Rutland Daily Herald from Rutland, Vermont • 1

RUTLAND HERALD THE WEATHER Thursday: Clearing Friday: Hamid LOCAL TEMPERATURES Yw Am High 11 Low Weather Yesterday: Gear (WMMtday Jww J71 ESTABLISHED IN 1794 VOL 119 NO 155 RUTLAND VERMONT THURSDAY MORNING JUNE 29 1972 24 PAGES PRICE TEN CENTS Spass -tic Maybe rj Leopold Resigns All-Level Planning i urged No Further Draftees To Vietnam War Objective: Retake Quang Tri Ten Thousand roups Counterattack Reds North of Hue YY YTfTYfTfD Wx llUMMiKAY Only Those ho Vo I -unteer ill Go The I resilient Says As He (aits Troops By ROBERT SEMPLE JR (Times News Service) WASHINGTON President Nixon decreed Wednesday that henceforth no draftees would lie sent to Vietnam unless they volunteer lor duty there Nixon decision was disclosed as part of an announcement from the White House that another to 000 troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam by Sept 1 reducing American incountry strength to 39000 men by that date but leaving sizeable forces stationed elsewhere In IndoChina The announcement does not at feet the 4000 draftees now serving in Vietnam or draftees already under orders to go to Vietnam However it confirmed and will inevitably accelerate a trend that has seen professional soldiers assume an increasingly larger role in Vietnam as the number of ground combat forces which consisted mainly of draftees r- dwindled under the President's withdrawal strategy Nixon's latest decisions on troops were relayed to newsmen Wednesday morning by his press secretary Ronald Ziegler who said the President had made them "based on an assessment that the troops could be withdrawn without jeopardizing troops in Vietnam or the Vietnamization program" the term used to describe the Presidents three-year policy of gradually turning over a greater share of the combat burden South Vietnamese forces Ziegler also said that another announcement on rorce levels in Vietnam would be made by Sept 1 when the election contest between Nixon and his Democratic opponent Is expected to begin in earnest In the course of his brief announcement and before television cameras later Ziegler also restated the essence of the President's May 8th peace proposal The United States he said would withdraw all US troops four months after an agreement with Hanoi for an internationully-supervised ceasefire throughout Indo-China and the release of all American prisoners of war including an accounting of those missing in action Position Mental Health Chief Takes Job at Johns Hopkins By MAVIS DOYLE (Vermont Press Bureau) MONTPELIER Dr Jonathan A Leopold state mental health commissioner since the position was established in 1965 has resigned The office of Gov Deane Davis said the resignation letter was marked personal so the contents wont be revealed by the governor Peter Martin an aide to the governor confirmed that the letter was received Wednesday Unexpected said Martin of the letters impact on the governor The resignation will be effective Aug 31 Dr Leopold will take a teaching job at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Md No schedule has been set for naming a replacement which will be made by the secretary of the Human Services Agency with the approval of the governor The present human services secretary is William Cowles From time to time when there has been talk of Dr Leopolds departure the name of Dr George Brooks has been mentioned as a possible successor Dr Brooks is superintendent of the State Hospital in Waterbury Under the statute the mental health commissioner must be a physician with experience in psychiatric work Dr Leopold has been widely credited with establishment of the Community Mental Health centers in the state He helped sponsor the concept and worked hard to get the Legislature to appropriate money for them a lobbying experience that may have helped set up a coolness between the commissioner and the present administration Gov Davis's office said when asked about the circumstances of the resignation: Dr Leopold made a signal contribution to the the seven and one-half years he has been here He has done a remarkable job specifically with the State Hospital and Brandon Training School and in the development of the Community Mental Health projects We are very sorry to see him go Dr Leopold at 46 leaves when the annual salary of his job is 130000 When he came in 1965 the job paid $25000 a year and there were whistles of dismay in the Legislature at the size of the salary it was more than anybody else in state government was getting Even the governor's salary at that time was only $20000 Dr Leopold was named in the administration of Democratic Gov Philip Hoff He came to Vermont in 1965 from Buffalo (See Page 20: Leopold) Russias Boris Spassky the world chess champion who will defend his title against Bobby Fischer of the US next week in Iceland shows annoyance at photographersWednesday while playing a different game He finally stormed off the Reykjavik tennis court to escape the cameras McGovern Likely to Be Shorn Of Over 100 Delegates Today Gen Lavelle Affair Due ForHearing By SEYMOUR HKRSH (Times News Service) WASHINGTON Sen John Stennis Miss confronted with new testimony linking Gen Creighton Abrams to unauthorized bombing of North Vietnam announced Wednesday that the Armed Services Committee would hearings into the retirement of Gen Lavelle In a Senate speech Stennis made clear that the committee of which he is chuirman would not act on President Nixon's nomination of Abrams as Army chief of staff until it hud fully investigated the "very serious questions of command and control'' raised by the dismissal of Lavelle Lavelle was relieved in March as commander of the Seventh Air Force in Southeast Asia and later demoted to three-star general rank atter having ordered at least 20 unauthorized raids on military targets in North Vietnam and having reported them as officially sanctioned "protective reaction missions Senate sources said Lavelle had stated flatly at a closed House of Representatives subcommitteo hearing two weeks ajLk that he "had discussed the bombings' with Abrams before they became public In his previous public testimony Lavelle had testified that "I think General Abrams knew what I was doing" Tuesday portions of the general's secret testimony were made available in a summary form to a closed-door meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee In that testimony a number of congressional informants said Lavelle was quoted as having been far more specific about the extent of Abrams's knowledge of the unauthorized missions Although Gen Lavelle positively asserted that he had discussed the bombings with Abrams one Senate source said it was not clear from the summary of his testimony "whether Abrams was told during or afterwards or before Lavelle began doing It" The source added "My impression was that his testimony was also not very clear on this point did Abrams approve of what Lavelle was doing or did he just know of it?" In any event the source said the summary of Lavelle's testimony made it clear that Abrams at least knew of the missions before they became public In a move that White House officials said was unrelated to the Lavelle incident President Nixon confirmed Wednesday that Gen Frederick Weyand (See Page 12: Lavelle) Inside Story By SIDNEY SCHANBERG (Times News Service) HUE South Vietnam Ten thousand South Vietnamese marines and paratroopers pushed above the country's northernmost defense line Wednesday to start a drive to retake Quang Tri Province which fell to the North Vietnamese offensive nearly two months ago The crucial counteroifensive across the My Chanh River which is about 25 miles by road northwest of Hue was preceded and accompanied by the largest concentration of firepower nearly all of it American ever used on a single area in the Vietnam War Seventeen US Navy cruisers and destroyers in the South China Sea and more than 100 B-52 giant bombers from Thailand and Guam pounded enemy positions in Quang Tri almost continuously Large numbers of jet fighter-bombers from bases in Thailand or from aircraft carriers are also providing close combat support The government's drive north also supported by its own tanks and artillery was its biggest countermove since the North Vietnamese began their push south across the so-called demilitarized zone on March 30 Only sketchy details about Saigons drive were available Saigon authorities have imposed strict ground rules on news reporting of the move After the Associated Press bureau in Saigon issued the first limited report of the counteroffensive Wednesday afternoon the governments military spokesman at the daily briefing said this was a violation of the ground rules and added: "We want to warn the AP and action will be taken against the writer" A massive buildup of troops tanks and artillery has been on along the northern front or weeks The Communists have agents among the South Vietnamese people as well as soldiers in the hills and coastal filains that line Route 1 which eads to Quang Tri and they presumably have been keeping an eye on troop movements from these vantage points One indication of the North Vietnamese intelligence was the step-up in the shelling and attacks on South Vietnamese positions along and below the My Chanh defense line over the last several days The South Vietnamese marine division has made four limited forays into Communist-held Quang Tri Province but these were largely in-and-out spoiling raids and only on the last one about a week ago did the marines leave any troops behind A force of unknown size set up a small defense line three-to-five miles inside Quang Tri These troops will presumably link up with the new attacking force In addition it is understood that the marines and paratroopers have had special long-range reconnaissance units planted near Quang Tri City for several weeks On some of the earlier small forays marines were moved into Quang Tri on American helicopters and naval landing craft There are no details on how the troops moved north Wednesday but it is believed that the bulk of them went on foot One South Vietnamese military source said that by about mid-day the marine and paratrooper force had as yet made no contact with enemy troops But the army radio station said Wednesday evening that "our troops have met with fierce resistance from many elements of Communist (See Page 12: Vietnam) Outgoing Official Asks Firm Link Over Environment By STEVE PATTERSON (Vermont Press Bureau) LYNDON Outgoing state planner Arthur Merkle Wednesday called for direct state ties to any environmental plans developed on a local level Merkle has spent the last 18 months drawing up general principles the state should follow in developing a land-use plan Wednesday he unveiled before the state Environmental Board general concepts he feels should be locked into the plan One of the prime jobs of the state Environmental Board is to ensure that municipalities follow the concepts finally adopted in the land-use plan Merkle said The land-use plan which must be submitted to the 1973 Legislature is designed to specify concepts to be used in development of the state All state environmental officials have insisted that the plan will not constitute statewide zoning It is only supposed to represent general philosophy of development for the entire state they say Merkle agreed the plan should not be state wide zoning but he did argue for some degree of control over plans drawn by localities I'm not saying you should have statewide zoning Merkle said but I am saying you should have a plan that has some teeth in it The teeth Merkle wants would guarantee state authority to pass on plans adopted on a local level The state should not draw up those plans he said but it should be assured that the local plans are in compliance with the state plan Merkle said Thats one of the keys to making sure the land-use plan will be a success he contended Merkle said the best way to solve the problem of overdevelopment in Vermont is to come up with a fair tax system This can be accomplished not by scraping the present property tax system but by setting up different types of uses for land in the state according to the planner His idea does not follow the usual concept of a land-use taxation since Merkle would like to see the use of the land specified before the tax is applied For instance if a piece of land were found to be fit only for agricultural use a tax based on its potential for that use rather than for development should be applied If the farmer has the potential of earnings $100000 annually off the land that should be the basis for the tax Merkle said That would discourage speculation by holding land since agricultural would be its prime use but also encourage the farmer to work the land to the fullest At the same time there is no reason why part of the land held (See Page 20: Merkle) Associates members "are gentlemen who have been working to gut Vermonts environmental laws since 1970 Conservationist Atty Harvey Carter of Pownal said when informed of the existence of Common Sense Associates: "Their purpose seems clear They are out to overturn existing environmental control laws" Scott Skinner head of a new environment-oriented group called Vermont Public Interest Research made the following statement this week about Common Sense Associates: "It's quite clear they're out to scuttle Act 250 (the state's new basic environmental control law and to insure a weak land capability and land use plan" Conservation Society of Southern Vermont Director John Stevens said this week he (APWIrephoto) appears to be five-vote majority for the anti-McGovern coalition Both sides were scrambling Wednesday night to bring in their backers among the 16 absentees on the days roll call and their relative success could decide the issue A New York Times headcount indicated the absentees included seven anti-McGovern votes six McGovern backers and three members of unknown allegiance If the California challenge succeeds the distribution of the state's delegates will shift from 271 for McGovern to a proportional allotment for all the primary competitors based on their showing: McGovern 120 and Humphrey 106 with seven other candidates dividing the remaining delegates Reducing the McGovern delegate vote total by 151 could easily deprive him of the first-ballot nomination that he is seeking to tie down before the convention opens A victory for the California challengers would mean in effect that the South Dakota senator would have to pile up 1660 delegates in order to retain the 1509 needed for nomination McGovern strategists are already planning to argue before the full convention that the entire California delegation should not be disqualified from (See Page 12: Credentials) Ski Area Considered At Victory (Vermont Press Bureau) LYNDON The possibility arose Wednesday that a third ski area in the remote and untouched area of Victory might be developed in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont Only a few years ago Victory was the site of one of the hottest environmental battles in the state when the US Army Corps of Fngineers wanted to build a flood -control dam in the process flooding Victory Bog After a long battle the corps was blocked when state officials became convinced Victory Bog was one of the rarest natural areas in the state Now some people in the Northeast Kingdom think that the Victory area would be a fine site for a ski area This was brought out at the Iasi of seven hearings by the state Environmental Board on a proposed land-use plan held at Lyndon State College Wednesday night Stanley Judkins who heads the district environmental board noted the ski industry is a vital part of the economy of the Northeast Kingdom The area is already served by Burke Mountain and Jay Peak but if another area is developed it should be around Victory Bog Judkins said There has been some consideration of rebuilding the (See Page 21: Ski) Common Sense or Common winning the presidential nomination on the first ballot and losing a large part of the California delegation could be a major setback to him Thursday morning the committee will debate and decide the challenge by Sen Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and various allies against McGovern's right to all the California delegates which he acquired by gaining a plurality in that state's winner-take-all primary On the final credentials vote all of the 10 challenged delegates from California who are also committee members will be disqualified from participating in making a judgment on their own cases All of them are committed to McGovern In addition the three Georgia delegates who were disqualified in voting on the Georgia delegation issue Tuesday will reassume their rights They are all against McGovern Also five anti-McGovern committee members who broke ranks Wednesday morning and supported the Georgia challenge are expected to resume their former loyalty and vote for the California challenge The net result discounting absentees kiZ Vv SsKsfs vmmrn 4 rates and the proposed fees set by the Water Resources Board were just and reasonable in the estimation of the AIV However the AIV asked for one change which would insure that no corporate officials go to jail for violation of the law and that change was made by the Water Resources Board almost immediately But the board was unable to adopt the rules Wednesday because one of its members Denning Miller balked at rules changes asked by Commissioner Johnson Johnson asked to have the sections of streams below a treatment plant classified as waters (unfit for swimming) rather than designated as mixing zones Candidate Is Believed Shore of Votes On California Issue By WARREN WEAVER JR (Times News Service) WASHINGTON Backers of Sen George McGovern won a skirmish Wednesday in the competition for seating delegates 1 to the Democratic National Convention but their show of strength appeared insufficient to win the major battle that faces them Thursday over California's 271 delegates Testing their power in the convention Credentials Committee for the first time the McGovern forces allied themselves with black leaders and by a vote of 72 to 59 reconstituted Georgias delegation over the objections of party regulars from that state But their margin over the combined forces of all other (residential contenders did not ook big enough to analysts of either side to produce a victory for the South Dakotan in the struggle for the biggest political prize of all the California delegation McGovern appears to be within striking distance of suspects Common Sense Associates may prove to be "environmental Judases Gerald James assistant director of the conservation society said this week he suspects Common Sense "may be trying to destroy any firm environmental controls we have in this state" Water Resources Commissioner Martin Johnson one of the targets of the lobby group said recently he sees Common Sense as a group of businessmen seeing their business affected by environmental controls" Joining in expressing concern about Common Sense this week was the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club Group Chairman Herbert (See Page 20: Lobby) sewage from a private home or industry The Legislature gave the Water Board authority to set the fees anywhere from $3 75 to $35 per unit of discharge Only eight persons showed up Wednesday at a public hearing held by the Water Resources Board on its proposed fee schedule and only two persons testified One of those to offer testimony was AIV executive assistant John Lindley II who expressed complete satisfaction with the fee schedule He said "We are in favor of the proposed rules It appears to us they are the best method of arriving at the intent oAct 252 the pay-to-pollut-eiiT Lindley went on to say the law called for "just and reasonable The announcement meant that the present monthly rate of withdrawal would be halved from about 10000 men a month the prevailing rate in May and June to about 5000 a month But this was not unexpected given the reduction in the size of the American contingent in Vietnam and the belief among American officials that some American troops should remain behind to impose leverage on the enemy to reac a settlement The press secretarys reluctance to use the phrase "residual force may have reflected a desire on Nixon's part to focus attention here and in Hanoi on his hopes-for a settlement this year rather than on the less attractive prospect of leaving some troops behind witl the war unsettled Nixon's aides believe that the Paris Peace talks may resume when top North Vietnamese negotiators conclude a policy review now underway in Hanoi but they are not certain how fruitful the talks will be The announcement also dramatized two other characteristic trendt of the President's Vietnamization policy It meant first of all that (See Page 12: Nlxoa) the community of downstream on the west I For Mrs Smulowitz and Wideman and thousands of others the hours following have become a blur of disjointed and distorted images that have yet to focus into a clear pattern There were hundreds of people in the blackness and in the rain shouting and grunting up the slick sides of the dike Mrs Smulowitz remembers We were filling pillow cases trash bags anything with dirt and sand to build a levee Hundreds of people working their guts out I was separated from my son and began shouting for him The river kept coming We couldn't catch up and the siren blew and everyone was ordered to evacuate It was two days of hell before we found our (See Page 12: Flood) The Night the World Floated Away: Eyewitness Report on Susquehanna By HOWARD COFFIN (Vermoot Press Bureau) While members of Common Sense Associates say their urpose is to work for a balance tween environmental control and economic development in Vermont some Vermont environmentalists fear the lobby group is out to severely damage the states environmental control effort Noted ecologist Richard Brett of Woodstock said this week: A combination of self-interest money and political power presents a temptation and an opportunity for action even angels would find hard to resist I do not consider Common Sense Associates in this heavenly category" To Vermont Tomorrow" Director Robert Babcock Jr of Stowe Common Sense Businessmen (Vermont Press Bureau) MONTPELIER The pay-to- flute" regulations which will adopted by the state Water Resources Board in a few days received full endorsement Wednesday from the Associated Industries of Vermont (A1V) AIV and the League of Cities and Towns carried on a successful battle in the last session of the Legislature to weaken legislation which created the state's unique pay-to-pollute law They were joined in their fight by Gov Deane Davis who told the Legislature he wanted to give a break to cities and towns and to industries which under the original law would have been assessed heavily for polluting state waterways Now LikePay-to-PolluteFeeSchedule the 54 communities along the Wyoming Valley extending south from Scranton to Shickxhinny None thought 1936 would happen again because engineers had designed a flood control system equal to the river and with little more than anxious glances they were lulled to sleep by the pounding rain of Hurricane Agnes But in Civil Defense headquarters in the county court house here retired Maj On Frank Townend had already begun preparations for evacuation as he watched the river swell to a power that would crush the valley under the greatest disaster in its history By midnight orders to try to contain the river with sand bag levees and the preliminary evacuation orders went out to clear low-lying hospitals and By BILL KOVACH (Times New Service) WILKES BARRE Pa Roz Smulowitz went to bed last Thursday night with little more than a vague concern about the rising Susquehanna River that swept along behind flood dikes only feet- from her newly redecorated two-story home "I had been watching the river most of the day" she recalls now "but frankly I had gotten tired of hearing the old stories about the flood of 36 and knew that couldn't happen again because" these dikes had been built" Across the river in Kingston county commissioner Edward Wideman though in touch with civil defenses and other watching officials had little worry: I never thought it would come over the dikes" There were thousands like Mrs Smulowitz and Wideman in The fee which the Water Resources Board has finally proposed is near the lowest rate possible $4 76 It will be a flat per-unit fee charged for discharges into streams That means a family of four would be charged $19 04 annually for polluting the waters of the state while an industry with a discharge equivalent to 1000 people would be charged $4760 annually Water Resources Commissioner Martin Johnson had urged the board to base the pollution fees on the impact a discharge had on a stream That would have been done by applying the fees according to a sliding scale based on the impact of the I.