The Conventions

Sir:

I want to congratulate TIME for a very responsible job of reporting the Republican political situation in this hectic year. It seems to me you made a substantial contribution to the very excellent theory of "majority rule." You are to be highly commended.

STANLEY MARCUS Dallas

Sir:

. . . The Democrats are slipping! They have laid the blame for every catastrophe from the beginning of the two-party system to the present time on the Republicans. They didn't blame the Republicans, however, for our recent earthquake, the heaviest shock in nearly half a century. Was this because they didn't care to suggest that Ike and California's own Nixon have the strength to move mountains ?

MRS. EDWARD S. SHAW San Diego, Calif.

Sir:

You are to be commended highly on your July 28 issue and the coverage of the Republican Convention. We have seldom seen such a brilliant display of partisan humor and biased point of view. Your ability to see only the trees in the Democratic Sherwood Forest has proved to us once again that no bandwagon insures 20/20 vision . . .

We are happy to see you revive the techniques of the old morality plays: Eisenhower-the-Good walks onto the stage and the corrupt Democrats beat it into the greenwood, blinded by the aureole that you have placed round his head . . .

MARION MOSTKOFF Minneapolis

Sir:

The cynical betrayal of principle for political expediency by Jake Arvey and his coterie of city bosses ... on the Southern loyalty pledge was a disgrace to the Democratic Party and an insult to the American people.

After this flagrant delivering of votes by "the boys," I, as an erstwhile Democrat, have no choice but to agree with the Republicans that the Democrats have indeed been in too long. Obviously, if we are not to turn our birthright over to unprincipled machine bosses, it is time for a change. I shall vote for Eisenhower in November.

(MRS.) ELAINE ATKINSON Des Plaines, Ill.

Sir:

. . . The Democrats are fortunate in their choice of Stevenson, a humble man who has the common touch with his fellow men . . .

MRS. STANLEY J. DIXON Detroit

Sir:

... I watched and listened to Adlai Stevenson accept the Democratic nomination . . . The jolt came after Truman finished his introduction of the candidate . . . Harry was typically Midwestern--typically American. Adlai was typically Princetonian--with the clipped accent of a Britisher . . . Adlai talked from above (not quite as high as MacArthur) with a tone of cultivated condescension . . . The manner in which he spoke, you'd think he was running for Parliament. He had everything but his striped diplomat pants on. If the Democrats want their man to make a showing in November--they'd better bring him down to earth, have him burn that thesaurus . . .

JAMES W. CRAWFORD

San Francisco

Sir:

Alas poor Adlai! I loved him, Horatio. But Ike's the man free nations need . . .

HARRY OLNEY

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

It is an old axiom in politics that the people never turn out an administration when everybody is employed and reasonably prosperous . . . Although it is certainly not original, I have concluded that people are intensely interested in peace and . . . Ike is the one man . . . who has the best chance to bring it about . . .

Taking the premise that Russia is the main cause of fear as to future war ... we should have all the help we can get ... Western Europe [has] extreme confidence in Eisenhower, and we would get cooperation from it through him that no other person could get . . . Consequently, Western Europe would become strong enough so that Russia would hesitate to show belligerency . . . These things would come about more logically with Ike . . . Along with this argument, of course, comes the possibility of actually uniting Europe along political and economic lines. Here again Ike, who so firmly believes in that idea, will be a great and friendly help . . .

R. A. WEAVER Cleveland

Endorsement

Sir:

My eight-month-old son is one of the "one of every five" babies in the U.S. whose mother is not only buying but using Dr. B. Spock's [TIME, July 21] baby, book. Among the young mothers in my circle of acquaintances, a reference to "Spock" is sufficient argument on most any subject. His endorsement of breast-feeding is a shot in the arm to the many young mothers who wish to "revert" to this old-fashioned method in the face of often-scornful doctors. Thanks for a private look at an old, old friend! . . .

MRS. OWEN E. THOMPSON

Springfield, Mo.

Smith to Davis

Sir:

Speaking of "objectivity" in the news, Mr. Elmer Davis might have practiced what he preaches by checking the facts with me as to whether I had been tipped off that Stalin would answer my questions [TIME, July 28].

I was never tipped off by anyone that Stalin would do so, and my denial of this unjust assumption was broadcast nationally at the time by Drew Pearson . . .

J. KINGSBURY SMITH European General Manager International News Service Paris, France

Sirs:

It is evident that I owe Mr. Kingsbury Smith an apology, which is hereby tendered. The news index which I consulted mentioned the allegation but not the denial; and I did not happen to hear Mr. Pearson's broadcast in which the denial was reported. However, I have been in this business long enough to know that the denial seldom catches up with the allegation ; so I should have checked with Mr. Smith personally . . .

ELMER DAVIS Washington

South Africans in North Korea

Sir:

Without wishing to discuss the merits . . . of your July 21 story on the acquittal of the South African Air Force officer and the effect Defense Minister Erasmus is having on South Africa's armed forces, I find it hard to reconcile the statement that these forces (under the Nationalist government) have "become a military joke, badly equipped and riddled with political intrigue" with the fact that the U.S. Army has awarded many decorations to personnel of the South African contingent in Korea for their exploits . . . General O. P. Weyland commended them as "classic examples of outstanding airmanship and courage" . . .

G. J. ROUSSEAU, D.D. First Baptist Church Pensacola, Fla.

P: I TIME was reporting the deterioration of South African army morale, particularly among high officers at home, not reflecting on the courage of its Korea contingent. -- ED.

Up in the Air

Sir:

Your July 28 article on gliding is excellent. You, your staff and Artist R. M. Chapin Jr. are to be commended for it ... The altitude record of 42,100 ft. was not made in a pressurized sailplane ; the pilot, however, used a pressure-demand oxygen system. Pressurized sailplanes are extremely hard to design and build, and none are in existence yet . . .

You mention that the sailplane duration record is 12 hrs. 3 min. This is incorrect, as the present record is 56 hrs., established this spring by a French soaring pilot. U.S. record is 22 hrs. . . .

All of us who fly sailplanes and those interested in motorless flight owe a debt of gratitude to TIME for its story.

ALEXIS DAWYDOFF New York City

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