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Show DESERET NEWS, FRIDAY, By Congressional Quarterly W ASHINGTON The bell has sounded to start round two in the fight over pension regulation. At stake is a n industry and watching from ringside are more than 12 million persons whose old age security will be directly affected by the outcome. A House subcommittee has slated bearings late this month on a bill that, for the first time, would set national standards to govern the pension plans of all state and local government employes. The effort to regulate public employment retirement systems follows by two years enactment of a law that subjected private pension plans to federal rules. That law, passed after a long congressional struggle, has been sharply criticized since its enactment for imposing a vast amount of paperwork on systems, thereby increasing their costs. If enacted, the new hill would impose federal regulations on 6,076 pension plans covering 10.2 million government workers and two million retirees. The Ford administration has expressed no opinion on the measure, but a number of state and local officials, trade unions and other groups have taken strong positions. The question Ls: Should Congress enact a law to regulate pension systems for government employes? $100-billio- Round 2 begins on pension laws . reform Proponents of the legislation argue that it is needed to prevent misuse of pension funds by public officials, to give workers a vested right to pension benefits after a certain time of employment and to permit employes to carry pension credits with them when they change jobs. Among the groups leading the fight for tough federal regulation is the 700, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employes. Martin Gleason, the union's legislative director, told a House subcommittee late last year that we recognize that there are serious deficiencies and even outright abuses in the operation of pubLic pension programs. Gleason's views gained backing this staff aide to the National Governors' Conference, in response to the allegations of pension fund misuse. Smith said that the proper place to public pension sysregulate tems is at the state and local level He predicted that the governors would be very antagonistic toward any federal attempt to regulate (he pensions He cited a resolution the Governors' Conference adopted last year, which declared that pension reform is the sole responsibility of state governments. The governors' views are shared by a number of mayors and other city officials Stephen T. Honey of the National League of Cities expressed fear that even relatively mild legislation requiring disclosure of the assets and liabilities of the puhl pension funds might op n the way mr more stringent regulation. .teems is a more Inderlyiiig 'hose pragmatic fear on the part of some state and local officials that federal regulation would remove an important weapon frum their dwindling economic arsenal, if it limited their ability to use pension funds as a financial cushion and reduced their flexibility in negotiations new contracts with public employe unions man nm-feder- April when a special congressional task force released an interim report on the general condition of public pensions. report concluded that the absence of any substantive federal regulations of public plans has led to a potential for abuse unknown in the private sector." The report cited inadequate accounting methods and the use of pension plan money for purposes not directly related to the stability of the funds or the benefit of their contributors. er Opponents of federal action base their chiefly on constitutional-grounds- , maintaining that the federal government has no right to intrude into what they regard as the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and local governments. arguments President Valery Giscard surrendered ? gratitude ! s I patterned after the one designed for the royal palace at Versailles, and it will be installed at George Washingtons Mount Vernon estate. The show is said to cost twice as much as the Statue of Liberty. Giscard will preside over a different kind of show on May 18, when President and Mrs. Ford will be his guests of honor at a their Lafayette re- turned to the United States in 1824 for a visit that was an uninterrupted triumph. The elderly marquis visited Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, stayed at the While House with John Quincy Adams, was voted a gift of $200,000 and a township of land by Congress, and laid the cornerstone for the Bunker Hill Monument. Half a century later, France returned the favor by commissioning the Statue ol Liberty as a Centennial gift. te and the Comte de Rochambeau, AP DhotO when tsound and light) show, lumiere in 1781. Americans showed centuries ago. Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, is a living testament to this countrys eternal debt to France. In it are statues of the Marquis de Lafayet- 1 to d'Es-tain- Of all the distinguished foreign visitors to the United States this Bicentennial year, Giscard is symbolically the most important. For without French assistance in the Revolutionary War, Americans might not have won independence from the British Crown two I Giscard, too, is bearing a gift the United States from the French nation. It is a "son ct both of whom served under George Washington and distinguished themselves in battle. The two French officers were present at Yorktown when Cornwallis Editorial Research Reports On Mav 17 the French tricolor will be flying from dozens of flagstaffs in the vicinity of the White House. The occasion, of course, is the state visit of French OUR READERS' L lavish dinner at the French embassy. The ambassador's residence has been extensively refurbished for the occasion, and a special tent has been ordered to accomniudute lire 150 or so dinner guests. And not just any kind of tent, either. It has been designed to look like a large formal room, in same memories and the same ideals of glory. This is not true. French America, that dream which we in France have perpetuated generation after generation, ceased to exist long ago. The American Civil War struck it a finishing blow. The old French .America, Jean Dutour told his readers, has been replaced by a German America to which Lafayette means little. ... To me, these French protests of love for the United States dishonor France, for the United States responds only with snubs. Popular though such attacks have been with some journalists and some politicians, serious support has been found only among the Communists, for whom any wedge is good enough to drive in between France and America. They tell the 15,000 Concorde workers that their jobs depend on the Paris-U.S- . flights. The majority of the people of France appear already to have classed Concorde with a long list of achievements where outstanding technical brilliance' did not bring the expected result: The Suez canal, which passed to the British and finally to the Egyptians; de Lesseps Panama Canal which ended in financial disaster; the impregnable Maginot Line; Europe's largest and most advanced slaughterhouse at La Villette in Paris, which had to ho completely scrapped four years ago. Also the world's longest and fastest cruise ship, christened PARIS Concorde, sometimes termed Frances flying white elephant, has again divided all Gaul into three parts. Far the noisiest, and unquestionably the fewest, have been the chauvinists and the ctitics of Americans. For them, neither pollution nor economic futility have had the slightest reality. And the U.S. ever-naggin- g H Bicentennial has merely strengthened their case. That h I N the United States should deny our Concorde landing rights in New York, wrote Joan Dutourd in one of Ids famous front-pag- e pieces in Franee-Soi- r, the mass circulation evening paper of Paris, "just when it is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence, amounts to a petty declaration of war on the aircraft industry of France and on the workers of France. "French people would have he continued, remembered, "if they hadnt abandoned the study of history, that throughout the 1800s the United States repeatedly acted in a manner hostile to France, and most significantly when President Ulysses S. Grant cabled his to Bismarck congratulations after Germany had defeated France at Sedan. . . "It is the fashion at the moment to imagine that the America of 1976 is the French America of Washington, Franklin, and Lafayette, with the . 4 J everything from handguns to recoiless rifles, all spanking new, from Vietnam. The Redeye most dangerous are shoulder-fire- d missiles, which can knock aircraft out of the air or destroy them on the runways. The U.S. Customs Service has quietly alerted police across the country to be on the lookout for terrorists with Vietnam War weapons. Redeye missiles are available for sale to terrorist groups, Customs has warned. The compactness of these missiles poses a problem to Customs officers attempting to stop the illegal import of arms and explosives. g Redeye Not only do the missiles demolish aircraft by literally zooming up their tailpipes, but they can also he used against motor vehicles and factories. Intelligence sources have traced the e arms from Vietnam shipment of to Libya whose reckless leader. Col. Biccnten toasts U.S.-mad- - -- by Mrs. Charles de Gaulle in and mothballed last year; Europes most modem steel and !o rt complex at Fos on the Mediterranean, now in serious if temporary difficulty ; and the plan of the late 1960s for the world's greatest commercial center, now only a hole in the heart of Paris. 1960 auJacques thor of The American Challenge and formerly leader of the Radicals. Servan-Schreibc- Certain businessmen and politicians are taking an I told you so" position. They argued vigorously from the beginning that under present conditions of aeronautical science and world travel the Concorde could be only an economic disaster. One such politician was Jeun- - has become the . . because the Soviet Department Union once again has gotten the best of the United States in a commercial deal. In a letter stamped Confidential," Deputy Secretary Charles Robinson has complained to the Civil Aeronautics Board that the Soviets are raking in most of the benefits from the flight agreements between the two countries. ( i 1 Impossible to cancel order the predictions of this group have been proved correct by tite fact that not one Concorde has yet been sold (except the nine obligatorily taken by the British and French airlines) and that the 16 under construction may be the last. All d The filial school of thought at present, quite obviously gaining strength month by month, is that the entire air industry is today inevitably international. They argue that the first totally successful supersonic plane and flight service, probably in ttie 1980s, will be essentially 11 Pan American Airline's share of the business has dropped from 60 to a meager 27 percent, while the Soviet Aeroflot's share has shot up from 40 to 73 percent. Wrote Robinson bluntly: The Department believes that it is essential, from a foreign policy viewpoint and overall U.S. national interests, that our agreements with the Soviet Union produce an equitable balance of benefits. The current Civil Air Transport Agreement, while balanced in concept, has resulted hi significantly greater economic benefits for the Soviet Union than for the United States. Some improvements have been achieved, but this imbalance has not been satisfactorily resolved. U.S.-USS- R Robinson urged a revenue pooling agreement to redress the imbalance. Our sources say the Soviets are amenable to revenue pooling if they are permitted to operate more flights to the United States than Pan Am is granted to Russia. Footnote; A CAB spokesman said the board had rejected a draft agreement between Pan Am and Aeroflot because it was unfavorable to Pan Am. (c) 1976. United Feature Syndicate, Superflights booked solid London Express News Service LONDON Supersonic waiting to become the first airline passenn gers to fly Concorde over the North Atlantic route, had already lx.oked 600 seats when the first tickets wont on sale Wednesday, said British Airways. The early sales were for flights between London and Washington over the first is in seven weeks the 1,400 service. Seats on the first flights out of both Ixmdon and Washington are a complete sellout. And because of demand for places from the time Concorde flights to the United States begin on May 21. British Airways will open up its new service w ith two round trips weekly instead of one This will be increased to throe return flights as of October. After the special inaugural flight on M?y 21. British Air waj s Concordes will fly to Y,ashington m Saturdays and Thursdays, returning m Ixmdon on Sundays and Fridays Air France will operate three round trips from Paris to Washington And the French inaugural flight from Pans is being timed so that the first British and French superjets touch down in Washington within a few minutes of eaeli other The plan is for their passengers to reach the terminal buildings together. blue-ribbo- niph-superj- 11 A "fV r rVJS rVi 200 years ago The British Admiralty the armed vessel Lyon to the ordered between Greenland and area Atlantic Canada to yuard British whalers from May U A - - r rnrVr rS r Cuneo The very purpose of research is to explore t!) unknown. Some great discoveries of mankind wojw made while looking for something else. ColumbilJ was looking for a westward route to Asia when (omul a New World of two continents. Marco Polo dij find a new European land route to the silk and spit areas; but be also found a Chinese civilization U many respects superior to the West. Currently, in their efforts to reach the outqj planets, the Russian scientists have develop enthralling evidence on the rejuvenating effect $ long, long periods of induced sleep and, m another field, the arresting effect of magnetic fields cancer. As no other people in recorded history. Americans have produced the greatest results froiS) research. From telegraph to moving pictures, frofri airplane to TV. any one of a dozen Americaj inventors would have revolutionized the whole asjjcjM. of mans life in this vale of tears. For the most part in the 20th Century', thj. important research has been conducted by tij research teams of private enterprise, or cnibm3 teams of private enterprise working with the U ! Government. Research is threatened now. by low rating on th list of governmental priorities. Loud, noisy, ignorafJJ and frequently violent demagogues are calling for cut in research fluids on of all things "humanitaruiiij grounds. As well throw away the nations navigStlfig radar to lighten ships m a hca y storm. n attacks by American raiders. Inc Ernest North American Newspaper Alliance WASHINGTON Research and welfare arc tjot. opposed to each other except politically. A mere glance at the record proves the point Smallpox and the bubonic plague, the scourge of the masses of the earth, have all but disappeared dy? research. Over a third of the population of Etir6c was wiped out in the Great Plague of the 1660s. affliction of this proportion couldn't even get start'll today. For as long as there is recorded history , wonuai have wailed for their children assailed by polio Egyptian mothers begged Ra as Christian mothers prayed to God to help their stricken infants. Then; only two decades ago. there came a young doctuf named Jonas Salk and the curse of polio was lifted ! from the back of mankind through research fuller the Research has not only made possible pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for the average man. It has made more lives available. A great population cxploijkti) Is percentage of the caused not by increased births but by decreased J deaths. There are some very popular misconceptions about research among uneducated people, pailieij lurly legislators. They do not understand thj importance of research in the abstract. They insijj the objective and probable result be justified before an appropriation be made. As well require venturesome Columbus to predict that there woufij one day bo a United States of America whose ciUeqlji would roll about in machines and several of whonj would w alk on the moon. r, state-owne- the Eiffel Tower, for many years the world's highest structure, has fulfilled every dream. Only is upset r A g, Christian Science Monitor New Service photo Concorde may turn out to be yet another in a long line of French misadventures. . - rn ! . My complaint is against Time Inc., of Teaneck, N.J. They keep sending me bills for magazines I didn't subscribe to. My neighbors h?v;e also been receiving these bills, and they didn't ordpr anything either. Can you see what the deal is? Mri, '. L.B., Sandy. TTM will straighten the kinks if you will, send them a copy of the bill (si you have so they can search their records for your account. They, as well as we, wonder why you are billed if there was never any contact. We suggest that you send the copies to us and we'll do the inquiring. Oiheis will lie inteiesled in .the results. to friendship that will be made during Giscard's visit, relations between the two countries are not as amicable as they might be The French are angry about the widespread opposition in this country to granting landing rights to the Concorde, the British-Frenc- h supersonic passenger plane. (See story below.) Ciseard is due to arrive in Washington on the first regularly scheduled Concorde flight to the United States. By terrorists chief supplier. The Customs alert is the first solid evidence, however, that the captured U.S. arms may now be coming back to haunt us. Warns Customs: "The sophistication of terrorist groups has increased Modern military weapons are being used regularly. SOVIET BENEFITS: The State . ; We owe a lot to research AflDERSOfl heat-seekin- 'V number. JACK Muammar '' .jUh I ordered by phone a sewing machine from a store in S.L. I sent them a check for $313. Three weeks have gone by and no machine. I have my canceled check back, too. I called them but they don't seem to lie able to tell me anything. I also wrote to theml don't want the machine now. 1 want my money back. C.C., Teasdale. You've changed your mind, we hear. After our inquiry they discovered the machine was shipped May 5. You should have it by now, even though you wrote to us May 12. We don't know the reasons for the delay, but were told they had telephoned you and you were "happy. .'! n London-Washingto- The weapons we WASHINGTON xiu red into South Vietnam may now be turned against us. It is known that abandoned U.S. arms have fallen into the hands of worldwide terrorists. Terror groups have been able to get C Aldens, Chicago, keeps dunning me for money I don't owe them. One time they say it's $21.09,' next time it s $15 and lately is $20.50. Now they say if I dont pay them in five days they're taking 'leghl Mrs. H.tAl., action. I hope you can help me. Bountiful. All three figures are wrong it turns out. Real amount is $21.59, but they owe it to you, not you tn them. You now have a credit. Apparently you tri'edlto cancel an order or two, too. You might be interested in knowing they have a policy of "it is impossible to cancel an order since once its processed it is impossible to trace it down. Youre only out Is wait until you get your order, return it and they will issue a credit, hopefully, much sooner than this ' ' current one. Do-i- f Man attempts to solve problems, set answers, investioaio complaints and cut red tape. Write. You must sign vour name and give your address and telephone U.S. arms fall info terrorists' hands I S Your privilege to change mind French lash out at plane's critics By Philip W. Whitcomb Christian Science Monitor News Service B I bough? a full set of radial tires 20,000 miles ago. The car started to vibrate, so I had them rotated. That didn't work so 1 had the wheels balanced. That w as no good either, so I had the front wheels aligned. That didnt help and they said the tires were out of round (hi the w ay to the dealer were I bought them I had a blowout. They told me I should have rotated every 3.000 miles. I ended up paving $15t for two more tires. What is this? S.P., Meadow. y, w What it is. is you didn't lmther to read the 1imittd warranty they gave you. It says that you 'ate governed by pro rata tread wear policy. 'They telephoned you to explain the details. We find nothing (hat recommends rotation after 5,000 miles, but we do note that it's an owners responsibility to watch ftm irregular or uneven tread wear and check with' his " dealer Giscard i P LINE Tire warranty explained I I I f' ION Kink straightening upcoming Despite all the French-Amcriea- V A - with walls of red silk Decorations will include gold and crystal chandeliers. Gobelin tapestries, paintings from the Louvre and Versailles, and Porthault table- cloths embroidered nial colors 1976-'- DO-I- T Lafayette, we have returned I i Im not sure that the situation is as bad as they say it is, and, even if it is. I'm not sure that it is the responsibility' of the Congress to fix it, said Terry Smith, a MAY 14, rA VVt1 iY ' t , |