Democracy Wins

To the Editors:

King Juan Carlos should be congratulated! He took Spain from the repressive era of Franco and placed the political future of the country in the hands of the Spanish people [June 27].

The world should take note that democracy is not dying but flourishing. With Premier Adolfo Suarez, another country has seen the way to go: that of choosing a democratic form of government in a free election.

William Chilani Woburn, Mass.

After 40 years of pollution, Spain is enjoying a revitalizing political air. As a Catalan and Spaniard I proud of the democratic goals reached by my own country in such a short space of tune.

Now Mr. Suarez can report of the victory to the people of Spain: "Veni. vidi, vici."

(The Rev.) Joan Almenara Jersey City

Your story on the recent voting in Spain appears to equate the victory of Premier Adolfo Suarez, rather than the election itself, with the triumph of Spanish democracy.

I believe it would have been an equally triumphant day for democracy had La Pasionaria been elected in a free election.

Jacob Thiessen Temple City, Calif.

Your vicious anti-Franco bias and rank hatred in your story of Spain's "return to democracy" (whatever that is) are what is expected of you.

Francisco Franco brought decency honor, courage, respect, physical and spiritual health and safety to Spain but you whores prefer the terror of Bolshevism, and you have to spit on any leader or group that effectively stands up against it.

George F. Johnson Upper Darby, Pa.

Arguing with South Africa

Compliments on the lucid and realistic Essay [June 27] on South Africa. It is reassuring to read an appraisal of a highly complex problem and find it free of the rhetoric and hostility emanating from Washington in recent days. Perhaps sanity will yet triumph and an effort will be made to engage the South African people in a dialogue that recognizes human rights for all.

Alexander M. Don, M.D. Dix Hills, N. Y.

I was enraged by Managing Editor Henry Grunwald's statement that "no advanced civilization ... ever existed south of the Sahara." Apparently the man has been reading too many Tarzan books.

What about the kingdom of Benin, which flourished from 1170 to 1900 in what is now Ghana? The artisans of Benin were celebrated throughout Africa. What about the kingdom of Oyo, 1200-1800, and the mighty Ashantis, 1695-1901? The Ashantis were famed as warriors and hunters.

When I look at this country, a modern-day Babylon that is fast approaching its twilight, and see it wallowing in decadence, corruption, immorality and banality, I am proud to realize that absolutely none of it is of my making.

Melissa A. Simmons Grand Island, N. Y.

Sensible--or Insane?

In "Carter, the World and the Jews" [June 27] you state that President Carter's plan for Israel to give up virtually all the occupied territory is "sensible." You would not think it sensible if you were an Israeli and the Arabs were offering you only pretty promises in exchange for the land that protects you. You would not think it sensible to leave your security in the hands of nations who would sell their mothers for Arab oil. For the Israelis, Carter's plan isn't sensible. It's insanity.

Terry Stagman Chicago

You quote a member of the Zionist Organization of America as having threatened, "People thought they had seen a Jewish lobby operate before. They haven't seen anything yet." You also quote Rabbi Seymour Siegel as follows: "If Carter had said in October what he has been saying this spring, he would not be in the White House."

Are they telling us that no man can become President of the U.S. unless he suits the so-called Jewish community, and that to suit this community a presidential aspirant must endorse Israeli positions uncritically?

Miles Copeland Washington, D.C.

Searching Ms. Bisset

The movie The Deep [June 27] must indeed have been puzzling to Mr. Schickel. When the "baddies" force Ms. Bisset to strip, they are searching for the ampoule of morphine, not the medallion. They are, as yet, unaware of the existence of the Spanish treasure.

Mrs. D.J. Williams Corpus Christi, Texas

As an underwater janitor at Marine World/Africa USA for the past five years, I'd like to say a word on behalf of the moray eel in The Deep.

Brown morays (as the one in The Deep appears to be) are very mellow creatures. They can be touched (their bodies feel like velvet under water) and fed squid from the diver's hand. When they do bite a person (I've been bitten four times), I believe it to be mostly a mistake, caused by their poor eyesight.

I wish that whenever a movie is about to slander an animal, it would have to include some sort of statement beforehand, like: "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between our beast and any animal that ever lived is purely coincidental."

Don C. Reed Fremont, Calif.

IBM in Court

So the Government, acting, of course, for the benefit of its citizens, is suing IBM [June 27]. Millions of dollars are being spent by both sides, dollars that ultimately are paid by you and me in taxes or increased consumer costs, and for what? It's difficult to see how anyone other than the attorneys will benefit from a decision either way.

Mark Hunt San Jose, Calif.

While I may not agree with every detail of your article, "Those Cases That Go On and On," I do agree with the major theme. Protracted litigation is often pointless and always a miserable experience for all concerned.

Frank T. Cary

Chairman, IBM

Armonk, N. Y.

Down with Discomania

Oh boy! "Hotpots of the Urban Night" [June 27], where you can "do your own thing," "communicate," "transcend reality."

I say down with discos! By being plasticized, laserized, Halstonized and Farrahized, disco people are going to become what the owners of these dancing halls want them to become: components in their version of computer-programmed music, if you can even call these sounds music at all. Michael A. Samuelson St. Paul

Independent Monkeys

Your photograph, "Scott with howler monkey on his back" [May 23] is actually of me with a visitor's woolly monkey. It is no longer possible to photograph me or my wife with monkeys in our arms. Fondness and attention are fundamental to monkeys, but getting these from man is a poor and unfortunately perturbing substitute for affection from conspecific animals. Our animals are now socially independent.

Taming wild animals is best eschewed because a developing dependence on man, and social assimilation of men, degrade specific social aptitudes. The individual animal loses a certain amount of his behavioral identity, the identity that allows him to relate to his species and his environment.

Scott M. Lindbergh

Verlhiac Primate Center

St.-Chamassy, France

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