November 15, 1975

Westchester County Exec Alfred B DelBello says he plans to ask Bd of Legislators to raise sales taxes in county to at least 7%; believes he has bd's support; says increase will be higher if NYS sales tax is raised; says municipalities in county, which would share in revenues, also need funds; DelBello and his aides decline to comment on new budget, but it is expected to eliminate hundreds of jobs, many of them now vacant (M)

 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14—Many Republicans in Congress were critical of President Ford today because of his apparent willingness to sign legislation that would lower oil prices over the next two veers.

US Justice Dept's Law Enforcement Assistance Adm study issued on Nov 14 finds that there has been only 'token' compliance with landmark '72 Sup Ct ruling that required appointment of lawyer to represent any indigent defendant who faced possible jail term; study, based on field work in 9 cities, finds that ruling had been 'applied too narrowly and often unevenly' and that reform 'has been chaotic and uneven at best'; finds specifically that judges often openly encourage defendants to waive their const rights to counsel, that limited concern with basic procedural fairness continues to be prevalent in lower criminal cts, and that lawyers who are appointed to defend indigents are often inexperienced or of limited competence; other findings noted (M)

NYS Legis, in special session, finds that NYC financial condition has dramatically worsened and that basic city services would be threatened by 'disastrous consequences' of default; votes early on Nov 15 to impose moratorium of up to 3 yrs on repayment of $1.6-billion in city notes falling due between now and June 30; moratorium is intended to be incentive for private investors to voluntarily trade in short-term notes for long-term bonds of Munic Assistance Corp (L)

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger told a House committee that the United States was ready to open talks with the Communist nations of Indochina on normalizing relations. Page 9.

Spain has agreed to abandon Spanish Sahara by end of Feb and to share adm of territory until then with Morocco and Mauritania; settlement, reached after 3 days of negotiations by reprs of 3 countries, apparently opens way to complete control by Morocco and Mauritania of Spanish Sahara; demands by Algeria and UN that 80,000 Spanish Saharans be consulted about future in referendum are to be met but in way that neither may find acceptable; time and methods of consultation are not disclosed but it is thought that any vote will occur after Spain's departure and consequently under Moroccan control; some form of joint extraction of phosphate resources of Spanish Sahara also is believed to have been settled by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania but this is not mentioned specifically in vaguely worded communique issued at end of talks; 3 countries also have decided on other forms of cooperation to promote harmony, among them Spanish indus investment in Morocco and fishing rights for Spanish vessels in waters of Saharan territory; effort by Spain to reconcile conflicting commitments and claims to Spanish Sahara is thought to have little chance of staving off armed conflict between Algeria and Morocco on issue; UN Sec Gen Kurt Waldheim had sought UN adm with help not only from Spain, Morocco and Mauritania but also from Algeria (M)

13 present and former leaders of Natl Orgn for Women (NOW) form 'network' to broaden appeal of women's movement; meet, New Orleans; deny planning orgn to rival NOW; intend either to ' save NOW or move on;' NOW pres Karen DeCrow rejects premise of network, which has tentative name of Womensurge; plans made to announce it formally in Dec; comment by Betty Friedan and other at New Orleans meeting cited (L)

Pres Ford, in videotape deposition shown at trial of Lynette Alice Fromme on Nov 14, testifies that he has no recollection of hearing gun click when Fromme allegedly pointed gun at him in Sacramento on Sept 5; videotape testimony represents 1st time a Pres submitted in person to interrogation by lawyers concerning a criminal case; Ford says he does not remember Fromme's saying anything or seeing her hand on trigger or her thumb on hammer or slide of pistol; Ford is 1st defense witness; Fromme is not in ct but she saw videotape on Nov 13 in private showing (M)

Fed Reserve Bd repts indus production index for Oct rose 0.4% to 1163, 6th consecutive mo of increase; slower rate of advance indicates econ recovery pace in 4th qr is less rapid than in 3d qr; Commerce Dept repts on inventories, Sept; business inventories rose $470-million, compared with $1.3-billion in Aug; retail inventories rose $365-million, wholesale inventories rose $191-million, and mfrs inventories dropped $86-million; ratio of inventories to sales declined to 1.53, compared with 1.54 in Aug (M)

HR Select Intelligence Com overwhelmingly votes to hold Sec Kissinger in contempt of Cong for failure to supply classified information asked under subpoenas, regarding covert intelligence operations and possible Soviet violations of '72 arms limitation agreement; Kissinger, expressing regret over move, says he fears it will raise serious questions all over world of what US is doing to itself; Ford calls move shocking and predicts broad and serious ramifications (M)

Portuguese Govt capitulates to demands of angry construction workers who have held Premier Jose Pinheiro de Azevedo hostage for 36 hrs; Socialist and Popular Dem parties are angry about mil leadership's failure to help defend Azevedo and 200 Deputies and employes while they were barricaded by construction workers; accuse Communists of 'maneuvering' construction workers in attempt to overthrow Govt; Lisbon's ind daily Jornal Novo predicts that Govt will have to resign if some terms of accord with construction workers are carried out; principal concession is blanket wage increase of up to 40% for whole indus, which involves some 300,000 workers; increase could seriously jeopardize Govt's austerity plan; Lisbon capitulation has violent repercussion in Oporto, where pro-Govt demonstration led to street fighting and attacks on Communist party installations; more than dozen persons are wounded and demonstrators had to be dispersed by Oporto infantry regiment by tear gas (M)