THE MICHIGAN DAILY

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IT SO HAPPENS...

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* Hither and Yon

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Wide Open Spaces
THINGS are so over-crowded in the Arb
these spring evenings that couples have
taken to climbing trees for available space.
One up-in-the-air couple ran into trou-
ble Friday night, when the young lady
found herself dangling from a thin branch
20 feet from the ground.
Her chivalrous date offerred to climb down
and catch her, but at the 12 foot level he
though he was all the way down and step-
ped off... and down.
By coincidence, he landed on a couple
resting under the tree. Net results were three
sore backs, several short crisp words, and
one not-so-stranded coed who got down
without a scratch.
Long Overdue
A FAVORITE psychology professor of ours,
who often outlines his lecture on the
board before he begins, spent some five min-
utes writing out a list of names one day last
week.
As he wrote them, busy pens scratched the
names down as reference for the rest of the
hour.
When he finished, however, he turned
to the class and announced:
"I hope no one has copied this list. These
are not psychologists; they are members of
this class who have not yet turned in their
assigned reports."
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: CHUCK' ELLIOTT

Wrong Room?
THE OTHER day, while we were working
quietly over our folio maps in geology
lab, a fellow walked unobtrusively in through
the open door and asked to borrow a text-
book.
We obliged, and thought no more about
it.
A few minutes later, a voice indignantly
announced, "Hey, you're taking a test." We
looked up to see the fellow being dragged out
of the room by a. man who looked very much
like an instructor.
Turnabout
USUALLY IT'S, the students who seek
autographs of the visiting celebreties,
but rumor haQ it that this situation was
slightly reversed recently.
It seems that one prominant local grid-
iron star was having dinner in a beveragej
dispensing establishment and noticed two
of the Drama Season stars - Vera Zorina
and Arnold Moss - at a nearby table. Our.
letterman galantly stepped up to their table,
and offered them his autograph.
** *
Fullfilled Prophecy
THE GARGOYLE salesmen who hawked
last month's issue with cries of "Get
your copy before the dean does," and "Buy
your Garg; this will probably be the' last,"
turned out to be better prophets than they
realized
The old Gargoyle office is currently muf-
fled in black crepe - the work of staffers
saddened by the passing of the 41-year-old
humor magazine at the last meeting of the
Board in Control of Student Publications.

McCarthy
THE EDITORS of The Saturday Review
have carefully studied the records of the
Congressionaal hearings into the charges
against Communism in the State Depart-
ment. As a result we have reluctantly come
to the inescapable conclusion that the chief
participant must inevitably ,be a Commu-
nist. We refer to Senator McCarthy of Wis-
consin. This conclusion is based on a work-
ing definition of Communists and secret
agents as used by Senator McCarthy. We
are glad to present the documentary evi-
dence:
First, guilt by association. For four years
Senator McCarthy has belonged to an organ-
ization of which a well-known member has
been a prominent supporter of the policies
of the Soviet Union. Moreover, Senator Mc-
Carthy has actually worked full-time for
that organization. We refer to the Congress
of the United States, of which, Vito Marc-
antonio, a consistent Party-liner, has been
a member since 1935.}
* * *
Second, guilt by smokescreen. Senator Mc-
Carthy, inferentially and otherwise, has
stated that the public anti-Communist ac-
tivities of such persons as Dorothy Kenyon
and Philip Jessup are ostensibly only a cov-
erup for their real activities and sympathies.
The greater the apparent opposition to
Communism, the greater the real affiliation.
This being the case, it is clear that Senator
McCarthy's violent outbursts are merely
intended to conceal his real sympathies
somewhere on the other extreme. What
better smokescreen than to attack the State
Department of the United States?
* * *
Third, guilt by imitation. This is the most
incriminating count of all, for it is apparent
that Senator McCarthy has modeled his
tactics after the notorious Russian purge
trials. All the elements of justice in a dem-
ocracy - due process of law, grand jury,
presentation of direct evidence, the assump-
tion that an individual is innocent until
proved guilty - all these have been spurn-
ed by the Soviet as outworn bourgeois nice-
ties. The Senator from Wisconsin has paid
high honor to this Soviet conception of jus-
tice in his tactics on this matter; indeed, his
use of slander and vilification under im-
munity bears an uncanny resemblance to
the privileged position enjoyed by official
character assassins of the Soviet Union.
Fourth, service to the cause. The easiest
way to block any reasoned, impartial, and
effective examination of subversion is
through a helter-skelter, wild-jamboree ap-
proach that obscures the real problem. In
addition, the damage to America's reputa-
tion abroad must be heartfelt satisfaction to
those who have a large stake in the defama-
tion of the United States. For this service
to the cause the Senator is entitled to what-
ever distinctions the Kremlin can bestow.
-Saturday Review of Literature

"Hey! What's Idea Waste S'Much Money On Bread!"
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W~t~ g E ;- r
Xettep4 TO THE EDITOR
The Daily welcomes communications from its reader, 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, def amatory 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.

(Continued from Page 3)

"Birth of a Nation"

DAILY OFFICIAL BUL LIN .

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'HOMAS L. STOKES:

Truman and Dixiecrats

WASHINGTON. - President Truman has
made it very plain that some Democrats
in Congress are included among the "ob-
structionists" he mentioned in his Chicago
speech winding up his first "whistle-stop"
tour of this year's Congressional campaign.
That mean largely Southern Democrats
who join with Republicans in the long-
familiar coalition against his social wel-
fare program, to which his phrase "oddly
assorted groups" offers sufficient illum-
ina~tiOl. .
His Chicago speech and his subsequent
elaboration of it at a White House press
conference stirred up quite a lot of interest
naturally; but it represented, at the begin-
ning of the campaign, merely the continua-
tion of strategy that he devised long ago
and which has been indicated in other
moves.
The purpose is to divorce himself from
the Southerns in his party of the Dixiecrat
stamp or inclination who have attempted to
block his program - and thus far with con-
siderable success. The President's aim is to
reassure and hold in line the labor and pro-
gressive elements elsewhere in the country,
as well as in the South, which form the
basis of his strength and provide some of
his most effective workers, particularly in
large urban centers.,
EVERY TIME the Southerners rise up and
join Republicans to thwart his social
welfare program, or organize a filibuster
against his civil rights program as in the
Senate last week, it advertises the split in
the Democratic party and is a discouraging
sign to progressives. So he seizes appropriate
occasions to disassociate himelf from that
wing of his party which is still powerful in
Congress because of its occupancy of key
posts - thanks to the seniority rule.
This explains, and fits into, other ob-
jectives of the President which he was
pursuing on his recent trip through the
Middle West and Far West. Immediately,
his objective is to pick up enough addi-
tional Democratic seats in Congress in
that area to offset Southern conservative
votes in Congress. For the long range it
is his aim to seal into a more formal and
formidable alliance the combination of
Middle Western farmers and big-city
voters, which was responsible for his 1948
victory and saved him despite the defec-
tion of four Southern states to the Dixie-
crats.
He began to execute his bill of divorce-
ment from the extreme Southern conserva-
tives of Dixiecrat leanings soon after the
1948 election. This was revealed when the
Democratic National Committee at a meet-
ing here, and upon his instructions, ousted
national committee members in four South-
ern states who had deserted the Truman-
Barkley ticket and had gone over to Gover-
nor J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina
and his states-rights party. Truman sup-
porters in the South clearly understood this
punitive 'action; as did his supporters else-
where. It was done out in the open, in clear
view.
* * *
A.NOTHER GESTURE was a pointed and

Mr. Truman works at his plan by the in-
direct route, by the flank. He has not at-
tempted, and will not -attempt, such an open
"purge" as President Roosevelt tried within
his own party in the 1938 primaries, which
failed in every case except that of a House
member from New York, Rep. John J.
O'Connor, who as chairman of the House
Rules Committee had blockaded Mr. Roos-
evelt's program. Harry Truman is not mak-
ing that mistake. He is not taking sides in
primaries as between Democrats, except in
his own state of Missouri, and won't.
But he will continue to make known his
distaste of "obstructionists" as a cue to the
voters.
(Copyright, 1950, by United Feature-Syndicate, Inc.)

ON THE
Washington. Merry- Go -hound
WITH DREW PEARSON

WASHINGTON-Herbert Hoover is angry
and hurt at the way Republican sena-
tors deserted him on his great engineering
plan for government, the Hoover report.
In private talks with Washington friends
-and in a talk before the sales executives
club in New York, the sex-president com-
plained bitterly about the "pressure groups,
paid propagandists, and organized minori-
ties" which killed his reorganization plans
in the Senate.
It is the conservative GOP senators who
have long held up Herbert Hoover as their
symbol of government efficiency. It is also
the GOP senate conservatives who have
repeatedly preached government economy.
Yet when Hoover worked out a plan to save
the government several billions, and Presi-.
dent Truman urged its adoption by congress,
it was these same GOP senators who thwart-
ed their ex-leader. On the other hand, lib-
eral Republicans voted with him.
This is the record on the four Hoover
plans now stopped by the senate:
PLAN NO. 1--Transfer functions of the
comptroller of the currency to the secretary
of the treasury. Opposed by the American
bankers association and every GOP Senator
except three-Aiken, Vt.; Lodge, Mass.; and
William, Del. The GOP leadership, Robert
Taft, Ken Wherry, and Gene Millikin, all
voted against Hoover.
PLAN NO. 12--Abolish the General Coun-
sel of the National Labor Relatiatns Board.
Fought by Senator Taft (though he was for
it a year before) the National Associatior
of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce. Only five Republicans voted with
Hoover: Aiken and Lodge, Ives, N.Y., Langer,
N.D., and Tobey, N.H.
PLAN NO. 7-Give executive powers to the
Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission. Bitterly opposed by the Association
of American Railroads and the Railwaw La-
bor Executives Association. Only two Repub-
licans, Knowland of California and Willitms.

groups have got in their work on the reform
that would affect them, while they proclaim
their endorsement of all the other reforms.
I promise you that, before we fail, I shall
name by name and describe them (the vest;
ed interests) by the use of all the English
language of which I am capable."
Note: One outfit that has done a bang-up
job for the Hoover Report is the lively
Junior Chamber of Commerce. Clifford D.
Cooper, the National President, has visited
every state, organizing grass-roots pressure
for government reform. *
* * *
TWO BACHELOR SPEAKERS
GOOD OLD GOP Congressman Rich of
Pennsylvania was worried the other day,
as usual, over government spending. In one
of his regular economy speeches, he told
Congress that its members were piling up
debts that their children and their children's
children would have to pay.
Then turning dramatically to Speaker
Sam Rayburn and Joe Martin, the Repub-
lican ex-speaker, Rich said:
"And that goes for your children and your
grandchildren."
There was one important point Congress-
man Rich overlooked, however. Both Sam
Rayburn and Joe Martin are bachelors.
-MERRY-GO-ROUND--
WAYNE MORSE is the only Republican
for whom Harry Truman campaigned
on his "nonpolitical" tour. At the Senator's
telegraphed request, the President stopped
at Baker, Oregon, and spoke warm words
of praise A': the liberal R.epublican . . . .
GOP National Chairman Guy Gabrielson is
not happy about the headlines Vic Johnston
got shadowing Harry Truman. Johnston is
reported to have his eyes on the National
Chairmanship . . . . Vic Johnston, on the
other hand, didn't relish traveling with

To the Editor:
THE speech department has con-
descended not to sponsor the
film "Birth of a Nation" in def-
erence to a group that purports
to represent the Negro students.
What smug contempt for the Ne-
gro people is unvailed in that
statement. It wouldbe too much
to ask the speech department to
refuse to show the picture in def-
erence to the Negro soldiers that
fought and died fighting Hitler's
'super race,' or in deference to
the Declaration of Independence,
or in deference to the Democratic
spirit. Yes, it would be too much
to ask of people who smell life-
its lynchings, race riots, its seg-
regation and poverty, only thru
the pages of a book. These are
the art for art's sake boys who
safely stand away from life lest
their sensibilities be offended.
They are the myopic 'artists' who
would divorce form from content
and bid us swallow the poison be-
cause it tastes so good. It is a
wonder that they have not mag-
nanimously offered for our en-
joyable edification Nazi films of
the 'super race,' or recorded re-
productions of the talented Goeb-
bel's voice, an address by Gerald
L. K. Smith, or a public reading
of "Mein Kampf." The 'art' in
Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" pales
next to that of these men; its
poison compares favorably.
Wittingly or not, whoever was
responsible for selecting the film
was showing due 'deference' to
the Ku Klux Klan, to the ghost
of Hitler, and to those bigots that
think the color of his skin is the
measure of a man.
The speech department's state-
ment I have quoted above as
their reason for halting the show-
ing of the film was obviously de-
signed to stimulate shouts of cen-
sorship. Unfortunately, the Stu-
dent Legislature rose to the bait
and irresponsibly offered to spon-
sor this film, by an 18 to 16 vote.
The issue of censorship is a false
one. The real question is whether
the University or the Student Leg-
islature has a responsibility to
those who believe in the 'super
race' mythology or a responsibili-
ty to those who belive in Democ-
racy. If they have a responsibility
to Democracy they will not spon-
sor and spread these racist slan-
ders. As for the coterie of film
esthetes, I suggest adjournment
to the nearest ivy covered tower
for a private showing.
-Jerry Green
* * *
"Birth of a Nation
To the Editor:
THE ACTION of the Student
Legislature in condemning the
suppression of "Birth of a Na-
tion" and in authorizing the show-
ing of it by the Michigan Forum,
is a sad commentary on democ-
racy. Freedom of Speech and
Press do not mean freedom to
slander, and lie about minority or
majority groups whether they are
ethnic, political, or any other kind
of group. The SL admits that this
picture viciously caricatures the
Negro, but offers as its excuse for
sponsoring the picture their con-

"demnation of the suppression of
unpopular ideas. The SL is a lit-
tle confused in its righteousness to
correct a 'wrong.' I think I can
poin out their confusion. Con-
demnation of unpopular ideas are
of two varieties:
1-Ideas which are slanderous
and proven lies.
2-Ideas of a political nature
which are in the minority, such
as communism.
The second variety, I would
agree with the SL's principle,
should not be suppressed, for these
type of ideas have never been
proved right or wrong, as yet, and
if we suppress them, we may be
suppressing the truth. But of the
first type, its suppression can be
thoroughly justified. If we all ad-
mit that the Negro is grossly mis-
represented in this picture, then
what right have we to spread
these doctrines? By this criterion,
we should teach fascist sadism in
our schools because despite their
"unpopularity," they mayr have
interest for an alert student body
Perhaps we should immediately
contact the Ku Klux Klan and
request that they send a repre-
sentative to speak to the students
on the Negro "problem!"
The logic that the SL advances
in support of its anti-democratic
action is peculiarly obtuse. They
claim:
"We believe that one of the best
means of combatting the discrim-
inatory ideas presented in this
film is to make it possible for
students to see the film, sensi-
tized to look for techniques by
which such emontional and bigot-
ed ideas are presented in popular
communication media."
If the SL is planning to show'
this film to anti-Negro bigots to
Leach them the wrongness of their
prejudices, they are laboring under
a severe misapprehension. No bi-
got is going to come out of the
theatre after seeing this movie,
thoroughly converted to democ-
racy and the belief in man's equal-
ity. I would bet at any odds that
instead he would have stronger
support for his irrational pre-
judices.
But the SL, by some ingenious
screening process, may be plan-
ning to show this only to those
who are not stained by prejudice,
If this is the case, is it not a tor-
turous and unnecessary route, to
show unprejudiced people reasons
for not being prejudiced by show-
ing them prejudiced doctrines?
My last point is a suggestion to
the righteous SL. If the SL rep-..
resentatives who voted for this
measure, are so concerned as to
how to get rid of anti-Negro pre-
judice, why do they not sponsor
a picture that speaks positively
for the Negro, and tells the truth
about these Americans, instead
of sponsoring a flagrantly anti-
Negro picture?
--Wallace Germain
* * *
"Birth of aNation" * .
To the Editor:
IT GETS a little more apparent
every day that both in the worldi
at large and on the Michigan cam-
pus, the important political dis-
tinction is not left or right, but
the division into the tolerant and

interview June graduates expect-
ing degrees in Business Adminis-
tration or Economics who are in-
terested in Industrial Accounting
and Auditing.
A, representative of -Wurzburgs
Department Store of Grand Rap-
ids, Michigan, will be atthe Bur-
eau of Appointments on Thurs.,
May 25, to interview June grad-
uates for the following positions:
(1) Merchandising Trainees, male
or female for training as assistant
buyers and assistant department
heads, (2) male accounting ma-
jors interested in accounting as
related to the merchandising field,
(3) Interior Decorators, male or
female, who have had courses in
design.
A representative of The Pacific
Mutual Life Insurance Company
of Los Angeles, California, will be
at the Bureau of Appointments on
Thurs., May 25, to interview men
interested in group insurance sales.
Training period of six months in
their Los Angeles office to be fol-
lowed by field assignments. Salar-
ied position during training period
and salary plus expenses when
field assignment is made.
A representative of LibertyMu-
tual Insurance Company (Detroit
office) will be at the Bureau of
Appointments on Thurs., May 25
to interview Industrial, Mechani-
cal and Electrical Engineers inter-
ested in safety engineering. They
have one opening in Detroit and
others in the Midwest.
A representative of the Sunbeam
Corporation will lie at the Bureau
of Appointments on Mon., May 29
to interview June graduates inter-
ested in sales. They have two op-
enings in their Detroit branch and
openings in many of their East
and West coast branches. They are
interested in men from any sec-
tion of the country.
For further information and ap-
pointments call the Bureau of Ap-
pointments, Ext. 371.
the totalitarian which cuts
across the left, right categories. We
have reached the delightful stage
where everybody and his brother
(or comrade) is only too eager to
pay oral homage to liberty, free-
dom, etc., and is against dictator-
ship in all forms, in the abstract,
that is.
When it comes right down to
specific situations; this jolly uni-
formity comes to a dead stop. On
one hand a sizeable proportion of
the defenders of rugged indivi-
dualism are scared stiff of any in-
dividual (rugged or not) - who
questions' their dogma and for our
general good, of course, we are de-
prived of hearing debates on cam-
pus. The general stupidity of this
group is matched by our totali-
tarian liberals. His favorite love
object is the "common man" whom
he regards as a sort of idiot child
who must be protected from pretty
near everything except what our
"progressive" commissar has cen-
sored for the general good of
course.
What both groups have in com-
mon, of course, is their contempt
for the "common man" and their
fear of "individualism." We at
Michigan have been given a first
rate lesson in political science this
semester.
-Bob Heller
* * *

Employment:
The Albion, Michigan plant of.
The Corning Glass Works is inter-
ested in securing the services of a
June 1950 engineering graduate for
their drafting department. They
prefer a man.who has had some
summer experience in drafting' or
who has had some previous ex-
perience in machine work as an
operator or apprentice.
The Gaines Division of The Gen-
eral Foods Corporation of Kanka-
kee, Illinois, has a position avail-
able for a junior engineer to work
in their production department.
They prefer a mechanical or in-
dustrial engineer who has had
courses in time study, factory
management, business methods
and production methods.
The Copco Steel and Engineer-
ing Company of Detroit, Michigan
is interested in receiving applica-
tions from mechanical, mechani-
cal industrial, civil or architectur-
al engineers interested in training
for production- supervision. They
are also interested in accounting
majors for their office staff.
For further information call the
Bureau of Appointments, Ext. 371.
Academic Notices
Bacteriology Seminar: Thus.
May 25, 9 a.m., 1520 . Medical
Building. Speaker: Dr. William
Ferguson, Michigan Department of
Health, Division of Laboratories.
Subject: Latent Bacteriophages of
Salmonella typhosa.
Engineering Mechanics Semi-
nar: Dr. Paul F. Chenea will con-
tinue his discussion of "Plastic
Flow in Plane Strain Problems."
Wed., May 24, 4 p.m., 101 W. Engi-
neering Bldg. Interested persons
welcome.
Engineering Mechanics 2a lab-
oratory experiments missed dur-
ing the semester can be made up
on Thurs, May 25, 1 to 5 p.m., 102
W. Engineering Bldg.
Wildlife Management Seminar:
Thurs., May 25, 7:30 p.m., Botany
Seminar Room, 1139 Natural Sc-
ence Building. Mr. Merrill Petos-
key of the Michigan Conservation
Department will speak on "The
Work Program of a District Game
Manager of the Conservation De-
partment." All wildlife manage-
ment students are expected to at-
tend and anyone else interested is
invited.
Doctoral Examination for Geo-
rge A. Beauchamp, Education
thesis: "The Variable Processes in
Transfer," Wed., May 24, East
Council Room, Rackhamn Bldg., 4
p.m. Chairman, W. C. Trow.
Doctoral Examination for Mary
Isobel Blyth, Education; thesis:
"The Competence of College Alge-
bra Students Who Studied High
School Algebra", Thurs., May 25,
West Council Room, Raekham
Bldg., 2 p.m. Chairman, H. C.
Koch
(Continued on Page 5)
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1Mic1~uu UIt

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"Birth of a Nation"

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ro the Editor:
WE REQUEST that you act to
help prevent the presentation
of the motion picture. "Birth of a
Nation." We stress the University
of Michigan surely will not injure
the Negro people by showing
"Birth of a Nation" which we know
to be insulting and slanderous to
us. The distortions of this picture
have been elaborated upon by Na-
tional Officials of the National As-
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People. Please help pre-
vent a serious error of showing
"Birth of a Nation."'
-The Executive Board
Ann Arbor NAACP
Dorothy Griffel
* * *
"Birth of a Nation" .. .
To the Editor:
WE STRONGLY protest inten-
tions to show the film "Birth
of a Nation." Our position has al-
ways been unalterably opposed to
such racial bigotry as portrayed in
this film. The theme tends to aid
and abet those anti-Negro ele-
ments and encourage hatred of
minority groups throughout the
country.
-William R. Hood
Recording Secretary,
Ford Local 600, UAW CIO;

a

Fifty-Ninth Year
Edited and managed by students of
the University of Michigan under the
authority of the Board in Control of
Student Publications.
Editorial Staff
Leon Jaroff.........Managing Editor
Al Blumrosen................City Editor
Philip Dawson......Editorial Director
Don McNeil............Feature Editor
Mary Stein.............Associate Edito?
Jo Misner............Associate Editor
George Walker ......... Associate Editor
wally Barth......Photograp Editor
Pres Holmes .......... Sports Codi
Merle Levin..........Sports Co-Editor
Roger Goelz . . Associate Sports Editot
Lee Kaltenbach....... Women's Editor
Barbara Smith..Associate Women's Ed.
Business Staff
Roger Wellington....Business Manager
Dee Nelson, Associate Business Manager
Jim Dangi........ Advertising Manager
Bernie Aidinoff........Finance Manager
Bob Daniels.......Circulation Manager
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Entered at the Post Office at An
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BARNABY

Sarnaby! Can't you see

A ne sper~dooper h~ y1

Yes. EAST of town. And you1

I'll persuade the Highway Department to