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Show i m , H 4 : - - - ' - 1 - - i' 4 v. t Ji i Editorial Page of the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah ii A5 TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1973 Pres. Nixons "grand tour" Certainly there are urgent and compelling reasons for President Nixons announced grand tour of European capitals this fall. Trade problems with the rewly expanded Its possible some of these difficulties can be ironed out when Russian Communist Party boss Leonid Brezhnev visits the U.S., probably in June. international monetary problem s, the need to strengthen NATO, troop reduction proposals all provide the grist hr summit- Even so, the President will still have g much to do in his European trip to keep the NATO alliance strong and the Middle East from another round of war 4 fence-mendin- ry. But in all this, the potential powder keg the Middle East is being neglected. And that is an area that needs the utmost attention, particularly at a time when the U.S. image has been deteriorating badly. Experience has shown that NATO lets its defenses isibly when Russia appears the most cordial. That is the present danger. Beforethe Russianinvasionof Czechoslovakia in 1968, most NATO members were significantly lagging in their commitment of troops to NATO forces. ' Besides the usual Israeli-Ara- b intransiU.S. the also must Ruscontend with gence, sias concentration of a large fleet of warships in the area and the increased Palestinian belligerence toward U.S. property and nationals. Countys land purchasing procedures should be running like clockwork. Not so, judging from the current hassle over the purchase of nearly 30 acres of land sought for the Little Cottonwood Regional Park. As things nowsiand, County Auditor Gerald R. Hansen has refused to pay $240,000 for 29.8 acres because that figure is higher than any of three appraisals made on the land. Furthermore, the county stands the chance of having to pay considerably more for the same land if the current deal falls through. The whole dilemma could have been avoided if the county attorney and perhaps .5 . 1. It costs less than half the average annual expenditure per student at the Intermountain School to educate Indian students at even if new schools near the reservation schools must be built. Indian parents are growing more interested in keeping their children closer to home for their education . 2. Hence Senator Bennett is on firm ground in urging a high-levstudy of the institutions future use. In peak years, the Intermountain School has handled 2,100 students of the Navajo tribe. Its current population is down to 1,000, and is expected to decline to about 800 next year. That means the school may be entirely phased out in the next two years. But just as it was senseless to desert such a facility after World War II when it was so phased out as Bushnell General Hospital, now be must preserved. its usefulness buildings on a The school now has 203 fullcampus, with more than 400 of time employes. The loss that many jobs, not to mention the potential of the school, could pose a serious economic blow to which has already been Brigham City in hard-hi- t in recent years by the slow-dow- n 300-ac- re missile production. In a growing state, the Intermountain School will, of course, eventually be utilized A high-levby government or industry. and pertransition the ease can now study of the staff much of dispersal prevent haps el A tote Washington Star Syndicate look of a the county auditor had been consulted early in the land negotiation. Such a procedure certainly would have prevented any purchase agreement being made without even having a prior appraisal on the land. And certainly it would have nullified any renegotiation of the purchase price at a price originally $255,000 last spring which was still above any of the three appraisals made on the land. By Nick Thimmesch L.A. Times Syndicate The have automakers equipped cars with emission-contro- l in devices recent years which have greatly reduced emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Fine, but to achieve the 90 percent reduction in 1975 mandated by law, the manu- The Lady must introduce facturers catalytic mufflers, and Ruckelshaus decision had to be based on the availability of who waited Stor about prisoners of w;ar have covered a spectrum from pathos to unbounded joy. Some PWs have had to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. Others have simply resumed where they left off. One of our favorite homecoming stories thus far unfolded at Valley Forge General Hospital, Valley Forge, Pa. Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Rose and his hometown, high school sweetheart from Morgantown, W. Va., were married in the hospital chapel before an impromptu gathering of PWs, patients, medical personnel and members of both families. hasnt yet commented on the Watergate bugging affair. Not true. I share the diswith Miss Mabel tinction spin-ste- r Ratchet, an in a West Texas village who writes a monthly article for the local weekly entitled Cooking With Pinto Beans. The couple had been engaged for nearsoon ly six years, planning to marry as tour of duty in as a scheduled one-yeVietnam had ended. But helicopter crewman Rose was captured more than five ago. And the girl back home years Mabel hasnt yet devoted her column space to Watergate yet because she believes the subject of pinto beans is a lot more exciting. I cant agree with that. I would give Watergate and the subject of pinto beans just about equal weight. It is a mountain out of a waited. Much has tjeen said about the endurance and faith and courage of the PWs in long years of confinement. They have well earned the tributes paid them. But there have been endurance and faith and courage back home, too. There were the women who walked alone and never gave up hope. Republicans chalked up a victory in the House last week that has to be described in the conservative view, as nothing short of at least glorious. By a stunning vote the House refused of to override President Nixons veto of the rural water and sewer program. The big spenders were routed, horse, foot and dragoon. Leader Gerald Minority Ford, commanding the Presidents cohort, had counted on 165 votes. This would have been abundant to sustain the veto and would have constituted a sweet victory in itself. To his surprise, he wound up with 189. The staggered Democrats were 51 necesshort of the to override. Speaker sary t It- - a r 225-18- two-thir- The water-sewe- r to program example provides of the truism that within the forests of the federal budget, line. from iittle The victory was pleasant at mighty oaks The acorns grow. program least three ways. It marked in 1961 as an act to new cohesion in Republican started loans for water sysprovide ranks. It brought an end to a in communities of less tems federal program utterly within 17 it than 2,500 population out justification. And In that year, states. western augured well for the Presi- 33 such systems were aided. dents determined bid to keep In 1965, the program was a lid on federal spending. Ford lost only 24 of the 185 expanded to a plan of both loans and grants, available Republicans who voted on the for water and nationwide question. For the most part, sewer in communifacilities the defectors were Republities of less than 5,000. In from cans predominantly Andrews of that fiscal year, 384 systems rural districts North Dakota, for example, qualified for aid amounting to $50 million. and Wampler of Virginia By fiscal 71, some 1,400 whose positions were readily communities were leaping understood. Otherwise, Ford a $300 million gravy aboard team a rousing put together effort. It was a superb piece train. Last year,. Congress of political generalship on his voted to expand the prugram 10,000 eligible for even greater grants and loans. Early in January, Nixon blew a textbook the whistle. He impounded $120 million in grant funds. W'hen Congress sent him a . fresh bill, he exercised his veto power: and it was this veto that the House sustained. Nixon was plainly right in his opposition to the program. To be sure, it has its appealing aspects. In Clarke County, Va., for example, the community of Millwood last year got an outright grant of 5 per$210,000, plus a cent loan of $315,000, to build a water and sewer system serving 228 families. The community of San Andreas, in Calaveras County, Calif., got a grant of $200,000 and a loan of $500,000 for a water system serving roughly a $ 5 j Gosh, those were some cars. In those days you could drive your car to work or to the city all alone without violating the law. Youd see peo- - U station? wagons all by themselves. pie in a Is it true you could drive to the beach or to the mountains or to a football game miles away without g ' a special pass from the Automobile Authority? get-tin- Yup. One time your mother and I drove all the way Jo Florida, and we didnt have to ask permission from a . soul. We just went. What happened, Daddy? EPA that rather exotic, infant them laxed He could have (1) given the an ultimatum to get bug hill, a tornado in a teapot, a Raquel Welch in a Martha Mitchell. It is a bore. Everyone has always known that politics is just a little bit more competitive than pro football. Anything goes and everything does. To many participants, it is simply a rich mans game in which the only rule is to get reelected. If all the dirt in politics were extracted and dumped in the Mississippi River, you could build homes where the channel used to be. mere bugging of the party headquarters is not an example of crooked The enemys politics. It is a step up. Mabel, keep those recipes coming. such federal aid, proponents contend, Millwood and San Andreas would be denied the amenities their people need. But such problems and needs are universal and they are no proper business of the For federal government. many years, as Nixon said in his veto message, local communities have proudly financed and built their own water and sewer facilities. that They have recognized these services are primarily local in nature, and should be primarily a local responsibility, just as local communities pay for their own garbage services and fire protection. Resurrection of the program would serve only to undercut that tradition, shoving aside local authorities for the increasingly federal govem- powerful 5 5 Jj ; Nobody really knows. People just kept using up gas- - Sr oline and oil until there was none left. I remember in 73 Detroit announced it had had its greatest year. Sold more big cars than any time in its history. administrator William Ruckelshaus and Watergate General Features Ccrp. A reader has suggested that I may be the only colwho umnist , in America c telling the truth, son. And not only that but we used to have these big cars three times the size of the ones you see now with four doors and air conditioning and everything. Some of them got 9, 10 miles to the gal- Ion. I think there are some pictures of them in the ency- clopedia here. Pinto beans By Jim Fiebig ' youre putting me on." Im Using the powers assigned to him by law, Ruckelshaus went partway in granting the requests of auto manufacturers to delay meeting clean-ai- r standards, but stuck them with substitute standards that they immediately howled about. editorial from The Philadelphia Everting Bulletin 1973 car." Aw, come on Daddy, interests are. An like in all? - and deterioration of the physical plant. 1 Daddy, tell me again what it was when anyone who wanted to could drive a WASHINGTON I know youre not going to believe this, son, but you had to do was drive up to a gas station and say to the aitonHnt, Fill er up. And you know what? He had to our windshield, too, or you wouldnt buy any gas WASHINGTON Ive been trying for two years to get the whole country mad at me, laughed Bill Ruckel-shau- s in his office here, and Ive finally succeeded. Well, the w hole country is not mad at him for his announcement on clean air requirements for 1975 cars, but some vested many examples of bad judgment and faulty procedures. Unless those deficiencies are remedied, Salt Lake County taxpayers could wind up paying far more than necessary for land purchases for recreation and other uses. 5 BUCHLUflLD attracts some attention While there is no evidence of wrongdoing in the purchase hassle, there are far too board, had the dazed quarterback rudely by the Dolphins dumped flRT Ruckelshous finally Presidents budget battle: Going well By James J. Kilpatrick s; i-- Study Indian school use Two powerful forces are operating to make closure oi the Intermountain School at Brigham City a virtual certainty: or : The President's skill in personal diplomacy holds out strong hopes for closer E uropean ties in what the President has already labeled the year of Europe. Land procedures faulty By now, it would seem , Salt Lake IMT down on all 1975 the cars, (2) standards, thus re-te- eliminating the need for lytic mufflers or (3) ordered the special mufflers to be cata-indust- phased in by 1976. Ruckelshaus wisely decided on the phase-iroute, specifying that 1975 cars sold in California must have the catalytic mufflers, and that 1975 cars sold in the rest of the nation must reach an 83 percent reduction in hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Ruckelshaus comment: with Compared todays cars, the reductions required in 1975 by this decision move us for the market half the distance, and for the Califors nia market, of the way to the 1975 standards. The statutory standards for HC and Co. must be aihieved ir. n two-third- 1976. California has to be the place to test the catalytic mufflers because California has the worst problem and has been ahead on coping with it. The auto industry made a successful case that it just cant crank up for mass production of the catalytic mufflers for 1975, but they ought to be able to turn out enough for California. The auto industry is enormous, and one of every six Americans is employed employed in work related to this industry. If the auto industry were greatly disrupted in order to follow a hard-linorder from Ruckelshaus, it is backlash likely that a .2 But nobody bothered to tell Detroit there would be nothing to put in the big gas tanks. They said it wasnt their problem. It was really funny because in Washington they were arguing about automobile pollution and the emission stan- dards for 1976, when, in fact, the problem sol red itself. There was no fjel left to pollute anything. Why didnt Detroit build smaller cars that wouldnt use so much gasoline? Because they said Americans wouldnt go for it. They said Americans had always had big cars, and they deserved big cars because big cars were what made America great. Of course, now they have no choice but to manufacture automobiles because thats the only kind of car Americans can afford. I mean when gas is selling for $9.50 a gallon and youve got rationing coupons, nobody in his right mind is going to make a car. Is that why we moved back to the city, because you couldnt drive to work any more? Yup. We lived in the suburbs when you were very little, but when the country ran out of gasoline we had to move back here. Oh, I tried bicycling to work, but it was 40 miles each way and I was pretty pooped by the time ! got home. So we came back. Who was to blame for our running out of gasoline? Detroit blamed it on Ralph Nader, the President blamed it on Congress, the Arabs blamed it on Israel, and the oil companies blamed it on the caribou in Alaska. It must have been fun living in 1973. It was. Do you know one time we drove 30 miles just to have a sirloin steak? Whats a steak? Oh, to blazes with it. It hurts too much to talk abo1 it. e against environmentalism would result. This was Ruckelshaus thinking. Predictably, some environmentalists yelled about his announcement on 1975 cars. Ralph Nader, who is becoming a sullen bore astride his hobbyhorse, immediately charged that once again the concessionaires within the Nixon Administration have sold out the environment to industry polluters. Hogwash. Ruckelshaus is his own man, has let tlie President know this, and this decision was his. Those in- dustry polluters Nader referred to immediately pro "Sure, vie could occupy the villoge and keep out the Mounties, but could we get Marlon Brando to come?" Jj 5 jf |