January 12, 1974

several thousand Cambodian insurgents intensify offensive against Phnom Penh in what Govt and Western analysts see as ‘maximum effort’ for force fall of Pres Lon Nol Govt; insurgents have penetrated within 6 miles of city and within a mile of Pochentong airport; 3,000 troops believed involved; Govt officials and foreign diplomats are skeptical of recent rumors of peace talks; Govt press says war is forgotten in the West because of oil crisis; Govt forces, with air support, meet insurgent attacks; routes to capital are reopened; map (M)

US BLS repts on Jan 11 that employment in nation remained unchanged in Dec, adding that part of failure of jobs to increase could be attributed to energy shortage; neither official statistical release nor comments by BLS officials estimate total number of jobs lost because of energy shortage, though statisticians say about 50,000 can be traced to auto dealers and gasoline stations; Dec statistics apparently reflect beginning of layoffs in airline indus but not layoffs of automobile production workers; wire service rept saying Labor Dept reptg 100,000 jobs were lost in Dec because of energy shortage, widely carried on radio and TV, was inaccurate and was later corrected; BLS rept says payroll employment in Dec was 76.7‐million, 2.7‐million from yr ago; there was also huge influx into labor mkt, with result that unemployment declined less than employment rose; jobless rate declined, from 5.8% in 1st qr of ‘72 to 4.7% in last qr of ‘73

NYS Atty Gen Lefkowitz on Jan 14 will begin to subpoena data from 29 oil cos, terminal operators, large distributors and oil co subsidiaries to probe whether oil shortage is real or contrived; Conn Gov Thomas J Meskill says General Assembly will be asked to legislate subpeona power to permit Atty Gen Robert K Killian to obtain data; NJ Gov‐elect Brendan T Byrne has announced his new Atty Gen, William F Hyland, will probe oil indus and is reptd to believe public has not been getting facts; Lefkowitz probe, which will involve Mobil, Exxon, Shell, Texaco, Sun Oil, Amoco and Gulf as well as 22 other concerns, will probe records going back to ‘71 to compare inventories, supplies and allocations yr by yr; stage 2 of probe will investigate responsible co exec with possibility of grand jury action

Blue Cross and Blue Shield agree in principle to merge their operations so that single agency will be able to provide more efficient service and econ ins to help pay hosp and dr bills; disclosure of merger plans is made at Jan 11 NYS Ins Dept hearing on whether to order dismissal of 23 bd members of Blue Shield as result of alleged inefficiency in operations of insurer; Blue Shield and its dirs are charged with failure to settle claims promptly and fairly; Richard Davis of law firm of Choate, Hollister, Regan & Davis urges hearing officer John Daly not to recommend dismissal of Blue Shield dirs, which might delay merger plans; Blue Cross pres Edwin R Werner and Blue Shield vp Carmine F Ammirati both confirm agreement in principle; Werner comments; 1st Deputy Supt of Ins Lawrence O Monin says that when plan is submitted it will be studied in context that there should be competition among ins cos in order to give consumer a choice; Blue Cross currently handles billing, subscription and mkting transactions for Blue Shield; under merger, both would continue as separate orgns, with separate but interlocking bds of dirs and interlocking coms; single adm structure would be headed by 1 man; illus of Blue Shield and Blue Cross symbols (M)

Japan on Jan 11 announces mandatory energy conservation measures requiring 5% to 15% decrease in industrial oil and elec consumption by end of Feb; officials estimate 10% shortfall despite Arab production increase (S)