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PAGE TWO THE DAILY TAR HEEL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1953 From The New York Times ; Security vs. News The Executive order issued last week on the safeguarding of official -information rep resents a commendable effort to deal with this ticklish question. The order has obvious pitfalls and only time can tell whether it will succeed in establishing that delicate balance between national security and the right of the public to know what's going on. However, President Eisenhower should get full marks for trying to achieve a meeting of minds on this problem. President Truman's decision of September, 1951, to establish a uniform system for classification of docu ments throughout the. Government had a roused widespread protests. By allowing ev ery federal agency to classify information on the same basis as the Defense and State De partments, Mr. Truman was charged with setting up a system under which governmen tal inefficiency or errors could potentially be concealed under the guise of protecting the. national security. Although in practice there were discovered few, if any, abuses directly traceable to the Truman order that would not have occurred anyway, it probably did give a psychological boost to the mania for overclassification that is constantly present within the Government. Last June the Eisenhower Administra tion made public the draft of a new order revising the 1951 rules. Study and discussion were invited, and it was only after everyone concerned had had a shot at it, that the new regulation became official, effective Dec. 15. Authority is completely taken away from twenty-eight Government departments and agencies to place official information under what is called "defense classification," and in the case of another seventeen agencies it is limited to the chief officer only. Another major change is abolition of the entire "restricted" category, lowest "grade in the classification system, leaving "confident tial," "secret" and "top secret" in ascending order of security. The thought behind this move is that "restricted" formed a lazy man's -catch-all, into which practically: any docu ment could be (and was) put by practically anybody without any real effort to determine whether its release might by harmful to the nation. " We would like to think that by abolish ing "restricted," the President is also abolish ing the abuse of "restricted"; but the danger now is that innoculous documents or infor mation will be classified "confidential just, as freely as they used to be classified "re stricted.' To guard against this eventuality, provi sion is made for "continuing review of class ified documents in each agency concerned. Furthermore, it is specifically provided that the President shall designate a member of his staff to consider "and take action upon" complaints from non-Governmental sources as to the operation of the new system. "These safeguards are all to the good. But sometimes departmental regulations are so rigid that within the Government itself the flow of information is undesirably impeded. And there still is room for former Senator Benton's idea of establishing in every depart ment a "people's advocate" whoes job it would be to see not merely that the system was working but, in a positive way, that the maximum amount of information was re leased consistent with national security. lie JBsOp pic! The official student publication of the Publi cations Board of the University of North Carolina, examination and va cation periods . and during the official Summer terms. En tered as second class matter "at Ihe post office in Chapel Hill, N. C, under, the, Act 250 a semesterj'de where it is published daily except Monday, of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: mailed, $4 per. year, livered, $6 a year, $3.50 a semester. WWW" The Life Of Emile Zola 2 Bob Barlowe --. Warner Brothers, who have long held the reputation of being Hollywood's foremost triflers with history, have paid their debt to the movie-going public, and to truth, with their presentation of The Life of Emile Zola. Rich, dignified, honest, and strong, it is at once the finest historical film ever made and the greatest screen biography greater even than The Story of Louis Pasteur with which the Warners squared their conscience earlier. The film will be shown free "Of charge tomorrow night at -Carroll Hall at 7 o'clock and a dis cussion will follow. Like Pasteur the picture has captured the spirit of a man and his times; unlike Pasteur ana this is the factor which gives it pre-eminence it has followed not so closely the spirit but, to a greater degree, the very letter of his life and of the historically significant lives about him. And, still more miraculously, it has achieved the brilliant end with out self-consciousnessy' without strutting glorification, without throwing history out of focus to build up the importance of the central figure. Literature xnows Zola as the author of Nana and a score of other novels which crusaded, during a socialpgically dark" age in France, in behalf of the op pressed and the unenlightened. History knows him more dramat ically as the man who cried out, so all the world could hear, against the famous perversion of justice that was the Dreyfus case. The Life of Emile Zola is the story of both these men the crusading novelist, the Dreyfus defender and it .is a story toTd with dramatic strength, with bril liant language, and with superb performances. Paul Muni's portrayal of Zola is, without doubt, .the best thing he has done. Fiery, bitter, com passionate as the young novelist; settled, complacent, content fo rest from the wars in his later years; then forced into the strug gle again, although he resisted it, when the Dreyfus cause whis pered to his conscience Mr. Muni has given us a human and well-rounded portrait. It would have been simple to stuff the character with glory, to present Zola as charging hap pily into battle in which he seemingly had everything to lose and nothing to gain. The true story was the more dramatic, and the Warner writers had the good judgment to follow it. Zola, when he thundered the "I ac cuse" message that eventually exposed the army conspiracy against Dreyfus, was no longer an individual. He had truly be come, as Anatole France later said of him, "A moment of the conscience of Man." That was the essence of Zola that he was not a man, but an instrument of freedom, truth and social justice. There is some thing infinitely touching in the contrast of the physical Zola and the spiritual Zola: one a human, frail, pathetic, at times quaint figure; the other the driving force always present in his writ ings and utterances. The theme of the steadfast tread of truth in the march and our grateful knowledge with him, that "noth ing will stop her," has. been writ ten into the film, just as it has been written into history. When a picture has that spiritual surge, ' " ' i GENERAL OF THE u.s. r-e o?e?Z?"G 1 M hisr Washington Merry-Gc-Rouhd Drew Pearson Byrnes' appointment calendar shows that he had ample oppor - tunity to talk to Truman about this. He was in Washington from Dec. 4 to Dec. 12, 1945, and the FBI report on Hiss, White, et al, was received Dec. 5. Byrnes was in Moscow from Dec. 12 to Dec. 29, but remained in Washington from Dec. 29 to Jan. 7 during which time he did not tell Tru man anything about either Hiss or White. Byrnes' was out of Washington "from Jan. 7 to Jan. 25, 1946, but was back in the capital from Jan. 25 to Feb. 6. It was on Feb. 5 that Byrnes wrote a memo to the ' White House calling Truman's attention to White. One day later Byrnes called at the White House personally. At that time, Feb. 6, however, a call from the White House to Leslie Biffle revealed that White had already been con firmed by the Senate. It was then decided, with the approval of J. Edgar Hoover, that it was better to let White remain in the Monetary Fund where he. could be observed, in an effort to catch any other members of the alleged spy-network. This FBI check lasted approximately one year, ending in a no-bill before a grand jury. Meanwhile, Mr. Truman has looked up the date on which Al ger Hiss finally left the State De partment to join John Foster Dul les. It was in December, 1946, one year after the first FBI report was given to Byrnes on Dec. 4, 1945. During most of this inter vening time he continued serv ing under Jimmie Byrnes. Republican backstage by-play regarding Harry White began with a political tour by Congress man Dick Simpson of Pennsylvan ia, chairman of the Congressional committee to re-elect a Republi can Congress. WASHINGTON Here is some of the backstage by-play that has been going on both in Republi can circles about the dynamite-, laden subject of Harry Dexter White. First, in Democratic circles: Harry S. Truman originally plan ned to honor the subpoena slap ped on him by House Un-American Activities Committee Chair man Velde, later changed his, mind. Historical precedents sefby other presidents- and dug up for him by former White House Counsel Char ley Murphy and Judge Sam Ro s e n m a n were one reason for the change. An other was that he figured he could do a better job of present it has realized the best that the cinema can accomplish. Against the impressive bulk of its virutes the few defects are negligible. The film could have been trimmed. In the Dreyfus role, Dale Sondergoord makes a . feeble (and unsuccessful) at tempt to build up a part from nothing, and even then, scarcely able to get off the ground. There are sequences like the Anatole France speech at Zola's bier and Zola's reading of his "I Accuse" editorial which are pictorially1 static and offer nothing but poetic language beautifully read. The picture shirks the real issue of the Dreyfus case (the word "Jew" is never uttered) and skips 'recklessly over the political, so cial, background of the plot. But these imperfections are al most negligible against the back ground of such a great, valuable and stirring document ing his side of the case in a nation-wide radio broadcast. Meanwhile the ex-president was loaded for bear,' was especially sore at his ex-Secretary of State, Jimmie Byrnes, who bolted to El senhower last year and who tried to put Truman in a hole last week by rushing into print with an an nouncement that he, Byrnes, had warned Truman about the ap pointment. The ammunition Truman has dug up on Byrnes' during the past' two days is not likely to please the governor of South Carolina. For Truman friends got- hold of Byrnes' appointment calendar for this period, also a copy of the FBI report of Dec. 4, 1945. This is the first FBI report on White and the alleged Soviet spy ring and shows it was sent to the Sec retary of State for a very obvi ous reason. It concerned Alger Hiss much more than it concerned Harfy White. About five pages were de voted to Hiss, men working un der" Byrnes in the State Depart ment; several other pages to a Russian-born economist who had been close to Cordell Hull; while only a few lines were devoted to White, then in the Treasury. Mr. Truman plans to point up Byrnes' receipt of this informa tion and the fact that he permit ted Hiss to remain on in the State Department for three months, then accepted his resignation in a friendly, manner so that he could take a job one year later under John Foster Dulles, now Secretary of State, as head of the Carnegie Foundation. Truman will also point out that while Jimmie Byrnes was giving him a belated warning about White, he was strangely' silent a bout Hiss, who was working right under Byrnes' nose in the State Department. Editor ROLFE NEILL Managing FHitnr T.OTTTS KRAAR Business Manager JIM SCHENCK Sports Editor TOM PEACOCK News Ed. Associate Ed. -Feature Editor Asst. Spts. Eds. Sub. Mgr. Circ. Mgr. Asst. Sub. Mgr. Asst. Business Mgr. Society Editor Ken Sanford Ed Yoder Jennie Lynn Vardy Buckalew, John Hussey ' . Tom Witty : Don Hogg "" ...... . Bill Venable : Syd Shuford P o. G O IT1 WASN'T I VOU CAN'T I tt&Y.vww mpm -. f w w m Muni mfirtba' prciN irun KEEPJN'IN ESCROW, SONNY- J TANPOM IT FHNAT0. j FKIVATE PSRSOtftAL, Advertising Manager Eleanor Saunders Jack Stilwell EDITORIAL STAFF Bill O'Sullivan, Ron Levin, Harry Snook, John Beshara, James Duvall. BUSINESS STAFF Al Shortt, Dick Sirkin, Dave Leonard. . . SPORTS STAFF John Hussey, Sherwood Smith, Jack Murphy, Rooney Boone, Larry Saunders. Night Editors: Louis Kraar and Richard Creed L ! f L A B N E R DON'T WORR HONEST ABE V YORE DEAR OLE JWPY WILL. PROTECK VORE INNOCENT ) ' BACHELORHOOD.' f AH IS BETTER Y OM A MUDDY 7 I TRACK.? S w VJAL-TMASS ) V EASIL.V - k RECITES TH' FIFTH AMENDMENT I , f RA'utviAOnC " TUfTALLIK BRINGS OM TH' RAIN .V JlS j ' OVER A JELUYFISH SKULL AN' lf 19 IS MORE LIKE i SV'S -m IT- NOW AH KIN DIG v VIN'ST i ALL THIRTEEN rJZl, S. The Athlete & Money CPU- For many years since the advent of an exten sive system 'of ' highly organized intercollegiate "competition, the academic community has been embroiled in a, sometimes evident sometimes concealed but always bitter controversy over the position to be accorded the varsity athletic " system relative to the other organisms of the uni versity. ' ' Frequently we read of statements by university officials urging the de-emphasis of intercollegiate athletics. Occasionally the statement is accompan ied by specific recommendations to effect the de emphasis but more often than not the official lets the statement stand alone in the field of glittering generalizations to be debated according to the mer its of its interpretations by various persons. For tunately President Gray has made clear, at all times his beliefs on the problem in a very explic it manner. Administrators of other universities : would do well to follow his example. , It has been said that the three primary foun dations of a university are 1) students, 2) books, and 3) instructors.. Let us take for granted that the university has the students. What of the books? It is argued that the contributors are putting a far greater amount of money into athletics, a luxury in its present form, at alma mater than they are putting into books and libraries, necessities at all times if the universities are going to have the power of the infusion of knowledge in its students. The vast amount of money needed to oil the cogs of the athletic machine is beneficial only at the time ' used; whereas, money spent on tomes of knowledge benefits a multitude of suc ceeding generations of students. To document this statement, I would point out that until recently the university of North Carolina had the largest and finest library in the South. Gradually, since the mid-1930's, our library has decreased in size to its present rank of fourth or fifth in size in the South. It does not require any effort to recall that this decline began around, the time of the greatest emphasis on athletics here at Chapel Hill. Let us proceed to the discussion of the faculty aspect of our three fundamentals. Generally, foot ball coaches and other athletic officials receiTe from twice to three times the amount of salary paid to the highest ranking faculty members. Is this intellectual honesty? Is it more important to have outstanding football coaches and good foot . ball teams at our universities than it is to have outstanding authorities in various fields of know ledge and an enlightened population which will be equipped to cope with the serious problems of life and the menaces to our free civilization? Why is it that the universities with the least amount of athletic emphasis are generally the best educa tional institutions in the nation and continually graduate the men who, in future years, will app"ear in the councils of the nation and the world? Assuming that a man comes to college to ac quire an education which will prepare him for the role of active citizen when he graduates, I find it impossible to reconcile with sound educational goals the -practice' of allowing students to partici pate in intercollegiate football when those stu dents do not have the grade requirements for grad uation. Thus it appears that the football players are being exploited by the athletic supremists to. satisfy their own egotism as a graduate of a par ticular college. There is a definite reason for requiring partici pants in intercollegiate athletics to maintain the average required of all other student leaders. Af ter all, doesn't a football player represent the Uni versity as much as a member of the Student Legis lature, who is subject to the grade requirement? It is not so much football or athletics per se that constitute the threat to our educationol sys tem. The practices through which players are brib ed to go to a certain university, paid to stay and play in sports, and accorded special privileges un warranted by any special status are the source of the malignancy of present day athletics. If intercollegiate football, for example, were placed on the same status as student government, if the members of the teams are chosen from the students who apply for admission voluntarily, if athletic team members were required to pay tui tion instead of be'ng paid retainer fees, intercol legiate athletics would once more . return to the important role it deserves as a molder and promot er of health in our Universities. This topic will be fully discussed this evening at 8 o'clock in the Grail Room of Graham Memor ial. Students, faculty members, and townspeople are urged to come and join in the discussion. Lois Hodelavi- Not Always A Girl's Best Friend -Ani; a Anderson. Rings are what belong on fingers or coming from telephone boxes. Rings are not what belong around bathtubs. ' But some people seem to think that rings add something to bathtubs. Rings do add something, all right, but something I can't use. I'm sickTsick, sick of having to remove rings from bathtubs both be fore and after I bathe. I don't mind, removing one ring after I leave the tub because that is my own, but I object to having to scrub two, three, or more rings away. The people who leave their rings in the bath tub are very careless. And I suggest that they eith er abstain from bathing, learn to apply elbow grease !v j l.P6r.manner after they bathe or confine t-.e bathing to their own personal lavatories. th.,vn f.ining the careless ones and posting their names and offenses in the 4orm parlor ml bttervt0,wear ot than to rust out.-Bishop Richard Cumberland.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 15, 1953, edition 1
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