4 THE MICHIGAN DAILY FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1951 " I SL Elections t .f Uh - We Can't Purge Them, Boss - They've Left" MATrE R JrP PA CT TF STUDENTS today know nothing else about the Student Legislature, they know that elections are held twice a year and are accompanied by tremendous ex- citement. There is nothing essentially wrong' in get- ting worked up over an election. Ever since Harrison and his jug of hard cider, Ameri- cans have been getting excited about them. But on this campus, it seems that, while the public concern has over SL itself re- mained extremely moderate, election en- thusiasm has burst all reasonable bounds. The 'effects of this governmental elephantiasis are peculiar, to say the least. Students with no more purpose. than to see if they can be elected run for a legis- fiture which they know nothing (and wish to know nothing) about. The whole works degenerate into a massive popular- ity contest. As proof of this attitude on the part of many SL candidates, witness some of the platforms which appeared during the last election. "I will sincerely work to get a playground for the East Quadrangle" (even if SL could do anything about such a mat- ter, it is doubtful that they would come down off their lofty jurisdictional perch long enough to consider it). Surely, not many of this sort of candidates manage to get themselves elected. But some do, and they are the part of the SL which does the least good both to the stu- dents and the legislature itself. Serious student government does have a place on this campus. The SL has managed to poke through a certain amount of constructive legislation in their several years of existence, and given good membership, they may well manage more. Petitions are waitingin the Student Leg- islature Bldg., 122 S. Forest, for any student with the ambition to see through more than the campaign. With another election pon- derously approaching, it might be well for the Student Legislature and the campus at large to stand back a few paces and consider some relative values. The elected student government is an important thing. -Chuck Elliott Editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writers only. NIGHT EDITOR: LEONARD GREENBAUM I By STEWART ALSOP - BERLIN--This strange city is an island of freedom amid the surrounding slavery of the Soviet zone of Germany. It is a place where millions of simple people bravely car- ry on in the ever-present shadow of danger. It has several other personalities and as- pects. But for the traveller, Berlin is, above all, a chink in the iron curtain, through which much can be seen that is not visible from Washington or Paris or London. Perhaps the best symbol of the first thing one sees through this chink is a mothballed tank. Until rather recently, a large faction of Western intelligence officers had been encourkged by the be- lief that the Soviets possessed no reserve armor west of the Vistula. True, there were at least twelve Soviet armored divi- sions in Eastern Germany, but these di- visions, constantly wearing out their tanks in training ands on maneuvers, did not seem ready for a drive across Western Europe. Then one fine morning reports began to come in of tanks mothballed in garages and warehouses, in the same way that we moth- ball our reserve fleet. The size of this new- ly discovered reserve of Soviet armor has not yet been determined, but the estimates of the readiness of the Soviet armored divi- sions have already been anxiously revised. No one in Berlin expects a war this year (as no one in Seoul did either, it must be added). But the fact remains that the most striking phenomenon to be seen through this chink of the iron curtain is the exten- sive war preparation that has been carried on in the last ten months by the masters of the Kremlin. IT IS NOT THAT the Soviet armies have heavily reinforced-there are still the same thirty divisions in Eastern Germany and six more in Poland, although recent evidence suggests that at least one addition- al armored division may now be on the way from Russia. What has happened, rather, is that these armies, which were not ready to attack before, have now been brought al- most to the stage of full offensive readiness. Besides sending in reserve tanks, the Soviet planners have taken many other steps to prepare their war machine. Whereas their air and mechanized forces were formerly provided with fuel on a hand-to-mouth basis, a large permanent fuel stock has now been built up. Under- ground tankage is being constructed. at the airfields so that this stock can be fur- ther increased. In the same way, stocks of ammunition, of spare parts of all kinds for the air and ground forces, and of all other similar ne- cessities of war have been substantially in- creased. Crated air engines and even air frames have been brought in, so far as can be judg- ed in far larger numbers than would be needed to support the present Soviet Air Force of from 450 to 500 jets in East Ger- many. Even more significant, personnel and equipment for aircraft maintenance and tank repair shops have recently arrived in, East Germany. In the last war, the Soviet Army was often forced to send its damaged tanks as far as Kuibyshev before they could be put in order. In any European campaign, this would obviously be ruinous. The newly arrived maintenance staffs, which include German technicians trained in Soviet me- thods, will provide full maintenance facili- ties of all kinds here in Germany. THE GENERAL PICTURE is one of meth- odical war preparation, accomplished so slowly and quietly, on a foundation 'already so menacingly strong, that very few people have taken alarm. To be sure, there are still some gaps. The transport facilities avail- able to the Soviet armies would be thought inadequate by any American or European commander, partly because of the poor quality of steel rails supplied from East Germany for railroad improvement. But Russian commanders, who get their experi- ence with the Russian rail system, are un- fortunately unlikely to use American or Eu- ropean standards of transport. Again, and this time more significant, although they have a very high propor- tion of armored and mechanized divisions, the Soviet armies in Germany and Poland are distinctly short of artillery. Here the Russian standard is higher than ours-- Russian ground force tactics call for mass- ed use of artillery on the greatest scale. Probably, any Soviet war plan would call for bringing in additional artillery divi- sions, as it would certainly call for bring- ing in additional air groups-which of course can be done in a single night's 1. ht from Koenigsberg. All these different toilsomely collected facts about wvhat the Soviets have done and have not done in the last year for their Euro- pean forces, form a pattern which requires discussion in a subsequent report. It is enough to say here that what has been done vastly outweighs what has not been done.. If we had done one-half as much, the Krem- lin would be justified in its perpetual bellow- ing that the American war mongers are preparing an aggression. (Copyright, 1951, Ner York Herald Tribune Inc.) Ii ii ~4.',r ,ROLLS k j v "'S fa . P Y n II /ettePA 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. Student .Draft , ,0 DORIS FLEESON: Farmers in Mobilization WASHINGTON-President Truman has a touchy farm situation on his hands whieh could make his labor troubles look like a Sunday-school picnic. When labor revolts against the Presi- dent, it gets little of anything from the Congress, including sympathy. When far- ters complain, Congress bends both ears to the grass roots and acts obediently on what it learns. All this is perfectly clear to Mr. Truman's politically minded Secretary of Agriculture, I he Weekend In Town EVENTS OF UNUSUAL INTEREST IN TOWN T4HIS WEEKEND: DANCES OUT OF THIS WORLD, featuring an ultra-modern motif which includes ouch un- realistic items as surrealism and transcen- dentalism (just how is not clear), will be given tomorrow from 9 p.m. to midnight at the West Quad. Sponsored by Winchell House and Newberry Residence, open to all. LITTLE CLUB, dancing and refreshments in a cabaret atmosphere, at the League to- night. UNION DANCE, the regular weekly thing, with Tinker's orchestra, at the Union from 9 p.m. to midnight tomorrow. DRAMA HOTEL UNIVERSE, By Philip Barry, sec- ond in the Arts Theater Club's current series of six, opens tonight at 8:30 in the Club's theater, 209/2 E. Washington. Tomorrow and Sunday (and all next week); time is 8:30 p.m. Sat. and Sun., 8 p.m. other nights. For Club members and guests only. - , . c MOVIES THE KILLERS, a top-flight adaptation of Hemingway's very short story, with Bert Lancaster, Sam Levene and Edmund O'Bri- en. Tonight and tomorrow, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday, 8 p.m. at the Architecture- Aud. DON QUIXOTE, Ceryante's masterpiece in a Spanish film version with English sub- titles, tonight and tomorrow night, 7:15 and 9:15 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. AGAINST THE WIND, a British film about the OSS, at the Orpheum, today, to- morrow and Sunday. THE REDHEAD AND THE COWBOY, a 1-ne n n- - - XA+1 r arn_ *rrl mnni MM- Mr. Brannan, who is energetically applying himself to ways and means of assuaging farmers' complaints against mobilization. These are principally that not sufficient weight is 'being given to agriculture and the allocation of materials for farm supplies. POTENTIALLY even more troublesome is the cotton blo-'s threat to legislate a ban of price controls on cotton at the farm level. The present ceiling is more than 125 per cent of parity. The threat comes in the midst of growing tension between the city consumer who is so squeezed by high prices, and the farmer, who feels he is unjustly blamed for it. President Truman of course is squarely in the middle of the contending factions. Mr. Brannan has to work fast lest he be euchered out of representing agriculture in the mobilization effort as happened to his opposite number in labor, Secretary Tobin. In the wings, spurring on the farmers, are such tried and tested Brannan-haters as the American Farm Bureau Federation. its ag- gressive President, Allen Kline, who is a prominent Iowa Republican, and the Na- tional Grange. In a recent meeting here this group tried out the idea that farmers should name their own deputy administrators in the Office of Defense Mobilization, the eco- nomic stabilization agency and the Nation- al Production Administration. *~ * * THOSE PRESENT included Messrs. Flem- ing of the Farm Bureau, Tabor of the Grange, Stong of the Farmers Union, Davis of the Council of Farmer Co-operatives, Peer and Simms of the Committee on Farm Production Supplies. Fleming opened the meeting with a declar- ation that what is really needed to stabilize the economy is not price ceilings but an in- crease in interest rates and withdrawal of government support of United States bond prices at par. Davis reportedly agreed that price con- trols should be temporary and urged ag- riculture to get its own people into the mobilization program quickly. Flemingj was ready with nominees including Dean Myers of Cornell, Jesse Tapp of the Bank of America, and Chester Davis, a veteran of the Roosevelt farm agencies whois now with the Ford Foundation in California. Stong of the Farmers Union which has strong Fair Deal ties, refused to make nom- inations and withdrew. He later informed his hosts, the F.P.S. committee, that he had attended the meeting to discuss farm sup- plies but that it had in his opinion develop- ed into an effort to outflank Secretary Brannan. It is a fair guess that he hinted as' 4 CJINIEMA A rchitecture A uditorium THE KILLERS with Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien. 0RDINARILY, a cinematic expansion of a short story the caliber of Hemingway's terse masterpiece, The Killers, would be viewed with more than a little perturbation. In this case, however, quality and good taste take over the action where the Master leaves off and the end result does him no dis- service. The film is in the nature of an explora- tion into Ole Andreson's past and what might have been the circumstances lead- ing up to his murder by two professional killers. The picture opens with the classic lunch-room scene with most of the orig- inal dialogue intact and is, in mood and atmosphere, an almost perfect reproduc- tion of the original. The rest of the con- tinuity is concerned with the victim's recollections as he waits passively to be killed knowing ,there is no escape. This sequence, while not as successful as the fragment which precedes it, is neverthe- less very powerful in its own right and remarkably faithful to the probable in- tention of the author. Burt Lancaster is a tower of strength as the doomed Andreson while Ava Gardner gives full flavor to the role of a double crossing wench. Edmond O'Brien and Sam Levine fill out the cast of able supporting players. In the words of one of Hemingway's most articulate admirers, "real class." -D. R. Crippen ---.a i To the Editor:F W HILE Mr. Stegner and Mr.I Pike are putting in theirt "yell" for our country, perhaps they had better consider what is really best for the country at thisf time. I am assured that planse being presented concerning draft deferment for college students ar based on more than mere "selfish motives" and -"hogwash." True,1 there a r e possible unpatriotict draft-dodgers in the universities, just as elsewhere. But the ma-1 jority of draft-eligible men on thist campus and others are not of that class. We should hope that they are intelligent men, who realize1 fully their responsibility tortheir country, and who conceive ther fact that the fate of their nation is their own fate. They will not1 selfishly resist fighting for their country, though they may grieve the prospect of time lost in thes important business of getting at college education.1 The very fact that getting at college -education is important- not only to the individual, but to the country-is what has spurred deferment plans for college stu- dents. The government, as well1 as most educators, certainly rec- ognize the advantages of making it possible for these students to continue with their school work. By cutting short their education they would, in some cases, be eliminating some of the country's most important citizens and po- tential leaders. In a country such as ours, intelligent leaders are not only desirable, but are a necessity. There is no doubt that the col- leges and universities produce im- portant leaders in all fields. Mr. Stegner and Mr. Pike are showing little faith or respect for their fellows when they state that as far as they are concerned "the more of these so-called intelli- gentsia they nail, the better.'' I agree, let's not be selfish or unpa- triotic, but please, sirs, let's do be reasonable and intelligent about this. .-D. Shaver '52 McGee Case . To the Editor: IN REGARDS TO Mark Sand- ground's letter in Sunday's Daily we have the following com- ments to make: First, we agree with his state- ment that students should do a little thinking before jumping headlong into a project such as the recent one to save Willy McGee. However, the very fact that Justice Harold Burton of the United States Supreme Court saw fit to postpone the execution of Mr. McGee, seems to indicate to us that everything concerning the McGee trial was not strictly on the up and up. Mr. Sandground states that "McGee ws tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers in a United States Court." This fact seems to satisfy him that Mr. McGee is guilty. He seems to assume that an American court can do no wrong. Whether or not Willy McGee is innocent, we do not know. This is not the question, anyway. The question is: "Should Willy MgGee be allowed to have a fair, unbiased trial in a court of law which will assure him every measure of jus- tice possible? We believe that any man, innocent or guilty, is entitled to this. After this trial has been con- ducted, and even if Mr. McGee is found to be guilty, it is still debat- able that he should be electrocuted. To us, this seems like rather cruel punishment. We know of no state in the Union where a white man has ever been put to death for this crime! Mr. Sandground accuses the people on campus who are sponsor- ing the movement to stop the exe- cution of Willy McGee of being "agitators, rabble-rousers, and plain Communistswho are trying to destroy our freedom." Why must everyone who believes in sticking up for the underdog be labeled a Communist? We may be wrong, but we are still not convinced that the stu- dents of this University who are trying to save a man's life, are all Reds! We still believe that the vast majority of these people is acting in this matter because they do not want to see freedom perish. In his letter, Mr. Sandground said that "men have died and are dying to protect our form of government." Yes, that is true. And we believe that they are dying to protect that form of government which was founded on the principle that "all men are created equal" be they white or black, or yellow; -rich or poor! -Gene Mossner '52 ~Alan Warshawsky '52. McGee Case . To the Editor: H AVING EXCHANGED views with Mr. Cal Samra on the cur- rent Willie McGee case, I was sur- prised to read in his "interpretive" editorial his persistent belief that the ad hoc committee is not one merely interested in winning jus- tice. The fact that he criticizes the statements of individual commit- tee members (re: two-minute si- lent prayer) seems to indicate judgment of the committee, not as a whole, but as a rally of individ- ualists striving, through the means of this case, towards their own ends. It is true, the suggestion for the silent prayer was made by an individual, but it did not reflect the views of the committee-it was merely an idea, offered in sin- cerity. As Mr. Samra himself pointed out, the committee did not approve the suggestion-does this necessarily imply underlying cu- rents of misled agitation? Just as Mr. Lynch exercised the right to comment and suggest, so did other "emotional" individuals. Let the committee and the public agree with whom they wish. The McGee case wasnot brought to public attention as a political issue, and therefore, no political groups were asked' to participate. All meetings were open to the pub- lic, whether this public was YD, YR, or simply interested in justice, politically speaking or otherwise. If 'these political groups were in- terested, why could they not have attended these meetings without special invitation? If I am not mis- taken, these groups are now being urged to work with the committee. Aside from these petty disagree- ments between the various individ- uals contributing their views, we3 must not forget the true issue-the cause of the formation of the com- mittee. Those who tear apart this committee, or those who wrangle together as to Mr. McGee's inno- cence or guilt, seem to have com- pletely lost sight of the issue. If these people would apply their cri- tical energies constructively toward helping the committee achieve its goal-that of a stay of execution and fair trial for Mr. McGee-not only would the wasteful name- calling desist, but chances for its success would be greatly- increased. -Francine J. Daner. McGee Case.. .. To the Editor: Considering the factual vacuum in which the McGee case is cur- rently discussed, we believe that it is not amiss to present an anal- ysis of the charges raised by his supporters.- , The Supreme Court of Mississip- pi has considered the case on three separate occasions. In its first de- cision the court ordered a new trial which was subsequently conducted in another county where there was less likelihood of mob pressure. The state supreme court reversed the trial court the second time because of systematic exclusion of Negroes from juries. A third trial ensued and again the jury returned a ver- dict of guilty. On appeal the state court sustained this conviction. In this trial there was no evidence of mob violence, and as the appellate court remarked, McGee's counsel had every opportunity to present his case-evidenced by the five volumes of testimony presented for and against the accused. Moreover, testimony, unrefuted by the defense,, indicates that the trial was conducted in a calm at- mosphere. These questions were considereA by the state supreme court--a court which gave the de- fense special permission to appeal after expiration of the legal time limit. These questions were raised before the U.S. Supreme Court, and were summarily dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Although, as Mr. Silk points out, this does not constitute an expression of opin- ion on the merits of the case, it is strong evidence that no procedural injustice occurred. In the past fif- teen years, the Supreme Court has not been niggardly in granting hearings with respect to state criminal procedures, nor has it been noted for its insensitiveness to the rights of Negroes. Even if we concluded; as we can- not, that the trial was unfair, we would not agree to the unsound remedies proposed by McGee's ad- herents. It is said by some that President Truman should intervene under Civil Right's legislation. What legislation? Do they refer to legislation which manifestly does not authorize such interven- tion; or do they appeal to pending legislation which Congress has not yet passed? How do they reconcile constitutional principles with the foolish contention that the Presi- dent can or should intervene with the Supreme Court? It is perti- nent to point out that under our federal system the President has no power of pardon or commuta- tion regarding offenses committed against state law. Moreover, care- ful reading of some of the letters indicates a rather callous attitude to the effect that "the law be dam- ned." The only realistic recourse of McGee supporters is to request clemency of the governor of Missis- sippi. Morally, we do not condone the imposition of the death penal- ty; we recognize that it may be un- just to execute a Negro in a situa- tion where that penalty has never been imposed upon a white man. However, this is essentially a dif- ferent matter-one to which Mc- Gee's adherents have not enthusi- astically addressed themselves. On the basis of known facts we cannot conclude that the third trial was unfair. Rather it would seem that the off-campus instiga- tors of the present agitation have adopted admirable strategy: they have chosen a case which, from the defendant's standpoint, legally is weak and emotionally strong. They can thereby exploit fully either his execution (which, in their view, will discredit our legal system) or an improbable commutation or pardon (which, in their view, would constitute an admission of the righteousness of their charges), -Clyde E. Jacobs, Theodore V. Liss, Reo M. Christenson, Sidney Belanoff, . Heber R. Harper, Joseph L. Sutton. of their adulation of fame and great liames, will passionately and barbarcisly attack Mr. Gross for his revi4w of the Heifetz concert. It is oL15 the thought of such gross injustice that has determined me to a rite, this letter In fact, I believe Mr. Gross was far too lenient and gentle with Heifetz; such leniency is to be deprecated whether it originates from the editorial office of The Daily, the Music Schoo :. or Mr. Gross' forgoing the luxury of W'eaties for Wednesday's break- fast. Mr. Gross commixed an over- sight which would account, in part, for this gentleness; he explicitly states that he was "armed with a score" but where, oh! WHERE was his tuning fork? I am sure this in- strument should have proved most embarrassing for all concerned. But this is a minor point when compared to the soft-pr aled cri- tique of the violinist's interpre'a- tion. Mr. Gross is right. The only way to have the Kreltzer Sonata is to have it performed on a mechatcally perfect player-pian and "player-violin - pr ferabiv k without', human inicerference on eitherthe part of the performer or the composer. Like Mr. Gross I believe that mathematics and the laburawt*i would be far more suit- able for the composition and per- formance of music - after all, adagio is adagio, presto is pr" sto and ne'er the tempi should meet.. Were it not that we had d cicd to liquidate the human element. I should h ve mentioned the hope- lessly ir~exact comp omise which musical notation forces on the composer's intentions. Beyond all this, the fact is that Mr. Heifetz was totally INCOM- MUNK ABLE in many passages of the 1=e utzer - especially where the piano was the solo instrument. I hope this defense of Mr. Gross wil be taken at its face value: his sentiments and mine are exactly the samne. Perhaps it was editoial pressure which caused him to over- look his weightier arguments, and thus I have taken the liberty cf extending his principles to their logical conclusions. Apat from the innate benefits of these conch- sions, I feel the letter serves the purnose of transferring a great deal of the stigma of Mr. Gross' "adverse criticisms" fron himself and The Daily to one of its co- tented readers. --Earl E. Stevens. DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN (Continued from Page 2) Hostel Club: South Lyon Hostel Work Trip and Square Dance, Sat., March 17, and sun., March 1. Bike or ride. Call Mary Rowley, 3-8687. Faculty sports Night: 7:30 to 0 p.m., IM Bldg. For faculty and staff mem- bers, their wives, and chidren; all sports, including the swimming pool, available. Frosh Weekend Mass Meeting for all freshmen women, Mon., March 17 7:3 p.m., League Ballroom. ..-- 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.... 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. Heifetz Review To the Editor: . . I 11 I AM NO personal friend of Mr. Gross; indeed, I know nothing about him except that he is a member of the English Depart- ment. However, = do feel that a defense of his position is neces- sary Tbcere are those who, because Looking Back 35 YEARS AGO GENERAL John J. Pershing left El Paso for somewhere on the Mexican border to lead American forces in Mexico in a hunt for bandit Franscisco Villa. BARNABY it's Barnaby and his Fairy Godfather. With a little.surprise for our favorite Ghost. Here! Wear it in aood health. Not exactly. It's yard goods. Effect? The boy's mother will run it un for You on her machine. O'Malley