i V F1! Ni+i' i.. .i tiw i .t i r TH _MC..N DA L _."__.HTI. usRRA Y ITTxu~a~cip ft 1 bAK . A Roof fo r UN THEGCARNIVAL at Philadelphia was good clean fun. Everybody had a good time. Wisconsin had a chance to show off its cheese. Dewey had a chance to show how a political machine should be run. And the Republicans, ah, the happy Republicans, had a chance to show off their New Look party platform.' And new it was, too. So new, in fact, that it seems to us that we heard that song be- fore. The Republicans were in favor of everything-with the possible exception of Communism. Nobody likes Communists any- how, so that's okay. But that's not all. Not content with presenting us with a super- duper platform, the Republicans would feign have us look at the record of the 80th Con- gress, their Congress, if we have any doubts as to who belongs in the White House next year. Yes, the Republicans belong there, the self-same Republicans who in their anxi- ety to get to Philadelphia, forgot in their last session--just a minor oversight, mind you-to approve a $65,000,000 loan to the United Nations. You remember the United Nations, it's an organization that works for world peace. Only it doesn't even have a roof over its head-yet. The $65,000,000 was going to be sent to build that roof. But Congress was too busy, So the construction companies and the laborers who were going to build that great temple of peace on a site laid aside for that purpose in New York have to go begging. Ground for the United Nations headquarters has already been broken. That's as far as it is going to go, at least, until the next session of Congress. 4Meanwhile, what of the UN? What has it to say to all this? Sentiment has arisen in many member countries to the effect that if that's all the United States cares about the United Nations, well, maybe it would', Editorials published in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writers only. NIGHT EDITOR: CRAIG WILSON be a good idea to clear out entirely, move UN headquarters to some other land where it might feel a little more at home. Two cities have been suggested for this move to date-Paris and Geneva. What of the former? Paris is the capital of a country still struggling to get on its feet, and while locat- ing UN headquarters there would greatly enhance the prestige of Paris it might very well work a hardship on the ordinary folk who will find scores of people bidding for already scarce living quarters and food. Geneva, on the other hand, boasts of the splendid set of buildings which formerly housed the League of Nations. It is ad- mirably appointed to receive foreigners by rail or air and the economy of Switzer- land would be easily able to accommo- date the demands of the additional per- sons. And Switzerland is famed for lhe role it his played in international politics as a neutral arbiter. No reason why it can- not continue in this vein. Delegates from both the East and West can enter Switzerland with a minimum of effort to conduct their business and then leave. Full and unfettered press coverage would 'be assured and the majority of the delegates would have easy access to their home countries for last minute consultations and directions. New York, overcrowded as it is, would only be further pressed for space. Where space has been cleared for the UN headquarters, New York could do no worse than erect a fine low-cost public housing units, a crying need in this day. Soberlty, we realize that of first and foremost consideration is not the fancy house that contains the UN, but the de- liberations and decisions aitd actual ac- complishments of the UN that count; that were the UN to fail in its mission to ac- complish world peace, it would be of little moment whether it bungled in a marble edifice in New York, or failed in the old League of Nations palace or struck out in a glorious structure in Ypsilanti. But for the reasons outlined above, the nations would do well to consider locating the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. -Fredrica Winters. I'D RATHER BE RIGHT: ,* By SAMUEL GRAFTON , IE CHIEF FEELING I get from the elec- tion campaign so far is that there is an awful lot of smugness around. I have never seen a campaign which was more purely a contest of personalities. Yet there are plenty of issues; we are, for example, in the grip of an inflation which is gathering speed and rapidly becoming disorderly. One naturally would expect to see such issues reflected in a mirror on the wall. Not at all; what we are having now is a ifind of high-grade popu- larity contest. Our problems are real enough. The tax cut, the European aid program and the re- armament program have given us a new shot of inflation. These measures have re- fueled the fire, just as it seemed to be dying down, and we are off toward new levels of speculation and disorder. All of this ought to give us a feeling as if we 'were standing on a loose brick on top of a high wall, and making like a ballet dancer to stay upright. But concern, if there is any, is confined exclusively to professional economists, a special group of men whom we have told off to be con- cerned for the rest of us. No vestige of worry has been allowed to intrude into the election campaign, with the result that it has acquired the air of smugness men- tioned above. That the inflation Is becoming disorderly is clear enough. First, there is no longer any organized resistance to it, in government, or outside. Second, it is becoming difficult for sizable groups to obtain the necessities of life; you have to pay so much for milk to induce producers to ship it to the big cities that more and more persons in those cities can't afford to buy it after it gets there. Third, volume is beginning to suffer; department store sales for the first half of this year are up 7 per cent above a year ago, but since prices are up more than that, unit sales are probably down. Prices did start to bog down in February, but it turned out that we couldn't steady them; the only way we cduld support them was to give them a new jolt upward. That is the worst of it; our only answer to drastic deflation seems to be drastic inflation; we don't seem to be able to hit in between to find a level stretch on the roller coaster. The question is how long we can continue to go straight up to avoid going straight down, and whether, with large grain crops, etc., ahead, we won't turn out to need the Marshall Plan even more badly than does Europe. All this would appear to be pertinent 1948 matter, but it doesn't seem to turn up at political conventions. Perhaps that is why, this year, the conventions have a strange air of being sporting events, whose conclu- sions are exciting without being quite real. The Republicans, of course, have a kind of license not to worry, being, by definition, opposed to government economic controls. But even so, their blithe confidence that they are going to win, on the basis of an appeal that has little to do with our chief problem, has in it something eerie and DA-IY OFFICIAL BULETIN The Literary Leagues WHEN THE' F EDERAL Trade Commission turned the spotlight on half a dozen book book clubs last week and illuminated- various flaws in the structure of their ad- vertising, we were not in the least bit sym- pathetic toward the book peddlers, As you perhaps know, the commission's comnplaint against the mail order book houses charged them with a misleading use of the word "free" (or FREE, as it appears in the book ads) in their advertising pro- gram, holding that the "book dividends" _were not gifts at all, but inducements which,. if accepted, placed the member under obli- gation to make a specified number of pur- .cases. Unethical as all this may be, we feel that it represents one of the lesser sins of the literary leagues. Offhand, we can think of several conditions perpetuated by the clubs which, while not subject perhaps to legal jurisdiction, are none the less as unsavory as the "free"' advertising copy. Our principle contention is" that the book clubs promote a lower literary standard among their members. Protagonists claim that the clubs make their choices purely on the basis of literary merit. Not so, we cal- culate. Instead we venture to presume that titles are selected which have the largest mass appeal, regardlss of literary value. If this were not the case-if the selections were actually guided by altruistic motives- there would be no need for the sensational advertising (we're back to that again) that accompanies these selections. Among the consequences of such a system of selection is the fact that many important books are overlooked. By ignoring some pretty outstanding writing and focusing on numerous second rate works, the book clubs produce a disequilibrium in the literary scene. They foster a false concept of what is worth-while in literature by emphasizing the modern, the sensational and the type of writing that throbs with adventure. The implication is that a book is a great book, simply because it will be a "best-seller." In short, we do not believe that the book clubs are supplying the homes of thousands with the creme de la creme of modern writing, as they maintain they are doing. If this is true, and we believe it is, the argument that the clubs make good reading available at reduced costs is also question- able. As a friend of ours once summarized it, "Purchasing books from the 'Literary Guild is like paying $50.00 for a blue serge suit that ordinarily sells for $100.00 and is actually worth less than $25.00." -Kenneth Lowe. Publlcations in The Daily Official Bulletin is constructive notice to all members of the University. Notices :for the Bulletin should be sent in type- written form to the 011ce of the suu- mer Session, hoo±n 1213 Angell Hail, by 3:U0 pirn. on th~e day preceding poi~ti- cation (11:(J pm. haturidays) . . .9 Notices - a THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1948 VOL L.tV I, Nor. 1811 Notices Veterans enrolled under Public Law 346 are reminded that they will automatically receive sub- sistence for an additional fifteen days beyond the close of the Sumn' mei Sessian. Consequently, fifteen days of eligibility time will be de- ducted from their remaining en- titlement. It should be emphasized that this procedure is automatic and that payments will be made and entitlement reduced accord- ingly unless a veteran notifies the Vieterans Administration in writ- ing thirty days prior to the close of the Summer Session that he does not desire the extension of subsistence benefits. Veterans who desire tile fifteen days extension are not required to give any no- tice. The following form is suggested for notification: "This is to no- tify you that I do not desire the fifteen days extension of subsist- ence benefits following the close of the Summer Session, 1948. Signa- ture, "C" Number, Reference 29R7AA." The notice should be sent to Registration and Research Section, Michigan Unit, Veterans Administration, Guardian Build- ing, 500 Griswold Street, Detroit 32, Michigan. Women students wishing to re- main for the post-session at the end of summer school should get in touch with the Office of the Dean of Women regarding housingt at once. Women students in Astronomy 31 and 32 have late permission until 11:30 p.m. either on Tues. or Thurs. evening in accordance with written slips being mailed to them by the Office of the Dean of Wom- en. The second Fresh Air Camp Clinic will be held Fri., July 9, 1948. Discussions begin at 8 p.m. in the Main Lodge of the FreshJ Air Camp located on Patterson Lake. Any University students in- terested in problems of individual and group therapy are invited to attend. The discussant will be Dr. J. N. P. Struthers, Director of the Huron Valley Children's Center, Ypsilanti. Students of Business Adminis- tration and Education Interested in Typewriting: George Hossfield, one of the World's champion typ- ists, will give a typewriting demon- stration Fri., July 9, 3 p.m. in Room 268, Business Administra- 1i0n Building. The Russian Conversation G'uup will not meet at the Inter- Ilational Center Tea today, Thurs., S.' L V ~AI ~ LA ~ - ~, z' .,