Caudillo of Conservatism

Sir: To equal parts H. L. Mencken and Charles Maurras, add the crusading zeal of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the wit of Fred Allen, the voice and presence of John Barrymore, the charisma of Bing Crosby, and you have the Caudillo of conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr. [Nov. 3]. Now if only the Conservatives could persuade him to seek the G.O.P. nomination for U.S. Senator next year or enter him in the lists against Javits or ex-Mayor Wagner, New Yorkers would have a choice instead of the traditional Tweedledum-Tweedledee Liberal shell game.

DONALD F. BARRY

Brooklyn

Sir: Few would gainsay William F. Buckley Jr., entertainer, court jester of conservatism. His regrettable ineffectualness as socio-political philosopher-activist is traceable and proportionate to an unconcealed intellectual narcism. Buckley's a mental muscle-beacher who can't resist rippling his grey matter to dazzle bystanders. For sheer sophistic jabberwocky and an excruciating reciprocity of cleverness Buckley's ideal Firing Line partner would be Marshall McLuhan. But stack him against self-educated Dockhand Eric Hoffer, the man of passionately simple convictions, and Buckley would do a fast fade from brilliance. Because he evinces about as much commitment and attachment to an ideal as a first-time-out dude rancher does to the horse.

ARTHUR L. NORTH Richmond Hill, N.Y.

Sir: This Torquemada to the liberals has proved that the responsible voice of conservatism can attract a considerably larger and younger following than the traditionally starchy upper crust which consisted of a handful of crumbs held together by their own dough.

RICHARD S. FUEGNER St. Louis, Mo.

Sir: Sorry to hear Bill Buckley is mellowing in his middle years. I rather looked forward to a Buckley infinitely more corrosive in his dotage. A Jonathan Edwards reborn in rage, who would describe for us all the exquisite torments of liberals in the hands of an angry God.

ROBERT J. TULP Brooklyn

Sir: As an ardent conservative, so far out, I secretly suspect that Taft was the guiding light behind the Politburo. I loved your article on Buckley, as much as I love the man himself.

But that cover. Oh God . . . Cruikshank . . . Daumier . . . Hieronymus Bosch? How inspired.

JACK CAHILL Staten Island, N.Y.

Sir: I recall the statement of William F. Buckley Jr. after the last mayoralty election: "I will never seek elective office again, unless I hear directly from my Maker." Now comes word that Mr. Buckley will seek elective office again, as a member of the Yale Corporation [Oct. 27]. Good grief, does he know something that we don't know? Can it be that not only is God at Yale, but a member of the Yale Corporation?

(MRS.) BARBARA FLYNN GOLD West Haven, Conn.

In the President's Moccasins

Sir: My sympathy goes to President Johnson and the members of his Cabinet, who have dedicated themselves to providing a better existence for all. The job that they have to do is hard enough without being subjected to the ridicule of these protesting mobs [Oct. 27]. Many must not have heard the American Indian prayer: "Great Spirit, Grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."

PAUL J. WATAHA Mayor Rock Springs, Wyo.

Sir: Surely there are many thoughtful people who have conscientiously tried to obtain facts on the Viet Nam issue, and who sincerely doubt our policy there. To these people should the Administration listen for they have something worthwhile to say and the right to say it. But all too often the objective questioning is drowned out by the emotional wailings of extremists.

The Pentagon episode very clearly demonstrated the level of maturity that some of the protesters have attained. What is truly saddening is that they had to use our nation's capital as their playpen.

ROBERT E. DANT Lieutenant, U.S.A.F. Tempe, Ariz.

Hair Today

Sir: In your Essay on longer hair [Oct. 27], you fail to emphasize that long hair on a man is not feminine. The current difficulty of differentiating a male from a female is not due to long hair--or to clothing--but to the feminizing effect of shaving. Men were intended to have beards and women to have smooth cheeks. Men have chosen to violate our Creator's dictum--and we pay for it in blood every morning.

DONALD A. WINDSOR Norwich, N.Y.

Sir: A counterpoint to the passage in Leviticus appears in I Corinthians XI: 14, 15: "Doth not even nature itself teach you that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." I do not mention this in condemnation of long hair. I myself have a moustache of four-weeks' growth.

MARK A. BRIGGS Pittsburgh

Sir: Long hair and/or beards have dominated the scene in all times and climes until the 20th century. The scalped, scraped look came into existence during World War I and has persisted because global-scale wars have persisted. It was undertaken originally as a matter of necessity --to curb pediculosis--which runs rampant in barracks and battlefields. It is the style in cloisters and penitentiaries for the same reason. Its origin and its justifications have been forgotten in half a century of conformity.

DORIS M. Rizzo Leamington Spa, England

Sir: For years I have been trying to figure out TIME'S absolutely manic obsession with the profusion of one's hair. Aside from your Essay, which is admittedly an observant comment on the trend of the times, 1 am informed in that same issue that David Bellinger is "balding," Jerry Rubin is "wild-haired," Judge W. Harold Cox is "white-thatched," Emperor Rosko is "lion-maned" etc. Is there some deep hidden meaning that is escaping me? Am I being psychologically brainwashed?

JOHN HALLOW (balding) Manhattan

> Nope. Just hairbrained.

Saddled-Up or Gobbled-Up?

Sir: I thank the man who recorded what Lyndon Johnson told Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore: "You rode the tiger. We shall" [Oct. 27]. I believe Asians respect and recognize backbone, when Americans are courageous enough to walk beyond courage, to deface false bravery, to stretch our guts and show backbone, not only our backside.

BOB GALL Powell, Tenn.

Sir: I recall a part of the Inaugural Address of President Johnson's predecessor, and I can still hear these words as they were spoken that bright, cold afternoon of Jan. 20, 1961: ". . .in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside."

JOSEPH E. TANNER Rialto, Calif.

Not Wounded, Just Sick

Sir: Senator Edward Kennedy's Judiciary Subcommittee has developed some positive information concerning the suffering of a large segment of humanity here in South Viet Nam [Oct. 20]. However, your article does not clearly identify the patients who are "sleeping on corridor floors, or two or three to a bed" in our hospitals, and might imply that the bulk of the patients are in the hospitals with war wounds. In fact, a great preponderance of our patients have preventable communicable diseases--typhoid fever, cholera, bubonic plague, hepatitis, malaria and other such conditions--that are the result of environmental health problems and lack of basic health education. Dr. John Knowles recommends that we double the U.S. medical budget, bring in more U.S. surgeons, train more Vietnamese doctors and start an immunization program. Might we suggest the most desperately needed commodity of all: public health technicians. The crowding of hospitals can be drastically slashed through implementation of an environmental health, preventive medicine and sanitation program. This would cut to a trickle the flow of people to the hospitals and would serve to give relief to the doctors presently assigned. It would also obviate bringing into the country more and more U.S. physicians.

WILSON S. ADAMS Public Health Division USAID Danang, Viet Nam

Not a Word

Sir: In the article "Thistles in the New Towns" [Sept. 29j, you described the recent changes at Reston in northern Virginia and stated that "Simon recalls that 'Reston never recovered' after the collapse of an oral deal with the Washington Gas Light Company to supply $6,000,000 at a low interest rate." Although we worked with Mr. Simon and his associates for quite some time in exploring ways that we might be helpful in connection with getting Reston started, there was no "oral deal" involved at any state of our relationship. We are just as sure of this as Mr. Simon is to the contrary.

DONALD S. BITTINGER President

Washington Gas Light Company Washington

Article of Faith

Sir: Do you expect the reader to believe the Catholic Church is falling apart because Mr. James Kavanaugh, ex-priest, wants to marry [Oct. 27]? When he is gone his faith will be passed on to another, so it is no great loss. But I was amused to think that any woman in her right mind would have him. If he could not keep his vows to God, how could she expect him to keep vows made to her?

THELMA A. JONES Norfolk, Va.

Sir: Fortunate indeed will be the woman whom he betrothes. There should be more prospective husbands around with his attitude of love and understanding. Obviously, his only hang-up is the normal, healthy desire for fulfillment.

BONNIE SMITH Seattle

Sir: In today's impersonal, custom-made bureaucracy, which creates the fears responsible for man's isolating himself from men, and thus from God, any man with the wisdom and courage to seek God through close personal relationships with men or women is on the right track.

MARSHALL ROTHMAN Fall River, Mass.

Once Over Lightly

Sir: The item on gambling [Oct. 27] invites my observation: in throwing dice, the faces with more than three points come up, on the average, a bit more often than can be expected statistically. The physics of this: where the "holes" are more in number the faces are lighter. Accordingly, the center of gravity favors the 1-2-3 faces, and the faces 6-5-4, which are just opposite, come up. The potential energy of a system tends toward least. Physics or no physics, the theorem holds for your wallet!

JULIUS SUMNER MILLER Professor of Physics El Camino College Via Torrance, Calif.

Recorders Recording Recorders Recording . . .

Sir: While reading your "The Viability of Video" [Oct. 20], I was reminded of the following story: A professor, finding that his time was too valuable to merely lecture, would prepare a full week's lectures over the weekend and tape them. Each day of the week he would have an assistant set the recorder up in the classroom. The professor, of course, was delighted at the system which afforded him much free time. After his taped lectures had been playing for several months, he decided to visit one of his classes himself. As he opened the door he saw his recorder on the front desk, merrily lecturing to 65 small tape recorders, one on each desk of the deserted classroom.

PETER A. RICHARDS Deerfield, Mass.

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