Letters, Dec. 20, 1971

Unanswered Questions

Sir: Ted Kennedy on TIME'S cover [Nov. 29] and "Could He Win in 72?": It is really an American tragedy that such a man could be even considered for President.

If people forget so quickly the many unanswered questions of Chappaquiddick, then democracy is indeed finished.

SUSAN S. COFFIN Scottsdale, Ariz.

Sir: No single individual has the capacity to unite our country today; however, Senator Edward Kennedy comes closest.

I hope that his eight-year appointment with destiny will begin this decade.

CHUCK TAIT Houston

Sir: My heart goes out to Senator Kennedy; my vote, never! He too is the victim of a terrible accident. I wish him peace of mind. Americans are for the most part compassionate people and bear no ill feeling toward the youngest Kennedy brother. I know I don't. I just don't want another Kennedy in the White House. MARGARET MCCARTHY MCEACHERN Beaufort, S.C.

Sir: I must protest your lengthy story on the "non candidacy" of Ted Kennedy. I counted and read six full pages of empty sentences about the Senator. Also mentioned (once more) was the popularity of Kennedy with the younger generation. I am a high school student, but I see only a facade of the Kennedy face. Ted Kennedy is merely a boy masquerading with the face and accent of an honorable family that before has produced real men. BARBARA J. VERVILLE Tulsa

Hardhat v. Intellectual

Sir: If there was bad taste at the Bal Harbour meeting of American labor [Nov. 29], it was not from the forthright Mr. Meany, but from the President, who demagogically sought to pit hardhat against intellectual. PHIL CLARK Chicago

Sir: I never expected to find myself on the side of George Meany, but to anyone with an understanding of economics, it is ridiculous to try to make big labor unions a whipping boy for inflation. The money supply, the only cause of inflation, is controlled by Government. Wage and price controls to combat inflation are useless. A. LYNN PORTER Houston

Sir: The events of the past few weeks have provided Mr. Meany with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill the promise of his past accomplishments and become the statesman that labor so desperately needs. Regrettably, he chose not to seize that opportunity, proving once again by his childlike performance the business maxim that a man should retire at age 65.

G.I. PLATT New York City

Macomber on Thomas

Sir: Whenever a person takes his own life, it is a great tragedy. It is deplorable, therefore, that in your recounting of the tragic case of Foreign Officer Charles W. Thomas [Nov. 15] and in describing the

Foreign Service personnel system, the record has become so distorted.

That Mr. Thomas was the victim of a misfiled report is untrue. After the report in question arrived in Washington, it was part of Mr. Thomas' file every time a promotion panel could have considered him for promotion. The brief period it was misfiled was thus irrelevant to his failure to be promoted. Given the competition that Mr. Thomas faced, it is no derogation of this able officer that none of the panels reviewing his record during his eight years in rank recommended him for promotion.