E FOUR

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY


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Qitore 1ote

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By CRAWFORD YOUNG
Daily Managing Editor
IT IS HOPED that the hasty and irres-
ponsible performance of the House Ways
and Means Committee Monday in reporting
out the Reed proposal for a sizable income
tax reduction is not a pattern for Repub-
lican Congressional behavior.
The measure would kill the 11 per cent
tax hike which took effect in November,
1951.
With no substantial budget-pruning ap-
pearing feasible this year even to the Eis-
enhower administration, glib suggestions of
cutting taxes can have no sound economic
motivation. President Eisenhower, whose
strong aversion to unbalanced budgets has
been frequently vocalized, has long since
realistically interpreted the campaign dis-
cussions of lower taxes to apply to future
fiscal years and not the coming one.
However, the Committee appeared little
interested in reality. Without bothering to
hold hearings on a matter of key signifi-
'ance in our economic policy-or even lis-
tening to the sobering financial facts the
Administration had to present on the sub-
ject-the Committee whisked out the bill.
The blame must also be shared by the
Democratic minority on the Committee.
When the final vote was taken, nine of the
ten Democratic members supported chair-
man Daniel Reed (R-N.Y.) However, the
Democrats did make five separate attempts
to defer final action until witnesses had
been heard-or at least until the Adminis-
tration had been permitted to present its
views.
The excess profits tax excuse offered by
Representative Jere Cooper (D-Tenn), rank-
ing Democratic member, as an apology for
the position of his compatriots seems rather
weak. He contended that, since the Ways
and Means Committee was killing the ex-
cess profits tax July 1, it was unfair not to
reduce personal income taxes as well.
The catch is that the excess profits taxa-
tion is of a type that is condemned by most
economists. It does not raise a tremendous
revenue, and has the inevitable effect of
forcing inefficiency on corporations. If it

is a choice between operating efficiently
and paying excess profits tax, and running
with some calculated inefficiency-e.g., well-
padded expense accounts, conspicuous, non-
productive corporate consumption, and al-
lied methods of dissipating excess income in
devious non-taxable channels-the corpora-
tion will quite understandably choose the
latter.
Therefore, it is fallacious to correlate the
need for elimination of an economically un-
desirable form of taxation with a slash in a
financially essential tax form.
Fortunately, the bill can be bottled up
for the time being by the Rules Committee
-and Chairman Leo Allen (R-Ill) has pro-
mised to do just that. By May 1 or there-
abouts, till which time the Rules Commit-
tee plans to delay consideration of the
measure,the budget picture should be clear
enough to those who seek.to reap the pol-
itical profit from supporting a tax reduc-
tion now to ensure a wise postponement of
tax paring hopes till- the peak of defense
spending is well passed.
IT IS CURIOUS to note, in passing, the
inordinate amount of popular acclaim
President Eisenhower has been getting for
the meaningless and rather absurd state-
ment denouncing "secret pacts" which per-
mitted enslavment of any peoples.
Apparently a good many of the Formosan
wing of the Republican party have taken
this to mean that we should declare'Soviet
possession of the Kuriles, Sakhalin, and
perhaps other outlying post-war territorial
acquisitions is no longer legitimate.
This is about as realistic as a Russian de-
nunciation of the sale of Alaska to the
United States by a treasonous Czar, and a
proclamation that the USSR no longer
recognizes our right to that northern ter-
ritory.
Latest reports from Washington indicate
that the President meant no such thing.
Perhaps this experience should indicate to
the White House that foreign policy prob-
lems cannot be solved in terms of blunt but
empty panaceas.

Ike's Press
Conference
CONTRARY TO RUMOR, President Eis-
enhower did meet the press and plans
to do so in the future. However, the new
president's first press conference Tuesday,
left much to be desired by many newsmen.
According to the Associated Press, this
first press session was conducted much
like a school room, or as one reporter
from Portland put it, "like a General giv-
ing a lecture to GIL's"
Apparently the President called the shots
at the conference. He announced five topics
to be discussed and then proceeded to talk
without interruption for approximately 17
minutes. Thirteen minutes of questions fol-
lowed and then he announced that was al;
for the day and strode from the room.
Under the Roosevelt-Truman rule, the
custom was that press sessions would be de-
voted mostly to questions and answers and
that when the press was satisfied a senior
newsman would rise and say, 'Thank you,
Mr. President' thus ending the conference.
In the light of the new policies of the
Eisenhower administration, it is import-
ant that the public be kept informed. The
press conferences are both a symbolic and
actual meeting of the top executive with
the general public. As soon as communi-
cation with the people via the press is
either cut-off or channeled by the Presi-
dent an unhealthy situation arises.
It is fairly obvious by the reports of the
Associated Press that many reporters were
both angered and worried over Tuesday's
news conference and that Eisenhower will
have to conform to the previous practice
of 'give and take' with the press in order
to insure a two way flow of information to
the public.
-Alice Bogdonoff

.LetlerJ to the Ciitor

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DRAMA

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BOOK REVIEW:
Always The Youn Stagr

ALWAYS THE YOUNG STRANGERS
by Carl Sandburg. Harcourt, Brace and
Company,
CARL SANDBURG as poet, biographer, or
novelist, has been one of those writers
that critics and professors put in antholo-
gies and then forget. There has been little
writing done on his work, apart from book
reviews; probably less critical writing has
been done upon Sandburg than upon any-
one of the poets who are his contemporar-
ies.
"Always The Young Strangers," the first
volume of Sandburg's autobiography,
proves that Sandburg Is an interesting
person, whatever he may be as a writer.
If one accepts as true what Sandburg says
about himself, then probably there won't
be many biographies of him in the fu-
ture, since it isn't a complicated story,
and the influences that shaped him as a
youth seem clear to him now at age 75.
Judging on the basis of "Always The
Young Strangers," Sandburg appears ca-
pable of having the final word about
himself-if he lives long enough.
Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois,
on January 6, 1878, the oldest son of August
and Clara Sandburg. He grew up with his
brothers and sisters in Galesburg, and at-
tended school until he was 13. Then he
took his first full-time job, having pre-
viously delivered papers, milked the family
cow, and done other part-time work.
He worked at many different things-as
a janitor, clerk in a drug store, on a milk
wagon, as an ice harvester, as a farmhand,
being a soldier, and dishwasher. He re-
turned to Galesburg after serving as a sol-
dier in the Spanish-American war and en-
tered Lombard college in Galesburg, enroll-
ing for classes "in Latin, English, inorganic
chemistry, and elocution, drama, and pub-
lic speaking." Since the G.I. Bill hadn't
been devised at that time, Sandburg sup-
ported himself while in college by serving
as a member of the Galesburg fire depart-
ment. He says,
"I had to leave class when the fire
whistle blew but that wasn't often enough
to bother either the class or the profes-
sor. I was going to get an education .
I would report . . . for a class in Latin
under Professor Jon W. Grubb. Years
back I had seen him milk a cow and drive
her to pasture. I thought it would be in-
teresting to study Caesar's 'Commentar-
ies' with a professor who -could wear ov-
eralls and milk a cow."
Since almost all that happened to the
young Sandburg happened in. Galesburg,
'Always The Young Stranger" is, in part, a
biography of the town during his youth. He
says,
"This small town of Galesburg, as I look
back at it, was a piece of the American Re-
public. Breeds and blood strains that figure
in history were there for me, as a boy, to see
and hear, in their faces and their ways of

sity of including so much material about
the town and its inhabitants. But the Gales-
burg of the eighties and nineties was in-
tensely personal; one could even say the
town had a personality; its physical com-
position and its inhabitants were the im-
portant factors in the life of the young
Sandburg. His "horizons" were, if you will,
provincial, or even parochial,
Sandburg cannot see his young self
apart from Galesburg, and in order to
explain himself to his readers and to him-
self he recreates the background against
which he moved. The reader must ac-
cept the town, or reject the entire book,
since the young Sandburg and Galesburg
grew to a kind of maturity together, each
affecting the other.
One sometimes hears that Sandburg with
his tousled hair, baggy trousers, "sohg-bag"
and guitar, and his "poet of the people" role
is simply posing; that he is practising an
affectation. This kind of affectation is said
to be deadlier than that of the writer who
is the world-weary sophisticate, or some-
thing else, since' it is apt to deceive more
people. That may all be true. But affecta-
tion seems to denote something artificial
arrived at with more -or less conscious ef-
fort. If all that Sandburg is happens to be
a pose, then it seems to be a natural one.
At the end of the book one senses that
Sandburg has been sincerely honest, here
and, possibly, elsewhere. That is something.
Writing of his paper-carrying days, he
says: "Once on a rainy SundayI stopped
under cover to read in the 'Chicago In-
ter-Ocean' magazine section about a boy
who had a visit with the poet Oliver Wen-
dell Holmes. Holmes talked with the boy
about how, why, and when he wrote his
poems. I read the article twice and came
away from it feeling I myself had had a
visit with the famous poet and I would
have to read his writings because I lik-
ed him as a man."
"Always The Young Strangers" gives one
the opportunity to know the man; the poet
is not mentioned. If the reader rejects
Sandburg after reading it, then the poetry
(or other writing) will bring little pleasure,
and that reader will not be tempted to read
more than what appears in anthologies. If
one enjoys the autobiography, then one is
almost certain to bring some sharper in-
sight to other Sandburg works he may read.
In that case, the question of the pose will
cease to be a consideration.
-Russell Gregory
Books at the Library
Armory, Cleveland-THE LAST RE-
SORTS. New York, Harper, 1952.
Cave, Hugh B.-HAITI. New York,
Henry Holt, 1952.
Fischer, George-SOVIET OPPOSI-
TION TO STALIN: A CASE STUDY IN
WORLD WAR II. Cambridge, Mass., Har-

At Lydia Mendelssohn. .
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Philip Barry's THE PHILADELPHIA
STORY, presented by The Student Players.
WITH A MINIMUM of opening night
flaws this production of the perennial
favorite lacks just a little to make it a real-
ly top success. The choice of Barry's drawing
room comedy gave the Student Players an
opportunity to try their hand at a more so-
phisticated play than "Brigadoon" or "Fin-
ian's Rainbow." The result is a jolly and
entertaining evening.
Unfortunately "The Philadelphia Story",
is a slow starter, and it took almost half
of the first act for the members of the cast
to warm up to anything approaching the
ease and spontaneity required for a play of
this nature. When they were able to over-
come the feeling of awkwardness which is
only too natural for a first night they
brought to the play all the poise and fresh-
ness that could be expected. By the time
the curtain rose on the second act all
traces of the shak beginning had been
eliminated, and the play rolled merrily
along to the quick and, of course, happy
ending.
"The Philadelphia Story" is the sort of
comedy which requires little thought and
only a good sense of humor from the audi-
ence. It is about a cold young society woman
who is about to marry her second husband,
a sturdy representative of the nouveau riche
who will provide her with, if not a social
equal, at least a steady adorer. The inclu-
sion of a reporter and photographer among
the celebrants enables her to see'how really
very little she cares for this man, who proves
himself a "class snob" of the most virulent
type. A precocious little sister and erring, fa-
ther give the household the air of the popu-
lar conception of the "filthy rich."
Among the cast Harriet Bennett, por-
traying the wavering bride-to-be, turned
in the finest perofrmance. Like the others
she had her troubles during the opening
fifteen minutes, but when she finally got
to her feet she played the role quite well.
She was the most consistent of the actors,
holding her characterization admirably
while the others seemed a bit too vacillat-
ing for the characters they were creating.
Bob Colton, as the reporter Mike Con-
nor, stood out as the best of the male portion
of the cast. Like Miss Bennett he grasped
the nature of the man he was portraying and
for the most part managed to stay with it.
Others who proved themselves adequate for
their roles were Joe Gadon as the father, Lu-
cille Cowen as the cynical photographer, and
Roy Strozzi, who played Miss Bennett's pre-
vious husband.
But, since the play does achieve the
over all impression that was probably in-
tended, it might be well to notice a few of
the obvious faults which kept it from
being among the best. One of the great-
est detrimental factors was the fact that
the cast was never able to make it seem
more than a carefully rehearsed stage
presentation. There was very little of the
freshness which might have given it the
exhilaration and bounce that Barry must
have wanted. This was due for the most
part to the fact that each line was care-
fully recited, not spoken.
The people supporting Miss Bennett and
Mr. Colton did not attain any sort of status
as characters. but were often little more
han awkward stage properties. Speeches were
studiously read, remarks pointedly and ob-
viously inserted, until in places it resembled

Stadium Squabble ...
To the Editor:
T AM A STUDENT at Michigan
State College. You are prob-
ably well aware of the manipula-
tions going on between the ad-
ministrations of our respective
schools, the State Legislature, and
the Detroit Sportswriters as to
the shifting of the University of
Michigan-Michigan State game
scheduled for next November 14,
here at East Lansing. As you
know, the game is definitely an
annual spectacle, being played at
Ann Arbor the past three years.
This Fall it is scheduled to be
played in East Lansing in Mackin
Field. We were very pleased here
to find that we were finally go-
ing to see the game at home.
Then the rumbling started. And
now they are trying to take the
biggest sport spectacle of the year
away from us. Certainly it would
accomodate more people to have
the game at Ann Arbor. And of
course it would accomodate you.
But we feel that we are justified
in asking that the game be play-
ed as scheduled, at home for us.
The student body has expressed
its opinion here, and it agrees, but
they just ignore us. We only go to
school here.
You stand to gain from this
game site change, more than any-
one else. That is why I ask you to
join our cause to fight this bu-
reaucratic desire to satisfy every-
one but the students. We feel that
we have earned the game. Could
you please look into this situation
and help us to keep what is right-
fully ours? We feel no malice to-
ward you for this, and we ask you
to help us in our seemingly hope-
less fight.
-Arthur Klawans
East Lansing, Michigan
Aldlai F4nd Drie .. .
To the Editor:
WITH A NEW fund-raising drive
underway on campus for Ad-
lai Stevenson, local Democrats,
before donating any funds, should
now ask themselves whether it is
wise to keep Stevenson as their
national leader.
Certainly, the Democrats could
not hope to find another man
available with Stevenson's honor,
intelligence, ability, and states-
manship. But a party leader must
be more. He must be a unifier of
all segments of his party, and Ste-
venson's record is poor on this
count. In the '52 presidential elec-
tion, he showed favoritism toward
Democratic candidates w h o s e
views agreed with his, and he sur-
rounded himself with ADA'ers who
showed no tolerance whatsoever
toward anyone in the party who
disagreed with the ADA program.
Yet, there is still hope that Ste-
venson will change. At last week's
speech in New York, Stevenson
praised certain Democratic lead-
ers because of their competency
rather than their views. He had
kind words both for right-winger
Lyndon Johnson and left-winger
Averill Harriman.
If Stevenson is to deserve the
continued leadership of the party
he must do two things: 1) have
all party views represented in the
leadership of the Democratic Na-
tional Committee, and 2) state
clearly that the Democratic party
is the party of everyone (and
that means people from John T.
Flynn to Vincent Hallinan).
It seems to me that, on the
basis of his speech in New York
last week and his unexcelled abil-
ity within the party, Adlai Ste-

"Well, Do You Think Tomorrow Maybe?"
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rq-'\
'W 4*.&EYU.4 r .

venson deserves another chance.
But Democrats must be quick to
Disown Stevenson if he readopts
the idea that the enactment of
his views is more important than
the unity of his party.
-Bernie Backhaut
* * *
Y'DReflectiols . . .
To the Editor:
MR. BACKHAUT in his letter to
The Daily has shown the
same word twisting ability and
confused thinking that is so com-
mon in the senior Republican
party.
First of all the election of Blue
Carstensen as president of the
Young Democrats certainly does
not mean that the Y.D. has been
seized by a faction. Our group has
aocepted the platform and the
program of the Democratic Party,
nothing more and nothing less.
The connection made by Mr.
Backhaut between Mr. Carstensen
and A.D.A. only reflects the work
Qf a Junior Joe McCarthy. The
Americans for Democratic Action
is not a left wing organization,
but a liberal one. According to The
American College Dictionary, left
wing means, "Members of a so-
cialistic or radical political party
or those favoring extensive poli-
tical reform," while a liberal de-
notes, "One who is favorable to
progressive political reform." Ev-
en Mr. Backhaut would haveto
admit their is a difference be-
tween the two. One must make
the theory fit the facts, not ad-
just the facts to fit a theory.
Concerning his letter's infer-
ence that joining the Young Re-
publican Club does not show fa-
vortism toward either party re-
flects typical "Backhaut Baloney."
A political organization depends
on a positive program. In oppos-
ing a policy or group, it follows
that a responsible person should
ask himself, "Do I have some-
thing better to suggest?" If join-
ing the Young Republicans does-
n't make one a Republican, then
what does it make him? Does it
make one a conservative, liberal,
a businessman, or perhaps just a
very confused person? It seems

that from Mr. Backhaut's letter
that no one knows just what the
Young Republicans believe, not
even the Young Republicans
themselves.
If Mr. Backhaut would spend
more time learning the facts and
less on writing "Bernie's Babble,"
perhaps we might count on him
in the future for some mature
ideas.
-Maurice Oppenheim, '54
Adlai's Speech ...
To the Editor:
AST SATURDAY night my
family and some of my friends
watched on TV Adlai Stevenson
address the Jefferson-Jackson
Day Dinner. We all agreed that
Mr. Stevenson has maintained his
excellent record of putting na-
tional welfare above partisanship.
There was considerable regret ex-
pressed because Mr. Stevenson
was not successful in his bid for
the Presidency.
But the victory he did win was
reflected in the character of his
speech. We all might do well to
heed his advice.
Our party must now be the op-
position party. But instead of the
stubborn resistance tactics of the
Republican opposition party, our
opposition will be constructive. We
will support all worthwhile legis-
lation and fight to the death
against that which is not in the
public interest.
Above all, we must remember
that Democratic ideas have not
been defeated. They are as vital
today as they were last year, And
millions of Americans are looking
forward to a Democratic Congress
in 1954.
Mr. Stevenson continues to grow
more dear to large numbers of
people. These are the people who
now recognize sense when they
hear it. They are voters.
Adlai Stevenson has proven
himself as great in defeat (not as
staggering as some say) as he
would have been in victory. I
predict we will be hearing more
from Mr. Stevenson.
-Larry L. Bachman, '54 Ed.
* * *
Get to Work ...
To the Editor:
ACCORDING TO an article
rnted in your paper, the ra-
tio of men to women on this cam-
pus is supposed to be two and a
half to one. We would like to
know what happens to these men
over the weekends. Do they go
into hibernation? Various reports
tell us the majority of the male
population spend this time play-
ing bridge, studying and com-

l

plaining about the difficulty in '
meeting women. Men say they
have difficulty meeting the coeds,
but the fact is that they lack the
incentive. We are assured that
there are many women in the
same situation who would welcome
a chance to meet and date these
men. What has happened to the
initiative of the famous Michigan
man? Are we destined to sit home
night after night waiting for one
of these men to put down his
cards and books to call us? It's
up to you now, men. Get to workI
y -CaroleBrumbaugh
D. J. Clarkson
Monitor Raising..
To The Editor:
WI T REFERENCE to Perse
O'Reilly's calculations in Sun-
day's Daily on raising the Monitor,
it is amusing to investigate what
sort of cubic foot he was con-
sidering:
Since a ping-pong ball is 1.50"
in diameter (as it must be if 5,-
840,000 of them are to displace
185 tons of water) even a common,
sloppy "cubic-lattice" .packing
would place 8 cubed or 512 balls
in a cubic foot (cf. O'R's figure of
296). To be really neat In the sal-
vage operation, however, we should
use "close-packing," which is fa-
miliar to anyone who has played
with marbles, and to many lower
animals in nature who have not.
This would raise the above figure
by a factor of 1.41, and so would
allow 725 balls per cu. ft., neglect-
ing boundary conditions.
It is worthy of further note that
caulking leaks would be somewhat
unnecessary since our buoyant
"molecules" are the size of ping-
pong balls.
-John E. Lauer
Gopher Tussle . .
To the Editor:
HE SCORE? It doesn't really
matter. Our Michigan basket-
ball team gave the Gophers a tus-
sle that will not soon be forgot-
ten in the frozen northland. I
don't know the extent of the sup-
port they are getting at home but
it should be there in good quan-
tity.
The admiration of the partisan
crowd went out to the team in
good measure and Michigan sup-
porters left the arena with a feel-
ing of satisfaction. The team is
an aggressive and spirited repre-
sentative of the Maize and Blue.
-Walter G. Wulff, '47
Sixty-Third Year
Edited and managed by students of
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Student Publications.
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Harland Britz... ......Associate Editor
Donna Hendleman.....Associate Editor
Ed whipple...............Sports Editor
John Jenks......Associate Sports Editor
Dick Sewel....Associate Sports Bditor
Lorraine Butler......Women's Editr
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Business Staff
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DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN

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(Continued from Page 1)
Events Today
Michigan Crib, pre-law society. To-
night at 8 p.m. in the Michigan League,
the Michigan Crib; will present Profes-
sor George Bergon, of the University of
Detroit Law School, and Mr. Laurence
A. Price, Sr., Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral of the State of Michigan, in a
discussion "Why Study Law." All wel-
come.
The Hillel Social Committee will
meet at 7:30 at the Hillel Building. All
old members and any other interested
people are cordially invited to attend.
La P'tite Causette will meet today
from 3-30 to 5 p.m. in the North Cafe-
teria of the Michigan Union. All in-
terested students are invited.
Arts Chorale and Women's Glee Club.
Regular rehearsal 7 p.m. at Lane Hall.
All interested in singing fine choral
music are cordially invited.
Alpha Phi Omega will hold an open
meeting from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the
Michigan Union. All male students who
are or were Scouts and are interested
in service are hereby invited to attend.
Cercle Francais will meet at 8 p.m. in
the Michigan League. Prof. O'Neill will
give a talk on Francois Mauriac, the
last to receive the Nobel prize. Elec-
tion of officers will also be on the

Christian Science Organization. Tes-
timonial meeting, 7:30, Fireside Room.
Gilbert and Sullivan Society rehearsal
of Trial by Jury to-be. held tonight at
7:15 at Union.
SL Administrative Wing. There will
be a meeting of the Administrative
Wing today at 4 p.m. at the SL Build-
ing. All members -are required to at-
tend. New members are welcome.
Senior Board. Meeting tonight at
7:15 in the Student Legislature Build-
ing.
Coming Events
Roger Williams Guild. l.M. Party,
Fri., Feb. 20. Meet at 7 p.m. at the Guild
House to go in a group for swimming
and other sports to the sports Build-
ing. Brink ID cards and wear your
"roughing clothes" and your gym shoes.
We will return to the Guild House lat-
er for refreshments.
Motion Pictures, auspices of Uni-
versity Museums, "Animals Unlimited"
(Africa) and "How Animal Defend
Themselves," Fri., Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m.,
Kellogg Auditorium. No admission
charge.
Lunch Discussion focusing on Broth-
erhood Week with Eduardo Mondlane,
African student from Oberlin College,
speaking on "Race Relations in South
Africa," at Lane Hall, Saturday noon.
Call reservations to 3-1511L Ext. 2851.


IITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS

by Dick Biber

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