Murals Vindicated

Sirs:

Please convey to all those who were connected with the story on my work [mural history of Kansas; TIME, July 13] that I am very pleased indeed. In fact, I am more pleased with this publicity than anything I can remember, for the fact that it is a vindication of the Kansas Mural Commission and all who had to deal with the oily oozers, cagey cadgers, and arrogant toads which composed most of the political setup. . . . JOHN STEUART CURRY Artist in Residence College of Agriculture University of Wisconsin Madison, Wis.

Geographers Disgraced

Sirs:

... I am in favor--after the war--of leaving Germany to the Germans. However, on this map [Geographist Renner's--TIME, July 13] it looks as if Germany had won the war and Dr. Haushofer himself had drawn the boundaries. . . . The German Swiss, after 600 years' existence as the Swiss nucleus, have to give up their country and enter Germany. Switzerland, the example of strong national cooperation, dissected--a most cruel thought. The Alsace-Lorraine people, who may have had their grievances against France, certainly do not want to go back to the Reich; neither do the Luxemburgers. I can vouch for that. About ten million people are so forced against their will to live under German rule--is that winning the war?

The Italian case is similar to the German-- again a complete victory. . . .

I would appreciate it if you could bring out that we geographers here at Clark--and probably most American geographers--do not agree (to put it mildly) with Dr. Renner and that we feel that his article disgraces our profession. For many of us who know Europe well, he clearly shows a lack of knowledge as well as lack of understanding.

S. VAN VALKENBURG

School of Geography Clark University Worcester, Mass.

Map of the Future

Sirs:

It seems to me that people have become needlessly excited over Professor Renner's attempt to reconstruct the map of Europe. Mr. Lippmann is mistaken when he uses the map as a means of cudgeling our academic system of education. The map represents merely Professor Renner's own . . . ideas. Our system of education is represented by scores of geographers who think that reconstruction should take place along quite different lines.

I have no brief to speak for anyone except myself, but I believe that the majority of geographers would agree that reconstruction ought to be based on the following broad principles.

1) Present cultural units should be preserved with the utmost care and should have full autonomy in all local affairs. This means that a country such as Switzerland, Holland or Hungary should be preserved intact with its present boundaries, unless the people themselves in compact geographical blocks desire a change. If some country, such as Belgium, is troubled by friction between two sections with different cultural systems, each of these, if it so desires, should be given autonomy. The decision should rest with the individual cultural groups. Autonomy . . . does not mean complete independence. The day for completely independent small political units has passed. Nevertheless, units that are far too small to stand independently will presumably be most contented if they have a degree of self-government far greater than that enjoyed by the States in the United States.

2) In remaking the map of the world there should be the least possible interference with old and well established political as well as cultural units. In other words, in the case of a country such as Belgium, the effort should be to encourage the Walloons and Flemings to cooperate as fully as possible within old boundaries with such minor changes in local autonomy as may be mutually agreed upon. This principle, of course, must be interpreted in the light of the first principle and also of those that follow. Unless there is some strongly impelling reason to the contrary, old cultural units should be preserved more carefully than old political units. This will be much facilitated if the remaining principles are intelligently applied.

3) The third principle is that smaller cultural and political units, together with large ones in some instances, should be combined into economic units large enough and powerful enough to stand on their own feet and to be free from the danger of being swamped by large neighbors. The U.S. already forms such a unit. So does the English-speaking part of the British Empire. The same is true of Germany either with or without outlying German-speaking populations such as Austria. On the other hand, in these days of rapid communication, efficient transportation, active trade and increasing power of large mechanized nations to overwhelm small non-mechanized ones in both war and trade, small independent economic units are an anachronism. Practically all small units of this kind would benefit both economically and politically if united into large units while at the same time preserving their own internal autonomy.

4) Political units in the form of large nations, or federations of smaller nations, should coincide as far as possible with natural economic units. This principle is difficult to apply and must frequently be held in abeyance because it conflicts with other principles. For example, Holland normally belongs economically with Germany. The ideal would be that Holland and Germany should each remain perfectly free and completely autonomous in all internal affairs and in many international relations, but that they should form parts of the same economic unit. Cultural conditions, however, including the prejudices of the present war, may make this undesirable from the standpoint of Holland. Therefore, that country may have to find its place in some other economic unit.

5) The relatively small number of politico-economic units resulting from the application of the preceding principles should form some sort of world federation. The distinguishing feature of such a federation should be complete and absolute power in a few very limited fields, with advisory power beyond those fields. The fields of complete power might include a) final authority over changes in boundaries; b) the administration of colonial regions not yet ready for self-government either by means of mandates or some better method; c) measures for controlling epidemics; and d) an international police force. Advisory powers might well include such matters as steps aimed toward the ultimate establishment of a worldwide international currency, standardization and simplification of the conditions of international trade, and reduction of armaments by mutual agreement until the international police force exceeds the armed forces of any probable combination of nations or federations.

Only the first four principles are directly applicable to the reconstruction of the world map when the passions of war have had time to cool off. The nature of the resulting map, however, will be distinctly different according to whether the fifth principle is accepted or rejected. The necessary adjustments, both economic and political, will be much easier if they are made in the light of an assurance of a world federation with strong although limited powers.

Regardless of whether the fifth principle is accepted or not, a map based on the first four principles will be decidedly different from the one published by Professor Renner. Its construction requires the combined efforts of geographers, in consultation with political scientists, economists, and historians.

ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON Yale University New Haven, Conn.

-- To Professor Huntington all praise for a humane geography.--ED.

Why Say "The People"?

Sirs:

Your article "Total War Postponed" in TIME, July 6 is a masterpiece of cold facts.

When the bell tolls the end of this administration, there will be left in its wake a record of incompetence, insincerity and political jugglery never before witnessed in the history of this nation.

Is it any wonder there is so much pessimism regarding the final outcome of the war ?

How can we ever hope to ... justify our course in the prosecution of the war, when so many important decisions are first predicated upon political expediency? . . .

ELMORE N. Ross Auburn, N.Y.

Sirs:

TIME, July 6: "The people . . . postpone putting up a total fight for freedom until after November elections."

Why say "the people?" Can "the people" pass anti-inflation tax laws . . . can they assure a unified command, can they keep labor from starting the inflation spiral by wage increases? . . .

Certainly not!

The trouble lies with Congressmen who lack courage and honesty--who think only of re-election--and jumping when someone pulls the strings from behind the scenes.

R. G. SCHMIDGALL Los Angeles, Calif.

> But Congressmen listen to people.--ED.

Sirs:

. . . The Gallup Poll is fairly accurate. If the majority of the people want a sales tax, if Congress admits it is a necessary step, then it is up to the President and Congress to put the measure through regardless of elections. . . .

R. W. PATTERSON Biloxi, Miss.

Sirs:

... If Congressmen had some of the courage necessary to win a war they would freeze all commodity prices, all service prices, all wages and salaries as of October 1941. . . .

J. P. AUSTIN

American Lumberman Chicago, Ill.

Sirs:

One of the things retarding the sale of defense bonds & stamps is the feeling in the minds of many would-be purchasers that the politicians in Washington will never have the courage to levy necessary taxes to pay them off. ...

J. N. BEASLEY San Antonio, Tex.

Sirs:

"We have not yet begun to fight." "We want to wait until after the elections." Such statements are worth their salt in reminding us again what is the most precious machinery we have in this country--that delicate and irreplaceable equipment which carries highest priority ratings on all time and material: our well greased political machines.

GEO. BOWMAN JR.

Salem, Ohio

Sirs:

I am familiar with the anti-inflation argument for a general sales tax. I am also familiar with the uncontrovertible fact that the sales tax is not an equitable tax, that it hits hardest those who can least afford to pay, those individuals whose standard of living is already so low that I, for one, am ashamed to call it American. . . .

VINCENT H. WHITNEY University of Maine Orono, Me.

>The minimum standard of living is not likely to be improved by an American defeat.--ED.

To Bury Caesar

Sirs:

I think it is about time that somebody should start publicly deploring the dictatorship tactics of Mr. James Caesar Petrillo, the bully-boy tsar of the odorous American Federation of Musicians. . . . When the high-school orchestra at Interlochen ... is banned from the air because its members are not yet old enough to join the union, a lot of indignant voices ought to be raised. . . .

The people who have traveled hundreds of miles to sit under Interlochen's tall pines and listen, and the kids in blue corduroy who have gone there to study and play great music for the joy that is in great music, are, I think, equally angry. Little Caesar should be dismally ashamed of himself.

ROBERT U. JAMESON

Haverford, Pa.

>To date, Bully-boy Petrillo has been indignation-proof.--ED.

Heroes & Hollywood

Sirs:

The Hollywood influence in Washington that is behind the current national "war heroes" tour to whip up our patriotism prompted the following: (I guess it was the street banners in Los Angeles reading "Welcome War Heroes, June 28" that really made me mad).

Forgive us, you men who have given your lives in the service of your country in this war and in the ones we have fought before. . . . Forgive us, you men who are serving in our armed forces on battlefronts throughout the world. Forgive us for staging a parade of heroes across the U.S., ballyhooed like a three-ring circus, with street banners and well-timed publicity.

The people of the nation would never have belittled or cheapened your unselfish devotion to your country in such a fashion. They have thrilled at the things you have done and are doing. They have experienced the surge of spiritual fire that must burn deep in the heart of every man who serves his country as you have served it.

But this parade of "war heroes"--that was the Hollywood that has reached our national capital--that was Hollywood that thinks human emotions are manufactured like bullets, that our patriotism ebbs & flows with the publicity effort in Washington, and that never has and never will understand the fighting heart of America.

To you real heroes, forced into your unwilling role of billboard heroes, we the people, apologize. . . .

E. H. BADGER Beverly Hills, Calif.

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