Heads, Hearts & Rabbits

Sir:

The man with the umbrella was a piker. Fifteen million Czechs, he felt, was not too great a price to pay for "peace for our time." Take Herbert Hoover now, on the other hand, he conceives things on a far more grandiose scale. In order to buy a small but unknown number of years of uneasy peace for the Americas, he is perfectly willing to let all other peoples of the world disappear into abject slavery behind the Iron Curtain . . .

Most of the comments I have read on Hoover's message of despair have argued the practical question of whether or not we would benefit directly by trying to stop the barbarians before the rest of the world is theirs . . . Does not the fate of 225 million fellow human beings also deserve some consideration . . . especially when these same human beings are our blood brothers who share our cultural heritage, our ideals, and our fierce love of freedom? . . .

May every American use not only his head but also his heart when he tries to decide which course America should follow.

HARALD OMSTED Pasadena, Calif.

Sir:

Herbert Hoover's is the voice of wisdom and moral courage . . .

BEAUMONT DEMAREST Bergenfield, N.J.

Sir:

The thing TIME chooses to call "isolationism," defined clearly by Herbert Hoover, is the will of the people. TIME and all others who would see this nation bled white in "little" wars throughout the world will soon realize this . . .

ROBERT C. BYERLY Trona, Calif.

Sir:

. . . Since when has America's symbol been Mr. Hoover's running rabbitinstead of the mighty eagle? . . .

BILL ROGERS Jackson Heights, N.Y.

Man of the Year

Sir:

We want to thank TIME for its choice of Man of the Year.

The expression on his face, his helmet and rifle, the destruction and desolation behind him, and the darkened sky, bring back to us what war means. We know some of its horrors. We don't want them again.

And yetwe have fixed your front cover to the wall. There can be no more suitable "pinup" for us right now . . . [It] hardens us for our own fight for freedom . . . this time on the right side.

ROBERT AND MARGRET HERBST Fuuerth, Germany, U.S. Zone.

Sir:

. . . As the mother of one of the marines who took the 60-mile death march through "Nightmare Alley," it's very gratifying to know that one of the finest publications in America gave our lads the recognition they so richly deserve.

MARY N. STYLES San Francisco

Sir:

. . . Well chosen . . .

G. G. BURRIS New York City

Sir:

. . . It is a story which should be read by every American.

FRANK E. MCBRIDE JR. Dayton

Sir:

. . . I want to thank you for the wonderful insight of the G.I. expressed in this article, and for the highly informative way in which it is written . . . The descriptions of Popko, Tatum and Ward are character studies that will be remembered . . .

MRS. CHARLES G. ASHE Battle Creek, Mich.

Sir:

Will you please convey to Sergeant Robert Ward's twice-bereaved Cherokee Indian mother my personal appreciation of her permitting his return to combat duty . . . Her heroic action honors herself, her son, her people and her nation . . .

R. H. JAMES Rocky Ford, Colo.

Sir:

. . . The sentence containing the phrase, "the best commander of the year, MacArthur, had blundered and been beaten," is the lowest blow I have ever seen struck in print . . .

WALTER T. GOLDSWORTHY Chicago

Sir:

. . . I'm no great admirer of MacArthur. As an oldtime horse-cavalry regular, and disabled Asiatic-Pacific veteran, I can be as critical of command mistakes as the next man. But sheer honesty applied to the facts seems to indicate that MacArthur did not blunder, was not defeated. The defeat was political . . .

EARL FRENCH Pruitt, Ark.

Sir:

Congratulations to your Ernest Hamlin Baker for his very excellent Man of the Year portrait--the American Soldier . . .

MRS. MILNOR PARET KESSLER Greenville, S.C.

Sir:

Your selection of the Man of the Year was excellent. Your story was inspired. Your artist, however, was inspired by seeing too many movies. The man on the cover looks like Hollywood's version of a G.I. . . .

W. T. PHARR Dallas

Sir:

[It] is the best likeness of a combat infantryman that I have ever seen. He has caught the finely drawn, haunted expression around the eyes and nose perfectly. This, together with the determined aspect of the mouth and jaw, forms a face that I have seen many hundreds of times since 1941 . . .

M/SGT. RAYMOND H. NELSON Galesburg, Ill.

Upbeat

Sir:

I note in your Jan. 1 issue that the Gallup poll reports that Bing Crosby is still the popular favorite of the man in the street, despite the fact that Billy Eckstine was selected this year in both the Down Beat and Metronome polls [TIME, Dec. 25].

Der Bingle was the favorite of Down Beat readers in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1944 and 1945, and during the first couple of years he was chosen, the Gallup poll undoubtedly could have discovered that Rudy Vallee still was the favorite of the man in the street.

NED E. WILLIAMS Editor Down Beat Chicago

In Pursuit of Power

Sir:

Dr. John A. Mackay defines clericalism as "the pursuit of power, especially of political power, by a religious hierarchy, carried on by secular methods, and for the purposes of social domination" [TIME, Jan. 8].

As a definition it admirably fits the activities of two organizations, religious in inspiration, which have functioned in American political lifethe Anti-Saloon League, and Protestants & Other Americans United for Separation of Church & State. Both of these groups sought political power under the aegis of religious hierarchy . . . and they certainly used secular methods such as badgering Congress and the President for the ultimate purpose of dominating the social scene in American life.

Surely Dr. Mackay would want to decry activities of Protestant organizations which fall so neatly within the limits of the definition of clericalism he has provided.

MSGR. THOMAS J. MCCARTHY Director National Catholic Welfare Conference Washington, D.C.

The Office Party Problem

Sir:

Maybe the boss's wife had the solution for the office Christmas party [TIME, Dec. 25] when "in came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile." There isn't a single moral problem that the office party at Yuletide raises that won't be solved if the wives insist upon inviting themselves . . . At least this is the Victorian suggestion I am submitting to my Sunday flock of a thousand . . .

(This scheme would pay for itself, for, although food costs would be up a third, the liquor bill would be cut in half.)

PAUL F. SMITH, SJ. Omaha

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