Dear Editor

...New Yoik City Robert E Maurer Chan man, Southern Africa Committee Umvei stty Chustian Movement YMHA We were absolutely delighted with Stephen Stepanchev s article about Miroslav Holub's reading at the Poetry Center ('Talk with a Czech Poet," NL, September 25) The piece will certainly help Holub, and it was nice to find that someone had paid attention to the evening after all...

...There was a small error though, which I thought I would mention in case one of your writers refers to us again We are the 92nd Street ymha, not ymca New YoiK City Galen Williams Executive Seuetary, The Poetiy Center OLD SHATTERHAND Don t know that the popular German children's author, Karl May merits all that much exegesis, but as a grateful one-time addict of his works, I'd like to take exception with Asher Brynes ( 'Dear Editor,' NL October 9) on some points of fact 1 Old Shatterhand was so called not because there was anything wrong with his hand, but because he had the remarkable ability to stun ("shatter" if your knowledge of English derives purely from an inadequate dictionary) his adversaries with one blow of his fist 2 Although May made a good deal of Old Shatterhand s traditional German reluctance to shed human blood unnecessarily, it is really somewhat excessive to call him "Hitler-esque " He was an old-fashioned German imperialist, and as such no more racist or obtuse than his turn-of-the-century Bntish counterparts...

...Anti-Pollution League...

...ATOMIC HAZARDS I was glad to see The New Leader expose the electric power companies' maneuvering m Joseph Ruskay's article, "Breaking the Birch Rod" (October 9...

...If Moynihan keeps on being so perceptive publicly (he's probably right, you know), he's liable to encourage the development of a new sport skydiving without a parachute' Anyone care to join me on the way down...

...3 If Karl May was indeed 'Hitlei's favorite pablum when he was a boy," it would indicate only that Hitler must have had some moments of normal boyish fantasy as a kid It is dangerous to condemn an author on the basis of the deplorable people who like him Peisonally, I found it far more distuibing to learn that Eisenhower was hooked on westerns, or that JFK admired Ian Fleming's spy stories...

...When Moynihan writes "It is time to acknowledge that the prestige and credibility of the Armed Forces is involved and is entitled to consideration, as is the self-regard of the tens of thousands of American youths who perform honorably and well in those jungles," what is he really saying7 Is he seriously suggesting that no one has considered this9 Does he mean that if we were to withdraw from Vietnam our Armed Forces would wither away on a budget of only $70 billion a year7 Does he really think the Armed Forces' difficulty in fighting elusive peasants has any connection whatever with their ability to destroy Moscow or Peking or even Hiroshima again7 Does he think the Russians or the Chinese make such a. connection7 Maybe he thinks the prestige of the Armed Forces is the number one priority among America's obligations7 And what does he feel the killing of women and children and old men does for the self-regard of those 'tens of thousands"7 Or does he think their collections of VC ears and other organs will not prop up their pride enough7 Does he perhaps feel we owe them more than a year m the Orient surrounded by poverty, prostitution and death...

...Governor Rockefeller has nonetheless, announced that he intends to press for passage of a measure to create a chain (worth $8 billion ) of nuclear plants in New York State Similar to the measure defeated in the State Assembly last April 2 this new "Townsend" plan would subsidize to the extent of $3 billion of state funds seven privately-owned utilities that are among the nation's most profitable enterprises Perhaps Rockefeller wants to show utilities in other parts of the country what handsome treatment they would get if he were to occupy the White House...

...That should be enough for anyone's self-regard Moynihan does offer some useful suggestions, but nothing radical enough to keep the crisis from passing out of his control, just as he fears He is trying to deal with a qualitative change in America as though it were merely quantitative By doing so he will only make the crisis worse, for his are not the politics of stability so much as the politics of the status quo New York City William M Boardm??n...

...Dallas Texas Dan Bates...

...In fact we are building and proposing too many giant nuclear reactors, particularly in the Northeast without experience with even a thing nuclear station of commercial size Because of the large amounts of low-level radioactive waste released into the water and air around these plants they pose a serious pollution problem Where the public has been aware of this??and the possibility, however remote of catastrophic accident??opposition has grown...

...DEAR EDITOR DEFYING THE UN The two article on South Africa's growing power in your September 25 issue, by Immanuel Wallerstein ("Penetrating the Continent") and Keith Irvine ('Defying the UN' ), were excellent contributions to the current critique of the "new look" in South Africa Irvine's article was particularly resourceful m setting out the terms of the dilemma confronting the UN's continued denunciation of apartheid Either the UN must back its words with concrete action or it must cease its verbiage...

...Readers may have been left with the impression however, that nuclear power has alleady been demonstiated to be safe, rehan'e and economical Through advertising and publicity the private investor-owned utilities and the Atomic Energy Commission suggest that nuclear reactors are out of the experimental woods Unfortunately, this is not the case...

...Unfortunately, he fails to mention the specific case of the "trial" of 37 South West African "terrorists' seized in their homeland by South African police As Irvine no doubt would have pointed out, under the intent of the UN resolution revoking South Africa's mandate over South West Africa, the trial now taking place m Pretoria is blatantly illegal This matter represents yet another challenge by South Africa to the authority of the UN It is hoped the General Assembly and Secretary-General U Thant will intervene and restore the integrity of the United Nations, especially before the eyes of the emerging nations...

...4 I would suggest that the Old Shatterhand label on the blue jeans of Czech teenagers is an ordinary piece of commercial exploitation, and its poltical or cultural implications no more momentous than those attached to a Mickey Mouse wnstwatch Los Angeles, Calif Shimon Wincelberg...

...The governor has admitted that his scientific adviser Dr Edward H Teller has warned that nuclear power plants are not yet safe enough to locate in populous areas Yet the Rockefeller proposal would put one of the most deadly of all nuclear devices??a 'fast breeder reactor??on the shores of Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh, New York Through radioactive pollution and careless nothing we can endanger millions of people in the Northeast unless primary responsibility for protection against radiation from all sources is placed under the justsdiction of the Health Education and Welfare Depait-ments U S Public Health Service Senator Lister Hill of Alabama has introduced a bill to bring about this badly needed reform Thousands of Americans may die because they are exposed without their knowledge or consent to insidious radiation??the effects of which often do not come to light for many years, when it is too late Allendale NJ Larry Bogart...

...Daniel P Moynihan s article is a simultaneously infuriating and encouraging mixed bag of antiquated attitudes and sharp insights But only if his apparent suffering is real (and I suspect it is not) am I more encouraged than infuriated What is most infuriating is the contradiction between the perception of America's arrival at an historic crisis and the vacuity with which this crisis is dealt Moynihan relies primarily on the jovial tone of the detached scholar to keep his reader interested He doesn't take his own vision seriously...

...With regard to the Vietnam war, he seems to want to wash his hands of the whole thing He seems to suggest that if one makes a wrong turn and brings one's car to the brink of a cliff where the bridge has been washed away, there is still a valid question as to whether the brakes should be applied since one has come this far already and is committed If this is perhaps putting the case too strongly, then it would certainly seem that, while Moynihan might stop the car if he were driving, as a passenger he would keep silent Nowhere does he indicate that once stopped, he would consider turning back and either go home or find another road On the contrary the most radical position he seems willing to take is to wait for the bridge to be rebuilt The same inconsistency between perception and willingness to think about action (acting tor Movmhan is apparently something someone else does) is even more obvious in his domestic position There he does not even perceive the basic reality clearly He asserts that 'The summer of 1967 came in the aftermath of one of the most extraordinary periods of liberal legislation " without ever touching on the degree to which that legislation was compromised in enactment and undermined in enforcement And presumably he was not referring to the Civil Rights Bill of 1966 In reality this period was a struggle within the American conscience which demonstrated to black people m particular that the American nation was more concerned with property rights than people...

...MOYN1HAN Daniel P Moymhan's essay, "The Politics of Stability" (NL, October 9), contained the single most depressingly realistic paragraph I've read all year " President Johnson will almost certainly be re-elected m 1968 and with some modifications, the national government will remain m the hands of the same kinds of liberals who have been much in evidence for the last seven years The war in Asia is likely to go on many years, too...