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PAGE TWO

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3.1954,'t


TUESD..aY~ .} AxT-;LTT, v 2 thN


Private and Public A-Power:
A Stronger U.S.

"But How Do We Turn This Off?"

AMERICANS must realize that the recent battle
in the Senate over revision of the Atomic En-
ergy Act reflects the need to discover the most pro-
fitable approach to the development of atomic en-
ergy which is consistent with our free enterprise
system and our national security.
The Atomic Energy Bill, which ends government
monopoly .on atomic energy, has two main goals.
The first is to create private atomic-power and
the second to spread atomic information to our
allies for war and peacetime uses.
Both of these objectives appear to be in the in-
terests of a stronger United States.
The future realities of atomic energy seem cer-
tain enough. Many commercial uses will be a pro-
duct of atomic fission. And uranium will replace
coal, oil and water in producing power.
The nature of atomic power is such as to up-
set the usual structure of our free enterprise
system. It was born and. raised during wartime
or threats of war so the users of the atom have
been associated with war and destruction.
Already the government has invested 12 billions
into the development of atomic power. This in-
vestment was stimulated by war and for that rea.
son demands protection.
The magnitude of atomic development is phe-
nomenal. For example, a sample atomic power re-
actor costs $250,000,000. The electricity needed for
atomic work is fantastically high. This poses in-
vestment problems for private enterprise.
But now the country needs to enlist the enthus-
iasm of private initiative to boost atomic applica-
tions even though government military and finan-
cial interests. demand the scope of private parti-
cipation to be curtailed.
For now a sort of "coexistence" in the atom field
between Uncle Sam and private enterprise seems
imperative for the utmost fairness and rewards in
the venture.
The American competitive system has never'
failed in providing the public with a satisfactory
product. And now it would seem as though the
time is ripe for the competitive system to take
over some of the work in the development of
the fruits from peacetime atomic uses.
In view of the international situation and the in-
fancy of peacetime atomic development so far,
free enterprise cannot be given a free hand but it
can be allowed a foot in the door.
As 'for meeting the capital demands, never yet
has an American business which shows a likely
profit been unable to get backers. Private capital
is available not only from individuals but insurance
companies that hold huge accumulation's of private
capital ready for safe investments.
The government, during the war and subse-
quently, has made numerous loans to private en-

terprise to serve as a boost or additional capital
to get business underway.
There are many technological problems which
need solution before atomic energy can be thor-
oughily exploited in a competitive manner. This was
indicated by the Joint Congressional Committee
on Atomic Energy prior to the Senate which also
said:
"It is equallyclear to us that the goal of atomic
power at competitive prices will be reached more
quickly if private enterprise, using private funds,
is now encouraged to play a larger role in the 'de-
velopment of atomic power than is permitted un-
der existing legislation."
As approved by the Senate, the Atomic En-
ergy Bill provides three major steps for encour-
aging private promotion of the atom. These are:
(1) to allow private industry to own reactors
under government license; (2) industry can bor-
row nuclear materials from the government; and
(3) the bill allows private parties to take out
patents on atomic developments.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 left private ino
dustry out in the cold completely.
What is novel about atom development is that
it is the first time in American history the govern-
ment started and developed an area of industry
prior to private enterprise and then cut the priv-
ate interests in on it.
As things stand now private enterprise has its
foot in the door but with a government club over
it. The bill can be easily amended\ and much dis-
cretion in procedure is left up to the AEC.
The two parties are "partners" of a sort with one
having the main responsibility and consequently
the upper hand.
For the present this is the most that can be
expected, but it can be hoped that in the near
future legislation will be passed changing the
"partner" status to one of specialization between
the two parties with each in his own area-wea-
pons by the government and peaceful goals by
the various industries. The next atomic legisla-
tion, it can be hoped, will draw the dividing line
for the two areas more precisely and provide an
independent environment for free enterprise to
work.
Underlining the governmental area would be that
of international cooperation.
The present bill permits the U.S. to ship nu-
clear fission materials to our allies if it is thought
to spur their atomic development and aid the West-
ern defense setup.
The Atomic Energy Bill of 1954 is a good start
for private incentives to begin working in. The
Bill also is a monument to our faith in the free
enterprise system which once turned lose on the
atom will make great progress.
-Baert Brand

tetter4
TO THE EDITOR
Daily Reviews...
To the Editor:
FOR SOME REASON, most of;
us seem moved to write to
the Daily only when we are deeply
annoyed. This has certainly been
as true of reactions to reviews and
criticisms as it has to editorials.
What's more, the letters often
seemed quite justified, since, in
the past, many of your reviewers'
seemed more anxious to achieve
the bon mot than to honestly ap-
praise the subject.
However, this summer's re-
views have been a most refreshing
change. In every field the reviews
appear to have been honest, gen-
erally free of superciliousness and
more graciously written than most
of the previous critical fare. Par-
ticular credit must go to the Mal-
colms, M. and Mme., and to David
Tice. Of special note: Mr. Mal-
colm's sensitive review of "Deme-
trius and the Gladiators."
-Judy and Don-David Lusterman
Efficiency
lin


__CURRENT MOVIES

ON THE

WASHINGTON
MERRY-GO-HOUND

AT THE MICHIGAN. . .
VALLEY OF THE KINGS with
Robert Taylor and Eleanor
Parker
T0 DO THIS MOVIE justice I
must say at the outset that
I saw it under uhfortunate circum-
stances. There was more than the
usual quota of squalling babies at
the Sunday matinee I attended.
I sometimes wonder if it isn't
all a plot on the part of jealous
television executives who very
likely rent babies somewhere,bring
them to movies, and twist their
little arms to make them howl
just as some crucial speech is be-
ing delivered.
At one critical juncture, just
as hero and villain meet for
the showdown, a wee urchin
sitting directly behind me loudly
made known his difficulty in
seeing through my head. His
father told him to shut up. As
they were exchanging civilities,
I missed some crucial lines of
dialogue and as a result I
haven't the faintest idearofsthe
fate of a fabulous treasure.
And who killed Hassen Ben
Washed, the Unsavory Arab?
However it is problematical how
much of my confusion is due to
the eldritch squeals of the younger
set and how much is due to the
movie itself. All in all it appears
the movie makers were so carried
away by their proximity to the
Sphinx they felt compelled to go
it one better in the business of
riddles.
The movie's cast of tomb-hunting
archeologists left simply dozens
of puzzles in their wake as they
wandered over the desert sands.
As my bewiderment grew I was
at last forced to the conclusion
that the chief concern of the movie
was scenery, nog plot.
The characters were pushed
willy-nilly into the vicinity of
every photogenic tomb, pyramid,
and temple in the whole of
Egypt. We experience a desert
sandstorm. Robert Taylor fights
a duel with a bloodthirsty no-
madic tribesman. And Samia
Gamal, the favorite dancer of
ex-King Farouk rotates her
pelvis fetchingly in the very.
shadow of the Great Pyramid
of Giza.
But the story provides only the
scantiest rationale for this Cook's
tour, and while it is all fairly
diverting stuff it seems hardly
worth the trouble of shipping the
equipment all the way to Egypt.
It is really too bad the movie

did not make use of the potentially
fascinating story of archeological
detective work instead of merely
employing the monuments of man-
kind's first great civilization as
obstacle courses over which hero
and villain pursue and pummel
one another.
-Don Malcolm
A Missed
Chance
THE PRESIDENT HAS now
ruled o n t h e long-awaited
"watch case" and has upheld the
recommendations of his commis-
sion. The Swiss may be forgiven
for feeling that, as one spokesman
has put it, this represents\ "the
breaking of a bargain that has
stood for eighteen years"
The President's action must, of
course, be considered against his
record of having resisted every
similar previous recommendation
of the kind. Allowance must be
made, too, for the "collateral"
reason for his decision-namely,
the military importance of preserv-
ing certain skills needed for de-
fense purposes-skills that are to
be found predominantly in the
for ourselves we accept at its face
watch-movement industry. And
value Mr. Eisenhower's statement
that he has judged the case on its
individual merits and that it is
not to be construed as establishing
a new policy or abandoning one
The fact that this decision
strikes a serious blow at the basic
economy of a friendly country is
one of the things that leave the
President's action open to serious
criticism, but it is not the only
one. No less important is the cir-
cumstance that it comes as the
culmination of a series of incidents
that have contributed to world
skepticism as to our economic pol-
icies. One of these was the Presi-
dent's failure to obtain the three-
year extension of an amended re-
ciprocal trade agreements pro-
gram; another was the side-track-
ing in the Senate Finance Com-
mittee of the Jenkins bill for cus-
toms simplification, and the third
was Mr. Eisenhower's own failure
a week ago to reach a clearcut
decision on the second most im-
portant recommendation for tar-
iff relief to come before him--
namely, that covering imports of
lead and zinc.
-The New York Times

t.

XI

WITH DREW PEARSON

- Ni

Rackham Auditorium . . content does not realize itself in an outpouring of
sentimentality, such as we are accustomed to .
LAST NIGHT'S recital by Alice Ehlers featured hearing in 19th-century music. We are, thus,
the Two-Part Inventions, the Three-Part Sin- quite surprised to recognize it so completely
fonias, and the Italian Concerto of J. S. Bach. The fused with the intellectual elements in this qual-
first half of the concert, featuring the smaller ity of spirit.
works, was generally less successful. This was due The harpsichord, of course, plays no small part
largely to the sheer number of these works, and in bringing out these nuances of character. The
the rshadings of tone possible through the various stops
the resulting fatigue in listening to them, for they facilitates this; the toner of the instrument is an-
do not possess the unifying and climactic devices other essential factor, for it is delicate to the point
of, say, the Goldberg Variations. Miss Ehlers' pre- of requiring our closest attention, yet resonant, to
vious concert, devoted to this work, was a monu- the point f retaining it. And, of course above all,
mental musical experience, possible only with mon- there must be a performer who understands these
umental works such as this. The Variations possess basic characters underlying the conception of these
a coherence which, to the auditors at least, is lack- works. How often, on the piano, does the slow
ing in the inventions and sinfonias; as a result, movement of the Italian Concerto sound like a Schu-
one's attention begins to wane after, say, fifteen mann Symphony! And how exaggerated would the
or twenty of these smaller works. patternwork of the D-Major Scarlatti Sonata, per-
After the intermission, though, the Italian formed as an encore, sound on a piano. This work,
Concerto provided a brilliant conclusion to what incidentally, possesses that most admirable quality
will be the high point of this summer's music of demanding an extreme of technical resource-
season. A quality of spirit, or character, in this fulness on the part of the performer, without ever
work, together with its obvious coherence, made becoming mere technical display.
this work such a success. And it is this very Ann Arbor audiences will long remember these
quality which is the key to the understanding of two concerts by Miss Ehlers. The music of this
the music of this period. To many of us who period, performed on the piano by musicians of
have struggled with the inventions during piano less integrity or accomplishment, will always be
lessons, it was a revelation to hear so much mu- found wanting; and the ideal which Miss Ehlers
sical content, so realized as to form such a so- has instilled in performers and listeners alike will
herent whole. We are, of course, prone to con- realize itself in a fuller understanding of the high
sider these works as fugal, therefore primarily artistic ideal for which she stands.
intellectualized achievements. Their emotional -Don Krummel

WASHINGTON - No.'1 political
paradox in the nation right now is
the way money is pouring into
Tennessee to support a relatively
unknown congressional playboy,
Pat Sutton, against one of the top
men in the Democratic Party, Es-
tes Kefauver.
Congressman S u t t o n, as pre-
viously pointed out, is chiefly fa-
mous in Washington for having a
slew of relatives on the payroll,
for getting his nephews into An-
napolis, getting embroiled with a
lady over a red Pontiac in Miami,
and selling suits of clothes in his
congressional office.
Sutton has never passed any
legislation that would give him
stature either in Washington or
Tennessee, though significantly he
has introduced some legislation.
And this attempted legislation may
explain in part where his lush
campaign funds and his expensive
helicopter are coming from.
For two of Sutton's legislative
bills, if passed, would be of great
help to the underworld, which the
crime-busting senior senator from
Tennessee has tried to put ot of
business.
One bill might have permitted
a long list of foreign-born racket-
eers, convicted of crimes or moral
turpitude, to beat the rap and re-
main in the U.S.A.
Friend Of Costello's
Significantly, Sutton's bill which
made more vague and fuzzy Sec-
tion 241 of the Immigration Act,
was introduced after Senator Ke-
fauver had exposed the Mafia, the
Sicilian underworld group which
has dominated crime in this coun-
try. As a result of the Kefauver
expose, a long list of racketeers
had been placed on the attorney
general's list for deportation.
The exact date of Congressman
Sutton's proposed amendment was
April 23, 1953. Significantly, just
one month before, March 23, 1953,
the Justice Department had issued
a final deportation order against
Carlos "The Little Man" Marcello,
of New Orleans, who had figured
prominently in the Kefauver crime
probe.
Marcello helped operate the
famed Beverly Club just outside
New Orleans, owned by Frankie
Costello and Dandy Phil Kastell.
He was branded by Kefauver as
the No. 1 bad man of that area,
had served one year in Atlanta for
selling marijuana, was cited for
contempt by Kefauver, served an
additional stretch in jail, and aft-
erward was ordered deported.
Associated with Marcello at the
Beverly Club was Charles B. Mur-
phy, secretary and treasurer of
the gambling club, and so close to
Costello that he held his power of
attorney to handle all deals in Lou-
isiana. Murphy was Costello's
bookkeeper and also treasurer of
the Louisiana Minto Co., the name
given to Costello's slot - machine
company in Louisiana. All this was
revealed by the Kefauver commit-
tee. And here is where the Sutton
campaign comes into the picture
Murphy just happens to be a mem-
ber of the board of directors of
General Air Transport, Inc., the
company supplying a helicopter to
Congressman Sutton at an esti-
mated cost for the campaign of
around $20,000.
Race-Wire Associates
Another man who figured prom-
inently in the Kefauver hearings
was Mickey McBride, owner of the
race wire which linked up the
bookies of the nation. McBride's
former associate, Robert Venn,
who operated McBride's Miami ra-
dio station, WMIE, is now Con-
gressman Sutton's public relations
man and campaign manager.

other piece of legislation intro-
duced by the imaginative young
congressman. On Aug. 28, 1950,
shortly after the outbreak of the
Korean War and while the Kefau-
ver crime probe was at its climax,
Sutton introduced an amendment
to permit the transportation of slot
machines in interstate commerce.
A bill had been introduced, as a
result of the Kefauver hearings,
prohibiting the shipment of slot
machines. But Sutton debated long
and bitterly on the house floor ex-
actly to the contrary. In the end
he lost. The debate, however, did
not get him in wrong with the
gamblers. It set him up as their
great pal.
These are clues to some of the
forces that have got behind one
of the most inconspicuous and un-
distinguished members of Con-
gress to build him up as an op-
ponent of the nation's No. 1 crime-
buster.
Snoring Champs
The great filibuster is now over
and senators-in less bitter mood
--are debating privately which de-
serves the medal of champion
snorer.
Sen. Kucher of Calif ornia
claims that Barrett of Wyoming
deserves the medal.
"I could hardly sleep a wink
during .the filibuster," he com-
plained. "Senator Barrett snored
so loud it kept me awake all

Congress 1
WHEN THE Twentieth Amend-
ment was proposed it was
thought that this reform, giving
Congress two additional months in
which to work, would prevent the
undignified last-minute confusion
of the traditional session. It did
not.
Wehn the Legislative Reorgan-
ization Act of 1946 was passed it
was hoped that this provision, call-
ing for adjournment on July 31,
would cause the two houses to
systematize their work. The theory
was, again, perfectly dandy. The
only difficulty is it hasn't worked
-as we are once more being re-
minded this week-end. A hot and
bothered Congress wants to go
home,but can't until its absolutely
essential work is done with a mini-
mum of reflection and a mere pre-
tense of discussion.
It is often said that Congress
doesn't do its work on the
floor of either chamber but in
committee rooms. This state-
ment has truth in it. The com-
mittees thresh and grind the
grist that is offered, in each
Chamber, to the whole mem-
bership. Nevertheless, these are
supposed to be deliberating bod-
ies. It makes a citizen nervous
when they don't leave them-
selves time to deliberate-as, all
too often, at the end of sessions,
they do not.

I

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DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN

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night." The present session, the second
"It was really Senator Wiley," of the Eighty-third Congress, start-
counters Barrett. "He was snoring ed off under the usual good aus-
louder than I. I can't deny snor- pices and with the customary flow
ing," he admitted. "My wife says of good nature and optimism.
I snore, but right now I admit Speaker Martin declared that the
nothing." President could expect to "have a
Someone else claimed it was better record of legislative accom-I
Sen. Glenn Beall of Maryland who plishments than any President in
deserved the top snoring record. the last twenty years." As late as
Wiley of Wisconsin, also an in- the middle. of April, House Repub-
voluntary contender for the medal, lican Leader Halleck called the
denied everything except that he record a 'great" one.
snored. The truth is, the record could
"I know my limitations, so I look worse-and it will probably
slept in the Foreign Relations Com- be lengthened and strengthened asj
mittee room where I didn't bother the next few days go by. What is
anyone," Wiley countered. unfortunate in the situation is theI
"Senator Barrett is just trying waste of time at the beginning of
to shrug off the blame. He is def- such sessions and the haste at the
initely sonorous. end of them. The waste is perfectly
"As for me, I had a good cot, apparent during the first few
a pillow and a blanket, and slept weeks, when there seems an end-
the life of Riley-until that darn less amount of time in the bank.
bell would ring. After I answered This year the fight over the Brick-1
the quorum call, I would go down er Amendment and, more recently,
to the Senate restaurant for some the filibuster over the amendments
cereal and a glass of milk. Then to the Atomic Energy Bill, wasted
I'd go back and sleep like time in a conspicuous f a s h i o n.
a baby." Whether the same can be said for
(Copyright 1954, by the McCarthy hearings is another
The Bell Syndicate Inc.) matter: the fact is that during the
dreary weeks when the junior
Senator was on or near the tele-
vision screen the work of the Sen-
ate lagged.
There is nothing new, not even
t tf tanything peculiar to Congress, in
this slow-down and speed-up. The
same thing happens in our State
Sixty-Fourth Year Legislatures. It is our national
Edited and managed by students of habit, when we legislate, to talk,
the University of Michigan under the dawdle, procrastinate, investigate
authority of the Board in Control of far beyond reasonable certainties,
Student Publications. raise points of order, indulge in
personalities and mend political
fences. Then, at the last moment,
Editorial Staff we go off like a fire company to
Dianne AuWerter.....Managing Editor a five-alarm fire.
Becky Conrad...........Night Editor As the week was ending this
Rona Friedman..........Night Editornm
Wally Eberhard..........Night Editor newspaper's report of major bills
Russ AuWerter...........Night Editor still waiting action in one house
sue Garfield.........Women's Editor or the other, or slated for con-
Hanley Gurwin......... Sports Editor ference, ran to nineteen or twenty.
Jack Horwit.......Assoc. Sports Editor The absolutely necessary ones
E. J. Smith........Assoc. Sports Editor among those bills will become law;
indeed, quite a little was accom-
Business Staff plished on Friday and Saturday.
Dick Aistrom.........Business Manager Others will be postponed, just be-
Lois Pollak........Circulation Manager cause there isn't time for them.I
Bob Kovaks........Advertising Manager One hardly knows what to sug-1
T'elephone N4 23-24E-1 gest, except that a people so ingen-
ious in saving time and energy in

'TheDaily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of the University
of Michigan for which the Michigan
Daily assumes no editorial responsi-
bility. Publication in it is construc-
tive notice to all members of the
University. Notices should be sent in
TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3510
Administration Building before 3 p.m.
the day preceding publication.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1954
VOL. LXIV, No. 31S
Notices
Veterans who expect to receive edu-
cation and training allowance under
Public Law 550 (Korea G.I. Bill) must
report to Room 555 Administration
Building, Office of Veterans' Affairs,
between 8:00 a~m. Monday, August 2
and 5:00 p.m. Friday, August 6 to fill
in and sign MONTHLY CERTIFICA-
TIONS, VA Form 7-1996a.
Women's Swimming Pool - Recrea-
tion Swimming Hours.
During the week of August 2, the
hours for women are as follows: 5:00-
6:00 and 7:30-9:00--August 2-6, Monday
through Friday (Friday night will be
Family Night.)
The pool will close for the summer
on Saturday, August 7.
Art Print Loans must be returned to
Room 510 Admin. Bldg. on August 5-6
between the hours of 9-12 and 1-5 or
on Saturday, August 7 'from 8-12. A
fine of twenty-five cents (25c) a day
will be charged for all overdue pictures.
EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
All students who desire credit for
work done in the summer session will
be required to take examinations at
the close of the session.
Examinations in Eight-Week Courses
Hr, of Recitation Time of Exam
8 ............... Thursday 8-10
9 ..................... Friday 8-10
10.................Thursday 2-4
11 ............ --..... Friday 2-4
1 -..................Thursday 4-6
2..................Thursday 10-12
3...........Friday 10-12
A11 other hours..........Friday 4-6
PERSONNEL REQUESTS
The Michigan Civil Service Commis-
sion has an immediate opening for a
stenographer to work in a state office
in Ann Arbor.' Experience is preferable
but not essential; a degree is not re-
quired.
The Pennsylvania State Civil Service
Commission has announced examina-
tions to be given in September for ca-
reer jobs in Public Health including
positions in the fields of medicine,
public health education, and socialI
work. Salary ranges are from $5,058 to
$12,109. Applicants are not required to
be residents of Pennsylvania. The final
date for filing applications is August
20, 1954.

Academic Notices
Doctoral Examination for William
Herman Bos, Speech; thesis: "A Study
of the Preaching of Henry van Dyke,"
Tuesday, August 3, 3217 Angell Hall, at
1:00 .p.m. Chairman, W. M. sattler.
Doctoral Examination for Thomas
Edward Pustell, Psychology; thesis:
"Cue and Drive Aspects of Anxiety in
Relation to Perceptual Vigilance and
Defense," Wednesday, August 4, 6823
Haven Hall, at 10:00 a.m. Chairman, E.
L. Walker.
Seminar in Lie Algebras: WM*l meet
every Wednesday and Friday afternoon '
at 3 o'clock in room 3001 Angell Hail.
Concerts
Student Recital: Robert Mark, bari-
tone, will present a recital at 8:30
Sunday evening, August 1, in Auditor-
ium A, Angell Hall, in partial fulfill-
ment of therequirements for the de-
gree of Master of Music. Mr. Mark's '
major is Music Education and he is
giving the recital in lieu: of thesis.
He is a pupil of Philip Duey. The pro- 4,
gram will include compositions by
Carissimi, Monteverdi, Cesti, Mazza-
ferrata, Schubert, Vaughn Williams, and
Storace, and will be open to the public.
Student Recital: Betty Whitney El-
is, pianist, will present a recital in
partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the Master of Music degree at 8:30
Wednesday evening, August 4, in the
Rackham Assembly Hall. The program
will include compositions by Respight,
Schumann, Chopin, and Finney, and
will be open to the general public. Miss
Ellis is a pupil of Helen Titus.
Exhibitions
Clements Library. Museum Collections.
General Library. Women as Authors.
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Ugyp-
tian Antiquities-a loan exhibit from
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'New
York City.
Michigan Historical Collections. The
University in 1904.
Museum of Art. Three Women Paint-
ers.
Exhibition, of Recent Publications and
of work in progress in linguistic geo-
graphy and dialectology. 2-5 p.m., July
28 - August 6, 1954. Sat. 10-12. 3015
Rackham Building.
Events Today
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre Box Of-
fice is open continuously today from
10 a.m. until 5 p.m. for the sale of
tickets for the Department of Speech
and School of Music production of Mo-
zart's opera, THE MARRIAGE OF F-
GARO, which will be presented at 8


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The Pain of Discontent

JOHN STEINBECK has some things to say about
discontent in his new book, "Sweet Thurs-
day."
"Where does discontent start?" he asks. "You
are warm enough, but you shiver. You are fed, yet
hunger gnaws you. You have been loved, but your
yearning wanders in new fields. And to prod all
these there's time, the Bastard Time. The end of
life is now not so terribly far away-you can
see it the .way you see the finish line when you
come into the stretch-and your mind says, 'Have
I worked enough? Have eaten enough? Have I
loved enough?' All of these, of course, are the
foundations of man's greatest curse, and perhaps
his greatest glory. 'What has my life meant so
far, and what can it mean in the time left to me?'
And now we're coming to the wicked, poisoned
dart: 'What have I contributed to the Great Led-
ger? What am I worth?' And this isn't vanity or
ambition. Men seem to be born with a debt they
can never pay no matter how hard they try. It piles

novel need not resolve the eternal question of dis-
content, but at least it can try to dispose of the
human situation that grows out of it.
Discontent, to be sure, takes many forms. It
can be born of injustice or suffering, ambition or
aspiration, avarice or desire, proper or improp-
er human relationships, or sickness of mind or
body. The emphasis of the novelist on the various
forms of discontent has necessarily varied from
time to time. Today's writer, like John Steinbeck,
is becoming increasingly concerned with the effort
of the individual to relieve the discontent caused
by his inability to come to terms with himself. It is
difficult to think of a time when so many peo-
ple were probing and searching for new insights
into human behavior; in particular, their own. The
books and plays in most demand are the ones that
dramatize the struggle for indivdual bearings in
an age of drift. Even when the product is elusive or
murky, as in the case of T. S. Eliot's two recent
plays, there is an eagerness to pursue or speculate

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