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THE MMHIGAN DAILY
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1951
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Wendy Owen
THE DAILY is not a happy place this
morning.
We have lost a staff member whose
loyalty and contribution to this news-
paper make her passing particularly
tragic.
But even ,more, we have lost a rare
friend.
Countless dreams hatched and nur-
tured over coffee cups-long discussions
on Union Opera (Wendy thought it should
be co-ed), ethical values (Wendy had
some strong opinions here), the place of
women in newspaper work, the guest list
for next week's party, the make-up of
the morning's Daily, or the best city in
which to seek a post-college job-all rush
into our minds as we try to absorb the
shock of Wendy's premature death.
We remember Wendy's willingness to
stay extra hours to help a short-handed
night editor and her special position at
the start of the year when she was the
only female member of a junior staff of
12. She very soon assumed a position
somewhat akin to James Barrie's Wendy
in the fantasy, "Peter Pan." She was
friend, advisor, confidant and morale
booster to the staff.
Her friends on the campus-on The
Daily, in her sorority, in the many groups
and organizations with which she was
assoiated-all mourn the sudden end
of a life so vibrant and rich and filled
with hopes. Her unbiding enthusiasm
and interest in people, her kindness and
warmth, her charm and candor marked
Wendy as a person who made her corner
of the world a better place for her pres-
ence in it.
Wendy's high spirits, idealism and
boundless compassion will remain as in-
spirations for all who knew her.
The day before her death, she wrote
Daily pressman Lauren Kinsley that she
was feeling fine and would soon be home
doing re-writes for The Daily from her
bed.
A spirit such as this does not die. It
will flourish in the memory of Wendy
shared by her family and many friends.
-The Editors
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN BRILEY
DORIS FLEESON:
Eisenhowser
Interest
WASHINGTON - The best news that
G.O.P. backers of General Eisenhower
for President have had lately is the alacrity
with which Republican members of Con-
gress are jumping off to Europe to visit him.
All Republican members of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee accepted the
General's invitation to view Europe's pro-
gress toward rearmament. Senator Tobey
now finds he cannot go but the rest will be
on hand.
The capitol cloakrooms suggest that vi-
sions of sugar plums-cabinet posts,l
judgeships, collectors of internal revenue
and similar juicy patronage-will be dan-
cing in the heads of the distinguished
travelers as they impress their personali-
ties on the man who still leads the public-
opinion polls of Presidential possibilities.
Democrats are noticeably less attracted to
the opportunity. Chairman Connally said
no; Senator George pleaded his duties as
Chairman of the Finance Committee, which
is holding hearings on the new tax bill;
Senator Fulbright cited the price-control
fight which is the province of his other com-
mittee, Banking and Currency.
The majority party thus will be outnum-
bered, 6-4, on the expedition. The Democra-
tic quartet assumes that some political re-
porting for their President and friends will
be a part of their assignment. Among the
Republicans, at least one-Senator Lodge
of Massachusetts-is more or less openly in
the Eisenhower camp.
* * *
HOUSE REPUBLICANS from Foreign Af-
fairs who made a similar journey last
month got no tangible encouragement from
Eisenhower. But they profess to have noted
a receptive gleam in his eye and are assur-
ing their colleagues that he'll go.
The spurt of interest in Eisenhower coin-
cides with a temporary recession in Sena-
tor Taft's prestige as a result of the Mac-
Arthur inquiry and Korean developments.
Republicans wedded to Taft in domestic
matters are among those who rate his for-
eign-policy course unsatisfactory not so
much because of what he is for as because
it seems to them confused and contradictory.
The Senator has also had his first set-
back in the area of party organization. At
their annual convention, the Young Re-
publicans elected as their president a for-
mer associate of Governor Dewey and, to
do it, rebuffed a candidate openly backed
by the Taft forces. Pro-Eisenhower senti-
ment was attributed to the delegates by
many observers. This is a minor defeat but
it is the first break in Taft successes with
activities centering at national head-
quarters.
'T'hei(Caiforni a. g~nein is vfnr 4,th
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"Whee! Maybe The War In Korea Will Be Ended!" I INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
ci to'p4Ikte
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By DAVE THOMAS
THE REFUSAL of Federal Housing Expe-
diter Tighe Woods to decontrol rents
in Ann Arbor puts the problem of rent de-
control right back in the laps of the City
Council where it rightly belongs.
On June 19, the Republican-dominated
Council voted, 11-3, to ask Woods to decon-
trol rents under the so-called "voluntary"
clause in the Federal Housing Act. At the
same time, the council majority attempted
to force Woods' hand by voting that, if he
didn't decontrol of his .own volition, they
wanted rents decontrolled anyway under a
"local option" clause which Congress wrote
into the present law.
This double-barrelled assault on local
rent stabilization is practically unique in
the recent records made by local govern-
ments trying to dodge responsibility for
their own actions.
If Woods decontrolled "voluntarily," he
would have had the option of re-imposing
controls in the future should rents get dras-
tically out of hand. If decontrol came
through a "local option" demand by the
Council, there would be no way for federal
controls to be re-imposed under the present
law.
What the council was aiming at was to
get Woods to choose the first course,
thereby absolving them of a degree of re-
sponsibility if local rents went into a
whirlwind upward spiral after decontrol.
That is one of the main reasons that
Mayor Brown and Council President Creal
objected to heatedly when Woods showed
that he was not going to play into their
hands and directed that a survey of local
housing be made.
* * * *
EVEN WITH the population of the city
about 10,000 below normal because of the
academic vacation, the survey evidently
showed that there was not enough stretch
in the local housing situation so that con-
trols could be dropped with any degree of
assurance that rents would not immediately
begin to rise.
Ann Arbor has traditionally been short
on rental housing. And a substantial por-
tion of it has often been of a sub-par na-
ture. It was these conditions which forced
the University in the late 1930's to embark
on an ambitious residence hall program in
order to insure its students decent, reason-
ably-priced housing.
The post-war enrollment increase coupled
with numbers of workers brought into the
area by war-stimulated industry far out-
stripped both the University's construction
program and the small amount of private
rental building which took place.
The recent reduction in enrollment and
small industrial layoffs have "alleviated"
the situation so much that authorities dared
to talk of shutting down Willow Village and
turning 10,000 inhabitants out on the local
housing market. The waiting list for Pitts-
field Village has fallen to the point where
it can be counted in hundreds instead of
thousands, as formerly.
Anyone who has tried to find an apart-
ment, particularly if he happens to cherish
pets or children, will agree with Expediter
Woods that there is no noticeable surplus
of housing in Ann Arbor.
In such a situation it would plainly be
dangerous to decontrol rents at this time.
If the City Council decides to go ahead and
decontrol anyway, as apparently they al-
ready have, it will at least be possible to
fix total responsibility for the inevitable rent
boosts on the Council majority, because of
Woods' decision.
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MATTEpa
0r
FA\Cat
By JOSEPH ALSOP
.4
AVON, Conn.-The reporter, nowadays, is
perpetually impaled on the horns of a
dilemma-one horn being the absence of
good news, and the other, the unpleasant-
ness of being always a bearer of evil tid-
ings. A good lady once suggested that the
best escape was to write about birds. But
the robin and the vireo must wait. The pur-
pose of the present report is to finish sum-
ming up the impressions gathered during a
long journey in Europe and the Middle East,
which were unhappy.
On balance, despite the prospect of
peace in Korea, the world situation has
grown decidedly worse In the last twelve
months. By responding to the Korean
challenge, we escaped a disaster worse
than ten Munichs. By launching West-
ern rearmament, we are preparing a more
secure future. But for the present, the
dangers that threaten the United States
and the free world are very great and
very near.
The trouble is the long lag between plac-
ing defense orders and getting tanks, air-
craft and the like in quantity and training
combat units to use them. People are be-
mused by the talk about the miracles of
American production. But the truth is that
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower will have only
twenty to twenty-five divisions to defend the
line of the Rhine next spring. And besides
the shocking weakness on the ground in
CIINIEMA
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Western Europe, other great gaps in the
Western defenses such as the weakness of
the British air defense, will unavoidably en-
dure at least until 1953.
This does not mean that the West is not
already growing stronger. The striking pow-
er of the American Strategic Air Force has
already vastly increased, for example, and
will continue to grow greater if we retain
the use of the allied air bases overseas. But
in the present period of the lag between
defense orders and defense output, the So-
viets are still growing stronger more rapid-
ly than we are.
S. s
W HILE THE British scramble to rebuild
their air defenses by the winter after
next, the Soviet war planners are complet-
ing theirs now. While Eisenhower struggles
to prepare his twenty to twenty-five divisions
in Western Europe, the Soviets, in Eastern
Europe, will shortly be ready to throw sixty
additional satellite divisions into the bal-
ance. And so it goes. It will be at least eigh-
teen months, and probably two years, before
the curve of Western strength finally shoots
up past the curve of Soviet strength.
Inevitably, the Masters of the Kremlin
are now working day and night to fore-
stall this crossing of the curves which will
mean security for the West. One pre-
vious report has already described their
attempt to upset the world balance of
power by capturing the vulnerable former
colonial regions, such as Iran. Another
has set forth the Soviet plan to paralyze
the Western alliance, by sowing dissen-
sions between America and her allies.
Even the partial success of either of these
great current Soviet operations would be
a major disaster.
The vast number of soft spots where the
Soviets can score a success of this sort is
one of the two worst dangers to the West.
The other is the vast number of practical
problems which must somehow be solved
before the structure of Western strength can
be completed. The Japanese Peace Treaty
seems to be out of the way. But there remain
German rearmament; French manpower re-
cruitment for additional divisions; inclusion
of Greece and Turkey in the Atlantic pact;
support for Yugoslavia, and many more.
Failure to solve even one of these problems
will be equivalent to failure overall. And
each of them seems already to be taxing
Western statesmanship and Western politi-
cal morale almost beyond the bearable limit.
Consider together the two kinds of dan-
ger-the danger of Soviet sucesses, and
the danger of Western failures. If either
danger materializes anywhere, the Soviet
war planners will inevitably seize the op-
portunity for new aggressive moves, which,
this time, will almost inevitably lead to
general war. At first the calculation seems
to suggest the certainty of catastrophe.
For it is hard enough to pick a daily
double; and in a certain sense the West-
ern world is in the situation of a horse
player whose fate depends, not on victory
in two races only, but on victory in all
the races being run.
Yet if one remembers the perils already
mcirn+ned -if oner~ vwal1 how ralmost ,cer-
AN
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pAOMAd¢Al
ON THE
Washington Merry- Go-Round
with DREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON-It's hard to write about a man who is dead and
cannot defend himself. However, I should like to write about An-'
drew Older, listed recently by an FBI undercover agent as a member
of the Communist Party.
Older worked for me for a brief period after the war and it became
my unpleasant duty to fire him. During the course of firing him, I
got to know a little bit about what makes a Communist tick.
If we are going to cure Communism in the American body
politic then it's important that we know what turns a man into a
Communist and how he can be cured. Here is one case history in
point.
Older worked for a group of conservative trade journals-a paint
and varnish magazine, a bakery journal, a poultry monthly, together
with the film and radio dailies and the Hollywood reporter. During
the tail end of the war when manpower was short he also worked part-
time for me, in addition to this other chores.
** * *
CANADIAN SPY RINGS
ANDY was a nice boy, worked hard and I never dreamed at first he
had any links with the Communists. But as time passed and I
Wrote more and more critical stories about Russia I became suspicious.
He frequently argued against the columns which criticized Russia.
I recall especially the column I wrote exposing the Russian spy
ring in Canada. At that time-1946-a great many Americans still
were devoted to the idea that we could and must cooperate with Russia,
and the critical mail I received calling me a liar and a warmonger
was heavy. Older was among those who deprecated this column.
Later a friend reported that he had seen Older with both a
member of the Soviet Tass News Agency and the editor of the
Soviet Information Service, which was published by the Russian
Embassy. As a result, I went to J. Edgar Hoover, told him of
this report and asked whether he had any information regarding
Older and a possible affiliation with Communism.
Mr. Hoover reported a week or so later that Older was listetras a
member of the Communist Party in Washington.
Next day I called Older in, figuring that in conformity with
standard Communist practice he would deny membership in the
Party. But he didn't. He told the truth.
*t*
DAZZLING AUTHORESS
N a way this made things more difficult. If he had lied, it would
have been easy to fire him. But when a man tells the truth you
certainly owe it to him to listen to his story.
So we had a long talk, during which Older said he had joined the
Party early in 1940 largely through the influence of Ruth McKenny,
author of "My Sister Eileen," and editor of the New Masses from
1937 to 1946, who later broke with Communism. The counsel for the
Senate Internal Security Committee states that Miss McKenny broke
with the Party at the same time Browder had his difficulties.
Older's father was born in Russian Poland, and Andy had
been ardently anxious for peace between the United States and
Russia. He said, however, that he had had a few tough policies
to swallow which had jarred him-one of them being the Party
Line against preparedness at a time when Stalin and Hitler were
allies in 1939, and later the sudden party switch to all-out pre-
paredness.
He said that he had been trying to get away from the Party, hadn't
attended meetings since 1944 and was fed up with highhanded Com-
munist tactics. However, he said that it was hard to get away when
you were once a member because the comrades blackmailed you by
threatening to expose your membership.
He said he gradually had come around to my point of view that
Russia was the chief disrupter of the peace and that her tactics under
the remlin were just as imperialistic as under the Czar.
LIPPMANN HAD COMMUNIST SECRETARY
AT first I thought I could wean Older completely away from Com-
munism and had some talks along this line with J. Edgar Hoover.
I figured that if I could get Older to do a Budenz and take a militant
stand against the Party, he would become a highly-useful citizen.
However, I also had heard that the Communists had planted
a secretary on Walter Lippmann and that it was standard Com-
munist practice to put men in key spots where they could influ-
ence public opinion. So, figuring there was no use making life
difficult by sitting on a continual keg of dynamite, I let Older go.
I saw him occasionally after that and have reason to believe he
threw his old associates overboard and straightened himself out poli-
tically. In fact, he became something of a small-scale capitalist, and
in addition to his trade journals, operated a laundry.
And since he cannot be here to defend himself, I would like to
say that Andy Older was one of those unfortunate youngsters who,
through the influence of persuasive personalities, got off to a bad
start, but who saw things in a far clearer light before he died.
(Copyright, 1951, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
MY WIFE SAYS if we don't have controls, prices are going up, and
if we do have controls there will be black markets and prices will
go up.
Two other women, questioned separately, said much the same.
One thought production and public refusal' to be, gypped would
take care of the situation. The other said controls meant black *
markets, and that she was sorry she hadn't written her Congress-
men, and intended to do so. "Not that it will do any good," she
added.
The men, asked why they didn't write, were unanimous in saying
"What's the use?" They didn't think the government knew what it
was doing-either the proponents or opponents of controls. Most of
them didn't think the government knew what it was doing about
anything.
This is not an attempt to prove anything. It was just a little
quickie inquiry among people I happened to talk to. In a different
neighborhood it might have turned out differently. I just thought I'd
better write my Congressman and tell him what little I found.
ette'4 TO THE EDITOR
The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of
general interest, and will publish all letters which are signed by the writer
and in good taste. Letters exceeding 300 words in length, defamatory or
libelous letters, and letters which for any reason are not in good taste will
be condensed, edited or withheld from publication at the discretion of the
editors.
'What's the Use?' Says Public
On Price Controls Pressure
By J. M. ROBERTS, JR.
Associated Rress News Analyst
SO CONGRESS is wondering why the stockholders-meaning the
folks back home-don't write in to say what they want done
about economic controls.
Well, this is by no means intended as a definitive answer. It is
composed from some personal impressions and from discussion with
15 people whom I asked about it between 8 p.m. Wednesday-when the
Associated Press reported an unusual lack of mail on such a con-
troversial subject-and 1 p.m. Thursday. Hardly a reliable poll, but
producing one thing which seems to be striking.
Every person questioned voluntarily injected, amid the pros
and cons of controls, some expression of doubt that the govern-
ment was capable of doing anything worthwhile about it.
For some time I had been thinking of writing a column about
the control argument. But I haven't been able to get my own thoughts
to jell.
I think that same feeling must have a strong bearing on the Con-
gressional mail situation. We elected a Congress to handle these things
for us because they claimed to know, how. It now seems fairly obvious
that they don't, or are unwilling. But what to do? We don't know
where to get anybody who does. All is futility. That seems to me to be
a growing attitude among people whose vote represents their only
participation in politics.
.}
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Critics. .
To the Editor:
Critic Wiegand's confusion of
Jose and Mel Ferrer confirmed our
worst suspicions - your critics
don't even see the movies.'
--Edward Poindexter
Only a Musician .*.
To the Editor:
I noticed two bad ones today-
Dave Thomas's confusion of inter
for imply and John Bril4y's
"Everyone . . . entered . . . their
quarters"-and I'm only a musi-
cian. Not so good for a University
paper.
-W. S. Collins
Food Waste .
To the Editor:
EVERYBODY is becoming in-
creasingly aware of the rising
food prices. Buthave you ever
seen a plate of this high priced
food being thrown into agarbage
can? For instance, there is a
shameful waste of food in the din-
ing halls of the West Quadrangle.
The staff makes a great effort to
provide balanced meals to the
students but some persist in leav-
ing half of their meals to be
thrown away.
For instance, one meal that was
scraped into the garbage contain-
ed the following items: one slice
of cold meat, one whole salad, two
slices of bread with butter and a
half of a glass of milk. This
scene is duplicated hundreds of
Favorite Reading
AFTER Time and Life, we must
confess, our favorite reading
is the Daily Worker. The only
trouble with this paper is that it
is not read enough. It is good for
at least a column of quotes every
day.
Take this, for instance: The
title is Gottwald reports on the
situation in Czechoslovakia. "Pre-
mier Antonin Zapotocky showed in
an earlier speech that the new
rationing of bread and flour, far
from meaning a cut in personal
consumption, actually illustrates
the increase in living standards..
With wages and salaries at the
highest levels, and prices going
down constantly, there have been
60 price cuts last year, people have
become used to buying more than
they could ever consume.
--The Reporter
times daily in the halls and is a
matter of disgust to the cafeteria
staff. Yet some of the students
complain at the seemingly small
servings and wonder why the staff
is unwilling to give them more.
Perhaps is is merely a reflec-
tion on our habits as a nation. In-
deed, wastefulness seems to be a
part of the American way of life.
No need to go over the countless
instances brought to light of the
unchecked exploitation q; our na-
tion's resources. In fact the stand-
ard remark of students passing
through the cafeteria line is "I'll
t te this and if I don't want it
later, I won't eat it."
Perhaps, if we all stopped a
minute to think, we could see that
there would be a considerable sav-
ing to all in terms of the cost of
board if we took it upon ourselves
to take what food we want and
eat what we take.
--Alan Rice
Nel Letts
Ben Stolz
(Three Bus Boys)
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Architecture Auditorium
UNFAITHFULLY YOURS-with Rex Har-
rison and Linda Darnell.
THIS IS ONE of those pictures that hap-
pens to get lost in the flood that comes
out of Hollywood annually. At the time
of its release a few years ago, it caused no
discernible ripple, but its comic conception
and inspired slapstick has proved so mem-
orable to a few of the faithful who recall
it that it is brought back now with all of its
brilliance intact.
Preston Sturges, the man responsible for
"The Great McGinty" and "The Miracle of
Morgan's Creek," among others, is writer,
producer and director. The plot deals with
a jealous symphony orchestra conductor
who upon returning from a trip abroad
learns that his wife has apparently been
unfaithful during his absence.
As he conducts his concert, he concocts
three possible solutions to his problem in
three successive numbers which he directs.
In the first he sees himself murdering his
wife and pinning the crime on her inam-
orata. Next he becomes noble, writes a
check for $100,000 and gives her up. At
last in the final number, he plays the
heroic husband, invites his rival to a game
of Russian rouletem an.d blws ux~ t his
Sixty-First Year
Edited and managed by students of
the University of Michigan under the
authority of the Board in Control of
Student Publications
Editorial Staffe
Dave Thomas .........Managing Editor
George Flint ... ..........Sports Editor
Jo Ketelhut..........Women's Editor
Business Staff
Milt Goetz ... Business Manager
Eva Stern.......Advertising Manager
Harvey Gordon........Finance Manager
Allan Wei stein ...Circulation Manager
Telephone 23-24-1
Member of The Associated Press
The Associated Press is exclusively
entitled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to it or
otherwise credited to this newspaper.
All rights of republication of all other
matters herein are also reserved.
Entered at the Post Office at Ann
Arbor,.Michigan, as second-class mail
matter.
Subscription during regular school
year: by carrier, $6.00; by mail, $7.00.
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BARNABY
Has the painting class fl
You must have I Is..t~. L. :~ .:.4...t~
I'm sure it has, Mrs. Tyler. To
doanvth ina reo~nizabnle tfjae
0k4 WT l SA I7b. 15*4~ 14/