THE MICHIGAN DAILY WED r NESDAY, MAR( Stodgy Progress T HE STUDENT LEGISLATURE has slith- ered into the stodgy slot of progress. For five or six* months now, few "hot issues" have been dragged up before it and slugged out in ardent debate. 'No University admin- istration tempers have been ruffled.' No half-cocked legislator has popped off with unpopular opinions on subjects close to the more sensitive hearts on campus. There are no Communists and very few other "subversives" fretting about causing their customary amount of confusion. All is seetness and light. For the first time in the history of the University, a feeling of mutual respect has arisen be- tween student representatives and Univer- sity Administrators. Only two problems brought before the SL all last semester caused much more than a ripple on the serene Walden of campus po- litics. The first was the long Thanksgiving Ho- liday request, which the Legislature took be- fore the Dean's Conference. The request, which would close the University the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving Thurs- day, has been temporarily shelved. On the second issue, the long-fought fra- ternity anti-bias time limit motion, action was more conclusive. The SL won a major victory two weeks ago when the Student Af- fairs Committee adopted the proposal. Aside from these two splashes, the SL has moved steadily, if unostentatiously, along. It 'plays a major role in the calendaring of campus events, runs the Cinema Guild, helps rid the student of obnoxious fees, regulates the sale of ten cent football programs, and in an amazing variety of ways, serves the student community remarkably well. . All this maturity and accomplishment is fine. But along with this progress has arisen an attitude within the Legislature as a group which is unfortunate. Its a "Holier Than Thou" position whose particular manifestation is the ridiculous air of a peanut peddler who feels he is dedi- Editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writers only. NIGHT EDITOR: VERNON EMERSON cated to a Great and Sublime Cause. As a result, the average Student Legislator has lost all sense of perspective and, coordinate- ly, his sense of humor. In fairness, it must be admitted that sev- eral legislators do not fall within this cate- gory; most of them, however, do. With apol- ogies, then, to the few really big people in the Legislature and with the hope that the others don't get re-elected this spring; an examination of the many and odious ramifi- cations of this Legislature attitude is reveal- ing. For one, there is a general feeling among the part-time politicos that the Legislature should be immune from any type of "unfav- orable publicity" or open criticism. Witness the hue and cry they raised when The Daily reported the SL's.mis-handling of the Phil- ippine Fund Drive last fall. During their meetings, the legislators sometimes haggle around for the better part of an hour trying to resolve a point of par- liamentary procedure. Actually, the debate could be settled in a minute if the official parliamentarian would consult an edition of "Roberts Rules" and then assert the author- ity of his office., At the same time, some influential leg- islators may be passing "top secret" notes to each other while those solons of the more disinterested faction (and they are numerous) will simply pass cute little jokesback and forth and then giggle at their own cleverness. No one begrudges any group a good joke or a good parliamentary debate now and then; but when the jokes are poor, and too fre- quent, the debate of an inferior and defi- cient nature and' when the whole thing is carried on with deadpan seriousness,.. well? THIS DOESN'T MEAN that the SL should take no pride in its past accomplish- ments or hold no sincerity for future pro- jepts. Obviously it should. It does mean, however, that unless the Student Legislators climb from the saddle of their collective high horse, honestly evalu- ate the importance of their group as an ex- tra-curricular activity at an academic insti- tution, laugh at their own obvious absurdi- ties, they are likely to plod off into eternity doing nothing more than they are today. -Rich Thomas McGeeCommittee N OW THAT some of the fire and smoke has cleared away with Mrs. Willie Mc- Gee's' departure, a retrospect on the campus campaign to save Willie McGee is in order. The entire program of the committee had some delicate implications at the outset. The fear of being identified with "Leftists" caus- ed one member to pull out of the commit- tee. This member was sincerely concerned over the impending electrocution of McGee and wanted to do something. But . . . he was fearful of being involved in anything rumored to be a leftist campaign. This revelation was a pathetic one. It was certainly a sad situation when an American couldn't plump for civil rights without being identified with Communists and rabble-rousers. And even sadder when an individual feels coerced into inaction. After all, civil rights are the unique core of American democracy. Actually, the ad hoc committee was, on the whole, composed of persons who were really disturbed over a clear miscarriage of American justice. Unfortunately, however, their approach was poor. A big mistake was not making a direct effort to get the Young Republicans and Young Democrats in on the campaign. Of course, YD-YR participation was also hampered by the usual inertia of the clubs toward civil liberties activities. Representative of the approach of the THE MUSIC SCHOOL faculty has out- done itself lately with a number of com- petently executed, listenable concerts to which last night's performance of the Stan- ley Quartet was no exception. The Quartet, composed of Prof. Oliver Edel, cellist, Paul Doktor, violist, and Prof. Gilbert Ross and Emil Raab, violinists, presented the first of a series of two concerts devoted to the music of Franz Schubert. Both of the works played last night were characterized by an orchestral ef- fect, difficult to achieve in chamber mu- sic, which. distinguishes the romanticism of Schubert from earlier quartet styles. The Quartet put this effect across. The fullness of tone and variety of coloring, prerequisites to the preservation of eu- phony in chamber music, were achieved with a balance broken only occasionally by thin, uneven texture. Somehow, the cellist lacked sufficient power to give depth to portions of the G major Quartet; in the Allegro assai move- ment of this work,, however, performances all showed sincere feeling and technical polish which-resulted in an almost exciting effect. The addition of a second cellist, who solved the mystery of how a Quartet could present a Quintet, gave the second half of committee was a fantastic idea suggested by a committee member on the eve of the ral- ly. He proposed the invocation of a two min- ute silent prayer for McGee at the rally. This type of emotion was later revealed at the rally-an interesting but fruitless one-- by another member of the committee. Most irrationally, he said: "The previous speaker showed his contempt for the colored people by not calling him Mr. McGee." Another type of impassioned repartee was revealed by the representative of the Civil Rights Congress, whose voice often cres- cendoed into a blatant outburst. Once he lashed back at the now famous Mr. Lynch with "Look, bud, if you've got the facts, come on up here and give them." One student jumped to the stage and an- nounced that he was organizing a "mob" for a trip to the White House to plead Mr. Mc- Gee's case. The rally did succeed in stimulating -a great deal of needed discussion. But in an atmosphere of hisses, cat-calls and interrup- tions, nothing really constructive could be accomplished. Finally, such a program was precisely what some persons wanted-a rip-roaring, highly passionate, touching rally. Such a rally-when not organized properly-might, be playing into the hands of some off-cam- pus groups who wanted the publicity accru- ing from this sad case, groups who actually care little about justice in this country but are using human misery for their own ends. Had the YR and YD been active in the committee's program these blunders would have probably been corrected. A large share of the blame lies with the YD and YR them- selves. The clubs should have been aware of this situation and acted accordingly. It is about time both YD and YR mem- bers got off their stoic posteriors and took cognizance of these matters, as their presidents have. In so doing, they would add a needed guiding hand to campus civil rights programs. If they don't, in the future we can expect similar emotional; , desultory action of which off-campus left- ists groups will take advantage. However, despite the blunders of the com- mittee in its program, the fact remains: a Negro is going to die for a crime no one is sure he committed. This is basis enough for a letter to Gov. Wright of Mississippi ask- ing for a stay of execution. -Cal Samra Power of Words HE WHO WANTS to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word, The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense. I don't say this by way of disparagement. It is better for mankind to be impressionable than re- MATTER OF FACT By JOSEPH ALSOP LEIPZIG IN THE GRAY, gloomy city where the notes for this report were made, there is only one note of color-the innumerable scarlet posters and banners demanding "German unity." As the whole world knows by now, the American policy makers are terrified that the Soviets will shortly make a serious offer to unite and neutralize Ger- many, ini order to halt Western rearma- ment and disrupt the Western alliance. The prize the Kremlin has to play for is very great indeed. But it is important to realize that the Kremlin must also risk a very great stake in order to gain this prize. No offer to "unify" Germany will be treat- ed seriously, either by the Western Germans or the Western allies, which does not in- clude a guaranty of free elections in East Germany. There is no doubt at all that the iron communist control of East Germany would collapse instantly in any free election. And East Germany has become a proper- ty of immense importance to the Kremlin. * * * W HAT HAS HAPPENED here in the last year, made this year's Leipzig fair a striking contrast with last year's. Last year all was still misery and horror. This year, on the other hand, one noticed chiefly the combined results of German hard work and methodical, iron-handed Russian organiza- tion, which are making the Soviet zone of Germany a going concern. The conditions of life are materially better, although still very bad. But what is really important to the Kremlin, is that East German production has greatly in- creased. The best index is steel output, which fell below 250,000 tons a year at the low point. It is now above 1,000,000 tons a year and is expected to reach 3,- 000,000 tons a year (far above the East German pre-war level) by the close of the East German five-year plan. The great increase in East German pro- ductivity is of course far more beneficial to the Kremlin than to the East German peo- ple. Thirty per cent of the industry, includ- ing such great plants as the former I. G. Farben chemical complex at Bitterfeld, are directly owned by the Russian government. These not merely produce for Russian ac- counts but also pay a handsome profit. The remaining industry, of which about two- thirds is owned by the East German state, produces reparations out of current produc- tion for Russia to the tune of about 1,500,- 000,000 marks per year. Heavy occupation costs relieves the Kremlin of supporting its huge army in East Germany, and the East German tax- payer also pays the whole cost of oper- ating the uranium mines in the Erzege- birge, where nearly 250,000 workers are employed extracting radioactive ores for Marshal Beria's atomic prpject. Finally almost all German industrial con- cerns are buying agents for the Kremlin, securing from West Germany and else- where in West Europe an enormous volume of critical and strategic materials and equip- ment. For example, the Wismut A. G. not merely runs the Erzegebirge mines, but also buys in the West all sorts of special items needed by Marshal Beria's project in Russia. , , SOME OF THE Soviet returns from East Germany therefore cannot be valued. It is not going too far, however, to say that in hard dollar values, the Kremlin extracts from this single small province of its em- pire, with a population of only 17,000,000 people, an annual revenue in goods and pro- ducts of more than $2,000,000,000. This smoothly-running system of econo- mic exploitation, which takes from East Ger- many for Russia about one quarter of the annual product, is based in turn upon a state organization that is now absolutely monolithic. The economic boss is Heinrich Rau. The real political boss is Walter Ulbricht. Al- though the facade of a multi-party system is still maintained, these two men run the state and the economy through the Communist hierarchy. Except industrial technicians and other men with special skills, all communists with the faintest Western taint or orientation are now being expelled. (This was the reason for Ger- hard Eisler's recent grovelling.) Moreover, while "loyalty to the Soviet Un- ion and Comrade Stalin" is the test for Ger- mans, Soviet control is further insured by the Russians who hold key positions, advis- ory or even managerial, throughout the whole strange structure from the highest level to almost the lowest. In short, what is seen here in East Germany is a new imper- ialism so total and so unashamed that it would make Lord Clive himself sink into the ground for very envy. Because of their hard-working character and submissiveness to authority, the East Germans have now adapted themselves to this new imperialism better than any of the other satellites. The question remains, whether the Soviets will wish to gamble this model province in order to halt the rearmament of the West. (Copyright, 1951, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.) Newspaper Credo 'r cwu++ ono roar. XetteA6 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. McGee Case . . To the Editor: THE DAILY has sounded off on the McGee case. Good. For the death of Mr. McGee will ham- per attempts to bring democracy to Negro students at Michigan. His death will give encouragement to those who stand in the path of democracy and will strengthen their hand. His freedom will push the fight for Negro rights and we hope will make future "McGee cases" non-existent. What have the Daily editorial writers to say: First there is Roma Lipsky. Roma doesn't believe what U. of M. students think and pro- test will have any bearing on the outcome. This is the tired liberal approach which is actually vicious because she attempts to lead oth- ers to this conclusion-a do noth- ing conclusion. Don't forget that similar campaigns are being wa' ed on hundreds of campuses and in thousands of communities. In- dividually we will lose, but collect- ively we will win as demonstrated with the Scottsboro and Trenton Six cases. Apparently Miss Lipsky has lost her faith in American democracy. Too bad. Before leav- ing Miss Lipsky it is only fair to say that she does partially re- verse herself and recommend some letters to Mississippi's gov- ernor. Any fool can see that this alone won't do the trick. The Fed- eral government and Mr. Truman have to show their hand. Those Dixiecrats go for lynchings in a big way. Democracy in the south is a myth, Miss Lipsky. When are you going to wake up and stop trusting them? In the next column appears Crawford Young's masterpiece. He's worried about emotion. Mr. Young, death is an emotional thing when it happens to your husband. An innocent man is about to die. Are you afraid to hear his wife tell the facts? More of us white students should be- come acquainted with American "democracy." A little emotion would probably do us some good. Needless to say, Paul Marx's edi- torial is the best. He clearly sees the necessity for improving our "democracy" and is willing to have students do something about it. His is the answer American youth must give to the white su- premacist. He may get labeled subversive, but I believe the ma- jority of students want to do something about Mr. McGee. I wish the other Daily editorial wri- ters would get instep. Cal Samra's article is amusing. He says there is not sufficient evi- dence for or against the convic- tion. His answer-too soon for an opinion. (McGee dies in 7 days). But why must there be conclusive evidence for a man's innocence? I thought American law deems a man innocent until 'proven guil- ty. Since by Mr. Samra's own ad- mission there isn't sufficient evi- dence for guilt, he should support agitation for his release or anoth- er trial. This he refuses to do. Does Mr. Samra have different standards for Negroes or does he advocate retroactive amendments to American jurisprudence? -Gordon MacDougall McGee Case. To the Editor: ." t THERE ARE several rather puzz- ling things in Mr. Sandground's letter. To begin with: "Do you think for one minute that the Communists want Willie McGee to be pardoned and saved? They don't." And he goes on to say that if McGee dies, it merely gives the Communists more to throw at democracy. Well, if this is true, then it means that we should want to save McGee to refute the claims of the Communists that the legal proceedings of the United States are undemocratic. But, in the next paragraph of Mr. Sandground's letter we find: "If the names of the persons who are leaders of the crusade . . . were revealed, one should not be surprised to find it would include most of the agita- tors, rabbelrousers, and plain Communists who are trying to destroy our precious heritage of freedom." Perhaps, I shouldn't be surprised, Mr. Sandground, but I am, especially since you said in the paragraph above that the Communists don't want McGee saved! But on one thing, I agree with Mr. Sandground; I too, want the readers of the Michigan Daily, and of the larger syndicated news- papers, to do a little of their own thinking. And I would like them to bear in mind such situations as those that allow a man to be judged in a court of law on the basis of the color of his skin; and the fact that at this moment the American government is follow- ing an avowed policy in Korea of killing as many men as possible. Where does that fit in with the "well worth it, American demo- cracy" of which Mr. Sandground speaks. I am an American; but be- fore that I am a human being.- And the, fact that the news- papers may call the Chinese, Reds, hordes, or anything else, does not keep me from remembering that they are human beings, and that a policy of killing as many of them as possible is not humane. Perhaps, Mr. Sandground and the "precious heritage of freedom" boys, who are always talking about our "American democracy," ought to turn around and notice the Englishman or Pole who is laughing at you and shaking his head in disgust, and the man in India who can only look at you with a blank stare-because he doesn't know what you're talking about-and doesn't care. He's been too hungry for too long. -Ivan Gluckman, '53 *EES * * * McGee Case . . To he Editor: THE McGEE case arouses ex- tremely disturbing thoughts. With little effort our attention swings from the obvious injustice done to an individual named Mc- Gee to events of the most far reaching international signifi- cance. No matter how I cut it, it always comes out the same and the stench is overwhelming. Today 400,000 Americans, both Negro and white are fighting in a foreign country 8,000 miles distant. We have committed tremendous resources to this job. We have f ,:r 1 M - Horse-And-Rabbit Stew REPIESETAT~o --- {Ntij .S. (COn~is y. SrAF- E 'L ' LECISLAruF .- oy ,z FOB , P ssM spent and are spending fabulous sums of money. We are rushing arms, planes, tanks, guns, 'bombs] and bullets all over the world. Bil- lions of words pour out of radios, movies, newspapers and comic1 books day in and day out, explain-1 ing and trying to convince us thatI all this is for "peace," that we must sacrifice for "democracy"' and the "free world."; With blaring headlines and great pride "Operation Killer" is announced. It's really great. We'- re going to slaughter "gooks" and "chinks" by the truckload. But "Operation Killer" is not just con- fined to Korea. It apparently is flourishing also in Mississippi, Virginia, Harlem, New Jersey, Tokyo and Detroit. These are the places, and more, where the idea started. In Virginia seven are elec- trocuted. In Harlem John Derrick, back from Korea a week, is mur- dered by the police. In New Jersey the Trenton Six are up on trial for' the third time facing the electric chair. In Detroit we have the Gor- dy Case where the Detroit police in true gestapo style have unleash- ed a reign of terror against Gordy, his relatives and the whole Negro community. In Tokyo the NAACP declares segregation responsible for the court-martial of twenty- one Negro soldiers charged ,with "cowardice." The list is endless. "Operation Killer" continues with increased fervor against the Am- erican Negro. The "free world" and "peace through strength" line rings hollow and empty. Why do we have to go 8,000 miles to fight for democracy? There's a man named McGee and he's located in Mississippi. -Al Lippitt, '50 McGee Case . . To the Editor: F THE LAW students who tried to break up the McGee meeting had studied their law a little more, they wouldn't have said that the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the McGee case meant the Court found the trial to be fair. "The denial of a writ of certiorari im- ports no expression of opinion up- on the merits of the case, as the bar has many times been told." Mr. Justice HIolmes in U.S. v. Car- ver, (1923). The defenders of Mis- sissippi justice can draw no "le- gal" comfort from the Court's re- fusal not to review. They can have the comfort of knowing that Mis- sissippi "justice" may take ano- ther innocent black man's life. As to the insolent suggestion that Mrs. McGee's mission in life is to discredit the American judi- cial system, it Is mighty poor taste so to attack the wife of a con- demned man. "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." (Declaration of Independence). Mrs. McGee is very proper in carrying her appeal directly to the final tribunal, the people. She doesn't want to over- throw the Government. She wants the people to exert their sovereign influence on that Government to save her husband's life. And as for those who say that Mississippi justice is of no con- cern to Michigan residents, what about the newspapers that insist it is our mission to defend "demo- cracy" all over the globe, from Greece to Korea? A little incon- sistent, isn't it, to say that Mis- sissippi, one of the "48," is none of our business! Do we mean to brand ourselves before the world as a nation of hypocrites? If so, don't demand that Pres. Truman use his influence to safe- guard human life and freedom in America. Wait 'till the papers get hopped up about something on the other side of the world, and then self-righteously demand that we interfere on that other side to "insure free elections!" -Robert H. Silk, '51L * * * justly the life of any individual no matter how humble or un- known. Secondly, if any citizen does not receive a fair trial, the Bill of Rights itself becomes a mockery. Hence the democratic tradition of our country is being tested. Furthermore, an attack on the rights and life of any citizen Negro or white is very directly an attack on all the citizens of our country. How can anyone consid- er themselves free if they are not guaranteed the rights of a fair trial, if they can be sentenced to death on insufficient evidence? Hence, there should be no ex- cuse for saying, "The case is not important to me, its only one man anyway, or one person can't do anything. A very important prin- ciple is at stake. Failure to act now to save the rights of another man may mean that' our rights get trampled on some day. More important, anyone who believes in the facts as stated by the Com- mittee to save McGee and doesn't take the trouble or time to write a postcard to the President is by that very inaction helping to send a man to his death-a man who in all probability is innocent. -Robert Schor E* * *. Elections . To the Editor: AT LAST WEEK'S SL meeting a motionswas passed to have next semester's J-Hop election held by the direct voting system. Under this system the voter plac- es an "X" next to each of the NINE candidates whom he wishes to vote for. The obvious weakness of this system is that the average student on this campus just does- n't know NINE candidates. This weakness can develop into a dan- gerous situation. First of all, if the average stu- dent only knows and votes for 4 instead of 9 candidates, then an organized group voting in a "bloc" for the maximum 9 candidates can have complete dominance in the election. In fact it is possible for 20% of the students to elect all 9 of the J-Hop committee! A second fault of this system arises when a student knows but three or four candidates, yet wishes to vote for the full nine in order to have his votes count as much as the next fellow's. His choice of the remaining candi- dates is therefore based on the various publicity campaigns. Con- sequently, candidates will make large expenditures for posters, and their chances of election will vary directly with their financial status which I believe is a pretty poor qualification. An ideal recourse would be the return to the Hare System of elec- tion. However, superficial objec- tions by some legislators defeat- ed this plan. Therefore, I will.in- troduce at tonight's SL meeting a compromise motion limiting the amount of {votes per person to THREE. I believe this precaution- ary measure will help eliminate bloc-voting and will ensure that the student will know the candi- date he's voting for. -Bob Perry . + + u McGee Case . . 0 To the Editor: AVING READ certain of the letters in the Daily concern- ing Mr. Willie McGee, a Negro who faces possible execution in Mississippi on March 20 for alleg- edly raping a white- woman, I be- gan to feel a sharp duty to ex- press my own feelings on the question. I believe that everybody should learn the facts of the case. If they should then arrive at what I con- sider the almost inevitable con- clusion that Mr. McGee did not obtain a fair trial, they should im- mediately ask President Truman to grant a stay of execution. I be- lieve the trial was held under an atmosphere of fear, hatred, and intimidation. First and foremost, the life of an individual is at stake. It is one of the most damning condemna- tions of a society which purports to be democratic to take away un- Sixty-First Year Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control of Student Publications. Editorial Staff Jim Brown...........Managing Editor Paul Brentlinger............City Editor Roma Lipsky.......Editorial Director Dave Thomas............Feature Editor Janet Watts. ...........Associate Editor Nancy Bylan. ...........Associate Editor James Gregory,........Associate Editor Bill Connolly..........Sports Editor Bob Sandell. . . ssociate Sports Editor Bill Brenton... . Associate Sports Editor Barbara Jans...........Women's Editor Pat Brownson Associate Women's Editor Business Staff Bob Daniels..........Business Manager waiter Shapero Assoc. Business Manager Paul Schaible.....Advertising Manager Bob Mersereau......Finance Manager Bob Miller.......Circulation Manager Telephone 23-24-1 Member of The Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or otherwise credited to this newspaper. All rights of republication of all other matters herein are also reserved. Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan as second-class mail matter. Subscription during regular school year: by carrier, $6.00; by mail, $7.00. ,; BARNABY Yes, that's the department store Iftruck comnmantiu rrd.RBu t / I - -7.== 1 rl (I