Brazil's Cup of Coffee
Sir:
Congratulations to TIME for your revealing cover story on Janio Quadros--bem feito.
It should calm some fears regarding Brazil's so-called move into the neutralist camp. This independent action should not be deemed anti-American, but seen as an assertion by a great rising nation, led by a devoted public servant whose past achievements are stellar examples of selfhelp.
DAVID M. LITTIG Madison, Wis.
Sir:
Although I do not find myself always in agreement with every point of view expressed by your publication, it is very reassuring to find often in its pages excellent articles, which do honor to journalism.
The U.S. has lost prestige on many fronts because its foreign-policy makers were unable to comprehend the changes that were taking place in several countries. The change that is taking place under President Quadros is a healthy one, and Brazil certainly deserves a credit of confidence from this country in order to continue forging ahead speedily for its place in the sun among the great powers of the West. Before the U.S. tries to convert its enemies into friends, let it consolidate its relationship with its real allies and friends. I believe your article did much to help create a better understanding of the Brazilian situation and its young and dynamic President by the U.S. public.
J. R. WHITAKER PENTEADO JR. New York City
Sir:
It is most comforting to us Brazilians to learn that the grandeur of our country is finally being shown and recognized by the world. It is about time that all nations under stand that Brazil ranks among the greatest potentialities of modern times. Please don't take us for fanatics; we're just two Brazilians, proud of our homeland.
EBREIA GUIMARAES LYGIA MOURA Indianapolis
Sir:
What a relief to read an American story on President Quadros in which "nationalism" is not automatically equated with "Communism." Brazil's struggle for economic and political independence is not unlike the effort begun in 1776 by another great nation.
JAMES N. WRIGHT Oklahoma City
Sir:
One could only add that Quadros' great popularity among his people is not only due to his championing of their domestic cause but also to his unique Brazilian character. Just as only the United States could have produced Lincoln, only Brazil could have had a Janio Quadros. With all his quaint eccentricities, he seems to have stepped directly out of a novel by Machado de Assis.
JOHN SWITALSKI
Chicago
P: Brazilian Author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1830-1008) wrote with irony and humor of the Brazilian soul.--ED.
Turkish Treasure
Sir:
As an unabashed Turkophile, I was delighted to see your illustrated article on the treasures of the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul [June 23]. However, your reflections on the Turks as brutal conquerors are somewhat onesided. The damage wrought in Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 was, in the light of those times, very slight. Contrast this with the incredible rape, vandalism and slaughter that accompanied the Christian armies of the Fourth Crusade when they sacked Constantinople in 1204. Suleiman I, as well as many others of his dynasty, looks like an angel when compared with many of his "civilized" Christian contemporaries in Europe.
WALTER B. DENNY
Iowa City, Iowa
Sir:
Your article claims the Peacock Throne to have been taken from the Persians by the Turks in 1514, and brought to Istanbul. In 1514, that famous throne did not even exist. The Peacock Throne was installed by Shah Jahan, Mogul Emperor of Taj Mahal fame, at Delhi. It was carried off by the Persian invader Nadir Shah in 1739, and now stands in the Gulistan Palace, a museum in Teheran, Iran.
S. P. SCHEUMANN Ottawa, Ont.
P: The original Peacock Throne of Iran taken from Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 has disappeared. The Peacock throne now in the Gulistan Palace, Teheran (see cut) was built in the early loth century by an Isfahan jeweler for Path Ali Shah and was originally called the Sun Throne. There is another throne in the Istanbul museum which is referred to as a Peacock throne.--ED.
The Chorus of Advisers
Sir:
TIME'S article on the Administration fell just short of stating the real problem that faces President Kennedy. He is surrounded by a great many opinions, all of which can be useful to him. But in the final analysis, he must choose one course and stick to it. All of the failures thus far can be laid to a compromise. Cuba is the shining example. In an effort to pacify both interventionists and non-interventionists, the President settled on a compromise with the disastrous results we have all seen.
In a democratic system disagreement and discussion are both inevitable and desirable. Just as we elect one President, despite disagreement, so must that President choose one course. Once having chosen it, he must back it firmly, just as Americans must firmly back their chosen President. In choosing a compromise between the two positions, one gains not the advantages of both but the disadvantages.
JOSE M. FERRER III New York City
Sir:
Thanks for your wonderful analysis of what's wrong with Kennedy. It's "government by confusion," with college professors trying to call the shots.
HELEN GRADY
New York City
Sir:
The rapid growth of the Kennedy brain-trusters might indicate that Mr. Kennedy is determined to lick the unemployment problem singlehanded by recruiting anybody and everybody into his mess of principal advisers.
JEANNE KRONER Homewood, Ill.
Sir:
Where does Vice President Johnson fit into the picture of presidential advisers? Has the President chosen to overlook the abilities of his recent "boss" in the Senate? If the situation in Latin America required a visit from a top representative, why couldn't the Vice President be sent?
From all indications there are now more people between the President and his cabinet and advisers than ever existed in the Eisenhower Administration.
STEPHEN W. WOLFE London
Growing Up in Miami
Sir:
If you had come to a new university in 1926 as its first instructor in zoology, and then in 1953 had been elected its second president, and during all the intervening and following years had had to combat charges of playboyism, as I have, you would understand how much my colleagues and I appreciate the recognition given by TIME to the University of Miami's academic progress.
It was particularly gratifying to us for TIME to take note of the awarding of our first two doctoral degrees. I would like to point out that years before we felt that our university was ready to offer doctoral work, graduates of the university were being accepted for and doing excellent doctoral study at other universities throughout the U.S. To quote a single statistic, 43% of those who received their Master of Science degree at the University of Miami have attained their Ph.D.s elsewhere.
TIME may not realize it, but often in reporting and interpreting the news, it brings a by-product of real benefit to people and institutions. And so it is with us.
JAY F. W. PEARSON
President
University of Miami Coral Gables, Fla.
Berlin
Sir:
Why--as implied by the Kennedy Administration--must the U.S.A. have a "showdown" on Berlin?
Have we forgotten Germany started and lost the last war? I personally don't give a damn what happens to the Germans--in East Berlin, West Berlin or anywhere else. And I don't believe I'm the only American who feels that way about it! Let the Germans fight the Russians.
It's about time that, when we are to be asked to make sacrifices, we choose to make them where we first have a completely sound and tenable basis to draw a line for defensive action; furthermore, that we make a stand on our selection--not some other nation's.
FRANK L. MARTIN Alexandria, Va.
Sir:
A diplomatic declaration of war is something new in world affairs. But that is just what Khrushchev has declared in his last speech about Berlin. He has given a six months reprieve, which is also something new.
It is time to tell Mr. Khrushchev that we will fight for the remaining free world if forced to do so, and that any move from the status quo of Berlin must mean war.
ROBERT STANTON Atherton, Calif.
Sir:
Brasilia, for all its premature dedication, set an example of city-building-in-a-hurry.
Why would it not be possible to exchange West Berlin for a certain amount of East German land? This extension of West Germany's eastern boundary could include a good site for Germania, the new capital.
(MRS.) CAROLYN L. HINES Three Rivers, Calif.
A King's Look
Sir:
If it amuses you to know, I received a copy of TIME with the article From a Grecian Urn [June 2] the night before the exhibition of furniture in Athens. The next morning it was added to a large press-clipping board, and H.M. King Paul looked it over, pointed to your article and said, "Wonderful."
T. H. ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS New York City
Right & Left
Sir:
As a college student who has tired of the worn-out cliches of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and more recently, the warmed-over New Frontier, I have become aware that Senator Goldwater's fresh approach to the problems that face America today makes the most sense to me and to many other college students.
STEVE MOBERLY Indiana University Bloomington, Ind.
Sir:
The Conservative, however eloquent and charming, appeals to that most primitive and regressive urge: back to the womb, where all is simple. It is no more feasible for a nation than for an individual.
JERRY MILHOLLAN San Francisco
Tipping
Sir:
Your article, "The Outstretched Palm" [June 23], is interesting reading. Who are these waiters, waitresses, bellhops, cabbies, et al., to be calling other equally hardworking citizens "frogs," "stiffs," "moss-backs," etc., for not giving them lavish gifts (tips). Why should any of us everyday citizens be expected to subsidize restaurateurs, hotel owners, transportation companies, etc., by paying their employees for them?
Does the restaurateur, whose waitresses we are expected to tip, tip my man who delivers his coal? Or the laundryman who collects and delivers the laundry? I think not.
It doesn't make sense! Tipping is a vicious racket, and should be abolished once and for all. We belong to the working class, too--but no one has ever tipped us.
MARY EDWARDS Tampa, Fla.
Sir:
Your article made me so mad that I actually cried with rage. My husband is a waiter, and we depend on tips for our living. His salary is the barest legal minimum.
Since he arrived in this country from France about 16 months ago, he has had some very bitter experiences. He has been made to feel like a slave by innumerable customers who have him running miles each day to fetch and carry for them and then toss him a piddling gratuity.
In the rare instances when he was given a substantial tip, words cannot describe what it did for his morale.
JANET BELL Forest Hills, N.Y.
Sir:
The simplest answer to the tipping problem is just "Don't Tip!" There is no law requiring it, and no moral obligation to do so.
I am a restaurant owner with a huge investment, and some of my 45 to 50 employees make more money than I do. This is not uncommon in the restaurant business.
As for employee wages, we pay good wages, well above union scale, and we would gladly pay more if it would eliminate the tipping evil. Unfortunately, it would not, because it is the public who have established and encouraged excessive tipping.
H. C. MONROE Anaheim, Calif.
Sir:
Regarding your story on tipping, I hope your pseudosophisticated staff doesn't think we poor snooks like depending on the not-too-generous public for a living. We waitresses would be happy to make a decent salary and forget tips; as to the group you said were good tippers, you are wrong. Give me those little old ladies--at least they don't pinch.
ANNE STEWART Chicago
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.