September 6, 1982

The importance of tobacco in America's past is unchallenged. For example, Benjamin Franklin used it as collateral for French loans to help underwrite the Revolutionary War. But what is being called into question is its importance, if any, in the nation's future. It is an emotional issue here in the largest tobacco-producing state, where at this time of year trucks, piled high with the pungent yellow leaves, are everywhere bound for auction. Many of the people whose livelihoods are tied to the commodity, including 300,000 in North Carolina, and 2 million in the whole nation, feel betrayed by a Congress that last month voted to double the Federal tax on a pack of cigarettes to 16 cents. Especially traitorous behavior is ascribed to North Carolina's Senators, Republicans Jesse Helms and John P. East, who are accused of switching their votes and giving the day to supporters of the tax increase.

Politicians typically say foreign policy does not swing Congressional elections nationwide, and this year is no exception. But there are about a dozen races for the House of Representatives and at least one for the Senate where such issues as a freeze on nuclear weapons and rising military spending could tip the balance. Moreover, three Republican Representatives, including Robert H. Michel, the House minority leader, have been put on the defensive in central Illinois because of the job losses caused by another foreign policy issue - President Reagan's embargo on the sale of American equipment for the Soviet natural gas pipeline to Western Europe. And the President's new Middle East peace proposal could develop into a touchy campaign issue for Republican incumbents in a few heavily Jewish districts if it causes sustained tensions with Israel.

The Israeli Government, ignoring President Reagan's call for a freeze on Jewish settlements, allocated $18.5 million today to build three new settlements in the occupied West Bank and announced approval to build seven others. The action coincided with the disclosure of the text of a firm letter of protest from Prime Minister Menachem Begin to President Reagan. The Israeli leader Text of Begin letter is on page 4. warned that the American proposals for the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip would lead to a Palestinian state and ''a Soviet base in the heart of the Middle East.''

China's Communist Party is undertaking a major reformation to erase the radical legacy of Mao Zedong and improve the caliber of its vast membership. The most dramatic change, announced today, is the abolition of the post of party chairman, a post that became synonymous with Mao. The party will be headed by a general secretary, as in the Soviet Union. The party leadership also plans to examine anew the qualifications of its nearly 40 million members to expel leftists who have resisted changes and to weed out others who are corrupt or incompetent.

As the New York metropolitan area's colleges open amid extraordinary last-minute confusion over financial aid, more and more students are abandoning plans to go away to private colleges and are turning to low-cost public colleges close to home, according to admissions officers and students. Some public colleges have been flooded with late applications from students who suddenly found they could not afford to attend their first-choice private colleges. And some private colleges are still soliciting applications long after the spring deadline to try to keep their enrollments at last year's levels. Officials at 41 colleges surveyed in the metropolitan area said the financial aid picture was especially chaotic this year because Congressional debate over rules for student loans and grants had delayed $580 million in Federal aid to colleges. As a result, many students had to register and pay fees last week without receiving Federal grants, and were still waiting to hear about loans.