October 28, 1972

Acting FBI Dir Gray discloses Oct 27 that for 22 yrs bur has been compiling 'biographical data' on major Cong candidates as routine part of bur's Cong relations program and later to assist FBI in investigative leads regarding threats to members of Cong; says he is terminating program to prevent its 'misinterpretation' as investigations of candidates themselves, including incumbents; says data-gathering activities first came to his attention when he received rept that FBI agent in Lorain County, Ohio, made 'outside inquiries' into background of Dem candidate J M Ryan; announcement represents first official acknowledgement that such files have actually existed, even though critics of late Dir Hoover contended for yrs that bur kept such files

Pres Thieu insists that any cease fire without his signature will not be valid and that his minimum demand for cease-fire is total withdrawal of all N Vietnamese troops from S Vietnam, Oct 27 speech, Saigon pol rally; says he also objects to apptmt of members of proposed electoral comm and wants UN referendum; Thieu's chief aid Hoang Due Nha says proposed peace plan has 3 major weaknesses in that it fails to call for N Vietnamese withdrawal from S Vietnam, does not re-establish DMZ and would impose 3-part coalition govt on South; Amer observers see Thieu's public objections to cease-fire as delaying tactic and means of placing burden for concessions on US, but sources close to Thieu say he fears councils set up will serve as wedge for Communist takeover; Amers say they believe remaining problems can be worked out by H Kissinger in 1 last negotiating session and that Kissinger's recent talks with Thieu clarified what additional changes Thieu wants; illus

Govt issues data on Oct 27 indicating that expansion of econ is continuing and that inflationary pressures might be abating; Labor Dept repts rise in productivity in summer, though smaller than in spring; figures are 3.7% compared with 6.2%; dept also repts 0.3% drop in unit labor costs in 3d qr, compared with decline of 0.5% in 2d qr; Commerce Dept repts index of leading indicators for Sept rose by 0.4% following large Aug jump of 2.6%; Aug rise, largest in 10 yrs, was revised upward from preliminary estimate of 2.2%; Passer says indicators continue to signal strong econ growth in mos ahead; graph of indicators

Dem Pres nominee McGovern on Oct 27 charges Nixon Adm has a secret 4-yr Labor Dept plan which calls for Adm 'to slow expansion of workmen's compensation,' meeting of labor supporters, Los Angeles, Calif; contends secret repts suggest that it may be possible to defuse the pressure from labor movement for strong Fed legis by supporting alternative weak measure; illus

Sculptured in the gray granite of the Riverside Church, a row of angels overlooked the entrance. Once they had been almost white, but through the years, exhaust from automobiles and buses had streaked most of the angels’ faces black. Behind gray wooden horses on the sidewalk and on the grass across Riverside Drive, most of the faces were black, too. The hearse was parked in front of the church. Nearby, its driver, 57‐year‐old Charles Patterson, stood in his black jacket, white shirt, a thin striped gray and black tic, and thin striped gray and black pants. His job is driving hearses for a Harlem undertaker, but he wasn't scheduled for a funeral yesterday, and he was asleep in his Harlem apartment when the phone rang.