TUESDAY, FEBRUARY '28, 1967
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE THREE
Liberia's Crash Program Resultsinlllassive
Debt
9
MONROVIA, Liberia (A)-Libe-
ria's crash program to keep up
with the prestige of its recently
independent West African neigh-
Until a decade ago, Liberia's in-
bors has shackled the 120-year-
old republic to a massive debt.
dependence was its principal dis-
tinction over' the French and Brit-
ish colonies around it. Liberia,
settled in 1822 by freed slaves from
the United States, proclaimed it-
self a republic in 1847.
Its distinction faded when other
countries became independent,;
starrting, with 1957 with Ghana
and 1958 with Guinea. Some Li-
berians even said that compared
with the ex-colonies, Liberia had
little to show for more than a cen-
tury of freedom.
One ambassador, Charles T. O.
King, now in Nigeria, said "Ghana
had better roads, better schools,
better harbor facilities, a more
highly developed industry, agricul-
ture and public revenue."
According to informed econo-
mists, the Liberians felt goaded
into a prestige building program
financed by anticipated receipts
from rubber and iron ore.
, In the early '60s, up went:
-a $6-million presidential pa-
lace with offices for the executive
staff and an underground swim-
ming pool;
-a $1 million building for the
Department of Information;
-an eight-story, $4-million
Temple of Justice housing courts
from supreme to traffic;
-and 11-story Treasury build-
ing.
There was plenty of work, plenty
of money in Monrovia," says one
resident. "Now its quiet."
By 1963, Liberia was obligated
to pay $33 million in interest and
principal on its debts.
Once the prestige projects were
up, the Liberian government built
a ,much-needed hospital, a $4.5-
million, 350-bed John F. Kennedy
Memorial structure.
"The Liberians will need $2-
million a year to maintain it,"
says a U.S. Embassy official.
"They can't afford it."
Liberia's total debt eventually
was figured at $125 million. The
International Monetary F u n d
loaned the government $12 million
to get it over the rough spots.
Debts were renegotiated so Liberia
has longer to pay them off.
Debt payment and service take
up about 22 per cent of $50 mil-
lion annual budget. By 1968, the
percentage will be about 30 per
cent.
"Liberia may not be able to
meet these commitments," said a'
Western diplomat.j
One economist estimates the
longer period of payment will raise
interest charges on the $125 mil-
lion to about $60 million. Under
IMF supervision, Liberia is enter-
ing into long-term debts which the
economist believes will raise the
total outlay to $240 million by 1978
when the debt is scheduled to be
paid off.
Liberia's one million population
will be one of the world's most
heavily in debt.
The government was caught by
the debt because it figured on highj
revenues based on good world
prices for rubber and iron ore
in 1951-58. By 1961, prices had
fallen so that Liberia for the first
time in years imported more than
it exported.
Governments are among Liberia's
largest creditors. A major creditor
is the American Import-Export
Bank. But Liberia also borrowed
from private contractors who used
the money for their own projects.
Some contractors supplied the
credit, the materials, the design
and the workmanship, a procedure
likely to inflate cost. The govern-
ment owes $20 million to an Ital-
ian building firm.
Despite close watching of new
projects, new opportunities for
debt spring up. One group has
been pressing for international
loans to build an oil refinery. A
Western official said it costs 13
cents a gallon to import gasoline
into the country but it would cost
2 cents a gallon to refine it in
Liberia.
U Thant May
Meet Secret
Viet Mission
North Viet Diplomats
In Burma, UN Chief
Vacationing' There
RANGOON, Burma 0P)-A high-
level North Vietnamese diplomatic
mission is in Rangoon at a time
when U.N. Secretary-General U
'hant is vacationing in his home-
land. But the purpose of the North
Vietnamese mission is shrouded In
secrecy.
Thant told reporters he had
been informed of the mission's ar-
rival over the weekend but declin-
ed to comment when asked if it
had come here to meet with him.
R Thant leaves tomorrow to spend
three days at a beach resort on
the southwest coast.'
At the same time, Ambassador
Arthur J. Goldberg, U.S. chief del-
egate to the United Nations, is on
a fact-finding tour for President
Johnson in Asia. He went to South
Korea today.
Goldberg's schedule does not
call for a stop in Burma at this
time.
In Washington, U.S. officials
expressed surprise at the, North
Vietnamese arrival but seemed in-
terested in speculation that the
delegation might meet with Thant.
The U.S. officials said they had
been informed in advance that
Thant's trip home was a (personal
one not connected with any peace
effort.
In Tokyo, Goldberg told Prime
Minister Eisaku Sato that the
United States will continue to
stand by South Vietnam while
pursuing peace.
"What is necessary is for the
other side to have the will and the
wish and the, desire to make
peace," he said.
"The ebb and flow of the mili-
tary situation, I said to the Prime
Minister, in no way impaired our
desire for 'unconditional negotia-
tions."
Goldberg is expected to discuss
the Vietnamese war with President
Chung Hee Party during his visit
to Seoul. South Korean leaders
have said they favor an "honor-
able peace settlement" in Vietnam
but advocated stepped-up military
activities until peace talks actually
start.
Hoffa Loses
Last Appealsj
For Freedom
PRESS CONFERENCE:
LBJ Terms War Escalation
Best Long-Range Peace Plan
Teamster President WASHINGTON (AP) - President militarized zone, Johnson told a
Refused New Hearing Johnson said yesterday the United news conference he believes he is
States has gone in for more far- pursuing the course best calculated
By Supreme Court reaching blows at North Vietnam to lead to peace.
Abut he doesn't interpret this as At a question-and-answer ses-
WASHINGTON ('P)-Teamstersmoving away from hopes of peace. sion in his office devoted mainly
Union President James R. Hoffa In the aftermath of naval shall- to the conflict in Vietnam, he was
yesterday in his fight to stay out ing of ground targets in North asked whether the more far-
of prison as the Supreme Court Vietnam, the mining of rivers and reaching steps over the weekend
turned down a succession of his the use of long-range artillery were taken because bombing has
appeals. against targets north of the de- failed to halt infiltration from
The tribunal refused to give him
a second hearing on his 1964. fed- "
eral jury-tampering conviction, s ]' tM a
an it refused to hear hcimn;( ,if . G O
of widespread government eaves-
dropping at the Chattanooga trial.: ;
Then, at day's end, the courti
cleared the way for the early jail-
judgment to the clerk of the U.S. TOKYO (I) - Peking Radio wireless communication stations,
Dist. Court in Tennessee. hinted today that opponents of and prisons."'
Judges Agree Mao Tse-tung were still resisting "Under any circumstances, the
And Justice Potter Stewart, in Shanghai despite repeated revolutionary organization mem-
-Associated Press
THE BLACK BAG
A MYSTERIOUS STUDENT at Oregon State University made his usual appearance in class yester-
day encased in a black bag. The student, unknown to all except the professr. has iee2ftendinz
sessions of a course in Basic Persuasion since the beginning of the1
AFTER APOLLO FIRE:
NASAPans Improve
In Spaerft Safety.I
term. (See story Page 2.) after conferring "with each mem-
ber of the court who has partici-
pated in these cases" except Chief
Justice Earl Warren, turned down
twin efforts by Hoffa's attorneys
to block temporarily his imprison-
ment.
m en ts The court's refusal to grant Hof-
fa a new hearing and its refusal
to hear his eavesdropping claim
were announced, without com-
vicesment and in a routine way, at
nte end of the morning session.
Shortly afterward. Hoffa's at-
sible by April, after a review board torneys, their backs against the
completes its study of the Jan. 27 wall, asked Stewart to hold up the
Apollo fire at Cape Kennedy, Fla. judgment.
WASHINGTON (P) - Space
agency officials reported yester-
day they have launched an over-
haul of the Apollo capsule and said
scientists are designing an in-
stant-escape hatch to replace the
one that sealed the cabin of three
fire-doomed astronauts.
But two top officials of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration said they could not
now estimate the cost of the over-
haul in time or in money. And
they acknowledged the fire hazard
had been underestimated prior to
the tragedy.
Associate Administrator George
E. Mueller said that might be pos-
Apollo Blaze
'Bugging'
Thav 0kd fin the rlpin nnnd-
claims that pro-Mao forces had
seized control of the city, Red
China's largest.
In other developments in Chi-
na's violent power struggle, the
Czechoslovakian news agency CTK
quoted a Peking wall poster as
saying that disorders had spread
through the south China province
of Szechwan.
Another poster quoted by the
Bulgarian news agency told of a
16-hour fight between Red Guards
and members of the commune of
the New People's University in
Peking Feb. 24.
In Hong Kong, travelers from
the south China city of Canton
said penniless and hungry Red
Guards had turned to robbery.
Peking Radio, in a Chinese-lan-
guage broadcast monitored in To-
kyo, said the Shanghai Revolu-
tionary Committee, controlled by
Maoists, had banned "movements
of armed militia by any mass or-
ganizations or individuals," ap-
parently meaning anti-Mao forces.
"The violators of this order will
be punished as antirevolutionary
elements," it said.
The committee, in a resolution
adopted at a Feb. 23 meeting, also
prohibited "attacks on airfields,
bers must not be beaten, detained
or forcibly taken away," it said.
"We must resolutely crush the
antirevolutionary forces ,who op-
pose Chairman Mao Tse-tung and
Defense Minister Lin Piao."
Cheng Tu
The Czechoslovak news agency
(CTK) said posters told of a
counterattack by an anti-Mao
group against "genuine revolu-
tionary rebel forces" in Cheng Tu,
capital of Szechwan Province.
CTK said the posters had been
attached by Cheng Tu worker's who
arrived in the Chinese capital to
ask for help.
The posters said that on Feb. 17
rebel forces were attacked by the
anti-Mao group, a large number
of their members were arrested,
physically mistreated and women
were raped, CTK reported.
The Bulgarian news agency
(BTA) quoted posters as de-
scribing "bloody beatings" Red
Guards had suffered when they
tried to seize the New People's
University printing press Feb. 24.
The news agency .reported an-
other bloody clash had occurred
Feb. 19 in front of the Peking
broadcasting station after 3,000
persons had besieged the building.
North Vietnam.
He said he thinks it impossible
to state with any great precision
how many individuals were in
South Vietnam because we did
bomb or didn't bomb during some
period.
Infiltration
He added that "no one ever ex-
pected bombing wpuld stop infil-
tration-except those who want
the United States to stop it.
"We do think" the President
went on, "that there are hundreds
of thousands of people who are
busy trying to put the bridges'
back and the railroad ties back.
I would estimate that we have lost
less than 500 men in our bombing
experiences. Probably we have lost
a billion dollars in planes."
"We, thought that we could
make them pay a rather heavy
price in manpower. They may have
100,000 busy on air defense. They
may have 100,000k or so busy on
coastal defense. I don't want to
be held to these figures. Some
have estimated as many as 300,000
additional on roads, rails and
these other things," he said.
Bombing Stopped
From their own voices and their
sympathizers and friends, John-
son said, there are good indica-
tions the North Vietnamese would
like to see the bombing stopped.
He said he thinks the proof of the
pudding is in their own statements
on a bombing halt.
The new tactics in the wr, es-
pecially the mining of North Viet-
namese rivers, drew praise from
Rep. Mendel Rivers (D-SC), chair-
man of the House Armed Services
Committee.
He said in a statement:
"It's about time this action was
taken. However, I again urge this
administration to mine the harbor
at Haiphong so that this war can
be brought to a successful conclu-
sion."
Escalation
On the Senate side, the Demo-
cratic majority leader, Sen. Mike
Mansfield of Montana, told re-
porters "this is escalation"-some-
thing Mansfield has boen opposing.
Gornmen Rease Funds
For Highway, Construct ion
The blaze erupted in the cabin . ie a iw cue auay pen a-
ofhan Alloerd manto-m cap-n ing the filing of a request for a
of an Apollo man-to-moon cap- new trial in U.S. District Court in
sule undergoing ground testing, Chattanooga based on the "bug-
swept through an atmoshphere of ging" allegations.
pressurized oxygen and killed Air They also said carrying out of
Force Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, the sentence should be held up
Air Force Lt. Col. Edward H. until the U.S. Circuit Court in
White II and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Cincinnati rules on other new trial
Roger B. Chaffee. motions.
Mueller and NASA Administra- Stewart, who has supervisory
tor James C. Webb reported to the jurisdiction over this region of the
Senate Space Committee, and ac- federal court system, said each of
knowledged that the menace of the justices with whom he con-
fire had been underestimated. ferred agreed with and approved
Webb said the risk was "con- of his action turning the pleas
siderably greater than was rec- down.
ognze."Stewart said' he also had con- '
WASHINGTON OP)-The John-
son administration announced
yesterday it is releasing $175 mil-
lion in frozenhighway funds and
said more will be forthcoming if
the economic slowdown con-
tinues.
Johnson announced last Novem-
ber that as an anti-inflationary
measure he was ordering that
federal grants to the states be held
World News Roundup
By The Associated Press
BONN-Chancellor Kurt Georg
Kiesinger was quoted as saying
yesterday the United States is giv-
ing his government insufficient in-
formation about the treaty being
negotiated with the Soviet Union
to stop the spread of nuclear
weapons to nations which do not
have them.
"I look upon our rleations with
the United States with great
worry," Kiesinger is reported to
have told an association of pub-
lishers and newsmen who are
membersv of his Christian Demo-
cratic party.
SNEW YORK- Continental Oil
Co.j cut' yesterday a portion of its
recent gasoline price increase, un-
der government pressure.
It was the first crack in the oil
companies' ranks since they an-
nounced increases which it was
estimated would add one cent a
gallon to the service station price.
There was no immediate word
from other petroleum firms.
* * *
NEW YORK-The stock market
suffered its steepest loss of 1967
in heavy trading yesterday.
Brokers sad investors were dis-
couraged by news of slumps in
crdcrs for new machine tools, rail-
road equipment, steel and automo-
bes.
Selling also was triggered, they
sa.d, by a Hanoi claim of sinking
a U.S. warship, which was denied
by the Pentagon.
JACKSON -- A federal grand
jury that has been hearing evi-
dence in the 1964 slaying of three
civil rights workers near Phila-
delphia, Miss., returned an unspe-
cified number of indictments yes-
terday.
to $3.3 billion in the fiscal year
that ends June 30.
Congress authorized $4.4 billion
for the year, but Johnson said the
cut amounted to only $700 million
because he never intended to go
beyond $4 billion this year.
State executives and Congress
members protested the cutback
would slow down work on the
41,000-mile interstate expressway
system, for which the federal gov-
ernment is meeting 90 per cent of
the bills, and also the primary,
secondary and urban highways for
which the federal share is 50 per
cent.
Secretary of Transportation Alan
S. Boyd, who told the congres-
sional hearing of the decision to
release $175 million of the frozen
funds, insisted, "There has been no
impact on the 1972 completion
date for the interstate system."
He conceded, however, that
there will be an impact in the next
quarter, reflecting a falloff in
planning, contract awards and
material orders.
Boyd made clear under ques-
tioning that the $175 million is to
be used only for preliminary en-
gineering and rights-of-way ac-
quisitions.
4
Test Not Hazardous
And Mueller said the ground
test in which the three astronauts
died was not considered hazardous.
"Because this was not considered
a hazardous test," he said, "emer-
gency procedures for this partic-
ular test do not exist."
Their testimony also produced
these reports:
Mueller said it might have been
physically impossible for the as-
tronauts to have opened their
cabin escape hatch because of
intense pressure built by the fire
inside.
Not Time
"There was not time to have
actuated the mechanism in any
event," he said.
He said it would have taken
about 90 seconds to open the
double hatch.
Mueller said space scientists now
are designing a single hatch, which
swings outward. He said it will
be possible to open the new hatch
in about two seconds.
sidered a memorandum from U.S.
Solicitor General Thurgood Mar-
shall, who said Hoffa's request for
"relief" from the sentencing
should be presented first in lower
federal courts.
KEEP FREEDOM
RINGING
Returning On National Tour!
"AN EVENING TO. CHERISH.I
Mounting joy beyond anything you might expect. Radiant!"
W. TELEGRAM
"THE TOUCH OF, GREATNES SI
A warm portrayal of Robert Frost,an evening when the poet spins out his own
story,the sweet and the following bitter,the tragedy and triumph, in words
creating laughter; but event more often tears."
N.Y. TIMES
"MAGNIFICENTI MEMORABLE MAGIC.,"
CUE
"FROST'S TRUE VOICE SPEAKS IN ALL ITS LYRIC CLARITY."
HERALD TRIBUNE
BUY U.S.
SAVINGS BONDS
Weant to enjoy Shaw having fun
I
.
,11
B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL FOUNDATION
at the
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
presents
RABBI SHERWIN T. WINE
the "Ignostic" Rabbi of the
The University of Michigan
PROFESSIONAL THEATRE PROGRAM
Production of
C~r Evenings Frost
featuring
Anne Gee Byrd -T homas Coley -
Jack Davidson
By DONALD HALL
Directed by MARCELLACISNEY
C. __ \ 33 3rVI~
THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE
rniU -- ~ -~.W. ~EIIII ND MN
1