The Herald considers letters to the editor a vital part of the newspaper, fulfilling one purpose of the free press by providing a “sounding board” for public opimon. We respect viewpoints of the readers – and you can choose your subject. I-low do you stand on the proposal to increase congressional salaries again’? On the hot local issue of our No. 1 industry being threatened by tough EPA rules that Geneva officials say would destroy the plant’s economic viability? On the proposed electrical power rate increase the Western Area Power Administration is planning to charge municipalities now projected at 23.8 percent’? What can Congress and the Administration do to reverse the inflation spiral? Whatever the subjlect, we invite objective, responsi le letters in the range of 100 to 400 words. We’ll stretch that quota a little if the subject matter is of sufficient magnitude but at the same time we urge you to be concise, We must insist, of course, that you follow some guidelines. Potentially-libelous letters will be rejected, of course, as will contributions that we consider in bad taste. If you’re not willing to sign your name, forget it. Our file is fat with anonymous letters. We do occasionally withhold the name of a writer if the person has a good reason for this and the letter seems of genuine public interest. We do need to know the writer and have the name, address, and phone number for our file and personal contact if necessary. Sometimes a citizen seems to save up years of comment, then unloose the whole works in one long letter. If your missive, at maximum, exceeds two typewritten pages, double-spaced, it’s too long. There’s nothing in the rules, though, that would prevent your writing a letter now and another in a few weeks. On an average, we’d guess we publish 90 to 95 percent of all letters received. You can see from this that too few people take advantage of the letters forum to express their opinions. We discourage religiously controversial letters. , We do not consider debating religious doctrines a proper use of the forum. Occasionally a citizen will tell us he or she would like to contribute a letter but doesn’t wish to be classified as a “crackpot.” We don’t believe this concern is justified. If a forum column is ever dominated by any category of people, then the fault lies with the citizenry in general for its failure to use the space. Now don’t all of you out there sit down and write a letter to the editor at the same time. But if you do, we’ll try to process your brainchild with as much dispatch as possible. The forum is for you. the readers. But use it wisely and objectively, keeping letters concise, within the bounds of legitimate and responsible public opinion.