The Former Secretary

Sir:

No nation can ever have enough men like John Foster Dulles. America has had and still has a lot of them. That's important to remember, because it's a wealth of human initiative and individual greatness that gives America its real worth.

GARY L. WEBSTER

La Grande, Ore.

Sir:

As a tribute to John Foster Dulles and his truly sacrificial service, Congress should, with the President's approval, create the office of Honorary Secretary of State, and appoint Mr. Dulles to it for the remainder of the Eisenhower Administration's term.

WILLIAM B. LIPPHARD

Yonkers, N.Y.

Sir:

Secretary Dulles' courage and integrity, his understanding of freedom's enemies and his insistence that diplomacy be based on the natural moral law, have given the U.S. an unparalleled prestige here in Europe.

ARMAND M. NIGRO, S.J.

Gregorian University

Rome

Sir:

I believe the free world should be very grateful to Mr. Dulles. As toward his "stiffness" on matters dealing with the U.S.S.R., he is one of the few to understand clearly its motives, and know what some politicians sometimes try to conceal: that Soviets cannot be trusted, never and nowhere.

ALBERT SPYSSCHAERT

Kamina, Belgian Congo

Revolt in Tibet

Sir:

What do the freedom-loving Asians think of the U.S. now, after Tibet?

PETE LABARRE

Lenox, Mass.

Sir:

We look upon the peoples of Hungary and Tibet much like the man who faces the tiger with his bare hands: a lot of guts but not much sense.

GEORGE PAUL LENNON

Columbus, Ohio

Sir:

The bandit Khamba revolt was inspired in part by a former Premier and an expelled gang of Chiang Kai-shek's agents. Naturally, the protective Chinese army moved in to suppress disorder and revolt and to sustain the broad program of Tibetan betterment and modernization, such as equality of women's status.

HAJ ALFORD IBN-ROOS

Jalisco, Mexico

Sir:

Given the free choice, the last people on earth to accept Communism will be Tibetans.

K. K. TALWAR

Doncaster, England

Retort Discourteous

Sir:

I applaud your quotation of a sample of old-fashioned invective [April 13], but question the provenance assigned to it. Not only was this delightful bit of repartee not originated by Gladstone and Disraeli, but the wording given is somewhat inferior to the original phrasing. The exchange should have been attributed to the famous John Wilkes, a dissolute but ardent defender of individual liberties, and the 4th Earl of Sandwich. According to Dominic Bevan Wyndham Lewis, it goes:

"I am convinced, Mr. Wilkes, that you will die either of a pox or on the gallows."

"That, my lord, depends on whether I embrace your mistress or your principles."

JOSEPH E. HALL

Washington, D.C.

The Doctrine

Sir:

You have, no doubt, been deluged with irate letters from various Latter-day Saints pointing out your misinterpretation in naming Laman and Lemuel as the ancestors of all colored races [April 13]. Actually, they are considered the ancestors of the American Indian, who is afforded full brotherhood among the Mormons. The Negro, however, is considered a descendant of Cain and subject to his curse. Negroes are thus denied the Mormon priesthood (open, in effect, to all non-Negro males).

Many Mormons have been deeply disturbed by this doctrine. Of these, many, including myself, have faced this crisis to find their loyalty to humanity to be greater than their loyalty to their church.

ERNEST D. PARTRIDGE JR.

Montclair, N.J.

Sir:

Even a careless survey of the pages of the Book of Mormon would show that God judges equally all races and that the saints are instructed to treat each man equally. It was Brigham Young who advocated the maxim, "It is better to feed the Indians than to fight them," and embarked our intermountain West on a new type of Indian policy. Indians have filled the ranks of the Mormon priesthood for generations, and still play an integral part in church affairs.

ELDON L. HAAG

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Seminary

Blanding, Utah

Sir:

Have the Mormons not heard that pigmentation is nature's device for filtering out ultraviolet rays? It is, then, an act of God's mercy, not vengeance.

(THE REV.) MITCHELL S. EPPERSON

Northminster Presbyterian Church

Albuquerque

Sir:

Your article states that "the Indian in Salt Lake and Ogden is lost, friendless and generally out of a job." They are not all lost or friendless. The Mormon Church has at present nearly 400 Indian children, representing 13 different tribes, living with Mormon families throughout the state of Utah. These Indian children are being treated as "one of the family."

THOMAS MERRILL HADLEY

L.D.S. Indian Social Worker

Ogden, Utah

Kiss of Death?

Sir:

Your April 13 photograph of Boston's Cardinal Cushing taking the political stump for Senator John Kennedy's henchman implants the kiss of death on the Boston Boy Wonder's presidential hopes.

E. G. TALBOTT

New York City

Sir:

The members of the Roman Catholic Church, including Mr. Kennedy, can be regarded as a religious group and as such properly tolerated by other religious groups, but the Roman Catholic hierarchy is definitely a political organization masking its political intentions and aspirations behind the Pope's assumed divine authority and the innocent claims of the clergy. It is not safe to believe their assurances regarding "freedom of religion" or any other form of freedom once the Roman Catholic Church obtains the "balance of power" that is their aim right now.

DONNA L. PREBLE

Carmel, Calif.

Fate of Iraq

Sir:

Your magazine's April 13 cover story on Iraq was an unparalleled patriotic service. The recapitulation of recent events in Iraq should make it clear that Communism is using the same insidious methods to gain control of other nations that it used to seize Russia.

It should also be clear that recent U.S. activities in Lebanon and British support in Jordan were well-timed and saved those nations from the fate now facing Iraq.

J. A. PFEIFER

Tarawa Terrace, N.C.

Sir:

Your story on Iraq's Kassem missed the choicest of People's Court Judge Fadhil Abbas Mahdawi's remarks on Iraqi rulers' national pastime--body dragging. Said Mahdawi: "By the will of God, the Egyptian people will get rid of Nasser in the same way as we got rid of Nuri asSaid, provided that the Egyptian people learn how to drag traitors along the streets."

JABER SULTAN

Beirut

Sir:

It's Nasser, your "diminishing dictator," who stands alone against Communist domination. If today his followers are jailed in Baghdad, they are gaining more strength in other Arab capitals.

F. EL-MANSSOUR

Munich

Eddie & Liz

Sir:

In reference to your April 13 picture of Eddie Fisher and Liz Taylor, it's too bad that while Mr. Fisher can afford to give Miss Taylor a 50-diamond bracelet for an engagement present, he can't afford to keep her dressed! For a minute I thought I was reading the National Geographic, and looking at a picture of one of the natives.

FRANCES KELLY

Detroit

Sir:

Elizabeth Taylor is a gifted actress and a beautiful lady. The details of her personal life should concern no one save herself.

WILLIAM HOXWORTH

Doylestown, Pa.

Plants & Prayer

Sir:

Re your April 13 article on the power of prayer on plants: Hurrah! Now we can pray the weeds away!

PATRIC CRICHTON

FRANKLIN BREWER

Carmel, Calif.

Sir:

Isn't it possible that the differences in growth of the seedlings result from the breath (fumes) that go over them? If a person thinks angry thoughts (Communism, etc.), more acid forms in the stomach.

MRS. G. E. B. TRAKSEL

Reseda, Calif.

Sir:

Prayer has never been intended to take the place of nature and interfere with poor innocent carrots and tomatoes. Mr. Loehr's idea of prayer belongs to superstition and magic, not to Christian religion.

(THE REV.) ADRIEN GAUVREAU

Professor of Theology

Couvent Des Capucins

Ottawa

Sir:

We have at last beat the Communists in stocking our arsenal of aggression. We need not fear losing ground in this area, for the Communists don't even believe in prayer. Hate thy neighbor.

(THE REV.) ARTHUR R. STEES

Faith Lutheran Church

Rockford, Ill.

Number 51?

Sir:

I see in your issue of April 13 that you mention the status of Puerto Rico. The romantic idea of a dreamer, one single man, Governor Luis Munoz Marin, cannot stop the political progress of 2,500,000 American citizens. This island, in the overwhelming majority, wants statehood. Only Munoz Marin and Dr. Fernos want the sloppy and ridiculous straw puppet manufactured by them and pompously translated to Spanish as "associated free state."

RAFAEL BIRD

San Juan, P.R.

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