F.D.R.'s Cuss Word

Sirs:

It is rather fun to catch you in an error of fact, and the small percentage of errors is a tribute to your great organization. But it is no fun at all to point out your error in taste in quoting a statement from the President while he was voting (TIME, Nov. 13).

This illustrates two things, I think. First, that a completely accurate reporting of facts is not the chief end of journalism; second, that selection of what to print or what not to print needs to be guided by good sense and good taste, rather than by partisan politics.

In baseball, an error is a missed opportunity. Yours, although presumably factually correct, is more than a missed opportunity. It is a positive contribution to the undermining of the respect of the people of the U.S. for the man who is President and who will be President for the next four years. . . .

(REV.) HUGH CHAMBERLIN BURR Rochester, N.Y.

Sirs:

... If he did say it, it reflects an all-inclusive humanitarianism. . .

J. B. MOORE, M.D. Benton, Ill.

Sirs:

Your staff should feel ashamed for the embarrassment you caused the President by attributing to him profanity while he was using a voting machine. He still has the respect and confidence of millions of good Americans, even though the Glendale Ministerial Association seemed so frightfully shocked.

Please remember that the use of an occasional expression of profanity is not the most sinful thing. The President may be a better Christian than the ministers are.

EUGENE WEISS Orange, NJ.

Sirs:

A Glendale, Calif, minister was recently all hot and bothered over an alleged cuss word said to have been uttered, muttered or sputtered by President Roosevelt when voting at Hyde Park. The minister is reported to have written the President suggesting or demanding an apology. The good man is more agitated and aggrieved over the matter than God himself, who could easily have punished F.D.R. by electing the other fellow.

I wonder if the Glendale, Calif, sky pilot has ever read Paul Leicester Ford's The True George Washington. Ford tells us that on provocation George Washington "swore like an angel." When do ministers swear, if ever? I suppose, in the privacy of their own homes, to the dog, the wife and the kids.

GEORGE W. LYON Pittsburgh

Sirs:

... Perhaps you are not so bad after all. Now by attributing a profanatory outburst to the President you have decided to place him on a pedestal with George Washington, who was also said to be human at times.

GEORGE F. HOUSEMAN SR. Philadelphia

P: At his White House press conference Franklin Roosevelt denied having used the exact cuss word TIME reported, said that his words to the head election official had been, "Tom, the damn thing won't work," advised the White House Correspondents' Association to defray the expense of sending the errant reporter to an ear specialist. TIME will gladly undertake that expense--as well as the cost of examining the ears of the five other reporters and photographers who heard the same thing.--ED.

Inge Y. Luther

Sirs:

Dean Inge must have had one of his extremely gloomy moments when he wrote (TIME, Nov. 6) about Luther in the Churchman. He calls Luther "the worst evil genius of that country [Germany]," worse than Hitler. And then the Dean goes on to say that Lutheranism is essentially German. Preposterous! Lutheranism is Christianity; it is essentially scriptural. The God that Luther worshiped is the just and merciful God of the Bible.

War is apt to befuddle men's minds; but a churchman of such prominence as Dean Inge should always retain a clear vision and unbiased judgment.

PAUL REUTER Seward, Neb.

Sirs:

The "Gloomy Dean" seems to have forgotten a lot of history he certainly knew when he was younger. When he says "Lutheranism is essentially German" he should be reminded that Germany is less than 50% Lutheran while all of the Scandinavian lands are more than 90% Lutheran. Those who would "put an end to Luther's influence in Germany" should reflect that Hitler and his advisers are not and never were Lutherans, and that Lutheran pastors have been the chief obstacle to Hitler's absolute sway in Germany, Norway and Denmark, and for that reason they have suffered imprisonment and martyrdom by the thousands. . . .

ABDEL Ross WENTZ President

Lutheran Theological Seminary Gettysburg, Pa.

The Stilwells

Sirs:

Before someone else asks General Stilwell "Who was that lady I seen you with in TIME?" (Nov. 27), let me advise your august editors and your hordes of researchers that that lady is not, as you say, Mrs. Stilwell, but the very charming mother of Murray Fay, photographer for the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, who took the pictures of the General at his Carmel home.

ROBERT DE ROOS San Francisco

P: TIME'S sincere apologies to General and Mrs. Joseph Stilwell and to their good friend Mrs. Fay for the mixup, and the back of its hand to International News Photos, which caused the mixing.--ED.

What This Country Needs

Sirs:

After reading the very fine review of the book My Aunt Louisa and Woodrow Wilson in TIME (Nov. 13), my husband remarked: "What this country needs is more whittlers and fewer chiselers."

BESSIE KYLBERG Fresno, Calif.

Rename Berlin?

Sirs:

In days of old it was customary to rename the principal cities of conquered territory. This served the twofold purpose of bolstering the ego of the victors and reminding the vanquished who won the war.

We are not a vain people, but the Germans should certainly have a perpetual reminder of the fact that they lost--not only to superior force but to an aroused ideal.

I suggest renaming Berlin "Ginsberg." Ginsberg, Germany. How does that sound?

MILTON M. IDZAL, O.D. Sioux City, Ia.

Trouble in Israel

Sirs:

The story on Palestine in TIME (Nov. 13) has some serious misrepresentations which I feel duty bound to correct. Most serious amongst these is the implication of any contact between the so-called Israel Freedom Fighters and the Germans.

It is true that three German parachutists were reported dropped in the Jordan valley, but not only is there no suggestion even on the part of the British that they were sent to contact Hebrews in Palestine, but even the most elementary knowledge of that country suffices to indicate that they were dropped in a region which is entirely populated by Arabs, from where they could not possibly have even made contact with any Hebrews. . . .

You are well aware of the fact that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who is the most prominent leader of Arab politicians in Palestine, is living in Germany and steadily broadcasting to his followers in Palestine. It is obvious, therefore, to whom the Nazi parachutists were designated. . . .

One may approve or disapprove of the activities of the tiny group of those Hebrew patriots in Palestine who have been driven to open rebellion and violence. We happen to disapprove. TIME can present them to its readers in any light it wishes and is privileged to tear them to bits, but we must protest the reference to them as gangsters. It is really indefensible to so misname young men and women who are sacrificing their lives for what they believe to be the cause of their country, no matter how misguided or how wrong. . . .

SAMUEL MERLIN Secretary Hebrew Committee of National Liberation Washington

Uncle Sam, Clod

Sirs:

Is the U.S. really as inept in the field of foreign relations as you indicate? Whether you realize it or not you are giving us a national inferiority complex with your continual references to "those smart, tough-minded Russians," "the realistic British," "the determined, war-wise French," "the proud, mistreated Argentines," as contrasted to the big, good-natured, stumbling clod--Uncle Sam. . . .

WILLIAM A. DIEHL Captain c/o Postmaster New York City

If--

Sirs:

After reading of Willkie's untimely death we have been wondering what would have happened to the Republican nomination had Willkie been nominated instead of Dewey. Would the Vice Presidential nominee automatically become the Presidential nominee? Has this ever occurred in the political history of the U.S.?

RUTH L. EITHER Portland, Me.

P: 1) No. 2) Never. If it should happen the Republican National Committee could name another Presidential candidate or call another convention. --ED.

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