Dear Editor

...In my view, Congress is suffering from excess democracy I do not mean to be ironic, for democracy is precisely the word, and De Tocqueville himself warned against the dangers of too much equality Since the seniority system was tossed out by the post-Watergate group of freshman legislators, the leveling of senators and congressmen has resulted in paralysis -or, if you prefer, chaos-on Capitol Hill As Mollison so well illustrates, the upshot is a disorganized club of 542 men and women...

...of Darkness, I think it is unfair of Robert Asahina to extensively compare the two in his review ("Dooms-day Deterred,' NL, September 10) Even less fair is his conclusion that Coppola and company "didn't understand the novel ". The fact is that Coppola did not set out to make a film version of Conrad's novel His admitted borrowings were meager in number and inspirational in tone Asahina himself reports Coppola saying that he only "took the metaphor of the boat going up river and the name of Kurtz," and later added a few more scenes which "made more use of the book " The result, for better or worse, is a work that deserved to be judged on its own terms, not Conrad's...

...A great deliberative body needs traditions and respected leaders of its own to work efficiently Obviously, the old seniority system was not heaven on earth, at times it was crude and unbending Perhaps a new and better version of it will emerge in the near future to fill the power vacuum on the Hill I, for one, would welcome its arrival...

...Washington D C JAMES FINLEY...

...Israel has the truth and doesn't know what to do with it The Hurwitz interview is a great step in the right direction The New Leader is to be thanked for making it possible...

...We all make dumb remarks some times", if Tom cuts in on people, "it's only because he is really listening", and, "He has a lot of humanity in him ". If that's the case, then I suggest we bring back J Fred Muggs He also had a lot of humanity, but at least he was silent...

...Los Angeles Charles Joshua Levin Excess Democracy Andrew Mollison says there are three reasons why "a predominantly Democratic Congress working with a Democratic President" can't get anything done ("Carter's Agenda for Congress," NL, September 10) The first is "fragmentation"-a veritable alphabet soup of new congressional caucuses and one-issue voting blocs The second is a "weakness of leadership " The third is President Carter's bad congressional game plan for the passage of his energy package I believe all three points are symptoms of a single cause...

...Dear Editor Israel's Case The case for Israel takes on new strength and luster in Gertrude Samuels' interview with Harry Hurwitz, Prime Minister Menachem Begin's Advisor on information ("West Bank Autonomy and the Settlements," NL, July 2) The Jewish State's scandalous neglect of its overseas information is in significant measure responsible for its weakening position on the international public opinion front Even when it does function, Israel's information apparatus is falsely geared to defensive reaction In more than 30 years it has not learned how to handle the Big Lie technique of Arab propaganda...

...New York City Eugene Worth Noble Savage I was surprised by Marvin Kitman's turnaround on Tom Snyder (' How Tom Snyder Grew On Me," NL, September 10) In the past, Kitman tells us, he found that Snyder's 'belligerent ignorance" and "monumental ego" (nice combination, that) made him the man you love to hate But now your reviewer insists on singing the praises of Tom's shortcomings "So what it he occasionally makes dumb remarks on Tomorrow...

...Balnmore Harold Fowler Too Easy While it is true that Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's Hear...

...I am aware that a number of other critics also have too facilely "compared and contrasted ' the film to the book Perhaps, given the enormity of the movie, these critics were so stymied by their task that they had to fall back on an old college device to get their reviews out of their typewriters...