2
DAILY NEBRASKAN
Friday, March 7, 1941
dioAiat
fonwismt
Sensationalism vs. the faets
Misunderstandings and suspicions brought on a
.temporary crisis in the Prom Girl election this week;
and quite up to par, the out state newspapers, particu
lar the World Herald distorted the facts, overempha
sized the seriousness of the situation, and to an unin
formed person painted an absurd picture of disunity
and belligerency on the campus.
Now the university students don't object to having
activities publicized; certainly if its activities are of in
terest to readers of these papers the students would en
dorse such publicity. But if publicity is released, these
organizations insist that the facts be given as they are
and not colored by the imaginative mind of journalistic
sensationalist.
That this week's friction was not serious is shown
by the ease with which an understanding was reached
Wednesday. In fact no party had officially pledged
itself to support a single candidate. Yet certain pa
pers spread the story half way across the front page,
almost on a par with the stories on the Russian ul
timatum to Rumania and on the work of the legisla
ture. And then to add absurdity to absurdity, they
interpreted the circulation of petitions on the Nebraska
campus as a political maneuver, when in truth official
agents of both parties were pledged to its support.
Counter petitions were distributed by men, who in
themselves had no serious objection to universal subscrip-
Dead Editor:
One should not be particularly concerned with Mas
ter Shields' use of English, even if his use of "imple
mented' and "unbrigeable" seems to be, in his words,
"an abuse of the language."
He apparently has been taught that name calling
is an effective device of propaganda and hopea that repi
tition of "high priests" and "prophets" may so discredit
your columnists that the misinformation, contradictions,
and unfounded generalizations of his own letter may
pass unnoticed. The phrase, "By normal methods Ger
many and the United States have conducted diplomatic
relations," is misinformation. Read Dodd's Diary. It's
contradiction to "our diplomacy has been belligerent"
can be removed only by assuming that normal methods
are belligerent Did he learn that in Political Science?
The phrase, "Nazi Germany has made many treaties
and broken the majority. Of no other nation in the pe
riod is this true," contains far less misinformation.
"Outright aid is a belligerent step" is empty and
meaningless without a definition of his terms. "The
ability of the English to keep fighting is highly prob
lematical" reminds one of a famous statement of the
late Senator Borah. Before making such a statement Mr.
Shields should show us why he rather than Secretaries
Hull, Knox, and Stimson ought to be given credence.
His letter suggests that he might profitably have been
a student a larger pail of his life.
Robert J. Brune.
Dear Sir:
In yesterday morning's NEERASKAN Mr. Currin
Shields pointed out the fact that Mr. Olson and Mr. Or
ial had attempted to rationalize their position with re
spect to the lease-lend bill by a beautiful train of non
sequitur reasoning and a glorious heap of dogmatic as
sertions in tune with the prejudices of the public mind.
Mr. Shields enumerated the statements of dogma made
by Mr. Olson and Mr. Ordal and pointed out that these
statement were nothing more than colored emotional
appeals to the fears and hates which men of their ilk
have promoted in the American people. Mr. Olson and
Mr. Ordal in their turn again attempted to rationalize
their position.
Taking the first statement in Mr. Shields enumera
tion; namely, "the nazis" normal method of conducting
foreign relations is war," Mr. Olson and Mr. Ordal
launched themselves off on the following tangent: "There
are two viewpoints on the use of war as a part of for
eign relations. One is that war occurs when all normal
diplomacy including arbitration, conciliation, and media
tion has failed, and that war is proof of such failure.
Such is the official attitude of the United States.
"The other viewpoint represented by Germans ( note
the continuing attempt to array Americans against the
Germans.) is that war is an integral pail of interna
tional diplomacy."
If the official attitude of the United States is that
alluded to above, why are we not attempting to arbitrate,
conciliate, or mediate in the European crises ? Surely, the
finest opportunity for the implementation of such a pol
icy is at hand. Why instead of continuing to strain nor
mal diplomatic relations, do we not seize upon this gol
den opportunity? Does it not seem that we are like
wise taking the viewpoint attributed by Mr. Olson and
Mr. Ordal only to Germans? Does it not seem that we
have set up an objective, viz., the defeat of Germany,
and are going about. qbtairung it, come what may? Or
have, we admitted that thV "American wav" is fore-
tions, but who felt that more time should be given in
explaining the program to the student body before the
petitions were circulated.
Organizations made to appear in an unfavorable
light by the publicity are justly riled up; and feel that
these- periodic misrepresentations should come to an end.
Being in the newspaper game ourselves we understand
how easy it is for sensationalism to get the best of the
writer. But with university stories, when it is a question
of sensationalism vs. facts. Let's investigate the facts.
Congratulations
. . Senior Council
Last night's meeting of the. Senior Council with its
admirable selection of officers was most gratifying. For
it proved, contrary to the prophecies of the skeptics, that
seniors can forget individual interests and collectively
build something transcending all politics, an organiza
tion aimed at the protection and improvement of the uni
versity itself.
They have started the ball rolling by naming a
set of officers that have an intense interest in the
project before them and have shown in the past con
scientious support of every organization of which they
have been a part. The spirit of these officers in itself
will keep the fire burning brightly, and with the sup
port of the entire group present at that meeting, will
accomplish the ends of the extensive senior program.
That the attention of this group was aimed at pro
moting all campus interests was indicated immediately
by the almost unanimous vote cast in endorsement of the
idea of universal subscription to the DAILY NEBRAS
KAN; by its sponsorship of the senior quiz program; and
by discussion regarding what things this class could
leave for the university before graduation next June.
The composition of the body is all that could be
asked for. It's spirit is genuine. Success in whatever
program it takes up is almost certain.
So congratulations, Senior Council!
X
( V
ALiJ
Behind
the
News
aTiv
Ordal
Ol
MMI
Beneath the
Golden Dome
Lwcw by Art Rivin
Although L. B. 269 is in itself a seemingly innocent
piece of legislation, some very fundamental problems
were raised in public committee hearing on the measure.
The bill concerns the redivision of counties under
supervisor systems to accommodite population changes.
There is a law already in the statutes which would pro
vide this; the act under consideration would set up ma
chinery to accomplish the redivision. "Supervisor" coun
ties are at present divided into seven districts with a rep
resentative from each district. Due to shifts in popula
tion in some counties from country to city, there is no
longer equitable representation according to population.
And here is where the fundamental problem comes
in: Should representation be based solely on population,
on area, on interests or in proportion to taxes paid ? Each
of these theories was supported in committee hearing.
The consideration of each of them has been a problem
not only to county governments but to state and national
governments as well.
Supporters of the bill contended that the cardinal
principle of democracy is to have representation ac
cording to population. They cited examples in various
counties where 1,300 people have ore representative and
another district containing 6,000 people still have only one
supervisor.
One opponent of the bill declared that since the
outlying farm districts pay the lion s share of the taxes,
those outlying districts should have the majority of the
representation in spite of the fact that they have only
a minority of the population.
Another witness expressed the belief that it is neces
sary to distribute representation based on interests and
declared that the interest of the rural and the city
areas in Nebraska counties were different. Immediately
a gentleman stood up to point out that in a dominantly
agricultural area the interest of town and rural areas
were one and the same.
Results of the committee's action will be interesting
since they will reinterpret to some extent the basis for
representation in a democracy.
doomed to failure? Have we decided that the pudding
is bad without having tasted it ? Have we decided that
there can be no peace in Europe without having turned
a hand to obtain it?
Have we become so naive as to believe that this bat
tle is the Armageddon in which the Germans are rep
resenting the host of Lucifer, and Britain and ourselves
are representing the forces of the Lord God Almighty?
Have we forsaken reason and sanity to the extent that
we believe that we can cure the evils of this world
by defeating Germany and overthrowing Hitler? Do we
believe that we can cure smallpox by picking off the
scabs?
Timothy G. Higgins.
,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,
Concerning treaties
The second issue we wish to discuss in clarifying the
remarks to which Mr. Currin Shields took objection iiS
his letter of yesterday is the one of treaty violation.
Mr. Shields wrote: "Germany has made many treat
ies and broken a few. This is true of any nation..." He
goes on to argue that other nations have broken treaties,
therefore they are all alike in this respect.
Technically it is true that all great nations of to
day are guilty of some infraction or other of treaty
obligations. That, however, is a meaningless and insig
nificant observation particularly when it is urged as a
basis for acquiescence in the present program of nazi
aggression.
Fallibility is a characteristic of nations as well as
individuals so that perfect observance of treaties natural
ly is non-existent. The important thing is to examine
the nature of treaty violations and the effect of each
one.
If mutual good faith is to be considered as the basis
of treaties between nations, the roll of German treaty
violations is the most devastating indictment ever piled
up against any modern nation.
In 1934 the nazis made a treaty with Poland, promis
ing to maintain peace between the two countries for ten
years. Five years later, in the dawn of Sept. 1. 1939, the
nazi air force was unleashed in the most savage assault
of unfortified and non-military, and all other, objectives
in the history of organized warfare. Since then the
Poles have been conquered, and their civil, political and j
religious liberties ebminated. J
In the October, 1938, post-Munich settlements the
German leaders pledged themselves by formal treaty
obligations to respect the territorial integrity and polit
ical autonomy of what was lea of the Czechs. Five
months later Heinrich Himmler's Gestapo was filling new
concentration camps in what had been a free states
with its freedom expressly guaranteed by the nazis.
These are but two of many. Others will come to the
mind of anyone who thinks over recent European history.
It has- been suggested that the English and French
violations of Versailles meiit the same condemnation as
the nazi perfidy. That calls for a little examination.
The chief instance in which the French broke the
Treaty of Versailles was in failing to carry out its dis
armament provisions. The thought to bear in mind is
that the French broke the treaty in order (they hoped)
to carry out the first natural and international law which
is that of self-defense.
The complaint against the Germans, as our Presi
dent and Secretary of State have made abundantly clear,
is that their treaty violations are based on aggression, ex
clude the possibility of conciliation and compromise, and
extinguish sovereign states.
Without minimizing the treaty violations on the partis
of the democracies we suggest that it is a fundamental
error to assume that they have been as deleterious In
their effects as the defalcations of the nazi diplomats.
The Daily Nebraskan
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