t -1. THE MICIGTAN DATTY THURSDAY,.-MARCH 151 i9'i '-___ _1 1___ __ __ _-___ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ___ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ___ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ a.+ .y. .a +avvaa .a V it7 X11 4 ae Congressional Immunity IT'S ABOUT TIME Congress did something court disputes over remarks made during to bring to an end the late series of smears heated debate. of1nnocent citizens which have been con- Sen. Hunt's second proposal, however, duted behind the cloak of Congressional avoids this difficulty. As the Senator points immunity. out, the citizen whose reputation is ruined by false' denunciation on the Senate floor A courageous young Republican legis- may be more severely damaged than one who lator in Wisconsin has gone o far as to is run down by a government owned truck. introduce in his own ytate a resolution I n l y a government ets ending this much-abused, obsolete privi- In the latter case the government permits . lege. And In Washington, Sen. Hunt of itself to be sued, so why should not the citi- zen be allowed to seek redress from the gov- West Virginia has brought forward alter- rment for damage to his reputation from native plans designed to put a stop to one of its agents? Iegalized slander. Any such legal action against the govern- Each of his proposals has its advantages; ment would inevitably draw wide public at- both are worth serious deliberation by Con- tention and reflect upon the guilty legislator gress and the citizenry. One sugge tion is to just as much as if he were being personally remove the clause from the Constitution sued. To be proved a liar in court is far more which protects Congressmen from court politically damning than even the most prosecution for statements made before competent vituperation by the opposition. Congress. The other would approach the Both provisos would impose considerable situation from a different' angle and per- restraint upon happy-go-lucky slanderers. mit slandered citizens to sue the government The second, though, would. be the more for damages. preferable of the two, as it would preserve It is evident that the present blanket pro- certain of the advantages that Congres- tection invites abuses by irresponsible, head- sional immunity does have when not mis- line-hunting, and vindictive legislators. us.e.. Either, however, would limit the incessant Charges made on the floors of Congress, distortions which are a great threat to the however unfounded, may be broadcast proper functioning of our system. throughout the land. Reputations may be -Crawford Young. ruined without hope of redress. It is especially ironic that, while maintain- ing the right of its own members to smear individuals with impunity, the Senate ad- heres to rules forbidding members to attack (veribally or otherwise) each other on the floor. The original purpose of this tradition of legislative immunity was to protect bold members of parliament who spoke out against the king. Obviously it has outlived this primary function. On the other hand, proponents of the status quo might argue with some justifica- tion that without this legal protection, Con- gressmen would be faced with the nuisance of an interminable round of time consuming Editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writers only. NIGHT EDITOR: RICH THOMAS Peace Conference TONIGHT THREE MEN-a diplomat, an educator and a labor leader-who have not given up hope for world peace will hold a, forum discussion in Rackham auditorium. They will present differing solutions to the world dilemma, each o4ijning a specific program for staving off the all-encompassing war many people be- lieve inevitable. Scheduled in connection with Religion in Life Week, this forum promises to be as pragmatic a presentation as any we could want to hear at this time. The .speakers probably won't provide THE answer to the question of how to stop a world massacre. But they do have some good ideas whidh the audience can take home to mull over. They might even move some to action. In any case, it would be worthwhile to attend. -Donna Hendleman Good Will IN THESE DAYS when the international news is at best discouraging, the recent settlement between Germany and Israel is a heartening sign of "good will." A few days ago Israel filed a claim for $1,500,000,000 of reparations from Ger- many for the Nazis' "gigantic slaughter and rapine" of European Jews. Notes were dispatched to Washington, DORIS FLEESON: RFC & Truman WASHINGTON - President Truman has shifted from active defense to a reserved attitude regarding White House aides and friends named in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation scandals. Democratic leaders have agreed there- ~fore to let nature take its course. They would prefer to have the President crack down on those who have been impairing his prestige; some bitterly declare that all his troubles in such immensely important fields as military and foreign policy stem from the weakness he is displaying about what they call the little things that count. But since, apparently, Mr. Truman will not so move, they intend to interpret his silence as consent tO grand jury and other efforts to clean house. HE PRESIDENT, of course, is acting in character. His policy regarding contro- versial nominations that he sends to the hill has always been that he could take the storms if the nominees could. In such discussions with his people he has never left any doubt that he himself would not thus retire from the fray. In fact he has indicated that, in his view, withdrawal constituted confession of in- adequacy. It is- increasingly the feeling among in- fluential Democrats that the housecleaning must go forward with ruffles and flourishes. Various portents have not been lost on them. One is Sen. Estes Kefauver's television stardom which is reaching its zenith in the New York climax to his crime investigations. * * * ATTRACTIVE political figures often make greater reputations here but the pro- fessionals in the courthouses are usually very timid about buying these. What the poll proves is that the Demo- crats outside of Washington know what is so thoroughly realized here-that Mrs. Merl Young's mink coat is no joke politi- cally. All this is somewhat of a change from the days when any gathering of Democrats freely threw off Senator Fulbright, the RFC nemesis, as a Boy Scout and suggested that their 190 election trnhle connld h hlamed London, Paris, and Moscow. The notes con- tained a request that the Big Four consider at any future meeting not only over-all rep- arations but individual restitution. Also in- cluded in the note was a request that the Big Four suggest steps to be taken to imple- ment the payment. The Israeli government pointed out that the sum asked is approximately the value of exports from West Germany alone. Alfred Hartmann, Secretary of State in the Bonn Finance Ministry of Western Ger- many revealed that the West Germany Fed- eral Government and eleven state govern- ments are negotiating now as to the methods of settling the claim. The "good will" aspect of the situation lies in the fact that not only is Germany willing to meet the Israeli claim, but an- nounced its intention of doing so before it had received any intelligence of the Big Four note. Of course, no amount of money can repay suffering. But that Germany will give Israel the money it needs for the rehabilitation of 500,000 survivors is one of the few incidents today of humane statesmanship. -Alice Bogdonoff. The City Editor's SCRATCH PAD BY PAUL BRENTLINGER AS THE TIME for the naming of the new president of the University approaches, it seems fitting that a dark horse candidate should be introduced into the controversy over who will get the job. This dark horse is Arthur S. Fleming, currently the director of defense-man- power problems for Charles E. Wilson's Office of Defense Mobilization. Fleming's name is offered on the basis of rumors which The Daily has heard as to the nature of the man who will be appointed. These rumors have mentioned the following characteristics of the new president: 1. He will be a distinguished educator. 2. He will be well-know nationally. 3. He will be a relatively young man. 4. He has not been mentioned in The Daily's speculative articles concerning the appointment of the new president. It appears that Fleming meets all of these requirements pretty well. During the last three years, he has had an excellent record as president of Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. He has attracted much attention for his views that college students should take an active part in political affairs. Fleming probably is better known nation- ally than most of the other men mentioned as possible University presidential candi- dates. Before serving as head of Ohio Wes- leyan, he wasI a member of the famous Hoover Commissign which studied the pos- sibility of streamlining the federal govern- ment. As for the age matter, Fleming is 46 years old now. Alexander Ruthven was 47 years old when he was appointed to the presi- dency in 1929. Fleming is younger than Detlev Bronk, president of Johns Hopkins University, and is about the same age as Stanford University president John Sterling. Both Bronk and Sterling have been men- tioned as candidates for the presidency here. Certain other factors admittedly weigh against Fleming as a candidate. Perhaps the most important of these is the fact that he has just begun his work with Wil- son's office. Other objections are relatively minor, but still might be important. For example, Fleming is not a PhD. He has won a couple of honorary Doctor of Law degrees; but his formal education appeas to have included only the AB, AM and LLB degrees. Also, Fleming is not a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, which in many colleges is the highest honor a student can receive. How- ever, this doesn't carry the academic weight which is supposed to go with the Phi Bete key.. So don't rush out and put all your savings on a bet that Fleming will be the University's .eighth president. Just remember that it is very difficult to find a man who meets the qualifications for the presidency which the rumor mongers have established. It may be just a coincidence, but this rumored descrip- tion of the new president does happen to fit Fleming., Welcome Back WITH ALL the arising out of ashes that is being done around the University lately it seems only natural that those individuals slightly left of center should also get into the act. The newest bird is the Willie McGee case but it has the same old feathers of past projects fostered by "leftists." In a way the Willie McGee case has pro- vided the campus with some of the color that makes life in a university town such a unique experience. Many people usually get pretty worked up about these issues, and whether they may be right or wrong, their literary blasts through the Letters to the Editor or oratory on the diag stir up a lot of interest. Actually the McGee case was more wel- come than many in the past. It's been a long time since there has been an outstanding case that might be brought to the attention of the people. One could speculate probably that the atmosphere of a national emer- gency and also the trouble abroad have in some ways inhibited "leftists." Now that the tension has eased some- what on the international front, the "left- ists" probably feel that the action taken here on the campus will have a greater chance of succeeding. Right or wrong, I welcome the "leftists" back to the University. They are as much a part of the campus as the Arb and P-Bell. -Ron Watts. CURRENT MOVIES AT THE MICHIGAN .. . CAUSE FOR ALARM, with Loretta Young and Barry Sullivan THIS IS woman's magazine stuff at a rea- sonably interesting level, and if you are in the market for a housewife's nightmare in the next few days, here is a dilly. The housewife (Loretta Young) is afflict- ed with one of those neurotic husbands (Bar- The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of gen- eral interest, and will publish all let- ters 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. Influence or Ethics *.*« To the Editor: THE LETTER by Col. McKean in last Thursday's Daily cites "two minor inaccuracies" in the March 1 story concerning the ex- pulsion of Robert Lapham from the Engineering College. Possibly there is another, for the story stated that "The disciplinary committee claims that their ac- tion has nothing to do with Lap- ham's conscientious o b j e c t o r stand or the request of Col. M- Kean for his expulsion." Regard- less of its possible intent, the col- onel's letter will likely have the effect of persuading many readers that his request and Bob's stand did influence the committee. If these two factors carried no influence, then the controversy boils down to "contract viola- tion" and the "question of ethics," both admirably dealt with by oth- ers in this column and by The Daily in its March 2 editorial. It is not my purpose here to defend pacifism (I have done so before) but simply to call attention to the implications involved if that stand and the request of the colonel did carry influence with the discipline committee. For if they did, two fundamentals are at stake: 1. If military influences on this campus are such that they affect attitudes and decisions of disci- pline beyond their own units we are closer than I realized to the militarist state toward which we are racing on a national scale. 2. If fitness as a student is to be judged on the basis of con- scientious religious commitments, one may question which of the parties involved has the greater concern for ethics and whether the stage is not set for discrimi- nation on the basis of religion- which, although apparently not much involved in the case at hand, would be a regrettable sit- uation should it develop. By de- claring that Bob "has no ethics" the committee as much as called him a liar when he admitted, af- ter hearing the opinions of the committee, that he should repay the Navy. Is it unethical to admit that one has been wrong and to act by what one believes to be right? It may not be irrelevant to note that the U.S. Supreme Court re- cently clarified the phrase of the citizenship oath to "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic," in ordering that a Ger- man-born Quaker pacifist be ad- mitted to citizenship. Although the similar phrase in the third NROTC contract referred to in Col. McKean's letter is obviously in a military context, it should be observed that the court does not regard such an oath of a citizen as necessarily implying a willing- ness to take up arms. -Edward G. Voss, Grad. ** * Reviews . . . Tothe Editor: ['M BOTHERED by Mr. Hamp- ton's cartoon in Sunday's Daily. Had he labeled the reviewer's desk "W. Hampton" instead of "Daily Critic," it might have been more appropriate. Mr. Hampton, one of The Daily's few competent and qualified reviewers, is unfairly maligned for a good, discerning, unfavourable criticism of an or- ganization which has become too accustomed to success to accept failure rationally. There is a great difference be- tween an unfavorable review and a bad one. Mr. Hampton's was the former; the reviews of "Hanlon Won't Go" and certain musical concerts have been both in excess. Readers and theatre companies will accept and abide by just, con- structive criticism by an emotion- ally mature adult. Such criticism helps the first group select their entertainment wisely, and helps the latter improve their produc- tions. But they object to the grandiloquent attempts at clever invective of an unqualified emo-I tional adolescent whose gods are the New York drama critics and whose work is characterized by destructive criticism and rhetori- cal exhibitionism. These reviews injure reputations and feelings, kill initiative, and do financial damage to a production, as the reviewer thoughtlessly worships his Well-Turned Phrase. It is unfortunate that actors, directors, and production staff should see their work of months contemptuously dismissed by a journalistic fledgling flattered with the title of "critic." Perhaps the present justified criticism of unjust critics would end if The Daily would select its reviewers by the criteria of discernment and good taste rather than on the basis o f pseudo-sophisticated "wit." If tryout reviews were writ- ten on a show which all the jud- ges had seen and evaluated, and were judged on the basis of the entrants' knowledge of drama- turgy, acting, and directing, The Daily's theatre reporters might deserve being called "critics." -Jas. E. Brodhead III Madame Pandit ... To the Editor: I HAVE just seen report of an in- terview by Wendy Owen in your paper, which does not cor- rectly represent the answers given by Madame Pandit to some of the questions which were asked. It is obviously the result of a basic lack of knowledge of the views dis- cussed by your reporter. I would especially like to draw attention to the first sentence in the inter- view in which by leaving out one word the whole sentence has been changed. Miss Owen reports Ma- dame Pandit as saying, "I don't even find a knowledge of Com- munism in this highly civilized country". Madame Pandit said in reply to a question whether the Indian peasant understood Com- munism, 'that "he did not, and that even in a country as highly civilized as the United States, the common man could not be ex- pected to know apything about Communist ideologies". Again regarding Russia, the twist given is incorrect. The re- porter says "She (Madame Pan- dit) insisted that India does not view Communism or Communist China as a threat". These were two distinct questions. So far as Communist China was concerned, Madame Pandit said that "Diplo- matic recognition of a country does not imply approval of the foreign policies of that country." The reference to the automon- ous Indian States is also incorrect. The sentence as it stands is coi- pletely ignorant of the present condition in India. In the Indian Constitution there is the Central Government, and there are States similar to your own in this coun- try with their own legislatures and autonomy only in State affairs. It is some of these States that have banned the Communist Party. The speech at Rackham Hall was read from a written text and consisted of quotations of Mahat- ma Gandhi's sayings. The one referred to by your reporter would have read as follows: "Whilst all violence is bad and must be condemned in the ab- stract, it is the duty of a believer in soul force to distinguish be- tween the aggressor and the de- fender. Having done so he will side with the defender in a non- violent manner; that is, give his life in saving him." -M. S. Sundaras Peace Proposals . . To the Editor: AN ACQUAINTANCE who has just returned from West .Ger- many reports that the German people are not at all enthusiastic about our plans to rearm them. If we must fight Russia they want us to do the job elsewhere. They've had enough of uniforms and goosestepping and flag-waving. Also they've had enough of that which follows; having been on both the giving and the receiving ends of the big guns and bombers they know where of they speak. Even the German children, my acquaintance relates, express their parents' fear and hate of all things military by throwing stones at the automobiles of army offi- cers. (My acquaintance should know as her husband is an offi- cer.) Not only the people of Germany but people everywhere who have really suffered the ravages of mod- ern war, cannot be inspired by top-level pep talks. Nor can they be heartened by Eisenhower's re- cent announcement that he would not hesitate to order the use of the atomic bomb if he felt it were, to our advantage. We who think of ourselves as a most humane and Christian nation will use the L*t*eferlto.the6Iitor0.. A-bomb first if it is considered advantageous-regardless of pre- vious pronouncements to the con- trary! And when the A-bombs and the H-bombs begin to ex- plode, there can be no careful dis- crimination between civilian and soldier, between friend and foe, between the innocent and the guilty. T h e civilian population of America has not suffered the ef- fects of total war. But surely we possess the imagination to know its horrors. And knowing them, we must find constructive ways to ease the present world tensions. Armamants races are an old, old story-always with the same trag- ic ending. The call to arms does not inspire the war-weary people of the world. It will take some- thing positive, something ennob- ling, something akin to the spirit of the early Christians. It will take another UNRA-with billions spent to build and plant and teach, rather than to burn and lay waste and kill. It will take plows and tractors and building steel rather than guns and tanks and bomber planes. And it will take peace meetings rather than war rallies. Tonight there will be three peace plans ex- plained at Rackham Auditorium; the Nehru peace proposals, the Reuther plan. and the Quaker pro- posals for peace-all positive ways to ease world tensions. These "al- ternatives to war" are presented as one of the "Religion in Life Week" programs. Those of us who prefer peace to war would do well to attend. -Mandalie Henshaw University High School ,, * * * Generation .. To the Editor: "THE TIME has come," the Wal- rus said . . . " This letter shall speak of cabbages. It has long been the policy of reviewers in The Daily to assume the'pose, in reviewing the Generation, of weary, febrile old men who have read so much literature that no- thing really impresses them. And, since one realizes, that most of the reviews sound like the work of tired newspapermen, one is apt to pass over the review. But a time comes (Thurs., Feb. 22, '51) when one must speak of things. Mr. Dave Thomas is not res- ponsible. He is one of the many caught in. the act of apeing his elders. Nor are his elders to blame, since the effort to view literature as something of import is much more exhausting than to say, "We are tired by it all. We shall say how it impresses us." After one has finished reading Mr. Thomas' review, a deadly le- thargy sets in. One wonders what such an article has to do with Art, which is so dynamic. The contention being made here is that Mr. Thomas is no critic (con- trary to the pose) bt a reviewer, although this is also doubtful, and as such he should stick to the magazine and not to his Impres- sions. He has neither the time nor the inclination to make valid jud- gements. Let him be impartial both in attitude and tone of his re view (which he was not) as well as in facts. But keep the emotion- al backwash of his impressions off the printed page. Should he con- tinue to stick on his impartial fence, never committing himself openly, yet panning by mood and slant, which is the most insidious and difficult to combat, he is any- body's fair game. Mr. Thomas speaks in the first person, the position of authority, with none of authority's weight behind him. But the impressions which he airs are assumed by a trusting public to be valid critical judgements, "which they are not. Before the public gets to the ma- gazine they have a prejudice (Thomas') and the purpose of the artist is thwarted. The public has been given a back-hand slap: they are not competent enough to make their own judgements (it is as- sumed); the reviewer makes them for the public. Again, there is a treifiendous amount of egoism involved. Most critics and/or reviewers are con- tent to judge one poem and think they may have done a fair job. Not so Mr. Thomas. He passes judgement with equal equanimity on music, short story, poetry, es- say, photography, sculpture, and painting. This is, if one may put it mildly, remarkable. -t. carlin brammer, grad. * * * Militarism To the Editor: THE VISIT of a distinguished Indian lady to open a Gandhi library seems to be an appropriate occasion to add something further to the discussion of Mr. Lapham's case. It seems somewhat illogical for the University to accept a ;andhi library with one hand, and to expel a student for his con- version to Gandhi's principles with the other. I am not personally ac- quainted with Mr. Lapham, nor with the details of his case. Rather am I concerned with the effects on the University of an action which has at least the appearance of a lack of generosity, and of an unwillingness to tolerate sincere differences of opinion, which can hardly fail to lower its usefulness as an institution for the discovery and propagation of truth. I myself believe that a properly . motivated stand against partici- pation in all war at this peculiar Juncture of history is a service not only to God but to one's country. The demands of military defense are espentially insatiable and ulti- mately, incompatible with the maintenance of either democracy or capitalism. Military conscrip- tion is the beginning of totalitar- ianism. People are more free in Russia than they are in any army, and once conscription is generally accepted, the conscription of la-K bor and capital (and what more is communism than that) follow naturally. The' greatest threat to American society is not at present from without but from within- the threat of militarism; with its belief in destruction rather than discussion, in power rather than in convincement. I am not suggesting that Mr. Lapham, or even Gandhi, has the infallible answers. But Gandhi's great experiment in India repre- sents the one piece of twentieth century history that is different -that is a sign of hope rather than of despair. The utter inabil- ity of military defense to yield either security or peace, not to, say love or decency seems apparent. One would think ..that society should encourage those who are seeking, however clumsily and inadequately, better methods of defending those things which we all hold dear. I do not question the sincerity of those who have acted in this case. It is not easy to accept or ev- en to tolerate new ideas, when these seem to threaten the ancient securities of armed right on which" we have previously relied. It is not Mr. Lapham's ideas however which threaten these securities: they lie in ruins around us, destroyed by the hand of their own technical improvement. May not now be the time when a very simple but determined following of the way of Christ will show us an avenue of escape, not only for ourselves, but also for our country, which we all love. --Kenneth E. Boulding (Professor of Economics) i, A MUSIC MY TROUBLE, I suppose, is that I don't attend recitals to hear Heifetz play the violin or Horowitz play the piano: I go to hear a musician play Beethoven or Mozart. Last evening, armed with a score, I dis- covered that Heifetz doesn't play Beethoven -therstraight-forward Beethoven of the Kreutzer Sonata-but fusses with, and dis- torts what the composer originally intended. First, were the number of unwarranted retards and speed-ups: Beethoven careful- ly indicates in the first movement what passages are to be played adagio, and what passages are to be played presto. Heifetz added a number of his own tempo indications-none of which improved on Beethoven's own. Nor did Heifetz observe the repeat marks, either in the first or last movements. Since Beethoven kook the trouble to write first and second endings, Heifetz should at least take the trouble to observe the repeats and play all the notes leethoven wrote. The first and final movements of the Kreutzer Sonata go so quickly that the repeats are vitally neces- sary. But perhaps Heifetz feels that they don't go quickly enoxgh, and that too much Beethoven might bore the audience. Heifetz is much praised for his tone and his flawless intonation. But nothing is so calculated to upset the nervous system as +hn lia traifg n n nnhmo n . r, rrh h nn+;. Sixty-First Year Edited ano 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 Oregory ...... ...Associate Editor Bill Connolly...........Sports Editor Bob Sandell....Associate Sports Editor Bill Brenton.... Associate Sports Editor Barbara Jans........women's Editor Pat Brownson Associate Women's Editor Business Staff Bob Daniels ......... Business Manager Walter 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 Er, no, your Fairy Godfather didn't exactly buy this raiment for Gus. I had intended to I Dear me, Barnaby ... An intelligent shopper compares values and prices. Yes. I discovered this month's best buys were in printed fabrics. And 1 A f1 I