Confusion in the Firehouse
Sir:
Who says that we don't have a Foreign Policy? The Administration believes that it must be allowed to send all the troops to Europe that it desires, and that this will not provoke Russia. At the same time it believes that we must not use our air power to neutralize supply buildups and air bases in Manchuria, because using force in war may provoke Russia.
If at first glance this policy seems confusing and inconsistent, perhaps it may be clarified by comparing it with a fire chief who sends firemen to House A, which is not on fire, while denying a fire hose to the firemen fighting the fire at House B. The theory being that the fire hose will cause the blaze at House B to get bigger.
RAYMOND H. GRANT
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Ladylike but Wonderful
Sir:
These past months I have so wanted a word that a lady could use, that really said what I meant. Then these last weeks made it a must--and now I have it (your April 30 story on Ivor Brown's rescued words): Mr. Truman is a niffle.* It is wonderful . . .
MRS. MILLARD V. BARTON
Austin, Texas
MacArthur & Mitchell
Sir:
TIME'S April 23 assertion that Douglas MacArthur was the only member of the Billy Mitchell court-martial who voted "not guilty" is one of those interesting little coincidences that must make the lives of your editorial researchers so thrilling.
However, in view of the oath that every member of a court-martial takes--not to "disclose or discover the vote or opinion of any members of the court-martial upon . . . the findings or sentence"--I am very curious as to the source of your information.
LEONARD S. Wissow Roswell, N. Mex.
Sir:
... I have always been a great admirer of Billy Mitchell, and have always held it against MacArthur that he was a part of that disgraceful action by which Mitchell was suspended from the Air Forces. I would like Doug a great deal more if I could be convinced that he did vote to clear Mitchell . . .
HORACE BOREN Dallas
P: See the Congressional Record for Feb. 19, 1947. Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin told Congress that he had asked General MacArthur whether he (MacArthur) had "cast the lone dissenting vote against the guilty verdict." MacArthur replied: "... Your recollection of my part in [Mitchell's] trial is entirely correct. It was fully known to him, and he never ceased to express his gratitude for my attitude. . . ."--ED.
Faith in TIME
Sir:
It gives me great pleasure again to find myself in your pages. Segment by segment I discover myself, as it were, variously listed in the index. I get myself into Letters; I've been in Books and also Radio & TV. Now I have achieved Press [April 30]. I'd love to make Cinema, but despair of Art or Science. Milestones will one day catch up with me . .
Thanks. But I am saddened by the adjective ["Old Standby"]; I've earned it, of course, but hate to be reminded.
Best wishes, even if you sometimes hit low, to a young standby from an old one.
FAITH BALDWIN
New Canaan, Conn.
Solution?
Sir:
Re the French-German agreements: I wish to present an amazingly simple solution to end the agelong rivalry and bloodshed between these two nations:
A law that French men must marry German women and German men must wed French women. The possibilities and implications for world peace in this plan are unlimited.
JAMES T. MCNALLY
Pasadena, Calif.
Pleasant Distortion
Sir:
I appreciate the friendly and flattering report on my entry into newspaper publishing in Natchez, but I want to make one correction with regard to TIME'S April 30 statement that the Delta Democrat-Times helped raise money among Greenville's Protestants and Catholics to build a new Jewish temple. The home folks know this to be an error; they also know how the error came about.
It arises from the fact that for five years, the Catholics and Protestants of Greenville have contributed through the Democrat-Times very substantial sums for the United Jewish Appeal. This heartening evidence of interfaith friendship is widely known throughout the U.S., and in all probability TIME'S reporters ran into a story that has become pleasantly distorted in the telling . . .
HODDING CARTER
Delta Democrat-Times Greenville, Miss.
Others Who Talked Back Sir:
Your April 23 article, "Six Who Talked Back" [high-ranking generals in U.S. history who defied the Administration], is a highly interesting piece of American history. I am wondering if you should not have made it seven, and included Horatio Gates, who, after his successful campaign against Burgoyne in 1777, connived through the instrumentality of the Conway Cabal to displace George Washington as commander in chief of our armies.
W. T. DAVIS
Lincoln, Neb.
Sir:
. . . Lincoln repudiated General John C. Fremont ... for similarly acting contrary to the Administration's policy . . .
Lincoln's appointment of General Fremont to command the Department of the West was most popular ... On Aug. 30, 1861, Fremont, without consulting the President, issued an astonishing, unauthorized order. It declared martial law throughout Missouri, ordered the confiscation of the property of the rebels [and] freed all slaves
. . . First Word of this extraordinary, unauthorized order reached Lincoln through the newspapers.
General Fremont's edict of military emancipation elicited almost universal acclaim throughout the North. But it alarmed the President [and] constituted a serious blow to his efforts to retain Maryland, Kentucky and other border states in the Union ... He issued an order altering Fremont's proclamation so that it should conform to and not "transcend" the act of Congress ... A storm of indignation broke out throughout the North . . . Outraged Abolitionists clamored for the impeachment of Lincoln; and Fremont supporters proposed him as Lincoln's successor . . .
Eventually President Lincoln was compelled, because of the general's provocative conduct, to relieve him of his command . . .
ALBERT A. WOLDMAN
Columbus, Ohio
Park's Paik
Sir:
Eagerly reading TIME'S April 23 story on George Paik, South Korea's Minister of Education, Park College students were surprised to see no mention of their college.
Paik, who came to this country through the help of Park alumni missionaries in Korea, secured his first education in the U.S. at Park, graduating with an A.B. in 1922. His allegiance has always been to Park, and before Seoul's destruction in the war, Chosen Christian University, of which he was president, was known as Park-in-Korea.
CONSTANCE VULLIAMY
Parkville, Mo.
Enough Planes? (Cont'd)
Sir:
I seem to recall that not too long ago one of your Publisher's Letters pointed with pride to the extensive fund of knowledge in the TIME morgue, and how each subject is submitted, to exhaustive research before it gets in the book.
After reading the story, "Enough Planes?" [TIME, April 23], I wondered whether the morgue was still there or your writers had just forgotten to use it.
If they had, I'm sure TIME would not have said: ''And instead of 'freezing' their designs for mass production, most manufacturers were slowing down production from time to time, retooling for improved models." One of the peculiarities of the aircraft industry, which makes it both exasperating and fascinating, is the fact that you just don't freeze designs. The day that happens is the day American air power falls behind for sure.
The industry came closest to freezing designs during World War II, but even then, North American made 32 major changes in the F-51 Mustang and 29 in the B-25 Mitchell.
Back in 1943, "Dutch" Kindelberger [board chairman of North American Aviation Co.] did a piece on this subject entitled, "The Enemy Designs Our Warplanes," concluding with a remark which is the creed for our place. It is: "When we're through making changes, we're through . . ."
EDWARD J. RYAN
Director of Public Relations North American Aviation, Inc.
Los Angeles
P: Reader Ryan is right. TIME was reporting the slow current rate of plane production, did not mean to imply, however, that designs should be frozen.--ED.
Guide
Sir:
As a TV set owner, I want to thank you for your new Radio & TV section, "The New Shows." It's a great help to have an accurate guide to what the new shows are like . . .
C. E. JULIAN
New York City
Sales Volume Defined
Sir:
The story of the merger of Chicago's International Furniture Co. and S. Karpen & Bros. [TIME, March 26] is misleading. Neither firm is top in sales volume as inferred. Kroehler Manufacturing Co. is the world's largest furniture manufacturer . . .
L. W. KELLER
Kroehler Manufacturing Co.
Naperville, Ill.
It's Not So Bad
Sir:
Re: TIME'S April 16 Du Pont story: Congratulations.
A great company, operated by great Americans . . .
JOHN E. DOUGHERTY
Roselle, Del.
Sir:
. . . More articles of such nature should be given on the development of other industries. This would prove to our people that a capitalistic government is not so bad after all.
D. M. KLEMPNER East Chicago, Ind.
* Brown's definition: "A human trifler, a man of straw and self-conceit ... in the popinjay class ... To call a man a niffle is to put him in his place, which is next to nowhere."
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