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THE MICHIGAN DAILY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1951

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DORIS FLEESON:
Wilson & Labor
W ASHINGTON - Mobilization director
Charles E. Wilson is having a bloody
battle with labor. Senator Maybank of South
Carolina has spoken up in derogation of
Mr. Wilson's highhandedness. When im-
portant segments of the press here under-
took to entertain Mr. Wils6n privately to
tdiscuss his problems, violent antagonisms
erupted between some of them and him al-
most before the first martini was down the
hatch.
This is pretty good going even for a
production genius. Mr. Wilson has not
been on the job very long nor has he yet
delved deeply into the real intracacies of
his job.
Mr. Wilson is a great natural force, ob-
viously, or he would not have risen from
shipping clerk to head of General Electric's
immense industrial empire. At his desk end-
less hours, with drive and desk-pounding
he kept things moving there.
But the extraordinary delegation of pow-
er given him on demand by President Tru-
man does much more than give him author-
ity over production. He has power over
prices, over the delicate relationships be-
tween management, labor and the public
and over the whole economic structure.
A vast amount of human relations is in-
volved in such matters and it is in those
human relations that he seems to be fal-
ing. He has no humor, which is the saving
leaven of countless situations, and he ap-
parently lacks imagination about the other
fellow.
The result is that, despite a personal mo-
desty which nobody disputes, when he talks
about what he intends to do he gives an
impression of autocracy. Some very passion-
ately worded reports are going out over the
country about his tough and humorless at-
titudes.
At the stormy press dinner for him, one
calm and noncontentious editor under-
took to pour oil on the troubled martinis
with a harmless joke. Mr. Wilson glared
at him and demolished him too.
Mr. Wilson must have authorized millions
to sell his products to the public in his 'day.
Apparently he feels that power is enough in
this situation without selling appeal. The
politicians with whom he will have to deal
in the end can tell him different.
The man in the hardest spot is Presi-
dent Truman. Not only has he give away
much authority to MVr. Wilson, he needs
to get a difficult job done. Yet he knows,
both as President and head of his party,
that labor's defection is serious and that
mutterings on capitol hill can swell into
endless rue.
The question is being asked whether the
right aides can help solve the situation.
Some who dealt with Mr. Wilson during
World War II say he is not the type to
share his mantle; that he will either put it
over in spite of high water or he will not.
They anticipate that, if the President does
not support him, he will quit.
(Copyright, 1951, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.}
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
LEONARD GREENBAUM: NIGHT EDITOR
Post Off ice
Economy
THE POST OFFICE faces a deficit of
more than $500,000,000, and both Presi-
dent Truman and Postmaster General Don-
aldson have strongly urged increased rates.

for second, third and fourth class mailing
matter. So it certainly makes sense for the
Government to save every penny it can by
transferring short-haul mail from trains to
trucks-especially if mail by, truck also
means faster and better service.
The change-over will be a financial
blow for the railroads. It is estimated
'that those in this area will lose about
$850,000 a year at the existing rates. If
the 95 per cent increase for which the
railroads have applied were to be granted
by the I.C.C., the loss, naturally, would be
much greater.
But why should the Post Office pay as
much as $3.20 a mile for a 20-mile rail ship-
ment of mail when the same mail can be
carried more expeditiously by truck for 25
or 30 cents a mile?
The loss of the mail shipments may cause
the railroads to abandon some short lines
and some passenger trains.
Perhaps this may force the railroads to
re-examine their way of doing business. In
the East especially, they have been all too
.prone to look to semi-subsidies and author-
ized rate increases whenever in a financial
pinch. The fact that Western railroads of-
fer superior service at lower fares suggests
that wide-awake management can find rea-
listic solutions of at least some of the rail-
roads' revenue troubles.
In any event, there is no excuse for ex-
pecting the Post Office to come to the res-
cue by paying non-competitive rates.
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Iooday

Basketball. Betting

"I'll Cut Him Down To Nothin - I'llMoider Him--"

THE CURRENT New York basketball scan-
dal is extremely unfortunate in that it
places college athletes everywhere in a bad
light because a few of their brethren accept-
ed bribes from gamblers. The involved
players have admitted that they took money
for fixing the outcome or margin of victory
of several cage games, most of which were
played in Madison Square Garden.
Implicated in the scandal are seven
players from two of the best basketball
teans in the country, City College of New
York, and Long Island University. Among
them they received more than $25,000 for
cooperating with the bookmakers.
Where must the blame be placed for this
regretable situation? Many sports fans will
tell you that it is the players themselves who
are responsible. They are partly right be-
cause the act of accepting a bribe is not
only morally wrong but a criminal act.
In the same vein, the tremendous lure of a
large sum of money to a struggling college
student must be realized. The players in-
volved certanly were not from rich families.
They simply needed the money and took it.
While we cannot excuse the players, neither
can we place the full blame on them.
Others blame Madison Square Garden.
Bradley, and several other schools have al-
ready refused to play any more basketball
games there. But the Garden, like Yost
Field House, is just a building of brick walls.
It has never bribed any basketball player
and never will.
The gamblers who bribed the players get
much of the blame and very justly so. There
is absolutely no defense for these men. It
is necessary to point out, however, that
there is a natural instinct to want to wager
on a "sure thing." Consequently, these men

took the necessary steps to insure the out-
comes of certain games, They gave key
players on the teams implicated as much
as $1,500 each for shaving winning margins
or fixing the final results, and this took a
large amount of money.
But the real guilt lies at the source of
this money. In this case it is the good
honest people who like to bet on basketball
and other sports with regular bookmakers,
who are very much to blame. Maybe they
only bet small amounts-like $5 or $10-and
perhaps they don't do it very often, but the
main point is that they do it.
The combination of these apparently in-
significant sums plus a few larger ones from
the independently weathy who gamble on
sports, gives the bookmakers working capi-
tal on which to fix the results of basketball
games. They pick on basketball rather
than other major sports like football, base-
ball, and hockey, because it is the easiest
one to fix without detection.
If people would realize what their ac-
tions mean, and would cease all their bet-
ting activities with organized bookmakers,
then many criminal evils would stop, in-
cluding the bribery of college basketball
players. It is not. an easy solution, be-
cause many people have a natural de-
sire to bet. But it is the only solution that
is certain to work.
No one will condone in any manner the
criminal acts engaged in by the players in-
volved in this basketball scandal, or the
gamblers who perpetrated this messy af-
fair, but in tracing back the original source
of the blame, it must certainly be laid on
the people who place wagers with book-
makers..
-Roger Greenberg

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Xettep 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.

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M ATER OnCEWrF ACT
By JOSEPH and STEWART ALSOP

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AFTER THE VICTORY
WASHINGTON-Sobriety is a good mood
in a war, and it is too early to ring the
church bells because Lieutenant General
Ridgway and the UN forces have now in-
flicted a bloody defeat on the enemy in Kor-
ea. Yet it is important to recognize that
this defeat of the Communist offensive is a
great and stirring event, which may prove
to be a major turning point. To understand
why, it is only necessary to consider the un
happy position of the Sino-Soviet high
command in Korea.
The first thing to understand is that
the Communist armies have suffered
fearful casualties. The air force habit of
counting corpses from the air, and mak.
ing foolishly detailed claims, has given
rise to skepticism on this point. Yet care-
ful testing of the day-to-day claims, both
of the air and ground forces, has re-
vealed that current casualty estimates are,
if anything, too low. There have by now
been many such episodes as that at Nam-
dae, where the air force claimed seven-
ty five enemy killed on Jan. 16, and the
next day advancing ground forces count-
ed over 800 dead.
All kinds of evidence from within China
have also confirmed that combat attrition,
cold, hunger and disease are rapidly crip-
pling the Communist armies. As of Jan. 1,
the enemy is believed to have had rather'
more than 450,000 men at the fronts with
another 450,000 to 500,000 men in reserve
or in the original jump-off positions on the
Yalu river. This overall total of almost a
million men is now thought to be reduced
to about 600,000.
In short, the enemy has been losing men
at the staggering rate of 200,000 a month,

and has seen one-third of his whole force
melt away in this manner in the short per-
iod since the new year. These appalling loss-
es are largely due to the fact that Chinese
and North Korean armies have been fight-
ing without tanks, without artillery, and
without air cover.
* * *
THE NORTH KOREANS must recall with
a certain bitterness the fact discovered
from government papers captured at Pyong-
. yang-that the Russians made the poverty-
stricken North Korean state pay hard cash
for every Russian weapon. The Chinese too
must be embittered by the very limited help
they have received from their Russian sen-
ior partners.
The Communist commanders tried to
end their terrible losses by launching their
great offensive, which was designed de
cisively to defeat the UN armies. It has
failed, with even more terrible losses.
There is little reason to believe that
another such enemy offensive could sue
ceed.
There are three ways out-for the Com-
munist high command, if the foregoing
analysis is correct. The first is to attempt
a different sort of offensive, using modern
weapons to match ours. Tanks and artil-
lery can be secured from Soviet Far East-
ern stocks. But the Communists cannot
bring them to the battlefield, and they can-
not supply them with fuel and ammunition,
unless they get air cover.
* * *
IT IS HIGHLY PROBABLE that the Mig
15 jet fighters which have appeared near
the Manchurian borders are actually flown
by Russians, despite the Chinese markings.
This is the most rational explanation of
why these planes have not appeared direct-
ly over the battlefield. If the enemy's air
problem is to be solved, this policy of cau-
tion mustiberchanged. The Kremlin must
order its Siberian air force to jenter the Ko-
rean fighting, directly over the battlefield.
In short, the first alternative open to the
enemy is to transform the Korean war in-
to a general war.
The second alternative is for the enemy
to stay where he is, to go on expending his
manpower at the same. dreadful rate, and
to hope for the best. It seems difficult to be
lieve that either the Chinese or North Ko-
rean commanders will feel much enthusiasm
for this particular choice. As for the third
alternative, it is of course to break contact
with the United Nations forces, and to at-
tempt to reach some sort of settlement.
It is entirely probable that the choice
between these three alternatives has al-
ready been made. Mao Tse-tung's re-
ported mission to Moscow was no doubt
undertaken precisely for the purpose of
forcing a decision. And it should not be
overlooked that there were some mena-
cing hints in Stalin's recent statement, to
the effect that a general war might en-
sue if the Western powers did not buckle
under to Mao Tse-tung's demands.
Yet the State Department feels hopeful
enough so that serious consideration has
already been given to the form which an ac-

ON THE
Washington Merry-Go-Round
with DREW PEARSON
- TENSE PRESIDENT -
WHITE HOUSE insiders are privately concerned by a dramatic
change in Harry Truman. Once easygoing and warm-hearted, he
is now tense and irritable. They attribute the change to the under-
standable strain of near war and the terrific burden placed on every
President of the United States.
The President always had occasional moods of anger and
bitterness. But, according to insiders, these have increased stead-
ily in the past six months.
A visit with Mr. Truman used to be a real treat for a congress-
man or a visiting Elk. The President would greet him with a warm
smile, put him at ease with a friendly comment, and listen sympa-
thetically. Today, however, Mr. Truman is likely to drum the desk*
impatiently and break into the conversation with a savage denun-
ciation of a real or imagined foe.
Recent visitors have been startled by the vigor and bluntness of
his venom at Sen. Bill Fulbright, who hit at White House favortism
in the RFC.
The President's physician, Dr. Wallace Graham, is also worried
by Mr. Trunian's inability to relax and take those refreshing naps
which helped him so much in the past.
Since the attempt on his life Mr. Truman has also shown an
understandable reluctance to get out before the public. Congressional
leaders and democratic chieftains have been begging him to stump
the country in suppoort of his foreign policy. To this he recently re-
plied:
"It's not up to me to go out. It's the responsibility of the Demo-
cratic Party and our congressmen. They're laying down on the job
and expect me to do everything."
Close friends of the President lay his irritability and tenseness
to three factors:
1. The assassination attempt of the two Puerto Rican national-
ists. This left a deep scar. The President often talks among his inti-
mates of this assassination attempt and what he would do if another
attempt were made on his life.
2.The recent period of continued American defeats in Korea and
the mass evacuation was more trying on Mr. Truman than even he
cares to admit. The responsibility for this has weighed heavily on his
mind.
During the critical days of the evacuation, the President slept
little. On one particular evening he was told that Russian submarines
and airplanes might menace most of the U.S. fleet. Friends say it was
at this time that all the pent-up feeling came out in the President's
stinging letter to music critic Paul Hume.
3. The loss of press Secretary Charley Ross' was a heavy blow to
Mr. Truman. Ross was an old and completely devoted friend who
could soothe the President or give him common-sense advice.,
This change in the President has convinced Democratic bigwigs
that he definitely will not run again, but will retire in 1953.
- LABOR COMPLAINS -
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CHAIRMAN Bill- Doyle, one of the few
people who never pulls any punches with the President, has ad-
vised Mr. Truman that his relations with organized Labor are at a
new low.
"The Labor people are sore as a boil and threatening to walk
away from the Democratic Party," Doyle warned, "They've a list of
grievances a mile long."
When Mr. Truman asked for a bill of particulars, the Democratic
chief replied: "They claim you don't call on them for advice or help
and have surrounded yourself with big business advisers. When they
start taIking about the new mobilization setup, they simply explode."
Mr. Truman has received similar warnings from Secretary of
the Treasury John Snyder, Secretary of Labor Maurice Tobin and
Attorney General Howard McGrath.
- WASHINGTON PIPELINE -
EX-CONGRESSWOMAN Helen Gahagan Douglas is selling her
home in Beverly Hills, Calif., in order to pay the campaign debts
incurred in running for the Senate from that State. A lot of people
promised to cough up for Helen before she ran, but when she was de-
feated they ran too . . . . Judge Ferdinand Pecora never served in the
State Department, but has this definition of a diplomat: "One who
remembers a lady's every birthday but never remembers how old she
is." ...'. Sign of the times: Lieut. Sam Ingram, who built bleachers,
grandstands and stadiums at Hamilton, N.Y., now building bomb
shelters for industrial plants . . . . John Gunther reports from Tokyo
that, while dining with Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, Mc A.'s intelli-
gence officer, Willoughby proposed the following toast: "To the sec-
ond greatest military genius in the world-Francisco Franco."
(Copyright, 1951, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)

B. S. Dissents .
To the Editor:
Messrs. Elliott and Greenbaum,
in their combined effort to re-
view Tom Danelli's "Hanlon Won't
Go," disregarded every tenet of
criticism, flippantly arriving at a
worthless and (worse) a person-
ally insulting piece of pretentious
nonsense.
First,the reviewers fail to men-
tion the dramatic quality of the
play. From the opening lines to
midway in the final scene, there
is no break in the magnetic force,
a triumph w h i c h is rarely
achieved, even in professional
theatre.
Second, there is but one exam-
ple of serious over-writing, that
appearing in the first few mo-
ments of the second act when
Mulroy ponders his prognostica-
tions.
The characters, unlike the as-'
sertion of the Daily reviewers, are1
well-defined and fully developed.
There is a slight contradiction in
Katie, but the fact that it can
be discerned indicates the clear
presentation of character.
I failed to find examples of
"stale" humor, but I grant the
possibility of theatrical inexperi-
ence in comparison to Messrs. El-
liott and Greenbaum (though1
seriously doubting the possibility).
The reviewing gentlemen failed
to recognize, other than gracious-
ly giving "special mention" to
three of the performers, that ex-
cellent acting was accomplished
in the Hanlon and Arlene roles.
Further, there was no mention
of the impressively simple set.
Throughout this rebuttal to the
Daily review, it will be noted that
some faults were conceded. How-
ever, all can be corrected. The
final scene demands revision, some
conservation of speech must be
made, a clarification of. character
is necessary (in Katie).
None of these shortcomings,
which mar but do not destroy
would have been recognized by
Mr. Danelli had the production
not been undertaken. If the Stu-
dent Players, through their enter-
prise, have succeeded in aiding a
playwright to achieve a higher de-
gree of accomplishment, the value
of the presentation cannot be de-
nied.
In the past, while serving as
drama critic of the Daily, I have
recommended several productions.
By all odds, "Hanlon Won't Go"
deserves that special recommen-
dation AS A PLAY which I would
assign to such recent productions
as "La Boheme," "Midsummer
Night's Dream," and the Oxford
Players' presentations of "King
Lear" and "The Alchemist."
-B. S. Brown
Music Criticism .. *
To the Editor:
THE CINCINNATI Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Thor
Johnson may have closed its con-
cert on a low note, but contrary
to The Daily critic, its effect was
not "dismal" but rather sonorous
from the enthusiastic response of
the audience. It is difficut to com-
prehend the critic's confusion as to
I why this American orchestra under
a progressive American conductor
should not be included on the Uni-
versity Musical Society's series of
concerts. Although the orchestra
probably is not comparable with
the Boston and Philadelphia, it
does deserve a hearing as an ex-
ample of one of the less preten-
tious but most valuable musical in-
vestments in the midwest musical
scene.
We agree as to the criticisms of
technical lapses during the con-
cert on the part of the perform-
ers. However the problem of per-
sonnel is a topic in itself-the

best players are subject to error,
and it is a well known fact among
professionals that the quality of
performers coming up recently for
tryouts with major conductors is
second rate in many instances.
As to the choice of program--
Brevity may be the soul of wit, but
the term "old warhorse" does not.
apply to the Delius, Enesco, and1
Satie compositions which were be-
ing presented for the first time in
Ann Arbor. Hadley's spirited and
well written overture has not been
heard in Ann Arbor since its only
previous performance in 1924. El-
gar's Variations, first rate ex-
amples of "symphonic" music,
have only been heard twice in 42
years in Ann Arbor. All the per-
formed works of these composers
could not be classed as "insulting"
by anyone.
Why attempt to determine what

the appreciative audience of this
fine orchestra's concert shall like?
Complexity of thematic treatment
and length of composition are not
the only tests of musically satis-
fying works.
In conclusion dear Editor, let
us examine possibilities of securing
competent reviews in the future.
Between a Gross and a Gross of
Goss's, the local intelligent and
socially constructive audience is
languishing for some musically ori-
ented criticism in this supposedly
rich oasis of musical knowledge.
--A. D. Berg
4' * *
Scandal ..
To the Editor:
RECENT sports events on the
East coast have become some-
what nauseating with the expo-
sure of the biggest sports scandal
in ;history. We are all familiar
with the report that six top-flight
basketball. players have confessed
accepting bribes for throwing sev-
eral major contests. It curdled
our blood to think that any ama-
teur athlete would bring shame
and disgrace not only to himself
but to the things clean living stand
for. The only, consulation for
Mid-Western fans was the gen-
eral feeling that "it can't happen
here."
However, our confidence was
dynamited when we learned of a
reported "fix" right here on our
own campus. Being righteous and
upstanding citizens we made a
thorough investigation which dis-
closed many sordid facts. Last
Tuesday night the Beta Theta Pi
and Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat
clubs were scheduled to hook up
in a crucial game to decide the
championship of their league.
Monday the game was thought of
as the evenest of struggles. But
unexplainably the odds posted in
the West Quad dining halls rose
to 4:1, favoring the Betas. Book-
makers in the East Quad stopped
accepting bets long before game
time. Obviously something was
fishy. Spectators were surprised
at the 32-24 Beta victory. The vic-
tors were actually commending
the losers on a job well done.
After the game three key S.A.E.
players were seen leaving the P-
Bell with their Beta hosts, and
later walking hand in hand with
three Kappa pledges who former-
ly dated Betas.
Our suspicions were further
confirmed when the players in
question were seen leaving an all-
night interrogation with their
heads lowered as if in shame.
This is the first case that has
been exposed. How long has this
been going on? How many un-
earned trophies are now sittng on
frat club mantles?
-Bill Raymond
Dave Preston
Bob Kerry
Moo 'illu Rilg
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At The iphem .. .
MR. PERRIN AND MR. TRAILL, with
David Farrar, Marius Goring, and Greta
Gynt.
FOR J. ARTHUR RANK, this is an unusual
picture. It is neither top-notch nor in-
credibly poor.
The Hugh Walpole novel is apparently
about the tyrannical rule of a British private
school for boys by a headmaster and the
resulting misery of the unfortunates who
instruct there. More specifically, the mis-
ery of Mr. Perrin, who carves a semi-imagin-
ary niche in the institution for himself. The
younger Mr. Traill usurps the traditions and
steals Mr. Perrin's imaginary girl friend.
My impression is that the educational
system is the central element of the story,
but that the screen writers have reduced the
whole to casuistry.
Many scenes lack integration with the
central idea. It can only be assumed that the
writers were with mere gestures fulfilling
the novel.

I

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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
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James Gregory........Associate Editor
Bill Connolly............Sports Editor
Bob Sandell....Associate Sports Editor
Bill Brenton .... Associate Sports Editor
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A

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BARNABY

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The thieves left the
payroll bag in the
deerted aous. Th

Barnaby!
What--

aia.a 4 b, " , "NI or
raiai. , a.!
3acK morl
/t keens eneninn_

It'n s the But what are you
going to do about
 money! I h_ kneA

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