Space Lag

Sir:

Thank you for your Oct. 19 article on the space and rocket lag. Many thoughtful Americans agree that this is an emergency of alarming immediacy.

We Americans have more than once shown our mettle. We must convince our leaders that we are not afraid to face facts and work and sacrifice if need be to preserve our nation and invigorate our championship of the free world before the Russians win the space race, the cold war and the allegiance of the uncommitted nations.

(MRS.) KATHARINE TSAMBASSIS Ada, Ohio

Sir:

It is sad that the Administration should be attacked in one of the few cases in which it shows any long-range foresight--the refusal to be stampeded into pouring useless billions into a worthless space race. If the American people want space superiority, they obviously can't get it for nothing; $10 billion a year will have to come from a reduction in defense weaponry or constructive welfare appropriations, or from a 20% increase in taxation.

E. H. LEONI New York City

Sir:

The article dealing with our difficulties with space expresses the kind of realism I like to see. It strikes me as fantastic almost beyond belief that American missilemen are not allowed just $105 million to speed up Saturn tests four years; yet American farmers are given some $7 billion to increase the food bills of the American people.

JOHN FRY III

Phoenix, Ariz.

Sir:

The inept handling of the U.S. space program puts this nation at the most serious disadvantage it has yet experienced in the cold war, and it is long overdue that the Eisenhower Administration receive the public reprimand it deserves for this inexcusable situation. Your article on the subject is an excellent study; may Washington take heed.

N. A. HENSLEY JR. San Juan, P.R.

To Taste

Sir:

I was interested in your piece on the latest violation to the martini (Oct. 19). In college (sophomore year) we added snow peas in direct ratio to the proportion of vermouth to gin. This fad died out and we had to use up the supply of snow peas in chow mein. ANDERSON KELLEY Philadelphia

Sir:

As a gin-and-vermouth savant, I deplore the omission of the pickled button mushroom from your list of the variations used to enhance the martini.

Ross H. REUNING Newark

Sir:

Contrary to popular opinion, the ratio of gin to vermouth does not determine the strength or dryness of a martini. What most martini authorities seem to ignore is that chilling the drink on ice does more than make it cold: it cuts the strength of the gin with water. Try chilling your favorite martini formula in the freezer instead of using cracked ice. It'll be hard to get down. CHARLES F. BIRRELL Harrisburg, Pa.

Jet-Age Hobby

Sir:

The frantic attack on General Curtis Le-May by the National Guard Association [Oct. 19] may indicate that they, as well as the U.S. taxpayer, have begun to realize that the U.S. cannot afford to subsidize such a hobby much longer in an age when jets and missiles have supplanted rifles and caissons.

JOHN HELWIG JR. Philadelphia

Sir:

I am certain that other members of the Air National Guard, like myself, hope that our role will be determined on the basis of the Air Guard's accomplishments and efficiency, and not upon political considerations or personal vendettas. We feel that the Guard's past record and accomplishments, level of proficiency, esprit de corps, and combat readiness will compare favorably with any organization in the Air Force, regular or reserve.

W. R. DOONER Captain, A.N.G. San Bernardino, Calif.

Right & Wrong

Sir:

One of your English readers was charmed with the glimpses of England behind Britain's Macmillan on the Oct. 19 TIME cover. However, I was surprised to note that the swing to the right in the election was so pronounced that the traffic under the Prime Minister's nose is keeping to the right. I doubt whether even a big Tory majority could cause such a change. Maybe the picture shows a narrow, one-way street, and the cyclists are merely Labor voters walking their machines against the traffic to demonstrate that freeborn Britons can go where they darn well please in their own country.

S. E. TRANTER Twickenham, England

P: Reader Tranter is almost right: Artist Safran did show a one-way street--and says no one yet has been able to control bicycle riders.--ED.

Politics & Bridge

Sir:

Enjoyed your comments on my old bridge-table antagonist [Oct. 19], Iain Macleod, Britain's new Colonial Secretary. For many years Mr. Macleod was a member of England's No. 1 bridge team, helping it garner worldwide prestige in international matches, and he still ranks amongst the world's top 20 or so bridge players. His always quiet, unassuming demeanor beclouds the brilliance of his intellect.

IVAN E. ERDOS Los Angeles

Another Day, Please

Sir:

The article explaining the excessive rate of failure of the male students of the University of Karachi, Pakistan as resulting from their being distracted by women students [Oct. 26] is a grotesque oversimplification of a serious problem. There are several reasons for the poor performance of the university students of Pakistan: 1) the British educational tradition, with its emphasis on cramming for a single major examination, 2) inadequate faculties, 3) language difficulties, 4) an obsessive concern with politics on the part of the students. When I was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Karachi, I would plead with my students to schedule their riots on days when my classes did not meet.

FRANK A. SCHOLFIELD Professor of Sociology State University of N.Y., Teachers College Oswego, N.Y.

Fun to Be Fooled

Sir:

I read your comments on the recent TV quiz show scandal [Oct. 19] with great interest--incredulity even. Why should anybody get excited about a fixed quiz show? It is quite obvious that the producers involved were simply delivering what the public wanted to see, namely, entertainment. Who cares whether a TV wrestling match is honest or not? Frankly, I can think of nothing duller than an honest quiz show, an honest wrestling match, or a play that captures dialogue exactly as uttered by real live people. It seems to me that the only group that has a legitimate gripe against-the quiz programs is Actors' Equity, not because the actors were underpaid but ' because they didn't join the union.

ROBERT E. ROSE Berkeley, Calif.

Sir:

So the golden coach turned out to be a cheap pumpkin and the snow-white steeds slightly dirty mice. Since when is it the prerogative of a House subcommittee to deliver us from the evils of believing in fairy tales ?

JERI REISER La Habra, Calif.

Conscience First

Sir:

Like a voice from the wilderness, the report advocating birth control [Oct. 19] rings true. As Secretary of the Joint Committee of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Norman Goodall deserves recognition for the courage and insight to place this on record.

Individual conscience came long before organized religion, and it determines who, what and how we love; it also governs what we preserve and perpetuate, what we destroy and deride; and it helps shape, with reason and love and energy, what we become.

JOHN L. SUTER Basel, Switzerland

-Sir:

Under RELIGION, birth control is discussed in your Oct. 19 issue. The Rev. John Ford, a Jesuit professor, states that the use of contraceptives is a "violation of natural law." Does he speak of the "law of the jungle"?

Man is given dominion over the beasts of the earth. Man knows how the beasts reproduce. Because he knows better, man controls his own number of children, so he can have a family instead of a herd, a flock or a litter.

Natural law would be fine if you had four legs instead of two, instinct instead of brains, and the fertility god (Baal) of the Old Testament Canaanites instead of the God of the New Testament we know through Jesus Christ.

(THE REV.) LUTHER SEIBERT JR. St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Oakland, Md.

Sir:

The Rev. John Ford condemns contraception as an "unnatural act." What is natural about civilized living?

WILLIAM H. HOUDE Shirley, Mass.

Footnote

Sir:

Calling your readers' attention to "diploma mills" [Oct. 19] was a commendable service. However, the footnote, "Legitimate U.S. correspondence schools belong to the National Home Study Council," is misleading, since it implies that a nonmember is "illegitimate." This is not true. Capitol Radio Engineering Institute, founded in 1927, withdrew from the council several years ago. Yet C.R.E.I, is unique among technical institutes in having both its home-study and residence curricula in advanced electronic engineering technology accredited by the Engineers' Council for Professional Development.

E. H. RIETZKE President

Capitol Radio Engineering Institute Washington, D.C.

P: C.R.E.I, is a reputable correspondence school that does not belong to the National Home Study Council.--ED.

The Primitive

Sir:

Your article on Shaker craft in the Oct. 19 issue again reveals the strange quirk that besets your art editor. He loves the primitive. Strange and interesting it was indeed, but our own sculpture and art has left it thousands of years behind. Why not more appreciation of the sculpture and art of our own day, which has progressed with civilization?

JOHN E. D. COFFEY Babylon, N.Y.

Sir:

Never before has a photograph in your Art section so captivated me as Robert Crandall's "Shaker Farm Implements."

MRS. C. F. STARRETT McCook, Neb.

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