letters to the editor . defier of Lenin . Sir - Prof Seton-Watson used my father &apos;s name in his article on Persia last Sunday , meaning a man who would pave the way for the communists . when the uninstructed speak like that , one takes it from whence it comes , but from Prof Seton-Watson &amp;hellip; . in 1917 the bolsheviks were not yet known to be totalitarians and a great proportion of Russian socialists were not prepared to fight them with the gloves off , but Kerensky was . he was promoted to the premiership because he did not regard the bolsheviks as old comrades and could overcome the hesitations of socialist leaders when it came to stern measures against them . during the summer of 1917 he dispersed a communist rebellion with a whiff of grapeshot now described by such progressive historians as A J P Taylor as a massacre . it was a blundering general , with the active encouragement of the English and the French , who destroyed Russian democracy by attempting a right-wing putsch , which was suppressed without a shot but left the masses confused and distrustful of Kerensky . this turn of events enabled Lenin to mount a counter-attack which the vast majority of socialists - tantamount to a majority of the nation - resisted only with talk . Kerensky collected a large enough army to defeat them , but the troops fell for the siren song of peaceful co-existence and that was that . the darlings of democracy today are the men who , long after the communists have shown their true colours , have handed country after country to them : Benes surrendering Czechoslovakia , Roosevelt giving them half of Europe , Truman and Attlee abandoning China to its mild agrarian reformers . might I suggest that Moscow knows that Kerensky has been one of its most unhesitating and determined enemies for 44 years , and what it is really looking for in Persia is not Kerensky ( nor Mikhailovich , nor Chiang ) but a nice western-style statesman with half-a-round-table-full of crypto-communist advisers ? Southport , Gleb Kerensky . &amp;ast;&amp;ast;&amp;ast; Alexander Kerensky , Prime Minister of Russia between the fall of the Tsars and the rise of the bolsheviks , is now 80 . he lives in California , where he is engaged in research and lecturing in Russian history at Stanford University . Sir - my article , Russia &apos;s southern doorstep , had to be condensed for reasons of space , and in the process a slight but important change occurred . it reads : in so far as the United States has hitherto been the protector of the r&amp;eacute;gime , the people tend to be emotionally anti-western &amp;hellip; . what I had written was : &amp;hellip; the opposition tend to be emotionally anti-western . what proportion of the people belongs to the opposition is a matter of opinion . there can be no doubt that there are millions of Persians who are devoted to the Shah , and have no hostility to the west . Hugh Seton-Watson . London , S.W 19 . religion at redbrick . points from readers &apos; letters . I was most distressed at the impression of Christianity in this University , which was given by inquirer &apos;s article , redbrick wilderness . apathy is prevalent throughout the University , not merely among Christians . indeed it is a most interesting sign that so many non-Christians look to Christians for a lead . in societies and on hall committees Christians take a leading part . inquirer gives 250 as the number of those attending a place of worship some time during the term . a more realistic figure would be 500 , of which at least 300 attend with some degree of regularity . - ( Miss ) Hilary M Gray , ex-sec , joint Christian committee . Southampton University . one look at the University newspaper would show how largely the discussion of religion and politics figures in the student &apos;s life here . we personally were attracted by the friendly , unbiased atmosphere of the Anglican society , where free , intelligent discussion is a normal practice . jazz club is popular because it is the only weekly social occasion which gives one the opportunity of meeting one &apos;s fellow students en masse . among our acquaintances at the corporate communion mentioned by inquirer , very few were not present at jazz club the previous evening . jazz does not exclude religion . - Elizabeth A Bunn ; Judith M Steel ; Jennifer Summers , Southampton . it is true that many students have little or no religious ideals and standards . but as members of the Southampton catholic society , we can assure you of the existence of a very strong body of regular church-goers who also take an active part in many other branches of University life . - Patricia Friend ; Winifred Colfer , Southampton . what an odd University Southampton must be ! when I went to the University sermon in the University church here , St George &apos;s , Bloomsbury , on April 30 , advertised as at 8.0 p.m , I found the church packed , and had to wriggle my round to an obscure seat at the side . if you want to be certain of a seat at the London University sermon , you have to go to evensong first . the sermon was about Pascal , no doubt an interesting modern person : but nobody knew that beforehand . - Margaret Deanesly , London , N.W.1 . rotten potatoes . Sir - it seems to me that Mr Rennie , Chairman of the potato marketing board , stands condemned out of his own mouth . his first letter stated that no significant quantity of potatoes sold to the board had been left to rot in clamps and that in general they had removed such stocks before deterioration prevented their use . having spent public money on these potatoes was it not his inspectors &apos; duty to ensure that they were sold before they deteriorated ? it was also widely reported in the press that 2 1/2 d per lb was the producers &apos; price and 5 d a lb the retail price . Mr Rennie did not query the figure until you published it . but the most surprising of all his statements must be that the question of compensation for deterioration does not arise as the potatoes remain the property of the farmer until loading instructions are given . in that case why were farmers not allowed by the board to load potatoes when asked for them by merchants ? farmers who sought permission to cancel their contracts and sell to merchants were refused by the board . how can the board buy potatoes under contract and not own them ? your agricultural correspondent . London , E.C.4 . exotic Chelsea . Sir - would it not be possible slightly to change the date of the Chelsea flower show so that it was not dominated year after year by the azaleas and the rhododendrons ? they are not a typically British feature , and I can not help feeling that the organisers of this show , by waiting two or three weeks , would achieve effects more popular and more subtle . some of your readers may have ideas , but I would suggest the first week in July . Eastbourne . Helen Spicer . Irish partition . Sir - perhaps your comments on Northern Ireland last Sunday could be put in a wider context . surely people nowadays are aware of the benefits ( particularly economic ) of integration , association , and federation . Cyprus - where differences between the two communities are surely as strong as any in Ireland - has shown that it is possible to unite an island and to safeguard the interests of a large minority . in Ireland it seems that catholics are now tolerated north of the border in such positions as shop stewards in the shipbuilding industry ; perhaps religious passions are cooling a little at last . certainly it might be argued that the political and economic division of Ireland perpetuates traditional animosities which are now largely irrelevant . perhaps a more integrated Ireland would be feasible within the wider framework of the commonwealth or the common market . London , S.W.1 . J F Taylor . taking it back . Sir - Jean Robertson &apos;s admirable article on guarantees prompts me to ask for your readers &apos; experiences . the consumers &apos; advisory council is at present consulting various manufacturers with a view to agreeing model guarantee terms , fair to both manufacturer and shopper . we are also preparing a comparison between different car manufacturers &apos; guarantees . it would help over both these projects if your readers would tell us if they have ever suffered injury or damage from a defect in goods they have bought , and been unable to claim compensation from the manufacturer owing to exclusion clauses in the guarantee . if they could send us also a copy of the guarantee itself , so much the better . D R Vickers , Sec , consumers &apos; advisory council . Orchard House , Orchard St , W.1 . 153 m.p.h at 77 . Sir - I read with interest Courtenay Edwards &apos;s comments in the Sunday telegraph about whether it is wise or not for a middle-aged man to buy a fast sports car . I agree with him that it depends on the individual . the thing one has to remember is that the faster one goes the greater is the need for concentration . at the age of 77 I myself am still driving fast sports cars . I run a 300 S.L Mercedes in which I have done 153 m.p.h and also a 135 m.p.h Aston Martin . I claim that in spite of my age it is certainly not necessary for me to give up these exciting cars . but then I used to be a racing driver and I have been driving these cars all my life . this is the main point really . Howe . chairman , RAC competitions committee . London , W.1 . self-criticism . Sir - you may print what you like in your entertaining Sunday paper , but please do n&apos;t print inaccurate statements about films . on page 28 last Sunday you reported that the film rosen fu&quot;r den staatsanwalt ( the correct title of which is , incidentally , roses for the prosecutor ) is of East German origin . the film was made in Western Germany , although it is true that the director , Wolfgang Staudte , has worked for the East German DEFA , and therefore , in some eyes , may be politically suspect . roses for the prosecutor is merely one of many new West German productions , which , like the girl Rosemarie , take a tilt at their establishment - a very healthy sign in German films in view of their 1933-1945 productions . Peter Seward . London , S.W.4 . letters to the editor . when MPs go abroad . Sir - the article by your political correspondent , Mr Ian Waller , drawing attention to the concern over MPs &apos; sponsored trips abroad , raises an issue that has been avoided for years . the plain fact is that it is extremely difficult for MPs to accept invitations from foreign governments , or from public relations organisations working for them , without being compromised . in any case , you tend to become inhibited or you have to be very thick-skinned to the point of rudeness . and if you end up taking the opposing view to the one you are supposed to have taken , it can not help but leave bad blood . as someone who has travelled fairly extensively in recent years , since I became a member of parliament , I have reluctantly come to the conclusion , after experience , that it is usually better not to go on sponsored trips rather than face invidious difficulties . thus I have declined a number of invitations from foreign governments and have only gone when I have been able to work my passage , usually with my pen . but I am very fortunate in being a professional journalist . the existing parliamentary bodies arranging trips abroad , like the inter-parliamentary union , do not always meet the need . what , then , is the answer ? I believe that the best solution probably is to make available to every MP an overall foreign travel allowance which he has to use ( if he wants it ) within the lifetime of a single parliament , either in one or two major journeys or in a series of short ones . only in this way can we hope to enable the House of Commons to have independent , first-hand impressions of many problems affecting this country and on which our parliament has on occasion to make major decisions . Desmond Donnelly . House of Commons . Sir - of course there are rogues in parliament , but no more than one would find in commerce , the Church , or even the press . without being pious about it I know of no MPs who would allow their parliamentary activities to be influenced by a 10-day trip to East Germany , central Africa , or anywhere else . 