Old Russian Habit Old Russian Habit Sir: Long before ace reporters were ever born to cover the Geneva Conference, William Shakespeare knew the Russian tactics and types of talk bandied by them (Love's Labour's Lost): We jour, indeed, confronted were with four In Russian habit: here they stay'd an hour, And talk'd apace; and in that hour, my lord, They did not bless us with one happy word.

MIREILLE DE FISSE Marseille, France

P:Added Shakespeare:

. . . Frozen Muscovits . . .

Will they not, think you, hang themselves . . . ?--ED.

The Heroes of Dienbienphu

Sir: Your reporting on "The Fall of Dienbien phu" [TIME, May 17] was a masterful exhibition of journalism.

CLARENCE CURRY JR. Omaha

Sir:

. . . This tragic fight at Dienbienphu, instead of splitting French opinion, brings unanimity and greater courage for the ever-increasing majority of French non-Communists . . . Americans should not perpetually sneer at our French government for being lousy; they should try to improve their own . . .

FRANC,OIS BALLANDE Boulogne-Billancourt, France

Sir:

. . . Was it necessary to say so bluntly [May 10] that "the U.S. had counted postwar France as a great power, and in agonizing reappraisal, the U.S. now knew that this had been a great mistake"? . . . Surely the defense of Dienbienphu was in the highest tradition of French arms . .

CHARLES H. RUSSELL New York City

Sir:

. . . Why do we try to play ball with the decadent French nation, which is eroded by Communism, De Gaullism, money-bagism, and political frustration? Apparently it will not . . . face up to the necessities of unity, discipline and responsibility . . . Let's have the "agonizing reappraisal" and shape a policy of action that will omit France from any plans as a key factor for defense of the free world.

MARGARET M. KELLY Long Branch, N.J.

China's Red Bosses

Sir:

Many thanks for all your enlightening news on Chou En-lai [TIME, May 10] -- the kind of information so badly needed. You handled the deadliest weapon against the threatening Communistic . . . systems in the widespread publication of the naked truth on the personalities of these Red gods and the crimson trails of their careers ... I have no doubt that the terrible truth of such consistent information will have greater effect than the now flourishing hate campaigns launched by the Russian press . . .

R. DOORMAN Lagos, Nigeria British West Africa

Sir: During the days of the united front in China (1938-39) before the Stalin-Matsu-oka pact, my husband [George Fitch] went to Yenan from Chungking with Chou Enlai.

The truck on which they traveled was so overcrowded that they rode atop the driver's cab. At that time, Chou--as well as the other Chinese Communist leaders--wore peasant garb and espoused poverty. Chou was very friendly; Mao Tse-tung even asked my husband to come back and organize a Y.M.C.A. in Yenan. Both, however, told my husband that no Christian could join the Chinese Communist Party . . .

In 1946 my husband was regional director for UNRRA in Honan, where a stupendous project for land reclamation was being implemented by the Nationalist government . . .

The project involved . . . negotiations with the Communists, since [the Yellow River] ran through territory which they controlled . . . Communist Chou proved a hard bargainer. The Nationalist government was to pay for the dike repair; UNRRA must furnish flour for the workers -- 5,000 tons, to be exact. Up to that time, only about 35,000 tons of flour had been received for all of China. By this time the taste of power had changed Chou in other ways. Instead of the peasant garb of Yenan days, he wore imported British woolens, fine silk underwear, sported a gold-mounted toilet kit. Mr. Fitch offered Chou En-lai his own bed, said he would sleep on a cot. Contrary to all tenets of Chinese courtesy, since Mr. Fitch was a guest in his country and a much older man, Chou accepted. Power . . . goes to one's head, and the Chinese Communist, still mouthing hollow promises, is no exception.

GERALDINE FITCH Leonia, N.J.

Shine on Schine

Sir:

Is that beautiful, modern, triple-tier halo that you picture in your May 10 issue flying away from Private Schine or coming in for a landing?

ALVIN IVES Scarsdale, N.Y.

Sir:

Is the "halo" . . . given by McCarthy in lieu of an Army promotion ?

MITCHELL S. SELIB

Boston

P:Neither stars nor halo; merely a chandelier.--ED.

The Greenbelt Affair

Sir:

If there is anyone who still doubts that McCarthyism is a clear and present danger to the country, let him read and ponder your May 10 story on Abraham Chasanow of Greenbelt, Md. At a time when students in colleges and universities are urged by their elders to become active in civic affairs, the plight of a man who has devoted 13 years to unselfish service to his neighbors and his community is not reassuring. You are to be commended for digging out and printing Chasanow's story.

JOHN RYLAND SCOTFORD JR. Yonkers, N.Y.

Sir:

One of the Navy's charges against Chasanow included "subscribing to the Communist newsletter In Fact." It is obvious to me, editor of In Fact from its inception in 1940 to its death in 1950, that the Navy acted without consulting the Department of Justice.

Several times in the decade I had reports of similar charges against Government employees. I took this matter up with Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, the Department of Justice and the Loyalty Board. In every instance, orally and by letter, I was assured by all Government officials that my newsletter was on no subversive list . . . On July 1, 1953 I appeared before the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations (Senator McCarthy, chairman) and testified under oath that I had never been a member of the Communist Party and that In Fact was not in any way associated with that party. On July 2 it was reported in the press that Senator McCarthy "said later that Mr. Seldes and Mr. Freeman had sworn that they are vigorous antiCommunists, with Mr. Seldes testifying that he never had had Communist affiliations. Neither of the two, Mr. McCarthy added, would be called to public-hearing questioning."

Nevertheless, since last July the old false charges keep appearing. If they were true, I would be liable for prosecution for perjury. What more can a man do to clear himself than testify under oath before a Senate committee?

GEORGE SELDES Westport, Conn.

Sir:

... It is good that a respected magazine like TIME should tell the story; otherwise we would not believe that such a shameful thing could happen ... It is your ministry to remind the public again and again of the consequences of hysterical antiCommunism, which loses sight of the real enemy in the confusion which it itself creates.

Keep hammering ... at the difference between the Communists, who are a very real danger, and loyal citizens, whose rights to think for themselves, to make mistakes and to change their minds, are being taken away.

FREDERICK JENKINS New Haven, Conn.

The Magazine of Sport

Sir:

In better days, J. M. Patterson and R. R. McCormick offered a prize of $25,000 for the winning title of a magazine they were preparing, and they paid the money to somebody for the name Liberty. TIME [May 17] now announces that [TIME, Inc.] will publish a weekly covering sports, and that it has not yet been titled. For anything from $25,000 down--but anything--may I suggest that this new publication be named SWEAT?

JOHN CHAPMAN New York City

Sir:

. . . Why not call it SCORE? There's one in every game.

FRANCES E. TOOHEY Fort Lee, N.J.

Sir:

I suggest . . . GO . . .

NORMA SUE WOLFE Richmond, Va.

Sir:

... I bet nobody ever thought of calling it MUSCLES.

ED ADAMS Chicago

One Touch of Venus

Sir:

You report in the May 17 issue that National Geographic's new editor John La Gorce's office is "cyprus-paneled." How I envy him! Mine is cypress-paneled, but lucky La Gorce's is paneled with the birthplace of Venus.

C. A. PAUL Elkin, N.C.

P:TIME'S Press section is appauled.--ED.

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