The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 4

I l-u li- THE SUN TUESDAY, JANUARY 3,1939 i 4A Lonely Minnesota county seeks homesteaders Stronger U.N. role urged in probing chemical arms Koochiching Minnesota: Area of land giveaway CANADA International I Falls MINNESOTA take Superior i C. WISCONSIN St. Paul they also must "maintain an Income sufficient" to live there. And before their application Is approved, they must submit to a credit and criminal-records check.

"We want people that are self-sufficient." Mr. Schwiderski said. "We're not looking for an opportunity to Increase our welfare rolls up here." "There's really not any Jobs up here as such," added Mr. Hervey, 42, who is self-employed. "We expect them to bring their livelihood with them." If 250 families applied and settled In the county, "1 would consider the program successful," Mr.

Schwiderski said. Among applicants so far are retirees and couples Interested in relocating their small businesses, Mr. Schwiderski said. One of the applicants, Tom Johnson said he returned to his family's Koochiching County home from Florida because the homestead program would give him a chance he wouldn't otherwise have to make a living where he grew up. Mr.

Johnson, 23, has his eye on 40 acres next to his father's property. He is planning to build an earth-berm, passive-solar house on the land, supporting himself by working for his father's logging operation. "Ten years is a long time, but I'm planning to stay here the rest of my life if 1 can," he said. that spurred the settlement of the Plains and the West. The Homestead Act of 1 862 offered up to 160 acres of free farmland to settlers willing to develop the property and live there for at least five years.

During the first five years of homesteading, settlers rushed Into Minnesota faster than into any other state more than 62,000 of them by 1880. In 1976, long after homesteading had ceased, Congress abolished the act. Only in Alaska does it continue, under a state-directed program. In Koochiching County, officials hope that International Falls will boom again once Boise Cascade completes a S525 million expansion of Its big paper mill. The county's other vital signs aren't good.

Since 1980, the population has dropped by about 2,000. Koochiching County Isn't the only area of Minnesota seeking new residents. In October, the central Minnesota town of Osakis began offering $5,000 in cash to anyone who was willing to build a house and settle. Koochiching officials persuaded state legislators last year to sponsor a local law that allowed them to implement the homestead program, formally called the Bldstead and Economic Development Program. Under the rules, not only must applicants agree to build and occupy their new homes and pay taxes, but INTERNATIONAL FALLS.

Minn. (AP) A declining population has led a northern Minnesota county to try a version of the nation's old homestead policy: Anyone can claim up to 40 acres of land if he builds a house and lives In It for 10 years. "Our real problem up here Is that nobody's here anymore," said Lee Hervey, one of the residents of rural Koochiching County who proposed the homesteading plan. The 2 million-acre county along the Canadian border three times as big as Rhode Island has about 15,700 residents, only eight communities and vast stretches where no one lives. It also has about 50,000 acres of woods and farmland abandoned to the county when its owners failed to pay taxes.

That's the land the county wants to give away. "There are people that live In Chicago. New York or the Twin Cities that might be sick and tired of the rat race, the rush-hour traffic and, believe me, we'll eliminate that from the lifestyle real quick," said Bob Schwiderski, who directs the homestead program. Added Mr. Hervey, "We really don't have a lot to offer up here besides the land, so we decided that's what we should offer.

The population's dropping and that hurts the schools, the power company, everything. If we don't get neighbors, we won't be able to live here either." More than 180 people have In- struction of the Libyan plant. But the government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl said yesterday that preliminary Investigations had found no evidence that a West German company helped build the factory. A spokesman in Bonn said Mr. Kohl took "very seriously" the U.S.

allegations that Libya had a chemical-weapons capacity. But the cautiously worded West German response was In keeping with a fairly skeptical reaction from other allies. U.S. officials hope the conference In Paris will give Impetus to a treaty being negotiated in Geneva that would Impose a worldwide ban on the production, storing and transfer of chemical weapons. U.S.

officials acknowledged, however, that the United States had reservations about the verification and enforcement of such a treaty, in part because U.S. chemical companies feared that on-site Inspection could disrupt factories and compromise trade secrets. U.S. officials said the need to reinforce the secretary -general's power to investigate allegations about the use of chemical weapons was dramatized In September, when the United States charged that Iraq had used poison gas against Kurdish guerrillas. Iraq refused to let a U.N.

delegation visit Kurdish areas to Investigate. The Paris conference probably will consider procedures for Imposing a trade embargo or other economic sanctions against countries that use chemical weapons. New York Times News Service WASHINGTON The United States will propose giving additional powers to the secretary-general of the United Nations to Investigate the use of chemical weapons anywhere In the world, administration officials said yesterday. Secretary of State George P. Shultz Is expected to make the proposal at a conference of more than 100 countries in Paris that starts Saturday, they said.

A major purpose of the conference, which runs through Jan. 1 1 is to affirm support for the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which bans the use of chemical armaments. There has been a gradual erosion of the moral, as well as the legal, barriers against use of chemical weapons," said Roger G. Harrison, a deputy assistant secretary of state. "We are In danger of chemical weapons' becoming Just another weapon of choice." Mr.

Harrison said. "We seek to raise the political costs of their use." President Reagan said last month that the United States would not rule out taking military action to destroy large plant in Libya that he said is to make chemical weapons. The United States said the plant was "on the verge of full-scale pro-; duction" of chemical weapons. Lib-'. ya.

which will be represented at the Paris conference, said the plant was a pharmaceuticals factory. U.S. officials have said that a West German company played a central role in the design and con Howard contractors help accident victim rebuild life British economy becomes key political battleground By Gilbert A. Lewthwaite Jyondon Bureau of The Sun LONDON The political battle lines for Britain In 1989 were drawn yesterday with both government and opposition clearly targeting the economy as the key strategic sector of conflict. Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson declared his readiness to raise Interest rates for the 10th time in as many months if it becomes necessary to curb Inflation.

Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock, saying the current base Interest rate of 13.5 percent is likely to hurt both homeowners and industrialists, accused Mr. Lawson of "comatose complacency." The New Year exchange signaled what promises to be a prolonged and bitter argument on the nation's economy, which Is showing signs of faltering after years of unparalleled growth. i iimur HOUSE, from 1A numbers. Whether he will return to college or even regain the memory capacity he had before the accident remains an open question. But last month, the road became a bit smoother when a group of local contractors completed renovation work free of charge on the home he shares with his parents to make it accessible for his wheelchair and" walker.

The estimated $10,000 in renovations include a new shower and doorway In the bathroom, a wooden railing along the stairway, installation of smaller steps for a more gradual Incline to the front door and a widening of the kitchen doorways that lead to the family room and dining room. Much of the work was completed by John McDonough Builders of Columbia. "We get paid well for what we do, and I've always felt we should give back to the community some of what we get out of It," said John McDonough, who operates the company. The work may have been a small step for the contractors Involved, but It meant a giant leap for Mr. Corbett.

"It's made a big difference, I'll tell you that. It's the difference between needing help to get to the bathroom and being able to get to the bathroom yourself," he said. "Little things that other people take for granted are just starting to come back my way." Mr. Corbett's mother, Cathy Nol-ton. said her son has responded to the improvements by acting "a lot more Independently," spending an hour to dress by himself and beaming proudly at her when he completes the task.

"Tom feels like he's lost control of his life." she said. "He was Independent before. "For him, this is one more step toward independence." The family could not have afford- Palestinians' defense lawyers jplan boycott of military courts Minneapolis SUN GRAPHICS quired about the homesteading program, and two dozen have formally applied. County officials said they hoped to hand over the first deeds soon. Other rural areas in the country have offered tax breaks and other financial assistance to lure residents, but federal officials and development experts said they think this is the first large-scale land giveaway since the federal homestead program was eliminated.

Homesteading was the catalyst Tom Corbett makes his way up the ed to pay for the work on their own, she added. Ms. Nolton is a drug and alcohol counselor for the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Washington. Her husband, Robert Nolton, is a federal worker at Fort Meade. Even with their combined salaries of $44,000, the family of four is living "paycheck to paycheck" to cover the mortgage on the home they purchased last April to accommodate their son.

"We were renting a town house, but there were too many stairs In that house and there was no room for Tom," said Mrs. Nolton. city fathers concluded that being In Jail was being incapacitated, so the president of the First Branch, John C. Blackburn, became mayor. But Mr.

Blackburn's City Council term expired a month later, and with It his right to be mayor. That brought the line of succession to Mr. Baker. Mr. Baker served until Jan.

6, 1862, when the upper house selected a new president, John L. Chapman, a glass manufacturer and former druggist. As president of the council's First Branch, Mr. Chapman became the city's third consecutive acting mayor and was elected later in his own right in 1862. Mr.

Baker resumed his duties as president of the Second Branch and slipped into an obscure corner of Baltimore history. No one really thought of either Mr. Blackburn or Mr. Baker again until 1919, when Wilbur F. Coyle, a city librarian with a burning curiosity and time on his hands, combed the city's then-uncataloged archives In a heroic effort to compile a definitive list of mayors.

The tedious search turned up documents signed by Mr. Blackburn "mayor, ex-offlcio," leading Mr. Coyle to include Mr. Blackburn among the city's chief executives. Mr.

Baker, however, was overlooked. "I guess Mr. Coyle didn't do his homework well enough," Mr. Hollo-wak said. Even so.

he said, Mr. Coyle's list has formed the basis of the city's official roster of mayors ever since. Now comes Mr. Hollowak to argue on behalf of Mr. Baker.

it fin Mum -im- private firms willing to offer free help. The group contacted the Howard County Homebuilders, which found Mr. McDonough. Deborah A. Yates, director of Developmental Services' head-trauma program, said the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation usually picks up the tab for such renovation But Mr.

Corbett's case was a bit different. After specifications for the contract, which Included a wheelchair lift, were drafted, Mr. Corbett Improved to the point that he could get around on a limited basis with a walker. The lift would no longer be necessary, but because of the state's complicated bidding procedures, it would have taken at least two months to draft new specifications and re-bid and award the contract. "In the meantime, we had one of our clients who was home from the hospital, who was a prisoner in his own house," Ms.

Yates said, explaining why she contacted Mr. McDonough. State officials confirmed that bidding requirements can stretch out the process two months or more in such projects. But they said usually contract specifications remain the same and work orders are submitted ahead of time so that home improvements are completed by the time patients get out of the hospital. Mr.

McDonough said his company enjoyed doing the work. His crews built 34 homes this year, at an average selling price of $385,000, and the bountiful year was a key factor in being able to help, he said. Three other area firms, Williams Ceramic Tile Jud Tile and American Olean Tile donated labor and materials to complete the bathroom renovations, he said. Ca-tonsville Plumbing Heating Co. Inc.

agreed to provide the plumbing fixtures at cost. "This was our busiest and best year ever," he said. "Look at it that way and what we did was no big deal." director in the. Franklin Bank and became bank president eight years later. And as a director and president of the Canton which developed much of East Baltimore's port, he Is credited with helping to bring the Union Railroad to Canton, a boon to Baltimore's manufacturing and mercantile interests.

Mr. Baker's contributions as mayor apparently eluded historians until the early 1980s, when a local historian researching big-city mayors came across some official correspondence from Mr. Baker's 88-day term. The correspondence had been In the city archives 5,000 cubic feet of historical maps, letters and other original documents stored in an East Pleasant Street warehouse. The vast collection had been a hodgepodge until 1938, when scholars for the federal Works Progress Administration arranged the city's archival material according to names, dates and departments.

One of the nearly half a million names indexed, according to Mr. Hollowak. was that of a constable from the city's 18th Ward William P. Preston who wrote to Mr. Baker in 1861, asking to resign.

City archivists came across the letter in 1986, as they were preparing an exhibit to honor former City Council President Clarence H. "Du" Burns, who also went on to fill out someone else's term as mayor. The letter, addressed to "the Hon. Charles J. Baker, Mayor," was typical of the kind of evidence that convinced Mr.

Hollowak that Mr. Baker's place in history had been overlooked. Labor will launch a full-scale attack on the government's economic management when Parliament resumes next week after the Christmas recess. Its main contention Is that by reducing the top tax rate from 0 percent to 40 percent last year, the government handed the rich a bonanza and sent the credit boom out of control. Government ministers are also bracing for a public backlash against the Increases in the Interest rates the government's major antidote to runaway spending and the threat of resurgent inflation which have taken the base rate from 7.5 percent to 13.5 percent in nine months.

Labor's economic spokesman, Gordon Brown, is asking banks and savings and loan Institutions to consider lengthening the repayment period as a method of lessening the Impact of the higher interest rates on property owners. An additional 1.500 Palestinians are in administrative detention, ineligible for trial and outside the jurisdiction of the military courts. Administrative detainees are imprisoned without charges or trial for terms of six months that can be renewed indefinitely. In announcing their boycott, the lawyers said that trials were repeatedly postponed because prosecution witnesses failed to appear or because defendants were not brought from prison to the courtroom. With military Judges consistently refusing to allow prisoners to be released on bail, the postponements increase the detention period.

"We as lawyers are left with the feeling that the entire Judicial process is aimed in a very deliberate manner to pressure an individual to confess and plead guilty," the lawyers' group said. Most of the lawyers participating In the boycott are Palestinian, creating the possibility of a rift between them and their Israeli colleagues. The army said, "We believe that enough Israeli lawyers will be found to take upon themselves representation of the defense." for crash aid Mr. Balaoui did not attend the Dec. 16 meeting between Mr.

Pelletreau and two members of the PLO Executive Committee. That meeting broke a two-decade freeze in contacts between the United States and the PLO. following Mr. Arafat's statement in Geneva last month in which he renounced terrorism and met other U.S. conditions for resumed contacts.

U.S. officials, reflecting sensitivity to fears that the U.S.-PLO rapprochement might be moving too fast, pointed out that Saturday's meeting, because it was informal, should not be viewed as part of the new U.S.-PLO dialogue. A PLO spokesman said yesterday that the second formal meeting would take place Saturday. In Cairo. Egypt.

Bassam abu Sharif, spokesman for the PLO. told the Cable News Network that Mr. Arafat would cooperate with the Investigation. ISRAEL, from 1A ries function in a proper and satis factory manner in the prevailing 'T conditions," an army statement said. military courts will continue to I-1 carry out hearings while assuring 'l the right of the defendants even if they will not be represented." The West Bank military courts, "situated In heavily guarded army 'Compounds in Ramallah and have army officers as judges and I prosecutors.

In theory all residents I of the West Bank are subject to mili-l tary law, but In practice only Pales-V. tinians appear as defendants there; Jewish settlers are charged in civil- ian courts inside Israel. 7 Defendants appearing in military courts have lesser rights than they i. would inside Israel. Anyone detained under military law can be held 18 before seeing a lawyer; the I maximum inside Israel is two days.

i 3 Although precise figures are not 'available from military authorities, lawyers estimate that about 3,500 Palestinians are in detention waiting to be formally charged, to plead guilty or not guilty or to be brought to trial. Archivist clears space for one of city's forgotten fathers THE SUNKARL FERHON stairs of the family home. Mr. Corbett can shake hands and he can talk often using sarcasm as a tool to get his point across. He describes himself as "the world's greatest thumb-twiddler." Much of his day between 9 a.m.

and 3 p.m. is spent going through rehabilitation and therapy at the Developmental Services Group a non-profit counseling and rehabilitation agency based In Columbia. Fees for the service are paid by the state. The McDonough company agreed to do most of the work after therapists for Developmental Services sought help from Howard County Community Partnerships, a group that links community needs with CHARLES J.BAKER Mayor for 88 days If the official list acknowledges Mr. Blackburn, who served as mayor ex-officlo for 28 days, Mr.

Hollowak asks, shouldn't It Include Mr. Baker, who served In the same capacity for 60 days longer? Actually, Mr. Baker probably would have considered the question of his Inclusion or omission on the list of Baltimore's mayors to be small potatoes. Born in Baltimore in 1821, he graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, and by the age of 25 had made a fortune in a paint and glass manufacturing business on South Charles Street. By 1859 he had been elected a J- -v- i ir-Mlwriii iin-mri i nr-i-m MAYORS, from 1 A existed for more than a century Is enough to scare even the bravest bureaucrat, and city officials so far have treated any revision of Mr.

Baker's status with caution. To no one's surprise, a committee has been promised to study the matter. The federal government will probably get Involved, too. It has experience In such matters, having been called upon to decide whether former President Gerald R. Ford should be assigned a number as president since he, like Charles J.

Baker, came to office through the back door. "We want to make sure the same rules, the same regulations, the same principles are Implemented as they are on the national level," said Bernard F. Murphy, director of the Department of Legislative Reference. It was a curious chain of events with Civil War recruitments, loyalty oaths and rumors of treason serving as a backdrop that brought Mr. Baker to the city's highest office, however temporarily.

Mr. Baker, a prosperous-looking man who favored bow ties and pocket watches, was president of the Second Branch, the lower house in what was then a two-body City Council, at the start of the Civil War. The mayor at the time, George William Brown, was accused of being a Southern sympathizer and tossed in Jail by Union troops. City law mandated that the president of the council's First Branch would serve as mayor should the elected mayor become Incapacitated. U.S.

asks PLO PLO, from 1A any information about the Dec. 21 crash, it reflects the sudden, tentative steps toward improved relations between the United States and the Palestinian organization that U.S. officials have viewed in the past as playing a major role in Middle East terrorism. The U.S. request to the PLO was made Saturday, when Robert H.

Pel-letreau the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, held an informal, get-acquainted meeting with the PLO's representative to Tunisia and the Arab League, Hakam Balaoui, according to Roman Popadiuk, deputy White House press secretary. He said the meeting between Mr. Pelletreau and Mr. Balaoui, held at the U.S.

Embassy in Tunis, centered on Middle East issues. "Since the meeting was called by Mr. Balaoui, the ambassador was principally in a listening mode," Mr. Popadiuk said..