Current History Sirs:

"It is a gloomy moment in history. Not for many years--not in the lifetime of most men who read this paper--has there been so much grave and deep apprehension; never bas the "future seemed so incalculable as at this time.

"In France the political caldron seethes and bubbles with uncertainty; Russia hangs as usual, like a cloud, dark and silent upon the horizon of Europe; while all the energies, resources and influences of the British Empire are sorely tried, and are yet to be tried more sorely, in coping with the vast and deadly Indian insurrection, and with its disturbed relations in China. It is a solemn moment, and no man can feel an indifference--which, happily, no man pretends to feel--in the issue of events.

"Of our own troubles (in the U.S.) no man can see the end."

The above, though it sounds current, is from Harper's Weekly, Oct. 10, 1857 . . . 88 years ago!

SAM KRUPNICK

St. Louis

Stylesson

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JACKERNER DIXON

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5) To reducexcessiverbiage.--ED.

Bronze Stars & Lucifer

Sirs:

I say Amen to Ruark's article on awards [disapproving the Army's method of distributing them] as quoted in TIME, March 4. As a staff officer in a rear headquarters well out of danger, I had to pass out a number of awards like the Bronze Star and the Croix de Guerre. Most of my boys--officers and enlisted men--were not deceived, and the whole business became a joke. The Legion of Merit was known as the Colonels' Good Conduct Medal. However, there were a number of earnest ribbon hunters, and there was a confusion of values all around. It was obvious that the Commander in Chief determined to make us a decorated Army and Navy, and he certainly succeeded. If I had been a combat soldier, I think I would have been something less than amused. . . .

JEROME PRESTON

Boston

Sirs:

Let's give the Devil his due. Rooney may be a cocky little bastard offstage, but he's a damn good entertainer, with which many another G.I. who stood in a mile-long queue to see his shows will agree. If, indeed, His Satanic Majesty did inspire the Army to award a Bronze Star to Mickey. . .it was not the first time that he acted as advocate of the unworthy, and with less reason. . . .

JOSEPH G. FOSTER

Mifflinburg, Pa.

"Flynn's First Fling"

Sirs:

While reading Lord Byron's Don Juan, I came across a sentence which brought to my mind "Flynn's First Fling" [TIME, Feb. 25]: "Some play the devil, and then write a novel."

AILEEN KWOCK

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Sirs:

. . . "Flynn's First Fling" . . . had better be his last.

JAMES MAHONEY

Rocky River, Ohio

Lip-Readers, Tongue-Writers

Sirs:

You have quoted me as saying that I did not return to my old job as chief editorial writer on the New York Daily Mirror because I decided not to "waste time trying to influence people who move their lips when they read" [TIME, Mar. 11].

That's hoisting a man on his own wisecrack, and properly. But I would like to straighten the quote and explain the origin. When the late, and I believe great newspaperman, Arthur Brisbane, took over the Mirror to haul it out of the red ... I was his pupil and aide. He once wrote me something he said someone had told him. That's as far as I can trace the genealogy of the quote; but it still makes pretty good advice for a young newspaperman or a young politician:

"There are two frontiers of ignorance which challenge an honest editor these days: first, that great multitude who when confronted with new knowledge move their lips when they read and slowly yet hungrily follow each line with a finger; to influence them, and through them, national policy, requires much time and perseverance.

"And second, there is that little group of shrewd men in high places who read with tongue-in-cheek and move no muscle of their faces as they inflict the cynicism of their own interests upon the policies of the nation; to influence such men without joining them requires less time but far greater skill and unyielding affection for the welfare of the multitude.

"Assault upon this second frontier is the sterner test of purpose; the danger is that you will begin to write with tongue-in-cheek, hence no more bite.

"In any case, do not make the mistake of believing that the whole secret of influence is circulation. In politics, many men have found that the best speech is the one made to one man at a time."

REAGAN McCRARY

New York City

P: To Reader McCrary, new executive editor of the American Mercury, TIME'S thanks and applause for having his tongue in the correct writing position.--ED.

Dog's Life

Sirs:

... I saw [Warlord of Mazelaine--champion boxer--TIME, Feb. 25] in a show last year, and I found that he was very conceited in his own doggish manner. Could it be that he realizes his importance in the dog world? I don't think it is like a boxer to act this way, but such is life when you have all the things you want. . . .

DAVID A. GILMORE

New Hampton, N.H.

Slurs & Anathema

Sirs:

Why does TIME consider price controls as being such an anathema to free enterprise? . . .

XAVIER SCHWARTZ

Winnipeg, Man.

Sirs:

. . . The March 4 issue is certainly a slur at the common man's help and protector, OPA. . . .

R. BEECHER SPEES

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

P: Said Chicago OPAdministrator Rae E. Walters (TIME Letters, March 18): "We . . . were surprised and pleased to find TIME so ably presenting both sides of the story of inflation. . . ."--ED.

Yamashita's Uniform

Sirs:

Your statement concerning Yamashita [TIME, March 4], "Lieut. General Tomoyuki Yamashita strode up its 13 steps, his big bulk dressed in a U.S. Army fatigue outfit-the symbol of military disgrace ordered by his conqueror, General Douglas MacArthur," was a terrible reflection on the millions of men who wore the fatigue uniform performing honorable duty, and a reflection on General MacArthur's judgment in ordering it that way.

All this "blood, sweat and tears" you read about was done while wearing the fatigue uniform, and I have seen scores of my Infantry buddies die in their blood-stained fatigues.

The fatigue uniform is part of the Army dress, just the same as any other uniform, and the wearing of it makes a man no less a soldier. . .

(EX-SGT.) JAMES P. VAIL

Jersey City

P: Yamashita's military disgrace was not the U.S. uniform but the fact that it was not Japanese. -- ED.

"God's Corner Lot"

Sirs:

Relative to the article "God's Corner Lot" [TIME, March 4], why not change the location of the church as suggested [from Manhattan's Fifth Avenue at 48th to the East Seventies], spend $1,000,000 of the profit for a new edifice, and $2,000,000 to feed and clothe Europe's starving, freezing children?

Christ would as soon be worshipped in the Seventies as in the Forties.

JOHN C. GREEN JR.

Glen Head, N.Y.

Lend-lease -- Final Score

Sirs:

... I take the liberty of correcting an inaccurate statement contained in your Feb. 11 issue, which stated . . . that "Great Britain got 69% [$30,269,210,000] of U.S. Lend-Lease. Of Reverse Lend-Lease, which added up to $6,256,000,000, most of it, $4,000,000,000, came from Britain."

The facts . . . are that not only Great Britain but the whole British Empire received 69%, and gave back $5,921,000,000 in Reverse Lend-Lease. This figure was 94.6% of all the Reverse Lend-Lease received by the U.S. . . .

LAWRENCE HUNT

New York City

P:I TIME erred; sound as a dollar are Reader Hunt's figures. -- ED.

Arrogant Definition

Sirs:

. . . Fletcher Pratt performed a public service when he exposed the Army and Navy's fraudulent press relations and censorship practices [TIME, Feb. 11] during World War II. . . . Actually, the Navy has no concept of public relations. One Annapolis arrogant thought [the term] meant kinfolk on charity! . . .

NORMAN W. RAIES

Mount Hope, W.Va.

Note on a Footnote

Sirs:

... A footnote to a recent article of yours [TIME, Dec. 17] unjustifiably criticized Rip's Tennis Courts at 39th Street and Park Avenue, New York City. . . . These courts are well-laid-out, well-surfaced and well-run. . . .

Among the players who use and have used these courts with a great deal of enjoyment, we can name Miss Alice Marble, and Messrs. Donald Budge, William Tilden, Frank Kovacs and many others -- even some of the editorial staff of your own magazine. . . .

HENRY STEEGER

New York City

P: TIME'S tennists, rank amateurs all, bow to the more rugged pros. --ED.

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