In the House of the Lord

Sir: For his reported sermon in the presence of President Johnson [Nov. 24], I nominate the Rev. Dr. C. P. Lewis for the title of the meanest, most contemptible biped in the U.S. today. Only a malicious, treacherous animal would attack an individual who was defenseless in a house of the Lord.

MILTON E. BALLARD Tucson, Ariz.

Sir: The Rev. Dr. Cotesworth Lewis (because of his sermon with President Johnson present in the congregation) is to be admired for his courage and ability to state in a meaningful and fair way the concerns of many Americans regarding the Viet Nam situation.

(THE REV.) JOHN D. PONTIER Pastor, Fultonville Reformed Church Fultonville, N.Y.

Contradictions and Capitalism

Sir: Thank you so much for that Essay on America's 50 years of capitalism [Nov. 17]. With so many people protesting and demonstrating against our Government, I appreciate your positive approach. Even the demonstrators ought to realize they would never exist in the Soviet Union.

(THE REV.) JOHN E. ELIASON Siler City Presbyterian Church Siler City, N.C.

Sir: The Essay about capitalism will undoubtedly do a great deal to further the misunderstanding of economics not only in the U.S. but also in the entire world. The writer has completely mistaken the technological advances of the past fifty years for the success of capitalism in America. The standard of living in the U.S. is higher than that of any other nation because of the present state of technology and because of the plentiful resources. Capitalist nations do not have a monopoly on technology and resources and capitalism did not create them.

DICK CHANDLER Davidson, N.C.

Sir: Fantasy and contradiction! You depict middle-class Mr. U.S. of 1967 as the proud owner of a color TV, a Princess phone, two flashy cars, one of them equipped with a tape deck, and whose wife spends a leisurely afternoon at the theater. All of this on $115 a week. Absurd! I can afford none of the above luxuries, drive a '62 Comet, do manage to meet my bills but keep hoping no major repair bill befalls me. Yet according to your statistics, my salary ranks among the nation's top 25%.

WILLIAM W. DERBYSHIRE Binghamton, N.Y.

Sir: We read with nostalgia your Essay, "And 50 Years of Capitalism." We must, however, point out a few things about 1917 that made for more buoyant spirits than the soft comforts of the present day. For one thing, in any town large enough to necessitate the use of a car to get to work, there would have been a streetcar. For another, most women in that far-off time ordered their groceries by phone. If they were of the nine without one, they had a good excuse to chat with a neighbor who had one. Ah, for more such villages!

(MRS.) CORA G. CHASE Vaughn, Wash.

Proper Statistics

Sir: In your article, "Controlling Rh Mismatch" [Nov. 17], you state that there is "no threat to the first child, but with the second there is an almost certain chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, or brain damage." This is an erroneous statement. Drs. Allen and Diamond in a study found only an 11% chance of eventual sensitization to Rh by pregnancy alone, even in the highest risk group of Rh negative wives and Rh positive men.

The problem of Rh incompatibility is great, but the risk is not nearly so great as TIME states. I hope that you will put the disease in better perspective.

JOE E. MITCHELL, M.D. Bristol, Tenn.

> TIME regrets that the necessary qualifying phrases were dropped when the story was shortened.

Who Is a Bigot?

Sir: Apparently only whites (and probably Protestants) can possibly qualify as bigots. Carl Stokes wins with 96% of the Negro vote, and Cleveland is "the least bigoted city in America." If Taft had won with 96% of the white vote, he would have undoubtedly been labeled as "mayor of the most bigoted city in America."

EDWIN H. SCHMIDT, M.D. St. Louis

Sir: In Cleveland and Gary, voters have given two able men the right to succeed. True political equality can exist in the U.S., however, only when Negro, as well as white elected officials are permitted the right to fail.

JOHN BAUMANN The Florida State University Tallahassee

Sir: Apparently the people of Gary and Cleveland have figured out how to keep their cities from being burned down. I'm not happy with the choice they made but since my skin is white, I won't be allowed to riot when the "election" happens in my city.

JOHN BRINKMAN San Diego

Sir: Your cover portrait of our new mayor, Carl Stokes, is libelous. It paints him as an ogre with a quizzical countenance and fails to capture the spirit of the man as revealed by his actual appearance. Carl Stokes is a handsome man whose personality shows forth radiantly and makes a pleasing effect upon those who see him. The least you owe him is an apology.

DONALD F. LYBARGER Chief Justice Court of Common Pleas Cleveland

Sir: This is not as significant as the elections in Cleveland and Gary, but Mattawa, Ontario, an all-white town, has as Canada's first Negro mayor a Haitian doctor.

DAVE PINSON Montreal

Better at the Bottom?

Sir: Your cover on Russia [Nov. 10] did not deal with the conditions preceding the revolution. You state that the worker and peasant are still at the bottom. However, you pass over the facts revealing how much better that "bottom" is. You mention "misery-laden" India, not wanting to recognize that Russia and China have been able to feed and clothe their people. The revolution is over, but it is the same revolution which you enjoy belittling that has provided the people the food and material necessities to live as human beings. The energy to demand more freedom only comes after the stomach has been filled.

DANIEL CETINICH Peace Corps Volunteer La Marsa, Tunisia

Fight Now, Love Later

Sir: Your Essay on patriotism [Nov. 10] was outstanding. Anyone who thinks he has "no quarrel with the Viet Cong" has already committed treason just by thinking that. There is a time to love and a time to fight. We fight now, there's time to love later.

(CPL.) JOHN F. WEAR II U.S.M.C. Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Sir: Patriotism is alive and hiding deep within the breast of every American. Do not permit the outspoken minority to speak for the silent majority.

MARCIA L. KRAMER Highland Park, III.

Sir: Essay on patriotism: Wunderbar! JEREMY M. LORD Lieutenant, U.S.A. Heidelberg, Germany

Action at Credibility Gap

Sir: TIME'S review of Jonathan Schell's The Village of Ben Sue is on target [Nov. 17]. For 15 months I have been in Viet Nam evaluating the pacification programs and know that Schell was offered the opportunity to obtain details he omitted. His intellectual dishonesty is a personal tragedy that is shared by many who fault the Administration for an alleged credibility gap while failing themselves and their cause by withholding available pertinent facts.

COLONEL ERWIN R. BRIGHAM, GS Chief, RAD Tan Son Nhut, Viet Nam

A Plea for Paintings

Sir: Now that you have mistakenly reproduced a picture of De Kooning's palette [Nov. 17], would you please print some of the paintings for which he receives $12,000 to $55,000.

E. F. PATTILLO Lieutenant Colonel, U.S.M.C. Monterey, Calif.

Grownups at Play

Sir: I was amused at the tempest in a toy teapot about Little Brother [Nov. 10.]. Petit Frere is not, however, the first doll--genealogically speaking--that is anatomically complete.

On loan to the Metropolitan Museum in New York is a doll of the 11th or 12th dynasty in Egypt showing one of the earliest attempts at sex delineation. During the years immediately preceding the French Revolution there were both male and female dolls and/or puppets-- some are extant--with meticulously carved and painted genitals. These, we presume, were play dolls for adults rather than children. From the late 1850s through the turn of the century, so-called Enigma dolls were imported from Japan, and these, too, had male genitals--small, immature, but there.

We really didn't expect Ken, Barbie's boy friend, to have primary sex characteristics, but when G.I. Joe was advertised we were hopeful. Alas, as one small boy so aptly stated: "Gosh! He's neutral, too!" So, congratulations to Creative Playthings, even though they're not first.

Jo ELIZABETH GERKEN Lincoln, Neb.

Potbellied Kooks

Sir: To label Udall and other runners [Nov. 17] as "fitness kooks" is to display a superficial knowledge of the sport. The real kooks are those potbellied ones who delude themselves while on the links or at the alleys into thinking that they are being exercised at their expensive games.

JOHN C. LAUGHLAND Gaithersburg, Md.

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