The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 8

SEMI-SECRECY Hard To Report 8 THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS Friday, September 16, 1966 'What A Load To Carry On The Move Reserve Boards mini, liiirt inf 5 Mon '-k --f Washington4 Atf, THE years' Tve7 been-t covering this town I've been" 'oveHadkfiis" CALlFORNIAl Ww rJ GOVERNOR'S jtfmm I ultramodern structure Including, in addition to the bank's headquarters, a pedestrian arcade, with stores, shops and other public facilities. Complementing it to the west is the gleaming new 20-story Indiana Bell Telephone building. If the effect on the downtown's appearance were the only result, the new building would be more than worthwhile. But it is likely that there will be many other results as well. As Wilson Mothershead, chair man of the board of Indiana National, has pointed out: "It is hoped that the bank's announcement will trigger sizable investments of private capital in the downtown It is doubtful that an institution with the sagacity of Indiana National would make such a move unless it had great confidence in the city's future.

Such confidence undoubtedly will spread to other business firms. Comments of business, and civic leaders indicate that they share in the mood of optimism and regard Indiana National's action as a welcome impetus to the city's progress. The proposed development is one of the largest and most important privately-financed projects ever undertaken here. Indiana National is to be congratulated for such an exciting venture. It has taken the lead in giving new meaning to the slogan that Indianapolis is a city on the move.

Announcement of plans for a new Indiana National Bank skyscraper is a historic event for downtown Indianapolis. The effect of this huge investment by one of Indiana's great financial institutions cannot be overestimated. The immediate result is to allay fears that the downtown district is dying, because it is a tangible expression of faith in the future by a widely respected bank. The proposed building, 30 stories tall, is to be erected in the block bounded by Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and Ohio. It will be the tallest structure in the state and one of the most impressive.

With the possible exception of the inner-city expressway, no single structural development will make a greater change in the face of the city. Buildings in an entire block in the downtown area are to be razed, many of which are now in a condition detracting from the appearance of the city. The demolition, which may begin next year, will also remove a landmark in the 11 -story Knights of Pythias Building at the intersection of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, once considered one of the city's skyscrapers. The architect's drawing provides a rough idea of the change which will take place. In a block that now contains eyesores there will arise an mm Back Home Again 'TALKS, NOT MARCHES' Little Support For King Visit Here But another factor weighing against a King-led march here is the potentially explosive atmosphere it might create.

Many Negroes point out that Indian- apolis has posted a race relations record second to none and openly question the wisdom of an appearance by King in this community. The remarks of a regular columnist in last week's issue of The, Recorder, influential Negro are especially significant. Under the- heading, "No Marching," the columnist said people had told him "they do not want any marchers in this man's town, because race relations are pretty good' here and Negroes live practically all 'round the town They say these marches only satisfy the personal ambitions of certain individuals The writer went on to suggest Negroes concentrate on improving their economic condition, both collectively and individually. MEANTIME, a predominantly Negro neighborhood improvement organization, the IDEALS Civic Club, has submitted a letter to Mayor Barton, voic-ing the sentiment that if problems arise, they can best be handled by discussions rather than demonstrations or marches. Says one person helping to gather signatures: "We don't want to have white and Negro citizens of this city eyeing each other like enemies.

That could happen if Dr. King led a march here." tqi tt LI Ail AV The superlatives wear thin when one reviews the record compiled by the technicians and pilots of the Gemini manned space program. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon returned safely to earth yesterday after a 71-hour journey that added new luster to the already incredible series of successes racked up by the Gemini program. Among other firsts, the Conrad-Gordon flight involved the most successful docking maneuvers to date, the earliest rendezvous with a target vehicle, man's deepest penetration of space, and the first re-entry maneuver conducted on automatic pilot. In addition, the astronauts made new progress in using the "space walk" technique for constructive work in space, showing strenuous activity is possible but also uncovering some difficulties that will have to be solved by further experimentation.

Perhaps the most impressive of Baseball News that the Indianapolis Indians will show a profit of more than for their recently concluded baseball season is encouraging indeed. That is more than $10,000 above the team's profit of 1965. Attendance this year showed an increase over last season, 195,984 as compared with 179,000. This means the Indians, two years ago somewhat lacking in fan support, appear to be on the comeback trail. No longer are there any muffled rumblings about the city's possible loss of the team.

Frank McKinney, chairman of the board of directors, says part of this year's additional revenue came from 10 special nights this summer at Victory Field; last season there were only eight. McKinney has urged the directors to help sell the maximum number of special nights, which is 16. best beat there is the Re. serve Board. The reason this is a good, easy assignment is that it can't be covered.

What the Federal Reserve Board does; when it does it, is secret The newest Federal! Reserve Board records Congress has to work with are those of 1960. You see, according to the law, the Fed's rec Maclean ords are not made available until they are six. years old Before that, time Congress cannot see them. In fact, according to Rep. Wright Patman! D-Texas, not even the President can see them before then.

This is because the' Federal Reserve Board, composed of 12 big bankers and seven government officials, sets interest rates. THE THEORY Is that advance knowledge of what the Board is up to' would allow unscrupulous men to make money in the market. Frankly, I think this is a reflection not to mention the President. But the Fed apparently feels that some 2,000 other people are far more trustworthy. Each of the bankers on the board represents the banks in his area of the country.

He is allowed to tell them what he is doing. And then there are staff membersr-in the banks and on the board. Altogether, there are some 2,000 secret-keepers. The remarkable thing is that, to my knowledge, no member of the Fed has ever broken faith. Even the Central 1 1ntelligence Agency has had agents who have blabbed to the press.

But not the Federal Reserve Board. However, the two agencies are alike in one respect: Neither has to account for the money it spends. The Federal Reserve Board can dispense up to $1.5 billion without mentioning it. EXACTLY WHAT it does with Its budget is sort of a mystery, Rep. Patman says.

The General Accounting Office, the watchdog of most, other government agencies, is not allowed to snoop through the Federal Reserve's books. Frankly, I had no idea that the Fed operated behind such a thick veil of secrecy. Although its operation is somewhat beyond my shallow financial knowledge, I always assumed that somebody understood But now we learn that this Is not the case. Congress and the President simply accept the Fed's! interest rates and try to live with them' just as we do when negotiating! a loan at the bank. rDTVTMfi PAST tVio fnmmorr 1.

partment the other I noticed a trash truck carrying away refuse at one entrance while a stationery van was at another door delivering fresh supplies. This inspired me to check with a Federal agency called the Office of Solid Wastes. r- Its function is to help the nation figure out what to do with its trash. Unless new disposal methods are found, one day we'll all be up to our necks in rusty coat hangers and broken plastic toys. Americans mulate about 800 million pounds of junk annually.

umtm Fiituni administration "spokesmen argue that wage-price controls are. the last thing Johnson But it has been unable to keep a lief on the work of the OEP. And, in preparing the stage for this drastic new move to "curb inflation," it has tipped its hand by, rounding up support for the emergency measures it hopes to. announce early in December. President George Meany of the AFL-CIO, a fervent of any system which will prevent his unions 1 from stepping up their wage demands, has already moved to "soften opposition by pledging full acquiescence to the administration's scheme.

THE BIGGEST giveaway, however, comes from Capitol Hill where Republican investigators have discovered that the White House has already selected a printer for the ration books that will be required if the OEP's plans go into effect. Key Republican congressmen are preparing to take the voters in on this discovery at the opportune time. They have chapter and verse, and may even be able to produce a copy of the ration books. If the story breaks and if the White House does not succeed in suppressing wide dissemination of the Republican charges the OEP's plans will do more to arouse the electorate than the Vietnamese war and its dawdling progress. For i reason.

the administration will do everything in its power to stifle disclosure of its plans and the likelihood is the press will join in the silence at the Prcsi- dent's request. But wage-price controls and rationing are not needed to curb the present inflation. Nor will they strike at the two factors most damaging to the na By Antom E. Gollan PLANS TO bring Dr. Martin Luther King" to Indianapolis as leader of a "homes before highways" march have not gathered much broad-based support.

Leaders of the Democratic Party, normally vocal advocates of "civil rights," are lukewarm at the prospect of a King visit These include Gov. Roger D. Branigin, Mayor John J. Barton and Marion County party chairman James W. Beatty.

Reasons for the seeming lack 'of enthusiasm for the idea, formulated by a "Homes Before Highways" group concerned, with the problem of relocating people whose homes will be taken for highway projects, include: THE FACT that the issue is not one of "civil rights," or even one primarily affecting Negroes. "Homes Before Highways" co-chairman Rev. Mozell Sanders himself notes that "more than 60 per cent of the people being relocated by the highway project are whites." The fact that the questions at stake, involving equitable compensation for those dislocated by the new interstate highway loop, can be resolved over the table in discussions with city and state officials. Such talks are being held, and there is evidence they will be productive. An aide to Mayor Barton says one area being explored involves allowing people who will be dislocated to live in their homes until two or three months before highway construction reaches their areas, instead of ejecting them now.

"This might be part of the equitable compensation they are asking for," he says, adding: "A couple of weeks ago I would have estimated the likelihood of a march here at 80 per cent. WASHINGTON REPORT. Economic Control Rationing May Be In Works For U.S. their maneuvers was the high-altitude penetration in which the Gemini 11 craft was propelled 853 miles above the earth. If the color photographs taken during this ride turn out as expected, they should be spectacular.

The flight of Gemini 11 is yet another magnificent contribution to man's progress into space. In particular, its demonstration of the great flexibility of movement available to both men and vehicles in the space environment offers exciting promise of ultimate arrival on the moon. Once more the people of the United States owe a debt of gratitude to the scientists and technicians who put this program together, and to the pilots who accept a trip 853 miles into space as calmly as most of us would take a ride on a ferris wheel. When America can produce results like these, and men like these, we must be doing something right. Postscript With a good selling job and the support of the community, there is no reason that goal cannot be achieved.

It certainly ought to be, for the good of professional baseball in this city. McKinney adds that the Tribe's late-season slump resulted in the loss of an even greater profit. The team, as we all remember only too well, was in hot pennant contention when it suddenly slipped to a 9-28. record in August. "Had we played .500 baseball in August," McKinney says, "we would have won the pennant by five games." Nevertheless, the city's support of the Indians this season is gratifying.

The Tribe consistently boasts top-notch ballplayers, many of whom later become starring players for the parent Chicago White Sox, and there is every reason to believe the team will continue to give Indianapolis first-rate professional baseball. all one can really talk about is a crime reporting wave, not a crime wave." And Columbia University's Daniel Bell, setting out some years ago to scotch the "crime wave myth," maintained that "a sober look at the problem shows that there is probably less crime today in the United States than existed a hundred, or 50, or even 25 years ago, and that today the United States is a more lawful and safe country than popular opinion imagines." THESE COMMENTS are based on asserted errors in crime statistics compiled by local police and the FBI-statistics journalist Zion describes as an "inside joke." The argument is that police forces have historically played down crime, and that recent apparent increases are merely the result of correcting the figures. Bell also argues that an exaggerated crime rate is achieved by comparing new crime figures to old population figures. If we analyze the data, however, it appears that these attempts to ex-plain away the crime wave don't quite get the job done. Taking the arguments in order, we find the following: It is true that the 15-24 age group is particularly prone to crime.

But It is not true that increased crime can be traced merely to an increase in the youthful population. As Miriam Ottenberg of the Washington Star puts it, "arrests of these young people have been increasing almost twice as fast as their population growth." The real question is why people in this age group are committing so many more crimes today than did their predeces sors 25 or 30 years ago. KING Today I would say there Is much less than a 50 per cent likelihood." A top-ranking aide to Gov. Branigin feels there is the possibility the legislature would also consider helping in such matters as moving costs. In short, some of the issues raised by the "Homes Before Highways" group appear to be reasonable and will be reasonably dealt with.

Rev. Sanders, who met with King in Memphis last week, says the Negro leader "is receptive to coming to Indianapolis on 24-hour notice if we deem it necessary. We would not attempt to go out in the streets without Dr. King, and it won't be too long before we decide whether to march, one way or the other." Potomac Fever By Jack Wilson The President took Billy Graham to church with him last Sunday. Prudent man, Lyndon always carries a spare.

Administration officials were delighted by the Vietnamese elections. They were orderly and fairly honest and not a single Republican was elected. Astronaut Gordon's wife made their kids go to school during his space walk figured it was bad enough having the old man out skylarking at all hours. Johnson orders Federal agencies to cut down on overtime. He gets his own job done nicely without working his staff more than 27 hours a day.

MR. MUM Is The Crime Wave A 'Myth? By Ralph de Toledano Washington WHEN AMERICANS go to the polls in November, they will be voting on a variety of complex and important issues. But the one closest to their daily lives and their economic well-being will be a secret to themor so the administration hopes. That issue is wage-price controls, freezing salaries and prices for the duration of the Vietnamese war. This could mean 10 years of a Toledano regulated economy in which hard work and skill will go unrewarded because the Federal government has put a clamp on initiative.

In 1946, the voters tossed out -the Democrats and elected a Republican Congress because they were fed up with wage-price restrictions on their daily lives. IN 1952 they elected a Republican President and Congress because they wanted no more of what the Korean war was doing to their daily lives. Yet the Johnson administration Is making careful plans at this very moment for imposing controls on the American people, once the November election is over. Working secretly at the White House, the Office of Emergency Planninga group few Americans know anything about has already drafted the regulations and drawn the blueprints for the imposition of wage and price controls. The OEP has not mere- ly sketched in some general plans for a possible eventuality.

For months it has been working out every detail for a freeze on wages and prices, and for a return of rationing. The White House will deny this, and By Stan Evans IS THERE or isn't there a national crime wave? Viewing the statements of public officials from President Johnson to FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, the average citizen would be justified in concluding that, if we do not have a crime wave, we have at least got hold of a reasonable facsimile. Soundings by candidates up for election indicate, in fact, that concern over this subject may Evans well be the No. 1 Issue in the November balloting.

Despite this development or perhaps because of it an effort has been launched in certain quarters of the sociological world to disprove the existence of the crime wave. Laments about rising criminality, say the experts, are heard in every generation; we are simply hearing more of the same in our own time and becoming needlessly excited. THUS SIDNEY E. ZION of the New York Times says: there has always been a 'crime and the apparent recent statistical increases ignore many important considerations -including, most conspicuously, the vast postwar expansion of the age-group (15-24) most prone to crime." Simiiarly, Prof. Yale Kamisar of the University of Michigan says: "There are so many factors which account for increase in crime statistics that 2 It is also true that crime figures for years have not fully reflected the amount of crime in the United States, and that reporting techniques have in recent times been altered.

But the FBI is aware of this fact and guards specifically against it. Its annual figures are arrived at by comparing statistics for identical offenses and by screening out information which appears to be the result of reporting discrepancies. Since the chief deficiency alleged against the crime statistics is that they have historically understated the crime problem, this argument provides cold comfort any way you look at it. 3 The population-figures argument of Prof. Bell is conclusively disposed of by the FBI's methods of accumulating its data.

Its effort is precisely to get an accurate ratio of crime to population, and it keeps abreast of annual changes. Thus the 1965 crime report says: "According to figures released by the United States Bureau of the Census, total United States population increased 1.3 per cent in 1965. In that year the national crime index rate was 1,435 offenses per 100,000 of population, representing a 5 per cent increase over 1964." IN SHORT, the FBI crime figures are as solid as human ingenuity can make them, and specifically exempt from the charges thrown at them by the sociological fraternity. Since these are the figures which show crime increasing six times faster than the rate of population growth, Mr. Zion's joke doesn't, on reflection, seem particularly funny.

5 CETVEU fj CARDS. tional economy high interest rates which are depriving Americans of necessary housing and the steady deterioration of a stock market which holds the investments and savings of some 20 million Americans. KIM rMtnw.