October 23, 1974

Common Cause study of public repts filed with Cong shows that Dem Cong candidates have raised more than Repub candidates, a reversal of usual situation; study shows that as of Aug '74, Dems raised $22-million compared with $16-million raised by Repubs; study does not include races were incumbent is unopposed; Common Cause legis dir Fred Wertheimer attributes Repub difficulties in raising funds to Watergate scandal; study shows 2/3 of special interest money contributed to Dems came from labor orgns; Sen candidate with largest treas is Dem Sen Alan Cranston (Calif), who has raised $890,898 despite fact he is assured of landslide victory; other Dems assured of victory who rank in top 10 in fund-raising listed; Wertheimer says total donations in '74 to Cong candidates will probably be less than $70-million given in '72, although spending by special interest groups will increase; 80% of special interest group money goes to incumbents; Wertheimer illus (L)

NY candidates for US Sen, Ramsey Clark, Barbara Keating and Sen Jacob Javits hold discussion at NY Times

Labor Dept repts that Consumer Price Index rose 1.2% in Sept, with meat, fish and poultry prices rising 3.2%, largest increase in index (S)

Scores of companies, ranging from Wall Street brokerage houses to neighborhood restaurants, have taken advantage of a controversial New York state law that allows them to contribute legally for the first time in statewide political contests.

John W Dean 3d admits under cross-examination on Oct 22 that he continued to withhold damaging information about Watergate for many mos after he had said that he had broken from Watergate conspiracy and had told authorities 'everything' he knew; concedes that some of his testimony before Sen Watergate com last yr was 'not accurate' about dates he gave com for various meetings and events; admits that he had kept from authorities both fact that he had destroyed, and reason why he had destroyed, 2 notebooks that had belonged to Watergate burglar E Howard Hunt Jr; admits that he gave Sen Watergate com a draft 'rept' on Watergate that he had written several mos earlier, at time he was allegedly urging Pres Nixon to make full disclosure of Watergate; in rept he says he had 'no knowledge' about notebooks that he had already destroyed; says he knew that then-FBI Acting Dir L Patrick Gray 3d had destroyed evidence on another matter; says he became aware of existence of notebooks in Dec '72, that he subsequently looked and found notebooks in Jan '73; H R Haldeman's atty John J Wilson, in questioning Dean, seen seeking to imply that Dean's failure to disclose information, even as he was purporting to give full account, meant that he was not credible now either, when he is again purporting to tell full story of Watergate; Wilson elicits from Dean fact that there were no further discussions with prosecutors after they announced that they had decided they could not give Dean immunity, as Dean's attys had been asking; elicits fact that, so far as Dean knew, none of documents Dean had about Watergate had been turned over to prosecutors; prosecution plays tape of Apr 16 '73 conversation between Dean and Nixon; Dean, in tape, sounds markedly more deferential to Nixon than he appeared to be in summary Dean gave; Apr 16 conversation concerns Dean's decision to cooperate with prosecutors, his resignation from White House and statements Nixon could make purporting to show that Pres was trying to uncover Watergate affair; courtroom sketch of Dean, Judge John J Sirica and H R Haldeman (L)