UPI Roundup
Another kidnap in Argentina
Bl’ENOS AIRES — An American and a German have
been kidnapped in the past 24 hours in a continuing wave of
terrorism directed against foreign companies, police sources
said Tuesday. The latest abduction victims were John
Thompson, managing director of the Firestone Tire and
Rubber Co. and Juan Kurdt, technical director of Silvana,
a Swiss firm which makes stockings. There have been more
than 60 kidnapings in Argentina so far this year. Thompson,
50, was the second American abducted by terrorists this
year. The kidnapings took place as the nation was preparing
a giant welcome for former President Juan Peron who
returns to live in Argentina after nearly 18 years in exile,
liven the day off by a strike and provided free transportation
by the government, masses of Argentines headed for the
capital Tuesday. The city was awash with colorful flags and
posters say&ng “Welcome, General Peron.” Peronists
predicted some two million persons would attend a rally
today for the 77-year-old “First Worker” of Argentina, who
was toppled by a military coup in 1955 after 10 years in office.
| FBI nominee disavows politics
WASHINGTON — FBI director-designate Clarence :•
i-i: Kelley said Tuesday he had no intention of bowing to political >
pressure in the job. In effect he invited senators to reject his
jii: nomination if they do not believe him. Kelley, chief of police
|ij; in Kansas City, Mo. for the past 12 years, made the pledge to ;
the Senate Judiciary Committee at the outset of hearings on :
:$ his appointment. “I would hope that if you don’t get the man :
:$ you want, that you should persist,” he said. “No one should jj
ibe confirmed who bows to political pressure,” he added, a
“I’ve never bowed to political pressure and I don’t mean to
start.” Kelley. 61. who was with the FBI for 21 years, also
:£ told the committee he would welcome consultations with a i
:£ congressional oversight committee which, in his view, should :
§ “be thoroughly cognizant of the needs of the FBI.”
1 t
g Theiu warns about Commies
:¥
| SAIGON — President Nguyen Van Thieu told the South
| Vietnamese people Tuesday not to be duped by Communist
:•? claims that they want peace. “The Communist scheme is still
v to take over South Vietnam by force. No one should be so
S innocent as to believe the Communists are going to respect
S the cease-fire,” Thieu said. He spoke for nine minutes at the
beginning of the Armed Forces Day parade, the annual
S display of South Vietnamese military might. Meanwhile in
5 Paris, U.S. and North Vietnamese officials met for the 10th
6 time to determine the amount of reparations Washington
S should pay Hanoi to repair the ravages of war. Monday was
S their first meeting since Washington broke off negotiations
$: two months ago.
•V
1
Mine union official found guilty
ERIE, Pa. — Former United Mine Workers official
Albert Pass was found guilty Tuesday of murder in the 1969
killings of UMW reform leader Joseph Yablonski, his wife
and daughter. Pass, 54, was the seventh suspect—and highest
ranking of three ex-UMW officials—arrested and prosecuted
in the case. An Erie County jury of seven men and five
women deliberated about five hours before finding Pass
guilty on three murder counts, each of which carried a
maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Defense attorney
Harold Gondelman said he would appeal the verdict “by
Friday.” The prosecution said after the jury verdict there
would be “at least one more arrest” in the case. Special
prosecutor Richard Sprague told a post-trial news con
ference, “It was obvious from the trial testimony someone in
Washington gave the green light to Pass.” Sprague did not
mention any name but he had referred repeatedly during his
prosecution to a $20,000 union fund, allegedly used to finance
the killings, that was approved by W.A. “Tony” Boyle, then
the UMW president, ostensibly for union organizing pur
poses.
Space funds slashed
i
WASHINGTON — The Senate Tuesday approved the
most austere space budget since 1962, voting a $3 billion
authorization for the program in fiscal 1974. The bill was
approved 90-5. Only Sens. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.),
Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), William
Proxmire (D-Wis.), and Senate Democratic Leader Mike
Mansfield were against it. An effort by Fulbright to slash the
program by another $121 million was defeated.
Tot toted, demands decent wage
ST.LOUIS, Mo. — Ten-year-old Thomas Hotchkiss,
wearing a silver hardhat, walked a lonely picket line
Tuesday at a construction site. He toted a sign reading, “I
think this is unfair.” Tommy said he was paid only $2.05 for
eight eight-hour days of labor. “I expected at least $16 more
than I received,” he said. A foreman at the project where a
supermarket is being built said he never hired the boy,
though he said Tommy did get sodas and coffee for the men.
He said he had to run him off the site a number of times.
I Nixon, wooing Congress,
| signs four money measures
i: WASHINGTON (UPI) —
i| Proclaiming a new era of
:• peaceful co-existence with
:• Congress, President Nixon has
:• signed into law four spending
:• measures he formerly rejected
:• as “budget-busting.”
The action, taken Monday, was
§ announced Tuesday. Nixon said
£ in a statement that he was en
tering into a “partnership of give
l and take” with the Congress.
The measures he signed
■: represent compromises from
•: earlier bills, although the
changes stopped well short of
:• what Nixon would have
:• preferred. He originally vetoed
:• three of the four bills on grounds
;• they were too expensive.
One of the bills extends a dozen
: health programs through June 30,
! 1974. Nixon said he supported
: some of the measures but op
: posed others, including hospital
: construction subsidies, new long
■: term mental health center
■: grants, regional medical
■: programs and subsidies for
health and public health training.
Nixon also signed legislation
:■ authorizing $430 million for the
Economic Development Ad
:• ministration. In his budget
message in January, he asked
Congress to terminate EDA
programs on June 30. The bill
would authorize money for public
works, planning and technical
J: assistance to aid the economic
:j development of local com
munities.
\ US, SU sign
{ tax treaty
WASHINGTON (UPI) — The
United States and the Soviet
Union will sign an income tax
treaty today reflecting their joint
hopes of greatly increased trade.
It will be the fifth agreement to
emerge from the Washington
summit meeting.
The treaty, which requires
Senate confirmation, is expected
•: to cover such matters as the tax
•: treatment of a business
established in one country by the
: other, and the tax treatment of
• business visitors, royalties and
:• interest payments.
The treaty also will probably
:• grant reciprocal tax privileges to
:• individuals. That is, if a certain
j: portion of an American’s income
is taxed in the Soviet Union, then
:• Russians residing in the United
States would get the same
:• treatment from the Internal
:• Revenue Service. If credits or
:• refunds are allowed in one
:■ country, this also will apply in the
:• other.
Another measure signed
Monday increases to $820 million
the amount the government can
commit to airport development
aid over the two fiscal years
beginning July 1.
The measure, which prohibits
collection of “head taxes” on
airline passengers, will go into
effect at most airports im
mediately, although airports in
Sarasota, Fla., Evansville, Ind.,
and in the state of New Hamp
shire can continue to collect the
head tax for the rest of this year.
Nixon also signed a bill to
establish a new veterans’ cem
etery system and increase burial
benefits for wartime veterans
and veterans who die from
service-connected causes.
On March 9, John Ehrlichman,
then Nixon’s chief domestic
strategist, cited the EDA, airport
and cemetery bills as part of a
“budget busting” package of
legislation which he said the
President was determined to
block.
Ehrlichman referred to the
measures as “a $9-billion herd of
Trojan Horses that are thun
dering our way from out of the
Congress, brightly painted and
outfitted with very attractive
accessories.”
Northwest most abnormal
in gas sales situation
NEW YORK (UPI) — Con
sumers blamed dealers, dealers
blamed producers and some
experts blamed overseas
motorists Tuesday for the
developing gasoline crisis in the
United States.
In its third weekly gas
availability report, the
Automobile Association of
America named the Northwest
and the Washington, D.C. area as
the sections where shifts away
from normal operations were
greatest. Their survey indicated
that motorists’ chances of finding
normal operations at gasoline
stations throughout the country
were 50-50.
In Detroit, a spokesman for the
Chrysler Corp., cut off from
almost half its gasoline supplies
by the embargo on exports from
Canada, said the company was
continuing its operations from
fuel on hand and supplies from
U.S. sources.
An industry expert in
Lakewood, N.J., said the short
age was in fact a price squeeze
brought on by the willingness of
foreign motorists to pay higher
prices for gasoline than
Americans.
In Washington, D.C., Sen.
Henry Jackson (D-Wash.) asked
the Federal Trade Commission if
“there is a deliberate, conscious
contrivance of the major in
tegrated petroleum companies to
destroy the independent
refineries and marketers, to
capture new markets, to increase
gasoline prices, and to obtain the
repeal of environmental
protection legislation.”
The AAA suggested that
motorists drive “on the top half of
the tank,” particularly in un
familiar areas and on weekends.
They also suggested avoiding
long-distance night travel.
OK power to curb exports
\ WASHINGTON (UPI) — The
|i House Banking Committee voted
•: 24 to 4 Tuesday to give President
Nixon clear and strong authority
•: to restrict exports when strong
foreign demand helps drive up
■: domestic prices.
:j Tiie bill was sent to the House
■: floor.
ji Economists point to the past
:• year’s four-fold increase in the
:• price of soybeans, arising from
heavy foreign demand, as a
major factor in driving up the
prices of meat, poultry and eggs.
President Nixon requested
broader export controls over food
and other products in his
television address last week
announcing a 60-day price freeze.
But the administration’s bill to
carry out his request was
defeated by the committee 27-5.
Both Republicans and Democrats
said it went too far.
LiiUei « 1969 law, pushed
through Congress by the farm
bloc, domestic shortages of food
had to exist before exports could
be limited.
The physical inventory of
gasoline in the country was 203
million barrels on June 8, down 11
million barrels from a year
earlier. But domestic production
of gasoline has risen sharply in
the past month. For the first two
weeks in June, it ran at a record
49.25 million barrels weekly. This
includes gasoline refined from
foreign crude by domestic
refineries.
Vincent Sgro of Oil Buyers
Guide, Lakewood, N.J., com
mented, “Tankers can land
enough gasoline physically in the
United States right now to supply
the whole demand. But because
the world price is higher than
here, the independents have to
pay prices for it that would force
them to retail it at around 44
cents a gallon as compared with
36.9 cents charged for com
parable fuel by stations of major
domestic companies.”
US jet crashes,
9th lost since
Viet cease-fire
HONOLULU (UPI) — A U.S.
Air Force F4 Phantom jet has
crashed in Cambodia. Its two
crewmen have been listed as
missing, the U.S. military
command headquarters here
announced Tuesday.
The F4 crashed in eastern
Cambodia June 16, said a
spokesman in the office of Adm.
Noel Gayler, commander-in
chief of U.S. Forces in the
Pacific. “Search operations
have been unsuccessful,” the
spokesman said.
This was the ninth U.S. plane
lost over Cambodia since the
cease-fire began, and the third in
four days.
On June 16, two Fills collided
in flight northwest of Phnom
Penh. One landed safely. The two
crewmen in the other jet were
picked up uninjured.
On June 17, an Air Force HH53
helicopter crashed in a lake in
Cambodia, killing at least two
persons. Two of the five crewmen
parachuted to safety and were
recovered in good condition but
the bodies of two others were
located in the area of the crash. A
fifth was listed as missing.
So far, five persons have been
killed, seven rescued and five are
missing as the result of the air
craft losses.
Gayler’s office also said U.S.
aircraft, including B52s, con
ducted operations over Cambodia
Tuesday at the request of the
Cambodian government.