Cuba & Beyond

Sir:

Some of President Kennedy's critics have made the charge that he withheld announcement of the Cuban blockade until it was politically advantageous. There can be no doubt that Kennedy is a master politician, but to suggest that he would gamble with the security of this country to further selfish political ends is not only asinine but naive as well.

Those who make assertions of this nature are, in effect, denying a fundamental principle of this country: the President's position as spokesman for and protector of the people of the U.S. Even the most inept of our leaders have not forsaken this trust.

JAMES R. HAWKES

Park Forest, Ill.

Sir:

President Kennedy's action in finally heeding the voters' demands to face up to the Cuban situation has renewed my faith in the American political system.

If there is a victor, it is the American citizen, and if there is a hero, it is the same American citizen who, after forcing a reluctant President into action, backed him 100% and proved to Mr. Khrushchev the extent of U.S. determination.

A. W. KALEY

Normandy, Mo.

Sir:

You certainly have to hand it to the Kennedy Image Department. They even had the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. at the right place at the right time.

If Jack Kennedy would promote the U.S.A. as he does J.F.K., we would be sitting pretty.

CARL W. SUDHOFF

New York City

Sir:

Seldom in our country's history has the foreign policy stance advocated by one group been so completely vindicated as has that of America's right wing by events of Oct. 22-28.

If Mr. Kennedy had taken the advice of conservatives long ago instead of maligning them at every opportunity, the experience would have been much less traumatic for the American people.

JERRY C. DAVIS

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

I was outraged and angered today reading your comments on the Cuban crisis. As an American I cannot believe that two weeks before election the President finally "discovered" the presence of the Russian missiles on Cuba, which suddenly prompted this drastic measure. I have more confidence in our intelligence service than you have.

DAN O. FEDASH

Los Angeles

Sir:

The reasoning by which you conclude that we are nice enough to have missiles and nobody else is would make Hitler jealous.

May the American people be content with having punched both Castro and Khrushchev in the nose and got away with it, and direct Politician Kennedy to devote our considerable might to the promotion of peace rather than deliberate aggression and war provocation.

RAY L. BURGGRAF

Lakewood, Ohio

Sir:

Mr. Khrushchev's backing down to the U.S. is rather disappointing. I had stopped studying, and was prepared to enlist whenever necessary. Now I must start studying again.

RON HART ('65)

University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn.

Sir:

Fair enough--the U.S. has to invade Cuba's right to trade freely in order to protect American interests.

But why couldn't you Yanks have granted Britain and France this same concession in a somewhat similar situation at Suez?

A. J. CAMPBELL

Rawene, New Zealand

Sir:

All I have to say is: When Mr. Khrushchev comes up smiling (and I do not see him frowning) after a setback, and the U.N. begins to negotiate, watch out America!

JAMES G. H. MITCHELL

Portsmouth, Va.

Sir:

President Kennedy has shown the world how to treat and defeat the Communists, and I am sure that all the people of the free world are grateful to have such a great leader.

KARL O. QVENNERSTEDT

Stockholm

The India-China War

Sir:

I have read with interest your article on India [Nov. 2]. I would like to say that it is most comprehensive, and you have succeeded beyond all doubts in summing up the main problems in a nutshell.

As regards Mr. Menon, Mr. Nehru should have curbed his unquestionable power five years ago, when he first involved India in the Chinese border problem.

I hope Mr. Nehru now realizes the desperate situation Mr. Menon has involved India in, and will now lean more to the West for aid and advice.

BRIAN ABRAHAM

Jackson Heights, N.Y.

Sir:

A decade ago, on assignment from Collier's to do a Stilwell Road story, I went up to the Tirap frontier tract, now closed to correspondents. With an Indian major I Jeeped to the Burma border just over the Patkai Hills. As the major and I looked across the deep, wooded valley through which we had struggled a few years before to build this military artery to China, he said softly to me: "This is the legacy you have left: a dagger pointed at the head of India, the handle held in China. Everything we find out up here makes us believe the thrust must come."

"Don't you report this to Delhi?" I asked.

"All the time," he said without hope, "all the time."

DAVID CHANDLER

Los Angeles

Sir:

While pacifists the world over were decrying U.S. action against a legitimate threat to its security in the form of a massive nuclear buildup in Cuba, the most pacifist nation of this era was suffering a blatant and brutal violation of its border territories by the Peoples' Republic of China. Pacifist protests of this unwarranted action against a nation professing the very same wishy-washy beliefs as their own were conspicuous by their absence. By ignoring the plight of India, Lord Bertrand Russell and followers, who claim such deep and abiding interest in the fate of all mankind, leave only two conclusions: they are horribly naive and or ignorant of Communist intentions; there can be little doubt as to which ideology they are backing.

LORCAN J. BOWDEN

San Francisco

Sir:

Give me one good reason why any country in the world should join the American bloc when it can get both the economic and military aid whenever needed without having to do so. Today to fight China with American arms, tomorrow to fight Pakistan with both American and Russian arms. Hurrah neutralism! President Ayub Khan, are you thinking what I am thinking? It would be too bad when you start acting on it, wouldn't it?

M. YAMEEN ZUBAIRI

University of Wisconsin Madison, Wis.

Full Text

Sir:

Should not your readers be given the context and date of the World Council of Churches' statement on the Cuban crisis, reported in your issue of Nov. 2? The text is as follows:

"Taking their stand on statements made by the World Council Assemblies, Committees and officers of the World Council of Churches have on several occasions expressed their concern and regret when governments have taken unilateral military action against other governments. The officers of the World Council of Churches consider it therefore their duty to express their grave concern and regret concerning the action which the U.S.A. Government has felt it necessary to take with regard to Cuba, and fervently hope that every government concerned will exercise the greatest possible restraint in order to avoid a worsening of international tensions.

Please note that the date, Oct. 23, was the day following President Kennedy's first announcement of the quarantine. This is important for a proper understanding of the statement, especially with regard to its two key words, "unilateral" and "restraint."

This statement was addressed to the situation prevailing immediately after the President's speech and before there had been action by the OAS or consideration by the Security Council of the U.N. or reaction from other nations, and before there was any response from the Soviet Union or from Cuba, or any indication of specific decisions taken by the United States Government beyond the imposing of the quarantine.

FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, D. D.

Chairman, Central Committee

World Council of Churches New York City

One Man's Light

Sir:

There are several points I would like to clarify in TIME'S report on the "Change at Fairbanks Whitney" [Oct. 26].

1) David Karr was elected president by the board of directors, not "installed" by me.

2) Fairbanks Whitney was on the brink of bankruptcy when I became president in June 1958; under my direction it was refinanced, placed on a sound financial basis, and showed a profit of $3,198,260 in 1959 for my first full year in office, as against a $9,447,373 loss the previous year. That was the only year since 1956 that the company has had a profit.

3) Following my pattern in other, similar situations, once having put the company on a profitable basis I stepped out of the top job.

4) I did not "seize control" of Fairbanks Morse; as president of Fairbanks Whitney, I first offered to sell its Fairbanks Morse holdings to Colonel Robert H. Morse Sr.; when he declined the offer, Fairbanks Whitney purchased the Morse family's stock.

5) Two reasons prompted my resignation from the board:

a) Basic policy differences and the continuance of an inexperienced chief executive officer.

b) An increasing demand for my time in other fields where I hold substantial interests.

ALFONS LANDA

Palm Beach, Fla.

> TIME stands by its story, but grants that Mr. Landa, being so closely involved, may read it in a different light.--ED.

The Headmasters Speak

Sir:

Congratulations on your fine cover article on Andover's John M. Kemper [Oct. 26]. The character and contribution of American independent schools today is a story that has long needed telling.

JAMES HOWARD

Headmaster Blair Academy Blairstown, N. J.

Sir:

While I think that the article will help people in the nation to better understand the contribution the preparatory schools are making to education, I feel that unfortunately it may leave the impression that the New England type of school is the only outstanding type of school.

Western-style preparatory schools pride themselves on the warm, personal and informal relationship between teacher and student, a relationship less frequently found in the New England schools.

The Webb School of California has an outstanding paleontological program, which a world-famous Harvard paleontologist claims is unequaled in any secondary school in the nation. Although we have no "drownproofing" course, we do have an annual climb out of the Grand Canyon and hold an unofficial record of one hour and 35 minutes for the climb. Can Andover beat that?

FREDERICK R. HOOPER

Headmaster

Webb School of California Claremont, Calif.

Sir:

Size is important, especially small size.

PAUL W. LEHMANN

Headmaster

Dublin School Dublin, N. H.

Sir:

It was a privilege to read about our fellow independent schools in the East, and to see that they are continuing their fine efforts.

Milwaukee University School is attempting to do the same thing in this section of the country. Although we are a country day school rather than a boarding school, some 35 students, out of an upper-school enrollment of slightly over 200, are assisted through our scholarship program here. This school is happy to play its role in the expanding area of independent education.

DAVIS R. PARKER

Headmaster

Milwaukee University School Milwaukee

Sir:

Your article emphasized the number of National Merit semifinalists in the senior classes at Andover and Exeter. At our own school, 27.7% of the class of 1963 are semifinalists. Such statistics are limited in value and even dangerous, but they do indicate that there may be other independent schools outside the East that are worthy of notice.

ASHBY T. HARPER

Headmaster

St. Louis Country Day School St. Louis

Sir:

There are three things that make us especially proud of Iolani School: 1) it has never had any racial quotas--there are currently 45 different racial and national combinations in Iolani; 2) we are pleased that our graduates have achieved the highest college entrance record of any school in Hawaii; 3) Iolani is proud of its faculty, for it has introduced advanced and new programs of study, including six modern languages--French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

The largest Episcopal school in the country has its work cut out for it as the school enters its second century with great faith and a healthy bit of "fear and trembling."

(THE REV.) BURTON A. MACLEAN

Headmaster

Iolani School Honolulu

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