OCT 29 1969

# Kiesinger, Brandt Head Spy-Agency Inquiry

BONN, Oct. 28 (AP)—Chancellor Kiesinger and Foreign Minister Willy Brandt are to take personal charge of a sweeping review of West Germany's intelligence services as a result of the current espionage scare.

A government spokesman, Conrad Ahlers, announced today that the two leaders will head up the probe "as soon as possible."

The investigation emphasizes the concern in Germany and other nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization toward a wave of arrests, suicides, mysterious deaths and disappearances among military and government servants in the past month.

Ahlers again discounted suggestions that the incidents were connected.

Kiesinger's and Brandt's main task will be to tighten the co-ordination between the various organizations responsible for security: military counter-espionage, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Criminal Investigation Department of the police and the Federal Prosecutor's Office.

With Brandt acting in his capacity as deputy chancellor, the two leaders are expected to concentrate their probe on Rear Adm. Herman Luedke, a newly retired senior NATO officer found dead in a forest Oct. 8.

The Luedke case, involving microfilm pictures of secret NATO documents found in a Bonn photo store and traced to the admiral, has sparked a major row between West German civil and military investigators.

Federal prosecutor Ludwig Martin, now handling the case, has accused the other agencies of informing him too late of their suspicion that the admiral was a spy.

The microfilm was handed to Bonn police Sept. 23, but it was not until Sept. 30 that Martin's office was informed.

Luedke was apparently free to move around, and finally to leave home Oct. 8 on the hunting trip which ended in his death. So far, investigators have been unable to prove whether Luedke was slain or took his own life.

Col. Lothar Domroese, a Defense Ministry spokesman, could not say whether Luedke had been shadowed until his death. The Ministry learned of the death two days later when Mrs. Luedke called.

Domroese was questioned on the recent arrests in the year-old case of the theft of an American-built air-to-air. Sidewinder rocket from a NATO base in south Germany.

Domroese confirmed press reports that parts of an aircraft navigation system had been stolen at the same time. Informed sources identified the navigation system as LN-3, designed for low-level flight.

A. Nelson, 52, is expected to buck the tide and win a second term on his record as conservationist and drug price investigator over little-known Jerris Leonard, 37, majority leader of the State Senate.

## House Fight

The House delegation probably will remain 7 to 3 Republican, but Democrat Robert W. Kastenmeier, 10-year veteran from the Madison district, is in a tough fight with Richard D. Murray, 30, who is running a hard law-and-order campaign against Kastenmeier's civil libertarian record.

Third-party candidate George C. Wallace captured one-third of the Democratic vote in Wisconsin's 1964 presidential primary and is expected to make a strong showing again. But here as

other half of the City, feels that Wallace has dropped off somewhat from a high point of about 20 per cent.

A political writer in Madison feels that Wallace will end up getting not more than 10 per cent of the

State's vote, and that it could hurt Nixon at least as much as Humphrey. He predicted that when they enter the balloting booth, Milwaukee's blue-collar workers will find it more difficult to

the conservative Republicans up north.

Wisconsin had been a staunchly Republican state until William Proxmire broke through to win McCarthy's Senate seat in 1957 and Nelson was elected

Milwaukee Journal Photo

## Sen. Nelson, left, and gubernatorial candidate La Follette campaigning in Milwaukee.

NLF: VC Reported Opposed To Accepting U.S. Plan

By Stanley Karnow

NOV 2 - 1968

Washington Post Foreign Service

PHNO PENH, Cambodia, Nov. 1—The National Liberation Front, as the Vietcong is officially called, is reported to have been strongly opposed to Hanoi's acceptance of President Johnson's “package plan” to break the deadlock at the Paris talks.

The most immediate reason for the Front's opposition to the compromise, according to informed sources here, was its hostility to South Vietnamese government representation at Paris.

As recently as Thursday,

these sources indicated, members of the Front delegation based here were expressing their displeasure with the prospect of sitt-at the same conference table with Representatives of what they label the “Thieu-Ky-Huong clique.”

The Front's mission in Cambodia, which has full diplomatic status, is headed by a member of the movement's Central Committee, Prof. Nguyen Van Hieu.

Since the President's an-

See COMMUNISTS, A16, Col. 1

Pravda described him as "relatively young, in the flower of his creative forces and possessing the wisdom that comes from experience."

The description was given in a report written on board the plane bringing Russia's latest spaceman, Col. Georgy Beregovoi, to Moscow for a triumphal reception after his four-day flight around the earth.

The mysterious scientist "has a colossal amount of patience and huge supplies of energy," Pravda correspondent S. Borzenko wrote. The constructor remained calm throughout the flight of Beregovoi's Soyuz-3 craft, the correspondent added.

Pravda said that she knew of no plans for the President to attend.

At the meeting with the astronauts, the President will award the Exceptional Service Medals to Donn F. Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham. Walter M. Schirra Jr., who already holds the medal for a previous flight, will be awarded a cluster for his medal.

The Washington Post

Second class postage paid at Washington, D.C. Printed at 1515 L St. NW. 20005

Telephone Numbers:

223-6000—News & Business
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223-6200—Classified

The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein.

WTOP-TV (9) Radio (150)

Vietcong Reported Opposed
To Hanoi Accepting U.S. Bid

## COMMUNISTS, From A1

nouncement that the Paris
meeting will be enlarged to
include Front and South Vi-
etnamese government par-
ticipation, Front spokesmen
have reportedly insisted
that this in no way signifies
that they "recognize" the
Saigon Government.

## Saigon's Downfall

In an apparent attempt to
justify their acquiescence,
Front leaders here are un-
derstood to have advanced
the thesis that their pres-
ence at the talks will hasten
the downfall of the Saigon
regime. Informants close to
them suggest that the Front
leaders have been somewhat
encouraged by South Viet-
namese President Thieu's
apparent reluctance to par-
ticipate in the negotiations,
considering this to reflect
divisions within the Saigon
Government.

Underlying the Front's
visible lack of enthusiasm

for the talks compromise
are two motives.

On the one hand, they
have reportedly explained to
diplomats here, the Front
leaders see the continuation
of the Vietnam conflict as
part of their broad effort to
extend and reinforce their
control over South Vietnam.
They evidently believe that
a demonstration of their in-
volvement in negotiations,
particularly with the Saigon
regime, may arrest the prog-
ress they are convinced they
are making in winning sup-
port among the South Viet-
namese people.

At the same time, the
Front leaders appear to be
apprehensive that their own
movement, which is a coali-
tion of diverse factions,
could begin to fragment as
its followers face the pros-
pect of something short of
victory after years of fight-
ing.

## Southerners' Suspicion

In addition, the Southern
Communists who form the
backbone of the National

Liberation Front are under-
stood to be deeply suspi-
cious of the negotiating
process. They feel they were
betrayed in 1946, when they
agreed to negotiate with the
French at Fontainebleau.
They also believe they were
abandoned in 1954, after the
Geneva conference left a
divided Vietnam, and again
in 1956, when Hanoi failed
to press for nationwide elec-
tions.

A consensus in diplomatic
circles here, therefore, is
that the Front, despite its
misgivings, has gone along
with the negotiating process
under a good deal of pres-
sure from Hanoi. A matter
of some conjecture, howev-
er, is why the North Viet-
namese acceded to Saigon
government representation
in Paris after all their de-
mands that the Front be rec-
ognized as the "authentic"
voice of the people of South
Vietnam.

A widely held belief in this
capital is that Hanoi was
subjected to intensive Soviet
lobbying. Several reliable
sources here even submit
that Moscow threatened to
curtail its aid program to
North Vietnam if Hanoi did
not take up President John-
son's compromise offer.

And underlying the Soviet
Union's effort to influence
the North Vietnamese, it is
understood, has been fear
that prolongation of the
Vietnam conflict would
prompt Hanoi to turn more
to China for support.

NOV 2 - 1968

# Marine Generi Says Halt Won't Peril Men Near DMZ

From News Dispatches

SAIGON, Nov. 1—Lt. Gen. Lewis W. Walt, assistant commander of the Marine Corps, said Friday that an end to the bombing of North Vietnam would not immediately endanger American troops in Quangtri Province just below the Demilitarized Zone.

As Walt met with news-
men during an inspection
tour on his old Marine com-
mand in northernmost I
Corps, U.S. planes from
Thailand, South Vietnam
and American aircraft car-
riers in the Tonkin Gulf
bombed North Vietnam in
the last raids before the halt
ordered by President John-
son went into effect at 9
p.m. local time. Results of
the bombing missions are to
be released by the U.S. Com-
mand tomorrow.

[North Vietnam claimed Friday in a report seen in Hong Kong that is had shot down an unmanned "spy plane" 3½ hours after the scheduled start of the bombing halt. U.S. officials have said that reconnaissance missions will continue during the bombing halt.]

Gen. Walt, who was forced to eat his lunch in a bunker at the Marine base at Dongha near the DMZ as half a dozen enemy artillery shells hit the camp, said allied forces deployed there could handle any enemy threat "in the near future."

The General said he con-
curred in the decision of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and
General Creighton W.
Abrams, American com-
mander in Vietnam, that a
bombing halt would not im-

mediately create a risk to
U.S. troops in the area.

Until the last few weeks, American military officials have almost unanimously opposed ending the bombing on the North because, among other reasons, it might permit the Communists to build up their forces across the DMZ and threaten allied troops and South Vietnamese cities in the northern I Corps area. U.S. officials in Washington said after President Johnson's speech that the U.S. officers had changed their mind because of the recent series of defeats suffered by the enemy forces and the improved fighting quality of the South Vietnamese units.

Aboard the carrier Con-
stellation in the Gulf of
Tonkin, Vice Admiral Ralph
W. Cousins said the ship and
her sister carriers would
move southward and pre-
pare for possible air strikes
in South Vietnam.

Cousins, commander of
Task Force 77, said, "We
will be ready for operations
tomorrow." It was from the
Constellation that the first
U.S. air strikes against
North Vietnam were
launched in August, 1964.

Although the ground war
in South Vietnam continued
in a general lull with no
major offensive by either
side, American infantrymen
operating along the Cambo-
dian border 60 miles north-
west of Saigon reported kill-
ing 42 Communists in a bat-
tle Thursday that resulted
in five Americans wounded.

Communist sappers blew
two holes in the hull of a
Navy LST, the USS West-

chester County, Friday at its
berth in the Mytho River,
about 34 miles southwest of
Saigon.

U.S. spokesmen said the
blast killed 16 Amerians and
one South Vietnamese navy
man. Nineteen American
sailors and three U.S. infan-
trymen were reported miss-
ing, some of them probably
trapped in two flooded com-
partments.

U.S. Marine headquarters
at Danang said a 500-pound
bomb, accidentally dropped
by a U.S. Air Force jet, hit a
crowded South Vietnamese
marketplace last Tuesday
and killed 31 peasants and
wounded 72.

Military spokesmen said
the casualty toll from Thurs-
day night and Friday morn-
ing's enemy shelling of Sai-
gon and Hue was 30 dead
and 91 wounded.

Refusing to answer ques-
tions about any changes in
tactics following President
Johnson's speech, a spokes-
man for the U.S. Command
said: "The President's state-
ment describes the extent of
change in our military activ-
ities. Operations in the
South will continue on the
current basis."

He said all American
troops that had been operat-
ing in the southern half of
the Demilitarized Zone had
been pulled back into South
Vietnam about a week ago.
Asked if they would be mov-
ing back in the DMZ, he re-
plied, "no comment."

It is understood that restoration of the neutral character of the DMZ is one of the unpublicized agreements worked out between Hanoi and Washington in the recent negotiations.

EVANS-NOVAK POLITICAL REPORT

WHAT'S HAPPENING . . . WHO'S AHEAD . . . IN POLITICS TODAY

603 National Press Building • Washington, D. C. 20004 • 202-347-3070

October 30, 1968 - No. 33

To: Our Subscribers

From: Evans-Novak

PRE-ELECTION SPECIAL

There is no doubt now that Hubert Humphrey has made increasingly important gains during the past two weeks from three sources: 1) from George Wallace, who is fading badly; 2) from the old McCarthyites, who were falling in line before McCarthy did yesterday; and, for the first time, in some places, from Nixon. We can now relate these HHH gains into *electoral* votes for the first time in the last month, and even raise the outside but real *possibility of a deadlock with nobody winning the necessary 270 electoral votes* - a possibility we believe that Richard Nixon also sees.

We feel, however, that HHH seems to be reaching the upper limit of his electoral vote gain, barring a total collapse by Nixon before November 5th. This means that *Nixon is still likely to get 270 or more electoral votes, though it is not the certainty it seemed only a week ago*. At best, Humphrey seems limited to a ceiling of approximately 180 votes. Thus, whatever happens between now and then, the choice on Tuesday is between Nixon's election and an electoral deadlock. HHH's rise has made the outcome in many states nearly impossible to call, so that our analysis is much less certain than it has been earlier in the campaign.

We feel more surely than ever that the determining factor next week will be the size of the Negro vote. Democratic politicians are more worried than they will ever admit publicly that rusty get-out-the-vote procedures, Negro apathy, and (least important) sporadic boycott activities by black militants may hold down the Negro vote in the big cities. Since the Negroes will vote around 85% for Humphrey, a big Negro turnout is an essential part of his hopes for a deadlock.

ELECTORAL ROUND UP, #6

For the first time since we began this election round up based on our continuing check of politicians and public and private polls in all fifty states, we can report a significant switch in *electoral votes* to HHH away from Nixon. Humphrey is definitely leading in *New York* (43) and that state must now be switched from "Leaning to Nixon" to "Leaning to Humphrey". We are also switching *Texas* (25) from "Leaning to Nixon" to "Leaning to Humphrey", based on a private poll we have seen that shows Humphrey moving up one percentage point ahead of Nixon and based also on Gov. Connally's belated work for the Humphrey-Muskie ticket; however, a victory in Texas for HHH is absolutely dependent upon big turnouts of Negroes and Mexican-Americans, who have been undependable voters in the past.

Most recent polling data gives Nixon a very thin edge in *Michigan* (21), and there's no consensus there among politicians. Based on the general drift of blue-collar workers away from Wallace toward Humphrey, and HHH's general surge,

Copyright, 1968, by the Evans-Novak Political Report Company
Issued every other week at $50 a year

we narrowly and hesitantly switch Michigan from "Leaning to Nixon" to "Leaning to Humphrey." We have also seen polling evidence that two Western states which we have classified as "Probable for Nixon", but which have a recent history of voting Democratic - Washington (9) and Nevada (3) - are now too close to call. Based on HHH's momentum, and hesitantly giving him the benefit of the doubt, we are switching both states to "Leaning to Humphrey." These switches subtract 101 electoral votes from Nixon and add them to Humphrey.

**States Probable for Humphrey:** D.C., Mass., R.I. Total: 21 electoral votes.

**States Leaning to Humphrey:** Hawaii, Maine, Mich., Minn., Nev., N.Y., Texas, Wash., W. Va. Total: 126.

**States Probable for Nixon:** Ariz., Col., Del., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kan., Mon., Neb., N.D., Okla., Ore., S.D., Utah, Ver., Wis., Wyo. Total: 130.

**States Leaning to Nixon:** Alaska, Calif., Conn., Kan., Md., Mo., N.C., N.H., N.J., N.M., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., Va. Total: 202.

**States Probable for Wallace:** Ala., Ga., La., Miss. Total: 39.

**States Leaning to Wallace:** Ark., Fla. Total: 20.

**Totals:** Humphrey, 147; Nixon, 332; Wallace, 59.

This is still a clear victory for Nixon, though not as comfortable as before. How could Nixon lose this majority? There are, of course, any number of possible combinations, but suppose Wallace's total rises to 91 by adding Tennessee (11), North Carolina (13) and South Carolina (8) - a prediction we don't make but within the realm of possibility - then HHH would need to pick up 32 electoral votes to reach 179 and a combined Humphrey-Wallace total of 270, or just enough to deny Nixon an electoral vote victory and to deadlock the Electoral College. To accomplish this, HHH must win Pennsylvania (29) and one small state (Maryland, Missouri and New Mexico are possibilities, though not by any means probabilities). Although HHH has been coming up in Pennsylvania recently, his swing through the western part of that state this week was unimpressive, and the general feeling is that the rusty Philadelphia organization can deliver HHH a majority of only 175,000 votes, approximately 25,000 votes short of what Humphrey needs to offset the Republican lead elsewhere. Accordingly, the consensus of politicians and polls gives Nixon a slight lead in the state.

On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that Nixon still has a good chance to take Florida (14) from Wallace, and that four of the five states that we have switched from Nixon to Humphrey (the exception being New York) are absolute toss ups that might yet go for Nixon. In short, the odds are still on Nixon.

## CAMPAIGN '68: THE PRESIDENCY

**Nixon:** As in '60 and in '62, Nixon has made mistakes at the campaign's end, which is the real reason for the Humphrey surge (rather than anything HHH has yet done). The strategy of keeping Nixon off tv panel shows was bad, leaving too much emphasis on the two programs he's doing in the last two weeks. Agnew continues to be a drag. Last week Nixon spent a day and a half escalating his attack on HHH, then cooled it when the reaction was poor. It should be emphasized here that the Nixon campaign shows no signs of any new approach, panic or even undue concern. But if Nixon is not worried, why is he devoting much of his half hour radio talk tonight to demanding that HHH agree in advance to accept popular voting verdict and void any chance of the election going into the House? Nixon's inner strategists claim all is well,

that the peril points - peace in Vietnam and the full effect of McCarthy's HHH endorsement - passed two weeks ago.

Nixon's regional coordinators are still reporting his position as solid. They are: **Murray Chotiner** (Mich., Ill., Ohio, Md., Del.); **Fred LaRue** (South); **Richard Kleindienst** (Far West); **Peter Flanigan** (Northeast) and **John Mitchell** himself (New York). But despite their reports that all is well, Republicans in major states - like Michigan - are running very scared. Further, these state leaders are furious at Mitchell for having tightened reins on scheduling, rejecting their suggestions in their own states. For instance, **George Romney** wanted Nixon to appear in a GOP-run project in the heart of the Detroit ghetto, but Mitchell vetoed this - another example of Mitchell's innate caution, his refusal to try anything new or to look beyond the white middle class. Michigan Republicans are seething with lethargy and are deeply worried about a low-vote turnout, despite Nixon's all-day trip yesterday. **New York** Republicans are also livid, particularly at Mitchell, who insisted that Agnew attend the Conservative Party convention, despite **Rockefeller's** protest. Rockefeller also protested - this time successfully - a scheduled **Ronald Reagan** appearance at a Nixon-New York City rally tomorrow night.

**John Mitchell** completely controls the Nixon campaign and brooks no opposition. He has retained Nixon's total confidence and has excluded **Ray Bliss** and the National Committee from the campaign, arousing the anger of Bliss-oriented state leaders. He has aroused even deeper anger among moderate state leaders by refusing to let Nixon talk to Negroes.

**HHH:** After traveling with Humphrey in the Northeast this week, we were amazed to find the campaign and the candidate still disorganized, unstructured and unplanned. The real campaign is being waged with tv and newspaper ads that we feel are superior to Nixon's, for HHH as a campaigner remains irrelevant (his two performances before blue-collar audiences in Pittsburgh this week were very poor) and only Wallace's decline and Nixon's mistakes and inability to move to the Left have put HHH back in the ballgame.

**Wallace:** The recent slump in the national polls is hurting Wallace in the South, where he is losing ground to Nixon because his credibility as a national candidate has been damaged. We still wonder, however, if the polls truly reflect Wallace's real strength. We popped into Madison Square Garden last week and saw the only authentic, traditional rally of any candidate in the whole campaign. Wallace has more charisma in his little finger than Nixon and Humphrey combined. The Nixon camp believes that in the event of a deadlock Wallace will release his electors on the theory that he can't risk tearing the country apart if he wants to run in '72.

## THE CONGRESS

**The House:** We feel the HHH surge has definitely limited Nixon's coat-tail effect even more than we had anticipated, and puts a definite limitation on the GOP's prospect of capturing the House. Based on our latest information, if the races were held today (without reference to the Presidential result) the following turnovers in the House would result: **Calif.** Bill Orozco (R) unseating Rep. George Brown (D); Bill Teague (R) unseating Rep. Richard Hanna (D). **Conn.** Lowell Weicker (R) unseating Rep. Donald Irwin (D). **Ga.** Charles Weltner (D) unseating Rep. Fletcher Thompson (R). **Ill.** Robert Podesta (R) unseating Rep. William Murphy (D). **Ind.** Rep. Ross Adair defeating Rep. Edward Roush (D), with GOP gaining new district. W.W. Hill (R) unseating Rep. Andrew Jacobs (D).

**Iowa:** Tom Riley (R) unseating Rep. John Culver (D). **Mo.** James Symington (D)

defeating Hugh Scott (R) for Democratic gain; Kit Bond (R) unseating Rep. William Hungate (D). Mont. Richard Smiley (R) unseating Rep. Arnold Olsen (D). N.J. Peter Moraites (R) unseating Rep. Henry Helstoski (D). N.Y. Abe Seldin (R) unseating Rep. Lester Wolff (D); Mason Hampton (R) defeating Allard Loewenstein (D), a GOP gain. N.C. Wilmer Mizell (R) defeating Smith Bailey (D), a GOP gain. Ohio: Rep. Charles Vanik (D) defeating Rep. Frances Bolton (R) with Democrats winning new district. Okla. Rep. James Smith (R) defeating Rep. Tom Stead (D), with GOP winning new district. Pa. Peter Yonavick (R) defeating Gus Yatron (D), a GOP gain; Robert Myers (D) unseating Rep. George Goodling (R). S.C. Charles Bradshaw (R) defeating James Mann (D), a GOP gain. Va. William Whitehurst (R) defeating Fred Stant (D), a GOP gain. Wash. Wallace Turner (R) unseating Rep. Lloyd Meeds (D). W. Va. Robert Mollohan (D) defeating Thomas Sweeney (R), a Democratic gain.

Totals: 18 GOP gain; 5 Democratic gain; net 13 GOP gain.

To pick up 18 additional seats (for a total of 31) necessary for the GOP to gain control of the House, the following Democrats seem most vulnerable: St. Onge of Conn.; Fascell of Fla.; Mink of Hawaii, Grey of Ill.; Brademas and Hamilton of Ind.; Machen of Md.; Morris of N.M.; Ottinger, Dow, Hanley, McCarthy and non-incumbent district now represented by Resnick of N.Y.; Galifianakis of N.C.; Eilberg of Pa.; Dorn of S.C.; Purcell of Texas; and Hicks of Wash. There is also the possibility, though somewhat remote, that the GOP could entice as many as 6 low-seniority Southern Democrats to cross over after the election.

The Senate: We feel strongly that the once-bright GOP prospects have been dimmed. For example, in Indiana, Sen. Birch Bayh (D) is now running slightly ahead of William Ruckelshaus (R) despite the GOP trend there; in Pennsylvania, Sen. Joe Clark (D) has regained his lead over Richard Schweiker (R); and in Oklahoma, Sen. Mike Monroney (D) has pulled even since last week in his battle with former Gov. Henry Bellmon (R).

As a result of these three probable Democratic retentions of tight seats, the total GOP gain may be as little as four seats. Here are the most probable turnovers:

Alaska: Elmer Rasmusen (R) looks like a clear winner over Mike Gravel (D).
A GOP gain.

Arizona: Barry Goldwater (R) in a runaway over Roy Elson (D). A GOP gain.

California: Alan Cranston (D) is increasing his lead over MaxRafferty (R).
A Democratic gain.

Florida: Rep. Edward Gurney (R) is now way ahead of LeRoy Collins (D). A
GOP gain.

Iowa: Gov. Harold Hughes (D) is losing ground but is still slightly in front of Donald Stanley (R). A Democratic gain.

Maryland: Rep. Charles Mathias (R) is slightly ahead of Sen. Daniel Brewster (D). A GOP gain.

Ohio: Atty. Gen. William Saxbe (R) has been losing ground rapidly but remains barely in front of John Gilligan (D). A GOP gain.

Oregon: Robert Packwood (R) is a shade ahead of Sen. Wayne Morse (D). A
GOP gain.

Totals: 6 GOP gain; 2 Democratic gain; net 4 GOP gain.

This Report is copyrighted and prepared for the confidential information of our clients.
Reproduction or quotation without specific permission is prohibited.

NATIONAL SECURITY

WASHINGTON—One of Richard Nixon's most successful tactics in winning the Presidential election was to attack the Johnson Administration for its foreign policy failings without spelling out in detail the course of action he would take as President. It protected his flexibility for the future.

The President-elect has now moved a step closer toward taking office and has named his top foreign policy advisers, but still without tipping his hand in advance.

Mr. Nixon has retained the maximum room to maneuver on the formidable problems that will confront him on Jan. 20—Vietnam, the Middle East, negotiating with Moscow on nuclear arms control, moving to check nuclear proliferation, revitalizing the Atlantic Alliance, coping with the chronic failings of the world monetary system, and dealing with Communist China, among others.

Even more basic, the Nixon Administration must determine the basic cast of American foreign policy in the next four years—whether, as it seeks to end the Vietnam war, Washington will withdraw not only from Vietnam but from any “world policeman’s role” or will remain poised for further foreign intervention; whether foreign aid will be scrapped entirely or handled in new ways; whether the focus will be on Europe or other areas of the world.

In selecting William P. Rogers as his Secretary of State, Representative Melvin R. Laird as Secretary of Defense, and Henry A. Kissinger as his chief White

House aide on national security, the President-elect has not signaled any particular trend in policy.

They are three very different personalities: Mr. Rogers, a polished and urbane lawyer from the Eastern establishment; Mr. Laird, a hard-hitting Midwestern Congressman with a taste and skill for the rough-and-tumble jousting of Capitol Hill; and Mr. Kissinger, the brilliant academic strategist from Harvard.

In Mr. Nixon's own words, he chose Mr. Rogers, one of his most trusted long-time political confidantes, because he felt the new Secretary of State would be a "superb negotiator" in the years ahead.

Congressman Laird understood that running the Pentagon required "the ability to manage men as well as weapons"—the generals and the Congressmen as well as the megatons. Both men, the President-elect asserted, had the vital qualities of "coolness under fire, great judgment."

Both, other observers added, are pragmatic tacticians. Neither has offered a coherent public position on foreign policy as a foretaste of trends to come.

Mr. Rogers has kept silent in public on Vietnam and other foreign policy issues. Mr. Laird, a fiscal conservative, has sometimes chastised the Democratic Administration for "penny-pinching" on armaments and other times for a spendthrift approach. On Vietnam his initial views were hawkish but he now seems reconciled to political compromise for the sake of disengagement. On Friday he told a news conference he hoped the war

could be ended within a year.

Clearly, however, it is the White House that will take the lead in foreign policy. In the campaign, Mr. Nixon called it his "strong suit." Having a wide-ranging "idea man" like Dr. Kissinger at his side will help him assert White House leadership.

His campaign statements suggested something of his mood, though in office this could change. After the election, the President-elect stressed that he sought a period of "negotiation, not confrontation" in keeping with the mood of the country.

Whatever hawkish inclinations he had years ago, Mr. Nixon pledged to shy away from "any more Vietnams" and foreswore the role of "world policeman." He urged America's Asian and European allies to play a larger role and promised them more voice in regional security arrangements—ideas more difficult to practice than preach.

His goal of negotiations with Moscow and his conviction that Moscow must be dealt with from strength raises the competing pressures for arms control and an arms buildup.

In Vietnam, the new Administration will be caught between the desire to liquidate the war promptly and honorably to satisfy the American public, and the inclination to reassure non-Communist Asia that the United States is not withdrawing willy-nilly into isolation.

Neither Mr. Nixon nor his top advisers have given any solid hint yet of how they will strike these crucial compromises.

—HEDRICK SMITH

WILLIAM P. ROGERS
Secretary of State

MELVIN R. LAIRD
Secretary of Defense

HENRY A. KISSINGER
Presidential Assistant for
National Security Affairs

The New York Times (by Baron Silverman)

POWELL'S PROGRESS: Adam Clayton Powell, shown here with his Harlem supporters last March, scored a point last week in his efforts to regain his seat in Congress. The Justice Department announced that a Federal grand jury investigation into allegations that the New York Democrat had misused public funds had uncovered no evidence warranting criminal prosecution.

# Communications

## A Fresh Look at the Messages of the Future

WASHINGTON — By any technological standard, the United States undoubtedly has the most advanced, most efficient communications system in the world. But because it has grown so fast in a technological revolution of the last decade, the system is threatening to turn into an organizational Tower of Babel.

Take, for example, the changes in international communications. Before World War II, it was only with difficulty that the United States could communicate with the rest of the world, either with radio-telephone circuits that were about as unpredictable as the sun-spots or with telegraph cables that were often controlled by Great Britain.

Now with transistorized underseas cables and satellites hovering over the Atlantic and Pacific, the United States suddenly is acquiring perhaps more international channels of communications than it needs.

one line and telephone messages on another, it has become possible to put them all on one circuit, with computers switching the signals and keeping them apart. Or a company can hire a circuit and use it at one point to carry data, the next moment to carry voice. Or to carry it a step further, computers can talk to computers.

But domestically the problem is not a potential excess of circuits but of providing enough circuits to meet demand and determining who should own the circuits and have the right to use them.

On President Johnson's desk last week was laid a voluminous, still-secret report with recommendations designed to answer some of these questions.

When the inter-agency task force, headed by Eugene V. Rostow, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, was set up 17 months ago, it was given a broad mandate by President Johnson to formulate

national com-

ture was tottering under the impact of technological advances, and that changes were needed in the ownership and competition within the industry, in Government regulation of the industry and in the services it was providing the public.

Thus in the international field, for example, it found that technological changes had erased the historical distinction between the record (or telegraph) carriers and the voice carriers, both of which are using the same circuits. Its proposal, therefore, was that the transmission of all international messages should be taken over by a single company, which would absorb the transmission facilities and circuits of such companies as American Telegraph & Telephone Co., the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp., the Radio Corporation of America and the Communications Satellite Corp. (Comsat).

The debate over the international "entity" has become interwined with a developing

how would it fit into the long-established American objective of a single global communications system? And who would have access to the domestic satellite channels?

The task force dodged all these questions. Instead it proposed a pilot project, managed by Comsat as trustee, to try out a domestic satellite system, leaving the question of future ownership and use open.

Domestically, the report decided that for economic and technological reasons it was necessary to maintain what amounts to a Government-regulated monopoly in the telephone system.

What happens to the Rostow report is an open question. Obviously some influential segments of the communications industry hope it never gets beyond President Johnson's desk or is tucked away and forgotten in the Johnson library. But inevitably, despite all the secrecy, the report has found its way to Congress, and the task force has opened up some questions.

From The American Scene, University of Pennsylvania Press

HOUSE DECISIONS: Twice American history Presidential elections have been

CLAYTON FRITCHEY

Nixon's ear exclusively, for Congress has given
the military, through the Joint Chiefs, direct ac-
cess to the Commander-in-Chief, so there is the
question of how these civilian advisers will stand
up to the brass after the new Administration
takes over.

Kissinger recently said:

"It is a source of infinite wonder to me how
General Westmoreland could continue to come
back (from Vietnam) every time repeating ex-
actly the same phrases, impervious to the lessons
that were learned. The official military line for
as long as I can remember is that the Viet Cong
meant to cut the country into two pieces. Now,
why should they want to do that when they have
already cut it into 50 pieces?"

Now that Westmoreland is the Army Chief
of Staff and Kissinger is in the White House,
it is not likely that the new Nixon adviser will
continue to be quite as outspoken as that, but
he is not likely to recamp either.

* * *

THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1968

# Trees for sentiment
(who can't bear to throw

Macy's

Evergreen...Macy's forest of just grown for you to grow your affection Christmas Trees shaped so tifully...as though they want to improve on nature.

Dense Scotch Pines with bristle or hard needles, Monterey Pines,

THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1968

Rets With Cohen on Welfare

United Press International

Wilbur J. Cohen, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, with Mayor Lindsay, who visited him in Washington.

pressures we're all under." Mr. Cohen, who has proposed that the Federal Government take over the running of the welfare program, said that more uniform national welfare standards were inevitable.

After his session with "Mr. Cohen, the Mayor and J. E. Rankin, the city's Corpora-

until the new regulations were finally agreed to.

"We have a problem in New York," the Mayor said. Before the city acted, he noted, "we wanted a more specific idea of the ground rules" in the light of the new F.C.C. proposals.

The Board of Estimate is

CITY FUNDS ASKED
FOR JOB PLANNING

Failure to Meet Manpower
Needs Cited by Official

Cheap personnel management 5, 10 and 20 years ago is the cause of the city's manpower problems today, the city's Personnel Director said yesterday.

"Cheap personnel management today will be the cause of costly, wasteful line operations 5 and 10 years from now," Solomon Hoberman, the personnel chief, warned.

Mr. Hoberman gave his views in asking Assistant Budg- et Director Harry I. Bronstein, at a departmental hearing, for a 1969-70 budget of $4,913,773, or $264,871 above current al- locations, to maintain existing programs.

But he pleaded for a supplemental budget of $1,082,446 for new and expanded programs designed to correct some of the inadequacies of which he com- plained.

Training Funds Asked

Because he found that no city agency had the ability to accurately determine future manpower needs or to lay out programs for training future employes, Mr. Hoberman sought $100,000 in consultant funds for his department to review personnel management pro- grams of all city agencies.

He also asked for $200,000 to hire a management consulting concern, to develop a comprehensive citywide reporting and record-keeping system.

"Our inability to plan to meet our manpower needs on a rational basis," the director argued, "not only means that our manpower programs are either never changed or changed by chance and consequently many of our new community services are wasteful and in- effective.

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