Letters, Jun. 22, 1942

(4 of 4)

On the shores of Lake Titicaca in the Peruvian Andes where my wife and I are making anthropological studies of the Aymara Indians, we had occasion to attend one of their ceremonies which was designed to placate an important spirit. In deference to our presence, the Indian medicine men made additional offerings to this deity "so that no harm will befall the United States, and so that she may triumph over her enemies."

Even though the Indians don't know where the U.S. is, I suppose that it does not do any harm to have a few additional supernaturals on our side.

HARRY TSCHOPIK JR. Puno, Peru

A Statesman Explains

> TIME, June 1, published a brief story about a letter from a New Jersey woman to Senator W. Warren Barbour, upbraiding him for obtaining an X card for unlimited gasoline, to which the Senator replied by wire: APPRECIATE THOUGHTS GAS RATIONING. SOLUTION DUE SHORTLY TRANSPORTATION PIPE LINES. The Senator followed up his wire with a letter of explanation . . . part of which follows.—ED.

Dear Mrs. ———:

. . . You received a telegram from me relative to the gasoline-rationing question rather than a direct reply to the thoughts contained in your letter.

This certainly was not done deliberately as at that particular time we received between 500 and 600 letters which spoke about a possible solution to the gasoline rationing in the Eastern States, and undoubtedly your letter, through an error of one of the clerks in the office, was placed in that file. It would have been physically impossible for me to answer every one of those letters personally, and as they were all on the same subject, naturally I wired what I felt was taking place here in Washington to relieve the gasoline situation.

Very frankly, I received an X gasoline-rationing card from my local rationing board in New Jersey where I had filed my application for the card. In applying for this card it was necessary for me to keep in mind that I represented four and one half million constituents in New Jersey. If my car is used at all, it is used approximately 95% of the time in behalf of my constituents in trying to be of service to them. . . .

I have an X card and I am not ashamed of having asked for one and I do believe, and I say this humbly, that by far and large the people of New Jersey have sufficient confidence in me to know that I am not going to abuse a privilege which I obtained only for one purpose, and that was to be able to continue my services to them at this time of grave emergency.

W. WARREN BARBOUR U.S. Senate Washington, D.C.