News stories from Thursday March 7, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Six persons were indicted on charges stemming from the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. John Ehrlichman and Charles Colson were among those indicted. G. Gordon Liddy, Eugenio Martinez, Felipe de Diego and Bernard Barker were also indicted; unindicted co-conspirators include Egil Krogh, David Young and E. Howard Hunt. Colson insisted that he's innocent and threatened to expose national security secrets in the course of his defense. The pressure on Ehrlichman to plea bargain is increasing.
Today's new indictments only added to the existing troubles for the Cubans who were involved in Watergate. Eugenio Martinez and Virgilio Gonzales had been released from prison after serving time for their part in the Watergate break-in. Now Martinez has been indicted again. Martinez said his lawyer will fight the case to its end; DeDiego stated the break-in was justified; Barker indicated that all three Cubans to plead not guilty because their orders were presented to them as being a matter of national security.
[CBS] - House Judiciary Committee members complained that presidential attorney James St. Clair was attempting to limit the scope of their impeachment investigation. St. Clair's letter to the committee ignored some of its requests for evidence. Representative Robert Drinan declared that the committee will establish the criteria for impeachment, not the President or St. Clair, and he called for subpoenaing the requested evidence. But committee counsel John Doar and chairman Peter Rodino urged a delay of the subpoena so Drinan withdrew his motion. Republican Representative Tom Railsback said he will support subpoenaing more material if needed. Doar warned that a subpoena is inevitable if St. Clair refuses to turn over necessary documents, and the Republican counsel agreed with Doar. [CBS]
- The prosecution presented what it considered damaging testimony in the Maurice Stans-John Mitchell trial in New York City. Prosecution witness Harry Sears testified for a third day regarding Robert Vesco's secret contribution to the Nixon re-election campaign and how it was handled by Mitchell and Stans. [CBS]
- The Diamond International Match company and its Vice President pleaded guilty to making illegal corporate contributions to President Nixon's campaign and to the campaign of Senator Edmund Muskie. [CBS]
- In a sign that inflation may be abating, the Labor Department reported that wholesale prices rose only about a third as much last month as they had in January. [New York Times]
- A day after settling the coal miners' strike, Britain's new Labor government announced that the three-day work week would end at midnight tomorrow. The move came amid indications that other unions were beginning to press for new contracts in view of the 35 percent wage increase granted the miners. Speculation that the Wilson government would be unable to hold the inflationary line against union demands led to a weakening of the pound and a further decline of stock prices.
Diplomats in Brussels are predicting that the change in the British government may spell further stagnation for the already troubled European Common Market. The diplomats expect Prime Minister Wilson to carry out his campaign pledge to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership in the Common Market.
[New York Times] - Secretary of State Kissinger said he would recommend a presidential veto of the trade bill if the Senate upheld the House version, which ties trade credits and improved tariffs for the Soviet Union to the removal of Moscow's barriers to emigration. [New York Times]
- East and West Germany took a decisive step toward normal relations by agreeing to establish permanent diplomatic missions in each other's capitals. The accord was reached after East Germany made a major concession by agreeing to let Bonn represent West Berlin. [New York Times]
- An unprecedented general strike in Ethiopia put increasing pressure on the new government to produce, or at least promise, prompt economic and social reform. The strike by the Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions representing 80,000 to 100,000 workers was taken as an indication that Emperor Haile Selassie's agreement to adopt a new constitution with a more democratic government was being received coolly by many Ethiopians. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 869.06 (-10.79, -1.23%)
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 6, 1974 | 879.85 | 97.98 | 19.14 |
| March 5, 1974 | 872.42 | 97.32 | 21.98 |
| March 4, 1974 | 853.18 | 95.53 | 12.27 |
| March 1, 1974 | 851.92 | 95.53 | 12.88 |
| February 28, 1974 | 860.53 | 96.22 | 13.68 |
| February 27, 1974 | 863.42 | 96.40 | 18.73 |
| February 26, 1974 | 859.51 | 96.00 | 15.86 |
| February 25, 1974 | 851.38 | 95.03 | 12.90 |
| February 22, 1974 | 855.99 | 95.39 | 16.36 |
| February 21, 1974 | 846.84 | 94.71 | 13.93 |