The Soul's Explorer
Sir:
A bouquet to both Dr. Jung and TIME [Feb. 14] for their splendid efforts in at tempting to convey many highly specialized data concerning today's most momentous issue -- genuine mental health. In this era of escapism, mass alcoholism, counterfeit divorce decrees, hospitalized thousands of paranoia, hebephrenia and catatonia victims who are the victims of serious social blights, shallow philosophy, A- and H-bomb hysteria, pathetically false rationalizing and a disregard for God's holy commandments, etc., yours was an exceptionally well-timed article . . .
GILBERT J. BEZOU New Orleans
The General Speaks
Sir: I've been an anti-MacArthur man since I don't know when, but now I would proudly nominate him for President. His speech on outlawing war [Feb. 7] was the most electrifying thing since Churchill's wartime oratory . . . JONREED LAURITZEN Chatsworth, Calif.
Sir: I do now concur in your opinion of General MacArthur's "cloud-high" speech. He said that war can no longer serve any desirable ends, and that any nation that engages therein will bring nothing but destruction and desolation on themselves as well as the enemy. Can any intellectually honest person deny that? . . . We must bend every efford to procure universal military disarmament (U.M.I. not U.M.T.) . . .
GLEN McGREW New Castle, Ind.
Sir:
General MacArthur has disclosed a deep-seated schizophrenia with respect to the subject of war and peace . . . A basic split in the mind and heart of this great soldier seems to have characterized his thinking throughout his career. In 1931, when he was Chief of Staff of the Army, he excoriated a group of clergymen for their pacifist position . . . Yet this is the same man who . . . foisted upon the Japanese people a new constitution outlawing war altogether . . . The question is which MacArthur are we to believe? MacArthur the soldier, patriot, nationalist--or MacArthur the author of the Japanese constitution? . . .
(THE REV.) JOHN J. WATSON Rutherford Memorial Methodist Church Corryton, Tenn.
Sir:
. . . All that TIME saw fit to quote from General MacArthur's address was his (presumably the general's) words on youth and age. It so happens that all these words were quotes, or rather slight misquotes, of a piece written by my grandfather, the late Samuel Ullman of Birmingham, Ala. (a public school there bears his name) . . . Twenty years after my grandfather's death, a journalist interviewing MacArthur at his Tokyo head quarters in late 1945 was struck by a framed poem over his desk. It was called Youth, and was apparently anonymous. The general said this poem had been sent to him years before, and had always occupied the position over his desk, wherever that desk was located -- even throughout the campaign in the Pacific . . . I believe I echo the feeling of the 14 grandchildren of Samuel Ullman [see cut] when I say we are happy and proud to have his words widely spread. But it is indeed ironic that the particular implement for this spreading should be General MacArthur, who has always confused the grandiose with the youthful, and whose views on nationalism, militarism, etc. have been almost diametrically opposed to my grandfather's . . .
JOHN ALDRICH NEWFIELD New York City
Airy Grievances
Sir:
Mr. Bernard DeVoto says [Feb. 14] that the reconfirmation system used by the airlines is an asininity. I agree with Mr. DeVoto . . .
[But] how long do you believe the theatres would remain in business if they sold tickets but were willing to make complete refund of the purchase price if the customer changed his mind and did not show up for the performance? That is exactly the situation of the airlines at this time. The only remedy is a penalty system for those who abuse the privilege of making reservations. If their tickets are not used and not canceled within a reasonable time before departure, then not all of the purchase price is returned to them . . . The airlines have not had the courage to put in this sensible system . . . instead they instituted the halfway measure of the reconfirmation system . . . The reconfirmation policy is a proven failure and should be abolished, yet the members of the Air Transport Association, representing the airlines, have consistently voted to retain it, and a minority group, which includes American Airlines, has not yet been able to have it abolished . . .
C. R. SMITH President
American Airlines, Inc. New York City
Snap Judgment Sir:
In your Feb. 7 review of A New Handbook on Hanging, you published a formula used to determine the drop in hanging a man: 412/weight of body in stones = length of drop in feet
A stone these days is called 14 lbs. Using my roommate's weight of 155 lbs., his weight in stones is approximately 11.1 stones, and the drop necessary is 37 ft. In an unfortunate experiment to test the formula, the rope not only broke his neck, but pulled his head right off . . .
THOMAS A. DORF Princeton, N.J.
Sir:
. . . Author Duff's equation is obviously wrong since the usual drop is 6 to 8 ft., and even at that distance the head may be avulsed occasionally. Paraphrasing the remark of the Queen of Hearts, I say, "off with his head" to Author Duff for accepting 19th century Hangman Berry's mathematical absurdity.
HARRY M. ROSE, M.D.
New York City
P:Some hanging experts insist that "High Hangman" Berry's table still stands; current British Hangman Al bert Pierrepoint lets his judgment be guided by imponderables, e.g., age, bone structure. --ED.
Pride of the Seventh Fleet
Sir:
Re your cover and article on Admiral Pride [Feb. 7] . . . I was one of his O.O.D.s in combat on the Belleau Wood during the tough part of World War II ... Pride is a modern Abraham Lincoln -- the very soul of humility, inspiring confidence at every turn. He commands respect but returns respect in full measure.
J. LESTER POUCHER Palatka, Fla.
Sir: . . . This article gave me the opportunity of learning a good deal more about a man who extended several unforgettable kindnesses to me and several others in our 312th General Hospital Unit stationed at Mandaluyong, Rizal Province, P.I. . . .
MARIE S. ZEIGNER Los Alamos, N. Mex.
Stand on Formosa
Sir:
You are so right in stressing the importance of a courageous policy in dealing with Communist China on the Formosan situation [Feb. 7] . . . Are we to be maneuvered into a position so patently against our wishes as the recognition of Communist China and the abandonment of Chiang Kai-shek to the confines of Formosa? That is the British policy . . . It has been on their books for some time, but Anthony Eden has been very adroit in seizing upon the Formosan situation as a means of implementing it. If this happens, I believe it will be the end of the U.S. as a power . . .
MARV V. T. WHITEHEAD San Antonio
Sir:
Senator Wayne Morse showed himself for the irresponsible egghead he is when he joined his fellow Senators, Langer and Lehman, in voting against the Formosan resolution.
R. P. McLAURIN St. Louis
Sir: One Thing this Formosa situation proves to all is that the Soviet Union is a more repsonsible ally than the U.S. Chiang must find his tea bitter indeed . . .
G. WHEELER Los Angeles
Russell & the Bible
Sir:
Re Bertrand Russell's definition of faith [Jan. 31]: it is psychologically impossible to put "faith in something for which there is no evidence." Christian faith is founded on plenty of evidence, but Russell the pragmatist doesn't have the frame on which to hang it.
(THE REV.) EDWARDS E. ELLIOTT The First Orthodox Presbyterian Church San Francisco
Sir:
. . . While you may not know it, there are many of your readers whose religious or you might say irreligious views correspond with Earl Russell's, and 20th century rationalists are following the Romans. The intellectual classes in Rome did not believe in "an eternal life"--they believed in "eternal sleep."
WALTER BURWELL Council Bluffs, Iowa
Sir: Your review of Bertrand Russell's book . . . sets a short-time low . . . TIME, itself addicted to outdated superstitions, i.e., Chris tianity, mocks Nobel Prizewinner Russell, one of the ablest logicians of our time . . .
J. J. BLEEKER Delft, Holland
Sir:
Earl Russell . . . claims that the Bible itself is contradictory on the matter of ethics and "proves" it by asking, "Should a child less widow marry her deceased husband's brother? Leviticus says no, Deuteronomy says yes." If Mr. Russell would take his own advice and get a little knowledge of the Scriptures before condemning them, he would find that the two texts he uses as proof for his statement are not contradictory; one refers to the widow of the brother while the other refers to the wife of the brother. There is, after all, a fair-sized difference between a wife and a widow, unless one is deliberately looking for a specious argument to build up a point that is rather weak . . .
H. J. BERGMAN Wenatchee, Wash.
The Horrifying Truth Sir:
I want to thank you for publishing the article on Vorkuta [Jan. 24] -- the Russian slave camp. You give the free people of America another chance to learn the horrifying truth about the Russian way of "restoring" peace for the world. I am a Latvian, whose father might still be one of the prisoners at Vorkuta, still hoping for his return . . .
DAGMARA BITNERS New Westminster, B.C.
Sir: Your article was a very good account of life in that part of Russia. I should know; I was there in 1940--building the railroad to Vorkuta, by no means voluntarily, but as a prisoner of war having been captured by the Russians during the Russo-Polish war in 1939 . . .
FRED HIRSCHBERGER Pompton Lakes, NJ.
Just to Pass the Time Away Sir:
Re your Jan 31 picture of Robert R. Young climbing aboard a boxcar: Railroad Tycoon Young had best read his rule book on safety. He should use the grab irons on the side of the boxcar instead of on the end as shown in your picture . . .
R. O. SHAUB Baltimore The Heretics Sir:
I am still wondering why TIME [Jan. 31] chose to devote such an amount of space to the affair of unfrocked Father Dubois . . . A sentimental account of Dubois' piety and energy and his parishioners' liking for him does not convince me that he was martyred when a church whose fundamental precepts he denies refused to let him continue as one of its pastors . . .
D. J. MULCAHY Houston
Sir:
I think the case of "Heretic" ex-Father Dubois points up very well the age-old problem that has faced many people in the Roman Catholic Church: to go along with what the church says, believing it to be wrong in many of its teachings, or, to stand up for what one believes from the Scriptures and face excommunication from the Church of Rome. I would have a great deal of respect for Dubois had he done one of two things: truly believed in his heart and preached the verity of all dogma and actions of the Church of Rome, or, once stating his opposition, to have stuck to his points. As the case of the unfrocked priest, I feel very sorry for him as he has been unable to find true comfort in Christ . . .
New Orleans WOOLLEN H. WALSHE JR.
Sir:
In a footnote to your story, we are told that the Albigensians adopted a "strict, other worldly practice of Christianity, and were virtually exterminated by the church." Do you consider that advocacy of suicide is "strict, otherworldly practice of Christian ity"? Are you in favor of the Albigensian doctrine of concubinage and unrestrained carnal actions, as "strict and otherworldly Chris tianity"? . . . If the Albigensian heresy had triumphed, it would have meant the destruc tion of civilization through the ruination of the home and family because of their anti social teaching on marriage. They were a threat not only to the church, but also to the well-being of society at large . . . Let's not advertise the Albigensians as simon-pure Christians, which they were not, at least in principle. A fraternal prayer for Father Du bois, a "shepherd in the mist." (THE REV.) HENRY P. COSGROVE, J.C.D.
Rome
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