Billions for Bombs

Sir:

. . . The magnificent cover story on Civil Defense [TIME, Oct. 2] ... was of particular interest to me, as I know it must have been to everyone else who has been drafted for a local Civil Defense job, because it paints vividly the picture which all of us have been attempting to visualize, but have had difficulty getting in the proper focus . . .

STANLEY E. COWAN

Fargo, N. Dak.

Sir:

It was with considerable surprise that I read your article on the preparations that are being made for an atom-bomb attack on New York City. To say the least, and with due respect to the integrity and intelligence of men like Governor Dewey and General Lucius Clay, the preparations, based on what Clay and his staff call "thinking of the worst . . ." are fatuously out of relation to reality. The scope of the preparations, although five years late, are sound, rational and laudable, but if the Civilian Defense Commission cannot lift its imagination higher than its tepid, horrendous hypothesis of one paltry, now almost obsolete fission-type bomb being exploded ... it may as well confine its activities ... to teaching junior to "fall instantly, face down, elbow out, forehead on elbow, eyes shut . . ."

What could be more dangerously ridiculous than the hypothesis that only one bomb would be dropped, only one city or industrial area attacked? . . . Billions have been spent on the manufacture of the atom bomb, and many more billions will be spent on further production and improvements. It is both idle and dangerous to think that these bombs will not be used by either the U.S.S.R. or the U.S. should open conflict break out between them.

STANLEY R. HOCKMAN

Royal Arsenal

Woolwich, London

Who's Bottom?

Sir: I'm loth to be pedantic, but surely wise old owl playing G.B.S. with didn't howl amp;quot;-"Who's bottom is she playing with anyway?]" -- TIME, Oct. 2 . . .

GILLIAN L. EVANS

Toronto

Sir: Who's English are you using?

EDWARD T. DE VOE

Bloomsburg, Pa.

P: That was TIME'S sub-bottom Eng lish. -- ED.

War in Ohio

Sir;

I've always admired . . . the crisp writing and novel presentation of news in TIME. In fact, I've come to take it for granted. However, the communique" on the delightful Harriman-Taft tongue-in-cheek "war skirmish [TIME, Oct. 2] impels me to express my admiration . . .

RUTH BARASH

North Bergen, NJ.

Labour's Compensation

Sir:

. . . Excerpts from your Sept. 18 review of my book [Brave Company] have appeared in dailies throughout the country and have been read over the national radio network. I say this so that you may understand how highly your judgment is valued . . .

I am very sincere when I write that the approval you have given my attempt to show what infantry warfare really was is my great est compensation for the labours it involved.

GUTHRIE WILSON

Palmerston North, New Zealand

Tragic Mishap

Sir:

Re your Oct. 2 article "Death in the Afternoon": Having chosen to ignore the ten or more major road races staged in this country since the war ... in favor of the sensation of one tragic mishap, would it be too much to ask for fair and unbiased coverage of future road races, at which time we expect to return to our usual exciting but accident-free manner of running . . .

G. W. FLEMING S

ports Car Club of America

Syracuse, N.Y.

P: I TIME covered the Grand Prix on its unsensational merits, doubts if even Reader Fleming can foretell the accident possibilities of future road races. -- ED.

The Will to Work

Sir:

As an industrial engineer I can fully appreciate the philosophy of Publisher Harry Grant when he says "I've knocked around, seen the capitalists and the bankers and the industrialists, but I've never liked the system. I just believe the workingman should participate in the fruits of his labor" [TIME, Oct. 2]. Harry Grant is indeed a rare individual among employers. He is practicing enlightened self interest . . . bringing out the best qualities of each individual, and welding them into a team ... He has harnessed their "will to work" . . .

The untapped will to work in American industry, if released by the application or psychological principles, would add 30 to 50% to our production, with a commensurate increase in wages to workers, and profits to management . . .

W. E. HAMILTON

Evanston, Ill.

The Dogma of the Assumption

Sir:

Dr. Geoffrey Fisher's attack on the forthcoming proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption [TIME, Sept. 25] conveys the impression that the Catholic Church is springing something new on the Christian world. Actually, our Lady's Assumption has an ancient and honored tradition . . .

One of Dr. Fisher's distinguished predecessors, Archbishop Lanfranc, who occupied the See of Canterbury in the 11th Century, made our Lady's Assumption one of the principal feasts in the church calendar. King Alfred, who ruled England in the 9th Century, made our Lady's Assumption a public holiday. The seal of Eton College, dated 1474, attests to the Assumption; in that seal Mary is shown upborne by six angels with the arms of Eton under her feet. So it appears that the doctrine of the Assumption was no stranger to England of old, however new it may appear to the present Archbishop of Canterbury.

MSGR. THOMAS J. MCCARTHY

Washington, D.C.

For the Provocation of Simpletons

Sir:

May I take my hat off to U.N. Delegate Warren Austin? I would also like to shake his hand and buy him a drink for his dramatic display of exhibit "A," a Russian machine gun, 1950 [TIME, Oct. 2]. Mr. Malik's dialectic babble that the gesture was de signed for the provocation of simpletons apparently provoked same.

BILL A. CRIM

Los Angeles

Good Will

Sir:

... I read TIME every week literally from cover to cover ... I truly believe -- though I can, news of items course, relating fully to my judge own only in the country -- case that of you have reached an alltime high in objectivity, accuracy, tolerance and humor in the presentation of the news. I also believe your way of transmitting information to be the best means of promoting understanding, sympathy and good will among nations . . .

PEDRO ZULOAGA

Chihuahua, Mexico

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