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The Ritual of the 4th and Freedom


"We Want to Give These Some Very Deep Thought"

THERE'S AN OLD tale about an Indian tribe
that held an annual ritual to which all its
clans, near and far, journeyed religiously. Much
more than inclement weather or long distances was
necessary to prevent a brave from packing his be-
longings, including his squaw, and arriving at the
meeting place in time for the festival. Along came
the white man and asked why the celebration. No
one knew. But it was a tradition much older than
anyone's memory.
The story would seem generally irrelevant if it
had not been brought to mind by the Fourth of
July, sometimes known as Independence Day.
Not that no one knows why we celebrate the
Fourth. On the contrary, everyone who raised a
flag, and assorted others, felt a pang in his heart
as he realized the great American freedom was 178
years old. But the odds are that he didn't know
what he meant when he thought about freedom.
After raising the flag and looking up to see
if it were waving properly in the wind, he went
in and read the Declaration of Independence,
reprinted without censorship. But he read only
words.
Something is happening to the American tradi-
tion of freedom that everyone is proud of and few
understand, or have an interest in understanding.
It has become a meaningless boast, an indispens-
able part of our personal repertoires of propaganda.
The mystery is that American freedom still ex-
ists, and in a more respectable form than that in-
troduced in 1776. Then, American freedom was ac-
tually available only to those who could afford to
buy 'it or to the westward pioneers who were tired
of civilization. Since then, freedom has been ex-
tended to all but a few,
It is hard to believe that the liberal ideal brought
all this progress about. Rather it was the interplay
of Americans too ornery to have anything but their
own way, all of whom, no matter which side they

were on, acted and spoke in the name of American
freedom.
All this goes on today. And as long as it does,
freedom will no doubt be safe despite all the apathy
toward the real meaning of freedom.
The real danger is still apathy, but apathy to-
ward routine matters like making a living or city
politics. The status of freedom is the score of the
power game. As long as there are two sides to ev-
erything and enough government, as there is, to
enforce adequate restrictions on the low blows, one
prospective tyranny will cancel the other.
When a force arises, seemingly harmless as us-
ual, and no one takes the trouble to dispute it, or
,even to investigate the matter to find out whether
it should be disputed, freedom begins to slip away.
It's sort of like a blind man who stumbles success-
fully through a labrynth to a certain point and
then wonders if maybe he should sit down and
wait for someone to come and take him the rest of
the way. He trusts everyone but himself.
American freedom has grown as much as it has
because up to now, the greater number have re-
garded self-reliance as more important than any-
thing else. The fact that freedom is often at-
tacked, in the name of freedom is really of little
importance as long as someone defends it under
the same banner.
So, it actually makes little difference if we mis-
understand freedom, or take it for granted, al-
though it's always nicer to know what you're talk-
ing about. But you're safe, because the other guy
doesn't know how ignorant you are.
If we just keep talking and acting, the Fourth
of July is not like the Indian ritual. It really stands
for a meaningful tradition, even if our conception
of it is distorted by our disinterestedness. If we stay
cussed enough to demand our own way, our free-
dom may live to be 179 years old.
-Jim Dygert

ON THEf
WVASINGTON
MER RY-GO-ROUND
WITH DREW PEARSON

+ ART +
HE UNIVERSITY Museum of Art makes every apparent quality is a dramatic sense of color; im-
effort to open the summer season with a group mediately on entering the gallery, the impact
of exhibits that fits in with the University's spe- strikes you, and you don't really get over its stun-
cial summer program. The museum staff has out- ning effect as long as the paintings are in sight.
done itself this year to make their adjunct to The composition of the various paintings-the
"Women in the World of Man" even more than juxtaposition of forms and the forms themselves
usually stimulating. Of the three shows, the most -reveal a fine sense of balance and proportion.
important and impressive is "Three Women Paint- Sometimes the architectonic structure fills all the
ers," in the West Gallery. space within the frames; sometimes a few more or
Two of the contributors-Dorothy Tanning and less geometrically regular shapes are strewn with
Kay Sage-are out-and-out surrealists, and so far infallible precision over a blank background. Pere-
as I recall, their entire output consists of the sort ira also works for a variety of textures, which she
of things on display here. Which, of course, is to achieves by exchanging palette knife for brush, or
say very little, despite the ease with which they otherwise varying the thickness and opacity of
may be classified. For the surrealists vary in quality pigments, by scratching, and occasionally by the
from Tanguy and Breton, whose work embodies introduction of foreign matter.
poetic genius, to Dali, who is probably modern art's Any s - -t
mos puliczedchipy.ny symboism itroduced in pure abstractions
most publicized chippy. is almost entirely personal, though not neces-
At any rate, surrealism, to succeed, demands po- sarily inaccessible, and relies-again, almost en-
etic vision and a facility for expressing it, to a tirely-on color. Certain colors may have come to
greater degree than any other style of painting, arouse particular associations for the artist,
Perhaps because I have no love for written poetry, and in this case, many are deducible from the
I find it difficult to evaluate surrealism fairly. It titles of the paintings. I cannot, for example,
helps to know that a good.practitioner of the style have sensations identical with Pereira when I
is more interested in mirroring on canvas the stand before WIND OF THE SUN; to me, the
shock experienced than in shocking an audience. composition suggests water, but that isn't her
The message of surrealism is negative, an outcry fault (nor mine), and it doesn't detract from the
against emptiness and futility by revealing its in- picture in the least.
ner horror. This doubtless accounts for the gen-
eral public's feelings, varying from uneasy distrust I've had my say in the past about the value of
to violent outrage. After all, the finger is pointed abstract art, and whether or not you agree that
at us all, and I dare say even the outraged, though good composition and good color combinations
intellectually ignorant, sense and resent the ac- constitute an end in themselves (without moral or
cusation. literary implications), will neither please nor much
distress protagonists of this particular school,
The two artists in question achieve their re- Pereira's SUNRISE, SUNSET may not have the
sults in slightly different ways, although both are objective physical look of either phenomenon, but
other-worldly enough. Tanning paints animate if you allow your non-literal susceptibilities free
objects in strange attitudes and juxtapositions, play, it can arouse an approximately equivalent
and uses rich colors, so that her pictures seem feeling. Moreover, you can see it whenever you
to ooze romanticism. Sage prefers architectural like, and it has as much meaning as the phenom-
studies, realistic except for the odd surround- ena. And as to Pereira herself, considered either
ings in which they are placed and the frequent within the school of abstract-constructivists, or in
interjection of weird details. The structures she the wider realm of art as a whole, she has proved
depicts are abandoned, run down, and stuck in her right to a place among our most significant
the middle of nowhere. It's rather aedesolate painters.
commentary on our civilization. Neither artist Both the smaller exhibits are from the museum's
visibly shows any hope, but, of course, a faith in
the future is implied; if they felt things were permanent collection. "Woman as Subject," in the
hopeless, they wouldn't bother criticizing. South Gallery, consists of drawings and water-
colors, most of them very good. For my money, the
Personally, I feel more comfortable in the pre- finest thing in the room is a woman's head, done
sence of Irene Rice Pereira, whose contributions in watercolor, by the late Carlos Lopez, "Woman
fill most of the galleky. She deals chiefly in pure as Artist" (North Gallery) consists chiefly of prints,
abstractions, and because of earlier commitments, plus two drawings and two paintings. Kollwitz and
this show doesn't do full justice to her varied tal- Ynez Johnston stand out, of course; among the
ents and interests. Except for two early examples lesser known (to me) artists, Sister Mary Corita
of her "social awareness" period and one experi- and Shoshannah strike me as having the most to
mental construction, the samples on display are all offer.
constructivist abstractions. None of her romantic The three exhibits will continue through July
expressions were available for this show, and COP- 25th, and all are worthy of considerable attention.
PER LIGHT looks a little too hastily contrived to Irene Rice Pereira will be on the campus on July
convince me that it is one of her better efforts in 21st, to deliver a lecture, participate in a panel dis-
the more piquant mixed media. cussion; in the evening a reception will be held in
Still, within the confines of her preferred style her honor in the museum's galleries. I trust I
of expression, Pereira's versatility is manifest in a shall see some of you there.
surprising variety and range of effects. Her most -Siegfried Feller
CUJRR1,EN IT MOVIESJ

WASHINGTON-The GOP Na-
tional Chairman Len Hall didn't
quite know what to make of it
when he first received a letter
from Henry Wallace which, in ef-
fect, supported the Eisenhower-
Benson flexible farm price-support
program.
Probably there is no man, not
even Harry Truman, whom the
Republicans have kicked around
more than Henry Wallace. He has
been called a pinko and a dream-
er. He has been maligned and scof-
fed at. However, since Wallace
was not only vice president of the,
United States, twice secretary ofG
agriculture under Roosevelt, once
secretary of commerce, and his
father was secretary of agricul-
ture under Harding, his letter to
Len Hall may be political manna
from heaven in the present hecticj
farm debate.
Specifically what the former vice
president wrote to Chairman Hall
about was his idea of an ever-
normal granary. But in the course'
of the letter he came out for Ben
son's flexible price supports. He
recalls that price supports of be-
tween 52 and 75 per cent were
what he had advocated as secre-
tary of agriculture and he felt the
same supports should be appli-
cable today.

"The
plained
farmer
income
normal
ends.

problem," Wallace ex-
to this writer, "is how the
can get the greatest net,
after a war when the ab-
demand for his productsI

He went on to explain that
whereas the demand for wheat
and cotton is fairly stable in
times of peace, the demand for
corn should increase because of.
the growing demand for pork and
beef.
"Furthermore," explained Wal-,
lace, "we've cut down the expense
of raising corn. We've curtailed
the necessary man-hours per acre
through the use of machinery. We
will double synthetic nitrogen
in a few years, so that a 15-cent
pound of nitrogen will produce 20
pounds of grain. So corn is going
to be a lothcheaper to produce and
the price has got to come down.
"Wheat," said the man who
started acreage limitation and
price supports, "is different. Low-
ering the price of wheat won't in-
crease consumption, because it's
consumed by humans, not ani-
mals."
Ever-Normal Granary
Wallace said that he believed the
ever - normal granary for corn
would be about one billion bushels
a year. This amount should be
kept on hand every year as a hold
over to insure to steady supply
of animal food and a steady price.
Asked how he felt about the Ben-
son Eisenhower farm program,
Wallace said the administration
had now come pretty close to his
own farm program; therefore he
couldn't help but support it.
Wallace is now living north of
New York City where he is get-
ting much more fun out of his chief
interest in life-agriculture-thanI
he ever got out of politics. The+
man who revolutionized the na
tion's corn crop with the discovery
of hybrid corn is now working to
develop a new type of strawberry
which will be both big and sweet;
a new type of gladiola which will
resist disease; and a new type of
chicken that will both lay eggs and
put on weight.
NOTE-What makes farm lead-
ers and midwest congressmen sore
at the administration is Ike's many
promises during the election cam-I

Midshipman Strayed
More information is now avail-
able on one of the midshipmen
whose commission was suddenly
held up just before being gradu-
ated from the Naval Academy last
month.
It is now learned that Paul Shi-
mek, Jr., of Hazen. Ark., had
visited the Russian Embassy in
Washington last December and,
by his own admission, given the
Russians information about the
Naval Academy.
Shimek came to Washington with
two other midshipmen, left the
two at a hotel, went around to the
Russian Embassy, rang the bell
and went in.
The FBI, which, as most of
Washington knows, has a long-
rangecamera across the street
taking pictures of everyone enter-
ing the embassy, immediately
photographed Shimek, and he was
later quizzed by naval officers.
Apparently the visit was moti-
vated by curiosity. But while in
the embassy he was asked ques-
tions by the Russians and admit-
ted that he had told them about
the Naval Academy, its studies,
morale, etc.
Actually no information of a se-
curity nature was revealed, but na
val officers didn't like the idea that
Shimek would use such poor judg-
ment as to visit the embassy and
submit to crossexamination there.
They also found that he had been
of lawyer Golan on the Interna-
tional Boundary Commission.
Junior Miss Of Congress
One of the youngest persons ever
to occupy a seat in Congress sat
beside her grandmother on the
floor of the House of Representa-
tives the other day. She was Miss
Judy Harden, aged eight, grand-
daughter of the pleasant congress-
woman from Indiana, Mrs. Cecil
Harden.
Judy, a refreshing sight in the
drab halls of Congress, followed
the congressional debate with in-
terest, though she did wipe the
sleep'out of her eyes during an
old-fashioned harangue by orator
Martin Dies of Texas.
Congress was pushing through
legislation at the usual pace when
the heat is heavy in Washington
and the legislators itch for the tall
grass of the home districts. But
despite the rush, the solons could-
n't help but notice the little girl
in the beigedress with cuffed
sleeves and black sash sitting de-
murely beside the representative
from Indiana.
Charlie Halleck, efficient leader
of the Eisenhower forces, also
from Indiana, marched past the
two ladies, his mind on other
things; then, noticing the couple,
marched back to present himself.
Judy extended her hand as a
queen holding court,
Then Javits of New York walked
by, stopped to chat with the young-
est "member." Once Judy picked
up a pile of her grandmother's
papers almost as if she was about
to make a speech, then put them
down and continued listening to the
drone of debate by which Ameri-
can laws are passed.
(Copyright 1954, By
The Bell Syndicate Inc.)
THE Communist states insist
that only a revolutionary
transfer of property to workers
and farmers will guarantee sub-
stantial human rights to the
masses of the people. Rights are
then fixed by governments, which,
I nrn ." ;" I,, v,4- nn n - F +k. I

German
And the Vs BOOKS ~
By J. M. ROBERTS JR.
AP News Analyst THE WRITER AND HIS CRAFT, the Hopwood Lectures.
The actual start of Anglo-Amer-THE TWENTY YEAR MARK in the history of the Hopwood Awards
can discussions on how to give is being somewhat belatedly celebrated this summer by the pub-
Western Germany her independ- lication of The Writer and His Craft, The Hopwood Lectures, 1932-
ence and to rearm her as one of 1952. Despite the dubious title, the book is neither a sophisticated
the defenders of Western Europe, version of the currently popular "how-to" manual nor is it, on the
whether or not France agrees, is other hand, a heady flight into the upper literary alr. The collection
a fateful thing. is chiefly commemorative; this should immediately-and correctly-
teken togeaher adth the spite- suggest that some of its entries are bad specimens of the occasional
States over Asiatic policy, it red-speech. Yet the book is commemorative in another sense; a large
veals Big Three cooperation at its number of these lectures testify to the writer's and critic's continu-
lowest ebb since Germany and ing preoccupation with a few specific problems, problems which seem
Vichy controlled France during the to have persisted although the conditions supposedly responsible for
war. them have altered significantly several times during the last two de-
The proposals now under study cades.
in London would give Germany al- The definition of literature's role in an age which is predomi-
most complete independence with- nantly scientific (and which consequently, according to most of these
in the present British and Ameri- speakers, is inhospitable to literary production) runs like a theme
can occupation zones, where a throughout the book. Literary partisans like Robert Morss Lovett and
German national army would be Max Eastman were confronted in the early thirties with a popular
cc upatioy ofher relatvely smalndistaste and distrust for the poetry of the time. They naturally felt
but important occupation zone themselves beholden to explain the fall from grace and discovered in
along the Rhine. It would eliminate the process that the viper had issued from their own nest: the sci-
the Allied High Commission and entific age had robbed literature of its cosmic truth-value and writers
eliminate the French voice in gen- had responded by retreating into the private garden of the indivi-
eral German affairs. dual psyche, seemingly to cultivate unintelligibility. Lovett's and
Either that, the British and Eastman's exhortation to the writer, therefore, was that he come out
Americans are saying, or France into the world again, make use of experience to communicate ex-
must ratify the European Defense perience and reinstate literature as a way of knowing the world.
Community. John Crowe Ransom, however, back in 1942 was apparently not
You will remember that France as disturbed by the disjunction between science and literature as
proposed the joint European army
under an international controlling were those men, or at least, in Poetry as Primitive Language, he finds
political council. It was an alterna- a place for poetry in a literal-minded society: the function of poetry
tive to the first American sugges- is to put the flesh back on the drybones of scientific language. The
tions that, in the face of possible thesis is resourcefully underscored by an elastic and yet precise prose.
R u s s i a n aggression, Germany style, suggestive in itself of the possibilities of poetic diction.
could not continue as a military In somewhat the same vein, Mary Colum a year later actually
vaccuum in the center of Europe. welcomes the literary reaction against science; the new psycho-
There was suspicion then that logical mode of awareness (no longer now a cult of unintelligi
France was only playing for time. bility) in the novel repairs the deficiencies of realism and rami-
But so many of her top leaders
got behind the plan, worked so fies language into the bargain. That the same basic question
hard to build up political support sustains all these various shifts in response is noteworthy to the
for it among the people and in extent that it gives recognition to the underlying unity and nat-
the Parliament, that they eventual- ural progression of a time which I for one am too inclined to
ly were credited by Britain and imagine is, at several points, almost discontinuous.
the United States with complete Part of discerning the meaningfulness of literature in a scien-
sincerity. But they never quite tific and, to begin with, an economically depressed period consisted in.
madethe grade and, regardless of defining its social function and the responsibilities of those who cre-
intent, three years of delay has ate and criticize it. Because this perennial lterary problem takes its
resulted, interpretations and solutions from the contemporary circumstance,
It is almost inconceivable that the very serious discussions of the connection between literature and
Germany be r e a r h e d without, life in this book are often unintentionally ironic or poignant. Robert
rather than within, EDC. But there Morss Lovett in 1932 thought there was a chance that literature had
is very strong danger that France outlawed war. Henry Seidel Canby in The American Tradition in Con-
will consider the Anglo-American temporary Literature, 1940, doubted that European involvement of
activities as a bluff-which they any sort could "change the direction . . . of the American tradition."
could turn out to be. For it is also And through these lectures, we can look back on a time in the early
1 almost inconceivable that Britain thirties when the social function of art could be discussed on an in-
and the United States would drop tellectual level in strictly pro- or anti-Marxist terms; the political
France as an ally in order to re- consequences were not at issue. Max Eastman in Literature in an
arm Germany, and they would be Age of Science, could disagree with the aesthetic values of his "Marx-
coming very close to that.
ian friends" on a public platform; Lovett talked about class separa-
tion in America and advised the writer to enrich, improve and com-
- 'municate experience through literature for purposes of "social inte-
gration. ..that civilization shall be saved."
As recently as five years ago, the late F. O. Matthiessen felt
unconstrained enough to say of Marxist principles that "no edu-
cated American can afford to be ignorant of them . . . there is
muh common ground between these principles and any healthily
dynamic America." Should the American Legion get wind of this
now, they might feel compelled to sound the alert about hi
books.
There are other rewarding lectures in the book besides those of
the above mentioned writers and they cover drama, (Walter Prich-
ard Eaton), men of letters (Carl Van Doren on Benjamin Fanklin)
poetry (The Themes of Robert Frost by Robert Penn Warren); but
the most delightful piece of all is Christopher Morley's A Successor
to Mark Twain. If the essay were not available in a collection of
Sixty-Fourth Year Morley's own, the book at hand would be indispensable for it alone.
Edited and managed by students of Morley's eulogy of Don Marquis, who created that famous and philo-
the University of Michigan under the sophical pair, archy and mehitabel, is as warm and gay and funny as
Student Publications, ever Marquis was himself-and that's far from faint praise. Morley
claims for him "temperamental affinities" with Mark Twain and of.
Editorial Staff fers biographical data (i.e. a bit I enjoyed: Marquis cherished the
Dianne AuWerter.. Co-Managing Editor spurious belief that he was born during a total eclipse of the sun
Alice B. Silver....co-Managing Editor because it made him seem more remarkable to himself), vignettes of
Becky Conrad.............Night Editor
Rona Friedman...........Night Editor the writer at work, and healthy samples of his produce to support
Wally Eberhard,............Night Editor the contention. The result is the perfect Hopwood lecture, since the
Russ Auferter..........Ngh sed gusto of Morley's appreciation must surely have inspired his audience
Hanley Gurwin.........Sports Editor to a similar enthusiasm, both for Marquis' work and for the business
Jack Horwitz......Assoc. Sports Editor of writing in general. This is about as close to the real spirit of the
E. J. Smith........Assoc. Sports Editor occasion as one can get, unless a speaker should take it into his head

Business Staff to do nothing but sit and type away, in full view of his audience, at
Dick Aistrom.........Business Manager the Great American Novel. Inspiration by Living Example, the lecture
Lois Pollak.......,Circulation Manager might be called.
Bob Kovaks.......Advertising Manager The collection, as you see, runs the gamut of all possible topics
Telephone NO 23-24-1 connected with 'the writer and his craft.' Many of the lectures consist
N only of semantic divots raised on an otherwise smooth turf; much
Member of what is said, in light of changing conditions, could have been
ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS labeled "perishable" and perhaps been kept in cold storage. But in
general, for the lectures of the early thirties, for Matthiessen's The
Member of the Associated Press Responsibilities of the Critic, the Ransom lecture and the Morley-
The Associated Press is exclusively en- Marquis collaboration, the book is worthwhile. A note of caution,
titled to the use for republication of however: avoid (as always) J. Donald Adams, who is here represented
all news dispatches credited to it or
otherwise credited to this newspaper,. All by a haphazard and utterly irresponsibile piece called The Writer's
rights or republications of all other mat- Responsibility; also, except if you are interested in kitchen-tested
t ereinare also reser ce at Ann potboiler recipes, look out, for Edward Weeks' insidious concoction,
Arbor, Michigan as second-class mail On Counting Your Chickens Before They Are Hatched. Everything
matter. Published daily except Sunday else is at least serious and thoughtful and therefore may possibly be
and Monday, laig
Subscription during regular school pleasing.
year: by carrier, $6.50; by mail $7.50. -Ruth Misheloff
DAILYOFFICIAL BULLETIN I

I

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't

f

L

A t the Michigan .
MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY with Van John-
son
There is no denying that this movie has its mo-
ments.
Although the main business of the film is pretty
badly handled, there are a number of really ex-

the car for a date as he keeps up the spirits of his
blinded pilot buddy on the way back to the car-
rier.
Any hope that deep-dish apple pie, Mom, and
the right to boo and cheer might be kept out of
the film has already been blasted by an earlier
scene in which a character enumerated these as the
reasons for our participation in the second World
War.

The Daily 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, JULY 6, 1954
VOL. LXIV, No. 11S
Notices
1 Cercle Francais: The Summer Session
Circle Franclis will meet weekly on

formal program. Refreshments are
available nearby, and all persons inter-
ested in talking and hearing French
are cordially invited to come.
The Art Print Loan Collection office
in Room 510 Admin. Bldg. will be open
Monday through Friday from 8-12 for
the duration of the Summer Session.
Lectures
Mathematics-Education Lecture. ver-
yl Schutt, Director of Mathematics Edu-
cation, Washington, D.C., will speak on
Mathematics and the Needs of Youth
at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6 in Au-
ditorium D of Angell Hall. She will also

University of Oklahoma. 4:15 p.m., Au-
ditorium A, Angell Hall.
Linguistic Institute Lecture. "Some
Problems in the Methodology of Area
Linguistics." Hans Kurath, Professor of
English and Editor of the Middle Eng-
lish Dictionary and the Linguistic Atlas.
7:30 p.m., Rackham Assembly Hall.
Concerts
Stanley Quartet Concert. The first
program in the summer series of con-
certs will be given at 8:30 Tuesday eve-
ning, July 6, in the Rackham Lecture
Hall. The Quartet, Gilbert Ross and
Emil Raab, violins, Robert Courte. vi-

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