Guilty, Not Guilty

Sirs:

You score a fair debating point in TIME, May 8, in citing me (among other distinguished false prophets) as having said that the Czechoslovak Army would fight before it would yield. Writing in mid-Atlantic with no records by me, I think I am right in saying that I prophesied that the Czechoslovak Army would fight Germany rather than yield to her. I did not envisage Czechoslovakia being confronted by the hostile coalition of Great Britain, France, Italy or Germany, although I always knew that Mr. Chamberlain would try to abandon her. Actually, this hostile coalition did not merely hand to Czechoslovakia the order to surrender dictated at Munich, but threatened her also with invasion by Hungary and Poland as well as by Germany if she delayed her surrender. I think all this is borne out by my new book Betrayal in Central Europe. The Czechoslovak Army bitterly resented the surrender of the Czechoslovak politicians even before this irresistible combination, and it was touch and go whether the discipline would prove strong enough to insure compliance.

I should like, therefore, to enter a plea of "Not Guilty" in your columns to TIME'S charges of false prophecy. I will plead guilty to an alternative charge, if preferred, to lack of omniscience in failing to foresee that Czechoslovakia was going to be faced not merely with abandonment but with the threatening hostility of her friends and allies. Nothing, I think, that I wrote in my book or elsewhere could be taken as a prophecy that the crippled and dismembered Czechoslovakia left after Munich could have fought this last March.

G. E. R. GEDYE New York Times London

Superpatriots

Sirs:

Unfortunately, the words to nations' "marching songs" are not like the lyric of Hold-Tight, whose words (according to Mr. Levy, TIME, May 15), were never "intended to have any particular meaning." No, we become rather more intimate with such things as Cohan's We Must Be Ready [TIME, May 8]. And some of us realize what an utterly asinine thing is such a line as this: "They might compel us to yell 'We dare you to'." We wonder just what "they" could do to "compel" us to make such damn fools of ourselves.

I am of the opinion that superpatriots are perverts, quite as objectionable as creatures who are oversexed, and might just as justifiably be locked up. . . .

Of course, if there is a war (and will there be one, if we can round up all these screwballs?), then we shall need such excellent cheer leaders. We can turn them loose again then, and win the war, but right now--well, let's lock 'em up before they hurt themselves.

LAWRENCE ROBINSON Shelley, Idaho

"Shmelka" Krivitsky

Sirs:

"Ambassador Maisky, you are Vanka Lakhovetsky!". . .

Yes, that is the family name of the envoy who is sparring with Chamberlain and Lord Halifax on the issue of a "united front" against Hitler. Your readers might also be interested in knowing that Maisky-Lakhovetsky fought against Lenin and Trotsky during the first four years of the Soviet revolution, and joined the Bolsheviks only in 1921.

But what has all this got to do with your handling of the W. G. Krivitsky story, in your issue of May 22 ? . . . The point is that should Ambassador Maisky break with Stalin and tell his story in the American press and invite me to collaborate with him, it would be Maisky's and not Lakhovetsky's revelations which would be worth publishing.

You probably did not realize when you quoted the Communist New Masses on Krivitsky that you became a victim of an anti-Semitic trick. For the name "Shmelka" does not exist. It is a well-known anti-Semitic appellation for Samuel. . . .

Far from being "Ginsberg's ghost," I simply collaborated with W. G. Krivitsky, formerly the chief of the Soviet military intelligence in Western Europe, in preparing the story of his official career for The Saturday Evening Post.

Moreover, you are mistaken when you declare that Krivitsky's facts have been questioned. The contrary is the truth. The former Spanish Loyalist Ambassador to France Luis de Araquistain's . . . articles in the New York Times have substantiated with a vengeance all of Krivitsky's disclosures. . . .

In conclusion, Former General Krivitsky challenged Earl Browder, in the Baltimore Sun of May 5, to identify him. To date, Mr. Browder has not taken up the challenge.

ISAAC DON LEVINE New York City

Why Blame Russia?

Sirs:

The well-written, highly pessimistic article on Russia which appeared in your May 29 issue is not in line with the usually very excellent work I expect from TIME. The facts are there; the precise wording is clear; but the thought is warped.

Twenty-two years spent in building a country from absolutely nothing is too short a time. Russia must be congratulated on the remarkable work it has done so far. Look at America. More than two or three times 22 years of gigantic effort and labor have gone into the building of what we have today.

Please don't judge Russia yet. It has a long way to go before it accomplishes what it has set out to do. We had a Civil War in this country; and we also had a lawless and lusty West. No editor criticized us then. No editor will say that we have "arrived" at this time. Why blame Russia for what it hasn't been able to do until now; and which it should do in the next 25 years?

JOSEPH ARKO Baltimore, Md.

"Goat-bearded"

Sirs:

On p. 16 of TIME, April 24, re National Affairs, in connection with the Gallup poll on war sentiment throughout the country, you make the following statement: "Goat-bearded young Roman Catholic Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy of Seattle preached loudly against U. S. participation."

Smart-aleck TIME, always curt, clear and complete in your descriptive matter of people you know little about and care less for. It must be great sport to sit on the "literary throne" and describe this splendid man as "goat-bearded" and have people like me pay you for doing it.

You will find my check enclosed for a renewal of my subscription.

R. J. WOLLASTON Seattle, Wash.

Poem

Sirs:

. . . My boy, Frank S. Hewitt Jr., is eleven years of age and in the 6th grade. His class has what they call "The Story Tellers Club." Last month the club was called on by the teacher to write a short original narrative poem, and the enclosed is Frank Jr.'s contribution

GERMANY

Germany is strong Germany is long Germany is big Germany is a pig.

Germany thinks its brave And so do all its knaves Germany is nuts Germany is in the ruts.

Eggs are $100 a dozen Said our German cousin Coffee is $1.50 a pound All the way around.

Germany thinks its right Germany is very tight Germany thinks its strong Germany is very wrong.

Germany went to town Germany sat down Germany is afraid of a flea Germany couldn't lick a bee.

FRANK S. HEWITT Calipatria, Calif.

Paris Times

Sirs:

". . . the Paris Times (which padded 50 daily words of wireless into a full page of U. S. news) had folded in 1929" (TIME, April 17).

Although not intended, there could be no greater compliment. Any paper with a long purse can receive pages of wireless. It takes brains to "pad" 50 words, as TIME should know.

In fact the Paris Times, for four years was a kind of daily TIME, giving to each item of news that background and elucidation necessary for comprehension--or entertainment. Now, ten years later, American newspapers are discovering the value of the formula and hailing it as a discovery. The Paris Times was a pioneer in the daily field, as TIME was a pioneer in the weekly field.

One day its publisher ordered that it should be "like the other papers." That was the beginning of the end.

G. H. ARCHAMBAULT Formerly Managing Editor Paris Times Paris, France

"Whar-s"

Sirs:

Inasmuch as you are read weekly by several millions, it is unfortunate so many have been misinformed by you (May 8, p. 66) how to pronounce "Juarez." It will be easier to get them on the right track if you will correct it before it grows any more, and after the boost you give the picture there is certain to be a lot of talk about it. There surely are many Spanish-speaking natives of these southern countries right there at Rockefeller Center who would gladly inform you it is not pronounced "Wha-race," but "Whar-s"--first syllable strongly aspirated, followed by only the faintest sound of s through front teeth.

FR. PETTEE Cuernavaca, Mexico

Abstainers v. Drinkers

Sirs:

In your magazine of May 22 there appears, in a letter from a subscriber on page 8, a quotation from another paper reading as follows:

"Dr. Hunter figures that every drink costs the moderate drinker 25 minutes of life in addition to his money."

I have never made such a statement or anything approximating it. So far as I can determine it was prepared by a minister who wished to express in dramatic form the fact that total abstainers, as a whole, live longer than moderate drinkers. I have repeatedly denied making the statement attributed to me but it bobs up continually, not only in the U. S. but in far off countries.

Total abstainers may take comfort from the fact that all investigations conducted on a scientific basis have shown that they are longer-lived as a group than persons who, in their own opinion, drink moderately. A percentage of the moderate drinkers become immoderate ones--that is the risk they run. The fact that an excessive drinker may live to a ripe old age and a total abstainer may die in middle age does not disprove the effect of alcohol on longevity, since we must deal with groups of persons and not with individuals.

ARTHUR HUNTER Vice President New York Life Insurance Co. New York City

> TIME'S soberest apologies to Dr. Hunter for unwittingly passing on a pickled chestnut.--ED.

Mixed

Sirs:

It seems that many were "mixed" last week besides Lady Astor (TIME, May 22, p. 26). TIME'S mixed metaphor can go down in history with other classics:

Page 24: "The once Sick Man of Europe has acquired such youthful vigor in the last 15 years that Turkey now has some 500 military airplanes and a standing Army of 200.000 well-trained men. Mistress of the heavily fortified Dardanelles and Bosporus, Turkey is an ally worth having. . . ."

Well, I guess anything can happen in Europe today.

J. J-GIBA Brooklyn, N. Y.

> For TIME'S Foreign News editor, an all-round blush.--ED.

German Royalties

Sirs:

In your issue of APRIL 24, in which you quote German sales of Gone With the Wind as having reached the figure of 134,000 copies, which figure is correct, you also say: "Her German publishers send Margaret Mitchell regular royalty statements but pay her no cash."

I wish to point out that the second part of this statement is erroneous and I do not know what authority you have for making this statement. Germany, together with Hungary and one or two other European Continental countries, is not able to pay royalties to her foreign authors punctually because of lack of foreign exchange, not for lack of good will.

I would point out that for the majority of the American authors for whose books I have received contracts from Germany in the past three years, royalties on their works are entirely paid up. In the case of Gone With the Wind, we have received several payments, but due to unusually large sums accrued for its sales over a short period, there are still royalties outstanding. I have no doubt that all of these royalties will be paid in due course.

MARIAN SAUNDERS Agent for Margaret Mitchell New York City

> The situation on German royalties is complicated, confused. Author Mitchell is lucky. Other U. S. authors (notably the late Thomas Wolfe) have had to go to Germany to spend their royalties. --ED.

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