Letters: Aug. 30, 1968

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In World War II, a stunned world finally intervened. It remains to be seen whether the world will eventually wake up and stop what may turn out to be one of the worst examples of genocide and savagery in history.

LLEWELYN GRYFFYTH Washington, D.C.

Sir: As readers delved through your article on Biafra, most of them most likely sat back in their comfy-cozy easy chairs and said, "Tsk-tsk." Many people abhor this situation, but no one seems to do anything. You stated that "nothing short of military muscle would get supplies through and it [the Administration] is certainly unwilling to risk that." Even though I'm only 15, I can see serious wrongs. And I see something wrong when thousands of U.S. men are getting killed in Viet Nam but no one has enough nerve to help save thousands of starving people. One can certainly say that the great old U.S.A. has really "scummed out."

THOMAS HAUVER Harvard, Ill.

The G.O.P. Convention

Sir: You cited the targets in Mr. Nixon's acceptance speech: the "forgotten Americans, the non-shouters, the non-demonstrators . . . They're decent people. They work and they save and they pay their taxes and they care." Mr. Nixon is wrong. If it were not for the shouters, the U.S. might have remained a British colony. If it were not for the demonstrators, the Paris peace talks might never have occurred. Those people who year after year do no more for their country than "pay their taxes" are the apathetic people. They are the people who would sit around and watch this nation fall apart. Mr. Nixon should promote the dissenters, if he really does care for the welfare of this nation.

DIANE BUTCHER White Marsh, Md.

Sir: For once, let's be pragmatic. The young, the newly inspired downtrodden, and the dissenters have been and still are speaking a message long overdue. But a moment of clear thought will bring to mind the hard fact that these are not the ones who are in a position to do much about conditions that need cor rection. Put another way, is it really possible to imagine a McCarthy having much effect on a recalcitrant Congress? Is it probable that the private enterprise (big business) needed to take the initiative in aiding the ghetto inhabitant would follow any Democrat as well as it would Nixon? A "Nixon unbound," shuttling between conservative and liberal lines, may yet prove to be the Prometheus needed to convert jaw muscle into the strength that undoes a nation's chains.

NEIL G. BARCLAY San Francisco

Sir: In frustration I read of the Republicans' hand wringing and teeth gnashing over the selection of Spiro T. Agnew as the party's candidate for Vice President. He's not a disease; he is the Governor of the state of Maryland, the 20th most populous state in the nation. TIME described Agnew as "a competent if not brilliant Governor," "a pragmatic, administration-minded Governor," "straightforward and unaffected." A man thus described surely doesn't cause me to wring my hands, nor does his record of achievement as Governor of Maryland cause me to gnash my teeth. Perhaps his name has not appeared daily in the news; perhaps he has been so busy doing a Governor's job that he hasn't had time to thrust himself into the news with comic-strip regularity.

GAYLE LAURENCE Lawton, Okla.