April 1962
April 1, 1962
The Kremlin accused President Kennedy yesterday of espousing a doctrine that the United States must stand ready to undertake a preventive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. An authoritative article in Pravda contended that the President's advocacy of a policy of "nuclear initiative" had become apparent in an interview with him published last week. The article made no mention of a later statement by him denying such an inference. (pg. 1:4)
In East Germany, the Russians have sealed off the compound of the American military mission at Potsdam and restricted the movement of its members. The East German press service said the move was in reprisal for restrictions imposed by the United States Army on activities of the Soviet military mission at Frankfurt. (14:3)
President Kennedy is expected to name Jacob D. Beam to succeed Llewellyn E. Thompson, Jr., as Ambassador to Moscow. Mr. Beam, a former Ambassador to Poland, is now deputy director of the United States Disarmament Agency. (1:4-5)
President de Gaulle will confer with Premier Fanfani of Italy in Turin Wednesday. The subject is expected to be the French leader's plan for a new political union of the Common Market countries, which has ran into heavy opposition. (26:1)
Exactly three months before a contract deadline, the steel industry and union announced formal agreement on a new two-year contract. The terms, which will increase vacation benefits and help to improve job income security, were hailed by President Kennedy as "obviously noninflationary." The accord will provide a national pattern for settlements covering thousands of workers in allied industries. (1:1; pg. 55)
The President registered concern for other workers in announcing that he would seek another stop-gap extension of payments to the unemployed who had exhausted their compensation benefits. (1:2-3)
April 2, 1962
United States-Soviet talks on Berlin are expected to be resumed soon in Washington. United States officials disclosed yesterday, that Moscow had accepted the principle of international control over the autobahn access to Berlin, which the Administration regards as an encouraging "compromise in our direction." The Soviet shift was indicated to Secretary of State Rusk by Foreign Minister Gromyko shortly before they parted in Geneva last week. Although the Soviet position includes other points unacceptable to Washington, it may form the basis for talks between Mr. Rusk and Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin. (pg. 1:8)
Senator Hubert H. Humphrey in effect, accused Senator Henry M. Jackson of rendering "a great disservice to American security" by his criticism of the role of the United Nations in conduct of American foreign policy. (1:6)
Switzerland, in a nation-wide vote, rejected a proposal to write into their Federal Constitution a total ban on the use of atomic weapons in defense of their neutrality and independence. (1:5)
An eight-man committee appointed by the State Department is reappraising the Administration's policy toward the International Atomic Energy Agency. The United States helped create the "atoms-for-peace" agency in 1957 and then, in the opinion of many officials, treated it like a distant stepchild. While the committee's final report is not yet completed, it is expected to recommend increased United States support for the seventy-seven nation agency. (1:4)
Despite East-West tension, the United States and Poland have signed a five-year agreement under which Washington will finance a $2,000,000 medical research program by scientists of the two countries. This first such undertaking with an Iron Curtain country involves ten laboratory projects. (1:2-3)
Senate investigators said that multiple human errors were responsible for the collapse of a radar tower that plunged twenty-eight men to death in an Atlantic storm early last year. (21:1)
Executive jobs increased 74,454 last year. (pg. 17)
April 3, 1962
The United States expects to reach a decision this week with its allies on when and how to resume Berlin negotiations with the Russians. Although the procedural proposals would have to be accepted by Moscow, American officials predicted the talks would be held in Washington between Secretary of State Rusk and new Soviet Ambassador, Anatoly F. Dobrynin. (1:6)
The fight over President Kennedy's proposal to buy United Nations bonds apparently ended when a bipartisan agreement was announced in the Senate to let the President use $100,000,000 as he sees fit to help the United Nations financially. (1:3-4)
The White House indicated it was upset over a question of ethics. It began an inquiry into the acceptance by the seven Mercury astronauts of completely furnished, $24,000 homes from Houston builders. (1:2-3)
Kennedy creates a Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. (pg. 41)
Kennedy names Republican for District Bench. (pg. 48)
April 4, 1962
The United States said it still hoped that Moscow would agree to a nuclear test ban based on international inspection. In a special statement, the State Department said that Soviet opposition to inspection was in opposition to general scientific opinion and contrary to the Russians' own previous views. (1:6-7)
State Department experts were also studying Premier Castro's speech of March 26 for clues to changes in the Cuban regime's political structure. Most specialists agreed that he had admitted the existence of a deep dispute between himself and Cuba's old-line Communist leaders. Some predicted that Cuba's relations with the Soviet bloc would cool. (1:4)
Cuba understood to be high among the topics discussed by President Kennedy and Brazilian President Goulart, who arrived for a state visit. The White House considers the visit extremely important for the success of its Alliance for Progress program. (1:3-5)
Another aid plan led to a wide split among Senate Republicans over their leaders' backing of a bipartisan bill to let the President lend the U.N. $100,000,000. The division, which appeared in an angry party caucus, raised new doubts that the bill could win the big supporting vote that Senate leaders want in order to ease its passage through the House. (1:5)
The Negro boycott of downtown stores in Birmingham, Ala., brought retaliation by the city, which withdrew its financial support from the county program of surplus food for the needy. An overwhelming majority of those receiving the aid are Negroes. (1:1)
The seven Mercury astronauts changed their minds and decided not to accept free, $24,000 furnished homes offered by Houston builders. Their decision was announced by the civilian space agency, which advised them that acceptance would not be "in the best interest of all concerned." (1:2-3)
U. S. prints newspaper for Vietnamese. (pg. 5)
Kennedy was not told of an alert by S.A.C. (pg. 13)
House votes to increase size of Peace Corps. (pg. 18)
April 5, 1962
West Berliners savored a relaxation of Soviet pressure on their divided city and wondered about the reasons. There have been no Soviet flights in the Berlin air corridors for six days - the longest period free of incident since Feb. 8. Allied military traffic has been moving on the autobahn to West Berlin without difficulty and East German propaganda has adopted a soft tone. Despite denials, there is growing speculation that the Rusk-Gromyko talks in Geneva evolved some sort of agreement on Berlin, possibly entailing an international authority to regulate traffic to the city and a change in the basis for Allied presence. (pg. 1:8)
President de Gaulle failed to win Italian support for his plan for a political alliance of the six Common Market countries. A day-long conference between the French leader and Premier Fanfani in a former royal villa near Turin ended inconclusively. (1:6-7)
The United Nations truce supervisor told the Security Council that there was no evidence to support Israel's charge that her attack on Syria March 16 was necessary to destroy a fortified post in self-defense. Without assessing blame for recent incidents between Israel and Syria, he called for more cooperation by both sides. (1:5)
President Kennedy sent to the Senate a letter designed to win support for the United Nations financing bill, but the letter did not mention the main controversy, which is whether Mr. Kennedy would use the $100,000,000 lending authority to buy United Nations bonds or to make direct loans. (1:8)
The President is due to reciprocate this year the state visit that President Goulart of Brazil is making to the United States. Mr. Kennedy's trip may be made in August. A communiqué described the two days of talks between the two Presidents as marked by "a spirit of frankness, cordiality and mutual understanding." (1:4)
Quivering with anger and tension, former Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker charged that he was a "scapegoat" of a national policy of collaboration with communism and the victim of slander and injustice by the Secretary of Defense. The 52-year-old Mr. Walker, who was relieved of his command in Germany on charges of engaging in partisan political activity, made the charges at a Senate inquiry. In a far-ranging accusation, he assailed President Kennedy and suggested there was a conspiracy in high quarters to "undermine our American way." (1:1)
The Army announced a plan to eliminate four National Guard and four Army Reserve divisions in a 58,000-man cutback. (1:2)
U. S. envoy in Indonesia sees peace hope. (pg. 12)
President proposes revenue plan for outdoors. (pg. 85)
April 6, 1962
What appeared to be a conciliatory atmosphere in East-West relations was reflected in a speedy United States-Soviet accord yesterday to have their military liaison missions in Germany resume normal operations. The American mission in Potsdam and the Soviet mission in Frankfurt had been restricted in their movements since March. The agreement to resume normal activities was reached in Potsdam by United States and Soviet Army commanders. (pg. 1:1)
A broad range of economic and cultural cooperation in Southeast Asia was agreed upon by Malaya, the Philippines and Thailand. The three countries endorsed seventeen fields for joint efforts. (1:2-3)
A Harvard historian, Richard Pipes, has completed a series of lectures at Leningrad University on conservative Russian nineteenth-century thinkers. This was the first time that a United States scholar had an opportunity to defend aspects of Russia's intellectual history that run counter to official Communist dogma. (10:3-6)
President Kennedy asked Congress to write a basic national transportation policy emphasizing more competition and less Federal subsidy and regulation of fares and rates. In a special message, the President also recommended massive Federal aid for developing mass transportation systems in and around cities. (1:8, pg. 18-19)
The Senate passed President Kennedy's $100,000,000 United Nations financing bill, 70-22, with strong support from the Republican leadership. The passage followed a series of defeats for Senators who tried to cripple or kill the measure. (1:4)
Justice Felix Frankfurter is taken to hospital. (pg. 1)
550 ask President to pardon Junius Scales. (pg. 10)
Mme. Henri Bonnet, wife of French Ambassador. (pg. 35)
April 7, 1962
The United States and Britain asked the United Nations Security Council to censure Israel for her raid on Syria March 16. A draft resolution also urged Israel and Syria to cooperate more with United Nations truce observers. A vote is slated Monday. (1:5-6)
Britain is concerned about an internal problem, Communist subversion. Officials in London said the Government would intensify and expand counterespionage measures within its departments. (6:5)
Premier Khrushchev reaffirmed a warning that a resumption of United States nuclear tests in the atmosphere would result in more Soviet tests. (1:8)
Moscow also announced that launching of a second instrumented satellite in the current Soviet series designed to explore conditions for space flight. (8:2)
The Government of Ecuador said that a pro-Castro youth organization had launched an uprising in the Andes foothills. The armed forces declared a state of emergency in the area and rushed in reinforcements. (1:6)
President Kennedy urged Congress to grant greater rights of self-government to the people of the Virgin Islands. In letters to both chambers, he called for the "basic right" of territorial residents to elect their own Governor and for reapportionment of legislative representation "to assure the most equitable vote possible in the law-making body." (1:3; pg. 10)
U. S. asking Cuba to release seven divers. (pg. 1)
U. S. denies visa to Mexican slated for debate. (pg. 2)
April 8, 1962
Seven American treasure hunters shipwrecked off the coast of Cuba are being freed. The Swiss Embassy in Havana announced that the Castro Government had released them from custody and that they would return home early this week. (1:2-3)
President Kennedy took the first step toward securing a Taft-Hartley injunction to end the West Coast maritime strike, which began March 16. He issued an Executive Order appointing a three-man board to investigate the dispute and to report to him by Wednesday. (1:5)
A long, unclassified statement containing details of the Pentagon's military research activities prompted questions in Congress as to whether such disclosures might endanger national security. Publication of the censored transcript of a closed hearing revived a subject of frequent concern in Washington. (1:6)
The Government announced that private housing developers in Federally aided urban renewal projects must henceforth comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws. Seventeen states and many cities have enacted such laws. (1:6-7)
April 9, 1962
The people of France approved overwhelmingly yesterday the peace settlements with the Algerian nationalist rebels. More than 90 per cent of those casting valid ballots voted "yes" in a popular referendum designed to give President de Gaulle the means to carry through the accords that are expected to lead to Algeria's independence. In ratifying the President's efforts to end France's last colonial war, the nation showed massive disapproval of the terrorist campaign by Rightists to block the accords. (pg. 1:8)
With France's overriding preoccupation with Algeria, easing, President Kennedy is said to be trying to win President de Gaulle back into a working partnership with the Western alliance. The current discussions within the Administration may lead to an early Kennedy-de Gaulle meeting. (3:2)
A military tribunal in Havana ruled the 1,179 prisoners seized in the invasion of Cuba a year ago guilty of treason and sentenced them to thirty years in prison. At the same time, the Castro regime offered to free them for a total of $62,000,000 in ransom. The ransom for individual prisoners ranged from $25,000 to $500,000. (1:2-4)
Washington is not expected to be a party to any ransom arrangement, but it probably would not deter private citizens who wished to buy freedom for any of the prisoners. (1:4)
Juan Belmonte, one of Spain's most famed bullfighters, died of a heart attack at his country estate outside Seville. He would have been 70 on Saturday. Belmonte, a slight, graceful man, was for millions of Spaniards the King of the Toreadors. (1:6)
The Federal Trade Commission cast serious doubt on the right of manufacturers and distributors to put retail price tags on nationally distributed products. The commission said that when stores ignored the tag, the practice was deceptive and when they held uniformly to it, the practice indicated antitrust violations. (1:4)
The Marine Corps Commandant ordered an investigation of a ceremony at Norfolk, Va., in which a young marine, who had been given a bad conduct discharge for stealing was drummed out of the corps. As the youth was escorted to a gate, drums rolled the "death march" and marines in formation turned their backs on him. (1:6)
Representatives of dairy farmers met in an emergency session in Washington on a compromise Administration plan to cut milk production and raise Federal price supports. They were summoned by Secretary of Agriculture, Freeman, who said that the Administration's rigid control proposals could not be put through Congress. (26:5)
U. S. delegate to U. N. assails ultra right. (pg. 18)
April 10, 1962
The White House announced yesterday that President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan were preparing a new appeal to Premier Khrushchev, to accept a treaty banning nuclear tests. Acceptance presumably would lead the United States to cancel its plans for a new series of atmospheric blasts scheduled for late this month and early in May in the Pacific. The message, which will be sent today, would explain - for the benefit of world opinion - that tests were to be resumed as a security measure because of Moscow's opposition to a controlled ban. (pg. 1:1)
Meanwhile, the United States continued its test preparations in the central Pacific. An additional new testing area was set aside in a vast circle centering on Johnston Island. It is next to one staked out earlier around Britain's Christmas Island and is expected to be used for high-altitude blasts to develop anti-missile weapons. (1:1)
France was the only member to abstain when the United Nations Security Council voted to reaffirm a 1956 resolution that condemned Israel for reprisal raids against Syria. This was an indirect reprimand for an Israeli raid last month. However, the resolution contained an implied rebuke to Syria also. (1:4; pg. 2)
April 11, 1962
Washington and London gave the Russians what officials described as one last chance yesterday to accept a controlled treaty banning nuclear tests before the West resumes atmospheric testing late this month. In a joint message, the two allies expressed hope that Moscow would agree to international verification as a safeguard against secret tests. But there was no expectation that Premier Khrushchev would do so. The United States is convinced that Moscow does not want a supervised treaty. (pg. 1; 4; pg. 3)
The Moscow radio, in fact, derided the appeal. It questioned the West's good faith in offering to call off the tests in return for a treaty. The broadcast referred to the extensive test preparations already made and charged that the West had no intention of stopping now. (3:5)
Britain declared her readiness to join in planning the political future of the European Economic Community and to play "her full part" in political, as well as economic, cooperation in Europe. The British step was warmly welcomed by European officials. (1:1)
Premier David Ben-Gurion of Israel accused the United States of acting in the Security Council in a manner he said was designed "to meet the taste of the Egyptian Government." He also criticized the rest of the Council members except France, the only nation to abstain from censuring Israel for raids against Syria. (1:2)
The United States Steel Corporation announced a price increase averaging $6 a ton, and the other large steel companies were expected to follow suit. The move came five days after United States Steel and the steel workers' union had signed a contract hailed by the Kennedy Administration as non-inflationary. (1:8)
President Kennedy was described as infuriated by the steel news. White House sources said he regarded the price rise as unjustified and as an affront to his Administration. There was speculation that the unexpected development might have a profound effect on the President's attitude toward the business world. (1:5)
Attorney General Kennedy said that literacy and similar tests were now the principal device used to keep Negroes from voting in the South. Appearing before a Senate sub-committee, he urged prompt action on the Administration's bill to curb the misuse of such tests. The measure would prevent the States from denying voting rights to any person with a six-grade education just because he had allegedly failed a literacy test. (1:6-7)
U. S. on watch against use of its arms in Angola. (pg. 9)
U. S. says Vietnam Reds murdered wounded G.I.'s (pg. 11)
April 12, 1962
Relatives of Cuban prisoners reported a tentative agreement with the Castro regime for the release of the 1,179 invasion captives before May 15. The chief of an exile delegation in Havana told associates that fifty-four wounded and sick prisoners and two doctors would arrive in Miami Saturday. (1:5)
President Kennedy said that Gen. Lucius D. Clay's return from Berlin did not signify an end of the Berlin problem of a major breakthrough in dealings with the Russians in the city. (3:1-2)
The President and Mrs. Kennedy gave a warm welcome to the Shah of Iran and the Empress Farah. (1:3-5)
Five major steel producers raised their prices in line with the $6-a-ton increase announced Tuesday by the United States Steel Corporation, the industry's pace setter. (1:3)
An angry and disappointed President Kennedy accused the steel companies of "irresponsible defiance" of the public interest and "ruthless disregard" of their duty to the nation. In a bitter statement opening his news conference, he said that at a time of grave crises abroad, when Reservists were being asked to leave their families and service men to risk their lives, he found it hard "to accept a situation in which a tiny handful of steel executives" could show such utter contempt for the interest of 185,000,000 Americans." (1:1; pg. 20)
The President's condemnation of the steel price increase was followed by mounting protests from Democratic members of Congress and announcements of inquiries by at least five Government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice and Treasury Departments. (1:2)
The price increase will ripple through the economy, but economists disagree on how big the ripple will be. (21:3-4)
On the subject of defense, the President told his news conference that, all military Reservists who were called to active duty in the Berlin crisis last fall would be released in August unless the international situation grows worse. He said their release was made possible by the build-up of regular forces, particularly the Army. (1:4; pg. 2)
White confirmed as Supreme Court justice. (pg. 25)
April 13, 1962
East-West talks on Berlin will be resumed in Washington Monday. Secretary of State Rusk and Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin plan to take them up where Mr. Rusk and Foreign Minister Gromyko left off in Geneva two weeks ago. The formal bargaining positions remain fundamentally incompatible, but United States policy-makers expect the Russians to show a desire to keep on talking about a settlement on Berlin and to avoid incidents there during the talks. (pg. 1:4-5)
In Geneva, the United States and Britain promptly rejected a Soviet offer of an unpoliced moratorium on nuclear tests for the duration of the disarmament negotiations. Despite dismay expressed by the eight non-aligned countries, the two Western powers made it clear that Moscow's violation of the previous moratorium ruled out further reliance on an unverifiable Soviet pledge. (1:4)
The Communist chief of Cuba's Institute of Agrarian Reform declared that the Castro regime would agree to indemnify seized United States property if the United States started buying Cuban sugar again. (12:4)
After day-long intensive conferences at the White House, the Justice Department announced that it was ordering a grand jury investigation of the price increases announced by major steel manufacturers. The inquiry will be made under provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act that forbid unreasonable restraint of trade and attempts to conduct a monopoly. The Government was reviewing all aspects of possible antitrust action in an investigation involving the subpoena of documents and inquiries by F.B.I. agents. (1:8)
Accord reported on Brazilian telephone seizure. (pg. 1)
Turkish President seeks long-term U.S. aid. (pg. 3)
Bowles depicts improvement in Middle East (pg. 6)
United States to expand food-stamp program. (pg. 1)
Peace Corps expansion goes to White House. (pg. 9)
April 14, 1962
After three days of high-pressure activity at the White House and across the country, President Kennedy triumphed yesterday over the titans of the steel industry. Seventy-two hours after the United States Steel Corporation's abrupt announcement of a price increase, the steel giant backed down, rescinding the rise. The action by the company, the nation's largest steel producer, followed announcements by the Inland Steel Company and the Kaiser Steel Corporation that they would not increase their prices and a statement by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the nation's second largest producer, that it was canceling its increases. (pg. 1:8)
The United States has sent its allies the outline of a package offer it wants to submit to the Soviet Union next week for a Berlin settlement. Sources in Bonn said yesterday that the proposals included a United States-Soviet accord to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, an exchange of nonaggression declarations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations and creation of an international authority to supervise access between West Berlin and West Germany. West Germany and France are said to have expressed strong reservations about the plan. (1.1)
What appeared to be a final United States-British offer for a nuclear test ban treaty that would avert Western tests later this month was spurned by Moscow. (1:2)
The House Appropriations Committee voted a military funds bill totaling $47,839,491,000, a peacetime record for the next fiscal year. But the committee rejected Administration plans for a cutback in the National Guard and Army Reserve forces. (1:7)
President Kennedy was dealt a double setback in his fight for farm legislation with stiff controls to curb surplus crop production. A Senate committee approved a farm bill stripped of his key control proposals, and a House group postponed a vote on the bill despite his efforts to get it approved. (1:5)
Brazil and U.S. sign $276,000,000 aid pact. (Pg. 3)
Castro frees six more captives in Cuba. (Pg. 3)
Kennedy joins maneuvers of Atlantic Fleet. (pg. 2)
Mrs. Smith resigns as Treasurer of U.S. (pg. 26)
April 15, 1962
Angry State Department officials protested to the West German Ambassador in Washington yesterday against news leaks in Bonn that they felt were efforts to sabotage East-West negotiations on the Berlin issue. The officials said press discussion of Allied consultations made unified planning "practically impossible." The new friction between Bonn and Washington arose from a number of dispatches from the West German capital Friday accurately outlining United States suggestions for a possible offer to the Russians when negotiations are resumed in Washington tomorrow. (pg. 1:1)
In another area of inter-Allied friction, Pentagon officials have recommended to President Kennedy that the United States ease present restrictions and turn over to France important nuclear information and materials. The defense leaders revised their position in anticipation of a victory by President de Gaulle in his efforts to settle the Algerian problem. (1:2)
Sixty ill or wounded prisoners from the invasion of Cuba a year ago arrived in Miami, released on "credit" by the Castro regime against the promise of a subsequent cash payment. A solemn crowd of 5,000 exiled Cubans received them with embraces, silent tears and the waving of thousands of white handkerchiefs. (1:3-5)
Kennedy stood on the flag bridge of the Navy's new nuclear carrier Enterprise and watched a display of the air and sea power of the Atlantic Fleet. (1:4-7)
In advance of what promises to be the biggest Congressional battle over Reserve forces in many years, the National Guard Association issued a bitter denunciation of the Pentagon. The organization's president accused the Pentagon of a "deliberate campaign to downgrade" the contribution of the Reserves in the Berlin crises call-up. (1:3)
U.S. opens park jobs to Negroes and Indians. (pg. 46)
April 16, 1962
The fourth round of East-West exploratory talks on Berlin will begin today, Secretary of State Rusk will meet with Anatoly F. Dobrynin, the new Soviet Ambassador, who is making his diplomatic debut in Washington. Because of French objections to the continuing dialogue and West German reservations about proposals the United States and Britain would like to offer, the talks will be informal and at what is described as a "subnegotiation" level. (pg. 1:8)
After three days of talks in Washington, Gen. Lucius D. Clay returned to Berlin and, in an airport statement, reassured the West German people that there was no change in Washington's determination to defend West Berlin. The retired general, who is stepping down as President Kennedy's envoy there, assured Berliners he would be back "if ever you are in trouble". (1:5-7)
Both West Germany and France have given a cool reception to Britain's bid for immediate participation in planning a West European political union. The two countries are said to believe that, until the outcome of Britain's application to join the Common Market is clearer, her participation in the thorny political talks could complicate them and the economic talks, too. (1:6-7)
State officials of Alaska boarded two Japanese fishing boats and took their captains to Kodiak to face charges of illegal operations in Alaskan waters. Representatives of four state agencies acted under orders of Governor Egan without previously notifying Federal officials. (1:4-5)
A new master plan of the nation's objectives, strategies and tactics has been written by Administration officials and is moving toward more formal review. The document, which may replace the policy paper left by the Eisenhower Administration, is said to offer no sweeping changes, but it does point out a number of ambiguities. (1:2-3)
Three maritime strikes in ten months have touched off an Administration search for ways to bring peace to the chaotic maritime labor situation. New laws may be drafted to remedy the problem. (1:2)
Under the Administration's latest plans, one out of every five or six Army Reservists who are not now in organized drill units will train two weeks each summer. A Pentagon spokesman said that 70,000 Reservists are involved. (1:2-3)
April 17, 1962
At the Geneva disarmament talks, the eight unaligned countries offered a compromise plan yesterday "to save humanity from tine evil of further nuclear tests." However, the proposal contained no provisions for automatic on-the-spot investigations of suspected test ban violations. American, British and Soviet delegates praised the sincerity of the appeal, but the West doubted the plan's scientific soundness. (pg. 1:8; pg. 2)
With only a few days left before the probable start of new United States nuclear tests in the Pacific, Washington officials are split over how many atmospheric blasts should be set off. The Pentagon wants more than are now planned, but White House and A. E. C. aides say extra tests are unnecessary and also inadvisable from the standpoint of fall-out. (1:7)
Britain, meanwhile, rejected a Soviet proposal for a joint appeal to the United States to end "interference" in South Vietnam. Instead, the British blamed the Communist North Vietnamese for the fighting there. (1:5)
Archbishop of New Orleans, the Most Rev. Joseph Francis Runnel applied the Roman Catholic Church's most serious penalty. He published a declamatory sentence of excommunication against three leading segregationists for their attempts to "provoke" opposition to desegregation of church schools. (1:23; Pg. 16)
An Assistant Attorney General said the Government was studying the feasibility of trying to break down racial barriers by suing segregated school districts that have already accepted Federal aid. (17:1)
The Kennedy Administration has decided to demobilize pressures against the steel industry and pursue a policy of live and let live. The decision to restore peace between the White House and Big Steel reportedly was based on a desire to avoid further exacerbation of relations with the business community. One practical result might be a relaxation of the zeal with which the Government presses a grand jury inquiry into steel price practices. (1:4)
Former Gov. Almond chosen for Federal bench. (pg. 23)
President and wife give a youth concert. (pg. 20)
Goldberg intervenes in Pan American strike. (pg. 68)
April 18, 1962
Acting Secretary General Thant of the United Nations urged the great powers yesterday to reach "temporary standstill agreements" on Berlin and other issues. He also insisted that some way must be found to limit the nuclear arms race before it gets out of hand. Mr. Thant warned that the risk of accidental missile war was "very great." Therefore he said current crises must be insulated against that risk by the adoption of at least stopgap accords. (pg. 1:1)
A general disarmament treaty spelling out President Kennedy's proposals to the United Nations is expected to be laid before the Geneva disarmament parley today by the United States. The move was requested by the eight nonaligned participants, who noted that Moscow's proposed treaty was the only one available. (1:2-3)
Canadian lawmakers shouted with glee and thumped their desks when Prime Minister Diefenbaker announced that a general election would be held on June 18. The news ended months of suspense. (1:1)
President Kennedy had a visit last night from Roger M. Blough, chairman of United States Steel. The meeting described as "useful and cordial" was said to have been Mr. Blough's idea. Like the President, the steel executive was reported concerned about industry's relations with Government following Mr. Kennedy's successful moves to block higher steel prices. (1:8)
The Government ruled out further Federal contracts for two companies until they halt allegedly discriminatory employment practices. Both were accused of bias against Negroes. (1:7)
U. S. captain convicted in Germany as spar. (pg. 2)
Army bars speech by major to D.A.R. (pg. 22)
April 19, 1962
At the Geneva disarmament talks, the United States presented yesterday a vast and intricate three-stage program described by Arthur H. Dean, chief U.S. negotiator, as the most thorough and detailed study of disarmament ever made. Soviet representatives said they saw nothing new in the proposal but promised to study it thoroughly. Mr. Dean told the meeting that the essence of the U.S. plan was to bring about parallel shrinking of armaments of the East and West without disturbing the present military balance. (pg. 1:8)
President Kennedy said that the Berlin situation "could blow any time" and emphasized the vital importance of seeking accord with the Russians. He stressed that the key point in talks with the Russians was the possibility of an agreement on an international access authority. (1:6-7)
Obviously in the best of spirits, President Kennedy seemed more pleased at his news conference yesterday than he has been at any time since he got the election returns. He spoke much more kindly of the steel operators than he did a week ago. (1:1)
He also granted amnesty to a pair of outspoken soldiers. (1:4-6)
Tax credits to encourage political contributions were recommended in a report on Presidential election expenditures by a bipartisan Commission on Campaign Costs. The group also suggested the creation of a Federal agency to report on expenditures made during the campaigns. (1:5)
On Capitol Hill, the House passed and sent to the Senate a record peacetime $47,839,491,000 defense appropriations bill after heated debate on issues that involved relatively minor expenditures. (1:6-7)
The Space Agency said it would choose up to ten new astronauts in the next few months to fly Gemini spacecraft. They will be drawn from the ranks of jet test pilots. The requirements will be stiffer. (13:1)
With White House influence apparent, explorations are under way here into the possibility of effecting a political reconciliation between Mayor Wagner and Representative Charles A. Buckley, Bronx Democratic leader. (1:2)
U.N. chief to visit Soviet in late summer. (pg. 4)
U.S. captain gets 20 years on spy charges. (pg. 12)
U.S. recognized Guido regime in Argentina. (Pg. 15)
House approves 32 million for educational TV. (pg. 1)
Army urges reasonable profit for missile makers. (pg. 12)
Tyler, Republican, appointed U.S. Judge here. (pg. 23)
April 20, 1962
A two-sentence announcement in Tass yesterday was interpreted by Western observers in Moscow as a sign of a further easing of tension over Berlin. The Soviet press agency disclosed that Marshall Ivan S. Konev, a leading military strategist, had been recalled from his post as commander of Soviet troops in East Germany to his duties in the Soviet Defense Ministry. The recall of Marshall Konev, who assumed the East German command three days before the Communists erected the Berlin wall last August, parallels the announcement of the departure of Gen. Lucius D. Clay, President Kennedy's personal envoy in West Berlin. (pg. 1:8)
In Geneva, though, the Soviet Union brought new pressure on the United States to abandon the atmospheric nuclear tests it plans to start in the Pacific soon. The Russians accepted the compromise proposal of the eight nonaligned countries at the disarmament conference as the basis for further negotiations but tried to attach to it an uninspected moratorium on tests. (1:7)
Six days after the big steel companies bowed to White House pressure and rescinded price increases, the Republican Congressional leadership broke its silence on the issue and charged President Kennedy with "police state" tactics. The Republicans said the tactics were "punitive, heavy-handed and frightening" and constituted "a display of naked political power never seen before in this nation. (1:1; pg. 12)
Several hours after Maj. Arch E. Roberts publicly asserted that the Mayor of Los Angeles had a "Communist background," the Army suspended the major from his military duties. Major Roberts, a former aide to Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker, made the assertion in an impromptu address to the Daughters of the American Revolution after his originally proposed speech had been vetoed by military censors. (1:2-3)
The nation's first airborne ballistic missile, the Skybolt, was launched from a B-52 bomber in a highly encouraging though less-than-perfect maiden test. The first stage of the two-stage Air Force missile ignited successfully, but a malfunction in the second stage caused the missile to land far short of its projected 1,000-mile range. (1:6-7)
A special Presidential committee has concluded that the Government must continue to rely heavily on private concerns and nonprofit groups to direct and carry out Federal research projects. (9:1)
Titov applies for U. S. visa to attend meeting. (pg. 1)
April 21, 1962
The United States wants both East and West Berlin as well as East and West Germany represented on the thirteen-member authority it has proposed to oversee Western access to Berlin. (1:5)
Premier Khrushchev was described as "very cautiously optimistic" about the prospects of reaching an understanding with the West on Berlin. This appraisal was made by an American publisher after an interview with the Premier in the Kremlin. (1:4)
But in Geneva the Soviet delegate at the disarmament talks warned that "there will be no negotiations" on a nuclear test ban if the United States resumes tests. (1:3-4)
In Peiping, the Soviet Union and Communist China signed a trade agreement. The amount of goods involved was not disclosed, but the accord indicated that Moscow was ready, for the first time in a year, to assist its ideological rival. (1:6)
Closer economic and political ties between Moscow and Belgrade were envisaged by Yugoslav Communists as a result of the visit to Yugoslavia by Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko. (1:6-7)
The space age World's Fair in Seattle will open today, President Kennedy, in Palm Beach, Fla., is scheduled to press a gold telegraph key that will bounce an exposition opening signal off the sun. (42:1)
NATO to press Britain for more troops. (pg. 4)
Reserves ordered to step up racial integration. (pg. 1)
U. S. to keep up strength of troops in Europe. (pg. 4)
April 22, 1962
Bertrand Russell appealed to eight neutral nations to send their navies and merchant fleets to the Christmas Island area in the Pacific to prevent what he called a "barbarous" resumption of nuclear tests by the United States. (3:5-6)
Hundreds of Berliners and tourists on Easter Holiday watched a brief battle of automatic weapons and tear gas between policemen of East and West Berlin. The trouble started when an East German policeman threw a tear-gas grenade at Western tourists standing near the intracity wall. No one was hurt. (1:6)
President Kennedy will make a state visit to Mexico from June 29, to July 1. The Cuban problem will be high on the agenda of his talks with President Lopez Mateos. Mr. Kennedy also is scheduled to visit Brazil this summer, probably in late August. (1:7)
The United States will attempt to record this week one of the most spectacular chapters in space exploration. The rapid-fire plans, scheduled to start tomorrow, call for sending a payload to the moon to record close-up television pictures, test firing what is probably the world's most powerful rocket, launching the first international satellite and conducting the first joint space experiment of this country and Japan. (4:1-2)
April 23, 1962
The Common Market and Britain's proposed membership will be a delicate topic in Prime Minister Macmillan's talks with President Kennedy this week in Washington. Both leaders favor British entry, but there is strong opposition in Britain, where Mr. Macmillan's political stock appears to be slipping. (1:4)
Nearly three years of research have produced "no material progress" toward an effective method of detecting secret underground nuclear blasts, the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy reported. The panel said "some promising avenues of investigation" had been opened up but that little had been established to Justify modifications of previous conclusions about difficulties in detecting and identifying such tests. (1:8)
The Kennedy Administration's community fall-out shelter program appears headed for trouble in Congress. Pentagon officials and their allies on Capitol Hill fear that a decline in voter interest and lack of White House effort may lead to crippling cuts in the proposal. (1:6-7)
President Kennedy's popular support is at a high, according to a consensus of newspaper publishers and executives meeting in New York. They felt that his strong measures against a steel price rise had pleased the public generally. (1:5)
The Senate is due to start a talking match Tuesday over the Administration's proposal to limit use of literacy tests to bar Negro voting in the South. Strong White House pressure for the bill is expected, but Southerners have sworn to talk the bill to death. (11:1)
Medical training ship Hope sailing for Peru. (pg. 55)
April 24, 1962
The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to hold their formal Berlin talks in Washington. But the negotiations are unlikely to begin before mid-May because of Secretary Rusk's heavy travel schedule and the need to adjust American and Allied views on Berlin. (1:6-8)
A widespread revolt by Kurdish tribesmen to establish an autonomous Kurdistan in northern Iraq is said to have caused hundreds of casualties and destroyed more than 100 villages. Observers call it a serious threat to Premier Kassim's regime. (1:7-8)
American troops in South Vietnam are rankled by ineligibility for Purple Hearts and combat pay. (10:4)
A rocket ten stories tall was launched from Cape Canaveral and its payload was expected to crash Thursday on the far side of the moon. But electronic troubles left strong doubt significant scientific data could be obtained. (1:2-3)
United States and Soviet scientists have agreed on a proposal to set up a "world weather watch" consisting of a network of regional forecasting centers linked by meteorol6gical satellites. (1:2-3)
Foreign policy is preventing the Government from selling $216,000,000 worth of stockpiled rubber it doesn't need. A Senate hearing was told that Washington feared upsetting the rubber market on which some poorer nations depend and that it refuses to sell to the Russians (who can easily buy rubber elsewhere). (1:1)
Complaints of racial discrimination have led to "corrective action" by nine major defense contractors. Vice President Johnson said. The Government was also reported weighing further moves to bar contracts to concerns with discriminatory hiring. (24:3)
April 25, 1962
In a one-paragraph statement, the Atomic Energy Commission announced yesterday that President Kennedy had given the long-expected order for atmospheric nuclear tests in the Pacific. The series may begin as early as today and continue for two or three months. Although the test task force had been ready for some time, Mr. Kennedy withheld the authorization, apparently hoping to reach a last-minute accord with Moscow on a supervised test ban. (pg. 1:8)
Several hours before the announcement, Acting Secretary General Thant appealed to the "powers concerned" to refrain from new tests. (9:3)
In Geneva, the Russians attacked all aspects of the general disarmament plan submitted by the United States and accused this country of seeking "one-sided" disarmament. (10:1)
However, some hope for American-Soviet agreement on Berlin was held out by Foreign Minister Gromyko, who reported a narrowing of some differences. (1:6; pg. 4)
Continuous consultation with Moscow somewhere between the summit and ambassadorial levels will be suggested by Prime Minister Macmillan in talks this week with President Kennedy. (7:1)
Premier Khrushchev was said to have decided that he should not confer with Mr. Kennedy in summit talks unless their diplomats paved the way with preliminary agreements. (1:7)
Under an order that President Kennedy is expected to issue shortly, American soldiers wounded in Vietnam will win Purple Hearts just as though they were in a recognized war. (1:3-4)
Secretary of Commerce Hodges said the Administration would not feel compelled to try to influence wage and price decisions in industry except where basic commodities were concerned. He emphasized that the Administration's intervention in the steel price case would not be repeated in every instance. (21:3)
Under prodding by a Congressional sub-committee, the Public Health Service said it had stopped awarding research grants to profit-making institutions. The action followed an inquiry that found apparent abuses in the use of Federal funds. Future Government research by such organizations will be done under rigid contracts. (1:1)
U. S. prods Latin-Americans on payments. (pg. 1)
U. S. will offer plan to strengthen U. N. (pg. 1)
Plan to send 1,000 Negroes North. (pg. 1)
Robert C. Crane, former Jersey Senator died. (pg. 39)
April 26, 1962
As dawn was breaking over the Central Pacific, the United States resumed atmospheric testing; of nuclear devices. An Air Force plane dropped a device of less than one megaton in explosive force in the vicinity of Christmas Island. The explosion took place high in the air at 10:45 A.M. (E.S.T.). The Administration emphasized that fall-out from the series of tests would be held to a minimum. (pg. 1:8)
The United States warned neutralists at the Geneva disarmament conference in the strongest terms against any walkout from the negotiations because of the resumption of nuclear tests in the atmosphere. They were also reminded that there were no walkouts from the disarmament talks at the United Nations last fall when the Soviet Union resumed testing. (1:7)
In talks with President Kennedy this week, Prime Minister Macmillan, who arrived here yesterday, plans to press for a British version of a European confederation, rather than a federal organization of Europe. Other topics he is expected to bring up are means of keeping channels of consultation open with Moscow, a new approach this summer for a nuclear test-ban treaty and the deepening division between France and her allies. (1:4)
Premier Khrushchev disclosed that he had established a high-level agency to coordinate an expanding Soviet program of foreign trade and economic aid. It is headed by Mikhail Lesechko, a relative newcomer in the Soviet hierarchy. (1:5)
The Defense Department resumed Government-paid travel for military dependents. In announcing the resumption of travel allowances for dependents Secretary Robert S. McNamara said about 6,000 wives and children a month would be going abroad by the end of May. The new policy was expected to boost Army morale and silence many GI complaints. (1:5)
The Senate began a major Civil Rights debate that could tie it up for weeks or even months. Majority leader Mike Mansfield presented the Administration's bill, which would declare anyone with a sixth-grade education literate for voting purposes. Southerners immediately began to extend talks they had threatened. (1:1)
A review of Soviet press and radio disclosed that President Kennedy's handling of the recent steel crisis caused Russian propagandists much loss of face. When the first announcement was made of the price rise, the commentators had a field day by proclaiming that as usual "monopolies are bosses" in the United States. When the President won the showdown they were left hopelessly out on a limb. After a week's silence they explained lamely that the President had to save prestige and protect profits for arms manufacturers. (15:1)
Khrushchev bars early visit by Kennedy. (pg. 10)
U.S. makes 2nd successful Saturn test. (pg. 6)
April 27, 1962
Troubled relations between Pakistan and India seem headed for renewed bitterness over the sensitive Kashmir problem. (1:4-5)
At Geneva, Valerian Zorin, the Soviet delegate, removed fears, for the time being at least, that, the Russians would walk out of the conference because of the resumption of United States atmospheric tests. He said the Russians would continue their efforts at the conference to unmask those who work against peace. (1:2)
The world's first international satellite, a British experiment carried aloft by American rockets, was successfully fired into orbit. The 132-pound paddlewheel packet was carried aloft at 1P.M. atop a three-stage Thor-Delta rocket. It entered an eccentric orbit with a low point about 200 miles above the earth's surface and a high point of about 600 miles. The launching was the first major result of efforts of officials and scientists of the world to exploit new space technology for the benefit of all. (1:5)
After a sixty-four-hour flight through space, the United States spacecraft, Ranger IV, scored a bullseye by hitting the far side of the moon. American scientists were jubilant about the success, even though major scientific instruments abroad the 730-pound, top-shaped craft had failed to operate during the 231,486-mile flight. (1:2-4)
The National Guard Bureau upset the nation's Governors by telling them how it plans to spread a cut of 475 guard units from the states. A number of Governors were reported to have protested but Maj. Gen. Donald W. McGowan, chief of the bureau, said that no order had been issued and that the messages sent out to the fifty states were only proposed plans. (1:6)
The United States Steel Corporation and the Bethlehem Steel Company have been indicted by a Federal grand jury on charges of violating the antitrust laws. The true bill also named as defendants two other steel companies, five executives and a trade association. The defendants were accused of conspiring to fix prices and rig bids in the sale of forged steel to the Army and Navy as well as electrical concerns and others. (1:8)
April 28, 1962
The United States staged an atomic doubleheader yesterday by exploding one nuclear device in the air over the Pacific and another underground in Nevada. In the Pacific test, second in the new series there, the blast was in the intermediate yield range, "which meant its force was equal to between 20,000 and 1,000,000 tons of TNT." The underground test had a much lower yield. (pg. 1:8)
Communist China strongly condemned the American tests and warned that the Chinese and other peoples "will eventually settle accounts with the United States. (1:2)
The Chinese were also reported stepping up their military advisory program in North Vietnam to counter the continuing build-up of United States forces in South Vietnam. However, Washington officials discount the danger of any early enlargement of the conflict. (1:8)
Secretary of State Rusk and Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin spent ninety minutes in their third and most intensive Berlin discussion, which apparently dealt with the broad issues of how to reach an accord rather than with specific proposals, Mr. Rusk requested the meeting, in part to prepare for talks with Prime Minister Macmillan. (1:2-3)
The British leader landed near Washington and was met by a tanned and buoyant President Kennedy, whose own plane had brought him back from Palm Beach a few minutes earlier. (1:4)
The Secretary of the Army ordered that Maj. Arch E. Roberts, one-time aide to former Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker, be dropped from active duty to reserve status effective May 8. (1:1)
Soviet astronaut to be invited to Canaveral. (pg. 10)
April 29, 1962
President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan agreed yesterday not to seek an early summit meeting with Premier Khrushchev because there was virtually no chance of success. In two sessions at the White House, they expressed willingness to consider summit talks whenever there was cause for optimism, but they felt that no such condition existed now. American officials noted that the Soviet Union still refused to compromise on Western troops rights in Berlin and international supervision of nuclear test ban and disarmament treaties. (1:1)
United States has decided to offer its allies extensive information on the quantity, locations and capacities of nuclear warheads kept in Europe for the common defense. The Administration also is ready to join the Allied "contingency planning" to prepare guidelines for the use of those warheads in case of an attack on any NATO member. But that is as far as Washington is willing to go at this time toward meeting European demands for a greater role in managing the West's nuclear striking force. (1:2-3)
In New Orleans, the segregationists' campaign to stimulate Negro migration to Northern cities has apparently had only limited success. White Citizens Council officials say that 115 Negroes have been given transportation north. But the public authorities have verified only twelve departures. Negro leaders have condemned the program as a "cruel joke" and the local press has given it much less publicity than have Northern newspapers. (73:3)
House to act on all-channel television set bill. (pg. 50)
April 30, 1962
President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan ended two days of talks yesterday at the White House. Officials said the chief result seemed to be a mutually keener appreciation of the problems raised for both countries by Britain's contemplated entry into the Common Market. (pg. 1:8; pg.6)
Bonn's views may be given to Secretary of State Rusk, at the NATO meeting next weekend in Athens. Yesterday, he was in London for a council meeting of the Central Treaty Organization whose members are Britain, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. London sources disclosed that the United States was opposed to building up CENTO with American or British troops to make it a NATO-like alliance. (1:7)
A hydrogen bomb that the United States plans to explode some 500 miles in space above the Pacific is expected almost to eliminate the inner Van Allen radiation belt that encircles the globe. Full reconstitution of the belt may take a century. The blast should produce a vast arc of auroral light, possibly visible as far away as Los Angeles. The objective is to test the military significance of the explosion, which is expected to black out high frequency radio communications in the central Pacific. (1:5-7)
Leading atomic physicists and other members of the nation's scientific, literary and academic elite gathered at the White House last night for a brilliant dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners. Some eyebrows were raised by the guest list, which included Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Linus C. Pauling. The climax was the first public reading of a chapter from an unpublished Hemingway novel. (1:5-6; P. 19)
President Kennedy has invited seven top officials of the American Medical Association (which opposes his plan to finance old-age, medical care through Social Security) to the White House for a meeting on Tuesday. (14:4)
The President has given way to the wishes of Senator Paul H. Douglas, Democrat of Illinois, and has dropped the idea of naming a Republican to the Federal District Court in Chicago. (1:3)
Full of embarrassed and boyish enthusiasm, Maj. Gherman S. Titov, the Soviet astronaut, landed in New York last night. While his pretty wife Tamara at his side, he smiled broadly and noted that he had come to this country to speak at a space meeting, where he will confer with the American astronaut, Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. (1:2-3)