The Passing of Ho
Sir: I am not surprised that our Government was not represented at the funeral of Ho Chi Minn [Sept. 12].
But I am surprised that Senators J. William Fulbright, Albert Gore, William Proxmire and Ralph Yarborough did not attend as private citizens.
JAMES MACPHERSON
Ajijic, Mexico
Sir: What a horrific background and path to tread to attain world infamy. His mother the worst kind of thief, stealing guns so others could kill. A father who defected and was a traitor to the French government for which he worked. Ho, a hard man who literally butchered his way to leadership—an opportunist who rode every horse as long as it suited his purpose.
JOHN R. JOYCE II
Carlsbad, N. Mex.
Sir: Despite Ho Chi Minh's shortcomings —and they were considerable—I think we would have to agree that he was a man dedicated to his people against Western colonialism.
If Ho is remembered for anything, it will have to be for his undying dedication to his people, a quality not found too often in our politicians today, and they prove it after they're elected.
PHILIP J. SCHACCA
West Hempstead, N.Y.
Sir: Growing doubts about Hanoi's intentions puzzle me. Some years ago, Ho Chi Minh said that the North would fight its war of liberation for 15, 20, 30 years—as long as necessary. That is plain enough response to any U.S. "plan" to terminate the war.
PETRUS VAN DER SCHAAF
Christchurch, New Zealand
Sir: You grudgingly admitted that Ho Chi Minh was "the only truly national leader that Viet Nam has produced in modern times," but over the question of partition of Viet Nam, you conveniently forgot the 1954 Geneva agreement on Viet Nam. This agreement stipulated that Viet Nam—from the China border to the tip of Ca Mau Peninsula—was one country, that the question of reunification of Viet Nam was to be decided by an election throughout Viet Nam in 1956.
The partition line along the 17th parallel was set up merely to facilitate the withdrawal of the French colonial forces rather than to create the so-called Republic of Viet Nam "with heavy American assistance." Of course, the admission that Viet Nam is one country would have made it difficult for a time to justify American aggression against the Vietnamese people.
FAZAL H. DAR
Saskatoon, Sask.
Haunted Houses
Sir: The Russian churches pictured in TIME [Sept. 12] are beautiful. Yet that beauty evokes a certain sadness—all those churches, and no God.
RICHARD W. THIES
Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Depends on How You Look at It
Sir: The Governors talk about "surplus" tax money [Sept. 12] as if it had come from the gods. Why not give it back to the individuals and corporations that earned it?
Why is it that when the Government spends money that has been confiscated from the taxpayers, it is called "getting rid of the surplus," but when the taxpayer spends it himself it is called "feeding inflation?"
BARBARA CROWLEY
St. Marys, Pa.
Life in Death