Who Devalued the Dollar?

Sir / The American dollar was not devalued by George Shultz [Feb. 26], Richard Nixon or any other world monetary leader. It was devalued by the American people. We have beaten a path to German and Japanese doors because, quite simply, foreign goods are more attractive to buy and own than some shoddy American items. Producers in the country should stand on their own merits, not on a platform supported by protective tariffs and artificial barriers.

STEVEN K. PETTERSON Playa del Rey, Calif.

Sir / If, as George Shultz proclaimed almost with pride, "there can be no doubt we have achieved a major improvement" by devaluing the dollar 10%, and if, as Nixon himself told us, we so vastly improved the economy by the previous 8% devaluation, then why not take advantage of a good thing and devalue, say, 99% ? The remaining 1% would serve to prove we are not totally greedy--and then, too, the dollar should retain some worth. I suppose, otherwise we might reach an economic Utopia before America is psychologically prepared. Who knows what sort of mass delirium might be triggered if everything could be bought with absolutely worthless dollars?

CHARLES C. REN JR. Sebastopol, Calif. Down on the Farm Prices

Sir / You correctly state in your Essay "Time to Plant a New Farm Policy" [Feb. 26], that increased meat prices are a result of increased consumer demand at a low point in the meat-supply cycle. But are farm prices too high? I believe not. The consumer will have to pay a fair price in the market or subsidize the farmer directly with a grant, as you suggest. In fact, Americans spend a lower percentage of their disposable income for food than any other industrialized nation in the world.

RICHARD H. CAMPBELL Sidney, Ohio

Sir / Farmers will be relieved to have some of the present farm programs dropped. They are well aware of the inequities, but the farmer has to make a living also. If the farmer gets less income from the Government, the price of food cannot decline. Someone has to pay the cost. The Government will have to exert some control to see that there is a sufficient food supply. If one goes to buy a car, he can wait several weeks; but who can wait for a loaf of bread?

JOHN A. DUFOSSE' Ringoes, N.J.

The Rewards of REAP

Sir / Your article "REAPing a Budgetary Whirlwind" [Feb. 5] states that few urban Americans have ever heard of REAP, Rural Environmental Assistance Program, which you describe as a "classic case of an originally worthwhile program that has outlived its usefulness." I do not believe that your attempt to acquaint the American public with REAP reflects our experience with the program in Nebraska.

In Nebraska, soil runoff is still our most serious water pollutant, and dust is our No. 1 air pollutant. Through REAP, the likelihood of devastating floods has been reduced, public recreational opportunities have been provided, and the program has contributed significantly to increased productivity in agriculture, which in turn gives the American consumer relatively low food costs.

But perhaps the most important benefit stemming from REAP is the continued maintenance and improvement of the productivity of this nation's land and water resources for future generations.

GOVERNOR JAMES EXON Lincoln, Neb.

The Libyan Jet

Sir / Who, in Israel, could possibly have been in any immediate danger from a civil airliner lost over a trackless desert miles from populated areas [March 5]?

The "plot" put forward by the Israelis to justify their action is at best a manifestation of national paranoia, which may yet prove to be the undoing of a nation born with the good wishes of the greater part of humanity. We are reminded that: Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

JOHN O. HART Mississauga, Ont.

Sir / They asked him to land. He refused. So they shot him down.

The fact that he was piloting a totally harmless, comparatively slow-moving commercial airliner seems not to have entered the minds of the Israeli airmen.

Moreover, after killing innocent people, the Israelis packed them in crates and dispatched them with prayers. Prayers for whom?

It is the killers who need prayers, not those who were killed.

SHAKEEL MOZAFFAR Austin, Texas

Sir / While I frankly am no particular friend of the Israelis, how else could they reasonably react under the circumstances? Their finest athletes have recently been assassinated by desperadoes, some of whom could have easily been on that Libyan plane. The Israelis have had too many bitter experiences with guerrillas, saboteurs, spies and letter-bombs.

ALFRED A. HEMPHILL Lake Oswego, Ore.

Author! Author!

Sir / In your review of my novel The Spanish Soldier [Feb. 19], my name is misspelled not only in the title but in the body of the article.

This is a matter of more than a little importance to me.

HERBERT BURKHOLZ Ibiza, Spain

Divine Amusement

Sir / Once again something old looks very new. The "Jesus deck" of the U.S. Games System cards [Feb. 19] would have sold well in the late 18th century. Moravians, Methodists and even Baptists of the era silenced gossiping tongues and profitably filled idle hours with "Draw Cards," "Divine Amusement" and "Mr. Charles Wesley's Scripture Cards."

DAVID LEON HIGDON Lubbock, Texas

Sagging Singles

Sir / Since I am also a divorcee and the mother of a large family of teenagers, I identify strongly with Pat Loud of An

American Family [Feb. 26]. I couldn't help wondering what her reactions were to her former husband being described as a "swinging bachelor."

In my experience the wear and tear of raising children alone removes a woman indefinitely from the "swinging single" category. In fact, the only term I can think of to describe myself is "sagging single."

MARY ISENBERG Palm Springs, Calif.

Sir / After 20-plus years of marriage and five children, Bill Loud is described as a "swinging bachelor" by TIME. Wouldn't "swinging divorcee" be a more appropriate description?

I suppose we're lucky you didn't describe Pat as "an old maid living with four of her children."

JOY LAWRENCE Newtown Square, Pa.

School Frustration

Sir / Being from Detroit I was very interested in your article on our public schools [Feb. 19]. We are not, however, "venting our frustrations against taxes" when we defeat school millage proposals. The problem lies in the fact that people are dissatisfied with the products of our school system. I have met two "students," holding diplomas from a Detroit high school, who could not read!

Pouring money into a system like this will not solve the problem but perpetuate it.

JOHN THOMPSON Detroit

Sir /1 am tired of having white flight blamed for nationwide school problems. Why can't the things we flee be blamed? Do you think, given any choice, I will send a gentle, shy daughter to our area high school when students have been attacked and injured there this year?

Why not blame the thugs who try to terrorize everyone, black and white, student and teacher alike, and quit whipping the middle class? We have tried to stay in the public school system and in an integrated neighborhood, but we are being literally pushed out of the public schools and may well be pushed out of our neighborhood some day. I hope not.

MRS. DOUGLAS W. KIRKLAND Dallas

Cleaning Out the Fold

Sir / Re the evangelical campaign Key 73 [Feb. 19]: I suggest that the churches eager to win souls for Christ should start by first cleaning out their own folds. If Christian virtue--as practiced, not as preached--is going to be the reason for conversion, then Judaism and other persuasions need not be concerned about the possible loss of their numbers.

JOSEPH VINCI North Dartmouth, Mass.

Sir / We Jews already live in an overwhelming Christian environment and are bombarded with its message day and night. To heighten that bombardment, however, and seek the destruction of the Jewish faith is a negation of this country's basic beliefs. Key 73 will not succeed.

BARBARA ANN SHELTON Peoria, 111.

Sir / There are more than 6,000,000 Jews in the U.S. representing more than 6,000,-000 completely different interpretations of their faith.

Should Christians ever be successful in converting the Jews, they will rue the day.

EDDIE GERSHATER Dallas

Sir / The Christian evangelical movement exists not to force-feed those who do not wish to be fed, but to share the joy of our faith with those who are hungry.

STACY MACLEOD Brookline, Mass.

Sir / The rabbis against Key 73 might be the spokesmen of the majority of Jews. I as a Jew, however, have come to believe in Christ, and I'm thankful for all of the gentile Christians who dealt with me kindly and lovingly when my own response to their religion was one of hostility. The rabbis don't speak for all of the Jews, and they certainly don't speak for me.

MOISHE ROSEN Corte Madera, Calif.

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