Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

cancer."Current EventsBy Prof. William H. Russell, Ph.D.NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICEPresident Eisenhower has named John Marshall Harlanof New York as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,to succeed the late Robert H. Jackson. Harlan's grandfather was Justice John M.Harlan, who served on theSupreme Court from 1877 to 1911. Though classified as aRepublican, Harlan is not a politician. He has followed thelaw as a career since 1925, and early this year was appointeda judge of the Second Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Hisappointment will please many people who have urged thatjurists as well as politicians be considered for SupremeCourt positions. The Court now has two other RepublicansChief Justice Warren, and Associate Justice Harold Burton, a Truman appointee. If Harlan's appointment is promptly confirmed, as seems likely, he will participate in thehearings on means of carrying out the decision againstschool segregation. These important proceedings begin inDecember and a full court is desirable.BLOODSHED IN ALGERIAgeria.Nationalist terrorism has flared up in the hills of AlSimultaneous outbreaks at several points in theFrench North African state seemed to indicate some central planning and direction. Eight Frenchmenpro- andFrench natives were killed, and over thirty wounded. TheFrench sent in troops to track down the terrorists, whowere probably aided by Tunisian nationalists. About twohundred leaders of the independence movement known asthe Triumph of Democratic Liberties were arrested. Theoutbreak came just as Premier Mendes-France reaffirmedhisintention to give French North Africa greater selfgovernment.Unlike the protectorates of Tunisia and Morocco, Algeria is an integral part of France, with full citizenship for its inhabitants and representation in the NationalAssembly. The French therefore consider a revolt in Algeriaas equal to treason or civil war.SHIFT AT CAIROGeneral Mohammed Naguib,president of Egypt forover two years, has been deposed by the revolutionary council which has actually governed the country since the overthrow of King Farouk. This action followed an unsuccessfulattempt on the life of Premier Gamal Nasser. Eight shotswere fired at Nasser in Alexandria by a member of the fanatical Moslem Brotherhood. One leader of the Brotherhoodis said to have confessed that Naguib approved the assassination plot. The rivalry between Naguib and Nasser cameinto the open last Februarywhen Naguib was forced toresign as president and premier, then restored to the presidency as a result of popular demonstrations. His prestigehas declined steadily since then. Naguib's ouster, if it ispermanent this time, leaves the 37-year-old Nasser in complete control.Several hundred members of the MoslemBrotherhood are under arrest and the whole partyliquidated if possible.SMOKE CLOUDSwill beThe Tobacco Industry Research Committee has announced grants of $82,000 for six investigations on the medical effects of smoking. The Committee, formed last Januaryby fourteen companies, has $500,000 at its disposal. ItNovember 24, 1954claims that it will not try to influence the research findings,but its interest in the outcome is obvious. For example, theCommittee called "unjustified" the conclusions of a book on"Smoking and Cancer" by Dr. Alton Ochsner, who saidthere was already "massive proof that cigarette smokingcaused lungthe American Cancer SocietyDr. Ochsner was formerly president ofand of the American Collegeof Surgeons. His book urges federal legislation to protecttobacco users.TEMPERANCE FOR FRANCEPremier Mendes-France has finally made public recognition of one of France's major weaknesses, her excessiveuse of alcoholic beverages. The per capita consumption ofalcohol in France is twice as great as in Italy, and threetimes the rate for the U. S. or Great Britain. Two-thirdsof this is in wine, but the use of hard liquor has been increasing. Not only is there a high rate of alcoholism withits usual social and moral evils; but the wine industry,overexpanded under government subsidies, is unbalancingthe whole French economy.Mendes-France's cabinet has adopted measures especially designed to cut down on the manufacture andconsumption of hard liquor. Taxes are to be increased,restaurants and bars forbidden to serve hard liquor in themorning, and the penalties for public drunkenness greatlystrengthened. Advertising will be restricted, and an educational campaign begun against alcoholism. Such controlsare unprecedented in peacetime, and the first reaction ofmany Frenchmen has been cynical if not actually hostile.Mendes-France wants to bolster the French dairy industryand sets a temperance example himself by drinking milkon most public occasions.FRATERNITY BAN UPHELDThe U. S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appealfrom a lower court decision, upholding the right of theState University of New York to bar national fraternitiesand sororities from its campuses. The University trusteesissued an edict against the national societies in October,1953, on the ground that they were not sufficiently subjectto local controls. The ban was part of a program to eliminateracial and religious discrimination at the state institutions.It affects twenty-two campuses, with over twenty thousandstudents. Several Greek-letter societies brought suit againstthe ban, claiming that it violated their freedom of association; but the courts denied this. The organizations will continue on a local basis. Other public colleges and universitieshave already national fraternities, and the University ofMississippi won a court test of its right to outlaw secretsocieties altogether. We have met very few college facultymembers who do not agree that all the institutions wouldbe better off without the fraternities.KANSAS CITY ATHLETICSFinal approval has been given for the transfer of thePhiladelphia Athletics to Kansas City. This makes thethird shift of a major-league baseball franchise in twentymonths, and the second within the American League. Thefamily of Connie Mack sold the Athletic franchise to Arnold(Continued on page 328)323