TT .. ' GE FOUR THE MICHIGAN DAILY TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 1952 ON THE Washington Merry-Go-Round WITH DREW PEARSON ' l SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-The U.S. Senate has now heard charges from three diffferent senators that Puerto Rico's Georgetown Uni- versity-educated Governor Luis Munoz Marin is dictator of that land. The accusing senators are Brewster of Maine, Butler of Maryland, both Republicans, and Johnston of South Carolina, a Democrat. Their charges illustrate a new technique in what is supposed to be the most illus- trious legislative body in the world-the U.S. Senate. For what the public doesn't realize when it listens to these speeches is that the man behind them is a South Carolina contractor who owes $1,000,000 in back taxes to the Puerto Rican govern- ment. The Puerto Rican public does realize this, however, and reactions here have been high- ly prejudicial to the prestige of the U.S. Congress. Whereas, Congress is supposed to set the highest moral and legislative stan- dards for the western hemisphere, actually the speeches of these three senators are re- garded in Puerto Rico as little more than blackmail. In brief, if the Puerto Rican government doesn't forgive $1,000,000 in taxes owed by L. D. Long, South Carolina contractor, then the U.S. Senate will investi- gate Puerto Rico. At a time when we are trying to encourage clean government throughout Pan-America this does not go down wellin the Caribbean. * * * HOUSING PROJECTS MEANWHILE, L. D. Long of Charleston, S.C., becomes one of the most famous characters in Puerto Rico. It is doubtful whether Franklin D. Roosevelt or Harry S. Truman are better known, though their rep- utations here are most favorable. L. D. Long is a likable, hustling con- tractor who has put up more FHA housing projects in Puerto Rico than any other man in history-housing that was badly needed though opinions differ regarding its durability, Long and his family have been staunch supporters and contributors to the cam- paigns of Senator Olin Johnston, who, aside from his current proposal to probe alleged tyranny in Puerto Rico, has been a hard- working and conscientious senator. 'Shortly after he began operations in Puer- to Rico, Long started to apply northern poli- tical techniques to the Island and dropped in on Munoz Marin, then a candidate for governor, with a large wad of greenbacks bulging from his pockets totaling $25,000. These he offered to Munoz as a campaign contribution for the Popular Democratic party. Munoz declined. "Our campaigns do not cost that much," he said. "Besides, if I accepted that much money from one man the voters might hold it against me and I would be defeated." Long however insisted. Finally Munoz told him to take the money to the secretary of the popular Democratic party, get a re- ceipt, and they would use the money if they needed it. If not, it would be returned. Long did so. At the end of the campaign- which incidentally elected a native, Munoz, for the first time in Puerto Rico's history- the money was returned. - TAX TROUBLE - THE trouble over Long's taxes arose when former Governor Jesus Pinero, a Wash- ington appointee, told Long that his petition for tax exemption would be favorably con- sidered. Ex-governor Pinero has now gone to work for Long. But even so the ex- governor does not state that Long was promised tax exemption but rather that his petition would be considered favorably. Since then the question of Long's taxes have gone before the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston. Each decided against him. Though these first appeals were taken to U.S. courts, Long has now gone back to try his hand in the Puerto Rican courts, where the case now stands. Whether he is right or wrong, Long cer- tainly has been given every right of judi- cial appeal not usually available in a dicta- torship, which he and his senate friends now claim exists in Puerto Rico. Meanwhile he has gone over the heads of the courts as dictators sometimes do to try his case in the U.S. Senate-which has left a decidedly bad taste in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, he has employed certain other techniques not considered good prac- tice in democracies to promote FHA housing in the island. These techniques recently caused the Federal Housing Administration in Wash- ington to fire its FHA representative in Puerto Rico, Frederick D'A. Carpenter. ** - FHA OKAYS - LONG has now financed a total of $51,- 000,000 worth of houses and apartments through FHA in Puerto Rico and has exliibi- ted a surprising facility for getting FHA okays. It is interesting that FHA representa- tive Carpenter Informed the Rockefeller group, ap organization trying to help the low-cost housing situation in the Carib- bean, that only 200 housing units were needed in San Juan. But only four months later the same Carpenter okayed 3,800 housing units for Long to be financed through FHA. The reason for Carpenter's interest in helping Long could have had some con- nection with the fact that a lady who regis- tered on the S.S. Puerto Rico passenger list on June 14, 1951, as "Mrs. Rosario P. De Carpenter" is an officer in three of Long's subsidiaries. The lady is Rosario Pelaez, whose daughter has been adopted by Carpenter and who is vice-president of Caparra Commercial Corporation and Ca- parra Grocery Stores and is also secretary- treasurer of Caparra Pharmacy. All these are owned by Long who paid "Mrs. Rosario P. De Carpenter" a regular salary. After the discovery of this interesting connection between L.D. Long and the FHA representative who okayed $51,000,- 000 worth of housing for long, the FHA fired Carpenter. Naturally, all this is well known to the people of Puerto Rico. So when a U.S. Sena- tor takes the floor of the world's most im- portant deliberative body to criticize Puerto Rican democracy. it doesn't help the so- called democratic system which is supposed to prevail in the U.S. Senate. (Copyright, 1952, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) CURRENT MOVIES Architecture Auditorium PEACE WILL WIN, a Polish documen- tary (1950), with English narration. THE Society For Peaceful Alternatives offers tonight the showing of a recently made Polish documentary film, which des- cribes the Second International Congress for Peace that met in Warsaw in November of 1950. As a piece of cinema, it is well put together and highly coherent. As propa- ganda, it strikes a single fiddle string with dogged persistence, but in spite of its blithe lack of logic is certainly worth attention. .According to the film, the original plans for the Congress provided that the 1950 session was to be held in Sheffield, Eng- land, but because of the hostile reception of many of the delegates there, the group had to transfer to Warsaw at the last minute. Here they find the warm welcome they had expected in England and settle down to a series of addresses and commit- tee meetings which result in a series of resolutions against rearmament, the use of atomic weapons, the "aggressive course, of the United Nations, and so forth. Fine photography, exceptionally effec- tive cutting, and a spirited musical back- ground succeed in making the conference a lively and emotional affair rather than a cold and dispassionate parliament. This makes the film highly creditable as enter- tainment, but, I think, makes its validity as a parliament of thoughtful humanitarians highly suspect. I do not question the enthu- siasm of the delegates for peace. Many of them suffered unbelievably in the last war. However, the placid a priori acceptance of all the usual Soviet explanations for the present situation, the wild display of com- plete unanimity, even the Polish children, some of whom could hardly walk, shouting "Pokoj! Pokoj! (Peace! Peace!) in the streets are not the ordinary consequences of a meeting such as this one is advertised to be. A single American delegate, O. John Rogge, is shown speaking to the Congress, alone in opposition to the general pre- sumption that the United Nations is the aggressor in Korea. His appearance in the film is confined to the briefest of shots on the platform, however, and he is al- lowed only one sentence before he is quickly cut. Mr. Rogge, incidentally, is one of the few delegates shown whose remarks are not extended long enough to permit some explanation of a position. The repre- sentative from North Korea is allowed fully five minutes of the film, and is car- ried out on the shoulders of the delegates amid garlands of flowers to the obvious delight of the narrator. It is perhaps commendable that the con- ference does not abandon the United Nations as a legitimate instrument of future action among the great powers. In criticizing vari- ous "abetting" organizations, such as NATO. however, they lose sight of the fact that they themselves represent a clique as much as NATO does. They think it is enough that they march under the dove (as various other warriors once marched under the Cross). But in the last analysis, the emblem does not matter. When the North Korean delegate uttered the words, "freedom", "in- dependence" and "unity" it caused more spontaneous enthusiasm than all the "Po- koj!" put together. Which only proves that these are the things men fight for. How can you fight a war for peace? The terms are contradictory. Gentlemen may, in fact, cry: "Peace! Peace!" but there is no peace. Merely point- ing to the banner you are under, and refus- ing to ask any really pressing questions, does not solve much of anything. -Bill Wiegand Talk of the Times' GERMANY lay at our feet, a world's won- der of downfall, a very Lucifer, fallen, broken, bereaved beyond all the retributive griefs which Greek tragedy shows you af- flicting the great who were insolent, willful, and proud. But it was not enough for our small epicures of revenge. They wanted to twist the enemy's wrists, where he lay bound, and to run pins into his eyes. And they had the upper hand of us now. The soldiers could only look on while the schrvy performance dragged itself out til the meanest of treaties was signed at Versailles. -Judd Mortimer Lewis-1922 To Be Happy. You must select the Puritans for your ancestors. You must have a sheltered youth and be a graduate of Harvard-Eat beans on Saturday and fish-balls on Sunday morning-You must be a DAR, a Colonial Dame, an SAR or belong to the Mayflower Society-You must read the Atlantic Monthly-You must make sure in advance that your obituary appears in the Boston Transcript. There is nothing else. -Joseph P. MacCarthy (1863-1934) S .l.A. .. To the Editor: LAST Tuesday the revitalized SDA held its first Spring meeting. Prof. Preston Slosson spoke to the packed and enthu- siastic meeting, and provocative discussion on Liberalism and its extents and significances fol- lowed. The overflowing turnout reaf- firmed the conviction that there are many liberals who want and need such an organization as the Students for Democratic Action. Many of us today are looking for an undogmatic, intelligent, non- partisan approach on progressive principles to vital political ques- tions. Many of us are unwilling to label ourselves at this stage as Democrats, Republicans, Progres- sives or anything else. Many stu- dents wish to take a free, knowl- edgeable mind to the political scene, and are unwilling to accept the partisanship and unswerving commitment to political fluctua- tions that membership in the es- tablished political parties involves. Even those who do belong to a political party will welcome this channel of non-partisan political liberalism. At tonight's meeting the local SDA faces the prob- lem of grounding its political ab- stractions. What the liberal can and should do, here and now, willt be the subject of discussion. The political principles and program1 that ought to guide the group andI the choosing of officers will bet decided at this session. All interested persons are invit-r ed, as the membership lists, asr always, are open to all who sharer an unqualified faith in the virtuet and need of political freedom and progress. At this coming Tuesdayc evening's (March 4) meeting at the Union every student liberalt will have an opportunity toshapeI his or her political expression dur- ing the crucial months that liet ahead. It will be an interesting, provocative, and significant de-I bate. No campus liberal ought let Tuesday's SDA meeting pass them by. -Ted Friedmant * * * YR vs. YD. . To the editor: IN MR. COHEN'S article compar-t ing the Young Democrats withc the Young Republicans, he made statements which I consider to be highly erroneous. He has endeav- ored to show the YR as being torn by dissentions and bitter an- tagonisms which is not the case. Mr. Cohen begins by trying to make the reader believe that theret was a bitter fight over the Mc- Carthy issue. Here are the facts.} First, only Bill Halby was really fighting to bring McCarthy here. Secondly, Halby's motion to ob- tain McCarthy was overwhelming- ly defeated. With respect to Taft and War- ren, there are also a few omitted' details. First, several membersI merely expressed disagreement with Dave Cargo on giving up ef- forts to get Taft. Secondly, Car- go's resignation was entirely vol- untary rather than forced as Mr. Cohen implies. Thirdly, the YR passed unanimously a resolution expressing complete unity over the issue. Mr. Cohen's implication that the existence of the Taft and Eis- enhower Clubs is a sign of internal discord is very inaccurate. To me it exhibits a complete lack of knowledge of the fundamental workings of political parties. The existence of factions within a par- ty is not a sign of discord. Rather it is a healthy indication that var- ious points of opinion are allowed free and open discussion. He also overlooked three other points about the matter. First, the YR has not endorsed any pre- sidential candidate. Secondly, neither the Taft or Eisenhower clubs are affiliated with the YR organization. Thirdly, the YR passed a resolution to support whatever Republican is nominat- ed for the presidency. Mr. Cohen proudly asserts that the YD agrees with the policies of the Democratic party. We in the YR don't go for that sort of unity. We would never blindly support a party with an administration which has shown such corruption and general lack of leadership. e --Ed Levenberg To the Editor: As usual, Generation got the short end of the stick in the editorial backbiting headed "A Fused Magazine" in the Daily of February 19. In the "Pro" side of the debate, "For the 3,000 students who can appreciate esoteric poetry mixed with 16 pages of music, Genera- i a on i ida nuihrcatinn "was 01' Man Congress, Hie Jes' Keeps Rollin' Along RiE~ $OOSEVELT ' O E A~N uo Vom THE F OgR TE FO w STWAEWAMCC ST . I C( * E $Y.uLiWEdC RSStLAWI'EgCf Sr IAVWAM(5sr tAwREr f'WTWAWATER WAY WATERWAY( WATERWAY WAn6 WAY Y4MtJA'( PROJEt p~pyf(j ROfc RO CT tRaEr 1 . .. eJtteri to th edtor . . 4~z~pw too. Generation has never soldn 3,000 copies of any one issue (nora has Garg sold 5,000, as she im-A plied). Average sales over the pastn two years: Generation, 1,500;e Garg, about 4,000. If Winn meantg readership coverage, a fair esti-r mate would be 4,500 and 12,000, t respectively. Panorama, Wayne's t combined humor-literary mag, I sells 900 copies an issue, to a stu-n dent body as large as U. of M's.i But Generation is much morev than its poetry and music (16i pages of music have never beens printed-although in the last is-o sue's memorial to the great Arnold Schoenberg, 14 pages were de- voted to music). It is also the stories of people like Bill Weigand, whose story "The Science Teach- er" was featured in the first issue, won the Story Magazine College Contest, was recently reprinted in the Story Anthology, and wasn selected for high praise by the0 N.Y. Times Book Review. It's alsoe the work of people like Dan Wal-I dron, last year's drama editor,1 whose Hopwood-award storyv "Evensong" was printed by Newc Story last fall and has just beeni chosen as the best first-published work of the year for the "Bestt Short Stories of 1951." It's the< so-called "esoteric" (do you mean understood only by a select circle," or "profound" - the two vari-t ant dictionary definitions, Missi Winn?) poetry of Frank O'Harat in the last two issues, whose poems are now appearing in Poetry, Ac-s cent and the Partisan Review. It'sc the art-work of people like Johnf Goodyear and Hal MacIntosh,c who were recently given a showI by a Detroit gallery. The Generation is not an "ideal" publication, for anyone-it has many lacks, many faults, and many typos. Nevertheless, it ist paying its own way, now. It. is not in business to make moneyI for its editors or for the Board in Control of Student Publications. Generation is in business to pro-t vide an outlet for creative work on this campus, and even if that has to be completely subsidized by the Garg profits, it must be done, for the sake of the artistic and intellectual health of this community. -Saul Gottlieb Reverend Hill . . To the Editor, T HE Detroit Free Press for Feb- ruary 28 reports the rebuke de-' livered by Representative Jackson to Rev. Charles A. Hill at the De- troit inquiry of the House Sub- committee on Un-American Activ- ities. Rep. Jackson is reported to have said: "It is bad enough that any man should commit treason by joining the Communist Party. But for a minister . .. to aid and to give comfort to Communism is to compound that offense by in- cluding Almighty God in his treas- on." Can it not have occurred to Rep. Jackson that "Almighty God" might wish to be included in Hill's "treason?" Or does Rep. Jack- son's words imply that he thinks (1) that God doesn't know His own mind, or (2)that He is so impotent, or uncaring, as to per- mit Rev. Hill's presumptuous in- clusion without His acquiesence? Rep. Jackson may sometimes pray "Thy will be done." One is led to wonder if the Congressman has never suspected that it may be God's will to support Rev. Hill's struggle to diminish "intolerance and segregation and the second- man Wood and Senator McCarthy and prove that these two Un- Americans are subversive Com- munists? It would be perfectly easy to prove by giving them a good dose of their own medicine. If these Communists had one- thousandth of the brainpower that the witchhunters ascribe to them, they would detach a dozen of their members to become ex-Commun- ists and to testify that they saw McCarthy at a Communist rally in 1938 and that Wood was ob- served reading the Daily Worker on August 18, 1947. -John O'Brien * * * Backhart's Humor . . To the Editor: YOUR EDITORIAL of last Sat- urday has caused me much mental stress. I could not figure out at first the plot of this little epic. Then it dawned on me; this Backhaut fellow is a new serial humorist for the Daily and I must wait until the last chapter to find out what's what. I do hope that in Chapter two the author will answer the question-or rather the proposition-he posed in Chapter one. Mr. Backhaut proposed to show that the Young Democrats and the Civil Liberties Committee are in a conspiracy against civil liber- ties. He says that the very liber- ties that these organizations are seeking to protect are instead en- dangered by their own actions in fighting the Speaker's Ban. He claims that these organizations have done some alleged "undemo- cratic" things within their clubs, but NOWHEAE does he show how the lifting of the Speaker's Ban will destroy freedom of speech- the very thesis of his argument But, we will be fair to this budding "Irwin S. Cobb", and change his thesis in mid-stream as he so ingeniously did. We will talk about the Y. D. meeting that "railroaded" the resolution through. Almost twenty minutes was de- voted to the two resolutions cover- ing the question, fifteen minutes of which were taken up by Mr. Backhaut himself in -opposition. On one resolution the vote was 23-1. On the other it was 22-2 At Mr. Backhaut's rate of conver- sion we would all be there yet! The fact is that no one but Mr Backhaut wanted to discuss the matter any further. The Y. D.' had decided to take a vigorous stand in favor of Jeffersonian principles. The action of the club came solely from the "consent o the governed". The Democrats have alway fought for free speech and wil continue to fight for it, even fo Mr. Backhaut. Although this may entail starting the meetings in th afternoon. I am reminded of the story o the mother of a young soldier who was marching with his com pany through the town street. "Oh look!" she exclaimed, "My Berni is the ONLY one in step." -James G. Orford * * * Student Suspension.. . To the Editor: MRS. LORRAINE Meisner ha just been suspended from Wayne University for her "unrea sonable" attitude towards th House Un-American Activitie Committee. Remember that Mrs Meisner has not been accused o anything; she was simply a wit have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? What will the result be? If the person an- swers 'yes' that person is ruined despite the right to belong toany political party. This is the result of the present hysteria caused by just such bodies as the Un-Ameri- can Activities Committee. If a person refuses to testify, relying on their Constitutional rights, the presumption is that the person really is a Communist. Yet that person may not be a Communist but may simply be trying to put an end to government by snoop. That person may be simply tak- ing a principle stand. Or the per- son may really be a Communist who wants his rights defended. Suppose a person answers no, Surely that person would be saved. But in that case the government can get paid agents to swear that the person really is a Communist and the result will be a criminal case whether or not the person involved is telling the truth. What chance does anybody stand today of winning a case against paid stool-pigeons of the government? Thus the very basis of democra- tic procedure has been seriously undermined by these circus pro- cedures. The principle of guilt by accusation is established. The right to a fair trial in an impar- tial and calm atmosphere is abro- gated. Jefferson himself would not pass the test. If we allow this circus to pro- ceed, there will be no more aca- demic freedom. People will be afraid to talk, to study and to read. I dread the day when peo- ple in America will have to start hiding books. If people fight such fascist procedures now, that day will never come. -Robert Schor IJN-AAC Praised... To the Editor: W ILL IT TAKE another war to force certain editorial writ- ers of the Daily to distinguish be-a tween a communist's motives and actions? Will it take another war to force them to call a home-grown communist a traitor? A communist is by definition, ony who is dedicated to the over- throw of our form of government, even though the individual lives a seemingly normal life. I this then is the case, why should our society protect such an individual from investigation? Doesn't it sound a bit unnatural to have a witness answer all questions put to him by the Un-American Ac- tivities Committee with a yes or no but when the question "are you a communist?" is asked, have him refuse to answer. Any Ameri- can in such a situation would vigorously deny that he was, or ever had been a communist. Tlen he would let them try to prove otherwise. A communist's motives are al- ways the furthering of tlie Rus- sian system, by force whenever possible. More often, however, he finds it most successful to take a more infiltrating course, thru the schools, motion pictures, or news- papers. Finally, however, when he is put in the spotlight, he screams encroachment on his civil liber- ties; that his rights must be pro- tectpd from "sensational smear"; that his "liberal" organization is being persecuted. And now we are back at the beginning of this letter. Will it take another war to make the "liberals" call a communist, a traitor? -Ronald E. Seavby 4 l 1 F r 3 4, A INTERPRETING THE NEWS: Korean Truce Talks By J. M. ROBERTS, JR. Associated Press News Analyst COMMUNIST maneuvers at Panmunjom over the weekend indicate that they still want truce talks, but not necessarily a truce. When the Allies laid it on the line cold that Russia would not be accepted as a member of a neutral truce supervisory team, the Reds backed down on their brief contention that their choice could, not be vetoed. But they rejected the allied suggestion that the supervisory problem be solved by going ahead with the two neutral nations on each side already agreed upon. Observers immediately accepted this as an indication that Russia herself was insist- ing 'upon participation. In Washington it was suggested that Russia was so deter- mined to step into the role of peacemaker that she might be willing to wreck the talks otherwise. This assessment, however, seems to ig- nore a fact which is basic to the entire conflict between East and West. That is the involvement of national interests in Korea, and at every step in any negotia- tions between the contesting parties, which far transcend mere propaganda at- titudes. Russia places so much emphasis on propaganda, on appeals to peoples who still remain neutral in the cold war, that there is at times a tendency among Allied \diplomats to forget that every bit of pro- they found the Allies willing to cut the infliction of casualties down to almost nothing, to accept a stalemate in the field. It is hard to think of anything that could have suited the Reds better. They had some- thing very closely approaching a cease-fire. They had a new situation of chaotic con- tact with the West similar to the one they had exploited so frequently in Berlin, and it wasn't costing them much. Continuation of the war in the air might be considered a valuable testing ground as Russia sought to develop a modern air force, which she by no means had in World War II. Russia had agreed, in her treaty with Peiping, to get out of Manchuria this year. That she ever had any intention of doing so was doubtful, but signing the treaty had served her purpose, several years ago, of tying in with the local communists un- til she could truly take them over. By con- tinuing the war in Korea, by augmenting the Red Air Force based in Manchuria, by keeping Russian divisions in Manchuria as a diplomatic if not actual military re- serve for the Chinese, the Kremlin gains time for consolidating its stranglehold on Peiping. By tying up allied division in Korea, the Kremlin interferes with western prepara- tions in Europe for what will be, if it comes, the decisive war. The U.N. negotiators in Korea have warned their Red counterparts that the value of continuing the negotiations is now "seriously doubted," but hastened to add they were not threatening a breakoff. . . 7I t / I r e f e s e Is s. )f ,. Sixty-Second Year Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board of Control of Student Publications. Editorial Staff Chuck Elliott .......Managing Editor Bob Keith................ City Editor. Leonard Greenbaum, Editorial Director Vern Emerson ..........Feature Editor Ron watts..........Associate Editor Bob Vaughn ..........Associate Editor Ted Papes ................Sports Editor George Flint ....Associate Sports Editor Jim Parker ... Associate Sports Editor Jan James.............Women's Editor Jo Ketelhut, Associate Women's Editor Business Staff Bob Miller ...........Business Manager Gene Kuthy, Assoc. Business Manager Charles Cuson ....Advertising Manager il Gotz ... ..cuatonMnag. 3