a THE MICHIGAN DAILAMY WEDNESDAY, J The MichiganDaily Established 1890 - ""t P~ $ America; the room, the old furniture, the jour- nal that tells him that today, October twenty- third, was the day that the cousin and suitor i came for his first visit, all ,these are in Peter Standish's mind. There is a peal of thunder, the lights go out, he leaves the present and joins the copipany of another century. ICa mu Opi ion II 1 us u F - rr k," AAr~hJiOC > : 1'0,. ' G~unl'c! rntM Published every morning except Monday during the University 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. MEMBEROF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Te Aociated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for rep1lieation 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 dispatches are reserved. Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as second class matter. Special rate of postage 'granted by Third Assistant Postmaster General. Subscription during summer by carrier, $1.00; by mail, $1.50. During regular school year by carrier, $4.00; by Offices: Student Publications Building, Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Phone: 2-1214. Representatives:Litteil-Murray-R~litsky, Inc., 40 East Thirty-fourth Street, New York city; 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass.; 612 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill. EDITORIAL STAFF Ofice Hjous: 2-12 P.M. Edaitorial Director......... .....Beach Conger, Jr. City Editor.. .... ..... ..... .....Carl S. Forsyt~he State Editor ..........................Dai . Nichol This setting brings one of the most unusual situations in the modern theatre. The author has played a trick with time and space, and permits the hero to see the past with the eyes of the present. Peter Standish is unable to completely readjust fimself to his new life: his knowledge of what the future has in store for each person that he meets; his knowledge of the inventions that are going to revolutionize their lives, inad- vertantly slip into his conversations, and he is regarded with mingled emotions of fear and awe. When he meets Kate Pettycrew he knows that she is the girl that history says he is to marry; he knows that one of their children will die from small-pox at the age of seven years; he knows of their future unhappiness. He dazzles a statesman by saying that the sun never sets on the British Empire, and he amazes the Duchess of Devonshire with a few epigrams culled from Oscar Wilde. But despite his success he is really not at home. There is much in the habits and customs of the people that annoys him. He returns to the present carrying with him new feelings and thoughts of the past. Editorial Comment News Editor..........................Denton Kunze ata Thomas Connelan Bp Editor............ .......C. H. Beukem 'gUSIJ $SS TAFF Office sour 9-12 2-5 except Saturdays sVar.................Charles T. Kline Bff itss Manager. ........Norris P. Joinn Q culatipn ZNaner ..................Clinton 13. Cqnger WEDNESDAY, JtJLY 20, 1932 Abolishing The " Wr ere*'... A Wickersham report, not so famous as that on the 18th amendnent but probably containing apre information and sound&t conclusions, point- e out that in many large cities, the "third de- gree" was being used almost constantly to obtain confessions and evidence. Police in the cities thus accused were quick to deny any charges of vio- ImnWe in examining prisoners,.ti Shortly afterwards, one of the persons ques- tioned in the Lindbergh kidnaping caSe was so brutally treated by the police that she committed ,g~cide r ther than have to submit to another in- human grilling after she had already told all she Ianew. And this week, Associated Press reports carry the story. of a prisoner beaten to death by police in an effort to obtain a confession of a Police are only retarding their own cause when they resort to such methods. Their actions tend to create a distrust of such agents of the law where there should be implicit faith in their abil- ijy ti protect the people. But ivhen an eagerness for conviction, or failure to capture or convict those known to be criminals, drives the guardians of the law to beating confessions out of probably innocent people, we shall soon have to refuse to recognize them as the protectors of the general welfare and defense of the people, but rather as political factions seeking a record-breaking num- ber of convictions to present to the people in place on convictions or arrests of those actually " responsible for many crimes, those controlling " gs and rackets, who have made themselves immune through bribery and corruption. The "third degree'.' is but a subterfuge to cover up the inefficiency of police methods and the ability of real criminals to escape the clutches cf the law, either through bribery or 'pull.' So many eitizens have tieard of the infamous "third- degree" that when' a signed confession is repudi- dted in court, whether the pla is genuine or not, the average jury will decline to convict out of sympathy for the accused. To the argument that "third-degree" is the bnly answer to the ruthless manner in which gafgs and rackets rule our cities today, the only answer is increased efficiency of the police and *o-operation agencies. "Third degree" methods admit nothing but failure, and when they lead to "accidental deaths," something must be changed.* A Preview " erlkeley Square"-one of the most widely- discussed and highly entertaining plays to be pr)oduced in this country during the past few yWars-is, the current offering of the Michigan Repertory Players at the Lydia Mendelssohn thetre opening tonight. No Broadway play of the past few seasons has been more enthusiasti- pally received by the public and more widely ac- claimed by the critics. It is theatre entertain- ujent at its best. The plot was suggested by Henry James' post- " hunlous fragment, "A Sense of the Past." A ya4ng American, who, at about the same time, had written an architectural booklet and made friends with an aged English cousin, has been left the family house in Berkeley Square. There he has immured himself, studying old letters ard <_4aries and records, facinated by the antiquities, the eighteenth century, the farilys past, the ynolds portrait of his ancestor, Peter Standish, *, looks exactly like his ancestor, repeats his name, and like him has come from America to the family seat. The mndrn Peter Standish is engaged to OFF TO THE RACES (Daily Illini)1 The barrier is sprung and the horses, figura-1 tively speaking, are off down the stretch for the< political honors of the nation. The two major; parties -have begun the fireworks by taking up good oratorical technique and time in mud-sling- ing at the other party, while the third and what- ever other parties may exist are maling the most of the magnificant target furnished by the two big parties. One party crawls all over the other najor con- tingent for not having relief plans, and, in veiled language and high insinuation, the slander group fights back with a counter-charge amounting to the same thing. We cannot help but try and sur- press a slight chuckle, even though it be prema- ture, at the political antics of these organiza- tions. The questions of the day are so apparent and need relief in the worst way that it is really humorous to see two parties vieing with each other in side-stepping the issues. Each party is afraid that it may say something that will cause it to take a definite stand on some question. Taking a stand in politics is nothing more or less than political suibide. No party can exist by tak- ing an outspoken viewpoint on any subject as that will inevitably lose votes for them from a minority that does not favor the idea. This min- ority may be powerful enough to ruin the chances of the, organization at the polls. We do hot deplore this situation. The techni- que of evasion is interesting to say the least, and it is certainly entertaining to ayone who has a sense of humor to appreciate it fully. We appre- ciate it to a certain extent, but when the serious- ness of the national situation impresses itself upon us, we are forced to admit that our own sense of hum'or becomes a little bit dulled and tarnished under the wear and tear of contempla- tion of the future. Surely our viewpoint will ad- just itgelf to the situation and not let us down in this instance as it has held us up before, but the idea that two parties-and as many others as you care to mention-have the chance to do the country such a great amount of favors and prove the worth of the representative democracy that is American is stupenduous in contempla- tion and even more collsal in actuality. First we will take up briefly-very briefly-the prohibition question. There is no reason why the parties cannot, without straddling the whole plank on this question, take up a definite view- point. The main question seems to be one of method rather than of difference in opinion. Most of the thinking people of the country have ad- mitted that something is wrong with the present system, so why can't the two parties at least get together on the prospect of change? This would simplify matters much more for the voters, and there would be a reasonable certainty of some concrete results benig gained from such stands on the part of both parties. Far from indulging in such precarious political practices as taking a definite stand on this, the parties are intent on making promises to all groups. It is an art, this business of interpreta- tion, to get any one who reads or hears a plat- form expounded to believe that the platform was especially tailormade for those holding the same viewpoint as himself. That is what organi- zation is for, however, and the political spellbin- ders are hired for exactly that purpose. Convince those in doubt 'that we are for them, and the job is done, according to political speakers. They do not especially care what they have to stand for temporarily. As Will Rogers said at the Demo- cratic convention, what difference does it make anyway, the whole thing will be forgotten in two woks. The only trouble with Will's forecast was that the ideas seldom last two weeks. Relief in its various phases must receive the utmost consideration any party can give it at this time. All those interested in the future success of the national government must realize that some- thing must be done to ameliorate the present ex- isting economic conditions. The present adminis- tration can not, under any pretence of justifica- tion, be blamed for the economic condition any more than they can be blamed for the Mississippi floods. That is something that, due to our eco- nomic structure, was inevitable and had to come about. The job of those who get power now is to prevet the recurrence as much as possible of such a condition. In doing this the first 'move will necessarily be the relief of the present sit- uation. As a instance of the prime necessity of im- mediate relief and help for the entire country let us cite Chicago's deplorable financial situa- tion, the Bonus Expeditionary forces, the labor troubles in Ohio and other states, and the re- cent St. Louis riots by the mob which was plan- ning on rushing the city hall. The recent veto of the relief bill presented to the President by Congress, was another instance of the futility of hoping for speed in the face of political considerations, but in his veto President Hoover probably saved the nation from one of the worst financial mix-ups imaginable. He ve- toed the measure immediately and put forth his reasons as to the one clause providing for loans to individuals by the Reconstruction Finance, corporation. This bill may be reframed and sneedily nassed so that the country will get the Letters published in this column should not be construed as expressing the editorial opinion of The Daily. Anonymous communications will be dire- garded. The names of communicants will, how- ever, be regarded as confidential upon request. Contributors are asked to be brief, confining them- selves to less than 300 words if possible. BLAU-BKAH AND BLACK MAGQ To The Editor: The writer of the letter, The Socialists Made A Mistake, in the Daily Sunday, July 17th, 1932 appears to be an individual of the average Ameri- can type who is primarily interested in infantile record-breaking activities, such as Comrade More's promise for breaking the worlds blah-blah record. He remained for that alone, that, and his primitive interest in magic. The general tenor of the evening's program, injustice, was second- ary to the above interest I ask you how in the world would it be possible to bring anything home to an individual of the above type? An ap- peal for 9 lives, for a man we feel unjustly sent to prison, means as little to the above individual as it does to those who wish to take the Negroes' lives and who sent Mooney to prison. The writer admits Pr.ofessor Carr gave some facts. Thef motive behind the prosecution of Moonrey is a conclusion after the facts are p e- sented, and perhaps as to what Mooney testified to was not touched upon. We did not say we would give all the facts. We did feel that by giv- ing a few facts, and dwelling upon other injus- tices, that a large part of the audience would be interested in finding out the remaining facts, and that the university students present would ask Professor Carr to present all the facts as he did on the campus last spring if they were intellectu- ally interested. But the above individual did not even have an interest created, because he did not wish it to be stimulated, for More was a Com- munist, which naturally inhibited everything he said from entering the writer's mind, leaving only the faint residue of a record in blah-blah and black magic. To contin e further in your letter you ask if I thought the audience Believed for the reason they remained. You speak of scientifically facing the facts and in the same breath speak of Be- lief-which is perhaps natural as Belief and Magic are synonymous. We wanted to give some facts, some emotional appeal, that which would interest the audience in gathering all the facts which our time prevented us in giving. After that it is enough to speak of Belief. I wish everyone to realize that our Club scorns Belief. We wish to give facts, create interest, analyse the estab- lished order and the so-called great men. To do this with freedom is the ideal we cheerish. The writer appears to understand one side. He admits he knew nothing -of the Scottsboro and Mooney cases or the activities and the ideals of our Club. It is apparent that he knows nothing of the History of socialism, communism, the labor movement, or the part radicals have played in the past in giving us what progress we have to- day. He does not understand such terms as legal lynching, santa claus yarns, and mass mind, yet he critizes that which he does not understand. He does not ask if the present courts are com- petent, just, and free from putrid graft, no, he says they must administer our present laws, so why the mass mind. We say we get no injustice in some of our courts, and when radicals make statements they must have evidence with which to back them, for it is most difficult to get along even when we have facts. Read and inquire into our side. We cannot aid you in one evening. Do not expect us to tell you all in a short period of time. Do not judge from brief appearances. Radical means to go to the roots I ask you to. that is what I mean by facing the facts. I also maliciously ask why do not the writers of letters sign their names to what they write. Of course it is not necessary, yet I can see no reason why anyone, would not care to except through fear! and it is that fear I hold before all of you as the real state of conditions in this country. Champion any other cause except the established order and see where you land; wheth- er fou work at Fords (and the school board of this city fears Ford because they gave the Ann Arbor branch of the Detroit Civil Liberties their high school auditorium for the Ford Riot meeting and now Ford will no longer hire Ann Arbor res- idences), whether you teach in the University of Michigan or publish a free-lance Socialist news- paper (for the American Freeman has had its circulation confiscated by the Post Office Depart- ment twice in the past month-a newspaper with a 55,000 circulation). Those of you who fight for the established order are not fighting at all, no wonder you have the cream of intelligence with you; for us it is more than a fight, it is a life and death struggle, and the intellectuals we draw are proportionally small, that is why DAVID M. NICHOL'S ARTICLE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF SUNDAY'S DAILY COULD BE POS- SIBLE. T wish to admit my error in directing my letter of July 8th, 1932, to the Daily instead of the Free Press. The entire editorial comment was taken from the Free Press, and the last paragraph was not a Daily comment as I had understood it to be. 0. H. Bridge "DEW AND SUNSHINE" RADICALS i L ir s Our Chief Concern If yog are not satifliedi with your present laucnder- ing arrangements-if your clothes are wrinkled anl missy from going through the mail or if your homeQlaunderingQsoeS not produce the spotless and wrinkleless appearance which you desire, remenber that the Varsity has specialized in satisfying the laundering needs of University students for over thirty years and understands them fuly. This has required the most modern and expensive equipment at all times and the use of IVORY SOAP exclusively, and we find J that our customers are well satisfied. That is why more and more people are turning to the Varsity with their laundering needs. ir Fifth (it Liberty i I