October 29, 1975

Temporary NYS Comm on Judicial Conduct issues rept on Oct 28 that 5 judges who committed serious improprieties face hearings to determine if they should be removed from bench; rept says that 3 of 5 judges had given false testimony under oath but gives no further details of what improprieties judges are accused of, nor did it identify judges or say what part of state they came from; rept detailed (M)

NYC Councilman Robert Steingut being probed by Bklyn grand jury on allegations that he pledged jobs in exch for campaign contributions; reptdly declined to appear before jury; career; por (S)

1st in series of articles on US energy situation 2 yrs after Arab oil embargo says US remains just as vulnerable to another such embargo and perhaps more so; Govt analysts believe that energy consumption and oil imports will resume long-term upward trend in closing mos of '75 and in '76, after remaining level for last 2 yrs, and that dependence on Arab oil will increase; calculate that in '74, US consumed $16.6-million bbls of oil daily, 1.9-million less than if pre-embargo consumption trend had continued, but attribute half of those cutbacks to conservation induced by higher energy prices and rest to recession and mild winter last yr, rather than to permanent changes in consumption patterns; conservation effort lacks sufficient support from public and indus; drive to increase oil production and develop other domestic energy sources are disappointingly slow; oil-sharing plan among consumer countries is not yet ready for use in crisis; while vulnerability to embargo may have increased, likelihood of embargo has diminished because of changes in internatl pol situation; some Dems challenge Ford Adm's justification for making US more self-sufficient in energy, but Fed Energy Admr Zarb and Sec Kissinger hold failure to limit oil imports undermines US econ and pol power; chart of domestic US oil production and imports '68‐'75 with Fed Energy Adm projections for '77 (L)

Gov Carey says he will seek NYS tax rises to help NYC if required to do so by Fed aid legis; says that he would also accept other stringent demands; hopes that Pres Ford will drop opposition to Fed aid; says that Ford views city problem as ‘attractive pol target’ (S)

Armed men in downtown Parliament Sq denounce Lebanon's pol leaders on loudspeaker on Oct 28 and then shoot up Chamber of Deputies, killing deputy's bodyguard and wounding gendarme; communique issued by natl gendarmerie says 1 gunman was killed and 2 wounded by security forces outside Paliament bldg; some sources say gunmen were leftists; 1 acct says man killed near chamber was Samir Samaha, bodyguard of Phalangist leader Pierre Gemayel; attack follows announcement of new initiative by Premier Rashid Karami to end factional fighting between Christian right and Moslem left; Karami says 10-man com of major pol and factional leaders will sit continuously in his office, at Grand Palace, until peace is restored; only 3 com members join Karami at office; fiercest front in city is seaside hotel dist, where right-wing Phalangist and Natl Liberal party gunmen exch mortar, rocket and machine-gun fire with leftist bands; about 150 people, including US mil attache James Bremer and Irish Embassy 1st sec Joseph Lynch, are reptd huddling in basement of Holiday Inn; 2 Dutch diplomats are among score of people trapped in St Georges Hotel, which is held by rightists; first convoy of about 50 Amers leaves for airport to leave Lebanon; Ibrahim Koleilat, leader of leftists in Kantari dist, denies his movement is trying to ruin Beirut's tourist-based econ; US Embassy is unable to organize rescue operation to get Chicago Tribune correspondent Philip Caputo out of Trad Hospital, where he was treated for wounds; map; illus (L)

Pres Ford is expected to propose on Oct 29 that Cong enact legis to assure continuance of vital services, such as sanitation, if city defaults; proposal would reptdly call for surrender of fiscal control by NYC to Fed referee with authority to pay sanitation workers' salaries (M)

real estate group consisting of 3 cos and 7 officers is indicted for $200-million swindle in public sale of ‘undeveloped semi-arid desert lots’ in New Mexico area called Rio Rancho Estates; indictment alleges 1 of most massive land swindles in history and charges that over 45,000 people from 37 states have been defrauded; swindle includes many fraudulent practices and high-pressure sales techniques; 3 corp defendants are Amrep Corp and 2 of its subsidiaries, ATC Realty Corp and Rio Rancho Estates Inc; individual defendants are Howard W Friedman, pres of Amrep and Rio Rancho, and his brother Daniel Friedman, sr vp of sales for Amrep, Irving Blum, bd chmn of Amrep, Chester Carity, pres of ATC Realty, Solomon H Friend, gen counsel for Amrep, Henry L Hoffman, Amrep dir, and Herman B Oberman, past pres of Amrep; Fed prosecutor Patricia M Hynes says defendants are scheduled to plead to charges on Nov 10; Amrep spokesman calls charges ‘wholly unwarranted and legally and morally unjust’

Third‐quarter profit reports yesterday showed that the upturn in the economy had aided some companies but not others.

Spanish Chief of State Gen Francisco Franco again has taken turn for worse and drs rept condition as ‘extraordinarily grave’; officials increasingly have become conscious of urgency for decision to fill power vacuum at top; urgency is underlined by resumption of high-level talks with Morocco over Spanish Sahara; higher authority than Premier Carlos Arias Navarro is said to be needed should agreement with Morocco be reached or further friction develop; move to reach accord is being carried out by UN Sec Gen Kurt Waldheim, who has been on tour that has taken him to Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria and Spain (M)

Sens Proxmire and Stevenson agree on Oct 28 to compromise that supporters and opponents say assures Sen Banking Com approval of $4-billion loan guarantee to NYC; legis would place city in virtual receivership, under fiscal control of 3-member Fed bd headed by Sec Simon, if city seeks to qualify for Fed aid; Repub members of com say proposals are so stringent and far-reaching that city cannot possibly comply with them in 4 remaining wks before expected default; private investors would be required to buy $1-billion in unguaranteed bonds; state would also have to enact new taxes equal to half of city's deficit; other provisions; com defers vote on proposal at request of Repub members; Proxmire and Stevenson illus (M)

group of Israelis mount fund-raising drive to buy radio for Egyptian Pres Sadat; Sadat said in Washington on Oct 27 that Egyptian Jew refused to sell him radio in '50 because he fought in '48 Arab-Israeli war; used radio incident as example of why he believes Zionism could be linked with racism; Israeli Eliahu Tal says he and others have begun ‘Israeli-Egyptian Friendship League’; says that as its first act league placed ad in Jerusalem Post to raise money for radio; says league will try to send it to Sadat (S)

Moroccan King Hassan II has succeeded in rousing rural and humble population of nation to ‘fever pitch of fervor’ for march that is intended to incorporate Spanish Sahara into Morocco; in response to ruler's appeal for 350,000 volunteers to march into Spanish Sahara, they rushed to join up until lists were oversubscribed; newspapers, since Oct 20, have offered almost no relief from concentration on subject of march; Information Min Ahmed Benhima says that, despite progress in negotiations with Spain and Mauritania, march will go on until all 350,000 participants are in Aiun, Spanish Sahara capital (M)