The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 6

Underworld in the FBI the minneapolis star Saturday, Dec. 6, 1975 THE swelling body of evidence generated by congressional investigations of the FBI has, to put it mildly, ished J. Edgar Hoover's reputation. In retrospect, the late "Number One Crime Fighter," who was with the Justice Department for 55 years, emerges as a vindictive, scheming, power-hungry bureaucrat. While he was alive, Hoover was so much the epitome of the FBI that he regarded any personal criticism, no matter how marginal, as an attack on the agency.

To some extent the "Hoover myth" was beneficial for the hard-working rank and file agents he disciplined with an iron hand. Some of his superman image rubbed off, giving them the reputation of efficient, professional, clean-cut and fearless tigators. By and large it is a reputation they deserve in their own right. But, in the words of Sen. Walter F.

Mondale, the FBI under Hoover went "astray" in the area of "domestic intelligence." Mondale, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told his colleagues: "It now appears that there was an underworld within the FBI which took the tools, techniques and zeal which were so effective against real foreign threats and turned them upon the American people." Mondale spoke of "the most disturbing testimony that can be imagined in A bad record on POLYCHLORINATED bi phenyls don't conduct electricity but do trans- mit heat and are not flammable. They're used in electrical equipment for that reason. But that's about all that can be said about them that's good. They are also a health threat. They are similar to DDT in chemical construction and not readily biodegradable.

People who work with PCBs have complained of nausea, dizziness, eye and nose irritation, allergic dermatitis and other ailments. Laboratory experiments indicate PCBs can cause liver cancer in rats. Experiments on rats, mice, chicks and rhesus monkeys have caused reproductive failure, birth defects, gastric ulcers, skin lesions and liver ailments. Many Japanese exposed to PCBs in a 1968 accident came down with a variety of illnesses and problems. Japan now bans PCBs.

In the United States, the only manufacturer of PCBs is Monsanto which began in 1971 to limit sales to so-called "closed system uses" in electrical transformers and capacitors. Before that restriction, PCBs were widely used in a variety of products. i i vm n. Housing fiasco To the Editor: So developers called the Findley Place Housing Corp. and the Greater Minneapolis Metropolitan Housing Corp.

have decided to embark on a low-income housing fiasco at 31st and Blaisdell. Well, thanks for their citizen and environmental concern. Thanks for consolidating 89 federally subsidized renters in our neighborhood. We needed that! A few more purse snatchings, more juveniles on the street, cheap and early deteriorating buildings will certainly revitalize our Model City area. They may call it urban renewal.

Seniors, home owners and businessmen of this area may call it a crying shame and then move out. Hasn't anyone learned that housing projects of this sort most often fail, leaving the community disheveled? Take a ride on the near North Side. See those projects standing vacant, graffiti on Built-in facilities To the Editor: In a letter Nov. 19, Caro-lee Burris pointed out some establishments which are providing facilities for the handicapped and some establishments which lack these facilities. I would like to point out two shopping areas designed with specific consideration for the handicapped.

Maplewood Mall, 1-694 and White Bear Av. in St. Paul, opened July 31, 1974. Eden Prairie Center, Hwy. 169 S.

and 78th St. in Eden Prairie, will open March 3, 1976. Both centers, projects of Homart Development have incorporated the following features for the safety and convenience of the handicapped shopper. Designated parking spaces next to every mall entrance. Cutaways in curbs with gentle slopes from the sidewalks to the parking areas.

Interior ramps between levels of the mall angled according to code for use by the handicapped. Water fountains and public telephones set low enough for use by shoppers in wheelchairs and located next to the regularly positioned facilities. Restroom accommodations for wheelchair shoppers including wider-door toilet stalls with doors that swing out, not in; higher-set commodes with nearby wall bars; and sinks with the fronting cut away so wheelchair shoppers can roll right up to them. Non-skid wax and sturdy handrails. In the fall of 1977 a third shopping center, also developed by Homart, will open for business in Burnsville.

This area will also have these facilities. Star Photo by William Seaman UPON ARRIVAL LAST MONTH was disillusioned and angry Aiiiiiiiiilv I II The Sting gets an update To the Editor: The main thing wrong with Minnesota schools back in the '40s was that the teachers didn't give the kids enough homework. If my teachers had given me a little more homework I wouldn't be broke today. But I am broke. And here's why: Last Friday (Nov.

21) I was sitting in a bar in Hollywood, when a fellow came up to me and said: "Hey, buddy, I'll bet you I can name you 10 well-known towns from my state and you can't tell me what state I'm from." "Fifty bucks says I can," I replied, and the bet was on. "Hutchinson, Belle Plaine, Sawyer, Lake City, Wells, Adams, St. Peter, Windom, Geneva, and Waterville." This stranger didn't know where I was born and reared and so I said: "I've never heard of any of these towns but if you'll name me 10 more towns from your state I'll double the bet." "You're on," said the sucker: "Winona, Waverly, St. Francis, Richfield, Garfield, Buffalo, Hill City, Garden City and St. Paul." By now I was actually trembling.

"I'm no expert on geography," I said, "but if you'll give me the name of just one more town I'd be willing to double our bet and then double it again." "Fair enough," the man cried as I slapped $400 on the table. "Mankato!" Now there were eight $100 bills out there in one neat stack. The fool then asked me to write down my answer on a piece of paper and give it to the bartender. Which I did in a Dixie minute flat. Somebody unplugged the jukebox and a hush fell over the house.

Already I was reaching for the eight bills when the man said: "Do you really want that $800 or do you want me to give you three more towns from my state and add $200 budks to the bet?" Had he seen my bankroll? I threw my last two hundreds out and shrieked, "Shoot the works!" Just as my fingers were closing around the whole beautiful 2,000 bucks this monster called out: "Mingo, Jingo, and Buttermilk." Then he walked out the door with all the money. The S.O.B. was from Kansas! Whittier, Calif. J. V.

Adams. disappointed VICE-PRESIDENT ROCKEFELLER After party' 8 dinner, member i fM-rf '-h ra iiimiti i i B- sum, that the FBI and constitutional rights. But despite the power that made the Congress, attorneys general and presidents cower, Hoover had accomplices. Not just Richard Nixon. The Senate committee has evidence that presidents from Franklin D.

Roosevelt on, and their attorneys general, used the FBI as a super-snooping agency that tapped, bugged and otherwise surveyed their own staffs, respected newsmen, rival politicians, even private citizens who sent critical letters or telegrams to the White House. Indeed, Nixon may have refined the "enemies list," but he hardly originated it. In fact, much of the new report confirms old suspicions. The Romans asked: "Who watches the watchmen?" Mondale's call for an alert watchman Congress is the key. But in the vernacular, it takes two to tango.

The executive branch with the White House at the apex and the Justice Department at its right hand are supposed to control the FBI. Not toady to it. Now that FBI autonomy has been curbed, the challenge facing 'our representatives is to keep the whole executive apparatus within the range of its supervision. And the people must keep an eye on Capitol Hill. PCBs Russell Train, administrator of the U.S.

environmental protection agency, again called for passage of a proposed toxic substances control act at a recent conference in Chicago on PCBs. Such an act would give specific authority over PCBs and similar chemical compounds. Train contended that, had such legislation been carried out in line with the recommendation of a 1972 federal task force, it "might have enabled us to really come to grips with the PCB problem" and rendered the Chicago conference unnecessary. Possibly so. But there is a body of environmentalists, including some in-the government, who hold that EPA could have moved under the authority it already has, that it has in fact been derelict in its responsibility to protect the environment.

For example, EPA has no effluent standard on PCBs for either air or water. Meanwhile, Train reported that, while PCB levels in food have steadily declined in the last three years, PCBs are present in the environment "to a far greater degree and at higher levels than we previously thought." That stands as terrible testimony to inaction by the federal government. more about how he was chosen for the court. RUHE'S REAPPOINTMENT The reappointment of Robert Ruhe to a new two-year term as Minneapolis parks superintendent might better have waited until after newly elected park commissioners took their seats in January. Now or then, however, the reappointment of Ruhe, with the job protection of a twc-year term, is essential to the continuance of key park programs.

REP. ADAMS QUITS In announcing that he will not seek reelection next fall, state Rep. Salisbury Adams cited the drift toward a full-time legislature. We share his concerns about the increasing amount of time the legislature spends in official sessions. Stricter time limits are needed.

A- Republican is like magic, the band played four short selections, and the party was over. No speeches directed toward Republican goals or accomplishments, no mingling by the honored guests with the grass-roots supporters, no fun, no pride, no friendship. Is it any wpnder there is no longer any Republican organization? Everyone regarded each other like 1,200 people from 1,200 different planets. Another election down the tube! The Republican Party of Minnesota will never be a party until it becomes united, not independent. Excelsior.

M. Johnson. Vikings' fair-weather fans To the Editor: Some of the fair-weather football fans I come in contact with make me sick. They go on about how the Vikings are "chokers" and how they can never win the big games. Of course, they use the Vikings' three Super Bowl appearances as" examples.

These so-called fans fail to realize or recognize the many big games that the Vikings have won over the years. To appear in three Super Bowls and to win seven out of eight Central Division championships a team has to win many big games. You fair-weather fans are the real losers. You should live in New Orleans, Chicago or Philadelphia. These teams haven't been winners for years.

Thank you, Vikings, for the many years of fun, excitement and entertainment you have provided. Without you there would have been many dull Sunday afternoons. Richfield. Mark Robideau. a free society." In violated the law Where The Star stands 4 rttftaar on Blaisdell Av.

the walls, broken windows and doors, stolen fixtures, garbage and litter strewn. Try to attract businesses to that area. Try to attract renters within three miles of these projects. With all the money poured into the Model City area, with the hopeful new Nicollet-Lake project on the boards, why must the above-mentioned developers defeat our purposes and hopes? Why was there not a public hearing on the plans for development? I mean a well-advertised hearing. Why has not an environmental statement been done on the project (read Minnesota statutes Section 116 D.01 et Taxpayers of this area are sad, blind participants in this development.

Their taxes help build this project, and the last turn of the knife is watching their home and business values fall and watching their neighborhood decline. Minneapolis. D. J. Johnson.

for handicapped I hope this information will benefit shoppers whose special needs make shopping a chore. Eden Prairie. Mary L. Addis, Assistant Center Manager, Eden Prairie Center. Postage rate for newspapers To the Editor: Not surprising is your editorial (Nov.

28) supporting a Postal Service subsidy. However, your editorial credita-bility would have been higher if you had even hinted it's the newspapers, not the general public, who are the hogs at this public trough, to the tune of millions of dollars each week. Cleverly, the editorial attempts to play on public sympathy by citing burgeoning first-class postage rates and decrying postal efficiency. When this nation was in its early and formative years, communication as we know it today was unknown. The only means to disseminate information were word of mouth, letters and the printed page.

To encourage people to avail themselves of the printed page, newspapers in particular, Congress established second-class mail in 1879. The rate structure was subsidized to decrease the cost of obtaining information in this manner. Since 1879 the newspaper lobby group has managed to expand the second-class subsidy to include extra issues, separate editions, issues containing annual reports, directories, lists and similar text as a part of the contents, supplements, sample copies not paid for by the addressee, copies paid for by advertisers, copies paid for as gifts, exchange copies, expired subscriptions (up to six months) and advertisers' proof copies. If that isn't enough, second-class mail receives "preferential handling." That is, a newspaper sent to someone who doesn't even want it receives preference over a first-class letter, and the irony is that second-class mail costs considerably less than first-class. Your editorial asserts, "It (the Postal Service) should be responsible to the people through Congress, and should be supported by the general revenues." As one of those "people" (who incidentally, does not have a lobby group in Washington to present my perspective) referred to in your editorial, my response to your assertion is: Congress! Tell it (the Postal Service) to stop the newspaper subsidy.

Let them pay their fair share for postal service just as the average citizen must. We no longer need to subsidize the cost of obtaining information from newspapers as we did in 1879, let alone subsidizing their marketing schemes and myriad of other second-class privileges. Sir, don't you think that after almost 100 years at the public trough it's time the newspapers started fending for themselves? I agree with one thing in that editorial. The Postal Service will never become "a self-supporting business," at least as long as the newspapers are wallowing in the trough. Fridley.

William E. Scott III. HERE are some of the positions taken by The Star in editorials this week: NO RESERVE SHUTDOWN The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency board was correct in tabling a proposal to use its emergency powers to shut down Reserve Mining taconite plant at Silver Bay. Such action probably would have been premature and have resulted in another court case. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE John Paul Stevens, President Ford's choice to succeed Justice William 0.

Douglas on the U.S. Supreme Court, is well qualified for the job and deserves to be confirmed. But Stevens's previous obscurity requires that the Senate, on behalf of the people, ask penetrating questions to determine Transplanted To the Editor: Recently a transplanted Republican from Illinois, attended a $15 dinner at the Prom Ballroom designed to help the state Republican Party. This was to be a gala occasion with the vice-president as our principal speaker and words from our Reps. Quie, Hagedorn and Fren-zel.

I was home by 10:30 disgusted, disillusioned and angry. If this is a sample of Republican organization. Republican esprit de corps and the Republican family of Minnesota, it is no wonder the state is rapidly, becoming a one-party mafia. Rockefeller stated opinions previously stated in the press; Frenzel said little; no one understood Quie's remarks and Hagedorn said "Hello." A poor dinner was hurriedly served, our speakers disappeared The Minneapolis Star IAHGLSI DAILY NEW SMPEH IN THE I FPK MIDWEST Saturday, December 6, 1973 VOLUME XCVIH NO, 9 DONALD F. WRIGHT, STEPHEN ALNES, Executive Editor Editorial Editor HAROLD CHUCKER, Associate Editor DAVID NIMMER, Managing Editor The Star will 1.

Report the news as fully and impartially as Is humanly possible in its news columns. t. Express the editorial opinions of The Star only in plainly labeled editorials on this page. Other opinions those of columnists and of people In the news may be reported and appear where in the newspaper. I.

Publish all sides of Important controversial issues..