Letters, Jul. 9, 1951

Unsettled Dust

Sir:

In looking through a scrapbook compiled during the 1920s, I came upon the following article from the March 14, 1927 issue of TIME, under Russia and the title "Orator Orating":

"In Trades Union Hall, Moscow ... a vast crowd surged . . . They had come to hear the first public speech in four months by Russia's greatest orator, famed Leon Trotsky. All knew that M. Trotsky had been silent perforce, following the crushing of his section of the Communist party by Dictator Joseph Stalin . . .

"Choosing words carefully . . . Comrade Trotsky said: 'The lands bordering the Pacific will be the scene of the world's most important events. Europe does not relish this any more than it relishes the fact that the United States has become the most dominant power in the world . . . We not only sympathize with the Chinese revolutionists, but, if we could, we would gladly drown in Shanghai waters all who intervene.' "

It would seem that while Trotsky's section had been "crushed," the Kremlin had a Far Eastern policy in 1927—and it was Trotsky's. No wonder that the dust has not settled.

NATHANIEL T. LANE JR. Chicago

The Issue

Sir:

In reply to the Rev. Robert J. Welch's criticism [TIME, June 11] of Paul Blanshard's book, Communism, Democracy and Catholic Power . . .:

Anybody who has read the book recognizes great evidence of inductive thinking on Blanshard's part. If the author could be attacked on a scientific plane rather than through McCarthyish stigmas, the issue could be better appreciated.

JOHN G. BOYD Lubbock, Texas

Sir:

... I submit that Mr. Blanshard in his writings uses the research methods of a scholar. He cites chapter and verse. May I suggest that his critics, instead of declaring how "fantastic and hilariously funny" his writings are or how "adolescent" his mind is, adopt the same scholarly method which he uses, and in replying to him cite chapter and verse . . .

J. R. SAUNDERS Rio de Janeiro

Sir:

When Rita M. McPherson states, ". . . Many of my friends and I pray constantly for Paul Blanshard ..." I trust that she means that they pray that he might be given the wisdom of understanding and tolerance . . .

JAMES P. K. MATTHEWS Chicago

Read Clegg for Flack

SIR:

IN TIME OF JUNE 18 THERE IS AN ERROR IN MEDICINE. DR. I. H. FLACK IS THERE DESCRIBED AS THE EDITOR OF THE "BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL," A POST I HAVE HELD FOR 4½ YEARS AND STILL HOLD. UNDER MY GENERAL DIRECTION DR. FLACK EDITS "FAMILY DOCTOR," A POPULAR HEALTH MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

HUGH CLEGG

LONDON

Invisible Censorship?

SIR:

DESPITE YOUR FAVORABLE CINEMA REVIEW [MAY 14], WHERE is "OLIVER TWIST" BEING

SHOWN? NOT DOWN HERE AND NOT IN NEW YORK ... IS THE INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT STILL EXERCISING CENSORSHIP REGARDLESS?

(MRS.) MARIAN STRACK

RUMSON, N.J.