The South Vietnamese junta orders a temporary halt to the strategic hamlet program. Peasants are not to be forced to move into or to contribute to the financial upkeep of the hamlets, and the conditions under which ‘labor contributions’ may be demanded are considerably restricted. The senior U.S. representative in Long An Province, Bad Young, reports that three-quarters of the strategic hamlets in Long An have been destroyed, either by the Viet Cong, the peasants, or a combination of both. Reporting that Dương Văn Minh and his government are ineffective at best, Young says, “The only progress in Long An has been by the Viet Cong.” His report typifies a rising flood of pessimistic news flowing from Saigon to Washington.
The United States appeared willing to support a request by Cambodia for an international conference to guarantee the country’s independence and neutrality.
A first small step toward a joint exploration of the moon was urged on the Soviet Union yesterday by the United States. Adlai E. Stevenson made the plea at the United Nations with President Johnson’s authorization. The Administration was said to feel that data could be shared without waiting for a moon trip.
In Britain, Prime Minister Douglas-Home said he thought the West should be able to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union on the prevention of surprise attack and possibly on the first stage of disarmament, including the destruction of some nuclear weapons. He predicted a period of more constructive relations with the Soviet.
A representative of the Netherlands proposed to an assembly of the Western European Union that teams of mixed nationalities be allowed to take over operational control of 150 Minuteman missiles on United States territory.
Communist China’s bid for world Communist backing for its “get tough” policy toward the West was dealt a resounding setback at the World Peace Council meeting in Warsaw.
Dr. Paul Leoni, 58, was chosen Venezuela’s 36th president in yesterday’s elections. With 92 percent of the registered votes tabulated today, Leoni had 985,230 to 691,128 for runner-up Rafael Caldera of the Social Christian (Copei) party, sufficient margin to guarantee Leoni’s election. Leoni expects President Romulo Betancourt to congratulate him formally tomorrow. He was the candidate of Betancourt’s Democratic Action party and is the bulwark of the old guard. A colorless, flabby politician, he is rated as lacking in the political astuteness and ability to maneuver successfully to maintain a politico-military balance of power which Betancourt had.
Turkish Premier İsmet İnönü’s coalition government collapsed today and the 79-year-old political leader submitted his resignation to President Cemal Gursel.
An East German army officer, 22, shot his way to West Germany early today, police reported. The uniformed officer said he was detected by an East German border patrol while trying to flee. The patrol opened fire on him, the officer told western police, and he returned the fire with his pistol. The name of the lieutenant was not disclosed. Police said he told them he fled because he disapproved of communism and reported that morale among east troops guarding the border was low. A youth, 17, from the East German province of Thuringia also reached West Germany, during the weekend, police said. In northern Germany, near Brunswick, four East German workers fled to West Germany without incident. Three, aged 17 and 18, came in a group; another, 40, came alone.
President Johnson today presented a gold medal, a citation, and a United States treasury check for $50,000, tax free, to Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the controversial nuclear scientist designated a security risk nine years ago by the Atomic Energy Commission. The award made in the White House cabinet room in the presence of about 50 invited guests, including Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Oppenheimer; the secretaries of state and defense; the chairman and past chairmen, present and past members of the AEC, and Democratic members of the joint Senate-House Atomic Energy Committee. President Johnson read the citation which hailed Oppenheimer for his contributions to theoretical physics, as a teacher and originator of ideas, and for leadership in developing the first atomic bomb during World War II.
Two freighters collided and caught fire early today near the Jacques Cartier bridge spanning the St. Lawrence River between Montreal Island and the south shore of the river. There was no immediate word of casualties. The Montreal harbormaster identified the ships at the Lionel and the Manchester Merchant, the former a 4,490-ton Norwegian freighter and the latter a 9,790-ton British vessel. From the shore, flames appeared to engulf the Manchester Merchant amidships from the waterline. The location of the fire aboard the Lionel could not be determined. A waterfront guard reported: “There was a tremendous explosion when they hit. It shook the waterfront area.”
In a Vatican ceremony presided over by Cardinal Albert Meyer of Chicago, Loyola university of Chicago confers honorary law degrees on President Antonio Segni of Italy and his predecessor, Giovanni Gronchi. Robert W. Mulligan, Loyola’s vice president, and John F. Smith Jr., president of Inland Steel corporation, introduce the candidates. The Rev. James F. McGuire, Loyola president, confers the degrees.
Lava poured out of Mount Etna in a new eruption today and smoke rose from several long-inactive craters which opened nearly 10 years ago on the northeast side of the volcano below the central cone. There was no immediate danger to villages, all miles away. Smoke from the old craters, farther down the mountain, was the first sign of activity there in more than a century.
The southern chairman of the House Rules Committee turned thumbs down Monday on President Johnson’s plea for quick action on the late President Kennedy’s civil rights bill. Rep. Howard W. Smith (D-Virginia) told reporters he has no plans for his committee to act on the bill during December, the final month of the first session of the 88th Congress. Smith, leader of the Southern anti-civil rights forces in the House, made no mention of Mr. Johnson or the new President’s appeal to Congress last week for fast action on the bill, now stalled in Smith’s committee. But Smith’s intent was obvious: he will do everything in his power to keep the bill bottled up in his committee as long as possible.
President Johnson today backed his pledge of government economy with orders to his budget director and secretary of defense to eliminate excess employees and cut military and civilian spending whenever possible. The President decreed that “cost consciousness” will be a watchword of his administration. He notified military officers and civilian employees of the federal department-which spends more than half the total federal budget that their efforts to promote economy and efficiency will be factors in future performance ratings and promotions. The chief executive told Congress and the American people last week that this government would set an example of fiscal prudence and economy. He said he would insist upon “a dollar’s value for a dollar spent.” The President held meetings today with his budget director and cabinet officers on the fiscal 1965 budget he will submit to Congress in mid-January. He scheduled additional meetings on the budget tomorrow.
President Johnson may have his first clash with Congress over his appointment of Chief Justice Earl Warren as head of a Presidential commission to investigate the Kennedy assassination. Rumblings of protest were heard in both houses of Congress today over the manner in which Johnson moved to snatch the inquiry away from Capitol hill and place it in the hands of a seven-man board dominated by the chief justice. Sense Another Coverup A half dozen senators of both parties and an even larger group of representatives expressed their dissatisfaction in private interviews. They sensed a coverup similar to the Pearl Harbor investigation which was also headed by a Supreme court justice, Owen J. Roberts. But In this period of regard for a new President’s burden of responsibilities, none would be quoted by name.
The Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of a law that prohibits travel outside the Western Hemisphere by members of the Communist party of the United States.
The High Court also decided it wanted further information before ruling on appeals by 10 Freedom Riders convicted in Florida of unlawful assembly.
President Johnson discussed civil rights and Negro unemployment for nearly an hour with Whitney Young, executive director of the Urban League. Mr. Young called for a vast public works program and the President asked for a memo on it.
The United States Supreme Court gives union leaders a setback in ruling that state courts have the authority to enforce state bans against the agency shop. This clause in union contracts exempts employees from forced membership in a union but compels them to pay dues to the union acting as their bargaining agent. The 8-to-0 ruling strikes down the contention of union leaders that the National Labor Relations board should have jurisdiction over such state-enacted bans.
Without a dissenting vote, after Speaker John McCormack arbitrarily cuts off discussion, the House votes money and Secret Service protection to Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy while she winds up the assassinated President’s affairs. The House will pay office rent and hire a clerical staff for six months. Two Secret Service agents will guard her and her children for a year. She shall have free mail privileges for life.
Mrs. John F. Kennedy today expressed her “great appreciation” to the hundreds of thousands of persons around the world who have written to express their sympathy over the loss of her husband. She conveyed her thanks through the White House press secretary, Pierre Salinger. At last count, 293,000 letters and 26,000 telegrams of condolence have been received at the White House, all addressed personally to the widow and her children.
Public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, remained closed for the fourth year in a row, after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a District Court ruling in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County that the county had to fund public education. In 1959, the county board of education had closed its separate black and white schools rather than comply with an order to desegregate.
More than $80,000 in cash and pledges accumulates in funds being gathered for the widow and three children of J. D. Tippit, Dallas policeman slain in the search for President Kennedy’s assassin. Sixteen mail bags, each containing about 4,000 letters, remain to be opened at Dallas police headquarters, where 10 men open the mail and tabulate the contributions.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s police disclose threatening letters received by Karyn Kupcinet and her friend, Andrew Prine, before the starlet was found strangled in her Hollywood apartment. The letters, disregarded by the recipients as the work of a crackpot, are paste-up affairs put together with words clipped from newspapers. Contents of the letters are not disclosed.
The first Dutch rocket is launched, it reaches a height of 10 km.
What has been called “the first mixed martial arts match of the modern age” took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, when judo champion and professional wrestler Gene LeBell accepted a challenge to fight light heavyweight boxer Milo Savage, who was ranked fifth in the world at the time. LeBell, responding to a $1,000 challenge that no judo practitioner could defeat a boxer in a fight, defeated Savage in the fourth round by choking him and rendering him unconscious. The match itself, staged before 1,500 people, was billed as a “boxer vs. judo man” program.
The Angels trade outfielder Leon Wagner to Cleveland for pitcher Barry Latman and a player to be named later, who turns out to be Joe Adcock.
The Houston Colt .45s draft minor league pitcher Jim Ray from Rochester (Baltimore Orioles).
The Major League Rules Committee bans oversized catcher’s mitts, effective in 1965.
The Indianapolis and Little Rock franchises are transferred from the International League to the Pacific Coast League. The International League is reduced to eight clubs and the Pacific Coast League membership raised to 12 clubs.
1964 NFL Draft: Wide receiver Dave Parks from Texas Tech is the first pick by the San Francisco 49ers.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 751.91 (+1.39).
Born:
Ron Sutter, Canadian NHL centre (Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Falmes), in Viking, Alberta, Canada.
Rich Sutter, Canadian NHL right wing (Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs), and broadcaster (Rogers Sportsnet), in Viking, Alberta, Canada.
Tom McMurchy, Canadian NHL right wing (Chicago Black Hawks, Edmonton Oilers), in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
Ann Patchett, American novelist (“Bel Canto”), in Los Angeles, California.
History Diaries 