Letters, Sep. 13, 1971

Nixon's New Economics (Contd.)

Sir: The President's lack of courage and insight throughout the last year and a half has forced him to take drastic action in the area of wages and prices. His complete wage-price freeze erases all equity. It rewards those unions and businesses that have demanded and received exorbitant increases in 1971, while penalizing those that have exercised restraint and haven't received increases this year.

While asking that we bite the bullet, the President has lost sight of the fact that many now have weakened gums, and that some no longer have any teeth.

SAMUEL S. ROSEMAN Stanhope, N.J.

Sir: Thank God! Nixon is the one man who had the guts to do what should have been done ten years ago. I'm sorry I didn't vote for Nixon in '68, but rest assured I shall in '72.

KENT LAWRENCE Nashville, Kans.

Sir: In an age when the average homeowner can't afford the price of bread in the markets, King Richard responds with his anti-inflationary proposal, which says in effect: "Let them eat cars!" The only way a homeowner can now get any money back is not through lowered prices or raised salaries but by a refund for every new car he buys.

MARTI KAPLAN Long Beach, Calif.

Sir: George Meany's intemperate blast at the President's wage and price freeze, a policy that seems remarkably fair and free of favoritism, sounds for all the world like a spoiled brat's demand for instant wish gratification. He obviously means to have his own way, even if it's at everyone else's and the country's expense, and regardless of how any of us may feel about it. If his demands are not met will he throw a tantrum or hold his breath till his face turns blue?

KENNETH T. ROBINSON Lewiston, N.Y.

Sir: I am so dismayed by the reaction of the large unions and other groups that are fighting President Nixon's wage and price freeze. I must admit to not being a Nixon admirer, but he has finally done something that makes sense. What's wrong with Americans that they can't make a sacrifice for their country? And it is their country, not just President Nixon's.

KATHRYN I. KELLEY Boston

Sir: It is quite obvious that the culprit responsible for America's international monetary problems is Japan. The U.S. is therefore being grossly unfair in penalizing Canada, whose currency has been floating for some time now.

The U.S. is acting like the schoolteacher who makes the whole class stay after school because of the misbehavior of one student.

JOSEPH A. TORBAY Callander, Ont.

That Gentle Land

Sir: As a student of both Irish and British history, I found it incredible that you describe Great Britain as "that most gentie and civilized of lands" [Aug. 23]. Surely you speak in jest. No other country could compete with the imperialistic, bloody past of England. In her notorious history, that "gentle land" has been involved in war with almost every nation on earth. Such an unadmirable trait seems to stem mainly from misguided English efforts to civilize the rest of the barbaric world. I remember that Americans' forebears threw the English out of America in 1776. The Nationalists in Derry are merely following in that tradition.

BARBARA A. BRADY Potomac, Md.