May 9, 1973

Sen Watergate com announces May 8 that it will begin public hearings May 17 and will move to compel testimony by ex-White House counsel J W Dean 3d by granting him immunity from prosecution; White House says Pres Nixon is no longer advising prosecutors in Watergate case not to grant immunity to present or former Adm members; sends to Sen com guidelines under which present and past Adm aides will be allowed to testify once hearings begin; rules, formulated last wk by Pres counsel L Garment, note that White House counsel will be present at informal ints of White House personnel by com staff, but only to observe and to take notes; rules state that privilege will be invoked by White House counsel, if at all, only in connection with formal hearings before com; ex-Commerce Sec Stans meets with Sen Watergate investigators May 8 and says he 'answered all their questions'; Dean is reptdly prepared to say there was a White House cover-up of scandal and to impute knowledge of effort to Nixon; procedure and possible significance of Sen's granting of immunity discussed; Sen com serves Dean with subpoena May 8 for preliminarty testimony later in wk; Sen Judiciary Com is scheduled to open hearings May 9 on nomination of Atty Gen-designate Richardson; apptmt of special Watergate prosecutor will be an issue; it is disclosed May 8 in Fed ct that accountants for Pres Nixon's re-election com wrote at least 12 checks to themselves and delivered cash to unidentified parties; details of transactions are expected to be disclosed later this wk when pretrial depositions by accountants H M Buchanan and G F Lynch Jr are made public; Ervin illus

with panoply of fanfare and some caustic words for his critics, NYS Gov Rockefeller on May 8 signs into law final version of his antinarcotics legis, which will levy harsh prison sentences on narcotics traffickers; he says legis is 'the toughest antidrug program in the nation,' and applauds Legis for adopting bill and standing firm 'against this strange alliance of vested establishment interests, political opportunists and misguided soft-liners who joined forces and tried unsuccessfully to stop this program;' implies that if legis fails it will be as result of elements in state's criminal-justice system who are most critical of it; urges law-enforcement system to use its powers effectively, and police to act aggressively in enforcing drug laws for protection of public; says Dist Attys must prosecute forcefully and judges must act firmly; says he is submitting legis which will authorize him to appt up to 100 additional judges 'as needed' as well as to create necessary additional courtroom facilities; antinarcotics legis outlined; Rockefeller illus

US Geological Survey issues document on May 8 that finds that present use of minerals in US will lead to severe shortages in next few decades unless nation stops wasting resources and starts employing better ways of finding and exploiting low-grade ores; 722-pg document, 1st over-all assessment of US mineral use and resources in 21 yrs, covers everything from abrasives to zirconium, including coal, oil, natural gas and all industrially important metals; Interior Sec Morton, in foreword, says question of magnitude of usable resources is of mounting concern; notes that minerals and mineral fuels are 'literally cornerstones of modern life'; survey dir Dr V E McKelvey, in summary statement, says that nation's known deposits of mineral raw materials were seriously depleted and that future supplies must come, in many cases, from low-grade ores or from yet undiscovered resources; notes that increased dependence on low-grade ores also means increasing costs

Watergate and immunity: The Senate committee investigating Watergate will hold its first public hearings May 17 and will move to compel testimony by John W. Dean 3d, the deposed White House counsel, by granting him immunity. President Nixon, the White House said, will no longer advise prosecutors to withhold immunity from current or former members of the Administration.

Sen Proxmire denounces press May 8 for being 'grossly unfair' to Pres Nixon, Sen speech; day before, he told M McMillin, editor and publisher of Madison (Wis) Capital Times, in private telephone call that he believed Nixon was 'involved in Watergate up to his ears'; says press is engaged in campaign of 'McCarthyistic destruction' of Pres that represents 'press at its worst'; singles out Newsweek magazine, in whose current issue former White House counsel J W Dean 3d is said to have told grand jury investigators of alleged White House meetings that seem to imply that Nixon had direct knowledge of and involvement with White House cover-up attempts; says 'crux of whole matter is whether or not Pres had knowledge of Watergate case and this should not rest on apparently unsupported allegations of unidentified investigators ; Proxmire, when questioned about disparity, says he does not believe there is a contradiction and that he thinks there is 'lots of evidence' that Pres is involved but says that there is great deal of difference between expressing private convictions in private telephone call; Sens Scott and Mansfield agree with Proxmire's criticisms; Proxmire illus