Horrified
Sirs:
I read with horror your article in TIME for Aug. 31 about a Fourth Term for President Roosevelt. It seems to me that the people of this country have enough to worry about right now in winning this war. We are not and should not be interested at this time in a political war of 1944, and I think it was very poor taste of your magazine to confront us with that problem now.
The question: "Did the citizenry really want to read 'My Day' until 1948?" was especially obnoxious as well as irrelevant.
I believe that if you keep us informed on the war and its problems at home & abroad, that is all that is necessary for the present. . . .
MARTHA J. BROWNE
Toledo
> Luckily or unluckily, war does not wholly adjourn politics anywhere.--ED.
Real Bombing of Germany
Sirs:
You state that the question of the real bombing of Germany "can be decided only by the U. S. and British high commands. . . . Only the high commands can weigh the demands of global war, the total strength in airmen and airplanes available to the U.S. and Britain, against the certainty that now is the best time to hit Germany from the air." [TIME, Sept. 7]. . . .
The decision, then, will be made chiefly, if not entirely, by officers whose training and experience has been in surface warfare. . . . Do you expect these old officers, many of whom have been openly antagonistic to air power as an independent force, suddenly to decide that victory over Germany can be won this year or next year only by bombing? Do you expect them to admit that they have been wrong? . . . At 60, an Army-Navy mind is a solid, impossible to aerate.
. . . Our high command is largely a collection of befuddled old land-going, deck-tramping gentlemen peering in grave concern at a darkening sky, pathetically wondering what to do. . . .
CY CALDWELL*
Island Park, N.Y.
Sirs:
Let the people of the U.S. raise a united and loud voice in support of TIME'S trenchant editorial: "The Real Bombing of Germany." . . .
HENRY S. KARIEL
Evanston, Ill.
Plea for Deferment
Sirs:
Since reading a few weeks ago in your columns letters from technically trained men in the armed forces who have not been able to use their training in the winning of the war, I have looked into this whole situation very thoroughly. At the outbreak of the First World War, the British allowed their technically trained men to be sent off to the front practically to a man. Almost immediately they discovered their mistake and had to begin dragging them back for the production army without which any fighting army is completely helpless.
The story goes that in 1935 the Germans had overproduced chemists to such an extent that there were about a dozen Ph.D.s in organic chemistry on the Berlin police force. I recall with shame that a group at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society thought that was really funny and an indication of just how dumb the Germans were. You can wager that those chemists are no longer on the police force. Neither are they in the army. . . .
Many a local board thinks that the only thing needed is more & more soldiers. Some have no recognition of what a modern war involves. Many employers feel it unpatriotic to ask for the deferment of their technical men. Many of the technical men feel that they will be slackers if they allow their employers to ask for deferment. And still more, many employers and men have asked for deferment in a fainthearted way and when a 1-A classification appeared, failed to take advantage of the provision by the Selective Service system for an appeal. . . .
I am writing this letter to you because I believe that in that way it will have the best chance to reach the eyes of the technically trained men in the armed forces who recognize that they are not doing as much as they could to win the war. Against the time when our need for technical men will be even greater than it is now, such men should write to the appropriate one of the following groups, giving particulars about their technical training and experience, their present unit in the armed forces and the Army post-office address at which they can be reached. Professional groups to be contacted are as follows: United Engineering Societies, New York City; American Chemical Society, Washington; American Physical Society, New York City; Geological Society of America, New York City; and the Society of American Bacteriologists, Madison, Wis.
FRANK C. WHITMORE
Dean
School of Chemistry and Physics
Pennsylvania State College
State College, Pa.
> TIME is glad to pass on to all its technician-readers Dean Whitmore's urgent call.--ED.
Buoyed Up
Sirs:
We boys in Ward 7 were delighted by your article "One Frog Paddled" [TIME, Aug. 31]. What courage Adrian has shown, going ahead in face of it all. That's what we like--courage.
We especially liked the ducky little names for his creations. We have in our wardrobe a gay little number which we affectionately call "Four-Thirty a.m." Pale grey-green in color, it has a cap to match with a tricky brim which can be worn in a number of ways. The brim has stitching which goes around and around and around. What a great delight it would be to have Adrian model it for us some day.
We want to thank TIME for bringing us something besides the humdrum news of war, the fight for production, and self-sacrifice. These little success stories just buoy us up, make suffering easier, and make it all worth fighting for.
PRIVATE R. R. SWANSON
AND WARD 7
Station Hospital
Fort Sam Houston, Tex.
Artists in War
Sirs:
Concerning your article on John Carroll in TIME, Aug. 24:
Recently I have been reading that the Russian Government has felt it very timely and necessary to keep their artists, writers and musicians busy working, even in the stress of the present crises. I should like to commend TIME and LIFE for their help and interest in this present phase of American art. I believe, as in Russia, the artists can have, a direct effect on our war effort.
Also, I want to point out that Tom Benton's propaganda paintings have been the most successful of all our pictorial propaganda so far. But then, he is an old backhouse, knothole painter. Also, the Russian artists run to the school of backhouse, knothole painting. Probably Mr. Carroll knows what is the best thing for him to do in this situation.
JOHN STEUART CURRY
Artist in Residence
College of Agriculture
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wis.
Bonds Without Cheesecake
Sirs:
In TIME, Aug. 24, your article concerning the sale of war bonds interests me greatly. . . . There seems to be a great contrast in the methods of selling these bonds to civilians and to military personnel. Here on the post we have not had the pleasure of buying bonds accompanied by all the fol de rol and "cheesecake," in the manner your article described. Yet reports from the local bond officer indicate that over 80% of the post personnel have allotted a regular portion of each monthly pay toward the purchase of bonds. . . .
This is not called to your attention because of its unusual character. What is happening at Camp Barkeley is happening in camps all over the U.S. Members of the armed forces are giving up much in civilian life to enter the service of their country. Their future is uncertain, and many will make the supreme sacrifice before peace is declared. Yet these are the men who are turning back to Uncle Sam portions of their pay, which at best is large enough to provide only a few comforts, luxuries and pleasures. . . . But they are not complaining because every man of them knows there is a job to be done. . . .
JOHN G. LYTLE
2nd Lieutenant
Medical Administrative Corps
Camp Barkeley, Tex.
Gentleman
Sirs:
In re TIME'S reference to "a bumbling upstate leader named Terence McManus," in its story regarding the Mead-Bennett primary fight in New York:
Facts are: Bumbler McManus was born & raised in Manhattan, went to work while still in breeks, became assistant district attorney of New York County at 22--youngest on record--has never practiced anywhere else, has never run a political campaign until, at 71, he was given job of taking on Maestro Jim Farley.
Recently celebrated was McManus by New York County Lawyers Association (Henry W. Taft, Charles Evans Hughes Jr., William Nelson Cromwell, et al.) for his 50 years at the New York bar. Uprose Bumbler, accused celebrants of being "honorary pallbearers," recited Casey at the Bat, sat down.
ROBERT CRUISE ("BUMBLER'S BOY BOB") MCMANUS
Newark
Sirs:
I note that in your story of the Mead-Bennett campaigns, TIME, Aug. 31, you refer to a ''bumbling upstate leader named Terence J. McManus."
I have been living with that gentleman all my life--and it has been a very happy time indeed--because he seldom, if ever--bumbles !
MAUREEN MCMANUS
Daughter
New York City
>TIME bows before such unbumbling filial grace.--ED.
Scrap v. Reminders
Sirs:
We view with alarm the hasty effort of many cities and villages to court publicity by scrapping historical metal statues and war relics to meet a questionable demand for scrap metal. These treasures are the symbols of American traditions and by right and decent standards of culture should remain in our parks and public grounds as a perpetual reminder that we won our freedom the hard way and should fight to preserve it. . . .
We went hysterical over saving waste paper and immediately were advised to quit and send it to the dump. We sacrificed much usable aluminum on a like drive, only to find that it was not suitable for airplanes. We had the tin-can bungle and the canceled postage-stamp fiasco. These panicky and snap drives have plainly got the people dubious on Washington advice. . . .
We were shocked a few days ago to read that Mayor LaGuardia proposes to strip the New York parks of all things metal in an ill-advised war-aid gesture, saying that the War Department will replace them with newly won war relics.
The answer is that most thoughtful Americans want to see the small brass cannon of 1763 beside the giant bomber; the old horse-drawn cannon of the Revolution beside the motorized caisson; Washington's Delaware River dory beside the amphibian tank, and the flintlocks keeping company with the tommy guns. Blue-blooded Americans want to see these things preserved until necessity demands their sacrifice. . . .
JOHN G. CARPENTER
Vice President
Livingston County Historical Society
Avon, N.Y.
Interview Requested
Sirs:
TIME, Aug. 24, p. 17, referring to the disgraceful behavior of organized labor in Detroit, relates an episode as follows: . . . a foreman asked a machine operator to move a box which was blocking the aisle. Said the operator: "Hell no, move it yourself." The foreman had to get a maintenance man to move the box. While the box was being moved the machine operator declaimed for 45 minutes on his "rights."
Now, the machine operator was a skunk, of course, and, if war industry was operated like war is operated (as it should be) he would have been shot within 15 minutes.
But, due to the blessings of organized labor, it is not, so we will concede that a soldier in production (at $75 a week or better and at no risk to his personal safety) has more rights than a soldier on the battlefront (at $12 a week and plenty of personal risk).
So why the hell did the foreman have to "get a maintenance man to move the box?" Why, in the name of whatever qualities of leadership it takes to be a foreman, didn't he say: "All right, you bastard, I'm a foreman, but I'm not too big a shot to move the box, or to shovel manure if it helps win the war!" and move it himself? If he'd done that, he wouldn't have given the "worker" a chance to "declaim for 45 minutes on nis 'rights' " and he would have set an example which might have had a favorable effect on the workers under his jurisdiction. No doubt, the worker was a skunk, but what sort of animal was the foreman, that he couldn't meet such an easy challenge?
JACKSON STONE
Box 399
Atlanta
P.S. If the "worker" in question doesn't like being called a skunk, an interview can be arranged by writing to the above address. For his information, I weigh 210 lb., am fast on my feet, and am going into the Army (at $50 a month) in October. If he really wants an interview, I will be glad to pay my own expenses to Detroit.
*One of the best-known U.S. aviation free lancers, noted for his dashing iconoclasm.
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