Justice Black's Record

Sir: That was an extraordinarily good cover piece on Black and the Supreme Court. Although you quite properly quote Paul Freund, Frankfurter's disciple and successor at Harvard, as somewhat critical of the Court's new activist trend, you also quote to the same effect an unnamed Yale professor, thus giving the impression that Yale shares Harvard's disquiet. But the fact is that the man you quote is, like Freund, Harvard-and-Frankfurter trained and oriented.

By far the bulk of us in the constitutional law field here at Yale are delighted, not disquieted, that the Court has turned to the Black-Douglas philosophy.

FRED RODELL Professor of Law Yale University New Haven, Conn.

Sir: Your account of the modern Supreme Court was incisive and well written. The vigorous support given to antitrust legislation by this Court could also have been cited as an example of progressive activism, helping to preserve a system of competitive enterprise. In my opinion, the present Court will be regarded historically as the finest since the days of Chief Justice John Marshall.

WILLIAM N. LEONARD Hofstra University Hempstead, N.Y.

Sir: The story of Hugo Black hits a new high mark in commenting on law for laymen.

I wonder what would have happened to great Hugo if he had not been so much of a teetotaler or if he had ever, as I once challenged him to do, joined me at the Stork Club with Broun, Benchley and Thurber?

MORRIS L. ERNST

New York City

>Justice Black was indeed a teetotaler until the age of 65, but now drinks an occasional "orange bourbon": Virginia Gentleman and orange juice on the rocks.--ED.

Sir: You are to be commended for a forthright explication of the mechanics of the Court, the character of its Justices, and for an affirmation of the institution's essential nature--the most reliable curator of individual liberties that a free society has yet been able to devise.

KEN LANGSDORF St. Louis

Justice Warren's Report

Sir: Whilst we all knew that Lee Oswald was guilty [Oct. 2], this report gave us the confidence that no shadow of doubt remained and that this degenerate was the man who so untimely curbed the life of a man whose magnitude has never been equaled.

J. AVRAMESCU Haifa, Israel

Sir: The Warren Commission simply would not dare to let out any other verdict than the one now made public, because everybody wanted so badly to believe this was the way it happened. The whole nation would be in turmoil if the Commission had disclosed something to support the "rumors." Now the majority of people are lulled into believing that Kennedy was shot by one mentally disturbed person--and he in turn by another--under the watchful eye of the law. It's a good thing nobody shot Ruby. It could have set off a chain reaction of Americans killing each other one by one.

MATTI FORSS Helsinki, Finland

Sir: I was interested to see Lee Oswald's pseudonym, "Alek James Hidell." Note that "Hidell" can be considered a contraction for "Hide" and "Jekell." It seems to me that we have here some evidence--of a speculative psychodynamic sort--that in the adoption of this pseudonym, Oswald gave (unconscious?) recognition to his own mentally unbalanced identity.

JACK SHAND

Associate Professor, Psychology Gettysburg College Gettysburg, Pa.

Sir: One of your pictures leaves me very confused. The itinerary shown by the red arrow places the President very close to the Book Depository building on Elm Street. Kennedy might very well be alive had the motorcade followed the logical traject: straight along Main Street. What was that detour to Elm Street for?

BEL DE PINHO Toronto, Ont.

>The most direct route to the Trade Mart, where Kennedy was to have spoken, was via Stemmons Freeway. A concrete traffic barrier and "No Turn" signs prevent traffic from turning from Main onto the freeway, but not from Elm Street.--ED.

Sir: I wonder how it can be explained that Secret Service Agent Kellerman heard the President say, "My God, I am hit," while the medical evidence shows that the first bullet ripped his windpipe. Could the President have been able to talk if his windpipe had been injured?

RUDOLF BENDA, M.D. Austinville, Va.

>The bullet only nicked his windpipe and did not sever it.--ED.

Preachers in Politics

Sir: My statement on Goldwater's candidacy [Oct. 9] was contained in a sermon as rabbi of Temple B'Nai Abraham, and not as president of the American Jewish Congress, which is a nonpartisan organization. The fact that Senator Goldwater has seen fit not to repudiate the support of ultra-right-wing extremist groups, for example, seems to me a matter of profound concern. I considered it my duty as rabbi to speak out on these dangers. Some of the letters I have received as a reaction to my sermon, containing the most vitriolic and anti-Semitic attacks I have ever seen, bear out my contention.

RABBI JOACHIM PRINZ New York City

Sir: To any of the ministers or priests who have dubbed Barry Goldwater an "extremist," I have only one comment: all the great heroes of the faith such as Moses, Noah, Christ and the Apostles would today be called "extremists." Praise God for these voices in the wilderness!

G. RENE HALL Clawson, Mich.

Sir: I am weary of hearing that "ministers and priests should stick to saving souls and leave politics alone" from people who certainly know nothing about saving souls and probably little about politics and who, after the smoke clears, are often the first to ask why the church didn't do something! Any clergyman will tell you that he is in the most damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't calling in the world!

(THE REV.) KIERAN MARTIN

St. Francis of Assisi Church Brooklyn

Sir: As solace to these men of the cloth, may I quote a minister who in 1796 when Jefferson became Vice President prayed, "O Lord! Wilt Thou bestow upon the Vice President a double portion of Thy grace, for Thou knowest he needs it."

V. JOHNSON Saginaw, Mich.

Matter of Statistics

Sir: Re your article on the Philippines [Oct. 9], you wrote that our unemployment is 6% of our population and that our average income is only $120 per annum. Actually, our unemployment is 600,000 out of a labor force of 11 million and population of 30 million. This is only 6% of the labor force, or 2% of the population. Our per capita income is $120, the third highest in Asia. Our average income is $360 per annum.

HILARION M. HENARES JR. Chairman National Economic Council Manila

Eisenhower (Earl) v. Stevenson (III)

Sir: The letter by young Adlai Stevenson III [Oct. 2] contains several erroneous statements about Charles Percy that deserve to be corrected. Percy declared throughout the Republican primary campaign that he would support the presidential-candidate choice of the Illinois delegation because he wanted to be judged strictly on his merits as a gubernatorial candidate. The 1964 Republican platform does not repudiate the 1960 platform; in fact, it explicitly states that it reaffirms all pledges in the 1960 platform still relevant in 1964. Percy went to great lengths to record his vote on every amendment. He voted against the civil rights amendment because it would have weakened the civil rights plank instead of strengthening it. He voted for Governor Romney's extremism amendment. Finally, Percy has supported the Fair Employment Practices Act in Illinois because he thinks it exemplifies Lincoln's principle that "wanting to work should be encouraged." He has consistently opposed open occupancy because experience in other states proves that it is an ineffective, bad law.

EARL EISENHOWER LaGrange Park, Ill.

Ultrasound Surgery

Sir: As a member of the eye-care profession, I was impressed with your presentation concerning ultrasonic surgery. I wondered, however, why the newest surgical techniques should be coupled with the oldest and most unsatisfactory method of optically correcting post-cataract surgery. The thick glass lens will limit the young man to a monocular, or one-eyed, existence caused by magnification differences between his two eyes. Wouldn't a contact lens be more satisfactory?

MICHAEL S. KIRSCH, O.D. Newburgh, N.Y.

>If Jimmy Cassidy ever regains useful vision in his injured eye, he will be fitted with a contact lens.--ED.

Rome & Religious Freedom

Sir: I was a bit disturbed by the TIME story that said that I was the "principal author of the declaration" on religious freedom [Oct. 2]. This is not true. I had nothing to do with the text that was submitted at the session, though I did write a formidable set of footnotes for it.

JOHN COURTNEY MURRAY, S.J.

Rome

Elvis Beats the Beatles

Sir: Allow us to clarify your statement that implied that more Beatle records have been sold than Presley records [Oct. 2]. You undoubtedly refer to the certified awards by the Record Industry Association, which date back only to 1958. Some of Mr. Presley's biggest hits on singles were produced in prior years.

HENRY BRIEF Record Industry Association of America New York City

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