March 31, 1973

S Vietnamese Pres Nguyen Van Thieu prepares to set out for US Mar 31; Saigon officials say his principal purpose is to obtain directly from Pres Nixon minimal assurances underwriting the survival of a non-Communist S Vietnam; believes he seeks US pledge to intervene with air power in case of a N Vietnamese invasion and a US guarantee of enough econ aid to meet the costs of reconstruction; opposition politicians say Thieu seeks pub raffirmation of US support not only for Saigon but for himself; actions by Thieu in recent days seen a conscious policy of refurbishing his pub image to make it easier for Nixon to confer the sought-for support; Saigon officials say Thieu intends to liberalize pol life after yr of wartime rigor and to make adm more efficient and to eradicate corruption; opposition believes moves by Thieu to be little more than tokens designed to attract US attention and hopes that Nixon will insist on more genuine liberalization; opposition leader Tran Van Tuyen comments

White House indicates on Mar 30 its readiness to compromise with Sen investigation of Watergate case on issue of furnishing witnesses and information from Pres Nixon's personal staff; White House press sec Ziegler announces at same time that Pres has issued affirmative order to all members of his staff to testify if called before Fed grand jury that is continuing to look into case; appearances by White House staff members will be ltd to closed sessions in both investigations; White House appears to be showing concern about bipartisan attacks on Adm's conduct in case for 1st time; change is believed to be, in part, a result of concern that White House might be covering up involvement of Pres aides and others close to Pres in Watergate break-in; Ziegler makes statement denying that staff members were involved; insists White House position has always been 1 of cooperation; question is raised as to why, if White House is interested in preserving separation of powers, Pres would order his aides to appear as sworn witnesses before judicial body but not legis body

Interest and Divds Com chmn A F Burns concedes successful effort to hold prime lending rate below other mkt rates has been encouraging excessive and potentially unhealthy expansion of bank credit, March 30 testimony before HR Banking Com on his plan for 'dual' prime rate system; iterates warning that mandatory controls on interest rates could have most serious consequences for Amer econ; strongly opposes proposal backed by most HR com Dems for 60-day freeze on interest rates

Rockland County, NY, Dist Atty R Meehan says Mar 30 that grand jury investigation, which began Feb 1, has been looking into attempted purchase of 11.7-acre piece of property in 1971 for $235,000 by County Sewer Comm; Ramapo Civic Assn successfully fought proposed purchase

NYS Park Comr A Aldrich says Mar 30 that Repubs will get preference for temporary summer jobs in NYS parks; says this is 'good public administration and also good politics'; Aldrich's comments were in response to demand from Rockland County Dem chmn Harriet Cornell for investigation of hiring practices of Pelisades Interstate Park Comm, 1 of agencies under Aldrich's jurisdiction; Mrs Cornell says comm foremen had been told to hire only applicants with green cards obtained from Repub town or county chmn; says practice is 'illegal sale and barter of jobs'; about 4,000 jobs are involved; Aldrich says many jobs are left over for non-Repubs after those referred by party leaders are filled; N Castro, gen mgr for Palisades Comm, confirms preferential treatment for Repubs but says this is only true for NY part of Palisades Park; says NJ part is on 1st-come, 1st-served basis; Aldrich por