Letters, Mar. 6, 1978

Canada’s Crisis

To the Editors:

Despite all the talk about the possible secession of Quebec [Feb. 13] I, as an English-speaking Quebecker, don’t believe that Premier René Lévesque really wants to separate from Canada. It’s a simple case of bargain strategy. If he succeeds in having the Canadian constitution rewritten and gains more provincial control, he will have accomplished his goals.

It is the few radicals in his party that we Canadians must worry about.

Larry Davis Vernec

Montreal

You failed to mention that unlike the “melting pot” of the U.S., Canada is a “mosaic” where individual cultures can and do survive. With all our varied pasts let’s hope that we will have a common future and, quoting Alexander Pope, “All are but parts of one stupendous whole.”

(Mrs.) Marie Day

Mississauga, Ont.

I think that the idea of the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada is ridiculous. The economy is now the worst it has been for years, and we are getting some kind of help from Ottawa. Imagine Quebec on its own. It would be suicide.

Denis Lafontaine

Montreal

This new country soon to appear on the map is already existing in our minds. The people of Quebec are now ready to be themselves, in their own country, open to the world, and friends with both their neighbors, Americans and Canadians.

Jean-Charles Roy

Montreal

You say that “in nine cases out of ten, the newcomers learned English, rather than French, as their new working language.” I would like to add that one reason for this “English assimilation” is that prior to the ’60s, immigrants were not welcome in the French educational system for fear they would pollute the language.

Carmino Russo

Longueuil, Que.

Bilingualism in the Schools

It is appropriate that you should include the article “The Three Rs in 70 Tongues” about bilingual programs in our schools [Feb. 13] in the same issue as the story on Canada.

Americans need only look at the problems bilingualism has created in Canada to realize what may occur in the U.S.

James Engle

Morton Grove, III.

As one of the “50 million immigrants” who came to master English through the “oldfashioned assimilation policy,” I can say that cultural shock is an inevitable reality for any individual entering a foreign country. Bilingual education soothes this shock by enabling the newly arrived immigrant to welcome the new by remembering and appreciating the old.

Margherita Galofaro

Island Park, N. Y.

Welfare Cheating

The idea of “Big Brother is watching you” à la Nineteen Eighty-Four is frightening and to be guarded against.

However, for the American Civil Liberties Union to use this argument to prevent the detection of crimes [Feb. 13] —the crimes of staying on welfare and also filling jobs—is immoral; it outrages me! What about the liberties of those who pay the taxes that perpetuate the crimes?

Aha Mae Weston

Silver Spring, Md.

So working welfare cheaters will be faced with prosecution, repayment of illegal benefits and loss of jobs. What a brilliant solution. The cheater then becomes a legitimate candidate for welfare with no funds for repayment.

Ethel Stoke

Louisville

Coal Strike

Your article concerning the current coal strike [Feb. 13] calls it a record-breaking walkout by the U.M.W. You seem to have forgotten that the U.M.W., under John L. Lewis, struck for 140 days in 1922, from April 1 to mid-August.

We returned to work without gaining an increase in pay. The highest hourly wage in our district, No. 22, at that time was $1.07.

A. Clement Moore

Orem, Utah

Any energy legislation which promotes dependence on coal will merely shift the group which controls our nation’s economy—from the OPEC ministers to the U.M.W. From the recent behavior of the mine workers, I think I’d sooner take my chances with the Arabs.

Christine Martens

Port Chester, N. Y.

Golf Pro Policy

The P.G.A.’s tournament policy that golfers must earn an annual minimum to qualify for tournament competition [Feb. 6] no matter what their previous victories seems to be a fair policy. The mere fact that a pro has performed well in the past should not necessarily mean that he or she is automatically entitled to a position in a tournament. Such a policy makes golfing a sport that does not stagnate by surviving upon the big names of the past, but a sport that is kept continuously alive by introducing the skills of the future Sarazens, Sneads and Boros.

Amy E. Dean

Hull, Mass.

A Serious Vote

Re your report of Christian Century’s list of the most influential personalities in U.S. religion [Feb. 13], I was one of the two journalists who voted for George Burns of Oh, God! You missed the point: I was very serious about that nomination. You don’t have to be solemn to be religious, or staid to be significant. More —and perhaps better—theology was communicated in that film than most preachers expound in a year.

J. Martin Bailey, Editor

A.D. 1978

New York City

I am confident that George Burns’ portrayal of God has a far more profound influence on the people’s concepts of God and religion than all of the “top ten” put together. If nothing else, he has helped make God real and believable.

William Schubmehl

West lake, Ohio

Episcopal Split

Your article “Episcopal Split” [Feb. 13] gives a false impression of the reasons behind the dissension in the Episcopal Church. The ordaining of women is only one part of a much deeper controversy. The main issue is the changing of our basic theology by the convention. The “rebels,” as you call us, want to keep the standards and canons upon which we have been raised. Our first priority is the retention of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, as opposed to the subverted theology of the “trial liturgy.”

Robert S. Hennagin

Albion, Mich.

So the supertraditional “new” Anglicans consecrated bishops with only two consecrating bishops present when a 1600-year-old tradition requires three. Naughty, naughty fellows! And then to say that this kind of leadership is like Moses leading people out of Egypt and that “we will, in 50 years, be the only Episcopal Church in the United States.” That’s not naughty. That’s just plain arrogance. And who are the losers in all this? The few conscientious Episcopalians who will be drawn to this body, thinking they are joining an Anglican Church, will be the big losers. And that is the deepest tragedy of all.

(The Rev.) John H. MacNaughton

San Antonio

No Funds Forever

I wish to correct a misimpression created by an article about the Career Criminal Program [Jan. 30]. The article states “the program … is now being phased out.” The program is not, in fact, being phased out. The intent of the program is to provide an opportunity with limited funding to demonstrate to state and local officials innovative approaches and techniques for handling the serious, repeat offender. The hope is that following two years of discretionary funding (which was all that was ever assured) the projects’ costs will be assumed by the jurisdictions. The program is not designed to provide ongoing federal funding forever.

To continue funding current projects annually would preclude other jurisdictions from sharing this opportunity.

Benjamin L. Shapiro

Courts Specialist, Adjudication Division

Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Chicago’s Daily News

As an admitted newspaper addict, I would like to paraphrase the great Will Rogers and say that I never met a newspaper I didn’t like.

And I liked the Chicago Daily News [Feb. 13] more than most. Its demise is a tragedy. It is even more of a tragedy that a metropolitan area of 7 million people cannot—or will not—support three daily newspapers.

William E. Carsley

Chicago

Whenever I hear that newspaper mentioned I remember that as a young child living in Chicago some 70-odd years ago, my playmates and I had this favorite singing commercial:

Ooh! Mister buy a paper, (I hope you won’t refuse.) It only costs a penny—The Chicago Daily News.

Gertrude D. Hinthorn Glendale, Ariz.