Battalion Editorials
Interpeting the News . « .
Page 2
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28,1950
Some Questions On
New Communist Law
‘Signs’ of Things to Come
There are fewer causes for excuses
around Aggieland these days. And that, dur
ing a football season, is a novelty. The next
few months, we all hope, will find us in even
less need of an alibi.
No one need be told that the Aggie team
is going to do its best along those lines. But
there is another item connected with the
grid season at Aggieland that has often
caused a few red faces in these parts.
; And it’s these items, our football signs,
that we hope will cause us less embarrass-
ment in the coming few months. Indications
are that such will be the case.
Yesterday’s paper announced the re
sumption of the “Football Sign of the Week”
Contest started by the editors of last year’s
Battalion. While trying to select the win
ners for this initial week’s competition, one
of our co-editors noticed the marked im
provement of the signs over those of last
week and more especially over those of last
year.
There were some, of course, that show
ed lack of taste, lack of originality and the
Let’s Get Those Eoats Unloaded
From Where I Sit . . .
‘New’ Bogart Found
In Palace Thriller
familiar display of “loose-looking” females.
Using the remotest of alibis to link such
“works of art” with a football game, the
creators showed the pausity of ideas they
were trying to cover with their display of
perverted pulchritude.
But, thanks to the pleas of this year’s
senior yell leaders, even these should be non-
existant by the time visitors become more
abundant on the campus.
It was a few days before the opening
of school this year that Senior Yell Leader
Jimmie Pianta told a group of company and
regimental commanders the simple reason
why the Corps Chaplain was being requested
to “censor” the signs. It was the oft-told tale
of those cadets showing mothers and girl
friends around the campus only to find them
selves at a loss for words when the visitor’s
eyes fell* upon one of our “better” signs.
It was Barlow “Bones” Irvin who said
there should be “no cause for regrets” this
year. Let’s have the Twelfth Man work as
diligently as the other eleven in completely
attaining that goal.
• © ®
Americans are an unpredictable 1 o t.
First they promise to stand behind the dem
ocratic form of government prevalent in
these United States. Whether they are sin
cere or merely making available to them
selves the opportunities of the nation can
be answered only individually.
; The point from hence the question in
our minds arises occurs when these same so-
called “Americans” take it upon themselves
to personally or by groups make certain de
cisions which invariably do not correlate
with policies of the government. Usually,
the reasons given for action of this sort are,
when carefully considered, highly unethical
and most asinine.
The most recent example of action of
this sort first began when the Swedish
freighter Selma Thornden arrived in Boston
almost three weeks ago with Czechoslovak
ian chemicals and Russian licorice root on
board. Longshoremen refused to unload the
cargo because of its origin.
The Czechoslovakian materials were un-,
loaded by protesting longshoremen at All-
bany since then, and several ports later, the
Russian licorice has remained aboard. Now
at Port Arthur, the skipper of the ship
which operates in regular Swedish flag serv
ice between Scandinavia and Eastern United
States P'orts is undecided where to make
another port call.
A secretary of one of the longshore
men’s unions said “being Americans, we
can’t do a thing like that,” referring to the
unloading of the licorice roots. Spokesmen of
other unions echoed his statement.
Our government has not discontinued
trade with those countries. From outward
appearances, no such action is planned, as
world trade is ultimately necessary for a
successful economy. But a few workers, sup
posedly behind the decisions of their gov
ernment and surely demanding all of its
benefits, are forming the basis of foreign
trade corruption.
Definite action should be taken by gov
ernment officials to have the licorice roots,
regardless of their souce since we have hot
yet struck any nations off the foreign ex
change list, unloaded.
A Hand-off From the ‘Man Under’
Oh, ye of little faith! Many followers
of the littleman from Missouri, Harry S.
Truman, were brokenhearted last week when
he, to secure the appointment of George C.
Marshall as secretary of defense, admitted
that he and James F. Brynes, then secretary
of state, were responsible for our “knuck
ling under” to the Communists in China.
. But cheer up, Fair Dealers. President
Truman has hit upon a wonderful way to
ymrm himself out of taking blame for the
Chinese blunder.
In a biography of Truman titled The
Man of Independence, published last Tues
day, Jonathan Daniels, one-time presidential
aide and a member of the Democratic Na
tional Committee, quotes President Truman
as saying that James F. Brynes “lost his
nerve in Moscow” and “failed miserably as
secretary of state.” Of course, it is merely
a coincidence that the denunciation of
Brynes is made public at such an opportune
time for Truman—or that is what the Fair
Dealers would have us believe.
The president believed, Daniels writes,
that Brynes had weakened the policy toward
Russia laid down by Mr. Truman at Pots
dam. Again quoting Truman, “I told him
(Brynes) that our policy was not appease
ment and not a one-way street.” And speak
ing of Brynes’ resignation, “He failed miser
ably as secretary of state and ran out on
me when the going was rough and when I
needed him worst.”
To avoid the contention that the pub
lishing of the book is a “face saving” ges
ture for Truman, Daniels refrains from di
rectly accusing Brynes of the Chinese fiasco.
But for the loyal Trumanites and the non
thinkers, the denunciation of Brynes as a
failure as secretary of state includes all his
acts committed while serving in that capa
city.
Doubters of Truman’s innocence in the
appeasement of the Communists will prob
ably have the same reaction of James Bryes.
In replying to the charges made by the book,
Brynes said that Mr. Truman kept him on
as secretary of state for eight months after
(according to Daniels’ book) the president
had decided he was a failure as in that office
and “if he felt that way, why should he
have wanted a miserable failure around at
any time?”
By JAMES MARLOW
Washington, Sept. 27 — (TP) —
There is probably as much confu
sion in the public mind over the
new anti-Communist law as over
any law of recent years.
Here are the answers to a few
ciuestions:
Q. The law says the government
can round up Communists and
throw them into detention camps.
Does that mean the FBI will start
such a roundup right away, or
when ?
A. The law doesn’t giye the
government power to make such a
roundup now. It says such a round
up can be made only if (1) the
U. S. is invaded, (2) Congress de
clares war, or (3) there’s an up
rising here to help some foreign
power.
Q. It has been estimated that
there are 60,000 to 70,000 full-
fledged Communist party members
in this country. Would they all
be rounded up if one of those three
things happened?
A. Probably not, although the
government could suit itself about
that. But the law says the gov
ernment shall round up “each per
son as to whom there is reasonable
ground to believe that such person
probably will engage in, or prob
ably will conspire with others to
engage in, acts of espionage or of
sabotage.”
Leaves FBI Leeway
That language seems, to leave it
wide open to the government to de
cide who among the Communists is
a potential spy or saboteur. Re
cently FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover-
said there are about 12,000 danger
ous Communists in this country.
That might seem to indicate the
FBI would roundup perhaps only
12,000 Communists. But—
Another part of the law says
Communists are agents of Mos
cow, seeking the overthrow of this
government, and all engaged in an
international conspiracy to • take
over the world.
When you remember that—plus
the fact that the law lets the gov
ernment decide what Communists
can be arrested in an emergency—
you can see that the government
has wide latitude in deciding whom
it should pick up.
Q. Can Communists grabbed by
the FBI in such an emergency (ex
plained in Nos. 1, 2 and 3 above)
be held indefinitely?
A. Yes, but—. The “but” means
they will be given a chance to show
they’re not dangerous and will be
released if they can prove that sat
isfactorily to the government. This
is how:
@ When arrested Communists
can’t be • thrown into a jail with
criminals. In short, they canT b e
put in jails 7 or penitentiaries. So
the government ■will have to set up
some kind of camps for them or
clear out a penitentiary for them.
@ Some time after his arrest—
the law is vague on how soon aft
er—the Communist is brought be
fore a government official who’ll
have the title of “preliminary hear
ing officer.”
“Hearings” Allowed
If there is an emergency requir
ing wholesale arrest of Com
munists, these “hearing officers”
will have -to be appointed, perhaps
several hundred of them.
And it may be necessary to check
them to be sure they’re neither
Communists nor sympathizers.
That would take time.
The Communist can have his own
lawyer represent him and can
cross-examine witnesses brought
against him. But—
The government doesn’t have to
produce any witnesses, if it thinks
doing so might not be good for the
country.
This means the FBI can make
charges against the man without
saying where it got its information
against him. This is a pretty
tough section of the law.
© After this examination, the
hearing officer can order the Com
munist released, or he can decide
the Communist should be kept in
custody.
© The President will set up a
board of nine men, called the deten
tion review board. Any Communist
ordered kept in custody by the re
viewing officer can appeal to this
board for a hearing. But, again,
at this hearing the FBI won’t have
to give away any of its secrets in
explaining why it wants the Com
munist held. ■
Red’s May Appeal
But at the board hearing the
Comunist can have a lawyer and
has the right to cross-examine any
witnesses against him. Actually,
the board can make its hearings
secret, since the law says the board
can consider evidence offered by
the government, even though the
evidence can’t be made public.
© After such a hearing, the
board can order the Communist
released or kept in custody. (In
all these "steps—arrest, examina
tion by a hearing- officer, and ex
amination by the board—the Com
munist can be held if there is “rea
sonable” grounds for thinking he
might help in spying or sabotage.
© If turned down by the board,
the Communist can appeal to the
U. S. Court of Appeals and, if turn
ed down there, to the Supreme
Court. All these steps would take
a lot of time.
Jr. Colleges Meet '
Here October 9-10
A Junior College Conference,
sponsored by the Department of
Education and Psychology will be
held here from 9 a. m., Cct. 9, til
4 p. m., Oct. 10, according to Dr.
T. D. Brooks, chairman of the Jun
ior College Conference.
Registration will be held in the
Serpentine Lounge of the Memor
ial Student Center, Oct. 9, from
8:30 a. m. until 12 noon. Regis
tration fee is $1.25 per person.
Official Notice
All students who did not turn in Iden
tification Cards or have photographs made
for one will report to the Photographic and
Visual Aids Laboratory from 8 a.m. until
noon and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. daily
from Oct 2 through Oct. 6 and from 8 a.m.
until noon Oct. 7.
As soon as the cards are ready for dis
tribution, notice will be given in T(ie Bat
talion as to the procedure to follow.
Bennie A. Zinn ,
Assistant Dean of I(en *•''
For Student Affairs.
Isj
Bach Graduate student is rctiuired to
suggest the names of members of the
Graduate Faculty whom he wishes to serve
on his committee early in his first semes
ter., The committee is to meet and consult
with the student and outline a complete
course of study for his graduate degree
before the end of the eighth week of his
first semester. This is designed to insure
that I he student, the committee and the
Graduate School know what is to be
required of him. The student may then
follow a logical and well balanced pro
gram each time he registers thereafter.
The necessary forms and any suggestions
and help needed may bn obtained by call
ing at the office of the Graduate School.
A student wishing to register for any
term after his first term of graduate work
must bring his copy of his official grad
uate course of study to registration with
notations on it to show the courses al
ready aken and the grades received.
Ide P. Trotter, Dean
Graduate School
. . . By Herman C. Gollob
You could have knocked us over with a feather the
other night after the Palace’s late nocturnal screening of In
A Lonely Place,” the melodramatic thriller holding forth at
the Schulman movie emporium today through Saturday.
In fact, a squad of our more vindictive followers were
having the time of their lives buffeting us around the lobby
with chicken feathers peddled at the exits by members of
the “We Liked ‘Sampson and Delilah’ ” club, all of whom
were arrayed in loincloths and sandals.
Luckily, Fred Walker, Jr., our partner in critical crime,
happened to be hiding in the popcorn machine, and dispersed
the antagonists with a well-placed volley of kernels.
Over a hot cup of mead at the Walker home, we ex
plained that our inability to withstand the desperate pum
melling was merely a form of mental shock induced by the
rare spectacle of a creditable Humphrey Bogart film, which
Columbia’s “In A Lonely Place” most certainly is.
Letters
(All letters to the editor which ar*
signed by a student or employee of thf
college and which do not contain-otj?
scene or libelous material will be pub-
lished. Persons wishing to have their
names withheld from publication 'mayfc
request such action and these names
will not, without the consent Sf ■ the
writer, be divulged to any persons other
than the editors.)
Favorable Comment
A murder mystery with psycho
logical overtones, the Bogart ve
hicle exercises a restraint and sim
plicity that lends its familiar and
contrived ingredients a semblance
of reality altogether lacking in
most of Hollywood’s pretentious ef
forts to use a hack “killing” yarn
as an excuse for probing the work
ings of a diseased mind.
Bogart appears as Dixon Steele,
a hyper-emotional, moody screen
writer addicted to frequent fits of
violence. When a hat-check girl
who had been in his apartment the
night before is found murdered,
Steele emerges as the chief sus
pect. The rest of the story is con
cerned not only with building up
suspense as to whether or not Dix
is guilty, but with the effective
presentation of a credible gallery
of characters, among whom Steele
is foremost.
The script gives itself subtle
pats on the back by allowing its
characters to toss barbs at the
foibles of the average threadbare,
affected melodrama.
For instance, when Bogart scoffs
such flamboyant “psychochiller”
devices as the beautiful corpse
found gracefully crumpled at the
foot of a winding staircase, the
sacharine love affair between male
and female protagonist, and the
vague plot complexities which peo
ple the screen with a horde of
hastily sketched suspects, the ob
servant audience participant will
notice that the film he is seeing
has avoided thdse mistakes.
And when a detective admonishes
his college-grad wife for trying to
psycho-analyze Bogart in terms of
her gleanings from an Abnormal
Psychology course, the same dis
cerning audience member will real
ize that Columbia has shied away
from longwinded, complex reasons
for Bogart’s erratic behavior.
He is explained simply as a “tre
mendous ego,” a man who must
(See GOLLOB, Page 3)
Editor, The Battalion: - <
The favorable comments madi
by The Battalion reviewer .in .re,
gards to the September . Agricul
turist were greatly appreciated
However, I would like foi" those
who did all the, work on it to. get
the credit.
The summer school staff, headed 1
by Bee Landrum, completely, edit
ed, wrote, and did all the necessary
work on September issue. ME Lan
drum had as his assistants’ Walter
Tanamachi, Tom Stack, James-R,
Holland, Sid Abernathy, A. ,\.
Chapman, Bill Hites, John Hol-
lingshead, Bob Hancock, and James
Lancaster. .'v
Thanks again for the comments
and the Agriculturist .staff .hopes'•
to continue to be of service to, the
students in the School of Agricul
ture.
Jim Tom House
Editor
At the . . .
A&M PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
(Simultaneous Meetings)
Thurs: “Looking Toward the Land of Your Dreams”
(Girl and Boy Relations)
Friday: “Conquering Minorities”
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Speaker: Rev. Edwin Walthall
WELCOME TO ALL
V A L U E
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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
five times a week during the regular school year. During the summer terms, The Battalion is published
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Monday through Friday for the regular school year, Tuesday through Friday during the summer terms,
apd Tuesday and Thursday during vacation and examination periods. Subscription rates $6.00 per year
or $.50 per month. Advertising rates furnished on request.
News contributions may be made by telephone (4-5444) or at the editorial office, Room 201, Goodwin
Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-5324) or at the Student Activities Office, Room 209,
Goodwin Hall.
. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all news dispatches cred
ited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein.
Rights of republication of all other matter herein are also reserved.
Entered as second-class matter at Post
Office at Gollege Station, Texas, under
the Act , of Congress of March 3, 1870.
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DAVE COSLETT, CLAYTON L. SELPH Co-Editors
John Whitmore, Dean Reed, L. O. Tiedt Managing Editors
Sid Abernathy Campus News Editor
Frank N. Manitzas Sports Editor
Joel Austin City News Editor
Open in Temporary Quarters
YOUR MEMORIAL STUDENT
CENTER
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