News stories from Friday October 22, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- It is being speculated that President Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell gave the names of California judge Mildred Lillie and Arkansas attorney Herschel Friday to the American Bar Association as a smoke screen, covering up actual nominees Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist. A fight is brewing over the conservative Rehnquist, who has supported wiretaps and surveillance. Rehnquist said that he is honored by the nomination and won't say anything more until the hearings start.
His colleagues in Arizona recalled Rehnquist as conservative and scholarly; his ex-law partner James Powers said that Rehnquist is personable and well liked, and called him a strict constructionist. But he made enemies with his opposition to the 1968 civil rights law: Reverend George Brooks says that Rehnquist is a racist, and Brooks will ask the president of the local NAACP to help document claims against Rehnquist and to get the national NAACP to oppose his nomination. Despite that, most Democrats praised Rehnquist's legal qualifications.
Lewis Powell, 64, was interviewed at his home in Richmond, Virginia. Powell is a past president of the American Bar Association and a conservative; he has practiced law in Virginia for 40 years. Powell said that he feels some misgivings about his qualifications as a judge and feels like he will be starting from scratch if he is confirmed.
[CBS] - Senator Birch Bayh said that these two nominees are better qualified than the other ones; Senator Edmund Muskie said that he was pleasantly surprised; Senator Edward Kennedy was relieved; Senator George McGovern is sorry that a woman was not named to the Court.
Speaking to a to group of Republican women, President Nixon blamed the lack of a female Supreme Court justice on the American Bar Association. Nixon noted that he was the first President to make an attempt to get a woman on the Supreme Court and he believes that, in time, one will be there.
[CBS] - A reporter for the Washington Star had asked Rehnquist on Thursday if he thought that President Nixon would pick him for the Supreme Court. Rehnquist answered, "Why should he? I'm not a woman, black or mediocre." [CBS]
- The cost of living was up 0.2% in September. Car and food prices were down 0.3% but there were increases in college tuition, household services and clothing. Economic adviser Paul McCracken reported that investigations are underway for violations of the freeze, and he said that the economic indicators are encouraging. The IRS will investigate consumer complaints on clothing prices. Production increased 3% in the third quarter compared to 4.75% in the second quarter; GNP increased by $16 billion. Senator William Proxmire said that the economy took a step backwards.
The freeze has had a good effect on consumer prices, but increasing production is an uphill fight.
[CBS] - The Soviet Union's economic growth rate is reportedly 8% for this year, though its output is only half that of the United States. [CBS]
- President Nixon named judge G.H. Boldt to head the Pay Board. Also on the board are AFL-CIO president George Meany, the heads of four big labor unions, five business executives and four members of the public. The chairman of the Price Commission is Dr. Jack Grayson. Other commission members include ex-Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania and several economists. [CBS]
- A Washington, DC court upheld the legality of the wage-price freeze. [CBS]
- Moscow sent a protest to the U.S. regarding the sniper attack on the Soviet mission to the United Nations. The protest stated that Soviet institutions may no longer be able to function in the United States. [CBS]
- India has mobilized the state militia; a news agency reported that army reserves have been activated. Premier Indira Gandhi's government imposed new taxes. [CBS]
- Americans have left Fire Base Pace to the South Vietnamese. UPI says that the men who were leaving celebrated with whiskey and Kool-Aid. [CBS]
- Wall Street attorney Whitman Knapp's commission on New York City police graft issued its report. A commission film shows police officer William Phillips taking a bribe. Phillips said that all plainclothesmen participated in the "pad", and if a man doesn't want to be part of the system, he's transferred. He also told of finding a bookmaking operation through an informant and discovered two prostitutes working there; he asked for $3,000 to keep quiet. Xaviera Hollander testified that she paid Phillips for her brothel's protection, but got raided anyway. [CBS]
- Two Mexican-American groups and California Rep. Edward Roybal have filed a suit accusing the government of job discrimination. They contend that their group makes up 7% of the population but only 2.9% of the work force. The lawsuit asks for a 90-day hiring freeze. [CBS]
- The makers of Wonder Bread defended themselves against the FTC's charges of deceptive advertising. They insist that their ads with regard to "building bodies 12 ways" is not misleading. The Continental Baking Company also defended Hostess snack cakes against the FTC's charge of not qualifying as health food. [CBS]
- New York chemist professor Bruce McDuffie, who was the first to warn of mercury contamination in tuna, says that there is too much lead in the coating of yellow school pencils. The New York Attorney General reported that one-third of 340 pencils tested had unsafe amounts of lead. A statement from the pencil industry noted that no one has ever reported becoming ill from pencil coatings. [CBS]
- Air bags inside the experimental General Motors safety car didn't protect crash-test dummies when it crashed at 50 m.p.h. General Motors conceded that all of the dummies would have been killed, though they said some would only be "slightly killed". [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 852.37 (-1.68, -0.20%)
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* |
| October 21, 1971 | 854.05 | 95.60 | 14.99 |
| October 20, 1971 | 855.65 | 95.65 | 16.34 |
| October 19, 1971 | 868.43 | 97.00 | 13.04 |
| October 18, 1971 | 872.44 | 97.35 | 10.42 |
| October 15, 1971 | 874.85 | 97.79 | 13.12 |
| October 14, 1971 | 878.36 | 98.13 | 12.87 |
| October 13, 1971 | 888.80 | 99.03 | 13.54 |
| October 12, 1971 | 893.55 | 99.57 | 14.34 |
| October 11, 1971 | 891.94 | 99.16 | 7.80 |
| October 8, 1971 | 893.91 | 99.36 | 13.87 |