Letters, May 23, 1938

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Liberals

Sirs:

SOMEWHERE EARL BROWDER WROTE THAT A LIBERAL [TIME, May 9, P. 2] TO HIM WAS A PERSON WHO RAISED DOUBT AND INDECISION TO THE LEVEL OF A PRINCIPLE. NEVER HEARD A BETTER DEFINITION.

CLIFFORD ODETS

New York City

Sirs:

... I heartily endorse Mr. McArdle's definition.

ROLLIN KIRBY

Westport, Conn.

Sirs:

You inquire: "Do TIME'S readers agree with Reader McArdle that Franklin Roosevelt is a good sample of a liberal?"

This one does because this one has reached the conclusion, after listening to oodles of 'em, that a liberal is whoever says he is a liberal and liberalism is whatever any liberal says it is. And it is a handy thing to have at a picnic.

SILVANUS KINGSLEY

Attorney at Law

Portland, Ore.

Sirs:

. . . Now, in the interest of such devoted disciples of semantics as Stuart Chase and myself, don't you feel obliged to render an account of the number of definitions you receive, as well as a few random samplings? . . .

JOSEPH A. KLEEFUSS

Ann Arbor, Mich.

TIME prints herewith some random samples, will print more. Of the 63 letters received to date, 19 agree that Roosevelt is a liberal; 28 deny it.—ED.

Cartoons?

Sirs:

Now that it has acquired the Literary Digest, does TIME by any chance plan to take over the Digest's one particularly bright feature, cartoons-of-the-week?

RUTH SULLIVAN

New York City

What do TIME'S old and new readers think of Reader Sullivan's suggestion?—ED.

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