Occupied, Not Conquered
Sirs:
I have noticed that on the African map in TIME, April 27, the Belgian Congo is not mentioned among the Allied Nations.
May I draw your attention to the fact that the Belgian Congo is under the authority of the Belgian Government in London, which is one of the signatories of the Declaration of United Nations. ... All the resources of the Belgian Congo are contributed to the war effort of the Allies. Furthermore last year Belgian Colonial troops have taken part in the reconquest of Ethiopia.
COUNT VAN DER STRATEN-PONTHOZ Belgian Ambassador Belgian Embassy Washington, D.C.
Sirs:
YOUR MAP SEEMS TO IGNORE BELGIAN CONGO ALLIED TERRITORY. WISH TO RECALL SUCCESSFUL PARTICIPATION BELGIAN CONGO TROOPS ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGN.
BARON LECLERCQ Belgian Minister Buenos Aires
Sirs:
...As a matter of fact, the Belgian Congo is at war, under the general direction of the Belgian Government in Exile in London, with the Axis, and so much so that Belgian Congo forces have helped the British in every possible manner to conquer Ethiopia, taking prisoner many thousands of Italian troops and some Italian generals. Moreover, only a few days ago, the Governor General of the Belgian Congo urged Congo production of raw materials to be speeded up to such an extent that, very soon, that production will make good some of the losses sustained by the Allies in the South Pacific.
Whilst I am writing to you, will you also allow me to mention the article [in TIME, April 27], entitled "Belgium's Finest," which speaks of Belgium as a "conquered" country, whereas all the Belgians maintain, and not unreasonably, that the country is occupied but certainly not conquered. This is of course a secondary point, inasmuch as all the Belgians are certainly very much pleased with the article...
J. A. GORIS Commissioner of Information for Belgium Belgian Information Center New York City
> TIME apologizes for an inadvertent omission: There are 100,000 troops recruited in the Congo with the Allied army in Africa. During the East African campaign a small force traveled 2,500 miles--by barge up the Congo, by rail and road--across the continent to the Ethiopian foothills, and, although outnumbered four to one, captured an Italian mountain stronghold, a number of important towns, 15,000 prisoners including nine generals. A newly organized Belgian Pursuit Squadron of the R.A.F. (in which are already several hundred Belgians) will soon have 48 Spitfires purchased with 44 1/2 million Congo francs (over a million dollars).--ED.
She Knows Her Hogs
Sirs:
I was almost as amazed as hog expert Darlington would have been, to see a sow being serviced by a boar, while her young nursed. One of the most fascinating aspects of nature is its variations from the norm. If animals and human beings always acted and reacted according to known formulae, there would be little interest in either, writers would have nothing to write about, and I think the world would be considerably duller.
It is common knowledge that the young of most species attempt nursing after the mother is through with them. Mother dogs snap at their puppies; mother cats send their insistent kittens sprawling. When the young pigs of the sow in question "seized the moment of her immobility to nurse," it is probable that they were recently weaned, and, as I indicated, were taking unfair advantage of the situation.
I have no way of knowing whether boar and/or piglets actually attained their very different but biologically related objectives. I know only that with my own eyes I saw the astonishing conjunction of effort, while the sow accepted it--passive, and, apparently, pensive.
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS Hawthorn, Fla.
Sirs:
Reader Darlington's constructive criticism (TIME, April 27) in the review of Cross Creek by Marjorie Rawlings (TIME, March 23) pertaining to hog breeding is certainly not true in all cases and "hats off" to Miss Rawlings for knowing her hogs.
I specialize in Hampshire hogs and raise better than 200 annually and I know for a fact that a sow will take a boar when suckling pigs. I have seven sows in my orchard with my boar hog. There are also 52 four-week-old pigs with the sows and today I saw the boar service three sows and in a short time their pigs were nursing. All the sows in that field have been bred and all of them have suckling pigs.
Note: Maybe the climate in Virginia is more conducive to hog breeding than it is in California.
Yours for better and better pigs.
LOUIS VOIGT Flint Hill, Va.
Sirs:
...Obviously, the Darlington sows have been holding out...
STANFIELD M. MAJOR Eureka, Ill.
Sirs:
...Just wanted to say that Rawlings does know her hogs fairly well.
W. C. PHILLIPS Elk City, Kans.
On Guard
Sirs:
I am shocked at the inaccuracies in your article on the California State Guard contained in the April 27 issue of TIME.
California was the first State in the Union to provide a State Guard and its enlistments grew to nearly 15,000 even before Pearl Harbor. In peacetime the California Legislature permitted an unlimited number of enlistments in the Guard. Shortly after the outbreak of war, I called a special session of the Legislature to provide funds for an adequate State Guard. The Legislature saw fit, in wartime, to limit the number of Guards who could be called for active duty to a mere 7,000.
If, in consistently attempting to remove that and other hamstringing restrictions on the activities of the Guard enacted by a Legislature bent on opposing Olson first and Hirohito second, I can be said to be "stubborn," then I am happy at the appellation of "stubborn Governor Olson," as your article so terms me.
As a matter of fact, enlistments in the State Guard have never dropped to 3,000, but were 15,179 on the date your magazine was issued. War Department official figures indicate the California State Guard is the largest in the Union. Its morale is excellent despite political attacks by opponents of the State administration who insist upon "politics as usual" even in civilian defense activity. I cannot pay too high a tribute to the 15,179 volunteer State Guardsmen who are patriotically serving their State and country by guarding vital defense installations and who have continued to do so despite disruptive efforts of partisan politicians and newspapers, and restrictive provisions of ill-conceived legislation.
CULBERT L. OLSON Governor of California Sacramento, Calif.
> Governor Olson's sincere desire to enlarge and improve the Guard is not in question. But if the morale of the California State Guard is excellent, it is indeed a tribute to the patriotism of the Guardsmen, because they have had to put up with much. Example: noncoms of a special guard detailed to patrolling the water supply of an aircraft plant receive a basic $2 a day, are quartered in latrines and women's toilets, are not provided with proper medical care, pillows, soap, clean clothes (nondescript uniforms are handed down from CCC camps).--ED.
Lost Meaning
Sirs:
From many a forum we men of the armed forces are being bombarded with exhortations to give our all in this great cause. Cause for alarm is the manner in which we are responding to these fine and patriotic phrases by scoffing at them. For "fight talks" are part of our folklore, and we need the words and music, too, which direct our eyes upward beyond the death and destruction facing us immediately or in prospect. Why do the phrases sound cheap and banal, proper objects for derisive laughter? Because the radio announcers, the columnists, and the blues singers have not earned the right to utter them; in their mouths they have lost their meaning.
The classic, football fight talk is made not by the spectators but by the coach, for he alone knows in total what the man out on the line must take and give before he can win. No one ever scoffed at his "Now, boys, get in there and fight..." Coming from the comfortable isolation of the radio booth, they sound, at best, incongruous.
I suggest that some discretion be exercised by those who, with the best of intentions, address inspirational remarks to our fighting men. Let those who appreciate their full meaning encourage us who must make the sacrifices.
ROBERT S. BERGER Ensign, U.S.N.R. Norfolk, Va.
In Defense
Sirs:
Do you consider your article on the Daughters of the American Revolution [TIME, April 27] to be in the best of taste? I am not a blindly loyal DARter; I can see our funny side, adore Grant Wood's picture and Helen Hokinson's, have never attended a national convention, but to my knowledge we are the only group with enough patriotism and concern for existing conditions to voluntarily keep out of Washington, where we do "own our own hall," and meet in another city. . . .
I did not realize we were "shooed out of Washington," but if so, why the discrimination against a patriotic body of 3,500 women, even if we do afford amusement to TIME'S editors ?
"Eschewing orchids" may be hard on the florists and "courage" is not such a poor watchword, or is it?...
MRS. ALBERT NEIL McGiNNiss Cincinnati, Ohio
> Thanks to Reader McGinniss for an articulate, sense-making letter. It should be noted, however, that other organizations, notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also abandoned Washington for Chicago as a meeting place because hotel accommodations were unavailable.--ED.
Expert's Opinion
Sirs:
As editor of a service publication [Navy News] I have to read hundreds of articles on the war every week. In my opinion, the article "Death of an American Illusion," [on the fall of Bataan] TIME, April 20, is the best article on the war to appear so far. I wish every man, woman and child in America would read that article at least twice.
CHARLES S. SEELY Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Chicago, Ill.
Broiled Cow Flesh
Sirs:
So the English are serving horseflesh now [TIME, April 27]. The question comes to mind, why make it still worse with a name like that?...Me, I love a piece of good meat for dinner, but flesh...I'd never touch the stuff. If they ever start serving the genus Equus in America, let's call it Filly Mignon.
EVERETT BENNIE St. Louis, Mo.
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