Great Britain's Great Politics

Sir: As an American studying in London, I found the recent prime-ministerial crisis intensely interesting because of its profound implications and its sharp contrast with the American processes of selecting a governmental head.

Your excellent article [Oct. 25] acutely illustrated these differences and their implications.

To me it is utter folly that one should criticize Lord Home's appointment on the basis that he is an aristocrat and therefore has little knowledge of, and even less compassion for, the problems of the laborer. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the unquestioned champion of the American workingman and a wealthy aristocrat of the first order, would presumably also be considered by Mr. Harold Wilson an "elegant anachronism." I believe such a label would, in fact, be held in contempt by the vast majority of Mr. Wilson's own Labor Party. As can be seen by the example of Mr. Roosevelt or that of Mr. Kennedy, wealth and lineage do not necessarily preclude sensitivity and a sense of equality, as Mr. Wilson would have us believe.

BRUCE T. LEITMAN London

Sir: You say that Lord Home won't tolerate nepotism in government. Thanks for warning us that he is against Kennedy-style government.

WARREN SNYDER Evanston, 111.

Sir: In your cover story [Oct. 11] on Mr. Harold Wilson, you stated: "Laborites accepted the ban [on a foreign policy debate at the party conference] without question. Asked if Gaitskell would have resorted to such tactics, Wilson replied: 'No--but he would have lost the election.' "

Mr. Wilson made no such comment at any time, and, indeed, the decision to concentrate on home affairs was decided upon by the Conference Arrangements Committee--a body elected by the conference and not by Mr. Wilson.

JOHN HARRIS The Labor Party London

Sir: Is the Labor Party's "modernized symbol," shown on TIME'S cover, a weather vane? It is certainly an optical illusion, heralding an East wind or a West wind--depending on which way you look at it.

THEODORE R. BROMWELL Pittsburgh

&#gt; The Labor Party symbol is made up of three elements: the spade and pen, representing workers of both the hand and the brain, linked by the torch. The symbol came into being in 1918, following the formation of a new party constitution, and is thought to have been designed by Jimmie Middleton, who was then general secretary of the party. [For that original version, see cut.) The stylized version of the symbol that TIME used in the background of the Wilson cover portrait was prepared 2 1/2 years ago by Jack Stoddard of the Labor Party's art department.--ED.

Mystery Story?

Sir: The "mysterious reason" that you mention in your [Oct. 18] article for the detainment of U.S. convoys by the Communists is not so complex as it appears. The Russians, as they have shown the last few months, want a cold war thaw, but they also realize that '64 is election year. By creating this incident, they hoped to undermine the American's confidence in J.F.K.'s foreign policy, and thus bring about the election of a new, inexperienced President.

JAMES R. LEBUFFE Silver Spring, Md.

Sir: Both Kennedy and Chamberlain considered appeasement a method of resolving differences with dictators. However, both Khrushchev and Hitler considered appeasement a method of securing concessions from a self-deluded enemy.

As soon as one concession has been achieved, it is necessary to commit a hostile act to set the stage for the securing of the next. This performance is not mysterious. On the contrary, it is strictly by the book. It was followed religiously by Hitler and it will also be adhered to by Khrushchev as long as America is controlled by an administration committed to appeasement.

JOHN R. ROYER Encino, Calif.

The Negro & the Mormon

Sir: Notwithstanding a few minor inaccuracies, the interesting and informative article on the Mormons [Oct. 18] was an objective observation on one segment of America's momentous racial awakening. GEORGE E. JOHNSON Brigham Young University Provo, Utah

Sir: The record of Mormons and Mormonism in regard to their treatment of the Negro reads very differently from what you would have the public believe. It is interesting to note that the immediate cause of the Mormons' being driven from Missouri, with great loss of property and life, was an editorial in the church-owned paper there, entitled "Free People of Color." At the same time, Joseph Smith said, "Go into . . . any city and find an educated Negro . . . and you will find a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to a state of exalted respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places."

KAREN M. SEYMOUR Stockton, Calif.

Sir: The racial unrest in our country, the fact that a group of several thousand Negroes in Nigeria have asked for baptism in the church, and other outward signs would indicate to sensitive Mormons that the Lord is preparing the way for a change in the policy that excludes the Negro from the priesthood. Such a change would not, as your article stated, require "a most awkward reinterpretation of Mormon teaching on pre-existence." Christ, for reasons of his own, has excluded the Negro from his priesthood in our day, and a change in policy by revelation would not be surprising.

L. K. LANGLOIS Salt Lake City

Sir: As an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it has long seemed incredible to me that a church with so much forward vision in social welfare and higher education can be so backward in its outlook on a segment of the human race that is also supposed to be among our brothers. One of the major tenets of the church is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as we understand it) should be taken to every nation and people on earth. My church fails in this despite the lesson it should have learned in its early history, when our people were persecuted and gradually pushed to the Rocky Mountain regions.

The revelation that the church is talking about with respect to the Negro and the priesthood should have been sought 50 years ago--not now when we are forced into looking for one. Even if a revelation should come now, we have compromised our position because it looks as if we have been forced into seeking it, which will be true.

DONALD IRA FRENCH JR. Berlin, N.Y.

Sir: It may interest you to know that in one of his publications Joseph Fielding Smith has this to say about Negroes: "There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less."

ANTHONY A. HOEKEMA Department of Systematic Theology Calvin Theological Seminary Grand Rapids

Mr. Ekins Knew What Was Important

Sir: The story about the death of Bud Ekins in your Oct. 25 issue leaves out too much about the man. It is ironic that he should be remembered for a round-the-world race with Dorothy Kilgallen and that his departure should serve as a kickoff for a story of her early exploits. Ekins looked upon the race as a lark. He had said to his associates at the Union-Star, "There is something more important to a working, writing newspaperman than a promotion stunt." Ekins was a brilliant and courageous reporter, and he held the principles of good journalism sacred. He was a newspaperman to the end, and he still looked askance at those who organized publicity stunts to get their names or products into the news columns.

DONALD E. SMITH Editor

Schenectady Union-Star Schenectady

Objection Noted

Sir: It is gratifying to note the interest in the law reflected by the new section on The Law in TIME.

Contrary to the impression left by your Oct. 25 report, my paper presented at the Chicago conference on Religious Freedom and Public Affairs did not criticize the decisions of the Supreme Court in the prayer and Bible-reading cases on the merits. In my judgment the decisions were sound in principle. I did point out that the establishment clause is broad enough in its reach to apply to governmental action respecting religion which does not necessarily have any special effect upon individuals, as well as to governmental action which does interfere with individual freedom. I went on to say that the opinion of Justice Clark for the court in the Bible-reading cases was open to question to the extent that it laid down that there could be "an establishment clause invasion of individual religious interests without any element of compulsion."

What TIME attributed to me was a statement to the effect that the opinion of the court failed to explain how governmental participation in religious affairs could be unconstitutional "without any element of compulsion." What I was getting at was that the individual would be hard put to maintain that his constitutional rights had been invaded unless there was an element of compulsion (which, as a matter of fact, was probably present in both cases).

JEFFERSON B. FORDHAM Philadelphia

Sir: The municipal judges of the U.S. and Canada will be numbered among the very deeply interested readers of this new addition to TIME.

GEORGE T. MARTIN President-elect

National Association of Municipal Judges Denver

Sir: We were delighted to read that TIME has a section on The Law.

There is a great need for light to be shed in many areas of the law and its administration, and we feel sure that you will make a significant contribution.

DUNCAN ELDER Chairman, Executive Committee Committee for Modern Courts, Inc. New York City

Liberia's Spending

Sir: Your issue of Oct. 25 contains a stimulating account of the cooperative effort, intercompany and international, which made possible the development of the iron-ore mine atop Liberia's Mount Nimba.

Forgive me if I point to one blemish in your presentation: the use of the phrase "spending spree" in describing Liberia's financial miscalculations.

There was no "spree," but rather a determined effort to maintain our economic-growth rate by providing the basic requirements for further expansion. Later, as a consequence not of LAMCO's troubles alone but of the decline in the world price of rubber, we undertook measures of retrenchment which were in train before our negotiations with the International Monetary Fund finally ensured that a unique experiment in business and political partnership would not be undone by temporary misfortune.

S. EDWARD PEAL Ambassador

Embassy of the Republic of Liberia Washington, D.C.

Mating Antennae

Sir: The much more unusual finding of Dr. Dieter Matthes [Oct. 11] is not the ritual mating behavior of the Malachiidae, but the finding of an insect with four antennae.

JAMES E. APPLEBY Canton, Ohio

&#gt; Malachiidae, like other insects, have only two antennae proper, but another two spots in the hollow of the male's head are touched by the female's two labial palpae, which serve a function similar to the antennae in the mating game.--ED.

Blood, Sweat & Roger

Sir: For the past three years I have struggled through the blood, sweat and tears of high school by studying till my eyes went bad, never getting in bed before midnight, going out for every extracurricular activity I could get into, running myself ragged and generally doing all the things that my guidance counselor told me would help to get me in college.

After reading about Roger Staubach's admission to Annapolis [Oct. 18], I have but one thing to ask: Why can't girls play football?

KATHLEEN DEVOTO Pitman, N.J.

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