May 26, 1973

US and Switzerland on May 25 sign treaty designed to help US investigators track down criminals on charges of tax evasion who have hidden funds in secret Swiss bank accounts; accord must be ratified by Swiss Parliament and US Sen

Peron says he will return to Argentina in July

NY Times series of ints with Dem mayoral aspirants; efficiency of city govt and reorgn discussed; all 4 Dems would dismantle Lindsay's superagencies, charging they create new levels of bureaucracy which are not accountable to the public; Blumenthal favors strong, nonpol Deputy Mayor as 'enforcer,' idea opposed by Biaggi, who feels such action would strip Mayor of power; Badillo favors hiring outside auditors and ind investigatory personnel; Beame opposed, suggesting that tight internal control would best curb corruption; views of all 4 quoted separately

official Soviet publication Foreign Trade hints for 1st time at magnitude of USSR grain imports in '72 after serious crop failure; grain purchases are believed to have insured adequate supply for staple Soviet diet; article in journal suggests that as much as 15‐million tons of grain were imported by USSR, which is about half what supplier nations had reptd for '72‐73 period; US Agr Under Sec C G Brunthaver's meeting with USSR Foreign Trade Deputy Min M R Kuzmin suggests possibility of additional grain purchases from US; Brunthaver's visit to USSR seen as preparation of an agr agreement that would be signed when Brezhnev visits US; declines to meet with Amer newsmen; disclosure of Soviet purchase seen pointing out reluctance by USSR authorities to publicize growing dependence of country on grains, capital and advanced tech; Soviet leaders evidently do not want to concede that after more than 50 yrs of planned econ development under Communist system, they find it necessary to turn for assistance to capitalist system

Afghan farmers are harvesting bumper crop of opium poppies on newly irrigated land that has been developed with US aid; Amer officials, who have sought to put pressure on Afghan Govt to curb outlfow of opium, are enraged and embarrassed because land was developed by US aid mission to spur food production; say Afghan Govt has made little attempt to curb growth of opium poppy or punish farmers