Point of View

Sir:

I have just read your excellent article, "Ocean Frontier" [July 6].

It reminds me of a note my brother, Professor N. M. Foote of Baldwin-Wallace College, had on his physics bulletin board when I visited him recently. It said: "The ocean's bottom is just as important as the moon's behind."

(THE REV.) WILLARD G. FOOTE Rock Island, Ill.

Sir:

TIME'S cover story on oceanography has been received with great pleasure at Woods Hole. Everyone is most pleased, a difficult achievement!

JAN HAHN

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, Mass.

Sir:

C. P. Snow's opinion of "dimwitted scientists" seems to be proved by the oceanographers' hope that knowledge of the ocean will lead to the answer of why we are here.

The universal state of catastrophe in which we live, a direct result of unfettered scientific progress, testifies that scientists have more to learn from traditional religion than from culture.

Culture may describe; science can tell us how; only God can tell us why.

RABBI MORTON J. SUMMER New York City

Sir:

Indeed, knowledge of the oceans might answer such questions as "Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going?"

If science were approached with an eye to these basic philosophic questions, adults as well as youngsters might have a greater interest in and curiosity about science generally and oceanography particularly.

PATRICIA R. HETHERINGTON New York City

Sir:

The explanation of Artist Bohrod's cover was informative, but neglected to mention the origin of the figure of the navigator shown in the title scroll. This was copied from the color drawing in the book The Index of American Design.

The original of this figure, The Little Navigator, is one of the treasures of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and came from the shop of James Fales, as shown in the accompanying photograph. It has been reproduced many times without credit, even on bath towels.

PETER S. GRINNELL Member, Executive Board New Bedford (Mass.) Whaling Museum

P: See cut.--ED.

Not so Sicknik

Sir:

Your July 13 issue contained an unfortunate misstatement of fact regarding Jonathan Winters: that he "spent most of the past two months as a patient in his favorite subject for humor: the funny farm." Actually, Mr. Winters was detained for less than 24 hours following the incident in San Francisco, and then spent two weeks at a private nursing home. He has been completely discharged from medical care and has been back at work for the past two months.

MARTIN GOODMAN New York City

And Then What?

SIR:

RE YOUR "PORGY AND BESS" CRITIQUE [JULY 6]: SUGGEST YOUR CRITIC GO OUT AND BUY HIMSELF A BIG FAT WATERMELON.

LEON SHAMROY

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS LOS ANGELES

Innocent Abroad

Sir:

I wonder exactly what Mr. Billy Graham meant by the "high standard of Russian morality" [June 29]. Can the constant watch of Big Brother induce genuine virtue? If Russian people are intrinsically on a higher moral level than the British people, how is it to be explained that Russian troops cruelly misused women in the countries they fought and occupied? Did they leave their "moral purity" at home?

As a native of Vienna, I have lived through the years of foreign occupation; in all fairness to the British, I must concede that the conduct of their people was by far more morally agreeable than that of their Russian counterpart.

MRS. ROBERT ANDERSON East Lake, Ohio

Sir:

Reduced to its simplest form, Soviet morality is a negative morality best understood in terms of the rape of Berlin and the maiming of Budapest.

W. E. DUDLEY Santa Rosa, Calif.

Little Lather

Sir:

The headline over an article on President William C. Pels of Bennington reads "Fels's Naptha" [July 6]. Maybe that's the way they spell Naphtha at small, rural, private Bennington, but it wasn't the way they spelled it at small, rural, private Bryn Mawr. Have I caught TIME napphing?

ELAINE EWER

New York City

P: No. The soap manufacturer dropped

that h long ago.--ED.

Politics v. Religion (Contd.)

Sir:

"Religion should not enter into politics" [June 29]. Such a statement was surely put down by a hand acting independent of any rational influence. If religion should not enter into politics, it should not enter into economics or any other aspect of our society. In fact, we should not have religion at all, for if our religion does not influence our society, we are all hypocrites without convictions. On the other hand, if our elected representatives are to serve our interests, they cannot be in opposition to our religious views.

I do not say that a man's religion should always be a deciding factor in respect to his political eligibility, but I most certainly do say that we, as conscientious voters, cannot disregard such an important aspect of a candidate's qualification.

LARRY BROWN

Glendale, Calif.

Sir:

It is the Catholic Church--and only the Catholic Church--that throws the question mark into the campaign of Catholic candidates.

DEE SMITH

San Diego

Sir:

It is indeed a pleasure to know that there are some people with sense enough to view this so-called "battle" with an open mind. I am a Catholic, and I know that if I were to vote for a presidential candidate, his religious affiliation would not in the least affect my vote. I believe, and I am quite sure my opinion must be shared by many, that a man's political shrewdness is a thing that is governed by his own knowledge and education, and if this person is capable of doing his job, he will do it regardless of his religious beliefs.

HERBERT JOSEPH ACORN

Great Kills, N.Y.

The Reasons Why

Sir:

In your piece on the American Newspaper Guild convention [July 6], you point a finger of criticism at the Guild's failure to 1) fully organize its field (contracts with only 176 out of 1,750 U.S. dailies) and 2) raise the standards of journalism ("Hardly a word was heard about perfecting the reporter's craft"). As to these sharp critiques we have no bone to pick, but while you are generally correct, you missed a major point in giving the reason for all this.

The Guild has, in fact, from time to time attempted steps toward raising the standards of journalism, but the publishers have again and again made it clear that they consider this "none of the Guild's business."

If there has been some lethargy on the organizing front, perhaps the prior need to fight on the contract front in part accounts for it.

THOMAS J. MURPHY Executive Vice President Newspaper Guild of New York New York City

Burning Issues

Sir:

Re your July 6 article on New Guinea's "South Pacific Post" jungle newspaper, and particularly in reference to its smokable qualities, I would like to point out that two other very prominent newspapers have been even more widely smoked. During the war years in Europe, the conquering Russian soldiers rolled their "makhorka" in Pravda or Izvestia.

J. KOLESINSKI Melbourne, Australia

Help in Sight?

Sir:

With much chagrin I confess that I too had forgotten the "forgotten man"--the $20,000-a-year corporation executive [July 6]. What can we do to help ? Perhaps you could publish a list of the more destitute of these underprivileged executives so that if some of the rest of us have a little left over at the end of the month, we can tide them over until Hupp Corp.'s next bonus.

RUDY NELSON Providence

Demara at Culter

Sir:

Re The Great Impostor [June 29], Culter Academy in Los Angeles has felt the impact of the charming and intelligent Demara, who was a member of the faculty for two months. He was hired just last February to teach a section of the eighth grade. He used the name Jefferson B. Thome, and left transcripts from William and Mary in the office. In conversation he said that he had been educated in private schools in England, had been a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, a teacher and principal for 13 years in Massachusetts and for a year in Alaska.

My wife and I were the last persons at Culter to see him on Sunday night, April 5, when he simply disappeared. We are sorry to hear that he is such a rascal. He is extremely likable and pleasant, and certainly brilliant, generous to a fault. His worst faults seemed to be a tendency to laziness and a drive to succeed at all costs. No one dreamed that he was a fraud.

DAVID F. SIEMENS JR. Los Angeles

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.