MR. MOLOTOV AND THE ALPHABET
Snt,—I have read with a certain amazement Mr. Harold Nicolson's version in " Marginal Comment " of September 6th of the incident at the Hotel de Ville on the anniversary of the Liberation of Paris, when Mr. Molotov left the Tribune, presumably because he had been put in the back row. Mr. Nicolson writes: " True it is that under the alphabetical system America, being A, sits in the front row." Since when, in official circles, have the United States of America been called simply America? French comment at the time was that a diplomatic blunder had been made, in view of the preponderant part played by the U.S.S.R. in the liberation of Europe, and the fact that the U.S.S.R. is the one country with which France has an alliance, and ironical reference was made to the " original" idea of allocating places alphabetically and of christening the United States " for the occasion " Amerique instead of Etats-Unis d'Amerique, in order to give Mr. Byrnes precedence. I daresay Mr. Nicolson is well aware of this, and is merely indulging in the popular pastime of being funny at the expense of the U.S.S.R., regardless of facts.—Yours truly, M. LEPKOWSKA. 6 Bd. d'Italie, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
[Mr. Nicolson was perfectly right in his facts ; what may be thought about the facts is another matter. Incidentally Bielo-Russia (White Russia) was in the front row by alphabetical right.—ED., The Spectator.]
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