Thursday, May 2,1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, May 2, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY SEE SOVIET INFLUENCE: Laotian offensive halted Committee agrees on budget reductions Rocky wins Mass. VIENTIANE, Laos (A) - Com- munist forces in Laos have called a halt to their massive drive against the neutralist government of Premier Souvanna Phouma, Western military sources said yes- terday. Attacks on government posi- tions by North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces, while still heavier than for many years, have dropped off significantly from the high level which coincided with the Viet Cong's lunar new year offensive in Vietnam, the inform- ants said. A spokesman of the royal Lao- tian army said it was possible the Communists were regrouping for a new onslaught, but some West- ern diplomats believe discreet pressure from the Soviet Union toned down the divided kingdom's shadowy jungle war. Clashes and Communist mortar attacks are reported almost daily by government .otposts in disput- * ed areas. But casualties are now numbered in twos and threes in- stead of in hundreds. There is no more talk of North Vietnam's "general o f f e n s i v e against the Laotian Kingdom." Communist military activity has centered largely on an area the Communists lost to government forces in the years following the 1962 Geneva treaty on the neu- trality and independence of Laos. The area of Communist control covers almost all the eastern highlands along the 1,00-mile- long border with North and South Vietnam. South of the 17th Parallel, it in- cludes the numerous jungle tracks of Communist infiltration into South Vietnam which are known collectively as the Ho Chi Minhi trail. The 75,000 troops supporting the government receive U.S. mili- tary aid running at more than $10 million a year. They are backed by regular bomb attacks on Communist forces in Laos by American planes based in neighboring Thailand. The United States maintains ra- dar sites inside Laos to guide American bombers and reconnais- sance planes to North Vietnam and to Communist targets in this country. These sites, often protected by loyal tribesmen, are manned by American civilians. Western diplomats believe there are hopeful signs that the Com- munists do not intend to overrun the fertile, densely populated Me- kong plains facing Thailand. "They could come down to the Mekong any day they wanted to,, one Western military source said. "The really significant thing is that they are not exploiting their obvious military advantage." Several Western diplomats here attribute this apparent restraint to the influence of the Soviet Union, apparently anxious to block any Communist initiative in the area which could place new obstacles on the difficult road to peace in Vietnam. The Russians, ignoring a flow of abuse from Peking, continue to recognize and help finance the three-nation International Con- trol Commission setup for Laos under the 1962 treaty. The commission, comprising Poland, Canada and India, has been paralyzed for years by East- West disagreements. But its con- tinued existence with Russian support has led many Western ob- servers to the conclusion that the Soviet Union wants Laos to re- turn to the neutrality and co- alition regime promised by the 1962 treaty as soon as the Viet- nam war has ended. WASHINGTON (R') - President Johnson's campaign for a $10-bil- lion tax increase was blasted out of deadlock yesterday when the House Appropriations Committee agreed on an $18 billion total long and short range appropriations cut. The administration promptly accepted the proposed formula. The committee specified that the reduction must include an ac- See related story, Page 8 tual spending cut of not less than $4 billion during the year begin-! ning July 1. The committee action, adoption of a resolution setting out its in- tentions, does not guarantee that the tax-economy bill will be pass- ed, or even that it will be submitt- ed in the form outlined. But the committee resolution specified that the 1969 appropria- tions cuts should not be applied to special Vietnam costs, trust funds such as those for Social Security, and other "relatively un- controllable" items. This is how the Appropriations Committee resolution would parcel out the cuts:'f 1. In acting on the appropria- tions bills now before it, for the year starting July 1, Congress would reduce Johnson's budget re- quests for that year by not lessN than $10 billion. BOSTON ( P) - Gov. Nelson A. I about 1,000 election 0 votes on the same day 2. It would provide that at least $4 billion of the reduction must actually be reflected in reduced Treasury outlays during the com- ing year. The rest of the $10-bil- lion slash could come out of ap- propriations voted now, but involv- ing spending in the future. 3. Appropriations carried over from previous years but as yet un- spent, estimated to total about $222 billion, would be reduced by $8 billion. The administration would be given a chance to allocate this reduction when it makes its budget recommendations in Janu- ary. CONTROVERSY The $4 billion actual spending reduction for fiscal year 1969 im- mediately emerged as the most controversial part of the package. The Senate has voted a $6-bil- lion cut. Rep. Wilbur D. Mills (D- Ark), chairman both of the tax- writing Ways and Means Commit- tee and of the Senate-House con- ference on the bill, is known to believe that a $4 billion reduction, combined with a $10-billion in- crease in revenues, is not enough. a.. v wf m v~a v.- ..wv " a vaeaFa im i M~w.G i V , Rockefeller of New York won a surprise victory on the Republi- can ballot in the Massachusetts primary on write-in support that developed with the announcement of his presidential candidacy. Gov. John A. Volpe, running unopposed as a favorite son, had been expected to win, but the tabulation of returns showed yes- terday that Rockefeller won by that he entered the race. Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota, the only candidate on the Democratic ballot, received slightly more than 50 per cent of his party's vote. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), ran second, outdistancing Vice President Hu- bert H. Humphrey by a 3-2 mar- gin in write-ins. Former Vice President Richard Rockefeller suggests U.S.-C inese rapport I By The Associated Press Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller call- ed yesterday for closer contacts with Communist China and the de-"Americanization" of the war in Vietnam. "We should encourage contact and communication for the good of us both," he said. "This could significantly affect the whole fu- raiiipaign t 68 ture of our /relations with the Communist world." Rockefeller made the statement in a full dress review of American foreign policy and problems in a speech before the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. On the Vietnamese war, he said, a "purely military solution" can- I not be achieved, and he added,' "The 'Americanization' of the ef- fort, military and civilian, should be reversed." It was Rockefeller's first day of formal campaigning since an- nouncing he is challenging Rich- ard M. Nixon for the Republican nomination for president. Rockefeller's central theme was that events in the past two decades have outstripped American'policy, that American diplomatic, n ili- tary and economic concepts are out of date. "Neither our ideas nor our goals nor our policies have kept pace with the speed of a revolutionary age," Rockefeller said. "We are thus approaching the 1970's with the ideas and devices of the 1940's and 1950's." VC IN GOVERNMENT Without spelling out his exact meaning, Rockefeller appeared to favor a role in South Vietnamese "political life" for the National Liberation Front-the Viet Cong. As to peace negotiations, he said, "We have nothing to fear -and all to gain-from the care- ful and responsible quest for a negotiated settlement." Globally, Rockefeller said, the U.S. does not see eye-to eye with the rest of the world. In Washington Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey wooed busi- nessmen yesterday as more pro- gressive than politicians and told them "the war on poverty is you." LIBERAL HUBERT Humphrey told the luncheon of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that some businessmen have even "out liberaled Hubert Humphrey." Humphrey said the problems of the slums are beyond speech- making and demogogery. He warned against violence, looting and arson, saying, "In our desire for change we must not abandon or destroy the institutions and the principles that have pro- vided so much for so many." . M. Nixon was third in the Repub- lican column, about 5,000 votes behind Rockefeller, and McCarthy was fourth, gaining write-in votes on almost 10 per cent of the G.O.P. ballots. Rockefeller will get the state's 34 votes on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention, and McCarthy sewed up the state's 72 first ballot votes at the Democratic convention. A new state law requires convention delegates to vote on the first bal- lot for their party's preference winner. Rockefeller had no campaign organization in the state, al- though there had been latent sup- port for him, and Sen. Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), was in the forefront of Republicans who urged him to run. As late as mid-April, Brooke had said he expected Vdlpe to win the primary, but thought that Rockefeller would receive most of the state's' votes on subsequent ballots at the Republican con- vention. World news roundup By The Associated Press JERUSALEM -Israel put up roadblocks around Jerusalem yes- terday and border troops wearing green berets patrolled the city to maintain strict security for today's huge military parade marking Is- rael's 20th anniversary. Preparations for the parade have touched off a barrage of de- nunciation from Arab capitals. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and the leaders of Syria, Algeria and Iraq have told their people to prepare for new fighting- against Israel. * * * WASHINGTON-Negotiators in the two-week old nationwide tele- phone strike reportedly have vir- tually wrapped up a wage settle- ment and are close to an over all contract agreement that could come as early as today. * a SAIGON-U.S. marines were locked in battle late yesterday with North Vietnamese in the north- east, where the enemy appears to have shifted forces to menace the marine base at Dong Ha. It was the third straigbt day of fighting in this sector, and the U.S. Command received few de- tails. But it reported battles. in this area cost the enemy 616 dead Monday and Tuesday. The new fighting broke out two miles northeast of Dong Ha and about nine miles south of the de- militarized zone dividing Vietnam. 1968 DINNER"-FILM SERIES May 3 THE CARDINAL May 10 NOTH ING BUT A MAN May 17 THE THREE FACES OF EVE May 24 THE PAWNBROKER May 31 THE BURMESE HARP June 7 BILLY BUDD June 14 FAIL SAFE PRESBYTERIAN (AMPUS (ENTER 1432 Washtenaw Every Friday at 6:00 P.M.-Foreign Students $.50, Others $1.00 Coffee and informal discussion will follow the films Reservations needed: 662-5529 or 662-3580 Sponsored by the Association of Religious Counselors I a i r , + i - x r4 4 3.,. - - l.. ,... I OUR HANDSOME BUSH JACKET when you're stalking game on either side of the veldt. It's cut mean and slim, in two ply cotton poplin with leather trim on the military bellows pockets and buttonholes, plus an all-around belt. The shade is whisky, the sizes are 36 to 46, and the price is lust .. . $25. I 'l / Ij m !I ORI ARBORI AND) STORE IS OPEN EVERY