News stories from Tuesday March 21, 1972

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Members of organized labor may quit the Pay Board. AFL-CIO president George Meany is disgusted with the board and the entire Nixon economic control program, and he told budget director George Shultz so during a golf trip to Augusta, Georgia, last week. Meany says that Phase Il is unfair to labor, and he is supported by Steelworkers Union president I.W. Abel and Floyd Smith of the Machinists Union. But Frank Fitzsimmons of the Teamsters opposes the walkout and UAW president Leonard Woodcock is wavering. Shultz visited again with Meany in an effort to persuade him not to leave the Pay Board. [CBS] A supermarket chain is urging consumers to boycott meat. Giant Food Stores suggests that housewives buy cheaper substitutes in order to force down high meat prices. The National Cattlemen's Association says that Giant's stance is unfair to the cattle industry. Meat prices are up 17% over last year, and Price Commission chairman Jack Grayson is threatening to place price controls on meat. [CBS] The House gave final approval to devaluation of the dollar; the price of gold increased from $35 to $38 an ounce. [CBS] In Chicago, investigators are looking into charges of voting irregularities including the stuffing of ballots. [CBS] Hubert Humphrey has changed his opinion of President Nixon's anti-busing plan. In Detroit last Friday, Humphrey congratulated the President for finally responding to the country's needs; last night in Milwaukee, Humphrey said he'd taken a closer look at the plan, and he now says that Nixon is perpetuating the issue rather than attacking the problem. Humphrey also stated that the "fine print" of the President's message to Congress differs from his televised proposal, which shows that he is tampering with the Constitution and attacking the progress which has been made towards equal educational opportunities for all. [CBS] The Supreme Court outlawed a one-year residency requirement for voters, recommending a 33-day period instead. [CBS] The Senate Judiciary Committee will send a delegation to take testimony from ITT lobbyist Dita Beard in her Denver hospital room. [CBS] Earlier this week, Life magazine reported that the Nixon administration tampered with justice in San Diego, squelching investigations in order to protect friends and supporters. Now the San Diego Evening Tribune has published a charge by former federal attorney Richard Huffman that U.S. attorney Harry Steward blocked his efforts to investigate President Nixon's campaign funds. [CBS] Two dozen prisoners escaped from a jail in Cincinnati; 19 are still at large, including four convicted murderers. [CBS] Spring rains caused flooding and damage in southeast Texas. In Houston, 300 persons are homeless in the wake of foot-deep floodwaters; no deaths have been reported. [CBS] Communists followed up rocket attacks on Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a series of raids; 75 were killed and 100 wounded in the attacks. [CBS] Four bombings occurred in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Warnings enabled police to clear the areas, and no fatalities were reported. [CBS] President Nixon continued his attack on illegal drug traffic, meeting with Turkish prime minister Nihat Erim in Washington and thanking his government for efforts to stop Turkish farmers from growing opium poppies. The President signed a bill to set up a Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention, and warned bureaucrats that heads will roll if a better effort to solve the drug problem is not made.The report of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse has been sent to the President, who will continue to oppose the legalization of marijuana no matter what the commission recommends. Dr. Robert Egebert, the administration's advisor on health, said that halting heroin traffic is only half of the solution to the drug problem and that the real goal should be to find out why people take drugs. [CBS] Despite warnings, Americans smoked 555 billion cigarettes last year, which the Agriculture Department stated is the largest number ever. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 934.00 (-7.15, -0.76%)
S&P Composite: 106.69 (-0.90, -0.84%)
Arms Index: 1.50

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	286	2.26
Declines	1,199	14.18
Unchanged	277	2.17
Total Volume		18.61

* in millions of shares

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*
March 20, 1972	941.15	107.59	16.42
March 17, 1972	942.88	107.92	16.04
March 16, 1972	936.71	107.50	16.70
March 15, 1972	937.31	107.75	19.46
March 14, 1972	934.00	107.61	22.37
March 13, 1972	928.66	107.33	16.73
March 10, 1972	939.87	108.37	19.69
March 9, 1972	942.81	108.94	21.46
March 8, 1972	945.59	108.96	21.29
March 7, 1972	946.87	108.87	22.64