The Fresno Bee du lieu suivant : Fresno, California • 8

Page A6 THE FRESNO BEE Wednesday Sept 26 1973 Probe: Albert 'Takes No Action' On Agnew Request elsewhere and I cannot look to any such proceeding for vindication In these circumstances I believe it is the right and duty of the vice president to turn to the House am confident that I shall be vindicated by the Agnew wrote A spokesman for Richardson said that despite legal posture the decision to go to the grand jury would stand Meanwhile Agnew cancelled a speaking engagement he had in San Francisco today without explanation but said he would be in Los Angeles on Saturday to keep another engagement with a Republican group In the Senate -Republican members held a hastily assembled conference and heard their leaders warn against public comment on case in view of the fact they may be along with several subsequent ones was rejected by Agnew The Justice Department had no comment on the Post account Agnew's press secretary Marsh Thomson said he would not comment on the report except reiterate as strongly as I can that the vice president has not had and does not now have any intention of Agnew requested the Capitol Hill hearing in a letter that he hand-delivered to Albert 'Agnew then met for more than an hour with Albert and other House leaders the most careful study my counsel have advised me that the Constitution bars a criminal proceeding of any kind against a president or a vice president while he holds the Agnew letter said I cannot acquiesce in any criminal proceeding being lodged against me in Maryland or Continued from Page A1 decide what course he should take in the Warren made it clear that Agnew's effort to try to get the House to undertake a special inquiry into kick-back and bribery allegations was made solely by the vice president announcement that the request was being rejected for the time being at least was described by House Republican Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan as Democratic The vice president is being tried in the news media due to the many leaks concerning the charges against Ford said Tt would seem impossible that he could get a fair hear-' ing in the courts under the drcum- stances I therefore think the House should grant his request for a full investigation of the charges against Four Nixon Meetings Although Nixon discussed various options with Agnew in four meetings they have had since the allegations surfaced he exerted no pressure for any particular course Warren said Warren said for the first time that the two had discussed the possibility of Agnew resigning when they met Tuesday morning several hours prior to Agnew's request to the House for an investigation Agnew made clear he would challenge an investigation scheduled to begin Thursday by a federal grand jury in Albert rebuffed the vice proposal in a brusque two-sentence statement at midday saying: The vice letter (asking for the House hearing) relates to matters before the courts I as Speaker will not take any action on the letter at this Richardson who met with Nixon before the President conferred Tues- day with Agnew announced prior to letter to Albert that the grand jury would start its inquiry of Agnew Thursday Of Law Warren said Nixon was advised by Richard and Asst US Attorney Henry Petersen as a matter of law in the attorney view this 1 procedure should be Albert would not enlarge on his two sentence statement which followed a meeting with other House Democratic leaders The action killed at least for the time being any chance the leadership would allow an inquiry to start as requested by Agnew on Tuesday Agnew backers could circumvent decision by the drastic method of introducing a resolution to impeach Agnew thus forcing an inquiry There was no indication however that such a move was being contemplated One House Republican Rep Paul Findley of Illinois did introduce a resolution today calling for creation of a select committee to investigate the House shall undertake impeachment proceedings against the vice Surprise Move The quick Albert decision came as a surprise House sources had indicated the leadership would probably mull over the Agnew request until at least next week Before Albert issued his statement there was strong opposition to proposal among House Democrats The Washington Post said in editions that Richardson had offered to allow Agnew to plead guilty to a minor offense if Agnew authorized a statement making it dear he had accepted bribes The Post attributed the account to informed sources It said that offer z1 4 VU' 'V (S' Vf -yVv h-J': jSSb -v1 i 1 -t A 1 i t1 S' Flagpole Feat Figured Out Who put the tires on the Newark High School flagpole and how did they manage it? A free year- book was offered to the student who solved the puzxle but it was the school custodian George Pa-: gan who got the tires down lie lifted the pile high enough to un-' bolt the hinged pole and down came the 52 tires A group of students disclosed they had raised the tires using the flagpole lanyard and a two-by-four Impressed with feat they presented him with an honorary student body card AP Wirephoto School: Trio: Demos Say House Should Start Agnew Probe Continued from Page A1 complained that the courts and the executive branch have usurped the power of Congress But this has resulted because we've failed to meet our obligations time Congress stood up and The provisions of the constitution are very he said ought to accommodate Agnew but not foul up the Another Northern Californian Majority Whip John McFall of Manteca expressed a more cautious view dent's request before taking a firm position McFall said Democratic leaders were surprised by move He agreed that the decision on whether to proceed with an inquiry will be based on both legal and Rep Jerome Waldie D-Contra Costa County said the House should the courts go and' determine whether a vice president can be indicted If the courts accept view met its constitutional responsibility" Leggett said Democratic leaders should reappraise their initial hands-off position Watergate: Move To Shield called on to sit as a jury should there be an impeachment case Impeachment cases are initiated by the House and tried by the Senate The case has been simmering since first publicly disclosed Aug 6 On that day Agnew announced that he had been notified by federal prosecutors in Baltimore that he was under investigation for possible violation of tax bribery extortion and conspiracy laws Agnew has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence Discussed Procedure Richardson said that since Sept 12' he had been meeting with other Jus- tice Department officials with attorneys and with the vice president himself at the request of counsel discuss procedural aspects of the case and options available to the vice Richardson said the department agreed to the discussions in hopes of resolving constitutional dilemma of potentially serious consequence to the He did not elaborate but apparently referred to the constitutional question whether a vice president can be indicted before he is impeached But Richardson said the discussions failed and the decision was made to go to the grand jury He left open file question of whether the panel would seek an indictment grand jury will be used in accordance with well-established practice as an investigative statement said A spokesman for Richardson later! said evidence would be presented to the grand jury in its investigative rather than its indicting role but noted that the panel already had indicted one Maryland official Baltimore County Executive Dale Anderson Record Food Price High Is Confirmed WASHINGTON (UPI) Agri-culture Department acknowledged Tuesday what American housewives have known for over a month: the cost of an average market basket rose faster In August than any time since 1946 and now is at an all time high A monthly report from the department said typical food costs for a hypothetical family of 32 people jumped $238 a week after President Nixon lifted most food ceilings in July It now stands at up $630 from a year ago The cost of beef which theoretically remained frozen at mid-summer levels until Sept 12 rose from $L36 a pound to a record $144 Iqr the end of August Government specialists say the next report covering September probably will show some leveling in the price spiral because many farm and wholesale food prices have declined since mid-August But the experts also acknowledge that the basket price includes only the cost of USproduced farm foods and does not take into account either fish or imported products both of which are also reported going up Public TV: Continued from Page Al -schools' Inventory of instructional television equipment Additionally there are proposals to raise other money to demonstrate to the FCC a money-backed desire of the valley to have public and educational television on a local basis Programming would consist of In structional television during the daytime hours Poore says Junior colleges and lower level public education facilities can receive state funds for the persons who enroll in such' courses Fresno State University also would contribute some programs under the Poore proposal At night the station would rely on the Public Broadcast System picking up programs live either off another public station in Sacramento or San Francisco or directly from PBS Poore says it will take several weeks to prepare an application to activate Channel 18 which now Is assigned to FSU However Poore expects no opposition from the university and says the station could be operational In early 1975 if the FCC acts promptly President Accepts Pakistan Invitation NEW DELHI India (AP) Radio Pakistan reported today that President Nixon has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to visit Pakistan The broadcast did not give dates for visit but said Bhutto expected him to received by the people of Pakistan with spontaneous warmth and Bhutto visited Nixon in Washington last week After attending yesterday meeting between Agnew and House leaders McFall said he first wants to explore the legal precedents and implications of the vice presi "Though he may act irresponsibly and make wild attacks we should by and large resist the temptation and leave him will have plenty of time to attach labels later and the same labels which will defeat McGovern for the presidency are the same labels which could prevent Mm from getting the Other Sources The document was obtained by the committee from other sources Buchanan said he did not bring any documents subpoenaed by the committee on instructions from White House lawyers He said the memos were transferred earlier this year from White Agnew Asks Of Innocence dent to the Oval Office yesterday morning for a 75-minute meeting Referring to that conversation in his statement Nixon said: vice president again as he had done in our previous meetings denied file charges that have been made against Agnew the President continued served his country with dedication and distinction and has won the respect of millions of Americans for the candor and courage with which he has addressed the controversial issues of our Now the President said Agnew faced a that he cannot be prosecuted like other citizens or appeals drag on for more than a year over this issue he said the' House should Intervene at that point and begin an inquiry ft- it the position of counsel at the White House that these memoranda dealing with political campaign strategy are not available under the subpoena because of executive asked the chief counsel Samuel Dash think yon would have to ask (White House) counsel what their position is but I think not un-' reasonable in light of the fact that many of the memoranda are to the President of the United States many of the memoranda deal with recommendations for presidential action many of the memoranda were prepared at the direction of the Buchanan replied Running Committee Chairman Sam Ervin D-NC who has had a running battle with the White House over the scope of executive privilege complained there were no proper grounds for keeping the memos secret it is not part of the official duty of the president to run for re-election and tt is not the official duty of the President to conceal evidence of wrongdoing I think the President has the right to with- -hold any Information in his possession dealing with political Ervin said Buchanan said many of the memos predated the 1972 campaign dealing with his of individuals which would also have impact on presidential strategy with regard to and thus fell in the category of official presidential papers Buchanan said he had access to some of his memos but that he did not have copies of many more that the committee had obtained from other sources bound in a volume more than an inch thick Reputation Charge Since the somewhat surprising announcement days ago that Buchanan one of and Vice President Spiro speech writers would be called as a witness Buchanan said there had been a spate of news accounts about him He many of these reports were apparent campaign orchestrated from within the committee staff to malign my reputation in the public press prior to my Buchanan acknowledged that he had recommended in the spring and summer of 1971 that the Nixon re-election campaign their political resources upon Sen Muskie rather than dissipate them on the dozen other potential aspirants for the It was his hope he said that if the Republicans focused on Muskie they contribute to opening up the Democratic primaries and preventing a closed Nixon Backs Presumption Nor York Tima Ntw tervk WASHINGTON President Nixon appealed to the American people to give Vice President Agnew basic decent consideration and presumption of innocence that are both his right and his At the end of another day of furious rumors counterrumors announcements and denials the White House issued a 250-word written statement that constituted strongest endorsement of Ms vice president since legal difficulties began The President called the vice presi political considerations Congressional Democrats he indicated are naturally reluctant to follow a course which may help a Republican vice president House files to the storeroom for official presidential papers in the basement of the Executive Office Building after a campaign official back from a committee hearing and said going to subpoena all our Buchanan did not identify the campaign official but said the advice to move the political strategy memos came from presidential lawyers including Fred Buzhardt and Leonard Garment Asia Fears Buchanan said he feared that if McGovern or Muskie had been elected President their views on Southeast Asia it would have been nothing short of a The Trident is the largest weapons program in this budget and the most heavily lobbied defense issue in Congress since the Safeguard antiballistic missile A vote on Trident is expected Thursday Sen Thomas McIntyre said Ms head count showed 44 senators for and 44 against Ms proposal to slash $642 million from this proposed outlay of $15 billion for Trident Bus Crashes Into Dam 15 Aussies Perish SYDNEY Australia (AP) Fifteen members of a senior club on a vacation trip in the Snowy Mountains were killed today when their bus crashed into the Tumut Ponds dam 200 miles southwest Sydney a police spokesman reported Another 24 persons were injured An eyewitness said the bus was climMng a Mil heading away from the dam when it stopped rolled backward and plunged into deep water Moore said Officers Kenneth Wells 35 of Atherton and Richard Hutton 30 of Menlo Park will be operating out of their homes for the three-year experiment in crime control and public relations The program is funded by $160000 from the California Council of Criminal Justice Moore said be having coffee Matches and small informal neighborhood said he The whole idea is really to become local Votes US Overseas Forces Slash Continued from Page Al hopefuls regarded as serious threats to re-election The major target at the outset he said he recommended should be Sen Edmund Muskie of Maine who went into the 1972 Democratic presidential primaries as the generally recognized frontrunner for the nomination After Muskie slipped in the early primaries leading ultimately to his withdrawal from the race George McGovern grew stronger and Buchanan said he advised the Nixon campaign organization to do anything to impede" the South drive A Buchanan memo dated April 27 1972 said of McGovern: Troops: Senate Continued from Page Al quo of military involvement around the Just before the vote he changed his amendment to require 40-percent withdrawal Mansfield said that when dependents US civilians and foreign nationals hired to assist Americans are included the United States has a force of 11 million persons in foreign countries He said this costs US taxpayers $30 MUion a year with $17 billion of that amount attributed to maintenance of troops in Europe In action Tuesday on the defense budget bill: A $16 billion pension boost for retired military men was approved on a 71 to 14 vote although the Senate had never even held hearings on the proposal A rare 2-yt hour secret session was held on the Trident nuclear submarine It was demanded by Sen Henry Jackson D-Wash to present Ms reasons for supporting the request to speed up development of the submarine system 100 MPH Winds Lash Rome Killing One ROME (AP) Hundred-rule-an-hour winds lashed Rome through the night until dawn today killing one person injuring dozens of others and damaging buildings trees and billboards The fatality was a man whose car was Mt by falling pine tree The wind tore off a cornice of one building in the Trastevere section and it crashed through the roof of the America movie house Four people were injured by falling masonry as the audience rushed in the dark to the exits Continued from Page A1 handicapped children went unsigned by Reagan two years ago Set at a high priority by the Dell partment of Education and Superin-i' tendent of Public Instruction Wilson I Riles plans for the San Joaquin Val-! ley school originated because of the high number of children unable to get into crowded existing facilities in San Francisco and Los Angeles Barry Griffing assistant chief of the division of special education said the Fresno school ul-I timately will serve a 12-county area Its aim he said will be to 'comprehensive medical and tional assessment Of handicapped children and to develop programs whereby the children can benefit from an education The school will serve persons be- tween the ages of 3 and 21 with on younger Griffing said In addition he said the depart- ment plans by late 1974 to provide residential services for about 30 chit dren housing them in the school intensive remedial educational treatment The next step to start the follow-ing year he said would be to join with Fresno State University in a program to prepare teachers aides nurses social workers and other professional people working with handi- capped children According to a study made by the state last year children have had to wait as long as a year to be admitted to the other two schools for diagnosis and that many because of the distance haw been unable to use them The study found that at that time more than 1500 children were in need of the diagnostic services It also suggested following public hearings that Fresno is the logical site for the program and that an existing former convalescent hospital or nursing home could be remodeled for the purpose In addition to the search for a suitable building Griffing said the department has begun preliminary staffing work and is in the process of looking for a director to head the school It will be called the Central Valley Diagnostic School for Neurologically Handicapped Children tt will sene Fresno Madera Kings Merced Mariposa Stanislaus Tuolumne Amador Calaveras Kent and San Joaquin Counties An amendment introduced by Jackson advising President Nixon to seek a full offset of any balance of payments deficit resulting from the stationing of American forces in Europe was approved 84 to 5 Under the measure if a full offset agreement is not negotiated by next July 1 US forces in Europe would be reduced by a percentage equal to the balance of payments shortfall The pension boost amendment gained support from such strong critics of military spending as Sens George McGovern D-SD and Harold Hughes D-Iowa Rates Of Rise Under the pension amendment a four-star general who retired in 1958 with 30 years' service would see his pension raised $5600 a year to almost $30000 A sergeant 1st class who retired in 1958 with 24 service would get a boost of $1800 to $5800 The first secret Senate session in more than a year permitted Jackson to read classified material on the Soviet military threat to back the call for expedited construction of the missile sub program Bicycle-Riding Police Begin To Patrol Atherton Menlo Park Neighborhoods ATHERTON (AP) Choosing their own working hours and shedding their uniforms two policemen will use 10-spced bicycles to patrol residential neighborhoods in this San Francisco Peninsula community and nearby Menlo Park been getting dose enough to the said SgL Richard Moore The idea of this new program is give the people a personalized service with a special em- i.