This Day In 1970's History: Saturday November 9, 1974
- The lure of time-and-a-half pay -- ranging from $62 to $75 for one last Saturday of overtime -- before the start of two or more weeks of joblessness softened the immediate impact of a national coal strike that is now inevitable. Thousands of miners reported for a last day of work. Negotiations between the United Mine Workers and the mine operators continued this afternoon, but without a sign that an agreement was likely this weekend. Both sides have said that an agreement by tomorrow night could limit the strike to two weeks, the time necessary to obtain union membership approval of a new contract. [New York Times]
- A federal judge in Columbus, Ga., released William Calley on unrestricted personal bond, making the former first lieutenant for all intents a free man and thwarting an attempt by the Army to retain custody over him by granting him parole. Mr. Calley was convicted in March, 1971, by an Army court-martial of murdering at least 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, in 1968. His lawyer said "At long last, he will never have to spend another day in confinement."
The Secretary of the Army, Howard Callaway, described his parole of former Lt. William Calley, who has served almost one-third of his prison term for the My Lai murders, as a "routine action" that followed normal Army procedures. He said that he concurred with the findings of a clemency board that Mr. Calley's psychiatric condition and behavior qualified him for parole. [New York Times]
- At least for the last 10 years, the Atomic Energy Commission has repeatedly sought to suppress studies by its own scientists that found nuclear reactors were more dangerous than officially acknowledged or that raised questions about reactor safety devices. An examination of hundreds of memorandums and letters written by commission and industry officials since 1964 show the extent to which the commission ignored recommendations from its scientists for further research on key safety questions. [New York Times]
- The United States delegation at the World Food Conference in Rome, under pressure from congressional advisers, proposed a resolution urging the reduction of non-agricultural uses of fertilizers. A critical fertilizer shortage was said to be partly responsible for hunger this year in southern Asia. About 15 percent of the fertilizer used in the United States is applied to lawns, golf courses and cemeteries. That amount would have been enough to add two million to three million tons to India's wheat crop this year, specialists at the conference reported. [New York Times]
- Secretary of State Kissinger returned home to Washington, hopeful that his 18-day, 27,000-mile trip had opened the way to further agreements on limitation of strategic arms with the Soviet Union and step-by-step peace moves in the Middle East. He reportedly believes that the first stage of his trip in Moscow may have been the most important, despite his preoccupation with the Middle East situation. [New York Times]
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