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In view of protests we have received from some segments of the press, I feel that I must call to your attention an item on the 1952 Department of Agriculture yearbook, Insects, which TIME ran in its issue dated Aug. 25, which appeared on newsstands Aug. 21 . . . ahead of the Department's release date.
We haven't yet found any release time that suits everybody. However, we try to be fair . . . and we assume that the press will be equally fair in respecting release dates.
R. L. WEBSTER
Director of Information
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
¶ TIME apologizes to the Department of Agriculture for jumping the gun, and promises not to do it again.—ED.
Ambrosia & Indigestion
Sir:
Your report [Sept. 8] of Elliot Cohen's article in Commentary was ambrosia to one who has long looked for Uncle Sam to speak to the world in a more self-assured voice. Our intellectual heritage is a proud one, and Mr. Cohen's reassertion that we have a constructive contribution in the realm of ideas as well as in technology to offer the world is an encouraging sign of a possible reawakening of the more mature element of our intelligentsia . . .
HELEN S. HAWKINS
Sierra Madre, Calif.
Sir:
"The Free American Citizen, 1952" left a warm glow of intellectual satisfaction in the reader's mind, akin to the less esthetic satisfaction produced by a good steak dinner. However, after a little cogitation, this reader, at least, experienced slight mental indigestion.
I think that Mr. Cohen has overlooked the fact that Democracy Americana has not been achieved in spite of the wonderful talent of Americans for selfcriticism, but because of it.
TERENCE NEALON
Carnegie, Pa.
Airlift Be Praised
Sir:
I read your article "Airlift for Allah" [Sept. 8] three times. What a thrill—to read of our big, bumbling State Department actually showing a little imagination. This is the kind of thing they ought to be doing every day in the year—instead of once a decade . . .
ROBERT S. ALVAREZ
Nashville, Tenn.
Sir:
All the money and propaganda poured into the Near East for the next 50 years couldn't achieve what was achieved in less than a week of "Operation Hajj."
FERRIS SAAD
Portsmouth, N. H.
Respectful Treatment
SIR:
HAVE READ WITH AMAZEMENT AND DISMAY YOUR CURRENT ARTICLE [SEPT. 15] ON SENATOR IBÁÑEZ, PRESIDENT ELECT OF CHILE, WHICH I FIND IN EXECRABLE TASTE . . . COMMON DECENCY SHOULD DEMAND MORE RESPECTFUL TREATMENT OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT ELECTED IN A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION . . . THE GRATUITOUS ATTACK UPON A MAN RESPECTED EVEN BY HIS OPPONENTS WILL CALL DOWN UPON TIME THE . . . RESENTMENT OF A PROUD, VIGOROUS PEOPLE . . .
F. NIETO DEL RIO
AMBASSADOR OF CHILE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
¶ TIME, which considers accuracy and good sense more important than amiability and euphemism, accurately reported that Chile's voters had given a plurality to ex-Dictator Ibáñez "in a free and fair contest."—ED.
Female Circumcision
Sir: