Confirmation vote near
NELSON ROCKEFELLER testified at the House Judiciart Committee final
hearing esterdtt. The House will vote on his confirmation as vice president
next week.
Rocky hearings end;
nod seems assured
WASHINGTON (AP )—The House
Judiciary Committee completed its
hearings on Nelson Rockefeller's
nomination to be vice president
yesterday and set it for a vote next
H eek
Committee approval of the
nomination appears certain, with only
about 10 or the 38 members con
sidered likely to vote against it. A
final House vote will be held the
following week.
With the Senate expected to confirm
the nomination overwhelmingly next
Tuesday, the House vote—also certain
to he favorable—will give the nation a
vice president for the first time since
Aug. 9, when former President
Richard M. Nixon resigned.
It will also, for the first time in the
nation's history, give it a president
and vice president who were not elec
ted but achieved office through the
provisions of the 25th Amendment for
filling a vacancy in the vice presiden
cy
The Judiciary Committee hearings
ended as theybegan, with Rockefeller
on the stand - defending his generous
cash gifts to friends and associates in
public life and promising not to make
any more if he becomes vice
president.
Rockefeller, who spent the first two
days of the hearings testifying, was
recalled on the ninth and final day to
give both him and the committee a
chance to tie up loose ends.
One thing some members wanted to
know more, about was a $30,000 loan
made by tßockefeller's brother,
Laurance, in 1961 to William Miller,
then national Republican party chair
man
Neither brother had been able to
Israel ready to b
TEL AVIV (UPI) Premier Yitzhak
Rabin yesterday said Israel is prepared
to make far-reaching territorial com
promises with the Arab states in return
for peace but ruled out any return to the
pre-1967 war borders.
"Under no circumstances am I ready
to return to the lines that existed prior to
the Six Day War of 1967," he told high
school students in Tel Aviv.
Rabin said he would not detail the
exact lines "before the other side is
ready tpsit with me to make peace."
He said — lsrael still hopes for a peace
treaty with Syria "but I doubt there is
Dems O.K.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., (UPI) Top
Democrats yesterday reached har
monious agreement on how to recruit
minorities for party membership, and
national chairman Robert Strauss
predicted the unity would produce a
winning coalition for 1976.
Meanwhile, announced and unan
nounced hopefuls for the 1976
presidential nomination arrived for the,
mini-convention, the first mid-term
gathering of its kind, set up hospitality
suite , :, and began to woo supporters
Weather
Partly sunny today. High 40. Becoming
cloudy late tonight. Low 28. Rain
developing late tomorrow. High 43.
Rain or snow likely Sunday. Turning
colder. 'High 40.
Collegi
the
daily
recall the loan in previous ap
pearances but Laurance mentioned it
Wednesday, saying he had forgotten
about it, but must have made it at
Nelson's request.
Nelson, who said he also had forgot
ten about it, recalled that Miller men
tioned needing money to remain as
party chairman—then an unpaid
position—and that he referred him to
Laurance, who specialized in venture
capital ,investments. 'Miller later
repaid all by $1,900 of the loan, which
La uradee canceled.
In Buffalo, N.Y., Miller said yester
day there were no strings attached to
the loan.
"I didn't really know Laurance par
ticularly," said Miller. "The loan
followed many conversations I'd had
with Nelson. We were very close
friends."
He said later Nelson volunteered
the loan.
.
"He `said he would' talk to his
brother Laurance and Laurance
would arrange it.
"He asked for not a single thing, not
before, not afterwards. He didn't even
ask me'to vote for him," Miller said.
The concerns expressed by mem
bers about merging the vast
Rockefeller wealth with high public K:
office still bothered the 10 or so ex
pected to vote against him, but Rep.
Jack Brooks, D-Tex., expressed what
appears to be the majority view.
"The testimony proves the
Rockefeller family is well off," he:;
said. "I'm sure you're all going to
make it through the winter. And I'm
inclined to believe that you have a ,§
greater stake in the country than most '$
people, and that you want it to remain
free, prosperous and democratic "
room for any other agreements with
them besides a peace agreethent."
The newspaper Ma'ariv said Israel
will propose that the Sinai cease-fire line
with Egypt be frozen for several years
following any second-stage military
disengagement accord.
Ma'ariv said the proposal would be
made to Secretary of State Henry A.
Kissinger by Foreign Minister Yigal
Allon when he visits Washington next
week. Allon is scheduled tff leave for the
United States Sunday.
The newspaper said in a dispatch from
Washington that Allon would not carry
'affirmative
many of whom again will be delegates in
1976.
In a strong show of unity, the Rules
and Amendments Committee adopted a
compromise which requires "af
firmative action" programs to seek but
blacks, women, youthrrand Chicanos in
the selection of delegates to nominating
conventions and other party affairs. But
mandatory quotas were prohibited.
Then the committee met privately to
draft a resolution spelling out the
legislative programs dealing with the
economy that Democratic leaders will
offer toi the 94th Congress.
Strauss declined to tell reporters what
was p in the resolution, except to say it
was an endorsement of the
congressional programs and also corf
tained some specifics. He said it covered
wage-price controls.
Sirica rules out Nixon testimony;
cites ill health, lack of credibility
WASHINGTON (AP) The
Watergate cover-up trial will end
without the testimony of former
President Richard M. Nixon, U.S.
District Judge John J. Serica ruled
yesterday.
Declaring that Nixon's testimony is
not indispensable or necessary, Sirica
said much of what Nixon knows has been
or can be obtained from other witnesses,
including the five defendants.
Beyond that, the judge said, Nixon's
testimony is not required because the
former president's credibility as a
witness is in doubt. .
Noting that Nixon is among 20 unin
dicted co-conspirators in the case, Siriba
said the former president "has been
accused, in effect, of being an ac
complice of the defendants."
"Certainly...his testimony would be
subject to the instruction to the jury that
it should be received with caution and
scrutinized with care," Sirica said.
The 61-year-old Nixon, recovering at
his San Clemente, Calif., estate from
complications ,of a chronic phlebitis
eondition, was subpoenaed last Sep
tember by trial defendant and former
White House aide John D. Ehrlichman.
AP wirephoto
- .
EhriiChman opened his case yesterday
and among the first witnesses called by
his lawyer was former White House
special counsel Charles W. Colson.
Colson, also an unindicted co
conspirator in the cover-up case, is
currently serving a prison term for a
related Watergate offense.
Although a defense witness, Colson
provided damiging testimony against
Farmer, cycle shop owner clash
over proposed motor-cross course
A local motorcycle shop owner wants a
motor-cross course at a site in Halfmoon
Township, but the neighboring farmer
does not want it. -)
At the Centre Regional Planning
Commission (CRPC ) last night, Gary
Young, owner of the Two Wheels Bicycle
Shop, made his plea for a zoning
variance to allow the semi-professional
racing course. Although the regional
commission did not decide the matter, it
was brought up because the course will
be used by people outside Halfmoon
Township.
Young said there is a need for such a
"recreational" enterprise in the region
because motorcycling "is the fastest
growing form of recreation in the
country."
There already is a professional motor
cross raceway several miles from the
proposed site in Stormstown, but Young
said his operation would serve motor
cyclistS who-do not race professionally.
I)Abich of the discussion centered on the
need for such a recreational area.
Stormstown is a rural area and the
course site is now zoned for agricultural
use.
Young said an organized raceway
would get motorcylists off priyate
property, but from the tone of his
presentation, the raceway would be
argain
maps detailing any new Israeli
disengagement proposal with him, but
would discuss the depth of another
Israeli withdrawal from Sinai and what
Egypt would have to pay to get it. The
report said:
- "Diplomatic sources in Washington
explained that in contrast to the first
separation of forces agreement which
was unlimited in time, Israel is now
interested in both a period for execution
of the second agreement and an ad
ditional period to stabilize the area
before a further step is discussed. Israel
wants this period to last several years."
action'
At a news conference following two
days of meetings by the committee,
Strauss said "a great Aeal" had been
accomplished. He reminded reporters
that he had predicted "the Democratic
party was truly beginning to reunite and
is building the kind of , coalition that
served the party and country so long."
Strauss said his party's extraordinary
mid-term convention would demonstrate
the party has rebuilt its winning political
coalition of New Deal days.
Strauss declined to reveal details of a
resolution on the party's answer to the
nation's economic problems, due for
presentation to the 2,035 delegates
tonight, but said it would be directly
based on speeches by the party's
congressional leaders, who would
present a "hard-hitting, forceful specific
program here."
By DAVE SHAFFER
Collegian Staff Writer
three of the defendants. When he had
finished, Associate Prosecutor James F.
Neal declared to Ehrlichman's lawyer:
"If you're gonna call more witnesses
like that we'll 'take'em all."
In late January 1973, Colson said he
refused a request from former White
House counsel John W. Dean 111 that he
talked with William 0. Bittman, then
Watergate conspirator E. Howard
Hunt's lawyer.
Colson said he sounded out the lawyer
on Hunt's status only after Dean ob
tained word from Ehrlichman that it
was all right to see Bittman.
Hunt was then standing trial for . the
original Watergate break-in and was
demanding hundreds of thousands of
dollars for the Watergate defendants.
Previous testimony has shown that high
ranking Nixon adminstration officials
believed Hunt was about to tell federal
prosecutors about links from the break
in to the White House.
Assistant • Prosecutor Richard Ben-
Veniste said Colson, Ehrlichman and
Dean were all "afraid Hunt would be so
distraught he might make the.best deal
he could by telling what he knew."
The prosecutor asked Colson the
purpose of meeting with Bittman.
Colson, who got Hunt his first White
House job, said •Deab and Ehrlichman
"wanted Hunt to know I was still his
friend,"
Colson said that while Ehrlichman
wanted him to meet with Hunt's lawyer,
he cautioned Colson not to make any
commitments to Hunt, a retired CIA
agent.
mainly for competition, not for the
casual rider seeking an authorized place
to ride.
He said more than 20 races are
planned if the course is approved, ad
ding that the 12 motor-cross races would
draw about 500 spectators and the 12
drag races 150 spectators each.
The neighboring farmer, David Barr,
objected to the noise, the crowds and the
policy of relaxiitg zoning regulations to
allow commercial development in a
rural area.
"The primary purpose would be
commercial, not recreational," he said.
Barr said he can already hear the
noise generated by the motor-cross
raceway two miles away. The noise from
the proposed course abutting his lot
would be even greater, he added.
His wife, Helen, said Stormstown "is
the last rural community in the area,"
and said that such a commercial
operation "is a cancer starting to
spread."
' After an hour's discussion, the session
became almost an open debate between
the motorcyclist and the farther.
Barr, who has farmed land for 30
years, said high traffic generated by the
competition would make the rural road
dangerous. He added that the dirt road
Words of warning
Ten cents per copy
Friday, December 6, 1974
Vol. 75, No. 83 20 pages University Park, Pennsylvania
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
Under questioning by, Mitchell's
lawyer, William G. Hundley, Colson said
he urged that the guilty persons in the
Watergate scandal should turn
themselves in.
Initially, in his six-page order, Sirica
granted a request from Nixon's lawyer,
Herbert J. Miller, that subpoenas for his
client's testimony be dismissed.
The order also ruled out the possibility
that Nixon might answer written
questions about his party in the cover
up. .
Three court-appointed cardiovascular
specialists recommended on Nov. 29 that
Nixon not be required,to provide even
limited testimony before - Jan. 6 about
two weeks after the trial now is expected
to end.
The doctors said the former President
might be able to testify twice daily under
oath at his California estate with a
doctor present.
Sirica said the limitations within the
medical opinion alone should answer
attempts by defendants to get Nixon's
testimony.
"The witness is simply unavailable to
be deposed," Sirica said. "The court will
not issue an order to take the deposition
of Mr. Nixon while it appears he is so ill
that the taking of such a deposition could
seriously jeopardize his health."
Shortly before Sirica's opinion was
made public, Nixon's lawyer said not
until Jan. 6 would his client be able to
even prepare to give testimony.
The lawyer said it would be "highly
unfair" to require the former
to the
,raceway would cause a dusty
haze.
Young repeatedly said he intends the I
raceway to be a recreational course and
is not out to make_a profit.
"I would run it as a non-profit
proposition if I had to," he said.
The actual course would cover about
20 acres, he said, adding that the soil is
unsuited for agriculture and that the
farmer who owns it, Paul Brown, has
agreed to allow the course.
Halfmoon Township Commissioner
Ralph Seely, said' the matter will go
before the Halfmoon Planning Com
mission. He said he will request the
regional commission to evaluate the
regional impact.
Seely said he had no definte opinion on
the matter yet arid would like to see
"proof developed" for both the actual
need and the objections.
In another matter before the planning
commission, Dan Pennick, chief planner
for the Centre County Planning Com
mission, presented the commission's
recommendations on the "Year 2000
Interim Highway Plan."
The County Commission earlier this
month recommended to the Penn
sylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDOT) that several highway
THIS MESSAGE, meant to warn those unliberated women who refuse to enter male-occupied rest
rooms, was sighted in the HUB recently.
if 202 PATTEE
5 COPXES
President's testimony until long after
Jan. 6.
Sirica agreed with that in his own
order and added that complications in
Nixon's recovery could also push back
the date he might begin testifying.
Ehrlichman's lawyer, William S.
Frates, has said Nixon's testimony is
indispensable to his case because the
former President kept Ehrlichman in
the dark about the real reason for the
Watergate cover-up. Defendants John N.
Mitchell and H.R. Haldeman also sought
testimony from Nixon.
Frates had asked Sirica to recess the
trial over the Christmas holidays and
send the jury home until Nixon could
testify. Other defenSe law ers suggested
the jury might remain sequestered
during a trial recess.
It would be unwarranted and wholly
ipappropriate to interrupt, adjourn or
continue this, trial with the jury
sequestered until an uncertain date in
the somewhat distant future," the judge
said.
The objections from defendants
Robert C. Mardian and Kenneth W.
Parkinson to sending the -jury home
ruled out that possibility, Sirica said.
Although disposing of the time
problems brought on by Nixon's possible
testimony, Sirica is still pressed to close
out the trial by Christmas.
of He asked the jury to tell him by Friday
•if they would object to hearing testimony
on the three Saturdays remaining before
Christmas and to stay in the courtroom
latenkthan the usual 4:30 p.m. closing
time.
projects scheduled for construction after
1990 be built in the next 'five years.
The roads scheduled for construction
include three sections of Route 144 from
Bellefonte to Old Fort. Also recom
mended is the early construction of
additional lanes to the Bellefonte bypass
connecting to Route I-110.
The CRPC followed up on the county
recommendations, approving the early
construction of the roads.
Pennick said the early construction is
possible because "discretionary" funds
available for the routes in 1990 could be
used more economically now.
He also outlined the PennDOT 12-year
plan, which is a long-term construction
committment to roads in the county. The
plan includes the State College bypass,
the Mid-state Airport access road and
the Philipsburg bypass. Completion of
these roads is scheduled for 1986.
Between 1986 and 2000 the plan calls
for construction of the relocated Benner
Pike connecting with the State College
bypass.
Construction costs for Route 144 are
estimated at S5O million. The total for the
12-year plan is 85 million, with the State
College bypass completion taking up the
biggest chunk S2O million.