Lyndon's General

Sir: Your cover article on General Creighton Abrams [April 19], if written 100 years ago, could almost word for word describe General Grant--tactics, strategy, personality--even the cigar, the horsemanship, and the West Point class standing. Grant is still probably the greatest general ever to wear an American uniform. It took him one year after achieving command to end the Civil War. It took only six months to ensure the re-election of a troubled President who at that stage thought himself a failure, and who now is regarded by most as our greatest American.

DORIS STERN

Tucson, Ariz.

Sir: My hat is off for your sterling performance in writing and reporting. For the first time, the other side of the Tet offensive has been released to the much-propagandized public. For the first time, you haven't nailed the armed forces or the Administration to the wall over our policy in Viet Nam. Keep it up and tell it like it is.

WILLIAM R. RITZ, '70 Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pa.

Sir: Battlefield success depends in large measure upon allowing professional generals to captain the military operation once the politicians have made the decision to fight. Once decided, further intrusion by politicians and diplomats creates more confusion than forward motion, loss of surprise, and a mucky situation such as we now have in Viet Nam. You just can't decide for a general where and when he will bomb or how he will attack. These are his valuable resources which spell success or defeat; timing is crucial. It's surprising that Westmoreland has done so well under the circumstances. And good luck to you, General Creighton Abrams.

HARLAN G. KOCH San Francisco

Those Peace Talks

Sir: Our national leaders have told the world that we will go "to any spot on this earth" in search of peace in Viet Nam [April 19]; yet the Administration immediately rejected Pnompenh and Warsaw as possible sites for talks. Lyndon Johnson's hands are irrefutably sullied with the blood of every American boy killed in Viet Nam from the time of that rejection until the day that peace talks do finally begin. Let the people of the world know that it is not all of America but only her highest leaders who quibble over "diplomatic etiquette" while men die.

HAYWOOD TORRENCE JR., '71 Harvard College Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: How can the people of this country so easily forget what happened in Korea? There is a definite lesson to be learned there before we enter peace talks with the North Vietnamese. Many urge that we begin negotiations immediately, wherever they be held. In Korea, the conference site was thought to be of little significance; yet to the Koreans it meant a great deal. They knew that if they could obtain small concessions from us before talks began, they would be able to achieve more and larger concessions from us once they were under way. If our Government desires that Viet Nam be another Korea, then it should agree to any locale. Hopefully, they have a better settlement in mind, and will stick to their guns.

KENNETH GOLDBLATT

Philadelphia

Verdict on Violence

Sir: Too many editorials, and certainly too many politicians, attributed the death and destruction of the recent disorders [April 19] to Negroes who simply had to express their wrath--and thereby excused the violence. There is no excuse for politicians permitting looting and arson to go on unchecked regardless of the events that may have touched off these acts. Let not the politicians insult both the Negro and white law-abiding citizens by letting America burn.

L. L. NOLIN Norwalk, Conn.

Sir: Any history book will show us that from Cain to Christ to next Christmas, the problems of man's innate hate of his fellows, his prejudice and violence against his brother, were, are and will be. In a few short years, we will not teach man to do what history shows us he is incapable of; but we can and must force him to respect his fellow man and his rights. This can be done only by creating, implementing and enforcing the one thing that is the life blood of all democratic civilization and just society--the law. The law has given and protected the Negro's rights to equal education, employment, public facilities, and now housing. The unbiased enforcement of that law is the basis upon which our society will sink or swim; but that law must protect us all. The permissive attitude displayed by politicians and police about enforcement of the laws protecting property and goods was, in effect, the suspension of that same principle of protection under law for all our citizens. I fear we are in troubled waters.

GEORGE JOHN TERRANOVA Rome

Sir: Mayor Daley of Chicago has suggested that arsonists ought to be shot on sight [April 26]. What a great idea. Why didn't someone think of it sooner? Think of it. This suggestion could save court and jury costs, free lawyers and judges for things more important than crime (like divorce), eliminate the problem of two-or three-time losers, and give the police plenty of shooting practice. Congratulations to your Mayor Daley. We agree that "due process of law" has been too unwieldy a concept anyway.

DANIEL C. FISCHER Potomac, Md.

The Funeral

Sir: How splendid the last service for Martin Luther King [April 19]. Not only the poor and the wealthy, the black and the white but the nation's leaders, along with a representative from every Christian faith, united in a small Baptist church in Georgia, paying homage to a brave and noble leader. If it took this man's life to bring this about, and if this spirit does not diminish with the entombment of this gentle person, then perhaps through his death he has done more than he could ever have accomplished while on earth. One would hope that this is the genesis of a true social renaissance.

LYDIA DOW Silver Spring, Md.

Sir: Your coverage of the Rev. Dr. King's funeral only made more obvious its use as a political stage for various high-ranking members of both our major parties. Regardless of Dr. King's stature as a man, his funeral was a monument to the tasteless opportunism of some of our leading white vote-gatherers.

GEORGE F. HARVEY Greensboro, N.C.

Sir: You carefully, and accurately, mentioned that armed rednecks guarded the State Capitol during Dr. King's funeral, but you missed the great efforts of Atlanta's mayor, Ivan Allen, to keep the peace, not only that week but throughout his term. He knows that peace cannot be enforced but must be desired by the populace. He has done everything in his power to give all Atlantans a reason to be proud of their city. Georgians have roundly condemned the actions of our exceedingly small Governor. Atlanta remained dignified mostly because of Mayor Allen and the students of Atlanta University and in spite of Governor Maddox.

ROBERT S. TODD, '69 Georgia Tech Atlanta

Sir: So it finally comes out: Jackie Kennedy, for all her highly touted grace and sophistication, hadn't even the courtesy to return a greeting from Richard Nixon when both of them were mourners at Martin Luther King's funeral. It wasn't even at a political rally (even then an icy stare would be ill-mannered), but at a dignified church service that this show of ignorance occurred. What makes it doubly ironic is that it happened at the funeral of a man who would never have done this type of thing himself.

GAIL LYNN LARSON Lombard, Ill.

Misquote

Sir: The article "Who Killed King" [April 26] attributes the following quotation to me regarding James Earl Ray: "Extremely dangerous, cold-blooded and ruthless. There is no doubt in my mind that Ray could be a paid assassin." I made none of these remarks and used none of these descriptive adjectives regarding Ray.

H. R. SWENSON Warden

Missouri State Penitentiary Jefferson City

It's in the P.S.

Sir: Picturing Mr. Dubcek with Jan Hus on your cover [April 5] is as inspiring as the reformation taking place in Czechoslovakia today. For the first time in 20 years, basic freedoms can now be enjoyed by all Czechoslovaks, in an atmosphere of free will and self-expression, without fear of persecution. Bravo! to Mr. Dubcek, his ministers, and aides for succeeding in placing the foundation stones for the New Republic. And hats off to TIME for a concise account of events.

P.S. Please feel free to print this letter, as it would present no threat to the security of myself or my family.

JOSEPH A. BASSO Prague, Czechoslovakia

Who's Afraid of Mary Jane?

Sir: You have provided the first objective article on marijuana [April 19] that I have seen in a national magazine. Pot is becoming a social phenomenon, but the lives of many are being ruined by the felony convictions incurred by the carrying or use of even one gram of pot. Additional research on pot is desperately needed. Legalization, or liberalization of the existing pot laws seems long overdue. What is required is less emotionalism and more objectivity, and quickly.

ANDY WASMUND, '68 University of California at Los Angeles Los Angeles

Sir: Marijuana, in effective dosages, affects mood and decision-making centers of the brain, as does alcohol only at the level of drunkenness. Pot, in contrast to alcohol, has little effect on the mechanics of body movement, whereas the drunk is partially protected by being unable to carry out many of his impetuous, diluted inclinations. The pot high lasts more than four hours, is easily extended, and is not easily detected by those who should be warned of the partial incapacitation of the potted. The quality of the mind depends on the sum of experiences in judging whether information is reliable or false. Chronic exposure to conditions which produce hallucination must impart memory reference which may impair long-term judgment. Proof that pot is safe or harmful will require study of thousands of habitual users over long periods of time to achieve statistical validity. Proof of deterioration of the health of cigarette smokers was established in this way. The evidence is strong for physiological, mental and social deterioration associated with prolonged use of marijuana. The argument that marijuana may be safe because there is a 10,000-fold range from the least effective dose to lethal levels, ignores the fact that accumulation of small injuries to mind and body, rather than sudden death, is the issue.

HARDIN B. JONES

Professor of Medical Physics, Physiology University of California Berkeley

Sir: It has taken cigarette smoking a little over 30 years to become the generally accepted habit that it is today. It has taken science about 20 years to correlate, effectively, lung cancer with cigarette smoking. Alcohol, however, has had a rougher time, with Prohibition and Carry Nation standing in the road of progress. The offspring of its success have been thousands of suffering alcoholics. If marijuana is legalized, it will be interesting to see what vicious effects it will have on our already precarious society by the year 2000. Perhaps everyone will be so high that they won't care to come down and find out.

ANNE N. McGiNN, '68 Vernon Court Junior College Newport, R.I.

Sir: Is pot safer than alcohol? You know it! Say, can you imagine Judgment Day, when all us swingers are standing there with our beads and beer and grass? Account for something? That went out years ago. We're safe; we'll make it because there's no conscience in a "brave new world."

JAMES ROSS Edcouch, Texas

Showcase Rubble

Sir: Charles Collingwood's television special [April 19] may well become known as Hanoi's Finest Hour. Rarely has so much been insinuated to so many by so few real facts--or by such edited and contrived film footage. We are shown the brave defenders amidst their showcase rubble and under their manhole covers; Hanoi's almost tranquil orderliness contrasted with the confusion of corrupt Saigon; and with presumably straight faces we watch the military traffic flow south to fight the American aggressors, having only admiration for the resiliency and cleverness of the North Vietnamese as they thwart our attempts to prevent their takeover of the South. A natural sympathy for a beleaguered people becomes perverse when so distorted, and especially so when the actually beleaguered happen to live south of the DMZ. Mr. Collingwood was fed dog out of the admiration of his hosts--perhaps because he is willing for the U.S. to eat crow?

PETER A. HUTCHINSON Washington, D.C.

Triple Bogey

Sir: The red-taped bureaucracy and stuffed-shirt rules of professional golf have finally been exposed at this year's Masters Golf Tournament [April 26]. It is inconceivable to me that a person could lose a golf tournament on the mere fact that he didn't relate his score correctly on a little piece of paper. Is there any doubt that Roberto de Vicenzo had the same score as Bob Goalby or that his play merited a playoff round to determine the just winner? This gross injustice is a mockery of sportsmanship.

JAY S. ROBBINS Spring Valley, N.Y.

Raising the Sights

Sir: That prissy wrap-up about see-through blouses "dulling the senses" [April 19] seems vaguely familiar. Hasn't that same broken record been grinding away ever since legs first emerged from the hobble skirt? In the time from flapper fringe to miniskirt, legs may indeed have lost their shock value, but a well-turned leg still turns heads. What short skirts have done for the leg man, see-through blouses may yet do for the more high-minded girl watcher.

CHARLES S. COOKE Redwood City, Calif.

Rib Roast

Sir: After reading "The Rib Uncaged" [April 19], I decided that Catholics Ruether, Daly and Callahan could profit from reading Of Human Love by Henry Daniel-Rops. As he states, "by nature, from her creation woman is dependent in much the same way as, grammatically, the feminine has affinity for the masculine." As for God being sexless: that is usually the case with pure spirits, I would assume. However, it was our Lord who directed that we address God as Father, and fathers have always been masculine in my experience. As for Christ's mother being glorified only because she so willingly accepted a subordinate role, what other role could a creature have in the stupendous drama of man's salvation?

L. H. PHOEBUS

Los Angeles

Sir: Perhaps it would be wiser to keep that "rib" caged until it develops a bit of theological substance. The ambiguity evident in the case of Professor Daly's book lies in the theologically vague use of the term church: "The church continues to treat women as second-class human beings." Who is really at fault here? In modern times, the church has been variously defined as Christ and His Body or, in more general terms, as mankind (which includes womankind) itself. Thus the villain is no longer just the hierarchy or the clergy as generally implied in such sterile digressions. The sex of the theologian is hardly a theological topic. I suggest there are more vital issues to discuss.

SONYA A. QUITSLUND

Assistant Professor of Religion George Washington University Washington, D.C.

Sir: In truth, as Mary Daly says, God is not masculine or feminine, but sexless. That's what bothers me--the sexless phrase. For it got me to thinking about the sign of the Cross. But I finally decided to stick with the old way: "Father, Son and Holy Ghost." I just couldn't see me blessing myself and saying: "It, Son, and Holy Ghost." You understand, don't you, Mary?

ANTHONY J. CAMPAGNA

East Walpole, Mass.

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