October 6, 1975

Treas Under Sec Edwin H Yeo 3d, in panel discussion at annual meeting of ABA arranged by Soc of Amer Business Writers, proposes change in tax-exempt status of munic bonds; says portion of current tax exemption should be eliminated; this would allow cities and states to recoup part of their interest costs through taxation; NYC has been seeking Fed guarantee of its notes and bonds, and has indicated willingness to have them subject to income taxes in exch for guarantee; Yeo alludes to '2d type of subsidy' in connection with munic financing, but does not elaborate; concedes that imposing taxes on portion of munic bond interest was considered several yrs ago and was rejected; says plan should now be reconsidered; Phila finance dir Lennox L Moak, panelist, says appeal of Yeo's plan is linked to tax percentage applied to munic bonds and notes; says he found munci finance dirs receptive to idea of changing tax-exempt status; spokesman for Mayor Beame says he cannot comment on Yeo's plan until it is studied by experts; says Beame has been discussing possibility of taxable munic bonds for more than yr in talks with Washington leaders in connection with Fed guarantees of bonds and notes; Beame reptdly agrees that guarantees cannot be expected in addition to existing tax exemption; Yeo and Moak illus (L)

Death Valley National Monument: Article discusses bill before Sen Interior Subcom on Minerals, Materials and Fuels, to halt strip mining for minerals in Death Valley Natl Monument and 5 other Fed parks; notes bill repeals '33 loopholes, which was made possible by Cong a few mos after Natl Monument was created in proclamation by Pres Hoover; says bill will propose 3-yr moratorium on all mining activities that involve 'surface disturbance' so impact of mining on Death Valley can be studied; says future of Death Valley in shadow of strip-mining tech came after it was learned that Tenneco had laid claim to land held by US Borax Corp; cites co statement that it has not seriously considered strip mining, but fact that it could contemplate it, caused Cong to act; James B Thompson, Natl Monument Supt, notes increase in mining activity will inevitably lead to despoliation of natural wonder; estimates that production of borates and other minerals inside Natl Monument totaled $4-million between '40 and '70; Tenneco vp Robin Pate comments; map (M)

Sen Select Intelligence Com Chmn Sen F Church says com's rept on pol assassinations will show both plots and attempts through Eisenhower Adm, Kennedy Adm and into Johnson Adm, int on ABC TV program Issues and Answers; confirms statement by Sen W F Mondale that CIA organized assassination planning under 'exec action group' that prepared proposals to kill foreign leaders; CIA Dir William E Colby says he feels 'there is no one in CIA who could be convicted of any crime'; says there were things that were 'done wrong' but they were either done 'because they were believed to be right or within color of law there is justification for what they did,' int on CBS TV program Face the Nation (M)

Aerolineas Argentinas: Group of Argentine guerrillas hijack Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737 jetliner, Buenos Aires, and fly it to remote airfield hundreds of mi south of capital, where they escape (S)

W Ger has been secretly paying since '61 for thousands of prisoners to leave E Ger at prices ranging up to $15,000 a head; E Ger's need for hard currency is met while W Ger will pay for and accept prisoners because it gives all Ger nationals right of citizenship; 86 recently released prisoner were drs, for whom rates are higher; E Ger reptdly has several hundred drs in prisons, convicted of trying to escape from E Ger; exch process takes place between E Ger lawyer Wolfgang Vogel, W Ger lawyer Jurgen Stange and Soc Dem Deputy Herbert Wehner; US is not always informed of such deals (M)