Carter's Coup

To the Editors:

Sound the trumpets, beat the drums in honor of and with profound gratitude to that peanut farmer [March 19] from Plains, who has accomplished, by his own initiative, what no other American President has.

When the peace treaty is signed a national holiday should be declared by Israel, Egypt and the U.S. so that all the people can pay homage to three courageous leaders.

Elsie Kendis

Philadelphia

It's too bad about our "moral" obligation to Israel, because our economic interests lie with the Arab world.

Bruce E. Hendry

Minneapolis

Carter may be the hero of the Middle East peace treaty, but one wonders if the history books will also give due honor to the downtrodden taxpayers of our country, who have to bear the burden of shelling out the billions of dollars to bribe Sadat and Begin to agree to Carter's terms.

John K. Stanyer

Scotts Valley, Calif.

Strip and Search

I am shaking with outrage and fear. I've had one traffic ticket in my life, with none of the strip searching in the police station [March 19] you mention. However, I would probably become a basket case if such a thing did happen to me. A person seems to be guilty until proved innocent. I don't want to sue after it happens; I want to keep it from happening.

(Mrs.) Linda Patterson

Sherman, Texas

Now, in addition to worrying about rape whenever I get into my car alone, I have to fear being hauled into a police station where, for some minor traffic offense, I may undergo a publicly financed sexual assault.

Leigh Lawrence

Bay side, N. Y.

I weep in anger and frustration at yet another outrage against women, but men will have no trouble carrying out this type of injustice as long as other women are willing aides. Isn't the word no in a police matron's vocabulary?

Laila M. Whitfield

Marquette, Mich.

The Road to Happiness

Your Essay "The Scientific Pursuit of Happiness" [March 19] made me happy. One thing seems to be so universally true: we very often wish to be as happy as others, who are usually not quite as happy as we think they are.

(Mrs.) Susan W. Embich

New York City

The road to happiness is always under construction.

Pat Kelly

Cambridge, Mass.

Happiness comes from knowing Jesus.

Anne Robertson

Hope, R.I.

Train of Thoughts

With gasoline getting increasingly scarce and expensive, what are people going to do if Congress goes through with Transportation Secretary Brock Adams' proposals to slash the Amtrak passenger service [March 19]? There will be few trains to fall back on. Do you think Americans will be content to stay home?

Walter G. Wight

Palm Coast, Fla.

If the departments of Energy and Transportation were combined, perhaps Washington would then begin to perceive the importance of balanced transportation. If other countries have energy-saving systems, we can too.

Isabelle Tavares

Berkeley, Calif.

The passenger train is certainly not a true alternative to the private automobile. How many people take a train to shop for groceries? Nor are Europe and Japan able to operate "fast, comfortable and dependable" trains without large government subsidies.

Steven Still

Princeton, N.J.

Gone Underground

In your article "A Fallout of Nuclear Fear" [March 12], you stated that unlike the U.S., France has not stopped nuclear tests in the atmosphere. In fact, the last French above-ground tests were conducted in the summer of 1974. President Giscard d'Estaing announced at that time that France had reached the stage in its nuclear defense program that permitted it to switch to underground testing. This has been the case ever since.

Andre Baeyens, Director

Press and Information Service

Embassy of France New York City

France has never signed the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that prohibited atmospheric testing.

Blacked-Out Mister Dugan

Now that we've all heard from the Black Congressional Caucus, the N.A.A.C.P., Norman Lear, et al, I think it only fair that you listen to one of the writers and creators of the canceled Mister Dugan [March 19].

Congressman Mickey Leland's charge that the show was a reversion to the "Stepin Fetchit syndrome" is a total injustice to Cleavon Little, a talented, intelligent and sensitive black actor. What actually was shown was a new Congressman in Washington weighing the advice of his more experienced staff, one of whom was a black woman. Indeed, in the last show we taped, Dugan learns that being a lawmaker does not give him a license to be pompous.

Perhaps Congressman Leland and his black colleagues will use as a role image ex-Congressman Dugan, a man of principle, dedication, humor and a lack of self-righteousness.

Arthur Julian

Los Angeles

Did Norman Lear take All in the Family around to union halls or down to a few blue-collar saloons before he inflicted Archie Bunker on us? Thank God that Lear did not get his hands on Roots. He would have turned it into a 400-year-old tap dance.

Mike Lavelle

Chicago

Casting the First Stone

For those in the U.S. bemused by the Koranic punishment [March 12] of the wicked (hand lopping for thievery, stoning to death for adultery)--almost never carried out--it is pertinent to recall a Judaeo-Christian injunction: "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey ... the men of the city shall stone him to death ..." (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

G.E. Kidder Smith

New York City

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