Letters, Feb. 6, 1950

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    As a former union member and unpaid organizer, I agree with many of Dr. McMurry's findings—especially with regard to the professional labor leaders who toss out the slogan, "The S.O.B. management is out to skin you now."

    . . . Isn't there another way ? Why not pool all union dues, strike assessments and losses into a fund to purchase blocks of stock, then put officers on the board of directors to have a direct vote in management and profit distribution. Example: 100,000 Westinghouse employees, 4 months' strike, loss in wages $75,000,000 plus $2,500,000 dues, or approximately 3,000,000 shares of stock. This would put a sizable union representation on the board.

    A strike is old-fashioned when you can vote yourself a handsome dividend or a cut in order to survive . . .

    H. T. RIGHTS

    Metuchen, NJ. "Mercy Killing"

    Sir:

    The fundamental question—at least from the standpoint of society, rather than of individual conscience—in such cases as the current "mercy killing" in Manchester, N.H. [TIME, Jan. 9 et seq.] is not whether a person's . . . suffering should be mercifully terminated by lethal means. The basic issue is: Who is to make and execute such decisions, the state or the individual citizen? ... No civilized society can afford to allow individual citizens to exercise this right . . .

    LESLIE A. WHITE Professor of Anthropology University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich.

    Sir:

    . . Were I in Abbie Borroto's condition,

    I only hope some doctor would do the same for me.

    MRS. ROBERT A. POPSDORF Ontario, Calif.

    Sir:

    ... Dr. Hermann Sander would easily have won first prize for colossal egotism, by arrogating unto himself the power to judge how long a fellow human being had to suffer on this earth before meriting his (or her) eternal reward . . .

    W. BAYER JR. Oil City, Pa.

    Sir:

    The objective account of the termination of an agonizing illness by a New Hampshire physician exemplifies TIME'S handling of news of this character . . .

    The unspeakable brutality of World War

    II prison camp officials, Gestapo and OGPU methods of all ages could break morale and spirit in hours or days. But the despair and physical suffering of many cancer patients persists for weeks and months. The need for increasing amounts of pain-killing drugs like morphine develops so rapidly that few patients find relief. The costs of nursing, of medical and surgical treatment sufficient to keep the patient comfortable, are frequently prohibitive ... If an alternative is socially desirable, there is only one: euthanasia.

    J. C. BATEMAN, M.D. Washington, D.C.

    Sir:

    One of the greatest human dramas was the life of the Prophet Job. His was the triumph of faith over despair . . .

    Suffering or agony may come our way as a test to our faith. It is our greatest spiritual opportunity to prove to Almighty God that we love Him when we offer our suffering for His glory . . .

    NAMY TED DAKIL Chicago, Ill.

    Sir:

    . . . We who know Dr. Sander and love him, not only as a first-rate physician but as a close friend, know he is incapable of a-dishonest act or thought.

    PRESCOTT BUFFUM

    Manchester, N.H.

    Sir:

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