March 7, 1973

NYC Police Comr Murphy holds news conf on Mar 6 to announce 18% decline in serious crimes for '72, however there was increase over '71 shown for murder, rape and felonious assault; Murphy concludes 'streets are a little safer than last yr'; disbelief expressed at Murphy's statements by Dem mayoral aspirants Reprs Koch and Biaggi; Police Dept statistics detailed; graphs; concept of index crimes criticized on grounds it is racially biased; another criticism is that they measure only crimes reptd to police; Murphy claims decline is due to improved criminal cts operation, drug addiction treatment programs and work by anticrime units; crime experts comment; illus

Acting FBI dir L P Gray 3d says on Mar 6 that Pres counsel J W Dean 3d was present when White House employes were interviewed by FBI agents about Watergate bugging case, testimony before Sen Judiciary Com; says Dean's attendance was 'not normal procedure' and that it occurred against his personal wishes; says he was informed that Dean was there in his official capacity; deputy White House press sec Warren acknowledges that Dean sat in on all of ints with White House officials, but that there was no action by anyone at White House to hinder Watergate investigation; documents provided by Gray to com indicate that FBI questioned J D Ehrlichman, D Chapin and C W Colson at White House; Gray says that memorandum requested by Dean last July summarizing status of Watergate investigation to date was prepared and sent to Atty Gen Kleindienst rather than directly to White House; assumes it reached Dean; FBI says, in memorandum requested by Dean, that its ints of members of Nixon re-election com were hampered by 'insistence' that com atty be present; another document discloses that M H Stans told FBI agents last yr that he was 'aware from gen conversation' that Watergate defendant Liddy was assigned to security gathering job and that certain cash disbursements would have to be made available to him; discloses that Colson told FBI agents last Aug that he authorized Hunt to make trip to Denver, home of D D Beard, 'in connection with ITT matter'; Gray repeats his pledge to permit any Sen to examine FBI's complete Watergate files and asks for com's 'guidance' in insuring that nothing is discussed publicly that would affect natl security, motions or appeals growing out of criminal trial or 'right to privacy of those innocent persons whose names and activities are contained in our raw int repts'

A telecast of “Sticks and Bones,” produced by Joseph Papp, has been postponed indefinitely by C.B.S. It said that the play, about the homecoming of a blinded Vietnam veteran, “might be unnecessarily abrasive... at a time when, prisoners of war and other” veterans” were returning home. Details, Page 87.

House Rules Com approves on March 6 proposal that will make most critical com meetings open to public unless majority of com votes at beginning of meeting to close doors to outsiders; House leaders say there is little doubt that it will be passed by full House, probably on March 7

CIA analyst S A Adams testifies on Mar 6 at Pentagon papers trial that he had attended confs in Saigon and Hawaii and at CIA, in which mil purposely diminished estimates of enemy strength in Vietnam; says that there were pol pressures in mil to display enemy as weaker than he actually was; says that monthly estimates of enemy's mil strength were so inaccurate that 2 official sets of estimates had to be put together each mo by the Army and by CIA; says his own studies of enemy strength indicated that correct order of battle would have shown at least 400,000 enemy troops, not 240,000 as was cited in '68 Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum