page-Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Wedn6sdby, March19, 1915

8,586 LETTERS INVOLVED


G0
Govt. monitoring

of mail

WASHINGTON (P) - Govern-
1ent agencies obtained' 431
ourt orders to open letters in
ie past two years and moni-
>red 8,586 mailings, the U.S.
'ostal Service disclosed yester-
ay.
Officials also reported that
he Postal Service uses elec-
ronic bugs in crime work.
CHIEF POSTAL Inspector
Villian Cotter told a House
ubcommittee the mail surveil-
ance ranged from FBI national
ecurity investigations to a Colo-
ado State Real Estate Commis-
ion land fraud inquiry.
Cotter said the Agriculture
)epartment monitored f o o d
tamp recipients, mail to un-
over fraud and his own inspec-
rs checked mail to uncover
ederal narcotics, obscenity and
raud violations.
In fact, 225 postal inspectors
~onitor most of the mnail, Cot-
er said, 'and has two medical
'aud specialists who send off
3r "bust reducers and so
arth-
COTTER and his deputies
estified at hearings by the
[ouse civil rights subcommittee
n federal surveillance activi-
es.
Mail surveillance has been
anctioned since 1893 under fed-
ral regulations limiting it to
ational security, criminal and
ugitive investigations, Cotter
aid.
He said exceptions he knows
bout are CIA surveillance of
ntiwar mail and the mail morn-
oring of a 16-year-old New Jer-
-y girl who wrote the Socialist
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764-2401


Workers Party for information
for a school assignment.
COTTER called the CIA mail
surveillance "another matter
entirely" but did not elaborate.
He called the surveillance of the
school girl "a mess" in which
she was mistakenly put on a list
of people sending out socialist
mail.
Asked how many organiza-
tions' mail is monitored as po-
tentially subversive, Cotter said
the subcommittee would have to
ask the FBI.
He said no mail has been
opened in the past two years
under President Ford's or for-
mer President Richard Nixon's
national security powers.
Donald Diseroad, manager of
the Postal Inspection Service's
external criminal branch, ac-
knowledged under questioning:
from Chairman RobertKasten-
meier (D-Wisc.) that the ser-!
vice purchased room bugs in
1972 that look like wall sockets.

spectors all worked on thatI
one."
In a written analysis prepared
for the subcommittee and in
testimony, Cotter said postal
inspectors obtained 323 of the
431 court orders to open mail in
1973 and 1974.
HE SAID the federal Drug
Enforcement Agency obtained
62, local police and sheriffs 30,
state law agencies 10 and the
Justice Department, naval in-
telligence and military Civil In-
telligence Division units six.
Cotter said postal inspectors
obtained 240 warrants for open-
ing mail to investigate illegal
narcotics traffic, 72 to stop il-
legal mailing of lottery tickets
and the rest to uncover illegal
obscenity advertisements and'

mail fraud.
Some 41 federal agenci
categories of state and
agencies conducted the 8,5
called "mail covers" in
mail is not opened, Cotter
fied.
HE SAID the highest us
the investigative technique
his own Postal Inspectior
vice with 3,097 and the In
Revenue Service with 2,82
The Agriculture Depar
monitored mail from 1
dresses during the two
Cotter said, 6 of them in
uary 1973.
Food stamp fraud is the
area for which the Agric
Department monitors ma
said, and there was one

exposed
in which Agriculture Depart-
es and ment checks wound up in a
local city college's account.
586 so- The mail covers included 544
which for national security cases, Cot-
testi- ter said, most of them-513-
were conducted by the FBI.
ers of HE SAID the CIA conducted
were two in April 1973 and the rest
n Ser- were conducted by Army, Navy
ternal and Air Force intelligence units.
26. Giving examples of state mail
surveillance, Cotter said the
tment Colorado Real Estate Commis-
4 ad- sion used it in an inquiry of
years, double sale of the same pieces
Jan- of land.
He said the California Em-
main ployment Development Depart-
ulture ment used mail surveillance in
il, he an investigation of ficticious em-
case ployes being listed.

Oil depletion shelter repeal
thfItY6e dir"r iII Tjdlhirtn

DISEROAD testified the ser- -&" 0 L41" CAL
vice has never used those elec-
tronic bugs but said it has used
other ypeS.(Continued from Page 1)
other types.
"We use electronic surveil. tax-cut bill will have to be rec-
lance on an essential basis in onciled in conference with the
cases involving theft of checks outright repeal voted by the
in the mail or theft of mail House.
orders," Diseroad testified. By a 58-38 vote, the Senate
Cotter said his postal inspec- rejected a motion by Sen.
tors also are involved in in- George McGovern (D-S.D.) or-
vestigations of street holdups of dering the Finance Committee
letter carriers and sometimes to reduce the $29.2 billion pro-
even murder. posal tax cut to the $19.9 billion
level voted by the House.
ASKED BY Kastenmeier if THE McGOVERN motian won
such violent crimes are not sup- support from some -onserva-
posed to be handled by the tives who view the tax cut as
FBI and police officers, Cotter too large, along with some lib-
said his inspectors cooperate erals who oppose the commit-
with those officials, tee's proposed distribution of the
"Last year, two fellows came reduction.
up beside a mail truck and got In another oil-related matter,
nervous and damn shot the the House Ways and Means
driver dead," Cotter said. "Lo- Committee began consideration
cal police, the FBI and postal in- yesterday of an energy bill that

V l t tot "G I utlt uG g1tu"WA U

would hike the gasoline tax by
up to 37 cents a gallon b3 1980
but also would provide some re-
bate to all adult Americans, in-
cluding nondrivers.
The bill, introduced by the
committee chairman, Rep Al
Ullman (D-Ore.) would boost
taxes on gasoline used beyond
nine gallons a week. Tax would
be paid but refunded on those
initial nine gallons.
BUT INSTEAD of limiting re-
funds just to the drivers of the
estimated 100 million cars in
America, the bill would provide
a tax cut for all 144 million
Americans aged 18 or over, the
committee was told by its staff
of tax specialists.
The specialists estimated the
bill's proposed 7-cent-a-gallon
boost next year in the gasoline
tax would raise $7 billion in rev-
enues, while saving 121,000 bar-
rels of oil daily in the short run
-rising to 368,000 barrels a day
over several years.
However,the specialists said,
the government will return a

little less than $5 billion of this
$7 billion next year to all adult
Americans-$33.60 per person-
in the form of income tax cuts
reflected immediately ir, the tax
withholding system.
AS THE added gasoline tax
rate rises to 37 cents a gallon
by 1980, the amount of the tax
cut would increase correspond-
ingly.
The legislation also would levy
an excise tax on new cars,
starting with the 1977 mod ls,
based on their gasoline mileage.
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Editor, co The
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the grounds of Camcar Palace in Phnom Penh, as members of families of soldiers in the presi-
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New grand ury to investigate
alleged milk assoc. cover-u

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wriften . .

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newspaper can be exciting,
frustrating, enjoyable and
refreshing

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WASHINGTON (R) - The
government is conducting a new
grand jury investigation of As-,+
sociated Milk Producers Inc.
(AMPI), probing an alleged
cover-up in an antitrust case.
The grand jury is looking into
sworn testimony that officials+
of the giant dairy-farmer co-
operative deliberately destroy-'
ed documents that could be!
used as evidence in the case.
AMPI is the biggest dairy-
farmer cooperative in the nation;
and also runs a $1.8 millionj
political trust. Last year the+
co-op and two of its former top!
officers pleaded guilty to mak-
ing hundreds of thousands of
dollars in illegal political gifts.+
Three additional trials now are
scheduled on charges stemming
PF esional Services1
by
arold Chet and Dave

from AMPI's political activi-
ties, including the alleged brib-
ery of former Treasury Secre-
tary John Connally.
The latest grand jury probe
is being conducted by Chicago-.
based lawyers for the antitrust
division of the Justice Depart-
ment. The federal grand jury is
sitting in San Antonio, Tex.,
headquarters of the co-op.
The probe centers on testi-
mony given by David Parr,
former second-in-command of

Among witnesses subpoenaed
by the grand jury are Harold
Nelson, the former top leader
of the milk producers. Nelson
wy's released from prison last
month after he and Parr served
most of the four month jail
terms they received for mak-
ing corporate donations.
ANOTHER witness subpoena-
ed by the grand jury is an NFO
lawyer, David Donohoe, who
condncted a court - ordered
search of AMPI's files early in

Why Not Join THE DAILY?

E

I

THURSDAY 3/20-7-10 p.m. - Tom Toothacher and
Vicki Vauqhn from "Coop-Auto" will speak on basic
auto repair (especially for women). Cars will be avail-
able for participants to work on.

the co-op. He swore he ordered , the antitrust case, and who
destruction of sensitive files in found later that file drawers
the co-op's office in Little Rock, full of material had been moved
Ark., and that he believes sim- secretly into a rented garage
ilar file cleansing went on all just before his arrival.
over the multistate coopera-
tive. Lawyers for AMPI tried un-
PARR TESTIFIED that the successfully in open court to
PesrtEtIF leiE tAthegetthe grand jury subpoenas
detuto okplcinAr, quashed. Last week they com-
1971 after the co-op had become plained directly to the Justice
involved in an antitrust suit Department's antitrust chief
with the National Farmers Org- Thomas Kauper in Washington,
anization (NFO), and before sayin' the latest investigation
the government filed a similari. .
suit. "The best I can recall is s :nfair.

U-M Styl
at the UNIC

3

some attorney implied to us
*If strongly to search our files,
sts (and make sure that any infor-
ON mation concerning NFO be
eliminated," Parr said.
Parr's testimony was given
to the Senate Watergate Com-
mittee and made public last
year.
rU

r

The co-on 1,wyers said they
were not told that a grand jury
investigation might be launched
when they made some admis-
gions in court in the civil suit
lrst year. Kauper told the at-
torneys no decision has been
made on whether to prosecute,
according to a person who was
present at the meeting.
THE JUSTICE Department's
antitrust suit accuses the co-
op of using illegal coercion to
get farmers to join. AMPI en-
tered into a still-tentative con-
sent decree to settle the case
last year after it was revealed
that important documents had
been destroyed and moved ear-
ly in the case.

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SOS---Help Us Help Students

SERVICES STUDENT PROGRAMS

A Resource Committee for Student Organizational Services (S.O.S.)
is being created. The Resource Committee is to be composed of 9 members;
5 students and 4 faculty.
S.O.S. is composed of several offices which work with student groups:
the Educational Innovation Advocate; the Human Sexuality (Gay) Advo-
cates; the Organizationi Development Coordinator; Student Organization
Business Services*; and the Women's Program Coordinator.

u7pThe Resource Committee will help the S.O.S. director and staff mem-
bers to identify the needs of students, suggest programs and services, and
trovide a communication link between S.O.S. and other areas of the Uni-

HILL AUD 8 p.m.
a SATURDAY, APRIL 19