Ike's Illness
Sir:
It was with grief for all the countries of the world, as well as for the United States, that I heard of President Eisenhower's heart attack . . . How appalling must be the weight of the responsibility of the decisions we put upon our President, no matter how much advice and assistance we give him, when so many of those decisions are, in the long run, his alone to make . . .
JULIA M. PRYKE
Detroit
Sir:
President Eisenhower's recent heart attack may make it inadvisable for him to run for re-election to the presidency. The Republicans have not seriously considered any other candidates for this office. Therefore, I believe that Eisenhower and Nixon should continue to be a team . . . Nixon should run for President, and Eisenhower, Vice President. Nixon is familiar with Eisenhower's policies, and would have his expert advice when and if it was needed . . .
MYRNA J. BRUNTON
Headquarters Caribbean Command
Quarry Heights, Canal Zone
No Time to Lose
Sir:
Your Sept. 26 cover story on Premier Nasser of Egypt was an elegant piece of reporting. Gamal Nasser is truly representative of the modern Middle East's heads of state, a man of great executive and administrative ability, a person with much military know-how and a leader who maintains his touch with the "common man" . . .
ROBERT SEKULER
Forest Hills, N.Y.
Sir:
In spite of your repeated assurances that Egypt's Nasser is handsome, dashing and "carries his 200 Ibs. with lithe grace," and your remarkable statement that he is the only one who can prevent "massed retaliation" against the Israeli "aggressors," you can hardly conceal the fact that this military dictator and self-anointed "liberator" of the fatherland is now definitely on the skids . . . Since he can't cope with the trouble within Egypt's borders, he is stirring up trouble beyond the borders . . . This is the traditional method of dictators, and of those in the Middle East in particular . . .
ERIC WEISS
Portland, Ore.
Dinner With the General
Sir:
. . . All power to the Marine captain who solved the $64,000 culinary problem with the French menu, but does that rate him a special dinner with General Shepherd? . . .
Colonel Schwable got booted around for collapsing under Asiatic torture, but the captain gets the general's highball for knowing about Chateau Yquem.
The captain did a fine job, but what in hell has it to do with the Marines? . . .
AXEL B. GRAVEM
Orleans, Mass.
Free American
Sir:
I have just finished reading the Sept. 26 article about Walter A. Rickett. "What a crazy, mixed-up kid!" Which goes to show that even the well-learned can fall prey to well-prepared Communist indoctrination . . .
(A/1C) ARTHUR G. ROBLES
U.S.A.F.
Carswell Air Force Base
Fort Worth, Texas
Sir:
I could not read your article without commenting upon the last quoted sentence in which Walter Rickett said: "I feel that as an American I have a right to say what I please." Cannot ex-Prisoner Rickett see that the very ambivalence of such a statement places him on the brink of hypocrisy? He is using one of the best examples of democracy, i.e., free speech, to decry or question the actions and decisions of his accepted motherland . . .
TOM KUBITZ
Champaign, Ill.
Sir:
I am amazed at your treatment of Walter Rickett . . .
I am an American who wants no part of Communism or even socialism . . . But I fail to see where Rickett has erred . . .
ALBERT W. FOSTER
New York City
Public Duty
Sir:
The undersigned, who carry ultimate responsibility for law enforcement in Philadelphia, are distressed at the smearing of honest public servants that has resulted from your Sept. 26 story: "The Death of a Girl."
Doris Oestreicher died on the night of Aug. 24. Dr. Melville Aston, medical examiner, first heard of the case upon his arrival at his office at 8:20 the following morning. Ten minutes later he informed his staff that an autopsy would be required. Two city pathologists were assigned to make the examination by 10 a.m. By 2:10 p.m. Dr. Aston received a preliminary report. A news release was promptly issued announcing that the death was under investigation. The undersigned approved the decision that it was unwise from a criminal, medical and humanitarian point of view to make the results of the investigation available to the press before the inquest, which was held Aug. 28. Six days after the inquest, the district attorney arrested Mrs. Silver, the dead girl's mother. A few days later the accused abortionists were arrested.
We are proud of the way the case was handled and the results achieved to date.
There was no "political stone wall" in the case. Mr. Brunt never suggested to the mayor that "covering up the scandal will cost the Democrats the election." Mr. Brunt never "went after District Attorney Samuel Dash, convinced him also that the cover-up would be a hot political issue." The Philadelphia Bulletin, for which Mr. Brunt works, never printed any such story.
On behalf of the loyal employees who work for us, we resent the implication in this article that, but for the persistence of a reporter, we and our subordinates would have violated our duty to the public.
MAYOR JOSEPH S. CLARK JR.
SAMUEL DASH
District Attorney
Philadelphia
P: Newsman Brunt stands by TIME'S account of his part in the case.--ED.
East Side, West Side (Contd.)
Sir:
Mayor Wagner may blow his own horn [Sept. 19], and he may fool many New Yorkers, most of whom will probably not realize how dirty the city is until the debris has reached eye level. However, he does not fool the thousands of visitors, especially if they are fortunate enough to be ex-citizens of the city . . .
MURRAY H. SCHEFER
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
. . . As a native New Yorker myself, now residing in sunny California, I can readily attack any criticism of N.Y.'s public service departments. I have never seen a city with such a well-regulated rubbish or cleaning service. As for clean air, if New York ever had Los Angeles' smog problem, believe me, it would have been rectified long ago . . .
MRS. MARIE MCCARTHY
Glendale, Calif.
Delightful Roll
Sir:
Britons and Test Pilot Roland Falk may be aloft [Sept. 19], but are no loftier than Boeing's top test pilot, Alvin M. ("Tex") Johnston.
During the 1955 Gold Cup Hydroplane race Johnston brought the handsome gold-and-crimson jet transport over the race course, gained a reassuring bit of elevation and proceeded to roll the craft in a delightful 360DEG arc . . .
GEORGE I. THOMAS, M.D.
Seattle
Name Dropping
Sir:
Mr. Charles P. Taft, a deputy to the Episcopal convention, was quoted [Sept. 19] as saying, "Our church is a Reformation church in fact." It would seem that Mr. Taft is a bit confused if he meant that his church was conceived in the Reformation. A study of English church history and Anglican theology would inform him that the Episcopal Church is in fact a reformed Catholic Church. There is a difference.
(THE REV.) C. EDWARD SHARP
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Beaufort, N.C.
Sir:
... I am just waiting for the letters to roar in from unthinking Roman Catholics who will endeavor to point out that because we left the word "Protestant" in the legal title of the Episcopal Church, we have therefore given up the claim to Catholicity. I only hope that some day, in the providence of God, these people will realize that "Protestant" and "Catholic," when used correctly, are not contradictory, but complementary. The opposite of "Catholic" is "Roman."
(THE REV.) EDMOND T. P. MULLEN
Priest-in-Charge
St. Mark's Church
Medford Station, N.Y.
Sir:
. . . It seems that it is impossible for Protestants to assemble without throwing mud at the Catholic Church. This in itself is proof of the spiritual bankruptcy of Protestantism. When Catholics get together, they have more constructive things to talk about than the myriad shortcomings of Protestants.
(S/Sgt.) JAMES RICHEY
A.P.O. 959
San Francisco
Sir:
One thousand three hundred bishops, priests, etc. of the Protestant Episcopal Church met in Honolulu and, like every other religious meeting, bigotry and intolerance showed their ugly heads . . . I would think the Lord would prefer more fellowship and less show if He wants us in Heaven.
G. LEO McCAFFREY
Orlando, Fla.
Absence Explained
Sir:
. . . Last year I suffered in silence because I believed TIME'S hostile attitude was directed against me only because I was the Democratic candidate for governor of California . . . TIME [Sept. 26] published a spiteful and wholly false story . . . Obviously, I would be, and was, invited by the chairman of this $100 Democratic dinner to sit at the head table; being obliged to leave by plane for Los Angeles . . . I could not accept; before leaving, I went to the head table to explain my departure to our distinguished guests; thereafter, the toastmaster, in his general introductions, referred first to me and explained my absence . . .
RICHARD GRAVES
Oakland, Calif.
P:TIME erred. Democrat Graves was duly invited to the California Democrats' first big fund raising get-together of the year but had more pressing business elsewhere.--ED.
The Tension of Change (Contd.)
Sir:
... I am asking you to give us a rest on the Negro question. Your Sept. 19 issue is disgusting to rational white people. You do the Negroes a disservice in crowding them along the way to full equality with the white. Let it come when they are ready for it ...
JAMES F. JETER
Ashland, Ore.
Sir:
. . . Your cover of Thurgood Marshall was offensive, and your account of the segregation problem unfair and untrue. You dam-yankees are all alike--just plain stupid--and not worthy of a good lynching!
MRS. JAMES LEE
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sir:
. . . Rarely have I read an article which so vividly brought to life the character, ideals and motivations of a human being.
The racial issue here in America is an involved and grave one--but one which is soluble and feasible. We have our despots and the vindictive, but we also have far more of the brave, just and good. There is hope for solution and an amicable and happy one here, with sympathy and understanding to spare for those in other countries where the despotic outnumber the just.
LOIS BEDFORD
Los Angeles
Sir:
. . . Had we not waited until now to give the Negro equal educational and recreational facilities, the Southern Negro would be perfectly satisfied. In fact, I think that if we would now speed up our program of equal but separate facilities, they would be perfectly happy, provided that the N.A.A.C.P. and a few of the people from the so-called white states kept their hands off. If the people from the "less than 10%" states could change places with us from the "more than 50%" states for a year or two, they would fight the Supreme Court decision, too.
ARTHUR L. ALLEN
Moss Point, Miss.
Sir:
. . . We, the sixth-to ninth-generation Anglo-Saxons in the South, feel that we belong to the real persecuted minority in the country today, i.e., the descendants of the original colonists . . .
Incidentally, we're a little tired of being TIME-portrayed as magnolia-scented, bull-whip-swinging, red-faced illiterates. Most of that prototype were our overseers, who have with their descendants returned to the North whence they came and are now writing learnedly for the press.
THOMAS M. DAVIS, M.D.
Manning, S.C.
Sir:
It seems that all the discussion about segregation has failed to mention the one and only thing that can be done to rectify this injustice done by the Supreme Court--and do it legally.
We must give the court an opportunity to reverse its opinion on segregation. I have great respect for our Supreme Court, but this is not the first time that this learned body has been in error, nor would it be its first time to reverse a decision . . .
I feel certain that a national vote on this question would not be in accord with the court's ruling.
FORREST C. WEBB
Lubbock, Texas
Death of a Boy
Sir:
The Till trial [Oct. 3] made us realize as never before how fortunate we were to be born with white skins. Our conscience makes the way of life in Mississippi as nauseating as the way of life in Russia. And what difference is there between the two ?
Any group of people that permits this despicable thing to exist does not deserve the freedoms and privileges which constitute our American heritage. What a sad, sad commentary on this supposedly free and just country.
MR. & MRS. D. E. HANSEN
Evanston, Ill.
Sir:
. . . Before we Southern Protestants send missionaries to Catholic countries, we had better put our own house in order!
For the first time in my life, I am really ashamed to admit that I am a Southerner and a Protestant.
ROBERT BERTRAND
San Miguel, Calif.
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