"He Is Inevitable"
Sirs:
Mr. Roosevelt fits the age. He is inevitable. He is the top, the acme of salesmanship. ... No matter what he does the people love him. If he goes out in the rain and deliberately takes off his coat and gets wet they think he is magnificent.
Of course there is a little inconsistency in you and me and the majority of the American people. We are human. We still elect Republican Representatives and Senators and Governors. We don't want Mr. Roosevelt's associates in our states, counties and villages. We feel safer with people who know enough not to take their coats off in the rain. . . .
The President is an extraordinary and an interesting man. Only a real genius in this line would deliberately run the risk of catching cold in order to prove that his health is good. When you have a President who is applauded for doing what little boys get spanked for, you have a Chief Executive who superexcels in the matter of winning hearts. A man who can make unwise actions appear attractive and wise is either a genius or a fool. Mr. Roosevelt is a genius. The word fits. He is an amazing world figure.
The funny thing about the American people is that they know it is downright naughty to take off your coat in the rain. They know that twelve years of the world's toughest job does things to a man's health. They know that King Lear was a little touched in the head before he defied the elements. They know that winter is coming on. Moscow has a cold climate. Stalin does not like to travel. Let's hope the President stays home.
C. A. CHAPMAN
New York City
Sunday Balloting?
Sirs:
The enormous increase of registration . . . forcibly brings to the front the necessity of changing election from a weekday to Sunday. At the present time it is not only a hardship and an inconvenience to thousands of men and women with business connections to vote, but it also causes a disruption to normal business activities.
At the present time, because elections are held on a weekday, nearly 5O% of the voting population do not exercise this valuable franchise of citizenship. . . .
JOSEPH LEWIS New York City
P: Reader Lewis is wrong on two counts: 1) The "voting population" (in 1940, 79,863,451 "potential" voters) includes millions of disqualified voters (illiterates, residents of the District of Columbia, insane, convicts, migratory workers, etc.); 2) of the 60,576,979 "qualified" voters in 1940, 82% cast ballots.--ED.
"Nobody Dares Speak a Word"
Sirs:
I enclose a copy of a letter I received today from a close friend, a prominent young Argentine, outlining what is going on in Argentina, and what the intelligent Argentine thinks about it:
"Things have gone from bad to worse here. We are passing through the blackest era in our history. Frankly, I don't know what to say to you. Nobody dares speak a word. . . .
"The Government, to justify themselves, tries to make everyone believe that the U.S. is against us. The intelligent people don't believe them but, unfortunately, there are a lot of unintelligent people in this country. We all know very well that your country is not imperialistic and also we know only too well the militarist in whose hands our country is at present. One thing I can say and that is that the people in general are indifferent to the Government, Peron & Co. Nobody, or practically nobody, applauds Peron or Farrell, but they do applaud Churchill, Roosevelt and the Allied troops. . . .
"Here, when Paris was liberated, the whole town went mad, and everyone went around shouting 'Long live Liberty, Democracy and the Allies!' About 500,000 people concentrated in Plaza Francia. . . . The Government, of course, tried by force to stop all this, but they were unsuccessful.
"You don't know how I envy you, living in a free country where liberty is respected and where the country is governed in accordance with the laws and Constitution." FRANKLIN G. KLOCK Pasadena, Calif.
TIME and "Old Moe"
Sirs:
I thought that some of your readers may be interested in how one Army lieutenant values his copy of TIME. Here is a letter that I just received from Lieutenant Morris Katz, who signs himself "Old Moe":
"... Those copies of TIME have been invaluable. Not long ago, I found I had moved out to my observation post and had left the latest copy in the pillbox. You see I had been going out there under cover of darkness because it was a pretty risky run in daylight. My radio operator and I talked it over and I won the toss and took the chance of crawling back to get TIME. The Kraut is a lousy shot because he popped about 75 rounds out on each trip and didn't even come close. . . ." CHARLES GOLDBLATT New York City
"Extend Our Sympathies"
Sirs: Just finished a round-table discussion of your "Letters to the Editor," which we have followed with interest, and not without amusement, for some two years overseas. The amusement factor has been plentifully supplied by the plaintive wailings and disparagements of "our fighting men." Lately, however, it has ceased to be amusing.
It seems that the ''dogfaces' " principal gripes are: 1) impending return to overseas duty; 2) demobilization; 3) civilian friction.
A few facts about gripe No. 1: We have spent 24 months overseas. ... In that time we have been no closer to civilization than Guadalcanal. Understand, we are not complaining; we are just trying to show G.I. Joe that he isn't having too tough a time by a damn sight. We entertain no dreams of prolonged Stateside duty when & if we do return.
Gripe No. 2: We are aware of the fact that when the war in Europe is over, part of the Army will be demobilized. Soldiers in the South Pacific came to arms at this announcement; however, all Naval personnel will stay out here until the war with Japan is ended. We feel that too many soldiers are making a rush for that demobilization boat. . . . We, too, would like to get the hell out of the service and back to the homes which we love, but faced with nude "reality we believe that we have the intestinal fortitude to forget our personal desires and finish the hard, relentless job before us. The point of these two issues is that the Army should let go of Mama's apron strings, and get a little more determination to finish the war before thinking of the good old civilian days.
In regard to gripe No. 3 we feel that we can say no more than did Jean P. Hayden in her letter in TIME (Oct. 2). If the Army has any more loose medals they should throw one her way. She deserves it.
Extend our deepest sympathies to our misunderstood, despairing soldiers.
(CPL.) PAUL LONG, U.S.M.C.
(CPL.) EDWARD R. FAGAN, U.S.M.C.
(CPL.) CARL N. HENRY, U.S.M.C.
(CPL.) CLIFFORD DEHNER, U.S.M.C. c/o Fleet P.O. San Francisco
Coloraturas
Sirs:
In your article about Miliza Korjus (TIME, Oct. 30) you made the statement that first-rank coloratura sopranos seldom appear oftener than once in a generation. You made no mention of Patrice Munsel, or does she come in the next generation ?
(Pfc.) F. F. PLANCHE
N ew Orleans
P: Canary-voiced Patrice Munsel stands in the same relation to a first-rank coloratura that a promising West Point cadet does to General Eisenhower.--ED.
Live Sober & Like If
Sirs:
I was interested in your article on "Help for Drunkards" in TIME (Oct. 23). The article does not make clear the fact that an alcoholic cannot be cured--that is, get over his alcoholism, so that he can ever drink normally again. At a certain stage in his drinking career, a drinker passes his tolerance point --that is, he passes from a condition in which he can tolerate alcohol to a condition in which he absolutely cannot tolerate it. After that, one drink will start him off on a drunk. However, his alcoholism can be arrested ... so that an alcoholic can live a life of sobriety and like it. . .
RICHMOND WALKER Boston
Glamorous Gertrude?
Sirs: Being unable to find even a trace of glamorous Gertrude [Dirty Gertie of Bizerte] in Bizerte, we extended our quest across the coast of North Africa from the tip of Cape Bon to Casablanca. Our ceaseless searching was finally rewarded at Sidi-Bel-Abbes, headquarters of the French Foreign Legion (in which Ronald Colman fought so many ferocious battles), when we came upon an alluring Arabian astride a motorcycle, who claimed to be the identical girl about whom the celebrated song was written.
This pectorally perfect pucelle (see cut) posed for a picture, a true reproduction of which we are pleased to present to your exceedingly readable newssheet.
FULLER WARREN
Lieut, (j.g.) U.S.N.R. J. T. LANDON c/o Fleet P.O. Lieut" j.g. U-S-N'R'
New York City
Army Inflation
Sirs:
We members of the armed forces who are overseas have experienced a tremendous rise in the cost of living at our stations during the past few years. In spite of the terrific price climb, we've had no raise in pay for over two and a half years. Figured on his base pay, an enlisted man overseas gets 20% and an officer 10% more recompense than a man of the same rank stationed in the States, but even that only gives the following wage scales per hours: Private, 8.2-c- ; Private First Class, 9-c- ; Corporal, 11-c-; Sergeant, 13-c-; Staff Sergeant, 16-c- ; Technical Sergeant, 19-c- ; Master Sergeant and First Sergeant, 23-c-; 2nd Lieutenant, 22.9-c- ; ist Lieutenant, 25.5-c- ; Captain, 30.6-c-; Major, 38.2-c-; Lieutenant Colonel, 44.4-c- ; Colonel, 51-c- ; Brigadier General, 76.5-c- ; Major General and Lieutenant General, 95-c- ; General, $1.65.
These figures are naturally computed on a portal-to-portal basis, which Army Regulations set for combat theaters at 24 hours per day. . . . Naturally the more money you give us, the higher the price will climb, but we won't worry about that until later when we get around to asking for further increases.
Is this request any more bizarre than the request the unions have submitted for the scrapping of the Little Steel Formula?
STANLEY H. VAN GREENBY 1st Lieutenant, Engineer Corps "Somewhere in the Aleutians"
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