Hurja Tactics
Sirs:
I wish to congratulate you on your expose of the Fascist methods used by our present Administration to maintain political power in your article on Emil Hurja [TIME, March 2]. I had a taste of it in our local WPA and resent to the innermost core of my being this threat to personal freedom and self respect. And what could be more brazen than the frank acknowledgment and the making scientific of a spoils system that smells to high heaven. It is high time we wrested the fate of our citizens from the clutches of the politician and entrusted it to those trained in public administration. Such tactics as those used by Mr. Hurja turn people to the extreme right or to the extreme left.
MRS. PAUL MUELLER
Seattle, Wash.
Let Reader Mueller comfort herself with the thought that under authentic Fascism the spoils system is neither frank nor scientific. -- ED.
Quiet Brother "Stu"
Sirs:
In TIME, March 9, under People there is a description of the versatility and prominence of Charles Evans Hughes 3rd at Brown University. At Amherst College, Henry Stuart Hughes, his brother and second grandson of Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, has achieved fully as enviable a record, if not more so.
Tall and quiet like his brother, "Stu" is not a managing editor (of which there are two on the Brown Daily Herald) but is the Editor-in-Chief of the Amherst Student. Intellectually brilliant, last week he was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is president of his class this year, is one of the three members of his class on the Student Council, and was a member of the student committee of three formed to investigate the class cut system at Amherst. He was the only member of this committee to agree with the faculty committee on a change to an unlimited cut system. Freshman year he won the honored Porter Admission Prize for the highest mark on an examination in Latin, mathematics and English. At the end of his sophomore year he was awarded the honored John Sumner Runnels Prize for "zeal for knowledge and industry to attain it."
Too busy for varsity or fraternity athletics, Grandson Hughes devotes himself to a game of squash three times a week with Charles Seymour Whitman Jr., son of the ex-Governor of New York. He is a member of both junior honorary societies and like his brother, of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Minor activities include membership in the Christian Association Cabinet, International Relations Club, Liberal Club, Model League of Nations, Model Senate and the Debating Council. Other prizes include a debating prize and a Latin prize.
Recognized on the Amherst campus for his intellectual prowess, Hughes used to conduct discussions before a sizeable body of students in his room freshman year the night before history quizzes. Favorite pupil of popular, brilliant Professor Laurence B. Packard, head of Amherst's history department, under the inspiration of this man he has decided to take up the study of history as his life work. His brother is planning to take up architecture, leaving the field of law unexplored by this third generation of a family of great lawyers.
RICHARD S. ZEISLER
Amherst College
Amherst, Mass.
Sexeducation
Sirs:
Congratulations on your plain-spoken and strictly TIME-worthy Havelock Ellis article (TIME. March 9). We will stop publishing our sexeducational magazine as useless if you continue along these lines.
EDWARD L. KEATING
Editor
Married Happiness Magazine
Mount Morris, Ill.
Father & Son
Sirs:
Regarding the bonus:
My father as a boy of 18 enlisted for and served nine months in the middle of the Civil War. He came out entirely unharmed in any way. From the time when a pension was granted to all veterans until his death he received from the Government about $3,000. After his death my stepmother, 23 years younger than he, received her widow's pension of $30 a month, a total of almost $3,000 more. About $6,000 for nine months of service!
I served for about four months as a first lieutenant in the World War. I suppose that I may expect my co-veterans to demand in due course that I be paid about $2,700 for my adventure.
Meanwhile my taxes, of course, are still helping to pay the Government for my father's pension.
GUSTAVUS SWIFT PAINE
New York City
Educators' Bartenders
Sirs:
Frankly delighted at mention of my name in TIME, March 9, nevertheless I must blushingly decline any reputation for acumen, as evidenced by my purported action in adding two extra bartenders for the convention of the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association, held in the St. Louis Auditorium in February.
My knowledge of bartenders is nonprofessional, or perhaps it might be described as semiprofessional. I am no hand at guessing how many drink dispensers are required for a given event. Just so there is one conveniently at hand for my own personal needs I am satisfied.
It is true that the concessionaire who operates in the St. Louis Auditorium did a bigger restaurant business during the National Education Association Convention than the American Legion Convention but this business included food as well as drink. Any extra help that he put on for the N. E. A. gathering was employed, it was my observation, in dispensing chocolate malted milks, orange flips, lemonades, root beer and other such concoctions.
Would appreciate your printing this explanation. I value the friendship of bartenders but do not wish to be anathema to superintendents.
JAMES E. DARST
Manager
The Municipal Auditorium and Community Center
St. Louis, Mo.
Sirs:
... As to liquor consumption at the auditorium bar, you fail to mention there were several hundred commercial exhibits on the same floor level, with over a thousand salesmen representing many firms selling school supplies and equipment. I was constantly mingling with schoolmen and failed to notice at anytime a colleague with symptoms of indulgence. At least the outward manifestation was not comparable to the American Legion convention you mention. . . .
HARRY DAVIDSON
Superintendent
Cannelton City Schools
Cannelton, Ind.
If schoolmen let salesmen do all the hard-drinking at the St. Louis auditorium bar during the N. E. A. convention, TIME stands corrected. -- ED.
Credit for Competence
Sirs:
1 have read TIME for some time. It is easy to criticise, it is difficult to create. If I might I would criticise your criticisms as being too caustic. Especially upon Foreign News -- the British Empire.
I am sure you give the impression that every difficult problem is being dealt with with far less sense and ability than could be done by you, who can have few of the facts, none of the experience nor understanding of the immense variety of cross difficulties encountered.
Why not sometimes give credit for some competence! As a nation the U. S. cannot afford to pride itself on colonial enterprises nor on ability to run things much better at home. I shall enjoy your future copies much more if you could drop those superior caustic wisecracks on subjects you can know so little really.
C. B. Costin-Nian
Lieut. Colonel
6 Balbu Royal Tank Corps
Messa Matruh
Western Desert, Egypt
(Facing the Italians!!)
TIME will continue' to report all the world's important "difficult problems'' fully and impartially. -- ED.
Herald-Post's Growth
Sirs:
It is with regret that we find it necessary to write you in connection with the Story appearing on p. 63 of TIME, March 9.
The story dealing with Mr. Emanuel Levi's leaving the Courier-Journal of Louisville and assuming responsibility as publisher of the Chicago Herald & Examiner is a very excellent one. Mr. Levi's ability is generally recognized. His extremely valuable service to the Courier-Journal and Times is a matter of common knowledge.
It seems to us that these things could have been said, with equal effectiveness, without damaging reference being made to the Herald-Post. The statement in connection with the Herald-Post is untrue. There has never been a 5-year period in the history of this newspaper when operating losses even approximated the sum of $6,000,000.
In 1930 the financial and political empire of James Brown crumbled. The National Bank of Kentucky and the BancoKentucky Corporation were forced into liquidation. Mr. Brown, at that time, owned the Herald-Post and it, as a part of the Brown interests, was forced into receivership.
For the past two years, the present owners of the Herald-Post have been diligent in an attempt to preserve for Louisville and the State of Kentucky this institution. It is a difficult and costly task for a newspaper to fight back to respectability and public acceptance.
However, during the past year the growth of the Herald-Post has established, as far as our knowledge goes, an entirely new record in circulation performance.
On January 1, 1935, the Herald-Post had a net paid circulation of 40,000. Today it has a circulation in excess of 57,000 daily. It is paid circulation; 98.7% of the accounts are collected.
Our average gain in national advertising for the last three months of 1935 was in excess of 160%. . . .
J. M. PRATT
Publisher
The Herald-Post
Louisville, Ky.
Potent Lesson
Sirs:
On pp. 14 & 15 of TIME, March 9, as well as in other news accounts of what happened to General Hagood, it seems to me should be a potent lesson to those of us who pride ourselves on being loyal Americans.
This seems plainly a case wherein a loyal and competent officer was double-crossed by a Congressional committee and by the Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army. The committee asked the private opinion of this officer and promised to keep it in strict confidence; not even his superior officer should have known what his opinion was. His superior officer had instructed him to testify ''freely and frankly," then disciplined him for doing so. Now, should an officer of our military establishment need the consent of his superior officer to permit him to tell the truth as he sees it or express an opinion at the invitation of a House military subcommittee, which committee's conclusion is of first importance in our national defense?
General Hagood's remedy for existing ills seems very sensible and constructive, but, of course, the whole affair will only serve to tear down confidence in our Congress and our Army high command instead of serving the worthy purpose which it should have served.
Such disgraceful affairs are not peculiar to any political group, as we have had them under all kinds of administrations in the past, and as for keeping the military out of civilian politics -- this insults the intelligence of any one who reads or has served in our military forces. Too bad our men in high places can't think and live in terms of Americanism and fairness instead of in terms of rather small and putrid politics.
More power to TIME for plain, unbiased reporting.
J. C. GLOWER
Wichita Falls, Tex.
Unreversed Hagood
Sirs:
In your March 9 issue under Army & Navy you state that Major General Johnson Hagood. U. S. A., is the nephew and reverse-namesake of Brig. General Hagood Johnson, C. S. A.
There is much today that undoubtedly appears in reverse to the doughty General, and your reversal of the name of his gallant kinsman must but add to his confusion.
Sometime during the third quarter of the 18th Century, General Hagood's great-great-great-grandfather, William, married Sarah Johnson of Virginia. From this happy union have descended several Johnson Hagoods, including Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, C. S. A.
A. L. CORNELL JR.
St. Louis, Mo.
Sirs:
. . . He is a plain namesake of Brig. General Johnson Hagood of the Confederacy, and Governor of South Carolina one term of two years, about 1880-81.
J. W. H. DYCHES
Principal
Blue Ridge Mission School,
Buffalo Ridge, Va.
Ungimballed Binnacle
Sirs:
For landlubberish TIME a rebuke from wave-ruling England. You should know that only the compass is hung in gimbals, which are then suspended inside the binnacle. The binnacle itself is never gimballed (TIME, Feb. 10, China, "Junk de Luxe" -- ". . . hung on gimbals like a binnacle").
In case it interests you the word "gimbals" (always plural) is derived from the old French "gemel" meaning a twin, and they may be defined "as two brass rings, which move within each other, each perpendicularly to its plane."
FRANCIS HUGHES
Sales Manager
Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd.
Manufacturers of Nautical, Aeronautical,
Optical & Drawing Instruments
London
Ham Maxim
Sirs:
In reference to the column Milestones, TIME, Feb. 24, I was indeed surprised to find your account so brief as to omit all mention of one of Hiram Percy Maxim's greatest interests: Amateur Radio. Himself the holder of an amateur "ticket" [license], he was the esteemed president of the Amateur's foremost protective interest, the American Radio Relay League. In the hearts of Hams [operators] will he be remembered longest and best. . . .
JOHN F. WAGER
Amateur Radio W9MSF
Student Operator, 9th Squadron Radio Section
Delleville, Ill.
Cavalcade's Pain
Sirs:
Now we know what it is like fo be written about in TIME [Feb. 24]. It's bracing, despite the pain at the seat of the pants. . . .
Apologies if TIME'S editors now have so lost their subtlety that Cavalcade acknowledgments to TIME'S inspiration were not direct enough. We recognize TIME and FORTUNE as the best journalism in the world. . .
WILLIAM J. BRITTAIN
Managing Director
ALAN CAMERON
Editor
Cavalcade London
Tamworth's Young
Sirs:
In your March 9 issue in the Miscellany column you credit Tamworth, N. H. with only six inhabitants all over 90. The original article stated that Tamworth had six inhabitants over 90 and all active. We lay claim to having more than six residents, in fact have 40 pupils in our high school and none of these includes the six mentioned.
OSMAN P. HATCH
Tamworth, N, H.
Springfield v. Freaks
Sirs:
TIME, March 9, described an exceptionally strong boy from Massachusetts. The article closed with the following: "The family have not decided whether to send him to Temple University in Philadelphia or to Y. M. C. A. College in Springfield, Mass. Since he prefers exercise to study, they agree that, like Professor Rogers, he should become a teacher of physical education."
This conveys the impression that it is possible to become a teacher of physical education without much study. Such a statement would have been true 30 years ago but not in any reputable school today. The boy in question would be in for a shock as far as Springfield College is concerned (if admitted at all) to find that, in the four years, he will have to get a regular college course besides his professional subjects. Springfield College does not recruit freaks; nor does it accept muscles as a substitute for brains. Applicants are tested as to aptitudes and then matriculated into one of the three divisions: Liberal Arts, Social Science or Physical Education.
PETER V. KARPOVICH, M. D.
Professor of Physiology
Springfield College
Springfield, Mass.
Does Springfield's Karpovich deny that in many a U. S. college and university, many an athletic numbskull roosts securely in the "physical education department?" -- ED.
Peaceways Advertising
Sirs:
Neither I, nor millions of other World War veterans, either organized or individually, have been able to understand what motive possibly has prompted FORTUNE to continue to publish the advertisements which appeared in your January and February issues under the sponsorship of World Peaceways -- unless, of course, it be the profit motive. . . .
[In FORTUNE for January, World Peaceways' advertisement pictured a disabled veteran resting in his wheel chair beneath the headline: HELLO, SUCKER. Continued the advertisement: "Yes, we know it's cruel ... he went to war. And behold his reward." -- ED.]
I am sure that many World War veterans will agree with you, possibly even a great majority of them that U. S. participation in the World War was in vain, that human life was sacrificed to rescue ill-placed private property. I am equally certain that World War veterans and good U. S. citizens stand almost united in condemning you for using the disabled for purposes of commercial advertising. Certainly every red-blooded citizen must denounce you for calling them "suckers." . . .
In view of the fact that you have carried two such advertisements in successive issues of FORTUNE, I cannot hope that we will be able to dissuade you from further commercialization of your disabled countrymen. I believe, however, you would be performing a real public service if you would refuse to stoop again to such profit-taking. . . .
As National Publicity Director of The American Legion, it will be my duty, upon instructions from my superiors, to call this to the attention of our entire membership. I shall be pleased to have your reply before taking that step.
HAROLD K. PHILIPS
National Publicity Director
The American Legion
National Headquarters
Indianapolis, Ind.
Sirs:
On p. 33 of TIME, March 16, you state that the World Peaceways' advertisements which have appeared for the last two years in FORTUNE are free. I understood that the magazines made a big show of giving the space but actually are paid for paper and printing. What are the facts?
WILLIAM BUESCHEL
New York City
Fact is that for World Peaceways' advertising in FORTUNE, Time Inc. received not one cent. -- ED.
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