70 Year Magazine Archive

Opinion, the Public Democracy

by Willmoore Kendall

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this statement untrue, but, says Dr. O’Brien flatly, Hammarskjold must have known it to be untrue. “Morthor is a Hindi word. It does not mean ‘Sound the alarm; there is arson in the garage’ or ‘Let us now assist the provincial authorities to maintain order.’ It means ‘Smash.’ “

When Dr. O’Brien later attempted to make his own statements match Mr. Hammarskjold’s, he was shamed at a press conference by the curious, heavily moustached figure of Mr. John Latz, an Elizabethville laundryman who is also an AP stringer. “That,” said Mr. Latz quietly, “is not what you said.” Being himself, as we have seen, a quite imprudently honest man, Dr. O’Brien was covered in confusion. It was the beginning of the end. What followed was his recall to New York, the unfortunate scandal of Miss Marie MacEntee, and his extrusion from both the United Nations and the Irish Foreign Service.

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