PAGE TWO
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1951
Spanish Ailiance
THE recent request for naval and air bases
made by Adm. Forrest P. Sherman to
Generalissimo Francisco Franco portends
the completion of another chapter in the
fantastic and sometimes incredible story of
Spanish-United States relations.
Sherman and the nation's defense experts
want the bases as a part of the Mediterran-
ean defense line, vital to the protection of
Suez and the Middle East oil regions.
But the expediency of the matter seems
to have placed in shadow certain ethical
values which were made much of following
Franco's assumption of power in the Iber-
Ian peninsula.
Fascist Spain, it will be remembered, was
only slightly less than an avowed enemy of
this nation during World War II. And the
type of despotic rule which has characterized
Franco's government was decried again and
again by the statesmen of the democracies
from 1936 on.
During the twilight period of Franco's
government, the United States refused to
have anything to do with it on a diplo-
matic plane.
Now we have recognized Spain, and have
become unexplainably friendly with her, and
we seek to commit ourselves on a more or
less permanent basis through the purchase
of military base rights on Spanish territory.
** *
IT is time that the United States either de-
cides upon a completely ethical course in
world affairs, or gives itself up without com-
punction to the machinations of Realpolitik.
That we should make of such a man as
General Franco a firm friend and ally seems
a little like hypocrisy-and yet we are well
on the way toward doing it.
It is possible that such a policy, fol-
lowed during the Second World War in
regard to Russia, is in part responsible for
the Russian power complex at the present
time. Perhaps the proper course would
have been one of non-concession from 1941
on. At any rate, obligating this country
to a totalitarian nation worked for disas-
ter in that instance.
Although Spain is a smaller and weaker
nation, obligating ourselves to her, whether
in a period of stress or not, is a mistake in
principle and quite probably also one in
practice.
We have followed a general policy of con-
demnation of Fascist practices in the past,
and its wisdom has been borne out by the
woe brought upon the earth by the purveyors
of absolutism. A glance at the case history
of Argentina's La Prensa" is sufficient to
confirm the axiom that dictators seldom re-
form.
Franco, for all his sudden amitie toward
his American brothers, is nevertheless a dic-
tator and as such, cannot be trusted. It
would seem that experience with his ilk in
the past two decades would have taught our
statesmen something. Apparently it has
not.
-George Flint
MATTER
Jr
FAC T
By JOSEPH and STEWART ALSOPI
WASHINGTON-There is a fairly simple
explanation of the strange ritual at
Kaesong-the talks about a cease-fire, as
a prelude to an armistice, as a prelude to
peace negotiations, which are carried on
while the Korean fighting also continues.
The cease-fire and armistice are in fact ex-
pected to be the last serious acts of the
Korean drama.
No doubt, when and if the generals and
admirals successfully complete their labors
at Kaesong, the diplomats and statesmen
will go to work in their turn, under some-
what less primitive conditions. No doubt
there will be peace negotiations, with all the
familiar trappings of agendas, proposals and
counter-proposals, and loud hagglings about
the meaning of such terms as "free elec-
tions." But almost no one hopes that these
negotiations will accomplish anything..
Gen. Nam H and Gen. Tung Hua clearly
hold this view. Hence the North Korean
and Chinese representatives are trying to
crowd into the Kaesong agreementsclauses
that belong in a final settlement, such as
provision for withdrawal of all foreign
Editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only.
NIGHT EDITOR: EVA SIMON
CINIEMA
I
i
troops from Korea. Equally, the same
view is held by the leading personalities in
Washington and Tokyo. And that is why
Vice Admiral Joy and his delegation are
proceeding with such meticulous delibera-
tion, even although this means that the
somewhat desultory fighting is thereby
prolonged.
The reasons for this view are also plain
enough. After a cease-fire and armistice,
each side will hold roughly half of Korea.
Each will demand a final settlement on its
own terms-the United Nations calling for a
settlement responsive to the wishes of the
Korean people; the Communists demanding
a "democratic" settlement which will en-
sure Communist control of the country. This
sort of negotiation is doomed to deadlock be-
fore it begins.
* * *
WHAT then will be the consequences, if
the bitter, bloody war in Korea simply
tails out into a cease-fire and armistice,
without the formal peace agreement that
customarily concludes wars? Where will it
leave us? Not too badly off, appears to be
the answer.
It is possible, in the first place, that de-
fense of the post-armistice status quo can
eventually be left to a greatly strengthened
South Korean army, 'provided that Chinese
also wish to recall their "volunteers" on rea-
sonable terms and at a reasonable time. If
not, some United Nations troops will have
to be retained in Korea, as a safeguard
against renewed aggression. But even if the
American forces are thus prevented from
saying a final farewell to a country they do
not love, there will still be substantial con-
solations, both positive and negative.
First, since Japan is so near, the Korean
garrison can be relatively small. Most of
the American divisions can be pulled back
to Japan or brought home.
Second, even a small U.N. garrison will be
a better guarantee against renewal of Kor-
ean hostilities than any peace treaty. No
doubt its retention will be denounced by the
same Senators who have attacked the Ad-
ministration for being overly hasty in re-
calling American troops from Korea three
years ago. Yet Gen. MacArthur himself
planned to leave U.N. forces in Korea for
several years, at the time when he expected
to conquer,the whole country.
Third, on the larger question of peace
treaty vs. no peace treaty, there is one ad-
vantage in having no peace treaty that al-
most no one seems to have thought of. In
brief, the announced American policy is to
neutralize Formosa for the duration of the
Korean war; and this has been somewhat
grudgingly accepted by the world at large.
But if the Korean war is formally termin-
ated, and we still seek to continue the neu-
tralization of Formosa, we shall run into the
worst trouble with our allies and in the
United Nations that we have seen yet. In
blunt language, we will not have a leg to
stand on, and the resulting ruckus will risk
splitting the Western alliance from nave to
chops.
On the other hand, if the Korean fight-
ing just tails out into a cease-fire, armis-
tice, and deadlocked peace negotiation, the
whole status quo will be perpetuated, in-
cluding the neutralization of Formosa. It
can and will be continued, under these
conditions, without too much difficulty.
And so we shall be borrowing a useful leaf
from the book of the other side.
The plain truth is that this wind-up of
the Korean fighting is a rather special test
DORIS FLEESON:
Hard-Way
Harry
WASHINGTON -When a Senate attache
telephoned Sen. Paul Douglas that
President Truman had called two strikes on
him in the matter of three federal judgeships
in Chicago, the Senator's quaker faith lost
out for 60 seconds to plain rage, thenhe
laughed.
"Well, the so-and-so has lots of guts," he
said. "About the judgeships, no comment."
After a thoughtful week end, the former
Marine has decided to give battle. He ex-
pects to win.
His proposal to poll the city's lawyers on
his vs. the Truman selections is made in
good faith; of course he has no control
over their ballots and many of them are
not Douglas men. But, with anything like
a fair count, he is confident that his two
candidates who were rejected by the Presi-
dent-William H. King and Judge Ben-
jamin Epstein-will murder the. Truman
substitutes.
Only last week-perhaps with the Illinois
situation in mind and realizing that his
judgship choices were the weaker ones-the
President implied that bar associations were
only stubborn defenders of this best of all
possible worlds. Perhaps against a conser-
vative Senator, at least with public opinion,
Mr. Truman could make this derogation
stick. Governors and Presidents have often
fought the ultra-conservative bar and won.
But any such attack on Douglas must
fail. Besides the Senator was careful to
include in his requested poll both the Chi-
cago Bar Association, which has but three
Negro members who were recently ac-
quired, and the Cook County Bar who are
the Negro lawyers. William King, just by
the way, is a foremost advocate of civil
rights in race-conscious Chicago.
The attitude of the Chicago Democratic
organization could make a difference in the
results of the Douglas poll if it is not truly
behind him. He was Jake Arvey's assurances
that it is.
ALL Senate precedent is at Dougla's back.
The Illinois liberal has acted in accord-
ance with time-honored practice and his-
torically; he has only to proclaim the ob-
jectionable nominees "personally obnoxious,,
to him. He does not wish to do it that way;
he is satisfied he can maintain his position
that his nominees are the best qualified and
wholly deserving.
Not being without humor he is aware
that some of the Senators on the far right
will be distressed by the necessity of having
to vote for one Fair Dealer as against an-
other. This may possibly include the chair-
man of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Pat
McCarran, with whom, however, Sen. Doug-
las has hsd no personal exchanges.
The President, who must have reasons
that seem good to him, was as insulting
to Sen. Douglas as possible in this entire
controversy. Never once was the Senator
asked to the White House to confer on the
matter. He was not courteously advised
in advance when the nominations went up.
To rub it in, an innovation decidedly
startling to politicians was introduced in
that the defeated Illinois Senator, former
Majority Leader Scott Lucas, was consulted
by the President. Washington had just
noted Lucas in the capacity of a lobbyist for
the used-car dealers fighting against Mr.
Truman's price-control bill-of which Sen.
Douglas is one of the mightiest defenders.
The Capital therefore gaped at the spec-
tacle of Lucas, the judge maker, announcing
on the White House doorstep after a talk
with the President that the Illinois judge-
ships were en route. Lucas's candidate, Jo-
seph Sam Perry, was the only member of
the Douglas slate to survive the Truman
hatchet.
Just another reason why the cloakrooms
call the President: Hard-Way Harry.
* * *
SPAIN
THE military have won "the battle of
Spain." When the tumult and the shout-
ing die, Dictator Franco will be some kind of
a working partner of the North Atlantic
Treaty Nations.
The price the military are paying'for get-
ting their way is that visibly, in the person
of Admiral Sherman, Chief of Naval Opera-
tions, they are taking the rap for the nego-
tiations now going forward. But the Ad-
miral is behaving correctly, as always; the
State Department had caved in before he
departed for Madrid.
State Department sources further depose
that actually the Labor Government of Bri-
tain had weakened too. Present British
government outcries are described as chiefly
designed to "conciliate"-public opinion at
home.
This claim is not made about the French
Government which, unlike the British, has
a large Communist bloc to consider. Ap-
parently the French are going to have to
take it and like it.
But Secretary of State Acheson is not be-
ing outflanked by the Pentagon; some of
his supporters would prefer that he was.
That he has little stomach for the Franco
alliance seems evident from the fact that he
is disassociating himself and his people as
much as possible. Perhaps this too is sup-
posed to make the anti-Franco British feel
better.
Generally speaking, the select and rather
small company who have stood by him on
Capitol Hill are anti-Franco. In their view
he~ is again acnting the rolo1 f aneasero
- P
__ 4
OIM. +fl 4' nf ,A w . ar r.. .
ON THE
Washington Merry-Go-Round
with DREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON-American truce negotiators in Korea have noted
with interest that the Chinese Communists are using American
jeeps. The American public has also wondered not only how the Com-
munists were able to obtain American equipment, but why the Na-
tionalist Government was driven out of China.
The sub-rosa operations of the Chiang Kai-Shek family may be
one of the answers. Another of their operations has just come to
light-a move by a Chiang brother-in-law, with other wealthy Chinese
to corner the soybean market at the expense of the American public.
The brother-in-law is T. L. Soong, brother of Foreign Minis-
ter T. V. Soong, who formerly handled much of the three and a
half billion dollars worth of supplies which the United States sent
to China during the war. The soybean pool netted a profit of
$30,000,000 and shot up the cost to the American consumer $1 a
bushel.
One of the strange things about the soybean manipulation was
that its operators knew exactly the right time to buy up the world's
soybean supply-a few weeks before the Communists invaded Korea.
Recently this column told how Eugene Soong, son of T. L. Soong,,
together with L. K. Kung, son of Dr. H. H. Kung, another brother-in-
-law, sold a huge quantity of precious tin to the Chinese Communists.
As a result Secretary of Commerce Sawyer has now barred this group,
together with three law partners of ex-Secretary of Defense Louis
Johnson, from getting export licenses to trade with any country for
three years.
It was the father of Eugene Soong, T. L. Soong, who bought
up half a million bushels of soybeans before the Korean War in
May, 1950.
Soybeans are used for cattle and human food, in manufacturing
plastics and paints, and are essential for war production. And 56
Chinese bought up the huge quantity of 6,986,000 bushels on the Chi-
cago Board of Trade at $2.34 a bushel.
Shortly thereafter the price began to climb. It soared and
soared. Finally, five days after the Communists invaded Korea,
the price hit $3.45-1/ a bushel, and the group sold out.
T. L. Soong is the same man in charge of supplies sent over the
Burma Road at a time when a series of warehouse fires and "sabotage"
caused the disappearance of large quantities of war material.
Shortly thereafter, Soong left for the United States on a diplo-
matic passport, and was moved into an even more important spot in
Washington-Chief Procurement Officer of Chinese war supplies.
Soong is still here. But, instead of handling war supplies, he is
now speculating in soybeans at the expense of the American public.
Operations like this may be one reason why the disillusioned
Chinese people threw out the Soong-Kung dynasty and accepted Com-
munism as a lesser evil.
* * * *
-GOP TARGETS FOR '52-
A FRANK OUTLINE of GOP campaign strategy for 1952 was pre-
sented to key Republican Senators' assistants by Babe Hermann,
the energetic national committee executive director, in a private meet-
ing the other night.
The tall, banjo-eyed Hermann, onetime big league ballplayer,
confided: "We won Senate seats last year wherever we took our gloves
off. There were only two states we should have taken and didn't, and
that was because our nominees refused to punch hard-Missouri and
Connecticut.
"Why," complained Hermann, "we had to bootleg speakers like
McCarthy into Connecticut."
The "prime targets" in 1950, he said, were Scott Lucas in Illi-
nois; Francis Myers in Pennsylvania; Elbert Thomas of Utah, and
Millard Tydings of Maryland.
Turning to Frank Smith, assistant to Sen. John M. Butler, who
defeated Tydings, Hermann continued: "We did a beautiful job in
Maryland and Utah, Frank. I don't see why the Democrats yelled so
much about the composite picture in your campaign, when, by com-
parison with the anti-Thomas newspaper in Utah, your publicity was
like a country gentleman's.
He referred to the fact that in Utah, a supposed "Congressional
Record" with statements attacking Thomas as a pro-Communist was
circulated to all mailboxes in the last hours of the campaign-so late
that Thomas had no opportunity to reply.
"We all know Sen. Thomas was not a Communist," Hermann
explained, "but these tactics were necessary to balance the pseudo-
liberal newspapers which were for him."
Pointing to Dick Cardall, administrative aide to Sen. Arthur Wat-
kins of Utah, Hermann continued: "There's the fellow who gets a lot
of credit for that victory. Sen. Bennett (the Republican who beat
Thomas) is very much indebted to him."
The 1952 target areas, Hermann indicated, were to retain all Re-
publican seats in the New England and Atlantic States, and pick up
new Senators in Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
"We have Republican governors and some patronage strength to
put on real scraps," he explained. "Also, we have a fighting chance of
picking up seats in Maryland, Kentucky and West Virginia and
strengthen our position in the South.
(Copyright, 1951, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
A rchitecture A uditorium
THE NAKED CITY, with Bary Fitzger-
ald.
BORN during the rage of documentaries a
few years back, this was Mark Hellin-
ger's last picture, and was probably also his
best. In retrospect, it seems the best as
well of the spate of "authentic background"
pictures that accompanied it.
This is largely due to the fact that the
makers of "Naked City" have been able to
incorporate their "authentic" atmosphere
into a unified work of art. The routine
functioning of the police department, the
continuous shots of buildings- and streets,
even the random dialogue of the citizens are
not the extraneous means to a bogus na-
turalism through which so many other docu-
mentaries have suffered.
Instead, from the first air panorama of
Manhattan, the city becomes the star of
the movie. This, in a sense, is high ro-
mance, but it is developed with such eco-
nomy and such vitality that the result is
an unqualified success.
In this kind of picture, characters become
only a series of surface personalities, but it
is through the inter-relationships of these
personalities that the kaleidoscopic picture
of the city is obtained. Which after all is
the purpose of the movie. In a similar
manner, "Battleground" by means of a
group of surface personalities, assembles a
full, if also somewhat romanticized, picture
of men in combat in the late war.
Barry Fitzgerald as the lieutenant in
charge of the murder investigation which
occupies the body of the picture is effective
as a cop who knows his job. Howard Duff
Anti-Thomas ,
"What Would You Charge To Let Me Protect You ?" INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
Military Alliance May Help
'Liberalize' Franco Spain
By J. M. ROBERTS, JR.
Associated Press News Analyst
IN CONNECTION WITH the U.S. effort to include Spain in the Eu-
ropean defense program, there are several interesting political corol-
laries to watch.
France and Britain have drawn a fine line. On the record, they
will have nothing to do with Franco's Fascist regime. But if the Uni-
ted States wants to bring another ally into camp, they will not actively
resist.
Britain says she still cannot condone, however, the way Franco
came to power. His ruthlessness in keeping it, and his oppression
of civil liberties. (Incidentally, Britain's conscience seems less sen-
sitive about the Mao Tse Tung regime in Peiping, which came to
power in the same way and uses even worse tactics in a China
where British commercial interests are very important.)
Reports that Franco is about to adopt some reforms to make his
regime more acceptable to the Western democracies, however, suggest
that military cooperation might have the eventual result of doing the
Spanish people some good and making Spain less objectionable to all.
NE OF THE MOST interesting political developments in the world
today is taking place in Yugoslavia. Kicked out of the camp of
Communism which is controlled by Russian imperialism, totalitarian-
ism in Yugoslavia seems, at least on the surface, to be undergoing
some face-washing. Western ideas about economics and social wel-
fare are no longer entirely banned. Cooperation for rehabilitation just
possibly could do for Spain what such clumsy things at U.N. restric-
tions on political intercourse failed to do.
The United States needs to maintain the line that rearma-
ment of the Western world is for the defense of free nations
against enslavement. It is not sufficient merely to oppose one form
of enslavement. The lessons learned with much smaller problems
of this type in Greece and Turkey will be important to a proper
relation with Spain in this respect.
The United States likewise cannot abandon the position that she
is not organizing her own bloc to oppose Russia, but rather is co-
operating in collective security for the free world. She can seek mili-
tary bases from anyone, but she cannont afford to seem to be or-
ganizing a separate, non-Communist, United Nations.
etteP4 TO THE EDITOR
The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of
general interestand 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.
, "
To the Editor:
THOUGH Dave Thomas' editor-
ial of July 20 apparently is de-
signed primarily to stir lagging in-
terest in the letters' column of The
Summer Daily, comment does
seem worthwhile since the as-
sumptions he makes and the stan-
dards he uses to criticize are in-
valid, it seems to me.
Thomas assumes that the Cath-
olic Church is not democratic but
that it ought to be. While I agree
that the Catholic Church, like
many institutions in our society,
is not organized on a democratic
basis, it does not seem to me that
It ought necessarily to be. In a
democracy theorists postulate an
essentially moral, rational man
capable of working out his own
decisions, while most religious
groups argue that man is depen-
dent on an external force. But in
a practical, working sense these
different concepts of man do not
contradict each other.
Thomas suggests that the bath-
ing suit morality and socialized
medicine decrees are typical of
Catholicism. I think they are not.
Can you imagine, for example, an
edict being issued from St. Mary's
Chapel on campus demanding that
from now on all student swimmers
must be covered from shoulders
down to the knees in proper attire?
Or any American church, for that
matter, calling for socialized me-
Academic
Freedom
The Harvard Crimson in its
third annual report on academic
freedom has recorded listed 35 in-
cidents rather fully documented in
which questions of academic free-
dom were involved.
Reported the Crimson:
"Of all the cases reported in this
issue, only one involved an actual
card-carrying Communist ... The
rest involve assorted radicals, for-
mer Communists, people who
someone thought were Commun-
ists, members of 'subversive organ-
izations,' teachers who opposed
administrative policies, and the
like . . . The threat (of commun-
ism) doesbnot lie in lectures and
speeches by radical teachers. If
a teacher's political opinions have
vitiated his value as a teacher,
then he may be fired or not fired
on the basis of his competence.
But he should not be fired simply
because his opinions are unusual
or his associations unpopular.
dicine, with or without therapeutic
abortion and birth control?
Any institution is conditioned to
some degree by thehsociety of
which it is a part. The primary
function of a church is to forma-
lize moral attitudes and standards,
and, regardless of the authority
which it claims for such standards,
the church does fit into, as well
as helps to mold, society.
The question of civil liberties
and the Catholic church is a deli-
cate one. However, Thomas' evi-
dence does not clearly point to the
indictment he intends to make.
Therefore, it seems to be that his
editorial must be interpreted as
unwise and at least unfair.
This letter is intended, by the
way, not as a defense of the Cath-
olic Church, but as a criticism of
Thomas' reasoning in his editorial.
-Janet L. Watts, '51
(Editor's Note: Editorials written
by the editor of The Daily are not
designed to stir lagging interest in the
letters' column nor to merely fill up
space. They are written because the
editor believes that he has something
worthwhile to say and believes in
what he is saying.)
~A~irpjn ar~
Mir~lgalI
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 Staff
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 Weinstein ...Circulation Manager
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BARNABY
Barnaby, tell your Fairy Godfather
O felemf nm~kdw rl/in tina fh
You know the legend about the Indian
Ghosts don't need phones, m'boy.
I