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In your article on the filibuster staged by Wayne Morse [Aug. 24], you state that under President Wilson's angry urging, the Senate provided cloture could be invoked by two-thirds of the Senators present and voting. If I am not mistaken, the Senate rule provided that cloture could be invoked by two-thirds of the entire Senate whether present or not.
ART ZIMMERMAN University of California Berkeley
>The 1917 ruling required the vote of two-thirds of the Senators present and voting to invoke cloture. In 1949 Rule XXII was amended, making cloture more difficult by raising the necessary number to two-thirds of the entire Senate, whether present or not.
In 1959 the rule was revised again: at present limitation of debate requires a two-thirds vote of Senators present and voting.—ED.
Better Informed Sir: Apparently New York's Representative Charles E. Goodell needs to become better informed on area redevelopment before contradicting President Kennedy's statement that 400,000 persons are now receiving retraining [Aug. 24]. According to Representative Goodell, "the number being retrained is exactly zero." According to an official report of the State of West Virginia, there were, as of June 30, 1,127 persons being retrained in 13 counties of this state under the area redevelopment program.
CLAUDE J. DAVIS Director
Bureau for Government Research West Virginia University Morgantown, W. Va.
The Army's Choice
Sir:
We the soldiers of the United States of America think that it's about time someone put the "critics" in their places when it comes to judging Jacqueline Kennedy.
To say the least, she is a very beautifully proportioned woman, and we are very proud to have her as our First Lady and representative to the world.
The critics condemn her for water-skiing and wearing a bathing suit in public. If their wives looked like her, they would be very proud to have their wives in bathing suits.
Jackie is a young and beautiful woman, yet they want her to sit around like an old bag who can't move for fear of breaking a leg or something. We don't think they realize what a hit she is making with the world by being herself and not acting as if she were some sort of semideity.
We hope she continues to do as she has done and the critics mind their own damn business.
PVT. STEPHEN MEIGS PVT. JESSE ESTLOCK Fort Dix, N.J.
Watchful Waking
Sir:
Although we consider it not altogether cricket, jumping the gun on Jeff's death [Aug. 24], we are grateful for the warning.
Our group, which had a reception on Penny and Jeff's wedding day, was suitably attired in black to watch As the World Turns on the day Jeff died.
JEAN HAYES Oklahoma City
Sax Giant
Sir:
I thought you would like to know how much I enjoyed the article on Coleman Hawkins [Aug. 31], the elder-statesman saxophone player. Though he has been playing tenor for nearly 40 years, "Bean" has always kept up with the youngsters as well as his contemporaries. I cannot recall a time in his long career when he could honestly be accused of "saxual senility."