THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Committee
THE QUARTET of congressmen currently
saving 140,000,000 Americans from sev-
eral thousand Communists had a particu-
arly hard time in their Tuedday hearings.
After five hours of Lee Romano's glib
corroboration.of the presence of Com-
munists in Ford Local 600, UAW (CIO),
the Congressmen had been softened, ren-
dered vulnerable to what was to come in
the session's waning hours.
For the men who followed Romano, ex-
'ommunist and former vice-president of the
giant local, were all accused Party mem-
>ers, and now holders of key posts in the
sprawling labor organization.
They left the witness stand still accused
but unproven Communists after demonstrat-
ng that more or less accurately thrown mud
:ould best be countered by more of the
same.
The witnesses, working on the assump-
tion that "a good offense is the best de-
fense," came primed with the most effec-
tive material for a coordinated attack on
the Committee-the Congressmen's own
voting records on key bills involving civil
rights, labor and the Negro problem.
The Committee, biting hard on the bait,
:ollectively exploded.
Typical was Rep. Charles Potter (R.-Mich)
alustery roar-"THAT'S A DAMNED LIEI,"
while Chairman John Wood (D.-Ga.), Rep.
Jonald Jackson (R.Calif.) and Rep. Francis
Walter (D.-Pa.) contented themselves with
ess violent expletives but flurries of arm-
vavings.
Ford Motors employe Paul Boatin, tien
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily
ire written by members of The Daily staff
%nd represent 4he views of the writer only.
'his must be noted in all reprints.
NIGHT EDITOR: HARLAND BRITZ
Hearings
on the stand, got in the final gibe of the
exchange in an innocent aggrieved tone,
"Gentlemen, I'm doing my best to answer
your questions, but I can't when you're
jumping around so."
But this was not the worst of the Con-
gressmen's ordeal.
For Boatin demonstrated that there is
a way to stand on the Fifth Amendment,
and yet not acquire the onus of being a Com-
munist which' previous 'witnesses who've
refused to answer on grounds that "it may
tend to incriminate me" have automatically
incurred.
The Boatin technique is this:
Asked a leading question, he would be-
gin an involved answer which before long
would stray close to the bounds of irrele-
vancy. Then, when a Committee member
or Counsel Frank Tavenner demanded a
direct reply, Boatin got self-righteously
huffy about not being permitted to answer
the American people truthfully."
Repeated exchanges over a single point
inevitably ended with Boatin "being forced
to rely on the Fifth Amendment because
you won't let me tell the truth. I'd be glad
to tell you anything you want, but I won't
let you put words in my mouth."
The significant aspect of his method is
that it placed the burden of wrong-doing
and un-Americanism on the Committee, a
situation unprecedented thus far in the
hearings.
Itwas with a sigh of relief that the
Congressmen saw him vacate the witness
chair-asked to leave by the chairman
who "saw-no reason why he should testify
further."
But before he left, a Federal Building
janitor, who'd slipped into the hearings
after finishing work, finally worked out the
simile he'd been ruminating over for 20
minutes.
"That guy Boatin," he dead-panned, "he,
talks just like the Congressmen."
-Zander Hollander
CIINIEMA 1
BOOKS
ASPHALT AND DESIRE, by Frederic
Morton. (Harcourt, Brace)
TIS BOOK seems aimed at taking its
place in the growing line of long, hard
looks at the complexities of life in the city.
But Frederic Morton's Asphalt and Desire
is a weak link in this chain of young authors
studying the frustrations of young people.
The look is so long, so hard that it sees
past the problem. It becomes so superficial
that the book turns into a fantasy.
Asphalt and Desire is the story of Iris
Leavis, a girl fresh from the jungle of a
New York City women's college. She faces
all the general problems of youth and a
few peculiar to herself: ;the problem of
getting a job, the problem of being a vir
gin, the problem of being Jewish, the prob-
lem of parents, the problem of being
modern, the problem of love, the problem
of being a woman, the problen of the city.
Iris is a bright young woman. She knows
Tchaikowsky isn't classical. She knows
howato talk about Wilhelm Reich, or sym-
bolism, or Sibelius. She knows whatshe
wants-a job on Vogue or Time. She
knows the Real Thing when she sees it.
And she knows what its like to detest her
common, screaming family; to be jammed
in the swirl of concrete and people that is
New York; to run into the barriers all
around. Morton, speaking through Iris or
as he thinks Iris would speak, never pre-
sents youth or its problems in a realistic
fashion. At times you almost glimpse his
idea but it never comes off. The thought
behind the picture is buried in such im-
posing, minute and superficial detail that
the whole thing comes out no different
than what we all know. We may sense
the problem, but that is no help. Even the
city becomes sketchy-a mass of detail
more unrelated than it really is.,
Although the author has been in this
country for ten years and has had a seem-
ingly brilliant scholastic career, he lacks
feeling for the problems he tries to repre-
sent and, I suppose, answer. Perhaps this
is caused by his style of writing. It is forced
to the point of being unbearable, almost
unbelievable.
Only in widely separated spots does Mor-
ton push across, in near poetic description,
the combined beauty and futility Iris finds
in life as she matures through 282 pages.
These spots, however, do not save the book.-
It does not leave a promise of beauty, futil-
ity or anything else.
-Vernon Emerson
SL Bookstore
WEDNESDAY night Student Legislature
voted in support of a University spon-
sored booktore.
Now more than ever before there is a need
for such a bookstore. With the rise of cost in
tuition and room and board,, students are
finding the high prices of books too much
of an added burden.
Yet a Regents by-law prohibits the
University from setting up any commercial
enterprise in competition with local mer-
chants. a bookstore falling into this cate-
At Hill Auditorium . . .
THE INFORMER with Victor McLaugh-
lin; directed by John Ford.
"IF YOU HAVE never seen this film, to
describe it is to do it an injustice," the
ad reads, and with that disclaimer as pref-
ace, the reviewer tries.
On the surface THE INFORMER. is an
intensely gripping chase story. But.even
this is a false oversimplification for the
focus of the hunt is both 'hero' and vil-
lain, and ,the chase is the record of his
guilt exposing itself. As just plain story-
-ignoring its psychological overtones-
it is a tense, compact thriller that moves
with accelerating speed to a climax that
was inevitable from the first, but one that
Justifies every step of the crescendo that
has led to it.
But this movie moves far beneath the
surface, not in some esoteric allegory, but
in the kind of Everyman allegory that lies
beneath every story that creates real peo-
ple. Gippo Nolan, ex-member of the Irish
Republican Army, who informs on his best
friend so that he may run away to America
with his girl, is Everyman only in the sense
that he comes to a point in his life where he
says in truth, "I don't know why I did it!"
But that is enough to be meaningful to most
of us.
The job of making Gippo and his con-
fusion honest is perhaps the most master-
ful that the screen has even seen. John
*Ford has drawn a performance from Vic-
for McLaughlin that leaves us as confused
about Gippo's guilt ag we are about our
own. Gippo's weaknesses are stupidity,
good intentions, shortsightedness and op-
portunity. Where his sin begins and his
weaknesses end is pretty hard to deter-
mine-it is made even harder by the pic-
ture of society's confusion and evil that
serves as background and moving force for
the whole Irish Revolution.
Ford has achieved intensity without sac-
rificing depth in this picture by confiningj
the plot to the happenings of one full eve-
ning. There is no forced compression, just
the precise, iresistable detailing of Gippo's
act and consequences for him and those
about him. The groupings Ford uses are
always subtle enough to point to the irony
of the position of Gippo's judges, in the film
and in the audience, and the point is made
without the bitterness of Swift-making it
much easier to see . .. and accept.
It is hard to credit McLaughlin's accom-
plishment. He is Gippo. Gippo the patriot,
Gippo the traitor, Gippo the drunken hero,
Gippo the terrified coward. His performance
sustains the picture on ever.y level. It is the
kind of performance that makes us grateful
for the film, because it is one of those per-
formances that comes to few actors twice.
-John Briley
Principles
EQUAL AND-EXACT justice to all men, of
whatever state or persuasion, religious
or political; peace, commerce, and honest
friendship with all nations,-entangling al-
liances with none; the support of the State
governments in all their rights, as the most
comppetent administrations for our domestic
concerns, and the surest bulwarks against
Blood Drive
THE 1,000th pledge mark has finally been
reached in the all-campus blood cam-
paign. The goal set for March 21 is 3,000
pledges to beat the 2,812 pints of blood ob-
tained at the University of Texas.
One week is left in which to at least
approximate this goal. Student interest
has been increasing during the last week
but it must increase still further if even
1,500 pledges are to be signed.
Perhaps the student apathy in this drive
is merely another reflection of the inability
of Michigan students to work together ef-
fectively for any one purpose. Success in
this campaign could be an indication that
students have some semblance of a school
spirit and know how to direct it for a worthy
cause.
In a brief talk at the blood campaign
rally last week former President Ruthven
pointed out that the greatest thing one can
do is to lay down his life for a friend, and
that by giving blood a donor can actually
save a life without any physical danger to
himself.
In addition, a donor who has a friend
or relative who is in need of blood or who
owes blood to a hospital may transfer his
pint to that person.
Whole blood cannot be manufactured
by any scientific means. In many cases it
it the one way to save the life of a patient
-whether he be on the fighting front, or
in a veteran of civilian hospital. Each pint
of blood used must be replaced by the
donation of another individual.
On a campus of this size there should be
at least 3,000 people willing to give a half
hour of their time and a pint of blood to
those who need it.
-Marge Shepherd
Red Restraint
THE' STATE Department has finally
brought pressure to bear on Soviet dip-
lomats and correspondents in this country.
The new regulations passed this week, in
accord with those of five other Western
powers, prohibit the travel of all Soviet
personnel and their families beyond a radius
of twenty-five miles about New York and
Washington except on advance notice. The
only exceptions are for those attached to
the United Nations.
These restrictions, delivered with "reluc-
tance" and in the face of drastic travel
limitations already imposed on United
States officials in the Soviet Union, may
be an indication that this country has
begun to take a more forceful stand to-
ward the protection of its citizens in Iron
Curtain countries.
Since 1941 Soviet Russia has confined the
movements of American newsmen and dip-
lomats to Moscow and a few specified sur-
rounding areas. While restrictions were re-
laxed to some extent during World War II,
they have been re-strengthened since then
to put various roads and some twenty or
more cities on the "off-bounds" list.
Now that we are retaliating in somewhat
the same manner, Russia and her satellites
may find that playing with the rights of
Ame scan citizens was not such a good idea.
If tese new regulations prove painful
enough it is conceivable that they could
serve as a bargaining point for easing the
travel restrictions affecting our citizens be-
hind the Iron Curtain.
-Mike Wolff
N.H dPrimHariesr
1 THE over-emphasized New Hampshire
presidential primaries have served their
purpose of deciding the way the state's dele-
gates will vote at the party conventions. As
an ilhstration of the sentiments of the rest
of th nation, however, the results are in-
conclusive.
From these highly touted primaries we
have learned that Robert A. Taft will need
more than a well-oiled political machine
to gain the Republican nomination this
summer. a
We have also learned that Gen. Eisen-
hower's personality has a great appeal for
the people, that he has some important and
influential names backing him.
On the Democratic side, the votes plac-
ing Kefauver ahead of Truman mean even
less. The President is the head of his par-
ty and if he wants the nomination, pri-
maries will not prevent his getting it, but
the Southern Dixiecrats might.
However, if we accept the perverted pro-
verb, "As New Hampshire goes, so goes the
nation," then the Republican Party should
be thankful that Eisenhower won, for it is
helpful if the presidential candidates have
names which can be shortened for use by
the press, as FDR and HST. Eisenhower
can retain his Ike' but what could they call
Robert A. Taft?
-Jo Levine
Draw Another
breath
THE FEAR OF Communism in this coun-
try is not reasonable. It is a phenomenon
as old as civilized society, but its wide preva-
lence and its possible dominance here imply
a radical change of the character of the
dominant race and a reversal of all the tra-
ditions of civilization. It is :a war with the
national common sense, and that may be
ON THE
Wasingtonl Merry-Go-Round
with DREW PEARSON
WjASHINGTON-Last week the most interesting economic develop-
ment since June 1950 took place.
Until last week, government officials in charge of military
production had been warning that the second quarter of 1952
would be the tightest of.all. This was the period when industry
would really feel the pinch of scarce civilian goods, would be dras-
tically curtailed on the manufacture of radios, TV sets, refrigera-
tors, autos and buildings. This was the warning that came from the
office of Defense Mobilizer Charles E. Wilson and subordinates
of Secretary of Defense Bob Lovett.
In just 17 days, however, the second quarter of 1952 begins. Yet
as it approaches, materials, instead of being tight, suddenly have
loosened up.
Instead of cutting down on autos, government chiefs last week
called in the motor moguls and handed them more materials. Instead
of cutting down on building construction, the builders were given more
steel.
Meanwhile aluminum was available for storm doors, farm
gates, civilian window sashes. There were plenty of radio and TV
sets on hand. Other civilian goods seemed plentiful.
In other words, the dire prediction of Washington military and
production chiefs was all wet.
-GUNS OR BUTTER-
BEHIND THIS has been one of the most important inner adminis-
tration debates in all the government. It has been kept so quiet
that few people have known about it, but it gets to the bottom of
both the nation's security and the nation's economic prosperity.
In brief, it's the debate over which to produce-guns or butter. The
same debate raged under Roosevelt prior to Pearl Harbor, but was
solved in part by a stronger President, in part by the Japanese attack
on Dec. 7. 1941.
Today the debate is between the Joint Chiefs of Staff who favor
guns- and certain production men with long association in private
business led by Secretary of Defense Lovett and Defense Mobilizer
Wilson, who want both guns and butter.
The above, of course, is an oversimplification of the issue. The case
is neither black nor white. It is gray, with something to be said on
both sides. The leaders of both schools are sincere, patriotic men.
Furthermore, the military have helped to defeat themselves by being
slow on production. However, the results are inescapable, and can be
summarized as follows:
1. The U.S. arms program has bogged down. We are way behind
Russia in airplanes, and have fallen far below the military equipment
promises we made Europe. This is one reason for the economic and
political crisis in Europe today.
2. Because the arms program is so far behind, most defense material
-with the-notable exception of copper-is now surplus. Actually the
aluminum companies, to use the words of one executive, "have alumi-
num running out of our ears." This is the reason why automobile and
construction companies suddenly have had unexpected materials
dumped into their amazed laps.
Bookstore Error.. ..
To the Editor:
IT WAS erronously reported in
yesterday's Daily that at Wed-
nesday night's S.L. meeting I spoke
against the establishment of a
Inon-profit bookstore. This is par-
ticularly distressing because I was
the Legislator who made the mo-
tion last December demanding Im-
mediate action on a non-profit
bookstore.
What I condemned Wednesday
night was not the future plans of
the bookstore committee but rath-
er their past inactivity! In order
to meet a dealine for this week's
meeting, I believe the committee
prepared an inadequate last min-
ute report. During the past year
little progress was made. A non-
profit bookstore can become a re-
ality only though the hard work
of many Legislators. It is my hope
that this committee will give ser-
ious thought and effort and im-
mediate ACTION on this project
which means so much to so many
students.
-Bob Pery
. * .*
Canon Bell . .
To the Editor:
S OMEONE has: sent me a clip-
ping from your paper in which
a Miss Simon takes me severely
to account for what she says I
sai din a public lecture in Ann
Arbor the other night. I find her
letter interesting as illustrating
some of the things wrong with
American education.
The lady has not bothered to
quote accurately. I never suggest-
ed that is the business of univer-
sities "to make sure that their
students have faith in a Supreme
Being, any more than it is for
them to tell (the students) what
political party they should vote
' for." It is not the business of a
university todeal with any con-
vctions; but it is their business to
impart such information as is nec-
essary for students to have in or-
der that they may come of sound
convictions. The University of
Michigan teaches about political
science, and I think maybe Miss
Simon agrees that this is legiti-
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 2y
Events Today
Canterbury Club: Canterbury House
Tea at 4 pam.; Lenten Suj per at 6;
Program at S, featuring a graduate stu-
dent who will spea on life in modern
Greece. ivening Prayer at 5:15 ip St.
Michael's Chapel.
Wesleyan Guild: Favorite Gane Nite,
8:30 p.m., Guild lounge.
r
SRA Coffee Hour, Lane Hall, 4:306
p.m. All students welcome.
Acolytes will meet at 8 p.m., East
Conference Room, Rackham Building,
to hear and discuss a paper entitled
"The Hypostatization of Sense-data,"
by David Luce. Refresanents.
Motion Pictures, auspues of the oni-
vc-sity Museums, "A.B.C. of Potery
Making," "Clay in Actio," and
,"Crafts of the Fire." 7:30 p.m., Kellogg
Auditorium.
Forum on College and University
Teaching. Rackham Amphitheater, 3-5
p.m. "How to Teach by Discussion; How
to Lecture well." Panel discussion:
Philip J. Wernette, Professor of Busi-
ness Administration, Chairman John
Arthos, Associate Professor of English;
Phillip S. Jones, Assistant Professor of
Mathematics; Marshall M. Knappen
Professor of Poitical Science; Earl V.
Moore, Professor of. Music and Dean of
School of Music. This is the third of
five meetings of the Forum, same time
and place on successive Fridays. Grad-
uate students, teaching fellows, mem-
bers of the faculty welcome.
IZFA. Oneg Shabbat Musicale with a
Purim theme. 8 p.m., -Sigma Delta Tau
House, 1405 Hill St. A Purim farce will
be presented, Hebrew folk music played
and hamentachen served. Everyone in-
terested is invited.
Hillel. Friday evening services, 7:45
p.m., Lane Hail, followed by speaker,
Prof. Theodore Newcomb, Professor of
Social Psycholpgy, who will speak on
his experiences in Europe.
Roger Williams Guild: Fri., 8:45-12
midnight, St. Patrick's Day Party.
Coming Events
Symposium on "Advancing French
IArt," Museum of Art; Prof. Chet La
More, Prof. Marc Denkinger, Mr. Frank-
lin Ludden. Sunday, March"16, 3:30 p.m.
West Gallery, Alumni Memorial Hall.
Inter-cultural Outing, German Theme,
Bruin Lake Camp near Pinckney, Sat-
urday and Sunday. Leave Lane Hall, 2
p.m., Saturday, and return 3 p.m., Sun-
day. Reservations limited to thirty;
phone Lane Hall if interested.
Hillel. Anyone wishing to solicit or
participate in office work for U.J A.
please report to Hillel office in Lane
all and ask for Bill Altman any me
after 3 p.m.
mate. I hope so. Why not bout
religion, too, in the same objec-
tive way?
I might call Miss Simon's atten-
tion to several other misrepre-
sentations of what I said, and to
three lapses in logic; but it seems
unnceessary to bore your readers
to no purpose. Let me close by
reminding her when she lists
proper university studies as "sci-
ence, the humanities and the so-
cial sciences," that one of the
humanities is theology.
I am, sir, very truly yours,
--Reverend Iddings Bell
* . *
Korean Letter..
To the Editor
XE WERE pleased to read in the
Daily that the University of
Michigan is having a blood dona-
tion drive.
Let us cite the case of a soldier
with a serious lung wound. Upon
arrival at this' clearing station
his condition was so serious death
seemed imminent and the chap-
lain was sent for. His level of
shock was so acute his blood pres-
sure was unattainable and his
pulse barely discernable. Follow-
ing the administration of only two
pints of blood the flush of life re-
turned to his face. With shock
forestalled he was then safely eva-
cuated to a rear area hospital.
This story is being repeated time
after time over here.
We understand that the reserves
of blood are now dangerously low.
We implore students at our alma-
mater to help save lives. You will
never miss it - they might die
without it!
-Cpl. Allen C. Lawson, Jr.
Sgt. R. Walter Peterson
R. Magrina-Suarez, Capt. Inc.
Red Hearings ...
To the Editor:
P R THOSE who heard the
calm, sane testimony of Mr.
Lee Romano, former Communist
and vice-president of Local 600,
UAW, I am sure there can be lit-
tle doubt remaining as to the gen-
uine value of the proceedings of
the House Un-American Activities
Committee in Detroit. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation can and
does investigate subversive activi-
ties, and admittedly on a much
more detailed scale than the Com-
mittee could hope to, but the ap-
parent value of these proceedings
lies in deterring the growth of do-
mestic Communism by the expose
to the public of the fallacious doc-
trines and ideals, the very basis of
which has caused people like Mr.
Romano to denounce a movement
for which he once stood.
It is interesting to note that
Radio Station WJR obligated iigelf
by making a special announcement
in connection with its broadcast-
ing of the testimony of the Com-
mittee, to the effect that the Com-
mittee did not call people up aim-
lessly but rather subpeonaed
them on documented evidence pro-
duced by the F.B.I.
Surely all this is not in the note
of "hysteria," "emotion" and the
condemnation of "most of the peo-
ple of the State of Michigan."
William L. Mayo
Political Dagger ...
To the Editor:
SPEAKING OF "hiding behind
cloaks of constitutional brivi-
lege," we might note that the in-
quisitorial Congressmen seem quite
content to hide behind the cloak
of their constitutional privilege of
congressional immunity.
-Mort Sinlons
iL
"Nothing Personal, Pal. I Just Want To
Impress A. Girl"
Xette,'4 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 publicationrat the discretion of the
editors.
1
'4
*'
'P
f
'r;
* _ ;.
*
-DON'T STRAIN THE ECONOMY-
THE FULL STORY goes back to the days right after the Korean
invasion when the new arms program was thrown together. At
that time the "let's-not-strain-the-economy" advisers urged that re-
armament be spaced out over a longer period of time, that if rushed
too suddenly it would throw civilian economy out of gear. We should
mobilize gradually, they urged, rather than in a sudden spurt which
would leave civilian industry starved for materials.
In brief, civilian leaders said: "If we take things gradually, we
can have both guns and butter."
Though the Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't like it, their chief, Secre-
tary of Defense George Marshall, himself a General, concurred with
this idea and it was adopted.
Later, last fall, the situation was reviewed again. By this time it
was apparent that the Communists were sending a superior jet fighter
force to Korea, and reports from behind the Iron Curtain indicated
that the over-all Russian air strength was ahead of ours.
Because of this, Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg, Air Chief of Staff, argued
inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Air Force must have 143 air
groups, and the Joint Chiefs supported him.
.* * .
-SLOW MILITARY PRODUCTION-
IN THE FINAL showdown, however, Defense Mobilizer Wilson urged
a slower build-up, and when the matter went to the White House,
President Truman backed him up. Instead of building 143 air groups by
the end of 1953, they will now be built by the end of 1954.
What happened regarding airplanes also happened regarding other
military goods. The entire program was stretched out. The ultimate
goals remained the same, but the number of years for fulfillment was
prolonged.
This was partly the fault of the military. Their own slowness of
production cut the ground from under the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For,
though the Joint Chiefs continued to urge quicker mobilization, their
own military production men could not decide on types of planes and
tanks. dickered back and forth over bluenrints and did not snend the
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 Keteihut, Associate Women's Editor
Business Staff
Bob Miller .........Business Manager
Gene Kuthy, Assoc. Business Manager
Charles Cuson ....Advertising Manager
Milt Goetz ........Circulation Manager
U 4
s