WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22,1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAMP qW.W=l U A £V.ltt 5 Ho Repudiated Johnson s MILK STRIKE: Romney Warns State Will Act To Check Violence, If Needed r Peace Offer, Hanoi a Rejected Plea After Bomb Resumption Johnson Optimistic That Present Policy Will Lead to Peace By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Presideni Johnson presented North Vietna- mese President Ho Chi Minh ... a package offer aimed at starting direct U.S. - North Vietnamese peace talks, in a personal letter Feb. 8. Ho rejected Johnson's proposal Feb. 15, the day after the United States resumed the bombing of North Vietnam following the lunar new year cease-fire truce. President Johnson declared, on his return from the Guam confer- ence last night; that he will con- tinue to seek an honorable peace in Vietnam despite Ho Chi Minh's "regrettable" rejection of his offer for direct talks. Until his efforts are successful, Johnson said, "We shall of course 4 do our duty in Vietnam." The President, flanked by Se- cretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, read a brief statement when he stepped down from Air Force 1 at Andrews Air Force Base. The Johnson-Ho direct letter exchange-their first since U.S. forces entered the war-was made public yesterday first by radio Hanoi and then by the State De- partment, which added some de- tails. Conference End The disclosures came as John- son and his top diplomatic and defense aides flew back from their Vietnamese strategy conference at Guam, and corresponded to John- son's remarks as he left the Pa- cific island. The homeward-bound U.S. Pre- sident said he saw no evidence that North Vietnam is ready to talk peace yet. He is apparently convinced that his present course, however, will eventually lead Ha-= noi to the conference table. The truce, during which the U.- S. bombing was suspended, began on Feb. 8 and Ho received John- son's letter two days later, on Feb. 10. U.S. officials said Johnson al- ready had a Hanoi rebuff of the U.S. offer for peace talks when he ordered the bombing resumed Feb. 14. Proposal Johnson's letter proposed that the United States would stop bombing North Vietnam and freeze its troop level in the south if Ho stopped infiltration of South Viet- nam. The State Department said that Johnson's letter was the fifth of a series of U.S. efforts started ear- ly in January to try to get direct talks with North Vietnam on end- ing the Vietnamese war. Ho rejected the first personal and direct peace initiative made by the U.S. President, in his Feb. 15 letter. State Department The State Department made Johnson's letter public after the North Vietnamese Foreign Minis- try announced the exchange and disclosed that Ho had stuck firm- ly to his position that the United States must unconditionally stop all bombing and other "acts of war" against North Vietnam be- fore Ho will agree to talks. The State Department con- demned Hanoi's disclosure of the Johnson letter, which climaxed four earlier secret U.S. peace bids begun in early January. "It just seems most regrettable," Press Officer Robert J. McCloskey said, "that the North Vietnamese chose to place the glare of publi- city on what was meant to be seri- ous diplomatic efforts to turn down the fighting in Vietnam and to find a constructive and a peace- ful solution." The North Vietnamese said they decided to release Ho's reply to Johnson, "with a view to exposing to world public opinion the stub- bornness and perfidy of the U.S. rulers." KEEP FREEDOM 4Defeat New } Viet Cong War Effort Biggest Offensive Coincides with End Of Guam Conference SAIGON (A)-The Viet Cong launched and lost yesterday their biggest offensive operation of the year, a four-hour effort to over- run an American artillery position in a jungle clearing in War Zone3 C near the Cambodian frontier. Spokesman said at least 423 enemy dead were left behind in the action, in which the Viet Cong high command apparently had hoped for a smashing success to coincide with the windup of Pres- ident Johnson's Guam conference. There was no estimate of how many dead and wounded they may have carried away. American losses in the fighting -which mingled point-blank gun- fire, grenade-hurling duels and hand-to-hand combat-were setl at 30 dead and 109 wounded. Ameran Losses By The Associated Press Milk from farms and stores alike was kiven away and tossed away yesterday-the sixth day of the National Farmers Organiza- tion's milk withholding action. Gov. George Romney warned that the state will take all steps necessary to prevent violence in connection with the six-day-old milk strike in Michigan. "We're enforcing the law, and the state police have indicated very clearly we're not going to countenance violence and will take all steps on' our part to prevent violence," Romney told a news conference. State Policy "We have but one policy in this state," Romney said, "and that is the very firm policy of enforcing the law regardless of the circum- stances.' Sporadic violence has been re- ported in several sections of the state in connection with the with- holding action by members of the National Farmers Organization, NFO, which hopes to force the price of milk up by two cents a quart. NFO members in 25 states, in- cluding Michigan, are participat- ing in the strike. Violence Dynamite bombings, shootings, milk dumpings and the threat ofI arsenic poisoning of milk supplies have occurred since the strike be- gan last Wednesday. But Gov. Warren P. Knowles said his office has noted a sharp reduction in the number of reports of violence and vandalism in Wis- consin. That's one of the key states in' the 25-state area of a holdback aimed at adding 2 cents a quart, to the prices received by farmers, now generally 8 to 10 cents. ! FBI A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in Washington findings in some cas- es had been turned over to a U.S. attorney so he can determin whether federal law has been vi- olated. The NFO president, Orei Lee Staley, who says the campaign now is in a crucial stage, said meetings with unnamed dairies are going on. Indian Minister Denies U.S. Defection Case Involvement, Romney's warning against vio- lence followed a similar statement by Atty. Gen Frank Kelley. Kelley Requests Kelley asked prosecuting attor- neys to keep him informed of de- velopments in the milk dispute. Kelley said: "While there is great latitude in the law for peaceful measures which may be undertaken in such a dispute, there is no room for acts of violence. "If the facts at any point sug- gest a multicounty conspiracy to violate the laws, a felony prose- cution may be undertaken." Freeman The six-day-old milk strike also brought sympathy for the dairy farmers' plight from Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman. Secretary Freeman told a news conference in Detroit that there probably will be more farmer un- rest leading to higher milk and food prices. "This unrest will reflect itself until we have at fair deal for all our farmers," he said. "Farm pric- es have fallen rather sharply and are lower than 20 years ago. Low Income Freeman said the average dairy farmer in Michigan is lucky if his income is half the hourly rate of an auto factory worker. In'most areas of the state, dairy supplies were reported near-nor- mal despite the withholding action. Reports of violence declined, al- though State Agriculture Depart- ment inspectors continued to check every shipment of milk com- ing to Detroit from the Imlay City area. An anonymous phone call Sun- day warned that some milk ship- ments might be laced with arsenic. Police said they believed the call was a hoax. Suit Filed The Michigan Milk Producers Association, MMPA, has filed a million-dollar damage suit against the NFO, charging that the mili- tant farmers' group was resorting to terror in an effort to dry up the state's milk supply. To dramatize their strike, sever- al NFO members dumped about 120,000 quarts of milk into a ditch near Caro. Eight trucks lined up at right angles to the 10-by-50 foot ditch, and their spigots were op- ened. Fuel oil was poured into several tank trucks In Delaware county, Ohio, ruining thousands of pounds of milk. Three farmers dumped 13,000 pounds of milk near Patoka, Ill. -Associated Press PRESIDENT JOHNSON, returning from a Guam war council with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, criticized "regrettable rebuffs" to peace feelers the conference extended to North Viet- namese premier, Ho Chi Minh, through a common party in Moscow - SAIGON REPLY: ToNotheSouth Vietnamese IY UNITED NATIONS (A) - U.N. Secretary-General U Thant was reported yesterday to have sent messages to North and South Viet- nam, proposing a cease-fire and peace; talks. Diplomatic sources said thej messages had gone to Hanoi and Saigon last week and led to Sai- gon's proposing to Hanoi the same week that the two "discuss peace." Saigon replied to Thant, the in- formants said, that it welcomed the idea of peace talks but con- sidered that any realistic scheme for a cease-fire must provide for some supervision. Chief of State Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam first dis- closed his government's proposal for discussions with North Viet- nam when he arrived back in Saigon yesterday from the Guam conference with President John- son. He said North Vietnam had not yet replied. The plan calls for an end to the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, a scaling down of military activ- ities on all sides in South Vietnam and discussions among all the par- ties concerned, including the Viet 'Cong. Thant long insisted that the end of the bombing must precede the de-escalation. The informants said his new idea was that, simultane- ously, the United States should stop hitting North Vietnam, both countries should stop sending troops Into South Vietnam, and discussions should start between the two, to be extended later to South Vietnam and the Viet Cong and then to others interested, in- cluding Britain, India, Poland and Red China. Thant's mesages to the Viet- namese presumably followed the line he is reported to have taken lately in private talks with U.N. ambassadors. Diplomatic sources said he had suggested to the ambassadors that the three points in his long-stand- ing peace plan be carried out all at the same time-instead of step by step, as he had proposed be- fore. Today Thant will have a chance to discuss Vietnam with Sen. J. W. Fulbright (D-Ark), a critic of U.S. policy in the war, and Am- bassador Arthur J. Goldberg, head of the U.S. delegation at the Unit- ed Nations. Encourage Student Protest, U. of Minnesota Dean Says About 500 GIs of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade re- pelled human wave assaults by 2,500 black-clad troops of the Viet Cong's 272nd Regiment. With the help of planes and a reinforcing armored column, the U.S. troops blasted the enemy survivors into retreat toward Cambodia. "This is a victory of magnitude," said the 3rd Brigade's commander, Col. Marshall B. Garth, Charlot-, tesville, Va. Reporters from the battle site said that two units in the defen- sive perimeter-a 45-man infantry platoon commanded by 2nd Lt. Johnny Andrews of Seattle, Wash., and a squad of 12 infantrymen posted in an ambush position- had beeii severly mauled in the attacks, which opened at dawn. Low Ammunition The Americans were running' low on ammunition when a col- umn of 113 armored vehicles, in- cluding 33 tanks, clanked to the rescue. Of 18 howitzers that the enemy attacked with rockets and mortar shells, 11 were knocked out. Re- pairs by the artillerymen, how- ever, put all but four of these back in working order after the battle. The Viet Cong drive rounded out a series of attacks, launched Monday, that looked like a Red attempt to cast a shadow over the Guam talks. NEW DELHI, India (A)-Foreign1 Minister M. C. Chagla yesterdayl exonerated the United States fromf any blame in the defection of Joseph Stalin's daughter, Svet-1 lana.1 "There was absolutely no con-t tact between her and any official of the U.S. Embasssy during her whole stay in India until the night she. decided to leave New Delhi," Chagla told Parliament. Then, according to the foreign minister, she acted like an or- dinary traveler.c From the Soviet Embassy res- idence where she was staying oni March 6 Miss Stalina, 42, tele- phoned for a taxi, drove a quartert of a mile to the U.S. Embassy, showed her Soviet passport, wasl given a visa for the United Statesx and then left by plane a few hoursx later, he said. "She got her ticket in the or-F dinary course and traveled in thel ordinary course by an ordinary1 commercial plane," he declared.t Chagla added that the U.S. Em-F bassy had purchased her ticket,t partly in Indian rupees, partly in dollars, and had provided a second secretary of the embassy-Robert Rayle-to be her escort on the plane. They got off in Rome reported- ly because the United States had decided not to grant her imme- diate asylum. She is now in Swit- zerland. "How could the government al- low a guest of India to be kid- naped by an American official?" demanded Babu Rao Patel, a member of the Hindu Jan Sangh party. Replied Chagla: "It is not cor- rect to say she was kidnaped by a U.S. Embassy official. If you kidnap a person, you don't take' her to the airport and stay there for one hour." He was referring to the fact the plane taking her to Rome was de- layed an hour by mechanical trouble. Chagla said Miss Stalina arrived from Moscow Dec. 20 to immerse in the sacred Ganges River the ashes of Brijesh Singh, an In- dian with whom she lived in the Soviet capital. During part of the time in In- dia she was the guest of Dinesh Singh, commerce minister who was a relative of Brijesh Singh. "Even to Dinesh Singh with whom she had stayed, her depar- ture to Rome was as much of a surprise as it was to the Soviet Embassy," Chagla said, insisting no Indian official knew about her plans. During a half-hour cross-ex- amination in both the upper and lower houses of Parliament, Chag- la was repeatedly asked about a report that Svetlana's escort, Rayle, was an officer of, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. "We put it squarely to the U.S. ambasador and he categorically denied the report," Chagla said. I DALLAS (P)-If the students are restless and threaten to picket, a hep college administrator won't try to stifle their protests--he'll do everything but help them paint the signs, a veteran educator says. Above all, says Dr. E. G. Wil- liamson, a college administrator, don't be overbearing. Williamson is dean of students and psychology professor at the University of Minnesota and today will be sworn in 4s president of the American Personnel and Guid- ance Association, meeting this week in Dallas. "This has been quite an exciting decade," said Williamson, who has been at the university 26 years. "Students are much more soph- isticated than they used to be and would rather have frank, open dis- cussions of basic issues, of the things that really matter." Thus he encourages dissatis- fied students to speak out even in groups. "We encourage them to organize demonstrations. Sometimes we even help them. It's a new serv- ice," he said in an interview. LECTURE, THURSDAY, March 23, 8:00 P.M. "THE KIBBUTZ SOCIETY AS AN UNTRADITIONAL APPROACH TO THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIETY" Speaker: NAFTALI GOLOMB Director of the Kibbutz Managers Seminar at the Rupin Institute, Israel r. I - . . . . Sponsored by the STUDENT ZIONIST ORGANIZATION 1429 Hill Street Hillel House W m CINEMA GUILD ry World News Roundup PETITIONING TONIGHT is the last night of interviewing. SIGN-UP TODAY at Cinema Guild Office, 2538 S.A.B. SYMPOSIUM and DISCUSSION SINO-SOVIET RIFT Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy WASHINGTON - The House sent to President Johnson yester- day a $12.2 billion appropriation bill providing emergency finan- cing for the war in Vietnam through June 30. The Senate passed the measure overwhelmingly Monday w i t h minor amendments to the bill originally passed by the House last week. NEW YORK-Three of the na- tion's largest niaritime unions threatened yesterday to landlock American ships in U.S. ports for an indefinite period starting next Tuesday in protest of alleged dis- placement of American seamen by foreign nationals. NEW YORK-A firemen's union asked a strike mandate from the city's firefighters yesterday and said it expects the 28,000-member police force to support a walkout "all the way." A strike would be the first in, the city's history by its firemen, who answered 154,000 alarms last year. WASHINGTON - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, returning from the Guam conference, said he saw absolutely no immediate prospect for peace negotiations. "All that talk is premature and it will also be that for a long time," Lodge told newsmen. I I Thursday, March 23 at 4:00 P.M. ALFRED MEYER RICHARD SOLOMON Political Science Center for Chinese Studies WILLIAM BALLIS Political Science, Moderator Michigan Room Refreshments Michigan League All Welcome Sponsored by the Honors Council and OFFSET I ,/ I a, /4/el Wednesday, March 22,4:15 P.M. Auditorium'A', Angell Hall I SABBATH SERVICE FRIDAY at 7:15 P.M. Dr. Herman Jacobs will review D Emuij A .. e.A: I A Case of Mutual Misunderstanding -Morrill RINGING HEROES OF AMERICAN JEWRY versus ISRAELI HEROES: { A4 UNION-LEAGUEI MOVES! MOSHE SHAMIR Israeli Novelist : ewith MARVIN FELHEIM t t I .1 I I