ts> 1.   Xemacs (frustrated by manual)

  ts> 1.1   80, 132, and N characters per line

  ts> Can you/how do you set Xemacs to automatically
  ts> hard break on (or before) the Nth character of a
  ts> line

C-u NN C-x f
C-u NN M-x set-fill-column

Runs set-fill-column with NN as the numeric argument.

  ts> (breaking on whitespace, or offering to hyphenate

No, xemacs does not do this for you.

  ts> How do you enter a ^M?  C-M doesn't seem bound to anything?

If you don't have the key rebound to something else,
C-q runs quoted-insert, so it's either

  C-q 


  M-x quoted-insert<returN>


(however you enter that character -- I'll use C-m or
<return>)

I realize that answers only some of your questions.

-- 
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ