WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1952
TWO
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
__...,_.
Convention
Reports
after the
Democratic
Nominations
A
. * *
New Kingfish
in New Waters
A N INTERESTING feud took place within
Louisiana's heretofore closed ranks-the
feud between Senator Russell Long and Gov-
ernor Kennon. It was Long who signed the
Moody loyalty pledge that nearly drove the
South from the convention floor. And it
was Long who represented the New South,
joining with the North, as opposed to the
reaction represented by Kennon. There was
more to the Long pledge than met the con-
vention's eye. Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. and
Blair Moody had cornered Long in the small
back room of the amphitheatre the night
before Long's dramatic speech. For several
hours the two Northerners pleaded with him
to sign and finally he, capitulated-stating
briefly that he would never leave the Demo-
cratic Party.
This is a statement his father would
never have made. It is certainly a prom-
ise the would never have kept. Long made
his speech in front of a convention which
contained five rows of grim-faced Louis-
ianans: members of the old-guard o the
South. And while Long was unable to
swing the Louisiana delegation with him,
members of that 'Old Guard remarked to
this reporter that they were proud of the
"pup." He was the ghost of the old King-
fish himself, as he stood there on the
platform delivering one of the most dra-
matic speeches in a convention packed
with drama.
The loyalty pledge itself served a purpose,
although not the purpose intended by the
left-wing democrats who introduced it. The
Arvey-Rayburn faction knew what they were
doing when they refrained from blocking
its presentation and initial passage. They
realized something that Moody and Roose-
velt apparently did not: that the battle
which Moody was attempting to start had
already been won for the North in Novem-
ber 1948; that the resolution was completely
unnecessary-the South was in the party to
stay no matter what happened.
What the resolution did accomplish was
to cook the political goose of Moody, Wil-
liams and FDR, Jr. Moody may be elected,
but his days as an effective senator are
gone forever. And any outside chance that
either Harriman or Kefauver had to cop
the nomination went the way of most long-
shots when they alienated the South to their
cause.
SIt is interesting to note that the two
men who spoke the longest and the loud-
est at the convention were not elected-
democrats. Blair Moody received an ap-
pointment rfom Governor Williams to fill
a vacancy in the Senate and Franklin
Roosevelt was elected to Congress on the
Liberal ticket in New York.
The outcome of the convention was ap-
parent from the beginning. The delegates,
individually, liked Stevenson. The bosses
liked him. He was acceptable to the South,
and when Truman threw his weight in his
favor, everything was over but the ballot-
Ing.
The wise old political dogs really showed
the young 'uns how to steamroller a con-
vention.
-Peg Nimz
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DORIS FLEESON:
Sparkman's
Compromise
WASHINGTON-His choice of Sen. John
Sparkman of Alabama for Vice Presi-
dent speaks for Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson's
confidence that he himself can carry the
industrial states of the North.
The Senator will concentrate on the
border states-Missouri, Kentucky, Okla-
homa, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mary-
land-where his liberalism with a South-
ern accent has a strongsappeal. Democrats
assume the South will support one of its
own
When they add a fair share of .Western
states where their senatorial candidates are
strong in contrast to the Republican meat-
crisis senators of that area, Democrats break
into broad smiles. To the objective observer,
it at least adds up to a real challenge to the
Eisenhower-Nilson ticket.
As Sen. Herbert Lehman of New York
quickly and generously observed, Northern
liberals can complain of nothing in the
Sparkman record except that he stood with
the south on civil rights. Likehis colleague,
Sen. Lister Hill, Sparkman has been a re-
gional captive on that issue, never an ex-
tremist.
Men like Gov. Jimmie Byrnes, Sen. Harry
Byrd and the real Dixiecrats understand this
very well, but they will be hard put to it to
quarrel openly with the Sparkman nomina-
tion. After all, they had some trouble with
their own candidate for President, Sen.
Richard Russell, whose efforts to prove that
he was not a stooge for them carried him
at Chicago to the unexpected point of pro-
mising to "supplant" the Taft-Hartley act.
It would be interesting to know whether
Governor Stevenson grasped the fact that
Sparkman's technical ability at compro-
mise, as shown in the platform, reflects
his actual temperament.
John Sparkman has innate ability as a
conciliator. He will work hard and patiently
to find the widest area of agreement between
factions and then shape it into a common
ground for action. A new-South Senator, of
course, has plenty of scope for that talent;
both Sparkman and Hill have developed it
into a fine art.
The platform affords a typical example
of their spirit and method. In building it,
Sparkman became two men-a Southerner
emotionally, a Northerner in many practi-
cal respects.
His first act was to make a list of the
words and phrases which are anathema to
the -South, such as "Fair Employment
Practices." These "hate words" he deter-
mined to omit. Lacking them for targets,
the Southern extremists who, like the
McCarthyites, can operate only in abso-
lutes, were boxed in.
Four o'clock in the morning at the stock-
yards inn was a late, hot hour. Maybe the
Presidential nominee acted on the superfi-
cial evidence only. But if his choice of
Sparkman actually reflects an executive ta-
lent for finding the right man for the right
job, it will furnish Washington with some-
thing sadly missing around here for a very
long time.
(Copyright, 1952, by the Bell Syndicate)
**
Stevenson's
Promise
A GREAT number of liberals have been
strangely disturbed over the Democra-
tic nomination of Adlai Stevenson for the
presidency. Fear that he is a "conservative"
or, at best a "moderate," has been wide-
spread since "the bosses" became involved
in his campaign and after a Southerner,
John Sparkman, had been named for sec-
ond place on the ticket. A few ardent New
Deal supporters like Walter White of the
NAACP have actually sulked off into the
corner and declared that they would not
work for the national ticket.
As a result, of course, they are abetting
the election of General Eisenhower, an
unqualified conservative, who except for
his support of the Truman foreign policy
seems to be somewhere near William Mc-
Kinley in his outlook.
Meanwhile, the Stevenson candidacy
seems to have become a hodgepodge of mix-
ed signals. Although he was the liberal can-
didate that Truman wanted from the start,
that Harriman wanted, that the labor lead-
ers wanted all along, he has suddenly devel-
oped a reputation for seeing practically eye
to eye with Eisenhower on all issues. This
is far from the truth and will hurt the Illi-
nois governor if the people are not rapidly
disabused of the notion. The illusion has, of
course, been fathered by FDR, Jr., Soapy
Williams and a few others of the party's
youthful set. These gentlemen kept their
profiles in front of the TV cameras so long
that they may have done the candidate ir-
reparable harm. Defections like White's are
already part of the record.
With their eyes on 1956, all that the
Young Turks actually aimed to do, it seems,
was to exhibit their prowess as fighters;
and since Dixie was the only thing around
to fight, they tilted lances with anybody
who looked like he might have a Southern
accent. As a result the silent Stevenson was
shoved into the Dixie camp, cursed as a
candidate who was "acceptable" to the
South, and consequently "not a liberal."
"Stop Stevenson" coalitions were formed by
the golden boys who saw themselves as
kingmakers without any particular king in
mind. Long after Michigan's labor leaders
were polling for Stevenson, Williams with
his one-third of a vote was still playing
games by switching to Kefauver and other
nonentities while Truman and everybody
else dawdled in the wings waiting for the
kids to quit. One plan actually called for a
wholesale switch to Barkley in order to stop
the Illinois governor.
When it finally ended, it was apparent
that the President had engineered the
trick of the week. He had brought Dixie
back into the party by means of. strategy,
not compromise. He had given them the
illusion of a "moderate" candidate, and
followed with tossing in a Southerner for
second place on the ticket. If the ticket
is elected in November, this same South-
erner, whose liberalism is on record, will
be piloting Stevenson's program through
the shoals of the Senate. My hunch is that
the real goals of FEPC which came no
nearer achievement after seven years of
Truman's vinegar may be reached in half
that time by means of a little of Steven-
son's honey. At least, it is worth dis-
covering if the new South of Sparkman,
Kefauver, and Russell Long isn't just
waiting to be shown the way.
More than this, however, Truman has suc-
ceeded in uniting'the party behind a man of
real stature. Although humility has gone out
of fashion in this country, Stevenson, seems
to have a real facility for inspiration. Bred
in the Lincoln tradition of southern Illinois,
his manner, his speeches, his whole approach
recall the Great Emancipator, who, it may
be recalled, did not campaign as a radical
abolitionist any more than Stevenson will.
Nevertheless, his basic inclinations cannot
be doubted.
If elected, he may, by his assurances, be
expected to consolidate the social gains
made during the last twenty years including,
the social security program, fair labor stan-
dards laws, TVA, low-cost electric power,
low-cost housing, and rent control. In addi-
tion, he will endow the nation with a lead-
er of high spiritual and moral presence.
The Democratic convention for all its
oratory and painful procedural detours,
deserves to be complimented. They did
not, like the Republicans, take the easy
way out and nominate "the people's
choice." Kefauver has been a good senator
just as Eisenhower has been a good gen-
eral. But this time, it was not enough.
To be charming, popular, and a "cru-
sader" against sin is well enough for a fair
day, but only on~e of the parties understood
that as a substitute for executive experi-
ence, penetrating intelligence, and appre-
ciation of a changing world, none of them
could suffice.
But the liberals better pull themselves to-
gether and get busy if they expect the people
"Not Yet! I Need A Rest"
DREW PEARSON:
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THE ALSOP BROTHERS:
Tribal Gatherings
CHICAGO-The scene is the innermost of the great stone circles at
Stonehenge, the time, perhaps three thousand years ago. By the
stone of sacrifice, stands the chief Druid, and all about, in eager,
ordered ranks, are all the tribes of neolithic Britain. The races are
over. The dancers have retired. The moment has come. The king of
the old year is led to the altar, to be killed with the mistletoe dagger,
and to rise again in the body of the king of the year to come.
i
It may seem a bit odd to be thinking about these ancient
ceremonies amid the sordid' litter which the political conventions
have left behind here in Chicago. But American political conven-
tions none the less strongly resemble the great gatherings of the
tribes, at which the old peoples of the past sought to insure
successful harvests and victory in war by cruel and traditional
rites.
Certainly there is the same spirit of elation, of collectively in-
duced excitement which made the old people truly believe that the
prosperity of the year depended on the year-king. Certainly, there are
human sacrifices, although no blood flows for television. And sheer
bitterness of disappointed ambition is the substitute for the mistletoe-
dagger. And the end purpose and result are certainly much the same.
* * * *
IN FACT, in a queer way, one can even say an American president
is much like a year-king, being held responsible, as the year-kings
were, for giving the tribe both victory and plenty, and being doomed
as well to something very like extinction when his term runs out.
All of which is relevant at the moment because it seems to
these reporters that the time has come to pay tribute to the Am&
erican convention system. These great quadrennial tribal gath-
erings of ours may be illogically organized, and no doubt are.
But the main fact about the convention system is that it works,
like so many other outwardly illogical but effective and' adaptable
American political institutions.
A lot of people who think that politics ought.to be logical have
been talking, recently, about abandoning conventions for nation-
al primaries. But in the first place, the national primary would in-
flict on us the equivalent of two elections, hand-running, when
even one is bad enough. In the second place, the national primary
could never achieve the delicate adjustment of regional viewpoints,
personal and popular interests, economic and social influences,
which each political convention somehow achieves.
And in the third place, it is impossible to imagine a national pri-
mary doing better than these last democratic and republican conven-
tions, which have given the country two such candidates for president
as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai E. Stevenson.
* * * *
NOR ARE trading and dealing and rumor-spreading and false-prom-
ising by any means the truly important features of the conven-
tion process, although they often seem so important on the surface.
Individual motives may be cheap and self-serving, but the
collective motive-the purpose of the convention as a gathering
of the tribes-quite often takes on a quality of nobility.
Moreover, every convention has its moments of individual gener-
osity and high character which one remembers after all the anger
and bitterness have faded.
From the Republican Convention, one recalls General Eisenhow-
er's warm gesture, when he hastened to call on Senator Taft, and the
fine courage in defeat that Taft showed in those hard hours.
From the Democratic rally, one recalls the way Truman plac-
ed national interests above petty, personal irritations, to help put
over Stevenson. And one recalls to the magnanimity of Averell
Harriman, who was not well served by some of his liberal support-
ers, yet who never failed to fight first for his cause and to think
of himself only second.
Altogether, if you think of them in the right way, these two con-
ventions which are now concluded have been inspiring experiences.
(Copyright, 1952, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.)
Gaps in the Solid Front
WASHINGTON-The chief problem faced by the Democratic party
is that which follows in the wake of every convention-binding
up the wounds. Here are some of the wounds that will have to be
healed:
1. SOUTHERN WOUNDS-With a few exceptions these are
likely to heal more easily than the Chicago fireworks indicated.
Inside fact is that Chairman Frank McKinney called.in the
leaders of the three revolting states-Virginia, South Carolina
and Louisiana-one day before the big blowup on the convention
floor and offered to seatvthem without any argument,
He said he would have the Chairman of the Credentials Com-
mittee announce that he had examined the laws of these three states,
that they were in conflict with the loyalty oath, and there was no
reason why they could not be seated without taking an oath.
However, Senator Byrd of Virginia haughtily declined. He said
that 70,000,000 people had seen Virginia humiliated before television
and he would accept no compromise unless the Governors of the
three states made speeches before the Convention that they were
remaining in the Convention without yielding a single inch.
This Chairman McKinney refused. He realized what a storm of
protest he would get from the North and West.
Next day, the McKinney compromise was finally accepted-
but only after hours of balloting, hours of speeches and hours of
boiling tempers. All this could have been avoided if Byrd had not
objected to the McKinney proposal the day before.
Cooler heads in the South, notably Sens. Burnet Maybank and
Olin Johnston of South Carolina with Russell Long of Louisiana,
prevented what might have been a bad blowup. Now the nomination
of Alabama's able John Sparkman for vice president should help to
bind up Southern wounds.
2. PUBLIC WOUNDS-may be a little harder to heal. Some of
the Democratic leaders forgot that a good part of the American public
was watching on television, and that the roughshod tactics used in
the House of Representatives in gaveling laws to a vote could not be
used in public. There is no television in the House of Representatives;
so the public does not realize that the passage of certain laws some-
times depends merely on the eat of the presiding officer.
Therefore, Gov. Paul Dever of Massachusetts and at first
Speaker Sam Rayburn gave the public a bad impression. West
Virginia's Walter Hallanan, chairman of the Republican conven-
tion, impressed the public as much fairer. Hallanan' patient
fairness in handling the Puerto Rican delegation was cabled all
over Latin America, and made a profound impression.
Delegates also fumed when Democratic platform, thousands of
words long, was adopted by voice vote, with no printed copies dis-
tributed for scrutiny.
3. PERSONAL WOUNDS-will be the hardest of all to heal.
One of these was Truman's bitterness towai Estes Kefauver, based
chiefly on the fact that Kefauver did not withdraw from the New
Hampshire primary but gave the President a decisive beating there.
TRUMAN'S HATRED
THE PRESIDENT'S revenge tipped the scales at one decisive mid-
night huddle when Averell Harriman told Kefauver supporters
.that he could not throw his support to Kefauver because of his own
loyalty to Truman and because of Truman's attitude toward the
Senator from Tennessee.
Harriman and Kefauver forces had been woking together
all during the convention to stop Stevenson. Kefauver had run
the risk of alienating his Southern friends on the question of seat-
ing the Southern delegates. He knew that this would cut his
ties with the South and ruin his chances of getting support from
Senator Russell's followers. Nevertheless he remained with the
Harriman group-only to have Harriman turn on him at the last
minute and dump his support in Stevenson's lap.
This is a wound which will not easily be healed.
At one time Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, with Sen. Blair
Moody and Gov. Mennen Williams of Michigan, contacted Stevenson
to ask if he would take Kefauver for V.P. Stevenson replied that
Kefauver was not his personal choice, though he thought he deserved
it because of the fight he had made.
In the end, and right after Stevenson was nominated, a huddle
was held in the private office of Chairman McKinney just behind the
rostrum. It was attended by President Truman, Jake Arvey, McKin-
ney, Stevenson and other party leaders to decide on who should be
vice president. Paul Fitzpatrick of New York proposed Kefauver and
was vigorously supported by Senator Moody.
LUCAS' VOTE
HOWEVER, Scott Lucas, the Illinois ex-senator who claims he was
defeated by Kefauver's crime probe, hit the ceiling. So did Speaker
Rayburn. In the face of this opposition, plus the known coolness of
the President, Kefauver was dropped. He never did get even a nod
for the vice presidency.
Earlier in the convention, Sam Rayburn would not even
permit a Kefauver representative to amend the platform with a
plank on "integrity in government" and another denouncing
"McCarthyism." William Whittaker, a Tennessee delegate, was
waiting to introduce there two resolutions, while Joe Nellis, an aide
to Kefauver notified Rayburn personally that Whittaker was
waiting.
Rayburn turned on his heel, went back to the rostrum and
gaveled the platform to adoption. Then he made the lame announce-
ment that delegate Whittaker of Tennessee had not been on hand
to introduce the amendments - when he had just been told Whit-
taker was waiting.
Rayburn was so ruthless that his old friend, Congressman Clar-
ance Cannon of Missouri, turned on him.
"Sam," he cautioned, "this is going to help the Republicans."
Undoubtedly he was right. These wounds will not easily be healed.
(Copyright, 1952, by The Bell Syndicate)
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+ MUSIC +
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THE FRUITS of five weeks' labor by the
University Summer Symphony Orches-
tra proved generally tasty Monday Night
when Wayne Dunlap directed its members
in a concert of 18th and 20th Century sum-
mer music in Hill Auditorium .The pastoral
atmosphere was authenticated by the chirp
of a rhythmic cricket, apparently ensconced
beneath the platform.
Harty's Suite drawn from Handel's
"Water Music" began the evening's en-
tertainment in grand style. The wood-
wind and brass sections sounded particu-
larly well, but the slower passages reveal-
ed a.phlegmatic quality in the inner string
sections.
Next, Professors Ava Comm Case and
Mary Fishburne collaborated with the or-
chestra in Mozart's Concerto for Two Pi-
anos. Although not necessarily summer mu-
sic it was intended to be light and entertain-
ing, and the performance was entertaining,
if not always light.
The proper vitality prevailed in the open-
ing movement, but a tenseness was visible
as well as audible and was carried over into
the second movement with the result that
some of the opening phrases were not even-
ly matched when exchanged between the
two keyboards. This was overcome later,
and rapport established to . produce some
nicely turned phrasing. Excellent teamwork
was exhibited by the two soloists in the ca-
denza of the final movement. The presence
of the pianos seemed to cause some diffi-
culty in orchestral precision,'but the ac-
companiment was quite adequate.
Copland's Outdoor Overture opened the
contemporary half of the program. Per-
formance-wise this piece fared best, with
a fresh, sometimes incisive interpretation.
THE SECOND world's premier of the sum-
mer season was heird last night when
Gilbert Ross and Helen Titus played the vio-
lin and piano sonata (1951) by Ross Lee Fin-
ney. The program also included sonatas by
Bach, Mozart, and Lopatnikoff.
It is certainly a sign of a mature com-
poser when the listener is immediately
able to discern from whose pen the iusic
comes. This was true in the Finney sonata
which exemplifies the style into which he
has recently come. Though it is cast in
the rigid discipline of the twelve-tone tech-
nique, it is by no means cerebral, but con-
tains all the lyric inventiveness and sen-
suous harmonies which seem to be this
composer's trademark. The work appeals
in its expressive and emotive content and
is one of the composer's most beautiful ef-
forts. It was given a' sensitive and per-
ceptive performance by Ross and Titus.
Of the other three works, the most suc-
cessful interpretation was in the Mozart G
major sonata, K. 379. Ross's tone is not rich
in vibrancy, and as such I feel it leaves some-
thing to be desired, particularly in a work of
strong intensity as the Lopatnikoff sonata.
But in the Mozart, where a quieter, more
placid tone is necessary to convey the lyric-
ism, his tone was convincing.
Both Ross and Titus performed the' Mo-
zart with real musical understanding. They
achieved exquisite pianissimos and maintain-
ed a unified rapport. The performance had
the clarity and objectivity essential to a
work of such classicism.
However, I feel that they failed to sus-
tain the tremendous dynamic and rhyth-
mic drive of the Lopatnikoff. It is a work
of virtuosity, and also shows the careful
planning characteristic of the neoclassic
i
y..
I
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DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
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Daily assumes no editorial responsi-
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University. Notices should be sent in
TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3510c
Administration Building before 3 p.m.
the day preceding publication (11 a.m.
on Saturday).
Notices
All applicants for the Doctorate who
are planning to take the August prelim-
inary examinations in Education, to be
held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 N. August
18, 19, and 20, 1952, will please notify the
Chairman of the Committee on Gradu-
igan Union Ballroom. Invitations to be
the guests of the University have been
sent to students whose addresses are
available. Students who are complet-
ing work for the Master's degree but
who may not have received an invita-
tion should call at the Summer Ses-
sion office, 3510 Administration Build-
ing, for tickets. A few tickets are avail-
able at $1.25 for friends of the stu-
dents.
Kaffeestunde: All students of Ger-
man and others interested in spoken
German are invited to attend an in-
formal group which will meet in the
Michigan Union Tap Room Mondays
and wednesdays from 4 to 5 o'clock.
A member of the department will be
present to assist, but no formal pro-
graduates for the following positions:
Ortho Pharmaceutical Company would
like men with a degree in Biology or
pre-med for sales, and if there are
any Mexican students who are inter-
ested there is a special need for a rep-
resentative in Mexico; the Youngs-
town Sheet and Tube Company would
like men with a Commerce background
for training program leading to sales;.
The General Fireproofing Company
also wishes Business Administration
people; and the Simco Corporation is
interested in talking with Chemical
Engineers who might desire engineer-
ing sales. The Simed Corporation also
has an open ing in Salt Lake City for
an advertising major who has some
are ability.
Pprsnnn n .1Un.ots
Sixty-Second Year
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authority of the Board in Control of
Student Publications
EDITORIAL STAFF
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.. Co-Sports Editors
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