T. THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, MARCH-30, 1952 I I Speaker Referendum * * * Vote Yes .. . W~ITHOUTr GOING INTO high sounding theories of education, and democracy, we can easily see why the Regents by-law which enables the lecture committee to ban speakers is both superfluous and ridiculous. There are two provisions in the ruling. One is directed against those who would use state property to advocate the over- throw of the government. The second concerns political speakers who can not use state property to further their own plitieal cause. However, some vague line is drawn in the latter case, and a political speaker may lecture if his speech is of an "educational value." The firstdpertaining to "subversives" is superfluous because there isalready arstate law which prohibits use of state property to advocate the violent overthrow of the gov- ernment. This by-law, in addition to being unneces- sary, is also vague and subject to various damaging interpretations. When Abner Green and Arthur McPhaul were banned- two weeks ago, their case set a new prece- dent in interpretation of the ruling. Neither are avowed Communists and neither had planned to advocate the overthrow of the government. Those who are afraid that Communist speakers will be influential on campus must have a profound lack of faith in the. virtues of our democratic system. Others who argue that Communist speakers will cause the Universitysbad publicity should realize that a ban causes much more publicity than if the speaker came here quietly, spoke, and left. The second part of the Regents' ruling is gain vague, unnecessary, and inconsistent with the title, University. It is impossible to separate education and politics. In view of the coming election, what could be of more educational value to the student' body than to hear various candidates give their political platforms? As in the first case, the ruling is open to many,.interpretations. Though Sen. Taft, who is coming to speak in April, was advised to keep istrict politics out of his talk, the lecture committee approved an Eisenhower rally in Hill Auditorium at which Senator, Morse and Arthur Vandenburg Jr. were to campaign for the General. Such inconsistencies clearly show that few actually understand the meaning of the by-law, or, perhaps, that it has no meaning. Again the argument that the University's name will be hurt falls flat. If there were no speakers' ban there would be a constant flow of speakers of every political nature. It is rather absurd to think that, if Taft speaks here one week the University will be labeled, "Republican" and If Norman Thomas came the next, the label would switch to "Socialist." Those students who are interested in lift- ing a regulation which is vague, inconsistent, and which hinders their freedom as students~, should take this opportunity for protest of. fered by the referendum and-Vote Yes! --Alice Dogdonof * * * Vote No.. . THE ACTION of the University Lecture Committee, long a source of agitation on campus, has finally resulted in the forming of a referendum movement urging that the Lecture committee be disbanded. The groups sponsoring this referendum have represented the Comittee as threat- ening the basic principles of free speech on campus. This is not the case. The University has not stopped anyone from bringing speakers to Ann Arbor, nor have they stopped the students of the Univer- sity from listening to them. What they have done is 'to refuse certain speakers the right to use University facilities. In other words, if therYP or the CLC had felt like going to the time and expense, they could have still brought their speakers here. Many students grant that the lecture com- mittee's practices are not in themselves violations of freedom of speech, but still de- plore the way the committee decides who shallor shall not speak. However, according to the Regents' bylaws the committee must deny campus facilities to anyone who urges, "the destruction or modification of govern- ment by violence or other unlawful meth- ods." Since the Regents have failed to define more specifically this clause, the committee must use its own discretion in the matter. Several things are taken into considera- tion in deciding if a speaker should be al- lowed to use University property. The most important is whether or not the speaker is an admitted Communist. The. Committee considers this prima facie evidence of intent to overthrow the government by force. If there is no clear cut evidence of a speaker's party membership, other things are con- sidered. One factor is whether or not the proposed speaker has been a recent leader in an organization known to the Committee to be a Communist front. The Committee usesits own experience and knowledge in Sdetermining what groups fall under this category and no so-called "subversive or- ganizations" list. Questions answered or not answered by the proposed speaker nbefore the Un-American Activities Committee are also considered. The committee weighs all of these in making its decision. When it is decided that a speaker should be. banned it is not done to deny the stu- dents the right of hearing the speaker. It is done to make sure a speaker does not say that the University agrees with what he stands for. A clever person could twist his speaking here until it would appear that he was actually sponsored by the University. Professor C. G. Brandt, secretary of the Lecture Committee said recently, "I do not believe that there is any speaker that the students of the University of Michigan arej not mature enough to hear. The Regents' bylaws concern the use of University prop- erty and not control of ideas." The Lecture Committee is fulfilling a necessary service by protecting the University's reputation. Vote no on the forthcoming referendum and give the Committee a vote of confidence. --Milton Pryor DREW PEARSON: Washington Merry-Go-RoundI WASHINGTON-Pat McCarran, the sena- tor who rules the Senate Judiciary Committee with the same highhandedness that marks his domination of the State of Nevada, has developed a new technique for browbeating the press. If a newspaperman fails to agree with him or dares criticise his dictatorial tech- niques, McCarran proceeds to investigate that newspaperman for violation of the Espionage Act. Such an investigation of two newspaper columnists, Joseph and Stewart Alsop, is now being conducted by MCarran through his Internal Security Committee because the Alsop brothers dared criticise McCar- ran's high-handed methods. The Espionage Act, originally passed in 1917, during the height of the World War I hysteria against Germany, is so broad that the press associations and even the staid old New York Times unwittingly violate its letter-though not its spirit-probably once or twice a month. It is quite certain that the Alsop brothers have gone no further than such a technical violation. However, it is certain that they have had the courageto do what few other newsmen have done in challenging Senator McCarran. td Joe Alsop, who served in China during the war and knows far more about its problems than any member of the M- Carran committee, had this to say about McCarran's tactics in cross-examining John Carter Vincent, U.S. diplomatic ad- viser to Vice President Henry Wallace on hisumission to China: "Vincent all but had a light shined in his eyes and was beaten by a rubber hose. the central issue was almost completely ig- nored.. "The main upshot of the Wallace mission to China, in which Vincent participated, was a recommendation to dismiss the pro- Chinese-Communist Gen. Joseph Stilwell, and to replace him with sturdy anti-Com- munist Gen. Albert Wedemeyer ... Under the circumstances you might have supposed that this central issue would have been ex- amined by the senators at some length. "Had you done so, however, you would have gravely misjudged Sen. Pat McCarran of Nevada ... Instead, Sen. McCarran and friends concentrated on trying to show that Vincent had somewhat misjudged the Chi- nese situationein the crucial late war and post-war years." In ranother column the Alsop brothers questioned the veracity of Louis Budenz, former editor of the Daily Worker. "Sen. Pat McCarran's Internal Security Subcommittee .. ." they wrote, "has just finished beating John Carter Vincent over the head with its verbal substitutes for a rubber hose. 'In all the brutal questioning of this high State Department official not one word was said about the veracity of Vincent's sole accuser, the professional ex - Communist, Louis Budenz." The column continued with a penetrat- ing diagnosis of the peculiar manner in which Budenz had failed to mention Vin- cent's name during months of testimony and thousands of hours of conferences with the FBI-until at the last minute it seemed convenient to have him substan- tiate Senator McCarthy. McCarran's answer to the Asop brothers' criticism wvas not given on the floor of the Senate in the traditional form of American debate. It came in the form of an investiga- tion of the columnists' writings in An effort to nail them with a violation of the Espion- age Act. PHANTOM WAR WITH MEXICO FOR ABOUT two hours last week, the highest executives of the U.S. govern- ment were trying to stave off possible "war" between the United States and Mexico. Secretary of Defense Lovett was on the telephone with Secretary of State Acheson, then in touch with the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William Fechteler, to head off an attack on the Mexican coast by a band of Florida shrimp fishermen. The tip on the forthcoming attack on Mexico came from acting secretary of the Navy Francis Whitehair who had received a phone call from Florida that 20 shrimp fishermen had been detained by Mexican authorities for fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and that other Florida shrimp fishermen were determined to rescue their comrades. Armed fishermen from Punta Gorda, it was reported, were setting sail fQr the Mexi- can coast to shoot up the Mexicans who held their comrades. Reverberations of the 1917 attack by the U.S. Navy on Tampico were immed- iately remembered in the State Depart- ment. So, after some quick consultatioi, Secre- tary of Defense Lovett ordered a, Coast Guard vessel to stand by in the Gulf of Mexico to ward off the invading Florida shrimp fishermen-only to find that Mexico had already released the other shrimp fish- ermen and there was nothing to get steamed up about after all. * * * CUBAN EMBASSY REVOLT TT SELDOM HAPPENS that revolution ~w THE WEEK'S NEWS . IN RETROSPECT . ~ICHARD KING Thomas, Daily half the state's delegates. He suf- A~editorial writer, broke into fered a severe set-back earlier in world-wideinfamy last week when themweek when, after withdrawing the Moscow "Literary Gazette" from the New Jersey primary he hailed one of his editorials as "a -k*~ was forced to stay in because ofp slanderous attack" on the USSR state Superior Court decision. The Reds didn't like the way a U. Meanwhile, both Gov. Earl War- Thomas "killed the President of V ren and Harold Stassen were busy the United States in a recent promising voters that a ballot cast editorial. The editorial, which was for them would be a vote for painfully an obvious satire on ter- st Eisenhower, who is not officially tin hate articles appearing in entered. Colliers and Esquire, was a bit T * d too horrifi even for Russian taste. JOE, AGAIN - A two-million The Gazette issued a sharp denial dollar "libel, slander and con- that "I Killed the President" had spiracy suit was filed against Sen. appeared in "Krashdna Sovietsk- Benton (~D-Conn.) by Sen. Joseph ski," a fictitious Russian magazinehMcurtsy- Yt wa- eheresultof inveed by Th oms. SadWl ~M~rthy, It ws the resto invetedby homs. Sid all: yBenton's demanding McCarthy's Street tool Thomas: 'I'm flattered dr ouster from the Senate after is- but insulted," as he cranked the s. J> suing a 30,000 word statement ac- starter of his Model T cusing him of perjury, fraud and j "calculated deception of the Amer- Loeal. kd-* *k tican people." McCarthy's attor- APPROPRIATIONS-The 1952-ey? W Joe hmel 53 University operating budget- I U E FINAL TOTALS-The death toll totalling $16,936,650-was passed resulting from the tornado that by the State House of Representa- p hit the South and Central U.S. tives Friday without a murmur in I early last week was revised to Lansing but with some grumbling-208. While the Red Cross con- in Ann Arbor. The amount repre- rti k he i te . tinued their relief work, President sents a slash of more than $1500,- b B r m n Truman ordered a federal survey 000 from the original $18,575,000 of the damage. requested by the University. h A Though University Vice-president H'N Marvin L. te iehuss warned that roe st e when rgton cithe oe m ontt "siscusedwe rickteqa ppl-toPeien rmn h a i-lted hadt de emnctatoonhs th rpsd mut"s eo ° Al Capp, after 18 years, married that needed to support adequately k off his comic strip hero, Lirl Abner the services of the University," itt ideeDas Mae.. looedleUBivdgstyn officials rAnd its for real, Capp promised. might have to be satisfied with the$,, ad nChUpeH dmdsedg figure. As a rule, the-Senate does s-Daily-Bill Kmamptonn h not change the amount estab- "You Wall-Streeter, You" International . lished by the House. A ET*tnd nsnRIOTSg-Mobs stole the interna- the individual houses before actual avoid an April 8 strike in the na- tional scene last week in Trieste, SICK HOSPITAL - An ailing payment is made. tion's steel industry were slowed Italy and South Africa. Demon- University Hospital looked for- * * * last week with talks between the strators in the free territory of ward hopefully to a long-range IFC SNUBBED-The Joint Quad CIO and employers breaking down. Trieste and Italy demanded the $5,000,000 rehabilitation and ex- Council rejected an IFC request Mobilization chief Charles E. Wil- return of the city to Italian con- pansion program slated to be fi- to permit fraternity representa- son also Balled off a meeting of trol. The situation turned into a nanced by the State Legislature. tives to enter the quads during his to paides to discuss the situa- bloody anti-American affair in Prospects were brightening for a orientation week and the official tion after branding the Wage Rome as police quelled student restoration of a $650,000 Univer- IFC rushing period. Eager IFC of- Stabilization Board's recommen- rioters with clubs and gun-fire. sity request to begin the program, ficials saw in this plan a solution dations inflationary. In several South African cities, previously thumbed down by the to the "deplorable relations" be- Sinlaeintewkththe obsoudfrtersgain Senate Finance Committee. In a tween Greeks and quadders. What wolSigsputtr tehay ek tturdoembsofuPimeMiniste aeangfterith later huddle with University off i-they also saw, but didn't' say, waswtolPedsdeTrmabunehov in- PlateMhad sderMand fthatthe cials, the Committee also discussed a pipe-line into the quad popula- yokPeetTtrtlanwocedpowlatersf heaspemnecourthbe possible rehabilitation programs tion..,laoreth a -maage a rent pmae wcriledtbeauem a ecte for the Natural Science and Ar- * * lbradmngmn omk utie eas thdrjce chitecture Bldgs. The proposed UNION SHOP-Union officials arrangements for new talks. his discrimninatory Apartheid Vo- library addition and new medical released details of the planned A byproduct of the controversy: ter's Act. science bldg., however, fell by the $2,750,000 addition to the Union, The House decided to investigate * * wayside when the House Ways and designed to provide additional fa- the WSB. ON AND ON -- The scene in Means. Committee cut these items cilities and more space to the pres- * * * Korea remained about the same earlier in the week. ently cramped structure. Though WISCONSIN TEST - As the throughout the week with little * * the expanded and remodeled cafe- April 1 primary date neared, presi- ground action, some air battles 'RIOT' AFTERMATH - The teria might be opened to coeds, dential hopefuls canvassed the and dragged on talks over minor combined dormitory councils de- the contemplated wing will pro- state making last promises and issues. There were hints, however, tided to make restitution to the vide f acilities. strictly for men. new attacks. Sen. Robert Taft, that the UN may give in to Coin- University for the $180 in damages * * fighting for his political life as munist demands that Russia be,, inflicted during the hectic student Nain l the Eisenhower bandwagon gath- included among the truce super-' "riot" a week and a half ago. The '-'"'flC S ered speed, issued a confident pre- visory powers.' plan will have to be accepted by STEFL DEADLOCK-Efforts to diction that he would captude over -Cal Samra and Jerry Heiman 's to ihtt6di too'.the0 . I 1 4' r "0* 0 " " Athletic Board N AN EDITORIAL yesterday, sports staffer John Jenks righteously proclaimed, "Dis- crimination is not a good thing." He then went on to make an unjustifiable exception to the rule in demanding that the Student Legislature move to bar athletic representa- tives from candidacy for the Athletic Board. Actually, SL has already taken action to correct injustices in the present Board elec- toral set-up, but in a more realistic manner than Jenks proposes. A Legislature resolution is now in the hands of the Regents which seeks the re- quirement of the petitioning method for attaining candidacy by all students. Current practice, as provided in a Re- gents' by-law, is for the athletic Managers Club to nominate two candidates while others get into the race by the petitioning method. SL has attempted to eliminate this form of discrimination. But it has not proposed a reverse and more drastic barrier which would keep ath- letes off the Board. Such a move would be directly contradictory to the philosophy which SL embodied in its set of proposals-- that women, non-athletes, and athletes-- in fact, any eligible student should be able to vote and hold office. Although Jenks is correct' in stating- that there are at present two athletes on the Board, this is only because of the recent ineligibility of the non-athlete member. If he regains academic favor, he will be rein- stated in his position next fqll. And, contrary to Jenks' speculation, there is a good chance that no athletes will occupy Board posts next year, what with a strong non-athlete candidate run- ning in the April elections. But the most unfortunate part about Jenks' erroneous piece is the assumption that an athlete is automaticallysa "com- pany man." It should be pointed out that last semester the "athletic representative," Don McEwen, and the "students' represen- tative," Bob Perry, consistently voted to- gether. It is particularly important to note that McEwen, "in spite of" being an athlete, was at all times acting in the student inter- est, as have many of his letter-holding predecessors. If the student body wishes to elect "party liners," it may find them among both ath- letes and non-athletes. The same is true if the electorate is interested in intelligent representation. The voters are certainly capable of pro- moting their interests by balloting on the basis of competence, not labels. -Barnes Connable Tax Levy... To the Editor: AS THE income tax laws stand now, a person loses his status as financial dependent after he has earned six hundred dollars in one year. .It has been recently suggested in Congress that this level be raised to one thousand dollars. I feel that such a change would directly affect many, if not most of us, and that we should express our opinions thereon, as voters, prospective voters, and sons and daughters of voters. Flagrant injustices because of the present level have lately come to my attention, but I introduce the subject to you only as it affects you, as college students. Most of us are gainfully em- ployed during the summer months. During this time we can earn seven or eight hundred tollars- just enough so that we become "financially independent", accord- ing to the income tax laws. Ob- viously, we are not independent, and must receive further support from somewhere to carry us through the school year. Yet father must pay one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars more income tax because he can no longer claim as dependent his student children, to whom he probably sends a goodly sum dur- ing the year. Considering this from the fam- ily-pool angle, it is not worth your while to earn over six hun- dred dollars in a summer, unless you plan to work throughout the year. Father loses money, no mat- ter which way you look at it. For those of us who must carry at least part of our financial bur- dens, it would be of direct ad- vantage to raise the dependency level to one thousand dollars per year. Most of you are undoubtedly familiar with the problem, so I will leave it for you to sleep ,on. If vnu decide. as I have. that the the speaker's ban has been in- correctly called an SRA-Newman Club dispute. Such is not the case. Newman Club is a part of SRA and SRA does not stand-opposed to its own member groups. Any disagreement was intra-group, not inter-group. It may also be of interest to note that there was no clear split of opinion. The motion we passed was a compromise and was accepted as such. A breakdown of the voting shows seven primary groups in favor, three abstaining and one opposed. On discovering how deep was the Apposition of the Newman Club to a stand against the speaker's ban, the executive committee recommended' that the council rescind its ac- tion. A council vote of only seven to six defeated this proposal. Our job on campus is, as has been stated, "to promote inter- faith understanding", and as such must be carried on within its in- herent limitations. If a member group feels its position is such in opposition to an SRA stand that it cannot stay within the organiza- tion, it is time for the SRA, in the light of its basic principle of unity, to re-examine the action and try to chart its future course with a deeper knowledge and understanding of all the groups within. In closing, I would like to share a thought that has become an in- tegral part of SRA. "We agree to disagree, we resolve to love, we unite to serve." -Ann Cotton President, SRA Birth of a CLC . To the Editor: YOU WRITE to the Daily to get across your point of view and you live your life fighting for your nmint nf view ---and vnirnnint of a Nation" and it tellsyou that C. L. C. should approve of its be- ing shown here. And you agree be- cause it is what you believe. But' the letter implies that if C. L. C. does not approve, it is composed of undesirable (and even, Reds?) And you do not agree, because you know that your point of view is not the only one, and that those; who oppose it might be as liberal as you. And you look behind the letter to see what it is attempting to do. You tee its author trying to purge those who might oppose, because they don't hold his, point of view. And you see another philisophi- cal split coming. And you ask yourself: "What are civil liberties groups for?" And you answer, simply, "To fight for civil liberties." You know a group can fight for nothing when it fights itself. And you know a group is good for noth- ing when someone forces his point of view. And you know a group cannot act when it distrusts it- self. You know all this and it makes you sick. -Mark Reader * * 6 Poetic Ode .. . To the Editor: IN HIS sarcastic congr tulations to the Michigan State Legisla- ture for designating Edgar Guest "Poet Laureate for Michigan" Chuck Elliott shows a good deal more wit than wisdom. I hope that other members of the so- called "University" English De- partment (there is no such depart- ment) will join me in protesting against Mr. Elliott's attempt to implicate us in a stand which is snobbish and which involves faulty criticism. I am not myself one of Guest's great admirers, but it seems to me that if we must have a poet laureate named by a state legis- lines from Guest's Work. No poet is immune from such an attack. What, for example, would be Wordsworth's reputation today, if it rested on such bits of "Divine Poesy" as the lines on a pool of water which I quote from mem- ory: I've measured it from side to side. 'Tis five feet long and three feet wide. -Joshua McClennen English Department College of Engineering o Vf f A I. CURREINT MQ~v/iz t The State ... QUO VADIS, with Robert Deborah Kerr. Taylor and FOR SHEER SPECTACLE there will prob- ably never be anything to surpass these three technicolor hours. We will have to doff our caps to MGM at least for the amount of time and money that went into it. But there is more to a good movie than thousands of screaming people and a burn- to try a little harder to find a story and actors worthy of their effort. Peter Ustinov does a good job of making a clown of the emperor Nero, apparently what the story called for; Leo Genn is a convincing Petronius, adviser to the em- peror. Beyond that there isn't much to be said for the innumerable Romans, slaves, hostages, lions, et al. Since the story is about the martyrdom and glory of the early Christians. it doesn't Sixty-Second Year Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board in 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 Brstness Staff Bob Miller ...........BusineS Manager Gene Kuthy, Assoc. Business Manager Charles Cuson ....Advertising Manager Milt Goetz.......Circulation Manager I ; I