The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 4

THE COURIER-JOURNAL, TUESDAY fEBRUARY IS, 1972 o-fault backers are grilled harshly by Senate committee v. called no-fault bills before this legislature," O'Rourke said. "These high first-party limits are needed to create the cost savings needed -to offer the rate reduction. This is true because the more accident victims who are compensated entirely for their economic loss, the less victims there will be who must become adversaries to be satisfied in their economic loss." Cautions against two-year study William L. Martin, regional manager for the American Insurance Association, criticized limited insurance-reform proposals drafted by the Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky and the Kentucky Bar association and urged adoption of SB 176.

He also cautioned the committee members against proposing a two-year legislative study. "A study will mean that Kentucky cannot have the benefits of no-fault until after the 1974 legislature," Martin said. "And very probably- the earliest such a law could take effect would be 1975. Are Kentucky motorists to be denied help for three years or more?" In all, more than 25 witnesses testi-' fied at the hearing in a crowded state Capitol meeting room. Committee chairman William A.

Logan and other members of the committee made the point, in vigorous questioning, that there is no proof that no-fault would provide benefits more satisfactorily or reduce insurance costs. No-fault laws have been adopted by Massachusetts and five other states. companies" who would benefit financially by such a system. Haddad said large sums of money "have been harvested by companies through the drastic reduction in claim payments under no-fault insurance." Attorneys who have been the chief critics of no-fault throughout the country were plentiful at yesterday's hearing. Seven of the eight members of the Judiciary Committee are lawyers, as are many of those who testified.

Among them were Victor E. Ewen, president-elect of the Louisville Bar Association, and Neil Hecht, a law professor at Boston University in Boston, Mass. Ewen said adoption of a no-fault plan must be made, "at a sacrifice of some cherished rights." He suggested a two-year study by the Legislative Research Commission before any plan is adopted, and he said: "I don't believe this' committee and the General Assembly of Kentucky will allow themselves to be pressured by the insurance industry, The Courier-Journal or, for that matter, the lawyers into taking hasty action." Prof. Hecht, who said he was invited to testify by the Kentucky Bar Association, criticized the no-fault system in Massachusetts the only state that has had some form of no-fault for as long as a year. Hecht said that the bodily-injury portions of the Massachusetts auto insurance premium which is the only part that has been under no-fault since Jan.

1, 1971 may have gone down. But other By LARRY WERNER Courier-Journal Stall Writer FRANKFORT, Ky. Supporters of no-fault auto insurance faced harsh questioning from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and criticism from fellow witnesses yesterday during a six-hour hearing on the controversial insurance system. Icommittee members and witnesses questioned the no-fault advocates on whether the new auto insurance plan would reduce premium rates as promised, afrd whether Kentucky motorists would bf sacrificing the valuable right to sue lit exchange for unproven claims that no-fault would provide prompt payments tft-accident victims. Receiving most of the scrutiny at yesterday's hearing was Senate Bill 176, Introduced by Sen.

Joe Stacy, D-West Liberty; That bill comes closest of all legislation under consideration in Frankfort to. the true no-fault concept of paying benefits quickly to a policyholder without lengthy lawsuits to determine fault. The bill was attacked as "misleading" by some, "discriminatory" by others and "unconstitutional" by many of those who testified. But the no-fault proposal also won the enthusiastic support of several speakers including representatives of te American Insurance Association and the Kentucky Association of Mutual Insurance Agents. lit addition to those who spoke for or aainst the Stacy no-fault bill, a number of witnesses had come to promote one of the four other insurance-reform pro- Jefferson County legislators are urged to support electronic-voting proposal J-.

The Courier-Journal Bureau pANKFORT, Ky. Jefferson County's legislative delegation yesterday-was urged to support a proposed bill that would permit "electronic voting systems" in Kentucky. Terry Holland, a registered lobbyist and Louisville public relations executive, explained that an "electronic voting Bill to House goes Senate votes guidelines for juvenile felon cases HOUSE SPEAKER Norbert Blume pauses during a busy day to take a look over the interior of the state Capitol building. School-building boundaries bill is introduced Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. A bill that would allow a school district to build a school outside its boundaries under certain conditions was introduced yesterday by Rep.

Darvin Allen, D-Royalton. The proposal's preamble states that as urbanization increases and districts become more densely populated, available sites will diminish. It says that artificial school boundaries "result in an inefficient utilization of state and local school funds and facilities." Allen's bill provides for the outside-boundary arrangement only if 75 per cent of registered voters or property owners in the adjacent area petition the school board for it. A bill introduced by Rep. Charlotte McGill, D-Louisville, would provide subsidies for families that adopt hard-to-place children in state Child Welfare Department custody.

The money would come from Welfare Department funds and the department would set the standards for adoption. Sen. Tom Mobley, D-Louisville, offered two proposals related to automobile inspection. One requires every automobile dealer to inspect used vehicles before he sells them and provides penalties for violations. Sticker-spot would change The other eases the current require--ment that a state inspection sticker be placed on the lower right-hand, portion of the windshield.

It substitutes "an appropriate location on the vehicle as designated by regulation." Sen. Tom Garrett, D-Paducah, offered a measure that would prohibit municipally owned electric distribution systems using Tennessee Valley Authority power from deducting the 3 per cent utility tax as a credit on "in lieu of" taxes to local governments. The bill would also prevent deduction of the sales tax when computing the "in lieu" payments. Sen. Georgia Davis, D-Louisville, introduced a bill that would make the late Martin Luther King's birthday (Jan.

15) a state holiday. Panel scheduled to start redisricting of Senate parts of the premium have gone up, he said. "And the over-all costs have actually risen," he said. He said his state's no-fault plan is a "lamentable change and a dubious reform." Criticism is countered Countering the criticism were several insurance-company spokesmen. Eric S.

Tachau, who headed the committee that drafted SB 176, claimed that his bill could provide Kentucky motorists savings of "approximately $15 million a year." He said the savings would come not only immediately from the required 10 per cent reduction in premiums and near-elimination of the need for uninsured motorist and medical payments coverage, but also from savings in future years that would result from: (Reduced payments by insurance companies to claims investigators and attorneys now employed to determine fault. Reduced payments to accident victims for "nuisance pain and suffering claims on the small accidents." Also speaking in behalf of SB 176 was Edward O'Rourke, a Louisville insurance agent and spokesman for the Kentucky Association of Mutual Insurance Agents. "The first-party or no-fault benefits set out in Senate Bill 176 are far and away higher than any first-party benefits included in any of the other so- Stall Photo by Bill Luster developed and passed by the committee no later than March 1. He said that would still give the legislature two weeks to consider the new measure before it adjourns March 17. Electric-service bills up for House hearing The Courier-Journal Bureau FRANKFORT, Ky.

A public hearing on bills to divide the state into exclusive-service areas for electric power suppliers has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in the House chamber hore, Sen. William Gentry, D-Bardstown, announced yesterday. The hearing will be conducted jointly by the Senate and House committees on Public Utilities and Transportation. The hearing will cover Senate Bill 190 and House Bill 330, which include the service-area proposal, and SB 188, concerning interconnection agreements and condemnation procedures for city-owned utilities, Gentry said.

entry. A third, a narrow dirt lane behind Paddy McLaugh's bakery, appears to be unwatched. The army could easily breach the Free State's defense, of course. But political pressure, particularly since "Bloody Sunday," almost certainly rules out an attempt to re-establish Belfast's suzerainty. Recently the army went to great lengths to apologize when a newly arrived unit took a wrong turn and headed into the Free State.

Apparatus still exists Although the IRA has won military control of Free Derry, vestiges of the old state apparatus still exist. Mailmen still make their rounds, and the "lollopop men" pensioners who guard school crossings are still on duty. Up in Creggan Estate, a modern slum built above the Bogside and part of the "liberated" area, there is still bus service. It stopped for a while, but the IRA and the city of Londonderry entered into an agreement, as between any two sovereign bodies, that got it going again. The IRA promised to protect the buses, a number of which had been burned in the Creggan.

There has been no problem since. Politically, Free Derry is still in the embryo stage of development. The local deputy to the Stormont, the Northern Irish parliament, is John Hume, a Social Democrat and Labor Party man. Hume, along with other Catholic has been boycotting the Stormont ever since the internment order of last Anmist under which the government can hold suspected terrorists without trial. The Kentucky Legislature posals that have been introduced in the 1972 Kentucky General Assembly.

One speaker representing the American Mutual Insurance Alliance even Offered to throw another bill into the already-congested no-fault hopper. Basically, no-fault insurance provides payment to accident victims by their own insurance company, rather than the insurer of the motorist determined to be at fault. But no-fault plans differ in the amount of benefits provided and most significantly in the degree to which they limit or discourage suits to determine blame. On one end of the scale is SB 176, which would require all Kentucky motor-ists to purchase insurance that would provide without regard to fault unlimited medical expenses, up to $36,000 in lost income and $1,000 in funeral costs. system" would replace voting machines with a computer-like operation by which voters use- "punched cards" that are automatically tabulated when the polls close.

Holland is a. registered legislative agent for Computer Election Systems, of Berkeley, a firm that manufactures electronic voting equip- judge, who is the county judge or his appointee, on the basis of whether it would be in "the best interest of the child and of the The bill also would require release of the juvenile on bail unless the prosecution can prove the juvenile cannot be expected to appear or would endanger the safety or welfare of himself or the community. The Senate also passed and sent to the House: SB 145 to raise the minimum salary of court reporters in "counties containing a population of less than 150,000 and comprising a separate judicial district" from $5,000 to introduced by Sen. Garrett; passed 36 to 0. Garrett said later the bill would affect court reporters in all counties having second-class cities except Fayette County, and perhaps some counties with larger third-class cities.

SB 28 To prohibit courts from denying petitions for adoption filed by the Department of Child Welfare or licensed placement agencies on the basis of religion, ethnic or racial background; sponsored by Sen. Georgia Davis, D-Louisville; passed 33 to 0. A similar bill, SB 26, passed earlier by the Senate would apply to placements by private individuals. than the present capital of the Rockefeller Foundation. Unlike the Fulbright program, which Congress must approve every year, Japan's fund will stand on its own feet.

Interest, accruing at 7 per cent annually, will sponsor research projects and cultural exchange programs. Interest will guarantee the fund at least $1,136,363 in operating cash for the first year and twice that sum in the second year. If the ultimate goal is reached, the fund would be guaranteed $22.7 million a year. By comparison, the worldwide Fulbright program spent $35.8 million in 1970. Details being discussed Fukuda has stated that most of the money, at least at the beginning, will be used for educational exchange programs between Japan and the United States and between Japan and Southeast Asia.

Details of how the fund will be run are still being discussed, according to Takkaaki Kagawa, chief of the Foreign Ministry's cultural affairs section. A corporate foundation will be established Oct. 1, however, he said. Kagawa said the foreign minister will be given the power to "supervise" operations of the fund, but he added: "This does not mean political interference." Like the Fulbright Commission, a mixture of government officials and private citizens will be appointed by the foreign minister to a directorate. Other private citizens, possibly including non-Japanese, will serve on an advisory commission to fix jpals and programs, Kagawa said.

of as is no a to The bill also would attempt to discourage suits for recovery of accident losses, especially suits for the intangible losses known as "pain and suffering." Written into the bill is a 10 per cent reduction in premiums for all elements the auto insurance policy except for the property-damage coverages known "collision and comprehensive." On the other end of the no-fault scale SB 243, which provides for no-fault payments of small claims, but would place limitation on the right of the accident victim, or his insurance company, to sue. Many attroneys at hearing Perhaps the harshest attack on no-fault came from Louisville attorney Frank Haddad who said the concept is being pushed by "a group of selfish insurance ment. During his presentation yesterday, Holland said was appearing as a representative of the Jefferson County Governmental Study Commission. lie said there are two other firms be-' sides Computer Election Systems that manufacture electronic voting equipment and that, therefore, Kentucky could seek competitive bids if permissive legislation is passed. "The advantages of the (electronic) system are primarily the economies the system would bring," Holland said.

He said electronic voting devices are cheaper than the voting machines now used by Kentucky, are smaller and weightless. Storage would be less costly, Holland said, with the electronic equipment. Holland gave the Jefferson legislators copy of a proposed bill that would authorize any county to "purchase or lease electronic-voting systems." The bill doesn't yet have a sponsor. Some Jefferson legislators, notably Rep. Robert Hughes, D-Louisville, appeared skeptical about electronic voting.

When Holland noted that the system, as used in the precincts, weighs only about 15 pounds and "is easily carried," Hughes asked, "Is it easy to carry it away?" Holland responded, "It's light enough be stolen, if that's your implication." But he added that he believes an election even under the present system is checked essentially by the honesty of precinct officers. Legislative schedule The House will convene at 1 p.m. today, the Senate at 2 p.m. Committee meetings today: House-Senate 9 a.m. Appropriations and Revenue Committee joint hearings on budget and taxes.

House 9 a.m. Judiciary subcommittee hearing on abortion; Counties; Cities. 10 a.m. State Government; Elections and Constitutional Amendments. 11 a.m.

Business Organizations and Professions. Senate ,9 a.m. Elections and Constitutional Amendments. 10 a.m. Cities.

11 a.m. Counties. On adjournment Appropriations and Revenue. nauM 'Staff Photo by Bill Luster Law study HOMEWORK is part of being a state legislator as Rep. Sam Houston Watkins, D-Elizabeth-town, demonstrates by studying documents before a House session opens.

I The Courier-Journal Bureau FRANKFORT, Ky. Senate Bill 170, which would spell out strict criteria for transfer of felony cases from juvenile to" circuit courts, passed the Senate unanimously yesterday and now goes to the House. introduced by Sen. Tom Garrett, D-Paducah, SB 170 would prohibit transfer to circuit court "unless the juvenile court has exhausted the resources of all the agencies and facilities, including the (state) department (of child welfare), available for the rehabilitation of children, and the department shall have certified that it cannot offer any further rehabilitative treatment." bill also would require a separate hearing in juvenile court on whether the case should be transferred to circuit court, at which testimony "shall be directed toward an evaluation of the child and guided by the sole consideration of whether or not the child is amenable to rehabilitative treatment." i The transfer of a case from juvenile to- circuit court would mean the juvenile would be. treated as an adult, and would be to more severe penalties, if convicted.

i At present, transfer of cases is left to the discretion of the juvenile court The Courier-Journal Bureau FRANKFORT, Ky. The committee charged with revamping state Senate district boundaries will begin its work at a special meeting here Thursday. Sen. Wilson Palmer, D-Cynthiana, chairman of the Senate's State Government Committee, scheduled the Thursday meeting yesterday after committee members met informally to discuss U.S. District Judge Mac Swinford's decision of last July declaring Kentucky's 1971 reapportionment law unconstitutional.

In striking down that measure, adopted by the legislation in a special session last year, Swinford allowed the newly formed legislative districts to stand until the current legislative session could correct population deviations. Palmer said yesterday that he doesn't think the new Senate plan will draw new boundaries for all 38 districts. "I think we can take the bill we passed in 1971 and correct the inequities in it and make a bill that the court will accept," he said. Palmer said this procedure would probably mean drawing new boundaries for no more than five to seven districts. He also said he hopes the new bill can be Japan to set up its first cultural exchange fund Violence is accepted as a way of life in Ireland's infant Derry Free State By SAM JAMESON L.A.

Times-Washington Post Service TOKYO Japan, which has looked with envy on America's Fulbright education exchange program, has decided to, establish a major cultural exchange fund of its own. very optimistic no, ecstatic is the word for it about the program," said Dr. James Hoyt, minister for cultural affairs of the U.S. embassy here. Hoyt also is chairman of the Fulbright Commission in Japan.

(The new fund will put Japan in the educational exchange business on a significant level for the first time and help the hard-pressed Fulbright program. 'Already the Foreign Ministry is receiving inquiries from U.S. scholars who have heard of the fund through the Japanese embassy. a starter, the Foreign Ministry succeeded in persuading the usually tight-fisted Finance Ministry to include 5 billion yen ($16,233,766) in the fiscal 1972 budget to initiate an "international exchange fund." The Finance Ministry also took the unusual step of approving in advance a contribution of another $16.2 million for fiscal 1973. Fund would be biggest first-year contribution alone will 'give Japan an educational fund with 85 per cent more capital than any other existing fund.

The two-year allocation guarantees the fund capital of at least $32,258,000 dollars and if Foreign Minister Takeo Fukuda, who sparked the idea, has his way, the fund will eventually grow to 100 billion, yen That sum is larger By JOE ALEX MORRIS JR. L.A. Times-Washington Post Servlc LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland-The Free State of Derry hasn't got its own flag yet. For the moment, the tricolor of the Irish Republic will have to do. It hangs limply at half-staff on a corner of Roswell Street, not far from the scene of "Bloody Sunday" two weeks ago, when British paratroops killed 13 Catholics here.

That is why it's at half-staff. The Free State, according to someone's statistics, consists of 880 acres of liberated turf. Some 30,000 people, most of them Catholic, inhabit it. It centers on the Bogside, the most famous Catholic slum in Londonderry. And there is little question who runs it.

It's been several months since army patrols tried to penetrate the Bogside. The police haven't been effective here since August, 1969, when the civil war began. Law and order is in the hands of the outlawed Irish Republican Army. "It's a rough and ready sort of justice," says Father William McGaughey of St. Colum-ba's Church and a Bogside priest for a quarter-century.

City walled by slums The Free State is a walled city. Its outer perimeter consists of slum housing, and 40 of 42 entrances to it have been blocked with barricades of burnt-out cars and concrete slabs torn from the streets. "Bogside free Derry up IRA," says one sign on a barricade. IRA men, mostly sitting in Ford Cor- Hnas. their favnrite rar maintain a paro.

ful watch on the two' official ports of But Hume is a nonviolent man with little sympathy for the IRA and its tactics. The focal point of the area is a place called Free Derry Corner. It is here that bonfires are built and rallies started, where local politicians go on hunger strikes, where petitions are gotten up calling for an end to internment. Not far away is William Street, where the action started on "Bloody Sunday," and a sort of no-man's-land between the Catholics and the British army. It is on William Street, now largely bereft of inhabitants, that the Derry "ballet" takes place practically every day.

This usually begins with the Army moving a "pig," or armored personnel carrier, down William Street towards the impromptu barricade put up by the kids. A crowd, mostly in its sub-teens, begins heaving rocks. These do absolutely no damage to the pig, of course. But when the barrage gets a bit heavy, or the kids press too close, the driver and starts down the street. At the same time, soldiers squinting out of peepholes fire rubber bullets into the crowd.

These are frightening-looking projectiles about the size of a 20 mm. cannon shell and semihard. The soldiers generally fire them at the pavement in front of the youths so that they skip up and hit the legs, causing much pain but rarely any real damage. The kids strike back with more stones. They bring up shields against the bullets, ranging from garbage can lids to mattress spring frames.

When they press too closely, the army lets go some "CS" gas, a particularly un-pleasant form of tear gas. This usually drives them back effectively, then another act in the "ballet" begins. 1.