April 17, 1973

NYC Human Resources Admr J M Sugarman on Apr 16 announces that Callagy Hall and Manida Juvenile Center, NYC's girl's jails, will be closed within 1 yr; city plans to expand its program of 'group homes'--small residential facilities headed by foster or salaried house parents; statement is issued in response to NY Times series on juvenile justice system; Sugarman lists improvements made by city adm in area of prison reform; plans to close both insts have been anticipated for some time

D Ellsberg tells jury on Apr 26 for 1st time that he had disclosed Pentagon papers to 'give Congress the confidence to act' to end the Vietnam war, in response to question asked by defense atty L B Boudin as to why he copied papers and why they were important to him; says he had learned from reading papers that French effort in Vietnam would have failed had not US provided money, materials and bombs; says Govt that US supported in Vietnam was 'narrow based, corrupt and unrepresentative and that it had no support other than the soldiers and officials on the United States payrolls'; says there could be no victory without US 'destroying every piece of that country'; Fed Dist Judge W M Byrne ruled that Ellsberg could not answer direct question of why he copied papers for 2 reasons--one, because it was not material, and two, because it would open up what he did with copies, an issue, Byrne said, that he would not allow to be contested before jury; Ellsberg is allowed to answer question indirectly; says he believed that US codes, agent's covers and nuclear weapon information had not been compromised by release of papers

NYS Gov Rockefeller on Apr 16 proposes that 21-member NYC Bd of Higher Educ, now entirely filled by Mayoral appointees, be cut to 10 appointees with Gov having power to name half; proposal would give Gov and state equal voice with Mayor and NYC in controlling City Univ; NYC Mayor Lindsay spokesman T B Morgan denounces proposal as threat to univ's free-tuition and open-enrollment policies and as 'blatant attempt by Gov to bulldoze his way into affairs of city'; Rockefeller spokesman R Maiorana, noting that Lindsay is on record as requesting state aid for City Univ beyond present 50-50 sharing program, replies that state cannot 'even begin to consider' increase in aid without having voice in how funds are spent; Rockefeller's proposal stops short of his own study comm's recommendation that Gov assume majority apptmt power over CUNY bd, apparently because he fears Legis would not approve such a bill; equal-power proposal is also expected to arouse major controversy

Pres Nixon announces plans on Apr 16 to sell about $6-billion of $6.7-billion worth of 'critical and strategic' materials in Govt stockpile over several-yr period in attempt to curb rising prices, Apr 16 message to Cong; explains world econ boom has created shortages in some indus commodities, causing unacceptable rate of increase in cost; says stockpile 'objectives' are slated for paring based on nation's heightened capability to locate substitutes for scarce materials and recent decision to maintain sufficient commodities for 1st yr of conventional war, instead of for traditional 3 yrs; announcement contains detailed list of amounts of 91 stockpiled items alongside revised objective for each; outlook for disposal legis in Cong remains uncertain as some producers are expected to resist requested authority, fearing Govt sales will depress prices severely

S Vietnamese mil official Lt Col Le Trung Hien says, Apr 16, S Vietnamese troops 'may' have crossed the border into Cambodia Apr 13 as newsmen on the scene reptd; says that if they did, crossing occurred 'during the heat of battle' and involved a brief penetration of only a few hundred yds and took place because the border is 'ill defined'; Hien had earlier denied there was a crossing; in any case, he insists, Saigon has not ordered its troops into Cambodia to aid the hard-pressed Cambodian Govt; says if units crossed they did so on the decision of local comdrs; illus of Cambodian armored personnel carrier in action SE of Phnom Penh