Saturday, March 16; 1,968 .

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Pone Thrip-p

Satuday Mach 1, 168 HE MCHIAN AIL

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U. S., South Vietnamese Units

Launch Lai
SAIGON (M)-In a drive to seize
the initiative from the enemy,
50,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese
troops have launched the largest
operation of the war in five pro-
vinces reaching from Saigon to the
border of Cambodia.
The command said yesterday
the prime objective is to erase
the enemy threat that has hung
over Saigon since the Viet Cong I
My was driven from the capital in the
enemy's Tet lunar new year of-:
fensive.
In addition to the Viet Cong,
elements of the North Vietnamese
101st and 141st regiments have'
been operating northwest of Sai-
gon. An absence of large casualties
g indicated the main enemy force
has not yet been brought to battle.
The Viet Cong 7th and 9th di-
visions, along with the North Viet-

rgest Drive of War
namese, have been reported ma- For the first time, western Sai-
neuvering between Saigon and the gon and the Chinese quarter of
Cambodian border to the west. Cholon were included in a war
Even as the drive was an- operation. Both were heavily in- "
nounced, there were intelligence filtrated by Viet Cong when the "n".
reports that new enemy attacks enemy's big offensive against Sai-
on Saigon might come at any time. gon and other cities was launched
U.S. officials said the reports at the end of January.
are similar to others received since This is the first big allied op-
the Tet offensive subsided. They eration since that offensive gave
added that the reports were not the North Vietnamese and Viet -I.>. .
ignored in allied plannning for the Cong the initiative in the war. :
new operation. Biggest Offensive"
Called Operation Quyet Thang The U.S. Command said it wxas"
-Resolved to Win-the drive has larger than the previous big opei- .
turned up caches containing tons ation, Junction City, that was car-
of ammunition and weapons 10, ried out early last year in War
12 and 24 miles northwest of Sai- Zone C northwest of Saigon. That...... .......... .
gon, the command reported. operation involved 45,000 U.S.
The drive is anchored in Sai- troops. ::r . ... ,K.
gon and extends through five pro- Taking part in the operation .- .
vinces north, west and south of are elements of the U.S. 1st, 9th
the capital. and 25th infantry divisions. Ele-
ments of the 5th and 25th South
__ ___ Vietnamese infantry divisions, a A U.S. AMBULANCE wheels up1
Vietnamese airborne division, a facilities are underground and th
Vietnamese marine corps task front first in a dug out area to p
force, elements of the Vietnamese
ATA CHOIR 5th ranger group and national
police forces. SPENDING CUT F
Direc for U.S. spokesman said another
robjectiveof the drive, aside from
ecaion's security, is to reasserta1 aTxC
sneof allied presence and re-;
T DEM HERRN" ,store confidence in a countryside
that was badly shaken in the lu-I WASHINGTON (-A new con-
'DE PR FUNDIS" nar new year drive. gressional drive to combine an in-
Coordnated Move come tax increase with a legis-
Although the operation was de- latively imposed cut in government
scribed in terms of one giant, co-? spending is gathering strength
rks by ordinated move against the en- with the mounting tempo of the
emy, it was obvious that it lump- international gold crisis.
ed under one operational name Frtefrttmteei oi
hnis, & Ives many units in areas wherethyevy d the fist time there is sl
evidencenthatehairmanaWilbu
have long been operating. D. Mills (D-Ark) who has kept
Only scattered clashes were re- President Johnson's income tax
ristian Reformed Church ported elsewhere in South Viet- surcharge proposal bottled up in
nam- the House Ways and Means Com-
B52 bombers kept up their mittee, is one of the the planners
1717 Broadway hammering of enemy troops and of a fiscal package including a tax
positions. T h e y concentrated increase.
again on the area around the U.S. Mills will say nothing publicly
Marine base at Khe Sanh in the about any such plans. Interviewed
_______________ northwest., by telephone at his home in Ken-

THE CAMER

-Associated Press
to "Charlie Med," the main medical facility at Khe Sanh. All medical
he entrance is heavily sandbagged. The ambulance at right is parked
protect it against enemy shells.
ORESEEN:
rease Gains Support

R&oil Jeff ers~

BACH: "SINGE
SCHOENBERG: '

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Gabrieli, Bra,

Saturday, March 16
8:30 P.M.-FREE

Ch

sett, Ark., the chairman of the tax
writing committee said, "My posi-
tion has not changed."
His position has been that
spending must be cut well below
the budget Johnson offered as a
tight one, if a tax increase is to
'be considered.
The new element, however, is aI
determination by Mills and other1
congressional leaders to cut off the
dialogue with the executive branch
and impose the cuts by legisla-
tion.
Mills is known to have con-
ferred at length both in person in?
Washington and by telephone this
weekend with Chairman Georgej
H. Mahon (D-Tex.) of the House
Appropriations Committee - the
committee that determines spend-
ing.
Mills was told he has been pic-
tured as an obstinate holdout for
a tax increase as a symbol of the

United States' determination to
preserve the dollar's international
value - as well as to halt dom-
estic inflation and help finance
the Vietnam war.
Johnson, secretary of the Treas-
ury Henry H. Fowler, Federal Re-
serve Chairman William McChes-
ney Martin Jr., and a host of
businessmen and economists have
been pressing this argument with
mounting urgency.
Mills' comment on the criticism
is: "I have got to do my own
thinking and make up my own
mind. Nobody else can tell me low
to do it."
Asked whether he plans to call
the committee together for another
look at the 10 per cent income tax
surcharge, he said,
'This thing is always before us;
it is constantly before us. The
committee can get to it immedi-
ately when the circumstances de-
mand it."

Copper Dispute
Near Settlement
Strike Not To End Immediately;
United Steelworkers Reject Contract
WASHINGTON (P)-Tentative contract agreements providing a
54 cent an hour wage hike plus increased fringe benefits were re-
ported yesterday for two of four major copper firms engaged in
White House sponsored negotiations with 26 striking unions.
The proposed 40 month settlement with Kennecott Copper Corp.
and Phelps Dodge Corp:, however, cover only about 15,000 of the
50,000 strikers in 22 states and would not immediately end the eight
month old walkout even if ratified by union members.
The AFL-CIO United Steelworkers, leader, of the 26 union coali-
tion, reportedly rejected the Phelps Dodge contract proposal, which is
valued by the company at $1.13 per hour in increased wages and
fringe benefits.
An industry source said the other 25 unions had agreed to
recommend the proposal to their members.
Kennecott said its proposal, worth 54 cents in wages plus un-
specified increases in fringe benefits, is still subject to approval by
the 26 union coalition. The offer
must also be approved by the in-
dividual international unions af- Ethics Panel
fected and the local unions.
Both the Kennecott and Phelps Asks Filing
Dodge contract proposals cover
basically their western mining
and smelting operations, leaving OfFinances
settlements still to be worked out
inC*otu!"''Ise; i inanRees
covering other plants including
cpper fabricating and lead and WASHINGTON () - Detailed
zinc production. but confidential financial reports,
"The tentative agreement does including federal income tax re-
not mean an immediate return to turns, would have to be filed by
work at any of the Kennecott senators annually under standards
properties," the company said of conduct proposed yesterday by
"Yet to be resolved are union de- the Senate ethics committee.
mands at the local level at Ken- Public disclosure would be lim-
necott plants in Utah, Nevada, ited to contributions received and
Arizona, New Mexico, and at the to payments in excess of $300 for
Kennecott Refining Corp. near speeches, written articles, tele-
Baltimore, Md." vision appearances and similar
The unions have been insisting activities.
that all contracts be signed be- New Senate rules proposed by
fore work is resumed. the bipartisan panel also would
The Kennecott proposal covers establish standards for the ac-
some 10,000 of its employes. The ceptance of contributions and
Phelps Dodge proposal covers limit their use to campaign ex-
about 5,000 of its workers, of penses.
which about half are members of The four-point code of ethics,
the still balking Steelworkers drafted by the committee, is to
Union. be brought up for action in the
Considerable progress toward a Senate on Monday.
settlement was reported also by "We have not exhausted the
American Smelting and Refining field on senatorial ethics, but we
Co. There was no immediate word have made an important begin-
on the progress of talks with the nig," Sen. John Stennis (D-Miss)
fourth firm, Anaconda Co. the committee chairman, said.
The ethics commitee was cre-
The Kennecott and Phelps ated in 1964 during an investiga-
Dodge tentative agreements were tion into the financial affairs of
the first major breakthrough in Bobby Baker, former secretary to
12 days of talks since President the Senate's Democratic major-
Johnson ordered the negotiations ity. Baker was convicted of income
and warned that the strike was tax evasion and is appealing his
hurting the nation's economy and one to three year sentence.
weakening the U.S. dollar in for- Last June Sen. Thomas J.
eign trade. Dodd (D-Conn.) was censured by
An industry source said repre- the Senate for making personal
sentatives of all the striking un- use of political funds.
ions will meet in Tucson, Ariz., The financial disclosure pro-
tomorrow to be briefed on the de- posals of the Senate panel would
tails of the proposed Phelps Dodge require senators and senate em-
settlement. ployes paid more than $15,000 a
year to file two reports by May
"Those representatives then 15 each year.
will take the settlement back to A somewhat broader code of
the local unions with a recom- ethics, calling for a greater degree
mendation that it be accepted," of financial disclosure, was sub-
the industry source said, indi- mitted to the House Thursday by
cating it already had approval of its Committee on Standards of
all but the Steelworkers Union. Official Conduct.

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