THE MICHIGAN DAILY SATURDAY, MARCU 29, 1952 Athletic Board MATTER OF PACT By JOSEPH and STEWART ALSOP "Gee Thanks" D ISCRIMINATION IS not a good thing, whether it's directed towards a racial :roup or the poor, currently down-trodden :ollege athlete. Yet, the Student Legislature can per- form a distinct service for its constituents by prohibiting varsity athletes from run- ning for the Board in Control of Intercol- legiate Athletics. Though such action might appear an abridgement of their rights as student citizens, it would render immediate benefit to the campus body. The two elective positions on the Board were created with the intention of allowing he students' views of the huge Michigan athletic system to be expressed in a favor- able environment. That is where the ath- ete-representative falls down. To be sure, the athlete is a student, but his is not a students' outlook in athletic natters. He is so enmeshed in the athletic etup that he is, in effect, a "company nan." On any controversial issue, he must tring along with the party line or face the onsequences. What athlete will campaign for betterw student seating at football games or for more rigid scholastic requirements for themselves and their colleagues? What athlete would make an inquiry concern- ing the outstandingly high price of foot- ball programs? The answer is obvious-- none would. It is true that the athlete has a certain inherent advantage over the non-athlete candidate inasmuch as he is familiar with collegiate athletic activity. But even the most non-informed student could pick up enough "sports knowledge" to be an able representative within a few weeks, given the proper incentive. At the present time both student repre- sentatives are athletes, and judging from a look at the list of candidates running for the open post this coming election, only athletes will continue to represent the student body. Though it is too late to make changes be- fore the coming election, the Student Legis- lature would do well to investigate the situ- ation and legislate to correct it in the fu- ture. -John Jenks Ik 4 xc tette'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 publication at the discretion of the editors. TWO RELUCTANT DRAGONS Liberties .. . WASHINGTON-Recent visitors to Key West strongly -suspect that the Presi- dential mind, which was pretty well made up until very recently, has now been un- made again. They are also beginning to be- lieve, as one Key West pilgrim put it, that "this may be 1940 all over again." In short, the feeling is growing that President Tru- man, contrary to previous expectations, will not announce his future course for a long time, and perhaps not until just before the Democratic convention in July. Trying to read the President's mind is, of course, an exceedingly risky business. But it is at least true that a subtle but significant change in the President's atti- tude is reported from Key West. Before going to Florida, Truman gave those close to him good reason to believe that he would announce his course soon-April 12 was one date specifically mentioned. Aside from the fact that April 12 is the seventh anniversary of Truman's taking of- fice, this date has another significance. It is four days after the primary in Illinois, in which Gov. Adlai Stevenson is expected to be renominated. Thus Stevenson could thereafter become a Presidential candidate and still retain the power to influence the choice of his successor as Governor, if need be. And there were plenty of other indica- tions that Truman planned to withdraw and promote a Stevenson candidacy. 1TERPRETING THE NEWS: Ike's Return By J. M. ROBERTS, JR. Associated Press News Analyst GENERAL EISENHOWER will make an exhaustive report Tuesday on the pro- gress of European defense in the past year, and it probably will be his swan song as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Europe. Soon after that the General is expected to ask for relief from that post to become Dwight D. Eisenhower, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Not that he will resign his commission un- less and until he is actually nominated. But he is known to be very earnest about his. belief that politics and the army should not get mixed up, and that he should set no example which might lead to the practice of army officers "bucking" for positions which would attract political attention. To enter even the pre-convention campaign he must devise some means of making this position clear. He may try to do it when he writes the President about his relief from SHAPE. Just when this may come is still the Gen- eral's secret, but the voluntary leaders of the campaign for him in this country are confidently expectant that he will get home in time to make two or three speeches. The middle of May now is the target date on which they are basing their hopes. DORIS FLEESON: The matter of timing may be settled at conferences in Paris soon between Eisen- hower and one or more of his campaign leaders who may go there in the next two or three days. If Eisenhower acts now, the President would have time to confer with the Euro- pean governments and get the matter of succession settled in four or five weeks. Thus the General has progressed through several stages of thinking about politics. When someone suggested the presidency for him after the African campaign in 1943 he brushed it aside with a disinterest amount- ing almost to aversion. In 1948 he brushed off both Democrats and Republicans-and important ones, too -with his contention that the military should keep itself sharply divided from politics. Then the volunteers began boost- ing him for 1952, and he let them go ahead, but without his active participa- tion. Evidence of widespread popular sup- port in the recent primaries, on top of the long-standing assurances of his poli- tical backers, added to what has now, by all outside evidence, become a strong de-, sire. The changed attitude is expected to be made publicly manifest within the next few days. * * * Political Military WfASHINGTON-Two great-name gener- als are major participants in the tense and increasingly embittered pre-convention presidential campaign. Another famous gen- eral and an admiral are also prominently in- volved. General Eisenhower is an avowed and General MacArthur an implicit candidate for the Republican nomination for presi- dent. Itieut. Gen. Albert Wedemeyer retired) has just acceded to a macedonian cry from Senator Taft to go into the General's na- tive Nebraska and help the Senator in that state's primary against General Eisenhower. Adm. Louis Denfeld, whose retirement as chief of naval operations was forced by the unification fight, is seeking election to the convention as a Taft delegate from Massa- chusetts. BACH'S "St. Matthew Passion" was first performed in 1729 with scarcely two dozen singers participating; it was given its first Ann Arbor performance last night with a total chorus of about seventy-five times that number. Unfortunately, such gradiose tactics for the most part don't mix well with the intricate, deeply expressive music Bach has written into his monumental work. This is not to say that the 1,500 voice Chorale Choir was not effective. The numerous chorales interspersed throughout the Passion demand the volume and solidity achieved by a con- gregational choir-in fact, they were written for participation purposes. Maynard Klein must be credited for con- ceiving the idea of accomplishing this mass effect through the use of a combined high school chorus. Though the singers were un- rehearsed as a group, they evidently had been uniformly trained as individual chor- uses. Simple crescendo and diminuendo ef- fects and studied phrasing are certainly the most basic requirements of choral conduct- ing, but in the Bach chorales, which stand by themselves as simple yet powerful pieces of music, a straightforward presentation is entirely sufficient. But the more difficult choruses and most of the orchestral passages demand intense study if any semblance of techni- cal clarity, let alone interpretive profun- dity, is to be reached. In spite of the continuity Harold Haugh's masterfully executed recitatives provided, and in spite All this in a presidential campaign whose major issue is the foreign policy the military is supposed to execute after the civilian authority has formulated it. The situation is frankly frightening to the defense establishment. The career services hate it and are deeply resentful. To the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their principal aides it represents another weight added to the heavy burden of promoting their defense budgets before a deeply political congress this election year. The campaigning generals and admiral were not citizen soldiers. The generals were educated at West Point, the admiral at An- napolis; all four have enjoyed high posi- tions of unusual trust. General Wedemeyer and Admiral Denfeld are in a somewhat different position than their colleagues contending for the highest place. Both are retired, drawing only the pensions they richly earned. Thus they can claim full civilian status. Nevertheless, they too have been in the thick of the violent arguments which have involved the country's military leadership including unification and Asian policy. Their colleagues grant them technical clearance but would be happier if they stood aloof. The two five-star generals by act of con- gress, cannot retire. They are drawing full pay and allowances for the rest of their lives plus three service aides and office space paid by the taxpayer. General Eisenhower in addition has his NATO command. Admittedly all this was a free-will offer- ing to the top commanders of World War II. It was done by statute which the two generals have no power to repeal even if they wished. It remains a fact that the principal poli- tical news, day in, day out, centers around two men in the uniform of a five-star Am- erican general. Thoughtful civilians could- n't possibly like it less than the career mili- tary.. They expect it to get worse instead of bet- ter as it becomes increasingly clear that ev- ery backward step Senator Taft takes will be countered with a forward step by General MacArthur. General MacArthur, as fre- ported here long ago, does not intend to let either Harry Truman or Dwight Eisenhower be president if he has to make the sacrifice himself. General MacArthur has been publicly criticized for wearing his uniform when delivering his intemperate political dia- tribes. General Eisenhower is getting some tactful hints too that the uniform and happy primary returns don't go together. He is nrobably much more influenced by EFORE GOING to Key West, for ex- ample, Truman even had reports pre- pared for him, analyzing such matters as Stevenson's probable state-by-state political strength and the political impact of his di- vorce. Yet the new atmosphere at Key West has thrown some doubt on the obvious im- plication that Truman was preparing to withdraw soon, in plenty of time for a Ste- venson boom to get under way. Truman still talks to intimates in a way which clearly suggests that he does not want to run. But he has brushed aside suggestions that he might give the faith- ful at least a broad hint at the Jefferson- Jackson dinner on March 29, or soon thereafter. As for Stevenson, when his name is mentioned these days, Truman is apt to react either rather caustically or not at all. And although they may be dead wrong, those in the best position to judge will now be surprised if Truman an- nounces his plans in the near future, or indeed for many weeks to come. It is possible to make a reasonable, al- though necessarily tentative, guess about what all this means. In the first place, it is almost certainly true that Truman does genuinely want to withdraw. But he natur- ally also wants to have a decisive hand in choosing his successor. And when he turned to Stevenson, after Chief Justice Fred Vin- son refused to run, Truman was surprised, puzzled and probably increasingly irritated by Stevenson's reaction. For if Stevenson has not actually slam- med the door in the President's face, he has certainly not held it open with en- thusiasm. Not only privately but as pub- licly as possible, Stevenson has displayed an obvious reluctance, saying again and again that he is "running for Governor, and nothing else." Stevenson's reluctance is both honest and understandable, but it has left the President in a painful dilemma. For various reasons, none of the other potential candidates, Sen. Robert Kerr, of Oklahoma, Sen. Estes Ke- fauver, of Tennessee, or Sen. Richard Rus- sell, of Georgia, is acceptable to Truman. So, other than run again himself, what is Truman to do? &~ ~ ON THE Washington Merry-Go-Round with DREW PEARSON (EDITOR'S NOTE-As the presidential campaign gets hotter, Drew Pearson today brings a series of columns dissecting the Democratic candidates for President. The first is Sen. Robert Kerr of Oklahoma, who next week faces his first primary test in Nebraska. Mr. Pearson is also conducting a poll of his readers on the Democratic candidates. You can participate by addressing a postcard to Box 1952, Washington, D. C.) WASHINGTON-Three years ago if anyone had told Senate old- timers that two freshman senators, Kerr of Oklahoma and Ke- fauver of Tennessee, would be battling it out for the presidency in 1952, the prediction would have been called ridiculous. Yet that's exactly what is happening in Nebraska next Tuesday. Furthermore, in view of the need of new blood in the Democratic party, it's a healthy development. And since the Senator from Ten- nessee has been more publicized than the Senator from Oklahoma, here is a bird's-eye view of the likable, Bible-pounding Bob Kerr who now aspires to the presidency of the United States. Senator Kerr combines a number of rare attributes. He is at one and the same time the most pious, one of the most powerful, the most genial, and probably the wealthiest member of the Uni- ted States Senate. He also has a lot of courage-though some peo- ple call it gall. Whether you agree with Bob Kerr or not, you can't help liking him. You also have to respect his piety. The fact that he teaches a Baptist Sunday School is not mere political window-dressing. He takes his religion seriously. He also takes prohibition seriously, and is one of the few senators who never serves alcoholic beverages at his table. * * * * --UNETHICAL CONDUCT- BUT THOUGH RELIGION also implies high ethical standards, the Sunday-School-teaching senator from Oklahoma has brazenly flouted the Senate's standards of ethics and good conduct. Senate rule 12 was set up by senators in order to disqualify any member who has a direct pecuniary interest in a piece of legislation. Though the rule is not compulsory, precedent has made it customary. And, according to the Senate parliamentarian, it has been followed consistently for many years. Thus, Sen. Warren Austin of Vermont, now Ambassador to the United Nations, disqualified himself from voting on a TALC bill because he had investments in TALC. Senator Kerr, on the other hand, not only introduced the Kerr bill which would have had the effect of increasing the price of natural gas carried in interstate pipelines, but became its No. 1 lobbyist. He buttonholed senaors, urged, cajoled and demanded that they vote for a bill which stood to make his company several hundred thousand dollars. Finally, after the bill was vetoed by his friend, the President, 'Kerr and the attorney for Phillips Petroleum, ex-White House Coun- sel Clark Clifford, managed to lobby a ruling through the Federal Power Commission which accomplished the same price-hiking ends as the Kerr bill. -KERR'S WEALTH- YET THE SENATOR from Oklahoma had several million dollars of pecuniary interest directly tied up in his bill to remove the Federal Power Commission's control over the price of natural gas. Kerr owns oil and gas lands valued at a total of around one hundred million dollars. On this, he and his partner, who operate the Kerr-McGee Oil Industries Co., officially reported a 1949 gross income of $14,930,150 with a net income of $1,218,627. In 1948, their gross income was $12,538,058, on which was paid an income tax of only $29,053-due to the generous oil depletion benefits given the oil companies under the federal tax laws. Kerr's company also has at least four contracts to sell natural gas in interstate commerce, thus immediately benefiting from the law he battled through Congress. One is with Texas Gas Transmission Co., one with Southern Natural Gas, one with Trunkline Gas Supply, and one with El Paso Natural Gas. These records are all on file with the Federal Power Com- mission. Yet during Senate debate, none of his colleagues challeng- ed the Senator from Oklahoma regarding the ethics of his con- duct in lobbying for a bill which meant a small fortune to his company, and which would cost northern housewives an estimated $506,000,000 a year in increased gas bills. Kerr shook his finger under colleagues' noses, demanded that they vote "right," and made himself something of a nuisance; yet none of them asked why he did not abide by Senate rule 12 and abstain from voting for his own pocketbook. * * . * * -KERR'S RFC BROTHEL- BOB KERR operates on the theory that if you keep quoting from the Bible often enough and have money and power enough, people will forget certain other things. And this is pretty much what has happened. When the RFC scandals were investigated last year, the public heard much about a mink coat but nothing about Senator Kerr's brother, Aubrey. Bob Kerr was sworn in as a U.S. senator in January 1949 and didn't wit long to put his brother in the job of handling RFC law business in Oklahoma. Brother Aubrey took over in February 1949-just one month later. Senators investigating the RFC last year turned V Pvarars interesting pieces of patronage, but considerately overlooked--or failed to remember-the RFC plum handed thy Kerr family. Even President Truman has a kindly memory as far as the genial Senator from Oklahoma is concerned. The President said not a word To the Editor: A VERY HEALTHY thing has been taking place on this cam- pus-the question of civil liberties, especially free speech, has become an important issue, and all of us are being obligated to form a coherent and responsible opinion on the subject. In this process of "soul-search- ing" - and I believe it is soul searching because civil liberties extends ultimately to one's reli- gious and humanitarian ideas of man-I think we might do well to examine the tradition of our coun- try for certain values to keep in mind. The tradition of America, I be- lieve, teaches us at least four very basic principles: (1) It is an absolutely funda- mental principle that liberty is inalienable; it is inherent in men as men. Government neither con- fers nor takes away liberty; it tells us not how much, but where limitations must be imposed. (2) An equally fundamental principle is that order is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. Orderly society is a point of departure to make possible the goals society aims at. (3) A third, common-sense principle is that neither liberty nor order should be pushed to a logical or even verbal extreme; complete liberty, means anarchy, and complete order means tyranny and stagnation. (4) Liberty is not only good in itself but the vital prerequisite for anything else. Science, educa- tion, art, loyalty, or any endeavor one might conceive of can only be' reached by free thought, free dis- cussion. Thus in forming our opinions we would do well to bear in mind the words of one who was not a "radical" with his own axe to grind, who was also not an ivory- tower enthusiast, but was face to face with real concrete issues on which he, as a member of the court, had to take a responsible stand-Justice Holmes. He writes: "(Our constitutional) .. . is an experiment, as all life is an ex- periment . . . While that experi- ment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vig- ilant against all attempts to check' the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country." -Leonard Sandweiss * * * Cheer the Dance.,,. To the Editor: CHEERS TO Levine for her splendid editorial deploring the lack of attention shown to the Dance in the University curric- ulum. However, let me make one very strong point which she failed to mention and which emphasizes how lamentable the situation is: for a period of about three years the University had on its faculty a very famous name in Modern Dance. Juana de Laban was not only an inspiring teacher, scholar, and personality, but, more im- portant, a true artist. Dr. Laban is a great dancer still in her prime, who danced for her classes and in programs, thereby providing the all-important visual images, accompanied by aesthetic im- pressions, which are in effect the best teachers of the Dance. Bringing Juana de Laban here was a tour de force. After three years, with no positive steps being taken by the University authori- ties to create a Dance department here, she left the University to go to a small Arts College in New York with a smaller salary. This is commentary enough on the attitude of the University toward the Dance. What her personal feelings were one can well imagine. She must have felt that, insofar as her art was concerned, her three years here were spent in futility and stagnation. One person, even as dynamic and in- defatigable as Dr. de Laban, could not overcome the University's apathy toward an art form which synthesizes literature, painting, drama, and music. Anmindependent dance depart- ment, in accordance with the scheme Miss Levine suggests is definitely in order. Moreover, it should be staffed and designed for the benefit of students who might wish to become dancers or teachers of the Dance, just as Ik ier more fortunate students come to this University to become mu.&C s e n gQt patEft writers, or actors. Until such a time, if the Dance is to exist in Ann Arbor, those who are interested should take heart and be grateful for the ex- it does not follow that "in a relig- ious association that exists to pro- mote' inter-faith understanding, we must first recognize that a religion is a way of orientating man's life to his surroundings, and, if need be, modifying the surroundings to facilitate this". It only follows that we must make an attempt towards understand- ing the various faiths. Mr. Phillips' definition of religion only indicates with what prejudice and pre-con- ceived notions he approaches the problem of understanding another man's faith. Religion has traditionally been regarded as forming a bond be- tween God and man. Social con- tracts form the bonds between men. Moreover, the morality of an action does not depend on the proper etiquette of society, nor on a sincere desire for the betterment of human society. Philanthropic is the most that can be said of actions that arise from such mo- tives. The mora"lity of an action can be judged only in so far as it can be related to some absolute law laid down by an Absolute Being. This law has been summed up by Christ in two ways. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, etc." and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- self." Also, Christ said, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the, things that are God's." This is the essence of morality. On the basis of what I have said, then, I feel quite justified in charging that Mr. Phillips does not "understand the Newman Club's position." All he knows is that.an opposition has been made to a proposal made in S. R. A. He does not understand the reason for the opposition. Further, quite gratuitously, Mr. Phillips asserts that "authoritar- ianism in Church and social order subvert religion." If this is so, and if religion is merely a means of "orientating man's life to his sur- roundings", why should we have police forces, jails, death cham- bers? These seem to me evidences of some sort of authoritarianism. Should they be abolished as sub- versive elements? -Chester Patrick Vote Yes... To the Editor: BECAUSE the Kelsey House Council is an organization of students on campus, and because whatever affects the basio in- terests of the students should enter into its consideration, the Kelsey House Council passes the following resolution: We publicly state our opposition to the existance of any University ruling which restricts any recog- nized campus organization in its choice of speakers or subjects. The Kelsey House Council main- tains that the basic function of a University is to inform students on the basic problems of society. This is necessary, we feel, so that students can develop a philosophy which will cope with these prob- lems in a mature and responsible manner. To achieve this goal all views and all sides of these views must compete in the free and open market of ideas. The Kelsey House Council therefore opposes any University ruling which in effect hinders the intellectual and spiritual development of the stu- dent. -Charles Weber President, Kelsey House Council South Quadrangle A I * * * * * * A F HE WITHDREW now or in the near future, and Stevenson refused to make the race, Truman's power to influence the course of events at the Chicago convention might be destroyed, by the rule that a iset- ting sun gives forth little heat. A candidate wholly unacceptable to Truman might then be chosen. Thus it may well seem to the President that he has no choice but to keep silent and hope that something will turn up. This interpretation, of course, may be upset by events. Stevenson and Truman are sure to meet again, during the Jeffer- son-Jackson celebrations this weekend, and a meeting of minds may take place between the two men. Indeed, at least one shrewd professional politician, who is ac- tively working for Stevenson, is convinced that such a meeting of minds has already taken place. He believes that the Presi- dent's silence and Stevenson's reluctance are a matter of political tactics, to bridge over the time before the Illinois primaries. Yet the bulk of the evidence pretty clearly suggests that Truman and Stevenson (per- haps with the growing strength of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in mind) are both reluctant dragons, as one in not wanting to run. If this interpretation is cor- rect, this is one of the oddest situations in American political hstory, with the President quite honestly in search of an heir, and quite honestly unable to find a man to whom he can in good conscience hand on i 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 B sine s S"17 Bob Miller..........Busine w Manager Gene Kuthy, Assoc. Business Manager Charles Cuson ....Advertising Manager Milt Goetz... .....Circulation Manager