On the Record

Sir:

... As Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the U.S., it is my duty to protest TIME'S July 5 account to the effect that arms and planes have been sent by the Dominican government to Central America . . .

It is our unshakable policy and determination not to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. The record proves beyond any doubt that the Dominican Republic has lived up to the obligations imposed upon her by international law and agreements.

LUIS FRANCISCO THOMEN

Washington, D.C.

P: TIME did not say that the planes had been sent--merely that "Trujillo's mechanics were busy scraping the Dominican insignia off three P-38s . . . ticketed for Nicaragua." The tickets have apparently been canceled, temporarily. Meanwhile, Dictator Somoza of Nicaragua sends his two B-24s over to Dictator Trujillo whenever they need servicing.--ED.

Artistic Integrity

Sir:

For issue upon issue, month upon month, I have avidly devoured the contents of TIME'S Art Department, and just as avidly disgorged it.

The feeling of depression wrought upon me by the present status of American "Fine Art" is offset only by a passionate hatred for the critics who have brought this condition about. The shame is not that we have no great masters of fine art, the shame is that those with talent enough are discouraged from it.

It is hard to contain one's anger when viewing the fuzzy projections of fuzzy minds and crude fingers which are forced upon a skeptical public by ... art critics, when the work of such able men as Norman Rockwell is sneered at as "commercial."

"Commercial" your patootie!

The integrity of the work of American illustrators is certainly far beyond that of our so-called fine artists who are attempting to outdo one another in nothingness . . .

ROBERT H. GARY

Joliet, Ill.

Thump

Sir:

I had just finished reading about Harold Laski's "tubthumping energy" [TIME, June 28] when I picked up the next issue and was confronted with the "thumping for Ike Eisenhower," the "thumping welcome" and "thumping recognition" given Mayor O'Dwver and Robinson Jeffers respectively, and the "tubthumping speeches" of the convention.

Haven't reached Music yet, but could this be the beat of the humdrum?

MARIE McCRUM

Hollis, N.Y.

P: Reader McCrum has the word.--ED.

ODD

Sir:

Congratulations on your coverage of the Republican Convention [TIME, July 5] ...

To date there has been no wholesale rush of Democrats to get on the Republican bandwagon like there was after the Willkie nomination, but I have no doubt there will be right after Truman is nominated . . .

Therefore I am going to sponsor Disgruntled Democrats for Dewey (DDD) Clubs . . . The Democrats . . . will feel at home with another alphabetical agency, the Triple D.

ROLAND L. HILL

Lee, Mass.

DP

Sir:

Dewey? Phooey!

GRADY L. MULLENNIX

Denton, Tex.

Vote-Getter

Sir:

You made a tonsorial blunder on your cover of July 5. Our Republican candidate is shown with the lush, full growth of [preconvention] days. The new Dewey mustache is trim and thin and vote-getting . . .

JAMES B. MURRAY

Old Westbury, N.Y.

P: Reader Murray is right. A few grey hairs are creeping in, too.--ED.

Coverage

Sir:

Just for curiosity's sake, how many covers did you have in readiness for the July 5 (Dewey) issue?

ARTHUR L. GREEN

Chevy Chase, Md.

P: Six (one used, three still usable, two scrapped).--ED.

Courage & Cruelty

Sir:

I was deeply moved by the suffering and courage of Sybil Kathigasu and her family [TIME, June 28]. I note with sorrow that the forthcoming record of her ordeal, rather than helping to overcome hatred, will increase it, for it was written to show "what kind of people these Japanese are"--that is, what they are at their worst. Such a raking-over of old cruelties, abominable as they were, can do nothing toward building the kind of peace which will eventually eliminate such cruelty ...

CAROLYN KULKA

Pensacola, Fla.

Unblushing Tolerance (Cont'd)

Sir:

"The church cannot blush" [TIME, June 28], but TIME should if it can. TIME'S reporting of the Jesuit La Civilta Cattolica on the Catholic idea of religious tolerance, as seen through the eyes of the Christian Century, was as tricky a piece of journalistic chicanery as we have seen in a long time--even, in TIME... It was a slap in the face to a large section of TIME'S readers to report the Civilta Cattolica article via the subtly chosen excerpts of the prejudiced Christian Century ...

BERNARD I. SHEERIN, S.J.

Calexico, Calif.

P: Father Sheerin is talking through his black hat. The excerpts were not "subtly chosen," and the full text neither alters nor qualifies La Civilta Cattolica's statement of rigid dogma.--ED.

A Word of Warning

Sir:

Thanks for the sympathetic piece on migraine headaches [TIME, July 5]. But let me add a word of warning to pregnant women on the use of ergotamine tartrate as a treatment. Taken either by mouth or as an injection, it causes contractions of the uterus, may bring on a miscarriage or a premature birth.

MARY LOWE ROOSEVELT

Washington, D.C.

Labyrinthine Ways

Sir:

Your July 5 story on George Polk was well timed. As Middle East correspondent for ABC after the war, I knew Polk well, took many a journey through the labyrinth of Arab politics in competition with him. He was a reporter of rare courage, stubborn thoroughness and an almost belligerent honesty--qualities that endeared him to his colleagues if not always to the local authorities.

A typical incident: early in 1947 a group of American, British and other journalists were crossing the border from Transjordan into Palestine. British sentries stopped them, demanded passports and press credentials--and the religion of each correspondent. Polk stated flatly that he had no religion. He was not Jewish, nor was he an atheist; he simply regarded the question as insulting to the concept of a free press. He refused, as a matter of principle, to dignify it with an answer. They finally, and very reluctantly, had to let him through.

It seems rather remarkable that the U.S., so jealous in guarding its press freedom, at home and so militant in advocating its extension at international conferences, should be willing to let the murder of George Polk fade into the limbo of unsolved mysteries. Newsmen, some of whom must continue to do their jobs in distant and risky areas, take a very different view.

TED BERKMAN

New York City

P: Three committees of U.S. newsmen are trying to solve the murder. None is fully convinced, as the U.S. State Department seems to be, that Greek Communists killed Polk. One committee, headed by Columnist Walter Lippmann and Washington Post Publisher Eugene Meyer, hopes to raise $50,000 to keep the investigation going.--ED.

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