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Show I Carl Rowan Section Wednesday, May Iage 16, 1973 I Can Nixon Rise From Ashes? 4 Expedite Watergate Probe, Trials, Hasten Return to Better Days A few days ago Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler assured the country that President and that despite the Nixcn is governing Watergate investigation the business of government is going forward. The President may indeed be governing but is he governing with gusto? Acnd what of the thousands of lesser functionaries who must carry on the day to day work? Are they operating at anything like normal capacity while those at the top shuffle jobs in an effort to get things going again? There are indications that the seamy disclosures stemming from the Watergate affair are having a numbing effect on day to day operations of the federal government. And, since the federal government is so entwined with local political, economic and social affairs, anything which slows activity along the Potomac eventually affects th'e provinces, too. Televised hearings of the special Senate Watergate investigating committee, just getting under way, could compound the malaise; On the one hand there is the necessity to get all the facts surrounding Watergate and kindred incidents, prosecute suspects and punish the guilty. To this end a period of investigation is absolutely necessary. But it is equally important that the government function normally during this period of daily, and often disturbing disclosures. President Nixon, realizing the pressing need to get on to other things, addressed the nation April 30. But the Presidents talk, Publishers Hal Syndicate WASHINGTON The nat.on is in the throes of its greatest scandals today because the White House has for five years been in the grip of political, ideological and intellectual incest which left crucial questions unanswered, failed to convince the country that all was well again or soon would be. Under such circumstances it is imperative that the investigative and judicial phases be conducted with maximum speed consistent with high standards of performance. To this And President Nixon does not know how to extricate himself from that calamity, judging from his first appointments as he tries to rebuild a cabinet and White House staff decimated by the Watergate mess end the Senate hearings must be brisk and to the point, not fashioned to titillate the millions in the unseen audience or score political points. There is some justification for the administrations concern that Senate hearings couid interfere with Watergate legal processes, a possibility that does not seem to worry the president of the American Bar Assn., Robert W. Meserve. In a statement on Watergate he 1 believe said that we have good reason to expect that a combination of a vigorous Senate investigation under the leadership of an able lawyer and former judge, Sen. Ervin, and an equally vigorous grand jury inquiry . . . will go far to achieve justice and restore confidence. "... Instead, the President is playing musical chairs with the residue of a tattered palace guard, with the survivors of the Watergate deluge, with a handful of men he already knows and half trusts. Musical chairs is hardly the delight of kindergarteners anymore, and for this country it offers only a deepening of the crisis of confidence which afflicts Americans of every caste and class. There is no easy solution. The investigation and the ensuing trials cannot be stopped. And those who govern or do the work of government cannot be made to perform at their best again simply by telling them it must be done. The disclosures which have stunned them into lassitude cannot be stricken from memory at command. In final assessment of the Watergate crimes, this dilatory side effect may yet prove the most dam- What Limitations of Manpower? Elliot L. RichThe Attorney limitanational But what man. an is able ardson, tions of manpower or talent dictate that he should wander through three cabinet posts in Ws than three months? General-designat- aging. The Public Forum Senseless Subsidy Increase means of reducing food prices, Nixon asked Congress for a three-yea- r President of subsidy payments to farmphase-ou- t ers. The subsidies have been used for years to supplement farm income and to compensate growers for restricted production. So what docs the Senate Agriculture Committee do but approve a farm bill that contains a subsidy mechanism designed to keep farm prices and farmers incomes at recAs one ord high levels. The bill contains a plan to set target prices for each of the basic commodities wheat, cotton and grains for livestock feed at the level of present highs induced by scarcity and rising demand. Further, government subsidies would be paid to make up any difference if market prices fell below the high target prices. In short, taxpayers will either pay abnormally high market prices or they will pay lower market prices and a higher subsidy to farmers. Both courses mean higher costs to the consumer. The Senate farm bill is no device to phase out subsidies. Instead it is, as now written, a device to maintain and even increase subsidies. In addition to hiking subsidies, the Senate committee also refused an administration request to eliminate specific crop allotments and replace them with authority for the Secretary of Agriculture to pay farmers to leave part of their land idle when to do so was in the public interest. Freed of allotments, farmers could produce in response to market demand. Prices could be expected to decrease as production rose. Return to unrestricted production is not without its dangers as any study of U.S. agricultural history shows. But neither is the present, centralized and all inclusive system whereby experts in Washington dictate basic commodity production limits. Current high prices have been trared in part to the experts miscalculations. If the Senate is determined to retain subsidies and crop allotments, the very least it should do is bring them into conformity with reality. It makes no sense to freeze support prices at abnormally high levels then tax consumers to pay the necessary subsidies to match the high support prices. Further, it makes no sense to restrict production at a time when the crying need is for additional production. The Senate should reject the Committee bill and rewrite it along lines requested by the administration. An Astute House V ote a particularly House memwhen in rebuff Congress telling g bers agreed his powers in Southeast Asia should be clearly restricted. It was the first such action taken by the House. President Nixon suffered war-makin- With a 224 to 172 vote, the congressmen passed a measure preventing further funding from appropriations bills of U.S. bombing in Cambodia. Although similar financial restraints had been attempted by the Senate, Mr. Nixon could always depend on a House reluctant to challenge the Presidents authority. That hesitancy no longer prevails, largely through Mr. Nixons own doing. In successfully extracting U.S. forces from Vietnam with a tediously negotiated cease-fire- , the President gave this nation to believe its perilous involvereason good ment in Southeast Asias bloodletting was over. Statements from such administration spokesmen as Defense Secretary Elliot Tlte Holland Cartoon Richardson and Secretary of State William Rogers that quieting the Cambodian insurgency is also vital to the peace agreements success arent convincing enough. But more than that, sensing the administrations weakened position as the result of Watergate, Congress is seizing an to regain some of its lost power, particularly the g power, that to the seeped away presidency during past years. Many observers consider this the inevitable clash over constitutional prerogatives; that the House vote on controlling military money for Cambodia indicates Congress considers its chances in the conflict better than ever before. war-makin- The Presidents position is definitely vulnerable. It may be that until the cease-fir- e terms are observed by rebel forces in Cambodia, the U.S. is not obliged to stop helping the government there. Yet its virtually impossible to conclusively prove that any direct threats exist against U.S. security, citizens or property to justify continued American Air Force intervention. Cambodias central government was reorganized late last month to broaden its popular support. Its military forces outnumber the North Vietnamese and local guerrillas by a substantial amount. If this combination can't save the present Phnom Penh regime, then more than just U.S. bombers will be needed. That takes this county in a direction Anericans have already rejected. The House vote recognizes as much. Its time for the administration to also adjust. Old Dec says the lime For The Victory Garden Again Welcome Facility Editor, Tribune: As residents of the neighborhood in which the new prison facility for women was to be located, we would like to voice our support and approval of the project. We are unable to see how this house can deteriorate our neighborhood or m any way harm the area residents. On the Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writers full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 0 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writers true name. All letters are subject to condensation. contrary, we believe it will be beneficial to the community and society as a whole, and especially to those women who will live there. We welcome them to our neighborhcod and know many others in the area feel the same way. JOANN AND DOYLE GREEN Cheaper in Kemmerer Editoi. Tribune: A few weeks ago I wrote concerning the high price of milk in Utah and the apparently cavalier attitude of the attorney generals office toward price gouging. The reply canje quickly from Deputy Attorney General Hansen, yvho stressed the following three points: First, that Attorney General Romney did not take sides in the family planning hassle in Bountiful. This must come as a surprise to thousands of radio fans who thought they heard him defend Mayor Schwabs right to deny family planning in that city. Second, while he admitted I was right in saying that the state's case against the three large pricefixing dairy firms was thrown out of court because of lack of preparation and vigorous pursuit by the attorney generals office, he claimed Mr. Romney did achieve a refund for overcharges to state institutions. Fine, but who cels the refund for the harried mothers who are having difficulty feeding their children? The third point stressed by Mr. Hansen was that Vernon Romney has a fine record in consumer protection. Today milk is being sold in a supermarket in Kemmerer, Wyo., for 32 cents in a quart carton. That carton of milk is processed and packaged in Salt Lake City, where it sells for 37 cents. Are we to believe that this company absorbs five cents loss per quart, plus the cost of shipping 150 miles in a refrigerated truck so that their drivers can enjoy the scenery? Or is it possible, just possible, that the people of Wyoming refuse to put up with the kind of hanky-pankcondoned by the consumer protection agencies of U'ah? EDWARD D. HANKS price-fixin- g has been operated at 57 percent capcity since the of Lake Powell.) If the Colorado River Compact and the Colorado River Storage Act were revised to face these two facts, Lake Powell could be maintained at its present level without loss to anyone. Water stored for the lower basin could be shifted from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. If this water were credited to the lower basin and the additional power generated were credited to the upper basin, there would be no significant loss to the upper basin of either water or power revenue. If, in addition, these two documents were revised to reduce the upper basins commitment to the lower basin in light of the amount of water that is actually in the Colorado, Utah would recover its fair share of Colorado water. creation y Correction Due Editor, Tribune: It is commonly assumed, without analysis, that wasted water and lost power revenues will result if Lake Powell is not filled to capacity. Most L'tahns do not understand that the purpose of Lake Powell is to store water not for Utah but for the lower Colorado River Basin states. Under the Colorado River Compact and the Colorado River Storage Act, Utah has promised to let a certain amount of Colorado water through to the lower basin states before it is allowed to use its own share. This was to be accomplished by storing excess water from wet years behind Glen Canyon Dam and paying for the dam from power revenues. As things stand, the Colorado Compact and the Colorado River Storage Act take from Utah the matchless scenery of the Glen Canyon country so it can be used as a storage tank for the lower basin while the lower basins ow n reservoirs stand half empty. In addition, these documents put Utah last in line for the water of the Colorado and cheat Utah of its fair share. Is there a congressman who is wiling to stand up for Utah's interests and ask for some adjustments? MICHAEL R. CARLSTON Hes Smothered Editor, Tribune: The news media, both political parties and members of the bar have been smothering us with the Watergate scandal. And lots of name calling and indictments have been made, but little has been revealed about the information either recorded or compiled by the conspirators. Furthermore, the Democrats have neglected lo mention how any of their candidates were hurt in the last election by Watergate conspirators. From the information I have collected on the subject, the Democratic campaign committee put the greater portion of their defeat on improper reporting by the news media. Moreover, the Republicans have not revealed tlie real reasons for going to all the trouble and expense of their illegal bugging contest. And it is likely that we will never know the real reasons because of the political implications involved. Gov. Rampton has expressed disappointment that more citizens do not know the seriousness of Watergate. But where were the Democrats when Ted Kennedy became involved in a more serious scandal? If the majority of Americans got uptight everytime there was a political scandal, we would be nothing but American-vote- r dropouts. if both news media and the Finally, parties, members of the bar are really serious about keeping us informed about politics in Washington, they should be willing to let us know more about the recordings compiled by the Watergate conspirators, then let the public decide if the scandal is serious enough to release the President and his vice president. J THERON SMITH Provo And James R. Schlesinger? Most Americans still couldn't identify him on a bet, but in three months Mr. Nixon has snuffled him from heading the Atomic Energy Commission to directing the Central Intelligence Agency to Richardsons outgoing post of Secretary of Defense. This was after the President tried vainly to bring former Deputy Defense Secretary David Packard back into government. But these appointments only begin to portray a chief executive who has drawn his wagons m a circle, a hostile bit of firepower ready for all but those he has branded as personally and ideologically loyal. Receives Headline Billing strange new SuS goes out to John B. lonnal-ly- . This ambitious, cocksure former governor of Texas gets headline billing as a new part-timunpaid adviser to the President on ev ery thing. A Connally is not going to continue his law practice, with White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler assuring us all that Mr. Nixon would never ask Connallys advice about oil policies or other things involving a conflict of interest. But how does anyone feel reassured with that kind of statement coming from Ziegler, who for months has passed on an assortment of lies about Watergate, which is replete with more conflicts of interest than the American public can com- prehend? lot of naive people think Connally turned Republican only to get the jump on Vice President Spiro Agnew for the Republican nomination m 1976. But the shrewd observers in this town say Connally made the switch so he could make a financial killing off Republican fat cats, some of whom gave the GOP that excess of money which financed the Watergate tragedy. A Sympathy for Taxpayer? there is J. Fred Ruzhardt, the South Carolina protege of Sen. Strom Thurmond who has been put on the White House staff to deal primarily with Watergate matters. Buzhardt got his job as general counsel of the Pentagon over the bitter protests of civil nghts groups in this country because of his Crow activities in South Carolina. He is an ideological soul brother of the zealots who brought disgrace to this administration and then bailed out, or were forced out or indicted out. Buzhardt is totally beholden to Nixon, so it is impossible that he can do anything about Watergate which would serve to reinstill a public confidence in honest government. Mr. Nixon just doesn't seem to comprehend the magnitude of the current morass of crime and corruption, or of what Watergate means in terms of his personal ability ever to lead this country again. He doesnt seem to sense that a lot more is required of him than Dale Carnegie rhetoric or turning a puppet show into a juggling act. The President simply must reach into the country for new leaders of unquestioned ability and integrity if they are willing to come aboard a ship of state that has USS Watergate splashed across the bow. And then pro-Jii- n Bill Mauldin Only Report Editor, Mr. Nates statements aie reminiscent of those Ger- Tribune: (Forum, May 11) man citizens who lived downwind of Auschwitz and later claimed that they didn't know. Two former cabinet officers of Mr. Nixon have been indicted; 14 other administrative officers have resigned; wiretaps have been placed on reporters phones; a psychiatrist's office has been burglarized. But Mr. Nate doesn't know. News commentators are not destroying our great country: they simply report what has gone on in this administration practice of medicine is becomSo difficult. more many people have quit cigaing rettes that it's ro longer possible to get by with just tolling them to give up smoking Blit in devising this plan. Congress made a serious mistake. It overestimated the amount of water in the Colorado by at least one million acre feet. This mistake mcar.v Returned Pt)W must learn many new words, sueh as well", you know ' and "like wow " The upper basin now is delivering its fair share to the lower basin; more than But even more dangerous to this couniry than this administration's corruption are uninformed citizens like Mr. Nate, who do not read or do not care to know what is going on. The we.dher this winter and spring indicates is m deep trouble and may need professional help ,, There isn't enough water in the Colorado to fill either Lake Powell or Lake Mead to full capacity without keeping the nthr half empty (Lake Mead Mr Nates sustaining the authority of the Nixon administration will be obliterated by the verdict of history. X F ANDERSON that Mother Nature Mr. Rowan This introverted man. led (or accompanied) to the brink of personal tragedy by a small coterie of zealous (m some cases fanatical) advisers, seems incapable of reaching out into the nation for new leadership which might rescue him from disaster and save the nation from three years of paralysis Conditioned Ref(.x V U |