Mexico Ledger from Mexico, Missouri • Page 1

13 PAGES INCREASING CLOUDINESS Mexico, Friday, January 25, 1974 Phone Year No. Fifteen Cents County Budget Near Million Ever-mounting costs of county government have pushed the total county budget proposed for this year to $940,618.05, including general revenue, special road and bridge, federal revenue sharing and the money budgeted for county Common Road Districts No. 1 and No. 2. The budget prepared by County Clerk Glenn M.

Barnes along with the county court will go to the county court for a public hea'ring Feb. 4. In his budget message, Mr. Barnes pointed out that at the county's present rate of growth, $1.5 million valuation a year, the county will pass the first step toward becoming a second class county this year, and if it holds $70 million valuation for five years will then become a second class county. At present growth, the valuation then would be only $77.5 million and a second class county can't operate with a valuation no greater than that.

For that reason he said, it is necessary to accumulate funds in the county revenue fund to help with finances when the county moves up a class. Federal revenue sharing funds, therefore, are being used to pay some salaries of county employees to free county funds for other purposes. Amendments Bog Campaign Reform JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) A bill to strengthen Missouri's campaign spending laws was withdrawn Thursday by its sponsor after he became disgusted with amendments to the measure. Rep.

Vic Downing, D-Bragg City, put the bill on the informal calendar following passage of an amendment offered by St. Louis County Democrat Edwin Dirck that would have allowed banks, corporations and labor unions to contribute and advertise for political candidates. In Senate action Thursday, a House 1 substitute for the Senate reorganization bill was rejected on a 17-11 vote. The Senate asked the House to agree to a conference committee to reconsider both bills in their entirety. The House wanted a conference on just the differences.

A conference committee is expected to be named Monday. Downing's action in the House appears to kill chances for action on the campaign financing bill during the special session. He accused labor interests of killing the bill. Dirck's amendment, offered after Dellwood Democrat Earl Schlef's narrowly failed in allowing banks and labor organizations to pay up to $50 per ad for campaign brochures, passed 88-63. The section on campaign advertising did not mention newspaper advertising.

Dirck's successful amendment would have allowed members of a labor organization, bank or trust company, or corporation to act collectively and voluntarily on behalf of a candidate as long as it did not represent the official position of the bank, corporation or labor organization. The bill, one of Gov. Christopher S. Bond's top priorities for the special session, would have required campaign committees to report expenses and contributions to the secretary of state 30 days before, seven to 10 days after, and again 30 days after an election. Any candidate spending less than $500 would not have to report.

Under present law, there is only one reporting date after, the election and all the contributions and expenses do not have to be reported to one office. They can be reported to the county treasurers in the 114 counties. Downing said on the floor he had been told that legislators were threatened that they would lose their campaign contributions if they didn't vote for Schlef's amendment. Under questioning by Schlef, Downing admitted he had no proof of such threats. In other House action a proposed constitutional amendment was introduced which would remove legislators' exemption from arrest during and 15 days before and 15 days after legislative sessions.

Presently legislators are immune from prosecution during a session except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace. In the Senate, a proposed constitutional amendment was introduced to have the governor and lieutenant governor be of the same party, running as a team during elections. The proposal, by Sen. Maurice Schechter, D-Creve Coeur, would also delte from the present Constitution the provision for the lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate. Other new House bills introduced would: higher salaries for secretarires of prosecuting attorneys in certain counties.

greater rights for patients in state hospitals. for stricter control of animal rabies vaccinations. regulation's for control of spills of oil and other substances in state waters. that when "man" or "men" is used in the law it shall be construed to include women. provisions for application for hardship driving privileges following suspension or revocation.

telephone companies from prohibiting or charging fees for connection of telephones owned by customers. preservation of (Continued on Page 5) Safe Shooting Session Sunday Boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 14 are invited to the orientation session for the annual shooting safety program to be held from 2 to 3 p. m. Sunday at the Mexico Youth Center at the Fairgrounds Park. Parents are also invited.

The 'session will open three weeks of shooting safety classes covering safety rules and regulations in accordance with the National Rifle Association and Daisy Corporation. After classroom training, the group will develop skills in firing of air rifles. A team consisting of the 12 highest test averages and best target scores will then participate in state competition. The county clerk said the county and other agencies "have been living pretty high since federal revenue sharing funds have been available and will suffer when the funds cease and the agencies have to live with county funds alone." Revenue sharing and the action of the legislature in imposing more county expenses, he added, makes it impossible to plan for more than one year at a time. Salary increase bills are already before the present legislature, he pointed out.

Many requests were made for federal funds, but have been denied, especially those set up by the gover- nemnt and being phased out. "The county could never support some of the federal programs and still provide the services expected by the people of the county." He said the $230,404.88 in federal revenue sharing funds have been, and the $423,638.81 in county general revenue funds will be divided thus: 25 per cent for financial administration, 36 per cent for courts and law enforcement, 6 p.er cent for elections, 11 per cent for buildings and grounds, 8 per cent for health and welfare, 11 per cent for other expenses, and 3 per cent, for fund. The revenue sharing funds will pay $106,289 for roads and bridges in Common 1 and 2 districts, $22,750 for a road maintainer and truck, $15,000 for jail work, and $15,000 for solid waste disposal. The fund will provide $6,906.51. for social security and LAGERS retirement insurance, $43,200 for the sheriff's department; $14,759.37 for the prosecuting attorney, and $6500 for the treasurer.

Special road and bridge funds budgeted amount to $170,583.11, not counting the amounts paid to special road districts and their added taxes. Common Districts 1 and 2 get $115,992.25 plus the federal revenue sharing money. The costs of operating the county offices as shown in the budget are as follows: County Court $17,367.21, including $12,000 salaries; $315 supplies; $1000 equipment; $1769.50 mileage; and (Continued on Page 5) Frank Fecht Dies; Rites To Be Saturday Frank C. Fecht of 1307 Pollock Road died at 10:20 a.m. Thursday at the Boone County Hospital in Columbia, where he had been a patient for a-week.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Brendan's Catholic Church, of which he was a member, with the Rev. Patrick Dolan officiating. Burial will be in St.

Brendan's Cemetery. Born in Audrain County, Mr. Fecht was the son of William C. and Elizabeth Walsh Fecht. On Oct.

10, 1934, in Westphalia, he was married to Althea Erdel, who survives. Mr. Fecht was a lifetime resident of Audrain County and attended Mexico schools. He was employed at Mid- Continent Oil Co. from 1950 to 1962 and then was employed at LaCrosse Lumber Co.

from 1962 to 1964, when he retired. Survivors are one son, Larry Fecht of Mexico; one daughter, Mrs. Stan (JoAnn) Nordlund of Gurnee, one brother, William T. Fecht of Snohomish, and one sister, Mrs. Hugh Hogan of Villisca, la.

Five grandchildren also survive. Two sisters and two brothers preceded him in death. The family will receive friends at the Arnold funeral home from 7 to 9 p. m. tonight, and rosary will be said at 7 p.m.

ARCO NORTH SLOPE CAMP Atlantic Richfield's camp at Prudhoe Bay is built primarily of modular units shipped north via barge through the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. The camp has stood ready for several years awaiting green light for construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. (AP Wire- photo) Krogh Soys Fired For Refusing Tap SEATTLE (AP) Egil Krogh Jr. says he was dismissed as head of the White House "plumbers unit" after he refused to authorize a telephone tap in connection with the unauthorized release of the India-Pakistan papers. told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in a telephone interview Thursday night that he felt the creation of the plumbers unit, which was designed to ferret out leaks of classified administration documents, was a mistake.

The former White House aide, sentenced in Washington on Thursday to six months in prison for his part in the breakin at the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, also called his dismissal as boss of the plumbers a relief and his jail sentence just. Krogh told the newspaper he was fired from the plumbers unit on Dec. 13, 1971, when he refused to place a wiretap on a man suspected of leaking secrets about the India-Pakistan war to columnist Jack Anderson. He declined to name the man who fired him, but the Kissinger Target Of Plumbers' Acts LOS ANGELES (AP) Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger reportedly believes a White House plumbers' probe of National Security Council leaks to Washington columnist Jack Anderson was aimed at unseating him, the Los Angeles Times said today.

The newspaper said the probe was instigated by former presidential aides John D. Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman, who were said to be suspicious of Kissinger's former advisory role to ex- New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and Kissinger's growing prestige which they felt threatened President Nixon's international stature.

The newspaper said it garnered its information "from several persons directly involved." The Times said Kissinger's belief gained credence from the report of a plumber's attempt in early 1972 to investigate the staff of the National Security Council. The probe reportedly was called off after Alexander M. Haig then Kissinger's deputy, threatened to resign and was backed 1 up in his threat by Kissinger. The probe was to learn the source of leaks to Anderson of top secret National Security Council papers in December 1971. Since then, Adm.

Thomas H. Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has confirmed that Adm. Robert O. Weylan- der, joint chiefs liaison officer on the council, and Weylan- der's secretary, Yeoman Charles E. Radford, were keeping him informed on NSC activities.

Schlesinger Defends Admiral Moorer WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger says there is no indication that a military spy ring was involved in the 1971 transfer of secret White House documents to the Pentagon. At a news conference Thursday, Schlesinger acknowledged there were improprieties in the distribution of National Security Council files to the Pentagon. But he defended Adm. Thomas H.

Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who received the files. Schlesinger said Moorer should have been more alert in noticing that the material came from an irregular source, the joint chiefs' liaison office within the NSC staff. "I do not think there was any spy ring or any 'Seven Days in May' proposition that popped up," Schlesinger said. David R. Young, one of the White House plumbers, reportedly wrote a report pointing to a military spy ring.

Asked whether he reviewed Young's findings, Schlesinger said that the White House investigation was less than adequate. "I am not the greatest admirer of this group," he said about the plumbers, an investigative unit. The comments by the defense chief were his first since he launched an informal investigation into the matter last week. Schlesinger said that in interviews and in reading Pentagon files on the case, he discovered that in 1971 "two collections of material" were delivered to Moorer. Schlesinger said no disciplinary action is planned as of now New York Times said it had learned that it was John D.

Ehrlichman, Nixon's former domestic affairs adviser and now a Seattle attorney. His firing came months after the office of psychiatrist Dr. Lewis Fielding was broken into In the search for damaging material on Ellsberg, the source of the Pentagon papers leaks. "The decision to set up a special investigative unit in the White House was at least bad management and at most a dumb thing to do," Krogh told the Post-Intelligencer. Krogh was quoted as saying that the job of the plumbers group initially was to push other agencies to greater efforts.

"But when it got to the Pentagon papers, we were left to ourselves. We fed on our sense of urgency fired by the President," the Post-Intelligencer quoted him as saying. "If I had to do it again, I'd try to work with in established agencies, not a special, ad hoc unit." The newspaper quoted Krogh as saying, "I didn't know anything about Watergate. But the kind of thinking that led to the Los Angeles break-in, thinking that puts the cause above everything, it just continued when we went off the job. It went right over into the Committee to Re-elect the President.

It wasn't stopped." Krogh Ducks Query On Who Ordered Ellsberg Burglary WASHINGTON (AP) Egil Krogh Jr. says he received no orders from President Nixon to send burglars into the office of Daniel Kllsberg's psychiatrist and that he has no information that could implicate the President. But Krogh, sentenced Thursday to six months in prison for his role in the break- in, skirted the question of where the orders originated because the matter will come before the courts. "I would simply say that I considered that a break-in was within the authority of the unit and that I did not act to foreclose one from occurring despite the opportunity to do so." Asked if he had information that would implicate John D. Ehrlichman, his former boss and one-time top aide to Nixon Krogh replied: "I don't know." Ehrlichman had given the unit known as the plumbers authority to engage in covert activity to obtain in- Gas Deficit Put At WASHINGTON AP) Federal Energy Chief William E.

Simon said today predictions of a 20 per cent shortage of gasoline are "becoming only too accurate However, Simon declined to make any new predictions on the likelihood of gasoline Testifying before the Senate Permanent Investigations subcommittee, Simon Mid he encouraged with the trend of public conservation efforts and cited fibres showing 8 per cent savings in gasoline consumption for the past week. Simon declined to endorse any of the current legislative proposals for a rollback in the Current domestic prices range from $5.25 a barrel for so-called "old" oil still controlled by the Cost of Living Council to around $10.35 a barrel for so-called "new" or decontrolled oil. Subcommittee chairman Henry M. Jackson, IV said that unless a check is put on oil prices "we're going to see the most devastating inflation that the nation has ever been up against." Prior to Simon's testimony Jackson responded to charges made Thursday by Z. D.

Bonner, president of Gulf that executives of the seven leading oil companies had been treated unfairly when they appeared before the subcommittee earlier this week. "I'thought we leaned over as far as we could to give Mr. Bonner and the other witnesses a chance to state their case," Jackson said. "It's unfortunate when witnesses state their complaints away from the committee room. If they have any complaints, I think they ought to make them right here." A Senate vote on emergency energy legislation authorizing President Nixon to order gasoline rationing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The White House had openly worked to prevent the bill passage last month because of certain excess. profit provisions but today Simon -told the subcommittee that "we completely support" the bill as an interim measure. Jackson predicted the Senate would pass the bill next week. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, filed a cloture petition Thursday aimed at th- iwanting the threat of a filibuster. This was withdrawn agreement to vote on the bill Tuesday at 4:90 p.m.

Republicans and oil-state senators object to a provision that would put a lid on excess profits earned by the oil industry as a result of fuel shortage. The bill's controversial excess profits provision would authorize the President to set prices on petroleum products that would prevent windfall profits by the oil companies. Three of the nation's largest oil companies reported on Thursday large profit 1 -Mobil the nation's pany, reported a 47 per cent profit increaseTnT973 compared to 1972, while Texaco, the industry's third largest, announced a 45 per cent gain, and Shell, seventh in size, said its profits were up by 28 per cent! Other oil companies have announced similar gains this week, including a 59 per cent increase by Exxon the nation's biggest oil company. Legislation was introduced Thursday to trim some of big oil's tax privileges. Sen.

Gaylord Nelson, filed a bill to end the oil depletion allowance that allows petroleum and natural gas producers to deduct 22 per cent of their gross income before calculating their taxes. Nelson said the depletion allowance, aimed at encouraging oil exe ploration and production, has cost the taxpayer $1.5 billion a year. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, introduced a bill to eliminate the oil depletion allowance for foreign exploration outside North America. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported the number of energy-related job layoffs tripled in recent weeks with more than half involving Michigan autoworkers.

The department said 7 per cent of the total number of workers receiving unemployment Insurance benefits for the week ended Jan. 5 blamed their Job loss on the fuel shortage, compared with only 2 per cent the previous week. In Detroit, General Motors announced it would lay off an additional 75,000 employes for varying periods between now and April 1. Protest Some Trucks COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Independent truckers conducted protests in three areas of Ohio to show their displeasure with high fuel prices and low freight rates. A group of Ix)rain County truckers stopped trucks on State Road 18 near Wellington on Thursday night and asked drivers to pull over the stop for the night.

The State Highway Patrol also said some trucks were being stopped at points along U.S. Highway 20 near Oberlin. Police were unable to say how many trucks were involved. In Youngstown, a union leader said about 300 truckers went out to demonstrate at truck stops and factories following a protest rally. Ed Heugle, president of Steelworkers Local 1, said the truckers "plan to stay out until they (the government) put something in writing for Heugle, acting as spokesman for the truckers, said one demand is for a ceiling on fuel prices.

He said 37.9 cents a gallon is "about the top price we could operate with and still make a profit." Price gouging by oil dealers was a primary complaint. Trucker Charles Lucas of East Liverpool said he had to pay 75 cents a gallon for fuel at a station in Missouri. He said when he called an Internal Revenue Service office to complain he was told they would send someone out within three days. "We can't sit and wait for three days," Lucas said. The truckers said they want a 25 per cent across-the-board rate increase to cover rising cost of freight operations, plus a 9 per cent hike in tariff rates.

They also want authority to file for their own rate increases instead of having to go through carriers. Meanwhile, a group of Oklahoma truckers said Thursday it would not support a proposed national shutdown. "We don't condone work stoppage," said spokesman Paul Polin of Tulsa. "In fact, we are against it. If any of our members go along with the idea, they can seek membership elsewhere." There are three types of, Today's people: people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and Smile people who wonder what" Lake Mills, Leader.) That The Blind May See I ARTIFICIAL EYE CONCEPT Here is an artist's concept of an artificial eye being! designed by University of Utah researchers that would allow the blind to if Images received in the artificial eye would be transmitted to the frames of the glasses and carried back to electrodes on the brain, permitting the wearer to perceive the image..