January 19, 1976

Jimmy Carter and Birch Bayh appear to hold lead on eve of Iowa's Dem precinct caucuses to select delegates to Dem natl conv; caucuses, first test of strength of '76 campaign, are expected to attract no more than 10% of state's regis Dems; no deep cleavages have appeared between Dem aspirants; Carter has been campaigning in pol sophisticated Iowa since Feb '75; Bayh has capitalized on network of trade union supporters, closing gap between him and Carter; victory for Carter could prove hollow, since canvassers have found as many as 60% of Dems are still undecided; Bayh illus (L)

Census Bur study finds that despite rent control and rent stabilization programs, NYC rents have risen more than 3 times as fast as tenant incomes over past 5 yrs; as result, half the city's tenants are paying more than 25% of income for rent, including over 400,000 households that are paying over 35% of their income; despite gen upward trend, study also found that about 250,000 households were still paying less than 15% of income for rent; key suggestion from study is that owners of over 100,000 apts here have avoided rent laws altogether and have failed to register their apts as required under rent-stabilization laws; study is expected to be major factor in battles over rent issue in NYS Legis and NYC City Council; NYC Rent Comr Daniel W Joy and Asst Comr Barbara Cohn comment; census survey was undertaken for city as part of requirement in state and local rent laws that vacancy rate be assessed every 3 yrs; rental vacancy in NYC is now 2.8% (L)

Spanish Govt has given further evidence of stiffened attitude toward leftist opposition by breaking up private gathering in suburban villa, Madrid, and arresting 22 lawyers and 33 other professional people with wives; gathering was described as 'unauthorized pol meeting' (M)

Jan 19: Western diplomat, reacting to resignation of Lebanese Prime Min Rashid Karami, says 'this opens the possibility of another Middle East war'; illus (S)

The Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that unauthorized publication of diplomatic communications or diplomatic contacts be made punishable by prison terms both for persons who supply the information and for those who report it. Page 9.