The Pistol & the Claw

Sir: Your Jan. 10 article "The Pistol and the Claw" raises some interesting questions. Will we learn in time that those who live by the sword inevitably perish by it ? An alternative was suggested several thousand years ago, namely, "doing unto others as we would have them do unto us." Impractical? May be so, but it works. The hardest of criminals will respond favorably to such treatment when genuine and done in the absence of a "big stick" behind one's back . . .

ALLYN F. ROBERTS East Lansing, Mich.

Sir:

. . . Everybody will agree with you. But how long can this nation live in constant fear without getting a generation of neurasthenics or, what is worse, a generation of the devil-may-care variety. Why wait for "the approaching deadlock"? Why wait for the time when "each has the power to smash the other into radioactive rubble"? Why not attack the enemy first? . . .

J. GOLDHABER Jackson, Miss.

Sir:

If both Russia and the U.S. could publicize the development of a weapon that was powerful enough to destroy the whole planet and not outlaw the use of this weapon, war then would be unthinkable. Both would of necessity have to get down to the business of living together on the same planet in peace, eternal peace . . .

WILLIAM PEARLMAN Norfolk, Va.

Sir: . . . The quest of the U.S. military for tactical devices to implement the "claw" policy resembles rather closely the search of the fabled scientist for a universal solvent.

Local wars of the future are likely to occur among the most densely populated regions.

The creation of "atomic sanitized corridors" and beachheads efficiently scoured up to 70 miles inland might be militarily feasible, but rather unpractical politically. The end result of such a local war might be that the unfortunate recipient of such protection would be effectively purged of all political colorations--purged so completely, in fact, that its territory like the shadow of its national soul would lie grey and lifeless, denuded alike of people, foliage and natural features.

RICHARD V. VICK Kalispell, Mont.

The Bull Market Sir: Re your Jan. 10 article "Business in 1954": You might weigh the usefulness of the term "social capitalism" . . . The old term "capitalism," with its gritty and seamy connotations, needs a bit of face lifting to make our version of it comprehensible outside North America where capitalism does not operate as it does in the modern U.S. . . .

On the American scene today, capitalism is an obsolete term, just as Marx's now century-old system of communism is obsolete today. There is something better; U.S.

business in 1954 demonstrates it on a national scale.

M. H. SCHROEDER Flat Rock, Mich.

Sir: To "attempts at guessing the market by studying the thickness of the moss on trees, the number of lemmings, postal receipts in Milwaukee and the activity of sunspots" add that old reliable indicator--TIME'S jinx.

The bull market died the day his picture appeared. Those in the know undoubtedly cleaned up plenty by selling short.

LESTER GRADY Palmerton, Pa. P: The bull did not die; he just paused to chew the cud.--ED.

What Ism Is McCarthyism? Sir: Professor Peter Viereck argued, according to your Jan. 10 issue, that McCarthy is "... the type of the left-wing Populist or Jacobin agitator," but McCarthy's only resemblance to American Populist leaders is that he talks too much (like Mr. Viereck and a good many other politicians) and mends his fences sufficiently to keep getting elected. Viereck further argued that McCarthy subverts "precisely those institutions that are the most conservative, venerable and patrician--from the Constitution, the most decorated or paternal generals --to the leaders of our most deeply established religions . . ." Mr. Viereck has in mind, no doubt, such military leaders and religious bodies as General MacArthur and the Roman Catholic Church.

It is illuminating that TIME felt that . . . the Viereck trash was . . . newsworthy. It is the hope of many historians that Mr. Viereck is a good poet.

KENDALL BIRR Assistant Professor of History

WALTER G. SIMON Assistant Professor of History State University of New York Albany, N.Y.

Sir:

Peter Viereck's attempt to protect the American right by identifying Senator McCarthy as a "typical demagogue of the left" overlooks a central political danger of our day. This is the ability of the fascist leader to rally both the uneducated "left" and the frightened "right" around a standard of (alleged) ultrapatriotism. Without that standard the said demagogue would have to choose one or the other. Thanks to it, he collects from both sides: riffraff and traditionally righteous. Not to have realized that both Mussolini and Hitler were able to accomplish this trick is to have missed the point of both the Italian and the German revolts against civilization. It remains to be seen if it can be duplicated in the U.S.

EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER Washington, B.C.

The Trouble with France (Contd.) Sir: Re your Jan. 10 articles on France. It's high time someone started to blast the ballyhoo of the "great French Republic." The best way for Americans to maintain an attitude of sympathy and compassion for the French is to stay away from France . . .

R. E. KENDIG Colonel, U.S.A.F.

c/o Postmaster New York City

Sir: Before we show too much contempt for "the little men of the French National Assembly" for their long and perhaps sensible reluctance to rearm the Germans, we ought to recall that not too long ago, when Hitler was everywhere triumphant, America's armed forces were held together by one single Congressional vote.* DAVID E. HAFT, M.D. Rochester, N.Y.

Sir:

TIME'S coverage of the European situation is, as usual, outstanding; however, there seems to be a decided tendency to blame the French Assembly for all France's problems. The Assembly is but a mirror of the French people. The sickness that grips France goes through every stratum in the French economy . . .

GEOFF STIRLING

Tubac, Ariz.

Sir: France's frustration is merely political . . .

I never expected to see TIME joining the ranks of the people who look down their noses upon the poor standard of living of the uncultured tribes of the Gauls. Your Jan. 10 article "The Sheltering Sky" may well have been written by a sightseeing tourist . . . What is wrong with "houses built under the reign of Francis I?" I have lived in just such a house . . . The plumbing was perfect. Who invented the saga of the French plumbing? I have a hunch it was a nation frustrated for having nothing but gadgets to hold onto in the emptiness of a hectic life devoted to dollar making . . .

ERNEST L. ROTHSCHILD

Cincinnati

Sir:

. . . The real trouble with the French is that the people as a whole have ceased to become Christian without yet becoming outright atheistic. No wonder they are proving useless for either God or the Devil.

A. V. DA COSTA Nagpur, India

The Petersen Case Sir: As a faithful reader of your magazine, your Jan. 3 article "Espionage"--about Joseph Sydney Petersen Jr., who in the U.S.

District Court at Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty to one of the charges against him--did not escape my attention. Some of the facts mentioned therein do not correspond with the truth, and I venture to write to you because they are also of a derogatory character as far as my country is concerned.

First of all you write that Petersen was accused of spying for The Netherlands. Let me assure you, sir, that Petersen never spied for The Netherlands, and that he never received any remuneration from my country.

Quite correctly you state that when Petersen pleaded guilty, it was to the charge that he had used secret documents "in a manner prejudicial to the safety and interest of the U.S." This now is entirely a different matter.

I wish to observe that, although the word espionage has been used repeatedly in the press in connection with the Petersen case, this word is entirely out of place and therefore does not appear in the official press release given out by the American authorities nor in the indictment against Petersen.

It is true that Petersen did transmit secret information to Netherlands officials; this, however, took place on a reciprocal basis. In this way The Netherlands received information from the U.S. (i.e., Petersen), and The Netherlands on her side gave information which was considered to be useful to the American authorities. This exchange of information, incidentally, was not of a political or strategic nature, but had a purely technical character. The information received in this way by Netherlands officials was available exclusively for the internal use of The Netherlands government.

I wish to state categorically that there is no connection whatsoever between the Baranes spy case in France and the Petersen case, and that the French government got none of "Petersen's secrets" from the Dutch.

My government gladly accepts full responsibility for the actions of their own officials and civil servants. In this case there has been no question of any imprudence or indiscretion committed by any official of The Netherlands government, and therefore likewise there can be no question in the Petersen case of any embarrassment to my government.

DR. J. H. VAN ROIJEN Netherlands Ambassador Washington, D.C.

Feathered Friends Sir: Many thanks to TIME [Jan. 10] for elevating the wonderful hobby of birding to its well-deserved position of a dignified and extremely engrossing recreation. California may be consistently high in the Christmas census, but . . . the average Los Angeles citizen doesn't know the difference between a mockingbird and a robin, and cares even less . . .

MELBOURNE P. JAHP North Hollywood, Calif.

* Four months before Pearl Harbor, the House of Representatives voted 203-202 to extend, for 18 months, the Selective Training and Service Act.

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