The Daily Telegram from Adrian, Michigan • 4

Washington Merrv-Go-Rouiid Somoza Demanded A Payoff From IBM i-3u- ih tr on in the future law mat wouia depend on in the future The Daily Telegram Editorial Page Tuesday March 23 1976 Page i New Car Financing Watson Except for some legal con tributions to Canadian politicians no payoffs were found A 924 Million Loan in Washington meanwhile the Inter-American Development Bank (IDA is considering a $24 4 million loan request from Nicaragua for the construction of a -uoerhighwav around Managua Such loans are supposed to benefit the poor but this one would enrich President Anastasio Somoza by additional millions For the Managua as it has bc-en dubbed would pass through acre after acre of property owned by Somoza his family and his flunkies It would be 80 per cent financed with a long-term low-interest loan from the IDA This means the American taxpayer in short wouia be supplying the Nicaraguan government with about St6 million at two per cent interest payable within 40 years The "Managua Beltway" of course would increase the value of Somoza 's personal property by millions of dollars It would be paved furthermore with concrete blocks manufactured by the National Cement Company which Somoza also owns Indeed the benefits that would redound io the dictator have so astounded IDA officials that the loan is being held up until MY JACK ANDERSON With Les Whitten WASHINGTON The president Nicaragua personally tried to squeeze bribe irom IBM in exchange ior business favors in the Central American land The story was recounted by the late Arthur Watson son of IBM's founder Watson headed IBM World Trade Corp the tune of the bribe demand Watson later ambassador to Pans was visiting the Nicaraguan captial Managua on business As he recalled it in talks with friends in Paris in 1973 he was invited in to speak with 'Somoza who was running the country" The current president of Nicaragua is Anastasio Somoza But one of those in whom Watson confided ir 1973 said it was conceivable Watson meant Anastasio brother Luis or less likely his father Anastasio Sr who was assassinated in 1956 All served ns Nicaraguan heads of state In anv case Watson said he was outraged when the Nicaraguan head of state put out his hand and "blatantly demanded a for allowing IBM to expand its facilities in Managua Watson emphatically refused saying his firm did no? do business that way A recent audit bv IBM seems to bear out There growing pressure on the govemmert stop the spread of nuclear energy Yet contingency plan has been done" allege the memo "concerning the effects ol moratorium and gradual phase-out nuclear energy The prospects for solar energy ha-beer undercut meanwhile by government's reluctance to fund research Tne government has foster the impression therefore that there w-be minor federal support for solar heath-and cooling protests the McIntyre met: "Thus they conclude that there will only marginal use of solar heating ar cooling equipment by the year 2000 ERDA is making it a self-fulfil! prophecy till BUBBLE: The Senatehas moved the brink on a bill to break up the oil dustrv but the House so far has be-satisfied mainly ith talk Now power: House Judiciary chairman Peter Roriir L)-N lias quietly asked his staff to ready if the Senate acts He has ordered a study of the effects splitting Big Oil firms into separa companies for their various par drilling pipelines refineries and fillir stations He also wants to know whetki divorcing natural gas coal and oth enterprises from Big Oil would inerea-competition and bring down prices (Copyright t96t Nicaragua enacts a tax prevent "unjust enrichment" to anyone Footnote Nicaraguan ambassador Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa acknowledged that the proposed road would pass through Soiroza property but argued that it would cross land owned by other people as well As to the IBM bribery demand the ambassador said none of the Somozas would ever have "used such methods I assure you it is a very honest family" Scvilla-Sacasa is the brother-tn-law of President Anastasio Somoza SOLAR ECLIPSE: It hard io ignore the sun but the Energy Research and Development Agency 1ERDA1 has done it In preparing a "comprehensive national plan" for energy development ERDA has ignored solar energy This oversight charges a confidential Senate memo is "politically motivated" Incredibly ERDA's low opinion of solar energy is based on studies conducted by General Electric Westinghouse and TRW which have a huge financial stake in developing nuclear energy Tne Senate memo prepared for Sen Thomas McIntyre D-NH charges that ERDA has a blind bias in favor of nuclear power Its energy plan calls for the US to increase consumption of nuclear power more than five times by 1985 Crowing Pressure ERDA appears oblivious to evidence that nuclear power may be too dangerous Today In History In growing numbers consumers are stretching out new-car payments for four years sometimes even five in the wake of price hikes which have transformed customary short-term auto loans into min mortgages Just three years ago new car financing terms for more than 36 months were virtually unavailable Now according to government estimates nearly one out of five loans are for more than three years Chrysler Corp says half its contracts in 1975 were for 42 or 48 months An explanation for the growth of long-term loans can be summed up in one word inflation finance officials say far as concerned higher prices are the sole reason" says James Madden vice president of Chrysler Financial Corp the auto maker's credit arm Since the lifting of government price controls on the auto industry in 1973 new-car prices have shot up more than $1200 on the average Those boosts in turn have meant sharply higher monthly payments which officials concede have driven many potential buyers out of the market "Let's face it a guy who went shopping for a car for the first time in three or four years and saw the sticker on a 1975 car had to be commented one industry analyst loans cut the monthly payment to something the guy can Charles Luckett an economist with the Federal Reserve Board says the average new-car loan from a finance company in 1975 was for $4100 at 13 per cent annual interest Under those terms a consumer can cut his monthly payment from $161 a month for a 30-month loan to $109 by stretching it out to 48 months In fact Luckett says the average contract length last year was 376 months with a monthly payment of S132 Total cost for the $4100 loan averaged S4960 with finance charges accounting for $860 or 21 per cent of the original loan For the auto companies which suffered through a two-year sales drought extended finance terms make it easier to sell cars But the industry may only be stealing sales from the future fear is that a 48-month contract may keep a buyer out of the market a year longer than if he had a 36-month loan" explains an official at one Big Three finance company are a lot of people who shop for a new car until paid off the old Well Done An additional salute is due the three Lenawee county high school coaches honored Saturday night in Lansing by the Michigan High School Coaches Assn It's really remarkable that three of the five coaches-of-the-vear in Michigan high schools come from Lenawee county They are Tom Saylor of Hudson in football Gail Shinall of Madison in wrestling and Larry Tuttle of Blissfield in baseball Jim Hoenig covered the banquet awards well in his column yesterday This is just one more voice saying to the three coaches from our countv thought I told you NO economizing on essentials!" Tom Tiede Military Inducements Getting Out Of Hand? Heap Big Error By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday March 23 the 83rd day of 1976 There are 283 days left in the year Today's highlight in history: On this date in 1775 Patrick Henry made a plea for American freedom in a speech before the Virginia Provincial Convention in Richmond He declared: "Give me liberty or give me death" On this date In 1534 Pope Clement VII declared valid the marriage of Henry VIII of England to Catherine of Aragon In 1868 the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in Washington He was acquitted In 1919 Benito Mussolini founded a new-political movement in Italy In 1942 the wartime program of moving Japanese-Americans from their homes on the West Coast to inland camps was begun In 1956 Pakistan became a republic but retained membership in the British Commonwealth In 1965 the first two-man American space team was shot into orbit from Cape Kennedy Fla It was the first of the Gemini series with astronauts Virgil Grissom and John Young making the pioneer flight Ten years ago: President Lyndon Johnson stated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would push ahead without France if that became necessary Five years ago: Eighty thousand farmers from six European countries marched in Brussels Belgium to demand higher prices One year ago: In South Vietnam Communist military forces were overrunning government positions on the outskirts of the old imperial capital of Hue and tightening their noose around the key city Today's birthdays Actress and business executive Joan Crawford is 68-Irish civil right leader Bernadette Devlin is 29 Thought for today: Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning the Psalms Bicentennial footnote: Two hundred years ago today the Continental Congress Bible Verse "For truly my words are not false: one who is perfect in knowledge is with you" Job 36:4 "He who would distinguish the true from the false must have an adequate idea of what is true and false" Benedict Spinoza Dutch-Jewish philosopher "1 loathe my life: I will give free utterance to my complaint I will speak in the bitterness of my Job 10:1 "We exaggerate misfortune and hap piness alike Wo are never either so wretched or so happy as we say we are Honore de Balzac French novelist Timely Quotes "Now that Dr Cassidy is safely out of Chile I can state what we have up to now deliberately refrained from publicizing This is that Dr Cassidy was tortured by the Chilean security police No British government can accept such uncivilized brutal treatment of a British subject at the hands of a foreign government" James Callaghan British Foreign Secretary reacting to the torture of a British doctor in Chile "Television the great molester ot children cannot be redeemed with the sprinkling of a few sesame seeds" Dr James Billington director of the Smithsonian Institution's International Center for Scholars in an address to the National Association of Episcopal Schools World "Oh Poopsif you shouldn't have' My very own PET ROCK!" ended a long debate by resolving in armed American ships could act privateers to seize British vessels nn ti high seas Backward Glances 10 YEARS AGO March 23 I960 Several large logs which once formed a corduroy toll road wen discovered by contractors who were digging a trench while installing raoden storm and sanitary' sewers under Wes Maumee Street Sirs Mabel Lockwood of 214 Yai Buren St Tccumseh won S3 for he successful entry in The Telegram OL Photo Gallerv contest Her photo of thi Friends Church Sunday School Class 1910 appeared in today's paper Arthur Clift of 1251 Oregon Rd win named "Kiwanian of the Month' at th1 weekly luncheon meeting at the Moos Home 25 YEARS AGO March 23 1951 Road Commissioner William Gibsui announced that a check for S42575 ha( been received from Ridgeway Townshij to pay for gravel hauling under th township aid program City and county business places close their dnors at noon in observance of Goo Friday The members of Imperial Hive attendc the business meeting in the hall on Nort Main Street Mrs White and Mr: Frank Bowen later won prizes at buncr 40 YEARS AGO March 23 1936 The Lincoln Hi-Jinks Circus conclude-its engagement at the Lincoln Schoo Saturday and a profit of about SI 00 wa reported today The money would be use-to buy shrubbery for the school lawn another school equipment In an impressive service Alycc Kortii daughter of Mr and Mrs EJ Kortie wa initiated into the Adrian Chapter of th Order of Eastern Star with her mothr who was worthy matron of the chapti presiding Carrol A Wilson proprietor of tr Wilson Electric Service today wa moving his automobile electric an carburetor service shop from 122 Maide Lane to 105 Church St the forme Lelard Garage building Riccntcnnial The Battle of Blue Licks occurred on Aug 19 1782 when Indians ambushed and defeated a pursuing force of Kentuckians Often called the 'last battle of the Revolution it was the worst defeat suffered by an American force in Kentucky during the war Daniel Boone was one of the Kentucky com manders The World Almanac recalls The Daily Telegram Published daily eirrp: Sunday a a North Winter Street Adrift!) Midi tEI Second class postage paid at the office ai A Vn Mirt 43231 under theaci of Starch 5 1S79 Edw ard leaky fvbusher And General Manager SOW AMD PORTER 3ixms Manager BCRKE GILLESPIE Executive Editor Terms of Subscription Delivered tv earner ccrts seek Sy RED where carrier service tot available Lenawee -Vcrro Washtenaw Jacksonian-M-llsdale Counties Michigan and Fulton S3? per year CO for MX tits aid so for one month By mu: any perns the outside the aScve counties Lfc so per year 82 for Jtree months one month All pay able advance S' to for Chtckilili father of two small braves and one little squaw who attend reservation school family enjoys lacrosse and Detailing experience and education Chief Bicentennial Eagle indicated that entered apprenticeship as a brave at age of 12 summers passed tests of fire water and various and sundry other He was trained he noted as chief under guidance of Great Council and Head Medicine Man began my career as chief with Seminoles where I remained two years: accepted offer from Blackfeet which 1 had to give up as feet were too light moved to Cherokees where 1 served as chief until the uprising Took offer from red brothers at Wounded Knee to assist in movement but was replaced when Brando moved in Am presently unemployed and available for work immediately Can easily handle duties but will leave cooking to squaw The communication calling attention to the error in the advertisement was jeopardized He points out that in terms of 'onstant dollars military investment spending has actually shrunk since 1954 The Soviet Union by contrast has expanded its defense investment spending while maintaining its manpower costs at an estimated 20-25 per cent of its military-budget The thinking is that since the manpower-bloated budget can no longer stretch as it once did it will consolidate around the idea of survival that is atomic strength In other words thank God we still at least can afford to blow up the world The consequences of all this are unknown but some guesses are being made that are chilling One concern is that as more and more military money goes to creature comforts and less and less to pragmatic hardware America may be drying up all but one defense option The one Nuclear Answers to tins enigma are not readily available even in Washington where on a given day there are quite as many solutions floating about as there arc problems But Scott is one of several lawmakers suggesting the nation at least begin a debate concerning the high costs of hiring centurions Oh for the old days when troops were paid with the spoils of victory jade chalices and the like but taxes do it now and therefore public discussion seems merited The dialogue might profitably begin with the subject of military retirement compensation There are currently one million former soldiers receiving S84 billion in benefits a year the latter figure having grown 700 per cent in a decade Since soldiers contribute nothing toward their retirement and can begin drawing lifetime benefits as early as age 38 taxpayers might wonder about the prospects of funding perhaps S450 billion worth of retirees in the next 25 years alone This is not to suggest the old soldiers be cut adrift Nor should readers see here any attitude of anti-people Tne intent is to argue that our costlier military may in fact be a weaker military as regards fighting power and combat flexibility and it seems doubtful we can afford for long either its upkeep or its hazards the unnecessary cost of an automatic and sweeping standard by establishing realistic and economically justifiable goals Another solution to the dilemma is through technology itself through "second water pollution control equipment according to Ecodyre Corp At a recent Pollution Control Roundtable Ecodyne reported innovations which have sliced thousands of dollars off the initial capital cost of water treatment equipment as w-eil as energy costs and still more in annual operating costs which better results in terms of water quality Tne nation's course over the next few years would thus seem to be not to abandon the goal of "swimmable and fishable" water but rather to make haste slowly so that healthy water and healthy economy may both be realized BY TOM TIEOE WASHINGTON When he was director of the Selective Service system Gen Lewis Hershey often mused on the need "to make the armed forces so popular everyone will want to get Today that no longer sounds so comic In recent years pay for most service soldiers has tripled (a private 3 can earn S500 a month now a top general the equivalent of £50000 a year and the free medical and retirement benefits have undergone lucrative upgrading In fact military recruiters are now reporting waiting line at their doors This is all very well for the people involved no doubt but worry is increasing that inducements may be getting out of hand It is for example now possible to imagine a situation where a man serves a military career then retires and thus draws for himself and his survivors as much as Si million total from his grateful nation Admittedly vet there it is And with it are some real problems A decade ago when America "had 500000 more men in uniform manpower costs accounted for 48 per cent of the defense budget This year the salaries and benefits take up at least 80 per cent Actually when tangential military costs such as aid to veterans is included American taxpayers are now spending about S70 billion a year on the care and feeding of service personnel The dilemma here is thus obviously uncomfortable Not only is the nation paying far more money to far fewer soldiers it is robbing other vital elements of the defense industry to do it Virginia Sen William Scott has beer grumbling for the past year that although the military budget goes up annually we are getting little for it save better paid employes "Ninety-five per cent of the increase in defense outlays between 1964 and 1974 have gone to manpower and operation and maintenance only five per cent to investment" Since investment is defined as military procurement research and development and construction Scott believes the mechanical strength of America is being standards ies: the nation's recovery irom the recession be endangered At leas one business leader has suggested a more positive way of reducing the adverse economic impact of pollution control laws in the area of water quality Perry Wilson chairman of Union Carbide Corp proposes the creation a "Water Quality which would evaluate the progress of each industry anc municipality toward the goals of clean ater and identify where those goals were not being met "Where the goal has been achieved" he says "the board would require additional control only as necessary to maintain the quality level Where the goal has not been achieved it would identify the additional' technology that would have to be applied determine its feasibility and ascertain the desirability of the benefits expected Such an apuroach he says would avoid Our business manager Gene Porter returned last week from a Georgia vacation and brought along a clipping from the Brunswick News which is worth passing on Entitled Big it goes like this: A typographical error appearing recently in The News classified section under the Help Wanted classification noted the need for an chief and kitchen manager" What the adverstisement intended to draw were applicants for the position of chef: and what it drew was a directed to The Brunswick News from Chief Bicentennial Eagle Teepee No Cherokee Indian Reservoir Personal data on the chief included his age summers probably 35 winters too: a description as the tallest pine: strong as the strongest bear: fleet as the fastest deer and with the eye of an eagle" and his religion "devout worshipper of Sun god Haiti god and assorted other gods Of his family he noted: "Squaw Pocahontas daughter of Chief Thunderbird Don Oaklev Clean Up By Dun Oakley Tne closer ihe nation gets to the goals set by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act the harder it becomes and the snore it is costing Spending ior pollution control by business government in the United State $23 billion in 1973 ret of Commerce Tns per cent over the $19 5 btilior sper: and the bulk of it S152 spent by industry and mo: combat water pollution Figures for 1974 and 9 become available will no doubt show a continuing upward trend According to the government's Council on Environmental Quality some industries will have to put 10 to 20 per cent of their total plan and equipment investments into pollution control to meet existing federal laws But not only is industry feeling a cost much Municipalities were oromised Water At Cost Of The Economy? federal grants to cover 75 per cent of the capital cost of sewage treatment systems These grants were' to have totalled SIS billion over the last three years Congress however has released only $9 billion to date Present indications are that 40 per cent of the nation's municipalities and 10 per cent of industry may not be able to meet Environmental Protection July 1977 deadline for compliance with water quality standards When Congress passed the amended Water Pollution Control Act it set a serie of progressively higher standards If and when the 1977 standards are met the nation will have achieved 90 per cent of ali the water quality goals envisioned the original bill Already however there is a growing chorus of calls not only from industry but from iabor leaders and local politicians for a relaxation of pollution control.