PAGE FOUR THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1954 The Filibuster: A Bad Road To a Worthwhile Goal JUST as Senator McCarthy has successfully dent- ed our respect for the United States Senate, Senator Wayne Morse and his Democratic col- leagues take the opportunity to finish ripping it to shreds. Their filibuster may look good on the en- durance record, books, but it presents a sordid pic- ture of a legislative process that already has enough reason to be ashamed of its reputation. That such methods are available to block legis- lation is, in itself, a discredit to our government. It's one of those little things that keep our system from being perfect. Any realization that our sys- tem cannot be perfect anyway is hardly a rea- sonable excuse for failing to improve it. And a handy starting-point for improvement is the elim- ination of the filibuster. The theory of representative government pro- vides that elected legislators pass laws after due consideration to all the angles on matters perti- nent. It is assumed that a certain amount of de- bate on some points is helpful in this regard. What results is supposed to be the victory of the ma- jority's desire in the battle of conflicting view- points. The minority accepts defeat somewhat grudgingly and goes about its goal of becoming the majority. Sometimes things get a little mixed up and a minority gets the chance to have its way, which is not the correct situation, even if the minority its right and the majority is wrong and you are part of the minority. As long as minority rights are in effect, the minority should stay within the rules. The usurping of power over legislation by a mi- nority is not in accord with the democratic pro- cess, for that is exactly what democracy is ex- pected to avoid. The filibuster is just that. It al- lows a minority to prevent legislation that evident- ly the majority wants. If it were not apparent that the Administration's atomic energy bill would be passed, opponents of the bill would not feel obli- gated to resort to a filibuster to prevent its enact- ment. Thus, the filibuster is undesirable because it disrupts the propriety of the legislative process and disgusting because Senators, members of the older and more distinguished half of Congress, turn to it in their frustration toward regular procedure. The Senate, at least, should be sensible enough to avoid such a display of unappreciated stubborn- ness. We should even be able to depend on them to avoid filibustering despite the absence of Senate rules against it. The irony of the matter, in this writer's opin- ion, lies in the realization that to pass the Admin- istration's bill on atomic energy would be a grave error. Yet the filibuster seems to be the only way to halt the government from turning this nation's most valuable resources over to private industry where anything can happen to them. In a few years, it would become sadly evident that private industry cannot be trusted with anything as profoundly meaningful and delicate as atomic energy; at least not yet. But if that is what the majority of the people, or their representatives, want, that is what they should have. Those who, like this writer, think passing the bill would be a terrible mistake must content themselves with working to change the majority's minds. It may seem facetious to suggest that we stand by while the majority trys to strangle itself with unwise legislation. But as long as they are as con- vinced that they are right as we are that they are wrong, we should let them find out for themselves and avoid discourtesies like the filibuster. When you come right down to it, though, it's pretty hard to tell yourself to shut up. --Jim Dygert "It Never Existed-And I Killed It" f# f .P ; >: .,- : . :y::_ .. r, c -' 8-k., : , .. !.t. lprac+ a.{c: w Aia mfc+ert AaRw DRAMA . . - -- - - - AT SALINE MILL THEATER... CANDIDA, presented by the Saline Mill Theater GEORGE BERNARD SHAW wrote a great many plays that seem to be chiefly calculated to antagonize somebody. The goats in "Candida" were the male of the species and maybe at the time the play was written, this was all right since women were the underdogs in society. Ibsen joined him in spearheading the feminist movement and audiences found great enjoyment in pretending that ladies really were something to be reckoned with. Since then, however, an awful lot of women have found their place in the World of Men. Ac.' cordingly, the pretense that they have been over- looked somehow in all the hurly-burly is not very amusing any more. The dominance of the fe- male, the deep maternal urges have all been given frightening technical names. Sometimes maybe we can laugh at these things, but not, I think, as they are displayed in an outfit as unpleasant as the Morell household whose private affairs are ex- posed to us in "Candida." Everything around the old vicarage has the uncomfortable lavender odor of a heritage that it is not particularly pleasant to recall. And simply to wind up the old dialectic again like grandfather's clock inevitably produces a clatter and wheeze, even If it is the Irish "enfant terrible," Shaw, who is manipulating the works inside. The production of "Candida" at Saline, while a competent mone, raises the immediate problem of the degree of seriousness with which the group has approached the play. Since there is something like a respectable emotional conflict present, it was per- haps not unreasonable for the company to play it fairly straight. Most of the way, this is what they did. On the other hand, certain elements of the drama beg for exaggeration, and even burlesque. The company also gave in to these demands. At' times even, both elements were present on the stage at once. What this left the viewer with was a sense of uneasiness about what the director wanted his attitude to be. Since no consistent key was furn- ished, one had to fall back on his own personal atti- tudes about men and women, per se, in this par- ticular situation, and it was consequently difficult to respond to the individuals as characters. My suspicion, however, is that the flaw was not so much a director's failure as Shaw's own error. In most of his plays, he gets by very easily with wit and style as the mask for legitimate social problems. In "Candida," however, he leaves the three major characters, Merell, Candida, and Marchbanks so humorless themselves that the intrusion of "wit" in the presence of the secretary and the father seems like only an intrusion which lacks any in- tegral relationship with the rest of the play. This lack of humor is fundamentally what makes the curate, his wife, and her lover such singularly un- pleasant human beings. Lacking humor, Candida's graciousness is smug. Lacking humor, the curate, who still had most of my sympathy, misses settling the problem in five minutes as any man possessing it would have done easily. Lacking humor, Marchbanks, the poet, is silly, dull, and beyond hope of re- demption. The scenes between these people seem elaborately cooked up as a result and we have no idea why on earth they would even stay in the same room with each other. Candida's belief that her husband achieved glory in his profession be- cause she turned the "vulgar cares" away from the door is offensively presumptuous and is made even worse when Morell agrees with her. But per- haps her doting acceptance of Marchbanks' spine- less devotion tops even this. The spirits of the actors also have been flagged somewhat by the play. Dorothy Patterson, in the title role, seems to feel that Candida never had to lift an eyebrow in negotiating her "problem." Prob- ably she is right. Morell (Gene Jankowski) looked too young for her, making it difficult for him to provide the proper coitrast to Marchbanks. Vet- eran Gene Rupert performed this role with expert technique for displaying the poet as villain. Florence Rupert did the secretary almost as burlesque, and Ted Heusel and John Hamel (as vicar with brush cut) completed the cast. These people, with Shaw, do not bore you at Saline, but they irritate you quite a bit and I am inclined to think without very good reason. -Bill Wiegand WASHINGTON - The inside story of the greatest filibuster in modern Senate history can now be told. Whatever you may say about filibusters, this one also concerned one of the most important bills in modern times. It established machinery govern- ing the atomic power that will run the nation's factories and electric- light plants in the next 7 years. In the past, the great water- power sites of the United States have been developed in part by private utilities, in part by the government. But the basic battle in the Atomic Energy Bill was the giving of all atomic power to pri- vate industry. The government would have no look-in at all. At one point Senator Hickenlooper of Iowa, the Republican in charge of the bill for the Eisenhower forc- es, even introduced an amendment banning the government f r o m spending any funds whatsoever for developing commercial power. Chief backer and pusher of the Atomic Power Bill was Adm. Lew- is Strauss, chairman of the Atom- ic Energy Commission and part- ner of the wall street banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb and Co. This is one of the big investment bankers which haverbeen financing the private power companies anxious to get a grip on atomic power. Another Wall Street investment firm, Lehman Brothers, has hired Gordon Dean, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission; while a third big wall street firm, Lazard Freres, has hired David Lilienthal, another former A E C chairman. Both men have kept carefully aloof from the legislative battle, however. arms. Sparkman pounded his desk in Lyndon's face. Sparkman, the man who made the remark, was vice-presidential candidate in 1952. He has plenty of prestige. But Johnson, the man who heard it, aspires to be vice-presidential can- didate--or better-in 1956. So, later that night, "Lyin' Down Lyndon," as he is sometimes called, was heard telling Gore of Tennessee: "We're going to find out who is going to stand up and vote for my leadership rather than that of Morse." Simultaneously, more personal peeve had been injected into the battle. Knowing Lyndon Johnson's vanity, Knowland kept needling the Democrats that Morse, the Oregon Independent, was the real leader of the Democrats. This was discussed at a secret meeting of the Atom Bill's oppo- nents in Lister Hill's office late Friday at which Gore of Tennes- see told Morse: "You've got to withdraw your amendment." He referred to Morse's ban on letting Admiral Strauss become sole spokesman and, in effect, con- troller of the Atomic Energy Com- mission. "If you don't withdraw it," ar- gued Gore, "Many of the Demo- crats who've been voting with us will desert. Knowland has been repeating that you are the real leader and the Democrats don't like to hear you referred to that way." "Why let Knowland run your party?" challenged the Indepen- dent senator from Oregon. "Why not run the party yourselves?" Nevertheless, he withdrew the anti-Strauss amendment. Iette 4 TO THEEDITOR The Daily welcomes communica- tions from its readers on matters of general interest, and will publish all letters which are signed by the wri- ter and in good taste. Letters ex- ceeding 300 words in length, defama- tory 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. Contempt or Constitutional?... To the Editor: YOU WILL FIND below a brief release on the contempt cita- tions. I would have sent this to you earlier, but I found out about my contempt citation rather tardily. One of my friends mailed me your story on it; I compliment you on your fair treatment. "I learn from the papers that the House of Representatives has supported Congressman Clardy's charge that I am in contempt of Congress. "If the contempt case is brought to court, I hope to win it. Mr. Clar- dy can accuse me of only one thing: I challenged the legality of his committee's procedure. I claim- ed the Committee was interfering with free speech by confusion and intimidation, and therefore I was under no compulsion to answer. If I convince the courts I was right, not only will I stay out of jail, but also the illegality of the Committee's procedure will have been judicially established; the committee will have to stop at- tacking our rights. This hope justi- fies my present risks." -Dr. H. Chandler Davis * * * Triple-Feature . . To the Editor: WE LEARNED a lot on July 21, triple-feature day. First in Geneva that wars don't have to be fought to a bloody finish, ex-Gen- eral McArthur to the contrary not- withstanding, for wars can be pre- vented as well as ended by bona- fide negotiations. S e c o n d, at Washington that it established a military advisory c o m m i s s i o n which is to spend $75 million the first year in Pakistan. Third, in any thinking person's mind that this move of the Pentagon will alienate 365 million long-time friends, the populace of India; but, of course, the USA will benefit by the employment of almost 20,000 workers producing the arms for Pakistan,. So, lose a friend but gain hardly twenty cents worth of employ- ment! What mathematical gen- iuses the Pentagon have! But no doubt your representative and senators will approve this when they debate the foreign aid ap- propriation. After all, are they not followers of the misguided, illog- ical, impossible "containment" policy which its predecessor so successfully bequeathed to the Ei- senhower administration? But who would expect mental effort to devise sounder policy of bonafide, continuing, even unlim- ited, negotiation between East and West? Isn't it easier to pursue the "containment" tracks, even if they lead to bloody wars? Isn't such pursuit easier than thinking? But who expects sound thinking -in the Pentagon? in the State Department? in the White House? -Albert Bofman 0, 4r mir4iganl3al-Ig A BRITISH LOOK: Rehash of the Churchill- Eisenhower Meeting John Kollen,pianist. All-Beethoven program: Sonata in A-flat major. Op. 110; Sonata in D major, Op. 10, No. 3. TO CHOOSE THREE sonatas from Beethoven's thirty-two can hardly be said to present a cross-section of this composer's piano music, because; Beethoven was a composer who with' each succeeding work built on what he had already done, and thus had something new to say with every new composition. But the three sonatas which Mr. Kollen played tives of the early, middle, and late periods of Beethoven's creative life (if one must talk about "peri- ods" of a composer's work), all three are masterpieces,a dnall three are masterpieces, and all three are unique. It is not Beethoven's fault that the C-sharp minor sonata is over- played to the point of being hack- neyed. Even in such a familiar work as this it is possible to recog- nize the wonderful quality of the material and the effective balanc- ing of the three contrasting move- ments. The graceful and terse sec- ond movement is perhaps the strongest of the three, despite its brevity, but the expressive quality of the first and the drive of the finale remain even after many hearings of the sonata. The lyri- cism of the slow movement was projected beautifully by Mr. Koll- en, whose playing was carefully TOWARD BALANCING THE BUDGET: Can Eisenhower Be Criticized For Making Ends Meet? FINAL FIGURES on the federal budget for the fiscal year ended June 30 last show that the Government spent $67.6 billions over this period, and that its receipts came to $64.6 billions, leaving a net deficit of slightly more than $3 billions. Com- menting on this, the first complete financial year of his Administration, the President observed: "We have come over two-thirds of the way toward bal- ancing the budget. And we have done this while putting into effect a tax program which will return nearly $7.5 billions to the people." The President's pride in the Administration's fiscal record over its first eighteen months in office is justified. In the election campaign this fall we shall doubtless hear once more the unsupported charge that the President has "failed to make good his pledge to balance the budget." But it won't be made by responsible persons, for it is not in accord with the facts. The President himself has not both- ered, so far as we recall, to deny the interpretation of his campaign promise which would have the un- informed believe that he had pledged a balanced budget by the end of the first fiscal year of his Ad- ministration. Considering the Government's finan- cial situation just before he took office this would certainly have been a dangerously reckless promise. The nearest apnroximation to a snecific timetab1e "voiced"-that is, the melodic line was kept clearly focussed, with the accompaniment well in the back- ground. However, too much con- cern with individual p a s s a g e seemed to deprive the third move- mnent of some of the drama of the, whole. Opus 110 is Beethoven's lash sonata but one, and although it could hardlyhave come from his earlier periods, it has none of the abstrusity Beethoven's late works are supposed to have. It is lyrical almost from be- ginning to end, except for a sturdy, Germanic fast movement in the middle. The fugue in the last movement is one of the supreme examples ofnhow such a strict contrapuntal style can be used for expressive pur- poses-provided, of course, that .. the composer has mastered both the fugal craft and the problems of expressivity. Mr. Kollen's sensitive playing of the arlose' section in the final movement was probably the most success- ful aspect of his performance. The concluding work was the D major sonata, Op. 10, No. 3, per- haps the most mature sonata Beet- hoven had written up to that time. Like the C-sharp minor, the minuet movement of this sonata (excel- lently phrased by the performer) is probably the most attractive, but the whole work is a delightful one. --Dave Tice + MUSIC + billions for the fiscal year ended twelve months ear- Tier. Thus spending has been slashed by $6.7 billions between the years 1953 and 1954 alone; it has al- ready been brought to within $7.6 billions of the 1957 goal. This is not to suggest, it should be quickly added, that we can hope to project that annual rate of re- duction over the next three years. It is merely to suggest that an excellent beginning has been made, and that, what is even more important, the Eisen- hower Administration has demonstrated in figures that are unanswerable its determination to bring order to the nation's finances. When President Eisenhower said "We have come over two thirds of the way toward balancing the budget" he had in mind, presumably, the narrow- ing of the gap between income and outgo in 1954 as compared with 1953. While the deficit for fiscal 1953 totaled $9.4 billions, this year's was only slight- ly above the $3 billions mark. But if we really wish to bring this accomplishment of the Administration into its true perspective we should go back to Jan- uary, 1953, when the first budget estimate, prepared under the direction of President Truman, was pub- lished. Mr. Truman foresaw these key budgetary figures for fisea1 1954- :Enendgiturs .'77 hillinn- receints. Backstage Strategy * These were the b a c k s t a g e Lyndon Knocks Props factors which caused a group of Meanwhile, two other develol senators to meet in the District ments were injected into theato of Columbia senate committee battle. No. 1 was the tremendou room about 10 days ago to pledge pressure of the power lobby, e a battle to the bitter end against pecially on Southern senators. the atomic bill. At that meeting, No. 2 was fear by Southern ser Sen. Lister Hill of Alabama, one ators that the Republicans wou of the senior Southern Democrats, change the rules of debate at tI was appointed e a p t a i n of the next session and make further fil group, with Sens. Albert Gore of busters impossible. And the fil Tennessee and Clinton Anderson buster has been the chief weapc of New Mexico the lieutenants in of the South in defeating legisl charge of amendments. tion on the race issue. It was agreed that there would Cloakroom huddles took plat be a carefully arranged schedule regarding this between Gore, Lyr of speakers with each man taking don Johnson, and Clements of Ker his turn. tucky, during which it was repor "I'm prepared to speak six ed that Johnson h a d promise hours a day," declared able Sen- Gore a seat on the Atomic Energ ator Gore of Tennessee enthusi- Committee if he would comprc astically. "With this plan we can mise the fight. carry on from now until Christ- So Gore, the man who had sai mas." he could speak six hours a da Little did the group realize that until Christmas, met with Senat the man who spoke, despite his colleagues on Saturday afternoo ability, would be the first to crum- in Lister Hill's office. By this tim ble when the fighting got tough. he was dead tired and understan For three days the filibuster op- ably discouraged. So, with Stenn erated with clocklike precision. of Mississippi, he urged that the Every speaker was in his place throw in the sponge. at the right time, carried on for But there were vigorous obje the allotted length of time. It tions. looked as if they could operate "How can you go back to Missi indefinitely. sippi with the Dixon-Yates cor But last Friday night, as Know- tract remaining in this bill? land of California fought in vain Morse asked Stennis. "And ho to stop the filibuster, three things can you go back to Tennessee, A happened. One was petty and per- bert Gore, and admit that yc sonal, only important in a body dropped a fight that means where alleged statesmen can put much to your state?" personal prestige ahead of issues "And what will you look li that affect the nation. An you up i P a P mountain to victory, had it withi Personal Prestige your grasp, and then marche It began with a statement by down in retreat?" goaded Morse Sen. John Sparkman of Alabama Finally it was decided to send that the Republican leadership delegation of five senators to s might better consult those who Senate 1 e a d e r Johnson. Lyr were doing the real fighting don was outwardly courteous bi against the atom giveaway rather hardly listened to a word the than consult the alleged Demo- said. m. us s- ,n- ld he Li- Li- on [a- ce rn- 0- rt- ed 6y id ay -te on ne id- ey sc- is- n- " w 1- ou so ke in ed a ee rn- ut ey WHENEVER any British states-j man is about to come to! Washington American officialdom begins to burnish its armour, in deference to an unshakable na- tional belief in the Machiavellian cunning of British diplomacy and its designs on the simple virtue of the United States. But in the week before Sir Winston and Mr. Eden took wing it was clear that this time the American breastplate was being buckled on with special care. The reminder was discreetly allow- ed to circulate that the United States and Britain are formally al- lied only through the North At- lantic Treaty Organization and in Europe, and in the columns of the diplomatic correspondents there appeared an officially inspired list of grievances against British pol- icy. These included the now fam- ous misunderstanding in April about the urgency with which a South Asian security organization would be discussed; annoyance at the candor with which the Foreign Office is now mentioning alterna- tives to the European Defence Community and the possibility of bringing Germany into NATO. The list contained several specific grounds of complaint against Brit- ish policy in the Middle East, and ryas capped by a general expres- sion of regret that the exigencies of the European situation should make it necessary for the United States to be allied with the colonial powers. On top of this came Mr. Eden's speech in the House of Commons with its unlucky use of the word "Locarno," and its omission of any reference to Mr. Dulles, which was accepted as a studied insult to the latter. Although "Locarno" has sent cold shivers down American spines every time the Prime Min- ister or the Foreign Secretary has used the word, partly because it has come to be regarded as a syn- onym for "appeasement," the cur- rent malaise of the alliance was never better illustrated than by the way in which the American press distorted Mr. Eden's sugges- tion both editorially and in re-1 porting it, giving it disproportion- ate prominence over his agreement to start conversations on South- East Asian security arrangements. But it was universally felt that the suggestion was ill-timed, the more so since Mr. Eden had been guilty of breaking the rules of the alliance in the same way as Mr. Dulles has so freqeuntly done, by springing a new idea upon the world without first consulting, in this case without even informing, his partner. In addition to these irritants, there were two other difficulties apparent before the great aircraft Canopus alighted at Washington airport. One was that the depar- ture of M. Bidault and the arrival of M. Mendes-France had, in ad- vance ,rendered the Anglo-Ameri- can meeting virtually powerless to take concrete decisions, either about Indochina or about Europe. The other was that the problem of Guatemala was dominating the minds of Mr. Dulles and other members of the Administration, al, most to the exclusion of every oth- er subject. Under these circumstances, what is s nriino w isnot t +ho rather lm that were arrived at, but that agreement of any kind between the four principals was possible. On the working. level some useful results did emerge, a closer co- ordination of ideas on Middle Eas- tern policy, made easier by the probable acceptance of the new British proposals to Egypt, some new thoughts on Trieste, and a decision to try to apply the Ti- este formula-namely, long joint discussions with each party in turn -to Arab-Israel relations. The meeting ratified two inevitable de- velopments, .the restoration of German sovereignty if the French assembly does not agree to EDC this summer, and the beginning of serious consideration of a South- East Asia Treaty Organization, Whether these decisions might not have been arrived at as easily through ordinary diplomatic chan- nels without recourse to. peronal diplomacy is open to question; it is a sign of decreasing Anglo-Am- erican friction that their imple- mentation will now be discussed in those channels. Certainly the device of preliminary bilateral talks between the British Embassy and the State Department on iSE- ATO with each keeping its own particular friends informed, the Commonwealth and Burma on the one band and the Philippines and Siam on the other, seems a happy one; it meets Mr. Dulles' sense of urgency while not abandoning Mr. Eden's point that initial planning should not prejudge SEATO's ev- entual membership. Most of what Sir Winston said to President Eisenhower will never be known, far they did much of their talking in the strictest priv- acy. But it was Sir Winston who dominated the week-end as far as the American public were concern- ed, and the largest recorded as- semblage of its kind convened at a press luncheon to hear him make s. his plea for an examination of the possibilities of "peaceful co-exist- ence." Certainly his dexterous handling of questions and his gen- eral sense of sober gaiety-he was looking five or ten years younger than when the American press had last seen him at the Bermuda con- ference-dispelled any belief that the British government is in se- nile hands, as certain recent Am- ' erican official visitors to London had reported. On the contrary, his public appearances and the respect his words commanded have made many Americans wonder how the alliance can ever afford to dispense with his services, for there is no other European statesman, cer- tainly not Mr. Eden, who can speak with anything like the same authority to the American public. It is partly his venerableness (he was First Lord of the Admiralty in the year President Eisenhower became a Second Lieutenant), combined with the youthfulness of his imagery, partly the earthy qua- lity which aristocratic blood con- fers, that makes him so much more{ respected by the average American than the conventional products of English middle-class schooling. -The London Economist Sixty-Fourth Year Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under the authority of the Board in Control of Student Publications. 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