece was not too
clear.
Sophie Maslow danced with the sincerity
and warmth which was evident in her chor-
eography. The simplicity as well as the
stylization of conventional movements in
BAIINABY
The Gnomes-The Leprechauns-
The Elves-All of the Pixies-
rhev A11 neic t hnrr -uan
Because no OFFICIAL
has ever done
-.%Ahinrv.. r }hnm
That's merely a figure of speech
people use, Barnaby: You haven't
th: e As r --..rwhinlivr)O tr