News stories from Wednesday August 30, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Republicans, whose own campaign finances are under a cloud, raised questions about Democrat finances. Republican party chairman Robert Dole asked the General Accounting Office to investigate George McGovern's political finances; Dole noted seven violations of campaign law by Democrats, saying that they have failed to report contributions and contributors. Dole specifically asked about Stewart Mott's donation.
Mott said that Senator Dole's facts are right but his conclusions are wrong. The money he has contributed that has not been reported was given during the post-convention period. McGovern campaign director Frank Mankiewicz stated that the Democratic party's books are already being audited by the GAO, and he said that Dole's accusation is like a bank robber calling the police's attention to a jaywalker.
[CBS] - Probes of Republican campaign finances continue. President Nixon's special counsel Charles Colson answered questions about the break-in and apparent attempted bugging at Democratic national headquarters. Colson was asked to explain his connection with E. Howard Hunt, the former White House consultant whose name was found in the suspects' address books. Colson denied being involved in the Watergate incident and also denied that Hunt ever had a desk in his personal office; he refused to comment on the possible involvement of John Mitchell, Maurice Stans or Gordon Liddy in the affair.
Stans, the finance chairman of the Committee to Re-Elect the President, was questioned by the House Banking Committee regarding the transfer of campaign money to a Mexican bank and then back to America; some of those funds ended up in the hands of the Watergate suspects.
[CBS] - The Justice Department reversed itself and decided that Colson should have his own attorney for the $1 million civil suit which Democrats filed in the Watergate bugging case. The Washington Post printed a memo from Colson to his subordinates reminding them that the 1972 re-election campaign is their full-time job. [CBS]
- The Nixon administration counter-attacked George McGovern regarding his new economic proposals. Welfare Secretary Elliot Richardson said that those proposals would cause tax hikes. Richardson says that he sees no conflict between his official and political roles in commenting on the merits of the McGovern plan, which he called "costly and scatterbrained". [CBS]
- George McGovern is taking his campaign to the groups which are most upset by his candidacy -- labor, Wall Street and Jews. Today, McGovern visited the New York garment district to try to win Jewish votes. Harvard sociologist Seymour Lipset said that Jews see the use of quotas as a reintroduction of what has traditionally been an anti-Semitic way of defining things. Lipset considers McGovern's support of Israel to be lukewarm at best.
President Nixon is wooing uncertain Jewish voters, and has sent Henry Kissinger to brief Jewish leaders. Speaking to the New York Board of Rabbis, McGovern claimed that when President Nixon placed a moratorium on the sale jets to Israel, he tried to reverse the administration position through Congress. He also cited the administration's votes with the Soviet-Arab bloc against Israel in the United Nations.
[CBS] - President Nixon flew to Hawaii for a summit conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, and for a conference with U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam Ellsworth Bunker. The President will also campaign while there. [CBS]
- Wholesale and retail food prices may increase. The Agriculture Department reports that the cost of raw farm products is up 1% due to the price of hogs and wheat. [CBS]
- George Wallace has left a hospital in Birmingham to return to the Governor's mansion. Wallace departed from the University of Alabama rehabilitation center after autographing pictures for hospital staff and patients. He hopes to attend the Southern Governors Conference. Wallace says that he has been recuperating and not thinking about politics. His legs remain paralyzed. [CBS]
- The Atlantic Research Corporation reported the development of a new gas called tetrafluoromethane which retards fires, is odorless and safe to breathe. [CBS]
- 1959-60 model year Cadillacs are reported to have a serious steering defect. Ralph Nader said that General Motors is refusing to recall them and he called for a Justice Department investigation. [CBS]
- Fighting was reported at Quang Tri and Que Son in South Vietnam. Saigon defenses are being strengthened in preparation for a new enemy offensive. [CBS]
- Two more American planes were lost over North Vietnam. 94 American pilots are missing in action since March. [CBS]
- Red Cross officials of South and North Korea met in Pyongyang, North Korea. Delegates hope to reunite 10 million Korean families. [CBS]
- The U.S. won two more gold medals at the Munich Olympics, in swimming and rifle shooting, for a total of seven gold, nine silver and five bronze medals.
Mark Spitz claims that he carried his shoes to the awards ceremony because he didn't have time to put them on. The shoes are a German brand which was involved in a previous Olympic scandal in Mexico City; the company later admitted paying athletes to publicize its shoes.
[CBS] - The 20th game of the world chess championship in Iceland ended in a draw. Bobby Fischer leads Boris Spassky 11½ to 8½ and needs just one more point to capture the title. [CBS]
- Senator William Proxmire charged the Air Force with letting generals retire with disability pay even though they were fit for duty and drawing flight pay just before their retirement. [CBS]
- The stock market hardly quivered after George McGovern's proposal that money earned with money (capital gains) be taxed as highly as money earned with human labor. The economy could become the most critical issue of the presidential campaign. Nixon administration economist Herbert Stein told the Washington Star that they are working on tax reform. [CBS]
- In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an anonymous telephone call led police to a bomb in a locker at the airport. A note was found, warning of a second bomb which would explode if ransom was not paid. No second bomb was found, and no further word from the bomber was received. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 957.86 (+3.16, +0.33%)
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* |
| August 29, 1972 | 954.70 | 110.41 | 12.30 |
| August 28, 1972 | 956.95 | 110.23 | 10.72 |
| August 25, 1972 | 959.36 | 110.67 | 13.84 |
| August 24, 1972 | 958.38 | 111.02 | 18.28 |
| August 23, 1972 | 970.35 | 112.26 | 18.67 |
| August 22, 1972 | 973.51 | 112.41 | 18.56 |
| August 21, 1972 | 967.19 | 111.72 | 14.29 |
| August 18, 1972 | 965.83 | 111.76 | 16.15 |
| August 17, 1972 | 961.39 | 111.34 | 14.36 |
| August 16, 1972 | 964.25 | 111.66 | 14.95 |