News stories from Monday April 5, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Senate doves spoke out about the Calley verdict. Senator Jacob Javits said that if the American people believe Lt. William Calley did nothing wrong and is a hero, then people have changed even more drastically during the Vietnam war than he thought; Senator Adlai Stevenson III said that if Calley committed murder, he must pay the penalty.
Telford Taylor, the American prosecutor at the Nuremburg Trials, said he does not believe Calley simply did what any soldier would have done, since others at My Lai refused to kill civilians; he feels that a reversal of the guilty verdict would be unwise. Taylor stated that people should keep in mind that our POWs are being protected only because of the observance of the rules of war.
[CBS] - U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam is now down to 300,000, but new troops continue to arrive. Sgt. Tom McLaughlin welcomes replacements to South Vietnam. He said that although the South Vietnamese may not understand English, they understand and resent words like "gook" and "dink" therefore such words should be avoided. New and returning soldiers receive orientation, including instruction in the treatment of prisoners, and they are advised that in a situation similar to My Lai they should disobey orders because in such cases an order to kill is illegal. [CBS]
- Senator William Proxmire proposed that President Nixon establish a commission to evaluate the costs and effectiveness of bombings in Southeast Asia. Senator Mike Mansfield supports legislation introduced by Senator Stevenson which proposes the establishment of a committee to watch the South Vietnamese presidential campaign and make sure the U.S. stays out of it. [CBS]
- Baseball season began with Interior Secretary Rogers Morton, Agriculture Secretary Clifford Hardin and Senator Hubert Humphrey among those attending the opening day ball game in Washington, DC. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird announced that former POW Sgt. Daniel Pitzer would throw out the first pitch, as a reminder that 1,600 other POWs haven't seen a ball game, their homes or families in a long time. [CBS]
- Rep. Hale Boggs is calling for the resignation of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Attorney General Mitchell called Boggs' attack on Hoover "slanderous" and demanded an apology. [CBS]
- President Nixon met with movie industry leaders who are asking for a special tax break due to financial trouble and unemployment throughout their industry. [CBS]
- The draft ceiling is being raised to lottery number 125 for May. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court upheld a 1968 gun control law requiring registration of certain weapons, rendered a decision against resuming daily prayer in schools, and affirmed the right of undercover agents to use hidden radio transmitters to broadcast conversations with suspects. The court refused to hear an appeal by Lackawanna, New York, in its attempt to block the construction of a black housing development in an almost all-white neighborhood. [CBS]
- A bus lane has been completed to and from Washington, DC to bypass cars during rush hours. The special lane on Interstate 95 gets buses to downtown Washington 15 minutes faster than cars; buses run inbound in the morning, outbound in the evening. Urban transit administrator Carlos Villareal says that the government needs to convince motorists to leave their cars at home or in a parking lot outside the city and use public transportation instead. Cars can move 3,000 people in one hour but buses can move 8,500-10,000. New York City and Los Angeles are also considering "bus only" lanes. [CBS]
- AFL-CIO construction unions announced that their members will serve on the Wage Stabilization Boards that were recently established by President Nixon. [CBS]
- Chrysler Corporation reported a $10 million profit for the first quarter of the year. [CBS]
- Last month the FCC notified radio stations not to play records with lyrics praising the use of drugs. Today the Recording Industry Association of America asked the FCC to rescind that ruling, due to difficulties in determining which songs praise drugs. [CBS]
- West Pakistan charged that volunteers from India are infiltrating into East Pakistan to aid the rebels; 150 foreigners have been evacuated from East Pakistan to Karachi, West Pakistan. [CBS]
- The U.S. Forest Service is being scrutinized by the Senate Public Lands Committee; conservationists testified that forests are endangered by a growing need for timber. In the Bitterroot National Forest, private logging companies are cutting three times as much timber as they were 20 years ago; the Forest Service used to insist on selective cutting but now permits clear cutting of whole sections of forest. The Forest Service is 5 million acres behind in the replanting of clear cut areas.
Rep. Wendell Wyatt said that if we are going to meet housing needs, we have to clear cut areas. Senator Gale McGee noted that logging companies claim they can make more money clear cutting, even though they can't return to an area for at least a generation.
[CBS] - President Nixon will speak about the Vietnam war Wednesday night. He is expected to defend the Laos operation and announce a speed-up in the withdrawal of American soldiers from Vietnam. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 905.07 (+2.03, +0.22%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| April 2, 1971 | 903.04 | 100.56 | 14.52 |
| April 1, 1971 | 903.88 | 100.39 | 13.47 |
| March 31, 1971 | 904.37 | 100.31 | 17.61 |
| March 30, 1971 | 903.39 | 100.26 | 15.43 |
| March 29, 1971 | 903.48 | 100.03 | 13.65 |
| March 26, 1971 | 903.48 | 99.95 | 15.56 |
| March 25, 1971 | 900.81 | 99.61 | 15.87 |
| March 24, 1971 | 899.37 | 99.62 | 15.72 |
| March 23, 1971 | 908.89 | 100.28 | 16.47 |
| March 22, 1971 | 910.60 | 100.62 | 14.29 |