World Notes SOVIET UNION

In what might be called the battle of the letters, Pravda, the official Communist Party daily, has been providing much livelier reading lately, as policies are debated in prominently displayed letters to the editor. In the latest round, the newspaper last week gave front-page play to a letter that included a sweeping condemnation of the party's record of dictatorship and repression under Stalin. The missive cited a failure to restrain "princelings who exceeded their authority."

Written by a senior official of the Aviation Ministry, the letter clearly reflected many of Mikhail Gorbachev's ideas for political reform and was undoubtedly intended to set the stage for the Soviet Communist Party Conference that begins on June 28. More volleys may lie ahead.