Republican Power

To the Editors:

May the Republicans have a landslide victory over the Democrats, who are responsible for America's decline from power, and restore America's greatness again. For me this convention [July 21] has been inspiring. More power to the Republicans!

James P. McCormack Charlotte, N.C.

How can we criticize the Ayatullah for taking Iran back into the 19th century, and then nominate a man who wants to do the same thing to the U.S.?

John H. Cone Pasadena, Calif.

The people of this country are beginning to realize that Reagan is the kind of no-nonsense leader America needs.

Scott Hillesland Seattle

Reagan wants a constitutional amendment to ban abortions. I suppose that goes along with his avowed philosophy of getting the Federal Government out of our personal lives.

Joseph D. Corn Tabernacle, N.J.

Reagan and his platform committee are not about to put me into a chador. This is one registered Republican who will be voting for Carter in November.

Anita R. Shaw Burbank, Calif.

Hats off to the G.O.P. for standing up to the feminist Mafia! In opposing abortion and ERA, the Republican Party has located the pulse and the conscience of the American people.

Grace Dermody Mountainside, N.J.

If adopted, will the prohibition against abortion be enforced by bugging doctors' offices to be sure any request for one is rejected? Will the FBI have a Pregnancy Division to check on questionable miscarriages?

E. Scott Pattison Dunedin, Fla.

Some say that the presence of John Anderson in the race threatens the two-party system. But if Reagan and Carter are the best candidates the Republican and Democratic parties can provide, then the two-party system threatens us.

Philip Myers Denver

Rescuing Detroit

Let Congress start curing our ailing industry, like automobiles in Detroit [July 21], by proclaiming that profit is not a dirty word. Let's also decree that employees give a day's work for a day's wage and establish that industry must only be reasonably safe and reasonably nonpolluting. Then we can chisel in stone: "The Government cannot and will not cure ailing industry."

John K. LeMaster Spokane, Wash.

Part of Carter's plan to help the auto industry includes rescinding certain pollution regulations, relaxing standards for worker exposure to toxic materials, and easing up "on certain auto durability test requirements." Has it occurred to those who devised this plan that the way to build, or rebuild, an industry is to raise the quality of the product?

Keith Simpson San Diego

If Carter limits Japanese auto imports, my Datsun and I are moving to Canada.

Seth Cohen Irvine, Calif.

How can American auto companies (Chrysler, GM, Ford), which build good small cars in Europe (Simca, Opel, Taunus, respectively), claim that they need 1) subsidies from taxpayers and 2) import restrictions in order to figure out how to build small cars in America?

Oljan Repic Muttenz, Switzerland

Kidnaping by Parents

Child snatching is nothing less than psychological child abuse [July 14]. Witnesses who have testified at congressional hearings have stressed the importance of legislation that would not only deter child snatchings but also return the child to a secure and stable home as quickly as possible.

Legislation I have introduced would accomplish this by requiring state courts to give full faith and credit to custody decrees of other states. This would prevent a parent who either loses or fears losing a custody suit in one state from seeking a more favorable custody decree in another state. The bill would also allow the FBI to be brought in after 60 days, if the child is not found, and create a federal misdemeanor offense of "parental kidnaping."

Malcolm Wallop

U.S. Senator, Wyoming

Washington, D.C.

As the twice-married father of five children ranging in age from 18 years to five months, I can tell you what goads desperate fathers to kidnap their children: the unjust, unfair prejudice of courts in this country, as well as in the U.S., in awarding custody to Almighty Mom in more than 90% of all cases.

To paraphrase Dustin Hoffman's cri de coeur in the film Kramer vs. Kramer: "What law is it that says a person is better suited to look after a child just because she is a woman?"

Lawrence Thaw London

Having been through a bitter divorce and been frustrated at every turn by an indifferent judge, I have come to the conclusion that good, honest men are driven to acts of violence when legalities are adjudicated but justice is forgotten. And I will add that a truly sincere single parent, usually the father, must abide by the injustice, pay for the administration of the injustice, but in the end stand by frustrated and filled with sorrow as his own children slowly withdraw from him.

Joseph M. Losinno Holland, Pa.

Discord in the Symphony

Symphony players, says Gunther Schuller [July 21], are embittered, disgruntled, bored, apathetic and cynical. Right. Schuller blames the musicians' union, boards of trustees, conductors. Wrong. The blame lies mainly in the nature of the work itself. Symphony players seldom enjoy the music they are playing because, while they can usually hear what is happening in their immediate surroundings, they can't hear the whole. Moreover, there is no occupation as regimented as orchestral playing. Every note has to be played as the conductor wants it.

I played viola in the Minneapolis Symphony--now the Minnesota Orchestra--for six years. The first year I was disturbed by the indifference and cynicism of my older colleagues; after six years I was as bitter and negative as any of them.

John M. Kuypers, Professor Emeritus

Music Department, Tulane University

New Orleans

At the recent American Symphony Orchestra League conference in New York City, Leonard Bernstein endorsed Schuller's crusade. He said, "I place myself firmly in his camp; with very few exceptions every point he made is true, all too true, as I know from long personal experience."

My own experiences with Schuller as a conductor in both educational and professional situations have been so positive as to refute Irving Bush's allegation that "he is an absolutely atrocious conductor." Many musicians would agree with me in saying that he is a "musician's conductor" who brings to conducting insight and intelligence that are all too rare in today's musical world.

Bruce M. Creditor, Orchestra Librarian

Berkshire Music Center

Sharon, Mass.

The Pope and the Poor No matter what religion or denomination one belongs to, one is drawn to Pope John Paul II [July 21], this great and good man who gives hope to so much of mankind. However we may disagree with him on other matters, he truly becomes the Pope of other Christians who are not Roman Catholic because of his stand regarding the granting of dignity and better living conditions to the poor. He makes them important.

Let us not forget how compassionate words can be mightier than all other forces in creating change for the good and for justice.

(The Rev.) Richard P. Yaple

First Christian Church

Geary, Okla.

Pope John Paul II should be held accountable for the misery he spawns, rather than being lauded as a savior or an enlightened religious leader as he makes his tours. In these dangerously overpopulated and anxious times, any leader who does not advocate family planning has no business pontificating about world hunger and misery.

Glenda Alice Rabby Tallahassee, Fla.

Dispute over the Dead

Veterans Administration Bureaucrat Carl T. Noll, with his Dachau common-grave mentality, may have backed off at Grafton National Cemetery [July 21], but I am still disturbed that there may be similar exhumations to come elsewhere. When can we expect the arrival of his bulldozers and plastic urns at Gettysburg and Petersburg, where my two greatgrandfathers lie in honor?

Luke S. Rogers

CWO, U.S.A.F. (ret.)

Altoona, Pa.

With the current shortage of everything from energy to living (and dying) space, I am surprised by the public criticism of the Veterans Administration's attempt to form a common gravesite for a number of unknown Civil War soldiers. This would certainly not be a disrespectful act. Instead, wouldn't the joining of several unidentified, outdated gravesites be a sign of respect in an attempt to conserve just one of our fast-diminishing resources--land?

Joan D. Flocks Gainesville, Fla.

Friendly Natives

As you state in your story "Blackpool in the Sun" [July 7], we Brits are lured to the U.S. by reasonable hotel rates, cheap flights and a good exchange rate. But the thing that left an indelible impression on me was the friendly and hospitable natives, especially in the West. The unfailing willingness to have a chat, discuss politics, swap drinks and stories makes the U.S. top in the friendship league, followed by Germany, with France very definitely at the bottom.

Charlie Harrison Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Blacks as Refugees

I was impressed by a letter from Reader Mary C. Barton Rice [July 7], who suggested that we help those families/individuals trapped in the ghettos of our cities and treat them in much the same way that we do foreign refugees--by sponsoring and relocating them and helping them to become productive members of our society. Her suggestion seems so simple and obviously correct that I wondered why it never occurred to me.

Shari Baron Livonia, Mich.

Less Is More

Just to keep the record straight: I do not buy $5,000 dresses [July 7]; I do not have an extensive jewelry collection, or paintings, or antiques; and I do not have a hairdresser and interior decorator in tow. I get my hair done once a week, and I'm at a loss as to what an interior decorator would do. Perhaps rearrange the furniture in all the Holiday Inns I've been staying in.

Nancy Reagan Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Second Opinion

Unless your cover girl with the backache [July 14] actually has situs inversus, then I fear your medical-graphics editor may suffer from dyslexia. The X ray on the cover is printed backward.

Philip E. Sleeves, M.D. Danvers, Mass.

Backward it was.

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