Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 5

ALL EDITIONS A4 SmL.Uaj21.lS7t David Ottoway The Arizona. Republic Saudis Fear Growing Soviet-Cuban Influence EUGENE CPUIXIAM 1889-1975 Publisher MNAPC1X1AM Publisher FREDQUC S. MAKQUARDT Editor BOBEBT J. EAKLT -i ilsofinz Editor ai i a t' J-r Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is, There Is Liberty-H Corinthians 3:17 Editorials Copper's 11th Hour tion's policy of non-intervention, but whether the Soviet policy of massive involvement in the internal affairs of African countries will go on unchallenged. Saudi Arabia is rich In oil and dollars and the situation "is not a financial remarked Saud, who describes his kingdom as a "small country" of limited defense means.

Something more than verbal protest from the United States has become "a necessity," he added. The Saudis are stepping up their financial assistance to pro-Western African states threatened by the escalating Soviet-Cuban presence in Africa. It is not known by outsiders here exactly how much of the estimated $6.6 billion Saudi Arabia distributed in aid last year was earmarked for African countries. It is likely, however, that the amount easily surpassed the $350 million given out by the United States, making the Saudis an important asset in American efforts to stem the Soviet-Cuban tide on the continent WITH THE United States In-creasingly dependent on Saudi oil and backing for the besieged dollar, Washington can no longer afford to ignore the pressure from Riyadh. It has placed the Carter administration in the difficult position of having to reconcile the demands of its new black African allies with those of its most important Arab oil partners.

While these Arab states tend to view Africa mainly as a new Cold War theater and the soft underbelly to their own exposed lands, much of black Africa is preoccupied with the problem of containing local forces threatening the national unit of various countries RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, America's most important ally in the Red Sea region, is becoming one of the sharpest over-' seas critics of what it regards as the Carter administration's policy of courting favor with black Africa by refusing to meet head-on the growing Soviet-Cuban challenge. As the Saudis see it, the Soviet Union has established its clear intention of intervening wherever possible all over Africa and. the surrounding region. This, they make clear in their mild-mannered, soft-spoken way, Is a direct threat to the Saudi kingdom that cannot be dealt with merely by verbal moral protests from Washington. "It has been shown that this thing grows," said Prince Saud Faisal in a recent interview, referring to Soviet and Cuban intervention in various African countries.

"When Angola came, it was said to be a unique situation but it repeated itself in Zaire and in Ethiopia. So It does spread." The recent coup in Afghan Sunday istan, resulting in the establishment of a IS communist-, dominated government there, has only served to confirm the Saudis' worst fears about Soviet intentions. With thousands of Cuban troops just across the Red Sea In Ethiopia and a strong Soviet-Cuban presence in South Yemen, there is a growing sense of encirclement here. All this helps to explain why the Saudis are pressing the Carter administration to adopt a more aggressive posture in Africa, including an increase in military assistance to moderate Arab and black' African states, and even hinting at the need for a direct American intervention to counter the expanding Soviet-Cuban military presence. At this point, it appears that Saudi Arabia distributes more aid in black Africa than the United States.

THE REAL issue, according to Saud, Is not the Carter administra Victor Riesel a rocs ceivable basis would they have for intervening in that area?" For the Saudis, the primary issue at stake in Ethiopia is not the preservation of its territorial Integrity against a separatist movement, which is the view most black African nations hold and have impressed on the Carter administration. Rather, it is in the Saudi view the massive intervention of the Soviet Union in the internal affairs of an African country, this time one that could easily serve as a springboard into the Arabian peninsula. As a first step, the Saudis clearly want the Carter administration to step up their military assistance to moderate African and Arab countries with Soviet-backed neighbors, such as Kenya, Zaire and Sudan. "If threatened countries are left alone, then there is no hope," said Saud. "If they are not given arms when they want to fight, if are not given the opportunity do so, then we are really in a hopeless situation." THE SAUDIS seem to be convinced that the next arena for: a major Soviet intervention will be southern Africa.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to open an embassy in Zambian capital of Lusaka and probably provide financial assistance to that economically hard pressed country. Saudi Arabia also is providing millions of to the special million Arab fund in support of Rhodesian nationalist Patriotic Front, apparently hoping to offset Soviet and Cuban influence inside guerrilla alliance. There are also reports in Salisbury that Arab money is going to the new Rhodesian government, although it is not clear which countries are supplying The Saudis also are financing Sudanese and Egyptian arms purchases in the West, the Moroccan and Mauritanian war the -Soviet-backed Polisario liberation movement in the old Spanish Sahara, and various pro-Western African states, like Zaire, that are now in desperate financial straits. -TteWMkioitoaPat Arid More such as AFL-CIO vice oreslricnt Al rpHE beleaguered copper indus-X try apparently will get a half a loaf of tax relief out of the current session of the state Legislature. Gov.

Bruce Babbitt has vetoed' a bill shaving the severance tax on copper from 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent for two years. He wants the relief for only one year, and unless the Legislature overrides his veto, the one-year rollback seems likely. But the $10.2 million savings to copper and the equal loss in taxes to the state is not the lifeline that'll save the troubled industry, which produces 50 percent of the nation's supply just in Arizona. Copper is really hurting be of the disparate economics and operating rules between US. copper producers and overseas per producers.

In the United States, copper Is selling for about 64 cents a pound but it's costing more than 70 cents a pound to produce. Of that 70 cents, at least 10 cents can be attributed to environmental controls. 3 Big Labor Chieftains Want More MASON WALSH Asstsunt Publisher PAT MURPHY Editorial Pigt Editor of foreign imports is even higher. Reluctantly, the industry is seeking drastic action. The International Trade Commission will hold hearings beginning tomorrow in Tucson to decide whether: The VS.

government should impose higher tariffs on foreign-produced copper to stabilize prices. 'The federal government should reduce imports through quotas. fOr, a combination of both. If the copper Industry had greater control of its pricing structure, drastic government ac tion would be unwise. But, unlike virtually any other heavy industry, copper is at the mercy of gov ernment.

Items: fits multimillion-dollar annual expenditures for environmental controls stem from irreversible government policy. In Arizona, its payment of taxes on 60 percent assessed property valuation is the highest or any tax category in uie state. No other major Arizona indus try cattle, cotton or agriculture pays a special severance tax on products sent irom the state. fit receives no government suostaies, as go foreign producers. There Is a special crisis in Arizona copper.

If it fails, more than an industry will fail without copper's tax and income contributions to the state's economy, state government and schools would suffer painfully. The trade commission, and Arizonans of every political and economic persuasion, need to be disturbed. $50 Million DV Ot ful of passersby. Meanwhile, trains have been using a much smaller new terminal nearby, and it is grossly overcrowded with passengers and rolling stock. To complete the total Visitors Center program, Congress would have to appropriate another estimated $50 million and then-there's no certainty it will ever gain any popularity.

But some enlightened bureaucrats in the Department of the Interior have come up with an idea: Why not turn the Visitors Center back into a train station, which Washington needs? One of Interior's major-domos, Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard R. Hite, confessed it might not be a bad idea. "We've certainly had our share of screwups." If only all the screwups just cost a measly $50 million. For Spy-te? charges of spying. Besides, tmaybe there's more than Just irony in the "007" license plate on Yakovlev's car.

In 1946, a clerk in the Soviet consulate in New York City hurriedly left the United States and returned to Russia when investigations began into Soviet The same clerk was named in absentia as a co-defendant in the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who stole atomic secrets for Russia. The clerk's name was Yakovlev. Then, in 1966, Kenya expelled a Soviet citizen for allegedly being engaged in "clandestine operations.8. His name was Aleksandr Yakovlev. Perhaps the "007" license plate In Canada will remind Canadians that, there's more to Yakovlev than meets the spy er, eye.

and that of ending white rule in southern Africa. On both counts, the Soviets and Cubans have suddenly emerged as black Africa's most important allies. The growing disagreement between Washington and Riyadh over the Carter administrations' new Africa policy came to a-head last year over the US. refusal to provide Somalia with arms after President Mohammed Siad Barre fect the administration had knee-capped the public employees. He referred to the 5.5 percent celling on federal workers next pay increase.

And from Murray Finley, president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers, came soft sarcasm. James J. Kilpatrick a la fr ol fr ct ID lil tr It d. in ci le ii hi ti SI a i ii tl a 1( tl il ti i xt ot 1 i Prince Saud: Wants Action cut most of his ties with the Soviet Union and broke relations, with Cuba. The Saudis had been encouraging the United States to do more to wean Somalia away from the Soviet bloc for years before the Somali-Ethiopian war led to the break with Moscow.

They were deeply disappointed when the split came and there was no "positive answer" from Washington, as Saud put it. WASHINGTON found itself under enormous pressure from its black African allies not to reward Soma-lia because it was regarded as a flagrant violator of Ethiopia's borders. Pro-Western Kenya, another neighbor fearing Somalia's territorial ambitions, was particularly insistent that the Carter administration reject Somalia's request for military assistance. The malaise in the special Saudi-American relationship is deepening over the lack of a strong U.S. response to the expanding Soviet-Cuban presence in the Red Sea region.

"It is in principle a threat to the independence and security of our region and directly a threat to the independence and security of our country," said Saud. "What con MACNELLY, Richmond NlwvlMdW Finley said he had a convention upcoming and that he'd be defeated for re-election if he went to his delegates and urged them to return to their constituencies demanding decelerated wages. There were others around the table who had conventions around the bend matter. Interior's lawyers regard the bottom of the sea on the Outer Continental Shelf as federally owned land. These are the issues for which lawyers are born.

The pending regulations are only part of the melancholy story. Within the Department of Interior is a small operation known as the Federal Antiquities Program of the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Charles M. McKinney, manager of the program, wants to see Congress re- write the 1906 Antiquities Act in ways that might take treasure seekers clean out of business, McKinney's motives are the very best motives. As a professionally1 trained archeologist, he is concerned at the "looting" and "pillage" of undersea wrecks.

1 IDEALLY, says the gentleman, federal law would halt all treasure operations until the known wrecked ships could be inventoried. Salvors then could apply for federal permits for exploration. Again, ideally, treasure operations would be conducted through qualified foundations or institutions of higher learning, under the supervision of professional marine archeologists. The retrieved artifacts would become federal property, but the salvors would be compensated for their time and equipment, and they even they to just the will $12 the the it. Heaps, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store union.

Its largest affiliate is the National Hospital Union. Its local 1199 has some 50,000 members in New York City. Remember that one? It struck for 10 days in the heat of the 1976 summer and picketed the Democratic National Convention. Its contract is up on July 1. And it plans to strike all voluntary hospitals which would paralyze practically all'; of New York's medical facilities.

Heaps couldn't return and urge the "Martin Luther King Jr. to-j, decelerate. Tin And Strauss didn't doJhls home- work. He had positioned, labor 'lt chiefs in the middle between the 5 United Mine Workers39 percent jf tract and the negotiations of Teamsters who want to top that. That's how it went in the old Indian Treaty Room.

No treat from the ')-chiefs pledging to attempt to control the restless rank-and-file who forever want more. Not only does the booming overseas: copper industry in Africa and South America pay lower wages, but foreign governments have yet to create environmental regulations. As a consequence, foreign producers are flooding the American market with copper and driving prices downward. Last year, 20 percent of all domestically consumed copper 'came from overseas whereas foreign copper accounted for only 6 percent of U.S. consumption iust seven years ago.

Since the beginning of this year, the percentage' A Measly AS federal blunders go, the $50 million mistake made in with the Union Station hardly rates a second thought Why, it would take 3,200 years of $50 million blunders to just equal the next budget of Health, Education and Welfare. But the mistake is worth a postmortem for reasons other than It is a commentary on the planning skills of federal bureaucrats and congressmen who also believe they have the skills to manage the nation's economy into Utopian perfection. The story starts 10 years ago, when the federal government de-. cided that the monstrous Union Station in Washington was an anachronism. Turn it into a national Visitors Center.

So, $50 million later, the former train station often is as empty as a barn. Its planned garage is only half finished. And elaborate audio-visual information shows constructed for visitors go A License RUSSIA'S ambassador to Canada, Alexander Yakovlev, is sore at the Canadian government, and doubly sore at the Canadian press for the comedic treatment given to his new diplomatic license plate number. Ottawa handed Yakovlev a plate' with the numerical designation of "007." That's the code assigned to James Bond, the fictional British i "Why don't you write about something more serious," Ambassador Yakovlev demanded of the Canadian press when it publicized the irony in the license plate number- What's he complaining about?" The Canadian public has been treated to too much seriousness about the Russians lately. Maybe it's time for a laugh at the Russian's expense.

Only last February, Canada ex-I pelled 13 Soviet diplomats on Bureaucrats Dip Into WASHINGTON Even the walls of the old Indian Treaty Room in the Old Executive Office Building hadn't heard such tough talk as went on between the president and the leaders of the tribe known as the American labor movement as was heard a fortnight ago. Not the least of the expletives were those which sputtered forth from the special inflation fighter Robert Strauss. At one point, shortly after Jimmy Carter walked out, a sadder man wiser in the ways of US. labor chiefs, Strauss shouted, "Why can't we have a statement backing the president? Why in hell can't you give me one?" That was for starters. After about an hour, he snorted something about an appointment and rushed from the room without a treaty having gotten the treatment and having bluntly been told why.

Strauss, discovered he was a semiskilled conciliator when he tried to hard cop and bold bargainer after Carter had unsuccessfully attempted a soft sell. At precisely 9 a.m., the president walked into the room, around which sat Washington's senior of seniors, AFL-CIO chief George Meany and 28 of his high command. IMMEDIATELY, Carter began discussing inflation and the need to decelerate the whole economy with special emphasis on wages. The chief of union chiefs said, yes, they were against inflation; but he didn't trust big business; prices would stay up; the coal miners' high-cost contract shouldn't be the base for future labor pacts and he reminded the president that it was negotiated in the White House. So, no commitment on cutting back the rate of wage demands.

If Meany was Carter's least favorite labor man in the past the still sharp-tongued octogenarian was more so that morning. The president listened politely. Then he offered a few more words and left That's when Strauss poured it on. He helled and damned and pounded the table while other presidential advisers listened to the oratory of a professional conciliator. Meany took him on, too.

After a respectful wait for labor's elder of elders, the other labor leaders went into battle. Jerry Wurf, a street orator himself and now the head of the AFL-CIO's biggest union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said in ef The Sea' might have first claim to anything the. government didn't warft to The response to all that is: oh, dear." If any such rules, regulations and laws had been in effect in 1966, when treasure salvor Melvin Fisher began his search for the Atocha, the search never' would have begun. Treasure hunters are members of that rare breed identified as adventurers, they are driven by danger, excitement and dreams of Spanish gold. Such men are not made for the filling out of forms.

In Fisher's case, it was his own' skill, his own luck and his own initiative that put together a small syndicate of investors to search for the wrecked Atocha. The galleon went down some- where off the Florida coast in a hurricane in the late summer of 1622. Fisher and his devoted team found the wreck in 1971. They spent $2 million and recovered gold, silver' and armament valued at S6 million. From the time of Fisher's discovery, our.unromantic, skinflinted government has been trying to claim the treasure trove as property.

Federal lawyers have Cited the Antiquities Act, the Abandoned. Property Act and the "prerogative rights of the king of England." And so it "goes; Not muchwild advehtiire remains on land or sea. If. the bureaucrats have their the "not much" will dwindle to even less. WASHINGTON Judge Walter P.

Gewln of the 5th US. Circuit Court waxed eloquent a couple of months ago in the case of. the wrecked Spanish galleon Atocha. "This action," he- wrote, "evokes all the romance and danger of the buccaneering days in the West Indies." Alas for romance and danger and buccaneering too. The cold and clammy hand of the federal bureaucracy even now is reaching out to suppress the buccaneering spirit Gewin's opinion, rebuffing some ingenious claims advanced by the Department of the Interior, was filed on March 13.

Less than a month later, on April 10, the department promulgated some proposed regulations. The regulations wouldn't exactly Gewin's opinion, but they would broaden the application of the American Antiquities Act of 1906. The general idea is to extend the department's authority over artifacts found on lands owned or controlled by the government of the United States. The word "artifact" Would be redefined to include "vessels" and "ships armaments," very few of which are found on federally owned "lands," but no i i..