Letters, Jan. 13, 1958

Paging the Pentagon

Sir:

Enjoyed your Dec. 23 article, “Break Up the Joint Chiefs.” I feel that the military situation would be enhanced greatly if this were done. As a starter, the Pentagon should conduct a thorough study of the German World War II Armed Forces Supreme Command. They might find many fertile ideas.

LEWIS ELVIN Arlington, Va.

Sir:

In advancing the views of Generals Doolittle and Gavin, TIME has accepted at face value the statements of two officers renowned for extreme partisanship on behalf of their own services. There are military men of sound and sober judgment in Washington today who are willing to place national interest ahead of interservice politics. To the extent that the Indians in the Pentagon will let them, they are slowly succeeding. The men I refer to are the chairman and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

M. B. TWINING Lieut. General, U.S.M.C. Quantico, Va.

Electing a President

Sir:

It is now apparent that the American electorate made a mistake in electing Eisenhower instead of Stevenson in 1956. Stevenson should be elected President in 1960, but to be elected, he must first be nominated. The politicians who nominate often lag behind the people who elect. I hope that the Democratic politicians do not compound the past failure of the electorate by refusing to give the American people the democratic opportunity of correcting an error.

STANLEY A. FRANKEL Scarsdale, N.Y.

Sir:

The job of President is too big for any one man; the country should be run by a Supreme Court. Too long the fate of the nation has been in the hands of mere politicians, among whom there is not a statesman in a thousand carloads.

CHARLES OVERILL Santa Ana. Calif.

Bulldog Buchwald

Sir:

Thank you for the hilarious Dec. 30 article, “Summit Simmer.” May I suggest that Art Buchwald of the Herald Tribune take over as White House Press Secretary? At least he has a sense of humor, something totally lacking in Ike’s little bulldog.

ALBERT M. GROSSMAN Philadelphia

The Holts’ Story

Sir:

The Holts’ story was like a mountain breeze on an August day in Iowa.

BARBARA J. HAND Council Bluffs, Iowa

Sir:

Seeing the picture you had [Dec. 23] of the Holt family and the eight Korean-G.I. children they had adopted was a highlight for me in the holiday season. One of those eight was a little girl that I picked up from the mud of a paddyfield in Korea 2½ years ago. She was frightened and ostracized by the other village children. I came in contact with Mr. Holt on his first trip to Korea, and this little girl was one of the first he adopted; I shall always remember him for his genuine love and concern for the destitute children of Korea.

TALMADGE F. McNABB Chaplain (Captain), U.S.A. Fort Benning, Ga.

¶For the same little girl, now five-year-old Christine Holt, see cut.—ED.

The Moppet Market

Sir:

You did a masterly summary of the children’s book situation in this country. It had just the right blend of historical and contemporary, commercial and literary.

DOROTHY HANSEN Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Sir:

Thank you for the very generous treatment you gave me and my work. Of course I can’t agree entirely with your thought-provoking article, but definitely, from now on, all the millions of parents and all the Aunt Emmas who will read your article will take a closer look at the new book they bring home to fill an empty moment in a child’s life; and they might worry a little too (along with all of us who work on children’s books and worry a lot) how the child will receive and react to the new book.

Louis SLOBODKIN New York City

Sir:

May I suggest that the person responsible for your article visit the children’s department of the local public library, especially during story hour, before drawing further generalizations about “the grey eminences that keep things so grey.”

B. M. SULLIVAN Boston

Sir:

I was happy to see in your delightful article special mention made of the wonderful children’s classic (and my favorite) The Poky Little Puppy. Couldn’t you have told who the author is?

ROBERT McCARLNew York City

¶Janette Sebring Lowrey.—ED.

Europe’s New Churches

Sir:

Your Dec. 23 pictures of contemporary church architecture are an inspiration toward a better architectural environment for all people.

S. ROBERT BRONFEN Berkeley, Calif.

Sir:

I notice that the Roman Catholics are at last building churches that are in good taste; far too many of them have exhibited appalling taste in the past, particularly in their church interiors. Old-fashioned parlor frills, shrines and plaster statues with painted faces resembling Kewpie dolls have no place in a tasteful church interior, and reduce it to the level of the 5 & 10¢ store. Church interiors and altars that reflect peaceful dignity and serene beauty are nearly always found among the Lutheran and Episcopal churches. It looks as though the Roman Catholics have taken a lesson from them.

CHARLES GRANT MARLOWE Berkeley, Calif.

Cause & Effect

Sir:

That was a very fine article on the problem drinker [Dec. 23]. It is heartening to know, and I will frankly admit I never knew, that so many leading American companies have such excellent programs for rehabilitating alcoholics and that they are making a success of it. However, I feel that they are dealing with the effects. They should put forth the same amount of time and effort to remove the cause—provided that our churches wake up and help them as they should.

CHARLES DOESCHER Waterbury. Conn.

Sir:

TIME’S excellent summary of a “cure” for industry’s $1 billion hangover is a superb contribution to the awakening of business and industry to a responsibility.

ELIZABETH D. WHITNEY Boston Committee on Alcoholism, Inc. Boston

Black Bishops

Sir:

Anglican dioceses in Africa also have black bishops [Dec. 23]. The 620,000 Anglicans in West Africa have eight natives in the episcopate, and the million Anglicans in Central and East Africa have six more. The policy of advancing native Africans to the episcopate is not a recent Anglican practice; the first such was a rescued slave, Samuel Adjai Crowther, who was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral in 1864. He served as bishop on the Niger for 27 years.

(THE RT. REV.) JOHN S. HIGGINS Bishop of Rhode Island Providence

Sir:

An extremely interesting article on the growth of the Catholic Church in Africa. The term “blacks,” however, might offend many. Shouldn’t you refer to them as “native clergy”?

EVELYN HAETTENSCHWILLER Sauquoit, N.Y.

Sir:

I was honored by your fair review of my book. As you say, the new Roman Catholic native bishops often descend from kings (or chiefs) of cruel ancient tribes. It was France and the other powers that freed the numerous slaves of these kings and chiefs. As the example of Ghana already shows, by gaining “independence” too soon, the natives often lose their individual liberties in a new theocratic dictatorial state, where politics is in the hands of the clergy and feudal families. In such a “clerical” state, democracy and human liberties—liberty of expression and of conscience—are bound to be in regression.

FRANÇOIS MÉJAN Paris

Sprinkling Good Will

Sir:

TIME quoted TV Director John Frankenheimer as he directed a Playhouse goscene set in a police station: “…The ceiling is too beautiful. I want it cruddy. Put sprinklers in it.” We feel that this is offensive. The automatic sprinkler industry has done an outstanding job over the years of saving billions of dollars in American property and has saved countless lives from death by fire. Automatic sprinklers do not produce a “cruddy” appearance any more than radiators, light fixtures or electrical devices.

RAYMOND J. CASEY National Automatic Sprinkler and Fire Control Association New York City

The Catholic Candidate

Sir:

The letters you published from bigoted, ignorant people, who say why they would not vote for Senator Kennedy for President, are a disgrace. They help to show why a good many people are not fit to vote.

HOWARD GADLIN Forest Hills, N.Y. Sir:

Concerning the letter of John R. Stevenson of Yoder, Wyo.—by all means, no Kennedy for President. He is a Catholic, and all Catholics are bad. His grandfather was a saloonkeeper, and they are all bad. He comes from a town where 99.9999% of the folks have never heard of Yoder, Wyo. Man! That’s real bad!

RAY HACKETT Chicago

Gopher This?

Sir:

We all got a bang out of your Dec. 23 People item on the lion Mary Hemingway shot. I know how she feels, I once shot a gopher that way.

MRS. HARRY UPTON Webster, S. Dak.