The Place of the Prophet

Sir:

"Prophet with a Gun" [Jan. 16] is a masterly handling of the most complex political problem of our times. Where hopes and fears, religion and politics, dreams and nightmares are so grievously mixed, any complete story is impossible. It may be too idealistic to ask for a solution through love, but, having long known Palestine, I feel that the present hatred endangers not only the small, struggling state of Israel but the world as well.

MAYNARD OWEN WILLIAMS

Garrett Park, Md.

Sir:

I resent the distorted picture TIME is giving to millions of Americans. One would think that 45 million Arabs cower under the truculence of 1.5 million Jews, who, for some unknown reason, wish to beat the Middle East to its knees. If TIME is anti-Israel, let it say so openly. This intellectual pussyfooting is not what I would call courageous journalism.

(RABBI) ALLEN RUTCHIK Temple Beth Israel of Maywood Maywood, N.J.

Sir:

For quite a few years I have waited for TIME to do a cover story on the Middle East's most forceful personality, David Ben-Gurion; now that you have done so, I would like to congratulate you on a fine and objective piece of writing.

J. KOLLEK Executive Publisher Israel Economist Jerusalem

Let Reader Kollek also look at TIME'S cover of Aug. 16, 1948.-ED.

Sir:

I am shocked by your statement of facts in the opening paragraph. Israel came into existence by the Declaration of the United Nations. Its use of arms came into play when the Arab nations invaded Israel. To suggest otherwise is to deliberately spread the false propaganda of the Arab League. HYMAN H. HAVES New Haven, Conn.

SIR:

I FOUND YOUR ISRAEL ARTICLE FAIR AND UNDERSTANDING. THE BASIC PROBLEMS OF ISRAEL AND ITS NEIGHBORING STATES ARE IDEOLOGI CAL, BUT NO IDEOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHOUT PHYSICAL SECURITY FOR ALL.

(THE REV.) R. L. LINDSEY

JERUSALEM BAPTIST CONGREGATION JERUSALEM

Sir:

The article contains a remark ["the man knows nothing about Buddhism"] allegedly made by Mr. Ben-Gurion on the occasion of the visit to Israel of U Nu, Prime Minister of Burma.

The Prime Minister has asked me to point out that he has never given utterance to any such words or ideas as those attributed to him; he has the deepest respect and admiration for the Prime Minister of Burma, both as a great leader of his nation and as a man of profound religious conviction.

ABBA EBAN Embassy of Israel Washington

Sir:

Your cover interests me . . . Perhaps Ben-Gurion is looking toward the future (including the old city as part of Israel) or toward peace between Israel and the Arab world.

HAZEL G. BOOTH Indianapolis

Sir:

As any tourist knows, the background depicts Arab Jerusalem with the Damascus Gate in the foreground and the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the background. In fact, there is not a shred of Israeli-held soil in the picture, and the land is wholly Arab up to and beyond the horizon ... I hate to believe that TIME meant to imply, even symbolically, that the Israeli Premier has cast his sway over Arab Jerusalem. All Arabs, and certainly millions of non-Arabs, join me in protesting such an implication. MAHMOUD HAW ART AHMED Arab States Delegation New York City -1 No implications of sovereignty intended. TIME'S cover presented a view from inside Israel looking out.-ED.

Burning Questions

Sir:

With the increasing costs of paper, how can you afford to fill your pages with such boring topics as the President's State of the Union message and the Middle East crisis when the burning question on the lips of every red-blooded American is: Can a poor little rich girl from the banks of the Schuylkill River find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Monegasque?

HAROLD J. NEWMAN Brookline, Mass.

Sir:

I sure am glad that there Kelly fellow of the Philadelphia Kellys got that there Rainier fellow of the Monaco Rainiers straightened out. I wonder, however, if the Prince has the same right of opinions in the Kelly household. What if sculling and brickyards don't mean a thing to the Prince?

PATRICK H. MCINTYRE Studio City, Calif.

Sir:

"... Grace nibbled at Rainier's ear and danced with him until 4 a.m." I fear this will cause an international ear-nibbling craze, and ears are delicate things. Think of a whole generation of earless males. However, Gracie can nibble on my ears any time.

HOLCOMBE McDANIEL Baton Rouge

Sir:

The remarks of the male Kellys have all the earmarks of the worst possible, disgustingly infantile American nouveau ricke: a sweaty sculling cap sent to a king, the grossly stupid admonitions given to a Prince, and the banal arrogance of a future brother-in-law only serve to point up a seemingly complete lack of taste highly prevalent in the Kelly mansion. It is a living tribute to American enterprise that one may raise his social position so high that his brick hod may neatly crush all human dignity and nobility. Evidently, the Kellys have taken it upon themselves to teach the silly backward Europeans how to live the intelligent American way of life.

Perhaps Grace shall follow her father's example and send her Country Girl dirty sweater to Queen Elizabeth as final proof "that royalty [doesn't] mean a thing to us."

EARL SAYER LAWRENCE SCHWARTZ

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Sir:

The first reel-real lady of Hollywood has allowed the thin coat of publicized "genteelness and good breeding" to crack. Underneath the glorified veneer is revealed an ambitious, social-climber.

RENE MECKER

Santa Fe. N. Mex.

Operation Heartbreak

Sir:

Re: Patrick McGinnis [Jan. 16]: My goodness, McGinnis! Up Westchester way, we now call it the New York, New Haven & Heartbreak.

JULIAN S. BACH JR. White Plains, N.Y.

Sir:

No one doth skin us Like Patrick McGinnis.

RALPH NEWMAN Darien, Conn.

Sir:

Now that McGinnis has resigned from the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, is it possible that the ravaged commuters . . . will write finis to McGinnis?

E. ALLEN Darien, Conn.

Main Door to China

Sir:

Thanks and gratitude for the interesting and beautifully photographed article on Hong Kong [Jan. 16]. It is the best of its kind, in all respects, to appear in any magazine. Outside of San Francisco, Hong Kong has always been my favorite and most beloved city, to which some day I shall return, if not in actuality, at least in memory. San Francisco HARRY C' OLMSTEAD

Sir:

Who gives a tinker's damn about this Hong Kong? It is TIME that makes itself revoltingly obnoxious by always butting in and trying to "protect" this mere island when it is really none of its damn business. If you guys are so crazy about defending the place, why don't you move over there?

HAROLD SHANNON San Francisco

Sky High

Sir:

Your article on Air France [Jan. 23] is a flattering resume of my company's contribution to man's effort in the conquest of air. May I express my congratulations for an excellent article that bespeaks your success as a great magazine. My only regret is that I am unable to convey appreciation in person.

MAX HYMANS

Air France

Paris

Sir:

A most excellent article . . .

VICTOR T. RAEBURN

Air r ranee New York City

The Ploy's the Thing

Sir:

Expressions like "A continuing sort of oneupmanship" LJan. 9] make the average TIME reader backtrack, ponder, and shake or scratch his head. "Oneupmanship" is not even to be found in a golfer's vocabulary.

MRS. LAWRENCE S. GLASER Kansas City, Mo.

P:For British Humorist Stephen Potter's advicemanship on the ploys of gamesmanship, see TIME, Sept. 6, 1948. -Eo.

Sir:

Where, in the name of Semanticus, did your writer come up with that word "kakistocracy" LJan. 16]? Is it a government of parrots (kaka being a parrot found in N.Z.)? Or would a better meaning be government by the worst men ?

W. A. THOMPSON

Cheshire, Conn.

P:Reader Thompson is right on the second try.-ED.

The Singing of Solesmes

Sir:

I have just read your excellent Jan. 16 article. I have spent many years in the study of the Gregorian chant and spent much time at Solesmes. There are several groups in this country dedicated to the revival of the chant, and one of them is my own choir, which consists of ecclesiastical students for the priesthood from the seminary which is attached to our abbey. Darius Milhaud has become so interested in our attempt to revive the chant that he has composed Trots Psaumes de David for my choir. This composition is the setting to music of several of the Psalms. He employs the unique technique of permitting the odd verses of each psalm to remain in the original polyphonic style. This composition has just been published in Paris.

(FATHER) DAVID NICHOLSON, O.S.B. Mount Angel Abbey St. Benedict, Ore.

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