Fundamental Question
Sir:
The recent exchange of diplomatic notes between the Big Three of the North Atlantic Treaty nations and Russia seems to have the world on its ear.
Are we in America going to let Russia buy time in this manner...while we, paraphrasing Robert Frost, "sit back on our fundamental butt with our nose in the air and our eyes shut"?
EUGENE E' BAUER Seattle
Forgotten Faces
Sir:
TIME'S Jan. 1 Publisher's Letter, picturing former Men of the Year, includes some that I had forgotten . . .
Even after studying them, I was not able to identify the subjects for 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1938 . . .
ROBERT LEE BOYD Wheeling, W. Va.
P: Walter P. Chrysler (1928), Owen D. Young (1929), Pierre Laval (1931), Hitler (1938). Other readers were stumped by Hugh Johnson (1933), Haile Selassie (1935) and Wallis Simpson (1936).--ED.
British in Korea
Sir:
In listing U.N. members' contributions to the forces in Korea in your Jan. 8 issue, you give the number of British troops as 6,000...There are now about 12,000 British ground troops in Korea (the 27th and 29th Brigades). The first brigade has been in Korea since the end of August and the second since the beginning of November...In addition, 10,000 men of the Royal Navy...have been in the Korean theater since the beginning...Thus, with the small force of Royal Marine Commandos and two squadrons of R.A.F. Flying Boats, the total British manpower committed is in excess of 22,000 men.
P. H. GORE-BOOTH Director General of British Information Washington,D.C.
P: TIME'S thanks to Reader Gore-Booth for his correction--a figure hitherto unpublished by either the U.N. or the Pentagon.--ED.
Banned Bandits
Sir:
Not long ago you consigned TIME'S Art writer to an office on the Northwest corner of the TIME & LIFE Building. This was his punishment for pigeonholing Charlie Russell, the Montana cowboy artist, to the Southwestern drawer of the U.S. [TIME Letters, Nov. 6].
This Northwest office should be either partitioned or enlarged to accommodate the Business writer [who said that] "...slot machines are already prohibited in every state except Nevada, Montana and Maryland..." [TIME, Jan. 15].
The Montana Supreme Court in a series of decisions in June and July 1950 ruled that slot machines are illegal in Montana, and the voters in the Nov. 7 election, by a large majority, defeated a referendum which would have made the "one-arm bandits" legal...
JAMES C. TRIMBLE Malta, Mont.
P: Building regulations permitted, the office will be partitioned forthwith.--ED.
Symphonic Variations
Sir:
Thank you for publishing . . . the remarks of Dimitri Mitropoulos about the need for newer kinds of support for symphony orchestras [TIME, Jan. 8]...I heartily advocate...the exemption of the nonprofit orchestras from the federal 20% admissions tax...
Has not this nation reached the stage of material wealth when it can help, or at least not hinder, its nonprofit musical groups? Have we not as a people reached the stage when we want to be known as more than a nation of nuts & bolts, important as these are ?
ARTHUR BENNETT LIPKIN Birmingham, Ala.
Sir:
...It's simple, Dimitri--the folks have been so busy putting Irene [Good Night, Irene] to bed that they haven't had time... for "sissy stuff" like Beethoven and Brahms. The Philharmonic might find an increased dosage of Paul Hindemith, Sigfrid Karg-Elert and Vladimir Rebikoff beneficial.
HARRY HUFFNAGLE Springfield, Mass.
Sir:
So Conductor Mitropoulos is worried because subscriptions and endowments of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society have fallen off. Good! I'm delighted.
I've just quit the Philharmonic after 13 years of subscription, thoroughly sick and tired these past four years of the overemphasis on modern music in the programming...
Me, I'm paying for musical entertainment, and not for music I don't enjoy jammed down my throat. Meantime, I have gone back to my old flame, the Met.
MONTE SOHN New York City
Outstanding Picture (Cont'd)
Sir:
I thought you would like to know the sequel to the discovery, made through TIME'S Letters column [Nov. 20 et seq.], of the unknown Navy photographer who took the outstanding picture of the sinking carrier Franklin.
After Photographer William B. Bates's identification, the U.S. Navy wasted no time. Located aboard the carrier Philippine Sea in Korean waters, Ship's Photographer Bates, Ph.M. i/c, was flown to Pearl Harbor, where Admiral Radford, CINCPAC, awarded him the U.S. Navy Photographic Institute's citation "for exceptionally meritorious photography" [see cut].
RICHARD MACMILLAN Honolulu
"Giant in a Snare"
Sir:
"Giant in a Snare" [TIME, Jan. 15] is the finest summation of our current predicament that has been published. Keep it up and you may even wake up Washington.
JOHN R. PENN JR. Fort Worth, Texas
Sir:
It is the best job you have done in a long time, and certainly is a refreshing change from the Armageddon propaganda you have been spewing since June 25...
ARTHUR C. EHLERS Shirley, Ill.
Sir:
...You owe it to the people of the U.S. as a public service to place a copy in the hands of every member of the Administration, as well as each Senator and Congressman, and especially the policymakers of the State Department...
I have never yet read an article that was so far in advance of national policy, or one that pointed the way so decisively to an indecisive group such as those in control of our foreign affairs.
It should have been titled "Blueprint for Survival"...
M. E. BARZELAY Malden, Mass.
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.