Letters, Oct. 7, 1946

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Admitting that some Kansas Republicans drink as much as some Kansas Democrats, nevertheless because of our "sacred cow," our children can go to school, to church, to the corner drugstore, the park, or grocery store (the ordinary places that ordinary people go) without having to pass open taverns or run into the liquor industry's product, either before or after consumption.

ROSE GREEN ANDERSON

McPherson, Kans.

Sirs:

For 50 years we have been hearing how the drought-smitten Jayhawkers were poisoning themselves on bootleg rotgut because we couldn't get decent liquor. Now you tell us that we have access to rare brands that are not obtainable in the open saloon states. Truly, here is something new under the sun.

HAROLD H. HUNGER

Manhattan, Kans.

O!d & New

Sirs:

Your article on the Cornelian Corner Movement [TIME, Sept. 9] as a culmination of many articles on breast feeding in women's magazines has aroused us to reply to the implied charges of being hardhearted, vain, self-centered mothers. We agree that breast feeding is more desirable and of course much less bother, but feel these articles are unfair to us mothers who wish desperately to nurse our babies but for physical reasons are unable to do so. We go through pregnancy intending to nurse our babies, and then for various reasons we must put them on a formula. This is a frustrating experience in itself, and is not aided by articles citing all sorts of dangers to the baby who is not breastfed. . . .

In the future when a statistic of merely 5.6% of women nursing their babies is brought forth let us not jump to the conclusion that the remaining 94.4% have willfully neglected their duties of motherhood.

ORA GROFT BUCKO

JANE GROFT KRINER

Greencastle, Pa.

Sirs:

Granted, by nature, all babies should be breastfed. However, the majority of bottle-fed babies are bottle-fed because the mothers do not want to take the time to breast-feed them. That same attitude of the mother toward the child is carried through infancy and adolescence, thereby giving the child a sense of insecurity.

In my experience babies, bottle-fed by conscientious mothers who do try to nurse and are unable to do so, do not have a disturbed psyche. The attitude of the mother is the major factor in the child's development mentally & physically.

EDGAR H. MACKINLAY, M.D.

McConnellsburg, Pa.

What Is a Front?

Sirs:

I have read an article in TIME [Sept. 16] which . . . draws certain conclusions that are in error. It would seem to be in order to set the record straight.

I am not a member of the Communist Party, nor am I an apostle for Communist causes. . . . I am a free American citizen who has spent over 30 years in the armed services fighting in defense of the right of American citizens to enjoy life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the four freedoms. . . . I am now retired, as a result of wounds received in action, and I am exercising the right, common to all citizens, of expressing my opinions and working for those objectives which I am convinced are beneficial to my countrymen and humanity. . . .