HE MICHIGAN DAILY
[AN DAILY
-isc
A N
~NMSrt
Edited and managed by students of the University of
Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control of
Student 'Publications.
Publishea every morning cept Monday during. the
Universit year and Summer Session.
Member of the Associated Press
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the
use for republiation of all news dispatches credited to
It r not otherwise credited In this newspaper. All
ri&s of republication of all other matters herein also
"0served."
Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as
second classmIl matter
Subsciptions during regular school year by carrier,
$4.00; by mail, $4.50.
Sem ber, Associated Collegiate Press, 193738
RKPREDKNTEO POR NATIONAL AVERTIN flY
NationalAdvertisingService, Inc.
* College Publishers Representative
420 MADISON AV|E. NEW YORK, wi. Y.
CNICAeo lTON - LOS ANOELES - SAN FRANCiSCO
Board of Editors
1 Managing Editor . . . Irving Silverman
Cinty ditor . . . . Robert I. Fitzhenry
Asgisgtant Editors..... ...Mel Fneberg,
Joseph Gies, Elliog Maraniss, Ben M. Maino,
" Carl Petersen, Suzanne Potter, Harry L.
Sonneborn.'
Business Department
bulIness Manager . . . . Ernest A. Jones
Credit Manager . . . . Norman Steinberg
Circulation Manager . . . J. Cameron Hall
Assistants . . Philip Buchen, Walter Stebens
NIGHT EDITOR: JOSEPH GIES
The editorials published in The Michigan
;pally are written by members of the Daily
staff and represent the views of the writers
only..~
It is important for society to avoid the
neglect of adults, but positively dangerous
for it to thwart the ambition of youth to
reform the world. Only the schools which
act on this belief are educational institu-
tions in the best meaning of the term.
-Alexander G. Ruthven.
The Administration
And The Trusts,..
NONE OF THE largest anti-trust
suits ever filed by the government
against:anindustry, eight of the nation's major
motion picture companies, controlling the pro-
duction, distribution and exhibtion of 65 per cent
of all films in the United States were charged last
week by the Federal Department of Justice with
monopolistic practices.
The 119-page complaint, drawn up by Thur-
man Arnold, assistant United States attorney-
general in charge of the anti-trust division,
makes the blanket charge that the entire motion
picture industry is dominated and controlled in
all its branches by the eight defendants and
their affiliated interests. The complaint further
charges that "wherever affiliated theatres of the
producer-exhibitor come into competition with
an independent exhibitor, the independent is re-
legated to a secondary, inferior position. As a
result of this monopolistic condition existng in
areas in which affiliated theatres operate, the
independent exhibitor is deprived of access to a
free, open and untrammeled market in which
he may buy his products."
The economic and social effects of the control
described above are obvious, and may be sum-
marized as follows: At the present rate at which
independently owned theatres are being driven
to financial failure, it will be only a question of
time before there are no independents left at all;
new capital investment in the motion-picture
business is discouraged because of the difficulty
6f competing on a fair basis with the major
companies; there is no opportunity for new forms
of artistic expression which are not approved by
those in control of the major companies, even
though there, exist communities which would
support them.
The situation in the movie industry, as out-,
lined in the government case is naturally alarm-
ing to all members of the midde class, to the
small, independent producers and retailers in
other forms of enterprise, to job-holders who
still chersh the concept of saving a little capital
and "going into business for themselves," and to
all Americans who see a fundamental incongruity
between political democracy and financial con-
centration. But are anti-trust suits the answer?
Will the loud words of Mr. Jackson or Mr. Ickes,
or the "cease and desist orders" of the Depart-
ment of Justice actually halt the trend toward
monopolization, or force the cartels and trade'
associations to.dissolve?
To understand the situaton some historical
background is essential. The American tradition
of resistance against monopolization is a long and
persistent one. It has been the heroic effort on
the part of the middle class, left behind in the
struggle for the control of the means of produc-
tion, to retain for itself some of the power it had
in a -more primitive society. As early as the eigh-
teen-seventies Americans felt the full import to
o'ur economy of the tendency toward monopol-
ization. As long as free land existed within the
United States, however the American economy
was not a closed, completed system which might
be expected to exhibit the social consequences of
vesting a monopoly of the means of production
in the hands of one group, and, consequently, the
When politicians perform a signal public serv-
ice it may be captious to look their motives in
the mouth. And yet it is difficult not to note
the clumsiness withi which some of the gentlemen
play their own craft.
The point I have in mind is the current
plan of some Republican
leaders to have their party
indorse John J. O'Connor, a
Democrat, for reelection to
Congress from the 16th Dis-
trict in New York. To me
this does not seem to \be
smart politics for the in-
mediate situation, and it is
blundering strategy as far as
the long pull is concerned.
I can think of no better argument New Dealers
could raise for a purge than the chance to cite
the fact that certain Democrats have become
the darlings of the opposition. The Republicans
seem to be dumb enough to hand this precious
ammunition to the Roosevelt forces on a silver
platter.
Matter Of Principle
Of course, if the G.O.P. leaders do go through
with an indorsement for O'Connor they will con-
tend that they are making the gesture on the
highest moral grounds. They will say that John
is a man who puts the welfare of his country
ahead of his party, and that he has been ready
to lay down his political life to preserve the Con-
stitution of the United States.
But the choice of John J. O'Connor to play the
role of the Maverick martyr is a singularly bad
piece of type-casting. In his long record there is
no indication of any previous desire on the part
of Mr. O'Connor to take on a sacrificial crusading
complexion Indeed, it might very well be his
own proud boast that he is a good organization
man. Moreover, he is and has been a good Tam-
many man, and the Tiger has never encouraged
or fostered those disposed to kick over the traces.
And so regardless of the immediate issue in-
volved the public will think, and have a right to
think, that in the City of New York many of the
battles between the Republicans and the Demo-
they all sighed longingly for the old and happy
days of free and untrammeled competition.
But note this important qualification: even
though the free land had disappeared America
was still a country of small commodity producers.
notably farmers, right up until the thirties of
this century. Work for wages did not become the
inescapable way of life for the preponderant part
of the population until very recently. Thus the
anti-monopolists and the trust-busters of the
New Nationalism and the New Freedom were
not indulging in mere rhetoric in their attacks
and fulminations; they could remember the
great westward treks; America was still a small
commodity-producer nation and the fight against
monopoly had vital significance.
In America today a substantial amount of
small commodity production persists, of course,
but this fact attains importance only when it is
realized, as President Hoover's committee on Re-
cent Social Trends indisputably proved in 1932,
that-the number of these independents is de-
clining sharply each year. To write and talk to-
day as if small commodity production is .the
dominate force in our economy, to yearn in this
age of large-scale production for a return to our
simpler national past and the enforcement of the
illusion of free and unlimited small-enterprise
competition, is naive. It follows qute logically,
then, that if trust-busting could not work in the
early years of the century when there were many
more reasons for "cursing bigness" than at pre-
sent, another revival of the old riddle of 1912,
a dusting off of .the time-honored cliches and
slogans with as much solemnity as if nothing
had happened in the past quarter of a century,
is also meaningless and foredoomed to failure.
Viewed in this light, the action of the Adminis-
tration against the film companies substantiates
the belief that New Deal economics are illusory
and' inconsistent. It is but four short years ago
that the president lectured to the nation to raise
prices, limit production, regulate competition and
generally regulate trade; in writing these pro-
visions into the NRA, all the anti-monopoly pro-
visions of the Sherman and Clayton Acts were
suspended. Now the President appears as the
great protaganist of the anti-trust laws,, the
champion of low-prices, the messiah who will
lead the nation back to the never-never land
of smallness and the open market.
The new moves to grapple with the monopoly
problem, which were implicit in the President's
message to Congress last January and were later
spelled out in the speeches of Mr. Jackson and
Mr. Ickes, must be interpreted then, as being
either a continuation of the traditional Demo-
cratic political strategy of appealing to the
small business men and the farmers by exploit-
ing the popular feeling against monopoly, or a
sincere, if misguided belief that the problem of
monopoly actually can be met by the threat of
governmental reprisals against the "bad" mono-
polists.
Either interpretation is disheartening. The
truth is that the entire subject of competition
and public regulation of business has become
hopelessly involved in large, meaningless and
emotional words, when what is most needed is a
constructive progrem. Yet these facts and con-
clusions are inescapable: the old question of com-
petition against combination as Berle and Means
first indicated, has long since been swallowed up
in the advance of the times. It has become
nothing less than the whole problem of price po-
licy, wage policy and production policy through-
out the economy as a whole, and the proper inter-
relation of these policies. Furthermore, pains and
penalties of any kind cannot restore the era of
crats have been little more than bits of shadowi
boxing. Progressives have said for years that1
in our larger municipalities, at any rate, partyl
labels do not mean a thing, and represent littleI
more than tags to distinguish Tweedledee from
Tweedledum. If the Republicans of New York
City indorse O'Connor they will also indorse the
cynical conclusions of the independent voter.
This is a consummation devoutly to be wished.
Such an admission may do mtch to promote a
strong labor party. And in that sense I think the
Republican bosses of 'Manhattan ought to be
praised for their candor. But, of course, those
happy results are hardly within their intention.
For my own part I have never been convinced
that every anti-New Dealer Democrat was a
man proceeding on sheer principle. But if there
are six or seven or even two deserving such an
accolade they will hardly be helped by Mr. O'Con-
nor's seeming willingness to flirt with the ma-
chine Republicans of New York who have al-
ways been numbered among the utlra-conserva-
tives.
On With The Purge
I have said on previous occasions that I think
it would have been a good idea for Mr. Roosevelt
to have pressed the purge more firmly. There is
confusion when men of the same political kidney
are separated by wholly artificial zoning. Indeed,
" the term, purge, is hardly the proper word for any
effort to bring about a proper realignment. Why
should any candidate be irate about being asked
or forced to string along with his own kind?
Sometimes a distinct favor is done by a manage-
ment that rings a bell in order to notify each
guest that the time has come for him to return
to his own room.
John J. O'Connor is likely to be returned to
Washington whether or not he gets the aid of a
bi-partisan alliance behind him. But I think that
he will return with diminished prestige. He will
seem to be a legislator who serves the interests of
reactionary Republicans while ostensibly operat-
ing on the other side of the chamber. So, after al\
just what is the kick against the word copper-
head?
The Editor
Gets Told
Explanation Of The Fire
To the Editor:
"N.M" wrote a letter in which he objected
to the general housing situation for University
of Micigan students. You printed this letter
in the July 22 issue of The Daily. Naturally,
"N.M." has a perfect right to present his opinion
on the housing problem. I do not object to that.
However, I emphatically object to his letter for
two specific reasons: in each case, the examples
of the death of the two University students are
not relevant to his generalizations and again in
each case, these two students did not live in
"fire-traps" owned by landlords who are guilty
of "criminal negligence and greed; who exact
tribute in the form of exorbitant rent for a
student's elemental human needs of safe and
healthful living."
I believe that "N.M." has attempted to prove
his generalizations without a thorough consider-
ation of the facts.
In giving the facts concerning the tragedy
which befell Mr. Shen, I feel particularly in a
position to' do so, as I live in the home where
he worked as house boy. May I state at the out-
set that he was responsible for the blaze. Mr.
Shen was an amateur photographer. On Fri-
day night, July 8, he was developing and en-
larging pictures. Several prints which had been
enlarged from a small Argus negative were
found in the pan of washing solution which was
discovered later on Saturday during the attempt
to find clues relative to the cause of the fire. A
neighbor saw a light on in Mr. Shen's room at
3 a.m. Saturday morning, July 9. The fire,
which started approximately at 6 a.m., was
localized in the dark room where the electric en-
larger equipment was kept. The enlarger was
completely burned. Obviously, the fire had
smoldered over three hours in the darkroom
which was 12 feet to the west of his bedroom
door. Mr. Shen was not trapped in his bedroom.
Rather, he hurried out of his room and attempted
to smother the small blaze in the enlarger with
clothing which he had carried from his room.
As he opened the door of the dark room, a draft
was created which caused the flames to break
out. His hands were burned more severely than
any other part of his body, which proves, I be-
lieve, that he had tried to extinguish the fire.
Mr. Shen undoubtedly was crazed by the pain of
third. degree burns on his hands, because he
went 12 ft. east to the door of his room rather
than going 6 ft. south to the door into the laundry
going six feet south to the door into the laundr)
room and safety! During the time from the
alarm to the arrival of the fire department the
fire did not make a ravaging headway; "well-
seasoned wood did not flare-up." Not one piece
of wood in the dark room was completely de-
stroyed by the fire. His own room was not
burned by the blaze; neither the paint on the
walls nor the bedding was scorched. The fact is
that his room having brick side walls on the
east, north and south and a cement floor could
not have flared into flame. The only explana-
tion for his return to the room is that he was
crazed by the pain of his burned hands and con-
fused by the dense smoke. His exit through the
window could have been executed easily if he
had not accidently knocked the window shut
when trying to climb out. He literally dove
through the glass and cut himself severely in his
frantic effort to get out. After he was out he
ran around in the back yard yelling in an effort
to arouse those of us who were still asleep. This
explanation indicates, I believe, that Mr. Shen
lost his life not as a victim who was trapped by
the fire, but as one doing that which he con-
ing in a cubby hole nor one trapped;
because of an inadequate path of exit.
I do not feel that it should be my1
province to explain the facts of that
fire, because I was not a resident
there nor was I present at the fire. In'
passing, I should like to call "N.M.'s"
attention to one very obvious fact-
all the students sleeping by the side
of Mr. Polland in the same third-
floor dormitory, escaped, without se-
rious injury.
May I explain why I hold that Mr.
Shen's room was not a "fire trap"
or "cubby hole." The basement
room 'which measures thirteen feet
suare has two windows each of which
are 20 in. by 3 ft. Three of the
four walls are solid brick. The room
is more than adequately lighted. The
basement has an outside entrance
and exit. This room meets more than
the letter requirements of the Michi-
gan laws governing fires and paths
of escape.
About so serious a matter as the
death of two students, we are all apt
to be hasty in condenmning. All of
us as students are certainly justified
in wanting to know the why of such
tragedies. This letter is an effort to
elucidate the facts of one specific
case. I do not resent "N.M.'s" objec-
ing to the University housing situa-
tion. I do not resent his questioning
the tragic death of two of our stu-
dents. But, and I feel that I have
shown why I am justified, I resent
the combination of his unintentional
misrepresentation of the facts re-
garding Mr. Shen's death and his ac-
cusations relative to the tragedy.
Robert M. Richman.
More From The South
To The Editor:
It appears that the publication of
Jonathan Daniels' A Southerner Dis-
covers the South has served to make
a few members of the Michigan com-
munity extend their mental horizons
southward. Perhaps it may even in-
duce a few to visit the South and
check their opinions against the real-
ity. The South has much to interest
any visitor, and if he has intelligent
opinions of his own, he will be given
a hearing.
But when one is broadening his
mental horizon, it is well for him to
take care that mirages do not be-
cloud his vision and distort the accur-
acy of his conclusions. Particularly
it is dangerous to use high-sounding
catchwords impressive to a casual
reader but utterly meaningless in
themselves.
It is apparently agreed that Mr.
Daniels' book like the recent works by
Prescott Webb, Gerald Johnson, and
Donald Davidson, presents a discern-
ing analysis of contemporary eco-
nomic and social conditions in the
South, of the causes of these condi-
tions, and of the possible remedies for
them. Based on this analysis, Mr.
Maraniss (with come intelligent re-
servations) looks somewhat patron-
izingly at the South as a Roman pa-
trician would look on the backward
peasantry of Gaul; Mr. Jackson id
apparently anxious to prove himsel
as one with the "progressive spirits'
among whom he has laudably deter
mined to pursue his education; and
Mr. Gray, through timidity or throug
lack of sufficient facts at his com-
mand, objects somewhat half-heart-
edly to a few of the statements in Mr
Mai'aniss' editorial.
Now I do not insist that I am in a
positive 'position to know more abou
the true South than any of these
gentlemen. I have lived in the Sout
only twenty-seven years; I have as-
sociated intimately with only a few~
thousand Southerners, ranging from
Negro field-hands and white moon-
shiners to college presidents, with a
fair sprinkling of governors, congress-
men, doctors, lawyers, textile opera-
tives, cotton ginners, highway patrol
men, newspapermen, industrialists
and others. And perhaps I may suffer
from romantic sectional nostalgia
albeit the baronial cotton-planters
have never been numbered in ms
family. But from my limited oppor-
tunities for opservation I feel that the
South has been misrepresented.
I particularly object to the bold-
face type for "the Southern portion of
the United States" as a land of "eco-
nomic distress, cultural stagnation,
and social backwardness" and a para-
dise for political demagogues and re-
ligious fanatics. I do not object to
anyone using what words he wishes,
but I should like more concrete evi-
dence to support them.
Apparently at the moment no sec-
tion of the United States has & mono-j
poly of "economic distress". And ap-
parently the progressive North and
West have their share of teacher-bai-
ters and Red-hunters. One has only to
read the frequent accounts of death'
from starvation and of teachers'-oath
hearings..
Political demagoguery, too, appears
to be a convenient term for labeling
those opinions to which one objects.
I should hate to label the Mayor of
New York City a demagogue, for I
am highly impressed with his abil-
ity, but I can see no difference as
political propaganda between his re-
marks about putting Hitler in a cage
and a Southern Senator's advocacy
of lynching. The words may differ,
but the means of appeal is the same.
It may be indicative of something
that the only home in which I have
seen the Ku Klux Klan paper revered
was that of a New York social register
family. It might be well to remember
the hague tyranny in Jersey City, and
that famous Michigan institution, the
Black Legion.
"Cultural stagnation" and "social
backwardness" are phrases which I
have difficultyin understanding. One
may cite only a few examples to show
that the South is producing its share
of creditable literature and intelli-
gent social analysis: Douglas Free-
man, Hervey Allen, DuRose Heyward,
Erskine Caldwell, Robert Penn War-
ren, William Faulkner, John Crowe
A Ransom, Donald Davidson, Granville
Paul Smith-these are just a few, se-
lected at random, whose works it
might do Mr. Maraniss good to read.
Nashville and Charleston are live
I centers of literary production and
criticism; the Charleston group, de-
spite any illusions which others may
cherish to the contrary, is far from
being a coterie of dilettanti playing
with an amusing toy, but rather one
of the most democratic and most se-
verely critical audiences that a
speaker can face.
Against some of the other random
charges against the South, I offer the
following random evidence; the grow-
ing importance of the University of
Texas, Duke University, the Univer-
sity of North Carolina, and Vander-
bilt University; the recent psycholo-
gical experiments at Duke, the work
of Dr. )dom of North Carolina and
his department of sociology, one of
the most sevely analytical in the na-
tion; the Middle English scholarship'
of H. S. McGillivray; the agricultural
pioneering of David R. Coker and the
new agricultural economy practiced
by Joseph Harrison and Herbert Kel-
ler; the remarkable engineering feat
accomplished by the city of Charles-
(Continued from Page 3)
DAILY OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1938
VOL. XLVIII. No. 25
Students, College of Literature, Sci-
ence and the Arts: Students whose
records carry ieports of I or X eith-
er from last semester or (if they
have not been in residence sincle
from any former session, will receive
grades of E unless the work is coln-
pleted by July 27.
Petitions for extensions of time,
with the written approval of the in-
structors concerned, should be ad-
dressed to the Administrative Board
of the College and presented in
Room 4, University Hall, before July
27.
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. "Kind
Lady," adapted by Edward Chodorov
from Hugh Walpole's "The Silver
Masque," will be presented by -the
Michigan Repertory Players Wed-
nesday through Saturday evenings at
8:30. Tickets still available for all
performances. Box office open all
day, phone 6300.
Concert, Faculty of the School of
Music at 8:30 p.m. tonigh; in Hill
Auditorium. Marshall Bidweil, or-
ganist.
Summer School Chorus: 4 recrea-
tional hour open to all summer school
students without fee, 7 to 8 p.m. Mor-
ris Hall (Broadcasting Station),
State Street, every Tuesd9y night.
Professor E. H. Sturtevant of Yale
University will speak on "Lapses and
Language Change" at 4:30 p.m. today
in the Lecture Hall of the Rackham
Building.
Linguistic Institute Luncheon Con-
ference, 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, at the
Michigan Union. Dr. J. Milton Cow-
an of the University of Iowa will
discuss "Experimental Linguistic
Methods."
"Special Education" is the subject
of L. W. Keeler's lecture in the
University High School Auditorium
this afternoon at 4:05.
Phi Delta Kappa. Dr. Henry F.
Alves, Senior Specialist in State
School Administration, office of Edu-
cation,' will be the speaker at the
regular weekly luncheon held at the
Michigan Union at 12:15 p.m. today.
The initiation of new members will
take place this Thursday, 4 p.m., also
at the Michigan Union. Old members
planning to be present at the initia-
tion banquet, which begins at 6:30
p.m., Thursday, are urged to send in
their reservations to the Phi belta
Kappa office or to notify Mr. Vaden
Miles in the University High School
library. Mr. Gerald F. Bush, mem-
ber of the State Parole .Commission,
(Continued on Page 4)
Classified Directory
VIOLA STEIN-Experienced typist.
Reasonable rates. 706 Oakland,
Phone 6327. 17x
SILVER LAUNDRY-We call for and
deliver. Bundles individually done,
no markings. All work guaranteed.
Phone 5594, 607 E. Hoover.
3x1
LAUNDRY - 2-1044. Sox darned.
Careful work at low price. 5x
DRESS MAKING and Alterations.
Mrs. Walling. 118 E. Catherine.
Phone 4726. 34x
TYPING -Neatly and accurately
done. Mrs. Howard, 613 Hill St.
TYial 5244. 2x
TYPING - Experienced. Reasonable
rates. Phone 8344. L. M. Heywood
43r
TYPING - Barthell's Book Store
1216 S. University Call 3712 or
4436 36x
SPECIAL PERMANENTS - $1.95.
Regular $3.50 value, End perman-
ents $1.50. Shampoo and finger.
wave with rinse, 50c. Open eve. Ph.
2-2813, College Beauty Shop 48x
LOST-Eastern Star past matron's
pin between Packard and State.
422 Packard. Boley. 49x
EXPERT TYPING-neatly and ac-
curately. Rates reasonable. Miss De-
Witt, 114 N. Ingalls. Ph. 3130 50x
FURNISHED APARTMENT - with
private bath and shower. Also, large
double room. Garage. Phone 8544
422 E. Washington 51x
4-
-