Whose Fault?

Sir: Richard Nixon's attempt to blame Rockefeller for the disastrous Republican defeat [Nov. 13] is worse than Goldwater's pathetic refusal to admit that his concept of reactionary conservatism is now repudiated by the overwhelming majority of the American people. Obviously, Nixon is deliberately trying to mitigate his own "guilt" by shifting blame onto Rockefeller.

STEWART S. LEE

Allentown, Pa.

Sir: At a time when the party needs, above all else, a united effort of its moderate and liberal elements if it is to survive the conservative fiasco, Mr. Nixon chooses to vent his spleen on Governor Rockefeller, who would not sacrifice principle with Mr. Nixon's gay abandon.

ALICE SPECHT

San Diego

Sir: Had Nixon supported Rockefeller, Scranton or Romney before the Convention, some of us Republicans might have had a candidate to vote for.

MRS. S. P. LAGON

Concord, Mass.

Sir: Richard Nixon was right in rebuking Rockefeller for trying to divide the G.O.P. and in praising Scranton for preaching unity. Scarcely 24 hours after Goldwater's defeat, Rockefeller zeroed in on him with cleated boots. It takes no courage to kick a man when he is down, while his wounds are still raw and bleeding. Rockefeller seems to be a compulsive wrecker, whether it is a home or a party.

EVELYN CRANE

Hollywood

Sir: One can't help feeling a little sorry for Richard M. Nixon. First he lost the presidency, then the governorship of California, and now, after knocking himself out campaigning for a man in whom he never really believed, the prize of becoming Secretary of State has slipped from his grasp. Will the man ever give up?

TED BACH

Eugene, Ore.

Sir: Senator Goldwater handed our original Republican Party back to us along with our dignity and self-respect. If Senator Javits and his leftist liberals think that 26 million Americans are going to hand our newly regained Republican ideals of freedom back to them just to be again degraded, then they don't know what it means to love one's country enough to fight and die for it!

(MRS.) HELEN CLARK

Farmington, Mich.

The Landslide

Sir: We Goldwaterites are not killed off, as you liberals think. We are very much alive and will live to tell the story.

NANCY JOHNSON

Phoenix

Sir: From the past election, I learned that I am not a liberal: I am not even a middle-of-the-roader. I am a conservative, a flag-waving, Communist-hating, America-first conservative. In the next four years, if every one of us flag wavers takes it upon himself to bring one or two people around to his way of thinking, 1968 will tell a very different story.

WILLARD C. BORDEN

Hazlet, N.J.

Sir: I do not for one moment feel that this election was a "mandate" for Johnson. It was rather a unanimous declaration of fear. We evidently have become a nation of people who would rather live on their knees in slavery than die in freedom.

(MRS.) GINNY RAMSAY

Bridgeville, Pa.

Sir: I was Republican nominee for secretary of state of West Virginia in Tuesday's election. As such, I polled 60,000 more votes than Goldwater and Miller. While I attribute my defeat to the head of the ticket, I still think Goldwater is right. What you have just witnessed is not the end of an era--it is the beginning of a revolution.

Louis REED

Elizabeth. W.Va.

Sir: Re Dean Burch: Yogi Berra's reward was being fired for not taking the World Series. What would Burch suggest for the manager of a '64 political-pennant contender who strengthened his pitching staff for the race by trading Abe Lincoln for Strom Thurmond?

LEROY WOLINS

Chicago

Sir: Oh well, we put up with one year of corn. Four more crops won't kill us.

ABRAHAM K. GEHMAN

Bally, Pa.

Sir: Goldwater's overwhelming defeat has shown the rest of the world" that the U.S. has come of age.

LINA WEAVER

Nelson, New Zealand

Sir: Negroes should be very proud of our country. I am. There is no white backlash.

L. P. KIRKLAND

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Sir: As a Pennsylvania Democrat in Louisiana, I was not even reassured by the polls. However, on election night I went to sleep content to know that the rest of the country did not want to maintain segregation at the cost of annihilation, and happy to forget the unspoken undertone: "In our hearts we know he's white."

(MRS.) SUSAN M. PIVER

Barksdale A.F.B., La.

Sir: Consider me one Republican who will be happy to swap the electoral votes of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana. South Carolina and Arizona for those of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and California--for starters.

DAVID APKER Carlsbad,

N. Mex.

Sir: Fess up, now! For the cover of the Election Extra [Nov. 4], did you have a "standby" picture of, oh. what was his name?

PHIL DORLON

Stuart, Fla.

>His name on the cover (see below) was President-elect Goldwater.

Sir: It appears that many political analysts have overlooked the most significant reason for George Murphy's senatorial victory in California. A few days before the election. Walt Disney publicly endorsed Mr. Murphy in a full-page ad printed in major newspapers throughout the state. A vote against Murphy would have been a vote against Disney. That's like voting against apple pie. Mr. Murphy was carried into office by clinging to Mary Poppins' coattails.

RAY L. LANE

Altadena, Calif.

Sir: How I envy America's having a Government with a working majority.

JAMES GOODLET

Georgetown, Ontario

The Problem of the Cities

Sir: Your excellent article on urban renewal [Nov. 9] stressed the often handsome new construction that accrues to the city after such redevelopment. However, a tremendous hidden social cost is incurred, which accounts for much of the vociferous opposition to all renewal. When large, densely populated areas are cleared, many people and businesses are displaced. Most of these people are poor, and many belong to ethnic minorities. They do not disappear from the earth but, rather, crowd into other low-rental areas, creating new slums. But in many instances, the marginal businesses in the renewal areas do disappear. These businesses, often viable only because of low rents, are employers of the semiskilled and the unskilled, the selfsame people forced to relocate.

Thus urban renewal will have only a cosmetic effect on our cities, and the billions of dollars invested will be lost, unless it is combined with comprehensive programs of low-cost housing, education and social services designed to bring the marginal people and businesses back into the main stream of our society.

ALAN G. RUDOLPH School of Architecture Pratt Institute

Brooklyn

Sir: Urban renewal causes the disruption and displacement of large numbers of small businessmen in Philadelphia. The Redevelopment Authority publicly admits that only 50% of the small businessmen in a project area survive and relocate. If the authorities in planning and programming will permit small business to participate in the planning for the entire city as well as locally, guarantee to the businesses whose properties are condemned the right to relocate, and provide adequate compensation for the loss of good will and other damage, the tragedy could be avoided.

SIDNEY MARKIND United Business Men's Association

Philadelphia

Sir: Your article on "Remaking the American City" was an outstanding example of TIME'S unique ability to handle a complex in-depth story. Both its scope and depth are a tribute to the team you assigned to prepare the article. I feel sure, however, that you will forgive us for expressing some concern over the omission of the name, the Plaza, in your description of the marble-faced circular apartment building under construction on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It would be like our referring to your new home as "the top floors of a new building for a national weekly newsmagazine."

MAX WM. KORMAN Hyman Korman, Inc.

Philadelphia

Sir: I hope those urban planners make allowance for such little things as sidewalk cafes and coffeehouses where pedestrians can relax over a 25-c- cup of espresso for an hour or two, absorbing all this renewal.

J. DUFFY

New York City

The Middle Eastern Way?

Sir: Your story about vengeance in Sicily [Oct. 30] aroused thoughts in me of other "honorable" countries in the Middle East. Here, honor can only be reinstated by the slaying of the female sinner by the nearest blood relative, without even inquiring as to the identity of the male lover. To make the "washing out of shame"--as this kind of murder is called --more effective, it is carried out by a hand-wielded instrument such as a dagger, which is then handed to the police, dripping with blood. Maria's fate should have been sealed by her father with a meat-carving knife in the dining room, where he first heard of the soiling of his honor.

JA' FAR ALLAWY

Baghdad

Southern Justice

Sir: Your interesting article, "Those Kennedy Judges" [Nov. 6], implicitly raises important questions for the coming Congress and administration. You point out that the late President Kennedy, to accommodate Senator Eastland of Mississippi, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, appointed some racist federal judges. Senator Eastland was given this powerful position by the Democratic Senatorial Caucus. Seniority is not a law of the majority caucus and is frequently violated. However morally opprobrious, the Democratic rationale that the Eastlands had to be accommodated to keep Mississippi and the Deep South in the Democratic fold is no longer valid. Eastland and Senator Stennis of Mississippi did not support L.B.J., do not support the Kennedy-Johnson program, do not support the Democratic platform, do not support the right of all Americans to vote. No committee assignments should be given to those who opposed the Democratic platform and opposed the national ticket. Let the racists follow Strom Thurmond into Goldwater country.

RICHARD ROMAN Berkeley, Calif.

All That Glistens Isn't Martin Luther's Wedding Ring

Sir: The item about the discovery of Luther's wedding ring [Oct. 30] was of particular interest to us. We thought we had the authentic wedding ring of Martin Luther. Besides the engraved date and names, our ring also has on it the cross and the red stone signifying blood.

SARI BIRO San Francisco

Sir: In the early '40s, my brother was given a ring represented as Martin Luther's engagement ring. It had been purchased at the Jewelry Exchange in New York from a Russian refugee. Inside the ring is visible "Martin Luther -Catherine von Bora," and under a magnifying glass the 1525 can be seen. We had it checked at the time, and could find out only that the silver was old enough to date the ring correctly, that the engraving was the type done in the 16th century, and that the ruby was genuine.

ALANA M. ROSSHIRT

La Grange Park, Ill.

>Several copies of Luther's ring were made around 1817 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the day Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Church. Although museum officials in Schonberg are still examining the newly found ring, it is believed to be Luther's original. The wedding ring worn by Luther's wife is in a Leipzig museum.

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