THURSDAY, F'EBRRUARY'24, 1966 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE THREN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1966 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE ThREI~ .. Defense Spending Threatens Economic Security By The Associated Press The impact of the Viet Nam war on the American economy is growing. It hasn't reached the propor- tions of, the Korean War, when wage and price controls were im- posed, but it is very real. And it brings with it the ominous threat of inflation. It seemed likely that Johnson's, Great Society program might be a' major victim of the war. Increases in appropriations for the domestic' war on poverty and other pro- grams already have been pared. Further cuts could come if war expenditures continue to rise. Labor and material shortages are occurring and some transpor- tation is being taxed. Government officials and busi- ness executives face problems that will have to be solved as the Viet Nam conflict escalates. Liaison be- tween government and business has become an every day affair as the administration seeks co- operation on prices, balance of payments and availability of stra- tegic supplies. Big orders for airplanes and helicopters are keeping the air- craft plants busy. Apparel manu- facturers are having a hard time meeting government needs for uni- forms. Airlines are struggling to haul vast quantities of materials and men to the war zone. The military demands are com- ing on top of a booming civilian economy that has pushed factories to capacity or near capacity pro- duction. Apprehension about in- flation is rising. All forecasts of stock market and economic activity are hedged by the uncertainty of the Viet Nam situation. The sensitive stock market has been jolted by talk of war and talk of peace. Recently a report of a peace feeler by North Viet Nam sent it into a brief tailspin. Secretary of the Treasury Henry H. Fowler said the Viet Nam es- calation is pulling gold and dol- lars out of the United States at a $700-million-a-year clip. This outlay goes for troops costs, con- struction and purchase of supplies that cannot be obtained in the United States. Fowler said the administration is holding to its goal of trying to balance the U.S. international payments position this year but he warned that a fresh jump in Viet Nam costs could put the target out of reach. Fowler has quoted President Johnson as saying that the prime reason for maintaining the sales of Savings Bonds, on which in- terest has been raised, is to help meet the cost of the Viet Nam war. The secretary also said that the Savings Bond program could prove one of the nation's most valuable weapons in averting in- flation. In an increasing number of in- dustries, demand-supply conditions have reached the point where manufacturers have had to allo- cate their products among their customers to assure a fair distri- bution. When the Defense Department has found it necessary to boost- a military inventory for a product or to place a large order for equip- ment, civilian customers have be- come uneasy and have raced to place orders to protect future re- quirements. Other fields in which customers have been trying to buy heavily for future needs include copper, lead,' zinc, molydenum, motor trucks, machine tools, electric motors and other components. Unannounced price increases arej taking place because the demand for nearby deliveries has suddenly expanded to levels in excess of supply. The government put pressure on the aluminum and copper indus- tries to rescind price increases, which it contended were unjus- tified and unpatriotic. Sen. A. Willis Robertson (D- Va) chairman of the Senate-House Committee on Defense Production, said there is increasing use of priority assistance for critical ma- terials, upward pressure on prices and increasing demands like those longer stockpiles clothing, bedding, which led to price controls and allocations during World War II and the Korean War. He said the committee's annual report "indicates that the econ- omy is beginning to show the im- pact of the Viet Nam buildup and that in areas of heavy defense production the already short supply of manpower may get serious." He added that "some shortages of capacity have developed and other industries are operating at or near capacity." The National Retail Merchants Association said the military no ,I etc., but is on a buy as you use basis. Stepped-up purchases by the government for the military threaten to lead to shortages of civilian apparel and to delayed deliveries to retail outlets. The government has indicated that in the fiscal quarter ending next March 31 it plans to purchase 22 million garments, ranging from dress cotton shirts to raincoats. The defense supply agency has increased its buying of off the shelf items by 40 per cent during the current fiscal year. It esti- mates that its purchases will total about. $4.3 billion in the year ending next June 30. British, Viet Heads Hold First Parley Top Soviet Officials Refuse Wilson Offer For Geneva Talks MOSCOW (1) - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's govern- ment made direct contact yester- day with Communist North Viet Nam after Soviet leaders refused to join Britain in promoting a parley. On Wilson's orders, Lord Chal- font called on Lee Chang, acting head of Hanoi's diplomatic mission here, for a talk on possible moves 4 to end the Viet Nam war. Chal- font is Britian's disarmament minister. He accompanied Wilson on his trip to Moscow. British sources reported Chal- font and Lee spent much of the afternoon together. It was the first time a British minister had + engaged in direct exchanges with an accredited representative of President Ho Chi Minh's govern- ment since large-scale fighting flared in Viet Nam a year ago. Few details emerged beyond the jfact that both Lee and Chalfont described at length the conflicting East-West approaches to peace- making. I Wilson was portrayed as de- tecting a glimmer of hope in the situation. He was encouraged that Lee had been authorized by Hanoi to meet Chalfont at all. He has hope the meeting, which had the foreknowledge of Soviet Premier Alexei N. Koskgin, may be the start of a dialogue that could lead to better things. Doubt- less Wilson feels the British pub- lic, and left wingers within his own Labor party, will appreciate his quest for peace. To some extent, Lee's reception of Chalfont was a welcome devel- opment for Wilson, for he had got just about nowhere in his attempts to persuade Kosygin and his top colleagues to join with Britain in reconvening parties to the Geneva conference of 1954 to act as a forum for peace. Kosygin, President Nikolai V. Podgorny and Communist party chief Leonid I. Brezhev met Wil- son's repeated pleas for coopera- tion with the argument that the Soviet Union has neither a direct standing in the crisis nor the right 1k to intervene. When Wilson sought to assure them of President Johnson's sin- cere wish for peace in Viet Nam, the Soviet leaders suggested the Americans should prove this by halting air raids against the North. At one point, Kosygin was reported to have asked Wilson how the British people would react if their country were to be divided and invaded as Viet Nam has been. On the second day of the three- day British-Soviet exchanges these developments emerged: -Wilson asked the Soviet Union House Votes TRADE ENDANGEI $5 Million Union Clas Tax Boost Over Elect Administration Cites MIAMI BEACH, Fla. ( )-AFL- t War Costs, Inflation CIO maritime union officials said m For Withholding Hike sterday that a boycott of all e foreign flag vessels dealing with M WASHINGTON (M-The House INorth Viet Nam could start at e passed 246 to 146 yesterday a $5 any moment. r b ass x 24btoo4yesteilldoughby !$ Union President George Meany V billion tax boost bill sought by curtly refused comment on state- I President Johnson to fight ifla- ments of Secretary of Labor W.Il ton ations he finace military Willard Wirtz that AFL-CIO "an- t tagonism" could hurt labor's own t The House passed the bill after goals in Congress, and that Presi- t hearing warnings from Democrat- dent Johnson won't bargain poli- a ic spokesmen that it may not be tically with union leaders. g the last tax increase if the fight- AFL-CIO political strategists ing in Viet Nam expands, and de- said they would step up their ft mands from Republicans that do- political action in this year's con- d mestic spending be cut back. gressional and state elections "in- s] If the Senate passes the meas- dependent of any party." n ure, most wage and salary earn- Affirms Relations ers will feel its effects in May I ffishRtion s o whe th wihhodin fiure in In Washington, White House 0 when the wiythholdingefigureshiy press spokesman Bill D. Moyers _ their paychecks change-but they si:" hn h rsdn n will not be paying any higher in- d I think the President and coeta iineddMr. Meany get along very well The billisitne to matcha tgether," and, "I'm sure~ the1 more closely the amount withheld President will meet again with with the final tax bill to be paid. Meany at the first opportunity." For some, withholding will in- Tuesday's squabble was over how crease. The Treasury Department much of a minimum wage increase says that for many in lower brack- Johnson will propose to Congress. ets it will go down. On balance , Maritime union leaders con- more money would come in ear- ferred with Wirtz privately after lier. Payments of corporate taxes serving notice that their threaten- also would be speeded. ed boycott which could affect Thundreds of foreign ships entering The measure calls for higher US ot ih ei tay taxes on automobiles and tele- U ports might begin at any phone service for the next two moment. years. This section survived an "We wouldn't want to tele- attack in which opponents must- graph our punches," said President TnsJnh Ciirrn of the Nn tin l shes with Johnson ion, Boycott Plans ions were that the Johnson ad- ninistration felt Tuesday's sharp xchange between Wirtz and leany had cleared the air and ased the threat of any imminent ,pture between labor and the White House. But an AFL-CIO spokesman said abor would tal a much closer ook at all candidates this year in rying to preserve and increase he number of both Democratic nd Republican liberals in Con- ress. "We're going to be more care- ul this time to make sure we on't make any mistakes," the pokesman said. He declined to ame any candidates. AFL-CIO leaders are most angry ver failure of their attempts in Dongress to nullify state laws that ban union shop contracts requir- ing all employes to join a union. It had top AFL-CIO priority, plus a pledge of support in the 1964 Democratic campaign plat- form, but was blocked by a Re- publican filibuster. Union officials also deeply re- sent the administration's efforts to limit wage increases as part of a drive to head off inflation. There also are reports of wide- spread rank-and-file political dis- content. A source close to Meany added that the political implications of a wider breach with the Democrats had not been fully brought out and that Meany's sharp criticism of Johnson on Tuesday was an effort to get out in front of the budding labor revolt and control it. -Associated Press LEFT WING ARMY OFFICERS overthrew Gen. Amin Hafez, Prime Minister Salah Bitar and De- fense Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammed Omran (shown left to right) in a Syrian coup staged yesterday. Syrian Revolution Challenged By Reactionary Army Leaders GUILD HOUSE 802 MONROE FRIDAY, February 25, Noon Luncheon, 24c THOMAS F. MAYER, Dept. of Sociology: "Protest-Revolution; Genesis and Differences" Friday Evening, 6 P.M. COST DINNER at Guild Call reservation, 662-5189 -"There is always a little spice and eleganze at Guild dinners" BEIRUT, Lebanon ( P) - Army' units in northern Syria threat- ened yesterday to smash an upris- ing by leftist military officers in Damascus that toppled strong man Gen. Amin Hafez's government. Broadcasting from Hafez's home town of Aleppo, the Northern Mil- itary Command demanded the rebels hand back power to the gov- ernment and warned: "We will face force with power." This threatened civil war in neighboring Syria but no fighting was reported in broadcasts heard in Beirut. The broadcasts gave no definite indication of how much strength the rebels in Damascus or the ar- my forces in the north actually commanded. Both sides claimed the support of various military units throughout the country. world New By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - President Johnson proposed yesterday a vast program to wage war on water and air pollution and to expand the national parks system so that future generations can enjoy "a sane environment" of beauty. Johnson urged Congress to ap-f prove steps toward a federal par- tnership with states and commu- nities to clear entire river basins. He proposed greater federal help in stifling the blight of smoke and chemicals ,especially near ci- ties. LONDON-The oil lift for Zam- bia, started after Rhodesia de- clared its independence in No- vember, has cost Britain more than $3.6 million in transport alone, Parliament was told yes- terday. This was the cost as of Feb. 9 of British civil and Royal Rebel forces launched the coup a "crime which will lead Syria -Syria's 15th in 17 years-at 3 to catastrophe, destruction and a.m. while Damascus slept. They terrible butchery" Aleppo radic sealed the country's borders near claimed the northern forces had Damascus and arrested Hafez the support of the garrisons in chief of state who is chairman of Aleppo and the key central city the Presidency Council, Premier of Hama, and the Latakia coastal Salah Bitar, the defense minister region. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Omran, and The revolutionaries in Damascus the speaker of Parliament. broadcast messages of support Communiques broadcast over from key units in central Syria Damascus radio, interspersed with and from fighting forces along the blaring military music and pledges Israeli frontier. They also claimed of support from military units, de- support from Hama and the coast- clared the new regime would speed al region. up Syria's march toward socialism Air Force Aid and state control. The appointment of the air force Coup Unexplained commander general, Hafez Assad. It was not clear whether the as chief of defense indicated the rebels overthrew the government air force also backed the coup. Ra- by force, or whether the coup was dio Israel, however, claimed it had staged peacefully. monitored messages from com- Warning that the rebellion was manders on the Israeli frontier indicating they opposed the coup. Damascus radio said the revo- lution was a shift of power inside te Arab Baath Socialist party SR oundup that has ruled Syria since it came to power in its own coup March 8, 1963. ned Apollo moon ship. It schedul- The rebel communiques, how- ed the launching of an "instant ever, and the list of those arrest- picture" weather satellite for to- ed indicated the old leadership of day. the Baath party was wiped out The Apollo firing had been and control was being taken by a scheduled for yesterday, but was clique of extremist young officers wiped out by heavy rain and winds and politicians known as "the that belted Cape Kennedy. Young Turks." They reject Syria's present Socialist policies as too WASHINGTON-The U.S. Com- moderate. mission on Civil Rights urged a The rebel command also arrest- federal crackdown yesterday on ed Michel Aflak, who founded the continued segregation and exclu- Baath party together with Bitar sion of Negroes in Southern hos- 20 years ago, party chief Mounif pitals and welfare programs re- Razza, and the vice chairman of ceiving federal money. the Presidency Council. "There continues to be wide- Claiming they staged the coup spread segregation or exclusion of to save the Baath party and Sy- Negroes in federally assisted pro- ria's Socialist revolution, the reb- grams at the state and local lev- els denounced Hafez and the oth- el," the commission reported aft- ers as "rightists" who had betray- er investigating health and wel- ed the party aims, They said the fare programs in 40 communities leaders would be brought to trial in 12 Southern and border states. and "crushed." ered enough strength to make ad- ministration supporters nervous. However, the House upheld it 207 to 187. Chairman Wilbur D. Mills (D- Ark) of the Ways and Means Com- mittee, said he thinks it would have been premature to bring in a general tax increase bill now. "We don't know whether this is the only request this Congress will be considering in the field of tax- es," he said. "It depends on what we do about domestic spending; what we do in Viet Nam." dusepn turanuiie Nauunai Maritime Union. Earlier, President Paul Hall of the AFL-CIO Mari- time Trades Department had said the boycott would not come for another three weeks. No Notice But Wednesday, Hall agreed with Curran, who said, "We might not give any notice." Wirtz declined to comment on the boycott threat, which raised serious diplomatic problems for the Johnson administration. On the political front, indica- Paintings Prints Drawings Sculpture by MARK R. SEDGEMAN generation mnagazine presents a POE'TRY' READING with Martha MacNeal Zweig FRIDAY, FEB. 25, 8:00 P.M. at the Wesley Foundation State and East Huron across from Frieze Building Admission Without Charge rr AIRKi } " Opening February 24th, Meet the Artist: Thursday 6-8 PM. " i to cooperate in making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone where, even conventional arms should be controlled. This, if accepted, would, bar the region to Britain's Cyprus-* based H bombers, U.S. Strategic Air Command planes in Libya and any Polaris submarines the Allies may choose to deploy in the Medi- terranean. -Wilson affirmed British in- terest in a disengagement of East- West ground forces on both sides of the Iron Curtain and an area of arms control in middle Europe. But the precondition would have to be that the existing balance of power would have to remain un- changed. He also talked of ridding part of Europe of nuclear weapons and delivery systems provided ar- rangements could be made to pre- vent the targeting of nuclear rackets on any such zone. Wilson urged Kosygin to re- lease a British lecturer, Gerald Brooke, who has been sentenced to five years' detention for subver- sion. I I' Air Force planes involved. CAPE KENNEDY - With the weather outlookstill bleak, the space agency decided yesterday to wait until tomorrow to at- tempt to launch the first unman- Read Daily Classifiedsj TODAY: 4:14 P.M. Arena Theatre Frieze Building Two one-act ploys by Hans Sachs Dame Truth and Graduate Student Council G;RAD MIXER I The Wandering Scholar From DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH STUDENT LABORATORY THEATRE ADMISSION FREE Paradise Friday, Feb. 25, 9-1-2 INTERNATIONAL TEAI Broaden Your Perspectives 11 VFW HALL 314 E. Liberty I ___ I ' I 11 t