Page 12--Thursday, March 16, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Approval expected
on Panama treaty
WASHINGTON (AP) - Panama
Canal treaty proponents yesterday
claimed to have "at least 67
votes"-the number needed to ratify
the first of the two pacts in today's.
showdown vote in the Senate.
"As of this afternoon, we've got
them," a source close to Senate leaders
said yesterday. The source, who
declined to be identified, would not
name which senators among five
holdouts apparently had decided to vote
for ratification.
UNOFFICIAL COUNTS had shown
supporters of the treaties with 65 votes
and opponents with 30.
Senate Majority Leader Robert C.
Byrd (D-W.Va.) earlier had said "I
think the votes will be there" when the
Senate takes up the measure Thursday
that would assure the U.S. of the right
to defend the canal and of continued use
of the waterway once it is turned over to
Panama.
The word that proponents had enough
votes to ratify the first of the two pacts
came as the Senate approved a change
in the neutrality treaty that had been
agreed to by the Carter administration
to win the votes of several uncommitted
senators. A treaty formally turning
over the canal to Panama after the year
2000 will be voted on later.
OVER THE OBJECTIONS of mem-
bers who argued it was unnecessary,
the Senate voted 82 to 16 to approve a
reservation, sponsored by Sen. Sam
Nunn (D-Ga.) that would allow for
future U.S.-Panama talks on keeping
U.S. military forces in Panama after
the year 2000. Nunn and others had
made their votes for the neutrality pact
contingent on acceptance of their
reservation.
Panamanian voters approved the
treaties last October by a two-to-one
margin.
As the Senate prepares to vote, ten-
sion is growing in Panama, "If the
Senate doesn't approve that treaty,
EVERYTHING YOU NEVER EXPECTED FROM AN APPLIANCE STORE..
anything could happen," said one U.S.
Embassy source yesterday. "People
are aware of that."
OFFICIALS AT the U.S. Southern
Command in the Canal Zone said there
are no special security preparations in
case the Senate rejects the treaty but
"we are always in a state of readiness."
The vote is expected to be close, withi
positions of some senators still
unknown.
In open-air restaurants, bars and
passing cars, the debate, broadcast in
Panama live, blares from radios as
Panamanians follow it closely.
THE DEBATE GETS banner
headlines each day in Panama's
newspapers, but there has been little
editorial comment.
The canal treaty vote will be broad-
cast live beginning at 4 p.m. over
WUOM, 91.7 FM.
Panamanian officials say they are
under orders from Panamanian leader
Gen. Omar Torrijos not to comment on
the debate. One Panamanian source
said Torrijos feels he has done all he
can to promote the treaty and fears fur-
ther comment from his government
might jeopardize ratification.
Torrijos, who has described himself
as "a dictator with a heart," once of-
fered to resign if objection by some
senators to his autocratic government
threatened the treaty's ratification. He
has avoided reporters since the debate
started.
A Panamanian source who asked not
to be named said Panama's treaty
negotiators have been -ordered not to
leave the country, and to be available
for emergency consultation.
Nazis
evicted
from
bookstore
DETROIT (UPI) -A .judge yester-
day ordered the eviction of a neo-Nazi
group from a swastika-emblazoned
"White Power" bookstore it used as a
recruitment and pamphlet distribution
center.
Common Pleas Judge Henry
Szymanski, bypassing a three-man,
three-woman jury, granted a defense
motion for a directed verdict and gave
the Nazis 10 days to appeal, vacate or
be thrown out $y court officials.
"THE JUDGE directed the verdict
when the defendant presented no defen-
se because "everybody was against
him," said Alan Silver, attorney for
landlord Eddy Bullock.
William Russell, self-styled "cap-
tain" of the group calling itself the
"National Socialist Movement,"
referred to the proceedings as a
"kangaroo court" and complained even
before the verdict that "We ain't got no
chance here."
Russell* and his group had been ser-
ved with a 30-day eviction notice by
Bullock a few days after he opened the
bookstore last Dec. 17 in a multi-ethnic,
blue-collar neighborhood on the city's
southwest side. Two swastikas and the
"White Power" slogan are painted
above the store's entrance.
DEMONSTRATORS have picketed
the store since the day it opened.
Leaders of area religious, social and
civic groups have condemned its very
presence.
Bullock had complained that the
Nazis misrepresented their planned use
for the store.
During Wednesday's proceedings,
Silver sought to establish that Russell
and his group were not running a prin-
ting business as suspected. Russell has
not been able to reserve his own lawyer
in the case because all lawyers he has
asked so far have refused to represent
Nazis.
There's
a solution but..
Birth
defects
are
forever.
Unless
you help.
March
of Dimes
Rose Bowl-1978
Michigan vs. Washingtarl
.
..r -r s = om ; m m M