SOME publications make a special point--and package--of their predictions. TIME never has done so, because, like most journalists, we know that a measure of prophecy simply must be part of our daily and weekly business. Much of our effort is devoted to finding out what happened and making it clear; but, inevitably, we must also face the question of what will happen next. We do so by the stories we select, the details we emphasize, the speculation we report, the directions in which we point, as well as by outright forecast. Everyone on our staff recalls his own favorite prediction, be it the precise forecast of the end of the American retreat in Korea, or Ike's nomination in 1952, or the uneasy suggestion that the overthrow of Diem's regime in South Viet Nam would only lead to other coups.

Needless to say, we have made our share of mistakes in the prophecy business, including one that we particularly cherish and at times still argue about: a cover story in 1954 said that a small car would never catch on in the U.S. But over the years, we have not been dissatisfied with our record in anticipating the course of war and peace, of revolution and business, of fashion and the arts.

One form of forecast that is perhaps most important of all involves the early spotting of comers. When TIME ran Cassius Marcellus Clay on its cover just about a year ago, we did not exactly predict that he would win the heavyweight championship. But in his story, Sportswriter Charles Parmiter seriously raised that possibility, although most people, including many of our readers, dismissed Clay as a loudmouthed clown. As Parmiter points out in this week's story on the Liston-Clay fight (see SPORT), Cassius is still loudmouthed and clownish--but more than that as well.

We make no particular claims about "discovering" people, but over the years we have singled out rising figures in many fields early in their careers and sometimes before others --or even they themselves--were aware of what was happening. Nothing is more satisfying in the professional life of a journalist. Among the innumerable examples we could cite are Willkie, Stevenson, Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in U.S. politics; Eisenhower, Gruenther and Radford in the military sphere; Nasser, Nkrumah and Castro (whom we recognized as a Communist when he was still being widely hailed as a reforming liberal) among foreign leaders; Saarinen, De Kooning, Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Albert Finney and Shirley MacLaine in the arts.

We were also reasonably early in reporting on the seven Republican leaders who are pictured in color in the current issue (see THE NATION). But wait. We are not--at this time--making any predictions about which one will get the nomination.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.