Letters, Jul. 19, 1954

Reappraisal

Sir:

I want to not only agree with you, but cheer you for your stand on U.S. foreign policy as expressed in the July 5 issue. You have made the basic agonizing reappraisal that needs to be made . . .

TED DOLAN

Chicago

Sir:

Re your story “Alone”:

Only 48 hours before his departure to the U.S., this Anthony Eden takes a special opportunity to villify us in every way before the House of Commons and simultaneously to coddle and caress Russia. If the Russians are so dear to his heart, why didn’t he and Churchill go there and have their talks? Why? Because the “pickings” there are no good . . .

A. B. BUTT

Greensboro,N.C.

Sir:

British Socialist Woodrow Wyatt, speaking in praise of Anthony Eden’s House of Commons speech, says, “Britain has a decisive role to play . . . That role is to civilize the power of America. Today Britain is the respected free nation in Southeast Asia, and I am afraid America is the discredited nation.” Do they, the British, actually feel so smug? Wait until, God forbid, Hong Kong and Singapore go …

MARY M. BOLOTIN Los Angeles

Sir:

. . . Any understanding of our present situation requires an analysis of the intent of Russia and Communist China. We have only one means of gaining that understanding: a review of past events . . . Communist goals are expansionistic . . . and each new conquest … is detrimental to the net balance of power. It follows that there is some point beyond which the balance lies in Communist hands . . . Unless we are willing to lose this balance, there can be no better time to draw the line than now . . .

DAVID CHAFFIN

Rydal, Pa.

Sir:

In your anti-British periodical you repeatedly gibe at British policy during the Munich crisis. Will you please state, clearly and succinctly, what the U.S. government did during that crisis to lessen the danger of war? I suggest that the answer be given, clearly and succinctly, in one word: nothing.

DAVID WILLIAMS

Aberystwyth, Wales

The Great Swede

Sir:

For more than twelve years we have not missed an issue of TIME, and feel that your reporting is consistently good, your scientific articles are intelligently selected and your Religion and Medicine departments always interesting and stimulating, but our church office is flooded with protests against the “caricature” of Emanuel Swedenborg in your June 28 issue. Could you please permit your readers to view a better likeness?

(The Rev.) JOHN L. BOYER

California Association of the New Jerusalem Riverside, Calif.

—I For a more likable likeness, see cut.—ED.

As Otters See Us

Sir:

Re the June 28 story on sea otters: incredible as it may seem, America owes its freedoms today partly to the undoing of the sea otter . . . Theirs were the pelts that lured the Russians to Alaska and California a few centuries ago. The Russians pulled up stakes here only because the vanishing of the sea otter made their stay unprofitable. Who knows what the course of history might have been, if not! . . .

CARL GRAVES JR. Livermore, Calif.

Sir:

Three amiable young sea otters are up there in the Aleutians doing nothing but lolling around the kelp on their backs and combing the remains of sea urchins from their drooping whiskers. How do we reward these splendid creatures for their exemplary behavior ? Drag them to a zoo in Washington, D.C., install them in a bath to be gaped at by the boiled eyes of bored bureaucrats. I give them three weeks in that setup.

L. J. FETHERS

New York City

Hortense, Aggie and Peter did not make it; they died a fortnight after their arrival at the zoo.—ED.

“We in Gettysburg”

Sir:

The citizens of our town are pleased with the excellent color presentation of the Paul Philippoteaux painting of the Battle of Gettysburg that TIME, July 5, published. We are proud of our heritage. It … was given to us by the brave soldiers of both armies who fought here in 1863 . . .

W. G. WEAVER

Burgess

Borough of Gettysburg, Pa.

The Lutheran Family

Sir:

It was a great disappointment to me that the Lutheran Church, no less, endorses birth control publicly [TiME, June 28] … Where does man get the idea that he must answer to God for bringing a being into the world, ignoring the fact that without God’s giving the life it would not exist . . .

HENRY W. HOPING

Albuquerque

Sir: Now that half a million Lutherans have formally approved of birth control, which they presumably were practicing before the vote anyway, how long will it be before a resolution follows ruling out society’s need of marriage in similar phrases—i.e., marriage is an added blessing, not a penalty to be imposed upon the pleasures of sexual relationship . . .

RUTH MCCOLLUM Ocala, Fla.

The Oppenheimer Case (Contd.)

Sir:

… I have long been an admirer of Dr. Oppenheimer and have been very distressed by the decision of the security board. Without your full coverage of the case I would never have learned of the basis for that decision. I must thank you for restoring my faith in the security system of the U.S. The need for such a coverage . . . cannot be overemphasized in these days when all the blacks and whites are grey.

CHARLES P. WERNER Philadelphia

Sir:

You are, unfortunately, completely correct in what you say about the ”widely distorted picture” of the Oppenheimer case resulting from undue secrecy by the AEC security board [TIME, June 28]. The picture which the British press gave was very definitely distorted, and no significant correction of that distortion has followed publication of the full transcript of the evidence . . .

WILLIAM E. DICK

Editor Discovery

London

Addendum

Sir: . . . With respect to your June 28 report on “Miss Germany” being elected “Miss Europe”: any magazine which reports a 38-22-38— item without accompanying photographic evidence cannot be said to have adequately served its readers . . . Please rectify this serious deficiency . . . and rush a full-length picture of Miss Christel Schaak.

JOHN DEL VECCHIO Washington ^ Reader Vecchio is entitled to both photo and addendum: Prizewinner Schaak, after reigning for 48 hours, was disqualified as “Miss” Europe when the sponsors of the contest discovered she had been a “Mrs.” for several years; the title was then given to Runner-Up Danielle Genot (Miss France).—ED.

Tombbusters

Sir:

Re the recent Egyptian archaeological discoveries [TIME, June 7 et seq.]: Are the archaeologists in Egypt now playing a new game of Cheops and robbers?

GUSTAVE VON GROSCHWITZ Cincinnati

Man of the Year

Sir:

… I nominate that sterling exponent of fair play: the Indian named Charlie.

HOWARD FARKAS

New York City

Sir:

McCarthy . . . Even Taft would be proud of him . . .

BILL MACLEAR

San Diego

— I.e., bust 38, waist 22, hips 38.