July 22, 1973

Article on electronic detection system operated by US along Mexican border to stem Mexican alien influx; system is being extended along 1,550-mi border, except for certain areas regarded as inaccessible; installation, for which $1.5-million has been budgeted in '73, may be completed as early as mid-'74; criminal orgns formerly engaged in narcotics traffic have turned to alien smuggling because profits are large and involve far fewer risks; R Batchelor, deputy chief patrol agent at Chula Vista sector hq of Immigration Service border patrol division, says his division lacks manpower; agents at Chula Vista sector caught 94,220 people in '72 attempting to sneak into US illegally; they expect to catch 150,000 in '73; patrol officers estimate that 2 or 3 times that number will sneak past them to take jobs in US; aliens sneaking across border paths represent only part of problem; thousands more simply drive through normal border hwy checkpoints, show counterfeit border crossing cards or alien registration cards that have been stolen or sold; Batchelor says that without Fed law making it illegal for Amers to hire aliens who enter illegally, problem will grow and remain out of control; there is no effective way, and apparently no official or public desire, to prosecute illegal Mexican aliens; sympathy exists for their plight as underpaid, overworked and exploited labor force; illus

authoritative Western officials rept that original USSR proposal for what became Nixon-Brezhnev agreement to prevent nuclear war contained clause that would have committed US to intervene jointly with USSR anywhere in world if there was danger of conflict; say that US rejected idea but considered it necessary to give Moscow note stating clearly Amer interpretation of meaning of document in order to prevent future misunderstanding; say that although assumption was that USSR had China principally in mind as country to be restrained, clause could have applied anywhere; accord signed in Washington on June 22 obliges US and USSR to enter immediately into 'urgent consultations' if relations between them or between one of them and some other country 'appear to involve risk of nuclear conflict'; also says that two shall 'make every effort to avert risk' but docs not include requirement for joint intervention; US note reptdly stresses that accord imposes only obligation for US-USSR consultations to prevent outbreak of nuclear war; reptdly makes clear that US is not pledging never to use nuclear weapons in wartime, that accord does not limit US nuclear commitment to allies and that accord does not require US intervention beyond existing commitments; USSR once before sought and failed to obtain formal pledge from US for joint action against China in event of danger; John Newhouse book Cold Dawn reveals that in July '70 during talks on limiting strategic nuclear weapons USSR made similar proposal; Pres Nixon and Dr Kissinger have briefed NATO allies on US interpretation, partially allaying their fears that they would lose US nuclear umbrella

Former US Capt G J Greven says in phone int, July 20, that he told Sen H E Hughes that he participated in the planned bombing of a Vietcong hosp in S Vietnam in '69; says deliberate attempt took place late in Mar or early in Apr '69 in a Vietcong-held area in S Vietnam near the Cambodian border; says he decided to tell Hughes about incident after reading press repts about US secret bombing of Cambodia; Hughes to demand that Greven testify at a Sen hearing on 'circumstances that could have called for US to deliberately bomb hospitals'; Greven, in int, says that target information about possible sites of Vietcong activity was routinely provided by Army intelligence personnel before USAF men took off in their planes; US is party to Hague and Geneva Convs which prohibit the destruction of hospitals, as does US Army's own law of land warfare; Greven says he was provided with coordinates of suspected Vietcong hosp sites at least 3 or possibly as many as 6 times by Army intelligence; provides name of a fellow forward observer, still in service, to give independent verification of his assertions; officer confirms he flew with Greven, but says that as an officer on active duty, he is 'not at liberty' to discuss allegations; adds that 'this nation's going to have a guilty conscience about this war for a long time'; says that all the targets were cleared through the Vietnamese province chief

54-story skyscraper to be erected on NYCs East Side will include new 900-seat St Peter's Luth Ch, whose home is being torn down to make way for new structure

Reliable sources rept on July 21 that Pres Nixon has told Sen Watergate com Chmn Ervin that he will not supply Pres papers to Sen investigators because he is convinced com is seeking to incriminate him; Ervin says on July 21 that Nixon's position is making it 'more difficult' for him to 'continue to cling to the presumption' that Nixon was not involved in Watergate conspiracy; authoritative sources at com say Nixon made accusation about com's motives, in sources' words, that com was 'out to get him,' when he talked with Ervin by telephone on July 12; Ervin says in Atlantic Beach on July 20 that he was mystified by Nixon's apparent decision to withhold from com secret tape recordings of Nixon's White House conversations with key figures in Watergate affair; says he can think of no rational reason for Nixon not to turn tapes over unless evidence found in them would be against him; Nixon confers with aides July 21 at Camp David as he prepares what aides intimate will be 'irrevocable' statement rejecting com's request for tapes and various White House documents; telephone conversation between Nixon and Ervin described; article in issue of New Republic, to be released July 23, contends that White House attys have determined that evidence on tapes is, in article's terms, 'mixed and confusing'; J Osborne, pub's White House correspondent, says in article that 'some of the tapes in question were played back and drawn upon by the lawyers and others who helped Mr Nixon draft his May 22 statement of innocence, ignorance and denial' of involvement in Watergate break-in and cover-up; article says Osborne learned that some of conversations on tapes supported Nixon's 'contentions and recollections' but that other portions, 'often on the same tape, could be interpreted if read alone to dispute his contention and make him out a liar'; Sen Gurney tells UPI on July 21 that it will 'hurt' Nixon politically if he withholds tapes although he agrees with Nixon's contention that Pres has right to withhold tapes or other material classified as Pres papers; illus of Nixon and Ervin