March 18, 1971

S Vietnamese troops evacuate another base in Laos; 60 US helicopters haul about 700 S Vietnamese soldiers out of Landing Zone Brown and surrounding jungles; N Vietnamese gunners continue to pound Saigon forces with mortar and arty fire; Col Nguyen Xuan Loc repts 2 bns left near Landing Zone Brown; about 6,000 S Vietnamese troops have been pulled back towards S Vietnamese border recently; details on action; illus; map

Smith, Corbett and Assemblyman Emery introduce bill granting Gov, rather than State Soc Welfare Bd, power to appt State Soc Services Comr; legis seen reflecting Rockefeller's recent criticism of welfare system and Wyman; measure's proponents, noting apptmt would require advice and consent of Sen, argue it would enable exec and legis branches of state govt to assert greater control over Soc Services Dept; Smith says most Repubs believe 'great deal' of welfare system's failure is due to poor adm, int

Study of defense indus profits released by Gen Acctg Office shows widespread inefficiency and disregard of cost factors by contractors, chiefly because they rely on Govt capital rather than own funds under Defense Dept system of contract awards; suggests sweeping changes in methods of awarding contracts; recommends awards be based on amt of capital a co is willing to put up and urges uniform guidelines on profit objectives for all Fed contracts; rept contains 2 divergent sets of statistics on how big a profit contractors are actually realizing; 1 set, based on questionnaire sent to 74 large contractors indicates profit of 21.1% before taxes; another set, based on repts from 146 completed contracts, showed return of 56.1%

Natl Fed of Priests Councils approves Rev N R McLaughlin resolution condemning US involvement in war and calling war 'most serious moral issue of our time'; praises 'nonviolent witness of persons in peace movement as true form of prophetic ministry'