News stories from Saturday August 24, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Leading agricultural experts believe that the United States has substantial reserves of agricultural resources that could help feed the world's hungry if there were sufficient changes in traditional federal farm policy. Exploitation of anything approaching the nation's full potential, however, would require enormous investments in land, resources and technology. This would have to be stimulated by government action and a change in federal farm policy, which has never involved an active role in stimulating farm expansion. Virtually no one foresees such a reversal. [New York Times]
- Unusually close control over lines of command during the last days of the Nixon administration was maintained by Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was done to insure that no unauthorized orders were given to the military units by the White House. A senior Pentagon official said that the decision to monitor closely all orders from any source was made by Mr. Schlesinger in consultation with Air Force Gen. George Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to prevent any of a series of hypothetical situations developing. The official said that Mr. Schlesinger began to worry about the situation when it became clear to him in late July or early August that Mr. Nixon's impeachment or resignation seemed "inevitable." [New York Times]
- With an admonition and a promise, President Ford signed into law a bill establishing a special agency to monitor wages and prices. He warned that the agency, to be called the Council on Wage and Price Stability, must not be expected to provide "an instant answer or an immediate panacea" for inflation, and he promised that the council's formation was not to be regarded as a preliminary step to establishing another system of mandatory wage controls, The council's function, Mr. Ford said, was only to give "guidance in very broad terms to management and labor so they don't take advantage of a free economy in this critical situation." [New York Times]
- Greek officials in Athens sought to clarify and soften the sudden statement of Foreign Minister George Mavros that Greece would accept a Soviet proposal for an international conference on the Cyprus issue. An official spokesman said that Greece endorsed the Soviet plan "in principle" but would make further suggestions to Moscow's Ambassador in Athens on Monday. In an interview, a senior government official said that the forum in which Greece pursued negotiations over Cyprus "is not important for us." Moscow has proposed a conference of all 15 members of the United Nations Security Council, in addition to Greece, Turkey, the Greek Cypriotes and Turkish Cypriotes. [New York Times]
- Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany warned the Ford administration that extreme measures to curb inflation in the United States could seriously disrupt the world economy. In an interview in Bonn, Mr. Schmidt, who had been West Germany's Finance Minister, recognized the need for anti-inflationary measures in the United States, but he appealed for day-to-day consultation among the major industrial powers to avoid unemployment and recession. "There is a danger," he said, "that if the United States as a whole goes deflationary, this will spread inevitably to the world markets." [New York Times]
- Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the nominal leader of insurgent forces in Cambodia, believes that President Ford is free to bring about peace in Cambodia quickly because he is not bound by obligations of former President Nixon. In an interview, the prince appealed to Mr. Ford to end American aid to the government of Marshal Lon Nol in Phnom Penh, which would then quickly collapse, he said. [New York Times]
- The International Air Transport Association has proposed an average increase of 10 percent in the air fares on scheduled international routes over the North Atlantic effective Nov. 1. It estimates that the increase would range from 7 percent for first class up to 20 percent for the cheaper excursion fares. The increase is subject to government approval. The association, which has a membership of 111 airlines, also proposes an "early bird" discount plan for individual travelers provided the ticket is purchased 60 days before the flight. The general fare increase would remain in effect until March 31, 1976. The airlines are seeking the fare rise to meet the increasing cost of fuel and other rising expenses. [New York Times]