Land for Sale

To the Editors:

It is good to have TIME'S thorough coverage of the "Land Sale of the Century" [Aug. 23]. President Reagan and Interior Secretary James Watt have the courage and understanding to deal with the Government's tendency to acquire property and hold it long after the federal need for it is gone.

John F. Durr Bellevue, Wash.

Your story objectively presented both sides of the land controversy. Unfortunately, Secretary Watt's cavalier treatment of conservationists' honest concerns has called his motives into question. I doubt that he will ever be trusted to serve what environmentalists perceive to be the best interests of the nation.

John W. Garrett Quaker City, Ohio

Secretary Watt has provoked a dialogue about long-term goals for our nation. Neither he nor his detractors will ultimately be right on all counts, but the nation will surely benefit from a heightened concern for natural-resource issues. A recommitment to conservation, with both use and protection of our lands, will arise.

Derrick A. Crandall President

American Recreation Coalition Washington, D.C.

Unlike President Reagan's errors in handling the economy, which can be corrected after he leaves office, the vandalism of James Watt will be irreparable.

Thomas Bernick Dearborn, Mich.

Let's pray your epitaph for American land ("Going, Going . ..") applies instead to Secretary Watt's Government career.

Warren P. Wolfe

Aurora, Colo.

The small bits of Government-owned land near large urban areas are often this country's most valuable recreation assets. To sell to a developer a parcel of beachfront property like Fort DeRussy in Honolulu, the last open spot along Waikiki Beach, is not just shortsighted, it is criminal. Such choice pieces of real estate should be recognized as national treasures.

Philip J. Abbott San Francisco

Your article falsely states that ranchers are dependent on federal land because private land is overgrazed. The reason for the dependency is the patchwork nature of real estate ownership in the West. Ranchers need the public areas to tie the scattered tracts of private land together. There is no profit in overgrazing. If a steer has to walk 100 yds. to get a mouthful, he isn't going to get fat. My family has been on the same ranch for 93 years. If we had abused the land, we would have had to move long ago.

T. Douglas Cooper Casper, Wyo.

Lebanon's Aftermath

I am outraged by the criticism heaped on Israel for its advance into Lebanon [Aug. 23]. Regrettably, civilians have been killed in this tragic war, but the P.L.O. is equally responsible. Its members in a cowardly and calculating way situated themselves in the middle of a large and defenseless civilian population. The P.L.O.'s crimes against innocent people, both Lebanese and Israeli, have been conveniently ignored or forgotten. It is the media's presentation of the war in Lebanon, rather than the war itself, that has clouded Israel's image in the world's eyes.

Richard S. Gillette Tucson

The Israelis have destroyed all possibility for a peaceful relationship with Lebanon. Despite the trouble the Palestinians brought to Lebanon, the Lebanese understood their situation. If the Israelis think that by bombing civilians they can engender resentment against the Palestinians, they are grossly mistaken. They have only alienated themselves permanently from the Lebanese and everyone else who realizes the cruelty in their souls.

Cynthia Soghikian-Wolfe Irving, Texas

The Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to Special Envoy Philip Habib. Because of his diplomatic skills, Lebanon may once again live in peace.

P. Bauer Cleveland

Armenian Revenge

Thank you for the brief history of the tragic Armenian-Turkish conflict of World War I [Aug. 23]. Articles like yours help people understand why the Armenians are resorting to violence. If the world had listened years ago instead of turning a deaf ear to the cries of the surviving Armenians, there would be no need for terrorist acts now.

Krikor D. Hakimian Whittier, Calif.

Your account is unfair to the Turkish people who have lived in peace with the Armenians since the 13th century. During World War I, when Turkey was struggling for its very existence, Armenians openly sided with Russia and became a threat to eastern Turkey. An ill-conceived attempt to secure the Russian front by deporting the Armenian population from the border provinces to the south resulted in many deaths. It was a desperate, chaotic time, when many Turks also starved and atrocities were committed by both sides. Labeling a wartime tragedy with terms such as genocide and holocaust will not help heal old wounds.

Umit T. Aker St. Louis

It must be remembered that Turkey was torn asunder by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire prior to and during World War I. The Armenians, supported by the Russians, resisted the Constantinople government and went so far as to displace other ethnic groups from the traditional Armenian homelands, murdering indiscriminately. Nobody can deny that the results of Talaat Pasha's orders were tragic. However, the events that occurred more than 60 years ago, under the aegis of the Ottomans, should not be avenged today. Turkey has long since put behind her the evils of her empire. Terrorist acts will not undo what was done, nor will they result in an independent state for the Armenian minority in Turkey.

John R.M. Seager Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Stylistic Differences

I'll admit that Michael Graves' new office building in Portland, Ore., is different, but I doubt that it's dangerous [Aug. 23]. Walking through the entrance portals of such a distinctive structure might even put a smile on my face before my second cup of coffee.

Laura A. O'Connor Calumet City, Ill.

Despite some minor eccentricities, Michael Graves' building makes primary that element most wanting in a Bauhaus-inspired glass box: human scale.

Kenneth Hawkins Portland, Ore.

The fault lies not in the colorful building but in ourselves. Our senses have been dulled by the gray and numbing effect of incessant modernism. The irregular lines of Graves' design are intriguing, the placid colors pleasing, and the size does not diminish us. This happy building is refreshing, not threatening.

Charles Tryon Tualatin, Ore.

Mayor Ivancie and his supporters should be boiled in treacle for permitting defacement of their revitalized central city by Graves' marzipan monstrosity.

Patricia D. Weinberger Ojai, Calif.

Textbook Tempest

One can only stand aghast at Norma Gabler's campaign to further emasculate and eviscerate public school texts [Aug. 23]. These books already contain the most pallid, prudish, wimpish and boring drivel ever produced by U.S. publishers.

James D. Williams Indianapolis

We students do not want to be protected from life's realities. These self-appointed censors are cheating us by not allowing us to mature. If we are so carefully guarded, we will be in for a painful shock when we become adults and will be unable to cope with the problems we will undoubtedly face.

Katherine Elizabeth Insalata Florham Park, N.J.

All in the Family

Regarding your Show Business story that refers to "a bizarre brood, the Sedgwicks" [Aug. 23]:

"Old" money didn't "grow wild, like weeds" in the family. Edie's father Francis, a sculptor, and his father, a historian, were obviously not in lucrative professions. Francis' grandfather, Henry D. Sedgwick, lost his estate in 1892, leaving almost nothing to the next generation.

Uncle Minturn did specify a pine coffin, not because it was cheap but because it was simple and in accordance with family tradition.

There is no record, at least over the previous century, of any manic-depressive or suicidal strain in the Sedgwick family's lineage prior to Edie's father.

Ellery Sedgwick Jr. Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Mail Matters

Instead of planning how to deliver mail after a nuclear war [Aug. 23], the U.S. Postal Service would serve us better if it figured out how to get the mail to us today.

Millar Guthrie LaGrangeville, N. Y.

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