Too Much To Hope
Sirs:
Your issue of Jan. 10 shows General MacArthur with his hands jammed comfortably into his jeans. . . .
To a potential inductee whose middle-age spread will no doubt fill to overflowing the unyielding dimensions of a G.I. trouser, there comes encouragement indeed. Is it too much to hope that the services will eventually allow pleated trousers? . . .
W. L. OVENHOLSER JR.
Tulsa
> Sartorial privileges of former chiefs of staff do not extend to G.I.S.—ED.
Joking Aside
Sirs:
As one who served as a lieutenant of infantry in World War I, I have always wondered . . . who . . . utter . . . "jokes" about 2nd lieutenants. . . .
It might interest these people to know that wars are won by 2nd lieutenants of infantry, aviation and artillery. . . . When the gory statistics of this war are finally compiled, you will see that ... the 2nd lieutenants lead the list of killed and wounded . . . far out of proportion to enlisted men. . . . These men are entitled to respect—even at the hands of their 4-F countrymen.
J. E. WILLIAMS
Washington, D.C.
In Defense of Woodrow Wilson
Sirs: The news item regarding Professor Bailey's remarks concerning President Wilson [TIME, Jan. 10] was placed under the heading "Opinion." I congratulate you on this heading. Certainly Professor Bailey's "truths" concerning President Wilson's "peacemaking blunders" would be strongly contested by many other historians.
There is no substantial evidence that I know of to support the idea that President Wilson believed that "mankind could attain a kind of international millennium at one bound," or that he confused peace-making with other world needs, or that he blundered in placing the Covenant into the Treaty of Versailles, or that he failed to publicize his League idea before going to Paris.
In address after address he made the establishing of a society of nations for the preservation of peace his chief war objective. . . .
RUHL J. BARTLETT
[Professor of History]
Tufts College
Medford, Mass.
Ike and Homer
Sirs:
In TIME (Jan. 3) "On the supple, affable shoulders of . . ."
Is this a slip or is there really some subtle expressive quality in the shoulders of General Eisenhower? Does he talk with his shoulders as some people do with their hands, their eyes or even with their feet?
Permit me to add that I have always admired TIME's diction, especially the use of epithets which help to picture people for us. Maybe it is a coincidence, maybe it is due to a background of classical training in your editors: the language of this most modern of magazines often reminds me of Homer.
(REV.) WALTER J. COLEMAN, M.M.
Maryknoll, N.Y.
> Articulate General Eisenhower does indeed talk with his shoulders. TIME's talk, as Father Coleman suggests, may occasionally reflect TIME's lifelong admiration of the Homeric epithet.—ED.
Letter from Santayana
Sirs:
... A footnote to your excellent review of George Santayana's Persons and Places (TIME, Jan. 10).