I
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, MAY 27, 1951
ERPRETING THE NEWS:
Korean Peace Rumors
By J. M. ROBERTS, JR.
Associated Press News Analyst
UNITED NATIONS forces regain the
nitiative in Korea the New York head-
ers is buzzing with talk of peace and
'rs of Russian feelers, but there is no
test evidence of anything concrete.
ne little incident about three weeks
, which had no touch of the official
ut it, may have provided the basis for
it of the talk which has been going on
h at the UN and in Washington. This
evidently prompted Secretary Ache-
' statement, with subsequent backing
a the President, that he knew of no
rtures.
miebody without official standing in
ia wrote to a friend, who turned the
r over to the foreign office of a non-
,erent country, suggesting that Russia
the UN allies should start peace talks.
.e Russians at the UN, who enjoy seeing
little bypasses, merely said "No com-
," a device which frequently serves to
hten speculation.
.e letter did come to the UN to the good
>rials published in The Michigan Daily
written by members of The Daily staff
represent the views of the writers only.
HT EDITOR: ZANDER HOLLANDER
offices committee, but constant inquiry has
failed to produce anyone who takes it
serious.
There is an air of expectancy around the
UN, probably based on the often-expressed
hope of Washington officials that a Chinese
defeat in their spring offensive would create
a situation in which negotiation would be
possible. But there is not the slightest in-
dication that either side has made a move.
The next few days may, of course, give us
some evidence on, which to base an evalua-
tion of the whole Washington idea that
China might become convinced of the fu-
tility of its war effort and be willing to stop
it.
Much will depend, of course, upon
Russian-Chinese reasons for continuing
the war after North Korean forces were
defeated. If China's main incentive was
the clearing of Allied troops from Korea,
then she might give it up as a bad job.
But if, as seems more likely, the broad
Communist intention is now to keep the
United States tied up in Korea and there-
by weaken her hand elsewhere, the Com-
munist leaders, Russian and Chinese, will
not worry much about their battle casual-
ties.
It would not seem reasonable from the
Russian standpoint to relieve pressure on
the Allies in Korea now, for instance, while
Britain and the United States are trying
to stabilize their position in Japan.
DORIS FLEESON:
Nominations
WASHINGTON-A Senator from the deep
south broke into an old-hymn tune
when told that Harry C.Butcher, World War
II aide to General Eisenhower, had written
that "President Truman himself might sug-
gest his (Ike's) name to the Democratic
Convention."
"Oh happy day that fixed my choice,"
caroled this member of the Russell Commit-
tee which is exploring the case of General
MacArthur.
Many Democratic politicians feel that
Mr. Butcher has offered the ideal solution.
It would put their retiring President in an
attractive light before the country and it
would fulfill every condition that General
Eisenhower has laid down for his own can-
didacy. The truth is that a number of
them had been wondering how to plant
the idea at the White House that the way
for Mr. Truman really to insure the con-
tinuation of his policies was to kidnap Ike
himself personally.
Democrats appear genuinely satisfied that
the MacArthur fracas and the increasingly
firm attitudes struck by Senator Taft with
respect to his party's foreign policy have
effectively ended General !Eisenhower's
chances for the Republican nomination. They
are not quite sure that Senator Taft can be
nominated; though, for public consumption,
they talk as if they were. They think Taft
could and would veto Ike.
They also predict that if General Mac-
Arthur reads himself out of the Republican
nomination he will do it in such a way as to
bar Ike also; that is, he will say that profes-
sional soldiers shouldn't try to be president.
Not too many are prepared to say that Gen-
eral MacArthur is really out of it; they are
positive that, if he is, he will want company.
The first reports from the Denver meet-
ina of the TDemocratic National Committee
The Week's News
IN RETROSPECT
ettet 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.
I I - --
k
A6
y ,i
MA OTE H AO FA
By JOSEPH ALSOP
LONDON-Although the American and
$ritilsh policy makers are plainly a bit
vague about it, the evidence is overwhelming
that the Kremlin is now using a most pro-
mising new gambit in its gigantic program
of world conquest.
In brief, the Iranian oil dispute is to
serve as the fuse which will blow up the
whole explosive Middle East. When and if
the explosion occurs, Britain will be fear-
fully awakened. Britain and America will
be angrily divided. The Western alliance
will be demoralized. And the worst danger
to the Soviet Union, the vital strategic
airbases in the eastern Mediterranean,
will be partly or wholly neutralized.
Then will be' the time for the Kremlin to
snake its next move.The upset in the world
balance of power that now threatens in the
Middle East will paralyze the Western alli-
ance. And the risk of resistance to a well-
planned new aggression, against Yugoslavia
f z example, will thus be reduced almost to
the vanishing point. This is the glittering
opportunity for which the Kremlin is now
waiting.
It should be understood, moreover, that the
masters of the Kremlin have labored with
unusual astuteness to create this opportun-
ity. For a year and a half, they have done
hll in their power to make the more irre-
sponsible Iranian nationalists forget the
Russian danger to the north, and to drive
them onward in their wild career.
* * * *
FOR EXAMPLE, after the murder of Gen.
Rahmara and the first nationalization
vote, the order was given for the Communist
Tudeh party to lead a wave of "anti-British"
strikes all over Iran. The strikes precipitated
an internal crisis. The >crisis brought to
power the totally irrational extremist, Dr.
Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh's tri-
umph ended all hope of reasonable settle-
mnent of the, oil dispute by negotiation.
Whereat the Soviet AmbassadornSadchikov
went to Mossadegh, to promise that the Rus-
sians would not move into northern Iran,
CURRENT MOVIES
At The Michigan.. ..
GO FOR BROKE, with Van Johnson.
ROBERT PIROSH, who wrote "Battle-
ground," the best picture about the last
war, has been given another crack at the
genre, this time taking over the director's
duties as well. It cannot be said that he has
made the most of his opportunity, largely
because he is apparently much too con-
scious that he is offering a tribute instead
of telling a story about men in combat.
The recipients of the tribute here are the
members of the 442nd Regimental Combat
Team, made up exclusively of Japanese-Am-
ericans whose fine war record in Europe has
heretofore never been given its rightful no-
tice.
Commendable as Mr. Pirosh's purpose
is, however, the roles created to bring the
story to life are heavily typed, played by
diligent but limited amateurs, and co-
sequently fail to hold any real interest. In
comedy episodes where the artless natural-
ness of the men is an asset, Pirosh scores
at times, but by and large, these scores
are pale and familiar imitations of their
prototypes in "Battleground."
Worse, however, the depth of feeling and
'a
even if the British landed troops in the
south.
This was the subtle final touch, here dis-
closed for the first time. The much dis-
cussed 1921 treaty theoretically gives
Moscow the right to send forces into Iran
when any other power does so. The fear
of a Russian invasion, touched off by a
British landing, formerly haunted even
Mossadegh. Sadchikov's extraordinary as-
surance was precisely what was needed to
make Mossadegh throw caution to the
winds. And thus was produced the pres-
ent desperate situation.
As these words are written, there is only
one ray of light. Some signs in Teheran sug-
gest that the effort to replace the Mossa-
degh government with a more reasonable
administration is not quite so hopeless as it
appeared a few days ago, when the Shah
was refusing to tackle the problem. A new
government with which reasonable nego-
tiations can be carried on in a reasonable
way is the only cheap way out. It is to be
hoped that American influence has been
joined with British influence to attain this
end.
* 4 4 *
THERE is nothing cheap at all about the
other supposedly cheap way out that
some personalities in both the State Depart-
ment and the Foreign Office are now mumb-
ling about. This is the plan to "bring the
Persians to their senses" by cutting off the
Iranian government's oil revenues.
Anyone who has met the leading per-
sonalities and smelled the peculiar air of
Teheran knows that this plan will almost
certainly work in reverse. With the oil
revenues cut off, the army and civil ser-
vice will no longer be paid. Dr. Mossadegh
may seek to meet the emergency by mak-
ing Kerensky-like speeches, until the
authority of the government simply dis-
solves and the Tudeh party takes over.
Or more probably, he will go to Moscow
for the loan Sadchikov has already hinted
about; and he will get it on terms that
will open the way for Tudeh. In short, the
betting is nine to one that this supposedly
easy way will enid with the Tudeh party
in power in all of Iran, and with the vital
oil resources thus under Soviet control at
last.
Yet there is grave danger that the Foreign
Office and the State Department will flab-
bily drift into this foolish course. The State
Department is said to have delusions on the
subject. Here in London, the precedent is
set, since the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
has already suspended revenue payments to
the Iranian treasury. The British can hard-
ly fail to retaliate if the Iranians expropriate
their oil. They can hardly consider a landing
without American moral support. And so,
the more you examine the situation, the
bigger, the heavier, the more grave the
American responsibility appears.
(Copyright, 1951, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.)
1U
indicate that the party leaders through the
country are not too cast down by the Presi-
dent's low estate. They are said to have still
the confidence born of 1948 that he can fight
his way back with the people.
Whether they are whistling in the dark
or not, they have certainly learned that if
a President wants renomination, he'll get
it. That is why pro-Eisenhower Senators
have been wondering how to induce Mr. Tru-
man to plan an Eisenhower coup on his
own motion.
(Copyright, 1951, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
Italian
Elect ions
By The Associated Press
ROME-Italy's Communist Party - the
largest outside of Russia-will get its
first ballot box test in three years at the
nation's municipal elections starting today.
In all, voters in almost 5,000 cities and
towns with a combined population of 27,-
576,572 will pick municipal councils today
and on June 10. At the same time, pro-
vincial councils will be elected in 58 of the
country's 19 provinces.
The elections will be an all-out battle be-
tween forces of Premior Alcide De Gasperi,
head of Italy's Christian Democrat majority
party, and the 2,500,000-member Communist
Party under Moscow-trained Palmiro Tog-
liatti and its ally, the Italian Socialist Party
(PSI) headed by Pietro Nenni.
Normally, municipal elections would de-
pend largely on local issues, but Premior De
Gasperi appears to have determined upon
making the balloting a kind of national
referendum.
For one thing, he evidently believes pros-
pects for luccess are sufficiently good that
the Communists will suffer a further blow
to their prestige nationally. For another, his
government is concerned about the role
Communist administrations in towns and
cities could play in dividing the country in
case of war.
Mario Scelba, Christian Democrat Min-
ister of Interior, says the Communist gov-
ernments in power in one-third of the
country's municipalities, with a total pop-
ulation of 20,000,000, are tools for Italy's
Red leaders.
In an early campaign speech he sounded
the government's campaign goal: return
these communities "to the Italians"
Campaign issues were summed up in
"Europeo," one of Italy's leading indepen-
dent weeklies, as "Russia or America, Com-
munism or Democracy, Togliatti or De Gas-
peri."
The first of three rounds of municipal
elections will be held tomorrow in 2,743 cities
and towns in 28 provinces. On June 10, vot-
ing will take place in 2,151 communities in
30 provines. Elections in the remainder of
Italy's 7,408 municipalities are expected in
the fall.
The Communist-Socialist combine now
holds sway in about 1,200 of the 2,743 cities
and towns in the 28 provinces to vote on
May 27. They are scattered from Trent, along
the Austrian border, and San Remo, on the
French frontier, to Florence in the heart of
Tuscany and Venice and Ancona on the
Adriatic coast.
Italian observers generally give the De
Gasperi forces the edge in the voting. Some
Christian Democrat writers boast that 1,000
communities will be wrested from the Com-
munists.
A strategic cluster of provinces where
-Daily-Bill Hampton
"I could swear I creamed that exam."
DRAFT TEST-About 1500 hopeful 'U' students scribbled fran-
tically yesterday morning on the nation-wide draft aptitude test, the
spector of service in the "new army" breathing inspiration into every
healthy male.
NEW PRESIDENT-Two men held the campus spotlight this'
week. One achieved University fame overnight; the other had gained
the respect and affection of the students and faculty through 22 years
of devoted service.
In its most momentous decision in almost a quarter of a century,
the Board of Regents named Harlan H. Hatcher, vice-president of
Ohio State University, as successor to President Alexander G. Ruthven.
While speculation experts ate crow, the campus received the news
with mixed emotions. Although the fact that President Ruthven was
going to retire had been known for sometime, its real meaning for the
University had not been fully realized.
But, as the administration and the student body were absorbing the
shock of the imminent loss of President Ruthven, they knew that the
Regents had made a wise choice for his successor. Hatcher, 52-year-old
author and administrator, is one of Ohio's outstanding citizens and
ranks among the nation's top scholars. He came to Ohio State in 1922
as an English instructor, was appointed full professor in 1932 and
served as dean from 1944-48. In 1948, he became vice-president in
charge of faculties and curriculum.
While the University prepared to roll out the welcome mat when
Hatcher takes office September 1, for 16,000 students it was "Ruthven
Week." Tuesday night, in spite of an early evening drizzle, a wildly
cheering crowd of close to 3,000 students turned out to pay tribute
to the president and Mrs. Ruthven for their long period of leadership
in campus affairs.
A surprise serenade, featuring the presentation of a scroll from
the student body to the University's first couple, was held in front of
the Ruthven home. The president was visibly moved as his favorite
songs were sung amidst loud cheering and applause.
The State Legislature also paid homage to the president in adopt-
ing a resolution citing him as responsible for building the University
into "an educational institution recognized throughout the world."
And the Michigauma braves added their gratitude to "Peace-
maker" Ruthven's friendly guidance during the most turbulent period
that the University had ever known. In an impressive ceremony Friday
at Tappan Oak, the president, complete with feathers and his famous
smile, accepted a golden arrow from the tribe.
But it was clear that the end of the summer would not mark the
end of the Ruthven Era. The president said he was "retiring in the
University" and would keep The Daily letters column lively with his
comments on the affairs of college.
A grateful university gave its heart to the man who will soon em-
bark on a new role as Michigan's elder statesman.
UNIVERSITY APPROPRIATIONS-After a record 30 hour ses-
sion lasting into yesterday afternoon, the State Legislature passed a
$14,845,000 appropriation for the University. This represented a cut
of only about $400,000 from the amount requested by the University,
in contrast to last year, when economy-minded Republicans butchered
several millions from the 'U' budget.
National .. .
WHEAT FOR INDIA-Campus do-gooders congratulated them-
selves on another victory, as the House at last passed with minor re-
visions the Senate wheat-for-India bill. A joint committee will iron out
the differences of the $190,000,000 wheat loan bills.
MACARTHUR WOES--Gen. Douglas MacArthur took it on the
chin this week before the joint Senate Armed Services and Foreign
Relations Committees. Chiefs-of-Staff Omar Bradley and J. Lawton
Collins took turns in blasting the General for his insubordination.
Collins declared that MacArthur went against the strong advice of
the Joint Chiefs by sending UN troops to the Manchurian border,
while Bradley revealed that the Pentagon had repeatedly warned the
General about the gap between the Eighth and Tenth Armies which
led to the disastrous November defeat.
* * * * . -
Around the World ...
ROUND TWO WON-This was a week of success for United
Nations forces in Korea. The second round of the Chinese spring
offensive became a smashing Allied victory. Repeated Chinese thrusts
on the eastern front were met, contained, then by week's end, hurled
back across the 38th parallel. Lt. Gen. Van Fleet was jubilant as.he
declared his Eighth Army would go wherever necessary to "kill more
Reds." 60,000 Communists faced encirclement and annihilation as the
UN forces pounded ahead into North Korea. It was clear that the Red
spring offensive was doomed to catastrophic failure. Would Peiping
now be ready to negotiate a settlement to the bloody little war?
* * * *
IRAN SEETHES-Tension' reached the boiling point this week
in oily Iran, as the crisis headed for a possible blow-up. 4000 British
paratroopers. were rushed to nearby Cyprus Island, as Iranian premier
Mohammed Mossadegh tearfully told reporters that Iran would fight
for oil nationalization. Meanwhile, ominous hints came seeping out
of the Kremlin that Russia would oppose with force any foreign inter-
vention in Iran.
-Crawford Young
Dorm Study Halls
To the Editor:
AS a University student I view
with great concern the in-
creasing attitude of hostility dis-
played by the residence halls
towards "outsiders" of any kind.
I specifically refer to one recently
adopted policy.
In many quadrangle study halls
there are signs hung on the walls,
requesting any student to immedi-
ately report to his resident advisor
any other person in the room who
is not a member of the house. Now
these study halls are often quite
empty, and to exclude a student
from such facilities merely be-
cause he is not a resident of the
quad seems to be quite a juvenile
attitude
The entire purpose of a Univer-
sity is to furnish a person with the
stimulus and atmosphere towards
the attainment of knowledge and
learning. The residence halls, be-
ing an intrinsic part of our Uni-
versity, should certainly not adopt
a hostile attitude towards a sup-
posed "non-member." We are all
students and we are all here "to
learn. To tell an affiliated stu-
dent seeking study to "go back
where you came from" is about as
undemocratic and immature as
countering any seemingly radical
or new idea with the feeble "why
don't you go to Russia." It is a
well known fact that many frater-
nities have poor study facilities.
But is this to be regarded as a
punishment for going fraternity?
Is it so very presumptuous for such
a student to seek a place to study?
Many students can neither af-
ford to' join a fraternity nor live
in a quadrangle. They must live
out in rooms which are entirely
inadequate for work of any kind.
After ten o'clock all officially,
sponsored places of study such as
our library are closed, and on
Sundays they are shut down all
day. For a serious student to
quietly sit down at a table with a
book certainly constitutes no en-
croachments u p o n anybody's
rights, and to allow such a facility
is not merely being tolerant-it is
being just and is giving a student
an even break.
--Charles Browne
* -* *
murdering his opposition and ter-
rorizing his foes, simply because
of certain leftist, tendancies. He
has never had a fair trial. This
poor unfortunate is being slander-
ed and libeled day by day without
a chance to defend himself against
such atrocious, unmitigated, yel.
low-dog defamations of character.
Therefore, I urge all true liber-
als to unite and write. Petition
the President, Congress and the
Supreme Court to step in and see
that the Cincinnati Nine is ex-
onerated so that the rest of the
world will see that we are making
some progress towards the goals
set by our great friends and war-
time allies.
Write or wire today!
-Morton T. Eldridge, '53L
* * *
Book Burning .. .
To the Editor:
THE PRESENT controversy sur-
rounding Birth of a' Nation
would seem more appropriate to a
book banning in Boston than to
the presumably enlightened lib-
eralism of a university. The issues
of both types of controversy involve
a moral question; the sincerity of
both parties in each case is hardly
to be doubted; and the end to
which each aspires is truly laud-
able. But one wonders in either
case whether the moral problem at
hand is really relevant to the sub-
ject. N
Is moral 'criticism germane to
the esthetic? One can easily ans-
wer this affirmatively, but in so
doing, he is seriously circumscrib-
ing all art to that which conforms
to criteria other than esthetic.
Moral objections to art are rele-
vant insofar as an esthetic experi-
ence or attitudeT is precluded by
the materials employed. Stag films,
"eight-page novels" and other such
pornographia may be properly ex-
cluded since they are manufac-
tured for a response which is In-
tended to be erotic and toward
which it is impossible to assume an
esthetic attitude in our culture at
the present time.
Most of the moral criticism of
art in the present and past has'
been by those whose capacity to
appreciate a wrk of art is limited
to its conformity to their moral at-
titudes. The effect this has had
and can have on art scarcely needs
to be elaborated. Objections to
movies like The Miracle, Oliver
Twist and to artists like Ezra
Pound, D. H. Lawrence, Diego Ri-
viera, Walter Gieseking and Kir-
sten Flagstad have tended to im-
poverish rather than enrich our
art experiences. If Birth of a Na-
tion must be censored because it Is
contrary to our attitudes toward
racial equality, how then can we
.deplore the Politburo's criticism of
Prokofiev and Shostakovitch for
writing bourgeois music?
-R.W. Secombe, '53L
i
.5
A
Birth of a Nation
0 .
To the Editor:. I
O FAR no one seems to have
"'pointed out that "Birth of a
Nation," in addition to being an
historical document, is also a ma-
jor land mark in the development
of the film in the United States.
Regardless of the content of the
work it represents D. W. Griffith
when he was at the height of his
creative powers. The film has
been described as the first modern.
movie, and the work of Griffith
during its period (c. 1915) has
been described by British and
French critics as an American
masterpiece. One soviet director
in a letter to Griffith in 1936
hailed him as the father and
teacher of that Russian school of
film-making led by Eisenstein and
Potemkin.
That the content of the film is
pernicious I do not deny; I also
feel that the subjects of a good
many of Durer's Apocalypse etch-
ings are'false and pernicious, but
their superb form and technique
is reason enough for their preser-
vation and wide distribution. In
the same way, it seems to me, that
"Birth of a Nation," in spite of its
subject matter, will continue to be
regarded as a masterpiece in its
own medium.
--Clayton Bredt
Neptune Film Society
Seventh Place .. .
To the Editor:
N READING the recent pro-
testations in defense of the
Trenton Six, I was appalled at the
seeming callousness of these same
liberals in not defending a group
much more maligned and discrimi-
nated against. This group, of
course, is the famous or infamous
Cincinnati. Nine. The rash, un-
warranted charges, insults unima-
ginable and outright violence that
have been showered on these un-
fortunates is certainly a black eye
for America in its fight for demo-
cracy. Day after day and night aft-
er night the label "Reds" has been
slapped on this group with abso-
lutely no proof of any kind forth-
coming to indicate their leftist
leanings.
One of their number, a seeming-
ly affable Pole by the name of
Kluszewski, has been charged with
A
Sixty-First Year
Edited and managed by students et
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
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T
Looking Back
FIVE YEARS AGO
THE NATIONWIDE railroad strike ended
minutes before the House passed Presi-
dent Truman's bill to permit drafting of
men for industrial emergencies and penaliz-
ing strikes against government seized prop-
erties.
* * *'
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO
f"HINA moved for a "lasting peace" with
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BARNABY
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