Berlin

Sir:

The soul-baring, grim message of our young, brilliant President has given life again to the famed declaration of a World War I French Marshal: "They shall not pass."

JOSEPH M. MCLAUGHLIN

Fort Richardson, Alaska

Sir:

It's the same old story: speak strongly, but give them what they want.

May God help us!

MRS. NORMAN G. SHANAHAN

Los Angeles

Sir:

I hope and pray that this so-called "tough" stand is not in fact Administration policy. There is a great deal to negotiate about, for the Berlin problem will continue to threaten peace so long as it is dissociated from the real problem of European security. The Oder-Neisse frontier, recognition of East Germany, denuclearization of both Germanys, and Western espionage and propaganda activities in Berlin are real issues in which we could concede much in exchange for formal guarantees on West Berlin's freedom.

M. H. SHAGAM

Ojai, Calif.

Troublesome Lands

Sir:

I found your description of South Viet Nam and Diem [Aug. 4] informative. It sheds, however, very little light on something that greatly troubles me. As of today, how much freer are the people of South Viet Nam under Diem's undemocratic rule than their neighbors in North Viet Nam ? I would like to raise the same question about North and South Korea. How successful can TIME or anybody else be in simply making the word "free" a synonym for non-Communism?

NORMAN THOMAS

New York City

Sir:

In TIME, your reference to the Thais as the people who are unwilling to fight is hardly justified, but you are right in saying that we have a strong leader in Sarit Thanarat, and we really need one. The surrender to Japan in World War II did not have the consent of the majority of the people of Thailand. It came from the dictator [Pibulsonggram] who ruled the country at that time. You should have mentioned how admirably the brave Thai soldiers and the serious-minded Thai boy scouts sacrificed their blood in fighting the enemy in Southern Thailand until the dictator appealed for a ceasefire. You attributed the country's present achievement to the present leader, but you held the whole nation responsible for the surrender to Japan!

You, as well as many information sources, also try to make a land of fable out of the country. The Thai people are proud of their heritage, such as pagodas and green canals, but they think that there is more to the nation than this aforementioned thing. Your deficient description is as faulty as to say that the U.S. is a land of multimillionaires.

BANLUE TINPANGKA

A Thai citizen

Cedar Falls, Iowa

Ship of Fools

Sir:

In reading your review of Miss Porter's Ship of Fools [July 28], I was struck by a similarity of titles remembered from long gone college days. In checking back, sure enough there was Das Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools, 1494) whose author, Sebastian Brant, died in 1521. It would be interesting to know if this allegory played any part in influencing Miss Porter's ideas.

VALENTINE NEWMARK

Alameda, Calif.

P: Authoress Porter says of Brant's satirical poem on the vices and follies of his time: "I read Das Narrenschiff [see cut] in Basel in 1932 when I had still vividly in my mind the impressions of my first voyage to Europe. The title was very old and durable and dearly familiar when Brant used it and it suits my purposes exactly."--ED.

No End to Acronyms

Sir:

Why omit Boston from your "Acronymous Society?" [July 28]. Have you not heard of the agency dedicated to the reshaping of Dame Boston into a new, more uplifting community? I refer to BRA--the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

ROBERT A. OLSON

Arlington, Mass.

Sir:

Ugh! Where is the nearest chapter of Acronymous Anonymous?

JOHN J. CONARD

House of Representatives

Topeka, Kans.

Sir:

The talent of the military for inventing "acronyms" is exceeded omy by its genius for expanding upon them. One of my favorite examples is an unofficial award presented to my father by WET (Weapons Effects Testing), signed and attested by the commanding officer, his adjutant, and the men of the group: "The Wettest," "The Next Wettest" and "The Following Damp Members."

ANN MARGARET JAMES

Falls Church, Va.

Sir:

Robert Lovett's refusal to be known as SOD recalled the incident during W.W.II when AMGOT was coined to indicate Allied Military Government. It was subsequently withdrawn and respelled when it was discovered that the acronym was an indiscreet word in the Turkish language. A time when we wouldn't "talk turkey."

KATHRYN POTTER

Brookfield, Wis.

Useful Giggle

Sir:

I agree about most everything you said in your review of Francis of Assisi [July 28], except the line about giggling. With all sincerity, I believe that a good giggle would have improved my performance greatly. I think I giggled more at your review than I did in the picture; and your review was nothing to giggle about.

DOLORES HART

London

The Pot & the Kettle

Sir:

You are consistent, if not accurate, in your attempts to play down Nehru [July 28]. As regards Ayub Khan's eager analysis of Nehru's mind, I was sorry to see this fine soldier shrink to such a tiny scale. Abuse is rather unusual from a man in Ayub Khan's position. Or was it just an act to wow the Red-shy Americans?

S. NARAYANAN

Calcutta

Sir:

Come now; when Nehru chastizes Ayub Khan for not improving the lot of his people --that's really the pot calling the kettle black! Nehru figures in all the world's problems, telling everyone what to do--if he's busy himself with his own filth and starvation, he'd have a busy schedule indeed.

WM. C. HELLER

Flourtown, Pa.

Sir:

Out of confusion, chaos, corruption and economic instability in Pakistan, Ayub Khan rose to power. He has done a great deal to better the lot of his people. For this he had to use the bull whip, and I feel that his country is the place to use it, and not in international diplomacy. President Ayub Khan is obviously a military man and needs a few lessons in diplomacy.

In reference to his comment that "People think Nehru is thinking, but actually he is in a trance," I think Ayub wishes that Nehru were in a trance. If there is anyone for restoring peace, freedom and unity in India, it is Nehru. If there is anyone who has stimulated the Indian people for economic growth, it is Nehru. Being an Indian, I ought to know.

RAMESH MELWANI

New York City

General Adviser

Sir:

Your account of General Maxwell Taylor's appointment as the President's principal military adviser [July 28] glosses over the fact that the appointment in essence makes Taylor a de facto single chief of staff, in violation of not only the letter but the spirit of the National Security Act. In 15 years of legislation and reorganization plans, the Congress has methodically and painstakingly voiced its opposition to the concentration of military power in a single chief of staff. Now the Taylor appointment creates that which the Congress studiously avoided.

JOHN C. WILLIAMSON

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

Since Mr. Kennedy's decision to support General Taylor's theories of defense, I've been scouring TIME for some allusion to the sure and fearsome threat this new posture imposes. Inasmuch as no right thinking dictator will use A-or H-bombs for fear of reprisal, nor "conventional" arms because of our budgeted buildup, it's plain that the next war must be fought with triremes, broadswords, crossbows and assagais. (Would catapults be cheating?) I do hope we have alerted our archery clubs, hammer throwers and those of our allies still expert with spear and blowgun (politicians might qualify on the latter).

P. S. BARROWS

Del Mar, Calif.

Sir:

I was interested in your article about General Taylor but was surprised to read that he and President Kennedy had never met. I recall the General spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars banquet in Boston at the Sheraton Plaza in 1946, which Mr. Kennedy attended [see cut]. They were well acquainted at that time.

KENNETH B. NEWTON

Boston

Sir:

Faced with the thought of entering war with conventional forces, can anyone explain how nuclear war can be avoided? In the face of defeat, would not the losing side eventually resort to the use of nuclear weapons?

ROBERT A. PALKA

Lackawanna, N.Y.

Sir:

I am 17 years old and have made glorious plans for my future. May I say how much I resent the threat of total annihilation which has been handed down to the people of my generation by our fathers as a heritage? Surely no body of youth ever had such overwhelming odds to overcome. Born in one war, it appears that it is our destiny to die in another.

LYNN KEARNEY

Kirkland Lake, Ont.

Bastards or Brothers?

Sir:

In reference to Senator Goldwater's comments on the Newburgh, N.Y., program [ July 28]--'I would like to see every city adopt the plan. I don't like to see my taxes paid for children born out of wedlock"--I can only assume that the Senator does not agree with a moral code of long standing that we are our brother's keeper. In my opinion, utterance such as this not only pollutes the ''clear air of Arizona" but gives a fetid odor to America.

GEORGE FLEVARES

Yankton, S. D.

Sir:

I couldn't help noticing the petulant remark in TIME by that proponent of Dollar Christianity, Barry Goldwater. Characteristically, Barry values his money above the needs and happiness of an infant.

JOHN F. MCFARLAND

Inglewood, Calif.

Sir:

I would want my taxes used to help any child in need regardless of its parentage or the circumstances of its birth.

WILLIAM A. HAINES

Los Angeles

Sir:

What is to be done, then, with the "little bastards"? Drown them? Maybe raise them to be conservatives? What about the unwed parents? Sterilize them perhaps? These procedures, if adopted, would have to be paid for somehow. All children are our children, and we all have our responsibilities toward them, bastards or otherwise.

MARVIN SHAPIRO

Nutley, N. J.

Sir:

For his courage in firing a broadside at the country's disgraceful erosion to a Socialist state, a thousand times a thousand hurrahs to City Manager Joseph Mitchell!

R. D. ROBERTSON

Darien, Conn.

Sir:

I nominate City Manager Mitchell Man of the Year because he proposes to weed out the moochers on the welfare rolls of his city.

WILLIAM T. GREGORY

Dallas

Farmer Smith's Corn

Sir:

In regard to farmers in your July 28 issue, my father is a schoolteacher, and makes considerably less than $6,000 a year. Is there any chance of our getting some federal assistance if he will agree to teach fewer children next year?

JIM LYNCH

Columbia, Mo.

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