Bennington Banner (Newspaper) - September 16, 1974, Bennington, Vermont Sunnier Sunny to partly cloudy today with high in the 60s Increasing cloudiness tonight with low in the 40s Breezy Tuesday with a chance of showers developing High in the Friday's high was 83 weekend high was 73 Low last night 35 At 1 44 Rain Friday night 5 in- ches Sunset sunrise Bennington Vermont Monday September 16 1974 aimer Weekly founded 1841 Daily 1903 15 Cents Bond issue is at stake tomorrow By JOHN LEANING go to the polls Tuesday and decide the fate of a proposed million bond issue to renovate and expand the Mt Anthony Union junior high which the BSD district owns If the bond issue is approved the next step will involve a special Mt Anthony Union district meeting which will be held to see if the union district will be willing to increase the rental payments to BSD to cover the additional cost of the bond issue If both districts vote yes the aging building will be scheduled for substantial renovations which would be gin this year and new construction which might begin next spring An important fact for voters to remember Is that because of the building's condition if the bond issue is defeated expensive alterations will be required by the state before the building wUl be proved as a public school Supporters of the bond issue which include school directors and ad- argue that it sen se to make improvements in a building which meets the educational needs of the community rather than in a structure which is at best marginal The renovations will include such basic work as a new or improved heating system adequate toilet facilities ramps and elevators for special education students required under state law im- proved wiring alterations corridors to reduce noise and ease congestion and remodeling of several classroom areas New construction will add 10 new classrooms to the Junior high plus expansion of the cafeteria and other core areas A major question raised by many in the See BOND ISSUE on back page Justice By Ford Conditional amnesty offered war registers over Ms Joan Arnold of Boulder Colo shows her strong disapproval of President Ford's unconditional pardon of former President Nixon by displaying he American flag upside down the common signal of distress and a sign on her fence She also sent a telegram to President Ford which said Your honeymoon with me is over By HELEN THOMAS WASHINGTON President Ford today offered conditional amnesty to sands of Vietnam era draft evaders and military deserters in exchange for up to 21 months of public service and a of allegiance to the United States The offer of conditional amnesty requires that draft evaders and deserters present themselves to a United States attorney or military officials before Jan 31 1975 The offer applies to those who violated military law by deserting or evading the draft from Aug 4 1964 to March 28 1973 In a special proclamation Ford said the period of alternative service may be reduced to less than the proposed 24 months by the attorney general the secretaries of the armed services or the transportation secretary who has has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard in cases of mitigating circumstances In an executive order Ford also established a presidential board which will recommend such clemency to the President on a case basis In the absence of aggregating factors the clemency board would be expected to recommend Ford said Ford instructed the board to give priority consideration to those men now imprisoned for such offenses and asked that their confinement be suspended as soon as possible pending the review House Republican Leader John J Rhodes who was one of the congressional leaders from both parties who met with Ford on the amnesty issue before the public announcement said there was no connection between the amnesty plan and Ford's controversial pardon of former President Nixon Rhodes predicted the reaction in Congress to the proposals would be mostly favorable Assistant Senate GOP leader Robert Griffin said the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Ford that his plan would not undermine the military vices The offer of amnesty which went into effect immediately with Ford's an- fell short of the demands of the thousands of American young men now living in Canada and Sweden to avoid punishment for deserting or evading the draft Desertion in time of war is a major serious offense failure to respond to the country's call of duty is also a serious Ford said in his statement Reconciliation among our people does not require that these acts be condoned Yet reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the nation's wounds and to heal the scars of derisiveness The clemency board will consider only the cases of persons who apply before Jan and it is expected to complete Its work no later than Dec 31 1976 The White House said about draft evaders are potentially eligible Of that total it said about have been con- of draft evasion about are under indictment listed as about are in Canada and about are under investigation but not yet indicted About 130 Individuals are said to be currently for draft evasion See AMNESTY on hack page Nixon holdovers soon to leave White House Soviets plow under abstract art exhibit MOSCOW UPI -A court today sen: one of six persons arrested at Sunday's would-be art show to 15 days in jail for hooliganism a dissident source said Police used bulldozers water trucks and muscle to disperse about women and children who gathered for the noon exhibit in a southwest suburb During the disturbance when the Russians were pelting the advancing Soviet bulldozers with balls of mud one man shouted It's just Nadezhda was the first artist to be sentenced from charges arising out of the unsuccessful attempt to stage Moscow's first open air underground art display The dissident source said others apparently would be sentenced later today A spokesman for organizers told Western newsmen that the artists had demanded compensation from the state for more than 10 confiscated paintings Bureau chiefs of The New York Times and The Associated Press today lodged official complaints with the Foreign Ministry over manhandling of their correspondents at the exhibit The U.S Embassy was also making a protest The Soviet Union which only sanctions art depicting Socialist arrested six artists manhandled some foreign diplomats and assaulted five Western newsmen A group of 13 underground artists picked a patch of wasteland in suburban for the exhibition hoping the out- location would head off troubles with Soviet officials Authorities used an Iron fist to break up the show however claiming the muddy tract southwest of Moscow was needed for building a park of rest and culture Plainclothes police knocked one American correspondent to the ground and cracked fhe tooth of another The U.S Embassy promised to protest the assaults During the confrontation some Russians tossed clods of dirt and mud at advancing bulldozers The bulldozers rolled large sewage pipes toward the crowd missing several persons by Inches Plainclothes police backed by burly young men claiming to be Young Com- munist League members ripped the canvasses out of the hands of artists One VBA backs legalized marijuana criticizes Ford for Nixon pardon BRETTON WOODS UPI The Vermont Bar Association has voted Saturday to support the legalization of marijuana and to criticize President Ford for pardoning former President Richard M Nixon The marijuana resolution stated the drug should be sold through the state liquor stores to any person over the age of 13 subject to regulations governing purity potency and price The association rejected a resolution calling on policemen and judges not to enforce current laws against marijuana when the violations involved casual use or non-profit transfer of the drug The bar association concluding a day meeting called the Nixon pardon an inappropriate intrusion into the legal and judicial process of the United States because it came before the guilt or On the Inside J Bennington Rotarians meet new town Pages Sen Stafford reports from Washington Page 5 1 filers on the Nixon pardon Page 5 More questions raised on regional landfill Page 6 Former Brattleboro school superintendent may sue district in contract dispute Page 6 Public likes the looks of the new car models until they get a look at the price tag Page 8 New England Patriots knock off Super- man in season opener Page 10 But for the Mt Anthony Patriots and the BBS Bulldogs it wasn't such a happy story Page 10 Johnny Miller w ins golf playoff Page 1 1 USC shocked in college opener everything else was predictable Page 11 of the former president was established through the judicial process Also approved was a resolution calling on Ford not to consider the granting of any further pardons in Watergate cases until the persons involved have been convicted and completed the appeal process The marijuana resolution was passed after a spirited debate with young lawyers pushing for passage Gov Thomas P Salmon a lawyer who was not at the meeting said he op- posed the resolution The political climate in Vermont is not right for the legalization of he said The association rejected a resolution favoring the expunging of all criminal records regarding marijuana offenses Commenting on the vote against the resolution calling on police and judges not to enforce marijuana laws association President John H Downs of St Johnsbury said it did not become the Bar Association to say a law should not be enforced We were he added that today there is very close to de facto In most parts of the state where laws against casual use of marijuana are not Downs told the association that the public image of lawyers is at a low ebb The fallout from Watergate may be with us for some time There has probably never been a time in our nation's political history when lawyers were more suspect than they are today and perhaps never a time when the confidence of the people in our system of equal justice for all was more shaken and he said and this is our problem The association approved a report of Its judicial committee calling for a state commission to review Vermont which the committee said were completely inadequate It recommended the number of probate judges in the state be reduced from 20 to 10 and opposed a proposal to reduce the number of jurors from 12 to 6 as has been done in some states The association decided to poll its members on the question of whether membership in the association should be required of all Vermont lawyers About 50 lawyers are not members man trampled a painting under his boots screaming curses An arrested artist who was later released said all confiscated paintings were burned on the spot A truck dumped a load of earth on one group partly burying a girl of about six She was rescued unhurt but shaken Women clutching children in their arms fell oh the slippery ground as they tried to escape the speeding water trucks Others were drenched scrambling up a grassy embankment The artists informed city officials of the show and sent out invitations They said authorities did not ban the exhibition specifically so they assumed it was all right to go ahead Uniformed police watched a group of men grab New York Times correspondent S Wren 38 and punch him repeatedly in the stomach Another man smashed Wren's camera into his face cracking a tooth When Lynne Olson 26 of The Associated Press protested a man punched her in the stomach sending her sprawling Into the mud Three other Western newsmen were roughed up and one was detained briefly by police WASHINGTON UPI President Ford is still shaping his White House staff to suit his style of work Its organization and operation will become clearer with the departure this week of Gen Alexaner M Haig Jr the Nixon holdover chief of staff who is being named supreme commander of NATO forces Some Nixon holdovers remain but they soon will be leaving their White House posts with the end of the transition period The man Ford appears to rely on the most for advice speech writing and secret keeping is Robert T Hartmann a White counselor who appears to have more clout with the President than anyone eUe on the staff Hartmann was Ford's chief of staff when Ford was vice president There are recurring reports of friction between Hartmann and Haig As Ford's chief speech craftsman Hartmann quips Ford's speeches which were once called simple and now are described as eloquent With the help of another speech writer Milton Freedman Hartmann drafted the inaugural address Ford delivered in the East Room Aug 9 He occupies the small office once used by former President Richard Nixon's personal secretary Rose Mary Woods but he likely will move into Haig's more luxurious suite on the other side of the Oval Office when Haig departs Nearness to the Oval Office is the major sign of power in the White House When Hartmann is not around the President can be heard to say where's Bob Hartmann formerly was chief of the Washington bureau of the Angeles Times and he served as House minority sergeant at arms for several sessions before becoming a legislative assistant to then Republican leader Ford He is stocky has a florid face and Is described as extremely sensitive to political nuances But he has an abrasive manner that sometimes rubs other fers the wrong way He thoroughly understands Ford and was one of the small circle of associates in on the secret negotiations that resulted in an unconditional pardon for former Nixon One of the most Important slots in the Ford administration is now vacant that pardon J F terHorst Ford's first appointee resigned as press secretary one month after he took the job the day the pardon was announced on grounds of conscience Ford is looking for a replacement which is no easy task in view of and the fact that he was other senior aides on the pardon TerHorst felt his own credibility was at stake John W Hushen 39 deputy press secretary has been serving temporarily as Ford's chief spokesman Hushen was director of public information at the Justice Department with five attorney generals He previously worked for the Detroit News and is a native of Detroit Among Ford's closest advisers is his former Grand Rapids Mich law partner white haired Philip W Buchen 58 who serves as counsel and was recently elevated to Cabinet rank Buchen handled the pardon negotiations and is holding talks with Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski on custody of the Watergate tapes Buchen held two news briefings to ex- plain the pardon and Is one of the new administration's most articulate man He attended the University of Michigan Law School and was one of the small group of Ford associates who laid early plans for Ford's accession to the presidency just in case Nixon resigned Counselor John 0 Marsh Jr formerly Ford's assistant for defense affairs when See HOLDOVERS on back page Cheney and Diamond react to stand UPI Vermont Attorney General Kimberly Cheney says he opposes of marijuana but supports a reduction in penalties for possession of small amounts of it if steps are taken to curb hard drug abuse Cheney and his Democratic opponent In the Nov 5th general election M Jerome Diamond Windham County state's at- also said they would like to see an additional appropriated to hire more investigators for the Vermont state police special drug abuse unit In addition Diamond said he and the Vermont State's Attorneys Association support the imposition of a one-year mini- mum mandatory sentence for sale of hard drugs and the of hashish and hashish oil as Diamond is president of the association The two officials were reacting to action by the Vermont Bar Association which voted over the weekend in favor of legalizing marijuana Soaring Tossed gently by the winds a hang prior to landing the foot of Magic Mountain in Londonderry For complete story see page 6
