In numbers there could turn out to be speed as well as strength. Opposition to the nationwide 55 mile-an-hour speed limit has moved from the highways, where millions of drivers have been ige noring it when patrol cars aren’t in sight, into legislatures. Wyoming’s is already well advanced with legislation to raise the limit to 65 and nine other states are readying similar measures. The move to return legal speeds to pre-energy crisis limits is in defiance of the federal Transportation Department which is authorized to cut off highway aid funds to states not conforming to the 55 limit. The rebellious states, all western and in which disregard of the 55 limit has been more widespread than anywhere else in the country, are reported counting on their numbers to deter retribution from Washington. The argument is that the bureaucrats would hesitate to tangle with such a sizable and determined bloc of states. The proof will be in the proceedings once the states complete enactment of the limitraising legislation. Statistics indicate that the 55 limit, instituted in 1973, has been both an energy and a life saver. In Utah, a majority of persons interviewed in a recent poll believe the 55 mph limit should be kept in effect, according to the Utah Energy Office. Two of every five people questioned thought it should be more strictly enforced. The office said 68 percent of the 400 people polled said they would like to have either no change in the enforcement of the law or stricter regulation, The Wasatch Opinion Research Corp. conducted the survey in the first week of February for the Energy Office. The 55 limit brought obvious results in life saving and fuel conservation when it was first applied years ago. But as memories of the great gasoline shortage have faded, enforcement has been more difficult. The nation should not move hastily to get rid of the 55 speed. The energy crisis is heating up again and the rising price of gasoline and threatened shortages should tell us something. So should the record for saving lives. So They Say “Maybe AIfred Kahn ought to be here as well.” – Sen. Edward Kennedy, referring to the top U.S. inflation aide – during a Washington ceremony to lnaugurate a 15-cent stamp in honor of Robert Kennedy. The Massachusetts Democrat had noted that stamps honoring another brother, John Kennedy, had sold in the 1960s for several cents less.