The Congo
Sir:
Khrushchev's indignant defense of the Congo mutineer-rapists is thoroughly in line with the well-documented Russian tradition of rape and rapine. I am sure some of your readers must recall the Russian performance in Vienna and Berlin in 1945 when no woman from eight to 80 was safe from those heroic socialistic soldiers of Soviet Russia. No army in modern history committed their bestial crimes against women, with the possible exception of the Japanese in Nanking in the '30s.
I remember that the words "monument to the unknown rapist" were once bitterly scribbled on a Russian war memorial in Berlin not too many years ago by Berliners whose memories are longer than yesterday's headlines.
EMIL D. CRISCITIELLO
New York City
Sir:
History will show that Belgium was forced to "free" the Congo through the subtle pressures of do-gooders the world over, among whom is the U.S. History will also show that the greatest crime Belgium committed was not in colonizing and administrating the Congo, but in "freeing" it!
Belgium has a manifest-destiny authority and a humane obligation to go right back into the Congo, take it over, keep it, and tell the rest of the world to mind their own business.
W. C. HELLER
Flourtown, Pa.
Ultimogeniture?
Sir:
Your altogether delightful and otherwise illuminating article about the King and Queen of Thailand leaves me in the dark about one fascinating particular--the Thai law of succession. You say that King Bhumibol's father "was the 69th child of King Chulalongkorn."
Was Bhumibol's father also king, and if so, does Thailand follow a rule of ultimogeniture? If not, what happened to the other 68 ? Were they all girls ?
ALLAN B. ECKER
New York City
P:Bhumibol's father was not king, his uncle was. When Uncle Prajadhipok abdicated, Bhumibol's bachelor elder brother succeeded; Bhumibol became king when his brother died in 1946. All clear?--ED.
Cracked Mirror
Sir:
You have misquoted me, in a very disquieting way, in your July 4 issue. I did not "moan" at the Berlin Congress for Cultural Freedom: "Western literature is the mirror on the ceiling of the whorehouse." Nor any words to that general effect. What I said (smiling or possibly even laughing) was that writing about mass culture for the mass audience (e.g., such bestsellers as The Status Seekers, The Organization Man, etc.) had become the latest form of pornography--"the mirror on the ceiling of the whorehouse." Such sociologizing books and articles have nothing to do with literature.
MARY MCCARTHY
Warsaw, Poland
P:TIME heard what Author McCarthy said, is happy to let her clarify.--ED.
The Campaign
Sir:
It seems to me that the Democrats are in somewhat the same position as the man who came home from the party engaged to the glamour girl when he actually needed a wife who could cook, sew and manage; and time alone would tell if he had made a mistake.
MARGARET S. LENTZ
Needham, Mass.
Sir:
Chances are that most people would say: If a man hasn't got it at 44 years of age, he hasn't got it. That will be Jack Kennedy's actuarial age when, as and if he is inaugurated next January.
PAUL DAVIS
New York City
Sir:
John Kennedy's inexperience and personal religion give justifiable concern to some Americans. However, his appalling lack of humility and dignity--the Democrats term this "confidence"--and his cold smugness and shocking conceit destroy his desirability as our potential President.
DOUGLAS CARTER
Great Falls, Mont.
Sir:
Democrat politicians have taken fiendish delight in branding the Vice President with the uncomplimentary moniker "Tricky Dick." Now they have a candidate who has shown quite a bag of tricks of his own. His tactics should inspire an assortment of befitting nicknames. I submit "Greenback Jack."
JEANNETTE BELL
St. Louis
Sir:
Too bad it wasn't Christmas, because that was a nice present Daddy bought John!
HARRY BREMNER
Carmichael, Calif.
Sir:
The impressive and inspiring acceptance speech of Jack Kennedy suggests that although Dick Nixon won a game of checkers in '52, he faces in '60 a Grand Master in a greater game of strategy.
WILLIAM J. TAYLOR
Columbus
Sir:
Kennedy induces liberals to nominate him. Kennedy then gives liberals the business by naming Johnson as his running mate to gain Southern votes. Gaining election with large liberal majority in both houses, he rejoins liberals to crush South once and for all with Lyndon Johnson safely out of the Senate.
Who says this guy is too green to go in against Khrushchev ?
PAUL BUBAR
Manchester, N.H.
Sir:
Why is it that a Roman Catholic can vote for Kennedy, either because he is a Catholic or for other reasons, and not be known as a person influenced by prejudice? But when a non-Catholic does not vote for a Catholic, he is immediately labeled "prejudiced."
IRMA YOUNG
Bloomington, Ill.
Sir:
As a Lutheran, I am happy to work to elect Jack Kennedy.
BUCK DAVIDSON
Superior, Wis.
Sir:
In your report of Jack Kennedy's acceptance speech, you quote him as saying: "Historians tell us ... that Richard Cromwell was not fit to wear the mantle of his uncle." I can't imagine who Richard Cromwell's uncle was, but his father was Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England.
ROBERT G. ELPHICK
Falmouth, Mass.
P:Jack had the wrong mantle.--ED.
Sir:
Your account of the Kennedy family was quite, quite charming. No one will object to small nieces and nephews romping on the White House lawn, but will Brother Bob boost taxes? Will a tantrum of Ted's be sufficient to veto a foreign-aid bill? I feel awfully nervous.
ISOBEL LANGER
Albuquerque
Sir:
All Americans of British descent must shudder at the prospect of "Old Joe" Kennedy's son as President of the U.S. The only thing needed to top off the unpalatable dish of Senator Kennedy's Roman Catholic religion is the bitter sauce of Anglophobia and isolationism in which he was raised.
MRS J. GRAHAM
Seattle
Sir:
The blithe spirits of the Kennedy clan can give this country just what it needs: a royal family with a pipeline to Frank Sinatra.
KENNETH S. HODGE Chehalis, Wash.
Sir:
One of the bombastic orators at the Democratic convention declared that no foreign country would dare to humiliate Roosevelt or Truman as they did President Eisenhower. I suppose Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Korea were love taps?
GRACE E. COOK
Rochester, N.Y.
Pantomime
Sir:
In an article about Robert Herridge [July 18], you mention "Burlesque Pantomimist Irving Hoffman."
There may be some Irving Hoffmans around and they may be pleased about the reference, but I'm sure they are not from burlesque and are most likely not pantomimists. However, I am both of these, and I did conceive and star in a show for Robert Herridge.
IRVING HARMON
New York City
The "Stationery" Fund
Sir:
In the June 13 issue of TIME, you state that "Florida's A. Sydney Herlong Jr. used part of his stationery fund to buy eight pieces of luggage for $204.80." When you understand the function of the so-called stationery fund, you will realize that you have done Representative Herlong an injustice. You should set the record straight.
JAMES KAY
Washington, D.C.
P: The "stationery" fund is a flat sum (currently $1,800) that every Congressman gets at the start of each session from which he may order stationery and office supplies through the stationery store and charge them to his account taxfree. If a Congressman buys personal items through the store, he pays taxes on the part of his allowance used for personal items.--ED.
A Matter of Attitude
Sir:
I am appalled that doctors in 1960 are still telling parents of newborn Mongoloid children that this child is an "idiot." We were given the same totally discouraging and "hopeless" attitude by doctors at the birth of our Mongoloid daughter nine years ago. She not only walked, fed herself, and was toilet-trained, all before 2 1/2 years, but speaks very well, goes to special school, reads at a first-grade level, is independent and a charming little person.
PATRICIA KECKHUT
Omaha
Sir:
Certainly no person in his right mind will advocate keeping alive an unhappy lump of flesh. What I am hoping for, rather, is that some conclave of wise men (e.g., psychologists, lawyers, medical and religious people) should get together and set up some norms according to which only specialized pediatricians should judge whether a child is capable of enjoying life, and act accordingly.
S. HOPMAN
Zurich, Switzerland
The Decision
Sir:
On first seeing TIME'S cover picture of Senator Lyndon Johnson, I thought it in good taste to thus pay tribute to a good loser. A few hours later, Johnson's V.P. nomination made it appear that TIME must use a crystal ball to decide such matters. This brought home to me the dilemma that must face the editor in choosing the cover picture for an edition that must roll off the press before the nomination and reach the newsstands after the choice has been made. Senator Johnson's cover picture uniquely demonstrates TIME'S ability to appear current no matter which direction events had taken in Los Angeles.
Hugh L. Selman
Austin, Texas
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