News stories from Friday January 5, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- New anti-hijacking controls were initiated at the nation's airports. At Rock County Airport, with only four flights daily, security was never before considered a problem. But even at this small airport in Janesville, Wisconsin, screening is now necessary for all passengers. Airport manager Jim Kerr said that the federal government should have to help out with the cost of the new controls. Screening is also necessary at large airports like O'Hare International in Chicago. Airlines want to increase ticket prices to pay for the new security measures. [CBS]
- Rallies against the Vietnam war are being planned throughout the United States for January 19-20. The biggest one is planned for Washington, DC during President Nixon's inauguration. [CBS]
- Last March President Nixon asked Congress for sweeping reorganization of the entire executive branch. He wanted to abolish seven cabinet posts and put four new ones in their places. Congress turned the President down. Now Nixon has carried out his reorganization by executive order. Without Congress' approval the President could not abolish outright seven departments, but by naming four secretaries to additional jobs as White House aides, President Nixon carried out the reorganization of his administration.
Last month Treasury Secretary Shultz was given an additional job as assistant to the President responsible for all economic programs. Today the President named Agriculture Secretary Butz to be in charge of all natural resources; Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Weinberger to oversee human resources; and Housing Secretary Lynn to handle community development. A new layer of White House aides has now been put between the President and the cabinet.
[CBS] - The White House held a breakfast for congressional leaders of both parties, at which President Nixon outlined his government reorganization and Treasury Secretary Shultz spoke about the extension of wage-price controls. The President also discussed Vietnam, but disclosed nothing not already known and allowed no questions. Senator Frank Moss said he was upset by the fact that Congress is not allowed to question the President. [CBS]
- Canada's House of Commons denounced the recent U.S. bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in North Vietnam. Australia has also condemned U.S. bombing. Some longshoremen in the U.S. are refusing to handle Australian cargo as long as Australian workers boycott American cargo in protest of the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. Australians vow that the ban on U.S. goods will last as long as the bombing continues. [CBS]
- Last year only 299 Americans were killed in the Vietnam war. Since 1961, 46,000 have been killed. [CBS]
- Farm belt congressmen are upset by Agriculture Department cutbacks of a number of rural programs. Last week Secretary Butz said that the previously promised disaster relief loans for Minnesota had been eliminated. Fifteen counties were designated disaster areas because of heavy rain in western Minnesota, and farmers were counting on low-interest emergency loans for help after suffering heavy losses. Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture John Wefald said he was shocked that the federal government is being so unresponsive to the needs of farmers. Farmers are considering a class action suit to get the loans. In a closed hearing before Congress, Secretary Butz defended the cutbacks and said that Congress' disaster relief program is too expensive. [CBS]
- A lawyer for the witnesses in the Watergate case claims that one Republican campaign official's job was altered after that official's voice was heard on the tapped telephone of a Democrat official. Attorney Charles Morgan identified the GOP official as former White House aide Harry Fleming. A spokesman for the Nixon campaign office denied Morgan's claim.
The Watergate trial will shortly begin in Washington; the judge is John Sirica. The trial may last as long as three months. Former FBI agent Alfred Baldwin, who has admitted his role in the wiretapping, will testify. Having been granted immunity from prosecution, Baldwin is the government's star witness. The five men who were arrested at the Democratic national headquarters in June -- James McCord (ex-FBI agent, 19 years in the CIA, security expert), Bernard Barker (real estate man, Bay of Pigs veteran, ex-Batista secret policeman), Eugenio Martinez (worked for Barker in Miami and for the CIA in Cuba), Virgilio Gonzales (Cuban exile, lock expert) and Frank Sturgis (anti-Castro guerrilla) -- are all being defended by the same lawyer. The grand jury also indicted G. Gordon Liddy (ex-FBI agent, ex-Treasury official, ex-White House consultant) and E. Howard Hunt (ex-CIA, ex-Bay of Pigs planner, ex-White House aide).
Judge Sirica will possibly expand the trial to broader questions with regard to Republican bugging. The prosecuting attorney is Earl Silbert, principal deputy U.S. attorney for Washington, DC. The trial promises to be the greatest drama of politics on trial.
[CBS] - The unemployment rate remained at 5.2% in December. [CBS]
- Federal and local agents broke up the largest counterfeit operation in history. Agents seized $5.5 million worth of counterfeit money near Chattanooga, Tennessee; five suspects were arrested at the scene. [CBS]
- NASA announced economic cutbacks and the termination of 700 employees. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary Laird ordered an end to compulsory religious worship at military service academies and in the armed forces. [CBS]
- Dogkeeper Hans Nielsen of Denmark refused to sell his prize pointer, "Fix", to Jackie Onassis. Nielsen said that life with her wouldn't suit Fix. [CBS]
- National and foreign dignitaries came to pay their respects to late President Harry S. Truman at a memorial service in Washington today. Margaret Truman Daniel and her husband, Mamie Eisenhower, Vice President and Mrs. Agnew, Supreme Court justices, congressmen and foreign representatives attended Truman's memorial at the National Cathedral. Rev. John Howell assisted Dean Francis Sayre and William Creighton with the service. [CBS]
- The wife and baby daughter of Democratic senator-elect Joe Biden of Delaware were killed in an auto wreck just before Christmas. Biden's two sons were injured and are still in a Wilmington hospital. Today Biden was sworn in at that hospital. Three-year-old Hunter Biden fractured his skull in the accident; 4-year-old Joseph Biden, Jr. suffered a fractured leg. Biden is the second youngest U.S. senator ever to be elected. Biden promised that if a conflict between being senator and father ever arises, he will quit his Senate job. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1047.49 (+7.68, +0.74%)
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* |
| January 4, 1973 | 1039.81 | 119.40 | 20.23 |
| January 3, 1973 | 1043.80 | 119.57 | 20.62 |
| January 2, 1973 | 1031.68 | 119.10 | 17.09 |
| December 29, 1972 | 1020.02 | 118.05 | 27.55 |
| December 27, 1972 | 1007.68 | 116.93 | 19.10 |
| December 26, 1972 | 1006.70 | 116.30 | 11.12 |
| December 22, 1972 | 1004.21 | 115.83 | 12.54 |
| December 21, 1972 | 1000.00 | 115.11 | 18.29 |
| December 20, 1972 | 1004.82 | 115.95 | 18.49 |
| December 19, 1972 | 1009.18 | 116.34 | 17.00 |