New Deal (Finis)
Sirs:
You wanted an explanation of F. D. R.'s popularity. May I draw a little comparison to help you to the solution? . .
What particular people are most popular with the motion picture audience? The motion picture audience is the nation-wide voting population.
Is it John Barrymore, the greatest Hamlet of his generation? Is it the two very fine actors. Spencer Tracy or Paul Muni? Is it any of the very fine actors who have sincerely studied their craft ? No! The four greatest box-office stars are a nine-year-old girl, an ice skater, a duck and a dummy.
ROBERT HELMLING
New York City
You ask for a definition of the "New Deal." Here is my entry:
Liberty is the God-given right of every man to make a fool of himself in his own way,, and then take the consequences. The New Deal is the attempt to eliminate the consequences. . . .
Unfortunately, men with good intentions (like Mr. Roosevelt) are not always wise, and smart men (like some other politicians) are not always good, and so some narrow-minded cranks like myself still cling with great longing to the liberty for which our fathers died, the God-given right to make a fool of ourselves our own way, instead of Roosevelt's wav.
L. O. ENGELMANN
Hallettsville, Tex.
Sirs:
The New Deal is Tammany Hall with a Harvard accent!
JAMES W. HUNTER
Providence, R. I.
Sirs:
The New Deal is a joy ride of the Purchased proletariat in which the sign "NO LEFT TURN" is ignored.
OLIVER OSGOOD
New York City
Sirs:
. . . The New Deal is a sincere, businesslike experiment by President Roosevelt, who hopes, by using standard, capitalistic methods of taxation (all the traffic will bear) to pay the costs, to put the capitalist system (Capitalism) back on its legs once more after having suffered at least 15 major strokes of business paralysis or depressions previously, through many decades and by a score of ad ministrations of both Democratic and Republican presidents. " . .
CHAS. M. DYER Temple City, Calif.
Sirs:
. . . Don't overlook the fact that a famous sailor, Cris Columbus by name, was one of the greatest politicians of all history. When he set sail from Spain, he didn't know where he was going. When he reached his destination, he didn't know where he was. When he returned to Spain, he didn't know where he had been.
And he did it all on borrowed money!!
G. C. MARSHALL
Seaman first class, U. S. N.
U. S. S. Seattle
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Sirs:
... A genuine and in part successful attempt to strengthen the masses of people of limited means against those with more economic power. . .
STANLEY BENNETT, M.D.
Boston, Mass.
Sirs:
Whenever the New Deal gives out a fresh batch of statistics to bolster up some of their pet projects, I am reminded of what Mark Twain said about statistics, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
If he were here now, I wonder if he wouldn't add a P. S. something like this. "There are promises, damned promises and Roosevelt promises."
J. O. CARTER
Richmond, Me.
Sirs:
. . . The New Deal is the vigorous drive to eliminate the obsolescent ideas, discriminations, practices and laws that prevent the greatest good for the greater number.
FRED M. BURT
Los Angeles, Calif.
Sirs:
The New Deal seems to me to be the practice of trial & error with no lessons learned from the error.
G. CLARKSON
Jacksonville, Fla.
Asked last fortnight to define his New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt replied that he had already done so, referred the questioner to the answer he gave in 1935 to the editor of the Vancouver Sun: ". . .To try to increase the security and the happiness of a larger number of people in all occupations of life and in all parts of the country; to give them more of the good things of life; to give them a greater distribution not only of wealth in the narrow terms, but of wealth in the wider terms: to give them places to go in the Summertime--recreation; to give them assurance that they are not going to starve in their old age; to give honest business a chance to go ahead and make a reasonable profit, and to give everyone a chance to earn a living."--ED.
Pro, Con
Sirs:
After reading your National Affairs for Aug. i, under "Kentucky," I cannot help but conclude that you are not non-partisan as you have previously claimed. I get a strong anti-Roosevelt impression from your obvious favoritism for Mr. Chandler.
If you think that article was truly "neutral," why don't you ask your readers for their unbiased opinions. And while you're at it, why not ask them if they think TIME has always had an anti-New Deal flavor. It has ever since I've been reading it. Your sarcasm seems, more often than not, aimed at the New Deal. Yet you claim unbiased reporting. How about it ?
[LIKUT.] H. H. UPHAM
Randolph Field, Tex.
Sirs: Well, for an impartial magazine you are doing pretty well; we have recently had so many straws in the wind that if one weren't already convinced that TIME'S impartiality is a myth, these should surely turn the trick.
Of course, TIME has long been mouth-wide-open with admiration of Mr. Roosevelt--that is your privilege, but how can it be impartial ? Now for a few examples--let us first consider the affair of John L. Lewis, who took over the office of the Speaker of the House for a little pressure on the boys in behalf of the Walsh-Healcy amendment. TIME, the impartial, was either looking the other way when it happened, or didn't consider it news, though every other newspaper in the country within my range of reading was shocked out of a year's growth. . . . Good old TIME.
always' to the front for the C. I. O. Then.
TIME considers it news that TIME has signed a contract with a union [TIME, July 25]. It is news--we were under the impression that the C. I. O. owned TIME. . . . See you at the Barricades! MARGUERITE MAYNE
Detroit, Mich.
John L. Lewis' reported "seizure" of the Speaker's office--TIME found on careful investigation--was an exaggeration. TIME reported it for what it was, a lobbyist's excursion to the Capitol. If & when barricades are built TIME expects to stand between them, in the line of fire, as usual, from both sides.--ED.
Humiture
Sirs:
Mr. Hevener's computation of Manhattan "humiture" (TiME, Aug. 15) may feel like 87DEG but if he'd come out here on a 98DEG day when the humidity was 98% I'll bet all the ice it would take to cool him off (hat he'd admit he felt hotter than the 98DEG "humiture" his arithmetic tells him is correct.
MRS. T. R. BARREN
Needles, Calif.
Sirs:
As a combination of humidity and temperature, far better than "humiture" is the word "tempidity."
Where "humiture" permits no adjective, "tempidity" provides the desirably descriptive "tempid." Easier to spell, less problematical in pronunciation, "tempidity" conforms more closely to the American ideals of simplicity and comprehensibility in speech. . . .
JOHN M. STIX
St. Louis, Mo.
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Comfort Stations
Sirs:
Will the Editors of TIME oblige their readers with an authoritative statement as to the policy of the management of the 1939 World's Fair regarding comfort stations within the grounds ?
Every visitor to the Century of Progress will remember that the toilets, rented out as a concession, proved to be one of the principal money-makers of the whole enterprise. My own memory of the matter is not so simple and succinct.
Having traveled a thousand miles (each way) to visit the Fair, my family party of four spent five entire days within the grounds. Each day my rage increased. The three or four so-called "free" toilets were remotely located and well concealed. And, if any visitor ever entered one of them at a time when it was not "Closed for 20 minutes for cleaning," that visitor should be exhibited as a Midway attraction at the 1939 Exposition. . . .
ROBERT DOUGLAS Boston, Mass.
New York World's Fair plans bigger, better, freer comfort stations than Chicago had. Seventy percent of the 4,000 toilets will be free and easy to find.--ED.
Holmes's Hypo
Sirs:
'Twill serve you justly if Sherlock Holmes, whom we suppose is even yet enjoying beekeeping on the Sussex Downs (is it not?) demands a retraction of the slur appearing on p. 26, TIME, Aug. 15.
It was only when he had no baffling case to work on, no problem to satisfy the unceasing demands of his searching mind, that he fell back on the stimulus of cocaine. You owe him an apology.
LOUGEE STEDMAN
Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
True. The great detective took drugs from boredom merely. Furthermore, at the dogged insistence of his friend, Dr.
Watson, Sleuth Holmes later brokehim-self of the pernicious habit. For another Sherlock Holmes item, see p. 25.--ED.
Cornea
Sirs:
In your issue of Aug. 15, p. 20, under heading ''Divine Eye," is a sentence refering to Calif. Condemned Men, that would seem to give the impression that the Rev. U. G. Harding had been refused by all 12 men on death row an eye cornea needed to return his sight to him.
This is not true as all 12 said they would be willing if the circumstances could be arranged and I myself wrote to Rev. Harding giving him the information I was willing. . . .
California law provides that each death sentence has automatic appeal to the Supreme Court before final judgement is made and date of execution set. At that time none on condemned row had gone through the Supreme Court. At date of this letter my appeal is still before the Court. In cases where the Supreme Court upholds conviction it usually is a matter of 3 to 4 months before actual execution takes place.
For some time previous to the letter from Mr. Harding, although we are allowed no Calif, papers, all the out of State papers carried stories about how Mr. Harding was going to or had come over to see us and ask for the cornea. In fact there was so much publicity before any of us heard directly about it, that many condemned men thought it was merely a publicity stunt and therefore distrustful of the whole thing. There were also newspaper stories to the effect the request was made to us through the prison chaplain, but the truth is the only thing we ever got was a form letter with newspaper clipping attached from Mr. Harding.
The letter asked each of us to bequeath the cornea with a pious reference to Mr. Harding being a Minister. The letter indicated that it was Mr. Hardings belief that death was a matter of a few days in the future and that he wanted his cornea right away. Naturally you can appreciate this was impossible to work out in this way. . . .
We condemned men read and enjoy TIME and know you want to print the truth, and it certainly is not true that Rev. Harding was turned down by the California Condemned men.
ALBERT KESSELL
No. 61177
San Quentin, Calif.
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