Competition for Communism
Sirs:
What democracy is not was expressed by Secretary of State Marshall in Moscow [TIME, March 24] when he said: "To us a society is not democratic if men . . . are not free to express their beliefs and convictions without fear that they may be snatched away from their home and family," and without fear "of being deprived of the right to work or deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The question now arises whether or not we can function as a democracy if the legislation to outlaw the Communist Party is passed. If men can be deprived of the "right to work" because of political beliefs, if men are in "fear" that they may be fired from their jobs because of the illegality of holding certain political beliefs, if under the dubious standard of democracy, men are persecuted for radical opinions, then where is the freedom outlined in the Bill of Rights, the Atlantic Charter, the basic tenets on which our country was founded? . . .
If our way of life cannot compete with Communism in the open, then perhaps there is a deficiency on our part. Are we as truly democratic as we have professed to the world at large? . . .
A. HAMILTON MENCHER
Albuquerque, N. Mex.
Sirs:
. . . Let the Commies go to it. Give them their share of newsprint and radio time, and let them rave. Let them address the D.A.R. in their Washington hall, if they can get an audience. Let them set up a soapbox in front of Independence Hall and holler their heads off. Let them lambast the Democratic and Republican Parties to their hearts' content (both parties need it every day).
If We the People haven't the brains and the will to work out our own political and economic salvation within the best form of government yet devised by man, then we deserve to go Communist and take all the dreadful consequences. Indeed, if we tried half as hard to preserve our Republic as the Communists do to destroy it, we should have little to worry about within the United States. . . .
WILLIAM ALEXANDER McCAIN
Doylestown, Pa.
Sirs:
. . . Communism will flourish wherever living conditions are bad, and especially where there is a wide gulf between the standards of the rich and those of the poor. . . .
If the U.S. wants to defeat the spread of Communism, her job is to 1) broaden the base of economic democracy at home, so as to raise living standards; and 2) lead the fight to raise living standards all over the world through the United Nations. . . .
If we do not have the faith to transfer the policing of the world from unilateral power politics to the United Nations under a system of world law, our political "leaders" are re-enacting the role of Samson in the temple of the Philistines by perpetuating the insane anarchy of war, muttering the shibboleth of "national sovereignty."
HENRY GOTLIFFE
Detroit
Cover Girl
Sirs:
Regardless of Princess Elizabeth's awareness of her royalty and approaching responsibilities, she will be more thrilled with your Boris Chaliapin's cover picture [TIME, March 31] of her true beauty and charm. That is what every girl desires above all else, if she is totally honest. ... It is a delightful illustration and a magnificent reproduction in exquisite coloring and superb composition.
LESLIE H. PEARD
Glyndon, Md.
Sirs:
My favorite story about Princess Elizabeth was . . . told to me by a Briton, but I can't guarantee its authenticity.
It seems that old Queen Mary and Elizabeth went into a small shop in a village near Windsor. Apparently there is an unwritten law in England to the effect that when royalty enters a shop everybody else leaves. So everybody left except a very old lady who didn't seem to understand what had happened. When she spied Elizabeth she said, in a friendly way, "And how are you, little lady?"
Elizabeth drew herself up and answered haughtily: "I am not a little lady. I am--"No," Queen Mary cut in, "she is not a little lady but we hope that some day she will be."
ELEANOR BORATYNSKI
Millbrae, Calif.
Contrary Tampa
Sirs:
More power to John Red [TIME, March 31] if he fed, galloped, rubbed, bedded and cleaned up after eight race horses and one pony at Sunshine Park, Tampa, Fla., and came out of the ordeal with $5,205 winnings. (From personal experience gained when my husband and all hired help joined the army in 1942, leaving me with a like number of thoroughbreds to "do" for, I know that he probably did not visit a barber because of lack of time and energy, not superstition.) But when he "shoed" his own horses, he was going contrary to all I've "heerd" as well as to Mr. Webster. . . .
ALICE B. HEVENOR
Burnet, Tex.
P: If Mr. Webster hadn't wandered off with the shoeless Vouts (see page 12), TIME'S horses would have been properly "shod."--ED.
Wonderful Bastrop
Sirs:
In "The Press" [March 24], you have a letter from a boiling Mrs. Wilson C. Bridges in which she states: "God has provided us with clothes so let's wear them. . . ."
I tried going out on liberty in a set of those God furnished, and only got as far as the barracks door, and I was put on report.
Is it legal to wear those clothes and those only that "God provides," in Bastrop, Texas? If it is, as soon as I get out of the Navy, it's wonderful Bastrop, Texas for me.
H. BARRY
Chincoteague, Va.
Skyline of Culture
Sirs:
Once every week I hurry to the booksellers to buy a copy of TIME, which brings me at least one or two very happy evenings, for when I'm reading TIME I can visualize the things of the world and especially those of your continent and can forget the . . . difficulties of living and turmoils of spiritual uncertainty.
I prefer your pages on Books to any other, for they are now the only window through which we can imagine the brilliant skyline of your new culture, import of books being still banned here.
ICHIRO NISHIZAKI
Tokyo
Tots to Tips
Sirs:
In San Jose, Calif., red-haired M. Gualtieri, the best-known kindergarten teacher at Hester Grammar School, celebrated her first year of unprofitable schoolteaching by deciding to be a red-haired hat-check girl.*
She just can't seem to understand why she should train four long years only to receive $200 per mo. (-;$30) and have to tug & pull to eke out a few "thank yous" & "if you pleases," when she can be a hat-check girl, receive $200 a week clear, and be engulfed in a sea of gratitude.
M. GUALTIERI
San Jose, Calif.
Best for What?
Sirs:
I see that Anne Baxter won an Academy Award for the best supporting drunk of the year, while the award for the best drunk went to Fredric March [TIME, March 24].
Last year Ray Milland was voted the best drunk of the year. . . .
I see also that Olivia de Havilland earned an award for being an illegitimate mother. . . .
HOMER BRIGHTMAN
Glendale, Calif.
P: According to Hollywood, it was the best years of our lives.--ED.
Public Servant
Sirs:
In the March 17, 1947 issue of TIME, there appears under the heading of "Aviation" an article dealing with the Civil Aeronautics Board and its members. The article describes me as a "onetime Washington correspondent . . . Second Assistant Postmaster General in charge of air mail under Jim Farley (his specialty: political chores)."
I am not certain what meaning attaches to the term "political chores." It has, however, a number of implications, any one of which is belittling not only of me but of the Board of which I am a member. . .
As a newspaper man for about 30 years, I held to the belief that fairness and journalistic ethics require a writer to avoid misrepresentation. I still hold to that belief. . . .
HARLLEE BRANCH
Washington, D.C.
P: TIME quoted from an unreliable source, intended no misrepresentation, herewith offers its apologies to Public Servant Harllee Branch.--ED.
Hollywood Prostration
Sirs:
I read with great interest your report of Colonel McCormick's Hollywood visit [TIME, March 31]. I was also very surprised at the caption under the picture: "Hostess Hopper, Guest McCormick, Admirer Sinatra." Hasn't Mr. Sinatra always claimed to be a great liberal? It seems to me that being a liberal and being an admirer of Colonel McCormick are incongruous. Of course, it might be that Miss Hopper's power of the press is too strong for Mr. Sinatra. . . .
HOWARD GREENFELD
Lawrence, Kans.
Sirs:
It was a saddening thing to read about Hollywood's stars prostrating themselves before feudalistic . . . Bertie McCormick. . . . In their blind rush for a dubious publicity, the evanescent celebrities forgot that . . . bootlicking sometimes boomerangs.
JOHN WESLEY NELSON
Jackson Heights, L.I.
The Inheritors
Sirs:
"Neither war, rationing, nor the advent of the atomic age had altered U.S. teenagers' preoccupation with malted milk, two-hour telephone calls and jukebox music" [TiME, March 31].
As one of those teenagers, I resent this attitude. TIME'S article described only a small portion of the high-school students, and left out the vast majority who are sane, earnest, and hardworking. . . . More than ever before, today's students are aware of world problems.
If people would worry a little less about how the "younger generation" is going wild, and a little more about the kind of world that generation is going to inherit, maybe things wouldn't be in such a mess now.
CARROL COX JR. (16)
Benton Harbor, Mich.
The Shoeless
Sirs:
. . . You erroneously reported that Los Angeles youth had invented a fascinating custom--taking off its shoes at dances. ... I wish to claim the honor for the people to whom I think it rightfully belongs--Minneapolis' own West High School. I started at West in the fall of 1943, and during my three years at West I danced shoeless at almost every dance. As did many others. . . .
MARC BERGLIN
Minneapolis
The Vouts
Sirs:
Where, in New Orleans, do Vouts hang out? I am a native of the city, a graduate student at Tulane University, and I have yet to see any Voutian goings-on about the campus, in the fraternity houses or in the drugstores and other places where students foregather. ...
PIERRE A. MOORE
New Orleans
P: Let Reader Moore look sharper at the wonders of the Tulane campus; there lies the heart of Voutian.--ED.
* Said TIME [March 17]: "In Manhattan, red-haired Renee Carroll, 'the best-known hat-check girl in America,' celebrated 20 years of profitable . . . tip-taking. . . ."
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