The Herald And The Lantern

Wednesday, December 5,1979

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Letters To The Editor

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Krstniinl. usr rrlrainl. the Cartrr Administration has raulionfd thr Amrriran public in dealing with lt« sense of outrage over the continued incarceration of American hostages at the Iranian embassy. Ise restraint, we are reminded as one irrational pronouncement after another rolls off the longue of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Kestraint. however hard, is indeed the only course to follow in such an emotionally and literally explosive Situation. Some Americans, in theft natural feeling of patriotic compassion for the hostage*, have cast restraint to the winds in puhlich showing support for those unfortunate victims of an irrational standoff. And. as time wears on and the hostages are no nearer home than they were a month ago when the siege started, the rapacity to maintain restraint may understandably be wearing thin. There are some who will say they favor forceful action, "gelling tough." "showing them we mean business." Restraint, they say. is an ineffectual cowardice. Hut such is not the case. The I'niled States is not bowing down to the Iranian tirade in showing restraint. The UA Is in no danger of losing the respect of the international community in exercising restraint. Rather, we have captured the admiration and support,of even some of our traditional enemies in pursuing this stance. Presidential Press Secretary Jody Powell, in our letter to tht .-dilor column, asks the people of Cape May County as well as the rest of the country to put their support of the American hostages where it counts: in prayer, in positive affirmation of the human rights of all and in continued restraint. The Herald and Ijmtern heartily support this most prudent path for returning the American hostages and the world to its rightful state of harmony and peaceful coexistence. -KCS

Cafiero Bill Said To Remedy Damages Law r

The New Jersey State Senate passed a bill last week to remedy a glaring inequity in the Comparative Negligence l^aw of New Jersey. The measure. S-I507. introduced by Senator James'S. Cafiero (H-Cape May Cumberland' provides that a plaintiff in a negligence action may recover damages in any •ease where he is loss negligent than the defendant or defendants According to Cafiero. Comparative Negligence Uiw has been interpreted to prevent an injured party from recovering where the percentage of his negligence is more than the percentage of the negligence of any one or more co-defendants. Under the proposed amendment, the plaintiffs negligence would be compared to the total negligence of all defendants The bill further provides that each

THt AYATOLLAH

Hostages h Iran

Dear Editor: , Many Americans are looking for a way to express concern for their fellow citizens being held hostage in Iranf that is consistent wUh this country's respect for law. As you know, the American Charge in Iran Bruce Laingen who is being held at the Foreign Ministry, has suggested that church bells be rung each noon Ijntil the hostages are released. Several members of Congress and the Attorney General also have suggested that Americans write the Iranian Mission at the United Nations to

demand release of the hostages. The President endorses these suggestions. It is of overriding importance that Iranian authorities understand that Americans are united in their determination not to yield to blackmail and in the demand for the safe return of the hostages. Your support for these two suggestions will help prevent any miscalculatioiof where Americans stam in this timetof crisis. Joseph < Jody) Powell. Jr Presftecretary to tht yi President Washington. D.C

Iranian “Outrage’ Nb Surprise

defendant is responsible for his pro rata share of the recovery, Cafiero noted that under present law. if there are 10 defendants in a suit, and one plaintiff, a jury that found each of the 10 defendants nine percent at fault for ap occurrence and the plaintiff the remaining 10 percent at fault, would disqualify the only slightly negligent party from recovery. This is an unconscionable result, he

added.

In an article appearing in the March 15. 1979 edition of the New Jersey Law Journal, the change was endorsed by L.E.G.A.L., • Lawyers Encouraging Government and Law> an organization dedicated to preserving the private practice of law for the public interest. "The amendment was the result of a suggestion made by the Cope May County Bar Association." Cafiero concluded.

When Khomeini's student^ seized our embassy on November 5th, , they were violating cen-turies-old international law and defying what is sup posed to be the most powerful nation on earth. Seemingly, their action involved great risk. But the pathetic response of the Carter Administration was predictable because Washington’s toleration of similar abuses for decades has actually invited the Iranian outrage. We list only a few of scores of unanswered provocations and demonstrations of weak will. When the armistice at the end of the Korean War was signed, solid evidence showed that 944 American prisoners were still being held by North Korea. But the matter was never pursued. When Castro aimed missiles at us in the early 1960s. President Kennedy’s three-pronged demand included removal. of the missiles, removal of Soviet troops, and U.S. Inspection. The Communists promptly assured us that the missiles had been removed, but we never inspected and the Soviet troops never went home. Yet, we have been told that the Soviets backed down. Two years later, American flags were being burned in Panama by pro-Soviet

gangs.

In January, 1968, North Korean forces seized the USS Pueblo on the high seas. One crewman was killed and the remaining 82 men suffered heatings and deprivations in filthy jails for eleven months.

HATCrlotlsm

Diralit

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Washington's response was characteristically ineffective. At the end of the Vietnam War. a House Select Committee reported that after the prisoner exchange, over 2,500 Americans "were not fully accounted for." U.S. protests were ignored. North Korean guards chopped two uniformed American Army officers to death with axes in 1976. This incident brought a flurry of diplomatic exchanges and then it. too. was dropped. On February 14th of this year. U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs was slain at his post in Afghanistan. Washington blamed the death on the pro-Soviet Kabul regime^mit nothing was done. Narijid anything but laughteft^esult from Congressionakhluster and bravado over the recent discovery of a Soviet combat brigade in Cuba. We agree with the analogy given by Congressman McDonald. The Iranian provocation can hardly be solved without “going back to the starting point." In our view, this means conducting a thorough housecleaning in order to rid the White House, the Executive Branch, and the Congress of the timid, compromising, and traitorous leadership we have experienced for decades. Without such a development. Americans everywhere are sitting ducks. And, unfortunately, so is America itself. Robert H. Barron, Ph.D. Avalon 1979 The John Birch Society Features

Capitol Comments By Assembly Minority Loador James R. Hurley

For the first time since the Revolutionary War the New Jersey Legislature recently met in session outside the state capital. The Assembly and Senate, along with its support staff, journeyed the 20 miles from Trenton to Mt. Holly. ♦ the county seat of Burlington County for a formal session to help celebrate that com-

munity’s tricentennial.

It was in November of 1779 that the Legislature fled to Mt. Holly in the face of invading British troops and from the possibility that the capital city would

fallinto enemy hhnds.

Of six areas addressed ' by the Governor in a special address, only one — a request for a $27 million supplemental appropriation — can be considered a new program. All (he others — auto insurance reform, Civil Service reform, gubernatorial campaign financing, extending the life of the Slate Commission of Investigation, and revisions in the mortage interest rate — have been with us for as

long as three years.

the SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS

The Governor's request for a supplemental appropriation, if granted by the legislature, will place the stale at its spending limitation for the current

fiscal year.

The $27 million is to be allocated as follows: $12.5 million to meet negotiated salary increases and benefits for state employees; $10 million to cover unforeseen increases in fuel and utility costs, and $4.5 million to cover a projected deficit in the bus subsidy program. The overall program is an ambitious one and segments of it are certain to generate controversy and protracted debate. Hopefully, the Legislature will not see fit to flee in the face of these problems and that any official retreat such as last week’s to Mt. Holly, he purely a symbolic one.

BOYD & WOOD

THEY WANT THE SHAH BACK AND All OF HIS IRANIAN MONEY

THEY'D BETTER HURRY BEFORE HE PAYS HIS AMERICAN MEDICAL BUI...