May 1, 1975

Fed Energy Admr Frank G Zarb says Pres Ford will start adm process, perhaps as early as June 1, that could end all price controls on domestic crude oil in 2 yrs; says Ford might sign legis extending decontrol period to 3 1/2 or 4 yrs if Cong writes such a provision into acceptable energy bill; says Ford plan would reduce vol of price-controlled crude oil by about 4% a mo for 2 yrs, causing price of gasoline to rise 1.25c a gal every 6 mos, or 5c in 2 yrs; Sen Jackson says decontrol will add $250 a yr to energy outlays of typical family; will introduce resolution of disapproval in Sen May 1, move designed to avoid procedural obstacles that Repubs could use to delay Sen action on disapproval beyond 5 days stipulated in Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act; Zarb says decontrol will reduce US dependence on foreign oil, but Sen Mike Mansfield says it would mean that OPEC, rather than US Govt, will set US oil prices; Zarb acknowledges law limits duration of decontrol actions by Pres to 90 days, forcing him to resubmit proposal to Cong every 3 mos

Former Vietnamese Min of Planning Hguyen Tien Hung makes public on Apr 30 lrs from Pres Nixon promising Saigon Govt in '72 and '73 that US would take swift and severe retaliatory action and would respond with full force if N Vietnamese violated Paris cease-fire accords; contents of lrs seem more specific about possible use of US retaliatory mil force than White House indicated initially earlier in mo when matter of secret assurances to Saigon first became issue; disclosrues indicate that Nixon, in effort to enlist Thieu's support for Paris cease-fire accords being negotiated, brought strong pressure to bear on Saigon and made far-reaching promises not disclosed to Cong or Amer public at time; Hung releases texts of lrs dated Nov 14 '72 and Jan 5 '73 and quotes from lrs dated Jan 17 and Jan 20 '72, although texts are not provided; says credibility of US in future will have to be taken seriously if US foreign policy is to be effective; says it is unfair to foreign govt to get something tangible by making assurances and then render assurances moot; coincidentally with Hung's disclosures, Pres Ford formally refuses to give Cong copies of Nixon-Thieu correspondence on ground of diplomatic confidentiality; White House, which says documents appear authentic, asserts that no secret agreements have been made and that any assurances by Nixon do not differ in substance from what Nixon and others were saying publicly at time; White House press sec Ron Nessen says nothing that was said to Thieu privately differs in substance from what was said publicly; seems annoyed by newsmen's fascination with documents and their speculation whether confidential assurances were made that were not known to public; illus of excerpt from a lr (L)

Agr Dept repts prices of farm commodities rose 4% during mo ended Apr 15 '75; price increase, of some items noted; reverses 5-mo slide in farm prices, but still is 8.1% below Oct '74 avg (M)

NYS Legis votes to give NYS Urban Development Corp $88-million and to lend it $140-million as state's part of agreement with commercial banks to make it possible for corp to repay its debts and finish its bldg programs; Legis also votes to reconstitute corp's bd of dirs and to protect members against lawsuits; votes unanimously to confirm Richard Ravitch as chmn of bd and confirms nomintations of 4 members of bd; William L Cary, William D Hassett, Richard Lewisohn and Pazel G Jackson

French Pres Giscard D'Estaing is said to have been angered by Cambodian Communists' decision to expel French from Phnom Penh, even though France recognized new Govt 5 days before Communists entered city (S)