Aftermath in Cuba

Sir:

Nothing will convince me that democracy has at last arrived on the Cuban scene. Fidel Castro and his entourage of pinko opportunists are only adding another act to the Cuban tragedy. Batista and Prio were not much as practitioners of freedom, but I'm sure most Cubans and Americans were shocked to hear dictatorese spout from the hirsute hermit so soon.

R. PLUM Fairmont, W. Va.

Sir:

The roar of self-righteous voices raised against the "horrors" going on in Cuba is being heard from one end to the other of the country. This outcry would have more validity if a similar outcry had reverberated for the past six years when the horrible torturing of people by the "government" of the unspeakable Batista, for no reason even rationalized, except to keep a dictator in power, was the order of the day.

DEAN M. STEWART Independence, Kans.

Sir:

Because Batista acted in a manner unfit for a man, Castro cannot expect the world to accept him now as judge and executioner. The world has had enough of all that one-man brutality. Even in Argentina, where surely there was cause, there was little vengeance.

PATRICIA B. SMITH Royal Oak, Mich.

Sir:

I am compelled, though I am about ten months early, to nominate Fidel Castro as TIME'S Man of the Year. We here in America should take an example from him. He fought for a democracy for 5 1/2 years. How many days would we Americans fight to keep our democracy and freedom from becoming a dictatorship?

ROBERT W. JONSEN JR. South Euclid, Ohio

Sir:

Who is Urrutia kidding when he says the captives will be tried "in the same manner as war criminals were tried in Germany?" The Nurnberg tribunal condemned twelve Germans to hang. Now Castro's regime is slaughtering hundreds.

WILBURN W. NEWCOMB Bloomington, Ind.

Sir:

Now that there is no longer any censorship in Cuba, I want to tell you what a great service TIME performed during the past year. Because you had to print it in the U.S. more often than not, it often arrived late--but it arrived, and was the best way we had of keeping in touch with what was going on right here. That Dec. 1 map showing which parts of Cuba were under Castro control was the first information many of us had that the July 26th movement had won control of so much of this island.

PAUL M. HEILMAN

Havana

Sir:

Can you tell or show me what Senor Castro would look like without his barba and/or his rifle?

RAMON ROSAMILIA New York City

Nick & Cy

Sir:

So Cyrus Eaton says: "The only people in the U.S. who believe that Communism is a menace are the boys on the payroll of the FBI [Jan. 19]." He should thank God for the comparatively few boys on the payroll who are protecting his millions along with our freedom.

MRS. MARVIN E. MAGUIRE Fowler, Ind.

Sir:

When Mr. Eaton made the comment on the FBI, he was only partially correct. He should have added the Roman Catholic Church and the not-so-American Legion. I'd like to see more men with power and money, like Cy Eaton, make their power felt in areas where it counts. If there were more Eatons and less Dulleses and Nixons, there would be less tension and division in the world.

HARRY GOLDENBERG New York City

Sir:

There is one thing Mr. Cyrus Eaton and I have in common: both of us have been in Russia. He was lavishly entertained by Communist tyrants as their personal guest. I have been their "guest"--cutting down the trees in Siberia. At that time I was 16 years of age, one of 1 1/2 million Poles deported in 1940. ZOFIA ROSOL Toronto, Ont.

The Memory Lingers

Sir:

Anastas Mikoyan left this country after being advertised by the press as an Armenian. The overwhelming majority of Armenians are not Communists, and, contrary to Mikoyan's disavowal of God and religion, they are ardent Christians. Only a few months ago another Armenian, Cardinal Agagianian, was prominently mentioned as one who was a strong prospect to be elected Pope. All Armenians are not Mikoyans.

VINCENT YARDUM New York City

Sir:

California fell flat on its face for the Soviet sucker-play. After witnessing it all, it was with a vast feeling of relief that I was able to pick up a copy of TIME and find that its editors had not been taken in as had the nice people here.

HAL DIRKSEN Los Angeles

At Home

Sir:

I was surprised to learn from TIME'S "Alien Corn" piece that I am allegedly self-exiled in Rome. I returned to the U.S. a year and three months ago--not from voluntary exile, "for social and political causes," as Richard Gibson's rhetoric would have it, but from a stay at the American Academy in Rome, which was my privilege as winner of the 1955 Fellowship in Literature granted by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Admittedly, two years may seem a long time to be away from this swiftly changing country even for purposes of broadening one's personal culture--which is the aim of the fellowship--but exile is, fortunately (and even for Negro Americans) largely a state of mind. RALPH ELLISON Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Saints & Soldiers

Sir:

The news that Fort Benning, Ga. is promoting St. Maurice as patron saint of the infantry certainly has a bright aspect. For St. Maurice--whose name signifies "a moor" --is frequently represented in Christian art as a Negro.

WALTER L. NATHAN Groveland, Mass.

Sir:

The concern of organizations such as the Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State (which sounds more ridiculous than sinister) over mounting papal influence within fraternal organizations of the armed forces is unwarranted, unwanted and unnecessary. Having been recently initiated into the Order of St. Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen [Jan. 19], I can see about as much Catholic influence in this group as in the Masons. St. Barbara is a symbol and might have been a Greek god or a pagan.

A. C. BECKER Lieutenant, U.S.A. Fort Hood, Texas

Sir:

As a U.S. taxpayer, I am not particularly interested in having members of the armed forces dying, fighting or living for St. Maurice.

R. A. CHATTERLY Pittsfield, Mass.

Hoffa's Coppers?

Sir:

I, a New Yorker abroad, have just read your Jan. 12 article about Teamsters Feinstein and Hoffa's threat to force New York's finest into the union. If Police Commissioner Kennedy and Mayor Wagner would instruct their "finest" to pay a little "finer" attention to teamsters' traffic violations, I am sure this grandiose plan would fade very quickly. New York police have been coddling teamsters long enough by closing too many an eye in violation cases. Just let them get the same measure of tickets the average private New York driver is presented with -- often unreasonably.

H. BORNSTEIN Seoul, Korea

Toley's Boy

Sir:

Jack Kramer's contribution to our Davis Cup victory was tremendous. TIME says that Olmedo's game was sharpened under the watchful eye of Jack Kramer. Many of our members believe Olmedo would not have been here to play for the U.S. had it not been for George Toley, U.S.C. coach and pro for this club. He spent countless hours perfecting Olmedo's game and persuaded him to stay here when he became unbearably homesick for his native Peru

CORNWELL JACKSON President

Los Angeles Tennis Club Los Angeles

Gunshot

Sir:

In stating that Scriptwriter Marion Hargrove picked "NBC's Gunsmoke as his target," TIME, Jan. 19 showed an aim as bad as Marshal Dooley's. For several years on radio and TV Gunsmoke has been a presentation of the Columbia Broadcasting System.

BRUCE LOWRY CBS Television Hollywood P: TIME'S Buntline misfired. -- ED.

Dark-Horse Harry

Sir:

I wish to nominate Harry Schweitzer for Man of the Year. Anyone smart enough to live in New York City for $71.10 a month and save enough to make $22,600 in the stock market in seven years, can make a million in Texas in 90 days. Come on down, Harry.

HERMAN P. MCCRIMMON San Antonio

Sir:

Why arrest Harry Schweitzer? Let's make him Secretary of the Treasury. He could balance the budget.

L. LEONARD Rock Hill, S.C.

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