The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 1

iirtiaL VOL. 242, NO. 2 LOUISVILLE, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 2, 1976 Copyright 1976, Tho Courier-Journal 38 PAGES 15 CENTS Can Americans forge a new Spirit of '76? By HENRY STEELE COMMAGER i5 Newsdey Two centuries ago, 13 states with a population less than that of Philadelphia today won their independence, created a nation, wrote a constitution, elected a federal system, set their domes- Creativity of the Revolution would have to be regained tions that constantly animated the revolu-tionary era. The Revolution was, in a very real sense, fought for posterity for those "thousands and thousands of generations" to which Jefferson appealed in his first inaugural address. Now we are scarcely able to think ahead to more than one or two generations.

We ravace the soil, pollute ths streams, use up the resources of energy; we waste the natural wealth which should belong to all generations, but may disappear with this one; we pile up debts too great for our posterity to bear; we engage in nuclear competition that is almost certain to spread ruin and perhaps end civilization altogether. Inspired leadership could perhaps change this the leadership that was so See AMERICANS PAGE 10, col. 1, this section and the beacon light of revolution among oppressed people, we are now the champions of stability: Our attitude toward revolution in China, Cuba, Vietnam, and elsewhere is pretty much that of the Holy Alliance a century and a half ago. Nor are we sympathetic to revolution, or even to change, at home. It took us a generation to catch.

up with Western Europe in providing welfare for our people; it has taken us more than a generation to catch up with other civilized countries in providing medical care for all, or in achieving some measure of equality in housing, education, penal and prison conditions. We have scarcely begun to preserve the natural resources of the earth, the waters, and the skies. This failure dramatizes a second and spectacular change: The passing of that sense of obligation to succeeding genera Today, with a population of more than 200 million, the American people are disillusioned, confused, cynical and bankrupt in political leadership, political ideas and political morality. We cannot revive the spirit of 1776. We can only hope to create a new spirit adequate to the importunate demands of 1976.

What has happened to the creativity of the Revolutionary age? The institutions that the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us have survived in greatly altered form. We still live under the Constitution of 1787; we are still a federal union; we retain the principle of the separation of powers. We still use constitutional conventions to change our state governments; we still cherish the Bill of Rights, if we do not always observe it. Government is still limited, in theory, and again in theory civil authority is still supreme over military power. Church Commentary Henry Steele Committer, the author of many tcorkt in American history, it Simpson lecturer at Amherst College, and state are separate, and religious freedom flourishes.

Ours is still legally a classless society, and we have rid ourselves of slavery, though not of racism. The most serious changes have come in the realm of the intangible. These take the form of growing disillusionment with government and with our political institutions; indifference to the "arrogance of power" at home and abroad; a readiness to acquiesce in FBI and CIA invasions of privacy and fundamental rights; indifference to wide spread corruption in government and business; and resort to secrecy that destroys the rights and the lives of Americans and others. We have lost, or forgotten, much of the "Spirit of especially the tradition and the habit of revolution itself. In science and technology, and perhaps in the arts, we are far less sympathetic to revolution than we were two centuries ago; in the realm of politics and the economy, we are positively hostile to it.

Where we were once the inspiration tic affairs in order and won the respect of all the nations of the world. They also produced the most remarkable galaxy of political leaders in their own history and perhaps in the history of the Western world. 1 'x Mine-injury reports low, study shows i if Mil .1 WW I 1 By WARD SINCLAIR Courier-Journal StaH Writer 1976, The Courier-Journal WASHINGTON Injury rates in U.S. coal mines probably are much higher than shown on official statistical tables because of shoddy reporting and inadequate policing, Interior Department investigators have found. The departmental study, completed last month, tended to confirm a long-held belief within labor and government that the safety situation is worse than official reports indicate because of unreliable statistics.

Reviewing records chosen at random from 105 mines and coal preparation plants, Interior's audit team discovered a pattern of underreporting by the companies and slipshod enforcement of reporting requirements by the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA). The auditors recommended that MESA remind companies of legal obligation to report fully on accidents and time lost by injured miners, that its inspectors double check company records and that MESA tighten its overall surveillance of the program. Robert E. Barrett, who has just taken over as MESA chief, said Monday that reforms in the reporting system and Changes in MESA's internal compilation system will be among his major priorities. "Our system just doesn't lend itself See COAL Back page, col.

1, this section nf 4v i 3 jff W. Air crash kills 82 A Lebanese Jetliner en route from Beirut to the Persian Gulf crashed into the Saudi desert, killing all 82 persons aboard Page A 9. UCLA stuns Ohio State UCLA, reversing an earlier 41-20 loss, upset top-ranked Ohio State 23-10 yesterday in the Rose Bowl Page 4. On inside pages Amusements A 14-17 Around Kentucky 3 Deaths 10 Opinion Page A 18-' Radio, Television 2t, Sports -B 4-9 Today's Living A 13 Stall Photo by Bill Luster Name change John Palmore, James Stephenson, Scott Reed, Pleas Jones, Boyce Clayton and Robert Lukowsky. Seated is the administrative director of the new, highest state court, Howard Trent.

(Story, Page 3.) Kentucky's old Court of Appeals was sworn in yesterday as the new state Supreme Court. Franklin Circuit Judge Henry Meigs administers the oath of office to justices (left to right) Marvin Sternberg, FBI shifts efforts to fight 'quality crime' rain ivon't go away Neivs analysis This is the lest of four articles on the FBI, Furnished by the National Weather Service LOUISVILLE area Rain likely with temperatures dropping later today. High, mid-40s; low, upper 20s. Cloudy, colder tomorrow with chance of snow; high, upper 30s. KENTUCKY Turning colder today with rain likely, ending later; highs, 40s; lows, 20s and low 30s.

Colder tomorrow with scattered snow flurries; highs, 30s, TENNESSEE Showers ending tonight and early tomorrow. Highs today, 50s, lows tonight, 30s. Tomorrow highs, mid-40s to low 30s. INDIANA Windy, warmer with rain today; highs, 40s, tonight's low mid 20s to low 30s. Cloudy, colder tomorrow, of snow flurries; highs, 30s.

High yesterday, 37; low, 32. Year ogo yesterday: High 46; low 31. Sun: Rises, sets, 3:34 Weotfier 'mop and details, Page 10. to 95 per cent of the workload involves crimes where the motive is not ideology but illegal profit. During the 2 12 years since Kelley took over as director, the FBI has been changing its approach to combatting crime.

Specifically, Kelley has been prodding the bureau to concentrate more and more on what he calls "quality crime" those cases and general areas of criminal ac- SeeFBI Back page, col. 2, this section By JOHN M. GOSIIKO L.A. Times-Washington Post Service WASHINGTON Tacked up on the walls of the FBI's Los Angeles field office are posters that ask: "WHAT SHALL IT BE? LAW AND ORDER OR CRIME AND CHAOS?" To Director Clarence M. Kelley and his top aides, that's a reminder of what the FBI is all about.

The FBI's only purpose, they insist, is to protect the American public from "crime and chaos." They openly fear that this point will be forgotten in the controversy raging excesses," says Deputy Associate Director James Adams. "But if we're not careful, we're going to lose in the shuffle the overall role of the FBI in law enforcement." What he means is that domestic security is only one part of the FBI's job. The FBI has built its reputation as the country's most celebrated police force through its ability to catch crooks. That's still its main function. Most of the roughly 8,600 FBI agents have never worked on a national security case.

In the bureau's various field offices, from 80 around the bureau over past abuses of its authority in domestic security investigations. "We admit that improprieties occurred, and we realize that there is widespread concern about preventing future Luron Taylor: Remembered differently in different places crete block well is a crude mural of a nude. The Players Den has four pool tables. One with a green felt cover costs 50 cents a game, the others a quarter. A sign: "Pay Before You Play." Music pounded from a stereo speaker behind the man at the counter.

He wore a gold velour hat. His threads were fine. In his shoulder holster was a white-handled pistol. As he talked, he fiddled with a rusty chain, big enough to tow a car. "Luron was all right," he said.

Three pool players, who earlier wouldn't talk about Luron Taylor, nodded in aeree- By DAVE KINDRED Courier-Journal Sports Editor LEXINGTON The West Coast Players Den is a small, dimly lit poolroom on the west side of Georgetown Street, just across from Douglass Park. Anyone looking for Luron Taylor could ask for him there. They have his picture on a shelf: He's grinning, leaning against a wall duded up in a floppy hat and bib overalls. Luron was a picture of enjoyment. "Luron was never sad, he was always jivin'," said a tall, handsome man behind a counter loaded with old copies of Playboy and Penthouse magazines.

The zine covers had been torn off. On a con for the UK team, and Robert Channels, 23, of Lexington. A fourth man was arrested and then released when police confirmed his alibi. The three have pleaded not guilty and will go to trial Jan. 19 in Fayette Cir-cuit Court.

Not many people want to talk about I uron Taylor, about who he was or what he did. Those who knew him well, such as the counterman at the Players Den, are protective of him; those he touched only See TAYLOR Back page, col. 1, this section praisal. "I've been missing him," the counterman said. "I saw him at noon in here on tlut Saturday.

He left and said he'd be back. "I never saw him again." Was the counterman surprised? "That's not unusual around here," he said. A tugboat operator found Luron Taylor's body floating in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville. about the morning of Oct. 21, which was 10 days after Taylor allegedly was kidnaped from in front of his Lexington apartment by dorm room of Sonny Collins, UK's brightest football star in decades.

Police interrogated perhaps half the football team. In time the university itself announced an investigation into possible violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations as well as UK Student Code rules. The results of that investigation have not been announced. The UK connection came with the arrest nf Elmore Stephens, 23, of Louisville, an All-America tight end on the 1974 team. Also arrested were John Bishop, 22, of Louisville, once a student manager three or four men.

A piece of cloth was tied around Taylor's neck. Death was by strangulation, a coroner's jury decided. Because one of three men later charged with Taylor's kidnaping and murder was a former All-America football player at the University of Kentucky, there was set in motion a sequence of events that has not concluded. Rumors of point-shaving by the UK team, heard for weeks before the alleged kidnaping-murder, became so widespread they assumed a reality of their own. Asked to account for their whereabouts the night of the crime, the three defendants said they spent time in the 1 ment when the counterman made his ap- if.