To the Editors:

Out at last, out at last. Thank God we're out at last. Phil Hummel West Branch, Mich.

It is very sad to realize that the "light

at the end of the tunnel" was a red one.

Peter Collinson

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses, yearning to

breathe free... Considering the reaction of many Americans to the arrival of the unfortunate South Vietnamese refugees, perhaps we should have a national referendum on whether or not those words should be removed from the Statue of Liberty on the ground that they are an outdated platitude.

Allen C. Johnson Laramie, Wyo.

From what I am able to distill, Henry Kissinger's theory is that if you lose a war, you import the people of the country you've lost.

Who would ever have thought that the real meaning behind the domino theory was that when the game was over, you'd put your pieces in a C5A and fly home with them?

Stanley R. Lapon Cambridge, Mass.

The way the issue of the Vietnamese refugees has leaped to the top of the national priority list is unfortunate.

Black citizens are especially concerned that their long-unmet needs are treated with neglect while successive waves of anti-Communist refugees from Hungary, China, and now Viet Nam, have got a big boost from federal crash programs. It is hard to forget that the $500 million requested for the refugees is comparable to amounts the Administration tried to slice out of the food stamp and similar social programs. And it is hard to forget the joblessness and inadequate benefits afforded those black veterans who fought in Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese will not have an easy time adjusting, especially in view of America's traditional racism. They'll need some help, but it should be in addition to, not in place of, federal programs that are so urgently needed by our own minorities and poor.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Executive Director National Urban League, New York City

The Miami Cuban exile experience was unique in our national refugee history. More than 675,000 Cubans have been absorbed into our nation in 15 years, and 350,000 now live mostly harmoniously in Greater Miami. The assimilation was gradual in an economically prosperous decade. The Cubans were predominantly well educated and skilled in a trade or profession. They not only became a part of but dominated an already well-established Latin community in a city a few hundred miles from their homeland.

The Vietnamese exile problem is different. The economy is now bad, 65% of this new group are children or young people, and as yet they have no home away from home.

If the pattern of past immigrations holds, the Vietnamese will eventually congregate in one or two American cities. If this centripetal tendency is understood and properly utilized, it can become a positive force.

As a nation of 220 million people, mostly descendants of immigrants in the past 100 years, the impact of 130,000 new, educated people should not be too severe.

Maurice A. Ferre Mayor of the City of Miami Miami

May I suggest six American cities in which it would be appropriate to resettle the Vietnamese refugees: Independence, Mo., Gettysburg, Pa., Hyannisport, Mass., Johnson City, Texas, San Clemente, Calif., and Grand Rapids.

Frank Walker Exeter, N.H.

Blue Bicentennial

Isn't it strange that we will be celebrating our country's bicentennial under the first President no one elected, and that we will be celebrating at the end of the war in which we suffered our first total defeat? I really think memorial services for a dead country would be a bit more in order.

Whitt Pond Boston

Sikkim Sorrow

Sikkim was an ancient little kingdom. Then the Indian army came along, bringing the blessings of democracy. The people voted--under Indian supervision, of course--and decided they really had no use for independence. Nothing would make them happier than to be incorporated into a country that cannot even feed its own starving people.

Now Sikkim is India's internal affair. Isn't democracy wonderful?

Giok Po Oey Ithaca, N. Y.

Bicycle's Glory

Mr. Kanfer calls Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee the "only literary work" in which the bicycle's glory is sung [April 9]. Albert Schweitzer, born just 100 years ago, was eight or nine when the rumor spread in his Alsatian village that a "speed-runner" was at the village inn. Schweitzer says in his charming childhood memoirs: "Today's young people can't imagine what the coming of the bicycle meant to us. A hitherto undreamed of possibility of getting into nature was opened before us, and I made full and joyous use of it."

The bicycle not only shines in Schweitzer's story, he also tells of the obstacles it had to overcome in a deeply conservative village. It caused the horses to bolt. And when Schweitzer himself was able to afford a bike, his father's parishioners thought it arrogant, and certainly unbecoming for the son of a minister.

Peter H. Olden Prescott, Ariz.

Yes, there is something better than biking--walking. For physical and psychological health and aesthetic and adventurous pleasure, walking is second to none.

Wallace C. Hurt St. Clair, Mich.

To say that the bicycle is "the only first-class transportation left to humanity" is to insult horse owners. Horses can reproduce, travel through mud, jump obstacles and return affection. I would love to see a steel frame and wheels perform this way.

Anita Brandt Williamsville, N. Y.

Tragic Cliche

Your drama critic says that Glenda Jackson [May 5] has reduced Hedda Gabler's "Dionysian will to freedom" to a case of "suburban jitters." Is that a "travesty" or an updating? Hedda was trivialized before Ms. Jackson took her up. The "unfulfilled woman" has become a cliche, and that is indeed a tragedy.

Bette Bonacci Lockport, III.

Rabbits Beware

Shame on you for favorably publicizing the traffic outlaws who run the Cannonball Dash [May 5] and subject a lot of non-contestants to risks that should go only with one of the world's most dangerous sports.

What's wrong with these heroes running only among their own kind at Le Mans or Indianapolis or on the dirt bullrings of the Middle West, where traffic is, omitting spectacular exceptions, headed in the same direction? Wildlife might be safer, too. Usually the winners don't have to fight their way through so many rabbits.

Robert H. Johnson Bronxville, N. Y.

Cheers to the Cannonball Baker entrants! It's reassuring to know that some Americans have not been cowed by the ludicrous 55 m.p.h. speed limits. It is unreasonable to demand that Nevada superhighways and New York backroads be traveled at the same speed. The Cannonball serves to illustrate that the American road system is capable of supporting high speed travel safely.

Debra Kaplan Ithaca, N. Y.

Roots of Salsa

I have nothing against my fellow Latinos, but the Cuban refugees did not exactly come to the rescue of Puerto Rican or Latin music [May 5], I grew up with salsa. Puerto Rican salsa has been alive and well since 1493, with due respect to our Indian predecessors. The Latin "sound" didn't just materialize in the trash heaps of New York; its roots hark back to the lush tropical climate and gracious living of a proud people.

Idalie Muhoz Munoz Philadelphia

Patty's Trail

The issue of March 24, 1975, falsely states that early last summer Patricia Hearst and two other fugitives stayed for a week at a motel that Mr. and Mrs. John J. Scott managed in Las Vegas. Although Mr. and Mrs. Scott currently manage an apartment complex in Las Vegas, they did not begin to do so until mid-November 1974. During the entire summer and well into the fall, they managed nothing--not a hotel, motel or apartment building of any kind.

Doron Weinberg, Attorney San Francisco

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