19 July 1954

Mr. J. W. Parcell, Branch Manager

Curtis Circulation Company

Glendale, California

Dear Mr. Parcell:

I am writing in answer to your letter of 16 June, which arrived while I was away from Pasadena, on a lecturing tour from which I have just returned.

You mention an editorial appearing in the 19 June issue of the Saturday Evening Post, titled "McCarran Act Will Bar No Genuine Visiting Scientists."

I do not ordinarily see the Saturday Evening Post, and I do not have this issue conveniently available.

I surmise from the title that it is contended that the McCarran Act does not bar genuine visiting scientists. I may mention that, if this is the contention, I know of some actual cases which invalidate this contention. For example, in September 1953 there was held in Pasadena e conference on the configuration of polypeptide chains in proteins. One of the leading workers in this field, whose presence at the conference would have been of great value, was not able to attend, because of not being granted a visa. This scientist, who has a world-wide reputation, has not been active in political matters, and I judge that the failure to issue a visa was the result of the technicalities of the McCarran Act, perhaps the failure to allow consular agents to use their mature practical judgment to any extent.

Because of the fact that the conference on the configuration of polypeptide chains in proteins, for which I was responsible, was significantly damaged through the barring, under the McCarran Act, of a genuine visiting scientist from this country, I am unable to accept the implication of the title of the editorial mentioned in your letter.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling:W