December 8, 1972

US State Dept officials, Dec 7, say dept alerts 100 Foreign Service officers to prepare to go to S Vietnam, after cease-fire is declared, to check on how truce is being observed; pending transfer disclosed by one officer who got the unexpected stand-by order on Dec 6; dept officials say US wants to have a trained corps of observers in S Vietnamese countryside to make accurate repts to US on postwar pol and mil developments and to rept violations to the internatl cease-fire supervisory teams; move seen as a further sign of the determination of US to maintain a strong presence in S Vietnam

Sixteen alleged smugglers of heroin, said to have made up one of the world's largest rings in the narcotics trade and to have brought a ton of heroin into the United States each year, were indicted here yesterday on conspiracy charges. Details, Page 90.

Dec 8: S Vietnamese Min Tran Van Lam say Saigon Govt will not refuse to do whatever can be done to free US POWs and could even agree to free pol prisoners in its jails to help bring about an acceptable truce accord, int, Dec 7; such a concession seen significant if Saigon empowered Kissinger to offer it in Paris talks; Lam indicates he is resigned to accord being reached which is less than fully acceptable to S Vietnam, but says if draft accord is not substantially modified, it would be very difficult for Saigon to sign it; does not rule that out or say that Pres Thieu will refuse to approve an accord indirectly if not by signing; indicates that Hanoi still has not agreed on paper to withdraw their troops from S Vietnam; says accord, as it stands, is the 'end'; says it will amount to 'delivering 17 million people over to Communism'; says Hanoi will pretend its troops are Vietcong; Amb Bunker meets with Thieu; substance of talk not disclosed; Lam states objections to accord provision for Natl Council of Reconciliation and Concord

Census Bur issues rept documenting astrong relationship between amt of schooling and later earnings, a finding that bears on current controversy over study by C S Jencks; Jencks, in int, concedes relationship between level of educ and income but says no one has been able to show strong relationship between educ performance, such as better grades, and income

Volpe, John A (Sec): Volpe named Amb to Italy