News stories from Sunday September 12, 1976

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

Testiness surfaced as Senator Dole once again denied that he took unreported campaign money from the Gulf Oil Company in 1970 and 1973. The Republican vice-presidential candidate's apparent annoyance came as he was persistently questioned about the allegation while on television. He insisted that he had not taken any money and that none of his assistants had taken the money, adding that if there was to be a trial he would rather it was not in the newspapers. [New York Times] Voting by computer, telephone registration with voter identification provided by voiceprint, and instantaneous election results may all he a part of the election process within 10 years. These possibilities and others were discussed at a meeting sponsored by the Federal Election Commission and the Bureau of Standards, along with ways to make an electronic polling place foolproof for both voters and candidates. [New York Times] The five hijackers of a T.W.A. jet were flown back to New York City to face federal charges of air piracy, and likely murder or conspiracy charges in New York in the death of a police bomb squad officer. The five, four men and a woman, surrendered in Paris after being told by the French they could surrender and be expelled, or face execution if they made further threats against the hostages. The bombs the hijackers said they were carrying were found to be fakes and they carried no other weapons. [New York Times] Passengers aboard the hijacked jet lived in constant fear of being killed during their 30-hour ordeal, according to a Roman Catholic Bishop who was one of them. The Bishop, the Right Rev. Edward O'Rourke, said he led the passengers in prayer and engaged in a dialogue with the hijackers, attempting to persuade them that what they were doing was wrong.Worshipers at a Croatian church collected money for the family of the police officer killed early Saturday by the hijackers' bomb, but most generally approved of the hijacking. The leadership of the Croatian National Congress, a group that seeks independence for Croatia by political means, deplored the use of violence, but said it could understand it happening for the cause. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan is faced with a problem not often met by unsuccessful national candidates -- what to do with an estimated $1.2 million in unspent campaign funds. A spokesman for the Federal Election Commission said that a portion of the surplus must be returned to the government as unspent matching funds. The rest, the spokesman said, could be converted to personal income as long as taxes are paid. [New York Times] Capital spending will be raised by 33 percent by the Chrysler Corporation next year, the company's chairman said. The chairman, John Riccardo, said the company would spend about $600 million, with more than half going for tools and the development of new products. General Motors and the Ford Motor Company had both announced earlier that they would also increase capital spending. [New York Times] Yields from new corporate bonds have declined to the lowest levels in two and a half years, and some analysts predict that they will continue to decline for several more months. The decline is seen as an unusual development, since rates normally begin to rise shortly after the economy does. However, the yields are below the rates for March-April 1975, when the recession ended and the recovery began. [New York Times] The five New York Democrats seeking their party's nomination to the Senate met for another debate. After listlessly discussing their stands on the issues, bickering broke out toward the end with Representative Bella Abzug and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the two front-runners, most often the targets. Only Ramsey Clark, referring constantly to his position papers, escaped the vituperation. The election, which has attracted little interest, is Tuesday. [New York Times] "Let the buyer beware," a long-time policy in land sales in Arizona and New Mexico, may now be a policy of the past in these fast-growing states. The Attorneys General of both, working in cooperation with other states and the federal government, have begun a crackdown on allegedly deceptive land promotions that they say have bilked mostly out-of-state buyers out of billions of dollars. [New York Times] Syria warned that unless progress was made to resolve the civil war in Lebanon, it might he forced to use its "military option." The warning was reported given to the deputy head of the Palestinian guerrilla movement in Lebanon by Syria's Deputy Defense Minister at a meeting in Lebanon. [New York Times] Most Chinese leaders have gathered in Peking for the funeral of Mao Tse-tung. It is the largest gathering of party and army leaders since the last party Congress in 1973. Analysts believe that the gathering may be used to fill some of the vacancies in top posts. The leaders gathered at a memorial service for Mao in the Great Hall of the People in Peking, the opening of a week of official mourning that will end with a mass rally Saturday. [New York Times]