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Show Joseph Kraft The Worst's Over In U.S. Economy WASHINGTON Indicted by Friends In accusing Aimv and State Department officers in South Vietnam of covering up the My Imi massacre, a special House subcommittee confirms what long had been suspected. It was impossible to believe that so many persons could have known of the affair without anything getting into the public record. The massacre occurred on March 16, 1968. But months were to pass before the first news story was published in the United States. And by that time the Army : j was already preparing to bring to trial men charged with the slaughter of Vietnamese civilians. The House subcommittee is in effect a grand jury. The subcommittees report is in effect an indictment. However, it was not a judicial proceeding and the indictment was not a judicial finding. It was simply the kind of investigation for which Congress is particularly well fitted and which can focus the light on dark corners of government. Rep. L. Mendel Rivers, who appointed the subcommittee, is a supporter of the Vietnam war. So are the four subcommit-- , fee members. If opponents of the war had done the investigating, the indictment might well he open to criticism. But when the report is returned by good friends of the military, its objectivily cannot be President Nixon be in trouble with blacks, students, may- blue-coll- workers the Near East, the Far Eaat, thp House, the Senatp and Chet Huntley. But some semigood news is coming in ihe administration on one from. A wide range nf signs suggests the Worst is met in ihe economy. The had limes are bottoming out, and Ihe interesting question now is whether Mr. Kraft thp turnaround can come fasl enough to help (he Republicans in th November elections. The most important signal comes from an esoteric blinker the bond market where there has been for the past month a rally in bonds." questioned. Rivers himself had previously complained that the Pentagon was persecuting American fighting men for doing their job. Now he praises the subcommittee for its masterful" work. Since five men allegedly involved in the massacre are awaiting court martial, the subcommittee did not try to determine who did what at My Lai, although it did say U.S. soldiers deliberately shot down innocent civilians. But the subcommittee did not hesitate to charge that evidence had been suppressed and that what happened at My Lai violated the Geneva Conventions and directives from the highest allied commands in Vietnam on the treatment of civilians. Indeed, the cover-u- p was so effective that Gen. William C. Westmoreland, then commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, did not hear of the massacre until almost a year later after he had returned to Washington to become Army chief of staff. Now that the House subcommittee has spoken so forcefully and so much to the point, the Pentagon has no choice except to follow through- My Lai was a terrible is indefensible. And tragedy. The cover-uunless the Pentagon disciplines everyone who suppressed evidence, the prosecution of a few individuals will seem more like persecution. Bn- - -- g Reflects Confidence What that means is that private investors sard eargerly to buy corporate Tht offerings. i.'ing surge reflects a confidence that inf is finally- in hand. No one would be purchasing good corporate bonds at 8.9 percent this week which is Ihe current if they fell they mighi he able to gel, yield say, 9.5 percent next month. Confidence lhat rates are leveling off, and indeed may be coming down, seems to express a basic fad of economic life. The groal bnntn in corporate spending for new- plant and Pttiipmonl is evidently coming to a close According lo Ihp Naiional Tndusltial Conference Board, ihe thousand largesi corporation-- , cii hark spending on expansion hv 15 pnrrmii between the last quarter nf joqp nfj jlp f t are coming n - p - - H quarier The Seasons Careful Time The concern for safety is at its high in Utah. Added to the usual jMnphasis on safe driving is the need for around water and special care with Cation fires. Accidental drowning is taking a terrible toll 26 persons in Utah so far this more With people enjoying the op-- ) year. to cool off and relax at the portunity states reservoirs, lakes and streams, the potential for tragedy increases. An extra measure of alertness can help beat the odds. Water, whether placid, rushing, clear or murky need not be feared. But it should be respeeted. Ijearn and remember the appropriate safety rules. sum-merti- I I j 1 J ; Inflation Source Dangerous grass fires are occurring with alarming regularity. The conditions for the problem were assured when much of Utah experienced a wet spring followed by a prolonged hot, dry period. Underbrush and other wild growth is turning to tinder. A carelessly discarded match or unguarded outdoor fire can quickly spread flaming destruction. Vacant lots should be and public combustibles. and cleared of dry grasses Summer is the time for enjoying outdoor living to the full. Dont let forget-fullneor carelessness mar this pleasant season. rights-of-wa- y ss t better Public Car Use Policy i f ... Official privileges are too easily abused. And sincit is periodically neces- ! sary to formally discourage the tendency, a recent Utah State Highway Department notification advising employes that they will be responsible for future parking ; tickets stands out as good precedent. The subject attracted substantial attention as Salt Lake City Commission members, their department heads, city I court judges and their employes engaged I in a prolonged debate over how parking ; tickets issued either on grounds or to municipal workers during duty hours should be considered. It devel-- ; oped that requests from government offi- rials and other personnel for ticket dis- missals have been filed regularly with city ! court. The usual reason was that viola- tions were unavoidable and occurred while drivers performed job assignments. , The highway department maintains a ; ' sizeable automobile fleet for employe use and has now warned its staff people that j the department will no longer ask Salt Lake City courts to cancel parking tickets ! issued department vehicles. Moreover, I such violations will have to be settled by ; the workers personally. ; This is an improvement over the latest r . . Salt Lake City policy, which authorizes the auditor to pay fines levied against city ; ; employes who park overtime while on of- ficial business. i City action was apparently influ-- ! enced by the discovery that several tick-- ! ets are collected monthly by public safety ; ! city-count- y 1 Visiting Cartoonist supervisors, principally in the fire department. Thats not a good enough reason to idemnify all city personnel for parking fines. Temptation to stretch such allowance beyond original intent is always strong. When a public employe is behind the wheel of a public vehicle, he or she assumes a special obligation to obey all state and local traffic laws. Failure to set this important example should be answered for personally, not excused by official sanction. Some may need a special parking pass for convenience or emergency purposes, but not all. Because the highway departments edict clearly recognizes the central principles involved, it is- the better control measure for assuring proper public car-us- e practices. - Topics Without in d It sometimes seems that never a week goes by without President Nixon naming a blue ribbon commission to handle some special problem of government or a factfinding task force to ferret out what often should have been on the public record anyway. Some of the commissions create a temporary stir. Some even produce lasting effects. Some the general public never hears about. Some are named by Congress and some by the various departments. On the same day the President National Proappointed his to Commission keep an eye on ductivity the economy we received notice from the Department of Interior of publication of a report of the task force on Lets Save the Desert Pupfish ." Subjects deemed suitable for lop level study obviously aif without limit. Bill Vaughan's Orbiting Paragraphs officials are dopmtment Treasury instructed to say something good about the economy every day. Such as, for example, that it is better than no economy at all. Safety crusaders say that today's fragile automobiles are a problem. What we need are tais we can really slam into one another. f t4 C Z in "Tell President Cleveland we will honor hi 60-d- a v cooling-of- f period." Li t of 1970. A public official's mail is usually a clear indicator of which side on any question has tiie better organized mailing campaign. Rud-wa- t hing is fun, esperjallv since it doesn't seem o hot her --the birds when you tall them by the wrong nmes The Public Forum Inevitable Friction Editor, Tribune: So often in reading ters of those who advocate the Mormon position on religious issues, one finds them in defense of their Christian faith against, more often than not, others who are also members of a Christian denomination. Seldom do you find a Catholic attack on an Episcopalian or a Lutheran opposing a Methodist. The reason for this runs much deeper than Ihe fact that this area is the production center for LDS theological interpretation. I further feel that Ihe real basis for Ihis conflict is the let- radical differences between Mormonism and the traditional Christianity practiced by other Christian churches. Also the inflexibility of most Mormons in the assumption that they have the truth; therefore, no other church could possibly be the true church. To be sure, one must feel that he has the right church or he wouldnt be there to begin with, but to totally rule out any other possibility is contrary to realistic reasoning. In regard to Ford Christians statement (Forum, July 12), in which he states that, Mormon doctrine contradicts no New or Old. Testament writing," disregarding interpretation of these writings he could be correct. However, in The Doctrine and Covenants and the Future, (Roy W. Doxey Asst. Prof, of Religion, BYU) the following is found. I care not what the theories of men are. We have the testimony that God will raise us up, and he has the power to do it. If anyone supposes hat any part of our bodies, that is, the fundamental parts thereof, ever goes into another body, he is mistaken." (History of the Church. 5:339). He goes on to say, "This doctrine was taught by Brigham Young, Joseph I Smith, and other successors of the Prophet." This doctrine may not conflict with the Testaments, but the A.M.A. would probably lake issue on the validity of it. I dont pretend to have thp answers to the problems between the churches, but the reason for Ihe friction is obvious. J. K. HILTON Granger 1 Dangerous Dream demotions for independence; the cratic leader we supporied in ihe south was merely a tyrant slanding in the way of those aspirations. Mr. Lyons cynically points to Russia as an example of how to win a battle. No wonder they win so often; they try to dictate terms to other nations only within 1,000 miles of their own borders. The U.S. is destroying itself by trying to do so 10,000 miles away. GILBERT CHAMBERS Ogden Jiilificalioii JiMilird Tribune: Ive lead the recent rebuttals hy Winnie E. Puffer and lord Christian (Forum, July 12) to Susan Livingston Pickering's comments on the Bible (July 5). One truly is doomed before they try in Editor, Forum Rules Public Forum letters must net be more than J50 wards In length, must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune end bear writer's tull name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may ba withheld for good reasons on every ten davs. Preferothers. Wniers art limited to one ence will bo given letters ptrmitting usa of true namo, and to those which are typed (doublwspaced) and short. !'' this old world as the Bible states, in Romans 3:23, that all have sinned. Sin can be a lustful or hateful thought ; it doesnt have to be an overt act. One cannot justify ones sins before God by trying to do better. Until one can humble oneself before God and see oneself as a sinner in need of Christ alone to save them, one is not a Christian. A foimula may help on ihis. Faith plus good works equals salvation. This js wrong. Failh equals salvalion (tins good winks This is lighl. Good woiks is the result of a relationship with God, il is noi the ratixp of lhal lelationship. The Christian obeys Cod's laws because she has already been saved and Chris) lives inside her body. The true Christian must do good works as she is filled with God's love and cannot keep it to herself. But God gets thp glory for her life because it is He that has wrought this good life. The whole book of Romans speaks of justification (made right before God) by faith. Galatians 2:6 stales, knowing hat a man is not justified bv the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for hv the works of the law sh '1 no flesh be justified FLORENCE DIANE PERKINS 1 Editor, Tribune: Your news and letters columns of July 12 and 13 suggest that most people in Ihis country are living in a very dangerous dream world. Nearly s of Salt Lakers disapprove of campus protest, whether or not violence is involved. I take it lhar this same s is ihe kind that withholds money from our univeisities, pulling them into serious financial trouble. Our universities suffer from many faults, hut by and large ihcir role as sources of dissent is not one. The teachers and students in nin society have been given a special rommis-sin- n to learn and o disseminate knowledge which is not readily available to the average person. They have done this in regard in the Vietnamese war. They have documented Ihe hypocritical and illegal nature of our role in ihe war. and they have shouted the facts from the rooftops. The best papers and magazines and a number of paperback books repeat these chilling but irrefutable facts. But the public, or at least three-fourth- s of it, merely goes on wallowing in the same mo- -' rass of that turns some dissenting students towards violent- -- and the true nature of this war, which makes it much different and much less honorable than any other war the y.S. has ever fought, goes on being ignored. What a tragic result of the freedom to think and speak freely. Mr. C. B. Lyons, in a partisan letter on July 13, imagines we could have won in six months in Vietnam if only we had wanted in. But the important thing is whotner Ihe wanted ns to. They clearly did not, he at,sP wp in.frfci'pd with their just amplia three-fourth- three-fourth- Viet-nam- Seeing Improvement Editor, Tribune: We arp not authorities on environment and pollution, but wp do have a gtcat interest in thp beauty and ''purity of our valley. Therefore vve would like to congratulate Kennecotl Copper Corp. on Ihe advancements Ihry have made Inward eliminating the air pollution which results from Ihcir ojiera tions. As wp understand it, they have installed a device to reduce the S02 emissions from ihcir plant. We think we have been able to notice an appreciable reduction in the wastp released into the air from that part of the valley since the installation of that device. It has noi, by any means, eliminated the air pollution from Kennecott, but it certainly is a large step in the right direction. We ucii.-vand hope that this shows th"t Kennecott i genuinely interested in the health, happiness and environment of both its employes and its neighbors. We would hope that individual citizens and large industries alike will follow Kenne-colt- 's example, that Kennecotl will conlinue its fight against environmental pollution, and that the citizens of Sail Lake Valley will lake noip rf what is and what is not happening. CLIVE JAY ROMNOT RICHARD KENNEV t Thai downward trend seems to he continuing. And if so, the inflationary surge of the past few years Is plainly tapering off. For the big spenders of the past few years the true villains of the most recent inflationary surge have not been government or the consumer or even the unions. The big push has come from inflation-mindebusinessmen purchasing new plants and equipment. The dpdine in business spending is going lo have adverse effects on production and employment, fn some areas the pinch may be severe. Bui two big sources of demand ate standing hy ready to take up the slack. d Ms( Important Most important of all there is consumer spending. Since consumers receive ahout WOO billion a year In income, they are hy fat flip biggest component in the total economy. A slight change in their buying habits can have tremendous impact. Traditionally consumers spend 94 to 93 percent of disposable income. But recently there has been an increased propensity to save, and, for reasons not clear to anybody, the amount of disposable income being spent has dropped to 93 percent. Recently, however, there has been a in federal taxes and an increase in Social drop Security payments. The guess is that these developments will combine with the slowing of inflation to bring consumers back to the market in their usual force. Additionally, there is the matter of housing. High interest payments offered by banks have drained lands away from the savings and loan institutions which finance much of the private ting market. In consequence, housing has been down, and in stales and industries dependent upon bousing thprp has been severe economic difficulty. t - Interest Cut May Help Rut with mote investors prepared in hnv bonds, interest rates will he declining at ea-- t slightly. That will make money more easily available to savings and loan institution-.- . And that should stimulate a modest rpmvoiy in housing. What this means is lhat the administrations basic plan for the economy seems to be working. Inflation has been gradually slowed. While unemployment has gone up to nearly 5 percent, the chances are that there will not be a severe recession. Of course, that is good news for the administration. But not all that good. For even though a severe recession is averted, the recovery looks to be very sluggish. There is only a slight lift not a robust thrust forward in sight for consumer spending and housing. When the election comes around, there will probably be considerable unemployment -- - perhaps at 5' -percent. The Republicans will he able to claim a performance that licked inflation without recession. Rut the Democrats will have th high ground. Thrv will he able in point on again In mn without jobs i n a lime of Republican mlp. The Holland Uarlomi |