The Guns of November

Sir: The Republican Party has managed to jam the executioner's gun that seemed so ready to fire after 1964 [Nov. 18]. To those who see the two-party system as an important factor in the maintenance of U.S. democracy, a revived G.O.P. is a comforting sight. However, Republicans have no reason to hope for anything more than temporary resurrection unless the discontent that put them into office spurs them into offering fresh ideas for dealing with the problems that now weigh upon our society.

MICHAEL LIVINGSTON Austin, Texas

Sir: I have just completed reading your fine, well-edited post-election issue, and find it necessary to add the name of Thomas E. Devvey to the honor roll of leading Republicans for 1968. Almost a half-century of outstanding public service, plus his vigorous participation in the new Republican Coordinating Committee formed after the 1964 G.O.P. tragedy, more than qualify Dewey for the 1968 presidential nomination. The G.O.P. should run Nixon for Vice President, and Barry M. Goldwater should be and will be returned to the Senate. Tom, Dick and Barry are a trio that's really great for a Republican triumph in 1968.

ARTHUR R. BLACK Detroit

Sir: In spite of the fact that the Minnesota state bird is the loon, it would probably be mere appropriate for Vice President Humphrey to order that 20-lb. turkey for Richard Nixon and a nice juicy crow for himself.

ERNEST H. KANNING III Helsinki, Finland

Sir: One Edward Brooke is worth an entire trainload of Stokely Carmichaels and Martin Luther Kings in the betterment of the Negro in America. His great victory bodes good fortune not only for him but for his party and his people. Hats off to this dynamic Republican!

GIFFORD C. TERRY Polo, Ill.

Sir: As a liberal who deserted Senator Douglas in the election, I would like to make it clear that neither the so-called white backlash nor Senator Douglas' age played any part in my decision to support Charles Percy. My decision was based almost entirely on their stands on Viet Nam. Percy's position, while certainly not dovelike, was far less militant than Douglas'. I feel that Percy can better represent my thinking on this most vital issue of securing peace in Viet Nam.

ELISABETH SCHILLINGER Champaign, Ill.

Sir: As a native of Arkansas, I salute Winthrop Rockefeller for pointing out to an egregious demagogue that bigoted rednecks are in the minority in the state.

EDGAR E. DUNCAN, M.D. Seattle

Sir: The reigning public has elected Wallace Governor of Alabama, Reagan Governor of California and, most likely, Maddox Governor of Georgia. I am beginning to understand why Hamilton said: "Unfortunately, they have truth on their side who say that the great mass of mankind cannot be trusted with decisions for their own welfare. The decisions had better be made by those who by birth, education or knowledge are better enabled to determine what is in their interest than are the people themselves."

PAMELA Rocow Los Angeles

Sir: Let all realists, in their despair over Ronald Reagan, not scold us Californians too much. It might have been John Wayne.

DAVID H. RUJA Los Angeles

Sir: The pictures of handsome Reagan, Romney, Rockefeller, Percy, Brooke and Hatfield on your cover may suggest to many readers the thought that occurred to me: to be a winner in modern politics, you've got to get the female vote.

RALPH LOMBARDI Clifton, N.J.

In Search of Answers

Sir: B;shop Pike [Nov. 11] is indeed a man who "will not stay in place," and it is remarkable that you have managed what many still fail to capture in print: the portrait of a man honestly searching out reasonable answers for the conflict between the historical church and its place in the 20th century.

Novak of Stanford might be hard-pressed to show any "intellectual laziness" on Pike's part; Macquarrie's suggestion that Christianity is a "package deal," an all-or-nothing proposition, is not a very realistic position if Christianity is to survive in modern society; and if Christianity, like the Trinity, were left to survive on the metaphysical jargon of Karl Barth, there would be little hope.

Bishop Pike has sought to focus the search for religion upon admittedly distressing matters of faith and dogma, but if we grant him a certain amount of oversimplification, this may be the best foundation--a set of first principles from which a viable religion might from the old be forged, sustained by traditional Christianity, but now with some relevance for the 20th century.

JOE DAUBEN Graduate Student Harvard University Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: Bishop Pike's courage is magnificent, but my feelings about him are ambivalent. He seems to lack discipline. Are his garish slogans and slick phrases really necessary? They seem only to arouse the anger of the more dogmatic members of the church. The Episcopal Church is remarkable for its liberal thought, and surely is not offended by Pike's questioning, but only by his method of questioning. He has shown himself capable of deeo reflection and perceptive expression. Discipline rightly used will not diminish his message, but will polish and refine it into the harmonizing and reforming force it is meant to be.

BETTY WASSER Spokane, Wash.

Sir: Why is the student who questions encouraged, the questioning scientist praised, but the questioning churchman condemned? Today Bishop Pike finds himself in the same predicament as did Socrates and Christ--born before his time. After all, faith is just that; it's not a list of dos and don'ts.

MARY ANN McCouRT 69 Emmanuel College Boston

Sir: The Practical Church Dictionary says: "Bishops are the chief defenders of the Faith and ambassadors for Christ." As a bishop, Pike does not appear to have qualified on either count. One wonders whether in his attempt to speak to the modern nonbeliever Pike has not done much more harm than good to the branch of the Church of God he elected to serve. Damn James Pike then, and doubly damn those of his peers who do not publicly oppose his heresies!

FRANK BRYAN JR.

Diocesan Lay Reader in Charge Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Forney, Texas

Sir: Just as we would forgive the earthworm for not knowing that the roots, trunk and leaves of the oak tree are really one entity, so must we forgive Bishop Pike if he cannot see that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are really one. Please, no trial. The bishop is neither heretic nor prophet--simply out of his depth.

ALEXANDER P. MAILLIS Nassau, Bahamas

Hard Road to Ho

Sir: Your Essay "Why Ho Keeps Saying No" [Nov. 11] fails to explain Ho's determination to dig in. As you noted, a Communist military victory has become virtually impossible, yet Ho continues this war that each day devours more of his country's vital resources. He has another goal in mind. As his nation grows weaker, world opinion against American participation in the war becomes stronger. Now we stand almost entirely alone in Viet Nam. Ho realizes our predicament and knows that each death we cause brings us lower in global prestige. His negotiating with us would help us more than we are now hurting him. So the fight continues.

H. RENTON ROLPH Stanford University Stanford, Calif.

Sir: Surely President Johnson is kidding when he says he can't understand why the Communists won't "agree to move from the battlefield to the conference table." Why should they come to the conference table when they have nothing to negotiate? If and when they get tired of fighting, they simply retire behind the 17th parallel. If they can't have victory, they accept nothing--not even defeat. We, on the other hand, will not accept defeat, and apparently refuse to go after victory. The Communist policy of "rule or ruin" and "if we can't win, return to the status quo" has worked well elsewhere, and will probably work in Viet Nam.

RUSSELL J. HILL Berea, Ohio

Free All Along

Sir: TIME errs in its resume of the Mark Fein change-of-name case [Nov. 18] when it states that Nancy Nahon cannot remarry "until the Supreme Court acts on Fein's appeal and his conviction becomes final." Indeed, Nancy Nahon was free to remarry from the moment Fein was sentenced to life imprisonment and thus became "civilly dead," his marriage ipso facto terminated. In a civil proceeding brought by the family of the alleged victim of the murder for which Fein was convicted, Supreme Court Justice Charles Marks stated: "The declaration of civil decease and disability is clearly effective as of the time of the imposition of sentence. It is not dependent upon nor stayed because of any appeal of the judgment of conviction which may be taken or may be pending or the possible result thereof."

ARNOLD R. KRAKOWER New York City

As the Twig Is Bent

Sir: Thank you, thank you, thank you! My gratitude for the story about "Twiggy" [Nov. 11] cannot be described. Being 19 years old and a freshman in college, and having always been shaped like a board, I now have the satisfaction of knowing that I'm not alone in my malady. If Twiggy can do it, perhaps there is still some chance for me.

MONICA CLOUTIER River Falls, Wis.

Monkee See

Sir: You had no right to cut the Monkees down the way you did [Nov. 11]. You make them sound like creeps. Nobody says you have to like the show. It was made for teenagers, not old fogies. Just because you're not so great, you don't have to take it out on our generation.

MARIAN BRUNO, AGE 12 Fort Wayne, Ind.

Sir: You were wrong when you said that none of the Monkees can sing. Davy Jones appeared in the Broadway musical Oliver! in 1964. He sang and acted superbly, and critics' praise led to a nomination for the coveted Tony Award as best supporting actor.

NINA SCOLNIK, AGE 14 Lewiston, Me.

Socks Alive

Sir: Unbelievably, time seems to have passed you by, dear magazine. The "new fad" of socklessness [Nov. 11] is as traditional as Shetland sweaters. It was waiting for me when I hit adolescence in West Hartford, Conn., and it was old hat well before my undergraduate years at Wesleyan University. It is interesting to note, however, that--for reasons best known to the grey-flannel-socked--there's little socklessness at the law school here. Make of that what you wish.

BARRY REDER Cornell Law School Ithaca, N.Y.

Sir: Socklessness, as every Englishman knows, is acceptable only when a chap has forgotten to put them on and when the ankle accessories are of uncompromising squareness, viz: battered tweed jacket, at least eight years old, with leather elbow patches; knee-bulging grey trousers with 20-in. bottoms and turnups; appalling open-necked "Hong Kong" beach shirt and oil-stained bumpers.-The non-wearer, criticized, should reply: "They are at the cleaners." Pseuds from a part of Cheshire tried to engineer a non-sock fad back in '62; it was a dismal failure. Tell that to Mylenski.

JOHN K. HINTON London

America First

Sir: About "Love in the Afternoon" [Nov. 11]: My husband, who is French, works in Paris on the Champs Elysees from 8:30 to 6:30, with a one-hour lunch period from 1 to 2 p.m. This is the same schedule for his friends, young businessmen and engineers. Their day, considerably longer than the U.S. 9-to-5 day, ends fighting Parisian traffic for an hour. No wonder "everyone is too tired," as Mile. Sagan put it. 1 would be interested to find out just who gets the 2-to-4 off in Paris. Who knows--maybe I'm the one in the dark. But I doubt it.

MME. JEAN-BERNARD MARTIGNONI Ville-d'Avray (Hauts de Seine) France

Sir: It is tristressing that Francoise Sagan is not sagacious enough to realize that much better than having a deux a quatre, or even a cinq a sept, the Americans (once again displaying ingenuity, practicality and vigor) have long been outdoing the French by at least two hours --with what the In circles traditionally refer to as "the nooner."

WILLIAM HARRIS Denver

*Meaning sneakers, in the colloquial.

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