THE MICHIGAN DILY ily S1890 I .if~ - - IlL ~l Published every morning except Monday during the hiierfty year and Summer Session by the Board in Control of Student Publications. Member of the Western Conference Editorial Associa- tion and the .Big Ten News Service. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the Use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dIapatches are reserved. ;Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as second class matter. Special rate of postagegran.ted by Thldrd Assistant Postmaster General. Subscription during summer by carrier, $100; by ma i, $1.50. During regular school year by carrier, $4.00; by rnail, $4.50-. Offices: Student Publications Bullding, Maypard Street, An.Arbor, Michigan. Phone: 2-1214. Representatives: Littell-Murray-Rutsky, Inc., 40. East ,Thirty-fourth Street. New York City; 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.; 612 North Michigan Avenue, hicgo,1Ill. ED]!TORIAL STAFF Office Hours: 2-12 P.M. Editorial Director......................Beach Conger, Jr. City .~di tr............................Carl S. Fiorsythe State Editor .............................David M. Nichol Ntw ditor...............................Denton Kunse Telegraph Editor......................Thomas punellan Sports Editor ........................0. . e ema Assistant City Editor.................Norman F.. Kraft BUSINESS STAFF Office Hours: 9-12; 2-5 except Saturdays ptJiness Manager.... .....x.....Charle T. une 44sisant Business Manager........ orris P. Johnson Qrcyulation Manager...............Clinton B. Conger SATURDAY, AUG. 13, 1932 The Tiht-Rope £eeames Les opiular. . . We have been long accustomed to political parties which have balanced carefully on top of high fences and of candidates who walked the 4arruw path with equal care. "Pretty platitudes ,a d much gusto formed the chief stock in trade of the politicians. This .year, there has been a remarkable aban- pnpent of the tight-rope walking by both par- ties and both candidates. The lead position in such a move, however, is never very secure and the result was a Republican platform which is, to say the very least, .abiguous. Then came the Demvocrats with -a platform which contains some rather forthright declara- tions on a number of things, among them being an open condeipnation of the 18th Amendment with a complete reversion to state control. Their candidate was the next in line. He, too, spoke dis- tinctly on a number of issues. Now, rather belatedly, comes the acceptance speech of President Hoover with a declaration of principles. Going far past the platform of his party, he has advocated state control of the en- mately 90 per cent of the ordinary cost of suchc a project. The tax is truly a "painless" one, now3 that the novelty of paying it has worn off and it is still lightly taken by the taxpayers. Getting tie citizens of the state behind the movementl rather than wielding the big stick over them, handling the entire plan in a sympathetic and open-minded manner has worked wonders for the state. Now Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Alabama are seeking to incorporate the Miss- issippi plan's secret into sales tax programs. The object of the sales tax in Mississippi-as it would be if practiced in Iowa or elsewhere-is to cut the huge real estate taxes without any loss to government operations outside those naturally incurred in stemming expenditures. Doing it, painlessly as the sales tax is claimed to do, is a boon to property owners overburdened by years of carrying the state's load of expenditures, felt especially when visible incomes over the United States have dropped an average of 48 'per cent while taxes have increased 129 per cent. Soaking the property owner is no longer synonymous with soaking the rich-under a sale tax plan everybody pays as he buys, and hardly knows it. If almost half the states in the Union are either operating or planning to operate sales taxes, there must be something to it. A few backward states will grope along with severe and unrelenting prop- erty levies year after year, with a dissatisfied citi- zenry fast breaking under the strain of excessive, misplaced burdens; while the progressive states willpoint the way to better times. It always takes a leader to prove anything, but a safe prediction would be that the others won't be far behind. WORK FQR AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (Detroit Free Press) An exceedingly heavy responsibility for the fu- ture rests upon the .people of the United States at this critical juncture; and in particular rests upon the Press of the Nation by reason of the oppor- tuinity .for. leadership within its grasp. An. immediate duty of the Fourth Estate is to 'fight .unitedly for permanent economy, efficiency and honesty in public administration, and to set its face without compromise against any return to the carelessness, racketeering, laxity and extrava- gance of the recent joyride period. In its, particular fled the Free Press has f or years .urged Tnancial prudence and economy by those in places of authority in Government, and by the voters who have had it in their power to curb public recklessnss. Realizing that a stone wall stood ahead, this newspaper protested earnestly against foolish Mu- pipal anpexations, needless multiplication of de- partments, extravagant salary raises, luxurious building enterprises, and indulgence in wild fads and fancies, notably by the Board of Education. The Free Press did this while other newspapers n Detroit .were throwing aside every .care and were joyously advocating art centers and civic centers, general extensions of costly public service and .what not; and were, in brief, favoring almost any- thing that demanded expenditure and was hostile to soundfinancing, a balanced budget and a light :public debt. For its pains, the Free Press received commen- dation from the few who were -thoughtful, and jeers, abuse and resentment from the joy riding, spendthrift (and sometimes racketeering) elements in the saddle. Now the stone wall has been reached; and hav- ing arrived fulltilt against it, the Municipality is coming to with a fearful headache and a large crop of swollen discolorations. Even though it walks softly and lives up to all its present good resolutions, the City will not feel like itself for quite a while. In common with others, those journals that could see virtue only in a proposal that involved purposeless expansion or badly considered expen- diture, have gained a new view of things. They realize at last what has been happening in their town; and they have mad~e a right about face and are ready to join in the good fight for sound public management and sane economy. The Free Press is glad to welcome them as allies in the war. For only a beginning of amendment has been ac- complished. There is still an immense aiount to do, and the pull back to the highroad is going to be a long one. What is true of governmental conditions in Detroit is true likewise in greater or smaller de- grees in practically every other Municipality of the United States. Repentance is in full swing, but actual retracement of steps has just started; and we believe firmly that the measure of final success in amendment is going to depend to a large extent upon the amount of conscientious leadership the responsible newspapers of the Na- tion develop; and upon how far American Journals come to realize that there is a high duty for them to perform which takes precedence of anxiety for advertising and circulation, and which must be performed even though performance means con- siderable sacrifice. could report an increased number of projects each year, calling for a larger item in the budget, it was a sign his branch of knowledge was standing still, and so the race went on. Spiraling upward like the holding companies, instructors were add- ed so new courses might appear in the catalogue, so a large appropriation might be sought the next year. One of the branches of university administra- tion which reached full glory in those years was the office of the dean of men. Beginning modest- ly, it grew after the manner of a government bur- eau and in its heyday, on many a campus, re- quired a dean, a couple of assistant deans and a bevy of assistants to the dean. Occupying an ex- tensive suite of offices, this staff proceeded to care for the college student with unfailing watch- fulness. Nothing he did went unnoticed or un- recorded. Dean Thomas Arkle Clark, who died recently at Urbana, led the way, and his setup at the University of Illinois was widely copied. Now, reduced appropriations and smaller budgets are forcing the elimination of non-essentials, with the result that the office of the dean of men is hard hit. Few there will be aside from aspiring assistant deans who will mourn its decline. A Washington By Kirke Simpson WASHINGTON, Aug. 12.-UP)-When Candi date Hoover was framing his acceptance speech four years ago, one of the things watched for with special interest was reference to :the oil lease troubles of the Harding administration. As a member of the Harding original "best brain" cab- inet and a carry-over into the Coolidge regime, Mr. Hoover was faced by special difficulties. He did make a general reference to dishonesty among public officials, but with no specific appli- cation. He was even careful to say that, in the past, "both political parties" had been plagued by derelictions "in national, state and municipal affairs." The Democrats howled about that quite a lot. * * - * IN HOOVER'S FAVOR When Mr. Hoover took office the business of pressing the oil cases to a legal conclusion had already been set moving by President Coolidge under special and bi-partisan counsel.C d As it happens, it fell to Hoover's lot to confer on these Colidge-selected oil case prosecutors most distinguished honors. To one, Owen Roberts, Republican, of Pennsylvania, went a life job on the supreme court bench. To the other, Arlee Pomerene, Ohio Democrat, has been entrusted executive direction of the gigantic Reconstruc- tion Finance corporation campaign to restore na- tional prosperity. Do these two Hoover appointments perhaps give a .better picture of his personal feeling about the oil cases than did his general references to dis- honesty in public office four years ago? * * * NO ILL WIND FOR THEM Be that as it nay, here is a case where that old wisecrack about it being an ill wind indeed that blows nobody good comes up again. What has been the aftermath of the oil cases for some of the folks most concerned? Senator Thomas Walsh of Montana, inquisitor- in-chief of the oil lease investigations, has twice been permanent chairman of Democratic national conventions since then and had at least once the refusal of a vice presidential nomination. He has become a power in his party-has a national reputation born of his conduct of those inquiries. Roberts is an associate justice of the United States supreme court, the highest legal honor save the chief justiceship the nation can confer. Pom- erene heads the greatest peace-time emergency project the government has ever embarked upon. The oil-cases were no ill wind to this trio. * * * NOT CAMPAIN FUEL Reviewing Secretary Stimson's summary of his effort to put teeth in the Kellogg-Briand anti- war pact, it is something of a surprise to find that it is in no sense a Republican campaign docu- ment. The secretary rather scrupulously avoids giving it that twist although Under Secretary Castle once hailed the American application of the peace pact to the Sino-Japanese situation as the enunciation of a "Hoover doctrine" aimed at promoting world peace. Yet Mr. Stimson stresses in his address to the Council of Foreign Relations the fact that both major parties at their conventions in Chicago this year had endorsed the principle of interna- tional consultation in grave emergencies threat- ening world peace. That argument rather takes it out of politics, although claims that the "Hoover doctrine" is a notable administration accomplishment are cer- tain to be heard as the presidential campaign proceeds. FOR FOREIGN EYES Still, it is obvious that Mr. Stimson had some- thing more than a domestic purpose in making his address. It was clearly intended to be read at Tokyo and at Geneva rather than at home; and to convey the message that Washington is un- shakably determined on its course of non-recog- nition of any Japanese regime in Manchuria pro- cured by armed force, even if the excuse given for that use of force is protection of nationals. Mr. Stimson's concluding sentences also may be designed especially for the ears of the 50 coun- tries, member of the League of Nations, which endorsed the non-recognition doctrine through the council of the league. "It is only by continued vigilance that this treaty (the pact of Paris) can be built into an effective, 1iving reality," Mr. Stimson said. "The American people are serious in their support and evaluation of the treaty. They will not fail to do their share in this endeavor." * * * AN END TO NEUTRALITY? Secretary Stimson goes far in his analysis of the meaning that has been given the anti--war pact under American leadership. He defines it as leaving no place for neutrality. When two na- tions go to war, he said, "one or both of them must be wrong doers," adding: "We no longer draw a circle around them and treat them with the punctilios of the duel- ist's code. Instead we denounce them as law- brealkers." The best stories in the old days had to do with Pat and Mike. They still come through the mike, hay#.f-~ f ax,, an ot-, i A nerve system Long before the huge bulk of anew sky- scraper looms up, Bell System ;men have planned its nerve system-the maze of tele- phone cables and wires so vital to its busi- ness activities. From the inception of a building design, telephone engineers work hand in hand with the architects. They determine the telephone needs of thousands of future tenants. Then they plan cable shafts rising from cellar to roof and the grid of under-floor ducts that will put telephones within easy reach of every occupant. There's a real thrill in working out these plans, for without telephones the immense structures of today would hardly be practicable. BELL SYSTEM A NATION-WIDE, SYSTEM OF INTER-CONNECTINCITBLEPHONES tire problem with, however, a federal miinimum of control below which no state may fall in its laws or enforcement. He has declared himself at least .as outrightly as has Franklin Roosevelt on most of the other issues. It is an uncomfortable thought for Republicans but the President may have beep forced into .such declarations by the almost straightforward state- ments of the Democrats and their candidate. At any rate, he has risen to the occasion and de- clared himself. We are inclined to agree with Dr. Clarence True Wilson that it is "the greatest speech of his life." It is a pleasant thought, however, that in a few more campaigns like this, we may have a true choice of policies and principles in our quadren- nial "referendums." The difference has not yet become very distinct but there are signs that it f S G t i t The sad part of the entire spectacle is that the declarations should have been prompted by the issue of prohibition, an issue which has. been so artificially made a party program rather than a nation-wide co-operative reform as it must event- ually become. Unemployment, farm relief, even: some aspects of the foreign policy of the United States would have been much more admirable questions on which to make outright decisions. This may, perhaps, be the next step in the vital- izing of the political parties. Fence-sitting has been forgone by both parties in at least one issue. Perhaps 1936 will see definite stands on the really basic issues which then face the country. d irII n STORM THE REDOUBT (Daily Illini) Royalist rumbling are head in another part of the world as Spanish royal adherents make an at- tack upon the existing Republican government in an ,effort to place Alfonso's son on the throne. It is reported that former King Alfonso was not con- nected with the movement, but this idea is a little far fetched in view of the public statements and open views held on the subject of his re-corona- tion by the monarch, himself. Bloodshed has already colored this march of an army divided against itself and nobody knows just how the whole affair will come out. Senti- ment seems to be divided both among the army, the government officials, and the people. There is no question that the new movement has a great many adherents as there has been no concentrat- ed movement against them except a show of ex- isting authority by the Republican government. Within the next few days the country will un- doubtedly take a stand one way or the other on the affair and then there will be more bloodshed. Perhaps the former army officer who is leading the rebellion will fight until he is put to death -just another old Spanish custom. This stand will also be made by the Republican government which must hold a great many supporters al- though there apparently is enough opposition to organize a partially successful rebellion. The German royalists must be watching this fracas with the utmost interest in 'view of the slow but fairly sure progress they have been mak- ing on their own hook. We hold that the Ger- mans, if precipitated by the proper leader at the proper time, will be able to make more of a suc- cess at their first try than the Spaniards have. In characteristic hot-headedness the Spaniards stormed the redoubt without first laying a ground, work of strategic movements in other parts so as to divide governmental interest. The more methodical Germans have the state already in an uproar and may now just about pick their own time for a zero hour. Contemporary history3 is most interesting in its formation., fromeehiml U hey learned a bout football Just a sawdust-stuffed canvas sack, shaped to represent the human form. But the football men dive into "him", tackle "him", put all they've got into bringing "him" down. The dummy represents the human obstacles that will block their way to victory in the real games. They know that once they can take "him" out, they'll be able to pull down their live opponents. The McGraw-Hill Publications aid engineers and business men in precisely the same way. These magazines show what problems the future holds in store for their readers, how best to tackle each. Business men and engineers know the value of this, and read their McGraw-Hill Publications regularly. Soon you'll be tackling a real, liv.e job, with real, live problems popping up when you least expect them. -Get a taste of the battle now and get the jump on that first job. There's a McGraw-Hill Publication covering the field you intend to enter. Ask your libra- rian for the latest issue. Most college libraries have McGraw- Hill Publications on file. MISSSSIPPI S4ES SAX (Daily Iowan) A number of reasons have been advanced for e success of Mississippi's general consumers' les tax of two per cent, but among them one ands out as highly important to the sucessful )eration of any governmental agency. Where ississippi claims superiority is in the adminis- ation of the tax collection bureau. In fact, It , hardly be termed a collection bureau; rather. 10 a. ea,.,,un a .P1v fnn rnrnnila fi aZrr.-nnm-...- McGRAW-HILL PUBLISHINGCOD Inc- New York - Boston - Philadelphia - Washington - Greenville - Cleveland - Detroit - Chicago - St. Louis - San Francisco - Los Anseles - London ,I I _ _,,, i -1 -