Socialist Do-Gooder

Sir:

. . . TIME [Feb. 6] says: "By temperament, training and conviction, Clement Attlee was as far from being either a spendthrift or a dictator as any man could be" . . .

[Attlee] is an "objective" and ruthless man, and his behavior is typical of the Socialist do-gooder, who would sacrifice any person to his own beliefs.

CHARLES WEEKS Atherton, Calif.

Sir:

At long last you have seen fit to pay a tribute to Clement Attlee. Like our own General Marshall, he was one of the gyroscopic personalities who helped lead us to victory during World War II without ever receiving his full measure of praise . . .

WALTER B. SMALLEY

Washington, B.C.

Sir:

. . . Perhaps if Friend Attlee had majored in ancient history instead of modern, he would have discovered that ancient Rome tried the welfare state idea with the result that finally about one-third of the citizenry were on government payrolls . . . The lesson is obvious . . .

JOE PASK VAN Mountain View, Okla.

Hard Work & a Generous Government

Sir:

It was with considerable interest that I read your article concerning Farmer William L. Booth and the "Hoosier Hawaiian Air-A-Van" [TIME, Feb. 6].

I thoroughly sympathize with Farmer

Booth for having to arise at 4: 30 a.m. and for working so hard for what he has today. What Mr. Booth and the majority of the members of this noble undertaking do not realize is that there are millions of other people not engaged in farming, who have worked just as hard or harder, and do not have the benefit of being coddled by a more than generous government that spends billions of dollars on their behalf . .

ALBERT PAPA Austin, lexas

Potent Examples

Sir:

Concerning your Feb. 6 article, "The Sisters of Abigail Adams," Sister Bellamy's cheesecake is undoubtedly a potent example of the omnipotent female bludgeon of sex ; but for a more apt manifestation of "the most invincible feminine weapon of all," TIME should turn to the Ogden Nash and S. J. Perelman version of Venus, who --. . . found herself a goddess

In a world controlled by gods,

So she opened up her bodice

And equalized the odds . . .

JOHN L. COOLEY

Forest Park, 111.

Lincoln at Clinton

Sir:

Referring to your article, "Dishonest Abe," in which you assert that Lincoln said, "You can fool all the people some of the time . . ." etc. [TIME, Jan. 30] . . .

It is almost universally believed that Lincoln coined this epigram in a speech at Clinton, 111. on Sept. 2, 1858 (usually misdated Sept. 8). While it is not printed in the text of the 12-volume Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln (1905), the editor, Francis D. Tandy, gives it a qualified certification in a footnote to the report of Lincoln's Clinton speech, and reproduces it without qualification in the anthology which accompanies that compilation.

It should be remembered, nevertheless, that . . . not until 1905 -- long after the remark had won a secure place in American folklore -- did several men who had heard Lincoln speak at Clinton come forward to assert that he had used these words . . . Naturally, implicit confidence cannot be placed in their statements. Moreover, several who were present at the Clinton meeting had no recollection of Lincoln's use of the epigram . . .

ROY P. BASLER The Abraham Lincoln Association Springfield, 111.

Twenty Years for Dr. Binger

Sir:

In reporting on the Hiss case in your Jan. 23rd issue, you said that Dr. Carl Binger admitted on cross-examination that he had "specialized in psychiatry for only 'about three years.' " Actually, he testified that he had specialized in psychiatry for about 20 years. The "three years" referred to his work in psychiatric clinics in the early '305, following his return from studies in London, Heidelberg and Zurich. I trust you will correct this mistake, which reflects upon Dr. Binger's long and distinguished career as a psychiatrist.

LLOYD K. GARRISON New York City

Drawings for Diversion

Sir:

In your Jan. 30 report on Eric Partridge's Name into Word, you say: "[In 1759], France's finance minister, Etienne de Silhouette, introduced a series of such niggardly reforms that his name became a synonym for anything meager, and finally for a portrait in barest outline."

May I call your attention, and the author's, to Volume 5 of the Memoirs of the Prince de Talleyrand (A. Hall, 1891-92), where reference is made to the fact that while in office M. de Silhouette showed symptoms of insanity: "This Minister gave his name to those drawings which represent a profile traced round the shadow of a face . . . One of his chief amusements was tracing such portraits on the walls of his chateau, which were soon covered with them. Society did not fail to turn this little diversion into ridicule, and called the drawings by the name of their author, a name which they have always retained."

HANS J. MORGENTHAU

Professor of Political Science The University of Chicago Chicago, 111.

Speaking of Silhouettes

Sir:

In the write-up of The Devil's Disciple [TIME, Feb. 6], featuring a picture of Maurice

Evans (see cut) . . . Mr. Evans' shadow is a perfect silhouette of America's most beloved cowboy, Will Rogers.

(MRS.) WM. J. BARKER Detroit, Mich.

High Tension

Sir:

TIME'S Feb. 6 item, "High Tension," fails to mention that Ferranti Ltd. had offered Seattle transformers completely to that city's specifications at original price, eight days before their bid was rejected, also that the city purchasing agent had full legal authority either to accept this offer or to reject all bids and readvertise. The city purchasing agent had Ferranti's written assurance that they would submit a new bid completely in accordance with all the fine print in the specifications, at a price which could have saved Seattle taxpayers almost $250,000.

F. ROSTRON

Export Sales Manager Ferranti Ltd., England New York City

-I Nevertheless, TIME shares with such authorities as Lincoln Biographer Carl Sandburg the almost universal belief that Honest Abe coined the phrase.-En.

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