The Press: Beat Him When He Sneezes

One day last week, Secretary of State Dean Acheson strode down the aisle of the State Department auditorium and took a seat at his little mahogany table in front of the assembled newsmen. At his right, as is customary at Acheson's weekly press conferences, sat big, beefy State Department Press Officer Lincoln White. The Secretary wanted to get something off his chest—and what he had to say was almost as surprising to the press corps as a new shift in U.S. foreign policy. He wanted to apologize for having been rude.

Announced Acheson: "I want to open the press conference this morning by replying to a question from . . . Mr. Lincoln White. After our last conference, Mr. White asked me whether certain answers [I gave] were inspired by the advice of [the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland], who said:

'Speak roughly to your little boy, And beat him when he sneezes; He only does it to annoy, Because he knows it teases.' "

Everybody in the room knew what Acheson was talking about. The week before, at a press conference on the China white paper (TIME, Aug. 15), the Secretary had been as short-tempered as a snapping turtle, and he had snapped at reporters who were cautiously double-checking to make sure they had their facts straight.

Last week, Secretary Acheson mended his diplomatic manners. Said he: "Mr. White's question was whether ... I was following [the Duchess'] admonition, and whether I intend to continue to follow it in the future. The implication was that he hoped to God that was not the case. I have advised him that any similarity between my answers to any living person, and Mr. Lewis Carroll's advice, was purely coincidental and highly regrettable."