Ba tla lion Edi toria Is
TO CASH IT OR —NOT?
Page 2
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1950
Voters Off to a Good Start . . .
If the results of the first election of the
1950-51 school year are any indication of
what is to follow in future elections, the
voting group, though small as it was, is off
to a good start.
Voting on a proposed amendment to the
Constitution of the Student Senate, more
than 1,500 students declared an affirmative
stand to the question of allowing A&M offi
cers of the Texas Intercollegiate Student
Association to become members of the Sen
ate without being re-elected by the student
body.
Of the more than 600 voters who chose to
cast their ballots against the measure, many
admittedly voted against the proposed
amendment because nothing derogatory had
been said about it. The reason that nothing
could be said against the amendment, ex
cept possibly that the number of senators-
at-large would be cut from the usual ten to
seven, is that the amendment contained no
unwarranted clauses.
When the referendum was brought to the
attention of the Student Senate in a meet
ing last year, the only opinions voiced by
members of the Senate were favorable. Since
members of the senate would be more aware
of the merits and demerits of such a pro
posal, it was only natural to conclude that
the amendment would benefit the school,
since it in no way seemed derogatory. The
aforementioned decrease in the number of
senators-at-large is the only possible disad
vantage.
Other important elections will be held
this year. But if the student body contin
ues to vote as intelligently as it has in the
first election, we need not fear desolation in
future elections.
Red Occupied East Germany
Welcomed into Satellite States
A Revival of the Salem Witch Hunts? ...
1692: The descendants of the freedom-
loving founders of Massachusetts thought
they faced a horrible threat to their peace
ful, religious colony. Right in their midst
were terrible women who practiced the un
holy art of witchcraft. To save themselves
from a ghastly fate conceived by these es
capees from the underworld, the Puritans
created laws and courts to punish the
witches. Once these courts got in full
swing, to get rid of an enemy merely start
the rumor that she was connected with
witchcraft. Nineteen innocent people were
hanged before our American forefathers
realized their laws did nothing but pave the
way for a severe settlement of personal
grudges.'
1789: The common people of France
started a wonderful revolution to overthrow
their tyranical masters and to establish the
French Republic. Oppressed people all over
the world thrilled to the promise of “Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity.” But the French
patriots in their overzealous attempt to rid
Korean ‘Airlift’ for Saving Lives
themselves of their cruel masters began a
reign of bloodshed and execution of inno
cents that has yet to be equaled.
1950: The Congress of the United States,
alarmed at the threat to internal security
by the Communists, passes an anti-subver
sives bill over the veto of the President.
The President gave seven valid reasons for
vetoing the bill. The one that is likely to
have the most far reaching significance was
.“It would give government officials vast
powers to harass all of our citizens in the
exercise of their right of free speech.”
The legislation would “throw the Bill of
Rights out the window,” said Senator Wan-
ger (R-ND). And commenting on the in
ternment provisions, he said, “It is the first
time in America we have heard of concen
tration camps.”
Note to Congress: Most of the French
revolutionists who were leaders in the “kill
the monarchists” movement lost their own
heads before the bloodshed was over.
From Where I Sit . . .
‘‘Battleground’ Deals
With ‘Real’ War
... By Herman C. Gollob
It is a pleasure to report that in spite of the uninhibited
and strident publicity—almost certain songs of a calamitous
let-down—which preceded MGM’s “Battleground,” this stark
offering is the most ambitious and deserving war chronicle
yet framed by a Hollywood studio.
Amid the spate of artificially tricked-up odes to the
American soldier of World War II that have previously been,
offered to the public as examples of “raw realism” in the
war picture, “Battleground” stands as a candid and con
vincing reminder of the war—a war shorn of pumped-up
patriotism and stagey heroics, a war of loneliness and fu
tility and despair, of empty stomaches and K-rations, of
whistling shapnel and dead buddies and unabashed panic and
fright.
Much of “Battleground’s” artistic naturalism stems from
a script of depth and vigor dealing with a dramatically tense
moment in American history—the Battle of the Bulge—and
peopled with characters of substance and conviction, sol
diers who aren’t super-human heroes or zealous patriots, but
ordinary civilians caught up in the grim vacuum of war, and
looking for an opportunity to “get the hell out.”
A new problem has been added to the
strife in Korea—the preservation of a mass
of South Korean lives greater in number
than those now on the battlefield.
In Korea, the first signs of autumn are
beginning to appear. Sultry, stifling weath
er is changing, late flowers are blooming
and the stems of rice plants are bent with the
weight of ripening grain. Thoughts of the
peoples of South Korea are beginning to
stray from the firing on the battle front to
the coming of a new season, and with it the
harvesting of another food crop.
We here in the states find it hard to pic
ture human people worrying about a crop
while other humans are being killed a few
miles away. To the Korean peoples, the
coming year’s food budget depends upon the
quantity of their annual rice crops. For
without rice, which forms the basis of their
diets, even more will die than have already
given their lives on the battlefields.
Unfortunately, the enemy still hold^ the
southwest provinces which are the great rice
basket of Korea. And unless the enemy is
driven out, and soon, much of the crop would
spoil ungathered. For this reason the battle-
ing around Seoul is only of secondary im
portance to the South Korean, whose life de
pends, not only on safety from bullets of the
aggressors, but also on a supply of food for
himself and his family as well.
Therefore, North Korean armies will have
to be swept out of the rice growing district
as soon as possible. True, our armies and
those of our allies are now fighting to regain
that lost ground, but if they cannot retake
it soon, we must prepare ourselves for what
must follow.
Hungry families will look toward the out
side world for their supply of food. And if
all we have been fighting for is not to be
lost, we will have to answer their calls.
Scripter Arnold Nolen shows an
uncanny ear for dialogue: the
cynical, staccato banter of the
troops, their robust humor, is as
intifiate as a wire recorder on a
Turkish harem. And reminiscing
about home is kept free from
maudlin excesses.
Yet in the very toughness and
virility of the script there lies a
restrained tenderness and subtle
romanticism that keeps “Battle-
Admits Stabbing
ground’s” realism from plunging
to the utterly revolting.
What cast and director have ad
ded to the film’s authenticity; must
also be noted here, as well as the
photography and climatic musical
score. Director William A. Well
man is a master at projecting the
sordidness of war; this he proved
earlier with “The Story of G. I.
Joe.” It is with the utmost sen
sitivity that he handles his able
cast.
There seemed to us no single
outstanding performance—each ac
tor brought his role to life with
keen fidelity. Van Johnson is his
cocky, breezy self; John Hodiak,
an intense, refined doughfobt who
does his share of complaining; Ric
ardo Tdontalban, a good natured,
ebullient Mexican G.I.; and James
Whitmore, a leathery, pleasantly
gruff platoon sergeant.
See “Battleground.” It’s a cin
ematic experience you won’t for
get.
Old Quarrel, Confused Communists
Those crazy Americans! How can sen
sible, serious Communists spread their gos
pel of Marxism all over the world when hav
ing to contend with such inexplainable an
tics as theirs.
Not content with all the fighting around
them in the bloody Korean campaign, Amer
ican Southerners in the U. S. Marine Corps
at the Han front felt that they must estab
lish their identity as Southerners, not Dam-
yankees.
At the most extended American outpost
on the Han river last week, a small Confeder
ate flag waved defiantly in the breeze. Be
neath its folds some still unreconstructed
Rebels were ready to rehash the American
sectional squabble of 1860.
Said the Marine who emplaced the flag,
“I stuck that flag in there the moment I got
here. And she’s going to stay there until
we take her down to put her up again in
Seoul.”
It’s hard to imagine how Reds, born and
reared under the hard, serious philosophy of
Lenin and Stalin, could ever understand that
among many other things, Americans are
fighting for the right to laughingly disclaim
loyalty to the United States.
A 20 year old former San An
tonio State hospital attendant has
made a statement admitting par
ticipation in the fatal stabbing of
Jack Solether, senior A&M student
killed while attending ROTC camp
at Kelly Air Force Base, last sum
mer.
Donald A Dunlap made the Saddle, Sirlolll
statement m his San Antonio jail "
cell where he was being held on a f |l c «•
forgery charge. He called the sher- 1 im fillip
iff and said he wanted to get
something off his chest. The Saddle and Sirloin Club
Arvin Popham had previously will hold its first meeting of the
been indicted by a grand jury in 1950-51 school year Tuesday night,
connection with the stabbing. . Sept. 26 in the Animal Industries
In his statement, Dunlap said Lecture Room following yell prac-
he stabbed Solether three times tice.
during a fracus near Von Ormy All AH majors and minors are
July 9. invited to attend the meeting.
He said he took a knife from Sophomores interested in becom-
Popham and stabbed Solether after ing associate members in the club
the latter had hit him in the face, are espcially invited.
He further stated that he was try- Discussion on several important
ing to separate Popham and Sole- matters is scheduled,
ther when he was struck.
Chemical Society Meet
Tlntre will be a short organiza
tion meeting of the American
Chemical Society in the Chemistry
Lecture Room Tuesday Sept. 26,
at 7:15 p. m.
Berlin, Sept. 25—<7P)—Russian-
occupied East Germany was wel
comed into the family of Soviet
satellite states yesterday. Simul-
taneusly, the East German repub
lic embarked on a big new purge
campaign against “saboteurs and
western agents.”
The official Soviet newspaper,
Taegliche Rundschau, said the East
German state had joined “the
mighty peace front headed by the
Soviet Union.” This indicated East
Germany had reached full-fledged
satellite status. There have been
Town Hall---
(Continued from Page 1)
Oscar Levant
On Feb. 1 Oscar Levant, star of
radio, concert stage, and motion
pictures, will provide Town Hall
ticket holders with an exhibition
of his piano skill and world ac
claimed adlibbing.
Levant not only entertains with
his musical, but keeps the evening
going at a fast pace with his verbal
adroitness. He is noted as being
one of the few musicians of all
time to be able to cross success
fully the gap between popular and
classical selections.
The piano artist brings an air
of informality to thd stage with
him, which was one of the factors
adding to his popularity perfor
mance on the Town Hall bill.
San Antonio Symphony
The prodigy of the concert or
chestra world, the San Antonio
Symphony, will present a program
of symphonic music to music lovers
March 5 in Guion Hall as the fourth
attraction of 1950-51 Town Hall
season.
The Alamo City symphonic ag
gregation, under the baton of Max
Reiter, is beginning its eleventh
season of musical presentation to
the citizenry of Texas. The group
is one of the few Texas classical
music associations to be success
ful both culturally and financially.
The group now operates under a
$300,000 budget and presents more
than 60 concerts a year.
Guitar Virtuoso
Andres Segovia who has been
acclaimed the “world’s greatest
virtuoso on the guitar” will pre
sent the final program of Town
Hall March 28.
The Spanish Guitar is not usually
considered to be a concert instru
ment, but to judge for reports from
earstern music critics, Segovia not
only manages to present his pro
gram in concert style, but does a
good job of it,
Taft Called Labor
Number 1 Enemy
The ARL’s political league label
ed Senator Taft (R-Ohio) labor’s
“number one enemy.”
Joe Keenan, the league’s di
rector, told the American Federa-
tiion of ‘LaboFs convention in
Houston that “Hitler would rule
the world” if all cortgressmen had
voted like Taft.
“Now he has gone to work to
give aid and comfort to Stalin,”
Keenan declared.
recent hints that Russia may soon
grant a separate peace to Last
Germany. j u n
East Germany definitely had be
come a part of the Soviet orbit
through a series of ‘friendship
and economic treaties with Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Ro
mania and is now negotiating a
similar agreement with Communist-
ruled Bulgaria.
Runschau asserted the new purge
must be intensified to “root out
these (Western) gangsters—these
enemies of our democratic repub
lie.”
Trials and Arrests
Trials and new arrests were re
ported from widely-scattered points
in the Russian zone. Rundschau
said the chief aim of the “gang
sters” is to wreck the economy ol
the East German republic and sab
otage the Oct. 15 elections.
The provisional government or
East Germany will make itself per
manent through the elections, in
which the Communists have assur
ed themselves of victory by con
trolling’ 70 per cent of the places
on the “no contest” ballot.
In a trial at Pirna, Saxony, five
prominent industrial technicians
were sentenced to terms ranging
from 10 years to four months on
charges of economic sabotage. The
chief defendant was held responsi
ble for a factory explosion last
February in which five workers
died.
Another trial announced at Leip
zig dealt with another big factory
explosion which apparently had
been hushed up by the Communists.
Also at Leipzig, several prisoners
faced trial on charges of wrecking
a Communist national front elec
tion campaign office.
Red Beating
At Borna, Saxony, a man faced
trial for allegedly beating up a
local Communist official, and in
East Berlin three German youths
were, jailed as “Anglo-American
agents,” charged with spying and
distributing anti-Communist leaf
lets.
Rundschau said the “friendship”
treaties with the satellite states
“disposed of all the causes of war
which once existed in middle Eu
rope.” Some quarters here believe
that when the permanent East Ger
man government is established the
Soviet Union will grant it a peace
treaty.
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The Battalion
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions
"Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman”
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, is published
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DAVE COSLETT, CLAYTON L. SELPH Co-Editors
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