Comeback in the West

Sir:

That was a grand piece on Germany's economic renaissance [TIME, Feb. 15], food for thought for all of us. History is replete with such examples. After the War of 1870, Germany saddled France with a gold indemnity which, it was estimated, would take a full generation to pay. By that time, thought Bismarck, the French would be "Germanicized" . . . And German troops were stationed throughout France until it should be paid. So hated were the German garrisons, that the French went to work with a will -exports flowed out, gold flowed in, and within three years the indemnity had been paid . . . But, the spirit of thrift and hard work remained, and France came into her days of greatest power and wealth. "The next time Germany wins a war," said Bismarck, "we will pay an indemnity -we will not collect one."

REGINALD W. TICKNER Bay Head, NJ.

Sir:

. . .Is the German success also due to the fact that they got rid of obsolete plants and machines through bombings and dismantling and started anew with more efficient ones?

A. E. WOLLMAN Montreal

Sir:

What a perfect brainwashing job you performed in the German "miracle." First Dr. Adenauer as Man of the Year, now the master race of the century . . . From Frederick the Great to Scharnhorst to Bismarck the Germans were always efficient conquerors and killers. Now they appear as conquering businessmen . . .

Who is footing the bill? The American taxpayer! ... As the saying goes in Germany: "U.S.A. stands for United Suckers of America."

T. H. TETENS Coytesville, NJ.

Sir:

... I fail to see the reasonableness of a complaint on the part of other European countries, who were allies on the victorious side over Germany, and are now laboring under worse economic conditions than Germany ... It is to the credit of the Germans hat with this foreign help -though not with he financial help alone -they pulled themelves up again. It shows the will to do better in the future . . .

For heaven's sake, let some of the countries forget the old ... fear of a reoccurring German aggression. With the young generation getting a democratic education ... in a free union of countries, it will be a peaceful and worthy member ... I, a. born German, but years in the U.S., say let's all work toether -we can if we want to -and make this our earth a wonderful place for children to grow up in and live for.

THEA MERSMANN Casper, Wyo.

The Word About Furphy

Sir:

You speak of "wild rumors" of Queen Elizabeth's safety in Sydney caused by the enthusiasm of Australian crowds and say Australians dismissed them as "furphies" [TIME, Feb. 22]. In case you think the Aussies are speaking some brutish antipodean pidgin, I would like to point out that a furphy is the exact equivalent of the good U.S. Navy . . . word scuttlebutt, derived from the days when a sailor . . . found out what was what aboard ship by exchanging a judicious word or two at the fresh water barrel or butt . . . The Diggers have used the word furphy in the same sense since 1914. It reflects nothing on the garrulous Irish character, but refers to the fact that the contractor for field water barrels in the Australian Imperial Forces was a certain Furphy of Ballarat, Victoria, who caused his name to be cast into the metal . . .

CHARLES JAMES KERR New York City

Treasures of the Andes

SIR:

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SPLENDID COVERAGE AND SUPERB REPRODUCTIONS OF THE EXHIBITION CALLED "ANCIENT ARTS OF THE ANDES" [TIME, FEB. 22] ORGANIZED BY THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART FOR THREE AMERICAN SHOWINGS OF EIGHT WEEKS EACH. FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR MILLIONS OF READERS . . . WE WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THE EXHIBITION IN ITS ENTIRETY WILL BE SHOWN AT THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS FROM APRIL 14 THROUGH JUNE 6, AND THE CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR IN SAN FRANCISCO FROM JUNE 29 THROUGH AUGUST 29.

RUSSELL A PLIMPTON THOMAS C. HOWE JR. DIRECTORS MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR

Grounds for Separation

Sir:

My attention has just been called to the anecdote concerning myself in your Feb. 8 issue. Too bad to spoil a good story,* but it didn't happen. You have failed to allow for the imagination of a poet, looking back on a time when he blundered badly and was trying to make the best of it and sell a book of memoirs.

When the lady who was then my wife decided to go away with the poet, she did not tell me of her intention, but said that she was going to ... visit her mother. So there were no intense emotions on the occasion. As she was leaving, I remembered her coffeepot, which was a special one; she used it, and I didn't, so I took it out to the carriage and gave it to her. I made no special speech, of anger, contempt, or anything else. I have never described coffee as a "poison"; when I have occasion to refer to it, I call it what it is, a narcotic, which produces a temporary effect of stimulation. Having been naturally stimulated all my life, I have never felt the need of any caffeine. I drink fruit juices . . . and if I am asked for my opinion, I give it, but otherwise not.

UPTON SINCLAIR Buckeye, Ariz.

Foam Rubber Note

Sir:

... I don't know how much reeling to the mohair couches the readers of Homes of the Brave [TIME, Feb. 22] are going to do. All I can tell you is that I am flat on my foam rubber. I don't want to sound boastful, but suppose nobody knows as well as an author if the essential essence of a book can be distilled into a column and a half. As the author of Homes of the Brave, I consider that your digest is flawless . . .

T. H. ROBSJOHN-GlBBINGS New York City

Abortions in Geneva

Sir:

First we justified abortion in order to spare the mother's life. Now Geneva's Dr. Flournoy justifies it [TIME, Feb. 22] in order to spare the mother social disgrace and psychological traumata. The next step -which already has been taken in some places -will be to justify abortion in order to spare the mother the inconvenience of completing a pregnancy and rearing a child she hadn't counted on. And all this . . . will be done in the name of reason and human dignity. O brave new world!

FRANK PATRICK Durham, N.C.

Qualified Support

Sir:

It was flattering to find that you had given so much space to our analysis of the President's legislative program, and I am duly grateful. Nonetheless, I should like to register a mild protest against your description of my brother and me as "generally faithful supporters of the Fair Deals [TIME,Feb. 22]."

With certain conspicuous exceptions, such as the Louis Johnson defense program, my brother and I usually supported the foreign policy of the previous Administration, to which President Eisenhower contributed so greatly. We did not support the domestic policy, although we did not write a great deal about it for the reason given in the column you quoted: namely, the Truman domestic programs were mostly for the record and not intended to be enacted . . .

JOSEPH ALSOP Washington, D.C.

20,000 Leagues Under the Desk

Sir:

I most heartily agree with the campaign of the Illinois State Library to preserve the innocence of our children by putting such salacious books as Pilgrim's Progress and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on the restricted list [TIME, Feb. 15!. But they cannot, in good conscience, stop there. The next book to be kept from free circulation must be that most question-provoking volume, the King James Bible. What if a child should inquire into the early employment of Mary Magdalene? ... I fear even to mention the Song of Solomon . . .

Seriously, do librarians ever read the books they guard? If so, does it ever occur to them that most of the books the world considers great are not concocted out of Pablum? . . .

SAM A. HANNA JR. Mexico City

Friendly Service (Contd.)

Sir:

Mr. F. W. Johnston, president of the National Funeral Directors Association, states [TIME, Feb. 8] that the Divine Master had a friend who offered a service that no one else could provide and one that was gratefully accepted.

What fees did this Joseph of Arimathea get for his service?

PABLO CARTER Mexico City

Sir:

. . . National Funeral Directors President Johnston's attempt to portray Joseph of Arimathea as the ancient counterpart of some modern morticians seems somewhat farfetched. Joseph, a wealthy member of the Sanhedran, offered his own tomb and personally rolled the stone across the entrance. This was obviously an attempt to cover the body -not display it. If anyone approximated the morticians, it was the women who came to the tomb on Sunday intending to anoint the body. This was before they realized the significant fact of the Resurrection.

(The Rev.) LESTER KINSOLVING St. Thomas' Episcopal Church Rodeo, Calif.

Man, Wolf & Boy

Sir:

Regarding the pitiful "wolf boy" story in your Feb. 15 Press section, they have the wrong "animal" hospitalized in Lucknow. It should well be the doctor-superintendent, to be gaped at, poked, and made to howl and moan. Admission: free.

MRS. JACK MOYLE Idaho Falls, Idaho

The Going Price of Nudes

Sir:

In your Feb. 15 discussion of the Tate Gallery's affairs, when you refer to the charge that "the Tate trustees had sold good paintings, bought inferior works at inflated prices," you do not specify what they sold, what bought. Actually what was lately sold was a nude bather by Renoir, whose popularity in contemporary America you document in your color spread in the same issue. They sold it for $16,800 . . . and their principal purchase from this money was Picasso's cubist Seated Nude Woman (1910).

We yield to no one in admiration of Renoir and actually have 29 of his works, of all periods, presently hanging. But paintings and painters do gradually use up and outlast their popularity ... In 1950 we here accepted the gift of Picasso's Nude Woman (1910), closely equivalent to the Tate's purchase. A 57th Street dealer tells us the going price for it would be $25,000, if anything equivalent were attainable -so a price of, say, $12,500 for the Tate Picasso would scarcely be at an inflated price . . .

FlSKE KlMBALL Director

Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia

* As told in Harry Kemp's Tramping on Life: As Kemp was about to move out with Sinclair's first" wife, the aggrieved husband thrust her coffeepot upon him, saying, "You. can take this to your goddess, this poison machine, and lay it on her altar."

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