Peron v. the Church

Sir:

. . . The battle between Peron and the Roman Catholic Church is not a battle against God or religion but a battle to establish an American principle--the separation of church and state, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy finds intolerable . . . In every country where it is possible, the Roman Catholic Church is a dictatorial, political machine, which works under the disguise of clerical robes . . .

(THE REV.) A. MARVIN SANDERS

Metairie Baptist Church

New Orleans

Sir:

I was shocked to read such a biased report on Argentina in the June 20 issue. Why anybody in his right mind would condone someone who puts religion before country beats me . . . Public denunciation and execution would be the most appropriate fate for these traitors! . . . I say more power to Peron. He is obviously too great a man to be "shaken down" under the penalty of excommunication.

DONALD J. WEST

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

. . . A cryptic commentary on current conditions in Argentina may lie in the fact that within a few hours of arrival I have been offered by TIME-starved residents here $10 each for my two recent back issues of TIME--overlooked by customs inspectors. A "freedom-loving," double-talking Peronista regime has made sure that all copies destined for the country "just haven't arrived." All because you printed the truth.

A. R. DAYTON

Buenos Aires

Stripes & Stars of Rebellion

Sir:

That was an interesting evolution attributed to the flag of the U.S. [June 20] . . . Of much greater significance would be the discovery of the patriot who first conceived the idea of putting the stars and stripes into one flag of red, white and blue. The only one who seems to have had the ability to create such a design at the time was Francis Hopkinson. And the claim advanced for him is on shaky ground . . .

DAVID EGGENBERGER

Skokie, Ill.

Sir:

I believe that the stars and stripes owe their origin to the coat of arms of the Washington family. May I refer you to a church in Windermere, England? . . . It was built in 1485; John Washington, an ancestor of George's, was active in the church building. In his honor his coat of arms was placed near the top and center of the stained-glass window where it remains to be seen today . . . white stars on blue field and red and white stripes . . .

FRED G. BREITZKE

Little Rock, Ark.

The Principal Pioneer (Contd.)

Sir:

. . . While reading the story on Mr. Walter Reuther [June 20], I could not help thinking what a wonderful thing it would be if the disabled veterans had a man like him to go to bat for them--assuming that he understands our problems--as he does for the auto workers . . .

FREDERICK A. RICHARDSON

Minneapolis

Sir:

It is a bit discouraging to find . . . that Reuther won from Ford and G.M. the "principle" of the guaranteed annual wage . . . The controlling word is "guaranteed." The auto workers under the new contracts are guaranteed nothing . . . The only "guarantee" is that the companies will pay 5-c- per hour per worker into a jobless benefit fund. The benefits to the workers vary with the amount of money in the fund. If either company went through two straight years of heavy layoffs, by the end of that time there would probably be no benefits at all. Is that "guaranteed"? . . . The fact is that Reuther has won an important, interesting new fringe benefit that will have no more revolutionary impact on the economy than the many other fringe benefits, such as pensions and health insurance . . .

EDWIN L. DALE JR.

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

Had the unknown person who shot and wounded Walter Reuther some years ago taken better aim, America would not now be headed straight down the drain. As a result of the recent negotiations, my present and future automobile will be British.

(Y/iST C) JAMES M. NOBLE

U.S.N.

Paris

Sir:

We congratulate TIME for the article. The dedicated leadership, labor statesmanship and social philosophy of Walter Reuther have endeared him to the rank and file everywhere. By any standard of comparison he is the labor leader of the century.

LAURENCE RYAN

Oshawa, Ont.

Canine Delinquents

Sir:

. . . I am a dog owner, but what you'd call an anti-dog lover . . . and I believe in leash laws [June 27] wholeheartedly . . . Our dog stays at home--he does not tramp through vegetables and flowers, relieve himself on strangers' lawns, vomit on back porches, tip garbage pails or roll in manure --nor, might I add, does he bark incessantly for no good reason . . . As delinquent children are the offspring of lazy parents, so are delinquent dogs the product of so-called "dog lovers," who find it easier to let the neighbors supervise their canine friends' activities.

MARILYNN J. YOUNG

Delmar, N.Y.

The Lorelei

Sir:

You published an interesting profile of Germany's new Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano in the June 20 issue . . . The Lorelei was not written by [his forebear] Clemens Brentano, but by Heinrich Heine . . . When the Nazis came to power, they felt they had to "appropriate" it for the Nordic race. They omitted the name of the Jew Heine and just called it "a folksong." Clemens Brentano, however, has one real claim to fame: he was the joint editor of Des Knaben Wunderhorn, one of the most important folksong collections in the history of German literature.

FELIX E. HIRSCH

Librarian and Professor of History

State Teachers College

Trenton, N.J.

P: Clemens Brentano created the Lorelei fable on which Poet Heine based his most famous poem.--ED.

Vote on the Beam

Sir:

I was appalled by your quotation attributed to Senator Lyndon Johnson [June 20] in which he exhorted the tower at Washington's airport to get Northwest's Flight 300 on the ground [before a close Senate vote]. Completely unbelievable! This is the kind of leadership we are now getting in the Senate?

I suggest that Senator Johnson take time off and visit an airport control tower in a high-density area during the kind of weather operations that were obviously prevailing. The tower personnel and the crew of Flight 300 were undoubtedly having their hands and minds full of enough problems . . . without some crackpot and ignorant Senator distracting them for his precious colleague's vote . . .

DAVID B. JACKSON

Evanston, Ill.

The Man Who Brought the Gas

SIR:

YOUR PATTILLO HIGGINS OBITUARY [ JUNE 20] WAS EXCELLENT. WE WERE DELIGHTED THAT THROUGH YOUR MEDIUM MILLIONS COULD LEARN ABOUT THIS GREAT AMERICAN. AS YOU PORTRAYED HIM, MR. HIGGINS WAS AN EXPLORER, AND NEVER A WEALTHY MAN . . . HE MADE NOTHING AT SPINDLETOP. LATER AT GOOSE CREEK AND BARBERS HILL HE FOUND OIL THAT PROVIDED HIM WITH A COMFORTABLE ROYALTY INCOME FOR LIFE. HE MUST HAVE LIVED A LIFE OF TREMENDOUS SATISFACTION AT BEING ABLE TO KNOW THAT IT WAS HE WHO USHERED IN THE FUEL AGE THAT MADE THE AUTOMOBILE, THE AEROPLANE AND THE GREAT PETROLEUM ERA POSSIBLE . . . WE HOPE THAT THE INDUSTRY THAT HE MADE POSSIBLE WILL SOME DAY HONOR HIM IN THE MANNER HIS MEMORY DESERVES.

JAMES A. CLARK

MICHAEL T. HALBOUTY

HOUSTON

P: If Pattillo Higgins' memory is neglected, it will be no fault of Authors Clark and Halbouty (Spindletop).--ED.

Comfort for Cutter

Sir:

Your June 20 report of the Cutter Laboratories is the first account I have read since the vaccine snafu; it is gratifying to hear of their competitors' offers of help. The companies should be commended.

MRS. ANDREW P. MONROE JR.

Wilmette, Ill.

Sir:

. . . I am hard put to decide whence came your sniveling story of Cutter Laboratories. . . Your transparent attempt to restore Cutter to its pedestal was only a little less ridiculous than the Los Angeles drug chain that "planned to buy only Cutter products when possible" . .

T. G. CAVOLINA

New York City

SIR:

THANK YOU FOR THE FACTUAL AND SYMPATHETIC HANDLING OF THE CUTTER STORY. MAY I OFFER A CORRECTION FOR ONE WORD? SUBSTITUTE "BIOLOGICAL" FOR "PHARMACEUTICAL" IN THE LINE READING CUTTER "IS THE SECOND OLDEST PHARMACEUTICAL HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY UNDER CONTINUOUS OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT." THERE ARE SEVERAL OLDER DRUG HOUSES, SOME OF WHICH PRODUCE NO BIOLOGICALS . . .

FRED A. CUTTER

BERKLEY, CALIF.

Sir:

Congratulations on the article. A good laboratory and a good institution devoted to the public welfare receives just commendation.

L. HENRY GARLAND, M.D.

San Francisco

The Knife That Black Built

Sir:

In the June 20 issue there appears your report on the bowie knife along with a request for one from the King of Iraq . . . The letter you mention was a personal one to me from the King's aide-de-camp . . . asking me where he could obtain such a knife and also books on Western gunmen, etc. . . . As to the controversy over the name of the inventor of the knife, that was settled when my book Bowie Knife was published. A monument was raised to the inventor, James Black, more than half a century ago. The ashes of his old blacksmith shop, where he produced the knife, are covered by this monument in the town of Washington, Ark., on the old Spanish Trail. Past this shop ran the footpath trod by every emigrant who went to Texas and every murderer who was chased back . . . More murders were committed between Washington and the Cross Timbers than in any other spot of similar size in the U.S. in the early days.

Here James Black settled before there was a town in 1824. Six years later he built the original bowie for [Colonel] James Bowie. He built many others until stricken blind. In 1870 he died in the home of Governor Dan Jones.

RAYMOND W. THORP

Los Angeles

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