Hide Article Text (OCR)
2-505Vassar Miscellany NewsPubliN/tr ' ■ %Vol. XXIXPoughkeepsie. N. Y,, Wi dncsday. January 31. 1945Number 19Polit Discussions Mirror Struggles Of Chinese People To Attain DemocracyChili Meng Considers China’s Past, Present’•China’s political position today is the result of its second childhood. said Dr. Chili Meng. Director of China Institute in America, openi ig .he Polii Conference on Frida;,.Glorifying WarChina then emerged from her first childhood and turned away from science and technology toward philosophy and literature. Present day students and scholars of China are interested in military science, but they have found that when imported into China, it did not win wars. Discovering that modern armies fought with fanatical zeal they set about glorifying war, but with little success.Since Pearl Harbor. China’s situation has grown steadily worse, aggravated by internal dissension. She feels that the war in the Pacific has been given too titlle attention by the Allies, but the foun-SiiK'dley, Lyons Clash In Altitude Oil Gov’tDr. Meng explained China’s position today as a result of the •■Beat Hitler first” policy of the Allied powers, which is not to China's liking. As a result of this strategy less than l’ of the Allied military supplies were going to China at the time of Pearl Harbor, thus slowing up the campaign tn the East. The development of China in the future will of necessity be greatly Influenced by the position taken by Great Britain and the United Stales on the issues of international police force, the tariff policy and collective security.Time and SpaceChinese in the U.S. are often asked why Japan has become modernized and industrialized so much faster than China. In reply to this question. Dr. Meng pointed out the importance of the time and space factors. Chine has enjoyed the largest continuous civilization, and from 2.000 B.C. up to the tenth century she was aggressive, imperialistic. and even racialistic. Entangling alliances, high tariffs and interstate wars resulted. Moti, Chinese philosopher 150 years after Confucius, warned that the wars of aggression must be brought to a close.Speaking in the Aula last Saturday on ‘'The Role of Communism in the War,” Agnes Smedley, writer and lecturer on China, declared, *'I despise the Kuomintang because of their terror against the Chinese people.” Defending the Central Government, Jean Lyon, recently returned from China, said that all the Chinese people arei,ling to recognize the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek during this war.Working with the Chinese Communist Armies from 1937 to 1940, Miss Smedley said that the “greatest tragedy” in China’s history came in 1927 when Chiang's government was set up. Miss Smedley compared the situation within China at that time with that within Greece today. The merchants then offered loans to Chiang Kai-shek, representing the Kuomintang party, if he would disarm the peasants. drive the Communists out. and establish ms own government. Chiang agtecd.Vera Micheles DeanSecret TruceChiang's government was recog-n zed by foreign governments bc-ause of its stand against Corn-mintern, and, consequently, against Russia. In 1935. Miss Smedley revealed. Chiang signed a secret truce with the Japanese government, agreeing to di militarize one of tin Ncythcrn provinces, withdraw the KuomirJang troops stationed there, and suppress anti-Japanese movements within the country. Later, she continued. Mussolini trained Chinese for the air force and Germans trained many men for the ground forces.Kuomintang troops attacked a branch of the Communist Army in 1940. killing 4i/00 men and women. The Communists then broke with the Central Government and demanded apologies and reprisals.Miss b nedley is not a Communist and does not think that they are perfect, but she said that she could not help admiring their “magnificence of human spirit.” The Chinese Comtnumsts had been formed in 1920. Lit) they were not under the influence of the Russians.(Confirmed on page 6. col. 1)Griffin Explains Teachers’ UnionStralsky La mis Vie Ihn'imn’ntury FilmMr. Charles Griffin. Professor of History and newly elected president of thy Vassar local of the American Federation of Teachers, lold of the purpose of the union on campus and nationally in an interview with the MISCELLANYNews.About ten years ago New York State passed a “Teachers’ Loyally Oath Bill” which required all teachers to take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the State of New York. Many of those affected by this bill felt that it was the beginning of an unjust regulation of teachers' activities by the State. A group then succeeded in forming the national American Federation of Teachers affiliated with the AF of L. Vassar later obtained a charter from them.By NTkander Strelskv Associate Professor of RussianLiberal Statute“Because at Vassar teachers work under excellent conditions due to the statute written in by •he trustees,” the AFT has been inactive the past years, Mr. Griffin stated. However, it is active in (Continued on page 8. col. 4)Polit Calendar Focu*e* Oti Problem Of PeaceDeanTalksOnUSSR, VictoryOn Saturday. February 3 at 7:30 in Avery Hall the Faculty Film . mmitlee will present two docu-■ entary films of the war, the Liberation of Paris and the Barrie of Russia, T fth of aseries of seven Army Orientation films. First shown about a year ago, it is a composite woven of Russian fact films historical films made in Russia before the war, German and other new pictures, and an excellent assortment of animated maps. Tlte whole production was supervised by she photographer, Lt. Col. Frank Capra, while Lt. Col. Anatole Litvak assembled the film and Capt. An-h my Beillier provided the continuity and commentary. The main theme is the heroic manner in hich the Russian people and the (Continued on page 5. col. 4)Vera Micheles Dean. Research Director of the Foreign Policy Association, will give two lectures before Vassar audiences this week. The first. After Victory—What?, under the auspices of Phi Beta Kappa, will be in Avery at 8:30 on Thursday. The second, as a part of Polit’s program: Problems ofthe Peace, will be at 7:45 on Friday in Avery on the subject Russia as a World Power.Mrs. Dean, Russian-born and an authority on foreign affairs, last spoke at Vassar in October. 1943. As Director of Research of the FPA. she edits all of the Association’s publications and writes many of them herself. Among the best known of these are Europe in Retreat and The Struggle For World Order. Her specialties include Russian and Italian affairs as well as the problems of European diplomacy Distinguished achievement in international affairs made her the first person to receive the Rad-eliffe Alumnae medal, which is “an award of distinction to women of achievement.A graduate of Radcliffe College. Mrs. Dean received her M.A. from Yale and her Ph.D. from Radcliffe. She also holds the degrees of LL.D. and L.H.D. She is a member of the Vassar Board of Trustees as well as an Alumnae Trustee of Radcliffe.The following members of the class of 1945 have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.Margery Abcgg Mary Chandler Bronson Ann Chamberlain Barbara Coe Jane Cooper Elinor Gellert Ruth Lila Lee Phyllis Safarik Eleanor Schwarz Edith TurpinCommunity Church Plans ActivitiesPolit announces its program for b and c terms in which all of itsExpansion is the keynote of the Community Church's recent activities.The three subdivisions have been reorganized into the four new com-
Newspaper Details
Poughkeepsie Miscellany News
Poughkeepsie, New York, US
Wed, Jan 31, 1945
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 19 Sep 2023
Other Publications Near Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie Vassar Alumnae Quarterly
Poughkeepsie Vassar Chronicle
Poughkeepsie Unscrewed
Poughkeepsie Vassar Miscellany
Poughkeepsie Miscellany News
