Who Is the Sinner?

Sir: It is much more than unfortunate that Cardinal Gushing, who made the only sensible, truly Christian statement concerning the Kennedy-Onassis marriage [Nov. 1], should be subjected to hate mail because of his position. Those tradition-bound theologians would do well to restrict the scope of their proclamations and arguments to areas more fitted to their talents than the question of who is, and who is not, a "public sinner." RICHARD C. KEVIN Austin, Texas

Sir: There is one vital question which I would dearly like to ask Cardinal Gushing. In the unlikely event of a poor widow asking him personally whether she should marry a divorced man, and one of a different church, would he have given the same reply as the one to Jackie Onassis? Would he have announced to the world at large that this poor widow was "free to marry whomsoever she likes" and that talk of her being a sinner was "nonsense"? If he replied no, then he would have been guilty of believing in one law for the rich and one for the poor. If he replied yes, he evidently would not believe in the fundamental tenets of the church in which he holds so eminent a position.

(MRS.) P. WATT Twickenham, England

Sir: The greed and viciousness of the "great" American public will never cease to amaze me. It has devoured the lives of two Kennedys and is reacting like a spoiled child because it failed to consume a third life for its own pleasure.

My God, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis led this country courageously through some of history's darkest moments -- and we can't even manage to return simple wishes of peace and happiness to her now. Rather depressing, isn't it? NANCY WARD Whitewater, Wis.

Sir: Hey, we can't wait for the NBC special "Jackie Redecorates the Parthenon." MARY MONA JOHNSON Dilley, Texas

Sir: I offer Hughes Rudd one bottle of ouzo for each drop of Greek blood that he can find in the veins of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, formerly a Prince of Greece [Nov. 1]. "Phil the Greek" aside, the Greek royal family is a junior branch of the Danish royal house, which is mostly North German in origin. Ergo, Philip is not one of your restaurant Greeks be cause he is not of Greek descent -- as Mr. Rudd will have it.

STARK CANNING-WHITELEY Manhattan

Big Town Blues Sir: "John Lindsay's Ten Plagues" [Nov. 1] illustrates the tragic fate of honest and idealistic men in today's political structure. The mayor has devolved from hero to scapegoat for trying to govern with principle. It is sad to see a fickle public turn on a man whom they hailed as "the hope of the nation" such a short time ago.

These people cannot realize he has not been letting them down, but merely is a victim of the system he is so valiantly and un selfishly trying to change.

DAVID J. GAINES Stanford, Calif.

Sir: Turbulent, seething, and immense difficulties have for many years plagued New York City. These problems are part of the reason why it is one of the most colorful and most fascinating cities in the world. I wouldn't trade the cramped, pol luted, noisy and ungovernable city for any purified and antiseptic community in the U.S. New York is vital, New York is exciting, and New York is obviously where it's happening, baby. It may be a mess, but it's a beautiful and thrilling mess.

JEFFREY RICHARDS Middletown, Conn.

Sir: Mr. Shanker is out for power and dis ruption of the school system. We all know that the strike is not at all in the interests of the students but to prevent the system from decentralizing. Local boards might well mean quality education for all students in New York City -- something which hasn't arisen from a slow, centralized bureaucracy. I am a senior in high school, and if the system remains the way it is, I am glad that this is the last year that I will be a part of it.

ROBERT ROSOFSKY Brooklyn Sir: The frustration of the school crisis for me, as a U.F.T. member, reminds me of when my brother used to tease me and Mommy smacked me for retaliating. Please find out who's making whose life miserable before you smack the U.F.T. again.

SYLVIA KUSHEL Manhattan Sir: Getting rid of "Jewish Power" in the schools of New York will solve but one of poor John's ten plagues. Who will the other nine scapegoats be, pray? C. M. GLASSER Miami Beach Sir: Your gloom about New York reminds me of the Londoners who thought it was the end when the Hilton appeared on the Hyde Park skyline.

Manhattan looks handsomer, cleaner and brighter to me than it did when I was last here three years ago. A lot of good work seems to have been done on those slums along the tracks between 138th and 110th streets, and many of the new buildings in Midtown are a delight to the eye.

Rude? Surly? Nasty? I find that people on the streets are far more polite and friendly than they used to be, and about one in 20 is no longer afraid to look you in the eye.

WALTER GRAEBNER London Sir: Ho-hum. Still another derogatory reference to Oshkosh. No, we do not have "the electric excitement of New York," but we do have schools in full operation, firemen and policemen doing their duties, plus regular garbage collection. Interested New Yorkers may contact our Chamber of Commerce.

R. W. RUSSELL Oshkosh, Wis.

Sir: Thanks for the high-camp comic relief, "On Running New York" [Nov. 1]. The counterpoint of describing Lindsay laughing over a column on "pseudo intellectuals," and then having him quote Dickens and Yeats was inspired. For those of us who have heard hizzoner try to articulate without a script, this new-found eloquence came as a real surprise. Add a wife who sounds the dinner bell in French, sherry for lunch, and a picture of our boy John in tails at the Met, and you have the ingredients for a clever burlesque of J.F.K. and Jackie.

MORTON CUSACK Bayside, N.Y.

Paprika Power Sir: Having followed the outcome of the Olympic Games since 1936, I conclude that the award for overall winner should go to Hungary. This small nation has maintained its No. 1 position, on a number-of-medals-per-capita basis, ever since Berlin.

Their lead is usually staggering too: in Mex ico, about one medal per 350,000 population v. the U.S.'s one medal per 1,950,000.

1 wonder: is it the paprika . . . ? THOMAS N. FORIS Mill Valley, Calif.

Sir: Although your articles on the Olympics were frustratingly short, they did provide insight as to the thrill and drama of the Games. But while you gave credit to the dominance of the American swim team, the name of Charlie Hickcox was absent. Fast becoming the Yanks' premier male swimmer, Hickcox grabbed three golds and a silver medal in Mexico. He annexed the 200-and 400-meter individual medley crowns and swam to a second place in the 100-meter backstroke. He also led off America's world-record-setting medley relay team. Hickcox now holds world records in the two individual medleys and the American record in the backstroke.

L. WILLIAM HUCK JR.

Stanford, Calif.

Pow to the Translator Sir: Yasunari Kawabata's award of the Nobel Prize for literature [Oct. 25] could not be more deserving. His Snow Country is a book to read, reread and to treasure. But it can be read only in English by most of us, and I strongly suspect that the beautiful translation by Edward G. Seidensticker, which makes this possible, may have played a large part in attracting the attention of the panel. Your excellent article is lacking only in that it does not quote from his introduction to Snow Country: "In Snow Country we come upon the roaring silence of a winter night, for instance, or the round softness of the sound of running water, or, in a somewhat more elaborate figure, the sound of a bell, far back in the singing of a teakettle, suddenly becomes a woman's feet."

Beautiful, and Seidensticker at his best.

WALTER K. HIGGINS Annandale, Va. Timely Lesson

Sir: The memoirs of the late Senator Robert Kennedy [Oct. 25] provide a timely lesson on the virtues of civilian control over the military. Military blunders, miscalculations and misjudgments have been more frequent than history and texts record. Lucky for us that President John F. Kennedy was conscious of military fallibility when he so brilliantly resolved the Cuban crisis in 1962. With due respect to our dedicated and loyal military leaders, let us hope that our President will never subordinate his judgment to theirs, particularly in this age of the bomb.

FRANK A. ZIMANSKI Captain, U.S.N. (Ret.) Coronado, Calif.

For Shame

Sir: This is to congratulate you on the excellent Essay "What If You Don't Vote?" [Nov. 1]. Millions of Czechs, Hungarians and Poles are ready to die behind the Iron Curtain for that very right of a free and unfettered vote, while American pseudo-intellectual masochists agitate for the boycott of the 1968 presidential elections. Shame on them.

GEORGE J. LERSKI Department of Political Science University of San Francisco San Francisco

Sir: Your defining the vote as a "privilege" rather than a "responsibility" is an all too common error. By recommending endorsement of mediocre candidates, you are relegating your freedom to power-hungry party professionals the next time around. The evil man is the one who does nothing--nothing to protect this country from the "take for grantedness" of the cynics. Your complete misunderstanding of what McCarthy is trying to do only indicates that you, by your own apathy, not ours, will be a powerful foe to the next generation of leaders.

LESLIE F. CARR Boston

Here and Now

Sir: After reading your article about the plight of Negro Scott Damaschke and his white father [Nov. 1], I was incensed by Judge Streeter's attitude. Why hurt an innocent child, living happily with his family, by removing him from those he loves because they are a different shade? Judge

Streeter's reasoning involving "the difficulties for this child when he gets to be 16 or 17 and begins to date" is the most preposterous I have ever heard in my life! How can he take himself seriously? Does he not realize that the here and now, especially for a small child, are more important?

Scott needs the warmth and love that his family can give him. Losing them would be a far more traumatic experience than any he might have 14 or 15 years from now, when he starts to date. By that time, society may have altered so that interracial dating will no longer cause problems.

(MRS.) DOROTHY CHATEAUBRIAND Port Washington, N.Y.

The Snake Bit

Sir: You state that snake handling [Nov. 1] is based on Jesus' words in Mark: 16. Modern versions of the Bible do not include these words in the text. The oldest Greek manuscripts do not include "snake power." Modern scholars generally agree with James L. Price of Duke University that "vocabulary, style, content and manuscript evidence support the conclusion that this ending is no part of the Second Gospel. Later scribes supplied it." The King James translators did not have access to these early manuscripts, so the words do occur in their version of 1611.

Don't blame Jesus! Blame people who refuse the results of modern scholarship and insist on using an outdated version of the Bible.

(THE REV.) DONALD R. VROON The United Methodist Church Hicksville, N.Y.

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