THE ALLIES AFTER NASSAU IN DECEMBER 1960, THE U.S . FIRST PROPOSED TO HELP NATO DEVELOP ITS OWN NUCLEAR STRIKE FORCE . BUT EUROPE MADE NO ATTEMPT TO DEVISE A PLAN . LAST WEEK, AS THEY STUDIED THE NASSAU ACCORD BETWEEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY AND PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN, EUROPEANS SAW EMERGING THE FIRST OUTLINES OF THE NUCLEAR NATO THAT THE U.S . WANTS AND WILL SUPPORT . IT ALL SPRANG FROM THE ANGLO-U.S . CRISIS OVER CANCELLATION OF THE BUG-RIDDEN SKYBOLT MISSILE, AND THE U.S . OFFER TO SUPPLY BRITAIN AND FRANCE WITH THE PROVED POLARIS (TIME, DEC . 28) . THE ONE ALLIED LEADER WHO UNRESERVEDLY WELCOMED THE POLARIS OFFER WAS HAROLD MACMILLAN, WHO BY THUS KEEPING A SEPARATE NUCLEAR DETERRENT FOR BRITAIN HAD SAVED HIS OWN NECK . BACK FROM NASSAU, THE PRIME MINISTER BEAMED THAT BRITAIN NOW HAD A WEAPON THAT " WILL LAST A GENERATION . THE TERMS ARE VERY GOOD . " MANY OTHER BRITONS WERE NOT SO SURE . THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT WILL SHOULDER NONE OF THE $800 MILLION DEVELOPMENT COST OF POLARIS, IT HAS ALREADY POURED $28 MILLION INTO SKYBOLT AND WILL HAVE TO SPEND PERHAPS $1 BILLION MORE FOR A FLEET OF MISSILE-PACKING SUBMARINES . AT BEST, THE BRITISH WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DESIGN, BUILD AND PROVE ITS NUCLEAR FLEET BEFORE 1970, THREE YEARS AFTER BRITAIN'S BOMBER FORCE HAS PRESUMABLY BECOME OBSOLETE . THEN WHAT ? TORY BACKBENCHERS ARE LOUDLY SKEPTICAL OF WHAT THEY CALL " THE SMALL TYPE " IN THE NASSAU PACT, WHICH STIPULATES THAT BRITAIN'S POLARIS SUBMARINE FLEET, EXCEPT WHEN " SUPREME NATIONAL INTERESTS " INTERVENE, MUST BE COMMITTED TO A TRULY MULTILATERAL NATO FORCE . DOES THAT MEAN THAT BRITAIN WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE NO STRIKE FORCE OF ITS OWN ? WHO WILL DECIDE WHEN OR WHETHER NATIONAL INTERESTS JUSTIFY WITHDRAWAL OF SUBMARINES FROM NATO, PARTICULARLY IF THOSE NATIONAL INTERESTS CONFLICT WITH U.S . POLICY ? THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL IS WHETHER FRANCE'S INCLUSION IN THE OFFER WAS A DELIBERATE PLOY BY JACK KENNEDY TO END OR AT LEAST DOWNGRADE BRITAIN'S PRIZED " SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP " WITH THE U.S . THE CARTOONISTS WENT EVEN FARTHER . THEY NOT ONLY SHOWED SUPERMAC JUMPING TO SUPERJACK'S COMMANDS, BUT DE GAULLE AND ADENAUER AS WELL . AS EDITH SAID . THE FRENCH, WHO GOT NO HELP FROM THE U.S . IN DEVELOPING THEIR FORCE DE FRAPPE, WERE QUICK TO CROW THAT BRITAIN'S VAUNTED TIES WITH THE U.S . HAD BROUGHT IT NOTHING BUT HUMILIATION . BY CONTRAST, BRAGGED FRENCH OFFICIALS, THE SKYBOLT FIASCO ONLY VINDICATED FRANCE'S DECISION TO DEVELOP ITS OWN BOMBS AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS . THUS, THOUGH CHARLES DE GAULLE PROMISED TO " REFLECT " ON THE POLARIS OFFER, THERE WAS LITTLE LIKELIHOOD THAT HE WOULD ACCEPT ANY OFFER THAT WOULD SUBJECT A FRENCH FORCE TO ALLIED CONTROL . IT IS DE GAULLE'S UNSWERVING CONVICTION THAT IF THE RUSSIANS WERE ACTUALLY TO INVADE WESTERN EUROPE, NO NATION THAT WAS NOT DIRECTLY ATTACKED MEANING THE U.S . WOULD INVITE NUCLEAR DEVASTATION BY HELPING ITS ALLIES . THUS UNLIKE BRITAIN'S BOMBER FORCE, WHICH ALL ALONG HAS BEEN PLEDGED TO " THE WESTERN STRATEGIC DETERRENT, " FRANCE'S FORCE DE FRAPPE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR FRANCE'S DEFENSE . AT THE SAME TIME, DE GAULLE HAS LONG ARGUED THAT THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE COULD BE RUN MOST EFFICIENTLY BY A TRIUMVIRATE THAT WOULD INCLUDE FRANCE AS AN EQUAL OF THE U.S . AND BRITAIN . THIS IS ONE OF HIS MAJOR, IF UNSPOKEN, CONDITIONS FOR BRITISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET ; AND DE GAULLE SUGGESTED POINTEDLY TO MACMILLAN THAT IT WOULD HELP IF BRITAIN WERE TO SHARE ITS ADVANCED MISSILE TECHNOLOGY WITH FRANCE . WHEN MACMILLAN REPLIED NONCOMMITTALLY THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO DISCUSS THIS WITH KENNEDY, DE GAULLE TOLD HIS GUEST WITH HAUTEUR THAT FRANCE IN THAT CASE COULD DO NOTHING TO EASE BRITAIN'S ENTRY INTO EUROPE . GO-IT-ALONE GRANDEUR . KONRAD ADENAUER, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS FEARFUL THAT DE GAULLE WILL SNAP UP THE POLARIS OFFER AND IN THIS WAY ACHIEVE HIS GOAL OF A THREE-NATION NATO DIRECTORATE . THOUGH HIS GOVERNMENT VOWED IN 1954 NOT TO MANUFACTURE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ADENAUER HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY APPREHENSIVE THAT WITHOUT THEM, AND WITH NO SAY IN THEIR USE, WEST GERMANY WILL BE RELEGATED TO SECOND-CLASS CITIZENSHIP IN THE ALLIANCE . LAST WEEK AN OFFICIAL BULLETIN EVEN REVIVED THE OLD, BITTER CRY THAT U.S . PLEAS FOR GREATER RELIANCE ON CONVENTIONAL FORCES ARE AIMED AT RAISING GERMAN " CANNON FODDER " FOR U.S . " ATOMIC KNIGHTS . " A FROSTY LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOR TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY SUGGESTED THAT GERMANY, WHICH ALREADY SUPPLIES ALMOST 50 PER CENT OF NATO GROUND STRENGTH, DOES NOT INTEND TO RAISE ANY MORE DIVISIONS FOR CONVENTIONAL WARFARE . YET U.S . STRATEGIC PLANNERS REASON THAT THE ONLY CREDIBLE DETERRENT TO SOVIET ATTACK IS A STRONG ARMY ON THE GROUND, BACKED BY THE VAST U.S . NUCLEAR ARSENAL . FACT IS, THE BRITISH AND FRENCH NUCLEAR WEAPONS COULD NEVER BE USED INDEPENDENTLY OF THE U.S . AGAINST RUSSIA WITHOUT INVITING DEVASTATING SOVIET RETALIATION . AFTER ALL THEIR EFFORTS, THE BRITISH AND FRENCH WILL HAVE MANAGED TO CREATE A NUCLEAR CAPACITY THAT REPRESENTS ONLY 4 PER CENT OF U.S . NUCLEAR POWER . " IT IS JUST A DAMNED NUISANCE, " SAID A STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL LAST WEEK . " IT MEANS NOTHING MILITARILY EXCEPT THAT WE WILL BE EXPECTED TO BAIL OUT THE FIRST COUNTRY THAT THROWS THE FIRST PEA AT THE RUSSIANS OR ANYONE ELSE . " CHARLES DE GAULLE COULD HARDLY BE EXPECTED TO AGREE, AT LEAST UNTIL HIS FORCE DE FRAPPE BECOMES OBSOLETE . FOR BRITAIN AND GERMANY, THE MULTILATERAL DETERRENT MAKES IMMEDIATE SENSE . EVENTUALLY, FRANCE, TOO, MAY WELL FIND A NATO-CONTROLLED POLARIS FLEET, OR ITS POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR, A EUROPEAN MINUTEMAN ARSENAL, THE ONLY ANSWER TO THE SPIRALING COST AND DIMINISHING VALUE OF GO-IT-ALONE GRANDEUR .
 RUSSIA WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE ? IT WAS IN 1954 THAT NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV LAUNCHED HIS GRANDIOSE " VIRGIN LANDS " GAMBLE . PART OF THE PLAN WAS TO PLOW UP 32 MILLION ACRES OF MARGINAL LAND IN KAZAKHSTAN, AND SETTLE IT WITH COMMUNIST " PIONEERS, " WHO WERE TO PLANT AND PRODUCE HUGE QUANTITIES OF DESPERATELY NEEDED GRAIN WITHIN TWO YEARS . NIKITA'S SCHEME FLOPPED . THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH RAINFALL, AND THE PIONEERS DID NOT TAKE TO TRACTOR LIFE ON THE BLEAK FRONTIER . EXCEPT FOR 1958, EACH HARVEST HAS BEEN LOWER THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S . WORST YEAR OF ALL WAS 1962, WHEN THE VIRGIN LANDS DELIVERED ONLY HALF THEIR QUOTAS . NATURALLY, KHRUSHCHEV TAKES NONE OF THE BLAME FOR THE FIASCO . THREE YEARS AGO HE FOUND A SCAPEGOAT IN KAZAKHSTAN PARTY BOSS NIKOLAI BELYAEV, FIRED HIM FOR HIS " ERRORS . " LAST WEEK BELYAEV'S SUCCESSOR, DINMUKHAMED KUNAEV, WAS SIMILARLY BOUNCED FOR " LAPSES " IN HIS WORK . FOR GOOD MEASURE, MOSCOW ALSO PURGED THE FORMER PREMIER OF THE TERRITORY FROM THE LOCAL PARTY'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE . IT WAS PERHAPS NO COINCIDENCE THAT NIKOLAI IGNATOV, 61, A ONETIME KHRUSHCHEV CRONY, LAST WEEK ABRUPTLY LEFT HIS POST AS A SOVIET DEPUTY PREMIER AFTER ONLY NINE MONTHS ON THE JOB . FARM EXPERT IGNATOV HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BE BOSS OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO BOOST FOOD PRODUCTION .
 BERLIN ONE LAST RUN HANS WEIDNER HAD BEEN HOPING FOR MONTHS TO ESCAPE DRAB EAST GERMANY AND MAKE HIS WAY TO THE WEST . THE ODDS WERE AGAINST HIM, FOR WEIDNER, 40, WAS A CRIPPLE ON CRUTCHES WHO LIVED IN THE VILLAGE OF NEUGERSDORF, 115 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE FRONTIER OF FREEDOM BUT HANS WEIDNER DID HAVE ONE MAJOR ASSET, THE BUS THAT HE OPERATED FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNIST REGIME . IT WAS AN UGLY THING, AND ANCIENT . ITS CHASSIS CREAKED, AND THE ENGINE COUGHED ; A CREAM-COLORED COAT OF PAINT COULD NOT DISGUISE THE WELTS AND BRUISES OF TWO DECADES OF CHUGGING SERVICE . IN FACT, THE BUS WAS READY FOR THE JUNK PILE WHEN WEIDNER DECIDED TO PRESS IT INTO SERVICE FOR ONE LAST RUN . SHARP BLADES . THE HAZARDS WOULD BE GREAT ON THE JOURNEY TO THE BORDER ; SO WEIDNER SIGNED UP A FELLOW VILLAGER, JURGEN WAGNER, 22, TO TAKE THE WHEEL . EIGHT DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE PAIR BEGAN THE FEVERISH PREPARATIONS IN WEIDNER'S GARAGE . FIRST WEIDNER AND WAGNER ATTACHED A HEAVY SNOWPLOW TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS, NOT TO PLOW SNOW, BUT TO SCOOP AWAY THE HEAVY OBSTACLES THEY KNEW AWAITED THEM AT ROADBLOCKS AHEAD . TO ALL SIX LUGS ON EACH FRONT WHEEL THEY BOLTED SHARP BLADES OF THE TOUGHEST STEEL, AFFIXED SO THAT THE WHIRLING EDGES WOULD CHOP BARBED WIRE TO BITS . THEN THEY WEDGED ONE-QUARTER-INCH SECTIONS OF STEEL PLATE INSIDE THE BUS TO STOP BULLETS . AT LAST ALL WAS READY . ON CHRISTMAS EVE, WEIDNER AND WAGNER PILED THEIR WIVES AND FOUR CHILDREN ABOARD, NOT FORGETTING THREE TONS OF HOUSEHOLD BELONGINGS . FOR ADDED PROTECTION THE PLOTTERS SHOVELED A TON OF COAL AND POTATOES INTO THE BACK OF THE BUS . THEN THEY CHUGGED OFF NORTH TOWARD BERLIN ALONG BACK ROADS TO ESCAPE COMMUNIST PATROLS . JUST BEFORE THEY REACHED THE WALL, THEY PLANNED TO SWING WEST IN ORDER TO ENTER THE EAST-WEST AUTOBAHN LEADING TO THE U.S . SECTOR OF THE CITY . EN ROUTE, THE RADIATOR FROZE IN THE SUBZERO WEATHER . THAT FIXED, THEY WERE ONLY A FEW MILES FARTHER WHEN A TIRE BLEW OUT . THE KIDS WERE CRYING AND THE WIVES SHIVERING WITH COLD AND PANIC WHEN, AT LAST, THEY ARRIVED AT DREWITZ, THE MOST HEAVILY GUARDED CHECKPOINT ON THE ENTIRE AUTOBAHN TO BERLIN . IT WAS NO TIME TO STOP AND RECONSIDER . FLYING POTATOES . " WAH-AH, WAH-AH, " SHRIEKED THE POLICE-TYPE KLAXONS THAT WEIDNER HAD THOUGHTFULLY INSTALLED IN ADVANCE . THE COMMUNIST GUARDS OBEDIENTLY RAISED THE FIRST OF THREE BARRIERS . BUT WHAT WAS A BUS DOING ON EMERGENCY DUTY ? SUDDENLY THE SHOOTING BEGAN TOO LATE . WAGNER, AT 40 M.P.H., WAS ALREADY CRASHING THROUGH THE SECOND BARRIER 100 YARDS AHEAD, THEN THE THIRD, ONLY 20 YARDS AWAY . ITS WINDSHIELD SMASHED, ITS PASSENGERS SHAKEN, ITS CARGO OF COAL AND POTATOES IN EVERY CORNER OF THE CAB, THE OLD BUS FINALLY LURCHED TO A STOP A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD WHERE THE COMMUNISTS NO LONGER MATTERED AT THE U.S . CHECKPOINT, A FOOT OR TWO INSIDE WEST BERLIN .
 THE ROAD TO JAIL IS PAVED WITH NONOBJECTIVE ART SINCE THE KREMLIN'S SHARPEST BARBS THESE DAYS ARE AIMED AT MODERN ART AND " WESTERN ESPIONAGE, " IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE KGB'S COPS WOULD TURN UP A VICTIM WHOSE WRONGDOINGS COMBINED BOTH EVILS . HE TURNED OUT TO BE A LENINGRAD PHYSICS TEACHER WHOSE TASTE FOR ABSTRACT PAINTING ALLEGEDLY LED HIM TO JOIN THE U.S . SPY SERVICE . POLICE SAID THEY FIRST SPOTTED THE TEACHER, ONE RUDOLF FRIEDMAN, AS HE MUTTERED UNCOMPLIMENTARY REMARKS ABOUT SOCIALIST REALISM WHILE STROLLING THROUGH LENINGRAD'S RUSSIAN MUSEUM . A WELL-DRESSED U.S . TOURIST APPROACHED HIM, ENTHUSIASTICALLY SHARED HIS SENTIMENTS, AND PROMISED TO SEND FRIEDMAN REPRODUCTIONS OF AVANT-GARDE PAINTINGS FROM AMERICA . THE PICTURE FRIEDMAN LIKED BEST, SAID THE COPS INDIGNANTLY, WAS A " CHAOS OF BLACK, RED AND BLUE SPLOTCHES CAPTIONED I NEED YOU TONIGHT . " SOON, THEY SAID, THE TEACHER WAS GETTING MESSAGES FROM THE U.S . WRITTEN IN INVISIBLE INK . JUST AS FRIEDMAN PREPARED TO DELIVER INFORMATION " VERY REMOTE FROM THEORETICAL ARGUMENTS ABOUT ABSTRACT ART, " POLICEMOVED IN AND HUSTLED HIM OFF TO JAIL .
 THE CONGO ROUND 3 ? THE SOUND OF CHRISTMAS IN KATANGA PROVINCE WAS THE THUNK OF MORTAR SHELLS AND THE RATTLE OF MACHINE GUNS . AFTER AN UNEASY TWELVE-MONTH TRUCE BETWEEN U.N . FORCES AND THE TROOPS OF KATANGA'S SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE, A FEW MINOR INCIDENTS GOT OUT OF HAND, AND FOR THE THIRD TIME SINCE SEPTEMBER 1961 THE PROVINCE WAS IN TURMOIL . BLUE-HELMETED U.N . SOLDIERS SWARMED THROUGH ELISABETHVILLE, SEIZED ROADBLOCKS ON THE HIGHWAYS . SWEDISH U.N . SAAB JETS SWOOPED LOW OVER KATANGA'S AIRFIELD AT KOLWEZI, DESTROYING FOUR PLANES ON THE GROUND AND SETTING OIL TANKS ABLAZE . IN THE FIRST SKIRMISHES, SEVEN U.N . SOLDIERS WERE DEAD . THE FIGHTING BEGAN WITH WHAT ELISABETHVILLE RESIDENTS CALL " L'AFFAIRE SIMBA " A REFERENCE TO SIMBA BEER, THE LOCAL BREW THAT BOTH SIDES GUZZLED ON AND OFF DUTY . AS THE U.N . TOLD IT, BOOZED-UP KATANGESE GENDARMES SUDDENLY OPENED FIRE ON A DETACHMENT OF ETHIOPIAN U.N . TROOPS IN SUBURBAN LUBUMBASHI . AS TSHOMBE DESCRIBED MATTERS, A FEW TIPSY ETHIOPIANS STARTED THE SHOOTING BY SCRAMBLING ATOP A 200-FT . SLAG HEAP OUTSIDE THE BIG UNION MINIERE PLANT AND TAKING POTSHOTS AT THE KATANGESE . FIREWORKS NEXT . IN ANY CASE, KATANGESE SOLDIERS AT A GOLF COURSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF ELISABETHVILLE TOOK THE OCCASION TO SHOOT DOWN AN UNARMED U.N . HELICOPTER MOVING OVERHEAD . THEY STONED THE SIX SURVIVING CREWMEN, PUMMELED THEM WITH RIFLE BUTTS ; A 23-YEAR-OLD SIKH LIEUTENANT, WHO LAY HELPLESS WITH A MACHINE GUN SLUG IN THE ABDOMEN, DIED UNATTENDED IN THREE HOURS . INDIAN BRIGADIER REGINALD NORONHA, COMMANDER OF U.N . TROOPS IN KATANGA'S CAPITAL, WAS FURIOUS THIS IS THE LAST TIME, HE SAID . " NEXT TIME THERE ARE GOING TO BE FIREWORKS . " NORONHA DID NOT HAVE LONG TO WAIT . THREE DAYS LATER AN ETHIOPIAN GUARD FIRED A WARNING SHOT AT A KATANGESE SOLDIER WHO WAS APPROACHING HIS POST . UNHURT, THE KATANGESE ROLLED DOWN A HILL IN SEARCH OF COVER, BUT HIS COMRADES THOUGHT HE HAD BEEN HIT AND OPENED FIRE . SOON U.N . POSITIONS AROUND THE CITY WERE UNDER ATTACK . TSHOMBE " AGREED " TO A CEASE-FIRE, BUT HIS 20,000 MEN KEPT RIGHT ON FIGHTING . " THEY ARE MAD, " SAID A RED CROSS OFFICIAL WHO SAW THEM RAMPAGING THROUGH A TOWNSHIP, FIRING AT ANYTHING THAT MOVED . " THEY ARE KILLING THEIR OWN MEN . " THE U.N . CLAIMED TSHOMBE HAD LOST CONTROL OF HIS MEN WHICH GAVE IT AN EXCUSE TO STRIKE BACK . FROM MANHATTAN U.N . HEADQUARTERS, ORDERS WERE FLASHED TO THE 12,000-MAN U.N . FORCE IN KATANGA : " TAKE ALL NECESSARY ACTION IN SELF-DEFENSE AND TO RESTORE ORDER . " SPEARHEADED BY 5,700 TOUGH, BITTER GURKHAS, THE U.N . FORCE METHODICALLY SWEPT DISORGANIZED KATANGESE TROOPS FROM THEIR GUARDPOSTS ON THE ROAD TO NORTHERN RHODESIA . POWER LINES FELL IN THE FRAY, LEAVING SHABBY LITTLE ELISABETHVILLE (POP . 180,000) WITHOUT LIGHT, WATER OR PHONES . SPEARS & ARROWS . NORONHA DEMANDED ONCE MORE THAT TSHOMBE CALL A CEASEFIRE, WARNED THAT UNLESS HE COMPLIED IN 30 MINUTES, " A GENERAL WAR WILL BEGIN . " TSHOMBE REJECTED THE ULTIMATUM, AND THE U.N . WENT OVER TO AN ALL-OUT AIR AND GROUND OFFENSIVE . THE INDIAN BRIGADE STORMED AND CAPTURED THE HEADQUARTERS OF KATANGA'S GENDARMERIE AT KARAVIA, A MILE FROM ELISABETHVILLE, WITH LITTLE RESISTANCE . ANOTHER COLUMN OF TROOPS ADVANCED NORTHWEST TOWARD JADOTVILLE, IN THE HEART OF THE COPPER BELT THAT GIVES TSHOMBE $40 MILLION A YEAR IN REVENUES . U.N . FORCES ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAD TAKEN OVER ELISABETHVILLE'S POST OFFICE, RADIO STATION AND RAILWAY DEPOT AND HAD OCCUPIED TSHOMBE'S PALACE . AT THE HEIGHT OF THE SHOOTING, TSHOMBE VANISHED INTO HIDING, BUT HE WAS NOT CALLING IT QUITS . " EVERYWHERE, THE U.N . AND ITS TROOPS WILL BE FOUGHT WITH TRAPS, WITH POISONED ARROWS AND SPEARS, " HE SAID IN AN ANGRY STATEMENT THROUGH ONE OF HIS AIDES . " WE WILL RESIST BY ALL MEANS, INCLUDING THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF ALL OUR ECONOMIC POTENTIAL . " WAS THIS THE FINAL SHOWDOWN IN THE U.N.'S 2F-YEAR ATTEMPT TO END KATANGA'S SECESSION FROM THE CONGO ? U.N . SPOKESMEN INSISTED THAT IT WAS NOT, BUT SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT SAYS HE IS CONVINCED THAT UNLESS TSHOMBE IS SUBDUED SOON, PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN LEOPOLDVILLE WILL COLLAPSE . THE U.S . AGREES, AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT RECENTLY HAS BEEN TALKING UP THE IMMINENT DANGER OF A LEFTIST, SOVIET-BACKED TAKEOVER IN LEOPOLDVILLE . BUT THE BRITISH, WHO SEE KATANGA AS A STABLE BUFFER FOR THE RHODESIAS, WARNED AGAINST THE " FUTILITY OF TRYING TO IMPOSE A POLITICAL SETTLEMENT BY FORCE . " THE FRENCH, WHO, LIKE THE BRITISH, HAVE HEAVY INVESTMENTS IN THE UNION MINIERE, WANT HANDS OFF, AND IN BRUSSELS, 200 BELGIANS DEMONSTRATED THEIR FEELINGS BY MARCHING ON THE U.S . EMBASSY SHOUTING, " DOWN WITH KENNEDY !
 TUNISIA DOUBLE JEOPARDY AS A DEDICATED TUNISIAN NATIONALIST, PRESIDENT HABIB BOURGUIBA, 59, IS A POPULAR HERO TO MOST OF THE MILLIONS WHO HAVE FOLLOWED HIM SINCE INDEPENDENCE WAS WON IN 1956 . BUT BOURGUIBA ALSO HAS HIS DEADLY ENEMIES . LAST WEEK A DETERMINED GROUP OF THE LATTER ALMOST SUCCEEDED IN ASSASSINATING TUNISIA'S STOCKY CHIEFTAIN . THE PLOTTERS ACTUALLY MADE TWO ATTEMPTS ON BOURGUIBA'S LIFE . THE FIRST TRY FAILED ON DEC . 15 BECAUSE BOURGUIBA DID NOT SPEND THE NIGHT AT HIS PRESIDENTIAL PALACE AT CARTHAGE, NEAR TUNIS . THE PLOTTERS NEXT LAID THEIR PLANS FOR MIDNIGHT, DEC . 21, AND EVEN BOURGUIBA'S PERSONAL BODYGUARD AGREED TO LEAD THE KILLERS TO THE PRESIDENT'S BEDSIDE . NO REPLACEMENT . A FEW HOURS BEFORE MIDNIGHT, A TUNISIAN ARMY NON-COM BURST IN UPON A DEFENSE MINISTRY OFFICIAL AND BLURTED THE DETAILS OF THE PLOT . THAT NIGHT, AND ON FOLLOWING DAYS, MORE THAN A HUNDRED PLOTTERS WERE JAILED . THEY PROVED TO BE A HANDFUL OF DISSIDENT ARMY OFFICERS AND SOME DISGRUNTLED LANDOWNERS . BUT THE HARD CORE SEEMED TO BE SUPPORTERS OF BOURGUIBA'S OLD FOE, THE LATE SALAH BEN YOUSSEF, WHO LOST A BITTER STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NEO-DESTOUR, TUNISIA'S ONLY POLITICAL PARTY, AND WENT INTO EXILE IN 1955 . WHEN BEN YOUSSEF WAS MURDERED IN WEST GERMANY IN 1961 HIS FOLLOWERS BACK HOME BLAMED BOURGUIBA AGENTS, SWORE VENGEANCE ON TUNISIA'S BOSS HIMSELF . THE PLOTTERS' ONLY PLAN, APPARENTLY, WAS TO SLAY THE PRESIDENT . SAID BOURGUIBA : " AFTER MY DEATH THE COUNTRY WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A STATE OF TOTAL ANARCHY . THE PLOTTERS THOUGHT ONLY OF ELIMINATING ME, NOT REPLACING ME . " CROWDS GATHERED TO HEAR OFFICIAL SPEECHES OF INDIGNATION AT THE ATTEMPT ON BOURGUIBA'S LIFE . THERE SEEMED LITTLE DOUBT THAT HE STILL HELD THE NATION'S BASIC LOYALTY, BUT EVEN HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS WERE CONCERNED AT THE RECENT SIGNS OF UNREST CAUSED BY THREE SUCCESSIVE YEARS OF DROUGHT AND AN UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL OF 400,000 OUT OF A POPULATIONS OF 4,000,000 . BOURGUIBA IS ALSO AWARE OF THE MUTTERING OF MANY ABOUT THE THREE EXPENSIVE NEW PALACES HE HAS RECENTLY BUILT . THESE " BELONG TO THE STATE, " HE RETORTED IN HIS " I AM ALIVE / SPEECH . HE ADDED WITH SOME BITTERNESS : " THERE IS A TENDENCY TO FORGET THAT I SPENT 30 YEARS IN FRENCH JAILS FOR MY COUNTRY . " KNOCKED HEADS . IN HIS EFFORTS TO RESHAPE TUNISIA AS A MODERN NATION, BOURGUIBA HAS HAD TO KNOCK HEADS TOGETHER . INEVITABLY, SOME ARMY OFFICERS RESENT THE BACKSEAT ROLE HE GIVES THE MILITARY . AND MOSLEM RELIGIOUS LEADERS ARE ANGERED BY HIS ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH THE DAY-LONG FASTS OF THE MONTH OF RAMADAN, AND BY HIS EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN . A U.S .INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE IN 1961 AGREED THAT BOURGUIBA WAS MAKING THE RIGHT MOVES TO SOLVE TUNIS'S ECONOMIC ILLS, BUT WARNED THAT HE MIGHT BE ASKING TOO GREAT SACRIFICES OF HIS PEOPLE . AFTER LAST WEEK'S BRUSH WITH DEATH, BOURGUIBA MAY GO FORWARD A BIT MORE SLOWLY, AND CAN UNDOUBTEDLY DRAW SOME SUPPORT FROM THE FACT THAT LAST MONTH THE U.S . FINALLY AGREED TO GRANT TUNISIA $180 MILLION IN ECONOMIC AID OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS .
 KASHMIR TALKING AT LAST THE BRITISH RAJ, WHICH ONCE CONTROLLED INDIA'S NORTHWEST FRONTIER PROVINCE OF KASHMIR, EXACTED A TOKEN ANNUAL TRIBUTE OF TWO KASHMIRI SHAWLS AND THREE HANDKERCHIEFS FROM THE MAHARAJAH . NEVER SINCE HAS THE PRICE OF PEACE BEEN AS SMALL . IN THE YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE IN 1947 SPLIT THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT INTO THE SOVEREIGN STATES OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, THE TWO NATIONS HAVE PAID WITH STRIFE AND BLOODSHED TO ESTABLISH THEIR CONFLICTING CLAIMS OVER THE DISPUTED REGION . LAST WEEK, AFTER 15 YEARS OF BITTER WRANGLING, INDIAN AND PAKISTANI DELEGATES FINALLY MET IN THE PAKISTAN CAPITAL OF RAWALPINDI TO SEEK A SOLUTION TO THE KASHMIR PROBLEM . THE DISPUTED LAND IS THE SIZE OF MINNESOTA, LAKES AND ALL . IT FALLS FROM THE WINDWHIPPED MOUNTAINS OF GILGIT AND LADAKH IN THE NORTH TO THE IDYLLIC VALE OF KASHMIR . IN THE HIMALAYAS, PRIMITIVE MOUNTAIN TRIBESMEN KEEP HERDS OF GRACEFUL, SURE-FOOTED KASHMIR GOATS, WHOSE SOFT FLEECE BECOMES THE CASHMERE OF FIFTH AVENUE AND REGENT STREET ; THE COOL LAKES NEAR KASHMIR'S CAPITAL CITY OF SRINAGAR ARE DOTTED WITH THE ELEGANT HOUSEBOATS OF WEALTHY INDIANS . VOW FORGOTTEN . AT THE TIME OF PARTITION, KASHMIR, LIKE ALL OF INDIA'S 562 PRINCELY STATES, WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF JOINING EITHER PAKISTAN OR INDIA . THE FACT THAT 77 PER CENT OF KASHMIR'S 4,200,000 PEOPLE WERE MOSLEM POINTED TO CONTROL BY MOSLEM PAKISTAN . BUT THOUGH HE HAD SIGNED PRELIMINARY TRADE AND ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH PAKISTAN, KASHMIR'S HINDU MAHARAJAH BEGAN TO HEDGE . ANGERED BY HIS FAILURE TO ACCEDE TO PAKISTAN, HORDES OF PAKISTANI " VOLUNTEERS " SWEPT INTO KASHMIR TO ESTABLISH PAKISTAN'S CLAIM TO THE LAND . IN TERROR, THE HINDU RULER OPTED TO JOIN INDIA, APPEALED FOR IMMEDIATE MILITARY AID . INDIA WAS HAPPY TO RESPOND, AIRLIFTED TROOPS INTO KASHMIR TO FORTIFY ITS OWN CLAIM . THUS BEGAN A FULL-SCALE WAR IN KASHMIR . INDIA WENT TO THE UNITED NATIONS FOR RELIEF . IN 1949 THE U.N . DEMARCATED A CEASE-FIRE LINE THAT GAVE INDIA THE RICHEST TWO-THIRDS OF KASHMIR, INCLUDING MOST OF LADAKH, THE VALE, AND THE PREDOMINANTLY HINDU AREA OF JAMMU . BUT INDIA'S PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU HAD PLEDGED THAT " THE FATE OF KASHMIR MUST ULTIMATELY BE DECIDED BY ITS PEOPLE . " DECLARED NEHRU : " WE ARE PREPARED, WHEN PEACE, LAW AND ORDER HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED, TO HAVE A REFERENDUM UNDER SOME INTERNATIONAL AUSPICES LIKE THE U.N . " NEHRU SOON FORGOT THAT VOW, FOR IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT KASHMIR WOULD VOTE EITHER FOR INDEPENDENCE OR ACCESSION TO PAKISTAN . INDIAN KASHMIR'S MOSLEM RULER, SHEIK MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, AN OLD FRIEND OF NEHRU'S AND A FIERY KASHMIRI NATIONALIST, CONFUSED THINGS BY STARTING TO PROMOTE A LOCAL INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT . INDIA CLAPPED SHEIK ABDULLAH INTO JAIL IN 1953 AND INTRODUCED A SERIES OF REPRESSIVE MEASURES TO HALT OTHER NATIONALIST OR PROPAKISTAN MOVEMENTS . EXCEPT FOR THREE MONTHS IN 1958, SHEIK ABDULLAH HAS LANGUISHED IN PRISON EVER SINCE, WAS LAST WEEK ON TRIAL ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT . NUDGE FROM THE NORTH . THE IMPRISONMENT OF SHEIK ABDULLAH SYMBOLIZED ALL OF PAKISTAN'S DEEP DISTRUST OF NEHRU . DESPITE HIS OUTWARD DEVOTION TO THE U.N., NO AMOUNT OF U.N . PRESSURE COULD BRING NEHRU TO THE BARGAINING TABLE WITH PAKISTAN OVER KASHMIR . BUT WHEN RED CHINA THRUST DEEP INTO INDIA'S HIMALAYAN BORDERLAND LAST OCTOBER, NEHRU RELUCTANTLY YIELDED TO THE INSISTENT ENVOYS OF THE U.S . AND BRITAIN WHO SUGGESTED THAT UNLESS INDIA AND PAKISTAN SETTLED THEIR DIFFERENCES, THERE WOULD BE LITTLE HOPE OF DEFENDING THE SUBCONTINENT AGAINST CHINESE AGGRESSION . HOTHEADED EXTREMISTS IN BOTH COUNTRIES OPPOSED THE IDEA OF TALKS . KASHMIR IS NOT FOR SALE, SCREAMED AN INDIAN HEADLINE ; IN PAKISTAN'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, POLITICIANS ARGUED THAT COMMUNISM WAS FAR LESS AN EVIL THAN " HINDU DOMINATION . " WHERE WAS THE ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION ? OFFICIALLY PAKISTAN MAINTAINED THAT AN OVERALL PLEBISCITE IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM . BUT PRIVATELY PAKISTAN HAS FALLBACK POSITIONS, IS WILLING TO HOLD REGIONAL REFERENDUMS THAT WOULD GIVE INDIA BOTH JAMMU AND LADAKH . THE REAL ISSUE, HOWEVER, WAS KASHMIR'S VALE . PAKISTAN SEEMED AGREEABLE TO THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE IMPORTANT REGION . NEHRU, HOWEVER, FEARED THAT SECESSION OF ANY PART OF KASHMIR WOULD ENCOURAGE SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS IN OTHER INDIAN STATES WITH STRONG NATIONALIST TENDENCIES . NEVERTHELESS, INDIAN OFFICIALS SHOWED UP IN RAWALPINDI FOR THE START OF NEGOTIATIONS LAST WEEK . THEY WERE PREPARED FOR ALMOST ANY SURPRISE BUT THE ONE THAT ACTUALLY ARRIVED . ON THE EVE OF THE CONFERENCE, PAKISTAN SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED AN AGREEMENT " IN PRINCIPLE " WITH RED CHINA FOR A COMPLETE SETTLEMENT OF THEIR MUTUAL BORDER DIFFERENCES . TO THE INDIANS IT WAS A STUNNING BLOW, FOR IT SEEMED THAT THE PAKISTANIS WERE DELIBERATELY USING THE CHINESE BOGEYMAN TO BLACKMAIL THEM INTO YIELDING BETTER TERMS ON THE KASHMIR QUESTION . AFTER TWO DAYS OF NO PROGRESS, THE RAWALPINDI TALKS WERE ADJOURNED FOR THREE WEEKS .
 RED CHINA FIXING FRONTIERS RED CHINA PRODUCED A SECOND SURPRISE LAST WEEK . AT PEKING AIRPORT, PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI WELCOMED OUTER MONGOLIA'S PREMIER YUMZHAGIIN TSEDENBAL, 46, WHO IS NORMALLY REGARDED AS A RUSSIAN PUPPET . WHISKED OFF IN A BLACK, SOVIET-MADE LIMOUSINE AMONG CROWDS DUTIFULLY WAVING CHINESE AND MONGOLIAN FLAGS, TSEDENBAL WAS PUT THROUGH THE USUAL ROUTINE OF TOASTS, BANQUETS AND FULSOME SPEECHES . THEN, ON THE SAME DAY THAT RED CHINA ANNOUNCED PLANS TO DEFINE ITS BORDERS WITH PAKISTAN, TSEDENBAL AND CHOU EN-LAI SIGNED A TREATY FIXING THE 2,500-MILE FRONTIER BETWEEN THEIR TWO COUNTRIES . IT WAS ANOTHER LITTLE LESSON AIMED AT DELHI . AT THE FAREWELL BANQUET FOR TSEDENBAL, PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI SMOOTHLY NOTED THAT RED CHINA HAD NOW SOLVED ITS BORDER PROBLEMS ON THE BASIS OF " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " WITH BURMA, NEPAL, PAKISTAN AND OUTER MONGOLIA, MAKING THE POINT THAT ONLY TWO NEIGHBORS NOW REMAIN WITH WHOM CHINA HAS NOT MADE A BORDER ADJUSTMENT : INDIA AND THE SOVIET UNION .
 GREAT BRITAIN THE KING'S WORD THE NAZI DUKE OF COBURG MADE SEVERAL VISITS DURING THE MID-1930S TO HIS SECOND COUSIN, BRITAIN'S NEW KING EDWARD VIII . ONCE, THE ROYAL COUSINS CHATTED " WITH PIPE AT THE FIRESIDE " IN WINDSOR CASTLE, ANOTHER TIME AT TEA IN BUCKINGHAM PALACE WITH MARY, THE QUEEN MOTHER . THE TALKS ROUSED LITTLE INTEREST AT THE TIME, AND WERE SOON OVERSHADOWED BY THE MELODRAMA OF EDWARD'S ABDICATION IN ORDER TO MARRY " THE WOMAN I LOVE " THE TWICE-DIVORCED AMERICAN SOCIALITE, WALLIS WARFIELD SIMPSON . SINCE THEN, THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR, GROWING PALER AND FRAILER WITH THE PASSAGE OF YEARS, HAVE DRIFTED FROM PORTUGAL TO THE WEST INDIES, FROM MANHATTAN TO PARIS . THEIR PASTIMES HAVE BEEN THE TRIFLING ONES OF SHOWING UP AT BALLS, GROWING ROSES . IS KING HERE ? " BUT LAST WEEK THE LONG-FORGOTTEN CHATS OF THE DUKE OF COBURG WERE MAKING HEADLINES IN LONDON NEWSPAPERS AS THE GERMAN ARISTOCRAT WAS ALSO REVEALED AS A SPECIAL EMISSARY SENT BY HITLER TO BRITAIN BECAUSE OF HIS FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY . THE REVELATIONS APPEARED IN THE LATEST BATCH OF CAPTURED NAZI DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED JOINTLY LAST WEEK BY THE BRITISH, FRENCH AND U.S . GOVERNMENTS . COBURG'S " STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL " REPORT WAS ADDRESSED " ONLY FOR THE FUHRER AND PARTY MEMBER V . RIBBENTROP (NO COPY), " AND SAID OF EDWARD VIII THAT " FOR HIM A GERMAN-BRITISH ALLIANCE IS AN URGENT NECESSITY AND A GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY . " COBURG EAGERLY SUGGESTED THAT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT FUTURE RELATIONS BE HELD BETWEEN HITLER AND BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER STANLEY BALDWIN . THE KING, SAID COBURG, " REPLIED IN THE FOLLOWING WORDS : " WHO IS KING HERE, BALDWIN OR I ? I, MYSELF, WISH TO TALK TO HITLER AND WILL DO SO HERE OR IN GERMANY . TELL HIM THAT, PLEASE . " BRITAIN'S INTERESTS . THE CHARGE OF PROGERMAN SYMPATHIES HAS OFTEN BEEN MADE AGAINST THE GERMAN-DESCENDED DUKE OF WINDSOR, MOST NOTABLY AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF OTHER CAPTURED NAZI DOCUMENTS FIVE YEARS AGO . THE LONDON DAILY EXPRESS DISMISSED THE LATE DUKE OF COBURG'S ACCOUNT AS HAVING NO VALUE AS EVIDENCE BECAUSE " HE WAS A NAZI, SPREADING NEWS HE KNEW WOULD BE WELCOME IN BERLIN . " BUT THE DAILY MIRROR'S COLUMNIST CASSANDRA SEEMED CONVINCED OF WINDSOR'S " CLOSE AND CORDIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE NAZI REGIME . " AT WEEK'S END THE DUKE OF WINDSOR, NOW 68, DENIED MOST BUT NOT ALL OF THE PUBLISHED REPORTS . " THEY GIVE A GENERALLY FALSE IMPRESSION, " HE DECLARED IN A STATEMENT ISSUED BY HIS SECRETARY IN FRANCE, ADDING : " IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THE DUKE, WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD THE INTERESTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AT HEART, WAS STRIVING FOR SOME UNDERSTANDING WITH GERMANY .
 EGYPT UP THE REBELS IT WAS VICTORY DAY IN PORT SAID, SIX YEARS EXACTLY SINCE THE LAST BRITISH SOLDIER LEFT SUEZ . THERE TO CELEBRATE THE OCCASION WAS EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . AS 20,000 EGYPTIANS CHEERED, NASSER CALLED THE BRITISH FROM QUEEN TO COMMONOR " SONS OF BITCHES, " SNEERED AT HIS CRITICS, AND RIDICULED AS A PAIR OF " NUTS " JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN AND SAUDI ARABIA'S KING SAUD BECAUSE THEY OPPOSE EGYPT'S MILITARY VENTURE IN YEMEN, WHERE NASSER SUPPORTS THE REBEL ABDULLAH SALLAL . " BROTHERS ! " CRIED NASSER . " THIS IS NOT THE YEMENI PEOPLE'S BATTLE . IT IS OUR BATTLE, BECAUSE THE MORE PEOPLE WE CAN WIN OVER FROM IMPERIALISM AND REACTION, THE MORE OUR POWER IS INCREASED . REVOLUTION WILL SOON TRIUMPH EVERYWHERE AGAINST REACTION ! " NASSER PROMISED THAT ISRAEL'S TURN WOULD COME AS SOON AS " WE GET RID OF SAUD AND HUSSEIN, WHO CONSPIRE WITH ZIONISM AND IMPERIALISM TO PRESERVE THEIR OWN THRONES AND FORTUNES . NASSER PROUDLY WATCHED A PARADE OF EGYPTIAN MIGHT 60 NEW SOVIET-BUILT 5-54 TANKS, ANTIAIRCRAFT DETACHMENTS, BATTERIES OF TACTICAL ROCKETS, AND DISMISSED REPORTS THAT MORE THAN 10,000 EGYPTIANS HAD BEEN LOST IN THE YEMEN CAMPAIGN, INSISTED THAT THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF EGYPTIAN DEAD WAS ONLY 136 . WASHINGTON WAS WRONG IF IT THOUGHT THAT NASSER WOULD WITHDRAW EGYPTIAN FORCES AND LEAVE THE AREA IN PEACE IN EXCHANGE FOR U.S . DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION OF YEMEN'S REVOLUTIONARY REGIME . INSTEAD, NASSER MADE IT CLEAR AT PORT SAID THAT HE PLANS TO STAY IN YEMEN, THE BETTER TO EXPORT REVOLUTION INTO THE BRITISH-PROTECTED STATES RANGING FROM KUWAIT IN THE NORTH OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA TO ADEN IN THE SOUTH AS WELL AS TO SYRIA, JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA .
 THE CONGO THE U.N . DRIVES IMPLACABLY AHEAD BELGIAN CEMENT WORKER ALBERT VERBRUGGHE WAS DRIVING HIS WIFE AND ANOTHER WOMAN DOWN A QUIET STREET IN THE COPPER TOWN OF JADOTVILLE ONE DAY LAST WEEK, WHEN HE SUDDENLY HEARD THE CLATTER OF GUNFIRE . PULLING THE TRIGGERS FOR NO APPARENT REASON WERE NERVOUS INDIAN TROOPS OF THE ADVANCING UNITED NATIONS FORCE . VERBRUGGHE SLAMMED HIS LITTLE VOLKSWAGEN TO A HALT . HIS WIFE WAS ALREADY DEAD, THE OTHER WOMAN DYING . WITH AN ANGUISHED SCREAM, VERBRUGGHE STUMBLED OUT, BLOOD STREAMING FROM A WOUND UNDER HIS EYE . " MY WIFE IS KILLED, " HE CRIED . " WHY, WHY, WHY ? " THE SAME QUESTION, IN A LARGER CONTEXT, WAS BEING ASKED IN MANY CAPITALS LAST WEEK . FOR THE THIRD TIME IN 15 MONTHS, THE WORLD WAS HORRIFIED WITNESS TO THE SPECTACLE OF FOREIGN SOLDIERS, AIDED BY THE U.S., SEIZING THE TOWNS AND FIRING ON NATIVE SOLDIERS OF THE CONGO . TO MANY, THE U.N.'S VERY PRESENCE IN THE AFRICAN LAND WAS OF DOUBTFUL WISDOM . BUT IN ANY CASE, THE BLAZING GUNS AND SWOOPING PLANES OF THE U.N . HARDLY FITTED THE PACIFYING INTENT OF ITS ORIGINAL CONGO MANDATE . " IT IS AN UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY, " SAID CONNECTICUT'S DEMOCRATIC SENATOR THOMAS DODD, " THAT THE WORLD ORGANIZATION WHICH WAS SET UP TO PREVENT WAR AND PRESERVE THE PEACE SHOULD BE STARTING WARS . " IN LONDON, 90 TORY M.P.S ACCUSED THE U.N . OF ACTING " CONTRARY TO ITS OWN CHARTER . " EVEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY, WHO LAST WEEK ORDERED THE U.S . TO BEGIN SHIPPING 2F-TON TRUCKS, ARMORED CARS AND TRANSPORT PLANES TO THE U.N . CONGO FORCE, WAS REPORTED TO BE ALARMED AT THE DISORDER THAT AROSE FROM THE U.N . SHOOTING . ON TO JADOTVILLE . BUT THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK ON THE BASIC DECISION THAT HAD BEEN MADE . KATANGA'S SECESSIONIST PRESIDENT MOISE TSHOMBE HAD USED EVERY SLY TRICK IN THE BOOK TO FRUSTRATE EFFORTS TO REUNITE HIS REBELLIOUS, COPPERRICH PROVINCE WITH THE REST OF THE CONGO . NOW, U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT, WITH U.S . ENCOURAGEMENT, WAS DETERMINED TO END THE KATANGA PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL . THE OCCASION HAPPENED TO BE THE COLLAPSE OF DISCIPLINE AMONG TSHOMBE'S BOOZY, RAGTAG 20,000-MAN GENDARMERIE . WHEN THEY BEGAN SHOOTING AT U.N . SOLDIERS IN KATANGA A FORTNIGHT AGO, THE U.N . REPLIED WITH ALL THE POWER AT ITS COMMAND . LAST WEEK IRISH INFANTRYMEN MARCHED INTO KIPUSHI, SITE OF COPPER MINES AT THE RHODESIAN BORDER . ETHIOPIAN U.N TROOPS ALREADY OCCUPIED ELISABETHVILLE ITSELF . BUT THE BIG PRIZE WAS JADOTVILLE, A TOWN OF 90,000, WHERE THE GIANT UNION MINIERE MINERAL OUTFIT PRODUCES ONE-THIRD OF ITS COPPER (110,000 TONS) AND THREE-FOURTHS OF ITS COBALT (6,600 TONS) EACH YEAR . TOWARD JADOTVILLE, 70 MILES FROM ELISABETHVILLE, MOVED A TWO-MILE-LONG COLUMN OF INDIANS COMMANDED BY BRIGADIER REGINALD NORONHA, A GUTTY SOLDIER WHO MUNCHED HARDBOILED EGGS WHILE MORTAR SHELLS BURST AROUND HIM . WEAPONS AFLOAT . ALARMED AT THE PROSPECT OF DAMAGE TO MINE INSTALLATIONS IN WHICH BOTH BRITAIN AND BELGIUM HAD HEAVY INVESTMENTS, BRITISH U.N . AMBASSADOR SIR PATRICK DEAN AND BELGIUM'S WALTER LORIDAN DEMANDED ASSURANCES FROM THANT THAT THE U.N . FORCES WOULD GO NO FARTHER . THANT ASSURED THEM THAT THEY HAD HALTED AT THE LUFIRA RIVER . THAT WAS CORRECT, UP TO A POINT . WITH THREE BRIDGES DOWN, THE INDIANS STOPPED AT THE LUFIRA ALL RIGHT, BUT ONLY LONG ENOUGH TO RIG ROPES AND PULLEYS TO A SWIMMING FLOAT AND FERRY 120-MM . MORTARS, RECOILLESS RIFLES AND JEEPS ACROSS THE STREAM . NORONHA HAD NO ORDERS TO TAKE JADOTVILLE BUT THEN AGAIN, HE HAD NO ORDERS NOT TO SO HE KEPT ON GOING . UNOPPOSED, THE INDIANS TROOPED INTO JADOTVILLE WITH NORONHA HIMSELF HEADING A COLUMN OF JEEPS . THINGS WERE GOING LESS SMOOTHLY BACK AT U.N . HEADQUARTERS IN MANHATTAN . CONVINCED THAT THANT HAD DECEIVED THEM ABOUT JADOTVILLE, BELGIAN AND BRITISH DIPLOMATS WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED . THANT INTIMATED THAT HIS AIDES IN THE CONGO HAD EXCEEDED THEIR ORDERS . " THERE OCCURRED A SERIOUS BREAKDOWN, " A SPOKESMAN SAID, " IN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION BETWEEN THE U.N . HEADQUARTERS AND THE LEOPOLDVILLE OFFICE . " OFF TO LEOPOLDVILLE " TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THIS LAPSE AND TO ENSURE IT WILL NOT RECUR " FLEW U.N . UNDER SECRETARY RALPH BUNCHE . BUT ONCE THERE, BUNCHE ANNOUNCED THAT THE U.N . STILL WANTED " FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT " THROUGHOUT ALL OF KATANGA, AND ADDED : " THE TASK
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE HELICOPTER WAR RUNS INTO TROUBLE THE HELICOPTER HAS REVOLUTIONIZED THE UGLY LITTLE ANTI-COMMUNIST WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM . USING THE WHIRLYBIRDS FOR TRANSPORT, GOVERNMENT FORCES NO LONGER REMAIN IMMOBILE IN FIXED OUTPOSTS . THEY NOW GO WHERE THE VIET CONG GOES . SOMETIMES THIS IS NOT VERY HEALTHY, FOR THE RED GUERRILLAS HAVE DEVELOPED TACTICS TO COUNTER THE COPTERS . IN THE EARLY DAYS, THEY TRIED TO SHOOT THEM DOWN WITH HOMEMADE SHOTGUNS AND ANCIENT FRENCH RIFLES ; ONE HELICOPTER EVEN RETURNED TO BASE WITH AN ARROW STUCK IN ITS FUSELAGE . TODAY, WITH MORE PRACTICE AND AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF CAPTURED U.S . WEAPONS, THE VIET CONG GANGMEN CAN MAKE THINGS HOT FOR THE MOST SKILLED U.S . HELICOPTER PILOT . LAST WEEK THE VIET CONG FORCES PROVED THEIR PROWESS BY SHOOTING DOWN FIVE HELICOPTERS OVER RICE MARSHES SOUTHWEST OF SAIGON AND INFLICTING A BRUTAL DEFEAT ON THE GOVERNMENT FORCES . LIKE SHOOTING DUCKS . THE BATTLE BEGAN AS A ROUTINE / SEARCH AND CLEAR " OPERATION IN A RED-INFESTED AREA NEAR THE TINY HAMLET OF APBAC . THE STRIKE PLAN CALLED FOR TEN U.S . H-21 TROOP-CARRYING HELICOPTERS, ESCORTED BY FIVE U.S . ROCKET-FIRING HU-1A CHOPPERS, TO FERRY 400 GOVERNMENT TROOPS TO THE DROP ZONE IN WAVES OF 100 MEN EACH . THE FIRST THREE GROUPS LANDED WITH NO GROUND FIRE FROM THE ENEMY . BUT AS THE FOURTH LIFT FLUTTERED OVER THE PADDIES, THE COMMUNISTS LET LOOSE WITH A BLAZE OF BULLETS FROM THE WOODS AT THE EDGE OF THE RICE FIELD . " THE TREE LINE SEEMED TO EXPLODE WITH MACHINE-GUN FIRE, " SAID ONE HELICOPTER PILOT . " IT WAS PURE HELL . " VIRTUALLY MOTIONLESS, THE BANANA-SHAPED HELICOPTERS WERE HELPLESS TARGETS AT POINT-BLANK RANGE ; FIVE OF THE HOVERING CHOPPERS WERE SHOT DOWN, AND NINE OTHERS WERE RIDDLED BY ENEMY FIRE . ON THE GROUND, THE GOVERNMENT FORCES WERE PINNED DOWN IN THE HAIL OF FIRE . " WHEN THOSE POOR VIETNAMESE CAME OUT OF THE CHOPPERS, IT WAS LIKE SHOOTING DUCKS FOR THE VIET CONG, " SAID ONE U.S . OFFICER . THE STUNNED SURVIVORS BURROWED INTO THE SLIMY MUD OF THE PADDIES AND STAYED THERE, REFUSING TO CONTINUE THE ASSAULT . DESPERATELY CAPTAIN KENNETH GOOD, 32, A WEST POINTER FROM EWA BEACH, HAWAII, SOUGHT TO RALLY THE VIETNAMESE FOR A COUNTERATTACK, BUT HE WAS STITCHED THROUGH THE NECK AND CHEST BY A BURST FROM A VIET CONG AUTOMATIC RIFLE . THE GOVERNMENT TROOPS STAYED PUT . AFTER EIGHT HOURS OF CONTINUOUS BOMBARDMENT, REINFORCEMENTS BEGAN TO ARRIVE . BLASTING AWAY WITH MACHINE GUNS, GOVERNMENT ARMORED CARS REPEATEDLY ATTACKED THE ENTRENCHED VIET CONG POSITIONS AT THE TREE LINE AND ALONG A CANAL BORDERING THE PADDIES ; EACH TIME THEY WERE DRIVEN BACK . OVERHEAD, GOVERNMENT PLANES POUNDED THE VIET CONG WITH BOMBS AND NAPALM, BUT THE COMMUNISTS DID NOT BREAK . " MY GOD, WE GOT A FIX ON ONE MACHINE-GUN POSITION AND MADE 15 AERIAL RUNS ON IT, " SAID A U.S . ADVISER . " EVERY TIME WE THOUGHT WE HAD HIM, AND EVERY TIME THAT DAMNED GUNNER CAME RIGHT BACK UP, FIRING . " THE OPEN WALLET . AS DUSK FELL, THE VIET CONG SLIPPED INTO SAMPANS AND ESCAPED DOWN THE DARKENED CANAL WITH THEIR DEAD AND WOUNDED . " EVERYTHING WE DID WENT WRONG, " COMPLAINED A U.S . ADVISER . A BATTALION OF GOVERNMENT PARATROOPERS, ASSIGNED THE JOB OF BLOCKING THE REDS' ESCAPE ROUTE, WAS AIRDROPPED INTO THE WRONG POSITION . AND WHEN GOVERNMENT ARTILLERY AT LAST STARTED TO SHELL THE WOODED VIET CONG POSITIONS, THEIR ROUNDS WERE ZEROED IN ON THEIR OWN TROOPS, KILLED THREE OF THEIR OWN MEN . WORST OF ALL, THE BATTERED VIETNAMESE TROOPS SHOWED LITTLE INTEREST IN PURSUING THE REDS . INSTEAD, THEY SLOSHED THROUGH THE PADDYFIELDS, PICKING UP THEIR CASUALTIES 68 DEAD AND 100 WOUNDED AND POKING THROUGH THE DOWNED HELICOPTERS . ON THE CABIN FLOOR OF ONE OF THE CHOPPERS LAY THE WALLET OF A DEAD U.S . ADVISER OPEN TO A PICTURE OF HIS WIFE AND CHILD . IN ALL, THREE U.S . ADVISERS CAPTAIN GOOD, SERGEANT WILLIAM DEAL OF MAYS LANDING, N.J., AND SPECIALIST 4 DONALD BRAMAN OF RADCLIFF, KY . WERE KILLED IN THE AMBUSH, AND SIX MORE WOUNDED . THE DEAD BROUGHT TO 56 THE NUMBER OF U.S . TROOPS KILLED SO FAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM . PIECEMEALED TO DEATH . THE EXTENT OF THE GOVERNMENT DEFEAT UNDER CONDITIONS OF ITS OWN CHOOSING AND THE HEAVY LOSSES SUFFERED BY THE U.S . HELICOPTERS CAUSED HEADS TO SNAP FROM SAIGON TO WASHINGTON . UNDER ORDERS FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY, THE PENTAGON BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE WAYS IN WHICH THE CHOPPERS CAN BE BETTER PROTECTED . IN SAIGON, U.S . ADVISERS ADMITTED THAT THE DAY WAS A " MISERABLE PERFORMANCE, " BLAMED THE DEFEAT ON A " LACK OF AGGRESSIVENESS " BY GOVERNMENT TROOPS . " THEY MOVED IN SLOWLY AND GAVE THE VIET CONG A CHANCE TO PIECEMEAL THEM TO DEATH, " SAID ONE AMERICAN OFFICER . STILL, U.S . ADVISERS ARE PLEASED WITH THE PROGRESS MADE BY GOVERNMENT TROOPS OVER THE PAST YEAR . " CASUALTIES ARE INEVITABLE WHEN YOU ARE FIGHTING A WAR, " SAID ONE . " THE VIET CONG ARE IMPROVING THEIR ARSENAL AND TECHNIQUES . WE'RE DOING THE SAME AND ON BALANCE WE'RE STILL WAY OUT AHEAD OF THEM .
 EUROPE THE SNOW BLITZ A HOWLING GALE FROM THE ARCTIC ICEBOX COLLIDED OVER WESTERN EUROPE WITH WARM, MOIST WINDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN . THE RESULT : THE MOST SAVAGE WINTER STORMS OF THE CENTURY . AN AUSTRIAN EXPRESS TRAIN BOUND FROM VIENNA TO PARIS GOT SO THOROUGHLY LOST IN THE BLIZZARD THAT IT ENDED UP IN MUNICH . A YUGOSLAV TRAIN REACHED ITS DESTINATION MINUS ITS LAST FIVE CARS ; THEY HAD BLOWN OFF EN ROUTE . EVEN SUCH SOUTHERN CITIES AS MARSEILLE AND BARCELONA WERE BLANKETED WITH SNOW . TEMPERATURES FELL SO LOW IN SWITZERLAND THAT THE HARDY MONKS AND TRUSTY DOGS OF ST . BERNARD RETREATED TO THE VALLEY FROM THEIR ALPINE MONASTERY . TEN FRENCH VILLAGES ALONG THE ENGLISH CHANNEL WERE ISOLATED FOR DAYS, AND INHABITANTS RAN OUT OF BREAD, MEAT AND COAL . ROADS IN NORTHERN FRANCE BECAME LITERALLY PATHS OF ICE, AND A MAN COULD HAVE SKATED 100 MILES FROM BOULOGNE TO BEAUVAIS . AS RIVERS AND CANALS FROZE IN THE NETHERLANDS, DROVES OF ICE SKATERS TURNED OUT, AND 50 DROWNED IN A SINGLE DAY . IN SOME PLACES ALONG EUROPE'S BALTIC COAST, THE SEA ITSELF WAS TURNING TO ICE . BRITAIN WAS HIT EVEN MORE SAVAGELY THAN THE CONTINENT . SOME 95,000 MILES OF HIGHWAYS WERE COMPLETELY OUT OF SERVICE . EIGHT-FOOT DRIFTS BLOCKED THE MAIN ROAD FROM LONDON TO PORTSMOUTH, AND NEAR WEYMOUTH, BELATED RESCUERS DUG DOWN TO A SNOW-BURIED CAR, FOUND TWO DEAD AND THREE NEARLY SMOTHERED TRAVELERS . HELICOPTERS IN DORSET SAVED 71 TRAPPED BUS PASSENGERS, INCLUDING A MONTH-OLD BABY SHELTERED IN A CARDBOARD BOX . ASIAN GURKHA TROOPS WERE CALLED OUT FROM ARMY CAMPS TO RESCUE STRANDED OLD-AGE PENSIONERS IN WILTSHIRE . ONE RESULT OF THE WEATHER WAS LONDON'S QUIETEST NEW YEAR'S EVE IN RECENT MEMORY . ONLY A FEW HARDY SOULS GATHERED IN PICCADILLY CIRCUS FOR THE TRADITIONAL SINGING OF AULD LANG SYNE . THERE WERE 162 ARRESTS, MOSTLY FOR THROWING SNOWBALLS AT POLICEMEN . A DAILY HERALD COLUMNIST DISCOVERED ANOTHER SOCIAL EFFECT OF THE SNOW BLITZ . IN MOCK HORROR, HE REPORTED THAT " FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS TALKED TO ME IN THE BLIZZARD ON THE STATION PLATFORM .
 SPAIN MORE NEWS, MORE MONEY SPANIARDS WHO TUNED IN ON NEWS BROADCASTS LAST WEEK GOT THE SURPRISE OF A QUARTER-CENTURY . SINCE FRANCISCO FRANCO INSTALLED HIMSELF AS SPAIN'S DICTATOR IN 1938, EVERY NEWSCAST HAD UNFAILINGLY ENDED WITH A PONDEROUS SALUTE TO HIS FALANGIST PARTY AND A MARTIAL RENDITION OF THE FALANGIST ANTHEM . LAST WEEK, FOR THE FIRST TIME, NEWS BULLETINS ENDED INSTEAD WITH A PLEASANT FEMININE VOICE BIDDING SENORES Y SENORAS GOOD DAY, FOLLOWED BY A FEW BARS OF A CATCH PASO DOBLE . IN SLOW-MOVING SPAIN, CHANGE OF ANY KIND IS RARE AND RELUCTANT . YET, ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLY THE REGIME IS BEGINNING TO RELAX ITS IRON GRIP ON SOCIETY . SINCE HIS APPOINTMENT AS FRANCO'S INFORMATION MINISTER LAST JULY, MANUEL FRAGA IRIBARNE, 40, HAS BOOSTED THE DAILY RATION OF RADIO NEWS FROM FOUR TO 18 BROADCASTS A DAY AND FOR THE FIRST TIME ALLOWED SPANISH LISTENERS A COMPARATIVELY BROAD SAMPLING OF WORLD EVENTS . TALE OF PASIONARIA . PRESS CENSORSHIP ALSO HAS MELLOWED MARKEDLY . NEWSPAPERS ARE NO LONGER GIVEN THE OLD-STYLE DAILY INSTRUCCIONES THAT LAID DOWN WHAT STORIES THEY COULD RUN AND EVEN DICTATED HOW THEY SHOULD BE LAID OUT . THOUGH THE COUNTRY'S BIGGEST DAILIES IN MADRID AND BARCELONA ARE STILL SUBJECT TO CENSORSHIP, ONLY 15 STORIES HAVE BEEN DOCTORED BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SINCE FRAGA TOOK OVER, AND NO FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS HAVE BEEN SEIZED FOR POLITICAL REASONS.* IN OTHER CITIES, PAPERS NO LONGER ARE REQUIRED TO SHOW GALLEY PROOFS TO THE CENSORS BEFORE GOING TO PRESS . ONE WEEKLY IS ACTUALLY SERIALIZING THE MEMOIRS OF DOLORES IBARRURI, THE FABLED LA PASIONARIA OF CIVIL WAR DAYS, WHO IS QUEEN BEE OF SPAIN'S EXILED COMMUNIST PARTY ; HER VERY NAME UNTIL RECENTLY WAS TABOO IN THE SPANISH PRESS . OF THE EIGHT PROMINENT INTELLECTUALS ARRESTED LAST YEAR AFTER DENOUNCING FRANCO AT A MUNICH CONFERENCE, FIVE HAVE BEEN PARDONED AND THE REST ALLOWED TO GO INTO VOLUNTARY EXILE . FRANCO'S UNIFORMED STATE POLICE, ONCE EVERYWHERE, IS NOW LESS OBVIOUS, LESS ARROGANT . GIFT FOR ONE-FIFTH . FRANCO'S DECISION TO END SPAIN'S LONG CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ISOLATION IS BASED ON HIS TWOFOLD CONVICTION THAT 1) THE POPULACE AS A WHOLE NOW ACCEPTS HIS REGIME, AND 2) SPAIN CANNOT SURVIVE ECONOMICALLY IF IT IS EXCLUDED FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET, WHOSE MEMBERS BITTERLY DISLIKE HIS AUTOCRATIC WAYS . THE STUBBORN ILLEGAL STRIKES THAT CRIPPLED SPAIN'S ECONOMY FOR TWO MONTHS LAST YEAR ALSO FORCED EL CAUDILLO TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE COUNTRY'S HARDPRESSED WORKERS ARE DESPERATELY EAGER TO ENJOY LIVING STANDARDS COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF OTHER EUROPEANS . AS A GIFT TO THE HOPELESSLY POOR UNSKILLED LABORERS WHO MAKE UP ONE-FIFTH OF THE WORK FORCE, FRANCO LAST WEEK ANNOUNCED AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE THAT WILL ALMOST DOUBLE THEIR TAKEHOME PAY AND FRINGE BENEFITS (TO $1.66 A DAY) . SPAIN, SAID FRANCO, IN A YEAR-END TV AND RADIO ADDRESS, IS NOW " A NATION OF PEACE, ON THE ROAD TO ECONOMIC RECUPERATION, WITH A CAPACITY FOR GROWTH IN ALL SECTORS OF ITS LIFE, AND WITH A YOUTH THAT IS TECHNICALLY PREPARED AND EAGER TO FACE THE FUTURE . *TIME ALONE WAS BANNED OR SEIZED 54 TIMES IN ELEVEN YEARS BY FRAGA'S PREDECESSOR .
 RUSSIA PARTY TIME THE NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY WAS GOING FULL BLAST IN THE BANQUET HALL ATOP THE KREMLIN'S PALACE OF CONGRESSES . COMMUNIST BIGWIGS MINGLED WITH DIPLOMATS, MILITARY LEADERS AND STARS OF THE SOVIET CULTURAL ELITE . EVERYONE WAS IN HIGH SPIRITS, INCLUDING SOVIET EX-PRESIDENT KLIMENT VOROSHILOV, 82, WHO BROKE INTO AN IMPROMPTU JIG WHEN THE BAND PLAYED A SNAPPY RUSSIAN MELODY . GENIAL HOST NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV ROARED HIS HEARTY APPROVAL . IT WAS NO OCCASION FOR DISHARMONIOUS WORDS, SO WHEN THE TIME CAME FOR SPEECHES, NIKITA WAVED AWAY THE LATEST 20,000-WORD ATTACK ON HIS POLICIES BY RED CHINA . EVERY FAMILY HAS TROUBLES, KHRUSHCHEV DECLARED, GESTURING AMIABLY AT THE WESTERN DIPLOMATS IN THE CROWD . " YOU JUST GET MARRIED AND YOU WILL SOON NOTICE THAT DIFFERENCES DEVELOP . " AS FOR HIS DIFFERENCES WITH THE WEST, KHRUSHCHEV HOPED THAT 1963 WOULD SOLVE " URGENT PROBLEMS FRAUGHT WITH NEW CRISES, " A BIT OF DOUBLETALK ABOUT BERLIN THAT COULD FIT ANY EVENTUALITY . THE FIRST WOULD PROBABLY COME AT NEXT WEEK'S CONGRESS OF THE EAST GERMAN COMMUNIST PARTY, WHICH KHRUSHCHEV WILL ATTEND . LAST WEEK, WHEN THE U.S . MOVED 1,500 INFANTRYMEN BY HIGHWAY INTO THE DIVIDED CITY IN A ROUTINE SHIFT OF REGIMENTS, THERE WAS NOT A MOMENT OF OBSTRUCTIONIST DELAY AT THE RUSSIAN CHECKPOINT . READY TO GREET THE FRESH TROOPS WAS A NEW U.S . WEST BERLIN COMMANDANT, MAJOR GENERAL JAMES H . POLK, 51 . SAID POLK, IN A MESSAGE TO WEST BERLINERS : " WE ARE HERE TO STAY .
 RUSSIA THE GOLD RUSH THE SOVIET UNION BOASTS SOME OF THE TIGHTEST BORDER CONTROLS IN THE WORLD, BUT THEY ARE NOT TIGHT ENOUGH TO HOLD BACK A THRIVING NETWORK OF RUSSIAN DEALERS IN CONTRABAND CURRENCY THAT STRETCHES FROM PEKING TO PARIS AND POINTS BEYOND . LAST WEEK A KAZAKHSTAN FACTORY OWNER WENT ON TRIAL IN ALMA ATA AFTER HE WAS NABBED WEARING A MONEY BELT CRAMMED NOT ONLY WITH RUBLES BUT ALSO WITH FRENCH FRANCS AND U.S . DOLLARS . IN HIS HOME WERE THREE OUNCES OF PEARLS, 2,700 ANTELOPE HORNS, WHICH THE CHINESE PRIZE FOR THEIR SUPPOSED MEDICINAL QUALITIES, AND 22 LBS . OF GOLD, WHICH HE PLANNED TO EXPORT TO ACCOMPLICES IN COMMUNIST CHINA . USING A MINE DETECTOR, COPS FOUND ANOTHER CACHE OF GOLD BURIED IN THE GUTTER IN FRONT OF THE SMUGGLER'S HOUSE . LAST MONTH ANOTHER RING OF PROSPERING FOREIGN TRADERS WAS BROKEN UP IN THE MOSLEM SOVIET REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN . ALAS, A RAILROAD POLICEMAN WAS STANDING ON THE PLATFORM OF TASHKENT'S STATION WHEN COINS CLINKED AT THE FEET OF AN ELDERLY BEGGAR . STOOPING TO INVESTIGATE, THE COP DISCOVERED THAT THE COINS WERE SOLID GOLD AND BORE THE FACE OF CZAR NICHOLAS II . THE GAME WAS UP . SEWN INTO THE BEGGAR'S RAGS WERE HUNDREDS OF COINS, PEARLS AND PRECIOUS STONES . THE TRAIL LED TO FOUR OTHER GANG MEMBERS, WHOSE ILLICIT INVENTORY INCLUDED 400 LBS . OF PRECIOUS ANILINE DYES, 220 YARDS OF SATIN, $200 IN BRITISH POUNDS, AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF RUBLES IN STATE LOAN CERTIFICATES, RUBIES, COINS AND MEDALS . A CROOK NAMED " BLUE EYES " WAS ALL SET TO HAUL THE SWAG OUT BY CAR TO AFGHANISTAN . THE GANG HAD HOPED TO USE THE PROFITS TO FINANCE A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA . INSTEAD, THEY ALL LANDED IN A TASHKENT JAIL, SENTENCED TO TERMS OF 10 TO 15 YEARS .
 HELP US ! " SLAM OUT OF THE SWIRLING SNOW OF A MOSCOW WINTER MORNING LAST WEEK, 32 SHABBY PEASANTS SUDDENLY APPEARED AT THE IRON GATES OF THE U.S . EMBASSY AT 19-21 TCHAIKOVSKY STREET, BRUSHED PAST THE RUSSIAN GUARDS ON THE SIDEWALK, AND STRODE INSIDE . TO FLABBERGASTED AMERICAN DIPLOMATS THEY PUT A STARTLING REQUEST : HELP US GET OUT OF RUSSIA . THE SIX MEN, TWELVE WOMEN AND 14 CHILDREN CLAD IN TATTERED SHEEPSKIN COATS AND BABUSHKAS WERE A FORLORN LOT WITH A FORLORN TALE . THEY CAME FROM A SECT OF PROTESTANT PENTACOSTAL EVANGELISTS IN THE SIBERIAN TOWN OF CHERNOGORSK, NEAR THE MONGOLIAN BORDER 2,100 MILES TO THE EAST . OF LATE, LOCAL AUTHORITIES THERE HAD TAKEN AWAY SEVERAL CHILDREN OF THE SECT, AND THREATENED TO IMPRISON THE ADULT FAITHFUL . WITH THE VAGUE NOTION THAT A FOREIGN EMBASSY MIGHT HELP THEM, THE SIBERIANS WENT BY TRAIN TO MOSCOW . NOW THEY WANTED TO TRAVEL TO " ISRAEL " PROBABLY MEANING THE ISRAEL OF THE OLD TESTAMENT . THE AMERICANS LISTENED SYMPATHETICALLY, BUT AMBASSADOR FOY KOHLER HAD TO STICK TO REGULATIONS.* OUT WENT A CALL TO THE SOVIET FOREIGN MINISTRY, EXPLAINING THE SITUATION AND ASKING THAT THE PEASANTS BE REMOVED . MEANWHILE, THE SIBERIANS WERE INVITED INTO THE EMBASSY LUNCHROOM TO HAVE COFFEE AND CAKE . EMBARRASSED BY THE WHOLE THING, THE U.S . OFFICIALS PREVENTED FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS FROM PHOTOGRAPHING OR SPEAKING WITH THE VISITORS . AT LAST, A DILAPIDATED BUS DROVE INTO THE EMBASSY COMPOUND AND BACKED UP TO THE LUNCHROOM DOOR . WITH IT CAME SOVIET FOREIGN MINISTRY AGENTS, WHO URGED THE PEASANTS TO COME ALONG QUIETLY . " COME NOW, LET'S NOT HAVE A DEMONSTRATION, " SAID ONE . " WHERE WILL YOU TAKE US ? " A SIBERIAN INQUIRED . " TO A HOTEL, " REPLIED THE OFFICIAL . " THEN WE WILL ARRANGE FOR YOU TO GO BACK HOME . / BY THEN, THE WOMEN WERE WAILING . ONE PEASANT YELLED, " BUT I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK ! THEY WILL ARREST ME AND SHOOT ME ! " TO A CLUSTER OF NEWSMEN STANDING NEAR BY, HE CRIED, " WE ASK ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO BELIEVE IN GOD : HELP US ! HELP US ! " THEN THE BUS DROVE AWAY INTO THE SNOW . *THE STATE DEPARTMENT LATER EXPLAINED THAT IT IS U.S . POLICY, AS A RULE, TO DENY ASYLUM TO FOREIGNERS IN EMBASSIES ABROAD UNLESS THE PERSON IS IN " IMMINENT DANGER FROM MOB VIOLENCE . " JOSEF CARDINAL MINDSZENTY, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIMATE OF HUNGARY, WAS CONSIDERED TO QUALIFY " UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES " WHEN HE WON SANCTUARY IN THE U.S . LEGATION DURING THE 1956 UPRISING IN BUDAPEST, WHERE HE STILL LIVES .
 RED CHINA THE CHILLY SEASON RED CHINA'S MASSES LAST WEEK HAD MUCH IN COMMON WITH THE SUBJECTS OF THE FAMOUS FAIRY-TALE EMPEROR : EVERYBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT NEW CLOTHES, BUT NOBODY COULD ACTUALLY SEE THEM . AFTER THREE YEARS OF BAD COTTON CROPS, THE ANNUAL CLOTH RATION HAS SHRUNK TO AS LITTLE AS 2F FT . PER PERSON IN SOME REGIONS " JUST ENOUGH, " SAID ONE REFUGEE, " TO PATCH OUR RAGS . " SO SEVERE IS THE SHORTAGE, ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL PEKING PEOPLE'S DAILY, THAT " CLOTHES HOSPITALS " ARE MAKING " SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRTS OUT OF LONG-SLEEVED SHIRTS, A VEST OUT OF A SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRT, AND UNDERWEAR OUT OF A VEST . " IN TIMEWORN STYLE, COMMUNIST PARTY CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG'S LIEUTENANTS BLAME DROUGHT, HAILSTORMS AND INSECT BLIGHTS FOR CUTTING THE RATION FROM A MANAGEABLE 20.65 FT . IN 1957 TO ITS PRESENT HANDKERCHIEF SIZE . BUT RED CHINA'S FRAYED LOOK ALSO OWES MUCH TO A DELIBERATE DECISION BY ITS LEADERS . " WHEN THE BAD CROPS BEGAN IN 1959, " EXPLAINS ONE WESTERN EXPERT IN HONG KONG, " COTTON AND CLOTH WAS ONE PLACE WHERE YOU COULD SQUEEZE THE PEOPLE . " PEKING SQUEEZED HARD, CUTTING BACK COTTON ACREAGE AT LEAST 20 PER CENT SO THAT EVERY SPARE CLOD OF EARTH COULD BE SOWN TO GRAINS . THE RESULT : CHINA'S 1962 GRAIN HARVEST WAS UP 10 PER CENT TO 182 MILLION METRIC TONS, WHILE THE COTTON CROP MAY HAVE FALLEN TO AS LOW AS 1,200,000 METRIC TONS, DOWN ONE-THIRD FROM 1958 . FURTHER AGGRAVATING THE SITUATION AT HOME, PEKING SOLD HUGE AMOUNTS OF COTTON ABROAD TO BRING IN BADLY NEEDED FOREIGN EXCHANGE . WITH THE ONSET OF THE CHILLY SEASON, EVEN THE CLOTH WRAPPING ON GIFT PARCELS FROM RELATIVES ABROAD IS USED TO PATCH THREADBARE GARMENTS . SAID ONE REFUGEE IN HONG KONG : " WE ARE USED TO GETTING COLD IN THE WINTER .
 FORMOSA INVASIONS, LTD . ON THE ROCKY ISLAND OF TUNGYIN, 50 MILES OFF THE COAST OF RED CHINA, IS THE HEADQUARTERS OF A LITTLE-KNOWN MILITARY UNIT CALLED THE ANTI-COMMUNIST NATIONAL SALVATION ARMY . THE SECRET ARMY, 30,000 STRONG, IS CHIANG KAI-SHEK'S INSTRUMENT FOR THE LONG-PROMISED RETURN TO THE MAINLAND . THE TROOPS ARE TRAINED AS GUERRILLAS, ARMED WITH U.S . WEAPONS, AND COME LARGELY FROM THE MAINLAND COASTAL PROVINCES . BUT WHERE THE TROOPS GO OR WHAT THEY DO IS A TIGHT SECRET . THAT SECRECY MADE A NEWS ITEM FROM RED CHINA ALL THE MORE INTERESTING LAST WEEK . RADIO PEKING TRUMPETED AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT COMMUNIST SECURITY FORCES HAD " WIPED OUT " 172 COMMANDOS WHO HAD SECRETLY LANDED IN COASTAL KWANGTUNG PROVINCE LAST FALL . THE COMMUNISTS CLAIMED THAT THE INTERLOPERS PLANNED TO SET UP A " GUERRILLA CORRIDOR " IN KWANGTUNG " TO OPEN THE WAY FOR A SUBSEQUENT MILITARY ADVENTURE OF INVADING THE MAINLAND . " TO BACK UP THE STORY, COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERS SPLASHED FRONT-PAGE PICTURES OF THE CAPTURED AGENTS AND THEIR STOCKPILES OF U.S . RIFLES, GRENADES, AND PLASTIC DEMOLITION EQUIPMENT . THE STORY MIGHT HAVE BEEN BRUSHED ASIDE AS ANOTHER PROPAGANDA TIDBIT, BUT THE OFFICIAL NATIONALIST CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY QUICKLY VERIFIED IT . WHAT'S MORE, CLAIMED TAIPEI, THE GUERRILLAS TIED UP 100,000 COMMUNIST TROOPS FOR THREE MONTHS, INFLICTED 700 CASUALTIES, SHOT DOWN A RED RECONNAISSANCE PLANE, AND ENGAGED IN A WIDESPREAD CAMPAIGN OF SABOTAGE .
 GREAT BRITAIN THE FATEFUL WEEKS TO CELEBRATE HIS SIXTH FULL YEAR IN OFFICE THE LONGEST TERM FOR A TORY SINCE 1902* PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN WENT BEFORE THE CAMERAS FOR A TELEVISION INTERVIEW LAST WEEK . IT WAS A MASTERFUL PERFORMANCE . RELAXED AND CONFIDENT, MACMILLAN TALKED WITH EASY CONFIDENCE OF THE PROMISE AND PROBLEMS OF BRITAIN TODAY . OFF-CAMERA, THINGS WERE NOT GOING SO WELL AS HAROLD MACMILLAN MADE IT SEEM . BRITAIN'S HOPES OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET HUNG PRECARIOUSLY IN THE BALANCE . AFTER THE DECISIONS AT NASSAU, A QUESTION MARK ROSE OVER THE FUTURE OF ITS MILITARY POWER . THE LATEST GALLUP POLL SHOWED LABOR LEADING THE TORIES 45 PER CENT TO 36 PER CENT . MANY OF MACMILLAN'S OWN CONSERVATIVE PARTY BACKBENCHERS WERE CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNMENT FOR ITS INABILITY TO STOP THE GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT IN BRITAIN'S NORTH . REASON FOR CONFIDENCE . SEEKING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF JOBS, MACMILLAN LAST WEEK GAVE LORD HAILSHAM A NEW MINISTERIAL TASK OF STUDYING THE NORTHEAST DEPRESSED AREAS, AND TOLD BIRMINGHAM BUSINESSMEN THAT " WITH A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK " THE ECONOMIC SLUMP MIGHT BE REVERSED THIS YEAR . AS ANOTHER WEAPON AGAINST POLITICAL DECLINE, MACMILLAN IS CLEARLY COUNTING ON ADMISSION TO THE COMMON MARKET DESPITE THE OVERWHELMING OBSTACLES AHEAD . ON TV HE SAID : " I BELIEVE THAT AS SOON AS THE COMMON MARKET IS SETTLED, AND AS SOON AS IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT, YOU WILL FIND THE BUSINESSMEN REINVESTING ON A BIGGER SCALE THAN EVER BEFORE . THAT IS WHY I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT 1963 . " A DECISION ON COMMON MARKET ENTRY MAY BE IMMINENT . THIS WEEK BRITAIN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR EDWARD HEATH RETURNS TO BRUSSELS FOR A CRUCIAL ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH EUROPE'S SIX THE " CRUNCH " TALKS IN WHICH BRITAIN WILL HAVE TO AGREE TO . *WHEN LORD SALISBURY RESIGNED AFTER A SEVEN YEAR TERM . DISMANTLE ITS OWN ELABORATE SYSTEM OR PERSUADE THE EUROPEANS TO EASE THEIR TERMS FOR ENTRY . SEEKING SUPPORT . IN PREPARATION FOR THE BRUSSELS MEETING, TED HEATH WENT TO CHEQUERS, MACMILLAN'S MINISTERIAL ESTATE, SPENT HOURS URGING HIS VIEWS ON WEST GERMANY'S VISITING FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER, A CONSIDERABLE SYMPATHIZER . THEN HEATH CROSSED TO THE CONTINENT TO LINE UP ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR BRITAIN'S POSITION . HE TALKED WITH BELGIUM'S DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER HENRI FAYAT, WHO WANTS BRITAIN IN THE COMMON MARKET, AND WITH FRANCE'S FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE MURVILLE, WHO FAITHFULLY ECHOED DE GAULLE'S RELUCTANCE TO LOWER THE BARS FOR BRITAIN . MACMILLAN HIMSELF WILL CONTINUE THE TASK ON HIS FEB . 1 VISIT TO ROME FOR MEETINGS WITH ITALY'S PRIME MINISTER AMINTORE FANFANI, DUE THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON . AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT, THE TORIES WON RELIEF OF SORTS FROM THE DRUMFIRE OF CRITICISM AT HOME THROUGH A TRAGIC HAPPENSTANCE IN THE LABOR PARTY . HUGH GAITSKELL, LABOR'S CAPABLE, HARD-WORKING LEADER, WAS RUSHED TO LONDON'S MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL SUFFERING FROM PNEUMONIA, DOUBLE PLEURISY AND SEVERE PERIOCARDITIS . IN GREAT PAIN AND SCARCELY ABLE TO BREATHE, GAITSKELL WAS ALLOWED NO VISITORS EXCEPT HIS WIFE . SNAP PRESSURE . LABOR SPOKESMEN OFFICIALLY SPREAD THE NEWS THAT GAITSKELL WOULD BE BACK AT WORK WITHIN FIVE TO SIX WEEKS, BUT MEDICAL MEN THOUGHT THREE TO SIX MONTHS MORE LIKELY . THIS MEANS HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEAD LABOR'S ATTACK ON BRITAIN'S COMMON MARKET ENTRY . IN FACT, TO LABOR'S ACUTE EMBARRASSMENT, THE MAN WHO BECOMES SPOKESMAN IN GAITSKELL'S PLACE IS DEPUTY LEADER GEORGE BROWN, WHO IS AS PRO-COMMON MARKET AS GAITSKELL AS ANTI . THE CONSERVATIVE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH PAID TRIBUTE TO GAITSKELL BY SUGGESTING THAT " WITHOUT HIM, THERE CAN BE NO ALTERNATIVE GOVERNMENT WORTH THE NAME . " SOME TORIES PROMPTLY URGED MACMILLAN TO CALL A SNAP GENERAL ELECTION WHILE LABOR IS VIRTUALLY LEADERLESS . BUT MACMILLAN WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY RESIST THE PRESSURE, SELECT HIS OWN TIME BETWEEN NOW AND OCTOBER 1964, THE DATE BY WHICH A GENERAL ELECTION MUST BE HELD . IF, DURING THE " CRUNCH " OF THE NEXT FEW WEEKS IN BRUSSELS, BRITAIN IS ADMITTED TO THE COMMON MARKET ON AN APPROXIMATION OF ITS OWN TERMS, AND IF THE STRAITENED ECONOMY REVIVES AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE IN AN EXCELLENT POSITION FOR A GENERAL ELECTION IN THE FALL . MACMILLAN, WHO WILL BE 69 NEXT MONTH, SAID DURING HIS TV INTERVIEW THAT HE THOUGHT HE COULD PUT IN ANOTHER SIX YEARS ON THE JOB, AND ADDED JOKINGLY : " THE QUESTION IS WHETHER THE PEOPLE COULD STAND ANOTHER SIX . " THE ANSWER MAY BE LEARNED DURING THE COMING FATEFUL WEEKS IN BRUSSELS .
 RUSSIA THE VIEW FROM LENIN HILLS ABOUT A MONTH AGO, SOON AFTER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV TOUCHED OFF A GENERAL CRACKDOWN ON MODERN ART (TIME, DEC . 14), SEVERAL HUNDRED SOVIET ARTISTS AND WRITERS WERE ABRUPTLY SUMMONED TO THE MODERN, GLASS-WALLED RECEPTION PALACE AT LENIN HILLS, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MOSCOW . KHRUSHCHEV HIMSELF, IT SEEMED, WANTED TO HEAR WHAT POETS AND PAINTERS THOUGHT OF THE PARTY LINE ON AVANT-GARDE ART . THE ARGUMENT RAGED FOR FIVE HOURS, FAR INTO THE NIGHT, AND INCLUDED SEVERAL REMARKABLY FRANK EXCHANGES WITH THE SOVIET RULER . ONE OF THE FIRST TO SPEAK UP WAS AGING JOURNALIST-PROPAGANDIST ILYA EHRENBURG, 71 . DEFENDING A CEZANNE-LIKE BLUE AND PURPLE CANVAS CALLED FEMALE NUDE, DONE BY RUSSIAN PAINTER ROBERT FALK IN 1922, WHICH ART CRITIC KHRUSHCHEV HAD DERIDED, EHRENBURG SAID : " YOU AND I, NIKITA SERGEEVICH, ARE GETTING ON AND HAVEN'T GOT MUCH TIME LEFT . BUT FALK'S PAINTING WILL LIVE AS LONG AS THERE ARE LOVERS OF BEAUTY . " NEXT, ABSTRACT SCULPTOR ERNST NEIZVESNTY, WHOSE WORK ALSO HAD BEEN ATTACKED BY NIKITA, TOOK THE FLOOR . " YOU MAY NOT LIKE MY WORK, COMRADE KHRUSHCHEV, " THE SCULPTOR SAID, " BUT IT HAS THE WARM ADMIRATION OF SUCH EMINENT SOVIET SCIENTISTS AS KAPITSA AND LANDAU . " RETORTED KHRUSHCHEV SCORNFULLY : " THAT'S NOT WHY WE ADMIRE KAPITSA AND LANDAU . " NEIZVESNTY FELL SILENT, BUT OFFICIAL KREMLIN POET EVGENY EVTUSHENKO ROSE TO HIS FRIEND'S DEFENSE . " HE CAME BACK FROM THE WAR WITH 14 BULLETS IN HIS BODY, " SAID EVTUSHENKO, " AND I HOPE HE WILL LIVE MANY MORE YEARS AND PRODUCE MANY MORE FINE WORKS OF ART " AS PEOPLE SAY, " SHOT BACK NIKITA BRUTALLY, " ONLY THE GRAVE CORRECTS A HUNCHBACK . " EVTUSHENKO MANAGED A BRAVE REPLY : " I HOPE, COMRADE KHRUSHCHEV, WE HAVE OUTLIVED THE TIME WHEN THE GRAVE WAS USED AS A MEANS OF CORRECTION . " THE AUDIENCE WAS STUNNED, THEN BURST INTO APPLAUSE ; EVEN KHRUSHCHEV SHEEPISHLY JOINED IN . EVTUSHENKO'S DISPLAY OF COURAGE DID NOT LAST LONG . TWO WEEKS AFTER THE LENIN HILLS MEETING, THE PARTY'S IDEOLOGICAL BOSS, LEONID ILYICHEV, CALLED IN THE POET AND A NUMBER OF OTHER YOUNG INTELLECTUALS FOR AN ATTITUDE TALK . ILYICHEV WAS ESPECIALLY ANGRY OVER EVTUSHENKO'S POEM BABI YAR, WHICH CONDEMNED SOVIET ANTI-SEMITISM AND WHICH HAD JUST BEEN ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED IN A NEW SYMPHONIC SETTING BY COMPOSER DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH . CULTURAL COMMISSARS QUICKLY CANCELED FURTHER PERFORMANCES OF THE SYMPHONY . AS FOR THE POEM, SAID ILYICHEV, IT SHOULD BE CHANGED TO INCLUDE AN ATTACK ON WEST GERMANY . AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT, EVTUSHENKO AGREED TO " IMPROVE " BABI YAR .
 ITALY ADJUSTING THE APERTURA EVER SINCE PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI TEAMED UP WITH PIETRO NENNI'S SOCIALISTS ALMOST A YEAR AGO TO FORM ITALY'S APERTURA A SINISTRA ( " OPENING TO THE LEFT " ), THE UNEASY ALLIANCE HAS BEEN CLOUDED BY A SINGLE ISSUE : NENNI'S DEMAND FOR THE CREATION OF 15 REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS THAT HE FIGURES WILL BOOST HIS PARTY'S GRASS-ROOTS SUPPORT . FANFANI AGREED TO PAY NENNI'S PRICE BECAUSE HE NEEDED THE SOCIALISTS' 88 VOTES IN THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES IN ORDER TO STAY IN POWER, BUT HE STALLED ON ENACTING THE SCHEME JUST THE SAME . FANFANI FEARED THAT THE SOCIALISTS WOULD SIGN LOCAL ELECTORAL AGREEMENTS WITH COMMUNISTS AND THEREBY CONVERT THE NEW REGIONS INTO LEFTIST STRONGHOLDS . EVEN AFTER NENNI PLEDGED NOT TO COOPERATE WITH THE REDS, MANY OF FANFANI'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS REMAINED SKEPTICAL OF HIS PROMISE . WITH NENNI DEMANDING QUICK ACTION ON THE REGIONAL PLAN, THE LOOMING ALTERNATIVE WAS COMPROMISE OR COLLAPSE OF THE COALITION . LAST WEEK FANFANI ACTED . AFTER NINE HOURS OF ARGUMENT, CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND THEIR TWO SMALLER COALITION PARTNERS AGREED TO INTRODUCE PROMPTLY TWO BILLS COVERING TAXATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE REGIONS ; THEY POSTPONED LEGISLATION ACTUALLY CREATING THEM UNTIL A NEW PARLIAMENT CONVENES AFTER NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN MAY . THE SOCIALISTS GRUMBLED BITTERLY, BUT NENNI URGED THEM TO BIDE THEIR TIME . / IF THERE'S GOING TO BE A GOVERNMENT CRISIS, " HE TOLD A MEETING OF HIS PARTY'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE, " IT'S NOT GOING TO BE CAUSED BY US . " NENNI HAS HIS EYE ON A CABINET POST IN A NEW GOVERNMENT ; CAUSING A CRISIS AT THE MOMENT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE, FOR FANFANI THIS WEEK GOES OFF TO VISIT JOHN F . KENNEDY, AND IN A FORTNIGHT HAROLD MACMILLAN ARRIVES IN ROME . FELLOW TRAVELERS IN THE SOCIALIST HIGH COMMAND WERE WILLING, EVEN ANXIOUS, TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT, BUT AS THE PARTY CONTINUED ITS TALKS AT WEEK'S END, IT APPEARED THAT NENNI AND THE COALITION WOULD SQUEAK THROUGH .
 FRANCE MONSIEUR NO PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE'S PRESS CONFERENCES TAKE THE FORM OF A RITUAL BALLET . THE STAGE IS THE CRYSTAL-CHANDELIERED SALLE DES FETES IN THE ELYSEE PALACE, AND THE CORPS DE BALLET IS COMPOSED OF SOME 700 NEWSMEN CROWDED RUMP TO RUMP IN FLIMSY, GILT-PAINTED CHAIRS . THE PROPS ARE TV CAMERAS, LIGHTS, A DESK PLACED BEFORE A RASPBERRY-RED CURTAIN . ENTER LE GRAND CHARLES, MOVING HIS HEAD PONDEROUSLY AS HE PEERS THROUGH THE HAZE OF TV FLARES AND FLASH BULBS . WITH A WAVE OF THE HAND AND A CLEARING OF THE THROAT, DE GAULLE MAKES SOME PRELIMINARY REMARKS BEFORE THE QUESTIONS BEGIN . AS DE GAULLE PREPARED TO STAGE ANOTHER OF HIS RARE PRESS PERFORMANCES THIS WEEK, POLITICAL DOPESTERS WERE BETTING HE WOULD USE THE OCCASION TO GIVE A HAUGHTY AND RINGING NON TO CONCESSIONS FOR BRITAIN'S ENTRY INTO THE COMMON MARKET . HE MIGHT ALSO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REPEAT IN PUBLIC WHAT HE HAS ALREADY SAID IN PRIVATE ABOUT PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY'S POLARIS OFFER LAST MONTH . AFTER KENNEDY'S NASSAU PROPOSAL, DE GAULLE CALLED IN HIS MINISTERS AND BECAME " MONSIEUR NO " TO THE WHOLE IDEA, REPORTED THE WEEKLY PARIS MATCH LAST WEEK . DE GAULLE DECLARED : " FRANCE CANNOT IN THE FUTURE RENOUNCE ITS EFFORT AND ABANDON ITS PROJECT MERELY BECAUSE WASHINGTON DECIDES TO PRESENT SOME PROPOSALS . . . WE CANNOT ACCEPT POLARIS MISSILES AND, AT THE SAME TIME, PURSUE OUR NATIONAL EFFORT . THEREFORE WE WILL FOLLOW OUR NATIONAL EFFORT . WE HAVE THE A-BOMB . WE WILL HAVE THE H-BOMB . AND, EVENTUALLY, WE WILL HAVE THREE-STAGE MISSILES . " DE GAULLE CONTINUED : " THE AMERICAN INTEREST IS NOT ALWAYS THE FRENCH INTEREST . CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE . INTERESTS CAN DIVERGE . THIS WILL BE MORE AND MORE TRUE IN THE FUTURE, WHICH WILL GIVE EUROPE A GREATER AND GREATER WEIGHT, AND WHICH WILL THEREFORE CONTRIBUTE TO DIMINISHING THE RELATIVE WEIGHT OF THE U.S .
 THE ALLIES A PROBLEM OF PIPE TO PUMP ITS BURGEONING OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION FROM NEW FIELDS IN THE CAUCASUS AND URALS, RUSSIA HAS UNDERTAKEN A 38,000-MILE PIPELINE NETWORK, WITH TWO MAIN LEGS : ONE WESTWARD FROM KUIBYSHEV NEAR THE URALS TO POWER THE FACTORIES OF RUSSIA'S EUROPEAN SATELLITES, THE OTHER THOUSANDS OF MILES THROUGH SIBERIA AND ON TO THE PACIFIC . TROUBLE IS, RUSSIA CANNOT PRODUCE ALL OF THE BIG-BORE (UP TO 40 IN.) PIPE ITSELF ; SO IT HAS TURNED TO CAPITALIST MANUFACTURERS, MOSTLY IN WEST GERMANY AND ITALY, FOR 40 PER CENT OF THE 2,500,000 TONS OF PIPE IT NEEDS FOR THE PROJECT . ARGUING THAT THE PIPELINES ARE OF VITAL STRATEGIC USE TO RUSSIA, NATO'S TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAST WEEK TRIED TO PUT AN END TO THE PIPE TRADE . WEEKS AGO, ITALY, WHICH HAD SENT RUSSIA 180,000 TONS OF PIPE, WENT ALONG WITH NATO'S NEW BAN, CANCELED A 60,000-TON SHIPMENT . JAPAN CANCELED NEGOTIATIONS FOR 20,000 TONS . BUT A HOWL WENT UP IN WEST GERMANY, RUSSIA'S NO . 1 OIL-PIPE SUPPLIER (633,000 TONS FROM 1959 THROUGH LAST OCTOBER) . JUST THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO, THREE GIANT RUHR FIRMS MANNESMANN, PHOENIXRHEINROHR AG, AND HOESCH SIGNED A CONTRACT FOR ANOTHER 200,000 TONS . RUHR STEELMEN DENOUNCED CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER AS A NATO STOOGE FOR TRYING TO ENFORCE THE NEW RULES . TAKEN ABACK, ADENAUER'S CABINET LAST WEEK AGREED TO RECONSIDER, TURNED THE PROBLEM OVER TO A SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE FOR SPECIAL STUDY .
 THE CONGO THE INDIA-RUBBER MAN JUST AFTER SUNUP ONE DAY LAST WEEK, SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE SLIPPED OUT OF HIS PINK PALACE IN ELISABETHVILLE, CLIMBED INTO THE BACK SEAT OF A BLACK COMET SEDAN, AND SPED OFF DOWN THE ROAD TOWARD THE NORTHERN RHODESIAN BORDER . SOON AN ARMORED COLUMN OF 500 UNITED NATIONS TROOPS WAS ON HIS TAIL . FOR A MOMENT, IT LOOKED AS IF THE U.N . WERE IN HOT PURSUIT OF ITS OLD FOE . BUT NO ! TO THE ASTONISHMENT OF BUG-EYED NATIVES ALONG THE WAY, MOISE WAS ACTUALLY LEADING THE BLUE HELMETS, URGING HIS OWN TATTERED KATANGESE GENDARMES TO LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS SO THE U.N . COULD REOPEN VITAL RAIL AND ROAD LINKS . BIZARRE AS IT WAS, THE INCIDENT WAS AN ACCURATE INDICATOR OF THE WAY THINGS ACTUALLY WERE GOING LAST WEEK IN THE CONGO'S COPPER-RICH KATANGA PROVINCE, WHERE THE U.N . WAS WAGING WAR WITH TSHOMBE'S BREAKAWAY REGIME FOR THE THIRD TIME SINCE SEPTEMBER 1961 . IN TWO WEEKS, THE TOUGH U.N . TROOPS HAD SEIZED A STEADILY LENGTHENING RIBBON OF RAIL LINES AND NEARLY EVERY MAJOR POPULATION CENTER IN THE PROVINCE . ONLY THE WESTERN COPPER TOWN OF KOLWEZI REMAINED IN KATANGA'S GRIP ; IT WAS DEFENDED BY 2,000 BOOZY GENDARMES, 100 OF TSHOMBE'S WHITE MERCENARIES, AND A SMASHING BLONDE AMBULANCE DRIVER KNOWN AS " MADAME YVETTE, " WHO SAUNTERED ABOUT IN PARATROOP BOOTS, CAMOUFLAGE UNIFORM, BUSH HAT AND SHOULDER HOLSTER . ONLY 50 MILES FROM KOLWEZI, INDIAN INFANTRYMEN PROBED CAUTIOUSLY FORWARD, WAITING ONLY FOR THE SIGNAL TO HEAD FULL BLAST TOWARD THE TOWN . BUT THE SIGNAL WOULD NOT BE GIVEN RASHLY, FOR THE RAGTAG MERCENARIES THREATENED TO BLOW UP A HUGE DAM AND INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATIONS, LEAVING THE TOWN A BLACKENED SHELL . THEY MIGHT NOT BE BLUFFING . " I AM BACK . / BUT WITH FULL BACKING FROM THE U.S . AND THE AFRO-ASIAN NATIONS, THE U.N . WAS DETERMINED TO DICTATE A SETTLEMENT TO TSHOMBE AND MAKE IT STICK . IF IT FAILS, THE REST OF THE CONGO, STARVED OF THE RICHES THAT ENABLE KATANGA TO ACCOUNT FOR 65 PER CENT OF THE COUNTRY'S EXPORTS, COULD SPLINTER INTO A SCORE OF WARRING TRIBAL DOMAINS . ALREADY A CORPS OF 100 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES WAS FLYING INTO ELISABETHVILLE TO TAKE CHARGE OF KATANGA'S ADMINISTRATION . THE BIG QUESTION MARK, AS USUAL, WAS THE SLIPPERY TSHOMBE . AS THE WEEK BEGAN, HE WAS HOLED UP DEFIANTLY IN KOLWEZI WITH THE MERCENARIES . THERE WERE RUMORS THAT HE MIGHT FLEE TO EUROPE RATHER THAN GIVE IN TO THE U.N . BUT HE WAS NOT SURRENDERING KATANGA'S TOP JOB . LO AND BEHOLD, HE WAS BACK IN ELISABETHVILLE . " IN SPITE OF ALL THE TROUBLE AND BLOODSHED, " HE DECLARED WITH MACARTHURIAN GRANDEUR, " I AM BACK . " WHAT POLICY WOULD HE FOLLOW ? NO ONE COULD SAY, FOR BEFORE LONG HE WAS BOUNCING WILDLY FROM ONE POSITION TO ANOTHER . " PURE INDIA RUBBER, " MARVELED A FOREIGN DIPLOMAT . LUMP OF SUGAR . IN THE SPACE OF THREE DAYS, TSHOMBE 1) PROMISED TO " ABSTAIN FROM MAKING ANY DECLARATIONS AGAINST THE U.N . / ; 2) IMMEDIATELY BROKE HIS PROMISE BY THREATENING " A SCORCHED-EARTH POLICY " IN KOLWEZI (SEE WORLD BUSINESS) ; 3) WAS CLAPPED UNDER HOUSE ARREST BY INFURIATED U.N . OFFICIALS " TO RESTRAIN HIM FROM FURTHER IRRESPONSIBLE ACTS " ; AND 4) GOT HIS HOUSE ARREST COMMUTED TO A NIGHTTIME CURFEW BY LEADING THE U.N . TROOPS TO THE RHODESIAN BORDER . THEN, HAVING BAFFLED EVERYBODY, HE VANISHED ONCE MORE FROM THE CAPITAL . WITH TSHOMBE'S KATANGA NOW LARGELY UNDER U.N . CONTROL, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA BEGAN FLEXING HIS MUSCLES IN LEOPOLDVILLE . HE DEMANDED THAT THE BRITISH AND BELGIAN CONSULS IN ELISABETHVILLE LEAVE THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY HAD ACTED AS MEDIATORS FOR TSHOMBE IN HOPES OF ARRANGING A CEASE-FIRE . HE SPURNED A $2,000,000 GIFT FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT BECAUSE OF ITS " SUBVERSIVE POLICY " ON KATANGA, AND ONE OF HIS OFFICIALS SNIFFED : " WE ARE NOT A LITTLE CHILD WHO CAN BE GIVEN A LUMP OF SUGAR TO KEEP QUIET . " BOX SCORE . EXUBERANT AS ADOULA WAS OVER TSHOMBE'S PLIGHT, THERE WAS NOT MUCH FOR HIM TO CROW ABOUT . EVEN IF KATANGA IS SUCCESSFULLY REINTEGRATED, HE WILL STILL FACE THE EQUALLY FORMIDABLE PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATIVE INCOMPETENCE, OFFICIAL CORRUPTION, ARMY INDISCIPLINE AND WORST OF ALL RIVALRIES AMONG THE CONGO'S 200 TRIBES . THE POINT WAS UNDERLINED IN BLOOD LAST WEEK IN KASAI PROVINCE, WHERE FEUDING TRIBESMEN WERE AT ONE ANOTHER'S THROATS OVER A BORDER DISPUTE . NATIVES KIDNAPED AND REPORTEDLY ATE TWO BELGIAN LUMBERMEN, THEN BEGAN SLAUGHTERING ONE ANOTHER IN THE TOWN OF KAKENGE . SUCH GRUESOME INCIDENTS NO LONGER SURPRISED ANYONE . A LEOPOLDVILLE NEWSPAPER REPORTED THE EVENT AS MATTER-OF-FACTLY AS IF IT WERE A BASEBALL BOX SCORE . ITS HEADLINE : KILLED AT KAKENGE 370 LULUAS, TWO BELGIANS, ONE MUSONGE, ONE KANYOKA .
 MOROCCO DISCARDING THE EGGSHELLS A YOUNG MONARCH IN A SHAKY NEW COUNTRY CAN DO WORSE THAN CHOOSE CHARLES DE GAULLE AS A MODEL TO RULE BY . MOROCCO'S HASSAN II IS JUST SUCH A KING . LIKE LE GRAND CHARLES, HASSAN CONSIDERS HIMSELF HIS COUNTRY'S INDISPENSABLE MAN, AND HE MAY BE RIGHT . LIKE DE GAULLE HE CHOSE THE DEVICE OF A POPULAR REFERENDUM WHEN HE DECIDED TO ADOPT A CONSTITUTION (TIME, DEC . 28) ; HIS SMASHING VICTORY WON HASSAN THE RARE ESTEEM OF HIS IDOL IN PARIS . EMPLOYING SOME GAULLIST FIRMNESS, HASSAN HAS NOW FIRED THE THREE MEMBERS OF HIS CABINET WHO REPRESENTED THE POWERFUL ISTIQLAL PARTY, FILLED THEIR JOBS WITH OFFICIALS STOUTLY LOYAL TO THE THRONE . SINCE ISTIQLAL WAS THE PARTY LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANIZING HASSAN'S SUCCESSFUL REFERENDUM, THERE WERE THOSE WHO THOUGHT HASSAN WAS A BIT UNGRATEFUL . BUT ISTIQLAL LEADERS WERE PRESSING FOR CLOSE ECONOMIC AND DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH CAIRO, BASED ON A COMMON ISLAMIC HERITAGE, AND DEMANDING THAT HASSAN PURSUE MOROCCO'S CLAIMS TO SPANISH SAHARA, MAURITANIA AND PART OF ALGERIA'S SAHARA . REFUSING TO SALAAM TO GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, KING HASSAN RESISTED, ARGUING THAT THE NATION'S FUTURE LIES LESS WITH THE ARAB WORLD THAN WITH FRANCE AND EUROPE'S COMMON MARKET . HE ALSO OPPOSED THE NATIONALISTS' AGITATION ON THE BORDER CLAIMS . SAID HASSAN'S CLOSEST POLITICAL CONFIDANT, CABINET DIRECTOR AHMED REDA GUEDIRA, AFTER THE PURGE : " THE KING HAD TO GET RID OF THE GRAINS OF SAND WHICH ALWAYS KEPT THE STATE MACHINERY OUT OF ORDER . . . THE LEADERS AND PLATFORMS OF THE OLD PARTIES ARE STALE, LIKE EMPTY EGGSHELLS . " IT WAS GAULLIST RHETORIC, AND IT HINTED OF STILL ANOTHER GAULLIST TOUCH . RABAT BUZZED WITH RUMORS THAT HASSAN WAS READY TO ORGANIZE HIS OWN POLITICAL MACHINE . ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT, THE NAME FOR THE NEW GROUP WAS ALREADY CHOSEN : UNION FOR NEW ROYALTY U.N.R . THEY ARE THE SAME INITIALS AS THOSE OF CHARLES DE GAULLE'S UNION FOR THE NEW REPUBLIC .
 MALI WHERE THE TWAIN MEET AT THE POST OFFICE IN TIMBUCTOO, A CLERK PUT ASIDE HIS FRENCH TRANSLATION OF A SOVIET NOVEL EXTOLLING THE RED ARMY, GENIALLY AFFIXED A MALI STAMP COMMEMORATING TELSTAR ONTO A POSTCARD . " WE GET LOTS OF AMERICANS THROUGH HERE, " HE MUSED TO A VISITOR FROM THE U.S . THERE ARE MANY OTHER VISITORS TOO . MALI, WHOSE FABLED SAHARA GHOST TOWN OF TIMBUCTOO IS THE NATIONAL ATTRACTION, HAS BECOME A MAGNET FOR RUSSIANS, FRENCH, COMMUNIST CHINESE, EAST GERMANS, WEST GERMANS, BULGARIANS, HUNGARIANS AND MANY OTHER BREEDS OF FOREIGNERS . FROM MOST OF THEM, MALI ACCEPTS ASSISTANCE . " ONE DOES NOT TELL A MAN WHO IS DROWNING TO CHOOSE THE BRANCH OR THE PLANK HE WILL CATCH HOLD OF, " MALI'S TOWERING (6 FT . 4 IN.) PRESIDENT MODIBO KEITA EXPLAINS . SINCE MALI'S 1960 BREAKAWAY FROM FRANCE AND THE RUPTURE OF ITS SHORT-LIVED FEDERATION WITH SENEGAL, KEITA HAS BEEN REACHING FOR HELP IN A FASHION THAT FEW DARK CONTINENT LEADERS MANAGE TO DUPLICATE . TODAY MALI RECEIVES AID FROM NO FEWER THAN 13 NATIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE IRON CURTAIN . TRUCKS & PADDIES . TO MALI'S BACKWATER CAPITAL OF BAMAKO, THE U.S . ANTED UP $2,500,000 A YEAR . WEST GERMANY IS SUPPLYING 325 TRUCKS ON $4,900,000 CREDIT . THE COMMON MAKET NATIONS, AS A GROUP, HAVE FINANCED 19 MALI PROJECTS WORTH $17 MILLION . EX-MOTHER FRANCE POURS IN THE BIGGEST AMOUNT, $9,000,000 A YEAR, AND ALSO PROVIDES 400 TECHNICIANS, INCLUDING 180 SCHOOLTEACHERS . THE COMMUNIST BLOC, FOR ITS PART, HAS OPENED A LINE OF CREDIT WORTH $100 MILLION, AND HAS 500 TECHNICIANS ON THE SPOT . RUSSIANS HAVE PUT UP NEON STREET LIGHTS IN BAMAKO, ARE ERECTING AN EXPENSIVE SPORTS STADIUM . FRATERNIZING FRENCH AND CZECH PILOTS HELP RUN THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTLEY AIR MALI FLEET OF SIX RUSSIAN-BUILT ILYUSHINS AND THREE VINTAGE, U.S.-MADE DC-3S . BULGARIANS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, ARE DEVELOPING TRUCK-FARMING COLONIES, WHILE SUCH DISTANT TYPES AS RED CHINESE AND NORTH VIETNAMESE HAVE TAUGHT MALIANS HOW TO OPERATE RICE PADDIES . A CERTAIN INDECISION . FOR ALL ITS COOKS, IMPOVERISHED MALI IS BREWING PRECIOUS LITTLE PROGRESS . THE CHIEF REASON IS THAT, WHILE TALKING NEUTRALISM ABROAD, AT HOME KEITA AND HIS UNION SOUDANAISE PARTY RUN A SLOPPY LITTLE MARXIST-STYLE LAND THAT IS DEEP IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE . IN LINE WITH HIS GOAL OF " AN ECONOMY BASED ON SOCIALIST PRINCIPLES, " KEITA HAS BUILT UP ONE MONEY-DEVOURING STATE ENTERPRISE AFTER ANOTHER . THERE IS THE AIRLINE, NOW IN DEBT TO THE TUNE OF $3,000,000 ; THERE IS THE STATE TRADING COMPANY, CURRENTLY IN THE RED $3,200,000 ; AND, OF COURSE, A CHAIN OF SUBSIDIZED " PEOPLE'S SHOPS . " SIX MONTHS AGO, EGGED ON BY THE COMMUNISTS, KEITA SUDDENLY BROUGHT OUT A PROUD NEW MALI FRANC TO REPLACE THE FRENCH AFRICAN FRANC IT HAD BEEN USING . OWING TO MALI'S NEAR BANKRUPTCY, IT WAS UNFORTUNATELY NONCONVERTIBLE . SINCE FEW FOREIGNERS WOULD ACCEPT IT, THE MONEY (PRINTED IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA) PROMPTLY WIPED OUT 85 PER CENT OF NORMAL IMPORTS, WHOSE DUTIES HAD PROVIDED THE BULK OF GOVERNMENT REVENUE . DEPRIVED OF THEIR GOODS, MALI MERCHANTS WENT ON A RIOTING RAMPAGE IN BAMAKO AND SACKED THE POLICE STATION ; TWO DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED, AND A " PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL " IN BAMAKO SENTENCED 77 OTHERS TO PRISON AT HARD LABOR . BY LAST WEEK MORE THAN 50 OF MALI'S 250 MOST IMPORTANT FOREIGN ENTERPRISES, MOSTLY FRENCH, HAD PULLED OUT . THE TRADE DEFICIT STOOD AT $26 MILLION AND RESERVES HAD SHRUNK TO A MINUSCULE $5,000,000 . IN PARIS THE FRENCH LISTENED WITH ALMOST SAINTLY PATIENCE TO MALI'S PLEAS FOR A MASSIVE BAIL-OUT LOAN ; WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, FRANCE IS EXPECTED TO COME ACROSS WITH THE CASH . AS AN EXPORTER OF PEANUTS AND BEEF (ITS CATTLE ARE NORTH OF AFRICA'S TSETSE FLY ZONE), SELF-SUFFICIENT IN RICE AND OTHER STAPLES, MALI JUST MIGHT MAKE THE GRADE, DESPITE THE MARXIST TRAPPINGS . IN ANY CASE, MODIBO KEITA, LIKE MANY ANOTHER AFRICAN LEADER, IS STILL OPEN TO SUGGESTION ON WHICH IDEOLOGY IS BEST .
 TURKEY OLD HABITS BEFORE HIS FALL IN 1960, PREMIER ADNAN MENDERES MADE A PRACTICE OF PADLOCKING HOSTILE TURKISH NEWSPAPERS, IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS BY THE HUNDREDS . POLICE ONCE THREW A NEWSBOY INTO JAIL FOR HAWKING A HEADLINE ABOUT A MINISTER'S RESIGNATION . AT THE TIME, THE LOUDEST PROTESTS CAME FROM WISPY OLD OPPOSITION LEADER ISMET INONU, WHO DENOUNCED " THOSE WHO WOULD SEEK TO ESTABLISH A COERCIVE REGIME . " BUT NOW THAT HE IS IN POWER HIMSELF, PREMIER INONU, 78, SHOWS SIGNS OF FALLING INTO MENDERES' OLD HABITS . HAULING OUT A MENDERES-ERA LAW OUTLAWING ANY WRITTEN OR SPOKEN WORD AIMED AT DISTURBING " THE ESTABLISHED " ORDER, THE INONU REGIME LAST MONTH JAILED KAYHAN SAGLAMER, MANAGING EDITOR OF ISTANBUL'S INFLUENTIAL DAILY, CUMHURIYET, AND SADI ALKILIC, A FREELANCE WRITER . IT TURNED OUT THAT CUMHURIYET HAD PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE BY ALKILIC ENTITLED " SOCIALISM IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR TURKEY " ONE OF A SCORE SUBMITTED IN THE NEWSPAPER'S ANNUAL ESSAY CONTEST . FORTNIGHT AGO, DR . ADNAN BENK, RESPECTED PROFESSOR OF PHILOLOGY AT ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY, AND AFSAR TIMUCIN, EDITOR OF THE CULTURAL MAGAZINE ATAC, WERE CLAPPED INTO PRISON FOR ANOTHER CRIME WITH WORDS . ATAC HAD CARRIED BENK'S TRANSLATION OF PARTS OF A BOOK THAT INCLUDED FOUR QUOTATIONS FROM KARL MARX . PRIOR TO RELEASING THE PAIR LAST WEEK ON BAIL, AN ISTANBUL JUDGE IGNORED BENK'S ARGUMENT THAT THE ENTIRE BOOK CAN BE READ IN THE ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY . SPECIFICALLY ACCUSED OF SPREADING COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA, THE FOUR DEFENDANTS, UNDER ARTICLE 142, COULD GET PRISON TERMS OF 15 YEARS .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE STRAIN OF CONSTANT COMBAT AFTER A WEEK OF MAJOR BATTLES, FURIOUS FIGHTING AND HEAVY CASUALTIES (TIME, JAN . 11), THE WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM SETTLED BACK LAST WEEK INTO ITS NORMAL PATTERN OF VICIOUS, HIDE-AND-SEEK, HIT-AND-RUN ENGAGEMENTS . ONE BAND OF COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS BEHEADED A GOVERNMENT PROVINCIAL DISTRICT CHIEF NORTHWEST OF SAIGON, AND ANOTHER KNOCKED OVER A STRATEGIC HAMLET IN THE NORTHEAST, CAPTURING ENOUGH U.S . WEAPONS TO EQUIP AN ENTIRE RED COMPANY . WITH U.S . HELICOPTER CREWS WORKING OVERTIME, GOVERNMENT TROOPS KILLED AND WOUNDED 75 VIET CONG AND CAPTURED TONS OF SUPPLIES IN A SWEEP THROUGH A REDINFESTED AREA NEAR THE CAMBODIAN BORDER . BUT THE STRAIN OF CONSTANT COMBAT WAS BEGINNING TO TELL ON THE U.S . CHOPPER PILOTS . HEADING BACK TO BASE AFTER 15 HOURS OF CONTINUOUS ASSAULTS AGAINST RED POSITIONS ONE NIGHT LAST WEEK, A U.S . WHIRLYBIRD SUDDENLY TOPPLED OUT OF FORMATION AND, WITH ITS RED FLYING LIGHTS CARVING CRAZY PATTERNS IN THE DARKNESS OVER THE MEKONG RIVER, SPUN INTO THE GROUND . WHEN RESCUE WORKERS REACHED THE COPTER'S TWISTED WRECKAGE, THEY FOUND THE MANGLED BODIES OF SEVEN U.S . CREW MEMBERS . WITH TEN AMERICANS ALREADY KILLED IN 1963, ONE UISER REMARKED BITTERLY : " IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS GOING TO BE A HELL OF A YEAR FOR US .
 SOUTH VIET NAM RICE & RATS ONE DAY LAST JULY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS ROQUE MATAGULAY, 31, A GUAM-BORN U.S . MILITARY ADVISER WITH A VIETNAMESE DETACHMENT, VENTURED OUT OF HIS COMPOUND NEAR THE COASTAL TOWN OF PHANTHIET, 90 MILES EAST OF SAIGON, ON AN OFF-DUTY HUNTING TRIP . INSTEAD OF GAME, SERGEANT MATAGULAY RAN INTO A BAND OF COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS, WAS HELD CAPTIVE UNTIL HIS RELEASE LAST MONTH . LAST WEEK, IN HIS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE HE WAS FREED, MATAGULAY DEPICTED THE SPARTAN LIFE AND GRIM DEDICATION OF THE VIET CONG . MATAGULAY SAID THAT THE VIET CONG MOVED FREELY OVER THE COUNTRYSIDE AND THAT IN THE VILLAGES PEASANTS FREELY OFFERED REBELS FOOD AND SHELTER . THE TYPICAL MENU FOR BOTH PRISONER AND CAPTORS WAS RICE, SALT AND FISH OIL . RATS WERE AN OCCASIONAL DELICACY THAT BRIGHTENED THE DIET SERVED BOTH AS RAT SOUP AND BARBECUED RODENT . THOUGH GAME WAS PLENTIFUL, THE REDS NEVER HUNTED . " THEY WERE AFRAID TO USE UP AMMUNITION HUNTING DEER, " SAID MATAGULAY . FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL MONTHS OF HIS CAPTIVITY, MATAGULAY WAS TIED UP AND CONSTANTLY REMINDED THAT HE WOULD BE KILLED ON THE SPOT IF HE MADE THE SLIGHTEST EFFORT TO ESCAPE . HE UNDERWENT NO PHYSICAL TORTURE, INSTEAD WAS DAILY SUBJECTED TO EIGHT SOLID HOURS OF POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION AND INTERROGATION . MATAGULAY WAS FORCED TO LISTEN TO THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BROADCASTS ON COMMUNIST NORTH VIET NAM'S RADIO HANOI THREE TIMES A DAY AND WAS REGULARLY TESTED ON WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE WORLD SITUATION . OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE MADAGULAY IS A DARKSKINNED GUAMANIAN, HIS INTERROGATORS HARPED ON THE PLIGHT OF THE NEGROES IN THE U.S . SOUTH . AGAIN AND AGAIN, HE REFUSED TO SIGN ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA DOCUMENTS, BUT FINALLY, WRACKED WITH MALARIA AND WITH HIS WEIGHT DOWN FROM 185 TO 145, HE SIGNED FOUR STATEMENTS, " WHEN I BELIEVED I WAS AT THE END OF MY PHYSICAL ENDURANCE . " THE DOCUMENTS, WHICH MATAGULAY LATER HAD TO READ ALOUD SO THAT THE VIET CONG COULD RECORD THEM ON TAPE, BITTERLY ATTACKED SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM AND THE U.S.'S SUPPORT FOR HIS GOVERNMENT . LAST MONTH, TO CHEER MATAGULAY UP, THE COMMUNISTS SAID THAT THEY WERE FIXING HIM A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS DINNER . HE NEVER GOT IT . ON CHRISTMAS EVE THE REDS HELD A RELEASE CEREMONY, INVITED 400 SOLDIERS, PEASANTS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO WITNESS A LAST ACT OF GENEROSITY TO THEIR PRISONER . MATAGULAY THEN WAS PUT ON A BUS AND SENT BACK TO FREEDOM .
 INDIA THE WARNING ON THE WALLS AN OLD CHINESE PROVERB SAYS, WHERE THERE IS AN EXCESS OF CEREMONY, THERE IS SURE TO BE DECEIT . " IN RED CHINA LAST WEEK, CEYLON'S VISITING PRIME MINISTER, MRS . SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE, SNIFFED INCENSE, WAS WINED AND DINED BY PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI, AND WAS EVEN TAKEN TO SEE A RELIC OF BUDDHA'S TOOTH . REASON FOR THE INDULGENT TREATMENT WAS THE SET OF PROPOSALS THAT MRS . BANDARANAIKE BROUGHT TO PEKING AS SPOKESMAN FOR THE SIX NONALIGNED NATIONS GHANA, EGYPT, INDONESIA, BURMA, CAMBODIA AND CEYLON WHO MET IN COLOMBO LAST MONTH AND TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO ARBITRATE THE BLOODY HIMALAYAN BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN CHINA AND INDIA . THE NEUTRALS' SOLUTION DELIGHTED THE CHINESE, FOR IT SET UP A DEMILITARIZED ZONE ALONG THE HIMALAYAN FRONTIER AND ACTUALLY GAVE RED CHINA MORE TERRITORY IN INDIA THAN IT HAD OCCUPIED BEFORE ITS SUDDEN INVASION LAST OCTOBER . EXPECTING AT LEAST A TOKEN CONDEMNATION OF CHINESE AGGRESSION FROM ITS OLD NEUTRALIST CRONIES, INDIA WAS, TO SAY THE LEAST, DISAPPOINTED . IN NEW DELHI, PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU RECEIVED MRS . BANDARANAIKE COOLLY AFTER HER TEN-DAY SOJOURN IN CHINA, BUT DID NOT REJECT HER PROPOSALS OUTRIGHT . NEHRU STILL HOPES TO GAIN TIME TO BUILD UP HIS SHATTERED ARMED FORCES . TOO MUCH DELAY, HOWEVER, COULD TRY CHINA'S PATIENCE ; STILL SCRATCHED ON MANY BUILDINGS IN THE HIMALAYAS IS THE OMINOUS WARNING LEFT BY CHINESE TROOPS AS THEY WITHDREW AFTER LAST MONTH'S CEASEFIRE : " WE MAY HAVE TO RETURN . "
 GREAT BRITAIN THE SHOCK OF TODAY (SEE COVER) THE SIGNS AND SYMBOLS OF PROSPERITY ARE EVERYWHERE IN BRITAIN, CROWDING THE PAST, COMPLICATING THE PRESENT . ALONG ROLLING ROMAN ROADS AND WINDING COUNTRY LANES, PAST SLEEPING NORMAN CHURCHES AND WHITEWASHED FARMS, WEEKEND TRAFFIC FLOWS LIKE AN INVADING ARMY . LONDON'S RAW NEW OFFICE BUILDINGS JOSTLE GEORGIAN MANSIONS ; A HILTON HOTEL STARES IMPERTINENTLY DOWN ONTO BUCKINGHAM PALACE . BOWLING ALLEYS AND DANCE HALLS ARE PACKED EACH NIGHT OF THE WEEK . ON CITY ROOFTOPS, TV ANTENNAS STAND AS THICK AS THE ENGLISH ARCHERS AT AGINCOURT . IN ONE DECADE, THE NUMBER OF CARS ON THE ROADS HAS DOUBLED (TO 6,000,000), THOUGH THE ENTIRE ISLAND BOASTS ONLY 190 MILES OF EXPRESSWAY . MOST BRITONS EARN TWICE AS MUCH AS THEY DID IN 1949, AND THEY ARE GAMBLING AND BETTING THEIR LOLLY AT THE STUPEFYING RATE OF $3 BILLION A YEAR . ONE OF LONDON'S MOST EXQUISITE 18TH CENTURY HOUSES OPENED RECENTLY AS AN OPULENT GAMBLING CLUB . IN THE PAST TWO YEARS, BINGO PALACES AND BETTING SHOPS HAVE MUSHROOMED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, WHICH SOME NOW CALL " THE WINDFALL STATE . " THESE DAYS, MORE THAN 3,500,000 " INSULAR / BRITONS GO ABROAD EACH YEAR MOSTLY TO THE CONTINENT, WHERE DARTS AND MARMALADE AND TEA AT 4 : 30 ARE NOW AN ACCEPTED PART OF THE RITES OF SUMMER . BRITONS ARE BETTER EDUCATED AND IN BETTER HEALTH THAN EVER BEFORE AND NEED PAY NO DOCTORS' BILLS . YET, FOR ALL THEIR HEADY NEW AFFLUENCE, THE BRITISH TODAY FEEL DISTURBED AND INSECURE . THEIR TROUBLED MOOD IS INDEFINABLE BUT INESCAPABLE . IT IS A SENSE OF UNEASE IN WHICH IS BLENDED THE AWARENESS OF NATIONAL DECLINE, THE CONSCIOUS SENSE OF FAILURE TO FIND NEW OUTLETS FOR THEIR ENERGIES, A FEELING THAT MANY OF THEIR HALLOWED INSTITUTIONS AND TRADITIONS ARE INCREASINGLY IRRELEVANT TO A FORMIDABLY CHANGED WORLD . TWO RINGS . THE NATION'S COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ITS EDUCATION AND ETHICS, WERE ALL DEVELOPED TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBAL POWER . ITS HISTORY BOOKS AND LITERATURE REVERBERATE WITH THE NAMES OF SOLDIER-HEROES AND THE BATTLEFIELDS ON WHICH THEY WON AND HELD AN EMPIRE : OMDURMAN AND LUCKNOW, QUEBEC, KHARTOUM, MAFEKING . IN EVERY CORNER OF THEIR ISLAND, STATUES AND STREET NAMES STILL CELEBRATE A GLORY THAT HAS PASSED . " YOU USED TO OPEN THE ATLAS, " MUSES A MANCHESTER BUSINESSMAN, " AND HALF THE WORLD WAS RED . NOW BRITAIN IS JUST A LITTLE RED SPECK OFF THE COAST OF EUROPE . " SUEZ CRUELLY DEMONSTRATED TO THE WORLD THAT IT TAKES POWER TO BE A POWER . BUT EVEN THEN, BRITONS COULD NOT COME TO TERMS WITH THE HARSH REALITY OF VANISHED MIGHT . THEIR FEELING OF SHOCK TODAY IS ALL THE GREATER BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SO LONG DELAYED . AS IF BY SOME MALEVOLENT DESIGN, A WHOLE SERIES OF FRUSTRATIONS AND FAILURES HAS BESET BRITANNIA IN A FEW SHORT MONTHS, DEEPENING THE NATION'S ANGST . THE ABRUPT U.S . CANCELLATION OF THE SKYBOLT MISSILE RUDELY EXPOSED THE FACT THAT BRITAIN'S " INDEPENDENT " NUCLEAR DETERRENT IS IN FACT ALMOST WHOLLY DEPENDENT ON WASHINGTON . THERE WAS A TIME WHEN U.S . PRESIDENTS SOUGHT BRITAIN'S COUNSEL AND EVEN APPROVAL BEFORE TAKING ANY MAJOR INITIATIVE IN WORLD AFFAIRS ; IN THE CUBAN CRISIS, THE MOST PERILOUS OF THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE CELEBRATED JACK-MAC TELEPHONE RANG JUST TWICE . BACK ON THE DOLE . BRITAIN'S INSECURITY HAS BEEN EXACERBATED BY 14 LONG MONTHS OF HAGGLING WITH THE EUROPEANS . SWALLOWING THEIR PRIDE AND REVERSING CENTURIESOLD TRADITION, THE BRITISH DECIDED IN MID1961 TO CROSS THE CHANNEL AND MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH THE CONTINENT . THEN LAST WEEK, JUST AS THEY WERE WITHIN SIGHT OF THEIR GOAL, CHARLES DE GAULLE OF FRANCE CONTEMPTUOUSLY CLOSED THE DOOR ON PERFIDIOUS ALBION . EVEN AT HOME, THE STORM SIGNALS WERE FLYING . ONCE AGAIN THE LINES OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS ARE LENGTHENING OUTSIDE LABOR EXCHANGES . THE HALF-FORGOTTEN WORD " DOLE " IS BACK IN THE LANGUAGE . BRITAIN'S OVERALL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 2.6 PER CENT , THOUGH MILD BY U.S . STANDARDS, IS AT A FOUR-YEAR PEAK AND STILL RISING . MOREOVER, MOST OF THE 600,000 MEN WITHOUT JOBS ARE CONCENTRATED IN A FEW DOZEN " BLACK SPOTS " IN THE NORTH, WHERE IN SOME COMMUNITIES UP TO 14 PER PER CENT OF THE WORK FORCE IS ON THE DOLE ($13 A WEEK FOR A MARRIED MAN) . GAP NONETHELESS, BRITAIN'S PROSPERITY IS POISED ON A KNIFE EDGE . IN THE PAST DECADE, ITS ECONOMY HAS GROWN ONLY 2FY PER YEAR ON AVERAGE ; IN 1962 IT ROSE ONLY 1 PER CENT , WHEREAS IN THE COMMON MARKET EVEN A 4 PER CENT GROWTH RATE IS CONSIDERED DISAPPOINTING . SINCE 1950, BALANCE-OF-PAYMENTS CRISES HAVE BROUGHT BRITAIN TO THE BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY SIX TIMES . BY DRACONIAN MEASURES THE GOVERNMENT SUCCEEDED LAST YEAR IN BOOSTING EXPORTS 3 PER CENT FOR A NEW $11 BILLION POSTWAR RECORD, HELPING TO MAINTAIN GOLD AND HARD-CURRENCY RESERVES . HOWEVER, IT WAS ONLY ABLE TO ACHIEVE STABILITY BY CUTTING BACK CREDIT AND CURBING INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION . " OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE HAD THEIR ECONOMIC MIRACLES, " SIGHS A MANCHESTER JOURNALIST . " BRITAIN HAS HAD ITS CRISES . " BRITAIN NEEDED URGENTLY TO EXPAND ITS MARKETS AND BROADEN ITS SHAKY FINANCIAL BASE . ONCE INSIDE EUROPE, BRITISH INDUSTRY WAS CONFIDENT THAT IT COULD SUBSTANTIALLY BOOST EXPORTS TO THE SIX . IT ALSO ANTICIPATED A HEAVY INFLUX OF INVESTMENT CAPITAL FROM U.S . AND OTHER FOREIGN COMPANIES EAGER TO HAVE A BRITISH TOEHOLD IN THE COMMON MARKET . IF BRITAIN WERE FINALLY EXCLUDED FROM EUROPE, INVESTMENT WOULD CONTINUE TO DWINDLE AND BRITAIN MIGHT BE FORCED AS A RESULT TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS IN ITS LIVING STANDARDS . MEANWHILE, IT MAY EITHER RETREAT BEHIND HIGH TARIFF WALLS OR ELSE RETURN TO ITS CLASSIC IDEAL OF FREE TRADE, POSSIBLY IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE U.S . AND EUROPEAN NATIONS OUTSIDE THE MARKET . THIS WEEK, AS M.P.S FLOCKED BACK TO WESTMINSTER FROM THE CHRISTMAS RECESS, UNEMPLOYMENT THREATENED TO BE AN EVEN MORE EXPLOSIVE ISSUE THAN THE COLLAPSE OF THE COMMON MARKET NEGOTIATIONS . THE GOVERNMENT'S BEST ASSET IN TIME OF CRISIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE PRIME MINISTER, A POLITICAL MACHOUDINI WHO CAN SLITHER OUT OF ALMOST ANY TRAP BY SHEER SLEIGHT-OF-HAND . UNDISTURBED BY THE COUNTRY'S MOUNTING FRUSTRATION OVER UNEMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING, MACMILLAN DID NOT SWING INTO ACTION UNTIL LAST SUMMER, AFTER THE TORIES HAD SUFFERED THE WORST SERIES OF BY-ELECTION REVERSES INFLICTED ON A BRITISH GOVERNMENT IN 40 YEARS . IN HIS THIRD AND MOST DRASTIC CABINET RESHUFFLE SINCE HE TOOK OFFICE, MACMILLAN PURGED HALF HIS MINISTERS, HANDED KEY POSTS TO SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG POLITICIANS EAST OF THE NEW FRONTIER . TO GINGER UP THE FALTERING ECONOMY, NEW CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER REGINALD MAUDLING CUT INTEREST RATES, GAVE GENEROUS NEW TAX CONCESSIONS TO INDUSTRY, SLASHED PURCHASE TAXES ON AUTOS AND A WIDE RANGE OF CONSUMER GOODS . TO SPEED HOMEBUILDING AND SLUM CLEARANCE A TASK THAT MACMILLAN HIMSELF DISCHARGED WITH DISTINCTION IN HIS FIRST CABINET POST IN 1951 THE PRIME MINISTER BROUGHT IN SIR KEITH JOSEPH, 45, AN ASTUTE POLITICIAN AND ONETIME CONSTRUCTION COMPANY EXECUTIVE, AND GAVE HIM THE GO-AHEAD FOR A MAJOR PUBLIC-WORKS PROGRAM . GEOFFREY RIPPON, 38, THE PARTY'S " BACK-ROOM " HOUSING EXPERT, WAS ASSIGNED TO STREAMLINE ARCHAIC BUILDING CODES AND TECHNIQUES . TWO WEEKS AGO, AS UNEMPLOYMENT KEPT RISING AND SUPPORT FOR THE GOVERNMENT SLUMPED TO AN ALLTIME LOW (36 PER CENT V . 45 PER CENT FOR LABOR), MACMILLAN ASSIGNED LORD HAILSHAM, HIS MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND FORMER PARTY CHAIRMAN, TO MAKE A CRASH EFFORT TO HELP THE WORST DEPRESSED AREAS AS CABINET MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NORTHEAST . THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO CALL AN ELECTION FOR 21 MONTHS . IT HAS RECENTLY SEEMED LIKELY, HOWEVER, THAT MACMILLAN WOULD GO TO THE PEOPLE IN THE COMING FALL . BY THEN, POLITICIANS FIGURED, BRITAIN WOULD HAVE MADE HER TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO THE COMMON MARKET, AND THE GOVERNMENT'S PUMP PRIMING WOULD HAVE THINNED THE UNEMPLOYMENT ROLLS AND REINVIGORATED THE ECONOMY . BUT AFTER LAST WEEK'S DIMMING OF HOPES FOR A PROMPT ENTRY INTO EUROPE, THE GOVERNMENT MAY FEEL CONSTRAINED TO SEEK A NEW MANDATE EVEN EARLIER . THE CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN IN POWER FOR ELEVEN STRAIGHT YEARS, THE LONGEST UNBROKEN INNINGS THAT ANY PARTY HAS ENJOYED SINCE THE 23-YEAR TORY REIGN THAT ENDED IN 1830 . SIXTEEN BY-ELECTION SETBACKS FOR THE TORIES IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE BADLY DENTED MACMILLAN'S PRESTIGE . UNTIL HUGH GAITSKELL'S DEATH LAST WEEK, A TORY DEFEAT IN THE NEXT ELECTIONS SEEMED AT LEAST A POSSIBILITY . AGAINST A DEMORALIZED, LEADERLESS OPPOSITION, THE CONSERVATIVE CHANCES ARE FAR BRIGHTER FOR THE FOURTH STRAIGHT ELECTORAL VICTORY . SOME EXPERTS SPECULATE THAT HAROLD MACMILLAN MAY DECIDE TO STEP DOWN AFTER THE ELECTION . HE HAS NO CLEAR HEIR, BUT DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER R . ARAB " ) BUTLER, AN ASTUTE TACTICIAN WHO IS DISTRUSTED BY TORY RIGHTWINGERS, WOULD SUCCEED HIM IF MACMILLAN WERE REMOVED TOMORROW .
 TOGO DEATH AT THE GATE FOR SYLVANUS OLYMPIO, 60, PRESIDENT OF TOGO, THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT . DISTURBED BY STRANGE SOUNDS IN HIS COMFORTABLE HOUSE IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF LOME, OLYMPIO GRABBED A PISTOL AND WENT TO THE HEAD OF THE STAIRS . THERE, TO HIS CONSTERNATION, WAS A CROWD OF MUTINOUS SOLDIERS CROWDING THE FLOOR BELOW . BAREFOOT, CLAD IN SHORTS AND SPORT SHIRT, OLYMPIO LEAPED THROUGH A WINDOW ONTO THE SOFT, SANDY EARTH OF HIS GARDEN . HE MADE IT TO THE U.S . EMBASSY COMPOUND NEXT DOOR . IN THE GRAVELED COURTYARD, OLYMPIO FOUND A PARKED PLYMOUTH SEDAN BELONGING TO THE EMBASSY, AND CRAWLED IN . THERE, IN THE EARLY MORNING SUNLIGHT, HE WAS SPOTTED HUDDLED BENEATH THE STEERING WHEEL BY ONE OF THE MUTINEERS . CRYING " ALL RIGHT, YOU HAVE ME .! " , OLYMPIO SURRENDERED AND, PRODDED BY RIFLE BUTTS, WAS HUSTLED DOWN THE DRIVEWAY, PAST A MANGO TREE AND THROUGH THE GREEN GATE . THERE HE BALKED . SERGEANT ETIENNE EYADEMA, COMMANDER OF THE REBEL DETACHMENT, LATER DECLARED : " HE COULD NOT STAY THERE . THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATIONS . HE WOULD NOT MOVE . I SHOT HIM . " AT 7 THAT MORNING, U.S . AMBASSADOR LEON POULLADA DROVE UP TO THE EMBASSY BUILDING, FOUND PRESIDENT OLYMPIO LYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD JUST OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND . THERE WERE RED FINGER SMEARS ON THE GATE, AS IF HE HAD STRUGGLED TO RISE . AS EMBASSY AIDES CARRIED THE CORPSE INTO THE COURTYARD, FAT LIZARDS SCUTTLED AWAY ACROSS THE GRAVEL AND LOUNGING TOGOLESE SOLDIERS WATCHED SILENTLY FROM A NEARBY STREET CORNER . " BLOW TO PROGRESS . " THUS LAST WEEK DIED THE MAN WHO WAS RULER OF A POSTAGESTAMP-SIZED REPUBLIC (75 BY 340 MILES) ON THE SWELTERING WEST AFRICAN COAST . CHIEF ARCHITECT OF TOGO'S 1960 INDEPENDENCE FROM FRENCH CONTROL, LONDON-EDUCATED OLYMPIO PRACTICED STERN AUSTERITY AT HOME, REJECTED DEMAGOGUERY AND SIDED OPENLY WITH THE WEST . PRESIDENT KENNEDY, WHOM OLYMPIO VISITED IN WASHINGTON LAST MARCH, MOURNED HIS DEATH AS " A BLOW TO THE PROGRESS OF STABLE GOVERNMENT IN AFRICA . " SUSPICION IMMEDIATELY FOCUSED ON GHANA'S STRONGMAN KWAME NKRUMAH, WHO HAS CONDUCTED A BITTER FEUD WITH OLYMPIO OVER CONTROL OF THE POWERFUL, 700,000MEMBER EWE (PRONOUNCED EV-VY) TRIBE, WHICH WAS SPLIT BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES BY EUROPEAN BOUNDARY-SETTERS . TWICE BEFORE, ASSASSINS HAD TRIED TO KILL OLYMPIO ; EACH TIME GHANA'S AGENTS WERE ACCUSED . BUT THIS TIME IT WAS OLYMPIO'S OWN ZEALOUS ECONOMIES THAT BROUGHT DISASTER . " BON . CA VA . " AS PART OF HIS ECONOMIC AUSTERITY PROGRAM, OLYMPIO HAD STUBBORNLY REFUSED TO EXPAND TOGO'S FLYSPECK ARMY BEYOND ITS STANDING STRENGTH OF 250 MEN EXACTLY ONE COMPANY . THIS ANGERED BOTH THE " ARMY " AND THE DEMOBILIZED, HARDEYED TOGOLESE VETERANS OF FRENCH COLONIAL WARS, WHO HAD FOUGHT FROM INDO-CHINA TO ALGERIA BUT COULD FIND NO PLACE IN THEIR HOMELAND'S ARMED FORCES . RECENTLY, A TOUGH EX-SERGEANT, EMMANUEL BODJOLLE, 35, JOBLESS AND WITH A FAMILY TO SUPPORT, ORGANIZED A CONSPIRACY WITH 30 OTHER NONCOMS . LAST WEEK, AFTER OLYMPIO TORE UP A FINAL PLEA TO TAKE INTO THE SERVICE AT LEAST 60 OF THE MOST QUALIFIED VETERANS, BODJOLLE SNAPPED : " BON . CA VA . " THAT MIDNIGHT HIS BATTLE-TOUGH INSURGENTS STRUCK, EASILY OCCUPYING THE CAPITAL . OLYMPIO'S SUCCESSOR IS NICOLAS GRUNITZKY, 49, HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, WHO WAS SWEPT OUT OF OFFICE AS TERRITORIAL PREMIER FOR THE FRENCH WHEN OLYMPIO TOOK OVER FIVE YEARS AGO . GRUNITZKY'S FIRST ACT WAS TO ANNOUNCE THAT TOGO WOULD ALIGN ITSELF WITH THE AFRO-MALAGASY UNION, THE PRO-FRENCH ASSOCIATION OF WEST AFRICA STATES . THEN HE DECLARED FREE ELECTIONS WOULD SOON FOLLOW . BUT, AS SO OFTEN HAPPENS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, HE DECIDED IT WOULD BE BEST TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT AND RULE ALONE UNTIL THINGS SETTLED DOWN .
 THE CONGO TSHOMBE'S TWILIGHT THE KATANGA STRUGGLE SEEMED OVER AT LAST . IT HAD BEEN A 2F-YEAR SIEGE THAT BROUGHT THE U.N . CLOSE TO BANKRUPTCY, SET THE U.S . AT ODDS WITH ITS PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN ALLIES AND THREATENED TO IMMERSE CENTRAL AFRICA IN BLOOD . NOW, KATANGA'S REBEL MOISE TSHOMBE SAT WANLY BEHIND A DESK IN A STUCCO COTTAGE IN THE COPPER TOWN OF KOLWEZI AND DECLARED, " I AM READY TO PROCLAIM IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE WORLD THAT KATANGA'S SECESSION IS ENDED . " THE WORDS OF THE MERCURIAL MOISE HAD A FAMILIAR RING, AND THERE WERE SKEPTICS WHO SUGGESTED THE PLEDGE WAS FALSE . " I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT, " SAID ONE DIPLOMAT IN ELISABETHVILLE . " WE KNOW THE MAN, " SHRUGGED CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA IN LEOPOLDVILLE . " IT IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT TSHOMBE HAS DECLARED HIMSELF READY TO RENOUNCE HIS AMBITIONS TO FOUND AN INDEPENDENT STATE . " WISE ACT . " BUT THIS TIME TSHOMBE HAD LITTLE CHOICE . BLUE-HELMETED U.N . TROOPS CONTROLLED NEARLY ALL THE MAJOR RAIL AND POPULATION CENTERS OF KATANGA PROVINCE, AND U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT WAS NOT BACKING DOWN ON HIS THREAT TO CRUSH KATANGA'S WILY SECESSIONIST . UP TO THE LAST MOMENT, TSHOMBE WAVERED . HAVING FLED FROM ELISABETHVILLE " A FRIGHTENED AND DEJECTED MAN, " IN THE WORDS OF BRITISH AND BELGIAN OFFICIALS, HE TURNED UP LAST WEEK IN KOLWEZI, WHERE THE LAST 3,000 OF HIS 20,000-MAN GENDARMERIE WERE HOLED UP . A TWO-MAN PEACE MISSION COMPOSED OF JACQUES HOUARD, BELGIUM'S CONSUL GENERAL IN SALISBURY, SOUTHERN RHODESIA, AND ANDRE VAN ROEY, DIRECTOR OF KATANGA'S NATIONAL BANK, FOLLOWED HIM THERE . FOR 36 DESPERATE HOURS, THE TWO URGED HIM TO YIELD RATHER THAN CARRY OUT HIS THREAT TO BLOW UP THE HUGE DAMS AND COPPER AND COBALT MINES OPERATED BY THE GIANT UNION MINIERE COMPANY IN KOLWEZI . FINALLY, CONVINCED THAT HE HAD NO ALTERNATIVE, TSHOMBE GAVE IN . LATER, APPARENTLY TO SHOW NEWSMEN WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED, HE DROVE THEM TO A MINOR HYDROELECTRIC SUBSTATION 70 MILES OUTSIDE KOLWEZI, AIMED A SIX-POUND ARTILLERY PIECE AT IT AND PULLED THE LANYARD . THE SHOT WAS RIGHT ON TARGET . THE SUBSTATION, APPARENTLY LOADED WITH DYNAMITE, DISINTEGRATED WHILE TSHOMBE GUFFAWED . AS A FINAL ACT OF OBSTREPEROUSNESS HE HAD PEACEMAKER HOUARD THROWN OUT OF KATANGA BECAUSE, AS FOREIGN MINISTER EVARISTE KIMBA COMPLAINED, " YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR US . " BUT TSHOMBE WAS BEATEN NONETHELESS . EVEN HIS OLD ALLY, SIR ROY WELENSKY, PRIME MINISTER OF THE RHODESIAS AND NYASALAND, TOLD HIM HE HAD " ACTED WISELY " IN YIELDING . IS EVERYBODY HAPPY ? THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PROMISED MOISE " A GENERAL AND COMPLETE AMNESTY / FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FOLLOWERS . WITH THAT, TSHOMBE RETURNED TO ELISABETHVILLE TO WORK OUT THE PROCEDURES OF HIS CAPITULATION WITH U.N . OFFICIALS . HE FOUND THAT SOME OF THE DETAILS HAD ALREADY BEEN TAKEN CARE OF THE BLUE-AND-GOLD FLAG OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT NOW FLUTTERED OVER THE KATANGESE DEFENSE MINISTRY . SIXTY CIVIL SERVANTS AND 120 CONGOLESE ARMY OFFICERS ARRIVED FROM LEOPOLDVILLE TO TAKE OVER KATANGA'S MILITARY REMNANTS AND ADMINISTER POSTAL SERVICE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION . AS RESIDENT MINISTER, LEOPOLDVILLE'S TOP MAN IN KATANGA WOULD BE SLIGHT, SOBER JOSEPH ILEO, 40, A MODERATE WHO SERVED AS INTERIM PREMIER OF THE CONGO AFTER ERRATIC PATRICE LUMUMBA WAS DEPOSED IN 1960 . THE QUESTION NOW WAS WHETHER LEOPOLDVILLE'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COULD KEEP KATANGA UNDER CONTROL NOW THAT IT WAS WON . IF THE MOB VIOLENCE BACK IN LEO ITSELF WAS ANY INDICATION, U.N . TROOPS WOULD HAVE TO STAY ON IN KATANGA FOR QUITE A WHILE . DOWN LEO'S BOULEVARD ALBERT STORMED 600 STUDENTS AND STREET URCHINS, SHOUTING " TSHOMBE TO THE GALLOWS ! " AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY, WHICH IS CONSIDERED FAIR GAME BECAUSE OF LONDON'S FRIENDLY POLICY TOWARD KATANGA, THE MOB BATTERED DOWN THE DOORS, SACKED THE OFFICES, AND TRIED TO PRY OFF A COAT OF ARMS BECAUSE, AS ONE STUDENT CRIED, " IT'S MADE OF KATANGA COPPER .! " AFTER AN HOUR, THE U.N.'S CONGO CHIEF ROBERT GARDINER ARRIVED AND SCATTERED THE MOB . ALL THE WHILE, A JEEPLOAD OF ADOULA'S COPS SAT CHUCKLING NEAR BY, MAKING NO MOVE TO STOP PILLAGE .
 SYRIA FOILED AGAIN GENERALLY SPEAKING, SYRIA'S SOLDIERS ARE NO GREAT SHAKES AT FIGHTING . BUT THEY'RE A PERSISTENT LOT WHEN IT COMES TO OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT AT HOME . NO FEWER THAN TEN ATTEMPTED COUPS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN 13 YEARS . ONE GROUP OF OFFICERS HAS PLOTTED STEADILY FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS . LED BY COLONEL ABDEL KARIM NAHLAWI, 39, THE MILITARY MALCONTENTS WERE IN ON THE COUP THAT SEVERED SYRIA'S UNION WITH EGYPT . LAST MARCH, THEY TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE GOVERNMENT, BUT WERE PACKED OFF AS MILITARY ATTACHES IN SYRIAN EMBASSIES ABROAD . LAST WEEK THE OFFICERS WERE UP TO THEIR OLD TRICKS AGAIN . INCENSED BY A DAMASCUS DECREE STRIPPING THEM OF THEIR ARMY STATUS, THE GROUP ARRANGED A DRAMATIC RENDEZVOUS IN TURKEY, THEN QUIETLY CROSSED THE FRONTIER AND MADE FOR THEIR OLD BARRACKS INSIDE SYRIA . GREETED JOYOUSLY BY SOME OF THEIR FORMER COMRADES IN ARMS, NAHLAWI'S MEN ISSUED A PUBLIC DEMAND THAT THEIR DISCHARGES BE CANCELED, AND THAT A NEW GENERAL STAFF TO THEIR LIKING BE PUT IN POWER . TO CONFUSE THINGS, THE REBELLIOUS SOLDIERS INSISTED ON A PLEBISCITE TO DECIDE ON CLOSER RELATIONS WITH NASSER'S EGYPT . OTHERWISE, NAHLAWI THREATENED, TROOPS UNDER HIS CONTROL WOULD MARCH ON DAMASCUS . FOR PRESIDENT NAZEM EL-KOUDSI, IT WAS AN OLD FAMILIAR TUNE . COOLLY, HE PLAYED FOR TIME, AGREED TO " CONSIDER " THE DEMANDS IF NAHLAWI WOULD NEGOTIATE AT ARMY HEADQUARTERS . THE TALKS DRAGGED ON FOR THREE CRISIS-FILLED DAYS . THEN, KOUDSI MOBILIZED HIS OWN FORCES, ONE NIGHT SUDDENLY SURROUNDED THE ARMY GHQ WITH ARMORED CARS . COLONEL NAHLAWI GOT THE POINT . IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, HE AND HIS MEN MIGHT HAVE BEEN JAILED, OR EVEN EXECUTED FOR TREASON . BUT KOUDSI, WHO KEEPS A PREPARED RESIGNATION IN HIS DESK JUST IN CASE THE SOLDIERS SHOULD SOME DAY WIN, CHOSE NOT TO PUSH HIS LUCK . ESCORTED ABOARD AN AIRLINER AND GIVEN $1,000 APIECE TO COVER THEIR EXPENSES, THE REBELS WERE SENT BACK TO DIPLOMATIC POSTS IN CIVVIES .
 SOUTH ARABIA AND ADEN MAKES TWELVE WITH ITS STUPEFYING TEMPERATURES AND BLEAK TERRAIN, BRITAIN'S ADEN COLONY ON THE SOUTHWESTERN FRINGE OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST UNATTRACTIVE PIECES OF REAL ESTATE . BUT IT HAS ITS VALUE NONETHELESS . BETWEEN SUEZ AND SINGAPORE, IT IS THE ONLY SUITABLE FUELING AND VICTUALING STATION FOR THE BRITISH NAVY, AND 8,000 TROOPS OF HER MAJESTY'S MIDDLE EAST COMMAND ARE STATIONED ON ITS 75 SQUARE MILES OF OVERHEATED ROCK . TO STRENGTHEN THE PRECIOUS LITTLE COLONY AGAINST THE COVETOUS DESIRES OF NEARBY YEMEN, THE BRITISH SINCE 1959 HAVE BEEN LINKING NEIGHBORING SULTANATES AND EMIRATES IN A NEW FEDERATION OF SOUTH ARABIA . ADEN WAS TO JOIN IN MARCH, BUT AN OUTBURST OF RIOTS SPARKED BY PRO-YEMEN LABOR LEADERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF AN EGYPTIAN BACKED NATIONALIST REGIME IN YEMEN ITSELF PERSUADED BRITAIN TO SPEED THINGS UP . LAST WEEK THE BRITISH MADE ADEN THE TWELFTH MEMBER OF THE FEDERATION, RETAINING CONTROL BUT VAGUELY PROMISING EVENTUAL INDEPENDENCE . ARAB NATIONALISTS WERE UNHAPPY . WHILE THE FEDERATION'S BLACK, YELLOW, GREEN AND BLUE FLAG WENT UP OVER GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN PLACE OF THE UNION JACK, ANTI-FEDERATION RESIDENTS RAISED MOURNING FLAGS INSTEAD .
 TUNISIA PALS NO MORE ONE OF THE MOST PERISHABLE COMMODITIES IN THE ARAB WORLD SEEMS TO BE GRATITUDE . WHEN ALGERIA WON INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF BLOODY WAR, ITS PEOPLE WERE DEEPLY INDEBTED TO NEIGHBORING TUNISIA, WHOSE PRESIDENT HABIB BOURGUIBA, 59, HAD GIVEN SHELTER TO 200,000 ALGERIAN REFUGEES AND PROVIDED A REFUGE FOR THE TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF 18,000 ALGERIAN FIGHTING MEN . BUT LAST WEEK, IN A SHOUTING, GESTICULATING SPEECH IN THE VAST CASBAH SQUARE OF TUNIS, BOURGUIBA SAID IT WAS " SURPRISING " TO DISCOVER THAT ALGERIA HAS " BECOME A RESIDENCE FOR CRIMINALS AND PLOTTERS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF TUNISIA . " HE SEEMED MOSTLY UPSET BY THE FACT THAT ALGERIA HAS REFUSED TO EXTRADITE ONE BOUBEKER MUSTAFI, A TUNISIAN ACCUSED OF BEING PARTY TO THE CHRISTMAS ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST BOURGUIBA (TIME, JAN . 4), FOR WHICH 13 TUNISIANS HAVE BEEN CONDEMNED TO DEATH . BOURGUIBA RIDICULED 46-YEAR-OLD ALGERIAN PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA AS " AN INEXPERIENCED, EXCITED YOUTH, " AND " A SIMPLE-MINDED PEASANT, " BUT CONCEDED THAT " NOT ALL MEMBERS OF THE ALGERIAN GOVERNMENT WERE INVOLVED . " IN ANY CASE, BOASTED BOURGUIBA, " WE HAVE ENOUGH POWER AND STRENGTH TO FACE ANY ADVERSARY . I DON'T INTEND TO KEEP UP HYPOCRITICAL RELATIONS WITH ANY GOVERNMENT . " AT WEEK'S END BOURGUIBA MADE HIS DISPLEASURE OFFICIAL BY SUMMONING HOME TUNISIA'S AMBASSADOR TO ALGERIA . BUT THERE WAS NO BREAK IN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, NOR ANY SIGN THAT TUNISIA'S 10,000-MAN ARMY WAS PREPARING TO TAKE ON ALGERIA'S 120,000 VETERAN TROOPS .
 COLD WAR OF BASES & BOMBS AT FIRST GLIMPSE, IT CERTAINLY BORE ALL THE SIGNS OF A U.S.-SOVIET DEAL . FIRST THE NEWS BROKE THAT PREMIER KHRUSHCHEV, IN A SECRET LETTER TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY, HAD AGREED TO REMOVE THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO A NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY BY PERMITTING ON-SITE INSPECTIONS IN RUSSIA . SOON AFTERWARD, THE U.S . CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS PREPARING TO DISMANTLE ITS JUPITER BASE IN TURKEY, THE VERY THING THAT KHRUSHCHEV HAD DEMANDED WHEN THE U.S . FORCED HIM TO GET HIS MEDIUM-RANGE MISSILES OUT OF CUBA, AND ITS BASES IN ITALY, TOO . WAS THERE REALLY A DEAL ? NO . THE TWO EVENTS HAVE REALLY NO CONNECTION . THE KHRUSHCHEV OFFER, WHILE PROOF OF HIS CONTINUED MELLOWING, IS NEGLIGIBLE ; ANY TEST BAN WOULD DEPEND ON CONDITIONS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FULFILL NOW . AS FOR THE REMOVAL OF AMERICAN MISSILE INSTALLATIONS FROM TURKEY AND ITALY, ITS PURPOSE, SAID PRESIDENT KENNEDY, IS SIMPLE TO PUT THE U.S . " IN A STRONGER POSITION / BY SUBSTITUTING POTENT POLARIS SUBMARINES FOR THE IMMOBILE, VULNERABLE IRBMS, SITTING DUCKS FOR SOVIET RETALIATION . SOLID V . LIQUID . MONTHS BEFORE KHRUSHCHEV SUGGESTED HIS CUBA-FOR-TURKEY SWAP, THE JOINT CHIEFS HAD BEGUN CONSIDERING THE PHASE-OUT OF BASES IN TURKEY, ITALY, AND IN ENGLAND AS WELL . THE DISMANTLING OF THE 60 THOR MISSILES IN BRITAIN IS TO BEGIN THIS SPRING . MORE THAN COMPENSATING FOR THEIR LOSS ARE EIGHT POLARIS SUBS OPERATING OUT OF HOLY LOCH, SCOTLAND, EACH TOTING 16 MISSILES . TO REPLACE THE 15 JUPITERS IN TURKEY AND THE 30 IN ITALY, THE U.S . PLANS TO DEPLOY POSSIBLY SIX SUBS IN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS . TOTAL FIREPOWER : 96 MISSILES, EACH WITH A NUCLEAR-TIPPED WARHEAD PACKING THE EQUIVALENT OF 800,000 TONS OF TNT . COMPARED WITH JUPITER'S 1,500-MILE REACH, THE CURRENT POLARIS MISSILES HAVE A RANGE OF 1,380 TO 1,725 MILES, AND BEFORE LONG THE SUBS WILL GET A-3 MODELS WITH A 2,875MILE RANGE . THOUGH MOSCOW IS HARD AT WORK ON ANTI-SUB DEVICES, U.S . EXPERTS SEE NO EVIDENCE THAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE COME UP WITH AN EFFECTIVE DEFENSE AGAINST THE FLEET OF 41 POLARIS SUBS THAT WILL BE AT SEA BY 1967 . BOTH TURKEY AND ITALY SWIFTLY ACCEPTED THE CHANGEOVER . TO PROVIDE BERTHING FACILITIES FOR THE SUBS, THE U.S . HOPES TO EXPAND ITS NAVAL BASE AT ROTA ON SPAIN'S ATLANTIC COAST . QUESTION OF BOXES . THE CHANCE OF A WORKABLE NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY SEEMED EQUALLY REMOTE . ACTUALLY, KHRUSHCHEV FIRST AGREED TO THE PRINCIPLE OF ON-SITE INSPECTIONS WAY BACK IN 1959, WHEN BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN WAS IN MOSCOW, ONLY TO SHELVE IT AFTER HE BROKE THE THREE-YEAR TEST MORATORIUM IN 1961 . BUT HAVING CONCLUDED HIS OWN LATEST NUCLEAR TEST SERIES, KHRUSHCHEV DOUBTLESS FIGURES THAT HE HAS LITTLE TO LOSE FROM AN EFFORT TO STOP ALL TESTING FOR A WHILE . " THE TIME HAS COME NOW, " KHRUSHCHEV WROTE KENNEDY JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, " TO PUT AN END ONCE AND FOR ALL TO NUCLEAR TESTS . WE ARE READY TO MEET YOU HALFWAY . " TO NIKITA, HALFWAY MEANT TWO OR THREE INSPECTIONS EACH YEAR TO INVESTIGATE SUSPICIOUS TREMORS ; THE U.S . THOUGHT THAT EIGHT INSPECTIONS WOULD BE THE MINIMUM, HAVING WHITTLED THAT DOWN FROM ITS ORIGINAL TWELVE . WHILE THE U.S . HAS BEEN DEMANDING THAT AT LEAST A DOZEN UNMANNED SEISMIC DETECTION STATIONS, OR " BLACK BOXES, " BE INSTALLED ON SOVIET SOIL, KHRUSHCHEV SAID THAT THREE WOULD DO ONE EACH IN SIBERIA'S ALTAI MOUNTAINS, THE VIRGIN LANDS OF SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA AND THE SOVIET FAR EAST . " WE BELIEVE, " HE CONCLUDED, " THAT NOW THE ROAD TO AGREEMENT IS STRAIGHT AND CLEAR . " ATMOSPHERIC NOISE . THIS WAS CLEARLY NOT KENNEDY'S VIEW, BUT HE DECLARED HIMSELF " ENCOURAGED, " SUGGESTED THAT EXPLORATORY TALKS BE HELD AND, AFTER THEY GOT STARTED, ORDERED A HALT TO THE CURRENT SERIES OF U.S . UNDERGROUND TESTS TO IMPROVE THEIR CHANCES OF SUCCESS . LAST WEEK SOVIET U.N . AMBASSADOR NIKOLAI T . FEDORENKO AND VETERAN GENEVA NEGOTIATOR SEMYON K . TSARAPKIN WERE CLOSETED IN WASHINGTON WITH U.S . ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT AGENCY CHIEF WILLIAM C . FOSTER AND BRITISH AMBASSADOR SIR DAVID ORMSBY GORE . THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF PROBLEMS . IN MOSCOW, DOUR FOREIGN MINISTER ANDREI GROMYKO DECLARED, " FRANCE MUST SIGN, " FULLY AWARE THAT DE GAULLE HAS NO INTENTION OF JOINING A TEST BAN . ANOTHER QUESTION WAS HOW TO RING IN RED CHINA, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO EXPLODE AN A-BOMB BY YEAR'S END . SINCE PEKING HAD NOT YET DONE SO, GROMYKO SAID, THE PROBLEM WAS " ARTIFICIAL . " ANXIOUS TO KEEP THE TALKS GOING, U.S . OFFICIALS GRASPED AT STRAWS  AND HOPEFUL PHRASES .  " I DON'T THINK THIS CLOSES THE DOOR, " SAID ONE . " IT'S JUST ATMOSPHERIC NOISE . "
 GREAT BRITAIN AFTER HUGH, WHO ? THE DEATH OF HUGH GAITSKELL HAS LEFT BRITAIN'S OPPOSITION WITHOUT A SINGLE FIGURE WHO CAN BE COUNTED ON TO UNITE THE LABOR PARTY BEHIND HIM . WORSE YET, WITH ELECTION TALK IN THE AIR, LABORITES FEAR THAT NO LIKELY SUCCESSOR IS OF SUFFICIENT STATURE TO WIN IMMEDIATE NATIONAL ACCEPTANCE AS A POTENTIAL PRIME MINISTER . THE PARTY IS TORN BETWEEN TWO LEADING CONTENDERS WHO PERSONIFY THE WARRING EXTREMES WITHIN THE PARTY THAT TOOK HUGH GAITSKELL SEVEN TURBULENT YEARS TO PACIFY . TOP RIGHT-WING CANDIDATE IS DEPUTY LEADER GEORGE BROWN, AN EARTHY, ONETIME ERRAND BOY WHO INFURIATES LEFTIST INTELLECTUALS BY ADDRESSING THEM AS " BROTHER . " BROWN, 48, IS A STAUNCH ANTI-COMMUNIST, A FIRM BELIEVER IN THE WESTERN ALLIANCE, AND, UNTIL GAITSKELL COMMITTED THE PARTY TO AN ANTI-EUROPEAN LINE, WAS A VIGOROUS ADVOCATE OF BRITISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET . GUTTY, IMPULSIVE, OFTEN EXPLOSIVELY GAUCHE, BROWN HAS HAD LITTLE FORMAL EDUCATION OR TOP-LEVEL ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE, BUT IS A KNOWLEDGEABLE DEFENSE EXPERT WHO CRITICIZED BRITAIN'S COMMITMENT TO THE SKYBOLT MISSILE AS FAR BACK AS 1960 . HIS MOST IMPRESSIVE ENDORSEMENT CAME LAST WEEK FROM THE PRESTIGIOUS ECONOMIST, WHICH ARGUED THAT CRITICISMS OF HIS QUICK TEMPER AND IMPATIENCE WITH TECHNICAL DETAIL " COULD ALSO HAVE BEEN LEVIED AGAINST WINSTON CHURCHILL . " UNLIKE GAITSKELL, WHOSE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY WAS BASED ON AN ESSENTIALLY OUT-OF-DATE VIEW OF AN " INSULAR AND DOWNTRODDEN ENGLAND, " ARGUED THE WEEKLY, BROWN'S SOCIALISM IS THAT " OF AN AGE WHEN INTELLIGENT THRUSTERS HAVE LEARNED TO LOOK FORWARD IN OPPORTUNITY . " / LITTLE HAROLD . " LABOR'S LEFT WING SUPPORTS HAROLD WILSON, 46, AN ADROIT, URBANE DEBATER AND TOPNOTCH INTELLECT WHO WAS AN OXFORD ECONOMICS DON AT 21 . AS PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE IN CLEMENT ATTLEE'S CABINET, PIPE-PUFFING YORKSHIREMAN WILSON HAS HAD MORE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE THAN ANY OF HIS RIVALS, IS THE PARTY'S FOREIGN POLICY SPECIALIST . DESPITE HIS BRILLIANCE AND CHARM, WILSON'S FOES, WHO CALL HIM " LITTLE HAROLD, " REGARD HIM AS A SLIPPERY OPPORTUNIST WHO BACKS ONLY WINNING CAUSES THOUGH HE MISCALCULATED IN 1960 WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO GRAB THE LEADERSHIP WHILE GAITSKELL WAS FIGHTING FOR HIS POLITICAL LIFE AGAINST THE PARTY'S POWERFUL ANTI-NATO BLOC . BROWN DEFEATED WILSON FOR THE DEPUTY LEADERSHIP, 133 TO 103, LAST YEAR . BUT THIS TIME BROWN HAS AN ADDED CHALLENGE : JAMES CALLAGHAN, 50, WHO ALSO HAS STRONG MIDDLE-ROAD AND RIGHT-WING SUPPORT . A NAVAL PETTY OFFICER'S SON WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER IN A GAITSKELL CABINET, " STOKER " CALLAGHAN IS A HARD-BOILED DEBATER AND EFFECTIVE TV PERFORMER, BUT IS REGARDED BY MANY COLLEAGUES AS A LIGHTWEIGHT . TO PREPARE FOR THE CHANCELLORSHIP, HE HAS BEEN CRAMMING WITH SOME OF OXFORD'S BRIGHTEST YOUNG DONS, WHO PRIVATELY RATE HIM " B OR B-PLUS . " HE IS AN ENGAGING, HARD-WORKING POLITICIAN, AND MANY OF BROWN'S SUPPORTERS FEAR THAT HE MAY SPLIT THE RIGHT-WING VOTE . IN A DEADLOCK, HE COULD EVEN EMERGE AS LABOR'S LEADER . FOE'S WOES . THE CHOICE OF AN EFFECTIVE OPPOSITION LEADER HAS SELDOM SEEMED MORE IMPORTANT TO THE LABOR PARTY OR TO THE NATION PARTICULARLY SINCE GOVERNMENTAL POWER IN BRITAIN HAS IN RECENT YEARS INCREASINGLY MOVED FROM THE COMMONS AND THE CABINET INTO THE HANDS OF THE PRIME MINISTER . ADMITTEDLY, THE LIKELIHOOD OF A LABOR PRIME MINISTER IN THE NEAR FUTURE HAS BEEN DIMMED BY GAITSKELL'S DEATH . ON THE OTHER HAND, THE TORIES HAVE LITTLE IMMEDIATE CAUSE FOR CONFIDENCE : ON TOP OF CHARLES DE GAULLE'S BRUSQUE REJECTION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S BID FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP, UNEMPLOYMENT THE MOST CRUCIAL ISSUE IN BRITISH POLITICS TODAY HAS JUMPED AN ALARMING 25 PER CENT IN ONE MONTH, REACHING A 16-YEAR RECORD OF 814,632 (PARTLY DUE TO LAYOFFS IN THE BITTER WINTER WEATHER) . LABOR'S LEADER WILL PROBABLY NOT BE CHOSEN UNTIL MID-FEBRUARY . LABORITES HOPED THAT TORY SETBACKS WOULD GIVE THEM TIME TO DEVELOP A WINNING PERSONALITY WHO COULD KEEP THEIR PARTY UNITED .
 UNITED NATIONS MAN AS AN END IN HIMSELF IN THE LOBBIES AND MEETING HALLS OF THE UNITED NATIONS, U.S . AMBASSADOR ADLAI STEVENSON OFTEN HEARS THE ARGUMENT OF NEW NATIONS THAT DEMOCRACY IS A LUXURY THEY CANNOT AFFORD . STEVENSON CAN MAKE A GOOD CASE TO THE CONTRARY, AS HE SHOWED LAST WEEK IN AN ELOQUENT ADDRESS IN MANHATTAN BEFORE THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS : " THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE DIGNITY OR EQUALITY IN OUR NATURAL STATE . MOST HUMAN BEINGS HAVE TO SPEND THEIR LIVES IN UTTER VULNERABILITY . ALL ARE BORN UNEQUAL, IN TERMS OF CAPACITY OR STRENGTH . . . AND SURVIVE ONLY THROUGH THE RESTRAINT SHOWN BY MORE POWERFUL NEIGHBORS . FOR NEARLY 3,000 YEARS / WESTERN MAN' HAS STRUGGLED TO CREATE A SOCIAL ORDER IN WHICH WEAK, FALLIBLE, OBSTINATE, SILLY, MAGNIFICENT MAN CAN EXERCISE HIS FREE AND RESPONSIBLE CHOICE . " WHETHER DEMOCRACY CAN PREVAIL IN THE GREAT UPHEAVAL OF OUR TIME IS A VALID QUESTION . WE HAVE GOOD REASON TO KNOW HOW CLUMSY, SLOW, INEFFICIENT AND COSTLY IT IS COMPARED TO THE CELERITY, CERTAINTY AND SECRECY OF ABSOLUTISM . BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT IT HAS SURVIVED . THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT EVEN THE ABSOLUTISTS MASQUERADE AS DEMOCRATS ; EVEN THE MILITARY AND QUASI-MILITARY DICTATORSHIPS STRIVE IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY TO MANAGE THE PUBLIC BUSINESS . AND ALL OF THEM SAY THAT AUTHORITARIANISM IS ONLY A NECESSARY TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY . . . THE ENEMIES OF FREEDOM, WHATEVER THE MAGNIFICENT ENDS THEY PROPOSE THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, THE KINGDOM OF SAINTS, " FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEEDS' MISS JUST THIS ESSENTIAL POINT : THAT MAN IS GREATER THAN THE SOCIAL PURPOSES TO WHICH HE CAN BE PUT . HE MUST NOT BE KICKED ABOUT EVEN WITH THE MOST HIGH-MINDED OBJECTIVES . HE IS NOT A MEANS OR AN INSTRUMENT . HE IS AN END IN HIMSELF . " THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF WHAT WE MEAN BY DEMOCRACY NOT SO MUCH VOTING SYSTEMS OR PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS OR ECONOMIC OR LEGAL SYSTEMS (THOUGH THEY ALL ENTER IN), AS AN IRREVOCABLE AND FINAL DEDICATION TO THE DIGNITY OF MAN . IN THIS SENSE, DEMOCRACY IS PERHAPS MANKIND'S MOST AUDACIOUS EXPERIMENT .
 THE CONGO TEA & HARMONY IT WAS ALMOST AS WACKY AS THE MAD HATTER'S OUTDOOR TEA PARTY IN WONDERLAND . SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF A MUDFOULED ROAD AT PUMPI, 40 MILES FROM SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE'S LAST-DITCH HEADQUARTERS AT KOLWEZI, UNITED NATIONS BRIGADIER REGINALD NORONHA SET UP FOUR FOLDING TABLES AND LAID OUT TEA, PEANUTBUTTER SANDWICHES, COFFEE AND SIMBA BEER . AT 9 A.M., RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, FOUR KATANGA PROVINCE OFFICIALS AND THREE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNION MINIERE MINING OUTFIT ROARED UP IN TWO AUTOS . " WE HAVE COME TO MEET YOU AS FRIENDS, " DECLARED ONE, AND THE PARTY WAS ON . DESPITE THE APPARENT ABSURDITY OF IT, THE PUMPI TEA PARTY WAS A DEAD SERIOUS AFFAIR ARRANGED SO THAT TSHOMBE COULD PEACEFULLY ESCORT UNITED NATIONS TROOPS INTO KOLWEZI, THE LAST MAJOR OBJECTIVE IN ITS DRIVE TO END KATANGA'S 2F-YEAR SECESSION . TYPICALLY, TSHOMBE FAILED TO SHOW UP AT THE PARTY, BUT THE OPERATION WENT SMOOTHLY ANYWAY . WHEN THE SANDWICHES WERE MUNCHED AND THE TEA SIPPED, NORONHA LED A THREE-MILE COLUMN OF 1,000 INDIAN TROOPS STRAIGHT INTO KOLWEZI . WHERE WERE THOSE PROUD KATANGESE DEFENDERS ? HUNDREDS OF GENDARMES HAD FLED INTO THE BUSH BEFORE THE BLUE-HELMETED U.N . TROOPS ARRIVED . SOME 75 WHITE MERCENARIES, INCLUDING A PISTOL-PACKING BLONDE AMBULANCE DRIVER KNOWN AROUND TOWN AS MADAME YVETTE, HAD TAKEN OFF FOR THE ANGOLAN BORDER . BUT MOST OF TSHOMBE'S 2,000 BEDRAGGLED MEN PAID HEED TO HIS PLEA TO " COOPERATE WITH THE U.N . AND OUR CONGOLESE BROTHERS, " DUTIFULLY STACKED THEIR ARMS AT A NEARBY DEPOT . AT HIS YELLOW VILLA ON THE EDGE OF KOLWEZI, TSHOMBE GREETED NORONHA WITH A GRIN . " NOBODY SHOT AT YOU, I SEE, " HE CRACKED . REPLIED NORONHA, THROWING AN ARM AROUND TSHOMBE'S SHOULDERS, / I HAVE COME TO THANK YOU FOR KEEPING YOUR WORD . " NORONHA WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS RELIEVED THAT TSHOMBE WAS STICKING TO HIS PROMISE TO REINTEGRATE KATANGA WITH THE REST OF THE CONGO . AT U.N . HEADQUARTERS IN MANHATTAN,SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT COULD NOW TURN TO A PROBLEM THAT MIGHT TURN OUT TO BE EVEN TOUGHER THAN ENDING TSHOMBE'S SECESSION . IT WAS TO ESTABLISH THE CONGOLESE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE CONGO AND END THE ANARCHY THAT STILL REIGNS IN MUCH OF THE NATION . AS A STARTER, THANT APPEALED FOR $19 MILLION TO FINANCE 1963 CIVILIAN OPERATIONS IN THE CONGO, ESTIMATED THAT AT LEAST 1,300 TECHNICAL EXPERTS WOULD BE NEEDED AT ONCE IN THE BIGGEST AID PROGRAM THE U.N . HAS YET UNDERTAKEN . THE PLAN IS TO CUT THE U.N.'S 19,000-MAN ARMY IN THE CONGO BY 50 PER CENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PERHAPS BY LATE SUMMER .
 IRAN THE MUNIFICENT KING ONCE AGAIN THE STREETS OF TEHERAN RANG WITH ANGRY SHOUTS . TWO THOUSAND WORKERS INVADED THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS TO BATTLE STUDENTS . IN THE TEEMING BAZAAR, STEELHELMETED POLICE BEAT BACK RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO WERE ATTEMPTING A THREE-DAY STRIKE . ALL THE EXCITEMENT WAS OVER THE SOCIAL REFORMS OF IRAN'S 43-YEAR-OLD KING OF KINGS, SHAH MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI . AFTER YEARS OF HESITATION, THE SHAH AT LAST WAS TEARING THE LAND FROM IRAN'S FEUDAL VILLAGE OWNERS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS, DISTRIBUTING IT TO THE PEASANTS, AND FORCING FACTORY OWNERS TO GIVE WORKERS A 20 PER CENT SHARE OF THEIR PROFITS . THE MOSLEM MULLAHS (PRIESTS), WHOSE SHRINE LANDS WERE UP FOR LEASING TO IRAN'S LANDLESS FARMERS, DID NOT LIKE THE IDEA AT ALL . STUDENTS PROTESTED THE SHAH'S DISSOLUTION OF THE MAJLIS (PARLIAMENT) A YEAR AND A HALF AGO AFTER THE LEGISLATORS RIGGED ELECTIONS, THEN CRIPPLED THE ROYAL LAND REFORM BILL WITH 93 AMENDMENTS . SINCE THEN, RULING BY DECREE, THE SHAH HAS DISTRIBUTED 2,000,000 ACRES OF PRIVATE LAND (WITH COMPENSATION TO OWNERS) TO SOME 50,000 PEASANT FAMILIES IN 3,500 VILLAGES . IT WAS SOME RECORD FOR A MONARCH WHO ONCE SEEMED INEFFECTUAL AND POWERLESS TO STAVE OFF THE GROWING DISCONTENT OF IRAN'S POOR MASSES . A DECADE BEFORE, FEW WOULD HAVE IMAGINED THAT WORKERS AND FARMERS WOULD BE CRYING HIS SLOGANS, WAVING HIS BANNERS . BUT THERE THEY WERE ON THE EVE OF THE BIG REFERENDUM CALLED TO GIVE THE NATION'S YES OR NO TO HIS SWEEPING PLANS FOR AID TO NEEDY RURAL AND CITY IRANIANS . WOMEN, WHO GOT THE VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN IRAN'S HISTORY, GATHERED AT POLLING PLACES TO SHOUT, " LONG LIVE MOHAMMED REZA SHAH FOR GRANTING US FREEDOM . " THE NATION'S POOR WERE EQUALLY ENTHUSIASTIC, FLOCKED TO CAST THEIR BALLOTS IN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS . THE SHAH EXPECTED A LANDSLIDE VICTORY, AND SURE ENOUGH, EARLY RETURNS BACKED HIS REFERENDUM BY THE LOPSIDED MARGIN OF 1,000 TO ONE . THE POPULAR ENTHUSIASM WAS DOUBTLESS AIDED BY THE SHAH'S ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS THAT HE WAS GIVING UP THE LAST OF HIS OWN ROYAL LAND, 3,500,000 ACRES ON THE CASPIAN'S CAVIAR COAST .
 ALGERIA THE HIGH COST OF INDEPENDENCE NOT LONG AGO, THE WEST WAS READY TO WRITE OFF ALGERIA'S BRASH, SLOGANEERING PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA AS A MEDITERRANEAN CASTRO RIPE FOR RED DOMINATION . BUT TIMES DO CHANGE . AFTER SEVEN MONTHS OF INDEPENDENCE, BEN BELLA NOW RELIES ON A TIDE OF AID FROM THE WEST, NOT THE EAST, TO KEEP HIS STRUGGLING COUNTRY AFLOAT . ONLY LAST WEEK, FINANCE MINISTER AHMED FRANCIS RETURNED FROM PARIS WITH PLEDGES OF $280 MILLION IN FRENCH AID FOR 1963 . AT THE SAME TIME, THE U.S . TENTATIVELY AGREED TO LAUNCH A FOOD RELIEF PROGRAM FOR HARDHIT ALGERIAN PEASANTS ; BEN BELLA HOPES THIS CAN BE BROADENED INTO A SWEEPING PROGRAM OF ECONOMIC AID BEFORE LONG . EMPTIED BY WAR . RAVAGED BY 7F YEARS OF WAR WITH FRANCE, THE BLOODY S.A.O . TERROR AND A FRATRICIDAL POWER STRUGGLE THAT SOURED THE FIRST MONTHS OF INDEPENDENCE, ALGERIA NEEDS EVERY CENTIME IT CAN GET . ONLY ONE ALGERIAN IN TEN HAS A STEADY JOB . THE ILLITERACY RATE IS 90 PER CENT . OFFICIALS FIGURE THAT THE COUNTRY NEEDS AT LEAST $2 BILLION TO REBUILD, BUT THE TREASURY IS BARE . SAID BEN BELLA : " WE ARE A COUNTRY EMPTIED BY WAR . " TO FILL IT UP AGAIN, BEN BELLA NEEDS WESTERN HELP . AT FIRST, EMBITTERED BY HIS 5F YEARS IN FRENCH PRISONS, HE BLINKERED HIMSELF TO THAT FACT . HE THREATENED TO TURN ALL REMAINING FRENCH-OWNED LANDS INTO STATE-RUN FARMS . HE SAUNTERED OFF TO HAVANA TO EMBRACE FIDEL CASTRO RIGHT AFTER A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT KENNEDY . HE ACCEPTED WHAT LITTLE RED AID HE GOT WITH GREAT FANFARE, BUT DELIBERATELY PLAYED DOWN FAR MORE EXTENSIVE HELP FROM THE WEST INCLUDING A FLOOD OF FOOD SHIPMENTS FROM PRIVATE U.S . CHARITIES THAT HAVE KEPT NEARLY HALF OF HIS 10 MILLION PEOPLE FROM STARVING . BUT BENEATH THE BLUSTER BEN BELLA IS MORE PRAGMATIST THAN DOGMATIST, AND ALGERIA'S SORRY STATE PERSUADED HIM TO BEGIN TACKING WITH THE WESTERN WIND . " HE IS DETERMINED TO FEED, CLOTHE AND EMPLOY HIS PEOPLE, " SAID ONE WESTERN DIPLOMAT, " AND HE'S GOING TO KICK OVER ANY " ISMS' THAT GET IN HIS WAY . " OVER THE PROTESTS OF MILITANT MARXISTS, HE BEGAN PROMOTING " HEALTHY COOPERATION " WITH FRANCE, SOUGHT INCREASED AID . " THEY ARE DUTY BOUND TO HELP US RECONSTRUCT, " HE SAID IN AN INTERVIEW WITH TIME CORRESPONDENT JAMES WILDE . " THIS WOULD HELP DISSIPATE ALL THAT WENT BEFORE . " FRANCE IS COMMITTED TO GIVE ALGERIA A MINIMUM OF $200 MILLION A YEAR FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS AND IS SPONSORING ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE COMMON MARKET . NEARLY 90 PER CENT OF THE 1,200,000 EUROPEANS WHO ONCE TENDED ALGERIA'S VINEYARDS AND RAN ITS BUSINESSES HAVE FLED (ALONG WITH SOME 200,000 JOB-SEEKING MOSLEMS), BUT OFFICIALS NOW ARE ANXIOUS TO LURE BACK TEACHERS, TECHNICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS TO HELP STRAIGHTEN OUT THE MESS . YEAR OF AUSTERITY . TO STRENGTHEN HIS SHAKY POSITION, BEN BELLA IS CLEARING THE FIELD OF OPPOSITION BY PERSUASION WHERE POSSIBLE, FORCE WHERE NECESSARY . HE HAS BANNED ALL PARTIES EXCEPT HIS NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (F.L.N.) . FORTNIGHT AGO, HE OUSTED EXTREME LEFTIST LEADERS OF THE 300,000-MEMBER GENERAL UNION OF ALGERIAN WORKERS BECAUSE THEY WERE RESISTING HIS RAPPROCHEMENT WITH FRANCE, REPLACED THEM WITH TRUSTED PRO-GOVERNMENT MEN . THOUGH THE PROBLEMS OF REGIONALISM AND MARAUDING GUERRILLAS STILL PLAGUE HIM, HE HAS MANAGED TO WIN OVER MOST OF THE HOSTILE TRIBAL CHIEFTAINS IN THE HINTERLANDS TO HIS SIDE . BEN BELLA'S BIGGEST PROBLEM BY FAR IS THE ECONOMY . THIS YEAR, HE SAID, WILL BE ONE " OF AUSTERITY, OF CONVALESCENCE . " TO SHOW THAT HE MEANS BUSINESS, HE PUSHED THROUGH A SKIN-AND-BONES BUDGET OF $564 MILLION, GIVING SOME MINISTRIES ONE-TENTH OF WHAT THEY HAD DEMANDED . HE ALSO PUT A $400-A-MONTH CEILING ON ALL GOVERNMENT SALARIES HIS OWN INCLUDED AND SLAPPED A 100 PER PER CENT TAX ON INCOME ABOVE $800 A MONTH . TO THE ASCETIC BEN BELLA, WHO LIVES IN A DINGY, THREE-ROOM BACHELOR FLAT WITH A NEPHEW WHO DOES ALL THE COOKING AND CLEANING, THAT SEEMS PERFECTLY REASONABLE . FOR THOSE WHO THINK OTHERWISE, HE HAS A STERN ANSWER . " THIS, " SAYS BEN BELLA, " IS THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE . "
 EGYPT SURPRISE AT SUEZ WHEN EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER GRABBED THE SUEZ CANAL 6F YEARS AGO, HIS BITTER ENEMIES IN EUROPE PREDICTED THAT THE BIG DITCH WOULD SOON BE FILLED WITH SILT AND THAT UNTRAINED EGYPTIAN PILOTS WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO STEER SHIPPING THROUGH SAFELY . THE CRITICS TURNED OUT TO BE WRONG ON BOTH COUNTS . EGYPT HAS WIDENED THE CANAL WITH BYPASSES PERMITTING THREE CONVOYS DAILY TO USE THE WATERWAY MORE EFFICIENTLY, AND DEEPENED IT SUFFICIENTLY TO ACCOMMODATE MOST OF THE WORLD'S TANKER FLEET . LAST YEAR 18,518 SHIPS TRAVELED THROUGH THE CANAL, 370 MORE THAN IN 1961 . FURTHER PLANS CALL FOR ADDITIONAL DEEPENING OF THE CANAL, AND MAKING IT TWO-WAY FOR ITS ENTIRE 102-MILE LENGTH . FORMER STOCKHOLDERS OF THE OLD SUEZ CANAL CO . WERE FIRMLY CONVINCED IN 1956 THAT THEY WOULD NEVER GET A CENT OUT OF THEIR NATIONALIZED INVESTMENT . BUT WITH 1962 REVENUE AT A WHOPPING $149.5 MILLION (45 PER CENT ABOVE 1955), NASSER'S CANAL OFFICIALS HAVE ANNOUNCED PAYMENT OF THE FINAL $11.4 MILLION INSTALLMENT ON THE $81.2 MILLION COMPENSATION DEBT . RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CANAL'S SUCCESS IS ITS EGYPTIAN BOSS, DYNAMIC, BALDING MAHMOUD YOUNIS, 50, A ONETIME ARMY ENGINEER AND A CLOSE FRIEND OF NASSER SINCE THE DAYS WHEN THEY SHARED AN OFFICE AT THE STAFF OFFICERS COLLEGE, EGYPT'S WEST POINT . THOUGH YOUNIS HAD NEVER SAILED SO MUCH AS A ROWBOAT, NASSER PICKED HIM TO RUN THE BUSY WATERWAY SHORTLY AFTER THE BRITISH AND FRENCH SHIP PILOTS WITHDREW FROM THE CANAL IN SEPTEMBER 1956 . AT FIRST, YOUNIS HAD AVAILABLE ONLY 26 TRAINED PILOTS OF THE 250 NORMALLY REQUIRED, BUT HE KEPT THE CANAL FUNCTIONING AROUND THE CLOCK . " I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SHIPS, " HE SAID . " BUT I DID KNOW A LOT ABOUT MOVEMENT CONTROL FROM THE ARMY . KEEPING THE SHIPS SHUTTLING BACK AND FORTH WAS A SIMPLE MATTER COMPARED WITH ORGANIZING A BATTLE . " YOUNIS TAKES GREAT PRIDE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS EGYPTIAN PILOTS . " THEY THOUGHT THAT ONLY EUROPEANS COULD RUN THE CANAL, BUT THEY WERE WRONG, " HE SAYS . " I HAVE NO INFERIORITY COMPLEXES . TO ME, MANAGEMENT IS A SCIENCE THAT ANYONE CAN MASTER . " U.S . SHIPPERS ARE FULL OF ADMIRATION FOR THE EFFICIENT SERVICE THEY GET IN YOUNIS' CANAL . TO THEM, HE SHRUGS, " IN THE U.S., YOU SAY THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT . WELL, THAT'S WHAT I SAY TOO . AND YOU ARE MY CUSTOMERS . "
 NATURE WINTER & MRS . WOOD FROM TOKYO TO TENNESSEE, FROM THE BALTIC TO THE BOSPORUS, A KILLER WINTER RAGED ACROSS MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD LAST WEEK . BLIZZARDS AND SAVAGE WINDS TOOK 300 LIVES IN EUROPE, AND ANOTHER 150 IN THE U.S . A SLASHING GALE CAPSIZED A FERRY IN THE KOREA STRAIT, CAUSING 137 DEATHS, AND AN AVALANCHE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL JAPAN ENTOMBED 19 PERSONS . THE THERMOMETER WAS PLAYING TRICKS . WHILE MOSCOW'S TEMPERATURE WAS 11O, THE MERCURY PLUMMETED TO FANTASTIC DEPTHS IN A BROAD SWATH ACROSS THE U.S . : -19O IN CLEVELAND, -30O IN PARTS OF KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE . THE U.S . WEATHER BUREAU BLAMED AMERICA'S FREEZE ON A " MEANDERING STRONG WIND CURRENT " FLOWING SOUTH FROM CANADA, OFFERED WHAT COMFORT IT COULD BY ANNOUNCING, " AS COLD AS IT IS, IT IS NOT AS SEVERE AS THE GREAT COLD WAVE OF 1899 . . E RECORD COLD SO THREATENED THE SURVIVAL OF SOUTHERN EUROPE'S MIGRATORY BIRDS THAT THE INTERNATIONAL HUNTING COUNCIL ASKED EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS TO BAN ALL HUNTING UNTIL THE SPRING THAW ; IN ITALY AND GERMANY, FISH HATCHERIES REPORTED WIDESPREAD LOSSES AS ICE CUT OFF THE OXYGEN SUPPLY OF BREEDING FISH . DYNAMITED DANUBE . IN THE BITTER COLD, MANY NATIONS SUFFERED ACUTE FUEL SHORTAGES . IN THE U.S., THE MAYOR OF HUNTSVILLE, ALA . DECLARED AN EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF RAPIDLY VANISHING NATURAL GAS SUPPLIES . THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED A 4,000-TRUCK COAL CONVOY TO BRING FUEL INTO FREEZING COMMUNITIES, AND THE NATION'S SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM WORSENED AS FARMS AND CONSTRUCTION FIRMS LAID OFF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WORKERS BECAUSE OF THE COLD . IN PARIS, THE FRENCH CABINET ORDERED THAT PRIORITY ON COAL DELIVERIES BE GIVEN TO THE AGED . AS YUGOSLAVIAN FACTORIES BEGAN TO SHUT DOWN FOR LACK OF HEAT, COAL MINERS WENT BACK INTO THE MINES ON SUNDAY . ROME'S CITY WATER AUTHORITY TOLD CONSUMERS TO LEAVE THEIR TAPS ON AT NIGHT TO PREVENT THEM FROM FREEZING ; IN LONDON, 1,600 FROZEN WATER MAINS BURST . MATERNITY NURSES IN A LONDON HOSPITAL HIT BY A POWER FAILURE KEPT INCUBATORS WARM BY POURING BOILING WATER INTO CONTAINERS AROUND THEM . TRANSPORTATION CAME TO A VIRTUAL STANDSTILL IN SOME HARD-HIT COUNTRIES . RECORD SNOWFALLS CANCELED NEARLY 2,000 TRAINS IN JAPAN, AND THE ORIENT EXPRESS WAS SNOWBOUND IN GREECE FOR 48 HOURS . TURKISH BORDER POSTS COULD ONLY BE SUPPLIED BY ARMY TANKS, AND NEARLY 300 SNOWBOUND COMMUNITIES IN THE ITALIAN APENNINES WERE CUT OFF FROM THEIR SUPPLIES . THREE FEET OF SNOW COVERED BULGARIA, AND IN GREECE ARMY UNITS ROAMED THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH HAY FOR STARVING LIVESTOCK . ICE CLOGGED BOTH THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE CANALS OF VENICE ; A BLIZZARD SNAPPED A POWER CABLE IN THE BOSPORUS, HALTING ALL SHIPPING BETWEEN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE BLACK SEA . ALONG THE FROZEN DANUBE, YUGOSLAV DYNAMITE CREWS BLASTED LANES FOR BOATS AND BARGES . SPECTACULAR OUTFIT . EVERY SORT OF BLIZZARD GEAR WAS WORN, BUT THE MOST SPECTACULAR OUTFIT WAS SPORTED BY DIANA WOOD, 35, PRETTY WIFE OF BRITAIN'S MINISTER OF POWER RICHARD WOOD . WHEN AN OUTBREAK OF POWER FAILURES BROUGHT A STORM OF COMPLAINTS TO THE POWER MINISTRY, MRS . WOOD HELPED RAISE AT LEAST SOME TEMPERATURES BY POSING FOR THE DAILY MAIL IN HER COLDWEATHER COSTUME : A TURTLENECK SWEATER, FISH-NET STOCKINGS, AND SKINTIGHT, BLACK WOOLEN KNEE-LENGTH PANTIES .
 INDIA BUYING TIME AFTER TWO DAYS OF BITTER DEBATE IN NEW DELHI'S LOK SABHA, THE INDIAN PARLIAMENT LAST WEEK APPROVED PRIME MINISTER NEHRU'S DECISION TO ACCEPT A NEUTRALIST PROPOSAL FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIA'S HIMALAYAN BORDER DISPUTE WITH RED CHINA PROVIDED THAT THE CHINESE ALSO AGREE TO THE NEUTRALS' PLAN IN TOTO . UNDER THE ARRANGEMENT DEVISED BY THE SIX NONALIGNED NATIONS GHANA, EGYPT, INDONESIA, BURMA, CAMBODIA AND CEYLON AT THE COLOMBO CONFERENCE LAST DECEMBER, THE CHINESE WILL BE FORCED TO WITHDRAW 12F MILES FROM THE PRESENT CEASE-FIRE LINE IN THE NORTHWESTERN HIMALAYAS . BUT THE RESULTANT DEMILITARIZED ZONE WILL STILL RECOGNIZE CHINA'S PRE-INVASION CLAIM TO 14,000 SQ . MI . OF INDIAN TERRITORY IN LADAKH . BY HIS WILLINGNESS TO NEGOTIATE ON THESE TERMS, NEHRU HOPES TO STALL THE CHINESE AT THE CONFERENCE TABLE UNTIL HE CAN GET MORE MILITARY AID FROM THE WEST . RECENTLY, NEHRU REPEATED HIS URGENT REQUEST TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY THAT A JOINT WESTERN AIR MISSION " GET HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE / TO STUDY PLANS FOR THE AIR DEFENSE OF INDIA . DUE IN NEW DELHI THIS WEEK IS A TEAM OF U.S ., BRITISH, CANADIAN AND AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE OFFICERS . FORESEEN IS THE LENGTHENING OF INDIAN RUNWAYS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RADAR NETWORK SO THAT WESTERN INTERCEPTOR SQUADRONS, COMPLETE WITH PILOTS AND GROUND PERSONNEL, CAN MOVE INTO INDIA TO PROVIDE A PROTECTIVE AIR UMBRELLA OVER ITS CITIES . THE IDEA WOULD NOT QUITE CONSTITUTE A MILITARY ALLIANCE, BUT IT WOULD SURELY BE INDIA'S MOST DECISIVE STEP AWAY FROM NEUTRALISM .
 EUROPE A NEW & OBSCURE DESTINATION IN AN ALLIANCE IN WHICH PARTNERS HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY MINDFUL OF ONE ANOTHER'S SENSITIVITIES, IN WHICH VICTORIES WERE TACTFULLY NOT CROWED OVER, AND TOGETHERNESS IN ITSELF WAS REGARDED AS A GOOD THING, CHARLES DE GAULLE LAST WEEK REMINDED THE WORLD OF WHAT ONE MAN WITH A WILL CAN DO . OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, ON HIS OWN PEOPLE AND ON THEIR NEIGHBORS, CHARLES DE GAULLE HAS PERFECTED HIS NATIVE TALENT FOR HANDING OUT RUDE SURPRISES . EMPLOYING THE LOFTY DISDAIN THAT USED TO INFURIATE ROOSEVELT, CHURCHILL AND STALIN, DE GAULLE SUCCEEDED IN INFURIATING KENNEDY, MACMILLAN AND A HOST OF OTHERS BY VETOING BRITAIN'S ADMISSION TO THE COMMON MARKET . HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN GENTLE ABOUT IT, ALLOWING NEGOTIATIONS TO SPUTTER OUT IN A CONFUSION OF DETAILS . HE CHOSE TO BE BLUNT AND HIS PURPOSE WAS NOT JUST TO SHUT OUT BRITAIN OR MERELY TO HUMILIATE HER . HE ALSO SHOOK THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE TO ITS ROOTS, SET OUT TO CONTEST ITS LEADERSHIP AND TO PUT IN QUESTION THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE U.S . IN EUROPE . FOR THE WEST ! HE CREATED A DRAMATIC HISTORICAL TURN, AN OBSCURE DESTINATION . DEAD MECHANISM . WESTERN EUROPE HEARD THE NEWS WITH ANGER AND DISMAY . WEST GERMANY'S ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD BLAMED DE GAULLE FOR A " BLACK DAY, " DECLARING THAT " THE COMMON MARKET IS NOW ONLY A MECHANISM AND NO LONGER A LIVING THING . " ALFRED MULLERARMACK, WEST GERMANY'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR AT BRUSSELS, QUIT HIS JOB IN DISGUST . JEAN MONNET, THE DYNAMIC OPTIMIST WHO IS THE FATHER OF THE COMMON MARKET, LAMENTED THAT " THERE NOW LOOMS DISUNION WITH ITS INHERENT DANGERS . " BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN TOLD HIS COUNTRY ON TV : " WHAT HAPPENED AT BRUSSELS WAS BAD . BAD FOR US, BAD FOR EUROPE, BAD FOR THE WHOLE WORLD . " , " BRUTAL " WAS THE WORD HEARD MOST OFTEN IN WHITEHALL AND AROUND THE WHITE HOUSE TO DESCRIBE DE GAULLE'S BEHAVIOR . ARCHITECT OR AT LEAST CO-DESIGNERS OF THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE, U.S . POLICYMAKERS WERE PLUNGED INTO GLOOM . " MOST UNFORTUNATE, " SAID THE STATE DEPARTMENT . IN CONGRESS THERE WERE REVIVED MUTTERINGS ABOUT THE INEFFICACY OF FOREIGN AID AND THE INGRATITUDE OF ALLIES . ARKANSAS' SENATOR WILLIAM FULBRIGHT TALKED OF THE " TEMPORARY ABERRATION " OF THE MAN . A NATION THAT HAD HOPED TO BE IN A POSITION TO PROFIT FROM THE COMMUNIST SPLIT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND RED CHINA FOUND A DEEP CREVICE OPENING AT ITS FEET . AND THOUGH THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION DID NOT SPEAK OF AN " AGONIZING REAPPRAISAL " OF ITS RELATIONS WITH A RECALCITRANT FRANCE AS JOHN FOSTER DULLES ONCE HAD U.S . MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC POLICY TOWARD EUROPE WAS PLAINLY IN NEED OF ONE . COMMUNITY TWILIGHT . EXCEPT FOR A GLOW OF PRIDE, TEMPERED WITH NERVOUS CONCERN, AMONG SOME FRENCHMEN, THE ONLY CHEERFUL VOICES WERE BEING RAISED IN MOSCOW, WHERE SOVIET IDEOLOGISTS SUDDENLY THOUGHT THEY SAW CONFIRMATION OF THE HOARY MARXIST-LENINIST TENET THAT CAPITALIST COUNTRIES WILL INEVITABLY BE DESTROYED BY THEIR " INNER CONTRADICTIONS . " CRIED A RUSSIAN SPOKESMAN : " THIS IS THE TWILIGHT OF THE SO-CALLED EUROPEAN COMMUNITY . A DIFFICULT NAVIGATION NOW AWAITS THE AMERICAN SHIP OF STATE . " NOT JUST THE FACT OF WHAT CHARLES DE GAULLE HAD ALREADY DONE TORMENTED HIS ALLIES : IT WAS WHAT HE MIGHT YET DO . AND THEY SEARCHED HIS PRESCIENT PRONOUNCEMENTS FROM THE PAST (SEE BOX) FOR CLUES . FOR 20 YEARS THE U.S . HAS BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO LEAD THE FREE WORLD, AND IN THAT TIME WESTERN EUROPE ROSE FROM THE ASHES BEHIND A SHIELD OF U.S MEN AND MONEY . FRANCE ITSELF HAS RECEIVED $9.5 BILLION IN OUTRIGHT AID AND $1.8 BILLION IN LOANS SINCE 1945 . THERE HAVE OF COURSE BEEN DISPUTES AND DIFFERENCES OF OPINION, BUT UNTIL LAST WEEK, NO DIRECT CHALLENGE OF U.S . LEADERSHIP . WHAT THE U.S . NOW FACED WAS A PROPOSAL THAT EUROPE RALLY ROUND FRANCE TO CREATE A THIRD FORCE IN THE WORLD CAPABLE OF DEALING INDEPENDENTLY WITH BOTH THE U.S . AND RUSSIA . THIS HAD BEEN DE GAULLE'S PROCLAIMED GOAL FOR YEARS, BUT EVERYONE HAD COUNTED ON HIS OWN REALISTIC APPRECIATION OF THE INCREASING GAINS TO FRANCE AND EUROPE OF THE CURRENT COURSE OF ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP . IT WAS A CROWNING IRONY THAT DE GAULLE'S EFFORT TO GIVE EUROPE A NEW VOICE, DIRECTION AND SELF-ASSURANCE IS PRECISELY WHAT THE U.S . HAS BEEN TRYING TO DO EVER SINCE WORLD WAR II . BUT THE U.S . HARDLY EXPECTED THINGS TO WORK OUT QUITE THIS WAY . PICTURES IN THE LOUVRE . THAT THEY DID IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ONE MAN CHARLES ANDRE MARIE JOSEPH DE GAULLE, 72 . HIS ABILITY TO BRING A SKILLFUL INFLUENCE TO BEAR UPON EVENTS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO SEND A BELIEVER IN IMPERSONAL HISTORICAL DETERMINISM BACK TO HIS BOOKS . TALL AND UNGAINLY, SO DIM-EYED THAT HE CONSTANTLY STUMBLES, SO SELDOM A LISTENER THAT HE SEEMS DEAF, DE GAULLE SHOULD BE A FIGURE OF FUN (AND SOMETIMES IS), BUT THE GREATNESS IN THE MAN USUALLY SURVIVES THE MOCKERY . HIS MIND IS LIKE THE LOUVRE, FILLED WITH BATTLE PICTURES IN WHICH THE FRENCH ARE ALWAYS WINNING ; HIS HEART THROBS WITH SIMPLE EMOTIONS LABELED PATRIE, DIEU, GLOIRE, AND HE HAS A GIFT FOR PROPHECY THAT IS MORE OLD TESTAMENT THAN 20TH CENTURY MODERN . DE GAULLE'S FAULTS ARE COMMON TO MANY MEN HE IS BULLHEADED, ARROGANT, TOUCHY, MORE RESPONSIVE TO FLATTERY THAN CRITICISM, INSUFFERABLY PROUD OF HIS INTELLECT AND INSIGHT . HIS VIRTUES, HOWEVER, ARE RARE IN ANY AGE, AND ARE SUMMED UP IN THE WORD CHARACTER . WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK IN BRUSSELS WAS A HEAD-ON COLLISION BETWEEN CHARLES DE GAULLE'S DESIGN FOR EUROPE AND THE WIDER, WORLD-EMBRACING ATLANTIC POLICY FOLLOWED BY THE LAST THREE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS AND BY MOST OF THE PARLIAMENTARIANS OF EUROPE . LOFTED UMBRELLA . THE U.S . ATTITUDE, ON WHICH ONE PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER HUNG THE AMBITIOUS PHRASE " GRAND DESIGN, " IS TO ACCEPT AND WORK FOR THE CONCEPT OF A STRONG, UNITED EUROPE LINKED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTH AMERICA, BOTH ACTING TOGETHER TO RAISE THE LIVING STANDARDS AND SECURE THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS OF AFRICA, ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA . TO MAKE THIS DESIGN ENDURING, THE U.S . INSISTED THAT BRITAIN BECOME A MEMBER OF THE COMMON MARKET, FOLLOWED BY THE SCANDINAVIAN AND OTHER NATO COUNTRIES . THE DEFENSE OF THIS GRAND DESIGN WOULD BE TWOFOLD : CONVENTIONAL ARMS AND ARMIES SUPPLIED BY EUROPE, AND THE NUCLEAR UMBRELLA HELD ALOFT BY THE U.S . DE GAULLE'S EUROPEAN DESIGN IS INTROVERTED, SMALLER, AND DEPENDENT MORE ON AUDACITY AND CLEVERNESS THAN ON SHEER POWER . IN EFFECT, IT REPRESENTS ANOTHER OF THE HISTORIC EFFORTS TO CREATE A UNIFIED EUROPE UNDER FRENCH LEADERSHIP AN AMBITION THAT WAS PURSUED IN THE PAST BY CHARLEMAGNE, LOUIS XIV, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND NAPOLEON III . TO DE GAULLE, EUROPE'S RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS ARE NOT BARRIERS, BUT THE OCEANS ARE . SINCE 1940 HE HAS DREAMED OF PERSUADING THE " STATES ALONG THE RHINE, THE ALPS AND THE PYRENEES TO FORM A POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC BLOC ; TO ESTABLISH THIS ORGANIZATION AS ONE OF THE THREE WORLD POWERS, AND, SHOULD PICKUP STRATEGIC BLOC ; TO ESTABLISH THIS ORGANIZATION AS ONE OF THE THREE WORLD POWERS, AND, SHOULD IT BECOME NECESSARY, AS THE ARBITER BETWEEN THE SOVIET AND THE ANGLOAMERICAN CAMPS . " GARGANTUAN STOCKS . CONCEIVABLY, DE GAULLE AT ONE POINT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WEANED AWAY FROM HIS DREAM . WHEN HE RETURNED TO POWER IN 1958 TO LEAD A FRANCE STILL RIVEN BY THE ALGERIAN WAR, HE DEMANDED ADMISSION TO A THREE-POWER DIRECTORATE OF NATO, BUT THE IDEA WAS BLACKBALLED BY EISENHOWER AND MACMILLAN . HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN AS INTRANSIGENT AS A CO-DIRECTOR AS HE HAS BEEN WITHOUT BECOMING ONE . SINCE THEN, HE PROGRESSIVELY WITHDREW FRENCH GROUND AND NAVAL FORCES FROM NATO COMMANDS, BANISHED U.S . NUCLEAR WARHEADS FROM FRENCH SOIL, AND SANK BILLIONS OF FRANCS INTO A CRASH PROGRAM TO CREATE A NUCLEAR FORCE DE FRAPPE OF HIS OWN . AS OF LAST WEEK THE FORCE DE FRAPPE CONSISTED OF A HANDFUL OF ATOM BOMBS AND A DELIVERY SYSTEM OF EXACTLY FOUR MIRAGE IV JETS, EXTREMELY FAST (MACH 2), HIGHALTITUDE, TWO-SEAT LIGHT BOMBERS . THE MIRAGE IV'S RADIUS IS ONLY 1,000 MILES . ADMITTEDLY THE FORCE DE FRAPPE IS A MODEST OPERATION AND ONE THAT COULD SWIFTLY BE KNOCKED OUT OF THE AIR, EVEN WHEN, BY 1965, THE FRENCH HOPE TO HAVE 350 PLANES CAPABLE OF CARRYING ATOMIC WEAPONS . DE GAULLE CONCEDES THAT HIS NUCLEAR WEAPONRY WILL NEVER MATCH THE GARGANTUAN AND LETHAL STOCKPILES OF RUSSIA AND THE U.S . BUT HE THINKS THAT IT IS BIG ENOUGH AND MURDEROUS ENOUGH TO GIVE ANY POTENTIAL AGGRESSOR PAUSE AND BESIDES, IT IS HIS OWN . UNFIT ISLANDERS . IN DE GAULLE'S EUROPE, FRANCE IS FIRST, GERMANY SECOND, AND THE REST NOWHERE THEY CAN TAG ALONG RESPECTFULLY AS CAMP FOLLOWERS, WITH LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OR VOICE THAN TINY LUXEMBOURG . BRITAIN IS REJECTED AS UNFIT ECONOMICALLY OR POLITICALLY TO JOIN THIS BAND OF CONTINENTAL BROTHERS BECAUSE IT 1) IS AN OFFSHORE ISLAND, AND 2) HAS " SPECIAL TIES " WITH THE U.S . AND THE COMMONWEALTH . TO DE GAULLE'S JAUNDICED EYE, THE BRITISH ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE COMMON MARKET WAS SIMPLY A TROJAN HORSE MANEUVER (AN EXPRESSION USED WITH SUSPICIOUS FREQUENCY IN PARISIAN EDITORIALS AND SALONS LAST WEEK) STAGED BY WASHINGTON TO MAKE SURE THAT THE U.S . DOMINATION OF EUROPE WOULD NOT BE FRUSTRATED . BRITAIN DID MUCH TO ARRANGE HER OWN FATE . IN 1950, LONDON WAS OFFERED MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY AND REFUSED . SEVEN YEARS LATER, LONDON WAS INVITED TO JOIN IN THE FOUNDING OF THE COMMON MARKET, AND AGAIN REFUSED . AS THE COMMON MARKET GOT UNDER WAY, BRITAIN TRIED TO CRIPPLE IT BY SETTING UP ITS OWN RAGTAG RIVAL BLOC, THE SEVEN-NATION EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION (WITH AUSTRIA, DENMARK, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND) . BUT THE RUNAWAY ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF THE COMMON MARKET CAUSED BRITAIN'S CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT TO REVERSE ITSELF, AND, IN AUGUST 1961, BRITAIN PENITENTLY APPLIED FOR THE MEMBERSHIP IT HAD ONCE SPURNED . IT ASKED FOR FULL, NOT ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP, WITH ALL THAT THIS IMPLIED IN DECLARING ITSELF EUROPEAN . THE APPLICATION MIGHT HAVE BEEN RECEIVED IN BRUSSELS, DE GAULLE INSISTED THAT BRITAIN BRING IT TO PARIS INSTEAD . / MATTER OF DAYS . " DURING THE SLOW FIRST YEAR OF THE BRUSSELS NEGOTIATIONS, DE GAULLE WAS NOT ACTIVELY IN OPPOSITION . BUT HE SOON MADE IT CLEAR HE CONSIDERED THE BRITISH AS SUPPLIANTS, NOT EQUALS :. THEY COULD NOT HOPE TO CHANGE THE RULES AS A CONDITION OF JOINING THE CLUB . THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS RANGED FROM SUCH OBSCURE ITEMS AS THE TARIFF ON KIPS AND PIGMEAT TO IMPORTANT ONES CONCERNING FUTURE TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND . BY LAST MONTH, OF MORE THAN 2,500 BIG AND SMALL QUESTIONS, ALL BUT 26 HAD BEEN AMICABLY RESOLVED . BRITAIN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, EDWARD HEATH, WAS SO OPTIMISTIC THAT ON JAN . 21 HE CONFIDENTLY TOLD A U.S . OFFICIAL : " IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS BEFORE THE QUESTION IS SETTLED IN OUR FAVOR . THIS WAS BRAVE BUT FOOLHARDY DISREGARD OF THE IMPERIOUS NON UTTERED JUST A WEEK BEFORE IN DE GAULLE'S CELEBRATED PRESS CONFERENCE, THE THEATRICAL SHOCKER IN WHICH THE " INSULAR, MARITIME " BRITISH WERE HAUGHTILY TOLD TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO " EUROPEANS " BEFORE JOINING THE COMMON MARKET . DE GAULLE HAS LONG BEEN SUSPICIOUS OF BRITAIN'S CLOSE TIES WITH THE U.S., AND SUSPECTS THAT SECRETS CAN BE EXCHANGED IN THE COMMON ENGLISH LANGUAGE . BUT DE GAULLE'S DETERMINATION TO VETO BRITAIN'S MEMBERSHIP APPARENTLY CAME JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WHEN THE NEWS ARRIVED OF THE KENNEDY-MACMILLAN MEETING AT NASSAU . AT NASSAU, BRITAIN GOT FORMAL WORD THAT THE U.S . WOULD NOT SUPPLY IT WITH SKYBOLT, THE AIRBORNE MISSILE ON WHICH THE BRITISH HAD PINNED ALL THEIR HOPES FOR DELIVERING THEIR NUCLEAR DETERRENT . SKYBOLT SHATTERED THE BRITISH, AND DISQUIETED THE FRENCH AS WELL, SINCE IT WAS REGARDED AS PROOF THAT NUCLEAR DEPENDENCE ON ANOTHER POWER WAS RISKY . IF THE U.S . COULD TREAT IN THAT FASHION AN ALLY TO WHOM IT WAS TIED BY BLOOD, LANGUAGE AND TRADITION, WHAT COULD FRANCE EXPECT ? DE GAULLE WAS FURTHER ANGERED BY MACMILLAN'S AGREEMENT TO SHARE POLARIS WITH THE U.S . INSTEAD OF MOVING TO SHARE NUCLEAR KNOWLEDGE WITH FRANCE . THAT WAS WHEN THE PHRASE " TROJAN HORSE " FIRST BEGAN TO BE USED IN PARIS . OVERNIGHT CASE . BRUSSELS, THE SCENE OF BRITAIN'S DASHED HOPES LAST WEEK, IS A DOUR, NEON-LIT OLD MAID OF A CITY . ON MONDAY, THE COBBLED STREETS WERE SLIMY WITH BLACK SLUSH AND BLANKETED WITH CHILLING FOG AS BRITAIN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, EDWARD HEATH, ARRIVED WITH HIS AIDES, MINISTER FOR COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS DUNCAN SANDYS AND AGRICULTURE MINISTER CHRISTOPHER SOAMES . THE FRENCH, WITH A FINE SENSE OF ECONOMY, TRAVELED LIGHT ; ONLY LUXEMBOURG'S FOUR-MAN DELEGATION WAS SMALLER . FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE MURVILLE BROUGHT ONLY AN OVERNIGHT CASE, FOR HE KNEW THAT HE WOULD NOT BE STAYING LONG . COUVE ARRIVED AN HOUR LATE FOR THE START OF THE MEETING AT QUATRE BRAS, THE MODERN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING . NEWSMEN'S QUESTIONS TO HIM DIED IN THE AIR AT THE GRIM SET OF THE FRENCHMAN'S FACE . A PATH TWO FEET WIDE MIRACULOUSLY PARTED THE CROWD AND, LIKE AN APPARITION OR A LEPER COUVE MOVED UNMOLESTED TO THE ELEVATOR . WHEN THE DELEGATES EMERGED FROM THE MEETING AT MIDNIGHT, WEST GERMANY'S ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, A STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF BRITAIN, GRUNTED, " WE MADE ONLY LINGUISTIC PROGRESS . " A FRENCH DELEGATE LIGHTLY ADDED, " IF WE REACH AN AGREEMENT, IT WILL BE BASED ON A MISUNDERSTANDING . " ON TUESDAY MORNING, U.S . AMBASSADOR JOHN TUTHILL HURRIED AROUND TO THE DELEGATIONS TO DELIVER A LASTMINUTE WARNING FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY, POINTING OUT THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES OF A BREAKDOWN IN THE NEGOTIATIONS . THE SIX RECONVENED AT NOON TO HEAR THE WEST GERMAN PROPOSAL THAT WAS INTENDED TO SAVE FACE FOR EVERYONE BY POSTPONING A DECISION FOR TWO MONTHS . A STORMY DISCUSSION FOLLOWED, AND COUVE DE MURVILLE ICILY PROFESSED ASTONISHMENT THAT A PLAN COULD EVEN BE PROPOSED IN SUCH BAD PARLIAMENTARY FORM . MONSTROUS THING .  IN TURN, THE DELEGATES OF THE OTHER FIVE WARNED OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF A RUPTURE, BUT FRANCE'S COUVE DE MURVILLE WAS ADAMANT .  WALTER HALLSTEIN, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMON MARKET COMMISSION, TRIED TO CHANGE THE WORDING OF THE PROPOSAL TO MAKE IT MORE ACCEPTABLE TO THE FRENCH .  HE FAILED .  THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO BUT SUMMON HEATH TO HEAR THE FINAL VERDICT .  EACH HEAD OF DELEGATION READ A PREPARED STATEMENT .  BELGIUM'S SPAAK CALLED THE RUPTURE A "MONSTROUS THING ." DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER JOSEPH LUNS WAS EQUALLY BITTER, WHILE GERMANY'S SCHRODER POINTEDLY TOLD THE FRENCH THAT THE BUNDESTAG HAD ONLY RATIFIED THE TREATY OF ROME IN THE FIRST PLACE ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT WOULD BE WIDENED TO EMBRACE NEW MEMBERS .  THEN AT LAST IT WAS COUVE DE MURVILLE'S TURN .  COUVE, A BRILLIANT, CIVILIZED, HIGHLY TRAINED DIPLOMATIST, WHO AMONG HIS COLLEAGUES WOULD USUALLY BE SEEKING ANY NEW AVENUE OF COMPROMISE, WAS NOW PLAINLY LITTLE MORE THAN A MESSENGER BOY FOR LE GRAND CHARLES .  "IT IS BEING SAID THAT WE BROKE OFF THE NEGOTIATIONS," HE DECLARED .  "IN REALITY, OUR RESPONSIBILITY HAS BEEN THAT OF MAKING CLEAR THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEEN TAKING PLACE IN A VACUUM SINCE OCTOBER, AND OF HAVING SAID THAT IT IS PREFERABLE TO FACE THE FACTS .  THEN HE ECHOED THE BOSS AGAIN . WHEN BRITAIN CAN ACCEPT ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE TREATY OF ROME, NOTHING CAN STOP HER FROM ENTERING THE COMMON MARKET .  BUT IT IS UPON HER AND NOT ON US THAT THE BURDEN OF PROOF LIES .  IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE LATE IN THE DAY, BUT MANY AT THE TABLE THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL HAD HEATH GIVEN IN ENTIRELY AT THIS POINT AND TAKEN COUVE UP ON HIS OFFER WITH NO MORE HAGGLING .  BUT THE BRITON LIMITED HIMSELF TO A DISPASSIONATE REBUTTAL .  "IT HAS BEEN CONTENDED," HE SAID ,"THAT BRITAIN IS NOT EUROPEAN ENOUGH .  THERE ARE MANY MILLIONS IN EUROPE WHO KNOW PERFECTLY WELL HOW EUROPEAN BRITAIN HAS BEEN IN THE PAST AND ARE GRATEFUL FOR IT ."  ADDED HEATH :"THE TRUTH IS THAT SOME PEOPLE REGARDED THE NEGOTIATIONS AS BEING TOO CLOSE TO SUCCESS, THOUGH THEY GAVE OTHER REASONS FOR BREAKING THEM OFF ."  WHEN HE STOPPED SPEAKING, ALL THE DELEGATES CROWDED AROUND TO SHAKE HIS HAND ALL BUT FRANCE'S MEN, WHO LEFT UNSMILING .  FIVE STATELESS ONES .  THE COMMON MARKET AS IT NOW EXISTS OFFERS A SUPERB INSTRUMENT FOR DE GAULLE'S STRONG HAND TO WIELD, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS CONTEMPTUOUS OF IT AT THE START, AND DISMISSES THE EUROCRATS WHO WORK FOR IT AS LES APATRIDES, THE STATELESS ONES . AFTER FIVE YEARS OF OPERATION ITS GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT STANDS AT $210 BILLION, AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION HAS SOARED 40 PER CENT . THE COMMON MARKET POURED ALMOST 80 MILLION TONS OF STEEL LAST YEAR (COMPARED WITH THE U.S .'S 98 MILLION TONS), AND IS THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST AUTOMOBILE MAKER . AS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TRADER, THE COMMON MARKET IS FIRST IN IMPORTS, SECOND ONLY TO THE U.S . IN EXPORTS . SINCE 1958, IMPORTS FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD HAVE RISEN 39 PER CENT, THOSE FROM THE U.S . A GIANT 59 PER CENT, THUS AIDING WASHINGTON'S DESPERATE BALANCE-OF-PAYMENT PROBLEMS . THE QUESTION MOST ASKED LAST WEEK WAS WHETHER THE OTHER FIVE WEST GERMANY, ITALY AND THE BENELUX COUNTRIES WOULD PERMIT LE GRAND CHARLES TO MAKE THE MARKET HIS DEVICE FOR POWER . WHAT DE GAULLE HAS DEMONSTRATED IS THAT HE CAN BLACKBALL ANY NATION HE DOES NOT WANT IN THE COMMON MARKET ("FRENCH SHOULDERS ARE BROAD ENOUGH TO BEAR THE BURDEN," SAID A SPOKESMAN) . BUT DE GAULLE HAS YET TO SHOW THAT HE CAN REMAKE EUROPE IN FRANCE'S IMAGE . BRITAIN AND THE U.S . ARE BETTING THAT HE NEVER WILL . INDEED, THE UNANIMOUS OUTCRY FROM THE OTHER FIVE COMMON MARKET NATIONS LAST WEEK WAS AMPLE TESTIMONY THAT THEY ARE CURRENTLY DETERMINED TO RESIST FRANCE'S GRASP FOR LEADERSHIP . LAST WEEK THE FIVE ABRUPTLY FORCED POSTPONEMENT OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMON MARKET FINANCE MINISTERS CALLED BY THE FRENCH TO INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT OF U.S . INVESTMENT IN EUROPE, A PET HATE OF DE GAULLE'S THESE DAYS . THIS REBUFF DISTURBED FRENCH MINISTER OF FINANCE VALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING NOT AT ALL . HE REPORTEDLY REMARKED THAT THE FIVE HAD MERELY DEPRIVED HIM OF HIS DESSERT MEANING, PRESUMABLY, THAT FRANCE HAD ALREADY ENJOYED THE BRITISH LION FOR BREAKFAST . THE FIVE HAVE ALSO SHOWN SIGNS OF BLOCKING OTHER FRENCH PROJECTS, E.G ., ALGERIA'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE SIX . SHARP DIVISIONS . BUT AS THE INITIAL AND GENUINE ANGER DIMINISHED, THERE WAS A QUESTION WHETHER THE SMALLER COUNTRIES, IN THEIR ANXIETY TO BRING BRITAIN IN AS A POLITICAL COUNTERBALANCE TO FRANCE AND GERMANY, WOULD BE WILLING TO ENDANGER THE COMMON MARKET ITSELF . THEIR ECONOMIES ARE SO DEPENDENT ON THE MARKET AS A TRADING PARTNER THAT IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT ANY OF THEM WOULD BE ABLE TO SEPARATE OUT THEIR OWN MARBLES TO TAKE THEM HOME . IT IS WEST GERMANY'S SUPPORT THAT CHARLES DE GAULLE NEEDS TO WIN THE WHIPHAND OVER EUROPE . HE HAD A STALWART PARTNER IN 87-YEAR-OLD CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER, THE RHINELANDER WHOSE LIFELONG DREAM HAS BEEN FRANCO-GERMAN RAPPROCHEMENT . AS IT HAPPENED, ADENAUER ARRIVED IN THE ELYSEE PALACE LAST MONTH TO SIGN THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION WITH FRANCE AT THE VERY TIME WHEN DE GAULLE HAD SPRUNG HIS LARGE SCHEME ON EUROPE . BY ALL ACCOUNTS, ADENAUER DID NOT FULLY REALIZE THAT THE DOCUMENT HE HAD SIGNED WAS THE REINFORCING SEAL OF DOOM FOR BRITAIN'S MEMBERSHIP IN EUROPE AND THAT HE WAS NOW PUT AT ODDS WITH THE U.S . SCHEME OF THINGS . AT THE CEREMONY IN PARIS, ADENAUER GENTLY ASKED DE GAULLE NOT TO FORCE THE GERMANS INTO THE AWKWARD POSITION OF CHOOSING BETWEEN THE U.S . AND FRANCE . TUT, TUT, REPLIED DE GAULLE REASSURINGLY, "FRANCE HAS NO INTENTION OF PUTTING GERMANY INTO A POSITION WHERE SUCH A CHOICE WOULD BE NECESSARY . DESERVED WHIPPINGS . WHATEVER KONRAD ADENAUER DESIRES, HE IS NO LONGER UNDISPUTED MASTER AT HOME . WITH ECONOMICS MINISTER (AND POSSIBLE NEXT CHANCELLOR) LUDWIG ERHARD THREATENING TO RESIGN IF THE ADENAUER-DE GAULLE TREATY IS RATIFIED BEFORE CONCESSIONS ARE GRANTED IN THE COMMON MARKET, WEST GERMANY'S SUPPORT FOR LE GRAND CHARLES IS IN JEOPARDY INDEED . ALREADY LEADERS OF OPPOSITION FACTIONS IN THE BUNDESTAG HAVE WARNED THAT THEY WOULD BLOCK RATIFICATION OF THE FRANCO-GERMAN TREATY . IT WAS A MEASURE OF DE GAULLE'S RAPID RISE OF PRESTIGE THAT ALL THE GERMAN PAPERS POSED THE MATTER AS A QUESTION OF CHOOSING BETWEEN THE U.S . AND FRANCE . MOST, UNDERSTANDABLY, CHOSE THE U.S . THE INFLUENTIAL PROTESTATION IN WASHINGTON RESTS ON ITS FIRM LOYALTY TO AN AMERICAN-LED NATO . THE AMERICANS WILL SOONER OR LATER WITHDRAW FROM THE CONTINENT IF THEY GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC FAILED TO OPPOSE DE GAULLE'S INTENTION TO UNDERMINE NATO FROM WITHIN . SIBYLLINE DELIGHTS . LE FIGARO'S GIFTED COMMENTATOR RAYMOND ARON, WHOSE ADMIRATION FOR DE GAULLE IS QUALIFIED, REMARKED LAST WEEK THAT HE IS CONVINCED THAT THE GENERAL TAKES "LONELY PLEASURE IN THE SPECTACLE OF THE ARGUMENTS HE CAUSES ." WHAT DISTURBS MANY AMERICANS IS NOT DE GAULLE'S EFFORT TO ASSERT A REVIVING CONTINENT'S STRENGTH, BUT HIS FUTURE PLANS FOR EUROPE . AND WHAT DISTURBS MANY CONTINENTALS IS DE GAULLE'S READINESS TO BE FAR MORE DISREGARDING OF THEIR SENSIBILITIES THAN THE U.S . HAS BEEN . A DE GAULLE AGREEMENT TO CONSULT, AS ADENAUER AND OTHERS HAVE FOUND OUT, MEANS HIS WILLINGNESS TO GIVE THE OTHER PARTNER AN AUDIENCE TO HEAR DE GAULLE'S INTENTIONS . DE GAULLE ACCEPTS THE COMMITMENTS FRANCE ENTERED INTO WHILE HE WAS NOT IN POWER, BUT DISTORTS THEM TO FRANCE'S ADVANTAGE . AFTER VETOING BRITAIN, DE GAULLE LAST WEEK INVITED DANISH PREMIER JENS OTTO KRAG TO JOIN THE COMMON MARKET EITHER AS FULL MEMBER OR AS ASSOCIATE AN INVITATION THAT THE OTHER FIVE MEMBERS INDIGNANTLY THOUGHT WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL SIX TO EXTEND . KRAG'S OWN SURPRISED REACTION WAS TO SAY THAT DENMARK'S HOPES WERE "BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT BRITAIN WOULD JOIN THE COMMON MARKET ." SIMILARLY, THE OTHER PARTNERS WERE SUSPICIOUS OF DE GAULLE'S INTENSE SIDE CULTIVATION OF SPAIN LAST WEEK, AND HIS LONG PRIVATE TALKS WITH SOVIET AMBASSADOR SERGEI VINOGRADOV, WHO IN THE YEARS DE GAULLE WAS NOT IN POWER KEPT UP HIS CLOSE CONTACTS WITH HIM . LAST WEEK FRANCE SIGNED A BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA, CALLING FOR A 10 PER CENT INCREASE IN TRADE BETWEEN THE TWO POWERS . WILL DE GAULLE TAKE IT UPON HIMSELF TO NEGOTIATE SEPARATELY WITH THE SOVIET UNION ? HIS ANTI-COMMUNIST BONA FIDES HAS BEEN AMPLY PROVED BY HIS STANDS ON BERLIN AND CUBA, WHEN HE FIRMLY BACKED KENNEDY . THERE IS A STORY THAT, IN 1941, WHEN HITLER INVADED RUSSIA, DE GAULLE TOLD AN AIDE, " NOW WE MUST BEGIN THINKING OF STOPPING THE COMMUNIST PUSH IN EUROPE . " THE AIDE PROTESTED THAT THE PROSPECT SEEMED REMOTE, AND DE GAULLE REPLIED, " REMEMBER THESE HOURS . I OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES IN WHAT I DO, BUT NEVER IN WHAT I PREDICT . " ACTS, NOT WORDS . IN TALKING TO HIS FRIENDS, DE GAULLE MAKES IT PLAIN THAT HE THINKS THE SITUATION BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE WEST . HE ARGUES THAT THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT, THE ECONOMIC PULL OF WESTERN EUROPE, THE GRADUAL " BOURGEOISATION " OF RUSSIA ALL CONTRIBUTE TO TURNING THE COMMUNISTS, AND ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN EUROPEAN SATELLITES, WESTWARD . AND OUT OF THIS HE CONCEIVES OF SOME KIND OF EUROPEAN ARRANGEMENT, NEVER FULLY DEFINED, " STRETCHING FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE URALS . " HOLDING THIS VISION, DE GAULLE HAS NEVER RULED OUT NEGOTIATION WITH MOSCOW HE MERELY SETS THE CONDITION THAT THE RUSSIANS MUST FIRST PROVE THEMSELVES IN ACTS, NOT WORDS . THOSE WHO FEAR DE GAULLE'S INTENTIONS WONDER WHETHER HE WILL AT SOME FUTURE MOMENT CONSIDER A DISENGAGEMENT IN EUROPE IN WHICH THE 400,000 U.S . TROOPS WOULD GO HOME IN RETURN FOR A RUSSIAN PULL-OUT OF EASTERN EUROPE . THIS MAY BE ONE REASON WHY HE WANTS HIS OWN NUCLEAR FORCE . NO ONE IN THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY NO ONE IN AMERICA, CAN SAY WHETHER, WHERE, WHEN, HOW AND TO WHAT EXTENT AMERICAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED IN DEFENSE OF EUROPE . " AND, HE ARGUES, " IT IS INTOLERABLE FOR A GREAT STATE THAT HER FATE BE LEFT TO THE DECISIONS AND ACTION OF ANOTHER STATE, HOWEVER FRIENDLY SHE MAY BE . " IT IS A POWERFUL POINT, AND IS NOT FULLY MET BY OFFERING U.S . NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO A EUROPEAN NATO GROUP, SINCE THE FINAL DECISION TO LAUNCH ANY BOMBS WOULD STILL PRESUMABLY BE IN U.S . HANDS . PURGED BRITAIN . TIME WAS WHEN THE U.S . CALLED THE TUNE ON SUCH CRUCIAL QUESTIONS . DE GAULLE'S DRAMATIC ACTION RAISES THE QUESTION WHETHER THE U.S . CAN, OR SHOULD, CONTINUE TO DO SO INDEFINITELY . IN HIS FINAL WORDS TO HIS COMMON MARKET PARTNERS, FRANCE'S COUVE DE MURVILLE SOMBERLY EXPRESSED DE GAULLE'S THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER . " I WILL SAY ONCE AGAIN THAT WE ARE NOT SEEKING TO MAINTAIN A LARGE OR SMALL EUROPE, BUT TO KNOW IF THE EUROPE WE ARE CREATING IS A EUROPEAN EUROPE . " IN EFFECT, HE SEEMED TO BE SAYING : IF BRITAIN ONE DAY TRULY PURGED ITSELF OF ITS CLOSE AMERICAN CONNECTION, IT MIGHT PROVE ITSELF ELIGIBLE AT LAST, IN CHARLES DE GAULLE'S EYES, FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP . IRRITATING AS IT MIGHT BE, IT WAS AN IDEA WITH SOME FORCE . SO SYMPATHETIC A TRANSATLANTIC FIGURE AS BRITAIN'S VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, SPEAKING IN MANHATTAN FORTNIGHT AGO, GENTLY WARNED PRESIDENT KENNEDY NOT TO THINK THAT HE IS THE " COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE FORCES OF THE FREE WORLD . " IN FACT, SAID LORD HAILSHAM, " THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT HE IS NOT IF THE ALLIES TO WHICH HE IS BOUND ARE NOT TO BE DEPRIVED OF THE VERY INDEPENDENCE FOR WHICH THEY ARE PREPARED TO UNITE . " THE SUPERIORITY IN NUMBERS, WEALTH AND STRENGTH, AND THEREFORE IN INFLUENCE AND INITIATIVE, OF THE U.S., IS NOT IN QUESTION . NOR IS ITS INTEGRITY . . . (BUT) HAVE THE AMERICANS PAUSED TO REFLECT THAT AN ALLIANCE IN WHICH ALL THE ADVANCED AND SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES WERE LEFT TO ONE OF THE PARTNERS, AND THE REST WERE RELEGATED TO SUPPLY A COMPLEMENT OF CONVENTIONAL ARMS IN WAR, AND IN COMMERCE A MODEST CONTRIBUTION OF SCOTCH WHISKY AND COMPACT CARS . . . WOULD NOT ULTIMATELY SUCCEED IN RETAINING THE LOYALTY OF EUROPEAN ELECTORS ?
 AS A WRITER, CHARLES DE GAULLE HAS THE GIFT OF CLARITY, AS A POLITICIAN HE KNOWS THE USES OF AMBIGUITY, AND AS A STATESMAN HE HAS SHOWN REMARKABLE CONSISTENCY . FROM NEARLY 30 YEARS OF WRITINGS AND REMARKS COME THESE AFFIRMATIONS OF HIS ASPIRATIONS AND AMBITIONS : ON NATO ALLIANCES DO NOT SETTLE EVERYTHING . (1963) THE GLORY OF FRANCE OUR COUNTRY, WITH HER TINTED SKY, HER VARIED CONTOURS, HER FERTILE SOIL, OUR FIELDS FULL OF FINE CORN AND VINES AND LIVESTOCK, OUR INDUSTRY, OUR GIFTS OF INITIATIVE, ADAPTATION AND SELF-RESPECT, MAKE US, ABOVE ALL OTHERS, A RACE CREATED FOR BRILLIANT DEEDS . THE SWORD IS THE AXIS OF THE WORLD, AND GREATNESS CANNOT BE SHARED . (1934) . THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF ME TENDS TO IMAGINE FRANCE, LIKE THE PRINCESS IN THE STORIES OR THE MADONNA IN THE FRESCOES, AS DEDICATED TO AN EXALTED AND EXCEPTIONAL DESTINY . BUT THE POSITIVE SIDE OF MY MIND ALSO ASSURES ME THAT FRANCE IS NOT REALLY HERSELF UNLESS IN THE FRONT RANK ; THAT ONLY VAST ENTERPRISES ARE CAPABLE OF COUNTERBALANCING THE DIVISIVE FERMENTS WHICH ARE INHERENT IN HER PEOPLE . IN SHORT, TO MY MIND, FRANCE CANNOT BE FRANCE WITHOUT GREATNESS . (2955) . WHO IN GOOD FAITH CAN DISPUTE THE FACT THAT FRANCE MUST HELP TO BUILD WESTERN EUROPE INTO AN ORGANIZED UNION OF STATES SO THAT GRADUALLY THERE MAY BE ESTABLISHED THE MOST POWERFUL, PROSPEROUS AND INFLUENTIAL POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY COMPLEX IN THE WORLD ? (1962) FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE URALS THE EQUILIBRIUM OF EUROPE, THE GUARANTEE OF PEACE ALONG THE RHINE, THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE VISTULA, DANUBE AND BALKAN STATES, THE CREATION OF SOME FORM OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE PEOPLES ALL OVER THE WORLD TO WHOM WE HAVE OPENED THE DOORS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, AN ORGANIZATION OF NATIONS WHICH WILL BE SOMETHING MORE THAN AN ARENA FOR DISPUTES BETWEEN AMERICA AND RUSSIA THESE SURELY ARE OUR GREAT INTERESTS IN TOMORROW'S WORLD . (1944) . PERHAPS IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO RENEW FRANCO-RUSSIAN SOLIDARITY IN SOME FASHION, WHICH, EVEN IF REPEATEDLY BETRAYED AND REPUDIATED, REMAINS NO LESS A PART OF THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS BOTH WITH REGARD TO THE GERMAN DANGER AND THE ANGLO-SAXON EFFORTS TO ASSERT THEIR HEGEMONY . (1944) . I AM CONVINCED THAT IF FRANCE TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO SUMMON EUROPE TO ORGANIZE ITSELF, IN PARTICULAR WITH GERMAN HELP, THE WHOLE EUROPEAN ATMOSPHERE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE URALS WOULD BE CHANGED . (1950) THE AMERICANS IN THE MORTAL DANGERS WE FRENCH HAVE SURVIVED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY, THE U.S . HAS NOT GIVEN US THE IMPRESSION THAT IT REGARDS ITS OWN DESTINY AS LINKED WITH THAT OF FRANCE, THAT IT WISHES FRANCE TO BE GREAT AND STRONG, THAT IT IS DOING ALL IT CAN TO HELP HER TO REMAIN OR BECOME SO ONCE AGAIN . (1945) . THE ALLIANCE HAS BEEN BUILT ON THE BASIS OF INTEGRATION, IN WHICH THE DEFENSE OF EACH OF THE COUNTRIES OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE, APART FROM ENGLAND, HAS NO NATIONAL CHARACTER, IN WHICH IN FACT ALL IS COMMANDED BY THE AMERICANS, AND IT IS THE AMERICANS WHO DETERMINE THE USE OF YOUR ATOMIC WEAPONS . (1960) . THE AMERICAN INTEREST IS NOT ALWAYS THE FRENCH INTEREST . THIS WILL BE MORE AND MORE TRUE IN THE FUTURE, WHICH WILL GIVE EUROPE A GREATER AND GREATER WEIGHT, AND WHICH WILL THEREFORE CONTRIBUTE TO DIMINISHING THE RELATIVE WEIGHT OF THE U.S . (1963) . FOLLOWING BRITAIN, OTHER STATES WOULD WANT TO ENTER THE COMMON MARKET . IN THE END THERE WOULD APPEAR A COLOSSAL ATLANTIC COMMUNITY UNDER AMERICAN DEPENDENCE AND LEADERSHIP, WHICH WOULD SOON COMPLETELY SWALLOW UP THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY . (1963) BRITAIN & EUROPE ENGLAND AND FRANCE WILL TOGETHER CREATE PEACE, AS TWICE IN 30 YEARS THEY HAVE TOGETHER CONFRONTED WAR . (1944) . ENGLAND HAS TURNED OVER TO THE AMERICANS WHAT MEAGER ATOMIC FORCES SHE HAD . SHE COULD HAVE TURNED THEM OVER TO EUROPE . THUS SHE HAS MADE HER CHOICE . I AM DISTRESSED TO SEE ENGLAND ALIGN HERSELF WITH THE U.S., FOR SHE RISKS ACTING LIKE THEIR TRAVELING SALESMAN . THE ENGLISH WILL NO DOUBT ENTER THE COMMON MARKET, PERHAPS IN 50 YEARS, AND I WILL WITHOUT DOUBT NO LONGER BE HERE . (1963) THIRD FORCE I HAVE SOUGHT TO ASSURE FRANCE PRIMACY IN WESTERN EUROPE BY PREVENTING THE RISE OF A NEW REICH THAT MIGHT AGAIN THREATEN ITS SAFETY ; TO COOPERATE WITH EAST AND WEST AND, IF NEED BE, CONTRACT THE NECESSARY ALLIANCES ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER WITHOUT EVER ACCEPTING ANY KIND OF DEPENDENCY ; TO PERSUADE THE STATES ALONG THE RHINE, THE ALPS AND THE PYRENEES TO FORM A POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC BLOC ; TO ESTABLISH THIS ORGANIZATION AS ONE OF THE THREE WORLD POWERS AND, IF NECESSARY, AS THE ARBITER BETWEEN THE SOVIET AND ANGLO-AMERICAN CAMPS . SINCE 1940, MY EVERY WORD AND DEED HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO ESTABLISHING THESE POSSIBILITIES . (1955) . ONLY FRANCE KNOWS THAT PEACE OR WAR WILL BE DECIDED IN EUROPE . YES, IT IS EUROPE, IT IS ALL EUROPE THAT WILL DECIDE THE DESTINY OF THE WORLD . IF THE PEOPLES OF EUROPE, ON WHICHEVER SIDE OF THE CURTAIN THEY FIND THEMSELVES, WANT TO ESTABLISH CONCORD AMONG THEMSELVES, THEN PEACE WILL BE ASSURED . BUT IF EUROPE REMAINS DIVIDED IN TWO OPPOSED FACTIONS, WAR WILL SOONER OR LATER DESTROY THE HUMAN RACE . (1959) . WHO CAN SAY WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING ? WHO CAN SAY THAT, IN THE FUTURE, IF THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND SHOULD CHANGE COMPLETELY, THE TWO POWERS (THE U.S . AND RUSSIA) THAT HAVE THE NUCLEAR MONOPOLY WILL NOT AGREE TO DIVIDE THE WORLD ? WHO CAN SAY THAT IF THE OCCASION ARISES, EACH OF THE TWO, WHILE DECIDING NOT TO LAUNCH ITS MISSILES AT THE MAIN ENEMY, SO THAT IT MIGHT ITSELF BE SPARED, WILL NOT CRUSH THE OTHERS ? IT IS POSSIBLE TO IMAGINE THAT, ON SOME AWFUL DAY, WESTERN EUROPE WOULD BE WIPED OUT FROM MOSCOW AND CENTRAL EUROPE FROM WASHINGTON . AND WHO CAN EVEN SAY THAT THE TWO RIVALS, AFTER I KNOW NOT WHAT POLITICAL UPHEAVAL, WILL NOT UNITE ? (1959) ON LEADERSHIP GLORY GIVES HERSELF ONLY TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALWAYS DREAMED OF HER . (1934) . IT WAS BY ACTING AS THE INFLEXIBLE CHAMPION OF THE NATION AND THE STATE THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR ME TO GATHER THE CONSENT, EVEN THE ENTHUSIASM, OF THE FRENCH, AND TO WIN FROM FOREIGNERS RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION . THOSE WHO WERE OFFENDED BY THIS INTRANSIGENCE WERE UNWILLING TO SEE THAT FOR ME THE SLIGHTEST WAVERING WOULD HAVE BROUGHT COLLAPSE . LIMITED AND ALONE THOUGH I WAS, I HAD TO CLIMB TO THE HEIGHTS AND NEVER THEN TO COME DOWN . (1940, DESCRIBING HIS WARTIME LEADERSHIP) . EVERY MAN OF ACTION HAS A STRONG DOSE OF EGOTISM, PRIDE, HARDNESS AND CUNNING . BUT ALL THOSE THINGS WILL BE FORGIVEN HIM IF HE CAN MAKE OF THEM THE MEANS TO ACHIEVE GREAT ENDS . ALOOFNESS, CHARACTER, AND THE PERSONIFICATION OF GREATNESS, THESE QUALITIES IT IS THAT SURROUND WITH PRESTIGE THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED TO CARRY A BURDEN WHICH IS TOO HEAVY FOR LESSER MORTALS .
 CAMBODIA THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T BE KING ONCE HE DREAMED OF GOING TO HOLLYWOOD AS THE " CAMBODIAN CHARLIE CHAN . " THEN HE TOOK UP THE SAXOPHONE AND MADE LIKE " CANNONBALL " ADDERLEY, BELTING OUT SUCH COMPOSITIONS OF HIS OWN AS LOVE WITHOUT HOPE . HE SUPPORTED A TROUPE OF 30 DANCING GIRLS AND A STRING OF 20 THOROUGHBREDS AND WORKED DILIGENTLY TO IMPROVE THE BREED . SPORTS ARE HIS LATEST CRAZE . HE CAPTAINS A CHAMPIONSHIP VOLLEYBALL TEAM AND RECENTLY DUNKED IN 92 POINTS IN A BASKETBALL GAME . ECCENTRIC AND MERCURIAL HE MAY BE, BUT CAMBODIA'S PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK, 41, IS ALSO ONE OF THE SHREWDEST LEADERS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . SIHANOUK WAS CAMBODIA'S YOUNG KING UNTIL 1955, WHEN HE STEPPED DOWN FROM THE THRONE TO RUN FOR ELECTIVE OFFICE IN THE GOVERNMENT, BECAUSE THE " TRUE FACE OF THE PEOPLE WAS HIDDEN FROM ME . / UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP, CAMBODIA HAS EMBARKED ON AN AMBITIOUS PROGRAM OF DEVELOPMENT . LAST YEAR THE RICE CROP WAS THE BEST IN MEMORY, AND A RECORD EXPORTABLE SURPLUS OF 400,000 TONS WAS PREDICTED . CAMBODIA DOES NOT HAVE ONE RIEL OF EXTERNAL DEBT, AND ITS CURRENCY IS 100 PER CENT COVERED BY GOLD AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE (V . 50 PER CENT IN THE U.S.) ; 25 PER CENT OF THE BUDGET IS SPENT ON EDUCATION, ONE OF THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGES IN THE WORLD . " SOCIALIST MAJESTIES . " BUT CAMBODIA, LIKE MANY PLEASANT AND LANGUID PLACES, IS NOW BESET BY PRESSING ECONOMIC PROBLEMS . THE PLANNED $26 MILLION DEFICIT FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR HAS UNEXPECTEDLY DOUBLED, AND THE GOVERNMENT IS SO SHORT OF CASH THAT THE CURRENT FIVE YEAR PLAN IS LITERALLY OUT OF MONEY . SOME $24 MILLION WORTH OF PUBLIC PROJECTS HAVE HAD TO BE CANCELED, AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES ARE DWINDLING AT THE RATE OF $1,500,000 A MONTH . SIHANOUK'S REACTION WAS CHARACTERISTICALLY UNPREDICTABLE ; HE PURGED HIS GOVERNMENT OF ITS OLDTIMERS AND INSTALLED IN THEIR PLACES A GROUP OF HIS MOST FIERY CRITICS . THEY ARE YOUTHFUL (AVERAGE AGE : 36), LEFT-WING, PARIS-TRAINED INTELLECTUALS WHOM SIHANOUK SNEERINGLY CALLS " THEIR SOCIALIST MAJESTIES . " SAYS SIHANOUK : " I KNOW THAT THEY DO NOT LIKE ME . THEY HATE ME . THEY HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORTED THE COMMUNISTS . NOW I'VE GIVEN THEM THE OPPORTUNITY OF SUPPORTING CAMBODIA FOR THE FIRST TIME . I TOLD THEM, " YOU CAN KILL ME, BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KILL CAMBODIA . " ' WHAT'S GOOD FOR G . M . . . . BEHIND SIHANOUK'S ODD CHOICE OF MINISTERS IS AN ADROIT POLICY . WITH OPPONENTS IN HIS VERY CABINET, SIHANOUK IS ABLE TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIS FOES, AND TO FORCE THEM TO SHARE BLAME FOR A WORSENING FINANCIAL SITUATION . HE HAS ALLOWED THE CABINET TO SLASH GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES, BUT VETOED ITS PROPOSAL TO NATIONALIZE THE FRENCH RUBBER PLANTATIONS, WHICH ARE A PRIME SOURCE OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE . " THE FRENCH MIGHT BE CAPITALISTS, " SIHANOUK SAID, / BUT THEY ARE CAPABLE . " HE ALSO DELIGHTS IN POINTING OUT TO HIS LEFT-LEANING INTELLECTUALS THE FAILURE OF CAMBODIA'S RED CHINESE-BUILT FACTORIES . " THEY ONLY COST US MONEY, " SIHANOUK SAYS . " I TELL MY CABINET THAT THAT'S NOT WHAT FORD OR GENERAL MOTORS WOULD DO . " THOUGH HE DEALS ROUGHLY WITH CAMBODIA'S NATIVE COMMUNISTS, SIHANOUK ARTFULLY REFUSES TO JOIN EITHER THE COMMUNIST OR WESTERN CAMPS . HOPING TO KEEP HIM NEUTRAL, THE U.S . HAS WEIGHED IN WITH $300 MILLION IN ECONOMIC AID SINCE 1955, TO THIS NATION OF 5,700,000 PEOPLE, AND RUSSIA HAS BUILT A 500-BED HOSPITAL AND SENT INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT . CURRENTLY, NEUTRALIST SIHANOUK LEANS TOWARD MORE WESTERN INFLUENCE IN HIS COUNTRY, FOR HE FEELS THAT A COUNTERBALANCE IS NEEDED AGAINST THE RISING STRENGTH OF THE COMMUNISTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . BUT THE MAIN OBJECT OF SIHANOUK'S POLICY IS STILL TO " MAINTAIN THE JOIE DE VIVRE OF MY PEOPLE . I WANT THEM TO WORK ALSO, BUT NOT SO HARD AS COMMUNISTS . WE CAMBODIANS ARE NOT ANIMALS OR MACHINES . WE HAVE TO REMAIN GAY AND FREE . WE MUST BE ALLOWED TO HAVE THE GOOD THINGS . /
 THE CONGO BARE CUPBOARD AWAITING THE VICTORIOUS UNITED NATIONS AT THE NATIONAL BANK OF KATANGA IN ELISABETHVILLE WERE SOME LEGITIMATE SPOILS OR SO IT SEEMED SHOULD HAVE BEEN $16.2 MILLION IN CONGOLESE FRANCS ORIGINALLY DEPOSITED IN THE BANK TO SUPPORT THE CURRENCY OF MOISE TSHOMBE'S KATANGA AND U.N . OFFICIALS HOPED TO TURN IT OVER TO THE CONGO GOVERNMENT FOR RECONSTRUCTION . BUT WHEN THEY GOT THERE, TSHOMBE'S CUPBOARD WAS BARE . FOR WEEKS, THE BANK'S DIRECTORS HAD REFUSED TO OPEN THEIR FILES AND STRONGROOMS TO U.N . INVESTIGATORS, AND NOW THE REASON FOR THEIR RELUCTANCE WAS CLEAR . MOST OF THE RECORDS WERE GONE, AND MOST OF THE CASH . ALL THE U.N . FOUND WAS $116.28 IN FOREIGN CURRENCY ABOUT ENOUGH TO PAY A CONGOLESE ARMY SUB-LIEUTENANT FOR TEN DAYS . IT WAS NOT DIFFICULT TO GUESS WHERE THE MONEY WENT . TSHOMBE'S OWN KATANGESE OFFICIALS HAD WITHDRAWN HUGE SUMS OF MONEY WITHOUT TROUBLING TO LEAVE RECEIPTS . ONE UNNAMED OFFICIAL WALTZED OFF WITH 133 MILLION KATANGESE FRANCS (WORTH $2,660,000 AT THE OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE OF 50 TO $1) IN A SINGLE SWIPE . SOME 4,000 GOLD COINS VALUED AT $280,000 WERE SMUGGLED TO GENEVA FOR SALE BY A EUROPEAN SYNDICATE . THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE BANK HAD TRANSFERRED 1 BILLION FRANCS TO A BRANCH 150 MILES AWAY IN NDOLA, NORTHERN RHODESIA, TO BUY ARMS AND PAY MERCENARIES . WITH THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN LEOPOLDVILLE ALREADY FACING A 1963 DEFICIT OF $100 MILLION, THE LOOTING OF THE BANK WAS A SAD BLOW . IT WAS ALSO BAD NEWS TO THE U.S., WHICH HAS ALREADY RESIGNED ITSELF TO DONATING ANOTHER HEFTY SUBSIDY TO THE CONGOLESE . LAST WEEK A U.S . AID TEAM HEADED BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE HARLAN CLEVELAND FLEW INTO LEOPOLDVILLE TO SEE WHAT ELSE WAS NEEDED .
 TURKEY RAIN OF DEATH IN MIDAFTERNOON IN ULUS SQUARE, IN THE HEART OF ANKARA, SHOPPERS, OFFICE WORKERS AND BYSTANDERS JAMMED THE STREETS . AT THE RAILROAD STATION NEAR BY, A RETIRED TURKISH AIR FORCE GENERAL HEARD A NOISE AND LOOKED UP . THE MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES JET-PROP VISCOUNT WAS COMING INTO A LOW-HANGING CLOUD BANK ON ITS WAY TOWARD A LANDING AT ANKARA AIRPORT . AND THEN, TO HIS HORROR, THE GENERAL SAW A TURKISH AIR FORCE C-47 DAKOTA CARGO PLANE LUMBER INTO THE SAME CLOUD FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION . IN A FLASH OF FLAME, THE TWO RAMMED HEAD-ON, DUMPING FLAMING WRECKAGE INTO THE CROWDS IN ULUS SQUARE BELOW . NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF FLYING HAS THERE BEEN SUCH DEATH ON THE GROUND FROM AN AIRBORNE ACCIDENT . AT LEAST 62 PEOPLE ON THE STREETS WERE KILLED, AND OF ANOTHER 120 HOSPITALIZED, TEN WERE NOT EXPECTED TO SURVIVE . EIGHT OF THE DEAD LOST THEIR LIVES FROM HUGE HUNKS OF HOT METAL PLUNGING THROUGH THE ROOFS OF THEIR HOMES . FOUR PEOPLE IN A TAXI WERE CRUSHED AND KILLED BY FALLING WRECKAGE . ULUS SQUARE BECAME AN INFERNO OF FLAME AND CHOKING SMOKE AS FIRES TOUCHED OFF BY A BURST GAS MAIN BURNED OUT OF CONTROL FOR TWO HOURS . FIRE TRUCKS AND AMBULANCES COULD NOT GET TO THE SCENE, SLOWED TO A CRAWL BY THE HUNDREDS OF SCREAMING, SHOVING AND PANICKY PEOPLE WHO BLOCKED THE NARROW STREETS LEADING TO THE SQUARE . ALL 17 PEOPLE IN THE TWO PLANES 14, INCLUDING FIVE AMERICAN PASSENGERS, ABOARD THE VISCOUNT AND A CREW OF THREE ON THE DAKOTA WERE KILLED .
 JAPAN GETTING THERE IS NOT MUCH FUN " I WOULDN'T MIND " SAID THE ANXIOUS HOUSEWIFE AT THE ATAMI STATION OF JAPAN'S NATIONAL RAILWAYS, " EXCEPT THEY WERE A NEW YEAR'S GIFT FROM MY HUSBAND AND HE WILL KILL ME IF HE FINDS THEY ARE MISSING . HE WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED . " AN UNDERSTANDING MAN, THE STATIONMASTER WIRED AHEAD TO NAGOYA . SURE ENOUGH, IN ONE OF THE EMPTY CARS, THERE WERE THE BLACK LACE PANTIES THAT THE WOMAN HAD BEEN WEARING UNTIL SHE WAS CAUGHT IN THE RIB-CRUNCHING FREE-FOR-ALL INVOLVED IN GETTING ON AND OFF A TRAIN IN JAPAN . THE LADY'S PLIGHT, PRESUMABLY THE RESULT OF FAILING ELASTIC OR FLAILING HANDS, IS A FAMILIAR ONE TO HARRIED J.N.R . OFFICIALS . THEIR LOST-AND-FOUND WAREHOUSES BULGE WITH AN INVENTORY THAT WOULD DO A DEPARTMENT STORE PROUD :. 1,800,000 ITEMS, INCLUDING 25,000 WRISTWATCHES, 310,000 UMBRELLAS, 180,000 BOOKS, 400,000 PIECES OF CLOTHING, RANGING FROM GARTER BELTS TO GREATCOATS, FOUR URNS CONTAINING HUMAN ASHES (PRAYED OVER DAILY BY REVERENT WAREHOUSE EMPLOYEES), AN ELECTRIC MOTOR, ONE PINBALL MACHINE, FALSE TEETH, AND SEVERAL FALSE EYEBALLS . ONLY 15 PER CENT OF THE ITEMS ARE RECLAIMED . BY AUCTIONING THE REST, AND BY POCKETING UNCLAIMED CASH, THE RAILWAYS GROSSED $150,000 IN 1962 . TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF ITS UNWANTED HOARD, THE RAILWAYS ARE NOW BROADCASTING URGENT ANNOUNCEMENTS ON TRAINS REMINDING PASSENGERS TO TAKE THEIR BOX LUNCHES AND BRIEFCASES . BURIAL URNS ARE NEVER MENTIONED, SAID ONE OFFICIAL, BECAUSE " IT'S RATHER POOR TASTE " TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE " PLEASE CHECK TO SEE YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOUR GRANDMOTHER . " BUT NOBODY EXPECTED THE CAMPAIGN TO DO MUCH GOOD . WHILE FORGETFULNESS IS MUCH TO BLAME, SO IS OVERCROWDING . EVERY DAY, 36 MILLION JAPANESE RIDE THE TRAINS, 4,200,000 IN TOKYO ALONE . AT RUSH HOURS, 350 COMMUTERS JAM INTO CARS DESIGNED FOR 100, HELPED BY BRAWNY STUDENTS WHO ARE PAID 150 YEN (42 #$ ) AN HOUR TO STAND ON THE PLATFORM AND SHOEHORN PEOPLE INSIDE . WHEN THE DOORS OPEN, THE SCRIMMAGE BEGINS ; CRACKED RIBS ARE NOT UNCOMMON . IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, THE PASSENGER'S FIRST CONCERN IS FOR HIS SAFETY, NOT FOR HIS PACKAGES OR EVEN HIS CLOTHES . IN FACT, SO MANY COMMUTERS LOSE THEIR SHOES FIGHTING THEIR WAY OFF THE TRAINS THAT THE BIGGER STATIONS NOW KEEP A SUPPLY OF ASSORTED SHOES ON HAND .
 WESTERN EUROPE ROUND 1 TO THE GENERAL IF MOST OF EUROPE SEEMED ANGRY AT CHARLES DE GAULLE LAST WEEK, NO ONE SEEMED TO KNOW QUITE WHAT TO DO ABOUT HIM . SPEAKER AFTER SPEAKER AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN STRASBOURG RINGINGLY CONDEMNED CHARLES DE GAULLE'S IMPERIOUS THUMBS DOWN ON BRITISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET . AS A RESULT, DECLARED COMMON MARKET CHAIRMAN WALTER HALLSTEIN, THE SIX HAVE BEEN PLUNGED INTO THEIR " FIRST REAL CRISIS A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE . " IN EUROPEAN CAPITALS FROM BONN TO ROME, FRANCE'S COMMON MARKET PARTNERS SPOKE BRAVELY OF GANGING UP ON DE GAULLE, PERHAPS BY BLOCKING HIS PLANS FOR ASSOCIATING FRANCE'S FORMER AFRICAN COLONIES WITH EUROPE, OR EVEN BY BOYCOTTING FRENCH GOODS . EMPTY CHAIR ? BUT WHEN THE SPEECHES WERE OVER, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS SPEECHLESSLY REALIZED THAT THERE WAS ALMOST NO CONCRETE ACTION THAT THEY COULD TAKE AGAINST LE GRAND CHARLES . DE GAULLE SEEMED TO HOLD ALL THE TRUMPS . SOME MEMBERS OF THE OTHER COMMON MARKET FIVE HAD TALKED OF GIVING FRANCE THE " EMPTY-CHAIR " TREATMENT, CARRYING ON THEIR EFFORTS FOR EUROPEAN UNITY AND ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP WITHOUT THE FRENCH . YET WHAT PURPOSE WOULD IT SERVE TO EXCLUDE FRANCE FROM NATO COUNCILS ? NONE AT ALL . ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALLIED FIGHTING STRENGTH ARE SUFFICIENTLY MEAGER IT IS TWO DIVISIONS BEHIND ITS COMMITMENTS IN GERMANY, IT WITHHOLDS ITS MEDITERRANEAN FLEET FROM NATO, KEEPS MOST OF ITS METROPOLITAN TERRITORY OUT OF THE AIR WARNING SYSTEM, AND EVEN PROHIBITS FOREIGN NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON FRENCH SOIL . STILL, SHEER GEOGRAPHY GIVES FRANCE A VETO ON NATO PLANNING . COULD FRANCE BE IGNORED IN THE TARIFF DISCUSSIONS OF THE 40-ODD MEMBERS OF GATT, OR IN OECD, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COORDINATING GROUP THAT GREW OUT OF THE MARSHALL PLAN ? HARDLY, SINCE THE ECONOMIES OF ALL WESTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS ARE INTERTWINED WITH FRANCE'S . THE URGENT FRENCH NEED TO EXPORT FOOD SURPLUSES, AND ITS BOOMING MARKET FOR OTHER NATIONS' INDUSTRIAL GOODS, ARE THE STICK AND THE CARROT THAT HAVE GIVEN THE COMMUNITY MUCH OF ITS MOMENTUM . EVEN BELGIUM'S PAUL-HENRI SPAAK, PERHAPS THE MOST IMPLACABLE FOE OF DE GAULLE'S PLANS FOR EUROPE, AGREED LAST WEEK THAT THERE WAS NO GENERAL SUPPORT FOR RETALIATORY MEASURES AGAINST FRANCE . WEST GERMANY'S ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, WHO WAS IN TEARS AT BRUSSELS WHEN FRANCE BLACKBALLED BRITAIN, WENT HOME BREATHING DEFIANCE OF DE GAULLE AND THREATS TO TOPPLE KONRAD ADENAUER NOWHERE (SEE BELOW) . AND AFTER ALL THE ORATORY AT STRASBOURG, A " SOLEMN PROTEST " MOTION CONDEMNING DE GAULLE'S " DOMINATION " OF EUROPE WAS IGNOMINIOUSLY DEFEATED BY A TIE VOTE OF 38-38 HARDLY A RESOUNDING GESTURE OF DEFIANCE . PERSONALITY CHANGE . BY THEIR VERY LACK OF PASSION AT THE NEW REALITIES, EUROPEAN STATESMEN PROVED THAT THERE IS STILL A LOT OF LIFE IN DEEP-ROOTED NATIONALISM, WHETHER DE GAULLE'S OR ANYONE ELSE'S . THE COMMUNISTS HAD FOUND OUT THE SAME THING IN YUGOSLAVIA, POLAND, HUNGARY AND EAST GERMANY . THERE WERE DIFFERENCES : RUSSIA HAD TRIED TO IMPOSE A UNITY, AND WESTERN EUROPEANS HAD HOPED TO EVOLVE INTO A UNITY BY DEMOCRATIC MEANS AND FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT . WESTERN EUROPEANS STILL INSIST THAT THE IDEA OF EUROPE WILL CARRY THE DAY, BUT AT THE MOMENT THERE IS A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS OF ONE ANOTHER'S DISPARATE TASTES, TALENTS AND DESTINIES . THE FRENCH, AWARE OF THE HOSTILITY OF ALLIES, WERE REASSURING EVERYBODY THAT THEY WERE NOT PROPOSING TO GO IT ALONE . FOREIGN MINISTER COUVE DE MURVILLE SAID : " IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF FREEING THE EUROPEAN PERSONALITY BUT OF REMAINING INSIDE THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE . " EVEN SO, EUROPE'S PERSONALITY HAD UNDOUBTEDLY UNDERGONE A CHANGE . SAID ONE MINISTER IN BRUSSELS LAST WEEK : " FOR THE PRESENT, ONLY EXPECT THE THINGS TO BE DONE QUICKLY AROUND HERE THAT ARE PLAINLY GOOD FOR ALL THE SIX COUNTRIES . IT WILL BE QUIT A WHILE BEFORE WE HEAR A MINISTER IN COUNCIL SAY HE IS VOTING FOR ANYTHING FOR THE GOOD THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE . /
 FRANCE SPARKS ACROSS THE CHANNEL FOR A MAN SO INSISTENT ON HAVING HIS OWN SENSIBILITIES TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, CHARLES DE GAULLE HAS A GARGANTUAN CAPACITY FOR BEING INDIFFERENT TO EVERYONE ELSE'S . LAST WEEK, HAVING STOOD FRANCE'S FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS ON THEIR EARS, DE GAULLE TRIUMPHANTLY SURVEYED THE SCENE FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOME 120 NEWLY ELECTED NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEPUTIES IN A RECEPTION AT ELYSEE PALACE . DE GAULLE, WHOSE ATTITUDE TOWARD ECONOMICS IS VAGUE AT BEST, LOFTILY EXPLAINED TO THE DEPUTIES WHY THE U.S . WANTED BRITAIN IN THE COMMON MARKET : " THE AMERICANS ARE GIVING AWAY THEIR PRODUCTS TO THE SOUTH AMERICANS, THE AFRICANS, AND EVEN THE ARABS . THEREFORE THEY MUST TRY TO SELL THEM IN EUROPE, WHICH CAN PAY FOR THEM . " THIS WAS WILDLY INACCURATE : U.S . SALES TO JAPAN AND CANADA ALONE IN 1962 TOTALED ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH AS ITS $3.6 BILLION IN EXPORTS TO THE COMMON MARKET . WITH BRITAIN'S EXCLUSION, SAID LE GRAND CHARLES, THE U.S . IS NOW " MAKING USE OF ENGLAND " TO CREATE " A VAST NEW TRADE THINGAMAJIG WITH THE IRISH, THE ICELANDERS, AND SO FORTH . " THEN DE GAULLE TURNED HIS REMARKS TO THE WEST GERMANS, FOR WHOM HE HAD SOME ADVICE ON HOW TO GOVERN THEMSELVES . " WHAT IS NEEDED IN GERMANY, " HE DECLARED, " IS A CONSTITUTION THAT WOULD PERMIT IT TO FACE MODERN CONDITIONS . " (GERMANY'S CONSTITUTION WAS DRAFTED AND ADOPTED IN 1949.) CHANGE OF TONE . DE GAULLE'S MOST DERISIVE COMMENTS WERE AIMED AT HAROLD MACMILLAN AND HIS COUNTRYMEN, WHO " ALWAYS MANAGE TO SEEM SO RESPECTABLE . " DESCRIBING THE PRIME MINISTER'S TALKS WITH HIM AT RAMBOUILLET LAST DECEMBER, HE RELATED : " MR . MACMILLAN CAME TO TELL ME WE WERE RIGHT IN MAKING OUR FORCE DE FRAPPE . " WE HAVE OUR OWN, TOO,' HE TOLD ME . " WE SHOULD TRY TO ASSOCIATE THEM IN A EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK INDEPENDENT OF AMERICA.' ON THIS, HE LEFT ME FOR THE BAHAMAS . " THERE, ACCORDING TO DE GAULLE, MACMILLAN BETRAYED HIM BY AGREEING INSTEAD TO ACCEPT POLARIS FORCE FROM THE U.S . AND THEN TO COMMIT IT, ALONG WITH BRITAIN'S OWN NEW NUCLEAR BOMBERS, TO A MULTINATIONAL NATO NUCLEAR FORCE . SHRUGGING THAT THIS " NATURALLY CHANGED THE TONE " OF THE JAN . 14 PRESS CONFERENCE AT WHICH DE GAULLE GUTTED BRITAIN'S HOPES OF JOINING EUROPE, DE GAULLE ADDED TESTILY : " MR . MACMILLAN, WHOM I LIKE, HAS HAD THE BRITISH PRESS COMPARE ME TO HITLER AND EVEN TO NAPOLEON . " IN LONDON, IRATE BRITISH OFFICIALS WERE OFFENDED AT THE IDEA THAT MACMILLAN COULD DICTATE FLEET STREET'S LINE, EVEN IF HE WANTED TO . PERHAPS, THEY SUGGESTED ACIDLY, HE WAS CONFUSING BRITAIN'S FREE PRESS WITH FRANCE'S, WHERE DE GAULLE'S SIDE PRONOUNCEMENTS AND LITTLE WITTICISMS ARE FED TO THE PARIS PRESS BY THE PALACE GUARD . A GREAT MANY TALKATIVE DEPUTIES HAD HEARD DE GAULLE'S COMMENTS AT HIS PALACE RECEPTION, AND THE STATE-OWNED NEWS AGENCY HAD SENT THEM OUT ON THE WIRE . NONETHELESS, WHEN THE REVERBERATIONS BEGAN, THE PALACE GRANDLY ISSUED A WARNING THAT THE PUBLIC " ONCE AGAIN BE ON GUARD AGAINST THE PUBLICATION OF SO-CALLED DECLARATIONS OF GENERAL DE GAULLE . " SEVEN REASONS . IN LONDON, BRITISH OFFICIALS PRODUCED THEIR OWN MINUTES OF THE RAMBOUILLET TALKS, WHICH CONTAINED NO HINT THAT MACMILLAN HAD EVER PROPOSED A DETERRENT " INDEPENDENT OF AMERICA . " THE PRIME MINISTER, THEY SAID, HAD INDEED AGREED THAT DE GAULLE SHOULD PUSH AHEAD WITH HIS FORCE DE FRAPPE, BUT HAD POINTEDLY EXPRESSED HIS HOPES THAT IT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE ASSIGNED TO NATO . SNAPPED ONE OFFICIAL : " THE FRENCH HAVE NOW GIVEN SEVEN DIFFERENT REASONS WHY DE GAULLE TURNED DOWN BRITISH MEMBERSHIP . THE ONLY THING THEY HAVEN'T CLAIMED YET IS THAT IT WAS BECAUSE SCOTLAND BEAT FRANCE 11-6 AT RUGBY . / THE REAL REASON WHY DE GAULLE VETOED BRITAIN, RETORTED FOREIGN SECRETARY LORD HOME, WAS THAT " TWO VISIONS OF EUROPE HAD COME INTO HEAD-ON COLLISION . ONE WAS OF EUROPE SO ORDERED THAT IT WOULD BE A THIRD FORCE, PROTECTED, EXCLUSIVE, NARCISSUS-LIKE IN ITS SELF-GLORY . THE OTHER, A EUROPE OF EQUAL, POLITICALLY MATURE NATIONS IN COMPLETE PARTNERSHIP WITH AMERICA AND DOING THEIR DUTY BY THE WHOLE WORLD OUTSIDE . " WITH ANGLO-FRENCH RELATIONS IN SUCH AN IRRITABLE STATE, BRITAIN ANNOUNCED THAT THE PLANNED VISIT TO PARIS OF PRINCESS MARGARET AND HER HUSBAND, LORD SNOWDEN, FOR THE MOVIE PREMIERE OF LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, HAD BEEN CANCELED " ON THE ADVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT .
 IRAQ FRIENDS & BROTHERS NOT LONG AGO, ABDUL KARIM KASSEM, LEAN AND PSYCHOTIC STRONGMAN OF IRAQ, BOASTED THAT HE HAD SURVIVED 38 ATTEMPTS TO KILL HIM OVER THE PAST 4F YEARS . LAST WEEK IN BAGHDAD, DEATH KEPT THE 39TH APPOINTMENT . REBEL IRAQI ARMY OFFICERS OVERTHREW THE GOVERNMENT AND ISSUED A CHARACTERISTIC MIDDLE EASTERN COMMUNIQUE : " WITH THE HELP OF GOD, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DESTROY THE ENEMY OF GOD AND OF THE PEOPLE, ABDUL KARIM KASSEM, AND HIS GANG, WHO HAVE USED THE COUNTRY FOR THEIR OWN INTERESTS AND WHO CHOKED LIBERTY AND DISRUPTED THE LAW ! " HOME & HEADQUARTERS . THE INSURRECTION BEGAN ON FRIDAY, HOLIEST DAY OF THE MOSLEM WEEK, AND IN THE MIDST OF RAMADAN, THE MONTH WHEN GOOD MOSLEMS FAST EVERY DAY FROM SUNUP TO SUNDOWN AND TEMPERS ARE EVERYWHERE SHORT . ARMY TRUCKS AND TANKS WERE ALREADY RUMBLING THROUGH THE STREETS WHEN AT 9 : 30 A.M., A STRIDENT NEW VOICE ON RADIO BAGHDAD BEGAN EXULTING, " THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE IRAQI REVOLUTION ! " ACCUSING " KASSEM THE DICTATOR " OF HAVING " MURDERED CITIZENS, WEAKENED THE ARMY, IMPRISONED AND EXECUTED SCORES OF OFFICERS, " THE BROADCASTER CLAIMED THAT THE REBELS " HAVE DESTROYED THE TYRANT ! " BUT THE FIGHT WAS ONLY BEGINNING . REBEL UNITS SURROUNDED BAGHDAD'S HUGE, YELLOW BRICK DEFENSE MINISTRY, THE HOME AND HEADQUARTERS OF PREMIER KASSEM, WHICH WAS DEFENDED BY 600 TRUSTED SOLDIERS . THE REBELS BROUGHT UP TANKS AND HEAVY ARTILLERY, AND IRAQI FIGHTER PLANES STRAFED AND BOMBED THE KASSEM FORTRESS . LOYAL DISCIPLE . THE REBEL RADIO VOICE FRENZIEDLY CALLED FOR THE " PEOPLE " TO POUR INTO THE STREETS " TO DESTROY THE REMNANTS OF THE KASSEM REGIME . " BETWEEN EXHORTATIONS, MARTIAL MUSIC FILLED THE AIR, ESPECIALLY SONGS EXTOLLING ARAB UNITY, AND ALAHU AKBAR (GOD IS GREAT), A FAVORITE HYMN OF EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . THE SIX-MAN REBEL JUNTA THAT PLOTTED KASSEM'S OVERTHROW WAS APPARENTLY MADE UP OF CAPTAINS AND LIEUTENANTS, EXCEPT FOR ITS LEADER, EX-PARATROOP COLONEL ABDUL MUSTAFA . BUT THE MAN THEY PUT FORWARD AS THEIR FRONT MAN CAME AS A SHOCK TO KASSEM, FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE INSIDE THE BATTERED DEFENSE MINISTRY . THE JUNTA NAMED AS ITS NEW REBEL HEAD OF STATE COLONEL ABDUL SALAM AREF, 41, LONG KASSEM'S CLOSEST FRIEND AND MOST LOYAL DISCIPLE, AND ALIVE ONLY BECAUSE KASSEM COMMUTED HIS 1959 DEATH SENTENCE . UNSHARED PRIZE . TO KASSEM THE COUP MUST HAVE SEEMED ONLY TOO FAMILIAR . IN THE SAME WAY BACK IN 1958, KASSEM SEIZED POWER BY RUTHLESSLY SLAUGHTERING KING FEISAL II AND HIS IRON-FISTED, PROWESTERN PREMIER, NURI AS-SAID, WHO WAS CAUGHT TRYING TO ESCAPE THE CITY DRESSED IN WOMEN'S CLOTHES . IN THOSE DAYS KASSEM WAS A BRIGADIER, WITH THE REPUTATION OF BEING THE KING'S MOST LOYAL SOLDIER . ACTUALLY, HE WAS LEADER OF A GROUP OF ARMY CONSPIRATORS INCLUDING MERCURIAL COLONEL ABDUL SALAM AREF, A PASSIONATE PRONASSERITE . AFTER THE YOUNG KING WAS SLAIN, KASSEM APPOINTED HIMSELF PREMIER,NAMED AREF AS HIS DEPUTY, AND PROCLAIMED HIS DEDICATION TO " IMPROVING THE LIVING STANDARDS OF OUR POPULATION AND SAVING THEM FROM LIVING IN SLUMS . TWO FRIENDS & BROTHERS EVEN THOUGH AREF DEVOTEDLY DECLARED, / I AM KASSEM'S SON, " AND BACHELOR KASSEM FONDLY CALLED AREF " MY SON, MY PUPIL, MY BROTHER, " THE TWO CHIEFS WERE SOON QUARRELING . HAVING BECOME MASTER OF IRAQ, KASSEM WAS IN NO MOOD TO SHARE THE PRIZE WITH AREF'S OTHER HERO, EGYPT'S NASSER . ORDERED INTO EXILE AS AMBASSADOR TO WEST GERMANY, AREF PULLED A GUN IN KASSEM'S PRESENCE BUT WAS DISARMED AND FINALLY CONDEMNED TO DEATH AS A TRAITOR . KASSEM CHANGED THE SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND IN 1961 SENTIMENTALLY AND IMPRUDENTLY SET AREF FREE . INSECURELY IN CONTROL, AND SUBJECT TO VITUPERATIVE ATTACKS FROM NASSER'S RADIO CAIRO, KASSEM EAGERLY ACCEPTED THE SUPPORT OF IRAQ'S WELL-ORGANIZED COMMUNIST PARTY, WANGLED $800 MILLION IN ARMS AND ECONOMIC AID FROM THE SOVIET BLOC, AND VOTED THE COMMUNIST LINE IN THE UNITED NATIONS . SPARTAN COT . KASSEM'S BRIEF REGIME READS LIKE A CASE HISTORY IN DANGEROUS LIVING . HE SAVAGELY PUT DOWN ONE ABORTIVE REVOLT, NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH IN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN WHICH HIS ARM AND HAND WERE SHATTERED BY BULLETS . UNDERSTANDABLY GUN-SHY, HE SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME INSIDE THE DEFENSE MINISTRY BUILDING, WHERE HE SLEPT ON A SPARTAN COT AND WATCHED SUSPICIOUSLY FOR TROUBLE . THERE WAS PLENTY OF THAT . HALF OF IRAQ'S ARMY WAS TIED DOWN BY A REBELLION OF THE KURDISH TRIBESMEN NORTH AND EAST OF MOSUL . KASSEM BEGAN TO GROW SUSPICIOUS OF IRAQ'S COMMUNISTS ; AFTER A SERIES OF RED-INSPIRED STRIKES, KASSEM JAILED HUNDREDS OF REDS AND CONDEMNED TO DEATH 28 COMMUNIST LEADERS . AND ALWAYS HE HAD TO FEAR DISAFFECTION IN HIS OWN ARMY . HE WAS PROMISING EVEN GREATER ARMY PURGES WHEN LAST WEEK THE REBELS STRUCK . AFTER MORE THAN TEN HOURS OF HARD FIGHTING, THE DEFENSE MINISTRY WAS IN RUINS AND KASSEM'S DISHEARTENED DEFENDERS SURRENDERED . KASSEM WAS ALIVE, BUT ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE . THE REBEL IRAQI RADIO ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAD BEEN " TRIED " ON THE SPOT, CONDEMNED AND, AT 90 MINUTES PAST NOON THE NEXT DAY, STOOD AGAINST A WALL AND EXECUTED . AT THE MOMENT (THOUGH VICTORIES ARE OFTEN PERISHABLE IN ARAB POLITICS), THE REVOLT SEEMED AN IMPRESSIVE TRIUMPH FOR EGYPT'S NASSER, EVEN IF HE HAD NO DIRECT HAND IN IT . IF SO, THERE WOULD BE TROUBLE FOR THE HARD-PRESSED KINGS OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, AS WELL AS FOR THE BRITISHPROTECTED SHEIKS OF THE PERSIAN GULF . " KASSEM HAS GONE ; SOON KINGS SAUD AND HUSSEIN WILL GO TOO, " SAID A COMPLACENT EGYPTIAN IN CAIRO . BUT FIRST, NASSER'S SUPPORTERS WERE CONFIDENT THAT THE IRAQI COUP WOULD SET OFF A SUCCESSION OF UPRISINGS IN NEIGHBORING SYRIA, WHICH HAS ALREADY PUT DOWN TWO PRO-NASSER REVOLTS SINCE BREAKING OFF FROM EGYPT IN 1961 .
 WEST GERMANY WAITING FOR THE CALL ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, THAT PUDGY AND POPULAR FELLOW, HAS BEEN ITCHING TO GET HIS HANDS ON THE TOP JOB IN WEST GERMANY, AND CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER TO RETIRE AS PROMISED NEXT FALL . HE HAS SHYLY NUDGED DER ALTE BEFORE, ONLY TO BE RAPPED HARSHLY ON THE KNUCKLES . LAST WEEK ERHARD PUFFED UP HIS CHEST AND TRIED AGAIN . TO A MUNICH NEWSPAPER, LUDWIG DECLARED HIS WILLINGNESS TO TAKE OVER RIGHT NOW . " I WOULD BE READY TO ACCEPT A CALL TO THE CHANCELLORSHIP IF MY PARTY AND THE BUNDESTAG SO DECIDED, " HE ANNOUNCED, CLEARLY HOPING THAT OTHERS FELT AS HE DID . AFTER ALL, MANY OF WEST GERMANY'S RESTIVE POLITICIANS HAD BEEN GRUMBLING OVER CHARLES DE GAULLE'S COURTSHIP OF DER ALTE, WONDERING WHETHER THE PRICE OF GERMANY'S NEW FRIENDSHIP TREATY WITH FRANCE WAS AN UNACCEPTABLE SUBSERVIENCE TO FRANCE, AND WHETHER IT REQUIRED SIDING WITH THE FRENCH AGAINST BOTH BRITAIN AND THE U.S . NO SUPPORT . BUT WHEN ERHARD SAT BACK TO LISTEN FOR THE EXPECTED CRIES OF SUPPORT, THERE WAS NOTHING BUT SILENCE . HE HAD OVERREACHED HIMSELF . AT THE FIRST CABINET MEETING AFTER ERHARD GAVE OUT HIS READINESS-TO-SERVE INTERVIEW, KONRAD ADENAUER SIMPLY SMILED AND AGREED WITH EVERY COMPLAINT POOR LUDWIG COULD THINK OF . WOULD THE CHANCELLOR FLATLY ENDORSE BRITAIN'S ENTRY INTO THE COMMON MARKET ? HE DEMANDED . OF COURSE, ADENAUER AGREED BLANDLY . WOULD ADENAUER DECLARE THAT NATO AND CLOSE RELATIONS WITH THE U.S . WERE THE BASIS OF BONN'S DIPLOMACY ? NATURALLY, SMILED DER ALTE . THEN CAME THE CLANGER . WOULD ADENAUER DISASSOCIATE HIMSELF FROM DE GAULLE'S IDEAS OF CREATING A THIRD FORCE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST ? SNAPPED DER ALTE : OF COURSE NOT, NO NEED FOR IT . DE GAULLE HAD NEVER EVEN DISCUSSED SUCH THOUGHTS WITH HIM ; BESIDES, WEST GERMANY IS OPPOSED TO SUCH A POLICY . RUNNING OUT OF STEAM AND QUESTIONS ERHARD LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM FOR SUPPORT FROM FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER AND DEFENSE MINISTER KAI-UWE VON HASSEL . THEY, LIKE ERHARD, ARE PROBRITISH, AND LIKE ERHARD, HAVE GRAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT ADENAUER'S COMRADESHIP WITH DE GAULLE . BUT NEITHER WAS PREPARED TO BRING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT ; SCHRODER FOUND A SUDDEN FASCINATION IN HIS THUMBNAILS ; VON HASSEL SHUFFLED PAPERS . NEGLECTED CONSCIENCE . NEXT DAY, AT A CAUCUS OF THE RULING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND THEIR ALLIES, ADENAUER CHIDED ERHARD MERCILESSLY FOR PRESUMING TO SEEK CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT . WHEN THE CABINET FINALLY VOTED ON ADENAUER'S DEMAND THAT THE FRANCO-GERMAN PACE BE RATIFIED IMMEDIATELY, ERHARD'S NEIN WAS OVERWHELMINGLY DEFEATED . FOR THE CHANCELLOR, THERE WAS NOW ONLY THE BUNDESTAG TO BE DEALT WITH . KONRAD ADENAUER, 87, HANDLED THE SITUATION WITH DEFT EASE . THE FRANCO-GERMAN TREATY " IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, " HE TOLD THE ASSEMBLED LEGISLATORS . " IT IS MERELY ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL PREREQUISITES . " AS A MATTER OF FACT, DECLARED DER ALTE, DE GAULLE " PROMISED ME THAT THE FIRST SUBJECT OF JOINT CONSULTATION AFTER THE TREATY GOES INTO EFFECT WILL BE BRITISH ENTRY " INTO THE COMMON MARKET . AS FOR THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE, " EUROPE KNOWS THAT IT CANNOT DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES . I UNDERLINE AGAIN OUR REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED INTENTION OF ORGANIZING OUR DEFENSE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF NATO / LUDWIG ERHARD SAT SILENT THROUGHOUT ADENAUER'S PERFORMANCE, SHOWED NO EMOTION EVEN WHEN DER ALTE TURNED TO THE ECONOMIC MATTERS WHICH ARE ERHARD'S SPECIALITY AND SAID : " CHANCELLOR ERHARD WILL . . . I MEAN MINISTER ERHARD . . . " BOTH SIDES OF THE HOUSE DISSOLVED IN LAUGHTER AS ADENAUER PERMITTED HIMSELF A RARE GRIN . " MALICIOUS CRITICS WILL THINK I DID THAT ON PURPOSE, " HE SAID . " BUT I ASSURE YOU I DID NOT . WELL, MAYBE HAVING A LAUGH IN THE MIDDLE OF SUCH A BORING GOVERNMENT STATEMENT IS A GOOD THING . " AT WEEK'S END, ERHARD WAS RIGHT WHERE HE HAD ALWAYS BEEN, GROPING FOR THE TOP RUNG OF THE LADDER . AND KONRAD ADENAUER WAS IN HIS ACCUSTOMED PLACE ON TOP .
 AUSTRALIA A FRIEND OF MISS X TO HIS AUSTRALIAN ACQUAINTANCES, SOVIET EMBASSY FIRST SECRETARY IVAN FEODOROVICH SKRIPOV SEEMED A LIKABLE SORT, AS SOVIET DIPLOMATS GO . HE WAS A GOOD TALKER, AN ENTHUSIASTIC PARTYGOER AND A BACK-SLAPPING PRACTICAL JOKER WHO OFTEN LACED HIS GUESTS' BEER WITH VODKA, GUFFAWING WHEN THEY CAUGHT ON . BUT AMIABLE IVAN WAS MORE THAN A SPOOFER . HE WAS ALSO A SPY . HIS ESCAPADES BEGAN EARLY IN 1961, WHEN HE MET A TRIM YOUNG WOMAN IDENTIFIED ONLY AS " MISS X " AT THE ZOO IN SYDNEY'S TARONGA PARK AND RECRUITED HER AS A SOVIET AGENT . SHE SEEMED WILLING, BUT TO TEST HER TRUSTWORTHINESS, HE CONDUCTED A COUPLE OF TESTS, FEEDING HER MONEY $592 IN ALL AND HANDING HER MINOR ASSIGNMENTS . ONCE SHE HAD TO PICK UP A SMALL CYLINDER CONCEALED IN A WATER METER ; ANOTHER TIME SHE FOUND ONE HIDDEN IN THE IRON RAILING OF A STAIRWAY . THE BLACK CROSS . SKRIPOV THEN SENT HER A LETTER WRITTEN IN INVISIBLE INK AND SIGNED " THERESA . / WITH CHEMICAL CAPSULES FURNISHED BY SKRIPOV, MISS X BROUGHT THE WRITING OUT, LEARNED THAT SHE WAS TO PICK UP A PARCEL CONCEALED UNDER A TOMBSTONE IN A CEMETERY, " THE THIRD FROM THE ONE WITH A BLACK CROSS WITH THE LETTERS IHS . " CONVINCED BY NOW THAT MISS X WAS TRUSTWORTHY, HE HANDED HER A BIG JOB . SHE WAS TO DELIVER A PAPER-WRAPPED PARCEL TO A MAN IN ADELAIDE WHO WOULD IDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH A PASSWORD . WHAT SKRIPOV DID NOT KNOW WAS THAT MISS X HAD BEEN WORKING FOR AUSTRALIAN INTELLIGENCE ALL ALONG, AND SHE SIMPLY TURNED THE PARCEL OVER TO GOVERNMENT AGENTS . INSIDE THEY FOUND CODED TRANSMISSION TIMETABLES FOR A SOVIET RADIO STATION, ALONG WITH A SMALL, HIGH-SPEED RADIO MESSAGE SENDER . AFTER WAITING TWO ANXIOUS MONTHS FOR MISS X TO CARRY OUT HER TASK, SKRIPOV LAST WEEK LEARNED WHAT HAD GONE WRONG . THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SENT A NOTE TO THE EMBASSY ORDERING HIM OUT OF THE COUNTRY IN SEVEN DAYS FOR HAVING MADE " ELABORATE PREPARATIONS FOR ESPIONAGE . / AUSTRALIAN OFFICIALS WOULD NOT SAY WHAT SECRETS SKRIPOV HAD BEEN SEEKING, BUT LAST WEEK THOUSANDS OF WORKERS AT THE BIG WOOMERA MISSILE RANGE SOME 750 MILES FROM CANBERRA WERE UNDERGOING INTERROGATION . LOVABLE DIPLOMAT . AUSTRALIA'S SWIFT EXPULSION OF SKRIPOV IS UNDERSTANDABLE . IN 1954, MVD COLONEL VLADIMIR PETROV, WHO ALSO HAD BEEN POSING AS A LOVABLE DIPLOMAT, DEFECTED TO THE WEST WITH AN ARMFUL OF SECRET DOCUMENTS THAT DESCRIBED WIDESPREAD SOVIET SNOOPING OPERATIONS DOWN UNDER . CAUGHT RED-HANDED, THE RUSSIANS BROKE OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, DID NOT REOPEN THEIR CANBERRA EMBASSY FOR FIVE YEARS . THIS TIME, AUSTRALIA HAD EQUALLY CONVINCING PROOF 25 PHOTOS TAKEN OF SKRIPOV'S MEETINGS WITH MISS X . FOR THE MOMENT, THERE WAS NO TALK OF A NEW BREAK-OFF IN RELATIONS . MOSCOW PRUDENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT SKRIPOV'S BOSS, AMBASSADOR IVAN F . KURDIUJOV, HOME ON SICK LEAVE, WOULD NOT BE RETURNING TO AUSTRALIA .
 GREAT BRITAIN WOOING THE MIDDLE CLASS WHEN 244 LABOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT VOTED SECRETLY LAST WEEK TO NAME A NEW LABOR PARTY LEADER, THEY DID SO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ELEVEN YEARS WITH SOME CONFIDENCE THAT THEY MIGHT ALSO BE PICKING BRITAIN'S NEXT PRIME MINISTER . THE PROSPECT SEEMED TO HAVE INFLUENCED THE VOTING CONSIDERABLY . IN THE FIRST ROUND OF ELECTING A SUCCESSOR TO THE LATE HUGH GAITSKELL, HAROLD WILSON, 46, LAST WEEK WON AN UNEXPECTEDLY HANDSOME LEAD OVER HIS TWO OPPONENTS . HE GOT 115 VOTES ; GAITSKELL'S DEPUTY, ACTING LEADER GEORGE BROWN, AN EARLY FAVORITE, GOT 88 ; AND A THIRD CANDIDATE, JAMES CALLAGHAN, WHO WAS AUTOMATICALLY ELIMINATED, GOT 41 . ONLY EIGHT VOTES SHORT OF THE OUTRIGHT MAJORITY NEEDED FOR VICTORY ON THE FIRST BALLOT, WILSON BECAME AN ODDS-ON FAVORITE TO DEFEAT BROWN IN THIS WEEK'S RUNOFF . IN VOTING FOR PORTLY, PIPE-PUFFING WILSON, A ONETIME OXFORD DON WHO DRAWS MOST OF HIS SUPPORT FROM THE LEFT AND WAS ONE OF HUGH GAITSKELL'S ARCHRIVALS, LABOR M.P.S APPARENTLY HAD IN MIND NOT HIS RUTHLESS OPPORTUNISM BUT THE FACT THAT HE, LIKE GAITSKELL, IS A MIDDLE-CLASS INTELLECTUAL . BY CONTRAST WITH EARTHY GEORGE BROWN, A BLUNT, DILIGENT ANTI-COMMUNIST WITH STRONG UNION SUPPORT, MANY LABORITES BELIEVE THAT HAROLD WILSON WILL HAVE MORE APPEAL FOR MIDDLE-CLASS VOTERS, WHO HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY DISENCHANTED WITH PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN . AN EFFECTIVE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE FOR 3F YEARS IN THE LAST LABOR GOVERNMENT, WILSON, AT 31, WAS THE YOUNGEST CABINET MINISTER APPOINTED IN 165 YEARS .
 BREAT BRITAIN AN L OF A DRIVER GETTING A DRIVER'S LICENSE IN BRITAIN IS AN L OF A JOB . TYRO MOTORISTS ARE FORCED BY LAW TO HANG A LEARNER'S " L " ON THEIR CAR, ARE THUS THE OBJECT OF GIBES AND SNEERS FROM EVERY HOT-RODDER AND TRUCK DRIVER ON THE ROAD . NONE OF THIS FAZED MARGARET HUNTER, A SPINSTER SCHOOLTEACHER FROM CHESHIRE WHO AT 65 FINALLY DECIDED THAT IT WAS TIME FOR HER TO GET HER LICENSE . THINKING THAT HER NEXT TEACHING JOB MIGHT BE IN THE COUNTRY FAR FROM PUBLIC TRANSPORT, MISS HUNTER BOUGHT A SNAPPY LITTLE RED FIAT, SIGNED ON WITH A DRIVING SCHOOL, AND HUNG OUT HER L . AFTER ONLY 40 LESSONS, SHE WAS READY FOR A TRIAL SPIN . BUT HER JOLTING STOPS AND STARTS SO TERRIFIED HER INSTRUCTOR THAT HE GOT OUT OF THE CAR, REMARKING : " THIS IS LUNACY ; IT'S SUICIDE . I'M NOT GOING ANOTHER INCH WITH YOU . I'VE HAD ENOUGH . " UNDETERRED,PLUCKY MISS HUNTER HAD ANOTHER GO TWO DAYS LATER, SIDESWIPED A FIVE-TON TRUCK AND DEMOLISHED HER CAR . " THE GARAGE TOLD ME IT'S A WRITE-OFF, " SHE SAID SWEETLY . WHEN MISS HUNTER SHOWED UP FOR HER TEST, SHE WAS TAILED BY A PLATOON OF REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS . CLIMBING INTO HER TEST CAR, SHE STALLED SEVEN TIMES, AT LAST PUT-PUTTED OFF AT 15 M.P.H., MADE A QUICK RIGHT TURN, NEARLY CRASHING INTO A VAN, STALLED AT A STOP STREET, BACKED OVER A SIDEWALK WHILE MAKING A TURN, SAILED THROUGH A RED LIGHT, FLICKED ON HER LEFTTURN INDICATOR AT AN INTERSECTION AND THEN DROVE STRAIGHT ACROSS, FINALLY PARKED AT THE TEST CENTER THREE FEET FROM THE CURB . SO SURE WAS MISS HUNTER OF HER INNOCENCE THAT SHE REFUSED TO HEED COURT SUMMONSES TO ANSWER FOR HER HIGHWAY MISDEEDS . A POLICEWOMAN FINALLY HAD TO CLIMB THROUGH HER APARTMENT WINDOW TO ARREST HER . IN COURT LAST WEEK, MISS HUNTER DECLINED TO ENTER A PLEA, SAID : " I DON'T THINK THE QUESTION OF GUILT ENTERS INTO IT . " THE COURT THOUGHT OTHERWISE, FINED HER A TOTAL OF $55.44 .
 RUSSIA IT STARTED WITH STAMPS BERLIN'S UGLY WALL IS NOT THE ONLY BARRIER THAT COMMUNISM'S INMATES TRY TO BREACH . SOVIET AUTHORITIES ARE CONCERNED AT THE INCREASING NUMBER OF SOVIET YOUTHS TRYING TO SNEAK ILLEGALLY OUT OF RUSSIA ITSELF . RECENTLY TWO YOUNG RUSSIANS TRIED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY BY SWIMMING OUT TO A FOREIGN TANKER IN THE BLACK SEA PORT OF BATUM ; THEY WERE PICKED UP BY A SOVIET HARBOR PATROL BOAT . ONE WAS SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON, THE OTHER TO TEN . ONE OF THE MEN, SAID SOVIET OFFICIALS, HAD BEEN INFLUENCED BY MODERN, WESTERN-STYLE POETRY " BAD VERSE THAT HAD BEEN REJECTED BY ALL EDITORIAL OFFICES . " IZVESTIA, WHICH OCCASIONALLY PRINTS REVEALING NEWS FOR ITS CAUTIONARY EFFECT, LAST WEEK TOLD THE STORY OF A DEFECTOR NAMED ALEKSANDR ( " SASHA " ) MIRILENKO . SASHA WAS THE 18-YEAR-OLD SON OF A UKRAINIAN CULTURAL WORKER AND HIS TEACHER WIFE, BOTH COMMUNISTS . ALWAYS DAYDREAMING ABOUT LIFE OUTSIDE RUSSIA, SASHA STARTED COLLECTING FOREIGN STAMPS AND WRITING TO COLLECTORS IN OTHER COUNTRIES . AS HIS PEN PALS BEGAN TELLING HIM ABOUT THE GOOD THINGS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE IRON CURTAIN, SASHA'S ALLEGIANCE TO THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE BEGAN TO FALTER . HE WENT TO THE BLACK SEA RESORT OF YALTA, WHERE HE BUTTONHOLED FOREIGN TOURISTS FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BEGGED FOR FOUNTAIN PENS AND CIGARETTE LIGHTERS . SOON SASHA WAS FED UP WITH HIS HOMELAND . FROM HIS TECHNICAL SCHOOL HE STOLE 35 RUBLES, SOME STAMPS, AND A PAIR OF WIRE-CUTTERS, HEADED FOR THE FRONTIER BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY . HE GOT WITHIN A FEW YARDS OF HIS GOAL . ONE NIGHT LAST NOVEMBER, AS SASHA TRIED TO CLIP HIS WAY THROUGH THE BARBED-WIRE FRONTIER FENCE, A FLARE SHOT INTO THE SKY, ALARM BELLS BEGAN TO JANGLE, AND BORDER GUARDS GRABBED SASHA . MORALIZED IZVESTIA : " THIS CHARACTER, A QUITE EXCEPTIONAL PHENOMENON IN OUR COUNTRY, HAS BECOME A RENEGADE, BETRAYED HIS FRIENDS, PARENTS AND COUNTRY . LET HIM ANSWER BEFORE SOVIET JUSTICE . /
 MALAYSIA BIRTH PAINS THE SUSPECTS NEVER SLEPT IN THE SAME HOUSE ON SUCCESSIVE NIGHTS . MANY HAD THEIR PHOTOS IN AN " ARREST ON SIGHT " MUG FILE AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS . TO AVOID DETECTION ON SINGAPORE'S TEEMING STREETS, THEY SPENT MUCH OF THEIR TIME IN LATENIGHT MOVIE HOUSES . BUT LAST WEEK THE DRAGNET WAS OUT . SWEEPING THROUGH THE ISLAND STATE, GOVERNMENT SECURITY POLICE ROUNDED UP 115 PRO-COMMUNIST SUBVERSIVES AND LABOR AGITATORS OPPOSED TO SINGAPORE'S INCLUSION, WITH MALAYA AND BRITAIN'S BORNEO DEPENDENCIES OF SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO, IN A PROPOSED MALAYSIAN FEDERATION OF 10 MILLION PEOPLE . AS MALAYSIA'S BIRTH DATE DRAWS NEARER, INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO IS DOING ALL HE CAN TO PREVENT IT . HIS GOVERNMENT CONTINUALLY BLUSTERS ABOUT INTERVENING MILITARILY IN BRITISH BORNEO . AUTHORITIES IN SINGAPORE FEARED THAT LOCAL COMMUNISTS MIGHT TRY TO SABOTAGE BRITISH BASES ON THE ISLAND IN ORDER TO HAMPER BRITISH RETALIATION IN BORNEO . SUKARNO IS ALSO MAKING MUSCLES AGAINST MALAYA, WHICH WOULD BE THE DOMINANT STATE IN THE NEW FEDERATION . DJAKARTA HAS EXCLUDED MALAYAN FISHERMEN FROM THEIR TRADITIONAL FISHING GROUNDS OFF THE COAST OF SUMATRA . AN INDONESIAN GUNBOAT RECENTLY SANK A FULLY LADEN RUBBER BARGE INSIDE MALAYAN TERRITORIAL WATERS . INDONESIA KNOWS THAT A PRO-WESTERN, ANTI-COMMUNIST FEDERATION WOULD PUT A SERIOUS CRIMP IN SUKARNO'S AMBITION TO ABSORB OIL-RICH BRUNEI AND ITS TWO NEIGHBORS . HE ALSO IS ANXIOUS AS USUAL FOR AN ISSUE TO DEFLECT MOUNTING PUBLIC CRITICISM OVER INDONESIA'S GROWING ECONOMIC CRISIS . FEARING THAT SUKARNO IS ITCHING TO START SOMETHING, MALAYA'S PRIME MINISTER TUNKU (PRINCE) ABDUL RAHMAN APPEALED TO LONDON FOR REINFORCEMENTS . THE BRITISH OBLIGINGLY PUT 2,000 CRACK TROOPS ON A 72-HOUR ALERT TO REINFORCE ITS SOUTHEAST ASIA FORCES, BECAUSE OF " THE POSSIBILITY OF OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE . " THE PHILIPPINES ARE ALSO COVETOUS OF NORTH BORNEO . AT A MEETING IN LONDON, THE PHILIPPINES MAINTAINED THAT IN 1878 THE FILIPINO SULTAN OF SULU HAD ONLY " LEASED " NORTH BORNEO TO THE BRITISH AND THAT THE LAND ACTUALLY STILL BELONGED TO THE FILIPINO GOVERNMENT . BEHIND THE CLAIM IS THE FEAR THAT MALAYSIA WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PREVENT LEFTISTS IN THE FEDERATION AND IN INDONESIA FROM MAKING NORTH BORNEO A COMMUNIST ENCLAVE HARD BY THE PHILIPPINES' OUTER ISLANDS . THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS ARDENTLY BEHIND MALAY'S PLANS FOR MALAYSIA, STIFFLY REJECTED THE PHILIPPINE CLAIM, GAVE NOTICE THAT IT WOULD PUSH FOR THE FINAL CREATION OF THE NEW NATION BY AUG . 31 .
 ITALY PALACE FOR SALE " SENSATIONAL BUY IN ROME ! " CRIED THE QUARTER-PAGE AD IN ROME'S DAILY AMERICAN . " TREVI PALACE FOR SALE . " UNDER A PICTURE OF THE FOUNTAIN OF TREVI (WHICH WAS NOT ON SALE) WERE SPELLED OUT THE PALACE'S MORE OBVIOUS ASSETS : " INVALUABLE PUBLICITY, CENTRAL HEATING, PLENTY OF WATER . " THE ITALIAN PRESS WAS OUTRAGED . " WHY NOT ST . PETER'S BASILICA ! " SNAPPED THE PAESE SERA . GRUMBLED IL GIORNALE D'ITALIA : " IT'S LIKE PUTTING THE EIFFEL TOWER UP FOR AUCTION . " ROMANS CONJURED UP TERRIBLE VISIONS OF NEON SIGNS WINKING OVER THE COLOSSAL MARBLE STATUES OF NEPTUNE AND HIS TRITONS . FOR 69 YEARS, THE PALACE WAS OCCUPIED BY ROME'S VITAL STATISTICS BUREAU . THEN TWO BUILDERS, MARIO TUDINI AND ACHILLE TALENTI, GOT THE PALACE IN 1939 IN PAYMENT FOR A CONSTRUCTION JOB . THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO A THING WITH IT . " FOR MOST OF 24 YEARS, THIS BUILDING HAS STOOD EMPTY, / SAID TUDINI . " IT'S MAGNIFICENT, BUT AS AN INVESTMENT IT HAS BEEN A POOR DEAL . I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY SAY ; WE'RE GOING TO SELL . " PRICE ? ABOUT $2,000,000 . BUYERS ? " BANKERS, MOVIEMAKERS, HOTEL OWNERS, ANYBODY . " THE PALACE ITSELF, PROPERLY KNOWN AS THE PALAZZO POLI, HOLDS NO ART TREASURES ; BUT ITS SOUTH SIDE FORMS A BACKDROP FOR TREVI FOUNTAIN, CONCEIVED IN 1630 BY ARCHITECT GIOVANNI BERNINI, AND BUILT MORE THAN 100 YEARS LATER, CHIEFLY BY NICOLA SALVI . HOLLYWOOD ADDED TO THE FOUNTAIN'S FAME WITH ITS THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, AND ROME'S MOIVIEMAKERS DID THEIR BIT BY DUNKING ANITA EKBERG IN ITS GREAT MARBLE BASIN FOR A HIGHVOLTAGE, LOW-DECOLLETAGE SCENE IN LA DOLCE VITA . IN THE END, THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT TOOK A HAND . TUDINI AND TALENTI CAN STILL SELL THE PALACE, BUT IF THE GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS THE BUYER UNSUITABLE, IT HAS 60 DAYS TO MATCH THE PRICE AND RETAIN CONTROL OF WHAT THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT CALLED " ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EXPRESSIONS OF THE ROMAN BAROQUE PERIOD . " AND NO MATTER WHO GETS THE PALACE THE CITY OF ROME WILL KEEP THE COINS THAT TRAVELERS TOSS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS INTO THE FOUNTAIN TO ASSURE THEMSELVES OF A RETURN TRIP
 KASHMIR AS PRICKLY AS CACTUS AS THE THIRD ROUND OF THE KASHMIR TALKS BEGAN IN KARACHI LAST WEEK, A CACTUS PLANT WAS PROMINENTLY PLACED ON THE NEGOTIATING TABLE IN FRONT OF INDIA'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR SARDAR SWARAN SINGH AN APT SYMBOL OF JUST HOW PRICKLY THE DISPUTE BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN STILL REMAINS . YET BY THE END OF THE DAY, THE FIRST FAINT GLIMMER OF COMPROMISE WAS VISIBLE . IN A SHARP DEPARTURE FROM ITS PREVIOUS INFLEXIBLE STAND, INDIA INDICATED THAT IT WOULD BE WILLING TO PARTITION KASHMIR ALONG A BOUNDARY OTHER THAN THE CURRENT U.N . CEASE-FIRE LINE, WHICH NOW GIVES INDIA TWO-THIRDS OF THE PROVINCE, INCLUDING ALL OF THE RICH VALE OF KASHMIR . THE NEW INDIAN PROPOSAL CALLED FOR INDIA TO KEEP LADAKH, PART OF WHICH IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY RED CHINA, MOST OF THE PREDOMINANTLY HINDU AREA OF JAMMU, AND ONE-HALF OF THE VALE, INCLUDING THE PROVINCE'S CAPITAL OF SRINIGAR . PAKISTAN WOULD GET THE REST OF THE PROVINCE, PLUS RIGHTS OF FREE ACCESS FOR ALL ITS CITIZENS TO THE INDIAN PARTS OF THE PROVINCE . THOUGH PAKISTAN STILL SAYS IT WANTS ALL OF KASHMIR, IT HAS SIDETRACKED ITS DEMAND FOR A PLEBISCITE OVER THE WHOLE AREA, WHICH IS 77 PER CENT MOSLEM . THE PROSPECT IS FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS IN APRIL THIS TIME IN NEW DELHI .
 JAPAN NOOSE OR PNEUMONIA ?, ONE DAY IN 1948, A WELL DRESSED MIDDLE AGED MAN WALKED INTO A BRANCH OF TOKYO'S TEIKOKU BANK WEARING THE ARMBAND OF A MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL . CLAIMING THAT HE WAS A CITY HEALTH INSPECTOR, THE MAN ORDERED THE BANK MANAGER TO SUMMON ALL HIS EMPLOYEES SO THAT HE COULD GIVE THEM A DOSE OF ANTI-DYSENTERY MEDICINE . THE EMPLOYEES GULPED THE POTION, THEN COLLAPSED IN AGONY . FROM THE OPEN VAULTS, THE MEDICINE MAN GRABBED ABOUT $185 IN CASH AND DISAPPEARED INTO THE STREET . BEHIND HIM, TWELVE PEOPLE LAY DEAD OF CYANIDE POISONING . THEN BEGAN THE HUNT . FROM WITNESSES, ARTISTS DREW A COMPOSITE PICTURE OF THE ROBBER . EIGHT MONTH AFTER THE ROBBERY, POLICE FINALLY NABBED A PRIME SUSPECT : A 57-YEAR-OLD PROFESSIONAL PAINTER NAMED SADAMICHI HIRASAWA . HIRASAWA FIRST ADMITTED HIS GUILT, THEN RETRACTED THE CONFESSION . HE WAS TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SENTENCED TO HANG . TWO OUT OF 40 . LAST WEEK, EIGHT YEARS AFTER HIS LAST APPEAL WAS DENIED, HIRASAWA, NOW 72, WAS STILL IN JAIL UNDER A DEATH SENTENCE JAPANESE ARTISTS, WRITERS AND INTELLECTUALS HAVE RALLIED TO HIS SUPPORT AND LAWYERS HAVE PROTESTED AGAINST THE SEVERITY OF THE SENTENCE . " IT SEEMS TO ME, " SAYS ONE FORMER TOKYO MAGISTRATE, " THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS PRETTY FLIMSY . " THE JUDGE MIGHT HAVE A POINT . HIRASAWA INSISTED THAT THE REPUDIATED CONFESSION WAS EXTRACTED FROM HIM BY TORTURE IN A BRUTAL NONSTOP INTERROGATION . LATER, THE PAINTER'S TWO SONS-IN-LAW CLAIMED THAT HE WAS PLAYING CARDS WITH THEM AT THE TIME OF THE ROBBERY . ONLY TWO OF THE 40 EYEWITNESSES OF THE CRIME POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED HIRASAWA AS THE ROBBER AND BOTH WERE INCREASINGLY UNSURE AS THE TRIAL WORE ON . THE ONLY CLUE POINTING TO HIRASAWA WAS THE CALLING CARD OF THE SUPPOSED HEALTH INSPECTOR, WHICH THE ROBBER HAD LEFT BEHIND IN THE BANK ; HANDWRITING EXPERTS DETERMINED THAT THE WRITING ON THE BACK OF THE CARD WAS HIRASAWA'S . THE PAINTER NEVER DENIED THAT HE ONCE HAD THE CARD, BUT CLAIMED THAT IT HAD BEEN STOLEN FROM HIM WHEN HIS WALLET WAS PICKPOCKETED SHORTLY BEFORE THE ROBBERY . PAINTING IN THE DEATH HOUSE THREE JAPANESE APPELLATE COURTS HAVE UPHELD THE ORIGINAL VERDICT, BUT THE RAPID TURNOVER OF JUSTICE MINISTERS IN TEN CABINET RESHUFFLES SINCE 1955 HAS HELPED KEEP HIRASAWA ALIVE . " IF THEIR HEARTS WERE IN IT, THEY COULD HAVE READ THE RECORD AND SIGNED THE DEATH WARRANT LONG AGO,  SAYS ONE FORMER JAPANESE JUDGE . BUT THEY WERE AFRAID, AND I WOULD BE, TOO . " HIRASAWA HAS APPLIED FOR A NEW TRIAL, BUT HIS APPLICATION HAS NO LEGAL STAYING FORCE ON THE ORDER OF EXECUTION . TO FOCUS ATTENTION ON HIS CASE, HIRASAWA'S SUPPORTERS ARRANGED FOR AN EXHIBITION OF 50  OF THE 480 TEMPERA PAINTINGS THAT HE HAS TURNED OUT IN HIS 15 YEARS IN THE DEATH HOUSE . HIRASAWA'S BACKERS HAVE ALSO CIRCULATED COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL COMPOSITE NEWSPAPER DRAWING OF THE ROBBER IN HOPES OF TURNING UP NEW SUSPECTS . LAST NOVEMBER STATE OFFICIALS MOVED THE PAINTER FROM TOKYO PRISON TO REMOTE, UNHEATED MIYAGI DETENTION HOUSE IN NORTHERN JAPAN WHERE ALL JAPANESE EXECUTIONS ARE CARRIED OUT . " HE WAS MOVED UP THERE TO DIE, BUT NOT BY HANGING, / SAYS ONE OF HIS SUPPORTERS . " THE GOVERNMENT HOPES HE'LL DIE UP THERE FASTER OF NATURAL CAUSES, BECAUSE MIYAGI IS COLD AND UNHEALTHY . THAT WAY, THEY CAN KEEP HIS BLOOD OFF THEIR HANDS OFFICIALLY .
 MOROCCO WARRIOR'S REST IN THE 1920S, ABD EL KRIM WAS A GLAMOROUS NAME ON THE WORLD'S FRONT PAGES . A SMALLISH, DARK-SKINNED MAN WITH GENTLE EYES AND A FRINGELIKE BEARD, HE LED HIS RIFF TRIBESMEN IN THE LAST ROMANTIC WAR OF THIS CENTURY . IN THE U.S., THE VISION OF KRIM'S SNOW-WHITE TURBAN, FLOWING DJELLABAH AND SPIRITED ARABIAN STEED WAS PUT TO MUSIC BY SIGMUND ROMBERG IN BROADWAY'S THE DESERT SONG . IN NORTH AFRICA, HIS TENACIOUS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE ARMIES OF FRANCE AND SPAIN SENT A THROB OF NATIONALISM THROUGH THE ARAB WORLD . CLOSED CAVE . BORN IN THE RIFF MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN MOROCCO, EDUCATED AT A SPANISH SCHOOL IN MELILLA, A QUIET EMPLOYEE OF THE SPANISH MOROCCAN ADMINISTRATION UNTIL HE WAS 38, KRIM BECAME A REBEL WHEN THE SPANISH BROKE THE PEACE WITH THE RIFF TRIBESMEN BY SEIZING THE HOLY CITY OF XAUEN . IN THE SUBSEQUENT FIGHTING, KRIM WAS CAPTURED AND HIS FATHER KILLED . ESCAPING FROM THE SPANISH PRISON IN MELILLA KRIM BROKE HIS LEG AND EVER AFTER WALKED WITH A PRONOUNCED LIMP . GAINING THE SAFETY OF THE MOUNTAINS, HE RALLIED THE RIFFS FOR A JIHAD AGAINST SPAIN AND IN 1921 WON AN EXTRAORDINARY VICTORY AT ANOUAL, CAPTURING A SPANISH GENERAL AND 20,000 SOLDIERS MOST OF WHOM WERE BUTCHERED ON THE SPOT . IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, KRIM REPEATEDLY WHIPPED THE SPANIARDS AND NEARLY DROVE THEM INTO THE SEA . WHEN KRIM DECLARED THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE RIFF AND NAMED HIMSELF SULTAN, SPAIN SET UP A PUPPET RULER OF ITS OWN, THE REDOUBTABLE MOROCCAN BANDIT RAISULI.* KRIM PROMPTLY SCATTERED ANOTHER SPANISH ARMY, SEIZED RAISULI AND SHUT HIM UP IN A CAVE WITH HIS HAREM UNTIL HE DIED . ARROGANT IN VICTORY, KRIM NEXT CHALLENGED THE FRENCH AND WAS FINALLY OVERWHELMED BY A COMBINED FRANCO-SPANISH ARMY OF 300,000 MEN LED BY MARSHAL HENRI PETAIN, WHICH BLASTED HIS MOUNTAIN STRONGHOLDS WITH ARTILLERY AND BOMBS UNTIL KRIM AT LAST SURRENDERED IN MAY 1926 . THE SPANISH ARMY, ONE OF WHOSE OFFICERS WAS GENERALISSIMO FRANCISCO FRANCO, WANTED KRIM EXECUTED, BUT THE FRENCH MOR GALLANTLY SHIPPED HIM OFF TO EXILE ON REUNION ISLAND IN THE INDIAN OCEAN . THERE, CONSOLED BY HIS TWO FAVORITE WIVES AND A MONTHLY PENSION . KRIM LANGUISHED FOR 21 YEARS . IN 1947 FRANCE RELENTED AND LET KRIM BOARD A SHIP FOR THE RIVIERA, WHERE HE WOULD BE UNDER HOUSE ARREST . THE 65-YEAR-OLD REBEL JUMPED SHIP AS IT WAS PASSING THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL, AND WAS GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM IN EGYPT . SPURNED FORTUNE . IN CAIRO, UNDER NASSER'S PROTECTION, KRIM WORKED WITH OTHER NORTH AFRICAN EXILES FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF TUNISIA, ALGERIA AND MOROCCO . BUT HE WAS DISGUSTED BY THE TERMS ON WHICH FREEDOM WAS WON ; HE CLAIMED THEY WERE TOO FAVORABLE TO FRANCE . HIS FRANCOPHOBIA DEEPENED WITH THE YEARS, AND IN 1957 HE WARNED THE U.S . AGAINST RELYING ON FRANCE TO DEFEND EUROPE, ADDING QUERULOUSLY : " I DON'T KNOW WHY THE WORLD DOESN'T CATCH ON TO THOSE FRENCH THEY'RE STUPID, WEAK, STUBBORN AND SELFISH . " AFTER MOROCCO WON ITS INDEPENDENCE, KING MOHAMMED V TRIED TO PLACATE THE OLD EXILE AND PERSUADE HIM TO RETURN HOME . HE SENT DONATION OF $14,000, BUT KRIM REFUSED THE MONEY AND THREW AWAY THE ROYAL LETTER BECAUSE IT ADDRESSED HIM AS A PLAIN SUBJECT, NOT  A PRINCE IN RECENT YEARS ABD EL KRIM HAS BEEN CONFINED TO HIS HOME IN A CAIRO SUBURB, SUFFERING FROM RHEUMATISM, FAILING SIGHT AND HEART DISEASE, AND LISTENING GRUMPILY TO NEWS BROADCASTS OF A NEW WORLD HE DISAPPROVED OF . LAST WEEK, AT 81, THE LION OF MOROCCO AND SURVIVOR OF 200 BATTLES DIED QUIETLY IN BED OF A HEART ATTACK, LEAVING BEHIND ONE WIDOW, ELEVEN CHILDREN, AND A HOMELAND SADDENED BECAUSE HIS BONES WERE LAID TO REST IN A GRAVEYARD IN ALIEN EGYPT WHO YEARS EARLIER HAD EARNED HIS FOOTNOTE IN HISTORY . HE KIDNAPED A U.S . CITIZEN NAMED PERDICARIS IN MAY 1904 AND HELD HIM FOR RANSOM, THUS TOUCHING OFF PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S RINGING ULTIMATUM A MONTH LATER TO THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO : " PERDICARIS ALIVE OR DEAD !
 CENTRAL AFRICA TROUBLE BREWING CUSTOMS AGENTS AND SPECIAL BRANCH DETECTIVES CHARGED WITH SAFEGUARDING THE BORDERS OF THE SPRAWLING RHODESIAN FEDERATION HAVE BEEN RUN RAGGED LATELY . IN THE NORTH, THERE IS A STEADY TRAFFIC OF WHITE MERCENARIES AND AFRICAN SOLDIERS FROM THE ROUTED KATANGESE ARMY, WHO SLIP ACROSS THE CONGO LINE TO PEDDLE THEIR WEAPONS TO EAGER WHITE AND BLACK RHODESIANS WHO MAY ONE DAY USE THEM ON EACH OTHER . IN THE EAST, SMUGGLERS FROM THE PORTUGUESE COLONY OF MOZAMBIQUE MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WILD, MOUNTAINOUS BUSH TO BRING IN DAGGA WEED (MARIJUANA) AND TAKE OUT GOLD STOLEN BY WORKMEN IN RHODESIAN MINES . LAST WEEK THE HARRIED BORDER GUARDS HAD A NEW CHORE : TO PREVENT THE SMUGGLING OF HOPS INTO SOUTHERN RHODESIA . AT BEITBRIDGE, ON THE LIMPOPO RIVER, A CUSTOMS OFFICER DUTIFULLY SEARCHED THE LUGGAGE OF A VACATIONER RETURNING FROM SOUTH AFRICA, THEN WHISPERED, " MAN, WHAT DOES A HOP LOOK LIKE ? NO ONE HERE HAS EVER SEEN ONE ! " THE HOP CRISIS RESULTS FROM A $28 DUTY ON EVERY POUND OF IMPORTED HOPS IMPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SIR ROY WELENSKY BECAUSE TAX REVENUE FROM COMMERCIAL BEER HAS NOT BEEN UP TO EXPECTATIONS . " THIS IS DUE TO THE SPREAD OF HOME BREWING, " COMPLAINED THE GOVERNMENT . HOME BREWERS ARE GENERALLY RESPECTABLE CITIZENS, RANGING FROM RAILROAD ENGINEERS AND CIVIL SERVANTS TO BANK CLERKS AND GARAGE MECHANICS MEN WHO FIND COMMERCIAL BEER TOO EXTRAVAGANT FOR THEIR BUDGETS . THE NEW DUTY WOULD MAKE HOME BREW TWICE AS COSTLY AS THE COMMERCIAL STUFF . QUICKLY FORMING A PRESSURE GROUP GRANDLY NAMED THE AMATEUR BREWERS & VINTNERS ASSOCIATION, SOME 300 DO-IT-YOURSELF BRAUMEISTERS FIRED OFF A PROTEST TO WELENSKY, POINTING OUT THAT HOME BREWING " HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR CENTURIES, AND AS THE BRITISH EMIGRATED TO THE COLONIES, THIS TRADITION HAS BEEN ACCEPTED AS THE BIRTHRIGHT OF THE ORDINARY MAN BY EVERY GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH .
 THE CONGO VANISHING FRIENDS INTO THE GLASS-ENCLOSED WINTER GARDEN OF HIS PINK PALACE STRODE KATANGA'S SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE WITH AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT . " I AM PLEASED TO HAVE ENDED MY WORK AND HAVE DONE MY DUTY, " TSHOMBE TOLD NEWSMEN, AND NOW HE WOULD BE LEAVING FOR NORTHERN RHODESIA TO TAKE CARE OF A TROUBLESOME EYE AILMENT . HOW LONG WOULD HE BE GONE ? " THE DOCTORS WILL DECIDE THAT, " SAID TSHOMBE, BUT ELISABETHVILLE HUMMED WITH RUMORS THAT HE WAS GOING FOR GOOD . MOISE DID NOTHING TO SQUELCH THE GOSSIP, FOR 48 HOURS AFTER HE LEFT HIS CAPITAL HE WAS ON A PLANE BOUND FOR PARIS . AT THE RATE TSHOMBE'S FRIENDS WERE DESERTING HIM, SELF-EXILE MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A BAD IDEA . LAST WEEK 23 OF TSHOMBE'S TOP KATANGA GENDARMERIE OFFICERS FLEW INTO LEOPOLDVILLE FOR A LET'S-BE-FRIENDS DINNER OF ROAST CHICKEN AND CREPES SUZETTE WITH LEADERS OF THE CONGOLESE ARMY, THEN SWORE OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT . EVEN TSHOMBE'S ERSTWHILE AFRICAN ALLIES WERE RE-EXAMINING THEIR RELATIONS WITH LEOPOLDVILLE . FIRST TO BURY THE HATCHET WAS PRESIDENT FULBERT YOULOU OF THE CONGO REPUBLIC, FORMERLY THE FRENCH CONGO, WHOSE CAPITAL CITY OF BRAZZAVILLE LIES ACROSS THE RIVER FROM LEOPOLDVILLE . YOULOU, A NON-PRACTICING ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO STUBBORNLY CONTINUES TO WEAR HIS CASSOCK, SUPPORTED TSHOMBE'S SECESSION IN 1960 . BUT WITH TSHOMBE ON THE WAY OUT, YOULOU SUDDENLY SAILED ACROSS THE STANLEY POOL TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE LEOPOLDVILLE CROWD . THEN, LOOKING LIKE A SHORTER, SUNTANNED VERSION OF SONNY LISTON, HE TOOK OFF ON A FIVE-DAY TOUR OF THE COUNTRY WITH LEOPOLDVILLE'S PRESIDENT JOSEPH KASAVUBU . THE CONGOLESE BORE NO GRUDGE . THE DAY YOULOU LEFT FOR HOME, SCHOOL WAS CANCELED IN LEOPOLDVILLE SO THE CHILDREN COULD LINE HIS DEPARTURE ROUTE .
 AFRO-ASIA MISHMASH AT MOSHI IT WAS BILLED AS THE THIRD AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE . BUT DISCORD TURNED OUT TO BE SOLIDARITY'S DOMINANT THEME WHEN THE 400 DELEGATES AND OBSERVERS GATHERED AT MOSHI, A HAMLET ON THE COFFEE SLOPES OF MOUNT KILIMANJARO . SETTING THE TONE OF THE AFFAIR WAS RELUCTANT HOST JULIUS NYERERE, PRESIDENT OF TANGANYIKA, WHO HAD NOT WANTED THE MEETING HELD IN HIS COUNTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE . TO THE COMMUNISTS AND THEIR PALS, HE WARNED THAT AFRICA AND ASIA ARE IMPERILED BY A " SECOND SCRAMBLE " OF COLONIZATION, LED THIS TIME BY COMMUNIST POWERS, " WHO ARE COMMITTING THE SAME CRIME AS THE CAPITALISTS BEFORE . " SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE HEAD OF THE INDIAN DELEGATION DENOUNCED THE ORGANIZATION AS A " FRAUD, / STOMPED OUT OF THE HALL BECAUSE HIS NEUTRALIST RESOLUTION ON THE SINO-INDIAN DISPUTE WAS TORPEDOED . DURING A DEBATE ON MALAYSIA, THE DELEGATE FROM SINGAPORE WAS BARRED, AND AN INDONESIAN WAS ACCEPTED AS BRUNEI'S REPRESENTATIVE . THE RUSSIANS AND RED CHINESE DELEGATIONS CARRIED THEIR OWN SQUABBLE INTO AFRICA . THERE WERE WIDESPREAD SUSPICIONS THAT THE CHINESE WERE TO BLAME WHEN THE AMPLIFIER FOR THE RUSSIAN TRANSLATION HOOKUP DISAPPEARED, WAS LATER FOUND IN A DITCH OUTSIDE THE CONFERENCE HALL . TIT FOLLOWED TAT . NEXT DAY THE CHINESE EARPHONES WENT DEAD, AND A BRITISH ENGINEER SUMMONED TO FIX THEM FOUND THAT THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION HAD BEEN SPIKED .
 FRANCE THE LIFE OF ONE MAN THE SHAKING UP THAT THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE GOT LAST MONTH WAS THE WORK OF A SINGLE MAN . AND FRANCE'S CLAIM TO DOMINATE WESTERN EUROPE AND TO BE RECKONED WITH AS THE LEADER OF A THIRD FORCE IS ALSO THE LENGTHENING EXTENSION OF THAT MAN . THOSE OF HIS ALLIES WHO HAVE TO DEAL WITH LE GRAND CHARLES SOMETIMES FIND THAT THEIR EXASPERATION EXCEED THEIR ADMIRATION . BUT ANY WAY ONE LOOKS AT IT, WHETHER AS AN ALLY OR AS A FRENCHMAN WORRYING ABOUT THE CHAOS THAT MIGHT FOLLOW HIS DEATH, THERE IS A LOT RIDING ON THE TOWERING MAN IN THE ELYSEE PALACE . HE IS 72, AND HE HAS ENEMIES DESPERATE ENOUGH TO WANT TO KILL HIM . LAST WEEK, AS FRENCHMEN CLOSELY FOLLOWED THE NEWS OF A TRIAL OF WOULD-BE ASSASSINS OF DE GAULLE, THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED A FRESH ATTEMPT ON DE GAULLE'S LIFE . ARMORED CAR . THE NIGHT BEFORE DE GAULLE WAS TO INSPECT THE ECOLE MILITAIRE ON THE LEFT BANK NEAR THE EIFFEL TOWER, PARIS GENDARMES SWARMED OVER THE GROUND, SEARCHING THE BUILDINGS FOR WEAPONS AND INTERROGATING OFFICER STUDENTS AND TEACHERS . DE GAULLE SHOWED UP NEXT DAY ON SCHEDULE, BUT (IN A CONCESSION TO DANGER RARE FOR HIM) COOPED UP INSIDE AN ARMORED CITROEN LIMOUSINE WITH BULLETPROOF WINDOWS . ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL STORY FROM SURETE HEADQUARTERS ON THE RUE DES SAUSSAIES, POLICE HAD DISCOVERED A PLOT ON A CIVILIAN'S TIP, IN THE NICK OF TIME . AFTER INTERROGATING THE FIVE SUSPECTS, THE POLICE INDICATED THAT THE TRIGGERMAN WAS NAVY CAPTAIN ROBERT POINARD, 37, WHO WAS HELD FOR QUESTIONING ALONG WITH HIS BLONDE YOUNG WIFE . ACCORDING TO THE POLICE SUPPOSITION, CAPTAIN POINARD WAS TO USE A CARBINE WITH A TELESCOPIC SIGHT TO KILL DE GAULLE WHILE HE WAS INSPECTING THE HONOR GUARD IN THE COBBLED ECOLE MILITAIRE COURTYARD . TWO OTHER OFFICERS WERE ALSO IN CUSTODY, BUT THE ODDEST OF THE SUSPECTS WAS THE ALLEGED RINGLEADER, MME . PAULE ROUSSELOT DE LIFFIAC, 55, A PIPE-SMOKING, LOW-SALARIED ENGLISH TRANSLATOR AT THE SCHOOL, THE MOTHER OF SIX CHILDREN, WHO WAS PICKED UP AT HER 15-ROOM, 18TH CENTURY CHATEAU IN A TOWN SOUTH OF LYON . THE ECOLE MILITAIRE, WHERE NAPOLEON LEARNED TO SOLDIER, IS THE TOP ACADEMY FOR THE FRENCH MILITARY, AND A HOTBED OF ANTIGAULLISM AMONG THE VETERANS OF ALGERIA WHO THINK HE LET THEM DOWN . SHREWD DELAY . ALGERIA WAS A WORD MUCH SPOKEN ALSO IN A COURTROOM IN SUBURBAN VINCENNES, WHERE NINE WOULD-BE ASSASSINS WERE ON TRIAL FOR HAVING TRIED TO KILL DE GAULLE LAST AUGUST IN AN AMBUSCADE AT PETIT-CLAMART, A PARIS SUBURB . AS HAS SO OFTEN HAPPENED IN FRANCE SINCE THE DREYFUS CASE OF THE 1890S, THE TRIAL WAS NOT CONFINED TO PERTINENT EVIDENCE BUT BLOSSOMED INTO A NATIONAL POLITICAL AFFAIR . VERY FEW FRENCHMEN HAD MUCH SYMPATHY FOR THE DEFENDANTS, BUT MANY HAD GRAVE DOUBTS ABOUT HOW THEY WERE BEING TRIED . DE GAULLE'S CHOSEN INSTRUMENT FOR THE TRIAL WAS THE SPECIAL COURT OF MILITARY JUSTICE, FROM WHOSE VERDICT THERE IS NO APPEAL, WHICH WAS SET UP LAST YEAR AND WAS TO END ITS EXISTENCE ON FEB . 25 . THE DEFENDANTS' ATTORNEYS SHREWDLY TRIED TO DELAY PROCEEDINGS UNTIL THAT DATE SO THAT THE CASE WOULD HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN IN A REGULAR COURT, FROM WHICH APPEALS COULD BE TAKEN . BUT DE GAULLE MOVED TO FIT THE LAW TO HIS NEEDS.HIS CABINET SWIFTLY APPROVED A BILL EXTENDING THE LIFE OF THE SPECIAL COURT OF MILITARY JUSTICE, AND THE BILL WAS PASSED BY DE GAULLE'S ASSEMBLY 271-170 (THE SENATE LAST WEEK STUBBORNLY VOTED THE BILL DOWN BUT, LIKE BRITAIN'S HOUSE OF LORDS, IS POWERLESS TO OVERTURN DECISIONS OF THE LOWER HOUSE . THE DEFENDANTS AT VINCENNES WERE AN ODD, AND ODDLY FRIGHTENING, LOT . MOST OF THEM WERE SLACK-JAWED YOUTHS WHO SEEMED EQUALLY LACKING IN CONFIDENCE AND INTELLIGENCE . ONE WAS AN ARMY LIEUTENANT WITH THE OLD, ARISTOCRATIC BRETON NAME OF BOUGRENET DE LA TOCNAYE, AND A HEAD REELING WITH HEROIC MEMORIES OF HIS FAMILY'S FEATS OF ARMS DATING BACK TO THE CRUSADES . THE LEADER, LIEUT . COLONEL JEAN-MARIE BASTIEN-THIRY, 35, WHO HAD GRADUATED FROM THE FAMED POLYTECHNIQUE AND SERVED AS A BRILLIANT AIR FORCE ENGINEER, REVEALED HIMSELF AS A MAN WHO PUT GREAT INDUSTRY, INTELLIGENCE AND LOGIC TO WORK WITHIN A FRAMEWORK OF MAD ZEAL . ALL NONSENSE . THOUGH REFUSING TO RECOGNIZE THE JURISDICTION OF THE COURT, BASTIEN-THIRY AGREED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, " BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE FRENCH PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY WE HAVE ACTED AND HOW WE HAVE ACTED . " HIS STORY WAS FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLE, AND THOROUGHLY FRENCH . TO BEGIN WITH, EXPLAINED BASTIEN-THIRY, THE AMBUSH HAD NOT BEEN INTENDED TO KILL DE GAULLE, ONLY TO CAPTURE HIM . TO THIS END, THE ASSASSINS WHO WERE ALL " CRACK SHOTS / HAD FIRED AT THE TIRES OF DE GAULLE'S CAR . AS A WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, DE GAULLE'S SON-IN-LAW, COLONEL ALAIN DE BOISSIEU, WHO WAS RIDING BESIDE THE CHAUFFEUR, TESTIFIED THAT HE SAW A MAN POURING A STREAM OF BULLETS AT THE CAR, AND RECALLED, " HE DID NOT SEEM TO BE AIMING HIS SUBMACHINE GUN AT THE TIRES, BUT QUITE OBVIOUSLY AT THE PASSENGERS . " TO THE CHAUFFEUR, BOISSIEU SNAPPED, " DOWN THE MIDDLE . STRAIGHT AHEAD ! " THEN HE TURNED AROUND, BEGGED DE GAULLE, WHO WAS STILL SITTING UPRIGHT, TO BEND DOWN . DE GAULLE OBLIGED BY LEANING FORWARD SLIGHTLY . DEFENDANT BASTIEN-THIRY AIRILY DISMISSED AS " TECHNICAL INCIDENTS " THE ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE THAT THE CAR WINDOWS WERE SHATTERED BY BULLETS, A MOTORCYCLE COP'S HELMET DRILLED THROUGH, AND DE GAULLE'S HEAD MISSED ONLY BY INCHES . IF THEY HAD CAPTURED DE GAULLE, THE CONSPIRATORS INTENDED TO HIDE HIM AWAY IN A VILLA " BETWEEN PARIS AND VERSAILLES, " AND PLANNED TO PREVENT HIS ESCAPING BY REMOVING HIS SPECTACLES AND SUSPENDERS . AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS, DE GAULLE WOULD BE TRIED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE RESISTANCE (THE SUCCESSOR TO THE ALGERIAN SECRET ARMY ORGANIZATION), AND PRESUMABLY EXECUTED . WITH DE GAULLE DISPOSED OF, THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE RESISTANCE PLANNED TO APPOINT A NEW HEAD OF STATE : NONE OTHER THAN DE GAULLE'S PRESENT FINANCE MINISTER VALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING . GISCARD D'ESTAING SAID IT WAS ALL NONSENSE, THAT HE HAD NEVER EVEN MET BASTIEN-THIRY AND HAD NO LINKS WITH EITHER THE SECRET ARMY OR THE COUNCIL OF THE RESISTANCE . THE WILD RHETORIC OF THE DEFENDANTS COULD NOT CONCEAL THE IMPLACABLE DETERMINATION TO KILL . LA GLOIRE SUMMONS FRENCHMEN IN MANY DIRECTIONS . FIVE OF THE GUNMEN WHO TOOK PART IN THE PETIT-CLAMART AMBUSH ARE STILL AT LARGE, INCLUDING THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL, GEORGES WATIN, 39, NICKNAMED BOITEUX (THE LIMPER), WHO THE POLICE SAY WAS ALSO THE BRAINS BEHIND THE ECOLE MILITAIRE PLOT . A FRENCH CABINET MINISTER, EMERGING FROM A MEETING AT THE ELYSEE PALACE LAST WEEK, SAID WORRIEDLY TO A FRIEND : " NEVER HAD DE GAULLE'S LIFE BEEN IN SUCH DANGER . /
 IRAQ GREEN ARMBANDS, RED BLOOD A WEEK AFTER THE OVERTHROW IRAQ'S DICTATOR ABDUL KARIM KASSEM, THE CRACK OF RIFLE FIRE STILL ECHOED IN BAGHDAD'S LIBERATION SQUARE . TANKS AND ARMORED CARS KEPT STERN VIGIL AT EVERY IMPORTANT INTERSECTION . SCURRYING EVERYWHERE WERE THE LITTLE SQUADS OF MEN WEARING GREEN ARMBANDS FERRETS WHO SOUGHT TO FIND AND TO CRUSH THE LAST REMAINING OPPOSITION TO REBEL PRESIDENT ABDUL SALAM AREF AND HIS MYSTERIOUS REVOLUTIONARY BACKERS . WHO WERE THESE NEW RULERS ? IN THE MODERN MODE, AREF, 41, GRITTED HIS TEETH AND PRESENTED HIMSELF AT THE BAGHDAD HOTEL FOR THE INEVITABLE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE SWARM OF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS, AN ORDEAL HE SEEMED TO REGARD AS IN SOME WAYS WORSE THAN THE HISTORIC NIGHT OF THE COUP ITSELF . MORE THAN A HUNDRED SHOUTING REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS PUSHED ASIDE HIS TOMMY-GUN-WAVING GUARD AND CROWDED AROUND IRAQ'S BOSS TO HEAR AREF SPEAK FREELY ABOUT THE AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT . HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT AN END TO ONE-MAN RULE, FRIENDSHIP WITH ALL ARAB STATES, AND THE " OVERCOMING OF ALL THE DIFFICULTIES FACING THE IRAQI PEOPLE . " BUT HE WAS MYSTERIOUSLY SILENT ABOUT THE SIZE OR MEMBERSHIP OF THE ALL-POWERFUL NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND, WHICH ORGANIZED AND LED THE REVOLT AGAINST KASSEM . NO PERSONALITIES . SAID AREF : " THIS IS A SECRET WHICH MUST REMAIN A SECRET FOR MANY REASONS . " ASKED WHY, ENGLISHSPEAKING AREF REPLIED VOLUBLY IN ARABIC . PRESSED AGAIN FOR AN ANSWER, AREF SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED, " THE CONFERENCE IS CLOSED, " AND DEPARTED, SURROUNDED BY HIS GUARDS . THE REASON FOR SUCH SECRECY SEEMS TO BE A GENERAL REVULSION AGAINST THE SELFGLORIFICATION OF KASSEM'S FOUR-YEAR DICTATORSHIP . " WE REVOLTED AGAINST THE CULT OF PERSONALITY, " EXPLAINED NEW FOREIGN MINISTER TALIB HUSSEIN SHABIB, 32 . TO THE KEY QUESTION OF WHO IS BOSS OF THE NEW IRAQ, THE ANSWER SEEMS TO BE : AT THE MOMENT, NO ONE MAN . PRESIDENT AREF CANNOT MAKE MAJOR DECISIONS WITHOUT THE CONCURRENCE OF THE MYSTERIOUS NATIONAL COUNCIL . BUT HIGHLY VISIBLE WAS THE NEW 21-MAN CABINET, AND MOST WESTERN OBSERVERS LIKED WHAT THEY SAW . SAID ONE : " IN GENERAL, THEY'RE A TOPNOTCH BUNCH OF RESPONSIBLE, EAGER, EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-EDUCATED PEOPLE . " MANY OF THE MINISTERS HAVE LIVED OR HAVE BEEN EDUCATED IN THE WEST, RANGING FROM FOREIGN MINISTER SHABIB, WHO GRADUATED FROM LONDON UNIVERSITY AND IS MARRIED TO AN ENGLISHWOMAN, TO FINANCE MINISTER SALIH KUBBA, WHO ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND HAS AN INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION AS AN ECONOMIST . SEVEN OF THE NEW CABINET MINISTERS WERE IN KASSEM'S CONCENTRATION CAMP AT RASHID MILITARY BASE UNTIL THE REBELS BROKE DOWN THE GATES DURING THE COUP . THE BAATH IDEA . THE NEW GOVERNMENT IS CLEARLY ANTI-COMMUNIST, AND ALL BUT FIVE MINISTERS ARE EITHER MEMBERS OF OR CLOSELY LINKED TO THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY . MORE AN IDEA THAN AN IDEOLOGY, THE BASIC BAATH DOCTRINE INSISTS THAT " THERE ARE NO ARAB NATIONS ; THERE IS ONLY ONE ARAB NATION . " THIS CREED IS, OF COURSE, WARMLY EMBRACED BY EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, BUT AREF AND IRAQ'S BAATH PARTY SEEM HARDLY EAGER TO FALL UNDER CAIRO'S DOMINATION . THE BAATHIST LEADERS IN IRAQ, IN FACT, HAVE RESHAPED THEIR DOCTRINE OF ARAB UNITY INTO A CONCEPT OF FEDERATION OF ARAB STATES WITHOUT A CENTRALIZED DICTATORSHIP . THIS COULD MEAN ANYTHING, INCLUDING A REVIVAL OF THE OLD CONCEPT OF LOOSE UNITY IN THE " FERTILE CRESCENT " IRAQ, SYRIA, JORDAN AND LEBANON . ALREADY SYRIA, HAVING BROKEN FREE FROM NASSER, WAS PROPOSING FEDERATION TO IRAQ'S NEW LEADERS . THE IDEAS OF THE NEW IRAQIS SEEM LIBERAL, HUMANE AND DEMOCRATIC . BUT SO DID KASSEM'S PROGRAM WHEN HE FIRST SEIZED POWER ; HIS REIGN SWIFTLY DRIFTED TO BRUTALITY AND DEGRADATION . NORMAL TORPOR . BY WEEK'S END IRAQ SEEMED SETTLING DOWN INTO THE NORMAL TORPOR OF AN ARAB STATE AFTER A COUP D'ETAT . OIL FLOWED UNINTERRUPTEDLY THROUGH THE PIPELINES TO THE MEDITERRANEAN . SHOPS, SCHOOLS, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES REOPENED . THE CURFEW WAS GRADUALLY EXTENDED FROM 3 IN THE AFTERNOON UNTIL 11 AT NIGHT, AND IN THE COFFEEHOUSES MEN WERE GOSSIPING AND PLAYING BACKGAMMON . THE LOCAL COMMUNISTS, THE ONLY GROUP STILL SUPPORTING THE DISCREDITED KASSEM REGIME, WERE BEING STRIDENTLY URGED BY MOSCOW'S POWERFUL ARABIC VOICE IN EAST GERMANY TO " STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FASCIST IMPERIALIST REGIME NOW FOISTED ON IRAQ . " SOME COMMUNISTS RESPONDED BY SNIPING FROM ROOFTOPS, BUT THEIR ORGANIZATION HAD SUFFERED A DEVASTATING BLOW . HUNDREDS OF THE DOGGED MEN WITH GREEN ARMBANDS, CARRYING MIMEOGRAPHED LISTS OF RED LEADERS COMPLETE WITH HOME ADDRESSES AND AUTO LICENSE NUMBERS, METHODICALLY HUNTED DOWN THE COMMUNISTS, WHO HAD GROWN STRONG IN KASSEM'S FINAL MONTHS . BY LAST WEEK THE NEW REGIME HAD KILLED OR JAILED NEARLY 2,500 DISSIDENT COMMUNISTS . THIS WAS ENOUGH TO WIN THE APPLAUSE OF WESTERN DIPLOMATS . BUT ANYONE WHO HAD WITNESSED THE PERILOUS PASSAGE OF OTHER, EARLIER REVOLTS WITH LAUDABLE AMBITIONS, COULD ONLY HOPE THAT THE REBELS WOULD STOP THE SHOOTING AND START RUNNING THE COUNTRY . IN THE LONG RUN, GUNS WILL HARDLY SERVE THE NEW REGIME BETTER THAN THEY SERVED ABDUL KARIM KASSEM .
 GREAT BRITAIN 2-12 THE OTHER HAROLD THE LABOR PARTY LAST WEEK CHOSE A NEW LEADER TO CARRY ITS BANNER AGAINST THE TORIES IN BRITAIN'S COMING GENERAL ELECTION . THE WINNER : HAROLD WILSON, 46, A PIPE-SMOKING INTELLECTUAL WITH A PHENOMENAL MEMORY, A FOLLOWING OF MIXED ADMIRERS, AND A LOVE OF POLITICAL COMBAT . WILSON'S  VICTORY WAS A CRUSHING BLOW TO HIS CHIEF RIVAL, COMRADELY GEORGE BROWN, 48, A STAUNCH TRADE UNIONIST AND EX-TRUCK DRIVER, WHO AS ACTING PARTY LEADER SINCE THE DEATH LAST MONTH OF HUGH GAITSKELL, HAD EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT HE WOULD INHERIT THE MANTLE OF LEADERSHIP . BUT WHEN THE VOTING BEGAN LAST WEEK, IT WAS GEORGE BROWN'S OLD FRIENDS AMONG LABOR'S TRADE UNIONISTS WHO ABANDONED HIM FIRST . SOME OPPOSED HIS PRO-COMMON MARKET VIEWS ; OTHERS AMONG LABOR'S INTELLECTUAL CENTER AND RIGHT FLINCHED AT THE THOUGHT OF A WORKINGCLASS, UP-FROM-THE-RANKS PRIME MINISTER, AND PREFERRED TO GO TO THE COUNTRY WITH AN OXFORD GRADUATE AND ECONOMICS DON LIKE WILSON . RESPECTABILITY MEANS A LOT TO THE LABOR PARTY . HIGH MORTALITY . " NO ONE KNOWS HAROLD, REALLY, " SAYS A FRIEND . BUT AT A PRESS CONFERENCE LAST WEEK, JAMMED WITH REPORTERS AND TV CAMERAS, WILSON SET OUT SMOOTHLY AND COMPETENTLY TO LEAVE THE RIGHT IMPRESSION . HE REGRETTED THE " TRAGIC EVENT " OF GAITSKELL'S DEATH " THAT CREATED THIS VACANCY . " HE DIPLOMATICALLY DECLARED THAT " A GREAT DEAL OF CREDIT MUST GO TO GEORGE BROWN " FOR KEEPING THE PARTY TOGETHER IN THE INTERIM . FINALLY, WILSON STATED HIS THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES : " FIRST, TO MAINTAIN THE UNITY OF THE PARTY THAT HUGH GAITSKELL HANDED ON ; SECOND, TO CONTINUE THOSE POLICIES WORKED OUT UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP . . . THIRDLY, TO LEAD THE PARTY TO VICTORY IN THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION . / IN THE PAST DECADE, LABOR'S STRENGTH HAS BEEN SAPPED BY INTERNAL BICKERING AND BY THE LOSS OF MANY OF ITS ABLEST MEN (GAITSKELL, SIR STAFFORD CRIPPS, ERNEST BEVIN, ANEURIN BEVAN) . THE FEUDING HAS FADED, AND LABOR FINDS ITSELF IN THE BEST SHAPE IN YEARS TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT OF PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN . A GALLUP POLL LAST WEEK INDICATED THAT LABOR HAD A 15F PER CENT LEAD OVER THE CONSERVATIVES, THE LOWEST THE TORIES HAVE BEEN IN ELEVEN YEARS IN POWER . BEVERIDGE'S BOY . DEEPENING UNEMPLOYMENT AND A FALTERING ECONOMY ACCOUNT MORE FOR TORY UNPOPULARITY THAN ITS RECENT DEFEAT ON THE COMMON MARKET . MACMILLAN HAS UNTIL FALL 1964 TO CALL AN ELECTION AT THE TIME MOST ADVANTAGEOUS TO HIMSELF . MUCH WILL DEPEND ON THE SKILL WITH WHICH WILSON EXPLOITS TORY WEAKNESSES AND DEMONSTRATES LABOR'S RIGHT TO GOVERN . THE SON OF AN INDUSTRIAL CHEMIST, JAMES HAROLD WILSON WAS BORN MARCH 11, 1916, IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL YORKSHIRE, AND SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD IN A HILLSIDE VILLAGE OVERLOOKING THE FACTORY SMOKE OF THE COLNE VALLEY . AT THE LOCAL COUNCIL SCHOOL, HE WON THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF SCHOLARSHIPS THAT EVENTUALLY CARRIED HIM TO OXFORD'S JESUS COLLEGE, WHERE HE WAS A LEADING MEMBER OF THE DEBATING SOCIETY AND A CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNER . GRADUATING WITH FIRST CLASS HONORS, WILSON REMAINED AT OXFORD AS AN ECONOMICS DON UNTIL THE WAR, ENDING UP IN THE MINISTRY OF FUEL AND POWER . SIR WILLIAM BEVERIDGE EMPLOYED HIM AS A RESEARCHER FOR HIS FAMED SOCIAL INSURANCE REPORT, AND CALLED WILSON A " BRILLIANT YOUNG MAN " AND " THE BEST ECONOMIST I'VE EVER HAD . " IN 1945 WILSON STOOD FOR OFFICE FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND, IN THE ELECTION THAT THREW WINSTON CHURCHILL OUT OF OFFICE, WON A LANCASHIRE SEAT HANDILY BY 7,022 VOTES . TWO YEARS LATER, WHEN WILSON BECAME PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE AT 31, HE WAS THE YOUNGEST CABINET MEMBER SINCE WILLIAM PITT . LITTERED HOUSE . AMONG HIS CONSTITUENTS OR AT HIS RED-BRICK HOME IN HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB, WILSON IS AFFABLE, EASYGOING AND WELL-LIKED . HIS WIFE MARY, THE DAUGHTER OF A BAPTIST MINISTER, WRITES POETRY AND IS ACTIVE IN HER LOCAL CHURCH ; HIS TWO SONS, ROBIN, 19, AND GILES, 14, LITTER THE HOUSE WITH SPORTS GEAR AND MACKINTOSHES . BUT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, THE REACTION TO WILSON IS GENERALLY ONE OF UNEASY SUSPICION, AND HE IS FREQUENTLY ACCUSED OF BEING " SLIPPERY . " AS THE ECONOMIST PUT IT LAST WEEK, " ON THE BIG THINGS DEFENSE, THE AMERICAN ALLIANCE, EAST-WEST, THE NEED TO GIVE LABOR A TWENTIETH CENTURY LOOK MR . WILSON HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY AMBIGUOUS, INDEED DELIBERATELY AND CLEVERLY SO . THESE ARE THE REASONS FOR MORE THAN DOUBT ABOUT HIS LEADERSHIP . " HAVING QUIT THE LABOR CABINET IN 1951, ALONG WITH FIREBRAND ANEURIN BEVAN, WILSON HAS INHERITED MUCH OF BEVAN'S LEFTWING SUPPORT . BUT IN THE CABINET HIS MAIN ADMINISTRATIVE ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE DISMANTLING OF A VAST ARRAY OF CONTROLS ON BRITAIN'S POSTWAR ECONOMY . HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MORE PRAGMATIC THAN DOCTRINAIRE OR OPPORTUNISTIC, HIS ENEMIES SAY . IN A COMMONS SPEECH LAST WEEK HE DECLARED, " WHAT I AM SAYING MAY OR MAY NOT BE IDEOLOGICAL, BUT IT WILL GET THE EXPORT ORDERS . " WITH THE LEFT SAFELY ON HIS SIDE, WILSON IS SHREWD ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT, AS LEADER, HE MUST NOW CONCILIATE THE PARTY'S CENTER AND RIGHT . WILSON CARRIED ON A MILD FLIRTATION WITH THE H-BOMB " UNILATERALISTS " WHEN HE CHALLENGED GAITSKELL FOR PARTY LEADERSHIP IN 1960, AND FOR A TIME PLUMPED FOR NEUTRALISM INSTEAD OF NATO . LAST WEEK WILSON REASSURED EVERYBODY THAT THE LABOR PARTY " STANDS FIRMLY BY NATO . " AND HE ADDED, " WE SHOULD EXPECT TO HAVE A VERY HAPPY RELATIONSHIP " WITH WASHINGTON . IN A RECENT COMMONS SPEECH HE ARGUED THAT BRITAIN SHOULD AVOID THE NEEDLESS EXPENSE OF A SEPARATE NUCLEAR DETERRENT, BUT NEVERTHELESS SHOULD HAVE A VOICE IN DECIDING WHEN THE WEST (I.E., THE U.S.) USES ITS NUCLEAR POWER : " THERE MUST BE NO ANNIHILATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION ! " WITH HIS READY TONGUE AND SHARP MIND, HAROLD WILSON WILL PROVE A FORMIDABLE ADVERSARY FOR PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN (HE WAS SWIFTLY DUBBED " THE OTHER HAROLD " ) . THERE IS HARDLY AN M.P . WHO HAS A BETTER GRASP OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE OR A BETTER KNACK OF TURNING IT TO HIS SIDE'S ADVANTAGE . HE HAS ALREADY DRAWN BLOOD WITH HIS SLASHING ATTACKS ON THE " VAIN NUCLEAR POSTURING " OF THE MACMILLAN GOVERNMENT . MACMILLAN'S RELATIONS WITH U.S . PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY, SAID WILSON, REMINDED HIM OF A " SEEDY UNCLE " RECEIVING HOMILIES FROM A YOUNG AND WEALTHY NEPHEW . THOUGH IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO DISCOVER PRECISELY WHERE HAROLD WILSON STANDS, THERE WAS LITTLE DOUBT LAST WEEK ABOUT WHERE HE INTENDS TO COME TO REST AT 10 DOWNING STREET .
 HUNGARY GAY UNTIL TOMORROW LIKE GERMANY'S RIOTOUS FASCHING FESTIVAL, HUNGARY'S FARSANG WAS TRADITIONALLY A TIME TO BLOW OFF STEAM BEFORE THE ONSET OF LENT'S RIGORS . IT WAS BANNED BY HUNGARY'S RED RULERS . BUT NOW, WITH THEIR TOLERANCE, FARSANG (PRONOUNCED FORSHONG), IS MAKING A COMEBACK NOT SO MUCH AS A PRE-LENTEN SPREE AS A CHANCE TO ESCAPE THE AUSTERITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE UNDER COMMUNISM . EXPLAINED ONE BLONDE MERRYMAKER : " WE CELEBRATE FROM THE MORNING AFTER NEW YEAR'S RIGHT THROUGH LENT, AND ON TO EASTER . " HUNGARY'S FESTIVAL PALES BY COMPARISON WITH THE OLD DAYS, WHEN MAGYAR ARISTOCRATS WOULD SPIT ON A 100-FORINT NOTE (WORTH ABOUT $12.50), SLAP IT ON A GYPSY'S FOREHEAD, AND DEMAND PASSIONATE VIOLINPLAYING UNTIL THE SPITTLE DRIED AND THE NOTE FELL OFF . BUT ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IT IS GAY ENOUGH . AT BUDAPEST'S PRESS BALL LAST WEEK, YOUNG MEN IN STOVEPIPE TROUSERS AND GIRLS IN DARINGLY DECOLLETE DRESSES PERFORMED A WRITHING TWIST THAT ONLOOKERS POINTED TO WITH A TOUCH OF PRIDE AS THEIR OWN " DIRTY TWIST . / FOR THE MONSTER MASKED BALLS THAT PUNCTUATE THE SEASON, PROBABLY 100,000 COSTUMES WILL BE RENTED . AT SOME EVENTS THE MEN SPORT TUXEDOS RENTED FOR 120 FORINTS (THE AVERAGE HUNGARIAN EARNS 1,600 FORINTS A MONTH, OR $70 AT TOURIST EXCHANGE RATES), AND THE LADIES WEAR OLD REMODELED PARTY DRESSES . EVERYBODY THROWS A PARTY : THERE IS EVEN A BALL OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF WATER ECONOMY . AT THE FORESTERS' BALL IN BUDAPEST'S HOTEL GELLERT FORTNIGHT AGO, 1,500 GUESTS TURNED UP, INCLUDING EVEN A FEW FORESTERS . GYPSIES PROVIDE THE MUSIC, SAWING OUT STRAUSS WALTZES, WILD HUNGARIAN CSARDAS AND SONGS BY SOMEBODY LISTED AS / COLPORTER . " THE BALLS GO STRONG UNTIL DAWN BREAKS OVER THE DANUBE . FOR ALL THE DANCING, DRINKING AND CASUAL LOVEMAKING, THE FESTIVAL HAS A BITTERSWEET AIR . AFTER THEIR NIGHT-LONG REVELS, BUDAPEST'S RESIDENTS PICK THEIR WAY TO WORK ALONG POCK-MARKED SIDESTREETS, GAZE ABSENTLY AT THE STRIPPED-BARK SCAFFOLDING ON BUILDINGS GUTTED BY SOVIET TANKS DURING THE 1956 REBELLION, QUEUE UP FOR THE CONSUMER GOODS THAT ALWAYS SEEM TO BE IN SHORT SUPPLY . THE RED ARMY STILL STAYS PRUDENTLY HIDDEN IN ITS CAMPS RINGING BUDAPEST, AND THE HATED AVH SECRET POLICE HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY A LESS CONSPICUOUSLY MURDEROUS BUNCH KNOWN AS BKH, BUT NOBODY IS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE " PERMISSIVENESS " SHOWN LATELY BY PREMIER JANOS KADAR . DON'T LET ALL THIS GAIETY FOOL YOU, " A BUDAPEST WRITER WARNED AN AMERICAN VISITOR AFTER A FARSANG BALL . " THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE GAY BECAUSE THEY ARE YOUNG . THE OLD PEOPLE THEY ARE GAY BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT COMES TOMORROW . "
 ITALY OFF & RUNNING FOR ITALY'S 243 ELECTED SENATORS AND 596 DEPUTIES, ALL ROADS LED OUT OF ROME LAST WEEK . GETTING THE JUMP ON THE PRESIDENTIAL DECREE FORMALLY DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT, THE POLITICIANS SCURRIED HOME TO START CAMPAIGNING IN THE FIRST GENERAL ELECTION IN FIVE YEARS . IF THE APRIL 28-29 ELECTION WERE ONLY A PERSONAL POPULARITY CONTEST, SHORT (5 FT . 1 IN.), MUSTACHIOED PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI, 55, MIGHT FIND HIMSELF OUT OF A JOB . FANFANI IS SHREWD, NOT SIMPATICO ,; BEHIND HIS BACK, CRITICS CALL HIM AND HIS AIDES I BASSOTTI (THE DACHSHUNDS) . MORE THAN FANFANI'S LOOKS AND COLD POLITICAL STYLE ARE AGAINST HIM . A 6 PER CENT JUMP IN LIVING COSTS LAST YEAR TOUCHED OFF A PROLONGED WAVE OF STRIKES BY INDUSTRIAL AND WHITECOLLAR WORKERS ; FORTNIGHT AGO, 5,000,000 WORKERS QUIT THEIR JOBS IN A ONE-DAY GENERAL WALKOUT . FANFANI'S YEAR-OLD PARTNERSHIP WITH PIETRO NENNI'S LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS, THE APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT), HAS SHARPLY DIVIDED THE PREMIER'S OWN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ; THE COALITION'S MAJOR LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT THE NEEDLESS AND EXPENSIVE NATIONALIZATION OF THE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY, WHICH WAS NENNI'S PRICE FOR COLLABORATION HAS TURNED MANY BUSINESSMEN AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT . STILL, FANFANI FIGURES TO STAY ON TOP . OF THE SIX NATIONS IN THE COMMON MARKET, ITALY'S ESTIMATED 6 PER CENT GROWTH RATE THIS YEAR IS THE HIGHEST ; AT ABOUT 1,000,000, UNEMPLOYMENT IS HALF THE 1956 LEVEL . MANY ITALIANS FEAR THAT FLIRTATION WITH THAT OLD STALIN PRIZEWINNER PIETRO NENNI WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD ITALY DOWN THE PATH TO NEUTRALISM . BUT SO FAR, NENNI HAS PULLED TO THE RIGHT IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, AWAY FROM HIS LONGTIME COMMUNIST ALLIES . HE HAS EVEN HALFHEARTEDLY ENDORSED A NATO NUCLEAR FORCE . NENNI WAS PROBABLY SAVED A LITTLE SOCIALISTIC EMBARRASSMENT WHEN THE U.S . RECENTLY AGREED TO PULL ITS JUPITER MISSILES OUT OF ITALY .
 EAST GERMANY THE HARDER THEY FALL EAST GERMAN COMMUNISTS FOREVER ACCUSE WEST GERMAN CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER OF HARBORING FORMER NAZIS IN HIS GOVERNMENT, BUT LAST WEEK, TO THEIR ACUTE EMBARRASSMENT, A PROMINENT EXNAZI TURNED UP RIGHT AMONG EAST GERMANY'S TOP TWELVE COMMUNISTS . THE MAN WAS PROFESSOR DR . KARL-HEINZ BARTSCH, 39, A BRILLIANT AGRICULTURALIST WHO IN SCARCELY MORE THAN A DECADE SOARED FROM COMPLETE OBSCURITY TO A SPOT IN WALTER ULBRICHT'S CABINET . FIRST GAINING PROMINENCE WITH HIS LECTURES ON ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AT EAST BERLIN'S HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY, BARTSCH WAS GIVEN A JOB CONTROLLING COLLECTIVE FARMS, SOON WAS MADE DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE . PERHAPS HE DID NOT TELL HIS COLLEAGUES OF SOME OF HIS EARLIER ACHIEVEMENTS : A PLACE IN THE HITLERJUGEND AT NINE, HITLER'S CROSS OF DANZIG AT 16 (PRESUMABLY FOR DEEDS IN POLAND), A WAR CAREER IN THE NOTORIOUS SS . WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES KNEW ALL ABOUT BARTSCH, HOWEVER . HIS NAME HAD TURNED UP IN THE BERLIN DOCUMENTS CENTER, AN ARCHIVE OF OLD NAZI MEMBERSHIP FILES RESCUED FROM THE STORAGE HEAP OF A WEST GERMAN PAPERMILL AFTER THE WAR . RESISTING THE TEMPTATION TO SPILL THE FACTS ON BARTSCH, INTELLIGENCE BIDED ITS TIME . FORTNIGHT AGO, THE RISING HERR BARTSCH BECAME AGRICULTURAL CZAR, AND AT THIS POINT OUT TO WEST BERLIN NEWSPAPERS WENT FULL DOSSIERS ON THE NEW COMMUNIST CABINET MINISTER . FOR TWO DAYS THE EAST GERMAN GOVERNMENT IGNORED THE HEADLINES . THEN ULBRICHT'S PARTY CONTROL COMMITTEE MET AND DECIDED THAT BARTSCH, FOR CAUSING " SERIOUS DAMAGE " TO THE PARTY, WOULD BE DISMISSED FROM ALL HIS PARTY AND GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS . HE HAD BEEN IN OFFICE JUST 36 HOURS .
 CENTRAL AFRICA NO SQUAWKS, PLEASE EVERYBODY WAS RUSHING TO LEAVE SIR ROY WELENSKY'S RICKETY RHODESIA FEDERATION . BLACK-RULED NYASALAND WAS ALREADY ASSURED OF BRITAIN'S PERMISSION TO SECEDE . NORTHERN RHODESIA'S AFRICAN-DOMINATED ASSEMBLY LAST WEEK VOTED, 21 TO 14, TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE SECESSION . EVEN WHITERULED SOUTHERN RHODESIA WAS NOW CALLING FOR " A CLEAN BREAK . " OR, AS THE NEW PRIME MINISTER, WINSTON FIELD, PUT IT AT THE OPENING SESSION OF PARLIAMENT IN SALISBURY, " THE QUESTION OF SOUTHERN RHODESIAN SECESSION WILL NOT ARISE . WE SHALL HAVE BEEN SECEDED FROM . " BRITAIN'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER R . A . ( " RAB " ) BUTLER HAD JUST SPENT TWO WEEKS IN THE RHODESIAS, AND CONCLUDED THAT A BREAKUP OF THE TEN-YEAR-OLD FEDERATION WAS INEVITABLE . SOMETIME IN THE COMING SPRING, BUTLER IS EXPECTED TO CALL A CONFERENCE IN LONDON TO OVERHAUL THE CONSTITU TION OF NORTHERN RHODESIA, AND GIVE THE REGION THE RIGHT TO SECEDE ; HE ALSO HOPED THAT HE MIGHT SALVAGE FROM THE FEDERATION'S WRECKAGE SOME KIND OF ECONOMIC LINK BETWEEN THE TWO RHODESIAS . FIELD'S AIM IS TO WIN INDEPENDENCE FOR SOUTHERN RHODESIA BEFORE BRITAIN HAS A CHANCE TO DRAFT A NEW CONSTITUTION THAT WOULD ASSURE SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S 3,616,000 BLACK OF MAJORITY RULE OVER THE 221,000 WHITES . FIELD WANTS NO SQUAWKS FROM NATIVE AGITATORS WHILE HE TRIES TO BRING OFF HIS PLAN . THIS MONTH HIS POLICE ARRESTED AFRICAN NATIONALIST LEADER JOSHUA NKOMO AND SEVEN OTHER FORMER LEADERS OF THE BANNED ZIMBABWE AFRICAN PEOPLE'S UNION FOR TAKING PART IN AN " ILLEGAL PROCESSION " AND " OBSTRUCTING POLICE " AT A PROTEST RALLY, CHARGES THAT COULD MEAN UP TO TEN YEARS IN PRISON . WITH THAT, FIELD LAST WEEK SENT PARLIAMENT A SPATE OF PROPOSALS THAT WOULD GIVE POLICE BROAD NEW SEARCH AND ARREST POWERS, PERMIT THE WHIPPING OF PRISONERS (UP TO A MAXIMUM OF TEN LASHES), AND MAKE HANGING MANDATORY FOR ANYONE CONVICTED OF ARSON OR THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES .
 SOUTH AFRICA UNHAPPY APART PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD'S GRANDIOSE SCHEME TO TRANSPLANT MOST OF SOUTH AFRICA'S 11 MILLION NATIVES INTO NINE BACK-COUNTRY, ALL-BLACK BANTUSTANS WAS SUPPOSED TO PUT AN END TO THE COUNTRY'S RACIAL UNREST . INSTEAD, IT HAS ONLY INCREASED THE DANGEROUS TENSION BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE . THE FIRST BANTUSTAN ON VERWOERD'S LIST WAS THE TRANSKEI, A DENMARK-SIZE (16,500 SQ . MI.) AREA OF ERODED FARM LAND ON THE INDIAN OCEAN . NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLES IT HAS SEEN . EVER SINCE AFRICANS WENT ON A RAMPAGE THERE MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, MURDERING THE GOVERNMENT'S HANDPICKED TRIBAL CHIEFS AND SETTING FIRE TO ENTIRE VILLAGES, MOBILE POLICE PATROLS ARMED WITH STEN GUNS, ARMORED CARS, AND HELICOPTER SPOTTER PLANES HAVE HAD TO STAY ON DUTY IN PARTS OF THE TRANSKEI . FORTNIGHT AGO, A WHITE FAMILY OF FOUR WERE CAPRICIOUSLY HACKED TO DEATH WITH PANGAS AS THEY STUMBLED DOWN THE STEPS OF THEIR BURNING TRAILER, SET AFIRE WHILE PARKED ON A ROAD ONLY 30 MILES FROM THE TRANSKEI'S CAPITAL OF UMTATA . LAST WEEK, AS THE PARLIAMENT IN CAPE TOWN PREPARED TO DEBATE A BILL LEGALLY ESTABLISHING THE TRANSKEI BANTUSTAN CERTAIN TO PASS THE NATIONALIST PARTY-CONTROLLED LEGISLATURE, PROBABLY BY JUNE THERE WAS MORE TROUBLE . THE GOVERNMENT PLANS TO MAKE KAIZER MATANZIMA, A MISSION-EDUCATED TEMBU CHIEF, THE CHIEF MINISTER OF THE NEW TRANSKEI GOVERNMENT . THE BODYGUARD OF A HEADMAN SERVING MATANZIMA GOT INTO A TRIBAL FIGHT WITH 40 WARRIORS ARMED WITH SPEARS AND AXES . MATANZIMA QUICKLY MUSTERED 500 MEN TO CRUSH THE REVOLT, AND SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE STOOD BY WITH A TRUCKLOAD OF MEN AND A HELICOPTER . THE REBELS FLED INTO THE HILLS . POLICE BLAMED THE TRAILER MURDERS AND THE TRIBAL OUTBREAK ON THE INCREASING INFLUENCE OF POQO (PRONOUNCED PAW-KAW), AN AFRICAN TERRORIST SOCIETY WHOSE MEMBERS, LIKE KENYA'S NOTORIOUS MAU MAU, TAKE SECRET OATHS AND ARE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY WITCH DOCTORS . POQO FANATICS RECENTLY TRIED TO ASSASSINATE MATANZIMA BECAUSE HE FRANKLY FAVORS APARTHEID AS " THE BEST SOLUTION " FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S RACIAL TROUBLES . MATANZIMA'S POWERS TO GOVERN THE TRANSKEI'S 1,400,000 BLACKS, 15,000 TO 20,000 WHITES, AND 14,000 COLOREDS WILL BE STRICTLY LIMITED . ALL MEASURES PASSED BY THE LOCAL LEGISLATURE OF TRIBAL CHIEFS AND ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ARE SUBJECT TO VETO BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT ; CAPE TOWN STILL WILL CONTROL JUSTICE AND INTERNAL SECURITY . MONEY TO IMPROVE THE BARREN REGION WILL BE LACKING . VERWOERD HAS PROMISED AN ANNUAL BUDGET SUBSIDY OF $30 MILLION, BUT THIS FALLS FAR SHORT OF MEETING THE NEED FOR HOUSING, SCHOOLS, LAND RECLAMATION, ESTABLISHING NEW INDUSTRY . IN ADDITION, MATANZIMA FACES POWERFUL POLITICAL OPPOSITION FROM ANOTHER TEMBU CHIEF, SABATA DALINDYEBO, WHO DOES NOT LIKE THE BANTUSTAN IDEA AT ALL . DALINDYEBO DEMANDS MULTIRACIAL POLITICAL RULE " IN WHICH THE COLOR OF A MAN'S SKIN PLAYS NO PART IN HIS CIVIL RIGHTS . BY ACCEPTING SELF-GOVERNMENT, " HE WARNS, " WE FEAR WE WILL BE ENCLOSING OURSELVES IN A PIGSTY .
 BURMA ARMY SOCIALISM EVER SINCE GENERAL NE WIN TOSSED BUMBLING PREMIER U NU OUT OF OFFICE LAST MARCH, THE ONLY THING THAT HAS KEPT HIM FROM RUSHING HEADLONG INTO A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL NATIONALIZATION AND FARM COLLECTIVIZATION HAS BEEN THE INFLUENCE OF TOUGH, HANDSOME BRIGADIER AUNG GYI . LAST WEEK THE BRAKES WERE OFF . AFTER A LONG FEUD WITH LEFTIST MEMBERS IN THE 17-MAN REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL, AUNG GYI " MOST RESPECTFULLY " ASKED STRONGMAN NE WIN " TO RELIEVE ME OF THE VARIOUS DUTIES TO WHICH I HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED . " AS ARMY VICE CHIEF OF STAFF, MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BURMA OIL CO., AUNG GYI WAS NE WIN'S NO . 2 MAN AND HEIR APPARENT . THE SON OF A WELL-TO-DO CHINESE TEXTILE MERCHANT AND A BURMESE WOMAN, HE PROVED HIMSELF A CANNY DIPLOMAT BOTH IN THE 1960 NEGOTIATIONS THAT FIXED BURMA'S BORDERS WITH RED CHINA AND IN LAST MONTH'S TALKS WITH JAPAN THAT PRODUCED $170 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL WORLD WAR II REPARATIONS AND LOANS . DESPITE HIS INSISTENCE THAT " I HAVE NO TRAINING IN ECONOMICS, / HE BUILT A MODEST ARMY PX-TYPE OPERATION INTO THE GIANT BURMA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP., RUNNING 34 FIRMS RANGING FROM BANKING TO FISHERIES AND TURNING HANDSOME PROFITS THAT IN SOME YEARS RAN AS HIGH AS $2,500,000 . THOUGH HE INSISTED THAT HE HAD BEEN A SOCIALIST FOR 20 YEARS AND INTENDED TO REMAIN ONE FOR 20 MORE, IN FACT, HE WAS A TOUGH-MINDED PRAGMATIST WHO OPENLY ADVOCATED COOPERATION WITH PRIVATE INDUSTRY . INEVITABLY, AUNG GYI'S GRADUALISM ANNOYED NE WIN, A SOLDIER WHO IS NO COMMUNIST BUT HAS VOWED TO SOCIALIZE BURMA AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE . AUNG GYI EARNED THE ENMITY OF BRIGADIER TIN PE, A MARXIST THEORIST AND A KEY MEMBER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL . FOR MONTHS, TIN PE PRESSED FOR A FASTER SWITCHOVER TO STATE CONTROL ; AUNG GYI'S DEPARTURE MEANS THAT TIN PE HAS FINALLY WON OUT . STRIPPED OF POWER, AUNG GYI, 43, FLEW OFF TO VOLUNTARY EXILE IN AN ISOLATED BURMESE VILLAGE NEAR THE BORDERS OF CHINA AND INDIA . AT LEAST FOUR HIGH-RANKING OFFICERS WHO SHARED HIS VIEWS WERE ARRESTED OR FORCED INTO RETIREMENT . WITH THE OPPOSITION OUT OF THE WAY, NE WIN DECLARED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD IMMEDIATELY TAKE OVER THE IMPORT AND EXPORT BUSINESS, THE RICE TRADE AND SOME PRIVATE INDUSTRIES . BURMA'S ECONOMY, SAID HE, WOULD NOW COME UNDER " TOTAL STATE CONTROL . /
 COMMUNISTS 2-12 AH, FOREIGN AID THE COMMUNISTS HAVE POURED OUT THEIR MILLIONS TOO, TRYING TO WIN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF AFRICA . SOMETIMES, MOSCOW MUST WONDER WHETHER IT IS WORTH ALL THE EFFORT . IN BULGARIA, 200 AFRICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ON COMMUNIST SCHOLARSHIPS MARCHED DOWN SOFIA'S LENIN BOULEVARD TOWARD THE OFFICE OF PREMIER TODOR ZHIVKOV TO PROTEST GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS . INSTEAD OF SYMPATHY, THEY WERE MET BY 600 BULGARIAN MILITIAMEN, WHO FLAILED THE AFRICANS WITH CLUBS AND HAULED THEM OFF TO JAIL . ALL THE STUDENTS HAD ASKED FOR WAS PERMISSION TO MAINTAIN AN ALL-AFRICA STUDENT UNION . LIKE OTHER AFRICANS IN EASTERN EUROPE, THE 350 AFRICAN STUDENTS IN BULGARIA FOUND MORE SEGREGATION THAN BROTHERHOOD, MORE INDOCTRINATION THAN EDUCATION . AFTER THE RIOT, GHANA'S AMBASSADOR LODGED A STRONG PROTEST WITH THE BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT, AND JUST ABOUT ALL OF THE AFRICANS IN SOFIA DECIDED TO PACK UP AND SEEK EDUCATION ELSEWHERE . " WE HAVE BEEN INSULTED IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, " SAID GHANAIAN AGRICULTURAL STUDENT ROBERT KOTEY AS HE ARRIVED IN VIENNA . " WE WERE MOLESTED IN THE STREETS, CALLED " BLACK MONKEYS' AND " JUNGLE PEOPLE,' AND PEOPLED USED TO SPIT OUT BEFORE US ON BUSES AND TRAINS . " CONCLUDED GHANAIAN ECONOMICS STUDENT KOFI BUCKLE : " WE SOON REALIZED THAT TO STUDY IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY IS A BLOODY WASTE OF TIME . " IN GUINEA, ONCE REGARDED AS A FOOTHOLD OF SOVIET PENETRATION OF AFRICA, RUSSIA'S STOCK FELL TO A NEW LOW WITH L'AFFAIRE SVETLANA . IT HAD TO DO WITH A BLONDE RUSSIAN EXCHANGE TEACHER NAMED SVETLANA USHAKOVA . AGAINST EMBASSY INSTRUCTIONS, SHE PERSISTED IN MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE NATIVES, AND IGNORED ORDERS THAT SHE RETURN TO RUSSIA . FORTNIGHT AGO, SHE WAS HUSTLED TO A MOSCOW-BOUND PLANE, ONLY TO BE RESCUED BY THE GUINEANS THEMSELVES . ON A SECOND VAIN ATTEMPT TO GET SVETLANA TO MOSCOW, RUSSIA'S AMBASSADOR TO GUINEA HIMSELF TRIED TO PASS HER OFF AS THE AIRCRAFT'S STEWARDESS . THEN A FEW DAYS LATER, THE RUSSIAN CULTURAL ATTACHE AND TWO AIDES SNATCHED SVETLANA FROM A CONAKRY RESTAURANT AND SPED OFF TOWARD THE AIRPORT . THAT WAS TOO MUCH . THE GUINEANS TOSSED ALL THREE INTO JAIL FOR THE NIGHT, REINSTALLED SVETLANA IN HER SCHOOL, AND BEGAN TO WONDER WHERE FOREIGN AID STOPS AND FOREIGN INTERFERENCE BEGINS .
 CONFERENCES THE CITY OF LOST CAUSES GENEVA IS THE ONLY CITY IN THE WORLD TO HAVE GAINED FAME AND PROSPERITY FROM SUCCESSIVE FAILURES . THIS PLACID, TIDY TOWN LYING ON THE SHORES OF LAC LEMAN AND BENEATH MONT BLANC, THE TALLEST OF THE ALPS, HAS BEEN THE SCENE OF SOME OF HUMANITY'S MOST TRYING MOMENTS . IT IS A PLACE WHERE GREAT IDEAS TURN TO DUST IN THE ARCHIVES, AND WHERE NATIONS EXHAUSTED BY WAR COME TO END THEIR FIGHTING . LAST WEEK, LIKE EVERY WEEK, GENEVA RESOUNDED WITH THE DIN OF WRANGLING DELEGATIONS . IN ANOTHER WEARYING ROUND OF THE NUCLEAR TEST BAN NEGOTIATIONS, THE WEST REFUSED TO SCALE DOWN FURTHER ITS DEMANDS FOR ON-SITE INSPECTIONS, WHICH STOOD AT 20 ANNUALLY THREE YEARS AGO, EIGHT THIS WINTER, AND SEVEN LAST WEEK . THE RUSSIANS, WHO ORIGINALLY REFUSED TO PERMIT ANY INSPECTIONS, THREE YEARS AGREED TO " TWO OR THREE, " AND LAST WEEK WOULD NOT GO HIGHER . A NEWSMAN WHO HAS COVERED GENEVA SINCE 1947 SAYS THAT HABITUAL ATTENDANCE AT EAST-WEST CONFERENCES RESULTS IN A TENDENCY TO ACCEPT THE ARGUMENTS OF BOTH SIDES : " YOU COME TO THINK THAT THE RUSSIANS OBJECT TO CONTROLS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO CHEAT, AND THE WEST INSISTS ON CONTROLS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO SPY IN RUSSIA . YOU REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT EVERYBODY IS EQUALLY WRONG . " IMPOSED DEADLINE . A CITY OF 182,000 AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU, AS WELL AS OF THE RED CROSS, GENEVA GOT INTO THE CONFERENCE BUSINESS EARLY . DURING THE 16TH CENTURY, UNDER REFORMER JOHN CALVIN, GENEVA WAS THE PROTESTANT ROME . IN 1872 GENEVA'S CITY HALL WAS THE HEADQUARTERS OF A FIVE-MAN COMMISSION THAT ARBITRATED A DISPUTE BETWEEN BRITAIN AND THE U.S . OVER THE DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE BRITISH-BUILT CONFEDERATE RAIDER ALABAMA . THE LUCKLESS LEAGUE OF NATIONS WAS ESTABLISHED IN GENEVA IN 1920 . AFTER THE LEAGUE WAS ERASED BY WORLD WAR II, THE UNITED NATIONS TOOK OVER THE VAST PALAIS DES NATIONS AS ITS EUROPEAN BASE . GENEVA IS TO DIPLOMATS WHAT NIAGARA FALLS IS TO HONEYMOONERS . EVERY MEETING OF EVERY CONFERENCE IS FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH ENDLESS, MULTILINGUAL TALK . ONLY RARELY DOES THE PALAIS, ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST OFFICE BUILDINGS, COME TO LIFE WITH SUCH DRAMATIC MOMENTS AS EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE'S MOVING SPEECH AGAINST MUSSOLINI'S INVASION OF ETHIOPIA, OR THE SIGHT OF FRENCH PREMIER PIERRE MENDES-FRANCE, WATCH IN HAND, SIGNING AT 4 A.M . THE ACCORD ENDING THE INDO-CHINA WAR TO MEET THE DEADLINE HE HAD SET HIMSELF ON TAKING OFFICE . 15 PER CENT JUMP . MOST CONFERENCE ACTIVITY REVOLVES AROUND SUCH ANNUAL FIXTURES AS THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE U.N . ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL . OVER 170 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE HEADQUARTERS IN GENEVA, RANGING FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION TO THE WORLD ALLIANCE OF THE Y.M.C.A . THROUGH MUCH OF FEBRUARY, 1,600 DELEGATES FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE EARTH SAT HAPPILY THROUGH LONG SESSIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE LESS DEVELOPED AREAS, A GROUP KNOWN AS UNCSCAT FOR SHORT . MEETINGS MOST OFTEN OCCUR DURING THE GOOD WEATHER MONTHS, AND USUALLY AFFORD SUFFICIENT TIME OFF FOR DELEGATES TO ENJOY THE DELIGHTS OF MOUNTAIN AND BEACH . THE PERMANENT U.N . EMPLOYEES IN GENEVA LEAD A QUIET, INCESTUOUS LIFE MADE UP OF INTIMATE COCKTAIL PARTIES, SMALL DINNERS AND CASUAL MEETINGS IN THE PALAIS BAR, WHICH SERVES SANDWICHES SO DISMAL THAT THEY ARE ALLEGED TO BE REJECTS FROM COMMERCIAL AIRLINES . THE CITIZENS OF GENEVA, WHO ARE MOSTLY FRENCH-SPEAKING SWISS, IGNORE THE PERMANENT U.N . STAFF, THE DELEGATES AND THE TOURISTS, AND DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO MAKING WATCHES, PRECISION TOOLS AND, ESPECIALLY, MONEY . AN 18TH-CENTURY FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER ONCE ADVISED A FRIEND, " IF YOU SEE A GENEVESE JUMP OUT OF A WINDOW, JUMP RIGHT AFTER HIM . THERE'S 15 PER CENT TO BE GAINED . " BUT AS SWISS CITIES GO, WHICH IS SLOWLY, GENEVA HAS A REPUTATION FOR WILDNESS . IN BERN AND ZURICH THE SIDEWALKS ARE ROLLED UP AT MIDNIGHT, BUT GENEVA'S NIGHT SPOTS CAN STAY OPEN UNTIL 4 A.M . POLICE CANNOT BREAK INTO GENEVA HOTEL ROOMS AND ASK TO SEE MARRIAGE LICENSES AS THEY CAN IN MOST GERMAN SWISS CITIES . GENEVA HAS ONLY A FEW LICENSED PROSTITUTES BUT NO SUSCEPTIBLE VISITOR HAS EVER BEEN KNOWN TO COMPLAIN OF A LACK OF COMPLAISANT WOMEN . OCCASIONALLY, THERE ARE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES . DURING THE 1960 DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE, SIR MICHAEL WRIGHT, CHIEF BRITISH DELEGATE, FOUND A THIEF UNDER HIS BED . AND CAMEROON'S PRO-COMMUNIST POLITICIAN, FELIX-ROLAND MOUMIE, DIED SUDDENLY AFTER DRINKING FOUR GLASSES OF PERNOD THAT SOMEONE HAD SPIKED WITH RAT POISON . POETIC CHEF . THE PROPRIETORS OF GENEVA'S 300 BARS AND 18 NIGHTCLUBS, REPORT THAT ARAB, SOUTH AMERICAN AND AFRICAN DELEGATES LIVE IT UP THE MOST . COMMUNIST BLOC DELEGATES USUALLY REMAIN DOURLY BEHIND THE HIGH STONE WALLS OF SUBURBAN VILLAS . ONE POPULAR BAR, THE NAVY CLUB, WAS FOUNDED BY U.S . NAVAL OFFICERS DETAILED TO THE 1954 INDO-CHINA PEACE CONFERENCE . MOST RESTAURANTS ARE FRENCH AND VERY GOOD ; DELEGATES WHO CAN AFFORD IT HAPPILY DRIVE 30 MILES TO THE FABULOUS AND EXPENSIVE LE PERE BISE, JUST ACROSS THE FRONTIER IN FRANCE ITSELF . IN GENEVA THERE ARE THREE CHINESE RESTAURANTS (ONE NATIONALIST AND TWO RED CHINESE), A VIETNAMESE ONE WHOSE CHEF IS A POET, AND EVEN AN ARAB EATING HOUSE, KNOWN FONDLY AS CHEZ FAROUK . FOR THE ATHLETIC, GENEVA BOASTS AN AMERICAN-RUN TWELVE-LANE BOWLING ALLEY, AND FOR GAMBLERS, TWO CASINOS ; AND FOR THE PRURIENT, THERE IS A STRIPTEASE JOINT CALLED THE BA-TA-CLAN, WHOSE HUGE RED NEON SIGN WINKS WICKEDLY ACROSS FROM ST . PIERRE CATHEDRAL, WHERE CALVIN DELIVERED SERMONS LACED WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE . FOR ROUES WHO WANT TO KEEP GOING EVEN AFTER 4 A.M., A SECOND-FLOOR ESTABLISHMENT NAMED THE U.N . BRIDGE CLUB SERVES DRINKS TILL DAWN AND POLISH LOVE SONGS RENDERED BY AN ITALIAN BARMAID . UNSIGNED TREATY . DESPITE THE SEEMING AIMLESSNESS OF MOST GENEVA NEGOTIATIONS, THERE IS A RESIDUE OF IDEALISM AND OPTIMISM . LAST WEEK THE BRITISH GAVE A FAREWELL PARTY FOR SIR MICHAEL WRIGHT UPON HIS RETIREMENT AS BRITAIN'S CHIEF NUCLEARTALKS REPRESENTATIVE . THERE WAS AN ELEMENT OF SADNESS, SINCE SIR MICHAEL HAD PLAINLY HOPED TO END HIS CAREER BY SIGNING THE EAST-WEST TREATY . NEWSMEN APPLAUDED WARMLY WHEN SIR MICHAEL TURNED TO HIS GUEST, SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY, AND SAID, " I HOPE YOUR SIGNATURE WILL BE ON THE TREATY . " IF THE TREATY IS EVER SIGNED, GENEVA WILL HAVE LOST ITS PRESENT UNWANTED TITLE OF THE " CITY OF LOST CAUSES . /
 EUROPE THE OUTSIDERS IN A GENEVA CONFERENCE ROOM BORROWED FROM THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION, THE SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION MET LAST WEEK TO REVIVE A MARRIAGE THAT THEY WOULD MUCH RATHER HAVE SEEN DISSOLVED . UNTIL CHARLES DE GAULLE'S REJECTION OF BRITAIN'S BID FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP, MOST OF ITS EFTA PARTNERS (SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK, SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA, PORTUGAL) HAD ALSO BANKED ON JOINING THE SIX . INSTEAD, AS THEY RUEFULLY SURVEYED THE DAMAGE, THE OUTER SEVEN SEEMED FARTHER OUT THAN EVER . ACCEPTING THE FACT, EFTA WHICH WAS GLUED TOGETHER IN A DEFENSIVE REACTION TO THE COMMON MARKET IN 1960 DECIDED LAST WEEK TO SPEED UP ITS TIMETABLE FOR INTERNAL TARIFF REDUCTION IN HOPES OF STIMULATING TRADE AMONG ITS MEMBERS . THE DELEGATES DISAVOWED ANY INTENTION OF STARTING A TRADE WAR WITH THE SIX, FOR AFTER ALL, THE COMMON MARKET WAS STILL THE BIGGEST CUSTOMER FOR EFTA EXPORTS . " WE STILL REGARD THE SEVEN AS A SENSIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN UNITY, " DECLARED EFTA SECRETARY GENERAL FRANK FIGGURES . WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF AUSTRIA, WHICH ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET, ALL OF BRITAIN'S OUTER SEVEN PARTNERS HAVE NOW SUSPENDED THEIR APPLICATIONS TO JOIN THE SIX, AGREE MEANWHILE THAT ANY MOVE TO LINK THE TWO COMMUNITIES WILL HAVE TO COME FROM BRUSSELS . FEW THOUGHT IT WOULD COME SOON .
 BERLIN 2-12 WILLY WINS IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS HELD AT THE DARKEST HOUR OF THE BERLIN BLOCKADE IN 1948, WEST BERLINERS SHOWED THEIR DEFIANCE OF THE REDS BY GIVING THEIR BELOVED MAYOR, ERNST REUTER, A RECORD 64.5 PER CENT OF THE POPULAR VOTE . COMMUNISM'S WALL HAS DONE NOTHING TO REDUCE THEIR SOLIDARITY . LAST WEEK, URGED ON BY POSTERS THAT WARNED " WHOEVER STAYS AT HOME VOTES FOR THE WALL, " 90 PER CENT OF ELIGIBLE WEST BERLINERS TRUDGED THROUGH FOGGY, SNOWY STREETS TO GIVE ABLE MAYOR WILLY BRANDT, REUTER'S PROTEGE, A LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR ANOTHER TERM IN OFFICE . BRANDT'S SOCIALISTS GOT ALMOST 62 PER CENT OF THE 1,571,820 VOTES CAST ; IN THE WORKERS' STRONGHOLD OF WEDDING, THE DISTRICT WHICH BRANDT CHOSE AS HIS PERSONAL CONSTITUENCY, HE WON MORE THAN 75 PER CENT OF THE BALLOTS . CITYWIDE, THE PUNY COMMUNIST PARTY LOST ONE-THIRD OF ITS SUPPORT, ATTRACTING JUST A SHADE MORE THAN 1 PER CENT OF THE VOTE . BRANDT'S VICTORY WAS NO SURPRISE, FOR WEST BERLIN TRADITIONALLY VOTES SOCIALIST . WHAT WAS STARTLING WAS THE SIZE OF THE SOCIALIST GAIN, AND THE SHARP LOSS SUFFERED BY THE WEST BERLIN FACTION OF CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION . C.D.U . DEPUTY MAYOR FRANZ AMREHN LOST TO A LITTLE-KNOWN SOCIALIST, AND OVERALL C.D.U . STRENGTH IN THE BERLIN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DROPPED 25 PER CENT . THERE WERE, OF COURSE, LOCAL ISSUES, BUT NO ONE DOUBTED THAT THE C.D.U . SUFFERED FROM THE TARNISHED IMAGE OF ADENAUER'S NATIONAL PARTY, WHICH HAS BEEN SLIPPING IN LOCAL AND STATE ELECTIONS . RECENT DISCONTENT FOCUSES ON THE GOVERNMENT'S CLUMSY " TREASON " CRACKDOWN ON THE NEWSMAGAZINE DER SPIEGEL LAST NOVEMBER, AND MORE IMPORTANT, ON THE STUBBORN REFUSAL OF ADENAUER TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR HIS OWN RETIREMENT AND CHOICE OF A NEW C.D.U . LEADER . WITH NEW NATIONAL ELECTIONS DUE IN 1965, IT IS NONE TOO EARLY FOR THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS TO START BUILDING UP A NEW CANDIDATE, WHETHER HE TURNS OUT TO BE VICE CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD, THE FASTRISING FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER, OR ONE OF THE PARTY'S DARK HORSES . AS FOR A SOCIALIST CANDIDATE FOR THE CHANCELLORSHIP, WILLY BRANDT, WHO WAS BEATEN ONCE BY ADENAUER, WAS SURE TO BE IT AGAIN . AND WILLY WAS WILLING .  " MY WORK MIGHT BE MORE NEEDED ELSEWHERE, " HE SAID .
 WEST GERMANY TANKS, BUT NO TANKS AMONG THE MANY HIGH-SOUNDING BUT VAGUE PROVISIONS SPRINKLED THROUGH THE FRANCO-GERMAN RECONCILIATION TREATY CEREMONIALLY SIGNED IN PARIS SIX WEEKS AGO WAS ONE CALLING FOR JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS . THIS SEEMED A PROMISING CLAUSE, FOR EXPERTS FROM BOTH NATIONS ALREADY HAD SPENT YEARS WORKING TOGETHER ON VARIOUS PROJECTS E.G., ANTITANK ROCKETS DEVELOPED AT THE FRENCH BALLISTIC PROVING GROUNDS AT ST.LOUIS, A BIG MILITARY TRANSPORT PLANE DESIGNED TO OPERATE OFF SHORT RUNWAYS, A FRENCH-DESIGNED HEAVY HELICOPTER . BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT JOINT PROJECT IN THE WORKS WAS THE EUROPA PANZER, A MEDIUM TANK ; WHEN FIRST CONCEIVED, THE IDEA WAS THAT IT WOULD REPLACE THE WEST GERMAN BUNDESWEHR'S 2,000 OUT-OF-DATE U.S . M-47S AND M-48S, GIVE THE FRENCH ARMY A FAST, QUICK-FIRING, MANEUVERABLE WEAPON . BUT THERE WERE SNAGS IN THE EUROPA PANZER SCHEME . THE GERMANS, SOLD ON THE IDEA OF A SAFER, CHEAPER MULTIFUEL ENGINE, WHICH WORKS BEST ON DIESEL OIL, SNIFFED AT THE FRENCH MOTOR DESIGN . AND BONN DEFENSE CHIEFS PREFERRED A FAST-FIRING BRITISH 105-MM . CANNON THAT DID NOT FIT THE CHASSIS THE FRENCH WERE TALKING ABOUT . LAST WEEK BONN'S NEW DEFENSE MINISTER KAI-UWE VON HASSEL OFFICIALLY SCRAPPED THE EUROPA PANZER IDEA, DECLARED THAT WEST GERMANY WOULD PRODUCE A FLASHY NEW TANK OF ITS OWN . FRENCH DEFENSE OFFICIALS HAD GOTTEN WORD OF THE DECISION LONG BEFORE THEIR CHARLES DE GAULLE HAD SIGNED HIS NEW PACT WITH BONN . BUT THE CANCELED DEAL WAS BOUND TO SET MINDS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RHINE WONDERING JUST HOW USEFUL THEIR TREATY REALLY WAS .
 GREAT BRITAIN GUILTY INNOCENT ONE NIGHT IN 1943, LONDON POLICE ON ROBBERY DETAIL STOPPED A SEEDY LITTLE MAN FOR ROUTINE QUESTIONING AND SEEMED TO HAVE STUMBLED ON THE SOLUTION OF A MURDER IN PORTSMOUTH, 65 MILES AWAY . HAROLD LOUGHAN A BRASH HABITUAL CRIMINAL VOLUNTEERED THE INFORMATION THAT HE HAD CREPT INTO THE ROOMS ABOVE THE JOHN BARLEYCORN PUB THREE WEEKS BEFORE AND, IN COMMITTING A ROBBERY, HAD STRANGLED TO DEATH THE PUB'S OWNER, ROSE ROBINSON . " IT'S A RELIEF TO GET IT OFF MY MIND, "  HE TOLD THE POLICE .  " I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL THE OLD GIRL, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS WHEN A WOMAN SCREAMS . " CONFESSION V . ALIBI . WHEN THE DETAILS OF THE CONFESSION CHECKED OUT IN PORTSMOUTH, LOUGHAN WAS CHARGED WITH MURDER . " I FELT CONFIDENT THAT I COULD NOT LOSE THE CASE EVEN IF I CONDUCTED IT STANDING ON MY HEAD, " RECALLS JOSHUA DAVID CASSWELL, WHO WAS THE PROSECUTOR IN THE COURT PROCEEDINGS THAT FOLLOWED . BUT TO CASSWELL'S CHAGRIN, LOUGHAN DISMISSED HIS CONFESSION AS THE KIND OF CASUAL LIE HE ENJOYED TELLING THE POLICE, CLAIMED HE SPENT THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER SHELTERED FROM THE BLITZ IN LONDON'S WARREN STREET SUBWAY STATION AND PRODUCED FIVE INDEPENDENT WITNESSES TO PROVE IT . " THIS IS THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CASE I'VE EVER KNOWN, " SAID THE JUDGE . / ON THE ONE HAND A FULL CONFESSION, AND ON THE OTHER AN UNSHAKABLE ALIBI . " THE JURY, EQUALLY PUZZLED, COULD NOT REACH A VERDICT . IN A RETRIAL, LOUGHAN WAS ACQUITTED . HE WAS STILL GLOATING WHEN ARRESTED ON THE STEPS OF OLD BAILEY FOR ANOTHER ROBBERY AND, AFTER HIS 24TH CONVICTION, SENT TO PRISON FOR SEVEN YEARS . THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE LAST ANYBODY HEARD OF LITTLE HAROLD LOUGHAN IF THE PEOPLE, A SENSATIONAL LONDON SUNDAY NEWSPAPER, HAD NOT PRINTED THE MEMOIRS OF PROSECUTOR CASSWELL . IN ONE INSTALLMENT, CASSWELL CLAIMED THAT HAROLD LOUGHAN WOULD HAVE BEEN CONVICTED IF ALL THE EVIDENCE HAD BEEN HEARD . LOUGHAN, NOW 66 AND IN JAIL AS USUAL, SUED FOR LIBEL, CLAIMING HE HAD BEEN CALLED A MURDERER DESPITE HIS OFFICIAL INNOCENCE . MURDER OR LIBEL . THE NEWSPAPER'S LAWYER ARGUED THAT EVEN IF THE ARTICLES DID AMOUNT TO CALLING LOUGHAN A MURDERER, TRUTH IS A DEFENSE AGAINST LIBEL, AND CASSWELL HAD FINALLY SHOWN THAT LOUGHAN HAD INDEED MURDERED ROSE ROBINSON 19 YEARS AGO . FOR ELEVEN DAYS THE JURY HEARD EVIDENCE OF THE OLD MURDER WITH LOUGHAN STILL PROTESTING HIS INNOCENCE . " YOU ARE ASKED TO TRY AGAIN A MURDER IN THE GUISE OF A LIBEL ACTION, " HIS LAWYER COMPLAINED TO THE JURY . LAST WEEK THE JURY RETURNED ITS VERDICT : THE PEOPLE WAS NOT GUILTY OF LIBEL BECAUSE LOUGHAN WAS GUILTY OF THE MURDER . LOUGHAN, OF COURSE, CANNOT BE TRIED AGAIN FOR THE SAME CRIME . IF THE JURY WAS CORRECT, HE HAD CHEATED THE GALLOWS . BUT THAT WAS LITTLE COMFORT TO HAROLD LOUGHAN . AFTER THE TRIAL HE WAS RETURNED TO THE PRISON HOSPITAL WHERE, AFTER SPENDING 23 OF HIS 66 YEARS BEHIND BARS, HE AWAITS DEATH FROM INOPERABLE CANCER .
 GREAT BRITAIN RULE PHILLITANNIA WHEN THE BANK OF ENGLAND ISSUED A NEWLY DESIGNED P 5 NOTE LAST WEEK, TRADITION-MINDED ENGLISHMEN WERE HORRIFIED TO FIND THAT THE 1963 MODEL BRITANNIA LOOKS MORE LIKE MISS BLACKPOOL THAN THE DUMPY DOWAGER WHO HAS TRADITIONALLY RULED THE WAVES FROM THE NATION'S COINS AND BANK NOTES . STRIPPED OF HER  ROMAN HELMET AND A GOOD DEAL OF HER HEFT, THE PERT NEW BRITANNIA HAS A BECOMING SHOULDER-LENGTH HAIRDO TO REPLACE THE SAUSAGE CURLS SHE HAS WORN SINCE VICTORIAN TIMES, EVEN SPORTS A TOGA THAT LOOKS AS IF IT HAD BEEN DESIGNED BY EMILIO PUCCI RATHER THAN THE EMPEROR HADRIAN . A SPOKESMAN FOR THE OLD LADY OF THREADNEEDLE STREET GROPED FOR THE RIGHT WORDS TO EXPRESS THE BANK'S OFFICIAL COMMENT, CAME UP WITH, " SHE'S A GLAMOUR PUSS . WE ARE REALLY WITH IT . " MODEL FOR THE NEW BRITANNIA WAS PHILLIDA STONE, AN 18-YEAR-OLD ART STUDENT AT OXFORD WHOSE FATHER, ARTIST REYNOLDS STONE, WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN THE NEW MAUVE, BROWN AND BLUE FIVER (WORTH $14) . AT A LOSS FOR A MODEL, HER FATHER DRAPED PHILLIDA IN A SHEET, SAT HIS DAUGHTER DOWN WITH A STICK IN ONE HAND TO REPRESENT BRITANNIA'S SPEAR . HER TRADITIONAL OLIVE BRANCH WAS SKETCHED IN LATER . SOME FOUND THE NEW DESIGN AN AGREEABLE CHANGE FROM THE BUXOM FIGURE ON MOST OTHER MONEY . OTHER BRITONS THOUGHT PHILLITANNIA " CLUMSILY DESIGNED, " / LIKE SNOW WHITE " AND " TOO MUCH LIKE A BATHING BEAUTY . " EVEN PHILLIDA WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED TO WELCOME HER NEWFOUND FAME OBJECTED TO HER FATHER'S DRAWING . " IT'S NOT, / SHE POUTED, " THE REAL ME . /
 LIBYA SUNSET SHOCK ON THEIR FERTILE PLATEAU, 930 FEET ABOVE THE MEDITERRANEAN, THE MOSLEM CITIZENS OF EL MARJ (POP . 13,000) WELCOMED THE SUNSET ONE DAY LAST WEEK . IT BROUGHT TO AN END ANOTHER DAY-LONG FAST IMPOSED BY THE HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN . FAMILIES GATHERED AT TABLE TO BREAK THEIR FAST WITH THE TRADITIONAL RAMADAN DINNER AND MANY DIED WHERE THEY WERE SITTING, FOR SUNSET BROUGHT THE SHOCK AND TERROR OF THE WORST EARTHQUAKE IN LIBYAN HISTORY . FOR 15 SECONDS THE EARTH SHOOK, CRUMBLING BRICK-AND-PLASTER HOUSES AND MOSQUES INTO RUBBLE . SOME SURVIVORS WANDERED IN THE STREETS, WAILING IN ANGUISH AS THEY SEARCHED FOR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS . OTHERS HUDDLED DAZEDLY OVER FIRES IN THE OPEN FIELDS WHILE RAIN AND HEAVY WINDS MADE THE NIGHT MISERABLE, AND MORNING BROUGHT TWO MORE EARTH TREMORS . EL MARJ HAD LIVED THROUGH BOMBING AND BATTLES DURING WORLD WAR II AS BRITISH AND AXIS FORCES TOOK AND RETOOK THE TOWN . BUT THE QUAKE FLATTENED EL MARJ AS WAR NEVER DID . RESCUE WORKERS SAID THAT NOT A SINGLE HOUSE REMAINED HABITABLE, AND THE LIBYAN RED CRESCENT APPEALED FOR HELP TO THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS . THE U.S . AIR FORCE RUSHED PARAMEDICS AND TENTS FROM WHEELUS AIRBASE AT TRIPOLI, AND THE BRITISH FERRIED IN DOCTORS AND NURSES FROM THEIR BASE AT NEARBY BENGHAZI . AT WEEK'S END MORE THAN 200 BODIES HAD BEEN RECOVERED AND AN ESTIMATED 300500 STILL LAY BURIED IN THE RUINS .
 MIDDLE EAST WHO'S WOOING WHO ? IN CAIRO, PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER ACTED LIKE AN EX-CHAMPION SEEKING A SUCCESSFUL COMEBACK . HE LOST MUCH OF HIS CLAIM FOR THE TITLE OF ARAB LEADERSHIP IN 1961, WHEN AN ARMY COUP WRENCHED SYRIA FROM ITS SHORT-LIVED MERGER WITH EGYPT IN THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC . THAT LEFT NASSER WITHOUT A SINGLE ARAB ALLY, AND SURROUNDED BY SUCH VIRULENT ENEMIES AS IRAQ'S DICTATOR KASSEM AND THE KINGS OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA . THEN CAME LAST MONTH'S IRAQI REVOLUTION AND THE OVERTHROW OF KASSEM . NO ONE COULD BLAME EGYPT'S LEADER FOR HARKING BACK TO OLD DREAMS OF ARAB GRANDEUR, FOR THIS NEW MAN IN BAGHDAD PRESIDENT ABDUL SALAM AREF WAS A FORMER NASSER PROTEGE DEDICATED TO PANARAB UNITY . TRIBUTE TO MOTHER . WITH THIS IN MIND, NASSER MOUNTED A PLATFORM IN CAIRO'S VAST REPUBLIC SQUARE LAST WEEK TO CELEBRATE THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEFUNCT UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC . STRINGS OF RAMADAN LIGHTS OUTLINED THE MOSQUES AND MINARETS, AND A CROWD OF 20,000 JAMMED THE SQUARE PROTECTED FROM THE COLD NIGHT AIR BY A SIWAN, A " HALL " ROOFED AND WALLED BY BRIGHTLY COLORED CANVAS . " UNION ! UNION ! UNION ! NASSER ! NASSER ! NASSER ! " ROARED THE MOB . WHAT IT GOT WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN NASSER HAD HOPED FOR . THE LEADERS OF THE IRAQI DELEGATION TO THE CELEBRATION, DEPUTY PREMIER ALI SALEH SAADI AND FOREIGN MINISTER TALIB HUSSEIN SHABIB, WERE CORDIAL ENOUGH, BUT THEY WERE FAR FROM SPECIFIC . SAADI DUTIFULLY PAID TRIBUTE TO EGYPT AS THE " MOTHER REPUBLIC " OF THE ARAB WORLD, BUT INSTEAD OF CALLING FOR UNION, HE URGED ONLY A /FRANK RAPPROCHEMENT " BETWEEN CAIRO AND BAGHDAD . WAS THIS ENOUGH SURE, CRIED NASSER IN HIS OWN SPEECH . TODAY, HE DECLARED / THERE IS A UNITY OF OBJECTIVES BETWEEN THE REVOLUTION IN BAGHDAD AND THE REVOLUTION IN CAIRO, " AND " WE DO NOT NEED TREATIES OR CONSTITUTIONAL FORMS TO PROVE THIS UNITY . " JAIL FOR THE DOG . IN BAGHDAD, NEW PRESIDENT AREF AND HIS COLLEAGUES WERE TOO BUSY LEARNING HOW TO RUN A COUNTRY TO PAY MUCH ATTENTION . THE SLAIN KASSEM, NOW DUBBED " THE MAD TYRANT, " HAD QUARRELED WITH ALL HIS NEIGHBORS . AREF WAS RESTORING TRADE RELATIONS WITH EGYPT, IMPORTS FROM LEBANON AND EXPORTS TO LITTLE KUWAIT, THE OIL-RICH PRINCIPALITY KASSEM ONCE TRIED TO TAKE OVER . TIDYING UP ANOTHER NATIONAL PROBLEM, AREF SENT A HELICOPTER NORTH TO PICK UP TWO DELEGATES OF THE KURDISH REBELS IN THE HOPE THAT HE MIGHT NEGOTIATE AN END TO THE BLOODY CIVIL WAR THAT HAS TIED UP HALF THE 75,000-MAN IRAQI ARMY ; HE EVEN MADE FRIENDLY OVERTURES TO THE U.S.-BRITISH CONTROLLED IRAQ PETROLEUM CO., WHICH KASSEM HAD ALIENATED . AS FOR THE COMMUNISTS OF BAGHDAD, THEY WERE STILL GOING INTO JAILS . THE RESULT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST SINGLE RED PROPAGANDA BARRAGES SINCE THE REDS CHARGED THE U.S . WITH USING GERM WARFARE IN KOREA . PRAVDA'S CORRESPONDENT CLAIMED, " I SAW TANKS CRUSH WOMEN AND CHILDREN, " AND REPORTED THE " PHYSICAL ANNIHILATION OF HUNDREDS, PERHAPS THOUSANDS, OF IRAQI DEMOCRATS AND PATRIOTS . " THE PRAVDA MAN WENT LOOKING FOR AZIZ SHARIF, A 1962 LENIN PEACE PRIZEWINNER AT THE OFFICE OF THE PEACE PARTISANS LEAGUE (A EUPHEMISM FOR RED MILITIA) . A SOLDIER ON GUARD AT THE OFFICE TOLD HIM, " THAT DOG HAS LONG SINCE BEEN JAILED . " THE SOVIET RED CROSS EVEN APPEALED TO THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS TO HELP PROTECT COMMUNISTS, WHOM IT PREFERRED TO CALL " THE DEMOCRATIC PATRIOTS VICTIMIZED BY BLOODY PERSECUTION IN IRAQ . " WHEN THE FIRST HECTIC DAYS WERE OVER, THE NOVICES WOULD GET AROUND TO ANSWERING GAMAL ABDEL NASSER'S CRY FOR UNION . AT WEEK'S END IRAQ'S THINKING WAS SUMMED UP BY FOREIGN MINISTER SHAHIB, WHO PROPOSED A JOINT MEETING OF THE FOUR " LIBERATED " ARAB STATES (IRAQ, EGYPT, YEMEN, ALGERIA) TO " COORDINATE WORK AMONG THEM IN VARIOUS FIELDS WITH A UNIONIST REVOLUTIONARY AND SOCIALIST TENDENCY .
 LAOS AND THEN THERE WERE THREE IN THE EIGHT MONTHS SINCE THE 14-NATION GENEVA CONFERENCE ESTABLISHED LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY LAST SUMMER, NEUTRALIST PRINCE SOUVANNA PHOUMA'S LEFT-RIGHT-CENTER COALITION GOVERNMENT HAS DISPLAYED A REMARKABLE RECORD OF CONSISTENCY : IT HAS FAILED TO CARRY OUT ONE SINGLE PROVISION OF THE GENEVA ACCORDS . RENT BY INTERNAL DISSENSION, THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN UNABLE TO MAINTAIN A CEASE-FIRE, EVICT ALL FOREIGN MILITARY PERSONNEL FROM LAOS, INTEGRATE THE THREE MILITARY AND POLITICAL FACTIONS, OR HOLD FREE ELECTIONS . BUT THE SUPPOSEDLY " NEUTRALIST " GOVERNMENT HAS RECOGNIZED EVERY COUNTRY IN THE COMMUNIST BLOC, AND HAS DONE SO LITTLE TO HALT THE RAMPANT INFLATION THAT THE PRICE OF THE KIP HAS RISEN FROM 80 TO 180 PER DOLLAR . ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES, HEADQUARTERS OF BOTH THE NEUTRALIST AND COMMUNIST PATHET LAO ARMIES, THE REDS HAVE BEGUN A CAMPAIGN TO INFILTRATE AND SUBVERT THE FORCES OF THEIR ONETIME NEUTRALIST ALLIES . FARTHER NORTH, THOUSANDS OF RED CHINESE WORKERS HAVE CROSSED INTO LAOS TO BUILD ROADS LINKING CHINA'S YUNNAN PROVINCE WITH COMMUNIST-HELD AREAS OF LAOS ITSELF . ARMED WITH NEW RED CHINESE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, THE PATHET LAO IS ATTACKING NEUTRALIST VILLAGES ON THE SUPPLY LINES BETWEEN THE PLAINE DES JARRES AND COMMUNIST NORTH VIET NAM TO THE EAST . MANY NEUTRALISTS HAVE OPENLY DEFECTED TO THE REDS, ADDING TO WESTERNERS' FEARS THAT LAOS IS GOING TO THE COMMUNISTS BY DEFAULT . THE REDS' PERSISTENT SUBVERSION IS ALIENATING THE TOP NEUTRALIST COMMANDERS, AND LAST WEEK AN OPEN SPLIT SEEMED A POSSIBILITY . WHILE SHOWING A MOVIE AT HIS HOUSE ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES, THE NEUTRALIST ARMY'S SECOND IN COMMAND, COLONEL KETSANA VONGSOUVANH, WAS SHOT IN THE BACK . AT KETSANA'S FUNERAL LAST WEEK, NEUTRALIST ARMY LEADER GENERAL KONG LE, WHO ONCE WORKED HAND IN GLOVE WITH THE PATHET LAO, MADE NO EFFORT TO CONCEAL HIS DISENCHANTMENT WITH HIS FORMER COHORTS . " THIS ODIOUS CRIME, " SAID KONG LE, " WAS THE WORK OF THOSE WHO ARE UNDER A FOREIGN INFLUENCE . " KONG LE RESTRICTED HIS TROOPS TO THEIR BASE, ORDERED THE PATHET LAO TO KEEP OUT OF NEUTRALIST ENCAMPMENTS . TOP NEUTRALIST OFFICERS WONDERED WHERE THE REDS WOULD STRIKE NEXT . ONE RECALLED THAT A RANKING PATHET LAO OFFICER TOLD HIM LAST FALL THAT THE COMMUNISTS HAD PLANS FOR KONG LE'S TOP FOUR SUBORDINATES . WE ARE GOING TO THOROUGHLY LIQUIDATE ALL FOUR OF YOU . " WITH KETSANA'S DEATH, THERE WAS ONE DOWN AND THREE TO GO .
 NIGERIA NATION ON TRIAL IN 1960, WHEN NIGERIA WON ITS INDEPENDENCE, IT BECAME AT BIRTH THE WORLD'S MOST POPULOUS BLACK STATE AND AFRICA'S BIGGEST QUESTION MARK . HELD TOGETHER IN UNEASY FEDERATION, THE COUNTRY NUMBERED SOME 250 TRIBES AND LANGUAGES, THREE PRINCIPAL RELIGIONS (MOSLEM, CHRISTIAN, ANIMIST), AND THREE BIG, TRADITIONALLY HOSTILE REGIONS : THE FEUDAL, MOSLEM NORTH, WHICH CLAIMS HALF THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF NIGERIA ; THE EAST, DOMINATED BY THE ASTUTE, INDUSTRIOUS IBO TRIBES ; AND THE WEST, RICHEST AND MOST ADVANCED OF ALL THREE, WHOSE YORUBA TRIBESMEN ARE NIGERIA'S MOST SOPHISTICATED CITIZENS . AS BIG AS TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA COMBINED, WITH SOME 45 MILLION INHABITANTS GIVE OR TAKE 10 MILLION NIGERIA SEEMED LESS A NATION THAN A CONCATENATION, A HAPHAZARD CREATION OF BRITISH COLONISTS WHO RULED IT FOR 60 YEARS AND DUBBED IT THE " WHITE MAN'S GRAVE . " NIGERIA HAS SURVIVED TO BECOME AFRICA'S MOST CONSPICUOUSLY SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY . ITS BIRTH PANGS WERE EASED BY A LONG TRADITION OF TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, AND BY THE SOLID GOOD SENSE OF MANY AFRICAN LEADERS WHOM THE BRITISH GROOMED FOR SELF-RULE NOTABLY ITS FEDERAL PRIME MINISTER, SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA (TIME COVER, DEC . 5, 1960) . THE GREATEST SINGLE ASSURANCE OF STABILITY HAS BEEN NIGERIA'S TRIPOD FORM OF GOVERNMENT, DESIGNED TO PREVENT ANY ONE REGION FROM DOMINATING THE OTHER TWO . THAT SYSTEM IS NOW IN JEOPARDY, AND WITH IT THE VERY FUTURE OF NIGERIA AS A DEMOCRACY AND AS A NATION . POLITICAL PLAY ? NIGERIA'S COMPLEX CRISIS IS BEING PLAYED OUT IN THE SCRUPULOUSLY DECOROUS HIGH COURT IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL OF LAGOS . THERE, IN THE COURSE OF A TRIAL THAT HAS DRAGGED ON FOR FOUR MONTHS, THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, OBAFEMI AWOLOWO, LAST WEEK OPENED HIS OWN DEFENSE AGAINST A GOVERNMENT INDICTMENT CHARGING HIM AND 24 OTHER LEADING POLITICIANS WITH CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT . NEARLY ALL THE DEFENDANTS ARE MEMBERS OF AWOLOWO'S ACTION GROUP, THE PARTY THAT RULES WESTERN NIGERIA AND REPRESENTS IT IN THE FEDERAL PARLIAMENT . CHIEF AWOLOWO IS NOT ALONE IN BRANDING THE TRIAL A POLITICAL PLAY TO WRECK HIS PARTY AND ELIMINATE THE OPPOSITION . THE CRISIS WAS ACTUALLY PRECIPITATED BY AWOLOWO, 54, A MERCURIAL, LONDON-TRAINED BARRISTER WHO BECAME OPPOSITION LEADER IN LAGOS WHEN HIS PARTY LOST THE 1959 FEDERAL ELECTIONS . AWOLOWO THEN RANGED HIS PEOPLE FIRMLY AGAINST THE MIDDLE-ROAD COALITION GOVERNMENT, COMPOSED OF THE CONSERVATIVE NORTHERN PEOPLE'S CONGRESS (NPC), SUPPORTED BY THE PROUD, PRIMITIVE FULANI AND HAUSA TRIBES OF THE NORTH, AND THE PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF NIGERIAN CITIZENS (NCNC), WHICH IS BASED IN THE EAST . SMASHED MACE . CHIEF SAMUEL L . AKINTOLA, WHO BECAME DEPUTY LEADER OF THE ACTION GROUP AND WESTERN REGION PREMIER, LAST MAY REBELLED AGAINST AWOLOWO'S POLICIES, WAS SACKED AS DEPUTY LEADER AND DISMISSED AS THE WEST'S PREMIER (HE WAS LATER REINSTATED BY COURT ORDER) . AWOLOWO'S HIGH-HANDED REPRISALS LED TO A CHAIRTHROWING MELEE IN THE WESTERN REGION ASSEMBLY AT IBADAN IN WHICH THE CEREMONIAL MACE WAS SHATTERED AND THE POLITICIANS SUBDUED WITH TEAR GAS . SEIZING THEIR CHANCE TO QUASH THE OPPOSITION, RIVAL PARTY BOSSES IN LAGOS PERSUADED THE RELUCTANT SIR ABUBAKAR TO DISPATCH FEDERAL FORCES TO THE WEST AND DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY THAT WAS LIFTED ONLY AT YEAR'S END . THE GOVERNMENT ALSO INITIATED AN EXHAUSTIVE INVESTIGATION OF REGIONAL AND PARTY FINANCES, CHARGED AWOLOWO AND OTHER PARTY CHIEFTAINS WITH DIVERTING $18 MILLION IN PUBLIC FUNDS . ON TOP OF THE CORRUPTION SCANDALS, THE GOVERNMENT LAST NOVEMBER FILED ITS SENSATIONAL INDICTMENT ACCUSING AWOLOWO OF SENDING AGENTS TO GHANA FOR PARA-MILITARY TRAINING AS TERRORISTS IN A PLOT TO SEIZE POWER IN LAGOS . UNIVERSAL DASH . CHIEF AWOLOWO LAST WEEK SCORNFULLY TERMED " ABSOLUTELY UNRELIABLE AND INCREDIBLE " THE PROSECUTION'S CHARGES THAT HE HAD CONSPIRED TO " LEVY WAR " AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT . " TODAY, " HE SAID DEFIANTLY, " I MAY BE LANGUISHING IN PRISON . I AM NOT GOING TO DIE THERE . I STILL BELIEVE I WILL BE PRIME MINISTER SOME DAY . / AS FOR THE CORRUPTION CHARGES, AWOLOWO'S SUPPORTERS ARGUE THAT MALFEASANCE IS NO LESS RIFE IN THE OTHER REGIONS . THEY ARE PROBABLY QUITE RIGHT . " DASH, " AS NIGERIANS CHEERFULLY CALL THEIR RITUALISTIC SYSTEM OF PAYOFFS, IS SO UNIVERSAL THAT MANY TRAFFIC COPS HAVE A FIXED BRIBE FOR EVERY VIOLATION (RUNNING A RED LIGHT COSTS 28 #$ ), AND HOSPITAL NURSES SOMETIMES DEMAND A PENNY FOR BRINGING A PATIENT A BEDPAN . MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, WHOSE CADILLACS AND MERCEDESES HELP MAKE LAGOS TRAFFIC JAMS AMONG THE WORST IN AFRICA, EARN MORE ($17,000 INCLUDING EXPENSES) THAN BRITISH M.P.S, BUT MANY MANAGE TO EKE OUT THE COST OF LIVING ON IKOYI ISLAND WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FOREIGN INDUSTRIALISTS AND LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS . " NIGERIAN BUSINESSMEN, " SAYS A EUROPEAN BANKER IN LAGOS, " ARE THE BIGGEST BUNCH OF CON MEN I'VE EVER SEEN . " FOR ALL THEIR SURFACE CYNICISM, NIGERIANS BY CONTRAST WITH MOST THIN-SKINNED CITIZENS OF AFRICA'S NEW NATIONS ARE SEARCHINGLY SELF-CRITICAL AND TAKE FIERCE PRIDE IN THEIR EXUBERANTLY UNINHIBITED PRESS . YOUNGER POLITICIANS IN ALL THE PARTIES ARE INCREASINGLY DISILLUSIONED BY THE FLAGRANT VENALITY OF THEIR ELDERS AND THE CHASM THAT DIVIDES LAGOS' DOYENS OF DASH FROM THE JOBLESS HORDES WHO HAVE SWARMED INTO ITS FESTERING SLUMS AND ALMOST TREBLED THE CITY'S POPULATION (TO 750,000) IN THREE DECADES . THE BEST GUARANTEE . MANY YOUNG NIGERIANS DERIDE THE GOVERNMENT'S FAITH IN PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, AND IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS THEY ARE OPENLY IMPATIENT WITH THE INCORRUPTIBLE SIR ABUBAKAR'S PRAGMATIC, UNPRETENTIOUS AND RATHER OLD-FASHIONED STYLE . AS AFRICA'S MOST POPULOUS NATION, THEY ARGUE, NIGERIA IS THE CONTINENT'S LOGICAL LEADER . " WHEN YOU'RE IN ACCRA, " COMPLAINS A LAGOS NEWSMAN, " YOU CANNOT HELP FEELING THAT YOU'RE AT THE CENTER OF PAN-AFRICAN ACTIVITY . WHY DON'T WE GET REFUGEES FROM OTHER PARTS OF AFRICA ? " IF THE ACTION GROUP IS DESTROYED BY THE TREASON TRIAL, MANY NIGERIANS BELIEVE, A NEW, RADICAL PARTY WILL HAVE TO TAKE ITS PLACE OR ELSE THE NATION'S RESTIVE LEFTWINGERS MAY WELL RESORT TO REAL VIOLENCE . MEANWHILE, THOUGH PREMIER AKINTOLA HAS ALREADY FORMED A NEW,MODERATE MOVEMENT IN THE WEST CALLED THE UNITED PEOPLE'S PARTY, THE VACUUM LEFT BY THE ACTION GROUP MAY BE FILLED BY THE NCNC, WHOSE LONGTIME BOSS, DR . NNAMDI ( " ZIK " ) AZIKIWE, IS MORE OR LESS REMOVED FROM ACTIVE POLITICS IN HIS POST AS NIGERIA'S GOVERNOR-GENERAL . BUT AMBITIOUS, FLAMBOYANT ZIK MAKES NO SECRET OF HIS AIM TO MAKE NIGERIA A REPUBLIC, IN WHICH NCNC COULD EMERGE AS THE DOMINANT NATIONAL PARTY AND ZIK HIMSELF MIGHT WELL BE A STRONG PRESIDENT.MANY NIGERIANS, SHOCKED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S SEVEN-MONTH SUSPENSION OF CIVIL RIGHTS, NOW FEAR THAT A SINGLE, POWERFUL PARTY MAY BE TEMPTED TO IMPOSE THE KIND OF AUTHORITARIAN RULE THAT HAS BEEN RIVETED ON GHANA AND GUINEA . THE GOVERNMENT'S MOST IMMEDIATE CONCERN IS THAT THE COUNTRY'S CURRENT SCANDALS WILL MAR ITS REPUTATION FOR STABILITY AND SCARE AWAY THE FOREIGN INVESTORS ON WHOM IT IS COUNTING FOR AT LEAST 50 PER CENT OF THE FINANCING FOR THE $1.9 BILLION, SIX-YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN IT LAUNCHED LAST YEAR . TO SIR ABUBAKAR, THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS THIS WILL ENSURE IS THE BEST GUARANTEE OF MEANINGFUL NATIONHOOD FOR NIGERIA .
 THE ALLIES THE NATO DETERRENT ALMOST AS OLD AS NATO ITSELF IS THE " DISARRAY " THAT SEEMS TO HAUNT ITS COUNCILS . YET ALLIED DIFFERENCES ARE NOT SO MUCH SYMPTOMS OF ANY DEEP-ROOTED DISUNITY AS THE RESULT OF NATO'S MILITARY EFFECTIVENESS . BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE SECURE BEHIND THE U.S . NUCLEAR SHIELD, FEW EUROPEAN NATIONS ARE EAGER TO BUILD UP CONVENTIONAL FORCES FOR WHICH THEY SEE LITTLE USE . AT THE SAME TIME, AS THEY HAVE GROWN MORE POWERFUL AND PROSPEROUS, EUROPEANS HAVE COME TO QUESTION TOTAL U.S . CONTROL OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE . THUS DEPENDENCE BREEDS MISTRUST . CHARLES DE GAULLE IS NOT THE ONLY EUROPEAN TO FEAR THAT THE U.S . CANNOT BE COUNTED UPON TO RISK DESTRUCTION OF ITS CITIES IF RUSSIA WERE TO ATTACK WESTERN EUROPE DESPITE REPEATED U.S . ASSURANCES OF ITS LONG-TERM STRATEGIC COMMITMENT TO EUROPE, AND HEEDLESS OF THE FACT THAT 400,000 G.I.S ON THE CONTINENT ARE A PERMANENT U.S . HOSTAGE TO EUROPE'S SECURITY . YET NEITHER FRANCE'S EMBRYONIC FORCE DE FRAPPE NOR BRITAIN'S NEAR-OBSOLETE V-BOMBER STRIKE FORCE CARRIES SUFFICIENT PUNCH TO DETER, LET ALONE DEFEAT, AN AGGRESSOR . FINE WATCHES . LAST WEEK, IN AN ATTEMPT TO SOOTHE EUROPE'S RESTIVENESS BY GIVING ITS ALLIES GREATER RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN SECURITY, THE U.S . MADE ITS MOST SERIOUS PITCH YET TO SHARE THE PLANNING AND CONTROL OF ATOMIC WEAPONS IN EUROPE WITH EUROPEANS THEMSELVES . BEFORE NATO'S 15MEMBER PERMANENT COUNCIL IN PARIS, PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SPECIAL ENVOY, LIVINGSTON MERCHANT, PROPOSED CREATION OF A MULTINATIONAL NUCLEAR DETERRENT CONSISTING OF A FLEET OF SURFACE SHIPS EQUIPPED WITH THE U.S . POLARIS MISSILE . KEY PROVISION OF THE PLAN IS THAT THE SHIPS WOULD BE " MULTIMANNED, " I.E., THEIR CREWS WOULD BE DRAWN FROM EVERY NATO NATION THAT WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP FOOT THE BILL . COST OF THE INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE WOULD BE ABOUT $2 BILLION FOR 200 MISSILES AND THEIR FLOATING LAUNCH PADS ; IT WOULD TAKE AT LEAST THREE YEARS TO BUILD, ABOUT HALF AS MUCH IN TIME AND MONEY AS IT WOULD TAKE TO CREATE A MULTINATIONAL NUCLEAR POLARIS SUBMARINE FLEET . ORIGINALLY, IN FACT, THE U.S . HAD HASTILY SUGGESTED THAT MULTI-MANNED, MULTINATIONAL POLARIS SUBMARINES MIGHT BE A LOGICAL PROGRESSION FROM THE INDEPENDENT POLARIS SUBS THAT BRITAIN HAS AGREED TO BUILD (BUT HAS COMMITTED TO NATO) . APART FROM THE COST, HOWEVER, CONGRESS HAS ALREADY INDICATED THAT IT IS DEAD SET AGAINST GIVING U.S . ALLIES THE COMPONENTS OR KNOW-HOW TO BUILD THE SUBMARINES . MOREOVER, OLD NAVAL HANDS ARE AGHAST AT THE PROSPECT OF MANNING SUBMARINES WITH CREWS OF MIXED NATIONALITIES . WARNED A WEST GERMAN NAVAL EXPERT LAST WEEK : " SUB CREWS ARE THE FINE WATCHES OF NAVAL WARFARE . THERE CAN BE NO ROOM FOR MISUNDERSTANDING . / FORCE OR FARCE ? AS FOR WHOSE FINGER WILL BE ON THE TRIGGER OF THE NEW SURFACE FLEET, THE U.S . AGREES THAT EACH PARTICIPATING ALLY WILL HAVE AN EQUAL VETO . FOR ALL THE ARGUMENT IT PROVOKES, HOWEVER, THE QUESTION OF CONTROL IS LARGELY ACADEMIC ; THE FINGERS WOULD BE UNANIMOUS . " DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT EUROPE WILL WANT TO SHOOT THIS THING OFF WITHOUT BEING SURE THAT THE MAJOR U.S . FORCE WOULD BE USED ? " ASKED A U.S . STRATEGIST . " CONSIDERING IT AS A SECOND STRIKE FORCE, THE SEMANTICS OF VOTING BECOMES IRRELEVANT . / SEVEN NATO PARTNERS BRITAIN, BELGIUM, ITALY, GREECE, THE NETHERLANDS, TURKEY, WEST GERMANY WERE IMMEDIATELY RECEPTIVE TO MERCHANT'S PROPOSAL . WEST GERMANY EXPRESSED THE WARMEST INTEREST ; THE BRITISH LOOKED ON THE SCHEME WITH " MILD BENEVOLENCE . " BUT ALL SEVEN WANTED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT IT, AND ALLOWED THAT THE PRICE WAS HIGH AND THE PAYOFF DISTANT . MEANWHILE, ALL BUT A FRACTION OF THE EXISTING WESTERN ATOMIC STOCKPILE WOULD REMAIN UNDER U.S . LOCK AND KEY . THE PROPOSAL WAS COLDLY RECEIVED IN FRANCE, WHERE THE GAULLIST DAILY LA NATION EVEN DUBBED THE PROSPECT OF A MULTILATERAL FORCE " LA FARCE MULTILATERALE . / IF THE POLARIS PLAN HAD BEEN TOUTED AS A SIGNIFICANT BOOST TO THE WEST'S DETERRENT, THE GIBE MIGHT HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED . AS IT WAS, THE JOKE FELL FLAT BECAUSE A JOINTLY MANNED, JOINTLY FINANCED ARMADA MAY ACTUALLY OFFER SOLID BENEFITS FOR BOTH THE U.S . AND EUROPE . ARTS COURSE . FOR THE FIRST TIME, A MULTINATIONAL DETERRENT WOULD ALLOW EUROPEANS TO COLLABORATE WITH THE U.S . FROM SCRATCH IN TARGETING, CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND CONTROL OF ATOMIC WEAPONS ; IT WOULD SATISFY THEIR ACUTE DESIRE FOR ATOMIC KNOWHOW BY GIVING THEM A THOROUGH EDUCATION IN COMPLEX TECHNOLOGICAL AND FINANCIAL NUCLEAR REALITIES . FOR BOTH SIDES, IT WOULD PROVIDE AN ADDED, SUBSTANTIAL TOKEN OF U.S . DETERMINATION TO REMAIN IN EUROPE AND DEFEND ITS ALLIES WITH THE ULTIMATE WEAPON, IF NECESSARY . SAYS A U.S . DEFENSE PLANNER : " THIS IS ONE THING THAT CAN PUT GLUE IN THE ALLIANCE . " AS MERCHANT PREPARED TO LEAVE PARIS THIS WEEK FOR A SERIES OF BRIEFINGS ON THE PLAN IN ROME, BRUSSELS, BONN AND LONDON, ANOTHER U.S . DIPLOMAT POINTED OUT AN EVEN GREATER INCENTIVE TO PARTICIPATE : " THOSE NATIONS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FORCE WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MISSILE ARTS IN A YEAR THAN THE FRENCH DO . /
 FRANCE THE PERSONAL TOUCH AS OTHER EUROPEANS RAILED AGAINST CHARLES DE GAULLE'S VISION OF A FRENCH-LED EUROPE, MANY FRENCHMEN LAST WEEK WERE UNEASILY CONTEMPLATING DE GAULLE'S INFLUENCE ON THEIR OWN SOCIETY . SINCE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION TURNED THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY INTO A VIRTUAL ANNEXE OF THE ELYSEE PALACE, DE GAULLE HAS RULED WITH LITTLE PARLIAMENTARY CRITICISM AND WITH ONLY MUTED RUMBLINGS FROM FRANCE'S ONCE RAMBUNCTIOUS PRESS . IT HAS BECOME CLEAR THAT LE GRAND CHARLES HAS ESTABLISHED A PERSONAL REGIME IN WHICH, THOUGH IT IS NOT REMOTELY SO AUTOCRATIC A GOVERNMENT AS THAT OF FRANCISCO FRANCO, ALMOST ANY POTENTIAL CONTROVERSY IS SIMILARLY QUELLED BY THE GOVERNMENT LEST IT BE INTERPRETED ABROAD AS A DIRECT EXPRESSION OF NATIONAL POLICIES . WITH VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED POWERS UNDER FRANCE'S EMERGENCY LAWS, DE GAULLE'S GOVERNMENT IN RECENT MONTHS HAS : CANCELED THE SHOWING OF A TV DOCUMENTARY TO MARK THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD . PREPARED BY THE STATE-OWNED TV NETWORK, THE FILM INCLUDED A TIRADE BY NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV THAT, IN THE GOVERNMENT'S WORDS, WAS " VIOLENTLY HOSTILE TO WEST GERMANY AND TO THE POLICY OF FRANCO-GERMAN RAPPROCHEMENT . " SAME WEEK, ANOTHER DOCUMENTARY MOVIE, DEATH IN MADRID, CONSISTING MOSTLY OF STOCK SHOTS TAKEN DURING THE 1936 SPANISH CIVIL WAR, WAS DENIED A LICENSE FOR EXHIBITION IN FRANCE OR ABROAD PRESUMABLY FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING FRANCO . ORDERED THE PARIS OPERA TO CANCEL A PERFORMANCE BY RUDOLF NUREYEV, A RUSSIAN BALLET DANCER WHO DEFECTED TO THE WEST IN 1961 . THOUGH NUREYEV HAS ALREADY DANCED IN PARIS, LONDON AND NEW YORK, THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT PLAINLY FELT THAT HIS APPEARANCE IN PARIS WOULD BE AN AFFRONT TO NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV . CONFISCATED NEARLY 75,000 COPIES OF A NOVEL, HIGH COURT, IN WHICH RIGHT-WING AUTHOR ALFRED FABRE-LUCE GIVES A FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF A FUTURE TRIAL OF DE GAULLE AS IT MIGHT BE CONDUCTED IF HE WERE IMPEACHED BY THE SENATE . THE GOVERNMENT'S OBJECT THIS TIME WAS TO AVOID OFFENSE TO CHARLES DE GAULLE HIMSELF . SOME OF THE GOVERNMENT'S REPRESSIONS ARE EXPLICABLE AS INTERNATIONAL BACKSCRATCHING . DE GAULLE'S INCREASING AMIABILITY TOWARD SPAIN HAS BEEN REWARDED BY FRANCO'S JAILING OF SIX TOP ANTI-GAULLIST TERRORISTS WHO WERE HIDING OUT IN SPAIN . BANNING THE STALINGRAD SHOW MAY JUST POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN REPAID LAST WEEK WHEN GERMAN POLICE FAILED TO PREVENT MYSTERIOUS FRENCH AGENTS IN MUNICH FROM KIDNAPING A TOP S.A.O . LEADER, ANTOINE ARGOUD (SEE BELOW) . BUT IT SEEMED UNLIKELY THAT KHRUSHCHEV WOULD CARE GREATLY IF NUREYEV DANCED IN PARIS, OR THAT ADENAUER WOULD OBJECT TO BEING DAMNED BY NIKITA ON TV . ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN A GOVERNMENT IS NOT SUBJECT TO CENSURE OR LEGAL REDRESS, WHO EXPECTS LOGIC ?
 FRANCE L'AFFAIRE ARGOUD A WOMAN CUSTOMER LISTENED IDLY ONE AFTERNOON LAST WEEK WHILE A THICKSET, SOMBERLY DRESSED STRANGER USED THE PUBLIC TELEPHONE AT LA ESMERALDA CAFE, ACROSS THE SQUARE FROM PARIS' NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL . " THIS IS THE S.A.O., " HE BARKED . " YES, THE S.A.O . WE'RE GIVING YOU ARGOUD . HE BETRAYED US, BUNGLED ALL THE JOBS HE WAS SUPPOSED TO ORGANIZE, PARTICULARLY THE PETIT-CLAMART AFFAIR . YOU CAN TAKE DELIVERY OF HIM NOW . HE'S IN A BLUE TRUCK IN THE ALLEY OPPOSITE NOTRE-DAME . " MINUTES AFTER THE MAN HUNG UP AND STRODE OUT, THE SQUARE DE L'ARCHEVECHE STARTED FILLING WITH FRENCH POLICE . JUST AS THE MAN SAID, A SMALL DELIVERY TRUCK WAS PARKED IN THE ALLEY, AND INSIDE IT THE GENDARMES FOUND A GAGGED, TRUSSED, MIDDLEAGED MAN . LIFTING THE BLINDFOLD, A COP PEERED AT THE BATTERED, BLOODY FACE AND NODDED : " IT LOOKS LIKE ARGOUD . " FASCHING FRAWL . EVER SINCE APRIL 1961, EX-COLONEL ANTOINE-CHARLES-LOUIS-MARIE ARGOUD, 48, HAD BEEN ONE OF THE TERRORIST SECRET ARMY ORGANIZATION'S TOP LEADERS . EARLIER, AS A SECTOR COMMANDER IN ALGERIA, HE WAS FAMED FOR HIS USE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE TACTICS AGAINST THE REBEL F.L.N . AN ARGOUD SPECIALTY : EXHIBITING IN THE STREETS BODIES OF EXECUTED MOSLEM PRISONERS AS A WARNING . AFTER LEAVING ALGERIA, HE GREW A BEARD AND SHUTTLED ANONYMOUSLY BETWEEN ITALY, GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND . ARGOUD HAD ALREADY BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ABSENTIA FOR HIS PART IN THE 1961 GENERALS' PUTSCH, AND, AS A MEMBER OF THE DIEHARD COUNCIL OF NATIONAL RESISTANCE, IS BELIEVED TO HAVE ORDERED THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF DE GAULLE AT PETIT-CLAMART, OUTSIDE PARIS, LAST YEAR . SOON AFTER THE PARIS PRESS HEADLINED THE STORY OF THE ARREST, L'AFFAIRE ARGOUD WAS TURNED INTO A FIRST-RATE INTERNATIONAL WHODUNIT BY THE OWNER OF MUNICH'S HOTEL EDEN WOLFF, WHO SAID THAT THE S.A.O . LEADER HAD CHECKED IN THERE THE PREVIOUS NIGHT . THREE HOURS AFTER HE HAD REGISTERED, SAID THE HOTELMAN, TWO MEN ENTERED THE LOBBY AND SENT A NOTE UP TO HIS ROOM . ARGOUD CAME DOWN AND SPOKE TO HIS VISITORS, WHO SHOWED HIM SOMETHING . ALL THREE STARTED OUT THE DOOR TOGETHER, BUT THEN ARGOUD TRIED TO PULL AWAY . THE OTHER TWO GRABBED HIM, HAULED HIM OUT TO THE STREET, KNOCKED HIM DOWN, THREW HIM INTO AN AUTO AND DROVE AWAY . AT THE HEIGHT OF MUNICH'S RIOTOUS PRE-LENTEN CELEBRATIONS, ANY POLICEMAN MIGHT HAVE SHRUGGED IT OFF AS JUST ANOTHER FASCHING BRAWL . LEGENDARY BEARDS . AS THEY READ THE HEADLINES, PARISIANS BEGAN TO QUESTION THE OFFICIAL VERSION THAT ARGOUD HAD BEEN BETRAYED BY THE S.A.O . HOW HAD HE BEEN SMUGGLED FROM GERMANY INTO FRANCE ? WAS THE PHONE CALL REALLY FROM AN S.A.O . MAN ? COULD PIERRE CHATEAU-JOBERT, THOUGH SUPPOSED TO BE ARGOUD'S RIVAL FOR LEADERSHIP OF THE FOUNDERING S.A.O., REALLY HAVE BETRAYED A COMRADE IN THIS WAY ? THE NEWSPAPERS PLUNGED GLEEFULLY INTO THE GUESSING GAME : ARGOUD, THEY SAID, HAD BEEN CAPTURED BY LES BARBOUZES (THE BEARDED ONES), THE LEGENDARY TRIGGERMEN OF THE FRENCH SECRET SERVICES . IT WAS SPECULATED THAT THE ESMERALDA PHONE CALL WAS SIMPLY THE GOVERNMENT'S WAY OF ESTABLISHING AN ALIBI AFTER ITS AGENTS HAD ILLEGALLY KIDNAPED ARGOUD IN GERMANY . ARGOUD'S ATTORNEY POINTEDLY CITED TWO SIMILAR " ILLEGAL " KIDNAPINGS : THAT OF ADOLF EICHMANN BY THE ISRAELIS AND, EVEN MORE TO THE POINT, THAT OF THE EMIGRE DUKE D'ENGHIEN, WHO, SUSPECTED OF PLOTTING AGAINST NAPOLEON, WAS SNATCHED IN GERMANY BY FRENCH POLICE AND THEN TRIED AND EXECUTED . WHATEVER THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER, PARISIANS AGREED THAT L'AFFAIRE ARGOUD WAS TRULY ROCAMBOLESQUE, INCREDIBLE . TO CAP IT, POLICE LAST WEEK ROUNDED UP NINE OTHER S.A.O . MEN IN A PARIS APARTMENT, CHARGED THEM WITH HAVING PLANNED (THOUGH THEY FAILED EVEN TO ATTEMPT) THE ASSASSINATION OF PREMIER GEORGES POMPIDOU LAST YEAR . ARGOUD'S ARREST HAD ANOTHER RESULT : IT CAUSED A ONE-DAY ADJOURNMENT IN THE TRIAL OF NINE DEFENDANTS (TIME, FEB . 22) ACCUSED OF BEING PART OF THE GANG THAT TRIED TO KILL DE GAULLE AT PETIT-CLAMART . MEANWHILE, THE GOVERNMENT WILL SEEK TO ESTABLISH THAT ARGOUD WAS A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL RESISTANCE, WHICH ORDERED THE AMBUSH AT PETIT-CLAMART, AND THE REST OF FRANCE WILL KEEP GUESSING WHO ACCOMPLISHED ARGOUD'S CAPTURE .
 INDIA DATE WITH DESAI TO INDIA'S ABLE FINANCE MINISTER MORARJI DESAI, AUSTERITY IS A WAY OF LIFE . NOT ONLY IS HE A VEGETARIAN AND A TEETOTALER WHO FASTS FOR A DAY AND A HALF EVERY WEEK, BUT HE IS ALSO A HARDHEADED FISCAL CONSERVATIVE WHO DERIDES PIE-IN-THE-SKY WELFARE SCHEMES AND IS AN ARDENT BELIEVER IN PAY-AS-YOU-GO FINANCING . LAST WEEK DESAI PRESENTED THE INDIAN PARLIAMENT WITH AN AUSTERITY BUDGET THAT WILL PUT THE ENTIRE NATION ON THE DESAI STANDARD . TO FINANCE INDIA'S HERCULEAN TASK OF EQUIPPING ITS ARMED FORCES AGAINST THE CONTINUING THREAT OF CHINESE AGGRESSION, DESAI BOOSTED THE BUDGET BY A STAGGERING 33 PER CENT TO A RECORD $3.8 BILLION ; DEFENSE EXPENDITURES ALONE JUMPED 70 PER CENT, TO $1.8 BILLION . BUT DESAI REFUSED TO SQUEEZE THE MONEY OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S COSTLY FIVE-YEAR PLAN OR EVEN TO RELY ON LARGE-SCALE DEFICIT FINANCING . THE COST WILL BE BORNE BY INDIA'S POPULATION WHOSE PER CAPITA INCOME LAST YEAR WAS $69 . PERSONAL INCOME TAXES IN THE LOWER BRACKETS WILL BE INCREASED AS MUCH AS 450 PER CENT . IMPORT DUTIES ON MOST RAW MATERIALS, MACHINERY AND MANUFACTURED GOODS WILL BE BOOSTED FROM 15 PER CENT TO 55 PER CENT . ALL OF INDIA'S TAXPAYERS WILL HAVE TO DEPOSIT UP TO 3 PER CENT OF THEIR AFTER-TAX INCOMES IN GOVERNMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS ; BUSINESSES WHOSE AFTER-TAX INCOMES EXCEED 6 PER CENT OF THEIR CAPITAL VALUE MUST PAY A 50 PER CENT TAX ON ALL SUBSEQUENT PROFITS . ALL BASIC HOUSEHOLD GOODS, CLOTH, FOOD AND COOKING FUELS WILL BE HIT WITH NEW TAXES . ONLY EXCEPTIONS : SUGAR, SHOES, RICE AND MATCHES . ADVERSE REACTION TO THE BUDGET WAS SURPRISINGLY MILD . SOME BUSINESSMEN PROTESTED THAT DESAI COULD HAVE EASED THE TAX BURDEN BY SLASHING UNNECESSARY GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES ; OTHERS POINTED OUT THAT INDIA MIGHT HAVE BEEN SPARED THE CRUSHING NEW TAXES IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD SPENT ENOUGH MONEY IN THE PAST TO HAVE MADE A MORE CREDITABLE SHOWING AGAINST THE CHINESE . GRUMBLED ONE : " THIS IS A HIGH PRICE TO PAY FOR LADAKH EVEN ASSUMING WE DO GET IT BACK . " BUT MOST INDIANS CLOSED RANKS BEHIND DESAI . SAID ONE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL : " THE BUDGET IS THE CLEAREST ANSWER YET GIVEN BY AN ASIAN DEMOCRACY TO COMMUNIST EXPANSION . /
 DENMARK CUTTING BACK WITH KRAG NO ASCETIC IS DENMARK'S PREMIER JENS OTTO KRAG, 48 . A DASHING DANE WITH A NOSE FOR OPPORTUNITY AND AN EYE FOR PRETTY WOMEN, HE HAS BEEN MARRIED TWICE : FIRST TO SWEDISH ACTRESS BIRGIT TENGROTH, CURRENTLY TO DANISH MOVIE STAR HELLE VIRKNER, WHO HAS BEEN NAMED AS ONE OF EUROPE'S TEN MOST ATTRACTIVE WOMEN . IN COPENHAGEN LAST WEEK, AFTER ONLY SIX MONTHS IN OFFICE, KRAG FACED HIS SUPREME POLITICAL TEST WHEN HE INTRODUCED INTO PARLIAMENT A COMPLEX SERIES OF MEASURES THAT WILL 1) EXTEND ALL UNION CONTRACTS FOR TWO YEARS, THUS LIMITING WAGE INCREASES ; 2) FIX MAXIMUM PRICES OF ALL CONSUMER GOODS EXCEPT FISH AND FARM PRODUCTS ; AND 3) COMPEL ALL TAXPAYERS TO BUY UP TO $290 IN 4 PER CENT BONDS THAT CANNOT BE REDEEMED FOR FIVE YEARS . A TRAINED ECONOMIST, KRAG INSISTED THAT HIS DRACONIAN MEASURES ARE ESSENTIAL ; MORE THAN ANY OTHER NATION IN EUROPE, DENMARK HAD STAKED ITS ECONOMIC FUTURE ON JOINING THE COMMON MARKET ALONG WITH BRITAIN . WHEN DE GAULLE BLACKBALLED BRITAIN'S MEMBERSHIP, FRANCE'S PRESIDENT SHREWDLY PROMISED DENMARK IMMEDIATE ADMISSION . KRAG'S REPLY WAS SHARP AND TO THE POINT : " WE HAVE NO WISH TO BE ONE OF PRESIDENT DE GAULLE'S PIECES IN THE POLITICAL CHESS GAME WITH BRITAIN . IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE KEEP OUR TWO MAJOR CUSTOMERS, BRITAIN AND WEST GERMANY, INSIDE THE SAME ORGANIZATION . IT MUST BE OUR PURPOSE IN ALL FIELDS TO SEE THAT NEGOTIATIONS FOR A UNIFIED EUROPE GO ON . " BUT KRAG'S LOYALTY TO HIS FRIENDS ABROAD HARDLY ALLAYED HIS HEADACHES AT HOME . RACKED BY SEVERE INFLATION, DENMARK LAST YEAR SAW ITS TRADE DEFICIT DANGEROUSLY INCREASED TO $486 MILLION, WHILE ITS CURRENCY RESERVES WERE CUT IN HALF . IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, DANISH WAGES HAVE RISEN 40 PER CENT , PRODUCTION LESS THAN 20 PER CENT . THE STRINGENT NEW ECONOMIC PROGRAM DREW ANGUISHED CRIES FROM EMPLOYERS AND THE POLITICAL OPPOSITION, BUT KRAG CURTLY REJECTED THE TRADITIONAL DANISH COMPROMISE . KRAG'S COALITION GOVERNMENT CAN UNDOUBTEDLY SQUEEZE THE BILL THROUGH PARLIAMENT BY ITS USUAL ONE-VOTE MAJORITY, AND THE DANES WILL HAVE TO TIGHTEN THEIR BELTS FOR YEARS OF AUSTERITY AHEAD .
 SOUTH KOREA OVER TO YOU, GENTLEMEN TO ALL OUTWARD APPEARANCES, SOUTH KOREA'S RULING MILITARY JUNTA HAS WIELDED IRON-FISTED CONTROL OVER THE COUNTRY SINCE IT SEIZED POWER IN A LIGHTNING COUP NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO . UNDER STRONGMAN GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE, THE GOVERNMENT STIFLED ALL OPPOSITION ; NEWSPAPERS WERE GAGGED, AND 4,000 KNOWN POLITICAL OPPONENTS OF THE REGIME WERE FORBIDDEN TO CRITICIZE IT IN PUBLIC . BUT PARK HAS BEEN LESS SUCCESSFUL IN QUELLING DISAFFECTION WITHIN HIS OWN JUNTA . LAST WEEK THE WRANGLING WAS OUT IN THE OPEN, THREATENING TO PLUNGE SOUTH KOREA INTO YET ANOTHER FULL-SCALE CRISIS . SNOOPER BOSS . PARK'S GENERALS BECAME OPENLY RESTIVE SOON AFTER HIS DECISION TO RESTORE CIVILIAN POLITICAL RULE (TIME, DEC . 28), AT LEAST IN NAME . IN FACT, JUNTA MEMBERS PLANNED MERELY TO SWAP THEIR KHAKI FOR MUFTI AND CONTINUE TO RUN THE COUNTRY ; PARK HIMSELF WAS THE LEADING CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY . THIS PLEASANT PROSPECT WAS SHATTERED LAST JANUARY WHEN BRIGADIER GENERAL KIM CHONG PIL, HUSBAND OF PARK'S NIECE AND BOSS OF THE DREADED CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, QUIT THE C.I.A .  IN ORDER TO GRAB CONTROL OF THE REGIME'S CIVILIAN POLITICAL ORGANIZATION, THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY WITH PARK'S TACIT APPROVAL KIM WHOSE 30,000 SNOOPERS HAD KEPT  TABS ON ANYTHING AND ANYONE THE JUNTA MIGHT DISTRUST INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE JUNTA INFILTRATED THE PARTY'S POWER POSITIONS WITH 1,200 OF HIS FORMER C.I.A AGENTS., JUNTA MEMBERS OBJECTED TO KIM'S POWER GRAB AS A BLATANT ATTEMPT TO CUT THEM OUT OF THE LION'S SHARE OF THE SPOILS . WHEN THEY INSISTED THAT PARK FIRE KIM FROM THE PARTY LEADERSHIP, PARK RETALIATED BY SACKING FOUR OF KIM'S BITTEREST FOES FROM THE JUNTA . BUT THE FOUR, ALL HIGH-RANKING OFFICERS, THREATENED TO PLUNGE SOUTH KOREA INTO CIVIL WAR UNLESS PARK BROUGHT KIM TO HEEL . " THE ENTIRE ARMY IS AGAINST YOU, ONE OFFICER TOLD PARK . " YOU CANNOT WIN . " FAILED OBJECTIVE . PARK FINALLY CAPITULATED . HE FORCED KIM TO RESIGN HIS PARTY POST, LAST WEEK SENT HIM ON A 50-DAY FOREIGN INSPECTION TRIP AS HIS " AMBASSADOR PLENIPOTENTIARY . " NO SOONER HAD KIM LEFT THAN INVESTIGATORS BEGAN EXPLORING RUMORS THAT HE HAD USED HIS POWERFUL C.I.A . JOB TO MAKE A STOCK MARKET KILLING AND TO MULCT KICKBACKS FROM GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS . BEFORE 3,000 SCREAMING POLITICIANS IN SEOUL'S CITIZENS HALL, PARK ANNOUNCED GRIMLY THAT HE WAS BOWING OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE . " I CANNOT HELP ADMITTING, " HE SAID, " THAT THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED COMPLETELY IN ACHIEVING ITS POLITICAL OBJECTIVE THE EMERGENCE OF NEW POLITICAL PERSONALITIES . " CERTAINLY, PARK'S WITHDRAWAL AND KIM'S FALL FROM GRACE FAILED TO TURN UP ANY PROMISING NEW POLITICAL LEADERS THE JUNTA-CONTROLLED DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY IS IN FLOUNDERING DISARRAY WHILE THE THREE OTHER MAJOR CIVILIAN PARTIES WHICH ARE ALSO RIVEN BY INTERNAL DISSENSION, LACK ANY BROAD BASE OF POPULAR SUPPORT . THUS, FEW SOUTH KOREANS EXPECT THAT PARK WILL REMAIN LONG IN THE WINGS . WITH INFLATION RAMPANT AND UNEMPLOYMENT AT A RECORD HIGH, MANY POLITICIANS SUSPECT THAT PARK IS DELIBERATELY SADDLING THEM WITH CHAOS, THAT IN HIS OWN GOOD TIME, HE MAY ONCE AGAIN " SAVE " THE COUNTRY .
 RUSSIA BACK TO SIBERIA, COMRADES SOVIET SCIENTISTS HAVE NOT YET TAUGHT SHRIMPS TO WHISTLE, BUT RADIO MOSCOW LAST WEEK REPORTED AN EVEN MORE FANTASTIC FEAT . GEOLOGISTS IN NORTHERN SIBERIA, IT RECOUNTED BREATHLESSLY, DUG UP A PAIR OF SALAMANDERS THAT HAD BEEN FROZEN FOR 5,000 YEARS, THAWED THEM OUT AND FED THEM BERRIES AND MOSQUITOES FROM THEIR HANDS . ONE OF THE PREHISTORIC NEWTS (TRITONS) SCAMPERED HAPPILY ABOUT FOR THREE WEEKS BEFORE IT DIED ; IT WAS THEN BOTTLED AND SENT TO A MOSCOW UNIVERSITY LABORATORY . ITS COMRADE LIVED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS IN A MUSEUM . RADIO MOSCOW, WHICH SAID THE TALE OF TWO TRITONS WAS BASED ON AN ACCOUNT IN A SOVIET LITERARY MAGAZINE, EVEN SUGGESTED THAT THE DISCOVERY MIGHT HAVE MOMENTOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR SPACE FLIGHT . IF NEWTS COULD SURVIVE ALL THAT TIME, WHY NOT DEEPFREEZE SOVIET COSMONAUTS AND THUS ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR FOOD DURING THEIR LONG VOYAGES THROUGH THE UNIVERSE ? RADIO MOSCOW'S STORY BLEW UP A STORM OF CABLES AND TELEPHONE CALLS FROM WESTERN NEWSMEN PANTING AFTER ALL THE NEWTY DETAILS . AND, THOUGH U.S . SCIENTISTS SOON POOH-POOHED THE SALAMANDER SAGA, IT MADE THE FRONT PAGES OF MOST U.S . NEWSPAPERS, WHICH SINCE SPUTNIK I HAVE TENDED TO OVERPLAY FAR-OUT SOVIET SCIENTIFIC CLAIMS . THEN A RUSSIAN SCIENTIST DEBUNKED THE STORY . PROFESSOR GLEB LOZINO-LOZINSKY, HEAD OF THE SPACE BIOLOGY LABORATORY AT THE LENINGRAD INSTITUTE OF CYTOLOGY, DISCLOSED THAT IT HAD BEEN LIFTED FROM A CHILDREN'S BOOK, AND " HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCE . " SNAPPED HE : / THE AUTHOR OF THIS TALE SHOULD BE PUNISHED . " FROM RADIO MOSCOW : SIBERIAN SILENCE .
 CANDIDATE WITH THREE SUITS OF COURSE, HE GOT 90 MINUTES OF FREE, PRIME TIME ON TV AND WAS ABLE TO MEET THE FOLKS IN THE KREMLIN'S MIGHTY MARBLE PALACE OF THE CONGRESSES OTHERWISE NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S STUMP SPEECH TO HIS CONSTITUENTS FROM MOSCOW'S KALININ DISTRICT SOUNDED AS IF HE HAD TO RUN FOR DEAR LIFE TO GET RE-ELECTED TO THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC THIS WEEK NATURALLY NIKITA CLAIMED SUCCESS FOR HIS OWN FOREIGN POLICY THE COMMUNISTS WERE WINNING THE COLD WAR AND ALL THAT TALK ABOUT TROUBLE WITH THE CHINESE WAS AN ILLUSION . SAME DAY PEKING LAUNCHED A NEW ATTACK ON MOSCOW'S FIERCE VISAGE BUT FAINT HEART . THEN IN HIS FOLKSIEST MANNER KHRUSHCHEV TOLD THE PEOPLE JUST HOW PLUMB LUCKY THEY WERE TO BE IN RUSSIA AND NOT IN THE U.S . WHERE ELECTIONS ARE ACTUALLY CONTESTED SORT OF A SHOW TAKES PLACE HE SAID MARCHERS DEMAND VOTES FOR THE ELEPHANT WHILE THE OTHER PARTY CANVASSES VOTES FOR THE DONKEY I REALLY CANNOT SAY WHICH OF THE TWO ANIMALS IS CLEVERER . POLITICAL ADVERTISING IN THE U.S . HAS MUCH THE QUALITY OF CONSUMER ADVERTISING . IT IS RATHER LOUD, EVEN SHOWY , I WOULD SAY . ALL SORTS OF PROMISES ARE MADE ON MOUNTAINS OF GOLD AND RIVERS OF MILK . DESCRIBING A TYPICAL U.S . CAMPAIGN SPEECH NIKITA SAID THAT ONE CANDIDATE PROMISED HIS CONSTITUENTS TO BUILD A NEW BRIDGE FOR YOU IF ELECTED . BUT WE HAVEN'T GOT A RIVER SO WHAT DO WE NEED A BRIDGE FOR ? ASKED THE PUZZLED VOTERS . NEVER MIND, REPLIED THE CANDIDATE . WE'LL MAKE A RIVER FOR YOU TOO . NO SLOUCH HIMSELF WHEN IT COMES TO CAMPAIGN PROMISES, KHRUSHCHEV TOLD THE FOLKS THAT / PROBABLY EACH ONE OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A BETTER SUIT OR DRESS TO WEAR . " WELL, SAID HE, " THE TIME WILL COME WHEN EVERY SOVIET CITIZEN WILL ACTUALLY HAVE THREE SUITS OF CLOTHES ONE, PRESUMABLY FOR HIS BIRTHDAY ONE FOR HIS WEDDING AND ONE FOR HIS FUNERAL . NOW, ADDED ARTFUL NIKITA, IF I WERE TO PROMISE YOU THAT YOU'LL HAVE THREE NEW SUITS NEXT YEAR, YOU'D SAY THAT I WAS DRUNK . TO STORMY APPLAUSE THE OLD PRO SAT DOWN IN KALININ HE WOULD PROBABLY BE THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE EVEN IF THEY HAD ONE .
 JAPAN WHEN THEY START PLAYING FOOTSIE, IT'S TIME FOR A GIRL TO QUIT ALONG THE GINZA, TOKYO'S GARISH MAIN STEM, A BAR GIRL HAS TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE ALL TYPES BUT EVEN SO, THERE'S A LIMIT . IT CAME FOR ONE GINZA DOLL LAST WEEK WHEN, AS SHE PUT IT, " I FELT SOMETHING PLAYING FOOTSIE WITH ME UNDER THE TABLE . " SAID SHE : " I FIGURED IT WAS THE CUSTOMER ; BUT THE GAME WENT ON AFTER HE EXCUSED HIMSELF . THEN I LOOKED DOWN, AND THERE WAS THIS HUGE RAT TRYING TO PRY SOME MEAT OUT FROM UNDER MY FOOT . SURE, I KNEW WE HAD RATS, BUT WHEN THEY GET THAT FAMILIAR, I QUIT . " MELONS & MINKS . THEY HAVE BEEN GETTING MORE IMPORTUNATE EVERY DAY . SOME 2,000,000 STRONG, TWICE AS NUMEROUS AS THE DISTRICT'S DAYTIME HUMAN POPULATION, THE GINZA RAT KINGDOM SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN CAUGHT UP IN A REVOLUTION OF RODENT EXPECTATIONS . NO LONGER CONTENT WITH THEIR NETWORK OF UNDERGROUND RIVERS AND SEWERS, ARMIES OF RATS NOW PROWL THE GINZA EVERY NIGHT AFTER THE CABARETS HAVE CLOSED AND BEFORE DEPARTMENT STORES OPEN . RATS WITH AFFLUENT TASTES GORGE THEMSELVES ON SUCH FANCY GROCERIES AS MELONS, LEATHER FURNITURE AND MINK COATS . ONE GORMANDIZING RAT PACK EVEN HELD UP CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW BUILDING BY CHEWING THROUGH A STRONG BOX AND GOBBLING THE BLUEPRINTS ; DIM GINZA BARS HAVE REGULAR, UNSCHEDULED BLACKOUTS WHENEVER RATS GNAW THROUGH POWER LINES, A NEVER-FAILING TASTE TREAT . WHEN A U.S . TOURIST WAS ASSURED BY THE MANAGER OF A LUXURIOUS GINZA HOTEL THAT HE COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE SEEN A RAT " AS BIG AS A CAT " IN HIS ROOM, THE AMERICAN BOUGHT A RAT TRAP, SHOWED UP AT THE RESERVATION DESK THE NEXT DAY TRIUMPHANTLY LUGGING A F-LB . RATTUS NORVEGICUS . LAST WEEK TOKYO'S SANITATION DEPARTMENT JOINED FORCES WITH A PASSEL OF PRIVATE EXTERMINATORS IN AN ALL-OUT CAMPAIGN TO KEEP THE GINZA FOR PEOPLE . WITH MILITARY PRECISION, ANTI-RAT GUERRILLAS FANNED OUT THROUGH DARKENED DEPARTMENT STORES IN STOCKINGED FEET, COORDINATING THEIR OFFENSIVE BY MEANS OF WALKIE-TALKIES . " THIS IS C TEAM CALLING B TEAM, " WHISPERED ONE COMMUNICATIONS MAN TO THE UNIT ON THE FLOOR BELOW HIM . " I HEAR RATS ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE FLOOR SCURRYING DOWN . CLOSE DOOR IMMEDIATELY . OVER . " MEATBALLS & MIKES . FOR WEAPONS, THE RAT HUNTERS MOSTLY USED A SUPPLY OF 300,000 POISONED MEATBALLS ABOUT ONE FOR EVERY SIX OR EIGHT RATS BELIEVED TO BE IN THE GINZA . EXTERMINATORS BUGGED RATHOLES WITH TINY MICROPHONES SO AS TO DETECT ENEMY STRONGHOLDS . THEY ALSO PLANTED EXTRASTRONG TRAPS THAT ARE NORMALLY USED TO TRAP MINK SINCE GINZA RATS ARE A SPECIAL SAMURAI BREED THAT CAN USUALLY CHEW THROUGH A CONVENTIONAL TRAP . THE HUNTERS HAD NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT THEIR FOE . " THE GINZA RATS ARE TERRIBLY CLEVER, " SAID ONE OLD RODENT FIGHTER . " YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE A MEATBALL BY A RATHOLE AND EXPECT THEM TO EAT ITS MUCH TOO OBVIOUS . WHAT YOU MUST DO IS PUT THE MEATBALLS IN, SAY, A CARDBOARD BOX WITH A LITTLE HOLE IN IT . THEN THE RAT WILL EAT IT THINKING IT'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO HAVE . " IN THREE DAYS, THE EXTERMINATORS HAD KILLED ABOUT 6,500 RATS OUTRIGHT, AND EXPECTED ANOTHER 3,000 TO DIE LATER AS THE POISON TOOK EFFECT . BUT EACH FEMALE RAT CAN THEORETICALLY PRODUCE ABOUT 70 OFFSPRING EVERY YEAR . CONCLUDED ONE SANITATION OFFICIAL : " WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN . /
 WEST GERMANY THEY ARE THE PRODUCT OF A BROKER'S HOME FOR MANY GERMANS, ASH WEDNESDAY HOLDS AN EXTRA MEASURE OF SOLEMNITY . IT MARKS THE END OF THE GAY FASCHING SEASON, ABOUT THE ONLY TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN A MIDDLE-AGED WIDOWER OR A PLAIN, BESPECTACLED SPINSTER CAN BREAK OUT OF THE EVERYDAY LITANY OF LONELINESS AND WHO KNOWS ? FIND TRUE LOVE ACROSS A CROWDED BEER HALL . OF THOSE WHO WERE STILL LONELY AS FASCHING ENDED LAST WEEK, MANY WOULD NOT WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR'S FESTIVITIES ; THEY WILL TURN INSTEAD TO ONE OF WEST GERMANY'S 200 MARRIAGE AGENCIES, SUCH AS THE BOOMING " INSTITUTE FOR ELEGANT INDIVIDUAL MARRIAGE INITIATION . " CHIRPED BONN MARRIAGE BROKER ALICE PAECH ON ASH WEDNESDAY : " NOW IT WILL START ALL OVER AGAIN . " WAGNERIAN SUPERMEN . FOR A " SEARCHING FEE " THAT AVERAGES ABOUT $50, BUXOM FRAU PAECH AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL CUPID CHASERS WILL METHODICALLY REMAKE THE WHIMSICAL OLD GAME ACCORDING TO COLD TEUTONIC LOGIC . CLIENTS ARE INTERVIEWED FOR THE NECESSARY INFORMATION BACKGROUND, INTERESTS, SOCIAL STATUS, FINANCIAL SITUATION AND BROUGHT TOGETHER THROUGH CAREFULLY MATCHED BRIEFING SHEETS . FOR ABOUT ONE IN EVERY THREE COUPLES SHE INTRODUCES, FRAU PAECH MANAGES TO FIND THE RIGHT COMBINATION, AND COLLECTS A " SUCCESS FEE " EQUAL TO THE SEARCHING FEE UNLESS THE HAPPY COUPLE FORGET TO NOTIFY HER THAT THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED . WEST GERMAN PAPERS ARE FILLED WITH SUCH AGENCY-PLACED ADS AS / A HEART TO GIVE AWAY AM 39, 160 (CENTIMETERS TALL), ALONE, NOT UGLY, BUT WEARER OF GLASSES, " OR " HELLO, HELLO ! WHAT YOUNG MAN BETWEEN 35 AND 45 WOULD LIKE TO TRY HIS HAPPINESS WITH ME ? " AGENCIES MAKE A PAUNCHY MALE SOUND LIKE A WAGNERIAN SUPERMAN, A WILTING WALLFLOWER A PARAGON OF CHARM AND VIRTUE . MANY AGENCIES PUT LOVE ON A CHAIN-STORE BASIS, INCREASING THE CHANCE FOR A SUCCESSFUL MATCH BY TRADING CLIENTS AMONG AS MANY AS 32 BRANCHES . DRAWING CLIENTS FROM EVERY CLASS AND PROFESSION, MARRIAGE BROKERS ACCOUNT FOR 60,000 TO 80,000 MARRIAGES EVERY YEAR . SECURITY FIRST . TODAY'S THRIVING TRADE IS THE OUTGROWTH OF A BUSINESS THAT HAS HAD ITS GREATEST BOOM DURING THE MANSHORT YEARS FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II . THE MAIN REASON FOR ITS GROWTH, SAYS AN OFFICIAL IN BONN'S FAMILY MINISTRY, IS THAT " THERE IS A LACK OF REAL SOCIAL LIFE IN WEST GERMANY TODAY WE HAVE BECOME A LITTLE SELFISH AND DON'T CONCERN OURSELVES MUCH WITH OUR FELLOW MEN . " KNOWN BY THE UNROMANTIC NAME OF EHLANBAHNUNSGEWERBE LITERALLY, THE MARRIAGE-INITIATING BUSINESS IT HAS INEVITABLY ATTRACTED MANY BROKERS LESS INTERESTED IN MATING SOULD THAN COINING DEUTSCHE MARKS . " THERE ARE AS MANY SERIOUS MARRIAGE AGENCIES AS THERE ARE CABINET MEMBERS IN BONN, " A GERMAN MAGAZINE CLAIMED RECENTLY . BUT THE CUSTOMERS SELDOM COMPLAIN . MOST SEEK FINANCIAL SECURITY RATHER THAN GOOD LOOKS . WOMEN ARE PARTICULARLY FOND OF MEN FROM THE BENELUX COUNTRIES, AND ARE ESPECIALLY LEARY OF BAKERS, BUTCHERS AND INNKEEPERS, AFRAID THAT THEY WILL ASK THEM TO HELP OUT WITH THE BUSINESS . AND HOW ABOUT LOVE . LOVE, " SNIFFS ONE GERMAN, " IS FOR TEEN-AGERS AND FRENCHMEN . "
 YEMEN FOR ALLAH & THE IMAM FROM REMOTE YEMEN LAST SEPTEMBER CAME WORD OF A REVOLUTION THAT HAD TOPPLED THE CENTURIES-OLD DYNASTY OF IMAM MOHAMMED EL BADR . LEADER OF THE COUP WAS COLONEL ABDULLAH SALLAL, 45, NEWLY APPOINTED COMMANDER OF THE PALACE GUARD, WHO ANNOUNCED IN THE YEMEN CAPITAL OF SAN " A THAT HIS TROOPS HAD KILLED THE IMAM AND WERE IN CONTROL OF THE PRIMITIVE, NEBRASKA-SIZED COUNTRY . WEEKS LATER IT WAS LEARNED THAT BADR HAD IN FACT ESCAPED THE SHELLED RUINS OF HIS PALACE AND TAKEN REFUGE IN YEMEN'S RUGGED HILL COUNTRY, WHOSE WARLIKE TRIBES HAVE TRADITIONALLY BEEN LOYAL TO THE IMAM . CLOUDED CLAIMS . EVER SINCE, HELPED BY MONEY AND SUPPLIES FROM THE UNEASY MONARCHS OF SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN, THE IMAM AND HIS TRIBAL WARRIORS HAVE BEEN INCHING DOGGEDLY BACK TOWARD SAN " A . PRESIDENT SALLAL APPEALED FOR HELP TO EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, AN OLD FRIEND OF THE IMAM BUT AN EVEN MORE IMPLACABLE FOE OF THE OIL-RICH DESERT DYNASTIES WHO WERE HELPING BADR . NASSER RUSHED IN EGYPTIAN TROOPS, WHOSE SOVIET-MADE GUNS, TANKS AND JETS MAKE THEM THE ARAB WORLD'S MOST FORMIDABLE FIGHTING FORCE . THOUGH THE REPUBLICANS HAD NOT IN FACT WON THE WHOLE COUNTRY, THE U.S . DECIDED RELUCTANTLY LAST DECEMBER TO RECOGNIZE SALLAL'S REGIME, HAVING FIRST WON NASSER'S PROMISE TO WITHDRAW HIS TROOPS . EGYPT'S PRESIDENT HAS NOT ONLY FAILED TO HONOR HIS PLEDGE BUT HAS ACTUALLY RAISED THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE TO 23,000 TROOPS ON THE PRETEXT THAT BRITAIN, SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN HAVE ALL SENT IN FORCES TO HELP THE IMAM . BRITAIN, WHICH HAS NOT RECOGNIZED SALLAL, FEARS THAT EGYPTIAN PENETRATION OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA WILL ISOLATE ITS OILFIELDS AND DEAL A CRIPPLING BLOW TO ITS ECONOMY . FEARFUL LEST THE HOT LITTLE WAR ENGULF THE ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST, THE U.N . LAST WEEK SENT RALPH BUNCHE, A VETERAN MIDDLE EAST TROUBLESHOOTER WHO IS TRUSTED BY BOTH SIDES, TO DISCUSS A SOLUTION WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF SALLAL AND THE IMAM ; FROM YEMEN HE WILL GO TO EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN . THE ACTUAL COURSE OF THE FIGHTING HAS BEEN CLOUDED BY THE GRANDIOSE CLAIMS OF BOTH SIDES AND THE FORMIDABLE OBSTACLES THAT FACE WESTERN NEWSMEN WHO EVEN TRY TO GET INTO YEMEN, LET ALONE REACH THE BATTLE LINES . ONE WHO SUCCEEDED WAS TIME CORRESPONDENT GEORGE DE CARVALHO . FROM BEIRUT LAST WEEK HE CABLED HIS REPORT ON A 23-DAY TREK IN WHICH HE CROSSED THE PEAKS, PLATEAUS AND WADIS FROM ADEN TO THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER, TRAVELING A TOTAL OF 1,000 MILES BY CAMEL, DONKEY, CAR AND SHOE LEATHER WITHOUT ONCE LEAVING ROYALISTHELD TERRITORY (SEE MAP) . ALONG THE WAY, CORRESPONDENT DE CARVALHO WAS REPEATEDLY SHOT AT BY EGYPTIAN FIGHTER PLANES, TANKS, MORTARS, AND ARTILLERY, SAW TWO OF HIS SIX YEMENI GUARDS KILLED AND ONE WOUNDED IN BATTLE . RIFLES & FAITH . THE FIGHTING IS MOST INTENSE IN A 70-MILE ARC CURVING AROUND THE EASTERN APPROACHES TO SAN " A . IN MOST AREAS, THE ROYALISTS LIMIT THEMSELVES TO HIT-AND-RUN GUERRILLA RAIDS, BUT HERE THEY ARE TAKING AND HOLDING GROUND, ATTACKING STEADILY AND ADVANCING ON A WIDE FRONT . REPORTS DE CARVALHO : " THE INCREDIBLE FACT IS THAT THE EGYPTIANS ARE LOSING IN YEMEN . RAGGED, BAREFOOT YEMENI TRIBESMEN, ARMED ONLY WITH ANCIENT RIFLES AND FAITH IN ALLAH, ARE KICKING HELL OUT OF NASSER'S ELITE TROOPS DESPITE THEIR OVERPOWERING SOVIET EQUIPMENT, OVERWHELMINGLY SUPERIOR FIREPOWER, AND UNCHALLENGED AIRPOWER . " THE WAR IN YEMEN IS BEING FOUGHT BETWEEN THE 10TH CENTURY AND THE 20TH . THE MOUNTAIN TRIBES HAVE NO OFFICERS' CORPS OR NONCOMS ; THEY SIMPLY CHOOSE THEIR SHEIKS AND FOLLOW THEM INTO BATTLE . " WE CAPTURED 14 FIELD RADIOS, " SIGHED PRINCE ABDULLAH IBN HASSAN, 25, A COUSIN OF THE IMAM . " BUT NONE OF MY MEN KNOW HOW TO USE THEM . " NOR CAN THEY USE CAPTURED TANKS OR TRUCKS, SINCE NONE OF THE TRIBESMEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE . WHEN THEY ATTACK A TANK, THE TRIBESMEN FIRST KILL OFF THE ACCOMPANYING INFANTRYMEN, THEN OFTEN SET IT AFIRE WITH FLAMING CORN STALKS . THE EGYPTIANS ARE RESTRICTED TO THE FEW ROUGH ROADS AND DEPEND ON DAILY DELIVERY OF SUPPLIES, WHILE THE ROYALISTS CAN FIGHT ANYWHERE . SAYS PRINCE ABDULLAH : " ALL MY MEN NEED IS BREAD AND BULLETS . WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL WE ARE ALL DEAD OR THE EGYPTIANS ARE DRIVEN INTO THE SEA . WE BOW ONLY TO GOD . " PLASTERED SKIRMISHERS . YEMEN'S ROADS AND FIELDS ARE LITTERED WITH THE REMAINS OF DEAD EGYPTIANS LEFT TO ROT UNBURIED . " LET THE DOGS EAT THE EGYPTIAN DOGS, " SPAT A TRIBESMAN . THE FEW EGYPTIANS TAKEN PRISONER SEEM DAZED AND DEJECTED . PRIVATE AMER HUSSEIN BAHID, 24, OF CAIRO, WAS DUE FOR FOR DISCHARGE IN JANUARY AFTER THREE YEARS' ARMY SERVICE . INSTEAD, HIS COMPANY WAS AIRLIFTED TO SAN'A AND RUSHED OFF TO LAUNCH A COUNTERATTACK AT BEIT MIRAN . SAID HE : " ABOUT 25 MILES FROM SAN'A WE WERE AMBUSHED . MY COMPANY NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO FIGHT . IN A FEW HOURS, MORE THAN 100 OF US WERE KILLED, AND I SURRENDERED . " NASSER HAS APPARENTLY HAD TO CALL UP THE RESERVES . COMPLAINED SERGEANT IBRAHIM MOHSIN ALKATI, 32, WHO WAS A CAIRO TRUCK MECHANIC BEFORE HE WAS RECALLED TO DUTY : " I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A WAR ON IN YEMEN . I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP TRAIN THE YEMENI REPUBLICAN ARMY . " ONE BATTLE WITNESSED BY CORRESPONDENT DE CARVALHO WAS AT EL ARGOUP, 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SAN'A, WHERE 500 YEMENIS COMMANDED BY PRINCE ABDULLAH ATTACKED AN EGYPTIAN POSITION ON TOP OF A SHEERSIDED HILL THAT WAS FORTIFIED WITH SIX SOVIET T-54 TANKS, A DOZEN ARMORED CARS AND ENTRENCHED MACHINE GUNS . THE YEMENIS, ADVANCING IN A THIN SKIRMISH LINE, WERE PLASTERED BY ARTILLERY, MORTARS AND STRAFING PLANES . THEY COULD REPLY ONLY WITH RIFLES, ONE MORTAR WITH 20 ROUNDS, AND A BAZOOKA WITH FOUR ROUNDS HANDLED BY A MAN WHO HAD NEVER FIRED A BAZOOKA BEFORE IN HIS LIFE . THE FIGHT FOR EL ARGOUP LASTED A WEEK AND ENDED IN A ROUT THAT COST THE EGYPTIANS THREE TANKS, SEVEN ARMORED CARS AND 160 DEAD . DE CARVALHO ASKED A HAGGARD SHEIK IF HIS MEN SUFFERED FROM BATTLE FATIGUE . THE SHEIK FROWNED : " WE SUFFER FROM MANY DISEASES IN YEMEN, BUT BATTLE FATIGUE WHAT IS THAT ? " THE TRIBESMEN'S LOYALTY TO THE IMAM IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO UNDERSTAND . MANY OF THE PRESENT ROYALIST LEADERS SUFFERED CRUELLY DURING THE 14-YEAR REIGN OF BADR'S FATHER, AHMAD THE DEVIL, WHOSE WAY OF PACIFYING THE HILL TRIBES WAS TO TAKE MASS HOSTAGES AND BEHEAD RESTIVE SHEIKS . SHRUGGED ONE SHEIK : " THE IMAMS HAVE RULED US FOR A THOUSAND YEARS . SOME WERE GOOD AND SOME BAD . WE KILLED THE BAD ONES SOONER OR LATER, AND WE PROSPERED UNDER THE GOOD ONES . " ANOTHER REASON FOR FIGHTING THE REPUBLICANS IS THAT THE HILL TRIBES BELONG TO THE MOSLEM SHIA SECT, OF WHICH THE IMAM IS THE RELIGIOUS HEAD . THE YEMENIS OF THE COAST AND THE SOUTH BELONG TO THE RIVAL SUNNI SECT (AS DO MOST EGYPTIANS) . THOUGH PRESIDENT SALLAL IS HIMSELF A MOUNTAIN SHIA, IT IS HIS MISFORTUNE TO BE FIGHTING THE FIERCE MOUNTAIN SHIAS WITH LOWLAND SUNNIS WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN FAMED FOR MARTIAL PROWESS . THE IMAM MOHAMMED EL BADR IS A HUSKY, HARD-LOOKING MAN OF 36 WHO ROVES CONSTANTLY ALONG THE NORTHWEST FRONT IN A DODGE WAGON AND NEVER SLEEPS MORE THAN TWO NIGHTS IN THE SAME PLACE . IN A WADI UNDER THE STARS ONE NIGHT, HE TOLD DE CARVALHO :. " NASSER'S BIGGEST SINGLE TARGET IN YEMEN IS ME . " WAVING AT THE SKIES FROM WHICH EGYPTIAN JETS HAD POUNCED ON HIS FORCES ONLY THAT DAY, HE SIGHED : " NOW I'M GETTING MY REWARD FOR BEFRIENDING NASSER . WE WERE BROTHERS, BUT WHEN I REFUSED TO BECOME HIS STOOGE, HE USED SALLAL AGAINST ME . I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING . I WILL NEVER GO INTO EXILE . WIN OR LOSE, MY GRAVE WILL BE HERE . " BY LAST WEEK THE WAR SEEMED DEADLOCKED . HOWEVER, IMAM MOHAMMED IS TRYING TO RECRUIT A MERCENARY AIR FORCE, AND IS BUILDING UP A SMALL STOCK OF ANTITANK GUNS, RECOILLESS RIFLES AND MORTARS . SAUDI ARABIA, WHICH HAS BANKROLLED THE ROYALISTS SO FAR WITH ABOUT $15 MILLION, IS ITCHING TO PLUNGE INTO THE FIGHT . IN THE WAKE OF REPEATED BOMBINGS OF SAUDI TOWNS, SAUDI ARABIA'S PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL WARNED U.S . DIPLOMATS : " I CANNOT SIT MUCH LONGER WITH MY ARMS FOLDED WHILE NASSER ATTACKS NOT ONLY MY NEIGHBOR YEMEN BUT ALSO MY OWN COUNTRY . "
 MIDDLE EAST SPREADING INFECTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, REVOLUTION IS REACHING EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS . A REVOLT IN YEMEN LAST SEPTEMBER OUSTED THE CENTURIES-OLD DYNASTY OF THE IMAM AND INSTALLED A " REPUBLIC " THAT HAS EVER SINCE BEEN PROPPED UP BY 20,000 EGYPTIAN TROOPS SENT IN BY GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . IN TWO BLOODY DAYS' WORK LAST MONTH, IRAQI ARMY OFFICERS DEPOSED AND KILLED PSYCHOTIC DICTATOR ABDUL KARIM KASSEM . LAST WEEK, ON A QUIET, GREY FRIDAY MORNING, THE INFECTION REACHED SYRIA . BROKEN BONDS . EVERYONE KNEW IT WAS COMING, FROM SYRIA'S STRONGMAN, GENERAL ABDEL KARIM ZAHREDDIN, DOWN TO THE LOWLIEST PRIVATE IN THE ARMY . WHEN ZAHREDDIN SEVERED SYRIA'S UNION WITH EGYPT 17 MONTHS AGO, HE HAD PROFITED FROM THE NATION'S REVULSION AGAINST THE POLICE STATE AND HARSH ECONOMIC CONTROLS IMPOSED BY NASSER . BUT SYRIANS, PASSIONATE BELIEVERS IN ARAB UNITY, ALSO FELT GUILTY ABOUT BREAKING THE BONDS . WISPY PRESIDENT NAZEM EL-KOUDSI SIGHED, " THE TROUBLE WITH SYRIANS IS THAT WE ARE NEVER CONCERNED WITH JUST OUR OWN PROBLEMS BUT WITH ISSUES AFFECTING ALL ARABS . " THE REGIME SURVIVED THREE MAJOR AND COUNTLESS MINOR CONSPIRACIES, BUT ONCE IRAQ REBELLED AGAINST DICTATOR KASSEM IN THE NAME OF ARAB UNITY, THE SYRIAN REGIME WAS DOOMED . SIX CABINET MINISTERS RESIGNED DISCREETLY, AND WHEN MEMBERS OF THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY WERE ASKED TO REPLACE THEM, THEY REFUSED . DESPERATE PRESIDENT KOUDSI EAGERLY OFFERED TO UNITE SYRIA WITH THE NEW REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ BUT RECEIVED NO OFFICIAL REPLY FROM BAGHDAD . SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED TO PREVENT STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, AND TANKS AND ARMORED CARS PATROLLED THE STREETS OF DAMASCUS . THE REVOLUTION CAME AS QUIETLY AS A SUNRISE . GENERAL ZAHREDDIN SUSPECTED COLONEL MOHAMMED HARIRI, CHIEF OF THE SOUTHERN FRONT COMMAND, OF BEING A TOP CONSPIRATOR AND ORDERED HIM SENT OUT OF THE COUNTRY AS MILITARY ATTACHE TO JORDAN . HARIRI REFUSED TO GO, AND THE ENTIRE SOUTHERN COMMAND BACKED HIM UP . AN ARMORED COLUMN MOVED OUT FROM THE BADANI MILITARY CAMP AND ENTERED DAMASCUS, WHERE THE TANKS PATROLLING THE STREETS QUICKLY JOINED THE REBELS . SCARCELY A SHOT WAS FIRED AS SYRIA CHANGED ITS ALLEGIANCE . TEMPERS WERE SO COOL THAT PRESIDENT KOUDSI WAS ALLOWED TO REMAIN AT HOME WITH HIS FAMILY . PREMIER KHALED EL-AZM, WHO LIVED BESIDE THE TURKISH EMBASSY, SIMPLY SLIPPED NEXT DOOR AND WAS GIVEN POLITICAL ASYLUM . DAMASCUS RADIO WENT ON THE AIR PROCLAIMING THE BAATHIST SLOGANS OF " UNITY, FREEDOM, SOCIALISM ! " A JUBILANT SYRIAN ARMY OFFICER AT A BORDER POST SAID, " WE WANT UNITY, NOT WITH NASSER, BUT WITH ALL ARABS . " AS IN IRAQ, THE SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND INSISTED ON ANONYMITY . THE NEW 20-MAN CABINET HAS ONLY TWO MILITARY MEN, AND THE BAATH PARTY IS STRONGLY REPRESENTED . NEW PREMIER SALAH EL-BITAR, 45, IS A FORMER SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AND A BAATHIST WITH STRONG SYMPATHIES TOWARD ARAB UNITY . A TALL, HULKING DAMASCENE WITH DARK, BROODING EYES AND BRILLIANTINED HAIR, HE ONCE SIGNED A MANIFESTO DENOUNCING UNION WITH EGYPT, BUT LATER ADVOCATED CLOSE FEDERAL TIES . TWO IN ONE . TWO REVOLUTIONS WITHIN A SINGLE MONTH HAVE THUS PUT THE BAATHISTS INTO POWER IN TWO NATIONS STRETCHING FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE PERSIAN GULF . THE BAATH PARTY STRONGLY EMPHASIZES UNITY WITH ALL ARAB STATES, INCLUDING EGYPT, BUT REJECTS DICTATORSHIP BY ANYONE, INCLUDING NASSER . ITS PHILOSOPHY CALLS FOR ITTIHAD, LOOSE FEDERATION, AND PLEDGES OVERALL ALLEGIANCE TO URUBA, A PERVASIVE PANARABISM . WHEN NEWS OF THE SYRIAN REVOLT REACHED THE IRAQI CAPITAL OF BAGHDAD, A MILITARY PARADE WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A VICTORY CELEBRATION, WITH LONG LINES OF CITIZENS AND STUDENTS SNAKE-DANCING THROUGH THE CITY . IN CAIRO, NASSER'S MEN HAILED THE NEW SYRIAN REGIME . IT SEEMS PROBABLE THAT NASSER WILL PROFIT FROM HIS PAST MISTAKES AND SETTLE FOR A COALITION OF " LIBERATED " ARAB STATES GOVERNED BY BAATHISTS AND PRO-NASSERITES BUT RETAINING THEIR SEPARATE IDENTITIES AND SOVEREIGNTIES . THE REVOLUTIONARY WAVE NEXT THREATENS THE MONARCHIES OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, WHICH HAVE BITTERLY OPPOSED NASSER'S INTERVENTION IN YEMEN AND HAVE NO LOVE FOR THE UNITY PROPOSALS OF THE BAATH PARTY . THE BELEAGUERED KINGDOMS LAST WEEK SEEMED TO BE GIRDING FOR A LAST-DITCH STAND . KING HUSSEIN ALERTED HIS ARAB LEGION, THE MOST EFFICIENT FIGHTING FORCE IN THE ARAB WORLD . PRINCE FEISAL, PREMIER OF SAUDI ARABIA, PROTESTED THAT EGYPTIAN PLANES HAD BOMBED SAUDI TOWNS ON THE YEMEN BORDER AND ANGRILY DECLARED, " LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF WAR . WE SAUDIS ARE INDEED THE CHILDREN OF WAR . IF WE HAVE TO DIE, THEN LET US DIE WITH HONOR . UNLESS THESE ATTACKS, PROVOCATIONS AND CHILDISH ACTS END, THEN THIS COUNTRY WILL TURN THE TABLES AND TURN THE AGGRESSORS HEAD OVER HEELS . " POSITIVE WAY . THE UNITED NATIONS' SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST, DR . RALPH BUNCHE, LAST WEEK VISITED THE REPUBLICAN AREAS OF YEMEN AS PART OF THE U.N . EFFORT TO PREVENT THE ARKANSAS-SIZED NATION FROM BECOMING AN INTERNATIONAL BATTLEGROUND . YEMEN HAD DELAYED BUNCHE'S VISIT UNTIL AN EGYPTIAN ARMORED COLUMN COULD SEIZE THE FORMERLY ROYALIST-HELD TOWN OF MARIB, AND THEN EXHIBITED IT TO BUNCHE AS EVIDENCE OF REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF THE COUNTRY . AFTER A 60-MINUTE SESSION WITH YEMEN'S STRONGMAN ABDULLAH SALLAL, BUNCHE DECLARED, " I WAS MOST IMPRESSED BY HIS EARNESTNESS, SINCERITY, STRENGTH AND SERIOUSNESS OF PURPOSE . " STOPPING OFF IN CAIRO ON HIS WAY HOME, BUNCHE CONFERRED FOR TWO HOURS WITH NASSER, THEN SAW NEWSMEN . HE EMPHASIZED THAT THE YEMENI PEOPLE HE SAW SUPPORTED SALLAL'S GOVERNMENT / IN A POSITIVE WAY . " THE RADIO VOICE OF THE ROYALIST TRIBESMEN FIGHTING TO RESTORE THE IMAM PLAINTIVELY BEGGED BUNCHE TO VISIT THE AREAS THEY CONTROLLED " AND SEE THE REAL TRUTH SEE THE ROADS, RAVINES AND MOUNTAINS OF YEMEN LITTERED WITH EGYPTIAN DEAD . " BUT, ON THIS TRIP AT LEAST, RALPH BUNCHE WAS SATISFIED TO DRAW HIS CONCLUSIONS FROM ONE SIDE ONLY . LATER, THE U.N . LET IT BE KNOWN THAT HE PLANS TO VISIT THE IMAM ON A SEPARATE JOURNEY IN THE NEAR FUTURE . HARD LOOK . IN 1958, THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A BIG REVOLUTIONARY CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE U.S . RUSHED 14,000 MARINES AND TROOPS TO LEBANON . LAST WEEK THE U.S . ROLE WAS FAR MORE AMBIVALENT . WASHINGTON SENT A MESSAGE TO NASSER EXPRESSING " GRAVE CONCERN " AT CONTINUED EGYPTIAN BOMBING OF SAUDI ARABIA . INSTEAD OF MARINES, THE U.S . SENT VETERAN DIPLOMAT ELLSWORTH BUNKER TO SAUDI ARABIA TO REASSURE THE UNDERSTANDABLY NERVOUS PRINCE FEISAL . U.S . POLICY SEEMS AIMED AT SAFEGUARDING THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA FROM AGGRESSION BEYOND THEIR BORDERS, NOT IN MAINTAINING THE MONARCHS IN POWER AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE . IN ISRAEL, PREMIER DAVID BENGURION INTERRUPTED A VACATION TO CONFER WITH HIS DEFENSE CHIEFS . THE REVOLUTION IN SYRIA IS UNLIKELY TO BE THE FINAL FIRECRACKER ON THE STRING . BAATHIST AND NASSERITE ELEMENTS ARE KNOWN TO BE AT WORK IN JORDAN, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE PALESTINIAN ARABS . SAUDI ARABIA CAN NO LONGER TRUST ITS SMALL AIR FORCE OR EVEN THE OFFICER CORPS OF ITS REGULAR ARMY . IF IT COMES TO FIGHTING, THE SAUDI RULERS WILL DEPEND ON THEIR " WHITE ARMY, " THE BEDOUIN TRIBESMEN TRADITIONALLY LOYAL TO THE KING . BUT IF THE ROAD AHEAD LOOKS ROUGH FOR THE MONARCHIES, IT BY NO MEANS IS SMOOTH FOR THE / LIBERATED " STATES, SINCE VICTORY MOST OFTEN PRESENTS ONLY NEW OCCASIONS FOR QUARRELS, IN KEEPING WITH THE ARAB PROVERB THAT SAYS, " I AND MY BROTHER AGAINST MY COUSIN ; I AND MY COUSIN AGAINST THE FOREIGNER . /
 FRANCE TO THE MINES ! FOR ALL THE EXCITED HEADLINES, S.A.O . TERRORISM WAS HARDLY CHARLES DE GAULLE'S MAIN CONCERN LAST WEEK . FAR GRAVER WAS THE CHALLENGE TO HIS AUTHORITY POSED BY FRANCE'S ECONOMY . IT TOOK THE FORM OF A SPREADING LABOR STRIKE LED BY 188,000 STUBBORN MINERS CONCENTRATED IN THE GRIM COAL DISTRICTS OF NORTHERN FRANCE . THREE RIVAL UNIONS (ROMAN CATHOLIC, SOCIALIST, COMMUNIST) WERE OUT OF THE PITS IN A JOINT DEMAND FOR A 12 PER CENT PAY BOOST TO COMPENSATE FOR THE CREEPING INFLATION THAT HAS WIPED OUT MUCH OF THEIR PURCHASING POWER IN THE PAST THREE YEARS . DE GAULLE'S REPLY WAS IN THE AUTHORITARIAN TRADITION OF AN ANGRY OLD SOLDIER . HE PUT HIS SIGNATURE TO A SPECIAL DECREE THAT HAS THE EFFECT OF DRAFTING THE STRIKERS INTO THE NATIONAL SERVICEORDERS CAN BE SIGNED BY THE PREMIER ; BY ISSUING IT HIMSELF, DE GAULLE PUT HIS OWN PRESTIGE ON THE LINE AGAINST THE STRIKERS . AS STRATEGISTS, THE MINERS TURNED OUT TO BE WORTHY OPPONENTS . THOUGH TEMPTED TO STRIKE EARLIER BECAUSE OF THE SWIFTLY RISING COST OF LIVING, THE MINERS HELD OFF UNTIL FRANCE'S COAL STOCKS HAD BEEN USED UP BY THE BITTER COLD OF THE PAST MONTHS . WHEN THE STRIKE WAS ONLY A FEW DAYS OLD, FACTORIES BEGAN TO SHUT DOWN FROM LACK OF FUEL . SUPPORT FOR THE MINERS CAME FROM ALL SIDES . ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP GERARD HUYGHE OF ARRAS PUBLICLY STATED THAT THEIR CONDITIONS MUST BE IMPROVED . IN PARIS, 3,000 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DEMONSTRATED FOR THE STRIKERS, SHOUTING " DE GAULLE TO THE MINES ! " THE WINE DEALERS ASSOCIATION PROMISED TO SEND 2,600 GALLONS OF RED WINE TO THE BEER-DRINKING MINERS . OTHER UNIONS PULLED SHORT SYMPATHY STRIKES : RAILROAD WORKERS QUIT FOR 15 MINUTES ; GAS AND ELECTRIC WORKERS WALKED OUT FOR TWO HOURS, STALLING SUBWAYS, STOPPING WORK IN FACTORIES, TRAPPING SOME UNWARY CITIZENS IN ELEVATORS BETWEEN FLOORS . DE GAULLE'S REQUISITION ORDER ISELF WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE SYMPATHY FOR THE MINERS . UNDER LAST WEEK'S DECREE, FAILURE TO RETURN TO WORK CAN BE PUNISHED BY DISMISSAL, FINES AND, UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, JAIL TERMS . A COAL CUTTER IN LENS SAID : " WE WERE STRIKING FOR MONEY AND SHORTER HOURS, BUT NOW WE'RE STRIKING FOR THE RIGHT TO STRIKE . " AT WEEK'S END PREMIER GEORGES POMPIDOU TOOK HIS CASE TO THE PEOPLE IN A NATIONWIDE TELEVISION BROADCAST, URGING THE MINERS TO RETURN TO WORK TO PROTECT " THE LIFE AND PROSPERITY OF THE NATION . " HE WAS STILL STANDING FIRM ON MONEY : " THE REASONABLE RHYTHM OF SALARY INCREASES PROHIBITS GIVING THE MINERS WHAT THEY ASK . " ALL THE GOVERNMENT WOULD PROMISE WAS A 5.7 PER CENT BOOST SPREAD OVER TEN MONTHS .
 WEST GERMANY LOOKING EASTWARD FOR YEARS, THE WEST GERMAN GOVERNMENT HAS NURSED A CERTAIN LONGING FOR CLOSER TIES WITH NEIGHBORING EASTERN EUROPE, IN PART BECAUSE MOSCOW'S UNDERDEVELOPED SATELLITES WOULD BE A JUICY MARKET FOR BONN'S HEAVY INDUSTRIAL GOODS . BUT COMMUNIST POLAND, FOR ONE, KEPT INSISTING ON A MAJOR POLITICAL SURRENDER BEFORE ANY DEAL WAS SIGNED : FULL DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION OF WLADYSLAW GOMULKA'S POLISH REGIME, AND ACCEPTANCE OF POLAND'S ODERNEISSE WESTERN FRONTIER, WHICH INCLUDES A BIG CHUNK OF PRE-WORLD WAR II GERMANY . WITH 14 MILLION ANGRY REFUGEES FROM THE EAST ADDED TO ITS POPULATION SINCE THE WAR, THE BONN GOVERNMENT COULD HARDLY SWALLOW THAT KIND OF PROPOSITION . LAST WEEK, AFTER THREE MONTHS OF DELICATE NEGOTIATIONS IN WARSAW, POLAND AT LAST DROPPED ITS TOUGH DEMANDS, AND THE TWO SIDES SIGNED THEIR FIRST LONG-TERM TRADE AGREEMENT, A THREE-YEAR, $650 MILLION PACT EXCHANGING WEST GERMAN MACHINERY AND METALS FOR POLISH MEAT, FRUIT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS . WEST GERMANY WILL SEND A PERMANENT TRADE MISSION TO WARSAW, ITS FIRST PERMANENT OUTPOST IN A SOVIET SATELLITE LAND . BONN OFFICIALS CLEARLY FEEL THE WAY IS OPEN FOR SIMILAR DEALS WITH HUNGARY AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA .
 WEST GERMANY WHO'S NEXT ? CRUSTY OLD CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER WAS LAYING ABOUT HIM WITH SPLENDID GUSTO LAST WEEK, WISECRACKING ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICS ( " SAY, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO LYNDON JOHNSON .Q? " ; , NEEDLING THE BRITISH (HE SAYS THEY DELIBERATELY SPREAD MISCONCEPTIONS), EVEN TAKING A BACKHANDED DIG AT HIS PAL IN PARIS, CHARLES DE GAULLE . " STUPIDITY " WAS THE CAUSE OF WESTERN EUROPE'S CURRENT DISUNITY, ADENAUER TOLD A DINNER MEETING OF THE FOREIGN PRESS IN BONN . WHOSE STUPIDITY ? " I BELIEVE THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN COMMITTED NOT ONLY BY BRITAIN BUT BY OTHERS AS WELL, " HE SIGHED . WAS ANY OF IT COMMITTED ON THE RIVER SEINE ? ASKED A REPORTER . " I DELIBERATELY HAVE NOT MENTIONED ANY NAMES, " RETORTED DER ALTE . " WHOEVER FITS THE COAT SHOULD WEAR IT . " ADENAUER'S FREE AND EASY REMARKS WERE MERELY SIGNS OF THE RELAXED AND REFLECTIVE MOOD THAT HAS COME OVER THE 87-YEAR-OLD CHANCELLOR NOW THAT HE HAS FINALLY MADE UP HIS MIND TO GIVE UP WEST GERMANY'S TOP JOB . LAST WEEK HE OFFERED NO OBJECTIONS WHEN A CAUCUS MEETING OF HIS CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AUTHORIZED C.D.U . BUNDESTAG LEADER HEINRICH VON BRENTANO TO CANVASS ALL THE FACTIONS AND SUGGEST A CANDIDATE TO TAKE OVER NEXT FALL AND LEAD THE PARTY IN THE 1965 ELECTIONS . THE HEIR-APPARENT IS STILL AVUNCULAR ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, ARCHITECT OF THE WEST GERMAN ECONOMIC BOOM, AND THE MOST POPULAR CHOICE AMONG WEST GERMAN VOTERS . ONE CABINET MINISTER GUESSES THAT ERHARD ALSO COMMANDS THE LOYALTY OF 60 PER CENT OF C.D.U . POLITICIANS . BUT ERHARD STILL HAS ONE FORMIDABLE ENEMY DER ALTE HIMSELF WHO HAS CONDUCTED A PETULANT FEUD WITH PAUNCHY " UNCLE LUDWIG . " ADENAUER'S INFLUENCE IS STILL GREAT, AND LAST WEEK THE FIELD WAS STILL WIDE OPEN WITH HALF A DOZEN OTHER CANDIDATES, LED BY FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER, TO BE CONSIDERED . WHO WOULD DER ALTE PREFER ? " I DON'T WANT TO PSYCH ANYONE INTO MISERY, " HE GRINNED IMPISHLY TO FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS . " DO YOU THINK THIS JOB IS A PLEASURE ? /
 COMMUNISTS ON THE ANNIVERSARY AFTER STALIN'S 70TH BIRTHDAY IN 1949, IT TOOK PRAVDA 22 MONTHS TO PRINT ALL THE NAMES OF HIS WELL-WISHERS . LAST WEEK, ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TYRANT'S DEATH, THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE MENTION BY PRESS OR RADIO OF THE MAN NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV ONCE FULSOMELY PRAISED AS " OUR GREAT LEADER, OUR FRIEND AND FATHER, THE GREATEST MAN OF OUR EPOCH . " IN ALL OF MOSCOW'S MILLIONS, ONLY A SINGLE ANONYMOUS SOUL DARED TO PAY RESPECTS WITH THREE RUBLES WORTH OF YELLOW MIMOSA ON STALIN'S BLACK MARBLE SLAB NEAR THE KREMLIN WALL INY ALBANIA, SEIZING ANY EXCUSE TO DEFY THE SOVIETS, WAS GUSHING STALIN'S PRAISE . ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, MONUMENTS TO THE DEAD DICTATOR WERE HUNG WITH GARLANDS OF FLOWERS ; TIRANA NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED HIS PICTURE AND BABBLED THEIR " LOVE AND PROFOUND RESPECT FOR HIS TEACHINGS . " RED CHINA MIGHT ALSO HAVE BEEN EXPECTED TO USE THE OCCASION TO GLORIFY STALIN'S MEMORY, BUT REMEMBERING THE DICTATOR'S OPEN DISTRUST OF HIS ASIAN COMRADES, PEKING CHOSE NOT TO BE HYPOCRITICAL . INSTEAD, MAO TSE-TUNG TOOK THE OCCASION TO LAUNCH HIS TOUGHEST, MOST STRIDENT BLAST AT MOSCOW SINCE THE SINO-SOVIET SQUABBLE BEGAN . A 60,000-WORD BROADSIDE IN PEKING'S THEORETICAL JOURNAL RED FLAG DECLARED : " CERTAIN PEOPLE, THOUGH CALLING THEMSELVES MARXIST-LENINISTS, ARE IN FACT MUDDLEHEADED ; THEY TALK DRIVEL . . . THEY EITHER MAKE ENDLESS CONCESSIONS TO THE ENEMY AND THUS COMMIT THE ERROR OF CAPITULATIONISM, OR ACT RECKLESSLY AND THUS COMMIT THE ERROR OF ADVENTURISM . " PEKING ADDED CONTEMPTUOUSLY THAT COMMUNISTS LIKE RUSSIA'S KHRUSHCHEV, ITALY'S TOGLIATTI AND FRANCE'S THOREZ, WHO ADVOCATED " PEACEFUL " REVOLUTION IN THE WEST, WERE GUILTY OF " PARLIAMENTARY CRETINISM . " RED CHINA'S NEW TONE MADE THE SQUABBLE FOR SUPREMACY IN THE COMMUNIST WORLD SOUND ALL BUT IRRECONCILABLE . " IF IT IS A CASE OF MASTERS WIELDING CLUBS OVER THE HEADS OF SERVANTS, CALLING FOR UNITY, THEN WHAT IS ACTUALLY MEANT IS A SPLIT, " DECLARED RED FLAG . SWITCHING TO ANOTHER METAPHOR, PEKING INTONED OMINOUSLY THAT " NOW THERE ARE TWO WATCHES " BY WHICH COMMUNISTS CAN TELL THE TIME . " WHICH IS TO BE THE MASTER WATCH ? " MOSCOW DID NOT SHOUT BACK LAST WEEK ; BUT IT COULD NOT LONG REMAIN SILENT, LEST KHRUSHCHEV APPEAR TO BE THE " COWARD " THAT MAO NOW CALLED HIM . NOW THAT THE CHINESE REDS HAVE NAILED THEIR THESES TO THE KREMLIN WALL, SOME MEN IN MOSCOW WOULD BE THINKING OF EXCOMMUNICATION . STALIN'S POSTHUMOUS EXCOMMUNICATION TOOK ONLY THREE YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH, AND ALREADY THE SINO-SOVIET QUARREL HAS RAGES FOR LONGER THAN THAT .
 YUGOSLAVIA RETURN OF THE BAKER THROUGH ALL THE YEARS OF MARSHAL TITO'S COMMUNIST RULE, A SPECIAL NICHE HAS BEEN PROVIDED FOR THE SMALL PRIVATE BUSINESSMAN WHO WAS SOMEHOW ABLE TO SUPPLY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THE STATE-CONTROLLED ORGANIZATION COULD NOT MATCH . BUT A YEAR OR SO AGO, THE PROFITS OF THE BARBERS, BLACKSMITHS, PASTRYMAKERS, COBBLERS AND TAILORS BEGAN TO GET OUT OF HAND ; THEY BOUGHT CARS AND RENTED SUMMER HOMES ON FASHIONABLE LAKESIDES . LAST MAY TITO'S REGIME DECIDED TO WIPE THEM OUT . TAXES ON PRIVATE BUSINESS WERE RAISED SEVENFOLD . A PRIVATE TAILOR WITH ONE HELPER PAID THE SAME AMOUNT OF TAX AS A BELGRADE TAILORS' COMMUNIST COOPERATIVE WITH SEVEN EMPLOYEES . IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR ANY ARTISAN . BY THE END OF 1962, NEARLY 10,000 PRIVATE CRAFTSMEN CLOSED UP SHOP, 3,000 IN CROATIA ALONE . THE THEORETICIANS WERE HAPPY AT THE TURN OF EVENTS, BUT MANY OTHER YUGOSLAVS WERE NOT . THEY FOUND IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS TO OBTAIN THE SERVICES OF A PLUMBER OR ELECTRICIAN . TO GET A PAIR OF SHOES REPAIRED TODAY TAKES A MONTH . BELGRADE'S FAMED CANDY AND PASTRY SHOPS ARE NEARLY ALL CLOSED, AND THE STATE-BAKED PITA A SERBIAN PASTRY FILLED WITH FRUIT IS NO EDIBLE SUBSTITUTE . THE GRUMBLING GOT SO LOUD THAT EVEN PRESIDENT TITO ADMITTED IN A SPEECH THAT " A REAL WITCH HUNT WAS STARTED AGAINST THE ALLEGED ENRICHMENT OF ARTISANS, AND EXCESSIVELY HIGH TAXES WERE LEVIED AGAINST THEM . " HE SUGGESTED THE MATTER BE ATTENDED TO . LAST WEEK THE YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT WAS PREPARING TO PASS A NEW TAX LAW THAT " WILL NOT DISCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRAFTS . " THE PARTY'S OFFICIAL MOUTHPIECE, BELGRADE'S DAILY BORBA, OFFERED A DISTINCTLY NON-MARXIAN RATIONALE FOR THE RETREAT : " THE LAW TREATS PRIVATE CRAFTSMEN AS AN ADDITIONAL BUT SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC BRANCH WHICH FITS WELL IN THE SYSTEM OF SOCIALIST ECONOMY . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM DEATH OF THE MISSIONARIES IT BEGAN LIKE A TRIP TO A CHURCH PICNIC . CRAMMED INTO THE LAND-ROVER BOUNCING OVER SOUTH VIET NAM'S HEAVILY TRAVELED ROUTE 20 WERE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ELWOOD JACOBSEN, 35, AND FILIPINO MISSIONARY GASPAR MAKIL, 36, WITH THEIR WIVES AND FIVE CHILDREN . AFTER MONTHS OF MINISTERING TO PRIMITIVE VIETNAMESE NATIVES, THE TWO MISSIONARIES AND THEIR FAMILIES WERE HEADED FOR THE MAKIL HOME NEAR THE MOUNTAIN RESORT OF DALAT . BUT 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAIGON THEIR CAR RAN INTO A STRING OF AUTOS STALLED IN THE CENTER OF THE ROAD . AROUND THEM SWARMED SOME 20 GRIM-FACED VIETNAMESE WEARING RUBBER SANDALS, TREE BRANCHES THRUST INTO THEIR BELTS FOR CAMOUFLAGE, AND LIGHT FIELD PACKS OVER THEIR BLACK PEASANT GARB . " WE WERE ORDERED OUT OF THE CAR, " SAID MRS . JACOBSEN, " BUT WE WEREN'T FRIGHTENED . WE THOUGHT WE WOULD BE ON OUR WAY IN A FEW MINUTES . " THIS WAS NOT TO BE, FOR THE HAPLESS MISSIONARY FAMILIES WERE CAUGHT IN A ROADBLOCK OF THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG . WITHOUT WARNING THE REDS OPENED UP ON THE TWO UNARMED FAMILIES IN A WITHERING BLAST OF CARBINE AND SUBMACHINE-GUN FIRE . THREE-YEAR-OLD THOMAS MAKIL FELL WITH A BULLET IN HIS LEG, AND SLUGS RIPPED THROUGH HIS FOUR-MONTH-OLD SISTER JANIE'S BODY INTO HER FATHER, KILLING THEM BOTH . ELWOOD JACOBSEN JERKED BACKWARD AND FELL DEAD INTO THE ROAD . " I STARTED HOLLERING " ELWOOD, ELWOOD,' " SAID MRS . JACOBSEN, " BUT I GOT NO ANSWER . " IN A FLASH, THE REDS DISAPPEARED INTO THE JUNGLE ; MOMENTS LATER, A TRUCKLOAD OF GOVERNMENT TROOPS LUMBERED INTO SIGHT DOWN THE ROAD . FOR THE LATEST VICTIMS IN THE UGLY WAR OF SOUTH VIET NAM, RESCUE HAD BEEN JUST MINUTES AWAY .
 EAST AFRICA THE ASIANS IN THEIR MIDST FOR MANY EUROPEAN SETTLERS, / AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS " SIMPLY MEANS PACKING UP AND GOING HOME, PAINFUL THOUGH IT MAY BE . THE FUTURE IS FAR DARKER FOR THE ASIANS IN EAST AFRICA, WHO HAVE LONG FORMED A PRECARIOUS MIDDLE CLASS . DESPISED BY COLOR-CONSCIOUS WHITES, WHOM THEY GREATLY OUTNUMBER (400,000 TO 96,000), RESENTED BY EAST AFRICA'S 25 MILLION BLACKS, THE ASIANS MOSTLY INDIANS AND PAKISTANIS ARE LOATH TO RETURN TO HOMELANDS THAT FEW HAVE SEEN, AND WHERE JOBS ARE ALREADY CRITICALLY SCARCE . FOR THE GREAT MAJORITY OF ASIANS, THERE IS NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE BUT TO STAY ON IN AN INCREASINGLY HOSTILE AFRICA WHERE, AS ONE WESTERN DIPLOMAT SUCCINCTLY SAID RECENTLY, THEY ARE " THE HARD UPPER RUNG AGAINST WHICH THE RISING AFRICAN BUMPS HIS HEAD . " EXPORTING PROFITS . THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN TRADING ON THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA FOR CENTURIES, MOST OF EAST AFRICA'S ASIANS HAVE TAKEN ROOT IN THIS ALIEN LAND ONLY SINCE 1895, WHEN THE BRITISH BROUGHT IN 32,000 INDIAN WORKMEN TO BUILD THE NARROW-GUAGE RAILWAY THAT OPENED THE INTERIOR TO COLONIZATION . ASIAN QUICKLY TURNED FROM RAILROAD BUILDING TO TRADE, AND SO COMPLETELY DOMINATED COMMERCE THAT UNTIL 1919 THE RUPEE WAS THE OFFICIAL CURRENCY OF EAST AFRICA . TODAY, MILLIONAIRE INDIAN MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OCCUPY SOME OF NAIROBI'S FINEST HOMES ; BUT THE ASIANS ARE FOR THE MOST PART SMALL SHOPKEEPERS DUKA WALLAHS TO THE AFRICANS AND JUNIOR CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO HAVE NEVER FOUND MIDDLECLASS SECURITY IN THEIR MIDDLE-CLASS VOCATIONS . AFRICAN NATIONALISTS HAVE LONG COMPLAINED THAT THE ASIANS ARE A CLANNISH, ALIEN PEOPLE WHOSE ONLY INTEREST IN AFRICA LIES IN THE PROFITS TO BE WRUNG FROM AFRICAN CUSTOMERS . " THE INDIANS ARE OPPORTUNISTS AND QUISLINGS, " CRIES NYASALAND'S PRIME MINISTER HASTINGS BANDA . " EVERYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY THEY ARE TAKING BUSINESS FROM AFRICAN BUSINESSMEN . " THE ASIANS MAKE A HABIT OF SHIPPING MUCH OF THEIR PROFIT OUT OF AFRICA ; AFRICAN POLITICIANS CHARGED BITTERLY LAST FALL THAT THEIR TRUE LOYALTY WAS DISCLOSED BY THE SUMS OF MONEY THAT THEY RAISED FOR INDIA DURING THE BORDER WAR WITH CHINA . THREE YEARS AGO, HALF OF THE ASIAN MERCHANTS IN UGANDA'S BUGANDA KINGDOM WERE DRIVEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY BY A WAVE OF UGLY VIOLENCE AND A BOYCOTT OF ASIAN SHOPS . EAST AFRICANS WERE CHEERED LAST WEEK BY THE DEPARTURE FROM MOZAMBIQUE OF THE LAST BATCH OF 4,600 INDIANS DEPORTED TO THEIR HOMELAND BY PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES IN REVENGE FOR INDIA'S 1961 TAKEOVER OF GOA . IN TANGANYIKA, ALL 6,000 ASIAN CIVIL SERVANTS WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS AS SOON AS ENOUGH AFRICANS CAN BE FOUND TO REPLACE THEM . AFRICAN LEADERSHIP . IN KENYA, WHEN EX-MAU MAU DETAINEES RETURNED TO THEIR VILLAGES AFTER REHABILITATION COURSES IN BRITISH CAMPS, THEY USED THEIR NEW KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC ECONOMICS TO TAKE OVER RURAL TRADING POSTS FROM THE LONG-HATED ASIANS . LATELY, KENYA'S INDIAN MERCHANTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED HEAVILY TO BOTH BIG AFRICAN POLITICAL PARTIES IN HOPES OF BUYING PROTECTION AFTER KENYA GETS UHURU (FREEDOM) . KENYA'S NATIONALIST LEADER TOM MBOYA IS ONE OF THE FEW POLITICIANS TO PLEDGE THAT HIS KENYA AFRICAN NATIONAL UNION WILL PERMIT NOT ONE TO BE " VICTIMIZED ON GROUNDS OF RACE, COLOR, TRIBE OR RELIGION . " BUT EVEN MBOYA ADDS BLANDLY, " WE OF COURSE WISH TO SEE ASIANS AND OTHER NON-AFRICANS ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE NEW ORDER BY ACCEPTING AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND AFRICAN GOVERNMENT . /
 SENEGAL ONLY ONE HAT THREE MONTHS AGO, IN A BITTER END TO A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP, POET-PRESIDENT LEOPOLD SENGHOR OF PEANUT-GROWING SENEGAL, ON THE WEST AFRICAN COAST, BOOTED OUT OF OFFICE HIS OLD FRIEND, PREMIER MAMADOU DIA, AFTER DIA HAD TURNED ON SENGHOR IN AN ATTEMPTED COUP . LAST WEEK, IN A REFERENDUM RUN OFF WHILE DIA LANGUISHED BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE OF A MILITARY CAMP OUTSIDE DAKAR AWAITING TRIAL FOR TREASON, THE 56-YEAR-OLD SENGHOR LEGALIZED HIS POSITION AS SENEGAL'S STRONGMAN . WHILE PRO-SENGHOR DEMONSTRATORS CHANTED, " A SINGLE HAT ON A SINGLE HEAD, " MORE THAN 1,000,000 SENEGALESE, SHUFFLED TO THE POLLS AND HANDED SENGHOR A 99.5 PER CENT OUI ON A NEW SENGHOR-TAILORED CONSTITUTION . TRUE TO THE SLOGAN, THE NEW CHARTER SCRAPS SENEGAL'S TWO-MAN, PRESIDENT-PREMIER SYSTEM IN FAVOR OF A SINGLE, STRONG PRESIDENCY FOR SENGHOR . THE VICTORY WAS RESOUNDING PROOF OF SENGHOR'S SUPPORT AMONG SENEGAL'S MASSES, AND IT IS MADE ALL THE MORE IMPRESSIVE BY THE FACT THAT HE IS A ROMAN CATHOLIC IN A 70 PER CENT MOSLEM LAND . BUT THE OUTCOME WAS ALSO, IN A SENSE, A PAINFUL DEFEAT FOR BLACK AFRICA'S MOST DISTINGUISHED INTELLECTUAL . FOR IT HAD BEEN THE BESPECTACLED SENGHOR WHO ORIGINALLY INSTALLED SENEGAL'S TWO-HEADED SYSTEM OF DIVIDED POWERS AFTER LEADING THE COUNTRY INTO INDEPENDENCE 2F YEARS AGO . UNTIL HE AND DIA FELL OUT, FRENCH-ORIENTED SENGHOR* LOFTILY RIDICULED OTHER FRENCH AFRICAN NATIONS THAT HAD CHOSEN ONE-MAN RULE . NOW, WHATEVER HIS CONTINUING POPULARITY AT HOME, SENGHOR HAS PROBABLY LOST SOME OF HIS EFFECTIVENESS AS THE LEADING SPOKESMAN FOR POLITICAL LIBERALISM IN FORMER FRENCH AFRICA . THE BRILLIANT SENGHOR'S INTELLECTUAL CREDENTIALS ARE IMPRESSIVE INDEED . HIS MUCHDISCUSSED POETIC WORKS INCLUDE CHANTS D'OMBRE, ETHIOPIQUES AND NOCTURNES . WITH MARTINIQUE'S POET AIME CESAIRE, SENGHOR FOUNDED THE MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF " NEGRITUDE . " SENGHOR WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN EVER TO WIN FRANCE'S COVETED AGREGATION DE GRAMMAIRE ACADEMIC DEGREE, AND HE SERVED WITH DISTINCTION AS A TERRITORIAL MEMBER OF THE POSTWAR FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY . BY ALL ACCOUNTS, HE HAS BEEN BROODING OVER THE POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH FORCED HIM TO END HIS 17-YEAR FRIENDSHIP WITH DIA AND TAKE OVER AS STRONGMAN . BUT SENGHOR WAS NOT LIKELY TO LET HIS SENSE OF GUILT GET HIM DOWN . HE IS, AFTER ALL, A STRONG ADMIRER OF CHARLES DE GAULLE, AND MODELED HIS NEW CONSTITUTION PARTLY ON DE GAULLE'S DESIGN FOR THE FIFTH REPUBLIC IN PARIS . PERHAPS WITH HIS MENTOR IN MIND, SENGHOR CONCEDED IN ONE OF HIS POEMS THAT " ABSOLUTE POWER REQUIRES THE BLOOD OF THE MOST DEAR BEING . " IN ANY CASE, BY WEEK'S END HE HAD GRANDLY CHRISTENED SENEGAL'S NEW REGIME, " LA DEUXIEME REPUBLIQUE . HIS WIFE COLETTE, AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN IN HER 30S, IS FROM NORMANDY .
 KENYA ! THE ROAD TO UHURU TEN YEARS AFTER THE BLOODY MAU MAU WAR AGAINST THE WHITES, THE BRITISH FINALLY AGREED LAST WEEK TO LET THEIR EAST AFRICAN COLONY OF KENYA TAKE ITS FIRST BIG STEP TOWARD UHURU FREEDOM . ENDING THREE WEEKS OF TALKS IN NAIROBI WITH KENYA'S TRIBAL-BACKED POLITICAL LEADERS, AMONG THEM GREY-BEARDED EX-MAU MAU CHIEFTAIN JOMO ( " BURNING SPEAR " ) KENYATTA, COLONIAL SECRETARY DUNCAN SANDYS EMERGED TO MAKE HIS ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE PRESS . ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD MAY 18-26 FOR THE COLONY'S FIRST INTERNAL SELF-GOVERNMENT . TO BE ELECTED UNDER A NEW, 300-PAGE CONSTITUTION : SEVEN ASSEMBLIES, PLUS A TWO-HOUSE FEDERAL PARLIAMENT WITH OVERWHELMING BLACK MAJORITIES COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY FOLLOW IN SPRING 1964 . STANDING BY SANDYS' SIDE AS THE LATTER SPOKE, OLD BURNING SPEAR NODDED SILENT, SOLEMN APPROVAL .
 GREAT BRITAIN THIS HAPPY BREEDING BESIDES THE FACT THAT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ONE, CLICHES ABOUT ENGLAND ARE ALMOST INFINITE IN VARIETY . IT RAINS ALL THE TIME ; THE COOKING IS MISERABLE NOTHING BUT MUTTON, TEA, SUETY PUDDINGS AND, GOOD LORD, THE BEER IS SERVED WARM . THEN THERE IS THE STEREOTYPE BRITISH MALE : A STOICAL, PIPE-PUFFING, BAGGY-TWEEDS TYPE WHO ESCHEWS SEX FOR A ROUSING GAME OF DARTS IN THE LOCAL PUB, AND WHEN HE DOES INDULGE IS AWKWARD AND PASSIONLESS . BRITISH WOMEN ARE, FOR LACK OF PRACTICE, FRIGID . NONE OF THESE THINGS HAS EVER BEEN VERY TRUE . BUT NOWADAYS, AS FAR AS SEX IS CONCERNED ANYWAY, BRITONS ARE SHATTERING THE WORLD'S ILLUSIONS ABOUT THEIR PROPENSITIES AND PROWESS . IN THE BARGAIN, THEY ARE SHOCKING THEMSELVES . " ARE VIRGINS OBSOLETE . ON THE ISLAND WHERE THE SUBJECT HAS LONG BEEN TABOO IN POLITE SOCIETY, SEX HAS EXPLODED ON THE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTO NATIONAL HEADLINES . " ARE WE GOING SEX CRAZY ? " ASKS THE LONDON DAILY HERALD . " IS CHASTITY OUTMODED ? " ASKS A SCHOOL MAGAZINE FOR TEEN-AGERS . " ARE VIRGINS OBSOLETE ? " IS THE QUESTION POSED BY THE SOBER NEW STATESMAN . THE ANSWERS VARY, BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR : BRITAIN IS BEING BOMBARDED WITH A BARRAGE OF FRANKNESS ABOUT SEX AND FLOODED WITH A PUBLIC QUESTIONING OF THE LONG-ESTABLISHED VICTORIAN MORAL STANDARDS . WROTE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, IN A RECENT SUNDAY TIMES ARTICLE, " TODAY THERE IS IN OUR SOCIETY AN IMMENSE OUTBREAK OF PREOCCUPATION WITH VENUS . THERE IS A DWELLING UPON SEX : THE SEX PROBLEM, THE ADJUSTMENTS OF SEX, INSTRUCTION FOR SEX, ADVENTURES OF SEX, STORIES OF SEX, WHAT TO DO WITH SEX, BRIGHTER AND BETTER SEX . " AND THE CANDOR WITH WHICH THE ONCE FORBIDDEN SUBJECT IS BEING EXPLORED IS POSITIVELY ASTONISHING . IT IS THE DECOROUS BRITISH BROADCASTING CORP . THAT LEADS THE DISCUSSION THESE DAYS . BBC PROGRAMS HAVE INCLUDED A LECTURE ON THE ARGUMENTS FOR PREMARITAL INTERCOURSE, A DISCUSSION OF HOMOSEXUALITY (KNOWN ON THE CONTINENT AS LE VICE ANGLAIS), A DRAMA ABOUT AN ABORTIONIST, AND ANOTHER PLAY ABOUT MEN REMINISCING ABOUT THEIR PAST SEX LIFE ( " HER BREASTS COULD FILL CHAMPAGNE GLASSES " ) . ON THE POPULAR SATIRICAL SHOW THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS, THE YOUNG ESTABLISHMENT TYPES POKE A KIND OF SEXUAL FUN THAT WOULD MAKE AMERICA'S FCC BOSS NEWTON MINOW TURN PALE . TAKING OFF ON A GOVERNMENT REPORT THAT ONE BABY IN EVERY EIGHT BORN IN LONDON IS ILLEGITIMATE, BRASSY SINGER MILLICENT MARTIN LAMENTED AS SHE ROCKED A CRADLE : DON'T YOU WEEP, MY LITTLE BABY CAUSE YOU HAVEN'T GOT A DAD . GO TO SLEEP, MY LITTLE BABY, THINGS AREN'T REALLY QUITE SO BAD . THERE'S NO REASON ANY LONGER WHY YOU OUGHT TO FEEL SO BLUE . THE WORLD IS FULL OF BASTARDS JUST LIKE YOU . A DEBRIS OF CONVICTIONS . FACT IS, BOTH ON AND OFF THE AIR WAVES, THE BRITISH ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH THEIR SEARCH FOR WHAT SOME CALL " A NEW MORALITY " TO FIT THE HUSHED-UP FACTS OF LIFE . " THE POPULAR MORALITY IS NOW A WASTELAND, " SAID DR . GEORGE MORRISON CARSTAIRS, 46, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, IN A RECENT BBC LECTURE . " IT IS LITTERED WITH THE DEBRIS OF BROKEN CONVICTIONS . A NEW CONCEPT IS EMERGING, OF SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS AS A SOURCE OF PLEASURE, BUT ALSO AS A MUTUAL ENCOUNTERING OF PERSONALITIES IN WHICH EACH EXPLORES THE OTHER AND AT THE SAME TIME DISCOVERS NEW DEPTHS IN HIMSELF OR HERSELF . " IN A VIOLENTLY CONTROVERSIAL REPORT, A GROUP OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS ATTACKED THE ONUS ATTACHED TO " A GREAT INCREASE IN ADOLESCENT SEXUAL INTIMACY " AND PREMARITAL AFFAIRS . " IT IS FAIRLY COMMON IN BOTH YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WITH HIGH STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND INTEGRITY TO HAVE ONE OR TWO LOVE AFFAIRS, INVOLVING INTERCOURSE, BEFORE THEY FIND THE PERSON THEY WILL ULTIMATELY MARRY, " SAID THE REPORT . THIS, CONCLUDED THE QUAKER REPORT, IS NOT SUCH A SIN . " WHERE THERE IS GENUINE TENDERNESS, AN OPENNESS TO RESPONSIBILITY AND THE SEED OF COMMITMENT, GOD IS SURELY NOT SHUT OUT . " A BLESSING . ALL THE HUBBUB OVER SEX HAS, TO BE SURE, CAUSED A LOT OF MISGIVINGS, AND FEW CHURCHMEN SHARE THE QUAKERS' LIBERAL VIEW . BUT MOST EXPERTS AGREE WITH WRITER V . S . PRITCHETT THAT " ALLOWING FOR ITS CRUDITIES, THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION HAS BEEN ONE OF THE FEW BLESSINGS IN THE LIFE OF THIS CENTURY . " THEY ATTRIBUTE THE NEW SEXUAL TOLERANCE AND THE LESSENING OF VICTORIAN SHAME TO A WIDE VARIETY OF COMBINED CAUSES : THE HEAVY IMPACT OF BOTH WORLD WARS ON THE OLD MORALITY, THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN FROM THE HEARTH, A GRADUAL INCREASE IN COEDUCATIONAL SCHOOLING, AND EVEN THE FACT THAT MORE BRITONS TRAVEL ABROAD FOR HOLIDAYS . BUT EXACTLY WHERE THE PRESENT ORGY OF INTROSPECTION WILL LEAD NOT EVEN THE EXPERTS CAN PREDICT . WHAT SEEMS CERTAIN, HOWEVER, IS THAT THE TYPICAL ENGLISHMAN OF A THOUSAND CLICHES IS DOING NO MORE THAN HE EVER DID ; HE IS MERELY HIDING IT LESS .
 COMMUNISTS GETTING TOGETHER ? " DESPISE THE ENEMY STRATEGICALLY, " WROTE MAO TSE-TUNG IN HIS HANDBOOK FOR REVOLUTIONARIES, " BUT TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY TACTICALLY . " LAST WEEK, DRAWING A BEAD ON HIS ENEMY IN THE KREMLIN, MAO DID BOTH . HE MADE HIS TACTICAL POINT BY ACCEPTING MOSCOW'S CALL FOR BILATERIAL NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE SINO-SOVIET RIFT AND INVITING NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV TO PEKING . " THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT HAS REACHED A CRITICAL JUNCTURE . THE TIME HAS COME WHEN DIFFERENCES HAVE TO BE SETTLED, " DECLARED THE RED CHINESE, PROPOSING THAT RUSSIA'S PREMIER STOP OFF IN PEKING ON THE WAY TO CAMBODIA, WHERE A STATE VISIT BY KHRUSHCHEV HAS BEEN DISCUSSED FOR SOME TIME . ALTERNATIVELY, SUGGESTED MAO, A RED CHINESE DELEGATION COULD GO TO MOSCOW TO DISCUSS THE SQUABBLE . BUT THE HAUGHTY, PATRONIZING TONE OF THE MESSAGE, OFFERING TO MEET THE SOVIETS ONLY " ON THE BASIS OF FULL EQUALITY, " AND REPEATING THE OLD DEMANDS FOR A ONE-WAY COMPROMISE, WOULD MAKE IT TOUGH FOR RUSSIA TO ACCEPT . EVEN IN THE EVENT OF A MEETING, SAID ONE HONG KONG EXPERT, " WE CAN EXPECT LITTLE BUT A VERBAL AGREEMENT WHICH WILL SOON BREAK DOWN . /
 RUSSIA TOSCA & A COLD CLIMATE OUT OF THE SOVIET BOONDOCKS COMES A RISING TIDE OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE KIND OF PEOPLE THE MOSCOW AUTHORITIES SEND OUT TO THE HINTERLAND . TOO OFTEN, THEY ARE TROUBLEMAKERS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE REFORMED THROUGH HARD WORK . INSTEAD, THEY JUST MAKE MORE TROUBLE . IN VLADIVOSTOK EXILED YOUNG TOUGHS FORMED A BANDIT GANG THAT TERRORIZED THE CITY AND KNIFED TO DEATH A YOUNG COMMUNIST LEADER ; DEPORTEES TO A UKRAINIAN COLLECTIVE FARM LAST YEAR DRANK SO MUCH BOOZE THAT THEY WERE BARRED FROM THE LIQUOR STORES, TURNED IN DESPERATION TO EAU DE COLOGNE . LAST WEEK CAME AN ANGRY GRIPE IN LITERATURNAYA GAZETA FROM A SIBERIAN HOUSEWIFE WHO DEMANDED THAT LENINGRAD STOP SENDING ITS PROSTITUTES 2,735 MILES TO IRKUTSK AND SURROUNDING VILLAGES . THE HOUSEWIFE WAS ESPECIALLY UPSET ABOUT A YOUNG LADY NAMED TOSCA, WHOSE FAME WAS SO GREAT THAT IT PRECEDED HER ARRIVAL IN SIBERIA . " WON'T THIS PIECE OF GOODS FIND ADMIRERS EVEN IN A NEW PLACE ? " ASKED THE MATRON . " SHE PROBABLY WILL . I KNOW THAT THE WIVES OF A FEW BODAIBO MINERS, FOR EXAMPLE, ASKED THE AUTHORITIES TO STOP SENDING THE LIKES OF TOSCA TO BODAIBO . THIS DESIRE TO PUSH THEIR UNFINISHED GOODS ONTO OTHERS IS WRONG .
 OF FIRS, FLIES & FEARS THAW WAS IN THE MOSCOW AIR LAST WEEK, MELTING THE FIRST THIN LAYERS OF SNOW AFTER THE LONG MONTHS OF WINTER . BUT TO THE 500 WRITERS, MUSICIANS, PAINTERS AND POETS GATHERED IN THE KREMLIN'S SVERDLOV HALL LAST WEEK, THE CHANGING SEASON OUTSIDE ONLY UNDERSCORED NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S WORDS OF WARNING SHOUTED FROM THE PLATFORM . KHRUSHCHEV'S DECREE TO RUSSIA'S INTELLECTUALS : NEW IDEAS IN RUSSIA MUST REMAIN IN THE DEEP FREEZE INDEFINITELY . " ONE HEARS, " CRIED NIKITA IN HIS 2FHOUR BLAST, " THAT THE TIME HAS COME FOR LAISSEZ FAIRE, THAT THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT HAVE BEEN LOOSENED . . . THAT EVERYBODY CAN DO AS HE PLEASES . " NO ! THUNDERED KHRUSHCHEV . " THE PARTY IMPLACABLY COMES FORWARD AGAINST ANY IDEOLOGICAL VACILLATION . THERE WILL NEVER BE ANY ABSOLUTE POLITICAL FREEDOM, NOT EVEN UNDER COMPLETE COMMUNISM . " TAKE YOUR CHOICE . TO RUSSIA'S RULER, IT HAD BECOME ALL TOO CLEAR THAT THE RECENT FLOOD OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION POETRY READINGS BEFORE MASS AUDIENCES, EXHIBITS OF MODERN PAINTINGS, JAZZ IMPORTED FROM ABROAD, BOOKS AND ARTICLES ABOUT THE STALIN TERROR WERE BECOMING DANGEROUS CARRIERS OF ALIEN WESTERN IDEAS, SHAKING THE FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY SOCIETY . DESTALINIZATION, TOUCHED OFF BY NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HIMSELF AT THE 20TH PARTY CONGRESS IN 1956, HAD GONE TOO FAR . NIKITA SPARED NO GROUP IN THE RESTLESS AUDIENCE . WRITER ILYA EHRENBURG, 72, DREW SCORN FOR THE TITLE OF HIS 1954 NOVE, THE THAW, WHICH, SAID NIKITA, SUGGESTS POLITICAL " IMPERMANENCE AND INSTABILITY . / AS FOR EHRENBURG'S MEMOIRS, WHICH HAVE BEEN RUNNING IN THE LITERARY JOURNAL NOVY MIR, KHRUSHCHEV REMARKED CAUSTICALLY, " ONE NOTICES THAT HE DEPICTS EVERYTHING IN GRIM TONES . " KHRUSHCHEV WARNED THE VETERAN EHRENBURG AGAINST " SLIPPING INTO AN ANTI-COMMUNIST POSITION . " THEN KHRUSHCHEV TURNED ON YOUNG POET EVGENCY EVTUSHENKO : " HE SHOWS VACILLATIONS, INSTABILITY OF VIEWS . . . I WOULD LIKE TO ADVISE COMRADE EVTUSHENKO AND OTHER MEN OF LETTERS THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SEEK CHEAP SENSATIONALISM . " EVERYONE WAS AWARE, NIKITA ANNOUNCED, THAT EVTUSHENKO RECENTLY TOLD A PARIS AUDIENCE THAT HIS POEM, BABI YAR (WHICH DREW FIRE FROM THE KREMLIN), HAD BEEN " CRITICIZED BY DOGMATISTS . " SUCH BEHIND-THE-BACK REMARKS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES WILL NOT DO, HINTED THE PREMIER : " IF THE ENEMIES OF OUR CAUSE BEGIN TO PRAISE YOU FOR WORKS CONVENIENT TO THEIR PURPOSE, THEN THE PEOPLE WILL JUSTLY CRITICIZE YOU . SO CHOOSE WHAT SUITS YOU BEST . " LOVE FOR TREES . KHRUSHCHEV DESCRIBED WITH HORROR A RECENT JAZZ CONCERT HE ATTENDED ( " ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HIDE, BUT THERE WAS NO PLACE TO HIDE " ), EXPRESSED DEEP DISTASTE AT SUCH NEW DANCE CRAZES AS THE TWIST ( " SIMPLY OBSCENITIES, SOME SORT OF FRENZY, THE DEVIL KNOWS WHAT " ), AND TURNED ON THE PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS WITH UNDISGUISED FURY . SOME, HE ROARED, SEEK INSPIRATION IN " RUBBISH HEAPS AND STINKING LATRINES, " OR / PRESENT PEOPLE IN AN INTENTIONALLY UGLY ASPECT . " SUCH A MAN WAS ERNEST NEIZVESTNY, A SCULPTOR WHO HAS RECENTLY WON WIDE ACCLAIM IN MOSCOW'S ART WORLD WITH HIS PROVOCATIVE WORKS . BUT TO KHRUSHCHEV, HIS WORK WAS JUST A " NAUSEATING CONCOCTION . IT IS A GOOD THING WE DO NOT HAVE MANY SUCH ARTISTS, " HE SAID . JUST WHAT WERE NIKITA'S TASTES ? FOR A MOMENT, HIS IMAGINATION TOOK FLIGHT, AS THE AUDIENCE LISTENED NERVOUSLY : " RECENTLY I WAS WATCHING THE SUN RISE ON A FOREST COVERED IN HOARFROST . I SAID TO THOSE WITH ME : " LOOK AT THOSE FIR TREES, AT THEIR ATTIRE, AT THOSE SNOWFLAKES GLISTENING IN THE RAYS OF THE SUN . HOW WONDERFULLY BEAUTIFUL THAT IS ! ' YET THE MODERNISTS AND ABSTRACTIONISTS WANT TO PAINT THESE FIR TREES WITH THEIR ROOTS IN THE AIR, AND THEY SAID THIS IS NEW, PROGRESSIVE ART . " TIME TO SHUT UP . RUNNING THROUGH HIS SPEECH WAS THE CLEAR SUGGESTION THAT KHRUSHCHEV FELT HIS OWN ROOTS WERE IN DANGER . TOO MANY OF THE INTELLECTUALS WERE DEVOTING THEIR WORK TO EXPOSURE OF THE EXCESSES OF TERROR IN THE STALIN ERA WHICH WAS STRIKING PRETTY CLOSE TO HOME, SINCE KHRUSHCHEV HAD BEEN STALIN'S HENCHMAN THROUGHOUT THAT PERIOD . " THE QUESTION IS SOMETIMES ASKED, " NIKITA ADMITTED, " DID THE LEADING PEOPLE OF THE PARTY KNOW ABOUT THE ARRESTS AT THE TIME ? YES, THEY KNEW . BUT DID THEY KNOW THAT COMPLETELY INNOCENT PEOPLE WERE BEING ARRESTED .? NO, THEY DID NOT KNOW . " ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH NIKITA'S 1956 DESTALINIZATION SPEECH TO THE 20TH PARTY CONGRESS KNEW THIS TO BE A LIE, FOR HE HAD OPENLY DISCUSSED STALIN'S MURDEROUS POLITICAL PURGES OF THE 1930S . NOW, HE SAID, WAS THE TIME TO SHUT UP ABOUT THE DARK CHAPTERS OF HISTORY . " ALL ATTENTION IS BEING ONE-SIDEDLY CONCENTRATED ON LAWLESSNESS AND THE ABUSE OF POWER . HERE ONE NEEDS MODERATION . IF ALL WRITERS BEGAN TO WRITE ONLY ON THIS TOPIC, WHAT SORT OF LITERATURE WOULD THERE BE .? WHO WOULD DASH FOR IT ? FLIES, ENORMOUS FAT FLIES . EVERY SORT OF BOURGEOIS SCUM FROM ABROAD WILL CRAWL TOWARD IT . " WHEN KHRUSHCHEV'S SPEECH WAS OVER, THE STUNNED AUDIENCE LEFT THE HALL WEARING THE OLD, FAMILIAR STONY STARES OF STALIN'S DAY . IT WOULD BE HARD TO FORCE THEM ALL INTO PUBLIC RECANTATIONS ; IN FACT, A SURPRISING NUMBER STAYED SILENT . BUT SURE ENOUGH, SOME CAVED IN QUICKLY TO THE CULTURAL PURGE . WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE MOSCOW WRITERS UNION HAD OUSTED ITS LIBERAL CHAIRMAN, POET STEPAN SHCHIPACHOV, AND REPLACED HIM WITH A REGIME TRUSTY . AND AS FOR HAPLESS ERNEST NEIZVESTNY, THE SCULPTOR DENOUNCED PERSONALLY BY NIKITA, HE SOON SHOWED UP IN PRAVDA WITH AN OBEDIENT STATEMENT, HAILING THE " MARXIST-LENINIST WORLD OUTLOOK " AND PROMISING TO " WORK MORE, BETTER, MORE IDEOLOGICALLY, MORE EXPRESSIVELY .
 / GET DOWN TO PRODUCTION " WITH THE IDEA MEN OUT OF THE WAY, KHRUSHCHEV TURNED TO THE PAINFUL PROBLEM OF RUSSIA'S FACTORIES AND FARMS . CASTING ABOUT FOR A WAY TO BOOST INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT, THE PREMIER CALLED A SPECIAL JOINT SESSION OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY PRESIDIUM AND THE GOVERNMENT'S COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, WHICH ANNOUNCED CREATION OF A NEW, ALL-POWERFUL SUPREME ECONOMIC COUNCIL, DISCARDING AT LAST THE DISCREDITED SCHEME FOR REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL AUTONOMY THAT WAS INSTALLED IN 1957 . AT THE SAME MEETING, KHRUSHCHEV SCRAPPED THE LAST TWO YEARS OF HIS MUCH-TOUTED SEVEN-YEAR PLAN (1964-65) AND ORDERED THE NEW ECONOMIC CZARS TO GET BUSY AND DRAFT A NEW SET OF QUOTAS . THE BOUNCY PREMIER ALSO TURNED UP AT A MOSCOW MEETING OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS AND EXPLAINED WHY HE FIRED THE SOVIET AGRICULTURE MINISTER FORNIGHT AGO (TIME, MARCH 15) . HE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME WRITING DIRECTIVES FROM MOSCOW AND TOO LITTLE TIME ON THE ROAD, INSPECTING THE FARMS HE WAS ORDERING ABOUT . " THE COWS CAN'T READ DIRECTIVES, " SCOLDED NIKITA . " ALL THEY WANT IS A JUST EXCHANGE : " YOU GIVE ME FODDER, I GIVE YOU MILK . " ' AND OF MILK AND MEAT, HE ADMITTED, THERE IS " STILL VERY, VERY LITTLE . WE HAVE ALREADY CRITICIZED THE WRITERS FOR BAD WORKS . YOU OBVIOUSLY WON'T DO AS WRITERS . BETTER GET DOWN TO PRODUCTION . "
 MIDDLE EAST SO NEAR, YET SO FAR AS JUBILANT DELEGATIONS DASHED BETLEEN BAGHDAD, DAMASCUS AND CAIRO LAST WEEK, THE ARAB WORLD WAS AWASH WITH JOY . CROWDS SWARMED IN THE STREETS CHANTING THE SLOGAN, / UNITY, FREEDOM, SOCIALISM ! " IN CAIRO AND DAMASCUS, MOBS SHOUTED, / NASSER ! NASSER ! UNION TOMORROW ! " IRAQ'S DEPUTY PREMIER ALI SALEH SAADI CRIED, " THE ARAB WORLD WILL NOW CERTAINLY UNITE . THIS IS AN OLD ASPIRATION . WHAT IS NEW IS THAT IT HAS NOW BECOME POSSIBLE . / DOUBLE PATH . ; THE URGE TO MERGE BROUGHT SYRIAN AND IRAQI LEADERS FLYING TO CAIRO FOR 15 HOURS OF TALKS WITH EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, THE CHIEF BENEFICIARY OF THE DOWNFALL OF ANTI-NASSER REGIMES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA . BUT NASSER HAD CONTRIBUTED LITTLE TO THE VICTORIES THAT WERE ACTUALLY WON IN BOTH COUNTRIES BY A COALITION OF NASSERITE ARMY OFFICER AND POLITICIANS OF THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY, WHICH HAS LONG PROMOTED THE IDEAL OF WAHADI ARABIYA (ARAB ONENESS) . THOUGH BOTH GROUPS HAVE THE SAME GOAL OF UNITY, EACH PROPOSES A SEPARATE PATH . NASSER BELIEVE IN CENTRALIZE , AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL . THE BAATH PARTY FAVORS " COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP " AND A DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT . AS THE TALKS PROCEEDED, SYRIA'S DEPUTY PREMIER NIHAD ELKASSEM REPORTEDLY FORCED THE BAATHISTS IN HIS DELEGATION TO ACCEPT THE NASSERITE PROPOSALS ON A THREAT OF RESIGNING FROM OFFICE . TOTAL ADHERENCE . THE CONFEREES WERE REPORTED " IN CLOSE AGREEMENT' ON A PLANNED UNION THAT INDICATED COMPROMISES WERE BEING MADE BY BOTH SIDES . IF ACCEPTED BY INDIVIDUAL PLEBISCITES, THE UNION WOULD CREATE A SINGLE ARAB STATE OF 39 MILLION PEOPLE WITH AN AREA AS FLAT AS TEXAS AND MORE THAN TWICE ITS SIZE, AND AN ECONOMY BASED ON THE OIL OF IRAQ, THE AGRICULTURE OF SYRIA, AN THE INDUSTRY AND COTTON OF EGYPT . THE AGREEMENT CALLS FOR A SINGLE POLITICAL HEAD (ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE NASSER) AND A CENTRAL PARLIAMENT BASED ON POPULATION, WHICH WOULD GIVE EGYPT A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY . THIS CENTRAL STATE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR 1) DEFENSE AND FOREIGN POLICY, 2) A SOCIALIST ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK, AND 3) UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS . BUT WITHIN THE UNION, EACH STATE WOULD HAVE ITS OWN ELECTED POPULAR AUTHORITY AND ITS OWN PARLIAMENT . NOT REPRESENTED IN THE CAIRO TALKS WAS PRIMITIVE YEMEN, WHOSE BOSS, ABDULLAH SALLAL, IS PROPPED UP BY 20,000 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS, BUT SALLAL CABLED CAIRO ANNOUNCING HIS TOTAL ADHERENCE TO WHATEVER IS DECIDED . BUT AT WEEK'S END, THE REPORTED " CLOSE AGREEMENT " HAD APPARENTLY RUN INTO A SNAG . THE THREEPOWER TALKS UNEXPECTEDLY BROKE UP AND, ACCORDING TO A COMMUNIQUE, WILL RESUME " IN A FEW DAYS . " WHILE TRYING, AT LEAST, TO UNITE VERBALLY IN CAIRO, IRAQ AND SYRIA WERE STILL BUSY LAST WEEK CONSOLIDATING THEIR REVOLUTIONS AT HOME . IRAQ, WHICH HAS ALREADY EXECUTED 25 LOCAL COMMUNIST LEADERS, CONDEMNED TO DEATH ANOTHER 51 . IN FEEBLE RETALIATION, THE SOVIET UNION CREATED A SMALL RIOT IN MOSCOW, WHERE A CROWD OF SEVERAL HUNDRED STUDENTS (INCLUDING SOME FROM ARAB COUNTRIES) WAS PERMITTED TO BREAK WINDOWS AND THROW INK BOTTLES AT THE IRAQI EMBASSY . THE NEW BAGHDAD REGIME ALSO FINALLY SETTLED THE 18-MONTH KURDISH REBELLION BY REACHING BASIC AGREEMENT WITH KURDISH LEADER MUSTAFA BARZANI ON TERMS OF 1) AMNESTY FOR ALL REBELS, 2) RELEASE OF 2,000 IRAQI SOLDIERS CAPTURED IN BATTLE, AND 3) AUTONOMY FOR THE NATION'S 1,500,000 KURDS . IN SYRIA, TANKS AND ARMORED CARS WERE AT LAST WITHDRAWN FROM DAMASCUS STREETS ALTHOUGH PATROLS OF STEEL-HELMETED TROOPS STILL REMAINED . REPORTEDLY, ABOUT 1,000 PRISONERS JAMMED THE JAILS, INCLUDING 80 LOCAL COMMUNISTS . SINGLE FLOOR . ARAB NATIONS HAVE OFTEN COMBINED BEFORE ON PAPER WITHOUT PREVENTING THE INDIVIDUAL STATES FROM GOING THEIR OWN ANARCHIC WAY . A SINGLE MILITARY COMMAND WAS AGREED UPON AS LONG AGO AS 1951 BUT NEVER IMPLEMENTED . THE NEW UNION MAY EVENTUALLY PROVE TO BE LITTLE MORE THAN ANOTHER EXERCISE IN RHETORIC, BUT LAST WEEK THE NEWS OF ITS FORMATION SENT A THRILL OF EXCITEMENT THROUGH PRONASSER ELEMENTS IN JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, THE TWO REMAINING ARAB STATES WHOSE LEADERS ARE VOCALLY ANTI-NASSER . SOME PEOPLE IN THE ARAB WORLD PREDICT THAT REVOLT WILL STRIKE JORDAN WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, AND SAUDI ARABIA IN A MATTER OF MONTHS . JORDAN'S YOUNG KING HUSSEIN, DETERMINED TO NIP ANY PLOT IN THE BUD, SPENT LAST WEEK INSPECTING HIS JORDANIAN TROOPS AND WAS GREETED WITH CHEERS . JORDAN'S IMPRISONED BAATHIST LEADER, RIFAT AUDEH, BROKE JAIL BUT WAS QUICKLY RECAPTURED . IN SAUDI ARABIA, PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL COMPLETED AN UNPRECEDENTED SPEECHMAKING SWING AROUND THE NATION AND ANNOUNCED THAT 9,000 MEN HAD VOLUNTEERED FOR HIS NEW NATIONAL GUARD . KING SAUD, HOWEVER, PLAYED INTO THE HANDS OF THE MONARCHY'S CRITICS WHEN HE PROPOSED CONTINIING HIS EXTRAVAGANT FOUR-MONTH CONVALESCENCE (FROM HEART AND POLITICAL FAILURES) BY MOVING FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE FRENCH RIVIERA . FOR THIS WEEK, SAUD HAS MADE RESERVATIONS AT NICE'S HOTEL NEGRESCO FOR HIMSELF AND 130 RELATIVES AND RETAINERS, WHO WILL OCCUPY ALL 50 ROOMS ON A SINGLE FLOOR, WITH A SPECIAL ELEVATOR RESERVED FOR HIS PERSONAL USE .
 FRANCE " GIVE US SOME SOUS " AS DAWN ROSE OVER PARIS EARLY ONE MORNING LAST WEEK, A VOLLEY OF RIFLE SHOTS ECHOED THROUGH DANK, GRIM IVRY FORT . DEAD BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD SANK EX-LIEUT . COLONEL JEAN-MARIE BASTIEN-THIRY, 35, CONVICTED RINGLEADER OF LAST SUMMER'S ABORTIVE ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE CHARLES DE GAULLE IN THE PARIS SUBURB OF PETITCLAMART AS HE WAS MOTORING TO HIS COUNTRY HOME AT COLOMBEY-LES-DEUX-EGLISES.* THOUGH DE GAULLE SPARED TWO OTHER PLOTTERS, HE PRESUMABLY ORDERED THE EXECUTION OF BASTIEN-THIRY TO DISCOURAGE OTHER TERRORISTS FROM FURTHER ASSASSINATION EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF THE DREAD SECRET ARMY ORGANIZATION . BUT DE GAULLE'S MOST PROMINENT FOE, EX-PREMIER GEORGES BIDAULT, NOW A RANKING S.A.O . CHIEFTAIN, WAS AS PUBLICLY DEFIANT AS EVER . HE COULD AFFORD TO BE, FOR HE WAS NOW HOLED UP IN SOUTHERN GERMANY, WHERE, AFTER A NERVOUS BRUSHOFF BY CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER, HE SOUGHT POLITICAL ASYLUM FROM THE STATE OF BAVARIA . BATHED IN PUBLICITY AND SURROUNDED BY POLICE, HE OBVIOUSLY WAS NOT DOING HIS RESISTANCE ORGANIZATION MUCH CONCRETE GOOD IN A DISTANT GERMAN VILLA . BUT WHEN HE CALLED REPORTERS IN FOR INTERVIEWS, BIDAULT INSISTED THAT HIS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES WERE FAR FROM OVER . " I AM THE LEADER OF THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE COUNCIL . I AM THE BOSS OF IT ALL, " HE BOASTED . IN FRANCE, THERE WAS ONLY OFFICIAL SILENCE . FACT WAS, THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT WAS DELIGHTED THAT THE TROUBLEMAKER WAS IN GERMANY, WHERE HE WAS UNDER CONTINUAL SURVEILLANCE, AND WAS BABBLING A LITTLE TOO MUCH TO THE PRESS TO ENHANCE HIS REPUTATION . WITH BIDAULT ON ICE, DE GAULLE TURNED HIS ATTENTION TO THE CONTINUING, CRIPPLING STRIKE OF 188,000 MINERS IN THE NATIONALIZED COAL FIELDS OF NORTHERN FRANCE, WHO WERE DEMANDING WAGE SCALES ON A PAR WITH WORKERS IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY . RUMORS CIRCULATED THAT S.A.O . MEMBERS, DISGUISED AS COPS, WOULD ATTACK THE STRIKERS TO PROVOKE THEM TO VIOLENCE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, BUT THE ONLY TOLL OF THE STRIKE SO FAR WAS ECONOMIC . THOUSANDS OF STEEL AND NATURAL GAS WORKERS WENT OUT ON A SYMPATHY STRIKE, AND A 24-HOUR RAIL WALKOUT CREATED A TRANSPORTATION TIE-UP ALL OVER FRANCE . INTO PARIS DROVE A 342-CAR CONVOY OF SOME 2,000 LORRAINE IRONWORKERS CHANTING : " GIVE US SOME SOUS, POMPIDOU . " THOUGH FURIOUS AT THE CONTINUED INTRANSIGENCE OF THE STRIKERS, DE GAULLE KNEW HE MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE IN.* AT A CABINET MEETING IN PARIS, HE ORDERED STUDIES DRAWN UP COMPARING WAGES IN PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT-OWNED INDUSTRY, WITH AN EYE TOWARD MAKING ADJUSTMENTS . BUT HE WAS STILL RANKLED AT THE MONETARY SUPPORT GIVEN THE STRIKERS BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE NORTHERN COAL AREAS . ASKED WHERE THE FUNDS WOULD COME FROM TO PAY FOR ANY WAGE HIKE, HE SUGGESTED WE COULD ALWAYS TAKE UP A COLLECTION IN THE CHURCHES THESE DAYS, WITH TIGHTER POLICE SECURITY, DE GAULLE USUALLY MAKES THE TRIP BETWEEN PARIS AND COLOMBEY BY HELICOPTER . ESCORTED BY A HEAVY POLICE GUARD, HE DRIVES A FEW MILES DOWN THE HIGHWAY TO AN ISOLATED, PREDETERMINED SPOT ON THE ROAD . THERE, AS SHOWN WITH MME . DE GAULLE IN PHOTOGRAPHS RELEASED THIS WEEK (SEE CUTS), HE LEAVES HIS CAR, ENTERS THE WAITING HELICOPTER, AND MAKES HIS JOURNEY . FOR ONE THING, LE GRAND CHARLES WAS DOUBTLESS AWARE OF THE LATEST REPORT OF THE FRENCH INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC OPINION, WHICH REVEALED THAT DE GAULLE'S RATING HAD PLUMMETED NINE POINTS OVER THE PRECEDING MONTH, WITH ONLY 55 PER CENT OF THE FRENCH POPULACE NOW " SATISFIED " WITH HIS CONDUCT OF THE PRESIDENCY . IT WAS DE GAULLE'S LOWEST READING IN 14 MONTHS .
 SOMALIA WHO OWNS WHAT ? IT WAS 9 O'CLOCK ON A HOT, EQUATORIAL NIGHT, AND THE LOCALS WERE LIVING IT UP OUTSIDE PASSONI'S GROCERY STORE ON THE POTHOLED MAIN DRAG OF MOGADISHU, CAPITAL OF SOMALIA . ITALIAN SETTLER PASSONI, AN ENTERPRISING SORT, WAS RAFFLING OFF BOXES OF GROCERIES . SUDDENLY, A NEWS BULLETIN FROM NEIGHBORING KENYA BLARED FROM A RADIO IN A BAR NEXT DOOR . AN INSTANT LATER, THE GUTTURAL TWITTER THAT IS THE SOMALI TONGUE BECAME AN OMINOUS MUTTERING, AND THE CROWD OF 500 WAS ON THE RAMPAGE . STONING CARS, THE SOMALIS MARCHED TO THE BRITISH EMBASSY, TOUCHING OFF THREE DAYS OF SHOUTING, WINDOW-SMASHING RIOTS . MATTER OF HERITAGE . WHAT SET OFF THE EXPLOSION WAS ANNOUNCEMENT BY BRITISH COLONIAL SECRETARY DUNCAN SANDYS THAT A SLICE OF SCRUB AND SAND WHICH BORDERS ON SOMALIA WOULD BE MADE ONE OF SEVEN PROVINCES OF KENYA, WHICH IS DUE TO GET INDEPENDENCE NEXT YEAR (TIME, MARCH 15) . AS IT HAPPENS, KENYA'S NORTHEAST HAS LONG BEEN A FAVORITE SQUATTING GROUND FOR NOMADIC SOMALI TRIBESMEN, WHO HERD THEIR CAMELS AND GOATS BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE HORN OF AFRICA WITHOUT HEED TO NATIONAL BORDERS . FIERCELY INDEPENDENT, THE ILLITERATE MOSLEM TRIBESMEN FIGHT SAVAGELY AMONG THEMSELVES FOR GRAZING LAND, FOR THIS IS THE POSSESSION THEY HOLD MOST DEAR . A PROUD PEOPLE, TALL, LITHE AND FINE-FEATURED, THE SOMALIS ARE HAMITIC IN ORIGIN, DESCENDED IN PART FROM 7TH CENTURY ARABS WHO CROSSED INTO AFRICA FROM YEMEN . FOREVER VAIN ABOUT THEIR HERITAGE, THEY ARE ALSO ACCUSTOMED TO HAVING THEIR OWN WAY . THE SOMALIS BEGAN RUNNING INTO THE STUBBORN OBJECTIONS OF OTHERS SHORTLY AFTER SOMALIA (POP . 2,000,000) WON INDEPENDENCE IN 1960 AND BEGAN BUILDING A NATION OUT OF FORMER ITALIAN SOMALIA AND BRITISH SOMALILAND . EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE COLDLY SAID NO TO SOMALIA'S INSISTENCE ON ANNEXATION OF AN ETHIOPIAN BORDER AREA CONTAINING 1,000,000 SOMALIS . FRANCE LIKEWISE REFUSED TO GIVE UP FRENCH SOMALILAND, WHERE 600,000 SOMALIS LIVE . AND THOUGH THE BLEAK, BARREN SLICE OF TERRITORY INSIDE KENYA HARBORS 200,000 SOMALIS, KENYA'S BLACK NATIONALIST LEADERS, LED BY EX-MAU MAU CHIEFTAIN JOMO ( " BURNING SPEAR / ) KENYATTA, HAVE ALWAYS VOWED THAT LOSS OF THEIR NORTHEAST CORNER WOULD MEAN WAR WITH THEIR OWN BLACK RENDILLES, WHO COVER THEMSELVES WITH FEATHERS ; WITH THEIR TURKANAS, WHO WEAR LITTLE EXCEPT MUD HATS ; AND WITH THE MARILLES, WHO WEAR ONLY RIFLES . THUS, BRITAIN'S SANDYS WAS BOUND TO MAKE ENEMIES AND TO RISK VIOLENCE NO MATTER WHAT HIS DECISION ABOUT KENYA'S FRONTIER . SPEARING THE COMMISSIONER . NO SOMALI SAW IT THAT WAY . MOBS SURGING THROUGH MOGADISHU'S HEAT (100O PLUS) HAD TO BE BROKEN UP BY MOUNTED POLICE SWINGING LONG BATONS ; BEFORE THE DISTURBANCE WAS QUELLED, SOME 500 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED . IN HARGEISA, THE ONETIME CAPITAL OF BRITISH SOMALILAND, CROWDS STONED BRITISH HOMES AND CARS, ATTACKED THE BRITISH CONSULATE . PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF BRITAIN'S CLOSE TIES TO THE U.S., NEWLY ARRIVED U.S . AMBASSADOR HORACE TORBERT WAS STONED OUT OF THE TOWN OF GALCAIO, HIS LAND-ROVER NARROWLY OUTDISTANCING A MOB OF 1,000 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN . IN KENYA ITSELF, A SOMALI TRIBESMAN SPEARED A DISTRICT COMMISSIONER, LIEUT . COLONEL JOHN BALFOUR, AND ONE MOB HAULED DOWN THE UNION JACK . RESTORING INTERNAL ORDER WITH TROOPS, SOMALIA'S PREMIER ABDIRASHID ALI SHERMARKE CALLED THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY INTO SESSION, DEMANDED THAT " RELATIONS WITH BRITAIN BE REVISED . " AS THE DEBATE DRONED ON, THE BRITISH HOPED THAT PASSIONS MIGHT COOL . BUT AT WEEK'S END THE OUTRAGED DEPUTIES VOTED 74 TO 14 TO BREAK OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH LONDON, THOUGH IT SEEMED CLEAR THAT CONSULAR TIES WOULD BE RETAINED ; SUCH A COMPROMISE APPEARED APPROPRIATE IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT THE BRITISH WERE TO SUPPLY SOMALIA WITH $3,600,000 IN AID THIS YEAR . WITH A SIGH AND A SHRUG, BRITAIN'S MOGADISHU EMBASSY BEGAN PACKING UP, AND IN LONDON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SUGGESTED THAT IT " WILL AT AN APPROPRIATE TIME " RECONSIDER THE WHOLE NORTHEAST KENYA QUESTION .
 SOUTH KOREA THE HEAT'S OFF EVER SINCE HE LIFTED HIS BAN ON CIVILIAN POLITICAL ACTIVITY LAST JANUARY, THE HEAT HAS BEEN ON SOUTH KOREAN STRONGMAN GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE . ANGER OVER THE STRONG-ARM TACTICS OF THE FEARED CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY FORCED PARK TO SACK HIS TOP HATCHET MAN (AND NEPHEW BY MARRIAGE), C.I.A . BOSS KIM CHONG PIL . INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED WHOLESALE CORRUPTION WITHIN SOUTH KOREA'S C.I.A., NND CHARGES WERE LEVELED THAT PARK HAD DONE NOTHING TO RELIEVE SOUTH KOREA'S ECONOMIC CHAOS . THREATENED WITH CIVIL WAR BY DISAFFECTED MEMBERS OF HIS OWN MILITARY JUNTA, PARK RELUCTANTLY BOWED OUT OF THE FORTHCOMING CIVILIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE . LAST WEEK THE GENERAL DECIDED TO TURN OFF THE HEAT . RENEGING ON HIS PROMISE TO RESTORE CIVILIAN RULE, PARK SLAPPED A BAN ON ALL POLITICAL PARTIES, PROHIBITED " POLITICAL AGITATION " IN THE PRESS, JAILED 30 PLOTTERS INCLUDING SOME FORMER JUNTA MEMBERS ACCUSED OF TRYING TO OVERTHROW HIS REGIME . IGNORING THE RESIGNATION OF HIS CABINET, PARK SUSPENDED NEXT MAY'S SCHEDULED ELECTIONS, ANNOUNCED THAT THE POPULACE INSTEAD WOULD VOTE IN A NEW REFERENDUM DESIGNED TO KEEP HIM IN ABSOLUTE POWER FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS .
 ISRAEL JEW AGAINST JEW IN THE FOUR-MONTH TRIAL OF ADOLF EICHMANN, ONE DARK CHAPTER OF THE NAZI HOLOCAUST WAS NEVER FULLY BROUGHT OUT : THE RULE OF NAZI-ORGANIZED COUNCILS OF JEWISH ELDERS IN EUROPEAN GHETTOS . BACKED BY THEIR OWN HIGH-BOOTED JEWISH POLICE, THE COUNCILS COMPILED DEATH LISTS OF JEWS AND ROUNDED UP THEIR OWN PEOPLE FOR DEPORTATION TO NAZI EXTERMINATION CAMPS . REFUSAL TO HELP EICHMANN'S " TRANSPORTATION " EXPERTS WOULD HAVE MEANT IMMEDIATE DEATH, BUT ALWAYS THERE WAS THE AGONIZING MORAL DILEMMA : EVEN UNDER DURESS, WAS COOPERATION NOT BETRAYAL ? LAST WEEK ISRAELI PROSECUTOR DAVID LIBAI GAVE THE STATE'S ANSWER IN THE FIRST TRIAL OF A JEWISH POLICEMAN WHO SERVED THE NAZIS . ITS ANSWER WAS YES . IN THE DOCK OF A TINY, DRAB TEL AVIV COURTROOM, HEAD BURIED IN HIS HANDS, SAT THE ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR OF THE ISRAEL NATIONAL OPERA, HIRSCH BARENBLAT, 48, FORMER COMMANDER OF THE JEWISH POLICE IN BEDZIN, POLAND . FOR TWO YEARS AFTER HE MANAGED TO GET TO ISRAEL IN 1958, BARENBLAT ATTRACTED NO PARTICULAR ATTENTION . THEN, DURING INTRODUCTIONS AT A CONCERT IN A KIBBUTZ, A MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE SUDDENLY LEAPED UP AND SHOUTED : " BARENBLAT, I REMEMBER YOU ! YOU MURDERED JEWS ! " THE CONCERT BROKE UP AMIDST ANGRY CONFUSION . IN 1961, AFTER A POLICE INVESTIGATION, BARENBLAT WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED UNDER THE ISRAELI LAW PUNISHING NAZIS AND THEIR COLLABORATORS WHO WERE MEMBERS OF " HOSTILE ORGANIZATIONS " THE SAME LAW UNDER WHICH EICHMANN WAS TRIED AS A GESTAPO MEMBER, AND WHICH THE GOVERNMENT NOW WANTS EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE JEWISH POLICE . IN BARENBLAT'S CASE, THE MAXIMUM PENALTY WOULD BE SEVEN TO TEN YEARS IN PRISON ON EACH OF TWELVE SPECIFIC ACCUSATIONS OF PERSECUTION . ON THE OPENING DAY OF WHAT LOOKED TO BE A DRAWN-OUT TRIAL, A TEL AVIV CARPENTER TEARFULLY RECALLED THAT BARENBLAT'S JEWISH POLICE ONCE TROOPED BACK FROM A ROUND-UP IN BEDZIN " LOUDLY SINGING, AS IF FROM A VICTORIOUS ENGAGEMENT, " DESCRIBED HOW THEY HERDED JEWISH MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTO TRUCKS HEADED FOR AUSCHWITZ . " EVEN THE STREETS WEPT, " THE WITNESS SAID . PROSECUTOR LIBAI CONCEDED THAT BARENBLAT SAVED " MAYBE TEN OR 20 JEWS, " BUT ADDED : " THIS COURT WILL HAVE TO DECIDE WHETHER TO SAVE HIS OWN SOUL HE WAS ENTITLED TO CARRY OUT THE TASKS OF THE JEWISH POLICE . " DEFENSE ATTORNEY ARIEH ROSENBLUM, SUPPORTING BARENBLAT'S PLEA OF INNOCENCE, SAID THAT HIS CONDUCT WAS JUSTIFIABLE, AND ARGUED THAT HE WAS ACQUITTED OF COLLABORATIONIST CHARGES AFTER THE WAR BY A POLISH COURT . " THE JEWISH POLICE, " ROSENBLUM SAID, " CANNOT BE REGARDED AS HOSTILE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE . THEIR INTENTION WAS NOT HOSTILITY . THEY DID NOT SEEK TO EXTERMINATE JEWS ; THEY SERVED WHAT THEY DEEMED THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY UNDER THE WORST POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES . "
 IRAN WATER & BLOOD ON A PLATFORM JUTTING FROM A SHEER, 1,500-FT . GORGE IN THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, THE SHAH OF IRAN PICKED UP A CEREMONIAL TELEPHONE AND SPOKE AN ORDER . SECONDS LATER, TONS OF WATER FROM THE AB-I-DIZ RIVER BELOW CRASHED THROUGH SLUICE GATES AND BEGAN TURNING GIANT DYNAMOS . A KNOT OF CABINET MINISTERS, DIPLOMATS AND ENGINEERS BURST INTO HAT-WAVING CHEERS AS, DOWN IN THE CANYON, ELECTRICITY BEGAN FLOWING INTO MOSLEM VILLAGES THAT HAD NEVER BEFORE KNOWN THE MAGIC OF PLUG-IN POWER . THUS LAST WEEK IRAN'S HUGE, $67.2 MILLION " MOHAMMED REZA SHAH PAHLEVI DAM, " HIGHEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST,* WENT INTO OPERATION AS ANOTHER FEATHER IN THE CROWN OF THE COUNTRY'S 43-YEAR-OLD REFORM-MINDED MONARCH . TO HELP FINANCE THE DAM, THE WORLD BANK LOANED IRAN $42 MILLION, BUT THE REST OF THE CASH CAME FROM THE SHAH'S $300 MILLION ANNUAL OIL REVENUES . TO OVERSEE THE PROJECT, IRAN PICKED TWO EX-CHAIRMEN OF THE U.S.'S TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, DAVID E . LILIENTHAL AND GORDON R . CLAPP, WHO NOW HEAD A MANHATTAN-BASED CONSULTING FIRM . LAST WEEK'S INAUGURATION WAS RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, JUST ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST CONCRETE WAS POURED . THE DAM'S PRINCIPAL PURPOSE IS TO BRING FERTILITY BACK TO DESOLATE KHUZISTAN PROVINCE, AN AREA THE SIZE OF MICHIGAN IN SOUTHWEST IRAN, NEAR THE PERSIAN GULF . TWENTY-FIVE CENTURIES AGO, KHUZISTAN WAS THE FABLED FERTILE GRANARY OF THE ANCIENT PERSIAN EMPIRE . BUT THE REGION HAS SINCE ERODED INTO A VIRTUAL WASTELAND ; THE LAST MAJOR RECLAMATION ATTEMPT WAS A SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION CANALS DUG BY KING SHAPUR II IN 300 A.D . THE NEW DAM WILL WATER 360,000 ACRES, AND PROVIDE ELECTRICITY EVEN FOR THE PROVINCES REMOTEST VILLAGES AND FIVE CITIES, INCLUDING THE OIL-REFINING CENTER OF ABADAN, OPENING THE WAY FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION . IN THE LONG RUN, IRAN HOPES TO BUILD 13 MORE DAMS TO IRRIGATE MUCH OF THE SEMI-ARID LAND CURRENTLY BEING HANDED OUT TO PEASANTS UNDER THE SHAH'S BIG AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM, WHICH WAS APPROVED 1,000TO-1 IN A NATIONAL REFERENDUM IN JANUARY . WITH THE NATION BEHIND HIM, THE SHAH HAS PUSHED STEADILY AHEAD WITH HIS LAND SPLIT-UP, DESPITE LOUD OUTCRIES FROM THE BIG LANDOWNERS . A FEW WEEKS AGO, ONE OUTRAGED GROUP, THE NOMADIC QASHQAI (PRONOUNCED GOSH GUY) TRIBESMEN, WHO HERD CATTLE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF FARS, REGISTERED ITS PROTEST BY ATTACKING IRANIAN POLICE POSTS, KILLING TEN OFFICERS AND MEN . WHEN THE DISSIDENT QASHQAI REFUSED TO SURRENDER AND WERE JOINED BY MALCONTENTS OF TWO OTHER TRIBES, THE SHAH GRIMLY ORDERED HIS AIR FORCE TO CRUSH THE REVOLT . PEELING OUT OF THE SUN, HIS U.S.MADE F-86 JETS LAST WEEK FLASHED DOWN ON THE REBELS WITH BOMBING AND STRAFING RUNS THAT LEFT AN ESTIMATED 150 TRIBESMEN SPRAWLED DEAD IN THE PLAINS . RISING 647 FT., IT WILL TOP EGYPT'S STILL ABUILDING ASWAN HIGH DAM BY 211 FT .
 MIDDLE EAST THE CAMEL DRIVER (SEE COVER) AT 6 : 30 ONE MORNING EARLY THIS MONTH, A PHONE SHRILLED IN THE SMALL OFFICE OFF THE BEDROOM OF EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . ALREADY AWAKE, HE LIFTED THE RECEIVER TO HEAR EXCITING NEWS : A MILITARY COUP HAD JUST BEEN LAUNCHED AGAINST THE ANTI-NASSER GOVERNMENT OF SYRIA . THE PHONE RANG AGAIN . IT WAS THE MINISTER OF CULTURE AND NATIONAL GUIDANCE . HOW SHOULD RADIO CAIRO HANDLE THE SYRIAN CRISIS ? SUPPORT THE REBELS, SNAPPED NASSER . THEN EGYPT'S BOSS RAPPED OUT A SUCCESSION OF TELEPHONED COMMANDS . TO THE AIR FORCE : ALERT THE BOMBERS AND FIGHTERS IN CASE THE SYRIAN REBELS CALL FOR HELP . TO THE NAVY (SIX DESTROYERS AND TEN SUBMARINES) : STEAM NORTHWARD AND AWAIT ORDERS . TO THE ARMY : PREPARE TO MOVE IN CASE THE ISRAELIS MIGHT BE THINKING OF INTERVENTION ; PLACE MISSILES ON LAUNCH PADS READY TO FIRE . THIS DONE, NASSER FINISHED DRESSING AND WENT DOWNSTAIRS . THE PHONE RANG AGAIN, LONG DISTANCE FROM BAGHDAD . PRESIDENT ABDUL SALAM AREF, WHO ONLY FOUR WEEKS BEFORE HAD OVERTHROWN ANOTHER ANTI-NASSER REGIME IN IRAQ, SOLICITOUSLY ASKED WHAT NASSER INTENDED DOING ABOUT SYRIA . NASSER SAID THAT HE WOULD RECOGNIZE A REBEL GOVERNMENT AS SOON AS IT WAS FORMED . AREF DELICATELY RESPONDED THAT OF COURSE, EGYPT SHOULD BE THE FIRST STATE TO GRANT RECOGNITION, PROMISED THAT IRAQ WOULD FOLLOW SUIT FIVE MINUTES LATER . LIMB FROM LIMB . SINCE THE SYRIAN COUP WAS BOTH SWIFT AND SUCCESSFUL, NASSER'S NERVES AND THE EGYPTIAN ARMY WERE NOT PUT TO THE TEST . ISRAEL ALERTED ITS BORDER DEFENSES BUT MADE NO FURTHER MOVE . ON THE SURFACE, IN FACT, THE SYRIAN AFFAIR WAS MUCH MILDER AND LESS BLOODY THAN MOST ARAB REVOLTS . IN THE PAST 15 YEARS, THE MIDDLE EAST HAS BEEN CONTINUALLY SHAKEN LIKE A KALEIDOSCOPE, CONSTANTLY FALLING INTO NEW PATTERNS . THERE HAVE BEEN TWO SIZABLE WARS AND FULLY TWO DOZEN ARMED UPRISINGS AND REBELLIONS . PREMIERS AND PRINCES HAVE BEEN TORN LIMB FROM LIMB BY STREET MOBS ; THOUSANDS OF POLITICIANS AND ARMY OFFICERS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY HANGING, BEHEADING, FIRING SQUADS AND ASSASSINS ; AND SWARMS OF STUDENTS, WORKERS AND TRIBESMEN HAVE BEEN MOWED DOWN BY MACHINE GUNS AND BOMBS . IT WAS QUITE CLEAR LAST WEEK THAT THE LATEST SHAKE OF THE KALEIDOSCOPE RESULTED IN NEW PATTERNS AND ALIGNMENTS OVERWHELMINGLY FAVORABLE TO GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION WAS THE THIRD IN SIX MONTHS BY REBELS PLEDGED TO MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH EGYPT . FLIGHTS OF NEW LEADERS POURED INTO CAIRO FOR TEARSTAINED EMBRACES WITH NASSER AND NIGHTLONG CONFERENCES ON THE FUTURE COURSE OF THAT MISTY CONCEPT CALLED ARAB UNITY . NASSER STANDS AT THE PINNACLE OF PRESTIGE, IF NOT OF POWER, AND THE SHADOW HE CASTS HAS NEVER BEEN LONGER . TODAY, IT FALLS OVER THE ENTIRE ARAB WORLD FROM THE PERSIAN GULF TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN . MATTER OF SABOTAGE ? FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 500 YEARS, THE THREE KEY ARAB STATES OF EGYPT, IRAQ AND SYRIA HAVE A SIMILAR POLITICAL POSTURE AND ARE ON CLOSE AND FRIENDLY TERMS . THE NEW CROWD IN PRIMITIVE YEMEN, WHERE 28,000 EGYPTIAN TROOPS ARE PROPPING UP STILL ANOTHER PRONASSER REBELLION, IS EAGER TO JOIN ANY ALLIANCE THAT CAN BE HAMMERED OUT . THE MONARCHIES OF SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN CLOSE FRIENDS OF THE WEST BUT HATED ENEMIES OF THE ARAB NATIONALISTS FACE THE THREAT OF UPRISINGS AT THE HANDS OF POWERFUL LOCAL FRIENDS OF THE MAN IN CAIRO . WHEN KING SAUD'S PRIVATE COMET PLANE, EQUIPPED WITH A ROYAL THRONE, CRASHED LAST WEEK AGAINST AN ITALIAN MOUNTAIN, KILLING ALL 18 ABOARD, THE SAUDI ARABS AUTOMATICALLY ASSUMED THAT IT HAD BEEN SABOTAGED BY NASSER AGENTS MAYBE IT WAS AND MAYBE IT WAS NOT . IN THE SWIRLING MIDDLE EAST STRUGGLE, CAIRO WOULD FLEX ITS MUSCLES WHERE IT COULD . THE SUCCESSFUL COUPS IN YEMEN, SYRIA AND IRAQ WERE NO SURPRISE TO GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . HE KNEW THEY WERE COMING, IF NOT PRECISELY WHEN AND HOW . HE KNEW THE CONSPIRATORS INVOLVED IN EACH, THOUGH HE CLAIMS TO HAVE PULLED NO STRINGS . CAIRO IS THICKLY POPULATED BY EXILES FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE ARAB WORLD, RANGING FROM SYRIA'S TOUGH ABDUL HAMID SERRAJ, WHO ORIGINALLY FAILED NASSER IN DAMASCUS, TO OBSCURE TUNISIANS, YEMENIS, SAUDIS, JORDANIANS AND REFUGEES FROM THE BRITISHBACKED SHEIKDOMS OF THE PERSIAN GULF . MANY OF THEM LIVE WELL ON EGYPTIAN SUBSIDIES . FORMER SAUDI PETROLEUM MINISTER ABDULLAH TARIKI IS IN AND OUT OF CAIRO FREQUENTLY, HELPING ORGANIZE ARMS SHIPMENTS TO SAUDI ARABIAN DISSIDENTS BY AIR AND ACROSS THE LONG, EMPTY BORDER WITH KUWAIT . NASSER HAS WON OVER SAUDI ARABIA'S AMBASSADOR TO WEST GERMANY, WHO RESIGNED A FORTNIGHT AGO IN PROTEST AT HIS COUNTRY'S FAILURE TO INSTITUTE REFORMS . AT LEAST SIX OTHER SAUDI AMBASSADORS ARE SYMPATHETIC TO NASSER'S CAUSE ACCENTED VOICE . ALL THE ARAB WORLD IS INFLUENCED BY NASSER'S GENIUS AS A PROPAGANDIST . RISING TO SHARE CAIRO'S SKYLINE WITH THE HUGE DOME OF THE MOHAMMED ALI MOSQUE IS A FOREST OF TRANSMITTING ANTENNAS THAT CARRY RADIO CAIRO'S MESSAGE TO ALL THE WORLD . CAIRO'S VOICE BEARS MANY ACCENTS . THERE IS THE OVERT VOICE OF THE ARABS, AND A WHOLE CONCATENATION OF " VOICES " (VOICE OF THE ARAB NATION, FREE VOICE OF IRAN, VOICE OF FREE AFRICA, ETC.), WHICH BLEAT INCITEMENT TO REBELLION WITH NO IDENTIFICATION OF THEIR EGYPTIAN ORIGIN . THE TRANSMITTING COMPLEX IS ELABORATE AND DEVILISHLY CLEVER . RECENTLY, SOMALI-LANGUAGE TRANSMISSIONS HAVE SUPPORTED THE CLAIMS OF SOMALIA TO A PORTION OF NORTHEAST KENYA, WHILE SWAHILI BROADCASTS AIMED AT KENYA DENOUNCE THE IDEA . A U.S . CONSTRUCTION FIRM IS BUILDING A NEW TRANSMITTER, WHICH WILL BE BEAMED AT TUNISIA AND AIMED AT DESTROYING PRESIDENT HABIB BOURGUIBA . EGYPTIAN TV, THE LIVELIEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST, MANAGES TO KEEP THREE CHANNELS BUSY 20 HOURS A DAY, WHILE KINESCOPES SUBTLY LOADED WITH NASSER PROPAGANDA ARE SHIPPED OUT TO ALGERIA, KUWAIT AND LEBANON . NASSER HAS COLLECTED THE BEST ENTERTAINERS IN THE ARAB WORLD, AND USES THEM SUPERBLY . WHEN UM KALSOUM SINGS WE REVOLUTIONISTS, THE BEDOUINS IN THE DESERT ARE DEEPLY STIRRED . ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SONGS AMONG ARAB KIDS IS HOW WE BUILD THE HIGH DAM AT ASWAN . EVERY TRANSISTOR RADIO IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS A NASSER AGENT . WHEN YEMEN REVOLTED AGAINST THE IMAM, NASSER SENT THEM ARMS AND TRANSISTORS . ARAB COMMUNISTS WHO BROADCAST LONG, WINDY SPEECHES FROM BULGARIA HAVE NOT A CHANCE AGAINST NASSER'S ENTERTAINERS . FIRE STRIKER . BUT NASSER'S TRIUMPHS ARE NOT SOLELY THE RESULT OF SUBVERSION AND POP SINGERS . HIS VERY EXAMPLE IS AN INSPIRATION . HE HAS BEEN THE UNCONTESTED RULER OF EGYPT FOR ALMOST A DECADE, EVER SINCE FEBRUARY 1954, WHEN HE PUT DOWN A REVOLT OF CAVALRY OFFICERS AND CONSOLIDATED HIS REGIME . DURING THAT TIME, THE OLD POLITICAL REMNANTS SUCH AS THE WAFDISTS HAVE DISAPPEARED AND EVEN BEEN FORGOTTEN . IT IS NASSER WHOSE PERSONALITY STANDS ABOVE ALL OTHERS IN EGYPT AND THE ARAB WORLD, AND NO OTHER NAME STRIKES FIRE LIKE HIS . HE IS HAILED AS THE MAN WHO DESTROYED EGYPT'S CORRUPT PAST AND GAVE ARABS A NEW DIGNITY . HIS PICTURE, WITH ITS PEPSODENT SMILE, IS FOUND IN EVERY CORNER OF THE MIDDLE EAST, FROM IRAQI BAZAARS TO THE HUTS OF ROYALIST YEMENI TRIBESMEN WHO STILL CLING TO NASSER'S PICTURE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE FIGHTING NASSER'S TROOPS . WHAT NASSER HAS WORKING FOR HIM IS THE DEEP DESIRE OF ALL ARABS TO BE UNITED IN A SINGLE ARAB NATION, AND THEIR CONVICTION GRUDGING OR ENTHUSIASTIC THAT NASSER REPRESENTS THE BEST HOPE OF ACHIEVING IT . THIS DREAM OF UNITY HARKS BACK TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE 7TH CENTURY WHEN, SPURRED BY THE MESSIANIC MOSLEM RELIGION HANDED DOWN BY MOHAMMED THE PROPHET, ARAB WARRIORS BURST FROM THEIR DESERT PENINSULA AND CONQUERED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT . IN LESS THAN 150 YEARS, THE ARABS SWEPT VICTORIOUSLY NORTH TO ASIA MINOR AND THE WALLS OF BYZANTINE CONSTANTINOPLE, SOUTH OVER PERSIA AND AFGHANISTAN TO THE HEART OF INDIA, EAST THROUGH CENTRAL ASIA TO THE BORDERS OF CHINA, WEST OVER EGYPT AND AFRICA TO SPAIN AND SOUTHERN FRANCE . IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE EMPIRE LARGER THAN ANY CARVED OUT BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT OR IMPERIAL ROME . IT WAS ALSO AN EMPIRE THAT FELL SWIFTLY APART . BY THE 16TH CENTURY, THE ARAB STATES, ONE BY ONE, FELL TO THE OTTOMANS AND PASSED INTO THE LONG SLEEP OF TURKISH DOMINATION . THEN, IN WORLD WAR I, ARAB NATIONALISTS REBELLED AGAINST THEIR TURKISH OVERLORDS AND FOUGHT BESIDE THE BRITISH ARMIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, CONFIDENT THAT THEY WOULD OBTAIN UNITY AND FREEDOM . MOVIEGOERS WHO HAVE SEEN LAWRENCE OF ARABIA KNOW THE GLOOMY RESULT : UNDER LEAGUE OF NATION MANDATES, MOST OF THE MIDDLE EAST WAS HANDED OVER TO BRITAIN AND FRANCE, AND FRUSTRATED ARABS WASTED THEMSELVES IN FUTILE REBELLIONS AGAINST THE COLONIAL POWERS . WORLD WAR II DID LITTLE BETTER FOR THE ARAB NATIONALISTS . INDIVIDUAL STATES GAINED INDEPENDENCE, BUT CONTROL WAS SECURELY HELD BY FEUDAL MONARCHS OR COALITIONS OF LANDOWNERS AND BUSINESSMEN WHO WERE OFTEN LITTLE MORE THAN COLONIAL PUPPETS . SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL " INVENTED " THE STATE OF JORDAN " ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN JERUSALEM . " EVEN WORSE, IN THE ARAB VIEW, WAS THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE TO PROVIDE A NATIONAL HOMELAND FOR THE JEWS . HUMILIATION BECAME COMPLETE IN 1948, WHEN THE COMBINED ARMIES OF THE ARAB COUNTRIES WERE CRUSHINGLY DEFEATED BY THE ISRAELIS . MOON ORBIT . HENCE THE ENORMOUS PRESTIGE NASSER WON IN 1956, WHEN HE SURVIVED THE MASSED ASSAULT OF BRITAIN, FRANCE AND ISRAEL IN THE SUEZ WAR . ARABS IGNORED THE FACT THAT THE EGYPTIANS WERE BEATEN IN THE FIELD AND THAT ONLY INTERVENTION BY THE U.S . AND THE SOVIET UNION SAVED NASSER FROM COLLAPSE . WHAT MATTERED WAS THAT NASSER HAD ENGAGED THE IMPERIALISTS AND ISRAEL IN BATTLE, AND MANAGED TO SURVIVE . WHEN EGYPT LATER PROVED THAT IT HAD THE TECHNICAL SKILL TO OPERATE THE SUEZ CANAL EFFICIENTLY ON ITS OWN, ARAB NATIONALISTS WERE AS PROUD AS IF NASSER HAD PERSONALLY ORBITED THE MOON . HIS ARAB BRETHREN ALSO SHARE PRIDE IN NASSER'S ACHIEVEMENTS AT HOME IN THE YEARS SINCE SUEZ . CAIRO, A CITY AS POPULOUS AS CHICAGO, HAS BECOME A BUSTLING, BUSY METROPOLIS . NEW SKYSCRAPERS LINE THE BANKS OF THE NILE, THROWING GLITTERING LIGHT ON THE RIVER AT NIGHT AND BY DAY REFLECTING IN THEIR GLASS WALLS THE STATELY GRACE OF THE SAILS OF FELUCCAS HEADED UPRIVER WITH CARGOES OF WHEAT AND LIME . THE BUILDING BOOM IS NOT CONFINED TO THE HOTELS, WHICH WERE HOST THIS WINTER TO A RECORD HALF-MILLION TOURISTS . ON THE EDGE OF THE CITY, ENTIRE NEW SUBURBS ARE IN BEING OR ABUILDING . AT MEDINET EL WAQF, EGYPT'S NEW MANAGERS ARE HOUSED IN MODERN STUCCO COTTAGES . ON THE NORTHERN RIM OF THE CITY, 40,000 LOW-COST HOUSING UNITS WERE ERECTED LAST YEAR . BUT MOST OF CAIRO REMAINS THE SAME : CLOSE, CROWDED AND CACOPHONOUS WITH HARD-PRESSED AUTO HORNS . IN IMBABA, ON THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE, CAMELS STREAKED WITH HENNA STILL PLOD UNKNOWINGLY TOWARD THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, AND GULLY-GULLY MEN DELIGHT BRIGHT-EYED, BROWN-FACED CHILDREN WITH MAGIC TRICKS AS THEY DID THEIR GRANDFATHERS 50 YEARS AGO . IMBABA'S JUNK MARKET IS STILL UNCHANGED, AND BENT NAILS AND HALF-SHOELACES ARE TRADED WITH SOLEMNITY AND DILIGENCE . THE RED FLOWERPOT OF THE TARBOOSH HAS ALL BUT VANISHED FROM CAIRENES' HEADS, AND NASSER HAS EVEN MADE CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS IN HIS CAMPAIGN TO GET HIS CITY FOLK TO SWITCH TO EUROPEAN CLOTHES FROM THE NIGHTSHIRT-LIKE GALLABIYA . MOST ASTONISHING IS THE FACT THAT A VISITOR SELDOM SEES A BAREFOOT MAN, WOMAN OR CHILD . EVEN URCHINS FROM THE CAIRO SLUMS WEAR SHOES AND SOCKS . TODAY CAIRO WALKS WELL-DRESSED, WELL-SHOD AND BAREHEADED, WITH ITS SHOULDERS BACK . SWALLOWED REVENUES . OF ALL EGYPTIANS, THE INDUSTRIAL WORKER HAS FARED THE BEST UNDER NASSER . NEXT TO HIM COMES THE FELLAH, THE TIMELESS PEASANT WORKING THE TIMELESS LAND . IT WAS THE JEST OF 1952 THAT NASSER'S FOREMOST AMBITION WAS TO RAISE THE FELLAHIN AT LEAST TO THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE GAMOOSA, THE WATER BUFFALO OF THE NILE . HE HAS MORE THAN SUCCEEDED . YOU CAN SEE IT SIMPLY IN THE FELLAH'S CLOTHES . BUT ALSO THE FELLAH, WHO USED TO HAVE MEAT ONLY ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR, NOW EATS IT AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK . IN PRE-NASSER EGYPT, THE MOST COMMON CHARACTERISTIC OF THE FELLAHIN WAS SUMMED UP IN THE PHRASE ANNA MALI, WHICH ROUGHLY TRANSLATES, " I COULDN'T CARE LESS . " TODAY THE WORD HEARD OVER AND OVER IS NAHDHA, A TERM MEANING TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE OF THE WORLD AROUND YOU . EGYPT HAS BEEN AWAKE, TAKING NOTICE AND PARTICIPATING SINCE THE HOT SUMMER MORNING IN JULY 1952, WHEN NASSER AND A GROUP OF YOUNG ARMY OFFICERS PUT AN END TO THE REGIME OF KING FAROUK . THE RESULTING ECONOMIC UPSURGE WAS HARDLY ACCOMPLISHED BY EGYPT ALONE . THE INTENSE DEVELOPMENT CAMPAIGN SWALLOWED UP REVENUES FROM THE SUEZ CANAL, AND FROM THE BIGGEST CROP, COTTON . IN THE PROCESS, THE NATION HAS SPENT ITS SAVINGS . EGYPT'S FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RESERVES, WHICH STOOD AT A BILLION DOLLARS AFTER WORLD WAR II, HAVE DWINDLED TO SCARCELY $10 MILLION . THE CONSEQUENCE IS AN INCREASING DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN AID . THE COMMUNIST BLOC HAS COMMITTED ITSELF TO $700 MILLION IN ECONOMIC AID SINCE 1955, AND RUSSIA IS FOOTING THE BILL FOR THE FAMED HIGH DAM AT ASWAN, WHICH BY 1972 WILL INCREASE THE ARABLE LAND OF EGYPT FROM 6,000,000 ACRES TO 8,000,000 ACRES AND SUPPLY 10 BILLION KW-H IN ELECTRIC POWER . SINCE 1945, THE U.S . HAS SUPPLIED EGYPT WITH $628.6 MILLION, MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF SURPLUS FOOD PAID FOR IN EGYPTIAN POUNDS, 85 PER CENT OF WHICH CAN BE (AND IS) LOANED BACK TO EGYPT . TODAY, EGYPT IS DEPENDENT ON THE U.S . FOR ITS FOOD, AND ON RUSSIA FOR ITS ARMS AND THE ASWAN DAM . THE FACT IS THAT NASSER IS NOT TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON ANY ONE POWER OR GROUP OF POWERS . HE IS STILL DETERMINEDLY NONALIGNED . BUT THINGS ARE BETTER THAN THE WORD IMPLIES . A FEW YEARS AGO, NASSER WAS NONALIGNED TOWARD THE EAST ; TODAY, HE IS MORE ACCURATELY REGARDED AS NONALIGNED TOWARD THE WEST . HAPPY NAUSEA . BUT NASSER'S ONE-MAN RULE HAS NOT BROUGHT UNMITIGATED BLISS TO EGYPT . THE BANKS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES WERE NATIONALIZED, AND THEIR OWNERS PAID OFF PARTLY IN BONDS THAT MAY NOT BE REDEEMED FOR YEARS TO COME . CONTRACTORS WHOSE EARNINGS REACH $69,000 A YEAR ARE TAKEN OVER, OR FORCED TO ACCEPT JOINT PARTICIPATION BY THE GOVERNMENT . WIPED OUT ARE THE GREAT LANDOWNERS ; FARM HOLDINGS ARE NOW LIMITED TO 100 ACRES PER FAMILY . THIS FORM OF SOCIALISM IS BENIGN ENOUGH . IT LEAVES MOST OF THE NATION'S COMMERCE IN PRIVATE HANDS AND DOES NOT AFFECT THE OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF SMALL FARMERS, WHO OWN FAR LESS THAN 100 ACRES . THE PRESS WAS NATIONALIZED IN 1960, AND ITS EDITORS ARE PICKED BY THE REGIME ,; THEY, OF COURSE, DO NOT CRITICIZE NASSER'S POLICIES . POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN THE USUAL SENSE IS BANNED BECAUSE, AS NASSER PUTS IT, " IF I HAD THREE POLITICAL PARTIES, ONE WOULD BE RUN BY THE RICH, ONE BY THE SOVIETS, AND ONE BY THE U.S . " THE ONLY PARTY PERMITTED BY LAW IS THE OFFICIAL ARAB SOCIALIST UNION, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE DEMOCRACY BY ITS REPRESENTATION IN EVERY VILLAGE, FACTORY AND URBAN DISTRICT . THERE, LEADERS ARE CHOSEN TO PASS LOCAL VIEWS ALONG TO PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL COMMITTEES . NASSER'S REVOLUTION HAS NEVER BEEN PARTICULARLY TOTALITARIAN, BUT THERE WAS A NASTY PERIOD IN LATE 1961, WHEN SYRIA BROKE AWAY FROM EGYPT . HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, INCLUDING ARMY OFFICERS, WERE ARRESTED . FOREIGN DIPLOMATS WERE SHADOWED BY SECRET POLICE . BUT SINCE THEN, THE ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR HAS LARGELY VANISHED . GENERAL MOHAMMED NAGUIB, THE 1952 REVOLUTION'S FIRST LEADER, WHO SERVED FOR TWO YEARS AS A FRONT FOR NASSER AND WAS THEN DEPOSED, STILL LIVES QUIETLY IN A CAIRO VILLA NEAR THE NILE AND IS PERMITTED TO MOVE FAIRLY FREELY ABOUT THE CITY . OLD NAHAS PASHA AND OTHER FORMER WAFDIST ENEMIES OF THE NEW REGIME REMAIN IN THEIR HOMES, WHICH, IN MOST CASES, THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO KEEP . NASSER'S GOVERNMENT HAS MOVED IMPRESSIVELY INTO THE FIELDS OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH . PRIMARY SCHOOLS WERE ERECTED AND STAFFED AT A RATE OF TWO EVERY THREE DAYS . EDUCATION IS FREE, AND EGYPT'S UNIVERSITIES ARE CRAMMED WITH 126,000 STUDENTS, INCLUDING 20,000 FROM OTHER ARAB LANDS . IMPROVED HYGIENE AND FREE CLINICS HAVE ONLY INCREASED THE POPULATION PRESSURE : THE NEW ARABLE LAND TO BE PROVIDED BY THE ASWAN DAM WILL BE BARELY ENOUGH TO FEED THE ESTIMATED 55 MILLION POPULATION IN 20 YEARS . IN SORT, AT TREMENDOUS COST, EGYPT WILL NOT HAVE GONE FORWARD BUT MERELY STOOD STILL WITH THIS CHALLENGE, NASSER HAS BEGUN A NATIONWIDE BIRTH CONTROL CAMPAIGN . ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES ARE BEING SOLD BELOW COST (A MONTH'S SUPPLY FOR 46 #$ ), AND EGYPTIAN WOMEN ARE SAID TO RELISH THE PILLS BECAUSE THEY INDUCE THE SAME FEELING OF NAUSEA EXPERIENCED IN PREGNANCY . THE PRESSURE OF EGYPT'S MILLIONS, IN FACT, IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES OTHER ARAB STATES WARY OF BEING TOO CLOSELY EMBRACED BY NASSER . EGYPT, LIKE CHINA, IS ALWAYS THREATENING TO SPILL OVER ITS BORDERS INTO THE RELATIVELY EMPTY LAND OF ITS NEIGHBORS . INDIVIDUALISTIC ARABS, AS WELL, ARE NERVOUSLY CONCERNED ABOUT DISAPPEARING INTO THE STRAITJACKET OF NASSER'S ONEMAN RULE . LAPS OF GENERALS . TO THESE DISSENTERS, THERE IS ANOTHER FLASHING BEACON OF ARAB UNITY : THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY, WHICH DOMINATES THE NEW GOVERNMENTS IN BOTH IRAQ AND SYRIA . THE STREET MOBS AND IMPATIENT YOUNG ARMY OFFICERS MAY WORSHIP NASSER, BUT ARAB STUDENTS AND INTELLECTUALS BOW BEFORE THE CREATOR OF BAATH, A TINY, BEAK-NOSED, MEEK-CHINNED SYRIAN NAMED MICHEL AFLAK . AFLAK, 53, AN ARAB CHRISTIAN WHO COUNTS HIS AMBER WORRY BEADS THREE AT A TIME, SHUNS CROWDS AND HOLDS NO POST IN ANY GOVERNMENT, MAKES AN INCONGRUOUS RIVAL TO THE BRASH, BURLY, GOOD-LOOKING NASSER . NO CROWDS HAVE EVER SHRIEKED OVER HIM, CHANTED HIS NAME OR PARADED HIS PICTURE . HE LIVES IN A SMALL, CRAMPED DAMASCUS APARTMENT WITH A FRAYED CARPET, CHEAP FURNITURE, AND CLOTHES DRYING ON A BALCONY WASHLINE . HIS TWO INFANT CHILDREN TODDLE ABOUT AND, LAST WEEK, CLAMBERED ON THE LAPS OF GENERALS AND CABINET MINISTERS WHO CROWDED AFLAK'S PARLOR . THE SON OF A NATIONALIST-MINDED SHOPKEEPER, AFLAK PASSIONATELY EMBRACED THE IDEAL OF ARAB UNITY AS A DAMASCUS SCHOOLBOY . HIS EDUCATION AT THE SORBONNE IN PARIS, WHERE HE GRADUATED WITH HONORS IN HISTORY, WAS FINANCED BY A SUCCESSFUL UNCLE WHO HAD EMIGRATED TO BRAZIL . AFTER A BRIEF TEACHING CAREER AT A DAMASCUS LYCEE, AFLAK RESIGNED IN 1942 TO DEVOTE HIS LIFE TO POLITICS AND TO HIS PERSONAL CREATION, THE BAATH PARTY . WHAT AFLAK CREATED WAS A MYSTIC AND LYRICAL HYMN TO WAHADI ARABIYA (ARAB ONENESS), AND HE OVERFLOWS WITH SUCH SENTIMENTS AS " NATIONALISM IS LOVE BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE, " AND " A NEW PAGE IS OPEN, THE PAGE OF THOSE WHO WALK WITH NAKED SOULS AS IF THEY WERE IN THEIR OWN BEDROOM . " HE DEFINES REVOLUTION AS " THAT POWERFUL PSYCHIC CURRENT, THAT MANDATORY STRUGGLE, WITHOUT WHICH THE REAWAKENING OF A NATION CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD . " THE BAATH SLOGAN, " UNITY, FREEDOM, SOCIALISM, " WAS BLANDLY APPROPRIATED BY NASSER FOR HIS OWN USE, BUT NASSER HAS SHOWN NO EAGERNESS TO TAKE OVER OTHER BAATH TENETS, SUCH AS FREE ELECTIONS, FREE PRESS, AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ASSEMBLY . FROM SYRIA, BAATHISM MOVED SWIFTLY TO IRAQ AND JORDAN, MORE SLOWLY TO KUWAIT AND SAUDI ARABIA . ALTHOUGH THE PARTY IS ANTIBOURGEOIS, MOST OF ITS ADHERENTS COME FROM MIDDLE-CLASS INTELLECTUALS AND SMALL SHOPKEEPERS . BAATH MADE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENTS NERVOUS WITH ITS SOCIALISM (WHICH IS ACTUALLY A BLEND OF MILD MARXISM AND THE NEW DEAL), AND WAS ATTACKED BY THE COMMUNISTS AS A DEVIATING EXPONENT OF WEAK LIBERALISM . IN SYRIA, DURING THE COURSE OF 14 YEARS AND NINE DIFFERENT COUPS, THE BAATH PARTY BOBBED UP AND DOWN . NOT UNTIL 1958, WHEN SYRIA'S COMMUNISTS WERE PLOTTING AN ARMED TAKEOVER, WERE THE BAATHISTS ABLE TO STAMPEDE SYRIAN CONSERVATIVES INTO ACCEPTING UNITY WITH EGYPT AS THE LESSER EVIL . SLIPPED BORDER . UNITY WAS OBTAINED, BUT AT A HIGH PRICE . ONCE IN CONTROL, NASSER INSISTED ON THE ABOLITION OF ALL PARTIES, BAATH INCLUDED, AND FIXED ON SYRIA THE SAME TIGHT CONTROLS AND SECURITY-POLICE SYSTEM AS IN EGYPT . DESIGNATED AS THE NORTHERN REGION OF THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC, SYRIA WAS FLOODED BY OFFICIOUS EGYPTIAN BRASS AND CRAMPED BY NASSER'S AUTHORITARIAN ECONOMIC SCHEMES . SYRIAN OFFICERS WHO PROTESTED FOUND THEMSELVES TRANSFERRED TO DUTY DEEP IN EGYPT ; CIVILIANS QUICKLY LANDED IN JAIL . AT LAST, EVEN MICHEL AFLAK REBELLED AND ORDERED THE BAATH CABINET MINISTERS TO RESIGN IN A BODY, SETTING THE STAGE FOR SYRIA'S ANGRY SECESSION FROM THE U.A.R . IN IRAQ THE BAATH PARTY FACED CRISIS FROM THE MOMENT DICTATOR KARIM KASSEM ESTABLISHED HIS BLOODY DICTATORSHIP IN 1958 . THE BAATHISTS PARTICIPATED IN AN ARMED REVOLT IN THE OIL CENTER OF MOSUL, WHICH KASSEM SAVAGELY SUPPRESSED WITH THE HELP OF IRAQ'S COMMUNIST MILITIA . A BAATHIST GROUP TRIED TO KILL KASSEM, BUT FAILED AND WAS BUTCHERED . FINALLY, LAST MONTH, BAATHIST POLITICIANS AND PRO-NASSER MILITARY MEN ORGANIZED AND EXECUTED THE COUP THAT RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF KASSEM AND THE SLAUGHTER OF HUNDREDS OF HIS COMMUNIST ALLIES . FOUR WEEKS LATER WITH FAR LESS BLOOD BAATHISTS AND PRO-NASSER OFFICERS IN DAMASCUS BRUSHED ASIDE THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT OF SYRIA . THE WAY AT LAST WAS OPEN FOR THE UNITY THAT EVERYONE HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT . COMPLETE LESSON . THE DIFFICULTY, OF COURSE, IS THAT EVERYONE WANTS UNITY ON HIS OWN TERMS . EVEN JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN, WHO IS ANATHEMA TO NASSER AND THE BAATHISTS, SAYS HE HOPES FOR EVENTUAL RECONCILIATION WITH HIS ENEMIES AND ADMISSION OF JORDAN INTO THE ARAB UNION . IF NECESSARY, HUSSEIN TOLD NEWSMEN, HE WOULD ABDICATE TO ACHIEVE ARAB UNITY . BUT HE QUICKLY ADDED, " PROVIDED IT'S UNITY ON A PROPER BASIS . " MICHEL AFLAK REPLIES : " JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA ARE WELCOME TO JOIN THE ARAB UNION, BUT NOT WITH THEIR PRESENT REGIMES AND RULERS . " IN CAIRO PRESIDENT NASSER HAS GIVEN EVERY INDICATION THAT HE INTENDS TO AVOID THE MISTAKES MADE DURING THE HURRIED AND ILL-FATED UNION WITH SYRIA . " THE MAIN REASON FOR THE LACK OF SUCCESS, " NASSER TOLD TIME LAST WEEK, " WAS THAT WE ACCEPTED COMPLETE UNION AND AMALGAMATION, INSTEAD OF FEDERATION AND SELF-GOVERNMENT IN BOTH STATES . " TO BEGIN DISCUSSION OF A BETTER SYSTEM, IRAQI AND SYRIAN DELEGATIONS FLEW INTO CAIRO FORTNIGHT AGO FOR PRELIMINARY TALKS WITH NASSER . LAST WEEK AN EVEN MORE HIGH-POWERED GROUP OF SYRIANS ARRIVED, HEADED BY MICHEL AFLAK AND PREMIER SALAH EL-BITAR, WITH THE INTENTION OF LAYING DOWN A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THE PROPOSED UNITY STRUCTURE . THIS WEEK ANOTHER SET OF DELEGATES FROM SYRIA AND IRAQ WILL RETURN TO CAIRO, EACH BRINGING A DRAFT PROJECT FOR A NEW UNION . NOISE IN ALEPPO . IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT ANY KIND OF FEDERATION WITH CENTRALIZED AUTHORITY WILL EMERGE . WHAT IS POSSIBLE IS A LOOSE ALLIANCE, WITH HARMONIZED DEFENSE AND FOREIGN POLICIES . THERE MIGHT ALSO BE A DEGREE OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION AMONG THE THREE NATIONS, POSSIBLY INCLUDING EVEN YEMEN, WHICH IS SO BACKWARD THAT IT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS " RUSHING INTO THE 13TH CENTURY . " SUCH A SYSTEM OF SOVEREIGN STATES WOULD REPRESENT A TACIT ADMISSION THAT ARABS ARE NOT ALL ALIKE AND THAT THEIR INTERESTS DO NOT ALWAYS COINCIDE . THE FACT THAT THE TALKS BETWEEN SYRIANS, IRAQIS AND EGYPTIANS HAVE NOT YET PRODUCED ANYTHING CONCRETE IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE FACT THAT THEY ARE, AT LEAST, TALKING TO ONE ANOTHER AND NOT SCREAMING IMPRECATIONS AS THEY HAVE DONE SO OFTEN IN THE PAST . BUT ALREADY SOME ARABS WERE BECOMING IMPATIENT . THERE WERE PRO-NASSER DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE SYRIAN PORT OF ALEPPO . IN DAMASCUS A TOUGH YOUNG NASSERITE WHO HAD MOVED DIRECTLY FROM A PRISON CELL TO AN ORNATE GOVERNMENT OFFICE DISMISSED THE BAATHISTS AS IDEOLOGISTS, NOT POLITICAL LEADERS . " WE ARE GOING TO RUN SYRIA WITH NASSER THE WAY WE WANT, " HE SAID . " WE ARE GOING TO UNITE WITH EGYPT THE WAY NASSER WANTS . " BLASTING PATHS ? THE FACT THAT THE MIDDLE EAST IS SO CONSISTENTLY COMBUSTIBLE AND HAS SO LOW AN IGNITION POINT MAKES ITS AFFAIRS OF DEEP IMPORTANCE TO OTHER POWERS . IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM LAST WEEK, ARABS WERE JARRED BY RECURRENT DULL EXPLOSIONS IN THE BORDER AREAS, AND THERE WAS SPECULATION THAT ISRAELI DEMOLITION SQUADS WERE BLOWING UP OLD MINES IN NOMAN'S LAND TO CLEAR LANES FOR AN ADVANCE INTO JORDAN SHOULD KING HUSSEIN BE OVERTHROWN BY NASSERITES . ISRAEL IS NOT IMPRESSED BY SUGGESTIONS THAT EGYPT'S RULER HAS GIVEN UP HIS DOMINEERING WAYS . ONE OFFICIAL IN TEL AVIV WARNED : " NASSER FINDS IT DIFFICULT TO RESIST TEMPTATION . SUCCESS TURNS HIS HEAD, AND BEING BASICALLY A MILITARY MAN, HE THINKS IN TERMS OF EXTERNAL EXPANSION . " THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SEES A HINT OF NASSER'S DREAMS OF GRANDEUR IN HIS YEMEN ADVENTURE, WHICH HAS ALREADY TIED UP ONE-THIRD OF HIS ARMY ISRAEL'S STATED POLICY IS THAT ANY CHANGE IN THE INTERNAL SITUATION OF HER ARAB NEIGHBORS AFFECTING THE SECURITY OF HER BORDERS WOULD FREE ISRAEL OF HER UNDERTAKING TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO . MANY ARABS FEAR THAT ISRAEL WOULD MOVE TROOPS STRAIGHT TO THE WEST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER . IF HUSSEIN'S REGIME COLLAPSES . FAT OR THIN . BRITAIN'S PRESENT RELATIONS WITH EGYPT ARE CORRECT BUT COOL . WHILE RECOGNIZING NASSER'S PRE-EMINENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD AND HIS GREAT ABILITIES, THE BRITISH REMAIN WARY OF THE MAN AND HIS POLICIES . UNDERSTANDABLY, BRITAIN IS WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ITS FEW REMAINING MIDDLE EAST COLONIES AND ITS IMPORTANT OIL INTERESTS . " NASSER'S OWN STAND ON OIL IS AMBIGUOUS, " COMPLAINS ONE DIPLOMAT . " OF COURSE, HE WOULD LIKE TO CONTROL OIL-RICH KUWAIT, BUT SO WOULD EVERYONE ELSE . " BRITISH AND U.S . OIL EXECUTIVES, THOUGH ADMITTING TO SOME UNEASINESS ABOUT NASSER'S INTENTIONS, SEE NO IMMEDIATE THREAT TO THE MIDDLE EAST'S DAILY FLOW OF 6,500,000 BBL . " WE HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH POLITICAL INSTABILITY, " SAYS ONE OILMAN STOICALLY . THEIR FEAR IS NOT THAT THE WEST WILL LOSE ACCESS TO THE MIDDLE EAST'S PROVEN OIL RESERVES OF 194 BILLION BBL., BUT THAT ANY NEW ARAB GROUPING MIGHT START A CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE THE PRODUCER'S PROFITS . " ARAB UNITY MAY BE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY, " EXPLAINED ONE OFFICIAL . " IT DEPENDS ON THE GOALS OF UNITY AND THESE ARE DIFFICULT TO DISCERN IN THE PRESENT SITUATION . " DRAWN LINE . SHARPLY HOSTILE AFTER NASSER'S SUEZ NATIONALIZATION, AND NERVOUS AT HIS FLIRTATION WITH THE COMMUNISTS, U.S . POLICY MORE RECENTLY HAS TURNED IN NASSER'S FAVOR . RECALLING THE DAYS NOT SO LONG AGO WHEN CAIRO RADIO WAS SPOUTING UGLY LIES ABOUT THE U.S., WASHINGTON IS NOT INCLINED TO BE NASSER'S SPONSOR . BUT THE U.S . CAN COOPERATE WITH THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS ON EVERY ARAB LIP . OFFICIALLY, THE U.S . AIMS AT ASSISTING ANY GOVERNMENT, NO MATTER WHAT ITS FORM, THAT APPEARS TO BE SINCERELY AND EFFECTIVELY WORKING FOR INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE GOOD OF ITS PEOPLE . WITH INDIFFERENCE TO SOCIAL SYSTEMS, THE U.S . HAS AIDED EGYPT ON THE LEFT AND IRAN ON THE RIGHT, RECOGNIZED THE MONARCHIES OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA AS WELL AS PRO-NASSER YEMEN . BUT THERE IS A LINE DRAWN BY THE U.S . " IF THE COLD WAR IN THE ARAB WORLD THREATENS THE LARGE AMERICAN INTERESTS IN, SAY, SAUDI ARABIA, WE'LL HAVE TO TAKE A STAND, " SAYS A U.S . OFFICIAL . SIMILARLY, THE U.S . CONSIDERS ITSELF NONALIGNED IN THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ARAB WORLD . WASHINGTON'S ATTITUDE TOWARD ARAB UNION IS STILL TIED TO A PRONOUNCEMENT MADE BY SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN FOSTER DULLES DURING THE EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION . DULLES SAID THEN, AND IT WAS REPEATED LAST WEEK IN WASHINGTON, THAT THE U.S . LOOKS WITH FAVOR ON ANY MOVEMENT TOWARD ARAB UNION THAT IS NOT IMPOSED FROM OUTSIDE THE ARAB WORLD . GREAT COUPS . NASSER TODAY TAKES AN INDULGENT VIEW OF THE U.S . HIS EARLIER RESENTMENTS, HE SAYS, RESULTED FROM AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO FORCE EGYPT INTO JOINING SUCH " IMPERIALIST " GROUPINGS AS THE MEDITERRANEAN DEFENSE ORGANIZATION AND THE BAGHDAD PACT . NASSER APPLAUDS THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION IN WASHINGTON BECAUSE " KENNEDY TRIED FROM THE FIRST TO UNDERSTAND US AND TO BE REALISTIC WHEN FACING THE ARAB WORLD . UNDER JOHN FOSTER DULLES, THE U.S . WITHDREW ITS AID FOR THE ASWAN DAM, WE FACED BLOCKADE AND EVEN THE BLOCKING OF OUR OWN MONEY IN U.S . BANKS . / HOWEVER, NASSER CONCEDES, " IT SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN THAT THE U.S . STOOD BY US IN THE UNITED NATIONS DURING THE SUEZ CRISIS, AND THAT LEFT A GOOD IMPRESSION . " PRESIDENT NASSER AND PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAVE BECOME CLOSE CORRESPONDENTS . " WE ARE VERY FRANK WITH EACH OTHER, " SAYS NASSER . " WE DON'T EXCHANGE DIPLOMATIC WORDS BUT EXPRESS HONEST AND FRANK OPINIONS . I BELIEVE WE HAVE BUILT UP A CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER . " THE CONFIDENCE EXTENDS TO U.S . AMBASSADOR JOHN BADEAU, WHO SPEAKS FLUENT ARABIC AND HAS UNLIMITED ACCESS TO NASSER, WHILE HIS BRITISH COUNTERPART SEES NASSER ONLY TWICE A YEAR AT FORMAL MEETINGS . THE COMMUNISTS ARE SO CONVINCED THAT THE U.S . CONTROLS EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT THE POLISH AMBASSADOR IN CAIRO STOPPED A U.S . DIPLOMAT AT THE ENTRANCE TO A LUNCHEON PARTY AND SAID BITTERLY : " I MUST CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENTS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA . YOU HAVE MADE TWO GREAT COUPS . " JIGGLED LEG . AT WEEK'S END IN CAIRO, THE CONFERENCES ON ARAB UNITY DRONED ON TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF CIGARETTE SMOKE AND ENDLESS SMALL CUPS OF COFFEE . NASSER SAT IN ON THE NEGOTIATIONS, SERENELY CONFIDENT THAT WHAT FINALLY EMERGED WOULD BE WHAT HE WANTED . AT 45, NASSER'S HAIR HAS GREYED AT THE TEMPLES, AND HE HAS GIVEN UP TENNIS FOR THE LESS DEMANDING SPORT OF SWIMMING . HE APPEARS AS PHYSICALLY FIT AS EVER AND RETAINS HIS OLD NERVOUS HABITS OF JIGGLING HIS LEG WHILE SITTING, AND OF SMOKING FIVE PACKS OF L . & M.S A DAY ; LIKE MOST EGYPTIANS, HE CANNOT STAND THE LOCAL BRANDS . HE STILL WORKS TWELVE AND 18 HOURS AT A CLIP AND IS STILL THE ONLY MAN IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO CAN BE REACHED AT ANY HOUR . A CLOSE AIDE SAYS : " I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE GETTING CHEWED OUT FOR CALLING NASSER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT . I DO KNOW OF MANY WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN UNSHIRTED HELL FOR NOT CALLING HIM WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENED . HE WON'T LIKE YOU TO SAY THIS, BUT IT IS STILL STRICTLY A ONE-MAN SHOW . HE HAS LOTS OF GOOD TECHNICAL HELP, BUT HE TRUSTS NO ONE ELSE WITH POLITICS . " EVEN MORE THAN RUSSIANS, ARABS EXPRESS THEIR FOLK WISDOM IN PROVERBS, RANGING FROM THE CAUTIONARY (SEE COVER) TO THE RACIALLY SKEPTICAL ( " BETTER THE TYRANNY OF THE TURKS THAN THE JUSTICE OF THE ARABS " ) . THERE ARE PROVERBS APLENTY TO FIT THE DREAM OF UNITY . TO THE AMBITIOUS NASSER, OTHER ARAB LEADERS MIGHT POINT OUT THE ONE THAT SAYS, " THE CAMEL DRIVER HAS HIS PLANS, AND THE CAMEL HAS HIS . " BUT PROVERBS ARE ECLIPSED BY POWER, AND LAST WEEK NOTHING WAS MORE CERTAIN THAN THAT WHATEVER UNITY SCHEME EMERGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, MUST, FIRST OF ALL, BE SATISFACTORY TO GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . FOR OF ALL THE REVOLUTIONS INVOLVED, ONLY HIS IN EGYPT HAS SURVIVED AND PROSPERED FOR A FULL TEN YEARS .
 GREAT BRITAIN WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO CHRISTINE KEELER ? SHE WAS JUST ANOTHER GIRL FROM MIDDLESEX WHO CALLED HERSELF A MODEL A EUPHEMISM AS VAGUE AS " STARLET " AND WITH JUST AS MANY IMPLICATIONS . BUT LEGGY, REDHEADED CHRISTINE KEELER, 21, MANAGED TO MOVE IN MAYFAIR'S SMARTEST CIRCLES AND NUMBERED AMONG HER WIDE RANGE OF GENTLEMEN ACQUAINTANCES TOP NAMES IN LONDON'S POLITICAL, SOCIAL, DIPLOMATIC AND SHOW BUSINESS WORLDS . LAST WEEK THE SOCIAL LIFE OF CHRISTINE KEELER, ONETIME WAITRESS AND FULLTIME PLAYGIRL, WAS ALL OVER THE FRONT PAGES OF THE BRITISH PRESS . CHRISTINE'S SPONSOR WAS A SOCIAL GADABOUT NAMED STEPHEN WARD, 43, AN ARTIST AND OSTEOPATH WHO LIVES IN A THAMESSIDE SUMMER HOUSE ON VISCOUNT ASTOR'S FAMED ESTATE AT CLIVEDEN . / I KNOW A LOT OF VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE AND AM OFTEN RECEIVED IN SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS HOMES IN THE COUNTRY, " SAYS WARD . " SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL AND MANY LEADING POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN AMONG MY PATIENTS ; PRINCE PHILIP, THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT AND LORD SNOWDON HAVE BEEN AMONG MY SITTERS . " WARD ALSO HAD A GENUINE INTEREST IN YOUNG GIRLS OF HUMBLE ORIGIN . " I LIKE PRETTY GIRLS, " HE SAYS . " I AM SENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS AND THE STRESSES OF MODERN LIVING . " TO THE GREAT AND NEAR GREAT, WARD INTRODUCED " ATTRACTIVE YOUNG GIRLS LIKE CHRISTINE KEELER, WHO COME FROM THE PROVINCES OR THE REMOTE SUBURBS " AND FOR WHOM " LONDON IS A BATTLEFIELD . " CHAIN OF EVENTS . WARD ARRANGED AN UNSUCCESSFUL SCREEN TEST FOR CHRISTINE WITH DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR., INTRODUCED HER TO A NAVAL ATTACHE AT THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY, AND TO A " SENIOR NAVAL OFFICER OF THE AMERICAN FLEET WHO SORTED OUT HER PROBLEMS . " BUT CHRISTINE, SAID WARD, ALSO HAD " OCCASIONAL FOOLHARDY ADVENTURES IN THE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD OF COLORED MEN . " ONE DAY LAST DECEMBER, JOHNNIE EDGECOMBE, CHRISTINE'S WEST INDIAN LOVER, SHOWED UP OUTSIDE WARD'S WEST END FLAT, WHERE CHRISTINE WAS VISITING, AND FIRED SEVERAL SHOTS AT THE DOOR . POLICE CARTED JOHNNIE AWAY AND TAGGED CHRISTINE TO BE A PRINCIPAL WITNESS AT HIS TRIAL . THEN CAME A PECULIAR CHAIN OF EVENTS . CHRISTINE KEELER FAILED TO SHOW UP FOR JOHNNIE'S TRIAL, AND THE LEADING NEWSPAPERS HINTED THAT CHRISTINE FEARED CROSS-EXAMINATION ABOUT HER PRIVATE LIFE AND HAD DROPPED OUT OF SIGHT TO PROTECT HER PROMINENT FRIENDS . ON TOP OF THAT CAME NEWS THAT WARD'S CLIVEDEN HOUSE, THE SCENE OF MANY A FASHIONABLE PARTY AND FORTUITOUS INTRODUCTION, HAD BEEN RANSACKED ; WARD'S LETTERS WERE STOLEN, AND SCATTERED ALL OVER THE FLOOR WERE A NUDE PHOTOGRAPH OF CHRISTINE AND A SLEW OF PORNOGRAPHIC PICTURES, WHICH WARD CLAIMED WERE NOT HIS . IN WHITEHALL AND IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS SMOKING ROOMS, RUMORS BEGAN CIRCULATING THAT ONE OF CHRISTINE'S MANY ACQUAINTANCES WAS A GOVERNMENT MINISTER . CHEEK TO CHEEK . AT A LATE-NIGHT COMMONS SESSION LAST WEEK, A LABOR M.P . UNEXPECTEDLY ASKED THE GOVERNMENT " TO DENY THE TRUTH OF THESE RUMORS :. INVOLVING A MEMBER OF THE GOVERNMENT'S FRONT BENCH . " ANOTHER M.P . TRIED TO MAKE LIGHT OF THE ISSUE . " WHAT DO THESE RUMORS AMOUNT TO ? " HE SAID . " THEY AMOUNT TO THE FACT THAT A MINISTER HAS AN ACQUAINTANCE WITH A VERY PRETTY GIRL . I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THAT WAS A MATTER FOR CONGRATULATION RATHER THAN ENQUIRY . / BUT LEFT-WING LABORITE BARBARA CASTLE INSISTED ON GETTING BACK TO THE QUESTION OF " MISS CHRISTINE KEELER, MISSING CALL GIRL, VANISHED WITNESS . " WHAT, SHE ASKED,  " IF THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE OF MUCH GREATER IMPORTANCE ? WHAT IF THERE IS A QUESTION OF THE PERVERSION OF JUSTICE AT STAKE ? / FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANSWER NEXT MORNING, THE COMMONS WAS PACKED . ON THE FRONT BENCH WITH PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN SAT URBANE TORY SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR JOHN PROFUMO, 48, WHOSE BEAUTIFUL ACTRESS WIFE VALERIE (GREAT EXPECTATIONS) HOBSON SAT QUIETLY IN THE SPEAKER'S GALLERY OVERHEAD . PROFUMO ROSE AND CALMLY SAID, " I UNDERSTAND THAT MY NAME HAS BEEN CONNECTED WITH THE RUMORS ABOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS KEELER . / INDEED, PROFUMO SAID, HE AND HIS WIFE HAD MET CHRISTINE AT CLIVEDEN, AND HE HAD SUBSEQUENTLY SEEN HER " ON ABOUT SIX OCCASIONS AT DR. WARD'S FLAT " IN LONDON . " I LAST SAW MISS KEELER IN DECEMBER 1961, AND I HAVE NOT SEEN HER SINCE . ANY SUGGESTION THAT I WAS IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH OR RESPONSIBLE FOR HER ABSENCE FROM THE TRIAL IS WHOLLY  AND COMPLETELY UNTRUE . THERE HAS BEEN NO IMPROPRIETY BETWEEN MYSELF AND MISS KEELER . I SHALL NOT HESITATE TO ISSUE WRITS FOR LIBEL AND SLANDER IF SCANDALOUS STATEMENTS ARE MADE OUTSIDE THIS HOUSE . / AFTER THE TWO-MINUTE SPEECH, PROFUMO AND HIS WIFE LEFT THE COMMONS FOR THE RACES AT SANDOWN PARK, WHERE THEY WERE THE GUESTS IN THE ROYAL BOX OF THE QUEEN MOTHER . THAT NIGHT THE PROFUMOS DANCED CHEEK TO CHEEK AT A TORY PARTY BALL .
 MOSCOW'S IMAGE MAKERS WITH ALL THE HOOPLA ABOUT AMERICAN PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF MOSCOW LAST WEEK, ONE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT MADISON AVENUE HAD BEEN MOVED TO GORKY STREET . FIRST CAME ENDORSEMENT OF BLUE JEANS, A COMMODITY THE KREMLIN HAD ALWAYS DISDAINED AS A CAPITALIST FAD WORN ONLY BY PARASITES . NONSENSE, DECLARED IZVESTIA, " TEXAS TROUSERS " ARE / VERY USEFUL, " ADDING REASSURINGLY THAT " THE ORIGIN OF BLUE JEANS IS NOT WITH HOLLYWOOD MOVIE STARS, BUT WITH REAL COWBOYS, WHO DON'T TAKE PART IN WILD CHASES AND ROMANTIC GUNPLAY, BUT IN HONEST AND HARD WORK . / NEXT, IT WAS NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S TURN TO PEDDLE TWO OTHER U.S . ITEMS : POTATO CHIPS AND CORNFLAKES . ALMOST WISTFULLY, HE PAUSED IN A REPORT TO RECALL HIS TRIP TO THE U.S . IN 1959, AND HOW " WE SAT THERE IN THE PLANE, TALKING AND MUNCHING FACTORYMADE FRIED POTATO CHIPS . THEY WERE NUTRITIOUS AND TASTY . AND THEY ARE CHEAP . " KHRUSHCHEV'S PLUG FOR CORNFLAKES WAS EQUALLY ENTHUSIASTIC . MANY PEOPLE IN THE U.S . AND BRITAIN, HE REPORTED, HAPPILY BREAKFAST ON " VITAMINIZED FLAKES OF CORN WHICH ARE EATEN WITH MILK . " UNFORTUNATELY, HE ADDED, " WE CONSUME CORN IN NIGGARDLY AMOUNTS BECAUSE INDUSTRY DOES NOT PRODUCE THE FOODS WE NEED CATCHING THE SPIRIT, IZVESTIA MADE ONE FINAL SUGGESTION : RUSSIANS SHOULD EAT MORE POPCORN CALLED " AIR CORN " BY THE SOVIETS . " THE AMERICANS LOVE IT . CHILDREN AND ADULTS ENJOY IT . THEY SELL SMALL PACKAGES IN THEATERS, RAILROAD STATIONS AND AIRPORTS . " SOVIET FAMILIES WOULD LOVE IT ALSO, SAID THE NEWSPAPER, WHICH HELPFULLY GAVE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GROW HYBRID CORN FOR POPPING .
 FRANCE 6,000 MILES FROM HOME FORMER PREMIER MICHEL DEBRE IS SUCH A LISTLESS POLITICAL PERSONALITY THAT A CURRENT JOKE SAYS HE WAS ONCE SEEN RIDING IN AN EMPTY LIMOUSINE . HE HAS A FUSSY MANNER AND A FLAT- WHINING VOICE THAT SOMEHOW RUB POLITICIANS AND MANY OTHER FRENCHMEN THE WRONG WAY, OBSCURING HIS CONSIDERABLE ADMINISTRATIVE TALENTS . IN CHARLES DE GAULLE'S ELECTORAL LANDSLIDE LAST NOVEMBER, DEBRE THE DEDICATED GAULLIST, MAJOR ARCHITECT OF THE FIFTH REPUBLIC'S CONSTITUTION, AND THE MAN WHO SERVED A LONGER UNINTERRUPTED PERIOD AS PREMIER (1,193 DAYS) THAN ANY OTHER IN FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY WAS IGNOMINIOUSLY DEFEATED IN HIS OWN CAREFULLY CULTIVATED RURAL CONSTITUENCY BY A LOCAL GARAGE OWNER . DE GAULLE, WHO HIMSELF HAD USED DEBRE AS WHIPPING BOY FOR MANY OF THE REGIME'S MISTAKES, SOON FOUND, HOWEVER, THAT HE SORELY MISSED DEBRE'S PARLIAMENTARY SKILL . GAULLIST AIDES BEGAN TO PONDER WAYS TO GET HIM BACK INTO THE LEGISLATURE, WHERE, IF ELECTED, HE WAS LIKELY TO BECOME MAJORITY LEADER . TROUBLE WAS, NO GAULLIST FACTION IN FRANCE ITSELF WANTED HIM . BUT AT LAST A CONSTITUENCY WAS FOUND WHERE DEBRE SEEMED UNLIKELY TO LOSE WEEK THE FORMER PREMIER GULPED HARD AND ACCEPTED A BID TO RUN FOR OFFICE ON REUNION ISLAND, A TINY FRENCH DOT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN NEARLY 6,000 MILES FROM PARIS .
 SWEDEN CAUGHT IN A DROUGHT WHEN 40 YEARS OF LIQUOR RATIONING ENDED IN 1955, MOST SWEDES LAID IN AMPLE RESERVE STOCKS, VOWING NEVER TO BE CAUGHT SHORT AGAIN . BUT THERE THEY WERE, WITH CUPBOARDS BARE LAST WEEK, AMIDST THE DIREST SHORTAGE SINCE THE HEIGHT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROLS . TROUBLE FOR THE HARD-DRINKING SWEDES BEGAN WHEN FOREMEN OF THE STATE WINE AND LIQUOR MONOPOLY DISTILLERIES WENT OUT ON STRIKE FOUR WEEKS AGO . THE GOVERNMENT DECLINED THEIR DEMANDS FOR LONGER VACATIONS . AS A RESULT, THE DISTILLERIES CLOSED UP TIGHT, AND THE COUNTRY BEGAN TO DRY UP FAST . LAST WEEK WINES, WHISKIES AND LIQUEURS WERE ALL BUT GONE, AND, EVEN WORSE, THE SHOPS WERE RUNNING OUT OF AKVAVIT, SWEDEN'S FAVORITE DRINK . AS ALARMED SWEDES LINED UP AT STATERUN PACKAGE STORES TO BUY WHAT THEY COULD, THE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED AKVAVIT SALES TO A BOTTLE PER CUSTOMER . AND WORD WENT OUT THAT UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE THIS WEEK, FULLY A THIRD OF ALL SWEDEN'S LIQUOR STORES WILL BE OUT OF AKVAVIT ALTOGETHER . BOOTLEGGERS TURNED UP FURTIVELY WITH THE POPULAR BRANNVIN AKVAVIT, ASKING $20 FOR THE BOTTLE WHICH NORMALLY SELLS FOR $5 . " A DISASTER, " MUTTERED ONE SWEDE, WAITING HIS TURN IN A STOCKHOLM QUEUE . IN THE SOUTH, SOME DESPERATE SWEDES WERE EVEN HOPPING FERRIES ACROSS TO DENMARK TO SEEK RELIEF AT COPENHAGEN BARS . RESTRICTING MOST MEN TO THREE QUARTS PER MONTH, AUSTERE BY SWEDISH STANDARDS .
 SIKKIM WHERE THERE'S HOPE GUESTS IN TOP HATS AND CUTAWAYS MINGLED WITH OTHERS IN FUR-FLAPPED CAPS AND KNEE-LENGTH YAKSKIN BOOTS LAST WEEK OUTSIDE THE TINY BUDDHIST CHAPEL IN SIKKIM'S DOLLHOUSE HIMALAYAN CAPITAL OF GANGTOK . WEDDING PARCELS FROM TIFFANY'S WERE PILED SIDE BY SIDE WITH BUNDLED GIFTS OF RANKSMELLING TIGER AND LEOPARD SKINS . OVER 28,146-FT . MOUNT KANCHENJUNGA, THE WORLD'S THIRD HIGHEST MOUNTAIN AND SIKKIM'S " PROTECTING DEITY, " HUNG A BLUE HAZE . IT WAS AN " AUSPICIOUS SIGN, " SAID GANGTOK ASTROLOGERS, FOR THE WEDDING OF A QUIET, BLUE-EYED NEW YORK GIRL, HOPE COOKE, 22, AND GYALSAY RIMPOCHE MAHARAJKUMAR PALDEN THONDUP NAMGYAL, 39, CROWN PRINCE OF THE INDIAN PROTECTORATE OF SIKKIM, A TINY TERRITORY THE SIZE OF DELAWARE, WHICH HAS 3,000 VARIETIES OF RHODODENDRONS, AND WHERE, ACCORDING TO LOCAL LEGEND, THE DEVILS ALWAYS TRAVEL UPHIL . THE AMERICAN TOUCH . THE WARD OF FORMER U.S . AMBASSADOR TO IRAN SELDEN CHAPIN AND A GRADUATE IN ORIENTAL STUDIES FROM SARAH LAWRENCE,* HOPE MET HER WIDOWED FUTURE HUSBAND FOUR YEARS AGO WHILE SHE WAS VACATIONING AT THE INDIAN RESORT OF DARJEELING . BUT WHEN THE COUPLE ANNOUNCED PLANS TO MARRY LAST YEAR, SIKKIMESE SOOTHSAYERS FORCED THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE WEDDING BECAUSE OF THEIR FORECAST THAT 1962 WAS " A BLACK YEAR " FOR THE MARRIAGE . THUS HOPE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL LAST WEEK TO BECOME THE FIRST AMERICAN GIRL TO WED ROYALTY SINCE THE DAUGHTER OF A FORMER PHILADELPHIA BRICKLAYER MARRIED MONACO'S PRINCE RAINIER IN 1956 . HOPE'S WEDDING DRESS WAS A WRAPAROUND, FROST-WHITE BROCADE SILK MOKEY, HELD IN AT THE WAIST BY A GOLD BELT, FROM WHICH HUNG A SMALL DAGGER . TO WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS, HOPE PRESSED HER HAND INTO A PIECE OF DOUGH . A PAIR OF HOLY MEN CONDUCTED HER TO THE CHAPEL, WHERE SHE WAS GREETED BY A FANFARE OF TRUMPETING, 10FT.-LONG HIMALAYAN HORNS, BRAYING CONCH SHELLS, AND BOOMING BASS DRUMS . OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL DOOR WAS THE ONLY DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN TOUCH IN THE $60,000 BUDDHIST RITE A MAT ON WHICH WAS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH, " GOOD LUCK . " BILLIONS OF DEITIES . DURING THE 50MINUTE BUDDHIST CEREMONY, HOPE SAT ON A THRONE SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE CROWN PRINCE, WHO IN TURN WAS SEATED LOWER THAN HIS FATHER, THE 69-YEAR-OLD MAHARAJAH OF SIKKIM . AFTER DRINKING TEA LACED WITH YAK BUTTER, A RED-ROBED BUDDHIST LAMA IN A FLAME-SHAPED HAT INVOKED THE BLESSINGS OF THE SNOW LIONS AND BILLIONS OF OTHER SIKKIMESE DEITIES . NO WEDDING VOWS WERE SPOKEN ; THE COUPLE MERELY EXCHANGED 12-FT.-LONG WHITE SILK SCARVES, WHICH WERE HUNG AROUND EACH OTHER'S NECK TO SEAL THEIR MARRIAGE CONTRACT . THE END OF THE CEREMONY SET OFF A FOURDAY CELEBRATION IN GANGTOK, WHOSE NORMAL POPULATION OF 12,000 SWELLED TO 15,000 FOR THE EVENT . MOUNTAIN TRIBESMEN IN BLUE PAJAMALIKE CLOTHES DANCED IN THE STREETS . MIXING HAPPILY WITH THE CELEBRATORS, HOPE SETTLED INTO HER NEW ROLE WITH APLOMB . WHEN A PIGTAILED SIKKIMESE GIRL ASKED FOR HER AUTOGRAPH, THE NEW CROWN PRINCESS SIGNED WITHOUT A MOMENT'S HESITATION : " HOPE NAMGYAL . HOPE IS THE DAUGHTER OF MR . AND MRS . JOHN J . COOKE . WHEN HER PARENTS WERE DIVORCED, CUSTODY OF HOPE WAS GIVEN TO HER MOTHER . WHEN HER MOTHER DIED, SHE BECAME THE WARD OF HER MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS, MR . AND MRS . WINCHESTER NOYES . WHEN THEY DIED, SHE BECAME THE WARD OF HER UNCLE, AMBASSADOR CHAPIN .
 BALI THE GODS SPEAK WHEN JAVA WAS LOST TO THE MOHAMMEDANS 485 YEARS AGO, SO THE LEGEND GOES, THE DISGUSTED HINDU GODS HUNTED AROUND FOR A NEW HOME . THEY CHOSE THE ISLAND OF BALI, AND SINCE THEIR EXALTED RANK DEMANDED A HIGH DWELLING PLACE, THEY CREATED A CHIN OF MOUNTAINSE MOST SACRED EASTERN END OF THE ISLAND, THE GODS ERECTED THE HIGHEST OF BALI'S MOUNTAINS, THE 10,308FOOT VOLCANO OF GUNUNG AGUNG, REGARDED BY THE BALINESE AS " THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD . " HALFWAY UP THE SLOPE OF AGUNG, THE PIOUS BALINESE BUILT THE HUGE MOTHER TEMPLE OF BESAKIH, AND EVERY HUNDRED YEARS THEY HAVE HELD A SOLEMN RITE THERE TO RID THE ISLAND OF GHOSTS . LAST WEEK, IN THE MIDST OF THE ONCE-A-CENTURY FESTIVAL, AGUNG ERUPTED WITH CATASTROPHIC FURY . AGUNG GAVE FAIR WARNING . ONLY LAST MONTH, AFTER MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF INACTIVITY, IT BURST FORTH WITH A SHOWER OF SMOKE AND BRIMSTONE THAT KILLED 17 PERSONS . THERE WAS WORRIED TALK ON BALI THAT THE GODS WERE ANGRY BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAD NOT ASKED PERMISSION TO HOLD THEIR FESTIVAL . BUT THE PRIESTS AND THEIR DISCIPLES STAYED ON TO PRAY . AT 7 O'CLOCK ONE MORNING, AGUNG ERUPTED AGAIN . THE VILLAGES OF SEBUDI, SORGAH, AND SEBIH WERE ENGULFED BY A LETHAL BLACK CLOUD OF SEARING, 230O ASH THAT ROASTED HUNDREDS WHERE THEY KNELT . RIVERS OF GREY-BLACK LAVA BOILED OVER AGUN'S SOUTHERN LIP AND FLOWED IN FIERY RIVULETS DOWN STREAM BEDS, RAISING CLOUDS OF STEAM ; HEAVY RAINS, POSSIBLY CAUSED BY THE HEAT OF THE VOLCANO, MIXED WITH THE SULPHUROUS ASH TO FORM AN ACID THAT KILLED PLANT LIFE FOR FIVE MILES AROUND . FOR FIVE DAYS AGUNG BELCHED DEATH . AT WEEK'S END HHE DEATH TOLL STOOD AT CLOSE TO 1,200, AND ANOTHER 200,000 WERE LEFT HOMELESS . AS SURVIVORS STREAMED INTO TOWNS AT THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN, MANY SUFFERING THIRD-DEGREE BURNS FROM A TREK OVER BEDS OF SMOLDERING ASHES, INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO DECLARED ALL BALI A DISASTER AREA . THERE WAS LITTLE HOPE THAT AGUNG'S FURY WAS OVER . EXPERTS IN DJAKARTA PREDICTED EVEN MORE VIOLENT ERUPTIONS TO COME AND ORDERED ALL RESIDENTS TO LEAVE THE AREA FOR AT LEAST TWO MONTHS .
 SOUTH KOREA SQUEEZE IN SEOUL IN SOUTH KOREA LAST WEEK, A FARMER NAMED SONG KYU IL TRAVELED ALL THE WAY FROM THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES TO PARADE BEFORE SEOUL'S DUK SOO PALACE WITH A PLACARD SCRAWLED IN HIS OWN BLOOD : GENERAL PARK, PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO SETTLE THE CRISIS . FARMER SONG WAS THROWN IN JAIL, ALONG WITH SOME 200 OTHER DEMONSTRATORS WHO OPENLY PROTESTED SOUTH KOREAN STRONGMAN GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE'S BROKEN PROMISE TO CALL GENERAL ELECTIONS IN MAY AND HAND OVER POWER TO THE CIVILIANS . THE WHOLESALE ARRESTS ONLY SERVED TO ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION TO THE NOISY CAMPAIGN OF FORMER PRESIDENT YUN PO SUN, 65, AND NEW RULE PARTY LEADER HUH CHUNG, 67, WHO TOUCHED OFF THE UPROAR WITH A SERIES OF ANTIGOVERNMENT MEETINGS . JUNTA LEADERS WERE RELUCTANT TO ARREST YUN AND HUH FOR FEAR THEY WOULD BECOME POLITICAL MARTYRS . BUT THE MEN AROUND PARK DID NOT HESITATE TO REJECT THE OPPOSITION DEMANDS . DEFENSE MINISTER KIM SUNG UN SUMMONED 160 TOP MILITARY MEN TO SEOUL FOR A STRATEGY MEETING, LATER TOOK TO A NATIONWIDE RADIO HOOKUP TO SPEAK FOR THEM : " WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT . THERE ARE SEEDS OF UNEASINESS IN THE COUNTRY, AND THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TRANSFER THE GOVERNMENT TO CIVILIANS . " THEN, TO MAKE THE POINT MORE EMPHATICALLY, ALL 160 OFFICERS RODE GRANDLY THROUGH THE STREETS OF SEOUL IN A CONVOY OF MILITARY JEEPS . IT WAS GENERAL PARK HIMSELF WHO FELT THE SQUEEZE, FOR HE WAS LESS INTERESTED THAN THE REST OF HIS JUNTA IN RETAINING POWER IN THE HANDS OF THE ARMY . BUT HE COULD NOT BOW TO THE CLAMORING CIVILIANS, OR EVEN TO THE PRESSURE APPLIED FROM WASHINGTON BY U.S . AMBASSADOR SAMUEL BERGER LAST WEEK . FOR IF HE REVERSED HIMSELF YET ANOTHER TIME TO SUPPORT THE CIVILIANS, A MILITARY COUP MIGHT WELL TOPPLE HIM OVERNIGHT .
 RUSSIA THE REASONS WHY ISMAIL Y. YUSUPOV, 48, KNEW THAT HE HAD A TOUGH ROW TO HOE WHEN HE WAS NAMED COMMUNIST PARTY BOSS IN THE PROBLEM-PLAGUED VIRGIN LANDS OF KAZAHKSTAN (TIME, JAN . 4) . BUT HE COULD HARDLY HAVE GUESSED THE EXTENT OF THE MESS HE WOULD INHERIT FROM HIS PURGED PREDECESSOR . LAST WEEK YUSUPOV PUBLISHED A REPORT CHARGING THAT MORE THAN $600 MILLION HAD BEEN WASTED DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS ON ILLCONCEIVED PROJECTS ; NO FEWER THAN 16,139 REGIONAL OFFICIALS WERE FIRED LAST YEAR ALONE, 2,340 OF THEM FOR STEALING AND EMBEZZLING $1,270,000 . A GANG OF CROOKS LED BY THE CHIEF OF THE TSELINOGRAD TRADE BOARD FAKED REPORTS, RIGGED PHONY PRICES, AND SOLD MEAT, BUTTER AND AUTOMOBILES ON THE BLACK MARKET ; IN PAVLODAR, THREE MEN MANAGED TO MAKE OFF WITH NO FEWER THAN 300,000 BOTTLES OF WINE AND VODKA . THE ENTIRE PARTY AND GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP OF THE KZYL ORDA REGION MASTERMINDED A RING OF CATTLE RUSTLERS ; THE LOCAL COMMUNIST CHIEF ORGANIZED BLACKJACK GAMES AND SET OFF AN " EPIDEMIC OF GAMBLING . " SINCE YUSUPOV'S OWN HEAD WAS NOW ON THE BLOCK, THERE WAS ALMOST A PLAINTIVE NOTE IN HIS CONCLUDING QUESTION : " CAN ONE BE EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE GOOD FARMING RESULTS UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS ? " HE HAD A READY ANSWER : " OF COURSE NOT, " FOR THIS KIND OF THING EXPLAINED WHY KAZAHKSTAN LAST YEAR DELIVERED 8.2 MILLION TONS OF GRAIN TO THE STATE INSTEAD OF THE PLANNED 14.1 MILLION TONS .
 FROM THE SECOND CITY MOST RUSSIAN INTELLECTUALS LISTENED IN TIGHT-LIPPED SILENCE AS WORD OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S LATEST CULTURAL CRACKDOWN (TIME, MARCH 22) FILTERED OUT TO THE PROVINCES . NOT SO THE WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF LENINGRAD, RUSSIA'S SECOND CITY . WHEN THE LOCAL COMMISSARS MET TO GIVE THEM THE WORD, THE INTELLECTUALS TALKED RIGHT BACK . THE LENINGRAD EDITION OF PRAVDA REPORTED ACIDLY LAST WEEK THAT THE CURATOR OF THE WEST EUROPEAN ART HISTORY SECTION OF LENINGRAD'S FAMED HERMITAGE MUSEUM ROSE TO DEFEND " FORMALISTIC DISTORTIONS AND ASSERTED THAT " THIS IS BUOYANT, CREATIVE ART . " ' WHAT'S MORE, THE PROMINENT DIRECTOR OF THE COMEDY THEATER, NIKOLAI P . AKIMOV, " FURIOUSLY DEFENDED THE RIGHT TO UNLIMITED EXPERIMENTATION WITH FORM . " PAINTER LEONID A . TKACHENKO NOT ONLY BACKED UP COLLEAGUES WHO WERE UNDER ATTACK, BUT " DID NOT GIVE A CORRECT EVALUATION OF CRITICISM DIRECTED AT HIMSELF . " THAT WASN'T ALL . " THINGS EVEN CAME TO SUCH A PASS, " SAID THE NEWSPAPER, " THAT SOME BEGAN TO FEEL " SHY' ABOUT SPEAKING ON SOCIALIST REALISM . " SHYEST OF ALL INTELLECTUALS IN THE SOVIET UNION WAS POET EVGENY EVTUSHENKO, USUALLY THE MOST OUTSPOKEN OF THE LOT . EVTUSHENKO HAD BEEN SINGLED OUT* BY KHRUSHCHEV FOR A SCATHING ATTACK BECAUSE OF THE POET'S POPULARITY IN THE WEST . AFTER THE PREMIER'S BLAST, HE WENT INTO SECLUSION WITH HIS WIFE IN A DACHA SOUTH OF MOSCOW, AND LAST WEEK LET WORD CIRCULATE THAT HE HAD INDEFINITELY " POSTPONED " LONG SCHEDULED TRIPS TO ITALY AND THE U.S . ALONG WITH VETERAN NOVELIST-PROPAGANDIST EHRENBURG, WHOSE CONTROVERSIAL MEMOIRS WERE BEING SERIALIZED IN THE LITERARY JOURNAL NOVY MIR . LAST WEEK IT WAS REPORTED THAT THE NEXT ISSUE WOULD NOT CARRY THE USUAL INSTALLMENT AND THAT NOVY MIR EDITOR ALEKSANDR T . TVARDOVSKY HAD BEEN FIRED .
 GREAT BRITAIN THE ANGRY ONES HEY NONNY NO ! TRILLED THE TORY DAILY MAIL ONE MORNING LAST WEEK . AFTER THE BITTEREST WINTER IN 50 YEARS, DAFFODILS WERE BLOOMING IN LONDON'S PARKS, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED WITH RELIEF THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAD DROPPED, FROM 3.9 PER CENT TO 3.1 PER CENT , FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN SIX MONTHS . THEIR JUBILATION WAS SHORT-LIVED . IN A RITE OF SPRING SUCH AS BRITAIN HAS NOT WITNESSED SINCE THE DEPRESSION, MORE THAN 5,000 JOBLESS WORKERS CONVERGED ON LONDON TO PROTEST THEIR PLIGHT, TOUCHING OFF AN UGLY, ROCK-THROWING BATTLE AT THE VERY DOOR OF PARLIAMENT . RAISING THE FLAG . IT ALL BEGAN PEACEFULLY ENOUGH WITH A BANNER-WAVING PARADE TOWARD WESTMINSTER, WHERE WORKERS' LEADERS WERE DETERMINED TO CARRY PERSONAL PROTESTS TO THEIR M.P.S . AWKWARDLY AT FIRST, MANY FINGERING THE CLOTH CAPS THAT ARE THE TRADITIONAL BADGE OF THE BRITISH WORKINGMAN, THEY STOOD TALKING UNTIL THE HOUSE OF COMMONS' BIG CENTRAL LOBBY WAS JAMMED, WHILE A SURGING MOB OF WORKERS STILL OUTSIDE JOSTLED IMPATIENTLY TO GET THROUGH ST . STEPHEN'S DOORWAY . WHEN 500 HASTILY SUMMONED FOOT AND MOUNTED POLICE TRIED TO FORCE THEM BACK, THE PROTEST DEMONSTRATION EXPLODED INTO A SAVAGE, THREE-HOUR MELEE PROVOKED PARTLY BY COMMUNISTS IN THE CROWD . CRYING " FASCISTS " AND " GESTAPO, " THE WORKERS DROPPED LIGHTED CIGARETTES INTO POLICE HORSES' MOUTHS, TRIED TO DRAG THE COPS FROM THEIR MOUNTS, HURLED HORSE MANURE AT THEM . SOME YOUNG WORKERS CLIMBED ONTO THE STONE FIGURES AROUND THE ENTRANCE, AND ONE COMMUNIST AGITATOR EVEN HAULED UP A RED FLAG . WHEN A POLICE CORDON FORCED THEM AWAY FROM THE BUILDINGS AFTER SIX CHARGES, HUNDREDS OF DEMONSTRATORS STAGED A SITDOWN STRIKE IN THE ROAD . THE CROWD INCLUDED KILTED SCOTSMEN AND OLD-AGE PENSIONERS, APPRENTICES, MILL GIRLS AND GRIZZLED STEELWORKERS . MOST CAME FROM THE NORTHERN SHIPBUILDING AND STEELMAKING CITIES OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND, WHERE THE MISERY OF THE 1930S IS NOT FORGOTTEN . LAST WEEK, BY CONTRAST WITH THE HUNGER MARCHES OF THAT ERA, MOST ARRIVED BY TRAIN OR BUS ; SOME EVEN CAME BY PLANE . SAID A SCOTTISH MINER : " WE ARE NOT HUNGRY MEN ASKING FOR FOOD . WE ARE ANGRY MEN ASKING FOR SELF-RESPECT . " GETTING INTO POLITICS . THEY POINTED OUT THAT THOUGH WARM WEATHER HAS BOOSTED EMPLOYMENT IN HOMEBUILDING AND HEAVY CONSTRUCTION, THE ACTUAL TOTAL OF UNEMPLOYED (702,000) IN BRITAIN WAS STILL 250,000 HIGHER THAN IN THE PREVIOUS MARCH, AND WAS ACTUALLY RISING IN THE WORST-HIT NORTHERN AREAS . ANOTHER RALLY NEXT DAY BY SOME 5,000 TEACHERS DEMANDING A WAGE RAISE SHOWED THAT DISENCHANTMENT WITH HAROLD MACMILLAN'S CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT IS EVEN MORE WIDESPREAD . IT WAS FAR TOO EARLY TO PREDICT THE IMPACT OF ALL THIS ON THE COMING ELECTIONS, WHICH WILL PROBABLY TAKE PLACE NEXT YEAR . BUT MACMILLAN HARDLY WELCOMED THE DEMONSTRATIONS ON TOP OF ALL THE OTHER RECENT BAD NEWS : THREE BY-ELECTION REVERSES IN A FORTNIGHT, AND A NEW GALLUP POLL REPORT ON VOTER PREFERENCE SHOWING THAT THE LABOR PARTY HOLDS A RECORD 16.5 PER CENT LEAD OVER THE TORIES .
 FRANCE FINIS FOR S.A.O . ? AS SWISSAIR FLIGHT 227 TO ZURICH TAXIED ONTO THE RUNWAY AT MUNICH LAST WEEK, IT WAS FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY A BLACK POLICE LIMOUSINE . NOT UNTIL THE RED-AND-SILVER CONVAIR DISAPPEARED INTO THE NIGHT DID THE PLAINCLOTHESMAN INSIDE THE CAR RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS TO REPORT THAT GEORGES BIDAULT, 63, FORMER PREMIER OF FRANCE AND NOW SELF-STYLED OPERATIONAL CHIEF OF THE TERRORIST SECRET ARMY ORGANIZATION, HAD LEFT WEST GERMANY . FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE BIDAULT WAS TRACED TO HIS HIDEAWAY IN A RURAL VILLA LAST MONTH, BAVARIA'S MINISTER OF INTERIOR HEINRICH JUNKER BREATHED EASILY . SIGHED HE : " A HEAVY CROSS IS OFF MY BACK . " BIDAULT DID NOT LEAVE MUNICH WITHOUT A VOW TO " CONTINUE MY FIGHT AGAINST DE GAULLE UNTIL FREEDOM HAS BEEN RESTORED IN MY COUNTRY . " LANDING IN PORTUGAL UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME, HE WAS GIVEN EVEN LESS CHANCE TO PLOT AGAINST DE GAULLE'S LIFE THAN HE ENJOYED IN EASYGOING BAVARIA ; ALMOST AS SOON AS HE TURNED UP AT A LISBON ROOMING HOUSE, SECURITY COPS HAULED HIM OFF TO A SUBURBAN LISBON VILLA . HE WAS EXPECTED TO SEEK REFUGE IN SOUTH AMERICA . DRIFTING AIMLESSLY LIKE A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, BIDAULT TODAY IS A PATHETIC FUGITIVE WHO DRINKS TOO MUCH AND TALKS TOO MUCH TO BE AN EFFECTIVE OPPONENT OF THE REGIME . AND FRENCH OFFICIALS INSIST THAT THE S.A.O . MOVEMENT, WHOSE MURDEROUS FOLLOWERS ONCE STRUCK TERROR INTO THE HEARTS OF FRENCHMEN, HAS FALLEN APART SINCE FRANCE'S TRUCE WITH ALGERIA IN MARCH 1962 . PLAGUED BY APATHY AND HOUNDED BY THE 61,000-MAN POLICE FORCE OF INTERIOR MINISTER ROGER FREY, THE S.A.O . IS NO LONGER ABLE TO MAINTAIN COMMANDO UNITS IN EACH OF FRANCE'S NINE MILITARY DISTRICTS, AS IT ONCE DID . TODAY, TOP OFFICIALS CLAIM, THERE ARE PROBABLY NO MORE THAN 30 HARDCORE ACTIVISTS LEFT IN THE COUNTRY . WHILE HUNDREDS OF FANATIC ANTI-GAULLISTS HAVE FOUND REFUGE IN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES (500 IN SPAIN ALONE), THEY TOO ARE NOW ALMOST ALL UNDER CLOSE POLICE SURVEILLANCE .
 THE ALLIES TEMPTATION OF TRADE PIPE THE BIG KIND THAT RUSSIA DESPERATELY NEEDS TO COMPLETE ITS VAST GAS AND OIL NETWORK STRETCHING FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE ELBE WAS THE SECOND BIGGEST TOPIC IN EUROPEAN CAPITALS LAST WEEK . FOR MONTHS, NATO HAS BEEN URGING A TOTAL EMBARGO ON LARGE-DIAMETER PIPE . SPUTTERED A NATO OFFICIAL IN PARIS : " SELL THEM RIFLES . EVEN SELL THEM ATOMIC BOMBS . BUT DON'T SELL THEM PIPE . / PROVOKING THE OUTCRY WAS A RUMBLE THAT STARTED IN BONN FORTNIGHT AGO WHEN REBELLIOUS MEMBERS OF THE BUNDESTAG ROUNDED UP ENOUGH VOTES TO REVERSE THE GOVERNMEN'T CANCELLATION OF A JUICY $20 MILLION SOVIET PIPE ORDER . CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER RUSHED BACK HOME FROM A LAKE COMO VACATION ON THE EVE OF THE BALLOTING, MANAGED TO AVOID HUMILIATING DEFEAT ONLY BY ORDERING HIS CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS TO STAY OFF THE FLOOR, THUS CAUSING THE LACK OF A QUORUM . DER ALTE'S LAST-DITCH MANEUVER PROVED HIS SOLID SUPPORT OF THE U.S., WHICH, UNLIKE MOST OF ITS ALLIES, ATTACHES GREAT STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE TO MOSCOW'S PIPELINE NETWORK . BUT IT GOT ADENAUER INTO TROUBLE AT HOME . THE PRO-NATO SOCIALISTS CALLED THE BUNDESTAG BOYCOTT DIRTY POOL ; THE INDUSTRIALISTS COMPLAINED MORE BITTERLY THAN EVER . THERE THE ISSUE COULD HAVE SIMMERED INDEFINITELY ; BUT LAST WEEK THE BRITISH CALMLY ANNOUNCED THAT, SINCE THEY HAD NEVER SUPPORTED NATO'S PIPE EMBARGO IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE GOVERNMENT HAD NO OBJECTION IF A BRITISH FIRM ACCEPTED A SOVIET DEAL FOR PIPE THAT BONN HAD JUST CANCELED . THAT ONLY ONE BRITISH COMPANY WAS TECHNICALLY EQUIPPED TO TURN OUT SMALL AMOUNTS OF LARGE-DIAMETER PIPE AND HAD NOT EVEN RECEIVED A BID FROM MOSCOW WAS OF SMALL COMFORT TO U.S . AND WEST GERMAN OFFICIALS . NOR WERE THEY REASSURED BY THE FACT THAT ITALY, A MAJOR SUPPLIER OF SOVIET PIPE BEFORE THE NATO BAN, DID NOT IMMEDIATELY GRAB OFF PART OF THE LUCRATIVE TRADE ; ITALIAN MANUFACTURERS SIMPLY WERE BACKED UP AT THE MOMENT WITH THEIR OWN DOMESTIC ORDERS . WHAT REALLY HAD WASHINGTON AND BONN CONCERNED WAS LONDON'S NEXT MOVE . BRITAIN, EXCLUDED FOR NOW FROM THE COMMON MARKET AND PLAGUED BY SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT, WAS EAGER FOR EXPORT MARKETS ANYWHERE ; IF ONE INCH OF LARGE-DIAMETER OIL PIPE WAS DELIVERED TO RUSSIA, THE NATO BOYCOTT WOULD BE BROKEN . WEST GERMANY AND ITALY COULD NO LONGER BE RESTRAINED . NEITHER COULD FRANCE, WHICH HAS A MASSIVE (500,000 TONS), AND MOSTLY UNUSED, ANNUAL CAPACITY FOR PIPE PRODUCTION, BUT WHICH SUPPORTS THE U.S . COMPLETELY ON THE ALLIES' DEBATE OVER THE STRATEGIC VALUE OF MOSCOW'S BIG INCH .
 AUSTRIA TWO ON THE SEESAW EVER SINCE WORLD WAR II EVEN THROUGH TEN YEARS OF SOVIET OCCUPATION THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN RUN JOINTLY BY THE CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE'S PARTY AND THE SOCIALIST PARTY, LIKE TWO POLITE, EQUALLY WEIGHTED COUSINS ON AN INERT SEESAW . SO SCRUPULOUSLY BALANCED IS THE COALITION AND THE PROPORZ SYSTEM OF DIVIDING UP THE JOBS THAT, ACCORDING TO VIENNESE TABLE TALK, IF THERE IS ONE PEOPLE'S PARTY PUTZFRAU (CHARWOMAN) IN A GOVERNMENT BUILDING, THERE MUST BE A SOCIALIST PUTZFRAU TOO . AFTER LAST NOVEMBER'S ELECTIONS, BALANCE BECAME STALEMATE ; THE TWO BIG PARTIES HAVE BEEN HAGGLING OVER A CABINET EVER SINCE . A GROUP OF VOCIFEROUS PEOPLE'S PARTY REFORMERS ARGUED FOR LESS OF THE TRADITIONAL COOPERATION WITH THE SOCIALISTS, BUT THE MEAGER VICTORY OF THE PEOPLE'S PARTY 81 SEATS TO 76 FOR THE SOCIALISTS WAS HARDLY A MANDATE FOR SWEEPING CHANGE . STILL, CONSERVATIVE CHANCELLOR ALFONS GORBACH SHARED THE REFORMERS' FEELING THAT THE EXTRA STRENGTH ENTITLED HIS PARTY TO AT LEAST ONE MORE MINISTRY . THE ONE IN MIND : THE FOREIGN MINISTRY, WHERE SOCIALIST BRUNO KREISKY WAS THE PRIME TARGET OF THE PEOPLE'S PARTY REFORMERS . THE CONSERVATIVES ARGUED THAT A SOCIALIST COULD NOT POSSIBLY PUT HIS HEART INTO THE VITAL NEGOTIATIONS FOR AUSTRIAN ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET, WHICH, AFTER ALL, WAS A TRIUMPH OF CAPITALISM . FOR MORE THAN FOUR MONTHS, THE SOCIALISTS AND PEOPLE'S PARTY NEGOTIATORS MET ALMOST DAILY IN THE ORNATE BALLHAUS PALACE TO ARGUE ABOUT THE CABINET, AND ALL THE WHILE AUSTRIA HUMMED ALONG HAPPILY UNDER A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT THAT WAS PRECISELY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD . LAST WEEK THE BICKERING ENDED AT LAST WITH THE PEOPLE'S PARTY ON THE SHORT END . THE ABLE, PERSONABLE KREISKY STAYED ON AS FOREIGN MINISTER, AND THIS VICTORY FOR THE SOCIALISTS WAS COUNTERED ONLY BY THE ADDITION OF A FEW PEOPLE'S PARTY STATE SECRETARIES TO THE TRADE AND JUSTICE MINISTRIES . ANOTHER SOCIALIST, FORMER TRADE UNION BOSS FRANZ OLAH, TOOK OVER THE INTERIOR MINISTRY, WHERE HE IS IN CONTROL OF THE COUNTRY'S POLICE POWER . OLAH IS AN ABLE MAN, BUT FOR MANY AUSTRIANS HIS APPOINTMENT MEANS TROUBLE . ON HIS SECOND DAY IN OFFICE, HE TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE THAT HE FELT IT PERFECTLY PROPER FOR HIS COPS TO STRIKE IF THEY WANTED TO .
 MULTI-BAFFLEMENT THE U.S . TODAY IS ENGAGED IN NOT ONE, BUT TWO NUCLEAR ARMS RACES . ITS FIRST AND OVERRIDING CONCERN, OF COURSE, IS TO DETER SOVIET AGGRESSION AND TO BE CAPABLE OF MASSIVE RETALIATION IF THE RUSSIANS SHOULD ATTACK THE WEST . WASHINGTON'S SECOND AIM, HOWEVER, IS LESS STRATEGIC THAN POLITICAL ; IT COULD BE CALLED THE THEORY OF THE MASSIVE PLACEBO, SINCE ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE IS NOT TO DETER THE FOES OF THE U.S . BUT TO MOLLIFY ITS FRIENDS AND DISCOURAGE THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR ARMS . BY LAST WEEK, U.S . PLACEBO PLANNERS HAD SUCCEEDED ONLY IN FRUSTRATING AND PERPLEXING THE VERY ALLIES THEY HOPED TO PLEASE . UNEASILY AWARE THAT THE INCREASINGLY PROSPEROUS AND POWERFUL NATIONS OF WESTERN EUROPE WOULD NOT FOREVER ACCEPT TOTAL U.S . CONTROL OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, THE U.S . OFFERED MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO TO GIVE THEM A VOICE IN THEIR DISPOSITION AND USE BUT LEFT IT TO EUROPE TO DEVISE A FORMULA . IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION CANCELED THE BUG-RIDDEN SKYBOLT MISSILE PROJECT LAST DECEMBER THAT THE U.S . WAS FORCED TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE . IN PLACE OF SKYBOLT, THE ADMINISTRATION RELUCTANTLY OFFERED AT NASSAU TO SUPPLY POLARIS MISSILES FOR AN INDEPENDENT BRITISH SUBMARINE FORCE . CHANGE OF MIND . AT THE SAME TIME, THE U.S . INSISTED THAT THE BRITISH SUBS MUST BE " MULTINATIONAL, " THAT IS, THEY WERE TO BE PART OF A NATO DETERRENT IN WHICH OTHER ALLIES MIGHT IN TIME POOL THEIR OWN STRIKE FORCES, IF AND WHEN THEY ACQUIRED NUCLEAR WEAPONS . TO PLACATE ITS OTHER EUROPEAN ALLIES, THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION ALSO PROPOSED A " MULTILATERAL " FORCE OF POLARIS SUBMARINES, WHICH WOULD BE MULTIMANNED AND MULTIFINANCED BY THE U.S . AND ITS PARTNERS, EACH OF WHOM WOULD HAVE A VETO OVER THE USE OF THE MISSILES . THEN, JUST AS THE EUROPEANS BEGAN TO GET INTERESTED IN THIS SCHEME, THE U.S . ABRUPTLY CHANGED ITS MIND AND ANNOUNCED THAT THE MULTILATERAL FORCE (MLF) SHOULD CONSIST OF POLARIS-ARMED SURFACE VESSELS INSTEAD THOUGH IT WOULD BE LITTLE STRATEGIC VALUE, A 25-SHIP SURFACE FORCE WOULD COST ONLY $500 MILLION YEARLY, FAR LESS THAN A SUBMARINE FLEET . TO MOST EUROPEANS, THE STRONGEST ARGUMENT FOR THE MLF WAS THAT IT WOULD GIVE WEST GERMANY A VOICE IN NUCLEAR STRATEGY AND POSSIBLY DISCOURAGE IT FROM DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS OF ITS OWN, WITH OR WITHOUT HELP FROM FRANCE FRANKLY INTERESTED . TO PEDDLE THE PLACEBO, THE ADMINISTRATION PLUCKED OLD STATE DEPARTMENT HAND LIVINGSTON MERCHANT FROM RETIREMENT . TO HIS SURPRISE, MLF MET WITH A SURPRISINGLY WARM RECEPTION . THOUGH SOME ALLIED STATESMEN HEMMED THAT ITS COST WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM MEETING U.S . REQUESTS TO STRENGTHEN CONVENTIONAL FORCES, WEST GERMANY, ITALY AND BELGIUM WERE FRANKLY INTERESTED . LAST MONTH MERCHANT ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED IN EXTRACTING A COMMITMENT FROM WEST GERMANY TO PAY 40 PER CENT OF THE ENTIRE COST OF THE PROJECT . HOWEVER, LAST WEEK, WORD REACHED NATO HEADQUARTERS IN PARIS THAT WASHINGTON HAD SUDDENLY LOST ITS ENTHUSIASM FOR THE MULTILATERAL FORCE . ITS CHANGE OF MIND NOT ONLY LEFT UNSOLVED THE POLITICAL PROBLEMS THAT MLF WAS DEVISED TO SOLVE, BUT EVEN SEEMED LIKELY TO AGGRAVATE THEM, SINCE THE U.S . WAS NOW REPORTEDLY READY TO BACK THE IDEA OF INDEPENDENT MULTINATIONAL FORCES INSTEAD, THUS ENCOURAGING ITS ALLIES TO BUILD THEIR OWN BOMBS . EVEN IF EVERY NATO ALLY COULD AFFORD ITS OWN NUCLEAR FORCE AND A SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH MAY YET MAKE THAT FEASIBLE EUROPE WOULD HAVE ONLY A MINUTE PROPORTION OF THE TOTAL U.S . NUCLEAR ARMORY . BUT WHO CAN PREDICT HOW IT WILL TURN OUT ? IN THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF BUILD-YOUR-OWN-BANG, IT COULD EVEN HAPPEN THAT EUROPEAN HYDROGEN BOMBS MIGHT NOT FALL ON THE SOVIET UNION AT ALL, BUT ON THE U.S .
 SWITZERLAND SICKNESS ON THE SLOPES THE LITTLE ALPINE SKI RESORT OF ZERMATT RAKES IN A LUCRATIVE $10 MILLION FROM VISITORS EACH YEAR, BUT THE AUTHORITIES THERE KNOW THAT CUSTOMERS ARE NOTORIOUSLY FICKLE ,RNIGHT A TOUCH OF BAD WEATHER, BAD SERVICE IN THE HOTELS OR AN UGLY SCANDAL CAN SEND HUNDREDS OF TOURISTS OFF IN A HUFF TO ST . MORITZ OR DAVOS . HENCE THE RELUCTANCE OF ZERMATT'S TOWNSMEN TO TALK ABOUT THE CURIOUS WAVE OF ILLNESS THAT BEGAN POPPING UP THREE MONTHS AGO . THEY STOLIDLY IGNORED WORD FROM A ZURICH PHYSICIAN THAT A PATIENT JUST BACK FROM SKIING IN ZERMATT WAS DOWN WITH TYPHOID FEVER . THEY ALSO SHRUGGED OFF A REPORT THAT AN ITALIAN IMMIGRANT WORKING NEAR ZERMATT HAD FALLEN ILL WITH THE SAME DISEASE . EVEN THEN, ZERMATT OFFICIALS PUBLICLY POOH-POOHED RUMORS OF AN EPIDEMIC . THE ZERMATT TOURIST OFFICE PRONOUNCED ZERMATT'S WATER " 99.93 PER CENT PURE, " WHILE LOCAL CITIZENS DENOUNCED THE " FOREIGN SENSATIONALIST PRESS " FOR REPORTING THE GOSSIP . AS THOUSANDS MORE UNWARY TOURISTS POURED IN, PACKING ZERMATT'S 56 HOTELS TO THE RAFTERS, CASH REGISTERS JINGLED AND TYPHOID SPREAD UNCHECKED . LAST WEEK ZERMATT WAS REGRETTING ITS LAXITY . ALREADY DEAD WERE THREE ZERMATT CITIZENS AND A BRITISH TOURIST . AT LEAST 350 CONFIRMED OR SUSPECTED CASES OF TYPHOID HAD BEEN TRACED TO RECENT ZERMATT VISITORS IN SWITZERLAND AND EIGHT FOREIGN COUNTRIES . LITTLE ZERMATT WAS SUDDENLY IN THE HEADLINES ALL OVER THE WORLD . VIRTUALLY ALL THE 10,000 TOURISTS HAD STAGED A HURRIED EXODUS, LEAVING ZERMATT A GHOST TOWN OCCUPIED BY 120 GREEN-UNIFORMED SWISS ARMY MEDICAL CORPSMEN . BY SEALED TRAIN AND HELICOPTER, THE ARMY MEN EVACUATED LOCAL VICTIMS, AND HEALTH INSPECTORS POKING THROUGH ZERMATT'S WATER SYSTEM DISCOVERED THE PROBABLE CAUSE OF IT ALL A HOLE IN A WATER PIPE INTO WHICH SEWAGE WAS SEEPING . AT WEEK'S END, DENOUNCED AT HOME BY THE VALAIS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, AND DISGRACED ABROAD, THE ZERMATT AUTHORITIES AT LAST CLOSED DOWN ALL THE HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS . TO THE VILLAGERS LEFT STRANDED IN DISMAL UNEMPLOYMENT, IT SEEMED A PITY, FOR NEARLY A FOOT OF NEW POWDER SNOW FELL ON THE SLOPES THAT NIGHT . " ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL SKIING CONDITIONS, " MOURNED GOTTLIEB PERREN, HEAD OF ZERMATT'S FAMED SKI SCHOOL .
 SAUDI ARABIA LONG LINGER THE KING IN RIYADH, THE DESERT CAPITAL OF SAUDI ARABIA, NERVOUS COURTIERS HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO KEEPING ONE EYE OUT FOR SIGNS OF REVOLT INSPIRED BY EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, AND ONE EYE ON THE LATEST DISPATCHES FROM THE FRENCH RIVIERA . THERE, AILING KING SAUD, 61, IS INSTALLED IN NICE'S GLEAMING HOTEL NEGRESCO IN 55 ROOMS ON THE FIFTH FLOOR WITH HIS VEILED WIVES, CONCUBINES, A PASSEL OF OFFSPRING, COURTIERS AND MAIDS . LAST WEEK THE RUMORS WERE FLYING ALONG THE COTE D'AZUR THAT THE DYSPEPTIC SAUD WAS SICK UNTO DEATH . THERE SEEMED GOOD REASON FOR CONCERN, FOR SAUD IS SUPPOSED TO BE SUFFERING FROM HYPERTENSION, A WEAK HEART, A POLYP IN HIS DIGESTIVE TRACT, ASTHMA, AND ALLAH KNOWS WHAT ELSE . WHEN ELEVEN DOCTORS CONVERGED AT HIS BEDSIDE, THINGS LOOKED FROM THE OUTSIDE AT LEAST, PRETTY GRIM . IT TURNED OUT THAT SAUD WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT HIS LIVER (HIS OWN REMEDY : BANANA PUREE IN CHANTILLY CREAM WITH FIVE SCOOPS OF ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST), AND HIS BLOOD, FOR WHICH HIS DOCTORS QUICKLY ORDERED BOTTLES OF PLASMA AS A PRECAUTION . SAUD'S SPOKESMAN REASSURINGLY SQUELCHED THE FLURRY OF WORRY . DOCTORS ARE THERE, " HE SAID . " NOT BECAUSE THE KING IS VERY, VERY SICK BUT BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE AND THE POWER OF THEIR PATIENT . " OR, AS RADIO MECCA PUT IT TO SAUD'S SUBJECTS : " THE KING IS IN GOOD HEALTH . /
 MIDDLE EAST TROUBLE FOR 333 OUTSIDE CAIRO SPRAWLS A RAMBLING COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS KNOWN AS MILITARY FACTORY 333 . THERE PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER IS TRYING TO DEVELOP THE POWERFUL WEAPONS SYSTEM HE NEEDS TO ENSURE MILITARY SUPREMACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST . FROM 333'S WORKROOMS LAST YEAR CAME THE FIRST BATCH OF MISSILES, A FEW 230-MILE EL-ZAFIR (VICTORY) TYPES, AND THE 370-MILE ELKAHIR (CONQUEROR) . ALTHOUGH THEIR RELIABILITY IS NONE TOO CERTAIN, THE MILITARY LEADERS OF NEARBY ISRAEL HAVE NERVOUSLY NOTED NASSER'S CLAIMS THAT EGYPT'S BIRDS WILL HAVE THE RANGE TO BLAST IMPORTANT TARGETS " JUST SOUTH OF BEIRUT " THAT IS, IN ISRAEL ITSELF . MYSTERIOUS MISFORTUNES . HENCE ISRAEL'S EXTRAORDINARY INTEREST IN THE KEY MEN WHO STAFF FACTORY 333 . THEY ARE NOT EGYPTIANS AT ALL, BUT AN ESTIMATED 200 GERMAN SCIENTISTS AND TECHNICIANS, MANY OF WHOM FIRST LEARNED THEIR SKILLS MAKING V-2S FOR ADOLF HITLER . EVER SINCE THE GERMANS HELPED NASSER TEST-FIRE HIS FIRST SUCCESSFUL ROCKETS LAST JULY, ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING A DEADLY UNDERGROUND WAR TO FORCE OR FRIGHTEN THE GERMAN SCIENTISTS AWAY FROM THE PROJECT . LAST MONTH TWO ISRAELI AGENTS WERE ARRESTED IN SWITZERLAND AFTER THEY ALLEGEDLY PUT PRESSURE ON THE SON AND DAUGHTER OF DR . PAUL-JENS GOERCKE, A WEST GERMAN ELECTRONIC-GUIDANCE EXPERT EMPLOYED AT MILITARY FACTORY 333 . AS SWISS POLICE TOLD IT, THE AGENTS PERSUADED HEIDI GOERCKE, 25, AND HER BROTHER HANS, 21, TO CROSS THE FRONTIER FROM FREIBURG, GERMANY, AND WARNED THEM THAT THEY MUST TALK THEIR FATHER INTO COMING HOME FROM EGYPT OR ELSE HE WOULD FACE " SERIOUS " TROUBLE . EAVESDROPPING ON THE CONVERSATION, FOREWARNED SWISS DETECTIVES TOSSED THE ISRAELI OPERATIVES INTO JAIL, CHARGED THEM WITH COERCION AND OPERATING ILLEGALLY ON BEHALF OF A FOREIGN STATE . THE INCIDENT RECALLED A WHOLE CHAIN OF MYSTERIOUS MISFORTUNES THAT HAVE BEFALLEN GERMANS LINKED TO EGYPT . LAST SUMMER THE PRIVATE PLANE OF AN EGYPTIAN SUPPLYING ARMS AND TECHNICIANS BLEW UP OVER NORTHERN GERMANY, KILLING HIS WIFE ; IN NOVEMBER TWO AIRMAIL PARCELS ADDRESSED TO GERMAN ROCKET ENGINEER WOLFGANG PILZ BLEW UP WHEN OPENED IN HIS OFFICE IN EGYPT, KILLING FIVE EGYPTIANS AND DISFIGURING PILZ'S GERMAN SECRETARY . THEN, ON A ROAD NEAR THE WEST GERMAN TOWN OF LORRACH, A WOULD-BE ASSASSIN FIRED A PISTOL SHOT A A PROFESSOR ENGAGED IN ELECTRONICS RESEARCH FOR EGYPT ; THE BULLET MISSED AND THE WOULD-BE ASSASSIN ESCAPED IN A CAR . BIGGEST UNSOLVED RIDDLE IS THE WHEREABOUTS OF DR . HEINZ KRUG, 49, BOSS OF A MUNICH FIRM THAT DEALT IN MILITARY HARDWARE FOR EGYPT . LAST NOVEMBER, KRUG VANISHED FROM HIS OFFICE IN THE COMPANY OF A POLITE STRANGER AND HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE . BACKTRACK IN BONN . TO CHARGES THAT ISRAEL IS BEHIND THE INCIDENTS, ISRAELI AUTHORITIES INSIST THAT THEIR AGENTS EMPLOY ONLY PEACEFUL PERSUASION . ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER GOLDA MEIR ROSE IN THE KNESSET (PARLIAMENT) FORTNIGHT AGO TO BRAND GERMANS IN EGYPT AN " EVIL CREW . " SHE DEMANDED THAT WEST GERMANY ORDER THEM TO HALT THEIR WORK . BONN RETORTED THAT THE GERMANS IN EGYPT WERE PRIVATE CITIZENS WITH NO OFFICIAL CONNECTIONS WHATSOEVER ; THE GOVERNMENT COULD HARDLY DICTATE THEIR PROFESSIONS . BUT ANXIOUS TO STAY ON GOOD TERMS WITH THE ISRAELIS, CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER LAST WEEK AGREED TO RECONSIDER THE MATTER, ORDERED FORMATION OF A COMMITTEE TO DECIDE WHETHER SOME KIND OF CONTROLS SUCH AS REMOVAL OF PASSPORTS SHOULD BE IMPOSED ON GERMAN CITIZENS WHOSE WORK ABROAD ENDANGERED THE NATION'S GOOD RELATIONS WITH ANOTHER COUNTRY .
 ONTO THE BANDWAGON GAMAL ABDEL NASSER STILL HAD THE MOST POPULAR COMMODITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST THE LURE OF ARAB UNITY . A 14-MAN ALGERIAN DELEGATION, HEADED BY DEFENSE MINISTER HOUARI BOUMEDIENNE SHOWED UP IN CAIRO TO PAY ITS RESPECTS . " REGARDING ARAB UNITY, " SAID BOUMEDIENNE, / OUR OBJECTIVE SHOULD BE THE CREATION OF SOLID, STRONG AND HEALTHY BASES . THE ARAB PEOPLE ARE NOT READY TO ACCEPT ANOTHER SETBACK, ANOTHER LETDOWN . FOR THAT REASON, ALL STEPS TOWARD ARAB UNITY MUST BE ABSOLUTELY UNSHAKEABLE . " NASSER AGREED COMPLETELY . " WE REFUSE, IF ANYBODY ASKS US, " HE SAID, " TO FORM A NOMINAL UNION FOR OUTWARD APPEARANCES . " LATER, HE FERVENTLY TOLD A SYRIAN DELEGATION HEADED BY BAATH PARTY LEADERS MICHEL AFLAK AND SALAH EL-BITAR : " WE BELIEVE THE TIDE OF REVOLUTIONARY UNION IN THIS GENERATION IS A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY WHICH WILL NOT REPEAT ITSELF . " HE ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE BAATHISTS BROADEN THEIR NEW SYRIAN GOVERNMENT TO BRING IN POPULAR THAT IS, NASSERITE ELEMENTS . " MAN OF CRISES . " HE GOT FAST RESULTS . WITHIN THREE DAYS, PRO-NASSER LIEUT . GENERAL LOUAI ATTASSI WAS NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE SYRIAN COUNCIL OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND, AND THE COUNCIL ITSELF WAS ENLARGED TO ADMIT A NASSERITE MAJORITY . ATTASSI PREDICTED THAT UNION WITH EGYPT AND IRAQ WOULD BE ACHIEVED " SHORTLY, " CLAIMING, " THIS TRIPARTITE FEDERATION WILL SPREAD AND SPREAD UNTIL THE ENTIRE ARAB WORLD FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE PERSIAN GULF IS UNIFIED IN ONE POWERFUL STATE, WEIGHING HEAVILY IN THE BALANCE OF WORLD POWER . " EVEN ONE OF NASSER'S ENEMIES IN THE ARAB WORLD THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN SHOWED SIGNS LAST WEEK OF BEING DISCREETLY AVAILABLE . IN HIS STONE BASMAN PALACE IN AMMAN, GUARDED BY CIRCASSIAN TROOPERS IN ASTRAKHAN HATS, JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN DEFTLY SHIFTED PRIME MINISTERS . OUT WENT MUSCULAR WASFI TAL, 43, AN EFFICIENT BUT NASSER-HATING ADMINISTRATOR . IN CAME JORDAN'S " MAN OF CRISES, " FIVE-TIME PRIME MINISTER SAMIR RIFAI, 62, WHO HAS BEEN CAMPAIGNING IN RECENT MONTHS FOR MORE DEMOCRACY INSIDE JORDAN AND AN END TO ANTAGONISM AGAINST NASSER . WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE ? AFTER A LATE NIGHT TALK, KING HUSSEIN AND RIFAI AGREED ON A NEW GOVERNMENT, LOOKING TOWARD PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY AND HUSSEIN'S EVENTUAL RETIREMENT TO THE FIGUREHEAD ROLE OF A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCH . THEY EVEN GINGERLY ACCEPTED THE NASSER-BAATH SLOGAN OF " FREEDOM, UNITY, SOCIALISM, " WITH ONLY THE SLIGHT AMENDMENT OF THE FINAL WORD TO READ " A BETTER LIFE . " WHAT WAS STILL UNCERTAIN LAST WEEK WAS WHETHER NASSER IS PREPARED TO DROP OR MODIFY HIS PRESENT DETERMINATION TO UNITE ONLY WITH " LIBERATED " ARAB STATES AND TO SHUN MONARCHIES . SAID NEW JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER RIFAI : " WE HAVE OUR PRIDE . WE ARE JUST AS HEALTHY AND STRONG AS ANY ARAB STATE . WE DON'T INTEND TO RUSH INTO ANYTHING, BUT WE DO INTEND TO PROCLAIM OUR GOOD WILL AND OUR ATTACHMENT TO ARAB UNITY . " THEN HE ADDED HOPEFULLY, " THERE'S EVERY REASON FOR THE NEW ARAB UNION TO WELCOME JORDAN AND NO REASON TO BAR A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY . WE HAVE MORE FREEDOM THAN MANY REPUBLICS . WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE ANYWAY BETWEEN A CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT AND A CONSTITUTIONAL KING ? /
 MOROCCO A FRIEND IN WASHINGTON IN WASHINGTON'S UNION STATION LAST WEEK, THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD'S ANCIENT PRIVATE CAR NO . 1750 CAME TO A HESITANT STOP . CLEARLY UNCERTAIN OF THE ENGINEER'S INTENTIONS, KING HASSAN II OF MOROCCO DESCENDED CAUTIOUSLY TO THE PLATFORM, THEN DISPLAYED A BIG, ENGAGING SMILE AS HE SHOOK HANDS WITH PRESIDENT KENNEDY, AND TURNED WITH EVEN MORE WARMTH TO JACKIE KENNEDY, SMARTLY CLAD IN A SPRING DRESS AND COAT, AND DARK BLUE STRAW HAT . LOVELY RIVAL . KING HASSAN EVEN PRODUCED A RIVAL FOR JACKIE IN HIS LOVELY SISTER, PRINCESS LALLA NEZHA, 22, WHO WAS GREETED WITH A BOUQUET OF RED ROSES . ALL THE PROPER PROTOCOL WAS LAID ON, FROM A 50-YD . RED CARPET TO AN HONOR GUARD . " WE ARE PROUD TO WELCOME YOU, YOUR MAJESTY, " SAID THE PRESIDENT TO THE KING . " YOUR COUNTRY WAS THE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE THE U.S . IN THE MOST DIFFICULT DAYS OF OUR REVOLUTION . " * KING HASSAN RESPONDED BY SAYING THAT HE HAD COME TO THE U.S . " TO RENEW MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH YOUR PEOPLE, TO MEET YOU AND YOUR GOVERNMENT . " THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD KING HASSAN ALSO BROUGHT WITH HIM CRATES OF GIFTS ; BUT LEFT BEHIND IN RABAT WAS A SMALL, SHINY GREY HORSE WITH THE MOROCCAN COLORS OF RED AND GREEN PLAITED IN ITS MANE, WHICH HAD BEEN INTENDED FOR CAROLINE . THE STATE DEPARTMENT WAS COURTEOUSLY ADAMANT : NO MORE HORSES FOR THE WHITE HOUSE . KING HASSAN CHOSE THE U.S . FOR HIS FIRST STATE VISIT OUTSIDE AFRICA TO DEMONSTRATE THAT MOROCCO, THOUGH OFFICIALLY UNALIGNED, KNOWS THAT ITS REAL INTEREST LIES WITH THE WEST . INDEED, IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE HIS FATHER DIED, HASSAN HAS PROVED TO BE A SENSIBLE LEADER OF MOROCCO'S 11.6 MILLION PEOPLE . THREE LOVELY DAYS . BETWEEN BANQUETS AND RECEPTIONS, THE KING AND THE PRESIDENT GOT TO KNOW AND LIKE EACH OTHER . HASSAN EVEN CANCELED A SCHEDULED VISIT TO THE NAVAL ACADEMY AT ANNAPOLIS IN ORDER TO HAVE ADDITIONAL TALKS WITH KENNEDY . THEIR CONVERSATION RANGED OVER MANY WORLD PROBLEMS, FROM MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS TO CUBA, TO NATO . THERE WAS ALSO QUIET AFFIRMATION OF DECISIONS ALREADY TAKEN, INCLUDING THE U.S . PLEDGE TO EVACUATE THREE BIG SAC AIRFIELDS AND A NAVAL BASE IN MOROCCO BY YEAR'S END, AND TO CONTINUE AN UNSPECIFIED AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL AID TO HASSAN'S KINGDOM (LAST YEAR'S TOTAL : $30 MILLION) . KING HASSAN WAS IMPRESSED BY HIS HOSPITABLE RECEPTION, WHICH INCLUDED SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE (SCENES FROM BRIGADOON), AN UNUSUAL WELCOME FROM 100,000 WASHINGTONIANS LINING THE STREETS, AND THREE OF THE LOVELIEST SPRING DAYS IN WASHINGTON MEMORY . THE STATE DEPARTMENT LIKED THE INGELLIGENCE AND COMPETENCE DISPLAYED BY KING HASSAN THROUGHOUT THE SESSIONS, HIS SERIOUS PREOCCUPATION WITH HIS OWN REGION OF NORTH AFRICA, HIS JUDICIOUS COMMENT THAT MOROCCO WOULD JOIN AN ARAB UNION HEADED BY EGYPT'S NASSER ONLY AFTER CAREFUL STUDY HAD SHOWN SUCH UNION TO BE " IN THE COMMON GOOD . " THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS : KING HASSAN IS A " MODERN REFORMIST " IN THE TRADITION OF THE SHAH OF IRAN . AS EARLY AS SPRING 1776, FRANCE WAS SECRETLY AIDING THE INFANT U.S . AGAINST BRITAIN WITH MONEY AND MUNITIONS . EARLY IN 1778, THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO IMPETUOUSLY DECIDED TO RECOGNIZE THE U.S . GOVERNMENT AND, BECAUSE OF COMMUNICATIONS DIFFICULTY, TRIED TO DO SO THROUGH A FRENCH EMISSARY . FRANCE SLIPPED IN AHEAD, RECOGNIZING THE U.S . ON FEB . 6, 1778, V . FEB . 20 FOR MOROCCO, WHICH, BECAUSE OF PRIOR INTENT, STILL LIKES TO THINK IT HOLDS FIRST PLACE .
 TURKEY HOW TO STAY IN TROUBLE WHEN TURKEY'S PREMIER ISMET INONU FINALLY LET HIS OLD ENEMY EX-PRESIDENT CELAL BAYAR OUT OF JAIL FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT FORTNIGHT AGO, HE FIGURED THE LEAST HE SHOULD GET WAS A LITTLE GRATITUDE FROM THE OPPOSITION JUSTICE PARTY . INSTEAD, BAYARY SUPPORTERS TURNED THE OCCASION INTO A WEEK-LONG POLITICAL DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT . FIVE HUNDRED AUTOS FILLED WITH JUSTICE PARTY FOLLOWERS FORMED A TRAFFIC-SNARLING MOTORCADE TO ESCORT THE 79-YEAR-OLD BAYAR FROM PRISON TO HIS ANKARA HOME . NEXT DAY, HUGE CROWDS MILLED AROUND THE HOUSE, AND 10,000 SUPPORTERS MASSED NEAR PARLIAMENT TO SHOUT HIS SLOGANS . TWO SYMPATHETIC TURKISH AIR FORCE PILOTS HAPPILY BUZZED THE CITY IN THEIR JETS . GROWING ANGRY AND A BIT NERVOUS OVER THE POPULAR DEMONSTRATION, THE ARMY OFFICERS WHO RUN TURKEY FROM BEHIND THE SCENES LOCKED UP ONE BATCH OF EXULTANT BAYAR MEN WHO STOPPED THEIR BUS IN FRONT OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE AND " MADE SIGNS AGAINST THE ARMY, " THEN ISSUED AN ANNOUNCEMENT WARNING THAT THE / EVENTS THREATEN NATIONAL UNITY . " AT THIS SIGNAL, PRO-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS THEMSELVES TOOK TO THE STREETS YELLING " BAYAR, BACK TO YOUR CAVE, " AND RANSACKED JUSTICE PARTY HEADQUARTERS . IN ISTANBUL, COPS TRIED TO PREVENT A BLOODY CLASH BY OPENING BOTH PONTOON BRIDGES ACROSS THE GOLDEN HORN, THUS SEPARATING PRO- AND ANTIBAYAR GROUPS . BAYAR HIMSELF WAS DOING NOTHING TO CALM THINGS ,; HE PUBLICLY ATTACKED THE COURT AT YASSIADA THAT SENTENCED HIM TO PRISON 18 MONTHS AGO ; TEARFULLY, HE EMBRACED THE SON OF THE LATE PREMIER ADNAN MENDERES, BAYAR'S COLLEAGUE WHO WAS SENT TO THE GALLOWS BY THE YASSIADA TRIBUNAL . THROUGHOUT IT ALL, PREMIER INONU PERFORMED A CLASSIC SLOW BURN, LETTING THE JUSTICE CROWD HAVE ITS FUN FOR SIX DAYS . AT LAST, THE EXASPERATED AUTHORITIES COULD TAKE NO MORE, SENT BAYAR OFF TO A HOSPITAL . JUST A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION, THE COPS ASSURED THE OLD MAN, WHO PROMPTLY WENT ON A HUNGER STRIKE . A GUARD WAS PUT ON THE DOOR OF HIS HOSPITAL ROOM, AND THE NEWS SOON SPREAD THAT BAYAR'S PAROLE HAD BEEN REVOKED . THE END OF THE TRAIL MIGHT WELL BE THE JAILHOUSE AGAIN, FOR AT WEEK'S END THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR BEGAN PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HIM FOR TALKING DOWN THE REGIME IN PUBLIC .
 THE CONGO CAESARS OF THE BUSH AN ELDERLY SHOPKEEPER IN ELISABETHVILLE IGNORED OR PERHAPS DID NOT HEAR A CONGOLESE SOLDIER'S ORDER TO GET OFF THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE HEAVILY GUARDED NATIONAL BANK OF KATANGA LAST WEEK . ANGRILY, THE SOLDIER HOISTED HIS RIFLE AND SHOT HIM IN THE BACK . AS THE MAN LAY GROANING ON THE PAVEMENT, CONGOLESE TROOPS SHOVED AWAY A DOCTOR WHO TRIED TO SAVE HIS LIFE . THE COLD-BLOODED KILLING POINTED UP THE GRIM FACT THAT NEARLY THREE MONTHS AFTER UNITED NATIONS TROOPS CRUSHED SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE'S REGIME AND PLACED THE PROVINCE UNDER PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, PEACE IS FAR FROM RESTORED IN KATANGA . EACH GUARD POST THAT THE U.N . HANDS OVER TO THE CENTRAL REGIME'S ARMEE NATIONALE CONGOLAISE SEEMS TO PRODUCE A LITTLE AREA OF ANARCHY . IN RECENT WEEKS, TRIGGER-HAPPY A.N.C . SOLDIERS IN ELISABETHVILLE HAVE KILLED AT LEAST ONE KATANGESE CIVILIAN PER DAY . BAREFOOT POLICE . THINGS ARE ALMOST AS CHAOTIC IN THE CONGO'S OTHER 17 PROVINCES, WHERE LOCAL BUSH CAESARS GO THEIR OWN ANARCHIC WAYS UNIMPEDED BY CENTRAL AUTHORITY . IN COFFEE-RICH NORTH KIVU, PROVINCIAL PRESIDENT BENEZETH MOLEY MAINTAINS HEADQUARTERS IN ONE ROOM OF A GENERAL STORE, RUNS THINGS WITH A 300-MAN POLICE FORCE RECRUITED FROM LOCAL TRIBESMEN . IN MANIEMA PROVINCE, COLD-EYED PRESIDENT HILARIE KISANGA ENFORCES DISCIPLINE WITH 1,200 BAREFOOT COPS WHO LOUNGE IN THE STREETS ARMED WITH LEAD PIPES, AND WHO LIVE OFF ON-THE-SPOT FINES IMPOSED ON PASSERS-BY . PROTESTS A SHOPOWNER : " YOU WALK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE STREET AND YOU ARE FINED . YOU WALK ON THE LEFT SIDE AND YOU ARE FINED . " THE AVERAGE CONGOLESE HAS LITTLE LEGAL REDRESS . TODAY, IN A NATION THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS, THERE ARE ONLY 47 JUDGES TO HEAR COMPLAINTS ALL FOREIGNERS, IMPORTED BY THE U.N . FROM SUCH COUNTRIES AS EGYPT, SWEDEN, SPAIN AND SWITZERLAND . THIS IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY PROBLEMS OF LEOPOLDVILLE'S PREMIER ADOULA . LACKING FUNDS AND TRAINED PERSONNEL, HE HAS VIRTUALLY NO CONTROL OVER HIS SPRAWLING NATION OF 17 MILLION LARGELY ILLITERATE PEOPLE . THE CONGO'S ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE HAS BEEN RIPPED APART BY TWO YEARS OF CIVIL WAR, AND THE CHIEF AIM OF THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENT SOMETIMES SEEMS TO BE DESTRUCTION OF ANY CENTRAL AUTHORITY . FOR MANY WEEKS, ADOULA'S GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ON THE RAZOR'S EDGE OF DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF LEOPOLDVILLE'S CHAOTIC LEGISLATURE, WHOSE DEBATES SOMETIMES VERGE ON THE INSANE . FORTNIGHT AGO, FOR EXAMPLE, AS THE RAGTAG CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES DISCUSSED THE CONGO'S PROPOSED NEW MOTTO " UNITY, JUSTICE, PROGRESS " ONE SPEAKER OPINED : " PROGRESS' IS NO GOOD . ONE CAN PROGRESS BACKWARD AS WELL AS FORWARD . " RETORTED A FELLOW DEPUTY : " THAT GOES FOR " WORK' TOO . THERE IS SUCH A THING AS BAD WORK . " THEN SILENCE FELL OVER THE CHAMBER AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE BODY ROSE TO ANNOUNCE THAT HE HAD MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING . " WE HAVE JUST LEARNED, " HE INTONED, " THAT THIS MOTTO IS ALREADY IN USE BY WEST GERMANY . " AMID THE UPROAR THAT FOLLOWED, DEPUTIES WERE HEARD TO CRY, " WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, WHO ? " * FINALLY, A PORTLY DEPUTY NAMED EMILE ZOLA MOUNTED THE DAIS TO PLEAD : " SO MUCH THE BETTER . NOW WE WILL HAVE A TWIN COUNTRY IN THE WORLD . WE ARE UNDERDEVELOPED ; GERMANY IS OVERDEVELOPED ; OUR BROTHERHOOD CAN ONLY LEAD TO A GOOD RESULT . " WITH THESE SHRILL CRIES RINGING IN THEIR EARS, UNITED NATIONS OFFICIALS WENT NERVOUSLY AHEAD WITH PLANS TO PULL OUT NEARLY HALF OF THE U.N . CONGO FORCE'S PEAK STRENGTH OF 19,000 TROOPS BY SUMMER'S END . THE CONGOLESE WOULD HAVE TO MATURE SOME DAY ; THEY MIGHT AS WELL BEGIN NOW . IGNORING THE PROTESTS OF A WEST GERMAN EMBASSY OFFICIAL IN THE CORRIDOR WHO KEPT INSISTING, " NO, NO, IT'S ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING . OUR MOTTO IS " EINIGKEIT, RECHT, FREIHEIT' UNITY, JUSTICE, FREEDOM . /
 NYASALAND SIR EDGAR & THE ELDERS ONE DAY IN MARCH 1959, IN THE BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE OF NYASALAND, HARMLESS-LOOKING ELARD CHIPANDALE, 31, TIED A HANDFUL OF MAGIC TWIGS ABOUT HIS WAIST, DONNED A COAT OF TREE BARK, AND TURNED HIMSELF INTO A CROCODILE . HE LAY IN WAIT BY THE BANK OF THE MWANZA RIVER FOR AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GIRL NAMED MPONDA SIMENTI . WHEN MPONDA AMBLED BY ON THE WAY TO FETCH WATER FOR HER FAMILY, ELARD THE CROCODILE DRAGGED HER INTO THE RIVER, BROKE HER ARM WITH HIS LASHING TAIL, AND FINISHED HER OFF WITH HIS FINGER-LONG TEETH . THIS WAS ELARD'S OWN MYSTICAL VERSION OF WHAT SOME MIGHT CONSIDER MERELY A CASE OF MURDER FOR PAY . THE GIRL'S GRANDFATHER, ODRECK KASOCI, HAD SOUGHT OUT ELARD TO GET RID OF THE ANNOYING CHILD BECAUSE ELARD WAS WELL KNOWN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AS A " MAGIC MAN, " AND THEREFORE QUALIFIED TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM . ODRECK AGREED TO PAY $13.50 FOR THE ASSASSINATION, BUT WHEN THE DEED WAS DONE, HE RENEGED . CHIPANDALE SUED IN A NATIVE COURT FOR HIS FEE AND WON . BUT A GOVERNMENT POLICEMAN HAPPENED IN ON THE PROCEEDINGS AND REPORTED THE TWO MEN . LAST WEEK, IN NYASALAND'S COMMERCIAL CENTER OF BLANTYRE BOTH MEN WERE ON TRIAL FOR MURDER . ELARD'S READY ADMISSION OF THE KILLING DID NOT MAKE THINGS ANY EASIER FOR CHIEF JUSTICE SIR EDGAR UNSWORTH . FOR ELARD INSISTED THAT HE WAS NOT GUILY BECAUSE HE WAS A CROCODILE AT THE TIME . SIR EDGAR CALLED IN THE GOVERNMENT'S PSYCHIATRIST TO TEST ELARD'S SANITY . HE WAS JUDGED NOT INSANE, BUT THE PSYCHIATRIST ADDED, " WE MUST ADMIT WE ARE DEALING WITH A MENTALITY COMPLETELY FOREIGN TO US . " SIR EDGAR TURNED TO THE COURT ASSESSORS THREE TRIBAL ELDERS FOR EXPERT GUIDANCE . " ARE YOU SATISFIED, " HE ASKED, " THAT THE PROSECUTION HAS ESTABLISHED THAT ELARD WAS NOT, ON ACCOUNT OF HIS SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF, UNDER THE DELUSION THAT HE WAS A CROCODILE ? " THE THREE WERE UNANIMOUS IN THEIR ANSWER : " HE TURNED HIMSELF INTO A MAGIC CROCODILE AND SEIZED THE CHILD . " SIR EDGAR WAS FACED WITH ANOTHER CLASSIC CLASH OF WHITE MAN'S RULES WITH DEEPROOTED AFRICAN BELIEFS . SINCE THE TWO COULD NOT BE RESOLVED, SIR EDGAR WAS FORCED TO MAKE HIS DECISION ON THE BASIS OF SOCIAL PATTERNS HE COULD UNDERSTAND . IGNORING THE ELDERS' TESTIMONY, HE SENTENCED BOTH MEN TO BE HANGED .
 CENTRAL AFRICA THE CRUMBLING FEDERATION AS LONG AGO AS LAST DECEMBER, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE SHAKY CENTRAL AFRICAN FEDERATION WAS NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD . OBVIOUS, THAT IS, TO EVERYONE BUT THE FEDERATION'S PRIME MINISTER, BIG- BEEFY SIR ROY WELENSKY, WHO STOUTLY INSISTED THAT CONTINUED PRESENCE OF THE WHITE MAN IN AFRICA " DEPENDED ON THE MAINTENANCE OF THE UNION OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN RHODESIA . ROOM SULKERS . LOOKING HIS MOST BULLDOGGISH, AND GIVING A JAUNTY THUMBS-UP SALUTE, WELENSKY STORMED INTO LONDON LAST WEEK, PROPHESYING RUIN AND ANARCHY IF HIS WARNINGS WERE IGNORED . ASKED IF HE WOULD USE FEDERAL TROOPS TO PREVENT THE SECESSION OF BLACK-DOMINATED NORTHERN RHODESIA, SIR ROY REPLIED, " THE ONLY TIME ONE WOULD USE FORCE WOULD BE TO MAINTAIN LAW AND ORDER . ONE WOULD NOT STAND BY AND SEE THINGS SMASH . BUT IF YOU ARE ASKING ME WHETHER I WOULD USE FORCE TO KEEP THE TWO RHODESIAS TOGETHER, THE ANSWER IS NO, BECAUSE IT WOULD NOT WORK . " BY THE TIME WELENSKY CHECKED INTO THE HYDE PARK HOTEL, NATIONALIST KENNETH KAUNDA, TOP AFRICAN LEADER IN NORTHERN RHODESIA, HAD ALREADY ATTENDED HIS FIRST MEETING WITH BRITAIN'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER R . A . BUTLER TO DECIDE THE FUTURE COURSE OF CENTRAL AFRICA . OF RAMBUNCTIOUS SIR ROY, KAUNDA SNEERED, " WE ARE HERE TO ROB HIM OF HIS JOB . YOU MIGHT MAKE HIM LORD BROKEN REED . " WITH RAB BUTLER, KAUNDA AND HIS FELLOW NATIONALIST, HARRY NKUMBULA, ARGUED FOR TWO HOURS NORTHERN RHODESIA'S RIGHT TO SECEDE, AND ASKED WHY THEIR COUNTRY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED " THE CINDERELLA OF CENTRAL AFRICA . " WHEN BUTLER REFUSED TO MAKE ANY PROMISES, THE TWO AFRICAN LEADERS WALKED OUT AND SULKED FOR TWO DAYS IN THEIR HOTEL ROOMS . POWER SEEKERS . THIS APPARENTLY WAS ENOUGH FOR RAB BUTLER . HE CALLED IN WELENSKY AND SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S PRIME MINISTER WINSTON FIELD, A LEAN, ENIGMATIC FARMER WHO IS LESS INTERESTED IN THE FATE OF THE FEDERATION THAN IN SEEING TO IT THAT SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S 221,000 WHITES RETAIN POLITICAL CONTROL OF THE STATE'S 3,600,000 BLACKS . BUTLER ANNOUNCED BRITAIN'S DECISION : NO TERRITORY WOULD BE KEPT IN THE FEDERATION AGAINST ITS WILL . FURIOUS AT THIS " ACT OF BETRAYAL, " WELENSKY STALKED ANGRILY FROM BUTLER'S OFFICE AND PROMPTLY CANCELED A LUNCHEON ENGAGEMENT WITH PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN, A SNUB WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN BRITISH COMMONWEALTH ANNALS . AT A NEWS CONFERENCE, HE STORMED THAT " THESE DECISIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT UNDER THREAT FROM MEN WHO SEEK POWER . THE PEOPLE OF CENTRAL AFRICA, BLACK AND WHITE ALIKE, ARE BEING BETRAYED TO THESE MEN ! " SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S FIELD TOOK THE NEWS IN STRIDE . NOW THAT THE FEDERATION WAS VIRTUALLY DISSOLVED, FIELD WANTED A BRITISH GUARANTEE OF INDEPENDENCE FOR SOUTHERN RHODESIA, AND PRESUMABLY A GUARANTEE OF ITS CONSTITUTION, WHICH IS RIGGED AGAINST THE BLACK MAJORITY . UNTIL SUCH GUARANTEES ARE GIVEN, SAID FIELD, HE WILL ATTEND NO MORE CONFERENCES .
 RUSSIA A FINE ITALIAN HAND THE PAUCITY OF FACTS IN MOSCOW LENDS A CERTAIN CREDIBILITY TO EVERY RUMOR ABOUT THE KREMLIN, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CONCERNS THE SUPPOSED UPS AND DOWNS OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV.* THUS IT WAS LAST WEEK THAT A WHISPER FROM MOSCOW VIA ROME BECAME A BLAST OF HOT AIR FELT AROUND THE WORLD . IT ALL BEGAN WITH A MOSCOW DISPATCH BY GIUSEPPE BOFFA, CORRESPONDENT FOR ITALY'S COMMUNIST NEWSPAPER L'UNITA, WHICH SOBERLY DESCRIBED SOVIET TROUBLES IN DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND AT ONE POINT PERMITTED ITSELF THE FLAT ASSERTION THAT " MOSCOW IS LIVING THROUGH A DELICATE AND INTERESTING POLITICAL MOMENT . " ROME'S VOLATILE PRESS ERUPTED WITH SCREAMING HEADLINES PREDICTING NIKITA'S IMMINENT DOWNFALL . BIG PAPERS IN NEW YORK,LONDON AND PARIS GAVE WAY TO SIMILAR SPECULATION . THOUGH KHRUSHCHEV WAS SURELY UNDER PRESSURE, HE DID NOT ACT LIKE A FELLOW ON THE SKIDS . HE SENT A NOTE TO HIS POISON PEN PAL MAO TSE-TUNG POLITELY DECLINING MAO'S INVITATION TO TALK OVER THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT IN PEKING (TIME, MARCH 22). INSTEAD HE INVITED MAO OR A GROUP OF COLLEAGUES TO MOSCOW . SUGGESTED TIME FOR THE CONFRONTATION OF QUARRELING COMMUNISTS : IN THE SPRING OR SUMMER, " WHICH ARE GOOD SEASONS OF THE YEAR IN OUR COUNTRY . / EVEN THE UPS AND DOWNS OF SOVIET SPACE TECHNOLOGY WERE SHROUDED IN UNCERTAINTY LAST WEEK . MOSCOW LAUNCHED A FOURTH MOON PROBE, BUT WITH TYPICAL SECRECY DID NOT REVEAL ITS MISSION . THE SIZE OF LUNIK IV (1F TONS) LED SOME WESTERN SCIENTISTS TO BELIEVE IT WAS DESIGNED TO CARRY OUT A SOFT LANDING ON THE MOON . BUT AFTER 3F DAYS IN FLIGHT, LUNIK IV MISSED THE MOON BY 5,281 MILES . WAS LUNIK IV A FLOP ? TASS REPORTED ONLY THAT EXPERIMENTS " HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT, " THEN CURTLY ADDED IT WOULD HAVE NOTHING MORE TO REPORT ABOUT THE FLIGHT .
 RUSSIA THAT STRANGE TIME I AM NOT RETREATING ONE DAMNED STEP . IT IS GOOD TO BE ANGRY AT UNTRUTH . SO, IN THE FULL FLUSH OF DESTALINIZATION, WROTE EVGENY EVTUSHENKO, 29, THE RUSSIAN POET WHOSE HONEST RAGE AT THE CANT AND CALLOUSNESS OF SOVIET SOCIETY HAS MADE HIM THE IDOL OF HIS GENERATION . FOR A WHILE, IN FACT, IT SEEMED AS IF EVTUSHENKO (TIME COVER, APRIL 13, 1962) HAD BECOME A SEMIOFFICIAL ANGRY YOUNG MARXIST, WHOSE OCCASIONAL EXCESSES WERE TOLERATED BY THE REGIME BECAUSE THEY MADE IT APPEAR AS IF KHRUSHCHEV'S COMMUNISM COULD ACTUALLY ACCEPT CRITICISM . IF SO, EVTUSHENKO PUSHED HIS LUCK TOO FAR . VAIN APOLOGIES . DURING A SWING THROUGH FRANCE AND WEST GERMANY EARLY THIS YEAR, THE DASHING YOUNG POET WAS LIONIZED AT PARTIES (INCLUDING A MASQUERADE BALL DURING MUNICH'S ANNUAL CARNIVAL) BY PLEASURE-LOVING BOURGEOIS INTELLECTUALS . HE EVEN HELD A SERIES OF FREEWHEELING PRESS CONFERENCES . HEAPING SCORN ON THE PARTY FOSSILS WHOSE HACKWORK WINS THE STALIN PRIZE EACH YEAR, EVTUSHENKO ACTUALLY BLAMED STALIN'S REIGN OF TERROR ON THE DICTATOR'S " CLOSE ASSOCIATES " OF WHOM, THOUGH HE DID NOT SAY SO, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV IS THE DEAN EMERITUS . THE POET'S MOST AUDACIOUS GESTURE OF INDEPENDENCE WAS TO GIVE THE EDITORS OF FRANCE'S L'EXPRESS HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY FOR PUBLICATION, KNOWING WELL THAT NO SOVIET WRITER IS PERMITTED TO PUBLISH ABROAD WITHOUT FIRST GETTING CLEARANCE FROM THE CENSORS . CUED BY KHRUSHCHEV HIMSELF, WHO RECENTLY RAPPED EVTUSHENKO FOR " CHEAP SENSATIONALISM, " A THREE-DAY MEETING OF THE UNION OF SOVIET WRITERS LAST MONTH ADDRESSED ITSELF ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO DESTROYING THE CULT OF EVTUSHENKO . IN ALL, CLOSE TO 40 TAME AUTHORS TROOPED MONOTONOUSLY FORWARD TO DENOUNCE EVTUSHENKO AND OTHER LIBERAL YOUNG WRITERS FOR OFFENSES RANGING FROM BAD RHYMES TO " SACRILGEIOUS STATEMENTS " ABOUT THE REVOLUTION . THOUGH EVTUSHENKO MADE ABJECT APOLOGIES FOR HIS " IRREVOCABLE MISTAKE, " THE DRUMFIRE OF CRITICISM ONLY GREW LOUDER AND MORE INSISTENT . MUTTER IN MINSK . LAST WEEK THE SOVIET PRESS FUMED THAT EVTUSHENKO AND OTHER YOUNG WRITERS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL ABROAD UNTIL THEY " MATURE POLITICALLY . " WHEN A WEST GERMAN GIRL WAS DETAINED AT THE SOVIET BORDER ON CHARGES OF SMUGGLING CAVIAR, IZVESTIA BROUGHT EVTUSHENKO INTO IT BY CHARGING THAT SHE HAD MET EVTUSHENKO IN GERMANY AND FROM HIM HAD LEARNED ALL ABOUT " FASHIONABLE MOSCOW YOUTH . " IN MINSK, WHERE DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH'S NEW 13TH SYMPHONY WAS PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME OUTSIDE MOSCOW, A CRITIC CASTIGATED THE COMPOSER FOR BASING PART OF HIS SCORE ON EVTUSHENKO'S FAMED POEM, BABI YAR, A SAVAGE INDICTMENT OF SOVIET ANTI-SEMITISM THAT THE LITERARY COMMISSARS HAVE ALREADY MADE EVTUSHENKO REVISE . THOUGH KHRUSHCHEV WAS PLAINLY OUT TO MAKE EVTUSHENKO THE SCAPEGOAT, THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE POET WAS ONLY PART OF A NEW, SYSTEMATIC ATTEMPT TO CLAMP STRICT PARTY CONTROLS ON THE THEATER, MUSIC, ART, BOOK PUBLISHING, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, AND EVERY OTHER FIELD IN WHICH YOUNG COMMUNISTS MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO VOICE INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS . IT WAS ONCE MORE THAT " STRANGE TIME, " AS EVTUSHENKO WROTE IN 1960, " WHEN COMMON INTEGRITY COULD BE CALLED COURAGE . /
 ANANY EGOROVICH BIT HIS LOWER LIP . HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO . EIGHT YEARS AGO HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN THESE WOMEN BY THE SCRUFF OF THEIR NECKS AND THROWN THEM INTO THE FIELDS . BUT NOW . . . " A WIFE WITH A JOB . MYSOVSKY VISITS A FATHER AND SON WHO DO NOT WORK REGULARLY FOR THE KOLKHOZ, YET OCCUPY A GOOD HOUSE . HOW DO THEY DO IT ? " WHAT ARE THE MEANS ? ANANY EGOROVICH ASKED HIMSELF . THE KOLKHOZ WAGES ? CERTAINLY NOT, SADLY ENOUGH . WHO COULD BUILD THEMSELVES A HOUSE ? THOSE WHO HAVE EARNINGS ON THE SIDE . THERE IS A CUSTOM IN THE VILLAGE : IF YOU WORK IN A KOLKHOZ, LOOK FOR A WIFE WHO HAS A REGULAR JOB IN TOWN . " EVERYONE WOULD RATHER WORK FOR HIMSELF AND EARN MORE THAN WORK FOR THE COLLECTIVE, HE LAMENTS . " IT'S THE SAME OLD STORY . A REAL VICIOUS CIRCLE . IN ORDER TO BE PAID WELL, PEOPLE SHOULD WORK FULL STEAM, SINCE THE KOLKHOZ HAS NO OTHER RESOURCES BUT THEIR WORK . BUT PEOPLE WILL NOT WORK FOR THE KOLKHOZ BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT WELL PAID . HOW CAN I BREAK THE CIRCLE ? PARTY OFFICIALS TELL ME, " YOU'RE NOT A GOOD LEADER . YOUR AGITATION-EDUCATIONAL WORK IS SLACK.' BUT HOW DO YOU PROPAGANDIZE TODAY'S KOLKHOZNIK ? WITHOUT THE RUBLE THE AGITATION DOESN'T REACH HIM . . . THAT'S THE WHOLE QUESTION . " WHY BOTHER ? CONTINUING HIS TOUR, MYSOVSKY STOPS OFF AT THE NEW HOME OF A RELEASED INMATE OF A SLAVE LABOR CAMP . THE FELLOW HAS A DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE THAT HE IS TOO ILL TO WORK, LIVES LAVISHLY BY SELLING PRODUCE FROM HIS PRIVATE PLOT . " EVERYTHING AT PETUNYA'S PLACE WAS GEARED TO MARKET NEEDS . INSTEAD OF A SMALL ONION BED HE HAD A REAL ONION PLANTATION, MUCH BETTER THAN THE ONES ON THE KOLKHOZ . THEN THERE WERE CUCUMBERS, POTATOES . . . EVERY INCH WAS USED . " NATURALLY PETUNYA REFUSES TO HELP BRING IN THE HARVEST . " IF I HAD A COW I MIGHT, BUT OTHERWISE, WHY BOTHER ? ' THE CHAIRMAN UNDERSTANDS . . . EVERY YEAR THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF HAY ARE LOST BECAUSE KOLKHOZNIKI GET ONLY 10 PER CENT OF THE HAY THEY HARVEST . IN ORDER TO FEED HIS OWN COW HE WOULD HAVE TO HARVEST ENOUGH FOR EIGHT OR NINE AND THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE . EACH YEAR IT GETS HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND WORKERS FOR THE KOLKHOZ SILO . " MEETING HIS FATE . AT THE END OF HIS ROUNDS MYSOVSKY IS DOG-TIRED AND DEPRESSED, STOPS OFF AT THE RECREATION HALL FOR A DRINK, AND PROMPTLY GETS PLASTERED . WHILE DRUNK HE PROMISES THE WORKERS 30 PER CENT OF THE HARVEST INSTEAD OF THE REGULATION 10 PER CENT , AND LO AND BEHOLD, WITH THAT INCENTIVE, THEY ARE OUT IN THE FIELDS EARLY NEXT DAY . NEXT MORNING, MYSOVSKY WAKES UP WITH A HANGOVER, RUBS HIS EYES AT THE SIGHT OF WORKERS' KERCHIEFS BOBBING LIKE DAISIES IN THE FIELDS . THEN HE REMEMBERS . . . " THIRTY PERCENT ? HOW COULD HE HAVE SAID ANYTHING OF THE SORT ? HIS HEAD MIGHT FALL FOR THAT . HE COULD IMAGINE THE CRIES OF THE PARTY BOSSES : " YOU HAVE UNLEASHED PROPERTY-POSSESSING IDEAS . YOU LET YOURSELF BE LED BY BACKWARD ELEMENTS.' JUST THE SAME, THOUGHT THE CHAIRMAN, THE WORKERS WERE OUT IN THE FIELDS JUST BECAUSE OF THE PROMISE OF 30 PER CENT WITHOUT SHOUTING, DEMANDS OR DISCUSSION . " MYSOVSKY HASTILY WALKED TOWARD THE HOME OF THE LOCAL PARTY BOSS TO EXPLAIN THINGS BEFORE THEY PUT HIM ON TRIAL . THE CLOSER HE GOT TO THE HOUSE, THE MORE FRIGHTENED HE BECAME . ON THE WAY, AN ASSISTANT STOPPED HIM, ASKED WHETHER HE WANTED TO SEND ADDITIONAL WORKERS TO OUTLYING FIELDS NATURALLY FOR THE SAME 30 PER CENT . " MYSOVSKY NERVOUSLY LICKED HIS LIPS, THEN AGREED . NOW THAT I AM 55, I SHOULD BE COURAGEOUS, HE SAID TO HIMSELF . HE STRAIGHTENED HIMSELF UP, AND WENT INSIDE TO MEET HIS FATE . /
 GREAT BRITAIN WEEKEND IN WASHINGTON FROM THE SOLICITOUS RECEPTION HE GOT FROM THE NEW FRONTIER, THE LITTLE COLDEYED MAN WHO STEPPED OFF THE AIRLINER IN WASHINGTON MIGHT HAVE BEEN BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER RATHER THAN THE OPPOSITION LEADER . EVEN IN HIS OWN LABOR PARTY SIX MONTHS AGO, PIPE-PUFFING HAROLD WILSON WAS REGARDED AS A SLIPPERY OPPORTUNIST AND A CONSTANT THREAT TO THE PARTY'S HARDWON UNITY UNDER THE LATE HUGH GAITSKELL . THOUGH HIS VIEWS ON MOST MAJOR ISSUES WERE CALCULATEDLY MURKY, " LITTLE HAROLD, " AS HIS FOES CALL HIM, DREW LEFT-WING SUPPORT BY CONDEMNING U.S . HANDLING OF CUBA, CHEERING ON THE UNILATERALISTS, BITTERLY OPPOSING BRITAIN'S BID FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP . HOWEVER, IT WAS NOT WILSON'S PAST THAT BROUGHT OUT WASHINGTON'S RED CARPET BUT HIS POTENTIAL FUTURE . EVEN THOUGH ELECTIONS WILL PROBABLY NOT BE CALLED FOR AT LEAST A YEAR, NO U.S . POLICYMAKER COULD IGNORE TODAY'S GALLUP POLLS, WHICH GIVE THE LABOR PARTY A RECORD 50 PER CENT TO 33F PER CENT LEAD OVER THE TORIES . IF THAT TREND SHOULD CONTINUE, HAROLD WILSON WOULD BE BRITAIN'S NEXT PRIME MINISTER . WHAT ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS GOT LAST WEEK WAS AMPLE DEMONSTRATION OF THE FACT THAT SINCE GAITSKELL'S DEATH, THE FLINTY, QUICK-WITTED YORKSHIREMAN HAS HAD TO MOVE CLOSER TO THE POLITICAL CENTER TO HOLD THE PARTY TOGETHER AND TAKE HARD AND FAST STANDS ON WHICH BRITAIN'S ELECTORATE CAN WEIGH THE MERITS OF A LABOR GOVERNMENT . WILSON WAS PLAINLY ANXIOUS TO WIN THE NEW FRONTIER'S CONFIDENCE . AFTER AN INTENSIVE, FOUR-DAY ROUND OF CONFERENCES WITH PRESIDENT KENNEDY AND KEY ADMINISTRATIVE HANDS, THE LABOR LEADER'S VIEWS ON MOST OUTSTANDING WORLD ISSUES SEEMED NOW AT LEAST AS CLOSE TO U.S . POLICY AS HAROLD MACMILLAN'S . " DENEGOTIATION . " WILSON'S MOST REASSURING MESSAGE WAS THAT HE UNEQUIVOCALLY SUPPORTS NATO AS " THE CENTER OF OUR DEFENSE POLICY IN EUROPE . " TO THE DELIGHT OF THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT, WHICH HAS LONG TRIED IN VAIN TO PERSUADE BRITAIN TO BUILD UP ITS CHRONICALLY INADEQUATE GROUND FORCES ON THE CONTINENT, WILSON ARGUED THAT BRITAIN COULD WELL AFFORD A STRONG ARMY IF, AS HE PROPOSES, IT WERE TO ELIMINATE ITS NUCLEAR STRIKE FORCE " THE SOCALLED INDEPENDENT, SO-CALLED BRITISH, SOCALLED DETERRENT . " THUS, IF ELECTED, WILSON WOULD " DENEGOTIATE " BRITAIN'S AGREEMENT AT NASSAU TO BUILD A POLARIS SUBMARINE FLEET, AND HOPE THEREBY TO DISCOURAGE OTHER NATIONS FROM BUILDING INDEPENDENT DETERRENTS . HE IS STRONGLY OPPOSED TO GIVING GERMANY A FINGER ON THE TRIGGER, WHICH " WOULD BE HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE TO THE SOVIET UNION AND MAKE IT EVEN HARDER TO GET AGREEMENTS, " PARTICULARLY ON THE MATTER OF DISARMAMENT . BELYING REPORTS THAT HE WAS " SOFT " ON WEST BERLIN, WILSON INSISTED THAT IT MUST REMAIN A FREE AND VIABLE CITY, AND THAT ALLIED TROOPS WOULD HAVE TO BE STATIONED THERE " FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE . " RESERVATIONS . THERE WERE SOME ISSUES ON WHICH WILSON'S VIEWS WERE DIRECTLY AT ODDS WITH THOSE OF THE ADMINISTRATION ; U.S . OFFICIALS WERE INCLINED TO SHRUG THEM OFF AS LIP SERVICE TO LABOR'S LEFT WING . MOST IMPORTANT DIVERGENCE IS HIS SUPPORT FOR WITHDRAWAL OF NATO AND SOVIET TROOPS FROM CENTRAL EUROPE, MAKING " NUCLEAR-FREE " ZONES OF EAST AND WEST GERMANY AND HUNGARY A PROPOSAL THAT THE U.S . CONSIDERS IMPRACTICAL AND DANGEROUS . WILSON SEEMED AS WOBBLY AS EVER ON SOME QUESTIONS, NOTABLY THE COMMON MARKET, WHICH HE NOW CONDITIONALLY FAVORS . HE SUPPORTS GREATER EAST-WEST TRADE, WHICH IS NOT AN ADMINISTRATION GOAL, AND FAVORS SEATING COMMUNIST CHINA IN THE U.N., WHICH IS DIRECTLY CONTRARY TO U.S . POLICY, BUT HE TOLD U.S . OFFICIALS THAT THESE ARE NOT HIGH-PRIORITY AIMS . THESE VIEWS GAVE REASON FOR CONTINUED RESERVATIONS ABOUT HAROLD WILSON . MOREOVER, THOUGH HIS INCISIVE, PRAGMATIC STYLE UNDENIABLY IMPRESSED WASHINGTON, OLDER HEADS HAVE STILL TO BE PERSUADED THAT WILSON'S CONVICTIONS WILL NOT SHIFT AGAIN AS THEY HAVE SO MANY TIMES BEFORE .
 FRANCE A CERTAIN MALADY " BECAUSE THEY CLING TO OBSOLETE SLOGANS, " THUNDERED GAULLIST MINISTER FRANCOIS MISSOFFE LAST WEEK, " THE UNIONS WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS THE POLITICAL PARTIES AND BE DEMOLISHED . " BUT THINGS DID NOT WORK OUT QUITE THAT WAY . IN FRANCE'S NORTHERN COAL FIELDS, 188,000 MINERS WORE SMILES OF VICTORY AS THEY TROOPED BACK TO THE PITS AFTER THEIR BITTER 35-DAY STRIKE . DEFYING A GOVERNMENT ANTISTRIKE DECREE THAT COULD HAVE RESULTED IN FINES, FIRINGS AND JAIL TERMS, THE MINERS HAD WON AN IMMEDIATE 6.5 PER CENT PAY BOOST THAT WILL RISE TO 12.5 PER CENT BY NEXT APRIL . THE HUMILIATING DEFEAT FOR PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE ADDED NO LUSTER TO HIS POPULAR PRESTIGE . CITING AN " EVIDENT CORRELATION " BETWEEN DE GAULLE'S SAGGING CURVE AND THE STRIKE, THE FRENCH INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC OPINION SAID THAT ONLY 42 PER CENT OF THE PUBLIC WAS CURRENTLY " SATISFIED " WITH HIS HANDLING OF THE PRESIDENCY, COMPARED WITH 55 PER CENT IN MARCH AND 64 PER CENT IN JANUARY . BUT MORE IMPORTANT TO DE GAULLE THAN POPULARITY WAS HIS FEAR OF THE STRIKE'S ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE ECONOMY . THE WAGE GAINS BY MINERS HAVE ALREADY TOUCHED OFF SIMILAR DEMANDS BY OTHER WORKERS IN NATIONALIZED INDUSTRY ; WHEN PRIVATE EMPLOYEES START BARGAINING FOR A FRESH ROUND OF SALARY HIKES, THE RESULT COULD BE AS PREMIER GEORGES POMPIDOU HAS PUT IT " A CERTAIN MALADY WHICH IS CALLED INFLATION . " LE GRAND CHARLES STILL HOPED TO QUARANTINE THE MALADY . FROM THE ELYSEE PALACE CAME WORD THAT HE WILL SOON MAKE A NATIONWIDE RADIO-TELEVISION ADDRESS " ON INTERNAL SUBJECTS OF AN ECONOMIC ORDER .
 WEST GERMANY THE PRICE OF SILENCE UNTIL LAST WEEK CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS HAD WON A MAJORITY AMONG THE RURAL, CONSERVATIVE VOTERS OF RHINELAND-PALATINATE IN EVERY ELECTION SINCE THE WEST GERMAN REPUBLIC WAS FOUNDED IN 1949 . BUT THE LATEST VOTE FOR THE STATE LEGISLATURE GAVE THE C.D.U . ONLY 46 OF 100 SEATS, AND 44.4 PER CENT OF THE POPULAR VOTE, A LOSS OF 4 PER CENT SINCE THE 1959 ELECTION . THE SOCIALISTS, BY CONTRAST, MOVED UP FROM 37 SEATS TO 43 IN THE CONSERVATIVE STRONGHOLD, TAKING 40.7 PER CENT OF THE VOTE, A GAIN OF NEARLY 6 PER CENT . CRIED SOCIALIST SPOKESMAN FRITZ BARSIG : / THE ICE IS FINALLY BROKEN . " THE C.D.U . WOULD CONTINUE TO GOVERN RHINELAND-PALATINATE IN COALITION WITH THE FREE DEMOCRATS, BUT IT WAS CLEAR THAT ITS LOSS THERE WAS THE MOST DAMAGING THAT THE PARTY HAD SUFFERED IN FIVE STATE ELECTIONS IN THE PAST 16 MONTHS . TAKING STOCK, C.D.U . OFFICIALS WERE NOW CERTAIN THAT THE FAULT LAY WITH DER ALTE'S OBSTINATE FIGHT TO HANG ONTO HIS POST, BLOCKING THE SUCCESSION OF ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD . DESPITE ADENAUER'S TOWERING CONTEMPT FOR HIM, " UNCLE LUDWIG " IS BY FAR THE MOST POPULAR POLITICIAN IN THE COUNTRY ; A RECENT PUBLIC-OPINION POLL SHOWED THAT HE IS REGARDED BY 25 PER CENT OF THE VOTERS AS THE BEST MAN TO SUCCEED ADENAUER, WHEREAS SOCIALIST LEADER WILLY BRANDT IS FAVORED BY ONLY 12 PER CENT . BUT WITH FEDERAL ELECTIONS ONLY TWO YEARS AWAY, 32 PER CENT OF THOSE POLLED NOW LOOK ON THE SOCIALISTS AS THE " MOST SYMPATHETIC PARTY, " WHILE ONLY 30 PER CENT SO REGARD THE C.D.U . A THREEMAN C.D.U . COMMITTEE CHOSEN TO NAME THE NEXT CHANCELLOR APPEARS CONVINCED THAT ONLY ERHARD CAN REVERSE THE TIDE . BUT ADENAUER HOLDS OUT AGAINST A QUICK DECISION . FOR THE SOCIALISTS, WHO HOPE TO WHITTLE C.D.U . MARGINS EVEN MORE DRAMATICALLY IN FOUR OTHER STATE ELECTIONS BEFORE MID-1964, DER ALTE'S CONTINUED SILENCE CAN BE GOLDEN .
 COMMON MARKET BACK TO WORK WHEN CHARLES DE GAULLE SHOCKED EUROPE WITH HIS HIGHHANDED EXCLUSION OF BRITAIN FROM THE COMMON MARKET LAST JANUARY, MANY EUROPEAN OFFICIALS SPECULATED THAT THE GENERAL'S ACTION MIGHT PERMANENTLY DISRUPT THE COMMON MARKET'S PROGRESS . INDEED, FOR TWO MONTHS, MEETING AFTER MEETING AT BRUSSELS ENDED IN RECRIMINATION AND DEADLOCK . BUT FINALLY LAST WEEK THE REST OF THE SIX SWALLOWED THEIR RESENTMENT AT FRANCE AND GOT BACK TO BUSINESS AS BEFORE . TWO AND A HALF YEARS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, THE COMMON MARKET NATIONS VOTED ANOTHER 10 PER CENT SLASH IN EACH NATION'S CUSTOMS DUTIES ON INDUSTRIAL IMPORTS FROM OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, AND AGREED TO CUT BY 20 PER CENT THE AVERAGE TARIFF ON A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIAL GOODS IMPORTED FROM OUTSIDE THE COMMON MARKET . THE LATEST REDUCTION WAS PLAINLY INTENDED AS A GOODWILL GESTURE ON THE EVE OF TARIFF-CUTTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE U.S . IN GENEVA NEXT MONTH . HOWEVER, WHAT THE U.S . IS PRIMARILY ANXIOUS TO SECURE AT GENEVA ITS EUROPEAN MARKET FOR AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS WILL NOT BE UP FOR NEGOTIATION, SINCE THE COMMON MARKET NATIONS LAST WEEK WERE UNABLE TO AGREE ON THEIR OWN PRICE LEVELS
 EUROPE AN ANTHOLOGY OF PROS PRIESTS AND KINGS, COMMISSARS AND PARLIAMENTS HAVE ALL TRIED TO PUT THE WORLD'S OLDEST PROFESSION OUT OF BUSINESS . NONE SUCCEEDED . SOME SOCIOLOGISTS, HOWEVER, HAVE GAMELY PREDICTED THAT ANY NATION THAT COULD ELIMINATE UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD ALSO ELIMINATE PROSTITUTION . GIRLS ONLY SOLD THEIR BODIES, THE ARGUMENT WENT, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO MARKET FOR THEIR OTHER SKILLS . THE MOBILE SQUAD . BUT AS PROSPEROUS, LABOR-SHORT WESTERN EUROPE LAST WEEK PREPARED FOR THE SUMMER FLOOD OF TOURISTS, IT WAS GLARINGLY APPARENT THAT THE SOCIOLOGISTS HAD, AS USUAL, GUESSED WRONG . INSTEAD OF VANISHING, OR EVEN DECLINING IN NUMBERS, PROSTITUTES SWARMED IN EVERY EUROPEAN CAPITAL, FROM COPENHAGEN TO ROME AND FROM BUDAPEST TO LONDON . THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC MIRACLE DID IN FACT TAKE SOME PROSTITUTES OFF THE STREETS BUT ONLY TO PUT THEM IN CARS . THE " KLAXON GIRLS " OF MILAN CRUISE CATHEDRAL SQUARE IN LANCIAS AND DAUPHINES, DISCREETLY TOOTING HORNS AND FLASHING THEIR HEADLIGHTS TO ATTRACT MEN'S ATTENTION . THE LATEST FASHION IN COPENHAGEN HAS BEEN CREATED BY " VANPROSTITUTES, " WHO CRUISE THE STREETS IN SMALL TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH BEDS . IN ROME, THE FIRST GREEN LEAVES LAST WEEK PEEPED ALONG THE LUNGOTEVERE, AND FLOWERS SPROUTED BEHIND SIDEWALK TABLES ON THE VIA VENETO . SPRING HAD COME, AND THE LADIES COULD NOT BE FAR BEHIND . AS EARLY AS 9 A.M., TIGHT-SKIRTED HUSTLERS PROWL THE SQUARE BEFORE ROME'S MODERNISTIC RAILWAY STATION ; BY NOON, THEY ARE ENSCONCED ON THE BENCHES OF THE PINCIO GARDEN, CASTING PROVOCATIVE GLANCES OVER THE TOPS OF SUNGLASSES AT PASSERS-BY ; BY DINNERTIME, THEY BEGIN CONGREGATING NEAR ROME'S BIGGEST SUPERMARKET ALONGSIDE OLYMPIC VILLAGE AND BESIDE THE VAST RUINS OF THE BATHS OF CARACALLA . AT 9 O'CLOCK, ON THE CORNER OF VIA SISTINA NEAR THE PIAZZA DI SPAGNA, THE PRETTIEST PROSTITUTES APPEAR, DRESSED NOT AS PROFESSIONAL HOOKERS BUT AS SWEET LITTLE SCHOOLGIRLS . IN PARIS, THE POLICE HAVE SUCCEEDED IN DRIVING MOST BROTHELS UNDERGROUND, BUT AN ESTIMATED 20,000 PROSTITUTES ARE STILL AVAILABLE TO TOURISTS AND DOMESTIC MALES . THE MOST EXPENSIVE (AROUND $20) WORK THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES, AND IN A DECLINING ORDER OF PRICE AND PULCHRITUDE COME THE GIRLS OF THE MADELEINE, THE GARE MONTPARNASSE, PLACE PIGALLE AND LES HALLES . BRITAIN'S STREET OFFENSES ACT, PASSED IN 1959, HAS ENDED THE PROCESSIONS OF UNDULATING WHORES THAT USED TO FILL UP PICCADILLY CIRCUS, BAYSWATER ROAD AND HYDE PARK . BORROWING A TRICK FROM THEIR SISTERS IN AMSTERDAM, MANY LONDON PROSTITUTES NOW SIT AT THE UPPER WINDOWS OF SCRUFFY SOHO FLATS FOR WHICH THEY PAY AS MUCH AS $150 PER WEEK . UPSTAIRS BAR . EVEN THE COMMUNIST BLOC HAS ITS PROBLEMS WITH PROSTITUTION, WHILE INDIGNANTLY DENYING THAT IT EXISTS . IN HUNGARY, BUDAPEST'S FEW WHORES ARE OFTEN BOOKED UP NIGHTS IN ADVANCE BY VISITING AUSTRIAN AND WEST GERMAN BUSINESSMEN . " ELISABETH OF THE DUNA, " A WITTY LITTLE MAGYAR WHO ADORNS THE UPSTAIRS BAR OF THE HOTEL DUNA, IS SO FAMOUS THAT GUARDS ON THE AUSTRIAN BORDER ASK TRAVELERS, " HAVE YOU ANYTHING TO DECLARE ? DID YOU SEE ELISABETH ? " THOUGH FLOURISHING AS NEVER BEFORE IN WESTERN EUROPE, THE WORLD'S OLDEST PROFESSION IS ALSO CONTINUING TO TAKE ITS ACCUSTOMED TOLL . IN ITALY, THE NUMBER OF REPORTED CASES OF VENEREAL DISEASE JUMPED FROM 1,679 IN 1958 TO 16,395 LAST YEAR . IN FRANCE, DURING FIVE YEARS OF PROSPERITY, VENEREAL DISEASE SKYROCKETED BY 385 PER CENT . THE PROS PUT THE BLAME ON THE SEMIPROS, THE GROWING NUMBER OF YOUNG WOMEN WHO WORK DAYS AS SECRETARIES OR SALESCLERKS (AT WAGES RANGING FROM $120 TO $150 PER MONTH) AND TAKE TO THE STREETS AT NIGHT AND REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN EVEN TO THE POLICE . AT WEEK'S END IN PARIS, WOMEN WERE FLOCKING TO MOVIE THEATERS TO WATCH ABSORBEDLY A NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM ON PROSTITUTION AND, PERHAPS, PICK UP A FEW POINTERS .
 LAOS AFTER THE PARTY RETURNING HOME EARLY FROM A PARTY AT THE KING'S RESIDENCE IN VIENTIANE, FOREIGN MINISTER QUINIM PHOLSENA, 47, AND HIS WIFE DREW UP BEFORE THEIR NEWLY RENOVATED VILLA . ON GUARD WAS A PROTECTIVE SCREEN OF SOLDIERS FROM THE NEUTRALIST ARMY OF PREMIER PRINCE SOUVANNA PHOUMA . AS QUINIM MOUNTED THE STEPS, ONE OF THE SOLDIERS STEPPED FORWARD AND FIRED A BLAST FROM HIS SUBMACHINE GUN THAT KILLED QUINIM AND SERIOUSLY WOUNDED HIS WIFE . WHEN WORD OF THE MURDER REACHED THE KING'S RESIDENCE ON THE BANKS OF THE MEKONG, IT FAILED TO DAMPEN THE MERRYMAKING . THE BAND PLAYED ON, THE MINISTERS AND THEIR LADIES CONTINUED TO SIP CHAMPAGNE . SHRUGGED ONE GUEST : " NO ONE HAD IT MORE COMING TO HIM AND FROM MORE QUARTERS THAN DID QUINIM PHOLSENA . / HARD-WORKING, DEDICATED AND DEVIOUS, QUINIM LACKED THE CUSTOMARY LAOTIAN CHARM AND GREW UP CONSUMED BY BITTERNESS AND ENVY . UNLIKE MOST OTHER LAOTIAN POLITICIANS, HE DID NOT BELONG TO A RICH OR PRINCELY FAMILY . HE MADE A LOT OF MONEY AS A MERCHANT AND INVESTOR, BUT IN POLITICS HE WAS ALWAYS A MAN OF THE LEFT ; THOUGH OFFICIALLY A MEMBER OF SOUVANNA PHOUMA'S NEUTRALIST PARTY, HIS LINE WAS USUALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THAT OF THE COMMUNIST PATHET LAO . QUINIM WAS WIDELY BLAMED FOR SPLITTING THE NEUTRALIST RANKS AND FOR FOSTERING THE RESENTMENTS AND DISSENSIONS THAT LED TO THE FEBRUARY ASSASSINATION OF A NEUTRALIST COLONEL IN THE PLAINE DES JARRES . IN HIS SIGNED CONFESSION, QUINIM'S ASSASSIN, A LANCE CORPORAL NAMED CHY KONG, CHARGED QUINIM WITH TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT AND BRIBING NEUTRALIST OFFICERS TO DEFECT TO THE PATHET LAO FORCES ENCAMPED IN THE PLAINE DES JARRES, WHERE AT WEEK'S END FIGHTING BROKE OUT THAT CAUSED 20 CASUALTIES . ASKED IF HE AGREED THAT QUINIM HAD BEEN PRO-COMMUNIST, PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA REPLIED SIMPLY : " HE IS DEAD . PEACE TO HIS SOUL . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM A WIFE IS ONLY A WIFE BUT EVERY RED IS A FOE THE UGLY WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM SEEMS TO BE DRAGGING ON FOREVER, AND SENATOR RICHARD RUSSELL, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE, THINKS HE KNOWS THE REASON WHY . SAID THE GEORGIA DEMOCRAT : " WE ARE TRYING TO FIGHT THIS PROBLEM AS IF IT WERE A TOURNAMENT OF ROSES . I THINK IT IS TIME FOR THE DIRTYTRICKS DEPARTMENT TO TAKE OVER THERE . WE ARE DEALING WITH A BUNCH OF SCOUNDRELS, AND IT SEEMS TO ME WE OUGHT TO CATCH THEM AS IF WE WERE TRYING TO RUN DOWN JESSE JAMES $10,000, DEAD OR ALIVE . " ACTUALLY, THE VIET CONG SHOULD COME CHEAPER, ACCORDING TO RUSSELL, WHO PROPOSED A SYSTEM OF REWARDS FOR PEASANTS WHO REPORTED COMMUNIST HIDEOUTS . SAID HE : " WE MIGHT PROMISE THEM A COUPLE OF WATER BUFFALO, OR A NEW WIFE, OR SOME MONEY, OR THREE OR FOUR ACRES OF RICE LAND ALMOST ANYTHING WOULD BE CHEAPER THAN WHAT WE ARE DOING . "
 MALAYSIA FORGING A PROSPEROUS NATION ENDLESS ROWS OF RUBBER TREES STRETCH FOR MILES OVER A LUSH RUBBER PLANTATION IN WESTERN MALAYA . IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS, WOMEN TAPPERS EXTRACT THE THICK FLUID THAT IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF A NEW BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NATION THAT SOME TIME THIS SUMMER WILL COME INTO BEING . IT IS THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA, COMPOSED OF INDEPENDENT MALAYA, SELF-GOVERNING SINGAPORE, AND BRITISH PROTECTORATES OF SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO . MALAYSIA IS THE DREAM OF MALAYA'S PRIME MINISTER ABDUL RAHMAN, 60, THE MAN ON THIS WEEK'S COVER . HE IS A CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED LAWYER WHO LED HIS NATION TO INDEPENDENCE IN 1957 DURING ITS SUCCESSFUL, TWELVE-YEAR STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNIST GUERRILLA INSURGENTS . THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF RAW RUBBER IN THE WORLD, THE NEW COUNTRY WILL BE THE MOST PROSPEROUS AND BUSTLING NATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, ENCOMPASSING 129,500 SQUARE MILES AND 10 MILLION PEOPLE OF ELEVEN ETHNIC GROUPS RANGING FROM ABORIGINAL TRIBESMEN TO MILLIONAIRE SULTANS . MENACING ITS FUTURE ARE THE EXPANSIONIST AIMS OF NEIGHBORING INDONESIA AND THE THREAT OF PEKING-DIRECTED COMMUNIST SUBVERSION . BUT WITH ITS SUCCESSFUL CREATION, MALAYSIA PICTURED AND DISCUSSED IN THE COLOR PAGES AND COVER STORY THAT FOLLOW COULD BECOME THE STRONGEST ANTI-COMMUNIST BULWARK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . MALAYSIA MALAYSIA WILL CUT A 1,600-MILE ARC THROUGH THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, FROM THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THAILAND THROUGH THE MALAY PENINSULA AND SINGAPORE TO THE NORTH COAST OF BORNEO . POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY, MALAYA IS THE KEYSTONE OF THE FEDERATION . WITH ITS POPULATION OF 7,000,000, MALAYA WILL DOMINATE THE NEW NATION'S GOVERNMENT, WHICH WILL SIT IN THE MALAYAN CAPITAL OF KUALA LUMPUR . THE MELTING-POT QUALITY OF THE NEW FEDERATION IS A REFLECTION OF MALAYA'S OWN CONGLOMERATION OF MALAYS, CHINESE, TAMILS, PYGMY NEGRITOS, AND OTHER ABORIGINAL TRIBESMEN IN THE DANK, TANGLED TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS OF THE INTERIOR . OFF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF MALAYA IS THE ISLAND STATE OF SINGAPORE, TEEMING WITH 1,700,000 PEOPLE . ONE OF THE LARGEST PORTS IN THE WORLD, SINGAPORE HAS THE HIGHEST ANNUAL PER CAPITA INCOME IN SOUTHEAST ASIA $450 . SINGAPORE'S CHINESE POPULATION, WITH STRONG TIES TO RED CHINA, PRESENTS THE NEW NATION WITH THE PRESSING PROBLEM OF COMMUNIST DOMINATION . BUT SINGAPORE HAS THE MOST POWERFUL MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, WILL BE THE HOME BASE FOR THE BRITISH ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE UNITS THAT WILL BE MALAYSIA'S PRIMARY DEFENSE . THE THREE TINY COLONIES OF SARAWAK (POP . 784,000), BRUNEI (POP . 84,000) AND NORTH BORNEO (POP . 480,000), SEPARATED FROM MALAYA AND SINGAPORE BY 400 MILES OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, WERE INCLUDED IN THE FEDERATION MAINLY TO REDRESS ITS POPULATION BALANCE IN FAVOR OF THE NON-CHINESE PEOPLES . MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE THREE JUNGLE TERRITORIES ARE HALF-NAKED PRIMITIVE NATIVES WHO LIVE COMMUNALLY IN LONGHOUSES, WORSHIP ANIMIST WATER SPIRITS, AND HUNT WITH BLOW GUNS AND POISONED DARTS ; IN NORTH BORNEO THE DUSUNS VENERATE CLOUD-CAPPED MOUNT KINABULU (13,455 FT.), HIGHEST PEAK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, AS THE GATEWAY TO PARADISE . AS INLAND ROADS ARE ALL BUT NONEXISTENT, RIVER CANOES ARE THE MAIN FORM OF TRANSPORTATION DUSUN GIRLS WEAR RATTAN BRAS TO MARKET IN NORTH BORNEO . KADAZAN MISS WEARS FESTIVE GARB AT CATHOLIC MISSION SCHOOL . CHINESE WOMAN IN A SINGAPORE TEMPLE LIGHTS JOSS STICKS AS AN OFFERING . MALAYAN POLICEMEN HAVE KEPT ORDER IN BRUNEI . MALAYAN BEAUTY POSES BY THE SULTAN'S PALACE IN KOTA BAHRU . KAYAN MAN SPORTS TRIBAL TATTOO, PIERCED EARS IN SARAWAK . INDIAN GIRL IS RUBBER TAPPER ON MALAY PLANTATION . IBAN WIFE IN SARAWAK PREPARES RATTAN FOR HER WEAVING . RICH CROPS & GREAT RESOURCES RICE, BEING HARVESTED IN KEDAH, " RICE BOWL " OF MALAYA AND HOME OF ABDUL RAHMAN, IS MALAYA'S MAIN FOOD CROP . BUT DESPITE GOOD YIELDS, AREA HAS TO IMPORT MUCH OF THE RICE IT USES 35 PER CENT IN 1961 NOODLES DRYING AT ROADSIDE FACTORY ARE MADE OF RICE FLOUR . MIXED WITH FISH OIL AND HOT PEPPERS, THEY ARE SECOND IN POPULARITY ONLY TO RICE . OIL FROM FIELDS IN TINY BRUNEI HAS BROUGHT GEYSER OF WEALTH TO BRITISH PROTECTORATE . BUT EVEN WITH MODERN RIGS, OIL PRODUCTION IS NOW FALLING OFF, HAS DROPPED 37 PER CENT SINCE RECORD HIGH IN 1956 . RUBBER WORKERS TREK LIQUID LATEX TO PLANTATION SMOKEHOUSE . RUBBER IS NO . 1 CASH CROP, AND MALAYA ACCOUNTS FOR ONE-THIRD WORLD'S SUPPLY . TIN HAS BEEN MINED FOR CENTURIES IN FIELDS OF MALAYA, WHICH STILL PRODUCE 40 PER CENT OF FREE WORLD'S SUPPLY . EUROPEAN AND U.S . FIRMS ACCOUNT FOR HALF OF PRODUCTION, WHILE SMALLER MINES ARE OWNED BY CHINESE . PINEAPPLE, HERE BEING CANNED IN THE MODERN NEW FACTORY OF LEE CO., LTD., IN JOHORE, HAS BECOME $10.8 MILLION EXPORT, IS SHIPPED ROUND WORLD FROM MALAYA . PEPPER VINES IN GARDEN NEAR KUCHING IN SARAWAK CLUSTER AROUND CHINESE FAMILY'S PRIMITIVE FARMHOUSE . EXPORTED FROM BORNEO TO EUROPE AS FAR BACK AS MIDDLE AGES, PEPPER STILL ACCOUNTS FOR $8.3 MILLION IN FOREIGN TRADE . RIPE BERRIES ON VINE ARE ORANGE-RED . BLACK PEPPER COMES FROM DRIED BERRIES, PREMIUM WHITE PEPPER FROM BERRIES WHOSE SKINS ARE SOAKED OFF . DIVERGENT PEOPLE, CONTRASTING CREEDS HINDU PENITENTS BY THOUSANDS SURGE UP AND DOWN 370 STEPS LEADING TO SACRED BATU CAVES NEAR KUALA LUMPUR DURING THAIPUSAM FESTIVAL . INDIANS, BROUGHT IN AS WORKERS AT TURN OF CENTURY, ARE NOW 10 PER CENT OF MALAYA'S POPULATION . LONGHOUSE DWELLERS IN THIS HOME OF 17 IBAN FAMILIES LIVE IN TYPICAL COMMUNAL STYLE . SARAWAK'S PRIMITIVE PEOPLE HAVE FORSAKEN RITUAL HEAD-HUNTING, NOW PREFER PEACEFULLY TO HUNT, FARM AND WEAVE .
 MALAYSIA MANILA HUMMED WITH EXCITEMENT AS DELEGATES GATHERED FOR THE THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA . PHALANXES OF MOTORCYCLE POLICE ESCORTED SHINY OFFICIAL LIMOUSINES TO MEETINGS AT THE MODERNISTIC PAVILION OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD . IN THE PANELED, HIGH-CEILINGED CONFERENCE ROOM AND AT DIPLOMATIC COCKTAIL PARTIES, AN ENDLESS STREAM OF DIGNITARIES STROLLED UP TO GREET THE MAN WHO WAS THE FOCUS OF EVERYONE'S ATTENTION, MALAYA'S STOCKY, SMILING PRIME MINISTER ABDUL RAHMAN, 60, THE GOLF-PLAYING EX-PLAYBOY WHO THIS SUMMER WILL BRING INTO BEING A NEW ASIAN NATION . TO ONE AND ALL, ABDUL RAHMAN HAPPILY TOOK CREDIT FOR THE FORMATION OF THE MALAYSIAN FEDERATION . AS HE PUTS IT, " I AM THE FATHER OF MALAYSIA . " STRICTLY SPEAKING, THIS IS NOT TRUE ; THE IDEA HAS LONG BEEN THE DREAM OF ASIAN NATIONALISTS . FOR YEARS, BRITAIN TOO HAS ADVOCATED THE PLAN AS A NEAT WAY TO TIE UP ALL ITS REMAINING ASIAN COLONIES (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HONG KONG) INTO ONE TIDY INDEPENDENT PACKAGE . BUT THE TUNKU (IT MEANS PRINCE) WAS THE INDISPENSABLE CATALYST WITHOUT WHOM MALAYSIA COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED . HE WOOED, BULLIED AND CAJOLED THE FOUR OTHER COUNTRIES INTO THE FEDERATION AGREEMENT, WAS THE ONLY LOGICAL CHOICE TO SERVE AS THE NEW NATION'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER . HAPPY, NOT MIGHTY . UNLIKE MOST OTHER NEW ASIAN LEADERS, ABDUL RAHMAN IS NO RABID NATIONALIST . HE HAS REMAINED ON CLOSE, FRIENDLY TERMS WITH THE BRITISH, HAS NO INTEREST IN PIE-IN-THE-SKY ECONOMIC SCHEMES . HIS POLITICAL AIMS ARE SIMPLE : " FOOD INSTEAD OF BULLETS, CLOTHING INSTEAD OF UNIFORMS, HOUSES INSTEAD OF BARRACKS . " HIS NEW NATION HAS A COMBAT ARMY OF ONLY SEVEN BATTALIONS AND AN AIR FORCE SO SMALL THAT THE PILOTS OFTEN HAVE TROUBLE FINDING A FOURTH FOR BRIDGE . " MY AMBITION IS NOT A MIGHTY MALAYSIA, " SAYS ABDUL RAHMAN, " BUT HAPPY MALAYSIA . " BUT MANY PRESSING PROBLEMS THREATEN THE TUNKU'S AMBITION . MALAYSIA'S CURRENT PROSPERITY IS ENDANGERED BY ITS DEPENDENCE ON A ONE-CROP ECONOMY . SYNTHETICS HAVE ALREADY CAPTURED HALF THE WORLD'S ANNUAL 5,000,000-TON RUBBER MARKET AND FORCED DOWN THE PRICE OF LATEX . ON TOP OF THIS, BRUNEI'S OIL RESERVES ARE FAST DEPLETING . TO COUNTER THE ECONOMIC THREAT, MALAYA HAS EMBARKED ON AN AMBITIOUS DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM, IS OFFERING A FIVEYEAR TAX HOLIDAY TO NEW INDUSTRIES AND PUSHING A BIG LAND-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR NEW CASH CROPS . POLITICALLY, MALAYSIA HAS ALREADY EXPERIENCED SOME ACUTE PAINS . FEARFUL THAT A STABLE NEW NATION WILL CURB COMMUNIST SUBVERSION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, RUSSIA HAS BRANDED THE FEDERATION " A CUNNING INVENTION OF LONDON " SET UP WITH THE " UNQUALIFIED SUPPORT OF U.S . IMPERIALISTS . " BOTH NEIGHBORING INDONESIA AND THE PHILIPPINES HAVE LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN OF INVECTIVE AGAINST THE WHOLE IDEA . WALLS OF PREJUDICE . BY FAR MALAYSIA'S MOST COMPLEX AND FESTERING PROBLEM IS THE SIMMERING RACIAL HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE NEW NATION'S CHINESE AND MALAY POPULATIONS . THROUGHOUT THE FEDERATION, THE ASTUTE, PROSPEROUS, HARD-BARGAINING CHINESE DOMINATE BUSINESS, INDUSTRY AND TRADE, HAVE ECONOMICALLY FAR OUTSTRIPPED THE RURAL, EASYGOING MALAYS . CHINESE TYCOONS CONTROL NORTH BORNEO'S BOOMING YOUNG TIMBER INDUSTRY AND SARAWAK'S VAST, ROLLING PEPPER GARDENS ; IN MALAYA, ABDUL RAHMAN'S GOVERNMENT HAS COMPLAINED THAT THE RICH, INBRED CHINESE BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAS ERECTED A " WALL OF PREJUDICE " AGAINST AMBITIOUS YOUNG MALAY BUSINESSMEN . THE MALAYS HAVE BUILT SOME WALLS OF THEIR OWN . BY MALAYAN LAW, ONLY ONEQUARTER OF THE GOVERNMENT JOBS CAN GO TO NON-MALAYS, WHILE MALAYS GET SPECIAL CONCESSIONS IN THE GRANTING OF SCHOLARSHIPS AND LICENSES FOR NEW BUSINESSES . RIGID CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN SET UP FOR THE CHINESE (MALAYS ARE AUTOMATICALLY CITIZENS), AND THE BORNEO TERRITORIES PLAN IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS TO KEEP CHINESE BUSINESSMEN OUT . " SPECIAL PRIVILEGES ARE LIKE A GOLF HANDICAP, " RATIONALIZES MALAYA'S CHINESE FINANCE MINISTER TAN SIEW SIN . " THEY ARE NOT TO HOLD THE CHINESE DOWN, BUT TO HELP THE MALAYS ALONG . " GOLF EVERY MORNING . IT IS IRONICALLY FITTING THAT THE COMPLICATED PROBLEMS OF FEDERATION ARE THE PROVINCE OF A MAN WHO, ON THE FACE OF IT, IS SO UNCOMPLICATED HIMSELF . " I AM A LAZY MAN, " ADMITS ABDUL RAHMAN CHEERFULLY, AND SIX YEARS AS MALAYA'S PRIME MINISTER HAVE NOT ALTERED HIS EASYGOING WAYS . THE TUNKU PLAYS GOLF EVERY MORNING (HANDICAP : 24), CHECKS THE RACING CALENDAR BEFORE MAKING ADVANCE POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTS, ALWAYS TAKES A NAP IN THE AFTERNOON . AN AVID SOCCER FAN AND SPORTS-CAR BUFF, HE IS CHRONICALLY LATE FOR APPOINTMENTS, EXPLAINS : " BEING PUNCTUAL ALWAYS WEARS ME OUT . " THE TUNKU HAS THE CHARISMA OF THE REALLY SUCCESSFUL POLITICIAN . HIS TITLE DRAWS ENORMOUS RESPECT FROM THE MASSES, AND AT THE SAME TIME HIS GENUINE CHARM AND EASYGOING MANNER QUICKLY WIN THEIR CONFIDENCE . THOUGH HE IS A DEVOUT MOSLEM, ABDUL RAHMAN ENJOYS BRANDY AND SODA ; HE IS ALSO AN EXCELLENT CURRY COOK . WITH HIS THIRD WIFE, SHARIFAH RODZIAH, AND THEIR FOUR ADOPTED CHILDREN (TWO OF WHOM ARE CHINESE),* THE TUNKU LEADS A LIFE OF CHEERFUL DISORDER IN KUALA LUMPUR'S OPEN, AIRY PRIME MINISTER'S RESIDENCE, ALLOWS THE 70 CHILDREN OF HIS SERVANTS THE RUN OF THE HOUSE ; VISITING DIPLOMATS ARE OFTEN SURPRISED DURING A CONFERENCE TO SEE A SERVANT'S CHILD WANDER INTO THE SITTING ROOM AND CLIMB UP ONTO THE TUNKU'S LAP . THE TUNKU HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF PAPER WORK SIMPLY : HE DOES NOT READ IT . HE HAS ALWAYS HAD AN AVERSION TO THE PRINTED PAGE, AS A STUDENT PICKED UP THE KNACK OF ABSORBING PERTINENT PASSAGES FROM BOOKS OR PAPERS THAT WERE READ ALOUD TO HIM . BUT THOUGH HE HAS NO INTELLECTUAL PRETENSIONS, THE TUNKU COMMANDS UNSWERVING LOYALTY FROM HIS BRILLIANT SUBORDINATES FOR HIS ALMOST CHARMED ABILITY TO AVOID POLITICAL MISTAKES . SAYS AN AIDE : " HE UNDERSTANDS THE MALAY MIND BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE EVER HAS . " ABDUL RAHMAN AGREES . " I HAVE THE FEEL OF THE PEOPLE, " HE SAYS . " I HAVE THE TOUCH . " THE TUNKU'S FIRST WIFE, WHO DIED OF MALARIA IN 1935, WAS THE MOTHER OF HIS TWO CHILDREN, DAUGHTER KATHIJAH, 29, WIFE OF A MALAYAN STUDYING IN BRITAIN, AND SON NERANG, 27, NOW A MAJOR IN THE MALAYAN ARMY . HIS SECOND WIFE WAS A WHITE ENGLISHWOMAN, VIOLET COULSON, WHOM HE MARRIED OVER THE PROTESTS OF HIS FAMILY ; THEY WERE DIVORCED IN 1946 . THE PLAYBOY PRINCE . ABDUL RAHMAN WAS THE SEVENTH SON OF HIS FATHER'S SIXTH WIFE AND, WITH HIS 44 BROTHERS AND SISTERS, LIVED THE PLUSH LIFE BEFITTING THE OFFSPRING OF THE SULTAN OF KEDAH . HIS SIAMESE MOTHER DEMANDED THAT HE BE CARRIED TO SCHOOL ON THE SHOULDERS OF A RETAINER, AND THOUGH HE WAS AN INDIFFERENT STUDENT, HIS ROYAL BIRTH WON HIM A SCHOLARSHIP TO CAMBRIDGE, WHERE HE BEGAN TO READ LAW . BUT THE TUNKU SKIPPED MOST OF HIS LECTURES, SELDOM MISSED A TEA OR DINNERDANCE, DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF MAINLY BY PICKING UP 28 TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS IN HIS SILVER RILEY WITH RED FENDERS . NOT UNEXPECTEDLY, THE PLAYBOY PRINCE FLUNKED HIS BAR EXAMS . SO FAR DOWN THE LINE OF SUCCESSION THAT HE HAD NO CHANCE OF EVER ATTAINING HIS FATHER'S SULTANATE, THE TUNKU RETURNED TO MALAYA AS A MINOR CIVIL SERVANT IN A NUMBER OF REMOTE OUTPOSTS . ON FOOT AND ON ELEPHANT, HE TRAVELED THROUGH THE BUSH GETTING TO KNOW THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE, ONCE EVEN WORKED AS A MANUAL LABORER TO HELP BUILD A NEW MOSQUE, WHICH THE GRATEFUL MALAYS NAMED RAHMANIAH AFTER HIM . WORLD WAR II AND JAPAN'S SWIFT CONQUEST OF THE MALAYAN PENINSULA HASTENED ABDUL RAHMAN'S MATURITY . AS A USEFUL DISTRICT OFFICER, THE TUNKU WAS KEPT ON THE JOB BY THE JAPANESE . SECRETLY, HOWEVER, HE HELPED HIDE ESCAPEES FROM JAPANESE DEATH CAMPS, KEPT IN CONTACT WITH BRITISH GUERRILLA UNITS, WHICH WERE SUPPLYING ARMS TO ANTI-JAPANESE COMMUNIST IRREGULARS IN THE JUNGLES . " WHO THE HELL IS HE ? " ABDUL RAHMAN WAS ALSO IN CONTACT WITH THE MALAYAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT THAT BEGAN TO TAKE ROOT WHEN THE JAPANESE OUSTED THE BRITISH . WITH THE END OF THE WAR, AT THE AGE OF 42, THE TUNKU RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO GET HIS LAW DEGREE, BEGAN TO PLAY A LARGER PART IN THE CAUSE OF MERDEKA (FREEDOM) . HE INSISTED THAT IT WAS THE DUTY OF EVERY MALAY IN BRITAIN TO JOIN THE NATIONALISTIC MALAY SOCIETY . BECAUSE OF HIS AGE AND LONG EXPERIENCE IN THE CIVIL SERVICE, YOUNGER MALAY STUDENTS LOOKED TO HIM AS THEIR LEADER, CALLED HIM BECAUSE OF HIS DARKER SKIN " BLACK UNCLE . " IN FIERY POLITICAL BULL SESSIONS WITH YOUTHFUL FOLLOWER TUN ABDUL RAZAK, THE SEEDS OF A FUTURE POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP WERE BEING SOWN ; TODAY RAZAK IS THE MOST TRUSTED MEMBER OF HIS CABINET . BACK HOME, THE MIDDLE-AGING LAWYER JOINED THE UNITED MALAY NATIONALIST ORGANIZATION, SLOWLY BEGAN BUILDING UP A POLITICAL FOLLOWING IN HIS NATIVE KEDAH . IN OTHER MALAY STATES, THE TUNKU'S FIREBRAND FOLLOWERS FROM THE LONDON DAYS BEGAN PUSHING HIM FOR THE PARTY LEADERSHIP ; FINALLY, IN 1951, ABDUL RAHMAN TOOK OVER AS BOSS OF THE U.M.N.O . " NOBODY HAD EVER HEARD OF HIM, " AN OFFICIAL RECALLS . " I REMEMBER PEOPLE ASKING " WHO THE HELL IS HE ? " ' THEY SOON FOUND OUT . CONVINCED THAT HE COULD ONLY ACHIEVE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AT THE HEAD OF A MULTIRACIAL UNITED FRONT, ABDUL RAHMAN MUTED HOTLY ANTI-CHINESE SENTIMENT IN HIS OWN MALAY PARTY, STUMPED THE COUNTRY URGING CHINESE AND INDIAN LEADERS TO UNITE BEHIND HIM UNDER THE BANNER OF A NEW ORGANIZATION CALLED THE ALLIANCE PARTY . TO FINANCE HIS CRUSADE, HE SOLD HIS EXPENSIVE CARS AND MOST OF HIS OTHER PROPERTY . " I WORKED LIKE MAD, LIVING AND SLEEPING ON TRAINS, " SAYS THE TUNKU . " I WAS OFTEN HOME ONLY ONE DAY A MONTH . " BUT ABDUL RAHMAN'S ZEAL PAID OFF . IN THE 1955 GENERAL ELECTION, THE ALLIANCE SWEPT 51 OF THE 52 SEATS IN THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE, AND THE TUNKU TOOK OVER AS CHIEF MINISTER UNDER THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER . MERDEKA . ABDUL RAHMAN WAS SO BUSY POLITICKING THAT HE HAD TAKEN LITTLE MILITARY INTEREST IN THE BRUTAL, BLOODY GUERRILLA WAR THAT 350,000 BRITISH AND MALAYAN TROOPS AND HOME GUARDSMEN WERE WAGING AGAINST COMMUNIST INSURGENTS IN MALAYA'S TANGLED JUNGLES . BUT AFTER HIS 1955 ELECTION LANDSLIDE, THE TUNKU GREW AFRAID THAT THE BRITISH MIGHT USE THE EMERGENCY TO DELAY INDEPENDENCE, ARRANGED TO MEET THE COMMUNIST REBEL CHIEFTAINS IN NORTHERN MALAYA TO SEE IF SOME SORT OF SETTLEMENT COULD BE WORKED OUT . / MY IDEAS ABOUT COMMUNISM WERE DETERMINED BY THAT MEETING, " SAYS THE TUNKU . " I BECAME CONVINCED THAT ONCE A COMMUNIST, ALWAYS A COMMUNIST . THEY COULD NEVER COEXIST WITH US IN AN INDEPENDENT MALAYA . / AS THE WAR IN THE JUNGLE BEGAN TAKING A TURN FOR THE BETTER, ABDUL RAHMAN FLINTILY TOLD BRITAIN THAT THE TIME WAS LONG OVERDUE FOR MALAYA'S INDEPENDENCE . AFTER MONTHS OF HAGGLING AND DELAY, THE TUNKU FINALLY FORCED BRITAIN'S COLONIAL SECRETARY ALAN LENNOX-BOYD (NOW LORD BOYD) TO THE CONFERENCE TABLE . THROUGHOUT THE GRUELING, THREE-WEEK SESSION IN LONDON, THE TUNKU REFUSED TO BUDGE FROM HIS ULTIMATUM THAT INDEPENDENCE MUST COME NO LATER THAN AUG . 31, 1957 . " WHEN THE SIAMESE HAVE NO INTENTION OF YIELDING, THEY JUST APPEAR STUPID, " HE TOLD SUBORDINATES . " I'M HALF SIAMESE, YOU KNOW . " AT LAST, LENNOX-BOYD GOT THE POINT AND CAVED IN . ON THE TUNKU'S TARGET DATE, INDEPENDENT MALAYA AT LAST CAME INTO BEING . " GOOD OLD TUNKU . " THE TUNKU HAD NO REVOLUTIONARY BLUEPRINT FOR HIS NEW NATION, BROUGHT INTO HIS CABINET HIS OLD LONDON CRONY, ABDUL RAZAK, TO HAMMER OUT A PROGRAM FOR ORDERLY PROGRESS . WHILE ABDUL RAHMAN GROUND DOWN HARD ON RED SUBVERSIVES, MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAZAK (IN THE POST HE WILL RETAIN IN MALAYSIA'S NEW GOVERNMENT) STARTED A PROGRAM OF NEW ROADS, SCHOOLS AND CLINICS TO BOOST THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE PRIMITIVE KAMPONGS (VILLAGES), WHERE THE COMMUNISTS WERE TRYING TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD . IN THE AIR-CONDITIONED " OPERATIONS ROOM " OF HIS MINISTRY, GADGET-LOVING RAZAK CAREFULLY WATCHED THE PROGRESS OF HIS BULLDOZERS ON DOZENS OF CHARTS, MOVIE SCREENS AND MAP DISPLAYS, KEPT HIS PROGRAM CONSTANTLY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WITH HIS COLD INSISTENCE ON RESULTS OR ELSE . ABDUL RAHMAN MADE NO EFFORT TO SQUEEZE THE BRITISH OUT OF THE COUNTRY, WAS CONVINCED THAT THE CONTINUED ECONOMIC AND MILITARY PRESENCE OF THE BRITISH WAS THE BEST POSSIBLE INSURANCE FOR MALAYAN STABILITY . TODAY A BRITISH OFFICER COMMANDS THE MALAYAN ARMY, FIVE SENIOR BRITISH CIVIL SERVANTS HOLD KEY POSITIONS IN MALAYAN GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES, AND BRITISH BUSINESSMEN CONTROL MORE THAN HALF OF THE RUBBER INDUSTRY, REPATRIATE $86 MILLION IN PROFITS ANNUALLY . " IT'S WONDERFUL HOW THIS PLACE HAS FLOWERED SINCE INDEPENDENCE, " SAYS ONE BUSINESSMAN . " WE'RE REALLY MUCH BETTER OFF . GOOD OLD TUNKU . " PARLEYS ON THE GREEN . WITH HIS YOUNG NATION BOOMING, ABDUL RAHMAN LOOKED WITH INCREASING FEAR AT THE PREDICAMENT OF NEIGHBORING SINGAPORE, JUST THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE ACROSS THE JOHORE STRAIT . THERE COMMUNISM WAS SPREADING LIKE AN INFECTION AMONG THE UNDERFED, UNDEREMPLOYED MASSES IN SINGAPORE'S SQUALID, TEEMING TENEMENT QUARTERS . BY STRIKES, RIOTS AND BOYCOTTS, THE PEKING-ORIENTED, COMMUNIST-FRONT BARISAN SOCIALIST PARTY TRIED TO TOPPLE THE TOTTERING GOVERNMENT GLUED TOGETHER BY SINGAPORE'S SHIFTY, BRILLIANT, CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED PRIME MINISTER LEE KUAN YEW, 39 . NEVER TOO CHOOSY ABOUT WHERE HE GOT POLITICAL SUPPORT, " HARRY " LEE FIRST TRIED COOPERATION WITH THE COMMUNISTS, LATER ADOPTED A " LEFTIST, NOT EXTREMIST, NONCOMMUNIST, NOT ANTI-COMMUNIST " POLICY . IT DID NOT WORK ,SAVE HIS POLITICAL NECK, HE WAS FORCED TO GO FOR HELP TO AN OLD GOLFING PARTNER ABDUL RAHMAN . LEE'S VACATION HOUSE BORDERED A FAIRWAY OF KUALA KUMPUR'S RAMBLING SELANGOR GOLF CLUB, WHERE THE TUNKU SHOT HIS DAILY ROUND . FROM TEE TO GREEN, LEE TRIED TO CONVINCE ABDUL RAHMAN THAT SINGAPORE'S RICKETY COALITION COULD NEVER SURVIVE ANOTHER ELECTION, AND THAT A RED SINGAPORE COULD ONLY SPELL TROUBLE FOR MALAYA . GRADUALLY, THE TUNKU CAME TO THE FRIGHTENING CONCLUSION THAT SINGAPORE MIGHT WELL BECOME " A CHINESE CUBA . " ONE SOLUTION TO THE " SINGAPORE PROBLEM " WAS OBVIOUS : A MERGER, SO THAT MALAYA'S POWERFUL INTERNAL SECURITY POLICE COULD MOVE IN AND HELP SINGAPORE AUTHORITIES HOLD RED SUBVERSION IN CHECK . BUT THE TUNKU SHUDDERED AT THE PROSPECT OF UPSETTING HIS NATION'S MALAY RACIAL PREPONDERANCE BY THE ADDITION OF SINGAPORE'S 1,300,000 CHINESE . / IN ORDER TO BALANCE THE POPULATION, " HE SAYS, " I THOUGHT OF THE BORNEO TERRITORIES . / WINING & DINING . SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO, HOWEVER, WERE LESS THAN ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE FEDERATION SCHEME . BORNEO LEADERS RESENTED BEING INVITED TO JOIN MERELY AS A POLITICAL AND RACIAL ACCOMMODATION, DESIRED INSTEAD SOME SORT OF INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR OWN . THEN BRITAIN BEGAN PUTTING QUIET PRESSURE ON THE THREE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENTS, TRIED TO PERSUADE THEM THAT UNION IN MALAYSIA OFFERED THEM FAR MORE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER THAN THEY COULD EVER ACHIEVE BY THEMSELVES . BUT IT WAS ABDUL RAHMAN WHO SOLD THE SCHEME . THE TUNKU WINED AND DINED A CONTINUOUS STREAM OF BORNEO DELEGATIONS IN KUALA LUMPUR, WARMED UP BORNEO LEADERS COOL TO THE FEDERATION WITH PROMISES OF FAVORED POLITICAL POSITIONS IN THE NEW NATION . HE SHREWDLY OFFERED THE BORNEO TERRITORIES 70 SEATS IN THE FEDERAL PARLIAMENT, AGAINST ONLY 15 FOR FAR MORE POPULOUS SINGAPORE AND 104 FOR MALAYA . HE PROMISED TAX CONCESSIONS AND A $12 MILLION DOLLOP OF MALAYAN AID ANNUALLY TO THE TERRITORIES, AGREED TO KEEP FEDERAL HANDS OFF BRUNEI'S OIL RESERVES . IT WAS THE TUNKU'S FONDEST HOPE THAT THE NEW NATION COME INTO BEING ON AUG . 31, 1963, THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF MALAYA'S INDEPENDENCE . THEN LAST DECEMBER CAME A BLOW THAT THREATENED TO DESTROY THE TUNKU'S TIMETABLE . IT WAS THE UPRISING IN BRUNEI . " JUST TOO MUCH . " DISCONTENT WITH THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI'S CORRUPT, INEFFICIENT AND AUTOCRATIC REGIME HAD LONG BEEN FESTERING IN THE TINY, DELAWARE-SIZED TERRITORY . LAST YEAR THE SULTAN'S GOVERNMENT SPENT ONLY $50,000 ON DRUGS AND MEDICINE FOR ITS PEOPLE, WHILE LAYING OUT $47,000 FOR ELECTRICAL ILLUMINATION ON THE SULTAN'S BIRTHDAY ACTION ON REQUESTS TO THE GOVERNMENT USUALLY TOOK FROM SIX MONTHS TO THREE YEARS . THE DOMINANT BUT POWERLESS PEOPLE'S PARTY WAS ALSO DEAD-SET AGAINST MALAYSIA ; THE PARTY'S ERRATIC, GOATEED ONETIME VETERINARIAN LEADER, SHEIK A . M . AZAHARI, 34, WANTED INSTEAD TO ALIGN BRUNEI, SARAWAK AND NORTH BORNEO INTO A SINGLE INDEPENDENT STATE WITH HIMSELF AS ITS LEADER . WHEN IT FINALLY ERUPTED, THE REVOLT WAS POORLY ORGANIZED AND BADLY LED . FOUR BATTALIONS OF BRITAIN'S TOUGH LITTLE GURKHA TROOPS LANDED ON BRUNEI, INSIDE OF A WEEK SENT THE SHATTERED REMNANTS OF THE 3,000MAN REBEL ARMY SCUTTLING BACK INTO HIDING IN BRUNEI'S STEAMING JUNGLES . BUT THE BRUNEI REVOLT AT LAST GAVE THE PHILIPPINES AND INDONESIA, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS, AN EXCUSE TO DISPLAY THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE SCHEME . OBLIVIOUS TO MALAYA'S SUCCESS AGAINST RED INFILTRATION, THE PHILIPPINES FEARED THAT LEFTISTS WOULD ULTIMATELY TAKE OVER THE NEW NATION, THUS PUTTING A CUMMUNIST NEIGHBOR RIGHT ON THEIR DOORSTEP . DUSTING OFF AN OLD CLAIM TO NORTH BORNEO, THE PHILIPPINES MAINTAINED THAT IN 1878 THE SULTAN OF SULU HAD ONLY " LEASED, " NOT SOLD, THE TERRITORY TO THE BRITISH . LONDON STIFFLY REJECTED THE FILIPINO CLAIM TO THE REGION . INDONESIA SHOUTED THAT THE TURMOIL SHOWED THE DEEP DISSATISFACTION WITH MALAYSIA IN THE BORNEO TERRITORIES, AND THAT THE FEDERATION WAS ONLY A PLOT TO EXTEND BRITAIN'S COLONIAL INFLUENCE IN ASIA . RABBLE-ROUSING PRESIDENT SUKARNO KNEW THAT A BRITISH-BACKED, ECONOMICALLY VIABLE MALAYSIA WOULD NOT ONLY DERAIL HIS AMBITION TO EXTEND HIS INFLUENCE OVER THE BORNEO TERRITORIES, BUT MIGHT ALSO SERVE AS AN INDUCEMENT TO REBELLION FOR THE PEOPLE OF DEPRESSED INDONESIAN BORNEO . MOREOVER, ABDUL RAHMAN HAS IGNORED EVERY " REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLE " FOR WHICH SUKARNO STANDS, HAS IN THE PROCESS CREATED A CONSERVATIVE, PROSPEROUS NATION, WHILE REVOLUTIONARY, LEFTIST INDONESIA, WITH ITS 100 MILLION PEOPLE, HAS SLID TO THE EDGE OF ECONOMIC RUIN . SAYS A DIPLOMAT :. " TO HAVE A LITTLE COUNTRY LIKE THIS EXTENDING ITS INFLUENCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA WAS JUST TOO MUCH FOR SUKARNO . " SOUND GROUND . IN A DRUMFIRE OF PROPAGANDA OUTBURSTS, INDONESIA HAILED THE " BRUNEI FREEDOM FIGHTERS, " LASHED OUT AT " BRITISH MERCENARIES AND PUPPETS, " GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM TO BRUNEI LEADER AZAHARI, RAVED THAT ABDUL RAHMAN WAS " ROUND THE BEND . " (RETORTED THE TUNKU : " WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM A PIG BUT A GRUNT ? / ) DJAKARTA MOBS HANGED THE TUNKU IN EFFIGY, AND SUKARNO DECLARED A " POLICY OF CONFRONTATION " AGAINST MALAYA . INDONESIAN JETS BUZZED MALAYAN SHIPS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, AND ARMY LEADERS DARKLY THREATENED " INCIDENTS OF PHYSICAL CONFLICT " ALONG THE BORDER OF BRUNEI AND INDONESIA . SUKARNO DID NOT DARE TO INVADE ; HE PLAINLY HOPED TO INDUCE THE UNITED NATIONS TO STEP IN AND PLACATE HIM AS IT DID WITH WEST NEW GUINEA THUS SPARING HIM THE NECESSITY OF FIGHTING FOR WHAT HE WANTS . HOWEVER, THE U.N . SEEMS UNWILLING TO PLAY SUKARNO'S GAME ; A U.N . OBSERVER TEAM TOLD HIM THAT MALAYSIA IS " ON SOUND LEGAL GROUND . " PROMISE TO " BROTHERS . " LAST WEEK IN MANILA, THE ACRID DISPUTE BETWEEN INDONESIA, THE PHILIPPINES, AND MALAYSIA ADDED AN UNDERTONE OF TENSION TO THE OTHERWISE CALM MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA . NOT ON THE OFFICIAL AGENDA, THE MALAYSIA QUESTION CAME UP REPEATEDLY IN LONG PRIVATE DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN ABDUL RAHMAN AND PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL . THE TUNKU WAS ANXIOUS FOR THE WHOLE MATTER TO BE SETTLED QUIETLY . IN AN ATTEMPT TO BE REASONABLE AND FRIENDLY WITH HIS " MALAY BROTHERS, " HE AGREED TO LOOK INTO THE FILIPINO CLAIM TO NORTH BORNEO, LUKEWARMLY ENDORSED A PROPOSAL FOR AN ASIAN SUMMIT MEETING BETWEEN HIMSELF, MACAPAGAL, AND INDONESIA'S SUKARNO . BUT THE TUNKU VETOED THE SUGGESTION THAT HE POSTPONE THE CREATION OF MALAYSIA UNTIL SOME SETTLEMENT COULD BE REACHED ; THE FEDERATION, HE SAID, WOULD COME INTO BEING BY AUG . 31 AS PLANNED . FROM THE STANDPOINT OF LANGUAGE, RELIGION, CULTURE OR GEOGRAPHY, MALAYSIA IS NOT A NATURAL NATION . BUT ABDUL RAHMAN HAS FACED PROBLEMS SIMILAR TO MALAYSIA'S IN HIS OWN MALAYA AND THERE A DECENT SOCIETY HAS FLOURISHED . HE DOES NOT PROMISE THE MOON TO HIS NEW NATION, ONLY A SANE, HUMANE, WORKABLE GOVERNMENT . UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP, MALAYSIA CAN BE, AS JOHN F . KENNEDY HAS SAID, " THE BEST HOPE OF SECURITY IN THAT VITAL PART OF THE WORLD . /
 THE ALLIES AT LEAST THEY'RE SPEAKING THAW ! CRIED U.S . HEADLINES . OPERATION CHARM ! PURRED THE PARIS PRESS . THE BIG NEWS, OF COURSE, WAS THAT CHARLES DE GAULLE LAST WEEK WAS ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH HIS ALLIES . IN PARIS TO ATTEND A MEETING OF THE SOUTH-EAST ASIA TREATY ORGANIZATION, SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK CHATTED " CORDIALLY " WITH FRANCE'S PRESIDENT FOR ABOUT 35 MINUTES, COUNTING TIME OUT FOR TRANSLATION . BRITAIN'S FOREIGN SECRETARY LORD HOME AND FRANCE'S FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE MURVILLE, WHO HAVE BEEN SNUBBING ONE ANOTHER EVER SINCE BRITAIN WAS EXCLUDED FROM THE COMMON MARKET LAST JANUARY, ALSO EXCHANGED CIVILITIES . WHAT'S MORE, AT AN ELYSEE PALACE RECEPTION FOR SEATO DELEGATES FROM EIGHT COUNTRIES, LE GRAND CHARLES AFFABLY DECLARED : " SECURITY MEANS COOPERATION . " SUBS, PLEASE . WAS THIS PROGRESS ? SKEPTICS NOTED THAT FRANCE'S GOVERNMENT SEEMED MORE INCLINED TO TALK COOPERATION THAN TO PRACTICE IT . AFTER INDICATING THAT THEY MIGHT HONOR A 15-MONTH-OLD AGREEMENT TO ACCEPT U.S.-CONTROLLED WARHEADS FOR ITS GERMAN-BASED F-100 FIGHTERBOMBERS, THE FRENCH BRUSQUELY DENIED THAT THEY HAD ANY PRESENT PLANS " CONCERNING THE USE OF THESE PLANES WITHIN NATO . " NOTHING DAUNTED, U.S . OFFICIALS IN PARIS LEAKED WISHFUL REPORTS THAT FRANCE'S NUCLEAR FORCE DE FRAPPE IS BADLY BEHIND SCHEDULE AND BESET WITH EVERMOUNTING TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS . DE GAULLE, IT WAS HINTED, WAS ABOUT READY TO RETURN TO THE NATO FOLD . NOT SO, RETORTED A HIGH-RANKING FRENCH OFFICIAL . FRANCE, HE INSISTED, WILL HAVE ITS FIRST 50 MIRAGE IV A-BOMBERS IN SERVICE BY DECEMBER 1965, ON SCHEDULE ; EXPECTS TO HAVE ITS OWN H-BOMB " WELL BEFORE " 1970 ; AND IS ACTUALLY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WITH ITS MISSILE-LAUNCHING SUBMARINE, NOW DUE IN 1968 . THUS DE GAULLE HAD NO REASON TO BACK AWAY FROM HIS DECLARED AIM OF NUCLEAR INDEPENDENCE . AS THE GAULLIST PARIS-PRESSE POINTED OUT, " IT IS HIS PARTNERS WHO HAVE GREATLY CHANGED THEIR TONE " SINCE THE GENERAL REJECTED THE U.S . OFFER OF NATO-COMMITTED POLARIS MISSILES LAST JANUARY . THE U.S . WAS STILL PUSHING ITS LONG-TERM PLAN FOR A SURFACE POLARIS FLEET MANNED BY MIXED CREWS . HOWEVER, BRITAIN HAS LITTLE ENTHUSIASM FOR THE IDEA, WHILE WEST GERMANY AND ITALY, WHICH WERE BOTH ENTHUSIASTIC AT FIRST, HAVE NOW INDICATED THAT THEY WOULD RATHER SINK THEIR MONEY IN MULTIMANNED POLARIS SUBMARINES . WHAT THE U.S . DID WIN LAST WEEK WAS SUBSTANTIAL AGREEMENT FROM ITS ALLIES EXCLUDING FRANCE ON THE GENERAL OUTLINE OF A MORE LIMITED SCHEME, THE INTER-ALLIED, NATOCONTROLLED STRIKE FORCE THAT WASHINGTON HOPES TO CREATE IN THE NEAR FUTURE . JUST A GIMMICK ? AFTER A NATO SESSION IN PARIS AND CONFERENCES IN LONDON ATTENDED BY RUSK, DEFENSE SECRETARY MCNAMARA AND OTHER TOP POLICYMAKERS, THE U.S . ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD PRESENT NEXT MONTH'S NATO MEETING IN OTTAWA WITH DETAILED PLANS FOR A NUCLEAR COMMAND AND PLANNING STRUCTURE TO INTEGRATE THE NEW INTER-ALLIED FORCE . IT WOULD INCLUDE BRITAIN'S V-BOMBERS AND, IN 1968, ITS POLARIS FLEET, AS WELL AS THREE POLARIS SUBMARINES THAT THE U.S . HAS COMMITTED TO NATO, AND OTHER ALLIED AIRCRAFT AND MISSILES . SOME ALLIED PLANNERS DISMISSED THE U.S . PROPOSALS AS MERE " GIMMICKRY . " BUT AFTER ALL IT WAS WESTERN EUROPE THAT HAD BEEN CLAMORING FOR A GREATER ROLE IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY . NOW WASHINGTON HAD PRODUCED A PLAN THAT WOULD GO A LONG WAY TOWARD MEETING THIS DEMAND . MOST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES SEEMED ANXIOUS TO COOPERATE . PARIS REMAINED STIFFLY ALOOF, SUGGESTING ONLY THAT IN THE EVENT OF WAR, ITS OWN DETERRENT MIGHT BE " COORDINATED / WITH A NATO NUCLEAR FORCE . IF ANY U.S . OFFICIALS REALLY BELIEVED, AS THEY SAID LAST WEEK, THAT THE FRENCH HAD SHOWN A MORE " POSITIVE " ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WESTERN ALLIANCE, THEY GRAVELY MISJUDGED THE AIMS OF CHARLES DE GAULLE . SNAPPED A GERMAN DIPLOMAT : " OF COURSE THE CRISIS ISN'T OVER . AND IT WON'T BE AS LONG AS DE GAULLE IS AROUND . "
 YUGOSLAVIA HOW TO WIN JOB SECURITY LIKE MANY DURABLE DICTATORS, YUGOSLAVIA'S MARSHAL TITO PRESERVES HIS ONE-MAN RULE BY THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF HOLDING DOWN THE KEY JOBS HIMSELF . HE IS SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE ARMED FORCES, AND CHIEF OF STATE . AS IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, BELGRADE'S COMPLAISANT FEDERAL PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A NEW NATIONAL CONSTITUTION LAST WEEK GIVING TITO THE PRESIDENCY FOR LIFE.* WHILE HIS HANDSOME WIFE JOVANKA BEAMED DOWN FROM A VISITORS' BOX, TITO STRODE INTO THE HALL TO THE CHEERS OF THE CROWD AND SAT GRAVELY THROUGH A FORMAL READING OF THE NEW CHARTER . AFTERWARD, LOOKING REMARKABLY FIT FOR A MAN WHO WILL BE 71 NEXT MONTH, HE HAPPILY AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF THE CONSTITUTION . IN ADDITION TO SANCTIFYING TITO'S SUPREMACY, THE DOCUMENT INCLUDED OTHER NOVELTIES . A NEW ASSEMBLY WILL BE COMPOSED OF NO FEWER THAN FIVE CHAMBERS, EACH WITH ITS OWN SPECIALTY . ONE WILL DEAL WITH ECONOMICS, OTHERS WITH EDUCATION, SOCIAL, GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE, AND FEDERAL MATTERS . FOR THE FIRST TIME, THERE WILL BE A PREMIER AND A VICE PRESIDENT, ALTHOUGH NEITHER ONE IS DESIGNATED TO SUCCEED TITO IN THE EVENT OF HIS SUDDEN DEATH . THEIR POWERS WILL BE STRICTLY LIMITED . UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, THE COMMUNIST PARTY REMAINS THE " FUNDAMENTAL INITIATOR OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY . " SPAIN'S FRANCISCO FRANCO IS THE ONLY OTHER DICTATOR WITH LEGAL LIFE TENURE AS CHIEF OF STATE . GHANA'S STRONGMAN PRESIDENT, KWAME NKRUMAH, WAS VOTED PERMANENTLY INTO OFFICE IN SEPTEMBER, BUT HIS HIGH DEDICATION MODESTLY VETOED THE GESTURE, PREFERRING TO RELY ON ELECTIONS A SAFE ENOUGH GESTURE SINCE THE COUNTRY IS OFFICIALLY A ONE-PARTY STATE .
 MIDDLE EAST UNION NOW THE ARAB WORLD LAST WEEK REELED IN A DELIRIUM OF JOY . DAMASCUS RADIO REPEATEDLY SHRIEKED, " AHLAN BIL WAHDA ! " (WELCOME TO UNION) . WHEN SYRIAN SOLDIERS SENT BURSTS OF TRACER BULLETS STREAKING AGAINST THE NIGHT SKY, THE RADIO ANNOUNCER HASTILY TOLD HIS EXCITED LISTENERS THAT IT WAS NOT REVOLUTION BUT JUBILATION . THE DREAM HAS COME TRUE ! HEADLINED A BEIRUT PAPER . ALEPPO NEARLY EXPLODED : ITS MAIN STREETS BECAME A SEA OF SCREAMING HUMANITY, AND CARS INCHED ALONG HONKING THEIR HORNS TO THE RHYTHM, " NAS-SER ! " ALGERIA'S PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA CABLED THAT THIS WAS " THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY OF MY LIFE ! " AND YEMEN'S STRONGMAN, ABDULLAH SALLAL, HAILED THE " OUTSTANDING HISTORIC EVENT . " CHEERING CROWDS MILLED THROUGH ADEN AND KUWAIT AND BAGHDAD . FESTERING WOUND . WHAT THRILLED THE ARAB WORLD WAS THE CAIRO ANNOUNCEMENT THAT EGYPT, SYRIA AND IRAQ HAD AT LAST AGREED TO UNITE IN A TRIPARTITE FEDERATION . THE TERMS OF UNION WERE FAR STRONGER AND MORE CENTRALIZED THAN ARABS, OR ANYONE ELSE, HAD EXPECTED . THERE HAD BEEN MUCH TALK OF A LOOSE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS MOVING SLOWLY OVER THE YEARS TOWARD ACTUAL UNITY . BUT THE PULSING ENTHUSIASM OF THE MOMENT APPARENTLY SWEPT ASIDE MUCH OF THE EARLIER RESTRAINT . A FEW DOZEN MEN IN CAIRO WERE GROPING FOR THE POLITICAL BLUEPRINT FOR A NATION STRONGER, RICHER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY ARAB STATE FOR CENTURIES PAST . IF IT ALL WORKS OUT, THE PROPOSED NEW MIDDLE EASTERN POWER COMPLEX WILL COVER 620,300 SQ . MI., STRETCH FROM THE BORDERS OF TURKEY AND IRAN TO SUDAN AND LIBYA, FROM THE PERSIAN GULF TO THE MEDITERRANEAN AND FAR DOWN THE RED SEA COAST . IT WOULD HAVE A POPULATION OF 40 MILLION PEOPLE (EXPECTED TO REACH 80 MILLION BY 1985, GREATER THAN THE LARGEST NATION OF WESTERN EUROPE) AND A TOTAL GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT OF $5.7 BILLION . HERO OF THE HOUR WAS EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . BETTER THAN ANY MAN, HE KNEW THAT, ON THE HISTORICAL RECORD, THE ODDS WERE AGAINST SUCCESS . TIME AND AGAIN, THE CHERISHED DREAM OF ARAB ONENESS HAS BEEN SHATTERED ON THE IRRATIONALITY OF ARAB BEHAVIOR, ON PERSONAL RIVALRIES, AMBITIONS, CLASS DIFFERENCES AND COMPLICATED LEVANTINE INTRIGUES . AMID SHOUTS OF ARAB JOY, EGYPT AND SYRIA FORGED THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC IN 1958, ONLY TO SEE IT COLLAPSE IN A WELTER OF BICKERING THREE YEARS LATER . DURING THE PAST FIVE WEEKS OF NEGOTIATIONS IN CAIRO, RUMORS SPREAD OF WRANGLING AND DISSENSION BETWEEN NASSER ON ONE SIDE AND THE SYRIAN AND IRAQI LEADERS OF THE SOCIALIST BAATH PARTY ON THE OTHER . BOTH PICKED AT THE " FESTERING WOUND " CAUSED BY BAATH'S BREAKUP OF THE EARLIER, ILL-STARRED UNION OF EGYPT AND SYRIA IN THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC . EACH PUT THE BLAME FOR FAILURE ON THE OTHER . FINALLY, AT A PLENARY SESSION IN THE GILTAND-CREAM GREAT HALL OF KUBBAH PALACE, NASSER PROPOSED A SHARING OF GUILT . " THE PRESENCE OF BAATH IN THE ARAB HOMELAND IS A NECESSITY, " HE DECLARED . " THE RESIGNATION OF THE BAATH MINISTERS FROM THE U.A.R . GOVERNMENT IN 1961 WAS A MISTAKE . ACCEPTING THE RESIGNATIONS WAS ALSO A MISTAKE . " THE BAATHIST DELEGATES CLAPPED AND CHEERED THIS BURYING OF THE HATCHET . IN A STARTLINGLY UN-ARAB SPIRIT OF AMITY AND COMPROMISE, BOTH SIDES ACCEPTED THE OTHER'S GOOD FAITH AND MINIMUM TERMS . CHEERFUL BORROWING . THE POINTS OF AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED BY EGYPT'S PREMIER ALI SABRY INCLUDE A FEDERAL STATE RETAINING THE NAME OF THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC, WITH CAIRO AS ITS CAPITAL . ALL CITIZENS WOULD SHARE ONE NATIONALITY, BUT EACH OF THE THREE REGIONS WOULD BE SELF-GOVERNING AND IN CONTROL OF ITS SEPARATE ECONOMY . THE OVERALL GOVERNMENT BASED IN CAIRO WOULD HAVE A SINGLE PRESIDENT (ALMOST CERTAINLY NASSER), A PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL WITH MEMBERS FROM EACH REGION AND A BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE : A HOUSE WITH ONE MEMBER FOR EACH 60,000 CITIZENS, AND A SENATE REPRESENTING THE REGIONS EQUALLY WITHOUT REGARD TO POPULATION . THE ARAB PRESS CHEERFULLY ADMITTED THAT MUCH WAS BORROWED FROM THE U.S . CONSTITUTION BECAUSE IT PROVIDED THE " IDEAL FORM OF UNION AS PROVEN BY EXPERIENCE . " STICKING POINT IS NASSER'S INSISTENCE ON A SINGLE POLITICAL PARTY FOR THE WHOLE U.A.R., MODELED ON HIS OWN ARAB SOCIALIST UNION IN EGYPT . SINCE THIS WOULD SWALLOW UP AND PROBABLY DESTROY THE BAATH MOVEMENT, BAATHISTS HAVE HELD OUT FOR A LOOSER, MORE REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE BAATH-CREATED NATIONAL FRONT IN IRAQ, AND THE BAATHIST-NASSERITE UNIONIST FRONT IN SYRIA . IN THE END, NASSER WOULD PROBABLY HAVE HIS WAY ON THIS, AS ON OTHER LIMITATIONS TO POLITICAL DEMOCRACY . A CAIRO SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED, IN A PHRASE DEFINITELY NOT BORROWED FROM U.S . DEMOCRACY, THAT " FREEDOM WILL BE GUARANTEED TO THE PEOPLE, BUT NOT TO THE ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE . " THERE ARE MANY LESSER MATTERS STILL TO BE DECIDED . COMMITTEES WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO WORK OUT DETAILS OF CURRENCY, CUSTOMS, POSTAGE, DIPLOMATIC AND OTHER POLICIES . FOREIGN AFFAIRS WOULD BE UNDER THE NEW U.A.R . GOVERNMENT, AND EMBASSIES ABROAD WOULD BE MERGED . THE U.A.R., HOWEVER, MAY TRY TO HANG ON TO ITS THREE UNITED NATIONS SEATS IN MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT THE SOVIET UNION CONTROLS THE VOTES OF THE UKRAINE AND BYELORUSSIA . FREED SLAVES . MANY OBSERVERS SUSPECT THAT THIS NEW SHIP OF STATE MAY GO SWIFTLY ON THE ROCKS, BUT FEW OF THEM ARE IN THE ARAB WORLD . TWELVE MEMBERS OF OIL-RICH KUWAIT'S 50-MAN LEGISLATURE FORMALLY REQUESTED UNITY WITH THE U.A.R . EVEN NASSER'S TRADITIONAL ENEMIES, THE MONARCHIES OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, MADE EFFORTS AT RECONCILIATION . JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN DISCREETLY LET 56 NASSERITE AND BAATHIST POLITICAL PRISONERS OUT OF JAIL AND SENT OFF FRIENDLY FEELERS TO NASSER . IN SAUDI ARABIA, ALARMED BY A PRO-NASSER DEMONSTRATION THAT COST 19 LIVES, PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL TRIED TO MODERNIZE HIS REGIME BY ALLOTTING $1,200,000 AS COMPENSATION TO SLAVE OWNERSWHO WOULD FREE THEIR CHATTELS . AT WEEK'S END CAIRO RADIO WAS SPREADING WORD OF A CEASE-FIRE BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT IN REBELLION-TORN YEMEN . IT SAID THAT SAUDI ARABIA WAS PREPARED TO STOP SUPPLYING THE ROYALISTS SUPPORTING EX-IMAM BADR WITH MONEY AND MUNITIONS, WHILE NASSER MAY WITHDRAW A TOKEN CONTINGENT OF HIS 28,000-MAN EGYPTIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE BY APRIL 20 . THOUGH NASSER'S BROADCASTERS ARE NOT THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES IN THE WORLD, THINGS MAY WELL COME TO THIS, FOR WITHOUT DOUBT JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA AND ALL OTHER ARABS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY ANXIOUS TO AVOID ANGERING NASSER
 LUXEMBOURG MILLENNIUM IN CAMELOT ON AN APRIL DAY IN 963, COUNT SIGFROI, A WAGNERIAN WARRIOR FROM THE ARDENNES, RAISED HIS BANNER OVER A FORTRESS ON A FORMIDABLE ROCK ABOVE THE ALZETTE RIVER IN THE EASTERN FRANKISH EMPIRE . THOUGH SIGFROI'S WIFE SOON VANISHED SHE TURNED OUT TO BE A WATER NYMPH AND HIS FORTRESS CRUMBLED, THE FIEF HE FOUNDED PROVED AS DURABLE AS IT IS DIMINUTIVE . IT IS FORMALLY KNOWN TODAY AS THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG AND, THOUGH INTERNATIONAL SURVEYS OFTEN OMIT ITS STATISTICS ENTIRELY, IT IS A THRIVING CHARTER MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY AND THE COMMON MARKET, AS WELL AS THE SMALLEST COUNTRY IN THE UNITED NATIONS, IN WHOSE BEHALF IT SENT AN ARMED AND EAGER PLATOON TO KOREA IN 1951 . LAST WEEK, AS THEY MARKED THEIR COUNTRY'S 1,000TH ANNIVERSARY, THE SOLID, EASYGOING LUXEMBOURGEOIS LOOKED FORWARD TO A LONG SUMMER OF LOW-KEY CELEBRATION, INCLUDING A DOG SHOW, ENDLESS WINE FESTIVALS, AN INTERNATIONAL STAMP EXPOSITION, AND A VISIT BY TWO PLANELOADS OF KINFOLK FROM CHICAGO, WHICH IS SAID TO BOAST MORE LUXEMBOURGEOIS THAN LUXEMBOURG (POP . 320,000).* THE MYSTERY IS WHY THEY EVER LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE . DIAL 219-61 . THE GRAND DUCHY TODAY IS A SORT OF CONSTITUTIONAL CAMELOT . IT BOASTS 130 CASTLES (BUT NO UNIVERSITY), PRISTINE FORESTS WHERE WILD BOAR ARE STILL HUNTED, CRYSTALLINE RIVERS THAT TEEM WITH CRAYFISH, TROUT AND, OF COURSE, WATER NYMPHS . THE LUXEMBOURGEOIS, WHO ARE WALKING ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THEIR CUISINE (FAMED SPECIALTIES : THRUSH PIE AND PARTRIDGE CANAPE), BRAG THAT IT IS " FRENCH IN QUALITY, GERMAN IN QUANTITY . " IN OTHER RESPECTS AS WELL, THEY CLAIM TO HAVE EUROPE'S HIGHEST LIVING STANDARDS . THERE IS NEITHER UNEMPLOYMENT NOR SLUMS ; ILLITERACY WAS BANISHED IN 1847, AND THE DUCHY'S BOOMING STEEL INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PRODUCTIVE . " LUXEMBOURG, " ITS CITIZENS SAY WITH SATISFACTION, " BELONGS TO THE LUXEMBOURGEOIS . " POLITICALLY, LUXEMBOURG IS A FAMILYSTYLE DEMOCRACY IN WHICH STREET CLEANERS GREET THE PRIME MINISTER BY HIS FIRST NAME . IF A CITIZEN GETS MAD AT THE GOVERNMENT, HE HAS ONLY TO DIAL 219-61 TO HEAR A TELEPHONE OPERATOR REPLY, " THE GOVERNMENT, " AND DIRECT HIM PROMPTLY TO THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIAL . FOR ECONOMY'S SAKE, VIRTUALLY EVERY MEMBER OF THE CABINET RUNS AT LEAST TWO MINISTRIES . PREMIER PIERRE WERNER, 49, WHO IS ALSO MINISTER OF FINANCE, IS A GENIAL, TIRELESS CHRISTIAN SOCIALIST WHO BUSTLES AROUND THE COUNTRY IN AN ANCIENT OFFICIAL BUICK AS CONCERNEDLY AS IF THE GRAND DUCHY ALL 999 SQUARE MILES OF IT WERE ABOUT TO MELT AWAY ALTOGETHER . A LOT TO OFFER . ACTUALLY, POLITICAL CRISES ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN IN PLACID LUXEMBOURG . THROUGH TACTFUL TREATMENT OF MINORITIES, THE GOVERNMENT HAS AVOIDED THE FATE OF NEIGHBORING BELGIUM, WHERE BITTER ANTAGONISMS BETWEEN FLEMISH AND FRENCH-SPEAKING CITIZENS ARE A CONSTANT THREAT TO STABILITY . THE LUXEMBOURGEOIS, WHO SPEAK FRENCH, GERMAN AND A GOBBLEDYDEUTSCH CALLED MOSEL-FRANKISCH, DO NOT EVEN HAVE AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE . THEY ARE 96.9 PER CENT CATHOLIC, BUT THE GOVERNMENT PAYS THE SALARIES OF THE COUNTRY'S SOLE RABBI AND ITS ONLY PROTESTANT MINISTER . EVEN THE COUNTRY'S FEW COMMUNISTS PROFESS LOYALTY TO THE ROYAL FAMILY . TITULAR HEAD OF STATE SINCE 1919 HAS BEEN THE HANDSOME, HIGHLY ESTEEMED GRAND DUCHESS CHARLOTTE, 67, WHO LATER THIS MONTH WILL PAY HER FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE U.S . SINCE SHE ESCAPED IN WORLD WAR II TO HEAD HER GOVERNMENT IN EXILE . INDEED, THOUGH THEY PUT UP A HEROIC RESISTANCE AGAINST THE GERMANS IN TWO WORLD WARS, IN PEACETIME THE LUXEMBOURGEOIS KEEP TO THEMSELVES AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE . SOME WESTERN DIPLOMATS WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE COUNTRY PLAY A MORE ASSERTIVE ROLE IN WORLD AFFAIRS . " THEY HAVE A LOT TO OFFER, " ARGUES ONE . " INTERNATIONALLY, LUXEMBOURG IS THE VOICE OF 20TH CENTURY EUROPEANISM, THE VOICE OF REASON IN THE COMMON MARKET, NATO AND THE U.N . BUT IT IS TOO MODEST . " IN FACT ONE OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S UNDERLYING REASONS FOR INVITING THE GRAND DUCHESS TO WASHINGTON IS TO SUGGEST THAT LUXEMBOURG SHOULD USE ITS MODERATING INFLUENCE MORE READILY . BUT THE LUXEMBOURGEOIS ARE NOT LIKELY TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS . / WHEN CATS FIGHT, " THEY EXPLAIN, " KITTENS SHOULD STAY OUT OF THE WAY . / MANY ALSO EMIGRATED TO NEW ENGLAND, NOTABLY FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S MATERNAL ANCESTORS, THE DELANOS (ORIGINALLY DELANOIS), WHOSE OLD CASTLE IN NORTHERN LUXEMBOURG NOW HOUSES A FIRST-CLASS HOTEL .
 RUSSIA        THE WOLVES LIKE WOLVES IN WINTER, THE CIRCLE OF COMMUNIST CRITICS TIGHTENED AROUND BRASH YOUNG POET EVGENY EVTUSHENKO LAST WEEK . THE KREMLIN ANNOUNCED A FULL MEETING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE NEXT MONTH TO DISCUSS " IDEOLOGICAL " MATTERS MEANING THE CRACKDOWN ON EVTUSHENKO AND OTHER MAVERICK INTELLECTUALS . THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE MOSCOW WRITERS UNION, LITERATURNAYA ROSSIYA, BACKED A READER'S SUGGESTION THAT EVTUSHENKO BE THROWN OUT OF THE UNION A MOVE THAT WOULD REDUCE THE HIGH-LIVING POET TO POVERTY, SINCE STATE PUBLISHING HOUSES WOULD NO LONGER ACCEPT HIS WORK . EVEN COSMONAUT YURI GAGARIN JOINED THE WOLF PACK SNARLING AT EVTUSHENKO'S HEELS . FOLLOWING UP EARLIER ATTACKS ON THE POET FOR DARING TO EVADE SOVIET CENSORSHIP BY PUBLISHING HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FRANCE, GAGARIN SAID THE ACT DEMONSTRATED " AN UNFORGIVABLE LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY . /
 HUNGARY " WHILE WE WAIT " FOR HUNGARIAN WRITERS AND ARTISTS, WHOSE DEMANDS FOR FREEDOM INSPIRED THE 1956 REVOLUTION, WORD OF RUSSIA'S RESTALINIZATION OF CULTURE AT FIRST CAUSED A BAD CASE OF JITTERS . YET LAST WEEK, IN STRIKING CONTRAST TO THE CLAMP-DOWN IN MOSCOW, BUDAPEST SEEMED ALMOST RELAXED . SAID CULTURAL COMMISSAR ISTVAN SZIRMAI : " THE PARTY WILL BE TOLERANT . ALL ARTISTIC AND LITERARY CREATIONS WHICH ARE NOT ANTICOMMUNIST WILL BE ALLOWED . " HUNGARIAN INTELLECTUALS EARNED THEIR MEAGER ALLOWANCE THE HARD WAY . COMMUNIST BOSS JANOS KADAR, AFTER BETRAYING HIS COUNTRY TO THE KREMLIN DURING THE UPRISING, FOR FOUR YEARS TRIED TO WHIP THE COUNTRY INTO SUBMISSION BY BRUTAL USE OF POLICE TERROR . BUT KADAR EVENTUALLY LEARNED THAT HE COULD NOT FORCE THE SULLEN HUNGARIANS TO COOPERATE . WITH HIS CIVIL SERVICE IN TATTERS AND ECONOMY A SHAMBLES, HE GRADUALLY RELAXED CONTROLS, EVEN BEGAN NAMING NON-COMMUNIST EXPERTS TO KEY INDUSTRIAL JOBS . " HE WHO IS NOT AGAINST US IS WITH US, " SAID KADAR IN LATE 1961 . SUCH RELATIVE LENIENCY IN A COMMUNIST STATE AT LAST EARNED KADAR A MEASURE OF GRUDGING ACCEPTANCE FROM THE POPULATION ; FORTNIGHT AGO HE TOOK HIS BIGGEST STEP YET BY RELEASING THE LAST GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS WHO WERE STILL IN JAIL (ALTHOUGH UP TO SEVERAL HUNDRED RANK-AND-FILE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE STILL BELIEVED TO BE BEHIND BARS), AND BY SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE RELEASE OF JOSEF CARDINAL MINDSZENTY FROM HIS REFUGE IN BUDAPEST'S U.S . LEGATION (TIME, APRIL 12) . HAPPY ENOUGH TO BE OUTSIDE THE CELLS, HUNGARIAN INTELLECTUALS, TRADITIONALLY AN ENTHUSIASTICALLY UNDISCIPLINED BUNCH, AVOIDED PROVOKING FRESH TROUBLE ; FOR ONE THING, THEY KNOW THAT SOVIET TANKS ARE ALWAYS READY TO RUMBLE INTO THE CITY . AS LASZLO NEMETH, A RESPECTED NON-COMMUNIST AUTHOR, PUTS IT : " WE HUNGARIANS LIVE TODAY IN A NEW APARTMENT BLOCK WHICH MANY PEOPLE FIND UGLY . IT BECAME CLEAR IN 1956 THAT THE BLOCK CANNOT BE DEMOLISHED . WHILE WE WAIT BEHIND THE FACADE FOR ITS TRANSFORMATION INTO SOMETHING BETTER, LET US AT LEAST MAKE OUR OWN FLATS AS HABITABLE AS WE CAN . /
 JORDAN CLOUDBURST AT PETRA JOHN WILLIAM BURGON, A 19TH CENTURY BRITISH CLERGYMAN AND MINOR POET, WROTE A MEMORABLE LINE WHEN HE DESCRIBED ANCIENT PETRA AS " A ROSE-RED CITY HALF AS OLD AS TIME . " ROMANTIC, INACCESSIBLE, IT LIES IN THE MIDST OF A VAST DESERT IN SOUTHERN JORDAN, AND TODAY, AS ALWAYS, ITS ONLY APPROACH IS THROUGH A DEEP, NARROW GORGE CALLED THE SIQ, WHICH TRADITION SAYS WAS CREATED WHEN MOSES STRUCK THE ROCK WITH HIS ROD . FROM 300 B.C . TO A.D . 100, WHEN PETRA FLOURISHED AS THE CARAVAN CAPITAL OF THE NABATAEANS, THE SIQ MADE THE CITY IMPREGNABLE, SINCE A FEW MEN IN THE SERPENTINE GORGE, OFTEN NO MORE THAN TWO YARDS WIDE, COULD HOLD UP AN ARMY . TODAY, THE NARROW THREE-MILE COURSE IS TRAVELED BY THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS WHO GO TO GAPE AT THE ELABORATE TOMBS AND TEMPLES BUILT INTO ROCK THAT IS COLORED CRIMSON, SEPIA, BROWN AND VIOLET, LIKE WATERED SILK . DESERT SPRINKLE . TWO PARTIES OF FOREIGNERS REACHED THE ENTRANCE TO THE SIQ ONE DAY LAST WEEK, EAGER TO JOURNEY THE REMAINING THREE MILES TO PETRA . THE FIRST WAS A GROUP OF 23 FRENCHWOMEN MAKING A HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF A PARISIAN PRIEST, ABBE JEAN STEINMANN, 52, VICAR OF NOTRE DAME ; * THE SECOND WAS A LARGER GROUP OF ITALIAN PILGRIMS . THE FRENCH PARTY GAILY ENTERED THE SIQ GORGE JUST AS A SPRINKLE OF RAIN BEGAN TO FALL . FOUR WERE TRAVELING IN A LANDROVER, THE REST ON FOOT . SUDDENLY, THE LIGHT RAIN BECAME A CLOUDBURST THE WORST IN ARID PETRA'S RECORDED HISTORY . WITHIN HALF AN HOUR, TORRENTIAL FLOODS WERE STREAMING DOWN FROM THE HILLS AND CLIFFS AND POURING INTO THE SIQ AS INTO A FUNNEL . ONE ITALIAN PILGRIM SAID, " WE HEARD SHRIEKS AND CRIES WITHIN THE RAVINE, AS THE MUDDY CASCADE OF WATER RUSHED BY US . WE SAW THE LITTLE CAR WITH THE FOUR WOMEN AND THE DRIVER SWEPT ALONG BY THE TORRENT AND THEN SUBMERGED . IN AN INSTANT, THEY ALL DISAPPEARED IN THE FLOODWATERS RAGING ALONG AT PERHAPS 60 MILES AN HOUR . " PRAYERS ON THE LEDGE . TWO YOUNG FRENCHWOMEN, WHO WERE DAWDLING ALONG BEHIND THE PARTY, HEARD THE ROAR OF THE ONCOMING FLOOD AND MANAGED TO SCRAMBLE UP THE ROCK WALL TO A LEDGE 12 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND . " THE WATER ROSE HIGHER AND HIGHER, " SAID ONE . " IT GRADUALLY REACHED OUR FEET, THEN OUR KNEES . WE COULD NOT SEE THE OTHERS, BUT WE HEARD THEIR CRIES . SOON WE HEARD NOTHING BUT THE THUNDERING WATER . WE CLUNG TO THE LEDGE AND PRAYED . " THOSE TWO WERE SAVED, BUT WHEN THE FLOOD SUBSIDED THREE HOURS LATER, THE MUDDY FLOOR OF THE GORGE WAS LITTERED WITH SODDEN, BATTERED BODIES ABBE STEINMANN, TWO ARABS (A GUIDE AND A DRIVER), AND 21 FRENCHWOMEN . PETRA POLICE FLASHED WORD OF THE DISASTER TO AMMAN AND, DROPPING EVERYTHING, KING HUSSEIN FLEW HIS HELICOPTER TO THE SIQ GORGE AND PERSONALLY DIRECTED OPERATIONS . THE TWO SURVIVORS WERE RUSHED TO COMFORTABLE QUARTERS IN HUSSEIN'S BASMAN PALACE . THE 22 OTHERS, WHO NEVER QUITE REACHED THE ROSE-RED TOMBS OF PETRA, WERE EMBALMED FOR AIR SHIPMENT AND BURIAL AT HOME IN FRANCE . A FAMED BIBLICAL SPECIALIST, ABBE STEINMANN WROTE SEVERAL BOOKS ON THE PROPHETS, BUT IN 1961 HIS LIFE OF JESUS WAS PLACED ON THE VATICAN'S INDEX OF BANNED WORKS, AND A YEAR LATER THE CHURCH FORBADE HIM ANY FURTHER BIBLICAL PUBLICATIONS . HOWEVER, ABBE STEINMANN REMAINED VICAR OF NOTRE DAME .
 SOUTH KOREA SILENT SAM, THE PRESSURE MAN THE WHITE HOUSE PUT THE SQUEEZE ON THE BLUE HOUSE LAST WEEK, AND SOUTH KOREA'S MONTH-LONG POLITICAL CRISIS VANISHED FOR THE MOMENT . BOWING TO WASHINGTON'S WISHES, GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE, WHO OCCUPIES SEOUL'S BLUE-ROOFED PRESIDENTIAL MANSION, AGREED TO LET CIVILIAN POLITICIANS HAVE THEIR SAY AT LEAST UNTIL NEXT AUTUMN . THE VICTORY BELONGED IN LARGE PART TO THE MAN WHO RELAYED THE U.S . PRESSURE, SHORT, WIRY, U.S . AMBASSADOR SEMUEL D . BERGER . CALLED " SILENT SAM " BY THE KOREAN PRESS FOR HIS RELUCTANCE TO MAKE PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS, CAREERIST BERGER, 51, IS A DISCREET, BEHIND-THE-SCENES DIPLOMAT . WHEN GENERAL PARK LAST MONTH IMPOSED A NEW BAN ON CIVILIAN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND ANNOUNCED A REFERENDUM DESIGNED TO KEEP HIS MILITARY JUNTA IN POWER FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS, BERGER SET ABOUT THE TASK OF CONVINCING THE GENERAL THAT HE MUST ABIDE BY HIS PLEDGE TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY 17 MONTHS AGO TO RESTORE CIVILIAN RULE IN 1963 . BERGER'S LEVER WAS THE U.S.'S ANNUAL $500 MILLION AID PROGRAM TO SOUTH KOREA, WITHOUT WHICH PARK'S GOVERNMENT COULD NOT REMAIN SOLVENT . TO A STEADY STREAM OF TOP KOREAN OFFICIALS WHO CAME TO THE FOURSTORY U.S . EMBASSY IN DOWNTOWN SEOUL, BERGER EXPLAINED THAT THE U.S . MIGHT HAVE TO RE-EXAMINE ITS AID PROGRAM UNLESS PARK LET THE CIVILIANS COME BACK . TO SHOW THAT BERGER WAS NOT BLUFFING, THE U.S . RECENTLY DELAYED A PROMISED $25 MILLION DESPERATELY NEEDED BY SOUTH KOREA TO PAY FOR IMPORT PURCHASES . WHEN PARK FINALLY CAVED IN LAST WEEK, AGREEING TO WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER TO DECIDE WHETHER TO CALL FOR FREE ELECTIONS OR A VOTE ON HIS REFERENDUM, CIVILIAN POLITICIANS WERE AT FIRST INCLINED TO GRUMBLE AT PARK'S COMPROMISE . BUT IN FACT, THEY NEEDED THAT MUCH TIME TO ORGANIZE THEIR PARTIES FOR AN ELECTION CAMPAIGN . THE CIVILIANS KNEW WHO THEIR MOST POTENT OPPONENT WOULD BE : GENERAL PARK HIMSELF, WHO NO DOUBT WOULD USE THE SIX-MONTH POSTPONEMENT TO BUILD UP A GRASS-ROOTS POLITICAL ORGANIZATION STRONG ENOUGH TO HELP HIM SWITCH FROM FATIGUES TO FLANNELS AND TAKE OFFICE AS A CIVILIAN PRESIDENT .
 CORSICA JESUS FOR A NIGHT AND HE BEARING HIS CROSS WENT FORTH : . ST . JOHN 19 : 17 PROMPTLY AT 9 : 30 P.M . ON GOOD FRIDAY LAST WEEK, A GROTESQUE LUMP OF A MAN EMERGED FROM THE MEDIEVAL ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CORSICA'S OLIVE-GROWING VILLAGE OF SARTENE . BAREFOOT, MASKED IN A BLOOD-RED HOOD WITH EYE SLITS, THE BENT FIGURE STAGGERED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A MASSIVE OAK CROSS . FROM HIS RIGHT ANKLE DRAGGED A CLANKING, 31-LB . CHAIN . AND FROM UNDER THE HOOD CAME AN ANGUISHED, MUFFLED CHANT : " PERDONNO, MIO DIO . . . PERDONNO . . . " THUS, AS IT HAS EVERY SPRING SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES, BEGAN ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST BRUTALLY POWERFUL EASTER WEEK PROCESSIONS . THE HOODED FIGURE WAS THAT OF A CONSCIENCE-STRICKEN FRENCH SINNER WHOSE IDENTITY WAS KNOWN ONLY TO THE LOCAL CURATE, FATHER JEAN BAPTISTE SCUITTI . FROM WHEREVER HE HAD COME, THE MAN WAS THERE VOLUNTARILY TO ATONE FOR HIS SINS BY ENACTING THE ROLE OF CHRIST MAKING HIS WAY TO CALVARY . TO CORSICANS, AS ALWAYS, HE WAS KNOWN ONLY AS LE CATENACCIU (THE ENCHAINED ONE) . SO POPULAR IS THE PART THAT IT IS BOOKED SOLID FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS BY APPLICANTS FROM AS FAR AWAY AS MADAGASCAR . THE LIST INCLUDES GAMBLERS, ADULTERERS, EX-CONVICTS ALL SEEKING PEACE OF MIND . WITH IT, THEY GET AN AWFUL LOT OF EXERCISE . THE PROCESSION, CHUCKLES FATHER SCUITTI, " IS NO EVENING PROMENADE . " IN LAST WEEK'S MOCK TRIP TO CALVARY, A SHORT, FAT MAN GRUNTED AND PUFFED AS HE BORE THE CROSS ALONG A MILE-AND-A-HALF ROUTE . COMING OUT OF THE CHURCH, THE CATENACCIU GOT HIS HUGE LOAD STUCK IN THE DOORWAY . THEN, AS HE STUMBLED ALONG DIRT PATHS AND DARKENED, COBBLED STREETS, STRUGGLED PAINFULLY UP FLIGHTS OF ANCIENT GRANITE STAIRS, HIS BARE FEET BEGAN TO BLEED . THRONGS OF VILLAGERS AND 15,000 TOURISTS IN SARTENE FOR THE OCCASION GATHERED ALONG THE ROUTE TO JEER . THREE TIMES THE CATENACCIU FELL UNDER HIS BURDEN, AND EACH TIME A FELLOW PENITENT PLAYING THE PART OF SIMON OF CYRENE WHISPERED FIERCELY : " GET UP ! YOU ASKED FOR THIS ! " AT LAST IT WAS ALL OVER, AND AS THE ENCHAINED ONE WAS WHISKED AWAY IN FATHER SCUITTI'S RENAULT, CANDLES WERE LIT IN EVERY SARTENE WINDOW .
 THE $5,000,000 BINGO PARLOR IF PROSTITUTION IS THE WORLD'S OLDEST PROFESSION AND GAMBLING THE MOST PROFITABLE, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT WHEN YOU COMBINE THE TWO ? A GOLD MINE OR SO SOUTH KOREA'S RULING JUNTA THOUGHT WHEN IT DREAMED UP WALKER HILL, A SPRAWLING, 156-ACRE COMPLEX OF GAMING TABLES AND HOT-PILLOW HOTELS DESIGNED TO ENTICE THE TOURIST TRADE AND, NOT INCIDENTALLY, THE 40,000 U.S . TROOPS STATIONED IN KOREA . OUT TO MANILA AND MACAO WENT THE CALL FOR CROUPIERS, AND FOUR AMERICANS FROM LAS VEGAS MOVED IN TO MANAGE THE ACTION . BUT WHEN IT OPENED UP TEN MILES OUTSIDE SEOUL LAST WEEK, THE MONTE CARLO OF THE ORIENT PROVED TO BE LITTLE MORE THAN A $5,000,000 BINGO PARLOR WITH SODA FOUNTAINS . THE TROUBLES FOR WALKER HILL (NAMED AFTER THE LATE U.S . GENERAL WALTON WALKER, WHO COMMANDED U.N . FORCES DURING THE KOREAN WAR) BEGAN WHEN ITS ARCHITECTS, WHO HAD NEVER DESIGNED A HOTEL, POSITIONED BUNGALOWS SO ARTISTICALLY AND PRECARIOUSLY ON THE HILLSIDES THAT A GOOD RAINFALL THREATENED TO SLIDE THEM MAJESTICALLY INTO THE HAN RIVER ; THE MANAGEMENT IS NOW FRANTICALLY PLANTING TREES TO STOP MUD SLIDES . THEN PUBLIC FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR THE PROJECT MYSTERIOUSLY STARTED TURNING UP IN PRIVATE POCKETS ; EIGHT TOP WALKER HILL OFFICIALS ARE CURRENTLY UNDER ARREST OR INVESTIGATION FOR EMBEZZLEMENT AND BRIBERY . SO BAD WAS WALKER HILL'S CREDIT RATING THAT LOUIS ( " SATCHMO " ) ARMSTRONG, WHOSE BAND GOT $60,000 FOR PLAYING THE OPENING TWO-WEEK STAND, " DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF MAKING PLANE RESERVATIONS TO COME HERE UNTIL OUR FEE CLEARED THE BANK BACK HOME . " THE WORST BLOW, HOWEVER, CAME WHEN G.I.S' MOTHERS BACK IN THE U.S . HEARD ABOUT THE AFFAIR . FEAR THAT THE U.S . ARMY WOULD DECLARE THE PLACE OFF LIMITS FORCED PROJECT OFFICIALS TO BAN GAMBLING, EXCEPT FOR BINGO AND SLOT MACHINES . AS FOR GIRLS, POTENTIAL HUSTLERS WERE TOLD TO PEDDLE THEIR WARES ELSEWHERE, THOUGH ONE WALKER HILL OFFICIAL ADMITTED THAT, " WHILE WE DO NOT ALLOW PROSTITUTION, WE ARE NOT GOING TO INSIST ON COUPLES PRODUCING A MARRIAGE LICENSE . " THERE WAS A MAD RUSH TO GET THE PLACE READY FOR LAST WEEK'S GALA OPENING, AND GUESTS WERE SOMEWHAT SURPRISED TO FIND THAT THE SHOWERS WORKED, SHEETS WERE ON THE BEDS, AND THE ROAST BEEF IN THE DINING ROOM WAS NOT BAD AT ALL . BUT WITHOUT ITS TWO MAJOR ATTRACTIONS, WALKER HILL, IN ALL ITS MOTEL MODRUN SPLENDOR, WAS STILL HALF EMPTY . BECAUSE OF THE JUNTA'S SLOGAN, " AUSTERITY FOR PROGRESS, " SOUTH KOREANS WERE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE UNLESS THEY CAME AS GUESTS OF FOREIGNERS . THIS POLICY MIGHT HAVE TO BE CHANGED . AS ONE OBSERVER PUT IT : " IF THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO MAKE A GO OF THIS PLACE, THEY'LL HAVE TO LET THE SOUTH KOREANS IN AND PROBABLY THE NORTH KOREANS TOO . "
 CENTRAL AFRICA COLONIALISM IN REVERSE MOST BRITISH COLONIAL GOVERNORS ULTIMATELY REACH THE POINT WHERE THEY STAND BY, ERECT AND PROUD, AS THE UNION JACK FLUTTERS DOWN OVER SOME DISTANT POSSESSION AND THE FLAG OF INDEPENDENCE IS RUN UP . AS THE NEW SESSION OF PARLIAMENT BEGAN IN SALISBURY, SOUTHERN RHODESIA, LAST WEEK, THE PATTERN OF NOBLE WITHDRAWAL WAS BROKEN BY LORD DALHOUSIE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE NEARLY EXTINCT CENTRAL AFRICAN FEDERATION . REQUIRED BY TRADITION TO READ THE SPEECH DRAFTED BY THE LOCAL WHITE GOVERNMENT, LORD DALHOUSIE, RESPLENDENT IN A PLUMED COCKED HAT AND SILVER EPAULETS, DELIVERED A SHARP REBUKE TO BRITAIN BECAUSE IT " HAS BETRAYED THE PEOPLE OF THE FEDERATION AND HAS DONE THEM IRREPARABLE HARM . " AS IF TO RUB THE BRITISH GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN THE FEDERATION'S PLIGHT, BURLY FEDERATION PRIME MINISTER SIR ROY WELENSKY THEN ROSE TO RAIL AT BRITAIN'S " UNPARALLELED TREACHERY AND DECEIT . " CHIN OUT, FISTS CLENCHED, HIS VOICE TREMBLING WITH ANGER, WELENSKY CRIED, " THE INTERESTS OF THE WHITE MAN AND THE ORDINARY MODERATE AFRICAN IN HIS THOUSANDS ARE BEING SACRIFICED IN A LONG-DRAWN-OUT ACT OF APPEASEMENT WHICH PUTS MUNICH IN THE SHADE ! " HE CHARGED THAT BRITAIN INTENDS THE CONTINENT AS A WHOLE TO " BE HANDED OVER TO RACIALISM, WHETHER THE COST BE A CONGO OR AN ALGIERS . " WHAT INFURIATED WELENSKY WAS THAT BRITAIN HAS ALREADY AGREED TO GIVE INDEPENDENCE TO THE TWO BLACK-CONTROLLED STATES OF NORTHERN RHODESIA AND NYASALAND, WHILE RESERVING DECISION ON SOUTHERN RHODESIA (WHERE 250,000 WHITES CURRENTLY RULE 4,000,000 BLACKS) UNTIL AN AFRICAN CONFERENCE IS HELD THIS SUMMER . IN REPLY, SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S PRIME MINISTER WINSTON FIELD REPEATED HIS REFUSAL TO ATTEND ANY SUCH CONFERENCE UNTIL HE RECEIVES IN WRITING FROM BRITAIN'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER R . A . BUTLER A PROMISE THAT SOUTHERN RHODESIA GETS ITS INDEPENDENCE CONCURRENTLY WITH EITHER OF THE OTHER TWO STATES . RAB BUTLER'S ANSWER LAST WEEK WAS THAT THE CONFERENCE SETTLING THE DETAILS OF THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERATION MUST BE HELD FIRST, WHICH MAKES THE SITUATION LIKE SO MANY IN AFRICA APPEAR INSOLUBLE . FLEEING A POLICE RAP, SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S BLACK NATIONALIST JOSHUA NKOMO SHOWED UP IN TANGANYIKA TO DECLARE HIS DETERMINATION TO FIGHT THE WHOLE IDEA OF SOUTHERN RHODESIA INDEPENDENCE UNDER WHITE RULE . VIEWING THE DEADLOCK, BRITAIN'S SPECTATOR COMMENTED : " WHAT NOW EXISTS IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA IS A COLONIAL SITUATION IN REVERSE, " THAT IS, THE AFRICANS THEMSELVES EARNESTLY HOPE BRITAIN WILL RETAIN WHAT POWER IT HAS, WHILE THE WHITE SETTLERS ARE DEMANDING INSTANT FREEDOM .
 MAURITANIA DADDAH KNOWS BEST WHEN MAURITANIA WON ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1960, SOVEREIGNTY AND SAND WERE ABOUT ALL IT HAD . SPRAWLED ACROSS THE LOWER SAHARA ON AFRICA'S ATLANTIC HUMP, THE ARID NATION IS TWICE THE SIZE OF FRANCE BUT HAS ONLY 800,000 PEOPLE AND AN AVERAGE PER CAPITA INCOME OF LESS THAN $80 YEARLY . NONETHELESS SINCE 1956 MOROCCO HAS BEEN STRUGGLING TO ANNEX " THE STOLEN SANDS OF MAURITANIA, " WHICH IT CLAIMS WERE ILLEGALLY TAKEN FROM COLONIAL MOROCCO BY FRENCH ARMY SURVEYORS THE LATE KING MOHAMMED V, A " MOROCCAN LIBERATION ARMY " EVEN TRIED TO " FREE " MAURITANIA ; WITH SUPPORT FROM RUSSIA, MOROCCO MANAGED TO KEEP THE NEW NATION OUT OF THE U.N . FOR A WHOLE YEAR . DEFYING MOROCCO, MAURITANIA'S SORBONNE-EDUCATED PREMIER MOKTAR OULD DADDAH, 38, HAS ARGUED ALL ALONG THAT THERE IS NO HISTORICAL BASIS FOR UNION, AND THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE NEITHER LANGUAGE NOR ETHNIC ORIGINS IN COMMON . ONE BY ONE, THE FORMER FRENCH COLONIES THAT BACKED MOROCCO'S CLAIMS HAVE ALL DROPPED OUT OF THE BATTLE . ALGERIA'S MILITANT AHMED BEN BELLA ALLOWED RECENTLY THAT MAURITANIA'S NATIONHOOD IS A " REALITY . " LAST WEEK EVEN NEIGHBORING MALI, WHICH ALSO CLAIMED PART OF MAURITANIA AND PERMITTED PRO-MOROCCAN GUERRILLAS TO RAID THE DESERT NATION A YEAR AGO, FINALLY BURIED THE HATCHET . WITH ROYALTIES BEGINNING TO FLOW INTO HIS TREASURY FROM BIG, WESTERN-FINANCED IRON-ORE MINES, OULD DADDAH CUT OFF THE $4,000,000 ANNUAL SUBSIDY HIS GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN GETTING FROM FRANCE, THUS EFFECTIVELY ANSWERING AFRICAN TAUNTS THAT HE IS A " VALET OF THE FRENCH . " HOWEVER, EVEN THOUGH THERE TURNED OUT TO BE GOLD (AND IRON) IN MAURITANIA'S SANDS, IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY PLAIN THAT MOROCCO'S PRAGMATIC YOUNG KING HASSAN II DOES NOT SHARE HIS FATHER'S FERVENT FAITH IN A " GREATER MOROCCO " AND REALIZES, IN ANY CASE, THAT ITS BIG NEIGHBOR IS HERE TO STAY . MOREOVER, THE KING NOW HAS SUFFICIENT POLITICAL STRENGTH TO RESIST PRESSURE FROM THE NATIONALIST ISTIQLAL PARTY, MOST DOGGED ADVOCATE OF MAURITANIA'S ANNEXATION . LAST WEEK, HE DECIDED TO REPATRIATE FOUR PROMINENT MAURITANIAN EXILES WHO HAD BEEN LEADING THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THEIR COUNTRY FROM MOROCCO FOR SEVERAL YEARS . IN MAY, WHEN AFRICA'S LEADERS MEET FOR A " SUMMIT " CONFERENCE AT ADDIS ABABA, HASSAN IS EXPECTED TO MAKE MOROCCO'S NEW POLICY OFFICIAL .
 LAOS BECKONING THE UNDERTAKER " THE CLOUDS ARE STILL HANGING IN THE AIR AND THE WEATHER LOOKS BAD, " SAID A DIPLOMAT IN VIENTIANE LAST WEEK . HIS GLOOMY FORECAST WAS PROMPTED NOT BY THE UPCOMING RAINY SEASON, BUT BY THE FESTERING, COMMUNIST-INDUCED POLITICAL CRISIS THAT IS SLOWLY TURNING " NEUTRAL " LAOS INTO A RED SATELLITE . FOR MONTHS ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES, HEADQUARTERS OF BOTH THE NEUTRALIST AND COMMUNIST PATHET LAO ARMIES, THE REDS HAVE BEEN SLOWLY SQUEEZING THEIR FORMER NEUTRALIST ALLIES IN AN EFFORT TO DRIVE THEM OFF THE GRASSY PLATEAU . DEFYING LAST SUMMER'S 14-NATION GENEVA ACCORDS GUARANTEEING LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY, THE PATHET LAO IS STILL REINFORCED BY COMMUNIST VIET MINH CADRES FROM NORTH VIET NAM ; TO THE NORTH OF THE PLAINE DES JARRES, RED CHINESE TROOPS ARE BUILDING ROADS LINKING CHINA WITH RED-CONTROLLED LAOS ITSELF . SLOWLY THE COMMUNISTS HAVE BEEN PINCHING OFF SUPPLIES TO NEUTRALIST ARMY LEADER GENERAL KONG LE AND BRIBING HIS OFFICERS TO DEFECT . LAST WEEK, WITH KONG LE'S FOOD AND AMMUNITION RATIONS DOWN TO THE TWO-DAY LEVEL, THE REDS, IN A BLAZE OF GUNFIRE, SLICED OFF ANOTHER CHUNK OF NEUTRALIST TERRITORY AT XIENGKHOUANG, JUST SOUTH OF THE PLATEAU . " FOREIGN LACKEYS . " TROUBLE BEGAN WHEN THE PATHET LAO, SUPPORTED BY THE VIET MINH, OPENED FIRE ON A GROUP OF KONG LE'S SOLDIERS FISHING IN THEIR OFF-DUTY HOURS NEAR THE TOWN OF KHANG KHAY . THEN THE REDS ADVANCED ON THE NEUTRALIST STRONGHOLD AT XIENGKHOUANG, AND LAUNCHED A MORTAR BARRAGE THAT FORCED KONG LE'S FORCES OUT OF THE TOWN . WITH FULL-SCALE CIVIL WAR THREATENING TO BREAK OUT ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES, KONG LE EVACUATED THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF HIS MEN TO THE LAOTIAN CAPITAL OF VIENTIANE, 120 MILES AWAY . AS THE BEDRAGGLED NEUTRALIST FORCES TRIED TO FIGHT THEIR WAY BACK TO THE PLATEAU FROM XIENGKHOUANG, THE REDS ATTACKED ONCE MORE WITH ARTILLERY AND BAZOOKAS, INFLICTING HEAVY LOSSES ON KONG LE'S TROOPS . THE TREACHEROUS RED ATTACKS COMPLETED THE POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION OF KONG LE, WHO ONCE WAS THE DARLING OF MOSCOW AND PEKING . TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO, KONG LE HAD JOINED FORCES WITH THE PATHET LAO ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES AND WITH THEM DEMANDED THE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL THE WESTERN TROOPS IN LAOS . BUT CONSISTENTLY NEUTRALIST, KONG LE TODAY IS AS BITTERLY OPPOSED TO VIET MINH INTERVENTION IN LAOS AS HE HAD BEEN TO THE PRESENCE OF U.S . MILITARY ADVISERS LAST OCTOBER . FORTNIGHT AGO HE RAGED THAT THE VIET MINH WERE " FOREIGN LACKEYS " WHO HOPED TO MAKE LAOS THEIR BASE TO SPREAD THEIR EVIL POLICIES THOUGHOUT SOUTHEAST ASIA . HEART IN FRANCE . LAST WEEK KONG LE WAS DESPERATELY URGING HIS OLD RIGHT-WING FOES TO SEND TROOPS TO HIS AID ON THE PLAINE DES JARRES . BUT INEFFECTUAL NEUTRALIST PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA FEARED THAT ANY SUCH DETERMINED ACTION MIGHT UNGLUE HIS TOTTERING LEFT-RIGHT-CENTER COALITION . SOUVANNA COULD NOT EVEN KEEP ORDER IN VIENTIANE, WHERE LAST WEEK ANOTHER TOP NEUTRALIST THE SECOND IN A FORTNIGHT WAS GUNNED DOWN IN HIS OWN HOUSE . " I DON'T KNOW WHICH FOOT TO DANCE ON, " SAID SOUVANNA PLAINTIVELY . " I WISH I WAS ON THE SEASHORE IN FRANCE WITH MY FAMILY . " AT WEEK'S END, AFTER THE REDS HAD CONSOLIDATED THEIR HOLD ON XIENGKHOUANG, THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROL COMMISSION OF CANADA, POLAND AND INDIA, WHICH HAD BEEN SET UP BY THE GENEVA CONFERENCE TO POLICE LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY, FINALLY GOT APPROVAL FROM THE PATHET LAO TO FLY INTO THE PLAINE DES JARRES ON A PEACEMAKING MISSION . MEANWHILE THE U.S., SHUDDERING AT THE PROSPECT OF ANOTHER MASSIVE MILITARY COMMITMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, WAS HOPEFUL THAT THE ONSET OF THE RAINY SEASON WOULD STALL OFF MAJOR HOSTILITIES . THE MOST THAT OPTIMISTIC U.S . OFFICIALS COULD HOPE FOR IN LAOS WAS A CONTINUED STALEMATE ; REALISTS FELT, HOWEVER, THAT AN EVENTUAL COMMUNIST TAKEOVER WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME . " ASKING WHAT YOU CAN DO SENSIBLY ABOUT LAOS IS LIKE ASKING A PATIENT CLOSE TO DEATH TO COME IN EVERY TWO MONTHS TO SEE WHAT HIS DOCTOR CAN DO FOR HIM, " SAID ONE RANKING U.S . INSIDER . " AFTER A WHILE, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO BUT CALL THE UNDERTAKER . /
 LAOS A NEW CIVIL WAR ? JUST NINE MONTHS AFTER THE 14-NATION GENEVA CONFERENCE GUARANTEED LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY, LAOS LAST WEEK TOTTERED ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR AND ONCE AGAIN THREATENED TO DRAG THE MAJOR POWERS INTO A BITTER STRUGGLE . FOR THREE WEEKS, THE RED FORCES, REINFORCED BY CADRES OF VIET MINH TROOP COMMANDERS, MORTAR SPECIALISTS AND ARTILLERY ADVISERS FROM COMMUNIST NORTH VIET NAM, HAD BEEN NIBBLING AWAY AT NEUTRALIST POSITIONS AROUND THE 30-MILE PERIMETER OF THE GRASSY, POOL-TABLE-FLAT PLAINE DES JARRES . STRATEGICALLY PLACED IN THE CENTER OF LAOS, THE PLAIN NAMED AFTER THE ANCIENT STONE BURIAL JARS STILL FOUND IN THE AREA CONTROLS THE APPROACHES TO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AND IS THE PRIMARY ACCESS ROUTE TO NORTH VIET NAM . WITH THE PLAINE DES JARRES IN THEIR HANDS, THE REDS COULD SOLIDIFY THEIR HOLD ON ALL OF NORTHERN LAOS . LAST WEEK THIS GLOOMY PROSPECT WAS ALL BUT A FACT, AS 10,000 RED TROOPS POURED ONTO THE PLAIN, FORCING THE NEUTRALISTS TO ITS VERY EDGE . CIGARETTES & BULLETS . THE WEEK BEGAN WITH A DESPERATE FLIGHT TO THE PLAIN BY NEUTRALIST PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA, WHO HOPED IT STILL MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO ARRANGE A CEASE-FIRE BETWEEN THE COMMUNIST PATHET LAO AND NEUTRALIST ARMY CHIEF KONG LE . THINGS SEEMED CHEERY ENOUGH AS THE OPPOSING LEADERS EMBRACED AND THEIR TROOPS EXCHANGED CIGARETTES . BUT, AS ONE NEUTRALIST PUT IT, " WE EXCHANGE CIGARETTES DURING THE DAY AND BULLETS AT NIGHT . " ALL TOO TRUE . HARDLY HAD SOUVANNA DEPARTED WHEN THE TRUCE ABRUPTLY COLLAPSED . NO ONE KNOWS WHO FIRED FIRST, BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN THE PATHET LAO WAS SHOOTING, AND THE NEUTRALISTS WERE RUNNING . ON THE DUSTY PLAINE DES JARRES AIRSTRIP, MOTHERS BREASTFED DIRTY BABIES, AND CHILDREN SAGGED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF PARACHUTE PACKS CRAMMED WITH HOUSEHOLD BELONGINGS AS THEY PATIENTLY WAITED FOR PLANES TO EVACUATE THEM TO THE LAOTIAN CAPITAL OF VIENTIANE, 120 MILES AWAY . IN HIS RAMSHACKLE, TIN-ROOFED HEADQUARTERS, GUARDED NIGHT AND DAY BY A PATROLLING PLATOON OF TANKS, KONG LE WORKED ROUND THE CLOCK DRAWING UP A BATTLE PLAN, ALTHOUGH WEAKENED BY A LIVER AILMENT AND A SERIOUS SINUS CONDITION . " THIS, " HE SAID, " IS THE FINAL SHOWDOWN . " MOVING OVER THE MOUNTAINTOPS AND THROUGH THE PASSES GIRDLING THE PLAIN, THE REDS AT LAST SURROUNDED THE SIX-MILE-LONG PLATEAU . FROM THE HEIGHTS, THE COMMUNISTS LAID A MORTAR BARRAGE ON THE AIRFIELD, KONG LE'S LAST REMAINING LIFELINE TO VIENTIANE . WITH THE AIRSTRIP INOPERABLE, KONG LE WAS FORCED TO RELY ON RUNNERS AS HIS PRIMARY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION ; HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO PULL TOGETHER WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS SHATTERED FORCES AND MOVE OFF THE PLAIN . PRESSURE FROM TWO QUARTERS . KONG LE'S RETREAT CAUSED CONSTERNATION IN VIENTIANE . WITH HIS LEFT-RIGHT-CENTER COALITION FAST COMING UNSTUCK, PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA WAS FEARFUL THAT KONG LE'S TROOPS WOULD JOIN FORCES WITH A RIGHT-WING ARMY JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE PLAINE DES JARRES AND LAUNCH A JOINT COUNTERATTACK AGAINST THE REDS THAT WOULD SURELY PRECIPITATE CIVIL WAR . DESPERATELY HE APPEALED TO BRITAIN AND RUSSIA, OVERSEERS OF THE GENEVA AGREEMENT, FOR QUICK INTERVENTION TO STOP THE PATHET LAO'S FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS OF THE CEASE-FIRE . RUSSIA HESITATED TO INTERCEDE, FOR FEAR OF ALIENATING THE COMMUNISTS IN LAOS AND NORTH VIET NAM . SOVIET INTERVENTION AT THIS STAGE MIGHT TURN THEM INCREASINGLY TOWARD RED CHINA, RUSSIA'S RIVAL, FOR SUPPORT IN THEIR REVOLUTION . BUT NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV WAS ALSO UNDER PRESSURE FROM A DIFFERENT QUARTER . IN WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT KENNEDY MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE EXPECTED MOSCOW TO PUT A STOP TO PATHET LAO PRESSURE AND LIVE UP TO THE GENEVA AGREEMENT . " WE WILL, I THINK, HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS WHETHER WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A DESTRUCTION OF THAT ACCORD WHETHER THE SOVIET UNION AND OTHER SIGNATORIES ARE GOING TO MEET THEIR OBLIGATIONS, " SAID KENNEDY . TOUGHER U.S . ACTION COULD NOT BE RULED OUT IF THE COMMUNISTS SHOWED SIGNS OF MOVING SOUTH FROM THE PLAINE DES JARRES INTO THE MEKONG RIVER VALLEY ITSELF . THIS WOULD STRENGTHEN THEIR SUPPLY ROUTES TO COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS FIGHTING IN NEIGHBORING SOUTH VIET NAM, WHERE THE U.S . IS DEEPLY COMMITTED WITH BOTH MEN AND MONEY . THOUGH THE STATE DEPARTMENT DREADED THE THOUGHT OF ANY FURTHER MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, OFFICIALS MADE IT CLEAR THAT MORE TROOPS MIGHT BE BROUGHT INTO THE AREA TO SAFEGUARD LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, THE U.S . HAS BEEN URGING SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM TO DECLARE A GENERAL AMNESTY FOR COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE WHOLESALE DESERTIONS FROM THE RED CAUSE . DIEM WAS IN FAVOR OF THE IDEA . BUT HE ALWAYS REPLIED THAT AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAITED TWO YEARS AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR BEFORE ISSUING HIS EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, HE, TOO, WOULD WAIT FOR A PROPITIOUS MOMENT SO THAT THE MOVE COULD NOT BE INTERPRETED AS A DESPERATE GESTURE BY A SINKING GOVERNMENT TO ROUND UP POPULAR SUPPORT . LAST WEEK, CONFIDENT THAT THE WAR AGAINST THE REDS HAD TAKEN A TURN FOR THE BETTER, DIEM FINALLY PROCLAIMED AN " OPEN ARMS " CLEMENCY PROGRAM . DIEM'S DECLARATION WAS SPEEDED BY THE ENCOURAGING RESULTS OF AN INFORMAL GOVERNMENT CLEMENCY PROGRAM IN EFFECT SINCE FEBRUARY THAT HAS CAUSED THE DEFECTION OF MORE THAN 2,700 VIET CONG FOLLOWERS, INCLUDING SEVERAL MINOR RED OFFICIALS . UNDER THE TERMS OF THE NEW PROCLAMATION, RED DEFECTORS " WILL BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REFORM AND REDEEM THEMSELVES BY DEEDS, AND DEPENDING ON THESE DEEDS, WILL BE ENTITLED TO LIGHTER SENTENCES OR BE ABSOLVED OF PAST OFFENSES . " BUT THE OFFER OF AMNESTY APPLIES ONLY TO VIET CONG SYMPATHIZERS AND NOT TO HARD-CORE COMMUNIST CADRES, WHO, DIEM FEELS, ARE INCAPABLE OF REHABILITATION . DIEM'S ANNOUNCEMENT CAME ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF HIS GOVERNMENT'S STRATEGIC HAMLET PROGRAM, UNDER WHICH 59 PER CENT OF THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INTO VILLAGES SURROUNDED BY MOATS AND BAMBOO FENCES . AS IF IN CELEBRATION OF THE EVENT, GOVERNMENT FORCES BEAT BACK A VIOLENT VIET CONG ATTACK AGAINST A NETWORK OF VILLAGES AROUND THE CITY OF QUANGNGAI, SOME 250 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAIGON, WHERE THE GOVERNMENT SET UP A SUCCESSFUL FORTIFIED VILLAGE COMPLEX IN AN AREA THAT THE REDS HAD PREVIOUSLY CONTROLLED . DEPARTING FROM THE USUAL COMMUNIST HIT-AND-RUN TACTICS, A BATTALION OF REDS ATTACKED THE HAMLETS UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS, DROVE TO THE EDGE OF THE U.S . MILITARY COMPOUND IN THE CITY WITH A GRENADE ASSAULT BEFORE BEING DRIVEN BACK . " IT TOOK TWO DAYS FOR THE GOVERNMENT FORCES TO STAMP OUT THE FIRE, " SAID ONE U.S . OFFICIAL . " AFTER THAT, THEY MANAGED TO GAIN THE INITIATIVE, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE KEEPING . /
 RUSSIA A SENIOR CITIZEN HARDLY ANY ANNIVERSARY OF THE OLD BOLSHEVIKS PASSES PRAVDA BY . BUT IT IS THE CUSTOM IN MOSCOW THESE DAYS TO SKIP THE IN-BETWEEN BIRTHDAYS AND MARK ONLY THE DECADES . SO IT WAS LAST WEEK THAT NIKITA SERGEEVICH KHRUSHCHEV'S 69TH BIRTHDAY WAS TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE COMMUNIST PARTY PRESS . EVERYONE WAS WAITING UNTIL NEXT YEAR, WHEN THEY COULD WANDER DOWN TO RED SQUARE AND CHEER FOR HIS BIBLICAL ALLOTMENT .
 ITALY FANFANI'S TEST ALONG THE GRAND CANAL IN VENICE, A HUGE, BRIGHTLY LIT RED-AND-WHITE SHIELD OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY GLEAMS IN THE NIGHT ; SPROUTING FROM ROME'S JANICULUM HILL, OVERLOOKING THE VATICAN, IS THE RED-WHITE-GREEN FLAME OF THE TINY, POWERLESS FASCISTS . FROM MESSINA TO MILAN LAST WEEK, WIDE PIAZZAS AND NARROW ALLEYWAYS SPROUTED IN RIOTOUS CAMPAIGN COLORS, AND ECHOED WITH THE LOUDSPEAKER SLOGANS OF SCUDDING LITTLE FIAT 600S, AS ITALY'S 34,300,000 VOTERS PREPARED TO GO TO THE POLLS FOR THE FIRST NATIONAL ELECTION IN FIVE YEARS . THE ELECTION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SINCE 1948, WHEN THE COMMUNISTS WERE DEFEATED IN A CRUCIAL BID FOR POWER . THE THREAT OF A RED TAKEOVER HAS LONG SINCE FADED ; THIS TIME THE MAIN ISSUE IS CONTINUATION OF THE APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT), PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI'S YEAR-OLD EXPERIMENT IN PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION WITH THE LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS . MIXED BLESSING . THE DEAL HAS GIVEN FANFANI THE NECESSARY MAJORITY TO INTRODUCE A LONG LIST OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REFORMS ; IT ALSO PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ISOLATING THE REDS BY FINALLY BREAKING THEIR HOLD ON PIETRO NENNI'S SOCIALISTS . BUT THE APERTURA ALSO OPENS THE WAY TO FAR-REACHING GOVERNMENT PLANNING AND HIGHER TAXES, BOTH OF WHICH ARE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY LARGE AND SMALL BUSINESSMEN ; PERHAPS SIGNIFICANTLY, LIBERAL PARTY LEADER GIOVANNI MALAGODI, AN ECONOMIC CONSERVATIVE WHO SHARPLY CRITICIZES FANFANI'S FLIRTATION WITH THE LEFT, HAS BEEN DRAWING LARGE AND ENTHUSIASTIC CROWDS . ANOTHER ANXIETY CREATED BY THE CENTER-LEFT COALITION IS THAT NEUTRALIST NENNI WILL WEAKEN ITALY'S TIES TO THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE . THESE FEARS COULD COST FANFANI'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AS MANY AS 1,000,000 VOTES . AS ALWAYS, THE VATICAN IS A HOT CAMPAIGN ISSUE ; THIS TIME, POPE JOHN HAS MADE IT HOTTER THAN USUAL BY MEETING ALEKSEI ADZHUBEI, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S SON-IN-LAW, LAST MONTH, AND OTHERWISE ESTABLISHING FRIENDLIER RELATIONS WITH THE KREMLIN . FORTNIGHT AGO, THE COMMUNIST NEWSPAPER L'UNITA EXAGGERATED POPE JOHN'S RECENT PACEM IN TERRIS ENCYCLICAL AS AN " AN APPEAL FOR PEACE BASED ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT . " THIS PROMPTED A PROGOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER TO CRACK THAT THE REDS WERE SUDDENLY " MORE PAPIST THAN THE POPE . " IN FACT, THE VATICAN IS QUIETLY BACKING FANFANI'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC-SOCIALIST PARTNERSHIP, THOUGH PUBLICLY IT HAS STEERED A NEUTRAL COURSE ; THIS TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, PARISH PRIESTS ARE NOT SAYING THAT TO VOTE FOR THE SOCIALISTS IS A GRAVE SIN . USEFUL VISIT . ANOTHER JOHN WHO CASTS HIS SHADOW OVER THE CAMPAIGN IS JOHN F . KENNEDY . THE U.S . HAS SMOOTHLY SHIFTED ITS SUPPORT AWAY FROM CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC RIGHT-WINGERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE THE APERTURA, NOW FAVORS FANFANI'S COALITION . ONE GROUP OF FANFANI SUPPORTERS IS DUBBED THE " KENNEDIANI, " AND THE PREMIER, DASHING ABOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE IN A BLACK LANCIA, REPEATEDLY RECALLS FOR TOWNSFOLK HIS RECENT VISIT TO WASHINGTON AS EVIDENCE OF ITALY'S HIGH STANDING WITH THE U.S . FOR CAMPAIGN PURPOSES EVEN FANFANI'S SOCIALIST ALLIES HAVE BEEN WARMING TO THE U.S . ASKED A SOCIALIST SPEAKER, CONFIDENT OF AN AFFIRMATIVE ANSWER FROM A CROWD IN BOLOGNA'S PIAZZA MATTEOTTI : " IF KENNEDY WERE IN ITALY, WOULD HE NOT SUPPORT THE OPENING TO THE LEFT ? " PERHAPS HE WOULD . MORE TO THE POINT : WILL THE ITALIANS ? AS THE VOTERS HEAD FOR THE POLLS THIS WEEK, PREVAILING OPINION WAS THAT THEY WOULD .
 FRANCE ENCORE, NON IN A 20-MINUTE TV SPEECH LAST WEEK, CHARLES DE GAULLE MADE HIS FIRST PUBLIC ADDRESS SINCE THE HISTORIC JAN . PRESS CONFERENCE AT WHICH HE BARRED BRITAIN FROM EUROPE . AS THE BAROQUE PARAGRAPHS UNFOLDED, IT BECAME PLAIN THAT FRANCE'S PRESIDENT HAD NOT RETREATED FROM THE POLICIES THAT HAVE DIVIDED THE WESTERN ALLIANCE AND HALTED THE INTEGRATION OF EUROPE IN THE THREE MONTHS SINCE . HIS VIEWS ON KEY ISSUES . . .EUROPE . POLITICAL INTEGRATION OF EUROPE WOULD " INEVITABLY END IN FOREIGN DOMINATION " OF THE CONTINENT . IT WOULD, IN ANY CASE, BE " INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC " TO SURRENDER SOVEREIGNTY TO A SUPRANATIONAL PARLIAMENT, WHICH DE GAULLE DISDAINFULLY LIKED TO AN " AREOPAGUS, " THE SUPREME COURT OF ANCIENT ATHENS . " IN SHORT, IT SEEMS TO US ESSENTIAL THAT EUROPE SHOULD BE EUROPE AND FRANCE, FRANCE . " . ENGLAND . WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO " THE GREAT ENGLISH PEOPLE, " DE GAULLE FIRMLY INSISTED THAT / UNION " OF EUROPE, MEANING APPARENTLY THE GAULLIST PROPOSAL FOR CLOSER TIES BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS, CANNOT WAIT FOR BRITAIN . " ONE DAY, PERHAPS, " ENGLAND WILL BE ADMITTED TO EUROPE AFTER IT HAS " DETACHED ITSELF " FROM ITS TIES WITH THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE U.S . .THE WESTERN ALLIANCE . THE ALLIANCE IS " INDISPENSABLE SO LONG AS THE THREATS AND AMBITIONS OF THE SOVIETS CONTINUE . " WHILE " CONJUGATING " ITS DEFENSE WITH NATO, HOWEVER, FRANCE " INTENDS TO REMAIN ITS OWN MASTER . " .NUCLEAR INDEPENDENCE . FRANCE'S FORCE DE FRAPPE IS ESSENTIAL TO " DISSUADE " WOULDBE AGGRESSORS AND " CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEFENSE OF ITS ALLIES, INCLUDING WHO KNOWS ? AMERICA . " FOR THOUGH THE AMERICANS " ARE OUR GOOD ALLIES, AS WE ARE THEIRS, " IN THE EVENT OF NUCLEAR WAR THERE IS " IMMENSE AND INEVITABLE UNCERTAINTY " WHETHER RUSSIA AND THE U.S . WOULD USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AT ALL, OR ONLY IN EUROPE, OR WHETHER THE TWO " CHAMPIONS " MIGHT NOT " HURL DEATH RECIPROCALLY INTO EACH OTHERS' VITALS . " CRITICS WHO SAY FRANCE'S DETERRENT IS USELESS OR TOO EXPENSIVE ARE IN " THE SAME CATEGORY OF LAGGARDS AND SCATTERBRAINS WHO CRIED, " NO HEAVY ARTILLERY' UNTIL 1914, " AND BEFORE 1939 " CRIED, " NO ARMORED CORPS ! NO FIGHTER AIRCRAFT ! " ' AS JOURNALISTS LIKE TO SAY, THERE WASN'T VERY MUCH THAT WAS " NEW " IN THE SPEECH . BUT THERE WEREN'T ANY NEW OBSTACLES EITHER .
 WEST GERMANY AN ECLIPSE OF PRINCES WHEN BRITAIN'S PRINCE PHILIP AND HIS DAUGHTER, PRINCESS ANNE, 12, CLAMBERED OUT OF THEIR RASPBERRY-PINK ROYAL PLANE AT FRANKFURT LAST WEEK, THERE WERE NO TOPHATTED OFFICIALS TO WELCOME THEM OR RESPECTFUL CROWDS CHEERING " ES LEBE HOCH .! " AFTER GREETING THEIR WAITING COUSINS, PRINCE LUDWIG AND PRINCESS MARGARET VON HESSEN, PHILIP AND ANNE GOT QUICKLY INTO THE RAKISH ALVIS SPORTS COUPE, WHICH HAD BEEN FLOWN AHEAD OF THE ROYAL PARTY FROM LONDON . THEN THEY HEADED DOWN THE AUTOBAHN TO DARMSTADT, WHERE THEY STAYED AT THE VON HESSENS' PALATIAL 18TH CENTURY SCHLOSS WOLFSGARTEN . THE BRITISH VISITORS' FOUR-DAY STAY MADE LITTLE STIR IN WEST GERMANY AS A WHOLE, BUT THEIR PRESENCE WORKED LIKE CHAMPAGNE ON THE ARISTOCRACY'S BATTERED MORALE . IN A SOCIETY WHERE MOST BLUEBLOODS FEEL THAT THEY ARE DISPLACED PERSONAGES (THERE HASN'T BEEN A KAISER SINCE 1918), THE ROMANTIK OF A ROYAL VISIT IS RARE INDEED . THANKS TO THE NATION'S MIRACULOUS ECONOMIC BOOM, WEST GERMANS TODAY ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH PAYCHECKS THAN WITH PRINCELY COMINGS AND GOINGS . BUT THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION HAS FAILED NOTABLY TO PRODUCE A UNIFIED, NATIONAL FUHRUNGSSCHICHT (LEADERSHIP LAYER) IN PLACE OF THE OLD ARISTOCRATIC RULING CASTE . THE RESULT IS A CONFUSED AND CONFUSING SOCIETY IN WHICH, SAYS SOCIOLOGIST RALF DAHRENDORF, THERE IS NOT ONE CLASS OF PROMINENZ BUT " A MULTITUDE OF COMPETING GROUPS . " THE " PYRAMIDS OF POWER " INCLUDE THE CHURCH, THE MILITARY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SUCH VENERABLE UNIVERSITIES AS TUBINGEN, GOTTINGEN AND HEIDELBERG, WHERE A HERR PROFESSOR COMMANDS UNDIMINISHED RESPECT FROM THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE . SALON FROM FORD ? BY FAR THE MOST POWERFUL AND CONSPICUOUS ELITE IN PRESENT-DAY GERMANY IS, OF COURSE, THE GELDARISTOKRATIE, THE NEW INDUSTRIAL PLUTOCRACY WHOSE YELLOW MERCEDESES AND CHRIS-CRAFT CRUISERS HAVE LARGELY REPLACED THE IRON CROSS AND THE DUELING SCAR AS STATUS SYMBOLS . THE NEW UPPER CRUST IS PERSONIFIED BY SUCH TYCOONS AS RUDOLF AUGUST OETKER, WHO PARLAYED A BAKING POWDER BUSINESS INTO A 100-COMPANY EMPIRE ; HANS GUNTHER SOHL, WHO AS BOSS OF THYSSEN SINCE WAR'S END HAS TURNED A FAMILY IRONWORKS INTO WEST GERMANY'S BIGGEST STEELMAKER ; AND MUNICH'S RUDOLF MUNEMANN, ONE OF THE NATION'S BIGGEST AND BOLDEST FINANCIERS . YET, FOR ALL ITS WEALTH, SAYS SOCIOLOGIST DAHRENDORF, THE GELDARISTOKRATIE " IS SEARCHING ABOVE ITSELF IN THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY FOR ITS BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS . BUT THE SPACE ABOVE IT IS EMPTY . " THIS, HE SUGGESTS, ACCOUNTS FOR THE JOYLESS, FRANTIC MATERIALISM THAT CHARACTERIZES MUCH OF POSTWAR GERMAN LIFE " THE MEDIEVAL CHOIR STALL IN THE DINING ROOM, THE CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION, THE COMPLETE LACK OF TASTE IN ART AND LITERATURE . " COMPLAINS ONE SOPHISTICATED YOUNG PRINCESS : " IF THE FORD FOUNDATION REALLY WANTS TO DO SOMETHING FOR GERMANY, IT SHOULD ENDOW A SALON IN BONN . JUST A LITTLE SALON . THE OLD SOCIETY IS DEAD NOW . " VONS IN VOLKSWAGENS . LIKE THE LAST GREAT AUKS WADDLING ACROSS THE TUNDRA, A FEW ANCIENT FAMILIES STILL SURVIVE IN THE FEUDAL SPLENDOR THEY ENJOYED WHEN GERMANY WAS A PATCHWORK OF PETTY PRINCIPALITIES . IN FRANCONIA, CONVIVIAL COUNT FRANZ ERBACH PRESIDES OVER THREE FAMILY CASTLES (ONE IS KEPT FOR HUNTING PARTIES) ; AT DINNER, HIS LIVERIED CHIEF HUNTSMAN STATIONS HIMSELF BEHIND THE COUNT'S CHAIR TO SUMMON A FOOTMAN WHENEVER HIS MASTER'S WINEGLASS IS EMPTY . PRINCE EMICH ZU LEININGEN, 36, WHOSE ESCUTCHEON IS AT LEAST 880 YEARS OLD, IS A GLOBE-TROTTING BIG-GAME HUNTER WHO HONED HIS MARKSMANSHIP AS A YOUTH BY TAKING POTSHOTS AT FAMILY PORTRAITS IN HIS HANDSOME BAROQUE PALACE AT AMORBACH . MANY OLD BAVARIAN FAMILIES STUBBORNLY RESISTED THE NAZIS AND WERE SINGLED OUT FOR PERSECUTION BY HITLER ; AFTER THE WAR, THEY WERE ABLE TO RECLAIM THEIR CONFISCATED HOLDINGS INTACT, AND EVER SINCE HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP THE BOAR FROM THE DOOR WITH CONSPICUOUS SUCCESS . ONE OF THEIR LIVELIEST MEMBERS IS HANDSOME PRINCE " ALFIE " AUERSPERG, WHO WAS DOWN TO HIS LAST SCHLOSS A FEW YEARS AGO ; TODAY HE BOASTS A PRICELESS COLLECTION OF FRENCH PAINTINGS AND A U.S . HEIRESS FOR A WIFE . BECAUSE THE BAVARIAN ARISTOCRATS HAVE TRADITIONALLY BEEN LESS EXCLUSIVE THAN PRUSSIA'S PATRICIANS, MUNICH TODAY IS ONE CITY IN WHICH THE RIVAL ELITES COME TOGETHER . MUNICH'S JET SET, COMPOSED OF THE NOUVEAU RICHE AND THE ANCIENT UPPER CRUST, SHUTTLES BETWEEN ST . MORITZ AND EGYPT'S RESORT OF HELWAN . ITS REIGNING BEAUTY IS THE STATUESQUE BLONDE DAUGHTER OF BANKER MUNEMANN, " ANTSCHI, " WHO HURTLES AROUND TOWN IN AN EGGSHELL-COLORED FERRARI ; HOWEVER, MANY FAMILIES WITH " VON " IN THEIR NAMES STILL PREFER TO DRIVE VOLKSWAGENS . " EVERYTHING, " SIGHS A JET-SET PRINCESS, " IS SO MIXED UP THESE DAYS . / TOP TEN THOUSAND . SCORES OF YOUNG BLUEBLOODS HAVE GONE TO WORK AND OFTEN BELIE THE ARISTOCRACY'S TRADITIONAL REPUTATION FOR STUPIDITY . THE BOARDS OF BIG INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES ARE LIBERALLY STUDDED WITH NOBLE NAMES . THE NAMES ARE PARTICULARLY IN DEMAND AS PUBLIC RELATIONS MEN . " I DO LIKE SNOBS, " EXCLAIMS ONE PRINCELY P.R . MAN . " THEY ARE ALL SO KIND TO ONE ! " TWO OF WEST GERMANY'S ABLEST JOURNALISTS ARE TITLED : COUNTESS MARION DONHOFF, POLITICAL EDITOR OF HAMBURG'S WEEKLY DIE ZEIT, AND COUNT HANS WERNER FINCK VON FINCKENSTEIN, A CORRESPONDENT FOR DIE WELT . SAYS ONE CORPORATE COUNT : " ALL YOU NEED TO GET AHEAD IN INDUSTRY IS REASONABLY GOOD LOOKS, SELF-ASSURANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT . THIS THE NOBILITY HAD, AND NOW THE YOUNG ONES ARE ALL FAT PEOPLE IN THEIR FIRMS . " GERMANY'S NOBILITY WAS LARGELY TO BLAME FOR ITS OWN DECLINE . HOLDING THEMSELVES ALOOF FROM POLITICS, BUSINESS AND THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD, DIE OBEREN ZEHNTAUSEND (THE TOP TEN THOUSAND), AS BISMARCK CALLED THE ELITE, DEVOTED THEIR LIVES EITHER TO HUNTING OR TO THE ARMY ; WHEN HINDENBURG JOINED THE CADET CORPS IN 1859, 2,000 OF 2,900 PRUSSIAN OFFICERS WERE OF NOBEL BIRTH . HOWEVER, IN ITS EMPHASIS ON A " CITIZENS' ARMY, " WEST GERMANY'S GOVERNMENT HAS EVEN CLOSED OFF THIS TIME-HONORED AVENUE FOR " ARISTOCRATIC SERVICE . " AS FAR BACK AS 1826, THE YEAR THAT CANNON KING FRIEDRICH KRUPP DIED, GOETHE BEWAILED A NEW " CENTURY OF ABLE MEN, " PROTESTING : " IT IS RICHES AND SPEED THAT THE WORLD ADMIRES AND STRIVES FOR . " THE FIRST KRUPP AND THE OTHER NEW TYCOONS WERE ESSENTIAL TO THE KAISERS' DREAMS OF EMPIRE ; THE ARISTOCRATIC CLANS THAT ACCEPTED THEM WON NEW WEALTH AND A NEW LEASE ON LIFE . FINALLY DECIMATED BY TWO WORLD WARS, DENIGRATED BY HITLER'S FUNKTIONARSGESELLSCHAFT (SOCIETY OF FUNCTIONARIES), THEIR ECLIPSE WAS SEALED BY THE POSTWAR PARTITION OF GERMANY . WORST HIT OF ALL WERE THE WEALTHY JUNKERS, THE BRAHMINS OF TEUTONIC SOCIETY, WHO LOST THEIR VAST TRACTS OF LAND IN THE EASTERN TERRITORIES AND IN MOST CASES CAME TO WEST GERMANY AS PENNILESS REFUGEES . COMPANY COUSINS . EVEN TODAY MANY OLDER ARISTOCRATS REGARD A BUSINESS CAREER AS NOT QUITE SALONFAHIG (SOCIALLY DESIRABLE) . AT A DINNER PARTY IN BONN LAST WEEK, A BESPECTACLED COUNT DREW SYMPATHETIC CLUCKS WHEN HE DECLARED : " ALL MY YOUNG COUSINS ARE IN INDUSTRY NOW . INCREDIBLE ! " ANOTHER ARISTOCRAT HARRUMPHED RECENTLY : " THE GREAT PROBLEM IN GERMANY TODAY IS THAT THERE ARE NO GENTLEMEN IN THE GOVERNMENT . " IT IS TO WEST GERMANY'S CREDIT NONETHELESS THAT NOWADAYS TALENTS ARE APT TO COUNT FOR MORE THAN TITLES . " HOW DO YOU GET AHEAD TODAY ? " ASKS A GREY-TEMPLED INDUSTRIALIST . " IT'S EASY PROFICIENCY AND ELBOWS . " THIS NEW, ASSERTIVE SENSE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE HAS PENETRATED TO EVERY LEVEL OF GERMAN SOCIETY . INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING THE OLD CLASS DIVISIONS AS PREORDAINED, SAYS SOCIOLOGIST HELMUT SCHELSKY, GERMAN WORKERS TODAY BELIEVE ALMOST RELIGIOUSLY IN THE SLOGAN : " ICH KANN DAS AUCH WERDEN (I CAN GET TO BE WHAT HE IS) . " THUS, DESPITE THE LAMENTS OF THE ARISTOCRACY, ARGUES SCHELSKY, THE END OF THE OLD ORDER MAY PROVE TO BE A BLESSING AFTER ALL . " IF YOU WANT DEMOCRACY, " SAYS HE, " YOU CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LEVELING AND ATOMIZATION OF SOCIETY . I'M PRETTY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE . /
 GREAT BRITAIN ALDERMASTON'S AMEN ? SINCE 1958, WHEN THE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT STAGED THE FIRST ALDERMASTON MARCH, ITS 52-MILE EASTER PARADE HAS TURNED INTO BRITAIN'S BIGGEST LUNATIC FRINGE BENEFIT . BEARDIES AND WEIRDIES SOON STOLE THE SPOTLIGHT FROM THE PACIFIST PARSONS AND LEFT-WING LABORITES WHO STARTED THE BAN-THE-BOMB MOVEMENT . IT ALSO BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE FOUR-DAY SHUFFLE WAS BEING MANIPULATED BY SUCH HIGHLY MOTIVATED " PILGRIMS " AS COMMUNIST AGITATORS, ANARCHISTS, AND A FEW THUGS TO BOOT . LAST WEEK, AFTER THE SIXTH ANNUAL SPECTACULAR ENDED IN BLISTERS AND BOMBAST IN HYDE PARK, MOST RESPONSIBLE BRITONS INCLUDING SEVERAL C.N.D . CO-FOUNDERS WERE MORE EAGER TO BAN THE MARCH THAN THE BOMB . THEIR DISILLUSIONMENT WAS THE RESULT OF A STRATAGEM THAT STRUCK EVEN THE TOLERANT BRITISH AS A DISLOYAL ACT . EVEN BEFORE THE MARCHERS LEFT ALDERMASTON, THERE APPEARED COPIES OF A CRUDELY MIMEOGRAPHED, TWELVEPAGE DOCUMENT HEADED : DANGER ! OFFICIAL SECRET . INSIDE, ITS ANONYMOUS AUTHORS DECLARED : " WE ARE SPIES FOR PEACE . WE HAVE DECIDED TO PUBLISH AN OFFICIAL SECRET . THERE ARE THOUSANDS MORE SECRETS IN CAPTIVITY . THIS IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WE SHALL RELEASE . " THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINED WAS, IN FACT, HIGHLY CLASSIFIED : THE LOCATIONS, CODE NAMES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS OF TWELVE REGIONAL SEATS OF GOVERNMENT FROM WHICH BRITISH AUTHORITIES WOULD ATTEMPT TO RESTORE ORDER IN THE EVENT OF NUCLEAR ATTACK . " THIS, " EXCLAIMED HOME SECRETARY HENRY BROOKE, " IS THE WORK OF A TRAITOR . " BY NO COINCIDENCE, THE ONLY EMERGENCY HEADQUARTERS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL WAS R.S.G . 6, AN UNDERGROUND BUNKER IN THE BERKSHIRE WOODS ALONG THE MARCHERS' ROUTE FROM READING TO LONDON . IGNORING C.N.D . OFFICIALS' PLEAS TO STAY ON THE MAIN ROAD, 1,000 OF SOME 15,000 MARCHERS LEFT THE PROCESSION AND POURED DOWN THE COUNTRY LANE MARKED ON THE " PEACE " SPIES' MAP . AFTER A SCUFFLE WITH POLICE, THE SHOUTING DEMONSTRATORS STAGED A MASS SQUAT AROUND THE BUNKER FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR, UNTIL ONE OF THEIR LEADERS ANNOUNCED : " WE HAVE ACHIEVED OUR OBJECT . " WHATEVER THEIR REAL OBJECT, THE " SPIES FOR PEACE " TRIGGERED A FULL-SCALE SCOTLAND YARD INVESTIGATION AND BROUGHT PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN SCURRYING BACK FROM HIS COUNTRY HOME TO LONDON FOR CONSULTATION WITH HIS CABINET . NEVERTHELESS, CANON JOHN COLLINS, C.N.D . CHAIRMAN AND PRECEPTOR OF ST . PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, SIMPERED ON TV THAT MOST MARCHERS " TREATED IT RATHER AS A JOKE . " HIS MERRIMENT WAS NOT SHARED BY JAMES CAMERON, A CRUSADING JOURNALIST WHO HAS BEEN A PROMINENT FIGURE IN C.N.D . SINCE ITS INCEPTION . CAMERON CONCEDED SADLY THAT THE BAN-THE-BOMB MARCHES HAD BECOME A VEHICLE FOR TOO MANY SECONDARY AND DUBIOUS INTENTIONS . " ADMITTING BELATEDLY THAT C.N.D . HAD BEEN TAKEN FOR A RIDE, CAMERON CRIED : " GOD SAVE US FROM OUR FRIENDS .
 SPAIN TROUBLE THIS SUMMER ? ONE DAY LAST WEEK, THREE IMPATIENT SHRIEKS OF A LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE SHATTERED THE MORNING CALM OF SANLUCAR DE BARRAMEDA, A SMALL SPANISH CITY IN THE GRAPE COUNTRY AROUND CADIZ . ON THE DUSTY RAILROAD PLATFORM, THE STATIONMASTER NERVOUSLY PACED BACK AND FORTH WAITING FOR THE EXPECTED PASSENGERS, SEASONAL WORKERS WHO COMMUTE TO THEIR JOBS IN THE VINEYARDS . BUT SCARCELY A SOUL SHOWED UP AT THE STATION, FOR IN SANLUCAR AND NEARBY JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA 3,900 WORKERS WERE OUT ON STRIKE FOR A $2.50 DAILY WAGE (A 50 #$ BOOST), PORTAL-TO-PORTAL PAY BETWEEN THE VINEYARD AND HOME, AND TWO NOT ONE DAILY CIGARS, THE SLANG WORD FOR THE WORKERS' TRADITIONAL 20-MINUTE SIESTA . THE STRIKE WAS THE LATEST AND BIGGEST IN A WAVE OF LABOR UNREST THAT HAS SWEPT DICTATOR FRANCISCO FRANCO'S SPAIN THIS SPRING . IN BARCELONA THE HISPANO SUIZA AIRPLANE-ENGINE PLANT RECENTLY LAID OFF 150 EMPLOYEES FOLLOWING A SERIES OF WORK SLOWDOWNS, WAS FORCED TO HIRE THEM BACK WHEN 2,000 OLIVETTI FACTORY EMPLOYEES THREATENED A SYMPATHY WALKOUT . TWO SITDOWN STRIKES IN A SINGLE WEEK DISRUPTED WORK IN A SEVILLE TEXTILE PLANT . SIX HUNDRED MADRID METALWORKERS HAVE BEEN THREATENING SIMILAR TROUBLE AFTER STUBBORNLY REFUSING TO SIGN A NEW CONTRACT . AID FROM THE PRIESTS . THE COMPLAINTS ARE MANY, FOR THE SPANISH WORKER PUTS IN LONGER HOURS FOR LESS PAY THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER WORKER IN WESTERN EUROPE, AND STRIKES ARE LEGALLY BANNED . WHEN EL CAUDILLO GRANTED SUBSTANTIAL WAGE BOOSTS FOR THE 60,000 STRIKING ASTURIAS COAL MINERS LAST SUMMER, HE MERELY WHETTED THE APPETITES OF WORKERS IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY ; ANOTHER INCREASE LAST JAN . 1, RAISING UNSKILLED LABORERS FROM A MINIMUM 60 #$ TO $1 PER DAY, DID NOT HELP THE MILLIONS OF SKILLED WORKERS ABOVE THIS MEAGER FLOOR . OPENLY BACKING THE LATEST WAVE OF STRIKES ARE THE PRIESTS OF THE WORKERS' BROTHERHOODS OF CATHOLIC ACTION AND SEVERAL SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE CATHOLIC LAY ORGANIZATIONS THAT REGULARLY BLAST THE CAUDILLO'S TIGHT CONTROLS ON WORKERS FROM BENEATH THE SHELTERING WING OF THE CHURCH . ONE SUCH GROUP, THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN WORKERS, PUBLISHES AN UNCENSORED AND OUTSPOKEN MONTHLY BULLETIN, JUVENTUD OBRERA, THAT DEMANDS FREE, WESTERN-STYLE LABOR UNIONS, LASHES OUT AT THE ANACHRONISTIC SINDICATOS, WHICH FIX PRICES AND WAGES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . SAID JOURNAL EDITOR FRANCISCO GUERRERO, 25, DESCRIBING HIS MISSION LAST WEEK : " OUR WORK IS GOD'S ANSWER TO THE EVIL NEGATION OF ALL HUMAN VALUES . IT IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR SPAIN'S MASSES, OPPRESSED FROM ABOVE (BY FRANCO) AND MENACED FROM BELOW (BY THE COMMUNISTS) . " A TRIP TO CADIZ . SUCH FRANK TALK HAS THE REGIME SERIOUSLY WORRIED, AND A FEW OF THE MORE PROGRESSIVE MEMBERS OF FRANCO'S AUTHORITARIAN REGIME ARE ANXIOUSLY TRYING TO IMPROVE LABOR CONDITIONS . THE LABOR MINISTRY IS PREPARING A BILL TO LEGALIZE " LABOR " STRIKES (AS DISTINCT FROM " POLITICAL " STRIKES) . ANOTHER MEASURE OF THE REGIME'S CONCERN WAS THE SWIFT SETTLEMENT OF LAST WEEK'S TROUBLE AMONG THE VINEYARD WORKERS OF SANLUCAR AND JEREZ . AS SOON AS WORD OF THE WORK STOPPAGE WAS FLASHED TO MADRID, A LABOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL RACED TO CADIZ AND PRESSURED VINEYARD EMPLOYERS INTO BOWING TO MOST OF THE WORKER DEMANDS, INCLUDING MORE CENTIMOS AS WELL AS THE SECOND CIGAR . TROUBLE WAS OVER FOR THE MOMENT . BUT WORRIED FRANCO AIDES KNOW THAT DOZENS OF IMPORTANT WAGE CONTRACTS IN MANY INDUSTRIES ARE UP FOR RENEWAL DURING THE COMING WEEKS . UNLESS PAY BOOSTS ARE GRANTED PROMPTLY, SPAIN IS ALMOST CERTAINLY IN FOR A SERIOUS NATION-WIDE WAVE OF STRIKES THIS SUMMER .
 DEATH AT DAWN JULIAN GRIMAU GARCIA WAS 25 AND A DETECTIVE IN MADRID WHEN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT IN 1936 . BUT HE WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE SPANISH COMMUNIST PARTY, AND HIS PROFESSIONAL POLICE TRAINING SOON LANDED HIM A KEY JOB IN THE RED APPARATUS . HE BECAME CHIEF OF " CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS " FOR MADRID, VALENCIA AND BARCELONA, FERRETING OUT SUPPORTERS OF FRANCISCO FRANCO . PART OF GRIMAU'S JOB WAS TO SERVE ON KANGAROO COURTS, CALLED CHEKAS (AFTER THE ONETIME INITIALS OF THE SOVIET SECRET POLICE), WHICH ORDERED DOZENS OF SUMMARY DEATH SENTENCES DURING THE BRUTAL THREE-YEAR WAR . AFTER THE REPUBLICAN COLLAPSE GRIMAU FLED, WORKED AS A COMMUNIST AGENT IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, RUSSIA, MEXICO AND CUBA . A MEMBER OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE OUTLAWED SPANISH COMMUNIST PARTY, HE WAS LIVING IN FRANCE WHEN HE SLIPPED ACROSS THE FRONTIER IN 1959 TO REORGANIZE THE SPANISH COMMUNIST UNDERGROUND . AFTER SEVERAL TRIPS IN AND OUT OF SPAIN SINCE 1959, AN INFORMER GAVE HIM AWAY TO POLICE IN MADRID LAST NOVEMBER . FRANCO'S COPS CLAPPED HIM IN JAIL AND BEGAN A LENGTHY INTERROGATION . DURING ONE SESSION, GRIMAU LEAPED, FELL, OR WAS PUSHED FROM A FIRST-FLOOR WINDOW, FRACTURING HIS SKULL AND BOTH ARMS . LAST WEEK, WITH A LARGE DENT IN HIS FOREHEAD, GAUNT, BALDING GRIMAU HEARD A SEVEN-MAN MILITARY COURT TICK OFF THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM ; THEY RANGED FROM " CONTINUING MILITARY REBELLION " TO ARSON, TORTURE AND EXECUTION OF ANTI-REPUBLICANS BY THE CHEKAS 25 YEARS AGO . THE MAXIMUM PENALTY WAS DEATH . DID HE CARE TO SAY SOMETHING BEFORE SENTENCE WAS PASSED ONLY THIS, " REPLIED GRIMAU . " SINCE 1936, I HAVE LIVED THE LIFE OF A COMMUNIST . I WILL DIE A COMMUNIST . " THEN HE TOOK HIS SEAT AND LISTENED INTENTLY AS THE COURT PRONOUNCED THE SENTENCE EVERYONE EXPECTED DEATH . THIS WAS THE CUE FOR COMMUNIST DEMONSTRATIONS IN HALF A DOZEN WEST EUROPEAN CITIES ; NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, NO STRANGER TO EXECUTIONS, HAD THE GALL TO SEND A PERSONAL APPEAL FOR CLEMENCY TO FRANCO . GRIMAU'S WIFE VAINLY URGED PRESIDENT KENNEDY TO INTERVENE . THE INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE ONLY STIFFENED THE REGIME'S DETERMINATION TO CARRY OUT THE PENALTY . AT A MEETING WITH HIS CABINET, FRANCO UPHELD THE SENTENCE . NEXT DAY AT DAWN, GRIMAU, PALE BUT COMPOSED, WAS LED INTO THE COURTYARD OF CARABANCHEL PRISON JUST OUTSIDE MADRID . HE WALKED ALONE TO THE WALL, REFUSED A BLINDFOLD, SHOUTED " VIVA EL COMMUNISMO " , AND THEN COLLAPSED UNDER A VOLLEY OF SHOTS FIRED BY SPANISH MOROCCAN TROOPS .
 GHANA DEALING WITH ENEMIES DURING HIS SIX YEARS AS GHANA'S BOSS, PRESIDENT KWAME NKRUMAH HAS DEALT WITH HIS OPPOSITION IN A VARIETY OF WAYS INTIMIDATION, JAIL, EXILE . LAST WEEK HE WENT A STEP FURTHER . IN A PACKED COURTROOM IN ACCRA, WHERE MINE DETECTORS WERE USED TO CHECK SPECTATORS FOR WEAPONS, AN NKRUMAH-CREATED TRIBUNAL PASSED OUT DEATH SENTENCES TO FIVE ENEMIES OF THE REGIME . THE FIVE MEN, FOUR GHANAIANS AND A NIGERIAN, WERE CHARGED WITH TREASON IN CONNECTION WITH HALF A DOZEN EXPLOSIONS THAT KILLED 35 PERSONS AND INJURED 300 . THE BOMBING BEGAN LAST AUGUST, WHEN THE BLAST OF A HAND GRENADE WOUNDED OSAGYEFO IN THE SHOULDER AS HE DROVE BY IN HIS RUSSIAN-MADE CHAIKA LIMOUSINE NEAR THE NORTHERN BORDER VILLAGE OF KULUNGUGU . NKRUMAH'S COPS HAVE BEEN ROUNDING UP SUSPECTS EVER SINCE . AS THE FIVE-WEEK TRIAL DRAGGED ON, ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS, NIGERIAN IMMIGRANT MALAM MAMA TULA, 44, TESTIFIED THAT THE REAL BRAINS BEHIND THE KULUNGUGU ATTEMPT WERE THREE MEN WHO HAD BEEN NKRUMAH'S CLOSEST CRONIES, EX-FOREIGN MINISTER AKO ADJEI, EX-INFORMATION MINISTER TAWIA ADAMAFIO, AND H . H . COFIE-CRABBE, FORMER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF NKRUMAH'S OWN CONVENTION PEOPLE'S PARTY . MAMA TULA SAID THAT THE TRIO CONFERRED WITH THE BOMB THROWERS AT A VILLAGE HIDEOUT, SUPPLIED EIGHT BRITISH-MADE GRENADES AND PROMISED A $560 BOUNTY IF NKRUMAH WAS KILLED . THE THREE HAVE BEEN IN PRISON UNDER THE PREVENTIVE DETENTION ACT SINCE LAST AUGUST . ONE OF THE FOUR OTHER TREASON DEFENDANTS BESIDE MAMA TULA IN THE DOCK, TEIKO TAGOE, 20, READILY ADMITTED TO POSSESSION OF A LIVE HAND GRENADE AT A MEETING OF NKRUMAH'S PARTY LAST JANUARY . ANOTHER, JOSEPH QUAYE MENSAH, 57, OWNED UP TO MAILING THE REDEEMER AN ANONYMOUS LETTER WARNING, " DEAR DR., THIS IS TO INFORM YOU I AM STILL CHASING YOU UNTIL I . . . HAVE YOU KILLED, " BUT PLEADED THAT HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO SCARE NKRUMAH . WHEN THE TESTIMONY ENDED, THE THREE WIHITE-WIGGED JUDGES FILED OUT, SPENT ANOTHER TWO WEEKS PREPARING A 6,000-WORD DECISION THEY RETURNED LAST WEEK, THE CHIEF JUSTICE PAUSED SOMBERLY TO DON A BLACK CAP BEFORE PRONOUNCING SENTENCE, SIGNAL THAT THE VERDICT WOULD BE DEATH BY HANGING
 THE CONGO THE BATTLE OF JADOTVILLE IT BEGAN LIKE THE MONTAGUES AND THE CAPULETS . HE WAS A LUNDA BOY WHO WANTED TO MARRY A BALUBA GIRL, BUT THE TWO TRIBES WERE ANCIENT BLOOD FOES . LAST WEEK, IN THE KATANGA TOWN OF JADOTVILLE, THEIR LOVE AFFAIR RESULTED IN A SAVAGE ORGY OF KILLING UNLIKE ANY EVER SEEN ON THE STREETS OF VERONA . BANDS OF LUNDA NATIVES, ARMED WITH KNIVES, MACHETES, AND RAZOR-SHARP BICYCLE CHAINS LASHED TO STICKS, STORMED THROUGH THE STREETS LOOKING FOR BALUBA YOUTHS WEARING MONKEY FUR HEADPIECES AND ANIMAL-SKIN WAR DRESSES . BOTH SIDES CHASED TERRIFIED POLICE OUT OF NATIVE QUARTERS, BRUSHED ASIDE THE PLEAS OF KATANGA'S PRESIDENT MOISE TSHOMBE WHEN HE ARRIVED IN THE CITY BEGGING FOR THE CARNAGE TO STOP . AS THE SLAUGHTER RAGED UNCHECKED, WHITE CHILDREN WERE EVACUATED FROM THE CITY TO A NEARBY METHODIST MISSION . FROM NEIGHBORING NORTHERN RHODESIA, BLOOD WAS FLOWN IN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE JADOTVILLE HOSPITAL, WHERE DOCTORS AND NURSES WORKED NONSTOP FOR MORE THAN 48 HOURS TRYING TO PATCH UP A STEADY STREAM OF WOUNDED AND DYING . MANY VICTIMS WERE MAIMED BEYOND RECOGNITION . " A DOCTOR LIFTED A BANDAGE OFF ONE MAN'S HEAD, " SAID A WITNESS . " A LARGE PIECE HAD BEEN SLICED OUT OF HIS SKULL LIKE A SLICE FROM AN ORANGE, AND I COULD SEE HIS BRAIN PULSATING . " AFTER FOUR DAYS OF BLOODSHED, THE RIOTING FINALLY PETERED OUT, AND CAUTIOUS UNITED NATIONS TROOPS, WHO HAD NOT DARED INTERVENE WHILE THE FIGHTING WAS AT ITS HEIGHT, MOVED IN AND TOTED UP THE FRIGHTFUL COST . THE TOLL : AT LEAST 70 DEAD, AND SCORES INJURED .
 JORDAN THE HOT BREATH OF NASSER IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE EMOTIONAL REPERCUSSIONS OF GAMAL ABDEL NASSER'S ARAB UNITY MOVEMENT WOULD SWEEP ACROSS THE KINGDOM OF JORDAN . LAST WEEK NASSERITE CROWDS SWARMED THROUGH JERUSALEM AND TOWNS ON THE WEST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER, SHOOTING OFF RIFLES AND TOMMY GUNS AND DEMANDING IMMEDIATE MERGER WITH NASSER'S PROJECTED FEDERATION . KING HUSSEIN CALLED OUT DESERT TROOPS AND POLICE REINFORCEMENTS, CLAMPED AN EMERGENCY CURFEW ON THE HOLY CITY . IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF AMMAN, SHOUTING STUDENTS CARRYING ARAB UNITY FLAGS WITH A FOURTH STAR FOR JORDAN WERE PEACEFULLY DISPERSED, BUT ARMORED CARS WARILY PATROLLED THE STREETS . A FEW HOURS LATER, IN A STORMY DEBATE IN AMMAN'S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 32 OF THE 60 LEGISLATORS ROSE TO ATTACK THE POLICIES OF PRIME MINISTER SAMIR RIFAI, WHOM HUSSEIN HAD APPOINTED ONLY 24 DAYS EARLIER . RIFAI WAS IN FAVOR OF LINKING JORDAN WITH NASSER'S GROUP, BUT WANTED TO TAKE HIS TIME ABOUT IT . THE PARLIAMENTARIANS DID NOT WANT TO WAIT . AFTER NINE HOURS OF IT, RIFAI STORMED OUT OF THE CHAMBER, HANDED HIS RESIGNATION TO KING HUSSEIN .
 THEY'RE OFF ONLY SIX WEEKS AGO, MOST BRITISH POLITICIANS BELIEVED THAT PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN'S GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT DARE CALL A GENERAL ELECTION BEFORE SPRING 1964 . BUT IN WESTMINSTER LAST WEEK M.P.S WERE WAGERING THAT THE TORIES WOULD GO TO THE PEOPLE THIS FALL . LABOR PARTY LEADERS EVEN CLAIMED TO KNOW THE DATE : OCT . 24, ABOUT THE LAST POSSIBLE THURSDAY (BRITAIN'S TRADITIONAL POLLING DAY) BEFORE THE END OF CAMPAIGNING SEASON . REASON FOR THE SHIFT IN THINKING WAS THE GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT THAT CAME WITH SPRING'S THAW AFTER THE WORST WINTER OF THE CENTURY . SUDDENLY CAME WORD OF NEW EXPORT RECORDS, BOOMING RETAIL SALES AND SWELLING COMPANY PROFITS . MOST WELCOME NEWS OF ALL LAST WEEK WAS THAT THE REMORSELESS FIVE-MONTH RISE IN UNEMPLOYMENT HAD FINALLY DRIFTED DOWN TO 604,000, OFF NEARLY 100,000 FROM THE MARCH FIGURE . PROMISES & THREATS . THE TORIES STILL FACED A LONG, HAZARDOUS HAUL . POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY, THE BIGGEST ROADBLOCK IS THAT INDUSTRY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EXPAND AND COMPETE IN WORLD MARKETS WITHOUT VIGOROUS, UNPOPULAR MEASURES TO HOLD WAGE BOOSTS TO HALF THEIR RATE OF INCREASE OVER THE PAST DECADE . ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, ECONOMISTS NOW BELIEVE THAT, BY FALL, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER REGINALD MAUDLING'S CANNY BUDGET (TIME, APRIL 12) WILL HAVE BOOSTED PRODUCTION, WHITTLED UNEMPLOYMENT AND PUT EXTRA SPENDING MONEY IN LOWER-INCOME POCKETS . IN FACT, MANY TORY M.P.S NOW FEAR THAT IF THE GOVERNMENT WAITS UNTIL NEXT YEAR BEFORE CALLING THE ELECTION, IT MAY LOSE ITS GAINS IN ANOTHER WINTER SLUMP AND HAVE EVEN LESS TIME FOR RECOVERY BEFORE ITS FIVEYEAR MANDATE EXPIRES IN OCTOBER 1964 . IN ANY CASE, THE CAMPAIGN IS ALREADY UNDER WAY . PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN THREW A STRAW IN THE WIND BY REAPPOINTING HARDHEADED LORD POOLE AS COCHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY WITH LEADER OF THE HOUSE IAIN MACLEOD . POOLE, WHO RAISED RECORD SUMS FOR THE TORIES IN THE 1955 AND 1959 CAMPAIGNS, IS THE REPUTED AUTHOR OF THE " NEVER-HAD-IT-SO-GOOD " THEME THAT HELPED RETURN THE GOVERNMENT AT THE LAST ELECTION . GREY UTOPIA . LAST WEEKEND, WITH POOLE AND 32 OTHER TOP TORIES WHO WERE SUMMONED TO THE PRIME MINISTER'S COUNTRY HOME, MACMILLAN STARTED DRAFTING THE PARTY'S BROAD, LONG-TERM PROGRAM OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REFORM . ITS THEME, SAID MACMILLAN, WILL BE " MODERNIZE NOT NATIONALIZE . " IN HIS FIERCEST ATTACK ON LABOR IN MANY MONTHS, THE PRIME MINISTER CHARGED IN A SPEECH TO GLASGOW TORIES THAT " THE SOCIALISTS HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER EXCEPT OLD THREATS SUPPORTED BY SLY PROMISES . " THE OPPOSITION, DECLARED MACMILLAN, STILL CLINGS TO ITS " OLD-HAT " VIEW OF A SOCIALIST UTOPIA, IN WHICH " EVERYBODY IS MORE OR LESS THE SAME SHADE OF GREY . " HE INSISTED THAT UNDER LABOR, BRITAIN WOULD REVERT SWIFTLY TO THE STATUS OF A " SECONDCLASS POWER . " MACMILLAN'S FINAL DECISION ON THE ELECTION DATE WILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE GALLUP POLL PERCENTAGES, WHICH IN APRIL SHOWED A FRACTIONAL SLIP IN LABOR'S MASSIVE LEAD, NOW 49.5 PER CENT TO 34 PER CENT , OVER THE TORIES . OTHER OMENS WILL BE THE RESULTS OF THREE SPRING BY-ELECTIONS NECESSITATED BY THE DEATHS OF HUGH GAITSKELL AND TWO OTHER LABOR M.P.S . ONE THING WAS CERTAIN : AT 69, HAROLD MACMILLAN IS STILL CONFIDENT THAT THE PARTY CANNOT YET DISPENSE WITH HIS LEADERSHIP . BY WAY OF PATCHING PARTY MORALE, HE HAS ALREADY QUASHED BACK-BENCH RUMORS THAT HE MIGHT STEP DOWN . " I'LL BE LEADING YOU INTO THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION, / HE TOLD TORY M.P.S RECENTLY, " AND I'LL BE WITH YOU IN THE NEW PARLIAMENT . /
 WEST GERMANY SWEET SUCCESS JOVIAL AND POPULAR ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, AFTER YEARS OF PATIENTLY AND IMPATIENTLY WAITING, LAST WEEK FINALLY GOT HIS PARTY'S PROMISE TO MAKE HIM WEST GERMANY'S NEXT CHANCELLOR . EVEN KONRAD ADENAUER HAD TO SAY YES . VICE CHANCELLOR SINCE 1957, " UNCLE LUDWIG " WAS THE ARCHITECT OF THE NATION'S POSTWAR PROSPERITY AND BY FAR THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION'S BEST VOTE-GETTER . BUT CHANCELLOR ADENAUER, WHO HATES TO GIVE WAY AFTER 14 YEARS IN POWER, AND HATES EVEN MORE TO GIVE WAY TO ERHARD, THOUGHT HE COULD STALL OFF ERHARD'S FORMAL APPOINTMENT . AT A PARTY MEETING LAST WEEK, ADENAUER TRIED TO TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING BUT HIS SUCCESSOR . GRUMPILY, ADENAUER DECLARED THAT HE COULD NOT TOLERATE A CHANCELLOR-DESIGNATE " LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER " IN THE REMAINING MONTHS BEFORE HIS PROMISED FALL RETIREMENT IS A FACT . BESIDES, HE ADDED, " I SIMPLY DON'T SEE WHY WE MUST REACH A DECISION NOW, " SINCE THERE WERE THREE OTHER CANDIDATES FOR THE JOB, AND HE NAMED THEM : C.D.U . BUNDESTAG LEADER HEINRICH VON BRENTANO ; ADENAUER'S OLD CRONY, MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO HEINRICH KRONE ; FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER . THE GAMBIT DID NOT WORK : ONE AFTER THE OTHER, TO THE OLD MAN'S SURPRISE, EACH OF THE THREE PROMINENT LEADERS ROSE TO REFUSE CANDIDACY FOR THE NATION'S MOST POWERFUL OFFICE . DER ALTE WAS LICKED, AND TO REPORTERS OUTSIDE, WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT BEING KEPT AWAY FROM THE MEETING ROOM, HE SNAPPED : " HOW DO YOU THINK I FELT INSIDE THAT ROOM ? I WOULD RATHER HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE . " NEXT DAY, WHEN THE C.D.U . PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS MET TO FORMALLY RATIFY THE CHOICE OF ERHARD AS SUCCESSOR, THE 87-YEAR-OLD ADENAUER WAS STILL BURNING . " I BEAR NO PERSONAL ANIMOSITY TOWARD PROFESSOR ERHARD, " HE SAID, " BUT MY OPINION IS THAT HE IS NOT A SUITABLE MAN TO BE CHANCELLOR . " THE CAUCUS OVERWHELMINGLY DISAGREED, VOTED 159 TO 47 (WITH 19 ABSTENTIONS) TO NAME ERHARD, 66, THE C.D.U.'S NEXT CHANCELLOR . FOR LUDWIG ERHARD, WHO SAT CHEWING ON A CIGAR THROUGHOUT THE PROCEEDINGS, SUCCESS WAS TOO SWEET FOR ANY THOUGHT OF REVENGE AGAINST HIS OLD FOE . HE PLEDGED " TO FORGIVE AND FORGET " ADENAUER'S INSULTS . ALL EYES THEN SWUNG TO DER ALTE, WHO SWALLOWED HIS BITTERNESS, PROMISED TO ABIDE BY THE MAJORITY DECISION . " I AM WILLING, " HE TOLD ERHARD, " TO PASS ALONG TO YOU ALL I KNOW THE INTERESTS OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE . " THEN HE ABRUPTLY STOOD UP, SLOWLY AND IMPASSIVELY WALKED THROUGH THE CROWD TO HIS WAITING CAR, AND WITH A WEARY WAVE OF FAREWELL, DROVE HOME .
 KASHMIR TOWARD THE FINAL ROUND FOUR CONFERENCES IN THE PAST FOUR MONTHS HAVE FAILED TO GET INDIA AND PAKISTAN ANY CLOSER TO A SETTLEMENT OF THEIR BITTER DISPUTE OVER CONTROL OF KASHMIR . LAST WEEK IN KARACHI, THE FIFTH ROUND OF TALKS AGAIN ENDED IN STALEMATE AS INDIA ONCE MORE STUBBORNLY REJECTED PAKISTAN'S CLAIM TO THE RICH VALE OF KASHMIR . UNWILLING TO BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR BREAKING OFF THE TALKS, PAKISTAN RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO ANOTHER MEETING LATER THIS MONTH IN NEW DELHI . U.S . SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK, DUE IN KARACHI FOR A MEETING OF THE CENTO NATIONS, WOULD BE TAKING TIME OUT TO URGE A KASHMIR SETTLEMENT ON THE PAKISTANIS . LEST HE APPEAR PARTIAL, RUSK WOULD ALSO CARRY HIS APPEAL TO NEW DELHI THIS WEEK, WHERE HE IS DUE TO HOLD TALKS WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NEHRU . BUT TIME WAS RUNNING OUT . SAID CHIEF PAKISTANI NEGOTIATOR ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO : " WE HAVE TOLD INDIA THAT THE SIXTH ROUND WILL BE THE FINAL ROUND . /
 SOUTHEAST ASIA A LOSING PROPOSITION THE WEST'S MANEUVERS TO COUNTER THE DISINTEGRATION IN LAOS LAST WEEK WERE LARGELY DIPLOMATIC . IN LONDON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY LORD HOME CALLED ON RUSSIA CO-ADMINISTRATOR WITH BRITAIN OF THE GENEVA ACCORDS TO SIGN A JOINT APPEAL THAT THE FEUDING FORCES IN LAOS END THEIR FIGHTING . FEARFUL THAT SUCH PEACE TALK WOULD NUDGE ASIAN COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONARIES STILL CLOSER TO RIVAL RED CHINA AND ITS " HARD LINE, " RUSSIA REFUSED, UNLESS THE STATEMENT SPECIFICALLY BLAMED THE U.S . FOR UNDERMINING THE PEACE IN LAOS . BRITAIN VETOED THE SUGGESTION . PRESIDENT KENNEDY HUSTLED UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS AVERELL HARRIMAN, WHO HAD HAMMERED OUT THE BASIC FORMAT FOR THE GENEVA AGREEMENT LAST SUMMER, TO MOSCOW TO URGE ON KHRUSHCHEV THE NEED FOR RUSSIAN INTERCESSION IN LAOS . " WE REGARD THE MAINTENANCE OF THE GENEVA ACCORDS AS ESSENTIAL TO THE SECURITY OF LAOS ITSELF, " SAID KENNEDY, " AND AS A TEST OF WHETHER IT IS POSSIBLE FOR AN ACCORD TO BE REACHED BETWEEN COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE SERIOUS DIFFERENCES . " IN MOSCOW, HARRIMAN WAS RECEIVED COOLLY ; ONLY A JUNIOR PROTOCOL OFFICER WAS AT THE AIRPORT TO MEET HIM . WHEN HE GOT TO THE KREMLIN, HE FOUND KHRUSHCHEV MORE THAN HAPPY TO GIVE VAGUE ENDORSEMENT OF THE GENEVA ACCORDS, BUT LESS THAN WILLING TO TAKE ANY CONCRETE ACTION TO STOP THE FIGHTING IN THE PLAIN OF JARS.* THE ROAD BUILDERS . AS THE DIPLOMATS TALKED, THE PENTAGON WAS QUIETLY FLEXING ITS MUSCLES . UNITS OF THE U.S . SEVENTH FLEET BEGAN CRUISING IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, AND THOUGH THE MOVE HAD BEEN PLANNED FOR MONTHS, WASHINGTON PICKED LAST WEEK TO ANNOUNCE THAT TWO COMBAT-READY BATTLE GROUPS WOULD SOON MOVE INTO THAILAND TO TAKE PART IN NEXT MONTH'S FULL-SCALE SEATO BATTLE MANEUVERS . IT WAS REMINISCENT OF THE CRASH BUILDUP OF TROOP STRENGTH IN THAILAND JUST A YEAR AGO, WHEN THE LAST SERIOUS FLARE-UP IN LAOS TOOK PLACE . LEFT BEHIND WHEN THESE TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN WERE ENOUGH TRUCKS, TANKS AND PERSONNEL CARRIERS TO EQUIP A THIRD BATTLE GROUP THAT MIGHT BE NEEDED IN THE EVENT OF EMERGENCY . THE PLAIN IS NAMED FOR THE SCORES OF LARGE, STONE BURIAL URNS DOTTING THE AREA, IN WHICH THE ANCESTRAL ASHES OF THE LAOTIAN PEOPLE WERE ONCE DEPOSITED . BOTH THE PATHET LAO AND THE NEUTRALISTS AVOID FIGHTING NEAR THE JARS, FOR LAOTIAN TRADITION HOLDS THAT THE PENALTY FOR DISTURBING THEM IS A VIOLENT AND FIERY RETRIBUTION FROM THE SPIRITS WITHIN . APART FROM THE COMBAT TROOPS, SOME 2,600 OTHER U.S . MILITARY PERSONNEL CHIEFLY ENGINEERS AND SIGNAL TROOPS ARE IN THAILAND . NEAR THE LAOTIAN BORDER, A U.S . ARMY CONSTRUCTION BATTALION IS NEARING COMPLETION OF AN ALLWEATHER JET AIRSTRIP . AT A MEETING WITH TOP U.S . AIDES IN BANGKOK, ADMIRAL HARRY D . FELT, COMMANDER OF ALL U.S . FORCES IN THE PACIFIC, DISCUSSED CONTINGENCY PLANS IN THE EVENT THAT THE PATHET LAO MOVES OFF THE PLAIN OF JARS INTO THE MEKONG RIVER VALLEY . THE U.S . IS NOT COMMITTED TO PUT TROOPS INTO LAOS, AND THE MILITARY IS NOT ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF FIGHTING THERE, FOR THE LACK OF AIRFIELDS, RAILROADS AND GOOD ROADS WOULD MAKE IT TOUGH TO SUSTAIN OPERATIONS . BUT IF THE PATHET LAO SHOWED AN INCLINATION TO SWEEP ALL THE WAY SOUTH, THE U.S . FORCES IN THAILAND MIGHT WELL HAVE TO MOVE ACROSS THE MEKONG AND OCCUPY THE LAOTIAN CAPITAL OF VIENTIANE AND OTHER STRATEGIC POINTS IN THE VALLEY . MEANWHILE IN LAOS ITSELF, A LULL HAD SETTLED OVER THE BATTLEFIELD . IN A FLYING VISIT TO THE PLAIN OF JARS, NEUTRALIST PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA MANAGED TO ARRANGE A SHAKY CEASE-FIRE BETWEEN THE PATHET LAO AND KONG LE'S NEUTRALISTS . THOUGH SPORADIC ARTILLERY DUELS STILL POCKMARKED THE PLAIN, THERE WERE NO OUTRIGHT RED ATTACKS, AND THE NEUTRALISTS LOST NO NEW TERRITORY . BUT HOSTILITIES THREATENED TO ERUPT FROM ANOTHER QUARTER . AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE PLAIN, RIGHT-WING GENERAL PHOUMI NOSAVAN WAS REINFORCING HIS POSITIONS, AND IN THE FOOTHILLS BEHIND THE PATHET LAO LINES, TOUGH, WELL-ARMED MEO TRIBESMEN, WHO HAVE NO LOVE FOR THE REDS, POSED A DANGEROUS THREAT TO COMMUNIST SUPPLY ROUTES FROM NORTH VIET NAM . IF LAOS SHOULD FALL TO THE REDS, NORTH VIET NAM'S HO CHI MINH TRAIL (SEE MAP), THE SUPPLY ROUTE WHICH CUTS THROUGH THE LAOTIAN THICKETS TO COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS IN SOUTH VIET NAM, WOULD OPEN UP, PERMITTING THE REDS TO POUR ARMS AND MEN INTO THAT EMBATTLED LAND . CONTROL OF LAOS' MEKONG RIVER VALLEY WOULD ALSO GIVE THE COMMUNISTS A HIGHWAY FOR SUBVERSION OF NEIGHBORING CAMBODIA AND THAILAND, WHICH IN TURN WOULD INCREASE RED PRESSURE ON BURMA AND MALAYA . FAIT ACCOMPLI . FOR THE MOMENT, THE REDS APPEARED CONTENT TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR NEW TERRITORIAL GAINS ON THE PLAIN OF JARS AND TO LET THE CRISIS COOL OF ITS OWN ACCORD . IF THEY MOVED OFF THE PLAIN, THEY WOULD SURELY MARCH RIGHT INTO A CIVIL WAR WITH PHOUMI'S RIGHTIST FORCES, THUS INVITING U.S . INTERVENTION, WHICH THEY WISHED TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS . DESPITE PROTESTS BY BOTH SOUVANNA AND THE U.S., THE PATHET LAO'S TERRITORIAL GRAB WAS A FAIT ACCOMPLI . THERE WERE THOSE IN THE U.S . WHO THOUGHT THE ONLY LONG-RANGE ANSWER TO THE LAOS PROBLEM WAS OUTRIGHT PARTITION . ALREADY A DE FACTO PARTITION OF LAOS EXISTED : THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTRY WAS FIRMLY CONTROLLED BY THE COMMUNISTS, AND THE RICE-RICH MEKONG RIVER VALLEY WAS IN THE HANDS OF THE RIGHTISTS . IT WAS NOT THE IDEAL SOLUTION FOR LAOS . BUT, AS ONE U.S . OFFICIAL SAID " THERE ARE NO GOOD SOLUTIONS IN LAOS . THERE NEVER WILL BE . LAOS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A LOSING PROPOSITION . /
 ON THE OTHER HAND NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S SPEECH STARTED OFF LIKE JUST ONE MORE OF HIS EXHAUSTIVE EXHORTATIONS FOR HARDER WORK BY PARTY BOSSES AND FACTORY HANDS . BUT BY THE TIME HE WAS THROUGH, THREE HOURS LATER, HIS RAMBLING REMARKS IN THE KREMLIN'S PALACE OF THE CONGRESSES HAD TOUCHED OFF A FRESH TORRENT OF SPECULATION ABOUT THE FUTURE LEADERSHIP OF THE SOVIET UNION . AND ALL BECAUSE OF A FEW VAGUE SENTENCES ABOUT OLD AGE . MUSED THE KREMLIN COMMISSAR : " HERE AM I, A MAN OF THE OLDER GENERATION . . . I AM ALREADY 69, AND EVERYONE KNOWS THAT I CANNOT HOLD FOREVER THE POSITIONS I NOW HOLD IN THE PARTY AND THE STATE . " CRYSTAL BALLS . WHAT ON EARTH DID KHRUSHCHEV MEAN ? WAS HE ABOUT TO RESIGN AS PREMIER OF THE NATION, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, OR BOTH ? HAD HE LOST OUT IN A BACK-ROOM POWER STRUGGLE ? OR WAS HE MERELY TRYING TO SMOOTH THE WAY FOR A POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR ? IF THE PUBLIC WAS BAFFLED, SO WERE THE FREE WORLD'S KREMLINOLOGISTS, THAT TIGHT LITTLE BAND OF EXPERTS WHO SPEND HALF THEIR TIME READING BETWEEN PRAVDA'S LINES AND HALF PEERING INTO THEIR CRYSTAL BALLS . FOR WEEKS, THE EXPERTS HAD BEEN FERVERISHLY SPECULATING OVER KHRUSHCHEV'S POSSIBLE HEIR . THE FAVORITE WAS HANDSOME, HARD-BOILED FROL KOZLOV, 54, NO . 2 MAN IN THE PARTY, WHOM NIKITA HAD QUIETLY SINGLED OUT AS HIS CHOICE ALMOST FOUR YEARS AGO (TIME COVER, JULY 13, 1959) . BUT OTHER EXPERTS EXCITEDLY POINTED OUT THAT KOZLOV WAS THE ONLY KREMLIN LEADER ABSENT FROM A MAJOR MOSCOW BLOWOUT LAST WEEK MARKING THE 93RD ANNIVERSARY OF LENIN'S BIRTH, THUS CONCLUDED THAT KOZLOV MIGHT BE ON THE SKIDS . ON THE BASIS OF SUCH BARELY VISIBLE CLUES, WEARY KREMLINOLOGISTS STAKE THEIR REPUTATIONS . ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BUNCH, BRITAIN'S EDWARD CRANKSHAW, INSPIRED ONE THEORY OF NIKITA'S FUTURE WITH A FRONTPAGE STORY IN LONDON'S OBSERVER DECLARING THAT AGING KHRUSHCHEV MIGHT ANNOUNCE HIS RETIREMENT " WITHIN TWO YEARS " AT THE COMING MAY 28 MEETING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE . WHO TOLD HIM ? " WELL-INFORMED SOVIET SOURCES, " OF COURSE . ALL GUESSWORK . IT IS NOT EASY TO SAY WHO SHOULD BE BELIEVED . FROM JEREMY WOLFENDEN, LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT IN MOSCOW, CAME WORD THAT " RUSSIAN SOURCES DECISIVELY REJECT THE IDEA THAT MR . KHRUSHCHEV WILL RETIRE EITHER FROM THE PREMIERSHIP OR THE SECRETARYSHIP OF THE PARTY . " MERLE FAINSOD, DIRECTOR OF HARVARD'S RUSSIAN RESEARCH CENTER, SAID CRANKSHAW / IS SPINNING THINGS OUT RATHER THIN . " WILLIAM GRIFFITH, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE ON COMMUNIST AFFAIRS AT M.I.T.'S CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, DECLARED, " I WOULD NOT SAY THAT THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE IS ON CRANKSHAW'S SIDE . " BUT JUST IN CASE IT WAS, GRIFFITH ADDED : " YOU CAN ARGUE EITHER WAY ; EITHER KHRUSHCHEV IS IN TROUBLE, OR HE'S SO SECURE IN POWER THAT HE CAN PERFECTLY WELL AFFORD TO MENTION RETIRING . / ONE DARING DEMONOLOGIST EVEN SUGGESTED THAT NIKITA HIMSELF GAILY WAS SPREADING THE RUMORS IN ORDER TO RALLY MORE SUPPORT . ON THE OTHER HAND, WOLFGANG LEONHARD, THE EX-COMMUNIST WHO NOW ANALYZES RED AFFAIRS FOR WEST GERMANY'S DIE ZEIT, THOUGHT IT WAS " VERY POSSIBLE THAT KHRUSHCHEV WILL GIVE UP ONE OF HIS POSTS, MORE LIKELY THE GOVERNMENT JOB . " THE FREE-FOR-ALL WAS CLEARLY GETTING OUT OF HAND ; SOMEWHAT UNPROFESSIONALLY THE GUARDIAN'S POLISH-BORN SOVIET EXPERT, VICTOR ZORZA, SHRUGGED, " IT'S ALL GUESSWORK, " THEN PLUNGED BACK INTO THE FRAY .
 THE BEARD ARRIVES FIDEL CASTRO SUDDENLY SHUT DOWN ALL CABLE AND TELEPHONE LINES BETWEEN HAVANA AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD FOR 24 HOURS LAST WEEK AND SECRETLY HOPPED A GIANT SOVIET TU-114 JET FOR A NONSTOP TRIP TO MURMANSK . AT THE AIRPORT TO GREET HIM WAS HIS OLD PAL OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS LAST FALL, ANASTAS MIKOYAN . WAITING FOR HIM IN MOSCOW WAS NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, WHO PROMISED TO SHOW HIM OFF TO HIS COMRADES IN A TUMULTOUS MAY DAY CELEBRATION THIS WEEK .
 MIDDLE EAST SHEIK JACKPOT FIVE TIMES A DAY FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS, THIN, THREADBARE SHEIK SHAKHBUT BIN SULTAN FACED WEST, BOWED LOW, AND PRAYED FOR AN OIL STRIKE . HIS REALM OF ABU DHABI WAS DESPERATELY IN NEED OF SOME GOOD LUCK . UP AND DOWN THE PERSIAN GULF, THE STATES OF QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT AND IRAN WERE ROLLING IN OIL WEALTH . BUT YEAR AFTER YEAR, ABU DHABI'S 25,000 SQ . MI . OF SAND, DATE PALMS AND BARREN OFFSHORE ISLANDS JUST GOT HOTTER, MORE HUMID AND WINDSWEPT THAN BEFORE . PERPETUAL TRUCE . BUT THEN ALLAH RESPONDED TO THE SHEIK'S PRAYERS BELATEDLY, BUT IN OVERWHELMING MEASURE . TWO VAST OILFIELDS HAVE BEEN TAPPED BY BRITISH DRILLING TEAMS, ONE AT MURBAN IN THE SANDY INTERIOR, THE OTHER IN THE SHALLOW COASTAL WATERS OF THE GULF . CONSERVATIVE OILMEN ESTIMATE ABU DHABI'S PROVEN OIL RESERVES AT ABOUT 3.8 BILLION BBL., WHICH AT PRESENT ROYALTY RATES WOULD RETURN SOME $1.4 BILLION OVER THE YEARS . RIDICULOUS, SAY OTHER EXPERTS : ON THE BASIS OF LATEST DISCOVERIES, RESERVES MAY BE AS GREAT AS 38 BILLION BBL . THIS HAS ALL BEEN RATHER UNSETTLING TO ABU DHABI, WHOSE 15,000 BEDOUINS HAVE GOT ALONG FOR CENTURIES ON PIRACY, PEARL FISHING AND INTERTRIBAL RAIDS . IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THE SWIFT PIRATE DHOWS WERE SWEPT FROM THE GULF BY BRITAIN, WHICH ESTABLISHED " A PERPETUAL MARITIME TRUCE " HENCE THE NAME TRUCIAL STATES, GIVEN TO ABU DHABI AND SIX OTHER SHEIKDOMS . PEARL FISHING BECAME UNPROFITABLE WHEN THE JAPANESE CLEVERLY INTRODUCED CULTURED PEARLS TO THE WORLD . THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO ABU DHABI BUT INTRIGUE : OF THE TWELVE PREDECESSORS OF THE PRESENT SHEIK, ONLY THREE DIED PEACEFULLY IN THEIR PALACE BEDS . THE REST WERE EITHER MURDERED OR VIOLENTLY DEPOSED, USUALLY BY CLOSE RELATIVES . SHEIK SHAKHBUT TOOK OVER IN 1928 WHEN HIS UNCLE WAS ASSASSINATED, AFTER HAVING EARLIER KILLED SHAKHBUT'S FATHER WHO, IN TURN, HAD COME TO POWER BY KILLING HIS OLDER BROTHER . SHAKHBUT IS SAID TO HAVE RULED SO LONG AND SAFELY ONLY BECAUSE HIS OWN TWO BROTHERS SWORE A SOLEMN OATH ON THE KORAN NOT TO MURDER HIM . BUGS IN THE TREASURY . IN HIS LONG YEARS OF OIL-LESS RULE, SHEIK SHAKHBUT RAN HIS COUNTRY ON CUSTOMS DUTIES OF $140,000 A YEAR, FOUGHT SOME DESULTORY WARS WITH HIS NEIGHBORS IN SHARJA AND DUBAI, AND LIVED QUIETLY IN HIS MUD-WALLED PALACE ON AN OFFSHORE ISLAND . HE INSTALLED AN AIR CONDITIONER IN HIS BEDROOM BUT SELDOM USED IT BECAUSE HE DISLIKED THE NOISE . HE ALSO PUT IN A FLUSH TOILET AND A PUMP TO SUPPLY IT WITH WATER ; SEWAGE DISPOSAL WAS SIMPLY A PIPE JUTTING OUT FROM THE PALACE WALL . NEARLY EVERY DAY, THE SHEIK SAT CROSSLEGGED IN HIS THRONE ROOM HOLDING A MAJLIS, AT WHICH HE LISTENED TO COMPLAINTS OF CITIZENS, WHILE BEDOUIN CHIEFS GROUPED AROUND HIM, SOME HOLDING ON THEIR WRISTS THE HOODED FALCONS THAT WERE ABU DHABI'S ONLY STATUS SYMBOL . WHEN THE OIL REVENUES BEGAN TO FLOW IN LAST YEAR, EVERYONE EXPECTED GREAT THINGS OF SHEIK SHAKHBUT . BUT IT SOON DEVELOPED THAT WHAT SHAKHBUT LIKED TO DO WITH MONEY WAS COUNT IT, NOT SPEND IT . HE REFUSED TO ACCEPT CHECKS FROM THE OIL COMPANIES, AT FIRST KEPT HIS CASH UNDER HIS BED . WHEN THE BEDSPRINGS BEGAN TO BULGE, HE HAD THE CASH CARTED TO A PALACE DUNGEON . IT WAS ONLY AFTER RATS BEGAN NIBBLING AT THE TREASURE CHESTS AND INSECTS STARTED EATING THE FOLDING MONEY THAT SHAKHBUT RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO ACCEPT THE PRINCIPLE OF BANKING . HE NOW FLOURISHES AN OUTSIZE CHECKBOOK, EMBLAZONED WITH THE RED AND WHITE FLAG OF ABU DHABI, BUT HE STILL HATES TO SIGN CHECKS . PUTTING OFF PAYDAY . BRITAIN, WHICH HAS A MOTHER-HEN RELATIONSHIP TO THE ALLEGEDLY INDEPENDENT TRUCIAL STATES, LAST YEAR PROMOTED AN ABU DHABI DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM CALLING FOR $70 MILLION WORTH OF ROADS, SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC WORKS . SHEIK SHAKHBUT, 58, ACCEPTED THE PLAN ONLY IN THEORY.BUSINESSMEN DEALING WITH THE SHEIK HAVE A TENDENCY TO OVERNIGHT GREY HAIR . " HE SIMPLY ASKS FOR 50 PER CENT IN EVERY BUSINESS DEAL ! / SPUTTERED A LEVANTINE ENTREPRENEUR . SHAKHBUT MAY AMIABLY CONCEDE THAT HE HAS SIGNED A CONTRACT FOR WORK TO BE DONE, THEN ADDS CAGILY, " BUT I DIDN'T SAY I WOULD PAY FOR IT . " HIS PENNY PINCHING EVEN EXTENDS TO ABU DHABI'S 470-MAN ARMY : EACH SOLDIER IS PAID PERSONALLY BY SHAKHBUT, WHO STALLS OFF PAYDAY AS LONG AS POSSIBLE . THE SHEIK'S MIND RESEMBLES A REVOLVING DOOR . SINCE ABU DHABI HAS VIRTUALLY NO WATER (A GLASS OF WATER COSTS ABOUT THE SAME AS A GLASS OF GIN), THERE IS A DESPERATE NEED FOR MODERN EQUIPMENT TO DISTILL SEA WATER . BUT THE SHEIK HAS THREE TIMES SHIFTED THE LOCATION OF A PROPOSED NEW DISTILLATION PLANT AND MAY WELL SHIFT IT THREE OR 30 TIMES MORE . GROANED A FRUSTRATED BRITISH ENGINEER : " WE FREQUENTLY DO SIX WEEKS' WORK FOR NOTHING . " THE BRITISH PRODUCED PLANS TO MAKE ABU DHABI CITY INTO A GLITTERING MODERN CAPITAL THAT WOULD BE THE PRIDE OF THE PERSIAN GULF, BUT AS FAST AS ENGINEERS LAY OUT A NEW BOULEVARD, SHAKHBUT GRANTS PERMISSION TO A LOCAL MERCHANT TO BUILD A STORE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT . FISHY FRESHNESS . IN AN EFFORT TO BROADEN THE SHEIK'S OUTLOOK, OILMEN AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAVE GIVEN HIM REDCARPET TRIPS TO PARIS, LONDON AND NEW YORK . WHAT INTERESTED HIM MOST WAS THE LARGE NUMBER OF AUTOMOBILES IN THE THREE CITIES . " KEEP THE CARS GOING, " HE SAID EARNESTLY, THINKING HAPPILY OF THE FUTURE CONSUMPTION OF ABU DHABI GASOLINE . NEW YORK CITY STRUCK HIM AS A " TOWN WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOT CIVILIZED . THEY LIVE LIKE ANTS OR SWALLOWS IN CLIFFS . THE SUN NEVER GETS DOWN INTO THE STREETS . " HE WAS APPALLED BY TV WESTERNS : " ALL THAT SHOOTING UPSETS THE BASIS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT ! " WHAT DELIGHTS SHAKHBUT IS THE TRADITIONAL LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE . " THE THING THAT PLEASES ME MOST, " HE SAYS, " IS HUNTING FOR BUSTARDS WITH OUR FALCONS . IT'S TREMENDOUS TO SEE THE FALCON FIGHTING THE BUSTARD AND KILLING IT . EACH FALCON HAS ITS OWN SPECIAL OWNER AND REFUSES TO HUNT FOR ANYONE ELSE . " THE SHEIK IS ALSO A CONNOISSEUR OF CAMEL'S MILK HIS ONLY DRINK AND CAN TELL BY THE MILK'S TASTE WHAT THE CAMEL HAS BEEN EATING AND WHERE IT WAS IN THE DESERT FOR THE BEST MILK, HE EXPLAINS, WE FEED CAMELS ON SEA MANGROVE AND DRIED FISH . THIS GIVES THE MILK A SLIGHTLY FISHY FRESHNESS WE APPRECIATE . " SHAKHBUT ONCE OWNED A CADILLAC, BUT WHEN IT FINALLY BROKE DOWN HE JUST ABANDONED IT . NOW HE MAKES HIS STATE VISITS IN A BONE-JARRING LAND-ROVER, BUT WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM . " I DID ALL MY TRAVELING BY CAMEL IN THE OLD DAYS, " HE SIGHS, " BUT NOW I HAVE TO GO BY CAR BECAUSE IF THE RULER WENT BY CAMEL, PEOPLE WOULD THINK IT PECULIAR . /
 ITALY BETWEEN LEFT & RIGHT FIFTEEN MONTHS AGO, WHEN ITALIAN PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI MARCHED HIS MODERATE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY THROUGH THE APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT) INTO A PARLIAMENTARY PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS, HE ACKNOWLEDGED THE DEAL AS A DANGEROUS GAMBLE . " WE SHALL CERTAINLY HAVE SOME SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, " HE SAID . BY NOW, FANFANI MUST BE A HOPELESS INSOMNIAC . LAST WEEK NEARLY 33 MILLION ITALIANS WENT TO THE POLLS FOR NATIONAL ELECTIONS AND REWARDED THEIR EXPERIMENTING PREMIER WITH A JOLTING SETBACK THAT COST HIS PARTY 730,000 VOTES AND MAY WELL COST HIM HIS JOB . THE APERTURA MIGHT SURVIVE, BUT ITS FUTURE LIKE FANFANI'S WOULD BE RISKIER THAN EVER . ASHEN-FACED, THE PINTSIZE (5 FT . 1 IN.) PREMIER FACED REPORTERS IN THE CHIGI PALACE ON ELECTION NIGHT WITH UNCOMMON SHOCK . " THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, " HE DECLARED, " HAVE BEEN DECLARED AS THE RELATIVE MAJORITY PARTY, EVEN IF BY A NARROWER MARGIN THAN BEFORE . AND NOW TO BED . " PAPAL PAL . TO BED INDEED . FANFANI ALREADY HAD NEWS OF THE MASSIVE GAINS OF PALMIRO TOGLIATTI'S COMMUNISTS, WHO IMPROVED THEIR POSITION AS THE COUNTRY'S SECOND LARGEST PARTY (AFTER THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS), WON 25 PER CENT OF THE ENTIRE NATION'S VOTES, AND 26 NEW SEATS IN THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES . THE REDS NOW HOLD A TOTAL OF 166 OF THE CHAMBER'S 630 PLACES, COMPARED WITH THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS' 260 . UNDER THE SHREWD LEADERSHIP OF AGING (70) COMMUNIST BOSS PALMIRO TOGLIATTI, THE REDS HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN CARE TO BALANCE THEIR IDEOLOGY AGAINST THE FACT THAT ITALY IS A CATHOLIC NATION . AT ONE TIME THEY BACKED THE MONARCHY ; NOWADAYS THEY EVEN FAVOR THE CAPITALIST COMMON MARKET . AS A NATION, ITALY IS LESS THAN A CENTURY OLD ; FIRST UNDER THE MONARCHY, THEN THROUGH THE LONG NIGHT OF FASCISM, THE COUNTRY HAS HAD LITTLE TIME TO ACCUSTOM ITSELF TO DEMOCRACY . THUS, TO MANY ITALIANS, COMMUNISM OR AT LEAST THEIR BRAND OF IT DOES NOT APPEAR THE FEARFUL SPECTER THAT IT DOES IN MANY OTHER LANDS . IN PART, THE COMMUNIST SHOWING WAS DUE TO RED DEFECTIONS FROM PIETRO NENNI'S SHARPLY DIVIDED SOCIALISTS, THE LEFTWING CROWD THAT HAD THROWN ITS LOT WITH FANFANI . AND IN PART IT WAS DUE TO POPE JOHN XXIII, WHO HAD GIVEN A MODICUM OF APPROVAL TO THE FAR LEFT WITH HIS PACEM IN TERRIS ENCYCLICAL, AND WITH HIS WARM WELCOME TO THE VATICAN LAST MARCH FOR NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S VISITING SON-IN-LAW, ALEKSEI ADZHUBEI . NEW LOW . FROM THE RIGHT, APERTURA'S CHIEF CHALLENGE WAS AMONG THE FREE-ENTERPRISING LIBERALS, WHO MORE THAN DOUBLED THEIR PREVIOUS VOTE OF 1,000,000 ; THIS WAS A SPECTACULAR GAIN, EVEN IF IT AMOUNTED TO ONLY 7 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL TURNOUT . MOST OF THE CREDIT WENT TO TIRELESS LIBERAL CAMPAIGNER GIOVANNI MALAGODI, 58, A BANKER TURNED POLITICIAN, WHO HIT OUT HARD AT FANFANI'S SCHEMES FOR MORE GOVERNMENT PLANNING AND HIGHER TAXES . IT WAS FANFANI'S OWN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS WHO TOOK THE WORST DRUBBING OF ALL . THE PARTY HAD NO TROUBLE REMAINING IN FIRST PLACE WITH 11.7 MILLION BALLOTS, BUT ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS IT SANK TO THE LOWEST SHARE OF THE TOTAL VOTE (ABOUT 38 PER CENT ) SINCE WORLD WAR II . SUMMED UP ROME'S IL MESSAGGERO : INTERNAL DISSENSION AND " INCESSANT CLAMOR HAD THE EFFECT OF DRIVING AWAY VOTERS . THE PARTY LOST THE FRIGHTENED, THE CONFUSED AND THE INDECISIVE . " IL MESSAGGERO'S ADVICE TO STOP SQUABBLING WENT UNHEEDED . LAST WEEK RIGHT-WING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, WHO OPPOSED THE APERTURA IN THE FIRST PLACE, SEIZED THE ELECTION RESULTS AS A SIGNAL TO DEMAND THAT FANFANI STEP ASIDE AS PREMIER IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT PROBABLY TO BE FORMED THIS MONTH .
 RUSSIA NEW SUCCESSOR FOR K . ? AT FOUR BIG MOSCOW SHINDIGS IN RECENT WEEKS, GREYING, SQUARE-JAWED FROL KOZLOV, 54, HAS BEEN CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT . COULD KOZLOV, NO . 2 MAN IN THE PARTY AND NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S HEIR-DESIGNATE, BE IN TROUBLE ? SOME KREMLINOLOGISTS THOUGHT SO THEIR SPECULATION FINALLY PROMPTED A 30-WORD ANNOUNCEMENT ON PAGE 2 OF PRAVDA LAST WEEK . " IN CONNECTION WITH INQUIRIES RECEIVED, " SAID PRAVDA, THE PARTY'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE " ANNOUNCES THAT COMRADE F . R . KOZLOV COULD NOT TAKE PART IN THE MAY 1 FESTIVITIES BECAUSE OF ILLNESS . " THE WORD IN MOSCOW WAS THAT KOZLOV, WHO MISSED THE 1961 MAY DAY PARADE BECAUSE OF HEART TROUBLE, HAD SUFFERED A SECOND ATTACK .
 EUROPE A JOLLY NICE CHAP AT FIRST MEETING, FEW WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT GIUSEPPE MARTELLI'S LINE OF WORK WAS TRACING THE TRAJECTORIES OF STRONGLY ACCELERATED NUCLEAR PARTICLES . TALLER (6 FT . 1 IN.) AND HANDSOMER THAN MOST OF HIS SCIENTIFIC COLLEAGUES, MARTELLI, 39, SPOKE FLUENT RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH, AND COULD EVEN MAKE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SMALL TALK . SON OF A WORLD WAR I ITALIAN GENERAL, HE HAD STUDIED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROME AND PISA'S INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, WHERE HE SPECIALIZED IN COSMIC RAY RESEARCH . LATER, HE WAS HIRED BY EURATOM, EUROPE'S COMMUNAL ATOMS-FOR-PEACE AGENCY, AND WENT OFF TO BRUSSELS, LEAVING HIS WIFE MARIA AND THEIR TWO CHILDREN BEHIND IN PISA . AN EXPERT ON THERMONUCLEAR POWER AND A JOLLY NICE CHAP, MARTELLI CAME TO THE ATTENTION OF A BRITISH PHYSICIST, THROUGH HIM WON A PLACE ON THE 600-MAN TEAM WORKING ON LONG-TERM FUSION RESEARCH AT CULHAM LABORATORY IN THE COTSWOLDS . THERE, IN ROOM 103, GIUSEPPE SPENT HIS DAYS IN PURE RESEARCH, THE KIND OF SCIENCE THAT IS NOT EXPECTED TO YIELD CONCRETE RESULTS UNTIL THE 1980S ; LIKE ALL EURATOM PROJECTS, IT INVOLVED NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION . AFTER A FEW WEEKS IN ENGLAND, GIUSEPPE SET UP HOUSE AMONG A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS IN NEARBY ABINGDON . RETURNING TO LONDON LAST WEEK FROM ONE OF HIS FREQUENT TRIPS TO BRUSSELS, GIUSEPPE ENRICO GILBERTO MARTELLI WAS GRABBED AT THE AIRPORT BY SCOTLAND YARD'S SPECIAL BRANCH AND FORMALLY ACCUSED OF VIOLATING BRITAIN'S OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT . THE WORDING OF THE CHARGE SUGGESTED THAT HE WAS ACCUSED ONLY OF PREPARING TO TRANSMIT SECRET INFORMATION TO " AN ENEMY . " BRITONS WONDERED IF THEY WERE IN FOR YET ANOTHER INSTALLMENT IN THE SERIES OF ESPIONAGE SCANDALS THAT HAVE BEEN MAKING HEADLINES FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS .
 YUGOSLAVIA TALKING TO TITO ON HIS WAY HOME AFTER A 16,000-MILE SWING THROUGH ANKARA, TEHERAN, KARACHI AND NEW DELHI, U.S . SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK SQUEEZED IN A SHORT STOP IN BELGRADE . FOR THE DIPLOMATIC RECORD, RUSK OFFICIALLY WAS REPAYING A 1961 VISIT TO WASHINGTON BY YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER KOCA POPOVIC . BUT THERE WAS MORE TO RUSK'S COURTESY CALL THAN THAT . U.S.-YUGOSLAV RELATIONS WERE NEVER REALLY WARM ; SINCE THE U.S . CONGRESS LAST SUMMER SERVED NOTICE THAT IT WOULD ELIMINATE BELGRADE'S " MOST FAVORED NATION " TRADING CLAUSE THIS YEAR, THEY HAVE BEEN POSITIVELY CHILLY . MARSHAL TITO'S OSTENTATIOUSLY FRIENDLY TRIP TO MOSCOW LAST YEAR DID NOT IMPROVE MATTERS, EITHER . BUT BELGRADE WAS ANXIOUS TO ASSURE THE U.S . THAT IT WAS OFFICIALLY STILL " UNALIGNED, " AND TO SMOOTH THINGS OVER, RUSK AGREED AT THE LAST MINUTE TO MAKE HIS VISIT . POPOVIC WAS OUT AT MODERN SUCRIN AIRPORT TO GREET RUSK WHEN THE BIG U.S . JET TOUCHED DOWN . ALSO ON HAND WAS A RED CARPET AND A MILITARY BAND . BUT THAT WAS THE END OF THE FANFARE . SINCE THE YUGOSLAVS DO NOT UNFURL FOREIGN FLAGS ALONG THE NEW AUTOPUT THAT LEADS FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE CITY EXCEPT FOR A VISITING CHIEF OF STATE, RUSK'S ROUTE WAS LINED WITH BLUEAND-WHITE FINNISH BANNERS IN PLACE FOR PRESIDENT URHO K . KEKKONEN'S ARRIVAL NEXT DAY . THERE WERE NO CROWDS AT ALL, SINCE THE YUGOSLAVS DID NOT BOTHER TO ANNOUNCE RUSK'S TRIP IN ADVANCE . AFTER LUNCH WITH POPOVIC AND A RECEPTION AT THE U.S . EMBASSY GIVEN BY RETIRING U.S . AMBASSADOR GEORGE KENNAN, RUSK PAID A CALL ON TITO IN HIS BELGRADE VILLA . YUGOSLAVIA HAS SOME 1956 VINTAGE U.S . MILITARY EQUIPMENT FOR WHICH TITO WOULD LIKE SPARE PARTS ; SINCE 50 PER CENT OF YUGOSLAVIA'S COMMERCE IS WITH THE WEST, IT IS WORRIED ABOUT THE RISING TARIFF WALLS OF THE SIX-NATION COMMON MARKET . NATURALLY, TITO RAISED THE PROBLEM OF / MOST FAVORED " NATION STATUS WHICH, IF ELIMINATED, COULD SHARPLY BOOST IMPORT LEVIES ON YUGOSLAVIA'S $30 MILLION ANNUAL TRADE WITH THE U.S . RUSK COULD OFFER NO ASSURANCES THAT THE CLAUSE WOULD BE RESTORED, SINCE THE DECISION IS UP TO CONGRESS . ON THE WHOLE, IT WAS A PLEASANT IF INCONCLUSIVE CHAT . THEN, LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER HE ARRIVED, THE SECRETARY OF STATE, HIS WIFE, AND 28 AIDES WHO HAD ACCOMPANIED HIM ON THE FIVE-NATION TRIP, PACKED UP AND HEADED FOR WASHINGTON .
 FRANCE LIBERTE, EGALITE MAIS VERITE ? " EVERY FRENCHMAN, " BY ANCIENT AXIOM, " IS WILLING TO DIE FOR HIS COUNTRY ; BUT NONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT . " SO PASSIONATELY DO THE FRENCH PURSUE THEIR DEMOCRATIC IDEAL OF REPRESENTATION WITHOUT TAXATION THAT CHEATING LE FISC, AS THEY CALL THE INCOME TAX BUREAU, HAS BECOME THE MOST PERVASIVE AND ENGROSSING NATIONAL PASSTIME AFTER LOVE-MAKING AND A FAR LESS RISKY ONE . AS A RESULT OF THE CENTURIES-OLD DUEL BETWEEN CHRONICALLY STRAPPED GOVERNMENTS AND PERENNIALLY POOR-MOUTHED CITIZENS, FRANCE IN THEORY IMPOSES HIGHER INCOME TAXES THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER WESTERN COUNTRY, AND IN PRACTICE COLLECTS LESS : A MERE 14 PER CENT OF GOVERNMENT REVENUE V . 60 PER CENT IN THE U.S . " EVERYBODY IS A CONSPIRATOR, " LAMENTED PREMIER (AND ONETIME BANKER) GEORGES POMPIDOU AS HIS GOVERNMENT LAUNCHED A FACT-FINDING PROGRAM CALLED OPERATION VERITE (OPERATION TRUTH), WHOSE MAIN AIM IS TO GET FRENCHMEN TO DO WHAT COMES UNNATURALLY TO REPORT THEIR EARNINGS . WHY, CRIED THE PREMIER, " IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW EVEN WHAT A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE EARNS ! " IN 1961, THE GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES, AT LEAST 36 MILLION OF FRANCE'S 46 MILLION PEOPLE PAID NOT A SINGLE SOU OF INCOME TAX ; BY THE MOST CONSERVATIVE RECKONING, 50 PER CENT OF THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY TAXES GOT OFF SCOT-FREE . EVEN MORE REMARKABLE, IN THE MIDST OF UNPARALLELED UPPER-CRUST OPULENCE, WAS THAT IN ALL FRANCE ONLY 1,014 CITIZENS BARELY ENOUGH TO SUPPORT ONE OF PARIS' #$ #$ #$ RESTAURANTS ADMITTED TO EARNING MORE THAN $12,800 A YEAR . FISCAL CAMOUFLAGE . THE INJUSTICE OF THE SYSTEM IS THAT HAPLESS WAGE EARNERS, WHOSE INCOMES ARE RECORDED ON COMPANY PAYROLLS AND ARE THUS EASILY AVAILABLE TO LE FISC, SHELL OUT TWO-THIRDS OF ALL THE INCOME TAXES COLLECTED IN FRANCE . WHILE THE RICH GET RICHER, THANKS TO AN ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE NATIVE GENIUS FOR FISCAL CAMOUFLAGE, RICH AND POOR ALIKE MOST SHOULDER MASSIVE CONSUMER TAXES, SUCH AS THE 74 PER CENT LEVY THAT MAKES FRENCH GASOLINE (90 #$ A GALLON) EUROPE'S MOST EXPENSIVE . TAX REFORM HAS SELDOM SEEMED MORE IMPERATIVE, FOR THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS URGENTLY TO BE ASSURED OF EVER-RISING REVENUES FOR SUCH HUGE UNDERTAKINGS AS ITS FORCE DE FRAPPE, INCLUDING AN EXTRAVAGANT THREE-YEAR BUILDUP FOR FRANCE'S FIRST HBOMB TESTS IN THE PACIFIC, ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK . AT THE SAME TIME, THE ECONOMY IS THREATENED BY A BURST OF INFLATION THAT HAS BOOSTED INCOMES AND PRICES 11 PER CENT IN THE PAST YEAR AND THREATENS TO GET OUT OF HAND IN THE WAKE OF THE RECENT, SUCCESSFUL MINERS' STRIKE FOR HIGHER PAY . POODLES & PICASSOS . TO PUT TEETH IN ITS TAX-EXTRACTION CAMPAIGN, THE GOVERNMENT HAS UNLEASHED A HORDE OF EXPERT SNOOPERS WHO DESCEND UNEXPECTEDLY ON COMPANIES AND CAN SPOT A PADDED PAYROLL AS UNERRINGLY AS A MICHELIN INSPECTOR EXPOSING A WARMED-OVER SAUCE BEARNAISE . BUT EXPERIENCE PROVES THAT IT WILL TAKE FAR MORE RUTHLESS MEASURES TO MAKE INDIVIDUAL FRENCHMEN DIVULGE THEIR TRUE EARNINGS . IN 1947, WHEN ROBERT SCHUMAN WAS FINANCE MINISTER, THE GOVERNMENT DID ITS BEST BY INTRODUCING THE THEORY OF " EXTERNAL SIGNS OF WEALTH, " A WONDROUSLY COMPLEX LATIN FORMULA WHEREBY TAX INSPECTORS GAUGED A MAN'S RICHESSE BY COUNTING AND GRADING HIS SERVANTS, CARS, YACHTS, DOGS (PUREBRED OR MONGREL ? ) AND DECLARABLE MISTRESSES . AS A RESULT, WEALTHY PARISIANS LET THE PAINT PEEL FROM THEIR HOUSES, PUT THEIR PICASSOS IN THE ATTIC, AND CLAIMED THAT THEIR PEDIGREED POODLES WERE USED EXCLUSIVELY AS WATCHDOGS, WHICH ARE TAXEXEMPT . (LE FISC FINALLY ABANDONED ITS HIT-AND-MISTRESS METHODS THIS YEAR.) WHEN THE INSPECTORS STARTED DEMANDING TAXPAYERS' FINANCIAL RECORDS, ARTFUL FRENCHMEN FROM PLUMBERS TO LANDLORDS RETALIATED BY INSISTING ON CASH FOR THEIR SERVICES ; THE MOST FASHIONABLE DOCTOR IN PARIS TODAY WOULD SOONER VOTE FOR SOCIALIZED MEDICINE THAN ACCEPT A PATIENT'S CHECK . THE GOVERNMENT'S BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT HONESTY, AS FRENCH TAXPAYERS SEE IT, IS NOT MERELY IRRELEVANT BUT ALMOST CERTAINLY DISASTROUS AS WELL . A HIGH-MINDED YOUNG PARISIAN ARTIST ONCE FILED A SCRUPULOUSLY ACCURATE TAX RETURN AND WAS HORRFIED TO FIND THAT THE SKEPTICAL LOCAL INSPECTOR, APPLYING THE STANDARD CORRECTION FACTOR, CREDITED HIM WITH THREE TIMES THE INCOME HE REPORTED . THIS WEEK THE GOVERNMENT PRESENTED AN AMBITIOUS PROGRAM OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REFORM TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, AND THE PERENNIAL QUESTION OF HOW TO PAY FOR IT ONCE AGAIN CAME TO THE FORE . OF COURSE, DE GAULLE COULD ALWAYS IMITATE THE ANGLO-SAXONS AND SEND TAX EVADERS TO JAIL . BUT THEN HOW WOULD HE RAISE THE REVENUE TO BUILD ALL THOSE NEW PRISONS ?
 MIDDLE EAST SHIFTING FORTUNES IN A LETTER TO THE MOSLEM WISE MEN OF EGYPT'S 1,000-YEAR-OLD AL AZHAR UNIVERSITY, A DISTRAUGHT IRAQI ELECTRICIAN WROTE : " I VOWED TO SACRIFICE MY SON FOR ARAB UNITY . NOW THAT IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED, SHOULD I CARRY OUT MY VOW AND KILL MY BOY . AN AL AZHAR SCHOLAR REPLIED THAT HE WAS MOVED BY THE WRITER'S FAITH, BUT WARNED THAT MOSLEM LAW FORBIDS HUMAN SACRIFICES . THEREFORE, " YOUR VOW CARRIES NO OBLIGATION AND SHOULD NOT BE EXECUTED . " LOWERED FLAGS . THERE WAS A MORE MATERIAL REASON FOR THE ELECTRICIAN TO ABSTAIN FROM FILIAL MURDER : ARAB UNITY HAS BEEN LOUDLY TRUMPETED BY EGYPT, SYRIA AND IRAQ, BUT IT HAS HARDLY BEEN CONSUMMATED . ON THE SURFACE, EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE PROCEEDING ACCORDING TO PLAN . SYRIA AND IRAQ LOWERED THEIR NATIONAL FLAGS AND RAISED INSTEAD THE OFFICIAL THREE-STAR BANNER OF GAMAL ABDEL NASSER'S UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC . MINISTERS RACED FROM CAPITAL TO CAPITAL DISCUSSING PLANS FOR MERGING FOREIGN SERVICES, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, AIRLINES AND TEXTBOOKS . MILITARY DELEGATIONS BROODED OVER THE VITAL AMALGAMATION OF THE THREE ARMED FORCES . JURISTS WERE HARD AT WORK ON A DRAFT OF A NEW FEDERAL CONSTITUTION TO BE JOINTLY VOTED ON NEXT SEPTEMBER . NEIGHBORING JORDAN SEETHED WITH AN UNREST THAT MIGHT DETHRONE KING HUSSEIN AND FORCE THE NATION TO JOIN AN ARAB UNION . CAIRO'S PRESS HEADLINED THAT HUSSEIN WAS CHALLENGED BY HIS ARMY . SYRIA AND IRAQ PAPERS REPORTED " SPREADING REVOLUTION " AND " GUERRILLA WAR WITH PITCHED BATTLES . " IN DAMASCUS A BAND OF JORDANIAN EXILES, LED BY HANDSOME, HOTHEADED EX-COLONEL ALI ABU NUWAR, 40, SET UP A RIVAL " GOVERNMENT . " ABU NUWAR HAD NEARLY TOPPLED HUSSEIN IN 1957, BUT BECAUSE OF OLD FRIENDSHIP, THE KING SPARED ABU NUWAR'S LIFE AND BANISHED HIM . EVER SINCE, ABU NUWAR HAS REPAID THE ACT OF MERCY BY PROMOTING ANTI-HUSSEIN CONSPIRACIES . PEOPLE'S NOOSE . AS THE PRESSURES MOUNTED, RADIO BAGHDAD CALLED HUSSEIN THE " HIRELING KING " AND THE " GRANDSON OF UNCLE SAM, " WARNED THAT FLIGHT WAS THE ONLY ESCAPE FROM " THE NOOSE THE PEOPLE ARE PREPARING FOR YOU . " INSTEAD OF DECAMPING, KING HUSSEIN LAST WEEK CLOSED HIS BORDER AGAINST SYRIAN ARMS AND AGENTS, TOURED THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM, AL BIRAH AND RAMALLAH, WHERE HE CHATTED WITH ARMY OFFICERS AND INSPECTED TROOPS IN THEIR SANDBAG DUGOUTS FACING THE ISRAELI POSITIONS ALONG THE FRONTIER . IN HIS DETERMINATION TO STAY IN POWER, HUSSEIN JEERED AT ISRAEL, PARTLY TO PACIFY THE PALESTINIAN ARABS, WHO MAKE UP TWO-THIRDS OF HIS 1,800,000 SUBJECTS, PARTLY BECAUSE ISRAEL'S SUPPORT FOR JORDAN INDEPENDENCE IS A POLITICAL EMBARRASSMENT . THE PROBLEM THREATENED TO INVOLVE THE U.S . WASHINGTON HAD GIVEN HUSSEIN ASSURANCES OF SUPPORT . WITH NEXT YEAR'S U.S . ELECTION CAMPAIGN TO THINK ABOUT, PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAD TO CONCERN HIMSELF WITH ISRAEL AS WELL . IN WASHINGTON, NEW YORK'S REPUBLICAN SENATOR JACOB JAVITS LED A BAND OF COLLEAGUES IN CALLING FOR A SHARP CHANGE IN THE U.S . POLICY OF " DEALING EVENHANDEDLY' WITH FRIEND AND FOE ALIKE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, " AND ATTACKED CONTINUED FINANCIAL AID TO NASSER . NOT AN INCH . AT WEEK'S END, HOWEVER, JORDAN WAS STILL INTACT, AND IT WAS THE ARAB UNITY MOVEMENT THAT WAS REELING . IT HAD TO DO WITH A CABINET CRISIS IN SYRIA BETWEEN THE MAJORITY BELONGING TO THE BAATH SOCIALIST PARTY AND THE MINORITY OF STRONGLY NASSERITE MINISTERS . THE STRUGGLE HAD BEEN BREWING FOR TWO MONTHS, AND PRO-NASSER MINISTERS FRANKLY TOLD NEWSMEN THAT THEY INTENDED TO OVERTHROW THE BAATHISTS . THE BAATH COUNTER-STRATEGY, AS ENUNCIATED BY ITS FOUNDER, MICHEL AFLAK, WAS : " DO EVERYTHING TO PRESERVE UNITY, BUT DON'T GIVE AN INCH, AND DON'T SURRENDER ANY POWER . " WHEN RUMORS OF A PRO-NASSER ARMY COUP LAST WEEK SWEPT THE VOLATILE SYRIAN CAPITAL OF DAMASCUS, BAATH ACTED . MORE THAN 100 ARMY OFFICERS WERE DISMISSED OR CLAPPED IN JAIL . IN RETALIATION, ALL SIX NASSERITE MINISTERS HANDED IN THEIR RESIGNATIONS . DEPUTY PREMIER NIHAD ELKASSEM, WHO HAD LED A SYRIAN UNITY DELEGATION TO CAIRO LAST MARCH AND HAD SOBBED WITH JOY ON NASSER'S SHOULDER, CRIED, " WE ARE GIVING UP OUR RESPONSIBILITIES BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN THE MEANS TO CARRY THEM OUT . " THE CABINET WALKOUT WAS INTENDED TO BRING THE BAATHISTS TO HEEL, AND IT WELL MIGHT . ISOLATED IN POWER, WITH THE STREET MOBS SYMPATHETIC TO NASSER AND THE ARMY OF UNCERTAIN LOYALTY, BAATH'S ONLY AVAILABLE ALLIES ARE THE MERCHANTS AND LANDOWNERS, WHO MOST OPPOSE NASSER'S SOCIAL OBJECTIVES . THEIR EMBRACE COULD BE AS FATAL TO BAATH AS ISRAEL'S WOULD BE TO HUSSEIN . DURING THE CRISIS, NASSER WAS OFF ON A GOOD-WILL VISIT TO ALGERIA, BUT, FOR ONCE, EGYPT'S PRESS AND VITUPERATIVE RADIO SHOWED SURPRISING SELF-CONTROL NEITHER MENTIONED THE SYRIAN STRUGGLE OR THE NASSERITE RESIGNATIONS . AT WEEK'S END, CAIRO'S MILITARY LEADERS ABRUPTLY CANCELED A SCHEDULED MEETING TO PLAN THE MERGER OF ARAB ARMIES .
 YEMEN ANOTHER JOB FOR THE U.N . TO THE BLARE OF MILITARY BANDS AND THE SKIRL OF BAGPIPES, A TROOPSHIP LAST WEEK STEAMED INTO EGYPT'S SWELTERING SINAI PORT OF TOR . ABOARD WERE 2,000 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS, THE FIRST BIG CONTINGENT RETURNING FROM THE WAR IN YEMEN . ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF LIEUT . GENERAL ALI AMER HAILED THEM AS " VICTORIOUS TROOPS WHO HAVE ACHIEVED A 20TH CENTURY MIRACLE, " TO WIT : / SNATCHING THE YEMENI PEOPLE FROM THE PIT OF POVERTY, IGNORANCE AND DISEASE AND LEADING THEM TOWARD THE PATH OF DIGNITY AND DEVELOPMENT . " DOUBLE TROUBLE . THE RETURN HOME OF EVEN A TOKEN CONTINGENT OF EGYPTIANS WAS ACHIEVED BY THE QUIET DIPLOMACY OF VETERAN U.S . DIPLOMAT ELLSWORTH BUNKER, 68, WHO LAST YEAR PUT TOGETHER THE DUTCH-INDONESIAN SETTLEMENT THAT HANDED WEST IRIAN TO INDONESIA'S SUKARNO . LAST WEEK THE UNITED NATIONS ANNOUNCED THAT THE PARTIES EMBROILED IN THE YEMEN CIVIL WAR HAD ACCEPTED BUNKER'S PROPOSAL FOR A U.N . OBSERVER TEAM WITH A DOUBLE JOB . IT WILL MAKE SURE THAT SAUDI ARABIA ENDS ITS SUPPORT OF THE ROYALIST TRIBESMEN FIGHTING TO RESTORE IMAM MOHAMMED EL BADR TO THE THRONE HE LOST SEVEN MONTHS AGO, AND ALSO THAT EGYPT'S 28,000-MAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE PULLS OUT AS PROMISED . IN OBTAINING THE SETTLEMENT, BUNKER MADE THREE TRIPS TO SAUDI ARABIA AND HELD " EXTENSIVE TALKS " WITH PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER IN CAIRO . GIVING FORCE TO BUNKER'S ARGUMENTS WAS THE BASIC POLICY DECISION OF THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION TO BACK THE PRO-NASSER YEMENI REPUBLICANS AGAINST THE FEUDAL ROYALIST TRIBES . THIS DECISION WAS UNDOUBTEDLY CONVEYED, TACTFULLY, TO SAUDI ARABIA'S PREMIER PRINCE FEISAL BY BUNKER . UNQUESTIONABLY, NASSER WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THERE IS A LIMIT TO HIS EXPANSIONIST DRIVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THAT THE U.S . UNALTERABLY OPPOSES HIS STIRRING UP TROUBLE IN OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES . UPPERMOST IN WASHINGTON'S MIND WAS THE DANGER THAT THE FIGHTING MIGHT SPREAD INTO SAUDI ARABIA, WHERE THE U.S . HAS BIG OIL HOLDINGS . SWITCHED ALLEGIANCE . THE U.N . OBSERVER TEAM, WHICH WILL BE SET UP BY THE FORMER U.N . CONGO COMMANDER, SWEDISH MAJOR GENERAL CARL VON HORN, IS A DEVICE TO SAVE POLITICAL FACE FOR EVERYONE . SAUDI ARABIA HAD ALREADY BEEN CUTTING BACK ON ITS SUPPLY OF MONEY AND GUNS TO THE ROYALISTS, LARGELY BECAUSE EGYPT'S PROJECTED PLAN FOR UNITY WITH SYRIA AND IRAQ MADE NASSER FAR TOO FORMIDABLE AN OPPONENT . THE U.N . INTERVENTION ALSO GIVES NASSER A WAY OUT OF THE YEMEN MESS, WHICH HAS TIED UP A THIRD OF HIS ARMY AT A COST OF $1,000,000 A DAY AND NEARLY 5,000 CASUALTIES . ON BALANCE, NASSER EMERGES AS A CLEAR WINNER . THOUGH PROMISING TO REMOVE HIS TROOPS, HE HAS THE PRIVILEGE OF LEAVING AN UNSPECIFIED NUMBER FOR THE " TRAINING " OF YEMEN'S REPUBLICAN ARMY . ABOUT THE ONLY GROUP NOT CONSULTED WAS IMAM MOHAMMED AND HIS ROYALISTS, WHOSE GRIP ON YEMEN HAS DWINDLED FROM HALF THE COUNTRY TO THE MOUNTAIN SPINE IN CENTRAL YEMEN . SOME 25,000 ARMED SUPPORTERS OF THE IMAM ARE STILL IN ACTION AND STILL DANGEROUS, BUT THEY ARE INCREASINGLY ISOLATED, AND SHORT OF FUEL AND WEAPONS . WITH THE ROYALISTS CUT OFF FROM SAUDI SUPPLIES, NASSER MAY WELL BE ABLE GRADUALLY TO CONSOLIDATE HIS GAINS, CUT DOWN ON HIS COMMITMENTS, AND ULTIMATELY COMPLETE HIS VICTORY BY ADMITTING REPUBLICAN YEMEN INTO HIS GRANDIOSE SCHEME FOR A NEW UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC .
 SOUTH AFRICA DISPENSING WITH JUDGES IN 1960 CHOCOLATE-SKINNED ROBERT SOBUKWE, 38, HEAD OF THE BLACK NATIONALIST PAN-AFRICAN CONGRESS, WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN JAIL FOR " INCITEMENT TO RIOT . " AS HIS RELEASE DATE DREW NEAR LAST WEEK, SOBUKWE, A SLIM ONETIME UNIVERSITY LECTURER, WAS HUSTLED FROM THE MAXIMUM-SECURITY PRISON IN PRETORIA TO A BLEAK DETENTION CAMP ON ROBBEN ISLAND IN TABLE BAY, SIX MILES FROM CAPE TOWN . THERE HE LEARNED, JUST THE DAY BEFORE HE WAS TO RECEIVE FREEDOM, THAT SOUTH AFRICA'S PARLIAMENT HAD RAMMED THROUGH A NEW SECURITY ACT EMPOWERING JUSTICE MINISTER JOHANNES VORSTER TO KEEP POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUSTODY INDEFINITELY, EVEN AFTER THEIR SENTENCES HAVE EXPIRED . SHRUGGED SOBUKWE : " IF YOU BELIEVE IN FREEDOM, YOU MUST SUFFER FOR IT . " ENDLESS REPETITION . THE NEW MEASURE, WHICH WAS DEMANDED BY PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD TO MEET A " CRISIS OF SURVIVAL, " MAKES LAST YEAR'S SABOTAGE ACT SEEM TAME BY COMPARISON, HAS ALREADY BEEN DUBBED THE " NO TRIAL " BILL . IT PROMISES THE DEATH PENALTY FOR CITIZENS WHO RECEIVE TRAINING IN SUBVERSION ABROAD OR URGE INTERVENTION BY FORCE IN SOUTH AFRICA . POSTAL AUTHORITIES CAN OPEN, READ AND HOLD SUSPICIOUS MAIL . ANY POLITICAL SUSPECT, WITHOUT TRIAL, CAN BE PLACED IN 90-DAY DETENTION, WHICH MAY THEN BE ENDLESSLY REPEATED . COMMENTED JUSTICE MINISTER VORSTER : " THIS IS AS MUCH POWER AS I NEED FOR EXISTING CIRCUMSTANCES . IF NECESSARY, I WILL TAKE EVEN STRONGER STEPS . " ONLY ONE MEMBER OF THE ALL-WHITE PARLIAMENT VOTED AGAINST THE BILL . AMID GOVERNMENT JEERS, THE LONE PROGRESSIVE PARTY REPRESENTATIVE, BRUNETTE HELEN SUZMAN, WARNED THAT BLACK NATIONALISM AS WELL AS WHITE NATIONALISM FEEDS " ON THIS TYPE OF KRAGDADIGHEID (TOUGHNESS) . " ALTHOUGH PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD AND VORSTER DESCRIBE THE MENACE FACING SOUTH AFRICA AS " COMMUNISM, " THE BILL IS CLEARLY AIMED AT TWO AFRICAN NATIONALIST GROUPS CALLING THEMSELVES POQO AND SPEAR OF THE NATION . POQO (PRONOUNCED PAW-KAW AND MEANING " FOR OURSELVES ALONE / IN THE XHOSA TONGUE) PATTERNS ITSELF AFTER THE DREADED MAU MAU, WHICH TERRORIZED KENYA IN THE 1950S . IT FIRST ROSE TO PROMINENCE LAST NOVEMBER, WHEN SOME OF ITS MEMBERS RIOTED IN THE WINE-GROWING CAPE COMMUNITY OF PAARL, HACKING TWO WHITES TO DEATH WITH PANGAS . LATER, OPPOSING THE TOTAL APARTHEID SCHEME TO MOVE MOST OF SOUTH AFRICA'S 11 MILLION BLACKS INTO NINE TRIBAL RESERVES, POQO BUTCHERED FIVE WHITES IN THE TRANSKEI . INTO THE SEA . ACCORDING TO BLACK NATIONALIST POTLAKO LEBALLO, WHO FLED TO THE BRITISH-RULED ENCLAVE OF BASUTOLAND, POQO IS A TERRORIST OFFSHOOT OF SOBUKWE'S MILITANT PAN-AFRICAN CONGRESS AND IS DETERMINED TO " MURDER THE WHITES OR CHASE THEM INTO THE SEA . " AS IT TURNED OUT, LEBALLO'S BIG MOUTH DID POQO MORE HARM THAN GOOD . EMBARRASSED BRITISH OFFICIALS ORDERED HIS ARREST, AND HE BARELY ESCAPED INTO BASUTOLAND'S RUGGED MOUNTAINS, LEAVING BEHIND HIM A LIST OF 10,000 BLACK REBELS IN SOUTH AFRICA . THANKS EITHER TO COINCIDENCE OR TO BASUTOLAND'S CONNIVANCE, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE ROUNDED UP 2,000 REBELS, AND POQO WAS ON THE RUN . SPEAR OF THE NATION, WHICH OPERATES WITH MORE FINESSE THAN POQO AND AT PRESENT TRIES TO SPARE HUMAN LIFE, IS THE MILITANT ARM OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, WHOSE NOBEL PRIZEWINNING LEADER, EX-CHIEF ALBERT LUTHULI, IS UNDER HOUSE ARREST IN RURAL NATAL . SPEAR'S MOST SPECTACULAR COUPS TO DATE HAVE BEEN THE BOMBING OF THE AGRICULTURAL MINISTER'S OFFICE IN PRETORIA AND THE BLOWING UP OF SEVERAL GIANT POWER PYLONS AROUND JOHANNESBURG . SABOTAGE TRIALS CONTINUE UP AND DOWN THE COUNTRY . IN THE EAST RAND TOWN OF BENONI, A BLACK PRISONER DISRUPTED THE COURT BY SHOUTING " SHOOT ME NOW ! SHOOT ME NOW ! " THE " NO TRIAL " BILL HAS A PROVISION AIMED DIRECTLY AT SPEAR'S SABOTEURS : IT PROVIDES UP TO 15 YEARS' IMPRISONMENT MERELY FOR UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE IN KEY FACTORIES OR ANY OTHER INSTALLATIONS WHICH THE GOVERNMENT MAY CHOOSE TO DESIGNATE AS " NO-ENTRY AREAS . "
 THE CONGO THE COPS PROTEST THE CONGO'S LATEST MUTINY BEGAN ON PAYDAY . OPENING UP THEIR PAY ENVELOPES LAST WEEK, LEOPOLDVILLE'S 3,000-MAN POLICE FORCE DISCOVERED THAT THEIR DEMAND FOR A 25 PER CENT WAGE HIKE HAD NOT BEEN MET . AT DAWN THE NEXT MORNING, THE ANGRY COPS OVERPOWERED THEIR OWN OFFICERS, THEN RAIDED LEOPOLDVILLE'S CITY HALL, WHERE THEY TOOK SOME TWO DOZEN HOSTAGES, INCLUDING TWO DEPUTY MAYORS AND THE MAYOR'S PREGNANT WIFE . BARRICADING THEMSELVES IN THEIR POLICE BARRACKS, THE WELL-ARMED COPS WAITED FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO ANTE UP MORE MONEY . INSTEAD, PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA'S GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED THE CONGOLESE ARMY COMMANDER, GENERAL JOSEPH MOBUTU, AND UNITS OF RED-BERETED PARACOMMANDOS TO THE POLICE COMPOUND . ORDERING HIS MEN NOT TO SHOOT, MOBUTU OPENED THE CAMP'S GATE AND STRODE IN ALONE AND UNARMED TO FACE THE MUTINEERS . ROUGHLY HE YANKED THE RINGLEADERS OUT OF THE MOB ONE BY ONE, AND DEMANDED THAT THEY GIVE UP . WITH THAT THE REVOLT COLLAPSED, AND MOBUTU HIS WELL-CREASED TROUSERS STAINED WITH A SPOT OF BLOOD ORDERED THE MUTINY'S LEADERS STRIPPED TO THEIR UNDERWEAR AND DRIVEN OFF TO JAIL THROUGH THE JEERING CROWD AT THE CAMP'S GATE .
 WEST IRIAN BROTHER TAKES OVER AT 12 : 30 P.M . IN THE OLD DUTCH NEW GUINEA CAPITAL OF HOLLANDIA ONE STEAMY DAY LAST WEEK, THE BLUE-AND-WHITE UNITED NATIONS BANNER WAS HAULED DOWN, AND THE RED-AND-WHITE FLAG OF INDONESIA STOOD WAVING TRIUMPHANTLY ALONE . THUS DID PRESIDENT SUKARNO COMPLETE HIS GRAB OF A CALIFORNIA-SIZE CHUNK OF NEW TERRITORY TO ADD TO INDONESIA'S SPRAWLING ISLAND CHAIN . IT WAS ONLY LAST YEAR THAT SUKARNO CLIMAXED A 13-YEAR CAMPAIGN TO ANNEX THE AREA WITH A BITTER LITTLE WAR OF HARASSMENT . THE DUTCH, UNDER PRESSURE FROM THE U.S., FINALLY AGREED TO HAND THEIR COLONY OVER TO THE U.N., WHICH WOULD ADMINISTER THE TERRITORY FOR SEVEN MONTHS, THEN TURN IT OVER TO INDONESIA . UNDER THE COMPROMISE, SUKARNO PROMISES TO HOLD A PLEBISCITE " BY 1969 " TO GIVE THE 700,000 PRIMITIVE PAPUAN INHABITANTS A CHANCE TO OPT FOR INDEPENDENCE . BUT AS BUNG (BROTHER) KARNO ARRIVED LAST WEEK FOR HIS FIRST VISIT, THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY HE AND HIS INDONESIAN TROOPS STRUTTED THROUGH THE STREETS OF HOLLANDIA (RENAMED KOTABARU) THAT MADE MANY WONDER IF HE WOULD EVER PERMIT THE REGION TO BE MORE THAN JUST INDONESIA'S PROVINCE OF WEST IRIAN .
 RED CHINA THE GREAT LEAP OVERBOARD IN 1958, WHEN COMMUNIST CHINA BUILT ITS BIGGEST FREIGHTER, THE 11,182-TON SHIP WAS CHRISTENED NATURALLY YUEH CHIN, OR THE S.S . LEAP FORWARD . WITH ALMOST AS MUCH FANFARE AS WHEN SHE WAS LAUNCHED, THE LEAP FORWARD SAILED FROM TSINGTAO LAST WEEK WITH THE FIRST CARGO SHIPPED FROM CHINA TO JAPAN SINCE THE TWO COUNTRIES SIGNED A RECENT TRADE AGREEMENT ENDING THEIR FIVE-YEAR OFFICIAL BOYCOTT OF EACH OTHER'S GOODS . THEN, HALF WAY ACROSS THE EAST CHINA SEA ONE AFTERNOON LAST WEEK, THE LEAP FORWARD SUDDENLY RADIOED FOR HELP . FOUR HOURS LATER, THE PRIDE OF CHINA'S MERCHANT FLEET LAY ON THE OCEAN FLOOR . THE CHINESE CREW, WHO TOOK TO THE LIFEBOATS AND WERE RESCUED BY JAPANESE FISHERMEN, EXCITEDLY INSISTED IN SIGN LANGUAGE THAT THEIR SHIP HAD BEEN PURSUED BY A SUBMARINE AND HIT BY THREE TORPEDOES . BUT TO JAPANESE NAVAL AUTHORITIES THEIR STORY SEEMED AS FULL OF HOLES AS THE LEAP FORWARD HERSELF . IF THE SHIP HAD REALLY BEEN TORPEDOED, THEY POINTED OUT, ITS 59-MAN CREW COULD HARDLY HAVE ESCAPED WITHOUT THE LOSS OF A SINGLE LIFE . BESIDES, WHO WOULD WANT TO SINK AN UNARMED MERCHANTMAN ? THE U.S . ANNOUNCED THAT IT, FOR ONE, HAD NO SUBS IN THE AREA . A MORE LOGICAL EXPLANATION LAY IN JAGGED SCOTT ROCK, AN ILL-DEFINED GROUP OF REEFS BARELY BENEATH THE SURFACE 120 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KOREA . THE HEAD OF JAPAN'S MARITIME SAFETY BOARD WAS SURE THE LEAP FORWARD HAD GONE AGROUND . " AN ERROR OF NAVIGATION, " HE SHRUGGED . EVEN RADIO PEKING SEEMED UNABLE TO SWALLOW THE IDEA OF HOSTILE ATTACK, ANNOUNCING ONLY THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS " ATTACHING GREAT IMPORTANCE " TO THE SINKING . THE TONE OF THE BROADCAST SUGGESTED THAT WHATEVER FACE THE SKIPPER HAD SAVED IN JAPAN WITH HIS TORPEDO TALE WOULD BE QUICKLY DISSIPATED ONCE HE CAME BACK TO FACE THE MUSIC IN TSINGTAO .
 TOGO ARRANGING THINGS FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT SYLVANUS OLYMPIO BY A DISGRUNTLED ARMY SERGEANT, THE TOGOLESE ELECTORATE WENT DUTIFULLY TO THE POLLS THIS WEEK TO CHOOSE A NEW GOVERNMENT . THERE WAS LITTLE SUSPENSE ABOUT THE OUTCOME . THE VOTERS, HANDED A SINGLE LIST, COULY ONLY RUBBER-STAMP THE MILITARY-BACKED REGIME THAT HAS SUCCEEDED OLYMPIO IN THE TINY WEST AFRICAN REPUBLIC . SLATED FOR A CONTINUED FIVE-YEAR TERM AS PRESIDENT IS NICOLAS GRUNITZKY, 50, THE MULATTO SON OF A PRUSSIAN DOCTOR AND TOGOLESE MOTHER WHO HEADED A PRO-FRENCH PUPPET REGIME BEFORE OLYMPIO GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM PARIS IN 1960, AND WHO WAS CALLED UPON TO TAKE OVER AS PROVISIONAL PRESIDENT LAST JANUARY . TICKETED TO STAY ON AS VICE PRESIDENT WAS ANTOINE MEATCHI, 37, A TALL, AMBITIOUS NORTHERN TRIBESMAN . TO KEEP THE VARIOUS PARTY FACTIONS HAPPY, THE ELECTION ORGANIZERS AGREED IN ADVANCE ON THE MAKEUP OF A 56-MEMBER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, DIVIDED AMONG VIRTUALLY ALL POLITICAL PARTIES, INCLUDING OLYMPIO'S COMITE D'UNION UNITE TOGOLAISE AND ITS ONETIME YOUTH WING, JUVENTO,* SO THAT NONE HAS A MAJORITY . BACKING UP THE WHOLE PACKAGE IS TOGO'S FRENCH-TRAINED ARMY, WHOSE DISCONTENT OVER LOW PAY AND MANPOWER LED TO OLYMPIO'S OVERTHROW . ITS RANKS HAVE SINCE BEEN DOUBLED TO 550 MEN . PERHAPS THE WORLD'S GRANDEST PARTY LABEL, JUVENTO TAKES ITS NAME FROM THE FIRST LETTERS OF THE FRENCH WORDS : JUSTICE, UNION, VIGILANCE, EGALITE, NATIONALISME, TENACITE AND OPTIMISME .
 CEYLON HOOCH IN THE HOLD ALTHOUGH IT HAS NEVER FOUGHT A WAR, THE BATHTUB ROYAL CEYLON NAVY* MIGHT AT LEAST BE EXPECTED TO DEFEND ITS HOMELAND, OFF SOUTHERN INDIA, AGAINST SMUGGLERS . BUT LAST WEEK MANY A CEYLONESE WAS WONDERING WHOSE SIDE OF THE SMUGGLING RACKET THE FLEET WAS REALLY ON . CLIMAXING A TWO-YEAR INVESTIGATION, A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY IN COLOMBO ACCUSED 22 CEYLONESE NAVY OFFICERS THE CREAM OF THE TOP NAVAL LEADERSHIP OF CONSPIRING TO SMUGGLE A TREASURE-TROVE OF CONTRABAND INTO THE COUNTRY . CHIEF AMONG THEM IS THE FORMER NAVAL CHIEF OF STAFF, REAR ADMIRAL ROYCE DE MEL, 47 . WHEN HE SAILED GRANDLY HOME FROM A 1960 GOODWILL CRUISE IN ASIAN WATERS, THE COMMISSION CHARGED, THE MAGAZINES OF DE MEL'S FLAGSHIP AND AN ESCORTING FRIGATE HAD BEEN LOADED WITH SOME $10,000 WORTH OF BOUNTY BOUGHT IN DUTY-FREE PORTS . MAIN SOURCE WAS SINGAPORE, WHERE DE MEL'S BLUEJACKETS HAD JOYOUSLY LAID IN 100 CASES OF GRANT'S SCOTCH, 25 CASES OF OTHER BRANDS OF WHISKY, PLUS CASES OF RUM, GIN, BRANDY, CHAMPAGNE AND BEER, INTENDED FOR DISPOSAL BACK HOME . INVESTIGATORS ADDED THAT THE HOT CARGO ALSO INCLUDED CRATED REFRIGERATORS, HI-FI SETS, TRANSISTOR RADIOS, FURNITURE, RARE HONG KONG VASES AND GOLD BANGLES MOST, UNFORTUNATELY, CONFISCATED BY CEYLON AUTHORITIES AFTER THE FLEET DROPPED ANCHOR UPON ITS RETURN . DE MEL AND HIS FELLOW BRASS NOW STAND TO LOSE THEIR COMMISSIONS, BUT THE PROSPECT IS THE LESSER OF THE ADMIRAL'S WORRIES . WITH 27 OTHER SUSPECTS, HE IS ALREADY IN PRISON, ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN AN ABORTIVE PLOT LAST YEAR TO OVERTHROW CEYLON'S STRONGWOMAN PRIME MINISTER, MRS . SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE . TWO VINTAGE FRIGATES, TWO CONVERTED MINESWEEPERS, A SEAWARD DEFENSE BOAT, A DOZEN PT-BOATS AND A SEAGOING TUG .
 EUROPE DEADLOCK OR DEATHBLOW ? AS 1963 DAWNED, IT PROMISED TO BE THE WEST'S YEAR OF DESTINY . ITS GREAT HOPE WAS THE COMMON MARKET, WHOSE HISTORIC MARCH TOWARD THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INTEGRATION OF WESTERN EUROPE SEEMED AS IRRESISTIBLE AS IT WAS IRREPROACHABLE . IT APPEARED ALMOST INEVITABLE THAT BRITAIN WOULD BE ADMITTED TO THE COMMON MARKET AND BE FOLLOWED RAPIDLY BY ITS OUTER SEVEN TRADING PARTNERS, FORMING A NEW CONTINENTAL COMMUNITY AS RICH AND POPULOUS AS THE U.S . THEN, ARMED WITH BROAD TARIFF-CUTTING POWERS UNDER PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S TRADE EXPANSION ACT, THE U.S . WAS PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE WITH EUROPE THE BIGGEST, BOLDEST LIBERALIZATION OF TRADE IN WESTERN HISTORY . FROM ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP, MANY STATESMEN BELIEVED, WOULD COME THE POLITICAL FRAMEWORK OF AN ATLANTIC COMMUNITY . TIRED OF CONCESSIONS . HOW FAR THIS GRAND DESIGN HAS RECEDED FROM REALITY IS ONLY NOW BECOMING FULLY APPARENT . THE DISINTEGRATION STARTED LAST JANUARY, WHEN, AS ALL THE WORLD KNOWS, CHARLES DE GAULLE VETOED BRITAIN'S ADMISSION TO THE COMMON MARKET . BUT WHILE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SIX WERE VARYINGLY IRRITATED BY DE GAULLE'S WAY OF SAYING NON AND DISAPPOINTED BY BRITAIN'S EXCLUSION, FEW AT THE TIME COULD HAVE PREDICTED THE DEPTH AND DURATION OF DISTRUST THAT DE GAULLE HAS STIRRED IN EUROPE . AMONG THE SIX, WHO HAVE BEEN DEADLOCKED ON ALL MAJOR ISSUES EVER SINCE, THERE IS INCREASINGLY WIDESPREAD APPREHENSION THAT FRANCE'S ADAMANTLY SELF-CENTERED POLICIES MAY HAVE DEALT THE DEATHBLOW TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY THAT WAS ENVISAGED BY ITS FOUNDERS . IN BRUSSELS LAST WEEK, AT AN ANGRY MEETING OF COMMON MARKET FOREIGN MINISTERS, WEST GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTER GERHARD SCHRODER DECLARED FLATLY THAT HIS GOVERNMENT IS TIRED OF MAKING ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS TO SUIT THE FRENCH, WHILE GERMANY'S DOMINANT INTERESTS ARE IMPERILED BY DE GAULLE'S FOREIGN POLICY GERMANY, WHICH RELIES HEAVILY ON FOREIGN TRADE, IS DEEPLY CONCERNED BY THE COMMON MARKET'S ISOLATION FROM THE REST OF EUROPE, AND FOR STRATEGIC REASONS IS INCREASINGLY UNEASY AT FRANCE'S ALIENATION OF THE U.S . THE SIX, URGED SCHRODER, MUST " TAKE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE " TO THE " KENNEDY ROUND " OF TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS, " EVEN IF IT MEANS A SLOWDOWN IN OUR INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT . " FRANCE'S FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE MURVILLE, WHOSE GOVERNMENT IS AFRAID OF U.S . COMPETITION IN EUROPE, REPEATEDLY MUTTERED " ABSURD " AS SCHRODER AND OTHER FOREIGN MINISTERS PRESSED THEIR CASE . HOWEVER, SCHRODER HAD A POTENT WEAPON . FRANCE, EUROPE'S LOWEST-COST AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER, IS DEMANDING THAT THE SIX ADOPT A UNIFORM POLICY ON FARM PRICES BY JULY . SINCE GERMANY WOULD BE FORCED TO FIND NEW WORK FOR AT LEAST A MILLION OF ITS HIGH-COST FARMERS IF THIS HAPPENS, SCHRODER WARNED THAT HIS GOVERNMENT WOULD FRUSTRATE ANY ATTEMPT TO ADOPT A COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY UNLESS FRANCE IN RETURN AGREES TO SEEK THE BROAD RECIPROCAL TARIFF CUTS THAT THE OTHER COMMON MARKET NATIONS HOPE TO ACHIEVE IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE U.S . SIXES & SEVENS . THE MOST EXPLOSIVE ISSUE WAS A DEMAND BY A MAJORITY OF COMMON MARKET NATIONS THAT THE COMMUNITY FORM A PERMANENT COMMITTEE TO MAINTAIN CONSULTATION WITH BRITAIN . AFTER INSISTING THAT THE PALAIS DES CONGRES CAUCUS ROOM BE CLEARED OF ADVISERS INCLUDING SEVERAL AMBASSADORS COUVE DE MURVILLE SAID FURIOUSLY THAT BRITAIN HAD BEEN TRYING TO UNDERMINE THE COMMON MARKET EVER SINCE DE GAULLE'S VETO . SAID HE : " FRANCE CANNOT POSSIBLY ACCEPT THIS BRITISH BEHAVIOR . " BUT THE SHOCK WAVES HAVE SPREAD FAR BEYOND THE COMMON MARKET . BRITAIN, WHICH ONLY FOUR MONTHS AGO HAD SUCH FAITH IN EUROPE THAT IT WAS READY TO SUNDER ITS TIES WITH THE COMMONWEALTH AND WITH THE EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION, HAD TO SWALLOW ITS PRIDE IN LISBON LAST WEEK AND MAKE A DESPERATE EFFORT EVEN TO KEEP EFTA TOGETHER AT ITS FIRST TOP-LEVEL MEETING SINCE FEBRUARY . THE REASON IS THAT BRITAIN'S GOVERNMENT HAS ACCEPTED THE FACT THAT IT WILL PROBABLY NOT ENTER EUROPE DURING DE GAULLE'S LIFETIME AND, IF THE COMMON MARKET SHOULD STAGNATE, MAY NEVER JOIN . FRANCE'S DESIGN FOR A NARROW, PROTECTIONIST, THIRD-FORCE EUROPE HAS HAD ITS MOST TRAUMATIC EFFECT ON WASHINGTON, WHICH EVER SINCE WORLD WAR II HAS TAKEN FOR GRANTED THAT THE U.S . AND EUROPE HAVE COMMON IDEALS AND INTERESTS . LAST WEEK, ON THE EVE OF A MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS THE SCOPE AND APPROACH OF THE KENNEDY ROUND OF TARIFF CUTS, IT WAS ALREADY PLAIN THAT FRANCE IS AGAIN DETERMINED TO SEEK ITS OWN NARROW SELF-INTEREST, WITHOUT REGARD FOR ITS COMMON MARKET PARTNERS AND WITH EVERY INTENTION OF BLOCKING U.S . HOPES OF EXPANDING TRADE WITH THE NEW EUROPE . INDEED, AS LONG AS THE INNER SIX ARE SPLINTERED AND THE SEVEN REMAIN OUTER, THERE WILL BE NO NEW EUROPE .
 FRANCE AN ISLAND FLING FRANCE'S PREMIER MICHEL DEBRE LAST WEEK RUSHED FROM HUMILIATING OBSCURITY BACK TO THE VERY CENTER OF FRENCH POLITICAL LIFE . EASED OUT OF OFFICE BY PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE IN 1962 AND REPLACED BY GEORGES POMPIDOU, DEBRE HAD SEEMED PERMANENTLY RELEGATED TO THE SHADOWS LAST NOVEMBER WHEN HE RAN AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN A SUPPOSEDLY SAFE CONSTITUENCY AND, DESPITE A GAULLIST LANDSLIDE, WAS SOLIDLY BEATEN BY A LOCAL GARAGE OWNER . BUT DEBRE WAS DETERMINED TO TRY AGAIN, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD TO TRAVEL 6,000 MILES TO FRENCH-OWNED REUNION ISLAND, A TINY VOLCANIC ROCK IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, WHERE A BY-ELECTION OFFERED ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO RUN FOR THE ASSEMBLY . THE DOUR, FUSSY DEBRE TOOK NO CHANCES . HE FLEW TO THE CAPITAL CITY OF ST.-DENIS AND CAMPAIGNED VIGOROUSLY, HOLDING 70 MEETINGS IN THREE STEAMING, SWEATY WEEKS . AS WAS CONFIDENTLY PREDICTED, DEBRE SWAMPED HIS LUCKLESS OPPONENT 30,908 TO 7,365, PARTLY THROUGH THE REUNION TACTIC KNOWN AS THE " PROMENADE, " IN WHICH OPPOSITION VOTERS ARE SENT FRUITLESSLY FROM POLLING PLACE TO POLLING PLACE, BEING TOLD AT EACH THAT THEY ARE NOT REGISTERED THERE . DE GAULLE NOW VIEWS DEBRE WITH A MORE KINDLY EYE THAN HE DID DURING HIS PREMIERSHIP A YEAR AGO ; ACCORDING TO WAGGISH PARIS COMMENT, POMPIDOU WAS LIKE A MISTRESS WHOM DE GAULLE SAW WITH PLEASURE, BUT WHO LOST MANY OF HIS CHARMS WHEN HE BECAME LA LEGITIME, THAT IS, WIFE . IF DE GAULLE GIVES THE EXPECTED NOD, MICHEL DEBRE WILL TAKE OVER THE JOB OF PRESIDENT OF THE GAULLIST U.N.R . FACTION IN THE ASSEMBLY AND EMPLOY HIS UNDENIABLE TALENTS IN DEALING WITH THE INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP, POOR ORGANIZATION AND INTERNAL FRICTION THAT HAVE RECENTLY PLAGUED THE PARTY
 RUSSIA TWO ON TRIAL NEITHER OF THE MEN WHO GLARED AT EACH OTHER ACROSS THE PRISONER'S DOCK IN A CROWDED MOSCOW COURTROOM LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE A SPY . DAPPER GREVILLE MAYNARD WYNNE, 44, WAS A SALESMAN WHO LIVED QUIETLY IN LONDON'S FASHIONABLE CHELSEA SECTION WITH HIS WIFE AND YOUNG SON WHEN HE WAS NOT ON THE ROAD SELLING ELECTRICAL MACHINERY IN RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE . SLENDER OLEG PENKOVSKY, 44, WAS A MUCHDECORATED RUSSIAN WAR HERO WHO RECENTLY HAD HELD THE DELICATE JOB OF ARRANGING EAST-WEST SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGES FOR A SOVIET STATE COMMITTEE . BUT LAST WEEK THE INCONGRUOUS PAIR WENT ON TRIAL FOR ESPIONAGE BEFORE A MILITARY PANEL OF THREE SOVIET SUPREME COURT GENERALS . WHILE KLIEG LIGHTS GLARED AND SOME 300 PERSPIRING SPECTATORS SAT ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS FOR FIVE DAYS, THE MOST BIZARRE SPY CIRCUS IN POSTWAR SOVIET HISTORY UNFOLDED BEFORE THEIR EYES . IF THE TWO MEN'S CONFESSIONS COULD BE BELIEVED, THE WEST HAD PULLED OFF A SPECTACULAR COUP IN THE COLD WAR STRUGGLE FOR INTELLIGENCE SECRETS . FOR 18 STRAIGHT MONTHS, FROM APRIL 1961 UNTIL LAST OCTOBER, PENKOVSKY HAD FUNNELED TO WYNNE AND OTHER COURIERS A STREAM OF NEARLY 5,000 PHOTOGRAPHS OF SECRET SOVIET DATA ON MISSILE DEVELOPMENTS, TROOP MOVEMENTS, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INSIDE STUFF FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE ITSELF . JUST A CHAUFFEUR . IT BEGAN IN NOVEMBER 1960, WHEN PENKOVSKY GOT FED UP WITH HIS MOSCOW JOB . SEEKING " THE EASY LIFE, " PENKOVSKY SAID HE SENT A LETTER TO THE U.S . EMBASSY IN MOSCOW, OFFERING HIS SERVICES TO THE U.S . ACCORDING TO PENKOVSKY, OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON IGNORED THE OFFER, FEARING A TRAP . BUT PENKOVSKY WAS DETERMINED TO WORK FOR THE WEST . HIS CHANCE CAME AT LAST WHEN HE STRUCK UP A CONVERSATION WITH WYNNE THE FOLLOWING MONTH AT A MOSCOW RECEPTION FOR VISITING BRITISH TECHNICIANS . WYNNE WAS HAPPY TO MEET THE RUSSIAN, HE SAID, BECAUSE SOVIET CONTACTS WERE USEFUL FOR HIS MACHINERY BUSINESS . THUS, WHEN PENKOVSKY SHOWED UP NEXT APRIL IN LONDON, SUPPOSEDLY TO SET UP AN EXCHANGE WITH BRITISH SCIENTISTS, WYNNE WENT OUT TO THE AIRPORT TO MEET HIM AND SHOW HIM AROUND TOWN . WERE YOU MERELY A CHAUFFEUR ? ASKED THE PROSECUTOR . THAT'S IT, WYNNE REPLIED . EXPLODED PENKOVSKY TO THE COURT : " THIS IS A CHILD'S TALE . BELIEVE ME, CITIZEN JUDGES, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY WYNNE TRIES TO MINIMIZE HIS ROLE . I DIDN'T NEED A CHAUFFEUR . I COULD HAVE TAKEN A TAXI . " TRUTH WAS, SAID PENKOVSKY, HE WAS ALREADY RELAYING FILM TO BRITISH INTELLIGENCE, AND NOW WAS IN TOUCH WITH THE AMERICANS AS WELL . IN LONDON HE DELIVERED TWO BULKY PACKAGES OF STATE SECRETS TO WYNNE, TRIED ON BRITISH AND U.S . COLONELS' UNIFORMS JUST IN CASE HE DECIDED TO DEFECT, EVEN DISCUSSED A POSSIBLE ESCAPE FROM RUSSIA BY SUBMARINE IF THINGS GOT HOT . HE RECALLED MORE RELAXED MOMENTS PUB-CRAWLING AND NIGHTCLUBBING . BOX OF CHOCOLATES . AFTER LONDON, THERE WAS PARIS . WYNNE GAILY SHOWED THE RUSSIAN AROUND FONTAINEBLEAU, VERSAILLES, THE LIDO AND THE MOULIN ROUGE AND WILLINGLY PICKED UP THE TAB . PENKOVSKY HANDED OVER 15 MORE ROLLS OF FILM AND HAD FIVE SESSIONS WITH WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENTS . ON OCCASIONS WHEN WYNNE CAME TO MOSCOW ON A BUSINESS TRIP, PENKOVSKY USUALLY PASSED HIS INFORMATION TO HIM CONCEALED IN A BOX OF CHOCOLATES, WHICH WYNNE ALLEGEDLY GAVE TO MRS . JANET CHISHOLM, WIFE OF A SECOND SECRETARY OF THE BRITISH EMBASSY, FOR RELAY TO LONDON . WHEN MRS . CHISHOLM SUSPECTED SHE WAS BEING FOLLOWED, SHE SUGGESTED THAT WYNNE GIVE THE " CHOCOLATES " TO HER CHILDREN . ON HIS FLIGHTS OUT OF MOSCOW, WYNNE CARRIED BOOK-SIZE PACKAGES OF SECRETS WRAPPED IN PLAIN BROWN PAPER . PENKOVSKY SAID THAT WHEN HE DID NOT HAVE WYNNE AROUND TO ACT AS COURIER, HE USED HIS CODE NAME, " YOUNG, " AND DEALT DIRECTLY WITH U.S . AND BRITISH EMBASSY EMPLOYEES THROUGH AN ELABORATE SET OF SIGNALS AND TELEPHONE CODES . IT ALL WORKED FINE UNTIL LAST FALL WHEN THE SOVIET POLICE SWOOPED DOWN ON PENKOVSKY, EXTRACTING THE CONFESSION THAT IMPLICATED WYNNE . A FEW DAYS LATER, RUSSIA'S AGENTS LOCATED WYNNE IN BUDAPEST AND HUSTLED HIM BACK TO MOSCOW . LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE . THROUGH IT ALL, WYNNE DOGGEDLY MAINTAINED THAT HE WAS ONLY A BUSINESSMAN WHO HAD BEEN SNARED IN THE COILS OF BRITISH INTELLIGENCE . AT FIRST, HE SAID, HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE BROWN PACKAGES OR BOXES OF CHOCOLATE REALLY CONTAINED . AFTER IT DAWNED ON HIM THAT HE WAS A SPY, HE DEMANDED NO PART OF THE " DIRTY BUSINESS, " BUT HIS SUPERIORS THREATENED TO WRECK HIS COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS, AND SO HE KEPT AT IT . " MY ANSWERS MIGHT SEEM NAIVE TO YOU PROFESSIONAL GENTLEMEN HERE, " HE SAID, TO THE LAUGHTER OF THE COURTROOM, " BUT I HAD NO IDEA HOW INTELLIGENCE OPERATED, I NOW KNOW EVEN BEFORE THE PROSECUTOR FINISHED HIS SUMMATION AT THE END OF THE TRIAL, THE GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER IZVESTIA APPEARED IN THE COURTROOM REPORTING HIS DEMAND FOR PUNISHMENT : A DEATH SENTENCE FOR PENKOVSKY AND TEN YEARS IN JAIL FOR WYNNE . THE MILITARY TRIBUNAL RETIRED TO CONFER, THEN PASSED JUDGMENT . PENKOVSKY WOULD BE SHOT ; WYNNE WOULD DO EIGHT YEARS IN JAIL .
 WEST GERMANY FEATHER FOR LUDWIG'S CAP WEST GERMANY'S NEXT CHANCELLOR, ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, PASSED HIS FIRST TEST FOR THE BIG JOB LAST WEEK . A WEEK-LONG LABOR STOPPAGE AMONG 400,000 METALWORKERS IN BADEN-WURTTEMBERG WAS THREATENING TO SPREAD TO THE INDUSTRIAL HEARTLAND OF THE RUHR . ALREADY $100 MILLION HAD BEEN LOST IN IDLE FACTORIES . IT WAS UP TO " UNCLE LUDWIG " TO ACT AND FAST . HE DID . SUMMONING BOTH SIDES TO A WOOD-PANELED CONFERENCE ROOM OF THE ECONOMICS MINISTRY, ERHARD SAT THEM DOWN FACE TO FACE, PROVIDING TWO ANTECHAMBERS FOR BOTH GROUPS TO USE FOR THEIR OWN DISCUSSIONS . THEN THE DOORS WERE SHUT AND PLENTIFUL SUPPLIES OF CIGARS, BEER AND SCHNAPPS WERE BROUGHT IN TO LOOSEN UP THE BARGAINERS . ERHARD SHUTTLED FROM ROOM TO ROOM, CHIDING, ENCOURAGING, CAJOLING EACH GROUP AS THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED TO FIND A COMMON GROUND . THEN IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS HE CAME UP WITH A SOLUTION THAT JUST ABOUT SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNION DEMANDS AND MANAGEMENT'S OFFER . IT WAS THE PROPITIOUS MOMENT, FOR EACH SIDE NOW WAS GROGGY WITH FATIGUE OR BEER AND BEFORE LONG EACH SIDE ACCEPTED THE COMPROMISE A 7 PER CENT WAGE HIKE SPREAD OVER 18 MONTHS (CURRENT AVERAGE HOURLY WAGE : ABOUT 77 #$ ) . THE FEATHER WAS IN LUDWIG'S CAP, AND HE KNEW IT . " IT WAS A RESTLESS NIGHT, " HE BEAMED TO CHEERING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION DEPUTIES NEXT DAY . " YOU KNOW THAT I PUT ALL MY PRESTIGE ON THE SCALE . " THE C.D.U . LOST NO TIME PUTTING THEIR HERO'S NEW PRESTIGE TO USE . WORRIED OVER A STRING OF C.D.U . DEFEATS IN STATE ELECTIONS, THE PARTY HUSTLED ERHARD OFF TO START WORK IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR NEXT WEEK'S ELECTION IN LOWER SAXONY .
 1 BERLIN 2-12 TWO INCHES TO SAFETY SINCE THE HATED WALL WENT UP IN 1961, ESCAPEES HAVE INGENIOUSLY GOTTEN PAST IT BY TUNNELING, CLIMBING, JUMPING, OR BY JUST KNOCKING IT DOWN . LAST WEEK A YOUNG AUSTRIAN OUTDID THEM ALL, SMUGGLING OUT HIS PRETTY FIANCEE AND HER MOTHER THROUGH THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF KEEPING HIS HEAD DOWN . HEINZ MEIXNER, 20, HAD MOVED TO WEST BERLIN TWO YEARS AGO TO TAKE A JOB AS A LATHE WORKER . AS A FOREIGNER, HE WAS ABLE TO CROSS THE LINE FREELY INTO EAST BERLIN, WHERE, AT A STUDENTS' DANCE LAST SEPTEMBER, HE FELL IN LOVE WITH TINY, ATTRACTIVE MARGARETE THURAU . WHEN MARGARETE APPLIED FOR PERMISSION TO EMIGRATE TO AUSTRIA, COMMUNIST POLICE TOLD HER THAT SHE SHOULD MARRY HER YOUNG MAN IN EAST BERLIN AND SETTLE DOWN THERE . THIS WAS MORE THAN MEIXNER COULD BEAR . " AS SOON AS I HEARD THAT, " SAYS MEIXNER, " I MADE UP MY MIND TO GET HER OUT . " LAST EXIT . HE LAID HIS PLANS WITH METICULOUS CARE . TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT THE COMMUNIST SIDE OF THE FRIEDRICHSTRASSE CROSSING POINT FOR FOREIGNERS, MEIXNER STALLED HIS MOTOR SCOOTER NEAR THE PEPPERMINT-STRIPED STEEL BEAM THAT CLOSES THE LAST EXIT IN THE WALL . PRETENDING TO HAVE ENGINE TROUBLE, HE MEASURED THE HEIGHT OF THE BARRIER, FOUND THAT IT WAS ONLY 37F IN . FROM THE GROUND . HIS NEXT STEP WAS TO SEARCH THE CAR RENTAL AGENCIES IN WEST BERLIN FOR A SPORTS CAR SMALL ENOUGH TO SLIP UNDER THE BEAM . HE FINALLY DECIDED ON AN AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE, WHICH, WITHOUT ITS WINDSHIELD, MEASURED 35F IN . HIGH . MEIXNER CONFIDED IN ANOTHER YOUNG AUSTRIAN, GAVE HIM AN EXACT TIMETABLE OF HIS PLANS AND ASKED HIM TO PREVENT ANY CARS ON THE WESTERN SIDE FROM STARTING INTO THE BARRIER AREA AT THE CRITICAL MOMENT . AT LAST, WHEN HIS PLANS WERE COMPLETE, MEIXNER DROVE HIS LITTLE SPORTS CAR BACK INTO EAST BERLIN TO MARGARETE'S HOUSE . MARGARETE CROUCHED IN THE NARROW SPACE BEHIND THE DRIVER'S SEAT ; HER MOTHER WAS WEDGED INTO THE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT . " LUCKILY, " SAYS PETITE MARGARETE, " MOTHER IS JUST LIKE ME . " LEAVING NOTHING TO CHANCE, MEIXNER ALSO LET AIR OUT OF HIS TIRES TO LOWER THE CAR . SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT, MEIXNER DROVE TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE FRONTIER AREA, SHOWED HIS AUSTRIAN PASSPORT TO A GUARD, WHO WAVED HIM ON TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER . BRICKS FOR MAMMA . IT WAS THE TIME FOR ACTION . INSTEAD OF PULLING UP AT THE CUSTOMS SHED, MEIXNER GUNNED HIS MOTOR, SKIDDED AROUND THE SLALOM BARRIERS, AND SHOT PAST THE STARTLED GUARD . LOOMING BEFORE HIM WAS THAT LAST BAR . FOR ONE TERRIFYING MOMENT, IT SEEMED TOO LOW TO CLEAR . BUT HE HAD MEASURED WELL . JAMMING HIS FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, MEIXNER DUCKED HIS HEAD AND WHIZZED INTO WEST BERLIN . BY THE TIME HE GOT THERE, HE WAS GOING SO FAST THAT HE LEFT A 96-FT . SKID MARK WHEN HE JAMMED ON THE BRAKES . SAFE WITH HIS PASSENGERS, MEIXNER EXPLAINED HIS ESCAPE PLAN TO STARTLED WEST BERLIN POLICE : " I FIGURED IT WOULD TAKE THE VOPOS THREE SECONDS TO DRAW THEIR WEAPONS ONCE THEY REALIZED WHAT I WAS DOING . BUT I THOUGHT I COULD MAKE IT IN THOSE THREE SECONDS . BESIDES, WE HAD 30 BRICKS BEHIND MRS . THURAU TO PROTECT HER IF FIRING STARTED . /
 GREAT BRITAIN YER PAYS YER MONEY, YER TYKES YER CHOICE PSEPHOLOGY, AS GUESSING ELECTIONS IS CALLED IN BRITAIN, IS ABOUT AS INEXACT AN ART AS PLAYING THE FOOTBALL POOLS . FACED WITH A GENERAL ELECTION THIS YEAR OR NEXT, THE EXPERTS LAST WEEK STUDIED A RICH CROP OF AUGURIES WITH UNUSUAL DILIGENCE AND THE USUAL RESULTS : THEY DISAGREED . CERTAINLY, THERE WAS LITTLE TO ENCOURAGE PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN'S CONSERVATIVES IN THE OUTCOME OF 401 LOCAL BOROUGH ELECTIONS . WITH 2,973 SEATS AT STAKE, THE TORIES LOST A TOTAL OF 550 ; THE LABOR PARTY GAINED 544, WINNING CONTROL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SUCH MAJOR CITIES AS LEICESTER, LIVERPOOL, BRADFORD, BRISTOL AND NOTTINGHAM . LABOR OFFICIALS CLAIMED THAT IF A GENERAL ELECTION WERE HELD TOMORROW, THEY WOULD RETURN TO POWER WITH A MARGIN OF 90 TO 130 SEATS . ALSO LAST WEEK, HOWEVER, THREE SEPARATE OPINION POLLS INDICATED THAT LABOR'S LEAD HAS SHORTENED DRAMATICALLY IN THE PAST MONTH . A DAILY MAIL SURVEY ESTIMATED THAT TORY SUPPORT HAS INCREASED A STARTLING 7 PER CENT SINCE APRIL . THE DAILY TELEGRAPH GALLUP POLL REPORTED A 2.5 PER CENT GAIN FOR THE CONSERVATIVES, WHOSE SUPPORT IS NOW ESTIMATED AT 36.5 PER CENT, TO LABOR'S 46.5 PER CENT THE CLUES WERE NOT QUITE AS CONTRADICTORY AS THEY SEEMED . COUNCIL ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN GENERALLY MIRROR LOCAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS . WHILE TORY CANDIDATES WERE HURT BY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS IN MANY BIG CITIES, THEY ALSO TOOK A BEATING IN MANY PROSPEROUS SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES WHERE HOUSEHOLDERS WERE STILL CROSS WITH THE GOVERNMENT FOR RECENTLY INCREASING THEIR LOCAL TAXES (FROM 50 PER CENT TO 300 PER CENT ) . NATIONAL OPINION POLLS, WHICH IN THE PAST HAVE PROVED FAIRLY ACCURATE, APPARENTLY REFLECTED BRITONS' SATISFACTION WITH A NEW HEAD OF STEAM THAT HAS BEGUN TO APPEAR IN THE ECONOMY . TORN BETWEEN CONTRADICTORY PORTENTS, PSEPHOLOGISTS AND POLITICIANS WERE ABOUT EQUALLY DIVIDED ON WHETHER THE GENERAL ELECTION WILL BE HELD THIS FALL OR NEXT YEAR .
 1 GREAT BRITAIN 2-12 REMEMBER MRS . SWEENY ? YOU'RE THE TOP, YOU'RE MUSSOLINI, YOU'RE MRS . SWEENY, YOU'RE CAMEMBERT . BACK IN 1935, WHEN COLE PORTER'S ANYTHING GOES WAS THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN, MARGARET WHIGHAM SWEENY WAS MORE TOP THAN MICKEY MOUSE OR A COOLIDGE DOLLAR . CHIC, BEAUTIFUL AND RICH IN HER OWN RIGHT, THE 21-YEAR-OLD ENGLISH BEAUTY WAS MARRIED TO GENTLEMAN GOLFER CHARLES SWEENY, FOR WHOM, THE GOSSIP COLUMNISTS INSISTED, SHE HAD JILTED THE YOUNG EARL OF WARWICK . THAT SAME YEAR IAN CAMPBELL MADE HEADLINES BY TAKING AS HIS SECOND WIFE LOUISE VANNECK, DAUGHTER OF U.S . SCULPTOR HENRY CLEWS . (HIS FIRST : JANET AITKEN, LORD BEAVERBROOK'S DAUGHTER.) THOUGH UNMENTIONED IN THE SONG, CAMPBELL WAS EVEN MORE TOP THAN MRS . SWEENY . IN 1949 HE BECAME DUKE OF ARGYLL (FAMILY MOTTO : " FORGET NOT " ), CHIEF OF CLAN CAMPBELL, HEREDITARY MASTER OF THE KING'S HOUSEHOLD IN SCOTLAND, ADMIRAL OF THE WESTERN COASTS AND ISLES, HEREDITARY SHERIFF OF ARGYLL, KEEPER OF DUNSTAFFNAGE, CARRICK, TARBERT AND DUNOON CASTLES, AND HEIR TO A BURKE'S DOZEN EARLDOMS, VISCOUNTCIES, MARQUISATES AND BARONETCIES . FAVORED FOUR . IN 1951, TWO WEEKS AFTER A LURID DIVORCE FROM LOUISE, THE DUKE MARRIED MRS . SWEENY . LAST WEEK IN EDINBURGH, THE TOPPERS TOO WERE DIVORCED . THEIR DECREE, 65,000 WORDS LONG, TOOK THE JUDGE, LORD WHEATLEY, 4F HOURS TO READ THROUGH . IT WAS NO COLE PORTER LYRIC . ON THE BASIS OF THE EVIDENCE, DECLARED THE JUDGE, THE DUCHESS, NOW 49, " WAS A COMPLETELY PROMISCUOUS WOMAN WHOSE SEXUAL APPETITE COULD ONLY BE SATISFIED BY A NUMBER OF MEN . " HE NAMED FOUR SPECIFIC ADULTERERS : JOHN COHANE, 50, A U.S . BUSINESSMAN LIVING IN IRELAND WHOM THE COURT DESCRIBED AS A " SELF-CONFESSED WOLF " WITH " THE MORALS OF A TOMCAT " ; HARVEY COMBE, 37, ONETIME PRESS OFFICER AT LONDON'S SAVOY HOTEL ; BARON SIGISMUND VON BRAUN, 52, BROTHER OF ROCKET SCIENTIST WERNHER, WHO WAS COUNSELOR OF WEST GERMANY'S LONDON EMBASSY UNTIL 1958, AND IS NOW HIS GOVERNMENT'S U.N . OBSERVER IN NEW YORK ; AND AN UNIDENTIFIED PARTNER WHO HAD BEEN PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE NUDE WITH THE DUCHESS . THE JUDGE DID NOT SPARE THE DUKE, WHO, HE SAID, ADMITTED THAT HE HAD SHOWN / PORNOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHS " TO " A MIXED GATHERING IN NEW YORK AND SEEMED TO TREAT IT AS A JOKE . " ADDED THE JUDGE : " I DO NOT COMMEND HIS STANDARD OF TASTE AND HABITS . " HOME WITH HARVEY . THOUGH ARGYLL HAD ALREADY DISCOVERED SUSPICIOUS LETTERS TO HIS WIFE AND A DIARY INSCRIBED WITH " CRYPTIC " SIGNALS, HE " SUCCUMBED TO HER CHARMS, " AS THE COURT PUT IT . THUS, THE DUKE, SAID JUDGE WHEATLEY, HAD " CONDONED / HIS WIFE'S ADULTERY WITH VON BRAUN BY RESUMING MARITAL RELATIONS WITH HER IN PARIS . THE DIVORCE WAS GRANTED ON THE GROUNDS OF HER ADULTERY IN 1960 WITH HARVEY COMBE AT THE ARGYLLS' LONDON HOUSE IN UPPER GROSVENOR STREET . THE ARGYLLS' LITIGATION, WHICH HAD DRAGGED ON FOR 3F YEARS, WAS THE LONGEST, MOST EXPENSIVE (ESTIMATED COST : $140,000) AND MOST SENSATIONAL IN SCOTTISH HISTORY . AND IT MAY NOT BE OVER, SINCE THE DUCHESS HAS SAID THAT SHE PLANS TO APPEAL THE COURT'S VERDICT . IN ANY CASE, SHE STILL FACES CHARGES OF LIBEL AND CONSPIRACY TO SUSTAIN A MALICIOUS CHARGE OF ADULTERY, STEMMING FROM HER OWN DIVORCE PETITION AGAINST THE DUKE, WHICH SHE DROPPED LAST MAY . IN THAT SUIT, SHE ACCUSED HER HUSBAND OF COMMITTING ADULTERY WITH HER STEPMOTHER .
 ALGERIA A HEX ? THINGS BEGAN GOING WRONG ALMOST FROM THE MOMENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER SAILED INTO ALGIERS HARBOR TO BEGIN HIS STATE VISIT . THE DAY HE ARRIVED, AN ALGERIAN MINESWEEPER THAT HAD ESCORTED NASSER'S YACHT SANK WITH THE LOSS OF THREE CREWMEN . THEN A PALL WAS CAST OVER THE CELEBRATIONS BY THE DEATH OF ALGERIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER MOHAMMED KHEMISTI, WHO HAD BEEN SHOT BY A CRAZED ASSASSIN (SEE MILESTONES) . ON TOP OF ALL THAT, A MOST UNUSUAL TORNADO SWEPT ACROSS THE COUNTRY, KILLING TWELVE ALGERIANS IN ONE VILLAGE . MANY A SUPERSTITIOUS ALGERIAN PEASANT WAS CONVINCED THAT THE EGYPTIAN VISITOR HAD BROUGHT A HEX WITH HIM . BUT THERE WAS A MORE CONCRETE REASON FOR THE DISAPPOINTMENT NASSER TOOK WITH HIM LAST WEEK WHEN HE PULLED UP ANCHOR AND SAILED AWAY THREE DAYS EARLIER THAN PLANNED . FROM HOST AHMED BEN BELLA, ALGERIA'S YOUNG PREMIER, NASSER HAD GOTTEN HEARTY CORDIALITY AND WORDS OF ACCLAIM, BUT NO REAL PROMISE TO BRING ALGERIA INTO NASSER'S SCHEME FOR A UNITED ARAB REPUBLICSCIPLE . AS THE ONLY TWO SOCIALIST RULERS IN THE ARAZ WORLD, THEY HAD MUCH IN COMMON . AND BEN BELLA WAS DULY GRATEFUL TO NASSER FOR HIS AID IN THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST FRANCE . BUT AT THE CONFERENCE TABLE, NASSER FOUND BEN BELLA TO BE NO FAWNING DISCIPLE . COOL, TOUGH AND INDEPENDENT, THE ALGERIANS APPEARED MORE INTERESTED IN THEIR OWN REVOLUTION THAN IN MORE GRANDIOSE SCHEMES . TEN MONTHS AFTER INDEPENDENCE, ALGERIA'S 46-YEAR-OLD BACHELOR PREMIER IS BUSY CONSOLIDATING PERSONALIZED CONTROL OVER HIS RESTIVE LAND . LAST MONTH HE ELIMINATED HIS MOST DANGEROUS RIVAL, OLD REVOLUTIONARY COMRADE MOHAMMED KHIDER, BY FORCING HIM OUT AS SECRETARY-GENERAL OF ALGERIA'S RULING NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT . BEN BELLA TOOK OVER THE PARTY POST HIMSELF . ALSO, BEN BELLA IS IMPLANTING HIS OWN BRAND OF " ARAB SOCIALISM . " HE HAS NATIONALIZED ONE-THIRD OF ALGERIA'S FARM LAND, MOST OF IT FRENCH-OWNED, AND HANDED IT TO " MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES " OF TURBANED PEASANTS . HIS REGIME HAS SEIZED SCORES OF CINEMAS, HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS FROM ALGERIANS WHO, IN BEN BELLA'S WORDS, " FATTENED THEMSELVES LIKE PASHAS " BY BUYING UP PROPERTY FROM FLEEING FRENCHMEN . UNSPOKEN ALLIANCE . BUT BEN BELLA'S BRAND OF SOCIALISM HAS DISTINCT LIMITS . ALGERIA'S CHIEF ALLIANCE IS A STRANGE, UNSPOKEN ONE, NOT WITH THE COMMUNISTS OR WITH ANY ARAB LAND . IT IS WITH FRANCE, ALGERIA'S ONETIME OVERLORD . AS IF TO MAKE CLEAR ITS CONTINUED ENDORSEMENT OF BEN BELLA, FRANCE RECENTLY AGREED TO SPEED UP PAYMENT OF ITS SUBSIDIES TO ALGERIA, BUDGETED FOR $210 MILLION THIS YEAR, WHICH COMPRISE BEN BELLA'S CHIEF ECONOMIC SUPPORT . IN RETURN, ALGERIA PROMISES TO USE ONE-FIFTH OF THE TOTAL TO COMPENSATE EXPROPRIATED FRENCH LANDLORDS .
 SYRIA TO UNITY BY DISUNION IN CAIRO LAST WEEK, EGYPT'S NO . 2 MAN, FIELD MARSHAL ABDEL HAKIM AMER, STORMED AT A SYRIAN DELEGATION : " IS NASSERISM A CRIME IN SYRIA NOW ? IF IT IS, HOW CAN WE FACE THE FUTURE TOGETHER ? IF THERE ARE IN DAMASCUS PEOPLE WHO CONSIDER NASSERISM A CRIME, THEN HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO COOPERATE WITH THEM ? " WHAT SET OFF AMER'S FLOOD OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS WAS THE THREAT POSED TO NASSER'S DREAM OF ARAB UNITY BY THE GYRATIONS OF SYRIA'S BAATH PARTY LEADERS, HEADED BY TALL, LUGUBRIOUS PREMIER SALAH BITAR . THE BAATH LEADERSHIP WANTS ARAB UNITY AS MUCH AS DOES NASSER, BUT IT HAS REFUSED TO LET THE PARTY BE DROWNED IN AN ALLENCOMPASSING NASSERITE NATIONAL FRONT . THE CONFLICT BECAME ACUTE LAST MONTH WHEN THE REGIME BEGAN PURGING THE SYRIAN ARMY OF PRO-NASSER OFFICERS AND NONCOMS . IN RETALIATION, SIX NASSERITE CABINET MINISTERS RESIGNED . WHILE STUDENTS STAGED SITINS IN THE SCHOOLS, PRO-NASSER MOBS POURED INTO THE STREETS OF DAMASCUS AND ALEPPO, WHERE SCORES OF DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED BATTLING SOLDIERS AND POLICE . AS THE VIOLENCE IN THE STREETS GREW WORSE, THE BAATH LEADERS FACED THE PROSPECT OF DESTROYING ARAB UNITY AND LOWERING THE PRESTIGE OF THEIR PARTY . LAST WEEK HARASSED, MOURNFUL PREMIER BITAR FINALLY GAVE IN AND RESIGNED TO BE REPLACED BY A COMPROMISE CANDIDATE, DR . SAMI JUNDI, 40, A DENTIST FROM HAMA WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY MINISTER OF GUIDANCE AND CULTURE . THERE WAS SOME POSSIBILITY THAT THE NEW PREMIER MIGHT BE ACCEPTABLE TO BOTH SIDES : TO THE BAATHISTS BECAUSE JUNDI WAS ONCE A PARTY MEMBER AND HAD STOOD BY THE GOVERNMENT ; TO THE NASSERITES BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN A LONGTIME ADMIRER OF EGYPT'S STRONGMAN AND BELIEVES IN UNITY AT ALL COSTS . AT WEEK'S END, THE REGIME IN NEIGHBORING IRAQ WAS ALSO GIVING GROUND TO THE NASSERITES . THE ENTIRE BAATH-DOMINATED CABINET RESIGNED, BUT LEAN, BALDING PREMIER HASSAN BAKR WAS COMMISSIONED TO FORM A NEW GOVERNMENT, PRESUMABLY ONE WITH GREATER PRO-NASSER REPRESENTATION, WHICH MIGHT FORESTALL STREET DEMONSTRATIONS AND DISAFFECTION IN THE ARMY .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE PINPRICK WAR LUMBERING LOW OVER STONE AGE VILLAGES AND THICK JUNGLES, TROOP-CARRYING HELICOPTERS SWARMED ACROSS THE WILD CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIET NAM LAST WEEK . ON THE GROUND, 10,000 SOUTH VIETNAMESE INFANTRYMEN AND MARINES SPREAD OUT OVER A VAST, INHOSPITABLE SECTOR SOUTH OF TAMKY WHERE NO GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAD SET FOOT SINCE 1938 . IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST DRIVES AGAINST THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG SINCE THE GUERRILLA WAR BROKE OUT IN 1959, SOUTH VIET NAM'S GOVERNMENT HOPED TO FLUSH SIX RED BATTALIONS AND A HEADQUARTERS COMPANY FROM ITS LONGTIME STRONGHOLD IN THE MOUNTAINS . MAIN OBJECT OF THE MONTH-LONG OPERATION WAS TO DESTROY VIET CONG FOOD CACHES AND CUT THE REDS' MAIN SUPPLY LINE, THE 400-MILE HO CHI MINH TRAIL TO NORTH VIET NAM THROUGH NEUTRAL LAOS . THE REDS HAD PLAINLY EVACUATED THE AREA IN ADVANCE, BUT VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS EXPLAINED THAT THEY DID NOT AIM TO KILL VIET CONG GUERRILLAS, ONLY TO ISOLATE THEM . IF SUCCESSFUL, SAID ONE, THE SWEEP " WILL SOLVE 50 PER CENT OF OUR MILITARY PROBLEMS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS . " NOT SO, RETORTED SOME OF THE U.S . OFFICERS WHO WERE TAKING PART . " IT WOULD TAKE A WHOLE U.S . ARMY DIVISION TO BLOCK THAT TRAIL, " SAID ONE . THE CLASH OF OPINION EXTENDS TO VIRTUALLY EVERY ASPECT OF THE FRUSTRATING, WEARISOME WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM AND REFLECTS ITS SHADOWY, HIDE-AND-SEEK NATURE . IT IS A WAR WITH NO FRONT LINES AND NO DECISIVE BATTLES ; A WAR OF CONTAINMENT, NOT OF CONQUEST ; A WAR OF LILLIPUTIAN PINPRICKS AND BROBDINGNAGIAN STAKES . IT IS A DAY WAR AND A NIGHT WAR, IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS MOST HIGHWAYS AND WATERWAYS BY DAYLIGHT (THOUGH A U.S . LIEUTENANT AND TWO VIETNAMESE SOLDIERS WERE KILLED IN A DAYLIGHT ROADSIDE AMBUSH LAST WEEK), AND THE VIET CONG SLIP IN FROM JUNGLES AND SWAMPS TO TAKE CHARGE AFTER DARK . IN THE RUGGED NORTH, IT IS A MOUNTAIN WAR, IN WHICH THE REDS ARE SHORT OF FOOD, MEDICINE, WEAPONS, AND LARGELY ON THE DEFENSIVE ; IN THE SOUTH, IT IS A BATTLE FOR THE NATION'S RICE GRANARY, WHERE THE GUERRILLAS HAVE CUNNINGLY FOILED EVERY GOVERNMENT ATTEMPT TO CLEAN THEM OUT . TURNING THE CORNER . HOW IS THE WAR ACTUALLY GOING ? MEASURED AGAINST THE DESPERATE SITUATION THAT FACED GENERAL MAXWELL TAYLOR ON A FACT-FINDING MISSION FOR THE PRESIDENT 19 MONTHS AGO, THERE IS ROOM FOR QUALIFIED OPTIMISM . WHEN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT MCNAMARA RETURNED FROM A CONFERENCE WITH SERVICE CHIEFS IN PEARL HARBOR LAST WEEK, THE PENTAGON SAID " THE CORNER HAS DEFINITELY BEEN TURNED TOWARD VICTORY . " NO ONE WAS SETTING ANY TIMETABLE, BUT U.S . MILITARY CHIEFS AND SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM SAY THAT THE WAR SHOULD BE WON " WITHIN THREE YEARS . " THERE ARE MANY SOLDIERS IN SOUTH VIET NAM WHO CONSIDER THIS WILDLY OPTIMISTIC ; SOME BELIEVE THAT THE WAR MAY NEVER BE WON . BUT ALMOST EVERYONE AGREES THAT THINGS HAVE IMPROVED . TODAY THERE IS LITTLE DANGER THAT THE VIET CONG WILL TAKE OVER ANY OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S CITIES . CAPTURED RED DOCUMENTS INDICATE THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN UP HOPE OF A SWIFT CONQUEST, NOW AIM MERELY, AS THE GUERRILLAS' NORTH VIETNAMESE BOSS HO CHI MINH SAID RECENTLY, " TO WAIT OUT THE AMERICANS . " THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT AND ITS 14,000 U.S . MILITARY " ADVISERS " PIN THEIR HOPES ON AN INTEGRATED, LONG-TERM PLAN THAT AIMS AT ISOLATING AND DRIVING OUT THE VIET CONG . BASIC ELEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S BATTLE PLAN IS TO RESETTLE ALMOST THE ENTIRE RURAL POPULATION IN SOME 12,000 " STRATEGIC HAMLETS, " WITH BAMBOO FENCES, BARBED WIRE AND ARMED MILITIAMEN TO KEEP THE PREDATORY VIET CONG FROM EXACTING FOOD AND MANPOWER FROM A HELPLESS PEASANTRY . ALREADY 8,000,000 VILLAGERS 59 PER CENT OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S POPULATION ARE LIVING IN THE 6,000 HAMLETS THAT HAVE SO FAR BEEN COMPLETED . PROBLEM WITH PEASANTS . THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT ADMITS THAT FEWER THAN ONETHIRD OF THE HAMLETS ARE DEFENSIBLE AGAINST A DETERMINED ONSLAUGHT, THE REDS ARE RELUCTANT TO ATTACK THE VILLAGES FOR FEAR OF ANTAGONIZING THE PEOPLE . IN SOME AREAS, THANKS TO HIGHER STANDARDS OF LIVING IN THE HAMLETS, PEASANTS ARE FOR THE FIRST TIME INFORMING GOVERNMENT TROOPS OF THE MOVEMENTS OF THE VIET CONG . " IF THESE PEOPLE BELIEVE WE CAN PROTECT THEM WITH THE HAMLETS, " SAYS ONE U.S . ADVISER, " OUR PROBLEM MAY BE LICKED . " HOWEVER, MOST SOUTH VIETNAMESE PEASANTS ARE STILL EITHER PASSIVE OR ACTIVELY RESENTFUL OF THE DIEM REGIME, WHICH IS OFTEN PERSONIFIED BY OPPRESSIVE, CORRUPT LOCAL ADMINISTRATORS . FOR ALL HIS HIGH HOPES FOR THE PROGRAM, ALOOF, AUTOCRATIC PRESIDENT DIEM SELDOM STIRS FAR FROM HIS YELLOW PALACE IN SAIGON TO VISIT THE HINTERLAND AND GENERATE ENTHUSIASM FOR HIS CAUSE . SNEAKY PETES . THE AREA OF THE GOVERNMENT'S GREATEST FRUSTRATION IS THE MEKONG RIVER DELTA, WHERE 55 PER CENT OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S POPULATION IS CENTERED AND 75 PER CENT OF ITS RICE IS GROWN . THE PEASANTS THERE HAVE RESISTED THE HAMLET PROGRAM AND HAVE OFTEN BEEN FORCIBLY RESETTLED IN FORTIFIED VILLAGES BECAUSE THEY RESENT HAVING TO WALK MILES TO THEIR PADDIES . IN A SUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON TWO HAMLETS LAST MONTH, SOME 2,000 VILLAGERS SIMPLY VANISHED . THE REDS ARE PARTICULARLY HARD TO FLUSH OUT OF THE DELTA BECAUSE THEY OFTEN ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH FROM PEACEFUL PEASANTS . ON THE OTHER HAND, U.S . SPECIAL SERVICE TROOPS " SNEAKY PETES " HAVE MADE DRAMATIC PROGRESS IN THE NORTH BY WINNING OVER AND TRAINING THE DARK-SKINNED, ABORIGINAL MONTAGNARDS . THOUGH THEY HAVE FOR CENTURIES BEEN VICTIMIZED BY THE LOWLAND VIETNAMESE, WHO CONTEMPTUOUSLY CALL THEM MOI (SAVAGES), 150,000 MONTAGNARDS NOW BELONG TO AN AGGRESSIVE, NATIVE FORCE . HELP FOR BANANAS . MILITARILY, THE DECISIVE FACTOR IN THE WAR TO DATE HAS BEEN THE INTRODUCTION OF SOME 170 U.S.-PILOTED HELICOPTER TRANSPORTS, WHICH GIVE THE GOVERNMENT'S TROOPS THE ADVANTAGES OF SURPRISE AND MOBILITY THAT HAD HITHERTO BEEN THE GUERRILLAS' MONOPOLY . THE ANTIQUATED " BANANA " COPTERS HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY VULNERABLE AS THE VIET CONG LEARN HOW TO USE NEW RAPID-FIRE WEAPONS ; IN ONE SORTIE NEAR THE DELTA VILLAGE OF APBAC LAST JANUARY, THEY DOWNED FIVE OF 14 HELICOPTERS, INCLUDING ONE OF THE 24 FAST, ROCKET-FIRING HU-1B ( " HUEY " ) HELICOPTERS THAT NOW ESCORT MOST MISSIONS . LAST WEEK A SECOND COMPANY OF 24 HUEYS ARRIVED AT A NEW BASE NEAR VINH LONG . " OPERATIONS WERE DOWN IN THE HUNDREDS A YEAR AGO, " SAYS GENERAL PAUL HARKINS, COMMANDER OF U.S . FORCES IN SOUTH VIET NAM . " NOW THEY'RE IN THE THOUSANDS . " BUT NORMAL BATTLEFIELD STATISTICS ARE LARGELY MEANINGLESS . THE VIET CONG'S CASUALTY RATE IS RISING, BUT THE REDS HAVE ACTUALLY INCREASED THEIR HARD-CORE STRENGTH (TO AN ESTIMATED 25,000) BY RECRUITING MORE PEASANTS . AND THOUGH THE REDS ARE LOSING MANY WEAPONS, THOSE THAT THEY ARE CAPTURING ARE MODERN MORTARS AND MACHINE GUNS, WHILE THOSE THAT THEY LOSE TO GOVERNMENT FORCES ARE GENERALLY CRUDE DEVICES AND OBSOLETE RIFLES . VAIN PLEAS . AS THE GOVERNMENT TROOPS BECOME MORE EFFICIENT, THE WILY VIET CONG ARE ALSO LEARNING NEW TECHNIQUES . ONE OF THE VIET CONG'S LATEST TACTICS HAS BEEN TO MOUNT A SERIES OF FEINTING ATTACKS ON A TARGET, THEN TO WITHDRAW, LURING GOVERNMENT RESERVE FORCES INTO A WELL-LAID AMBUSH . AS A RESULT, BADLY NEEDED REINFORCEMENTS OFTEN HANG BACK FOR FEAR OF WALKING INTO A TRAP . SUCH A WAR IS A NEW AND FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE FOR U.S . MILITARY ADVISERS . MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT 73 AMERICANS HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE FIGHTING SO FAR, THEIR MOST BITTER COMPLAINT IS THAT MILITARY OPERATIONS ARE CONSTANTLY HOBBLED BY POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS . THE BIG COMMAND DECISIONS HAVE TO BE CLEARED WITH PRESIDENT DIEM, WHO STILL LEANS HEAVILY ON SUCH MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY AS BROTHER NGO DINH NHU, AND THE BEAUTEOUS MADAME NHU, FOR ADVICE AND SUPPORT IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS . DIEM IS MISTRUSTFUL OF MANY OF HIS BEST SOLDIERS AND FEARS ALSO THAT CONTINUED HEAVY CASUALTIES WILL UNDERMINE WHAT PUBLIC SUPPORT HE ENJOYS . U.S . OFFICERS HAVE PLEADED IN VAIN WITH DIEM TO ALLOW MORE SMALL-UNIT SALLIES AND NIGHT OPERATIONS TO CHALLENGE THE VIET CONG'S AFTER-DARK SUPREMACY . IN THEIR IMPATIENCE WITH DIEM, SOME EXASPERATED U.S . OFFICIALS WISH THAT HE COULD BE REPLACED BY A MORE FLEXIBLE MAN . BUT THEY ADMIT THAT THERE IS NO OTHER LEADER IN SIGHT . THE REGIME TENDS TO EXAGGERATE ITS SUCCESSES AND MINIMIZE ITS FAILURES, INSISTS THAT ITS AIRBORNE ATTACKS HAVE FINALLY " DISHEARTENED " THE REDS AND " CAUGHT THEM OFF BALANCE . " MANY COMBAT-SEASONED U.S . ADVISERS THINK THAT THIS IS HARDLY ENOUGH . " HELL, " SAYS ONE, " IF ALL WE DID WAS TO KEEP THEM OFF BALANCE ON GUADALCANAL, WE'D STILL BE THERE . " THE ADVISORY WAR . STRATEGICALLY AND POLITICALLY, OF COURSE, THE WAR FOR VIET NAM HAS LITTLE IN COMMON WITH THE BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL . THE U.S . IS NOT RUNNING THE WAR, BUT IS TRYING TO HELP A SENSITIVE YOUNG NATION TO WIN FOR ITSELF . IT IS A GUERRILLA WAR IN WHICH, AS PRESIDENT DIEM SAYS, " PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS " MAY PROVE MORE IMPORTANT THAN KILLING THE ENEMY EVEN THOUGH, IN THE U.S . VIEW, HIS REGIME HAS DONE FAR TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, TO WIN THE SUPPORT OF THE RURAL POPULACE . AFTER PROLONGED PRESSURE, THE GOVERNMENT AGREED ONLY LAST WEEK TO ASSUME THE $17 MILLION ANNUAL COST OF THE HAMLET PROGRAM THE U.S . IN ADDITION HAS BEEN SPENDING $400 MILLION A YEAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM AND EVEN THIS RELUCTANT DECISION BY DIEM WAS LARGELY INFLUENCED BY FEAR THAT THE VILLAGERS WERE SHOWING GREATER LOYALTY TO U.S . ADMINISTRATORS THAN TO THE REGIME . DISTRESSING AS THEY MAY BE, THE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS U.S . ADVISERS ARE UNLIKELY TO ABATE . IN FACT, IF THE WAR TURNS MORE CLEARLY IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S FAVOR, THE REGIME WILL PROBABLY BECOME MORE IMPATIENT OF U.S . ADVICE . FOR THE VIETNAMESE, IT IS, AFTER ALL, A WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE .
 SARAWAK THE RAJAH'S RETURN THE BROOKES OF SARAWAK MIGHT HAVE STEPPED FROM THE PAGES OF A CONRAD NOVEL . THE FIRST AND LAST ENGLISH FAMILY TO OCCUPY AN ORIENTAL THRONE, THEY FOUGHT PIRATES AND HOSTILE SULTANS, PACIFIED HEAD-HUNTERS AND BROUGHT THE WHITE MAN'S LAW TO THEIR CRUEL, VIBRANTLY BEAUTIFUL LAND IN NORTHWEST BORNEO . THE BROOKE RAJAHS RULED THEIR KENTUCKY-SIZE KINGDOM WITH THE STERN DIGNITY OF A VICTORIAN PATERFAMILIAS, BUT WITH HUMANITY AND IMAGINATION AS WELL ; IN THE ANNALS OF COLONIALISM, FEW DYNASTIES HAVE BEEN SO SELFLESSLY DEVOTED TO THEIR SUBJECTS' WELFARE . THE FIRST BROOKE RAJAH WAS JAMES, A WEALTHY, HIGH-MINDED ADVENTURER WHO SAILED OUT FROM ENGLAND TO " RID THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO OF BARBARISM . " IN SARAWAK HE FOUND HIS OPPORTUNITY . FOR THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI, HE SUBDUED A STUBBORN CIVIL WAR BETWEEN THE MALAYS AND DYAKS . IN GRATITUDE FOR HIS SERVICES (PLUS $2,000 OF BROOKE'S CASH), THE OPPRESSIVE SULTAN IN 1841 MADE HIM RAJAH OF SARAWAK . INDIFFERENT TO CROCODILES, BOA CONSTRICTORS AND POISONED ARROWS, THE WHITE RAJAH LIVED ONLY FOR HIS HANDSOME, AMIABLE PEOPLE . IN 1848 HE WAS KNIGHTED BY HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY, AND IN 1864 BRITAIN RECOGNIZED HIS RAJ . HE DIED A BACHELOR IN 1868 AND WAS SUCCEEDED BY HIS NEPHEW CHARLES, WHO RULED FOR 50 YEARS . RANEE PAN . THE RAJAH WHO BROUGHT SARAWAK INTO THE MODERN WORLD WAS CHARLES BROOKE'S SON, WHO TOOK OVER IN 1917 . IN THE MORE HUMDRUM WORLD OF THE 20TH CENTURY, WITTY, CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED SIR CHARLES VYNER BROOKE BECAME EVEN MORE OF A LEGEND THAN HIS PREDECESSORS . HE ISSUED HIS OWN STAMPS, FLEW HIS OWN FLAG, MAINTAINED HIS OWN ARMY AND POLICE FORCE . HIS RANEE WAS SYLVIA BRETT, THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF A VISCOUNT WHO, IT WAS SAID, HAD BEEN SIR JAMES BARRIE'S INSPIRATION FOR PETER PAN . ANOTHER LITERARY ADMIRER WAS GEORGE BERNARD SHAW . WHEN SYLVIA* MARRIED THE RAJAH IN 1911, HE WROTE : RIDE A COCK HORSE TO SARAWAK CROSS TO SEE A YOUNG RANEE CONSUMED WITH REMORSE . SHE'LL HAVE BELLS ON HER FINGERS, AND RINGS THROUGH HER NOSE, AND WON'T BE PERMITTED TO WEAR ANY CLOTHES . THE BROOKES HAD THREE PRETTY DAUGHTERS, WHO GREW UP IN ENGLAND AND WERE KNOWN TO EVERY TABLOID READER AS PRINCESS GOLD, PRINCESS BABA AND PRINCESS PEARL . AT A GLITTERING SOCIETY WEDDING IN 1933, GOLD BECAME LADY INCHCAPE, BUT BABA AND PEARL WERE TOASTED IN EVERY PUB WHEN THEY WERE MARRIED : BABA TO A WRESTLER, PEARL TO A BANDLEADER . STOCKPILING HEADS . THEIR FATHER HAD LITTLE TIME FOR FRIVOLITY . A SHREWD, SELFEFFACING ADMINISTRATOR, SIR CHARLES TRAVELED TO THE FAR CORNERS OF HIS LAND PERSUADING TRIBAL CHIEFS TO END THEIR WARS AND FORSWEAR HEAD-HUNTING . WHEN THEY PROTESTED THAT THEIR ENEMIES' HEADS WERE NEEDED TO PROPITIATE THE GODS, THE RAJAH ORDERED HIS ENGLISH CIVIL SERVANTS TO STOCKPILE MUMMIFIED LEFTOVERS FROM PREVIOUS WARS AND TO LEND THEM OUT TO THE VILLAGERS AS NEEDED . FROM HIS HANDSOME RIVERSIDE FORTRESS IN KUCHING, HE BROUGHT MODEST PROSPERITY TO THE KINGDOM BY EXPLOITING ITS OIL AND RUBBER RESOURCES AS WELL AS DIAMONDS, BIRDS' NESTS (FOR CHINESE GOURMETS) AND GUTTA-PERCHA (FOR GOLF BALLS) . IN 1941, CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BROOKE RAJ, SIR CHARLES GAVE HIS PEOPLE A CONSTITUTION AND SET THEM ON THE ROAD TO SELF-GOVERNMENT . CONTEMPLATING WAR-RAVAGED SARAWAK IN 1946, SIR CHARLES SADLY REALIZED THAT HIS RAJ HAD BECOME AN ANACHRONISM IN THE POSTWAR WORLD . CEDING SARAWAK TO BRITAIN, HE EXPLAINED THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD FIND " NEW HOPE IN AN ERA OF WIDENING ENLIGHTENMENT, STABILITY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS . " ANOTHER CHANCE . WHEN SIR CHARLES RETIRED TO LONDON, WITH A $2.8 MILLION TRUST FUND THAT WILL ULTIMATELY REVERT TO SARAWAK, THE NATIVES FOUGHT BITTERLY AGAINST BRITISH RULE, EVEN KILLED THE SECOND GOVERNOR, WHO OCCUPIED THE BROOKES' OLD PALACE . THE COUNTRY HAS NEVER RECOVERED FROM THE LOSS OF ITS LEADER . WHEN THE MALAYSIAN FEDERATION (TIME COVER, APRIL 12) COMES INTO EXISTENCE IN AUGUST, STRIFETORN SARAWAK WILL BE ONE OF ITS STATES AND WILL HAVE ITS BEST OPPORTUNITY YET TO ACHIEVE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY . THE LAST WHITE RAJAH DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THAT DAY . LAST WEEK, AT 88, SIR CHARLES VYNER BROOKE DIED IN HIS LONDON HOME . WHEN THE NEWS REACHED SARAWAK, THE SPIRIT-WORSHIPING DYAKS REJOICED, FOR THEY KNEW THAT HIS SOUL WOULD RETURN TO THE STREAM-LACED LAND OF HIS FATHERS . NOT TO BE CONFUSED, HOWEVER, WITH HEMINGWAY'S FICTIONAL LADY BRETT ASHLEY OR THE REALLIFE SYLVIA ASHLEY .
 SENEGAL BRIEFLY SYMPATHETIC ONE MIGHT SAY THAT THINGS WERE RIGGED IN ADVANCE WHEN EX-PREMIER MAMADOU DIA WENT ON TRIAL LAST WEEK FOR ATTEMPTING TO SEIZE POWER IN DECEMBER . AFTER ALL, SIX OF THE SEVEN " JUDGES " WERE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THAT DIA HAD TRIED TO DISSOLVE BY FORCE DURING THE ABORTIVE COUP . THEY JUST MIGHT BE A LITTLE PREJUDICED . BUT WHEN THE PROCEEDINGS BEGAN, THE COURT WAS CAREFUL TO OBSERVE ALL THE FLOWERY DECORUM OF GALLIC JUSTICE . THE PRESIDING JUDGE WAS RESPLENDENT IN ERMINETRIMMED LONG RED ROBES, AND SAT LISTENING WITH CALM DIGNITY . MOREOVER, DIA WAS NOT EVEN CHARGED WITH " PLOTTING, " ONLY WITH THE MORE VAGUE " ACTING AGAINST THE INTERNAL SECURITY OF THE STATE . " TAKING THE FLOOR IN HIS OWN DEFENSE, DIA ARGUED THAT HE WAS NOT GUILTY OF THE CHARGES . WHEN HE SENT GENDARMES TO OVERTHROW PRESIDENT LEOPOLD SENGHOR AND ARREST PRO-SENGHOR DEPUTIES, DIA SAID, HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HEAD OFF A PLOT AGAINST HIMSELF THAT STEMMED FROM HIS EFFORTS TO CRACK SENEGAL'S PEANUT MONOPOLISTS . CRIED DIA : " I WANTED A CONSTITUTIONAL SOLUTION, THEY (SENGHOR'S MEN) WANTED A POLITICAL ONE . " IN REPLY, THE PROSECUTOR SOUNDED DOWNRIGHT SYMPATHETIC . THERE WERE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES, HE AGREED ; DIA WAS OBVIOUSLY A MISGUIDED PATRIOT WHO " THOUGHT THAT ONE COULD NOT BE A GOOD SENEGALESE WHEN ONE WAS AGAINST MAMADOU DIA . " BUT AT WEEK'S END THE COURT GAVELED AN END TO COURTLINESS . AFTER TWO HOURS AND 15 MINUTES OF DELIBERATION, THE JUSTICES SENTENCED DIA TO THE MAXIMUM PENALTY, LIFE IMPRISONMENT .
 SOUTHERN RHODESIA BREAKING THE RULES SHE WAS PICKING CORN . HE WAS WATCHING . " IT WAS NOT LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, " RECALLS STUART FULLER-SANDYS, 50, OF HIS FIRST GLIMPSE OF MARGARET DUBE, 22 . " LOVE CAME LATER LIKE A DELUGE . " THERE WAS ONLY ONE SERIOUS COMPLICATION : SHE WAS BLACK, AND HE WAS WHITE . ON THE FRONT PAGES OF EVERY SOUTHERN RHODESIA PAPER LAST WEEK WAS THE FAIRYTALE ROMANCE OF THE RICH, WIDOWED WHITE RANCHER TO THE PENNILESS DARKY DAUGHTER OF ONE OF HIS SQUATTER TENANTS . IT BEGAN IN 1961, AND HAD PYGMALION OVERTONES . IN HIS IRON-ROOFED BIG HOUSE, FULLER-SANDYS, LIKE HENRY HIGGINS, DAILY GAVE MARGARET LESSONS IN THE SOCIAL GRACES OF THE REGION . MARGARET LEARNED TO SPEAK AND READ, SLOWLY MASTERED THE ASSEMBLY OF CUTLERY FOR A FOUR-COURSE DINNER . FOR HOURS, TEACHER AND PUPIL PORED OVER ARITHMETIC PRIMERS, ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND FASHION MAGAZINES . ONE EVENING FULLER-SANDYS GAZED AT HER IN A SPECIAL WAY ; SHE SAID YES AND IN ENGLISH . PROMPTLY FULLERSANDYS CALLED ON HER GNARLED FATHER, AN AGED AND RESPECTED LABORER ON THE PLACE . NATURALLY, FULLER-SANDYS HANDED OVER A BRIDE PRICE ($100) ; THEN FULLER-SANDYS SLIPPED A DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING ON MARGARET'S FINGER . IT WAS A BRAVE STEP IN WHITE-RULED SOUTHERN RHODESIA . IMMEDIATELY THE GOVERNMENT FIRED FULLER-SANDYS AS AN ADVISER IN THE NATIVE AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, CURTLY EXPLAINING : " YOU CANNOT ADMINISTER AFRICANS AND SLEEP WITH THEM . " OF 48 WHITE FRIENDS FULLER-SANDYS INVITED TO THE WEDDING LAST WEEK, 34 SENT THEIR REGRETS . THE BEAMING BRIDE, CARRYING A BOUQUET OF WHITE DAHLIAS AND WEARING A WHITE SATIN GOWN, HAD THREE AFRICAN BRIDESMAIDS FOR THE CEREMONY ON FULLER-SANDYS'S VERANDA, PERFORMED BY THE REV . RICHARD HUGHES, RECTOR OF AN ANGLICAN CHURCH AT QUE QUE 64 MILES AWAY . THAT NIGHT, UNDER A FULL MOON, THE WEDDED COUPLE ATTENDED AN AFRICAN CELEBRATION IN THEIR HONOR . THERE WAS MUCH LEAP-DANCING AND YELLING AROUND A CAMPFIRE . DURING THE EVENING FULLER-SANDYS HAD A CHANCE TO OPEN A LETTER DELIVERED TO HIM EARLIER IN THE DAY . BEARING NEITHER RETURN ADDRESS NOR SIGNATURE, IT SAID, " YOU BLOODY WHITE KAFFIR, WHAT A DISGRACE TO THE COUNTRY YOU ARE . . . YOUR BELOVED BLACK BASTARD ISN'T EVEN GOOD LOOKING . " HE READ THE NOTE, THEN HANDED IT TO HIS BRIDE . AFTER A MOMENT, SHE REPLIED QUIETLY : " IT DOESN'T MATTER, DEAR . /
 GREECE TRAVELING TALL THE GLORY THAT IS GREECE LAST WEEK PLAYED HOST TO THE GRANDEUR THAT IS CHARLES DE GAULLE . FRENCH SURETE AGENTS FLEW IN AHEAD OF TIME TO GO OVER THE DOSSIERS OF RESIDENT FOREIGNERS AND EYE NEW ARRIVALS AT HELLENIKON AIRPORT . GREEK ARMY ENGINEERS PROWLED THE SEWERS OF ATHENS, SEARCHING FOR HIDDEN BOMBS ; GREY-UNIFORMED COPS STOOD GUARD 25 YARDS APART ALONG THE EIGHT-MILE PARADE ROUTE . EMOTIONALLY, A RETIRED GREEK GENERAL ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS PERSONALLY READY TO SLASH HIS WRISTS TO GIVE BLOOD, IF DE GAULLE WERE SHOT . MORE PRUDENTLY, GREECE'S PREMIER CONSTANTINE KARAMANLIS HAD HIS OWN BLOOD TYPED, IN CASE HE GOT IN THE WAY OF ANY SHOOTING . DRIFTING SMOKE . IN THE EVENT, THE PRECAUTIONS SEEMED EXCESSIVE . DE GAULLE ARRIVED PROMPTLY AT NOON IN HIS BLUE-ANDWHITE CARAVELLE JET AIRLINER, INSPECTED AN HONOR GUARD AS CANNON SMOKE FROM THE 21-GUN SALUTE DRIFTED INTO HIS FACE, THEN CLIMBED INTO A ROLLS-ROYCE CONVERTIBLE WITH GREECE'S TALL KING PAUL . AS THE MOTORCADE REACHED THE CITY LIMITS, DE GAULLE JUMPED TO HIS FEET, WAVED THEATRICALLY TO THE ATHENIANS GATHERED UNDER THE PEPPER TREES . AT HADRIAN'S ARCH, NEAR THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS, HE SAID WITH FEELING : " NO FRENCHMAN, ESPECIALLY MYSELF, COULD FAIL TO BE MOVED BY THIS CITY, NOR FORGET WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED HERE FOR LIBERTY IN 3,000 YEARS . " THEN HE PLUNGED NEARSIGHTEDLY INTO THE CURBSIDE CROWD TO SHAKE HANDS A PROCEDURE THAT GIVES HIS SECURITY GUARDS PERPETUAL JITTERS . BUT THE CHANCE OF A POTSHOT AT DE GAULLE WAS NOT THE ONLY WORRY OF GREEK LEADERS . THE GOVERNMENT WAS ALSO UNEASY THAT DE GAULLE MIGHT TRY TO EMBROIL GREECE IN HIS QUARREL WITH BRITAIN OVER THE COMMON MARKET, AND WITH THE U.S . OVER NATO DEFENSE . IT WAS FRANCE, NOT GREECE, WHICH HAD PUSHED THE TRIP . DE GAULLE HAD PICKED UP AN INVITATION MADE SEVEN YEARS BEFORE TO THEN PRESIDENT RENE COTY . PARIS ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE FRENCH FLEET DROP ANCHOR IN THE PIRAEUS TO COINCIDE WITH DE GAULLE'S ARRIVAL, AND DISCREETLY BROACHED THE PLAN OF HAVING DE GAULLE ADDRESS THE GREEK PUBLIC, AS HE HAD DONE WITH SUCH SUCCESS DURING HIS GERMAN TOUR LAST YEAR . WHEN GREEK REACTION TO BOTH IDEAS WAS COOL, THEY WERE ABANDONED . THE HINGE . NEVERTHELESS, GREECE WAS IN A MOOD TO BE WOOED BY LE GRAND CHARLES . ATHENS OFFICIALS WERE SHOCKED LAST SUMMER, WHEN THE $20 MILLION ANNUAL U.S . DEFENSE AND ECONOMIC AID WAS ABRUPTLY CUT OFF ON THE THEORY THAT THE GREEK ECONOMY NO LONGER NEEDED IT . DE GAULLE IS SAID TO BE PREPARED TO CLIMAX HIS VISIT WITH AN OFFER OF A $10 MILLION DEVELOPMENT LOAN ; FRENCH INVESTMENTS IN GREECE ALREADY TOTAL $60X MILLION AND ARE SECOND ONLY TO U.S . INVESTMENT . AT A PALACE BANQUET, DE GAULLE MADE CLEAR IN A TOAST TO KING PAUL THAT HE HOPES TO EXTEND FRANCE'S INFLUENCE FROM THE " NORTHERN SEAS, " WHICH HE CALLED ONE OF FRANCE'S BOUNDARIES, TO THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, WHERE, HE POINTED OUT, GREECE IS THE " HINGE BETWEEN THE LATIN AND SLAVIC WORLDS, AS WELL AS BETWEEN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST . " THESE WORDS, AND DE GAULLE'S WOOING MANNER, SET DIPLOMATS EVERYWHERE TO A FRESH STUDY OF HIS UPCOMING AMBITIOUS TRAVEL PLANS : IN OCTOBER, CHARLES DE GAULLE, 72, IS SCHEDULED TO VISIT IRAN AND HE IS CONSIDERING LATER TRIPS TO JAPAN, SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH AFRICA, AND THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT NATIONS OF BLACK AFRICA . " TODAY, FRANCE, " MURMURED ONE DAZZLED OBSERVER . " TOMORROW THE WORLD . /
 RUSSIA A LONG, HOT SUMMER FOR MONTHS, DOZENS OF SPEAKERS IN SCORES OF SOVIET CITIES HAD BEEN READYING THEIR PONDEROUS LECTURE TEXTS FOR THE MOST ANXIOUSLY AWAITED DATE ON THE KREMLIN'S SPRING CALENDAR OF EVENTS, MAY 28, WHEN A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE PLENUM WOULD LAY DOWN THE IDEOLOGICAL LAW TO RESTLESS INTELLECTUALS . LAST WEEK THE LONG-SCHEDULED MEETING WAS PUT OFF UNTIL JUNE 18 . THE LAST-MINUTE BREAKDOWN IN THE KREMLIN'S USUALLY WELL OILED MACHINERY NATURALLY TOUCHED OFF A WAVE OF SPECULATION . COULD NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV BE HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS OVER UNLEASHING A WAVE OF NEO-STALINISM ? WAS THE DELAY CAUSED BY THE REPORTED HEART ATTACK OF THE PARTY'S SECOND SECRETARY, HARD-LINER FROL KOZLOV (TIME, MAY 10), WHOSE TOUGH HAND MIGHT BE NEEDED ON THE SPOT TO DRAFT THE ORDERS FOR A CULTURAL CRACKDOWN ? WAS IT ANOTHER PLOY AGAINST RED CHINA ? WHO KNEW ? WHATEVER WAS BEHIND POSTPONEMENT OF THE PLENUM, THE ABRUPT SWITCH SERVED TO DELAY MOSCOW'S COMING CONFRONTATION WITH ITS RIVALS IN PEKING . TWO WEEKS AGO, THE RED CHINESE FINALLY GOT AROUND TO ANSWERING THE SOVIET INVITATION TO DISCUSS THEIR NASTY IDEOLOGICAL QUARREL FACE TO FACE, SUGGESTED A MID-JUNE MEETING IN MOSCOW . BUT SINCE THE SOVIETS COULD SCARCELY CONDUCT TWO SHOWDOWNS AT THE SAME MOMENT, THEY SUGGESTED A NEW DATE, JULY 5 . FOR ONCE, PEKING SAID YES .
 CZECHOSLOVAKIA LOOK WHO'S DESTALINIZING COMMUNIST CZECHOSLOVAKIA, ALWAYS A BASTION OF HARSH STALINISM WHILE MOST OF EASTERN EUROPE WAS BUSY DESTALINIZING, IS LIBERALIZING A LITTLE . THE HUGE STATUE OF THE DEAD DICTATOR THAT OVERLOOKED PRAGUE IS NOW FINALLY DEMOLISHED ; WRITERS HAVE BEGUN TO TALK ABOUT " AN ENLARGED HORIZON OF FREEDOM " ; IN PRAGUE'S LUCERNA HALL DANCE PALACE RECENTLY, TEEN-AGERS ROCKED THE RAFTERS WITH THE OLIVER TWIST AND MOZART'S EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK IN TWIST TEMPO . LAST WEEK OLD STALINIST ANTONIN NOVOTNY, PRESIDENT AND FIRST SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, BOWED TO MOUNTING PRESSURE FROM YOUNGER PARTY LEADERS FOR FURTHER LIBERALIZATION, ANNOUNCED THE PURGE OF TWO OLDTIME COMRADES-IN-ARMS . SERVED UP AS SCAPEGOATS WERE KAROL BACILEK, 66, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE SLOVAK WING OF THE NATION'S COMMUNIST PARTY AND FORMER MINISTER OF INTERNAL SECURITY ; AND BRUNO KOHLER, 62, A PARTY MEMBER SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1921 AND NO . 3 MAN ON THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE SECRETARIAT . ANNOUNCING THEIR DOWNFALL, THE PARTY MOUTHPIECE, RUDE PRAVO,DELIBERATELY GAVE NO REASONS FOR THE OUSTERS, SINCE A FULL EXPLANATION COULD SET OFF A CHAIN REACTION OF DESTALINIZATION THAT MIGHT WELL COST DOUR, LACKLUSTER NOVOTNY HIS JOB . BACILEK WAS TOP COP BACK IN 1952 WHEN RUDOLF SLANSKY AND TEN OTHER RED LEADERS WERE HANGED IN THE BLOODIEST OF STALIN'S SATELLITE SHOW TRIALS ; KOHLER ALSO PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN PREPARING THE PURGE . AND CZECHOSLOVAKS WITH GOOD MEMORIES WOULD RECALL THE DAY ELEVEN YEARS AGO WHEN SECURITY BOSS BACILEK PUBLICLY AND EFFUSIVELY THANKED ALL THOSE WHO HAD PRODUCED THE VALUABLE EVIDENCE THAT HELPED SEND SLANSKY AND HIS COMRADES TO THE GALLOWS, " MOST OF ALL, COMRADE NOVOTNY .
 WAY DOWN SOUTH IN WENCESLAS SQUARE IT WAS ALL RATHER EMBARRASSING . JUST AS RADIO PRAGUE WAS GLEEFULLY REPORTING THE BATTLE IN BIRMINGHAM, RACE RIOTS EXPLODED IN THE HEART OF THE COMMUNIST CAPITAL . IT BEGAN AT MIDDAY NEAR THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL JUST OFF ANCIENT WENCESLAS SQUARE . TWO FOREIGN STUDENTS ONE FROM AFRICA AND ANOTHER FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WERE OUT FOR A STROLL WHEN THEY WERE ATTACKED BY A GANG OF 300 CZECHS WHO PUMMELED THEM WITH FISTS AND BUNCHES OF KEYS WHILE POLICE STOOD IDLY BY . THAT EVENING ANOTHER GROUP OF YOUNG CZECHS BEGAN SWINGING AT AN AFRICAN WALKING WITH HIS CZECH WIFE, THEN PICKED A FIGHT WITH TWO MORE AFRICANS WHO HAD BEEN ARGUING WITH SOME CUBANS . THIS TIME POLICE BROKE UP THE BRAWLS, BUT NOT BEFORE A FOURTH INCIDENT OCCURRED . AN AFRICAN DIPLOMAT HAD PARKED HIS CAR TO INVESTIGATE THE TROUBLE ; HE RETURNED TO DISCOVER THAT ALL FOUR OF HIS TIRES WERE SLASHED . FIVE DAYS LATER, WHEN RADIO PRAGUE FINALLY GOT AROUND TO REPORTING THE ANTIAFRICAN OUTBURSTS, THE REGIME GLOSSED OVER THE INCIDENT AS THE WORK OF DRUNKEN HOOLIGANS . IT WAS MORE SERIOUS THAN THAT . FOR MONTHS, CZECHS HAVE COMPLAINED THAT SUBSIDIES TO UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES, INCLUDING DIRECT OUTLAYS TO SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S WORSENING LIVING STANDARD . AND THE BLACK STUDENTS IN PRAGUE SOMETIMES SEEM TO WALK AWAY WITH THE PRETTIEST GIRLS . THE ARRIVAL OF AFRICANS HAS CREATED RACE PROBLEMS IN SEVERAL PARTS OF THE COMMUNIST WORLD . THERE WAS TROUBLE IN PRAGUE LAST YEAR . AT MOSCOW'S PATRICE LUMUMBA UNIVERSITY, 500 AFRICAN STUDENTS ARE CAREFULLY SEGREGATED FROM RUSSIANS ; THREE MONTHS AGO IN SOFIA, 600 CLUB-WIELDING BULGARIAN COPS CRACKED THE SKULLS OF AFRICAN STUDENTS WHO WERE DEMONSTRATING FOR NOTHING MORE THAN THEIR OWN CAMPUS ORGANIZATION .
 ITALY SEARCH FOR THE FEASIBLE IN ROME'S HANDSOME, HALF-MOON-SHAPED CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES LAST WEEK, EVERYONE HAD TO MOVE LITERALLY TO THE RIGHT TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE 166 NEWLY ELECTED COMMUNISTS, A 20 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THEIR PREVIOUS SHOWING . THE REDS PROMPTLY MADE THEIR POWER FELT IN THE BALLOTING FOR PRESIDING OFFICERS : FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, A WOMAN, MARIA LISA RODANO, 42, WAS ELECTED CHAMBER VICE PRESIDENT . SHE IS A COMMUNIST WHO INSISTS SHE IS A ROMAN CATHOLIC AS WELL AND ATTENDS MASS ON SUNDAYS . RED BOSS PALMIRO TOGLIATTI'S COCKY DEMAND THAT COMMUNISTS BE ADMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT WAS COLDLY REFUSED . ONLY SOLUTION . RED JUBILANCE WAS MATCHED BY CONTINUED DISSENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY . FOCUS OF BLAME FOR THE PARTY'S 4 PER CENT DROP IN VOTES IS PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI . HARDFISTED DEPUTY MARIO SCELBA DECLARED RED SUCCESS " IS THE FRUIT OF OUR MISTAKES AND NOT OF THE SUPERIORITY OF COMMUNIST IDEALS . " SCELBA AND OTHERS OF THE CENTER AND RIGHT STRONGLY OPPOSE A CONTINUANCE OF THE APERTURA A SINISTRA, THE SO-CALLED OPENING TO THE LEFT, INITIATED LAST YEAR BY FANFANI WHEN HE FORMED HIS ALLIANCE WITH PIETRO NENNI'S SOCIALISTS . TROUBLE IS, NO OTHER ALLIANCE SEEMS FEASIBLE . FOR THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, A COALITION WITH THE RIGHTWING MONARCHISTS AND NEO-FASCISTS IS UNTHINKABLE . " GIVEN THE PARLIAMENTARY SITUATION AND THE PREVALENT TRENDS AMONG THE PARTY, ENTED MILAN'S CORRIERE DELLA SERA, " NO SOLUTION IS POSSIBLE OTHER THAN THE SO-CALLED CENTER LEFT . " WHAT SEEMS LESS CERTAIN IS THAT PINTSIZED, PEPPERY AMINTORE FANFANI WILL SURVIVE AS PREMIER . IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITALIAN PROCEDURE, FANFANI LAST WEEK HANDED HIS RESIGNATION TO PRESIDENT ANTONIO SEGNI, WHO IS EXPECTED TO NAME A PREMIER-DESIGNATE THIS WEEK NFANI IS PASSED OVER, NO . 1 CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE WILL BE THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS' TALL, UNASSUMING ALDO MORO, 46, WHO BECAME INTERIM PARTY LEADER IN 1959 AND HAS SINCE EMERGED AS PARTY STRONGMAN . ONLY A CARETAKER . MORO IS SAID TO BE RELUCTANT TO TAKE ON THE JOB, AND HIS LAVISH PRAISE FOR FANFANI AT THE PARTY'S NATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING LAST WEEK SUGGESTED THAT HE, FOR ONE, WOULD PRESS FOR LITTLE AMINTORE'S CONTINUANCE IN OFFICE . IN ANY CASE, HE WOULD NOT LIKELY CHANGE FANFANI'S POLICIES, SINCE HE HIMSELF WAS ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE APERTURA A SINISTRA AND FORCED PARTY ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLAN WITH A SIX-HOUR SPEECH AT LAST YEAR'S NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS IN NAPLES . BUT MORO IS SOMEWHAT LESS ENTHUSIASTIC THAN FANFANI ABOUT ECONOMIC PLANNING, AND COULD BE EXPECTED TO BE MORE OUTSPOKEN ABOUT THE NEED TO CHECK THE COMMUNISTS . MOREOVER, HE MIGHT BE A LOT MORE POPULAR . WHERE FANFANI ENJOYS SHARP EXCHANGES AND IS QUICK TO TRADE INSULTS, MORO IS RESERVED, ANXIOUS TO AVOID ANGRY DEBATES WHENEVER POSSIBLE, AND DETESTS NAME CALLING . SAYS ONE OF HIS FRIENDS, ADMIRINGLY, " MORO RUNS THE PARTY THE WAY HE DRIVES A CAR . HE KEEPS BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL AND BOTH EYES ON THE ROAD, AND HE NEVER DRIVES MORE THAN 35 MILES AN HOUR . " WHETHER SEGNI CHOOSES MORO OR STICKS WITH FANFANI, THE PREMIERSHIP WILL PROBABLY BE NO MORE THAN A CARETAKER'S POSITION FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS . FOR NOT UNTIL MID-JULY WILL NENNI'S SOCIALISTS HOLD THEIR ANNUAL CONVENTION AND DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO STICK WITH THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND KEEP THE CENTER-LEFT ALLIANCE ALIVE .
 DIPLOMACY PERSONA NON GRATA INSURANCE IN HIS OFFICE IN RURAL MAIDENHEAD, INSURANCE BROKER JOHN DOBBIN OPENED HIS LONDON TIMES LAST WEEK, SCANNED THE BIG STORY FROM MOSCOW, AND REACHED APPREHENSIVELY FOR A LIST OF HIS CLIENTS . HE BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF . OF THE TEN BRITISH AND U.S . DIPLOMATS WHO HAD BEEN DECLARED PERSONA NON GRATA BY THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, NONE HAD INSURED HIS STAY IN MOSCOW WITH J.N . DOBBIN & CO . SINCE 1960, THE FIRM HAS OFFERED A UNIQUE POLICY TO PROTECT WESTERN DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY OFFICERS AGAINST THE PRIME HAZARD OF ASSIGNMENT TO MOSCOW : SUDDEN EXPULSION, AND THE OFTEN CONSIDERABLE PERSONAL LOSS THAT IT INVOLVES, FROM THE COST OF RUSSIAN LESSONS TO THE TAB FOR THE FAREWELL PARTY . FOR A $210 ANNUAL PREMIUM, A WESTERN FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER CAN GET THE $5,000 PERSONA NON GRATA COVERAGE FOR TWO YEARS, THE AVERAGE TOUR OF DUTY . AS THE WORD OF DOBBIN'S DIPLOMATIC COVERAGE GOT AROUND, PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO THE OTHER IRON CURTAIN CAPITALS HAVE ALSO SENT TO MAIDENHEAD FOR P.N.G . POLICIES . TO DATE, DOBBIN AND HIS CLIENTS HAVE BEEN LUCKY . OF SOME 50 DIPLOMATS THUS INSURED, ONLY TWO HAVE COLLECTED CONSOLATION MONEY .
 THAILAND IN THE VACCINATION STAGE A U.S . AIR FORCE JET TRANSPORT EASED ONTO CENTRAL THAILAND'S KORAT AIRSTRIP FROM HAWAII LAST WEEK AND DEPOSITED 69 U.S . COMBAT TROOPS IN BATTLE DRESS . THEY WERE THE ADVANCE UNIT OF THE TWO U.S . ARMY BATTLE GROUPS SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN NEXT MONTH'S SEATO MANEUVERS INVOLVING 25,000 TROOPS FROM THAILAND, THE U.S., FRANCE, BRITAIN, PAKISTAN AND THE PHILIPPINES . AT SEATO HEADQUARTERS IN BANGKOK, THE PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE WAS EXPLAINED : " THE OPERATION SUPPOSES THAT OUT OF TENSE CONDITIONS NEAR THE BORDER OF THAILAND AN ENEMY FORCE CROSSES INTO THIS COUNTRY IN OPEN AGGRESSION . " ACROSS THE MEKONG . THOUGH THE SEATO BATTLE PLAN WAS WRITTEN MONTHS AGO, RECENT EVENTS IN NEIGHBORING LAOS HAVE GIVEN IT PRESSING IMMEDIACY . THAILAND TODAY IS PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO WHAT U.S . AMBASSADOR KENNETH TODD YOUNG CALLS " AGGRESSION BY SEEPAGE . " SOME 45,000 NORTH VIETNAMESE, MANY OF WHOM SETTLED IN THAILAND DURING INDO-CHINA'S WAR AGAINST FRANCE, HAVE BEEN HEAVILY INFILTRATED BY COMMUNIST AGENTS . AMONG THE MOUNTAIN TRIBES OF THE NORTH, THERE IS NO SENSE OF NATIONALITY AND NO LOYALTY TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN BANGKOK . WHAT IS MORE, SOME 9,000,000 THAIS OF LAO STOCK LIVE IN THE ISOLATED, SCRUBBY, AND IMPOVERISHED NORTHEASTERN PROVINCES JUST ACROSS THE MUDDY MEKONG RIVER FROM THEIR ETHNIC BROTHERS IN LAOS . WITH NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF LAOS CURRENTLY IN COMMUNIST HANDS, THE ENTIRE NORTHEAST HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO RED SUBVERSION . POSING AS PEDDLERS, RIVER BOATMEN AND WANDERING TROUBADOURS, COMMUNIST INFILTRATORS FROM LAOS PASS OUT CLOTHING AND MEDICINE, IMPROVISE ANTIGOVERNMENT VERSES ON OLD FOLK SONGS . " LAO WILL BE LAO, " THEY SAY . " THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THIS AREA ARE LAOS ; THOSE WHO LIVE BEYOND KORAT ARE THAIS . " COMMUNISM IS NEVER MENTIONED ; INSTEAD, THE REDS CONSTANTLY HARP ON THE THEME THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS WILFULLY NEGLECTED THE NORTHEAST, PROMISE VILLAGERS A SALARY OF $150 A MONTH (V . THAILAND'S PER CAPITA INCOME OF $105 A YEAR) IF THEY WILL JOIN FORCES WITH THE LAOTIAN REDS . WELLS ON WHEELS . SPURRED BY THE DISCOVERY OF HIDDEN COMMUNIST ARMS CACHES AND REPORTS OF RED SUPPLY DROPS BY PARACHUTE IN THE NORTHEAST, PREMIER SARIT THANARAT HAS BEGUN A CRASH PROGRAM TO COUNTERACT RED INFLUENCE IN THE AREA . EARMARKING $300 MILLION IN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS, HE HAS ALREADY SENT OUT TWO OF A PLANNED TWELVE MOBILE DEVELOPMENT UNITS TO DRILL FRESH-WATER WELLS, BULLDOZE NEW ROADS, AND DISPENSE MEDICAL CARE . UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THAILAND'S SHARPEST AND MOST AGGRESSIVE YOUNG CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO ONCE SHUNNED THE NORTHEAST AS A KIND OF SIBERIA, SCHOOLS ARE BEING BUILT AND ELECTRIC GENERATORS INSTALLED TO PROVIDE POWER . GOVERNMENT INFORMATION TEAMS ARE CRISSCROSSING THE NORTHEAST STRESSING THE ADVANTAGES OF THAI UNITY . SARIT'S SPEED HAS BEEN CHARACTERISTIC OF HIS RULE SINCE HE SEIZED POWER IN 1957 . " ANYBODY CAN STAGE A REVOLUTION, " HE SAID THEN . " THE TRICK, ONCE THE REVOLUTION HAS BEEN STAGED, IS WINNING PUBLIC APPROVAL . " SARIT HAS SUCCEEDED ADMIRABLY . YOZ 54, SARIT CAME INTO PROMINENCE AS A HARD-DRINKING, HARD-WENCHING ARMY FIELD MARSHAL WHO ONCE SHOWED UP AT AN EMBASSY DINNER PARTY IN BANGKOK CARRYING HIS OWN LIQUOR, WITH THE COMPLAINT THAT HIS HOST'S HOOCH WAS SECOND RATE . CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POWER CALMED HIM DOWN . THOUGH HE ONCE WAS INVOLVED IN VARIOUS DEVIOUS DEALS, HE SLASHED CORRUPTION TO THE MINIMUM . " HE WANTS HIS NAME IN THE HISTORY BOOKS, NOT HIS MONEY IN A SWISS BANK ACCOUNT, " AN OBSERVER EXPLAINED . SOME FOREIGN HELP . SARIT CRACKED DOWN HARD ON THE COMMUNISTS, OUTLAWED TRADE WITH RED CHINA . HELPED BY MORE THAN $750 MILLION IN U.S . AID, HE STABILIZED THE ECONOMY, ACHIEVED A HEFTY TRADE BALANCE, AND SOCKED AWAY MORE THAN $500 MILLION IN FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RESERVES THAT ENCOURAGED FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION . THE U.S.-BUILT FRIENDSHIP HIGHWAY FACILITATED THE MOVEMENT OF CROPS TO MARKET, AND THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN AN AGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM TO LESSEN DEPENDENCE ON RICE, THAILAND'S SINGLE CASH CROP . TODAY, THE U.S . MAINTAINS SOME 4,500 MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THAILAND . THEY HELP BUILD ROADS, FLY HELICOPTERS AND OPERATE U.S.-THAI RADAR STATIONS . ONE GROUP OF NAVY SEABEES IS BUILDING A 6,200 YARD JET AIRSTRIP NEAR THE FRONTIER WITH LAOS . IN NEXT MONTH'S MANEUVERS THAILAND'S TOUGH, MODERN-EQUIPPED, 80,000MAN ARMY WILL WORK TO PERFECT ITS COUNTERINSURGENCY TECHNIQUES . MORE THAN ITS NEIGHBORS, THAILAND HAS A MOTIVE TO FIGHT AGAINST A POTENTIAL COMMUNIST TAKEOVER ; OF ALL THE NATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, THAILAND ALONE HAS NEVER BEEN DOMINATED BY A COLONIAL POWER, HAS BEEN INDEPENDENT SINCE THE 13TH CENTURY . SARIT IS CONFIDENT THAT HIS PROGRAM WILL KEEP IT SO . " THE SITUATION WAS QUITE SERIOUS, " HE ADMITS, " BUT SINCE WE STARTED TO MOVE IN THE NORTHEAST, THE DANGER HAS BECOME LESS ACUTE . " ADDS A TOP MILITARY AIDE : " THAILAND IS IN THE VACCINATION STAGE . WE DON'T HAVE THE DISEASE OF COMMUNISM . IF WE VACCINATE NOW, WE WON'T FALL ILL . /
 HONG KONG 2-12 PARCHED COLONY BUDDHIST MONKS AND NUNS IN HONG KONG LAST WEEK CHANTED PRAYERS TO THE PULSATING TICK-TOCK OF STICKS BEATING ON FISH-SHAPED WOODEN BLOCKS . THRONGS OF CHINESE PARADED THROUGH DOWNTOWN STREETS CARRYING HUGE PAPER DRAGONS REPRESENTING THE RAIN GOD, AND THE BLARE OF DRUMS, GONGS AND CYMBALS EXHORTED THE HEAVENS TO SEND RAIN . WHEN A BRIEF SHOWER DAMPENED HONG KONG ONE AFTERNOON, MARKING THE FIRST RAINFALL IN SIX MONTHS, MEN AND WOMEN CLAPPED THEIR HANDS AND SHOUTED FOR JOY . HONG KONG IS SUFFERING CRITICALLY FROM THE LONGEST DROUGHT IN YEARS . THE VITAL TEXTILE DYEING INDUSTRY LOST AN ESTIMATED $1,700,000 IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR . THE ONLY BREWERY FACES CURTAILED PRODUCTION, AND DELIVERIES OF SOFT DRINKS HAVE FALLEN 60 PER CENT . THE RESERVOIRS ARE SO NEARLY DRY THAT HONG KONG AUTHORITIES LAST WEEK IMPOSED A STRICT NEW RATION ON THE CITY : FOUR HOURS OF RUNNING WATER EVERY OTHER DAY . IN PRIVATE HOMES WATER IS USED FIRST FOR BATHING, THEN FOR WASHING CLOTHES, FINALLY FOR GARDENS . ORDINARILY, HONG KONG BUYS 5 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER ANNUALLY FROM RED CHINA'S SHUMCHUN RESERVOIR, JUST ACROSS THE BORDER . LAST MONTH THE COLONY CONTRACTED TO BUY AN ADDITIONAL 700 MILLION GALLONS FROM THE CHINESE AT A COST OF $29,890 . AT THE REDUCED RATE OF DAILY CONSUMPTION OF 36 MILLION GALLONS (COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL 60 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY), HONG KONG'S RESERVES WILL BE EXHAUSTED IN 66 DAYS . HARDEST HIT BY THE DROUGHT ARE THE FARMERS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, WHO DESPERATELY NEED SPRING RAINS TO SAVE THEIR RICE AND VEGETABLE CROPS . THOSE FARMERS WHO OWN WELLS PADLOCK THEM AT NIGHT TO FOIL WATER THIEVES . AT WEEK'S END, THE SHORTAGE HAD GROWN SO SERIOUS THAT SHIPS OF THE U.S . SEVENTH FLEET WERE ORDERED TO CEASE TAKING ON POTABLE WATER IN HONG KONG " TO AVOID FURTHER DRAIN ON THE LOCAL WATER SUPPLY . /
 IRAN NO LONGER FOR THE CORRUPT " CORRUPTION IS THE LUBRICANT OF THE IRANIAN ECONOMY, " A DIPLOMAT IN TEHERAN ONCE OBSERVED . DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE PISHKASH (BRIBE), JUSTICE WAS BOUGHT AND SOLD, TAX RIGHTS WERE PURCHASED, GOVERNMENT JOBS AUCTIONED OFF, CONTRACTS GIVEN, AND CONSCRIPTION WAS WAIVED . SPORADIC EFFORTS BY SHAH MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI TO CLEAN THINGS UP USUALLY ENDED DISMALLY IN A DISASTROUS SERIES OF ACQUITTALS, AND CASES DROPPED FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE . BUT TEN MONTHS AGO, NEW PREMIER ASSADOLLAH ALAM PLEDGED TO UNDERTAKE " AN ANTICORRUPTION CAMPAIGN WITH GREAT DILIGENCE AND ALL SEVERITY . " THOUGH THE CYNICAL SNICKERED, ALAM GOT FREE REIN FROM THE SHAH, CAREFULLY BEGAN BUILDING AIRTIGHT CASES AGAINST SUSPECTED GRAFTERS AMONG IRAN'S LEADING BUREAUCRATS AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS . HIS FIRST MAJOR TARGET WAS GENERAL MOHAMMED ALI KHAZAI, THE IRANIAN ARMY'S CHIEF OF ORDNANCE, WHO HAD PARLAYED HIS $6,000 SALARY INTO THREE HOUSES IN THE SUBURBS OF TEHERAN, FOUR APARTMENT HOUSES IN FRANCE, FIVE AUTOMOBILES, $100,000 IN EUROPEAN BANKS AND $200,000 IN CASH . A MILITARY COURT CONVICTED KHAZAI OF TAKING A CUT OUT OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS AND SENTENCED HIM TO FIVE YEARS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT . LAST WEEK ALAM'S ANTICORRUPTION DRIVE WAS IN FULL SWING . IN TEHERAN, A MILITARY TRIBUNAL SENTENCED GENERAL ABDULLAH HEDAYAT, IRAN'S FIRST FOUR-STAR GENERAL AND ONCE A CLOSE ADVISER OF THE SHAH, TO TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING MONEY ON MILITARY HOUSING CONTRACTS, BRUSHED ASIDE HIS PLEA FOR APPEAL WITH THE BRUSQUE EXPLANATION THAT " MORE CHARGES ARE PENDING " THE FORMER BOSS OF THE TEHERAN ELECTRICITY BOARD WAS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR FIVE YEARS ; CASES WERE IN PREPARATION AGAINST AN EX-WAR MINISTER AND TWELVE OTHER GENERALS FOR GRAFT . SAID ONE OBSERVER : " THE SHAH HAS GOT THE GRAFTERS AND SPECULATORS ON THE RUN . /
 MIDDLE EAST FROM GOD, OR NASSER IT IS NEVER FUN TO BREAK UP A VACATION AND RUSH HOME TO DEAL WITH SOME PROBLEM AT THE OFFICE . FOR EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, IT WAS ESPECIALLY PROVOKING, FOR HE WAS ENJOYING SOME OF THE WORLD'S LOVELIEST SCENERY AT MARSHAL TITO'S VILLA ON THE YUGOSLAV ISLAND OF BRIONI . BUT THE CABLES FROM CAIRO CARRIED WORD THAT NASSER'S ARAB UNITY SCHEME WAS IN A STATE OF COLLAPSE . RELUCTANTLY, EGYPT'S LEADER BOARDED A PLANE AND HEADED ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN TO DEAL WITH HIS TROUBLEMAKING PARTNERS, THE SYRIANS . BEHIND THE CRISIS WAS A GAMBLE THREE WEEKS AGO BY SYRIAN NASSERITES THAT BY YANKING THEIR SIX MINISTERS FROM THE CABINET THEY COULD BRING THE GOVERNMENT DOWN, TOUCH OFF STREET RIOTING, AND SNATCH CONTROL FROM THE DOMINANT BAATH PARTY IN THE RESULTING CONFUSION . UP TO A POINT, THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED . BAATHIST PREMIER SALAH BITAR HAD TO QUIT ; HIS REPLACEMENT WAS DR . SAMI JUNDI, SUPPOSEDLY A NASSER ADMIRER . BUT AS IT TURNED OUT, JUNDI, AFTER THREE SLEEPLESS DAYS AND NIGHTS OF TRYING TO PERSUADE BOTH SIDES TO COOPERATE, WEARILY STEPPED ASIDE TO LET ANOTHER PREMIER SEEK A SOLUTION . WHO WAS THE NEW PREMIER ? NONE OTHER THAN BITAR, WHO PROMPTLY FILLED THE NASSERITE CABINET VACANCIES WITH BAATH SUPPORTERS AND TIGHTENED THE PARTY'S GRIP OVER THE ARMY, THUS COMPLETING A PURGE THAT HAD ALREADY SENT TWO PLANELOADS OF OFFICERS SUSPECTED OF EGYPTIAN LEANINGS INTO EXILE . WITHIN HOURS OF THE ANTINASSER STROKE IN SYRIA, MUCH THE SAME THING HAPPENED IN IRAQ . THERE TWO NASSERITES WERE DUMPED FROM THE CABINET AND WERE REPLACED BY MORE PLIABLE FELLOWS . CAIRO WAS ENRAGED AT BAATH'S " TRICKERY, TREACHERY AND TERRORISM . " THUNDERED EGYPT'S AL GUMHURIA :. " PUNISHMENT FROM GOD IS SURE TO COME . OR IF NOT FROM GOD, FROM NASSER .
 MOROCCO EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTIONS ARAB AND AFRICAN LEADERS GENERALLY SNEER AT HASSAN II OF MOROCCO BECAUSE HE IS A KING IN AN ERA OF CRUMBLED MONARCHIES . YET SUCH " PROGRESSIVES " AS EGYPT'S NASSER AND GHANA'S NKRUMAH WOULD NOT DARE TO LET THEIR OWN PEOPLE INDULGE IN THE MEASURE OF PRESS FREEDOM AND POLITICAL DEMOCRACY THAT HASSAN ALLOWED IN LAST WEEK'S NATIONAL ELECTIONS . AT STAKE WERE 144 SEATS FOR A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE FIRST FREELY ELECTED CHAMBER SINCE MOROCCO WON INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE SEVEN YEARS AGO, AND THE FIELD WAS WIDE OPEN . HASSAN'S MAJOR OPPOSITION PARTIES, THE NATIONALIST ISTIQLAL AND THE LEFTIST NATIONAL UNION OF POPULAR FORCES, WERE OUT IN STRENGTH, AND EVEN THE COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIALLY OUTLAWED BUT QUIETLY TOLERATED FIELDED THREE CANDIDATES . OPPOSITION NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATED FREELY, AND ONE PROMINENT POLITICIAN GOT AWAY WITH CALLING THE KING A LIAR . TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION, HASSAN ALSO ENTERED THE RACE BY HAVING HIS CLOSEST CONFIDANT, INTERIOR-AGRICULTURE MINISTER AHMED REDA GUEDIRA, 40, ORGANIZE A PRO-HASSAN PARTY CHRISTENED THE FRONT FOR THE DEFENSE OF CONSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONS . UNSURPRISINGLY, THE F.D.C.I . ENJOYED THE USE OF GOVERNMENT VEHICLES TO HAUL WONDERING TRIBESMEN TO RALLIES, PLUS THE ORGANIZED SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ADMINISTRATIVE BUREAUCRACY . FLUSH WITH CAMPAIGN CASH, F.D.C.I . LEADER GUEDIRA (WHO GOT SOME POINTERS WHEN HE WITNESSED THE 1960 U.S . ELECTION CAMPAIGN) PASSED OUT THOUSANDS OF FREE MINIATURE SOCCER BALLS, T-SHIRTS AND CAMPAIGN BUTTONS BEARING THE ROYALIST PARTY COLOR (YELLOW) . MORE IMPORTANT FOR HASSAN, HOWEVER, WAS THE TRADITIONAL APATHY OF MOROCCO'S 75 PER CENT ILLITERATE POPULATION . IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF FEZ, A HEAVILY VEILED SCRUBWOMAN CANDIDLY DECLARED, " I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT, BUT I AM GOING TO VOTE FOR MY KING . " HASSAN'S ROYALISTS EXPECTED TO WIN ENOUGH SEATS TO ASSURE THE KING OF A PLURALITY . IN ANY CASE, HE DID NOT HAVE TO WORRY MUCH, FOR THERE WERE LIMITS TO HIS EXPERIMENT IN DEMOCRACY . UNDER A NEW CONSTITUTION HE PERSONALLY DRAFTED LAST YEAR, HE CAN DISSOLVE THE HOUSE AT ANY TIME HE CHOOSES .
 SAUDI ARABIA THE AILING, FAILING KING IN RECENT MONTHS 62-YEAR-OLD KINGSAUD OF SAUDI ARABIA HAS SUFFERED A SUCCESSION OF INTESTINAL, STOMACH, CHEST, CIRCULATORY AND HEART AILMENTS . OFTEN THEY SEEM TO BE AGGRAVATED BY THE SWIRLING POLITICAL EVENTS IN HIS DESERT CAPITAL OF RIYADH . AFTER THE YEMEN REBELLION LAST FALL THREATENED THE STABILITY OF HIS THRONE, SAUD'S HEALTH WAS SO UPSET THAT HE TURNED THE GOVERNMENT OVER TO HIS ABLE BROTHER, PRINCE FEISAL, AND FLEW TO SWITZERLAND FOR TREATMENT . WHILE SAUD SPENT WEEKS CONVALESCING IN PARIS AND ON THE RIVIERA, PRINCE FEISAL WAS USING A NEW BROOM AT HOME . HE FIRED ALL OF SAUD'S SONS AND AIDES WHO HELD GOVERNMENT POSTS, AND CUT ROYAL FAMILY ALLOWANCES A WHOPPING 20 PER CENT . IN A SERIES OF SPEECHES, FEISAL TOLD WIDE-EYED CITIZENS : " WITH GOD'S HELP, YOU AND YOUR GOVERNMENT ARE GOING THE RIGHT WAY . EDUCATION, MEDICAL CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY ARE ALL COMPLETELY FREE . " IN ANSWER TO DOLEFUL PLEAS FROM HIS SONS AND RELATIONS, KING SAUD CAUTIOUSLY RETURNED HOME LAST MONTH . A FEW TRIBAL DELEGATIONS CAME TO RIYADH TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS . ONE, LED BY DEPUTY PREMIER PRINCE KHALID, ANOTHER OF SAUD'S 39 BROTHERS, HANDED THE KING AN ULTIMATUM . TACTFULLY BUT PLAINLY, THE CHIEFTAINS WARNED HIM NOT TO INTERFERE WITH FEISAL OR MAKE ANY ATTEMPT AGAIN TO WIELD POWER, AT THE RISK OF DETHRONEMENT . THEY ALSO DEMANDED INSTANT BANISHMENT OF SAUD'S PERSONAL AIDE, EID BEN SALEM, WHO ROSE FROM PALACE CHAUFFEUR TO ROYAL ENTREPRENEUR AND BECAME VASTLY RICH IN THE PROCESS . SAUD CAVED IN . ORDERED OUT OF THE COUNTRY, BEN SALEM, WHO HAS HIS FORTUNE STASHED IN EUROPEAN BANKS, FLEW OFF NONCHALANTLY TO BEIRUT . FORTY-EIGHT HOURS LATER, SAUD GOT AN EVEN WORSE SHOCK : ONE OF HIS FAVORITE WIVES, HANDSOME PRINCESS IM MANSOUR, VANISHED FROM THE PALACE TO JOIN HER LOVER, BEN SALEM, IN EXILE . THE PERSONAL AND POLITICAL BLOWS COMBINED TO IMPAIR THE REGAL HEALTH ONCE AGAIN . MOSLEM PILGRIMS TO MECCA WHO WERE BOOKED ON HALF A DOZEN JET FLIGHTS HOME SUDDENLY FOUND THEIR PASSAGES HAD BEEN CANCELED . INSTEAD, THE AIRLINERS FLEW TO RIYADH, PICKED UP THE AILING KING AND HIS HUGE RETINUE, AND CARRIED THEM OFF TO VIENNA . AT WEEK'S END KING SAUD WAS REPORTEDLY IN AN OXYGEN TENT, RESPONDING TO TREATMENT FOR A DUODENAL ULCER . DOCTORS PREDICTED RECOVERY WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, BUT RUMORS STILL FILTERED THROUGH VIENNA THAT SAUD WAS IN FACT QUITE ILL . SHOULD SAUD DIE, PRINCE FEISAL WILL BECOME KING IN NAME AS WELL AS IN FACT .
 AFRICA TOGETHER AT THE " SUMMIT " THE NORMALLY SLEEPY ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL OF ADDIS ABABA WAS ASTIR WITH FEVERISH ACTIVITY LAST WEEK . CROWDS OF RAGGED CITIZENS STOOD GAPING AS WORKMEN RUSHED TO INSTALL HUGE PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT AFRICANS ACROSS FROM HAILE SELASSIE'S PALACE . FINISHING TOUCHES WERE BEING PUT ON A SPANKING NEW HOTEL . MILE AFTER MILE OF 8-FT.-HIGH CORRUGATED IRON FENCE WAS BEING PUT IN PLACE ALONG MAIN STREETS TO HIDE THE CITY'S SHABBY SLUMS . ALL THE EXCITEMENT WAS IN ANTICIPATION OF THIS WEEK'S PAN-AFRICAN " SUMMIT " CONFERENCE OF SOME 30 AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE . NEVER BEFORE HAD SO MANY LEADERS OF AFRICA SAT DOWN IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME, AND THEIR PROUD HOST, THE AGING (70) ETHIOPIAN EMPEROR, WAS OUT AT THE AIRPORT IN PERSON WITH HIS GREEN-ANDBLACK ROLLS-ROYCE TO GREET MANY OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS, INCLUDING LIBERIA'S PRESIDENT WILLIAM V . SHADRACH TUBMAN, WHO ARRIVED FIVE DAYS EARLY SO AS TO SQUEEZE IN A STATE VISIT . THE GUEST LIST WAS A WHO'S WHO OF AFRICA'S SUCCESSFUL REVOLUTIONARIES AND MODERATE NATION BUILDERS . GHANA'S EGOCENTRIC OSAGYEFO (REDEEMER), KWAME NKRUMAH, WAS DUE IN FROM ACCRA . FROM THE CONGO WOULD COME THE EMBATTLED PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA . ALSO ON THE LIST : NIGERIA'S ABLE PRIME MINISTER SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA ; SENEGAL'S SENGHOR ; GUINEA'S SEKOU TOURE ; AND DOZENS MORE, INCLUDING, OF COURSE, THAT AFFABLE FELLOW FROM UP NORTH, EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, WHO WAS AN AFRICAN OF A KIND . PREDICTABLY, THERE WERE THOSE INTERESTED IN BENDING THE CONFERENCE TO THEIR OWN ENDS :. GHANA'S NKRUMAH SENT A 120-MEMBER DELEGATION PILING INTO ADDIS ABABA COMPLETE WITH A HIGH-LIFE DANCE BAND . OSAGYEFO WOULD BE PEDDLING HIS PET SCHEME FOR A BICAMERAL ALL-AFRICA PARLIAMENT AND OTHER SIMILAR QUICKIE APPROACHES TO A UNITED AFRICA . NO ONE WAS LIKELY TO BUY NKRUMAH'S SCHEMES, HOWEVER, FOR IT HAS LONG BEEN OBVIOUS TO ALL OF AFRICA THAT IT IS BASICALLY NKRUMAH THAT NKRUMAH WANTS TO PROMOTE . APART FROM THAT, REGIONAL DIFFERENCES MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THE MOST THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE IS A LOOSE ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES PATTERNED AFTER THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, WITH A PERMANENT SECRETARIAT, COUNCIL AND PROGRAM FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION . SUCH A GROUPING MIGHT HELP HEAL THE RIFTS AMONG THE CONTINENT'S CURRENT RIVAL BLOCS CHIEF AMONG THEM THE LEFTLEANING CASABLANCA GROUP (GHANA, GUINEA, MALI, MOROCCO, ALGERIA, EGYPT), AND THE MORE MODERATE MONROVIA GROUP, NOW COMPOSED OF NIGERIA, LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE, ETHIOPIA, THE FORMER BELGIAN CONGO, AND MOST OF THE FORMER FRENCH DEPENDENCIES .
 EUROPE FIRST, THE SHELL IN MAJOR DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC, THE U.S . LAST WEEK CONFRONTED THE NEW, ASSERTIVE EUROPE . AT GENEVA, THE U.S . STARTED TO BARGAIN FOR ITS FUTURE ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH THE COMMON MARKET, WHICH IS JUST FIVE YEARS OLD AND IS ALREADY THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TRADING BLOC . AT OTTAWA, IN RECOGNITION OF ITS ALLIES' NEW STRENGTH, THE U.S . INITIATED THE SLOW, PAINFUL PROCESS OF SHARING WITH EUROPE CONTROL OF NATO'S NUCLEAR ARMORY . IF NEITHER CONFERENCE PRODUCED DRAMATIC RESULTS, BOTH NARROWLY SKIRTED BREAKDOWNS THAT MIGHT HAVE GRAVELY DAMAGED THE ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP . NAKED EUROPEANS . DESPITE FRANCE'S AVERSION TO TARIFF-CUTTING, U.S . NEGOTIATORS AT GENEVA HOPED TO ACHIEVE FAR-REACHING LIBERALIZATION OF WORLD TRADE THROUGH PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S TRADE EXPANSION ACT . SPECIAL ENVOY CHRISTIAN HERTER AND HIS 20-MAN DELEGATION WHO WERE DUBBED " ONWARD CHRISTIAN'S SOLDIERS " BY THE PRESS CORPS AIMED FOR AN AGREEMENT WHEREBY EUROPE AND THE U.S . WOULD MAKE BIG, EQUAL, ACROSS-THE-BOARD PERCENTAGE CUTS ON HUGE CATEGORIES OF GOODS . NOTHING DOING, RETORTED THE EUROPEANS, WHO POINTED OUT THAT U.S . TARIFFS ARE GENERALLY HIGHER THAN EUROPE'S, WHILE THE HIGHEST U.S . TARIFFS COVER FAR MORE GOODS (20 PER CENT OF ALL U.S . TARIFFS ARE OVER 30 PER CENT V . 1 PER CENT OF EUROPE'S) . THUS, PROTESTED EUROCRATS, IF EUROPEAN NATIONS CUT THEIR ALREADY LOWER TARIFFS BY THE SAME PERCENTAGE AS THE U.S., THEY WOULD END UP " NAKED, " WHILE THE U.S . WOULD STILL BE COMPARATIVELY WELL PROTECTED . IN ANY CASE, SHRUGGED EUROPEANS, THE U.S . IN 1962 EARNED NEARLY TWICE AS MUCH ($4.4 BILLION) IN THE COMMON MARKET AS IT BOUGHT FROM THE SIX . SO WHY MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR THE AMERICANS ? INSIDE THE EGG . THE TALKS ACTUALLY HAD BROKEN DOWN, WHEN WEST GERMANY'S LUDWIG ERHARD DEVISED THE LAST-DITCH COMPROMISE THAT PROVED ACCEPTABLE TO JOHN F . KENNEDY . IT CALLS FOR BOTH SIDES TO MAKE EQUAL, ACROSS-THE-BOARD PERCENTAGE REDUCTIONS, AS PROPOSED BY THE U.S . THOUGH THEY WILL PROBABLY FALL FAR SHORT OF THE IDEAL 50 PER CENT ENVISAGED BY WASHINGTON . IN RETURN, THE U.S . AGREED IN PRINCIPLE TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS IN THE HIGHEST TARIFF CATEGORIES . SINCE THE FINE PRINT WILL NOT ACTUALLY BE NEGOTIATED UNTIL MAY 1964, SOME U.S . AND BRITISH OFFICIALS WERE FEARFUL, AS ONE PUT IT, THAT " FRANCE HAS ONLY MOVED HER ROADBLOCK DOWN THE ROAD . " CONCLUDED ERHARD : " WE ARE AGREED ON THE SHELL OF AN EGG . WHAT WILL BE IN THE EGG, WE DO NOT KNOW . " AT OTTAWA EVERYONE KNEW WHAT WAS IN THE EGG, BUT NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO CALL IT . WELL IN ADVANCE OF LAST WEEK'S SEMIANNUAL NATO COUNCIL MEETING, THE U.S . AND ITS ALLIES HAD AGREED ON A NEW ADDITION TO NATO'S ALPHABETICAL ARMORY : IANF, MEANING INTERALLIED NUCLEAR FORCE . A LIMITED FIRST STEP TOWARD GIVING NATO ITS OWN NUCLEAR DETERRENT, IANF NOW CONSISTS MAINLY OF 180 BRITISH V-BOMBERS AND THREE MEDITERRANEAN-BASED U.S . POLARIS SUBMARINES THAT THE TWO NATIONS WILL TURN OVER TO NATO COMMAND . WHILE IT ALSO INCLUDES 60 FRENCH TACTICAL BOMBERS, FOR WHICH THE U.S . CONTROLS THE NUCLEAR WARHEADS, THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT HINTED THAT IT MIGHT WITHDRAW THEM IF IANF WERE MADE TO SEEM BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL AS IT IS THAN FRANCE'S VAUNTED FORCE DE FRAPPE . THUS THE ALLIES AGREED THAT IF FRANCE AGREED NOT TO MAKE ANY SCENES AT OTTAWA, IANF WOULD BE NAMELESS IT SOON BECAME KNOWN AS THAT THING BY ANY NAME, THE NEW FORCE IS INTENDED TO GIVE THE NATO ALLIES A GREATER SENSE OF PARTICIPATION IN NUCLEAR STRATEGY, BUT WILL DO LITTLE TO INCREASE THEIR ACTUAL ROLE IN THE DEFENSE OF EUROPE . A MORE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT, IN THE U.S . VIEW, WOULD BE FORMATION OF A MULTILATERAL FORCE (MLF), COMPRISING SOME 20 POLARIS-FIRING SURFACE VESSELS THAT WOULD BE JOINTLY OWNED, CREWED AND PAID FOR BY THE PARTICIPATING ALLIES . ITS MAIN PURPOSE, OF COURSE, WOULD BE TO ACCOMMODATE WEST GERMANY'S EAGERNESS FOR A NUCLEAR ROLE COMMENSURATE WITH ITS ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER . BUT THE U.S . WILL HAVE TO YIELD FAR MORE IF IT IS TO MEET ITS ALLIES' DEMANDS FOR CONTROL OF THEIR OWN NUCLEAR DEFENSE . IN OTTAWA, AS AT GENEVA, THE DIALOGUE HAD BARELY BEGUN
 GREAT BRITAIN TROLLOPE, HOT TIDE BETTER EDUCATION . NEW INDUSTRIES . BETTER TRANSPORT . THAT PROMISE, IN FIVE COLUMNS OF TYPE ACROSS NEWSPAPER PAGES, WAS MADE LAST WEEK BY THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY, LAUNCHING ITS FIRST ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN SINCE ITS YOU-NEVER-HAD-IT-SOGOOD SERIES IN 1959 . THE TORIES' NEW THEME : " BRITAIN IS MODERNIZING NOW AND ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES HAVE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO SEE THE JOB THROUGH . " THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT HAS YET TO SET A DATE FOR THE ELECTION, THE COSTLY MANIFESTO SUGGESTED THAT PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN INTENDS TO GO TO THE PEOPLE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER PERHAPS IN THE FALL . NEXT DAY THE OPPOSITION BURST INTO PRINT WITH ITS OWN LONG-PLANNED AD CAMPAIGN FEATURING A NEW SYMBOL, A WELL-KNUCKLED THUMBS UP THE TOILER'S EQUIVALENT OF THE TORY V-FOR-VICTORY GESTURE AND THE SLOGAN : LET'S GO WITH LABOR . THE LABORITES DEVOTED HALF OF THEIR FIRST BOLD SPREAD TO A PICTURE OF PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON FOR ONCE WITHOUT A PIPE AND USED THE REST OF THE SPACE TO EXPLAIN THE " CHANGES THE NEW LABOR GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO MAKE . " THEY RANGED FROM A SHAKE-UP IN INDUSTRY ( " TOO MANY DIRECTORS SITTING IN BOARD ROOMS BECAUSE OF THEIR FAMILY BACKGROUND " ) TO AN EXPANDED SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM TO " PREVENT OUR BEST BRAINS FROM TAKING JOBS ABROAD . " IF THERE WAS NOTHING STARTLINGLY NEW IN LABOR'S PROMISES OR, FOR THAT MATTER, IN THE TORIES' COPY MANY BRITONS WERE ASTONISHED THAT THE SOCIALISTS HAD TAKEN ANY ADVERTISING AT ALL . AFTER THE 1959 ELECTION CAMPAIGN, LABORITES THUNDERED THAT THE TORIES' AD AGENCY HAD USED " MADISON AVENUE METHODS " TO " SELL MACMILLAN LIKE A DETERGENT . " WHEN HE PROJECTS HIS OWN IMAGE, HAROLD MACMILLAN SOUNDS MORE LIKE TROLLOPE THAN TIDE . IN AN INTERVIEW WITH PUBLISHER JOCELYN STEVENS IN LAST WEEK'S ISSUE OF QUEEN MAGAZINE, THE PRIME MINISTER INDULGED IN SOME MELLOW RUMINATIONS THAT COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN CUED BY AN ADMAN : ON POWER . I NEVER HAD ANY FEELING ABOUT BECOMING PRIME MINISTER . I TOOK THINGS AS THEY CAME AND STILL DO . POWER IS LIKE A DEAD SEA FRUIT . WHEN YOU ACHIEVE IT, THERE'S NOTHING THERE . THE ART OF GOVERNMENT IS MIXING THE THINKERS AND DOERS . ON HIMSELF . YES I AM SENSITIVE TO CRITICISM . ONE HAS TO BE . THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN I LOATHE EVERYBODY, AND THEN I RETIRE AND READ GIBBON FOR A FEW HOURS . . . I AM A HIGHLANDER . THAT'S WHY I'M SO PALE . IT'S TRUE I GET A BIT TIRED, BUT I SOON POP UP AGAIN . ON HIS WARDROBE . MY CLOTHES EDWARDIAN ? I THOUGHT THAT CARDIGANS WERE RATHER SMART AT THE MOMENT . I ALWAYS WEAR THE SAME SUIT . WHEN IT WEARS OUT, I TELL MY TAILORS TO SEND ME ANOTHER AROUND . ON LIKES & DISLIKES . WHAT DO I DISLIKE ? QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ; I CAN'T BEAR THEM . WHAT ELSE ? THINGS THAT HAVE NO PURPOSE FORMALITIES LIKE THE FUNCTION I'M GOING TO THIS EVENING . WHAT I REALLY LIKE TO DO IS GO OFF WITH DOROTHY IN THE CAR, ALONE, TO SCOTLAND . WHERE THE HEDGES CEASE, THERE IS REAL FREEDOM . . . NO, I DON'T GET ENOUGH EXERCISE, THOUGH YESTERDAY I HAD A FOUR-HOUR WALK THROUGH THE WOODS . I WENT TO SEE MY GAMEKEEPER :. HE WASN'T TOO HOPEFUL ABOUT NEXT SEASON'S PROSPECTS .
 AFRICA A SMALL TASTE OF UNITY IN THE CAVERNOUS, THATCH-ROOFED BANQUET HALL OF ADDIS ABABA'S MENELIK PALACE, 30 COLORFULLY GARBED AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE AND 2,000 OTHER GUESTS, ALL BACKSLAPPING AND JOVIAL, WERE FEASTING AT THE BOARD OF THEIR MEDALED HOST, ETHIOPAN EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE . AS WAITERS IN GREEN-AND-GOLD LIVERY MOVED AMONG FOODLADEN TABLES, THE THRONG FELL TO ON CAVIAR, ROAST CHICKEN, SPICED LAMB AND WATT (SPONGY ETHIOPIAN BREAD), WASHED DOWN WITH HUNDREDS OF GALLONS OF FRENCH WINE, ETHIOPIAN HONEY WINE, AND VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE . THEN, AS THE CLOCK TICKED PAST MIDNIGHT, EVERYBODY SAT BACK TO WATCH THE EMPEROR'S SELECT GROUP OF FLIMSILY CLAD DANCING GIRLS WRITHE TO THE TOOTLES OF THE IMPERIAL BODYGUARD BAND . " UNITY NOW ! " FOR ALL THEIR FESTIVE CAMARADERIE AT HAILE SELASSIE'S PARTY, NOT ALL THE DELEGATES TO AFRICA'S FIRST " SUMMIT CONFERENCE " LAST WEEK WERE PALS . TUNISIA'S HABIB BOURGUIBA LOATHES GHANA'S POWERSEEKING KWAME NKRUMAH WHO IS JEALOUS OF EGYPT'S ABDEL NASSER WHO DESPISES THE IVORY COAST'S FELIX HOUPHOUETBOIGNY WHO IN TURN IS CONTEMPTUOUS OF SENEGAL'SPOET-PRESIDENT LEOPOLD SENGHOR . THE ANTAGONISMS BECAME AMPLY EVIDENT DURING THE LONG ORATORY THAT FLOWED OUT OF THE CONFERENCE WORK SITE, HAILE SELASSIE'S PROUD, NEW " AFRICA HALL . " EYES GLITTERING, NKRUMAH TOOK THE FLOOR TO DEMAND " UNITY NOW .E IN THE FORM OF A VAST UNITED STATES OF AFRICA, RULED BY A BICAMERAL CONGRESS AND A STRONG PRESIDENCY (WHICH, NO ONE DOUBTED, NKRUMAH FEELS HIMSELF EMINENTLY QUALIFIED TO OCCUPY) . NKRUMAH LIKENED THE ADDIS ABABA MEETING TO THE 1787 CONSTITUTIONAL CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA, WHOSE DELEGATES, HE SAID, THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES NOT AS " VIRGINIANS OR PENNSYLVANIANS, BUT SIMPLY AMERICANS . " CRIED GHANA'S SELF-STYLED REDEEMER : " WE MEET HERE TODAY NOT AS GHANIANS, GUINEANS, EGYPTIANS, ALGERIANS, MOROCCANS, MALIANS, LIBERIANS, CONGOLESE, OR NIGERIANS, BUT AS AFRICANS . " SLAP FOR KWAME . THERE WAS POLITE APPLAUSE, BUT MUCH OF THE AUDIENCE WAS LUKEWARM TO THE AMBITIOUS SCHEME . MALAGASY'S PRESIDENT PHILIBERT TSIRANANA REPLIED CANDIDLY : " YOU CANNOT DECREE A TEXT FOR AFRICAN UNITY OF OUR STATES ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH . " URGING A SLOWER, STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH, SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA, THE ABLE PRIME MINISTER OF NIGERIA, AFRICA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE (42 MILLION, SIX TIMES GHANA'S POPULATION), TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPANK NKRUMAH FOR HIS NOTORIOUS MEDDLING IN HIS AFRICAN NEIGHBORS' AFFAIRS . " UNITY CANNOT BE ACHIEVED AS LONG AS AFRICAN COUNTRIES CONTINUE SUBVERSION AGAINST OTHERS, " BALEWA DECLARED . HE DREW A STORM OF CHEERS, AND EVEN NKRUMAH'S OLD FRIEND, MODIBO KEITA OF MALI, JOINED IN TO DENOUNCE " BLACK IMPERIALISM . " WITH THE CONFERENCE OBVIOUSLY IN NO MOOD FOR GRANDSTANDING, EGYPT'S UBIQUITOUS GAMAL ABDEL NASSER PRUDENTLY CONFINED HIMSELF TO GENERALITIES . AFRICA'S SUMMITEERS DID MANAGE TO PUT TOGETHER AN AGREEMENT OF SORTS IN THEIR FOUR DAYS OF TALKS . IN A MARATHON FINAL SESSION, THE DELEGATES SOLEMNLY AND UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED A DRAFT CHARTER FOR A LOOSE " ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY . " TO GO INTO EFFECT WHEN RATIFIED BY TWOTHIRDS OF AFRICA'S NATIONS, THE SCHEME CALLS FOR A HEADS-OF-STATE GATHERING EVERY YEAR, A PERMANENT COUNCIL OF MINISTERS (WITH NO REAL POWERS), AND A PERMANENT SECRETARIAT . PENDING RATIFICATION, A PROVISIONAL SECRETARIAT WILL BE SET UP IN ADDIS ABABA, TO THE DELIGHT OF HAILE SELASSIE, WHO DREAMS OF MAKING HIS RAMSHACKLE CAPITAL AFRICA'S CAPITAL AS WELL . UNDER THE PLAN, COMMITTEES WOULD BE FORMED TO MEDIATE INTRA-AFRICAN DISPUTES, PROMOTE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRESS, JOINT DEFENSE, AND MOUNT A COMMON FRONT AGAINST AFRICA'S REMAINING VESTIGES OF COLONIALISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY .
 FRANCE APRES DE GAULLE BLOSSOMING CHESTNUTS CAST THEIR SHADE OVER THE BOOKSTALLS ALONG THE SEINE, TRAFFIC WHEELED INSANELY AROUND THE PLACE DE L'ETOILE, AND THE FIRST TOURISTS WITH THEIR CAMERAS SANK CONTENTEDLY LAST WEEK INTO CHAIRS AT SIDEWALK CAFES . BUT TO FRENCH POLITICIANS, THE COMING OF SPRING MEANT REVIVAL OF THAT HEADY ATMOSPHERE THEY CALL " APRES DE GAULLE . " WITH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS JUST TWO YEARS AWAY, IT HAS SIMULTANEOUSLY OCCURRED TO MANY PUNDITS THAT DE GAULLE MAY BECOME ILL, DIE, BE ASSASSINATED, OR JUST DECIDE NOT TO RUN . THE INFECTIOUS PRESIDENTIAL FEVER HAS SPREAD TO ALL PARTIES . ON THE NON-GAULLIST SIDE, POSSIBLE CANDIDATES RANGE FROM ANTOINE PINAY (AT 71, HE MAY BE TOO OLD) TO THE LAST PREMIER OF THE FOURTH REPUBLIC, PIERRE PFLIMLIN, TO THE GLIB RADICAL SPOKESMAN, MAURICE FAURE . THE SOCIALISTS HAVE CONTENDERS IN VETERAN GUY MOLLET AND THE SHREWD, AFFABLE MAYOR OF MARSEILLE, GASTON DEFFERRE . MOST PROMINENT ON THE GAULLIST SIDE ARE PREMIER GEORGES POMPIDOU, THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY'S TENNIS-PLAYING PRESIDENT JACQUES CHABAN-DELMAS AND EX-PREMIER MICHEL DEBRE . RECENTLY ELECTED AS A DEPUTY FROM REUNION ISLAND, DEBRE CANNILY REFUSED THE CONFINING JOB OF FACTION LEADER OF THE GAULLISTS IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS MR . FIXIT FOR PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . UNDER THE SPUR OF DEBRE'S COMPETITION, POMPIDOU IS NOW FUNCTIONING MORE LIKE A POLITICIAN AND LESS LIKE A BANKER TURNED STATESMAN . IN NATIONWIDE BROADCASTS, HE HAS PROVED TO BE A RELAXED, AVUNCULAR PERFORMER AND HAS DISPLAYED WIT AS WELL AS COMPETENCE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY . INTO THIS LIST OF HOPEFULS, THE INTELLECTUAL, LEFT-WING L'EXPRESS LAST WEEK INTRODUCED A WEIRDLY DIFFERENT SUGGESTION . IT CLAIMED THAT DE GAULLE'S OWN CHOICE AS HIS SUCCESSOR IS NONE OTHER THAN HENRI D'ORLEANS, 54, COMTE DE PARIS, DESCENDANT OF KING HENRI IV, AND PRETENDER TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE . L'EXPRESS POINTED TO THE WARM PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE COUNT AND DE GAULLE, RECALLED THAT LE GRAND CHARLES'S EARLIEST POLITICAL SYMPATHIES WERE MONARCHIST, AND NOTED THAT THE COUNT'S GAULLIST LEANINGS HAD MADE HIM A TARGET OF A BOMBING BY SECRET ARMY TERRORISTS . L'EXPRESS CONCLUDED : " THIS VISION IS ONE WHICH HAUNTS DE GAULLE'S MEDITATIONS, AND IT WOULD RECONCILE TWO HERETOFORE ANTAGONISTIC PRINCIPLES MONARCHY AND REPUBLIC IN A SINGLE LEGITIMACY, THAT OF ROYAL DESCENT AND UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE . / ONLY TROUBLE WITH THIS VISION IS THAT L'EXPRESS HATES DE GAULLE AND WOULD BE THE LAST PAPER TO KNOW WHAT HE IS THINKING . PARIS-PRESSE CHARACTERIZED THE STORY AS LITTLE MORE THAN " A GOOD QUESTION TO TOSS OUT TO GET A DINNER CONVERSATION GOING . /
 MONACO PRINCE VALIANT PEACE CAME LAST WEEK IN THE BITTER STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE RIVIERA RIVALS, FRANCE AND MONACO . " THERE WERE CONCESSIONS ON BOTH SIDES, " INSISTED A FRENCH DIPLOMAT . TRUE ENOUGH, BUT WHO ELSE THESE DAYS IS WRINGING CONCESSIONS FROM CHARLES DE GAULLE .Q? NOT KENNEDY, MACMILLAN OR KHRUSHCHEV . ONLY STUBBORN, TENACIOUS PRINCE RAINIER . THE CRISIS BEGAN LAST YEAR, WHEN FRANCE ISSUED AN ULTIMATUM ORDERING MONACO TO ALIGN ITS TAX STRUCTURE WITH FRANCE AND END ITS STATUS AS A HAVEN FOR FREELOADING FRENCH CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESSMEN . THE MONEGASQUES, ENRAGED AT THE PROSPECT OF LOSING THEIR FREEDOM TO PAY NO INCOME TAX TO ANYONE, RALLIED BEHIND THEIR PRINCE . RAINIER STRUCK BACK AT DE GAULLE BY ISSUING A SERIES OF THREE STAMPS COMMEMORATING LOUIS XI'S RECOGNITION OF MONACO'S INDEPENDENCE IN 1512 . BOTH SIDES MOBILIZED THEIR RESOURCES . FRANCE HAD NUCLEAR BOMBS AND 600,000 BATTLETESTED SOLDIERS V . MONACO'S 80-MAN PALACE GUARD AND 170 POLICEMEN . FRANCE COULD ALSO CUT OFF MONACO'S GAS, ELECTRICITY, POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH SERVICES . BUT MONACO HAD A SHARPER WEAPON : RIDICULE . MOREOVER, PRINCE RAINER'S LITTLE PRINCIPALITY COULD HALT THE " BLUE TRAIN " AS IT PASSED THROUGH MONTE CARLO TO THE ITALIAN BORDER, AND COULD REVOKE ITS AGREEMENT TO COLLECT GARBAGE IN THE ADJACENT FRENCH TOWN OF BEAUSOLEIL . THERE WERE SOME TENSE MOMENTS LAST FALL WHEN FRENCH POLICE SET UP A CUSTOMS POST AT MONACO'S BORDER AND BEGAN STOPPING CARS, BUT COOLER HEADS AT LAST PREVAILED . THROUGHOUT THE LONG WINTER MONTHS, DELEGATES OF BOTH STATES HAMMERED OUT SIX SEPARATE TREATIES COVERING EVERYTHING FROM TAXES (NO INCOME TAX FOR MONEGASQUES OR LONGTIME FRENCH RESIDENTS OF THE PRINCIPALITY) TO POSTAL RATES . MONACO EMERGED LARGELY VICTORIOUS . WHEN THE TREATY WAS SIGNED LAST WEEK, PRINCE RAINIER AND PRINCESS GRACE ENDED A TOUR OF THE U.S., FLEW BACK HOME TO RECEIVE A GRATEFUL WELCOME FROM THEIR STILL TAXFREE MONEGASQUE SUBJECTS .
 IRAQ THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAINS THERE THE GREEKS SPENT A HAPPY NIGHT, WITH PLENTY TO EAT, TALKING ABOUT THE STRUGGLE NOW PAST FOR THEY HAD BEEN SEVEN DAYS PASSING THROUGH THE COUNTRY OF THE KURDS, FIGHTING ALL THE TIME, AND THEY HAD SUFFERED WORSE THINGS AT THE HANDS OF THE KURDS THAN ALL THAT THE KING OF PERSIA, AND HIS GENERAL, TISSAPHERNES, COULD DO TO THEM . ANABASIS OF XENOPHON ENEMIES OF THE KURDS HAVE ALWAYS HAD A HARD TIME OF IT, FROM XENOPHON AND HIS TEN THOUSAND GREEKS IN 400 B.C., THROUGH PERSIANS, MONGOLS, TURKS, CRUSADERS, ARABS AND BRITISH, UP TO THIS YEAR, WHEN THE REGIME OF IRAQ'S KARIM KASSEM WAS BLED WHITE BY THE EFFORT TO CRUSH ONE MORE UPRISING OF THE EVER-REBELLIOUS KURD STRIKE . IN BAGHDAD LAST WEEK, THE NEW IRAQI REGIME THAT DEPOSED AND KILLED KASSEM IN FEBRUARY FINALLY FACED UP TO THE ISSUE OF PEACE OR CONTINUED WAR WITH THE KURDISH LEADER, MUSTAFA BARZANI . " THE VERY DAY OF THE REVOLT AGAINST KASSEM, / SAID AN ANGRY KURDISH REBEL, " THE NEW IRAQI REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND CALLED FOR KURDISH SUPPORT . WITH THE REVOLUTION, THE IRAQI ARMED FORCES WERE TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, AND WE COULD EASILY HAVE STRUCK DEEP INTO IRAQ . INSTEAD WE ACCEPTED THEIR PROMISES AND HELD OUR FIRE . " WHAT THE KURDS ARE DEMANDING IS REGIONAL AUTONOMY WITH A KURDISH LEGISLATURE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, A PROPORTIONATE SHARE FOR KURDS OF ALL REVENUES, OIL ROYALTIES AND FOREIGN AID AND, FINALLY, SPECIAL KURDISH ARMY UNITS WITH THE SOLE RIGHT TO GARRISON KURDISTAN . THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK STIFFLY REJECTED THE KURDISH MEMORANDUM, OFFERING THEM INSTEAD ONLY LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A RESTRICTED MOUNTAIN AREA THAT WOULD HAVE EXCLUDED VIRTUALLY ALL MAJOR KURDISH POPULATION CENTERS . THREE PLAGUES . THE KURDISH HOMELAND BEGINS ABOVE BIBLICAL MOUNT ARARAT AND EXTENDS SOUTH IN A LONG, MOUNTAINOUS LOOP TO THE PERSIAN GULF (SEE MAP) . BECAUSE OF THE ACCIDENTS OF HISTORY AND THEIR OWN INABILITY TO UNITE, THE ESTIMATED 6,000,000 KURDS ARE TODAY DIVIDED AMONG FIVE DIFFERENT NATIONS : THE SOVIET UNION, TURKEY, SYRIA, IRAN AND IRAQ . LIKE THE KURDISH LANDSCAPE, THE KURDISH CHARACTER HAS REMAINED CONSTANT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS . MANY KURDS ARE TALL, FAIR-SKINNED AND BLUE-EYED . OF LIFE THEY ASK LITTLE MORE THAN FLOCKS OF BROAD-TAILED SHEEP, A FINE HORSE, A RIFLE WITH SUFFICIENT CARTRIDGE BANDOLEERS, AND A WOMAN WHO CAN BEAR STRONG SONS . FOR GENERATIONS, THE LOWLAND ARAB HAS BEEN TERRORIZED BY THE MOUNTAIN KURD . AN ARAB PROVERB SAYS, " THERE ARE THREE PLAGUES IN THE WORLD : THE RAT, THE LOCUST AND THE KURD . " THE KURDS REPLY, " A CAMEL IS NOT AN ANIMAL, AND AN ARAB IS NOT A HUMAN BEING . " OF IRAQ'S 7,000,000 PEOPLE, AT LEAST 1,500,000 ARE KURDS . THEY LIVE IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, AND ARE DIVIDED INTO 22 MAJOR AND 54 MINOR TRIBES . UNLIKE THE ARABS ON THE RIVER PLAINS, THEY ARE HARD-WORKING AND FULL OF BOUNCE . BROAD-SHOULDERED MUSTAFA BARZANI, 60, HAS SPENT MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE . AFTER WORLD WAR II, WITH RUSSIAN BACKING, BARZANI BECAME MILITARY BOSS OF THE SOVIET-INSPIRED KURDISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC IN IRAN AND, WHEN IT COLLAPSED, WAS FOR TWELVE YEARS IN EXILE IN THE SOVIET UNION . THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF THE RULING SHEIK OF THE BARZAN TRIBE, BARZANI DENIES HE IS A COMMUNIST, BUT ECHOES OTHER KURDISH LEADERS WHO SAY THAT IF WAR BREAKS OUT AGAIN THE KURDS WILL " ACCEPT ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET FROM ANYONE " RUSSIANS INCLUDED . SHOOT ON SIGHT . AT WEEK'S END, AS THEIR DELEGATES STILL WRANGLED IN BAGHDAD, BOTH THE KURDISH REBELS AND THE IRAQI ARMY PREPARED FOR THE WORST . THE GOVERNMENT PROCLAIMED A DUSK-TO-DAWN CURFEW AROUND NORTHERN IRAQ'S OILFIELDS, PUMP STATIONS, AIRFIELDS, AND MILITARY DEPOTS, WARNED THAT VIOLATORS WOULD BE " SHOT ON SIGHT . " IRAQI TROOPS BLOCKED ALL ROADS LEADING INTO THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS . NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS OF THE ARMY WAS BUSY BUILDING CONCRETE PILLBOXES AND FORTIFICATIONS COVERING THE MOUNTAIN PASSES . BUT DURING THE CEASE-FIRE THE KURDS WERE NOT IDLE . FOOD HAS BEEN STOCKPILED, ARMS REPLENISHED, AND A STANDING ARMY OF 35,000 READIED FOR BATTLE, BACKED BY A RESERVE OF 100,000 . THE REBELS ARE BUTTRESSED BY SCORES OF KURDISH OFFICERS WHO DESERTED FROM THE IRAQI ARMY, AND ARE LINKED BY A NETWORK OF 100 CAPTURED FIELD RADIO SETS . BUT AT WEEK'S END, THE GOVERNMENT CALLED FOR MORE NEGOTIATIONS AND PROMISED TO RECONSIDER KURDISH DEMANDS . INTURN, THE KURDS AGREED TO HOLD UP HOSTILITIES . " WE DON'T WANT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR STARTING THE WAR AGAIN, " SAID A KURDISH SPOKESMAN, " BUT WE AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE FAR APART LIKE THE DISTANCE FROM GROUND TO SKY . /
 EGYPT EVERYONE'S DELIGHTED AS THE TROOPS SWUNG DOWN CAIRO'S STREETS LAST WEEK, THE CITY GAVE THEM A DELIRIOUS WELCOME . MEN WAVED GREEN BRANCHES, WOMEN FLUNG FLOWERS FROM BALCONIES, GIRLS BROKE THROUGH POLICE LINES TO LOOP GARLANDS OVER THE SOLDIERS' NECKS, AND CHILDREN SCRAMBLED UP TREES AND STATUES . EVERYONE SCREAMED " MARHAB BIL ABTAL ! " (WELCOME TO THE HEROES) AS WHITE PIGEONS WHEELED OVERHEAD, HELICOPTERS DISPLAYED MILITARY FLAGS, AND MIG FIGHTER SQUADRONS THUNDERED PAST . THE 3,000 TROOPS, THE FIRST VETERANS TO RETURN HOME FROM THE SEVEN-MONTH CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN, FORMED UP IN REPUBLIC SQUARE, WHERE PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER MOUNTED THE DAIS, ADVANCED TO A BATTERY OF MICROPHONES AND CRIED : " O MEN ! FAITHFUL SONS OF YOUR NATION, IMAGE OF ITS HEROES, VANGUARD OF ITS MARCH TO FREEDOM, SOCIALISM AND UNITY, YOU HAVE WITNESSED ON YOUR WAY HERE THE DELIGHT OF YOUR NATION OVER YOUR VICTORIOUS RETURN ! " THE SOLDIERS CLEARLY SHARED THE NATION'S DELIGHT, FOR EVEN EGYPT'S POVERTYSTRICKEN VILLAGES WOULD LOOK GOOD AFTER THE HARSH WILDERNESS OF YEMEN . NASSER'S 34-MINUTE SPEECH CONTAINED MENACE AS WELL AS HYPERBOLE . HE GOT DOWN TO CASES ABOUT HIS INTENTIONS IN YEMEN, WHERE, UP TILL NOW, EACH RETURNING BATTALION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY AN EQUAL NUMBER OF NEW EGYPTIAN LEVIES . EGYPTIANS WOULD REMAIN IN YEMEN, HE SAID, " UNTIL IT IS ASCERTAINED BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF A DOUBT, AND BEYOND DECEPTION, THAT THE REACTIONARY ELEMENTS HAVE, AS A RESULT OF THEIR DEFEAT, CONTAINED THEIR RANCOR AGAINST THE REVOLUTION . " HE ALSO SOUNDED A WARNING TO HIS BAATH PARTY RIVALS IN SYRIA, WHO HAD JUST PURGED THEIR REGIME OF PRO-NASSER ELEMENTS . BUT HIS WORDS WERE CURIOUSLY MILD . DURING THE TWELVE DAYS OF NASSER'S TRIP TO ALGERIA AND YUGOSLAVIA, RADIO CAIRO HAD MADE THE AIR WAVES BLUE WITH ABUSE OF SYRIA'S BAATHIST LEADERS . ON HIS RETURN, NASSER ABRUPTLY CHOKED OFF THE BROADCAST VITUPERATION . HE GAVE A PLACE OF HONOR TO A VISITING SYRIAN DELEGATION DURING HIS REPUBLIC SQUARE SPEECH AND CONFERRED LENGTHILY WITH THE SYRIANS UNTIL THEIR QUIET RETURN TO DAMASCUS AT MIDWEEK . HE HAD CLEARLY DECIDED THAT THE MOMENT WAS NOT YET RIPE FOR A SHOWDOWN WITH BAATH LEADERS IN BOTH IRAQ AND SYRIA, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE PROJECTED TRI-STATE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC IS STILL NOT FORMED . BUT THE FIGHT WAS NOT OVER, AND IF THE PAST WAS ANY GUIDE, IT WOULD NOT BE LONG BEFORE RADIO CAIRO WAS AIMING CURSES AT THE ARABS WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF GAMAL ABDEL NASSER .
 TURKEY INSURRECTION 22 AS COMMANDANT OF THE ANKARA WAR COLLEGE, TURKEY'S WEST POINT, COLONEL TALAT AYDEMIR LAST YEAR DECIDED TO TREAT HIS CADETS TO A SORT OF AFTER-HOURS SEMINAR IN CURRENT EVENTS . HIS SUBJECT WAS THE SLOW PACE OF GOVERNMENT REFORM UNDER PREMIER ISMET INONU . TO SPEED THINGS UP, AYDEMIR, 43, A TOUGH EX-ARTILLERY OFFICER, SUGGESTED THAT THE LADS SUPPORT HIM IN AN ARMED REBELLION AGAINST THE SHAKY INONU REGIME . BUT EVERYONE FLUNKED THE FINAL EXAM IN INSURRECTION I AN ABORTIVE COUP LED BY AYDEMIR IN FEBRUARY 1962 THAT FIZZLED OUT IN SIX HOURS . TEACHER LOST HIS JOB AND HIS UNIFORM, AND THE CADETS WERE DISCIPLINED . UNDAUNTED, FORMER COLONEL AYDEMIR, SOME 200 OTHER EX-ARMY OFFICERS AND ABOUT 300 CADETS LAST WEEK TRIED INSURRECTION II ; THEY FLUNKED AGAIN . THE REVOLT BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WHEN MUTINEERS STORMED THE ANKARA RADIO STATION AND BROADCAST A DECLARATION THAT THE " REVOLUTIONARY HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMED FORCES / WAS TAKING OVER THE COUNTRY . ROUSED FROM THEIR SLEEP, LOYAL ARMY TROOPS RACED TO THE SCENE, REGAINING CONTROL OF THE MICROPHONES BRIEFLY, ONLY TO LOSE IT ONCE AGAIN TO THE INSURGENTS . THE CLAIMS AND COUNTERCLAIMS GOING OUT OVER THE AIR WAVES WERE ALL VERY CONFUSING TO THE FOLKS TUNED IN AT HOME . IN THE DISTANCE, THEY COULD ALSO HEAR THE RUMBLE OF TANKS MANNED BY REBEL CADETS, AND THE WHOOSH OF GOVERNMENT AIR FORCE F-100 JETS THAT WERE SPRAYING THE REBELS WITH MACHINE-GUN FIRE FROM ROOFTOP LEVEL . WHEN AT LAST IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE REVOLUTIONARIES WERE CLEARLY OUTGUNNED, AYDEMIR, WHO HAD AGAIN DONNED HIS COLONEL'S UNIFORM, RACED FOR SAFETY BACK TO THE WAR COLLEGE . AS GOVERNMENT TROOPS THREATENED TO LEVEL THE BUILDING, HE SNEAKED OUT A BACK DOOR, LATER WAS CAPTURED IN A FRIEND'S HOME WHILE CHANGING BACK TO CIVILIAN CLOTHES . THE REVOLT WAS ENDED LESS THAN TWELVE HOURS AFTER IT STARTED . SEVEN WERE DEAD AND 26 OTHERS WOUNDED, INCLUDING AYDEMIR'S SUCCESSOR AS COMMANDANT OF OF THE WAR COLLEGE, WHO WAS SHOT IN THE LEG BY HIS OWN CADETS WHEN HE TRIED TO PERSUADE THEM TO SURRENDER . ARRESTED ALONG WITH AYDEMIR WERE ABOUT 20 OTHER EX-OFFICERS ACCUSED AS RINGLEADERS OF THE UPRISING . THEY WILL GO ON TRIAL BEFORE A MILITARY COURT, AND MOST TURKS DOUBTED THAT THEY WILL LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO TRY INSURRECTION III .
 ANGOLA BOND OF BLOOD PORTUGUESE INFANTRY PATROLS IN NORTHERN ANGOLA PEERED AT THE SKIES LAST WEEK AND WAITED PRAYERFULLY FOR THE END OF THE RAINS . IN THE THIRD YEAR OF THEIR CAMPAIGN TO QUELL A STUBBORN NATIVE REVOLT AGAINST PORTUGUESE RULE, GOVERNMENT FORCES COUNTED ON DRY WEATHER TO THROW ARMORED UNITS AND PARATROOPS AGAINST THE AFRICAN GUERRILLAS, WHO THROUGHOUT THE RAINY SEASON HAD MERCILESSLY HARASSED THE BOGGED-DOWN EUROPEANS . NONETHELESS, GOVERNMENT TROOPS THIS SEASON FACE TOUGHER ODDS THAN EVER BEFORE IN THE 2,000 SQ . MI . BATTLE ZONE, KNOWN TO THE COLONISTS AS THE ROTTEN TRIANGLE . THE REBELS, ADMITTED A PORTUGUESE OFFICER, HAVE " TREMENDOUSLY " IMPROVED THEIR TACTICS AND FIREPOWER IN RECENT MONTHS . SHUTTLING FREELY INTO ANGOLA FROM CONGOLESE BASES ACROSS THE 400-MILE NORTHERN BORDER, WILY TERRORIST BANDS HAVE REPLACED MACHETES AND CANHANGULAS, THEIR CRUDE, HOMEMADE MUZZLE-LOADERS, WITH BELGIAN MAUSERS, U.S . CARBINES AND CZECH MACHINE GUNS . AND, UNLIKE PORTUGAL'S 50,000-MAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, THEY KNOW EVERY INCH OF THE TERRAIN . SAYS A LONGTIME WHITE ADMINISTRATOR : " IT WOULD TAKE 100,000 MEN TO CLEAN UP THE TRIANGLE . " THE RIVALS . THE BLOODY FIGHT FOR ANGOLA IS THE ONLY SHOOTING WAR STILL RAGING IN AFRICA . TO WIN IT AND " LIBERATE " THE CONTINENT'S BIGGEST COLONIAL TERRITORY, AFRICAN LEADERS IN ADDIS ABABA LAST WEEK VOCIFEROUSLY SUPPORTED ALGERIAN PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA'S CALL TO " ESTABLISH A BOND OF BLOOD " WITH THE ANGOLAN NATIONALISTS . THE WAR IS A GRIEVOUS BURDEN FOR TINY PORTUGAL, WHICH ALREADY HAS WESTERN EUROPE'S LOWEST LIVING STANDARD . BUT STRONGMAN ANTONIO DE OLIVEIRA SALAZAR, 74, IS BY NOW TOO DEEPLY COMMITTED TO PRESERVATION OF ANGOLA AS A " PROVINCE " OF PORTUGAL TO YIELD THE AFRICANS EVEN TOKEN SELF-GOVERNMENT WITHOUT IMPERILING HIS OWN 31-YEAR REIGN IN LISBON . DESPITE THE STEADY RISE IN THE GUERRILLAS' STRENGTH AND EFFECTIVENESS, SALAZAR'S BEST HOPE OF VICTORY LIES IN THE BITTER ENMITY BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS THAT ARE STRUGGLING TO WIN ANGOLA'S INDEPENDENCE . AID FROM MULATTOES . THE RIVAL REBEL GROUPS, BOTH BASED ACROSS THE BORDER IN THE CONGOLESE CAPITAL OF LEOPOLDVILLE, OFTEN SEEM MORE INTENT ON DESTROYING EACH OTHER THAN THE PORTUGUESE . THE POPULAR MOVEMENT FOR LIBERATION OF ANGOLA (M.P.L.A.) IS LED BY SMOOTH, SORBONNE-EDUCATED MARIO PINTO DE ANDRADE, 34, A MULATTO WHOSE BACKING COMES MAINLY FROM OTHER ASSIMILADOS, THE EDUCATED HALF-CASTES WHO HAVE LONG HAD FULL PORTUGUESE CITIZENSHIP ; TO WIDEN ITS APPEAL, HOWEVER, AN ANGOLAN BLACK, POET AGOSTINHO NETO, WAS RECENTLY MADE M.P.L.A.'S NOMINAL LEADER . ANDRADE, WHO, LIKE MOST OF SALAZAR'S FOES, IS OFTEN DENOUNCED AS A COMMUNIST, IS AN ASTUTE POLITICIAN AND AN ABLE ORGANIZER . HE HAS BUILT A NATIONWIDE FOLLOWING AMONG THE MULATTO ELITE WHO WOULD BE THE LOGICAL LEADERS OF INDEPENDENT ANGOLA, AND LAST WEEK IN ADDIS ABABA URGED AFRICA'S STATESMEN TO HELP LANCE " THE ABSCESS OF RIVALRY " BETWEEN THE TWO MOVEMENTS . ANDRADE'S OFFER OF COOPERATION WAS REJECTED BY HIS IMPLACABLE FOE, HOLDEN ROBERTO, 38, A MEMBER OF THE FAR-FLUNG BAKONGO TRIBE, WHOSE UNION OF ANGOLAN PEOPLES (U.P.A.) HAS POWERFUL SUPPORT FROM THE CONGO'S PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA, ROBERTO'S LONGTIME FRIEND . THE U.P.A . HAS RECEIVED AID FROM TUNISIA AS WELL . WITH A TRAINING CAMP NEAR THYSVILLE, 40 MILES FROM THE CONGOLESE BORDER, ROBERTO'S GUERRILLAS ARE THE ONLY MILITARILY EFFECTIVE REBEL GROUP IN ANGOLA, THOUGH THEY HAVE NOT SUCCEEDED IN EXTENDING THE CONFLICT BEYOND THE TRIANGLE, WHERE THE BAKONGO AND ALLIED TRIBESMEN ARE DOMINANT . DY'S PUPPETS . " NONETHELESS, ROBERTO'S U.P.A . HAS FOUGHT OFF INSURGENTS FROM ANDRADE'S MOVEMENT . THIS MONTH, AT A MAKESHIFT HOSPITAL IN LEOPOLDVILLE, THREE YOUNG, ALGERIAN-TRAINED M.P.L.A . FIGHTERS TOLD A GRIM TALE OF AN AMBUSH AT THE LOGE RIVER, DEEP INSIDE THE TRIANGLE, IN WHICH ROBERTO'S MEN MASSACRED THE REST OF THEIR 14-MAN GUERRILLA UNIT . THE U.P.A . LEADER IS JUST AS FIERCELY DETERMINED TO RESIST INTERVENTION FROM ANY OTHER QUARTER . TO ALGERIA'S OFFER OF 10,000 VOLUNTEERS TO FIGHT IN ANGOLA, ROBERTO SNAPPED : " WE WILL KILL THEM IF THEY SHOW UP . WE ARE NOBODY'S PUPPETS . " ROBERTO, WHO PROMISES A " BIG MOVE SOON, " IS EXPECTED TO OPEN A SECOND FRONT IN THE RICH, COTTON-GROWING MALANGE AREA, WHERE A SAVAGE NATIVE UPRISING WAS STAMPED OUT IN 1961 . WITH THE CONGO'S KATANGA PROVINCE NOW UNDER LEOPOLDVILLE'S CONTROL, THE ANTI-PORTUGUESE REBELS COULD START MOVING IN THROUGH ANGOLA'S " BACK DOOR " AS WELL . ROBERTO HAS REASON TO BE CONFIDENT . IT TOOK THE FRENCH FIVE YEARS AND 500,000 TROOPS TO ACHIEVE EVEN A STALEMATE IN ALGERIA . PORTUGAL IS HARD PRESSED TO FIELD ONETENTH AS MANY MEN . BUT LISBON AND LEOPOLDVILLE MAY SOON HAVE LITTLE SAY IN THE WAR . THE GOVERNMENTS OF EGYPT, GHANA, GUINEA AND ALGERIA LAST WEEK REACHED BROAD AGREEMENT ON A PLAN TO FUNNEL EQUAL AID TO MARIO PINTO DE ANDRADE'S M.P.L.A . AND HOLDEN ROBERTO'S GROUP . IN ANGOLA THE PORTUGUESE THEMSELVES HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY SKEPTICAL OF SALAZAR'S ABILITY TO SUPPRESS THE REBELLION . HARD-BITTEN PORTUGUESE COLONISTS, MANY OF WHOM WERE BORN IN ANGOLA, HAVE ALREADY ORGANIZED THEIR OWN PARAMILITARY VOLUNTEER CORPS TO FIGHT THE GUERRILLAS AND, IF NECESSARY, TO WAGE AN O.A.S.-STYLE CAMPAIGN TO PRESERVE WHITE SUPREMACY IN ANGOLA . " THIS IS OUR WAR, " VOWED ONE GRIMFACED PLANTATION OWNER LAST WEEK . " WE'LL ALL BE KILLED RATHER THAN MOVE OUT . /
 ISRAEL THE MAN WITHOUT ENEMIES TO THE CEREMONIAL BLARE OF A RAM'S HORN, ISRAEL'S THIRD PRESIDENT WAS SWORN INTO OFFICE LAST WEEK . HE WAS SCHNEOR ZALMAN SHAZAR, 73, A BALDING, BESPECTACLED SCHOLAR OF JEWISH HISTORY . THE COUNTRY'S FIRST MINISTER OF EDUCATION, HE WAS ELECTED BY THE KNESSET TO FILL THE VACANCY CAUSED BY THE DEATH OF IZHAK BEN-ZVI LAST MONTH . RUSSIAN-BORN SHAZAR EMIGRATED TO PALESTINE VIA CENTRAL EUROPE DURING THE '20S,* WAS HAND-PICKED FOR THE JOB BY AN OLD POLITICAL CRONY, PREMIER DAVID BEN-GURION . SHAZAR HAS ANOTHER IMPORTANT QUALIFICATION . AS BEN-GURION PUTS IT, HE IS " A MAN WITHOUT ENEMIES . " NORMALLY SOFT-SPOKEN, SHAZAR IS AN IMPASSIONED, SKILLFUL ORATOR WHEN HE GETS ONTO A SPEAKER'S PLATFORM . DURING LAST MONTH'S COMMEMORATION OF THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING, SHAZAR BROUGHT THE AUDIENCE TO TEARS SIMPLY BY REPEATING THE WORD " WARSAW " IN HUSHED TONES BEFORE BEGINNING HIS ADDRESS ; ON ANOTHER OCCASION HE WAS SO CARRIED AWAY BY HIS OWN ORATORY THAT HE FELL OFF THE STAGE AND HAD TO BE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR A BADLY SPRAINED LEG . SHAZAR IS ALSO NOTORIOUSLY ABSENT-MINDED . YEARS AGO IN POLAND, THE STORY GOES, HE BOARDED A TRAIN ONLY TO FIND THAT HE HAD LOST HIS RAIL TICKET . ASSURED BY THE CONDUCTOR THAT HE COULD BUY ANOTHER, SHAZAR REPLIED : " I KNOW, BUT IF I DON'T FIND THE TICKET I WON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING . / SHAZAR'S ORIGINAL SURNAME WAS RUBASHOV, BUT LIKE MANY VETERAN ZIONISTS, HE HEBRAIZED HIS NAME . DAVID GREEN BECAME DAVID BEN-GURION ; ISAAC SHIMSHELEVITZ BECAME IZHAK BEN-ZVI . SCHNEOR ZALMAN RUBASHOV BECAME SHAZAR BY COMBINING THE INITIALS OF HIS FIRST, MIDDLE AND LAST NAMES . AN EXCEPTION TO THE COMMON PRACTICE : ISRAEL'S FIRST PRESIDENT, WHO REMAINED CHAIM WEIZMANN .
 INDONESIA PRESENT & FUTURE IT HAS BEEN A MONTH OF HATRED IN INDONESIA . MORE THAN 500 SHOPS IN BANDUNG WERE WRECKED IN A SINGLE DAYKABUMI, YOUTHFUL RIOTERS HURLED SIX AUTOMOBILES OVER A PRECIPICE . FISTFIGHTS WERE COMMON IN DOZENS OF OTHER TOWNS AND VILLAGES . THE UGLY VIOLENCE HAS ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR : ALL THE VICTIMS WERE CHINESE, THAT MINORITY OF 3,000,000 AMONG INDONESIA'S 97 MILLION WHICH BY HARD WORK AND NIMBLE BRAIN HAS EXTRACTED WEALTH FROM THE OVERHEATED, FORESTED ARCHIPELAGO OF PRESIDENT SUKARNO . THE RACIAL BITTERNESS BEATS EVEN BIRMINGHAM, FOR DESPITE REPEATED GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO CRACK THEIR ECONOMIC POWER, THE CHINESE SOMETIMES OPERATING THROUGH MIDDLEMEN TO CIRCUMVENT OFFICIAL SANCTIONS STILL CONTROL TRADE, AGRICULTURE, SMALL INDUSTRY, THE BLACK MARKET AND OTHER FORMS OF COMMERCE . " GO INTO EVEN THE SMALLEST VILLAGE IN INDONESIA, " AN INDONESIAN ARMY OFFICER ONCE COMPLAINED, " AND YOU WILL FIND ONE MAN WHOSE HOUSE HAS ELECTRIC LIGHTS AND A REFRIGERATOR . THAT MAN WILL BE CHINESE . " WE ARE HUNGRY . " THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN INDONESIA'S PREJUDICE, SINCE THE OVERSEAS CHINESE HAVE BEEN RUNNING THINGS THERE FOR YEARS . BUT FEELING AGAINST THE CHINESE HAS RISEN HIGHER AS INDONESIA HAS SLID TOWARD THE BRINK OF ECONOMIC RUIN . INFLATION IS OUT OF CONTROL ; BANKNOTES IN CIRCULATION HAVE DOUBLED IN THE PAST YEAR, AND THE U.S . DOLLAR, OFFICIALLY PEGGED AT 45 RUPIAHS, NOW GETS 1,500 RUPIAHS ON THE BLACK MARKET . A GOOD SARONG COSTS A WORKER THREE MONTHS' PAY, AND ONE INDONESIAN AIRLINE PILOT HAS COMPLAINED THAT HE CAN MAKE ENDS MEET ONLY BY SMUGGLING IN CAMERAS FROM HONG KONG . GOVERNMENTSUBSIDIZED SCHOOLBOOKS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR SOME STUDENTS . THERE ARE PERIODIC RICE SHORTAGES, AND PRODUCTION OF RUBBER, COPRA, AND TIN ON EXPROPRIATED DUTCH ESTATES HAS DECLINED SHARPLY UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF FUMBLING GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS . STUDENTS HAVE STAGED DEMONSTRATIONS WITH BANNERS SCREAMING : " WE ARE HUNGRY . " RESENTMENT AGAINST THE RICH, WELL-FED CHINESE MINORITY FINALLY EXPLODED AFTER A FISTFIGHT BETWEEN AN INDONESIAN STUDENT AND A CHINESE STUDENT AT BANDUNG'S INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY . WHEN A YOUTHFUL RIOTER WAS SHOT BY POLICE IN ONE TOWN, MOBS WITH BAMBOO CLUBS HERDED CHINESE FROM THEIR HOUSES AND MADE THEM BOW THEIR HEADS AS HIS FUNERAL PROCESSION PASSED BY . FIRING OVER THE HEADS OF A SCREAMING THRONG IN BANDUNG, POLICE BROUGHT DOWN A POWER LINE WHICH ELECTROCUTED TWO INDONESIANS . PRONE TO ENJOY . PREDICTABLY, INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO BLAMED NEITHER HIMSELF NOR HIS CHAOTIC ECONOMIC POLICIES FOR THE RIOTS, SAID THAT THEY WERE CAUSED BY " COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES TRYING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE FOOD AND CLOTHING SITUATION AND ON THE CHINESE MINORITY PROBLEM . " HE WENT RIGHT AHEAD WITH PLANS TO SQUEEZE OUT WESTERN OIL COMPANIES, THOUGH IN THE PROCESS HE RISKED LOSING THE SOURCE OF ONETHIRD OF HIS NATION'S TOTAL EXPORT EARNINGS . NOT ONE TO BE DISTURBED LONG BY MERE ECONOMIC QUESTIONS, SUKARNO WAS MORE INTERESTED IN TENURE . SO AS TO BE ABLE TO COPE WITH ANY FUTURE DISORDERS, HE HAD HIS RUBBER STAMP CONGRESS " APPOINT " HIM TO THE PRESIDENCY FOR LIFE . " THIS DECISION MIGHT NOT ENTIRELY LIVE UP TO CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS, " HARRUMPHED AN INDONESIAN CABINET MINISTER, " BUT IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT IT IS A POLITICAL REVOLUTIONARY PRODUCT AND NOT A LEGALISTIC PRODUCT . " WITH HIS CONTINUED CAREER THUS ASSURED, SUKARNO FLEW OFF FOR WHAT WAS DESCRIBED AS A LONG REST IN JAPAN, BELGRADE, VIENNA, ROME, AND FRANCE, WHICH HE IS ALWAYS PRONE TO ENJOY . AT SUKARNO'S STOP IN TOKYO LAST WEEK, THE BUSS WAS WAITING AT THE AIRPORT IN THE FORM OF THREE DELECTABLE THINGS OVERDRESSED FOR THE OCCASION .
 LAOS THE TORTOISE & THE HARE A MONSOON DOWNPOUR RAINED ON THE PLAIN OF JARS LAST WEEK AND SO DID A BARRAGE OF COMMUNIST PATHET LAO ARTILLERY AND MORTAR SHELLS . IN AN EFFORT TO CONSOLIDATE LAST MONTH'S GROUND GAINS ON THE PLAIN, THE REDS BEGAN PINPOINT ARTILLERY ATTACKS ON THE LAST REMAINING NEUTRALIST TOE HOLDS ON THE PLATEAU, AS WELL AS ON THE HEADQUARTERS OF NEUTRALIST ARMY LEADER GENERAL KONG LE AT MUONG PHAN, JUST WEST OF THE PLAIN . TYPICALLY, THE REDS BLAMED THE U.S . FOR THE RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES, SAID THAT " THE AMERICANS HAVE GIVEN ORDERS TO THE REACTIONARIES OF KONG LE TO ATTACK OUR FORCES . " EVEN AS THE TROIKA-LIKE INTERNATIONAL CONTROL COMMISSION OF INDIA, POLAND, AND CANADA, WHICH WAS SET UP TO POLICE LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY, TRIED TO RESTORE THE PEACE, IT LOST ONE OF ITS THREE HEADS . COMMUNIST POLAND RECALLED ITS ICC REPRESENTATIVE TO WARSAW IN THE WAKE OF VIGOROUS U.S . PROTESTS THAT THE POLE'S " OBSTRUCTIONIST TACTICS " AND DELIBERATE BOYCOTT OF ICC FIELD OBSERVATION WORK WERE SABOTAGING EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN A CEASE-FIRE BETWEEN THE NEUTRALISTS AND THE PATHET LAO . AS THE SPORADIC ARTILLERY DUEL CONTINUED, NEUTRALIST PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA DESPERATELY TRIED TO GET HIS PRO-COMMUNIST HALF-BROTHER, PATHET LAO LEADER PRINCE SOUPHANOUVONG, TO AGREE TO A RESUMPTION OF TRUCE TALKS . BUT SOUPHANOUVONG VETOED EVERY LOCATION FOR THE PEACE TALKS SUGGESTED BY SOUVANNA PHOUMA . SIGHED A NEUTRALIST COLONEL : " THE DISCUSSIONS MOVE LIKE THE TORTOISE AND THE WAR CAN MOVE LIKE THE HARE . MAYBE BEFORE THE LOCATION FOR THE PEACE TALKS IS DECIDED, THE DECISION FOR LAOS WILL HAVE BEEN MADE IN BATTLE . /
 RUSSIA SIN ALONG WITH SIG TO SOME OF THE YOUNGER STAFFERS IN BRITAIN'S MOSCOW EMBASSY, SMOOTH, CHARMING SIGMUND MIKHAILSKI WAS LIVING PROOF THAT A COMMUNIST NEEDN'T BE A CAD . AN INTERPRETER, SMILING SIG WAS HIRED IN 1954 AND SOON MADE HIMSELF A REGULAR MAN FRIDAY AROUND THE CHANCERY OFFICES ON SOFIISKAYA QUAY . WHEN NO ONE ELSE COULD GET BOLSHOI BALLET TICKETS, SIG DID . HE WAS EQUALLY SKILLFUL AT PRODUCING HARD-TO-GET GOODIES, OR BLACK-MARKETING THEIR CLOTHES OR WESTERN CURRENCY FOR A HANDSOME PROFIT . HE ALWAYS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO HELP THE LONELY ONES, SHOWED THEM THE SIGHTS, EVEN TOOK THEM TO RESTAURANTS WHERE THEY INVARIABLY MET RUSSIANS WHO SEEMED NOT AT ALL AFRAID TO TALK FREELY WITH WESTERNERS . OLDER EMBASSY HANDS WERE SKEPTICAL ABOUT SIG, KNOWING THAT HE WAS PROBABLY A SOVIET SPY . AFTER ALL, LOCAL HELP IN MOSCOW MUST BE HIRED FROM U.P.D.K., THE GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL AGENCY FOR FOREIGN EMPLOYERS OF THE EMBASSY FIRED SIG, THEY REASONED, HE WOULD PROBABLY ONLY BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER SPY WHO MIGHT BE A BOUNDER TO BOOT . IN ANY CASE, THE YOUNGER BRITONS, WHO INVITED HIM TO THEIR PARTIES AND WENT TO HIS, KNEW THAT ALL HIS FRIENDS WERE ATTACHED TO WESTERN EMBASSIES, AND FELT CERTAIN THAT HE HATED THE RUSSIANS . " YOU SEE, " EXPLAINED SIG, " I'M A POLE . " HE MADE A DETERMINED PASS AT EVERY NEW ENGLISH GIRL HE MET AND AT THE BOYS AS WELL . WHEN THEY RESISTED, HE EXPLAINED MOURNFULLY THAT LIFE IN MOSCOW WAS HARD ON A PASSIONATE POLE . UNUSUAL HAPPENINGS . ALAS, POOR SIG ! ONE DAY IN 1956, AFTER NEARLY FIVE YEARS AT THE EMBASSY, THE BRITISH SUDDENLY FIRED HIM . NOT WITHOUT CAUSE . SIG'S SAGA FINALLY CAME TO LIGHT LAST WEEK IN A REMARKABLY BLAND REPORT BY THE JUDICIAL TRIBUNAL THAT HAS SPENT THREE MONTHS INVESTIGATING THE LATEST BRITISH SPY SCANDAL : THE STRANGE CASE OF WILLIAM JOHN VASSALL, A HOMOSEXUAL ADMIRALTY CLERK WHO HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE MOSCOW EMBASSY FOR TWO YEARS, AND HAD BEEN SPYING FOR THE RUSSIANS FOR SEVEN . VASSALL'S SUPERIORS, AND ALL BUT ONE OF THE OFFICERS WHO PICKED HIM OUT OF 40 APPLICANTS FOR THE MOSCOW ASSIGNMENT, WERE EXONERATED BY THE TRIBUNAL, WHICH JUDGED HIM " WEAK " BUT NOT OVERTLY QUEER . HOWEVER, ADMITTED THE REPORT, VASSALL'S YOUNG COLLEAGUES IN THE MOSCOW EMBASSY RIDICULED HIS / EFFEMINATE " WAYS AND CALLED HIM " VERA . " THE PASSIONATE POLE SOON GUESSED HIS SECRET, AND LIFE BEGAN ANEW FOR VERA VASSALL . EAGER TO SHARE HIS NEW CONQUEST, SIG INTRODUCED VASSALL TO OTHER GAY TYPES . " I SHALL NEVER FORGET, " VASSALL WROTE TO AN OLDER MAN IN LONDON, " THE MANY UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENINGS THAT GO ON HERE, WHICH MUST COME TO FEW PEOPLE . " HE DID NOT APPARENTLY REGARD IT AS TOO UNUSUAL WHEN ONE OF HIS NEW RUSSIAN FRIENDS PHOTOGRAPHED HIM IN THE ACT ONE EVENING . IT WAS NOT UNTIL VASSALL WAS CAUGHT REDHANDED WITH A SOVIET OFFICER THAT RUSSIAN SECRET POLICE INTERVENED AND EXPLAINED TO HIM THE GRAVITY OF HIS OFFENSE . WHEN THEY THREATENED TO SHOW THE COMPROMISING PHOTOGRAPHS TO LADY HAYTER, WIFE OF THE AMBASSADOR, VASSALL AGREED TO PROVIDE THEM WITH THE CLASSIFIED EMBASSY DOCUMENTS THEY WANTED . MANUFACTURED COMPROMISE . DURING HIS YEARS AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY, SAID THE TRIBUNAL'S REPORT, SIG TRIED TO BLACKMAIL THREE OTHER BRITONS FOR BLACK-MARKETING, GOT AT LEAST TWO MEMBERS OF OTHER WESTERN EMBASSIES INVOLVED IN HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITIES ; ALL THESE VICTIMS WERE HUSTLED HOME BY THEIR GOVERNMENTS AFTER REFUSING TO SPY FOR HIM . SIG ALSO TRIED HIS BEST TO SEDUCE A FEMALE SECRETARY IN THE BRITISH EMBASSY, BUT SHE GUESSED HIS AIM AND REPORTED HIM . STILL SIG STAYED ON . " THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPROMISING SITUATIONS, " CONCLUDED THE JUDGES' REPORT LAST WEEK, " MUST BE REGARDED AS ONE OF THE REGULAR INSTRUMENTS BY WHICH THE SOVIET SECRET SERVICE SEEKS TO SUBORN AND ENLIST BRITISH AGENTS WHO CAN FURNISH IT WITH OUR STATE SECRETS . " THUS WAS BRITAIN'S SECURITY SYSTEM WARNED ABOUT SOVIET SIGMUNDS . BUT WOULD IT EVER GET WISE TO BRITISH VERAS ?
 KENYA THE RETURN OF BURNING SPEAR IN DAZZLING SUNLIGHT LAST WEEK, 30,000 SINGING, DANCING AFRICANS GATHERED BEFORE NAIROBI'S MINISTRY OF WORKS . A GREAT ROAR WENT UP AS TWO SOLEMN MEN EMERGED . ONE WAS KENYA'S BRITISH GOVERNOR MALCOLM MACDONALD . THE OTHER, WEARING HIS CUSTOMARY LEATHER JACKET AND BEADED BEANIE, WAS BURLY JOMO ( " BURNING SPEAR " ) KENYATTA, THE MAN WHO SERVED SEVEN YEARS IN JAIL AS THE CONVICTED " MANAGER " OF THE MAU MAU TERRORISTS, AND WHO ONLY THREE YEARS AGO WAS DENOUNCED BY THE PREVIOUS GOVERNOR AS " THE LEADER TO DARKNESS AND DEATH . " LIFTED BIBLE . AS IF TO BRUSH AWAY THE BITTER PAST, MACDONALD TOLD THE CROWD THAT THIS WAS A " GLAD DAY IN KENYA'S HISTORY " AND WISHED KENYATTA ('EVERY SUCCESS IN HIS TASK OF LEADING KENYA FORWARD TO UHURU (FREEDOM) . " KENYATTA ECHOED THE CRY OF UHURU, THEN, LIFTING A BIBLE HIGH IN HIS RIGHT HAND, HE TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE AS PRIME MINISTER OF SELF-GOVERNING KENYA . JOMO KENYATTA MADE THE GIANT STEP FROM PRISONER TO PRIME MINISTER WITH THE HELP OF HIS KANU (KENYA AFRICAN NATIONAL UNION) PARTY, WHICH LAST WEEK WON A LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN KENYA'S NATIONAL ELECTIONS, CAPTURING 66 OF 117 SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND 19 OF 41 SEATS IN THE SENATE . KENYATTA NOT ONLY DEFEATED RONALD NGALA'S RIVAL KADU (KENYA AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC UNION) AND PAULNGEI'S AFRICAN PEOPLES PARTY, BUT ALSO DEALT SKILLFULLY WITH THE CLEVER KANU RIVALS BELOW HIM WHO HAVE BEEN HOPING TO BE NAMED AS KENYATTA'S HEIR APPARENT . THEY ARE TOM MBOYA, 32, THE BRIGHT, ABLE AND RUTHLESS LABOR LEADER WHO LEADS A MODERATE FACTION INSIDE KANU, AND COMMUNIST-LEANING OGINGA ODINGA, 52, WHO WEARS A BLUE MAO TSE-TUNG-STYLE WORKINGMAN'S UNIFORM . KENYATTA MOVED PROMPTLY TO SECURE A PROPER BALANCE IN HIS NEW ADMINISTRATION, HANDED ALMOST EQUAL CABINET POSTS TO THE TWO CONTENDERS : MBOYA WAS NAMED MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS, AND ODINGA WAS GIVEN THE POTENTIALLY POWERFUL HOME AFFAIRS MINISTRY . AGAINST ALL PREDICTIONS, KENYATTA NAMED NO ONE AT ALL AS VICE PREMIER . NO CONGO . KENYATTA HAS MELLOWED WITH AGE, IMPRISONMENT, AND REPEATED MARRIAGES (HE HAS HAD FOUR WIVES, THREE OF WHOM SURVIVE, AS DO SEVEN CHILDREN AND FOUR GRANDCHILDREN) . IN NAIROBI LAST WEEK HE SAID FLATLY : " KENYA IS NOT GOING TO BE ANOTHER CONGO . " AS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE 55,000 WHITES LIVING NERVOUSLY AMONG KENYA'S 8,000,000 AFRICANS, KENYATTA SAYS THAT THE WHITE MAN " WILL BE PROTECTED AS ANY OTHER CITIZEN IN KENYA IS PROTECTED . HE WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY . HE WILL BE EQUAL TO EVERY OTHER CITIZEN . " UNDER THE COMPROMISE CONSTITUTION WORKED OUT LAST YEAR IN LONDON, BRITAIN WAS TO RETAIN CONTROL OF DEFENSE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNAL SECURITY . BUT LAST WEEK, PRESUMABLY IMPRESSED BY KENYATTA'S MODERATE WORDS, BRITAIN'S MACDONALD DISCLOSED THAT ALL THREE WOULD BE TRANSFERRED TO THE NEW GOVERNMENT, AND COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE MAY WELL BE WON BY THE FIRST OF THE YEAR . A HIGH BRITISH OFFICIAL IN NAIROBI EXPRESSED GUARDED OPTIMISM : " IT'S MUCH MORE PROMISING THAN I EXPECTED . MORE AND MORE EUROPEAN SETTLERS HAVE DECIDED TO REMAIN IN KENYA, AND I THINK THEIR VIEW IS JUSTIFIED . OF COURSE, TRIBALISM COULD MUCK IT ALL UP . BUT WITH A LITTLE LUCK, I THINK KENYA CAN GRADUALLY CRAWL FORWARD . /
 MALAYSIA POSIES FOR BRICKBATS NO TWO LEADERS WERE EVER LESS LIKELY TO BE CHUMMY THAN INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO AND MALAYA'S PRIME MINISTER TUNKU (PRINCE) ABDUL RAHMAN . OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, SUKARNO HAS DESPERATELY TRIED TO BLOCK THE FORMATION OF THE TUNKU'S MALAYSIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYA, SINGAPORE, SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO, WHICH WOULD SUCCESSFULLY CONTAIN HIS EXPANSIONIST AMBITIONS . INDONESIA HAS THREATENED MALAYA WITH FORCE, RANTED THAT THE TUNKU WAS " ROUND THE BEND . " BUT AT A SURPRISE MEETING IN TOKYO LAST WEEK, SUKARNO AND ABDUL RAHMAN EMBRACED EACH OTHER AS IF THEY HAD BEEN EXCHANGING POSIES INSTEAD OF BRICKBATS . THE INFORMAL CONFERENCE WAS SUGGESTED BY SUKARNO, WHO WAS RECLINING IN JAPAN ON THE FIRST LEG OF A ROUND-THEWORLD HOLIDAY . THOUGH THE INVITATION WAS SOMEWHAT STARTLING, ABDUL RAHMAN RESPONDED QUICKLY, FLEW OFF TO TOKYO FOR TWO LENGTHY CLOSED-DOOR SESSIONS WITH HIS OLD ADVERSARY . BEFORE LONG, THEY WERE LAUGHING AND JOKING LOUDLY . BETWEEN CHUCKLES, THEY AGREED TO A " CEASE-FIRE " THAT WOULD END " ACRIMONIOUS ATTACKS AND DISPARAGING REFERENCES " AGAINST EACH OTHER . PROMISING TO SETTLE OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS IN " A SPIRIT OF NEIGHBORLINESS, " THE TWO LEADERS SCHEDULED A FOREIGN MINISTERS' CONFERENCE THIS WEEK AMONG THEIR TWO NATIONS AND THE PHILIPPINES (WHICH ALSO HAS MILD OBJECTIONS TO THE MALAYSIA IDEA) . WHILE EXPRESSING INTEREST IN ANY EVENTUAL " SUMMIT CONFERENCE " THAT MIGHT RESULT WITH SUKARNO AND PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL, ABDUL RAHMAN ADDED FIRMLY THAT THE FEDERATION WOULD COME INTO BEING AS SCHEDULED ON AUG . 31 . " MALAYSIA IS OUR DOMESTIC AFFAIR, " HE SAID . / IT IS NOT THE CONCERN OF ANYONE ELSE . /
 INDIA THE CRITICS RETURN WHEN THE CONGRESS PARTY ACHIEVED ITS LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN INDIA'S LATEST GENERAL ELECTION 15 MONTHS AGO, THE FIERCEST CRITICS OF PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AND FORMER DEFENSE MINISTER KRISHNA MENON WERE SWEPT OUT OF OFFICE . BUT THE GOVERNMENT'S CLUMSY HANDLING OF THE CHINESE INVASION LAST OCTOBER GAVE NEW HOPE TO THE SHATTERED NON-COMMUNIST OPPOSITION . THE HOPE WAS WELL FOUNDED . IN THE PAST FORTNIGHT, THREE OF NEHRU'S MOST ACID-TONGUED FOES HAVE SCORED OVERWHELMING BY-ELECTION VICTORIES OVER HAND-PICKED CONGRESS CANDIDATES FOR THE LOK SABHA, LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT . IN A ONCE IMPREGNABLE CONGRESS STRONGHOLD IN GUJARAT ON INDIA'S WEST COAST, MINOCHER RUSTOM MASANI, 57, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE RIGHT-WING SWATANTRA PARTY, DOWNED A CONGRESS NOMINEE BY AN IMPRESSIVE MAJORITY OF 14,000 VOTES . TO THE NORTH IN UTTAR PRADESH, SOCIALIST DR . RAM MANOHAR LOHIA, WHO TOOK HIS DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF NEHRU HIMSELF IN LAST YEAR'S ELECTION, TROUNCED A FORMER GOVERNMENT INFORMATION MINISTER . WORST SLAP OF ALL CAME IN ANOTHER UTTAR PRADESH CONSTITUENCY, WHERE VICTORY CAME TO LEAN, ACERBIC INDEPENDENT J . B . KRIPALANI, 76, THE VETERAN CONGRESS POLITICIAN WHO HAD LEFT THE PARTY TO BECOME NEHRU'S BITTER FOE IN 1951 . SWAMPED BY MENON LAST YEAR, KRIPALANI THIS TIME ROLLED OVER NEHRU'S IRRIGATION AND POWER MINISTER HAFIZ MOHAMMED IBRAHIM WITH LITTLE DIFFICULTY . THE DEFEAT WAS DOUBLY GALLING FOR NEHRU, FOR IBRAHIM'S CAMPAIGN WAS MASTERMINDED BY NONE OTHER THAN HIS DISCREDITED OLD CRONY, MENON HIMSELF . THOUGH THE ELECTION RESULTS LEFT THE CONGRESS STILL WITH A SOLID MAJORITY OF 369 OF THE LOK SABHA'S 509 SEATS, NEHRU WAS PLAINLY CONCERNED . THE CONGRESS ORDERED A COMPLETE PARTY INVESTIGATION INTO WHY ITS CANDIDATES HAD FARED SO BADLY AT THE POLLS .
 RED CHINA TURNING THE SCREW HE WAS AN OBSCURE TRUCK DRIVER UNTIL HE WAS KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT LAST AUGUST, BUT TODAY LEI FENG IS RED CHINA'S NEWEST FOLK HERO . OTHERWISE CELEBRATED AS THE FOREVER RUSTPROOF SCREW, YOUNG COMMUNIST LEI FENG SOARED TO POSTHUMOUS FAME WHEN PARTY OFFICIALS CONVENIENTLY DISCOVERED A200,000-WORD DIARY THAT ESTABLISHED HIM AS THE CONFUCIUS OF COLLECTIVISM . BY CONTRAST WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHINA'S PEASANTS, WHOSE RELUCTANCE TO BE HERDED INTO AGRICULTURAL COMMUNES IN 1958 HAS BEEN LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NATION'S PERSISTENT FOOD SHORTAGES, LEI FENG ACTUALLY WAXED LYRICAL OVER SUCH SELFLESS, SOULLESS " SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE . " SAID HE : " ONE'S ROLE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY CAUSE IS JUST LIKE A SCREW IN THE MACHINE . A MAN HAS HIS GREATEST STRENGTH ONLY WHEN HE IS MERGED WITH THE COLLECTIVE . " WITH A MARKED IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD SUPPLIES THIS SPRING, THE GOVERNMENT HAS MOUNTED A MASSIVE " LEARN FROM LEI FENG " PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN, IN AN EFFORT TO HALT WHAT IDEOLOGISTS CALL THE PEASANTS' " SPONTANEOUS TENDENCY TOWARD CAPITALISM . " TO THE DISMAY OF ENTERPRISING PEASANTS, THE GOVERNMENT STARTED CUTTING DOWN ON THE MINUTE PRIVATE PLOTS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO CULTIVATE AND TO USE AS A SOURCE OF INDEPENDENT INCOME . IT SEEMED ILLOGICAL, SINCE IT WAS THE INCENTIVE THAT HELPED BOOST FARM PRODUCTION IN THE FIRST PLACE . NEVERTHELESS, IN KIANGSI PROVINCE, RADIO NANCHANG EXHORTS DAILY : " THE COLLECTIVE MUST COME BEFORE PRIVATE PLOTS . " AT A COMMUNE IN KWANGTUNG PROVINCE, WHERE PEASANTS USED TO HAVE TO SUPPLY THE COLLECTIVE WITH 33 LBS . OF HUMAN ORDURE A MONTH, THEIR QUOTA HAS BEEN BOOSTED TO 55 LBS., THUS LIMITING THE ONLY FERTILIZER AVAILABLE FOR FREELANCE FARMING . AS AN ADDED TURN OF THE SCREW, PRODUCTION QUOTAS FOR COLLECTIVE OUTPUT HAVE BEEN SHARPLY INCREASED, IN HOPES THAT THE PEASANTS WILL HAVE TO SPEND MORE TIME WORKING FOR MAO TSE-TUNG AND LESS FOR TSU-FA, MEANING " SELF-PROSPERITY . " THE GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN MAY WELL FIZZLE, AS IT DID IN 1958 . SAYS ONE EXPERT ON CHINA'S AGRICULTURE : " IN THE DEBRIS OF THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD, COMPULSION CANNOT WORK . ALL THAT IS LEFT IS PERSUASION . " MOST PEASANTS ARE CONVINCED NONETHELESS THAT THEY ARE IN FOR A FAR MORE RIGOROUS EXISTENCE ; MANY EACH WEEK ARE STILL FLEEING THE MAINLAND . IN MACAO, WHERE HE SOUGHT REFUGE AFTER SWIMMING SIX HOURS ACROSS THE PEARL RIVER DELTA, A HANDSOME, HUSKYLOOKING YOUTH FROM KWANGTUNG PROVINCE SHRUGGED LAST WEEK : " WHAT CAN YOU DO ? HOW CAN YOU MOVE ? IT'S LIKE A HEAVY STONE CRUSHING YOU . /
 MOROCCO A KING'S HEADACHE HIGH IN A SNOW-SWATHED CEDAR GROVE IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS, THE YOUNG KING OF MOROCCO STOOD CASTING ALONE FOR TROUT IN AN ICY STREAM . HASSAN II ENJOYED GOOD LUCK, WHICH WAS NOT SURPRISING SINCE NO ONE ELSE WAS ALLOWED TO FISH THE WELL-STOCKED RESERVE AT THE ROYAL RESORT OF IFRANE . NOR WERE THERE ANY MESSY CHORES . NO SOONER WOULD THE KING HOOK ANOTHER PRIZE THAN FIVE SERVANTS RUSHED TO REMOVE THE WRIGGLING CATCH FROM THE ROYAL LINE . BUT FOR ALL THE OUTWARD CALM THAT MARKED HIS VACATION LAST WEEK, MOROCCO'S 33-YEAR-OLD MONARCH HAD PROBLEMS ON HIS MIND . THEY HAD TO DO WITH THE OUTCOME THREE WEEKS AGO OF THE NATION'S FIRST LEGISLATIVE ELECTION IN SEVEN YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE . HASSAN HAD BEEN PROUD TO TAKE THIS CAUTIOUS STEP TOWARD DEMOCRACY, BUT HE HAD ALSO BEEN CONFIDENT THAT HIS OWN ROYAL PARTY, THE F.D.C.I., WOULD WIN AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF SEATS OF THE 144-MEMBER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES . THINGS DID NOT WORK OUT AS PLANNED . SEMIOFFICIAL RESULTS LAST WEEK CONFIRMED THAT HASSAN'S PARTY HAD WON ONLY 69 SEATS, FOUR SHORT OF A MAJORITY . MOREOVER, SEVEN OF NINE CABINET MINISTERS RUNNING FOR THE HOUSE UNDER THE KING'S BANNER LOST THEIR RACES, AND THE TWO OPPOSITION PARTIES, THE NATIONALIST ISTIQLAL AND THE LEFT-LEANING NATIONAL UNION OF POPULAR FORCES, SHOWED STARTLING STRENGTH, WINNING 43 AND 28 SEATS RESPECTIVELY . IF THEY GANGED UP IN A COALITION, THE TWO GROUPS MIGHT BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE HOUSE . STEAMED UP BY THEIR NEW PRESTIGE, OPPOSITION LEADERS WERE ALREADY DEMANDING THAT THE KING'S PRESENT RUBBER-STAMP CABINET BE DISSOLVED AND BOLDLY ACCUSING THE GOVERNMENT OF FRAUD AT THE POLLS . ISTIQLAL POLITICIANS EVEN WENT AROUND TO THE U.S . EMBASSY COMPLAINING THAT F.D.C.I . HAD BOUGHT VOTES WITH U.S . GIFT WHEAT . HASSAN HAD SOME ALTERNATIVES, NONE OF THEM VERY PLEASANT : HE COULD MAKE HIS OWN COALITION WITH ONE OF THE OPPOSITION PARTIES, A SOLUTION DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE WITHOUT LOSING ROYAL FACE . OR HE COULD DECLARE A " RECOUNT " OF VOTES AND RIG THE RESULTS, A COURSE REPUGNANT TO THE IDEALISTIC MONARCH . USING THE CONSTITUTION HE DRAFTED LAST YEAR, HASSAN COULD EVEN DISSOLVE THE HOUSE AND FORGET ABOUT THE DEMOCRACY HE HAD PROMISED THE NATION . WRESTLING WITH HIS DILEMMA, THE KING GOT LITTLE SYMPATHY FROM THE OPPOSITION . JEERED NATIONAL UNION LEADER ABDERRAKIM BENABID : " IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAY AT DEMOCRAT AND DICTATOR AT THE SAME TIME
 ISRAEL VISITOR'S WELCOME TWO YEARS AGO, WEST GERMANY'S DEFENSE MINISTER FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS ORDERED A CONSIGNMENT OF ISRAELI-MADE SUBMACHINE GUNS FOR THE BUNDESWEHR, AND THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT WAS SO GRATEFUL FOR THE ARMS ORDER THAT IT INVITED STRAUSS DOWN FOR A VISIT . THE INVITATION GATHERED DUST UNTIL STRAUSS, WHO IS NOW OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT, DECIDED RECENTLY THAT THE TRIP TO ISRAEL MIGHT NOT HURT HIS CHANCES OF MAKING A POLITICAL COMEBACK AT HOME . DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU, SAID ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER DAVID BEN-GURION . MOST ISRAELI CITIZENS AGREED WITH BENGURION . NONETHELESS, ANTI-GERMAN FEELING STILL RUNS DEEP IN ISRAEL, AND A NOISY MINORITY LED BY THE RIGHT-WING HERUT PARTY AND THE COMMUNISTS DECIDED TO VENT IT ON STRAUSS . THEY URGED THE KNESSET, ISRAEL'S PARLIAMENT, TO CANCEL THE VISIT AND DECLARE THAT STRAUSS WAS UNWELCOME . WHEN THE KNESSET REFUSED, STREET DEMONSTRATIONS BROKE OUT IN HAIFA, JERUSALEM AND TEL AVIV . BUT BEN-GURION STOOD FIRM . WHEN STRAUSS LANDED AT TEL AVIV A DAY LATE, IN HOPES OF AVOIDING A SCENE HIS PLANE WAS SURROUNDED BY SCORES OF POLICE ; THREE BODYGUARDS WERE POSTED OUTSIDE HIS HOTEL ROOM . THE BAVARIAN TOOK THE COMMOTION IN STRIDE . AFTER ALL, HE ADMITTED, " THE PAST LIES LIKE A SHADOW BETWEEN OUR TWO COUNTRIES . " SOON AFTER HE ARRIVED, A LAWYER FOR THE ISRAELI COMMUNIST PARTY FILED A COMPLAINT DEMANDING THE GERMAN'S ARREST FOR WAR CRIMES ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED WHEN STRAUSS WAS A YOUNG LIEUTENANT AND BATTERY COMMANDER AT A GERMAN ANTIAIRCRAFT SCHOOL NEAR THE END OF WORLD WAR II . STRAUSS RETORTED THAT HE HAD NEVER BEEN IN CHARGE OF A CONCENTRATION CAMP . " I HAVE A CLEAR RECORD AND A CLEAN CONSCIENCE, " HE SAID . AFTER PAYING CALLS ON GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, STRAUSS TOURED HOLY LAND HISTORICAL SITES, SPENT ONE NIGHT AT A KIBBUTZ (COOPERATIVE FARM) . EN ROUTE, HE PROMISED TO PRESS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN WEST GERMANY AND ISRAEL, AND TO TRY TO BAR WEST GERMAN SCIENTISTS FROM WORKING FOR ISRAEL'S ARCHENEMY, EGYPT . BEFORE ENDING HIS TEN-DAY STAY THIS WEEK, STRAUSS WAS ALSO TO GET A VIP TOUR OF ISRAELI DEFENSE INSTALLATIONS . IN THE LESS POPULATED AREAS, FEELING WAS NOT RUNNING SO HIGH . IN ANY CASE, DECLARED BEN-GURION, REBUKING THE DEMONSTRATORS, " THE JEWISH PEOPLE WILL NOT ACCEPT HITLER'S RACIST THEORY THAT A MAN IS TAINTED BECAUSE HE BELONGS TO A CERTAIN PEOPLE . /
 GREAT BRITAIN 2 ON THE FENCE WITH MLF FIELD MARSHAL VISCOUNT MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN HAS HIS OWN IDEAS ABOUT THE U.S . PROPOSAL FOR A NATO FLEET OF POLARIS-FIRING SURFACE SHIPS MANNED BY CREWS OF SEVERAL NATIONALITIES . / UTTER AND COMPLETE POPPYCOCK ! " HE CRIED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS LAST WEEK . " HOW, " HE SNORTED, " CAN A SHIP FIGHT EFFECTIVELY IF ONE-THIRD OF ITS CREW IS PORTUGUESE, ONE-THIRD BELGIAN AND ONE-THIRD, SAY, DANISH .? THE THING IS JUST NOT ON . YOU MIGHT AS WELL MAN A SHIP WITH A PARTY OF POLITICIANS . " MANY BRITISH POLITICIANS AND MILITARY EXPERTS SHARE MONTGOMERY'S MISTRUST OF THE MULTILATERAL FORCE (MLF) AND ITS SPONSOR THE U.S . INDEED, THOUGH PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN NOMINALLY AGREED AT NASSAU LAST DECEMBER TO SUPPORT THE NATO FORCE, HIS GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN HOPING EVER SINCE THAT MLF WOULD QUIETLY CAPSIZE OF ITS OWN COMPLEXITY . NAUGHTY QUESTIONS . THE BRITISH APPROVE OF ITS PRIMARY AIM, TO SATISFY WEST GERMANY'S DEMAND FOR A BIGGER ROLE IN NATO'S NUCLEAR DEFENSE, BUT ARGUE THAT THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BUILD THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT POLARIS SUBMARINE FLEET AND CONTRIBUTE AS WELL TO MLF, WHOSE 20 TO 25 SHIPS ARE EXPECTED TO COST $5 BILLION OVER A TEN-YEAR PERIOD . THANKS TO WASHINGTON'S SUCCESS IN SELLING MLF TO GERMANY AND THEN TO ITALY, IT SEEMED AT FIRST AS IF THE FLEET MIGHT BE BUILT WITH ONLY A TOKEN CONTRIBUTION FROM BRITAIN . HOWEVER, WHEN ALDO MORO TOOK OVER AS ITALY'S PREMIER-DESIGNATE LAST MONTH, WASHINGTON REALIZED THAT HIS FRAGILE GOVERNMENT IS IN NO POSITION TO HONOR ITS COMMITMENT TO SHOULDER MLF'S COST, OR EVEN TO PARTICIPATE . THUS THE U.S ., WHICH HAS PROMISED TO CONTRIBUTE 40 PER CENT, AND PERSUADED THE GERMANS TO PLEDGE ANOTHER 40 PER CENT , HAS FINALLY PUT PRESSURE ON BRITAIN . TO WHITEHALL'S DISMAY, WASHINGTON ANNOUNCED ITS TOP MLF EXPERT, ADMIRAL CLAUDE RICKETTS, DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, WOULD FLY TO LONDON THIS WEEK TO DISCUSS THE GOVERNMENT'S TECHNICAL RESERVATIONS AND SATISFY BRITISH COMPLAINTS THAT THEY HAVE SO FAR RECEIVED NOTHING BUT " COMPUTER ANSWERS " FROM THE PENTAGON . SAID ONE BRITISH OFFICIAL GLEEFULLY : " WE'VE GOT A LOT OF NAUGHTY QUESTIONS . / COMPELLING LOGIC . BRITAIN'S MAIN OBJECTION TO MLF IS THAT IT IS PRIMARILY A " POLITICAL " SCHEME TO PROMOTE NATO SOLIDARITY . HOWEVER, IF BRITAIN DECIDES NOT TO SUPPORT MLF, IT FACES ONE OF TWO UNPALATABLE ALTERNATIVES . EITHER THE PROJECT WILL BE ABANDONED, WITH THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THE GERMANS AND OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS WILL ULTIMATELY DEVELOP THEIR OWN NUCLEAR WEAPONS ; OR THE FORCE WILL COME INTO BEING ANYWAY, AND IN TIME MAY DEVELOP INTO A TRULY EUROPEAN DETERRENT, EXCLUSIVE OF BRITAIN . IN EITHER CASE, BRITAIN MIGHT SERIOUSLY STRAIN ITS TIES WITH THE U.S . BY REFUSING TO PARTICIPATE . RECALLING THAT ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO THE GOVERNMENT ARGUED WITH COMPELLING LOGIC AGAINST MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH CONCLUDED LAST WEEK : " WHAT IS SO SAD IS THAT ONCE AGAIN WE SEEM TO BE CLIMBING RELUCTANTLY INTO A BACK SEAT ON THE BANDWAGON ONLY AFTER IT HAS STARTED TO MOVE . /
 GREAT BRITAIN LOTS OF LOOT IN BRITISH MOVIES, CRIME USUALLY PAYS HANDSOMELY AT LEAST IF THE CROOK IS A DEAR OLD CRANK WHOSE ONLY MOTIVE IS TO RAISE SOME LOLLY FOR THE LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS . IN REAL LIFE, LARCENY IS EVEN MORE LUCRATIVE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL WHO SPECIALIZES IN THE SOPHISTICATED JOBS THAT THE ENGLISH CALL " YANKEE-STYLE " CRIME . ROBBERIES ALONE HAVE SOARED BY MORE THAN 200 PER CENT (TO SOME $5,000,000 YEARLY) IN METROPOLITAN LONDON OVER THE PAST DECADE, WHILE PAYROLL THEFTS HAVE GONE UP ALMOST 500 PER CENT SINCE 1960 . CHIEF REASON FOR THE INCREASE IN " SNATCHINGS AND RAKINGS, " AS SCOTLAND YARD CALLS THEM, IS THAT THE UNDERWORLD IS NOW MANAGED BY EXECUTIVES WITH A FLAIR FOR ORGANIZATION THAT OUTSTRIPS THE SLEUTHS . THEY ALSO HAVE STYLE . IN THE PAST YEAR ONE GANG HAS MADE FREQUENT HEADLINES BY KNOWLEDGEABLE THEFTS OF PRICELESS SILVER FROM STATELY HOMES, WHOSE DOUGHTY WALLS, IT SEEMS, SCARCELY QUIVER WHEN BURGLARS BLAST OPEN THE PANTRY SAFE . ONE VICTIM, THE MARQUESS OF BRISTOL, LEARNED RECENTLY THAT $56,000 WORTH OF SILVER PINCHED FROM HIS MANSION LAST FEBRUARY IS NOW IN RUSSIA . ANOTHER UNDERWORLD SPECTACULAR THAT FASCINATED BRITONS WAS CARRIED OUT LAST YEAR BY EIGHT DAPPER DASTARDS IN BOWLER HATS, AND DARK SUITS AND CARRYING TIGHTLY FURLED UMBRELLAS, WHO MARCHED INTO LONDON AIRPORT, GRABBED A $175,000 AIRLINE PAYROLL, AND BEAT AN ELEGANT RETREAT IN TWO MATCHING BLUE JAGUARS . LAST WEEK BRITONS COULD TALK OF LITTLE ELSE BUT A COOL LITTLE COUP IN WHICH FOUR MEN SWIPED A HALF-TON OF GOLD FROM A FINANCIAL-DISTRICT BULLION WAREHOUSE IN THE LUNCH HOUR . AFTER TYING UP A WATCHMAN, THE VILLAINS NONCHALANTLY LUGGED FORTY 27-LB . GOLD BARS WORTH $560,000 ACROSS A SIDEWALK INTO A BLUE DELIVERY VAN, THEN MADE A CLEAN GETAWAY DESPITE A TRAFFIC-STOPPING DASH THE WRONG WAY ON A ONE-WAY STREET . HOPING TO KEEP THE CULPRITS FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY, SCOTLAND YARD POSTED MEN AT EVERY AIRFIELD AND SEAPORT IN BRITAIN . FLYING-SQUAD OFFICERS CHECKED EVERY SMALL FOUNDRY IN LONDON ON THE OFF-CHANCE THAT THEY MIGHT NAB THE GANG IN THE ACT OF MELTING THEIR HAUL INTO EASILY PORTABLE NUGGETS . AT WEEK'S END THE NEW LAVENDER HILL MOB, AS FLEET STREET INEVITABLY CHRISTENED IT, WAS STILL AT LARGE PROBABLY, GUESSED SCOTLAND YARD, HOLED UP WITHIN METROPOLITAN LONDON . UNLIKE ALEC GUINNESS' MOB, WHICH MELTED DOWN ITS LOOT INTO SOLD-GOLD EIFFEL TOWER SOUVENIRS AND SHIPPED THEM TO PARIS, THE REAL-LIFE QUARTET PROBABLY AIMED TO EXPORT ITS BULLION TO INDIA, WHERE GOLD FETCHES TWICE THE WORLD MARKET PRICE . " I SEE NO REASON WHY THEY SHOULD BE CAUGHT, " SAID ONE EXPERT . " THEY HAVE A MARKET FOR IT ALL READY . IT'S THAT KIND OF JOB . /
 FRANCE WARNING TO LES FLICS TO FOREIGN TOURISTS, THE PARIS COP SEEMS A MODEL OF QUIET COURTESY . HE DIRECTS THEM TO AMERICAN EXPRESS AND THOMAS COOK WITH A DEBONAIR SALUTE ; HE GUIDES GLADIATORIAL TRAFFIC WITH A CALM NONCHALANCE . FRENCHMEN LOOK ON LE FLIC QUITE DIFFERENTLY . APART FROM THEIR DISLIKE OF TAKING ORDERS FROM ANYONE, THEY KNOW THAT FREQUENTLY IN THE HEM OF HIS NATTY BLUE CAPE IS SEWN ENOUGH BUCKSHOT TO BREAK A MAN'S AND SOMETIMES A WOMAN'S NOSE . THEY HAVE SEEN HIM WADING INTO A CROWD FLAILING A 6-FT . RIOT CANE LIKE A SCYTHE . PARISIANS RECALL MANY BLOODY HEADS ACROSS THE YEARS, ESPECIALLY THE NINE PEOPLE KILLED IN THE CRUSH WHEN POLICE BROKE UP A 1962 PEACE RALLY . BUT THE LATEST UPROAR BEGAN IN APRIL, WHEN CINEMACTOR JEAN-PAUL (BREATHLESS) BELMONDO DARED TO PROTEST THAT A COP WAS NEGLECTING AN ACCIDENT VICTIM WHILE QUIZZING WITNESSES ; BELMONDO WAS KNOCKED FLAT . DURING MAY, FOUR PRISONERS DETAINED FOR TRIFLING OFFENSES HANGED THEMSELVES IN THEIR CELLS . THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO PROVE THAT THE POLICE WERE AT FAULT, BUT NO ONE COULD CONVINCE SUSPICIOUS FRENCHMEN THAT THE DEATHS WERE NOT CAUSED BY THIRD-DEGREE TACTICS . PARIS HAS ALSO GOTTEN A LITTLE TIRED OF THE OVERZEALOUS USE OF SUBMACHINE GUNS ISSUED DURING THE PAST ALGERIAN TERRORIST OUTBREAKS . WHEN A PANTHER ESCAPED FROM A CIRCUS, A FLIC MISTOOK A SHADOW FOR THE BEAST AND IN ERROR PLUGGED A PASSER-BY . ANOTHER LUDICROUSLY CHOPPED UP A COW, BROKEN LOOSE FROM A SLAUGHTERHOUSE, WITH HIS TOMMY GUN . WITH NEWSPAPER HEADLINES GROWING EVER MORE CRITICAL, PUBLIC ANIMOSITY BECAME SO GREAT THAT FOUR FLICS WERE BEATEN UP RECENTLY . CONCERNED, INTERIOR MINISTER ROGER FREY LAST WEEK CALLED TOP POLICE OFFICIALS TOGETHER AND SPOKE SOME HARSH WORDS . HE TOLD THEM " TO ORIENT THEIR ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES TOWARD THEIR TRADITIONAL JOB . " / YOUR ACTION WILL CONTRIBUTE MOST TO THE PUBLIC PEACE, " FREY UPBRAIDED THEM, " WHEN IT IS CARRIED OUT WITH HUMANITY, SANG-FROID, TACT AND COURTESY, WITH UNRELENTING CARE FOR THE RESPECT OF HUMAN BEINGS . THIS REQUIRES NOT A LITTLE URBANITY IN RELATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC . " WHETHER THE COPS REALLY CARED TO IMPROVE THEIR PUBLIC IMAGE WAS OPEN TO QUESTION ; THE TRADITION OF STERN AUTHORITARIANISM IS DEEPLY ROOTED . THE PARIS FORCE DATES BACK TO THE DAYS OF AUGUSTUS CAESAR AND ASSUMES THE ROLE OF A STATE, RATHER THAN MUNICIPAL, POLICE . UNTIL THE RECENT CRITICISM, THEY COULD HOLD A SUSPECT UP TO TWO WEEKS WITHOUT EXPLANATION . THEY STILL ISSUE PASSPORTS, LICENSE EVERYTHING FROM PROSTITUTION TO DRIVING, AND KEEP CLOSE TRACK OF THE WHEREABOUTS OF EVERYBODY IN PARIS . WILL THE OLDEST CONSTABULARY IN THE WESTERN WORLD MEND ITS WAYS ? ONE MAN ON A BEAT HAD A PLAIN REPLY : " TOI, MELE TOI DE TES OIGNONS (MIND YOUR OWN ONIONS) . /
 RUSSIA MEET COMRADE PUNKOVSKY THERE WAS NO APPLAUSE FROM THE CROWD THAT JAMMED A TENNIS COURT IN SOUTHWEST MOSCOW'S LUZHNIKI SPORTS GROUNDS . IN THE BIGGEST TRIAL OF ITS KIND EVER HELD IN THE SOVIET CAPITAL, 2,000 MUSCOVITES MET AT THE STADIUM AS A PEOPLE'S COURT TO PASS JUDGMENT ON THREE " YOUNG, HEALTHY FELLOWS " WHO WERE ACCUSED OF HAVING " WASTED THEIR YOUTH " ON DRUNKEN SPREES, GAMBLING, AND BLACK MARKET DEALINGS WITH FOREIGNERS . AFTER THE CITIZENS VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO BANISH THE WASTRELS FROM MOSCOW, ALL THREE WERE SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS' HARD LABOR IN WHAT THE AUTHORITIES DELICATELY CALLED " A REMOTE PART OF THE COUNTRY . " THE TRIAL, WHICH WAS FRONT-PAGE NEWS IN PRAVDA, WAS STAGED AS PART OF A NEW SOVIET CAMPAIGN TO MAKE LIFE HARDER FOR WESTERN SPIES AND DULLER FOR COMMUNIST PARTYGOERS . SINCE LAST MONTH'S TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF OLEG PENKOVSKY, THE SCIENTIFIC OFFICIAL WHO WAS CONVICTED OF SLIPPING SECRET INFORMATION TO BRITISH AND U.S . AGENTS, THE SOVIET PRESS HAS BEEN URGING COMRADES TO " BREAK THE CRIMINAL CHAIN OF ESPIONAGE " BY SHOWING " REVOLUTIONARY VIGILANCE AND BEING IDEOLOGICALLY WELL-STEELED . " RUSSIANS WERE PARTICULARLY WARNED AGAINST MOSCOW'S DIPLOMATIC COCKTAIL CIRCUIT, WHERE, SAID PRAVDA DARKLY, WESTERN SPYMASTERS RECRUIT NEW TALENT . WARNED PRAVDA : " THAT WAS HOW THEY GOT HOLD OF PENKOVSKY, AND THE SAME THING MAY HAPPEN TO ANYONE WHO, IN HIS BLINDNESS, NIBBLES AT THE BAIT THE IMPERIALISTS SO LAVISHLY TOSS OUT . " IZVESTIA CHIMED IN WITH AN ACID-ETCHED PORTRAIT OF THE KIND OF COMRADE THE IMPERIALISTS ARE LOOKING FOR . DUBBING HIM " PUNKOVSKY " FOR PUNK IZVESTIA REPORTED THAT THIS UNSAVORY TYPE CHERISHES A NEVERENDING STREAM OF GOLD-EMBOSSED INVITATIONS TO DIPLOMATIC RECEPTIONS, WHERE HE CAN BE SPOTTED BY HIS " EMPTY PHRASES AND FULL GLASS . " HE IS THE SORT OF MAN WHO, WHEN BENNY GOODMAN VISITS MOSCOW, CARRIES HIS CLARINET CASE . THOSE OLD PANTS HE WEARS SO PROUDLY WERE BESTOWED ON HIM BY A BRITISH TRAVELING SALESMAN . " GIVE ME A TIE AND SOME SOCKS, " PUNKOVSKY TELLS A WESTERN CULTURAL ATTACHE, " AND I'LL INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME OF MOSCOW'S ANGRY YOUNG MEN . " THE SOVIET PEOPLE ARE NOT INCLINED TO SEE A SPY IN EVERY FOREIGNER, " OFFICIALS INSISTED . NONETHELESS, THEY WARNED, IF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS AND NEWSMEN CONTINUE TO INVITE PUNKOVSKYS AND PENKOVSKYS TO THEIR PARTIES, " REAL, HONEST SOVIET PEOPLE " MIGHT BOYCOTT THEM ALTOGETHER . TO SHOW THAT ITS DIATRIBES WERE NOT JUST COCKTAIL TALK, THE GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK STRIPPED ARTILLERY CHIEF MARSHAL SERGEI VARENSTOV OF HIS RANK FOR HAVING BEFRIENDED PENKOVSKY, DISCIPLINED SOME OF " THE SCIENTIST'S OTHER FRIENDS AND BOOZING COMPANIONS . " / OF COURSE, " ADDED PRAVDA, " WE ARE AGAINST SPY MANIA . /
 BELGIUM 2-12 LINGUA BELGICA IN CHARLEROI, THE WALLOON BANNERS SCREAMED / NO TO A FLEMISH DICTATORSHIP ! " AN ORATOR IN FLANDERS SHOUTED, " WE REJECT ALL FURTHER COMPROMISES ! " THE ANGRY SHOUTS OVER MUCH OF BELGIUM LAST WEEK WERE THE LATEST OUTBURSTS IN THE ANCIENT HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE NATION'S 5,250,000 DUTCH-SPEAKING FLEMINGS IN THE NORTH AND THE 4,000,000 FRENCH-SPEAKING WALLOONS IN THE SOUTH . SINCE BELGIUM SECEDED FROM THE NETHERLANDS 133 YEARS AGO, THE NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR FLEMINGS HAVE ALWAYS RESENTED THE TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SUPERIORITY OF THE WALLOONS . " WE'RE THE ONLY COUNTRY IN EUROPE WITH AN OPPRESSED MAJORITY, " SAYS BELGIUM'S FLEMISH PREMIER THEO LEFEVRE . LEFEVRE WAS OVERSTATING THE CASE . SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II, FLANDERS HAS CAPITALIZED ON A HEALTHY DOLLOP OF U.S . AID TO INDUSTRIALIZE AND ACQUIRE A PATINA OF PROSPERITY, WHILE WALLONIA, WITH ITS PLAYED-OUT COAL MINES, HAS BEEN PLAGUED BY CHRONIC UNEMPLOYMENT.LAST YEAR, WHEN VIOLENT RIOTS BROKE OUT BETWEEN THE TWO FACTIONS, THE FLEMISH MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT PASSED A LAW DIVIDING BELGIUM INTO TWO SEPARATE UNILINGUAL SECTIONS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM THE GERMAN BORDER SOUTH OF AACHEN TO THE FRENCH FRONTIER ; TO THE NORTH, FLEMISH WOULD BE THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS, COURTS AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES ; TO THE SOUTH, ONLY FRENCH WOULD BE RECOGNIZED . THE COMPROMISE WAS A FAILURE, AND LAST WEEK DEMONSTRATIONS BROKE OUT IN BRUSSELS AND LOUVAIN, BOTH OF WHICH ARE NORTH OF THE LINE AND BOTH OF WHICH HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ACCORDED A MEASURE OF BILINGUAL STATUS . AT LOUVAIN UNIVERSITY, WALLOON PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS WENT OUT ON STRIKE, BOYCOTTING LECTURES AND CLASSES IN PROTEST OVER THE PROPOSED BILINGUAL SPLIT OF THE TRADITIONALLY FRENCH-SPEAKING UNIVERSITY . IN AN ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE EXPLOSIVE SITUATION, PREMIER LEFEVRE CALLED FOR A TWO-WEEK / LANGUAGE ARMISTICE " WHILE HIS GOVERNMENT TRIED TO WORK OUT ANOTHER COMPROMISE . BUT WITH PARLIAMENT SPLIT ALONG LANGUAGE LINES, THERE WAS LITTLE HOPE OF A SOLUTION . UNLESS FLEMINGS AND WALLOONS LEARN TO LIVE WITH EACH OTHER, SAID ONE DEPUTY IN PARLIAMENT LAST WEEK, " I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT IN A SMALL COUNTRY LIVE SMALL PEOPLE . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE MAKESHIFT KILLERS INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH LAST WEEK FLEW THE 800 . THEY WERE SOUTH VIETNAMESE TROOPS BEING LIFTED BY A COMPANY OF U.S . H-21 TROOP-CARRYING HELICOPTERS TO CLEAN OUT A COMMUNIST-INFESTED JUNGLE HIDEOUT 175 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAIGON . THE REGION WAS A TANGLED, MENACING BATTLEGROUND, WHOSE NAME, LIKE TENNYSON'S BALACLAVA, DERIVES FROM ITS BLOODY HISTORY IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S UGLY GUERRILLA WAR . AS EACH FLIGHT DIPPED INTO THE TINY LANDING ZONE, AN ESCORT OF TWELVE ROCKETCARRYING UH 1-B ( " HUEY " ) CHOPPERS SPRAYED THE SCRUBBY UNDERBRUSH WITH ROCKETS AND MACHINE-GUN FIRE . NOT A SINGLE HOSTILE SHOT WAS RETURNED AS THE TROOPS HIT THE GROUND AND FANNED INTO THE JUNGLE . THE ABSENCE OF ENEMY OPPOSITION IN THE LANDING AREA COULD BE LARGELY TRACED TO VIET CONG FEAR OF THE ROCKET-CARRYING HUEYS . BEFORE THEIR ARRIVAL IN SOUTH VIET NAM LAST FALL, DEVASTATING COMMUNIST GROUND FIRE AGAINST THE LUMBERING, DEFENSELESS H-21S THREATENED TO HALT THE GOVERNMENT'S HELICOPTER AIRLIFT CAMPAIGN, WHICH HAD BEEN THE MOST EFFECTIVE OFFENSIVE TACTIC AGAINST THE RED GUERRILLAS . RELUCTANTLY THE TOP U.S . MILITARY BRASS, WHICH HAD LONG BEEN SKEPTICAL THAT A HELICOPTER COULD EVER BE A DEADLY OFFENSIVE WEAPON, THREW THE NEWLYARRIVED HUEYS INTO COMBAT . THEIR MISSION : TO ESCORT AND PROTECT THE TROOPCARRYING COPTERS . " THE MOST ESSENTIAL UNIT . " SO EFFECTIVE HAVE THE HUEYS BEEN IN COUNTERACTING VIET CONG GROUND FIRE THAT SOME H-21 PILOTS HAVE REFUSED TO CARRY OUT MISSIONS RATHER THAN FLY WITHOUT HUEY ESCORTS . SINCE LAST OCTOBER, THE HUEYS HAVE FLOWN 3,600 SORTIES, FIRED 1,800 ROCKETS AND 200,000 ROUNDS OF MACHINEGUN AMMUNITION, AND KILLED COUNTLESS HUNDREDS OF REDS . TWO ENLISTED MEN OF THE COMPANY (WHOSE OFFICIAL MILITARY DESIGNATION IS UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT COMPANY) HAVE BEEN KILLED IN COMBAT, AND 19 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE 113-MAN UNIT HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS . TODAY U.S . MILITARY OFFICIALS ESTIMATE THAT, ALTHOUGH THE VIET CONG HAS DOUBLED ITS ANTIAIRCRAFT EFFORT IN THE PAST YEAR, THE TROOP-CARRYING CHOPPERS ARE SUFFERING 25 PER CENT FEWER HITS THAN BEFORE THE HUEYS ARRIVED ON THE VIET NAM SCENE . " THE HUEYS, " SAYS GENERAL PAUL HARKINS, THE CAPABLE BOSS OF THE 14,000 U.S . ADVISERS IN SOUTH VIET NAM, " ARE THE MOST ESSENTIAL UNIT IN MY COMMAND . " THE IRONY OF THE HUEYS' SUCCESS IS THAT THEY ARE MAKESHIFT KILLERS, ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS UTILITY AIRCRAFT AND PERSONNEL CARRIERS . BUT HUEY PILOTS BECAME CONVINCED THAT THEIR SPEEDY, MANEUVERABLE CHOPPERS WOULD BE IDEAL SUPPORT AIRCRAFT IN THE KIND OF GUERRILLA WAR SITUATION THAT SOUTHEAST ASIA PRESENTS . ON THEIR OWN, COMPANY PERSONNEL OUTFITTED THEIR HUEYS WITH 16 HOMEMADE ROCKET MOUNTS AND FOUR MACHINE-GUN BRACKETS, PESTERED DUBIOUS BRASS FOR MONTHS TO LET THEM TRY OUT THEIR IDEAS IN ACTION . THE HUEYS' EFFECTIVENESS IS MAINLY THE RESULT OF THEIR ABILITY TO CHUG RIGHT ALONG IN THE SAME FORMATION WITH THE H-21S . UNLIKE FIXED-WING FIGHTER BOMBERS, WHICH FLY TOO HIGH AND TOO FAST TO PICK OUT SPECIFIC TARGETS AND SOMETIMES DROP NAPALM ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS, THE SLOWCRUISING HUEYS CAN SPOT GROUND FIRE IN THE LANDING ZONE AND MOVE IN TO NEUTRALIZE IT WITH DISCRIMINATING FIRE THAT SPARES NONCOMBATANTS . " IF WE KILL ONE WOMAN OR A CHILD ON A MISSION AND 90 VIET CONG, " SAYS ONE HUEY PILOT, " THEN THAT MISSION IS A FAILURE . " PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT . AS A PREVIOUSLY UNTRIED COMBAT INNOVATION, THE HUEYS CAN AFFORD TO EXPERIMENT IN HELIBORNE ASSAULT TACTICS, ARE PROVIDING THE ARMY WITH INVALUABLE OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN NEW DOCTRINES OF GUERRILLA WARFARE . " WE'RE WRITING THE BOOK OF TACTICS OURSELVES, " SAYS MAJOR IVAN SLAVICH, 35, COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE U.T.T . COMPANY . IN COMBAT, THE HUEYS USUALLY FLY A CIRCULAR " DAISY CHAIN " PATTERN SO THAT EACH SHIP IS ALWAYS COVERED BY THE CHOPPER IMMEDIATELY BEHIND IT . " OUR MACHINE GUNS HAVE MORE ACTUAL KILLING POWER, " SAYS SLAVICH . " BUT OUR ROCKETS SEEM TO HAVE A MUCH GREATER PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT ON THE VIET CONG . / THE MAKESHIFT KILLERS WITH THEIR MANEUVERABILITY, THE HUEYS CAN SLIDE BACK AND FORTH JUST A FEW FEET OVER THE SUN-SCORCHED RICE FIELDS, SORTING OUT THEIR TARGETS LIKE COWBOYS CUTTING STEERS FROM A HERD . ON ONE RECENT MISSION, THE DESPERATE REDS TRIED TO LOB HAND GRENADES INTO THE OPEN SIDE DOORS OF THE LOW-CIRCLING CHOPPERS . WHEN TWO HUEYS TRIED TO BOX IN AND CAPTURE A FLEEING RED GUERRILLA, HE SUDDENLY WHEELED AND HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THEM, A HAND GRENADE IN EACH HAND . A BURST OF GUNFIRE FROM THE CHOPPERS CUT HIM DOWN ; BOTH GRENADES EXPLODED BENEATH HIS BODY . FROM THE DOOR OF A GRASS HUT, A GUERRILLA BLAZED AWAY AT A HOVERING HUEY, MISSED ITS COPILOT BY ONLY A FEW INCHES . THE HUEY'S WINGMAN PLANTED A ROCKET SMACK IN THE DOORWAY OF THE HUT AND BLEW IT TO PIECES . SCARED PRINCESS . THE CHOPPER PILOTS CREDIT SLAVICH FOR THE OUTSTANDING SUCCESS OF THE HUEYS, CALL THEIR OUTFIT " SLAVICH'S PEOPLE . " SON OF A RETIRED SAN FRANCISCO DEMOCRATIC WARD POLITICIAN, SLAVICH SERVED AS A MARINE CORPS ENLISTED MAN AFTER WORLD WAR II, BECAME AN ARMY OFFICER AFTER GRADUATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO IN 1951 . HE WON A COMBAT INFANTRYMAN'S BADGE IN KOREA, BECAME A PILOT IN 1955, TOOK COMMAND OF THE U.T.T . COMPANY LAST NOVEMBER . SLAVICH RUNS AN EASYGOING OUTFIT AT HIS BASE AT THE EDGE OF SAIGON AIRPORT . LIKE TOURISTS, SOME PILOTS TOTE CAMERAS ON MISSIONS, AND SLAVICH HIMSELF USED TO TAKE HIS GERMAN SHEPHERD, PRINCESS, ALONG ON SORTIES UNTIL THE PUP BECAME SO SHELL-SHY THAT SHE NEARLY JUMPED OUT OF THE CHOPPER WHEN THE ROCKETS WERE FIRED . THE PILOTS HAVE A JARGON OF THEIR OWN . THEY " ZAP " THE VIET CONG ON A GOOD DAY, CALL SAIGON " THE VILLE, " EXPRESS FERVENT APPROVAL OF EVERYTHING FROM A GIRL TO A CHOPPER WITH THE WORD " OUTSTANDIN' . " TOP-RANKING VISITORS OFTEN HITCH RIDES ON THEIR FLIGHTS TO GET IN A FEW PERSONAL LICKS AT THE VIET CONG . BRIGADIER GENERAL JOSEPH STILWELL JR., SON OF " VINEGAR JOE, " FREQUENTLY RIDES SHOTGUN IN SLAVICH'S OWN CHOPPER . ONCE, WITH STILWELL ABOARD, SLAVICH HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING IN A RED-INFESTED AREA . " I WAS SCARED TO DEATH, " SAID SLAVICH . GLAD THE VIET CONG DIDN'T COME ALONG, BECAUSE I KNOW DAMN WELL THAT GENERAL STILWELL WOULD HAVE MADE US FIGHT FOR THE MACHINE INSTEAD OF LETTING US RUN . " / PUCKER UP & PRAY . " DEADLY AS THE HUEYS ARE, THEY HAVE THEIR FAULTS . AS BOTH DOORS MUST BE KEPT WIDE OPEN TO GIVE THE AUTOMATIC RIFLE-TOTING SIDE GUNNERS COMPLETE VISIBILITY, THE BLAST OF THE ROCKETS CREATES AN EAR-SHATTERING DIN IN THE COPTER'S CABIN . EVEN WORSE, THE HUEYS ARE VIRTUALLY UNARMORED, AND ENEMY FLAK CUTS THROUGH THEM EASILY . ALL FOUR CREWMEN NOT ONLY WEAR FLAK VESTS BUT ALSO SIT ON A PILE OF VESTS TO PROTECT PRIVATE PARTS . " WHEN AN ENEMY IS SHOOTING AT YOU AT THAT LOW ALTITUDE, IT'S THE MOST HOPELESS FEELING IN THE WORLD, " SAYS ONE PILOT . " THERE'S NOTHING TO DO BUT PUCKER UP AND PRAY . " BUT BECAUSE OF THE HUEYS' PERFORMANCE, THE ARMY IS NOW ENCOURAGING THE DESIGN OF A MUCH BETTER, ARMORED, ATTACK HELICOPTER, WHICH MIGHT ACHIEVE SPEEDS OF 175 KNOTS AND EMPLOY HEAVIER MACHINE GUNS AND PERMANENTLY INSTALLED TURRETS FOR THE LETHAL ROCKETS . FROM MAJOR SLAVICH COMES THE RATIONALE FOR SUCH AN AIRCRAFT . / WE CAN STAY IN THE SAME ENVIRONMENT AS THE HELICOPTERS WE ARE PROTECTING, " HE SAID . " WE CAN WORK IN CLOSE, WE CAN WORK IN UNLIMITED VISIBILITY, WE CAN VARY OUR AIRSPEED FROM 100 KNOTS TO ZERO . WE CAN SEEK AND FIND A HOSTILE MENACE TO HELICOPTERS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE . /
 GREAT BRITAIN THE PRICE OF CHRISTINE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY ? SHOUTED THE DAILY MIRROR . AS IF ANYONE DIDN'T KNOW . WHAT WENT ON WAS JUST THE KIND OF STORY ON WHICH THE MIRROR THRIVES . ALTHOUGH IT HAD STARTED OUT MERELY AS VENERY IN HIGH (AND SEVERAL LOW) PLACES, IT GREW INTO A MAJOR SCANDAL THAT NOT ONLY SMASHED THE CAREER OF A PROMISING TORY POLITICIAN, BUT ALSO RAISED SOME TROUBLING QUESTIONS ABOUT BRITISH SECURITY AND ROCKED THE MACMILLAN GOVERNMENT . OTHERWISE, IT READ LIKE LA DOLCE VITA, ANGLO-SAXON STYLE . THE STORY FIRST EMERGED PARTIALLY LAST MARCH, WHEN ITS LEADING CHARACTERS BECAME PUBLICLY IDENTIFIED : RED-HAIRED CHRISTINE KEELER, WHO CAME FROM MIDDLESEX TO SLING HASH AT 17, AND AT 21 WAS THE WEST END'S MOST-CALLED GIRL ; JOHN PROFUMO, 48, THE ABLE WAR MINISTER AND MAN-ABOUT-MAYFAIR, WHOSE VIRILE CHARM PROVED SOMETHING OF A TORY ASSET AFTER THOSE HOMOSEXUAL SPY SCANDALS ,; AND DR . STEPHEN WARD, 43, A SOCIAL OSTEOPATH (AND SON OF THE ANGLICAN CANON OF ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL), WHO SAID HE LIKED HELPING ATTRACTIVE GIRLS OF HUMBLE BIRTH ADAPT TO " THE NEEDS AND STRESSES OF MODERN LIVING . " AFTER MONTHS OF RUMOR, A LABOR M.P . CHALLENGED THE GOVERNMENT TO DENY THE RUMORS OF A MINISTER'S INDISCRETIONS WITH CHRISTINE . PROFUMO'S FIRM DENIAL OF WRONGDOING, AND A DEMONSTRATION OF SUPPORT FROM PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN, QUASHED THE STORY TEMPORARILY UNTIL IT BURST FORTH AGAIN LAST WEEK . THIS TIME PROFUMO RESIGNED FROM THE GOVERNMENT AFTER AN ABRUPT, ABJECT CONFESSION THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY LIED TO THE PRIME MINISTER, HIS COLLEAGUES AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS . COEXISTENCE . OF NOBLE ITALIAN DESCENT, JOHN DENNIS PROFUMO HAD EVERY QUALIFICATION TO REACH THE TORIES' TOP RANKS : HARROW AND OXFORD, FINE WAR RECORD, BRAINS, DRIVE, AND A BEAUTIFUL WIFE, MOVIE ACTRESS VALERIE (GREAT EXPECTATIONS) HOBSON . TOGETHER, THE PROFUMOS WERE WEEKENDING AT CLIVEDEN, FAMED COUNTRY ESTATE OF LORD AND LADY ASTOR, WHEN THEY WERE INTRODUCED TO CHRISTINE IN 1961 . ALSO PRESENT : STEPHEN WARD, WHO HAD A COTTAGE ON THE PLACE . THEREAFTER, VALERIE STAYED HOME WHILE JACK VISITED CHRISTINE AT WARD'S FLAT IN WIMPOLE MEWS . WHAT THE WAR MINISTER NEVER KNEW WAS THAT CHRISTINE HAD ANOTHER REGULAR VISITOR, EVGENY IVANOV, WHO WAS A SOVIET NAVAL ATTACHE IN LONDON . A ROUND-EYED OBSERVER OF THEIR COEXISTENCE WAS NYMPHET MARILYN ( " MANDY " ) RICE-DAVIES, A WELL-DEVELOPED 16-YEAR-OLD, WHO WAS ONE OF CHRISTINE'S INTIMATES . " THE FARCICAL THING ABOUT IT ALL, " AS MANDY TOLD THE PRESS, " WAS THAT, ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION, AS JACK LEFT CHRISTINE AT THE FLAT, IVANOV WALKED IN . " IT POSSIBLY SEEMED LESS HILARIOUS TO BRITISH MI-5 INTELLIGENCE AGENTS, WHO WERE SHADOWING IVANOV AT THE TIME, TO FIND THAT THEIR WAR MINISTER WAS UNWITTINGLY SHARING A BED WITH A SUSPECTED SOVIET SPY . THE PRICE OF CHRISTINE THOUGH THEY TRIED NOT TO BE SEEN IN PUBLIC, PROFUMO SOMETIMES TOOK CHRISTINE FOR DRIVES, SHE LATER RECALLED . " HE SHOWED ME THE WAR OFFICE, WHERE HE WORKED . HE EVEN SHOWED ME DOWNING STREET . " BUT IN TIME PROFUMO STOPPED SEEING CHRISTINE BECAUSE, SHE EXPLAINED, HE WAS " SCARED IT WOULD RUIN HIS CAREER . " COMRADE IVANOV WAS SHIPPED OFF TO MOSCOW, AND THE " MODEL " FROM MIDDLESEX, WHO HAD ACQUIRED A TASTE FOR JAZZ ON THE WAY UP, HIT THE BLUES BELT AND ACQUIRED A JAMAICAN LOVER NAMED JOHNNIE EDGECOMBE . BUT HE COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT HER TELEPHONE WAS FOR . " HE SEEMED TO THINK, " CHRISTINE COMPLAINED LATER, " THAT I WAS GOING TO LIVE WITH HIM FOREVER . " ONE DAY, JOHNNIE SHOWED UP WITH A GUN AND FIRED SEVERAL BULLETS INTO THE DOOR BEFORE THE BOBBIES BAGGED HIM . MULTIRACIALISM . AFTER JOHNNIE WENT TO JAIL, THERE WAS ANOTHER WEST INDIAN LOVER, ALOYSIUS " LUCKY " GORDON, WHO, IF ANYTHING, WAS EVEN MORE NARROWMINDED . IN APRIL HE BEAT HER UP . LAST WEEK, AT HIS TRIAL FOR ASSAULT, ALOYSIUS WAS SO UNGALLANT AS TO TESTIFY THAT HE HAD KEPT HER SUPPLIED WITH MARIJUANA, WHILE ALL SHE GAVE HIM IN RETURN WAS VD . " YOU CAN SAY THIS FOR CHRISTINE, " SAID A LEADING LABOR POLITICIAN . " AT LEAST SHE'S MULTIRACIAL . " THE SCANDAL MIGHT HAVE DIED, HAD IT NOT BEEN RESURRECTED BY STEPHEN WARD HIMSELF . SEVEN WEEKS AFTER PROFUMO'S DENIAL, HE TOLD THE PRIME MINISTER'S PRIVATE SECRETARY THAT THE WAR MINISTER HAD LIED IN COMMONS, THAT HE HAD INDEED HAD AN AFFAIR WITH CHRISTINE KEELER . WARD REPEATED HIS CHARGES IN LETTERS TO HOME SECRETARY HENRY BROOKE AND LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON . PROFUMO WAS CONFRONTED WITH THIS NEW ACCUSATION, BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL LAST WEEK THAT HE STARTLED TORY OFFICIALS BY BLURTING THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTINE IN A LETTER TO THE VACATIONING PRIME MINISTER, PROFUMO RESIGNED AS WAR MINISTER AND AS M.P . FOR STRATFORD-ON-AVON, CONFESSING HIS " GRAVE MISDEMEANOR . " SAID HE : " I CANNOT TELL YOU OF MY DEEP REMORSE . " MACMILLAN ACCEPTED HIS RESIGNATION, DESCRIBING THE AFFAIR AS " A GREAT TRAGEDY . " THEN PROFUMO AND HIS WIFE LEFT THEIR REGENT'S PARK HOME AND DISAPPEARED INTO THE COUNTRY . DILEMMA . THE SCANDAL HE LEFT BEHIND GOT LIVELIER EVERY DAY . CHRISTINE KEELER, WHO WAS BACK FROM A CONTINENTAL HOLIDAY AND SUDDENLY SPORTED A " BUSINESS MANAGER " AND A NEW ROLLS-ROYCE, ADDED MORE OFF-COLOR TO THE SAGA BY TELLING AND SELLING HER STORY TO THE PAPERS . " I WAS VERY FOND OF JACK, " SHE SAID WISTFULLY . " IF EVER WE MEET AGAIN, WE HAVE AT LEAST THIS IN COMMON BOTH OUR CAREERS HAVE BEEN RUINED . " MANDY CHIMED IN WITH DETAILS OF THE HIGH LIVING THAT HAD EARNED HER A JAGUAR, MINK AND DIAMONDS BY HER 17TH BIRTHDAY . AT ONE DINNER PARTY, SHE RECALLED, " A NAKED MAN WEARING A MASK WAITED ON TABLE LIKE A SLAVE . HE HAD TO HAVE A MASK BECAUSE HE WAS SO WELL KNOWN . / MEANWHILE STEPHEN WARD'S EXPLANATIONS FILLED THE NEWSPAPERS AND TV SCREENS . THE AFFAIR, HE PROTESTED, HAD GIVEN RISE TO " A WHOLE TRAIN OF RUMORS, AND ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE WERE MENTIONED, WITH THE IMPLICATION THAT I'D BEEN TRYING TO PROCURE THEM FOR MISS KEELER . " DESPITE HIS SUBSEQUENT ATTEMPT TO PROTECT PROFUMO AND THE GOVERNMENT, SAID WARD, HE HAD REPORTED PROFUMO'S LIAISON TO BRITISH INTELLIGENCE WHEN IT WAS AT ITS HEIGHT IN 1961 . SAID HE : " I'VE ALMOST HAD A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN . IT'S A TERRIBLE DILEMMA . ONE DIDN'T WANT TO BITCH UP ANYBODY . YOU OWE IT TO YOUR FRIENDS . BUT I MUST CLEAR MYSELF . " FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, STEPHEN WARD WILL DO HIS EXPLAINING IN COURT . AT WEEK'S END SCOTLAND YARD PLUCKED THE OSTEOPATH FROM HIS WHITE JAGUAR SPORTS CAR AND JAILED HIM ON CHARGES OF VIOLATING BRITAIN'S SEXUAL OFFENSES ACT BY / LIVING WHOLLY OR IN PART ON THE EARNINGS OF PROSTITUTION . " UNREST . AS A MATTER OF POLITICAL TACTICS, THE LABOR PARTY DECIDED TO TREAT THE PROFUMO AFFAIR NOT SO MUCH AS A MORAL INDICTMENT OF UPPERCRUST BRITAIN BUT RATHER AS ANOTHER FLAGRANT EXAMPLE OF THE ERRATIC WORKINGS OF BRITAIN'S SECURITY SYSTEM . IF, ARGUED LABORITES, BRITISH INTELLIGENCE HAD KNOWN ALL ALONG THAT BRITAIN'S WAR MINISTER HAD SHARED A CALL GIRL WITH A SOVIET AGENT, WHY WAS NOTHING DONE TO BREAK UP A LIAISON THAT MIGHT EXPOSE HIM TO RUSSIAN BLACKMAIL ? WAS MACMILLAN TOLD ? IF SO, HAD THE GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGED PROFUMO TO LIE ABOUT HIS DALLIANCE WITH CHRISTINE KEELER SOLELY IN ORDER TO AVERT A DAMAGING SCANDAL ? UNFLAPPABLE HAROLD MACMILLAN, WHO DID NOT ALLOW LAST WEEK'S EVENTS TO INTERRUPT HIS GOLFING VACATION, WILL BE ABLE TO PRESENT THE GOVERNMENT'S CASE WHEN PARLIAMENT RECONVENES NEXT WEEK . HE MAY YET, AS IN THE PAST, CONFOUND HIS CRITICS IN COMMONS . BUT THE AFFAIR MAY SERIOUSLY AFFECT THE TORIES' ALREADY SHAKY CHANCES AT THE NEXT ELECTIONS, WHICH MACMILLAN WILL NOW PROBABLY TRY TO DELAY . SAID TORY BACKBENCHER LORD LAMBTON : " THE HARM THIS WILL DO TO THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY WILL BE ENORMOUS . THERE HAS BEEN FOR SOME TIME A GENERAL FEELING OF UNREST IN THIS COUNTRY AS TO THE MORALITY OF THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT . THIS FEELING WILL BE IMMENSELY INCREASED . /
 THE ALLIES THREE ON A HORSE TOP BRITISH DEFENSE OFFICIALS LISTENED POLITELY IN LONDON LAST WEEK WHILE A U.S . NAVY TASK FORCE ARGUED THE MERITS OF A MISSILE-FIRING SURFACE FLEET MANNED BY MIXED NATO CREWS . THE BRITONS' REAL FEELINGS TOWARD THE MULTILATERAL FORCE (MLF) WERE BEST EXPRESSED IN A SARDONIC LIMERICK THAT MADE THE ROUNDS OF WHITEHALL : HOORAY FOR THE MULTIMIXED FORCE, GERMAN, BRITISH AND YANKEE, OF COURSE ! EACH PRODUCES A KNIGHT, AND THE PLAN IS TO FIGHT OR DETER WITH ALL THREE ON ONE HORSE . BEHIND U.S . EFFORTS TO SELL MLF WAS THE ILL-CONCEALED FACT THAT MILITARY WASHINGTON DOES NOT REALLY BELIEVE IN IT EITHER . PRIVATELY THE PENTAGON CONSIDERS IT AT BEST A GIMMICK TO POSTPONE " PROLIFERATION " OF INDEPENDENT NUCLEAR FORCES TO OTHER NATIONS, WHICH IT WANTS AT ALL COSTS TO PREVENT OR DELAY . " MONSTROUS NONSENSE . " CHARGED WITH THE HALFHEARTED MISSION OF WINNING BRITISH SUPPORT FOR THE $5 BILLION MLF WAS ADMIRAL CLAUDE RICKETTS, U.S . DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, WHO HAS DOUBLED OF LATE AS THE PENTAGON'S MULTIMIXMASTER . STRATEGICALLY, HE ARGUED, A FORCE OF 25 POLARIS VESSELS CRUISING EUROPE'S SHALLOW COASTAL WATERS COULD NOT EASILY BE DESTROYED BY SOVIET SUBMARINES OR AIRCRAFT . SAID RICKETTS : / EACH ADDITIONAL WEAPONS SYSTEM ENHANCES THE CREDIBILITY OF OTHER SYSTEMS " BUT R.A.F . MARSHAL SIR JOHN SLESSOR CALLED IT " MONSTROUS MILITARY NONSENSE, " AND MANY OTHER BRITISH DEFENSE OFFICIALS AGREED . THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S MAIN JUSTIFICATION FOR MLF IS NOT MILITARY BUT POLITICAL . IT IS AIMED PRIMARILY AT SATISFYING WEST GERMANY'S DEMAND FOR AN EQUAL VOICE WITH BRITAIN AND FRANCE IN NATO'S NUCLEAR COUNCILS, AND THE GERMANS ARE ALREADY PLEDGED TO MATCH THE U.S.'S OFFER TO SHOULDER 40 PER CENT OF THE COST . WITHOUT BRITISH BACKING, HOWEVER, MLF WILL NEVER GET OFF THE DRAWING BOARD ; THE U.S . IS NOT WILLING TO SHARE THE FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY WITH GERMANY ALONE . BUT THE BRITISH, WHO ARE ALREADY COMMITTED TO BUILDING A $1 BILLION POLARIS SUBMARINE FLEET BY 1970, REPLY THAT THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO POUR MORE MONEY INTO ANYTHING AS THEORETICAL AS MLF . EUROPE'S MOST TELLING OBJECTION TO THE PROJECT IS THAT EVEN IF THE ALLIES DID CHIP IN, ULTIMATE CONTROL OF ITS WEAPONS WOULD STILL REST WITH THE U.S . WHO NEEDS IT ? THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION HOPES NONETHELESS TO WIN BRITISH AS WELL AS GERMAN SUPPORT FOR THE FORCE . " WE CERTAINLY DON'T NEED IT, " EXPLAINED A HIGH-RANKING ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LAST WEEK, / NOR DO THE EUROPEANS . BUT IF IT SATISFIES THEM, I THINK IT IS WORTH PURSUING . IF IT DOESN'T, WELL, AT LEAST WE MADE THE OFFER . " ALL THIS MERELY OBSCURED WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE REAL U.S . POLICY AN INDEPENDENT NUCLEAR FORCE FOR A TRULY UNITED EUROPE ; 2) FULL U.S . RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DEFENSE OF EUROPE UNTIL THAT GOAL IS ACHIEVED .
 AUSTRIA HERR DOKTOR HE IS SHORT, BALDING AND MIDDLE-AGED . HE HAS A WIFE AND SIX CHILDREN AND LIVES IN A SPRAWLING SUBURBAN HOUSE OUTSIDE MUNICH . HE IS A LECTURER AND JOURNALIST WHO WROTE HIS DOCTORAL THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE ON AGRICULTURE IN THE TYROL . BUT WHEN THE WAY WAS LEGALLY CLEARED FOR HIS RETURN TO HIS HOMELAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 44 YEARS, AUSTRIA'S LONG-ESTABLISHED COALITION GOVERNMENT TREMBLED LAST WEEK . FOR THE MUSTACHED HERR DOKTOR IS FRANZ JOSEPH OTTO RUPRECHT MARIA ANTON KARL MAXIMILIAN HEINRICH SIXTUS XAVER FELIX RENATUS LUDWIG GAETAN PIUS IGNAZ, ARCHDUKE OTTO VON HABSBURG, PRETENDER TO THE AUSTRIAN THRONE . SOCIALIST LEADERS CALLED OTTO'S PROJECTED RETURN A " PROVOCATION " THAT THREATENED AUSTRIA'S PRECARIOUS NEUTRAL POSITION AS A BUFFER BETWEEN EAST AND WEST . ELECTRICAL WORKERS WENT ON A WILDCAT STRIKE, PLUNGING ONE VIENNA DISTRICT INTO DARKNESS . LEFT-WING PAPERS ROARED AGAINST " FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC REACTIONARIES, " AND SOCIALIST POLITICAL BOSSES THREATENED TO PULL OUT OF THEIR COALITION WITH THE CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE'S PARTY . INDUSTRIOUS ANTS . OTTO WAS FIVE WHEN AUSTRIA REBELLED AGAINST THE HABSBURG MONARCHY AND OVERTHREW HIS FATHER, EMPEROR KARL, IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR I . THE NEW REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT EXILED THE ROYAL FAMILY AND PASSED A " HABSBURG LAW, " WHICH BANNED THEIR RETURN TO AUSTRIAN SOIL UNTIL THEY RENOUNCED ALL CLAIMS TO THE THRONE AND FORMALLY EMBRACED THE DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION . KARL REGALLY REFUSED, AND AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1922 THE ROYAL FAMILY SETTLED IN SPAIN, WHERE THE EMPRESS ZITA SET UP A MODEST COURT . ZITA INSISTED THAT OTTO BE ACCORDED THE FULL PRIVILEGES OF HIS RANK, ROSE AND CURTSIED WHEN HE ENTERED A ROOM, AND CALLED HIM " YOUR IMPERIAL HIGHNESS . " A THOUGHTFUL, SCHOLARLY YOUTH, OTTO STUDIED AT BELGIUM'S LOUVAIN UNIVERSITY, BY HIS SERIOUS DEMEANOR STOOD OFF PHALANXES OF ELIGIBLE EUROPEAN PRINCESSES . WHEN ONE YOUNG, ATTRACTIVE HUNGARIAN COUNTESS CAME TO PAY HOMAGE, OTTO STROLLED SILENTLY WITH HER FOR SOME MINUTES IN HIS GARDEN UNTIL HE SUDDENLY ASKED : " HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT HOW INDUSTRIOUS ANTS ARE ? " FINALLY IN 1951, AT 38, HE MARRIED GERMANY'S PRINCESS REGINA OF SAXEMEININGEN . SETTLING OUTSIDE MUNICH IN THE VILLAGE OF POCKING, OTTO TRAVELED OFTEN TO SPAIN, WHERE HE WAS HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE FRANCO-BACKED EUROPEAN DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION CENTER, AN ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN 1952 TO BRING POLITICALLY ISOLATED SPAIN INTO CLOSER RELATIONS WITH THE REST OF EUROPE . HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THIS SOCIETY AND HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH FRANCO CONVINCED AUSTRIAN SOCIALISTS THAT HIS ULTIMATE AIM WAS THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AUTOCRATIC MONARCHY IN AUSTRIA . " THE IDEA MATTERS . " IN HIS WRITING AND LECTURES, OTTO SOUNDED FAR FROM AUTOCRATIC, SOUGHT TO DEFINE " MONARCHY'S PLACE IN THE ATOMIC AGE . " SAID HE : " THE NEW FORM OF MONARCHY MIGHT WELL BE ELECTIVE FROM THE JUDICIARY, PERHAPS . ITS PRIMARY DUTY WOULD BE THE MAINTENANCE OF THE RULE OF LAW . IT IS THE IDEA THAT MATTERS, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO ONCE WERE KINGS . " BUT OTTO HAD LITTLE SYMPATHY WITH THE LEVELING INFLUENCES OF SOCIALISM . " WE HAVE ARRIVED AT A BUREAUCRACY OF WELFARE AND INSURANCE AGAINST EVERYTHING, WHICH MAY WELL TURN REASON INTO NONSENSE, " HE WROTE . " THERE IS A DANGER OF A NEW CASTE ARISING OUT OF A CLASSLESS SOCIETY THOSE IN POWER . " TWO YEARS AGO, OTTO SUDDENLY ANNOUNCED HIS WILLINGNESS TO ABIDE BY THE PROVISIONS OF THE HABSBURG LAW AND SOUGHT TO RE-ENTER AUSTRIA . BUT AUSTRIA'S COALITION GOVERNMENT, BALANCED BETWEEN THE 81 PARLIAMENTARY SEATS HELD BY THE CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE'S PARTY AND THE 76 SEATS HELD BY THE SOCIALISTS, REFUSED TO ACT ON THE PETITION IN THE FACE OF VEHEMENT SOCIALIST PROTESTS THAT OTTO'S POLITICAL IDEAS WERE " FANTASTIC " AND THAT HIS DECLARATION OF LOYALTY WAS INADEQUATE . OTTO'S ATTORNEY TOOK THE CASE TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT, WHICH FORTNIGHT AGO UPHELD THE LEGALITY OF HIS DECLARATION OVER THE GOVERNMENT'S REJECTION . PUSHBUTTON . THE PEOPLE'S PARTY, WHILE FAR FROM EAGER TO SEE OTTO BACK HOME, WAS WILLING TO ABIDE BY THE COURT RULING . NOT SO THE SOCIALISTS . " THIS COURT HAS REPLACED THE PARLIAMENTARY ORGAN, " SAID SOCIALIST FOREIGN MINISTER BRUNO KREISKY . SOCIALIST LEADERS HINTED A NATIONWIDE RAIL AND ELECTRICAL STRIKE IF OTTO TRIED TO CROSS THE BORDER INTO AUSTRIA . " ALL WE HAVE TO DO, " SAID KREISKY, " IS PUSH A BUTTON . " IN PARLIAMENT, THE SOCIALISTS JOINED WITH THE EIGHT-MAN DELEGATION OF THE SPLINTER RIGHT-WING LIBERAL PARTY AND FORCED A RESOLUTION DEMANDING THAT THE GOVERNMENT PREPARE A BILL THAT COULD RETURN ULTIMATE JUDGMENT ON ALL HABSBURG LAW CASES TO PARLIAMENT . THE LIBERALS LENT THEIR SUPPORT TO THE SOCIALISTS, HOWEVER, ONLY ON THE CONDITION THAT THE BILL NOT BE RETROACTIVE AND THAT OTTO WOULD NOT BE BARRED FROM RETURNING HOME.* THE CRISIS IMPERILED THE 18-YEAR COALITION BETWEEN THE PEOPLE'S PARTY AND THE SOCIALISTS, WHO KEPT THREATENING TO FREEZE OUT THEIR OLD PARTNERS BY FORMING A NEW COALITION WITH THE LIBERALS . EVEN IF THE OLD COALITION SURVIVES, THE BETTING WAS THAT ENOUGH TROUBLE HAD BEEN STIRRED UP TO REQUIRE NEW NATIONAL ELECTIONS SOON . WHILE MOST AUSTRIANS RETAIN MELLOW FEELINGS TOWARD THE HABSBURGS, THEY WOULD JUST AS SOON NOT BE BOTHERED BY OTTO'S PROBLEM . " WHY SHOULD WE GO BACK TO WHERE WE FINISHED 40 YEARS AGO ? " ASKED HELMUT QUALTINGER, FAMED VIENNA CABARET SATIRIST . " I THINK THAT AS A MATTER OF TASTE, OTTO WOULD NOT WANT TO COME BACK NOT IF HE LOVES HIS COUNTRY . / ALSO UNSETTLED IS THE QUESTION OF THE HABSBURG FORTUNE IN AUSTRIA, WHICH AMOUNTS TO SOME $30 MILLION, MOSTLY IN ESTATES . THE LANDS ARE NOW HELD IN TRUSTEESHIP BY THE AUSTRIAN REPUBLIC .
 IRAN PROGRESS AT A PRICE FOR THREE DAYS LAST WEEK, TEHERAN WAS A BATTLEGROUND ; CROWDS SHRIEKED, MACHINE GUNS CHATTERED, AND SMOKE FROM SMOLDERING RUBBLE MIXED WITH CLOUDS OF TEAR GAS . IRONICALLY, IT WAS A BATTLE AGAINST PROGRESS . THAT MOST UNUSUAL, REFORM-MINDED MONARCH, SHAH MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI HAS LONG STRUGGLED TO TURN HIS SHAKY, FEUDAL NATION INTO A MODERN, STABLE STATE . THE OPPOSITION IS FORMIDABLE . CORRUPT BUREAUCRATS AND OPERATORS ARE DETERMINED TO PRESERVE PISHKASH (A BRIBE) AS A WAY OF LIFE . BIG LANDLORDS TRY TO SABOTAGE THE SHAH'S AMBITIOUS LAND REFORM DRIVE ; THEY EVEN OPPOSED HIS INTENTION TO ELIMINATE THE WORD " SERF " FROM THE IRANIAN LANGUAGE (TO BE REPLACED BY " FARMER " ) . MOSLEM MULLAHS (PRIESTS) CONDEMN AS HERETICAL HIS PLANS TO GIVE WOMEN THE VOTE, AND MORE BITTERLY, PREACH FROM THEIR PULPITS AGAINST LAND REFORM, SINCE IT WOULD DEPRIVE THEM OF 10,000 INCOME-PRODUCING " SHRINE VILLAGES, " WHICH THE SHAH WANTS TO LEASE TO LANDLESS SHARECROPPERS . BURNING BAZAAR . IT WAS THE MULLAHS WHO TRIGGERED LAST WEEK'S TROUBLE . THEY TIMED THEIR PLANS TO COINCIDE WITH THE MUHARRAM HOLY DAYS . AS THE FAITHFUL JAMMED THE MOSQUES, THE MULLAHS ASSAILED " ILLEGAL " CABINET DECISIONS, URGED THEIR FOLLOWERS TO " PROTECT YOUR RELIGION . " SMALL-SCALE RIOTS QUICKLY BROKE OUT IN THE CLERICAL CAPITAL OF QUM, LED BY AYATULLAH (ROUGHLY, CARDINAL) ROUHOLLAH KHOMAINI, AND IN SEVERAL OTHER CITIES . POLICE STRUCK BACK, ARRESTED KHOMAINI AND SOME 15 OTHER RINGLEADERS . WITH THAT, BOTH SIDES DECLARED OPEN WAR, AND THE BATTLE WAS ON . SCREAMING " DOWN WITH THE SHAH, " 10,000 BAREFOOT, BLACK-SHIRTED MOSLEMS, JOINED BY THOUSANDS OF ARMED TOUGHS FOR HIRE, SWEPT THROUGH THE CAPITAL, CARRYING PICTURES OF KHOMAINI . THOUGH THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE SHAH WAS KEPT SECRET, ROWS OF WHITE-HELMETED TROOPS, BACKED BY TANKS, IMMEDIATELY SEALED OFF ACCESS TO ROYAL PALACES IN THE CITY AND SUBURBS . IN THE HEART OF TOWN, GREEN SOLDIERS WITH ITCHY TRIGGER FINGERS HELD THEIR FIRE FOR 40 MINUTES . FINALLY, WHEN THE MOBS, USING YOUNG BOYS AS SHIELDS, SURGED TOWARD THE RADIO STATION AND OTHER KEY GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, THE TROOPS OPENED UP AT POINT-BLANK RANGE . THE CROWD FELL BACK IN CONFUSION, REGROUPED, AND RACED DOWN MAIN AVENUES . ARMED WITH CLUBS, ROCKS AND TORCHES, THEY DEMOLISHED STORES, SET FIRE TO TREES . TEHERAN'S ANCIENT BAZAAR WENT UP IN FLAMES . THE MOB BEAT UP EVERY WELLDRESSED MAN UNLUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ON THE STREET, ATTACKED UNVEILED WOMEN . ONE WAS YANKED FROM HER AUTOMOBILE BY THE ZEALOTS, FORCED TO UNDRESS, THEN WAS PUMMELED TO DEATH . CLOSED CEMETERY . NEARLY 7,000 TROOPS WERE CALLED OUT TO RESTORE UNEASY PEACE IN TEHERAN ; BY THEN DAMAGE WAS ESTIMATED IN THE MILLIONS, AT LEAST 1,000 WERE INJURED, AND THE OFFICIALLY REPORTED DEATH TOLL WAS 86 . IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY HIGHER, BUT SINCE THE PUBLIC CEMETERY WAS CLOSED AND UNDER HEAVY GUARD TO PREVENT FURTHER CLASHES AT THE GRAVESIDES, THE REAL NUMBER REMAINED UNKNOWN . FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE, MARTIAL LAW WAS IMPOSED ON THE CITY, ALONG WITH A DUSK-TO-DAWN CURFEW . HOPING TO PRESERVE QUIET FOR A WHILE, PREMIER ASSADOLLAH ALAM ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT TROOPS WOULD REMAIN ON EMERGENCY DUTY . THEIR ORDERS : SHOOT TO KILL . AT WEEK'S END THE SHAH EMERGED FROM SAFETY, PROMPTLY RESUMED HANDING OUT PROPERTY DEEDS TO LANDLESS PEASANTS . " WE WILL NOT RETREAT ONE MILLIMETER, " HE TOLD 12,000 NEW LANDOWNERS IN A CEREMONY AT HAMADAN, 175 MILES WEST OF TEHERAN . THE RIOTS, HE SAID, WERE " SHAMEFUL FOR A CIVILIZED SOCIETY AND A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY . " MULLAHS, HOWEVER, REMAINED DEFIANT . HANDWRITTEN NOTICES BLOSSOMED ON WALLS IN QUM PROMISING THAT ANY MOSLEM WHO CUT OFF THE EARS OR NOSE OF A POLICEMAN WOULD GO TO HEAVEN ; THE KILLING OF A POLICEMAN WOULD BRING ALLAH'S IMMEDIATE FORGIVENESS OF SIN .
 SOUTH VIET NAM 2-12 THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS A DUSK-TO-DAWN CURFEW EMPTIED THE STREETS OF THE ANCIENT VIETNAMESE CAPITAL OF HUE, 400 MILES NORTH OF SAIGON . RIOT POLICE AND ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS PATROLLED THE DARK AND DESERTED CITY . ROADBLOCKS WERE SET UP ON THE OUTSKIRTS, AND BARBED-WIRE BARRICADES ENCIRCLED THE SACRED TUDAM PAGODA . THESE GOVERNMENT SECURITY MEASURES WERE NOT A PRECAUTION AGAINST AN ATTACK BY COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS ; THEY WERE TAKEN TO QUELL DEMONSTRATIONS BY HUE'S BUDDHIST POPULATION AGAINST THE REGIME OF ROMAN CATHOLIC PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . WHILE ALL THE WORLD'S ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON SOUTH VIET NAM'S BITTER STRUGGLE AGAINST THE REDS, THE COUNTRY WAS DIVIDED BY A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT THAT MIGHT IMPERIL THE ENTIRE COURSE OF THE WAR AGAINST THE VIET CONG . MORALITY CRUSADE . SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHISTS, WHO COMPRISE 80 PER CENT OF THE COUNTRY'S 15 MILLION PEOPLE, ARE BITTER OVER ALLEGED FAVORITISM BY DIEM AND HIS CATHOLIC RULING FAMILY TOWARD THE NATION'S 1,500,000 CATHOLICS . THE BUDDHISTS HAVE LONG COMPLAINED THAT THE GOVERNMENT GIVES CATHOLICS THE BEST CIVIL SERVICE JOBS AND THAT DIEM, BECAUSE HE FEELS THAT CATHOLICS ARE MORE SOLIDLY ANTICOMMUNIST, PROMOTES THEM TO HIGHER POSITIONS IN THE ARMY . MANY YOUNG VIETNAMESE ARMY OFFICERS, CLAIM BUDDHIST LEADERS, HAVE BECOME CONVERTS TO CATHOLICISM TO WIN OFFICIAL FAVOR . " BUT IF THE VIET CONG EVER COME THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE, " SAID ONE U.S . OFFICER OF HIS RECENTLY CONVERTED VIETNAMESE COUNTERPART, " I HAVE A FEELING HE'LL DO HIS PRAYING TO BUDDHA . " BUDDHISTS FEEL THAT DIEM'S GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO MAKE CATHOLICISM THE OFFICIAL STATE RELIGION, POINT TO THE MORALITY CRUSADE OF DIEM'S MILITANTLY CATHOLIC SISTER-IN-LAW, MME . NGO DINH NHU . IN SHARP VARIANCE WITH THE EASY SOCIAL MORES OF MOST SOUTH VIETNAMESE, MME . NHU HAS BANNED ABORTION, ADULTERY, POLYGAMY, CONCUBINAGE, DIVORCE (EXCEPT BY PRESIDENTIAL DISPENSATION), AND THE SALE OF CONTRACEPTIVES . DIEM INDIGANNTLY REPLIED THAT BUDDHIST LEADERS ARE " DAMNED FOOLS " TO THINK THAT HE IS TRYING TO SUPPRESS THEIR RELIGION . " I DON'T FORGET, " HE SAYS, " THAT 80 PER CENT OF THE VOTES THAT ELECTED ME PRESIDENT WERE BUDDHIST VOTES . " CATHOLICS MAINTAIN THAT THEY OCCUPY SO MANY INFLUENTIAL POSTS ONLY BECAUSE THEIR CHURCH SCHOOLS TURN OUT FAR BETTER EDUCATED GRADUATES THAN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS . IN A SHARPLY WORDED STATEMENT, MME . NHU CHALLENGED THE GOOD FAITH OF STRIKING BONZES (MONKS) . " THE ROBE DOES NOT MAKE THE BONZE, " SAID MME . NHU . " IT IS NECESSARY TO EXAMINE VERY CLOSELY THE COMPORTMENT OF CERTAIN SO-CALLED BUDDHIST MONKS WHO CONTINUE TO MAKE NOT ONLY INCONSIDERATE BUT FALSE REMARKS AND OVERTLY ASSUME AN ATTITUDE INCOMPATIBLE WITH THEIR PRESUMED STATE OF HOLY MEN . / PROTEST STRIKE . THE SITUATION CAME TO A HEAD LAST MONTH IN HUE (POP . 106,000), WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THE SEE OF DIEM'S BROTHER, ARCHBISHOP NGO DINH THUC . THOUGH CATHOLICS WERE ALLOWED TO FLY VATICAN FLAGS AT A CHURCH CELEBRATION HONORING ARCHBISHOP THUC, THREE DAYS LATER THE GOVERNMENT FORBADE THE BUDDHISTS TO UNFURL THEIR RELIGIOUS FLAGS FOR THE 2,507TH BIRTHDAY OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA . WHEN THE BUDDHISTS STAGED A PROTEST MARCH AGAINST THE EDICT, GOVERNMENT ARMORED CARS FIRED OVER THE HEADS OF THE RIOTERS . IN THE MELEE, NINE PEOPLE WERE KILLED . THE BUDDHISTS BLAMED THE SLAUGHTER ON DIEM'S TROOPS ; THE GOVERNMENT BLAMED THE KILLINGS ON COMMUNIST AGITATORS . THE HUE DISASTER CAUSED BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . BUDDHIST DELEGATIONS IN SAIGON DEMANDED THE REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS ON THEIR FAITH, EQUAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND INDEMNITY FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE DEAD AND WOUNDED IN HUE . INSTEAD, THE GOVERNMENT ARRESTED DEMONSTRATORS, BLAMED THE UNREST ON " LIARS, FOREIGNERS AND THE VIET CONG . " WHEN ANOTHER BUDDHIST CROWD GATHERED IN HUE LAST WEEK, TROOPS DISPERSED IT WITH CRUDE TEAR-GAS BOMBS THAT SENT 67 PEOPLE TO THE HOSPITAL WITH CHEMICAL BURNS . U.S . OFFICIALS IN SAIGON FEAR THAT THE MOUNTING RELIGIOUS STRIFE CAN ONLY BENEFIT THE VIET CONG BY DIVIDING THE PEOPLE AND THE PREDOMINANTLY BUDDHIST ARMY JUST AS THE GOVERNMENT FORCES ARE BEGINNING TO GAIN A MILITARY ADVANTAGE OVER THE REDS . DIEM MADE SOME CONCILIATORY GESTURES ; BUT WITH THE SITUATION FAST DETERIORATING, THEY MIGHT PROVE NOT TO BE ENOUGH HE ORDERED THE REMOVAL OF THE BARRICADES IN HUE AND IN A NATIONWIDE RADIO BROADCAST ADMITTED THAT SOME OF HIS AIDES HAD NOT SHOWN " SUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING AND SENSITIVITY " IN DEALING WITH THE CRISIS .
 AFRICA THIRD LARGEST ALTHOUGH AFRICA IS FULL OF TALK ABOUT MERGERS AND FEDERATIONS OF NEW NATIONS, OFTEN THE UNITY SCHEMES ARE NO MORE FIRM THAN MAPS DRAWN IN THE SAND . BUT IN KENYA LAST WEEK, A SERIOUS, SENSIBLE AND LONG-CONSIDERED PLAN TOOK SHAPE . IN NAIROBI, NEWLY ELECTED PRIME MINISTER JOMO KENYATTA PRESIDED OVER A MEETING OF HIS NEIGHBORS . ON ONE SIDE SAT UGANDA'S PRIME MINISTER MILTON APOLLO OBOTE, GRINNING CHEERFULLY BENEATH HIS TOOTHBRUSH MUSTACHE ; ON THE OTHER, TANGANYIKA'S HIGH-SPRIRITED PRESIDENT JULIUS NYERERE . PRESENT AS AN OBSERVER : SOMALIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAHI ISSA . FROM THREE HOURS OF TALK EMERGED THE DECISION TO WORK FOR A FEDERATION OF KENYA, UGANDA, TANGANYIKA AND ZANZIBAR, WITH SOMALIA, RWANDA AND BURUNDI ALSO INVITED . " WE HAVE A COMMON HISTORY, CULTURE AND CUSTOMS WHICH MAKE OUR UNITY BOTH LOGICAL AND NATURAL, " DECLARED KENYATTA, THEREBY SEEMING TO REFUTE OLD CHARGES THAT HE WAS PAROCHIALLY INTERESTED ONLY IN PUSHING THE FORTUNES OF HIS KIKUYU TRIBE, THE MOST NUMEROUS IN KENYA . " WE REJECT TRIBALISM, RACIALISM OR INWARD-LOOKING POLICIES . " THE EAST AFRICAN FEDERATION, WHICH MAY BE LAUNCHED WHEN KENYA GAINS FULL INDEPENDENCE, PROBABLY LATER THIS YEAR, COULD EVENTUALLY BECOME A NATION OF 25 MILLION PEOPLE, THE THIRD LARGEST IN AFRICA . THERE IS NO CLEAR NOTION YET AS TO WHO WILL RUN THE FEDERATION OR HOW TIGHT IT WILL BE, BUT A JOINT COMMITTEE WILL SPEND THE NEXT TWO MONTHS DRAFTING A PROGRAM FOR JOINT ECONOMIC PLANNING, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMON DEFENSE, FOREIGN AND DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION, AND A CENTRAL BANK . FEDERATION, SAID THE THREE LEADERS, WILL CREATE " A FORMIDABLE FORCE AND A VAST MARKET . " AMONG MANY CRITICAL PROBLEMS FACING THE PROPOSED FEDERATION ARE KENYA'S OCCASIONALLY BLOODY DISPUTE WITH SOMALIA, PROBABLE OPPOSITION FROM BUGANDA'S FREDERICK MUTESA II ( / KING FREDDIE " ), AND RESISTANCE FROM KENYA'S 55,000 REMAINING EUROPEAN SETTLERS, WHO MAY BE APPREHENSIVE OF SUBMERSION IN EVEN MORE MILLIONS OF AFRICANS . BUT THE FEDERATION SCHEME WAS OFF TO A REMARKABLY RESOLUTE START . WHEN A NEWSMAN IN NAIROBI COMPLIMENTED PRESIDENT NYERERE ON HOW QUICKLY THE PLAN HAD BEEN LAUNCHED, NYERERE SMILED BROADLY . " WHAT DO YOU MEAN, QUICK ? " SAID HE . " THIS IS SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR 40 YEARS . /
 TOURISTS BUSINESS & PLEASURE ON THE ROAD LAST WEEK : BEARDED BEATNIK POET ALLEN (HOWL) GINSBERG CAME BRIEFLY TO REST IN SOUTH VIET NAM, TO INVESTIGATE THE CRISIS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE REBELLIOUS BUDDHISTS (SEE SOUTH VIET NAM) . THE SAFFRON-ROBED MONKS AT FIRST THOUGHT GINSBERG EITHER A " SPY OR MADMAN " BUT AFTER A POETRY READING ONE MONK TOLD HIM : " YOU ARE AN ENLIGHTENED ONE . MAYBE ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE ASLEEP EXCEPT YOU . YOU ARE AWAKE . " AWAKENED, GINSBERG ALMOST IMMEDIATELY LEFT SOUTH VIET NAM, COMMENTING, / THIS PLACE DEPRESSES ME . " GUINEA'S PRESIDENT SEKOU TOURE, ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE PAN-AFRICAN SUMMIT CONFERENCE IN ADDIS ABABA, STOPPED OFF IN TANGANYIKA . ARRIVING 20 MINUTES EARLY FOR A PRIVATE DINNER AT ARUSHA'S PLUSH SAFARI HOTEL AT THE FOOT OF CLOUD-CAPPED MOUNT MERU, TOURE SEEMED MIFFED BECAUSE 1) EUROPEAN AND AFRICAN GUESTS RELAXING IN THE LOBBY DID NOT " STAND AS A MARK OF RESPECT TO HIM, " 2) THE HOTEL WAS NOT DECORATED BY EITHER FLOWERS OR THE NATIONAL FLAG OF TANGANYIKA AND GUINEA . AFTER THE TOURE PARTY STALKED OUT, THE TANGANYIKAN GOVERNMENT CLOSED DOWN THE HOTEL, EVICTING ITS 28 GUESTS . EXPLAINED AN AFRICAN OFFICIAL : " WE ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO NO APPRECIATION OF OUR DIGNITY . " MOISE TSHOMBE, PRESIDENT OF KATANGA, HASTILY LEFT HIS CAPITAL OF ELISABETHVILLE WHEN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES PICKED UP SEVERAL VALISES FULL OF HIS PERSONAL PAPERS, WHICH HAD BEEN CACHED IN THE APARTMENT OF A BELGIAN CALLED MR . CHRISTIAN . AMONG THE ITEMS PROMPTING TSHOMBE'S SUDDEN SEARCH FOR A HEALTHIER CLIMATE : DOCUMENTS INDICATING THAT HE HAS FUNDS TUCKED AWAY IN 15 BANKS IN 13 COUNTRIES RANGING FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE U.S . TO BURUNDI . RADA ADZHUBEI, 34, BLONDE, PLUMP DAUGHTER OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV AND WIFE OF IZVESTIA'S EDITOR, TURNED UP IN CAIRO AS GUEST OF HODA, 16-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF EGYPT'S PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER . RADA TOLD NEWSMEN : " MY FATHER IS IN VERY GOOD HEALTH AND HAS NO INTENTION OF RESIGNING . " RADA ALSO EXPLAINED THAT, BECAUSE COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE SEXES, " THE DAY IS NOT FAR OFF WHEN WE WILL SEND A WOMAN TO THE MOON . /
 FRANCE WARRIOR'S REST FOR ALL HIS PREOCCUPATION WITH BUILDING THE NEW FRANCE, LE GRAND CHARLES IS ALSO HIS COUNTRY'S GRAND LISEUR, WHOSE VORACIOUS READING AT LEAST TWO HOURS OF EACH DAY . ON RISING, DE GAULLE SKIMS THROUGH THE MORNING PRESS, AFTER LUNCH HE PERUSES LE MONDE, THEN HE SNATCHES A FEW CHAPTERS FROM A BOOK . EVENINGS, DE GAULLE RELAXES IN A BEDROOM CHAIR WITH MORE BOOKS . INUNDATED BY GIFT COPIES, DE GAULLE LEAFS THROUGH EVERY VOLUME SENT HIM, READS WITH CARE THOSE THAT SEEM PROMISING . AFTERWARD HE WRITES PERSONAL NOTES IN LONGHAND TO THE AUTHOR, LENGTH AND WARMTH DEPENDING ON HIS OPINION OF THE WORK (ONE OF HIS HIGHEST COMPLIMENTS : " I CONGRATULATE MYSELF FOR HAVING READ YOUR BOOK " ) . IN RECENT MONTHS DE GAULLE HAS POLISHED OFF, AMONG OTHERS, FRANCOIS D'HARCOURT'S L'ASIE, REVEIL D'UN MONDE, DEALING WITH THE DIVERSITY OF ASIAN CULTURES ; EDOUARD SABLIER'S DE L'OURAL A L'ATLANTIQUE, A DISSERTATION ON COMMUNIST PENETRATION ; L'HISTOIRE SECRETE, A HISTORY OF FRANCE FROM 1936 THROUGH THE ALGERIAN WAR ; AND LAGRANDISSEMENT, AN ABSTRACT NOVEL BY CLAUDE MAURIAC . FOR LIGHT READING, DE GAULLE OCCASIONALLY SHOWS A PENCHANT FOR THE TORRID . THE PRO-GAULLIST WEEKLY LE NOUVEAU CANDIDE RAISED PARISIAN EYEBROWS SOME TIME AGO BY REPORTING THAT DE GAULLE HAD READ LES PIANOS MECANIQUES BY HENRI-FRANCOIS REY . A FRENCH BESTSELLER HIGHLY PRAISED BY THE CRITICS, PIANOS IS A SORT OF DOLCE VITA SET ON SPAIN'S COSTA BRAVA WHOSE MAIN CHARACTERS A SCHIZOPHRENIC JOURNALIST, A NEGLECTED TEEN-AGE BOY AND GIRL, A HALF-WIT CHARWOMAN MOVE THROUGH THEIR POINTLESS LIVES BATTLING BOREDOM WITH PROMISCUITY . SAMPLE PASSAGE : " SHE LED HIM TO THE BED, STILL KEEPING THEIR LIPS LOCKED . VINCENT LAY DOWN . JENNY DETACHED HERSELF . SHE BEGAN TO UNDRESS HIM, WITH SURE CLEAN MOTIONS . . . " IT IS JUST POSSIBLE THAT THE PRESIDENT DID NOT KNOW WHAT HE WAS GETTING INTO WHEN HE STARTED THE BOOK . ONCE DURING A LUNCH WITH FRIENDS, HE ASKED ONE OF THE WIVES PRESENT : " WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING ? " ANSWER : LE REPOS DE GUERRIER (THE WARRIOR'S REST) . APPARENTLY THINKING IT A MILITARY TOME, THE PRESIDENT SAID EAGERLY : " AH, TRES BIEN . COULD YOU LEND IT TO ME ? " ACTUALLY, THE BOOK, WHOSE MOVIE VERSION STARRED BRIGITTE BARDOT, WAS A SULTRY ITEM DEALING MORE WITH CONQUESTS IN THE BEDROOM THAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD
 GREAT BRITAIN THE TIME OF THE TROLLOP " A GREAT PARTY, " CRIED VISCOUNT HAILSHAM ON TV LAST WEEK, " IS NOT TO BE BROUGHT DOWN BY A WOMAN OF EASY VIRTUE ! " BUT THE POSSIBILITY WAS REAL ENOUGH . IN THE HUSE OF COMMONS THIS WEEK, PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN WOULD HAVE TO CONFRONT CRITICISM FROM THE LABORITES, PLUS SOME BARELY SUPPRESSED DISSENT IN HIS OWN PARTY, OF THE WAY IN WHICH HE HANDLED, OR MISHANDLED, THE PROFUMO SCANDAL . IN THE LONG RUN, THE TORIES FACED AN EVEN MORE ELUSIVE AND INSIDIOUS THREAT THAN PARLIAMENTARY ATTACKS THE FACTS IN POLICE DOSSIERS AND IN THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PEOPLE WHO PERSONIFY CONSERVATIVE RULE . A LIE IN THE NUDE . THE WEEK LEADING UP TO THE DEBATE IN THE COMMONS CONSISTED MOSTLY OF TALK BUT WHAT TALK . CHRISTINE KEELER, THE CAUSE OF IT ALL, WAS STRANGELY IRREPRESSIBLE AND OUTWARDLY SERENE AMID THE TUMBLING OF FACADES AND THE CRASH OF REPUTATIONS . BLOSSOMING FORTH IN EVER MORE DAZZLING PHOTOGRAPHS SHE BECAME BRITAIN'S FASTEST-RISING FALLEN WOMAN . SHE WAS BESIEGED BY FILM AND NIGHTCLUB OFFERS AND INCORPORATED HERSELF AS CHRISTINE KEELER, LTD . SHE EVEN LANDED, UNCAPTIONED, ON THE COVER OF THE AUSTERE ECONOMIST . AS FOR HER MENTOR, OSTEOPATH STEPHEN WARD, HE WAS IN JAIL, BOUND FOR TRIAL ON CHARGES OF LIVING ON PROSTITUTES' EARNINGS . THE EVIDENCE, IT WAS WIDELY SUSPECTED, WOULD PROVE DAMAGING TO A GREAT MANY PEOPLE . ALTHOUGH THE LABOR PARTY CONCENTRATED ON THE SECURITY QUESTION, IN PUBLIC DEBATE THE PROFUMO CASE INEVITABLY TURNED INTO A MORAL ISSUE . SIGNIFICANTLY, THE UNPARDONABLE CRIME OF EX-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR JOHN PROFUMO WAS NOT THAT HE WAS INDISCREET AND A POTENTIAL SECURITY RISK, BUT THAT HE LIED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN INITIALLY DENYING ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTINE . MOREOVER, HE LIED STUPIDLY, SINCE HE MIGHT HAVE SAVED HIS DIGNITY AND HIS SEAT AS AN M.P . BY ADMITTING HIS MISSTEP . AS A LIMERICK THAT MADE THE ROUNDS OF WESTMINSTER LAST WEEK HAD IT : " WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE .? " SAID CHRISTINE, " YOU HAVE WRECKED THE WHOLE PARTY MACHINE . " TO LIE IN THE NUDE " IS NOT AT ALL RUDE, " BUT TO LIE IN THE HOUSE IS OBSCENE . / SERIALIZED SEX . THE LABOR PARTY RALLIED FOR BATTLE WITH ENTHUSIASM . RETURNING FROM A WEEK'S VISIT TO MOSCOW AND PLEASANT IF FUTILE CHATS WITH KHRUSHCHEV ABOUT DISARMAMENT, LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON HINTED HE WOULD PRODUCE NEW EVIDENCE THIS WEEK TO SHOW THAT BRITAIN'S SECURITY SYSTEM WAS BREACHED . HE HAD GOOD REASON FOR CONFIDENCE : THE DAILY MAIL'S NATIONAL OPINION POLL GAVE LABOR ITS BIGGEST LEAD EVER : 69.2 PER CENT TO 19.8 PER CENT OVER THE TORIES . ON HIS RETURN FROM A GOLFING VACATION, MACMILLAN'S FIRST OBJECTIVE WAS TO COMMAND A UNITED CABINET . CALLING HIS MINISTERS INTO EMERGENCY SESSION, HE ASKED EACH MAN TO OUTLINE PRIVATELY HIS OWN VIEW OF THE SITUATION . WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE 21 TOP TORIES EXPRESSED DEEP DISMAY AT THE PUBLIC'S LOSS OF CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT . MACMILLAN WAS CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO ALMOST EQUALLY UNPLEASANT POSSIBILITIES . HAD HE KNOWN ABOUT PROFUMO'S DOINGS, AND IN THAT CASE HAD HE NOT CONNIVED TO SOME EXTENT IN HIS FALSE DENIALS ? OR, DESPITE THE WAR MINISTER'S LONG REPUTATION AS A WOMANIZER, HAD MACMILLAN REALLY NOT KNOWN ANYTHING ? IN THAT CASE, HAD HE NOT BEEN NAIVE AND NEGLIGENT WHEN HE ACCEPTED PROFUMO'S DEFENSE ? BED & BAWD . IN HIS OWN DEFENSE, MACMILLAN MAINTAINS THAT HE WAS FIRST INFORMED OF PROFUMO'S LIAISON LAST FEBRUARY . HE DENIES REPORTS THAT MI-5 BRITISH INTELLIGENCE HAD WARNED THE GOVERNMENT AT THAT TIME THAT ITS WAR MINISTER HAD SHARED BED AND BAWD WITH SOVIET ASSISTANT NAVAL ATTACHE EVGENY IVANOV . MACMILLAN INSISTED THAT HE HAD NO REASON TO DOUBT A MAN OF PROFUMO'S BACKGROUND (HARROW, OXFORD, INFANTRY) . MOREOVER, FIVE OF HIS MINISTERS WHO " SAT UP HALF THE NIGHT " OF MARCH 21 INTERROGATING PROFUMO WERE ALSO PERSUADED THAT HE WAS TELLING THE TRUTH ; THE CLINCHER WAS THE WAR MINISTER'S READINESS TO DENY MISCONDUCT WITH CHRISTINE KEELER IN A SACROSANCT " PERSONAL STATEMENT " ON THE HOUSE FLOOR NEXT DAY . MACMILLAN'S STRONGEST ARGUMENT WAS THAT A SECURITY CHECK, WHICH HE ORDERED A WEEK BEFORE HIS FORMER COLLEAGUE'S CONFESSION, HAD TURNED UP NO EVIDENCE THAT THE RUSSIAN HAD SUCCEEDED IN USING THE PROFUMO-KEELER-IVANOV TRIANGLE TO PRY OUT SECRET INFORMATION . SOMETHING OF A CABINET MUTINY SEEMED TO BE LED BY HEALTH MINISTER ENOCH POWELL, 51, WHOSE DISTASTE FOR POLITICAL COMPROMISE LED HIM TO RESIGN FROM THE GOVERNMENT IN 1958 IN PROTEST AGAINST AN INFLATIONARY, VOTE-CATCHING BUDGET . POWELL'S FEELING THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD ONCE MORE SHOWN ITSELF UNBELIEVABLY LAX WAS SHARED TO A LESSER DEGREE BY TWO MORE OF MACMILLAN'S ABLEST APPOINTEES, EDUCATION MINISTER SIR EDWARD BOYLE (WHO QUIT THE GOVERNMENT OVER SUEZ) AND HOUSING MINISTER SIR KEITH JOSEPH, AS WELL AS A DISGRUNTLED MINORITY OF TORY BACKBENCHERS, WHO COULD THEMSELVES OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT IF 20 OR 30 CHOSE TO ABSTAIN THIS WEEK . BUT MACMILLAN'S ASSURANCES QUELLED THE MUTINY, AND THE TORIES MARCHED INTO COMMONS OUTWARDLY UNITED TO FACE THEIR GREATEST POLITICAL THREAT SINCE SUEZ . AN ATTEMPT TO FIND OUT THE DATE ON WHICH THE U.S . WAS SUPPOSED TO " GIVE THE H-BOMB TO WEST GERMANY, " SOUNDED MORE LIKE A PROPAGANDA PLOY THAN SERIOUS ESPIONAGE . FLASH OF INDIGNATION . THE OPPOSITION MAY YET SUCCEED IN SHOWING THAT BRITAIN'S SECURITY SYSTEM WAS IN FACT BREACHED, OR THAT WARNINGS FROM INTELLIGENCE FELL ON DEAF EARS . WHATEVER THE OUTCOME OF THIS WEEK'S COMMONS DEBATE, THERE IS A GROWING BELIEF THAT MACMILLAN WILL HAVE TO STEP DOWN EVENTUALLY AND MAY IN FACT HAVE PROMISED HIS OWN DISSIDENT MINISTERS TO DO SO ONCE THE HEAT IS OFF . LOOSE FACTIONS WERE ALREADY FORMING AROUND SUCH POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS TO MACMILLAN AS DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER R . A . ( " RAB " ) BUTLER, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER REGINALD MAUDLING AND SCIENCE MINISTER LORD HAILSHAM . NO MATTER HOW ELOQUENTLY MACMILLAN MAY WEATHER THE PARLIAMENTARY CRISIS, THE TORIES SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE TARRED BY CHRISTINE . WHAT THEY HAVE TRADITIONALLY OFFERED THE NATION IS MEN BORN AND RAISED IN THE EXACTING DISCIPLINES OF LEADERSHIP . IF NOW, IN ADDITION TO ALL THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REVERSES THEY HAVE SUFFERED IN THE PAST YEAR, BRITONS SHOULD CONCLUDE THAT ETONIAN AND HARROVIAN LEADERS ARE PERSONALLY NO WISER OR MORE UPRIGHT AND IN MANY CASES THEY HAVE PROVED FLAGRANTLY LESS SO THAN THOSE WHOM THEY GOVERN, TWELVE YEARS OF TORY GOVERNMENT MAY END IN A MIGHTY FLASH OF MORAL INDIGNATION MIXED WITH RIDICULE .
 THERE'LL ALWAYS BE AN . . . THE MORALS OF THE BRITISH HAVE ALWAYS INTRIGUED AND BAFFLED FOREIGNERS . FOR CENTURIES, EUROPEANS VISITING THAT COLD, CONTROLLED COUNTRY HAVE DISCOVERED TO THEIR AMAZEMENT AND FREQUENT ENVY THAT THE ABUNDANCE, SUBTLETY AND VARIETY OF SEXUAL SPORT IN LONDON'S DEMIMONDE MAKE CONTINENTAL CAPITALS SEEM PAROCHIAL . UNTIL RECENT YEARS, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO GO TO DINNER AT LONDON'S MOST FASHIONABLE CLUBS OR PRIVATE HOUSES WITHOUT PASSING SWARMS OF WELL-TURNED-OUT AND SOMETIMES HANDSOME STREETWALKERS STANDING GUARD ON THE SIDEWALK . LIKE MANY ANOTHER FOREIGN ANALYST OF ANGLO-SAXON ATTITUDES, FRENCH DIARIST HIPPOLYTE TAINE, VISITING LONDON IN THE MID 19TH CENTURY, COULD NOT COMPREHEND HOW THE ENGLISH COULD SUSTAIN THE " VEHEMENCE AND PUNGENCY OF THEIR PASSIONS " AGAINST " THE HARSH, THOUGH SILENT, GRINDING OF THEIR MORAL MACHINERY . " THERE IS A WIDESPREAD FEELING THAT BRITAIN'S MORAL MACHINERY IS NOT GRINDING AS HARSHLY AS IT USED TO . MUCH IN ENGLISH LIFE TODAY SUGGESTS DECADENCE AND DISSOLUTION . SINCE THE GIRLS WERE DRIVEN OFF THE STREETS FOUR YEARS AGO, THEY HAVE TAKEN TO ADVERTISING THEIR SERVICES IN SHOP WINDOWS AS " MASSEUSES, " / MODELS, " OR " FRENCH TEACHERS . " LONDON'S BOOMING STRIPTEASE PARLORS OFFER SOME OF THE CRUDEST LIVE PORNOGRAPHY TO BE  SEEN PUBLICLY IN EUROPE . ITS PARKS IN SUMMER ARE PRE-EMPTED BY COUPLES WHO AREN'T JUST NECKING . ONE THIRD OF ALL TEEN-AGE BRIDES IN BRITAIN ARE ALREADY PREGNANT . INNUMERABLE SCANDALS PRECEDING THE PROFUMO CASE SUGGEST CONSIDERABLE PROMISCUITY, ALONG WITH SEXUAL ARRANGEMENTS INFINITELY MORE COMPLEX THAN THE OLD-FASHIONED TRIANGLE . AND, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, HOMOSEXUALITY IS " THE ENGLISH VICE . " PSYCHOLOGIST G . M . CARSTAIRS COMMENTED RECENTLY : " POPULAR MORALITY IS NOW A WASTELAND, LITTERED WITH THE DEBRIS OF BROKEN CONVENTIONS . CONCEPTS SUCH AS HONOR, OR EVEN HONESTY, HAVE AN OLD-FASHIONED SOUND, BUT NOTHING HAS TAKEN THEIR PLACE . " GETTING CAUGHT . THIS HARSH JUDGMENT MAY OVERLOOK THE FACT THAT BRITAIN WAS NEVER THE SORT OF PLACE VICTORIAN MORALITY PRETENDED IT WAS . IF LONDON TODAY RESEMBLES BABYLON-ON-THAMES, IT IS LITTLE MORE THAN A DE LUXE MODEL OF THE BRUTAL, CARNAL 18TH CENTURY CITY WHOSE BROTHELS, BOUDOIRS AND GIN SHOPS ( " DRUNK FOR A PENNY, DEAD DRUNK FOR TUPPENCE " ) WERE PICTURED BY HOGARTH, RICHARDSON AND FIELDING . SAYS MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE : " THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A LOT OF HIGH-GRADE WHORING IN THIS COUNTRY, " AND THERE IS A LOT OF PAST EVIDENCE TO PROVE HIM RIGHT . GEORGE IV HAD HIS QUEEN TRIED PUBLICLY FOR INFIDELITY ; IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY, AN ARCHBISHOP OF YORK MAINTAINED A HAREM AT HIS PALACE . THE 18TH CENTURY CHRISTINE KEELER WAS A MISS CHUDLEIGH, WHO HAD BEEN THE MISTRESS OF THREE PEERS WHEN GEORGE II SPOTTED HER AT A COSTUME BALL, CUNNINGLY DISGUISED IN A TRANSPARENT GOWN . HER GEORGIAN ERA CAME BETWEEN TWO NOBLE MARRIAGES (ONE BIGAMOUS) . IN THE 18TH CENTURY PHRASE, BORROWED FROM NAUTICAL TERMINOLOGY, MISS CHUDLEIGH HAD " BOTTOM, " OR WHAT IT TAKES . INDEED, THE BRITISH RESERVE A SPECIAL ORDER OF VENERY FOR DISTINGUISHED DOXIES SUCH AS EMMA HAMILTON, THE ONETIME STREETWALKER WHO FOR YEARS WAS CIVILLY SHARED BY HER AMBASSADOR HUSBAND, SIR WILLIAM, AND ADMIRAL LORD NELSON, THE FATHER OF HER DAUGHTER . ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OF ALL HIGH-SOCIETY HUSTLERS WAS HARRIETTE WILSON, A REGENCY BEAUTY WHOSE GUEST REGISTER WOULD HAVE READ LIKE BURKE'S PEERAGE ; WHEN SHE STARTED PUBLISHING HER MEMOIRS, SHE MANAGED TO COLLECT DOUBLE DIVIDENDS FROM MANY FORMER PATRONS WHO PREFERRED NOT TO BE IMMORTALIZED . BUT NOT THE IRON DUKE OF WELLINGTON, WHO, WHEN TOLD BY HARRIETTE THAT SHE PLANNED TO CHRONICLE HIS INDISCRETIONS, ROARED : " PUBLISH AND BE DAMNED ! " SHE DID . SINCE THE MID-19TH CENTURY, SIN FOR A POLITICIAN HAS MEANT GETTING CAUGHT AT IT . AT LEAST THREE OFFICIALLY VIRTUOUS PRIME MINISTERS, LORD PALMERSTON, ARTHUR BALFOUR AND LLOYD GEORGE, WERE INVETERATE ADULTERERS . THUS THE STATE OF SEXUAL MORALITY IN BRITAIN TODAY IS PROBABLY NO WORSE THAN IT EVER WAS, AND THERE IS MUCH EVIDENCE THAT IT IS BETTER . BRITAIN MAY NOT BE A MORAL WASTELAND BUT A BATTLEGROUND IN WHICH A MORE REALISTIC, LESS HYPOCRITICAL GENERATION IS ATTEMPTING TO WIN LEGAL AND SOCIAL RECOGNITION OF THE FACTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE . SPARING THE HORSES . WITH THE LOSS OF EMPIRE AND THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH AS AN INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY, BRITONS HAVE TEMPERED THEIR OLD MORAL CERTITUDES . AUTHOR JAMES MORRIS FEARS THAT HIS COMPATRIOTS ARE BECOMING " CONGENITALLY INCAPABLE OF DISREGARDING THE OPPOSITE POINT OF VIEW, ARE CONSTANTLY GROUPING TOWARD SOME GENERAL SYNTHESIS OF EVERYBODY'S POINT OF VIEW ON EVERYTHING . " BUT THE STIR CREATED BY THE PROFUMO CASE SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS STILL A LOT OF POWER LEFT IN THE " MORAL MACHINERY . " WHAT HAS REALLY CHANGED IN BRITAIN ARE MATTERS OF STYLE AND OUTLOOK, OF CLASS AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE . FORNICATION HAS ALWAYS SEEMED MORE SPECTACULAR IN THE UPPER AND LOWER REACHES OF SOCIETY . BUT NOW, SAYS D . W . BROGAN, " IT MAY WELL BE THAT THE MIDDLE CLASSES ARE TAKING UP THE VICES OF THEIR BETTERS AND ALSO OF THEIR INFERIORS . " IF THERE IS NO LONGER REAL POVERTY IN BRITAIN, THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY HAS BEEN EVEN KINDER TO THE NEW-RICH . IT IS AT THIS LEVEL THAT LIFE IN BRITAIN OFTEN SEEMS TASTELESS, AIMLESS AND IMMORAL . A NEW TWIST TO A VICTORIAN MUSIC HALL BALLAD " IT'S THE RICH WOT GETS THE PLEASHOOR, IT'S THE POOR WOT GETS THE BLYME " WAS ADDED RECENTLY BY MINISTER OF HOUSING SIR KEITH JOSEPH, WHO SAID EARNESTLY : " IT IS HARDER FOR THE RICH OR THE RELATIVELY SECURE TO BE PURE . " AND YET TOO MUCH CAN BE BLAMED ON ECONOMIC FACTORS, LEADING TO WHAT THE ECONOMIST CALLS " THE UNTENABLE IMPLICATION THAT ADULTERY WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS RAMPANT IF ONLY THE COUNTRY HAD BEEN DECENT ENOUGH TO STAY POOR . " DECENCY IS OFTEN A QUESTION OF STYLE . MANY BRITONS FEEL THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG, OR AT LEAST NEW, IN A CABINET MINISTER HAVING A MISTRESS . BUT THERE IS A SLIGHTLY SNOBBISH FEELING THAT CHRISTINE KEELER AND HER SET REALLY WERE A BIT TOO CASUAL . ALTHOUGH IN BRITAIN THE OFFICIAL MISTRESS HAS NEVER QUITE REACHED THE GLITTERING STATUS SHE HAS IN FRANCE, THE GREAT AND SMALL AFFAIRS OF THE PAST WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE QUIET, SETTLED, NEAR-PERMANENT ARRANGEMENTS . A NEW FACTOR, SAYS DAILY MAIL COLUMNIST ANNE SCOTT-JAMES, IS THE " SLEAZINESS OF THE CROWD WITH WHICH THE WAR MINISTER MIXED . " SAYS MUGGERIDGE : " FIFTY YEARS AGO PEOPLE WOULD HAVE GONE TO MAIDA VALE AND PATRONIZED ONE OF THE GRANDES COCOTTES . IF THERE IS ANYTHING NEW IN THIS, IT IS THE OVERLAPPING OF THE SOCIAL LIFE OF CLIVEDEN AND OF WARD . " IN SHORT, BRITAIN MAY BE IN DANGER OF ABANDONING ACTRESS MRS . PAT CAMPBELL'S CELEBRATED AXIOM ABOUT EDWARDIAN LONDON : " YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PLEASE HERE, SO LONG AS YOU DON'T DO IT ON THE STREET AND FRIGHTEN THE HORSES . /
 RUSSIA ROMANOFF & JULIET IT WAS BY ALL ODDS THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY DATE A MAN AND WOMAN EVER HAD . THE SOVIETS ONE DAY LAST WEEK ORBITED VOSTOK V, PILOTED BY AIR FORCE LIEUT . COLONEL VALERY FEODOROVICH BYKOVSKY, 28 . LISTEN WORLD, HEADLINED IZVESTIA, SOVIET MAN IS AGAIN STORMING THE COSMOS . BUT THIS TIME, SOVIET WOMAN WAS STORMING RIGHT ALONG . TWO DAYS LATER, BYKOVSKY WAS JOINED IN ORBIT BY THE FIRST FEMALE IN SPACE, LIEUT . VALENTINA VLADIMIROVNA CHERESHKOVA, 26, AT THE CONTROLS OF VOSTOK VI . IN RADIO AND TELEVISION TRANSMISSION TO THE BREATHLESS SPECTATORS ON THE GROUND, HE REFERRED TO HIMSELF AS " THE HAWK, " WHILE SHE CALLED HERSELF " THE SEAGULL . / WEIGHTLESS . SOON AFTER BYKOVSKY WAS LAUNCHED, KHRUSHCHEV GAVE A HINT OF WHAT WAS TO COME . WHEN BRITAIN'S VISITING HAROLD WILSON ASKED HOW MANY COSMONAUTS WERE UP, HE REPLIED DELIGHTEDLY : " ONLY ONE--SO FAR . / AS BYKOVSKY SOARED THROUGH HIS ORBIT, AT A SPEED OF 18,000 M.P.H. AND IN AN OVAL THAT RANGED FROM 109 MILES TO 139 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH, HE DINED ON ROAST BEEF AND CHICKEN, MANUALLY OPERATED THE CONTROLS OF HIS SPACECRAFT . FROM THE CAPSULE, LIVE TELEVISION IMAGES WERE PERIODICALLY FLASHED TO SOVIET VIEWERS . BYKOVSKY WAVED HIS LOGBOOK, LET HIS PENCIL AND OTHER OBJECTS FLOAT IN THE CABIN TO DEMONSTRATE WEIGHTLESSNESS . ON HIS FOURTH ORBIT, THE COSMONAUT TALKED DIRECTLY TO KHRUSHCHEV IN THE KREMLIN . NOT YET A FULL-FLEDGED PARTY MEMBER, BYKOVSKY SAID : " I WANT TO BE A COMMUNIST, A MEMBER OF OUR GREAT LENINIST PARTY . " AFTER SEAGULL JOINED HAWK, THERE WERE MORE MESSAGES . SAID KHRUSHCHEV : " DEAR VALENTINA VLADIMIROVNA, CORDIAL CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WORLD'S FIRST WOMAN COSMONAUT ON THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT THROUGH THE EXPANSES OF THE UNIVERSE :. A HAPPY JOURNEY TO YOU  ! WE WILL BE EXTREMELY GLAD TO MEET YOU ON SOVIET SOIL . / SMILING AT THE TV CAMERA IN HER CAPSULE--SOME VIEWERS DESCRIBED HER AS RESEMBLING A TOUGHER-LOOKING INGRID BERGMAN--VALENTINA THANKED KHRUSHCHEV FOR HIS " FATHERLY CONCERN, " ASSURED EVERYONE THAT SHE WAS FEELING FINE . TOGETHER . HER BIOGRAPHY MADE HER SOUND LIKE A PERFECT SPECIMEN OF SOCIALIST WOMANHOOD : FATHER A TRACTOR DRIVER KILLED IN WORLD WAR II, MOTHER A FACTORY WORKER . COSMONETTE VALENTINA HERSELF WAS A TEXTILE WORKER, NIGHT SCHOOL STUDENT AND YOUNG COMMUNIST FUNCTIONARY UNTIL SHE GOT INTERESTED IN PARACHUTING AS A HOBBY (SHE MADE 126 JUMPS) AND WAS PICKED FOR COSMONAUT TRAINING . THE RUSSIANS , OF COURSE, HAD EARLIER MANAGED A TANDEM SPACE SHOT, WITH TWO MEN . THIS TIME, THOUGH, THE EXPECTATION WAS THAT THEY WOULD TRY TO " DOCK " THE TWO CAPSULES TOGETHER ALOFT, THUS POSSIBLY PERMITTING ONE OF THE PAIR OF COSMONAUTS TO TRANSFER INTO THE SPACECRAFT OF THE OTHER . EVEN IF THIS EXTRA TWIST DOES NOT COME OFF, THE DUO FLIGHT ONCE AGAIN PROVES THAT RUSSIA IS AT LEAST TWO YEARS AHEAD OF THE U.S. IN SPACE, AND MOREOVER, KNOWS HOW TO WOO THE WORLD'S FEMALES . STATED PURPOSE OF THE VALERY-VALENTINA FEAT : TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF SPACE " ON THE ORGANISM OF A MAN AND A WOMAN . /
 GREECE THE KING WANTS TO TRAVEL THE KING WAS WORKING IN THE GARDEN . HE SEEMED VERY GLAD TO SEE ME . WE WALKED THROUGH THE GARDEN . THIS IS THE QUEEN, HE SAID . SHE WAS CLIPPING A ROSE BUSH . OH HOW DO YOU DO, SHE SAID . WE SAT DOWN AT A TABLE UNDER A BIG TREE AND THE KING ORDERED WHISKEY AND SODA . WE HAVE GOOD WHISKEY ANYWAY, HE SAID . . . IT WAS VERY JOLLY . WE TALKED FOR A LONG TIME . LIKE ALL GREEKS HE WANTED TO GO TO AMERICA . THUS, IN JUST ABOUT THE SHORTEST STORY HE EVER WROTE, ERNEST HEMINGWAY 40 YEARS AGO DESCRIBED KING CONSTANTINE AND QUEEN SOPHIA AS THEY WERE CLINGING TO THE UNSTABLE THRONE OF GREECE . LAST WEEK CONSTANTINE'S SON, KING PAUL, WAS ALSO IN HIS GARDENED PALACE AT TATOI, OUTSIDE ATHENS, AND THE WHISKEY WAS STILL GOOD . BUT UNLIKE HIS FATHER, PAUL DID NOT WANT TO GO TO AMERICA . HE WANTED TO GO TO BRITAIN, AND HIS PREMIER WOULD NOT LET HIM, THEREBY PRECIPITATING A FIRST-CLASS POLITICAL CRISIS . PRIVATE REFUGE . THE PETTY-SEEMING ISSUE OF THE TRIP IS ACTUALLY PART OF A WIDER, MORE COMPLEX PROBLEM . PREMIER CONSTANTINE KARAMANLIS, 56, IS A TOUGH, STAUNCHLY ANTI-COMMUNIST, PRO-NATO POLITICIAN WHO IN HIS EIGHT YEARS IN OFFICE (THE LONGEST TENURE FOR ANY GREEK PRIME MINISTER) HAS GIVEN HIS COUNTRY STABLE GOVERNMENT AND A CONSIDERABLE MEASURE OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS . BUT LEFTISTS AND LIBERALS ATTACK HIM FOR ALLEGEDLY HAVING RIGGED THE 1961 ELECTIONS, WHICH RETURNED HIM TO POWER FOR A FOURTH TERM, AND FOR KEEPING ABOUT 1,000 POLITICAL PRISONERS JAILED WHO WERE ARRESTED MORE THAN 15 YEARS AGO DURING THE COUNTRY'S BITTER AND VICTORIOUS WAR WITH RED INSURGENTS . COMMUNISTS AND WELL-MEANING LIBERALS OUTSIDE GREECE, PARTICULARLY IN BRITAIN, THIS YEAR STARTED A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE KARAMANLIS REGIME, AND AGAINST THE ROYAL FAMILY NOTABLY QUEEN FREDERIKA, WHO WAS ACCUSED OF NAZI CONNECTIONS . BERTRAND RUSSELL'S BAN-THE-BOMBERS JOINED THE FRAY, AND LAST APRIL, WHEN FREDERIKA WAS IN LONDON FOR THE WEDDING OF HER THIRD COUSIN PRINCESS ALEXANDRA, SHE WAS SET UPON BY A CROWD OF DEMONSTRATORS AND FORCED TO SEEK REFUGE IN A PRIVATE HOUSE . BRITAIN'S ANTI-GREEK CHORUS WAS SWELLED BY LORD BEAVERBROOK, WHO, FOR REASONS OF HIS OWN, SCURRILOUSLY ATTACKED HER IN HIS NEWSPAPERS FOR HER GERMAN BACKGROUND . WITH ALL THIS IN MIND, KARAMANLIS ADVISED THE KING BELATEDLY AGAINST A PLANNED STATE VISIT TO BRITAIN IN JULY . THERE MIGHT BE SIMILAR INCIDENTS DURING THE TRIP, HE SAID, AND THE GREEK RIGHTISTS, RESENTING LEFT-WING ATTACKS ABROAD, MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE, TOO, AS THEY DID IN SALONIKA RECENTLY, WHERE A LEFT-WING MEMBER OF THE GREEK PARLIAMENT WAS KILLED . THE KING'S PLAINTIVE REJOINDER WAS THAT HE HAD ACCEPTED THE INVITATION LONG AGO AND IT WOULD BE UNGENTLEMANLY TO BACK OUT NOW . THE BRITISH HAD PROMISED ADEQUATE SECURITY . BESIDES, HE DID NOT WANT TO APPEAR TO GIVE IN TO PRESSURE FROM THE LEFT . KING PAUL WAS REINFORCED BY PERT QUEEN FREDERIKA WHO, LIKE HER GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER QUEEN VICTORIA, STRONGLY FEELS THAT SHE KNOWS BETTER THAN HER MINISTERS WHAT IS GOOD FOR HER COUNTRY . EMBARRASSING REDS . REBUFFED, KARAMANLIS HANDED IN HIS RESIGNATION . USUALLY KNOWN AS LOYAL TO THE KING, HE WAS NEVERTHELESS TRYING TO PUT THE ROYAL FAMILY IN ITS PLACE, BECAUSE OF WIDESPREAD FEELING IN GREECE THAT THEY HAVE TAKEN A SOMEWHAT-TOO-ACTIVE PART IN POLITICS OF LATE . AT THE SAME TIME, KARAMANLIS WAS TRYING TO BRING ABOUT NEW ELECTIONS, CONFIDENT THAT HIS NATIONAL RADICAL UNION, WHICH HOLDS 180 OF 300 SEATS IN PARLIAMENT, WOULD BE VICTORIOUS . INSTEAD OF CALLING ELECTIONS, HOWEVER, KING PAUL AT WEEK'S END WAS ATTEMPTING TO PATCH UP A COALITION OF PRESENT PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT THE 20 COMMUNIST MEMBERS, OUT OF DISLIKE OF KARAMANLIS, ARE EMBARRASSINGLY BEHIND THE KING . BUT THE ATTEMPT IS DOOMED TO FAILURE UNLESS SOME OF KARAMANLIS' DEPUTIES JOIN THE COALITION . KARAMANLIS SEEMED UNDISTURBED BY THE ROYAL MANEUVERING . " THEY ARE TRYING TO BREAK UP MY PARTY, " HE SAID SCORNFULLY . SNAPPING ONE FINGER ACROSS HIS PALM, HE ADDED : / BUT I HAVE GOT MY PARTY LIKE THAT . " MEANWHILE, WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT, THE KING AND QUEEN QUITE LITERALLY DID NOT KNOW WHETHER TO STAY IN THEIR GARDEN AT TATOI OR START PACKING FOR THEIR TRIP . UNDER THE GREEK CONSTITUTION, THE MONARCH CANNOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF HIS GOVERNMENT .
 ITALY VICTORY, OF SORTS, IN SICILY " ATTILA IS AT THE GATES, / THUNDERED ERNESTO CARDINAL RUFFINI, ARCHBISHOP OF PALERMO . WELL, NOT EXACTLY . SICILY WAS HOLDING REGIONAL ELECTIONS, AND THE COMMUNISTS THREATENED TO REPEAT THE MASSIVE GAINS THEY HAD SCORED IN ITALY'S NATIONAL ELECTIONS SEVEN WEEKS AGO . RED BOSS PALMIRO TOGLIATTI HIMSELF WAS ON HAND TO CAMPAIGN . BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE ISLAND SCURRIED HUNDREDS OF COMMUNIST SQUADRISTI (SHOCK TROOPS), TRYING TO SWING UNDECIDED VOTERS . PREMIER-DESIGNATE ALDO MORO'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, HAVING LEARNED PAINFULLY FROM THE APRIL RESULTS THAT IT DOES NOT PAY TO PEDDLE ANTI-COMMUNISM SOFTLY, WAGED A TOUGH CAMPAIGN AGAINST " KHRUSHCHEV'S FALSE SMILES . " THEY COULD ALSO POINT TO SICILY'S SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC PROGRESS UNDER THEIR ADMINISTRATION . THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS' CAMPAIGN SUCCEEDED . THE REDS, WHILE KEEPING THEIR PLACE AS THE SECOND LARGEST PARTY IN SICILY (AND THE NATION), PICKED UP ONLY ONE NEW SEAT IN THE 90-MEMBER REGIONAL ASSEMBLY, FOR A TOTAL OF 22 . THEIR SHARE OF THE BALLOTS INCHED UP TO 24.8 PER CENT , 1 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THEIR LOCAL SHARE IN APRIL . THE FREE-ENTERPRISING LIBERALS MATCHED THEIR EARLIER SUCCESS, MORE THAN DOUBLED THEIR REPRESENTATION (FROM TWO SEATS TO FIVE) . THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS GAINED THREE ASSEMBLY SEATS FOR A NEW TOTAL OF 37, WON ALMOST 980,000 OF THE 2,300,000 BALLOTS CAST, EMERGED WITH 42 PER CENT OF THE VOTE, A RISE OF MORE THAN 3 PER CENT SINCE APRIL AND MORE THAN THEY HAD EVER POLLED IN SICILY . WROTE ONE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PAPER JUBILANTLY : " WE HAVE BROKEN THE 40 PER CENT BARRIER . " HIS POSITION SOMEWHAT STRENGTHENED BY THE SICILY RESULTS, MORO WILL NOW TRY TO PUT TOGETHER A NEW COALITION CABINET BASED ON THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND THE NENNI SOCIALISTS . BUT EVEN IF HE CAN THUS CONTINUE THE " OPENING TO LEFT, " MORO'S AND ITALY'S TROUBLES WILL ONLY BE BEGINNING .
 WEST GERMANY ALT LANG SYNE BY BUS, AUTOMOBILE AND SPECIAL TRAINS, 250,000 GERMANS ORIGINALLY FROM SILESIA POURED INTO COLOGNE LAST WEEK . JAMMING OPEN-AIR RESTAURANTS AND BIERSTUBEN, THEY SWAPPED STORIES WITH OLD FRIENDS OVER RHENISH BEER AND SCHNAPPS BENEATH BANNERS PROCLAIMING / FOR SILESIA . " THE OCCASION WAS THE REGULAR REUNION OF GERMANS EXPELLED FROM COMMUNIST POLAND AFTER WORLD WAR II . DURING A MAMMOTH RALLY AT FAIRGROUNDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RHINE, THE GEMUTLICH SCENE SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A RIOT ; STIRRED UP BY A RABBLE-ROUSING POLITICIAN, THE CROWD NEARLY MOBBED A GERMAN TV REPORTER WHO HAD SUGGESTED THAT POLAND IS DOING WELL BY THE TERRITORIES SEIZED FROM GERMANY AFTER WORLD WAR II . IN GERMAN POLITICS, IT IS AN ARTICLE OF FAITH THAT THESE TERRITORIES MUST ONE DAY BE LIBERATED AND THAT THE GERMANS DRIVEN FROM THE AREA WILL BE ABLE TO GO HOME . BUT THIS BELIEF, WHILE STEADFASTLY MAINTAINED IN PUBLIC, IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY HOLLOW . FAR MORE REALISTIC THAN LAST WEEK'S MOB SCENE WAS A RARE JOINT APPEARANCE BY CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER AND BERLIN'S SOCIALIST MAYOR WILLY BRANDT, BOTH OF WHOM PLEADED FOR RECONCILIATION WITH POLAND . THE EMOTIONS THAT CAN STILL BE STIRRED UP BY TALK ABOUT THE " LOST HOMELANDS " IN THE EAST SOMETIMES OBSCURE A MAJOR POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN WEST GERMANY : THE REMARKABLY SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION INTO THE NATION'S LIFE OF 13 MILLION REFUGEES, ONEQUARTER OF THE POPULATION . HAPPY MIRACLE . WHEN THEIR TREK TO FREEDOM BEGAN 18 YEARS AGO, FEW THOUGHT THAT QUICK RESETTLEMENT WAS POSSIBLE . IN ONE OF THE WORST FORCED MIGRATIONS OF MODERN TIMES, 9,400,000 ETHNIC GERMANS WERE ABRUPTLY EXPELLED FROM COMMUNIST EUROPE, SHOWED UP IN WEST GERMANY IN TATTERED COVERED WAGONS AND WITH EMPTY RUCKSACKS . AFTER THE IRON CURTAIN SNAPPED SHUT, 3,600,000 MORE GERMANS MADE THEIR WAY WEST AND HEIGHTENED THE CRISIS . THE NEW ARRIVALS WERE PENNILESS, HOMELESS AND EMBITTERED . IN THE IMMEDIATE POSTWAR DAYS, WEST GERMANS THEMSELVES WERE NOT MUCH BETTER OFF . THE FIERCE COMPETITION BETWEEN NATIVES AND " ALIENS " FOR JOBS OR EVEN A ROOF CREATED AN EXPLOSIVE CLIMATE OF MUTUAL RECRIMINATION . IT SEEMED AS IF THE SHAKY NEW DEMOCRACY, DIGGING OUT OF THE WRECKAGE OF HITLER'S REICH, COULD SCARCELY SURVIVE THE HUMAN AVALANCHE . GERMANY'S " ECONOMIC MIRACLE " DRASTICALLY CHANGED THE PICTURE . AS THE PACE OF RECOVERY QUICKENED, THOUSANDS OF THE LARGELY AGRICULTURAL IMMIGRANTS WERE RETRAINED FOR INDUSTRIAL JOBS, AND BECAME INDISPENSABLE TO THE LABOR-SHORT GERMAN ECONOMY . SHARING THE CREDIT FOR THE TOUGHER POLITICAL MIRACLE OF RESETTLEMENT ARE THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC'S TWO MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES . COMPETING ACTIVELY FOR THE " REFUGEE VOTE, " CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS AND SOCIALISTS BACKED A UNIQUE 50 PER CENT TAX ON ALL PROPERTY THAT WEST GERMANS HAD MANAGED TO SAVE THROUGH THE WAR, IN ORDER TO COMPENSATE REFUGEES WHO HAD LOST THEIR POSSESSIONS . A SPECIAL EQUALIZATION OF BURDENS BANK GRANTED THOUSANDS OF LOWCREDIT BUSINESS LOANS . SINCE VIRTUALLY ALL WERE HOMELESS, THE EAST GERMANS WERE THE CHIEF BENEFICIARIES OF 6,500,000 NEW HOUSING UNITS BUILT SINCE THE WAR . REVEALING SIGN . INEVITABLY, THERE HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTMENTS . ABOUT 10 PER CENT OF THE REFUGEES STILL LIVE IN SUBSTANDARD HOUSING, INCLUDING 700 SILESIAN AND SUDETEN GERMANS WHOSE FLOWERPOTS AND TELEVISION ANTENNAS EERILY SPROUT FROM THE RECONVERTED BARRACKS AT DACHAU . MANY STILL FEEL THAT THEY ARE WORSE OFF NOW THAN THEY WERE IN THEIR OLD HOMES . ONLY ONE OUT OF SIX FARMERS TILLS HIS OWN LAND ; WHEN HE DOES, IT IS ON A MUCH SMALLER PLOT THAN HE OWNED IN THE EAST . BUT MOST REFUGEES HAVE GOOD JOBS, AND SOME WHO ARRIVED PENNILESS NOW OWN THRIVING BUSINESSES . THOUSANDS HAVE MARRIED WEST GERMANS AND RAISED FAMILIES . MAJOR INDICATOR THAT THE ONETIME ALIENS NOW CONSIDER THEMSELVES REAL WEST GERMANS IS THE COLLAPSE OF THE REFUGEE PARTY, WHICH ONCE HAD 27 SEATS IN THE BUNDESTAG . IT HAS HAD NO NATIONAL VOICE SINCE 1957 ; LAST MONTH IN LOWER SAXONY, WHERE REFUGEES COMPRISE ABOUT 25 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION, IT POLLED A SCANT 3.7 PER CENT OF THE VOTE DURING STATE ELECTIONS . SAYS HANS KOPLITZ, A SUDETEN GERMAN WHO NOW OWNS A PROSPEROUS LAUNDRY AND DRY-CLEANING ESTABLISHMENT IN MUNICH : " MOST, WE PAY LIP SERVICE TO THE IDEA OF RETURNING TO OUR HOMELANDS . /
 YEMEN HARRIED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS FOR TEN DAYS, SWEDEN'S MAJOR GENERAL CARL VON HORN, 59, IDLED BESIDE THE CRYSTAL POOL OF BEIRUT'S HOTEL PHOENICIA . THEN MARCHING ORDERS CAME FROM THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK : BY A 10-0 VOTE, WITH THE SOVIET UNION ABSTAINING, THE SECURITY COUNCIL LAST WEEK APPROVED SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT'S PLAN TO SEND A U.N . TRUCE TEAM TO STRIFE-TORN YEMEN . HEADING THE ADVANCE GUARD, VON HORN TOOK OFF FOR YEMEN'S CAPITAL CITY OF SAN " A WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF 1) ENDING SAUDI ARABIAN AID TO THE ROYALIST REBELS, 2) CREATING A 25-MILE DEMILITARIZED STRIP ALONG THE SAUDI-YEMENI FRONTIER, AND 3) SUPERVISING THE PHASED WITHDRAWAL OF 28,000 EGYPTIAN TROOPS WHO HAVE SPENT THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS BLOODILY PROPPING UP THE REPUBLICAN REGIME OF PRESIDENT ABDULLAH SALLAL AGAINST THE ROYALIST MOUNTAIN TRIBES FIGHTING TO RESTORE DEPOSED IMAM MOHAMED EL BADR TO HIS 1,000-YEAR-OLD THRONE . BOMBS AT NIGHT . A PEACEMAKING VETERAN WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE GAZA STRIP AND THE CONGO, VON HORN IS NOT SANGUINE ABOUT HIS CHANCES IN YEMEN . ON A BRIEF VISIT IN APRIL, HE DISCOVERED THAT ROYALIST TRIBESMEN HAD AMBUSHED SOME 40 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS, KILLED THEM ALL AND STUFFED THEIR SEVERED HEADS INSIDE THEIR SLASHED-OPEN BELLIES . AT THE TIME, VON HORN GLOOMILY CONCLUDED THAT THE WAR COULD GO ON TEN YEARS . IN NEW YORK, U THANT BLANDLY EXPECTS IT ALL TO BE OVER IN " TWO TO FOUR MONTHS . " HOLED UP IN THE IMPREGNABLE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL YEMEN, THE ROYALISTS MAKE HIT-AND-RUN RAIDS IN ALL DIRECTIONS, HAVE SOMETIMES INFILTRATED AS CLOSE AS THE MILITARY AIRPORT OUTSIDE SAN " A . THE EGYPTIANS HAVE BEEN ON THE DEFENSIVE SINCE FEBRUARY AND MAKE ONLY LOCAL COUNTERATTACKS TO REGAIN OBJECTIVES SUCH AS WATER SOURCES, SEIZED BY THE ROYALISTS . THE OFFENSIVE IS LEFT TO EGYPT'S RUSSIAN-BUILT FIGHTER AND BOMBER PLANES, WHICH PLASTER ROYALIST VILLAGES WITH HIGH EXPLOSIVE AND NAPALM . THERE WERE REPORTS LAST WEEK THAT THE EGYPTIANS ARE NOW USING GAS WARFARE TO PRY THE REBELS OUT OF THEIR MOUNTAIN CAVES . IN THE WEEK BEFORE VON HORN'S ARRIVAL, THE DESPERATE EGYPTIANS MADE AIR STRIKES AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA . A DAWN RAID ON THE SEAPORT OF JIZAN KILLED 25 AND WOUNDED 300 SLEEPING INHABITANTS . THE EGYPTIAN EXCUSE : RENEWED ROYALIST ACTIVITY MUST MEAN RENEWED MILITARY AID FROM SAUDI ARABIA . NONEXISTENT ALLY . WHILE HIS NATION SUFFERED, YEMEN'S PRESIDENT SALLAL WAS ON A TRIUMPHAL TOUR OF THE MIDDLE EAST . THOUGH PLAGUED BY CONSPIRACIES AT HOME HE CRUSHED TWO " IMPERIALIST " PLOTS IN HIS OWN REGIME BEFORE LEAVING SALLAL GOT TREMENDOUS OVATIONS FROM STREET CROWDS IN DAMASCUS AND BAGHDAD . IN LORDLY STYLE, HE URGED THE BAATHIST LEADERS OF SYRIA AND IRAQ TO DISPERSE THE " SUMMER CLOUD " OF THEIR DIFFERENCES WITH EGYPT'S NASSER, AND GRANDLY OFFERED THE VIRTUALLY NONEXISTENT YEMEN REPUBLICAN ARMY AS AN ALLY IN REPULSING " ZIONIST AND IMPERIALIST AGGRESSORS . " AT HIS MOUNTAIN HEADQUARTERS IN YEMEN, THE ROYALIST LEADER IMAM BADR TOLD NEWSMEN HE INTENDS TO KEEP FIGHTING AGAINST THE " EGYPTIAN COLONIZATION OF YEMEN, " AND BOASTED THAT IF THE EGYPTIANS EVER DID LEAVE, " WE WOULD OCCUPY THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WITHIN A WEEK . " AS FOR THE UNITED NATIONS, BADR SAID, " I AM NOT INTERESTED IN THE U.N., WHICH I ONCE THOUGHT STOOD FOR JUSTICE . ONLY THE PEOPLE OF YEMEN WILL ACHIEVE A SOLUTION . WE PUT OUR TRUST IN GOD AND IN OUR PEOPLE . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM TRIAL BY FIRE THE AUTOMOBILE AT THE HEAD OF THE PROCESSION OF SAFFRON-ROBED BUDDHIST MONKS IN SAIGON SUDDENLY CHOKED TO A STOP AT AN INTERSECTION . THE OCCUPANTS OF THE CAR LIFTED ITS HOOD AS CHANTING PRIESTS BEGAN FORMING A CIRCLE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEEP AROUND THE VEHICLE . PRAYER BEADS CLUTCHED IN HIS HAND, A PHLEGMATIC, 73-YEAR-OLD MONK NAMED THICH QUANG DUC SAT DOWN CROSS-LEGGED ON THE ASPHALT IN THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE . FROM UNDER THE AUTO'S HOOD, A MONK TOOK A CANISTER OF GASOLINE AND POURED IT OVER THE OLD PRIEST . AN EXPRESSION OF SERENITY ON HIS WIZENED FACE, QUANG DUC SUDDENLY STRUCK A MATCH . AS FLAMES ENGULFED HIS BODY, HE MADE NOT A SINGLE CRY NOR MOVED A MUSCLE . / OH MY GOD, " CRIED A WESTERN OBSERVER, " OH MY GOD . " CASTING THE BLAME . IN THE BUDDHIST FAITH, SELF-SACRIFICE IS OFTEN UNDERTAKEN TO TRANSFER THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS TO ONE'S SELF . THE MARTYR IS USUALLY CONSIDERED A HOLY MAN SO CLOSE TO NIRVANA THAT HE IS UNAFFECTED BY PAIN . QUANG DUC'S PREMEDITATED ACT WAS A DEMONSTRATION OF BUDDHIST DETERMINATION TO FORCE SOUTH VIET NAM'S ROMAN CATHOLIC PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM TO KNUCKLE UNDER TO DEMANDS FOR INCREASED RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (TIME, JUNE 14) . IN A WILL WRITTEN " BEFORE CLOSING MY EYES TO BUDDHA, / QUANG DUC WROTE : " I HAVE THE HONOR OF PRESENTING MY WORDS TO PRESIDENT DIEM, ASKING HIM TO BE KIND AND TOLERANT TOWARD HIS PEOPLE AND TO ENFORCE A POLICY OF RELIGIOUS EQUALITY . " DIEM'S REPLY WAS TO CLAMP VIRTUAL MARTIAL LAW OVER SAIGON . ALL THE CITY'S MAIN PAGODAS WERE SEALED OFF, AND BARBED-WIRE BARRICADES BLOCKED OFF STREETS . ON THE RADIO, DIEM BLAMED QUANG DUC'S " TRAGIC DEATH " ON " CERTAIN MINDS, POISONED BY SEDITIOUS PROPAGANDA . " REFUSING TO YIELD TO BUDDHIST DEMANDS, DIEM ADDED : " BUDDHISM IN VIET NAM FINDS ITS FUNDAMENTAL SAFEGUARDS IN THE CONSTITUTION, OF WHICH I PERSONALLY AM THE GUARDIAN . / THE WARNING . BUT DIEM'S INTRANSIGENCE TROUBLED THE U.S . IN SAIGON, U.S . EMBASSY OFFICIALS BLUNTLY WARNED DIEM THAT THE U.S . WOULD PUBLICLY CONDEM HIS TREATMENT OF THE BUDDHISTS UNLESS HE TOOK PROMPT ACTION TO REDRESS THEIR GRIEVANCES . BEHIND THE U.S . THREAT WAS THE FEAR THAT CONTINUED BUDDHIST DISCONTENT COULD CAUSE PASSIVE RESISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS IN THE RURAL PROVINCES WHERE POLITICAL UNITY IS THE KEY TO VICTORY IN THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG . THE U.S . WARNING SEEMED TO SINK IN . AT MEETINGS WITH BUDDHIST LEADERS, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TENTATIVELY ACCEDED TO ALL THEIR DEMANDS THE GOVERNMENT PROMISED TO CHANGE EXISTING LAWS SO AS TO GIVE BUDDHISM EQUAL STANDING WITH CATHOLICISM, GRANTED BUDDHISTS THE RIGHT TO FLY THEIR FLAGS AT RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS . IT WAS THE FLAG RESTRICTION AT HUE LAST MONTH THAT SET OFF DEMONSTRATIONS IN WHICH NINE BUDDHIST MARCHERS WERE GUNNED DOWN BY GOVERNMENT TROOPS . UNDER PRODDING FROM BUDDHIST LEADERS, THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH HAD BLAMED THE VIET CONG FOR THE HUE TRAGEDY, RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO TAKE THE BLAME FOR THE INCIDENT . BUT IF THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD RENEGE ON ITS AGREEMENT, THE BUDDHISTS HAVE THREATENED TWO MORE RITUALISTIC SUICIDES ONE BY FIRE AND ONE BY DISEMBOWELMENT .
 SOUTHEAST ASIA TRIPLETS REUNITED INDONESIA, MALAYA AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE " TRIPLETS " WHO BECAME SEPARATED AT BIRTH, WHO WERE PLACED UNDER THE CARE OF DIFFERENT FOSTER PARENTS BUT WHO HAVE NOW COME OF AGE AND ARE TRYING TO REDISCOVER THEIR COMMON ORIGIN AND SHAPE THEIR COMMON DESTINY . " THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE THREE MALAY STATES WAS OFFERED LAST YEAR BY PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL . IN MANILA LAST WEEK, THE TOP MINISTERS OF THE THREE NATIONS MADE PLANS TO BRING THE TRIPLETS TOGETHER AGAIN . THE EVENT SUGGESTED THAT, AT LEAST FOR THE TIME BEING, CANTANKEROUS INDONESIA IS GETTING TO BE A MORE RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIA NEIGHBORHOOD . THE NEW GROUPING WOULD LOOSELY JOIN INDONESIA AND THE PHILIPPINES TO TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN'S FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA (MALAYA, SINGAPORE, NORTH BORNEO, SARAWAK AND BRUNEI) TO BE ESTABLISHED AUG . 31 . THE PHILIPPINES CLAIM A PART OF NORTH BORNEO AS ITS OWN BUT AGREED AMICABLY TO POSTPONE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISSUE . INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO, WHO HAD CONDEMNED THE MALAYSIA FEDERATION AS AN IMPERIALIST PLOT, APPARENTLY REALIZED THAT SINCE HE CAN'T STOP IT, HE MIGHT AS WELL TRY TO JOIN IT . MOST SURPRISING ITEM IN THE MANILA AGREEMENT WAS A PLEDGE OF MUTUAL DEFENSE AGAINST " SUBVERSION IN ANY FORM OR MANIFESTATION . " THIS PLEDGE IS AIMED NOT ONLY AT COMMUNISM BUT ALSO AGAINST THE SIZABLE CHINESE MINORITIES WHO DOMINATE THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA . STILL, ANY ANTI-COMMUNIST STEP IS REMARKABLE FOR INDONESIA . HAVING MADE THIS POLITICAL MOVE MORE FAVORABLE TO THE WEST, SOME OBSERVERS EXPECT THAT SUKARNO WILL SOON MAKE A MOVE TO PLACATE RED CHINA . NEXT STEP : A JULY SUMMIT CONFERENCE AT MANILA BETWEEN SUKARNO, ABDUL RAHMAN AND MACAPAGAL TO SET UP A PERMANENT CONSULTATIVE GROUP TO BE KNOWN AS MAPHILINDO .
 AFRICA ALBERT SCHWEITZER : AN ANACHRONISM STILL THEY COME, ALL YEAR ROUND, TO SEE THE FAMED OLD MAN IN HIS STORIED JUNGLE SETTING . PUBLIC FIGURES LIKE ADLAI STEVENSON, STARRY-EYED U.S . PEACE CORPSMEN, SPINSTER SCHOOLTEACHERS REALIZING A LONGSTANDING DREAM ALL COME FOR A VISIT TO DR . ALBERT SCHWEITZER . AT HIS MISSION THREE MILES UPSTREAM FROM THE GABONESE VILLAGE OF LAMBARENE, " THE GREAT WHITE DOCTOR, " NOW 88, AFFABLY GREETS THEM, AUTOGRAPHING HIS BOOKS IN A FINE, STEADY HAND . YET, AFTER DEVOTING NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF HIS LIFE MINISTERING TO THE SICK OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA AND BEING WIDELY REGARDED AS A NEAR SAINT, SCHWEITZER IS AN ANACHRONISM IN TODAY'S AFRICA . AFTER A JOURNEY TO LAMBARENE, TIME CORRESPONDENT JON RANDAL REPORTED WHY : ONCE, TO SEE SCHWEITZER, TRAVELERS HAD TO BE PADDLED THE 175 MILES FROM PORTGENTIL ON THE ATLANTIC . NOW THEY ARRIVE BY AIR FROM THE GABONESE CAPITAL OF LIBREVILLE AND PUT DOWN AT LAMBARENE'S MODERN AIRPORT, NOT FAR FROM A MODERN, ANTISEPTIC GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL . ON THE SHORT TRIP UP THE OGOOUE RIVER, THE VISITORS PASS NATIVES SKIMMING BY IN BRAND-NEW BOATS POWERED BY EVINRUDE OUTBOARDS . FINALLY THEY REACH SCHWEITZER'S HOSPITAL . SET GHOSTLIKE AMID WILD PALMS AND TANGLED JUNGLE UNDERGROWTH, ITS TIN ROOFS AND RAMSHACKLE WOODEN BUILDINGS ARE WORTHY OF RAIN OR THE HEART OF DARKNESS . CHANGELESS ISOLATION . IN THE HALFCENTURY SINCE SCHWEITZER CAME TO LAMBARENE WITH HIS WIFE HELENE AND PERFORMED HIS FIRST OPERATION IN A CONVERTED HEN HOUSE, THE MISSION HAS EXPANDED BUT OTHERWISE CHANGED LITTLE . AT THE RIVER LANDING THERE ARE ONLY PIROGUES, CRUDE DUGOUT CANOES, THE ONE TYPE OF RIVER AMBULANCE SCHWEITZER WILL USE . ( " BRANCARDIER ! BRANCARDIER ! " (STRETCHER BEARER) THE OARSMEN CRY WHEN THEY ARRIVE WITH AN EMERGENCY.) THE HOSPITAL COMPOUND IS WITHOUT TELEPHONE, RUNNING WATER OR REFRIGERATION, HAS ELECTRICITY ONLY IN THE MAIN BUILDING, WHICH HOUSES THE TINY, ANTIQUATED OPERATING THEATER . STERILIZATION IS CARRIED OUT IN AN OUTDOOR LEAN-TO AND THE ONLY TOILET IS AN OUTHOUSE FOR THE USE OF THE FOREIGN STAFF . WITH A CAPACITY FOR SOME 400 PATIENTS, SCHWEITZER'S CLINIC IS FOREVER JAMMED . THE SICK, CARRYING PAPER TAGS WITH THEIR NAMES, VILLAGES AND TRIBES, WAIT FOR HOURS TO SEE THE DOCTORS, ARE BEDDED DOWN ON STRAW-MATTRESS COTS IN DARK, STENCH-RIDDEN HUTS WHOSE EARTH FLOORS ARE AWASH DURING THE RAINY SEASON . OUTSIDE, OVER OPEN FIRES, THE PATIENTS' WOMEN RELATIVES COOK, WHILE A HORDE OF CHICKENS, DOGS AND GOATS (PROTECTED UNDER SCHWEITZER'S " REVERENCE FOR LIFE " MYSTIQUE BY WHICH NO LIVING THING SHOULD BE UNNECESSARILY DISTURBED) ROAM AT WILL, ADDING FREELY TO THE SURROUNDING FILTH . WHEN A PATIENT DIES AND HIS BODY IS UNCLAIMED, IT IS WRAPPED IN A FERN-ANDPALM-LEAF SHROUD, LAID IN A WOODEN BOX, AND BURIED IN THE BUSH . TAILORED FOR PRIMITIVES . DESPITE SUCH SQUALOR, SCHWEITZER'S INSTITUTION HAS A GOOD MEDICAL RECORD, AND THE CITY'S EUROPEANS GENERALLY CHOOSE IT OVER THE NEW GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL . FEW HOSPITALS ANYWHERE CAN OFFER SUCH A DEDICATED STAFF, OR ONE THAT LIVES AS AUSTERELY . EACH OF THE DOCTORS AND NURSES OCCUPIES A SINGLE ROOM EQUIPPED WITH IRON BED, ENAMEL WASH BASIN AND KEROSENE LAMP ; MEALS USUALLY CONSIST OF FRIED BANANAS AND OTHER FRUIT . THE OLD MAN STUBBORNLY REFUSES TO GO MODERN . SAYS HE : / CIRCUMSTANCES COMMAND THAT THE HOSPITAL BE PRIMITIVE IN KEEPING WITH THE PRIMITIVE STATE OF THE PEOPLE . " HE BELIEVES THAT AFRICANS ENJOY DISCOMFORT, AND THAT THEY ARE OFTEN AFRAID OF A GLEAMING WHITE MODERN HOSPITAL, BUT NOT OF ONE THAT REMINDS THEM OF THEIR VILLAGES A CONCEPT LESS VALID TODAY THAN 20 YEARS AGO . HIS AFRICAN CRITICS TAKE SCHWEITZER'S INSISTENCE ON PRIMITIVENESS AS AN INSULT, OR A NEEDLESS PROLONGATION OF " THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN . " SYMBOLICALLY, THEY POINT OUT, HE AND HIS STAFF STILL WEAR PITH HELMETS . THE CONCEPT THAT THE DARK CONTINENT CAN MAKE MORE PROGRESS THROUGH INDEPENDENCE IS, TO SCHWEITZER, FOLLY . TOLD THAT THE PEACE CORPS IS BUILDING PRIMARY SCHOOLS ALL OVER GABON, AND THAT THE LITTLE COUNTRY HAS 14 MEDICAL STUDENTS TRAINING IN FRANCE, DR . SCHWEITZER MERELY CHUCKLES AND SAYS OF THE BLACKS : " YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEIR MENTALITY . " AMONG HIS SIX DOCTORS AND 17 NURSES, THERE IS NOT ONE AFRICAN, NOR IS HE TRAINING ANY . SAYS AN UPPER-CLASS AFRICAN IN LAMBARENE : " I'D RATHER DIE UNATTENDED THAN BE HUMILIATED AT DR . SCHWEITZER'S HOSPITAL . " ACCORDING TO THE SUN . BUSHY WHITE HAIR AFLARE, DROOPING MUSTACHE AQUIVER, COTTON STRIPS WOUND AROUND HIS ARMS TO ABSORB THE SWEAT, HE IS A LITTLE DEAF BUT ALERT AS A LION . HE IS STILL PLANNING ADDITIONS TO THE HOSPITAL AND IS WORKING ON VOLUME III OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILIZATION . A FEW WEEKS AGO, HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD MAKE NO MORE REST VISITS TO EUROPE, WHICH HIS DISCIPLES TAKE TO MEAN THAT SCHWEITZER WANTS TO DIE AT LAMBARENE, WHERE HIS WIFE WAS BURIED SIX YEARS AGO . IN THE JUNGLE, THE DOCTOR HAS BUILT A PRIVATE WORLD FOR HIMSELF WHICH HE REFUSES TO ALTER . EVEN HIS TIME IS HIS OWN ; THE HOSPITAL CLOCKS DO NOT RUN ON G.M.T., LIKE ALL THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, BUT ARE SET ACCORDING TO THE SUN . AS FAR BACK AS WORLD WAR I, SCHWEITZER EXPRESSED HIS DISLIKE FOR THE MODERN WORLD OUTSIDE : " IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS MANKIND HAS BEEN PERSUADED TO GIVE UP ITS NATURAL RELATIONS WITH REALITY AND TO SEEK ITS WELFARE IN THE MAGIC FORMULAS OF SOME KIND OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL WITCHCRAFT . " SCHWEITZER HAS MADE HIS OWN REALITY ; HE LIVES IN THE AFRICA OF 1913, HARDLY KNOWING OR CARING THAT A CONTINENT AND A CENTURY HAVE PASSED HIM BY .
 GREAT BRITAIN THE LOST LEADER AS THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CLOCK TICKED TOWARD STARTING TIME FOR THE GREAT DEBATE, THERE WERE ONLY TWO EMPTY SEATS IN THE JAMMED, EXPECTANT CHAMBER . THE FIRST WAS FILLED, WITH FOUR MINUTES TO SPARE, BY HAROLD MACMILLAN, WHO SAT DOWN STIFFLY ON THE GOVERNMENT'S FRONT BENCH, LOOKING AS CHILL AND WAN AS HIS EFFIGY AT MADAME TUSSAUD'S . TWO MINUTES LATER, A SHORT, PLUMP MAN IN A SHABBY GREY SUIT BUSTLED EXPRESSIONLESSLY DOWN THE GANGWAY, SANK INTO THE OPPOSITION FRONT BENCH FACING MACMILLAN, AND FINGERED A CARDBOARD FILE . AS THE CLOCK STRUCK, LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON ROSE TO HIS FEET AND FOR A SECOND SAVORED THE TINGLING SILENCE BEFORE BREAKING IT WITH HIS FLAT NASAL YORKSHIRE VOICE . " THIS IS A DEBATE, " HE BEGAN, " WITHOUT PRECEDENCE IN THE ANNALS OF THE HOUSE . " THE TWO MEN WERE THE PRODUCTS OF TWO REMARKABLE POLITICAL CAREERS AND ALSO OF TWO BRITAINS : MACMILLAN, THE SKILLFUL, COURAGEOUS AND OFTEN RUTHLESS PATRICIAN WHO HAD RESCUED HIS COUNTRY FROM THE DEBRIS OF SUEZ AND LED IT INTO AN ERA OF UNPRECEDENTED PROSPERITY ; HAROLD WILSON, THE DRY, DILIGENT AND OFTEN DEVIOUS SON OF A PROVINCIAL CHEMIST WHO HAD RISEN BY HARD WORK AND CHANCE (INCLUDING THE DEATH OF THE MAN HE SUCCEEDED, HUGH GAITSKELL) TO THE TOP OF THE LABOR PARTY . AS HE FACED MACMILLAN, WHO HAD GONE TO OXFORD BY FAMILY TRADITION, HAROLD WILSON, WHO HAD GONE TO OXFORD ON A SCHOLARSHIP, STROVE TO EMBODY A NEW, IMPATIENT, CLASS-DEFYING ENGLAND . THE MORAL DECAY SURROUNDING THE PROFUMO AFFAIR, HE TRIED HARD TO SUGGEST, MUST BE BLAMED ON THE TORIES . REFERRING TO CHRISTINE KEELER'S REPORTED $14,000-A-WEEK NIGHTCLUB CONTRACT, WILSON DECLARED : " THERE IS SOMETHING UTTERLY NAUSEATING ABOUT A SYSTEM OF SOCIETY WHICH PAYS A HARLOT 25 TIMES AS MUCH AS IT PAYS ITS PRIME MINISTER . " FOR THE REST, HAROLD WILSON STUCK TO THE SECURITY ISSUE AND THE GOVERNMENT'S HANDLING OF THE PROFUMO CASE, WHICH HE ATTACKED AS EITHER DISHONEST OR INCOMPETENT, OR BOTH . LET DOWN . THE ONCE UNFLAPPABLE MACMILLAN FIDGETED IN HIS SEAT AND KEPT DABBING AT THE POUCHES BENEATH HIS EYES WITH A CRUMPLED HANDKERCHIEF . WHEN HE ROSE, HE OPENLY PLAYED FOR THE SYMPATHY OF HIS COLLEAGUES . " WHAT HAS HAPPENED, " HE SAID, " HAS INFLICTED A DEEP, BITTER AND LASTING WOUND ON ME . " ESSENTIALLY HIS DEFENSE WAS THAT HE HAD BEEN GROSSLY DECEIVED BY PROFUMO AN " ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE " CULPRIT AND BADLY LET DOWN BY HIS SUBORDINATES, WHO FAILED TO KEEP HIM INFORMED . FROM THE BACK BENCHES CAME A RUDE GIBE OF " NOBODY EVER TELLS ME NUFFIN ! " BY THE TIME MACMILLAN FINISHED, THE HOUSE WAS PREPARED TO ACQUIT HIM OF PERSONAL DISHONESTY AND MORAL TURPITUDE, BUT HE HAD CONVICTED HIMSELF OF NEGLIGENCE AND NAIVETE OR PERHAPS SIMPLY OF A FATAL ABILITY TO AVERT HIS EYES FROM WHAT HE DID NOT WISH TO SEE . IN THE VOTE FOLLOWING THE DEBATE, 27 CONSERVATIVES VOTED AGAINST MACMILLAN OR ABSTAINED . ON ALL SIDES THERE WERE CRIES OF " RESIGN, RESIGN, " AND THIS IS WHAT MACMILLAN WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE TO DO THE ONLY REMAINING QUESTION BEING WHEN . THE WARNING . THE LONG DEBATE SERVED TO FIX GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, OR THE LACK OF IT, AND ILLUSTRATED THE ODD NATURE OF THE BRITISH SECURITY SYSTEM, COMPOUNDED OF SHREWDNESS, INEFFICIENCY, AND AN OFTEN MISGUIDED SENSE OF SPORTSMANSHIP THAT GOES TO EXTRAORDINARY LENGTHS IN PROTECTING MEMBERS OF THE CLUB . THE CASE, AS IT EMERGED FROM THE DEBATE, FALLS INTO FOUR PHASES . FIRST, THERE WAS THE CHRISTINE-PROFUMO AFFAIR ITSELF, WHICH, ACCORDING TO PROFUMO, LASTED ONLY A FEW MONTHS, FROM JULY TO DECEMBER 1961, BUT BY OTHER EVIDENCE POSSIBLY LASTED LONGER . DURING THOSE SAME MONTHS, CHRISTINE ALSO ENTERTAINED RUSSIAN ASSISTANT NAVAL ATTACHE EVGENY IVANOV, WHO HAD BEEN PALS FOR SOME TIME WITH HER MENTOR, DR . STEPHEN WARD . MI-5, BRITISH INTELLIGENCE, APPARENTLY DISCOVERED ONLY HALF OF WHAT WILSON SCATHINGLY CALLED " THIS DINGY QUADRILATERAL . " IN AUGUST 1961, ACCORDING TO THE COMMONS DEBATE, CABINET SECRETARY SIR NORMAN BROOK WARNED PROFUMO THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE SECRETARY FOR WAR NOT TO BE TOO FRIENDLY WITH WARD ; HE DID NOT MENTION, AND EVIDENTLY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT, CHRISTINE . NOTHING OF THIS WAS REPORTED TO MACMILLAN . IN THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH COVERS MOST OF 1962, RUMORS OF THE AFFAIR KEPT REACHING THE NEWSPAPERS, TORY AND LABOR POLITICIANS, BUT APPARENTLY NOT THE PRIME MINISTER . DURING THE CUBA BLOWUP, WARD WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE, SUGGESTING TO THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE AND TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE THAT HIS FRIEND IVANOV BE USED AS AN INTERMEDIARY TO HELP SETTLE THE CRISIS . BUT SAID MACMILLAN, A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE THEN TRYING TO GET INTO THE ACT " TO WEAKEN OUR RESOLUTION . " A LITTLE LATER, WILSON HIMSELF GOT A LETTER FROM WARD, BOASTING OF HIS SUPPOSED HELP IN SETTLING THE CUBA MATTER, BUT FILED IT AWAY AS COMING FROM A CRANK . BEFORE IVANOV WAS RECALLED TO MOSCOW* IN JANUARY 1963, HE AROUSED SUSPICION IN OTHER WAYS . A BRIDGE PLAYER WHO TOOK A HAND IN SOME VERY HIGH-LEVEL GAMES, HE LOST STEADILY, AS MUCH AS $140 A NIGHT . " I DO NOT BELIEVE THE SOVIET EMBASSY'S PETTY CASH WOULD STAND SUCH LOSSES EVERY NIGHT, " SAID ONE LABOR M.P . CAUSTICALLY, / UNLESS THEY GOT SOMETHING FOR IT . " THE VIGIL . IN THE THIRD AND MOST REMARKABLE PHASE, MACMILLAN FINALLY BECAME AWARE THAT THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS A PROFUMO CASE . IN JANUARY 1963, AS MACMILLAN TOLD COMMONS POLICE LEARNED FROM CHRISTINE THAT WARD HAD ASKED HER TO FIND OUT FROM PROFUMO WHEN THE U.S . WAS TO DELIVER CERTAIN NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND WARHEADS TO WEST GERMANY (SHE SAID THAT SHE REFUSED TO DO IT) . MACMILLAN WAS NOT TOLD OF THIS EITHER . BUT WHILE HE WAS AWAY IN ITALY, THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE HUGE (CIRC . 6,500,000) NEWS OF THE WORLD REPORTED THE PROFUMO RUMORS TO MACMILLAN'S PRINCIPAL PRIVATE SECRETARY . CONFRONTED WITH THE STORY, PROFUMO DENIED EVERYTHING TO SEVERAL OFFICIALS ; THE RELATIONSHIP HAD BEEN INNOCENT, HE SAID, AND ANYWAY HAD ENDED LONG BEFORE . WHY DIDN'T THE PRIME MINISTER QUESTION PROFUMO HIMSELF AT ANY TIME ? MACMILLAN'S LAME ANSWER : HE ASSUMED THAT PROFUMO WOULD SPEAK MORE FREELY TO OTHERS, AND FURTHERMORE SUCH AN INTERROGATION WOULD HAVE MADE " SOCIAL RELATIONS " BETWEEN HIMSELF AND PROFUMO HIGHLY EMBARRASSING . AND WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ATTEMPT TO INTERROGATE CHRISTINE HERSELF TO CHECK OUT PROFUMO'S DENIAL ? TO THIS, MACMILLAN HAD NO ANSWER AT ALL . AFTER CHRISTINE FAILED TO APPEAR AS A WITNESS LAST MARCH IN THE TRIAL OF A JEALOUS NEGRO LOVER WHO HAD TRIED TO SHOOT HER, QUESTIONS WERE FINALLY RAISED IN PARLIAMENT . MACMILLAN ASKED FOR ACTION, ADMITTEDLY HOPING FOR A STATEMENT FROM PROFUMO THAT WOULD QUELL FURTHER RUMORS IN THE PRESS THROUGH FEAR OF LIBEL . WHEN THE HOUSE ADJOURNED AFTER MIDNIGHT, PROFUMO WAS AWAKENED, AND AT 1 : 30 A.M . CAME TO CHIEF TORY WHIP MARTIN REDMAYNE'S COMMONS OFFICE WITH HIS SOLICITOR . HE WAS CONFRONTED BY REDMAYNE, TORY CHAIRMAN IAIN MACLEOD, MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO WILLIAM DEEDES, ATTORNEY GENERAL SIR JOHN HOBSON AND SOLICITOR GENERAL SIR PETER RAWLINSON . TWO OF PROFUMO'S INTERROGATORS HAD BEEN AT HARROW WITH HIM . WHERE LAST WEEK HE WAS EXPELLED FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY, DISMISSED FROM THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, AND SENT TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL . THE LETTER . UNDER FRIENDLY QUESTIONING UNTIL 5 A.M., PROFUMO DENIED MISCONDUCT WITH CHRISTINE . HE AGREED TO MAKE A SACROSANCT " PERSONAL STATEMENT, " ASSURING THE HOUSE THAT HE HAD COMMITTED " NO IMPROPRIETY WHATSOEVER " WITH MISS KEELER . HIS FELLOW MINISTERS SUGGESTED THAT HE ADMIT AT LEAST TO BEING " ON FRIENDLY TERMS WITH HER, " ALTHOUGH IT " SOUNDED SO AWFUL, " AS PROFUMO PUT IT . " WE INSISTED THAT IT MUST BE INCLUDED, " EXPLAINED MACLEOD FATUOUSLY LAST WEEK, " BECAUSE IT WAS PART OF THE TRUTH . " AGAINST HIMSELF AND THE FOUR OTHER MINISTERS, MACLEOD ADDED, " TWO POSSIBLE CHARGES CAN BE BROUGHT . FIRST, THAT WE WERE CONSPIRING KNAVES, AND SECONDLY, THAT WE WERE GULLIBLE FOOLS . " THEY WERE INDEED GULLIBLE BUT OBVIOUSLY THEY WANTED TO BE . EVEN THE MOST CURSORY CHECKING WOULD HAVE DISCLOSED THAT WHILE CHRISTINE MAY HAVE HAD JOIE DE VIVRE, SHE HAD LITTLE DISCRETION . PROFUMO'S INTERROGATORS KNEW BY THEN ABOUT A LETTER HE HAD WRITTEN TO CHRISTINE IN 1961 BEGINNING " DARLING . . . " PROFUMO EXPLAINED, AS MACMILLAN PUT IT, THAT IN HIS CIRCLES " IT WAS A TERM OF NO GREAT SIGNIFICANCE . I BELIEVE THAT THIS MIGHT BE ACCEPTED . I DO NOT LIVE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE FAIRLY WIDELY . " BUT IF IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO MACMILLAN, AT 69 A LITTLE REMOTE FROM REALITY, IT SHOULD NOT HAVE FOOLED THE OTHERS . " WE WERE A BUNCH OF NINNIES, " ADMITS ONE OF THE FIVE PRIVATELY, AND ADDS WITH EXTRAORDINARY LOGIC : " WE RECALLED THAT EARLIER CASE,* IN WHICH " MY DEAR VASSALL' PROVED TO BE HARMLESS, SO WE WERE BOUND TO FEEL THAT " DARLING' MIGHT WELL BE SIMILARLY HARMLESS . " THE EXIT . THE LAST PHASE OF THE CASE BEGAN AFTER PROFUMO PROCLAIMED HIS PURITY TO THE HOUSE, WAS WARMLY PATTED ON THE BACK BY THE PRIME MINISTER, AND WITH HIS WIFE, ACTRESS VALERIE HOBSON, WENT OFF TO THE RACES WITH THE QUEEN MOTHER, AND LATER ATTENDED A TORY BALL AT QUAGLINO'S, A WEST END NIGHTCLUB . BUT THERE WERE EDITORS AND M.P.'S WHO KNEW BY NOW THAT HE HAD LIED, AND PROFUMO SHOWED HIMSELF BOTH ARROGANT AND STUPID IN THINKING THAT HE COULD SUPPRESS THE TRUTH INDEFINITELY BY LIBEL SUITS . (IN FACT, HE SUED PARIS-MATCH FOR LIBEL AND COLLECTED OUT OF COURT FROM ITALY'S TEMPO ILLUSTRATO.) BESIDES, WARD BEGAN TO TALK, AND TO LABOR M.P . GEORGE WIGG HE UNFOLDED A TALE, AS WILSON DESCRIBED IT IN THE COMMONS, THAT " TOOK THE LID OFF A CORNER OF THE LONDON UNDERWORLD VICE AND DOPE, MARIJUANA, BLACKMAIL AND COUNTER-BLACKMAIL, VIOLENCE, PETTY CRIME . " ADDED WILSON GRATUITUOUSLY : " IF WARD'S STATEMENT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED AS A FICTION PAPERBACK IN AMERICA, IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED OVERDRAWN AND BEYOND BELIEF . " * WILSON SENT AN ACCOUNT OF THE WARDWIGG CONVERSATION TO MACMILLAN, WHO TURNED IT OVER TO THE " APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES, " WHO FOUND NOTHING DISTURBING IN IT . PRODDED FURTHER, MACMILLAN WROTE WILSON : " THERE SEEMS TO BE NOTHING IN THE PAPERS YOU SENT WHICH REQUIRES ME TO TAKE ANY ACTION . / WHEN JOHN VASSALL, A HOMOSEXUAL ADMIRALTY CLERK, WAS CONVICTED LAST OCTOBER OF SPYING FOR THE RUSSIANS, MACMILLAN SUMMARILY FIRED THE CLERK'S SUPERIOR, THOMAS GALBRAITH, WHO HAD WRITTEN THE CLERK SOME LETTERS STARTING " MY DEAR VASSALL . " GALBRAITH WAS LATER WHOLLY EXONERATED . THOUGH POSSIBLY NOT IN BRITAIN, WHERE TROPIC OF CANCER HAS BEEN A BESTSELLER FOR MONTHS AND THE UNEXPURGATED LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER HAS SOLD 3,500,000 PAPERBACK COPIES . EVEN AFTER WARD SENT WILSON, THE HOME SECRETARY AND THE ENTIRE BRITISH PRESS A LETTER ANNOUNCING THAT PROFUMO HAD LIED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, THE DISCLOSURE " DID NOT SEEM TO MAKE ANY IMPRESSION " ON THE PRIME MINISTER . WHILE ORDERING THE LORD CHANCELLOR TO INVESTIGATE WARD'S CHARGES, MACMILLAN ASSURED WILSON HE WAS CONFIDENT NONETHELESS THAT THE SECURITY QUESTION HAD BEEN " FULLY AND EFFICIENTLY WATCHED " ALTHOUGH, AS WILSON ACCURATELY POINTED OUT, MI-5 MEN APPARENTLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT CHRISTINE UNTIL THEY READ ABOUT HER IN THE PAPERS . AS THE DISMAL FACTS AND ALIBIS TUMBLED OUT IN THE COMMONS, THE ADULATION AND AFFECTION THE TORIES HAD ONCE BESTOWED ON " MACWONDER " TURNED ALMOST VISIBLY TO A KIND OF STUPEFIED PITY . AT THE END OF HIS DEFENSE, MACMILLAN PLEADED : " I AM ENTITLED TO THE SYMPATHETIC UNDERSTANDING AND CONFIDENCE OF THE HOUSE AND OF THE COUNTRY . " BUT FROM THE TORY BENCHES, AS HE SAT DOWN, CAME A SOUND THAT WAS MORE SIGH THAN CHEER . BY TWOS AND THREES, PERTURBED BACKBENCHERS WENT OUT TO ARGUE IN THE LOBBIES WHILE SEVERAL TORY SPEAKERS CAUSTICALLY CONDEMNED THE PRIME MINISTER . MACMILLAN ROSE AND WITH BOWED HEAD LEFT THE CHAMBER . WHO NEXT ? SOME ANGRY TORIES FELT THAT MACMILLAN SHOULD RESIGN AT ONCE, BUT AT A BACKBENCHERS' MEETING THE VIEW PREVAILED THAT, AS ONE CABINET MINISTER PUT IT, " THE COUNTRY MUST NOT GET THE FEELING THAT HE IS BEING HOUNDED OUT BECAUSE OF CHRISTINE KEELER . OUR PARTY WOULD NEVER RECOVER FROM THAT . " THE PRESENT CONSENSUS IS THAT MACMILLAN WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETIRE RATHER THAN TO RESIGN, SOME TIME THIS SUMMER OR FALL . IN PERSPECTIVE, HE MAY WELL REMAIN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PRIME MINISTERS IN TORY HISTORY, BUT FEW CONSERVATIVES WANT HIM IN COMMAND OF THEIR NEXT ELECTION CAMPAIGN ; EVEN PREPROFUMO, THE PARTY HAD BEEN IN BAD TROUBLE OVER DEFENSE MUDDLES, BRITAIN'S FAILURE TO ENTER THE COMMON MARKET, AND ABOVE ALL MACMILLAN'S STOP-AND-GO FISCAL POLICIES AND A SLUGGISH ECONOMY . ALTHOUGH MACMILLAN HAS SYSTEMATICALLY ELIMINATED RIVALS BY GIVING THEM THANKLESS TASKS OR SACKING THEM, THE TORIES HAVE A NUMBER OF HIGHLY PLAUSIBLE SUCCESSORS . CURRENTLY IN THE LEAD (DAILY EXPRESS ODDS : 4-7) IS CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER REGINALD MAUDLING, WHO IS YOUTHFUL (46) AND READY TO TAKE CREDIT FOR A PREDICTED ECONOMIC SPURT THIS SUMMER . HE IS ALSO HAPPILY MARRIED, A PARTICULARLY USEFUL QUALIFICATION RIGHT NOW . NEXT ARE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER " RAB " BUTLER (2-1), WHO HAS ALL THE NECESSARY EXPERIENCE, BUT AT 60 MAY HAVE BEEN AROUND TOO LONG ; AND LORD HAILSHAM, BELLICOSE, BLIMPISH SCIENCE MINISTER, 55, WHOSE HOPES FADED RAPIDLY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT SAID THAT ITS LORDS REFORM BILL, WHICH WOULD PERMIT HIM TO SIT IN THE COMMONS, WOULD NOT BE INTRODUCED THIS SUMMER . TED HEATH, 46, IS GENERALLY RULED OUT BECAUSE HE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMMON MARKET FAILURE, AND BESIDES, HE IS A BACHELOR . WHAT NEXT ? ANY ONE OF THESE TORIES COULD GIVE LABOR A GOOD FIGHT IN THE NEXT ELECTION, WHICH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HELD TILL THE FALL OF 1964 . BUT LABORITES FEEL THEMSELVES CLOSER TO POWER THAN THEY HAVE AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST DOZEN YEARS . AT WEEK'S END HAROLD WILSON RETURNED TO THE ATTACK IN THE COMMONS, DEMANDING AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PROFUMO CASE BY A PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE WITH SWEEPOING POWERS . THE MORE LIMITED JUDICIAL INQUIRY PROPOSED BY MACMILLAN, CRIED WILSON, WAS MERELY " A COVER-UP, " BECAUSE, WITHOUT AUTHORITY TO COMPEL PROOF OF THE ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES, IT WOULD HAVE TO COLLECT EVIDENCE " FROM SOME OF THE MOST UNMITIGATED LIARS IN THIS COUNTRY WERE THERE ANY MORE REVELATIONS TO COME WILSON WANTED TO KNOW . NOTHING HE KNEW OF RIGHT NOW, SAID MACMILLAN, BUT HE ADDED : " I HAVE HEARD TERRIBLE THINGS SAID OF ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE OF ALL, CHRISTINE HERSELF, VOLUNTEERED : " APART FROM THOSE I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED IN MY STORY, I DO NOT KNOW AND HAVE NOT MET ANY MINISTERS . " MACMILLAN RECOVERED HIS COMPOSURE . " THEY HAVE DEEPLY WOUNDED ME, " HE TOLD A TORY RALLY, ADDING : " IT WILL NOT BREAK MY SPIRIT . " BUT THE HOUSE STILL REMEMBERED THE WORDS OF TORY REBEL NIGEL BIRCH, WHO DURING THE BIG DEBATE HAD QUOTED BROWNING'S THE LOST LEADER AT HAROLD MACMILLAN : LET HIM NEVER COME BACK TO US ! THERE WOULD BE DOUBT, HESITATION AND PAIN . FORCED PRAISE ON OUR PART THE GLIMMER OF TWILIGHT, NEVER GLAD CONFIDENT MORNING AGAIN !
 WHAT A LABOR GOVERNMENT WOULD BE LIKE IT MAY STILL BE A LONG WAY BACK TO POWER, BUT EVERY BY-ELECTION AND OPINION POLL IN BRITAIN TODAY INDICATES THAT A GROWING MAJORITY OF VOTERS WANT A LABOR GOVERNMENT . IN A FAR MORE PROSPEROUS SOCIETY THAN THE WARWEARY NATION THAT ELECTED THE LAST LABOR REGIME IN 1945, THE QUESTION IS WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE UNDER NEW SOCIALIST LEADERS . CURIOSITY IS MOST INTENSE AMONG VOTERS UNDER 30, WHO HAVE BEEN SPARED MEMORIES OF THE SNOEK (CANNED MOCK SALMON), " RECONSTITUTED " EGGS AND WHALE STEAK OF PREVIOUS LABORITE AUSTERITY . SENSING THAT THIS NEW YOU-NEVER-HAD-IT-SO-GOOD GENERATION IS BOTH WEARY OF TORY RULE AND LEARY OF SOCIALIST DOGMA, THE LABOR PROGRAM TODAY EMPHASIZES " PRAGMATISM " AND " RESPONSIBILITY " RATHER THAN HEADLONG PLUNGES INTO DOCTRINAIRE EXPERIMENTS . THE PARTY'S CATCHWORDS, A HEADY BLEND OF GLADSTONIAN RHETORIC AND NEW FRONTIER PEP TALK, CALL FOR " A SENSE OF PURPOSE " TO " GET BRITAIN MOVING . " HOW MUCH OF ITS AMBITIOUS PROGRAM WILL ACTUALLY BE ENACTED DEPENDS ON THE KIND OF MAJORITY IT CAN WIN AT THE POLLS . BUT THERE ARE SOME FAIR INDICATIONS OF WHAT LABOR AIMS TO DO . NATIONALIZATION STATE OWNERSHIP OF INDUSTRY WHICH WINSTON CHURCHILL CALLED THAT " BURGLAR'S JEMMY TO CRACK THE CAPITALIST CRIB " IS THE GOAL MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH A SOCIALIST ADMINISTRATION . TORY SCAREMONGERS EVEN CLAIM THAT LABOR ALREADY HAS A " SHOPPING LIST " OF 104 COMPANIES IT PLANS TO NATIONALIZE . HOWEVER, AFTER BITTER ARGUMENT THE LABOR PARTY HAS ABANDONED ITS LONGTIME COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF THE ECONOMY'S " COMMANDING HEIGHTS . " IT PLANS NOW ONLY TO RENATIONALIZE STEEL, WHICH WAS PARTIALLY RESTORED TO PRIVATE ENTERPRISE BY THE TORIES, AND BRITAIN'S TRUCKING INDUSTRY . THE ECONOMY A LABOR GOVERNMENT WOULD DEMAND BROAD POWERS TO REGULATE THE ECONOMY . IT WOULD GIVE MANUFACTURERS TAX INCENTIVES AND GUARANTEED ORDERS FOR EXPORTS, BUT WOULD ITSELF BUILD AND RUN PACESETTING PLANTS IN ANY INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS MACHINE TOOLS, THAT IT JUDGES INADEQUATE OR INEFFICIENT . SOCIALIST PRINCIPLE DEMANDS A TAX ON CAPITAL GAINS, WHICH HAVE BEEN LARGELY IMMUNE SO FAR, AND POSSIBLY EVEN A LEVY ON CAPITAL . IN HAROLD WILSON'S WORDS, BRITAIN HAS A " LAISSEZ-FAIRE, SOFT-CENTER, SPECULATIVE, HIREPURCHASE, ADVERTISER-CONTROLLED, STOP-GO ECONOMY . " TO CHANGE THIS, LABOR WOULD HAVE TO TRANSFORM COMPLETELY THE NATION'S BUSINESS LIFE . HENCE THE ECONOMIST SEES LABOR'S ECONOMIC AIMS AS " AT ONCE CONSOLING AND FRIGHTENING . " TO EASE THE NATION'S CRITICAL DEARTH OF LIVING SPACE AND CLEAR ITS SQUALID LEGACY OF SLUMS, LABOR PROMISES TO COMMIT MORE PUBLIC FUNDS TO NEW HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT, RESTORE RENT CONTROLS, AND REGULATE NEW CONSTRUCTION . LABOR ALSO AIMS TO BREAK THE AGE-OLD POWER OF WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, WHO SELDOM SELL PROPERTY OUTRIGHT BUT GIVE DEVELOPERS LONG-TERM LEASES ON WHICH THE LANDLORDS CONTINUE TO COLLECT " GROUND RENT . " NEW LEGISLATION WOULD GIVE ALL LEASEHOLDERS THE RIGHT TO BUY ACTUAL " FREEHOLD " OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LAND . EUROPE IN THEORY, THE PROFESSEDLY " INTERNATIONALIST " LABOR PARTY OUGHT TO BE FOR BRITAIN'S ENTRY INTO THE COMMON MARKET, PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BACKED IT HAD LABOR BEEN IN POWER WHEN THE ISSUE AROSE . BUT A LARGE SEGMENT OF LABOR DISTRUSTS CATHOLIC EUROPE AND SUSPECTS THAT THE COMMON MARKET IS A CONSPIRACY TO STRENGTHEN CAPITALISM . BESIDES, MANY ULTRACONSERVATIVE BRITISH TRADE UNIONISTS FEAR FOREIGN COMPETITION . A LABOR ADMINISTRATION MIGHT BE WILLING TO REOPEN NEGOTIATIONS FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP, BUT ITS TOUGHER TERMS WOULD MAKE BRITAIN'S ADMISSION MORE DIFFICULT EVEN IF DE GAULLE'S OPPOSITION WERE TO DIMINISH . THE U.S . & DEFENSE LABOR WOULD " STAND FIRMLY " BY NATO, AND WOULD HAPPILY LEAVE THE U.S . IN CHARGE OF THE WEST'S NUCLEAR DEFENSE AND ABANDON BRITAIN'S INDEPENDENT DETERRENT . ADMITTEDLY, BRITAIN WOULD BECOME A SECOND-CLASS MILITARY POWER, BUT WILSON MAINTAINS THAT IT CAN REMAIN " VERY IMPORTANT " IF IT DEVELOPS ITS CONVENTIONAL FORCES . HE CONSIDERS BRITAIN'S PRESENT DEFENSES " MORE INEFFECTIVE AND INAPPROPRIATE THAN AT ANY TIME SINCE ETHELRED THE UNREADY " WHO FAILED TO DETER THE DANES IN 1013 AND PROMISES TO REEQUIP AND REARM BRITAIN'S ARMY OF THE RHINE . WHILE THE PENTAGON, DREADING NUCLEAR " PROLIFERATION, " IS CHEERED BY LABOR'S WILLINGNESS TO RENOUNCE BRITAIN'S DETERRENT, THIS MIGHT STRENGTHEN LABOR'S VOCAL NEUTRALISTUNILATERALIST WING . EAST & WEST WILSON PROPOSES REGULAR ANNUAL SUMMIT MEETINGS OF U.S., BRITISH AND SOVIET HEADS OF STATE AT THE U.N., SAYS THAT THE PROPOSAL WAS WARMLY RECEIVED WHEN HE VISITED MOSCOW THIS MONTH . LABOR IS IRREVOCABLY OPPOSED TO GIVING WEST GERMANY NUCLEAR WEAPONS (SO IS THE U.S.) ; IT IS EQUALLY OPPOSED TO ANY ARRANGEMENT, SUCH AS THE U.S . PROPOSAL FOR A MULTILATERAL POLARIS FORCE, THAT MIGHT ULTIMATELY GIVE GERMANS A FINGER ON THE NUCLEAR TRIGGER . THOUGH ANGLOPHILE LUDWIG ERHARD IS TAKING OVER FROM ANGLOPHOBE KONRAD ADENAUER, LABOR'S OUTSPOKEN FEAR OF GERMANY IS AS VEHEMENT AS EVER . LABOR FAVORS NUCLEAR-FREE ZONES AND THINNING OUT OF FORCES TO REDUCE TENSION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA, THE MIDDLE EAST . IN EUROPE, HOWEVER, WILSON INSISTS THAT " DISENGAGEMENT SHOULD NOT BE USED BY EITHER SIDE TO UPSET THE BALANCE OF FORCES . " ON THE BERLIN QUESTION, LABOR AGREES WITH THE U.S . THAT THE WESTERN GARRISON AND FREE ACCESS TO THE CITY ARE ESSENTIAL . EDUCATION & SCIENCE LABOR SHREWDLY SENSES THAT THE COUNTRY PRESSING NEED IS FOR A GREATLY EXPANDED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, BOTH TO ACHIEVE ITS IDEAL OF A CLASSLESS SOCIETY AND TO INCREASE THE FLOW OF TECHNICIANS, SCIENTISTS AND MANAGERS WHO ARE VITAL TO ECONOMIC GROWTH ON THE SCALE ENVISAGED BY LABOR . THE PARTY PROPOSES TO ABOLISH UNIVERSITY FEES, START 45 NEW UNIVERSITIES IN 20 YEARS, AND GREATLY EXPAND EXISTING FACILITIES FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH . " POLITICS, " SAY LABORITES, " IS EDUCATION . /
 GODDESS OF THE GRAVEL PITS THERE WAS ANOTHER SWIMMING POOL IN CHRISTINE KEELER'S LIFE BEFORE THE ONE AT CLIVEDEN . AS A YOUNG GIRL, SHE WOULD OFTEN SWIM IN THE MUDDY GRAVEL PITS NEAR THE DINGY, THAMES-SIDE TOWN OF WRAYSBURY . ENVIOUS OF HER LOOKS, HER GIRL FRIENDS CALLED HER THE " GODDESS OF THE GRAVEL PITS . " / I REMEMBER CHRISTINE STEPPING FROM THE WATER, " SAYS ONE CHILDHOOD CHUM . " HER HOMEMADE BIKINI OF YELLOW JERSEY WOOL CLUNG TO HER . " FROM MAKESHIFT BIKINIS TO PARIS ORIGINALS, THE LIFE OF CHRISTINE KEELER WAS DISCUSSED IN INTIMATE DETAIL LAST WEEK, NOT ONLY IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS BUT ALSO IN EVERY BRITISH NEWSPAPER . FOR ALL THE SENTIMENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CLICHES ABOUT A PRETTY CHILD FROM A BROKEN HOME, WHAT EMERGED WAS A CIRCEAN ODYSSEY OF A GIRL WHO ALWAYS KNEW WHAT SHE AND WHAT MEN WANTED . BRIGHT LIGHTS . HER PARENTS SPLIT UP WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD . WITH HER MOTHER, CHRISTINE MOVED INTO A CONVERTED BUS COACH NEAR THE THAMES THAT WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A SHANTY ON WHEELS . EVEN THEN, CHRISTINE'S EYE WAS ON THE MAIN CHANCE . OFTEN SHE WOULD CLIMB UP ON THE KNEE OF A NEIGHBOR AND BEG TO BE TOLD ABOUT THE BRIGHT LIGHTS IN THE BIG CITIES . " SHE WAS FOREVER ASKING ME TO TELL HER STORIES ABOUT LIFE IN LONDON, " RECALLS THE NEIGHBOR . / I SPENT HOURS TELLING HER ABOUT HER DREAMLAND . " CHRISTINE EVENTUALLY TOOK A JOB IN A LONDON DRESS HOUSE . AT A SMALL SOHO CAFE CALLED THE ZODIAC, SHE MET A SPANISH WAITER NAMED CARLO, BEGAN SPENDING WEEKENDS WITH HIM AT HIS SEEDY SOHO BOARDINGHOUSE . THEN A GIRL FRIEND INTRODUCED HER TO A U.S . AIR FORCE SERGEANT . " NIGHT AFTER NIGHT WE WHOOPED IT UP WITH THE YANKS, " RECALLS THE FRIEND . " THEY WERE TWELVE VERY GAY MONTHS . " BUT CHRISTINE GOT PREGNANT, GAVE BIRTH PREMATURELY TO A SON SHE CALLED PETER . THE INFANT DIED SIX DAYS LATER . CHRISTINE WAS JUST 17 . OUT OF WORK AND SHORT OF CASH, CHRISTINE BECAME THE MISTRESS OF A RICH ROLLSROYCE-DRIVING REAL ESTATE MAN, WHO SET HER UP IN A LUXURIOUS FLAT OFF BAKER STREET . BUT THE AFFAIR PROVED UNSATISFACTORY, AND SHE WENT TO WORK AS A WAITRESS, THEN AS A SHOWGIRL IN MURRAY'S CABARET CLUB . " AND THEN, " CHRISTINE SAID, / I BEGAN MEETING MY FIRST INTERESTING MALE COMPANIONS . / NO MAN'S COLLAR . ONE WAS STEPHEN WARD, AND A FEW MONTHS AFTER THEY MET IN 1959, CHRISTINE MOVED INTO HIS FLAT IN WIMPOLE MEWS . " IT WAS A SORT OF BROTHER-AND-SISTER RELATIONSHIP, " SAID CHRISTINE, " NOTHING ELSE . " A FEATURE OF WARD'S APARTMENT WAS A ONE-WAY MIRROR PERMITTING OBSERVATION OF THE BEDROOM FROM THE LIVING ROOM ; THIS ELABORATE PEEPHOLE WAS COVERED BY A PICTURE OF BUDDHA WHEN NOT IN USE . " THAT WAS INSTALLED BY AN OLD ECCENTRIC WHO USED TO OWN THIS PLACE, " WARD SAID . " I'M GOING TO HAVE IT FILLED IN . " AN ELABORATE PRACTICAL JOKER, WARD OFTEN PUT A DOG COLLAR AROUND CHRISTINE'S NECK AND LED HER AROUND LONDON ON A LEASH . SOMETIMES CHRISTINE RECEIVED GUESTS WEARING NOTHING BUT SKINTIGHT BLUE JEANS, ONCE GAVE A PARTY AT WHICH ALL THE GUESTS SAT DRINKING CHAMPAGNE IN HER BATHROOM . ONE OF HER THIRSTIEST FRIENDS WAS EVGENY IVANOV . THOUGH HE WAS A BIT OF A PRIG, IVANOV WAS A DEVOTED READER OF THE STEAMY JAMES BOND NOVELS, FOUND THEM AMUSING BUT RIDICULOUS . " HE PROFESSED TO DISLIKE LOOSE WOMEN, DID NOT LIKE CHRISTINE EVEN TO USE COSMETICS . BUT ONE HOT JULY NIGHT, RECALLS CHRISTINE, IVANOV FINALLY " CAME TO FORSAKE ALL HIS PRINCIPLES AND HIS PRIDE . SUDDENLY HE WAS KISSING ME, ROLLING HIS DARK CURLS INTO MY NECK . . . " AFTERWARD, IVANOV WAS " SAD, VERY SAD . " CHARMING BUT WARY . THAT VERY SAME WEEKEND CHRISTINE HAD MET JACK PROFUMO FOR THE FIRST TIMES AT CLIVEDEN, AND CHRISTINE, WHO WAS VISITING WARD AT HIS COTTAGE ON THE GROUNDS, WAS STEALING A NUDE MOONLIGHT SWIM IN ASTOR'S POOL . SUDDENY BILL ASTOR APPEARED WITH SOME GUESTS, INCLUDING PROFUMO . FRANTICALLY CLUTCHING A TOWEL AROUND HER DRIPPING SELF, CHRISTINE WAS INTRODUCED TO BOTH JACK AND HIS WIFE, VALERIE HOBSON . " SHE WAS VERY CHARMING, " SAID CHRISTINE, " BUT SEEMED WARY OF ME . " NEXT DAY, CHRISTINE BROUGHT IVANOV OUT TO CLIVEDEN, AND THE RUSSIAN AND PROFUMO HELD A SWIMMING RACE, WHICH JACK ONLY WON BY CHEATING . " THAT WILL TEACH YOU TO TRUST THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, " PROFUMO TOLD IVANOV . LATER THAT SAME DAY, HE ASKED CHRISTINE FOR HER TELEPHONE NUMBER ; SHE TOLD HIM TO GET IT FROM WARD . JACK AND CHRISTINE MET SEVERAL TIMES IN WARD'S FLAT . " MENTALLY, WE BECAME VERY CLOSE, " SAID CHRISTINE . IT HAPPENED, JUST LIKE IT HAPPENED WITH IVANOV . AT LEAST THAT IS HOW CHRISTINE TOLD IT IN THE NEWS OF THE WORLD : " THERE WAS ONE OF THOSE ELECTRIC, POTENT SILENCES, AND HE WAS KISSING ME AND I WAS RETURNING HIS KISSES WITH EVERYTHING I SUDDENLY FELT FOR HIM . " ONCE, WHEN VALERIE WAS IN IRELAND ON HOLIDAY, PROFUMO TOOK CHRISTINE TO HIS HOUSE IN REGENT'S PARK . " WE CREPT AROUND THE LOVELY ROOMS AND THEN WE GOT TO THEIR BEDROOM . " MARVELLOUS PLACE . CHRISTINE ALSO CAVORTED WITH MEMBERS OF LONDON'S VAST WEST INDIAN CONTINGENT, HAD AFFAIRS WITH JAMAICAN JOHNNIE EDGECOMBE AND SINGER LUCKY GORDON . " WHEN I FIRST MET HER, " SAID GORDON, " SHE WAS ASKING THE WAITRESS IN A CAFE WHERE SHE COULD GET SOME INDIAN HEMP (MARIJUANA) . KNOWING THIS, I WANTED TO KNOW HER . " THERE WERE A NUMBER OF OTHERS . SCOTLAND YARD IS SAID TO HAVE CHRISTINE'S NOTEBOOK, AND THE NOTEBOOK IS SAID TO BE FULL OF NAMES . THROUGHOUT, CHRISTINE NEVER FORGOT THE GRAVEL PITS OR MUM . WHEN SHE TOOK TEMPORARY REFUGE IN SPAIN LAST MARCH, CHRISTINE SENT A POSTCARD HOME . / MARVELLOUS PLACE, / SHE WROTE . " LOTS OF NICELOOKING MEN . DON'T WORRY, HAVING A BALL SINCE THEN, THE BALL HAS CONTINUED, MORE OR LESS, AND SO HAS FAME . AT THE CASSIUS CLAY FIGHT AT WEMBLEY STADIUM LAST WEEK, THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLURRY AS A GLAMOROUS WOMAN SWEPT TO HER RINGSIDE SEAT . " IS THAT CHRISTINE KEELER ? " ASKED A SPECTATOR . " NO, " SAID HIS NEIGHBOR, " ONLY ELIZABETH TAYLOR . /
 RUSSIA WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT TO HEAR THE RUSSIANS TELL IT, ALL THE WORLD'S WOMEN WERE IN CHAINS BEFORE VALENTINA VLADIMIROVNA TERESHKOVA . AS THE FIRST WOMAN COSMONAUT LOOPED THE EARTH, TASS EXULTED : " A BRILLIANT STAR HAS FLARED UP IN THE COSMIC FIRMAMENT . IT OUTSHINES ALL THE FILM STARS IN THE WORLD . NEVER AND IN NO COUNTRY DID WOMEN EVER ATTAIN SUCH HEIGHT . " IN EVERY RUSSIAN VILLAGE, WOMEN CELEBRATED, AND CONGRATULATIONS WERE FIRED ALOFT FROM SUCH SOVIET HEROINES AS LYUBI LI, DESCRIBED IN THE PRESS AS " THE RENOWNED CORN PLANTER AND HERO OF SOCIALIST LABOR . " IN HER SPACE CAPSULE, VOSTOK VI, " VALYA " WAS STILL THE COMPLEAT SOVIET WOMAN . HER SPACE SUIT WAS EMBROIDERED WITH A SNOW-WHITE DOVE, AND SHE HAD HAD HER HAIR DONE BEFORE BLASTOFF . ONCE A TOMBOY, SHE NOW HAS AN ADMITTED WEAKNESS FOR SPIKED HEELS, STYLISH CLOTHES, AND A PERFUME CALLED RED MOSCOW . FROM SPACE SHE RADIOED GROUND CONTROL : " PLEASE TELL MAMMA NOT TO WORRY . " ONCE, WHEN GROUND SCIENTISTS LOST CONTACT WITH " SEAGULL " (VALYA'S ORBITAL CALL NAME), THEY HASTILY ORDERED HER COSMIC COMPANION IN VOSTOK V, LIEUT . COLONEL VALERY FEODOROVICH BYKOVSKY, TO TRY AND ROUSE HER . " SORRY, I WAS HAVING A SNOOZE, " APOLOGIZED VALYA . MISSED RENDEZVOUS . OVER THEIR RADIOS, VALYA AND VALERY SANG SONGS OF FRIENDSHIP TO EACH OTHER, FLASHED " BEST WISHES TO THE INDUSTRIOUS AMERICAN PEOPLE " AND " WARM GREETINGS TO THE MULTIMILLIONED CHINESE . " LOOSENING THEIR HARNESSES, BOTH COSMONAUTS PERFORMED CALISTHENICS WHILE FLOATING WEIGHTLESSLY IN THEIR CABINS . BUT THOUGH THE TWO VOSTOKS PASSED WITHIN THREE MILES OF EACH OTHER, THEIR ORBITAL PATHS WERE SO DIVERGENT THAT THEY COULD NOT RENDEZVOUS . SINCE U.S . SCIENTISTS HAD FULLY EXPECTED THE TWO CAPSULES TO LINK UP IN SPACE, THEY SPECULATED THAT SOVIET SCIENTISTS HAD MADE A LAUNCHING MISCALCULATION . THREE DAYS AND 48 ORBITS AFTER TAKEOFF, VALYA RE-ENTERED THE ATMOSPHERE, WAS EJECTED FROM HER CAPSULE AND FLOATED TO EARTH BY PARACHUTE NEAR A SMALL VILLAGE IN KAZAKHSTAN ; SLOWED BY ANOTHER PARACHUTE, THE EMPTY VOSTOK VI LANDED NEAR BY . TWO HOURS AND 46 MINUTES LATER AND SOME 500 MILES AWAY, BYKOVSKY LANDED SIMILARLY IN THE MEADOW OF A COLLECTIVE FARM AFTER A RECORD 81 ORBITS AND 119 HOURS ALOFT . BUT BYKOVSKY WAS ALL BUT FORGOTTEN IN THE FUROR OVER VALYA . TELEVISION COMMENTATORS DESCRIBED HER " CORNFLOWER BLUE EYES, " AND PEASANTS SHOWERED HER WITH BOUQUETS . OVERCOME BY HER WELCOME, VALYA BROKE INTO TEARS ; IT WAS THE FIRST TIME, MOSCOW ASSURED THE WORLD, THAT ANYONE HAD SEEN HER CRY SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD . IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, SHE ADMITTED THAT SHE HAD BRUISED HER NOSE IN LANDING, SAID THAT THE " PEOPLE RECEIVED ME VERY CORDIALLY IN THE RUSSIAN MANNER WITH BREAD AND SALT . " FORESIGHTEDLY, SHE HAD BROUGHT ALONG PHOTOGRAPHS OF HERSELF AND PASSED THEM OUT TO WORKERS WHO GREETED HER, GIVING MOST OF THE PICTURES TO WOMEN . " I PREFER WOMEN TODAY, " SHE SAID . " THE MEN SHOULDN'T COMPLAIN . " WHEN SHE FLEW INTO MOSCOW FOR HER OFFICIAL RECEPTION THREE DAYS LATER, VALYA WAS GREETED BY MORE FLOWERS THAN ANYONE HAD EVER REMEMBERED SEEING BEFORE IN THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL, A BEAR HUG AND KISS FROM KHRUSHCHEV, AND HER BEST BEAU, BACHELOR COSMONAUT ANDRIAN NIKOLAYEV . PAPER DOLLS . THOUGH RUSSIA'S SECOND DOUBLE SHOT ADDED LITTLE NEW TO SPACE TECHNOLOGY, THE FACT THAT VALYA WAS NOT A PILOT AND ADMITTEDLY WAS MECHANICALLY UNSOPHISTICATED RAISED THE QUESTION OF WHY U.S . ASTRONAUTS ALL MUST BE SKILLED TEST PILOTS . THE ANSWER FROM NASA OFFICIALS : USE OF TEST PILOTS PERMITS THE ELIMINATION OF SPACE-CONSUMING AUTOMATIC EQUIPMENT IN THE CRAMPED CAPSULES . BUT SOME AUTHORITIES ARE CONVINCED THAT YOUNG SCIENTISTS WOULD BE FAR MORE EFFECTIVE IN OBSERVING AND ANALYZING UNEXPECTED SPACE FLIGHT PHENOMENA.* SAYS CLINTON ANDERSON, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE SPACE COMMITTEE : " THE RUSSIANS HAVE PROVED TO US THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE 20 YEARS OF TEST-PILOT EXPERIENCE BEFORE YOU CAN HANDLE ONE OF THESE CAPSULES FERVENT AGREEMENT WAS VOICED BY U.S . FEMINISTS . SAID JANE HART, WIFE OF MICHIGAN SENATOR PHILIP HART AND LEADER IN THE FIGHT TO GET WOMEN ASTRONAUTS ACCEPTED BY SOLIDLY MISOGYNISTIC NASA : " I'M TEMPTED TO GO OUT TO THE BARN AND TELL THE STORY TO MY HORSE AND LISTEN TO HIM LAUGH . " ADDED CLARE BOOTHE LUCE : " WE MUST STOP TRYING TO MAKE PAPER DOLLS OF OUR WOMEN . " ANTHROPOLOGIST MARGARET MEAD WARNED : " THE RUSSIANS TREAT MEN AND WOMEN INTERCHANGEABLY . WE TREAT MEN AND WOMEN DIFFERENTLY . " AND VIVE LA DIFFERENCE, SAID AT LEAST ONE RUSSIAN MALE LAST WEEK . " MY AGE AND CONSERVATIVE MENTAL MAKEUP COMPELLED ME TO THINK UP TO THE LAST FEW DAYS THAT WE MEN WERE THE RULERS OF MAN'S MIND AND THE SALT OF THE EARTH, " SAID NOVELIST MIKHAIL (AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON) SHOLOKHOV . " AND WHAT DO WE SEE NOW ? A WOMAN IN SPACE ! SAY WHAT YOU WILL, THIS IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE . IT CONTRADICTS ALL MY SET CONCEPTIONS OF THE WORLD AND ITS POSSIBILITIES . MANY SCIENTISTS DOUBT ASTRONAUT GORDON COOPER'S REPORT OF SEEING TRUCKS ON THE ROAD AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF CHIMNEYS IN TIBET . ACCORDING TO DR . W . R . ADEY OF U.C.L.A., THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO SEEING OBJECTS 1 IN . IN DIAMETER 4,000 FT . AWAY . HE THINKS COOPER HAD DISORDERS OF VISION OR JUDGMENT .
 COMMUNISTS NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HAD MORE REASONS LAST WEEK TO WONDER WHY HE EVER INVITED A RED CHINESE DELEGATION TO MOSCOW . TWENTY-FIVE REASONS, TO BE EXACT, ALL NEATLY NUMBERED IN A LETTER FOR CONVENIENT " POINT-BY-POINT DISCUSSION " AT THE SCHEDULED SINO-SOVIET MEETING NEXT WEEK . MAO TSE-TUNG'S LATEST MESSAGE TO NIKITA THE MOST VEHEMENT TO DATE IN THE CONTINUING QUARREL DOOMED THE CONFRONTATION TO FAILURE BEFORE IT BEGAN . PEKING DELIBERATELY LEFT THE KREMLIN NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE . AFTER YEARS OF DISCUSSION OVER WHETHER THE SPLIT WAS REAL, WESTERN SKEPTICS COULD NO LONGER DOUBT THAT IT WAS DEEP, JAGGED, AND UNBRIDGEABLE FOR A LONG TIME TO COME . PARROT & STICK . IN 24,000 BRAZENLY CONTEMPTUOUS WORDS, MAO ACCUSED KHRUSHCHEV OF SPAWNING A NEW PERSONALITY CULT WORSE THAN STALIN'S, ASSAILED THE KREMLIN FOR " GREAT POWER CHAUVINISM AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE " AGAINST OTHER RED NATIONS, CHARGED THE SOVIETS WITH TRYING TO PURGE FOREIGN COMMUNIST PARTIES . EXCLAIMED RED CHINA : " WHAT IS ALL THIS IF NOT SUBVERSION ? " AT THE SAME TIME, PEKING WAS NOT ABOVE ATTEMPTING SOME SUBVERSION OF ITS OWN . APPEALING TO MOSCOW'S EAST EUROPEAN SATELLITES, THE STATEMENT DECLARED : " IF A PARTY CANNOT USE ITS BRAINS TO THINK FOR ITSELF, BUT INSTEAD IS A PARTY THAT PARROTS THE WORDS OF OTHERS, RUNS HITHER AND THITHER IN RESPONSE TO THE BATON OF CERTAIN PERSONS ABROAD, SUCH A PARTY IS INCAPABLE OF LEADING THE MASSES . " THE CRUX OF THE CHINESE DISPUTE WITH RUSSIA REMAINED MOSCOW'S PROPAGANDA LINE OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WITH THE WEST . THIS POLICY, SAID PEKING SCORNFULLY, WAS PLUCKED OUT OF " SOME MYSTICAL BOOK FROM HEAVEN " ; MOREOVER, THOSE WHO DARE TO DISAGREE ARE TREATED " AS HERETICS DESERVING TO BE BURNED AT THE STAKE . HOW CAN THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS AGREE ? THEY CANNOT . IT IS IMPOSSIBLE . " AS ALWAYS, PEKING STUCK TO THE DOGMA THAT THE ROAD TO VIOLENT REVOLUTION IN AFRICA, ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA WAS THE ONLY PATH A TRUE MARXIST COULD FOLLOW . AS FOR SOVIET CHARGES OF WARMONGERING, THE RED CHINESE REPLIED WITH AN ARGUMENT THAT, IRONICALLY, ECHOED SOME PENTAGON STRATEGISTS . BRUSH-FIRE WARS, DECLARED PEKING, NEED NOT NECESSARILY ESCALATE INTO AN ALL-OUT NUCLEAR STRUGGLE . TRUTH WAS, DECLARED THE MANIFESTO, THE RUSSIANS WERE TOO SELFISH AND SCARED TO RISK THEIR BOURGEOIS GAINS IN FAR-OFF BATTLES . " TO PUT IT BLUNTLY, " SAID RED CHINA, " WHOEVER CONSIDERS THAT A REVOLUTION CAN BE MADE ONLY IF EVERYTHING IS PLAIN SAILING, ONLY IF THERE IS AN ADVANCE GUARANTEE AGAINST FAILURE, IS CERTAINLY NOT A REVOLUTIONARY . " KEEP TALKING . PEKING'S PUNCH WAS NEATLY TIMED TO CATCH THE KREMLIN OFF BALANCE . IT LANDED ON THE EVE OF A SPECIAL CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING CALLED TO DISCUSS RUSSIA'S INTERNAL IDEOLOGICAL TROUBLES . FOR FOUR DAYS THE RUSSIANS WERE STUNNED AND SPEECHLESS . FINALLY THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE ANGRILY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD NOT EVEN BOTHER TO PUBLISH RED CHINA'S " DISTORTED, UNWARRANTED ATTACK . " CHINESE COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERS TRIUMPHANTLY HEADLINED RUSSIA'S REFUSAL TO PRINT THE CHINESE DOCUMENT . EVEN RUSSIA'S VAUNTED SPACE FEATS WERE NOTHING THAT NIKITA COULD TAKE CREDIT FOR . " DURING THE STALIN ERA HE WAS A THIRDOR EVEN FOURTH-RATE MAN, " THE NEWSPAPER REPORTED . " HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH NUCLEAR AND SPACE DEVELOPMENTS . / IN RUSSIA'S OWN BAILIWICK, THE CHINESE REDS ALSO STAYED ON THE OFFENSIVE . COMMUNIST RUMANIA, WHICH HAS BEEN FEUDING WITH THE KREMLIN OVER MOSCOW'S INTERFERENCE IN ITS ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, GLEEFULLY PUBLISHED A LENGTHY SUMMARY OF THE RED CHINESE INDICTMENT . PEKING'S EMBASSY IN MOSCOW BOLDLY DISTRIBUTED RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE COPIES OF ITS MANIFESTO . CALLERS WERE GREETED BY AN ATTACHE, AND AFTER A POLITE CHAT OVER TEA, GOT AS MANY TRANSLATIONS OF THE 63-PAGE DOCUMENT AS THEY WANTED .
 THE UKRAINIAN CANDIDATES THE KHRUSHCHEV SUCCESSION SWEEPSTAKES BEGAN ALL OVER AGAIN LAST WEEK WHEN THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE NAMED TWO NEW SECRETARIES . OUT IN FRONT IS SOVIET PRESIDENT LEONID BREZHNEV, 56, A SHREWD, SWARTHY METALLURGICAL ENGINEER WHOM KHRUSHCHEV PLUCKED FROM AN OBSCURE JOB IN THE UKRAINE LITTLE MORE THAN A DECADE AGO . BREZHNEV WILL NOW PROBABLY GIVE UP THE MERELY CEREMONIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SOVIET PRESIDENCY, TAKE OVER AS TASKMASTER OF HEAVY INDUSTRY AND ARMAMENTS . THE SECOND NEW SECRETARY IS UKRAINIAN PARTY BOSS NIKOLAI PODGORNY, 60, WHO IS EXPECTED TO TAKE OVER THE SUPERVISION OF PARTY CADRES . BOTH MEN WERE ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE'S INNER SANCTUM, THE PRESIDIUM . NOW, AS SECRETARIES OF THE COMMITTEE AS WELL, THEY MOVE INTO THE MOST ELITE ECHELON OF THE SOVIET HIERARCHY . ONLY FOUR OTHER RED LEADERS HOLD SUCH A DOUBLE POSITION, AND NONE IS KHRUSHCHEV'S LIKELY SUCCESSOR . THE FOUR : FROL KOZLOV, 54, WHO SUFFERED A SEVERE STROKE IN APRIL ; ELDERLY OTTO KUUSINEN, 81 ; SENIOR THEORETICIAN MIKHAIL SUSLOV, 60, COMPROMISED BY A STALINIST PAST; AND KHRUSHCHEV HIMSELF .
 ITALY EPITAPH FOR THE APERTURA ITALY LAST WEEK HAD A PREMIER, BUT NO LEADER, A CABINET, BUT NO EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT, AND A PARLIAMENT THAT MAY WELL BE DISSOLVED WITHOUT PASSING A SINGLE SIGNIFICANT LAW . THE NATION FACED THE PROSPECT OF POLITICAL TURMOIL UNMATCHED SINCE THE COMMUNIST BID FOR POWER WAS TURNED BACK IN 1948 . SHUT TIGHT WAS THE RISKY APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT), WITH NO NEW APERTURA IN SIGHT IN ANY PARTICULAR DIRECTION . BROAD JUMP . THE LEFT-CENTER OPENING WAS CREATED 17 MONTHS AGO BY LEFTWING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS IN ALLIANCE WITH PIETRO NENNI'S SOCIALISTS AND WITH THE TACIT CONSENT OF THE VATICAN . THE IDEA WAS THAT THIS COALITION ENACT OVERDUE " REFORMS " IN AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION AND FINANCE, BACKED BY THE SOCIALISTS BUT OPPOSED BY ITALY'S RIGHT-WING PARTIES . AT THE SAME TIME, THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, SOMEWHAT NAIVELY MACHIAVELLIAN, HOPED TO SEPARATE NENNI FROM HIS LONGTIME COMMUNIST ALLIES . NENNI, A PRACTICAL POLITICAL JUMPER, SEEMED READY TO LEAP AGAIN . HE HAD BEEN A PAL OF MUSSOLINI'S WHEN BOTH WERE YOUNG FASCISTS ; HE SOON BROKE WITH IL DUCE (WHO NEARLY HAD HIM SHOT), FOUGHT AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS UNTIL THE EARLY '30S, MADE UP WITH THEM AFTER THE WAR, WHEN HE TOOK MOST OF HIS PARTY INTO THE RED CAMP . (THE REMAINING ANTI-COMMUNIST SOCIALISTS FORMED ITALY'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY UNDER GIUSEPPE SARAGAT.) AFTER HUNGARY, NENNI AGAIN PARTLY BROKE WITH THE COMMUNISTS . NOW, AT 72, HE WAS TOYING WITH BOURGEOIS RESPECTABILITY BY COOPERATING WITH THE CENTER PARTIES BUT HIS OWN FOLLOWERS WERE NOT SO EAGER . THEY MIGHT OWN CARS OR GO SKIING AT ST . MORITZ, BUT MOST OF THEM STILL HANKERED FOR ALLIANCE WITH THE COMMUNISTS A FEELING THAT WAS REINFORCED BY MASSIVE RED GAINS IN THE RECENT NATIONAL ELECTIONS . NENNI MADE A DEAL WITH PREMIERDESIGNATE ALDO MORO FOR THE SOCIALISTS' 87 VOTES IN THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES . MORO'S CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS WOULD SUPPORT SOCIALIST DEMANDS FOR 15 NEW REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS, EVEN THOUGH IT MEANT THAT IN SOME KEY INDUSTRIAL REGIONS SOCIALISTS COULD WIND UP IN JOINT CONTROL WITH THE COMMUNISTS . NENNI IN TURN PROMISED SUPPORT FOR ITALIAN PARTICIPATION IN NATO, ALTHOUGH MANY IF NOT MOST OF NENNI'S SOCIALISTS REALLY WANT A NEUTRALIST ITALY . QUICK SWITCH . MEETING TO RATIFY THE MORO-NENNI CONTRACT, MEMBERS OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE TROOPED INTO A BASEMENT HALL OF AN ANCIENT ROMAN VILLA NEAR THE BANK OF THE TIBER . FROM THE START, THERE WAS TROUBLE . " YOU SAY YOU HAVE AN AGREEMENT ON REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS, " SHOUTED A HECKLER AT NENNI, " BUT YOU DON'T SAY WHEN . " HASTILY MOVING ON TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS, NENNI TOLD HIS GRUMBLING FOLLOWERS THAT " THE ATLANTIC PACT IS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS UPON WHICH RESTS A TROUBLED PEACE A TROUBLED PEACE, IF YOU LIKE, " HE ADDED QUICKLY, " BUT ONE WHICH HAS AVOIDED THE OUTBREAK OF WAR . AT THAT HERESY, THERE WAS OPEN REVOLT FROM THE PRO-COMMUNIST CARRISTI (LITERALLY " TANK DRIVERS, " A NICKNAME DERIVED FROM THE RED TANKS THAT CRUSHED THE HUNGARIAN REBELLION) . ALONE, THEY DID NOT HAVE THE VOTES TO DEFEAT NENNI, BUT NOW LONGTIME NO . 2 MAN RICCARDO LOMBARDI, EAGERLY EYING THE NO . 1 SPOT, ALSO OPPOSED NENNI . THE ARGUMENT RAGED FOR 8F HOURS . BY 5 : 30 A.M., NENNI WAS DEFEATED AND THE ALLIANCE WITH THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS HAD COLLAPSED . THE OLD MAN SUBMITTED HIS RESIGNATION ON THE SPOT . IT WAS NOT ACCEPTED, BUT THAT HARDLY MATTERED . TO PRESIDENT ANTONIO SEGNI, MORO REPORTED THAT, AFTER 24 DAYS OF TRYING, HE WOULD BE UNABLE TO FORM A NEW LEFTCENTER COALITION . COMMUNIST BOSS PALMIRO TOGLIATTI WAS JUBILANT OVER THE CHAOS, CALLED FOR A POPULAR FRONT GOVERNMENT . AT THE SAME TIME HE URGED REDS TO " HARVEST YOUR NEIGHBORS' GARDENS, " WHICH MEANT WOOING THE DIVIDED, DEMORALIZED SOCIALISTS IN THE WINE SHOPS, FACTORIES AND FIELDS . LIBERAL LEADER GIOVANNI MALAGODI, WHOSE SMALL, FREE-ENTERPRISE PARTY DOUBLED ITS SHARE OF THE VOTE (FROM 3.5 PER CENT TO 7 PER CENT ) IN THE APRIL ELECTIONS, PLEDGED TO OPEN THE EYES OF " ALL THOSE ITALIANS WHO ARE STILL PRISONERS OF THE MARXIST DREAM, INCLUDING THOSE WHOM THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS ARE DRAWING INTO SOCIALISM . " AS A LAST RESORT, SEGNI TURNED OVER THE TASK OF FORMING A NEW GOVERNMENT TO THE AFFABLE PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, GIOVANNI LEONE, A MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT AND THE FIRST NEAPOLITAN PREMIER . LIKE ANY SON OF NAPLES, LEONE ENJOYS SINGING ; WITH EX-PREMIER AMINTORE FANFANI AT THE PIANO, HE HAS CROONED NEAPOLITAN LOVE SONGS TO SUCH VISITING DIGNITARIES AS AVERELL HARRIMAN AND HAROLD MACMILLAN . SHORT MESSAGE . AFTER ONE DAY, LEONE SUCCEEDED IN FORMING A GOVERNMENT . IT WAS A MINORITY CABINET OF 22 CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, MOSTLY " TECHNICIANS, " THAT WOULD STAY IN OFFICE AT LEAST LONG ENOUGH TO APPROVE A NEW BUDGET AND TO GREET PRESIDENT KENNEDY . AFTER THAT, THE PARLIAMENT WILL RECESS FOR THE SUMMER WHILE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS DEBATE WHETHER TO GAMBLE ON RECOUPING THEIR RECENT LOSSES BY HOLDING NEW NATIONAL ELECTIONS THIS FALL . SADLY, MORO WROTE AN EPITAPH FOR THE APERTURA : " THE SOCIALIST PARTY DREW BACK BECAUSE IT CANNOT CONCEIVE OF A POLITICAL LINE OF ITS OWN THAT DOES NOT ENJOY, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, THE APPROVAL OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY . TODAY ONE CANNOT COUNT UPON THE SOCIALIST PARTY FOR THE SOLUTION OF ITALY'S POLITICAL PROBLEMS . /
 ISRAEL VALE ATQUE AVE IN JERUSALEM, HALO-HAIRED PREMIER DAVID BEN-GURION, 76, HANDED IN HIS RESIGNATION FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN HIS 15 YEARS IN OFFICE . ISRAEL WAS NOT UNDULY DISTURBED, SINCE BEN-GURION IS AS FAMED FOR RESIGNATIONS AS FOR SUCH OTHER IDIOSYNCRASIES AS STANDING ON HIS HEAD AND ADVOCATING FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH GERMANS . BUT WHAT STARTLED PEOPLE AND POLITICIANS THIS TIME WAS THE FACT THAT BEN-GURION ALSO GAVE UP HIS PARLIAMENTARY SEAT IN THE KNESSET, AN ACT THAT WOULD LEAVE HIM INELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE CABINET OFFICE . ASKED WHY, BENGURION FIRMLY REPLIED, " PERSONAL NEEDS . I PROPOSE TO KEEP THEM TO MYSELF . " WEARY CHIEF . IN FACT, BEN-GURION WAS WEARY OF POLITICS AND DISTURBED BY A RISING GENERATION THAT QUESTIONS HIS LEADERSHIP . HIS MAPAI PARTY WAS IRREVOCABLY SPLIT BY THE 1960-61 LAVON AFFAIR, WHICH ALSO TANGLED THE ARMY IN POLITICS.* BEN-GURION HAS CONTINUALLY HAD TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES AND PACIFY ANTAGONISTS . FINALLY, HE HAS NEARLY DESPAIRED OF REDUCING THE MULTIPLICITY OF PARTIES (15 IN ALL), DESPITE HIS ARGUMENT THAT " IF THE U.S . WITH HUGE POPULATION CAN GET ALONG WITH TWO PARTIES, WHY CAN'T WE WITH ONLY 2,000,000 PEOPLE ? " B-G " WAS NOT TOO WEARY OF POLITICS TO HAND-PICK HIS SUCCESSOR : UKRAINIANBORN FINANCE MINISTER LEV ESHKOL, 67, WHO HAS BROUGHT ISRAEL FROM A HAND-TOMOUTH ECONOMY TO THE POINT WHERE ITS GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT HAS RISEN AN AVERAGE OF 11 PER CENT ANNUALLY OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, AND ITS DOLLAR SURPLUS IS ALMOST AN EMBARRASSMENT . TWICE MARRIED BUT NOW A WIDOWER, ESHKOL HAS FOUR DAUGHTERS, ONE OF WHOM TEACHES DANCING IN JERUSALEM, WHILE ANOTHER IS A SERGEANT IN THE ISRAELI ARMY . HIS NEW CABINET STRONGLY RESEMBLES BEN-GURION'S OLD ONE, AND IT IS UNLIKELY THERE WILL BE ANY RADICAL CHANGES IN FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC POLICY . A FAR MORE ADAPTABLE MAN THAN BEN-GURION, ESHKOL WILL PROBABLY GOVERN MORE THROUGH COMPROMISE THAN BY FIAT . PET PROJECT . THE GOVERNMENTAL TRANSITION MIGHT HAVE BEEN UNEVENTFUL EXCEPT THAT, SURE ENOUGH, BEN-GURION SUDDENLY WITHDREW HIS RESIGNATION FROM THE KNESSET, ON CONDITION THAT HE WOULD ONLY ATTEND PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS IF HE FELT LIKE IT . NEITHER ESHKOL NOR THE OPPOSITION POLITICIANS WERE TOO HAPPY ABOUT BEN-GURION'S KEEPING HIS FOOT IN THE DOOR . NOW, SHOULD ESHKOL FALTER OR A CRISIS THREATEN, BEN-GURION MIGHT CHARGE BACK INTO OFFICE TO SAVE THE COUNTRY FROM ALLEGED DISASTER . MEANWHILE, BEN-GURION PLANS TO LIVE AT THE SDE BOKER KIBBUTZ IN THE BLEAK NEGEV DESERT AND TURN OUT BOOKS ON EVERYTHING FROM JEWISH HISTORY TO HIS OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY . HE HOPES ALSO TO FURTHER HIS PET PROJECT : THE " CULTURAL ABSORPTION " OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS FROM ASIA AND NORTH AFRICA INTO ISRAEL'S PREDOMINANTLY WESTERN SOCIETY . BEN-GURION ARGUES THAT UNLESS THE ORIENTAL JEWS ARE EDUCATED FASTER, ISRAEL MAY TURN INTO A TYPICALLY " INDOLENT " LEVANTINE STATE WITHIN TEN YEARS . ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER PINHAS LAVON WAS FORCED FROM OFFICE IN 1955 ON ALLEGATIONS THAT HE DISASTROUSLY BUNGLED AN ISRAELI ESPIONAGE ABROAD, PRESUMABLY IN EGYPT . LAVON PLEADED THAT HE HAD BEEN FRAMED BY HIGHLY PLACED POLITICAL ENEMIES . HE WAS FINALLY CLEARED TWO YEARS AGO BY THE ISRAELI CABINET, OVER BEN-GURION'S VIOLENT OBJECTIONS .
 COMMUNISTS THE PLACE IS BERLIN, THE PROBLEM IS PEKING ANTICIPATING PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S TUMULTUOUS WEST BERLIN RECEPTION, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HASTILY ARRANGED A TRIP OF HIS OWN . HE DECIDED TO GO TO EAST BERLIN, OSTENSIBLY TO CELEBRATE THE 70TH BIRTHDAY OF EAST GERMANY'S SPADEBEARDED COMMUNIST BOSS WALTER ULBRICHT . JUST 48 HOURS AFTER KENNEDY, ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE WALL, HAD CRIED, " I AM A BERLINER, " KHRUSHCHEV ARRIVED ON THE EAST SIDE, BENT ON SHOWING THAT HE WAS A BERLINER TOO . BUT THE THIN WELCOMING CROWD WAS NOT EXACTLY EAGER TO MAKE HIM AN HONORARY CITIZEN . MINUTES BEFORE KHRUSHCHEV'S TURBOPROP LANDED AT SCHONEFELD AIRPORT, AN ANNOUNCER DRILLED THE SPECTATORS IN A PROPER GREETING : " NOW, WHEN OUR FRIEND STEPS OUT OF HIS PLANE, WE WILL ALL CHEER IN UNISON, HIP, HIP, HURRAH . " WHEN NIKITA STEPPED OUT OF HIS PLANE, ALL SMILES, THE CROWD WAS SILENT AND ONLY THE HONOR GUARD OF SOLDIERS SHOUTED, OFFICIALLY . IN CONTRAST TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S WELCOME BY MORE THAN A MILLION WEST BERLINERS, A SCANT 250,000 EAST BERLIN FACTORY WORKERS, SECRETARIES AND SCHOOLCHILDREN, MARCHING IN CLOSED FORMATIONS, TURNED OUT FOR KHRUSHCHEV . ALONG PARTS OF THE 16-MILE ROUTE TO THE RED CITY HALL, THE ONLY SPECTATORS WERE THE VOLKSPOLIZEI . THE REAL REASON FOR KHRUSHCHEV'S PRESENCE IN EAST BERLIN, OF COURSE, WAS NOT THAT HE WANTED TO HELP ULBRICHT BLOW OUT THE CANDLES, NOR WAS IT ENTIRELY A MATTER OF TRYING TO COUNTERACT THE EMOTIONS STIRRED UP BY THE KENNEDY VISIT . MOST OF ALL, KHRUSHCHEV WANTED TO MEET WITH HIS EAST EUROPEAN SATELLITE CHIEFS TO CLOSE RANKS BEFORE THE CHINESE ARRIVE IN MOSCOW THIS WEEK TO CONFER ON THE WORSENING SINO-SOVIET IDEOLOGICAL SPLIT . DISTRIBUTION PROBLEM . THEIR DISPUTE GREW SO ANGRY LAST WEEK THAT MOSCOW RESORTED TO EXPELLING CHINESE DIPLOMATS, A TREATMENT HITHERTO RESERVED FOR WESTERN REPRESENTATIVES . BEHIND THIS LATEST EXPLOSION WAS A 24,000-WORD PEKING BLAST AT KHRUSHCHEV'S POLICIES, DESIGNED TO SHOW THAT HIS PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE LINE IS A COWARDLY BETRAYAL OF TRUE RED REVOLUTIONARIES, THAT HE IS SHILLY-SHALLYING WITH THE " PAPER TIGERS " OF IMPERIALISM, AND THAT HE IS " SUBVERTING " OTHER COMMUNIST PARTIES . WHEN THE RUSSIANS REFUSED TO PUBLISH THE PEKING LETTER, ISSUED TWO WEEKS AGO, THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN MOSCOW STARTED CIRCULATING COPIES, THEREBY PROVOKING THE KREMLIN TO THROW OUT THREE EMBASSY ATTACHES AND TWO OTHER CHINESE . PEKING CALLED THE ACTION " UNREASONABLE AND UNTENABLE, " NOTED THAT IT WAS " UNPRECEDENTED IN THE HISTORY OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN OUR TWO SOCIALIST COUNTRIES, " AND ACCUSED MOSCOW OF DELIBERATELY TRYING TO CREATE OBSTACLES TO THE SCHEDULED TALKS . EVEN AS KHRUSHCHEV ARRIVED IN EAST BERLIN, THE CHINESE EMBASSY THERE WENT RIGHT AHEAD DISTRIBUTING COPIES OF THE PEKING MANIFESTO TO INTERESTED BYSTANDERS . STALIN'S GHOST . ON HAND FOR TALKS WITH KHRUSHCHEV IN EAST BERLIN WERE THE SATELLITE CHIEFS OF POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, HUNGARY AND BULGARIA . ABSENT, AT LEAST FROM AMONG EARLY ARRIVALS : RUMANIAN RED BOSS GHEORGHE GHEORGHIUDEJ, WHO IS NOT ONLY FEUDING WITH MOSCOW OVER ECONOMIC PLANNING BUT IS WARM TOWARD PEKING, ALLOWED ITS MANIFESTO TO APPEAR IN THE RUMANIAN PRESS . WHAT CONFRONTED THE SMALL-SCALE RED SUMMIT MEETING WAS THE PICTURE OF THE SINO-SOVIET RIFT TEARING INTO THE COMMUNIST FABRIC ALL OVER THE WORLD . IN MOSCOW, A MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL CONVOCATION OF FEMALE COMRADES FOUND THE RUSSIA-CHINA ISSUE A CAUSE FOR NEARHYSTERIA (SEE FOLLOWING STORY) . SUCH RED FRONT ORGANIZATIONS AS THE WORLD FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS AND THE WORLD PEACE COUNCIL HAVE ALSO STARTED SQUABBLING OVER THE ISSUE . IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA, MANY COMMUNIST PARTIES ARE FEELING THE SPLIT ; WHERE COMMUNISM HAS PROSPERED BY APPEARING " MODERATE, " PARTY LEADERS BLUNTLY DENOUNCE RED CHINA AND ARE BEGINNING TO PURGE PEKING PARTISANS . EVEN IN WESTERN EUROPE'S OVERWHELMINGLY PRO-MOSCOW PARTIES, SOME YOUNG REDS HAVE RESPONDED TO PEKING'S REVOLUTIONARY ZEAL, HAVE JOINED RED CHINESE " FRIENDSHIP SOCIETIES . " KHRUSHCHEV HIMSELF BUSILY COUNTERATTACKED AGAINST THE CHINESE . BEFORE HIS BERLIN TRIP, AT A CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING IN MOSCOW WHOSE CHIEF TASK WAS TO COPE WITH THE RESTLESSNESS OF RUSSIA'S OWN INTELLECTUALS, KHRUSHCHEV DEALT WITH THE MORE URGENT PEKING PROBLEM . TYPICALLY, HE INTERPRETED PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S " STRATEGY OF PEACE " SPEECH AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAST MONTH AS A SIGN OF WESTERN WEAKNESS, USED IT AS EVIDENCE THAT HIS POLICY OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE IS PAYING OFF . THE RED CHINESE, SAID KHRUSHCHEV, ARE REALLY PESSIMISTS IN PURSUING A NOW-OR-NEVER REVOLUTIONARY DOGMA, BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T BE IN SUCH A DESPERATE HURRY TO START WARS AND REVOLUTIONS IF THEY REALLY BELIEVED IN THE LONG-RANGE, INEVITABLE VICTORY OF COMMUNISM . MOREOVER, THEY USE " THE NATIONAL, RACIAL APPROACH " IN WIDENING THE SCHISM BETWEEN COMMUNISTS . KHRUSHCHEV ALSO HEATEDLY DEFENDED HIS DESTALINIZATION DRIVE, ATTACKED MAO TSE-TUNG (WITHOUT NAMING HIM) FOR BUILDING HIS OWN CULT OF PERSONALITY . SAID KHRUSHCHEV, RAISING HIS FAVORITE GHOST : " WE ARE AGAINST LEADERS WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SENT BY GOD, AND THAT THE PEOPLE ARE A MASS THAT MUST LISTEN ONLY TO THEM AND APPLAUD . THAT WAS TYPICAL OF STALIN . " AMID THESE EXCHANGES, THE ATMOSPHERE COULD SCARCELY BE MORE UNPLEASANT FOR THE SCHEDULED SINO-SOVIET ENCOUNTER THIS WEEK IF INDEED BOTH PARTIES ARE NOT TOO ANGRY TO GO THROUGH WITH IT . THE SPLIT, WESTERN OBSERVERS WERE CAREFUL TO POINT OUT, WAS STILL NOT " FINAL AND FORMAL . " BUT AS AN INFORMAL QUARREL, IT SEEMED TO BE AT LEAST IN THE QUARTER-FINALS .
 THE WOMEN'S CLUB THE BELLES AND BATTLE-AXES OF COMMUNISM GATHERED LAST WEEK AT THE KREMLIN FOR THE WORLD WOMEN'S CONGRESS . THERE WERE 2,000 DELEGATES FROM MORE THAN A HUNDRED LANDS . BUXOM RUSSIAN COMRADES IN FLOWERED PRINTS MINGLED WITH BANTUS IN STRIPED ROBES . CUTE YOUNG CHICKS FROM ROME AND BOLOGNA SAT NEXT TO IRON-JAWED VETERANS WHO HAD STUCK HATPINS IN POLICEMEN'S HORSES IN LONG-AGO STREET RIOTS IN BERLIN AND BUENOS AIRES, MELBOURNE AND MADRID . SOME SEEMED TO HAVE GENTLED WITH AGE . DOLORES IBARRURI, 68, THE FIREBRAND WHO WAS KNOWN AS LA PASIONARIA IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, NOW LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE'S KIND OLD GRANDMOTHER . OTHERS HAVE MADE THE CHANGE, AT LEAST OUTWARDLY, FROM RED AMAZONS TO REASONABLY FASHIONABLE WOMEN : SLIM, TOUSLEHAIRED JEANNETTE VERMEERSCH, WIFE OF FRANCE'S RED BOSS MAURICE THOREZ, COULD HAVE STEPPED OUT OF THE GALERIES LAFAYETTE, IF NOT DIOR . ONCE-DOWDY LOTTE ULBRICHT, MARRIED TO EAST GERMANY'S LACKLUSTER PRESIDENT, COULD PASS AS A WELL-TO-DO PROVINCIAL HAUSFRAU, AND INDIA'S ARUNA ASAF ALI LOOKED STRIKING IN SILK, MAKING IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT AS A DEDICATED SABOTEUR SHE ONCE MOVED THE BRITISH TO PUT A PRICE OF 10,000 RUPEES ON HER HEAD . " OUR CONGRESS IS A MANIFESTATION OF CHARMING WOMANHOOD, MOTHERLY WARMTH, MORAL AND PHYSICAL BEAUTY ! " GUSHED LA PASIONARIA, QUITE A LITTLE OFF THE MARK . ABOVE ALL, THE CONGRESS WAS A MANIFESTATION OF THE EVER-WIDENING SINOSOVIET SPLIT . ITALIAN FLIGHT . AS USUAL, THE DISPUTE WAS BETWEEN THE KHRUSHCHEV LINE, WHICH HOLDS THAT TO AVOID NUCLEAR DISASTER CAPITALISM MUST BE FOUGHT THROUGH PEACEFUL MEANS, AND THE MAO TSE-TUNG LINE, WHICH DEMANDS AN AGGRESSIVE POLICY, EVEN AT THE RISK OF WAR . COMING ON IN THE FIRST SESSION AT THE KREMLIN'S MODERN HALL OF CONGRESSES, JAPAN'S KIMONO-CLAD FUKI KUSHIDA DEMANDED THE WITHDRAWAL OF U.S . " AGGRESSIVE FORCES " FROM SOUTH VIET NAM, FORMOSA, OKINAWA, AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST . IN A SIMPLER PERIOD OF COMMUNIST HISTORY, THIS MIGHT HAVE PASSED ALMOST UNNOTICED AS THE STANDARD LINE, EAST OR WEST . BUT NOW THERE WAS A SUDDEN MOVEMENT ON THE FLOOR, AND OUT OF THE HALL STALKED 50 OF THE FINEST, MOST PEACE-LOVING ITALIAN FEMALES EVER GATHERED IN ONE BUNCH AT THE KREMLIN . WHAT WAS BOTHERING THEM ? A TRIM ROMAN BLONDE EXPLAINED : " WE ARE HERE AS WOMEN TO WORK FOR PEACE AND NOT TO ENGAGE IN COLD WAR POLEMICS . " MORE TO THE POINT, JAPAN'S COMMUNIST PARTY IS ONE OF THOSE ALIGNED WITH RED CHINA, AND ITALY'S RED LADIES WERE UNMISTAKABLY SHOWING THEIR SOLIDARITY WITH COMRADE NIKITA IN THE SINO-SOVIET FIGHT . RED CHINA'S YANG YUN-YU RETURNED THE BALL TO THE SOVIETS BY LASHING THE U.S . FOR USING NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL " TO ENSLAVE THE WORLD, " ATTACKING JOHN KENNEDY FOR HIS CUNNING " STRATEGY " TO DIVIDE CHINA AND THE SOVIET UNION, AND INSISTING THAT THE FOREMOST PROBLEM WAS NOT PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE BUT MAINTAINING THE ACTIVE STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM . " HOW, " SHE DEMANDED, " CAN THE OPPRESSED COEXIST WITH THEIR OPPRESSORS ? " LOTTE ULBRICHT REPLIED THAT MADAME YANG WAS WAY OFF BASE . NO ONE WAS DEMANDING THAT OPPRESSED NATIONS LIVE HAPPILY WITH THEIR OPPRESSORS, SHE SAID, AND ADDED THAT RUSSIA WAS, AS ALWAYS, " WHOLEHEARTEDLY BEHIND THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLES OF COLONIAL PEOPLES . / ON THE THIRD DAY, INDIA'S ARUNA ASAF ALI CHARGED CHINA WITH BLOCKING ALL EFFORTS TO SETTLE THE HIMALAYAN WAR WITH INDIA . OUT OF THEIR SEATS BOUNCED TWO DIMINUTIVE CHINESE DELEGATES WHO LEGGED IT TO THE PLATFORM IN SLIT SKIRTS TO DEMAND TIME FOR REBUTTAL, THEIR HEATED WORDS DULY TRANSLATED BY AN INTERPRETER . A RUSSIAN OFFICIAL FRANTICALLY WRAPPED HER HANDS AROUND THE MICROPHONE ; BRITISH CHAIRMAN DR . JOAN CARRITT VAINLY JANGLED A BELL ; PRO-SOVIET DELEGATES ADDED TO THE UPROAR BY SHOUTING THAT THE CHINESE SHOULD STAND DOWN . MALE WALL . THE ONLY PEOPLE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE BITTER CHINESE COMPLAINTS WERE A GROUP OF WESTERN NEWSMEN . THE SIGHT OF OUTSIDERS OVERHEARING THE FAMILY QUARREL BROUGHT FIERY JEANNETTE VERMEERSCH TO HER FEET AND, POINTING AN ACCUSING FINGER, SHE CRIED TO THE CHINESE DELEGATES : " YOU ARE TALKING IN FRONT OF THE IMPERIALIST PRESS AND YET YOU SAY THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING IMPERIALISM ! " STRONG-ARMED RUSSIAN MALES FORMED A HUMAN WALL BETWEEN THE REPORTERS AND THE CHINESE AS THE EXASPERATED CHAIRMAN ADJOURNED THE MEETING . THE ROLE OF PEACEMAKER FELL TO GUINEA'S JEANNE MARTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE PANAFRICAN WOMEN'S CONFERENCE, WHO GOT THE CHINESE LADIES OFF THE PLATFORM BY PROMISING THEM A LATER CHANCE TO SPEAK . DESPITE ALL THOSE IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES, A NON-COMMUNIST MALE WHO HAS EVER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH A WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION COULD NOT ESCAPE THE UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING THAT THE RED LADIES WERE ACTING SOMEWHAT LIKE ORGANIZATION WOMEN . AT WEEK'S END THE MOOD GREW BEYOND EVEN PREDICTABLE FEMININE EXCITEMENT . THE CONGRESS WENT INTO SECRET SESSION, HOPING TO HAMMER OUT ITS DIFFERENCES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS . THE ATTEMPT FAILED . WHEN THE MAJORITY AGREED ON AN APPEAL FOR PEACE AND AGAINST THE ARMS RACE, BUT FAILED TO DENOUNCE THE U.S . OR NATO, THE CHINESE DELEGATES AND THEIR ALBANIAN ALLIES VOTED AGAINST, AND REMAINED STUBBORNLY SEATED WHILE THE CROWD OF 5,000 JUMPED TO THEIR FEET, WAVED HANDKERCHIEFS AND CLAPPED RHYTHMICALLY IN A 50-MINUTE DEMONSTRATION . CHINA'S MADAME YANG THEN MOUNTED THE PODIUM TO EXPLAIN HER VOTE, BUT WAS DROWNED OUT BY ANGRY SHOUTS AND FINALLY RULED OUT OF ORDER .
 GREAT BRITAIN WHILE THE PRISONER SKETCHED IN JAIL, HE LIVED LIKE THE PRINCE OF PONCES . FOR 56[ A DAY, HE WAS ABLE UNDER BRITISH PRISON REGULATIONS TO GET A CELL WITH A SOFT BED, A CARPET ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR, CURTAINS ON THE BARRED WINDOW, AN ARMCHAIR, AND ANOTHER PRISONER TO CLEAN UP AFTER HIM . DURING THE THREE WEEKS STEPHEN WARD WAS IN JAIL, JOHN PROFUMO HAD BEEN DISGRACED, EVGENY IVANOV EXPELLED FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY AND PACKED OFF TO A RUSSIAN MENTAL HOSPITAL, AND CHRISTINE KEELER SUCCESSFULLY SCREEN-TESTED FOR THE PROPOSED " DRAMATIZED DOCUMENTARY " OF HER LIFE . BUT LAST WEEK ARTIST-OSTEOPATH WARD, THE FOURTH MEMBER OF WHAT LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON ELOQUENTLY CALLED " THIS DINGY QUADRILATERAL, " AT LAST HELD CENTER STAGE . HANDCUFFED AND WEARING SUNGLASSES, WARD STUCK HIS TONGUE OUT AT PHOTOGRAPHERS AS HE WAS LED INTO LONDON'S MARYLEBONE MAGISTRATES' COURT FOR A HEARING TO DECIDE WHETHER HIS CASE SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE OLD BAILEY FOR TRIAL . THE CHARGE : EIGHT COUNTS OF PROCURING, LIVING OFF THE EARNINGS OF PROSTITUTES, RUNNING A BROTHEL AND ARRANGING ABORTIONS . IN HIS OPENING STATEMENT, PROSECUTOR MERVYN GRIFFITH-JONES WARNED THAT THE HEARING WOULD UNFOLD A " SOMEWHAT SORDID STORY . " IT WAS SORDID ALL RIGHT AND MORE THAN SOMEWHAT . SEE JIM . A PARADE OF GIRLS TALL, SHORT, BLOND, BRUNETTE, REDHEADED TOOK THE STAND . BUT, INEVITABLY, THE STAR WITNESSES WERE CHRISTINE KEELER AND MARILYN ( " MANDY " ) RICE-DAVIES . DURING CHRISTINE'S TESTIMONY, WARD QUIETLY SKETCHED HER FROM THE DOCK . CHRISTINE SAID THAT BETWEEN LOVERS OF HER OWN, SHE WOULD STAY PLATONICALLY WITH WARD AT HIS WIMPOLE MEWS FLAT . " WE WERE LIKE BROTHER AND SISTER, " SHE SAID, BUT FRATERNALLY, WARD KEPT HER SUPPLIED WITH MEN . " MY LIFE USED TO REVOLVE AROUND STEPHEN FROM THE MOMENT I GOT UP UNTIL THE MOMENT I WENT TO BED, " SHE SAID . " I THOUGHT I COULD NEVER STAND ON MY FEET UNLESS HE WAS THERE TO SUPPORT ME MENTALLY . " WARD TOLD HER IT WAS ALL RIGHT FOR A GIRL TO SLEEP WITH A MAN FOR MONEY AS LONG AS SHE DID NOT GET THE " PROSTITUTE MENTALITY . / THOUGH PAYMENT FOR SERVICES RANGED UP TO $140, HALF OF WHICH USUALLY WENT TO WARD, SHE SAID : " I HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED MYSELF A CALL GIRL OR PROSTITUTE . " SOMETIMES WHEN WARD " COMPLAINED ABOUT HAVING NO MONEY, " CHRISTINE TESTIFIED, SHE WOULD SIMPLY SAY : " I'LL GO SEE JIM . " HE WAS A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN, WHO HAD PAID HER " HUNDREDS OF POUNDS, " BUT THE NAME MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN JACK . PROFUMO ALSO GAVE HER MONEY, " BUT NOT FOR MYSELF ; IT WAS FOR MY MOTHER . " MISS X . CHRISTINE SAID THAT SHE TOOK UP MODELING SO THAT SHE COULD KEEP MEETING GIRLS TO INTRODUCE TO WARD . OFTEN WHEN SHE AND WARD WERE OUT WALKING, / HE USED TO TELL ME WHICH GIRL HE LIKED IN A SHOP AND SAY " GO AND GET HER . " ' CHRISTINE* WOULD INTRODUCE THE GIRLS TO WARD UNDER THE GUISE THAT HE WAS HER BROTHER OR THAT HE WANTED TO SKETCH THEM . WARD WOULD THEN SEDUCE THE GIRLS AND LATER DISCUSS THEIR TALENTS WITH CHRISTINE . / HE USED TO SAY " THAT WAS WONDERFUL, " ' SHE SAID . " SHE'S GOOD, SHE'S NOT BAD, SHE'S FANTASTIC,' SOMETHING LIKE THAT . WHILE THE PRISONER SKETCHED ADD AS GRIFFITH-JONES AND HIS WITNESSES TOLD IT, WARD WAS OCCASIONALLY TURNED DOWN . ONCE A SHOPGIRL BALKED WHEN HE WANTED HER TO GO TO A PARTY " WHERE SHE WOULD SEE GIRLS TIED UP AND WHIPPED . / ANOTHER TIME, WARD TOLD A " YOUNG LADY OF THE UTMOST RESPECTABILITY, / SAID THE PROSECUTOR, THAT HE HAD A TWO-WAY MIRROR IN HIS FLAT THROUGH WHICH ONE COULD SEE INTO THE BEDROOM FROM THE LIVING ROOM, ADDED HE HOPED TO MAKE MONEY FROM PEOPLE WHO WOULD PAY TO WATCH . TAKING THE STAND HERSELF LATER, THE GIRL A TALL BRUNETTE WEARING SKI PANTS, IDENTIFIED ONLY AS A CERTAIN " MISS X " RECALLED TELLING WARD THAT SHE WAS NOT IN THE LEAST INTERESTED IN WATCHING THAT KIND OF THING . " MY DARLING, " WARD REPLIED, " I DON'T WANT YOU TO WATCH . I WANT YOU TO PERFORM . " ALWAYS BILL . PERHAPS THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT ALL THIS WAS THE UNLIKELY ASSOCIATION BETWEEN WARD AND HIS ARISTOCRATIC FRIEND, VISCOUNT ASTOR . CHRISTINE STARTLED THE JAMMED COURTROOM BY TESTIFYING THAT WHEN SHE AND MANDY WERE ONCE SHARING A FLAT, THEIR RENT WAS PARTLY PAID BY NONE OTHER THAN ASTOR HIMSELF . SON OF COMBATIVE, CONVIVIAL NANCY ASTOR, BRITAIN'S FIRST WOMAN M.P., YOUNG ASTOR GREW UP AT THE CENTER OF BRITAIN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL WORLDS . HIS UNCLE IS PROPRIETOR OF THE LONDON TIMES, HIS BROTHER EDITOR OF THE OBSERVER . THE " CLIVEDEN SET " WAS FAMED IN THE '30S NOT ONLY FOR ITS APPEASING POLITICS BUT ITS INTELLECTUAL SPARKLE ; AND CHARMING, GENEROUS BILL ASTOR TRIED TO CARRY ON THE TRADITION . HIS CELEBRATED PARTIES FREELY MIXED WRITERS, ARTISTS, POLITICIANS AND ARISTOCRATS . BUT THE THRICE-MARRIED ASTOR (CURRENTLY TO BRONWEN PUGH, FORMER TOP LONDON MODEL) WAS NEVER REALLY INTELLECTUALLY ATTUNED TO HIS SOPHISTICATED CIRCLE, WHICH IS PERHAPS WHY HE ALLOWED WARD TO PENETRATE THE FRINGES OF THE CLIVEDEN SET AND RENTED HIM A COTTAGE ON THE GROUNDS . THE WORLDS OF THE ASTORS AND OF WARD FREQUENTLY OVERLAPPED IN THE GARDEN AND AT THE SWIMMING POOL, WHERE BILL ASTOR OFTEN SEEMED TO HAVE MORE FUN THAN WITH HIS OWN RESPECTABLE GUESTS . IN HER TESTIMONY, MANDY SAID THAT SHE HAD SLEPT WITH ASTOR . WARD ALWAYS SAID, MANDY DECLARED, THAT THOUGH HE DID NOT HAVE ANY MONEY, " WE HAVE ALWAYS GOT BILL, WHO CAN HELP US . " UNDER CROSSEXAMINATION, MANDY WAS TOLD THAT ASTOR HAD DENIED HER ALLEGATION . SHE REPLIED QUICKLY : " HE WOULD, WOULDN'T HE ? IN A LETTER TO THE TIMES, THE HEAD OF ONE LONDON MODEL SCHOOL PROTESTED AGAINST " THE NEW AND GROSSLY UNFAIR NEWSPAPER PRACTICE OF CALLING ANY WOMAN A " MODEL' WHO SO DESCRIBES HERSELF AND SO LIBELING THE PROFESSION . WITH FAR MORE JUSTIFICATION THAN THE NEWSPAPERS HAVE SHOWN, THE MODEL GIRLS OF THIS AGENCY ARE NOW REFERRING TO MISS KEELER AS THE " WELLKNOWN JOURNALIST .
 NEUER ON SONDAY PERHAPS WHAT THE ENGLAND OF CHRISTINE KEELER AND STEPHEN WARD NEEDS IS A TOUCH OF OLD SCOTLAND . JUDGING BY THE ARCHAIC LANGUAGE OF THE SCOTTISH BIGAMY ACT (1551), FEW OFFENDERS ARE MORE FROWNED UPON THAN " THAME THAT MARYIS TWA SINDRIE WYFIS OR HUSBANDIS LEVAND TOGIDDIR UNDERVORSIT (UNDIVORCED) . " UNDER THE ACT, PUNISHMENT IS FIXED AT " CONFISCATIOUS OF ALL THEAIR GUDIS MOUABILL OF THEIR PERSOUNIS FOR YEIR AND DAY . " ALSO, THEY MAY " NEUER HABILL TO BRUKE (NEVER AGAIN BEAR) OFFICE OF HONOUR, DIGNITIE NOR BENEFICE . " AS IT HAPPENS, THIS HARSH TREATMENT HAS NOT BEEN METED OUT FOR MONNY A YEAR LANG SYNE, BUT THE SCOTS' ANCIENT LAW IS STILL ON THE BOOKS . LAST WEEK, ALONG WITH 166 OTHER COBWEBBED STATUTES ADOPTED BY THE SCOTTISH KINGDOM BEFORE IT JOINED ENGLAND IN 1707, THE LAW WAS BEING REPEALED IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT . FOR ALL THEIR MORAL GRANITE, THE SCOTS CLEARLY HAD THEIR PROBLEMS 1 STATUTE, DESIGNED TO CURB REBELLIOUS YOUTH, DECREED THAT ANY " SONNE OR DAUGHTER ABOVE AGE OF SEXTEIN YEERS NOT BEING DISTRACTED (DEMENTED) SHALL BEATE OR CURSE THEIR FATHER OR MOTHER SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH WITHOUT MERCY . " ON THE OTHER HAND, THE LOSS OF SOME OF THE OLD LAWS MIGHT BE SAID, FROM A DOUR POINT OF VIEW, TO CONTRIBUTE TO MODERN DECADENCE . AMONG THEM : REPEAL OF A PROHIBITION (1579) AGAINST " GAMYNG AND PLAYING, PASSING TO TAVERNIS AND AILHOUSES AND WILFULL REMANING FRA (AWAY FROM) THE PAROCHE KIRK IN TYME OF SERMONE OR PRAYERS ON SONDAY .
 SWEDEN GENTLEMAN SPY THE TALL, COLDLY HANDSOME SWEDISH AVIATOR WAS A FAMILIAR FIGURE ON THE WASHINGTON COCKTAIL CIRCUIT . AS SWEDISH AIR ATTACHE FROM 1952 TO 1957, HE IMPRESSED ONE U.S . AIR FORCE GENERAL AS " EASY AND OUTGOING, AN EXTRAVERT WHO GOT ALONG VERY WELL . " WEST POINTERS FOUND HIM " SPOONY " MEANING SUAVE . HE PLAYED A COOL, QUIET GAME OF GOLF AT THE ARMY-NAVY CLUB, HIS BALDING, WHITE-FRINGED HEAD BENT OVER HIS PUTTER AS GENERALS AND ADMIRALS CHATTED . HIS CONVERSATION WAS HARDLY MEMORABLE, EXCEPT THAT HE WORRIED ALOUD AND A LOT ABOUT RADICALS AND LEFTISTS . WHEN HE WENT HOME, THE U.S . GOVERNMENT PRESENTED HIM WITH THE CUSTOMARY LEGION OF MERIT FOR HIS " FURTHERANCE OF AMICABLE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE ROYAL SWEDISH AIR FORCE AND THE U.S . AIR FORCE . " LAST WEEK, AS COLONEL STIG ERIK CONSTANS WENNERSTROM, 56, AWAITED TRIAL AS A SOVIET SPY, IT WAS SUDDENLY CLEAR THAT HIS RELATIONSHIPS HAD BEEN MOST AMICABLE EAST OF THE IRON CURTAIN . WHAT DAMAGE ? WHEN SWEDISH AGENTS ARRESTED HIM, HE ADMITTED HE HAD BEEN ON THE SOVIET PAYROLL FOR A FULL 15 YEARS NOT ONLY AS AN AIR ATTACHE BUT AFTER 1957 AS CHIEF OF THE AIR SECTION IN THE SWEDISH MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, AND SINCE 1961 AS A FOREIGN MINISTRY CONSULTANT . THOUGH HE DREW ONLY $9,000 ANNUAL PAY, HE LIVED IN A $40,000 HOUSE IN STOCKHOLM'S EXCLUSIVE DJURSHOLM DISTRICT, AMONG BANK DIRECTORS AND DIPLOMATS, ENTERTAINED FREQUENTLY . MONEY WAS A MOTIVE (HE MAY HAVE EARNED AS MUCH AS $100,000 FOR HIS WORK), BUT ONE ACQUAINTANCE SAID : " HE MUST HAVE ENJOYED THE DANGEROUS GAME AND THOUGHT HE WAS INTELLECTUALLY BETTER THAN OTHERS . " WHAT DAMAGE COULD WENNERSTROM'S GAME HAVE DONE TO THE U.S., NATO, AND HIS OWN COUNTRY ? THOUGH SWEDEN IS NOT A NATO MEMBER, WENNERSTROM HAD CONTACT WITH DANISH AND NORWEGIAN MILITARY MEN, PROBABLY KNEW A LOT ABOUT THE NATO DEFENSES AND WEAPONS . HE ALSO KNEW SWEDISH DEFENSE SITES AND STRENGTHS, HAD ACCESS TO KEY MOBILIZATION AND COMMUNICATION PLANS . IN WASHINGTON, HE HAD ACCESS AMONG OTHER THINGS, TO DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE U.S . ARMY'S HAWK, RADAR-GUIDED ANTIAIRCRAFT MISSILE DESIGNED TO KNOCK DOWN LOW-FLYING SUPERSONIC PLANES . THE RUSSIANS ARE WORKING HARD TO PERFECT A DEFENSE AGAINST LOW-LEVEL NUCLEAR ATTACK, AND THE HAWK COULD HELP THEM . MORE PROOF ? SWEDISH MINISTER OF DEFENSE SVEN ANDERSSON WAS SUSPICIOUS OF WENNERSTROM FOR TWO YEARS PRIOR TO HIS ARREST, BUT PREMIER TAGE ERLANDER WAS NOT INFORMED UNTIL AFTER AGENTS HAD PICKED UP WENNERSTROM ON THE WAY TO HIS OFFICE . AS OPPOSITION CRITICS POUNCED, ERLANDER WENT ON TELEVISION TO EXPLAIN : " IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO BE INFORMED OF EVERY PERSON WHO IS UNDER SUSPICION . WE NEED MORE PROOF IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY BEFORE WE CAN TAKE ACTION . " IT SOUNDED LIKE A LAME EXCUSE TO LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, WHO DEMANDED A PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATION . MEANWHILE, ALWAYS THE GENTLEMAN, WENNERSTROM REPORTEDLY ASKED HIS ATTORNEY TO SEND BACK HIS LEGION OF MERIT, CALMLY FACED A PROBABLE LIFE SENTENCE FOR " GROSS ESPIONAGE .
 FRANCE THE - BROTHERHOOD THE GRANDEUR THAT IS GAULLISM HAS ALWAYS DEFIED SIMPLE EXPLANATION, FOR IT OFTEN SEEMS THAT CHARLES DE GAULLE, LIKE THE CABOTS, SPEAKS ONLY TO GOD . IN A WITTY NEW BOOK, THE GAULLISTS RITUAL AND DIRECTORY, FRENCH JOURNALIST PIERRE VIANSSON-PONTE, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR PRESTIGIOUS LE MONDE, POKES SKILLFULLY AT THE INNER GAULLIST MYSTERIES . THE MOVEMENT, VIANSSONPONTE CONCLUDES, " CONSISTS NEITHER OF A DOCTRINE NOR OF AN ORGANIZATION, BUT SIMPLY OF AN EXPERIENCE LIVED THROUGH . " THE HIGH MASS, SUNG . THE MOST TELLING EXPERIENCE FOR GAULLISTS IS TO BE IN DE GAULLE'S PRESENCE, WHICH IS SURROUNDED BY AN INFLEXIBLE LITURGY . GUARDIAN OF THE " CHRISTIAN MORALITY AND SOCIAL PROPRIETY " OF THE RITUAL IS MME . DE GAULLE . " SHE CHECKS THE NECKLINES OF THE MINISTERS' WIVES, " SAYS AUTHOR VIANSSONPONTE, " AND HAS AT VARIOUS TIMES, IT IS SAID, SUCCEEDED IN KEEPING OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT PEOPLE SUSPECTED OF MARITAL INFIDELITY . " AT LUNCHEON AT DE GAULLE'S COUNTRY HOME IN COLOMBEY-LES-DEUXEGLISES, " MME . DE GAULLE ASKS ABOUT THE ROAD, TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER,THE GENERAL . THE GENERAL ASKS ABOUT THE ROAD,TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER, HIMSELF . " WITH ITS PLANTED QUESTIONS AND PREPARED ANSWERS, A DE GAULLE PRESS CONFERENCE IS LIKE " A HIGH MASS, SUNG . " THE RESIGNATION OF A GAULLIST WHO HAS OUTLIVED HIS USEFULNESS IS " AN ORDER ; IT IS NOT DISPUTED . " WHAT IS REMARKABLE ABOUT ALL THIS, SAYS VIANSSON-PONTE, IS THAT ALTHOUGH DE GAULLE HAS ABSOLUTE POWER, HE DOES NOT ABUSE IT . THAT MAY HELP TO EXPLAIN THE LOYALTY OF HIS FOLLOWERS, BOUND TOGETHER ONLY BY THEIR PARTICIPATION IN AT LEAST TWO OF GAULLISM'S THREE GREAT ADVENTURES : THE FREE FRENCH RESISTANCE ; DE GAULLE'S POSTWAR RASSEMBLEMENT DU PEUPLE FRANCAIS (R.P.F.) AND ITS ABORTIVE BID FOR POLITICAL POWER ; AND THE FORMATION OF THE FIFTH REPUBLIC . VIANSSON-PONTE ESTIMATES THAT ONLY 1,500 FRENCHMEN QUALIFY AS REAL GAULLISTS, HAS SELECTED 116 OF THESE FOR INCLUSION IN HIS DIRECTORY . EVEN IN APOSTASY, HE SAYS, THE GAULLIST " LINK IS INDESTRUCTIBLE . EXCLUDED, EXILED, IN REBELLION, JACQUES SOUSTELLE REMAINS A MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE . " BUT IRONICALLY, SUCH RANKING SPOKESMEN FOR PRESENT-DAY GAULLIST POLICY AS FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE MURVILLE AND INFORMATION MINISTER ALAIN PEYREFITTE ARE EXCLUDED FOR LACKING THE PROPER CREDENTIALS . CROSSING THE DESERT . VIANSSON-PONTE GIVES EACH GAULLIST A GUIDE MICHELIN SORT OF RATING DENOTING PAST SERVICES TO GAULLISM AND PRESENT STANDING IN RELATION TO THE GENERAL . A CROSS OF LORRAINE INDICATES FREE FRANCE, A SUBMACHINE GUN THE RESISTANCE, AND A STAR THE COMPAGNON DE LA LIBERATION, THE ELITE ORDER OF FREE FRANCE AND RESISTANCE FIGHTERS . A SMALL OUTHOUSE (CABINET IN FRENCH) MEANS MEMBERSHIP IN DE GAULLE'S PERSONAL OFFICE STAFF, A MASK MEANS ESPIONAGE WORK DURING WORLD WAR II . A MOTORCYCLIST SYMBOLIZES TRIPS TO COLOMBEY TO SEE THE GENERAL, AND A HAND GRENADE MEMBERSHIP IN THE R.P.F . WHY THE GRENADE SYMBOL ? " BECAUSE THE R.P.F . AIMED TO BLOW UP THE FOURTH REPUBLIC . " AN OPEN DOOR INDICATES AUDIENCES WITH DE GAULLE, AND AN EAR TAGS THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN SUMMONED TO A CONSULTATION . AN ARMCHAIR DESIGNATES A CABINET MINISTER (A SLASHED ROSETTE SIGNIFIES FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS), A STOOL A SENATOR, A STRAIGHT-BACKED CHAIR A DEPUTY, A BENCH A DIGNITARY OF THE FIFTH REPUBLIC . TWO HOBNAILED BOOTS SIGNIFY MEMBERSHIP IN THE GAULLIST U.N.R., ONE HOBNAILED BOOT STANDS FOR THE SLIGHTLY LEFTIST BUT GAULLIST U.D.T., A RUBBER BOOT FOR OTHER GAULLIST MOVEMENTS WHOSE MEMBERS WERE FORCED TO WADE THROUGH THE GENERAL'S RHETORIC . A MESS KIT MARKS THE MEN WHO TOOK JOBS UNDER THE FOURTH REPUBLIC ( " I SUPPOSE THEY HAD TO EAT, " SAID DE GAULLE) . A TANK INDICATES PARTICIPATION IN THE ARMY REVOLT THAT OVERTHREW THE FOURTH REPUBLIC IN 1958, AND A CAMEL MARKS THOSE " FAITHFUL DURING THE CROSSING OF THE DESERT " THE PARCHED YEARS WHEN DE GAULLE WAS OUT OF POWER . AUTHOR VIANSSON-PONTE'S GUIDE TO THE LEADING GAULLISTS : JACQUES CHABAN-DELMAS, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, A " TALLEYRAND / WHO IS ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN, HE HAS BEEN AN R.P.F . LEADER, MINISTER OF THE FOURTH REPUBLIC, " A SCHEMER TO OVERTHROW PARLIAMENTARY TRADITIONS, " AND NOW " REPOSITORY AND GUARDIAN OF THESE SAME TRADITIONS . " MICHEL DEBRE, FORMER PREMIER, RESIGNED IN 1962, NOW A DEPUTY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FROM REUNION ISLAND, HE IS THE REGIME'S SPECIALIST IN SACRIFICE, AN ARDENT BELIEVER IN ALGERIE FRANCAISE UPON WHOM DE GAULLE THRUST THE BURDEN OF SELLING ALGERIAN INDEPENDENCE . " THIS WAS TOO MUCH . HE WAS LIKE A CARDINAL WHO HAD LOST HIS FAITH BUT WHO HAD TO FEIGN MYSTIC FERVOR OUT OF LOYALTY AND FIDELITY . " LOUIS JOXE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM, ARCHITECT OF THE ALGERIAN PEACE AT EVIAN, / HE HAS MORE THAN ONCE BRUSHED WITH HERESY, " BUT HIS QUIET ADMINISTRATIVE AND DIPLOMATIC SKILL MAKE HIM ONE OF DE GAULLE'S FAVORITE TROUBLESHOOTERS . HIS PRESENT MINOR MINISTRY " SERVES ONLY AS A PRETEXT . FROM TIME TO TIME, ONE CONFERS ON HIM A DELICATE DOSSIER,AN INTERNATIONAL MISSION, AN IMBROGLIO TO RESOLVE . " ANDRE MALRAUX, MINISTER OF CULTURE, / THE SAINT-JUST OF DE GAULLE'S REVOLUTION . " * HIS ROLE WAS " TO STRIKE THE POPULAR IMAGINATION . " BUT NOW MALRAUX IS LITTLE MORE THAN A GLAMOROUS ORNAMENT . " HE IS NO LONGER THE BURNING AND PRESTIGIOUS GENIUS WHO DISTURBS AND SEDUCES, THE ENFANT TERRIBLE OF GAULLISM . THIS IS THE OLD UNCLE WHOSE PASSING WHIMS ARE TOLERATED WITH AMUSED INDULGENCE, BECAUSE IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORS HE HONORS THE FAMILY . " FRANCOIS MAURIAC, NOVELIST, / HE IS FIRST OF ALL A POLEMICIST, THE BEST OF THE EPOCH . HOMAGE GOES DIRECTLY FROM THE PRINCE OF LETTERS TO THE SOVEREIGN . HE HAS WRITTEN OF DE GAULLE : " THERE IS A MAN WHO IS SURE OF HIS ETERNITY . " ' GEORGES POMPIDOU, PREMIER, / GRAND DUKE OF THE REALM, THE MAN WHOM THE KING WOULD HAVE MADE HIS RICHELIEU . " SUCCESSIVELY PROFESSOR, BANKER, POLITICIAN, POMPIDOU MAY BE IN DANGER FROM HIS OWN DREAM ONE DAY OF SUCCEEDING DE GAULLE . " BUT HE SHOULD BE CAREFUL . HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO DREAMS OF THIS . SAINT-JUST (1767-94) WAS ROBESPIERRE'S MOST ZEALOUS FLACK DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, ORGANIZED THE REIGN OF TERROR FOR ALL HERETICS, IN THE END LOST HIS HEAD HIMSELF .
 CONGO UNDER THE KNIFE SUFFERING FROM AMOEBIC DYSENTERY, FAINTING SPELLS AND AN INFLAMED KIDNEY, MOISE TSHOMBE, 43, WAS BEING TREATED LAST WEEK IN THE CLINIQUE DE PASSY IN PARIS . AT THE SAME TIME, HIS ONCE POTENT AND ECONOMICALLY HEALTHY DOMAIN OF KATANGA WAS GOING UNDER THE KNIFE BACK IN THE CONGO . LAST YEAR THE CONGO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CUT NORTH KATANGA OUT OF TSHOMBE'S FORMER DOMAIN, LEAVING HIM ONLY THE SOUTHERN PART . NOW THE GOVERNMENT SUBDIVIDED THE AREA FURTHER, INTO THE PROVINCES OF EAST KATANGA AND LUALABA (SEE MAP) . THE PURPOSE OF THE GERRYMANDER IS TO REMOVE ANY POWER BASE TO WHICH TSHOMBE MIGHT RETURN . PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA AND OTHER CENTRAL-GOVERNMENT LEADERS IN LEOPOLDVILLE HAVE BEEN TERRIFIED OF A RENEWED SECESSION ATTEMPT IN KATANGA ONCE U.N . TROOPS PULL OUT OF THE CONGO . A PERSONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TSHOMBE BEGAN LAST MAY WHEN HIS BODYGUARD WAS FORCIBLY DISBANDED . NEXT TSHOMBE'S CORRESPONDENCE WAS SEIZED, WITH HINTS THAT IT GAVE PROOF OF TREASONABLE DESIGNS . THE AILING TSHOMBE TOOK THE HINT AND LEFT FOR EUROPE, VOWING : " I WILL COME BACK, AND I WILL NOT ABANDON MY POST . " TECHNICALLY, MOISE TSHOMBE IS STILL ELIGIBLE TO RUN FOR OFFICE IN EAST KATANGA . BUT SINCE MUCH OF TSHOMBE'S POLITICAL STRENGTH LIES WITH THE LUANDA TRIBE, NOW ISOLATED IN THE NEW LUALABA PROVINCE, HIS CHANCES MIGHT BE SLIM . THOUGH TSHOMBE STILL HAS CONSIDERABLE POPULARITY IN KATANGA, THE EUROPEANS THERE WANT NO MORE ADVENTURES, AND THE FLOURISHING UNION MINIERE ASKS ONLY THAT IT BE ALLOWED TO MINE COPPER UNDISTURBED AND CONTINUE EARNING $260 MILLION A YEAR FOR THE CONGO MORE THAN TWICE THE EXPORT REVENUE OF THE REST OF THE COUNTRY . THE SECESSIONIST SPIRIT SEEMS TO BE DYING . SAYS ONE OF TSHOMBE'S OLD MINISTERS : " WE WERE PUPPETS PROTECTING EUROPEAN INTERESTS, AND NOW NOBODY WANTS TO PULL OUR STRINGS . IT'S ALL OVER . WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT THE DICTATES OF LEOPOLDVILLE .
 JAPAN FROM THE COW-WALK TO THE BRAWL EVER SINCE ITS FOUNDING 73 YEARS AGO, THE JAPANESE DIET HAS HAD A HARD TIME DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER AND THOSE OF THE MARQUIS OF QUEENSBERRY . JUST AS THE TYPHOONS COME TO JAPAN IN SEPTEMBER, AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN APRIL, THE PARLIAMENTARY BRAWLING SEASON ARRIVES IN JUNE, FILLING THE DIET WITH THE SOUND OF CRASHING FISTS AND STRANGLED CURSES . THIS YEAR THE SEASON ARRIVED ON SCHEDULE . MORE THAN SECRETARIES . BEFORE WORLD WAR II, BRAWLING WAS A COMMON PRACTICE AMONG HOT-BLOODED DELEGATES WHO, IN THE SAMURAI TRADITION, WERE REALLY HANKERING FOR MEDIEVAL DAYS WHEN POLITICAL DIFFERENCES WERE SETTLED WITH THE SWORD . THROUGHOUT THE DIET BUILDING, THE MAJOR CONSERVATIVE PARTIES STATIONED FLYING SQUADS OF YOUNG TOUGHS, KNOWN IRONICALLY AS INGAIDAN (LOBBYISTS), ALWAYS READY FOR HECKLING OR FIGHTING . DURING THE POSTWAR YEARS, THE U.S . TRIED TO ENFORCE GOOD BEHAVIOR, BUT THE QUIET SPELL ENDED WITH THE LIFTING OF THE OCCUPATION . THOUGH THE INGAIDAN WERE GONE, DIET MEMBERS HIRED HEAVY-FISTED BRAWLERS AS " SECRETARIES . " A BIG RIOT IN JUNE 1954 INJURED SOME 50 PERSONS, FORCED LIBERAL PREMIER SHIGERU YOSHIDA TO CANCEL A LONG-PLANNED TRIP TO THE U.S . AND APOLOGIZE TO THE EMPEROR . SURVIVORS OF THAT FIGHT RECALL THE ARRIVAL OF AN OPPOSITION LEADER, BUKICHI ( " BIG BADGER " ) MIKI, WHO VEHEMENTLY OBJECTED TO WESTERN DRESS AND ALWAYS WORE A KIMONO . HE SHOWED UP FOR THE FIGHT DRESSED IN ARMY FATIGUES AND COMBAT BOOTS, EXPLAINED TO COLLEAGUES THAT " YOU CAN'T KICK WITH A KIMONO ON, YOU KNOW . " SINCE THEN, JAPAN'S EMERGENT SOCIALISTS HAVE INTRODUCED A WHOLE NEW ARRAY OF TECHNIQUES, MANY MORE OR LESS NONVIOLENT . THE MOST POPULAR IS USHI ARUKI, OR COW-WALKING . REALIZING THAT THEY CANNOT BLOCK THE OVERWHELMING CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY, THE SOCIALISTS DO THEIR BEST TO SLOW BUSINESS TO A STANDSTILL . IN BALLOTING SESSIONS, EACH SOCIALIST MEMBER GETS UP SLOWLY AS HIS NAME IS CALLED, SHUFFLES TOWARD THE ROSTRUM WITH THE SHORTEST STEPS POSSIBLE . WHERE IT TAKES 230 CONSERVATIVES ONLY 15 MINUTES TO VOTE, 120 SOCIALISTS CONSUME AS MUCH AS AN HOUR AND A HALF . COW-WALKING IS COMBINED WITH SITDOWN STRIKES IN DIET CORRIDORS, DELIBERATE TRAFFIC JAMS, BOYCOTTS, AND PICKETING TO PREVENT THE SPEAKER FROM TAKING HIS SEAT . THROUGH THESE TACTICS, THE SOCIALISTS FORCE ALLNIGHT SESSIONS, HOPING THAT THE WORNOUT GOVERNMENT MEN WILL HAVE TO GIVE IN SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE . NOT ENOUGH BODIES . THIS YEAR, WITH A BACKLOG OF 66 BILLS STILL STALLED IN COMMITTEE, PREMIER IKEDA ORDERED HIS MEN TO PUSH THEM THROUGH BEFORE THE DIET SESSION CLOSES JULY 6 . WHEN THE GOVERNMENT PARTY RECENTLY USED ITS MAJORITY TO FORCE A VOTE ON A CONTROVERSIAL RELIEF-LAW REVISION, COW-WALKING WAS NO LONGER ENOUGH . FISTS AND ASHTRAYS STARTED TO FLY . BATTLING LAWMAKERS SHOUTED : " RESPECT PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES ! " THE BRAWLING LATER SPREAD TO THE CABINET COMMITTEE, WHERE FIVE BILLS WERE STALLED . SOCIALISTS MASSED AROUND THE COMMITTEEROOM DOOR TO PREVENT CHAIRMAN TADANORI NAGAYAMA FROM ENTERING . A FLYING WEDGE OF BURLY CONSERVATIVE " SECRETARIES " SMASHED THROUGH, CARRYING THE AGING, ANEMIA-WEAKENED CHAIRMAN IN WITH THEM . AS THE VOTE WAS HURRIEDLY TAKEN, SOCIALISTS SCREAMED " FASCIST DICTATORSHIP ! " AND CHARGED . IN THE MELEE, CHAIRMAN NAGAYAMA DISAPPEARED, WAS RESCUED TEN MINUTES LATER BY DIET GUARDS WHO FOUND HIM BRUISED AND BLEEDING ON THE FLOOR . HE WAS RUSHED TO A HOSPITAL . " WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH BODIES TO GO AROUND IF PEOPLE GET INJURED EVERY TIME A CONTROVERSIAL BILL COMES UP, " SAID YUTARO TAKEYAMA, HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT PARTY'S STRATEGY COMMITTEE . " WE WILL JUST HAVE TO APPOINT STRONGER MEN TO COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIPS, MEN WHO WON'T GET PUT OUT OF ACTION EVERY TIME THE GOING GETS ROUGH . /
 LAOS EVIL SPIRITS ON THE PLAIN JUST A YEAR AFTER THE GENEVA AGREEMENT CONSOLIDATED LAOS' THREE WARRING FACTIONS INTO A SINGLE GOVERNMENT, THE PRECARIOUS ARRANGEMENT IS FALLING APART . REASON : THE COMMUNISTS ARE SIMPLY IGNORING THE TRUCE, AS WELL AS THEIR LONGTIME ALLIANCE WITH NEUTRALIST PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA, AND ARE SEEKING TO WREST CONTROL OF THE VITAL PLAIN OF JARS IN CENTRAL LAOS FROM NEUTRALIST TROOPS . THOUGH AT FIRST SUSPICIOUS OF THE NEUTRALIST REGIME, RIGHTIST GENERAL PHOUMI NOSAVAN SENT FOUR BATTALIONS TO HELP IT . DESPITE SUCH ASSISTANCE, THE NEUTRALIST FORCES UNDER GENERAL KONG LE HAVE ONLY ONE STRATEGIC POSITION LEFT ON THE PLAIN PHOU THENENG MOUNTAIN AND ITS FOOTHILLS . LAST WEEK THE COMMUNIST PATHET LAO OPENED A HEAVY ARTILLERY BARRAGE ON KONG LE'S POSITION . " AT FIRST, THE COMMUNISTS WERE VERY GOOD TO US AND GAVE US SUPPLIES, " SAYS THE LITTLE GENERAL . " BUT NOW I KNOW THE PATHET LAO ARE NOT FIGHTING FOR LAOS BUT FOR COMMUNISM . WE DO NOT WANT LAOS TO BE CONTROLLED BY ANYONE, NOT THE COMMUNISTS OR THE AMERICANS . " OLD BATTLE SCAR . IN HIS OLIVE-DRAB HEADQUARTERS TENT ON THE PLAIN OF JARS, WEARING A T SHIRT, A PAIR OF LEVI'S AND RUBBER BATH SHOES, KONG LE PERCHES ON A STOOL MOROSELY STUDYING A MAP BENEATH THE LIGHT OF A SWAYING HURRICANE LAMP . THE PICTURE IS DISCOURAGING : THE PATHET LAO ARE ADVANCING IN THE VANG VIENG AREA, 13 NEUTRALIST SOLDIERS ARE MISSING AFTER AN ACTION AT BAN BOUA, A 100-TRUCK RED SUPPLY CONVOY FROM NORTH VIET NAM ARRIVED AT THE PATHET LAO HEADQUARTERS AT KHANG KHAY . AT SUCH NEWS, KONG LE IS APT TO WINCE, RUB AN OLD BATTLE SCAR ON HIS FOREHEAD AND SAY : " MY HEAD HURTS . " THEN HE USUALLY TAKES SOME PILLS, AND A BODYGUARD TREATS HIS SHOULDER WITH VICKS OINTMENT . WHILE THE NEUTRALISTS ARE INCREASINGLY " NEUTRAL " AGAINST THE REDS, PREMIER SOUVANNA PHOUMA CONTINUES TO INSIST ON A DEFENSIVE WAR, IS RELUCTANT TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE . " WHAT CAN I DO ? " MUSES KONG LE DESPONDENTLY . " THE PREMIER IS ALWAYS TELLING ME I MUST NOT ATTACK . IT IS VERY DIFFICULT . " LOCKED BRIEFCASES . KONG LE IS A MAGNET FOR SOME OF THE MOST IDEALISTIC MEN IN LAOS . SHORT (5 FT . 1 IN., 115 LBS.), QUIET AND GOOD-NATURED, HE NEITHER DRINKS, SMOKES NOR GAMBLES AND IS FANATIC ABOUT HEALTH, HONESTY AND CLEANLINESS . HE SHARES COMMON LAOTIAN SUPERSTITIONS, SUCH AS WEARING A " MAGIC " RING AND A WRIST AMULET TO PLACATE THE PHI (SPIRITS, EVIL OR OTHERWISE) . WITHOUT PERSONAL AMBITION, KONG LE SAYS THAT " WHEN LAOS IS FREE, " HE WILL GO HOME TO HIS VILLAGE AND BECOME A FARMER . IN THE FIELD, HE SHARES HIS TENT WITH THREE OFFICERS AND FOUR ENLISTED MEN . THEY MESS TOGETHER AROUND A CAMPFIRE, SING SAD LAOTIAN SONGS OR DANCE THE GRACEFUL LAMVONG, WHILE KONG LE, HOLDING TWO PET HAMSTERS IN HIS LAP, LOOKS ON . HIS POSSESSIONS ARE FEW : A DESK, A FOOTLOCKER, A TRANSISTOR RADIO (GIFT FROM THE U.S . AMBASSADOR), AND FIVE LOCKED BRIEFCASES, WHICH HE KEEPS UNDER HIS BUNK . OCCASIONALLY HE UNLOCKS ONE TO TAKE OUT NOT CONFIDENTIAL PAPERS BUT A HANDKERCHIEF AND A PAIR OF SOCKS, AND THEN CAREFULLY RELOCKS IT . WHILE ADMITTING HIS LEADERSHIP QUALITIES, WESTERN OBSERVERS ARE OFTEN DEPRESSED BY KONG LE'S LAOTIAN INDIFFERENCE TO DISCIPLINE AND LOGISTICS . ALTHOUGH SUPPLIES ARE AIRLIFTED TO THE NEUTRALISTS BY FIVE U.S.-LOANED C-46S FROM VIENTIANE, TRUCKS AND JEEPS BREAK DOWN FOR LACK OF PARTS . AMMUNITION DUMPS ARE LEFT UNGUARDED AND OPEN TO WEATHER . NEUTRALIST OFFICERS TALK TO EACH OTHER " IN THE CLEAR " ON FIELD RADIOS, LEAVE MARKED MAPS LYING AROUND, AND DRIVE AT NIGHT WITH HEADLIGHTS BLAZING . THE SUPPLY SYSTEM IS SO HAPHAZARD THAT OFTEN ONE UNIT OVERFLOWS WITH RICE RATIONS BUT LACKS BULLETS, WHILE ANOTHER IS LOADED WITH MUNITIONS BUT STARVES . NONE OF THE NEUTRALIST TROOPS HAVE BEEN PAID IN ALMOST A YEAR . SAYS KONG LE : / MY MEN ARE TIRED, BUT THEIR MORALE IS HIGH, AND THEY STILL HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT . " LONG SILENCE . THEY DEMONSTRATED THAT WILL, IN A LAOTIAN WAY, JUST TWO RIDGES BEYOND KONG LE'S HEADQUARTERS . OVER THE VELVETY LANDSCAPE AND THROUGH SOFT SUMMER RAIN ROLLED TWO TANKS AND AN ARMORED CAR CROWDED WITH NEUTRALIST SOLDIERS . THEIR OBJECTIVE WAS A PATHET LAO ARTILLERY EMPLACEMENT ON TOP OF A STEEP, CONICAL HILL . AS THE TANKS CHUGGED UP THE FIRST RISE, A HERD OF WILD PONIES STAMPEDED AWAY FROM THEM . ONE TANK AND THE ARMORED CAR SOON HALTED, BUT THE SECOND TANK LABORED UPWARD, FOLLOWED BY A SKIRMISH LINE OF SCRAMBLING SOLDIERS . MOMENTS LATER, THE PATHET LAO GUN FLASHED, AND THE TANK FIRED BACK . BOTH MISSED . IT SOON BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE COMMUNIST GUN COULD NOT BE DEPRESSED SUFFICIENTLY TO GET THE TANK IN ITS SIGHTS . EVEN SO, BOTH SIDES FIRED FUTILELY FOR TWO HOURS . THEN THE TANK RUMBLED AROUND A SIDE OF THE HILL, AND THE NEUTRALIST SOLDIERS VANISHED AMONG THE TREES . A LONG SILENCE FOLLOWED . THE PALE SUN SHONE THROUGH SHOWERS, AND A RAINBOW BRIEFLY APPEARED OVER THE PURPLE MOUNTAINS . TWO OF THE WILD PONIES RETURNED AND BEGAN GRAZING . THE BATTLE SIMPLY BLURRED INTO THE GENERAL DRIFT OF EVENTS IN LAOS .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE HEART OF QUANG DUC HEADS BOWED, PALMS PRESSED TOGETHER IN PRAYER, THOUSANDS OF BUDDHISTS FILED QUIETLY THROUGH SAIGON'S XA LOI PAGODA LAST WEEK TO WITNESS WHAT MOST OF THEM BELIEVED TO BE A MIRACLE . AMID THE FRAGRANCE OF INCENSE-BURNING REEDS, YELLOWROBED PRIESTS CHANTED FROM SUNRISE TO MIDNIGHT, LAYMEN GAZED IN AWE, AND WEEPING WOMEN HELD CHILDREN UP TO SEE IT ALL . ON THE ALTAR, INSIDE A CRYSTAL URN, WHICH IN TURN WAS ENCASED IN A BOUQUETFLANKED GLASS CHEST, LAY THE OBJECT OF THEIR REVERENCE A CHARRED PIECE OF FLESH . UNDER IT A HAND-LETTERED SIGN ANNOUNCED : " THE ETERNAL HEAT OF HIGH PRIEST QUANG DUC . " TWO WEEKS EARLIER, TO DRAMATIZE THE BUDDHIST MAJORITY'S FIGHT FOR GREATER RELIGIOUS FREEDOM UNDER SOUTH VIET NAM'S ROMAN CATHOLIC PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM, A 73-YEAR-OLD BUDDHIST MONK NAMED THICH QUANG DUC HAD SPECTACULARLY SET HIMSELF AFIRE IN A SAIGON STREET . LATER THE MARTYR'S SCORCHED REMAINS WERE ASSIGNED TO FINAL CREMATION IN A RICE FIELD OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL . BUT, AS THE PRIESTS TOLD IT, WHEN THE OLD MAN'S ASHES WERE REMOVED FROM THE OVEN, HIS HEART EMERGED MIRACULOUSLY UNDESTROYED OBVIOUSLY THE SUPERNATURAL WORK OF BUDDHA . IMMEDIATELY, HIS FELLOW MONKS PROCLAIMED QUANG DUC A SAINT . SKEPTICS SUGGESTED THE QUANG DUC'S HEART HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE BODY BEFORE CREMATION, OR HAD BEEN INJECTED WITH A FIRE-RESISTING FLUID . CERTAINLY THE PHENOMENON WAS FAR FROM ORIGINAL ; DOWN THROUGH THE AGES, IN LEGEND AND FACT, THE HEARTS OF HEROIC FIGURES HAVE MORE THAN ONCE WITHSTOOD THE FLAMES.* BUT THE " MIRACLE " SERVES THE BUDDHISTS IN THEIR TWO-MONTH-OLD WAR WITH DIEM . THANKS PARTLY TO PRESSURE FROM THE U.S., WHICH FEARS THAT MASSIVE BUDDHIST DISAFFECTION COULD WRECK SOUTH VIET NAM'S LONG, VITAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS, THE DIEM GOVERNMENT SIGNED A COMPROMISE AGREEING TO LET THE BUDDHISTS FLY THEIR OWN FLAG AND PROMISING TO EASE ANTI-BUDDHIST DISCRIMINATION E REGIME FAILS TO SHOW GOOD FAITH, THE BUDDHISTS VOW, THEY WILL START NEW DEMONSTRATIONS AND THEY ARE COUNTING ON THE SYMBOL OF QUANG DUC'S DURABLE HEART TO HELP KEEP THE FAITHFUL INSPIRED . WHEN GAUTAMA BUDDHA'S BODY WAS CREMATED, TRADITION HAS IT, SOME PARTS OF IT FAILED TO BURN . JOAN OF ARC'S HEART IS SAID TO HAVE SURVIVED HER BURNING AT THE STAKE AND BEEN THROWN INTO THE SEINE . WHEN PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY DROWNED OFF ITALY IN 1822, THREE LITERARY FRIENDS LORD BYRON, EDWARD JOHN TRELAWNY AND LEIGH HUNT CREMATED THE CORPSE ON A PYRE OF DRIFTWOOD . THE JOB ALMOST DONE, TRELAWNY SUDDENLY THRUST IN HIS ARM AND SNATCHED OUT THE HEART, WHICH, ALTHOUGH FIERY HOT, WAS STRANGELY UNCONSUMED . IN OSCAR WILDE'S FAIRY TALE, THE HAPPY PRINCE, THE STATUE'S BROKEN HEART FAILS TO MELT IN THE FURNACE .
 COMMUNISTS THE CONFRONTATION A TROUPE OF PATAGONIAN JUGGLERS WOULD HAVE RECEIVED A WARMER WELCOME FROM THE KREMLIN . NOT A SINGLE SOVIET REPORTER OR PHOTOGRAPHER WAS ON HAND WHEN THE MEN FROM PEKING APPEARED AT MOSCOW AIRPORT ; PRAVDA DID NOT EVEN MENTION THEIR ARRIVAL . AFTER MONTHS OF INVECTIVE, ACCUSATIONS AND COUNTERACCUSATIONS, THE GREAT CONFRONTATION BETWEEN SOVIET AND CHINESE PARTY DELEGATIONS WAS FINALLY AT HAND . EAST AND WEST WATCHED THE SHOWDOWN OR WHAT COULD BE SEEN OF IT WITH EQUAL FASCINATION . ALTHOUGH NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV SUDDENLY DISCOVERED URGENT BUSINESS IN KIEV, THE KREMLIN WAS STIFFLY CORRECT ABOUT IT ALL, SENT OUT ITS CHIEF DIALECTICIAN, LANKY, AUSTERE MIKHAIL SUSLOV, TO MEET THE VISITORS . HEAD OF PEKING'S SEVEN-MAN MISSION : TENG HSIAO-PING, SECRETARYGENERAL OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY . AS TENG STEPPED OUT OF A SOVIET TU-104 JET, A CROWD OF CHINESE RESIDENTS IN MOSCOW, WATCHED CLOSELY BY A CHINESE ARMY COLONEL, SENT UP A CHEER . SUSLOV SMILED, STEPPED FORWARD AND SHOOK TENG'S HAND . BUT THE RUSSIAN OMITTED THE USUAL BRIEF WELCOMING ADDRESS, INSTEAD POLITELY SUGGESTED THAT TENG MIGHT LIKE A TWO-HOUR REST BEFORE GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS . WHEN A CHINESE DELEGATE REMARKED ON THE CHILLY 57O TEMPERATURE, A MUSCOVITE RED REPLIED : " WE HOPE IT WILL GET WARMER . " FRESH INSULTS . IN ONE SENSE, THINGS UNDOUBTEDLY GOT WARMER WHEN BOTH SIDES MET BEHIND THE MASSIVE WALLS OF A RARELY USED MANSION IN THE LENIN HILLS SECTION OF MOSCOW . SUSLOV AND TENG EXCHANGED TOASTS, BUT THAT WAS JUST ROUTINE . FOR UNDER THE POSE OF POLITENESS, THE SINO-SOVIET QUARREL WAS BECOMING RUDER THAN EVER . WITHOUT EXPLANATION, PEKING SUDDENLY WITHDREW ITS TWO ENTRIES FROM AN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ABOUT TO OPEN IN MOSCOW . AND JUST BEFORE THE PARTY LEADERS MET, KHRUSHCHEV AND MAO TSE-TUNG EXCHANGED A FRESH ROUND OF INSULTS OVER RED CHINA'S 25-POINT DENUNCIATION OF SOVIET POLICY . ALTHOUGH THE SOVIETS THEMSELVES REFUSED TO PUBLISH IT, MOSCOW COMPLAINED LAST WEEK THAT CHINESE AGENTS HANDED OUT THE DOCUMENT IN CITIES FROM ODESSA TO LENINGRAD AND EVEN IN THE ATOMIC RESEARCH CENTER OF DUBNA, NEAR MOSCOW . CHINESE CREWS ON THE PEKING-MOSCOW EXPRESS SCATTERED BUNDLES OF THE MANIFESTO THROUGH COACH WINDOWS, USED THE TRAIN'S PUBLIC-ADDRESS SYSTEM TO READ THE CHINESE CHARGES TO THE CAPTIVE SOVIET AUDIENCE . AFTER MOSCOW EXPELLED THREE CHINESE DIPLOMATS FOR HAVING A HAND IN THIS EXTRAORDINARY CIRCULATION CAMPAIGN, PEKING OSTENTATIOUSLY WELCOMED THEM HOME WITH BOUQUETS OF FLOWERS . AT THE SAME TIME, THE CHINESE CONDEMNED THE SOVIET MOVE AS A VIOLATION OF ITS RIGHT, AS A GOVERNMENT, TO CIRCULATE STATEMENTS ABROAD . NONSENSE, REPLIED THE SOVIETS . WHAT GAVE THE CHINESE THE IDEA THAT THEY COULD " BEHAVE AS THOUGH THEY WERE IN ONE OF THE PROVINCES OF CHINA ? " SUCH TACTICS, FUMED THE KREMLIN, WERE PLAINLY A VIOLATION OF SOVIET SOVEREIGNTY : " IT IS OBVIOUS THAT INSTEAD OF SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO A RAPPROCHEMENT, THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP AIMS AT AGGRAVATING DIFFERENCES . " EQUALLY MATCHED . IF THAT WAS PEKING'S PURPOSE, IT COULD FIND NO BETTER MAN THAN TENG . SHORT, STOCKY, IN HIS 60S, TENG WAS BELIEVED BADLY CRIPPLED IN THE CHINESE CIVIL WAR, STILL HAS A LIMP AND A NERVOUS TIC WHEN HE SPEAKS WHICH DOES NOT KEEP HIM FROM SPEAKING OFTEN AND ABRASIVELY . NO STRANGER TO THE RUSSIANS, HE ATTENDED TWO PREVIOUS MOSCOW MEETINGS ON THE SPLIT IN 1957 AND IN 1960 . A VETERAN OF MAO'S LONG MARCH TO YENAN IN THE 1930S, TENG CAME TO PROMINENCE AS A POLITICAL COMMISSAR IN THE ARMY, SINCE 1952 HAS RISEN TO A PLACE AMONG THE TOP FOUR OR FIVE MEN IN RED CHINA'S HIERARCHY . IN PRESTIGE AND PERSONALITY HE IS A MATCH FOR SUSLOV, 60, WHO FOR YEARS WAS STALIN'S IDEOLOGICAL MOUTHPIECE, AND NOW SUPPLIES KHRUSHCHEV WITH THE THEORETICAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR POLITICAL STRATEGY . INEVITABLY, WESTERN DIPLOMATS SPECULATED WHETHER THE RED CHINESE AND THE SOVIETS WOULD SEVER PARTY CONNECTIONS OR DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, CARRY THE FEUD TO A SUMMIT SESSION OF WORLD COMMUNIST LEADERS, OR MERELY AGREE TO CONTINUE TO BE DISAGREEABLE . WHATEVER HAPPENED, THE GRAVEST SCHISM IN THE HISTORY OF COMMUNISM WAS AT HAND .
 WHAT THEY ARE FIGHTING ABOUT AT ITS SIMPLEST, THE RUSSIAN-CHINESE QUARREL IS OVER WHAT STRATEGY TO FOLLOW TOWARD THE ULTIMATE VICTORY OF COMMUNISM AND OVER WHO SHALL BE IN CHARGE OF OPERATIONS . BUT BENEATH THIS THERE LIES A FAR DEEPER SPLIT : THE SPLIT BETWEEN COMMUNIST THEORY AND HUMAN REALITY . EVER SINCE KARL MARX PREDICTED THAT THE REVOLUTION WOULD BREAK OUT IN INDUSTRIALLY ADVANCED WESTERN EUROPE, WHILE IT ACTUALLY CAME IN BACKWARD, AGRICULTURAL RUSSIA, SUCH CONTRADICTIONS HAVE HAUNTED COMMUNISM . TODAY, ACCORDING TO MARXIST THEORY, CAPITALISM SHOULD BE IN ITS DEATH THROES, THE WORKING CLASS IN UTTER MISERY, AND THE FORMER COLONIAL PEOPLES WELL ON THE ROAD TO COMMUNISM . INSTEAD, CAPITALISM IS THRIVING, WESTERN WORKERS ARE GOING MIDDLE-CLASS, AND THE EX-COLONIES TEND TOWARD SOCIALISM BUT HARDLY TOWARD COMMUNISM . NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV FAVORS CHANGING THE THEORY TO FIT THESE FACTS MORE CLOSELY ; HE IS, AS PEKING ACCURATELY CHARGES, A REVISIONIST . MAO TSE-TUNG FAVORS CHANGING THE FACTS TO FIT THE THEORY ; HE IS, AS MOSCOW SAYS, A DOGMATIST . BUT BOTH ARE ALSO REALISTS, MOTIVATED BY DIFFERENT NATIONAL INTERESTS, DIFFERENT ECONOMIES, AND DIFFERENT HISTORIES . KHRUSHCHEV, THE RULER OF A NATION THAT HAS AT LAST BEGUN TO GAIN SOME MATERIAL REWARDS, ARGUES THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN WAR OR REVOLUTION BUT IN PEACEFUL PROSPERITY, AND THAT ROCKETRATTLING WILL ONLY DRIVE MILLIONS AWAY FROM COMMUNISM . MAO, RULER OF A COUNTRY WITH A LOT LESS TO LOSE, MASTER OF A PEASANTRY WHOSE APPETITES DEMAND A BOWL OF RICE, NOT A TV SET OR A CAR, REPLIES IN EFFECT THAT HE IS NOT RUNNING A POPULARITY CONTEST WITH THE WEST . POWER CANNOT BE WON BY WOOING ADHERENTS BUT BY FIGHTING FOR IT OTHERWISE COMMUNISM WILL ATROPHY . FROM THE GOLDEN HORDE TO YENAN MARXISM PRETENDS THAT IT RAISES PEOPLE ABOVE RACE AND NATION, BUT MOSCOW AND PEKING ARE DIVIDED BY RACIAL HOSTILITY AND MEMORIES OF CONFLICT, WHICH WOULD PERSIST EVEN IF IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES COULD BE IRONED OUT . RUSSIA HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN THE GOLDEN HORDE OF GENGHIS KHAN, WHICH SWEPT WEST FROM MONGOLIA IN THE 13TH CENTURY, CONSCRIPTING VOLGA BOATMEN INTO THE KHAN'S ARMY AND FORCING LOCAL PRINCES TO KOWTOW . WHEN, AFTER 200 YEARS, THE MONGOL EMPIRE COLLAPSED, THE NEWLY UNITED RUSSIANS LOST NO TIME IN GETTING EVEN . " WEHRE IS CHINA ? " ASKED CZAR MIKHAIL ROMANOV . " IS IT RICH ? WHAT CAN WE LAY CLAIM TO ? " RUSSIAN CLAIMS (MANCHURIA, OUTER MONGOLIA, SINKIANG) CAUSED FRICTION FOR CENTURIES, DOWN TO THE PRESENT . AS LATE AS 1949, WHEN THE CHINESE REDS HAD VIRTUALLY CONQUERED THE MAINLAND FROM THE NATIONALISTS, MOSCOW WAS STILL DICKERING FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS . THE CHINESE STILL SNEER AT THE RUSSIANS AS " BIG NOSES " AND CONSIDER THEM AS ALIEN AS OTHER WESTERNERS . MOREOVER, THE POPULATION PRESSURE ALONG THE SINO-SOVIET BORDER IS A CONSTANT MENACE TO MOSCOW ; BY 1980 THERE WILL BE 1 BILLION CHINESE . WHEN A BRITISH VISITOR SUGGESTED TO KHRUSHCHEV NOT LONG AGO THAT THE CHINESE MASSES WOULD EVENTUALLY EXPLODE NORTH INTO SIBERIA OR SOUTH TO AUSTRALIA, NIKITA REPLIED GRIMLY : " I'M IN FAVOR OF AUSTRALIA . " FROM THE START, RUSSIAN NATIONAL INTERESTS ALSO SHAPED MOSCOW'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS . IN THE 1920S, STALIN RUTHLESSLY SACRIFICED MAO'S COMMUNIST MOVEMENT TO CHIANG KAISHEK, WHOM HE SUPPORTED BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED HIM A STRONG SOVIET ALLY WHO WOULD FIGHT BOTH WESTERN AND JAPANESE THREATS TO RUSSIAN POWER . DECIMATED BY CHIANG, THE RAGGED CHINESE COMMUNISTS SURVIVED IN THE CAVES OF YENAN AND EVENTUALLY WENT ON TO CONQUER CHINA, DESPITE STALIN'S WARNING THAT THEY WERE BACKWARD AND NOT READY FOR REVOLUTION . AFTER THE WAR, STALIN SENT MAO A RUSSIAN HANDBOOK OF PARTISAN STRATEGY AGAINST THE NAZIS ; MAO PASSED IT TO AN AIDE WHO SNORTED : " IF WE HAD THIS AS OUR TEXTBOOK WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ANNIHILATED TEN YEARS AGO . THUS MAO WAS BEHOLDEN NO ONE, LEAST OF ALL STALIN, FOR HIS VICTORY . YET IRONICALLY, THE FIRST OPEN IDEOLOGICAL CRACK IN THE MOSCOW-PEKING PARTNERSHIP CAME OVER KHRUSHCHEV'S 1956 DENUNCIATION OF STALIN . FROM " SECRET SPEECH " TO SPUTNIK MAO HAD SENT A MESSAGE TO THE 20TH PARTY CONGRESS LAVISHLY PRAISING THE DEAD DICTATOR . WITHOUT BOTHERING TO CONSULT THE CHINESE, KHRUSHCHEV DELIVERED HIS FAMED " SECRET SPEECH " TO THE CONGRESS, IN WHICH HE SUDDENLY UNMASKED STALIN AS A MEGALOMANICAL TYRANT . PEKING WAS STUNNED . MAO FELT CORRECTLY, AS WAS PROVED A FEW MONTHS LATER BY THE UPRISINGS IN POLAND AND HUNGARY THAT THE DESTALINIZATION DRIVE WOULD TOUCH OFF A WAVE OF UNREST . EVEN THOUGH STALIN HAD BULLIED AND BETRAYED THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS (AS WELL AS HELPED THEM, AT A PRICE, DURING THE KOREAN WAR), MAO BELIEVED IN STALIN'S PRINCIPLE OF CENTRALIZED RULE, PREFERRED A STABLE RED EMPIRE TO ONE IN FERMENT . THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE HASTILY CALLED A SECRET SESSION ; A MONTH LATER, RED CHINA DEFIANTLY ANNOUNCED THAT, DESPITE WHAT THE KREMLIN HAD TO SAY, STALIN'S ACHIEVEMENTS OUTWEIGHED HIS ERRORS . ON FOREIGN POLICY PEKING AGREED FOR THE MOMENT TO BACK KHRUSHCHEV'S TALK OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WITH THE WEST, SINCE MAO HIMSELF WAS THEN ENERGETICALLY PUSHING THE " BANDUNG SPIRIT " OF SWEET NEIGHBORLINESS IN ASIA . EVEN THIS QUALIFIED SUPPORT FOR THE KREMLIN DISAPPEARED WHEN, IN AUGUST 1957, THE SOVIET UNION TEST-FIRED ITS FIRST ICBM AND TWO MONTHS LATER LAUNCHED SPUTNIK . RUSSIAN ROCKETRY, PEKING DECIDED, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY GAVE THE COMMUNIST CAMP MILITARY SUPERIORITY OVER THE WEST ; THE REDS MUST NOW SEIZE THE ADVANTAGE BY FOMENTING REVOLUTIONS IN UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS, EVEN AT THE RISK OF WAR . INSTEAD, KHRUSHCHEV PURSUED A DETENTE WITH THE WEST . IN 1958 HE AGREED TO A MORATORIUM ON NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE ATMOSPHERE (BROKEN IN 1961), PARTLY DESIGNED TO FREEZE OUT PEKING AS AN ATOMIC POWER . WHEN THE CHINESE WANTED RUSSIAN ATOMIC COVER FOR A MOVE AGAINST THE OFFSHORE ISLANDS AND FORMOSA, MOSCOW REFUSED . FROM GREAT LEAP TO GREAT BRAWL MEANWHILE, THE RUSSIANS DID NOT SEEM EAGER TO HELP THEIR CHINESE BROTHERS WITH THEIR GROWING INTERNAL ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES . WHILE KHRUSHCHEV WOOED NEUTRALIST INDIA AND EGYPT WITH AID, AND EVEN BROUGHT HIS MONEYBAGS ON A PILGRIMAGE TO THAT RENEGADE RED, TITO, NOT AN ADDITIONAL RUBLE WAS ALLOTTED TO MAO . THE RED CHINESE USED THE ONLY SURPLUS RAW MATERIAL AT THEIR COMMAND : PEOPLE . MILLIONS OF PEASANTS WERE HERDED INTO PEOPLE'S COMMUNES AND HITCHED TO PLOWS . PEKING BROKE UP FAMILIES, TRIED TO BAN MONEY, JERRY-BUILT HUNDREDS OF " BACKYARD " STEEL FURNACES . THE SLOGAN WAS : " COMMUNISM CAN GROW GRAIN AND MAKE STEEL . " THROUGH BRAWN AND " REVOLUTIONARY ROMANTICISM " CHINA WAS TO TURN ALMOST OVERNIGHT INTO AN INDUSTRIALIZED LAND . THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD WAS HAILED AS A SHORT CUT TO COMMUNISM AND A SLAP AT MOSCOW . KHRUSHCHEV WARNED THAT IT COULD NOT BE DONE . AFTER A FEW MONTHS THE EXPERIMENT INDEED COLLAPSED . GLOATING OVER THE FAILURE, KHRUSHCHEV TOLD VISITING HUBERT HUMPHREY THAT MAO'S IDEA HAD BEEN FOOLISHLY " UTOPIAN . " BY THE TIME NIKITA SHOWED UP IN PEKING IN 1959, FRESH FROM HIS TOUR OF THE U.S . AND THE MEETING WITH IKE AT CAMP DAVID, HE WAS BARELY ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH HIS HOSTS . THE AIRPORT WAS DECORATED WITH HUGE POSTERS OF STALIN ; ON THE WAY TO TOWN, KHRUSHCHEV AND MAO BEGAN AN ARGUMENT THAT LASTED FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS . WHEN THE SOVIET RULER LEFT, NOT EVEN THE NICETIES OF A FORMAL COMMUNIQUE WERE OBSERVED . BY EARLY 1960 MAO HAD CLEARLY GIVEN UP HOPE OF PERSUADING KHRUSHCHEV TO CHANGE HIS FLEXIBLE COLD WAR POLICY, AND BEGAN AN ALL-OUT CHINESE OFFENSIVE DESIGNED TO TOPPLE KHRUSHCHEV FROM POWER . IT WAS ALSO THE START OF AN ENDLESS ARGUMENT ABOUT WHETHER AUTHORITY FOR MOSCOW'S " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " OR PEKING'S " INEVITABILITY OF WAR " COULD BE FOUND IN THE SACRED LENIN TEXTS . ACTUALLY LENIN, AND EVEN STALIN, HAD ARGUED BOTH WAYS AT VARIOUS TIMES, DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS AND MOSCOW POINTED OUT THAT CONDITIONS WERE CERTAINLY DIFFERENT IN THE NUCLEAR AGE . WHEN MAO'S MEN CARRIED THE ATTACK INTO A MEETING OF WORLD COMMUNIST LEADERS IN BUCHAREST IN JUNE, KHRUSHCHEV WAS INCENSED . " ONE CANNOT MECHANICALLY REPEAT WHAT LENIN SAID DECADES AGO, " HE SHOUTED . " WE LIVE IN A TIME WHEN NEITHER MARX NOR ENGELS NOR LENIN IS WITH US . IF WE ACT LIKE CHILDREN WHO STUDY THE ALPHABET BY BUILDING WORDS OUT OF LETTERS, WE SHALL NOT GET VERY FAR . " A FULL-DRESS SUMMIT SESSION OF 81 COMMUNIST PARTIES IN MOSCOW IN NOVEMBER 1960 PRODUCED A STATEMENT (ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY, OF COURSE) THAT MERELY LUMPED TOGETHER THESE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED OPINIONS . THEN LAST FALL, THE RED CHINESE INVASION OF INDIA ONLY SERVED TO JUSTIFY KHRUSHCHEV'S VIEW THAT MAO WAS A RECKLESS FANATIC, AND MOSCOW OSTENTATIOUSLY FAILED TO BACK PEKING . AS FOR KHRUSHCHEV'S WITHDRAWAL OF SOVIET MISSILES FROM CUBA, THE MANEUVER CONFIRMED MAO'S WORST FEARS ABOUT VACILLATING KREMLIN LEADERSHIP, LEANING FIRST TO " ADVENTURISM, " THEN TO " CAPITULATIONISM . " THUNDERED PEKING : " IT IS 100 PER CENT APPEASEMENT . A MUNICH PURE AND SIMPLE . IMPERIALISM IS ONLY A PAPER TIGER . " TO WHICH KHRUSHCHEV REPLIED : " THE PAPER TIGER HAS NUCLEAR TEETH . ONLY A MADMAN WOULD SPEAK OF A NEW WORLD WAR . " AND THAT IS ESSENTIALLY WHERE THE ARGUMENT STILL STANDS . FROM VISION TO DANGER TIME WAS WHEN WESTERN SKEPTICS WONDERED WHETHER THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT WAS REAL . KHRUSHCHEV, THEY FIGURED, MIGHT BE RELATIVELY NICE TO THE WEST ONLY LONG ENOUGH TO WANGLE SOME CONCESSIONS ON NATO OR NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL ; THEN MAO WOULD STEP IN AND TOGETHER THEY WOULD DEMOLISH THE FREE WORLD . TODAY IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT THE QUARREL IS MERELY AN ACT . IN FACT, THERE IS A GROWING VISION SHARED BY SUCH DISPARATE PROPHETS AS ARNOLD TOYNBEE AND CHARLES DE GAULLE OF RUSSIA AND THE WEST SOME DAY STANDING TOGETHER AS ALLIES AGAINST CHINA . STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED IN HISTORY . YET THE VISION HAS ITS DANGERS . THE WEST HAS ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLY MOVED INTO A NEW ERA OF SOFTNESS TOWARD COMMUNISM . FEW ANY LONGER TALK OF DEFEATING COMMUNISM ; COEXISTENCE IS MORE OR LESS ACCEPTED IN THE WEST . THIS MAY BE ONLY REALISTIC IN THE NUCLEAR AGE . BUT ALL OVER THE WEST THERE IS A CREEPING NOTION THAT KHRUSHCHEV'S KIND OF COMMUNISM CAN BE LIVED WITH THAT ONLY PEKING'S IS REALLY BAD AND THIS HAS TAKEN MUCH STEAM OUT OF THE ANTI-COMMUNIST POSITION . NIKITA'S " REASONABLE " APPROACH HAS HELPED THE ITALIAN REDS GAIN STRENGTH, HAS REVIVED DREAMS OF A NEW POPULAR FRONT AMONG ONCE SOLIDLY ANTI-COMMUNIST FRENCH SOCIALISTS, HAS EVEN PROMPTED BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PAUL HENRI SPAAK TO SAY THAT THE REMOVAL OF U.S . NUCLEAR STOCKPILES FROM WESTERN EUROPE MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A BAD IDEA AFTER ALL . THESE ARE ONLY MODEST RED GAINS . BUT KHRUSHCHEV CAN POINT TO THEM TO ARGUE PLAUSIBLY THAT HE IS NOT NEARLY SO BAD A COMMUNIST STRATEGIST AS PEKING MAKES HIM OUT TO BE
 WESTERN EUROPE THE UNVISIT ARRIVING IN BONN JUST 13 DAYS AFTER PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S TRIUMPHANT VISIT, CHARLES DE GAULLE MADE NO EFFORT TO ENTER A POPULARITY CONTEST . BOTH FRENCH AND GERMANS LEGITIMATELY EMPHASIZED THAT THE TWO-DAY TRIP WAS ONLY A " WORKING VISIT " AS STIPULATED BY THE BRAND-NEW FRANCO-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP TREATY . AS FAR AS PROTOCOL AND THE PUBLIC WERE CONCERNED, IT WAS EVEN A KIND OF UNVISIT NO PARADES, NO CROWDS . THE BONN PRESS PREDICTED THAT DE GAULLE WOULD TRY TO WHIP THE GERMANS INTO LINE IN CASE THEY HAD GOT TOO FRIENDLY TOWARD THE U.S . HE WAS NOT AS CRUDE AS THAT . BUT HE HAD BEEN STUNG BY KENNEDY'S FRANKFURT SPEECH ABOUT ATLANTIC UNITY (ALTHOUGH DISMISSING IT AS " SALADE, SALADE, SALADE " ), AND DE GAULLE OBVIOUSLY WANTED TO FIND OUT IN BONN IF THE GERMANS HAD BEEN SUFFICIENTLY IMPRESSED BY IT TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE FRANCO-GERMAN ALLIANCE . ANSWER : THE GERMANS WERE JUST ABOUT STANDING STILL . THEY CHIDED DE GAULLE AND HIS TOP MINISTERS FOR THE ANNOUNCED WITHDRAWAL OF FRENCH NAVAL UNITS FROM THE NATO FLEET BUT DID NOT PRESS HIM ON THE QUESTION OF BRITAIN'S EVENTUAL ADMISSION TO THE COMMON MARKET . THERE WAS SOME HAGGLING ON AGRICULTURE ; BECAUSE OF A PRICE-DEPRESSING AGRICULTURAL SURPLUS, WHICH CAUSED FARM RIOTS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE LAST WEEK, THE FRENCH HAD JUST CLOSED THEIR BORDERS TO IMPORTS OF TOMATOES AND APRICOTS, WITHOUT NOTIFYING THE COMMON MARKET . THE ONLY REALLY SUBSTANTIVE AGREEMENT : A MASSIVE YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAM . AMONG OTHER THINGS, DE GAULLE WANTED TO GET TO KNOW VICE CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD, THE MAN WHO WILL TAKE OVER FROM KONRAD ADENAUER NEXT FALL . THEY HAD AN HOUR'S " FRIENDLY / ACTUALLY, THEY TALKED PAST EACH OTHER . DE GAULLE KEPT STRESSING THE MYSTIQUE OF EUROPE, WHILE ERHARD TRIED TO TALK ECONOMICS BUT FOUND THAT THE GENERAL WAS AS LITTLE INTERESTED IN SUCH MATTERS AS THE CHANCELLOR . AS FOR THE FRANCO-GERMAN TREATY, DE GAULLE MANAGED TO SOUND BOTH HOPEFUL AND CASUAL . " TREATIES, " HE SAID WITH A SHRUG, " ARE LIKE ROSES AND YOUNG GIRLS . THEY LAST WHILE THEY LAST . /
 WORLD LAW " FOR CIVILIZED EXISTENCE " SOMEONE ONCE ASKED SOLON HOW JUSTICE COULD BE ACHIEVED IN ATHENS . " IT CAN BE ACHIEVED, " REPLIED THE GREAT LAWMAKER, IN SUBSTANCE, " IF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY A WRONG ARE JUST AS INDIGNANT ABOUT IT AS THOSE WHO ARE PERSONALLY HURT . " THIS GENERALIZED PASSION FOR JUSTICE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HARD STANDARD TO LIVE UP TO, BUT U.S . CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN CITED IT LAST WEEK TO SET THE THEME FOR A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF JURISTS THAT CONVENED LAST WEEK IN SOLON'S CITY . FORMAL TITLE : " FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON WORLD PEACE THROUGH LAW . " CEREMONIALLY WELCOMED BY THE KING AND QUEEN OF GREECE IN THE MARBLE HALLS OF THE ATHENS HILTON WERE 1,000 JURISTS FROM 105 NATIONS . THE CONFERENCE WAS THE CULMINATION OF A MOVEMENT LAUNCHED FIVE YEARS AGO BY WORLD-LAWMAN CHARLES SYLVANUS RHYNE, PAST PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, AND FOLLOWED A SERIES OF PREPARATORY SESSIONS IN COSTA RICA, JAPAN, NIGERIA AND ITALY . SAID RHYNE IN HIS KEYNOTE ADDRESS : " WE SHARE ONE GREAT IDEAL WHICH TRANSCENDS OUR DIVERSITY A BELIEF THAT IN THE RULE OF LAW LIES THE ROUTE TO WORLD PEACE . " WORLD LAW, RHYNE CAUTIONED, SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT OF AS " A DRAMATIC PANACEA OR CURE-ALL FOR THE WORLD'S ILLS, BUT RATHER A PATIENT LABOR DEMANDING IMMENSE AND CONSTANT EFFORT TO DEVELOP THE TRUE BASIS FOR CIVILIZED PROGRESS AND EXISTENCE . " SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS . HENRY R . LUCE, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF TIME INC., RECALLED THE BIBLICAL PASSAGE, " BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS " AND POINTED OUT : PEACE HAS TO BE MADE . PEACE CANNOT MERELY BE KEPT NOT FOR LONG BY FORCE OF ARMS . NEITHER WILL PEACE BE GIVEN TO US AS AN UNDESERVED GIFT FROM HEAVEN . OVERWHELMINGLY, PEACE IS THE WORK OF JUSTICE, AND THE WORK OF JUSTICE IS MAINLY THE WORK OF THE LAW . " LUCE URGED HIS LISTENERS TO CARRY THE CASE FOR WORLD LAW " TO ALL POLITICIANS AND TO ALL THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD . " SAID HE : " SO FAR AS I KNOW, NO PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER HAS PUT THE RULE OF LAW AT THE TOP OF HIS POLITICAL BANNER, " BUT THE " RULE OF LAW CAN BECOME GOOD POLITICS . " IN SIX DAYS OF DELIBERATIONS, THE JURISTS MODESTLY BEGAN " THE WORK OF THE LAW " BY SURVEYING THE WORLD'S EXISTING LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND MAKING SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT . MAIN CONCLUSIONS : .THE UNITED NATIONS . REALLY TO BE " MANKIND'S BEST HOPE FOR A PEACEFUL WORLD, " IT NEEDS MORE MUSCLE . U.N . PEACE-KEEPING EFFORTS SHOULD BE CODIFIED, A PERMANENT " PEACE POLICE FORCE " CREATED, AND THE SECURITY COUNCIL ENLARGED . THE CONFERENCE RECOMMENDED PARTIAL ABOLITION OF THE VETO : HENCEFORTH IT SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED WHEN A DISPUTE CAN BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY . BUT THERE WAS PLAINLY NO DESIRE TO GET INVOLVED IN THE TOUCHY ISSUE OF U.N . FINANCING . .THE WORLD COURT . WITH MOST STATES (THE U.S . INCLUDED) RESERVING THE RIGHT TO IGNORE ITS JURISDICTION, IT HAS RENDERED ONLY 13 FINAL VERDICTS IN ITS 18 YEARS . MORE NATIONS SHOULD BOW TO IT, SUGGESTED THE ATHENS MEETING . THE COURT SHOULD BE EMPOWERED TO HEAR CASES BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS STATES ; AND THE POSSIBILITY OF " REGIONAL WORLD COURTS " SHOULD BE EXPLORED . .FOREIGN INVESTMENT & TRADE . BOTH SHOULD BE PROTECTED BY A FRAMEWORK OF MORE EFFICIENT LAW . STATUTES ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT SHOULD BE CODIFIED, AND SPECIAL COURTS CONSIDERED FOR SETTLING DISPUTES . NATIONAL COMMITTEES OF LAWYERS SHOULD BE SET UP TO STUDY THE LEGAL MACHINERY FOR TRADE, AND IMPROVED POLICING OF INTERNATIONAL PATENTS . . SPACE . THE NEWEST FRONTIER PROVOKED MORE QUESTIONS THAN RECOMMENDATIONS . WHERE DOES AIRSPACE (OVER WHICH NATIONS EXERT SOVEREIGNTY) END, AND OUTER SPACE (WHICH NO COUNTRY HAS YET CLAIMED) BEGIN ? ARE THE MOON AND PLANETS OPEN DOMAIN LIKE COLUMBUS' NEW WORLD, WHERE THE HOISTING OF FLAG AND CROSS WAS SUFFICIENT TO ESTABLISH SOVEREIGNTY ? ON THE LATTER, THE CONFERENCE SAID NO THAT THE U.N . SHOULD BE GRANTED SOVEREIGNTY OVER ALL OBJECTS OF OUTER SPACE, NO MATTER WHICH NATION'S SPACESHIPS LAND ON THEM FIRST . DELEGATES FURTHER SUGGESTED ADOPTION OF " THE PRINCIPLE OF LIABILITY FOR INJURY FROM SPACE ACCIDENTS, " URGED AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO FORGE A BODY OF SPACE LAW . SALVATION PROCLAMATION . AT WEEK'S END, THESE SIMILAR TOPICS WERE ADOPTED AS A " GLOBAL WORK PROGRAM . " THE JURISTS ALSO 1) AGREED TO FOUND A WORLD PEACE THROUGH LAW CENTER, TO BE ORGANIZED BY RHYNE, WHICH WILL SERVE AS A RESEARCH CLEARINGHOUSE FOR ALL THE WORLD'S LEGAL SYSTEMS, 2) SET IN MOTION PLANS FOR A WORLD RULE OF LAW YEAR, 3) DREW UP A " PROCLAMATION OF ATHENS, " STATING THEIR CASE BEFORE WORLD OPINION . " THIS CONFERENCE, " SAID THE PROCLAMATION, " BEING DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH THE FACT THAT VIOLATION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS CAN ONLY LEAD TO DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND THROUGH NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST, HEREBY PROCLAIMS THAT LAW MUST REPLACE FORCE AS THE CONTROLLING FACTOR IN THE FATE OF HUMANITY . " ONE MEASURE OF THE DIFFICULTY OF THAT TASK : ALTHOUGH INVITATIONS WENT TO ALL COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, NONE (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF YUGOSLAVIA) SENT DELEGATIONS TO ATHENS .
 GREAT BRITAIN AND THEN THERE WERE THREE HAROLD MACMILLAN VALIANTLY TRIED TO DIVERT BRITAIN'S MIND FROM SEX AND SECURITY . DISPLAYING SOMETHING LIKE HIS OLD FORM IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, HE DELIVERED AN ELOQUENT SPEECH ON PROSPECTS FOR DISARMAMENT AND A SUMMIT CONFERENCE THAT WAS RECEIVED RESPECTFULLY EVEN BY THE OPPOSITION . BUT MACMILLAN'S ELOQUENCE COULD NOT DIMINISH TORY DISTRESS OVER THE THREE SEPARATE SCANDALS THAT PLAGUED HIS GOVERNMENT . FIRST, OF COURSE, WAS THE CONTINUATION OF THE PROFUMO CASE . IN MARYLEBONE MAGISTRATES' COURT, OSTEOPATH STEPHEN WARD, MENTOR OF CHRISTINE KEELER AND FRIEND OF DISGRACED WAR SECRETARY JOHN PROFUMO, WAS ORDERED TO STAND TRIAL ON SEVEN CHARGES OF PROCURING, ARRANGING ABORTIONS, AND LIVING OFF THE EARNINGS OF PROSTITUTION . BY THE CLOSE OF THE THREE-DAY HEARING, MAGISTRATE LEO GRADWELL HAD PERMITTED NUMEROUS WITNESSES TO TESTIFY WITHOUT REVEALING THEIR IDENTITY, EVEN ALLOWED ONE WITNESS TO LEAVE THE COURT SHROUDED IN A TOPCOAT . NEXT, THERE WAS THE CASE OF ITALIAN NUCLEAR PHYSICIST GIUSEPPE ENRICO MARTELLI, WHO DENIED AT THE OLD BAILEY LAST WEEK THAT HE HAD PREPARED TO SPY FOR THE RUSSIANS, SAID THAT ON THE CONTRARY, FOR SEVEN YEARS HE HAD RESISTED RUSSIAN PRESSURE TO BECOME A RED AGENT . BUT THE CROWN CONTENDED THAT MARTELLI WAS CAUGHT WITH SHOES THAT HAD HOLLOWED-OUT SECRET COMPARTMENTS IN THE HEELS AND THAT HIS CIGARETTE PACKAGES CONTAINED WAFER-THIN PADS WITH SECRET CODES AND PASSWORDS . FINALLY, THERE WAS THE CASE OF HAROLD ADRIAN RUSSELL PHILBY, JOURNALIST, EX-FOREIGN OFFICE OFFICIAL, AND BOON COMPANION OF COMMUNIST SPIES GUY BURGESS AND DONALD MACLEAN, WHOSE REAPPEARANCE IN THE NEWS RECALLED THE MOST NOTORIOUS OF BRITAIN'S SEX-AND-SPY SCANDALS . OUT OF SIGHT . " KIM " PHILBY HAD KNOWN BURGESS SINCE UNDERGRADUATE DAYS AT CAMBRIDGE, WELCOMED HIM AS A BOARDER IN HIS HOUSE WHEN BOTH WERE STATIONED AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON IN 1950 . WHEN BURGESS AND MACLEAN ELOPED TO RUSSIA IN 1951, PHILBY WAS FORCED TO RESIGN FROM THE FOREIGN OFFICE AMIDST A FLURRY OF RUMORS THAT HE WAS " THE THIRD MAN " WHO HAD TIPPED THEM OFF THAT THE POLICE WERE ON THEIR TRAIL . LATER, THIS CHARGE WAS INDIGNANTLY DENIED BY HAROLD MACMILLAN, THEN FOREIGN SECRETARY, WHO PERSONALLY VOUCHED FOR PHILBY'S GOOD CHARACTER . THE FOREIGN OFFICE EVEN ASKED THE OBSERVER TO HIRE PHILBY AS A CORRESPONDENT BECAUSE " IT SEEMED UNFAIR THAT SO ABLE A MAN SHOULD BE FINDING DIFFICULTY IN EARNING A LIVING NOW THAT HE HAD CLEARANCE FROM THE FOREIGN SECRETARY . " THE PUBLICATION TOOK THE HINT AND, ALONG WITH THE ECONOMIST, SENT PHILBY TO THE MIDDLE EAST, WHERE HIS FATHER, ST . JOHN PHILBY, THE FAMED ARAB SCHOLAR, HAD SPENT YEARS EXPLORING THE DESERT . BUT LAST JANUARY, BESET WITH FINANCIAL AND ALCOHOL PROBLEMS, PHILBY SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED FROM HIS BEIRUT HOME AND DROPPED OUT OF SIGHT . LAST WEEK, IN THE COMMONS, LORD PRIVY SEAL EDWARD HEATH REVEALED THAT PHILBY HAD SURFACED " IN ONE OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOVIET BLOC . " NEW INFORMATION HAD COME TO LIGHT, SAID HEATH, THAT REVEALED THAT PHILBY HAD BEEN A SOVIET AGENT WHILE WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND IN FACT HAD BEEN THE TIPSTER WHO HAD WARNED BURGESS AND MACLEAN . TO THE HOUSE, MACMILLAN PRAISED BRITAIN'S SECURITY SERVICES FOR COMING UP WITH THE NEW INFORMATION OVERLOOKING THE FACT THAT THEY HAD COTTONED TO IT TWELVE YEARS TOO LATE . CASE OF JITTERS . IN MOSCOW, GUY BURGESS WAS AMUSED BY THE REVELATIONS IN PARLIAMENT . " MARK YOU, MY DEAR BOY, " HE TOLD A REPORTER, " THE LONGER I STAY IN THE SOVIET UNION AND READ ABOUT THE SCANDALS IN ENGLAND, THE MORE GLAD I AM TO BE HERE, THE MORE I BELIEVE THAT ANY CIVILIZED PERSON LIKE PHILBY MIGHT EASILY WANT TO COME HERE . " BUT BURGESS DENIED THAT PHILBY OR ANYONE ELSE HAD WARNED HIM AND MACLEAN THAT THEY WERE UNDER SUSPICION . IN FACT, DECLARED BURGESS, MACLEAN ONLY LEARNED THAT HE WAS BEING TAILED WHEN A LONDON TAXI HE WAS RIDING IN ONE DAY WAS RAMMED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT BY A CARFUL OF BRITISH SECRET SERVICE AGENTS . SUMMING UP " THIS LATEST SCHEMOZZLE " INVOLVING THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, BURGESS REMARKED : " SOMEONE ONCE SAID, " THERE IS NOTHING SO SQUALID AS A PATRICIAN IN A PANIC.' THE HEAD OF BRITISH SECURITY IS USUALLY A PATRICIAN, AND PANIC SEEMS TO BE UNIVERSAL . " BACK HOME, THE TORIES MIGHT NOT BE PANICKED, BUT THEY WERE SHOWING A BAD CASE OF THE JITTERS . IN TWO BY-ELECTIONS, CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES FINISHED DISMALLY BEHIND LABOR .
 IN 1845, BEFORE THE POTATO FAMINE DECIMATED ITS POPULATION, IRELAND WAS WESTERN EUROPE'S MOST DENSELY SETTLED COUNTRY ; SINCE THEN, ITS 9,000,000 INHABITANTS HAVE DWINDLED TO 2,824,000 . IRELAND IS THE ONLY NATION IN EUROPE WHOSE POPULATION HAS SHRUNK IN THAT TIME . WHILE IRISHMEN LEFT THE COUNTRY IN WAVES, THEY ENTERED IT IN A TRICKLE, FOR IRELAND HAS THE LOWEST MARRIAGE RATE, AND ONE OF THE LOWEST BIRTH RATES, IN ALL EUROPE . TO THE NEO-MALTHUSIAN, THE IRISH WOULD SEEM MODELS OF ECOLOGICAL BALANCE . IN A COUNTRY WHERE FOOD PRODUCTION IS BARELY INCREASING, 66 PER CENT OF ALL IRISH MALES BETWEEN 20 AND 39 ARE BACHELORS, AND VAST NUMBERS OF MEN AND WOMEN DIE SINGLE . / HOLY IRELAND . " THE EXODUS FROM IRELAND, WHICH NOVELIST GEORGE MOORE IRONICALLY JUSTIFIED BY CALLING IRELAND " A FATAL DISEASE " FROM WHICH / IT IS THE PLAIN DUTY OF EVERY IRISHMAN TO DISSOCIATE HIMSELF, " CONTINUED AFTER THE COUNTRY WON ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN IN 1921 . AS IN MOST OTHER NEWLY LIBERATED COUNTRIES, THE MEN WHO TOOK OVER WERE ROMANTIC REVOLUTIONARY HEROES, STEEPED IN THE OTHERWORLD BUT ILL PREPARED BY EXPERIENCE TO MEET THE PRACTICAL CHALLENGES OF BUILDING A MODERN NATION . " WHEN DRAKE WAS WINNING SEAS FOR ENGLAND, " IN POET PATRICK KAVANAGH'S RUEFUL LINES, AILED IN PUDDLES OF THE PAST . " FOR THE MOST PART, IRELAND'S POSTLIBERATION POLITICIANS AND INTELLECTUALS SEEMED DETERMINED TO IGNORE THE SEAS FOR THE PUDDLES . FOR YEARS THEY KEPT UP THE STRIDENT OUTCRY OVER PARTITION AND WINKED AT ENDLESS, SQUALID RAIDS ON THE ULSTER BORDER . IRELAND, AFTER ALL, WAS A DIVIDED COUNTRY FOR DECADES BEFORE SUCH LATECOMERS TO PARTITION AS GERMANY, KOREA AND VIET NAM . IN MANY REFRESHING WAYS, THE LAND HAS REMAINED TRUE TO ITS LEADERS' VISION OF A PASTORAL " HOLY IRELAND . " THE IRISH SPEND ONLY ONE-FIFTH AS MUCH YEARLY ($8,000,000) FOR DEFENSE AS NEW YORKERS PAY EACH YEAR FOR GARBAGE COLLECTION . THEY DO NOT SUPPORT A SINGLE SUPERHIGHWAY, NIGHTCLUB, PARKING METER, STRIP JOINT OR SUBWAY . THE SUICIDE RATE IS EUROPE'S LOWEST . CRIMES OF ANY KIND ARE FEW AND GETTING FEWER ALTHOUGH THE AUTHORITIES ADMIT THAT THE NATION'S COMMONEST TRANSGRESSION, LARCENY OF PEDAL CYCLES, BEARS WATCHING . PORTHER & SHAMROCK . IN ECONOMIC TERMS, IRELAND'S INSULAR IDEAL PROVED DISASTROUS . TRUE TO THE AIMS OF THE SINN FEIN (OURSELVES ALONE) MOVEMENT, THE GOVERNMENT IN THE '30S DISCOURAGED FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN IRELAND, RAISED SOME OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST TARIFF BARRIERS TO EXCLUDE BRITISH GOODS AND PROTECT NEW, HIGHLY INEFFICIENT DOMESTIC INDUSTRY . THE RESULT OF ITS BELT TIGHTENING WAS A RISING TIDE OF EMIGRANTS THAT BY 1956 REACHED 600,000, HIGHEST SINCE THE 1890S . AMONG THOSE WHO STAYED ON, THERE WAS A PARALYZING SENSE OF FRUSTRATION AND FATALISM . LIFE WAS NOT ONLY HARD IT WAS DULL . TO MANY IRISHMEN, THE PERVERSE, PERVASIVE MEDIOCRITY OF THEIR CULTURE WAS TYPIFIED BY GAELIC-WORSHIP . THE DYING GAELIC TONGUE HAD BECOME THE BADGE OF IRISH NATIONALISM DURING THE REVOLUTION THOUGH FEW OF ITS LEADERS COULD SPEAK IT . EVEN BEFORE 1949, WHEN THE REPUBLIC OF EIRE WAS ESTABLISHED, THE GOVERNMENT HAD MADE GAELIC LANGUAGE STUDY COMPULSORY IN THE SCHOOLS, EVEN ENCOURAGED STUDENTS TO TAKE OTHER SUBJECTS ENTIRELY IN GAELIC . INDUSTRIAL BOOM, FED BY FOREIGN INVESTMENT, IS ILLUSTRATED BY VOLKSWAGENS FLOWING ON A BUSY DUBLIN ASSEMBLY LINE . MINING TOOLS, INCLUDING DRILLS WITH SYNTHETIC-DIAMOND TIPS, ARE MADE IN SOUTH-AFRICAN-OWNED SHANNON PLANT . PIANOS FOR DUTCH FIRM ARE STRUNG AND FITTED BY SKILLED IRISH CRAFTSMEN IN SHANNON . DRIED CARROTS, RAPIDLY FROZEN FOR FLAVOR, GET CAREFUL CHECK BY COUNTY CORK COLLEENS . EXPORT BUSINESS IS IRELAND'S FIRST ATTEMPT TO CUT INTO WORLD'S FROZEN-FOOD MARKET . NEW PLANTS AND HOUSING MAKE SHANNON NATION'S THRIVING COMMERCIAL CENTER . THE INDUSTRIAL PARK AT AIRPORT OFFERS FOREIGN BUSINESSES TAX CUTS AND FREEDOM FROM DUTY . CARGO OF STOUT IS LOADED ABOARD GUINNESS BREWERY SHIP BOUND FOR LIVERPOOL . DUBLIN CUSTOM HOUSE DOMINATES RIVER LIFFEY SCENE, WITH NEW BUS STATION IN BACKGROUND . SPORTING EVENTS FIND IRISHMEN IN THEIR ELEMENT, HERE PACKING STANDS TO CHEER FAST FIELD AT DUBLIN'S BALDOYLE TRACK . PREOCCUPATION WITH HORSERACING MAKES LEGALIZED BETTING $59 MILLION ANNUAL BUSINESS FOX HUNTING IN IRISH MANNER CALLS FOR KENNEL OF HIGHLY TRAINED HOUNDS . FIRST-RATE PACK, OWNED BY LORD DARESBURY, SURROUNDS MASTER AT EXERCISE TIME ON HIS COUNTY LIMERICK ESTATE . IRELAND'S HUNTING IS WELL-KNOWN FOR ITS RUGGED PACE . FOOTBALL, PLAYED ROUGH AND TOUGH, IS ANOTHER FAVORITE IRISH SPORT . THIS TUSSLE IS AN AMATEUR MATCH IN DUBLIN . GOLF ON PORTMARNOCK LINKS ON IRISH SEA GIVES PLAYER CONSTANT CHALLENGE OF STIFF SEA BREEZE . CHAMPIONSHIP GREEN, ONE OF 206 IN NATION, HAS BEEN CALLED BEST IN WORLD BY ARNOLD PALMER . AMERICAN ARTIST MORRIS GRAVES FLED WEST COAST SUCCESS FOR MORE LEISURELY AND CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE HE FOUND IN DUBLIN . DIRECTOR JOHN HUSTON, ANOTHER FAMED U.S . EXPATRIATE, SPENDS TIME OFF FROM FILMS AS SQUIRE ON HIS GALWAY ESTATE . ENTREPRENEUR BRENDAN O'REGAN COMBINES JOB AS HEAD OF IRISH TOURIST OFFICE WITH PROMOTING SHANNON'S INDUSTRIAL PARK . AUTHOR FRANK O'CONNOR BRINGS TO READERS A REAL GLIMPSE OF IRISH LIFE IN MASTERFUL SHORT STORIES . THE PEOPLE, ONCE IRELAND'S MOST FAMOUS EXPORT, NOW ARE MORE INCLINED TO STAY AT HOME AS COUNTRY STRIVES TO REVITALIZE . THIS GALLERY OF IRISH FACES IS FROM A SUNDAY AFTERNOON FOOTBALL CROWD IN DUBLIN . PAINTER PATRICK SCOTT, WELL-KNOWN DUBLIN ABSTRACT ARTIST, POSES BEFORE HIS SOLAR DEVICE, TEMPERA WORK ON LINEN CANVAS . ARCHITECT MICHAEL SCOTT, HERE BEFORE HIS GLASS-SHEATHED TV CENTER, PLANS EVERYTHING FROM NEW ABBEY THEATER TO HOSPITALS . DESIGNER SYBIL CONNOLLY BRINGS LOVE OF IRISH FABRICS TO FASHION WORLD, SPECIALIZES IN USE OF LACE, LINEN AND TWEED . AFTER THE LONG EMOTIONAL EXCITEMENT OF THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE, IRELAND IN THE POSTWAR YEARS SEEMED TO BE HIBERNATING, CAUGHT IN A DESCENDING SPIRAL OF CYNICISM AND FECKLESS NOSTALGIA . ITS MALAISE WAS EXPRESSED BY PLAYWRIGHT SEAN O'CASEY : " SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS RUINING US . WHAT DO WE SEND OUT TO THE WORLD NOW BUT WOEFUL THINGS YOUNG LADS AND LASSIES, PORTHER, GREYHOUNDS, SWEEP TICKETS, AND THE SHAMROCK GREEN ? WE'VE SCATTHERED OURSELVES OVER THE WIDE WORLD, AND LEFT OUR OWN SWEET LAND THIN . WE'RE JUST STANDING ON OUR KNEES NOW . " BLOODY BALUBA . TODAY THE IRISH ARE BEGINNING TO STAND ON THEIR FEET . IN BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITIES AND PUBS, THERE IS A NEW SENSE OF PURPOSE AND PUSH, A MOUNTING AWARENESS THAT IRELAND HAS FINALLY BEGUN TO MAKE ITS WAY IN THE WORLD . AFTER FOUR DECADES OF BROODY ISOLATION, AND SEEMINGLY PRO-GERMAN NEUTRALITY IN WORLD WAR II (ALTHOUGH IN THEIR CONTRARY WAY, MANY IRISH VOLUNTEERED FOR THE BRITISH ARMY), A NEWLY OUTWARD-LOOKING IRELAND HAS ACQUIRED INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE OUT OF ALL PROPORTION TO ITS SIZE OR POLITICAL POWER . IN THE UNITED NATIONS, THE NONALIGNED IRISH LED BY AMBASSADOR FREDERICK BOLAND, WHO WAS PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN THE TIME OF KHRUSHCHEV'S SHOE-BANGING TANTRUM ARE UNIVERSALLY RESPECTED . IN THE CONGO, WHERE 5,000 IRISH TROOPS HAVE SERVED AND 26 DIED WITH THE U.N . PEACEKEEPING MISSION, THEIR PROBITY AND DISCIPLINE COMMAND THE ADMIRATION OF AFRICANS AND BELGIANS ALIKE . THE EXPERIENCE HAS ADDED A NEW TERM OF ABUSE TO THE IRISHMAN'S COPIOUS VOCABULARY OF INVECTIVE : " YOU BLOODY BALUBA ! " * THE U.N . IRISH HAVE TAUGHT MANY A NATIVE TO DANCE A JIG . SAYS A CAPTAIN FROM CORK : / ONLY THE IRISH AND OTHER HEATHENS CAN APPRECIATE OUR DAHLING PIPES . / TWO-WAY BRIDGE . AS THE MAN WHO HAS DONE MOST TO END HIS COUNTRY'S LONG SLEEP, SEAN LEMASS GOT HIS CHANCE WHEN HE TOOK OVER AS TAOISEACH IN 1959 . DE VALERA, NEAR-BLIND AND DOGGEDLY INDIFFERENT TO THE COUNTRY'S WORSENING ECONOMIC PLIGHT, WAS PERSUADED BY HIS OWN FIANNA FAIL PARTY TO STEP ASIDE FOR LEMASS AND RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY . HIS SUCCESSOR, AFTER 19 YEARS AS MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, WAS PASSIONATELY CONVINCED THAT IRELAND'S TIMOROUS PROTECTIONISM COULD ONLY LEAD TO NATIONAL EXTINCTION . AS FIANNA FAIL'S NEW LEADER, LEMASS WAS THE ANTITHESIS OF ALL THE OLD FIRE-BREATHING HEROES, TALKED TRADE AND TARIFFS TO THE VOTERS IN INTENSE, RAPID-FIRE SENTENCES THAT MANY FOUND HARD TO FOLLOW . " THAT LEMASS ! " SNORTED ONE DUBIOUS DUBLIN POLITICIAN . " HE COULDN'T LEAD IRELAND OVER O'CONNELL BRIDGE . " WHAT SEAN LEMASS WANTED MOST WAS TO LURE FOREIGN INVESTORS OVER O'CONNELL BRIDGE . THE NEW PRIME MINISTER SENT BLARNEY-BLESSED SALESMEN AROUND THE WORLD PERSUADING FOREIGN INDUSTRIES TO SET UP PLANTS IN IRELAND . THEY OFFERED ONE OF THE FEW LABOR SURPLUSES IN ALL EUROPE, LIBERAL GRANTS FOR EQUIPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION, AND ADDITIONAL CASH TO COMPANIES THAT WOULD BUILD PLANTS AND TRAIN WORKERS IN IRELAND'S PINCHED NORTHWEST AND SOUTH . A TRIBE IN NORTH KATANGA THAT AMBUSHED AN IRISH CONTINGENT IN !960, KILLING TEN OF ITS SOLDIERS . MANY IRISHMEN WERE PROFANELY SKEPTICAL, BUT THE PROGRAM SO FAR HAS PROVED A GALLIVANTING SUCCESS . IRELAND TODAY IS IN THE THROES OF A BELATED INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION THAT IS BOOSTING LIVING STANDARDS, DIVERSIFYING ITS FARM-BASED ECONOMY, AND WILL INCREASINGLY ABSORB THE TALENTS THAT THE NATION BREEDS . SINCE 1955, 160 NEW IRISH AND FOREIGN-BACKED PLANTS HAVE CREATED 21,000 NEW JOBS AND ARE TURNING OUT GOODS RANGING FROM TRANSISTOR RADIOS (JAPANESE) AND PIANOS (DUTCH) TO HEAVY CRANES FOR A GERMAN COMPANY AND OIL HEATERS FOR A FRENCH FIRM . FIFTY MORE PLANTS ARE NEARING COMPLETION, MOST NOTABLY A FRENCH-OWNED AVIATION FACTORY TO TURN OUT A NEW, SHORT-HAUL PLANE AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT U.S . FEEDER AIRLINES . THE SHINY NEW PLANTS IN SHANNON, CORK, LIMERICK, DUBLIN AND KILLARNEY ( " JUST LIKE THE BLACK FOREST, " SAYS A WEST GERMAN INDUSTRIALIST WHO HAS BUILT A FACTORY THERE) HAVE WORKED NO ECONOMIC MIRACLE IN IRELAND TO COMPARE WITH EUROPE'S BOOM . BUT INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION HAS RISEN 20 PER CENT IN THREE YEARS . AND ITS SUCCESS IS STANCHING THE POPULATION OUTFLOW : FROM AN AVERAGE OF 43,000 A YEAR, THE NUMBER OF EMIGRANTS DROPPED BY MORE THAN 50 PER CENT LAST YEAR, IS EXPECTED TO TOTAL ONLY 14,000 IN 1963 . MANY EMIGRANTS ARE NOW RETURNING TO TAKE JOBS BACK HOME . FOUR RS . TODAY'S EXPANSION WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE IF SEAN LEMASS HAD NOT STARTED LAYING THE GROUNDWORK LONG AGO . LEMASS IS THE GREAT-GRANDSON OF A HATTER WHO LANDED IN DUBLIN IN 1820 . A YOUNG-APPEARING 63, HE IS BY AGE, IF NOT BY POLITICAL STYLE, A MEMBER OF THE GENERATION THAT FREED IRELAND AND HAS RULED IT EVER SINCE . AT SCHOOL, HE LEARNED HIS FOUR RS IN THE DUBLIN OF 50 YEARS AGO, REVOLUTION WAS PART OF THE CURRICULUM AND BY THE AGE OF 14 HAD JOINED THE REPUBLICAN NA FIANNA EIREANN, A SORT OF BOY SCOUT UNDERGROUND . TWO YEARS LATER, WHEN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY OCCUPIED THE DUBLIN POST OFFICE AT THE START OF THE BOTCHED 1916 EASTER WEEK RISING, SEAN WAS THE YOUNGEST REBEL OF THEM ALL, SPENT FOUR DAYS ON THE ROOF WITH A RIFLE, WAITING FOR THE BRITISH TO MOUNT AN OLD-FASHIONED INFANTRY CHARGE . HE SAYS WRYLY : " I'M AFRAID WE HAD RATHER NAIVE IDEAS ABOUT MODERN WARFARE . " WHEN BRITISH SHELLS ENDED THE FIASCO, 15 IRISH LEADERS WERE SHOT . YOUNG LEMASS WAS TAKEN PRISONER AND RELEASED WITHIN A MONTH, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF HIS AGE . ACCORDING TO CHERISHED, IF APOCRYPHAL DUBLIN LEGEND, " THE COPS GAVE A KICK IN THE ARSE AND TOLD HIM TO GO HOME TO HIS MOM . " POOR RISK . BUT IN THE TURBULENT YEARS WHEN THE IRISH REBELS FOUGHT AGAINST BRITAIN'S BLACK AND TANS, SEAN LEMASS GREW INTO A RUGGED GUERRILLA FIGHTER IN THE I.R.A.'S DUBLIN BRIGADE . HE WAS JAILED BY THE ENGLISH FOUR TIMES, ESCAPED ONCE . AFTER THE 1921 TREATY, BY WHICH BRITAIN CREATED THE SELF-GOVERNING IRISH FREE STATE BUT RETAINED JURISDICTION OVER THE SIX PROTESTANT COUNTIES OF ULSTER, CIVIL WAR FLARED BETWEEN " PRO-TREATY " IRISHMEN AND DE VALERA'S FOLLOWERS, WHO CRIED THAT IRELAND COULD NOT ACCEPT PARTITION . LEMASS, AN OFFICER ON DE VALERA'S STAFF, WAS CAPTURED BY THE OTHER SIDE AND IMPRISONED FOR A YEAR . IN JAIL HE CONTINUED HIS WAR-SHATTERED EDUCATION WITH A CRAM COURSE IN ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND IRISH REVOLUTIONARY WRITINGS . THOUGH HE NEVER RETURNED TO PRISON AFTER HIS RELEASE IN 1923, FOUR-TIME LOSER LEMASS WAS PLAINLY A POOR MATRIMONIAL RISK . WHEN HE STARTED COURTING PRETTY, VIVACIOUS KATHLEEN HUGHES, HE HAD THE ADDED DISADVANTAGES OF HAVING TO PLACATE HER FATHER, A DUBLIN CARPENTER AND AN ANGLOPHILE . HE WARNED HIS DAUGHTER : " THAT BOY IS ALWAYS ON THE RUN ; HE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE A HOME FOR YOU . " KATHLEEN DECIDED TO RISK IT ANYWAY . THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1924, HAVE A SON NOEL, WHO IS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, AND THREE DAUGHTERS (THE ELDEST, MAUREEN, IS MARRIED TO CHARLES HAUGHEY, THE SHREWD, HARD-KNUCKLED MINISTER OF JUSTICE, WHO IS TIPPED AS A POTENTIAL PRIME MINISTER) . LEMASS' BOLD PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIALIZATION HAS ALREADY CREATED NEW JOBS AND WEALTH IN AN ECONOMY WHOSE PRIMARY PRODUCT, BEEF FOR BRITAIN, HAS BEEN THE SAME FOR AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN POTATOES TO GO WITH IT . AS NEW OPPORTUNITY AT HOME LOWERS THE PERILOUSLY HIGH EMIGRATION RATE, THE GOVERNMENT IS FINALLY BEGINNING TO REBUT THE BITTER QUIP THAT IRELAND IS " A HOME FOR MEN RATHER THAN A BREEDING GROUND FOR EMIGRANTS AND BULLOCKS . " THE COUNTRY'S RAPTUROUS HUZZAS FOR JOHN KENNEDY WERE MORE THAN AN EXPRESSION OF PRIDE IN A GAEL MADE GOOD TO MANY YOUNG IRISHMEN, HE SEEMS MORE REAL THAN THE IRISH MARTYRS WHOSE STREAKED STATUES FILL DUBLIN'S PARKS WITH SILENT DECLAMATION . JACK'S HOMECOMING EPITOMIZED TO THE IRISH THE SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE THEY THEMSELVES HAVE TRAVELED . SPANGLISH & SPELLS . HOWEVER FAR THEY MAY GO, THE IRISH RETAIN A DEEP SENSE OF THEIR PAST AND THE MYTHS AND MEMORIES THAT CROWD THEIR WILD, LONELY LAND . " THE GODS WHISTLE IN THE AIR, " WROTE SEAN O'FAOLAIN . " THE OTHERWORLD IS ALWAYS AT ONE'S SHOULDER . " THE OTHERWORLD AND THE REAL PAST ARE INSEPARABLY BOUND TOGETHER IN THE IRISH IMAGINATION AND IN THE RUNIC PLACE NAMES, FROM THE PAGAN LANDMARK CALLED TWO BREASTS OF DANA TO ANCIENT WATERFORD, WHERE IN 1170 STRONGBOW, THE NORMAN EARL OF PEMBROKE, CLAMPED 7F CENTURIES OF ENGLISH RULE ON IRELAND . WHAT THE MISTS OF LEGEND CANNOT OBSCURE IS THAT FOR AGES OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AND ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION, THROUGH COUNTLESS RISINGS AND REPRISALS, THE IRISH SLAVED, STARVED AND BATTLED FOR THEIR LAND AS STUBBORNLY AS IF IRELAND ITSELF WERE THE ISLE OF THE BLEST . THE REMOTE LITTLE ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC HAS CAST ITS SHADOW ACROSS THE CIVILIZED WORLD SINCE THE DARK AGES, WHEN IRISH PRIESTS AND SCHOLARS ROAMED EUROPE EXPOUNDING NEW (AND MOSTLY HERETICAL) THEOLOGIES . IN A DIASPORA EVEN GREATER THAN THE EXPULSION OF THE JEWS, MORE THAN 3,000,000 IRISHMEN IN THE PAST 100 YEARS HAVE SCATTERED ACROSS THE WORLD, FORMING WHAT AN IRISH WRITER CALLS " ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT SECRET SOCIETIES, WITH BRANCHES EVERYWHERE " THOUGH THE SOCIETY WAS NEVER VERY SECRET . EVERYONE HAS HIS OWN LIST OF GREAT IRISHMEN, BUT THERE IS NO DENYING THAT THE GIFTS OF THE IRISH HAVE ALWAYS ENRICHED OTHER COUNTRIES MORE THAN THEIR OWN . THEIR TALENT FOR POLITICS, FOR FAITH, ABOVE ALL FOR WORDS, GAVE MORE BRILLIANT POLITICIANS, DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMEN AND MAGICAL WRITERS TO THE U.S . AND THE REST OF THE WORLD THAN TO IRELAND . PERHAPS ONLY THEIR TALENT FOR FIGHTING, WHILE AMPLY EXPORTED, AS AMPLY REMAINED AT HOME . THOUGH IN FOREIGN LANDS, THEY INVINCIBLY STAYED THEMSELVES ; THEY ALSO SHOWED AN UNCANNY ABILITY TO ADAPT TO OTHER CULTURES, WHETHER IN LATIN AMERICA, WHERE THEY CONCOCTED A LILTING LINGUA FRANCA KNOWN AS SPANGLISH, OR DOWN UNDER, WHERE THEY DEVELOPED A SPECTACULAR SPORT KNOWN AS AUSTRALIAN RULES, A BLEND OF GAELIC FOOTBALL AND RUGBY . THOUGH THERE WAS HARDLY A COUNTRY OR A FIELD OF ENDEAVOR WHERE IRISHMEN FAILED TO MAKE A MARK OR A MINT, THE DIMINISHING NUMBER OF THEIR COMPATRIOTS AT HOME KEPT WONDERING FRETFULLY IF THEY WERE A VANISHING RACE . HEAT WITH PEAT . WHEN SINN FEIN BROKE APART, YOUNG LEMASS WAS THE CHIEF ARCHITECT OF DE VALERA'S NEW FIANNA FAIL (HEROES OF DESTINY) PARTY, WHICH CAME TO POWER IN 1932 AND HAS BEEN IN OFFICE ALMOST CONTINUALLY EVER SINCE . AT 32, LEMASS WAS THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF DE VALERA'S CABINET AND EARNED THE AFFECTIONATE BIBLICAL SOBRIQUET " BENJAMIN " (AFTER JACOB'S YOUNGEST SON) . THOUGH DEV HAD TAUGHT MATHEMATICS AND IS FERVENTLY BELIEVED BY MANY FOND COMPATRIOTS TO BE ONE OF THE 13 MEN ON EARTH WHO COMPREHEND THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY THE TAOISEACH HAD NEITHER HEAD NOR HEART FOR ECONOMICS, AND LEFT BENJAMIN TO RUN HIS MINISTRY AS HE SAW FIT . LEMASS FACED MONUMENTAL PROBLEMS, FOR DURING THE '30S THE GOVERNMENT WAS LOCKED IN A VINDICTIVE, FUTILE ECONOMIC WAR WITH THE ENGLISH, THOUGH IT REMAINED ECONOMICALLY DEPENDENT ON BRITAIN . HE STROVE DESPERATELY TO MOBILIZE ENOUGH NEW INDUSTRY TO SUPPLY THE NATION'S BASIC NEEDS, THOUGH AT HIGH COST ; HE ALSO FOUNDED THE STATE TRANSPORT NETWORK AND ORGANIZED A NATIONAL MERCHANT MARINE IN TIME TO KEEP IRELAND FED DURING WORLD WAR II, IN WHICH HE TOOK ON THE ADDITIONAL JOB OF MINISTER OF SUPPLY, AND BY BRILLIANT IMPROVISATION AVERTED CRIPPLING SHORTAGES . UNTIL RECENTLY, IT WAS AXIOMATIC THAT " NOBODY BUT A FOOL WOULD INVEST " IN IRELAND . LEMASS DID NOT HESITATE TO USE PUBLIC FUNDS WHEREVER PRIVATE CAPITAL WAS NOT FORTHCOMING FOR KEY PROJECTS . HE TOOK OVER A ONE-HORSE POWER COMPANY AND BUILT IT INTO A NATIONWIDE NETWORK THAT HAS ELECTRIFIED 76 PER CENT OF ALL IRISH FARMS . THE COUNTRY HAD NO OIL AND LITTLE COAL, BUT LEMASS FOUND AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF INDUSTRIAL FUEL IN ITS PEAT BOGS, WHERE HUGE MACHINES NOW CUT TURF THAT A BUSY, STATE-OWNED PROCESSING PLANT TURNS INTO INEXPENSIVE, SLOWBURNING BRIQUETTES . AFTER A LONG POLITICAL WRANGLE, HE GOT IRELAND'S STATE-OWNED AIRLINE OFF THE GROUND, AND HAS WATCHED HAPPILY AS AER LINGUS' SHAMROCK-PAINTED PLANES HAVE MADE IT ONE OF THE FEW GOVERNMENT AIRLINES TO TURN A CONSISTENT PROFIT ON THE ATLANTIC RUN . THE VERY WORD SOCIALISM TERRIFIES FIANNA FAIL SUPPORTERS, WHO ARE NOT ONLY OVERWHELMINGLY CATHOLIC BUT INCLUDE MANY SMALL LANDOWNERS . YET ONE-THIRD OF ALL INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN IRELAND TODAY ARE BANKROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH HAS GONE FARTHER TOWARD NATIONALIZATION THAN EVEN BRITAIN'S SOCIALISTS ADVOCATE . LEMASS SAYS HE SHARES THE ATTITUDE TOWARD SOCIALISM THAT WAS EXPRESSED IN THE LATE POPE JOHN'S ENCYCLICAL, PACEM IN TERRIS : THAT NO POLITICAL SYSTEM IS UNDESIRABLE IF IT BENEFITS THE PEOPLE . TRIM SAILS . IN 1957, AFTER THEIR CHILDREN HAD GROWN UP, SEAN AND KATHLEEN LEMASS MOVED FROM THEIR BIG OLD HOUSE IN DUBLIN TO AN UNPRETENTIOUS SEVENROOM BUNGALOW IN A PLEASANT SUBURB SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL, WHERE THE PRIME MINISTER IS PICKED UP BY A GOVERNMENT CAR AT 9 : 45 A.M . EACH DAY . HE SELDOM RETURNS UNTIL AFTER DINNER . SOME YEARS AGO, LEMASS CUT DOWN ON GOLF AND CARDS TO THE RELIEF OF OLD POKER CRONIES WHO USUALLY WOUND UP LOSERS WHEN LEMASS PLAYED TO DEVOTE MORE TIME TO THE JOB . STURDY (5 FT . 10 IN.) AND CAREFULLY GROOMED, HE HOLDS AMONG HIS FEW FOIBLES AN AVERSION TO THE BYRONIC MANES AFFECTED BY MANY IRISHMEN, AND HE DOES NOT HESITATE TO BARK AT FRIENDS, UNDERLINGS OR HIS SON WHEN THEY NEED HAIRCUTS . SOME POLITICIANS CRITICIZE LEMASS FOR BEING TOO MUCH OF A PRAGMATIST . " HE'S A BIT OF A FLY-BOY, " SAID LABOR PARTY LEADER JAMES LARKIN . " HE TRIMS HIS SAILS TO DIFFERENT WINDS . " THE GREATEST CHALLENGE THAT LEMASS HAS TO FACE AS A POLITICIAN IS TO REVITALIZE DRAB, UNIMAGINATIVE FIANNA FAIL, MANY OF WHOSE FRONT-BENCH HEROES OF DESTINY HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE DEV FIRST CAME TO OFFICE . SEVEN OF THE 13 MEMBERS OF THE LEMASS CABINET ARE 60 OR UNDER, WHICH IS A RELATIVELY GREEN AGE IN IRISH POLITICS BUT HARDLY GREEN ENOUGH . THOUGH HE HAS LITTLE OF THE PERSONAL MAGNETISM OF OLD SPELLBINDER DEV, THE QUIET MAN'S DRIVE TO GET IRELAND INTO THE WORLD'S MARKETS AND FORUMS HAS ATTRACTED SOME OF THE BRIGHT, RESTIVE YOUNG IRISHMEN WHO ARE SHOWING A REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN POLITICS . TOTAL EFFORT . LEMASS' MOST BRUISING DISAPPOINTMENT IN OFFICE WAS CHARLES DE GAULLE'S REJECTION OF BRITISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMON MARKET LAST YEAR . DETERMINED TO TAKE IRELAND INTO EUROPE ALONGSIDE BRITAIN, LEMASS HAD ALREADY STARTED WHITTLING TARIFF BARRIERS TO GIVE IRELAND'S OLDER AND MOST COSSETED INDUSTRIES A WHIFF OF THE COLD COMPETITIVE WIND OUTSIDE . TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR IRELAND'S ENTRY, WHICH HE NOW BELIEVES CANNOT COME BEFORE 1970, LEMASS HAS UNEQUIVOCALLY COMMITTED HIS NATION, WHICH HAS 9,000 MEN UNDER ARMS, TO SUPPORT OF NATO POLICIES . IN 1949, AT NATO'S FOUNDING,THE GOVERNMENT DECLINED MEMBERSHIP WITH THE LEGALISTIC ARGUMENT THAT TO JOIN AN ALLIANCE WITH BRITAIN WOULD BE TANTAMOUNT TO RECOGNITION OF ULSTER, WHOSE EXISTENCE THE REPUBLIC HAS NEVER ACCEPTED . TO LEMASS, BY CONTRAST, ONE OF THE MOST COMPELLING MOTIVES FOR SEEING BRITAIN AND IRELAND INSIDE THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IS THE VERY PROSPECT THAT IRELAND WOULD THEREBY TAKE A STEP CLOSER TO REUNIFICATION . AUTOMATIC DISMANTLING OF THEIR MUTUAL TARIFF BARRIERS UNDER COMMON MARKET RULES, SAYS LEMASS, WOULD FINALLY NECESSITATE A DEGREE OF COOPERATION BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC IRELAND . INSTEAD OF THE PRESENT PROLONGED FARCE OF NONRECOGNITION NEITHER COUNTRY WILL EVEN PERMIT EXTRADITION OF CRIMINALS BY THE OTHER AND CONTINUED STAGNATION OF ULSTER'S ECONOMY, LEMASS FORESEES " A TOTAL NATIONAL EFFORT IN WHICH OLD DIFFERENCES AND ANIMOSITIES CAN BE FORGOTTEN . " ALL THE DETAILS . THE GOVERNMENT'S EAGERNESS TO RAISE IRELAND'S " GREEN CURTAIN, " AS LEMASS CALLS IT, REFLECTS A GROWING COSMOPOLITANISM IN THE UNIVERSITIES AND POPULATION CENTERS . THE IRISH HAVE MADE EXECUTIVES AND TECHNICIANS FROM MORE THAN A DOZEN COUNTRIES RESOUNDINGLY WELCOME . THEY CHEERED MIGHTILY FOR SCHOOLGIRL HARUMI SUZUKI, EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER OF A JAPANESE PLANT MANAGER AT SHANNON, WHEN SHE CARRIED OFF FIRST AND THIRD PRIZES FOR IRISH POETRY AND GAELIC RECITATION . YOUNG IRELAND'S HORIZONS ARE BEING BROADENED BY THE FOREIGN STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN FLOCKING TO IRISH UNIVERSITIES, WHERE THEY COMPRISE NEARLY 17 PER CENT OF TOTAL ENROLLMENT ; MOST COME FROM AFRO-ASIAN COUNTRIES, WHERE THE DISTINCTIVE ACCENT OF EX-COLONIAL, NONALIGNED DUBLIN HAS BECOME SOMETHING OF A STATUS SYMBOL . THE VISITING STUDENTS, IN TURN, HAVE GENERATED NEW INTEREST IN LANGUAGE AND HISTORY COURSES AMONG THEIR IRISH FRIENDS . THE ULTRACONSERVATIVE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY STILL HEAVILY CENSORS THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT . AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, MANY OF THE BEST NATIVE AUTHORS HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM LIBRARIES, INCLUDING WORKS BY GEORGE MOORE, LIAM O'FLAHERTY, O'CASEY, FRANK O'CONNOR, SHAW, BRENDAN BEHAN . BUT THINGS ARE EASING UP A LITTLE . CINEMATIC SEX HAS BECOME SO MUCH SEXIER AND MORE FREQUENT, EXPLAINS JUSTICE MINISTER HAUGHEY, THAT THE CENSORS HAVE BEEN TOLD TO GO EASY WITH THE SCISSORS, " OR ELSE OUR CINEMAS WON'T GET ANY FILMS AT ALL . " ANOTHER SIGN OF THE NEW LIBERALITY IS A SCHEDULED VISIT BY THE BOLSHOI BALLET TO DUBLIN THIS MONTH, FOR IRISH MISTRUST OF THE INTRIGUOUS RUSSIANS IS SO KEEN THAT THEY HAVE YET TO RECOGNIZE THE 45-YEAR-OLD SOVIET GOVERNMENT . TELEVISION, WHICH NOW LIGHTS UP MORE THAN 200,000 SCREENS, IS A PERENNIAL ASSAULT ON GAELIC PURITANISM . IRELAND'S OWN STATION COMPETES WITH PROGRAMS BEAMED FROM BRITAIN THAT SEEM INCREDIBLY RISQUE TO IRISH VIEWERS ; THE BBC'S UNINHIBITED COVERAGE OF CHRISTINE KEELER'S EXPLOITS HAS EVEN JOGGED THE STODGY, SELF-CENSORING IRISH PRESS INTO GIVING READERS ALL THE DETAILS . MANY IRISHMEN, INCREASINGLY RESENTFUL OF CENSORSHIP, HAVE TAKEN TO SAMPLING CENSORED BOOKS, FILMS OR PLAYS BY TAKING THE 90-MINUTE FLIGHT TO LONDON WHERE FAR MORE HORRENDOUS TEMPTATIONS ABOUND . REBELS & MONARCHS . THE IRISH HAVE WRITTEN SOME OF THE TENDEREST LOVE LYRICS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, BUT IN THEIR ACTUAL CONTACT WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX, IRISHMEN SOMETIMES RESEMBLE COLOMBIA'S KOGI INDIANS, WHO, DESPISING WOMEN, SPEND ALL THEIR TIME DISCUSSING PHILOSOPHY WITH OTHER MALES AND CHEWING COCOA LEAVES TO COOL OFF THE SEXUAL URGES . AN ACID AXIOM AMONG IRISH GIRLS RUNS : " PUT AN IRISH FELLER IN A ROOM WITH A GIRL AND TWO BOTTLES OF STOUT, AND HE'LL PICK THE STOUT ANY TIME . " MANY EXPLANATIONS HAVE BEEN OFFERED FOR HIS SEEMING MISOGYNY : THE EPIC SUSPICION THAT WAR AND THE GODS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MERE LOVE ; THE RELENTLESS EMOTIONAL DOMINANCE OF IRISH MOTHERS OVER IRISH SONS ; THE ODDLY PURITANICAL STREAK IN IRISH CATHOLICISM ; ABOVE ALL, THE HERITAGE OF HARDSHIP THAT GIVES THE IRISH A MORTAL TERROR OF INSECURITY AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO STAY CELIBATE . AT LEAST SOME OF THESE FACTORS ARE CHANGING, AND THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SEXES SEEM LESS SELF-CONSCIOUS AND AT TIMES DOWNRIGHT FRIENDLY . THE IRISH NOW WED YOUNGER ; THE AVERAGE MARRIAGE AGE DROPPED FROM NEARLY 35 FOR MEN IN 1929 TO JUST OVER 30, FROM 29 FOR WOMEN TO JUST UNDER 27 . FOR THE YOUNG, ONE OF THE MOST JOYOUS INNOVATIONS IN RECENT YEARS HAS BEEN A PROLIFERATION OF DANCE HALLS, WHICH HAVE REACHED SCORES OF SMALL COMMUNITIES, AND A BURGEONING OF BANDS " 200 IN ALL THAT KEEP THE OULD SOD JUMPING WITH HIPPETYHOPPETY JAZZ AND CARRY SUCH INTRIGUING NAMES AS REBELS, JETS, MONARCHS . UNLIKE THE OLD DAYS, WHEN THE LOCAL PRIEST WOULD OFTEN DISPERSE A COUNTRY CEILIDH AT SUNDOWN, DANCE-HALL HOURS ARE REGULATED BY MAGISTRATES, WHO TEND TO BE MORE LIBERAL . AND, AS ALWAYS, THE WESTERN WORLD HAS ITS PLAYBOYS . IN LONDON, WHERE ONE IN EIGHT BIRTHS IS ILLEGITIMATE, AUTHORITIES REPORT THAT A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF UNWED PEGEENS COME OVER TO HAVE THEIR BABIES FREE ON BRITAIN'S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE . THE MOST CONSPICUOUS VICE OF THE IRISH IN TIMES PAST HAS BEEN " THE DRINK . " TODAY, THOUGH THE PUBS KEEP LONGER HOURS AND MOST IRISHMEN CAN AFFORD TO DRINK MORE, PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS IS NO LONGER THE COMMON SPECTACLE IT USED TO BE, AND BAREFOOT BOYS NO LONGER TROT THROUGH CITY STREETS BEARING JUGS OF FOAMING SOUT OR BOTTLES OF BRANDY HOME TO DAD . THE YOUNGER GENERATION SEEMS TO BE MORE SOBER THAN ITS PARENTS . ALSO, ALCOHOLIC HABITS ARE CHANGING : MORE DRINKING IS DONE AT HOME NOWADAYS ; COCKTAILS AND HARD LIQUOR ARE CUTTING INTO BEER CONSUMPTION ; AND MANY PUBS, WHICH HAD LONG BEEN JEALOUSLY GUARDED MALE PRESERVES, HAVE OPENED " SINGING LOUNGES " WHERE AN IRISHMAN CAN TAKE HIS WIFE OR GIRL . THE IMAGE OF THE BOOZY, BELLIGERENT IRISHMAN CONDEMNED AS SHEER HOSTILE PROPAGANDA BY SEAN LEMASS DIES HARD, NONETHELESS . INDEED, DRUNK OR SOBER, FEW PEOPLE ON EARTH CAN RAISE A GLASS WITH GREATER GUSTO OR STYLE . RADIANT GOALS . IRELAND FACES MANY MORE URGENT PROBLEMS . THE COUNTRY IS STILL CRITICALLY SHORT OF MODERN HOUSING ; HUNDREDS OF ONCE ELEGANT GEORGIAN MANSIONS IN DUBLIN HAVE FOR YEARS HELD SOME OF EUROPE'S MOST SQUALID SLUMS . WHILE THE GOVERNMENT HAS SUCCEEDED IN EASING IRELAND'S HISTORICALLY HARSH SYSTEM OF FARM LEASING, NEARLY 1,000,000 OF THE COUNTRY'S 11 MILLION ACRES OF AGRICULTURAL LAND ARE STILL COVERED BY ELEVEN-MONTH LEASES, WHICH DISCOURAGE TENANTS AND OWNERS ALIKE FROM IMPROVING THE LAND (AFTER TWELVE MONTHS ON A FARM, AN IRISH TENANT HAS A LEGAL CLAIM TO BUY IT) . THOUGH 45 ACRES OF GOOD LAND ARE THE ACCEPTED MINIMUM FOR A VIABLE FARM, THERE ARE STILL 208,000 FARMS (OF 360,000) WITH LESS THAN 30 ACRES EACH . IN THE POOR WESTERN COUNTIES, ONE IN THREE FARMS IS STILL LESS THAN 15 ACRES, AND SONS GROW OLD WAITING FOR FATHERS TO DIE . THOUGH SEAN LEMASS IS OFTEN CHIDED IN PARLIAMENT FOR FOOT-DRAGGING ON HOUSING AND FARM REFORM, MOST OF THE NATION'S PROBLEMS ARE A LONGTIME LEGACY OF NATIONAL POVERTY AND POLITICAL TIMIDITY . WHAT IS RADIANTLY DIFFERENT ABOUT IRELAND TODAY IS THE SERIOUS EXPECTATION THAT ITS ILLS AND LAGS WILL IN FACT BE CORRECTED . LEMASS WILL SOON RELEASE DETAILS OF A NEW SIX-YEAR ECONOMIC PROGRAM THAT AIMS TO BOOST THE G.N.P . 50 PER CENT BY 1970 . IF IT SUCCEEDS AND HIS GOALS IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN SET FAR SHORT OF ACTUAL PERFORMANCE THE NATION WILL HAVE TRAVELED A LONG WAY FROM " THE UNFORTUNATE COUNTRY " OF IRELAND'S ANCIENT LAMENT . THE VARIED AND LIVELY VIRTUES OF THE IRISH, WHICH IN THE PAST HAVE OFTEN SHADED INTO WEAKNESSES WHEN THEY WERE NOT VIGOROUSLY APPLIED TO A CAUSE, ARE THE NATION'S BEST ASSURANCE THAT IT CAN FIND THE FUTURE IT SEEKS FOR ITSELF . HOWEVER BRIGHT THE GOAL, IRELAND WILL STILL BE MANY LIGHTYEARS AWAY FROM THE BLEST ISLE . BUT WHO KNOWS ? THEY MAY HAVE THEIR TROUBLES THERE TOO .
 COLD WAR TO MOSCOW, WITH CAUTION THE PATTERN OF ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE MIGHT BE SYMBOLIC . BY WEEK'S END EVERYONE IN MOSCOW BELIEVED THAT THE RED CHINESE DELEGATION WAS READY TO HEAD HOME BEFORE TOO LONG . AT THE SAME TIME, U.S . AND BRITISH DELEGATIONS WERE DUE TO ARRIVE . THE RUSSIANS WERE JAMMING RADIO PEKING BUT LET THE VOICE OF AMERICA COME IN LOUD AND CLEAR . FACED WITH THE OPEN CHINESE CHALLENGE TO SOVIET LEADERSHIP OF WORLD COMMUNISM, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV MAY WANT TO EASE TENSIONS WITH THE WEST, BOTH TO BULWARK HIS POSITION AT HOME AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE GENUINENESS OF HIS MUCH-HERALDED COEXISTENCE POLICY ABROAD . BUT WHETHER KHRUSHCHEV WANTS IT BADLY ENOUGH TO MAKE SOME REALLY MEANINGFUL CONCESSIONS IS STILL ANOTHER QUESTION . THE ISSUES . AS HE FLEW OFF TO MOSCOW FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF TEST-BAN TALKS, PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY AVERELL HARRIMAN NOTED HOPEFULLY THAT RUSSIA WAS BEING MORE PLEASANT IN " THE SMALL THINGS OF LIFE . " AS FOR THE BIG THINGS, " WE ARE GOING IN GOOD FAITH AND IN THE HOPE OF ACHIEVING SOME STEPS THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL . " THE PRINCIPAL ISSUES FACING HARRIMAN AND HIS FELLOW NEGOTIATOR, BRITISH MINISTER OF SCIENCE VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, IN MOSCOW . . .TEST BAN : KHRUSHCHEV HAS INDICATED THAT HE WOULD REVIVE RUSSIA'S 1961 TERMS FOR A TEST BAN, WHICH INCLUDED A VOLUNTARY MORATORIUM ON UNDERGROUND DETONATIONS, WITHOUT EFFECTIVE CONTROLS . THIS PROPOSAL WAS REJECTED BY THE U.S . AT . THE TIME . THEN, LAST YEAR, RUSSIA OFFERED TO PERMIT THREE INSPECTIONS OF ITS TERRITORY YEARLY BY WAY OF POLICING AN UNDERGROUND BAN . MOSCOW SUBSEQUENTLY RENEGED, KHRUSHCHEV NOW INSISTS THAT RUSSIA WILL NEVER " OPEN ITS DOOR TO NATO SPIES, " AND THAT " THIS IS NO SUBJECT FOR BARGAINING . " THE WEST WILL NOT ACCEPT AN UNENFORCEABLE MORATORIUM ON UNDERGROUND TESTS, SINCE IT BELIEVES THAT THE RUSSIANS WOULD BREAK IT AT WILL, AS THEY VIOLATED THE VOLUNTARY TEST BAN IN 1961 . HOWEVER, IF RUSSIA AGREES TO A TREATY THAT SIMPLY FORBIDS TESTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH ARE EASILY DETECTABLE THE WEST IS WILLING TO TAKE UP THE PROBLEM OF UNDERGROUND TESTING AT A LATER DATE . .NONAGGRESSION PACT . KHRUSHCHEV DECLARED THAT " AT THE CONCLUSION OF A TESTBAN AGREEMENT, " HE WILL REVIVE RUSSIA'S HOARY DEMAND FOR A NONAGGRESSION PACT BETWEEN THE 15 NATO POWERS AND THE SATELLITE NATIONS OF THE WARSAW TREATY . IN THE PAST, THIS PROPOSAL HAS INVARIABLY BEEN REJECTED BY THE WEST BECAUSE WEST GERMANY AND FRANCE OBJECT THAT IT WOULD IMPLY WESTERN ACCEPTANCE OF A DIVIDED EUROPE AND RECOGNITION OF EAST GERMANY . IN ANY CASE, THEY POINT OUT, NO SUCH DECLARATION IS NEEDED, FOR NATO'S DEFENSIVE PURPOSES WERE GUARANTEED IN ITS CHARTER 14 YEARS AGO . THE PROSPECTS . U.S . POLICYMAKERS EMPHASIZE THAT A TEST-BAN TREATY WOULD HAVE LITTLE IF ANY EFFECT ON THE BALANCE OF POWER . SINCE BOTH EAST AND WEST HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH NUCLEAR WARHEADS FOR ANY CONCEIVABLE CONFLICT, THE ONLY WAY EITHER SIDE COULD GAIN A DECISIVE STRATEGIC LEAD WOULD BE THROUGH A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN MISSILE DELIVERY SYSTEMS, WHICH WOULD NOT BE COVERED BY THE TEST BAN . IN ANY CASE, NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY IS NOW SO ADVANCED THAT WEAPONS SUCH AS THE ANTI-MISSILE MISSILE CAN BE DEVELOPED ENTIRELY IN THE LABORATORY . FURTHERMORE, NO WESTERN STATESMAN BELIEVES THAT A TEST-BAN AGREEMENT WILL RESTRAIN THE FRENCH OR CHINESE FROM TESTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AT WILL, OR EVEN SLOW THE SPREAD OF NUCLEAR ARMS TO OTHER NATIONS . WHY, THEN, IS THE WEST SO EAGER TO SIGN A NUCLEAR PACT WITH RUSSIA ? RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, WASHINGTON HAS COME TO VIEW A TEST-BAN TREATY AS THE TOUCHSTONE OF SOVIET INTENTIONS . IF THIS ONE OUTSTANDING ISSUE CAN BE RESOLVED AFTER FIVE YEARS OF FRUSTRATION, THE STATE DEPARTMENT BELIEVES, THEN THERE IS HOPE THAT EAST AND WEST MAY ULTIMATELY BE ABLE TO SETTLE OTHER ISSUES . THOUGH HARRIMAN IS EMPOWERED ONLY TO NEGOTIATE A TEST-BAN AGREEMENT, HE EXPECTS TO " EXPLORE " OTHER COLD WAR PROBLEMS, SUCH AS BERLIN AND RUSSIA'S FAILURE TO ENFORCE THE LAOTIAN NEUTRALITY PACT . ON THOSE MATTERS KHRUSHCHEV SO FAR DID NOT APPEAR TO BUDGE . TALKING TO BELGIUM'S FOREIGN MINISTER PAUL-HENRI SPAAK IN KIEV LAST WEEK, KHRUSHCHEV SAID : " BERLIN IS THE FOOT THAT KENNEDY HAS IN EUROPE . EVERY TIME I WANT TO, I'LL STAMP ON IT . " IN SHORT, THE EAST-WEST TALKS IN MOSCOW MAY JUST POSSIBLY PROVE NO MORE FRUITFUL THAN THE SINO-SOVIET TALKS . BUT U.S . OBSERVERS STILL WONDER HOW LONG KHRUSHCHEV CAN GO ON FIGHTING A TWOFRONT WAR, REFUSING BOTH CONCESSIONS TO PEKING AND A GENUINE MOVE TOWARD " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " WITH THE WEST .
 COMMUNISTS WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR SCARCELY HAD THE SINO-SOVIET TALKS GOTTEN UNDERWAY THAN THE MEETING HEADED FOR COLLAPSE . IT DID NOT MUCH MATTER WHEN RED CHINA'S SEVEN-MAN DELEGATION WOULD PACK THEIR BAGS AND ACTUALLY LEAVE MOSCOW ; BACK HOME PEKING'S PEOPLE'S DAILY SEEMED READY TO CALL IT QUITS . " WE WANT UNITY, NOT A SPLIT, " SAID THE VOICE OF RED CHINA . " BUT WE HAVE TO POINT OUT WITH HEAVY HEARTS THAT EVENTS HAVE GONE CONTRARY TO OUR HOPES . THE SITUATION IS VERY GRAVE . " ABSOLUTE SECRECY . ALL WEEK THERE HAD BEEN A STRANGE SENSATION IN MOSCOW THAT MAYBE THERE WAS NO SINO-SOVIET MEETING AT ALL . THE KREMLIN ACTED AS THOUGH THE SHOWDOWN NEVER TOOK PLACE . DOM PRIEMOV, THE RECEPTION HOUSE WHERE THE SESSIONS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HELD, WAS CAREFULLY AVOIDED BY SOVIET REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS . ASKED WHY, A MOSCOW NEWS EXECUTIVE SAID SARCASTICALLY : " IT'S PAYDAY . THEY'VE ALL GONE FOR THEIR MONEY . " AFTER MEETING TWICE TO DISCUSS FORMALITIES, THE RUSSIANS AND RED CHINESE MET ONLY THREE TIMES DURING THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS . JUST BEFORE ONE SESSION BEGAN, A WESTERN REPORTER ASKED A SOVIET PLAINCLOTHESMAN WHAT TIME THE PEKING DELEGATION WAS EXPECTED . THE COP SHRUGGED AND SAID : " YOU NEVER KNOW WITH THEM . THEY ARE A VERY DISORGANIZED PEOPLE . WE WAITED FOR THEM YESTERDAY, AND THEY NEVER DID SHOW UP . " THE RED CHINESE DELEGATION APPARENTLY SPENT MOST OF ITS TIME DRIVING THROUGH THE LENIN HILLS SECTION OF THE CITY IN BLACK LIMOUSINES, SHUTTLING MYSTERIOUSLY FROM PEKING'S EMBASSY TO DOM PRIEMOV TO THE VILLA WHERE THEY LIVED . WESTERN NEWSMEN ONCE GLIMPSED TENG HSIAO-PING, THE LEADER OF PEKING'S GROUP, SERENELY STROLLING THROUGH THE VILLA'S GARDENS . THE ONLY SIGN OF LIFE BEHIND THE MASSIVE, CREAM-COLORED WALLS OF DOM PRIEMOV WERE THE BOOTS OF A SOVIET SOLDIER, WHICH PROTRUDED BENEATH THE SPIKED IRON GATES WHEN HE OPENED A PEEPHOLE TO SCRUTINIZE AN ARRIVING AUTOMOBILE . FOR THE FIRST TIME, RUSSIANS WERE WILLING TO TALK AND EVEN TO JOKE ABOUT THE SINO-SOVIET CONFLICT . ONE CRACK MAKING THE ROUNDS IN MOSCOW SUGGESTED THAT THE WAY TO SOLVE THE WHOLE THING WAS FOR MAO TSE-TUNG AND CHARLES DE GAULLE TO CONCLUDE AN ALLIANCE, THUS LETTING THE TWO TROUBLEMAKERS TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER . ABSOLUTE EQUALITY . TRHOUGHOUT THE ON-AND-OFF MEETINGS, THE IDEOLOGICAL FIRE CONTINUED ABOVE THE HEADS OF THE DELEGATES . THE KREMLIN SPLASHED A POLICY STATEMENT ON THE FRONT PAGE OF PRAVDA THAT OMINOUSLY WARNED PEKING OF THE " DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES " OF ITS POLICY . AS FOR NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, HE CALLED OUT THE BRASS BANDS, HONOR GUARD AND TELEVISION CAMERAS TO WELCOME HUNGARY'S JANOS KADAR, WHO REPAID THE FLATTERY BY ONCE AGAIN BACKING MOSCOW'S LINE OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE . RED CHINA, WHOSE DELEGATION'S ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW WAS DOWNPLAYED BY THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND DELIBERATELY IGNORED BY THE SOVIET PRESS, FIRED ITS OWN VOLLEY OF INSULTS . FOR THE FIRST TIME, PEKING CLAIMED ABSOLUTE EQUALITY WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION AND WARNED THE KREMLIN IN AN ELABORATE SIMILE : " NO GENUINE UNITY CAN BE ACHIEVED BY AN ATTITUDE THAT ALLOWS THE MAGISTRATE TO BURN DOWN HOUSES, WHILE FORBIDDING THE COMMON PEOPLE EVEN TO LIGHT THEIR LAMPS . " ALL THESE SINO-SOVIET EXCHANGES WERE CAREFULLY FRAMED TO PUT THE BLAME FOR THE SPLIT ON THE OTHER FELLOW . OBVIOUSLY THE CHINESE NEVER EXPECTED THE MOSCOW MEETING TO SUCCEED, INSISTED ON IT MERELY TO EMBARRASS THE SOVIETS . THE KREMLIN, IN TURN, COULD NOT AFFORD TO APPEAR INTRACTABLE . AT WEEK'S END THE PEKING PRESS SUGGESTED THAT PERHAPS A FEW OF THE SINO-SOVIET DIFFERENCES COULD BE SETTLED SOON, WHILE OTHERS COULD BE DEFERRED TILL LATER . THIS SIMPLY MEANT THAT THE CHINESE WERE READY TO PROLONG THE QUARREL INDEFINITELY . " IF THE DIFFERENCES CANNOT BE RESOLVED THIS YEAR, " SAID PEKING BLANDLY, " THEY CAN WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR . " THE RUSSIANS ARE LESS PATIENT . THEY SHOT BACK AN ANSWERING COMMUNIQUE WARNING PEKING THAT " THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE " WILL DECIDE WHETHER THE SPLIT WILL WIDEN . THEN MOSCOW GAVE THE RED CHINESE AND THE WEST A POINTED REMINDER . AFTER ALL, SAID THE SOVIETS, " WE HAVE A COMMON ENEMY . /
 ESPIONAGE MIDSUMMER DRAGNET THROUGHOUT THE WORLD LAST WEEK, SECRET AGENTS WERE ON THE MOVE MANY OF THEM IN THE DIRECTION OF JAIL . THE U.S . HAD JUST ROUNDED UP ITS FOURTH OF JULY CATCH ; WEST GERMANY WAS TRYING THREE SPIES WHO HAD PENETRATED ITS SUPPOSEDLY IMPENETRABLE GEHLEN INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION (SEE FOLLOWING STORY) ; AND BRITAIN HAD TWO SPY THRILLERS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY . DEFEATED MACHINERY . ON TRIAL IN LONDON, ITALIAN-BORN ATOMIC PHYSICIST GIUSEPPE MARTELLI TRIED TO EXPLAIN AWAY HIS POSSESSION OF HOLLOW-HEELED SHOES SUITABLE FOR CONCEALING MICROFILM, CIGARETTE PACKS CONTAINING THIN, INFLAMMABLE MESSAGE PADS, SHEETS OF RENDEZVOUS INSTRUCTIONS, A HIGH-POWERED CAMERA, AND A SUPER-STRENGTH RADIO RECEIVER . HE HAD ACCEPTED ALL THESE GADGETS FROM THE RUSSIANS, HE SAID, ONLY TO STRING THEM ALONG AND THEN DENOUNCE THEM AT THE RIGHT TIME TO THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES . ASKED THE JUDGE : / YOU FELT THAT YOU COULD DEFEAT THE WHOLE MACHINERY OF SOVIET INTELLIGENCE ? " AND, ALSO IN LONDON, ONE OF THE ODDEST OF THE SPY CASES CAME TO LIGHT WHEN THE GOVERNMENT ADMITTED THAT IT WAS GRANTING ASYLUM TO ANATOLY DOLNYTSIN, A FORMER SENIOR RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER WHO DEFECTED TO THE WEST 18 MONTHS AGO, AND HAD SPENT THE INTERVENING TIME BEING THOROUGHLY PUMPED BY U.S . AND BRITISH AGENTS . ONE REPORTED RESULT : THE REVELATION THAT BRITISH NEWSMAN H.A.R . PHILBY WAS INDEED THE " THIRD MAN " WHO ENABLED SPIES BURGESS AND MACLEAN TO ESCAPE ARREST AND FLEE TO RUSSIA IN 1951 . LAST WINTER PHILBY, TOO, SLIPPED BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN JUST AHEAD OF PURSUING MI-5 AGENTS . ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT HAD MADE QUITE A SHOW OF ASKING THE BRITISH PRESS NOT TO PRINT THE STORY, THE AUTHORITIES HAD IN FACT LEAKED IT . LABORITES CHARGED THAT THIS POSSIBLY ENDANGERED DOLNYTSIN, WHO IS SOMEWHERE IN A BRITISH HIDEOUT, AND THAT DOLNYTSIN WAS BEING UNVEILED NOW BY MACMILLAN'S GOVERNMENT IN THE HOPE OF CLAIMING A SPY SUCCESS AFTER SO MANY SECURITY DISASTERS . FINGERED SPIES . SO MANY RED SPIES ARE CAUGHT, PROBABLY BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY MORE OF THEM AROUND.* THE U.S . STATE DEPARTMENT ESTIMATES THAT THE COMMUNIST NATIONS EMPLOY MORE THAN 300,000 TRAINED AGENTS, WHO ARE HELPED IN THEIR PRYING BY THE " LEGAL " SPIES ATTACHED TO THE 46 SOVIET EMBASSIES AND LEGATIONS IN THE FREE WORLD . (THE U.S . OPERATES WITH A CRACK CORPS OF AGENTS ONLY ABOUT ONE-FIFTH AS LARGE.) BUT WHY WERE SO MANY RED SPIES COMING TO LIGHT AT ONCE ? WHENEVER ONE GREAT POWER HAS A BIG ESPIONAGE ROUNDUP, AS RUSSIA DID LAST MAY IN THE TRIAL OF RUSSIAN SCIENTIST OLEG PENKOVSKY, WHO TURNED OUT TO BE A LONGTIME WESTERN AGENT, SPIES ELSEWHERE BRACE THEMSELVES FOR A PERIOD OF ROUGH WEATHER . FURTHERMORE, THERE IS A SEASONAL FACTOR INVOLVED ; SUMMER IS THE TRADITIONAL TIME TO PUT THE FINGER ON SPIES . AROUND THE END OF JUNE, MANY COMMUNIST " DIPLOMATS " PREPARE TO GO HOME FOR VACATIONS AND NEW INSTRUCTIONS . HAVING HAD AN EYE ON THEM ALREADY, THE FBI THEN OFTEN DECIDES TO POUNCE AND EXPOSE THEM BEFORE THEY CAN BE REASSIGNED . NATIVE PASSION . ONE FACT TO EMERGE FROM THE RECENT WAVE OF ARRESTS IS THAT THE SOVIET APPARATUS SEEMS SENTIMENTALLY FOND OF SUCH OLD CLOAK-AND-DAGGER STANDBYS AS FALSE BOTTOMS IN VALISES, HIDDEN COMPARTMENTS IN TALCUM-POWDER CANS AND TOOTHPASTE TUBES, AND FLASHLIGHTS WITH MESSAGE CHAMBERS INSTEAD OF BATTERIES . A RUSSIAN SPY'S RESIDENCE USUALLY HAS AS MANY TRAP DOORS, HOLLOW BEAMS, FALSE WALLS, SECRET PASSAGES AND DOUBLE- AND TRIPLE-LOCKED DOORS AS A GRADE B HORROR MOVIE . ACTUALLY, AGENTS BOTH EAST AND WEST HAVE BENEFITED ENORMOUSLY FROM FAR MORE MODERN DEVICES . IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO EAVESDROP ON A CONVERSATION HELD IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMPTY PRAIRIE BY SIMPLY POINTING A BEAM OF LIGHT FROM 500 YARDS AWAY . NEW CAMERAS CAN TAKE PICTURES IN TOTAL DARKNESS WITHOUT THE USE OF INFRA-RED LIGHT . FINELY GROUND LENSES CAN ZOOM IN FROM BLOCKS AWAY TO PICK UP THE FINE PRINT ON AN INSURANCE POLICY . BUT THE SOVIETS LIKE THE MORE OLD-FASHIONED AND ROMANTIC GADGETS, MOSTLY, IT SEEMS, FROM A NATIVE PASSION FOR MELODRAMA . RECENTLY NABBED RED AGENTS INCLUDE SWEDEN'S EX-MILITARY ATTACHE STIG WENNERSTROM ; RUSSIA'S IVAN EGEROV AND WIFE, ATTACHED TO THE U.N . SECRETARIAT ; TWO UNIDENTIFIED RUSSIANS CAUGHT IN WASHINGTON USING THE NAMES AND PAPERS OF INNOCENT LIVING AMERICANS, AS WELL AS A BRITISH CORPORAL, A FRENCH NAVAL RESERVIST, A UMAN AND HALF A DOZEN RUSSIAN,  RUMANIAN AND CZECH DIPLOMATS .
 TRIPLE DOUBLE WITH SOME 125 EAST-BLOC AGENTS ARRESTED EVERY MONTH IN THEIR DIVIDED COUNTRY, GERMANS ARE BLASE ABOUT SPY STORIES . BUT THE CASE THAT UNFOLDED IN A KARLSRUHE COURTROOM LAST WEEK PROVED THAT BONN'S VAUNTED GEHLEN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE HAD BEEN INFILTRATED FOR TEN YEARS BY THE REDS, AND THAT THE ORGANIZATION HAD KNOWINGLY HIRED FORMER NAZIS . ALL THREE OF THE MEN ON TRIAL, LONGTIME EMPLOYEES OF GEHLEN, WERE ALSO LONGTIME EMPLOYEES OF THE SOVIET UNION . BY ALL ODDS, IT WAS THE MOST EMBARRASSING SPY SCANDAL TO HIT WEST GERMANY SINCE THE WAR . " I HATE AMERICANS . " EX-WEHRMACHT GENERAL REINHARD GEHLEN, WHO IS AS SECRETIVE AS ANY OF HIS 5,000 MEN (HIS LAST KNOWN PHOTOGRAPH DATES FROM 1944), SET UP HIS OUTFIT IN 1947 WITH THE COOPERATION OF THE CIA . IT WAS STAFFED LARGELY WITH VETERAN AGENTS WHO GOT THEIR TRAINING UNDER THE NAZIS, ALTHOUGH GEHLEN HIMSELF HAD NEVER JOINED THE NAZI PARTY . IN 1955 THE GEHLEN APPARATUS WAS TURNED OVER FROM CIA CONTROL TO THE WEST GERMAN GOVERNMENT ; IT REPORTS DIRECTLY TO THE CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE, HAS A TOP SECRET BUDGET . YET IN COURT, THE THREE MEN WHO PENETRATED ITS WALLED-IN MUNICH HEADQUARTERS MADE THE FEAT SOUND ABOUT AS DIFFICULT AS JOINING A BAVARIAN MARCHING AND GYMNASTIC SOCIETY . FIRST OF THE TRIO TO FACE THE FIVE REDROBED JUDGES AT KARLSRUHE WAS STOCKY HANS CLEMENS, 61, WHO PEERED WITH INTEREST AT AN EXHIBIT TABLE COVERED WITH THE TOOLS OF HIS TRADE : CAMERAS, TAPE RECORDERS, MICROSCOPES, RADIOS, FILMS AND SUITCASES WITH SECRET COMPARTMENTS . AS HE TOLD IT, CLEMENS HAD BEEN A PIANIST AS A YOUTH IN DRESDEN, BUT CHANGED KEYS AND BECAME A NAZI POLICE OFFICIAL IN 1933 . HE HEADED THE DRESDEN OFFICE OF THE DREADED SS SECURITY SERVICE . DURING WORLD WAR II HE COMMANDED AN EXECUTION SQUAD IN ITALY THAT KILLED 330 HOSTAGES AND FOR HIS SAVAGERY WON THE TITLE " THE TIGER OF COMO . " BACK IN GERMANY AFTER THE WAR, HE MET A COLONEL " MAX " OF SOVIET INTELLIGENCE, WHO SUGGESTED THAT HE GET A JOB WITH THE GEHLEN ORGANIZATION . IT PROVED EASY . THE MOTIVE HE GAVE FOR BECOMING A DOUBLE AGENT FOR THE REDS SEEMED LIKE AN OLD PROPAGANDA BROADCAST . " I HATE AMERICANS LIKE THE PLAGUE, " HE SAID IN COURT, RECALLING THAT AFTER AMERICAN AIR RAIDS ON DRESDEN HE HAD SWORN, " I SHALL REPAY THEM DOUBLY AND TRIPLY . " CHAMPAGNE IN STREAMS . ONE MAJOR SERVICE CLEMENS PERFORMED FOR THE RUSSIANS WAS TO RECRUIT A FORMER SS COLLEAGUE, HEINZ FELFE . COOL AND ARTICULATE, DEFENDANT FELFE, 45, TOLD THE JUDGES THAT HE TOO WAS AN ARDENT NAZI, HAD WORKED HIS WAY UP INTO HEINRICH HIMMLER'S STATE SECURITY BUREAU . HE BRAGGED OF HIS WARTIME SUCCESSES, WHICH HE CLAIMED INCLUDED GETTING FIRST REPORTS ON TEHERAN AND YALTA FROM A CONFIDANT OF ALLEN DULLES . AFTER WAR'S END HE WAS CLASSIFIED BY A GERMAN DENAZIFICATION BOARD AS UNBELASTET (NOT INCRIMINATED) . THIS ASTONISHING FACT WAS ACKNOWLEDGED BY PRESIDING JUDGE KURT WEBER WITH AN OUTRAGED " DONNERWETTER ! " (THUNDERATION) . IN 1947, JUST 18 MONTHS AFTER FELFE'S RELEASE FROM A PRISONER-OF-WAR CAMP, HE FOUND SPY WORK WITH THE BRITISH, CONTINUING WITH THEM UNTIL, AS HE PUT IT, THE BRITISH / RAN OUT OF MONEY . " THEN HIS OLD FRIEND CLEMENS MADE CONTACT WITH HIM ON ORDERS FROM COLONEL " MAX, " ARRANGED A MEETING IN EAST BERLIN, AT WHICH FELFE WAS HIRED TO WORK FOR THE SOVIETS . THE DEAL WAS CLINCHED AT A DINNER AT MAX'S VILLA, WHERE THE TABLE " WAS PILED HIGH WITH FOOD AND CHAMPAGNE POURED IN STREAMS . " NOT LONG AFTERWARD, THANKS TO A RECOMMENDATION FROM HIS FRIEND CLEMENS, FELFE WAS OFFERED A JOB IN THE GEHLEN SERVICE . " NOW, " HE SAID, " I WAS TO DANCE AT TWO WEDDINGS, WITH THE RUSSIANS AND WITH GEHLEN . " FELFE DANCED UP FAST IN GEHLEN'S RANKS, AND BY THE TIME OF HIS ARREST IN 1961 HAD BECOME A DEPARTMENT HEAD IN THE COUNTER-ESPIONAGE DIVISION, SPECIALIZING IN ANTI-SOVIET WORK . REWARDING INVESTMENT . THE WORRIEDLOOKING THIRD MEMBER OF THE GROUP, ONE ERWIN TIEBEL, MERELY SERVED AS COURIER FOR FELFE AND CLEMENS . THE SPIES TRANSMITTED THEIR INFORMATION BY MICROFILM HIDDEN IN FOOD CANS SENT TO EAST GERMANY, BY DROPS ALONG THE AUTOBAHN, AND BY FREQUENT TRIPS ON U.S . AIR FORCE COURIER FLIGHTS TO BERLIN, WHICH THEY BOARDED UNDER THE PRETEXT OF BEING ON GEHLEN BUSINESS, THE THREE GOT A TOTAL OF $78,000 FROM MOSCOW . FOR THE INVESTMENT, THE SOVIETS GOT 15,000 MICROFILM PHOTOGRAPHS OF WEST GERMAN INTELLIGENCE DOCUMENTS, 20 SPOOLS OF TAPE RECORDINGS, NUMEROUS VERBAL AND RADIO REPORTS, INCLUDING THE IDENTITY OF MANY WEST GERMAN AGENTS WORKING BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN . AS THE TESTIMONY POURED FORTH, THE OUTCRY FROM WEST GERMANY'S PRESS AND PUBLIC FORCED DEFENSE MINISTER KAIUWE VON HASSEL TO PROMISE A " RE-EXAMINATION " OF GEHLEN'S ORGANIZATION, AND REPORTEDLY GEHLEN WILL RETIRE SOON . VON HASSEL ADDED LAMELY : " THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CASES OF INFILTRATION IN ANY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE . " BUT THE GEHLEN GROUP MUST HAVE SET A RECORD OF SORTS . AT ONE POINT, TESTIFIED FELFE, HIS RUSSIAN BOSSES URGED HIM TO GET A TRANSFER BECAUSE THERE ALREADY WAS A SURPLUS OF SOVIET AGENTS IN HIS DEPARTMENT . SHORTLY BEFORE THEIR ARREST, ADDED FELFE, HE AND CLEMENS RECEIVED LETTERS OF COMMENDATION AND CASH BONUSES FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SOVIET COMMITTEE FOR STATE SECURITY.SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE TWO AGENTS GOT CITATIONS FOR TEN YEARS' MERITORIOUS SERVICE FROM GENERAL GEHLEN .
 BERLIN HEDGEHOPPING TO FREEDOM REFUGEES FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN HAVE COME INTO WEST BERLIN OVER ROOFTOPS AND UNDERGROUND, BY FOOT, AUTO, TRAIN, BUS, BOAT AND ARMORED CAR . LAST WEEK WEST BERLIN WELCOMED THE FIRST TO ARRIVE BY PLANE POLISH AIR FORCE MAJOR RICHARD OBACZ, 34, HIS GERMAN-BORN WIFE MARY, 27, AND THEIR TWO SMALL SONS . A JET TEST PILOT STATIONED IN NORTHEAST POLAND, MAJOR OBACZ RECEIVED OFFICIAL CLEARANCE TO LOG EXTRA FLIGHT TIME BY FLYING HIS FAMILY TO VISIT RELATIVES IN SZCZECIN (FORMERLY STETTIN), ON THE EAST GERMAN BORDER . OBACZ CRAMMED HIS WIFE AND TWO SONS, LESTER, 9, AND CHRISTOPHER, 5, INTO THE REAR SEAT OF A PROPDRIVEN, TWO-SEATER TRAINING PLANE . ONLY AFTER THEY WERE ALOFT DID HE TELL THEM OVER THE PLANE'S INTERCOM THAT HE WAS MAKING A BREAK . TO AVOID COMMUNIST RADAR DETECTION, HE HEDGEHOPPED OVER THE GROUND, NEVER FLEW HIGHER THAN 150 FT . THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE 150-MILE TRIP . WHEN ONE POLISH GROUND STATION CALLED FOR HIS LOCATION, OBACZ DID NOT REPLY . AN HOUR AFTER TAKE-OFF, OBACZ ROARED OVER WEST BERLIN'S CHECKPOINT CHARLIE AT ROOFTOP LEVEL, LANDED AT TEMPELHOF AIRPORT, AND REQUESTED POLITICAL ASYLUM . " I FLED BECAUSE I WAS FED UP, " OBACZ SAID . " I WAS TIRED OF PRESSURE . I WANTED TO WORK TOWARD TRUTH . WE WANT THE RIGHT TO TRAVEL WHERE WE WANT, THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH, THE RIGHT TO WORK FOR A GOOD CAUSE . "
 WEST GERMANY THE ADIPOSE SOCIETY SINCE THE DAYS WHEN HITLER OPTED FOR GUNS RATHER THAN BUTTER, WEST GERMANY HAS KNOWN NEAR-STARVATION, AUSTERITY AND, FOR THE PAST DECADE, SUCH HEADY ABUNDANCE THAT TODAY IT HAS BECOME THE ADIPOSE SOCIETY . FOLLOWING THE EARLY '50S, WHEN THE POSTWAR BOOM SET OFF WHAT GERMANS CALL THE EDELFRESSWELLE, THE GORGEOUS GOBBLING WAVE, BUTTOCKS AND BOSOMS HAVE EXPANDED EVEN MORE RAPIDLY THAN THE ECONOMY, AND DOCTORS HAVE RECOGNIZED TWO UNIVERSAL AILMENTS : DOPPELKINNEPIDEMIE, DOUBLE-CHIN EPIDEMIC, AND HANGEBAUCH, OR BELLYHANG . THE MAJORITY OF GERMANS, FROM NEWBORN BABES TO CABINET MINISTERS, ARE FATTER TODAY THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME IN THIS CENTURY . A TOP DIETETIC AUTHORITY ESTIMATES THAT 20 PER CENT OF ALL WEST GERMANS ARE OVERWEIGHT . IN A NEW BOOK TITLED GROW THIN, BUT HOW ? , DR . ANDREAS DUTTLER WARNS : " CORPULENCE IS THE DARK SIDE OF THE ECONOMIC MIRACLE . " REARGUARD ACTION . THE EXPLOSION OF VITAL STATISTICS IS AMPLY EVIDENT FROM THE ISLAND OF SYLT, WHERE PNEUMATIC NUDISTS JOUNCE ACROSS THE BEACHES, TO THE SPANISH COASTLINE, WHERE BULGY BRUNNHILDES HAVE ALREADY MADE THE AUTHORITIES REGRET THEIR DECISION NOT TO ENFORCE A LONGTIME BAN ON BIKINIS . WEST GERMANY'S MEN'S WEAR INDUSTRY IN RECENT YEARS HAS HAD TO ADD A NEW CLOTHING CLASSIFICATION, TACTFULLY DUBBED BOSS OR MANAGER SIZE ; NEARLY A QUARTER OF ALL NEW CLOTHES ARE NOW BOUGHT BY CUSTOMERS OF MANAGERIAL GIRTH, WHILE SALES OF " NORMAL " SIZES ARE DIMINISHING . FRENCH GARMENT MANUFACTURERS WHO EXPORT TO GERMANY SELL A HIGHER PROPORTION OF JUMBO SIZES (16 TO 18) THERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE . IN MOST OTHER COUNTRIES, ALSO, WELL-BUTTRESSED WOMEN STEER CLEAR OF SUCH REVEALING CLOTHES AS STRETCH SKI PANTS ; IN WEST GERMANY, ACCORDING TO THE WORLD-GIRDLING BOGNER STRETCHPANTS CONCERN, THERE IS A STEADY DEMAND FOR SLIPCOVER SIZES . MANY GERMAN WOMEN ARE FIGHTING A DETERMINED REARGUARD ACTION, NONETHELESS . SALES OF FOUNDATION GARMENTS HAVE QUADRUPLED SINCE 1950, AND SLIMMING PARLORS HAVE BECOME ALMOST AS THICK AS GERMANY'S BELOVED WHIPPED CREAM . IN BONN, WHERE A SESSION AT THE STYLISH SALON DER FIGUR RANGES FROM $6 FOR A PLUMP PUBESCENT TO $125 FOR A WELLMARBLED DOWAGER, OWNER HELGA PIETSCH SIGHS : " NINETY PERCENT OF THE GERMAN WOMEN WHO COME IN HERE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A CALORIE IS . " UNCONSCIOUS EATING . WEST GERMANY'S GOVERNMENT IS DOING ITS LEVEL BEST TO TEACH THEM, FOR THE INCIDENCE OF ARTERIOSCLEROSIS AND OTHER FAT-LINKED AILMENTS IS INCREASING RELENTLESSLY . THE SOCIETY FOR NOURISHMENT SENDS 50 LADY DIETICIANS AROUND THE COUNTRY GIVING WEIGHT-REDUCING LECTURES, AND HAS LAUNCHED A COUNTER-PAUNCHING OFFENSIVE AIMED AT LEAVENING FACTORY MEALS . THE AVERAGE WEST GERMAN CALORIE INTAKE IS ACTUALLY BELOW U.S . AND BRITISH LEVELS, BUT SUCH STATISTICS DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR BEER, WHICH POURS DOWN TEUTONIC THROATS AT THE ANNUAL RATE OF 432 GLASSES (100 CALORIES PER GLASS) FOR EACH MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD . BESIDES, THE AVERAGE GERMAN CONSUMES MORE STARCHES AND OTHER LIPOGENIC SUBSTANCES : 260 LBS . OF POTATOES, 155 LBS . OF BREAD AND 47 CHOCOLATE BARS EACH YEAR . GERMAN PALATES ARE NOT EASILY WEANED AWAY FROM SUCH BELT-STRAINING DELICACIES AS ROAST GOOSE (500 CALORIES FOR A GOOD-SIZED HELPING) OR KARTOFFELKLOSSE (MORE THAN 100 EACH), THEIR FAMED POTATO DUMPLINGS . THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, WOMEN HOLD THEIR MIDMORNING KAFFEEKLATSCH AT PASTRY SHOPS THAT ARE AS RICH IN CALORIFIC TEMPTATION AS THE WITCH'S COTTAGE IN HANSEL AND GRETEL . TV HAS ALSO HELPED BRING THE COUNTRY TO POLYSATURATION POINT BY ENCOURAGING WHAT DOCTORS CALL " UNCONSCIOUS EATING . " TO GET THROUGH A POKER HAND WITH MAVERICK, GERMANS CONSUME VAST QUANTITIES OF PRETZELS AND PASTRIES, AND FILL THE GAPS BETWEEN SNACKS WITH ERFRISCHUNGSBONBONS, REFRESHMENT CANDIES . AND THEY ARE INCREASINGLY RELUCTANT TO TAKE EXERCISE . ASKS A GARMENT INDUSTRY OFFICIAL : " WHO WALKS NOWADAYS ANY MORE ? " TOP POTS . IF THE AUTOMOBILE IS A STATUS SYMBOL IN GERMANY, SO IS THE PAUNCH . LIKE JULIUS CAESAR ( " LET ME HAVE MEN ABOUT ME THAT ARE FAT " ), GERMAN VOTERS CONSIDER THAT SHEER HEFT MAKES A POLITICIAN MORE KREDITWURDIG, OR TRUSTWORTHY . WHILE KONRAD ADENAUER HAS REMAINED REASONABLY TRIM, MANY OTHER POLITICIANS HAVE VISIBLY GONE TO POT . BUNDESTAG LEADER HEINRICH VON BRENTANO WAS A SKINNY 150-POUNDER WHEN HE WAS FIRST ELECTED IN 1949, NOW WEIGHS AROUND 210 . FORMER WAR MINISTER FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS WEIGHS ABOUT 270 LBS . MANY TOP OFFICERS, NOTABLY BUNDESWEHR INSPECTOR GENERAL FRIEDRICH FOERTSCH, ALSO SPORT UNMARTIAL POTBELLIES . UNDISPUTED CHAMPION IS ADENAUER'S CHOSEN SUCCESSOR, STOCKY (5 FT . 10 IN . ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, WHO WEIGHS ABOUT 220 LBS., BUT HAS SOARED FAR HIGHER ON OCCASION . WHENEVER A CRISIS THREATENS, SUCH AS THE METALWORKERS' STRIKE LAST MAY, GERMANS CRY : " LET THE FAT MAN HANDLE IT . " AFTER SETTLING THE STRIKE, ERHARD DREW ROAR OF APPROVAL WITH THE MODEST BRAG : " I THREW MY WHOLE WEIGHT INTO IT . " SOME OBSERVERS CONSIDER WAISTLINE INFLATION TO BE MERELY " A CULTURAL LAG " THAT WILL BE CORRECTED AS GERMANS ACCEPT THE IDEA THAT GOOD TIMES ARE THERE TO STAY . OTHERS, INCLUDING SOCIOLOGIST RENE KONIG, CONTEND THAT GERMAN CORPULENCE IS A SYMPTOM OF SUBCONSCIOUS ANXIETY AND GUILT . IF ONLY FOR THAT REASON, THERE SEEMS LITTLE LIKELIHOOD THAT GERMANS WILL EVER AGAIN WANT LEAN AND HUNGRY LEADERS . " A THIN ERHARD ? " ASKS KONIG . " NEVER . WHY, PEOPLE WOULDN'T BELIEVE IN WEST GERMANY'S PROSPERITY . "
 GREAT BRITAIN A FOOLISH DISPLAY FOR THREE DAYS LONDON'S GENTEEL WEST END LOOKED LIKE A BATTLEFIELD . NEAR BUCKINGHAM PALACE, SQUADS OF POLICE GRAPPLED WITH LEATHER-JACKETED TOUGHS, WHILE CHAUFFEURED BENTLEYS DELICATELY INCHED THEIR WAY THROUGH . WILD-EYED GIRLS WITH STRAGGLY BLACK HAIR AND BLUEJEANED BOYS WITH GOLDEN TRESSES WERE FROG-WALKED INTO PADDY WAGONS . SOME 200 PEOPLE WERE JAILED . TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAOS, A SIX-MAN GANG WAYLAID THE DOWAGER DUCHESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND, SPED OFF IN A WHITE JAGUAR WITH HER JEWELS, WORTH $200,000 . MOST SHOCKING OF ALL, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER ELEVEN-YEAR REIGN, QUEEN ELIZABETH II WAS BOOED BY HER OWN PEOPLE . CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE WAS THE LONGEXPECTED, LONG-DISPUTED STATE VISIT TO BRITAIN BY GREECE'S KING PAUL AND QUEEN FREDERIKA . FEARING PRECISELY THE KIND OF LEFT-WING DEMONSTRATIONS THAT OCCURRED LAST WEEK, GREEK PREMIER CONSTANTINE KARAMANLIS ADVISED AGAINST THE TRIP, RESIGNED WHEN THE ROYAL COUPLE REFUSED TO BOW TO PRESSURE AND DECIDED TO GO ANYWAY . BRITISH POLITICAL CRITICS BASE THEIR CASE AGAINST THE KING AND QUEEN LARGELY ON THE FACT THAT GREEK JAILS STILL CONTAIN ABOUT 1,000 PRISONERS SEIZED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO DURING THE CIVIL WAR ; MOST ARE BELIEVED TO BE COMMUNIST, AND THE GREEKS POINT OUT THAT THEY ARE BEING GRADUALLY RELEASED ANYWAY (THE ORIGINAL NUMBER OF PRISONERS WAS 4,000) . THE QUEEN IS ALSO ACCUSED OF NAZI SYMPATHIES, AN OLD AND ABSURDLY EXAGGERATED CHARGE,* AND OF MEDDLING TOO MUCH IN GREEK POLITICS, HARDLY A BRITISH CONCERN . THE ANTIGREEK CHORUS IS MADE UP OF A MOTLEY COLLECTION OF COMMUNISTS, SOCIALISTS, ANTI-MONARCHISTS, VAGUE CRUSADERS IN SEARCH OF NEW CAUSES, BAN-THE-BOMBERS (INCLUDING THAT FOOLISH SAGE, BERTRAND RUSSELL), ALL OF THEM JOINED IN THE LONDON STREETS BY JOY-RIDING BEATNIKS . AMAZINGLY, THEY WERE ALSO JOINED, IN SPIRIT, BY LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON AND DEPUTY LEADER GEORGE BROWN, WHO CHOSE TO BOYCOTT A BANQUET FOR THE VISITORS WHICH COULD ONLY RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH AND STABILITY OF BRITISH POLITICS . BORN PRINCESS OF HANOVER, FREDERIKA IS A GRANDDAUGHTER OF KAISER WILHELM II (AND A GREAT-GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF BRITAIN'S QUEEN VICTORIA, WHICH ALSO MAKES HER A BRITISH PRINCESS AND A THIRD COUSIN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH) . WHEN FREDERIKA WAS A YEAR OLD, HER FAMILY MOVED FROM GERMANY TO AUSTRIA . AS A GIRL, SHE SUPPOSEDLY BELONGED TO A HITLERITE YOUTH GROUP . IN SCHOOL IN ITALY DURING HER LATE TEENS, AT A TIME WHEN THREE OF HER BROTHERS SERVED IN THE WEHRMACHT, SHE WAS HEARD TO DEFEND NAZI GERMANY . THAT IS ABOUT THE ONLY FACT CRITICS CAN CITE TO SUPPORT THEIR CASE . AFTER MARRYING PAUL IN 1938, FREDERIKA FLED GREECE UNDER NAZI BOMBARDMENT, LIVED IN EXILE IN EGYPT AND SOUTH AFRICA TILL WAR'S END . AGENTS IN OVERALLS . FOR THE ROYAL VISIT, THE MACMILLAN GOVERNMENT MOUNTED A SECURITY FORCE THAT OUTDID EVEN THE BULGANIN-KHRUSHCHEV WELCOME IN 1956 . ON HAND WERE 5,000 POLICE, INCLUDING PLAINCLOTHESMEN DISGUISED IN EVERYTHING FROM MORNING COATS TO OVERALLS . AS THE ROYAL PROCESSION OF CARRIAGES CLIPCLOPPED FROM VICTORIA STATION, WHERE ELIZABETH GREETED THEM, TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE, A WOMAN BURST FROM THE CROWD AND SHRIEKED : " RELEASE MY HUSBAND ! " SHE TURNED OUT TO BE MRS . BETTY AMBATIELOS, 45, THE ENGLISH WIFE OF ANTONIOS AMBATIELOS, A GREEK COMMUNIST SERVING A LIFE TERM FOR HIS PART IN THE CIVIL WAR . THAT NIGHT, WHILE THE ROYAL COUPLES AND 156 OTHER GUESTS DINED IN BUCKINGHAM PALACE, 2,000 DEMONSTRATORS POURED INTO TRAFALGAR SQUARE WITH BANNERS PROCLAIMING " DOWN WITH THE NAZI QUEEN . " THE CROWD SEEMED BENT ON STORMING THE PALACE BUT ENCOUNTERED MASSED LINES OF BOBBIES BLOCKING THE WAY . POLICE HELMETS CLATTERED ACROSS SIDEWALKS, FISTS FLEW, TRAFFIC STALLED, AND PRANCING POLICE HORSES BOWLED OVER CROWDS . RIOTERS FOUGHT OFF COPS FROM ATOP A DOUBLEDECK BUS . A FEW YOUTHS WHO MADE IT TO THE MALL WERE STOPPED BY FLYING TACKLES . " SEIG HEIL ! " FOR THE NEXT NIGHT, SO THAT THE ROYAL PARTY COULD SEE SHAKESPEARE'S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM IN NEAR-PERFECT SECURITY, THE FOREIGN OFFICE HAD BOUGHT UP ALL 1,100 TICKETS TO THE ALDWYCH THEATER, DISTRIBUTED THEM TO A SELECT AUDIENCE THAT INCLUDED LEADERS OF LONDON'S GREEK COMMUNITY . SHORTLY BEFORE CURTAIN TIME, A FALSE REPORT THAT A BOMB HAD BEEN PLANTED IN THE THEATER LED TO THE ADDITIONAL SPECTACLE OF POLICE IN EVENING CLOTHES COMBING THE ROYAL BOX WITH A MINE DETECTOR . HELD BACK BY SIX ROWS OF POLICE, 1,500 PEOPLE OUTSIDE GREETED THE ROYAL ARRIVALS WITH AN UGLY DIN OF BOOS, HISSES AND MOCKING SHOUTS OF " SIEG HEIL ! " AND " FASCIST SWINE . " THOUSANDS OF OTHERS CHEERED . AFTER THE PLAY, QUEEN ELIZABETH LEFT THE THEATER ALONE, AND WAS GREETED BY ANOTHER CHORUS OF BOOS . SHE LOOKED STARTLED AND DISMAYED . IT WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME THAT BRITISH ROYALTY HAD BEEN SO PUBLICLY HUMILIATED AT HOME SINCE EDWARD VII WAS HISSED AT EPSOM IN THE LAST CENTURY AFTER RUMOR INVOLVED HIM AS A CORRESPONDENT IN A DIVORCE CASE . WORSE THAN WOOLLY . NEXT DAY, GREEK PREMIER PANAYOTIS PIPINELIS, WHO ACCOMPANIED THE KING AND QUEEN, GRANTED MRS . AMBATIELOS A 45-MINUTE HEARING, WHEREUPON SHE CALMED DOWN . BACK IN GREECE, 19 OF THE PRISONERS (NOT INCLUDING AMBATIELOS) WERE FREED . AT WEEK'S END THE ROYAL COUPLE QUIETLY RETURNED TO GREECE . SAID FREDERIKA BEFORE SHE LEFT : " THE DECISION TO COME TO BRITAIN FOR A STATE VISIT WAS THE RIGHT ONE, ABSOLUTELY RIGHT . I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT THOSE FEW PEOPLE WHO DEMONSTRATED . THE MEMORY I HAVE IS OF THE WARM RECEPTION WE WERE GIVEN ON OUR ARRIVAL . " IN BRITAIN THE FOOLISH DISPLAY OF THE ANTI-GREEK DEMONSTRATORS LEFT UNPLEASANT ECHOES . THOSE BEHIND THE RIOTS, WROTE THE DAILY MIRROR, " ARE NOT MERELY LEADING WOOLLY-MINDED UNDERGRADUATES IN WOOLLY-MINDED PEACE PROTESTS ; THEY ARE PROVIDING A SHIELD FOR MISCHIEVOUS COMMUNIST AGITATION . " THE PAPER NOTED THAT " GREECE IS ABOUT THE ONLY COUNTRY IN EASTERN EUROPE FREE FROM DICTATORSHIP, " THEN POSED A QUESTION THAT SELF-ADVERTISED IDEALISTS HAVE YET TO ANSWER : WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THEY DEMONSTRATED IN BEHALF OF THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF LITHUANIA OR ESTONIA OR LATVIA OR POLAND OR HUNGARY OR RUMANIA OR BULGARIA OR EAST GERMANY OR CZECHOSLOVAKIA ?
 GREAT BRITAIN SEX & THE CLASS WAR THE PROFUMO SCANDAL WAS RE-EXAMINED LAST WEEK FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF APPLIED POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE CLASS WAR : PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN CANDIDLY ADMITTED TO THE DAILY EXPRESS THAT " THE YOUNG VOTER IS BORED WITH ME " AND THAT THE " YOUNG MINISTERS I PUT IN A YEAR AGO MAY WANT TO GET RID OF THE OLD GENTLEMAN AT THE TOP . " DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE SCANDAL, SAID MAC, IT WAS " TOUCH AND GO " FOR SEVERAL DAYS ON HIS " CHUCKING IT ALL IN . " ADDED MAC : " IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR MY WIFE AND LOYAL STAFF HERE, I DON'T THINK I COULD HAVE GOT THROUGH . BUT I SOON DECIDED THAT THERE WAS ONE ESSENTIAL DUTY TO PERFORM . I WAS DETERMINED THAT NO BRITISH GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE BROUGHT DOWN BY THE ACTION OF TWO TARTS . / * IN THE LETTERS COLUMN OF THE INTELLECTUAL, LEFTIST NEW STATESMAN, CHRISTINE KEELER AND MARILYN ( " MANDY " ) RICEDAVIES WERE BEING ANALYZED IN THE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT ROLE AS STANDARD BEARERS OF THE PROLETARIAT . " HERE WAS A SECTION OF WORKING-CLASS GIRLS BEING SOLD AS INSTRUMENTS TO SATISFY THE SEXUAL NEEDS OF THE UPPER CLASS, " WROTE MATHEMATICIAN HYMAN LEVY, " WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE NO UPPER-CLASS GIRLS BEING RECRUITED TO SATISFY THE SEXUAL NEEDS OF THE WORKING CLASS . " LEVY WAS IRONICALLY SECONDED BY TEACHER M . L . SWAN : " WITH A FEW FORTUNATE EXCEPTIONS GAMEKEEPERS AND OTHER COMRADES WHO HAVE INFILTRATED THE ENEMY'S CAMP WE ARE PREVENTED BY A GIGANTIC CLASS CONSPIRACY FROM ENJOYING THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR RULERS AND EMPLOYERS . IF THE PHRASE " EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY' IS TO BE MORE THAN A FIGURE OF SPEECH IN BRITAIN TODAY, THIS DISCRIMINATION MUST GO . " ARISTOCRATS ALREADY " OPEN THEIR HOUSES TO THE PUBLIC AT A SMALL CHARGE, " ADDED SWAN . IF THEY WANT TO PROVE THEIR INTEREST IN SOCIAL REFORM, THEY NEED ONLY CONSIDER " A SLIGHT EXTENSION OF THE SERVICES NORMALLY PROVIDED . WHICH LED THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE TO SWIFTLY HEADLINE ITS STORY : REGIME WON'T FALL, BRITON SAYS TARTLY .
 MALAYSIA THE QUADS QUINTUPLETS WERE EXPECTED, QUADRUPLETS APPEARED . THAT WAS THE STORY IN LONDON LAST WEEK WHEN GOVERNMENT AND COLONIAL LEADERS SIGNED THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF A NEW BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NATION . IT WAS THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA, WHICH WAS TO BE COMPOSED OF INDEPENDENT MALAYA, SELF-GOVERNING SINGAPORE, AND THE THREE BRITISH TERRITORIES OF SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO . BUT AT THE LAST MOMENT, THE OIL-SODDEN SULTANATE OF BRUNEI PULLED OUT OF THE AGREEMENT IN A FIT OF PIQUE OVER THE FINAL TERMS OF FEDERATION . MACY'S V . GIMBELS . BRUNEI'S SUDDEN DEFECTION CAME AFTER WEEKS OF CLIFFHANGING NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN MALAYA'S SHREWD PRIME MINISTER TUNKU (PRINCE) ABDUL RAHMAN, FATHER OF THE FEDERATION SCHEME, AND SINGAPORE'S BRILLIANT, MERCURIAL PRIME MINISTER LEE KUAN YEW . THOUGH THE TUNKU HAD DEMANDED THAT SINGAPORE KICK IN 55 PER CENT OF ITS REVENUES TO THE FEDERAL TREASURY, LEE MANAGED TO WHITTLE THE FIGURE DOWN TO 40 PER CENT . BUT OVERPLAYING HIS HAND, HE THEN HELD OUT FOR 39 PER CENT . SO INFURIATED WAS THE TUNKU AT THIS MACY'S V . GIMBELS TACTIC THAT HE DELIVERED AN ULTIMATUM TO SINGAPORE TO GET IN THE FEDERATION OR STAY OUT AND REFUSED TO GO TO LONDON FOR THE FINAL BARGAINING SESSIONS . IN LONDON LEE DEMANDED THAT THE BRITISH COMPENSATE SINGAPORE FOR CONTINUED USE OF THE ISLAND'S NAVAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES . BRITAIN CAME THROUGH WITH AN OFFSHORE ISLAND AND AN OFFICERS' CLUB GOLF COURSE, WHICH LEE PROMISED TO TURN INTO A BOTANICAL GARDEN . BUT WHEN THE NEGOTIATIONS TURNED TO SUCH BASIC MATTERS AS SINGAPORE'S CONTINUED STATUS AS A FREE PORT AND ITS FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNDERDEVELOPED BORNEO TERRITORIES, THE DISCUSSIONS BOGGED DOWN . AS THE IMPASSE CONTINUED, COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY DUNCAN SANDYS TOOK OVER AS ARBITRATOR . SANDYS' " ABSOLUTE DEDICATION AND ZEAL, " SAID LEE, " EQUALED THAT OF ANY DEDICATED COMMUNIST I'VE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO MEET . " GOADING, GUIDING, PERSUADING, CAJOLING, SANDYS KEPT THE NEGOTIATORS UP TO THE SMALL HOURS OF THE MORNING FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS . " ON EVERY OCCASION, WE PASSED THE TIME WHEN CINDERELLA CRUMBLED, " SAID LEE . " ON TWO OCCASIONS, WE GREETED THE DAWN . " SULKING SULTAN . WHEN A BREAKTHROUGH SEEMED NEAR, ABDUL RAHMAN FLEW TO LONDON, SAT IN HIS HOTEL SUITE WAITING FOR THE SIGNING CEREMONY . WHEN A LAST OBSTACLE APPEARED, SANDYS PERSUADED LEE TO IRON IT OUT PRIVATELY WITH THE TUNKU . THE FINAL AGREEMENT COMPROMISED ON FINANCIAL ISSUES . SINGAPORE WILL LOAN MONEY TO THE BORNEO TERRITORIES RATHER THAN GIVE IT OUTRIGHT, AND A FEDERATION COMMON MARKET WILL GRADUALLY REPLACE SINGAPORE'S FREE-PORT STATUS . BRUNEI'S WITHDRAWAL ONLY SLIGHTLY JEOPARDIZES THIS ARRANGEMENT . BRUNEI'S RICH, REACTIONARY SULTAN IS MAINLY SULKING OVER ABDUL RAHMAN'S APATHY TOWARD HIS AMBITION TO PLAY A BIG CEREMONIAL ROLE IN THE NEW MALAYSIA . BUT BOTH THE SULTAN AND THE TUNKU PRIVATELY ADMIT THEIR READINESS TO RENEW NEGOTIATIONS . OPTIMISTICALLY, THE TUNKU ANNOUNCED : " THIS FAMILY HAS BEEN NICELY SETTLED . THERE IS GOING TO BE A HAPPY MALAYSIA . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM SUICIDE IN MANY FORMS A SOUTH VIETNAMESE NOVELIST AND POLITICIAN NAMED NGUYEN TUONG TAM SENT HIS SONS OUT TO BUY A BOTTLE OF WHISKY ONE NIGHT LAST WEEK . FOR A WHILE HE SAT DRINKING WITH THEM AT HIS HOME IN SAIGON . " MY SONS, I FEEL VERY HAPPY TONIGHT, " HE SAID . " I AM GOING TO DIE VERY SOON . " SUDDENLY HE KEELED OVER, WAS RUSHED TO A HOSPITAL WHERE HE DIED NEXT MORNING . IN HIS GLASS WAS FOUND A LETHAL DOSE OF CYANIDE . NOVELIST TAM, 58, WAS A REVOLUTIONARY LEADER IN INDO-CHINA'S WAR AGAINST THE FRENCH . BUT AFTER INDEPENDENCE IN 1954, HE GREW INCREASINGLY DISENCHANTED WITH THE AUTHORITARIAN RULE OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . FORTNIGHT AGO, DIEM'S GOVERNMENT CHARGED TAM AND 34 OTHERS WITH TREASON BY CONSPIRING TO OVERTHROW THE PRESIDENT IN AN ABORTIVE COUP ATTEMPT IN NOVEMBER 1960 . IT WAS JUST TWO DAYS BEFORE THE SCHEDULED TRIAL THAT TAM COMMITTED SUICIDE, AND HE EXPLAINED WHY IN A NOTE HE LEFT BEHIND . " THE ARREST AND TRIAL OF ALL NATIONALIST OPPONENTS OF THE REGIME IS A CRIME THAT WILL FORCE THE NATION INTO THE HANDS OF THE COMMUNISTS, " HE WROTE . " I OPPOSE THIS CRIME, AND I KILL MYSELF AS A WARNING TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAMPLING ON OUR FREEDOMS . " DRAGGING FEET . DIEM'S GOVERNMENT MOVED QUICKLY TO HEAD OFF DEMONSTRATIONS OVER TAM'S DEATH, POSTHUMOUSLY ACQUITTED HIM OF ALL CONSPIRACY CHARGES AT THE SAIGON TREASON TRIAL . AT THE SAME TIME, THE PROSECUTORS TRIED TO IMPLICATE THE U.S . AS BEING BEHIND THE 1960 COUP ; THE CHARGE WAS VIGOROUSLY DENIED BY THE U.S . AT THE END OF THE TRIAL, GOVERNMENT JUDGES SENTENCED 20 DEFENDANTS TO PRISON TERMS RANGING FROM FIVE TO EIGHT YEARS ; NINE OTHERS WHO HAD FLED THE COUNTRY AFTER THE ATTEMPTED COUP WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ABSENTIA . TAM'S SUICIDE AND THE SAIGON TRIAL SERVED ONCE AGAIN TO STOKE SOUTH VIET NAM'S SMOLDERING RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL CRISIS . LAST MONTH BUDDHIST MONK THICH QUANG DUC BURNED HIMSELF TO DEATH ON A SAIGON STREET CORNER IN PROTEST AGAINST RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON THE COUNTRY'S 12 MILLION BUDDHISTS BY DIEM'S PREDOMINANTLY ROMAN CATHOLIC REGIME . AFTER A SERIES OF NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS,* THE GOVERNMENT, UNDER U.S . PRODDING, YIELDED TO BUDDHIST DEMANDS AND GRANTED THEM EQUAL RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL STANDING WITH THE NATION'S 1,500,000 CATHOLICS . BUT INFLUENCED BY HIS BROTHER, NGO DINH NHU, WHO BELIEVES THAT THE BUDDHISTS ARE RED DUPES, THE MILITANTLY CATHOLIC DIEM HAS DRAGGED HIS FEET IN IMPLEMENTING THESE CONCESSIONS . MANY VIETNAMESE BUDDHISTS, SAYS NHU, " HAVE BECOME FANATIC, LOST THEIR COMMON SENSE, AND ARE READY TO FOLLOW ANYONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO EXPLOIT THEM UNDER THE BANNER OF RELIGION . " THIS WAS THE KIND OF DOGGED ANTI-BUDDHIST ATTITUDE THAT HAS DANGEROUSLY UNDERCUT GOVERNMENT SUPPORT . ALREADY ONE GENERAL HAS RESIGNED HIS FIELD COMMAND IN PROTEST OVER GOVERNMENT BUNGLING OF THE BUDDHIST ISSUE . SIMPLE REASON . DIEM'S INTRANSIGENCE HAS DISMAYED U.S . OFFICIALS, WHO FEAR THAT MOUNTING BUDDHIST DISCONTENT CAN ONLY HINDER THE WAR EFFORT AGAINST THE VIET CONG, JUST WHEN IT IS BEGINNING TO GO WELL . OVER THE PAST YEAR, GOVERNMENT FORCES AND THEIR 14,000 U.S . MILITARY " ADVISERS " HAVE VASTLY INCREASED THEIR MOBILITY AND STRIKING POWER AGAINST THE RED GUERRILLAS . MORE THAN 7,000 " STRATEGIC HAMLETS " HAVE BEEN BUILT, NOW PROTECT 8,000,000 VIETNAMESE FROM VIET CONG RAIDS . DESPITE ALL MISGIVINGS, THE U.S . STILL STANDS BEHIND DIEM FOR A SIMPLE REASON THAT HE HIMSELF SPELLED OUT IN A BLUNT WARNING LAST WEEK : " FOR A MOMENT, IMAGINE THAT ANOTHER GOVERNMENT REPLACES THIS ONE : IT COULD NOT HELP RESULTING IN CIVIL WAR AND DREADFUL DICTATORSHIP . " WASHINGTON HAS CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVES TO DIEM, BUT FEARS THAT THE CONFUSION OF A COUP COULD ONLY BENEFIT THE VIET CONG AND MIGHT END UP WITH A REGIME NO BETTER THAN THE PRESENT ONE . THUS U.S . AMBASSADOR FREDERICK NOLTING, WHO IS SOON TO BE REPLACED BY HENRY CABOT LODGE, RETURNED TO SAIGON FROM WASHINGTON CONSULTATIONS LAST WEEK WITH A PERSONAL MESSAGE OF CONFIDENCE FOR DIEM FROM JOHN KENNEDY . BUT NOLTING ALSO LIGHTLY RAPPED DIEM ON THE KNUCKLES FOR LETTING THE BUDDHIST CRISIS CONTINUE . " THE U.S . STANDS FOR AND SUPPORTS FREEDOM OF RELIGION FOR ALL PEOPLE, " HE SAID . " IT WOULD BE A TRAGEDY IF THE GAINS AGAINST THE VIET CONG WERE WIPED OUT BY DISSENSIONS AMONG VIETNAMESE CITIZENS, WHO DESIRE ABOVE ALL FREEDOM OF CHOICE FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR THEIR COUNTRY . WATCHING ONE BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATION IN SAIGON LAST WEEK, NINE U.S . REPORTERS WERE JOSTLED BY GOVERNMENT POLICE AND HAD THEIR CAMERAS SMASHED . THE COPS SAID THE REPORTERS HAD STARTED THE ROW . THE VOCIFEROUSLY ANTIDIEM U.S . PRESS CORPS IN SAIGON PROTESTED TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY .
 SOUTH AFRICA FAMILY TROUBLES FAMILY DAY IN SOUTH AFRICA IS AN EXPANDED VERSION OF MOTHER'S OR FATHER'S DAY A TIME FOR ALL KINFOLK TO GET TOGETHER . SOUTH AFRICA'S WHITES AND BLACKS LAST WEEK CELEBRATED THE HOLIDAY IN IRONICALLY CONTRASTING WAYS . WHILE WHITES PICNICKED OR FROLICKED ON BEACHES, THOUSANDS OF BLACKS MOURNED THE ABSENCE OF RELATIVES WHO WERE EITHER BANISHED OR BEHIND BARS . UNDER THE COUNTRY'S MAZE OF WHITE-SUPREMACIST APARTHEID RULES, NON-WHITES MAY BE BANISHED FROM URBAN AREAS TO DISTANT VILLAGES FOR A VARIETY OF CAUSES . EXAMPLE : WORKERS WHO HAVE BEEN IN A CITY FOR 20 YEARS OR MORE MAY BE SENT BACK HOME AT ONCE IF THEY LOSE THEIR JOB . OTHERS, AFTER A LIFETIME'S RESIDENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA, FIND THEIR WIVES " ENDORSED OUT " * UNDER THE NEW RESTRICTIONS IF THE WOMEN WERE BORN OUTSIDE SOUTH AFRICA . IN WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE ALONE, 500 MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOW BANISHED MONTHLY . EVEN WORSE IS THE PLIGHT OF SOME 5,800 NONWHITES JAILED IN RECENT MONTHS AS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTISABOTAGE DRIVE, WHICH INCREASED SOUTH AFRICA'S PRISON POPULATION TO A RECORD OF SOME 67,700 (OUT OF A TOTAL POPULATION OF 15 MILLION) . BREAD & WATER . THIS GRIM ASPECT OF THE HOLIDAY WAS BITTERLY MARKED BY THE BLACK SASH ORGANIZATION, A HANDFUL OF COURAGEOUS WHITE MATRONS, WHO OPPOSE APARTHEID . SAID THEIR SPOKESMAN : " FAMILY DAY BECOMES A FARCE WHEN SO MANY OF OUR AFRICAN FAMILIES ARE DISRUPTED . " WEARING THEIR CUSTOMARY BLACK SASHES, MEMBERS OF THE GROUP WENT INTO RETREAT, SAT IN BARE ROOMS ON HARD CHAIRS FOR 24 HOURS OF COMPLETE SILENCE, EATING ONLY BREAD AND WATER . THE LEADERS OF AFRICA'S NEW BLACK NATIONS OBSERVED FAMILY DAY IN THEIR OWN MANNER, BY TRYING TO EXPEL SOUTH AFRICA FROM WHAT IS STILL OCCASIONALLY KNOWN AS THE FAMILY OF NATIONS . LATER THIS MONTH, BLACK LEADERS WILL PROPOSE SANCTIONS AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA, AND POSSIBLY ITS EXPULSION FROM THE U.N . THE U.S., WHILE VIOLENTLY DISAPPROVING OF APARTHEID, WILL PROBABLY ABSTAIN IN ANY VOTE ON THE GROUNDS THAT EXPELLING ALL COUNTRIES WHOSE DOMESTIC POLICIES ARE REPREHENSIBLE COULD PRETTY QUICKLY DESTROY THE U.N . " TOP POLECAT . " NOT OVERLY CONCERNED WHETHER THEY ARE IN OR OUT OF THE CLUB, SOUTH AFRICA'S LEADERS SIMPLY WENT ON BUYING MODERN WEAPONS, INCLUDING FRENCH JET FIGHTERS, TO CRUSH ANY POSSIBLE BLACK REBELLION (THIS YEAR SOUTH AFRICA'S DEFENSE BUDGET WILL REACH A RECORD HIGH OF $180 MILLION) . REPORTING ON " SABOTAGE SCHOOLS " IN NEIGHBORING BLACK COUNTRIES, JUSTICE MINISTER VORSTER SAID : " WE ARE DEALING WITH STUPID PEOPLE WHO ARE POWER-DRUNK . BUT WE ARE READY FOR WHATEVER THEY ARE PLANNING AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA . " SAID AFRIKAANER STUDENT LEADER TERTIUS DELPORT, REFERRING TO THE COUNTRY'S GROWING INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION : " THE WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN HAS BECOME THE POLECAT OF THE WORLD . / A COLLOQUIALISM POSSIBLY GROWING OUT OF THE ELABORATE PAPERWORK INVOLVED IN SOUTH AFRICA'S RIGID CONTROL OF BLACKS .
 COLD WAR THE SPIRIT OF MOSCOW AT TIMES IT WAS ALMOST MORE THAN WESTERN VETERANS OF MANY ANTICOMMUNIST BATTLES COULD BEAR . " LOVE, " SAID NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV IN MOSCOW, " LOVE AND RESPECT FOR OTHER PEOPLE IS WHAT WE NEED . " THE LOVE FEAST LASTED ALL WEEK . THE BEAMING SMILE SPLASHING ACROSS KHRUSHCHEV'S MOONFACE, THE BLUNT, BACK-SLAPPING PEASANT HUMOR, THE FRIENDLY-BEAR QUALITY OF THE SOVIET BOSS WHEN HE DECIDES TO BE AMIABLE ALL THESE FAMILIAR TRAITS WERE ON FULL DISPLAY IN MOSCOW AS U.S., BRITISH AND RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS SAT DOWN TO TRY TO NEGOTIATE A NUCLEAR TEST BAN AGREEMENT . WITH PAINFUL MEMORIES OF THE SHORTLIVED " SPIRIT OF GENEVA " IN 1955 AND THE EVANESCENT " SPIRIT OF CAMP DAVID " IN 1959, U.S . OFFICIALS REFUSE TO REGARD KHRUSHCHEV'S JOVIALITY AS A TRUE BAROMETER OF EAST-WEST RELATIONS . YET FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND THE CONFERENCE TABLE, THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT A NEW AND POSSIBLY SOMEWHAT MORE DURABLE SPIRIT OF MOSCOW WAS IN THE MAKING . DETECTABLE CHAIR . THE EASY MOOD PREVAILED FROM THE MOMENT THE NEGOTIATORS ARRIVED . CHIEF U.S . NEGOTIATOR AVERELL HARRIMAN BROUGHT WITH HIM THREE TONS OF TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT, FOR THE " HOT LINE " THAT IS TO LINK THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE KREMLIN IN EMERGENCIES . AT THE FIRST MEETING, HARRIMAN, 71, WAS GREETED BY KHRUSHCHEV WITH A CHEERY " YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY BLOOMING . WHAT ARE YOU DOING, COUNTING YOUR YEARS BACKWARD ? " WHEN BRITAIN'S TOP ENVOY, VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, SAID THAT MOSCOW'S WEATHER WAS BETTER THAN LONDON'S, KHRUSHCHEV REPLIED : " WE COULD PERHAPS FIND SOME PLACE FOR YOU HERE . YOU COULD BE AN INTERNEE . " FINALLY THE PRINCIPALS SAT DOWN AT THE CONFERENCE TABLE, ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR TOP AIDES FOREIGN MINISTER ANDREI GROMYKO, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VALERIAN ZORIN, AND CHIEF DISARMAMENT NEGOTIATOR SEMYON TSARAPKIN ON THE RUSSIAN SIDE, U.S . AMBASSADOR FOY KOHLER AND BRITISH AMBASSADOR SIR HUMPHREY TREVELYAN FOR THE WEST . SAID KHRUSHCHEV : " WE BEGIN IMMEDIATELY WITH THE SIGNING . / ADDED GROMYKO : " THEN ALL THAT WILL REMAIN WILL BE TO FILL THE TREATY IN . " DURING THE EARLY SESSIONS, IT ALMOST SEEMED THAT EASY . KHRUSHCHEV SAID THAT, SINCE IT HAD BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH AGREEMENT ON A FULL BAN IN THE PAST, THE TIME HAD COME TO ACHIEVE MORE BY ATTEMPTING LESS . HE GAVE SOVIET APPROVAL TO A LIMITED BAN WHICH WOULD COVER ALL TESTS EXCEPT THOSE UNDERGROUND, REPEATING HIS FAMILIAR OPPOSITION TO ONSITE INSPECTIONS OF POSSIBLE UNDERGROUND BLASTS . AS USUAL, GROMYKO ARGUED THAT SUCH INSPECTIONS WERE UNNECESSARY ANYWAY, IN VIEW OF LONG-RANGE SEISMIC DETECTION DEVICES . WHEN THE SUDDEN CRASH OF AN ACCIDENTALLY OVERTURNED CHAIR STARTLED THE DELEGATES, GROMYKO SAID QUICKLY : " THIS IS CONFIRMATION THAT EVERYONE DETECTS IT . " GROWLED HAILSHAM : " IT STILL NEEDS INSPECTION . / SELLING MOOD . ARGUING THAT UNDERGROUND BLASTS CAN INDEED BE DETECTED FROM FAR OFF BUT NOT DIFFERENTIATED FROM EARTHQUAKES, THE U.S . IS NEVERTHELESS WILLING TO DEFER THE QUESTION . AS FOR KHRUSHCHEV, HE WAS IN A SELLING MOOD . DRAWING OUT OF THE HAT A FIVE-YEAR-OLD SOVIET PROPOSAL, HE CALLED FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTION POSTS AT AIRFIELDS, HIGHWAYS, RAILROAD STATIONS AND PORTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE IRON CURTAIN TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF SURPRISE ATTACK . HE ALSO PROPOSED 1) FREEZING OR REDUCTION OF MILITARY BUDGETS, 2) A REDUCTION OF THE ARMED FORCES ON BOTH SIDES IN EAST AND WEST GERMANY, AND 3) A NONAGGRESSION PACT BETWEEN THE NATO AND WARSAW PACT POWERS . HE EVEN SEEMED WILLING TO ACCEPT THE U.S . IDEA OF PARALLEL BUT SEPARATE DECLARATIONS INSTEAD OF A FORMAL PACT, WHICH WOULD AVOID IMPLICIT U.S . RECOGNITION OF THE EAST GERMAN COMMUNIST REGIME . THE SUDDEN ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW OF A HIGH-LEVEL EAST GERMAN DELEGATION THAT INCLUDED WALTER ULBRICHT'S BERLIN SPECIALIST, IMMEDIATELY RAISED SPECULATION THAT BERLIN WAS ON THE AGENDA . BUT ANY POSSIBLE DEAL INVOLVING BERLIN OR THE BALANCE OF FORCES IN EUROPE WOULD REQUIRE U.S . CONSULTATION WITH ITS ALLIES . WEST GERMANY WASTED LITTLE TIME IN WARNING THE U.S . THAT ANY AGREEMENT OTHER THAN A TEST BAN WOULD NOT ONLY USHER IN A PERIOD OF " FALSE SECURITY " IN EUROPE, BUT WOULD ALSO MAKE IT INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT FOR THE U.S.'S EUROPEAN ALLIES TO HEED WASHINGTON'S PLEAS FOR HIGHER NATO MILITARY EXPENDITURES OR TO RESPECT THE EMBARGO OF " STRATEGIC MATERIALS " TO THE EAST . NO OBSTACLES . WHY, AFTER YEARS OF STALLING, IS KHRUSHCHEV PUSHING A TEST BAN TREATY AND A DETENTE WITH THE WEST ? WESTERN DIPLOMATS POINT TO THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT AS THE MAIN REASON (SEE FOLLOWING STORY) ENGAGED IN AN ALL-OUT POWER STRUGGLE WITH THE CHINESE, KHRUSHCHEV PRESUMABLY WANTS A TEST BAN TREATY TO DEMONSTRATE TO COMMUNISTS ALL OVER THE WORLD THE FEASIBILITY OF " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE . " NOR WOULD KHRUSHCHEV MIND CUTTING DOWN A LITTLE ON THE PROHIBITIVE COST OF NUCLEAR TESTING AND PRODUCTION, WHICH IMPEDES HIS OFT-STATED DESIRE TO RAISE LIVING STANDARDS IN THE SOVIET UNION . LASTLY, WHILE A TEST BAN WOULD NOT BE BINDING ON EITHER FRANCE OR RED CHINA, IT WOULD PLACE THE ONUS OF DEFYING THE AGREEMENT ON THEM . PRESIDENT KENNEDY SUGGESTED AT HIS PRESS CONFERENCE LAST WEEK THAT IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCORD, THE THREE NEGOTIATORS GO TO GENEVA AND GET THE SIGNATURES OF THE 17-NATION GENEVA DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE . SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT WOULD BOX IN THE FRENCH WITH SOMETHING MORE THAN AN " ANGLO-SAXON " -SOVIET AGREEMENT FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF RUSSIA'S QUARREL WITH THE CHINESE, IT WOULD ALSO PUT SUCH GENEVA " NEUTRALS " AS EGYPT, BURMA AND INDIA ON THE RECORD AS SUPPORTING A SOVIET-SPONSORED AGREEMENT . AT WEEK'S END A TEST BAN AGREEMENT SEEMED NEAR . BANTERING WITH HARRIMAN AT A RECEPTION, KHRUSHCHEV SAID : " THE TALKS ARE GOING ON WELL . THERE HAVE BEEN NO OBSTACLES . IF THEY GO ON AS THEY HAVE, AN AGREEMENT IS IN SIGHT . "
 COMMUNISTS " GET OUT OF HERE " AND SO THE CHINESE WENT HOME . AT THE AIRPORT, WHEN A WESTERN CORRESPONDENT ASKED TENG HSIAO-PING, THE CHIEF OF PEKING'S DEPARTING DELEGATION, HOW THE TALKS HAD GONE, HE REPLIED, " VERY GOOD . " OBVIOUSLY, THE OPPOSITE WAS TRUE . DURING THEIR LAST WEEK IN MOSCOW, WHILE WESTERN NEGOTIATIORS WERE FETED AND FLATTERED, A KIND OF GREAT WALL SURROUNDED THE UNWELCOME VISITORS FROM PEKING . FROM THEIR ISOLATED COMPOUND ON MOSCOW'S LENIN HILLS, THE RED CHINESE DELEGATES VENTURED OUT ONLY IN CURTAINED BLACK CHAIKA LIMOUSINES FOR THE SHORT DRIVE TO PEKING'S EMBASSY ; ON ALTERNATE DAYS THEY MET WITH A SOVIET DELEGATION, OBVIOUSLY TO NO EFFECT . KHRUSHCHEV POINTEDLY STAYED AWAY FROM THE MEETINGS, ALTHOUGH HE WAS OTHERWISE ACTIVE IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND SOCIAL WHIRL . THE MOSCOW FILM FESTIVAL PROVIDED AN EXCUSE FOR LOTS OF PARTIES, AT WHICH WESTERN ENVOYS AND SOVIET FUNCTIONARIES MIXED AMIABLY WITH SUCH MOVIE STARS AS SHELLY WINTERS, SUSAN STRASBERG, YVES MONTAND AND SIMONE SIGNORET . AT WEEK'S END KHRUSHCHEV FINALLY TURNED TO HIS OTHER GUESTS AND, IN A RELATIVELY GRACIOUS GESTURE, TOSSED THE RED CHINESE A FAREWELL DINNER . ALTHOUGH DESCRIBED AS " FRIENDLY, " THE MEAL COULD HAVE PRODUCED LITTLE BEYOND DYSPEPSIA, FOR KHRUSHCHEV HAD SPOILED THE TABLE TALK IN ADVANCE, DELIVERING AN ORATORICAL BLAST AT PEKING THAT IN EFFECT DECLARED POLITICAL WAR ON THE CHINESE . THE CHALLENGE . AT A MASSIVE RALLY OF PARTY BUREAUCRATS AND PROPAGANDISTS IN THE KREMLIN'S PALACE OF THE CONGRESSES, KHRUSHCHEV SPOKE WITH SUCH APOPLECTIC VEHEMENCE THAT AT ONE POINT HE GROPED FOR WORDS AND RHETORICALLY BEGGED THE AUDIENCE : " HELP ME OUT . " BUT HE DIDN'T NEED MUCH HELP . ANGRILY DEFENDING HIS DESTALINIZATION DRIVE AGAINST PEKING'S ATTACKS, HE DEMANDED : " WHAT DO THEY WANT ? TO FRIGHTEN OUR PEOPLE, TO BRING BACK THE DAYS WHEN A MAN WENT TO HIS JOB AND DID NOT KNOW WHETHER HE WOULD SEE HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN AGAIN ? " DROPPING HIS VOICE TO A DRAMATIC WHISPER, KHRUSHCHEV SAID THAT LETTERS TO HIM FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY EXPRESSED GRATITUDE FOR ENDING THE STALINIST TERROR . THEN HE ADDED :. " IF STALIN HAD DIED TEN YEARS EARLIER, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN BETTER . " THE SOVIET BOSS WAS EQUALLY CONTEMPTUOUS ON THE SUBJECT OF PEKING'S WARMONGERING FOREIGN POLICY . " THEY SAY ONE SHOULD START A REVOLUTION, A WAR, " HE SHOUTED, " AND ON THE CORPSES AND THE RUINS, A MORE PROSPEROUS SOCIETY WILL BE CREATED . AND WHO WOULD REMAIN IN THIS PROSPEROUS SOCIETY ? WOULDN'T THE LIVING ENVY THE DEAD ? " DIRECTLY ACCUSING THE CHINESE OF TRYING TO UNSEAT HIM, KHRUSHCHEV DARED PEKING TO TAKE ITS CASE TO THE SOVIET PEOPLE : " I DECLARE TO THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO OVERTHROW US I CHALLENGE YOU, COMRADES LET'S PICK OUT ANY PLANT OR COLLECTIVE FARM . YOU PRESENT YOUR PROGRAM AND WE WILL PRESENT OURS . YOU WON'T NEED ARMOR OR A PILLOW FOR PROTECTION . OUR PEOPLE ARE POLITE . THEY'LL LISTEN AND SAY : " GET OUT OF HERE . / BOURGEOIS COMRADES . ALMOST AS VEHEMENT WAS A 19,000-WORD OPEN LETTER FROM THE KREMLIN THAT CALLED THE CHINESE LIARS, HYPOCRITES AND COWARDS . MOSCOW DISMISSED THE RED CHINESE CLAIM TO PROLETARIAN PURITY AND ACCUSED THEM OF TRYING TO GOAD RUSSIA INTO WAR WITH THE U.S . PRINTED IN PRAVDA, THE SOVIET COUNTERATTACK WAS ADDRESSED TO COMMUNIST CADRES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND IT SERVED NOTICE THAT MOSCOW WOULD PUSH ITS PLATFORM BEFORE ALL 81 " FRATERNAL " PARTIES AT ALL COSTS . AS THE SOVIETS THEMSELVES ANGRILY POINTED OUT, PEKING WAS ACTIVELY " ORGANIZING AND SUPPORTING BANDS OF RENEGADE " REDS IN SEVEN NATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD THE SINO-SOVIET QUARREL HAS SHARPLY DIVIDED LOCAL COMMUNIST PARTIES, SPLITTING RACE FROM RACE AND CONTINENT FROM CONTINENT . IN EUROPE THE QUARREL IS NOISIEST AMONG THE ITALIAN COMRADES . NOWHERE DOES THE COMMUNIST PARTY SEEM MORE BOURGEOIS ; FOR JUST THAT REASON, NOWHERE IN EUROPE HAS PEKING FOUND MORE SUPPORTERS FOR ITS CREDO OF ALL-OUT REVOLUTION . IN PADUA A GROUP OF COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS, EXPELLED FOR FAVORING PEKING, PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET DENOUNCING RED BUREAUCRATS WHO LIVED THE SWEET LIFE, COMPLETE WITH " WIVES AND MISTRESSES IN JEWELS AND FURS . " SOME 30,000 ITALIAN REDS, MANY OF THEM SONS OF PROMINENT COMMUNISTS, HAVE FORMED ABOUT 20 CHAPTERS OF THE CHINESE-ITALIAN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY . THE REBELS ARE BACKED BY FUNDS BELIEVED TO BE CHANNELED THROUGH THE ALBANIAN LEGATION IN ROME ; THEY CIRCULATE PROPAGANDA MATERIAL PREPARED BY RED CHINESE SPECIALISTS OPERATING FROM A FANCY VILLA IN BERN, SWITZERLAND . LAST WEEK COMMUNIST PARTY VICE SECRETARY LUIGI LONGO RUSHED TO MILAN TO PUT DOWN A REBELLION OF SINOPHILES, AND EXPLAINED THAT BY APPEARING MODERATE, ITALIAN REDS HAVE PROSPERED AT THE POLLS . AS HE EMERGED FROM THE MEETING, LONGO DISCOVERED THE SLOGANS " VIVA STALIN, " / VIVA MAO " PAINTED ON NEARBY WALLS . AIRMAIL WAR . IN AFRICA AND ASIA THE SPLIT IS INCREASINGLY RACIAL . THE SOVIETS ARE COMPLAINING THAT AT THE RECENT ASIAN-AFRICAN SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE IN TANGANYIKA, A RED CHINESE OFFICIAL TOLD THE MOSCOW DELEGATION : " THE WHITES HAVE NOTHING TO DO HERE . " SUCH A BLATANT RACIST LINE, ARGUES MOSCOW, IS PURSUED IN THE UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS AT RUSSIA'S EXPENSE ; IT " IMPLANTS THE SNEAKY IDEA THAT THE PEOPLES OF SOME REGIONS ARE MORE REVOLUTIONARY THAN OTHERS . " INDIA'S COMMUNIST MOVEMENT HAS BEEN DEEPLY DIVIDED, BUT LAST WEEK FORMALLY LINED UP WITH KHRUSHCHEV, JUST AS AN INDIAN GOVERNMENT PURCHASING COMMISSION ARRIVED IN MOSCOW SHOPPING FOR ARMS TO BE USED IN DEFENSE AGAINST THE RED CHINESE . IN JAPAN, MOST OF WHOSE COMMUNISTS FAVOR RED CHINA FOR ETHNIC REASONS, THE STRUGGLE HAS BECOME PRETTY PETTY, RESULTING IN AN AIRMAIL CIRCULATION WAR . SOON AFTER PRAVDA BEGAN TO ARRIVE IN TOKYO BY AIR, PEKING'S PEOPLE'S DAILY DROPPED ITS SEAMAIL DELIVERY, WHICH USED TO TAKE A MONTH, AND ALSO TOOK TO THE AIR AT NO INCREASE IN POSTAL RATES TO SUBSCRIBERS . THE NIGHTMARE . THOUGH THE LEADERSHIP OF MOST LATIN AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTIES IS FIRMLY PRO-MOSCOW, THE RANK AND FILE LEAN TOWARD PEKING . REDS IN BRAZIL HAVE SPLIT INTO THREE RIVAL SECTS . ONE OF URUGUAY'S TOP REDS WAS RECENTLY EXPELLED FOR HIS RED CHINESE SYMPATHIES ; HOWEVER, THE PARTY NEWSPAPER STILL ACCEPTS PAID ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM PEKING PROPAGANDISTS . AS FOR THE BEARD, FIDEL'S REVOLUTIONARY SYMPATHIES LIE WITH MAO, BUT HE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO BITE NIKITA'S HAND, AND LAST WEEK HE DUTIFULLY ENDORSED THE MOSCOW LINE . STILL, RED CHINA HAS NOT GIVEN UP HOPE OF CONVERTING CASTRO . CUBA IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE BOTH CHINESE AND RUSSIAN TECHNICIANS REMAIN AT WORK . THIS MONTH PEKING HAPPILY PROCLAIMED THAT ITS EXPERTS HAVE HELPED THE CUBANS TO RAISE 25,000 PEKING DUCKS . THESE SINO-SOVIET DUELS AROUND THE WORLD, AS MUCH AS THE FRUITLESS TALKS IN MOSCOW, HAVE SHATTERED ANY PROSPECT OF EARLY RECONCILIATION . NOW THAT THE MOSCOW MEETING HAS COLLAPSED, BOTH SIDES IN EFFECT CONCEDE THAT WHAT BEGAN AS A CHARADE OF UNITY HAS BECOME A COMMUNIST NIGHTMARE .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE BUDDHIST CRISIS IN SAIGON'S HUGE XA LOI PAGODA, BUDDHIST MONKS AND NUNS WERE HOLDING A 48-HOUR HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST THE REGIME OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . EXPECTING TROUBLE, POLICE SEALED OFF NEARBY STREETS WITH BARBED WIRE . TO PREVENT A REPETITION OF THE RITUALISTIC SUICIDE LAST MONTH, WHEN A PROTESTING BUDDHIST MONK BURNED HIMSELF TO DEATH ON A SAIGON STREET CORNER, TWO FIRE TRUCKS WERE ON HAND . SUDDENLY, ABOUT 500 SAFFRON-ROBED BUDDHIST PRIESTS, LAYMEN AND WOMEN EMERGED FROM A NEARBY ALLEY AND STARTED TO RUN TOWARD THE PAGODA TO JOIN THEIR FASTING FELLOW-BUDDHISTS . STYMIED BY WIRE AND POLICE, THE DEMONSTRATORS SAT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET . RIOT SQUADS ARRIVED . ARMED WITH A WALKIE-TALKIE RADIO, TWO SPORT-SHIRTED AMERICAN C.I.A . MEN DELIVERED A RUNNING COMMENTARY ON EVENTS TO HEADQUARTERS . A MONK WITH A PORTABLE LOUDSPEAKER REPEATED : " WE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED MANY TIMES AND WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY FAITH IN THE REGIME . " GOVERNMENT SECRET POLICE IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES YELLED BACK THAT THE BUDDHISTS WERE BEING EXPLOITED BY THE COMMUNISTS . THEN THE POLICE CHARGED THE PEACEFUL SEATED CROWDS, CAUSING ONE OF THE UGLIEST SCENES IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S THREE-MONTHS-OLD BUDDHIST CRISIS . AT GUNPOINT . WITH RIFLE BUTTS, CLUBS AND TOMMY-GUN CLIPS, THE COPS BATTERED THE DEMONSTRATORS . WOMEN WHO HAD FALLEN TO THE PAVEMENT IN THE FIRST POLICE RUSH WERE SAVAGELY KICKED . A YOUNG GIRL HAD HER HEAD SPLIT OPEN WITH A CARBINE BUTT, AND AS BLOOD STREAMED INTO HER EYES, SHE WAS CARTED AWAY IN A POLICE VAN . FROM THE WINDOWS OF A BROTHEL, GIRLS SHOUTED INSULTS AT THE POLICE UNTIL FORCED INSIDE AT MACHINE-GUN POINT . THROUGHOUT SOUTH VIET NAM, GOVERNMENT FORCES CRUSHED BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATIONS WITH SIMILAR VIOLENCE, ARRESTED NEARLY 300 MARCHERS IN SAIGON ALONE, FOLLOWING ORDERS TO " USE ANY MEANS " TO DISPERSE BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATIONS . TOP U.S . EMBASSY PEOPLE IN SAIGON WERE " SHOCKED AND DISGUSTED " BY THE DIEM GOVERNMENT'S ACTION . ONE MONK DELIVERED A PROTEST NOTE TO THE EMBASSY, URGING THE U.S . TO FORCE DIEM TO RELENT ; U.S . AMBASSADOR FREDERICK E . NOLTING TELEPHONED VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS AND GOT ASSURANCES THAT THE MAN WOULD NOT BE MOLESTED . BUT NO SOONER HAD THE MONK LEFT THAN SECRET POLICE AGENTS TRIED TO SPIRIT HIM AWAY IN A WAITING TAXI . THE PRIEST FOUGHT THEM OFF AND RACED BACK TOWARD THE U.S . EMBASSY . A U.S . OFFICIAL DRAGGED HIM TO SAFETY THROUGH THE DOOR AS A HUSKY MARINE GUARD PEELED A VIETNAMESE COP FROM THE PRIEST'S BACK . MORALITY CRUSADE . IRONICALLY, THE CRISIS INVOLVES ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DOCILE RELIGIONS . YET, IN A SENSE, THAT VERY QUALITY MAKES BUDDHISM A PROBLEM . SINCE IT KNOWS NO SENSE OF SIN, AND HENCE NO REPRISAL FOR ERROR, IT IS, AT LEAST BY WESTERN STANDARDS, PASSIVE, BACKWARD AND NEUTRAL . BUDDHISM, SAYS THEOLOGIAN PAUL TILLICH, " GIVES NO DECISIVE MOTIVES FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, AND THUS PROVIDES A NONPOLITICAL OPPORTUNITY FOR AN INVASION OF BUDDHIST EAST ASIA BY THE COMMUNIST QUASI-RELIGION WITH ITS HOPE FOR A TRANSFORMED WORLD . " ALTHOUGH THE RED CHINESE ARE WOOING THE BUDDHISTS EVERYWHERE, THERE IS NO REAL EVIDENCE SO FAR THAT THE REDS ARE USING SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHISTS, AS THE DIEM GOVERNMENT CHARGES . ON THE OTHER HAND, DIEM HAS NOT SUCCEEDED IN USING THEM EITHER UNLIKE THAILAND'S STRONGMAN SARIT THANARAT, WHO HAS SHOWN THAT,WHEN HANDLED PROPERLY, THEY CAN BE A SOLID, ANTI-COMMUNIST FORCE . UNTIL RECENTLY, THE BUDDHISTS IN SOUTH VIET NAM HAD NO REAL CASE AGAINST DIEM . SINCE THE BUDDHISTS WERE SOUTH VIET NAM'S DOMINANT GROUP FOR CENTURIES AND RESENT ROMAN CATHOLICISM AS THE RELIGION OF THEIR FORMER FRENCH MASTERS DIEM HAS TAKEN PAINS NOT TO SHOW OBVIOUS FAVORITISM TOWARD FELLOW CATHOLICS . ONLY THREE OF 19 ARMY GENERALS AND FIVE OF 17 CABINET MINISTERS ARE CATHOLICS . THOUGH NEARLY HALF OF THE 123-MEMBER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IS CATHOLIC, THIS IS LARGELY BECAUSE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TURN OUT BETTER EDUCATED GRADUATES THAN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS . MOST VIETNAMESE NEVERTHELESS BELIEVE THAT DIEM'S CATHOLIC RULING FAMILY HAS SHOWN BIAS . PRIMARILY MIDDLE-CLASS LANDOWNERS, VIETNAMESE CATHOLICS ARE ECONOMICALLY FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN THE BUDDHISTS . THOUSANDS OF BUDDHISTS HAVE BECOME CONVERTS TO CATHOLICISM IN THE HOPE THAT THIS WOULD HELP THEM PROFESSIONALLY OR ECONOMICALLY . BUDDHISTS CLAIM THAT THE GOVERNMENT GIVES CATHOLICS BETTER LAND FOR SCHOOLS AND CHURCH BUILDINGS AND DISCRIMINATES AGAINST BUDDHIST STUDENTS IN GRANTING STATE SCHOLARSHIPS . UNLIKE OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS, BUDDHISTS MUST HAVE SPECIAL GOVERNMENT PERMITS TO HOLD LARGE MEETINGS . " THIS PUTS US IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS THE TRADE UNIONS, " SAYS ONE BUDDHIST PRIEST . WITH THEIR FREE AND EASY MORES, BUDDHISTS ALSO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE MORALITY CRUSADE OF MME . NGO DINH NHU, WIFE OF DIEM'S BROTHER AND CLOSEST ADVISER . MME . NHU HAS BANNED POLYGAMY, CONCUBINAGE, DANCING, AND EVEN FIGHTING FISH . HARD LINE . ALL THESE DISCONTENTS NEED NOT HAVE ERUPTED IF GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAD NOT STUPIDLY AND BRUTALLY GUNNED DOWN NINE BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATORS AT A RALLY IN HUE TWO MONTHS AGO . EVEN THEN, THE BUDDHIST CONTROVERSY WOULD PROBABLY HAVE DIED DOWN IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD OFFERED A PUBLIC APOLOGY, WHICH IS THE BUDDHISTS' CHIEF DEMAND, ALONG WITH SUCH PRACTICAL MATTERS AS FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY, THE RIGHT TO FLY THEIR FLAG, BUDDHIST CHAPLAINS IN THE ARMY . BUT BROTHER NGO DINH NHU HAS ALWAYS URGED A HARD LINE . WHAT HE FEARS WITH SOME REASON IS THAT IF DIEM GIVES IN EVEN SLIGHTLY TO THE BUDDHISTS, IT WOULD ONLY CAUSE NEW DEMANDS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY THREATEN THE GOVERNMENT'S WHOLE POWER STRUCTURE . BY WEEK'S END, HOWEVER, IN A BELATED ATTEMPT TO EASE TENSIONS, THE GOVERNMENT ORDERED THE RELEASE OF 267 BUDDHISTS ARRESTED DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS . THOUGH HEAD PRIEST THICH TINH KHIET SAID THAT HE HAS LOST CONFIDENCE IN DIEM'S " HIGH VIRTUE, " NO TOP BUDDHIST HAS YET OPENLY ASKED FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE DIEM GOVERNMENT . BUT A NEW TYPE OF BUDDHIST LEADER IS EMERGING YOUNG, WELL-EDUCATED, TOUGH, AND IMPATIENT WITH THE OLDER MEN'S RELATIVE RESTRAINT . AS PASSIONS MOUNT AND THE POLICE CRACK DOWN HARDER, BUDDHISTS ARE BEING PUSHED INTO A DANGEROUS ATTITUDE OF MARTYRDOM . " WE DON'T WANT A POLICE STATE, " SAYS A BUDDHIST PRIEST . " WE DO NOT WANT TERROR OR DISCRIMINATION OR STATE CONTROL . WE ARE LOYAL VIETNAMESE, BUT THE GOVERNMENT TREATS US LIKE COMMUNISTS . WE ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE OURSELVES AND TO DIE TO BRING FREEDOM TO ALL THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH VIET NAM . " . . . (TRI-DOT) THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG WAS OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE BUDDHIST CRISIS . STEPPING UP THEIR ATTACKS, THE RED GUERRILLAS WOUNDED 14 U.S . ADVISERS IN A MORTAR BARRAGE ON A U.S . COMPOUND IN CAN THO AND KILLED THREE AMERICANS WHEN THE REDS SHOT UP A U.S . MEDICAL CONVOY NORTH OF SAIGON . A FOURTH ADVISER WAS KILLED LATER IN THE WEEK WHEN JITTERY SENTRIES BEGAN SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER IN THE DARK . THE DEAD BROUGHT TO 89 THE NUMBER OF U.S . TROOPS KILLED IN THE WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM .
 SYRIA THROWING AWAY THE SCRIPT SYRIAN ARMY REVOLTS USUALLY RESEMBLE THE ANCIENT BATTLES OF CHINESE WARLORDS : THERE IS A HEAD COUNT OF MEN AND MATERIAL IN THE OPPOSING ARMIES AND THE LARGER WINS A BLOODLESS VICTORY . THE LOSERS ARE THEN JAILED OR EXILED TO WELLPAYING DIPLOMATIC POSTS ABROAD . NOT SO LAST WEEK, WHEN SYRIA EXPERIENCED ITS TWELFTH ATTEMPTED COUP D'ETAT IN 14 YEARS AND THE ONLY ONE TO THROW AWAY THE SCRIPT . LED BY EX-COLONEL JASSEM ALWAN, WHO HAD ALREADY STAGED AN UNSUCCESSFUL COUP LAST YEAR, A BAND OF ARMY OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS LAUNCHED A MORNING ATTACK IN DAMASCUS ON THE RADIO STATION AND THE DEFENSE MINISTRY . DIPLOMATS IN BRITAIN'S NEW GREEN AND YELLOW EMBASSY GOT OFF A CABLE HOME : " HEAVY FIGHTING IN THE HEART OF THE CITY . " THE GUNFIRE LASTED FOR FOUR HOURS, AND THREE SYRIAN MIG FIGHTER PLANES SERVING EITHER THE GOVERNMENT, THE REBELS, OR THEIR OWN WHIM KNOCKED OUT THE RADIO TRANSMITTER . WHEN THE RADIO LIMPED BACK ON THE AIR, IT WAS STILL IN GOVERNMENT HANDS . THE STRONGMAN OF SYRIA'S RULING BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY, GENERAL MOHAMMED HAFEZ, WHO IS BOTH DEFENSE MINISTER AND ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, BROADCAST THAT THE EFFORT " TO DISTURB THE PEACE " HAD BEEN CRUSHED . NEXT DAY HE ANNOUNCED THE BREAK IN THE RULES OF SYRIAN-STYLE COUPS : EIGHT REBEL MILITARY MEN AND TWELVE CIVILIANS HAD BEEN EXECUTED . HAFEZ BLAMED THE REVOLT ON SYRIAN SUPPORTERS OF EGYPT'S GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, WHO IS FEUDING WITH BAATH-RULED SYRIA OVER CONTROL OF THE PROPOSED NEW ARAB FEDERATION BUT MIDEASTERN OBSERVERS COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY NASSERITES WOULD BEGIN A REVOLT ON THE VERY DAY THAT SYRIA'S PRESIDENT LOUAI ATASSI WAS FLYING TO CAIRO TO MAKE CONCESSIONS TO NASSER . EVEN BAATH PARTY NEWSPAPERS CONCEDED THAT SYRIA WAS AT LAST READY TO ACCEPT NASSER'S DEMAND FOR A " NATIONAL FRONT " FEDERATION IN WHICH HIS SUPPORTERS WOULD HAVE EQUAL STRENGTH WITH BAATH . AFTER A TEN-HOUR CONFERENCE WITH NASSER, PRESIDENT ATASSI FLEW HOME AND RUSHED TO THE MILITARY HOSPITAL TO KISS THE SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN DEFENDING HIS REGIME . AT WEEK'S END DAMASCUS RADIO WAS STILL MAKING BRIEF, SHRILL BROADCASTS INSISTING THAT THE REVOLT WAS CRUSHED, BU THE COUNTRY REMAINED BUTTONED UP AGAINST THE OUTSIDE WORLD, WITH BORDERS, AIRPORTS AND HARBORS SEALED .
 ESPIONAGE MISTAKEN IDENTITIES LATEST INSTALLMENTS OF TWO INTERNATIONAL SPY CASES : IN LONDON'S OLD BAILEY, A JURY PONDERED THE CROWN'S CASE AGAINST ITALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST GIUSEPPE MARTELLI, INCLUDING THE ELABORATE ESPIONAGE EQUIPMENT FOUND IN HIS POSSESSION AND HIS REPEATED CONTACTS WITH KNOWN SOVIET AGENTS . DEFENDANT MARTELLI READILY ADMITTED MOST OF THE CROWN'S CHARGES, BUT EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD MERELY BEEN STRINGING OUT THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE REDS IN ORDER TO DENOUNCE THEM AT THE RIGHT MOMENT TO BRITISH AUTHORITIES . AFTER DELIBERATING FOR NINE HOURS AND 47 MINUTES, THE JURORS DECIDED TO BELIEVE MARTELLI AND DECLARED HIM NOT GUILTY . IN BOTH LONDON AND MOSCOW, THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE CONFUSION ABOUT THE IMPORTANT SOVIET OFFICIAL WHO DEFECTED TO THE WEST 18 MONTHS AGO, WAS THOROUGHLY INTERROGATED IN THE U.S., AND IS NOW A RESIDENT OF BRITAIN . THE MAN'S NAME WAS GIVEN AS ANATOLY DOLNYTSIN, AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ALERTLY NOTED THAT A DIPLOMAT OF THE SAME NAME HAD SERVED FOR NINE MONTHS IN THE SOVIET EMBASSY IN LONDON . MOSCOW'S IZVESTIA THEN GOT INTO THE ACT, INSISTING THAT, FAR FROM DEFECTING, DOLNYTSIN HAD LEFT HIS LONDON POST IN 1961 AND HAD BEEN WORKING EVER SINCE AT THE FOREIGN MINISTRY IN MOSCOW (TO PROVE ITS POINT, IZVESTIA EVEN PUBLISHED HIS PICTURE) . QUESTIONS RAISED IN BRITAIN'S HOUSE OF COMMONS GOT ONLY AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT SOMEBODY DID DEFECT FROM RUSSIA 18 MONTHS AGO AND HAD BEEN GIVEN ASYLUM IN BRITAIN . POSSIBLY, THERE HAD BEEN TWO RUSSIAN OFFICIALS WITH THE SAME OR SIMILAR NAMES . NOW WILL THE REAL ANATOLY DOLNYTSIN PLEASE STAND UP ?
 GREAT BRITAIN THE SAGA OF POLISH PETER LIKE THE OVERTURNING OF A DEEPLY EMBEDDED ROCK, THE PROFUMO SCANDAL CAUSED A FRANTIC SCURRYING OF A GREAT MANY ODD HUMAN INSECTS . ONE OF THE CRAWLIEST FIGURES TO EMERGE WAS THAT OF PETER RACHMAN, WHO MAY, OR MAY NOT, BE DEAD . LAST WEEK PRESS AND PARLIAMENT WERE ABUZZ WITH HIS SORDID STORY . RACHMAN LOOKED THE PART OF AN IAN FLEMING VILLAIN . SHORT AND FAT, WITH GROTESQUELY TINY HANDS AND FEET, HE HAD NO NECK, A BALD HEAD SHAPED LIKE A SOCCER BALL, AND SUNKEN BLUE EYES ALWAYS HIDDEN BEHIND DARK GLASSES . HE DRESSED FLASHILY, WORE ELEVATOR SHOES OF CROCODILE LEATHER . IT AMUSED HIM TO WATCH NAKED LADY WRESTLERS, AND HE HAD A FETISH ABOUT HYGIENE, INSISTING THAT ALL HIS SILVERWARE BE STERILIZED AND UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS . MORE THAN MOST MEN, RACHMAN LOVED MONEY AND WOMEN . WHITE CHIEF . IN 1946, WHEN HE WAS 26, POLISH-BORN RACHMAN HAD ARRIVED IN BRITAIN VIRTUALLY PENNILESS AND POSSESSING A STATELESS PERSON'S PASSPORT . AT FIRST, HE FOUND POSTWAR BRITAIN A BLEAK PLACE . HIS ENGLISH WAS POOR, AND HE LABORED AS KITCHEN HELPER, INSURANCE AGENT AND BLACK MARKETEER . HE MADE HIS BID FOR FORTUNE IN THE EARLY 1950S BY BORROWING $2,500 TO BUY A LODGING HOUSE NEAR LONDON'S HARROW ROAD . THE HOUSE COST SO LITTLE BECAUSE SEVEN OF ITS EIGHT ROOMS WERE OCCUPIED BY TENANTS PROTECTED BY RENT CONTROL AND IMMUNE FROM EVICTION . RACHMAN RENTED THE ONE EMPTY ROOM TO A PARTY OF EIGHT WEST INDIAN MUSICIANS WHO WERE ENCOURAGED TO HOLD NIGHTLONG PARTIES AND RAISE HELL ; THEY DID, TO SUCH GOOD EFFECT THAT THE SEVEN WHITE TENANTS MOVED OUT WITHIN THREE MONTHS AND WERE REPLACED BY SWARMS OF WEST INDIANS PAYING VASTLY INFLATED RENTS . EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER, RACHMAN SOLD THE HOUSE FOR FIVE TIMES WHAT HE HAD PAID FOR IT, AND MOVED ON TO FURTHER REAL ESTATE TRIUMPHS IN THE RUNDOWN AREAS OF PADDINGTON, BAYSWATER AND NOTTING HILL . IN HIS SINGLE-MINDED EFFORT TO GET LOWRENT TENANTS OUT OF HIS HOUSES AND HIGHRENT TENANTS IN, RACHMAN HIRED MEN TO URINATE IN HALLWAYS, SMASH FURNITURE, AND ONCE IN BAYSWATER TO REMOVE THE ROOF OF A HOUSE AND ABANDON THE STUBBORN TENANTS TO THE MERCY OF WIND AND WEATHER . IN THE UNDERWORLD HE GOT THE NAME OF " POLISH PETER, " AND WEST INDIANS, WHO KNEW HIS POWER, CALLED HIM " WHITE CHIEF RACHMAN MAN . " BENT BASEMENT . THE RENT ACT OF 1957 VIRTUALLY LIFTED ALL CONTROLS AND ENABLED RACHMAN TO SHOEHORN TENANTS INTO HIS FLATS AT WHATEVER PRICES THE TRAFFIC WOULD BEAR . HE ALSO SHOWED TALENT FOR " BENDING THE BASEMENT, " THAT IS, CONVERTING CELLAR SPACE INTO CRIBS FOR PROSTITUTES OR INTO NIGHTCLUBS THE 1959 STREET OFFENCES ACT, WHICH DROVE PROSTITUTES OFF LONDON PAVEMENTS, BROUGHT HIM ANOTHER WINDFALL, FOR THE GIRLS WOULD PAY MORE FOR ROOMS THAN EVEN THE DESPERATE WEST INDIANS . IN ONE HOUSE, SEVEN PROSTITUTES WERE CHARGED $10 PER DAY, PAYABLE EVERY DAY AT NOON, OR $25,000 ANNUALLY, FOR A HOUSE VALUED AT $4,200 . THE SAGA OF POLISH PETER     RACHMAN WAS NEVER ONCE FOUND GUILTY OF AN ILLEGAL ACT, AND NEVER ONCE PAID A PERSONAL INCOME TAX . POLICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICERS NEARLY LOST THEIR MINDS TRYING TO TRACE THE TRUE OWNERSHIP OF HIS 400 TO 500 BUILDINGS . THEY WOULD DISCOVER THAT IN A SINGLE RACHMAN HOUSE DIFFERENT OWNERS WERE LISTED FOR DIFFERENT FLOORS ; ONE COMPANY WOULD HAVE A LEASE TO COLLECT RENTS, ANOTHER TO MAKE REPAIRS, AND A THIRD WOULD SIMPLY BE HOLDING THE HOUSE " IN TRUST " FOR ONE OF RACHMAN'S MYRIAD FIRMS . BY 1959, RACHMAN HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO START DEALING IN BETTER-CLASS APARTMENTS, HOTELS AND OFFICE BUILDINGS . HE MARRIED AUDREY O'DONNELL, A PRETTY LANCASHIRE GIRL WHO HAD SERVED AS AN OFFICER IN HIS MULTIPLE CORPORATIONS, AND MOVED INTO A MOCK-GEORGIAN MANSION JUST OFF HAMPSTEAD HEATH'S MILLIONAIRES' ROW . THE GARAGE WAS LARGE ENOUGH TO HOUSE THEIR SIX CARS . NUMBERS FAME . ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR GIRLS FOR HIS PERSONAL USE, RACHMAN FREQUENTLY VISITED THE SEVERAL NIGHTCLUBS HE OWNED, AND WOULD SIT IN A CORNER LIKE A SATANIC KEWPIE, A CIGAR IN HIS MOUTH, DIAMONDS ON HIS PUDGY FINGERS, A BLONDE JUVENILE OBEDIENTLY AT HIS SIDE, AND A BODYGUARD IN THE BACKGROUND . CHRISTINE KEELER WAS ONE OF HIS MANY MISTRESSES, AND IN OCTOBER 1960, HE SET UP MANDY RICE-DAVIES, CHRISTINE'S SOMETIME ROOMMATE, IN A WEST END APARTMENT COMPLETE WITH A TWO-WAY BEDROOM MIRROR AND A TAPE RECORDER BENEATH THE BED . " IN OUR TWO HAPPY YEARS, " SAID MANDY LATER / HE GAVE ME A MINK COAT, THREE MINK JACKETS, A PERSIAN LAMB JACKET, THREE DIAMOND BROOCHES, TWO PAIRS OF DIAMOND AND RUBY EARRINGS, A BIG GOLD DIAMOND AND RUBY WATCH, TWO DIAMOND RINGS, AND A JAGUAR . FOR MY 18TH BIRTHDAY, HE GAVE ME $2,800 IN CASH . " WHILE GAMBLING AT A LONDON CASINO ONE NIGHT LAST NOVEMBER, RACHMAN FELT ILL . HE WAS RUSHED TO EDGWARE GENERAL HOSPITAL, AND PERHAPS DIED OF A HEART ATTACK . ON HIS WRIST WAS A GOLD BRACELET WHOSE INSIDE, AS A HOSPITAL ATTENDANT DESCRIBED IT, WAS COVERED WITH SERIES OF NUMBERS THAT COULD BE EITHER SAFE COMBINATIONS OR ACCOUNT NUMBERS IN SWISS BANKS . WHATEVER RACHMAN DID WITH HIS REPUTED FORTUNE, OF $25 MILLION, IT WAS NOT FOUND IN HIS PERSONAL ESTATE, WHICH CAME TO ABOUT $20,000 . RACHMAN'S OWN FATE IS AS MYSTERIOUS AS HIS MISSING MONEY . THE LONDON UNDERWORLD BUZZES WITH RUMORS THAT THERE WAS A BODY SWITCH AT EDGWARE, AND RACHMAN HAS REPORTEDLY BEEN SEEN EVERYWHERE FROM MANHATTAN TO PARIS . THE QUESTION WAS RAISED IN PARLIAMENT, BUT LAST WEEK SCOTLAND YARD AND INVESTIGATING NEWSMEN WERE SATISFIED THAT THE REAL RACHMAN WAS DEAD AND THAT HIS CORPSE LIES BURIED IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE IN A HERTFORDSHIRE CEMETERY .
 WEST GERMANY THE OLDEST GRAD THE TALL, GANGLING YOUTH WITH THE KAISER WILHELM MUSTACHE WAS A MODEL OF SELF-DISCIPLINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG . LIMITED TO A SMALL MONTHLY ALLOWANCE OF $21, HE WAS NEVER KNOWN TO SQUANDER OR BORROW A PFENNIG . AT NIGHT, NODDING OVER HIS LAW BOOKS, HE WOULD TAKE OFF HIS SHOES AND SOCKS, IMMERSE HIS FEET IN A TUB OF COLD WATER TO STAY AWAKE . HE NEVER FOUGHT A DUEL, BUT HE WAS NO SQUARE . HE PLEDGED A FRATERNITY, ACQUIRED THE " BIERNAME " (DRINKING NICKNAME) OF " TONI, " AND AT FROTHY FUNCTIONS WOULD BANG HIS STEIN ON AN OAK TABLE IN UNISON WITH THE REST OF THEM . LATER, IN COLOGNE, HE DAZZLED THE FRAULEINS AT THE LOCAL PUDELNASS (SOPPING WET) TENNIS CLUB . AMONG THOSE WHO KNEW HIM, MANY WERE SURPRISED WHEN KONRAD ADENAUER (CLASS OF 1897) GREW UP TO BE A POLITICIAN AND EVENTUALLY CHANCELLOR OF WEST GERMANY . LAST WEEK ADENAUER'S COLLEGE DAYS BECAME A TOPIC OF NATIONAL DISCUSSION . ADDRESSING A NOSTALGIC REUNION OF ALTE HERREN (OLD GRADS), THE CHANCELLOR DEFENDED GERMANY'S TRADITION OF FRATERNITIES, WHICH ARE WIDELY ACCUSED OF FOSTERING AUTHORITARIANISM . THOUGH AT 87 ADENAUER HAS SEEN MOST IF NOT ALL OF HIS OLD FRATERNITY CLASSMATES DIE, HE IS STILL A LOYAL MEMBER OF ARMINIA* (MOTTO : TRUE ! FREE ! ) . SAID DER ALTE : " WHEN A STUDENT ENTERS THE UNIVERSITY, HE OR SHE IS NEITHER A FINISHED MAN NOR A FINISHED WOMAN . ONE IS NEVER COMPLETELY FINISHED IN LIFE . A BOY NEEDS A SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE . IT IS LIKE A PLANT THAT GROWS UP, OR A YOUNG TREE . IT DEPENDS ON HOW THE AIR IS, ON THE SURROUNDINGS HE IS IN, ON THE EARTH THAT GIVES HIM NOURISHMENT . I BELIEVE A STUDENTENKORPORATION (FRATERNITY) CAN GIVE A YOUNG STUDENT A GREAT DEAL . I LOOK BACK AT MY STUDENT TIME AND CAN ONLY SAY THAT THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH I FOUND IN THE FRATERNITIES HAS AFFECTED ME FOR MY WHOLE LIFE . THE STUDENT CAN ONLY BE RAISED BY THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS PEERS . " AS FOR THE BURGEONING REVIVAL OF FRATERNITIES SINCE WORLD WAR II (40 PER CENT OF WEST GERMAN STUDENTS NOW BELONG), DER ALTE MAINTAINED THAT " AFTER THE TERRIBLE COLLAPSE AT THE END OF THE WAR, THE RISE OF SUCH A TRADITION IS OF VERY VITAL AND GREAT SIGNIFICANCE FOR ALL THE GERMAN PEOPLE . "     AFTER HIS SPEECH, ADENAUER TOOK TIME TO INSPECT THE SPECIAL OFFICES IN BONN'S PARLIAMENT BUILDING THAT ARE BEING MADE READY FOR HIM TO OCCUPY AFTER HIS OFTPOSTPONED BUT NOW FIRMLY PROMISED RETIREMENT AS CHANCELLOR THIS FALL . WHEN HE STEPS DOWN, ADENAUER IS SUPPOSED TO CONFINE HIMSELF TO BEING A PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTY, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF HIS CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION AND THE OLDEST SURVIVING MEMBER OF ARMINIA . NAMED FOR THE TEUTONIC HERO ARMINIUS, WHOSE FORCES ANNIHILATED THREE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER GENERAL VARUS IN A.D . 9 .
 FRANCE L'AMOUR FOR LA PATRIE THE PEOPLE OF PARIS CELEBRATED SUMMER IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY . YOUNG COUPLES WERE LACED TOGETHER UNDER THE TREES OF THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE, LOCKED LIP-TO-LIP ON THE METRO STAIRS, SNUGGLED FLANK-TO-FLANK ON THE SWIMMING BARGES MOORED ALONG THE SEINE . TO THE GAULLISTS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING WRONG WITH THIS SURFEIT OF LOVE : IT IS NOT PRODUCING ENOUGH BABIES . INTRODUCING NEW LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO CHANGE THAT SITUATION, EX-PREMIER MICHEL DEBRE WARNED : " THERE IS A DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE LINK BETWEEN THE WEIGHT OF OUR POPULATION AND OUR FUTURE IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD . " NO EXPLOSION . DEBRE COULD HAVE APPEALED TO HISTORY . WHEN NAPOLEON'S ARMIES SWEPT OVER THE CONTINENT 160 YEARS AGO, FRANCE CONTAINED ONE-FIFTH OF EUROPE'S POPULATION . TODAY IT REPRESENTS ONE-TWENTIETH, AND ONLY IMMIGRATION HAS KEPT FRANCE FROM LOSING POPULATION . SINCE 1946, FRANCE'S ANNUAL BIRTH RATE HAS STABILIZED AT BETWEEN 18 AND 19 PER 1,000 PEOPLE . THOUGH WELL BELOW THE U.S . RATE OF 23.4, FRANCE IS NOW ACTUALLY DOING BETTER THAN MOST OF ITS NEIGHBORS . IN WESTERN EUROPE GENERALLY, THE BIRTH RATE HAS SLOWLY BUT STEADILY DECLINED OVER THE PAST DECADE, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF POSTWAR UNEASINESS ABOUT THE FUTURE, THE SHORTAGE OF NEW HOUSING THAT CONTINUES DESPITE THE ECONOMIC BOOM, AND THE DECISION OF NEWLYWEDS TO SPACE THE ARRIVAL OF CHILDREN . THE DECLINE IS EVEN MORE RAPID IN THE COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY POLAND AND YUGOSLAVIA, WHERE THE RATE HAS DROPPED FROM 28 TO 22 PER 1,000 IN THE SAME PERIOD, PARTLY BECAUSE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENTS SANCTION LEGAL ABORTIONS . THUS, IRONICALLY, WHILE ASIA, AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICAN STILL FEAR THE POPULATION EXPLOSION, EUROPE FEARS THE OPPOSITE . NO DRINKING . FRANCE HAS LONG FOUGHT THE TREND BY OFFERING BONUSES FOR LARGE FAMILIES AND BY SEVERELY OUTLAWING ABORTIONS AS WELL AS FEMALE CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES AND THE SPREAD OF BIRTH CONTROL INFORMATION . TO ACHIEVE A NATIONAL AVERAGE OF AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN PER FAMILY, DEBRE LAST WEEK PROPOSED 1) PRIORITY IN APARTMENTS FOR YOUNG COUPLES WITH CHILDREN, 2) TAX EXEMPTIONS TO FAMILIES IN THE YEAR THEY PRODUCE A FOURTH CHILD, 3) A MORE " RECEPTIVE GOVERNMENT ATTITUDE TOWARD UNWED MOTHERS . " HE ALSO WANTS FRENCHMEN TO LAY OFF THE BOTTLE, BECAUSE " EACH GENERATION WE LOSE A TOTAL OF 500,000 PERSONS DUE TO OVERINDULGENCE . " OPPOSITION CAME FROM SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST DEPUTIES WHO ARGUED THAT IT WAS UNREALISTIC TO TALK OF INCREASING THE POPULATION WHILE FRENCH HOUSING REMAINED IN ITS PRESENT WRETCHED STATE . BUT DEBRE IS STRONGLY BACKED BY PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE, WHO HOPES THAT FRANCE'S PRESENT POPULATION OF 47 MILLION WILL GROW TO 100 MILLION BY THE CENTURY'S END .
 KENYA BLACK & WHITE HARAMBEE ! ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO, KENYA'S WHITES RAGED AGAINST JOMO KENYATTA AS THE BLOODTHIRSTY FOUNDER OF MAU MAU . IN 1961, A GOVERNOR OF KENYA LABELED KENYATTA " A LEADER TO DARKNESS AND DEATH . " ON A LONDON VISIT IN 1962, KENYATTA WAS PELTED WITH ROTTEN EGGS BY WHITE EXTREMISTS BRANDISHING PLACARDS READING, " HANG KENYATTA ! " YET LAST WEEK, AS HIS COUNTRY'S NEWLY ELECTED PRIME MINISTER, KENYATTA WAS A HERO TO MOST OF KENYA'S REMAINING WHITE FARMERS . AT NAKURU, CAPITAL OF THE FORMER WHITE HIGHLANDS, 400 FARMERS CROWDED THE TOWN HALL TO HEAR HIM, DETERMINED TO BASE THEIR DECISION TO LEAVE KENYA OR TO STAY ON WHAT HE HAD TO TELL THEM (IN THE PAST TWO YEARS, 6,000 HAVE LEFT, BUT 60,000 REMAIN) . KENYATTA APPEALED TO THE WHITES TO FORGIVE AND FORGET, TO JOIN HANDS WITH HIS THREE-MONTH-OLD AFRICAN GOVERNMENT AND PROVE THAT DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS CAN LIVE HARMONIOUSLY TOGETHER . " THERE IS NO SOCIETY OF ANGELS, BLACK, BROWN OR WHITE, " SAID KENYATTA . " WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS AND AS SUCH WE ARE BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES . IF I HAVE DONE A MISTAKE TO YOU, IT IS FOR YOU TO FORGIVE ME . IF YOU HAVE DONE A MISTAKE TO ME, IT IS FOR ME TO FORGIVE YOU . " HE ASSURED THE WHITE SETTLERS THAT THEY WOULD BE ALLOWED TO FARM THEIR LAND WITHOUT INTERFERENCE, THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT WILL USE IDLE LAND, AND PROMISED MORE POLICE ACTION TO PREVENT THE STEALING OF CATTLE . WHEN HE FINISHED, THE WHITE FARMERS ROARED KENYATTA'S BATTLE CRY OF " HARAMBEE ! " , A SWAHILI EXPRESSION MEANING " LET'S ALL PUSH TOGETHER GET UP AND GO . " NOT ALL WERE WON OVER . BUT MOST DECIDED TO STAY IN KENYA SO LONG AS JOMO KENYATTA CONTINUED SAYING AND DOING THE RIGHT THINGS . HIS SPEECH, SAID FARMER LEADER LORD DELAMERE, WAS A " UNIQUE AND HISTORIC " EVENT .
 COLD WAR THE NONSIGNERS IN WASHINGTON THE AMBASSADORS WERE USHERED INTO A FLOODLIT ANTEROOM AND WELCOMED BY VIRGINIA DUKE, A CHIC STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE WITH GREYING HAIR, WHO BEARS THE TITLE OF TREATY DEPOSITORY OFFICER . IN MOSCOW A VARIETY OF FOREIGN OFFICE TYPES USHERED THE DIPLOMATS INTO A DAZZLING GOLD-AND-WHITE MARBLE ROOM IN THE SPIRIDONOVKA PALACE . IN BOTH CITIES, AND IN LONDON AS WELL, THE EMISSARIES OF NATION AFTER NATION LINED UP TO SIGN THE NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY . EVENTUALLY, BY STATE DEPARTMENT ESTIMATE, THERE WILL BE MORE THAN 100 SIGNATORIES . KHRUSHCHEV CALLED IT " A REFERENDUM ON ALL CONTINENTS . " INEVITABLY, THE WORLD'S ATTENTION FOCUSED ON THE NONSIGNERS . CHIEF AMONG THEM IS, OF COURSE, RED CHINA . HEIGHTENING THEIR BITTER IDEOLOGICAL QUARREL WITH MOSCOW, THE CHINESE CHARGED THAT FOUR YEARS AGO NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HAD WELSHED ON A PROMISE TO HELP THEM MAKE ATOMIC BOMBS BECAUSE HE WANTED TO PRESENT " A GIFT " TO PRESIDENT EISENHOWER ON THE EVE OF THE CAMP DAVID TALKS . IN A BITTER RADIO ATTACK, THE CHINESE SAID THAT THE " REAL AIM OF THE SOVIET LEADERS " IN NEGOTIATING THE TEST BAN " IS TO COMPROMISE WITH THE U.S . IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A MONOPOLY OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND LORD IT OVER THE SOCIALIST CAMP . " PEKING ADDED THAT KHRUSHCHEV HAD COMMITTED AN ACT OF " BETRAYAL " RESULTING IN " OPEN CAPITULATION BY THE SOVIET LEADERS TO U.S . IMPERIALISM . " THE SLOW ONES . CHINA'S ANTITREATY STAND WAS BACKED BY AVOWEDLY PRO-PEKING ALBANIA, NORTH KOREA AND NORTH VIET NAM . SO FAR, THESE ARE THE ONLY COUNTRIES THAT HAVE FORMALLY ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WILL NOT SIGN . BUT CHARY OF ANGERING THE CHINESE, OTHER ASIAN NATIONS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO INDICATE THEIR APPROVAL OF THE PACT . THEY INCLUDE NEPAL, WHICH LIES IN AN EXPOSED POSITION IN CHINA'S BORDER CONFLICT WITH INDIA ; CEYLON AND CAMBODIA, BOTH LEFTWING " NEUTRALS " ; AND INDONESIA, WHICH IS HOPEFUL OF CHINESE SUPPORT IN ANY FUTURE ACTION AGAINST THE SOON-TO-BE-BORN MALAYSIAN FEDERATION . TO MOSCOW'S CONSTERNATION, THE ONLY COMMUNIST NATION THAT HAS NOT YET SPOKEN OUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER IN THE WORLDWIDE " REFERENDUM " IS CUBA . DESPITE THE $1,000,000 A DAY THAT RUSSIA IS POURING INTO HIS ISLAND COMMUNE, FIDEL CASTRO IS STILL ANGRY OVER KHRUSHCHEV'S WITHDRAWAL OF SOVIET ROCKETS LAST FALL . TRYING TO MAKE THE SOVIET LEADER SWEAT, CASTRO IS OBVIOUSLY ATTEMPTING TO BOOST HIS PRICE FOR SUPPORTING RUSSIA IN ITS STRUGGLE WITH THE CHINESE . BUT THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT CUBA WILL ULTIMATELY SIGN THE TREATY, FOR CASTRO NEEDS RUSSIA TO BUY HIS 3,800,000-TON SUGAR CROP AND TO CONTINUE STEADY TRANSFUSION OF ECONOMIC AID . THE LONELY ONES . THE SOLE NONSIGNER IN THE WESTERN CAMP IS FRANCE . EVEN FRANCO SPAIN, THE ONLY WESTERN COUNTRY WHICH DOES NOT HAVE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH MOSCOW, HAS SIGNED THE TREATY, LEAVING FRANCE ISOLATED FROM ALL ITS CONTINENTAL NEIGHBORS . MOST GALLING TO CHARLES DE GAULLE WAS WEST GERMANY'S DECISION TO SIGN THE PACT AFTER A REASSURING PITCH IN BONN BY U.S . SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK . BONN'S ACTION WAS DOUBLY UPSETTING TO FRANCE, FOR IT FOLLOWED AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT GERMANY AND THE U.S . WILL COOPERATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW BATTLE TANK (TIME, AUG . 16) ; JUST THREE MONTHS AGO, PARIS WAS UNABLE TO REACH AN AGREEMENT WITH THE GERMANS ON A SIMILAR PROJECT . BOTH BONN DECISIONS RAISED THE QUESTION OF JUST HOW MUCH THE FRANCO-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP TREATY IS WORTH, AND BROUGHT INTO THE OPEN THE FACT THAT WEST GERMANY STILL LOOKS TO THE U.S . AND NOT TO FRANCE FOR LEADERSHIP . STUBBORNLY FRANCE PREPARED FOR ANOTHER ATOMIC TEST IN THE SAHARA, BUT DE GAULLE'S ASPIRATIONS TO FRENCH LEADERSHIP OF EUROPE WERE ACIDLY DEMOLISHED BY PARIS' LE FIGARO . " IF KHRUSHCHEV REALLY BECOMES DISTURBED BY THE CAMPAIGN CONDUCTED AGAINST HIM BY CHINA, " SAID THE PAPER, " AND IF HE WANTS TO HAVE A CERTAINTY OF PEACE ON HIS WESTERN FRONT, THEN HE WILL NOT COME TO SEEK AGREEMENT WITH FRANCE, WHICH IS NEGLIGIBLE IN HIS EYES, EVEN WITH ATOMIC WEAPONS, BUT WITH THE U.S., WHOSE INFLUENCE AND POWER ARE ONE HUNDRED TIMES SUPERIOR . THIS WAS PROVED AT THE RECENT CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW, WHERE WE SHONE BY OUR ABSENCE .
 WEST GERMANY IT IS STILL THERE TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE BERLIN WAS SEVERED BY THE WALL . ON ITS ANNIVERSARY LAST WEEK, MOST WEST BERLINERS HEEDED OFFICIAL APPEALS TO REFRAIN FROM VIOLENT, FUTILE DEMONSTRATIONS . INSTEAD, THEY OBSERVED THE DAY QUIETLY BY PLACING WREATHS ON THE DOZENS OF CROSSES MARKING EACH SPOT WHERE A FLEEING EAST GERMAN HAD BEEN SHOT TO DEATH BY COMMUNIST GUARDS . ONLY LATE IN THE EVENING WAS THE CITY'S GRAVE CALM BROKEN BY A MOB OF SOME 2,000 HELL-RAISING WEST BERLINERS WHO SURGED INTO THE AREA AROUND CHECKPOINT CHARLIE, HURLING ROCKS AND INSULTS ACROSS THE WALL INTO THE SOVIET SECTOR . IF GERMANS HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH THE BERLIN WALL AND THE DEADLY, 830MILE BARRICADE THAT DIVIDES THE REST OF THEIR NATION, ON NEITHER SIDE HAVE THEY FORGOTTEN OR FORGIVEN ITS EXISTENCE . THE MOST ELOQUENT EVIDENCE OF EAST GERMANS' REFUSAL TO ACCEPT SOVIETIZATION IS THAT 16,456 OF THEM HAVE RISKED THEIR LIVES AND FLED TO THE WEST SINCE THE WALL WENT UP . AMONG THEM WERE 1,304 MEMBERS OF EAST GERMANY'S ARMY AND POLICE FORCE, ENOUGH TO FORM 13 COMPANIES . AT LEAST 65 MORE EAST GERMANS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN KILLED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE . FACTS OF LIFE . DESPITE THIS SOMBER CHRONICLE OF FLIGHT AND DEATH, MANY POLITICIANS AND PUNDITS OUTSIDE GERMANY STILL CLING TO THE NOTION BASED IN PART ON DEEP-ROOTED FEAR OF RESURGENT GERMAN POWER THAT ITS PEOPLE ARE GRADUALLY BECOMING RECONCILED TO THEIR COUNTRY'S PARTITION . IN WEST GERMANY ITSELF, THIS VIEW IS ACCEPTED IN SOME QUARTERS, MOSTLY BECAUSE IT IS A FACT OF PRESENT EUROPEAN LIFE THAT THE RUSSIANS CANNOT BE MOVED OUT OF EAST GERMANY, EXCEPT BY WAR, A WEST GERMAN SURRENDER TO COMMUNISM, OR SOME KIND OF SETTLEMENT FOR WHICH WEST GERMANY MIGHT HAVE TO PAY A RUINOUS PRICE . AS A RESULT, MANY GERMANS ARE BEGINNING TO PONDER MEASURES THAT FALL SHORT OF ACTUAL REUNIFICATION SUCH AS TRADE PRESSURE DESIGNED TO PERSUADE WALTER ULBRICHT TO GIVE EAST GERMANS A LITTLE MORE FREEDOM AND A SOMEWHAT BETTER LIFE . FRANZ THEDIECK, STATE SECRETARY FOR ALL-GERMAN AFFAIRS, SAID RECENTLY : " OF COURSE WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE GERMANY REUNITED, BUT IF THERE WERE CONDITIONS OF FREEDOM IN EAST GERMANY THE EXISTENCE OF ONE SINGLE GERMAN STATE WOULD NOT BE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY . " EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHER KARL JASPERS CREATED A FUROR BY SUGGESTING IN 1960 THAT HIS COUNTRYMEN MUST ACCEPT CHANGES IN THE MAP OF GERMANY AS PART OF THEIR LIABILITY FOR HITLER . MANY GERMANS NOW ACCEPT HIS THOUGHT : " THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS IS FREEDOM . COMPARED WITH THAT, REUNIFICATION IS A MATTER OF INDIFFERENCE THE THOUGHT IS LARGELY ACADEMIC, SINCE IT WOULD BE ALMOST AS DIFFICULT TO LIBERALIZE THE ULBRICHT REGIME AS TO GET THE RUSSIANS OUT OF EAST GERMANY . THE JASPERS LINE THUS MAY TEMPER BUT DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE BASIC URGE FOR REUNIFICATION IN A COUNTRY WHICH ACHIEVED NATIONAL UNITY LATER THAN OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS AND IS FIERCELY INSISTENT ON ITS ETHNIC IDENTITY . HENCE BONN'S OPPOSITION TO ANY EAST-WEST AGREEMENT THAT WOULD FORMALLY OR PSYCHOLOGICALLY SEAL THE STATUS QUO . SAYS A WESTERN AMBASSADOR IN BONN : " THE ISSUE OF GERMAN UNITY STILL HAS MORE EXPLOSIVE POTENTIAL THAN ANY OTHER ISSUE ON THE POLITICAL SCENE IN GERMANY TODAY . WE'D BE FOOLS TO UNDERESTIMATE IT . " SHIFT TO RIGHT . FAR FROM SYMBOLICALLY AND PHYSICALLY SEALING GERMANY'S DIVISION, THE WALL HAS BECOME A CONSTANT, INESCAPABLE REMINDER TO WEST GERMANY'S 57 MILLION CITIZENS THAT 17 MILLION OF THEIR COMPATRIOTS LIVE IN PRIVATION AND TERROR . OLDER GERMANS, INCLUDING DISTINGUISHED SOCIOLOGIST HELMUT SCHELSKY, HAVE WARNED REPEATEDLY THAT A COMPLACENT YOUNGER GENERATION WILL IN TIME COME TO REGARD THEIR COMPATRIOTS " OVER THERE " AS FOREIGNERS . HOWEVER, GERMAN STUDENTS ON THE WHOLE SEEM TO AGREE WITH CHRISTA ROLL, A 23-YEAR-OLD MUNICH STUDENT, WHO ARGUES THAT IDEALISTIC YOUNGSTERS HAVE BEEN DEEPLY AFFECTED BY THE WALL . SINCE IT WENT UP, SHE SAYS, " THE INTELLECTUAL CENTER OF GRAVITY HAS SHIFTED TO THE RIGHT . BEFORE THAT, A LOT OF LIBERALS WOULD STILL PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR EAST GERMANY NOW AND THEN . BUT THE WALL CHANGED THEM, FOR IT WAS EXACTLY THE KIND OF UGLY SUPPRESSION THAT EVERY PROGRESSIVE IS SUPPOSEDLY FIGHTING AGAINST . " MOST GERMANS EVEN THOSE WHO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT REUNIFICATION CANNOT BECOME REALITY IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE AGREE THAT IT IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE . RECENT OPINION POLLS SHOW THAT 54 PER CENT OF WEST GERMANY'S CITIZENS CONSIDER THEIR COUNTRY'S DIVISION " AN UNBEARABLE SITUATION . " ANOTHER SURVEY, TAKEN LAST YEAR, INDICATED THAT 40 PER CENT CONSIDER REUNIFICATION THE NATION'S MOST URGENT PROBLEM ; ONLY 17 PER CENT GAVE FIRST PRIORITY TO THE PRESERVATION OF PEACE . EVIDENCE OF THEIR CONTINUING CONCERN FOR THEIR KIN IS THE RISE IN WEST GERMANS' SHIPMENTS OF FOOD AND CLOTHING TO COMMUNIST GERMANY : FROM 35 MILLION IN 1950, THE NUMBER OF PACKAGES CROSSING THE BORDER HAS RISEN TO MORE THAN 52 MILLION A YEAR . A WHOLE NEW LITERATURE IN WEST GERMANY CONCERNS ITSELF WITH THE ALIENATION OF EAST AND WEST, " THE DREADED DREADFUL STRANGENESS, " AS UWE JOHNSON WROTE IN SPECULATIONS ABOUT JAKOB, IN WHICH FRIENDS AND RELATIVES DIVIDED BY THE BORDER GRADUALLY CEASE TO BE INDIVIDUALS IN EACH OTHER'S EYES, INSTEAD BECOME POLITICAL SYMBOLS . EMOTIONALLY, AT LEAST, A UNITED NATION REMAINS THE ASPIRATION OF A VAST MAJORITY OF WEST GERMANS . THE U.S . WOULD ONLY PAVE THE WAY FOR A NEW AND DANGEROUS WAVE OF GERMAN NATIONALISM BY IGNORING IT .
 POLAND WAY OF THE CROSS AT JASNA GORA MONASTERY, THE MOST SACRED SHRINE IN POLAND, STEFAN CARDINAL WYSZYNSKI LAST WEEK BLASTED GROWING COMMUNIST EFFORTS TO CURTAIL CHURCH ACTIVITIES . SPEAKING TO GROUPS OF THE MORE THAN 100,000 PILGRIMS GATHERED TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION, THE CARDINAL CITED A GOVERNMENT BAN ON ORGANIZED PILGRIMAGES AND PROTESTED AGAINST ROADBLOCKS WHERE SOME PILGRIMS HAD BEEN HARASSED DURING THE TRIP TO THE SHRINE, ENDURING THEIR OWN " WAY OF THE CROSS . " OSTENSIBLY, THE BAN RESULTED FROM A SMALLPOX OUTBREAK IN THE VICINITY, BUT THERE WAS NO INTERFERENCE WITH NONRELIGIOUS TOURISTS . ON ANOTHER FRONT, THE REDS REFUSED TO LET CHILDREN AT STATE-RUN SUMMER CAMPS ATTEND MASS . SAID WYSZYNSKI : " THE STATE DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROHIBIT EVERYTHING . IF A CITIZEN DOES NOT DEMAND HIS RIGHTS, HE IS NO LONGER A CITIZEN . HE BECOMES A SLAVE . "
 PORTUGAL TOO LATE IN THE DAY PORTUGAL'S ASCETIC DICTATOR ANTONIO DE OLIVEIRA SALAZAR MADE ONE OF HIS RARE TV APPEARANCES LAST WEEK (ON FILM) TO ANSWER AFRICAN DEMANDS THAT PORTUGAL ABANDON ITS COLONIES . HAVING LEARNED NOTHING AND FORGOTTEN NOTHING, SALAZAR TOOK A PREDICTABLE STAND : PORTUGAL WILL GO TO WAR RATHER THAN BUDGE IN AFRICA . DURING HIS HOUR-AND-A-HALF SPEECH, WITH TIME OUT FOR FORTIFYING SIPS OF PORT, SALAZAR APPEARED DECREPIT BUT SOUNDED VIGOROUS . BECAUSE OF A WAVE OF " BLACK RACISM, " HE COMPLAINED, PORTUGAL'S " CIVILIZING MISSION " IN PORTUGUESE GUINEA, ANGOLA AND MOZAMBIQUE IS IN JEOPARDY . ASKED SALAZAR . IS THE LANGUAGE THAT WE TEACH THOSE PEOPLE SUPERIOR TO THEIR DIALECTS OR NOT ? DOES THE RELIGION PREACHED BY THE MISSIONARIES SURPASS FETISHISM OR NOT ? IS NOT BELONGING TO A NATION OF CIVILIZED EXPRESSION AND WORLD PROJECTION BETTER THAN NARROW REGIONALISM WITHOUT MEANS FOR DEFENSE OR PROGRESS ? " REASONABLE QUESTIONS, TO BE SURE, BUT THEY SIMPLY CAME TOO LATE IN THE DAY AS DID SALAZAR'S OFFER TO AFRICANS OF " THE CLOSEST AND MOST FRIENDLY COOPERATION, IF THEY FIND IT USEFUL . " OTHERWISE, PORTUGAL WOULD DEFEND ITS TERRITORIES " TO THE LIMIT OF OUR RESOURCES, IF THEY THINK FIT TO TURN THEIR THREATS INTO ACTS OF WAR . " AS FOR THE U.N., WHICH TWO WEEKS EARLIER CALLED ANEW FOR CURTAILMENT OF ARMS TO PORTUGAL, HE SAW THE " MASSIVE ENTRY " OF AFRO-ASIAN STATES AS HAVING DISTORTED THE WORLD ORGANIZATION INTO A THREAT TO PEACE . AND IN A BITTER JAB AT HIS NATO PARTNER, THE U.S., WHICH HAS BEEN URGING PORTUGAL TO DECOLONIZE, SALAZAR ACCUSED WASHINGTON OF COMPETING WITH RUSSIA IN AFRICA, PRINCIPALLY FOR SPHERES OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE AND MARKETS . . . . (TRIDOTS) SALAZAR'S OLD IBERIAN NEIGHBOR AND AMIGO, SPAIN'S FRANCISCO FRANCO, WAS BENDING SLIGHTLY MORE WITH THE WINDS, ANNOUNCED PLANS TO GRANT A MEASURE OF AUTONOMY TO SPANISH GUINEA, WHICH IS MADE UP OF THE / PROVINCES " OF RIO MUNI, A MARYLAND-SIZED WEST AFRICAN ENCLAVE LYING BETWEEN GABON AND CAMEROON, AND THE ADJACENT ISLANDS OF FERNANDO PO AND ANNOBON . THE COLONY'S 225,000 AFRICANS, WHO HARVEST ITS COFFEE, COCOA BEANS AND TIMBER, AND 5,000 EUROPEANS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO ELECT A RUBBER-STAMP PARLIAMENT LOYAL TO EL CAUDILLO .
 CONGO REPUBLIC FAILURE OF A FETISH ONCE ON A STATE VISIT TO PARIS, ABBE FULBERT YOULOU, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, SHOOK HANDS WITH CHARLES DE GAULLE AND BOASTED : " LIKE YOU, I AM IRREVERSIBLE . " LAST WEEK, ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF HIS COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE, YOULOU WAS REVERSED RIGHT OUT OF OFFICE BY AN EXPLOSION OF HIS PEOPLE'S PENT-UP DISCONTENT . HIS COUNTRY, THE EX-FRENCH COLONY CALLED THE " OTHER CONGO " TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM ITS ANARCHIC EX-BELGIAN NEIGHBOR,* HAS LONG SEEMED QUIET AND PEACEFUL . BUT WHEN IT CAME, YOULOU'S EXIT HAD ALL THE REVOLUTIONARY TRIMMINGS, INCLUDING A STORMING OF THE LOCAL BASTILLE AND A MOB OUTSIDE THE PALACE HOWLING FOR BREAD .     NNNN HABITUALLY CLAD IN A CASSOCK OFTEN TOPPED BY A HOMBURG, AND SAID TO HAVE CARRIED A PISTOL IN HIS ROBES, YOULOU AT 46 WAS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST UNUSUAL STATESMEN . A MEMBER OF THE LARI TRIBE HIS NAME MEANS " FETISH WHICH CANNOT BE GRASPED " HE WAS REARED BY CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES AND IN 1946 ORDAINED A PRIEST . LATER, IN DEFIANCE OF ORDERS FROM HIS SUPERIOR, YOULOU RAN FOR THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY (HE LOST) AND WAS SUSPENDED BY THE CHURCH, IS STILL FORBIDDEN TO SAY MASS . BECAUSE OF HIS SUSPENSION, HE WAS ACCLAIMED BY HIS COUNTRYMEN AS A VICTIM OF DISCRIMINATION AND ELECTED MAYOR OF BRAZZAVILLE IN 1956 . EXPLOITING CONGOLESE SUPERSTITIONS, HE SOON HAD MANY VOTERS CONVINCED THAT HIS PERSONAL FETISH, A SMALL YELLOW CROCODILE, HAD " THE POWER . " WITH THE ADVENT OF INDEPENDENCE, YOULOU WAS ELECTED PREMIER AND PRESIDENT, PROMISING HIS NEW NATION " TOMORROWS THAT SING . " HE ORDERED A PARIS COUTURIER TO RUN UP A WARDROBE OF CASSOCKS, IN COLORS FROM MAUVE TO BOTTLE GREEN . HE SAVORED IMPORTED CHAMPAGNE BY THE CASE AND CONSTRUCTED A LUXURY HOTEL ; WHEN ASKED HOW HE FINANCED IT, HE REPLIED : " I AM SPENDING THE SAVINGS OF POOR MAMAN . SHE SOLD NUTS AND VEGETABLES . " RISE OF THE CRITICS . MEANWHILE THE COUNTRY'S TIMBER-BASED ECONOMY STAGNATED . THIS YEAR FRANCE CUT OFF ITS $1,100,000 ANNUAL DOLE, AND YOULOU RAISED TAXES . BASIC FOOD PRICES DOUBLED, AND AS BUSH PEOPLE KEPT STREAMING INTO CROWDED BRAZZAVILLE, 19 OUT OF EVERY 20 AFRICANS IN THE CITY WERE WITHOUT WORK . THEN YOULOU MADE HIS WORST MISTAKE HE ASKED GUINEA'S DEMAGOGIC, LEFTISH PRESIDENT SEKOU TOURE FOR A VISIT . INSTEAD OF UTTERING NICETIES, THE GUEST ELECTRIFIED THE LOCALS WITH DENUNCIATIONS OF AFRICAN LEADERS WHO TURN WEALTHY BOURGEOIS . LAST MONTH BRAZZAVILLE'S THREE TRADE UNIONS, ONE OF WHICH IS COMMUNIST, DEMANDED REFORMS . YOULOU PROMISED LABOR A SAY IN A NEW, SINGLE-PARTY GOVERNMENT THAT HE PLANNED TO PROCLAIM . SATISFIED, THE UNIONS EASED OFF . BUT FORTNIGHT AGO, WORD BEGAN CIRCULATING THAT YOULOU WAS ABOUT TO RENEGE . PROMPTLY THE UNIONS CALLED A GENERAL STRIKE ; LAST WEEK, ON THE EVE OF THE STRIKE, TWO LABOR LEADERS WERE ARRESTED . FALL OF THE MESSIAH . AS THE WALKOUT BEGAN, BRAZZAVILLE WAS SHUT TIGHT, AND 1,500 DEMONSTRATORS GATHERED FOR A MORNING RALLY AT THE RAILROAD STATION . SUDDENLY MOUNTED CONGOLESE GENDARMES CHARGED THEM WITH SABERS FLASHING . THE RAGGED MOB BURST THROUGH POLICE LINES AND SURGED TOWARD THE CITY PRISON, HURLING STONES AND BRICKS . AT THE PRISON ENTRANCE, POLICE OPENED FIRE, KILLING AT LEAST THREE . UNDETERRED, THE MOB BATTERED DOWN THE STEEL GATE, FREED 480 ELATED PRISONERS . MOVING ON, THE RIOTERS SET ABOUT BURNING HOMES AND CARS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS . BOTH CALL THEMSELVES REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, LIST THEMSELVES UNOFFICIALLY BY THE NAMES OF THEIR CAPITALS : CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE) AND CONGO (LEOPOLDVILLE) FROM HIS PALACE, YOULOU PLEADED WITH THE FRENCH COMMANDER OF THE CONGOLESE TROOPS TO TAKE MORE VIGOROUS ACTION . " SHOOT, SHOOT, " YOULOU CRIED, COVERING HIS EARS . BUT HIS APPEAL WAS IN VAIN . ALTHOUGH THE FRENCH HAD 3,000 OF THEIR OWN MEN IN THE COUNTRY UNDER A DEFENSE TREATY, AND AIR-LIFTED IN ANOTHER 1,000, ORDERS FROM PARIS WERE ONLY TO PROTECT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE AND FRENCH PROPERTY . ON THE RADIO, YOULOU ANNOUNCED A GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE . NEXT MORNING THE MOB, NOW SWOLLEN TO 10,000, AGAIN POURED OUT OF THE CITY'S TWO SHANTYTOWNS . ONE MAN WAS HEARD TO CRY : " I HAVE NOT WORKED IN SIX MONTHS . I HAVE NOT EATEN IN THREE DAYS . " FINALLY, RESPLENDENT IN A WHITE CASSOCK, YOULOU APPEARED ON THE PALACE STEPS, ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAD RESIGNED TO PREVENT A BLOODBATH . WITH A THUNDERCLAP OF CHEERS, THE CROWD BROKE UP PEACEFULLY, AND WITHIN HOURS BRAZZAVILLE WAS BACK TO NORMAL . TAKING OVER, THE ARMY CHOSE AS PROVISIONAL PREMIER ALPHONSE MASSAMBA-DEBAT, 42, A MODERATE LEFTIST AND FORMER YOULOU CABINET MINISTER WHO FELL FROM FAVOR . IN CONTRAST TO HIS CATHOLIC PREDECESSOR, MASSAMBA-DEBAT IS PROTESTANT . APPOINTED WITH HIM WAS A SEVEN-MAN CABINET OF FRENCH-TRAINED TECHNICIANS THAT FAILED TO INCLUDE ANY UNION LEADERS . MASSAMBA-DEBAT HINTED AT PROMPT ELECTIONS . AS FOR FULBERT YOULOU, HE HAD SAVED HIS HEAD AT LEAST SO FAR, WAS SPIRITED AWAY TO AN ARMY CAMP FOR SAFEKEEPING . ANNOUNCED MASSAMBA-DEBAT : " THERE WILL BE NO REPRISALS AGAINST MONSIEUR YOULOU . HE IS A CONGOLESE NOBLEMAN . "
 ALGERIA BEN BELLISM ALGERIA'S PREMIER AHMED BEN BELLA IS MOVING EVER CLOSER TO COMPLETE ONE-MAN RULE . LAST WEEK VENERABLE, AILING EX-PREMIER FERHAT ABBAS, 63, QUIT HIS POST AS SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY AND HANDED OUT A 15-PAGE CRITIQUE OF THE GOVERNMENT . HE WAS CHIEFLY UPSET BECAUSE BEN BELLA KEEPS IGNORING THE ASSEMBLY, EVEN READ THE COUNTRY'S NEW, STRONGLY CENTRALIZED CONSTITUTION TO A MEETING OF HIS OWN FOLLOWERS AT AN ALGIERS MOVIE THEATER BEFORE SUBMITTING IT TO THE DEPUTIES . ASKED ABBAS : " WHY SHOULD WE AGREE TO A CONSTITUTION THAT HAS BEEN PROSTITUTED IN A CINEMA ? " ABBAS CONCEDED THAT BEN BELLA'S REGIME IS NOT GOING COMMUNIST BUT WARNED THAT " WE DO SEEM TO BE HEADING TOWARD A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP " . THOUGH BEN BELLA REMARKS ACIDLY THAT " REVOLUTIONS ARE NOT HADE WITHOUT PRISONS, " BEN BELLISM IS NOT FASCISM . CRITIC ABBAS WAS BLASTED AS A " BOURGEOIS SPOKESMAN FOR PRIVILEGE " BY GOVERNMENT-RUN NEWSPAPERS AND DRUMMED OUT OF THE NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT, WHICH HE ONCE HEADED . BUT HE WAS PERMITTED TO RETIRE QUIETLY TO HIS VILLA IN KOUBA, OUTSIDE ALGIERS, THEREBY JOINING THE RANKS OF BEN BELLA'S OTHER MUFFLED BUT UNHARMED OPPONENTS, SUCH AS MOHAMMED BOUDIAF, WHO IS UNDER HOUSE ARREST, AND EX-PREMIER BENYOUSSEF BENKHEDDA, WHO HAS QUIT POLITICS TO RESUME HIS CAREER AS A DRUGGIST .
 LIECHTENSTEIN 2-12 THE HAPPY HAVE-NOT AT LAST COUNT, THERE WERE 72 PRINCES AND PRINCESSES OF LIECHTENSTEIN, WHICH IS ELEVEN MORE HIGHNESSES THAN THERE ARE SQUARE MILES IN THE MINUSCULE PRINCIPALITY . LUCKILY FOR THE POSTAL SYSTEM, ONLY A DOZEN VON UND ZU LIECHTENSTEINS ACTUALLY LIVE IN LIECHTENSTEIN . INDEED, IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1937 THAT A HEREDITARY RULER ACTUALLY MADE HIS HOME IN THE DRAFTY, 13TH CENTURY FAMILY FORTRESS, WHOSE BATTLEMENTS RISE STARKLY ABOVE THE CAPITAL OF VADUZ (PRONOUNCED VAHDOOTZ) . THERE LAST WEEK, AMID EULOGIES AND THUNDEROUS RENDITIONS OF HEIL LIECHTENSTEIN, FRANZ JOSEF II MARIA ALOYS ALFRED KARL JOHANNES HEINRICH MICHAEL GEORG IGNATIUS BENEDIKTUS GERHARDUS MAJELLA, ITS TWELFTH REIGNING PRINCE, OBSERVED HIS 57TH BIRTHDAY AND THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ACCESSION TO THE THRONE . FOR FEAR OF OVERCROWDING ITS POCKET PARADISE, LIECHTENSTEIN (POP . 18,000) HAS GRANTED CITIZENSHIP TO ONLY A DOZEN FOREIGNERS SINCE 1950, AND WORRIES MIGHTILY OVER ITS RISING BIRTH RATE . AN UNSULLIED BLEND OF LUSH MEADOWLAND AND SOARING ALPINE PEAKS, THE NATION NESTLES SO UNOBTRUSIVELY BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND (SINCE 1924 IT HAS SHARED CURRENCY, CUSTOMS SERVICES AND FOREIGN SERVICE WITH THE SWISS) THAT VACATIONERS DRIVING THROUGH ARE OFTEN UNAWARE THAT THEY ARE EVEN IN FRANZ JOSEF'S FIEF . THIS BOTHERS LIECHTENSTEIN'S GOVERNMENT NOT AT ALL, FOR, AS PRIME MINISTER ALEXANDER FRICK ONCE OBSERVED, THE SIGHT OF IDLE TOURISTS COULD PROVE UNSETTLING TO THE COUNTRY'S HARD-WORKING PEASANTS . SALAMI FOR RUBBERNECKS . EVEN TO SHUTTLE SUMMER TRAFFIC THROUGH THE COUNTRY, LIECHTENSTEIN GRUDGINGLY HAS TO DOUBLE ITS POLICE FORCE, WHICH CONSISTS NORMALLY OF 18 MEN AND A DOG NAMED REX . THE WELL-NAMED QUICK TOURIST OFFICE CONCENTRATES ITS ENERGIES ON SELLING VISITORS SWISS WATCHES, BELGIAN FRANCS AND LIECHTENSTEIN CUCKOO CLOCKS, WHICH ARE MADE IN WEST GERMANY . SINCE THE COUNTRY'S MEDIEVAL CASTLES BEAR SIGNS SAYING " NO CASTLE VISITING, " INSISTENT RUBBERNECKS USUALLY GET TO SEE THE SALAMI SKIN FACTORY OR ELSE ONE OF TWO PLANTS WHERE STRIKINGLY HEALTHY LIECHTENSTEINERS TURN OUT FALSE TEETH AND ARTIFICIAL LIMBS FOR WORLD MARKETS . THOUGH IT BOASTS ONE OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST LIVING STANDARDS, GERMAN-SPEAKING LIECHTENSTEIN IS IN EVERY HAPPY SENSE A HAVE-NOT NATION : IT HAS NO UNEMPLOYMENT, SLUMS, COMMUNISTS, CRIME, TV OR RADIO STATION, AIRPORTS, DIVORCES OR BILLBOARDS . NEUTRAL IN BOTH WORLD WARS, IT HAS HAD NO SOLDIERS SINCE 1939, WHEN THE ONLY REMAINING WARRIOR DIED IN BED . ITS MAXIMUM INCOME TAX RATE IS 10 PER CENT ; CORPORATE TAXES ARE SO LIBERAL THAT MORE THAN 2,000 FOREIGN FIRMS HAVE REGISTERED HEADQUARTERS IN VADUZ . WHILE IT IS A CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY, LIECHTENSTEIN VIRTUALLY DISPENSES WITH POLITICS . THERE ARE TWO PARTIES, KNOWN AS THE REDS AND THE BLACKS, BUT THEY ARE EQUALLY CONSERVATIVE AND ANTI-COMMUNIST AND EVEN HAVE THE SAME MOTTO : FAITH IN GOD, PRINCE AND FATHERLAND . PRIVATE LEONARDO . LIECHTENSTEIN ALSO HAS CONSIDERABLE FAITH IN ITS WINE, A STURDY ROSE THAT THE GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXPORT FOR FEAR OF RUNNING DRY . AN EVEN MORE JEALOUSLY GUARDED NATIONAL TREASURE IS FRANZ JOSEF'S FAMILY ART COLLECTION (TIME, DEC . 12, 1960), WHICH CONSISTS OF 1,500 PAINTINGS VALUED AT $150 MILLION . IT INCLUDES THE ONLY LEONARDO DA VINCI IN PRIVATE OWNERSHIP, A LUSH PORTRAIT OF A FLORENTINE MAIDEN CALLED THE GINEVRA DEI BENCI, AS WELL AS 27 RUBENS PAINTINGS THAT ARE VALUED AT $11 MILLION, AND PAINTINGS BY VAN DYCK, BRUEGHEL, REMBRANDT AND BOTTICELLI . THE PUBLIC IS ALLOWED TO SEE ONLY 75 OF FRANZ JOSEF'S LESSER PICTURES, WHICH ARE SANDWICHED INTO A MODEST BUILDING IN VADUZ ALONG WITH THE TOURIST OFFICE AND THE NATIONAL POSTAGE-STAMP MUSEUM . THE CLOSEST THE LIECHTENSTEIN FAMILY COMES TO SHARING ITS GREATEST PAINTINGS WITH THE WORLD IS ALLOWING THEM TO APPEAR OCCASIONALLY ON ONE OF THE NATION'S FAMED POSTAGE STAMPS . DESPITE POSTWAR LOSSES OF VAST HOLDINGS IN COMMUNIST CZECHOSLOVAKIA, FRANZ JOSEF II IS RANKED AMONG EUROPE'S TEN RICHEST MEN . A GRAND-NEPHEW OF AUSTRIAN ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND, WHOSE ASSASSINATION AT SARAJEVO IGNITED WORLD WAR I, THE ALERT, EASYGOING PRINCE IS ALSO RATED LIECHTENSTEIN'S MOST POPULAR MONARCH SINCE JOHANNES THE GOOD, WHO TOOK THE THRONE IN 1858, REIGNED 71 YEARS,* AND SPENT AN IMPRESSIVE $18 MILLION OF HIS PERSONAL FORTUNE TO BUILD SCHOOLS AND ROADS IN LIECHTENSTEIN . THOUGH NO ONE EXPECTED FRANZ JOSEPH TO SPEND AS MUCH, LOYAL LEICHTENSTEINERS WHO CROWDED INTO THE PALACE LAST WEEK PRAYED LUSTILY THAT THE PRINCE AND HIS BEAUTIFUL, 41-YEAR-OLD WIFE, PRINCESS GINA, MIGHT REIGN AS LONG AS JOHANNES . " WHEN THE PERSONALITY CULT GOES, " MURMURED ONE DEVOTED BYSTANDER, " LIECHTENSTEIN GOES TOO . " LONGER THAN ANY OTHER EUROPEAN MONARCH SAVE FRANCE'S LOUIS XIV, WHO BEAT HIM BY A YEAR .
 INDIA THUNDER ON LEFT & RIGHT ON THE EVE OF THE 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE, 2,000 DEMONSTRATORS MARCHED OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT IN DELHI, WAVING BANNERS AND CHANTING : " LEAVE THE THRONE, JAWAHARLAL . " INSIDE THE HORSESHOE-SHAPED CHAMBER, PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU FACED THE FIRST NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION IN HIS 16 YEARS IN POWER . THE CENSURE MOTION WAS SPONSORED BY NEHRU'S MOST OUTSPOKEN POLITICAL FOE, STOOPED, ACERBIC J . B . KRIPALANI, A POLITICAL INDEPENDENT WHO WAS RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT ONLY TWO MONTHS AGO IN A SURPRISING BY-ELECTION VICTORY, AFTER HAVING BEEN SWAMPED BY NOW DISCREDITED EX-DEFENSE MINISTER KRISHNA MENON IN LAST YEAR'S GENERAL ELECTION . KRIPALANI PROPOSED TO CENSURE THE GOVERNMENT AMONG OTHER THINGS, OVER OFFICIAL CORRUPTION, SPIRALING FOOD PRICES AND PROHIBITIVELY HIGH TAXATION . THOUGH KRIPALANI IS PRO-WESTERN, THE CENSURE PROPOSAL BECAME AN UMBRELLA FOR ALL KINDS OF OTHER NEHRU CRITICS, INCLUDING LEFTISTS ANGERED BY NEHRU'S FEW TENTATIVE STEPS AWAY FROM NONALIGNMENT . ONE MAJOR LEFTIST TARGET WAS INDIA'S AGREEMENT TO PERMIT VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCASTS FOR THREE HOURS DAILY OVER A TRANSMITTER TO BE BUILT BY THE U.S . IN CALCUTTA, AND NEHRU IS NOW TRYING TO BACK OUT OF IT . ANOTHER TARGET : THE JOINT AIR DEFENSE EXERCISES THAT THE INDIAN AIR FORCE WILL SOON HOLD WITH THE U.S . AND BRITISH AIR COMMANDS . IN AN EFFORT TO SILENCE HIS LEFTIST CRITICS, NEHRU HAS WON EXTENSIVE PROMISES FROM RUSSIA AND ITS SATELLITES FOR MISSILES, FIGHTERS, AND SMALL ARMS . TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS EXPECT LITTLE IN SUBSTANCE FROM SOVIET AID PROMISES, BUT INSIST THAT THE SYMBOLISM OF SUCH AID IS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN INDIA'S IMAGE OF NONALIGNMENT . WITH NEHRU'S CONGRESS PARTY HOLDING A MASSIVE 229-SEAT PLURALITY IN PARLIAMENT, THERE IS NO CHANCE THAT THE CENSURE MOTION WILL BE CARRIED . BUT NEHRU IS PLAINLY WORRIED OVER THE RISING OPPOSITION ON BOTH THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT AND OVER THE BY-ELECTION TREND AWAY FROM THE PARTY IN WHAT WERE ONCE CONSIDERED IMPREGNABLE CONGRESS CONSTITUENCIES . HE HAS PROMISED TO SHAKE UP HIS GOVERNMENT AND TO DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF SOME CABINET MINISTERS SO THAT THEY CAN WORK FULL TIME ON ORGANIZATIONAL DUTIES TO REVITALIZE THE PARTY . NEHRU'S PLAN IS SCORNED BY C . RAJAGOPALACHARI, 84, LEADER OF INDIA'S SMALL DYNAMIC, FREE-ENTERPRISING SWANTANTRA PARTY . " THEATRICALS DO NOT CURE DISEASES, " SAYS C . R . " THE CONGRESS PARTY IS SICK, AND I DO NOT WANT SICK PERSONS IN CHARGE OF THE GOVERNMENT . "
 SOUTH VIET NAM SUICIDE SERIES IT WAS THE MOST MACABRE WEEK IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S THREE-MONTH-OLD RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL CRISIS . IN SAIGON, AN 18-YEAR-OLD GIRL TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO CUT OFF HER LEFT HAND " AS A HUMBLE OFFERING TO BUDDHA WHILE OUR RELIGION IS IN DANGER . / OUTSIDE THE COASTAL CITY OF HUE, A 17-YEAR-OLD NOVICE BUDDHIST MONK WRAPPED HIMSELF IN A KEROSENE-SOAKED, SIX-COLOR BUDDHIST FLAG, THEN STRUCK A MATCH . IN THE VILLAGE OF NINHHOA, 200 MILES NORTH OF SAIGON, A YOUNG BUDDHIST NUN SAT DOWN IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUND AND SET HERSELF ON FIRE . LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER, BACK IN HUE, A 71-YEAR-OLD MONK ANNOUNCED OVER THE TUDAM PAGODA LOUDSPEAKER THAT HE WAS GOING TO KILL HIMSELF, THEN BURNED HIMSELF TO DEATH IN THE PAGODA'S COURTYARD . THE QUARREL SPREADS . THE THREE RITUALISTIC SUICIDES BROUGHT TO FIVE THE NUMBER OF BUDDHISTS WHO HAVE TURNED THEMSELVES INTO HUMAN TORCHES IN FURTHER PROTEST AGAINST THE REGIME OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S ROMAN CATHOLIC PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . THE GOVERNMENT REACTED BY PLACING THE BUDDHIST STRONGHOLDS OF HUE AND NHATRANG UNDER VIRTUAL MARTIAL LAW . ALTHOUGH WORRIED THAT THE BURNINGS MIGHT GET OUT OF HAND, BUDDHIST LEADERS DEFENDED THE SUICIDES AS " NOBLE SACRIFICES, " WERE ROUNDING UP SECULAR AND MILITARY SUPPORT . LEAFLETS CONTAINING WESTERN PRESS ACCOUNTS OF THE CONTROVERSY WERE BEING DISTRIBUTED TO ARMY UNITS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY . SOLDIERS AND PEASANTS BEGAN WEARING SAFFRON PATCHES THE SAME COLOR AS A MONK'S ROBES TO INDICATE THEIR SUPPORT OF THE BUDDHISTS . IN ONE DIVISION MESS, CATHOLIC AND BUDDHIST OFFICERS BEGAN EATING APART, AND AT A MILITARY TRAINING SCHOOL, BUDDHIST CADETS DEMANDED A CHAPEL SIMILAR TO THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL . BUDDHIST LEADERS SAID THEY WOULD NOT AGREE TO ANY CONCILIATION UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT MADE SEVERAL CONCESSIONS, AND ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 13 BUDDHISTS' BEING SHOT DOWN AT A RELIGIOUS DEMONSTRATION IN HUE LAST MAY . BUT DIEM IS STILL HOPEFUL THAT THEY WILL AGREE TO SOME DISCUSSION AND MEDIATION . IMPLIED REBUKE . THE PRESIDENT'S APPARENT READINESS TO MEET WITH THE BUDDHISTS IS BITTERLY OPPOSED BY HIS SISTER-IN-LAW, MME . NGO DINH NHU, WHO HAS CONSISTENTLY URGED THAT THE BUDDHIST OPPOSITION BE CRUSHED . " IF THE PRESIDENT KEEPS BOWING TO THE BUDDHISTS, " SHE SAID, " THEY WILL KEEP RIGHT ON TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS WEAKNESS TO MAKE NEW, IMPOSSIBLE DEMANDS . THEY ARE UTTERLY HYPOCRITICAL . " WITH WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A REBUKE TO MME . NHU, DIEM COUNTERED : " IT IS ONLY BECAUSE SOME HAVE CONTRIBUTED, EITHER CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY, TO RAISING DOUBTS ABOUT THIS GOVERNMENT'S POLICY THAT THE SOLUTION TO THE BUDDHIST AFFAIR HAS BEEN RETARDED . THE POLICY OF UTMOST CONCILIATION IS IRREVERSIBLE . / IN WASHINGTON, WHERE HENRY CABOT LODGE WAS GETTING HIS FINAL BRIEFINGS BEFORE LEAVING TO TAKE OVER AS NEW U.S . AMBASSADOR IN SAIGON, SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK DECLARED HIMSELF " DEEPLY DISTRESSED " OVER THE CRISIS AND THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECT IT WAS HAVING ON THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG . SAID RUSK : " WE HOPE THE GOVERNMENT OUT THERE WILL TAKE A STRONG LEAD TO BRING ABOUT A GREATER DEGREE OF PEACE AND SERENITY . /
 THE FAITH THAT LIGHTS THE FIRES THE READINESS OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHIST MONKS AND NUNS TO BURN THEMSELVES TO DEATH AS A MEANS OF PROTEST AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT BOTH MOVES AND REPELS THE WEST . ON THE SURFACE, IT SEEMS AN ODD PHENOMENON IN A RELIGION GENERALLY REGARDED AS PASSIVE, GENTLE AND FULL OF REVERENCE FOR LIFE . THE PARADOX IS CAUSED BY THE FACT THAT BUDDHISM, THOUGH DETACHED AND OTHERWORLDLY, CAN AT TIMES CONVULSE ITSELF INTO ACTION, AND THAT ITS VIEW OF LIFE AS TRANSITIONAL CAN LEAD TO AN ALMOST INDIFFERENT EMBRACE OF DEATH .SELF-IMMOLATION IS NOT MERELY A SIT-IN CARRIED TO ORIENTAL EXTREMES . ALTHOUGH IT HAS NOT OCCURRED OFTEN AND APPARENTLY NEVER BEFORE IN VIET NAM THE PRACTICE IS DEEPLY LINKED TO THE BASIC NATURE OF BUDDHISM, THE WORLD'S FOURTH LARGEST RELIGION . NIRVANA & DHARMA . BUDDHISM CONSISTS OF THREE SPIRITUAL COMPONENTS, TWO TRADITIONS, AND A MULTIPLICITY OF SECTS . THE FIRST OF THE THREE COMPONENTS, COMMON TO ALL BUDDHISTS, IS THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF A HANDSOME INDIAN PRINCE NAMED GAUTAMA, WHO, ABOUT 600 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST, ABANDONED HIS LUXURIOUS EXISTENCE AFTER SEEING FOUR FACTS OF LIFE FOR THE FIRST TIME : A SICK MAN, AN OLD MAN, A DEAD MAN AND A HOLY MAN . HE FLED TO THE FOREST TO SEEK ENLIGHTENMENT, TRIED AND ABANDONED THE WAYS OF THE HERMIT AND THE ASCETIC, AND, AFTER MEDITATING UNDER A SACRED BODHI TREE FOR 49 DAYS, AT LAST ACHIEVED BUDDHAHOOD ENLIGHTENMENT, OR NIRVANA . HE SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE WALKING THROUGH INDIA WITH HIS DISCIPLES, TEACHING UNTIL HE DIED AT 80, LEAVING A FINAL ADMONITION : " WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH DILIGENCE . " GAUTAMA'S TEACHING, THE SECOND CHIEF COMPONENT OF BUDDHISM, IS SUMMED UP IN THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS : 1) MAN SUFFERS ALL HIS LIFE, AND GOES ON SUFFERING FROM ONE LIFE TO THE NEXT ; 2) THE ORIGIN OF MAN'S SUFFERING IS CRAVING FOR PLEASURE, FOR POSSESSIONS, FOR CESSATION OF PAIN ; 3) THE CURE FOR CRAVING IS THE PRACTICE OF NONATTACHMENT TO EVERYTHING EVEN TO THE SELF ; 4) THE WAY TO NONATTACHMENT IS THE EIGHTFOLD PATH RIGHT VIEWS, RIGHT INTENTIONS, RIGHT SPEECH, RIGHT CONDUCT, RIGHT LIVELIHOOD, RIGHT EFFORT, RIGHT MINDFULNESS, RIGHT MEDITATION . THE BUDDHA SAID NOTHING ABOUT GOD ; NO DIVINE JUDGMENT, BUT AN INEXORABLE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT CALLED DHARMA DETERMINES MAN'S WEAL OR WOE . THIRD ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF BUDDHISM IS THE VAST BODY OF MONKS AND NUNS CALLED THE SANGHA . IN ADDITION TO CELIBACY AND VEGETARIAN NONVIOLENCE, MONKS PRACTICE POVERTY ; TRADITIONALLY THE ONLY POSSESSIONS PERMITTED ARE ROBES, A BEGGING BOWL FOR FOOD, A NEEDLE, PRAYER BEADS, A RAZOR (TO SHAVE THE HEAD ONCE A FORTNIGHT), AND A FILTER TO REMOVE BUGS FROM THE DRINKING WATER SO AS NOT TO KILL THEM . GREATER & LESSER VEHICLES . THE TWO GREAT BUDDHIST TRADITIONS ARE HINAYANA AND MAHAYANA . HINAYANA, THE SO-CALLED LESSER VEHICLE, IS GENERALLY MORE AUSTERE AND UNCOMPROMISING ; IT HOLDS THAT ONLY MONKS AND NUNS HAVE HOPE OF REACHING NIRVANA . MAHAYANA, THE GREATER VEHICLE, OFFERS HOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT TO LAYMEN AS WELL, AND STRESSES THE COMPASSIONATE CONCERN OF THE BUDDHA FOR HUMANITY . THE HIGHEST MAHAYANA IDEAL IS THE BODHISATTVA, OR ENLIGHTENED ONE, WHO SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR OTHERS, AND MAHAYANA MYTHOLOGY CONTAINS NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF SACRIFICES AS AN ACT OF LOVE AS WELL AS A MEANS OF LIBERATION . ZEN BUDDHISM, ONE OF THE SUBDIVISIONS OF MAHAYANA, IMPORTED BY THE JAPANESE FROM CHINA, EMPHASIZES A COMBINATION OF PROLONGED MEDITATION AND SHOCK TO ACHIEVE SATORI, OR ENLIGHTENMENT . VIET NAM'S BUDDHISM, LIKE CHINA'S AND JAPAN'S, IS PREDOMINANTLY MAHAYANA, AND THE SUICIDE MONKS AND NUNS KNEW THE NUMEROUS LEGENDS OF BODHISATTVAS' PHYSICAL SACRIFICES, SUCH AS THAT OF THE HOLY MAN WHO GAVE HIS BODY TO A FAMISHED TIGRESS TO KEEP HER FROM EATING HER CUBS . SOME MAHAYANA MONKS STILL AID THEIR LIBERATION FROM THE BODY BY BURNING THE FINGERS OFF THEIR LEFT HANDS, AND IN THE 6TH CENTURY BEFORE GASOLINE MONKS WHO DECIDED TO IMMOLATE THEMSELVES COMPLETELY WOULD EAT WAXY AND FATTY FOODS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS SO THEY WOULD BURN BETTER . THEORETICALLY BUDDHISM DOES NOT PERMIT SUICIDE, AND THE WORD IS CAREFULLY AVOIDED IN FAVOR OF " SACRIFICE . " ONE OF GAUTAMA'S TESTAMENTS, THE LOTUS SUTRA, AS INTERPRETED BY MONKS IN SAIGON, CALLS FOR ALL BUDDHISTS TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES IF THEIR RELIGION IS IN DANGER . ONE EARLY BUDDHIST MARTYR, IT IS SAID, TOOK HIS LIFE BY FIRST PUNCHING HIS BODY FULL OF HOLES AND SEALING THEM WITH OIL, THEN SETTING FIRE TO HIMSELF . FEASTS & MAGIC . THE GRASS-ROOTS MAHAYANA BUDDHISM IN THE VIET NAM VILLAGES IS A LONG WAY FROM SUCH GRIM PRACTICES . IT USUALLY TAKES THE FORM OF THE EASYGOING AMIDISM, IN WHICH A PARADISE CALLED " PURE LAND " AWAITS THE INTENSE FAITHFUL WHO REPEATS A SIMPLE PRAYER . IT IS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE MAGICAL PRACTICES OF CORRUPTED TAOISM, IMPORTED FROM CHINA AROUND THE 7TH CENTURY, AND BY CONFUCIANISM, WHICH STRESSES ETHICAL BEHAVIOR . CONFUCIUS EMPHASIZED FAMILY OBLIGATIONS, EVIDENT STILL IN VIET NAM'S ANCESTOR WORSHIP AND CULT OF THE DEAD . THE 15TH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH IS SET ASIDE ANNUALLY FOR THE DEPARTED ; THE SHADES SWOOP DOWN UPON THE LIVING, WHO DO THEIR BEST TO PLACATE THEM WITH A SUMPTUOUS FEAST . DRESSED IN THEIR BEST BLACK SILK AND CARRYING BURNING JOSS STICKS, THE WOMEN RECITE INVITATIONS TO THEIR DEAD ANCESTORS TO PARTAKE OF ROAST PIG'S HEAD AND STICKS OF SUGAR CANE, PEANUTS AND WHITE RICE . AS OFFERINGS TO LESS TRENCHER-MINDED SPIRITS, THEY BURN PAPER IMITATIONS OF CURRENCY AND CLOTHES . CRUSADER & YOGI . IN MANY WESTERN EYES, BUDDHISM IS SOCIALLY USELESS . IT HAS ONLY A LIMITED TRADITION OF GOOD WORKS ; THE CHIEF DUTY OF MONKS AND NUNS IS CONTEMPLATION . IN THE LOTUS AND THE ROBOT, ARTHUR KOESTLER SAYS OF ORIENTAL MYSTICISM IN GENERAL : " THE MESIANIC ARROGANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN CRUSADER IS MATCHED BY THE YOGI'S ARROGANT ATTITUDE OF DETACHMENT TOWARDS HUMAN SUFFERING . " ACTUALLY, BUDDHISTS ARE QUITE CAPABLE OF THE CRUSADING SPIRIT . IN CEYLON DURING THE 2ND CENTURY B.C., A KING LED HIS ARMY AGAINST INDIAN INVADERS WITH A RELIC OF BUDDHA IN HIS SPEAR . IN VIET NAM AND ELSEWHERE, BUDDHISTS OFTEN TOOK AN ACTIVE PART IN FIGHTING AGAINST COLONIAL POWERS . DURING THE KOREAN WAR, AT LEAST SOME BUDDHISTS WERE PREACHING THAT " TO WIPE OUT THE AMERICAN IMPERIALIST DEMONS IS NOT ONLY BLAMELESS BUT MERITORIOUS . " IGNORING THE CHINESE COMMUNISTS' CRUEL PERSECUTION OF BUDDHISM IN TIBET, SOME BUDDHISTS REASON (AS ONE SCHOLAR PUTS IT) THAT WHEN THE MARXISTS' MATERIAL NEEDS ARE SATISFIED, THEY WILL " NEED SOMETHING SPIRITUAL ABOVE AND BEYOND, " AND THAT BUDDHISM WILL BE ABLE TO SUPPLY IT . IT IS THIS SORT OF SELF-DELUSION EXISTING ALONGSIDE BUDDHISM'S NOBILITY OF SPIRIT THAT MAKES THE EIGHTFOLD PATH SO FULL OF PITFALLS .
 GREAT BRITAIN OMEN ON AVON WHAT WITH ALARMING FIGURES FROM THE NATIONAL OPINION POLL AND THE CONFESSIONS OF CHRISTINE, TOP TORIES WERE BRACED FOR BAD NEWS FROM LAST WEEK'S BY-ELECTION TO FILL JOHN PROFUMO'S VACANT SEAT AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, A TRUE-BLUE TORY CONSTITUENCY . THE NEWS WAS BAD ALL RIGHT, THOUGH HARDLY DISASTROUS . RIGHTWING CONSERVATIVE ANGUS MAUDE WON WITH 15,846 VOTES, BUT THE PARTY'S MARGIN DROPPED FROM ITS 1959 PEAK OF 14,129 TO A MERE 3,470 . THE GAINS, HOWEVER, DID NOT GO TO THE LABOR OPPOSITION, WHICH HAS ALWAYS RUN A POOR SECOND IN STRATFORD ; TORIES EITHER STAYED AWAY FROM THE POLLS OR VOTED LIBERAL . WHILE LABOR CANDIDATE ANDREW FAULDS GOT 12,376 VOTES, ONLY 359 MORE THAN THE LABORITE RECEIVED AT THE LAST ELECTION, DERICK MIRFIN, THE FIRST LIBERAL CANDIDATE TO CONTEST STRATFORD IN 13 YEARS, WALKED OFF WITH 7,622, CLOSE TO HALF THE TOTAL THAT WAS CAST FOR TORY MAUDE, ALTHOUGH THE LIBERALS HAD VIRTUALLY NO POLITICAL MACHINE WORKING FOR THEM . MANY TORIES WHO VOTED LIBERAL OUT OF DISSATISFACTION WITH THE GOVERNMENT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY RETURN TO THE FOLD AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION . NONETHELESS, THE DROP IN TORY STRENGTH IN A TORY STRONGHOLD WAS A SOBERING CONFIRMATION THAT THE PARTY WILL HAVE A ROUGH TIME IN THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS, WHICH, AS A RESULT, WILL PROBABLY NOT BE HELD UNTIL SPRING .
 SOUTH VIET NAM THE CRACKDOWN OVER AND OVER, THE DESPERATE VOICE SHOUTED INTO THE TELEPHONE : " THEY ARE BREAKING INTO XA LOI PAGODA . THEY ARE BREAKING INTO XA LOI PAGODA . " IN THE BACKGROUND, GUNFIRE MINGLED WITH THE CONFUSED SCREAMS OF BUDDHIST MONKS AND NUNS AND THE CLANGING ALARM OF THE HUGE BRASS GONG THAT HANGS IN THE BELL TOWER OF SAIGON'S LARGEST PAGODA . SUDDENLY THE PHONE CONNECTION FROM THE TEMPLE WENT DEAD . IT WAS 12 : 20 A.M . USING THEIR RIFLE BUTTS AS CLUBS, SQUADS OF TOUGH, RIOTTRAINED " SPECIAL FORCES " SMASHED INTO THE PAGODA, BATTERING A PATH THROUGH A SMALL GUARD OF YOUNG BUDDHIST MONKS . THE TROOPERS HAD A LIST, AND EACH MONK ON THE LIST WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A " COMMUNIST IN DISGUISE . " ON THE TEMPLE'S SECOND FLOOR, ONE MONK TRIED TO RESIST AND WAS THROWN BODILY FROM A BALCONY TO THE COURT-YARD 20 FT . BELOW . OTHER MONKS AND NUNS WERE ROUTED FROM BEHIND A FLIMSY BARRICADE OF WOODEN BENCHES AND FORCED OUTSIDE BY TEAR GAS AND GUNSHOTS . SACKING THE PAGODA'S MAIN ALTAR, THE RAIDERS CARTED AWAY THE CHARRED HEART OF BUDDHIST MARTYR THICH QUANG DUC, WHO LAST JUNE WAS THE FIRST OF FIVE BUDDHISTS TO BURN HIMSELF TO DEATH IN PROTEST AGAINST THE DIEM GOVERNMENT'S ANTIBUDDHIST DRIVE . BUT THE BUDDHISTS MANAGED TO SPIRIT OUT OF THE BUILDING THE RECEPTACLE HOLDING QUANG DUC'S ASHES . " THE ASHES ARE HOLY, " SAID ONE MONK . " WE WOULD GIVE 15 LIVES TO DEFEND THEM . " TWO OTHER MONKS ESCAPED OVER THE BACK WALL OF XA LOI (PRONOUNCED SAH LOY) INTO THE GROUNDS OF THE ADJOINING U.S . AID MISSION, WHERE THEY WERE GIVEN TEMPORARY SANCTUARY . TO THE DIEM GOVERNMENT, THE CRACKDOWN OBVIOUSLY SEEMED NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE REGIME AND ENFORCE THE LAW OF THE LAND AGAINST BUDDHIST DEFIANCE . BUT IT WAS BRUTAL, NONETHELESS, AND IT AROUSED A STRONG NEW WAVE OF SYMPATHY FOR THE BUDDHISTS . IT ALSO PUT U.S . POLICY IN SOUTH VIET NAM, WHICH INVOLVES THE LIVES AND SAFETY OF 14,000 U.S . TROOPS, INTO AN AGONIZING DILEMMA . WHILE OFTEN UNHAPPY WITH DIEM, THE U.S . HAS PROCEEDED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT WAS SAFER TO STICK WITH HIM THAN RISK THE CHAOS THAT MIGHT SURROUND A SWITCH TO A NEW, UNKNOWN AND UNPREDICTABLE REGIME . BUT BY HIS MOVE AGAINST THE BUDDHIST MONKS, WHO HAVE THE GROWING SUPPORT OF THE COUNTRY'S VAST BUDDHIST MAJORITY, ROMAN CATHOLIC DIEM MAY FINALLY HAVE SHATTERED HIS OWN POLITICAL USEFULNESS . HE ALSO OPENED UP THE POSSIBILITIES OF COUPS, COUNTER-COUPS, AND EVEN CIVIL WAR FROM ALL OF WHICH ONLY THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG COULD BENEFIT . BOOLA, BOOLA . UNTIL LAST WEEK, PRODDED BY THE U.S., DIEM HAD DISPLAYED AN APPARENT WILLINGNESS TO CONCILIATE THE BUDDHISTS . FEELING BETRAYED BY DIEM'S CRACKDOWN, ONE RANKING U.S . EMBASSY OFFICER SAID : " ALL THE TIME THEY'VE BEEN PREACHING CONCILIATION TO US, THEY'VE EVIDENTLY BEEN PLANNING JUST THE OPPOSITE . " THE BUDDHIST CRISIS HAD BEGUN AS A RELIGIOUS ONE, BUT GRADUALLY TURNED INTO A MAJOR POLITICAL CONFLICT . THE BUDDHISTS ARE FAR FROM PASSIVE MARTYRS . THEIR RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL DEMANDS A FAIRLY MODEST PACKAGE DEMANDING FULL EQUALITY WITH THE COUNTRY'S ROMAN CATHOLICS HAD NEVER SOUNDED CRUCIAL, ESPECIALLY SINCE EVEN DIEM'S WORST ENEMIES COULD NOT POINT TO ANY REAL ANTI-BUDDHIST DISCRIMINATION OR PERSECUTION . BUT WHEN GOVERNMENT TROOPS STUPIDLY KILLED 13 BUDDHISTS IN A DEMONSTRATION IN HUE (PRONOUNCED WHEY) FOUR MONTHS AGO, THE BUDDHISTS MADE THE CLEARLY POLITICAL DEMAND THAT THE GOVERNMENT ACCEPT / RESPONSIBILITY " FOR THE INCIDENT . SINCE THEN, THE BUDDHISTS HAVE DEVELOPED INTO A SERIOUS OPPOSITION MOVEMENT . PAGODAS, SPORTING PROTEST SIGNS IN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH, BECAME COMMAND POSTS WHERE DUPLICATING MACHINES GROUND OUT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MESSAGES, AND THE SOUND OF TYPEWRITERS AND TELEPHONES BLENDED WITH THE BOOM OF TEMPLE GONGS . APPEALS FOR AID WERE BROADCAST TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY, POPE PAUL VI, AND U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT . AT A GRISLY, WELL-ORGANIZED PRESS CONFERENCE IN SAIGON, BUDDHIST LEADERS INTRODUCED A TINY, WITHERED BUDDHIST NUN AS A CANDIDATE FOR SELF-IMMOLATION IN PROTEST AGAINST THE DIEM GOVERNMENT . WHEN ONE BUDDHIST SPOKESMAN WHO HAD STUDIED AT YALE WANTED TO PASS OUT THE LATEST COMMUNIQUES FROM THE PAGODA, HE WOULD STROLL UP TO A YALE-EDUCATED U.S . NEWSMAN AND SAY : / BOOLA, BOOLA . / IN THE EARLY PHASES OF THE QUARREL, DIEM PROBABLY COULD AND SHOULD HAVE CONCILIATED THE BUDDHISTS . BUT HE VACILLATED . HIS BROTHER AND SISTER-IN-LAW, NGO DINH NHU AND MME . NHU, INSISTED THAT UNLESS THE BUDDHISTS WERE CRUSHED, THERE WOULD BE A COUP THREATENING THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE FAMILY'S RULE . MME . NHU'S FIERY PHILIPPICS LENT IMPETUS TO THE BUDDHIST MOVEMENT JUST AS IT APPEARED TO BE FLAGGING . BY LAST WEEK, AFTER THREE BUDDHIST SUICIDES SPURRED NEW PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, IT WAS CLEARLY TOO LATE FOR CONCILIATION . EVEN IF DIEM HAD WANTED IT, THE BUDDHIST LEADERS THEMSELVES NO LONGER WANTED IT ; THEY WERE PLAINLY DETERMINED TO PRESS THEIR ADVANTAGE . AND SO THE GOVERNMENT EVIDENTLY YIELDED TO NHU'S GET-TOUGH POLICY . ROPE TRICK . THE CRACKDOWN IN SAIGON WAS DUPLICATED ALL OVER SOUTH VIET NAM, AND MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE WERE IMPRISONED . IN THE BUDDHIST STRONGHOLD OF HUE, THE APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT TROOPS WAS SIGNALED BY THE BEATING OF TEMPLE DRUMS AND THE CLASHING OF CYMBALS CALLING FOR HELP . BEATING POTS AND PANS TO ROUSE THEIR NEIGHBORS, THE ANGRY POPULACE POURED FROM HOMES AND RACED TO DEFEND THE CITY'S TEMPLES . AT TU DAM PAGODA, MONKS TRIED TO TURN THE COFFIN OF A PRIEST WHO HAD BURNED HIMSELF ALIVE IN THE BUDDHIST SUICIDE PROTEST WAVE . BUT GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS, FIRING M1 RIFLES AS THEY ADVANCED, OVERRAN THE TEMPLE, SNATCHED THE SMOLDERING COFFIN AWAY, AND SMASHED A STATUE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA . FROM THE TEMPLE'S TREASURY THEY TOOK AN ESTIMATED $30,000 AND LEFT THE PAGODA A GUTTED RUIN . NEAR HUE'S DIEU DE PAGODA, THE GOVERNMENT FORCES MET THEIR FIRST DETERMINED RESISTANCE . AS TROOPS TRIED TO STRETCH A BARBED-WIRE BARRICADE ACROSS THE BRIDGE LEADING TO THE TEMPLE, A MOB TORE IT DOWN WITH BARE HANDS . WITH FISTS, ROCKS AND SHARPENED STICKS, THE CROWD FOUGHT THE HEAVILY ARMED TROOPS FOR THE BRIDGE . TEAR-GAS GRENADES THROWN BY THE SOLDIERS WERE CAUGHT AND THROWN RIGHT BACK AT THEM . WHEN TROOPS TRIED TO CLEAR A WAY THROUGH THE BRIDGE DEFENDERS WITH THEIR RIFLE BUTTS, THE CROWD TORE THE WEAPONS FROM THEIR HANDS AND JABBED THE SOLDIERS IN THE GROIN . AFTER A FIVE-HOUR PITCHED BATTLE, THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY WON CONTROL OF THE BRIDGE AT DAYBREAK BY DRIVING ARMORED CARS THROUGH THE SCREAMING, SPITTING, SWEARING MOB . THE DEFENSE OF THE BRIDGE AND THE TEMPLE COST THE TOWNSPEOPLE AN ESTIMATED 30 DEAD AND 200 WOUNDED . TEN TRUCKLOADS OF BRIDGE DEFENDERS WERE CARTED AWAY TO JAIL, MANY STREAMING BLOOD, AND AN ESTIMATED 500 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, INCLUDING 17 OF THE 47 HUE UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS WHO HAD RESIGNED EARLIER IN THE WEEK IN PROTEST AGAINST THE FIRING OF THE SCHOOL'S RECTOR, A CATHOLIC PRIEST AND AN OPPONENT OF DIEM'S BROTHER, ARCHBISHOP NGO DINH THUC . THOUGH A 24-HOUR CURFEW WAS CLAMPED ON HUE, THE CITY'S RESIDENTS WERE STILL DEFIANT . ONE BUDDHIST MONK FLED THROUGH THE STREETS HOTLY PURSUED BY THREE GOVERNMENT TROOPERS . THE PRIEST RACED DOWN AN ALLEY AT WHOSE ENTRANCE SAT AN AGED VIETNAMESE WOMAN . AS THE SOLDIERS TURNED INTO THE ALLEY, THE WOMAN PULLED TIGHTLY ON A ROPE STRETCHED ACROSS THE STREET, BRINGING ALL THREE SOLDIERS TUMBLING DOWN . THEN SHE SCUTTLED AWAY TO SAFETY . ARTICLE 44 . AT 6 A.M., RADIO SAIGON CRACKLED TO LIFE AND PRESIDENT DIEM CAME ON THE AIR . " UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONSTITUTION, " HE SAID, " I DECLARE A STATE OF SIEGE THROUGHOUT THE NATIONAL TERRITORY . I CONFER UPON THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM THE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESTORE SECURITY AND PUBLIC ORDER SO THAT THE STATE MAY BE PROTECTED, COMMUNISM DEFEATED, FREEDOM SECURED, AND DEMOCRACY ACHIEVED . " UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION, THE ARMY WAS GIVEN BLANKET SEARCH-AND-ARREST POWERS AND EMPOWERED TO FORBID ALL PUBLIC GATHERINGS, RESTRICT PRESS FREEDOM, AND PROHIBIT THE CIRCULATION OF ALL " PRINTED MATERIAL AND OTHER DOCUMENTS HARMFUL TO PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY . " IN SAIGON THE ARMY IMPOSED A TIGHT 9 P.M.-TO-5 A.M . CURFEW . CARRYING AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AND RIFLES WITH FIXED BAYONETS, TROOPS IN FULL CAMOUFLAGE BATTLE DRESS GUARDED EVERY MAJOR BRIDGE AND INTERSECTION . TIGHT CENSORSHIP WAS CLAMPED ON ALL OUTGOING NEWS, AND REPORTERS WERE FORCED TO GIVE THEIR STORIES TO TRAVELERS FLYING TO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES OR TO FLY OUT THEMSELVES WITH THEIR COPY . TELEPHONE SERVICE IN THE HOMES AND OFFICES OF ALL U.S . MILITARY AND EMBASSY PERSONNEL WAS CUT OFF . THE POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS BEGAN AT ONCE . PROTESTING THE GOVERNMENT'S ACTION, FOREIGN MINISTER VU VAN MAU QUIT HIS POST, SHAVED HIS HEAD AND ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD GO TO INDIA TO BECOME A CONTEMPLATIVE BUDDHIST MONK . SOUTH VIET NAM'S AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON, TRAN VAN CHUONG, WHO IS MME . NHU'S FATHER, ALSO QUIT, WITH A SHARP DENUNCIATION OF HIS DAUGHTER'S POLICIES AND OF THE DIEM GOVERNMENT FOR " COPYING THE TACTICS OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES . " AS LONG AS DIEM STAYS IN POWER, HE ADDED, THERE IS " NOT ONE CHANCE OF WINNING THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS . IN SAIGON MORE THAN 500 UNIVERSITY OF SAIGON MEDICAL STUDENTS BOYCOTTED CLASSES AND HELD TURBULENT ANTI-GOVERNMENT MEETINGS . WHEN A PROFESSOR TRIED TO RIP DOWN A PRO-BUDDHIST POSTER, HE WAS STONED BY STUDENTS . THROUGHOUT THE CITY, MARTIAL LAW POSTERS WERE SURREPTITIOUSLY DEFACED OR TORN AWAY . STUDENTS JEERED AT SOLDIERS PATROLLING THE STREETS : " WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO FIGHTING THE VIET CONG ? " THE GOVERNMENT RETALIATED AGAINST STUDENT UNREST BY CLOSING ALL SAIGON'S SCHOOLS . THE UGLY AMERICAN . THE CRACKDOWN IN SOUTH VIET NAM CAUSED CONSTERNATION IN WASHINGTON . IN A BLUNT CONDEMNATION THE STATE DEPARTMENT SAID THAT SAIGON'S STRONG-ARM TACTICS REPRESENTED " A DIRECT VIOLATION BY THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT OF ASSURANCES THAT IT WAS PURSUING A POLICY OF RECONCILIATION TOWARD THE BUDDHISTS . THE U.S . DEPLORES REPRESSIVE ACTIONS OF THIS NATURE . " THE MOVE AGAINST THE BUDDHISTS WAS OBVIOUSLY TIMED TO BE OVER AND DONE WITH BEFORE U.S . AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE ARRIVED IN SAIGON . WHEN IT HAPPENED, LODGE WAS IN JAPAN . ON THE WAY OUT FROM SAN FRANCISCO BY COMMERCIAL JET, HE HAD FOUND HIMSELF ACROSS THE AISLE FROM NOVELIST EUGENE BURDICK, CO-AUTHOR OF THE UGLY AMERICAN, AND THAT SELF-APPOINTED EXPERT ON U.S . ERRORS IN THE FAR EAST OFFERED THE AMBASSADOR A HALF-HOUR BRIEFING, TO WHICH LODGE LISTENED DIPLOMATICALLY . THE GIST : DON'T RELY ON EMBASSY OFFICERS, CONSULT SEASONED NEWSMEN, BEWARE OF COMMUNICATIONS BLOCKS IN THE EMBASSY, GET FIGHTER COVER FOR THOSE COMBAT HELICOPTERS . ON ORDERS FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY, LODGE CUT SHORT HIS STAY IN JAPAN, AND BY HASTILY COMMANDEERED U.S . AIR FORCE DC-6 PROCEEDED AT ONCE TO SAIGON, WHERE HE WAS MET BY A VIETNAMESE PROTOCOL OFFICER, EMBASSY OFFICIALS AND GENERAL PAUL HARKINS, COMMANDER OF THE U.S . TROOPS IN SOUTH VIET NAM . AS IF TO DRAMATIZE U.S . DISAPPROVAL OF THE GOVERNMENT ACTION, LODGE WENT TO THE U.S . AID MISSION BUILDING TO TALK TO THE TWO MONKS WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN SANCTUARY . IGNORING DEMANDS THAT THE MONKS BE TURNED OVER TO VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES, LODGE ORDERED THE U.S . STAFF TO GET SOME VEGETABLES FOR THE VEGETARIAN PRIESTS . ANTI, ANTI, ANTI . WHAT TO DO NEXT WAS A QUESTION THICKLY CLOUDED FOR BOTH LODGE AND WASHINGTON BY CONFUSION OVER PRECISELY WHO WAS IN CONTROL OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIET NAM . DIEM STILL SEEMED IN COMPLETE CHARGE AND IN A CABLE TO THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE'S MARGUERITE HIGGINS HE DECLARED, " I TRUST IN THE ARMY AND IN FACT I MAINTAIN CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION . " BUT IT LOOKED INCREASINGLY LIKELY THAT THE KEY FIGURE BEHIND THE GOVERNMENT'S MOVE HAD BEEN BROTHER NHU, HEAD OF THE 10,000-STRONG SPECIAL FORCES AND SECRET POLICE . FOR WEEKS THERE HAD BEEN HINTS THAT HE MIGHT TRY A COUP OF HIS OWN SUPPOSEDLY TO FORESTALL THE ANTI-DIEM COUP THAT HE KEPT PREDICTING UNLESS THE BUDDHISTS WERE PUT DOWN . ANY CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT POLICY, HE HAD WARNED, WOULD BE " ANTI-BUDDHIST, ANTI-AMERICAN, ANTI-WEAKNESS . / THE CRACKDOWN IT WAS NHU'S SPECIAL FORCES THAT SACKED THE PAGODAS ; REGULAR ARMY TROOPS WERE ONLY CALLED IN AFTER THE JOB WAS DONE TO HELP KEEP ORDER . THEORETICALLY, UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION, IT IS NOW THE ARMY THAT RUNS THE COUNTRY, AND, AGAIN THEORETICALLY, DIEM PLACED TOP AUTHORITY IN MAJOR GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, 46, A HIGHLY RESPECTED, ONETIME CORPS COMMANDER WHO HAS HAD GREAT MILITARY SUCCESS AGAINST THE VIET CONG . BUT DON MAY MERELY BE A FIGUREHEAD HOSTILE TO THE GOVERNMENT, HE WAS PULLED OUT OF HIS FIELD COMMAND LAST DECEMBER AND KICKED UPSTAIRS TO A STAFF JOB, WHERE HE WOULD HAVE NO TROOPS AT HIS DISPOSAL IN CASE THE THOUGHT OF A COUP EVER CROSSED HIS MIND . DIEM AND NHU EVIDENTLY INTENDED TO VEST REAL MILITARY POWER IN ANOTHER, VERY DIFFERENT OFFICER, WHOSE LOYALTY THE NGO FAMILY CAN COUNT ON, COLONEL LE QUANT TUNG, COMMANDER UNDER NHU OF THE SPECIAL FORCES . A DEVOUT CATHOLIC, TUNG COMES FROM CENTRAL VIET NAM, BIRTHPLACE OF THE NGO FAMILY, APPARENTLY HAS NO POLITICAL AMBITIONS, AND WAS ONCE A TOP OFFICIAL IN NHU'S SECRET ORGANIZATION, THE CAN LAO PARTY . AS LONG AS A MONTH AGO, LARGE UNITS OF SPECIAL FORCES WERE MOVED INTO SAIGON UNDER COLONEL TUNG'S COMMAND . THE BIG QUESTION IS WHETHER TUNG CAN KEEP CONTROL AND WHETHER THE REGULAR ARMY WILL GO ALONG OR WILL TURN AGAINST THE REGIME . THE COURSE OF EVENTS . AFTER NINE YEARS OF ABSOLUTE POWER, THE NGO FAMILY HAD TAKEN A CONSIDERABLE RISK IN LETTING SO MUCH AUTHORITY SLIP FROM ITS HANDS UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION . TAKING OVER THE FUNCTIONING OF ALL GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES, THE ARMY FOR THE FIRST TIME HAS A VIABLE POWER STRUCTURE OF ITS OWN . IT MAY WELL STAY LOYAL AS LONG AS DIEM REMAINS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, BUT NHU IS VASTLY UNPOPULAR WITH MOST OF THE MILITARY COMMANDERS EXCEPT TUNG . THE ARMY IMMEDIATELY TRIED TO DISSOCIATE ITSELF FROM THE BUDDHIST CRACKDOWN . ALL OFFICIAL BULLETINS FROM THE ARMY-CONTROLLED GOVERNMENT INFORMATION CENTER POINTEDLY MENTIONED THAT NHU'S SPECIAL FORCES, AND NOT THE ARMY, HAD WRECKED THE PAGODAS . BUT HAVING DISCOVERED THAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR POWER NOW EXISTS OUTSIDE THE NGO FAMILY, VARIOUS MILITARY FACTIONS MAY WELL BEGIN TO JOCKEY FOR SOLE AUTHORITY . AT WEEK'S END, ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT, THIS FEAR WAS REALIZED AT THE SMALL TOWN OF MY THO, JUST SOUTH OF SAIGON, WHERE BUDDHIST AND CATHOLIC TROOPS TURNED ON EACH OTHER . IN THE FIELD, ACTION AGAINST THE VIET CONG HAS COME TO A VIRTUAL STANDSTILL . " THIS WRECKS THE ARMY'S EFFORTS AGAINST THE REDS, " SAID A SENIOR U.S . INTELLIGENCE OFFICER . " THEY'RE TOO BUSY ENFORCING CURFEWS TO FIGHT . HOW THE REDS MUST BE LOVING THIS . " MORE THAN EVER, DIEM'S GOVERNMENT OR ANY OTHER IN SOUTH VIET NAM DEPENDS ON U.S . BACKING . YET EVEN IF WASHINGTON SHOULD OFFICIALLY DECIDE THAT DIEM HAS BECOME A LIABILITY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE VIET CONG, THE U.S . WILL NOT SUPPORT A CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT WHILE THE POWERS IN SAIGON ARE STILL SETTLING ACCOUNTS AMONG THEMSELVES . SAID ONE WASHINGTON OFFICIAL : " WHEN THE RUMBLING OF OPPOSITION STARTS WITHIN A REGIME OF THIS SORT, YOU CAN'T  TELL WHERE EVENTS ARE GOING TO TAKE IT . /
 BURMA THE WAY TO SOCIALISM & HAVOC WHILE THE WORLD'S ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON SOUTH VIET NAM, ANOTHER SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATION WAS QUIETLY GOING FROM BAD TO DISASTROUS . BURMA'S BUSINESS IS VIRTUALLY AT A STANDSTILL, CREDIT IS NONEXISTENT, FOREIGN INVESTMENT HAS VANISHED ALL BECAUSE DICTATOR NE WIN INSISTS ON INSTANT, TOTAL SOCIALISM . BURMA HAS 1,370 MILES OF MOUNTAINOUS BORDER WITH RED CHINA, AND, SAYS AN EASTERN EUROPEAN DIPLOMAT, " PRACTICING SOCIALISM IN SUCH PROXIMITY TO COMMUNISM IS LIKE WALKING A TIGHTROPE IN A TYPHOON . " IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS, NE WIN HAS NOT YET BEEN BLOWN OFF THE TIGHTROPE, HAS MANAGED TO MAINTAIN WHAT PASSES FOR NEUTRALITY : MILDY HOSTILE TOWARD THE U.S., FRIENDLY TOWARD CHINA (WITHOUT, HOWEVER, ENDORSING PEKING'S ATTACK AGAINST INDIA), FRIENDLIER TOWARD MOSCOW AND, OF COURSE, ACCEPTING AID FROM ALL THREE . BUT DOMESTICALLY, THE TYPHOON IS CAUSING HAVOC . NATIONALIZATION . ENERGETIC DICTATOR NE WIN, WHO IS PART-CHINESE, IN 1958 PRESSURED PARLIAMENT INTO MAKING HIM PREMIER IN PLACE OF DREAMY, INEFFICIENT BUT POPULAR U NU . AFTER RULING FOR 17 MONTHS, NE WIN PERMITTED NATIONAL ELECTIONS . U NU WON AN EASY VICTORY AND PROVED EVEN MORE INEFFECTUAL THAN BEFORE . IN MARCH 1962, NE WIN JAILED U NU AND MOST OF HIS CABINET, ABOLISHED PARLIAMENT, IMPOSED CENSORSHIP, AND BEGAN TO RULE THROUGH A 17-MAN REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL OF ARMY OFFICERS . LEAVING NOTHING TO CHANCE, NE WIN NAMED HIMSELF LEADER OF THE COUNCIL, PRESIDENT OF BURMA, MINISTER FOR DEFENSE, FINANCE AND REVENUE, AND CHIEF OF THE MILITARY TRIBUNALS THAT HAVE REPLACED BURMA'S GRAFT-RIDDEN JUDICIARY . DEVOUT BUDDHIST U NU IS STILL UNDER HOUSE ARREST AND PASSES THE TIME IN MEDITATION AND, PRESUMABLY, IN PURSUIT OF HIS SPECIAL OBSESSION ASTROLOGY . NE WIN ALSO PRODUCED A VAGUE DOCUMENT CALLED " THE BURMESE WAY TO SOCIALISM " AND NATIONALIZED INDUSTRY, COLLECTIVIZED AGRICULTURE, AND TOOK COMPLETE CONTROL OF FOREIGN TRADE . ONE SATURDAY AFTERNOON, HE GRABBED THE NATION'S 24 FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC BANKS . BRITAIN'S PRESTIGIOUS LLOYD'S BANK WAS RENAMED PEOPLE'S BANK NO . 19, AND THE SAME FATE BEFELL TWO RED CHINESE BANKS, PUTTING A CRIMP IN RANGOON'S COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA MACHINE . INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION HAS FALLEN 40 PER CENT IN THREE MONTHS AND URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT HAS SOARED . THE FEW REMAINING PRIVATE COMPANIES ARE CLAMORING FOR NATIONALIZATION, HOPING TO GET A BETTER BREAK ON RAW MATERIAL ALLOCATIONS AND SOME PROTECTION AGAINST STRIKES . BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO FEW TRAINED ADMINISTRATORS TO RUN ANY MORE ENTERPRISES, NE WIN LAST WEEK WAS FORCED TO REFUSE ALL FUTURE NATIONALIZATION PETITIONS . ALTHOUGH IN THE PAST THE GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGED WORKERS TO STRIKE AGAINST PRIVATE EMPLOYERS IN STATE-RUN BUSINESSES, STRIKES ARE CONSIDERED UNPATRIOTIC NE WIN LAST WEEK URGED LABOR TO MODERATE ITS WAGE DEMANDS, IN A BELATED ATTEMPT TO PACIFY BUSINESSMEN . INSURRECTION . WHILE CRIPPLING THE ECONOMY, NE WIN HAS BEEN STRIVING FOR A MEASURE OF NATIONAL UNITY . HIS FAIRLY COMPETENT ARMY OF 50,000 MEN CONTROLS THE MAIN CITIES AND ABOUT 50 PER CENT OF THE TEXAS-SIZED NATION . ABOUT 35 PER CENT OF THE AREA IS NO MAN'S LAND, AND THE REMAINING 15 PER CENT IS DIVIDED AMONG A VARIETY OF INSURGENTS, RANGING FROM TRIBAL GROUPS, SUCH AS THE SHANS, KARENS AND KACHINS, TO TWO MAJOR BANDS OF COMMUNIST INSURGENTS, 1) THE TROTSKYITE RED FLAG MOVEMENT, AND 2) THE LARGER WHITE FLAG COMMUNISTS, WHO ARE FRAGMENTED INTO STALINIST AND REVISIONIST WINGS . STILL ANOTHER INSURGENT OUTFIT IS COMPOSED OF SEVERAL HUNDRED CHINESE NATIONALIST SOLDIERS WHO FLED THEIR HOMELAND YEARS AGO AND HAVE SINCE OPERATED AS BANDITS . IN VAIN, PREVIOUS BURMESE GOVERNMENTS HAVE OFFERED AMNESTIES TO THE REBELS . NE WIN WENT FARTHER : HE PROMISED A SAFE-CONDUCT TO REBEL LEADERS FOR DISCUSSIONS IN RANGOON . RED FLAG LEADER THAKIN SOE ACCEPTED . HE WAS PICKED UP BY A RIVER GUNBOAT, TAKEN TO A GOVERNMENT AIRFIELD AND FLOWN TO RANGOON, WHERE HE PROMPTLY DEMANDED 1) A NATIONWIDE CEASE-FIRE, 2) WITHDRAWAL OF BURMESE TROOPS FROM VITAL RED FLAG AREAS, AND 3) A MEETING OF ALL POLITICAL FACTIONS LEGAL AND ILLEGAL TO FORM A NEW GOVERNMENT . TAKEN ABACK BY THESE DEMANDS, NE WIN DENOUNCED THAKIN SOE AS " INSINCERE " AND GAVE HIM SEVEN DAYS' IMMUNITY TO GET BACK TO THE SAFETY OF HIS JUNGLE HIDEOUTS . OPPOSITION . THOUGH NE WIN IS CONCEDED TO BE HONEST AND HARD-WORKING, EASYGOING BURMESE LONG FOR THE GOOD OLD GOOD-FOR-NOTHING GOVERNMENT OF U NU, WHOSE PHOTO IS STILL HAWKED ON THE STREETS AND OUTSELLS THAT OF NE WIN BY A WIDE MARGIN . ONE OPPOSITION LEADER, U BA SWE, CALLED ON NE WIN " TO RETREAT FROM THE BRINK OF DISASTER FOR THE SAKE OF THE NATION, " AND THE EX-AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S., U WIN, DEMANDED A RETURN TO PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY . BOTH WERE PACKED OFF TO " PROTECTIVE CUSTODY, " ALONG WITH NINE OTHER DISSENTERS FROM INSTANT SOCIALISM . NERVOUS NE WIN FREQUENTLY CARRIES A PISTOL, AND ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS STAND READY AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE . YET, EVEN THOUGH OPPOSITION TO HIS REGIME IS MASSIVE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, HE STILL HAS THE BULK OF THE ARMY WITH HIM . AND, AS IS HIS HABIT WHEN HE ENCOUNTERS OBSTACLES, NE WIN CHANGED COURSE SLIGHTLY . HE TEMPORARILY RESCINDED CONTROLS ON RICE TO PLACATE FARMERS, OFFERED TO BUILD A NEW STUDENT UNION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RANGOON (HE HAD BLOWN UP THE OLD ONE AFTER A STUDENT RIOT IN JULY 1962), AND CALLED A CONFERENCE OF HIS ADMINISTRATORS TO " IMPROVE AND REVIEW " ALL MEASURES ENACTED BY THE GOVERNMENT . PRESUMABLY TO SHOW HE IS NOT A TOTAL TYRANT, NE WIN RELEASED THREE FORMER CABINET MINISTERS (BUT NOT EX-PREMIER U NU) FROM HOUSE ARREST . UNLESS THE ARMY STAGES A COUP, NE WIN MAY MUDDLE ALONG INDEFINITELY . " IT'S NOT THE BURMESE WAY TO MAN THE BARRICADES, " EXPLAINED A RANGOON EDUCATOR . " GIVEN OUR PLENTIFUL FOOD SUPPLIES AND THE PASSIVITY OF THE PEOPLE, IT'S POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO MISRULE BURMA FOR PERHAPS A DECADE BEFORE INCURRING TRUE WRATH . /
 INDIA THE CASE OF NEHRU'S DOG IN INDIA, CRIED A SOCIALIST POLITICIAN LAST WEEK, 270 MILLION PEOPLE EXIST ON 4 #$ A DAY, WHILE IT TAKES 63 #$ DAILY TO FEED JAWAHARLAL NEHRU'S DOG . NOT SO, RETORTED NEHRU : DAILY SUBSISTENCE FOR 70 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION IS ALL OF 20 #$ . (HE DID NOT DENY HIS CANINE FOOD COSTS.) THE ACCUSATION, AND THE PRIME MINISTER'S REPLY, WERE FAIR SAMPLES OF THE ACRIMONIOUS PERSONAL ATTACK ON NEHRU LAST WEEK DURING THE FIRST CENSURE MOTION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT IN INDIA'S 16 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE . WITH A 229-SEAT PLURALITY, NEHRU'S CONGRESS PARTY WAS IN NO DANGER . NEVERTHELESS, THE DEBATE, WHICH FOLLOWED THREE SHATTERING BY-ELECTION DEFEATS FOR THE GOVERNMENT, VENTED INDIANS' WIDE AND RISING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE CONGRESS PARTY POLICIES THAT LED TO THE NATION'S HUMILIATING DEFEATS BY THE CHINESE LAST OCTOBER . THE ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT WAS LED BY J . B . KRIPALANI, LONGTIME FRIEND OF NEHRU AND ONETIME PRESIDENT OF HIS CONGRESS PARTY, WHO WAS ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT RECENTLY AS AN INDEPENDENT . WHOLE SKINS . " THIS GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED IN ITS DOMESTIC POLICY, " DECLARED KRIPALANI . IT " HAS FAILED IN ITS FOREIGN POLICY, AND IT HAS FAILED IN ITS ECONOMIC POLICY . THE PEOPLE FEEL DEPRESSED AND FRUSTRATED, AND BELIEVE THE COUNTRY HAS SLID BACK DURING THE PAST 15 YEARS . " THE GOVERNMENT'S LONGTIME POLICY OF " NONALIGNMENT, " KRIPALANI ARGUED, NO LONGER FITS " NATIONAL NEEDS . " SAID HE : " YOU CANNOT COEXIST WITH SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE IN COEXISTENCE . WE ARE AT WAR WITH CHINA . " THE GOVERNMENT'S CASE WAS NOT NOTABLY HELPED BY KRISHNA MENON, WHO, IN HIS FIRST MAJOR SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT SINCE HE WAS SACKED AS DEFENSE MINISTER LAST WINTER, MADE THE CURIOUSLY UNGUARDED ADMISSION THAT THE GOVERNMENT'S NONALIGNMENT POLICY WAS BASED, NOT ON PRINCIPLE, BUT MERELY ON " OUR DESIRE TO KEEP OUR SKINS WHOLE AND ENTIRE . " THE COMMUNISTS, WHO REFUSED TO ASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH THE NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION BUT MADE THE MOST OF IT ANYWAY, BITTERLY CONDEMNED THE AIRTRAINING EXERCISES THAT ARE TO BE HELD JOINTLY WITH THE U.S . AND BRITAIN IN INDIA, PROBABLY IN NOVEMBER . THE COMMUNISTS ASO BAITED FOOD MINISTER S . K . PATIL FOR HIS " ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO AMERICA TO BEG FOR MORE FOOD . " RETORTED PATIL : " MOSCOW IS A DELIGHTFUL CITY . I WISH I COULD GO THERE ALL THE TIME . BUT THERE ARE NO SURPLUSES OF FOOD IN RUSSIA . " DEPARTING MINISTERS . NEHRU'S REBUTTAL WAS A RAMBLING, SCHOOLMASTERLY HOMILY ON INDIA'S " VISION OF THE FUTURE " AND THE NEED FOR HARD WORK ; WHILE HE SPOKE, AT LEAST TWO MEMBERS OF HIS PARTY SLUMBERED IN THEIR SEATS . THE CENSURE MOTION WAS DEFEATED 346-61, WITH THE COMMUNISTS ABSTAINING . THE HEAT OF THE ATTACK ON THE ONCE-SACROSANCT NEHRU DISMAYED MANY CONGRESS PARTY OFFICIALS, AND LED TO THE RESIGNATION OF SIX CABINET MINISTERS, WHO ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WOULD CONCENTRATE ON REJUVENATING THE PARTY . THE DEPARTING MINISTERS WERE THE STRONGEST MEN ON NEHRU'S TEAM, ALTHOUGH SOME WERE IN POLITICAL TROUBLE . AMONG THEM WERE TWO STRONG PRO-WESTERNERS, FOOD MINISTER PATIL AND FINANCE MINISTER MORARJI DESAI, WIDELY CRITICIZED FOR FOOD SHORTAGES AND HIGH PRICES, AS WELL AS HOME MINISTER LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI, NEHRU'S LIKELIEST SUCCESSOR . NEHRU'S DAUGHTER, INDIRA GANDHI, WHO IS HERSELF A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE TO SUCCEED NEHRU, INSISTED THAT INDIA'S MOOD OF UNREST IS A SIGN OF " PROGRESS . " IMPATIENTLY TAPPING A PINK-TOED, SANDALED FOOT, MRS . GANDHI EXPLAINED : " WHEN YOUR CHILDREN REACH THEIR TEENS, THEY SUDDENLY FEEL THEIR PARENTS ARE ALL WRONG . INDIA IS IN THAT STAGE NOW, FOR IT'S JUST 16 YEARS OLD . EVERYBODY GRUMBLES ABOUT TAXES . BUT YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER OF SHOPS INCREASING, MORE PEOPLE GOING TO THE CINEMA, MORE PEOPLE GOING ON HOLIDAYS . WHY, THE MOUNTAIN RESORTS ARE SO CHOCK-FULL THAT YOU CAN'T FIND A BED ANYWHERE ! /
 COMMUNISTS A FAN OF HENRY FORD'S FROM HIS OWN CRIMEAN ESTATE WITH ITS NOW-FAMED BADMINTON COURT AND GLASS-ENCLOSED SWIMMING POOL, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV LAST WEEK TRAVELED TO MARSHAL TITO'S WONDERLAND IN YUGOSLAVIA . FROM A STATE DINNER AT BELGRADE'S WHITE PALACE, KHRUSHCHEV WENT ON AN ADRIATIC CRUISE ABOARD TITO'S YACHT GALEB (SEAGULL), SPENT THREE DAYS AT TITO'S ISLAND RETREAT OF BRIONI, THEN TO TITO'S 400-YEAR-OLD CASTLE IN THE DINARIC ALPS, NEXT TO TITO'S SUMMER RESIDENCE AT BRDA AND, FINALLY, TO TITO'S CROATIAN HUNTING LODGE AT BELJE . TO THE CHINESE, WHO HAVE LONG COMPLAINED THAT KHRUSHCHEV HAS GONE OVER TO THE ENEMY CAMP BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND IN HIS PERSONAL TASTES, ALL THIS MUST HAVE SEEMED INFURIATING PARTICULARLY SINCE HOST TITO IS THEIR IDEOLOGICAL ARCHENEMY, THE " REVISIONIST " WHO FIRST BROKE WITH STALIN AND ESTABLISHED A MORE OR LESS INDEPENDENT BRAND OF MARXISM . AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS QUARREL WITH PEKING, AND WITH A CERTAIN UNREST AMONG THE SOVIET SATELLITES, KHRUSHCHEV WAS CLEARLY DRAWING CLOSER TO TITO, EVEN HINTED THAT YUGOSLAVIA MIGHT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN COMECON, THE CREAKY EASTERN COMMON MARKET . TITO IN TURN SEEMED DETERMINED TO SUGGEST THAT, EVEN IF MOSCOW ACCEPTS HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY AS A COMRADE, HE RETAIN HIS INDEPENDENCE ; IN DOING SO HE PRESUMABLY HAD AN EYE ON WASHINGTON, WHERE CONGRESS THIS WEEK CONSIDERS WHETHER TO RESTORE THE PREVIOUSLY CANCELED MOST-FAVORED-NATION RATING FOR YUGOSLAV EXPORTS TO THE U.S . CRACKED A YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL : / WE DIDN'T SIGN A TREATY WITH KHRUSHCHEV AS YOU AMERICANS DID . WE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY BADMINTON WITH HIM . " MAMA'S CHILDREN . THE TWO LEADERS DID JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE, AS THEY RANGED THE COUNTRY FROM QUAKE-SHATTERED SKOPLJE TO WILD MONTENEGRO, WHERE AFTER A PICNIC THE MOUNTAINFOLK BROKE INTO THE KOLO, A FIERY, FOOTSTAMPING CIRCLE DANCE . KHRUSHCHEV AND HIS STOLID WIFE NINA, AND TITO AND HIS STATUESQUE SPOUSE JOVANKA, BROKE INTO THE RING, LOCKING ARMS AND SWIRLING AROUND WITH THE PRETTY GIRLS AND PEASANTS . THE MOST INSTRUCTIVE PART OF THE VISIT CAME AT THE RAKOVICA AUTO PLANT OUTSIDE BELGRADE . IN A DISCUSSION WITH THE WORKERS, KHRUSHCHEV SEEMED FASCINATED BY THE YUGOSLAV FACTORY SYSTEM OF DECENTRALIZED, LOCALLY ADMINISTERED SOCIALISM THROUGH WORKERS' COUNCILS ELECTED BY THE EMPLOYEES AND EMPOWERED TO FIRE OR REVERSE THE DECISIONS OF THE PLANT MANAGER . THE SYSTEM HAS LONG BEEN DENOUNCED BY RED CHINESE IDEOLOGUES, AND BY RUSSIA SINCE YUGOSLAVIA WAS KICKED OUT OF THE COMINTERN IN 1948 . EVEN KHRUSHCHEV ONCE SNEERED, " THE WORKERS' COUNCILS ARE ONLY GOOD WHEN THEY ARE PROPPED UP BY AMERICAN GRAIN AND MEAT . " REVERSING HIMSELF, KHRUSHCHEV CALLED THE COUNCILS A / PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT " AND SAID RUSSIA WAS FACING THE QUESTION OF " WHETHER OR NOT CONDITIONS ARE RIPE FOR THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF MANAGEMENT . UNLESS THERE IS A FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION OUR MANAGERS TEND TO BECOME AUTOCRATS . OF COURSE, YOUR SYSTEM MAY NOT BE TOTALLY IN LINE WITH THE LENINIST PRINCIPLE OF UNIFIED LEADERSHIP . DON'T YOU EVER HAVE TROUBLE BETWEEN WORKERS AND DIRECTORS ? " ASSURED THAT DISAGREEMENTS WERE ALWAYS WORKED OUT, KHRUSHCHEV SHOOK HIS HEAD SKEPTICALLY AND SAID, " YOU'RE A LITTLE BOASTFUL BUT, OF COURSE, MAMA ALWAYS SAYS HER CHILDREN ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL . YOU'VE GOT YOUR SHORTCOMINGS BUT THEN SO DO WE . " PLASTER BUST . WARMING UP, KHRUSHCHEV DEMANDED : " WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM NOW ? IT IS TO BEAT CAPITALISM . THE ONE WHO CREATES THE MOST THROUGH MASS PRODUCTION WILL WIN . HENRY FORD HAS SHOWN US HOW TO DO IT . " HE ADDED, " AFTER THE REVOLUTION, WE SENT A DELEGATION TO HENRY FORD AND ASKED HIM TO HELP US BUILD A FACTORY THAT WOULD PRODUCE 30,000 CARS A YEAR . FORD TOLD US THAT A FACTORY MAKING ONLY 30,000 WOULD NOT WORK . THE CAR WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE . HE SAID WE SHOULD COME BACK WHEN WE WERE READY TO PRODUCE 120,000 A YEAR . " TO ILLUSTRATE THE LESSONS OF PRODUCTIVITY, KHRUSHCHEV EVEN RAMBLED OFF INTO BIBLICAL HISTORY, INACCURATELY RECALLING THAT CHRIST HAD FED 40,000 PERSONS WITH A SINGLE LOAF OF BREAD . WITH HIS USUAL HEAVY-FOOTED HUMOR HE ADDED, " BUT NO ONE KNOWS IF ALL GOT ENOUGH TO EAT . IF THEY HAD, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE LEFT PALESTINE . " AS FOR THE CHINESE : " THEY SAY THAT THEIR COUNTRY HAS TO RELY ON ITS OWN RESOURCES . IT IS TRUE AND IT IS NOT TRUE . IF YOU LOCK YOURSELF WITHIN YOUR OWN FRONTIERS, YOU LOSE YOUR ECONOMIC POTENTIAL . THEY SAY THEY ARE GOING TO RELY ON THEIR OWN RESOURCES, AND THEN THEY WRITE TO US FOR CREDITS . " THE ENTRANCED WORKERS AT RAKOVICA RESPONDED TO ALL THIS BY HANDING KHRUSHCHEV A PRESENT HE MUST HAVE LONG WANTED AND NEEDED : A PLASTER BUST OF LENIN . PRESUMABLY NONE OF HENRY FORD WAS AVAILABLE .
 STALINSVILLE ON THE STYX PRIVATE VASILY TERKIN WAS THE ETERNAL SAD SACHA, AND HIS FICTIONAL MILITARY EXPLOITS POKED SLY FUN AT SOVIET OFFICERDOM THROUGHOUT WORLD WAR II . RUSSIANS COMPLAINED MIGHTILY WHEN HIS CREATOR, POET ALEKSANDR TRIFONOVICH TVARDOVSKY, FAILED TO BRING HIM HOME FROM THE WARS . LAST WEEK, TO THEIR DELIGHT, VASILY WAS BACK WITH A DIFFERENCE . THE SOLDIER'S RETURN WAS CHRONICLED IN A SUBTLE, STYLISH NEW POEM BY TVARDOVSKY THAT WAS SPREAD ACROSS TWO PAGES OF IZVESTIA UNDER A WARMLY APPROVING INTRODUCTION BY EDITOR ALEKSEI ADZHUBEI, KHRUSHCHEV'S SON-IN-LAW . IN STALIN'S DAY, FOR ALL HIS BUFFOONERY, TERKIN ULTIMATELY HAD TO SYMBOLIZE " THE IDEAL SOVIET SOLDIER " ; IN HIS LATEST ADVENTURE, HE IS A COCKILY IRREVERENT FIGURE WHO GETS KILLED IN BATTLE AND GOES TO A " NETHER WORLD " THAT TURNS OUT TO BE A SORT OF STALINSVILLE ON THE STYX . HELL, TERKIN FINDS, IS LIKE THE MOSCOW SUBWAY, " ONLY LOWER . " IT IS RUN BY A PAMPERED ARMY OF BUREAUCRATS, WHO SPEND THEIR DAYS PLAYING DOMINOES AND YELLING AT THE INMATES TO KEEP OUT OF THEIR WAY . A MODEL OF COMMUNIST PLANNING, THE NETHER WORLD HAS MENUS BUT NO FOOD, STEAM BATHS WITHOUT STEAM, HOTELS WITHOUT BEDS . THERE IS EVEN A MAGAZINE EDITOR WHO " SWEATS ALL OVER " AS HE " PUTS IN QUOTES AND TAKES THEM OUT AGAIN AND READS EACH PAGE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AND FROM BOTTOM TO TOP . " SAYS ONE BIG BROTHERLY GHOST : " YOU DON'T HAVE TO TALK, YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK AT ALL . " TERKIN FINALLY MANAGES TO ESCAPE AND WAKES UP IN A HOSPITAL ON EARTH, WHERE DOCTORS CONFIDENTLY PREDICT THAT HE WILL LIVE TO BE 100 . THE MORAL OF TERKIN'S TRIP, TVARDOVSKY SUGGESTS, IS THAT ALL RUSSIANS SHARE THE BLAME FOR STALIN BECAUSE THEY RESIGNED THEMSELVES TO HIS EXCESSES INSTEAD OF RESISTING THEM . HOWEVER, THE POET ALSO URGES RUSSIANS TO STOP HARPING ON STALINISM, WHICH HAS BEEN KHRUSHCHEV'S LINE OF LATE . TERKIN'S RESURRECTION WAS A SIGN THAT KHRUSHCHEV HAD DECIDED TO SOFTEN A CAMPAIGN AGAINST CONTROVERSIAL WRITING THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE DECEMBER . IN FACT, EDITOR ADZHUBEI NOTED REASSURINGLY, NIKITA LIKED THE POEM AND LAUGHED LOUDLY WHEN IT WAS READ TO HIM BEFORE PUBLICATION .
 SOUTH AFRICA ESCAPE ARTISTS WHILE RADIOS BLARED THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FUGITIVES, THOUSANDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE MANNED ROADBLOCKS, SEARCHED WHITE HOMES AND BLACK TOWNSHIPS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY . THEIR ELUSIVE QUARRY, HONORED BY THE BIGGEST REWARD ($5,600) EVER POSTED IN SOUTH AFRICA : FOUR PRISONERS WHO HAD STAGED A 1 A.M . WALK-AWAY FROM JOHANNESBURG'S CENTRAL POLICE HEADQUARTERS . THE LEADER OF THE FUGITIVES WAS ARTHUR GOLDREICH, AT 33 ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST SUCCESSFUL ARTISTS, AND AS OF LAST WEEK ONE OF ITS MORE SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE ARTISTS AS WELL . RAID ON RIVONIA . BESPECTACLED AND SLIGHTLY STOOPED, WITH A BLACK BEARD (WHEN LAST SEEN), GOLDREICH WON SOUTH AFRICA'S 1955 BEST YOUNG PAINTER AWARD FOR HIS FIGURES IN BLACK AND WHITE, DESIGNED SETS AND COSTUMES FOR KING KONG, THE FAMED SOUTH AFRICAN MUSICAL . TO PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD'S REGIME, HE WAS A KEY SUSPECT IN THE CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS OF THE ANTI-APARTHEID UNDERGROUND . LAST MONTH POLICE DESCENDED ON THE ARTIST'S SWANK HOME IN THE JOHANNESBURG SUBURB OF RIVONIA, ARRESTED GOLDREICH, HIS WIFE HAZEL, FOUR OTHER WHITE MEN, AND A DOZEN NONWHITES . LIKE GOLDREICH, THE OTHER ARRESTED WHITES WERE ALSO PROMINENT IN SOUTH AFRICA'S INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY : LAWYER ROBERT HEPPLE ; DR . HILLIARD FESTENSTEIN, A NOTED MEDICAL RESEARCHER ; ENGINEER DENNIS GOLDBERG ; ARCHITECT LIONEL BERNSTEIN . AMONG THE NONWHITES SEIZED WAS WALTER SISULU, ONE-TIME SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE BANNED AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS AND ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST WANTED MEN . GOLDREICH WAS JAILED UNDER A RECENT LAW BY WHICH POLICE CAN HOLD A SUSPECT FOR 90 DAYS WITHOUT CHARGE . (WHEN THE 90-DAY TERM COMES TO AN END, SOME PRISONERS ARE BEING DUTIFULLY RELEASED, ALLOWED TO WALK 100 YARDS, THEN REARRESTED FOR ANOTHER THREE-MONTH STRETCH.) A MONTH AFTER HIS ARREST, GOLDREICH APPARENTLY GOT HOLD OF CELLBLOCK KEYS, POSSIBLY WITH INSIDE HELP, AND FREED THREE FELLOW PRISONERS TWO ANTI-APARTHEID ASIANS, AND A JEWISH LAWYER, HAROLD WOLPE, LONGTIME DEFENDER OF IMPRISONED LEFTISTS.* DARK MUTTERINGS . THE CASE CALLED ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT AMONG SOUTH AFRICAN WHITES WHO OPPOSE VERWOERD'S APARTHEID, PERHAPS THE MOST ZEALOUS ARE JEWS . THE BULK OF SOUTH AFRICA'S 116,000 JEWS TACITLY CONDONE APARTHEID, THE JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES HAS ALWAYS BEEN CAREFUL NOT TO ATTACK IT, AND SOME OF THE WEALTHIEST JEWS CONTRIBUTE TO VERWOERD'S NATIONAL PARTY . BUT TO THOUSANDS OF OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER, UNIVERSITY-EDUCATED GROUP, APARTHEID SMELLS TOO MUCH LIKE NAZISM . IN THE 1961 GENERAL ELECTION, JEWS VOTED MASSIVELY AGAINST THE NATIONAL PARTY, AND THE LONE ANTI-APARTHEID CRUSADER IN THE 160-MEMBER ASSEMBLY TODAY IS THE PERT, IRRESPRESSIBLE JEWISH WIFE OF A JOHANNESBURG PHYSICIAN, MRS . HELEN SUZMAN . DESPITE SUCH OPPOSITION AND VERWOERD'S OWN PRO-NAZI PAST, JEWS HAVE SO FAR BEEN UNMOLESTED BY THE REGIME . THE GOLDREICH ESCAPE, HOWEVER, TOUCHED OFF OMINOUS RUMBLINGS . LAST WEEK WHEN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION CHIEF REINIER J . VAN DEN BERGH MENTIONED THE RIVONIA RAID IN A SPEECH, A VOICE FROM THE AUDIENCE CRIED : " JEWS ! " VAN DEN BERGH ALLOWED THAT FOES OF APARTHEID MIGHT BE " INSTRUMENTS OF JEWS ANOTHER FUGITIVE COLORED PHYSICIAN KENNETH ABRAHAMS, WHO HAD ESCAPED SABOTAGE CHARGES BY SLIPPING ACROSS THE BORDER TO BECHUANALAND, FOUND HIMSELF BACK IN SOUTH AFRICA UNDER ARREST . ABRAHAMS' LAWYERS CHARGED LAST WEEK THAT HE HAD BEEN KIDNAPED BY SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE ON BRITISH-ADMINISTERED SOIL .
 NORWAY END OF AN INSTITUTION INTERRUPTED ONLY BY THE NAZI OCCUPATION, NORWAY'S LABOR PARTY HAD BEEN IN POWER FOR 28 YEARS, LONGER THAN ANY OTHER DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN EUROPE . LAST WEEK IT WAS OUT . AT THE ROOT OF ITS DOWNFALL WAS A LONG-DEVELOPING SCHISM BETWEEN THE PARTY'S MODERATE, PRO-WEST MAJORITY AND ITS FAR-LEFT FRINGE, WHICH DEMANDS NORWAY'S WITHDRAWAL FROM NATO.TWO YEARS AGO, SOME LEFTIST LABORITES BOLTED, FORMED A SPLINTER " SOCIALIST PEOPLE'S PARTY, " AND MANAGED TO WIN TWO PARLIAMENTARY SEATS ON THE 1961 ELECTION . PARTLY AS A RESULT OF THE DEFECTION, PREMIER EINAR GERHARDSEN'S GOVERNMENT LOST ITS MAJORITY IN THE STORTING (PARLIAMENT), FOUND ITSELF DEADLOCKED, 74 SEATS TO 74 SEATS, WITH THE OPPOSITION COALITION . THE BALANCE OF POWER WAS HELD BY TWO SPLINTER LEFTISTS . RELUCTANTLY, GERHARDSEN ACCEPTED THEIR SUPPORT TO STAY IN OFFICE . WHAT BROKE UP THE UNEASY COALITION AND BROUGHT ON NORWAY'S FIRST GOVERNMENT CRISIS IN A GENERATION WAS A TRAGIC SCANDAL IN THE STATE-RUN COAL MINES . IN RECENT YEARS, FOUR DISASTROUS EXPLOSIONS AND SEVERAL LESSER ACCIDENTS HAVE PLAGUED THE MINES, AT A COST OF 74 LIVES . SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, AN INVESTIGATING COMMISSION CHARGED OFFICIAL NEGLIGENCE . LAST WEEK, AFTER FOUR DAYS OF ANGRY DEBATE, THE TWO SPLINTER SOCIALISTS JOINED WITH THE OPPOSITION IN A NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT . ONE OF THE LEFTISTS, FINN GUSTAVSEN, EXPLAINED THAT THE S.P.P . TOPPLED GERHARDSEN BECAUSE " HE HAS NO LONGER ANY CONTACT WITH THE WORKING CLASS . " THERE WAS SPITE INVOLVED, TOO ; GERHARDSEN RECENTLY APPOINTED THAT OLD COMMUNIST TARGET, EX-U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL TRYGVE LIE, A STAUNCH LABORITE, TO THE POST OF MINISTER OF INDUSTRY . AS THE UNCHALLENGED LEADER OF HIS PARTY FOR TWO DECADES, GERHARDSEN, 66, HAD BECOME A NATIONAL INSTITUTION, WAS SO SCRUPULOUS THAT HE INSISTED ON BUYING HIS OWN POSTAGE STAMPS FOR PERSONAL LETTERS . HE RAN A PART-FREE, LARGELY CONTROLLED ECONOMY, WAS STAUNCHLY PRO-WEST AND LED NORWAY INTO NATO . HIS SUCCESSOR WAS EXPECTED TO BE BLOND, HUSKY CONSERVATIVE FLOOR LEADER JOHN LYNG, 58, ATTORNEY AND BRILLIANT PROSECUTOR OF NORWAY'S NAZI WAR CRIMINALS . CONSERVATIVE LYNG'S FOUR-PARTY COALITION CONSISTS CHIEFLY OF FARMERS, MERCHANTS AND INDUSTRIALISTS, WHOSE ECONOMIC VIEWS ARE LESS STATIST THAN THE LABORITES' ; BUT LYNG WILL HARDLY TRY TO ALTER NORWAY'S DEEPLY INGRAINED WELFARE SOCIETY AND CERTAINLY NOT ITS NATO POLICIES . WITH THE TWO MAVERICK LEFTISTS STILL HOLDING THE BALANCE OF POWER, HE KNOWS THAT HE WILL BE LUCKY TO SURVIVE UNTIL THE NEXT ELECTION IN 1965 .
 GREAT BRITAIN BOBBIES IN TROUBLE WHEN CONSTABULARY DUTY'S TO BE DONE, THE POLICEMAN'S LOT IS NOT A HAPPY ONE . THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE TO THE U.S . TOURIST DRIVING ON THE RIGHT BUT WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD, OR HOPELESSLY DEMANDING A DRINK AT MIDNIGHT, THE LONDON POLICE SEEM PARAGONS OF PATIENCE . WHETHER BREAKING UP A RACE RIOT OR GINGERLY PLUCKING ANTI-NUCLEAR SQUATTERS FROM THE PAVEMENT, THE BRAWNY, PINK-CHEEKED BOBBY ALMOST NEVER RESORTS TO THE PANICKY BRUTALITY OF THE FRENCH FLIC OR THE OFFICIOUS ZEAL OF THE GERMAN POLIZIST . BRITAIN'S POLICE, ARMED ONLY WITH A NIGHT STICK, STILL BELIEVE IN POUNDING A BEAT . ITS STREETS AND PARKS AFTER DARK ARE AMONG THE WORLD'S SAFEST ; AND WHILE AN ENGLISH HOUSEHOLDER IS AWAY ON VACATION, LIKELY AS NOT THE BOBBIES WILL KEEP AN EYE ON HIS FRONT DOOR . BUT IN RECENT YEARS, AND PARTICULARLY SINCE THE PROFUMO-KEELER-WARD SCANDALS, BRITONS HAVE COME TO SUSPECT THAT THEIR POLICE ARE NOT ONLY MARKEDLY LESS PROFICIENT AT KEEPING THE QUEEN'S PEACE THAN OF OLD, BUT MAY ALSO HAVE BECOME LESS SCRUPULOUS IN UPHOLDING THE TRADITIONALLY HIGH STANDARDS OF BRITISH JUSTICE . SMARTER CROOKS . WHEN IT COMES TO SOLVING CRIME, IT IS STILL ELEMENTARY TO CALL IN SCOTLAND YARD . LAST WEEK, LED BY SUCH WISE OLD BLUEBOTTLES AS COMMANDER GEORGE HATHERILL, 65, THE YARD'S DEAN OF SLEUTHS, WHO SPEAKS EIGHT LANGUAGES AND HAS SOLVED 17 MURDERS, YARD MEN INVESTIGATING THE GREAT BUCKINGHAMSHIRE TRAIN ROBBERY SUCCEEDED IN ROUNDING UP NINE SUSPECTS, RECOVERED $761,367 OF THE $7,000,000 LOOT . ALSO ON HAND WERE ERNEST MILLEN, BOSS OF THE FLYING SQUAD, ALIAS THE HEAVY MOB, WHOSE 100-ODD SLEUTHS KNOW MORE ABOUT THE UNDERWORLD THAN DANTE ; AND THE TERRIBLE TWINS, TOP DETECTIVES TOM BUTLER AND PETER VIBART, WHO HAVE CRACKED MANY A BIG CASE TOGETHER . YET SO FAR AT LEAST, THE GANG'S RINGLEADERS WERE STILL AT LARGE . EVEN WITHOUT SUCH HUMILIATIONS AT THE HANDS OF MASTER CROOKS, THE LOT OF BRITAIN'S 76,530 POLICEMEN IS AN INCREASINGLY UNHAPPY ONE . THE NATION'S POLICE FORCES ARE CRITICALLY UNDERMANNED (AUTHORIZED STRENGTH : 82,313), SADLY UNDERPAID (SERGEANT'S PAY AVERAGES $3,000 A YEAR) AND, IN MANY CRITICS' EYES, UNDEREDUCATED . IN RECENT YEARS, POLICE RECRUITS HAVE INCLUDED NOT A SINGLE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE ; ONLY ABOUT 10 PER CALL NEW BOBBIES HAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA . BRITISH CRIMINALS, BY CONTRAST, ARE BECOMING MORE IMAGINATIVE AND TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT EVERY YEAR . AS FOR SCOTLAND YARD, EVEN ITS STAUNCHEST ADMIRERS ADMIT THAT THE LEGEND TENDS TO OVERSHADOW PERFORMANCE . OF A RECORD NUMBER OF CRIMES REPORTED IN LONDON LAST YEAR, FEWER THAN 25 PER CENT WERE SOLVED ; POLICE HAVE RECOVERED NONE OF THE 700,000 STOLEN IN FOUR MAJOR ROBBERIES FROM ONE BANK DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS . IN THE WOODSHED . AS FOR THE PROFUMO CASE, THOUGH AN OFFICIAL INQUIRY INTO ITS SECURITY ASPECTS IS NEARLY COMPLETE, THE GOVERNMENT HAS GIVEN LITTLE ASSURANCE THAT IT WILL LESSEN WHAT THE ECONOMIST RECENTLY CALLED " THE ALREADY CUMBROUS WEIGHT OF SUSPICION THAT THERE IS SOMETHING NASTY IN THE WOODSHED . " LAST WEEK THE LABOR PARTY'S " SHADOW " FOREIGN SECRETARY, PATRICK GORDON WALKER, CALLED FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLES PLAYED THROUGHOUT BY THE GOVERNMENT, JUDICIARY AND POLICE . AMONG OTHER HINTS OF NASTINESS IN THE WOODSHED, OR THE POLICE STATION, BRITONS WERE PERTURBED BY RECENT CHARGES THAT SCOTLAND YARD HAD BROWBEATEN A CONVICTED PROSTITUTE INTO TESTIFYING AGAINST WARD (SHE LATER RECANTED), AND BY SPECULATION THAT POLICE DELIBERATELY FAILED TO PRODUCE A DEFENSE WITNESS AT THE TRIAL OF " LUCKY " GORDON, THE JAMAICAN SINGER WHO WAS IMPRISONED ON CHARGES OF BEATING CHRISTINE KEELER, AND LATER MYSTERIOUSLY FREED . SINCE THERE IS NO WATERTIGHT SEPARATION OF EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE POWERS* IN BRITAIN'S UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION, THE DISQUIETING IMPLICATION TO MANY BRITONS WAS THAT, IN ITS EMBARRASSMENT OVER THE PROFUMO SCANDAL, THE GOVERNMENT HAD EXERTED EXTRAORDINARY PRESSURE TO PUT WARD BEHIND BARS . IF SUCH SUSPICIONS ARE UNFAIR, THERE WAS LITTLE LIKELIHOOD THAT THEY WOULD EVER BE FULLY INVESTIGATED, LET ALONE REFUTED . DANGER TO DEMOCRACY .E MANY OTHER LEGACIES OF 19TH CENTURY BRITAIN, THE LAW ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM SEEMS ALMOST TO HAVE BEEN DESIGNED NOT TO WORK . TO SOME EXTENT, IT WAS . SIR ROBERT PEEL, WHO IN 1829 ORGANIZED THE FIRST MODERN FORCE (AND GAVE THE BOBBIES HIS NAME), ADMITTED TO GRAVE MISGIVINGS THAT IT MIGHT BE USED AS AN INSTRUMENT OF TYRANNY . UNLIKE A SOLDIER OR CIVIL SERVANT, THE BRITISH POLICEMAN IS NOT A " SERVANT OF THE CROWN " BUT HAS THE AMBIGUOUS LEGAL STATUS OF A UNIFORMED CIVILIAN WHO IS MERELY PAID TO DO WHAT EVERY CITIZEN SHOULD DO ON HIS OWN . EVEN TO THIS DAY, MANY BRITONS BELIEVE THAT A STRONG, UNIFIED POLICE FORCE COULD LEAD TO A POLICE STATE . AS A RESULT, THEY HAVE 158 SEPARATE LOCAL FORCES WHOSE CHIEF CONSTABLES ARE ACCOUNTABLE ONLY TO THEMSELVES . WHEN A ROYAL COMMISSION IN 1962 RECOMMENDED CONTINUATION OF THIS SYSTEM, COMMISSION MEMBER A . L . GOODHART AN EMINENT U.S . JURIST WHO WAS THEN MASTER OF OXFORD'S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OBJECTED THAT A SINGLE, CENTRALLY CONTROLLED POLICE NETWORK WOULD BE INFINITELY MORE EFFICIENT, AND MORE DEMOCRATIC, THAN THE " EMPTY VELVET GLOVE " WITH WHICH BRITAIN IS NOW TRYING TO DEFEAT ORGANIZED CRIME . " THE DANGER IN A DEMOCRACY, " SAID HE, " DOES NOT LIE IN A CENTRAL POLICE THAT IS TOO STRONG BUT IN LOCAL POLICE FORCES THAT ARE TOO WEAK . " IN DAY-TO-DAY POLICE WORK, THE LACK OF LIAISON BETWEEN FORCES MORE THAN 50 PER CENT HAVE FEWER THAN 350 MEN INEVITABLY HELPS THE CRIMINAL . ANOTHER BOON TO CAREFUL CROOKS : A LAW BY WHICH POLICE ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO FILE FINGERPRINTS OF CONVICTED CRIMINALS, NOT OF SUSPECTS . BUCKINGHAMSHIRE'S CHIEF CONSTABLE, BRIGADIER JOHN CHENY CHENEY (ETON, SANDHURST, INDIA), DID NOT EVEN ENLIST SCOTLAND YARD'S HELP IN THE TRAIN ROBBERY UNTIL NEARLY A DAY LATER . WHAT WORRIES MANY EXPERTS IS THAT SUCH BUILT-IN INEFFICIENCY CAN ONLY COST BRITAIN'S BOBBIES WHAT REMAINS OF THEIR OLD PRESTIGE . AS IT IS, THEY ARE FIGHTING THE GREATEST CRIME WAVE IN THE NATION'S HISTORY WITH INSUFFICIENT MANPOWER AND INADEQUATE COORDINATION, AMID DEEPENING PUBLIC DISTRUST THAT SUGGESTS THEIR LOT WILL BE UNHAPPIER YET THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR, A CABINET MEMBER WHO EARNS $5,600 A YEAR MORE THAN THE PRIME MINISTER, SERVES SIMULTANEOUSLY AS THE GOVERNMENT'S CHIEF LEGAL ADVISER, THE NATION'S SENIOR JUDGE, TITULAR HEAD OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS .
 SOUTH VIET NAM COPING WITH CAPRICORN IN BUSINESS, COUNT THE COSTS BEFORE YOU ACT . THE MOON NOW IN CAPRICORN SUGGESTS KEEPING PRACTICAL VALUES IN MIND . TOMORROW IS RATHER TOO ENERGETIC FOR COMFORT, BUT THAT MAY BE BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS ON THE MOVE . A LATE AUGUST HOROSCOPE SYNDICATED HOROSCOPES, MANY OF THEM FROM ABROAD, ARE POPULAR FEATURES IN MANY SOUTH VIETNAMESE NEWSPAPERS, BUT LAST WEEK THE GOVERNMENT BANNED THEM, PRESUMABLY ON THE THEORY THAT SOME STAR-MINDED DISSIDENT MIGHT BE MOVED TO TRY A COUP ON AN ASTROLOGICALLY AUSPICIOUS DAY . IN SOUTH VIET NAM EVERYBODY WAS INDEED ON THE MOVE, BUT WHERE THEY WERE MOVING WAS NO CLEARER THAN THE ZODIAC . THE U.S . WAS INCREASINGLY UNHAPPY WITH PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM (CAPRICORN), AND AFTER WHAT THE U.S . OFFICIALLY CALLED HIS " BRUTAL " CRACKDOWN ON THE BUDDHISTS, WASHINGTON OBVIOUSLY COULD NOT STRING ALONG WITH HIM AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED . SO THE U.S . MADE NOISES DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE OPPOSITION TO DIEM . BUT SOUTH VIET NAM BEING WHAT IT IS, POTENTIAL REBELS DID NOT WANT TO MOVE WITHOUT VIRTUALLY A WRITTEN CONTRACT FOR U.S . SUPPORT . MEANWHILE THE U.S . TRIED TO PLACE THE ODIUM OF THE CRACKDOWN ON DIEM'S BROTHER, NGO DINH NHU (LIBRA),* AND NEW AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE (CANCER) MANAGED TO SUGGEST, WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING PUBLICLY, THAT HE DID NOT LIKE WHAT WAS GOING ON . THE SIEGE . A WEEK AFTER THE GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN, SAIGON LOOKED LIKE A CITY UNDER SIEGE . HEAVILY ARMED SPECIAL FORCES UNITS GUARDED ALL KEY INSTALLATIONS . MOBILE " ANTI-SUICIDE ? ' SQUADS PATROLLED THE STREETS, READY TO DOUSE ANY FURTHER BUDDHIST ATTEMPTS AT SELF-IMMOLATION . AND ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY WAS ROLLED INTO POSITION OUTSIDE SAIGON'S PRESIDENTIAL PALACE ; SINCE THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG HAVE NO PLANES, THE GOVERNMENT EVIDENTLY FEARED AN ATTACK FROM ITS OWN FORCE . HAVING JAILED MOST BUDDHIST LEADERS, THE REGIME MOVED TO SILENCE OTHER VOCAL OPPOSITION SAIGON'S SEETHING STUDENT POPULATION . IN THE CITY'S CROWDED MARKETPLACE AND NEAR SAIGON UNIVERSITY, RIFLE-TOTING COMBAT POLICE IN CAMOUFLAGE UNIFORMS ARRESTED ALL YOUTHS OF HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE AGE IN SIGHT AND MME . NHU DOES NOT REVEAL THE DAY OR MONTH OF HER BIRTH, BUT THERE IS SPECULATION THAT SHE MAY BE ARIES ( " VERY IMPORTANT TO WIN THE TEST OF WILLS " ) OR LEO ( " IF CROSSED, ROARS LIKE A LION, LACKS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS IN THE MINDS OF OTHERS " ) . HAULED THEM OFF TO DETENTION CAMPS ON THE OUTSKIRTS . THROUGHOUT THE CITY, BLUE-UNIFORMED MEMBERS OF NHU'S REPUBLICAN YOUTH ORGANIZATION MADE DOOR-TO-DOOR CALLS, WARNING AGAINST PUBLIC CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT ON PAIN OF ARREST . SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, AND SCHEDULED ELECTIONS FOR THE NORMALLY RUBBER-STAMP, 123-MEMBER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WERE POSTPONED . OVER RADIO SAIGON, THICH TINH KHIET, 80, HEAD OF THE GENERAL BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION, PLEDGED HIS LOYALTY TO THE GOVERNMENT, BUT A NEWSPAPER PICTURE CLEARED BY INATTENTIVE CENSORS SHOWED THE AGED MONK WITH A BLACK EYE AND BRUISES ALL OVER HIS FACE . THE GOVERNMENT EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD FALLEN DOWN . IN OTHER RESPECTS, CENSORSHIP WAS STRINGENT . IN OUTGOING CABLES FROM NEWSMEN, THE WORD CATHOLIC WAS BLUE-PENCILED ; AFTER PASSING THE CENSORS, ONE STORY REFERRED TO " ROMAN PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . " THE GENERALS . AT WEEK'S END MARTIAL LAW WAS GRADUALLY EASED, AND SOME BUDDHISTS AND STUDENTS WERE FREED . THERE WAS LITTLE DOUBT THAT NHU WAS IN LARGE MEASURE RESPONSIBLE FOR RUNNING THINGS, BUT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS SUPPLANTING HIS BROTHER ; AS FAR AS COULD BE DETECTED, THE TWO WERE WORKING IN HARMONY . DIRECTLY UNDER NHU, TWO OFFICERS SEEMED TO BE IN COMMAND : BESPECTACLED, POCKMARKED COLONEL LE QUANG TUNG, IN CHARGE OF THE SPECIAL FORCES, AND BRIGADIER GENERAL TON THAT DINH, COMMANDER OF THE III ARMY CORPS AND MILITARY GOVERNOR OF SAIGON, A DAPPER GRADUATE OF THE U.S . COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF SCHOOL AT FORT LEAVENWORTH, WHO WEARS A RED BERET, CARRIES A SWAGGER STICK, AND LIKES TO BE ACCOMPANIED ON MILITARY OPERATIONS BY HIS OWN PHOTOGRAPHER . OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S 17 GENERALS, DINH IS ONE OF TWO WHO ACTUALLY HAVE TROOPS AT THEIR DISPOSAL ; THE OTHER, BRIGADIER GENERAL NGUYEN KHANH, IS LOCATED IN A FIGHTING AREA HUNDREDS OF MILES NORTH OF SAIGON . MOST OF THE OTHER GENERALS HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF REAL POWER BY DIEM AND NHU, AND HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO SAIGON WHERE THEY CAN BE WATCHED . AT A TIME WHEN THE ARMY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER IN THE SOUTH VIET NAM SITUATION, THESE OFFICERS ARE CAREFULLY SCRUTINIZED IN WASHINGTON . AMONG THEM : MAJOR GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF AND TECHNICALLY IN CHARGE OF ADMINISTERING THE COUNTRY UNDER MARTIAL LAW . ACTUALLY HE COMMANDS ONLY A BODYGUARD OF 50 TROOPS, AND AT THE MOMENT IS CONSIDERED A FIGUREHEAD . BRIGADIER GENERAL TRAN TU OAI, AN ARTICULATE OFFICER WHOM NHU SIDETRACKED INTO THE POST OF DIRECTOR OF THE MALARIA ERADICATION PROGRAM . " I'M THE ONLY GENERAL IN THE ARMY, " SAID TRAN, / WHO IS ARMED WITH A SPRAY GUN . " HE IS NOW CHIEF OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE . MAJOR GENERAL DUONG VAN MINH, A TOUGH, HUSKY TYPE WHOSE MOUTH IS FILLED WITH GOLD-CAPPED BROKEN TEETH AND WHO IS REGARDED AS ONE OF THE BEST OFFICERS IN SOUTH VIET NAM . HE IS KNOWN AS " BIG " MINH, TO DISTINGUISH HIM FROM BRIGADIER GENERAL TRAN VAN MINH, OR " LITTLE " MINH, NO KIN . HE HAS NO COMMAND AT PRESENT, BUT SERVES AS DIEM'S " MILITARY ASSISTANT . " BRIGADIER GENERAL PHAM XUAN CHIEN, ONETIME DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES, WHO WAS SACKED BY NHU WHEN HIS AMBITIONS BEGAN TO GET OUT OF HAND . HE NOW HAS THE VIRTUALLY MEANINGLESS JOB OF ASSISTANT CHIEF OF STAFF . DETERMINED TO DISSOCIATE ITSELF FROM DIEM'S ANTI-BUDDHIST POLICIES AND TO KEEP THE ARMY ON ITS SIDE THE U.S . FORMALLY ABSOLVED SOUTH VIET NAM'S MILITARY LEADERS OF RESPONSIBILITY IN NHU'S SACKING OF THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES . IN AN UNUSUALLY SHARP STATEMENT, WASHINGTON SAID THAT THE GENERALS WERE " NOT AWARE OF THE PLANS TO ATTACK THE PAGODAS, MUCH LESS THE BRUTAL MANNER IN WHICH THEY WERE CARRIED OUT . " SAIGON BITTERLY DENIED THE WASHINGTON STATEMENT PRODUCED A DOCUMENT SIGNED BY ARMY LEADERS TO THE EFFECT THAT THEY HAD ASKED THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE THE ACTION IT DID . " TOP U.S . INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS COUNTERED THAT ARMY LEADERS HAD BEEN COERCED INTO SIGNING THE DOCUMENT . THE ALTERNATIVE . IN A COUNTRY WHERE INTRIGUE AND DOUBLE-DEALING ARE ENDEMIC, THE ARMY OFFICERS ARE FAR FROM UNITED . BUT ONE TOP VIETNAMESE OFFICIAL SECRETLY IN CONTACT WITH ARMY DISSIDENTS MAINTAINS THAT A COUP CAN AND WILL BE STAGED, THAT BOTH THE MARINES AND THE AIR FORCE WOULD JOIN IN ANY UPRISING, AND THAT THERE ARE ENOUGH DISAFFECTED ARMY UNITS IN SAIGON ITSELF TO NEUTRALIZE TUNG'S SPECIAL FORCES . AT WEEK'S END THERE WERE MUFFLED REPORTS THAT, MEETING IN TWOS AND THREES, OFFICERS HAD AGREED ON A LEADER WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO KEEP DIEM AS TITULAR HEAD OF STATE IF NHU, HIS WIFE, AND BROTHER THUC, ARCHBISHOP OF HUE, WERE ELIMINATED . NO MATTER HOW REAL THE OPPOSITION TO DIEM, THE DISSIDENTS ARE OBVIOUSLY AFRAID THAT THE U.S . MIGHT NOT FULLY BACK THEM IN A COUP . AS A FIRST SIGN OF U.S . SUPPORT, THEY WANT WASHINGTON TO ANNOUNCE CESSATION OF AID TO THE DIEM REGIME . THIS THE U.S . IS NOT PREPARED TO DO BECAUSE IT WOULD ONLY SLASH WHATEVER INFLUENCE THE U.S . HAS IN SOUTH VIET NAM . BESIDES, THE U.S . BELIEVES THAT THE DIEM REGIME CAN KEEP GOING FOR PERHAPS A YEAR EVEN WITHOUT U.S . AID . IF THE OPPOSITION SEEMS TO BELIEVE THAT THE U.S . CANNOT BE COUNTED ON, THE U.S . RECIPROCATES THE FEELING . AS OF LAST WEEK, AT LEAST ONE MAJOR POLICYMAKER IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT FELT THAT THE SOLUTION WAS NOT TO TRY TO FORCE OUT DIEM BUT TO FORCE HIM INTO MORE ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR POSSIBLY CURBING BROTHER NHU AND TAKING OTHER MEASURES TO REDEEM HIMSELF WITH THE BUDDHISTS . CRITICS OF THIS POLICY POINT OUT THAT " CONTROLLING " DIEM HAS BEEN A U.S . AIM FOR YEARS, AND THAT NO ONE HAS YET MANAGED TO DO IT SUCCESSFULLY ; THEY ALSO BELIEVE THAT DIEM WILL NEVER REALLY BREAK WITH NHU OR ANY OTHER MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY . IN THEIR VIEW, DIEM IS NOW HOPELESSLY DISCREDITED, AND THEY URGE A DIFFERENT CIVILIAN RULER POSSIBLY VICE PRESIDENT NGUYEN NGOE THO, WHO HAS OPENLY DISAGREED WITH DIEM BACKED BY SOME EFFICIENT OFFICERS . JUST HOW THIS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IS ANOTHER QUESTION . THE WAR . AS IF THE SITUATION IN SAIGON WERE NOT COMPLICATED ENOUGH, FRANCE'S CHARLES DE GAULLE CHOSE TO ENTER IT WITH AN ORACULAR STATEMENT THAT FRANCE SYMPATHIZED WITH " THE TRIBULATIONS OF THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE, " AND PLEDGED " CORDIAL COOPERATION " WITH " ALL VIET NAM " IN ROOTING OUT " FOREIGN INFLUENCE . " HE CONVENIENTLY OVERLOOKED THE FACT THAT, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR FRANCE'S OWN DISASTROUS DEFEAT IN ITS NINE-YEAR VIETNAMESE WAR, THE COUNTRY WOULD NOT BE IN ITS PRESENT MESS . APART FROM DELIBERATELY ANTAGONIZING THE U.S . AT A MOMENT WHEN IT WAS CAUGHT IN AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT SITUATION, DE GAULLE SOUNDED AS IF HE WERE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE A UNITED VIET NAM, WITH NORTH AND SOUTH TOGETHER AGAIN BUT NEUTRALIZED . THE IDEA SEEMED TO BE SUPPORTED BY NONE OTHER THAN NORTH VIET NAM'S HO CHI MINH, WHO LAST WEEK GLOWINGLY PREDICTED DIEM'S FALL, BUT HINTED THAT HE MIGHT BE FOLLOWED BY A NEUTRALIZED, LAOS-TYPE GOVERNMENT . BY CONTRAST, CHINA'S MAO TSE-TUNG, WHO ALSO COMMENTED ON THE SOUTH VIET NAM SITUATION, SEEMED TO OPPOSE NEUTRALIZATION, AND PREDICTED THAT DIEM WOULD BE FOLLOWED BY JUST ANOTHER " U.S . LACKEY . " IN SAIGON, AMBASSADOR LODGE, THOUGH PLAINLY PLAYING FOR TIME, TOOK HOLD FIRMLY . IN TALKS WITH BOTH DIEM AND NHU (THE LATTER DESCRIBED AS " HOSTILE " BY INSIDERS), LODGE EXPRESSED THE U.S.'S SHARP DISAPPROVAL OF THEIR REPRESSIVE POLICIES . POINTEDLY HE REJECTED THE GOVERNMENT'S DEMAND THAT THE U.S . TURN OVER TWO BUDDHIST MONKS WHO WERE GIVEN SANCTUARY IN THE U.S . AID MISSION BUILDING . LODGE'S DETERMINATION NOT TO BE BUFFALOED IMPRESSED TOP EMBASSY AIDES . / I'M RUNNING THINGS HERE, AND I INTEND TO RUN THEM WITH A FIRM HAND, " HE TOLD STAFFERS . " IF WASHINGTON WANTS A WEASEL FOR THIS JOB, IT CAN FIND SOMEONE ELSE . " LODGE'S FIRST TASK IS TO SEE THAT THE POLITICAL MANEUVERING DOES NOT AFFECT THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG . AT LEAST ONE TROOP UNIT HAS BEEN MOVED FROM A FIGHTING ZONE INTO THE CAPITAL, AND OFFENSIVE MILITARY MISSIONS HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT DIMINISHED . BUT SO FAR, THE WAR AGAINST THE REDS HASN'T BEEN RADICALLY HURT BY EVENTS IN SAIGON .
 EUROPE THIS WAS THE SUMMER THAT WAS " SUMMER'S LEASE HATH ALL TOO SHORT A DATE, " SIGHED SHAKESPEARE IN THE 18TH SONNET, BUT AS FAR AS MOST OF WESTERN EUROPE IS CONCERNED, THE SOONER THE LEASE RUNS OUT THE BETTER . AFTER ONE OF THE WORST WINTERS IN MEMORY, THIS SUMMER HAS PROVED A THING OF WIND AND WETNESS, OF A COOL JULY AND AUGUST SNOWS, OF RECORD RAINS AND BLIGHTED HARVESTS, OF BURGEONING PRICES AND OTHER IRRITANTS . IF SUCH CRISES OF DAILY LIVING WERE MINOR COMPARED WITH THE TEST BAN TREATY OR SOUTH VIET NAM, THEY STILL MEANT A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD TIMES AND BAD FOR MILLIONS OF OTHERWISE FLOURISHING EUROPEANS . .BRITAIN . PLAINLY, THE SEASIDE WAS FIT ONLY FOR THE FISH, AND HOTELKEEPERS REPORTED THAT BOOKINGS WERE OFF 15Q6 . FOR THE HARDY SOULS WHO WENT, GETTING THERE WAS NO FUN EITHER, SINCE BRITAIN HAS ONLY 250 MILES OF SUPERHIGHWAYS (COMPARED WITH GERMANY'S 1,870) . SINCE A SWEEPING MOTORWAYS PLAN WAS ADOPTED SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE BRITISH HAVE BEEN BUILDING ROADS AT MODEL T RATES, AND PLANNERS PALE AT THE THOUGHT THAT BY 1980 THE CURRENT CAR POPULATION OF 6,000,000 WILL HAVE TREBLED . MOTORISTS GROW PLAE AT A MORE IMMEDIATE PROSPECT : " TRANSPORT MINISTER ERNEST MARPLES' PLAN TO IMPOSE PARKING-METER CHARGES OF 35 #$ AN HOUR IN PARTS OF LONDON . PERHAPS MOST SYMBOLIC OF BRITAIN'S SUMMERTIME COMPLAINTS WAS THE STUTTERING PROGRESS ON THE RENOVATION OF NO . 10 DOWNING STREET, RESIDENCE OF BRITISH PRIME MINISTERS SINCE 1735 . A PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION PRONOUNCED THE PLACE A " HORROR " IN 1958, PACKED HAROLD MACMILLAN OFF TO NEARBY ADMIRALTY HOUSE BEFORE THE FLOOR GAVE WAY BENEATH HIM, ESTIMATED THAT IT WOULD TAKE TWO YEARS AND $1,100,000 TO REPAIR THE BUILDING . BUT NO END IS IN SIGHT AFTER FIVE YEARS AND $8,500,000 . MATTERS WERE NOT HELPED BY 14 WORK STOPPAGES . BUT THEN, THE BUILDING WORKERS WERE ONLY FOLLOWING A PATTERN, FOR THIS, AFTER ALL, WAS THE SUMMER WHEN EVEN THE BEEFEATERS IN THE TOWER STRUCK FOR HIGHER WAGES . .FRANCE . WHAT MOST EXASPERATED FRENCHMEN WAS THE FOUL WEATHER . IN BIARRITZ, 400 HOUSES WERE FLOODED IN ONE DAY, AND IN THE SOMME DEPARTMENT, A VACATIONER DIED OF EXPOSURE WHEN HE FOOLHARDILY WENT SWIMMING . THERE WAS ALSO THE WINE CRISIS (SEE WORLD BUSINESS) AND FEAR OF INFLATION . THE LATEST PRICE INCREASES AFFECTED BREAD AND POSTAGE STAMPS ; SINCE CHARLES DE GAULLE CAME TO POWER IN 1958, THE PRICES OF 250 ESSENTIAL ARTICLES HAVE CLIMBED 25 PER CENT , EXCLUDING RENTS, WHICH HAVE SOARED 82 PER CENT . PARIS NEWSPAPERS SPOKE OF A " GRAVE CRISIS, " BUT THE GOVERNMENT PUT OFF A SCHEDULED DISCUSSION OF THE ECONOMIC SITUATION UNTIL MIDMONTH, WHEN AT LEAST THE WEATHER MAY BE BETTER . .GERMANY . DESPITE THE ABUNDANCE OF FOUR-LANE, CEMENT-PAVED AUTOBAHNEN, WHICH ARE BEGINNING TO CRUMBLE AT THE EDGES, 10 MILLION CARS OWNED BY PROSPERING WEST GERMANS AND COUNTLESS TOURIST AUTOS CLOGGED THE ROADS IN WHAT DER SPIEGEL CALLED " THE LONGEST TRAFFIC JAM IN THE HISTORY OF THE OCCIDENT . " ONE TIE-UP STRETCHED 20 MILES, INVOLVED 4,100 CARS . SOME MOTORISTS HAVE BEEN SEEN DRAWING WATER FROM NEARBY BROOKS AND WASHING THEIR CARS WHILE WAITING FOR TRAFFIC TO GET MOVING . WHAT SADDENS SOME GERMANS EVEN MORE THAN THE TRAFFIC IS THE NEWS THAT MORE THAN 200 OF THE ANCIENT DWELLINGS IN HEIDELBERG'S ALTSTADT THE " OLD TOWN " WHERE GENERATIONS OF HEIDELBERG STUDENTS LOVED TO STROLL ARE NEAR COLLAPSE FROM NEGLECT AND FUNGUS ROT . LOATH TO DESTROY THE ALTSTADT (AND ALONG WITH IT A LUCRATIVE TOURIST TRADE), HEIDELBERGERS ARE EQUALLY RELUCTANT TO TRY TO RAISE THE $50 MILLION NEEDED TO RESTORE THE BUILDINGS . .ITALY . SUMMER SKIES WERE SUNNY IN ITALY, BUT THAT CREATED ITS OWN PROBLEMS . TOURISTS FLEEING FROM THE FROZEN NORTH CREATED COLOSSAL TRAFFIC JAMS AT THE BRENNER PASS AND THREE-HOUR TIE-UPS ALONG OTHER ROADS . ITALIANS WHO FLOCKED TO SARDINIA'S MUCH-BALLYHOOED COSTA ESMERALDA, WHERE THE AGA KHAN IS BUILDING A RESORT, FOUND THEMSELVES QUARTERED IN HALF-FINISHED HOTELS WITH NEITHER LIGHTS NOR HOT WATER . AND THE ANNUAL CRUSH OF GERMAN TOURISTS NEVER QUITE MATERIALIZED . OFFENDED BY A RASH OF ITALIAN-MADE ANTI-GERMAN FILMS, SOME GERMAN NEWSPAPERS ADVISED THEIR READERS TO TAKE THEIR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE . THOUSANDS DID SO, HEADED FOR YUGOSLAVIA INSTEAD . .THE LOW COUNTRIES . IN THE NETHERLANDS, THE WEATHER HURT THE CORN CROP AND STUNTED DUTCH BULBS, DRAINING THEM OF THEIR BRILLIANT HUES . IN BELGIUM, THE FLAX CROP IS BAD, AND THE WHEAT HARVEST IN SOME PLACES IS ONE-FOURTH ITS NORMAL SIZE . BUT OF GREATER CONCERN TO THE BELGIANS THAN THE MEAGER HARVEST OR THE TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER WAS A NEW LAW THAT GOES INTO EFFECT THIS WEEK, CREATING A FORMAL LANGUAGE BARRIER ACROSS THE LAND . DUTCH WILL BE THE OFFICIAL TONGUE IN THE FLEMISH NORTH, FRENCH IN THE WALLOON-DOMINATED SOUTH, WITH POCKETS OF BOTH PEOPLES STRANDED ON THE WRONG SIDE . MONTHS OF DEMONSTRATIONS CULMINATED LAST WEEK WHEN HUNDREDS OF FLEMINGS CLASHED WITH WALLOONS AT OSTEND . IT WAS THE BEER-BIBBING BELGIANS, WHOSE PER-CAPITA INFLOW OF 34.3 GALLONS IS THE WORLD'S HIGHEST, WHO PUT A FOAMY HEAD ON A DISHEARTENING SUMMER . THEY SCHEDULED A NATIONAL BEER FESTIVAL AT THE CHATEAU DE FRAITURE IN LIEGE PROVINCE, BUT BEFORE THE GUZZLING COULD EVEN GET STARTED, THE CHATEAU BURNED DOWN, LOCK, STOCK AND BEER BARRELS
 IRON CURTAIN A COLD WAR FAIRY TALE THE GENTLY, WOODED HILLS FRAMING THE EAST GERMAN VILLAGE OF MUPPERG ARE IDEAL FOR A SUNDAY STROLL BUT DISFIGURED BY A FEARSOME SCAR THE 500-YD.-WIDE DEATH STRIP SEALING OFF EAST FROM WEST . GUARDED BY GREPOS (COMMUNIST BORDER POLICE) WITH ORDERS TO SHOOT ANYTHING THAT MOVES, THE NO MAN'S LAND IS SOWN WITH MINES AND FOOT TRAPS, EVERY ONE TIGHTLY LACED WITH THREE ROWS OF BARBED WIRE . TO BLOND LITTLE PETER EICHHORN, 2F YEARS OLD AND TODDLING THROUGH THE WOODS BESIDE HIS TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BROTHER, THE COLD WAR DID NOT EXIST . HE WAS AWARE ONLY OF THE GRASS TICKLING HIS LEGS, THE FUN-CRUNCH OF DRY LEAVES, THE SCENT OF PINE NEEDLES, THE ZIGZAG FLIGHT OF A BUTTERFLY . SUDDENLY, DURING AN UNGUARDED MOMENT, PETER DASHED OFF, BENT ON EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY . BY THE TIME HIS BROTHER NOTICED AND BEGAN SEARCHING FOR HIM, THE TINY TOT WAS BEYOND RECALL, HAPPILY LOST IN THE THICKETS AND FOREST LEADING TO THE DEATH STRIP . THREE HOURS LATER, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EAST-WEST BARRIER, A WEST GERMAN COUPLE ENJOYING AN AFTERNOON WALK CAME UPON A LITTLE BOY CURLED UP IN THE GRASS SOUND ASLEEP . HIS FACE WAS DIRTSMUDGED, HE HAD LOST ONE SHOE, THERE WAS A SCRATCH ON HIS CHEEK BUT OTHERWISE HE SEEMED ALL RIGHT . THE YOUNGEST EAST GERMAN REFUGEE EVIDENTLY HAD CROSSED THE IRON CURTAIN WITH THE EASE OF BR'ER RABBIT SKIPPING THROUGH THE BRIAR PATCH, SOMEHOW MISSING THE MINES AND THE GAZE OF THE GREPOS . WHEN HE WOKE UP, HE COULD ONLY SAY : " ICH HEISSE PETER (MY NAME IS PETER) . " THAT NIGHT THE BOY'S FRANTIC FATHER, A SMALL FARMER, TELEPHONED ACROSS THE BORDER FROM MUPPERG, ASKING IF ANYONE HAD SEEN HIS LOST SON, AND WAS TOLD THAT THE BOY WOULD BE RETURNED SOON . TAKEN TO AN ORPHANAGE IN COBURG, THE RUNAWAY HAD A PARTY THROWN IN HIS HONOR, WAS SHOWERED WITH LOLLIPOPS, BANANAS, TOYS AND CLOTHING RARE LUXURIES FOR AN EAST ZONE CHILD . TWO DAYS LATER, BUNDLED INTO THE INTERZONAL TRAIN AND STUFFED WITH GOODIES, PETER WAS RETURNED, PAST EMBARRASSED GREPOS TO HIS PARENTS AND A COMMUNIST WORLD HE DOESN'T YET UNDERSTAND .
 BLUE BLACK GOD ! GLAD I'M BLACK ; PITCH-FORKING DEVIL BLACK : BLACK, BLACK, BLACK ; FF BLACK ABSOLUTE OF LIFE COMPLETE, GREEDFULLY GRABBING LIFE'S LIVING . . . BLACK BLUES THE BLUES IS THE BLACK O' THE FACE, I SAID : BLACK IS THE BLUES' FACE ; IT'S BLACK IN THE MORNIN' BEIGE IN THE SUN, AND BLUE BLACK ALL NIGHT LONG . OH, THE BLUES IS A BLACK DEVIL FACE, I SAID : DEVIL BLACK IS THE BLUES' FACE ; IT'S BLACK IN THE MORNIN' BEIGE IN THE SUN, AND BLUE BLACK ALL NIGHT LONG . MY BABY, SAID TO ME, DADDY ; SIT DOWN AND LISTEN, CANDY : THE BLUES IS IN YOUR BLOOD, BLACK DOWN DEEP IN YOUR SKIN AND THE DEVIL RIDES ON YOUR BACK . THE MEAN BLACK BLUES GOT MY DADDY, THOSE BLACK MEAN BLUES GOT YOU, DADDY ; YOU'RE BLACK IN THE MORNIN' BEIGE IN THE SUN, CANDY BLACK ALL NIGHT LONG . BLOKE MODISANE (SOUTH AFRICA) BLACKMAN'S GOD OUR GOD IS GREAT WHO DARE DENY IT OUR GOD IS GREAT POWERFUL AND DARK PEERING THROUGH AGES HEALING, KILLING, GUIDING . OUR GOD IS BLACK AND LIKE A GODDAMNED GOD GUIDING WHEN LOVING KILLING WHEN ANGERED . OUR GOD IS POWERFUL ALL-POWERFUL AND BLACK AND LIKE ALL DEITIES OUR GODHEAD LIKES BLOOD WHETHER IT BE BLOOD OF ISAAC OR RAM OUR GOD LIKES BLOOD . . . FRANCIS KOBINA PARKES (GHANA) WHO KNOWS ? WHO KNOWS ? THIS AFRICA SO RICHLY BLEST WITH GOLDEN LANDS AND FRONDED PALMS IN AIR, THE ENVY OF GREAT NATIONS FAR AND NEAR, MAY YET THE WORLD LEAD BACK TO PEACE AND REST, GOODWILL TO ALL . WHO KNOWS ? WHO KNOWS ? AND WHEN THE FULLNESS OF GOD'S TIME HAS COME AND MEN OF DIVERS COLORS, TRIBES AND CASTES HAVE OWNED HIM KING ; WHEN HATE AND SIN ARE PASSED, THE PRINCE OF PEACE MAY FOUND HIS HOME IN AFRICA AT LAST . WHO KNOWS ? WHO KNOWS ? A . L . MILNER-BROWN (GHANA) MOTHER DARK MOTHER LAND LONG LAIN ASLEEP HER PEOPLE LOVED THEY LIVED AND KILLED TO LIVE BY NATURE'S LAW . SOULS TO SAVE THE STRANGERS SOUGHT, RICHES, SOME KNOWLEDGE, THEY NAMED HER " DARK " YES, DARK WAS SHE IN EVERY SENSE WAS DARK . THEY BROUGHT " THE LIGHT " AND WITH THE LIGHT SHE SAW HER CHILDREN LED IN CHAINS THEIR WEARIED STEPS QUICKENED BY THE LASH OF CAIN . . . MOTHER DARK SHE WAS DARK, VERY DARK CRIED OUT AND HER VOICE SHOOK ALL THE WORLD, FREE MY PEOPLE SET MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS FREE ! THE BEARERS OF LIGHT MADE BOLD RETREAT SILENT DIGNIFIED FAREWELL POMP AND SPLENDOUR, SAVING GRACE THE SPOILT CHILD AMIDST A THOUSAND SHELLS WITHDREW . MOTHER DARK HER RULERS CHOSE ALL BRANDED WITH HER MARK . ALAS ! THEY LEARNED TOO WELL THE " LIGHT " THEN BROUGHT HOME THE YOKE . MOTHER DARK HER WOUNDED HEART WAILED LOUD IN PAIN, IS THERE NO HOPE ? MY CHILDREN PERISH ! BUT HER VOICE IS NOT HEARD FOR HER CHILDREN NOW OPPRESS HER CHILDREN . FRANCESCA YETUNDE PEREIRA (NIGERIA) AFRICAN POETRY WHERE GOD IS BLACK MOST BLACK AFRICANS ONLY LEARNED TO WRITE DOWN THEIR SONGS AND TALES IN THE PAST HUNDRED YEARS, BUT THEY ARE HEIRS TO CENTURIES OF ORAL LITERATURE . IN THEIR SEARCH FOR AN AFRICAN IDENTITY, THE CONTINENT'S CONTEMPORARY POETS MANY OF THEM LEADING POLITICIANS TODAY HAVE FORSAKEN THEIR MISSION-SCHOOL GOLDEN TREASURY TO REDISCOVER THE PAGAN RHYMES AND RHYTHMS THAT ENLIVENED TRIBAL LIFE LONG BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME . SAYS LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR, WHO IS BLACK AFRICA'S MOST DISTINGUISHED POET AS WELL AS PRESIDENT OF SENEGAL : " POETRY MUST FIND ITS WAY BACK TO ITS ORIGINS . " THE ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE AND REVIVE THESE ORIGINS IS ILLUSTRATED IN A NEW ANTHOLOGY, POEMS FROM BLACK AFRICA (INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS ; $4.95), EDITED BY U.S . NEGRO POET LANGSTON HUGHES . SOME OF THE POETS ARE SELF-CONSCIOUSLY PRIMITIVE, AND A FEW OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING ONES WRITE WITH ECHOES OF T . S . ELIOT OR GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS . BUT THEY ARE ALSO BUSY TRANSCRIBING AND TRANSLATING TRADITIONAL FOLK TO ADHIAMBO I HEAR MANY VOICES LIKE IT'S SAID A MADMAN HEARS ; I HEAR TREES TALKING LIKE IT'S SAID A MEDICINE MAN HEARS . MAYBE I'M A MADMAN, I'M A MEDICINE MAN . MAYBE I'M MAD ; FOR THE VOICES ARE LURING ME, URGING ME FROM THE MIDNIGHT MOON AND THE SILENCE OF MY DESK TO WALK ON WAVE CRESTS ACROSS A SEA . MAYBE I'M A MEDICINE MAN HEARING TALKING SAPS, SEEING BEHIND TREES ; BUT WHO'S LOST HIS POWERS OF INVOCATION . BUT THE VOICES AND THE TREES ARE ONE NAME SPELLING AND ONE FIGURE SILENCE-ETCHED ACROSS THE MOONFACE IS WALKING, STEPPING OVER CONTINENTS AND SEAS . AND I RAISED MY HAND MY TREMBLING HAND, GRIPPING MY HEART AS HANDKERCHIEF AND WAVED AND WAVED AND WAVED BUT SHE TURNED HER EYES AWAY . GABRIEL OKARA (NIGERIA) TO NEW YORK FOR JAZZ ORCHESTRA : TRUMPET SOLO POETRY AND EVOLVING WHAT ANTHOLOGIST HUGHES HOPEFULLY DESCRIBES AS A LITERATURE THAT " WALKS WITH GRACE AND ALREADY IS BEGINNING TO ACHIEVE AN INDIVIDUALITY QUITE ITS OWN . " MOST OF THE BLACK NEW WAVE POETS ARE CONCERNED WITH NEGRITUDE, A FRENCH WORD FOR THE ESSENCE OF BLACKNESS AND, BY EXTENSION, FOR A WORLD IN WHICH DESPAIR IS WHITE, WHILE GOD AND INNOCENCE ARE BLACK . MANY WRITERS CELEBRATE NATURE AND MEMORIES OF A PRISTINE AFRICA . MOST ARE PREOCCUPIED BY THE WEST'S FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND THEM . BUT IN THEIR POETRY IF NOT IN THEIR U.N . SPEECHES AFRICANS WASTE SURPRISINGLY LITTLE TIME INVEIGHING AGAINST IMPERIALISM, NOTWITHSTANDING A TIRADE BY A PART-TIME POET NAMED PATRICE LUMUMBA, THE LATE, RABBLEROUSING CONGOLESE LEADER ( " FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, YOU, AFRICAN, SUFFERED LIKE A BEAST . . . " ) . A SAMPLER OF VOICES FROM THE NEW AFRICA : FIRST I WAS CONFUSED BY YOUR BEAUTY, BY THOSE GREAT GOLDEN LONG-LEGGED GIRLS . SO SHY AT FIRST BEFORE YOUR METALLIC EYES, YOUR FROSTED SMILE SO SHY . AND THE ANGUISH IN THE DEPTHS OF SKYSCRAPER STREETS LIFTING EYES HAWKHOODED TO THE SUN'E ECLIPSE . SULPHUROUS YOUR LIGHT AND LIVID THE TOWERS WITH HEADS THAT THUNDERBOLT THE SKY THE SKYSCRAPERS WHICH DEFY THE STORMS WITH MUSCLES OF STEEL AND STONE-GLAZED HIDE . FF BUT TWO WEEKS ON THE BARE SIDEWALKS OF MANHATTAN AT THE END OF THE THIRD WEEK THE FEVER SEIZES YOU WITH THE POUNCE OF A LEOPARD . . . NEW YORK ! I SAY TO YOU : NEW YORK ! LET BLACK BLOOD FLOW INTO YOUR BLOOD THAT IT MAY RUB THE RUST FROM YOUR STEEL JOINTS, LIKE AN OIL OF LIFE THAT IT MAY GIVE TO YOUR BRIDGES THE BEND OF BUTTOCKS AND THE SUPPLENESS OF CREEPERS . NOW RETURN THE MOST AICIENT TIMES, THE UNITY RECOVERED, THE RECONCILIATION OF THE LION, THE BULL AND THE TREE THOUGHTS LINKED TO ACT, EAR TO HEART, SIGN TO SENSE . THERE ARE YOUR RIVERS MURMURING WITH SCENTED CROCODILES AND MIRAGE-EYED MANATEES . AND NO NEED TO INVENT THE SIRENS . BUT IT IS ENOUGH TO OPEN EYES TO THE RAINBOW OF APRIL AND THE EARS, ABOVE ALL THE EARS, TO GOD WHO OUT OF THE LAUGH OF A SAXOPHONE CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH IN SIX DAYS . AND THE SEVENTH DAY HE SLEPT THE GREAT SLEEP OF THE NEGRO . LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR (SENEGAL) WHERE THE RAINBOW ENDS WHERE THE RAINBOW ENDS THERE'S GOING TO BE A PLACE, BROTHER, WHERE THE WORLD CAN SING ALL SORTS OF SONGS, AND WE'RE GOING TO SING TOGETHER, BROTHER, YOU AND I, THOUGH YOU'RE WHITE AND I'M NOT . IT'S GOING TO BE A SAD SONG, BROTHER, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW THE TUNE, AND IT'S A DIFFICULT TUNE TO LEARN . BUT WE CAN LEARN, BROTHER, YOU AND I . THERE'S NO SUCH TUNE AS A BLACK TUNE . THERE'S NO SUCH TUNE AS A WHITE TUNE . THERE'S ONLY MUSIC, BROTHER, AND IT'S MUSIC WE'RE GOING TO SING WHERE THE RAINBOW ENDS . RICHARD RIVE (SOUTH AFRICA)
 SOUTH AFRICA BLOCKADE IN THE AIR TWENTY MINUTES FROM NIAMEY, NIGER, APPROACHING FOR A NIGHT LANDING, THE PILOT OF THE CHARTERED SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTELLATION RECEIVED AN UNSETTLING MESSAGE FROM THE CONTROL TOWER : TURN AWAY OR HAVE THE PLANE SEIZED ON THE GROUND . WITH HIS FUEL TANKS ALMOST EMPTY, THE PILOT HAD TO SET DOWN ANYWAY, AND THE CONNIE, ITS CREW AND 79 PASSENGERS MOST OF THEM WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS RETURNING FROM EUROPEAN HOLIDAY WERE SURROUNDED BY BLACK GUARDS ARMED WITH RUSTY RIFLES . NOT UNTIL 24 HOURS LATER WAS THE FLIGHT ALLOWED TO RESUME, AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES WARNED THAT IN THE FUTURE INTRUDING SOUTH AFRICAN PLANES WOULD BE CONFISCATED . AT LAST MAY'S AFRICAN " SUMMIT CONFERENCE " IN ADDIS ABABA, SOUTH AFRICA'S NEIGHBORS CALLED FOR AN ECONOMIC BOYCOTT, TO INCLUDE THE BANNING OF SOUTH AFRICAN AIRCRAFT FROM AIRPORTS AND AIRSPACE . BY LAST WEEK AN AIR CURTAIN HAD CLOSED AFRICAN SKIES TO SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS, WHOSE PROUD SYMBOL IS A WINGED SPRINGBOK, FORCING ITS PLANES INTO A TORTUOUS DETOUR . UNTIL LAST MONTH, S.A.A.'S BOEING 707 JETS OPERATED TWO EFFICIENT ROUTES BETWEEN JOHANNESBURG AND EUROPE ONE ALONG AFRICA'S EAST FRINGE, VIA NAIROBI, KENYA ; THE OTHER ALMOST DUE NORTH VIA BRAZZAVILLE, IN THE ONCE-FRENCH CONGO . TROUBLE BEGAN WHEN, IMPLEMENTING THE ADDIS ABABA AGREEMENT, EGYPT, ALGERIA, ETHIOPIA AND SUDAN BARRED SOUTH AFRICAN AIRCRAFT FROM OVERFLYING THEIR TERRITORIES . S.A.A . REROUTED ALL ITS FLIGHTS OVER LIBYA . BUT THEN LIBYA ALSO JOINED THE AIR BLOCKADE . FORTNIGHT AGO S.A.A . INAUGURATED A CAREFULLY PREPARED, OUT-OF-THE-WAY ALTERNATE ROUTE AROUND WEST AFRICA'S BULGE, VIA BRAZZAVILLE (WHICH SO FAR HAS NOT JOINED THE BAN), LUANDA, CAPITAL OF PORTUGUESE ANGOLA, AND LAS PALMAS IN THE SPANISH CANARY ISLANDS (SEE MAP) . THE " APARTHEID ROUTE " TAKES ABOUT 900 MILES AND TWO HOURS LONGER TO EUROPE, COSTS AN ESTIMATED $3,000 MORE TO OPERATE EACH WAY, SO THAT S.A.A . MAY WELL BE HARD PRESSED TO PRESERVE ITS SHARE OF THE LUCRATIVE EUROPEAN MARKET AS WELL AS LAST YEAR'S HANDSOME $1,500,000 PROFIT . AS USUAL, SOUTH AFRICA'S WHITE REGIME TOOK ITS LATEST HUMILIATION IN STOLID STRIDE . FOLLOWING AN AGREEMENT QUIETLY SIGNED LAST MAY WITH PORTUGAL, ITS LIKEMINDED ALLY, SOUTH AFRICA IS PUTTING UP $5,300,000 TO HELP CONSTRUCT A JET AIRPORT ON THE CAPE VERDE ISLAND OF SAL AS AN ADDITIONAL REFUELING STOP . SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER OF TRANSPORT BEN SCHOEMAN ASSURED EVERYONE THAT THE ISLAND-HOPPING DETOUR IS EVERY BIT AS SAFE AS THE OLD ROUTES . " WE ARE FLYING AND WILL KEEP FLYING, " HE VOWED . THE AIRLINE HAS ALREADY LAUNCHED AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN EXTOLLING THE SCENIC CHARMS OF SUCH OFFBEAT PLACES AS LUANDA AND LAS PALMAS, AND A CAPE TOWN COLUMNIST ELOQUENTLY EXTOLLED THE USES OF ADVERSITY . " BOYCOTTS HAVE TURNED US INTO SMARTER SALESMEN, " THE PUNDIT WROTE . " ARMS EMBARGOES HAVE FORCED US TO MAKE OUR OWN WEAPONS, AND THE AIR BAN HAS SENT A PATRIOTIC THRILL RUNNING DOWN THE SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS FUSELAGE . /
 MALAYSIA TUNKU YES, SUKARNO NO " IN STEAMY, PALM-SHADED KUCHING, CAPITAL OF SARAWAK, THE DAY'S BIGGEST EXCITEMENT IS THE FIRING OF THE 8 P.M . CANNON ON THE LAWN OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE . " WHAT A DULL PLACE, " SAID A UNITED NATIONS OFFICIAL . " I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'RE GOING TO SURVIVE THREE WEEKS HERE . " AT THE INSISTENCE OF INDONESIA'S PRESIDENT SUKARNO, AN EIGHT-MEMBER U.N . TEAM IS PRESENT TO " ASCERTAIN / WHETHER SARAWAK, AND NORTH BORNEO REALLY WANT TO JOIN THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA, WHICH SUKARNO BITTERLY OPPOSES . AS THE U.N . ASCERTAINERS BEGAN TO SAMPLE OPINIONS AROUND SARAWAK, THEY WERE NEARLY STONED, NOT BORED, TO DEATH . IN THE CHINESE-DOMINATED TOWN OF SIBU, THE RED-INFILTRATED SARAWAK UNITED PEOPLE'S PARTY (SUPP) STAGED A DEMONSTRATION THAT TURNED INTO A 90-MINUTE, STONE-THROWING RIOT . ONLY AFTER POLICE FIRED WARNING SHOTS TO DISPERSE THE MOB COULD THE U.N . TEAM SIT DOWN AMIDST BROKEN GLASS IN A METHODIST SCHOOLHOUSE TO INTERVIEW LOCAL COUNCILORS . IN MIRI, SARAWAK'S OIL-REFINING CENTER, 3,008 CHINESE-SUPPORTED YOUTHS, WIELDING STONES AND BOTTLES, SCREAMED ANTI-MALAYSIA SLOGANS UNTIL THE POLICE OPENED FIRE, WOUNDING TWO, AND TEAR GAS FORCED THEM TO SCATTER . DATE SET . SUCH OUTBURSTS WILL SLIGHTLY DELAY BUT NOT DERAIL THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA, ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR AUG . 31 . IN LAST SUMMER'S GENERAL ELECTIONS, VOTERS IN BOTH SARAWAK AND NORTH BORNEO DECISIVELY DEFEATED ANTI-FEDERATION PARTIES . ALTHOUGH INDONESIA'S SHADOW LOOMS LARGE, THE BORNED PEOPLE KNOW THEY HAVE NOTHING TO GAIN FROM DJAKARTA BUT ECONOMIC CHAOS AND DEMAGOGUERY . MALAYAN PRIME MINISTER TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN AND BRITISH COLONIAL SECRETARY DUNCAN SANDYS, WHO HASTILY FLEW TO THE SCENE, LAST WEEK SET SEPT . 16 AS THE NEW BIRTH DATE FOR THE FEDERATION TWO DAYS AFTER THE U.N . MISSION'S FINDINGS WILL BE MADE PUBLIC . BOTH ARE SURE THAT THE U.N . WILL FIND A CLEAR MAJORITY IN FAVOR OF MALAYSIA, BUT THEY INSIST THAT THE FEDERATION WILL COME INTO BEING REGARDLESS OF THE REPORT . THE BRITISH LAST WEEK ALSO TURNED OVER INTERNAL SELF-GOVERNMENT TO BORNEO AND SARAWAK . IN A WRANGLE OVER DETAILS WITH THE BRITISH, INDONESIA FAILED TO SEND OBSERVERS TO THE U.N . MISSION, THUS GIVING SUKARNO AN EXCUSE TO QUESTION THE U.N . FINDINGS LATER . BUT FACED WITH BRITISH DETERMINATION TO DEFEND MALAYSIA BY FORCE, IF NECESSARY, SUKARNO SAID : " IF THE BORNEO PEOPLES AGREE TO JOIN MALAYSIA, WE WILL HAVE TO BOW OUR HEADS AND OBEY . " BUT, ADDED SUKARNO, IN AN UNBOWED POSTSCRIPT : " INDONESIA MAINTAINS ITS OPPOSITION TO MALAYSIA . " BOOK LEARNING . AN INDONESIAN GUERRILLA CAMPAIGN AGAINST BORNEO AND SARAWAK MAY WELL CONTINUE, SINCE DJAKARTA ALWAYS NEEDS A FOREIGN DIVERSION TO DRAW ATTENTION FROM DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES . IN INDONESIAN BORNEO, WHICH ADJOINS SARAWAK, SUKARNO HAS SET UP GUERRILLA CAMPS ALONG 200 MILES OF BORDER, AND IS TRAINING 1,000 RED-LINING CHINESE FROM SARAWAK, FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINES OF INDONESIAN DEFENSE MINISTER GENERAL ABDUL HARIS NASUTION, AN EXPERT ON GUERRILLA WARFARE WHO HAS WRITTEN HIS OWN BOOK ON THE SUBJECT . BANDS OF HIS GUERRILLAS PUSHED ACROSS THE BORDER TO RAID DYAK VILLAGES CLASHED WITH PATROLS OF BRITISH-LED GURKHAS AND SARAWAK POLICE . IN A FIRE FIGHT TEN MILES INSIDE SARAWAK, THE INDONESIANS KILLED A BRITISH LIEUTENANT AND WOUNDED SEVERAL GURKHAS BEFORE BEING ROUTED WITH HEAVY LOSSES . MEANWHILE, BRITISH OFFICERS ARE STUDYING NASUTION'S BOOK FOR CLUES TO STOP FURTHER INDONESIAN INCURSIONS . SO FAR, INDONESIAN TERRORIST ATTACKS HAVE ONLY SERVED TO CREATE A SURGE OF PRO-MALAYSIA FEELING IN BORNEO AND SARAWAK . ALMOST NIGHTLY, THE INDONESIAN EMBASSY IN NORTH BORNEO IS PLASTERED WITH SLOGANS READING " TUNKU YES, SUKARNO NO . " ALTHOUGH HIS PEOPLE STOPPED HEAD-HUNTING YEARS AGO, ONE DYAK CHIEF TOLD THE U.N . FACT FINDERS THAT / IF ANY MORE INDONESIAN BANDITS COME INTO OUR TERRITORY, THEY MAY LOSE THEIR HEADS . /
 AMEN ! FOR GENERATIONS THE WHITE WOMEN'S BURDEN IN STEAMY SOUTHEAST ASIA HAS BEEN SHOULDERED BY AMAHS, THE SOFTFOOTED, TOUGH-FIBERED MAIDSERVANTS WHO WERE RECRUITED FROM THE CHINESE MAINLAND . WHILE THE AMAH (LITERALLY, " LITTLE MOTHER / ) COOKED, CLEANED AND LOOKED AFTER THE CHILDREN, THE COLONEL'S LADY OR PLANTER'S WIFE SPENT HER MORNINGS AT TENNIS, HER AFTERNOONS AT BRIDGE, AND APPEARED FRESHLY STARCHED ON THE VERANDA AT SUNDOWN TO GREET HER RETURNING HUSBAND WITH COLD STINGERS, HOT CURRY AND ETERNAL COMPLAINT ABOUT THE HARDSHIPS OF LIFE IN THE TROPICS . IN MALAYA AND SINGAPORE TODAY, A MEM-SAHIB IS MORE APT TO SPEND HER DAY SCREAMING AT THE AMAH, DOING THE HOUSEWORK HERSELF, OR ELSE TRYING TO POACH THE PERFECT GEM WHO WORKS FOR THE ARBUTHNOTS . FOR THE OLD-STYLE AMAHS, WHOSE WHITE TUNICS, BLACK SILK PAJAMA TROUSERS AND SMOOTHLY BRAIDED HAIR MADE THEM LOOK LIKE PIGTAILED PENGUINS, BELONG TO A DYING RACE . SMASHED WEDGWOOD . MOST NEW NATIONS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE ALREADY WITH CHINESE MINORITIES AND ARE DEAD-SET AGAINST BRINGING IN MORE REFUGEES FROM THE MAINLAND . HASTENING THEIR EXTINCTION IS THE FACT THAT MANY OF THE FINER AMAHS ARE CANTONESE WOMEN WHO TRADITIONALLY BELONG TO KONGSIS, OR SISTERHOODS, THAT PLEDGE THEM TO SPINSTERHOOD . AMAHS FROM HAINAN, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE USUALLY MARRIED . THEIR HUSBANDS USED TO BE ADMIRABLE CRICHTONS OF COLONIAL SOCIETY, AND THEIR DAUGHTERS IN TIME USED TO FOLLOW MOTHER'S FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE GLEAMING FLOORS . THOUGH WELL-TRAINED AMAHS NOWADAYS EARN UP TO $70 A MONTH A HIGH WAGE FOR MALAYA THEIR DAUGHTERS MOSTLY PREFER OFFICE AND FACTORY JOBS THAT GIVE THEM GREATER FREEDOM WITH NO OVERTONES OF COLONIALISM . THEIR PLACES ARE BEING TAKEN BY A NEW GENERATION OF FLIBBERTIGIBBETS WHOSE MINDS ARE APT TO BE MORE ON MEN THAN HELPING THE " MEM . " MOSTLY MALAYAN OR INDIAN GIRLS, WITH A SPRINKLING OF UNTRAINED CHINESE, THEY ARE PRETTIER AND MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN THEIR FOREBEARS AND, SAY THEIR MEMS, OFTEN DOWNRIGHT INSOLENT . FOR THEIR PART, THE MAIDS COMPLAIN BITTERLY THAT THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING MALAYAN MIDDLE CLASS IS EVEN MORE TYRANNICAL THAN THE BOSSIEST BRITONS . IF FLEDGLING AMAHS HAVE A TALENT FOR SMASHING THE WEDGWOOD, THE WIVES OF BRITISH SOLDIERS AND TECHNICIANS, COMING FROM A LAND WHERE SERVANTS HAVE VANISHED FROM ALL BUT THE STATELIEST HOMES, TEND TO BE EVEN CLUMSIER AT HANDLING THE HELP . WAILED ONE SUB-LIEUTENANT'S WIFE WHO RECENTLY HIRED HER FIRST MAID : / I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO TREAT HER AS A SERVANT OR A SISTER . " FRINGE BENEFITS . THE AMAHS' ANSWER IS THAT THEY SHOULD BE TREATED AS CIVIL SERVANTS . IN MALAYA AN ARMY OF 1,000 AMAHS DONNED SUNDAY-BEST SARONGS, CHEONGSAMS AND SARIS, PILED INTO A FLEET OF BUSSES AND DROVE INTO KUALA LUMPUR, THE CAPITAL, WHERE THEY MINCED PRETTILY THROUGH THE WINDING STREETS WAVING PLACARDS INSCRIBED : WE WANT JUSTICE AND WE ARE NOT ANIMALS . THE DEMONSTRATION, WHICH LEFT BLIMPS SNORTING AND OLDSTYLE AMAHS SNEERING, CLIMAXED A COMPLICATED DISPUTE IN WHICH THE AMAHS' UNION IS CHALLENGING A BRITISH WAR OFFICE DECISION TO ABANDON ITS PRACTICE OF HIRING AND FIRING ALL THE AMAHS EMPLOYED BY MILITARY PERSONNEL . SOME 3,000 UNIONIZED AMAHS HAVE ALREADY FORCED THE BRITISH TO BOOST THEIR PAY AND CUT THEIR WORK TIME FROM 70 TO 48 HOURS WEEKLY . BY REMAINING GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, THEY HOPE ALSO TO WIN FULL CIVIL SERVICE STATUS, WITH ITS RICH WELFARE BENEFITS . IN ITS ZEAL, THE UNION EVEN CABLED LONDON, " RESPECTFULLY " REQUESTING QUEEN ELIZABETH TO INTERVENE IN THE DISPUTE . AFTER UNSUCCESSFUL TALKS WITH THE MILITARY AND BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER SIR GEOFROY TORY, THE AROUSED AMAHS LAST WEEK DIRELY THREATENED A WALKOUT . FOR MANY OF THEIR MEMS, NO HELP AT ALL COULD HARDLY BE WORSE THAN THE HELPLESS HELP THEY HAD .
 COMMUNISTS ADVICE FROM THE HOST WINDING UP HIS 15-DAY STATE VISIT TO YUGOSLAVIA LAST WEEK, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV FOUND HIMSELF PLAYING AN UNUSUAL ROLE THAT OF LISTENER . EVIDENTLY HE HOPED TO OFFSET THE RUSSIAN SPLIT WITH RED CHINA BY GETTING CLOSER TO TITO, WITH WHOM RELATIONS EVER SINCE 1955 HAVE ALTERNATED BETWEEN FAIRLY WARM AND FAIRLY CHILLY . KHRUSHCHEV NOT ONLY SWALLOWED TITO'S DETERMINATION TO MAINTAIN HIS STATUS AS A COMMUNIST " INDEPENDENT, " BUT IN A FOUR-DAY SESSION AT THE ISLAND RETREAT OF BRIONI PATIENTLY LISTENED TO HIS HOST'S ADVICE ON HOW TO OUTBID THE CHINESE IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RED WORLD . RED SUMMIT . ACCORDING TO PROBABLY DELIBERATE CONFERENCE LEAKS, TITO TOLD KHRUSHCHEV THAT RUSSIA MUST PLAY UP TO THE EMERGING AFRO-ASIAN NATIONS TO HALT INCREASING CHINESE PENETRATION . ADDED TITO : AS LONG AS CHINA IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE U.N . (BOTH RUSSIA AND YUGOSLAVIA FAVOR PEKING'S ADMISSION, BUT WITH WANING ENTHUSIASM), MOSCOW COULD MAKE HEADWAY BY SUPPORTING THE AFRO-ASIAN DRIVE FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE U.N . SECURITY AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS . TITO ALSO SAID THAT RUSSIA IS BEING TOO DOCTRINAIRE IN WRITING OFF AFRO-ASIAN COUNTRIES SUCH AS SYRIA, ALGERIA, EGYPT AND IRAQ, WHICH HAVE OUTLAWED LOCAL COMMUNIST PARTIES . SINCE MOST OF THE EMERGING STATES ARE ADOPTING ONE-PARTY SOCIALIST GOVERNMENTS ANYWAY, SAID TITO, THE SOVIETS SHOULD BACK THEM FOR THE TIME BEING, WORRY ABOUT PUSHING COMMUNISM LATER . TITO AND KHRUSHCHEV AGREED TO HOLD AN ANTI-CHINESE COMMUNIST SUMMIT CONFERENCE SOON, BOTH TO CONSOLIDATE RUSSIA'S POSITION IN THE CONFLICT WITH CHINA AND TO STATE FORMALLY THAT CHINESE WARMONGERING IS FAR MORE HARMFUL TO WORLD COMMUNISM THAN YUGOSLAVIA'S " REVISIONISM . " BUT TITO AND HIS GUEST SEEMED TO SHY AWAY FROM MUCH CLOSER RELATIONS . TITO IGNORED KHRUSHCHEV'S APPARENT DESIRE TO ADDRESS THE YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT, AND RUSSIA COLD-SHOULDERED YUGOSLAVIA'S REQUEST FOR MASSIVE ECONOMIC AID, GRANTED BELGRADE ONLY OBSERVER STATUS IN COMECON, THE SATELLITES' MORE OR LESS COMMON MARKET . " DIFFERENCES STILL EXIST BETWEEN US ON PARTY MATTERS, " SAID ONE YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL . " IF WE PRESS FOR CLOSER CONTACTS, AN OPEN QUARREL MIGHT DEVELOP . " ON TO CUBA . AT A JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH TITO, KHRUSHCHEV ANNOUNCED THAT HE IS NOT COMING TO THE U.N . GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN NEW YORK THIS MONTH BUT IS GOING TO CUBA INSTEAD, ALSO HINTED THAT HE MIGHT BE AVAILABLE FOR A VISIT TO EGYPT . THEN HE GAVE THE PRESS A SAMPLE OF HIS FAMOUS EARTHINESS . WHEN A QUESTIONER SOUGHT TO BRING OUT DISCORD BETWEEN RUSSIA AND YUGOSLAVIA BY ASKING HIM TO COMPARE LIVING STANDARDS IN THE TWO COUNTRIES (HIGHER IN YUGOSLAVIA), KHRUSHCHEV GOT ANGRY . " WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO SNIFF A SMELL FROM THE RECTUM ? " HE SAID . " THIS IS NOT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PART OF THE BODY . " ANYWAY, KHRUSHCHEV ADDED BLISSFULLY, SOVIET RELATIONS WITH YUGOSLAVIA ARE " ETERNAL . /
 UNITED NATIONS ANGER IN THE COUNCIL ADLAI STEVENSON HAD NOT BEEN SO ANGRY IN THE U.N . SINCE LAST YEAR'S CUBAN CRISIS . " THIS REPREHENSIBLE ACT OF MURDER, " HE SAID BEFORE THE SECURITY COUNCIL, " DESERVES THE STRONGEST CONDEMNATION . OUTRAGES OF THIS KIND CANNOT PASS WITHOUT THE STERN DISAPPROVAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY . / STEVENSON WAS REFERRING TO A BLOODY FLARE-UP ON THE ISRAELI-SYRIAN FRONTIER TOUCHED OFF, ISRAEL CHARGED, WHEN TEN SYRIAN SOLDIERS SNEAKED ACROSS THE JORDAN RIVER AND THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE AND MACHINE-GUNNED TWO 19-YEAR-OLD FARMERS IRRIGATING A KIBBUTZ FIELD NORTH OF THE SEA OF GALILEE . THE SYRIANS DENIED THE KILLINGS, ACCUSED ISRAEL OF SENDING 15 ARMORED CARS CHARGING ACROSS THE BORDER . LAST WEEK, WITH BOTH COUNTRIES HAVING BROUGHT COMPLAINTS TO AN EMERGENCY SESSION OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL (ITS 202ND SESSION ON A PALESTINE-RELATED ISSUE), THE U.N.'S TRUCE CHIEF ON THE SCENE, NORWEGIAN LIEUT . GENERAL ODD BULL, LEFT LITTLE DOUBT THAT SYRIA HAD BEEN THE AGGRESSOR . BACKED UP BY PHOTOGRAPHS, SPENT BULLETS AND DIAGRAMS, BULL'S REPORT TOLD OF FINDING " TWO DEAD BODIES RIDDLED WITH HOLES ; A TRACTOR WITH NUMEROUS BULLET HOLES ; A MAGAZINE FROM AN AUTOMATIC WEAPON ; A LEVER HANDLE FROM A GRENADE ; . . . A POOL OF BLOOD WHERE ONE MAN ALLEGEDLY HAD BEEN SHOT, LEAVING PART OF HIS BRAIN ; TRACKS LEADING FROM THE DIRECTION OF THE JORDAN RIVER TO THE AMBUSH POSITION AND THE TRACKS RETURNING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE JORDAN RIVER . " IN THE PAST, ISRAEL HAS USUALLY MADE ROUTINE COMPLAINTS TO THE U.N . WHEN THERE WERE TRUCE BREACHES ON THE BRISTLING BORDER, THEN STAGED HEAVILY RETALIATORY RAIDS OF ITS OWN . WHEN SUCH INCIDENTS CAME BEFORE THE SECURITY COUNCIL, THE U.S . USUALLY STAYED NEUTRAL . THIS TIME ISRAEL HAD FOLLOWED U.S . ADVICE AND APPEALED FOR SECURITY COUNCIL ACTION HENCE THE U.S . POLICY SWITCH TO SUPPORT ISRAEL . AT WEEK'S END THE U.S . AND GREAT BRITAIN INTRODUCED A JOINT RESOLUTION THAT CONDEMNED " THE WANTON MURDER " AND CALLED " THE ATTENTION OF THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC " TO THE ASSEMBLED EVIDENCE . THE RUSSIANS, WHO IN THE PAST HAVE USUALLY THREATENED TO USE THEIR VETO IN SUPPORT OF THE ARABS, BACKED MOROCCAN AMENDMENTS WATERING DOWN THE U.S.-BRITISH RESOLUTION ; THE MOROCCAN VERSION AVOIDED CONDEMNATION OF SYRIA AND MERELY REGISTERED " REGRETS FOR THE DEATH OF TWO PERSONS . /
 RED CHINA THE SELF-BOUND GULLIVER (SEE COVER) " COMMUNISM IS NOT LOVE ! " CRIED MAO TSE-TUNG . " COMMUNISM IS A HAMMER WE USE TO DESTROY OUR ENEMIES ! " MAO, THE SOMEWHAT ENIGMATIC RULER OF RED CHINA, HAS CERTAINLY BEEN FLAILING IN ALL DIRECTIONS WITH HIS HAMMER OF LATE, BUT NOTHING MUCH HAS BEEN DESTROYED . EVEN NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, MAO'S MOST RECENT TARGET, HAS EMERGED UNSCATHED FROM PEKING'S INCESSANT BLOWS . THE ONLY THING MAO HAS DONE WITH HIS PAPER HAMMER IS TO FAN NEW HATREDS FOR HIMSELF AND HIS RED REGIME . TINY ALLIES . NOT TOO LONG AGO, RED CHINA HAD FRIENDS GALORE . MANY OF THE UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS OF ASIA, AND COLONIAL PEOPLES EVERYWHERE, LISTENED ADMIRINGLY TO MAO'S BOASTFUL PLANS OF A SWIFT TRANSITION FROM POVERTY TO PLENTY . THE LEFT WING IN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE U.S., DISENCHANTED WITH STALIN'S TERROR, SAW MAO AS A NEW AND NOBLER ARCHITECT OF A PEOPLES' SOCIALISM . IN THE UNITED NATIONS, IT SEEMED ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE RAMBUNCTIOUS AFRO-ASIAN VOTES OVERCAME U.S . RESISTANCE TO THE IDEA OF TAKING CHINA'S SEAT AWAY FROM THE NATIONALISTS ON FORMOSA AND GIVING IT TO THE COMMUNIST REGIME . BUT MAO FINDS LITTLE SYMPATHY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TODAY . HE HAS EMBROILED HIS HARD-PRESSED COUNTRY IN SIMULTANEOUS FEUDS WITH THE U.S., THE SOVIET UNION AND INDIA, THE THREE MOST POPULOUS NATIONS IN THE WORLD AFTER HIS OWN . IN FACT, HE HAS PLUNGED CHINA INTO AN ISOLATION SO COMPLETE THAT HE CAN COUNT AS CERTAIN ALLIES ONLY TINY NORTH KOREA IN ASIA AND EVEN TINIER ALBANIA IN EUROPE . IT SEEMS LIKE SHEER LUNACY FOR MAO TO CHALLENGE THE TWO GREATEST POWERS ON EARTH AT A TIME WHEN CHINA'S INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE ARE STILL STAGGERING FROM THE DISASTERS OF THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD AND BEFORE HE HAS THE ARMAMENTS TO ENGAGE IN ANY LARGE-SCALE CONTEST . BUT IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT MAO MAY HAVE COME TO FEEL THAT THE ONLY WAY TO BREAK CHINA'S ECONOMIC FETTERS, AND STILL ABIDE BY HIS HARSH IDEOLOGICAL TENETS, LIES IN A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ORDER . TO THAT END HE HAS EMPHASIZED BOTH RACE AND COLOR IN HIS ATTEMPT TO WIN FRIENDS AND ALLIANCES . RED CHINA HAS ALWAYS DREAMED OF ONE DAY EMPLOYING INDONESIA'S OIL, THAILAND'S RICE, EVEN JAPAN'S TECHNOLOGY, AS FUEL FOR A HUGE ASIAN ALLIANCE THAT COULD SAFELY DEFY THE WEST . AND NOW MAO HAS BEEN EMPHASIZING COLOR AS A WAY TO ALIGN THE HAVE-NOT NATIONS OF ASIA AND AFRICA AGAINST THE WEST . PANDAS & TIGERS . IT WOULD SEEM OBVIOUS THAT MAO TSE-TUNG HAS ENOUGH TROUBLE AT HOME WITHOUT LOOKING FOR IT ABROAD . THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD, LAUNCHED WITH SUCH FANFARE IN 1958, WAS INTENDED TO BRING QUICK SUCCESS IN 1) BUILDING A PURE COMMUNIST STATE, AND 2) MAKING CHINA OVER INTO A FIRST-CLASS WORLD POWER . INSTEAD, THE LEAP'S FRENZIED MOBILIZATION OF PEASANTS INTO COMMUNES, THE SETTING UP OF BACKYARD BLAST FURNACES, AND THE 24-HOUR-A-DAY SPEEDUP IN THE FACTORIES NEARLY WRECKED THE NATION . TODAY, CHINA'S AGING RED LEADERSHIP (AVERAGE AGE : 63) KNOWS THAT IT WILL NEVER SEE THE PROMISED LAND, AND THAT CHINA MUST LABOR ON FOR AT LEAST A QUARTER CENTURY PERHAPS MUCH LONGER BEFORE ACCOMPLISHING THE SECOND GOAL . WHAT MANNER OF COUNTRY AND WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE MUST THE COMMUNISTS DEAL WITH IN TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION ? CHINA, OF COURSE, IS ENORMOUS 14 TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS . IT EXTENDS 2,400 MILES FROM THE BANKS OF THE AMUR RIVER IN TOPMOST MANCHURIA TO THE TROPICAL JUNGLE BORDER WITH VIET NAM, AND 2,500 MILES ACROSS FROM THE INDENTED COAST ON THE CHINA SEA TO THE KUNLUN MOUNTAINS DEEP IN CENTRAL ASIA . INSIDE THIS VAST DOMAIN LIES JUST ABOUT EVERY VARIETY OF FLORA AND FAUNA IMAGINABLE, FROM ROLLICKING PANDAS TO PROWLING TIGERS, FROM THE INVIGORATING GINSENG ROOT TO GROVES OF THIN NANMU TREES . TO ITS PEOPLE, CHINA SIMPLY MEANS " HERE . " SINCE THE DAYS OF PREHISTORY, CHINA HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A WORLD IN ITSELF, SEPARATED FROM OUTSIDE BARBARIANS BY THE MOST PERFECT OF PHYSICAL BARRIERS . ON THE EAST AND SOUTH IS THE PACIFIC, THE LARGEST OF OCEANS . TO THE WEST RISES THE HIGHEST PLATEAU ON EARTH . IN THE NORTH STRETCH THOUSANDS OF MILES OF DESERT ; AND HERE, TO PREVENT REPEATED INCURSIONS OF HARD-RIDING NOMADS . CHINESE EMPERORS BUILT THE 1,500-MILE GREAT WALL . REBELLION'S HOME . THOUGH UNITED BY AN ANCIENT CULTURE, CHINA HAS NEVER BEEN AS MONOLITHIC AS IT LOOKS . AN EASTWEST LINE DRAWN ACROSS THE COUNTRY BETWEEN THE VALLEYS OF THE YANGTZE AND YELLOW RIVERS DIVIDES NORTH FROM SOUTH CHINA . NORTH OF THE LINE, SUMMERS ARE SHORT AND HOT, WINTERS LONG AND BITTERLY COLD, AND THE PRINCIPAL CROPS ARE WHEAT AND MILLET . THE MEN OF NORTH CHINA ARE OFTEN AS TALL AS AMERICANS, RELATIVELY PLACID, CEREMONIAL AND SAY THE SOUTHERNERS SLOW-THINKING . SOUTH OF THE LINE, THE CLIMATE IS HOT AND HUMID, AND THE PRINCIPAL CROP IS RICE . BROKEN UP INTO VALLEYS AND SMALL PLAINS BY INNUMERABLE MOUNTAIN RANGES, THE SOUTH IS THE HOME OF INDIVIDUALISM, ANARCHY AND MYSTICAL INTROSPECTION . THE SHORTSTATURED SOUTHERNERS SPEAK A MULTITUDE OF DIALECTS, ARE COMMERCIALLY ENTERPRISING AND PERENNIALLY REBELLIOUS ALMOST EVERY CHINESE REVOLUTION HAS ORIGINATED IN THE SOUTH . PRACTICALLY ALL CHINESE CITIZENS OF THE U.S . CAME ORIGINALLY FROM A SMALL SOUTH CHINA AREA NEAR CANTON CALLED TOISHAN, WHICH IS TODAY, CURIOUSLY ENOUGH, KNOWN IN CHINA AS " THE HOME OF VOLLEYBALL . / NATION'S BIRTHPLACE . CHINA'S 22 PROVINCES BAFFLE FOREIGNERS BECAUSE SO MANY OF THEM SOUND ALIKE (HONAN, HUNAN ; KIANGSU, KIANGSI NSI, SHENSI) . MOST TYPICAL OF THE NORTHERN PROVINCES IS PERHAPS HOPEH, WHICH CONTAINS THE CAPITAL CITY OF PEKING . FROM ITS RUGGED BORDER WITH MANCHURIA, THE PROVINCE RUNS DOWN IN A SHELVING PLAIN TO THE SHALLOW GULF OF CHIHLI . VERY FEW EMINENT COMMUNISTS COME FROM HOPEH OR ITS NEIGHBORING PROVINCE OF SHANSI, WHICH IS NOTED FOR SACRED MOUNTAINS AND SUCH SPECTACULAR CAVE TEMPLES AS YUN KANG, WHERE A MILE-LONG CLIFF FACE HAS BEEN CHISELED INTO THOUSANDS OF BUDDHIST IMAGES . SHENSI IS REVERENCED AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE CHINESE NATION, AND WHEN THE COUNTRY WAS FIRST UNIFIED BY THE CH'IN DYNASTY IN 221 B.C., ITS CAPITAL WAS NEAR PRESENT-DAY SIAN . SOUTH CHINA IS A MUCH LARGER AND MORE VARIED REGION THAN THE NORTH . THE PEOPLE OF KIANGSI ARE THE SCOTS OF CHINA AND ARE SAID TO BE CLANNISH, STINGY AND QUARRELSOME . THEY HAVE HAD LONG EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNISM AND, PRESUMABLY, FEW ILLUSIONS, SINCE THE CHINESE SOVIET REPUBLIC WAS ESTABLISHED THERE IN 1931 AND HELD OUT AGAINST THE NATIONALISTS UNTIL 1934, WHEN MAO LED WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS TROOPS ON THE 8,000-MILE LONG MARCH TO YENAN IN THE NORTH . KIANGSI'S SOUND-ALIKE NEIGHBOR, KIANGSU, HAD A REPUTATION FOR VOLUPTUOUSNESS AND EASY LIVING . THE KIANGSU CITY OF SOOCHOW WAS THE SYBARIS OF OLD CHINA, AND PROSTITUTES IN ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY TRIED TO IMITATE THE SOFT SOOCHOW DIALECT WITH ITS MUSICAL, ROUNDED VOWELS . LAND OF LEADERS . THE FRUIT-RICH PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG, HOME OF CONFUCIUS AND HIS FELLOW SAGE MENCIUS, IS INHABITED BY A STURDY PEASANTRY THAT SPEAKS A MANDARIN DIALECT SO HARSH AND UNMELODIC THAT CHINESE SAY, " BETTER TO QUARREL WITH A MAN FROM SOOCHOW THAN TO CONVERSE CIVILLY WITH A SHANTUNGESE . " BEAUTIFUL SZECHWAN BOASTS THAT IT GROWS ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED FIVE PROVINCES, AND IT IS FILLED WITH TERRACED HILLS, RIVERS, COAL AND VALUABLE MINERALS . ANHWEI CONTAINS THE SUGAR-LOAF MOUNTAINS AND PINNACLED ROCKS MADE FAMOUS BY THE MISTY PAINTINGS OF CHINESE ARTISTS . TO THE COMMUNISTS, THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT PROVINCES ARE THE SOUTHERN STATES OF HUNAN, CHEKIANG AND KWANGTUNG, WHICH PRODUCED MOST OF TODAY'S RED LEADERS.* MAO TSE-TUNG WAS BORN NEAR THE CAPITAL CITY OF CHANGSHA, AS WAS HIS NO . 2 MAN, LIU SHAO-CHI . OTHER RED HUNANESE : LABOR BOSS LI LI-SAN, ARMY COMMANDERS PENG TEH-HUAI AND LO JUNG-HUAN . KWANGTUNG, WITH ITS CAPITAL CITY OF CANTON, IS THE NERVE CENTER OF SOUTH CHINA . ITS MEN HAVE A REPUTATION FOR PUGNACITY AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, ITS WOMEN FOR SLIM, ALMONDEYED BEAUTY . WAY OUT WEST . BEYOND CHINA PROPER EXTEND VAST TERRITORIES THAT WERE CONQUERED CENTURIES AGO BUT OFTEN LIGHTLY HELD BY THE CHINESE . THE BROAD PLAINS OF MANCHURIA HAVE BECOME THE THREE PROVINCES OF KIRIN, HEILUNGKIANG, AND LIAONING . SHENYANG, FORMERLY KNOWN AS MUKDEN, IS THE PITTSBURGH OF CHINA, AND ITS STEEL MILLS ARE WITHIN SIGHT OF THE FELT-COVERED TENTS OF MANCHU HERDSMEN, WHO ARE NOW OUTNUMBERED ABOUT 30 TO 1 BY CHINESE IMMIGRANTS . AS WELL AS MOST OF GENERALISSIMO CHIANG KAI-SHEK'S UNSEATED KUOMINTANG CHIEFS . AT INNER MONGOLIA BEGINS CHINA'S FAR WEST, WHICH ALMOST EXACTLY RESEMBLES THAT OF THE U.S . PRAIRIE, DESERT AND TOWERING MOUNTAINS AND IS INHABITED BY THE CHINESE EQUIVALENT OF AMERICAN INDIANS, THE UIGHUR, KAZAKH AND KHIRGHIZ TRIBESMEN, WHO ARE DISTINCT IN RACE AND RELIGION (MOSLEM) FROM THEIR OVERLORDS . THE TRIBESMEN HAVE REPEATEDLY REBELLED AGAINST ALL CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS AND MAKE NO EXCEPTION OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME . LEAP'S LOSS . NO ONE CAN SAY WITH ACCURACY HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE WITHIN CHINA'S BORDERS . THE COMMUNISTS' 1953 CENSUS SAID 582 MILLION . THE CHINESE NATIONALISTS ARGUE THAT THIS FIGURE WAS TOO HIGH ; IN FACT, SAYS THE U.S . CENSUS BUREAU, IT WAS FAR TOO LOW, AND VIRTUALLY ALL WESTERN EXPERTS AGREE . IN ANY CASE, THE U.S . STATE DEPARTMENT BELIEVES THAT CHINA'S POPULATION IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR WAS SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 720 MILLION . THIS LAND AND THIS PEOPLE HAVE NOW LIVED FOR 14 YEARS UNDER THE RULE OF THE COMMUNISTS . THE GAINS HAVE BEEN CONVULSIVE : SCHOOLS BUILT AT THE SAME FRENZIED PACE AS TRACTOR PLANTS ; HOSPITALS RUSHED UP IN PROVINCES THAT HAD SCARCELY EVEN SEEN A DOCTOR ; ROADS AND RAILWAYS THROWN OVER GORGES, THROUGH MOUNTAINS AND ACROSS DESERTS . THE PACE WAS SO FAST AND FRENZIED THAT IT RESULTED IN MISMANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE LUNACY TO THE EXTENT THAT THE COMMUNISTS HAVE LOST CHINA A GOOD FIVE YEARS IN ITS REBUILDING, AND THE NATION IS NOW ESTIMATED TO BE JUST ABOUT WHERE IT WAS IN 1957 IN INDUSTRY AND CROP PRODUCTION . EVEN IN 1957, SUPPLIES WERE JUST BARELY SUFFICIENT FOR NEEDS, AND SINCE THAT TIME, AT LEAST 70 MILLION MORE CHINESE HAVE BEEN BORN AND MUST BE FED, CLOTHED, HOUSED AND EDUCATED . PEKING HAS DUG INTO ITS SLENDER CASH RESERVES TO BUY WHEAT FROM ABROAD AT A TOTAL COST OF $782 MILLION . THE QUARREL WITH RUSSIA HAS BEEN EQUALLY DAMAGING . WHEN SOVIET ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS WERE ABRUPTLY CALLED HOME IN 1960, THEY NOT ONLY LEFT MANY CONSTRUCTION JOBS INCOMPLETE BUT ALSO TOOK THEIR BLUEPRINTS WITH THEM . PEKING FINDS SPARE PARTS FOR SOVIET EQUIPMENT HARD TO GET, AND MUST CANNIBALIZE SOME MACHINES TO KEEP OTHERS WORKING . MANY FACTORIES ARE NOW DEVOTED TO MAKING SPARE PARTS INSTEAD OF NEW ITEMS . HEAVY INDUSTRY HAS HAD TO GIVE WAY TO LIGHT, AND AT LEAST TWO PLANTS FORMERLY MAKING RAILROAD CARS ARE NOW TURNING OUT RUBBER-TIRED HANDCARTS AND WHEELBARROWS . IRON MONUMENTS . AGRICULTURE IS CHINA'S JUGULAR VEIN, AND THE YEAR'S CRITICAL PERIOD IS THE WINTER CROP HARVEST, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER . CURRENT ESTIMATES ARE THAT THIS YEAR'S CROP WILL FLUCTUATE AROUND THE 180-185 MILLION TONS OF GRAIN ACHIEVED LAST YEAR A GOOD BUT NOT A SENSATIONALLY GREAT HARVEST YEAR . THE COMMUNES OF THE GREAT LEAP EXIST NO LONGER EXCEPT ON PAPER, AND THE COUNTRYSIDE IS DOTTED WITH RUSTING PILLARS OF PIG IRON, MELANCHOLY MEMORIALS OF THE BACKYARD FURNACES THAT MAO THOUGHT WOULD REVITALIZE CHINA . THE TYPICAL FARM UNIT NOW IS A PRODUCTION TEAM OF 25 TO 40 FAMILIES, WHICH ARE GIVEN CONSIDERABLE AUTONOMY IN DECIDING WHAT AND WHEN TO PLANT . PRIVATE PLOTS WERE RETURNED TO THE PEASANTS IN 1961, AND ARE PRODUCING WELL FOR THE FREE MARKET . AS USUAL, THE COMMUNISTS KEEP CLOSE WATCH : THE STICK COMES DOWN IN THE FORM OF CLOSE REGULATION OF THE FREE MARKET, AND THE CARROT IS DANGLED IN THE GUARANTEES OF SLIGHTLY HIGHER PRICES FOR CROPS SOLD TO THE STATE OVER AND ABOVE THE COMPULSORY DELIVERIES . IN THE PAST AND IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, EVERY HARVEST BECOMES A TIME OF NATIONAL BREATH HOLDING . IN A BORDERLINE ECONOMY LIKE THAT OF CHINA, ANY IMPROVEMENT IS IMMEDIATELY FELT, AND SO IS EVERY DECLINE . DOUBLE SELVES . BUT WHAT MOST THREATENS THE REGIME IS THE SQUANDERED RESERVES OF GOOD WILL AMONG MILLIONS OF CHINESE WHO HAD BEEN IMPRESSED BY THE COMMUNISTS' DISPLAY OF STRENGTH, INCORRUPTIBILITY AND IRON DISCIPLINE . MORE THAN BY PHYSICAL LABOR, THE CHINESE HAVE BEEN WORN OUT BY MASS BRAIN-WASHING SESSIONS, PUBLIC-ACCUSATION MEETINGS, COLLECTIVE CONFESSIONS, AND ENDLESS " STRUGGLE " CONFERENCES IN WHICH RELAYS OF REDS UPBRAID BACKSLIDERS . AS A RESULT, HARRIED CITIZENS DEVELOP WHAT ONE EXPERT CALLS " DOUBLE SELVES, AN OUTER, SUPERFICIAL SELF THAT CONFORMS TO COMMUNIST DEMANDS, AND AN INNER, MORAL SELF THAT REMAINS HIDDEN . " BUT IN GENERAL, RIGID DISCIPLINE FELL AWAY WITH THE COLLAPSE OF THE GREAT LEAP, AND FOOD RATIONS WERE INCREASED TO APPEASE A RESTIVE CITIZENRY . MORE RECENTLY, A NEW CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN INSTITUTED TO STAMP OUT APATHY . IT IS A MORE SOPHISTICATED PROJECT . THESE DAYS NO ONE URGES THE CITIZENRY TO COLLECT FLIES IN MATCHBOXES ; THE CRY IS : FIGHT WASTE, FIGHT CORRUPTION, FIGHT PRIVILEGE . NICE TO MOTHERS . SOME OF THE TRAPPINGS OF THE NEW PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN ARE WEIRD . IN RECENT MONTHS, NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES HAVE REJOICED OVER THE BEHAVIOR OF THE / GOOD 8TH COMPANY ON NANKING ROAD, " AN ARMY DETACHMENT ON GARRISON DUTY IN THE HEART OF WICKED SHANGHAI . THESE HEROES HAVE PRESERVED THEIR COMMUNIST PURITY FOR 14 LONG YEARS IN THE FACE OF INNUMERABLE TEMPTATIONS BY BOURGEOIS CAPITALIST DEVILS . WHEN " PROFESSIONAL LOAFERS " TRIED TO BRIBE THEM WITH WADS OF BANKNOTES, THE MONEY WAS SPURNED ; WHEN " OVERDRESSED WOMEN ACCOSTED THEM ON THE STREET, THE SOLDIERS ORDERED THEM AWAY . " ONE SOLDIER FOUND A PENNY AND PROMPTLY TURNED IT OVER TO THE COMPANY'S POLITICAL INSTRUCTOR, WHO EXPLAINED TO THE OTHERS : " ONE CENT IS ALMOST NOTHING, BUT IF HE HAD KEPT IT, HE WOULD HAVE A SHADY SPOT IN HIS HEART . / EVEN MORE EDIFYING IS THE CASE OF 22-YEAR-OLD LEI FENG, A SQUAD LEADER IN AN ARMY TRANSPORT COMPANY STATIONED IN MANCHURIA . IN THE BAD OLD DAYS, HIS FATHER WAS BURIED ALIVE BY THE JAPANESE, HIS TWO BROTHERS STARVED TO DEATH, AND HIS MOTHER HANGED HERSELF AFTER BEING RAPED BY A LANDLORD . IN THE GOOD NEW DAYS, LEI FENG WAS ALWAYS HELPING OLD LADIES ACROSS STREETS, BUYING RAILWAY TICKETS FOR MOTHERS WHO HAD LOST THEIRS, RUSHING OUT TO DO VOLUNTEER WORK ON DIKES AND CANALS, AND DIGGING WITH HIS FINGERS WHEN HIS SHOVEL BROKE . LEI FENG DIED LAST YEAR IN AN ACCIDENT BUT, FORTUNATELY FOR THE PROPAGANDISTS, LEFT BEHIND A 200,000-WORD DIARY FILLED WITH SUCH SENTIMENTS AS " I THINK MY PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO WORK FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR OTHERS, " AND, " I AM ALL FOR THE PARTY, SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM . " HAILED AS THE IDEAL COMMUNIST, LEI FENG IS INTENDED TO BE THE MODEL FOR CHINESE YOUTH WHO HAVE TROUBLE IDENTIFYING WITH THE GRIZZLED VETERANS OF THE LONG MARCH AND THE CIVIL WAR . IN THE PAST YEAR, AT LEAST 40 BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT LEI FENG, AND 1,000 STORYTELLERS ROAM THE VILLAGES ENTHRALLING ILLITERATE PEASANTS WITH HIS EXPLOITS AND HIS LOVE OF MAO . COLLECTING COUPONS . BUT IF LEI FENG REPRESENTS THE MYTHICAL YOUNG CHINESE, WHAT IS THE REALITY LIKE .? ONE ANSWER CAME LAST WEEK FROM A U.S . TURNCOAT, BELGIAN-BORN ALBERT BELHOMME, A FORMER G.I . WHO HAD DEFECTED TO CHINA AFTER THE KOREAN WAR . AFTER TEN YEARS IN CHINA, BELHOMME AND TWO OTHER U.S . DEFECTORS, LOWELL SKINNER AND SCOTT RUSH, BECAME POLITICALLY DISILLUSIONED AND WERE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY . BELHOMME SAYS THE AVERAGE WAGE AT THE PAPER FACTORY IN TSINAN WHERE HE WAS EMPLOYED WAS ABOUT $18 A MONTH . SINGLE WORKERS LIVED IN DORMITORIES WITH FOUR BUNKS TO A ROOM, FAMILIES IN ONEROOM APARTMENTS IN BLOCKS OF BRICK FLATS . DURING LUNCH BREAKS AT THE FACTORY, BELHOMME RECALLS, WORKERS " TALKED MOSTLY ABOUT FOOD, HOW TO GET FOOD, AND PRICES . " WHEN AN OFFICE WORKER REFERRED TO THE COMMUNIST CADRES AS " GOLDEN BOYS, " HIS REWARD WAS A TRIP TO A " LABOR-EDUCATION CAMP, " AND THEN TO JAIL . ON HIS RETURN TO THE FACTORY, HE WAS RE-EMPLOYED, BUT AS A COMMON LABORER . IN CHINA TODAY, FOOD IS PLENTIFUL IN SOME AREAS, SCARCE IN OTHERS . SO IT IS WITH ITEMS SUCH AS CLOTH . LAST YEAR, WHEN THE CLOTH RATION IN CANTON WAS ONLY 1F FEET PER PERSON ANNUALLY, IT WAS 7 FEET IN TSINAN . TO BUY COMMODITIES, WORKERS NEEDED COUPONS AS WELL AS MONEY : ONE COUPON, PLUS THE NECESSARY CASH PRICE, GOT A SMALL COOKING POT . EACH CITIZEN ALSO RECEIVED A TICKET FOR TWO BARS OF TOILET SOAP A YEAR, AND ONE OF LAUNDRY SOAP PER MONTH, AND THERE WERE RATION CARDS FOR COOKING OIL, FLOUR, SUGAR AND SWEETS . THE MEAT RATION IN TSINAN IS CURRENTLY THREE OUNCES A MONTH, AND GRAIN IS 37 POUNDS FOR MEN DOING " MEDIUM-HEAVY " WORK . (MOST TOWNS ALSO HAVE FREE MARKETS, AT WHICH FOOD IS AVAILABLE OFF RATION AT HIGH PRICES.) SAYS BELHOMME : / PEOPLE ARE NOT HUNGRY TODAY, BUT THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT FULL . / THE GRIMNESS AND SCARCITY OF LIFE IN CHINA IS SOMETIMES BRIGHTENED BY EXPLOITS TESTIFYING TO THE INGENUITY AND DOGGED WORK OF ITS CITIZENS . CANADA'S DR . WILDER PENFIELD, ONE OF THE WORLD'S TOP NEUROSURGEONS, RETURNED LAST WEEK FROM RED CHINA AND TOLD OF A UNIVERSITY OF SHANGHAI MEDICAL TEAM THAT BUILT A HEART-LUNG MACHINE FROM SCRATCH IN 18 MONTHS . WHEN THEY TESTED IT WITH DOGS, THE ANIMALS DIED OF AIR BUBBLES IN THE HEART . THE CHINESE WENT BACK TO WORK, GUIDED ONLY BY ARTICLES IN MEDICAL JOURNALS, AND THREE YEARS LATER CAME UP WITH A FAR BETTER MACHINE WHICH HAS NOW BEEN USED IN 60 SUCCESSFUL OPENHEART SURGICAL CASES . PLANNED BLESSINGS . CHINA'S FUTURE DEPENDS LARGELY UPON THE PILLARS OF THE PARTY : THE ARMY AND THE STUDENTS . FROM ALL THREE MUST COME THE SKILLS AND DEDICATION NEEDED TO DEAL WITH THE STAGGERING PROBLEMS POSED BY OVERPOPULATION AND UNDERPRODUCTION . AT THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID IS CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG, WHOM THE PARTY ACKNOWLEDGES TO BE OMNIPOTENT AND INCAPABLE OF MISTAKES . THE PEOPLE ARE ENDLESSLY TOLD THAT MAO IS THE SUN, THE LODESTAR, THE LIVING BUDDHA, AND HE IS SAID TO BE FAR GREATER " THAN THE EMPTY, HYPOCRITICAL AND NEGATIVE JESUS CHRIST . " PEASANTS ARE TAUGHT TO SING : THE SUN IS RISING IN THE EAST . CHINA HAS BROUGHT FORTH A MAO TSETUNG . HE PLANS BLESSINGS FOR THE PEOPLE . AIYAYAO, HE IS THE PEOPLES' GREAT SAVIOR ! WHATEVER THE PROPAGANDA, MAO HAS WORKED FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS WITH THE OTHER SIX MEMBERS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE 19-MAN POLITBURO WITHOUT AN INTERNAL BLOODBATH A RECORD UNMATCHED BY ANY OTHER MODERN TYRANNY, COMMUNIST OR FASCIST . AMONG THIS BAND OF BROTHERS, DISSENT IS POSSIBLE YOU MAY LOSE YOUR JOB BUT NOT YOUR HEAD . ECONOMIC CHIEF CHEN YUN OPPOSED MAO'S GREAT LEAP AND IT ONLY COST HIM A TEMPORARY FALL FROM POWER . THE OTHER FIVE COMMITTEEMEN ARE HEIR APPARENT LIU SHAO-CHI (TIME, OCT . 12, 1959), PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI (TIME, MAY 10, 1954), DEFENSE MINISTER LIN PIAO, VICE PREMIER TENG HSIAO-PING AND CONGRESS CHAIRMAN CHU TEH . UNHAPPY GENERALS . THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY NOW 2,600,000 STRONG IS BY FAR THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PRODUCT OF RED CHINA, BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF DISSATISFACTION AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE ARMY . AMONG THE GENERALS, THOSE HAVING A GUERRILLA MENTALITY CONFLICT WITH THE PROFESSIONALS, WHO ARGUE THAT TO OBTAIN THE SUPPLIES NEEDED BY A MODERN ARMY, CHINA MUST COOPERATE CLOSELY WITH THE SOVIET UNION . DEFENSE MINISTER PENG TEH-HUAI, LEADING SPOKESMAN FOR THE PROFESSIONALS, WAS DISMISSED FROM HIS POST IN 1959, BUT REMAINS A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST CENTRAL COMMITTEE . THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT SERIOUSLY HAMPERS THE AIR FORCE (3,000 PLANES, HALF OF THEM OLD-FASHIONED MIG-15 FIGHTERS), WHICH HAS BEEN DEPENDENT ON RUSSIA FOR AIRCRAFT, JET FUEL AND SPARE PARTS . THE SPLIT WITH MOSCOW DOUBTLESS UPSET MANY HIGH-RANKING OFFICERS, AND LAST MAY THE PARTY LAUNCHED ONE OF THE BIGGEST OF ITS PERIODIC CLEANSINGS OF THE ARMED FORCES . NINETEEN NEW ARMY REGULATIONS WERE ANNOUNCED . THEIR AIM WAS TO " PLACE THE ARMY UNDER ABSOLUTE PARTY LEADERSHIP AND TO GUARANTEE THAT THE ARMY WILL ADVANCE VICTORIOUSLY IN LINE WITH THE DIRECTIVES OF PARTY CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG . / PEKING POSTERS . RED CHINA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS BASED ON PROMOTION OF THE BEST STUDENTS AND WORK FOR THE REST OFTEN AS " CULTURED PEASANTS " TO RAISE THE INTELLECTUAL LEVEL IN THE VILLAGES . THESE LUCKLESS STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES HATE THE WHOLE BUSINESS, AND THE COMMUNIST PRESS IS CAMPAIGNING TO MAKE EX-STUDENTS " GLADLY " ACCEPT THEIR WORK ASSIGNMENTS . ONE PAPER RECENTLY HEAPED GLORY ON THE COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO SMIRKED SCARCELY AT ALL WHEN ONE OLD GRAD CAME BACK TO TAKE A JOB ON THE CAMPUS CLEANING THE TOILETS . THE SCHOOLS HAVE BECOME A CASUALTY OF THE GREAT LEAP . IN 1961-62 ENROLLMENT WAS CUT 20 PER CENT , AND THEN CUT ANOTHER 20 PER CENT THE FOLLOWING YEAR . THIS IS A DANGEROUS BUSINESS, FOR IT WAS STUDENT DISAFFECTION THAT MADE THE COMMUNISTS' TASK ALL THE EASIER IN THEIR FINAL BIG PUSH AGAINST THE KUOMINTANG . COMMUNISM'S PROBLEM, AT THIS MOMENT OF INDUSTRIAL SLOWDOWN, IS THAT THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF TECHNICAL AND MANAGERIAL JOBS, NOT OF EDUCATED PEOPLE . THE COMMUNIST PARTY HAS VIEWED THE STUDENTS WITH CONSIDERABLE SUSPICION EVER SINCE THE PERIOD OF THE HUNDRED FLOWERS, WHEN STUDENT MANIFESTOS AND POSTERS DENOUNCING GOVERNMENT EXCESSES WERE SLAPPED ON EVERY SPACE AVAILABLE . SOME TATTERED BITS OF THESE INFLAMMATORY POSTERS STILL CLING TO THE WALLS AND CEILINGS AT PEKING UNIVERSITY, WHICH HAS AN ENROLLMENT OF 100,000 . AMONG THE THOUSANDS OF CHINESE REFUGEES POURING INTO HONG KONG IN THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF THERE HAS BEEN A SMALL TRICKLE OF ENGINEERS AND INTELLECTUALS, FORMER BELIEVERS WHO ARE NOW DISILLUSIONED . THEY ARE NOT PARTY MEMBERS, AND THE NUMBER IS NOT LARGE ; THE SIGNIFICANCE LIES IN THE FACT THAT IT IS THE FIRST TIME SUCH COMMUNIST-EDUCATED INTELLECTUALS HAVE BEEN FLEEING RED CHINA . SHEAF OF SECRETS . THE SINO-SOVIET EXCHANGES ARE REACHING SUCH A POINT OF BITTERNESS THAT IN EARLIER AND SIMPLER TIMES, BOTH NATIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN MOBILIZING THEIR ARMIES . YET, FOR ALL THE INTEMPERATENESS OF ITS LANGUAGE, PEKING HAS BEEN NOTABLY CAUTIOUS ABOUT GETTING DEEPLY INVOLVED BEYOND RED CHINA'S OWN FRONTIERS IN LINE WITH THE RED CHINESE AXIOM, " DESPISE THE ENEMY STRATEGICALLY, BUT RESPECT HIM TACTICALLY . " THE WEST GOT AN INSIDE LOOK AT RED CHINA'S PERSPECTIVE ON GREAT-POWER CONFLICTS BACK IN 1961, WHEN U.S . AGENTS OBTAINED POSSESSION OF A 40,000-WORD SHEAF OF SECRET BULLETINS THAT HAD BEEN ISSUED TO OFFICERS BY THE GENERAL POLITICAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF RED CHINA'S ARMY . IN ONE BULLETIN, LAOS WAS DESCRIBED AS AN IMPERIALIST CORK TO KEEP CHINESE INFLUENCE OUT OF SOUTHEAST ASIA . WITH TYPICAL SELF-CONCERN, THE CHINESE CALLED LAOS THE " FOCUS " OF THE " WORLDWIDE ANTI-IMPERIALIST STRUGGLE, " ALTHOUGH, FOR THE RUSSIANS, BERLIN WAS FAR MORE VITAL . BUT PEKING WELCOMED THE CEASE-FIRE ORDERED BY THE GENEVA AGREEMENTS . PARTLY, THIS WAS IN LINE WITH THEIR TRADITIONAL FORMULA OF FIGHT A LITTLE, TALK A LITTLE . THE CAPTURED DOCUMENTS DISCLOSED THE MILITARY TIE-UP WITH THE 1961 SPRING OF DESPAIR AT HOME, WHEN RED CHINA FACED INTERNAL UPRISINGS, WIDESPREAD FOOD SHORTAGES, AND MORALE PROBLEMS IN THE ARMY ITSELF . SOLDIERS GRUMBLED AT CONDITIONS IN THE VILLAGES, COMPLAINING THAT " AT PRESENT, WHAT THE FARMERS EAT IS EVEN WORSE THAN WHAT DOGS EAT, " AND CHARGING " VILLAGE CADRES WITH BEATING AND SCOLDING PEOPLE JUST AS IN THE OLD SOCIETY . " PEKING WANTED NO ADDITIONAL TROUBLE IN LAOS . WHERE'S THE BOMB ? ANOTHER REASON FOR CHINESE CAUTION WAS THE GLOOMY CONVICTION THAT MOSCOW WOULD WITHHOLD HELP . WARNED A COMMUNIST GENERAL, " IF THERE IS A WAR WITHIN THREE TO FIVE YEARS, WE WILL HAVE TO RELY ON THE WEAPONS WE NOW HAVE . " TODAY THE WEAPONS CHINA MOST DESPERATELY WANTS NUCLEAR WARHEADS ARE NOWHERE IN SIGHT . PEKING IS SO BITTER ABOUT MOSCOW'S RENEGING ON ITS 1957 AGREEMENT TO HELP CREATE A RED CHINESE ATOM BOMB THAT IT HAS BROADCAST DETAILS OF THE RUSSIAN ABOUT-FACE . CHINESE PHYSICISTS ARE NOW BELIEVED TO BE TWO TO THREE YEARS AWAY FROM DETONATING A NUCLEAR BLAST, FARTHER STILL FROM WHAT THE EXPERTS CALL A / SIGNIFICANT CAPABILITY . " BUT WORK PROCEEDS ON THE PROJECT, FOR PEKING HOPES THAT ACHIEVEMENT OF NUCLEAR STATUS, HOWEVER PRIMITIVE, WILL GAIN PRESTIGE AMONG THE UNDERDEVELOPED MILLIONS ON EARTH WHOSE RESPECT AND ALLIANCE THE RED CHINESE ARE OUT TO WIN . THE NOISE FROM PEKING SHOWED NO SIGN OF DIMINISHING AND CONTINUED TO FASCINATE THE NON-COMMUNIST WORLD WITH FRESH TALES OF OLD SKELETONS IN COMMUNIST CLOSETS . IN ONE ANNOUNCEMENT, RED CHINA TOOK FULL CREDIT FOR FORCING A WEAK-KNEED KHRUSHCHEV ( " WHO HAD DECIDED TO ABANDON SOCIALIST HUNGARY TO COUNTERREVOLUTION " ) TO SEND RUSSIAN TANKS INTO BUDAPEST AND CRUSH THE 1956 UPRISING . PEKING RADIO ALSO MADE AN UNPRECEDENTED REFERENCE TO IMPORTANT FACTIONAL DISPUTES WITHIN THE TOP RANKS OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY . KHRUSHCHEV WAS ACCUSED OF OPENLY VOICING SUPPORT FOR / ANTIPARTY ELEMENTS " IN CHINA . WESTERN EXPERTS BELIEVE THE CHINESE " ELEMENTS " KHRUSHCHEV WAS SUPPORTING WERE MILITARY MEN WHO OPPOSED THE GROWING SINO-SOVIET SPLIT, MOST LIKELY FORMER DEFENSE MINISTER PENG TEH-HUAI AND HIS DEPUTY, HUANG KE-CHENG . KHRUSHCHEV IS ADDITIONALLY CHARGED WITH TRYING TO SELL PEKING ON A " TWO CHINAS " PLAN AS A MEANS OF SETTLING MAO'S QUARREL WITH GENERALISSIMO CHIANG KAI-SHEK . PEKING RADIO ALSO CONFIRMED EARLIER REPORTS THAT RUSSIA WAS STIRRING UP THE KAZAKH TRIBESMEN IN SINKIANG AGAINST THEIR CHINESE MASTERS . ONLY LAST YEAR, RED CHINA CHARGED, RUSSIA HAD LURED SOME 10,000 KAZAKHS IN SINKIANG INTO CROSSING THE BORDER INTO SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN . DESPITE REPEATED PROTEST FROM PEKING, RUSSIA REFUSED TO GIVE BACK THE KAZAKHS BECAUSE OF " HUMANITARIANISM " A PRETEXT THAT CHINA CLEARLY REGARDED AS LUDICROUS . WHETHER OR NOT RED CHINA SUCCEEDS IN ITS GREAT DESIGN TO BE LEADER OF AN AFRO-ASIAN-LATIN AMERICAN ALLIANCE, MAO TSE-TUNG WILL NOT BE AROUND TO SEE THE RESULT . AT 69, MAO NOW NEEDS HELP IN WALKING . HE DISAPPEARS FOR LONG STRETCHES, REPORTEDLY TO MEDITATE IN HIS PAVILION FACING LOVELY WEST LAKE IN HANGCHOW . NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHY HE GAVE UP THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE GOVERNMENT IN 1958 AFTER ONE TERM IN OFFICE . PERHAPS IT WAS TO DEVOTE MORE TIME TO HIS KEY JOB AS HEAD OF THE PARTY . OR WAS HE PREPARING AN ORDERLY TRANSITION FOR HIS SUCCESSOR ? SO DEEP IS THE CLEAVAGE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE SOVIET UNION THAT IT COULD HARDLY BE RESOLVED EXCEPT BY THE DEATH OR DISAPPEARANCE OF EITHER MAO OR KHRUSHCHEV . BUT, AFTER MAO, WHO ? THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSOR IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE LIU SHAO-CHI, THE PARTY'S NO . 2 MAN . AFTER THAT, IT IS ANYONE'S GUESS . COMMENTS A CHINA EXPERT : " FROM THE OUTSIDE, ONE CAN SEE THE FORCES THAT MUST, OR SHOULD BE, COMING TO GRIPS IN THE ARENA OF CHINA'S INTERNAL POWER STRUGGLE . BUT WE CAN ONLY SEE THESE FORCES INTELLECTUALLY AND, I REPEAT, FROM THE OUTSIDE . WE CAN'T TRANSLATE THEM INTO REAL DEVELOPMENTS OR INDIVIDUALS WITHIN CHINA . " WAITING IN THE WINGS ARE THE YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED PARTY LEADERS PRAGMATIC TECHNICIANS RATHER THAN FANATIC DOGMATISTS WHO HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED DURING THE YEARS OF OLD GUARD RULE . MAO AND THE VETERANS OF THE LONG MARCH HAVE SUFFERED FEW DEATHS . BUT A SERIES OF STATE FUNERALS IS OBVIOUSLY AND ACTUARIALLY, IN THE CARDS . CHINA'S FUTURE, AND THAT OF WORLD COMMUNISM, CLEARLY DEPENDS ON WHICH EMERGENT CHINESE COMMUNISTS WILL CARRY THE COFFINS .
 MIDDLE EAST THE MESS IN YEMEN THE NASTY LITTLE WAR IN YEMEN, ONE YEAR OLD THIS MONTH, IS DRAGGING ON IN GRAND DISREGARD FOR THE PEACE-SEEKING EFFORTS OF THE U.N . NEITHER EGYPT NOR SAUDI ARABIA HAS HONORED ITS PLEDGE, WHICH BOTH MADE EARLIER THIS YEAR UNDER U.S . MEDIATION PRESSURE, TO DISENGAGE SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM YEMEN . ALTHOUGH NASSER HAS SENT HOME SIX SHIPLOADS OF TROOPS, HE HAS ROTATED IN FRESH DETACHMENTS, AND AT LEAST 20,000 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS ARE STILL IN YEMEN PROPPING UP THE REPUBLICAN REGIME OF PRESIDENT ABDULLAH SALLAL . ALL THE WHILE, MONEY AND MUNITIONS FROM THE MONARCHIES OF SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN STILL POUR ACROSS THE 25-MILE-WIDE BUFFER ZONE TO ROYALIST TRIBESMEN SUPPORTING DETHRONED IMAM MOHAMED EL BADR . SO FAR AS THE ACTUAL FIGHTING IS CONCERNED, IT IS STILL A STANDOFF, WITH THE REPUBLICANS CONTROLLING THE CITIES AND THE PLAINS, AND THE ROYALISTS HOLED UP IN AND DEFENDING KEY STRONG POINTS IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS . SHORT RATIONS . IT IS ALL VERY FRUSTRATING FOR THE 200-MAN U.N . TEAM, WHICH WAS RUSHED TO THE SCENE FROM THE GAZA STRIP TWO MONTHS AGO IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THE SHOOTING . THE UNIT, MADE UP MOSTLY OF YUGOSLAV SOLDIERS AND CANADIAN AIRMEN, WAS FAR TOO SMALL TO POLICE THE VAST, EMPTY YEMEN FRONTIER, AND FROM THE START IT WAS PLAGUED BY BAD BREAKS AND HOSTILITY FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES . THE TEAM'S FIRST COMMANDER, SWEDISH MAJOR GENERAL CARL VON HORN, HAD HARDLY SET UP HEADQUARTERS IN THE MUDWALLED CAPITAL OF SAN " A WHEN HIS HORSE, BEING LED DOWN A DUSTY STREET, KICKED A YEMENI GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, RESULTING IN THE ARREST OF BOTH GROOM AND HORSE . U.N . PLANES ARE REGULARLY FIRED ON (NONE HAS BEEN DOWNED SO FAR), AND LAST MONTH A RUSSIAN-MADE EGYPTIAN ILYUSHIN JET BOMBER ATTACKING NAJRAN INSIDE SAUDI ARABIA NEARLY SCORED A DIRECT HIT ON A U.N . PLATOON . GETTING INTO THE ACT, THE RUSSIANS HAVE SENT IN AT LEAST 900 WORKMEN AND TECHNICIANS, WHO ARE CONSTRUCTING A NEW JET AIRPORT NORTH OF SAN " A . RECENTLY, THE RUSSIANS THREW AN INQUIRING U.N . INSPECTOR OFF THE PREMISES WHEN HE APPROACHED THE AIRPORT TO CONDUCT A ROUTINE INSPECTION . APART FROM SUCH HARASSMENT, THE U.N . TEAMS FOUND IT DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS TO TRAVEL AROUND THE COUNTRY . ALL IN ALL, ADMITTED U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT, IN EFFECT, THE U.N.SANCTIONED PROJECT HAS BEEN A FLOP . AND FOR HIM IT HAS BEEN A RATHER MESSY FLOP, FOR IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS HE AND VON HORN HAVE HAD AN UGLY EXCHANGE OF RECRIMINATIONS . THE PRESTIGIOUS BUT STORMY VON HORN, FIRST U.N . CHIEF IN THE CONGO AND FOR FIVE YEARS HEAD OF THE U.N.'S PALESTINE PEACE-KEEPING FORCE, SUDDENLY RESIGNED IN A CABLE TO THANT, CHARGING LACK OF SUFFICIENT LOGISTIC SUPPORT, AIRCRAFT AND EVEN RATIONS . THANT BRANDED VON HORN'S CHARGES " IRRESPONSIBLE AND RECKLESS, " ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK THAT THE MISSION WOULD CONTINUE, THANKS TO " ORAL ASSURANCES " BY EGYPT AND SAUDI ARABIA THAT THEY WOULD CONTINUE SPLITTING THE BILL ($200,000 PER MONTH) FOR ANOTHER TWO MONTHS . SICK REBEL . ONE VICTIM OF THE YEMEN CONFLICT IS THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL BY OVERTHROWING THE IMAM : EX-PALACE GUARD, NOW PRESIDENT AND FIELD MARSHAL, ABDULLAH SALLAL, 42 . LAST MONTH SALLAL FLEW TO CAIRO FOR TALKS WITH NASSER, BUT ENTERED A HOSPITAL AND WAS DISCHARGED FOR CONVALESCENCE ONLY LAST WEEK . A PHYSICIAN WHO HELPED TREAT SALLAL CONFIDED THAT HE WAS SUFFERING FROM A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN . " PRESIDENT NASSER VISITED HIM ONCE BRIEFLY . WE GAVE HIM TRANQUILIZERS . WE BROUGHT IN EGYPT'S GREATEST COMEDIAN, ISMAYEN YESSIN, TO RAISE HIS SPIRITS . WE SHOWED HIM MOVIES . WE FLEW IN HIS WIFE FROM YEMEN, " THE DOCTOR RELATED, BUT ADDED SADLY : " HIS SICKNESS IS REALLY POLITICAL . IF WE COULD GIVE HIM GOOD NEWS ABOUT YEMEN, HE WOULD RECOVER . "
 HUNGARY " HUMANIZING " COMMUNISM AFTER THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 SWEPT THE CONTINENT, HUNGARIAN PATRIOT LAJOS KOSSUTH SAID THAT HIS COUNTRYMEN WERE THE " REDDEST REPUBLICANS IN EUROPE . " TODAY, SEVEN YEARS AFTER RUSSIAN TANKS CRUSHED THE HUNGARIAN REVOLT, HUNGARY'S 14 MILLION PEOPLE ARE FAST BECOMING EUROPE'S MOST REPUBLICAN REDS . WESTERN INFLUENCES POP UP EVERYWHERE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY . DESPITE A SCARCITY OF EGGS AND MEAT, STORE WINDOWS DISPLAY ELIZABETH ARDEN COSMETICS, NAPOLEON BRANDY AND A SELECTION OF SCOTCH . MODERN ART HANGS ON GALLERY WALLS, AND NEWSPAPER CENSORSHIP HAS BEEN RELAXED ; WHEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SISTERS, PAT LAWFORD AND JEAN SMITH, VISITED BUDAPEST, TELEVISION AND RADIO CREWS DOGGED THEIR FOOTSTEPS . RESTRICTIONS AGAINST TRAVEL TO THE WEST HAVE BEEN EASED ; LONG LINES OF VISA APPLICANTS DAILY QUEUE UP OUTSIDE WESTERN EMBASSIES IN BUDAPEST, AND IT IS NOW CHIC FOR VACATIONING HUNGARIAN COUPLES TO AGREE TO MEET IN VENICE . HUNGARY'S NEW LOOK IS LARGELY THE RESULT OF EFFORTS BY PREMIER JANOS KADAR TO WIPE OUT THE STAIN OF HAVING PERSONALLY CALLED IN RUSSIAN TROOPS AND TANKS TO SUPPRESS THE 1956 REVOLUTION . HAVING FOUND THAT A LIGHTER YOKE YIELDS GREATER ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND LESS POLITICAL UNREST, KADAR HAS MADE HUNGARY NEXT TO POLAND THE MOST LIBERAL OF THE SATELLITE REGIMES . THAT, OF COURSE, IS STILL VERY MUCH A RELATIVE MATTER, BUT HUNGARIANS ARE GRATEFUL FOR SMALL FAVORS . " TIMES CAN NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, " SAYS ONE . " THE REVOLT WAS NOT IN VAIN . " SUBTLE REVISION.KADAR'S NEW STANCE HAS HAD A FAVORABLE EFFECT AT THE U.N., WHICH SINCE 1956 HAS REFUSED TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE THE CREDENTIALS OF KADAR'S U.N . DELEGATES (THOUGH THEY ACTUALLY TAKE PART IN DEBATES AND VOTE) . THE FINAL TRACE OF U.N . DISAPPROVAL DISAPPEARED RECENTLY WHEN SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT SPENT THREE DAYS IN HUNGARY AND SEVEN HOURS WITH KADAR HIMSELF . EVEN THE U.S., UNABLE TO ROUND UP CONTINUED SUPPORT TO BLOCK HUNGARIAN ACCREDITATION, WILL NOT OPPOSE THE OFFICIAL SEATING OF HUNGARY'S DELEGATION AT THE NEXT GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION . AIMING TO " HUMANIZE COMMUNISM, " KADAR HAS SACKED STALINIST POLITICAL HACKS, APPOINTED NON-COMMUNISTS TO CABINET POSTS, AND ALLOWED NONPARTY MEMBERS TO SERVE IN THE PARLIAMENT . HE HAS GRANTED AMNESTY TO THOUSANDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ENCOURAGED REFUGEES WHO FLED IN 1956 TO RETURN WITH FREE PARDONS ; TODAY THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF 1956'S 200,000 REFUGEES HAVE COME BACK HOME . WORKER MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS NOT A SURE GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS . " WE ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE RED BLOODS THE SAME PRIVILEGE ONCE ENJOYED BY BLUEBLOODS, " SAYS KADAR . TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON U.S . DIPLOMATS IN BUDAPEST HAVE BEEN LIFTED, ENABLING THEM TO GO ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY EXCEPT TO MILITARY ZONES . DELICATE NEGOTIATIONS ARE BEING CARRIED ON WITH THE VATICAN OVER THE FUTURE OF JOSEF CARDINAL MINDSZENTY, WHO IS STILL IN ASYLUM AT THE U.S . LEGATION AND WHOM THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY . FIRST SIGNS OF A RAPPORT WITH ROME APPEARED WHEN THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD APPROVE POPE PAUL'S ASSIGNMENT OF SIX NEW CATHOLIC BISHOPS TO VACANT HUNGARIAN SEES . BUT THE GOVERNMENT STILL REFUSES TO LET OTHER BISHOPS AND SOME 1,000 PRIESTS PERFORM THEIR DUTIES . OFF TO BELGRADE . MORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE HAS BEEN COLLECTIVIZED, BUT FARMERS CAN USE STATE MACHINERY TO CULTIVATE THEIR OWN TINY PLOTS . INCREASINGLY, THE GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO CHANNEL A LARGER PART OF THE ECONOMY INTO THE PRODUCTION OF CONSUMER GOODS . TODAY SOME HUNGARIAN GYPSIES ACTUALLY HAVE TV SETS THOUGH THEY OFTEN GO AROUND BAREFOOT . HUNGARY, OF COURSE, IS STILL A TOTALITARIAN STATE . WATCHTOWERS, MINEFIELDS AND BARBED-WIRE SEAL OFF THE COUNTRY FROM THE WEST . THOUGH THE MIDNIGHT KNOCK BY THE SECRET POLICE IS ALMOST A THING OF THE PAST, MORE THAN 40,000 RUSSIAN TROOPS AND THE HIDEOUS MEMORY OF 1956 STILL REMAIN . KADAR STEADFASTLY FOLLOWS EVERY NEW TWIST OF KREMLIN POLICY . NO SOONER HAD NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV LEFT YUGOSLAVIA AFTER MAKING HIS PEACE WITH MARSHAL TITO THAN KADAR MADE PLANS TO VISIT BELGRADE THIS WEEK, SEEKING TO STRENGTHEN HUNGARY'S ECONOMIC, DIPLOMATIC AND CULTURAL TIES WITH THE ONETIME " REVISIONIST " BAD BOY OF THE SATELLITES . NEVER IN HUNGARY . BUT KADAR'S LIBERALIZATION DOES PERMIT HUNGARIANS TO LAUGH AT THEMSELVES AND AT THEIR REGIME AS LONG AS COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY ITSELF IS NOT ATTACKED . IN THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE HUNGARIAN SATIRICAL WEEKLY LUDAS MATYI, THE EDITORS REFLECT ON BRITAIN'S RECENT $7,000,000 MAIL TRAIN ROBBERY AND CONCLUDE THAT IT COULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IN HUNGARY . " WE LACK ALL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR IT, " SAID THE MAGAZINE . " FIRST, OF THE 30 MEN IN THE GANG, AT LEAST FOUR WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT SICK, EIGHT WOULD HAVE GONE BY MISTAKE TO ANOTHER RAILWAY EMBANKMENT, AND THREE WOULD HAVE TELEGRAPHED FROM LAKE BALATON THAT THEY COULD NOT COME FOR TWO DAYS . IT WOULD ALSO NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE TO COVER THE GREEN TRACK SIGNAL BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE A COVER SHORTAGE . IN ADDITION, A MAIL TRAIN HERE WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO HOURS LATE . THE BANDITS LOADED THE MONEY THEY STOLE IN A TRUCK . THEY COULD DO THAT IN ENGLAND, BUT HERE, WHERE THE TRUCK SERVICE STATIONS ARE THREE MONTHS BEHIND IN THEIR WORK, WHAT COULD THEY HAVE LOADED THE BAGS ON ? /
 PAKISTAN WHOSE ALLY ? AS U.S . UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE BALL FLEW IN TO RAWALPINDI LAST WEEK TO EXPRESS CHAGRIN OVER PAKISTAN'S BUDDING FRIENDSHIP WITH RED CHINA, HE GOT A QUICK AND BITTER TASTE OF THE NATION'S NEW MOOD . NO FEWER THAN FIVE CHINESE COMMUNIST DELEGATIONS INCLUDING POETS, PINGPONG PLAYERS AND TRADE OFFICIALS WERE GETTING THE WELCOME TREATMENT FROM PAKISTANI OFFICIALS . GLEEFULLY, THE PAKISTAN PRESS TRUMPETED THE WORDS OF ONE VISITING CHINESE BARD WHO WROTE : " YOU ARE ON THE WESTERN COAST OF THE SEA AND WE ARE ON THE EAST . THE TIDAL WAVES OF THE OCEAN ROAR, AND INTERMINGLED, WE CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF OUR HEARTBEAT . " AMID THIS HEADY STUFF, BALL PASSED THE WORD TO PAKISTAN'S PRESIDENT MOHAMMED AYUB KHAN THAT THE U.S . HOPED PAKISTAN WOULD NOT CARRY ITS PALSY-WALSY CAMPAIGN WITH RED CHINA TOO FAR . BUT ALL AYUB AND THE OTHER PAKISTANIS WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WAS THEIR PREOCCUPATION WITH INCREASED MILITARY AID TO INDIA, WHICH THEY CONSIDER A BETRAYAL BY THE U.S THREAT TO PAKISTAN'S SECURITY . BEHIND PAKISTAN'S NEW STANCE IS GROWING PRESSURE ON AYUB BY NEUTRALIST PAKISTANI POLITICIANS SUCH AS 35-YEAR-OLD FOREIGN MINISTER ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO . EMERGING FROM SESSIONS WITH AYUB AND BHUTTO, BALL DECLARED THAT " WE HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF EACH OTHER'S POINT OF VIEW . " IT WAS DIPLOMATESE FOR A STUBBORN DEADLOCK ALTHOUGH AYUB PRIVATELY HAD MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE WILL NOT SIGN ANY MILITARY PACTS WITH CHINA AND WANTS TO REMAIN AN ALLY OF THE WEST, HE PASSED ALONG WORD TO HIS AMERICAN GUEST THAT PAKISTAN IS NOT ABOUT TO BACK DOWN ON THE NEW AIR AGREEMENT IT HAD JUST SIGNED WITH CHINA . PAKISTAN UNDERSCORED ITS ATTITUDE TOWARD PEKING BY ANNOUNCING AN AGREEMENT TO SURVEY THE BORDER BETWEEN CHINA'S SINKIANG REGION AND THE PAKISTANI-CONTROLLED PORTION OF KASHMIR
 CONGO BRIDGING THE PAST PRINCIPAL ARTERY OF COMMERCE IN THE CONGO WAS TRADITIONALLY THE CONGOLESE NATIONAL ROUTE, A 1,725-MILE RAIL-RIVERRAIL CONNECTION FROM ELISABETHVILLE IN KATANGA TO THE ATLANTIC GATEWAY AT MATADI . BUT THE ROUTE BECAME UNUSABLE WITH THE OUTBREAK OF CIVIL WAR . WHENEVER KATANGA'S SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE FELT EVENTS GOING AGAINST HIM, HE QUICKLY ORDERED ANOTHER RAILROAD BRIDGE BLOWN UP . THUS, SINCE 1960 MOST TRAFFIC HAS MOVED ON ALTERNATE RAIL LINES THROUGH PORTUGUESE ANGOLA AND MOZAMBIQUE . BUT THE ROUTES ACROSS FOREIGN TERRITORY SOAK UP REVENUE BADLY NEEDED WITHIN THE CONGO, AND LAST WEEK PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA HOPEFULLY DEDICATED A NEW RAILROAD BRIDGE AT BUKAMA, THE FINAL REBUILT LINK IN THE KATANGA-MATADI RUN . " THIS IS NOT ONLY A BRIDGE OVER THE LUALABA RIVER, " SAID ADOULA . " IT IS A BRIDGE OVER THE UNHAPPY PAST . " THOUGH A MILESTONE OF SORTS, THE BUKAMA BRIDGE ALSO MARKS THE PETTY PACE OF CONGOLESE UNITY, FOR THE STEAMY 25-DAY TRIP BY BARGE AND BOXCAR REMAINS AN AWESOME OBSTACLE COURSE . SOME OF THE 23 CONGOLESE PROVINCES CREATED SINCE 1962 CLAIM AUTHORITY TO LEVY IMPORT-EXPORT DUTIES AS THE MOOD STRIKES THEM . ALSO, TRIBAL TENSIONS NECESSITATE FREQUENT CHANGES OF ENGINEERS AS TRAINS PASS FROM ONE REGION TO THE NEXT . IF THE LOCAL FOLK SPOT AN ENEMY AT THE CONTROLS, THEY MIGHT SWARM ABOARD AND KILL HIM ON THE SPOT .
 FRANCE A MAN OF EUROPE FLAGS FLEW AT HALF-MAST IN BRUSSELS OVER THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMON MARKET . THE TRIBUTE WAS IN HOMAGE TO THAT GRAND OLD EUROCRAT, ROBERT SCHUMAN . HIS DEATH LAST WEEK AT 77 REMINDED THE WORLD THAT THE NEW EUROPE WHICH CHARLES DE GAULLE SO GRANDLY PURPORTS TO HEAD OWES MUCH OF ITS IMPETUS TO OTHER FRENCHMEN WITH BROADER HORIZONS . REARED IN LORRAINE WHILE IT WAS UNDER THE KAISER'S RULE, SCHUMAN WAS A GERMAN FOR THE FIRST 33 YEARS OF HIS LIFE . WHEN THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES RETURNED LORRAINE TO FRANCE AFTER WORLD WAR I, HE BECAME FRENCH (ALTHOUGH HE NEVER LOST HIS GERMAN ACCENT) AND WAS ELECTED A DEPUTY . EDUCATED IN THE LAW, LEAN AND TALL WITH A TOOTHBRUSH MUSTACHE, THE ASCETIC SCHUMAN WAS A NATURAL FOR THE FINANCE COMMISSION, WHERE HE SERVED FOR 17 YEARS . HE ATE CHEAP MEALS, PROWLED HIS OFFICES SNAPPING OFF LIGHTS . A LIFELONG BACHELOR, SCHUMAN ONCE ANSWERED THE DOOR OF HIS PARIS APARTMENT WEARING A MAID'S APRON ; HE HAD BEEN DOING HIS OWN DUSTING . LONE LOSS . BUT WHEN IT CAME TO HIS DREAM OF THE FUTURE EUROPE, SCHUMAN WAS A LEADER AMONG EUROPE'S POSTWAR GENERATION OF CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC RADICAL INTEGRATIONISTS . AFTER HELPING FOUND THE CATHOLIC M.R.P . AND TWICE SERVING AS POSTWAR PREMIER OF FRANCE (FROM NOVEMBER 1947 TO JULY 1948, AND FOR ANOTHER BRIEF PERIOD LATER IN 1948), SCHUMAN TOOK OVER THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S POST . IN 1949, AFTER HELPING DRAW UP THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY BLUEPRINT, HE SIGNED THE HISTORIC NATO PACT ON FRANCE'S BEHALF . IN 1950, IN LEAGUE WITH ANOTHER FRENCH EUROCRAT, JEAN MONNET, HE PROPOSED THE " SCHUMAN PLAN " FOR THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY, WHICH PROVED TO BE THE FORERUNNER OF THE SIX-NATION COMMON MARKET, AND OF THE EURATOM POOL FOR PEACEFUL NUCLEAR RESOURCES . IN 1954 SCHUMAN LOST HIS ONLY MAJOR BATTLE A DRIVE FOR AN ALL-EUROPEAN ARMY (EDC) . NO ORATIONS . IN RECENT YEARS SCHUMAN LIVED IN SEMIRETIREMENT AT HIS FAMILY ESTATE, PORING OVER HIS RARE BOOKS (AMONG THEM THE HANDWRITTEN SCHOOL MANUSCRIPTS OF LOUIS XIV) AND PENNING HIS MEMOIRS . INTIMATES SAY HE WAS " VERY UPSET " BY DE GAULLE'S OPPOSITION TO BRITAIN'S ENTRY INTO THE COMMON MARKET ; BUT HE KEPT HIS SILENCE . LAST MONTH, FELLED BY A CEREBRAL THROMBOSIS, SCHUMAN RALLIED WEAKLY, BUT REMAINED BEDRIDDEN . WHEN NEWS OF HIS DEATH WAS ANNOUNCED, MESSAGES OF EULOGY POURED IN FROM POPE PAUL, PRESIDENT KENNEDY (HE " COMBINED VISION WITH REALISM " ), AND FROM DE GAULLE, WHO ACKNOWLEDGED " THE HIGH CONSCIENCE WITH WHICH HE SERVED . " AT WEEK'S END, WITH NO ORATIONS (AT HIS REQUEST), ROBERT SCHUMAN'S FUNERAL SERVICE IN THE METZ CATHEDRAL WAS ATTENDED BY FIVE FORMER FRENCH PREMIERS.* EVENTUALLY HIS BODY IS TO LIE IN A SPECIAL MAUSOLEUM TO BE BUILT FACING EASTWARD ACROSS THE RHINE . AFTERWARD THE FIVE ANTOINE PINAY, GUY MOLLET, PIERRE PFLIMLIN, RENE PLEVEN AND RENE MAYER WERE INVITED TO LUNCHEON AT THE METZ PREFECTURE BY DE GAULLE'S REPRESENTATIVE, MINISTER OF STATE LOUIS JOXE . BUT THE EX-PREMIERS DECLINED THE INVITATION WHEN THEY LEARNED THAT SCHUMAN'S OLD FRIEND JEAN MONNET, WHO WAS ALSO PRESENT, HAD BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE PARTY .
 SOUTH VIET NAM REPORT ON THE WAR OVERSHADOWED BY THE POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC TURMOIL IN SAIGON, THE ALL BUT FORGOTTEN WAR AGAINST THE VIET CONG CONTINUES ON ITS UGLY, BLOODY AND WEARISOME COURSE . THE DRIVE AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS HAS NOT DIMINISHED IN RECENT WEEKS ; IN FACT, IT HAS INTENSIFIED . FEARS THAT THE BUDDHIST CONTROVERSY MIGHT DAMAGE MORALE AMONG VIETNAMESE TROOPS HAVE SO FAR BEEN GROUNDLESS . IF LAST WEEK'S BATTLES WERE ANY CRITERION, THE GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS ARE FIGHTING BETTER THAN EVER AGAINST A COMMUNIST FOE THAT IS EXACTING A HIDEOUS PRICE IN BLOOD IN THE FLOODED PADDIES OF THE SOUTH . THE BIGGEST GOVERNMENT VICTORY IN MONTHS CAME LAST WEEK NEAR THE TOWN OF GOCONG, 45 MILES SOUTH OF SAIGON . IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, 500 VIET CONG REGULARS SWOOPED DOWN ON A STRATEGIC HAMLET UNDER A SCREEN OF SUPPORTING FIRE FROM HEAVY MACHINE GUNS AND RECOILLESS RIFLES . DESPERATELY CALLING FOR HELP OVER THEIR RADIO, THE DEFENDERS FOUGHT BACK DOGGEDLY, BUT WERE BARELY HOLDING OUT WHEN A GOVERNMENT INFANTRY RELIEF COLUMN ARRIVED AT DAWN WITH 15 ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS . AMBUSHED BY THE REDS, THE GOVERNMENT REINFORCEMENTS DID NOT PANIC, NOSED THEIR PERSONNEL CARRIERS OFF THE ROAD AND INTO THE PADDIES, HEADING DIRECTLY FOR THE DUGIN REDS . FROM A GRAVEYARD AT THE FRINGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD, A VIET CONG HEAVY MACHINE GUN KNOCKED OUT AN APC . BUT SUPPORTED BY GOVERNMENT AIR FORCE PLANES, WHICH SWEPT OVER THE RED POSITIONS IN SCREAMING, SHALLOW DIVES FIRING ROCKETS AND DROPPING NAPALM, THE REINFORCEMENTS ROLLED STRAIGHT ONTO THE REDS, MASHING SCORES OF THE COMMUNIST TROOPS INTO THE STINKING PADDY MUD WITH THEIR HUGE STEEL TREADS . AT LAST THE REDS BROKE AND RAN, LEAVING BEHIND 83 DEAD . MUTILATED BODIES . THE EPISODE MADE NO SIZABLE DENT IN THE VIET CONG ARMY . BUT IT WAS HEARTENING TO U.S . MILITARY OBSERVERS, WHO ON MANY PAST OCCASIONS HAD WATCHED THE GOVERNMENT'S TROOPS REFUSE TO PRESS THEIR ATTACK . THIS TIME THE RELIEF COLUMN HAD STOOD ITS GROUND UNDER THE VIET CONG POUNDING AND THEN MOVED IN ON THE REDS IN BRUTAL COMBAT . TWO DAYS LATER, THE REDS EVENED THE SCORE . THIS TIME THEY HIT THE RICE-RICH CAMAU PENINSULA, TRADITIONALLY COMMUNIST-CONTROLLED TERRITORY WHERE GOVERNMENT ENCLAVES ARE ONLY ISLANDS IN A SEA OF VIET CONG . THE PLAN WAS A CLEVER TWO-PRONGED ATTACK AGAINST THE TWO GOVERNMENT-HELD CITIES OF CAI NUOC AND DAMDOI, WHICH LIE 15 MILES APART ON THE SOUTHERNMOST TIP OF VIET NAM . TO CONFUSE GOVERNMENT REINFORCEMENTS AND TO HAMPER THEIR SPEEDY ARRIVAL, THE VIET CONG FIRST FEINTED AT THREE NEIGHBORING OUTPOSTS, SOWED MINES ON A MAJOR ROAD OVER WHICH GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAD TO TRAVEL, AND POURED HARASSING MORTAR FIRE ON A U.S . HELICOPTER AIRSTRIP IN THE AREA . THE MILITARY FRONT SEEMED A MILLION MILES FROM SAIGON LAST WEEK . FOUR WEEKS AFTER THE CRACKDOWN ON SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHIST OPPOSITION, AN ATMOSPHERE OF WATCHFUL WAITING HUNG OVER THE CITY . STILL FEARFUL OF A COUP, THE GOVERNMENT STATIONED SECRET POLICE OUTSIDE THE HOMES OF SUSPECT OFFICIALS ; TOP MILITARY OFFICERS WERE ORDERED TO SLEEP AT MILITARY HEADQUARTERS SO THAT A CHECK COULD BE KEPT ON THEIR WHEREABOUTS . WITH THE BUDDHIST OPPOSITION LULLED FOR THE MOMENT, SAIGON'S STUDENT POPULATION FEEBLY TRIED TO RAISE PROTESTS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT . PELTED WITH CHAIRS AND DESKS THROWN FROM CLASSROOM WINDOWS, GOVERNMENT TROOPS CLOSED MANY OF SAIGON'S SCHOOLS, THREW NEARLY 1,000 STUDENTS INTO JAIL TO COOL OFF . IT SEEMED LIKELY THAT VIET CONG AGENTS INSPIRED MUCH OF THE DEMONSTRATING . THIS MADE IT ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE U.S . AND PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM TO SETTLE THEIR DIFFERENCES . THE LATEST EPISODES OFFERED LITTLE ASSURANCE OF THAT . COUCHING HIS WORDS IN THE MOST CAREFUL DIPLOMATIC TERMS, U.S . AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE LAST WEEK SUGGESTED TO DIEM THAT HIS BROTHER AND FIERY SISTER-IN-LAW, NGO DINH NHU AND MME . NHU, LEAVE THE COUNTRY UNTIL THE CURRENT CRISIS WAS OVER AND A FRESH RAPPROCHEMENT SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT, THE REDS HIT CAI NUOC DIRECTLY . POURING MORTAR SHELLS AND RECOILLESS RIFLE FIRE IN THE PERIMETER SYSTEM OF DEFENSIVE BUNKERS, THE VIET CONG BREACHED THE FRONT GATE OF THE CITY'S MAJOR OUTPOST, RAN FROM BUNKER TO BUNKER LOBBING IN GRENADES AND SHOOTING THE DEFENDERS IN THE BACK . THE FIGHT LASTED FOR ONLY 35 MINUTES, BUT THE REDS OCCUPIED THE TOWN FOR THE NEXT 17 HOURS . IT WAS A BLOODBATH . WHEN REINFORCEMENTS FINALLY APPEARED, THEY FOUND A HEAP OF 50 MUTILATED BODIES, INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WHICH THE REDS HAD SET AFIRE . OF THE 100-MAN DEFENDING FORCE, ONLY 25 SURVIVED . EXPERTS DIFFER . SOON THEREAFTER, THE REDS OVERRAN THE NEIGHBORING TOWN OF DAMDOI . BUT THIS TIME THE COMMUNISTS MADE THE MISTAKE OF STAYING TOO LONG . SEVEN HOURS AFTER THE VIET CONG OCCUPIED THE TOWN, GOVERNMENT MARINES, AIRLIFTED TO THE SCENE IN U.S . HELICOPTERS, COUNTERATTACKED . HALF THE MARINE FORCE BLOCKED THE REDS' ESCAPE ROUTE AND ATTACKED THEIR SANDBAGGED POSITIONS . ARMED HELICOPTERS UNLOADED SOME 80 ROCKETS INTO THE COMMUNIST DEFENSES, AND FIGHTER PLANES ZOOMED IN AT TREETOP LEVEL WITH GUNS BLAZING . WHEN THE REDS FINALLY DISAPPEARED INTO THE PADDIES AFTER AN ALL-DAY FIGHT, THEY LEFT BEHIND 60 DEAD   BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE POPULATION ESTABLISHED . LODGE HINTED DELICATELY THAT THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF THE BITTERLY CONTROVERSIAL NHUS IN SOUTH VIET NAM NOT ONLY HAMPERED THE WAR EFFORT AGAINST THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG, BUT COULD ALSO " ENDANGER " U.S . CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS TO DIEM'S GOVERNMENT . DIEM EXPRESSED SURPRISE AND SHOCK AT LODGE'S SUGGESTION, COLDLY TURNED IT DOWN ; HE MIGHT HAVE WONDERED HOW JOHN F . KENNEDY WOULD HAVE FELT IF VIET NAM HAD ASKED FOR THE EXILE OF BOBBY AND ETHEL . WHAT NEXT IN U.S . POLICY ? IT WAS A TIME OF FRANTIC PONDERING AND FRANTIC DISCUSSION IN WASHINGTON . SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS WERE LUDICROUS : CUT OFF ALL AID TO DIEM (WHICH WOULD EFFECTIVELY HAND THE COUNTRY TO THE COMMUNISTS) ; RUN THE SEVENTH FLEET UP TO THE COAST AND FORCE DIEM OUT OF POWER (ALSO SENSELESS, SINCE NO SUITABLE SUCCESSOR WAS VISIBLE) . NO ONE SEEMED TO BE DISCUSSING PERHAPS THE MOST SENSIBLE SOLUTION OF ALL : STOP ALL THE HALFWAY HINTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO PROMOTERS OF A COUP D'ETAT, AND GET ON WITH THE DIFFICULT AND UNPALATABLE TASK OF WORKING WITH NGO DINH DIEM AND HIS FAMILY . FACED WITH A PROFUSION OF PROPOSALS FOR ACTION, PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS KEEPING HIS MIND OPEN . AT HIS PRESS CONFERENCE, HE REFUSED ALL EFFORTS TO DRAG HIM INTO A DISCUSSION THE GOVERNMENT'S MARINES WERE ALSO BADLY BATTERED ; 48 WERE KILLED BY THE TIME THE SHOOTING STOPPED . ON THE BASIS OF BODIES, THIS MIGHT BE CALLED A GOVERNMENT VICTORY . NOT SO INSIST SOME AMERICAN MILITARY MEN WHO ARGUE THAT SUCH DEFENSIVE RESPONSES WHATEVER THE PENALTY IN LIVES TO THE COMMUNIST ENEMY ARE WASTING THE STRENGTH OF THE VIETNAMESE FORCES AS WELL AS THE $1,500,000 A DAY THE U.S . IS PUMPING INTO THE COUNTRY . THESE EXPERTS WILL NOT BE HAPPY UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT CAN ORGANIZE REGULAR " SEARCH AND HOLD " OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN RICE COUNTRY, COMMUNISM'S STRONGHOLD . IT IS AN INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TASK . THOUGH THE VIET CONG ARE LOSING MORE MEN (CURRENTLY ABOUT 500 A WEEK) ALL THE TIME, THERE ARE MORE TO BE KILLED ,; OFFICIALS IN SAIGON NOW ESTIMATE THAT HARD-CORE COMMUNIST STRENGTH HAS GONE UP FROM 23,000 TO 31,000 OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS . BUT GOVERNMENT STRIKES ARE AT LEAST MORE AND MORE FREQUENT . IN THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER, 55 SEPARATE OFFENSIVE GROUND ACTIONS OF BATTALION STRENGTH OR LARGER WERE UNDER WAY, CLOSE TO AN ALLTIME RECORD . CONVERSELY, RED ATTACKS ALSO INCREASED FROM 300 TO 400 IN THE SAME PERIOD . AS THIS WEEK'S OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATE, HOWEVER, MANY GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAVE LEARNED TO STAND AND FIGHT . PERSONALITIES AND SAID SIMPLY : " WHAT HELPS THE WAR WE SUPPORT ; WHAT INTERFERES WITH THE WAR EFFORT WE OPPOSE . WE ARE NOT THERE TO SEE A WAR LOST . THAT IS OUR POLICY . " AS IF TO QUIET U.S . NERVOUSNESS, DIEM AT WEEK'S END ANNOUNCED THAT MARTIAL LAW, WHICH HAS BEEN IN EFFECT FOR ALMOST A MONTH, WILL END THIS WEEK, FORESHADOWING A POSSIBLE RETURN TO NORMALCY IN SOUTH VIET NAM . DRAGON LADY, DRAGONFLY IN A BLAZE OF FLASHBULBS, MME . NGO DINH NHU LEFT SAIGON LAST WEEK ON A TRIP TO BEIRUT, BELGRADE, AND POINTS WEST . ELABORATELY COIFFED AND GOWNED, SHE MET REPORTERS AND DEFENDED HER VIEWS, ATTACKED HER ENEMIES, DODGED OVERLY CURVED QUESTIONS, AND DISPLAYED AN INCREDIBLY FASCINATING FEMININE CHARM . WHETHER TWIRLING A PARASOL OR HIDING SHYLY BEHIND AN IVORY FAN, SHE BOTH ATTRACTED AND ANNOYED . " I HAD A STRONG DESIRE TO SLAP HER, " SAID ONE FRENCH TELEVISION INTERVIEWER, " BUT FROM VERY, VERY CLOSE . " AFTER THE LYNCHING . MME . NHU'S PERFORMANCE BEGAN AT THE SAIGON AIRPORT . SHE SAID THAT WHEN HER MOTHER CABLED HER FROM THE U.S . URGING HER TO FLEE SOUTH VIET NAM WITH HER CHILDREN BECAUSE THEIR LIVES WERE IN DANGER, SHE HAD ANSWERED : " DEAR MOTHER, I AM SORRY YOU HAVE BECOME INTOXICATED . " TO A QUESTION ABOUT HER ITINERARY, SHE SAID : " EVERYONE CALLS ME " THE DRAGON LADY.' FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, I WILL BE LIKE THE DRAGONFLY OF THE VIETNAMESE SONG . WHEN IT'S HAPPY, IT STAYS ; WHEN IT'S UNHAPPY, IT FLIES AWAY . " TENTATIVELY, MME . NHU SAID, SHE PLANNED TO VISIT THE U.S., THOUGH IT WOULD BE LIKE GETTING INSIDE " A LION'S CAGE . " / I SHALL JUST TALK EXTEMPORANEOUSLY, " SHE SAID . " I AM INVITED BY THE MOST IMPORTANT PRESS GROUPS . AFTER LYNCHING ME, MORE OR LESS, NOW THEY WISH TO HEAR ME . " SHE DENIED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE SOUTH VIET NAM'S OBSERVER AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY . " I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE U.N., " SHE SAID . " I AM NOT EVEN GOING THERE TO VISIT, BECAUSE I HAVE ALREADY SEEN IT . " * OFFICIAL CONSTERNATION . AT THE INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION CONFERENCE IN BELGRADE, WHERE SHE REPRESENTED SOUTH VIET NAM, MME . NHU STOLE THE SHOW WITH HER GRACEFUL PINK AODAI . THERE WAS FIRE IN HER EYES AND IN HER WORDS . THE DIEM GOVERNMENT WOULD NEVER YIELD TO " PERFIDIOUS BLACKMAILING ATTACKS, " SHE EXCLAIMED . WHAT ABOUT THE CONCERN FOR SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHISTS VOICED BY THE VATICAN ? POPE PAUL VI IS TOO " EASILY WORRIED, " RETORTED MME . NHU . HER ACID REMARK SUPPLEMENTED EARLIER COMMENTS ON THE SAME SUBJECT ON FRENCH TELEVISION : " AS A CATHOLIC, I AM ONLY REQUIRED TO BELIEVE IN THE DOGMAS OF MY RELIGION AND THE POPE . THE POPE IS ONLY INFALLIBLE WHEN HE DECREES SOMETHING EX CATHEDRA . I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HE WILL PUT HIMSELF IN HIS CHAIR TO DISAVOW ME, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE A VERY BAD BLOW TO CATHOLICISM . " REPORTS THAT SHE WOULD NOT STAY AT THE CONFERENCE UNTIL ITS CONCLUSION LEFT OFFICIALS NEAR CONSTERNATION . " IF MME . NHU LEAVES ONE DAY EARLY, D ONE, " THEN THE CONFERENCE WILL HAVE LOST ITS IMPORTANCE . " BUT SHE SHOWED EVERY SIGN OF ENJOYING HERSELF . LETTING FLY AT THE WHITE HOUSE AFTER REPORTS THAT JOHN F . KENNEDY MIGHT BE A BIT UNHAPPY WITH SOUTH VIET NAM'S WHOLE RULING FAMILY, MME . NHU SUGGESTED THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS " MISINFORMED ABOUT THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIET NAM . " / HE'S A POLITICIAN, AND WHEN HE HEARS LOUD OPPOSITION, HE TRIES TO APPEASE IT . " TWO DAYS LATER SHE HAD LUNCH WITH ANOTHER DELEGATE AT THE CONFERENCE . IT WAS NONE OTHER THAN THE PRESIDENT'S BROTHER, SENATOR EDWARD M . KENNEDY . LIKE OTHERS ON THE U.S . DELEGATION, TEDDY KENNEDY HAD HALFWAY HOPED TO AVOID THE CONFRONTATION . BUT THEY HAD A CHAT . A LONG CHAT . " SHE DISCUSSED AT LENGTH HER SIDE OF THE PICTURE, " SAID TEDDY LATER . " SHE WANTED TO TALK TO ME . SHE WANTS TO TALK TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE . " IN FACT, DECLARED AN AWED WITNESS TO THE ONE-SIDED CONVERSATION, " SHE DID NOT STOP TALKING FROM ONE MINUTE TO THE OTHER . " UNABLE TO GET A WORD IN EDGEWAYS, TEDDY TOOK NOTES . IT MAY HAVE BEEN THIS TART REMARK THAT PARTLY PROMPTED U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT TO MAKE SOME WHOLLY GRATUITOUS OBSERVATIONS AT A MANHATTAN PRESS CONFERENCE . CONDITIONS IN SAIGON WERE " CHAOTIC, / DECLARED U THANT, ADDING THAT " CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES " ARE " A FEATURE WHICH IS COMPLETELY ABSENT IN VIET NAM . " THEY ARE, OF COURSE, COMPLETELY ABSENT IN HIS OWN COUNTRY, BURMA, WHICH IS RULED BY GENERAL NE WIN, AS FIRM A DICTATOR AS EXISTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA BUT NEVER CRITICIZED BY U THANT .
 SOUTH VIET NAM BIRTH AT GENEVA AT 10 : 42 A.M., PEKING TIME, WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1954, THE WAR IN INDO-CHINA CAME TO AN END . THE RESULT HAD BEEN A FOREGONE CONCLUSION SINCE THE IGNOMINIOUS FRENCH DEFEAT BY THE COMMUNIST VIET MINH AT DIENBIENPHU TWO MONTHS EARLIER . EVEN BEFORE THAT, DIPLOMATS FROM NINE NATIONS, HALFWAY ROUND THE WORLD IN GENEVA, HAD BEEN WORKING FEVERISHLY TO HAMMER OUT THE FINAL PEACE SETTLEMENT . FEARFUL THAT HIGHLEVEL PARTICIPATION IN GENEVA MIGHT PUT THE U.S . IN THE POSITION OF APPROVING A SELLOUT TO THE REDS, PRESIDENT EISENHOWER AND SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN FOSTER DULLES WERE HESITANT ABOUT ENDORSING THE CONFERENCE . BUT WHEN FRENCH PREMIER PIERRE MENDES-FRANCE SAID THAT HE NEEDED U.S . SUPPORT TO AVOID UNNECESSARY CONCESSIONS, WASHINGTON SENT UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE WALTER BEDELL SMITH BACK TO GENEVA TO STIFFEN HIM UP . . (BULLET HERE) IN GENEVA, DIPLOMATS ARGUED OVER HOW INDO-CHINA SHOULD BE PARTITIONED . WHEN DISCUSSIONS APPEARED TO BE GETTING NOWHERE, MENDESFRANCE IMPOSED A DEADLINE AFTER WHICH HE THREATENED TO RESIGN A MOVE THAT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT THE CONFERENCE TO A GRINDING HALT AND CONTINUED A WAR THAT COULD NOT BE WON . PRODDED BY THIS ULTIMATUM, THE CONFERENCE FINALLY AGREED ON TERMS THAT WOULD PARTITION VIET NAM AT THE 17TH PARALLEL . THE AGREEMENT GAVE THE VIET MINH THE INDUSTRIAL NORTH, LEAVING THE GOVERNMENT OF NGO DINH DIEM WITH THE RICE-RICH SOUTH . NEW MILITARY BASES WERE PROHIBITED, AND CIVILIANS WERE PERMITTED TO LEAVE ONE ZONE TO TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN THE OTHER (NEARLY 800,000 NORTH VIETNAMESE MOVED TO THE SOUTH, BUT ONLY A FEW THOUSAND SOUTHERNERS MOVED NORTH) . ELECTIONS TO UNIFY VIET NAM WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HELD IN 1956, BUT DIEM REPUDIATED THIS WITH THE ARGUMENT THAT ANY ELECTION IN THE COMMUNIST NORTH WOULD BE RIGGED . THE CONFERENCE SET UP AN INTERNATIONAL CONTROL COMMISSION OF INDIA, POLAND AND CANADA TO INVESTIGATE ALL BORDER VIOLATIONS AND ARBITRATE ALL TREATY DISAGREEMENTS ; BUT THE I.C.C.'S TROIKA ARRANGEMENT STYMIED WHATEVER EFFECTIVENESS IT HAD . . (BULLET HERE) IN JANUARY 1955, THE U.S., AT DIEM'S REQUEST, TOOK OVER THE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TRAINING OF THE VIETNAMESE ARMY AS PART OF DULLES' EFFORT UNDER THE SEATO TREATY TO CURB COMMUNIST SUBVERSION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . THOUGH THE U.S . POURED IN LAVISH ECONOMIC AID, THE TOTAL U.S . MILITARY STRENGTH ASSIGNED TO THE MILITARY ASSISTANCE GROUP DID NOT EXCEED 2,000 MEN . BUT AS THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS BEGAN INCREASING THEIR TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, THE U.S . STARTED TO GET SERIOUSLY CONCERNED . IN OCTOBER 1961, GENERAL MAXWELL D . TAYLOR VISITED SOUTH VIET NAM, CAME BACK WITH THE OUTLINE OF A VASTLY STEPPED-UP PROGRAM OF U.S . MILITARY AID . TODAY, TOTAL U.S . STRENGTH IN SOUTH VIET NAM IS ABOUT 14,000 MEN . THE VIETNAMESE ARMY IS ALMOST COMPLETELY ARMED WITH U.S . WEAPONS, AND U.S . ARMY HELICOPTERS FERRY GOVERNMENT TROOPS ON PRACTICALLY EVERY LONG-RANGE OFFENSIVE MISSION .
 FRANCE COPING WITH AN OLD FOE THE JOKE IN PARIS WAS THAT CHARLES DE GAULLE DID NOT KNOW BIFTECK PRICES WERE GOING UP UNTIL HIS WIFE, TANTE YVONNE, TOLD HIM . WHEREVER DE GAULLE GOT THE NEWS ABOUT FRENCH INFLATION, HE MOVED SWIFTLY LAST WEEK TO BRING IT UNDER CONTROL . INFLATION IS AS TYPICALLY FRENCH AS ARE STREET DEMONSTRATIONS AND OFTEN THE TWO ARE LINKED . ALL FRENCH GOVERNMENTS TEND TO GRAPPLE VAINLY WITH THE PROBLEM . PREMIER PAUL RAMADIER FOUGHT A GAME BUT LOSING BATTLE IN 1947 ; PREMIER ANTOINE PINAY LAUNCHED A " SAVE THE FRANC " CAMPAIGN IN 1952 . NOW DE GAULLE IS STRUGGLING AGAINST THE SAME HYDRAHEADED ENEMY : RISING PRICES, UP 16 PER CENT IN THREE YEARS ; WAGE BOOSTS, WHICH ONLY INCREASE THE COST SPIRAL ; AND THE FURY OF FARMERS . IN AN UNUSUAL MOVE, DE GAULLE SUMMONED HIS CABINET DURING THE VACATION MONTH OF AUGUST, AND SOURLY NOTED THAT WITHOUT ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL STABILITY FRANCE COULD NOT HAVE THE GLORIOUS " POLICY CONSISTENT WITH HER INTERESTS . " PREMIER GEORGES POMPIDOU, AN EX-BANKER, CANDIDLY SAID THAT ALL FRENCHMEN WERE JIGGLING TAX RETURNS A BIT IN THEIR OWN FAVOR, LAMENTED THAT " WHILE AN AMERICAN ALWAYS WANTS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE EARNS MORE THAN HIS NEIGHBOR, THE FRENCHMAN ALWAYS WANTS TO SHOW YOU HE EARNS LESS . " CREDIT RESTRICTIONS AND BUDGETARY MEASURES HIGHLIGHTED THE NEW CORRECTIVE PLAN ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK . BANKS ARE LIMITED TO A 10 PER CENT INCREASE IN LOAN PORTFOLIOS . INSTALLMENT BUYING HAS BEEN TIGHTENED BY INCREASING DOWN PAYMENTS . IN A NATIONWIDE TV SPEECH, FINANCE MINISTER VALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING SAID THE SUCCESS OF THE PLAN DEPENDS " ON TWO THINGS : CONSCIENCE AND CONFIDENCE . " THE PRESS WAS NEITHER HOSTILE NOR ENTHUSIASTIC . AS USUAL, CHARLES DE GAULLE HAD THE LAST WORD . TO HIS CABINET HE SAID, " IF THIS DOESN'T DO IT, WE'LL GO STILL FARTHER . "
 FORMOSA LITTLE CHIANG WHEN THE UNITED AIRLINES JET LANDED AT WASHINGTON AIRPORT LAST WEEK, GENERAL CHIANG CHING-KUO WALKED UNNOTICED PAST THE WAITING RECEPTION COMMITTEE OF U.S . OFFICIALS AND CHINESE DIPLOMATS . IT WAS NOT UNTIL MOMENTS LATER THAT THEY SPOTTED HIM, A CHUNKY MAN IN A NONDESCRIPT BUSINESS SUIT, PATIENTLY EXAMINING THE MODERNISTIC INTERIOR OF THE DULLES TERMINAL BUILDING . THE COMMITTEE'S MISTAKE, AND THE GENERAL'S DEMEANOR, WERE BOTH SIGNIFICANT . THOUGH THE ELDEST SON OF CHIANG KAI-SHEK, NATIONALIST CHINA'S VENERABLE PRESIDENT, CHIANG CHING-KUO, 53, IS THE MYSTERY MAN OF FORMOSA WHO AVOIDS THE LIMELIGHT . PARTLY, THE MYSTERY HAS PROFESSIONAL REASONS : AS CHIEF OF FORMOSA'S SECRET POLICE AND HEAD OF THE GUERRILLA ACTIVITIES DIRECTED AGAINST RED CHINA, HE NATURALLY SEEKS THE SHADOWS . FORMOSAN BESTSELLER . THE VISIT TO THE U.S., HIS FIRST IN TEN YEARS, IS SAID TO BE WITHOUT SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE . HE CONFERRED WITH INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS AT BOTH THE CIA AND THE PENTAGON, DISCUSSED THE LATEST ESTIMATES OF CONDITIONS ON THE RED CHINESE MAINLAND . BETWEEN CONFERENCES, HE SQUEEZED IN A ONE-DAY JET FLIGHT TO CAPE CANAVERAL . HE ALSO HAD A 75-MINUTE CONFERENCE WITH THE PRESIDENT AND PRESENTED HIM WITH A COPY OF PROFILES IN COURAGE IN A CHINESE TRANSLATION, ADDING THAT IT WAS A BESTSELLER ON FORMOSA . KENNEDY AND TOP U.S . OFFICIALS WERE SEEING FACE TO FACE THE MAN WHO MAY WELL SUCCEED HIS FATHER AS PRESIDENT OF NATIONALIST CHINA . ON FORMOSA, CHINGKUO IS KNOWN AS " LITTLE CHIANG, " AND HIS ONLY MAJOR RIVAL FOR THE TOP JOB IS VICE PRESIDENT CHEN CHENG, WHO SUFFERS FROM A LIVER AILMENT AND HAS BEEN IN SEMIRETIREMENT SINCE JUNE . BORN IN CHEKIANG PROVINCE TO THE GIMO'S FIRST WIFE, A PEASANT GIRL WHO WAS LATER KILLED IN A JAPANESE BOMBING RAID, CHING-KUO WAS 16 WHEN THE GIMO SENT HIM TO MOSCOW IN 1925 " TO LEARN MORE ABOUT REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS . " HE JOINED THE KOMSOMOL AND STUDIED GUERRILLA TACTICS AT A RED ARMY ACADEMY . WHEN CHIANG KAI-SHEK BROKE WITH THE COMMUNISTS IN 1927, A LETTER OVER CHING-KUO'S NAME APPEARED IN PRAVDA DENOUNCING HIS FATHER AS A " TRAITOR . " HE SAYS THE LETTER WAS A FORGERY . CHING-KUO HIMSELF BROKE WITH STALIN ON THE ISSUE OF TROTSKYISM AND PUT IN SOME YEARS OF HARD WORK IN GOLD MINES AND FACTORIES . WHEN THE JAPANESE THREAT FORGED A NEW BOND BETWEEN STALIN AND THE GIMO IN 1937, CHING-KUO WAS PERMITTED TO LEAVE FOR CHINA WITH HIS SHY, APPEALING RUSSIAN WIFE FANINA AND THEIR SON ALAN . SPOT & MOP . OVERJOYED AT HIS SON'S RETURN, THE GIMO NEVERTHELESS THOUGHT HIM TOO RUSSIAN IN HIS OUTLOOK AND HAD HIM TUTORED FOR TWO YEARS TO " MAKE HIM CHINESE AGAIN . " EVER SINCE, CHING-KUO HAS LOYALLY AND EFFICIENTLY HANDLED A SUCCESSION OF JOBS FOR HIS FATHER, RANGING FROM OPERATING A CONCENTRATION CAMP FOR COMMUNIST SUSPECTS ON GREEN ISLAND TO CREATING A SYSTEM OF POLITICAL COMMISSARS TO CHECK ON LOYALTY IN THE ARMY . UNDER CHING-KUO, NATIONALIST GUERRILLAS PROBE THE MAINLAND FOR SOFT SPOTS IN THE DEFENSES AND PUBLIC DISAFFECTION WITH THE RED REGIME . OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, SOME 1,500 MEN HAVE BEEN PUT ASHORE IN CHEKIANG AND KWANGTUNG PROVINCES . IN U.S . OPINION, INDIVIDUAL SABOTEURS OFTEN COMPLETE THEIR MISSIONS, BUT MOST LARGE RAIDING PARTIES HAVE BEEN QUICKLY SPOTTED AND MOPPED UP BY THE RED CHINESE . CHING-KUO HAS REPEATEDLY BEEN ACCUSED OF ENGAGING IN SECRET TALKS WITH PEKING, PRESUMABLY WITH THE OBJECT OF MAKING A DEAL AFTER THE GIMO'S DEATH . THOSE WHO KNOW HIM BEST SCOFF AT THE IDEA THAT HE WOULD EVER HAND FORMOSA OVER TO PEKING . SINO-MARXIST AMALGAM . WITH NO FORMAL UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, CHING-KUO COMMANDS LITTLE LOYALTY AMONG NATIONALIST CHINA'S INTELLECTUALS, AND HIS NONCONFORMIST METHODS IRRITATE THE TOP POLITICIANS OF THE KUOMINTANG . HE IS BACKED BY HIS DASHING HALF BROTHER, MAJOR GENERAL CHIANG WEI-KUO, 47 . AS MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO IN THE CABINET AND SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT, CHINGKUO WORKS CLOSELY WITH HIS FATHER . ANOTHER SOURCE OF STRENGTH IS CHING-KUO'S 100,000-MAN YOUTH CORPS, AND HIS VETO POWER OVER PROMOTIONS IN THE ARMY GIVES HIM ENORMOUS INFLUENCE WITH JUNIOR OFFICERS . WITH HIS TWO OLDER CHILDREN MARRIED, CHING-KUO LIVES IN A MODEST HOME IN TAIPEI WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO YOUNGER SONS . HIS DAY BEGINS AT 6 : 00 A.M . WITH AN HOUR'S PRACTICE IN CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING, AND CONTINUES IN HIS OFFICE UNTIL MIDNIGHT . HE LIKES HIKING IN THE MOUNTAINS, BUT SINCE SUFFERING FROM MILD DIABETES HAS HAD TO FORGO CONVIVIAL DRINKING MOSTLY VODKA . ONE OLD FRIEND SEES CHING-KUO AS " AN AMALGAM OF THE CHINESE TRADITION AND MARXIST IDEAS . / WHAT STRIKES MOST OBSERVERS IS HIS STRANGE COMBINATION OF SHYNESS AND POWER . A CHINESE FRIEND PERHAPS PUT IT BEST WHEN HE SAID, " LOOK AT HIS HANDS THERE'S THE MAN : COARSE, TOUGH,PATIENT . " AS HIS TRIP TO WASHINGTON NEARED ITS END LAST WEEK, THE MYSTERY MAN MET NEWSMEN, WHO FOUND HIM SEATED ON A GOLD-EMBROIDERED SOFA IN THE CHINESE EMBASSY . RED CHINA, SAID CHING-KUO THROUGH HIS INTERPRETER, IS AT ITS WEAKEST POINT IN HISTORY AND FORMOSA CORRESPONDINGLY AT ITS STRONGEST . HIS VISIT WAS INTENDED TO BRING ABOUT " COMMON UNDERSTANDING " BETWEEN HIS COUNTRY AND THE U.S . DID THAT MEAN THERE WERE MISUNDERSTANDINGS ? CHING-KUO REPLIED WITH A LOUD " NO ! " EVEN BEFORE THE QUESTION WAS TRANSLATED . WITH A BRISK, " THAT'S ALL, " THE INTERVIEW WAS CONCLUDED, AND CHING-KUO DROVE OFF TO PRINCETON, N.J., TO ENJOY THE ONE U.S . EXPERIENCE HE HAD INSISTED UPON STAYING AT A MOTEL .
 RUSSIA " PASSENGERS WILL PLEASE REFRAIN " MOSCOW-BOUND TRAIN NO . 7 HAD JUST PULLED INTO NAUSHKI, THE SOVIET RAILROAD CHECKPOINT ON THE MONGOLIAN FRONTIER . SUDDENLY, SWARMS OF RED CHINESE STUDENTS DASHED OUT OF THE COACHES AND INTO THE STATION, TIED THEMSELVES WITH BELTS TO BLOCK THE ENTRANCES . THEN, IN THE WORDS OF ASTOUNDED STATIONMASTER PROKOP MIKHAILOV, THEY " EMPTIED THEIR BOWELS AND BLADDERS ON THE FLOOR, IN SPITOONS, AND ON BENCHES . AND THE MEN'S ROOM WAS ONLY A FEW STEPS AWAY . " CAUSE OF THE MESSY MELEE WAS THE DISCOVERY OF ANTI-MOSCOW PROPAGANDA IN THE COMPARTMENTS OF THE 19-MAN RED CHINESE TRAIN CREW AND THE 73 STUDENTS ABOARD THE MOSCOW-PEKING EXPRESS . WHEN FOUR RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS AND CUSTOMS OFFICIALS TRIED TO CONFISCATE THE DOCUMENTS, MOBS OF RED CHINESE DEFIANTLY BLOCKED THE AISLES . ATTEMPTING TO FIGHT THEIR WAY THROUGH THE CROWD, THE HAPLESS SOVIET OFFICIALS WERE PUMMELED, SCRATCHED AND BITTEN ; FINALLY THEY WERE LOCKED INTO A COMPARTMENT FOR FIVE HOURS . WHEN THE RUSSIANS HASTILY ASSEMBLED A REPLACEMENT TRAIN FOR THE ONWARD JOURNEY TO MOSCOW, THE PEKING CREW LOCKED THE EMERGENCY BRAKES ON THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT, RAISED RED SIGNALS, AND MOVED CRANES TO BLOCKADE THE RAILS . IN THE END, THE HARRIED RUSSIANS WERE ABLE TO FORCE THE CHINESE TRAIN AND ITS RAMBUNCTIOUS PASSENGERS BACK OVER THE FRONTIER INTO MONGOLIA, AND WITH A SIGH OF RELIEF, SOVIET TRAINMEN CHUGGED OFF TOWARD MOSCOW IN THE REPLACEMENT TRAIN . IT MIGHT WELL BE THE LAST TRIP IN A LONG TIME FOR THE MOSCOW-PEKING EXPRESS . THE KREMLIN DASHED OFF A SCATHING OFFICIAL PROTEST TO PEKING OVER THE " PROVOCATIVE VIOLATION OF ELEMENTARY SANITARY AND HYGIENIC STANDARDS, " THEN PEREMPTORILY SUSPENDED SERVICE ON THE ROUTE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE .
 SOUTH AFRICA A DAY AT THE STADIOM ONE OF THE FEW WAYS THAT SOUTH AFRICA'S HAPLESS BLACKS AND COLOREDS HAVE TO EXPRESS THEIR DISMAY AT APARTHEID IT TO BOO VIGOROUSLY THE ALL-WHITE HOME TEAMS AT INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CONTESTS . IN 1955 THE UNPATRIOTIC FAVORITISM OF NONWHITES AT A RUGBY GAME WITH GREAT BRITAIN AT BLOEMFONTEIN BROUGHT ABOUT A RACIAL SLUGFEST THAT RESULTED IN A TENYEAR BAN ON BLACK AND COLORED SPECTATORS IN THAT CITY ; FIVE YEARS AGO, A SIMILAR CLASH FORCED OFFICIALS TO HALT A SOUTH AFRICA-BRITAIN SOCCER MATCH IN JOHANNESBURG'S RAND STADIUM . NONE OF THESE FEUDS MATCHED THE BATTLE FROM WHICH PORT ELIZABETH WAS RECOVERING LAST WEEK . THERE 50,000 WHITE FANS WERE ON HAND TO WATCH SOUTH AFRICA'S SPRINGBOKS FACE AUSTRALIA IN THE FINAL MATCH OF THIS YEAR'S RUGGER WORLD SERIES ; SOUTH AFRICA, WHICH HAS HELD THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, WAS BEHIND TWO GAMES TO ONE . THIS WAS QUITE ALL RIGHT WITH THE CROWD OF 5,000 NONWHITES, WHICH INSIDE ITS SEGREGATED ENCLOSURE FELT NO SYMPATHY FOR THE LOCALS . WITH THE VISITORS AHEAD IN THIS FINAL MATCH, THE NONWHITES CHEERED SO LOUDLY THAT THE PUZZLED AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS WERE TAKEN ABACK . THEN, WITH 18 MINUTES TO PLAY, SOUTH AFRICA BOUNCED BACK TO TIE THE SCORE AND THE BLACK BLEACHERS EXPLODED IN A ROAR OF ANGUISH . NONWHITES BEGAN POURING OVER THEIR FENCE ONTO THE FIELD, HURLING BOTTLES AND BRICKS . POLICE WITH DRAWN CLUBS RUSHED THEM, JOINED BY VOLUNTEER WHITES . A WHITE FARMER EMPTIED HIS PISTOL INTO THE AIR . ON THE FIELD, SOUTH AFRICAN FORWARD DICK PUTTER WAS CUT IN THE MOUTH BY ONE MISSILE, AND AS A BOTTLE SPUN TOWARD REFEREE PIET MYBURGH, A HUSKY AUSTRALIAN SAVED HIM WITH A FLYING TACKLE . AFTER PLAY RESUMED, SOUTH AFRICA WON, 22 TO 6 . THE SCORE AMONG THE SPECTATORS : SIX WHITES AND 20 NONWHITES HOSPITALIZED, TWO NONWHITES ARRESTED, 40 CARS IN THE PARKING LOT DAMAGED FROM ROCKS RAINED ONTO THEM FROM THE BLACK STANDS . POSSIBLY HINTING THAT NONWHITES MAY BE BARRED FROM ALL STADIUMS, FOREIGN MINISTER ERIC LOUW THUNDERED THAT " ACTIVE MEASURES ARE NECESSARY TO PREVENT THIS SORT OF THING, " WHICH, HE COMPLAINED, " IS GIVING SOUTH AFRICA A BAD NAME OVERSEAS . " AS FOR PORT ELIZABETH, THE AUTHORITIES THERE DECIDED THAT THE WISE COURSE WOULD BE TO SELL NO MORE BEVERAGES IN BOTTLES AND TO DOUBLE THE ADMISSION PRICE FOR NONWHITES AT FUTURE GAMES .
 NIGERIA VERDICT IN LAGOS IT WAS SHOCK ENOUGH TO LEARN OF THE CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA BY VIOLENCE, FOR NIGERIA HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST STABLE OF AFRICA'S NEW NATIONS . BUT IT SEEMED ALMOST INCREDIBLE THAT THE RINGLEADER COULD HAVE BEEN THE BESPECTACLED CHIEF PRISONER IN THE DOCK OF A LAGOS COURTROOM LAST WEEK THE RESPECTED CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO . EDUCATED BY PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES AND STILL A NONSMOKING TEETOTALER, AWOLOWO WORKED HIS WAY TO A LONDON UNIVERSITY LAW DEGREE, SERVED FIVE YEARS AS THE SOLID, EFFICIENT PRIME MINISTER OF HIS NATIVE WESTERN REGION AND HEADED NIGERIA'S OPPOSITION PARTY, THE ACTION GROUP . BEFORE INDEPENDENCE IN 1960, HE WAS INFLUENTIAL IN DRAWING UP NIGERIA'S CONSTITUTION . WOULD AWOLOWO, A MASTERFUL ORGANIZER, REALLY GET MIXED UP IN A HALF-BAKED, AMATEURISH PLOT TO WIPE OUT HIS NATION'S TOP LEADERSHIP WITH A HANDFUL OF EXPLOSIVES, ARMS, AND REBELS TRAINED IN NEARBY GHANA ? WINKS FROM THE DOCK . INDEED HE WOULD AND DID INSISTED NIGERIA'S FEDERAL PROSECUTOR IN THE MARATHON, TEN-MONTH TRIAL THAT FILLED 1,400 PAGES OF TESTIMONY . WITNESS AFTER WITNESS 53 IN ALL CAME INTO COURT TO TESTIFY THAT AWOLOWO PLANNED TO TOPPLE FEDERAL PRIME MINISTER SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA LAST SEPT . 21 WITH THE HELP OF 200 TRAINED MEN, ON THE EVE OF A STATE VISIT BY INDIA'S JAWAHARLAL NEHRU . A GOVERNMENT WITNESS TESTIFIED THAT ON AWOLOWO'S INSTRUCTIONS HE HAD CARRIED A CHECK TO PURCHASE ARMS IN GHANA . POLICE CLAIMED THAT THEY HAD DUG UP FOUR CARTRIDGES HIDDEN IN AWOLOWO'S BACKYARD . ALTHOUGH CONDUCTED WITH GRAVE DECORUM, THE TRIAL HAD ITS INTERRUPTIONS . ONE PROSECUTION WITNESS COMPLAINED THAT SOME OF THE ACCUSED IN THE DOCK WERE GIVING HIM THE JUJU VERSION OF THE EVIL EYE A WINK . AWOLOWO, DENYING ALL THE ACCUSATIONS, SAID THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO PROVE THE CASE, AND DECLARED THAT SOME OF THE TESTIMONY WAS OBTAINED UNDER DURESS . IN A HALF-HOUR CLOSING ORATION, AWOLOWO FRANKLY LAMENTED THAT " THE INVALUABLE SERVICES WHICH . . . I CAN STILL RENDER WILL BE LOST TO THE COUNTRY . " THE JUDGE, GEORGE SOWEMIMO, WHO WAS OPENLY DISTRESSED BY THE ENTIRE PROCEEDING, SAID HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO CONVICT . IN A NINE-HOUR DECISION DELIVERED LAST WEEK, HE GAVE AWOLOWO TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR TREASONABLE FELONY, JUST A BIT MILDER THAN THE 15-YEAR PRISON TERM METED OUT TO AWOLOWO'S CRONY, POLITICO TONY ENAHORO, A FEW DAYS EARLIER . HEADLESS OPPOSITION . WITH THE CONVICTIONS OF AWOLOWO AND ENAHORO, THE OPPOSITION ACTION GROUP IS VIRTUALLY DECAPITATED . BUT THE PARTY STILL ENJOYS THE LOYAL BACKING OF WESTERN NIGERIA'S PREDOMINANT, ADVANCED YORUBA TRIBE . THE CLANNISH YORUBAS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY REORGANIZE TO CHALLENGE THE NORTH AND EAST ONCE MORE . AT WEEK'S END MANY A NIGERIAN WAS WONDERING HOW LONG HIS COUNTRY'S DELICATE BALANCE OF REGIONAL RIVALRIES, WHICH HAS BEEN THE KEY TO AFRICA'S MOST ADMIRED DEMOCRACY, COULD LAST . UNPERTURBED, SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA, A MOSLEM FROM THE NORTH, WENT AHEAD WITH PLANS TO CONVERT NIGERIA ON OCT . 1 FROM A BRITISH DOMINION TO A REPUBLIC WITHIN THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH . SIR ABUBAKAR WILL REMAIN THE REAL BOSS . THE CHANGEOVER WILL MERELY INSTALL A CEREMONIAL PRESIDENT AS HEAD OF STATE TO REPLACE QUEEN ELIZABETH, WHO IS NOW SOVEREIGN .
 CONGO PLEASE DON'T GO THE SEVEN-STORY LEOPOLDVILLE BUILDING THAT SERVES AS U.N . HEADQUARTERS IN THE CONGO ONCE BUZZED WITH DAILY CRISES ; TODAY ITS CORRIDORS ARE QUIET AND STAFFERS GREET ONE ANOTHER WITH : " WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS ? " AT A U.N . AIRSTRIP, SWEDISH JET PILOTS KILL TIME BY STRAFING A DAMAGED AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND . " USING UP AMMUNITION, " AN OFFICER EXPLAINS . " WE WON'T TAKE IT HOME . " THREE CHAOTIC YEARS AFTER INTERVENING IN THE CONGO, THE U.N . MILITARY FORCES LAST WEEK WERE PACKING UP TO LEAVE . UNDER ORDERS FROM SECRETARY GENERAL U THANT, THE REMAINING 5,077 COMBAT TROOPS (ALREADY PARED SHARPLY FROM A PEAK OF 19,000 SINCE THE FINAL CRUSHING OF KATANGA LAST JANUARY) ARE SCHEDULED FOR DEPARTURE BY DEC . 31 . THE PLANNED PULL-OUT REPRESENTS A VICTORY FOR SUCH INTRANSIGENT OPPONENTS OF THE U.N . CONGO OPERATION AS RUSSIA AND FRANCE . CHIEFLY BECAUSE OF THE HOLDOUTS' REFUSAL TO HELP SHARE THE COSTS, THE U.N . IS $140 MILLION IN DEBT, AND THANT HAS NOT " A SINGLE CENT " WITH WHICH TO FINANCE THE PEACEKEEPING FORCE NEXT YEAR . SHAKY BABY . BUT LAST WEEK, THANT'S SCHEDULED EVACUATION WAS CAUSING ALARMED PROTEST FROM THE U.S., BRITAIN AND BELGIUM, WHICH DOUBT THE CONGO'S ABILITY TO STAND ALONE . IN KATANGA PROVINCE, 15,000 EX-GENDARMES OF OUSTED SECESSIONIST MOISE TSHOMBE HAVE VANISHED INTO THE BUSH ; ROAMING BANDS OF THEM STAGE HIGHWAY ROBBERIES AND RAID VILLAGES TO GUZZLE THE LOCAL BEER STOCKS . THE 30,000-MAN CONGOLESE ARMY, WHOSE 1960 MUTINY IGNITED THE CIVIL WAR, HAS PRODUCED A NUCLEUS OF DISCIPLINED OFFICERS, THANKS TO ITS SPUNKY COMMANDER, GENERAL JOSEPH MOBUTU ; NO LONGER ARE UNARMED CIVILIANS SHOT DOWN AT RANDOM IN ELISABETHVILLE . BUT THE ARMY'S RETRAINING PROGRAM IS FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE, AND THERE ARE NAGGING SYMPTOMS OF ANARCHY TO COME . IN AN AFRICAN NATION WHOSE THREE PRINCIPAL CITIES ARE ABOUT AS FAR APART AS TULSA, DETROIT AND JACKSONVILLE, THERE IS ALSO THE PROBLEM OF ENFORCING CENTRAL GOVERNMENT RULE AMONG REMOTE TRIBESMEN AN EFFORT THAT THE U.N . SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS ASSISTED . " KILL . . . KILL . . . CHASE ! " MODERATE, WESTWARD-LEANING PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA DESPERATELY WANTS THE U.N . TO STAY, IS CONSIDERING A PERSONAL APPEAL TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AS A LAST RESORT . WITH ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT SPRING, THE CONGO'S OLD EXTREMISTS ARE LURKING IN THE WINGS . EGIDE DAVIDSON BOCHELEY, PARTISAN OF THE ERRATIC LATE PREMIER PATRICE LUMUMBA, OUTLINED HIS NATIONAL POLICY RECENTLY AT A PRESS CONFERENCE : / KILL ADOULA ! KILL (PRESIDENT JOSEPH) KASAVUBU ! CHASE OUT THE AMERICANS ! " TSHOMBE, RELAXING IN SPAIN AFTER TREATMENT FOR EYE TROUBLE AND AMOEBIC DYSENTERY, HAS ASSURED FRIENDS THAT HE PLANS AN ACTIVE PART IN THE CAMPAIGN . FACED WITH THE UPROAR, THANT LAST WEEK CALLED A PRESS CONFERENCE, ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS TURNING THE WHOLE DECISION OVER TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUT THAT HE WOULD STICK TO HIS PULL-OUT PLAN UNLESS HE GOT SOME EMERGENCY FINANCING . ONE POSSIBILITY : A REDUCED CONGO FORCE OF PERHAPS 3,000 MEN, PAID FOR BY THE U.S . AND OTHER INTERESTED NATIONS .
 AMERICANS ABROAD THE MAGIC WORD AT FIRST IT SEEMED LIKE ANOTHER IN THE LONG SERIES OF RACIAL INCIDENTS IN THE ARMED FORCES . IT BEGAN ONE EVENING AS A GROUP OF NEGRO SOLDIERS OF THE 557TH QUARTERMASTER COMPANY WERE RETURNING TO THEIR BARRACKS AT THE BIG U.S . AIRBASE AT EVREUX, 62 MILES WEST OF PARIS . ACROSS THE ROAD LAY ANOTHER BARRACKS, HOUSING THE 317TH SUPPLY SQUADRON, WHERE THE AIRMEN WERE WINDING UP A " G.I . PARTY, " THAT IS, A CLEANUP BEFORE NEXT MORNING'S INSPECTION . DEATH AT DAWN . THE NEGROES PASSING BY WERE NOISY, AND SOMEONE SHOUTED AT THEM FROM A SECOND-STORY WINDOW OF THE SUPPLY SQUADRON BARRACKS . NO ONE KNOWS WHO DID THE SHOUTING . NO ONE AGREES ON WHAT WAS SHOUTED . BUT UNQUESTIONABLY, THE SHOUTS CONTAINED WHAT NEGRO SOLDIERS AT EVREUX CALL " THE MAGIC WORD " NIGGER . RUSHING INTO THEIR OWN BARRACKS, THE NEGROES GRABBED 12IN . METAL RODS USED TO TRANSFORM BEDS INTO BUNKS AND RACED ACROSS THE STREET . FIRST THERE WAS MUCH PUSHING, SHOUTING AND LOUD ARGUMENT . THEN A FIGHT BROKE OUT, LASTING APPROXIMATELY 30 SECONDS . WHEN IT WAS OVER, SIX WHITE AIRMEN WERE HOSPITALIZED WITH HEAD WOUNDS . NONE OF THE INJURIES SEEMED SERIOUS, BUT AT DAWN AIRMAN FIRST CLASS ROBERT PADGETT, 23, OF WOODLAWN, VA., DIED OF A BRAIN HEMORRHAGE . NEXT MORNING THE QUARTERMASTER COMPANY WAS LINED UP, AND THE SURVIVING INJURED AIRMEN PICKED OUT THEIR ASSAILANTS, WHO WERE ALL PFCS : RICHARD PARKER OF ECKMAN, W . VA., EDWARD SPEARS OF NEW YORK CITY, RAYMOND BOST OF PITTSBURGH, FRANKLIN WADDELL AND ROBERT BURRELL OF PHILADELPHIA . THE ARRESTED MEN WERE NEGROES, THE INJURED AND THE DEAD WHITES . EVEN SO, THERE WAS A DEBATE AT EVREUX AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE FATAL BRAWL WAS INDEED A RACE RIOT . GUNG-HO LOOK . BOTH UNITS ARE COMPLETELY INTEGRATED AND IN THE SAME PROPORTION ABOUT 17 PER CENT NEGRO . AND THERE WERE GROUNDS FOR GRIEVANCES OTHER THAN RACIAL . THE QUARTERMASTER COMPANY, THE ONLY ARMY UNIT ON THE BASE, MUST SUBMIT TO A MIDNIGHT BED CHECK, WHILE AIRMEN HAVE ONLY TO REPORT FOR DUTY EACH MORNING . AS AN AIRBORNE UNIT, THE QUARTERMASTER COMPANY KEEPS IN RUGGED PHYSICAL SHAPE, HAS THE TOUGH LOOK OF GUNG-HO SOLDIERS . THE MEN OF THE SUPPLY UNIT HAVE THE LOOK OF OFFICE WORKERS AND THE VANITY OF INTELLECTUALS . ONE AIRMAN SNEERED, " YOU COULD TAKE THAT WHOLE ARMY COMPANY ACROSS THE ROAD AND ADD UP THEIR IQS AND YOU WOULDN'T GET 200 . " AT WEEK'S END EVEN MORE DOUBT WAS CAST ON THE RACIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE FIGHT WHEN A SIXTH MEMBER OF THE QUARTERMASTER COMPANY WAS ARRESTED AND ALSO CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT . HE WAS A WHITE MAN, PFC ALLEN GERNARD, 18, OF NEW YORK CITY, WHO PRESUMABLY HAD GRABBED A PIECE OF PIPE AND JOINED HIS NEGRO BUDDIES IN THE ATTACK ON THE AIRMEN .
 MALAYSIA HURRAY FOR HARRY WHEN PRETTY CATHERINE LOH WAS ELECTED MISS MALAYSIA LAST APRIL, THE PERT BEAUTY FROM THE OIL-RICH BRITISH PROTECTORATE OF BRUNEI FULLY EXPECTED TO PRESIDE OVER THE INDEPENDENCE CEREMONIES OF THE NEWLY FORMED FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA . BUT THAT WAS BEFORE BRUNEI WITHDREW FROM THE PLANNED FEDERATION IN A STATE OF PIQUE, LEAVING MALAYA, SINGAPORE, SARAWAK AND NORTH BORNEO TO GO IT ALONE . BRUNEI'S DEFECTION NOT ONLY LEFT THIS WEEK'S JOYOUS CELEBRATIONS WITHOUT A BEAUTY QUEEN BUT IT ALSO TOOK MALAYSIA OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR THE MISS UNIVERSE CONTEST . THE BEAUTY QUEEN FLAP WAS LOW ON THE LIST OF LAST-MINUTE LABOR PAINS ATTENDING THE LONG-AWAITED BIRTH OF MALAYSIA . AT THE INSISTENCE OF INDONESIA'S BELLIGERENT PRESIDENT SUKARNO, WHO BITTERLY OPPOSES THE FEDERATION, MALAYSIA'S INDEPENDENCE HAD BEEN POSTPONED TWO WEEKS BEYOND THE ORIGINAL AUG . 31 STARTING DATE, WHILE A UNITED NATIONS TEAM INVESTIGATED WHETHER OR NOT NORTH BORNEO AND SARAWAK REALLY WANTED TO JOIN . HOPING TO INFLUENCE OPINION AGAINST FEDERATION, SUKARNO BEGAN MOVING PARATROOPERS INTO INDONESIAN BORNEO ALONG HIS 900-MILE-LONG BORDER WITH THE TWO TERRITORIES . SOME INDONESIAN GUERRILLAS EVEN SNEAKED THROUGH THE JUNGLES INTO SARAWAK TO STIR UP TROUBLE ; THEY WERE RELENTLESSLY HUNTED DOWN BY TOUGH LITTLE BRITISH ARMY GURKHAS, AIDED BY HALFNAKED IBAN TRIBESMEN, WHO HUNG UP AT LEAST ONE INDONESIAN HEAD IN THE RAFTERS OF THEIR LONGHOUSES . FEARFUL THAT INDONESIA MIGHT EXTRACT FURTHER DELAYS OUT OF MALAYA'S EASYGOING PRIME MINISTER TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN, THE ARCHITECT OF THE FEDERATION, SINGAPORE'S BRILLIANT, SHIFTY PRIME MINISTER LEE KUAN YEW, WHO REGARDS SUKARNO AS " AN INTERNATIONAL BLACKMAILER, " SWUNG INTO ACTION . FLYING TO SARAWAK AND NORTH BORNEO, " HARRY " LEE PICKED UP THE CHIEF MINISTERS OF BOTH TERRITORIES AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO KUALA LUMPUR TO STIFFEN UP THE TUNKU . BRITAIN'S COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY DUNCAN SANDYS WAS ALSO ON HAND, WORKING HARD TO GET AGREEMENT . THREATENING TO DECLARE SINGAPORE AN INDEPENDENT STATE, LEE PRESSURED ABDUL RAHMAN INTO HOLDING FIRM FOR THE FEDERATION'S SEPT . 16 DEADLINE . LAST WEEK THE FINAL OBSTACLE TO INDEPENDENCE WAS CLEARED AWAY WHEN THE U.N.'S MALAYSIA TEAM REPORTED THAT BOTH NORTH BORNEO AND SARAWAK FAVORED THE FEDERATION . AS THE NEW NATION PREPARED TO UNFURL ITS RED-AND-WHITE-STRIPED FLAG, HARRY LEE WAS QUICK TO CAPITALIZE ON THE OCCASION . WITH HIS POPULARITY AT ITS ZENITH FOR HIS MAJOR ROLE IN BRINGING THE FEDERATION ABOUT, HE SCHEDULED IMMEDIATE ELECTIONS IN SINGAPORE .
 ABRUPTLY, AT 9 : 45 P.M., THE BARRAGE BEGAN FIRST AGAINST THE PALACE GUARD BARRACKS, WHERE A MORTAR AND ARTILLERY ATTACK WENT ON FOR HOURS . WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR THE BIG PUSH ON THE PALACE ITSELF, THERE WAS A DANGER THAT VIETNAMESE AND AMERICAN FAMILIES WHO LIVED IN AN ADJACENT RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD WOULD BE HIT BY SHELLS . SO, WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT, A FORCE OF 18 TANKS SUPPORTED BY ARMORED CARS AND 600 FOOT SOLDIERS WENT THROUGH A COMPLICATED MANEUVER THAT BROUGHT THEM CIRCUITOUSLY TO THE PALACE GROUNDS . AT 4 A.M., FROM SEVERAL SIDE STREETS, THE ATTACKING COLUMNS BEGAN POURING POINT-BLANK FIRE FROM TANKS, CANNONS, MACHINE GUNS AND RIFLES AT THE PROTECTIVE WALLS . BACK CAME A MURDEROUS COUNTERFIRE, EVERYTHING DIEM'S DEFENDERS HAD LEFT . FIRST ONE DIEM TANK CAUGHT FIRE AND EXPLODED IN A TOWER OF SMOKE AND FLAME . THEN ANOTHER WAS KNOCKED OUT OF ACTION . TWO OF THE REBELS' TANKS WERE ALSO DESTROYED . A CHORUS OF CHEERS . WITH HUGE HOLES NOW GAPING IN THE FENCES, AND THE DEFENDERS SCATTERING INSIDE THE GROUNDS, THE WAY WAS CLEAR FOR THE FINAL PUSH . THEN SUDDENLY, AT 6 : 15 A.M., EVERYTHING FELL SILENT AGAIN . A REBEL GENERAL, WHO THROUGHOUT THE BATTLE HAD BEEN IN CONSTANT TOUCH WITH DIEM AND NHU BY TELEPHONE, HAD CALLED FOR A FIVE-MINUTE GRACE PERIOD TO ALLOW THE BESIEGED PRESIDENT AND HIS PARTY TO EMERGE . BUT NO ONE CAME OUT, AND THE CANNON FIRING RESUMED, SMASHING WINDOWS, SPLINTERING DOORS, KNOCKING CHUNKS OFF THE PALACE WALLS . THE RIFLEMEN, BELLYFLAT ON THE GROUND, SNIPED HAPPILY AT DIEM'S LAST-DITCH SUPPORTERS . THE BATTLE WAS CLEARLY OVER, AND 17 MINUTES LATER, BY DAWN'S FIRST LIGHT, REPORTED TIME CORRESPONDENT MURRAY GART, " I COULD SEE A WHITE FLAG BEING WAVED FROM A FIRST-FLOOR WINDOW ON THE PALACE'S SOUTHWEST CORNER . BUT THERE WAS MORE SHOOTING FROM THE PALACE . THEN THE WHITE FLAG WAVED AGAIN AND FIRING STOPPED . AT FIRST CAUTIOUSLY, THEN FREELY, THE CAMOUFLAGE-SUITED REBELS BEGAN TO STAND UP, AND A CHORUS OF CHEERS WELLED UP FROM THE STREETS . WESTERN-STYLE, THEY FIRED THEIR GUNS IN THE AIR, AND RUSHED INTO THE SIEVED FORTRESS . " AFTER ALL THEIR EFFORT, THE REBEL SOLDIERS DECIDED THAT A LITTLE LOOTING WAS IN ORDER . MERRILY, THEY RAN FROM ROOM TO ROOM, RIPPING DOWN CURTAINS FOR SOUVENIRS, GRABBING PIECES OF CHINA . ONE SOLDIER GRABBED A CALENDAR THAT BORE DIEM'S PICTURE, STUFFED IT IN HIS SHIRT . ANOTHER MADE OFF WITH A TWO-FOOT JAPANESE DOLL THAT HE HUGGED FONDLY TO HIS BREAST . THE OFFICIAL STORY . FORGOTTEN FOR THE MOMENT WERE DIEM AND NHU . A FEW HOURS LATER, THE UGLY FACTS BEGAN TO EMERGE . FIRST, THERE WAS THE OFFICIAL STORY . A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MILITARY JUNTA ANNOUNCED THAT THE PAIR HAD SLIPPED OUT OF REBEL HANDS DURING THE CEASE-FIRE, BOARDED A DEPARTING TRUCK WHILE WOUNDED WERE BEING REMOVED, AND SOMEHOW REACHED A CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE CHINESE QUARTER OF SUBURBAN CHOLON . THERE, ACCORDING TO THE STORY, BOTH KILLED THEMSELVES AT 10 : 45 A.M . IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN INCREDIBLE END FOR SUCH DEVOUT ADHERENTS OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, WHICH STERNLY CONDEMNS SUICIDE . BUT, IN FACT, THE PRESIDENT AND HIS BROTHER WERE OBVIOUSLY MURDERED . ACCORDING TO ONE VERSION, DIEM AND NHU, SHOULD HAVE BEEN SENT ABROAD BY PLANE ; BUT, INSTEAD, THEY ESCAPED FROM THE PALACE, WERE FOUND N THE CHOLON CHURCH BY A TROOP OF SOLDIERS WHO ARRESTED THE PAIR AND DROVE THEM OFF IN AN ARMORED CAR TOWARD MILITARY HEADQUARTERS . ON THE WAY, AN ORDER WAS GIVEN TO KILL THEM . WHEN THE ARMORED CAR ARRIVED AT HEADQUARTERS, BOTH MEN WERE DEAD . " UNOFFICIAL " PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWED DIEM'S BULLET-RIDDLED BODY LYING NEXT TO A PERSONNEL CARRIER, WITH A SOLDIER LEANING OVER HIM . A PICTURE OF NHU SHOWED HIM ON A STRETCHER, HIS BODY MARKED BY BRUISES . ACCORDING TO THE SAME REPORT, HE HAD BEEN STABBED TO DEATH . AGAIN THE ACCUSING VOICE OF MME . NHU WAS HEARD FROM LOS ANGELES : " ANY CRIME COMMITTED AGAINST THE NGO FAMILY CANNOT BE HIDDEN UNDER THE LABEL OF SUICIDE . I AFFIRM THAT SUICIDE HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED INCOMPATIBLE WITH OUR RELIGION . " SHE ALSO WORRIED OVER THE FATE OF HER THREE YOUNG CHILDREN, 4, 11 AND 15, BUT REPORTS FROM SAIGON SUGGESTED THAT THEY WERE SAFE . SHE ADDED AMID SOBS : " IF REALLY MY FAMILY HAS BEEN TREACHEROUSLY KILLED WITH EITHER THE OFFICIAL OR UNOFFICIAL BLESSING OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, I CAN PREDICT TO YOU ALL THAT THE STORY IN SOUTH VIET NAM IS ONLY AT ITS BEGINNING . " THE TRUNG SISTERS . THE REPORTS OF DIEM'S MURDER THAT SWEPT THROUGH SAIGON LEFT A COLD CHILL AMONG EVEN THE BITTEREST OF HIS ENEMIES . BUT FOR A WHILE NOTHING COULD COOL THE EXULTANT CROWDS IN SAIGON . BUDDHIST MONKS, QUICKLY RELEASED FROM JAIL BY THE REVOLUTIONARY REGIME, JOINED THE THRONGS . SHOUTING STUDENTS TURNED THE TOWN ON END . THE MOB SMASHED BOOKSTORES THAT HAD BEEN OWNED BY DIEM'S BROTHER, BISHOP NGO DINH THUC, AND BY MADAME NHU . ANOTHER CROWD TOPPLED AND BROKE UP THE STATUE OF VIET NAM'S REVEREND TRUNG SISTERS, STALWART VIETNAMESE HEROINES WHO FOUGHT CHINESE OVERLORDS IN THE 1ST CENTURY A.D . ; THEIR MONUMENT HAD BEEN SPONSORED BY MADAME NHU . AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, A SHOUTING ANTI-DIEM CROWD SACKED THE HALL . THEN CARRIED DIEM'S PORTRAIT ONTO THE FRONT STEPS AND SHREDDED IT . AT FIRST, THE SOLDIERS OF THE MILITARY JUNTA LET THE EXCITEMENT RUN ITS COURSE, THEN TROOPS NUDGED THE MOBS OFF MAIN THOROUGHFARES, URGING THEM TO QUIET DOWN . THEY OBVIOUSLY HAD ORDERS FROM THE NATION'S NEW BOSS,DUONG VAN MINH, TO AVOID THE KIND OF TOUGH MEASURES THAT MIGHT MAKE ENEMIES FOR HIS REGIME . ORIENTAL GULLIVER . EIGHT YEARS AGO, GENERAL DUONG VAN MINH MADE A TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO SAIGON TO THE CHEERS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN . MINH'S TROOPS HAD HUNTED DOWN THE LAST GUERRILLA FORCES OF THE DREADED BINH XUYEN BANDITS, A SORT OF ORIENTAL COSA NOSTRA THAT PILLAGED THE COUNTRYSIDE AND CONTROLLED VICE IN SAIGON . SOMETIMES IT WAS KNOWN AS " THE WHOREHOUSE SECT . " SO MOVED WAS PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM BY MINH'S VICTORY THAT HE KISSED HIS GENERAL ON BOTH CHEEKS . IF SHEER HEFT COULD HELP HIM RUN SOUTH VIET NAM, BIG MINH WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM . A GULLIVER AMONG HIS COUNTRY'S LILLIPUTIANS, HE STANDS JUST UNDER 6 FT . AND WEIGHS AROUND 200 LBS., HAS A PRONOUNCED SLOUCH CAUSED FROM CONSTANTLY HAVING TO STOOP OVER TO HEAR HIS COUNTRYMEN . AMERICAN MILITARY ADVISERS NICKNAMED HIM BIG TO DISTINGUISH HIM FROM A SMALLER-STATURED FELLOW OFFICER WHO IS NOT RELATED TO HIM, LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN ( " LITTLE " ) MINH . VIETNAMESE GOOD-NATUREDLY CALL MINH " BEO, " OR FAT BOY . PRISON TO PRISON . BORN IN MYTHO, 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SAIGON, MINH GRADUATED FROM A LYCEE RUN BY THE FRENCH, IN 1940 ENLISTED IN THE FRENCH COLONIAL ARMY AND WAS COMMISSIONED A 2ND LIEUTENANT . HE SPENT MOST OF WORLD WAR II SERVING UNDER A VICHY COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION THAT DID THE BIDDING OF THE JAPANESE INVADERS . BUT IN MARCH 1945, WHEN VICHY SURRENDERED THE FRENCH COLONY TO THE JAPANESE OUTRIGHT, MINH JOINED A BAND OF DEFIANT, LOWER-ECHELON SOLDIERS WHO ORGANIZED HEROIC BUT FUTILE RESISTANCE TO THE CAPITULATION . MINH WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE JAPANESE, BEATEN AND TORTURED BY HAVING MOST OF HIS TEETH YANKED OUT . MINH IS PROUD OF HIS DENTAL SCARS AND TODAY, WHEN HE NEGLECTS TO WEAR HIS FALSE-TOOTH PLATE, HE SMILES JUST THE SAME, UNINHIBITEDLY SHOWING OFF HIS HALF-EMPTY MOUTH . RELEASED BY THE JAPANESE AFTER TWO MONTHS, MINH DULY REPORTED BACK TO THE FRENCH ONLY TO BE JAILED FOR HIS INSURRECTION . HE AND SEVERAL OTHER PRISONERS WERE PUT IN A CROWDED, REEKING CELL WITH NEITHER LIGHT NOR TOILET, ANKLEDEEP IN HUMAN EXCREMENT . MINH " ALMOST WENT CRAZY, " WAS FREED AFTER THREE MONTHS, THANKS TO A FELLOW PRISONER WHO WAS RELEASED BEFORE MINH AND INTERVENED ON HIS BEHALF WITH THE FRENCH COMMANDANT . THE FRIEND : NGUYEN NGOC THO, DIEM'S VICE PRESIDENT AND THE MILITARY JUNTA'S CHOICE LAST WEEK FOR PREMIER . ALTHOUGH MINH IS UNIVERSALLY DEEMED ANTI-COMMUNIST AND PRO-WEST, THE EXPERIENCE IN JAIL HEIGHTENED HIS NATIONALISM . HOWEVER, AFTER HIS RELEASE, HE ACCEPTED A PROMOTION TO 1ST LIEUTENANT IN THE FRENCH FORCES, SPENT FOUR YEARS ATTACHED TO THE PUPPET REGIME OF EMPEROR BAO DAI . IN 1952, WITH INDEPENDENCE ONLY TWO YEARS AWAY, MINH TRANSFERRED TO THE NEWLY FORMED VIETNAMESE ARMY WITH THE GRADE OF MAJOR . AFTER A STINT OF ADVANCED STUDY AT PARIS' GENERAL STAFF SCHOOL, HE RETURNED AND, FOLLOWING DIEM'S INSTALLATION IN 1955, LAUNCHED HIS GUERRILLA-STYLE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE BINH XUYEN BANDITS . HE ALSO HELPED DIEM IN HIS CAMPAIGN TO SUBDUE TWO FANATIC, REBELLIOUS RELIGIOUS SECTS, THE HOA HAO AND CAO DAI . AFTER A SECOND TRAINING TOUR ABROAD THIS ONE AT THE U.S . ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE AT FORT LEAVENWORTH, WHERE HE PICKED UP SERVICEABLE ENGLISH MINH IN 1958 WAS CHOSEN BY DIEM TO BE THE FIRST BOSS OF A FIELD OPERATIONS COMMAND TO COORDINATE THE MOUNTING WAR AGAINST COMMUNIST VIET CONG GUERRILLAS . GENERALS WITHOUT COMMANDS . LIKE MANY OF HIS BROTHER OFFICERS, MINH WAS TO BECOME DISENCHANTED WITH THE PRESIDENT'S RULE, WHICH OFTEN CUT HUMILIATING THROUGH THEIR CHAINS OF COMMAND . ONCE, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS ADVISING THE AREA COMMANDER, THE PRESIDENT'S BROTHER, NGO DINH NHU, ORDERED AN ENTIRE BATTALION TRANSFERRED 80 MILES FROM CANTHO TO SAIGON . MINH PROTESTED PRIVATELY : " GENERALS DO NOT HAVE POWER OF COMMAND, THEREFORE I DO NOT COMMAND . " HE WAS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT LACK OF POPULAR SUPPORT IN THE WAR AGAINST THE VIET CONG, BUT HE TOOK NO PART IN THE ABORTIVE 1960 COUP . IN THE END, HOWEVER, MINH SUFFERED FOR HIS VIEWS, WHICH ULTIMATELY REACHED THE PALACE . LAST YEAR, EVEN THOUGH MINH WAS BEING PUSHED VIGOROUSLY BY GENERAL PAUL D . HARKINS, HIS FIELD OPERATIONS COMMAND WAS ABOLISHED, AND MINH WAS ASSIGNED AS " MILITARY ADVISER " TO THE PRESIDENT A MEANINGLESS POST IN WHICH HE WAS UNDER DIEM'S SURVEILLANCE TALK WITH THE PENTAGON . THE DOWNGRADING FAILED TO DIMINISH U.S . ENTHUSIASM FOR MINH, WHO IMPRESSED THEM NOT ONLY IN MILITARY ABILITY . HE IS ONE OF HIS COUNTRY'S TOP ALL-ROUND ATHLETES, EXCELS AT TENNIS, SOCCER, SWIMMING AND BOATING . MINH USED TO DELIGHT IN RUNNING HIS 16-FT . MOTORBOAT UP AND DOWN THE SAIGON RIVER BY MEANS OF A REMOTECONTROL STEERING SYSTEM, TERRORIZING ALL OTHER RIVER TRAFFIC . ONE DAY, A FEW YEARS AGO, MINH WAS MATCHED AGAINST VISITING GENERAL MAXWELL TAYLOR IN A SET OF TENNIS DOUBLES AND LATER EXULTED : " WE WHIPPED THE HELL OUT OF THEM . " IN THE ANGRY AFTERMATH OF LAST AUGUST'S " SPECIAL FORCES " RAIDS ON BUDDHIST PAGODAS, EYES FELL ON MINH AS A MAN WHO MIGHT LEAD A COUP . KNOWING THAT HE WAS SUSPECT, MINH TOOK CARE NOT TO IMPLICATE HIMSELF ; AS RECENTLY AS TWO WEEKS AGO, HE SHOWED UP WITH DIEM AT A PALACE CEREMONY . BUT WITHIN THE PAST MONTH, MINH PARTICIPATED IN AN AFTERNOON'S TALK WITH A VISITING PENTAGON OFFICIAL IN WHICH THE POSSIBILITIES OF A COUP WERE DISCUSSED . THE FAT BOY SUGGESTED THAT HE WAS NOT THE MAN TO LEAD IT, IF IT CAME, BECAUSE HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF A WEAK ADMINISTRATOR . MINH EVIDENTLY FOUND HIS ADMINISTRATOR IN ARISTOCRATIC, FRENCH-EDUCATED LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, 46, ACTING CHIEF OF THE JOINT GENERAL STAFF, CO-LEADER OF THE COUP, AND THE SHARPEST STAFF OFFICER IN SOUTH VIET NAM . SAYS ONE U.S . OFFICER OF MINH : " HE IS A VERY NICE MAN AND VERY TOUGH, BUT GENERAL DON IS MORE CAPABLE . " BIG MINH MAY LACK THE POLITICAL TALENT TO BECOME THE LEADER HIS COUNTRY NEEDS, BUT HE HAS SEVERAL IMPORTANT FACTORS GOING FOR HIM . FOR ONE THING, HE IS A CAREER INFANTRYMAN WITH A BULLDOG FACE AND A TOP SERGEANT'S BLUNTNESS, YET IS POPULAR IN THE RANKS . NEXT, HE IS CLEAN OF CORRUPTION OR A PRO-COMMUNIST PAST . FINALLY, BIG MINH IS POPULAR AMONG CIVILIANS . HE DRINKS SO LITTLE THAT ONE JOKE HAS IT THAT A QUART OF WHISKY WOULD LAST HIM A YEAR . HE IS MARRIED TO A PRETTY VIETNAMESE WIFE, HAS THREE CHILDREN . HE IS A BUDDHIST WHO ESCHEWS FANATICISM . SAID ONE VIETNAMESE LAST WEEK : " EVERYONE KNOWS GENERAL MINH . HE FOUGHT THE WHOREHOUSE SECT . HE IS A GOOD MAN . /
 ITALY " THIS SHIP IS LEAKING " ITALIAN DEMOCRACY LAST WEEK WAS STAGGERING TOWARD A POLITICAL CRISIS THAT MAY WELL PROVE TO BE THE WORST SINCE THE COMMUNISTS WERE NARROWLY DEFEATED 15 YEARS AGO . ON THE VERGE OF ENTERING THE GOVERNMENT WAS A MARXIST PARTY THAT, AT ITS WORST, IS OPENLY ALLIED WITH THE COMMUNISTS AND, AT BEST, IS ONLY A LUKEWARM AND NEUTRALITY-MINDED ADHERENT OF THE WEST . SEEKING PERMISSION . WHEN THE ORIGINAL APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT) WAS ENGINEERED A LITTLE LESS THAN TWO YEARS AGO, IT HAPPENED LARGELY BECAUSE THE LONG-RULING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS FELT THEMSELVES SLIPPING AT THE POLLS AND GENERALLY DECLINING IN VIGOR COMPARED TO THEIR EARLY POSTWAR DAYS . THE SOLUTION ADVANCED BY LEFT-WING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, WITH THE ZEALOUS BACKING OF WASHINGTON, WAS A SERIES OF REFORMS IN EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE AND TAXATION, ALL INVOLVING LARGE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT PLANNING . SINCE THIS PROGRAM WAS OPPOSED BY THE RIGHTIST PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT, INCLUDING THE FREE-ENTERPRISING LIBERALS, THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS NEEDED SUPPORT ELSEWHERE TO BE ABLE TO FORM A MAJORITY . THEY SOUGHT IT FROM PIETRO NENNI'S LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS . ACCORDING TO THE APERTURA AGREEMENT, THE NENNI SOCIALISTS DID NOT ENTER THE GOVERNMENT BUT SUPPORTED IT IN PARLIAMENT . IN THE PROCESS, SOME CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS HOPED, THE NENNI SOCIALISTS WOULD BE WOOED INTO BREAKING THEIR LONGSTANDING ALLIANCE WITH THE COMMUNISTS . AS IT TURNED OUT, THE APERTURA FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH THAT OR ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT THE UNNECESSARY NATIONALIZATION OF ITALY'S ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY . IT ALSO PAVED THE WAY, AT LAST SPRING'S ELECTIONS, FOR HEAVY GAINS BY BOTH THE COMMUNISTS AND THE LIBERALS . SINCE THEN ITALY HAS BEEN RULED BY THE CARETAKER GOVERNMENT OF PREMIER GIOVANNI LEONE . BUT BOTH PIETRO NENNI AND THE MAJORITY OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS UNDER ALDO MORO WANTED TO REVIVE THE APERTURA, THIS TIME WITH THE LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS ACTUALLY IN THE GOVERNMENT . LAST WEEK, PIETRO NENNI TURNED TO HIS DEEPLY DIVIDED PARTY TO GET ITS PERMISSION TO NEGOTIATE SUCH A DEAL . OUTSIDE ROME'S MASSIVE MARBLE PALACE OF THE CONGRESSES, 600 SOCIALIST DELEGATES PARKED THEIR FIATS, LOOKING FOR ALL THE WORLD LIKE BOURGEOIS CONVENTIONEERS . BUT INSIDE, SUGGESTING THAT YOU CAN'T TEACH OLD DOGMATISTS NEW TRICKS, THE STAGE WAS BEDECKED WITH RED FLAGS AND THE SOCIALIST EMBLEM : A HAMMER, SICKLE AND A RISING SUN . EYES GREW MISTY WITH TEARS AS THE AFFLUENT CROWD BROKE OUT IN EMOTIONAL RENDITIONS OF THE INTERNATIONALE AND BANDIERA ROSSA (RED FLAG) . SPOUTING JARGON . TODAY, SAID PIETRO NENNI FRANKLY, " SOCIALIST PARTICIPATION IN A COALITION GOVERNMENT IS NOT A QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE BUT OF POLITICAL OPPORTUNITY . " THEN HE LAUNCHED INTO A PRECARIOUS BALANCING ACT . HE DENOUNCED THE COMMUNISTS' " ARID THEORIES OF POWER, " AND URGED THE PARTY TO DROP ITS RULE DEMANDING COOPERATION WITH THE REDS IN LOCAL ELECTIONS . BUT HE DID NOT AS THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS HAD WANTED HIM TO ASK THAT SUCH ELECTORAL ALLIANCES BE SPECIFICALLY RULED OUT . IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS, NENNI ADVOCATED A VAGUE POLICY OF " POSITIVE NEUTRALISM, " WHICH MEANS UNENTHUSIASTIC ADHERENCE TO NATO AND OPPOSITION TO THE U.S . PLAN FOR A MULTINATIONAL SURFACE FLEET EQUIPPED WITH POLARIS MISSILES . THE POWERFUL PRO-COMMUNIST WING OF NENNI'S SOCIALISTS DENOUNCED THE PROPOSED COALITION GOVERNMENT AS " UNACCEPTABLE TO A WORKING-CLASS PARTY . " THE BALANCE OF POWER RESTED WITH THE SOCIALISTS' NO . 2 LEADER, RICCARDO LOMBARDI, WHO ONLY JOINED THE PARTY IN 1947 (BEFORE THEN HE WAS A LEADER OF THE LEFTIST ACTION PARTY, WHICH DIED IN 1946) AND FEVERISHLY TRIES TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME BY SPOUTING ARCHAIC MARXIST JARGON . HE ALSO MADE NEUTRALIST NOISES, AND UNLIKE NENNI, HE HINTED AT FURTHER NATIONALIZATION SCHEMES . STILL, WHILE HE DENOUNCED THE " MENACE OF CAPITALISM, " LOMBARDI ADMITTED THAT WITHIN A DECADE THE CAPITALISTS MIGHT SOLVE ITALY'S SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS SO THE SOCIALISTS HAD BETTER GET INTO THE GOVERNMENT NOW TO SHARE THE CREDIT AND INFLUENCE EVENTS . THUS, IN THE END, LOMBARDI THREW HIS SUPPORT TO NENNI, BUT WITH SO MANY QUALIFICATIONS THAT NENNI MIGHT YET FIND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK OUT A COALITION WITH THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS . OF 101 SEATS IN THE PARTY'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE, TWO WENT TO INDEPENDENTS, 49 TO PROCOMMUNISTS AND 59 TO DELEGATES FAVORING THE COALITION . OF THESE 59, HOWEVER, 16 ARE HELD BY LOMBARDI SUPPORTERS . VIEWING HIS SHAKY VICTORY, THE AGING (72), AILING NENNI DECLARED : " THIS SHIP IS LEAKING ON ALL SIDES . " MORE MODERATE ? RIGHT-WING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, WHO HAD OPPOSED THE APERTURA IN THE FIRST PLACE, WARNED DIRELY AGAINST TAKING THE SOCIALISTS ON BOARD AT ALL . SAID LIBERAL LEADER GIOVANNI MALAGODI : " COLLABORATION WITH THE SOCIALISTS SIGNIFIES THE ABANDONMENT OF THE STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNISM, ABANDONMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE WEST, ABANDONMENT OF A FREE ECONOMY AND AN OPEN DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY . " U.S . POLICYMAKERS, ALTHOUGH THEY NO LONGER SUPPORT THE APERTURA WITH THE SAME OLD ENTHUSIASM, PERCEIVE NO SUCH PERILS ; THEY ARGUE THAT NENNI & CO . WOULD BECOME MORE MODERATE AS MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT THAN IF THEY REMAINED ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN . BESIDES, INSIST DEFENDERS OF THE APERTURA, THE ALTERNATIVE TO A CENTER-LEFT ALLIANCE IS A CENTER-RIGHT COALITION WHICH COULD NOT COMMAND A MAJORITY IN THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT WITHOUT THE VOTES OF MONARCHISTS AND NEO-FASCISTS . MANY ITALIAN RIGHT-WINGERS ACTUALLY WANT THE APERTURA GOVERNMENT FORMED, HOPING THAT IT WILL FAIL, THEREBY FORCING NEW ELECTIONS IN WHICH THE RIGHT-WING PARTIES EXPECT TO MAKE FURTHER GAINS FOR COMRADE PALMIRO TOGLIATTI, HE CHIDED NENNI FOR HIS ANTI-COMMUNIST TALK AND SWEETLY URGED BOTH THE SOCIALISTS AND THE LEFT-WING CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS TO ACCEPT COOPERATION WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY .
 DAHOMEY        SOUNDS IN THE NIGHT LEAPING FROM HIS BED ONE NIGHT LAST JANUARY, DAHOMEY'S PRESIDENT HUBERT MAGA EXCITEDLY TELEPHONED MILITARY HEADQUARTERS TO REPORT THAT HIS RESIDENCE WAS BEING SHELLED . HE SOON WENT BACK TO SLEEP . AS IT TURNED OUT, THE TOUGH, JOLLY, FORMER SCHOOLTEACHER HAD BEEN AROUSED BY THE CLATTER OF WINDBLOWN COCONUTS PELTING DOWN ON THE MANSION'S TIN ROOF . LAST WEEK THE SOUNDS IN THE NIGHT CAME FROM REAL GUNFIRE AS ANGRY MOBS SWEPT THROUGH THE FORMER FRENCH WEST AFRICA COLONY, LOCATED BETWEEN TOGO AND NIGERIA ON THE GULF OF GUINEA . IN COTONOU, THE CAPITAL, AND NEARBY PORTONOVO, THE RAGGED CROWDS CARRIED BLACKDRAPED COFFINS AND CHANTED WAR SONGS AS THEY RANSACKED GOVERNMENT OFFICES, BURNED CARS, HAULED DOWN THE GREEN, YELLOW AND RED NATIONAL FLAG FROM PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND DEMANDED MAGA'S OUSTER . BARIBA TRIBESMEN FROM MAGA'S NATIVE NORTHERN REGION LEAPED INTO THE FRAY IN HIS DEFENSE AND KILLED TWO DEMONSTRATORS WITH BOWS AND ARROWS . FINALLY THE PRESIDENT RESIGNED IN FAVOR OF COLONEL CHRISTOPHE SOGLO, COMMANDER OF DAHOMEY'S 800-MAN ARMY, WHO BECAME HEAD OF STATE AND PROMPTLY SUSPENDED THE CONSTITUTION . SQUANDERMANIA . IT WAS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF COUPS THAT HAVE SHAKEN AFRICA'S NEW NATIONS, INCLUDING DAHOMEY'S NEIGHBOR, TOGO, WHERE PRESIDENT SYLVANUS OLYMPIO WAS ASSASSINATED LAST JANUARY, AND THE FORMER FRENCH CONGO, WHOSE PRESIDENT FULBERT YOULOU WAS DEPOSED IN AUGUST (THE EX-BELGIAN CONGO ALSO WITNESSED A NEAR-COUP THREE WEEKS AGO) . PLOTS HAVE BEEN UNCOVERED IN SENEGAL, CHAD AND THE IVORY COAST . THE SOURCES OF TROUBLE ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME IN ALL THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED : MORIBUND ECONOMIES, VAST NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED, STRONG AND HOSTILE LABOR UNIONS . IN DAHOMEY (POP . 2,200,000), THE SITUATION IS AGGRAVATED BY THE FACT THAT IT ONCE SUPPLIED CIVIL SERVANTS FOR MANY OTHER FRENCH COLONIES AND BOASTED THAT " BRAINS ARE OUR BIGGEST EXPORT " ; NOW IT HAS AN INCREASINGLY SERIOUS WHITE-COLLAR UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM, FOR NEWLY INDEPENDENT WEST AFRICAN NATIONS TRAINED THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS . THE DAHOMEY RIOTERS ALSO DENOUNCED PRESIDENT MAGA'S " SQUANDERMANIA, / NOTABLY THE MAGNIFICENT PALACE HE BUILT HIMSELF FOR $3,000,000 . ON THE WARPATH . COLONEL SOGLO, 54, WHO HAS SPENT MOST OF HIS ADULT YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER IN THE FRENCH ARMY, INCLUDED HIS FRIEND MAGA IN THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT AS FOREIGN MINISTER . HE IS TRYING HARD TO BALANCE HIS GOVERNMENT BETWEEN THE UNIONS, WHICH STILL HOWL FOR MAGA'S COMPLETE REMOVAL, AND THE NORTHERN BARIBA TRIBESMEN, WHO ARE ON THE WARPATH TO WIN MAGA'S COMPLETE REINSTATEMENT . THOUGH MASSIVE FRENCH AID HELPED THE NEW NATIONS IN THE AREA TO ACHIEVE A MEASURE OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS AND POLITICAL STABILITY, DAHOMEY AND THE OTHER FRENCH COLONIES ARE NOW THREATENED WITH TRIBAL AND SECTIONAL WARS THAT COULD SPREAD DISORDER THROUGH MUCH OF WEST AFRICA .
 HUNGARY TWISTING FOR MARX IN RUSSIA THE TWIST IS STILL AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT, BANNED AS AN EXAMPLE OF CAPITALIST DEGENERACY, BUT MOST OF THE SATELLITES HAVE GIVEN UP FIGHTING THE DANCE . TYPICAL IS HUNGARY, WHICH, TO DISSUADE ITS YOUTH FROM TUNING IN ON WESTERN RADIO STATIONS, ACTUALLY IMPORTED TWIST RECORDS AND COMMISSIONED BUDAPEST'S TOP CAT, JANOS KOOS, TO GROOVE SOME TWIST DISKS OF HIS OWN . NEXT, TESTING THE THEORY THAT DEEP-RHYTHM MUSIC EASES INDUSTRIAL TENSIONS BY SUBLIMATING AGGRESSIONS, EFFICIENCY EXPERTS IN A HUNGARIAN TEXTILE FACTORY GAVE THE WORKERS A 15-MINUTE BREAK, DURING WHICH TWIST MUSIC WAS PIPED THROUGH THE PLANT . BILLHATTED MEN AND SHAWLED WOMEN, MORE ACCUSTOMED TO THE CZARDAS THAN THE TWIST, DID RHYTHMICAL GYMNASTICS ALONGSIDE THEIR MACHINES . RESULT : AFTER THE BREAK, WORKERS MADE 23 PER CENT FEWER MISTAKES ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE .
 RED CHINA WHO NEEDS PANTS ? PEKING LAST WEEK PUBLICLY ADMITTED THAT RED CHINA WILL NOT HAVE ITS LONGPROMISED NUCLEAR BOMB FOR A LONG TIME TO COME . FOREIGN MINISTER MARSHAL CHEN YI CONCEDED THAT ECONOMIC TROUBLES AND THE QUARREL WITH THE RUSSIANS (WHO WITHDREW THEIR TECHNICIANS AND BROKE AN ATOMIC-AID TREATY) HAVE SERIOUSLY DELAYED PEKING'S ATOMIC PROGRAM . IT WOULD BE " SEVERAL YEARS, " CHEN TOLD VISITING JAPANESE CORRESPONDENTS, BEFORE THE REGIME COULD EVEN TEST A CRUDE ATOM BOMB . BUT CHINA IS FAR FROM GIVING UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS . SOME TIME AGO, KHRUSHCHEV WARNED THAT ANY COUNTRY TRYING TO BUILD A BOMB WITHOUT ADEQUATE RESOURCES MIGHT LOSE ITS PANTS . NEVERTHELESS, SAID CHEN, SOUNDING LIKE AN ECHO OF CHARLES DE GAULLE, " AT THE RISK OF LOSING OUR PANTS, WE ARE DETERMINED TO GO AHEAD AND BUILD OUR OWN ATOMIC BOMBS . OTHERWISE WE WILL END UP AS A SECOND- OR THIRD-CLASS NATION .
 NATO THE DOUBLE STANDARD ONLY TWO DAYS AFTER SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK IN FRANKFURT REPEATED THE U.S . PLEDGE TO MAINTAIN SIX DIVISIONS IN WEST GERMANY, NEWSPAPERS REPORTED THAT THE U.S . HAS " SCHEDULED THE WITHDRAWAL " OF AN ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT FROM GERMANY . SOONER OR LATER IT MAY INDEED BE WITHDRAWN BUT NOT FOR THE TIME BEING . ANYWAY, THE 5,000-MAN REGIMENT PLUS FIVE OTHER REGIMENTS WERE RUSHED TO GERMANY AT THE HEIGHT OF THE BERLIN CRISIS IN 1961 IN ORDER TO REINFORCE THE SIX U.S . DIVISIONS COMMITTED TO NATO . THESE TEMPORARY REINFORCEMENTS WOULD ALL HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK AFTER THE CRISIS EASED AT A SAVING OF NEARLY $200 MILLION A YEAR IF THE PENTAGON HAD BEEN ALLOWED ITS WAY . BUT TO PLACATE BONN, THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION PROMISED IN SEPTEMBER THAT IT WOULD NOT WITHDRAW ANY TROOPS " WITHOUT CONSULTATION . " THE FUROR IN BONN LAST WEEK FORCED PRESIDENT KENNEDY TO REPEAT, SOMEWHAT WEARILY, THAT THE SIX NATO DIVISIONS PLUS THE SIX ADDITIONAL REGIMENTS THAT ARE NOT COMMITTED TO NATO WOULD REMAIN ON GERMAN SOIL . THE EXCITEMENT OVER A SINGLE REGIMENT IS A SYMPTOM OF WHAT WASHINGTON CALLS NATO'S " DOUBLE STANDARD . " GERMAN FEARS ARE UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT EUROPEANS IN GENERAL, WASHINGTON FEELS, EXPECT THE U.S . TO MEET ITS NATO COMMITMENTS AS A MATTER OF COURSE, WHILE NEVER COMING NEAR TO FULFILLING THEIR OWN OBLIGATIONS IN THE ALLIANCE . AS ONE U.S . OFFICIAL TOLD REPORTERS LAST WEEK : " FOR A LONG TIME NATO HAS BEEN A 20-MULE-TEAM WAGON, WITH ONE MULE PULLING AND THE OTHERS SITTING IN THE WAGON . IT IS TIME FOR THEM TO GET OUT AND PULL TOO . "
 GREAT BRITAIN HOME IN THE HIGHLANDS FOR THE HIGHLAND VILLAGERS OF PERTHSHIRE, BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER LAST WEEK PUT ON THE LIVELIEST SHOW SINCE BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE BATTLED THROUGH THEIR MISTY GLENS IN 1745 . IN DALGUISE AND DUNKELD, AMULREE AND BUCHANTY, AND SCORES OF OTHER GREY HAMLETS AND MARKET TOWNS, SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME SHOOK HANDS WITH SHEPHERDS AND SHOPKEEPERS, DOWNED A WEE DRAPPIE WITH FARMERS, POPPED INTO COTTAGES, SCHOOLS AND SMITHIES . THE PRIME MINISTER EVEN TOOK A NOBLE PRATFALL IN THE MUD AS HE WAS SCRAMBLING UP A HAYCART TO ADDRESS THE FOLK IN SLEEPY DUNNING . " WELL, " HE GRINNED, GETTING TO HIS FEET, " IT'S BETTER TO FALL NOW THAN LATER . " ON THE STUMP, DOUGLAS-HOME SEEMED RELAXED AND SLIP-PROOF . TO WIN ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT FROM THE SAFE TORY SEAT, HE RACED THROUGH THE GLENS IN A FAST BLACK HUMBER, MAKING DOZENS OF PLAIN-SPOKEN SPEECHES ON TOPICS RANGING FROM WINTER GRAIN PRICES TO EAST-WEST RELATIONS . WEARING A BATTERED TWEED JACKET AND A JAUNTILY ANGLED CHECKED-CLOTH CAP, HE FIELDED INVOLVED LOCAL QUESTIONS WITH A BARRAGE OF STATISTICS THAT SHOWED HE HAD DONE HIS HOMEWORK IN THE HILLSIDE COTTAGE NEAR COMRIE THAT BECAME THE OFFICIAL SEAT OF GOVERNMENT DURING THE CAMPAIGN . WHEN HECKLING STIRRED AN UPROAR IN THE CROWD HE WAS ADDRESSING AT ABERFELDY, THE PRIME MINISTER CALMLY SAT DOWN IN MIDSPEECH, REFUSING TO LET PARTY STEWARDS THROW OUT THE INTERRUPTERS . SAID HE : " THEY ARE HARMLESS PEOPLE . " AS DOUGLAS-HOME PUT IT, " THE EYES OF THE WORLD " LAST WEEK WERE ON RURAL PERTHSHIRE ; BUT TORIES' EYES WERE FOCUSED ON A FAR MORE CRITICAL BY-ELECTION THIS WEEK IN LUTON, AN AUTOMOTIVE CENTER 30 MILES FROM LONDON WHERE EXPERTS DETECT A SWING TO LABOR AFTER 13 YEARS OF TORY MAJORITIES . AS LUTON GOES, SAID THE PUNDITS, SO MAY MOST OTHER INDUSTRIAL AREAS WHERE LABOR HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN STRONGEST . SPEAKING MORE TO LUTON'S FLOATING VOTER THAN THE FAITHFUL IN PERTH, THE PRIME MINISTER USED EVERY CROSSROADS STOPOVER LAST WEEK TO INVEIGH AGAINST THE LABOR PARTY'S " CARD-INDEX, BUTTON-PUSHING SOCIETY . " WITH A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT, SAID HE, " WE WOULD BE LIKE PUPPETS ON LONG STRINGS OF RED TAPE, WITH THE STRINGS PULLED IN WHITEHALL . " TO HIS LISTENERS' DELIGHT, THE PRIME MINISTER INVARIABLY ADDED : " AS A SCOTSMAN, I NEVER THINK WHITEHALL KNOWS BEST . /
 EUROPE THE WAYWARD BUSS IN COMMUNIST EAST EUROPE, COMMISSARS AND COPS DO IT . IN ROME AND MADRID, MOPPETS IN DANCING CLASS DO IT . FRENCHMEN PERFORM THE RITUAL WITH SINUOUS GRACE, SPANIARDS SMACKINGLY, GERMANS WITH A CLICK OF THE HEELS . HOWEVER WIDELY THEIR TECHNIQUES MAY VARY, EUROPEANS FROM BARCELONA TO BIALYSTOK IN RECENT YEARS HAVE TAKEN TO HAND KISSING WITH FERVOR AND FREQUENCY UNMATCHED IN THEIR HISTORY . AFTER WORLD WAR II, THE CUSTOM SEEMED IN DECLINE . BUT TODAY, MEN OF VIRTUALLY EVERY CLASS AND CALLING ON THE CONTINENT DIVE FOR DISTAFF KNUCKLES AS ASSIDUOUSLY, IF NOT ALWAYS SO EXPERTLY, AS DO THE COURTIERS IN A LEHAR OPERETTA . TELEGRAPHED ADMIRATION . TRADITIONALISTS DEPLORE THE TREND AND COMPLAIN THAT IT HAS VULGARIZED A STYLISH, PATRICIAN RITUAL . IN THE OLD DAYS, NO WELL-BRED EUROPEAN KISSED A WOMAN'S HAND BEFORE NOON, OR OUTDOORS (EXCEPT AT GARDEN PARTIES OR THE RACE TRACK), OR IF SHE WORE GLOVES AND NOT AT ALL, IN MOST COUNTRIES, IF SHE WAS UNMARRIED . NOWADAYS, EVEN IN STRAIT-LACED SPAIN, GIRLS WHO ARE BARELY OLD ENOUGH TO HOLD UP A STRAPLESS BRA HAVE THEIR HANDS OUT . WHEN IT IS ENCLOSED IN A GLOVE, UNINHIBITED MALES BLITHELY PEEL IT OFF OR SMOOCH THE WRIST INSTEAD . AND NOW THAT THE HAND KISS HAS BECOME DEMOCRATIC, IT IS BESTOWED ALFRESCO, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE, EVEN WHEN THE RECIPIENT IS ON HORSEBACK OR IN CHURCH . NOTWITHSTANDING THE CELEBRATED ADVICE OF LORELEI LEE ( " A KISS ON THE HAND MAY BE QUITE CONTINENTAL, BUT DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND " ), MOST EUROPEAN WOMEN WELCOME THE NEW WAVE OF HAND KISSING, AND TO THEIR MEN IT HAS ALWAYS SEEMED A MORE INTRIGUING APPROACH TO A WOMAN THAN THE ASEPTIC ANGLO-SAXON HANDSHAKE . AS A VIENNESE SATIRIST WROTE IN 1825 : TO TAKE YOUR HAND FOR A KISS IS MERELY TO ASK THIS : WILL THE MOUTH OF THE MISS PERMIT FURTHER BLISS ? TO SPEED THE ANSWER, ARDENT LATINS, IN PARTICULAR, SOMETIMES TELEGRAPH THEIR ADMIRATION FOR AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN BY SQUEEZING HER FINGERS OR LOCKING ON TO THEM WITH BOTH HANDS ALL, CRACKS ITALIAN MOVIEMAKER VITTORIO DE SICA : " YOU'VE GOT TO START SOMEWHERE . " CAPITALIST HANGOVER . HAND KISSING GOT ITS START IN EUROPE WITH THE ROMAN EMPERORS, WHO EXPORTED THE GESTURE AS A SYMBOLIC ACT OF FEALTY . IN CENTRAL EUROPE IT CEASED TO BE A PLEDGE OF LOYALTY TO THE SOVEREIGN IN THE LATE 18TH CENTURY, WHEN AUSTRIAN EMPEROR JOSEPH II SNATCHED HIS HAND FROM SUBJECTS' LIPS WITH THE CRY : " IT ISN'T THERE FOR SOMEONE TO WIPE HIS NOSE ON ! " MORE RECENTLY MUSSOLINI, WHO FROWNED ON THE CUSTOM IN ANY FORM, TRIED TO DISCOURAGE IL BACIAMANO . HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE TRIED TO SUPPRESS SPAGHETTI . THE NAZIS ALSO DEPLORED THE HANDKUSS GOOD GERMANS WERE MEANT TO GIVE THE HITLER SALUTE INSTEAD BUT DER FUHRER HIMSELF WAS OFTEN PHOTOGRAPHED WITH HIS FORELOCK FANNING SOME ACTRESS'S PAW . IN EASTERN EUROPE AFTER WORLD WAR II, THE COMMUNISTS DENOUNCED THE PRACTICE AS A " CAPITALIST HANGOVER, " BUT THEY SOON DESPAIRED OF CURING IT . AFTER HUNGARIAN MALES, WHO HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO FEAST ON A PRETTY FINGER FOR SEEMING MINUTES IN A DIPLOMATIC RECEIVING LINE, POLAND BOASTS THE IRON CURTAIN'S MOST INSATIABLE HAND KISSERS ; WARSAW POLICEMEN ROUTINELY KISS POLICEWOMEN'S HANDS, AND HAVE EVEN BEEN KNOWN TO BUSS A COMELY SPEEDER AFTER HANDING HER A TICKET . ITALY'S COMMUNIST BOSS PALMIRO TOGLIATTI IS AN ACCOMPLISHED FINGER-SMOOCHER . AS FOR RUSSIA, TSELOVAT RUKU WAS OUTLAWED BY THE COMMISSARIAT OF HYGIENE IN 1924, BUT TODAY IT IS CONSIDERED SO KULTURNY THAT AN ANNOUNCER WHO RECENTLY NUZZLED A FRENCH ACTRESS'S HAND ON SOVIET TELEVISION DID NOT EVEN RAISE PRAVDA'S TEMPERATURE .
 COLD WAR NIKITA & THE CAPITALISTS HE CALLED THEM " GENTLEMEN CAPITALISTS, " AND ONLY OCCASIONALLY SUGGESTED THAT ALL CAPITALISTS ARE REALLY ROBBERS AND CHEATS . COMMUNIST DELEGATIONS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD CROWDED INTO MOSCOW FOR THE 46TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION . BUT NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV DEVOTED A TOTAL OF SEVEN HOURS TO A TRAVELING GROUP OF 20 TOP AMERICAN EXECUTIVES (PLUS ONE EDUCATOR) AS IF HE FOUND MORE CHALLENGE IN THEIR COMPANY . ON A EUROPEAN TOUR SPONSORED BY TIME, THE VISITORS FIRST CALLED ON K . AT THE KREMLIN . IN THE OVAL ROOM, WHERE THE SOVIET COUNCIL OF MINISTERS USUALLY MEETS, THE CALLERS SAT IN ROWS OF SMALL DESKS WHILE HE ANSWERED QUESTIONS FROM BEHIND A HUGE BARRICADE OF A TABLE . HE ASKED THEM TO DROP IN AT HIS ANNIVERSARY RECEPTION THE FOLLOWING DAY, AND THEY IN TURN ASKED HIM TO A PARTY OF THEIR OWN (HE PROMPTLY ACCEPTED) . THROUGHOUT, KHRUSHCHEV PUT ON ONE OF THOSE MARATHON PROPAGANDA PERFORMANCES AT WHICH HE IS BY TURNS HEARTY, EARTHY, FUNNY, MENACING, SEEMINGLY FRANK, AND TOTALLY IMPERVIOUS TO ARGUMENT . HE SOUNDED HIS USUAL NOTE OF RITUALISTIC OPTIMISM, VOWED THAT IN SEVEN YEARS NO MORE AND NO LESS RUSSIA WILL OVERTAKE THE U.S . ECONOMICALLY . TO HENRY R . ROBERTS, PRESIDENT OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL LIFE, " HE ACTED LIKE A CORPORATION PRESIDENT WHO IS IN TROUBLE WITH HIS BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND IS TRYING TO GET OUT OF HIS DILEMMA BY MAKING AGGRESSIVE AND BOASTFUL STATEMENTS . " MURDER AT THE WALL . APART FROM CLAIMING VICTORY IN LAST WEEK'S BERLIN INCIDENT AND DEPLORING THE DIFFICULTIES ON THE WHEAT DEAL (SEE THE NATION), KHRUSHCHEV SUGGESTED THAT RUSSIA HAD NOT REALLY GIVEN UP ON THE MOON RACE, AT LEAST NOT FOR THE LONG RUN, AND HE ALMOST TEASINGLY HINTED THAT THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT MIGHT BE MENDED ONE OF THESE DAYS : " THE MORE YOU REJOICE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES, THE GREATER YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT WILL BE . " AGAIN AND AGAIN HE MADE A PITCH FOR TRADE WITH THE U.S., REPEATEDLY POINTED OUT THAT THE U.S.'S ALLIES TRADE FAR MORE HEAVILY WITH RUSSIA THAN THE U.S . ITSELF . ACTUALLY, AS THESE BUSINESSMEN WELL KNEW, RUSSIA HAS FEW GOLD RESERVES TO PAY FOR U.S . PRODUCTS AND LITTLE IN THE WAY OF EXPORTABLE GOODS THAT MIGHT INTEREST THE U.S . WHEN NATIONAL CASH REGISTER PRESIDENT ROBERT S . OELMAN ASKED WHAT PRODUCTS RUSSIA COULD OFFER, KHRUSHCHEV CITED U.S . TRADE IN MACHINE TOOLS WITH WEST GERMANY . " IF WE HAVE MANAGED TO BUILD A ROCKET NO WORSE THAN ANYTHING YOU HAVE IN THE U.S., THEN I AM SURE WE WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD MACHINE TOOLS IN NO WAY INFERIOR TO ANYTHING THE WEST GERMANS CAN BUILD . " MOVING FROM FOREIGN TRADE TO FOREIGN RELATIONS, KHRUSHCHEV PULLED OUT ALL THE " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " CLICHES, LOST HIS APLOMB (BUT NOT HIS TEMPER) ONLY WHEN CHAUNCEY W . COOK, PRESIDENT OF GENERAL FOODS, ASKED " WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO BUILD A BERLIN WALL AND SHOOT PEOPLE DOWN IF THEY TRY TO GET OVER ? " / A STATE FRONTIER IS A STATE FRONTIER, " KHRUSHCHEV REPLIED . " AND EVERY STATE, WHENEVER ITS BORDERS ARE VIOLATED, SHOOTS THE VIOLATORS . " / NOT TO KEEP PEOPLE IN, WE DON'T, " SNAPPED COOK . " IN YOUR COUNTRY, CHILDREN ARE KILLED IN A CHURCH FOR THE SOLE REASON THAT THEIR COLOR IS DIFFERENT, " K . SNAPPED BACK . BEFORE ANYONE COULD MAKE THE OBVIOUS RETORT THAT MURDER AT THE WALL, UNLIKE MURDER IN BIRMINGHAM, IS AN ACT OF THE GOVERNMENT KHRUSHCHEV WAS OFF ON SOMETHING ELSE A NEW WAY TO CHEAT . LOOSENING UP AS IT PROGRESSED, THE INTERVIEW CLOSED IN AN EXCHANGE OF BANTER, WITH KHRUSHCHEV MAINTAINING THAT CAPITALISTS CONTROLLED THE U.S . GOVERNMENT . " WHO WAS MCNAMARA BEFORE HE BECAME SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ? " ASKED NIKITA . " HE WAS PRESIDENT OF FORD MOTOR, " ANSWERED G . KEITH FUNSTON, PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE . " HE'S ONE OUT OF TEN IN THE CABINET . WHY NOT TALK ABOUT THE OTHERS ? " / WHAT WAS THE OCCUPATION OF YOUR FORMER COMMANDER IN GERMANY ? " DEMANDED K . " GENERAL CLAY IS NOW WITH LEHMAN BROTHERS, " SAID AVCO BOARD CHAIRMAN KENDRICK R . WILSON JR . " HE'S AN ARMY OFFICER WHO MADE GOOD, " ADDED FUNSTON . KHRUSHCHEV RAISED A PIOUS EYEBROW : " YOU HAVE 190 MILLION PEOPLE . WHY DON'T THEY ALL MAKE GOOD ? CERTAINLY THEY HAVE NOT TRESPASSED AGAINST GOD . " TO WILSON'S ASSERTION THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, THROUGH THE STOCK MARKET, OWN MUCH OF U.S . BUSINESS, KHRUSHCHEV LAUGHED . " CAPITALISTS ARE VERY ASTUTE TO HAVE THOUGHT THAT UP, " HE SAID . " IT'S A NEW WAY TO CHEAT PEOPLE . " HE WENT ON TO DESCRIBE THE " PARASITIC " STATE OF CAPITALISM, WHERE THE COUPON CLIPPER " CAN LIVE A LIFE OF LUXURY, DRINKING, CAROUSING, OR CHANGING WIVES, " THEN EASED OFF . " I'M YOUR HOST HERE, " HE CONCLUDED, " SO PLEASE DON'T PUT ME IN THE POSITION OF GOING INTO EACH INDIVIDUAL HERE AND ASKING WHERE HE DIRECTS HIS ACTIVITIES AND SO FORTH, HOW MANY WIVES HE HAS . ONE OF YOUR FELLOW CAPITALISTS ROCKEFELLER IS LOSING IN PRESTIGE BECAUSE OF THAT . " A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION . NEXT DAY, THE JOVIAL MOOD CHANGED . AT THE TRADITIONAL RED SQUARE PARADE CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION, THE RUSSIANS DISPLAYED A SQUADRON OF FINNED, 50-FT.-LONG ROCKETS, WHICH THEY INSISTED WERE ANTI-MISSILE MISSILES (THE BIRDS LOOKED MORE LIKE BEEFED-UP VERSIONS OF THE SOVIET SA-2 ANTIAIRCRAFT MISSILE, AND WESTERN OBSERVERS THOUGHT THAT AT MOST THEY COULD BE THE EQUIVALENT OF THE U.S . ARMY'S NIKE ZEUS) . AT THE KREMLIN RECEPTION LATER, KHRUSHCHEV'S TOASTS WERE SO HEARTILY ANTI-WESTERN THAT U.S . AMBASSADOR FOY KOHLER FINALLY ASKED : " WHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF MOSCOW ? I HAVEN'T HEARD ANY TOASTS I COULD DRINK TO . " BUT THAT EVENING, WALKING INTO THE BUSINESSMEN'S RECEPTION AT THE HOTEL SOVIETSKAYA (WHICH HAD BEEN REFURBISHED AND RESTAFFED FOR THE VISITORS), HE AGAIN WAS AT HIS MOST AMIABLE . SITTING AT A TABLE, OBLIVIOUS TO THE MASSED DIPLOMATS AND NEWSMEN WHO WERE CROWDING IN TO LISTEN, KHRUSHCHEV SIPPED " THREE-STAR " ARMENIAN BRANDY AS, ONE BY ONE, THE AMERICANS WERE GUIDED OVER TO TALK TO HIM . LIKE THE MASTER POLITICIAN HE IS, K . REMEMBERED NAMES, FACES AND BUSINESS SPECIALTIES FROM THE DAY BEFORE, EVEN TOLD A PRETTY SECRETARY : " YOU WORE A BROWN DRESS YESTERDAY . " HE JOKINGLY HIT UP RUDOLPH PETERSON, PRESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA'S BANK OF AMERICA, FOR A $10 BILLION LOAN, WITH EUGENE BEESLEY, PRESIDENT OF ELI LILLY & CO., KHRUSHCHEV CONTINUED A DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE U.S.-SOVIET EXCHANGES IN MEDICAL RESEARCH, AND WHEN HE WAS REMINDED THAT A TEAM OF FOUR U.S . DOCTORS IS IN RUSSIA NOW DOING JUST THAT, NIKITA NODDED . " GOOD, " HE SAID, " AND LET'S GIVE THEM A LAXATIVE IF THEY DO BADLY . " HE EAGERLY DISCUSSED FOOD-PROCESSING TECHNIQUES WITH GENERAL FOODS' COOK, MAGNETO-HYDRODYNAMICS WITH AVCO'S WILSON, AND LIQUOR WITH SEAGRAM'S EDGAR M . BRONFMAN ( " OUR VODKA IS BETTER THAN YOUR VODKA " ) . WHEN STOCK EXCHANGE PRESIDENT FUNSTON TURNED UP AT THE TABLE, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV CHANTED, IN ENGLISH : " WALL STREET ! WALL STREET ! " HE SEEMED TO REGARD THE BUSINESSMEN AS DOERS LIKE HIMSELF, AND ONCE TOOK A LEFT-HANDED DIG AT COMMUNIST INEFFICIENCY : " CAPITALISTS KNOW WHAT IS PROFITABLE ; CAPITALISTS ARE NOT SOVIET BUREAUCRATS . " OFTEN KHRUSHCHEV RETURNED TO HIS THEME OF TRADE : " REMEMBER, PLEASE, THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE A PROFIT DEALING WITH US . " BUT THE QUESTION REMAINED : A PROFIT FOR WHOM ? WALL STREET'S FUNSTON, FOR ONE, CONCLUDED THAT THE U.S . SHOULD NOT TRADE WITH RUSSIA, SHOULD DO NOTHING TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR THEM . SAID HE, IN WEST BERLIN : " I WENT AWAY WITH A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION . HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO LIE TO YOU AND TO WHOM FACTS MEAN NOTHING .
 SPAIN      VOTER NO . 41 DOES HIS DUTY " FRANCO OR THE STREET CLEANER, / BOASTED AN OFFICIAL OF SPAIN'S MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR, " EVERY VOTER IS ENTITLED TO THE SAME TREATMENT . " WELL, NOT EXACTLY . SOME 8,000,000 SPANISH " HEADS OF FAMILIES " WENT TO THE POLLS LAST WEEK IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO CAST THEIR BALLOTS FOR A LIST OF GOVERNMENT-APPROVED CANDIDATES . VOTER NO . 41 IN SECTION 9, QUARTER 5 OF MADRID'S REVISED UNIVERSITY DISTRICT STEPPED INTO A JCADILLAC FOR THE BRIEF RIDE FROM EL PARDO PALACE TO A TINY YELLOW SCHOOLHOUSE . THERE, UNDER THE GAZE OF HIS OWN OFFICIAL PORTRAIT, EL CAUDILLO GREETED MEMBERS OF THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION BOARD, WHO GRACIOUSLY WAIVED THE USUAL IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURE . FRANCO REACHED INTO AN INSIDE POCKET OF HIS DOUBLE-BREASTED DARK GREY SUIT, REMOVED AN ALREADY FILLED-IN BALLOT . HE HANDED IT TO THE BOARD PRESIDENT, WHO SOLEMNLY ANNOUNCED, " HIS EXCELLENCY FRANCISCO FRANCO BAHAMONDE, PROFESSION CHIEF OF STATE, MARRIED AND WITH RESIDENCE IN THE PALACE OF EL PARDO, VOTES, " AND DROPPED THE FOLDED PAPER IN A LANTERN-SHAPED GLASS BALLOT BOX . IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT DICTATOR FRANCO HAD CAST A BALLOT SINCE THE CIVIL WAR BEGAN IN 1936 .
 GREAT BRITAIN THE LOSS OF LUTON THE BOOMING AUTOMOBILE-MAKING TOWN OF LUTON, TORY PARTY CHAIRMAN JOHN HARE DECLARED RECENTLY, IS " A MICROCOSM OF THE BRITAIN WE ARE BUILDING . " IF SO, IT MAY BE THE SOCIALISTS WHO WILL TAKE OVER THE CONSTRUCTION JOB . AT A BY-ELECTION LAST WEEK IN LUTON, 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF LONDON, VOTERS ELECTED A LABOR M.P . FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 13 YEARS, TURNING THE TORIES' 1959 MAJORITY OF 5,000 VOTES INTO A THUMPING 3,749-VOTE MARGIN FOR LABOR . THE SWITCH, PRONOUNCED LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON TRIUMPHANTLY, WAS CLEAR PROOF THAT " THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT HAS TOTALLY LOST THE CONFIDENCE OF THE COUNTRY . " NEXT DAY THE TORIES HAD ONE TO TALK ABOUT, WHEN BALLOTS WERE AT LAST COUNTED AFTER ANOTHER BY-ELECTION IN THE SPRAWLING SCOTTISH CONSTITUENCY OF KINROSS AND WEST PERTHSHIRE . THERE, IN ONE OF BRITAIN'S SAFEST TORY SEATS, TORY PRIME MINISTER LORD HOME NOW PLAIN SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME WON A SEAT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS . HIS 9,328-VOTE MARGIN EXCEEDED HIS PARTY'S MOST BUOYANT EXPECTATIONS . WHAT'S MORE, IN THE COURSE OF 72 SPEECHES AND A HECTIC ELEVEN-DAY CAMPAIGN, THE FORMER PEER PROVED THAT HE IS A VIGOROUS, TOUGHMINDED POLITICIAN WHO SEEMS WELLEQUIPPED TO HOLD HIS OWN IN PARLIAMENTARY FREE-FOR-ALL . HE WILL HAVE TO . IN THE KIND OF MARGINAL SEAT THAT MATTERS MOST, LIKE LUTON, TORIES ARE FARING BADLY . WHAT TROUBLES THE TORIES IS THAT LUTON IS A SIGN OF TORY AFFLUENCE, WITH INDUSTRIAL PAYROLLS THAT HAVE BOOSTED WAGE LEVELS 20 PER CENT ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE . LUTON HAS A BIGGER-THAN-AVERAGE SHARE OF THE FASTGROWING MIDDLE CLASS THAT HAS KEPT THE CONSERVATIVES IN OFFICE FOR TWELVE YEARS . LABOR CANDIDATE WILL HOWIE, 39, A NEAT, BESPECTACLED CIVIL ENGINEER, WON OUT OVER TORY SIR JOHN FLETCHER-COOKE, 52, A TWEEDY, MUSTACHED FORMER COLONIAL ADMINISTRATOR, BY PROMISING LUTON THE NEW SCHOOLS, HOUSING AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION THAT LABOR IS PRAGMATICALLY BUILDING ITS ELECTION HOPES AROUND . BEFORE RETURNING TO LONDON FOR PARLIAMENT'S REOPENING THIS WEEK, DOUGLASHOME, THE NEW M.P . FOR KINROSS, REMAINED PROFESSIONALLY OPTIMISTIC : " LUTON WAS THE LAST PAGE OF THE OLD CHAPTER . KINROSS IS THE FIRST PAGE OF THE NEW . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM : THE NEW REGIME FOR A WHILE, SAIGON LOOKED LIKE A CITY LIBERATED . VIETNAMESE G.I.S GUARDING PUBLIC BUILDINGS MUNCHED ORANGES, BANANAS AND CANDY, SHOWERED ON THEM BY CIVILIANS GRATEFUL FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE REGIME . PRETTY GIRLS EMBRACED SOLDIERS, DRAPED TANK TURRETS WITH GARLANDS, SCRAMBLED SQUEALING ABOARD ARMY JEEPS . WITH THE LIFTING OF A TEMPORARY CURFEW AND MME . NHU'S BAN ON DANCING, SAIGON'S LONG-REPRESSED NIGHT LIFE FLOWERED AS NEVER BEFORE . IN BARS AND CABARETS, THE B-GIRLS SHUCKED THE WHITE, HOSPITAL-LIKE SMOCKS THEY HAD BEEN FORCED TO WEAR UNDER THE MORALITY LAWS, WRIGGLED BACK INTO THEIR TRADITIONAL SLIT SKIRTS, OR INTO U.S.-STYLE SLACKS, TO TWIST AND TANGO WITH VIET AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS INTO THE SMALL HOURS . SHOPS REOPENED, REPAIRMEN RESTRUNG POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN BY BATTLE, AND SAFFRON-ROBED BUDDHIST MONKS EMERGED FROM JAIL OR HIDING (AMONG THEM : TOP BUDDHIST THICH TRI QUANG, WHO HAD SOUGHT ASYLUM TEN WEEKS AGO IN THE U.S . EMBASSY) . AT XA LOI PAGODA, PRINCIPAL SCENE OF LAST AUGUST'S GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN, THOUSANDS PRAYED . FROM POULO CONDORE PRISON ISLAND AND OTHER JAILS, 150 POLITICAL PRISONERS WERE FREED, TELLING BITTER TALES OF TORTURE . TWO CORPSES . BEHIND THE FIRST EUPHORIC REACTION TO THE COUP THERE WAS SOME FAIRLY GRIM POLITICAL BUSINESS FOR THE CROWD OF GENERALS WHO HAD ACCOMPLISHED IT . THE OFFICERS UNDER LIEUT . GENERAL DUONG VAN ( " BIG " ) MINH FIRST MOVED TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR VICTORY . REPORTEDLY THEY EXECUTED THE CAPTURED COMMANDER OF DIEM'S ELITE SPECIAL FORCES, COLONEL LE QUANG TUNG, HIS BROTHER, THE SPECIAL FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF, MAJOR LE QUANG TRIEU, AND A FORMER LEADER OF DIEM'S REPUBLICAN YOUTH . THEY ALSO PLACED UNDER " PROTECTIVE CUSTODY " SEVERAL FORMER DIEM OFFICIALS . IN HUE, THE REBELS HAD NO DIFFICULTY LAYING THEIR HANDS ON NGO DINH CAN, 50, DIEM'S BROTHER AND TOUGH OVERLORD OF CENTRAL VIET NAM . WEARING TATTERED CLOTHES BUT CARRYING A VALISE CONTAINING CASH, CAN SOUGHT REFUGE IN THE U.S . CONSULATE, ONLY TO BE TURNED OUT AFTER THE STATE DEPARTMENT RECEIVED ASSURANCES THAT THE GENERALS WOULD ALLOW HIM " DUE PROCESS OF LAW . " * THE NEW REGIME'S MOST EMBARRASSING PROBLEM WAS TWO CORPSES THOSE OF DIEM AND HIS BROTHER, NGO DINH NHU . THE OFFICIAL TALK OF SUICIDE WAS OBVIOUSLY PHONY (SEE FOLLOWING STORY) . AT THE BEGINNING, THE GENERALS APPARENTLY TRIED TO SPARE THE BROTHERS' LIVES, BUT AFTER DIEM ESCAPED FROM THE PALACE, THE JUNTA EVIDENTLY FELL BACK ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF 19TH CENTURY BRITISH POET ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH : THOU SHALT NOT KILL ; BUT NEED'ST NOT STRIVE OFFICIOUSLY TO KEEP ALIVE . DIEM'S ELDEST BROTHER, NGO DINH THUC, 66, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF HUE, WAS IN ROME ATTENDING THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL . ANOTHER BROTHER, NGO DINH LUYEN, 49, WAS IN LONDON, WHERE HE RESIGNED AS AMBASSADOR TO THE COURT OF ST . JAMES'S . DIEM'S 92-YEAR-OLD MOTHER REMAINED IN SAIGON, UNMOLESTED . THREE STRONGMEN . FOR THE LIVING, THERE REMAINED THE TASK OF PUTTING TOGETHER A GOVERNMENT . PREMIER NGUYEN NGOC THO, DIEM'S LONGTIME VICE PRESIDENT, APPOINTED NINE CIVILIAN MINISTERS MOSTLY NONPOLITICAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE OLD REGIME . TO COUNSEL THO'S GOVERNMENT, THE BRASS NAMED A 15-MAN " COUNCIL OF SAGES, " INCLUDING BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERS . BUT IT IS THE MILITARY THAT IS RUNNING THE COUNTRY . LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, 46, THE POLISHED, FRENCH-SCHOOLED STAFF OFFICER WHO HELPED MASTERMIND THE COUP, WAS APPOINTED DEFENSE MINISTER . MAJOR GENERAL TON THAT DINH, 36, THE AGGRESSIVE, VAIN COMMANDER OF THE SAIGON DISTRICT, WAS NAMED MINISTER OF PUBLIC SECURITY, WHICH GIVES HIM CONTROL OF NGO DINH NHU'S SECRET POLICE . OVER BOTH THE CABINET AND THE " SAGES " IS THE REBEL OFFICERS' 23-MEMBER " MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE, " WHICH LAST WEEK DECREED THAT " THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWERS ARE CENTRALIZED " IN ITSELF, AND NAMED GENERAL " BIG " MINH CHIEF OF STATE . WITHIN THE COMMITTEE IS A TWELVE-MAN INNER COUNCIL, WITH BIG MINH AS CHAIRMAN, DON AND DINH AS VICE CHAIRMEN OBVIOUSLY THE RULING TRIUMVIRATE . THE GENERALS PROMISED THAT WHEN " ALL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS HAVE BEEN SET UP, " THE REBELS WILL " TRANSFER ALL THE POWERS BACK TO OUR ENTIRE PEOPLE, " HINTED AT ELECTIONS WITHIN A YEAR . IN THE MEANTIME, AS MANY POLITICAL SHADES AS POSSIBLE WILL BE REPRESENTED IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT, BUT, SAID DEFENSE MINISTER DON, " WE DON'T WANT ANY NEUTRALISTS . " BEFORE THE WEEK WAS OUT, THE REGIME LIFTED MARTIAL LAW AND CENSORSHIP . FIRST TO RECOGNIZE SOUTH VIET NAM'S NEW GOVERNMENT WERE MALAYSIA AND THAILAND, FOLLOWED BY GREAT BRITAIN AND THE U.S., WHICH ALSO PREPARED TO RESTORE A $12 MILLION-A-MONTH IMPORT AID PROGRAM SUSPENDED UNDER DIEM . FOUR TIGERS . THE MOST SERIOUS DANGER TO THE NEW GOVERNMENT IS POTENTIAL RIVALRY AMONG THE GENERALS . THE FIRST HINTS OF THIS WERE ALREADY APPEARING AS LITTLE MAJOR GENERAL TON THAT DINH INJECTED HIMSELF INTO THE LIMELIGHT WITH AMAZING SPEED . IN THE FIRST WEEK OF VICTORY, SECURITY MINISTER DINH CONDUCTED SEVERAL PRESS CONFERENCES OF HIS OWN, AND DURING ONE INTERVIEW, WHILE PROTESTING THAT " WE MUST STAY AS ONE, " DINH INSINUATED THAT BIG MINH WAS REALLY ONLY HIS " FRONT MAN . " BUT THE U.S . IS BETTING THAT, FOR AT LEAST HALF A YEAR OR SO, THE GENERALS WILL STAND TOGETHER, AND THERE ARE HIGH HOPES FOR A MORE VIGOROUS, MORE EFFICIENT PURSUIT OF THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS, WITH MORE AUTONOMY FOR LOCAL COMMANDERS THAN ALLOWED BY DIEM . SAID BIG MINH : " OUR MAIN PROBLEM IS TO MAKE THE POPULATION HAPPY . THIS AND THE MILITARY PROBLEM ARE INTERTWINED . IF THE POPULATION DOES NOT FEEL PROTECTED, IT WILL GO OVER TO THE VIET CONG . " IN THE WAR, THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG STEPPED UP PROBING ACTIONS, BUT BIG MINH & CO . ORDERED A NEW CORPS COMMANDER INTO THE MEKONG DELTA, ALSO REPLACED THREE DIVISION CHIEFS . SAID ONE PLEASED AMERICAN ADVISER : " THEY ARE PUTTING SOME YOUNG TIGERS OUT THERE . " RED NORTH VIET NAM'S RADIO CHARGED THAT " U.S . IMPERIALISTS SCHEMED THROUGH THE RECENT COUP TO REPLACE THE INEFFICIENT NGO DINH DIEM CLIQUE BY OTHER HENCHMEN WHO CAN SERVE MORE EFFECTIVELY THEIR AGGRESSIVE WAR . " IT WAS A HANDSOME TESTIMONIAL FROM THE ENEMY . ON THE PHONE . U.S . ADMIRAL HARRY FELT KEPT AN APPOINTMENT WITH DIEM IN SAIGON ON THE DAY SET FOR THE COUP, A VISIT SCHEDULED AT LEAST A MONTH PREVIOUSLY . HE AND U.S . AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE STEPPED INTO DIEM'S OFFICE AT 10 A.M., APPARENTLY UNAWARE THAT HALF AN HOUR BEFORE KEY TROOPS HAD BEGUN MOVING INTO POSITION FOR THE COUP . THEY STAYED WITH DIEM UNTIL WELL PAST 11 A.M . AS LODGE, WHO WAS TO LEAVE FOR WASHINGTON THE FOLLOWING DAY, TOOK HIS FINAL DEPARTURE, DIEM REMARKED : " EVERY TIME THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR GOES AWAY, THEY TRY TO PULL A COUP . " GENERAL DON SAW ADMIRAL FELT OFF AT THE AIRPORT A LITTLE ANXIOUSLY, FOR THE AIRPORT ITSELF WAS SCHEDULED TO BE SEIZED IN JUST 90 MINUTES . DON THEN WENT ON TO THE GENERALS' LUNCH . AT 1 : 30 P.M . SHARP, THE INSURGENT FORCE STRUCK, WITH RED-KERCHIEFED GENERAL DINH BARKING THE ORDERS . DON WAS ASSIGNED TO KEEP LODGE INFORMED, WHILE BIG MINH SUPERVISED THE WHOLE SHOW . THE GENERALS DELIBERATELY KEPT PHONE LINES OPEN TO THE PALACE AND TO THE U.S . EMBASSY . THE PALACE SWITCHBOARD (SAIGON 21584) AND PARTICULARLY DIEM'S DIRECT LINE (23126) BUZZED WITH TELEPHONIC FRUSTRATION . WITH THE GUARD BARRACKS AND THE PALACE BOTH UNDER SIEGE, DIEM AT 4 : 30 P.M . CALLED LODGE TO ASK FOR U.S . HELP AGAINST THE INSURGENTS . LODGE REPLIED : " I'M CONCERNED FOR YOUR SAFETY, " ASKED IF DIEM AND HIS BROTHER WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE INSURGENTS' OFFER OF SAFE-CONDUCT OUT OF VIET NAM . " I SHALL DO WHAT DUTY AND GOOD SENSE INDICATE MUST BE DONE, " DIEM REPLIED STIFFLY . " I SHALL TRY TO RESTORE ORDER . " HE HUNG UP . AT CHURCH . HALF AN HOUR LATER, THE INSURGENT GENERALS CALLED DIEM TO THE PHONE . ONE BY ONE, IDENTIFYING THEMSELVES, THEY ASKED HIM TO RESIGN AND SURRENDER . FINALLY, BIG MINH DELIVERED AN ULTIMATUM : " GIVE UP IN FIVE MINUTES OR THE PALACE WILL BE BOMBED . " DIEM STOOD FIRM, AND THE GENERALS, STILL RELUCTANT AT THAT POINT TO RISK KILLING HIM, HELD THEIR FINAL BLOW . AT 8 : 13 P.M., DIEM AND NHU LEFT THE PALACE NOT THROUGH ESCAPE TUNNELS, AS WIDELY RUMORED . THEY SIMPLY WALKED OUT, EACH WITH AN AIDE, AND GOT INTO INCONSPICUOUS SEDANS . AT THAT POINT THE REBELS HAD NOT YET SEALED OFF THE PALACE, WERE STILL PASSING CIVILIANS WHO LIVED ON THE GROUNDS, AND SO THE BROTHERS MANAGED TO DRIVE THROUGH UNNOTICED . THEY RENDEZVOUSED AT A VILLA IN SUBURBAN CHOLON OWNED BY BUSINESSMAN MA TUYEN, LEADER OF THE LOCAL CHINESE COMMUNITY . DIEM AND NHU SPENT THEIR LAST NIGHT IN THE CHINESE BUSINESSMAN'S VILLA, ACTUALLY TOOK CALLS THROUGH THE PALACE SWITCHBOARD SO THAT THE INSURGENT GENERALS WOULD THINK THEY WERE STILL THERE . LATE FRIDAY NIGHT OR EARLY SATURDAY, THE GENERALS CALLED AGAIN AND TOLD DIEM THAT HIS LAST HOPE OF BEING RESCUED BY LOYAL TROOPS FROM OUTSIDE SAIGON WAS GONE ; GENERAL HUYNH VAN CAO, COMMANDER OF IV CORPS IN THE MEKONG DELTA AND THE LAST TO HOLD OUT, HAD COME OVER TO THE REBELS . WHEN DIEM AGAIN REFUSED TO SURRENDER, THE REBEL GENERALS MOUNTED THE FINAL ASSAULT . THE PALACE FELL, WITH NEITHER DIEM NOR NHU INSIDE . SATURDAY MORNING, ALL SOULS' DAY, THE BROTHERS WENT TO CHOLON'S ST . FRANCIS XAVIER CHURCH, ARRIVING AT 8 : 45 . THEY WALKED IN, KNELT AND TOOK COMMUNION . THE JUNTA WAS TIPPED OFF BY AN INFORMER . MINUTES LATER AN M-113 ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER ROARED UP TO THE CHURCH AND THE CAPTAIN IN CHARGE ORDERED THE BROTHERS TO GET IN . AT HEADQUARTERS . SAIGON STILL HUMS WITH RUMORS THAT DIEM AND NHU WERE ASSASSINATED IN THE ARMORED CAR . ACCORDING TO THE NEW GOVERNMENT, WHICH HAS DISCARDED THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF SUICIDE, NHU PROVOKED THE CAPTAIN BY INSULTING HIM, AND IN AN ENSUING SCUFFLE OVER A GUN, BOTH BROTHERS WERE KILLED . THE GOVERNMENT NOW CALLS THIS " ACCIDENTAL SUICIDE, " AND IT IS INTERESTING TO SPECULATE WHAT U.S . REACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN IF DIEM HAD PUT OUT SUCH A STORY ABOUT THE DEATH OF SOME PRISONERS OF HIS OWN . ACCORDING TO THE MOST RELIABLE ACCOUNT, THE BROTHERS DIED QUITE DIFFERENTLY . THEY WERE DRIVEN DIRECTLY TO JOINT GENERAL STAFF HEADQUARTERS, WHERE THEY WERE TAKEN INTO A ROOM WITH " SEVERAL GENERALS . " DIEM WAS HANDED A TAPERECORDER MICROPHONE AND TOLD TO MAKE A STATEMENT THAT HE WAS RESIGNING THE PRESIDENCY . DIEM THREW THE MICROPHONE DOWN AND SAID : " I WILL NOT RESIGN . I AM THE PRESIDENT . YOU ARE GUILTY OF TREASON . " AT THIS POINT, NHU LEAPED INTO THE ARGUMENT, CURSING . ONE OF THE GENERALS BACKED AWAY, DREW A PISTOL AND BEGAN SHOOTING . THE BULLET-RIDDLED BODIES WERE PUT BACK IN THE ARMORED CAR AND TAKEN OFF TO ST . PAUL'S HOSPITAL . LAST WEEK THE BODIES WERE CLAIMED BY A RELATIVE OF DIEM'S, PLACED IN HERMETICALLY SEALED METAL CASKETS, AND TAKEN BACK TO COUP HEADQUARTERS .
 INDIA UNDER THE BANYAN TREE MEETING UNDER A GAUDY CIRCUS TENT IN THE FABLED PINK CITY OF JAIPUR, THE LEADERS OF INDIA'S RULING CONGRESS PARTY TALKED THEMSELVES HOARSE LAST WEEK IN THE FIRST INTENSIVE EFFORT TO REFURBISH THEIR POLITICAL IMAGE SINCE INDEPENDENCE CAME IN 1947. PROPPED ON SAUSAGE-SHAPED BOLSTERS UNDER A HUGE PORTRAIT OF GANDHI, THE DHOTI-CLAD POLITICIANS PLEDGED "SELF-SACRIFICE" AND "DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM"--AND AT MEALTIMES ROARED OFF IN FIN-TAILED LIMOUSINES. ENDORSING "NONALIGNMENT," PARTY LEADERS WARNED RITUALISTICALLY AGAINST "ENTANGLEMENT WITH MILITARY BLOCS"- - EVEN AS U. S., BRITISH AND INDIAN WARPLANES FLEW OVER NEW DELHI IN JOINT AIR EXERCISES.  AFTER A SIX-HOUR DEBATE ON THE DEFINITION OF SOCIALISM, THE DELEGATES ADJOURNED THE TWO-DAY CONFERENCE AND WENT HOME TO GIVE THE SUBJECT MORE THOUGHT. BOOST FOR INDIRA.  ANOTHER SUBJECT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT, ONE THAT HAS ALMOST BECOME A NATIONAL OBSESSION, IS THE SUCCESSOR TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, 74.  INDIA TODAY IS STILL SMARTING FROM THE SAVAGE BEATING IT TOOK AT THE HANDS OF RED CHINA LAST FALL, THE ECONOMY IS FALTERING UNDER BUREAUCRATIC CONTROLS, AND THE FACTION-RIVEN GOVERNMENT IS FLAWED WITH CORRUPTION.  RESTIVE POLITICIANS SAY BLUNTLY THAT ALL THEIR PROBLEMS CANNOT BE SOLVED BY THE STOOPED, CAREWORN PRIME MINISTER AND THE ELDERLY, OUT-OF-TOUCH CONGRESS PARTY LEADERSHIP. A CELEBRATED CRITICISM OF NEHRU IS THAT HE RESEMBLES INDIA'S BANYAN TREE, WHICH PROVERBIALLY KILLS EVERY OTHER ORGANISM THAT GROWS IN ITS SHADE.  IN THE WAKE OF THREE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION DEFEATS LAST SPRING, NEHRU ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD ASK A DOZEN TOP CABINET AND STATE MINISTERS TO RESIGN FROM THE GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO LET THEM GO TO WORK REVITALIZING THE PARTY ORGANIZATION AND REBUILDING ITS STRENGTH AMONG THE VOTERS.  BUT THE KAMARAJ* PLAN WAS REALLY USED BY THE PRIME MINISTER AS A RUSE TO FLUSH OUT ALL THE TOP CONTENDERS FOR HIS OWN JOB.  THERE IS EVEN WIDESPREAD SUSPICION THAT NEHRU FORCED THE RESIGNATIONS OF HIS ABLEST MINISTERS IN ORDER TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR HIS DAUGHTER, IMPERIOUS INDIRA GANDHI, 45, WIDOW OF A BACKBENCH CONGRESS POLITICIAN (NO KIN TO THE MAHATMA), WHO HAS LONG BEEN THE PRIME MINISTER'S CLOSEST CONFIDANTE (HE CALLS HER INDU, OR MOON), OFFICIAL HOSTESS AND POLITICAL TROUBLESHOOTER. RULER OF THE WORLD.  BUT DISCOUNTING INDIRA AS A REAL POLITICAL CONTENDER, THE CHOICE OF MOST PARTY MEMBERS AT PRESENT IS FORMER HOME MINISTER LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI, 59, AN HONEST IF COLORLESS POLITICIAN WHO, LIKE HIS LEADER, COMES FROM UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE AND THE TRADITIONAL BREEDING GROUND OF CONGRESS PARTY LEADERS. IF SHASTRI IS DISQUALIFIED--HE HAD A HEART ATTACK IN 1959--A LEADING CONTENDER FOR THE PRIMEMINISTERSHIP WOULD PROBABLY BE S. K. PATIL, 63, A RIGHT-WINGER WHO RUNS BOMBAY WITH BRISK EFFICIENCY AND UNTIL THE CABINET PURGE COPED ABLY WITH THE THANKLESS JOB OF FOOD MINISTER, THOUGH GRAIN SHORTAGES PROMPTED THE CRACK THAT HE "GAVE INDIA FOOD--FOR THOUGHT." MORARJI DESAI, 67, A STERN ASCETIC WHO WAS NEHRU'S FINANCE MINISTER AND WAS ONCE A FAVORITE TO SUCCEED HIM, HAS LOST MUCH OF HIS POPULARITY IN THE PAST YEAR, LARGELY AS A RESULT OF HIS DRACONIAN MEASURES TO RAISE TAXES FOR THE DEFENSE EFFORT, BUT COULD STILL BE THE POWERFUL RIGHT WING'S CHOICE. AS FOR NEHRU, HE IS DETERMINED TO HOLD ON TO HIS POST INDEFINITELY, BUT EVEN INDIA'S MOST POPULAR MAN OCCASIONALLY FACES THE LIMITATIONS OF FAME IN A COUNTRY THAT IS STILL ONLY 24 PER CENT LITERATE.  IN A SURVEY OF VILLAGERS LIVING LESS THAN 20 MILES FROM BUSTLING HYDERABAD, UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS REPORTED THAT PEASANTS VARIOUSLY IDENTIFIED NEHRU AS "HEAD OF A GERMAN STATE," "RULER OF THE WORLD," AND "SOME BRAHMAN."  *NAMED FOR KAMARAJ NADAR, FORMER CHIEF MINISTER OF MADRAS, WHO FIRST EMPLOYED IT TO ADVANTAGE IN HIS OWN STATE ADMINISTRATION.
 GHANA     JUSTICE, BLACK & WHITE   NO ONE MORE STRIDENTLY DENOUNCES SOUTH AFRICA'S VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS THAN GHANA'S KWAME NKRUMAH. LAST WEEK HE DISPATCHED A RECORDED DIATRIBE TO AN ANTI-APARTHEID RALLY IN LONDON, WHOSE PARTICIPANTS PROTESTED THE LAW UNDER WHICH SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS MAY BE JAILED FOR INTERMINABLY REPEATED 90-DAY STRETCHES.  THE VERY NEXT DAY NKRUMAH ARMED HIMSELF WITH A MEASURE THAT MAKES THE SOUTH AFRICAN STATUTE LOOK PALE BY COMPARISON.  SINCE 1958 NKRUMAH HAS WIELDED A LAW ALLOWING HIS GOVERNMENT TO LOCK UP ANY GHANAIAN WITHOUT TRIAL FOR FIVE YEARS, MERELY BY CHARGING THAT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ACCUSED MIGHT PREJUDICE NATIONAL DEFENSE, RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES OR SECURITY. LAST WEEK THE ACCRA PARLIAMENT SHOUTED THROUGH AN AMENDMENT AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT TO EXTEND FOR AN ADDITIONAL FIVE YEARS THE DETENTION PERIOD OF ANYONE HELD UNDER THE ORIGINAL ACT.  THE AMENDMENT IS BELIEVED AIMED AT 40-ODD OPPOSITION LEADERS WHO HAVE BEEN IN PRISON SINCE NOVEMBER 1958, ACCUSED (BUT NEVER CONVICTED) OF CONSPIRING TO ASSASSINATE GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AND TO POISON THE MAIN ACCRA WATER RESERVOIR.
 GREECE    HUBRIS DOESN'T WIN    FOR COMMITTING THE SIN OF HUBRIS (OVERWEENING PRIDE), THE FATES TOPPLED THE HEROES OF ANCIENT GREECE. TO REFURBISH THEIR POLITICAL IMAGE SINCE INDEPENDENCE CAME IN 1947 . PROPPED ON SAUSAGE-SHAPED BOLSTERS UNDER A HUGE PORTRAIT OF GANDHI, THE DHOTI-CLAD POLITICIANS PLEDGED "SELF-SACRIFICE" AND "DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM"--AND AT MEALTIMES ROARED OFF IN FIN-TAILED LIMOUSINES . ENDORSING "NONALIGNMENT," PARTY LEADERS WARNED RITUALISTICALLY AGAINST "ENTANGLEMENT WITH MILITARY BLOCS"--EVEN AS U.S ., BRITISH AND INDIAN WARPLANES FLEW OVER NEW DELHI IN JOINT AIR EXERCISES . AFTER A SIX-HOUR DEBATE ON THE DEFINITION OF SOCIALISM, THE DELEGATES ADJOURNED THE TWO-DAY CONFERENCE AND WENT HOME TO GIVE THE SUBJECT MORE THOUGHT . BOOST FOR INDIRA . ANOTHER SUBJECT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT, ONE THAT HAS ALMOST BECOME A NATIONAL OBSESSION, IS THE SUCCESSOR TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, 74 . INDIA TODAY IS STILL SMARTING FROM THE SAVAGE BEATING IT TOOK AT THE HANDS OF RED CHINA LAST FALL, THE ECONOMY IS FALTERING UNDER BUREAUCRATIC CONTROLS, AND THE FACTION-RIVEN GOVERNMENT IS FLAWED WITH CORRUPTION . RESTIVE POLITICIANS SAY BLUNTLY THAT ALL THEIR PROBLEMS CANNOT BE SOLVED BY THE STOOPED, CAREWORN PRIME MINISTER AND THE ELDERLY, OUT-OF-TOUCH CONGRESS PARTY LEADERSHIP . A CELEBRATED CRITICISM OF NEHRU IS THAT HE RESEMBLES INDIA'S BANYAN TREE, WHICH PROVERBIALLY KILLS EVERY OTHER ORGANISM THAT GROWS IN ITS SHADE . IN THE WAKE OF THREE PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION DEFEATS LAST SPRING, NEHRU ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD ASK A DOZEN TOP CABINET AND STATE MINISTERS TO RESIGN FROM THE GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO LET THEM GO TO WORK REVITALIZING THE PARTY ORGANIZATION AND REBUILDING ITS STRENGTH AMONG THE VOTERS . BUT THE KAMARAJ* PLAN WAS REALLY USED BY THE PRIME MINISTER AS A RUSE TO FLUSH OUT ALL THE TOP CONTENDERS FOR HIS OWN JOB . THERE IS EVEN WIDESPREAD SUSPICION THAT NEHRU FORCED THE RESIGNATIONS OF HIS ABLEST MINISTERS IN ORDER TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR HIS DAUGHTER, IMPERIOUS INDIRA GANDHI, 45, WIDOW OF A BACKBENCH CONGRESS POLITICIAN (NO KIN TO THE MAHATMA), WHO HAS LONG BEEN THE PRIME MINISTER'S CLOSEST CONFIDANTE (HE CALLS HER INDU, OR MOON), OFFICIAL HOSTESS AND POLITICAL TROUBLESHOOTER . RULER OF THE WORLD . BUT DISCOUNTING INDIRA AS A REAL POLITICAL CONTENDER, THE CHOICE OF MOST PARTY MEMBERS AT  PRESENT AS FORMER HOME MINISTER LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI, 59, AN HONEST IF COLORLESS POLITICIAN WHO, LIKE HIS LEADER, COMES FROM UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE AND THE TRADITIONAL BREEDING GROUND OF CONGRESS PARTY LEADERS . IF SHASTRI IS DISQUALIFIED--HE HAD A HEART ATTACK IN 1959--A LEADING CONTENDER FOR THE PRIMEMINISTERSHIP WOULD PROBABLY BE S.K. PATIL, 63, A RIGHT-WINGER WHO RUNS BOMBAY WITH BRISK EFFICIENCY AND UNTIL THE CABINET PURGE COPED ABLY WITH THE THANKLESS JOB OF FOOD MINISTER, THOUGH GRAIN SHORTAGES PROMPTED THE CRACK THAT HE "GAVE INDIA FOOD -- FOR THOUGHT ." MORARJI DESAI, 67, A STERN ASCETIC WHO WAS NEHRU'S FINANCE MINISTER AND WAS ONCE A FAVORITE TO SUCCEED HIM, HAS LOST MUCH OF HIS POPULARITY IN THE PAST YEAR, LARGELY AS A RESULT OF HIS DRACONIAN MEASURES TO RAISE TAXES FOR THE DEFENSE EFFORT, BUT COULD STILL BE THE POWERFUL RIGHT WING'S CHOICE . AS FOR NEHRU, HE IS DETERMINED TO HOLD ON TO HIS POST INDEFINITELY, BUT EVEN INDIA'S MOST POPULAR MAN OCCASIONALLY FACES THE LIMITATIONS OF FAME IN A COUNTRY THAT IS STILL ONLY 24 PER CENT LITERATE . IN A SURVEY OF VILLAGERS LIVING LESS THAN 20 MILES FROM BUSTLING HYDERABAD, UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS REPORTED THAT PEASANTS VARIOUSLY IDENTIFIED NEHRU AS "HEAD OF A GERMAN STATE ."  "RULER OF THE WORLD," AND "SOME BRAHMAN ." *NAMED FOR KAMARAJ NADAR, FORMER CHIEF MINISTER OF MADRAS, WHO FIRST EMPLOYED IT TO ADVANTAGE IN HIS OWN STATE ADMINISTRATION .
 GHANA  JUSTICE, BLACK & WHITE  NO ONE MORE STRIDENTLY DENOUNCES SOUTH AFRICA'S VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS THAN GHANA'S KWAME NKRUMAH . LAST WEEK HE DISPATCHED A RECORDED DIATRIBE TO AN ANTI-APARTHEID RALLY IN LONDON, WHOSE PARTICIPANTS PROTESTED THE LAW UNDER WHICH SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS MAY BE JAILED FOR INTERMINABLY REPEATED 90-DAY STRETCHES . THE VERY NEXT DAY NKRUMAH ARMED HIMSELF WITH A MEASURE THAT MAKES THE SOUTH AFRICAN STATUTE LOOK PALE BY COMPARISON . SINCE 1958 NKRUMAH HAS WIELDED A LAW ALLOWING HIS GOVERNMENT TO LOCK UP ANY GHANAIAN WITHOUT TRIAL FOR FIVE YEARS, MERELY BY CHARGING THAT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ACCUSED MIGHT PREJUDICE NATIONAL DEFENSE, RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES OR SECURITY . LAST WEEK THE ACCRA PARLIAMENT SHOUTED THROUGH AN AMENDMENT AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT TO EXTEND FOR AN ADDITIONAL FIVE YEARS THE DETENTION PERIOD OF ANYONE HELD UNDER THE ORIGINAL ACT . THE AMENDMENT IS BELIEVED AIMED AT 40-ODD OPPOSITION LEADERS WHO HAVE BEEN IN PRISON SINCE NOVEMBER 1958, ACCUSED (BUT NEVER CONVICTED) OF CONSPIRING TO ASSASSINATE GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AND TO POISON THE MAIN ACCRA WATER RESERVOIR .
 GREECE  HUBRIS DOESN'T WIN  FOR COMMITTING THE SIN OF HUBRIS (OVERWEENING PRIDE), THE FATES TOPPLED THE HEROES OF ANCIENT GREECE . LAST WEEK GREEK VOTERS DEFEATED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PREMIER IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY, HANDSOME, HARD-DRIVING CONSTANTINE KARAMANLIS, WHO HAD SHOWN MORE THAN A TOUCH OF HUBRIS WHEN HE SAID IN A CAMPAIGN SPEECH:  "THE TRUE POLITICAL LEADER DOES NOT NEED THE PEOPLE . THE PEOPLE NEED THE TRUE POLITICAL LEADER ." DURING HIS EIGHT-YEAR REIGN, KARAMANLIS HAD, AS HE SAID, "TRANSFORMED GREECE FROM AN ORIENTAL VILLAGE TO A EUROPEAN COUNTRY ." HE BROUGHT THE NATION INTO THE COMMON MARKET AS AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER, BUILT DAMS AND ROADS . ON THE AVERAGE, MANUFACTURING HAS GROWN AN IMPRESSIVE 8 PERCENT ANNUALLY IN THE PAST DECADE, GOVERNMENT RESERVES SHOT UP BY 400 PERCENT, AND REVENUES MORE THAN DOUBLED - - THANKS IN PART TO TOURISM, WHICH THIS YEAR GROSSED SOME $90 MILLION .  THERE ARE DARK SPOTS IN THIS SUNNY PICTURE -- SOME 100,000 YOUNG GREEKS HAVE EMIGRATED TO WEST GERMANY TO FIND JOBS, AND POVERTY RETAINS ITS GRIP ON PRIMITIVE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES . STREET PEDDLERS IN ATHENS STILL HAUL SPONGES, BANANAS AND CHESNUTS -- BUT THEY NOW WALK BENEATH GLITTERING NEON SIGNS THAT REVEAL THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF AN INCREASINGLY MODERN ECONOMY:  IBM, SIEMENS, HAIG & HAIG, DINERS CLUB . REJECTED ADVICE . STRONGLY ANTI-COMMUNIST AND PRO-NATO, KARAMANLIS WELDED HIS RIGHT-WING NATIONAL RADICAL UNION INTO A POWERFUL PARTY, GAVE GREECE THE LONGEST STRETCH OF POLITICAL STABILITY IN MODERN TIMES .  BUT THERE WERE PROTESTS, WHEN KARAMANLIS WAS RE-ELECTED FOR A FOURTH TERM IN 1961, THAT POLICE IN THE BACK COUNTRY HAD INTIMIDATED VOTERS .  THOUGH MANY ELECTION BRAWLS WERE DELIBERATELY PROVOKED BY LEFTISTS, THEY CONVINCED LEFT-WING BRITISH LABORITES AND OTHER ALLIES ABROAD THAT GREECE LIVED UNDER A TYRANNY . LAST JUNE, AFTER KING PAUL AND QUEEN FREDERIKA REJECTED KARAMANLIS' ADVICE TO CALL OFF A STATE VISIT TO BRITAIN BECAUSE OF THE DANGER OF LEFTIST DEMONSTRATIONS IN LONDON, THE PREMIER QUIT IN A HUFF .  WHILE KARAMANLIS SULKED IN A SWISS VILLA FOR THREE MONTHS AND A CARETAKER CABINET LED BY HIS POLITICAL ALLIES RULED THE COUNTRY, THE OPPOSITION CENTER UNION PARTY LAUNCHED AN INTENSE ELECTION CAMPAIGN .  IT WAS LED BY AN AGED DEMOSTHENES, GEORGE PAPANDREOU, 75, VETERAN OF SEVERAL PREWAR CABINETS AND THE NATION'S FIRST POSTWAR PREMIER .  TO KARAMANLIS' BOAST THAT GREECE HAS PROSPERED, PAPANDREOU REPLIED:  "NUMBERS PROSPER, THE PEOPLE SUFFER ."  FARMERS, WHO HAD BENEFITED LEAST FROM THE BOOM BECAUSE OF LOW PRICES FOR THEIR GOODS, GOT PAPANDREOU'S EASY PROMISE THAT HE WOULD FORGIVE THEIR DEBTS .  ABOVE ALL, CAMPAIGNER PAPANDREOU CONCENTRATED ON THE OLD 1961 CHARGES OF ELECTION FRAUD, CRIED THAT HE WAS DETERMINED TO SAVE THE NATION FROM THE "FASCIST AND TERRORIST" POLICIES OF KARAMANLIS .  NO THANKS .  KARAMANLIS, RELYING ON HIS IMPRESSIVE ECONOMIC RECORD, CAMPAIGNED AS THOUGH HE EXPECTED THE PEOPLE TO THANK HIM FOR RUNNING .  TO THE SURPRISE OF ALMOST EVERYONE, THEY DIDN'T . A NEAR-RECORD TURNOUT OF 4,600,000 VOTERS GAVE PAPANDREOU'S CENTER UNION 140 SEATS IN THE 300-MEMBER PARLIAMENT; KARAMANLIS' NATIONAL RADICALS GOT 128 .  WINNER PAPANDREOU CELEBRATED BY DANCING MOST OF THE NIGHT .  KARAMANLIS WAS FURIOUS, HASTILY ANNOUNCED HE WAS QUITTING POLITICS .  AFTER A TALK WITH KING PAUL AT TATOI PALACE, HE CHANGED HIS MIND .  AFTER ALL, PAPANDREOU LACKED A MAJORITY OF ELEVEN SEATS . THE PREMIER COULD HAVE A SAFE MARGIN IF HE ACCEPTED THE EAGER SUPPORT OF 30 PRO-COMMUNIST DEPUTIES, BUT SO FAR PRO-WESTERN PAPANDREOU HAS REJECTED THE OFFER . BETWEEN NOW AND DEC . 11, WHEN PARLIAMENT CONVENES, KARAMANLIS HOPES TO ATTRACT ENOUGH DEPUTIES TO DEFEAT THE OPENING VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, IF HE SUCCEEDS, GREECE WILL BE IN FOR NEW ELECTIONS AND ANOTHER FREE-SWINGING CAMPAIGN .
 THE COMMUNISTS LOVE THE IDEA . THEY ARE SAYING REASSURINGLY THAT THEY WOULD NOT MAKE FRANCE PULL OUT OF THE COMMON MARKET OR NATO AS THE PRICE OF "WORKERS' UNITY ." THAT IS THE SAME SWEET LINE THE COMMUNISTS ARE TAKING IN ITALY, WHERE THE REDS'S LONGTIME ALLIES, THE LEFTIST NENNI SOCIALISTS, ARE ON THE VERGE OF ENTERING THE GOVERNMENT . WHILE FRENCH SOLIALISTS ARE COZYING UP TO MOSCOW, CHARLES DE GAULLE IS MAKING SHEEP'S EYES AT PEKING AS PART OF HIS STRATEGY OF THE HIGHER POLITICS . HE WOULD LIKE TO REVIVE FRANCE'S DUSTY INFLUENCE IN ASIA . COMMENTING ON THE COUP IN SOUTH VIET NAM, INFORMATION MINISTER ALAIN PEYREFITTE LAST WEEK RENEWED DE GAULLE'S PROPOSAL, PLAINLY DESIGNED TO EMBARRASS THE U.S ., OF A UNITED AND NEUTRAL NORTH AND SOUTH VIET NAM "FREE OF FOREIGN INFLUENCES ." A NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS, HAS JUST RETURNED FROM A MONTH'S TRIP TO RED CHINA ENCOURAGED BY THE PROSPECT OF INCREASING TRADE .  ALSO BOUND FOR PEKING WAS EX-PREMIER EDGAR FAURE, WHO HAS LONG URGED FRENCH DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION OF RED CHINA . THOUGH TRAVELING "UNOFFICIALLY," FAURE CARRIED A MESSAGE FROM DE GAULLE TO MAO TSE-TUNG THAT REPORTEDLY DEPLORES COMMUNIST CHINA'S ISOLATION . WHILE RULING OUT FORMAL RECOGNITION IN THE NEAR FUTURE, PREMIER GEORGES TOTTER OFF VIKTOR IVANOVICH AND SEVERAL OTHERS HEAD FOR CLINICS WHILE THE STEWARDESSES INVENTORY BED SHEETS . ONE PASSENGER WROTE THE MINISTER OF THE RIVER FLEET : " EVERYWHERE WE SAW POSTERS URGING THE PERSONNEL TO FIGHT FOR BETTER SERVICE FOR PASSENGERS . PERHAPS THEY'LL STOP FIGHTING AND SIMPLY START BEHAVING IN AN ORDINARY, HUMAN MANNER TOWARD US, GIVING US FOR OUR MONEY (PARDON THIS DETAIL) WHAT WE ARE LEGALLY ENTITLED TO ! " BUT AS WISE OLD VIKTOR IVANOVICH SAYS : " ALAS, IT'S THIS WAY NOT ONLY ON BOATS . /
 WEST GERMANY FROM THE TOMB WHEN A RESERVOIR BROKE AND FLOODED AN IRON MINE NEAR LENGEDE, SAXONY, TWO WEEKS AGO, 79 WORKERS SCRAMBLED TO SAFETY, AND TEN MORE WERE RESCUED . THE REMAINING 40, ENTOMBED WITHOUT FOOD FOR TEN DAYS, WERE GIVEN UP FOR DEAD . THE GIANT OIL DRILL THAT HAD BORED THE RESCUE SHAFTS FOR THE OTHERS WAS DISMANTLED AND STARTED ON ITS WAY BACK TO THE NETHERLANDS . THE CROWDS OF REPORTERS AND ONLOOKERS DRIFTED AWAY . ALL THAT REMAINED WAS TO HOLD A MEMORIAL SERVICE . SOME OF THE SURVIVORS INSISTED THAT THE RESCUERS CONTINUE BORING EXPLORATORY SHAFTS, USING A SMALLER DRILL . SUDDENLY THE SKEPTICAL RESCUE TEAM WAS ELECTRIFIED BY A SERIES OF RAPS ON THE DRILL BIT . OVER A QUICKLY LOWERED PHONE LINE, WORD CAME THAT ELEVEN MEN WERE ALIVE IN AN ABANDONED GALLERY, 196 FT . BELOW . MEMORIAL SERVICES WERE CANCELED AND THE OIL RIG HURRIEDLY RECALLED . THERE WERE BREATHLESS PHONE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE MINERS AND THEIR WIVES, SOME STILL IN BLACK MOURNING DRESSES . FOOD AND TRANQUILIZERS WERE SENT DOWN . CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD FLEW IN FROM BONN BY HELICOPTER AND MADE A LITTLE " GOOD LUCK " SPEECH TO THE TRAPPED MEN . SAID HE : " ALL GERMAN HEARTS ARE WITH YOU, IN CONFIDENCE THAT YOU'LL SOON AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY . " AN INVESTIGATION WAS LAUNCHED TO SEE IF THERE HAD BEEN NEGLIGENCE AT THE MINE, AND THE EAST GERMAN RADIO EVEN MANAGED TO FIND A PROPAGANDA ISSUE CAPITALIST CALLOUSNESS . MEANWHILE, THE RESCUE WORK CONTINUED . THE DRILL HAD TO WORK SLOWLY BECAUSE OF THE DANGER OF A CAVE-IN, BUT EVENTUALLY AND LUCKILY PIERCED THE ONLY SPOT IN THE GALLERY'S ROOF THAT WAS SOLID ROCK . JUST 103 HOURS AFTER THE ELEVEN WERE HEARD FROM, THE FIRST OF THE MINERS EMERGED FROM THE " RESCUE BOMB, " A SORT OF TORPEDOSHAPED ELEVATOR THAT HAD BEEN LOWERED INTO THE NEW SHAFT WITH TWO VOLUNTEER RESCUE WORKERS . FIFTY-SEVEN MINUTES LATER, ALL ELEVEN WERE MIRACULOUSLY OUT, WEAK BUT UNHARMED AFTER 13 DAYS UNDERGROUND . . . . (TRIDOTS) BUT MINING REMAINS PERILOUS . WITHIN HOURS AFTER THE GERMAN MINERS WERE MIRACULOUSLY SAVED IN SAXONY, A COAL DUST EXPLOSION ON THE SOUTHERN JAPANESE ISLAND OF KYUSHU KILLED MORE THAN 300 MINERS AND TRAPPED HUNDREDS OF OTHERS .
 SOUTH VIET NAM WIDOW'S RETREAT MME . NGO DINH NHU HAD ARRIVED IN THE U.S . 5F WEEKS AGO AS A CRUSADING WIFE ; LAST WEEK SHE LEFT, AN EMBITTERED WIDOW . FROM BEVERLY HILLS SHE FLEW TO ROME TO JOIN HER THREE YOUNGER CHILDREN, SON TRAC, 15, SON QUYHN, 11, AND DAUGHTER LE QUYEN, 4 . EITHER BECAUSE OF A SHORTAGE OF FUNDS OR A MISUNDERSTANDING WITH CALIFORNIA'S YOUNG REPUBLICANS, WHO HAD ORIGINALLY INVITED HER TO LOS ANGELES TO SPEAK, MME . NHU DEPARTED OWING NEARLY HALF OF HER $2,000 BILL AT THE BEVERLY WILSHIRE HOTEL (THE MANAGER DID NOT SEEM WORRIED ABOUT COLLECTING) . FOLLOWING HER BY MAIL WAS A STACK OF BOOKS, AMONG THEM TO LIVE AGAIN AND TNT : THE POWER WITHIN YOU ; HOW TO RELEASE THE FORCES INSIDE YOU AND GET WHAT YOU WANT . AT THE AIRPORT, READING A LONG FAREWELL STATEMENT, SHE REFERRED TO THE FACT THAT THE U.S . HAD ENCOURAGED THE COUP : " JUDAS HAS SOLD THE CHRIST FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER . THE NGO BROTHERS HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR A FEW DOLLARS . " BY THIS MME . NHU MEANT THE AID THAT THE U.S . HAD WITHHELD FROM DIEM BUT RESTORED " TO THOSE WHO WOULD NOT HESITATE TO TURN THEIR GUNS AGAINST THEIR OWN DULY ELECTED LEADERS . " SHE HAD HEARD REPORTS THAT, AFTER BEING MURDERED BY SOUTH VIET NAM'S NEW RULERS, " PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM'S FACE WAS SERENE IN DEATH, AND MY HUSBAND HAD A SLIGHT SMILE THOUGH HIS FACE WAS ALL STREAKED WITH BLOOD . I THINK THEREFORE THAT I CANNOT BE LESS SERENE THAN THEY . " IN ROME SHE WAS WELCOMED BY DIEM'S BROTHER, ARCHBISHOP NGO DINH THUC, WHO HAD BEEN ATTENDING THE VATICAN COUNCIL ; THEN SHE WAS WHISKED TO A TREESHADED CONVENT FOR A REST . EVENTUALLY, MME . NHU INSISTS, SHE WILL RETURN TO SOUTH VIET NAM . SAID SHE : " MY BURDEN WILL BE HARD INDEED, FOR THE DEVIL HAS NOT BEEN DISARMED AND IS STILL TRYING TO BEAT ME DOWN . /
 MIDDLE EAST DANGER : PROFESSOR AT WORK TOURING THE MIDDLE EAST UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE U.S . STATE DEPARTMENT, DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS BAND FOUND THEMSELVES CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A COUP IN IRAQ LAST WEEK . FASCINATED BY THE GOINGS-ON, THE DUKE PROMISED TO COMPOSE A NEW PIECE, " THE BAGHDAD ROCK AND I DO MEAN ROCKING WITH ROCKETS, BOMBS AND ALL . " THE DUKE MIGHT JUST AS WELL WRITE ANOTHER PIECE CALLED THE DAMASCUS REEL, FOR SYRIA, TOO, UNDERWENT A SHAKE-UP, QUIETER BUT NO LESS SIGNIFICANT . BEHIND THE SUDDEN SHUFFLE OF MIDDLE EASTERN LEADERS WAS A POWER STRUGGLE INSIDE A STRANGE NEW POLITICAL FORCE, THE BAATH (RENAISSANCE) PARTY, WHICH IN LITTLE LESS THAN A YEAR HAS TURNED FROM A SHADOWY, CLANDESTINE MOVEMENT WITHOUT POPULAR SUPPORT INTO A DYNAMIC POWER CHALLENGING GAMAL ABDEL NASSER FOR LEADERSHIP OF THE ARAB WORLD . THE AVOWED AIM OF BAATH IS TO UNITE IRAQ AND SYRIA, WHICH IT ALREADY CONTROLS, AND TO ADD ALL OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES TO THIS UNION, THROUGH PERSUASION OR SUBVERSION . LAST WEEK'S TUSSLES WERE CAUSED PARTLY BY THE CLASH OF AMBITIONS WITHIN THE PARTY, PARTLY BY DIFFERENCES OVER HOW QUICKLY AND RADICALLY THE BAATH AIMS SHOULD BE PURSUED . OUT OF THE SHADOWS . IN SYRIA, PREMIER SALAH BITAR, 52, A CO-FOUNDER OF THE BAATH PARTY, RESIGNED AFTER BEING ACCUSED IN PARTY COUNCILS OF " SELF-ISOLATION FROM THE MASSES . " TRANSLATION : HE MUST MAKE WAY FOR AN AMBITIOUS, YOUNGER RIVAL . THE RIVAL : AMIN HAFEZ, 42, SYRIAN COMMANDER IN CHIEF AND A TOP PARTY LEADER, WHO TOOK OVER AS PREMIER . AS A PRELUDE TO HIS SWEARINGIN, JETS WHOOSHED OVERHEAD IN SALUTE AND TO DISCOURAGE ANY POSSIBLE TROUBLE . IN IRAQ, THE STRUGGLE WAS BETWEEN BURLY VICE PREMIER ALI SALEH SAADI, A RADICAL, AND A FACTION OF MODERATES HEADED BY FOREIGN MINISTER TALIB SHABIB AND INTERIOR MINISTER HAZIM JAWAD . SAADI AND HIS FRIENDS WANT MORE OR LESS INSTANT SOCIALIZATION OF THE IRAQI ECONOMY, CRACKDOWN ON THE MIDDLE CLASS, REVOLUTION THROUGHOUT THE ARAB WORLD, AND AN ANTI-WESTERN POLICY . SHABIB, JAWAD & CO . FAVOR A SLOWER, MORE CONCILIATORY COURSE . AT FIRST IT LOOKED LIKE A CLEAR VICTORY FOR THE MODERATES . BACKED BY GUN-TOTING AIDES, SHABIB AND JAWAD SEIZED SAADI AND THREE OTHER CABINET MINISTERS, BUNDLED THEM INTO A MILITARY PLANE WITHOUT LUGGAGE AND FLEW THEM TO EXILE IN MADRID WHERE SAADI KEPT HINTING THAT HE WOULD YET RETURN TO IRAQ IN TRIUMPH . NEXT MORNING SAADI'S SUPPORTERS IN THE LABOR UNIONS AND THE NATIONAL GUARD POURED INTO THE STREETS OF BAGHDAD, LED BY AIR FORCE COLONEL MUNZER WANDARI, A FIERCELY MUSTACHIOED FANATIC WHO PERSONALLY TOOK UP A JET FIGHTER AND STRAFED THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE WITH ROCKETS . WHEN THE MODERATES CALLED ON THE ARMY FOR HELP, TROOPS CLEARED THE STREETS AND JAILED WANDARI . BUT HE HAD APPARENTLY MADE HIS POINT . AN EMERGENCY MEETING OF THE BAATH HIGH COMMAND DECIDED UPON A PLAGUE-ON-BOTH-YOUR-HOUSES GESTURE : SHABIB, JAWAD AND FIVE AIDES WERE HUSTLED INTO ANOTHER PLANE AND SENT INTO EXILE TOO IN BEIRUT . STRANGELY SILENT IN THE UPROAR WAS THE ONE NON-BAATHIST IN A POSITION OF POWER, IRAQ'S PRESIDENT ABDUL SALAM AREF, WHO WAS REPORTEDLY UNDER PALACE ARREST . UNTIL PARTY ELECTIONS ARE HELD SOME TIME NEXT YEAR, IRAQ WILL APPARENTLY BE RUN BY THE BAATH CENTRAL COMMITTEE (WHICH INCLUDES A JORDANIAN, A LEBANESE AND A KUWAITI AS WELL AS IRAQI AND SYRIAN GENERALS) AND BY MICHEL AFLAK, THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND REAL POWER IN THE PARTY . IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT AFLAK, A WITHDRAWN, SEEMINGLY GENTLE INTELLECTUAL WHO HAS SANCTIONED THE EXECUTIONS OF HUNDREDS OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS, EMERGED FROM HIS SHADOWY POSITION BEHIND THE SCENES . NATIONAL FAMILIES . WHAT PRECISELY IS BAATH ? NASSER SEEMS TO CONSIDER IT AN EVEN GREATER THREAT THAN HIS OLD ENEMIES, THE ARAB MONARCHIES OF JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, AND COMPLAINS : " I HAVE READ EVERY BOOK BY OR ABOUT BAATH AND I COULD UNDERSTAND NOTHING . " A WESTERN DIPLOMAT DESCRIBES IT AS AN " ARAB COSA NOSTRA . / ON THE CONTRARY, ONE KNOWLEDGEABLE OBSERVER THINKS BAATH " IS PROBABLY AHEAD OF ITS TIME REFORMIST, PROGRESSIVE AND SECULAR IN A WORLD OF ARABS BOUND BY TRADITION, RELIGION AND NARROW, PERSONAL INTEREST . " FOUNDER AFLAK, 53, WHOSE SCHOLARLY MANNER HAS WON HIM THE NICKNAME " THE PROFESSOR, " DEFINES BAATH THROUGH HIS CAREER AS MUCH AS THROUGH HIS WORDS BORN IN DAMASCUS TO THE GREEK ORTHODOX FAITH IN AN OVERWHELMINGLY MOSLEM ENVIRONMENT (AFLAK'S FATHER WAS A MODERATELY SUCCESSFUL GRAIN MERCHANT, AND HIS MOTHER, NOW 75, IS STILL ILLITERATE), AFLAK GOT HONORS IN HISTORY AT THE SORBONNE . IN PARIS HE ARGUED POLITICS WITH OTHER AFRO-ASIAN STUDENTS, READ MARX, NIETZSCHE AND JEFFERSON . HE SAYS, " I QUICKLY FOUND MARXISM INADEQUATE, BASED ON MATERIALISM WITHOUT HUMAN AND SPIRITUAL VALUES, WITHOUT NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS . NATIONS ARE ONLY LARGE FAMILIES, AND THE ARAB FAMILY NEEDS MORE THAN MARX . THUS WE EVOLVED THE BAATHIST DOCTRINE OF SOCIALISM MINGLED WITH NATIONALISM AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT . " RETURNING TO DAMASCUS AS A TEACHER, AFLAK WAS SOON INDOCTRINATING STUDENTS IN HIS REVOLUTIONARY IDEALS, DRAWING SUPPORT FROM THOSE WHO WERE OVEREDUCATED, UNEMPLOYED SONS OF THE POOR . IN 1942, AFTER LEADING A STRIKE AGAINST FENCH HISTORY TEXTS BEING USED IN SYRIAN SCHOOLS, HE QUIT TEACHING AND BECAME A FULLTIME AGITATOR, DRAWING SUPPORT FROM THOSE WHO, LIKE HIMSELF, WERE OVEREDUCATED, UNDEREMPLOYED SONS OF PEASANTS AND WORKERS . THE LUMINOUS CLASSICAL ARABIC OF HIS POLITICAL TRACTS FILLS BAATHISTS WITH ECSTASY, BUT IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION, HIS IDEAS SEEM RATHER MURKY : " NATIONALISM IS LOVE BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE " ; " REVOLUTION IS THE OPPOSITION OF TRUTH TO THE EXISTING SITUATION . " AFLAK WROTE BAATH'S DEMOCRATIC-SOUNDING CONSTITUTION IN FIVE DAYS, AND IT HAS NEVER SINCE BEEN CHANGED OR, FOR THAT MATTER, IMPLEMENTED . BY 1947, AFTER THE FRENCH LEFT SYRIA, BAATH HAD 1,000 CAREFULLY SELECTED MEMBERS, AND AFLAK CALLED THE FIRST NATIONAL CONGRESS IN A DAMASCUS CAFE . TWO YEARS LATER HE WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO HELP TOPPLE A SYRIAN GOVERNMENT AND SERVED IN THE CABINET FOR THREE MONTHS BEFORE RESIGNING ON THE GROUND THAT HE WAS OF MORE VALUE TO BAATH OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT THAN IN IT . COLLIDING AMBITIONS . AFLAK WAS PROFOUNDLY SHAKEN BY THE 1948 ARAB DEFEAT IN PALESTINE . DURING THE FIGHTING HE PROWLED THE FRONT, LIVING WITH ARAB TROOPS . " THE ARAB SOCIAL STRUCTURE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISASTER, / HE SAYS . " A SOCIETY BASED ON DISUNITY AND INEQUALITY PREVENTED THE ARABS FROM REACHING THEIR FULL POTENTIAL . " TODAY HE IS AS VOCAL AS ANY ARAB LEADER ABOUT DRIVING THE ISRAELIS INTO THE SEA . AT FIRST, BAATH WORKED WILLINGLY WITH NASSER . AT THE THIRD PARTY CONGRESS IN 1956, BAATH DECIDED ON THE UNION OF SYRIA WITH EGYPT THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED TWO YEARS LATER . BUT THE RIVAL AMBITIONS OF NASSER AND BAATH COLLIDED . SYRIA BROKE AWAY FROM EGYPT IN 1961 AND BECAME A BAATH-DOMINATED STATE AFTER A MILITARY COUP LAST MARCH . BAATH HAD ALREADY WON BLOODY CONTROL OF IRAQ A MONTH EARLIER AND TELEVISED THE GORY SCENE OF THE EXECUTION OF DICTATOR KASSEM . SINCE THEN, BAATH HAS SUCCESSFULLY AND BLOODILY PUT DOWN TWO NASSERITE INSURRECTIONS IN IRAQ AND FIVE IN SYRIA, AND ITS LEADERS ARE UNDERSTANDABLY BITTER ABOUT NASSER . SAYS ONE : " WE LOVED HIM AND CHERISHED HIM, THE BASTARD . NASSER IS A LOST PROPHET . HE TRIES TO ANNIHILATE US, THE DEVIL . WE ARE IDEALISTS AND DON'T WANT TO KILL, BUT HE MAKES US KILL . WE HAVE TO USE HIS TACTICS, DAMN HIM . " THE EGYPTIAN PRESS AND RADIO IN TURN PICTURE AFLAK AS A COMBINATION OF ROBESPIERRE, STALIN, BEN-GURION AND THE POPE . WHENEVER CAIRO RADIO MENTIONS HIM, IT IS FOLLOWED BY THE INTERJECTION " YANI, YANI " (I MEAN, I MEAN), GIBING AT THE FUZZINESS OF HIS POLITICAL CONCEPTS . TOTAL HOSTILITY . BAATH DEPENDS ON 50,000 PARTY MEMBERS SCATTERED IN EIGHTMAN CELLS THROUGHOUT THE ARAB WORLD . " WE COULD TAKE IN THOUSANDS MORE, " AFLAK BOASTS, " BUT WE MUST SCREEN OUT OPPORTUNISTS, IDLERS AND ENEMY AGENTS . " NOT ONLY NASSER, BUT ALSO ARAB MONARCHS, BUSINESSMEN AND THE TRADITIONAL, MIDDLE-CLASS POLITICIANS DETEST BAATH . ARAB CHRISTIANS FEAR BEING SUBMERGED IN A UNITED ARAB STATE . THE KURDISH TRIBESMEN, WHO ARE MOSLEMS BUT NOT ARABS, HAVE WAGED A LONG, BITTER WAR FOR AUTONOMY IN NORTHERN IRAQ . ORIGINALLY, THE COMMUNISTS WERE NUMBERED AMONG THE MANY FOES OF BAATH, AND IN IRAQ WERE HUNTED DOWN AND EXECUTED, WHILE MOSCOW RAILED AGAINST / BAATHIST GENOCIDE . " BUT RECENTLY, PERHAPS IN A SEARCH FOR ALLIES, A BAATH OFFICIAL IN IRAQ ANNOUNCED THAT " THE RED HUNT IS OVER, " AND HUNDREDS OF COMMUNISTS WERE RELEASED FROM JAIL . COMMUNIST LEADERS ARE JOINING BAATH IN CALLING FOR " THE LIQUIDATION OF FEUDALISM, " AND THE BAATH PARTY NEWSPAPER PROCLAIMS " TOTAL HOSTILITY GAINST CAPITALISM . " STILL BETTING THAT IRAQ AND SYRIA, WHILE ANTI-WESTERN, WILL REMAIN ANTI-COMMUNIST, THE U.S . THIS YEAR IS SUPPLYING CREDITS AND LOANS OF MORE THAN $60 MILLION . IN TAKING OVER, BAATH FOUND BOTH COUNTRIES NEARLY BANKRUPT AND HAS TRIED TO REVIVE THE ECONOMY WITH SOCIALIST CURE-ALLS RANGING FROM NATIONALIZATION OF INDUSTRY (INCLUDING, IN SYRIA, THE ADVERTISING BUSINESS) TO CONVERTING STATE LAND INTO FARM COLLECTIVES . FOR STRATEGIC REASONS, A PAVED HIGHWAY FROM BAGHDAD TO DAMASCUS IS BEING PUSHED TO COMPLETION . THIS YEAR'S RICH COTTON HARVEST PROMISES A $100 MILLION WINDFALL FOR SYRIA, AND IRAQ'S COFFERS ARE BEING REFILLED BY OIL REVENUES . BRAINWASHING . AS SET UP BY AFLAK, THE ORGANIZATION OF BAATH RESEMBLES THAT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY . EACH CELL ELECTS A LEADER, CELL LEADERS ELECT DISTRICT CHIEFS AND SO ON, UP TO THE VARIOUS REGIONAL CONGRESSES . OVER THEM STANDS THE POWERFUL CENTRAL COMMITTEE, WHICH REALLY RUNS THE WHOLE SHOW . IN DEALING WITH POLITICAL OPPONENTS, BAATH TENDS TO RELY ON THE FIRING SQUAD, BUT BAATH MEETINGS ARE CONDUCTED STRICTLY BY ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER . MEMBERSHIP IS GAINED ONLY AFTER A MINIMUM OF TWO YEARS AS A CANDIDATE " ON TRIAL FOR SINCERITY AND INTENSITY . " BAATHISM IS BEING EXTENDED TO THE SYRIAN AND IRAQI ARMIES IN ADDITION TO MILITARY DUTY EACH SOLDIER MUST SPEND TWO HOURS A DAY BEING POLITICALLY INDOCTRINATED . BAATHIST POLICE OFFICIALS ARE NOW TRYING THEIR HAND AT BRAINWASHING POLITICAL PRISONERS, AND BOAST THAT THEY HAVE EVEN CONVERTED COMMUNISTS . AS LAST WEEK PROVED, BAATH CAN BE AS HARD ON ITS OWN LEADERS AS ON ITS ENEMIES . MICHEL AFLAK, AS SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE BAATH CENTRAL COMMITTEE, HAS SURVIVED AS THE ONLY STABLE ELEMENT IN BAATH . HE HAS NEVER MADE A RADIO OR TV SPEECH, SELDOM APPEARS IN PUBLIC, BUT HE IS A VIRTUOSO IN MAN-TO-MAN DISCUSSIONS, AND PREMIERS, CABINET MEMBERS AND GENERALS DUTIFULLY REPORT TO HIM FOR " ADVICE . " IN FACT, MANY OF THE DECISIONS IN LAST WEEK'S WHOLESALE FIRINGS OF BAATH LEADERS WERE HAMMERED OUT IN AFLAK'S MODEST, FOUR-ROOM DAMASCUS APARTMENT, WITH WASH FLAPPING ON THE BALCONY AND HIS TWO SMALL CHILDREN PLAYING UNDERFOOT UNTIL THE CRISIS FORCED HIM TO FLY TO BAGHDAD AND TAKE CHARGE PERSONALLY . HE WAS PLAINLY RELUCTANT TO DO SO . " I STAY AWAY FROM POWER, " HE SAYS . " I AM INCAPABLE OF GOVERNING . " AFLAK IS CONFIDENT OF ACCOMPLISHING ALL HIS VISIONARY GOALS IN HIS OWN LIFETIME . SAYS HE : " WE HAVE MANY INTELLECTUALS IN THE PARTY, BUT NOT ENOUGH EXECUTIVE AND TECHNICAL TALENT . WE NEED MORE TRAINED CADRES . WE NEED MORE FUNDS . WE NEED MORE TIME . WE NEED MORE OF EVERYTHING . " THE MAJOR PROBLEM IS WHETHER BAATH'S OLD ARAB ENEMIES AND NEW COMMUNIST ALLIES AS WELL AS ITS OWN IMPATIENT RADICALS WILL ALLOW THE PARTY THE TIME IT NEEDS . MEANWHILE, DOES AFLAK EVER HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT BAATH'S VICTIMS ? HE SAYS : " WE ONLY DREAM ABOUT OUR DESTINY . /
 COLD WAR HOW MUCH TRADE WITH THE REDS ? NO ONE KNOWS BETTER THAN MOSCOW THAT TRADE IS A WEAPON IN THE COLD WAR . " WITH EVERY ADDITIONAL SHOVEL OF COAL, WITH EVERY ADDITIONAL LOAD OF OIL OBTAINED THROUGH FOREIGN HELP, " OLD BOLSHEVIK LEV KAMENEV ONCE PREDICTED, " CAPITALISM WILL BE DIGGING ITS OWN GRAVE . " FACED WITH THE CONTINUING FAILURE OF THEIR ECONOMY, THE RUSSIANS MAY BE FORCED TO RELY ON WHEAT FROM THE WEST FOR YEARS TO COME, BUT ABOVE ALL THEY WANT TO GET HOLD OF HEAVY INDUSTRIAL ITEMS INCLUDING WHOLE FACTORIES, WHICH RUSSIAN INDUSTRY ON ITS OWN CANNOT DUPLICATE FOR A LONG TIME TO COME . WESTERN POLICY IS DIVIDED ON HOW TO MEET THIS SOVIET COMMERCIAL APPEAL . SOME BELIEVE THAT TRADE WITH THE RED BLOC MAY HAVE POLITICAL ADVANTAGE BY MAKING THE SATELLITES LESS DEPENDENT ON MOSCOW AND POSSIBLY MAKING MOSCOW MORE DEPENDENT ON THE WEST . OTHERS, NOTABLY WEST GERMANY'S FORMER CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER, FEEL THAT THE WEST SHOULD TRADE WITH RUSSIA ONLY IN RETURN FOR COLD WAR CONCESSIONS . WASHINGTON BELIEVES THAT THIS POLICY IS NOT FEASIBLE, IF ONLY BECAUSE U.S . ALLIES ARE EAGER TO TRADE WITH THE REDS, ARE SCARCELY EVEN WILLING TO RULE OUT STRATEGIC ITEMS THAT NATO SPECIFICALLY FORBIDS . WESTERN EUROPEAN EXPORTS TO THE SOVIET BLOC LAST YEAR CLIMBED BY 10 PER CENT TO $2.2 BILLION(COMPARED WITH U.S . SALES OF $125 MILLION) . WHAT WASHINGTON WORRIES ABOUT IS NOT THE SHEER VOLUME OF SUCH DEALS BUT THE TERMS . WEAKENED WILLINGNESS . THE U.S . FEELS THAT IF THE RUSSIANS WANT TO TRADE, THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO USE UP THEIR MEAGER GOLD RESERVES AND NOT BE GRANTED WHAT THEY WANT LONG-TERM CREDITS . SUCH CREDITS WOULD RELEASE MASSIVE SOVIET INVESTMENT FOR MILITARY NEEDS AND DIVERT FREE-WORLD RESOURCES FROM AID TO UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS . UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE BALL LAST WEEK WOUND UP A TOUR OF WESTERN EUROPE DURING WHICH HE ARGUED THE U.S . CASE FOR A UNIFIED, STIFFER WESTERN CREDIT POLICY AT LEAST 20 PER CENT CASH AND THE REST WITHIN FIVE YEARS . BALL RECEIVED HIS FRIENDLIEST HEARING IN WEST GERMANY, EVEN THOUGH BONN TOPS THE LIST OF ALLIED TRADERS WITH THE REDS . WEST GERMANY LAST YEAR DID JUST OVER 1 BILLION WORTH OF OFFICIAL BUSINESS WITH MOSCOW AND ITS SATELLITES (INCLUDING $422 MILLION WITH THE SOVIET UNION AND $213 MILLION WITH EAST GERMANY) ; NO ONE CAN GUESS ACCURATELY HOW MUCH MORE PRIVATE TRADE WENT ON . THOUGH SOME GERMAN INDUSTRIALISTS WERE ANXIOUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO GUARANTEE LONG-TERM CREDITS, CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD RULED OUT THE IDEA AS LONG AS THE SOVIETS BLOCK GERMAN REUNIFICATION . SAID ERHARD : " SUCH CREDITS WOULD STRENGTHEN THE SOVIET POSITION, SO THAT ITS WILLINGNESS TO NEGOTIATE WOULD BE WEAKENED . " GENTLEMEN'S DISAGREEMENT . IN PARIS, BALL ALSO GOT A SYMPATHETIC RECEPTION, A PLEASANT CHANGE FOR A U.S . ENVOY THESE DAYS . FRANCE LAST YEAR EXPORTED TO THE SOVIET BLOC GOODS WORTH ONLY ABOUT $266 MILLION ; RUSSIAN BARTER PROPOSALS, INVOLVING A SWAP OF SOVIET COAL AND OIL FOR HEAVY INDUSTRIAL GOODS, ARE HIGHLY UNATTRACTIVE SINCE FRANCE CAN SELL ITS OWN COAL AND OIL INSIDE THE COMMON MARKET . BESIDES, CHARLES DE GAULLE BELIEVES THAT TRADING WITH THE SOVIETS IS A DIRTY BUSINESS (ALTHOUGH HE SEEMS WILLING TO TRADE WITH RED CHINA) AND RECENTLY DENIED AN EXPORT LICENSE TO A LEADING FRENCH STEEL COMPANY THAT WAS ALL SET TO BUILD A REFINERY IN RUSSIA . ONLY IN LONDON DID BALL FIND OPPOSITION ; THE BRITISH FLATLY DECLINED TO JOIN THE GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT TO RESTRICT THE SOVIETS' CREDIT . BRITAIN IS ESPECIALLY FOND OF THE IDEA THAT MORE TRADE WITH MOSCOW, INCLUDING STRATEGIC GOODS, WILL EVENTUALLY PACIFY THE SOVIETS . MOREOVER, THE NEW TORY GOVERNMENT IS EAGER TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT BY INCREASING OUTPUT AND SHIPPING THE GOODS OVERSEAS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE . THE PLAN HAS NOT WORKED SO FAR : BRITISH EXPORTS TO RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE TOTALED ONLY ABOUT $310 MILLION IN 1962, AND NO BIG TRADE DEAL APPEARS IMMINENT .
 GREAT BRITAIN INTO BATTLE " I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS FIGHT, / SAID SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME LAST WEEK . " I'M ALMOST SPOILING FOR IT . " HE DID NOT HAVE LONG TO SPOIL . NEXT DAY, AS PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLED, SHOUTING, LEAPING TORY BACKBENCHERS CHEERED LUSTILY WHILE THE NEWLY ELECTED MEMBER FOR KINROSS TOOK HIS OATH AS AN M.P . AND MOVED INTO HIS PLACE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE GOVERNMENT'S FRONT BENCH . PULLING OUT A SMALL RED AND GOLD BALLPOINT PEN, DOUGLAS-HOME HUNCHED DOWN IN HIS SEAT AND SCRIBBLED FURIOUSLY ON SLIPS OF PAPER FOR THE NEXT 42 MINUTES WHILE LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON DELIVERED A CUTTING ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT . LIKE A POSTER . CLAIMING THAT THE TORIES' " MODERNIZATION " PLANS FOR NEW ROADS, SCHOOLS AND HOUSING WERE BORROWED FROM LABOR, WILSON SAID TARTLY : " IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF POLITICAL DESPERATION . " WHY, HE CONTINUED, " HAVE WE HEARD SO LITTLE ABOUT MODERNIZATION IN THE PAST TWELVE YEARS ? I NEVER UNDERVALUE THE POWER OF REPENTANCE, BUT IT HAS TAKEN A VERY LONG TIME . " AMID CRIES OF APPROVAL AND DERISION FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE PACKED HOUSE, THE PRIME MINISTER ROSE, NERVOUSLY SHUFFLED HIS NOTES AND PLACED THEM NEATLY ON THE DISPATCH BOX IN FRONT OF HIM . " IT'S BEEN TWELVE YEARS SINCE I LAST SPOKE IN THIS HOUSE, " HE BEGAN.* IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES IT BECAME ALL TOO PLAIN THAT THE COZIER, CLUBBISH STYLE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS HAD BLUNTED DOUGLAS-HOME'S DEBATING THRUST, AND HIS SUPPORTERS MISSED HIS USUAL PUNGENT WIT . AFTER A LONG, MEANDERING PREAMBLE, HE LAUNCHED INTO A LACKLUSTER EXPOSITION OF AMBITIOUS GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR THE COMING YEAR . " THE FORMULA, " SAID HE FLATLY, " IS GROWTH WITHOUT INFLATION, AND THE METHOD, ACCELERATION FROM POSITIONS PREVIOUSLY PREPARED . " GROANED ONE CONSERVATIVE : " GOD, IT'S LIKE A TORY ELECTION POSTER ! " TWICE SIR ALEC EVEN MADE THE TACTICAL GAFFE OF REFERRING TO WILSON AS " POSSIBLE LATER PRIME MINISTER . " THE TORY BENCHES REMAINED DEATHLY SILENT WHILE LABOR'S TRIUMPHANT ROAR SURGED AROUND THE SLIGHT, PALE PRIME MINISTER . FIRMER GROUND . HE WENT ON MANFULLY, BUT AGAIN AND AGAIN LABOR'S UPROARIOUS BARRACKING SILENCED HIM FOR PAINFUL SECONDS AT A TIME . HE WADED THROUGH THE UNFAMILIAR MARSHES OF ECONOMICS, FINALLY REACHED FIRMER GROUND WHEN HE TURNED TO FOREIGN POLICY . STARING COLDLY AT WILSON, WHO WANTS TO ABANDON BRITAIN'S INDEPENDENT DETERRENT, SIR ALEC DECLARED THAT HE INTENDS TO MAKE THIS A CENTRAL ISSUE OF THE CAMPAIGN . ONCE BRITAIN RENOUNCES NUCLEAR ARMS, HE WARNED, " WE COULD NEVER GO BACK INTO THIS BUSINESS . THE GOVERNMENT MEANS TO RETAIN NUCLEAR FORCES UNDER OUR OWN CONTROL, " ADDING THAT WITHOUT THEM " WE WOULD NO LONGER HAVE A PLACE AT THE PEACE TABLE AS OF RIGHT . " THE CUBAN CRISIS, HE SAID, FORCED RUSSIA TO " MODIFY ITS TACTICS, " BUT " THE COMMUNIST AIM IS CLEARLY STILL UNCHANGED . IT IS TO DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE . " IN COLD TYPE NEXT DAY, HIS SPEECH READ CREDITABLY ENOUGH . BUT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HOUSE THERE WAS AGREEMENT THAT THE PRIME MINISTER'S EAGERLY AWAITED COMMONS DEBUT HAD BEEN A DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE . HE SAT IN THE COMMONS FROM 1931 TO 1945 AS M.P . FOR SOUTH LANARK, WAS RE-ELECTED IN 1950 BUT WENT TO THE LORDS AFTER SUCCEEDING TO THE 14TH EARLDOM OF HOME IN 1951 .
 WEST GERMANY REMEMBRANCE TWO SPECTERS ROSE TO REMIND GERMANS OF EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE A QUARTER CENTURY AND MORE AGO, BUT HAD STILL THE POWER TO EVOKE DEEP EMOTIONS . REICHSTAG REVIVED . IN WEST BERLIN, THE REICHSTAG ONCE AGAIN BECAME HABITABLE . A HUGE, FLORID STRUCTURE OF SILESIAN SANDSTONE SINCE 1894 THE HOME OF WHATEVER DEMOCRACY GERMANY KNEW FROM THE DAYS OF BISMARCK THROUGH THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC THE BUILDING HAD BULKED VACANT AND LIFELESS EVER SINCE IT WAS GUTTED BY FIRE ON FEB . 27, 1933 . THE NAZIS CLAIMED THE FIRE WAS KINDLED BY COMMUNISTS AS THE SIGNAL FOR A RED UPRISING, AND A CONFUSED DUTCH BOY NAMED MARINUS VAN DER LUBBE WAS BEHEADED FOR HIS ALLEGED PART IN THE CRIME . SINCE THE REICHSTAG FIRE GAVE HITLER A PRETEXT TO GAIN COMPLETE CONTROL OF GERMANY, MOST HISTORIANS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT THE FIRE WAS SET BY THE NAZIS THEMSELVES, POSSIBLY EVEN BY HERMANN GORING IN PERSON . THE REICHSTAG WAS FURTHER DAMAGED BY ALLIED BOMBERS AND BY SHELLFIRE IN THE CLOSING DAYS OF WORLD WAR II . THOUGH MANY GERMANS THOUGHT THAT IT SHOULD REMAIN IN RUINS AS A REMINDER OF THE PAST SLOW RECONSTRUCTION WORK WAS BEGUN IN 1958 . BY LAST WEEK THE SOUTH WING, CONTAINING 45 OFFICES, SEVEN CONFERENCE ROOMS AND A PRESIDENTIAL SUITE, WAS FORMALLY REOPENED . IT WILL TAKE ABOUT FOUR MORE YEARS AND AN ADDITIONAL $12.5 MILLION TO COMPLETELY RESTORE THE REICHSTAG . UNANSWERED, SO FAR, IS THE QUESTION OF WHO WILL OCCUPY IT AND WHY . THE BUNDESTAG IS UNLIKELY TO LEAVE BONN FOR BERLIN FOR FEAR OF BRINGING CRIES OF " PROVOCATION " FROM RUSSIA . MOST LIKELY, THE RECONSTRUCTED REICHSTAG WILL STAND EMPTY THROUGH THE YEARS, SERVING WEST GERMANY AND WEST BERLIN AS A MUTE SYMBOL OF THE HOPE OF EVENTUAL REUNIFICATION OF THE NATION . KRISTALLNACHT MOURNED . ALL OVER WEST GERMANY, CEREMONIES MARKED THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT (NIGHT OF CRYSTAL), WHEN HITLER'S STORM TROOPERS WENT ON A NATIONWIDE RAMPAGE AGAINST THE PROPERTY, DIGNITY AND LIFE OF THE 400,000 JEWS WHO HAD NOT YET FLED THEIR GERMAN HOMELAND . SYNAGOGUES WERE PUT TO THE TORCH . THOUSANDS OF JEWISH STORES WERE PLUNDERED AND HAD THEIR WINDOWS SMASHED (HENCE THE NIGHT'S BITTER NICKNAME) . THIRTY-SIX JEWS WERE MURDERED AND 25,000 ARRESTED . THE POGROM HAD BEEN INSPIRED BY THE ASSASSINATION OF GERMAN DIPLOMAT ERNST VOM RATH IN PARIS BY A 17-YEAR-OLD STATELESS JEW NAMED HERSHEL GRYNSZPAN.* IT WAS, JOSEPH GOEBBELS TOLD HITLER, A PROPAGANDA OPPORTUNITY EQUAL TO THAT OF THE REICHSTAG FIRE . HITLER AGREED, AND THE STORM TROOPERS WERE RELEASED FOR THEIR " SPONTANEOUS " ACTION, WHILE REGULAR POLICE TURNED THEIR BACKS . BOTH GERMAN TELEVISION NETWORKS LAST WEEK FILLED THEIR PEAK VIEWING HOURS WITH PROGRAMS MERCILESSLY REMINDING GERMANS OF WHAT THEY HAD ALLOWED TO HAPPEN . LEADING NEWSPAPERS DEVOTED ENTIRE PAGES TO RECOLLECTING IN DETAIL THE HORRORS OF KRISTALLNACHT . SAID CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD : " WE MOURN WITH THE SURVIVORS AND WITH JEWRY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD . NO MAN CAN MAKE UP FOR THE INJUSTICE THAT WAS DONE . " ON TOUR IN AFRICA, WEST BERLIN'S MAYOR WILLY BRANDT SENT GREETINGS TO A MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD AT THE REBUILT JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER ON BERLIN'S FASANENSTRASSE . THERE, HEINZ GALINSKI, THE LEADER OF THE CITY'S 6,000 REMAINING JEWS (DOWN FROM 160,500 IN 1933), HANDED OUT AWARDS TO " UNSUNG HEROES OF THE NAZI ERA, " 44 GERMANS WHO HAD RISKED DEATH TO GIVE SHELTER AND PROTECTION TO JEWS . IRONICALLY, IT WAS DISCOVERED AFTER HIS DEATH THAT DIPLOMAT VOM RATH HAD BEEN AN ACTIVE ANTI-NAZI . YOUNG GRYNSZPAN WAS FOUND GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER BY A FRENCH COURT AND SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON . HE WAS SERVING HIS TERM AT SANTE PRISON WHEN THE NAZIS OCCUPIED ALL OF FRANCE, AND HIS ULTIMATE FATE IS STILL UNKNOWN .
 JAPAN TWO PINS JAPAN'S DISASTER TOLL LAST WEEK STOOD AT 450 IN THE KYUSHU MINE EXPLOSION, AND 162 IN THE THREE-TRAIN WRECK NEAR YOKOHAMA . AS FAR AS ANYONE COULD DETERMINE, BOTH TRAGEDIES RESULTED FROM FAULTY COTTER PINS, ONLY AN INCH OR TWO LONG . AT THE MIKAWA MINE ON SOUTHERN KYUSHU ISLAND, A COTTER PIN APPARENTLY FELL OUT OF A COUPLING ON A STRING OF COAL CARS HALTED ON A SLIGHT INCLINE . ONE COAL CAR ROLLED BACK DOWN INTO THE MINE . GATHERING SPEED, IT FLEW OFF THE TRACK ON A CURVE IN THE TUNNEL AND STRUCK THE MINE WALL, SHOWERING THE FATAL SPARKS THAT IGNITED COAL DUST IN A VAST EXPLOSION . AT TSURUMI, OUTSIDE YOKOHAMA, ANOTHER COTTER PIN EVIDENTLY SHEARED OFF THE WHEEL HOUSING OF A SOUTHBOUND FREIGHT CAR . THE LOOSE LOST WHEEL CAUSED THE LAST THREE CARS TO DERAIL AND SPRAWL ACROSS THE ADJACENT TRACK . SECONDS LATER, ALERTED BY A WARNING FLARE, A PASSENGER TRAIN SOUTHBOUND FROM TOKYO HALTED ON A CLEAR TRACK BESIDE THE FREIGHT . AT THAT MOMENT, A NORTHBOUND COMMUTER TRAIN ROARED UP THE MIDDLE TRACK . THE LOCOMOTIVE CRASHED INTO THE DERAILED FREIGHT CARS, DID A RIGHT ANGLE FLIP AND SLICED THROUGH THE FIFTH AND SIX COACHES OF THE PASSENGER TRAIN . THE FIRST RESCUERS RECOILED FROM THE CARNAGE . RECALLED ONE : " THERE WERE BODIES PILED FOUR TO SIX DEEP . THERE WERE LEGS, ARMS AND HEADS TORN OFF, ALL BLOODY, SCATTERED EVERYWHERE . IT WAS A HORRIBLE HUMAN VERSION OF A DOLL REPAIR SHOP . " WITH NATIONAL ELECTIONS BEING HELD THIS WEEK, THE SOCIALIST OPPOSITION HURRIEDLY TRIED TO MAKE POLITICAL CAPITAL OF THE TRAGEDIES . AN OFFICIAL SOCIALIST STATEMENT BLAMED THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH OPERATES THE RAILWAYS, AND THE PRIVATE OWNERS OF THE MINE FOR " HAVING PLACED TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON EFFICIENCY AND PROFIT AND NOT ENOUGH ON THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF PASSENGERS AND EMPLOYEES . " THE MINE OWNERS, WHO USED TO BOAST TO FOREIGN VISITORS THAT THE MIKAWA WAS AN " UNDERGROUND PALACE, " COULD HAVE RETORTED THAT GOVERNMENT INSPECTORS HAD FOUND MIKAWA TO BE AMONG THE BESTEQUIPPED MINES IN THE COUNTRY . THE GOVERNMENT COULD POINT OUT THAT THE STRETCH OF TRACK WHERE THE COLLISION OCCURRED WAS EQUIPPED WITH MODERN SAFETY DEVICES BUT THEY PROVED USELESS BECAUSE THE ENTIRE CHAIN OF EVENTS, FROM THE DERAILMENT OF THE FREIGHT CARS TO THE ARRIVAL OF THE THIRD TRAIN, TOOK LESS THAN 30 SECONDS . FEW JAPANESE HAD HEART TO ENTER THE ARGUMENT ; THEY WERE TOO BUSY BURYING THE DEAD AND WORRYING ABOUT THE SURVIVORS . OF THE 274 HOSPITALIZED MINERS, AN ALARMING 100 WERE SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA . AS TRAFFIC RESUMED ON THE TOKYO-YOKOHAMA LINE, THE TRAINS MOVED SLOWLY PAST TSURUMI AND SOBBING PASSENGERS DROPPED BOUQUETS AT THE ACCIDENT SPOT . RAILWAY WORKERS COLLECTED THE FLOWERS AND REVERENTLY ARRANGED THEM ON AN EMBANKMENT BESIDE THE TRACK
 THE NATIONS " HOW SORROWFUL BAD " IN HALTING ENGLISH, A MOSLEM TELEGRAPH OPERATOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST TAPPED OUT ON THE TELEX : " IS IT CORRECT KENNEDY KILLED PLS ? " WHEN NEW YORK REPLIED, " YES, AN HOUR AGO, " THE MOSLEM SIGNED OFF, " HOW SORROWFUL BAD . " AS THE SHADOW OF THE NEWS SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD, IT WAS RECEIVED EVERYWHERE WITH STUNNED DISBELIEF . THE EMPRESS OF IRAN BROKE INTO TEARS, AS DID THE PRESIDENT OF TANGANYIKA, AND COUNTLESS ANONYMOUS MEN AND WOMEN . ALONG ROME'S VIA VENETO GRIEF SOUNDED OPERATIC . " E MORTO ! " PEOPLE CALLED TO ONE ANOTHER, AND AT A COCKTAIL PARTY THE GUESTS PUT DOWN THEIR GLASSES AND BEGAN TO RECITE THE LORD'S PRAYER . WHEREVER MONARCHS STILL RULED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, IN JORDAN FORMAL COURT MOURNING WAS PROCLAIMED . HARDLY A NATION IN THE WORLD FAILED TO ORDER THE RITES OF TOLLING BELLS AND LOWERED FLAGS . THEATERS AND SPORTS ARENAS CLOSED DOWN ON INDIVIDUAL IMPULSE . WITH THE NEWS OF KENNEDY'S DEATH, A VIENNESE ICE SHOW HALTED IN MID-PERFORMANCE ; IN BELGIUM, A SIX-DAY BICYCLE RACE WAS INTERRUPTED ; IN DISTANT NEPAL, THE CEREMONIAL OPENING OF A LEPROSARIUM WAS POSTPONED . EVERYWHERE, BARS, CAFES AND RESTAURANTS EMPTIED LONG BEFORE CLOSING TIME . STRANGERS SPOKE TO EACH OTHER IN SHORT, SIMPLE PHRASES " POOR JACKIE, " OR " HOW AWFUL, " OR " IT CAN'T BE TRUE . " THE PHONES OF AMERICANS ABROAD NEVER CEASED RINGING, AS FOREIGN FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES OR EVEN TOTAL STRANGERS CALLED TO OFFER SYMPATHY . THE STREETS IN FRONT OF U.S . EMBASSIES WERE JAMMED WITH MOURNERS WHO STOOD IN LINE FOR HOURS TO WRITE THEIR NAMES IN BOOKS OF CONDOLENCE . SOME BROUGHT FLOWERS, BUT MANY SEARCHED OUT AN AMERICAN DIPLOMAT MERELY TO SHAKE HIS HAND . MONSTROUS ACT . ONE BY ONE THE STATESMEN JOINED THE CHORUS OF COMMISERATION . AS BIG BEN TOLLED EVERY MINUTE FOR ONE HOUR (A GESTURE NORMALLY RESERVED FOR DEATHS IN THE ROYAL FAMILY), PRIME MINISTER SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME SAID : " THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE MIND AND THE HEART STAND STILL . " FROM SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL CAME A STATEMENT : " THIS MONSTROUS ACT HAS TAKEN FROM US A GREAT STATESMAN AND A WISE AND VALIANT MAN . " THE WORDS STILL SEEMED TO CARRY THE OLD, SIBILANT INDIGNATION OF THE ANCIENT LION . LIBERIA'S PRESIDENT WILLIAM TUBMAN CABLED : " THE URN OF GRIEF HAS BEEN OPENED AND IS BEING FILLED WITH THE TEARS OF FRIENDS THE WORLD OVER . " ISRAEL'S DAVID BEN-GURION ONLY ASKED : " WHY, WHY ? " ALMOST BY REFLEX, PEOPLE RUSHED TO DISCLAIM EVEN REMOTE COMPLICITY IN THE MURDER . " THANK GOD IT WASN'T A NEGRO, " SAID A NEGRO IN TORONTO . MANY OTHERS INSISTED ON READING INTO THE EVENT THEIR OWN POLITICAL PASSIONS . STATESMEN IN AFRICA, ASIA AND ELSEWHERE INSISTED THAT THE DEED MUST HAVE BEEN DONE BY A RACIST, AND THAT KENNEDY WAS A MARTYR LIKE LINCOLN OR GANDHI . AND NEHRU COULD NOT RESIST REMARKING THAT THE MURDER GAVE EVIDENCE OF " DARK CORNERS IN THE U.S., AND THIS GREAT TRAGEDY IS A SLAP FOR THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY . " GOLDEN BOY . THE MOURNING VOICES FIRST OF ALL WERE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, REGARDLESS OF HIS NAME OR IDENTITY . FOR IN A SENSE FAR BEYOND DAILY FOREIGN POLICY SQUABBLES, HE IS TO MUCH OF THE WORLD THE PROTECTOR OF THE WEAK, THE BENEFACTOR OF THE POOR . BECAUSE OF THE CHANGES IN THE COLD WAR CLIMATE THAT OCCURRED DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION, MILLIONS, EVEN ON THE ENEMY SIDE, MOURNED JOHN KENNEDY AS A MAN OF PEACE . BUT ABOVE ALL THEY MOURNED HIM FOR HIS PERSON . PERHAPS EVEN MORE THAN HIS OWN COUNTRYMEN, OTHER PEOPLES SAW IN HIM THE EMBODIMENT OF AMERICAN VIRTUES YOUTH, STRENGTH, INFORMALITY, GOOD LOOKS, THE IDEALISTIC BELIEF THAT ALL PROBLEMS CAN EVENTUALLY BE SOLVED . A SOUTHERN RHODESIAN PAPER CALLED HIM " THE GOLDEN BOY, " AND COMMON MARKET PRESIDENT WALTER HALLSTEIN SAID THAT KENNEDY " PERSONIFIED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL QUALITIES OF HIS PEOPLE . " POSSIBLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT IN U.S . HISTORY, HE HAD SET OUT TO CHARM THE WORLD, AND HE HAD SUCCEEDED IN CONVINCING MANY A NATION THAT IT WAS HIS SPECIAL FAVORITE . IT WAS THE SAME IN ASIA . IN THAILAND, AUTHORITIES SENT SOUND TRUCKS INTO THE VILLAGES TO SPREAD THE MOURNFUL NEWS THAT PRATHANATHIBODI (PRESIDENT) KENNEDY WAS DEAD . IN SAIGON, PEOPLE WERE MORE SHOCKED BY KENNEDY'S DEATH THAN THEY HAD BEEN BY THAT OF PRESIDENT DIEM ; AND BUDDHISTS HELD SPECIAL MEMORIAL SERVICES AND PRAYERS . IN JAPAN, TECHNICIANS WERE UP BEFORE DAWN TO RECEIVE THE HISTORIC FIRST TRANS-PACIFIC TV BROADCAST FROM THE U.S., WHICH WAS TO HAVE INCLUDED A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT . INSTEAD, THE VOICE OF A JAPANESE NEWSMAN IN MANHATTAN REPORTED THE NEWS OF KENNEDY'S DEATH . IN ALL OF ASIA, RED CHINA WAS ALMOST ALONE IN ITS DETERMINED LACK OF SYMPATHY . PEKING RADIO CARRIED THE KENNEDY STORY WITHOUT COMMENT . THE HONG KONG COMMUNIST NEW EVENING POST SNEERED THAT KENNEDY HAD " USED A TWO-FACED POLICY TO PROMOTE AN IMPERIALIST WAR COURSE . " VANISHING BAITERS . EVEN CUBA PROVED LESS SURLY THAN RED CHINA . FIDEL CASTRO DEPLORED THE MURDER, SAID HE HAD NO REASON TO WISH FOR KENNEDY'S DEATH, BUT CONCEDED THAT " PERHAPS " CUBA MIGHT HAVE HAD MOTIVES " TO FEEL LIKE IT " AND VAGUELY SUGGESTED THAT " REACTIONARIES " WERE REALLY TO BLAME . ELSEWHERE IN LATIN AMERICA, ALL THE YANKEE BAITING SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR FOR THE MOMENT . A SENSE OF PESSIMISM ABOUT THE FUTURE GRIPPED BRAZIL, AND THE DOWNTOWN STREETS OF RIO DE JANEIRO WERE FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHOSE TIGHT FACES, GLAZED EYES AND UNACCUSTOMED SILENCE REVEALED THEIR FEELINGS . IN THE FAVELAS (SHANTYTOWNS) ON RIO'S OUTSKIRTS, SAMBA BANDS CALLED OFF THEIR REHEARSALS FOR THE CARNIVAL, AND PRESIDENT JOAO GOULART SAID ABOUT KENNEDY : " I KNEEL BEFORE HIS MEMORY . " THE MOST ELOQUENT LATIN AMERICAN VOICES WERE THOSE HEARD IN THE STREET . A JANITOR IN QUITO, WHO HAD BEEN LISTENING TO THE NEWS ON RADIO, REFUSED TO READ HIS NEWSPAPER BECAUSE " IT'S TOO PAINFUL TO GO OVER SUCH A SAD STORY AGAIN . " DESPITE LATER REVELATIONS ABOUT THE CRIME, MOST LATIN AMERICANS PERSISTED IN BELIEVING THAT KENNEDY HAD BEEN SLAIN BECAUSE OF HIS SUPPORT FOR NEGRO RIGHTS . IN BUENOS AIRES, WOMEN CRIED, " QUE BARBARIDAD ! " , AND OLD MEN MADE SAD, FUTILE GESTURES WITH THEIR HANDS . SAID ONE GRIEVING COLOMBIAN : " IT SEEMS AS THOUGH ALL THE PRESIDENTS IN ALL THE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES HAVE DIED . " TO THE NORTH, THROUGHOUT CANADA, THEATERS AND ARENAS CLOSED THEIR DOORS, AND LARGE CITIES BECAME HUSHED WITH A CURIOUS QUIET . PRIME MINISTER LESTER PEARSON WAS JUST ABOUT TO OPEN A SESSION OF PARLIAMENT WHEN HE WAS HANDED A NOTE . HE THREW IT ON THE TOP OF HIS DESK, SLUMPED BACK IN HIS SEAT AND SEEMED AT A LOSS FOR WORDS . HIS VOICE BROKE AS HE SAID : " THE WORLD CAN ILL AFFORD AT THIS TIME IN OUR HISTORY TO LOSE A MAN OF HIS COURAGE . " HISTORY'S MORE PRECISE APPRAISALS WOULD COME LATER, AS WOULD THE RESUMPTION OF ALL THE WORLD'S USUAL ENMITIES . BUT FOR A BRIEF TIME AT LEAST, THE U.N . GENERAL ASSEMBLY, STANDING IN SILENCE, WAS IN A MOOD TO AGREE WITH U.S . AMBASSADOR ADLAI STEVENSON, WHO SAID : " ALL OF US WHO KNEW HIM WILL BEAR THE GRIEF OF HIS DEATH TO THE DAY OF OURS . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM OPTIMISM AT HONOLULU, PROBLEMS IN SAIGON IN ADMIRAL HARRY FELT'S REINFORCED CONCRETE COMMAND POST HIGH ABOVE PEARL HARBOR, TOP U.S . OFFICIALS LAST WEEK GATHERED FOR THE FIRST EXHAUSTIVE POLICY STUDY OF SOUTH VIET NAM SINCE THE COUP THAT TOPPLED THE DIEM REGIME THE NINE-HOUR CONFERENCE SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK, DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT MCNAMARA AND JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN MAXWELL TAYLOR HAD FLOWN IN FROM WASHINGTON ; FROM SAIGON CAME AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE AND GENERAL PAUL HARKINS . THE HONOLULU MEETING EXUDED ALMOST RELENTLESS OPTIMISM ABOUT THE WAR, AND THE POLICYMAKERS CLUNG BRAVELY TO THE LINE THAT THINGS SHOULD BE SUFFICIENTLY IN HAND BY 1965 TO PERMIT COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL OF THE 16,500 AMERICAN TROOPS . JUST IN TIME . ONE OF THE FEW CONCRETE DECISIONS LEAKED FROM THE CONFERENCE WAS A HARDLY SURPRISING AGREEMENT TO INTENSIFY ANTI-GUERRILLA OPERATIONS IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S RICE BOWL, A WEDGE-SHAPED SECTION OF THE MEKONG DELTA FROM SAIGON SOUTH, WHERE ONE-THIRD OF THE POPULATION IS CONCENTRATED AND THE VIET CONG IS STRONGEST . ANOTHER DECISION : TO REVISE THE GOVERNMENT'S STRATEGIC HAMLET PROGRAM . ALL TOO OFTEN IN THE PAST , RELUCTANT PEASANTS WERE HERDED INTO BLEAK " FORTIFIED " VILLAGES THAT WERE IN FACT INSUFFICIENTLY PROTECTED BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO HASTILY BUILT . MEANWHILE THE RED GUERRILLAS, WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO BE STARVING IN THE NO MAN'S LAND OUTSIDE THE HAMLETS, MANAGED TO LIVE WELL ENOUGH OFF THE LAND . HENCEFORTH, THE PLAN IS TO SEE THAT ALL EXISTING VILLAGES ARE REALLY DEFENSIBLE AND MORE PLEASANT TO LIVE IN, WITH SCHOOLS AND DISPENSARIES . AS THE CONFERENCE ADJOURNED, THE WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM WAS PROCEEDING FITFULLY . NEW, AGGRESSIVE COMMANDERS REPORTED SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL ATTACKS AGAINST THE GUERRILLAS, BUT IN THE DELTA THE COMMUNISTS STILL SEEMED TO HAVE THE INITIATIVE . VIETNAMESE OFFICERS AND MANY OF THEIR U.S . ADVISERS CLAIM THAT BECAUSE OF DIEM'S MILITARY MISMANAGEMENT, THE COUP CAME JUST IN TIME TO KEEP THE COMMUNISTS FROM GAINING COMPLETE CONTROL OF TWO DISPUTED PROVINCES CLOSE TO SAIGON . THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE, BUT THE ARGUMENT OFFERS A BUILT-IN CHANCE TO BLAME DIEM LATER, IN CASE THINGS SHOULD GO SERIOUSLY WRONG . NO MORE SIESTAS . IN SAIGON, LIEUT . GENERAL DUONG VAN ( " BIG " ) MINH, THE HEAD OF THE RULING MILITARY JUNTA, RODE ABOUT ALMOST UNNOTICED IN A BLACK CITROEN (IN CONTRAST TO DIEM'S VAST MOTORCADES), VISITING A FEW GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND MILITARY UNITS . HE ALSO OPENED PROMISING NEGOTIATIONS WITH VIETNAMESE SECTS THAT HAD WITHDRAWN SUPPORT FROM DIEM BUT WERE NOT READY TO RALLY TO THE NEW REGIME . BUT WHILE STILL CLEARLY FAVORED BY THE POPULATION, THE NEW REGIME SEEMED ODDLY RELUCTANT TO ASSUME POLITICAL LEADERSHIP . ONE OF ITS FEW DECISIONS : TO ABOLISH THE SIESTA THAT HAS TRADITIONALLY CLOSED GOVERNMENT OFFICES FOR 2F HOURS EACH AFTERNOON . DESPITE THE MOURNFUL YAWNS OF CIVIL SERVANTS, THE NEW DECREE ENABLES PEASANTS AND RURAL OFFICIALS TO COMPLETE THEIR BUSINESS IN THE CAPITAL EARLIER AND RETURN HOME SAFELY BEFORE DUSK, WHEN THE VIET CONG START HARASSING TRAFFIC ON ALL THE ROADS RADIATING FROM SAIGON .
 CAMBODIA " BALANCE OF MENACES " A CHUBBY LITTLE MAN IN A DARK BLUE SUIT STRODE INTO THE SPORTS STADIUM OF THE STEAMY CAMBODIAN CAPITAL OF PNOMPENH (PRONOUNCED NOM-PEN) LAST WEEK, MOUNTED THE PLATFORM, AND BEGAN HARANGUING THE ASSEMBLED CROWD IN A WHINY, HIGH-PITCHED VOICE . THE SPEAKER WAS PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK, NEUTRALIST, MERCURIAL RULER OF CAMBODIA, AND HE HAD CALLED THE RALLY TO ANNOUNCE IN EFFECT THAT THE U.S . WAS WORKING TO UNDERMINE HIS REGIME . TURNING THEATRICALLY TO THE THRONG, SIHANOUK ASKED WHETHER THE NATIONAL HONOR DID NOT DEMAND THAT CAMBODIA REJECT ANY FUTURE HELP FROM THE AMERICANS . WHEN HIS SUBJECTS ROARED OBEDIENT APPROVAL, THE PRINCE ORDERED : " SO BE IT . " SIHANOUK MIGHT CHANGE HIS MIND AGAIN, AS HE HAS BEFORE . IN A FORMAL NOTE TO WASHINGTON, HE CALLED FOR A HALT TO ALL AMERICAN ECONOMIC AND MILITARY AID, WHICH IN THE PAST EIGHT YEARS HAS AMOUNTED TO $366 MILLION . AND SO THE U.S . ALREADY STRIVING TO SAVE WAR-TORN SOUTH VIET NAM AND " NEUTRAL " BUT TOTTERING LAOS FROM THE REDS FACED ANOTHER MESS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . SHAKEN NEIGHBOR . WHAT WAS AILING THE PRINCE ? A SUSPICIOUS, EMOTIONAL, FRENCH-EDUCATED DESCENDANT OF CAMBODIA'S MEDIEVAL KHMER KINGS, HE ONCE PERFORMED SLAPSTICK PARTS IN MOVIES (WHICH HE PRODUCED HIMSELF) AND HAS OFTEN PLAYED SLAPSTICK POLITICS . FRIENDS SERIOUSLY REPORTED LAST WEEK THAT TWO CONTRIBUTING REASONS FOR SIHANOUK'S BAD MOOD MIGHT BE THAT 1) HE HAD BEEN CRASH-DIETING TO LOSE 15 LBS . IN TEN DAYS, AND 2) THE U.S . TRANSFERRED A FORMER MILITARY ADVISORY CHIEF WITH WHOM THE PRINCE ENJOYED PLAYING VOLLEYBALL . THE PRINCE HIMSELF ACCUSED THE U.S . OF SUPPORTING A CLANDESTINE RADIO, ON SOUTH VIET NAM SOIL, RUN BY THE PRINCE'S POLITICAL OPPOSITION (THE U.S . DENIED THE CHARGE) . BUT, ABOVE ALL, THE PRINCE TALKS OF THE " INEVITABILITY " OF COMMUNIST CHINA'S TAKEOVER OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, HENCE MAY BE TRYING TO SAVE HIMSELF BY COZYING UP TO THE RED DRAGON . WHAT PRECIPITATED HIS LATEST PERFORMANCE COULD WELL HAVE BEEN THE OVERTHROW AND ASSASSINATION OF HIS LATE NEIGHBOR, SOUTH VIET NAM'S NGO DINH DIEM . ALTHOUGH SIHANOUK AND DIEM WERE BITTER ENEMIES, THE PRINCE WAS SHAKEN BY DIEM'S DEATH AND ATTRIBUTED IT TO THE CUTOFF OF DIEM'S AMERICAN AID . POSSIBLY DETERMINED NEVER TO GET HIMSELF ON THE SAME VULNERABLE SPOT, SIHANOUK MOVED QUICKLY TO LESSEN HIS DEPENDENCE ON THE U.S . OPENING TO THE SEINE . FOR ALL HIS ECCENTRIC BEHAVIOR, SIHANOUK HAS ALSO SOMETIMES PROVED HIMSELF A SHREWD POLITICIAN . SINCE INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE TEN YEARS AGO, HE HAS JAILED HOME-GROWN COMMUNISTS AND WOOED HIS RED-HOT YOUNG LEFTIST CRITICS INTO THE GOVERNMENT WHILE AT THE SAME TIME MAINTAINING WARM RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA AND RED CHINA . SIHANOUK LAST WEEK PERFORMED ANOTHER TYPICALLY SLIPPERY GYRATION . INSTEAD OF RUSHING RIGHT INTO PEKING'S ARMS, HE TURNED TO HIS OLD COLONIAL TUTOR, FRANCE, AND ASKED HER TO HELP REPLACE U.S . AID . SAID THE PRINCE : " FOR OUR COUNTRY, LIBERATED FROM THE U.S . AND WHICH THE COMMUNIST POWERS DO NOT WISH TO TAKE IN CHARGE, IT COULD BE THE HOUR OF FRANCE . " THE INVITATION WAS ANOTHER POTENTIAL OPENING FOR CHARLES DE GAULLE, WHO WANTS TO WHEEL AND DEAL IN THE AREA OF FRANCE'S OLD INDO-CHINA EMPIRE (HE KEEPS SUGGESTING A " NEUTRALIZED " VIET NAM, HINTED LAST WEEK THAT FRANCE MAY ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH COMMUNIST NORTH VIET NAM) . BUT WHETHER PARIS WILL FILL THE GAP TO BE LEFT BY THE ELIMINATION OF A $30 MILLION ANNUAL U.S . DOLE REMAINS TO BE SEEN . FRANCE HAS BEEN SUPPLYING CAMBODIA ONLY ONE TENTH THE U.S.'S CONTRIBUTION, MOSTLY TO MAINTAIN A 300-MAN FORCE TRAINING THE CAMBODIAN ARMY . AT WEEK'S END THE PRINCE CLIMAXED HIS PERPLEXING THEATRICS BY CALLING IN THE PRESS CORPS, DELIVERING A MEANDERING MONOLOGUE INTERSPERSED WITH GIGGLES . PROUDLY, HE ANNOUNCED THAT RED CHINA HAD OFFERED HIM MILITARY SUPPORT . " I THINK I HAVE ACHIEVED A BALANCE OF MENACES, " HE SAID . " THE MENACE OF THE IMPERIALISTS AND THEIR LACKEYS IS COUNTERBALANCED BY THE MENACE OF COMMUNIST CHINA, OUR NO . 1 FRIEND . " BUT HE INDICATED THAT HE WOULD HAVE ONLY FOUR CHINESE CIVILIAN ADVISERS AND NO CHINESE MILITARY ADVISERS : " EVERYWHERE IN OUR ARMY THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE POWER HELPING US FRANCE . " ADDED THE PRINCE : " I DO NOT LIKE TO BE A SATELLITE . I LIKE TO BE FREE . " SERVING CHAMPAGNE ALL AROUND, HE URGED THE CORRESPONDENTS TO DRINK UP BECAUSE (JOKINGLY REFERRING TO IMPENDING AUSTERITY) " IN A FEW MONTHS I WON'T BE ABLE TO OFFER CHAMPAGNE .
 COMMUNISTS NIKITA & THE OTHER CHEEK AS PEKING'S PEOPLE'S CONGRESS MET IN SECRET TO HEAR THE LATEST WORD ON THE STATUS OF THE SINO-SOVIET FEUD, AMONG OTHER TOPICS, COMMUNIST CHINA CUT LOOSE WITH ONE OF ITS MOST SCATHING PERSONAL ATTACKS TO DATE ON NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV . IN SIMULTANEOUS ARTICLES, RED FLAG AND PEOPLE'S DAILY ACCUSED HIM OF PARALYZING THE RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES, OF KOWTOWING TO THE CAPITALISTS AND OF SOUNDING TOO HOLY BY FAR . " IT IS CLEAR, " SAID THE CHINESE, THAT " IN SPITE OF KHRUSHCHEV'S BIBLE-READING AND PSALMSINGING, U.S . IMPERIALISTS HAVE NOT BECOME BEAUTIFUL ANGELS . THEY HAVE NOT TURNED INTO COMPASSIONATE BUDDHAS IN SPITE OF HIS PRAYERS AND INCENSEBURNING . / IN SHORT, SAID RED CHINA, KHRUSHCHEV IS " A LAUGHING STOCK . " THE BLAST MAY WELL OPEN A NEW RIFT BETWEEN MOSCOW AND PEKING, EVEN THOUGH THE KREMLIN HAS BEEN RELATIVELY RESTRAINED IN RECENT WEEKS . FOR AS KHRUSHCHEV ONCE ASSERTED : " THERE IS MUCH IN CHRIST THAT IS COMMON WITH US COMMUNISTS . BUT I CANNOT AGREE WITH HIM WHEN HE SAYS THAT WHEN YOU ARE HIT ON THE RIGHT CHEEK, TURN THE LEFT CHEEK . IF I AM HIT ON THE LEFT CHEEK, I HIT BACK ON THE RIGHT CHEEK SO HARD THAT HIS HEAD MIGHT FALL OFF . /
 IRAQ UNTIL THE NEXT COUP FOR A WHILE LAST WEEK IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO WAS UP AND WHO WAS DOWN IN IRAQ . PERHAPS THE PRINCIPALS THEMSELVES WERE NOT SURE . TWO WEEKS AGO, THE BAATH PARTY (TIME, NOV . 22) SEEMED FIRMLY IN CONTROL . THE COUNTRY'S NON-BAATHIST PRESIDENT, FIELD MARSHAL ABDUL SALAM AREF, SEEMED A MERE FIGUREHEAD, KEPT ON FOR HIS PRESTIGE AND POPULARITY . THEN AN INTERNECINE CONFLICT ERUPTED BETWEEN BAATH'S ANTI-WESTERN, ANTI-BOURGEOIS AND ANTI-AREF RADICAL WING AND A MORE CONCILIATORY MODERATE FACTION . RUSHING IN FROM NEIGHBORING SYRIA, THE BAATH PARTY'S HOME BASE, THE PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE UNDER MICHEL AFLAK APPEARED TO SETTLE THE MATTER BY EXILING THE LEADERS OF THE OPPOSING FACTIONS . ALTHOUGH SYRIAN-DOMINATED, THE PARTY LEADERS TOOK CHARGE IN IRAQ, PLACED AREF UNDER PALACE ARREST AND TURNED BAGHDAD OVER TO THE NATIONAL GUARD, A BAATH-LED OUTFIT FOR WHICH THE REGULAR ARMY HAS CONTEMPT . WHEN THE BAATH BOSSES OVERCONFIDENTLY RELEASED AREF A FEW DAYS LATER, HE PROMPTLY JOINED WITH ANGRY FELLOW OFFICERS TO HEAD A COUP . AT DAWN ONE MORNING LAST WEEK, THE ARMY ATTACKED BAGHDAD WITH SIX INFANTRY BATTALIONS, SUPPORTED BY ARMOR, ARTILLERY AND JETS . THOUGH THE NATIONAL GUARD HAD NO HEAVY WEAPONS, THEY FOUGHT DESPERATELY, LOST HUNDREDS OF MEN . THREE DAYS AFTER THE REVOLT, BAGHDAD WAS IN AREF'S HANDS . SINCE THE BAATH PARTY IS NASSER'S ARCHENEMY, THE COUP WAS AT FIRST HAILED IN EGYPT AS PRO-NASSER . IT WAS ALSO DENOUNCED IN SYRIA AS ANTI-BAATH . BOTH CONCLUSIONS MAY BE PREMATURE . THE COUP LOOKED MORE LIKE A MILITARY THAN A POLITICAL AFFAIR, DESIGNED TO PURGE IRAQ OF BAATH ELEMENTS WHO HAD HAD THE TEMERITY TO DOWNGRADE THE ARMY IN FAVOR OF THE NATIONAL GUARD . THOUGH HE PACKED THE SYRIAN BAATH LEADERS OFF TO DAMASCUS, AREF INCLUDED IN HIS NEW CABINET NINE MODERATE BAATHISTS . STILL, THE MIDDLE EAST BEING WHAT IT IS, AREF MAY WELL JOIN WITH NASSER, AN OLD FRIEND, TO OVERTHROW THE BAATH LEADERSHIP IN SYRIA . EVEN MORE LIKELY, THE BAATH LEADERSHIP WILL TRY TO OVERTHROW AREF . JUST ABOUT THE ONLY CERTAINTY IN THE SITUATION IS THAT THERE IS BOUND TO BE ANOTHER COUP, IN BAGHDAD OR IN DAMASCUS, IF NOT BOTH .
 JAPAN VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR IKEDA JAPAN'S NEW ELECTION REGULATIONS SEVERELY LIMIT CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES, BUT THE COUNTRY'S POLITICIANS ARE MASTERS AT CIRCUMVENTING THE RULES . FACED WITH A $7,000 LIMIT ON CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES, MANY A CANDIDATE IN LAST WEEK'S GENERAL ELECTIONS SIMPLY FOLLOWED AN OLD PRACTICE OF HAVING CONTRIBUTIONS FUNNELED THROUGH " RESEARCH INSTITUTES . " SINCE CANDIDATES WERE RESTRICTED TO THREE POSTERS EACH (V . THE PREVIOUS LIMIT OF 12,000), MANY " ACCIDENTALLY " DROPPED CARDS, COMPLETE WITH PICTURE AND SLOGAN, IN TELEPHONE BOOTHS, DEPARTMENT STORES, BARS AND BUSES . ON RAINY DAYS, ONE ASPIRANT EVEN HAD HIS CAMPAIGN WORKERS APPROACH COMMUTERS AND HAND OUT ARMLOADS OF UMBRELLAS ; WHEN THEY WERE OPENED, THE CANDIDATE'S NAME SPREAD OUT IN HUGE CHARACTERS PAINTED ON THE UMBRELLA SURFACE . FOR ALL THE UPROAR OVER PROCEDURES, THE ELECTION AMOUNTED TO AN IMPORTANT VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR PRO-CAPITALIST PRO-WESTERN PREMIER HAYATO IKEDA, 63 . THE SOCIALIST OPPOSITION ZEROED IN ON THE NAGGING INFLATION THAT HAS ACCOMPANIED JAPAN'S PHENOMENAL ECONOMIC BOOM . ECONOMIST IKEDA, WHISTLE-STOPPING ACROSS THE NATION, RETORTED THAT INCOMES HAVE RISEN 52 PER CENT IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, WHILE PRICES HAVE RISEN ONLY 14 PER CENT . AT A KYOTO RALLY, HE ASKED : " WHICH DO YOU THINK IS BETTER ? THE SOCIALISTS' ADVOCACY OF DIVIDING THREE EGGS AMONG FOUR PEOPLE ? OR IKEDA'S POLICY OF DIVIDING EIGHT EGGS AMONG FOUR PEOPLE ? " ON ELECTION DAY, AMID THE SHRIEK OF SIRENS THAT REMINDED PEOPLE TO VOTE, IKEDA'S LIBERAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY WON CONTROL OF THE 467-SEAT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS, ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT'S 283-SEAT TOTAL FELL THREE SHORT OF ITS SHARE IN THE OLD HOUSE . THE SOCIALISTS GAINED SEVEN SEATS FOR A TOTAL OF 144 . THE MORE MODERATE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS PICKED UP NINE ADDITIONAL SEATS, FOR A TOTAL OF 23 .
 CONGO READING THE RUSSIANS' MAIL A COUPLE OF SOVIET DIPLOMATS GOT THE KIND OF TREATMENT IN THE CONGO LAST WEEK THAT MANY OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE OFTEN WISHED BUT NOT DARED TO METE OUT TO RED ENVOYS . ALMOST FROM THE DAY OF THE CONGO'S INDEPENDENCE IN 1960, THE RUSSIANS AND THEIR SATELLITES WORKED DOGGEDLY TO DESTROY WHAT LITTLE STABILITY THE COUNTRY HAD IN HOPES OF GETTING A COMMUNIST FACTION IN CONTROL . EXPELLED EN MASSE AFTER THE DEMISE OF ERRATIC PATRICE LUMUMBA, THE REDS BEGAN FILTERING BACK INTO LEOPOLDVILLE LAST YEAR, NOTABLY TO THE TOWERING EIGHT-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING THAT IS BOTH EMBASSY AND RESIDENCE FOR SOVIET AMBASSADOR SERGEI NEMCHINA AND HIS 100-MAN STAFF OF OPERATIVES . TWO OF NEMCHINA'S MOST IMPORTANT AIDES, HIS SLIM, FAIR EMBASSY COUNSELOR BORIS VORONIN AND STOCKY, BUSHY-HAIRED PRESS ATTACHE YURI MIAKOTNYKH, HAVE DEVELOPED ESPECIALLY CLOSE CONTACTS WITH EXTREMISTS OPPOSED TO PREMIER CYRILLE ADOULA'S MODERATE REGIME . MIAKOTNYKH WORKED HARD TO PENETRATE THE TRADE UNIONS AND LEFTWING STUDENT GROUPS, EVEN LOBBIED IN THE CORRIDORS OF PARLIAMENT . TUG OF WAR . WHAT WORRIED THE GOVERNMENT MOST WAS THE CLOSE CONTACT OF THE TWO RUSSIANS WITH A PLOTTING EXILE GROUP LED BY LUMUMBA'S FORMER PARTY CHIEF CHRISTOPHE GBENYE, WHO MADE HIS HEADQUARTERS ACROSS THE CONGO RIVER IN THE EX-FRENCH CONGO CAPITAL OF BRAZZAVILLE . ONE DAY LAST WEEK, WHEN VORONIN AND MIAKOTNYKH DROVE DOWN TO THE RIVER BANK, KNOWN AS " LE BEACH, " FOR THE FERRY RIDE OVER TO BRAZZAVILLE, ADOULA'S COPS DECIDED TO STOP THEM ON THE WAY BACK AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY HAD BEEN UP TO . SURROUNDING THEIR CAR AT THE LANDING STAGE, CONGOLESE POLICE INSISTED ON A SEARCH . WITH A SHRUG, THE RUSSIANS OPENED THE TRUNK, THEN LET THEM LOOK IN THE FRONT AND BACK SEATS . BUT VORONIN WAS CLEARLY DETERMINED NOT TO GIVE UP HIS BRIEFCASE, AND HUGGED IT TO HIS CHEST AS HE AND MIAKOTNYKH GOT BACK INTO THE CAR . TO MAKE SURE THE RUSSIANS DID NOT TRY TO START THE ENGINE AND SPEED AWAY, THE POLICE LET THE AIR OUT OF THEIR TIRES, THEN PULLED OPEN THE DOORS AND BEGAN A TUG OF WAR WITH VORONIN'S LEGS, YANKING HIS SHOES OFF IN THE PROCESS . AS THEY PULLED, MIAKOTNYKH CLUNG JUST AS FIERCELY TO VORONIN, UNTIL AT LAST, BOTH MEN WERE DRAGGED OUT FEET FIRST, RELIEVED OF THE BRIEFCASE AND HEAVED UNCEREMONIOUSLY INTO A PICKUP TRUCK . WHEN ONE OF THE RUSSIANS TRIED TO STUFF A DOCUMENT INSIDE HIS SHIRT, A CONGOLESE GUARD RIPPED THE ENTIRE FRONT OF HIS SHIRT OFF . OUT IN THE RAIN . WITH THAT, THE PRISONERS WERE DRIVEN OFF TO A MILITARY CAMP OUTSIDE LEOPOLDVILLE, AND THE CONTENTS OF VORONIN'S BRIEFCASE WERE TAKEN TO POLICE HEADQUARTERS . SURE ENOUGH, CLAIMED THE GOVERNMENT, AMONG THEM WAS A LETTER FROM GBENYE TO THE RUSSIANS ASKING FOR 5 BILLION IN COUNTERFEIT CONGOLESE FRANCS TO BE USED TO UNDERMINE THE CONGO'S CURRENCY, AND ANOTHER DOCUMENT REQUESTING ARMS, TAPE RECORDS AND " OTHER ESPIONAGE EQUIPMENT . " ONE OF THE LETTERS BORE TEETH MARKS, AS IF A RUSSIAN HAD TRIED TO SWALLOW IT . TO PUT AN ABRUPT STOP TO SUCH SOVIET ACTIVITIES, SQUADS OF CONGOLESE POLICE WERE RUSHED TO CORDON OFF THE RUSSIANS' APARTMENTS, AND INSIDE, THE RUSSIANS SUDDENLY DISCOVERED THEMSELVES WITHOUT TELEPHONE SERVICE AND WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, WHICH MEANT THEY WOULD HAVE TO SWELTER IN THE HEAT WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONERS AND DO WITHOUT COOKSTOVES . TWO CZECH DIPLOMATS WHO DROVE UP TO THE GATE WERE ARRESTED AND FORCED TO STAND OUTSIDE MOST OF THE NIGHT IN A TROPICAL DOWNPOUR . FROM MOSCOW CAME AN ANGRY DEMAND FOR THE RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS, WHO, ACCORDING TO IZVESTIA, HAD BEEN ARRESTED BY POLICE LED BY " AMERICAN ADVISERS . " IGNORING THE PROTEST, ADOULA'S AGENTS NEXT MORNING SWOOPED DOWN ON THE HOTEL ROOM OF ANOTHER SUSPECTED COMMUNIST TROUBLEMAKER, THE NEWLY ARRIVED CORRESPONDENT OF THE SOVIET NEWS AGENCY NOVISTI, HUSTLED HIM OFF TO A CELL . HE WAS LATER RELEASED, BUT BY WEEK'S END, THE TWO RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS WERE PUT ABOARD EUROPE-BOUND PLANES . USUALLY HESITANT PREMIER ADOULA REJECTED HIS CABINET'S RECOMMENDATION THAT DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA BE SEVERED . BUT HE DID ORDER AMBASSADOR NEMCHINA TO GET OUT OF THE CONGO WITHIN 24 HOURS AND TAKE THE ENTIRE 100-MAN STAFF WITH HIM .
 SOUTH AFRICA WHOSE COUNTRY ? FOR A NATION DEDICATED TO WHITE SUPREMACY, THE VOTING IN SOUTH AFRICA LAST WEEK HAD AN UNACCUSTOMED LOOK . BLACK WOMEN WITH RED-OCHERED FACES FUMBLED WITH CUMBERSOME 2-FT.-SQ . BALLOTS . THEIR MEN, LOOKING A LITTLE BAFFLED BY THE WHOLE BUSINESS, STREAMED UP TO REGISTER THEIR VOTES FOR A TRANSKEI PARLIAMENT . IT WAS THE FIRST STEP IN PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD'S PLAN TO " SOLVE " SOUTH AFRICA'S RACE PROBLEM : THE FORMATION OF BLACK " SELF-GOVERNING " REGIONS CALLED BANTUSTANS, WHERE ALL OF SOUTH AFRICA'S 11 MILLION NATIVES, EXCEPT FOR A FEW MILLION NEEDED AS LABOR FOR THE WHITES, ARE TO BE HERDED INTO REMOTE AND UNDEVELOPED RESERVATIONS . TRANSKEI, WHERE THE FIRST BANTUSTAN LEGISLATURE WAS BEING DRAWN, IS A DENMARK-SIZED PLOT OF ROLLING LAND ALONG THE INDIAN OCEAN COAST, WHICH FOR YEARS HAS BEEN LARGELY IGNORED BY THE WHITES . IT IS FARM LAND THAT THROUGH BANTU OVERPOPULATION HAS BEEN VICTIM OF OVERGRAZING AND EROSION . WITHOUT HEAVY CAPITAL INVESTMENT, IT CANNOT SUPPORT MANY ADDITIONAL PEOPLE . SINCE THE GOLD MINES AND INDUSTRY OF THE WHITE MAN'S ORANGE FREE STATE AND TRANSVAAL ARE FAR MORE ALLURING, THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE CHANCE OF ANYONE'S INVESTING ANYTHING MUCH IN THE BANTU'S BOONDOCKS . PREPARING THE ELECTION IN THIS UNPROMISING REGION (SEVEN OTHER SIMILAR RESERVATIONS ARE PLANNED), VERWOERD'S POLICE FLOCKED INTO THE TRANSKEI TO SET UP SENTINELS AT EACH OF 1,100 POLLING STATIONS . AND TO THE ILLITERATE ELECTORATE, WORD HAD ALREADY GONE OUT ABOUT WHICH CANDIDATES THE GOVERNMENT FAVORED . IRONICALLY, VERWOERD'S CHOICE WAS A BLACK RACIST NAMED KAIZER MATANZIMA, 48, A SUAVE, HANDSOME ATTORNEY, WHO SAYS : " ALL THE WHITES MUST LEAVE THE TRANSKEI . THIS IS OUR COUNTRY . " HIS OPPONENT : WISE, WIZENED PARAMOUNT CHIEF VICTOR POTO, 65, WHO DOES NOT WANT TO SEE THE TRANSKEI'S SMALL (16,000) WHITE COMMUNITY FORCED OUT, WANTS TO SET UP A MULTIRACIAL REGIME : " I AM GRATEFUL TO GOD FOR A CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN RACE . " IN ANY CASE, VERWOERD'S WIDELY ADVERTISED SELF-RULE FOR THE NATIVE REGIONS IS LARGELY HOLLOW, SINCE HIS GOVERNMENT WILL RETAIN CONTROL OVER THE POLICE, DEFENSE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS . ALL LEGISLATION PROPOSED BY THE TRANSKEI'S NEW ALL-BLACK ASSEMBLY WILL FIRST RUN THE GAUNTLET OF NUMEROUS TAME, GOVERNMENT-APPOINTED CHIEFS, AND AFTER THAT IS SUBJECT TO THE VETO OF VERWOERD'S OWN OFFICIALS .
 GREAT BRITAIN ANOTHER TORY SETBACK DUNDEE, A DOUR, SLUM-RIDDEN INDUSTRIAL CITY (POP . 182,900) ON SCOTLAND'S EAST COAST, IS FAMED FOR ITS MARMALADE AND MAVERICK POLITICS . IT HAS SENT ONLY TWO TORY M.P.S TO WESTMINSTER IN 131 YEARS, AND IN 1922 THREW OUT WINSTON CHURCHILL, THEN A LIBERAL, IN FAVOR OF THE ONLY PROHIBITIONIST EVER TO SIT IN PARLIAMENT . IN 1959 THE LABOR PARTY ONLY MANAGED TO HANG ONTO DUNDEE BY 714 VOTES, AND SO, IN LAST WEEK'S BY-ELECTION, THE TORIES HAD HOPES THAT THE IMPACT OF A NEW, SCOTTISH PRIME MINISTER MIGHT HELP TO DEFEAT LABOR . INSTEAD, THE GOVERNMENT SUFFERED ANOTHER SETBACK . THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE, A POPULAR LAWYER, LOST TO HIS LABORITE OPPONENT, A TRADE-UNION OFFICIAL, BY 4,955 VOTES, A TORY DROP OF 8.8 PER CENT FROM THE LAST GENERAL ELECTION . PART OF THE OUTCOME WAS CAUSED BY PURELY LOCAL ISSUES (EXAMPLE : RECENT GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS TO LOWER PROTECTIVE TARIFFS ON JUTE, WHICH WOULD JEOPARDIZE AN INDUSTRY THAT EMPLOYS 20 PER CENT OF THE CITY'S WORK FORCE), AND THE LOSS WAS NOT AS SHARP AS THE TORIES' RECENT DEFEAT AT THRIVING, MIDDLE-CLASS LUTON . BUT THE TORIES WERE PAINFULLY AWARE THAT THEY HAVE LITTLE TIME TO REVERSE LABOR'S GAINS BEFORE ELECTIONS, PROBABLY NEXT SPRING . . . . (TRIDOTS) ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TORY LEADERS, ELFIN-FACED, EFFERVESCENT VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, LAST WEEK FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLE OF FORMER LORD HOME, SIGNED AWAY HIS TITLES AND BECAME THE RIGHT HONORABLE QUINTIN HOGG . LEAVING THE " POLITICAL GHETTO " OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, HE WILL PROBABLY BE ELECTED TO COMMONS FROM ST . MARYLEBONE, A SOLIDLY TORY, LONDON CONSTITUENCY . " LORD HAILSHAM, " SAID HE, " IS DEAD . GOD BLESS QUINTIN HOGG . /
 TURKEY JUST ANY GOVERNMENT AT ALL TURKEY SEEMS TO BE IN THE GRIP OF A PERPETUAL CRISIS . AFTER THE ARMY TOPPLED THE CORRUPT, FREE-SPENDING REGIME OF PREMIER ADNAN MENDERES IN 1960 AND EXECUTED HIM, THE MILITARY RULED INEFFECTUALLY FOR 18 MONTHS, THEN LET CIVILIANS TAKE OVER . DURABLE ISMET INONU BECAME PREMIER, DECIDED TO TRY TO HOLD THE COUNTRY TOGETHER AMIDST THE LINGERING BITTERNESS WITHOUT CURBING PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY . PROBABLY NO ONE ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT . INONU, 80, SEEMED LIKE AN EMBODIMENT OF TURKEY'S PAST : BORN UNDER THE SULTANATE, HE WAS ONE OF KEMAL ATATURK'S MOST DASHING REVOLUTIONARY GENERALS, FIRST BECAME PRIME MINISTER IN 1923, SERVED ON AND OFF AS PREMIER OR PRESIDENT OF TURKEY FOR 40 YEARS . YET LAST WEEK INONU WAS AGAIN FIGHTING TO SAVE TURKEY FROM NEW POLITICAL TURMOIL . NEW DILEMMA . INONU AND HIS PEOPLE'S REPUBLICAN PARTY INAUGURATED OVERDUE REFORMS, BUT THESE DID NOT NECESSARILY MAKE HIM POPULAR . BUREAUCRATS WERE ANGERED BY HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST WASTE . BUSINESSMEN AND BIG LANDOWNERS WERE INCENSED BY NEW SCHEMES TO MAKE THEM PAY TAXES . PLAIN CONSUMERS WERE MAD AT THE ATTEMPT TO PUT GOVERNMENT MONOPOLIES ON A PROFITMAKING BASIS, WHICH RAISED PRICES . PEASANTS, WHO STILL WOULD RATHER HAVE NEW MOSQUES THAN NEW SCHOOLS, HANKERED FOR THE OLD DAYS WHEN MENDERES BUILT 8,000 VILLAGE SHRINES . MENDERES' HEIRS IN THE JUSTICE PARTY KEPT GAINING GROUND WITH THEIR STRANGE MIXTURE OF AGING LEADERS FOREVER TROTTING OUT THE GHOST OF THE DEAD LEADER AND YOUNG POLITICIANS FOREVER PROMISING THAT THEY COULD RUN THINGS MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN INONU . IN LAST MONTH'S NATIONWIDE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, INONU WAS PLAINLY OVERCONFIDENT . WHILE JUSTICE PARTY LEADER RAGIP GUMUSPALA, 66, CAMPAIGNED STRENUOUSLY, COVERING THOUSANDS OF MILES A WEEK, INONU LOFTILY LIMITED HIS POLITICKING TO A SINGLE 20-MINUTE RADIO SPEECH . THE RESULTS GAVE INONU'S REPUBLICANS ONLY 37 PER CENT OF THE VOTE ; TWO SMALLER PARTIES IN INONU'S SHAKY GOVERNMENT COALITION WERE VIRTUALLY WIPED OUT . THE WINNER WAS THE JUSTICE PARTY, WITH 46 PER CENT OF THE BALLOTS . LAST WEEK INONU RESIGNED . HIS DILEMMA : NEITHER MAJOR PARTY CAN RULE SEPARATELY, SINCE EACH LACKS A PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY, AND NEITHER WANTS TO RULE JOINTLY, SINCE THAT EXPERIMENT WAS TRIED ONCE BEFORE, LASTED SEVEN MONTHS AND ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING . NONE OF THE SMALLER PARTIES SEEM EAGER TO JOIN ANOTHER COALITION, EITHER . NEW NATIONAL ELECTIONS ? NOBODY IS ENTHUSIASTIC OVER THAT IDEA . TRY AGAIN . FOR THE TIME BEING, AT LEAST, THE ARMY WAS STICKING TO ITS PLEDGE OF POLITICAL NEUTRALITY, BUT NO ONE COULD BE SURE HOW LONG THE MILITARY WOULD RESIST THE IDEA OF RESTORING " STABILITY " BY STAGING ANOTHER TAKEOVER . BY WEEK'S END TURKEY'S PRESIDENT, GENERAL CEMAL GURSEL, CAME TO INONU AND ASKED HIM TO FORM A NEW CABINET ; CONCEIVABLY, HE MIGHT SUCCEED, BY PERSUADING ONE OF THE SMALL PARTIES TO JOIN A COALITION AND PICKING UP ENOUGH DEFECTORS ELSEWHERE TO SCRAPE UP A PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY . AFTER ALL, INONU'S IMMEDIATE AIM WAS NOT A STABLE GOVERNMENT, BUT ANY GOVERNMENT AT ALL .
 THE SCARLET EPIDEMIC " IT USED TO BE THAT HALF THE PASSENGERS ON THE METRO WORE THE LEGION OF HONOR, " CRACK PARISIANS . " NOW THE ONLY ONES WHO STILL BOTHER TO WEAR IT ARE THE CONDUCTORS . " TODAY, SOME 300,000 FRENCHMEN AND SEVERAL THOUSAND FOREIGNERS ARE ENTITLED TO THE LEGION'S LAPEL EMBLEM, ! AND CHARLES DE GAULLE, WHO AS PRESIDENT OF FRANCE IS GRAND MASTER OF THE LEGION, IS ANXIOUS TO MAKE THE LIST MORE EXCLUSIVE . DE GAULLE HAS RECENTLY APPROVED A DECREE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF ANNUAL AWARDS BY 20 PER CENT . THROUGH NORMAL ATTRITION, THE GOVERNMENT HOPES THE LEGION WILL HAVE DWINDLED TO 125,000 IN TEN YEARS . EVERYONE BITES . THE ORDER WAS FOUNDED BY NAPOLEON IN 1802 TO REWARD THOSE WHO " BY THEIR KNOWLEDGE, THEIR VIRTUE, THEIR TALENT " UPHELD THE GLORY OF THE REPUBLIC, IN WHICH ALL TITLES AND HONORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED . " PEOPLE CALL THEM BAUBLES, / SAID NAPOLEON . " VERY WELL, IT IS WITH BAUBLES THAT YOU LEAD MEN . THERE MUST BE DISTINCTION BUT THE LEGION SOON LOST ITS DISTINCTIVENESS MINERS AND POSTMEN, SHOPKEEPERS, POLICEMEN, AND EVEN THE OFFICIAL ELYSEE PALACE SILVER POLISHER WERE GARLANDED ALONG WITH POETS, GENERALS, INDUSTRIALISTS AND DIPLOMATS IN 1887 THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN BECAUSE HIS SON-IN-LAW WAS SELLING LEGION APPOINTMENTS FOR $3,000 APIECE . ONE PREMIER OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC, PIERRE-MAURICE ROUVIER, CASUALLY MADE HIS MISTRESS' HUSBAND A LEGIONNAIRE BECAUSE " OF THE SPECIAL SERVICES RENDERED TO ME BY HIS WIFE . " ONCE WHEN HE WAS HAVING BAD LUCK FISHING, LEGEND HAS IT, AUTHOR HENRI MURGER (LA VIE DE BOHEME) BAITED HIS HOOK WITH HIS SCARLET RIBBON AND SAID : " NOW THEY ARE SURE TO BITE . THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYONE LIKES . " MONEY IS BETTER . AS THE " SCARLET EPIDEMIC " SPREAD, IT BECAME MORE DISTINGUISHED TO REJECT THAN TO ACCEPT THE AWARD . DEGAS, DE MAUPASSANT, CLEMENCEAU, GIDE, SARTRE AND CAMUS ALL ALLEGEDLY TURNED THE LEGION DOWN . OFFERED THE MEDAL IN LIEU OF PAYMENT FOR HIS FAMED REQUIEM COMMISSIONED BY THE GOVERNMENT, COMPOSER HECTOR BERLIOZ SNORTED : " TO HELL WITH YOUR LEGION OF HONOR . I WANT MY MONEY . " BUT A REFUSAL CANNOT BE WORN IN A BUTTONHOLE, AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER FRENCHMEN STILL OPENLY COURT THE AWARD . TO RESTORE TO OUR FIRST NATIONAL ORDER THE PRESTIGE IT SHOULD HAVE, " DE GAULLE'S GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK FORMALLY ESTABLISHED A SECOND-RANKING DECORATION KNOWN AS THE ORDER OF MERIT . HENCEFORTH, THE LEGION OF HONOR WILL BE AWARDED ONLY FOR " EMINENT SERVICE . " MERELY / DISTINGUISHED SERVICE " WILL BE REWARDED WITH THE NEW ORDER OF MERIT, WHOSE LAPEL RIBBONS AND ROSETTES WILL LOOK LIKE THE LEGION'S, EXCEPT THAT THE COLOR WILL BE BLUE . AN INCONSPICUOUS SCARLET RIBBON FOR CHEVALIERS OF THE LEGION (BY FAR THE MAJORITY), A ROSETTE FOR OFFICERS, ROSETTE ON SILVER RIBBON FOR COMMANDERS, ROSETTE ON GOLD AND SILVER RIBBON FOR GRAND OFFICERS, ROSETTE ON GOLD RIBBON FOR THOSE AWARDED THE GRAND-CROIX .
 LESS THAN A POUND " WARD IS DEAD, " PLEADED BARRISTER JEREMY HUTCHINSON LAST WEEK . " PROFUMO IS DISGRACED . AND NOW I KNOW YOUR LORDSHIP WILL RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO TAKE WHAT I MIGHT CALL SOCIETY'S POUND OF FLESH . " IT WAS NO ANTONIO IN THE PRISONER'S DOCK AT THE OLD BAILEY, BUT COOL, GREEN-SUITED CHRISTINE KEELER (130 LBS.), AND THE QUALITY OF MERCY WAS NOT STRAINED . NOTING THAT SHE HAD BEEN " UNDER PRESSURE, UNDER FEAR AND UNDER DOMINATION, " JUDGE SIR ANTHONY HAWKE SENTENCED CHRISTINE TO NINE MONTHS IN JAIL FOR PERJURY AND CONSPIRACY TO OBSTRUCT JUSTICE (MAXIMUM POSSIBLE SENTENCE FOR PERJURY ALONE : SEVEN YEARS) . WITH HER ROOMMATE, PAULA HAMILTON MARSHALL, AND THEIR HOUSEKEEPER, DARKHAIRED OLIVE BROOKER, DEFENDANT KEELER HAD PLEADED GUILTY TO FRAMING JAMAICAN JAZZ SINGER ALOYSIUS ( " LUCKY " ) GORDON, A JILTED LOVER OF CHRISTINE'S ; HE WAS FIRST CONVICTED, ON HER OWN SOBER TESTIMONY, OF BEATING HER AND LATER RELEASED ON THE BASIS OF HER DRUNKEN TAPE-RECORDED CONFESSION THAT SHE HAD LIED . THUS, AS SHE WAS LED FROM THE HALF-EMPTY COURTROOM WITH TEARS STARTING FROM HER EYES, ENDED WHAT DEFENSE COUNSEL HUTCHINSON PROBABLY PREMATURELY TERMED " THE LAST CHAPTER IN THIS LONG SAGA THAT HAS BEEN CALLED THE KEELER AFFAIR . / AFTER SHE HAS SERVED HER SENTENCE, CHRISTINE WILL PRESUMABLY RETURN TO THE $39,000 GEORGIAN HOUSE SHE BOUGHT RECENTLY FROM HER JOURNALISTIC EARNINGS . THEN, SAID SHE, " ALL I WANT IS FOR EVERYONE TO LET ME BE A NORMAL GIRL AGAIN . /
 ITALY'S NEW PARTNERSHIP / THIS IS OIL AND WATER, " CRACKED ITALY'S NEW FOREIGN MINISTER GIUSEPPE SARAGAT . THE NEW CENTER-LEFT COALITION, OUTGROWTH OF THE APERTURA A SINISTRA (OPENING TO THE LEFT) WHICH STARTED ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO, LAST WEEK FINALLY MANAGED TO FORM A CABINET . IN ADDITION TO THE PREMIERSHIP, THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS WOUND UP WITH 15 OF THE 26 CABINET POSITIONS, INCLUDING THE KEY MINISTRIES OF DEFENSE, TREASURY, AND INTERNAL AFFAIRS . ALONG WITH THE VICE PREMIERSHIP, THE LEFT-WING SOCIALISTS GOT FIVE MORE POSTS, THE ONLY IMPORTANT ONE BEING THE BUDGET MINISTRY . FOUR CABINET JOBS WENT TO THE SOLIDLY ANTI-COMMUNIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (INCLUDING SARAGAT'S FOREIGN MINISTRY) AND THE MODERATE REPUBLICANS . ITALY'S 25TH CABINET IN 20 YEARS JOINS PARTIES OF DIFFERENT AIMS INTO AN ALLIANCE BASED ON WHAT EACH SIDE HOPEFULLY TAKES TO BE EXPEDIENCY : THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS WANT SOCIALIST SUPPORT FOR A FAR-RANGING PACKAGE OF REFORMS ; THE SOCIALISTS WANT TO EXERCISE POWER AFTER 16 YEARS IN POLITICAL EXILE . AS ODDLY MATCHED AS THE PARTIES THEMSELVES ARE THEIR TWO LEADERS, FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE THE KEY POLITICAL FIGURES IN ITALY . PREMIER ALDO MORO, 47, IS THE ANTITHESIS OF THE VOLUBLE, EMOTIONAL ITALIAN . A RESERVED ONETIME LAW PROFESSOR, HE DETESTS THE ACID NAME CALLING OF ITALIAN POLITICS, IS SO SHY THAT HE OFTEN TRAVELS BY CAR TO AVOID THE NECESSARY SOCIAL AMENITIES ON PLANES AND TRAINS . MORO'S POLITICAL GENIUS IS FOR COMPROMISE, SOMETIMES ACHIEVED BY PURE TENACITY . HE ONCE REDUCED A COLLEAGUE TO NEAR COLLAPSE BY ARGUING REASONABLY FOR FOUR UNINTERRUPTED HOURS . SO CONSCIENTIOUSLY CAPABLE IS MORO OF SEEING ALL SIDES OF EVERY QUESTION THAT FRIENDS AND FOES ALIKE ARE CONVINCED THAT HE AGREES ONLY WITH THEM . MORO'S COLORLESS CAUTION WAS THE VERY QUALITY THAT BOOSTED HIM TO POLITICAL PROMINENCE . FIVE YEARS AGO, AFTER SHARP-TONGUED AMINTORE FANFANI QUIT IN A HUFF AS CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC LEADER IN A DISPUTE OVER HIS THEN STILL HEAVILY OPPOSED PLANS FOR AN OPENING TO THE LEFT PARTY ELDERS LOOKED FOR A REPLACEMENT . HE HAD TO BE A MAN NOBODY WAS MAD AT, AND MORO FILLED THE BILL . ALTHOUGH FANFANI LATER BECAME PREMIER FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS, MORO STAYED ON AS THE PARTY'S CHIEF STRATEGIST . NO LESS VIGOROUS THAN FANFANI IN HIS ADVOCACY OF THE CENTER-LEFT ALLIANCE, MORO AT THE SAME TIME WAS MORE MILITANTLY ANTI-COMMUNIST THAN FANFANI AND THEREFORE PROVED FAR MORE PERSUASIVE WHEN IT CAME TO SELLING CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS ON THE SCHEME . PROPHETICALLY, MORO HAD ONCE TRIED TO JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY BUT WAS TURNED DOWN AS BEING " TOO CATHOLIC . " A DEVOUT CHURCHGOER WHO ATTENDS MASS DAILY, HE WAS BORN IN LECCE IN THE HEEL OF ITALY'S BOOT, STUDIED LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BARI, AT 24 BEGAN TEACHING . ENTERING PARLIAMENT IN 1946, THE NEWCOMER WAS NICKNAMED BY HIS COLLEAGUES " THE QUAKER " BECAUSE OF HIS DOUR OUTLOOK AND AUSTERE HABITS . THROUGH SHEER DILIGENCE, MORO BECAME UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN 1948, RECEIVED HIS OWN MINISTRY (JUSTICE) IN 1955 . HOWEVER, HIS SPEECHES AS A POLITICIAN SOUNDED AS IF HE WERE STILL ADDRESSING LAW STUDENTS AT BARI, CONTAINED SO MANY PEDANTIC ABSTRACTIONS THAT DECIPHERING HIS MEANINGS GAVE RISE TO A WHOLE NEW GROUP OF EXPERTS KNOWN AS " MOROLOGISTS . / MARRIED, FATHER OF FOUR DAUGHTERS AND ONE SON, MORO LIVES UNPRETENTIOUSLY IN A LOWER-MIDDLE-CLASS APARTMENT DISTRICT IN ROME . HIS WIFE, WHO ALMOST NEVER APPEARS IN PUBLIC WITH HIM, OWNS FEW FANCY FURS OR JEWELS . OUTSIDE OF HIS FAMILY, MORO'S ONLY NONPOLITICAL PASSION IS FLOWERS, WHICH HE RAISES AT A SMALL COUNTRY HOUSE ABOUT 30 MILES FROOM ROME . " THERE, " HE SAYS, " I AM PERFECTLY AT EASE BECAUSE I AM WITH MY CHILDREN AND MY ROSES . " VICE PREMIER PIETRO NENNI, 72, IS AS IMPULSIVE AS MORO IS DELIBERATE . WHILE MORO ACHIEVES AGREEMENT THROUGH PATIENCE, NENNI OFTEN GETS HIS WAY BY SHEER CHARM AND ELOQUENCE . IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, HIS CAREER HAS FOLLOWED INNUMERABLE TWISTS AND TURNS . EVEN AS A YOUTH IN ROMAGNA, IN ITALY'S RUGGED NORTH, NENNI WAS AN ADEPT AT POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY . AFTER HIS PEASANT PARENTS DIED, HE WAS PLACED IN AN ORPHANAGE BY AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY . EVERY SUNDAY NENNI RECITED HIS CATECHISM BEFORE THE COUNTESS AND IF HE DID WELL RECEIVED A SILVER COIN . " GENEROUS BUT HUMILIATING, " HE RECALLED . HE BECAME A SOCIALIST AND BEFRIENDED A FELLOW ROMAGNAN NAMED BENITO MUSSOLINI . IL DUCE'S FASCIST THUGS LATER ALMOST SHOT NENNI WHEN THEY RAIDED AND BURNED HIS SOCIALIST HEADQUARTERS IN MILAN . NENNI FLED TO FRANCE, AND DURING THE NEXT 17 YEARS FOUGHT ON THE LOYALIST SIDE IN SPAIN, WAS CAPTURED BY THE NAZIS IN OCCUPIED FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR II, TURNED OVER TO ITALIAN POLICE, AND DEPORTED TO THE LONELY ISLAND OF PONZA IN THE TYRRHENIAN SEA IN 1943 . THREE DAYS AFTER NENNI ARRIVED, THE SHORTLIVED GOVERNMENT OF MARSHAL BADOGLIO SHIPPED ANOTHER EXILE TO PONZA : MUSSOLINI . NENNI MADE HIS WAY TO ROME, BECAME FOREIGN MINISTER AND VICE PREMIER IN A COALITION CABINET THAT INCLUDED COMMUNISTS . WITH A BERET PUSHED TO THE BACK OF HIS HEAD AND HIS BULL VOICE ROARING, NENNI DEMANDED " UNITY OF THE WORKING CLASS, " FAITHFULLY BACKED MOSCOW . STALIN REWARDED HIM WITH A PEACE PRIZE IN 1951 . SLOWLY NENNI REALIZED THAT THE SOCIALISTS WERE CAPTIVES OF THE ITALIAN COMMUNISTS . YET HE COULD NOT ESCAPE WITHOUT SHATTERING HIS PARTY, WHICH WAS HEAVILY INFILTRATED BY REDS . FINALLY, MOSCOW'S BRUTAL CRUSHING OF THE HUNGARIAN REBELLION AND KHRUSHCHEV'S DESTALINIZATION SPEECH IN 1956 GAVE NENNI THE CHANCE HE WAS LOOKING FOR : HE BROKE HIS / ACTION PACT " WITH THE COMMUNISTS, ALTHOUGH THE PARTY STILL PRESERVED CLOSE TIES WITH THEM . NENNI ALSO RETURNED THE STALIN PRIZE MONEY ($25,000), WHICH HE HAD USED TO BUY A LUXURIOUS SEASIDE VILLA . IN ROME, NENNI LIVES MORE MODESTLY IN AN APARTMENT WITH HIS WIFE AND ONE OF HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, GIULIANA, A SOCIALIST SENATOR . IN FRAIL HEALTH HE FELL IN A MOUNTAIN STREAM 17 MONTHS AGO AND INJURED HIS HEAD NENNI NEEDED ALL HIS POWERS TO PERSUADE HIS SHARPLY DIVIDED PARTY TO ENTER THE CENTER-LEFT COALITION . AT LEAST FOR THE TIME BEING, NENNI HAS LIVED DOWN THE BOAST HE UTTERED 16 YEARS AGO : " NOT EVEN A REVOLVER PRESSED AGAINST MY HEAD WILL MAKE ME BREAK WITH THE COMMUNISTS . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM END OF THE GLOW ONE CRITICISM BROUGHT AGAINST PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM WAS THAT HE KEPT SOME OF HIS BEST OFFICERS IN NONCOMBAT JOBS FOR POLITICAL REASONS . ONE PROMISE MADE BY DIEM'S SUCCESSORS WAS TO APPOINT AGGRESSIVE NEW COMMANDERS AND GIVE THEM A FREE HAND . LAST WEEK THE FIRST SUCH NEW COMMANDER FOUND HIMSELF SACKED AND ORDERED TO A DESK EXILE THAT EVEN DIEM HAD NOT THOUGHT OF MILITARY ATTACHE IN FORMOSA . FIVE DAYS AFTER THE COUP, COLONEL PHAM VAN DONG, 44, WAS PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE 7TH DIVISION, RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO PROVINCES SOUTH OF SAIGON . IN HIS FIRST TWELVE DAYS ON THE JOB, DONG LAUNCHED SEVEN MAJOR OPERATIONS, BUT THEN THE VIET CONG REGAINED THE INITIATIVE . WHEN ONE VILLAGE NEAR THE CAPITAL WAS SEVERELY SHELLED AND SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE KILLED, THE VILLAGERS COMPLAINED BITTERLY . EVEN THOUGH SUCH ATTACKS ARE STANDARD, THE GENERALS IN SAIGON FIRED DONG, TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF U.S . ADVISERS . BUT WHY TRANSFER HIM 1,400 MILES AWAY ? ACCORDING TO ONE VERSION, DONG HAD BEEN TOO FRIENDLY WITH THE RULING JUNTA'S AMBITIOUS NO . 3 MAN, MAJOR GENERAL TON THAT DINH, WHOM SOME OF HIS COLLEAGUES CONSIDER POTENTIALLY TROUBLESOME . ROOM AT THE TOP . AS THE REVOLUTIONARY GLOW THAT FOLLOWED DIEM'S OVERTHROW FADES, SOUTH VIET NAM'S GENERALS SEEM TO BE WATCHING EACH OTHER EVER MORE ALERTLY . THEY NOW OFTEN WRANGLE OVER POLICY IN MARATHON DEBATES THAT LAST UNTIL 5 A.M . BUREAUCRACY ALSO TAKES ITS TOLL OF LEADERSHIP . BRIGADIER GENERAL LE VAN KIM, A TOP STRATEGIST, IS OCCUPIED BY ADMINISTRATIVE CHORES ; LAST WEEK ONE OF HIS STAFF'S CHIEF PROJECTS WAS REQUISITIONING THREE TYPEWRITERS . NEAR BY, GENERAL DINH FLOPPED BACK IN HIS CHAIR, GROUSED THAT THE PILE OF PAPER ON HIS DESK GROWS HIGHER EACH DAY . U.S . OFFICIALS MAINTAIN THAT THE GENERALS ARE QUIETLY ACCOMPLISHING MUCH BENEATH THE SURFACE ; CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT IS THE JUNTA'S START AT WINNING OVER THE HOA HAO AND CAO DAI SECTS, MANY OF WHOSE MEMBERS HAD COLLABORATED WITH THE VIET CONG . BUT THE JUNTA CHAIRMAN, LIEUT . GENERAL DUONG VAN ( " BIG " ) MINH, SEEMS RELUCTANT TO WIELD POWER, AND THE OUTSIZED, 22-MEMBER MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL HAS TAKEN FEW OUTWARDLY BOLD STEPS . REPORTED TIME CORRESPONDENT MURRAY GART : " NONE OF THIS PROVES THAT THE GENERALS CANNOT DO THE JOB OF RUNNING SOUTH VIET NAM . IT IS TOO SOON TO TELL . BUT FOR THE MOMENT, THERE IS A POWER VACUUM AT THE TOP IN A COUNTRY AT WAR . " IN SAIGON, THERE WERE NEW SUICIDES BY FIRE, THE FIRST SINCE THE COUP AND VIRTUALLY IGNORED IN COMPARISON TO THE RELENTLESSLY PUBLICIZED BUDDHIST SUICIDES UNDER DIEM . A 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL, BACH TRI NGA, DRENCHED HERSELF WITH GASOLINE AND TOUCHED A MATCH TO HER SKIRTS BEFORE THE LOCAL RESIDENCES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROL COMMISSION, SET UP IN 1954 TO OVERSEE VIET NAM'S PARTITION . A 22YEAR-OLD UNEMPLOYED PEDICAB DRIVER CREMATED HIMSELF HALF A BLOCK FROM THE U.S . AMBASSADOR'S RESIDENCE, AND A YOUNG TELEPHONE OPERATOR FOLLOWED SUIT (HE LEFT A NOTE SAYING HE HAD BEEN REJECTED BY HIS FATHER) . THE CHARRED SKELETON OF A THIRD VICTIM, AN OLDER MAN, WAS FOUND NEAR A SUBURBAN GRAVEYARD . AUTHORITIES INSISTED THAT THE MEN ACTED OUT OF PERSONAL DESPONDENCY BUT CONCEDED THAT THE GIRL MAY HAVE HAD PRO-COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA IN MIND A FAREWELL NOTE REPEATED THE NEUTRALIST LINE AGAINST " VIETNAMESE FIGHTING VIETNAMESE . " ALL THE WAY HOME . THE FIGHTING ITSELF CONTINUED INTENSELY AND INCONCLUSIVELY . SIXTY MILES NORTHWEST OF THE CAPITAL, THE VIET CONG POURED A TERRIFYING 150 ROUNDS OF MORTAR AND RECOILLESS RIFLE FIRE INTO THE LONELY OUTPOST OF BAUCO, THEN OVERRAN TWO OF ITS THREE BLOCKHOUSES . OF THE 60 DEFENDERS, 18 DIED, 21 WERE WOUNDED AND 21 CAPTURED . ALSO FOUND SPRAWLED DEAD WITHIN THE POST : 16 WOMEN AND CHILDREN . THE GOVERNMENT CHASED THE ATTACKERS IN AN OPERATION INVOLVING 3,000 MEN, BUT THE GUERRILLAS VANISHED . FIVE MORE AMERICANS APPARENTLY LOST THEIR LIVES A SERGEANT SHOT IN AN AMBUSH AND FOUR AIRMEN ABOARD AN RB-26 THAT CRASHED INTO THE MEKONG RIVER . THE U.S., NEVERTHELESS, WENT AHEAD WITH PLANS TO BRING HOME 1,000 TROOPS FROM VIET NAM BY NEW YEAR'S CHIEFLY NONCOMBAT TECHNICIANS, MANY OF WHOSE DUTIES ARE BEING ASSUMED BY VIETNAMESE . AT SAIGON AIRPORT LAST WEEK, THE INITIAL 294 U.S.-BOUND SERVICEMEN, MANY HAPPILY BEARING LIPSTICK SMEARS FROM SAIGON SWEETIES, CLAMBERED ABOARD FOUR C-135 JETS . PRESENT TO SEE THE FIRST MEN OFF WERE U.S . GENERAL PAUL D . HARKINS AND SOUTH VIET NAM'S DEFENSE MINISTER LIEUT . GENERAL TRAN VAN DON . SAID DON OF THE DEPARTING AMERICANS : " THEY HAVE SHARED OUR HARDSHIPS AND SORROWS, AND NOTHING CAN REPAY THEM FOR THE SACRIFICES THEY HAVE MADE . /
 THAILAND ALAS, POOR ELEPHAS ! HE'S LOSING CLASS WHEN KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ LAST WEEK CELEBRATED HIS 36TH BIRTHDAY A PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT ANNIVERSARY TO THAIS, WHO MEASURE LIFE IN TWELVE-YEAR CYCLES TRADITIONALISTS WERE SADDENED NOT TO FIND A SINGLE ROYAL ELEPHANT TAKING PART IN THE ELABORATE CEREMONIES . IN THAILAND, AS ELSEWHERE IN ASIA, THE ONCE ENORMOUS IMPORTANCE OF THE ELEPHANT HAS DECLINED DRASTICALLY . WHILE ELEPHANT OWNERSHIP IS STILL CONSIDERED PRESTIGIOUS, A NEW CADILLAC OR MERCEDES (THE KING OWNS SEVERAL OF EACH) NOW RATES FAR HIGHER AS A STATUS SYMBOL THAN A MATURE, 15-YEAR-OLD ELEPHAS MAXIMUS WITH 40 YEARS OF RUGGED MILEAGE AHEAD OF HIM . NO PARKING . THAILAND NOW HAS FEWER THAN 10,000 REGISTERED WORKING ELEPHANTS V . SOME 150,000 AUTOMOBILES . SAYS ONE OLD-SCHOOL THAI : " OH, YES, RICH MEN STILL USE ELEPHANTS, BUT ONLY WHEN THEY GO INTO THE FOREST TO WORK . WHERE FRIENDS CAN SEE THEM, THEY RIDE AUTOMOBILES INSTEAD . " WHILE THE USED-ELEPHANT MARKET HAS BEEN SERIOUSLY DEPRESSED BY AUTOMATION, A MAHOUT-MAINTAINED MODEL WITH BUCKET SEAT, TWO-TONE UMBRELLA AND STICK SHIFT COSTS UP TO *1,500 F.O.B . BANGKOK, OR ABOUT $4,000 DELIVERED AT THE BRONX ZOO . IN THAILAND A U-RIDE-IT ELEPHANT IS STILL A BARGAIN AT $2.50 A DAY (ONE TENTH AS MUCH AS A RENTED TRUCK) AND IS STILL HARD TO BEAT WHEN IT COMES TO BIRD WATCHING, SPRAYING TREETOPS OR HAULING LOGS . BUT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND PACHYDERM PARKING SPACE IN BANGKOK . SHRUGS A TAXICAB MAHOUT : " ELEPHANT TOO MUCH FIGHTING, TOO MUCH KICKING, TOO MUCH EATING . I LIKE PLYMOUTH . PLYMOUTH ONLY TAKES GAS ONE TIME A DAY . " WHITE MODEL NOSTALGIC THAIS RECALL THE GLORIOUS DAYS WHEN SIAM'S ELEPHANT CORPS WAS ITS DREADED FORCE DE FRAPPE.* AS A MEMBER OF SEATO, THAILAND NOWADAYS SETS MORE STORE BY ITS U.S . SUPPLY TANKS . NONETHELESS, ALLOWS COLONEL DAMNERN LEKHAKUL, A MILITARY HISTORIAN ATTACHED TO THE THAI GENERAL STAFF, " IF A WAR COMES, WE MAY HAVE TO RELY ON ELEPHANTS FOR JUNGLE COMBAT OR IF WE RUN OUT OF GAS . " MOST THAIS ALSO STILL BELIEVE, WITH EDWARD TOPSELL, AN EARLY 17TH CENTURY BESTIARIST, THAT THE ELEPHANT IS A " GREAT AND AMPLE DEMONSTRATION OF THE POWER AND WISDOM OF ALMIGHTY GOD " PARTICULARLY THE WHITE VARIETY . KING BHUMIBOL HAS DEMOCRATICALLY QUARTERED HIS OWN NINE-YEAR-OLD WHITE MODEL IN THE BANGKOK ZOO . THERE, WHEN HE REACHES MATURITY IN A FEW YEARS, THE HANDSOME SPECIMEN MAY BECOME THE FIRST WHITE ELEPHANT EVER TO BE MATED IN CAPTIVITY . THEY INSIST TO THIS DAY THAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SHOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THEIR KING MONGKUT'S TIMELY OFFER OF ELEPHANTS IN 1862 . REGRETFULLY, LINCOLN EXPLAINED TO THE KING THAT THE U.S . CLIMATE DID NOT " FAVOR THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE ELEPHANT . " IT IS POSSIBLE, NONETHELESS, THAT IF THE UNION HAD BEEN ABLE TO FIELD A PACHYDERM PANZER DIVISION, THE U.S . CIVIL WAR MIGHT HAVE BEEN FORESHORTENED .
 SIKKIM FROM DEBUTANTE TO THE DEITIES AS A DEBUTANTE AND A SARAH LAWRENCE GRADUATE (IN ORIENTAL STUDIES), HOPE COOKE HAD A CRUSH ON CENTRAL ASIA . HER DREAMS SEEMED TO COME ROMANTICALLY TRUE LAST MARCH WHEN SHE MARRIED SIKKIM'S CROWN PRINCE PALDEN THONDUP NAMGYAL IN A NOW-LEGENDARY CEREMONY AT THE CAPITAL CITY OF GANGTOK (TIME, MARCH 23) . LAST WEEK, WHEN THE CROWN PRINCE'S 70-YEAR-OLD FATHER, MAHARAJAH SIR TASHI NAMGYAL, DIED OF CANCER IN A CALCUTTA NURSING HOME, HOPE AND HER HUSBAND MOUNTED THE THRONE OF THE MOUNTAIN-LOCKED HIMALAYAN KINGDOM . THE FORMAL CORONATION WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER ONE YEAR'S MOURNING, THE PRECISE DATE TO BE CALCULATED BY THE COURT ASTROLOGERS . PRIVATE MOUNTAIN . THE LAND WHERE HOPE WILL RULE IS SO SMALL THAT ITS 2,748 SQ . MI . AND 162,000 PEOPLE COULD FIT COMFORTABLY INTO A U.S . NATIONAL PARK LIKE YELLOWSTONE . THE NEW MAHARAJAH PERSONALLY OWNS KANCHENJUNGA WHICH, AT 28,146 FT., IS THE THIRD TALLEST MOUNTAIN IN THE WORLD AND PROBABLY THE WORLD'S MOST MAJESTIC WHEN ITS SNOWY PEAKS ARE LIT BY THE SUNRISE AND BORNE ALOFT ON LACY CLOUDS . SIKKIM CONTAINS EVERY VARIETY OF CLIMATE AND PLANT, FROM THE SUBTROPICAL THROUGH THE TEMPERATE TO THE ARCTIC . SNOW LEOPARDS PROWL THE HIMALAYAN SLOPES, PANDAS FROLIC IN THE FORESTED GORGES, CLOUDS OF BUTTERFLIES HOVER OVER 3,000 DIFFERENT KINDS OF RHODODENDRON AND 400 TYPES OF ORCHID . WEDGED BETWEEN TIBET AND INDIA, SIKKIM USUALLY HAS BEEN TRIBUTARY TO ONE OR ANOTHER OF ITS NEIGHBORS . WHEN INDIA WON ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN IN 1947, SO DID SIKKIM . BUT TO THE LATE MAHARAJAH, FREEDOM BROUGHT MORE PROBLEMS THAN PROFIT . ONE DAY IN 1949, SEVERAL THOUSAND PEASANTS SWARMED AROUND THE BLUE AND WHITE ROYAL PALACE (ACTUALLY A LARGE BUNGALOW) DEMANDING AN ELECTED NATIONAL COUNCIL AND TAX REFORMS . TASHI SUBMITTED TO THE EXPERIMENT IN DEMOCRACY FOR 29 DAYS AND THEN, FEELING UNABLE TO COPE WITH WHAT WAS CALLED " THREATENED DISORDER, " ASKED INDIA'S NEHRU FOR HELP . NEHRU SENT IN TROOPS AND A DEWAN, OR POLITICAL OFFICER . EVER SINCE, INDIA HAS HANDLED SIKKIM'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE . ,ALARMED NUDE . IN RECENT YEARS, TASHI RETIRED INTO A PRIVATE LIFE THAT CONSISTED LARGELY OF PRAYER AND PAINTING HE SPECIALIZED IN MISTY SIKKIMESE LANDSCAPES, AND PAINTED ONE " VISION " OF THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN, WHO IS PICTURED AS A SKINNY, JET-BLACK ANIMAL WITH A RED FACE SCAMPERING OVER A SNOWY SUMMIT CARRYING A NUDE, PINK-SKINNED LADY WITH AN ALARMED EXPRESSION . TASHI CONVERSED WITH SPIRITS, WHO ARE PREVALENT IN SIKKIM, LOOKED OUT AT THE WORLD THROUGH GREEN-TINTED GLASSES, AND SEEMED FASHIONED OF GOLD, SO STIFF AND HEAVY WERE HIS BROCADED ROBES . THE MAHARAJAH WAS EDUCATED IN INDIA, IS FLUENT IN FIVE LANGUAGES INCLUDING ENGLISH, AND IS SAID TO BE A REINCARNATION OF HIS UNCLE, WHO WAS A REVERED LAMA . " AREN'T WE ALL REINCARNATIONS OF A SORT ? ' ? HE ASKS POLITELY, EVIDENTLY IS MORE INTERESTED IN AGRICULTURE AND ATOMIC ENERGY THAN IN THE MIRACULOUS . HE HOPES THAT SIKKIM CAN EARN DOLLARS ABROAD BY ADDING COPPER TO ITS CURRENT EXPORTS OF CARDAMOM SEEDS, ORANGES, AND IMITATION SCOTCH WHISKY MADE BY A PARSI DISTILLER FROM BOMBAY . WHEN HE WAS PROCLAIMED MAHARAJAH LAST WEEK, PALDEN THONDUP OUTLINED A PROGRAM WORTHY OF SOCIALIST SCANDINAVIA, DECLARING THAT " JOINTLY AND STEADFASTLY WE SHALL REACH OUR GOAL OF FREEDOM FROM WANT, DISEASE AND ILLITERACY, AND USHER IN A WELFARE STATE SO THAT SIKKIM CAN ENJOY HER RIGHTFUL PLACE UNDER THE SUN . " THE NEW MAHARANI HOPE, WHO IS CALLED LHACHEM KUSHO (CONSORT OF THE DEITIES) BY HER SUBJECTS, INTENDS EVENTUALLY TO WRITE A HISTORY OF SIKKIM . IN PREPARATION, SHE IS LEARNING TWO OF THE NATION'S MOST IMPORTANT LANGUAGES, BHUTIA AND NEPALI . THE PROJECT IS DEXLAYED BY HER DUTIES TO THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD OF 20 SERVANTS AND THREE AIDES-DE-CAMP SHE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE FURTHER DELAYED BY THE FACT THAT SHE EXPECTS A BABY THIS SPRING ONE EVENT WHOSE TIMING WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED BY SIKKIM'S UBIQUITOUS ASTROLOGERS .
 BURMA NOT MUCH LEFT TO NATIONALIZE BURMA'S DICTATOR NE WIN, 52, MUST HATE GETTING UP IN THE MORNING . WHAT HE RISES TO FACE EACH DAY IS A NATION OF 22 MILLION PEOPLE PLAGUED BY AT LEAST FIVE SEPARATE REBELLIONS, RANGING FROM THE KACHIN TRIBESMEN, WHO WANT AUTONOMY, TO THE RED FLAG COMMUNISTS, WHO ARE SO FANATICAL THAT THEY THINK EVEN CHINA'S MAO TSE-TUNG IS " TOO MODERATE . " BURMESE BUSINESSMEN BITTERLY RESENT THE NATIONALIZATION OF INDUSTRY ; PEASANTS GRUMBLE AT THE COLLECTIVIZATION OF AGRICULTURE ; BUDDHIST MONKS PROTEST THAT GOVERNMENT EXPROPRIATION OF THE RICH ROBS THEM OF ENDOWMENTS . NE WIN'S LATEST ENEMIES ARE THE STUDENTS WHO, SPURRED ON BY THE COMMUNISTS, LAST WEEK STAGED DEMONSTRATIONS AND RIOTS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY . SAFE CONDUCT . DURING THE PAST FOUR MONTHS, NE WIN HAS DESPERATELY TRIED TO MAKE PEACE WITH BURMA'S ASSORTED REBELS . HE GUARANTEED SAFE CONDUCT FOR POLITICAL AND TRIBAL LEADERS FROM AND TO THEIR SWAMP AND JUNGLE HIDEOUTS . RESULTS WERE DISCOURAGING . NE WIN COMPLAINED THAT THE REBELS PARTICULARLY THE COMMUNISTS ONLY WANTED TO BUY TIME IN WHICH TO REGROUP, REARM AND PREPARE NEW OFFENSIVES . HE BROKE OFF THE TALKS, LET THE LEADERS RETURN TO THEIR JUNGLE CAMPS AND THEN BEGAN A POLICE ROUNDUP OF 1,400 LEFTISTS OF ALL SHADES . TO PROVE HE HAD CIVILIAN SUPPORT SOMEWHERE, NE WIN HAD ARMY TRUCKS PICK UP SOME 20,000 WORKERS FOR A " SPONTANEOUS " RALLY IN RANGOON . AT THAT POINT THE STUDENTS WENT INTO ACTION, LED AN ASSAULT ON THE RALLY, THROWING STONES, RIPPING UP PLACARDS AND SETTING ONE ARMY TRUCK AFIRE TO SHOUTS OF, " WE DON'T WANT THIS GOVERNMENT ! " WHEN NE WIN ORDERED THE CLOSING DOWN OF RANGOON UNIVERSITY LAST WEEK, THE STUDENTS, LED BY LEFTIST AGITATORS, BARRICADED THE GATES AND STAGED A SIT-IN . BULLDOZERS ORDERED OUT TO SMASH THE BARRICADES WERE BEATEN BACK WITH HURLED STONES, AND FIRE HOSES FAILED BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT WATER PRESSURE . FINALLY, TOUGH RIOT POLICE WITH TEAR GAS DISLODGED THE STUDENTS . THREE OTHER UNIVERSITIES AT BASSEIN, MOULMEIN AND MANDALAY WERE PADLOCKED BY THE GOVERNMENT . SHAVEN HEAD . NE WIN'S ONLY VISIBLE SUPPORT REMAINS THE 50,000-MAN BURMESE ARMY, BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT EVEN THIS LAST BULWARK IS BEING UNDERMINED ; POPULAR BRIGADIER AUNG GYI, WHO DISAGREES WITH NE WIN'S POLICIES, IS IN EXILE IN A BUDDHIST MONASTERY WHERE, HIS HEAD SHAVEN, HE SPENDS HIS TIME MEDITATING . AT WEEK'S END THE STUDENT TURMOIL CONTINUED, AND INSURGENTS STEPPED UP THEIR ATTACKS ON POLICE OUTPOSTS AND ARMY CONVOYS . IN HEAVILY GUARDED GOVERNMENT HOUSE, NE WIN WAS STILL HARD AT WORK PUSHING HIS HEADLONG, HEADSTRONG COURSE TOWARD SOCIALISM . LAST WEEK HE NATIONALIZED 17 MORE PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING THE AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION OF BURMA AND A TAILORS ASSOCIATION . AFTER ALL, THERE'S NOT MUCH LEFT TO NATIONALIZE NOT EVEN THE RED CROSS OR THE BOY SCOUTS, BOTH OF WHICH WERE TAKEN OVER MONTHS AGO .
 GUINEA TROUBLE IN EREWHON " AN AFRICAN STATESMAN, " ALLOWS GUINEA'S PRESIDENT SEKOU TOURE, " IS NOT A NAKED BOY BEGGING FROM RICH CAPITALISTS . " ON THE CONTRARY, MANY OF HIS COUNTRY'S WELL-DRESSED OFFICIALS OWN SUMPTUOUS VILLAS AND CARS, FAVOR FRENCH FOOD, AMERICAN CIGARETTES AND SCOTCH WHISKY (AT $18 A BOTTLE) . CONAKRY, GUINEA'S SWELTERING CAPITAL, HAS PLANS FOR TWO NEW LUXURY HOTELS ONE TO BE BUILT BY THE U.S., THE OTHER BY THE RUSSIANS . BUT GUINEA (POP . 3,300,000), ONCE ONE OF FRENCH WEST AFRICA'S RICHEST COUNTRIES, AFTER FIVE YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE POOREST . THIS WEEK, A MISSION HEADED BY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MINISTER ISMAEL TOURE, SEKOU'S HALF-BROTHER, IS DUE IN WASHINGTON, EXPECTED TO PLEAD WITH THE ADMINISTRATION TO DOUBLE THE $15 MILLION IN AID THAT THE U.S . HAS FUNNELED INTO GUINEA THIS YEAR . SEARS, WITH CREDIT . DESPITE DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE AND ABUNDANT NATURAL RESOURCES (NOTABLY, BAUXITE, IRON, DIAMONDS), STRONGMAN TOURE'S BLEND OF XENOPHOBIA AND SOCIALISM SADDLED THE COUNTRY WITH SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGES, INFLATION AND GAPING TRADE DEFICITS . THE TROUBLE, AS ONE WESTERN VISITOR PUTS IT, IS THAT GUINEA'S GOVERNMENT HAS LONG VIEWED FOREIGN AID AS " ONE BIG SEARS, ROEBUCK STORE, WITH UNLIMITED CREDIT . " ALONE AMONG FRANCE'S BLACK AFRICAN TERRITORIES, GUINEA CHOSE TOTAL INDEPENDENCE RATHER THAN CHARLES DE GAULLE'S OFFER OF CONTINUED " ASSOCIATION . " WHEN FRENCH AID WAS CUT OFF, TOURE TURNED INSTINCTIVELY TO THE SOVIET BLOC, WHOSE ECONOMIC EMBRACE RAPIDLY MADE GUINEA A KIND OF COLD-WAR EREWHON . IN RETURN FOR ITS PRIZED PINEAPPLES, BANANAS AND OTHER PRODUCE, MOSCOW SENT TROPICAL GUINEA OVERPRICED, SUPERANNUATED SNOWPLOWS, PREFABRICATED HOUSING UNITS THAT ITS WORKMEN CANNOT ASSEMBLE, AND A PLANT TO PRODUCE SHAVED ICE, WHICH MELTS INSTANTLY IN CONAKRY'S SAVAGE HEAT . AS ELSEWHERE, THE COMMUNISTS CONCENTRATED ON SHOWY PRESTIGE PROJECTS, SUCH AS A SPORTS STADIUM (STILL UNFINISHED AFTER THREE YEARS), A VAST BRICK FACTORY, A PRINTING PLANT CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 40,000 NEWSPAPERS AN HOUR, THOUGH AT MOST ONE IN TEN GUINEANS CAN READ . EXPERTS DISCOVERED THAT A RUSSIAN-BUILT RADIO STATION, DESIGNED TO BEAM THE VOICE OF TOURE THE LENGTH OF AFRICA, HAD BEEN SITED ON AN IRON LODE THAT BADLY INTERFERES WITH TRANSMISSION . MIFFED MAMMIES . TOURE LEARNED TO FEAR RUSSIANS BEARING GIFTS . SOVIET LOANS PETERED OUT SOON AFTER HE EXPELLED THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR FOR FOMENTING ANTI-TOURE DEMONSTRATIONS IN 1961 IN ONE OF HIS MORE ASTUTE AIDMANSHIP GAMBITS, HE LATER SNUBBED MOSCOW BY STRENGTHENING HIS TIES WITH PEKING, WHOSE TECHNICIANS HAVE ALREADY BUILT A MATCH FACTORY AND A CIGARETTE PLANT . BUT RUSSIAN/DICTATED " REFORMS " AND TOURE'S OWN POLICIES PERSISTED . ON MOSCOW'S URGING, TOURE HAD DIVORCED GUINEA'S CURRENCY FROM FRANCE'S MONETARY SYSTEM, FLOODED THE COUNTRY WITH NEW PAPER FRANCS EMBELLISHED WITH HIS PORTRAIT, WHICH WERE ALMOST VALUELESS OUTSIDE GUINEA . AS A RESULT, CATTLE, COFFEE AND BANANAS AND U.S . FOOD FOR PEACE SUPPLIES WERE SMUGGLED INTO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES TO BE SOLD FOR HARD CURRENNY . TOURE ALSO NATIONALIZED VIRTUALLY EVERY BUSINESS IN GUINEA, INCLUDING THE ONCE-LUCRATIVE DIAMOND MINES . SOON EVERY COMMODITY FROM TAP WATER TO BEER-BOTTLE CAPS WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY . ONCE-DOCILE GUINEANS REACTED BY STAGING AN ANGRY SERIES OF FOOD RIOTS THIS YEAR . THOUGH TOURE PRIDES HIMSELF ON HIS EMANCIPATION OF WOMENFOLK HE HAS ALSO INSISTED THAT TRADITIONALLY BARE-BREASTED BANANA PORTERS COVER UP IT WAS GUINEA'S VOCIFEROUS MARKET MAMMIES MIFFED AT PERENNIAL SHORTAGES AND SOARING PRICES, WHO FINALLY FORCED THE PRESIDENT TO MAKE HIS FIRST DRASTIC ECONOMIC REFORMS BY THREATENING TO MARCH ON CONAKRY . FEARFUL THAT HE MIGHT BE OVERTHROWN, TOURE LAST OCTOBER HASTILY DISMANTLED DOZENS OF STATE MONOPOLIES AND ALLOWED PRIVATE RETAILERS TO BUY UP THEIR STOCKS . IN REPEATED BROADCASTS, HE CONFESSED THAT HIS NATIONALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY HAD BEEN A COLOSSAL FLOP . SAID HE : " THE PRIVATE TRADER HAS A GREATER SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY THAN CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO GET PAID AT THE END OF EACH MONTH AND ONLY ONCE IN A WHILE THINK OF THE NATION OR THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY . " BUT WESTERN BUSINESSMEN ARE WONDERING WHETHER TOURE'S APPARENT CONVERSION TO FREE ENTERPRISE IS SINCERE AND WHETHER IT COMES TOO LATE TO DO MUCH GOOD .
 SOUTH AFRICA HOW TO WIN & LOST THE XHOSA TRIBESMEN OF TRANSKEI, SEEKING A PRIME MINISTER FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S FIRST / SELF-GOVERNING " BANTUSTAN (TIME, NOV . 29), LAST WEEK GAVE AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THEIR VOTES TO PARAMOUNT CHIEF VICTOR POTO . BUT AS IT TURNED OUT, POTO DID NOT GET THE JOB . INSTEAD THE OFFICE WENT TO CHIEF KAIZER MATANZIMA, THE CANDIDATE PREFERRED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT . POTO WANTS WHITE MEN AND WHITE INVESTMENT CAPITAL IN THE TRANSKEI, WHILE MATANZIMA, A BLACK RACIST, SUPPORTS THE IDEA OF AN ALL-BLACK STATE . THE STRANGE RESULT CAME ABOUT IN THE TRANSKEI'S EMBRYO LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, WHICH UNDER THE TERRITORY'S CONSTITUTION CHOOSES THE PRIME MINISTER SINCE THE ASSEMBLY HAS 64 MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ONLY 45 DEPUTIES ELECTED BY THE VOTERS, THE ODDS WERE HEAVILY AGAINST POTO . EVEN SO, HE LOST BY ONLY FIVE VOTES . CHIEF MATANZIMA CLAIMED A CLEAR-CUT VICTORY, ? ' BUT IN FACT HE WILL TAKE OFFICE WITH THE UNEASY KNOWLEDGE THAT MOST OF THE TRANSKEI'S 1,400,000 XHOSA SEEM TO BE STUBBORNLY OPPOSED TO MATANZIMA'S PROGRAM OF STRICT RACIAL SEPARATION, WHICH HE EUPHEMISTICALLY CALLS / PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE OF THE RACES .
 RUSSIA SOMETHING FOR THE SOIL IN THE KREMLIN THIS WEEK, THE SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY'S CENTRAL COMMITTEE IS PONDERING THE GRAVE CRISIS IN AGRICULTURE THAT HAS MADE IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR RUSSIA TO FEED ITSELF . UP FOR DEBATE IS NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S SWEEPING PLAN FOR EXPANSION OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TO RAISE FERTILIZER PRODUCTION FROM 20 MILLION TONS THIS YEAR TO 108 MILLION TONS BY 1970 . FERTILIZER HAS BECOME A KIND OF RITUAL INCANTATION ; NIKITA IS OBVIOUSLY CONVINCED THAT ONLY ITS VASTLY INCREASED USE CAN RAISE PRODUCTION ENOUGH TO AVOID DRASTIC FOOD CUTS OR PERMANENT DEPENDENCE ON EXPENSIVE FOREIGN FARM PRODUCTS, SUCH AS THE 11 MILLION TONS OF WHEAT THE SOVIETS ARE BUYING FROM THE WEST . ASKS A CURRENT MOSCOW JOKE : " WHAT WAS STALIN'S LAST MISTAKE ? " ANSWER : " HE STOCKPILED ENOUGH GRAIN FOR ONLY TEN YEARS . " MAJOR NEW INVESTMENTS IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY ARE SURE TO FORCE A CUTBACK IN CONSUMER PRODUCTION, HOUSING, POSSIBLY DEFENSE ; BUT THE SITUATION ON RUSSIAN FARMS WARRANTS IT . YIELDS THIS YEAR HAVE BEEN POOR IN THE UKRAINE AND SIBERIA . LAST WEEK THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE VIRGIN LANDS, KHRUSHCHEV'S PET FARM PROJECT, OPENLY ADMITTED DISASTER IN HIS REGIONS AS WELL, CITING STAGGERING EXAMPLES OF MISMANAGEMENT AND INEFFICIENCY . ANOTHER OBVIOUS TOPIC FOR THE MOSCOW PARTY MEETING IS THE SPLIT WITH RED CHINA . EVEN AS THE RUSSIAN PRESS WAS PLEADING FOR CALM, PEKING'S DELEGATES TO THE COMMUNIST WORLD PEACE COUNCIL IN WARSAW NOISILY CONDEMNED RUSSIA'S " PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE " POLICY, INCLUDING THE NUCLEAR TEST BAN . RUSSIAN DELEGATES RETORTED, AS NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY PUT IT INDIGNANTLY, BY " BANGING THE DESKS AND UTTERING CATCALLS .
 NATO NAGGING IN MOMENTS OF GRAVE CRISIS, NATO IS A MODEL OF ARM-IN-ARM HARMONY . BUT WHEN THERE ARE NO BERLIN BLOCKADES OR CUBAN MISSILES TO BRING OUT THEIR UNDERLYING UNITY, THE WESTERN ALLIES ARE DIVIDED . THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT ANYWHERE THAT THE U.S . HAS CRUSHING NUCLEAR SUPERIORITY OVER THE RUSSIANS . DISAGREEMENT ARISES OVER THE QUESTIONS OF 1) HOW MUCH OF A VOICE EUROPE IS TO HAVE AS TO WHEN AND HOW THIS U.S . FORCE IS TO BE APPLIED, AND 2) WHAT WESTERN STRATEGY SHOULD BE IN THE INTERMEDIATE GREY AREA SHORT OF TOTAL WAR, AN AREA IN WHICH NATO IS PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT POLITICALLY THAN MILITARILY . THESE PROBLEMS SWIRLED UP AGAIN THIS WEEK AS THE FOREIGN AND DEFENSE MINISTERS OF 15 NATO NATIONS SAT DOWN FOR THEIR BIG ANNUAL REVIEW CONFERENCE IN PARIS . MASSIVE OR FLEXIBLE . FOR THE RECORD, THE AGENDA WAS CROWDED WITH DISTANT GENERAL MATTERS : WHAT NEXT IN DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH RUSSIA ? WHAT MEANING FOR THE WEST IN THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT ? BUT IN A KIND OF CORRIDOR WARFARE AND IN SEPARATE BILATERAL MEETINGS, SOME FACTIONS TRIED TO MANEUVER THE U.S . INTO GIVING EUROPE MORE SAY IN THE USE OF THE H-BOMB, AND OTHERS LOOKED FOR WAYS TO FRUSTRATE CHARLES DE GAULLE'S FORCE DE DISSUASION . UNDER U.S . URGING, SECRETARY-GENERAL DIRK STIKKER (AILING AND PROBABLY DUE FOR EARLY RETIREMENT) IS CARRYING OUT SWEEPING STUDIES TO REASSESS NATO FORCE LEVELS AND BASIC STRATEGY . THE FRENCH HAVE BEEN WORKING AGAINST THE " STIKKER STUDIES . " CLINGING TO THEIR OWN MASSIVE RETALIATION THEORY, WHICH HOLDS THAT ANY AGGRESSION IN EUROPE MUST TURN INTO A NUCLEAR WAR, DE GAULLE'S MEN SNEER AT WASHINGTON'S CONCEPT OF " BALANCED " CONVENTIONAL-AND-NUCLEAR FORCES TO PROVIDE A " FLEXIBLE RESPONSE " TO RED MOVES . FORCE OR FARCE . PARIS IS EQUALLY SKEPTICAL OF WASHINGTON'S PROPOSED MULTILATERAL FORCE ( " MULTILATERAL FARCE, " THE FRENCH CALL IT) . SO ARE MOST OF THE OTHER ALLIES . BUT AT LEAST A FEW ARE BEGINNING TO BELIEVE THAT THE IDEA SURFACE SHIPS ARMED WITH POLARIS WEAPONS AND MANNED BY MIXED CREWS FROM VARIOUS NATO NATIONS JUST MIGHT WORK.* NO ONE HAS ANY OTHER PRACTICAL OR EVEN IMPRACTICAL PLAN TO GIVE EUROPE A GREATER SHARE IN THE USE OF THE BOMB . FROM THE RATIONAL FRENCH VIEWPOINT, THE SENSE OF " SHARING " PROVIDED BY MLF WOULD BE AN ILLUSION, SINCE THE U.S . WOULD STILL RETAIN CONTROL OF THE MISSILES THEMSELVES . BUT LYNDON JOHNSON HAS HINTED THAT THIS CONTROL MIGHT BE TRANSFERRED TO THE EUROPEANS IF AND WHEN EUROPE TRULY UNITES . THERE WERE OTHER NATO PROBLEMS AND SQUABBLES : THE COMMAND STRUCTURE IS BADLY OUTDATED, AND THE WESTERN BIG THREE ARE TOO HEAVILY REPRESENTED ON NATO STAFFS AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER ALLIES . ONE CONCRETE ACCOMPLISHMENT : AGREEMENT TO SET UP A $308 MILLION ELECTRONIC SYSTEM STRETCHING FROM NORWAY TO TURKEY THAT WILL PROVIDE QUICK IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL FOR SUCH FASTMOVING NEW AIRCRAFT AS THE F-104 . ITS LESS THAN MARTIAL NAME : NADGE (NATO AIR DEFENSE GROUND ENVIRONMENT) . SKEPTICS WERE REMINDED THAT NELSON'S FLAGSHIP VICTORY AT TRAFALGAR IN 1805 WAS MANNED BY 16 DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES .
 ESPIONAGE A BLONDE BOND HE PLANTED A LONG, PASSIONATE KISS ON MY LIPS AND PRESSED MY BACK AGAINST THE DOOR UNTIL I WAS LIMP . THEN HE SWUNG ME EASILY OFF THE FLOOR AND STARTED TO CARRY ME UP THE STAIRS . " CHARLES, " I REMONSTRATED FEEBLY, " WHAT ARE YOU DOING ? " HE LOOKED AT ME HUNGRILY . " JUST POINT OUT YOUR BEDROOM, " HE SAID . " YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR, CHERIE . " AS A LOVER, CHARLES BROUSSE WAS THE MOST ARDENT OF ALL THOSE I MET IN MY CAREER AS A SPY . . . DESPITE THE BOTTLED-IN-BOND FLAVOR, THE SCENE ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE IN WARTIME WASHINGTON . IT WAS RECOUNTED RECENTLY IN LONDON'S THE PEOPLE BY ITS HEROINE, A MATA HARI FROM MINNESOTA WHO WORKED FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE UNDER THE CODE NAME CYNTHIA . HER REAL NAME : ELIZABETH PACK . USING THE BOUDOIR AS IAN FLEMING'S HERO USES A BERETTA, SHE WAS DESCRIBED BY HER WARTIME BOSS AS " THE GREATEST UNSUNG HEROINE OF THE WAR . " AFTER THE WAR CYNTHIA MARRIED HER ONETIME PREY, THE ARDENT CHARLES, AND WITH HIM RETREATED TO A REMOTE 10TH CENTURY FRENCH CHATEAU WHERE SHE DIED LAST WEEK, AT 53, OF THROAT CANCER . SCUPPERED ADMIRAL . WHEN WORLD WAR II BROKE OUT, BLONDE, GREEN-EYED CYNTHIA HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR NINE YEARS TO ARTHUR PACK, A COLORLESS BRITISH DIPLOMAT WHO WAS NEARLY TWICE HER AGE . THE DAUGHTER OF A U.S . MARINE CORPS COLONEL, AT 29 SHE WAS ADVENTUROUS, ASTUTE, ATTRACTIVE AND, FROM DILIGENT YEARS ON EUROPE'S DIPLOMATIC CIRCUIT, ALREADY AN OLD HAND AT AFFAIRS OF STATE . LEAVING HER HUSBAND, SHE RETURNED TO THE U.S . SHORTLY AFTER THE FALL OF FRANCE, IMMEDIATELY JOINED BRITISH SECURITY COORDINATION (B.S.C.), THE MANHATTANBASED INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERESPIONAGE NETWORK THAT WAS RUN BY SIR WILLIAM STEPHENSON, THE FAMED " QUIET CANADIAN . " HE SENT CYNTHIA TO WASHINGTON, WHERE SHE TOOK A GEORGETOWN HOUSE ON O STREET AND WENT TO WORK . CYNTHIA'S FIRST BIG ASSIGNMENT WAS ENOUGH TO DAUNT THE WILIEST OLD PRO : HER ORDERS WERE TO GET HOLD OF THE ITALIAN NAVAL CODE BOOK . WITHIN A FEW WEEKS OF FIRST MEETING THE SHAPELY BETTY PACK, ITALY'S NAVAL ATTACHE, ADMIRAL ALBERTO LAIS, WAS SO SCUPPERED BY HER THAT HE SURRENDERED THE CODE WITH HARDLY A MURMUR . ITALIAN APOLOGISTS MAINTAIN THAT LAIS, WHO DIED IN 1951, WAS ACTUALLY SO UNGALLANT AS TO GIVE HIS MISTRESS A FAKE CIPHER BOOK . UNDENIABLY, HOWEVER, BRITISH INTELLIGENCE THEREAFTER PROVED UNCANNILY ADEPT AT FORESTALLING ITALIAN FLEET MOVEMENTS, NOTABLY IN THE MARCH 1941 SEA BATTLE OFF GREECE'S CAPE MATAPAN, WHERE THE ROYAL NAVY CRIPPLED ITALY'S NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR FORCE . OUTWITTED WATCHMAN . FOR THE U.S . AS WELL AS BRITAIN, CYNTHIA'S MOST VALUABLE COUP WAS TO CAPTURE THE SECRET CODE USED BY THE VICHY GOVERNMENT'S DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS AS WELL AS THE FRENCH FLEET, WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE TAKEN THOUSANDS OF ALLIED LIVES DURING THE INVASION OF NORTH AFRICA . POSING AS A WASHINGTON NEWSHEN, CYNTHIA HAD ALREADY SEDUCED THE DASHING CAPTAIN BROUSSE, THEN THE PRESS ATTACHE IN THE PETAIN GOVERNMENT'S WASHINGTON EMBASSY ; BY PLAYING ON HIS HATRED OF THE NAZIS, SHE MADE HIM A WILLING ALLY . " I WAS NOT JUST INDULGING HIS DESIRES SO AS TO GET HIM TO DISCLOSE MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC INTELLIGENCE, " WROTE CYNTHIA . " I WAS FULFILLING A DEEP NEED OF MY OWN . " BROUSSE MORE THAN SATISFIED HER BOSSES' NEEDS AS WELL BY SUPPLYING DAILY COPIES OF ALL FRENCH DIPLOMATIC CABLES . IN 1942, WHEN THE EMBASSY'S NAVAL ATTACHE PROVED SEDUCIBLE BUT OBDURATELY PRO-VICHY, BROUSSE EVEN AGREED TO HELP HER FILCH THE CODE BOOKS FROM THE ATTACHE'S OFFICE SO THAT THEY COULD BE COPIED AND RETURNED TO THE EMBASSY SAFE UNNOTICED . THEIR TACTICS WERE EXQUISITELY GALLIC . CHARLES SHOWED UP AT THE EMBASSY WITH CYNTHIA ONE NIGHT AND, RUSTLING A FEW DOLLAR BILLS, WHISPERED TO THE UNDERSTANDING WATCHMAN THAT MME . BROUSSE WAS SUSPICIOUS OF THEIR LIAISON (SHE WAS, INDEED, AND LATER DIVORCED HIM) . THE EMBASSY, BROUSSE EXPLAINED TO THE GUARD, WAS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE HE AND HIS GIRL COULD RENDEZVOUS, AND THEY SOON BECAME REGULAR VISITORS . ON THE NIGHT THEY PLANNED TO LIFT THE CODE, WITH THE HELP OF A SAFEBREAKER CALLED THE GEORGIA CRACKER, THEY PUT THE WATCHMAN TO SLEEP WITH DRUGGED CHAMPAGNE, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE LOCKS WERE SO TOUGH THAT THEY HAD TO COMPLETE THE JOB A FEW NIGHTS LATER . BY NOW, THEY GUESSED THAT THE NIGHT WATCHMAN MUST SUSPECT THAT IT WAS NOT JUST AMOUR THEY WERE AFTER . SURE ENOUGH, SOON AFTER CYNTHIA AND HER LOVER ENTERED THE DARKENED OFFICE, THE DOOR BURST OPEN AND THE WATCHMAN STUDIED THEM UNDER A POWERFUL FLASHLIGHT . FINALLY, HE BLURTED, " I BEG YOUR PARDON, MADAME, A THOUSAND TIMES, " AND FLED DOWN THE CORRIDOR . BEFORE GOING TO WORK ON THE SAFE, CYNTHIA HAD TAKEN THE SIMPLE PRECAUTION OF REMOVING ALL HER CLOTHES .
 RUSSIA BETTER THINGS FOR BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY ? / UTOPIANS THINK THAT SCIENCE CAN TRANSFORM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN INTO LEMONADE, " SNORTED KARL MARX'S CO-WORKER, FRIEDRICH ENGELS . YET WHO SHOULD BE SERVING UP LEMONADE LAST WEEK THAN THAT OLD REALIST NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV . IN THE KREMLIN'S MARBLE-HALLED PALACE OF THE CONGRESSES, ADDRESSING THE COMMUNIST PARTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE AND MORE THAN 5,000 OTHER COMRADES, NIKITA PROMISED THAT ONE GREAT FORCE WOULD MIRACULOUSLY STRAIGHTEN OUT THE SOVIET ECONOMIC MESS : BIG CHEMISTRY . BETWEEN 1964 AND 1970, KHRUSHCHEV ANNOUNCED, THE REGIME WILL SPEND $46 BILLION TO EXPAND THE SOVIET CHEMICAL INDUSTRY ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT THAT NOW GOES ANNUALLY INTO ALL DOMESTIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT . WHERE WOULD THE ADDITIONAL MONEY COME FROM ? KHRUSHCHEV HINTED AT A RADICAL REDUCTION IN MILITARY SPENDING . MORE IMPORTANT, HE ADMITTED THAT RUSSIA WOULD NEED CREDIT AND SUPPLIES, INCLUDING ENTIRE FACTORIES, FROM THE WEST BUT NOT, HE FUMED, AT " FABULOUS PROFITS " TO THE CAPITALISTS . BRAVE TALK . PLANS CALL FOR BUILDING 200 NEW PLANTS AND MODERNIZING 500 OLD ONES ; SINCE MUCH OF THE NEW PRODUCTION WILL BE PLASTICS AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS, SOVIET CITIZENS MAY AT LAST FIND IT EASIER TO BUY SUCH SIMPLE ITEMS AS NYLON STOCKINGS AND LINOLEUM FLOORING . " FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALL THE 46 YEARS OF SOVIET POWER, " SAID NIKITA IN A REMARKABLE CONFESSION, THE PARTY AND THE STATE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT " SATISFYING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PEOPLE . " MOREOVER, NEW PRODUCTS MUST SHOW BETTER DESIGN, BECAUSE IT IS " NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO TOLERATE " RUSSIAN CONSUMER GOODS THAT " LOOK LESS SMART THAN FOREIGN ARTICLES . " AN EVEN MORE URGENT TASK FOR BIG CHEMISTRY IS THE PRODUCTION OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZER . ITS OUTPUT, PROMISED KHRUSHCHEV, WOULD BE QUADRUPLED FROM 20 MILLION TONS THIS YEAR TO 80 MILLION TONS BY 1970 . THIS WOULD PERMIT RUSSIA TO CATCH UP WITH THE U.S., FOR U.S . FARM SURPLUSES ARE NOT THE RESULT OF ANY " SPECIAL AMERICAN WISDOM, " KHRUSHCHEV INSISTED ; IT IS JUST THAT THE U.S . USES ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH FERTILIZER AS THE SOVIET UNION ON ABOUT HALF THE ACREAGE . THROUGH ALL THIS BRAVE TALK RAN THE ADMISSION OF RUSSIA'S DISASTROUS AGRICULTURAL FAILURES . ONE ARRESTING FIGURE : ALTHOUGH ACREAGE INCREASED 7 PER CENT SINCE LAST YEAR, YIELD ACTUALLY DROPPED 20 PER CENT . IF ANYONE WAS INCLINED TO CRITICIZE THIS FAILURE, OR THE COSTLY PALLIATIVE OF BUYING GRAIN FROM THE WEST, KHRUSHCHEV HAD THE STANDARD ANSWER . REMEMBER HOW BAD THINGS WERE UNDER STALIN . IN 1947, TO EARN FOREIGN EXCHANGE, STALIN AND MOLOTOV ACTUALLY SOLD GRAIN ABROAD WHILE IN A NUMBER OF AREAS " PEOPLE HAD BLOATED STOMACHS OR EVEN DIED FROM LACK OF FOOD . " IT WAS THE FIRST TIME MOSCOW HAD ADMITTED THAT STARVATION TOOK PLACE IN THE SOVIET UNION SINCE THE FORCED COLLECTIVIZATION OF THE EARLY 1930S . BULGING WAREHOUSES . FOLLOWING KHRUSHCHEV'S 4F-HOUR SPEECH, OTHER COMMUNIST BIGWIGS SHOOK THE AUDIENCE WITH A SERIES OF ANGRY COMPLAINTS . MOST COLLECTIVE FARMERS DO NOT KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT USING CHEMICAL FERTILIZER ; THE UKRAINE IS PLANNING A CRASH PROGRAM TO EDUCATE 4,000 / SKILLED FERTILIZER APPLIERS . " SUPERPHOSPHATE FERTILIZER ARRIVES AT THE FARMS WITH ONLY 20 PER CENT OF THE REQUIRED CHEMICAL NUTRIENTS ; THE REST IS WORTHLESS BALLAST THAT GETS LUMPY AND HEAVY IN THE RAIN . RUSSIA HAS AN IMPRESSIVE 561 SOIL LABORATORIES, BUT MOST OF THEM HAVE ONLY ONE OR TWO EMPLOYEES AND THE WRONG EQUIPMENT . AS FOR THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY ITSELF, MANAGERS ARE STILL WAITING FOR DELIVERY OF EQUIPMENT DESIGNED TEN YEARS AGO . SOME OF THE PRODUCTS ARE SO UNGAINLY THAT THEY PILE UP UNSOLD IN WAREHOUSES FOR INSTANCE, SYNTHETIC FUR COATS, WHICH, COMPLAINED ONE SPEAKER, " ARE SO HEAVY THAT ONLY WELL-TRAINED ATHLETES CAN WEAR THEM . " ONLY ABOUT 30 PER CENT OF THE WORKERS IN THE INDUSTRY ARE ENGAGED IN PRODUCTION, WHILE THE REST ARE OCCUPIED WITH MAINTENANCE OR BUREAUCRATIC TASKS . MOREOVER, WORKERS ARE UNDERPAID AND RECEIVE ONLY A FRACTION OF THE PRESCRIBED INCENTIVE BONUSES . THE MATTER OF PERSONAL INCENTIVES WAS CLEARLY THE KEY TO THE SITUATION, BOTH IN INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE . IT IS THE VERY NATURE OF COLLECTIVE FARMING NOT THE RELATIVELY SUPERFICIAL PROBLEM OF FERTILIZER PRODUCTION THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE CHRONIC CRISIS . AS KHRUSHCHEV'S OWN FIGURES SHOWED, PEASANTS WORKING ON THEIR TINY, PRIVATE HALF-ACRE PLOTS, WHICH COMPRISE LESS THAN 1 PER CENT OF THE ARABLE LAND, SELL TO THE STATE 14 PER CENT OF THE COUNTRY'S MEAT, 30 PER CENT OF THE EGGS, AND RAISE 65 PER CENT OF THE CABBAGES AND POTATOES .
 THAILAND DEATH OF A MAN ON A VISIT TO THAILAND TWO YEARS AGO, LYNDON JOHNSON SAID THAT THE TIME HAD COME FOR SOUTH EAST ASIA TO / SEPARATE THE MEN FROM THE BOYS " IN ITS BATTLE AGAINST COMMUNIST AGGRESSION . IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, THAILAND'S PREMIER SARIT THANARAT WAS A MAN . A BLUFF, HARD-WENCHING, HARD-DRINKING SOLDIER, SARIT WAS ALSO A MASTERLY PRO-WESTERN POLITICIAN WHO STABILIZED THAILAND'S CHAOTIC GOVERNMENT AND SAGGING ECONOMY, ROOTED OUT OFFICIAL CORRUPTION AND CRACKED DOWN HARD ON COMMUNIST INFILTRATION . IN THE " DOMINO " VIEW OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, ACCORDING TO WHICH THE COLLAPSE OF ONE COUNTRY COULD KNOCK OVER ALL THE OTHERS, THAILAND ALONE STOOD FIRM, SURROUNDED BY TOTTERING NEIGHBORS LAOS, CAMBODIA, VIET NAM, BURMA . WHEN SARIT DIED LAST WEEK AT 55, THE U.S . FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FIVE YEARS WAS FORCED TO WORRY WHETHER THAILAND WOULD BECOME ANOTHER OF SOUTHEAST ASIA'S WAVERING DOMINOES . TRICK ACHIEVED . THOUGH MARSHAL SARIT RULED THAILAND AS AN ABSOLUTE DICTATOR, HE HAD A STRONG SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD COUNTRY AND PEOPLE . " ANYBODY CAN STAGE A REVOLUTION, " HE SAID AFTER SEIZING POWER IN A BLOODLESS COUP IN 1957 . / THE TRICK, ONCE THE REVOLUTION HAS BEEN STAGED, IS WINNING PUBLIC APPROVAL . " ON DOCTOR'S ORDERS, HE WENT ON THE WAGON, BEGAN HOUSECLEANING THAILAND FROM TOP TO BOTTOM . HE BANNED OPIUM SMOKING, AND WHEN A RASH OF FIRES BROKE OUT IN BANGKOK'S BUSINESS DISTRICT ONE WINTER, HE ORDERED FOUR CHINESE MERCHANTS SHOT A BRUTAL BUT EFFECTIVE REMINDER THAT THE ANNUAL CUSTOM OF BURNING SHOPS TO COLLECT INSURANCE FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEAR WAS NOW TABOO . SARIT SLASHED THE PRICE OF RICE, TRANSPORTATION AND SCHOOL FEES, ALLOCATED AS MUCH MONEY FOR EDUCATION AS FOR DEFENSE . HE ENCOURAGED FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION, HAD MORE THAN $500 MILLION IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES SOCKED AWAY, SPURRED A HEALTHY 6 PER CENT ANNUAL RISE IN THE G.N.P . WHEN COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS STEPPED UP THEIR CAMPAIGN OF SUBVERSION IN THE SCRUBBY, IMPOVERISHED NORTHEAST PROVINCES, SARIT SET IN MOTION A CRASH $300 MILLION PROGRAM OF MEDICAL, ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT UNDERCUT THE RED THREAT . THOUGH HIS RULE WAS ABSOLUTE, HE ALWAYS KNELT BEFORE THAILAND'S KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ, ENCOURAGED THAIS TO ACCEPT THE KING AS HEAD OF STATE AND SYMBOL OF NATIONAL UNITY . THREE WEEKS AGO, SARIT WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WITH COMPLICATIONS ARISING FROM CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER AND A LIFETIME OF HARD LIVING . AMONG HIS OTHER AILMENTS : ENLARGEMENT OF THE HEART, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, KIDNEY DISEASE, CONGESTED LUNGS . FROM HIS HOSPITAL BED, HE SANG TO HIS WIFE AN OLD THAI BALLAD THAT BEGINS : / THE LOVE OF 100 MISTRESSES COULD NOT BE COMPARED TO THE LOVE ONE HAS FOR HIS OWN WIFE.' ? THE U.S . ARMY SURGEON GENERAL RUSHED TO BANGKOK TO TREAT SARIT, BUT HIS HEART FINALLY GAVE OUT . THE JOB AHEAD . SARIT'S DEATH OCCASIONED NATIONAL MOURNING AND HONORS USUALLY ACCORDED ONLY TO THAILAND'S ROYAL FAMILY . DRESSED IN A FIELD MARSHAL'S UNIFORM, SARIT'S BODY WAS PLACED ON A BIER IN BANGKOK ON THE GROUNDS OF THE MARBLE TEMPLE . THOUSANDS OF MOURNERS POURED SCENTED WATER FROM CONCH SHELLS OVER THE CORPSE'S EXTENDED RIGHT HAND AS A GESTURE OF FAREWELL AND AS A PLEA FOR FORGIVENESS FOR ANY GRIEVANCE COMMITTED AGAINST THE DEAD MAN . THEN THE BODY, FOLDED IN A FETAL POSITION, WAS PUT IN AN ORNATE GOLDEN URN, WHERE IT WILL REMAIN UNTIL IT IS CREMATED, PROBABLY SOME TIME IN THE EARLY SPRING . SARIT'S SUCCESSOR IS FORMER VICE PREMIER AND DEFENSE MINISTER THANOM KITTIKACHORN, 52, A HANDSOME, AMIABLE ARMY GENERAL WHO SERVED UNIMPRESSIVELY AS PREMIER IN 1958 WHEN SARIT WAS LAID UP IN A WASHINGTON HOSPITAL . THANOM WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF SARIT'S AND A LOYAL SUPPORTER OF HIS POLICIES ; HE IMMEDIATELY APPOINTED A NEW CABINET ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS HIS PREDECESSOR'S, PROMISED TO FOLLOW SARIT'S PRO-WESTERN, ANTI-COMMUNIST POLICIES . MOST IN HIS FAVOR : HE INHERITS A FUNCTIONING GOVERNMENT IN WHICH THE ARMY PROVIDES POWER, THE TOPFLIGHT CIVIL SERVICE CONTRIBUTES ADMINISTRATIVE ABILITY, AND THE MONARCHY LENDS LEGITIMACY TO THE WHOLE . BUT REMEMBERING THAILAND'S SHAKY, PRE-SARIT PAST, IN WHICH COUP FOLLOWED COUP, THAILAND'S MOST SOPHISTICATED LEADERS KNOW THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE TO WITHSTAND A STRONG DRIFT BACK TO THE OLD PATTERN . THE THAI NATION FACES " A TREMENDOUS TASK, " SAYS ABLE FOREIGN MINISTER THANAT KHOMAN . " IT IS, AS YOU SAY IN AMERICA, A HELL OF A JOB . /
 CAMBODIA GHOULISH GLEE THAILAND'S GRIEF OVER SARIT'S DEATH WAS IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE GHOULISH GLEE IT PROVOKED IN NEIGHBORING CAMBODIA . NEUTRALIST PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK LONG HATED SARIT, WHOM HE LABELED A WESTERN TOADY, TWO YEARS AGO BROKE OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THAILAND IN A FLURRY OF EPITHETS . ON RECEIVING NEWS OF THE DEATH, SPECIAL CONCERTS WERE SCHEDULED TO CELEBRATE THE OCCASION . PRINCE SIHANOUK ALLOWED CIVIL SERVANTS TO REPORT FOR WORK TWO HOURS LATER FOR A FORTNIGHT SO THAT THEY COULD " DANCE AND AMUSE THEMSELVES . " IN AN OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION, A GOVERNMENT BROADCAST SAID THAT " THANKS TO DIVINE PROTECTION, ALL CAMBODIA'S ENEMIES SUFFER COMPLETE DESTRUCTION . NGO DINH DIEM AND NGO DINH NHU WERE KILLED BY BULLETS . THEIR FRIEND SARIT, WHO MISTREATED CAMBODIA INCESSANTLY, MET WITH SUDDEN DEATH . MOREOVER, THE GREAT BOSS OF THESE AGGRESSORS MET THE SAME FATE . " WHEN THE U.S . OFFICIALLY PROTESTED THESE WORDS, CAMBODIA DENIED ANY DEROGATORY INTENTIONS TOWARD PRESIDENT KENNEDY, BUT IT HUFFILY RECALLED ITS AMBASSADOR FROM WASHINGTON . AT THE SAME TIME, WITH CONSUMMATE GALL A GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT CLAIMED THAT THE U.S . HAD TAKEN " TOO LITERALLY " SIHANOUK'S RECENT DECISION AGAINST ACCEPTING FURTHER U.S . AID ; WASHINGTON, WENT THE NEW COMPLAINT, IMMEDIATELY STOPPED ALL PROJECTS IN PROGRESS INSTEAD OF LETTING THE PRINCE DECIDE THE CUTOFF DATES HIMSELF . ORDERING ALL U.S . MILITARY AND ECONOMIC MISSIONS OUT OF THE COUNTRY BY JAN . 15, SIHANOUK THREATENED : " WE WILL BE HAPPY TO BREAK OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE U.S . " THE STATE DEPARTMENT REPLIED BY ORDERING U.S . AMBASSADOR PHILIP SPROUSE BACK TO WASHINGTON FOR " CONSULATIONS . /
 SOUTH VIET NAM BACK TO SAIGON THIS WEEK, FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE MONTHS, GOES U.S . DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT S . MCNAMARA . HIS AIM : TO SIZE UP SOUTH VIET NAM'S NEW REGIME, WHICH WAS HELPED TO POWER BY THE U.S . ON THE THEORY THAT IT WOULD FIGHT THE WAR MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN THE MURDERED PRESIDENT DIEM, BUT WHICH, SO FAR AT LEAST, HAS PROVIDED DISAPPOINTING LEEDERSHIP . THE WAR IS STILL SHOWING ALARMING DRIFT, AND THE COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS HAVE SHOWN SIGNS OF GETTING BOLDER . LAST WEEK TIME CORRESPONDENT MURRAY GART, TO GET HIS OWN LOOK AT THE WAR, FLEW ON 26 HELICOPTER MISSIONS IN FIVE DAYS (THREE OF HIS CHOPPERS WERE HIT BY GUNFIRE), CAME AWAY WITH THE STORY OF A PLAN FOR STEPPED-UP AERIAL STRIKES AGAINST THE REDS AND SOME GRIM IMPRESSIONS OF THE FIGHTING IN GENERAL . GART'S REPORT : AT SAIGON AIRPORT BEFORE DAWN, A SWARM OF HELICOPTERS SPUTTERED TO LIFE, THEIR WHIRLING BLADES CHURNING UP MISTY CONTRAILS IN THE COOL, DAMP AIR . SOON A FORMATION OF 13 " HUEYS " (UH-1BS) WAS AIRBORNE AND DRONING AWAY AT 2,000 FT . BELOW, THE LIGHT OF DAY BROKE OVER THE MEKONG DELTA, TURNING RIVERS AND CANALS INTO SILVERY RIBBONS AMONG THE GREEN PADDYFIELDS . INSIDE THE CHOPPERS, MEN LONG HARDENED TO POSSIBLE DEATH CAREFULLY CRUSHED OUT THEIR AFTER-BREAKFAST CIGARETTES . A MERE FIFTEEN MINUTES OUT OF SAIGON AND DIRECTLY SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL, THE THREE LEAD HUEYS, BRISTLING WITH ROCKETS AND MACHINE GUNS, BUZZED THE TARGET AREA ; THEY HEDGE-HOPPED LINES OF FOLIAGE, HOVERED OVER HUTS, SCRUTINIZED THE PADDY FIELDS . " NEGATIVE CONTACT, " U.S . PILOT CAPTAIN DENNIS BOYLE RADIOED TO THE MAIN FORCE, MEANING NO GROUND FIRE . THE REST OF THE FLEET FLUTTERED INTO THE ZONE, AND WHILE ARMED CRAFT CIRCLED PROTECTIVELY, FIVE " SKINNED " (UNARMED) HUEYS ALIGHTED IN A CLEARING AND DISGORGED 70 VIETNAMESE TROOPS . THE SOLDIERS SWEPT THROUGH A VILLAGE, ROUNDING UP PEASANTS SUSPECTED OF BEING GUERRILLAS ; SOME OF THE MEN HAD BEEN FOUND CROUCHING TOGETHER, UNABLE TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY WERE NOT OUT IN THE FIELDS WORKING . ONE OFFERED A SOLDIER 1,000 PIASTERS ($13.60) TO SET HIM FREE ; THE SOLDIER GLADLY ACCEPTED THE PAYOFF, THEN TAGGED THE CAPTIVE WITH A WHITE SCARF IDENTIFYING HIM AS A PROBABLE VIET CONG . SHIRTS WERE STRIPPED FROM BACKS TO CHECK FOR THE GUERRILLA'S TELLTALE MARKS OF PACK STRAPS . FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, THE HELICOPTERS WERE HEADED BACK TO SAIGON WITH A HAUL OF 14 PRISONERS . REPLACING TERROR . THE OPERATION, CALLED AN " EAGLE STRIKE, / IS A TACTIC BY WHICH THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND ITS U.S . ADVISERS HOPE TO ADD SPEED AND INITIATIVE TO ANTI-GUERRILLA OPERATIONS . THOUGH SUCH STRIKES HAVE LONG BEEN USED IN VIET NAM FOR MISSIONS BIG AND SMALL, THE PROGRAM NOW BEING LAUNCHED AIMS TO CARRY OUT SMALLSCALE, SEARCH-AND-SEIZE MISSIONS AS NEVER BEFORE, ESPECIALLY IN THE HEAVILY INFILTRATED DELTA . FOR THE FIRST TIME THE U.S . UTILITY TACTICAL TRANSPORT COMPANY BASED AT SAIGON AIRPORT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED " EAGLE STRIKES " AS A PERMANENT DUTY . A U.S . MAJOR DESCRIBES THE OPERATION AS " A RECONNAISSANCE FORCE ALWAYS SEEKING OUT THE ENEMY, STRIKING ONLY WHEN CONTACT IS MADE OR INTELLIGENCE IS GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE A LANDING WORTHWHILE . ALSO, IT IS CARRIED OUT BY A SMALL FORCE, NOT ONE THAT REQUIRES THE MOVEMENT OF DOZENS OF CRAFT AND BATTALIONS OF MEN . " BRIGADIER GENERAL JOSEPH W . STILWELL JR., " VINEGAR JOE'S " SON, WHO " FLIES " A DESK IN SAIGON BUT WHO IS ALWAYS SLIPPING OUT ON CHOPPER MISSIONS, PUTS THE TACTICAL CHALLENGE IN SOUTH VIET NAM IN BRUTALLY FRANK TERMS . " THE PROBLEM, " SAYS HE, " IS TO REPLACE VIET CONG CONTROL OF THE COUNTRYSIDE, WHICH THEY MAINTAIN THROUGH MURDER, RAPE, TORTURE AND TERROR, WITH SOMETHING ELSE . WE DON'T USE TERROR TACTICS . THE EAGLE STRIKE IS THE BEST WAY TO GO AFTER THEM, USING THE ELEMENT OF COMPLETE SURPRISE . BUT IT IS ONLY ONE WAY, AND WE NEED OTHERS . " AFTER COMPLETING THEIR CRACK-OF-DAWN MISSION LAST WEEK THE CREWS OF THE 13 HUEYS AND THE 70 VIETNAMESE SOLDIERS RESTED WHILE THEIR CHOPPERS WERE BEING REFUELED, THEN WERE AIRBORNE AGAIN, HEADING FOR A VILLAGE JUST TWELVE MILES SOUTH OF SAIGON . THIS TIME ONE HELICOPTER IN THE FIRST WAVE TOOK A BULLET IN THE FUSELAGE, BUT THE TROOP CARRIERS SET DOWN ANYWAY . THE SOLDIERS FOUND THE VILLAGE FLYING A VIET CONG FLAG, ROUNDED UP 43 PRISONERS . BACK AT THE BASE (BY NOW IT WAS NOON), THE EAGLES RECEIVED A REPORT THAT A VIET CONG COMPANY HAD BEEN SPOTTED MOVING TEN MILES SOUTH OF SAIGON AND SCRAMBLED ONCE MORE . OVER THE THEY RAN INTO MACHINE-GUN FIRE, BUT SILENCED IT WITH A FUSILLADE OF ROCKETS AND BULLETS THE VIETNAMESE LANDED AND ROUNDED UP WHATEVER REDS HAD NOT MANAGED TO ESCAPE . PRIVATE YALU . THE HELICOPTER WORK REQUIRES STEADY NERVES . ONE ARMED HUEY ESCORTING A SUPPLY CHOPPER AT AN OUTPOST ON THE PLAIN OF REEDS WEST OF SAIGON ATTACKED A MACHINEGUN NEST THAT HAD OPENED FIRE . JUST BEFORE ONE ROCKET WAS DROPPED, IT WAS APPARENTLY STRUCK BY A SNIPER'S BULLET AND BLEW UP, SHATTERING THE PLANE'S PLEXIGLAS WINDOWS ; THE GUNNER AND THE CREW CHIEF SUFFERED SUPERFICIAL BUT BLOODY FACE WOUNDS . THE DIALOGUE OVER THE INTERCOM BETRAYED NO PANIC : " WAS A ROCKET BLEW UP, WASN'T IT ? / IT WAS SOMETHIN' . " / YOU O.K., O'SHEA .Q? " / ROGER . " / ANYBODY ELSE GET HIT ? " / YOU GOT A FAT LIP THERE, BOY . " DURING ANOTHER MISSION, AN AERIAL ATTACK ON TWO COMPANIES OF VIET CONG DUG INTO FOXHOLES HEAR THE DIFFICULT-TO-PATROL CAMBODIAN BORDER, SOME OF THE GROUND FIRE CAME FROM ACROSS A RIVER THAT SEPARATES VIET NAM FROM " NEUTRAL " CAMBODIA A RIVER THAT ONE AMERICAN ADVISER BITTERLY CALLS " OUR OWN PRIVATE YALU . " DISMAL SCENE . DESPITE THE ATTEMPT AT IMPROVED MOBILITY, SOUTH VIET NAM'S GENERALS HAVE YET TO STAGE ANY SPECTACULAR FEATS AGAINST THE VIET CONG ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE PLANS ON THE DRAWING BOARDS, AND GOVERNMENT FORCES LAST WEEK CAPTURED MORE WEAPONS THAN THEY LOST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS . EVERYWHERE ONE TRAVELS, AND THE ONLY SAFE MODE OF TRAVEL IS BY HELICOPTER, THE COUNTRYSIDE IS A DISMAL SIGHT OF ACTUAL OR THREATENED VIET CONG CONTROL . IN THE DELTA TO THE SOUTH, AND IN TWO OR THREE PROVINCES AROUND SAIGON, THERE IS NO DOUBT OF WHO CONTROLS THE BOONDOCKS . OF MOUNTING CONCERN IS THE COMMUNISTS' INCREASED HOLD ON VITAL LONG AN PROVINCE ON SAIGON'S SOUTHERN FLANK, WHERE CONDITIONS HAVE BECOME PRECARIOUS . A U.S . ADVISER SAYS WRYLY THAT THERE IS NO NEED IN LONG AN FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S PLAN TO ABOLISH SOME OF THE OVEREXTENDED OUTPOSTS . " THE VIET CONG, " HE SAYS, " ARE DOING THAT FOR US . " IN A GUERRILLA WAR, IT IS OFTEN IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO IS WINNING . BUT IN VIET NAM SOME THINGS DO SEEM CERTAIN : MANY MORE LIVES WILL BE TRAGICALLY LOST, THE WAR CANNOT POSSIBLY BE WON BY 1965, AND A RICH JEWEL OF A COUNTRY CARVED OUT OF ANCIENT INDOCHINA SEES NO END IN SIGHT TO A DECADE OF RED-INSTIGATED FIGHTING . ABOUT THE BEST THAT CAN BE EXPECTED IS TO MAINTAIN HOPE, APPLY MUSCLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES, MAKE LONG-RANGE COMMITMENTS, AND RETAIN A DOGGED DETERMINATION TO KEEP FIGHTING . THEN MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, EVENTS AND THE TIDE OF BATTLE WILL MERGE TO KEEP THIS PIECE OF REAL ESTATE FROM COMMUNIST CONTROL .
 KENYA UHURU IS NOT ENOUGH THE YOUTH RALLY AT NAIROBI LAST WEEK WAS INTERRUPTED BY THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF FOUR RANGY AFRICANS . EACH WAS CLAD IN ANIMAL SKINS, ARMED WITH SHARP-BLADED PANGAS AND WEARING HIS HAIR IN LONG BRAIDS SMEARED WITH RED MUD THE FIGHTING INSIGNIA OF THE MAU MAU TERRORISTS . THE CROWD FELL SILENT AS THE FOUR APPROACHED THE DAIS WHERE SAT PRIME MINISTER JOMO KENYATTA AND HIS HONORED GUEST, PRINCE PHILIP, HUSBAND OF BRITAIN'S QUEEN ELIZABETH . WITH HIS LUMBERING, ELEPHANT WALK, KENYATTA DESCENDED FROM THE DAIS, PUSHED THROUGH HIS STARTLED SECURITY GUARDS, AND GREETED THE MAU MAU . / KENYA IS FREE NOW, " HE SAID . " THERE IS NO NEED TO HIDE OR FIGHT . / PEACEFULLY, THE FOUR MEN SURRENDERED THEIR WEAPONS . THE CEREMONY . ALTHOUGH KENYA'S VICIOUS MAU MAU LONG AGO STOPPED FIGHTING, MANY WERE STILL HIDING OUT IN THE GREEN-BLACK FORESTS ON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT KENYA . ALL WEEK THEY DRIFTED BACK " FIELD MARSHAL " MWARIAMA AND 50 ASSORTED " GENERALS . " THE FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES ARRIVING ALONG WITH THE MAU MAU RANGED FROM RED CHINA'S FOREIGN MINISTER CHEN YI TO INDIA'S INDIRA GANDHI AND U.S . INTERIOR SECRETARY STEWART UDALL . ALSO FROM THE U.S., AS GUESTS AND ENTERTAINERS, CAME HARRY BELAFONTE AND MIRIAM MAKEBA.* THERE WERE BALLS, GARDEN PARTIES, RECEPTIONS, THE LAYING OF CORNERSTONES, AND THE PRESENTATION OF GIFTS . QUEEN ELIZABETH GAVE KENYATTA THE ROYAL LODGE AT SAGANA ; THE AGA KHAN TURNED OVER TO HIM HIS OWN FORMER RESIDENCE ; A GROUP OF U.S . BUSINESSMEN DONATED A WHITE LINCOLN CONTINENTAL . THE CLIMAX CAME WHEN KENYATTA GOT INTO HIS NEW CAR AND WAS DRIVEN TO UHURU STADIUM . AT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT, AS KENYATTA ROSE TO TAKE PART IN THE FLAG-RAISING CEREMONY, PRINCE PHILIP WHISPERED JOKINGLY TO HIM, " ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULDN'T LIKE TO CHANGE YOUR MIND NOW ? " SMILING, KENYATTA SHOOK HIS HEAD AND, ACCOMPANIED BY BRITAIN'S GOVERNOR MALCOLM MACDONALD (WHO WILL STAY ON AS GOVERNOR-GENERAL), WALKED TO THE TWO FLAGPOLES IN THE CENTER OF THE STADIUM . IN ORDER TO SPARE BRITISH ONLOOKERS ALL POSSIBLE ANGUISH, KENYATTA HAD TACTFULLY ORDERED THAT THE LIGHTS BE DIMMED DURING THE MOMENT THE UNION JACK WAS LOWERED, AND THEN BLAZED ON AGAIN AS KENYA'S FLAG WAS RAISED . THE NEW BANNER : BLACK FOR THE PEOPLE, RED FOR THE BLOOD THAT HAS BEEN SHED, AND GREEN FOR THE LAND, WITH THIN WHITE LINES INSERTED BETWEEN THE COLORS . THE WHITE, SAYS KENYATTA, IS TO ENSURE THAT THE FLAG REPRESENTS ALL KENYANS . SLOWLY THE BANNER OF AFRICA'S 35TH NEW STATE UNFURLED TO WILD CRIES OF " UHURU ! " AND THE EXPLOSION OF FIREWORKS . MINUTES LATER, WORD REACHED THE STADIUM THAT A TEAM OF CLIMBERS HAD REACHED THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT KENYA, PLANTED THE NEW FLAG AND LIT FLARES THAT ILLUMINATED THE SACRED MOUNTAIN " LIKE A FIREBALL . " THE PROBLEMS . DESPITE HIS ESTIMATED 73 YEARS (HE CLAIMS NOT TO BE SURE OF HIS BIRTH DATE), AND FREQUENT SIGNS OF FATIGUE, KENYATTA IS STILL TALL AND BROADSHOULDERED, HIS EYES HUGE AND PIERCING . IN HIS TIME HE HAS BEEN A FARM BOY, STUDENT, LABORER, METER-READER, RESPECTED ANTHROPOLOGIST, HEADMASTER, CONVICTED TERRORIST AND, FOR DECADES, THE UNPARALLELED IDOL OF MILLIONS OF AFRICANS . THE COUNTRY HE NOW RULES CARRIES MOST OF ITS OLD ILLS INTO INDEPENDENCE . ABROAD, THE MOST IMMEDIATE PROBLEM IS A VIOLENT QUARREL WITH KENYA'S NORTHEASTERN NEIGHBOR, SOMALIA, WHICH LAYS CLAIM TO THE BARREN BUT EXTENSIVE NORTHEASTERN REGION, INHABITED BY 200,000 SOMALIS (SEE MAP) . TO DIMINISH SUCH QUARRELS, KENYA IS EARNESTLY PUSHING AN EAST AFRICAN FEDERATION OF KENYA WITH TANGANYIKA AND UGANDA, WHICH WOULD CREATE A NATION OF 25 MILLION PEOPLE AND MIGHT EVENTUALLY BE EXTENDED TO SUCH SMALL STATES AS ZANZIBAR, NYASALAND, RWANDA AND BURUNDI . INTERNATIONALLY, KENYA WILL, OF COURSE, BE NEUTRALIST AND ACCEPT AID FROM BOTH EAST AND WEST . INDEPENDENCE BROUGHT ABOUT A REUNION OF KENYATTA'S FAR-FLUNG FAMILIES . HIS ENGLISH THIRD WIFE, EDNA MAY, AND HER 20-YEAR-OLD SON PETER, A CAMBRIDGE UNDERGRADUATE, FLEW TO NAIROBI AND WERE MET BY KENYATTA'S FOURTH WIFE, NGINA, AN AFRICAN, AND HIS DAUGHTERS MARGARET, 34, AND JANE, 14, BY HIS FIRST WIFE GRACE, ALSO AN AFRICAN . HIS SECOND WIFE, WHOSE NAME KENYATTA REFUSES TO DIVULGE, IS SAID TO HAVE DIED ABOUT TWELVE YEARS AGO . KENYATTA HIMSELF HAS HARDLY SHOWN ANY COMMUNIST SYMPATHIES, BUT HIS HOME MINISTER, OGINGA ODINGA, IS A LEFT-WINGER WHO HAS ALREADY SET UP A STATE NEWS AGENCY WITH RUSSIAN AND CZECH HELP . HE IS PERHAPS BALANCED BY JUSTICE MINISTER TOM MBOYA, WHO IS AT PRESENT POLITICALLY IN THE SHADE, BUT REMAINS STRONGLY NATIONALIST AND GENERALLY PRO-WESTERN . AT HOME, KENYATTA MUST RECKON WITH A POPULATION THAT IS SOARING AT AN ANNUAL RATE OF 3.4 PER CENT , AND THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT INTENDS WITHIN FIVE YEARS TO SETTLE 50,000 AFRICAN FAMILIES ON A MILLION ACRES IN THE " WHITE HIGHLANDS " BOUGHT FROM EUROPEAN SETTLERS WITH $80 MILLION SUPPLIED BY BRITAIN, BY THAT TIME AN ADDITIONAL 100,000 FAMILIES WILL BE CLAMORING FOR LAND . KENYA'S HUGE LABOR SURPLUS MUST IDLY AWAIT THE SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY, AND THERE IS A GREAT LACK OF TRAINED PROFESSIONALS TO REPLACE THE DEPARTING WHITES . FOR EXAMPLE, KENYA HAS 750 DOCTORS BUT NEEDS AT LEAST 9,000 . THE OUTLOOK . PAINSTAKINGLY, KENYATTA PLEADS WITH HIS PEOPLE TO ACCEPT HARAMBEE, A SWAHILI WORD MEANING " PULL TOGETHER . " HE TELLS AFRICANS THAT THEY MUST CONCEDE FULL PARTNERSHIP TO WHITES AND ASIANS, AND TELLS HIS OWN DOMINANT KIKUYU TRIBE THAT THEY MUST WORK AMIABLY WITH OTHER TRIBES . THE OPPOSITION KADU PARTY, WHICH ELECTED ONLY 31 OF THE 130-MEMBER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IS FALLING APART AS MORE AND MORE OF ITS OWN REPRESENTATIVES CLIMB ON THE KENYATTA BANDWAGON, LURED BY GOVERNMENT JOBS AND PATRONAGE . AS A RESULT, KENYA WILL PROBABLY BECOME A TYPICALLY AFRICAN ONE-PARTY STATE, BUT PROBABLY NOT IN SO VIRULENT A FORM AS GHANA OR GUINEA . NO ONE CAN IGNORE THE DIFFICULTIES AHEAD THE UNEASINESS OF THE REMAINING WHITE SETTLERS, THE FEARS OF THE ASIANS WHO CONTROL MOST OF THE NATION'S COMMERCE, THE AGE-OLD TRIBAL RIVALRIES THAT COULD EXPLODE INTO SEPARATISM OR TRIBAL WAR . BUT THE DEPARTING BRITISH ARE GREATLY IMPRESSED BY KENYATTA'S GROWING STATESMANSHIP . " ONLY WE CAN SAVE OURSELVES, " HE TOLD HIS PEOPLE LAST WEEK . " NOBODY ELSE CAN SAVE US . IN THE PAST WE HAVE BLAMED THE ENGLISHMAN WHEN ANYTHING WENT WRONG . WE SAID HE WAS SUCKING OUR BLOOD . NOW THE GOVERNMENT IS OURS, AND NOW YOU WILL BLAME KENYATTA . BUT YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT KENYATTA, BY HIMSELF, CANNOT GIVE YOU ANYTHING . I URGE YOU TO WORK HARD SO THAT OUR UHURU WILL BE MEANINGFUL . FROM TODAY ON, OUR MOTTO WILL BE " UHURU NA KAZI (FREEDOM AND WORK) .
 ZANZIBAR LONG WAY FROM UTOPIA " UHURU " WAS ALSO BEING SHOUTED TO THE SOUTHEAST, 80 MILES FROM KENYA'S COAST ON THE TINY, PALM-WREATHED ISLAND OF ZANZIBAR . TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF A 41-GUN SALUTE, A RED, GOLD AND GREEN FLAG WAS HOISTED IN ZANZIBAR TOWN, REPLACING THE UNION JACK AND ENDING 73 YEARS OF BRITISH RULE IN THE CLOVE-SCENTED PROTECTORATE OF ZANZIBAR AND NEIGHBORING PEMBA ISLAND . WITH A POPULATION OF ONLY 300,000 ON THE TWO ISLANDS, ZANZIBAR BECOMES AFRICA'S SMALLEST INDEPENDENT NATION . FOR MORE THAN THREE CENTURIES, ZANZIBAR WAS THE JUMPING-OFF PLACE FOR ADVENTURERS AND EXPLORERS AND A SANCTUARY FOR SLAVERS, WHO CARRIED THEIR BLACK CARGO FROM THE MAINLAND BEYOND THE RANGE OF AVENGING TRIBES . SWEPT BY THE MONSOONS, DHOWS FROM THE ARABIAN PENINSULA BROUGHT MOSLEM RAIDERS WHO INSTALLED ARAB SULTANS AND KEPT THE ISLAND'S BLACK MAJORITY IN BONDAGE CULTIVATING THE CLOVE GROVES (THE ISLAND STILL SUPPLIES 75 PER CENT OF THE WORLD'S CLOVES) . AFTER THE BRITISH TOOK OVER IN 1890, TROOPS KEPT THE RACIAL PEACE, BUT TODAY RACE RIOTS SPORADICALLY ERUPT . THOUGH THE ARABS MAKE UP LESS THAN 20 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION, THEY CONTROL THE ECONOMY, DOMINATE THE NEW GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE ARAB-LED NATIONALIST PARTY . THE NEW NATION FACES PRESSING PROBLEMS . THE PER CAPITA INCOME IS ONLY $56 A YEAR, AND THE POPULATION IS STILL SO PRIMITIVE THAT IN LAST SUMMER'S GENERAL ELECTION BOTH THE NATIONALIST PARTY AND THE OPPOSITION AFRO-SHIRAZI PARTY HIRED WITCH DOCTORS TO INFLUENCE THE RESULTS . LIKE KENYA'S KENYATTA AND UNLIKE SOME OTHER AFRICAN LEADERS PRIME MINISTER SHEIK MOHAMMED SHAMTE HAMADI DOES NOT EQUATE UHURU WITH UTOPIA . " WE APPRECIATE THAT FREEDOM DOES NOT MEAN A DISTRIBUTION OF LOOT, " HE SAID AT LAST WEEK'S INDEPENDENCE CEREMONIES . " THERE IS NO LOOT TO DISTRIBUTE . /
 GHANA OUTRAGE AT LAW DICTATOR KWAME NKRUMAH OUTDID HIMSELF LAST WEEK . HE NOT ONLY FLATLY REFUSED TO FREE THREE POLITICEL PRISONERS WHO HAD BEEN ACQUITTED BY GHANA'S HIGHEST COURT, BUT HE SUMMARILY FIRED THE JUDGE WHO HAD PRESIDED OVER THEIR TRIAL . THE DEFENDANTS, FIVE IN ALL, WERE CHARGED AITH TREASON AFTER NKRUMAH WAS WOUNDED IN THE SHOULDER BY A BOMB IN AN ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE IN AUGUST 1962 . THE DICTATOR'S TAME PRESS HAD REPEATEDLY CONDEMNED THEM IN ADVANCE . BUT CHIEF JUSTICE SIR ARKU KORSAH, WHO HEADED THE THREE-MAN COURT, CHOSE TO IGNORE THE HINT . AT THE END OF A 51-DAY TRIAL, HE CONVICTED TWO OF THE ACCUSED, WHO WILL BE HANGED, BUT EXONERATED THE THREE TOP OFFICIALS WHO WERE CHARGED WITH MASTERMINDING THE CONSPIRACY . AMONG THE THREE : FORMER INFORMATION MINISTER TAWIA ADAMAFIO, 51, A LEFTWING, LONDON-EDUCATED LAWYER WHO HAD ONCE BEEN NKRUMAH'S CLOSEST CRONY . THE PROSECUTION CITED AS " EVIDENCE " THE FACT THAT ADAMAFIO HAD REFUSED TO SIT BESIDE THE PRESIDENT ON THE DAY THAT HE WAS TO BE KILLED AND CLAIMED THAT LATER, WHEN NKRUMAH LAY ON A HOSPITAL OPERATING TABLE, HE HAD TRIED TO ENGAGE HIM IN " WEARISOME ARGUMENT " IN ORDER, LITERALLY, TO TALK HIM TO DEATH . ALONG WITH THE OTHER DEFENDANTS A FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER AND A LEADER OF NKRUMAH'S RULING CONVENTION PEOPLE'S PARTY ADAMAFIO WAS FORMALLY " DISCHARGED " BY THE COURT . BUT THE TRIO WAS IMMEDIATELY BUNDLED BACK INTO THE CELLS . INTERIOR MINISTER KWAKU BOATENG CYNICALLY EXPLAINED THAT THE THREE PRISONERS' ACQUITTAL " WAS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE JUDICIARY, NOT OF THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS THEREFORE NOT BOUND TO TAKE ANY COGNIZANCE OF IT . / ADAMAFIO AND HIS CO-DEFENDANTS WILL REMAIN IN JAIL UNDER A LAW THAT PERMITS THE GOVERNMENT TO DETAIN ANY CITIZEN FOR TEN YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL " IN ORDER TO PREVENT HIM FROM ACTING IN A MANNER PREJUDICIAL TO GHANA'S SECURITY . " LEAPING TO NKRUMAH'S DEFENSE, THE GHANAIAN TIMES RECALLED FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S 1937 ATTACK ON THE U.S . SUPREME COURT, ADDING : " WE CANNOT HAVE A WIG-AND-GOWN CANTETA WHILE ROME IS BURNING . THE NATION CANNOT BE BAMBOOZLED BY THE DIABOLIC INSINUATIONS AND ASPERSIONS OF A CONFUSED AND ANTAGONISTIC JUDICIARY . " NKRUMAH COMPLETED THE OUTRAGE WHEN, IN VIOLATION OF GHANA'S CONSTITUTION, HE SACKED SIR ARKU KORSAH, 69, A WIDELY RESPECTED JURIST WHO IN 1956 BECAME GHANA'S FIRST BLACK CHIEF JUSTICE . THE NEWS ASTONISHED EVEN GHANA'S CLOSE FRIENDS ABROAD . NOTING THAT EVEN SOUTH AFRICA ? S HIGH-HANDED PRIME MINISTER HENDRIK VERWOERD HAS NEVER INTERFERED WITH THE JUDICIARY, A SHOCKED BRITISH OFFICIAL SAID : " THIS IS THE STALINIST TECHNIQUE . /
 COMMUNISTS THE YELLOW MAN'S BURDEN HONG KONG'S TWO COMMUNIST DAILIES LAST WEEK BREATHLESSLY RECOUNTED THE EXPLOITS OF ONE CHENG HO, A EUNUCH EMPLOYED BY THE THIRD MING EMPEROR, WHOSE FLEET OF JUNKS EXPLORED THE EAST AFRICAN COAST 80 YEARS BEFORE THE PORTUGUESE GOT THERE IN 1498 . BOTH FRONTPAGE STORIES, PURPORTING TO PROVE THAT CHINA AND AFRICA HAD A LONG HISTORY OF " FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE, " CELEBRATED THE DEPARTURE FOR POST-COLONIAL AFRICA OF COMMUNIST CHINA'S PREMIER CHOU ENLAI, WHO IS THE GRANDEST PANJANDRUM FROM PEKING EVER TO VISIT THAT CONTINENT . THE TOUR, LASTING SIX WEEKS OR MORE, WILL TAKE CHOU AND TWO PLANELOADS OF ADVISERS TO AT LEAST NINE " NONALIGNED " AFRICAN COUNTRIES, WITH A SIDE TRIP TO ALBANIA, RED CHINA'S EASTERN EUROPEAN SATELLITE, AND ON THE WAY HOME, A STOPOVER IN PAKISTAN . COMPETING WITH MOSCOW FOR FRIENDS AMONG UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS, CHOU EVIDENTLY WANTS TO ESTABLISH THE YELLOW MAN'S BURDEN, EVEN IF CHINA CANNOT EXACTLY AFFORD TO PICK IT UP . AMONG AFRO-ASIAN COUNTRIES, PEKING'S PRESTIGE HAS SLUMPED BADLY AS A RESULT OF ITS REFUSAL TO SIGN THE NUCLEAR TEST BAN . IN AFRICA ALONE, 17 OF 33 NATIONS VOTED LAST OCTOBER TO DENY RED CHINA A SEAT IN THE U.N., WHILE ONLY TEN HAD DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH PEKING . DURING THE FLIGHT TO CAIRO ABOARD A CHARTERED KLM DC-7, CHOU STRIPPED DOWN TO LONG UNDERWEAR FOR A SEVENHOUR SLEEP, WOLFED HEARTY PORTIONS OF RUSSIAN CAVIAR BEFORE LANDING . THOUGH EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES PROVIDED AN ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD TO GREET THE CHINESE PREMIER, THE OFFICIAL WELCOME WAS SOMEWHAT RESTRAINED . PRESIDENT NASSER IN TUNISIA TO ATTEND CEREMONIES MARKING FRANCE'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BIZERTE NAVAL BASE WHEN CHOU ARRIVED GOT BACK TO CAIRO IN TIME TO GIVE A LAVISH BANQUET AT ABDIN PALACE . HE PRESENTED RED CHINA'S PREMIER WITH EGYPT'S HIGHEST DECORATION THE COLLAR OF THE NILE . IN RETURN, CHOU ROSE TO PLEDGE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THEIR TWO COUNTRIES AS ENDURING AS " THE EVERFLOWING NILE AND YELLOW RIVERS . " BUT NASSER SCHEDULED AS FEW MEETINGS AS POSSIBLE, INSTEAD LOADED THE VISITOR'S SCHEDULE WITH TRIPS TO NASSER'S PET PROJECTS, NOTABLY THE ASWAN DAM, WHERE 2,000 RUSSIAN TECHNICIANS COULD HARDLY ESCAPE CHOU'S NOTICE . WHAT WITH SOME $1.5 BILLION IN SOVIET AID AND HEAVY DEPENDENCE ON U.S . WHEAT TO FEED EGYPT, NASSER HAS HAD STRAINED RELATIONS WITH PEKING OF LATE . DAYS BEFORE CHOU'S ARRIVAL, HIS PRESS BELATEDLY CHIDED CHINA FOR ITS ATTACK ON INDIA . THE WELCOME MIGHT BE MORE SATISFACTORY IN COUNTRIES THAT HAVE OR NEED CHINESE TECHNICIANS, LOANS AND TRADE AGREEMENTS ALGERIA, GUINEA, GHANA, MALI . ELSEWHERE, CHOU'S RECEPTION PROMISES TO RANGE FROM THE COOL TO THE CURIOUS, ROUGHLY THE WAY IT WAS BACK IN CHENG HO'S DAY .
 EGYPT EXODUS FROM NUBIA " WE WENT TO THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS FOR THE LAST TIME, " SAID SHEIK AHMED MARDANI . " THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN CRIED AND WE TRIED TO CONSOLE THEM, BUT WE KNEW OUR HOMES WERE LOST AND OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER . " SHEIK MARDANI'S LAMENT WAS FOR HIMSELF AND 100,000 OTHER NUBIANS IN EGYPT WHO LAST WEEK WERE BEING EVACUATED FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND ON THE NILE BANKS . THE EXODUS WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE THE ASWAN HIGH DAM, BEING BUILT BY EGYPT WITH RUSSIAN HELP, NEXT SPRING WILL BACK UP THE NILE, CREATING A HUGE 1,800-SQ.-MI . RESERVOIR THAT EVENTUALLY WILL GIVE EGYPT VAST NEW IRRIGATED ACRES AND ELECTRIC POWER . BUT IT WILL ALSO FLOOD THE GAILY PAINTED HOUSES OF THE NUBIANS, THEIR CEMETERIES, MOSQUES AND GROVES OF DATE PALM . WILD VALLEY . IN THEIR WILD, INACCESSIBLE VALLEY, THE NUBIANS PROSPERED TRANQUILLY FOR CENTURIES UNTIL THE FIRST ASWAN LOW DAM WAS BUILT IN 1902 . THE RISING NILE WATER DROVE THE VILLAGERS FARTHER UP THE CLIFFS, AND THE PROCESS WAS REPEATED IN 1912 AND 1933 AS THE DAM WAS SUCCESSIVELY RAISED TO A HEIGHT OF 182 FT . HALF OF NUBIA'S 30,000 ARABLE ACRES WERE LOST AND THE REMAINING 15,000 COULD ONLY BE HASTILY CULTIVATED WHEN THE NILE WAS LOW . AS THE LAND VANISHED, NUBIAN MEN SOUGHT WORK IN THE CITIES, WHERE THEIR PROVERBIAL HONESTY AND FANATICAL CLEANLINESS WON THEM JOBS . NOW, AT THE RATE OF 300 A DAY, THE REMAINING NUBIANS ARE BEING MOVED DOWNSTREAM FROM THEIR VILLAGES TO THE KOM OMBO AREA, SOME 40 MILES NORTH OF ASWAN . THE GOVERNMENT OF PRESIDENT GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, DETERMINED TO MAKE A SHOWPIECE OF KOM OMBO, IS AT WORK ON 25,000 HOUSES, 138 STORES, 33 MOSQUES AND 36 SCHOOLS . THE HOUSES HAVE BEEN BUILT LARGELY TO THE NUBIANS' OWN SPECIFICATIONS, WITH HIGH-WALLED PATIOS, ANIMAL PENS, 12-FT . CEILINGS AND UP TO FOUR BEDROOMS PER HOUSE . THEY WILL SOON BE ADORNED WITH TRADITIONAL NUBIAN FRESCOES STYLIZED SCORPIONS, LIONS, FISH, SNAKES, SUNS, MOONS AND STARS . " AFTER ALL, " SAYS SHEIK MARDANI, " THERE'S NO LAW AGAINST BEAUTY . " THUNDERING EXPRESS . YET MOST NUBIANS WERE APPALLED BY THE FIRST SIGHT OF THEIR NEW HOME . GROANED ONE OLD MAN : / I USED TO BE AWAKENED EACH MORNING BY THE MURMURING RIVER WATERS . NOW IT IS THE DAWN CAIRO EXPRESS FROM ASWAN THUNDERING IN MY EARS . " IN NUBIA, POLYGAMOUS HUSBANDS HAD SEPARATE HOUSES FOR EACH WIFE ; AT KOM OMBO, A MAN'S WIVES MUST SHARE HIS HOUSE, AND MANY HUSBANDS, DISMAYED BY THE PROSPECT, HAVE DIVORCED ALL WIVES SAVE ONE . BUT A MAN WHO RISKED KEEPING BOTH HIS WIVES CONCEDES THAT THE ARRANGEMENT HAS ADVANTAGES . " HERE I DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE . I GO ONE NIGHT TO ONE ROOM, THE NEXT NIGHT TO THE OTHER ROOM . IT SPARES THE STRENGTH OF MY WIVES AND IS GOOD FOR ME, TOO . SINCE I HAVE A THIRD BEDROOM, I'M THINKING OF GETTING A THIRD WIFE . " NUBIAN WOMEN SEEM HAPPY ABOUT THE MOVE . STONE WALLS AND CONCRETE FLOORS ARE A WELCOME CHANGE AFTER A DUSTY LIFETIME OF ADOBE AND MUD . BESIDES, THERE ARE MOVIES, TELEVISION, SCHOOLS AND CLINICS . AS THE NUBIANS FILE ABOARD THE PADDLE STEAMER HEADED FOR KOM OMBO LOADED DOWN WITH PALM FIBER BEDS, CARVED WOODEN CHESTS, MAGICAL AMULETS, GOATS AND SHEEP THEY TRY TO EXORCISE THEIR GRIEF OF LEAVE-TAKING BY SINGING . ONE SONG RUNS : " THE NILE IS DROWNING NUBIA AND WE MUST FORGET THE PAST . THE RIVER BRINGS LIFE AND THE RIVER BRINGS DEATH . /
 GREECE GOODBYE AGAIN " EVERYBODY WANTED TO CUT MY WINGS, / PROTESTED EX-PREMIER CONSTANTINE KARAMANLIS . " I REFUSED TO STAY AND LET THEM USE THEIR SCISSORS . " WITH THIS BITTER FAREWELL HURLED AT KING PAUL, AND AT GREEK VOTERS WHO HAD ENDED HIS EIGHT-YEAR ADMINISTRATION, KARAMANLIS ABRUPTLY EXILED HIMSELF TO PARIS . NO WATCHDOG . THOUGH CONSERVATIVE KARAMANLIS WAS THE ABLEST PREMIER IN RECENT GREEK HISTORY, KING PAUL AND QUEEN FREDERIKA CONSIDERED HIM HIGHHANDED (HE THOUGHT THE SAME OF THE QUEEN) ; THEY ALSO OPPOSED HIS IDEAS OF REFORMING THE CONSTITUTION TO GIVE THE PREMIER STRONGER EXECUTIVE POWERS . IN JUNE, WHEN THEY REJECTED KARAMANLIS' ADVICE TO CALL OFF A SCHEDULED STATE VISIT TO BRITAIN BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE LEFTIST DEMONSTRATIONS, HE RESIGNED AND SPENT THREE MONTHS IN A SWISS VILLA . RETURNING TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION, HE WAS NARROWLY DEFEATED BY WILY, MIDDLE-OF-THE ROAD GEORGE PAPANDREOU, 75 . KARAMANLIS WANTED TO QUIT THEN, BUT WAS DISSUADED BY HIS POLITICAL ALLIES AND THE KING, WHO CONVINCED HIM THAT AS LEADER OF HIS MAJESTY'S LOYAL OPPOSITION HE WOULD BE DEMOCRACY'S WATCHDOG . BUT KARAMANLIS WANTED TO BE TOP DOG, AND HE GROWLED AT EACH NEW MOVE THAT BOOSTED PAPANDREOU'S POPULARITY . THE NEW PREMIER FROZE RENTS, LAVISHLY PROMISED ALL GREEKS A FREE EDUCATION, DECLARED A MORATORIUM ON FARMERS' DEBTS, OFFERED WAGE BOOSTS TO JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY . HE GAVE UP THE PREMIER'S LIMOUSINE ( " WE CAN BUILD FOUR VILLAGE SCHOOLS WITH THE MONEY " ), OPENED HIS OFFICE ONCE A WEEK TO PETITIONERS WHO SWAMPED HIM WITH GRIPES, JOB REQUESTS, EVEN DEMANDS TO SPEED UP THEIR DIVORCES . THOUGH ANTI-COMMUNIST PAPANDREOU ALSO MANAGED TO PLEASE LEFTISTS . HE PROMISED TO FREE MOST OF THE 1,000 POLITICAL PRISONERS, IN JAIL SINCE THE END OF THE COMMUNIST CIVIL WAR IN 1949 . HE ALSO COMPLAINED, ACCURATELY, THAT THE GREEK DEFENSE BUDGET, AMOUNTING TO 5 PER CENT OF ITS GROSS NATIONAL INCOME, IS HIGHER THAN THAT OF OTHER SMALL NATIONS, IN NATO, CALLED FOR MORE FOREIGN AID ACTUALLY, THE U.S . IS PLANNING CUTBACKS) . TRIUMPHAL RETURN ? THOUGH SOME ECONOMISTS HOPEFULLY PREDICTED THAT PAPANDREOU'S SPENDING SPREE WILL BE COVERED BY RISING NATIONAL INCOME, GREEK BUSINESSMEN WERE UNEASY . WHEN KING PAUL, SIDING WITH THE NEW PREMIER, AGREED TO POSTPONE A PARLIAMENTARY VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, KARAMANLIS FUMED ; HE CHARGED THAT IN DELAYING THE EARLY TEST OF STRENGTH, THE KING WAS SUBMITTING TO " BLACKMAIL " BY PAPANDREOU, WHO IMPLICITY THREATENED THAT HIS DEFEAT MIGHT CAUSE POLITICAL DISORDER AND HELP THE LEFT . FINALLY, KARAMANLIS SUMMONED HIS CLOSEST POLITICAL AIDE AND TOLD HIM : / I'M RETIRING AND LEAVING GREECE TOMORROW . " HE BOOKED SPACE UNDER A FALSE NAME ON A FLIGHT TO PARIS . ONLY AFTER KARAMANLIS AND HIS WIFE HAD DEPARTED DID HIS NATIONAL RADICAL UNION GET THE WORD . STUNNED, THEY ELECTED A NEW PARTY CHAIRMAN AND TOOK WHATEVER COMFORT THEY COULD FROM A LETTER THEIR LEADER HAD LEFT BEHIND : " WHEN A STATESMAN KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR HIS COUNTRY BUT CANNOT CARRY IT OUT, HE MUST, INSTEAD OF COMPROMISING WITH HIS CONSCIENCE, RETIRE . " KARAMANLIS APPARENTLY HOPES THAT IF PAPANDREOU MAKES A MESS OF THINGS HE CAN RETURN FROM EXILE IN TRIUMPH . IN THE EVENT OF NEW ELECTIONS, HIS SUPPORTERS ARE READY TO CAMPAIGN UNDER THE SLOGAN " BRING KARAMANLIS BACK . " AS FOR PAPANDREOU, HE CLAIMS TO BE LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW VOTE, CONFIDENT OF AN EASY VICTORY .
 AUSTRALIA ASIANS, KEEP OUT ! , UNDERPOPULATED AUSTRALIA SPEND $30 MILLION IN 1963 TO ATTRACT NEW CITIZENS, SINCE WAR'S END HAS INCREASED ITS POPULATION FROM 7.5 MILLION TO A MERE 11 MILLION . THAT ADDS UP TO FEWER INHABITANTS THAN PENNSYLVANIA HAS, IN AN AREA 66 TIMES LARGER . NONETHELESS, AUSTRALIA CLINGS TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST RESTRICTIVE IMMIGRATION LAWS, HAS TRADITIONALLY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ASIAN AND OTHER NONWHITE IMMIGRANTS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE WHAT IMMIGRATION MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER HAS DESCRIBED AS " AN ANGLICAN EUROPEAN COMMUNITY EMBODYING ALL THAT IS BEST OF THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW . " AUSTRALIA'S " IMMIGRATION APARTHEID " DATES FROM THE LATTER HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY, WHEN 50,000 CHINESE FLOCKED THERE TO WORK FARMS AND GOLD MINES . WHITE COLONISTS, FEARFUL THAT THE NEWCOMERS WOULD DEPRESS WAGE LEVELS, CLAMORED FOR RESTRICTIVE LAWS . TODAY FEWER THAN 80,000 ASIANS LIVE PERMANENTLY IN THE COUNTRY, AND EXPERIENCE LITTLE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, BUT ONLY A FEW " DISTINGUISHED AND HIGHLY QUALIFIED ASIANS " ARE EVER GRANTED RESIDENCE PERMITS . WHIM CREEK . THE WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY IS OFTEN CARRIED TO ABSURD, ESOTERIC EXTREMES . RECENTLY, FIVE JAPANESE TECHNICIANS EMPLOYED BY A JAPANESE-CONTROLLED MINING CONCERN AT, OF ALL PLACES, WHIM CREEK IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA WERE CONVICTED OF VIOLATING AN OBSCURE 1904 LAW SPECIFYING THAT " NO ASIATIC OR AFRICAN ALIEN SHALL BE EMPLOYED IN ANY CAPACITY WHATEVER IN OR ABOUT ANY MINE CLAIM . " AS A RESULT, WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S STATE LEGISLATURE LAST WEEK REPEALED THE LAW, BUT VIRTUALLY NEGATED ITS ACTION BY ADOPTING AN AMENDMENT SPECIFYING THAT ASIANS MUST STILL GET GOVERNMENT PERMITS TO WORK IN THE MINES . THERE IS EVEN LESS HOPE FOR LIBERALIZATION OF NATIONAL IMMIGRATION POLICIES, WHOSE PRINCIPAL VICTIMS ARE THE PARENTS AND CHILDREN OF MIXED MARRIAGES . ONE TYPICAL CASE THIS MONTH INVOLVED AN INDIAN COUPLE WHO CAME TO AUSTRALIA IN 1962 TO LIVE WITH THEIR TWO SONS, BOTH OF WHOM ARE MARRIED TO AUSTRALIAN GIRLS, ONLY TO BE ORDERED OUT OF THE COUNTRY . SAID THE FATHER : " I'VE FOUND HELL IN AUSTRALIA . " SKEPTICAL NEIGHBORS . CRITICS OF THE WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY, INCLUDING LEADING CHURCHMEN AND EDUCATORS, OBJECT THAT ONLY THROUGH SELECTIVE ASIAN IMMIGRATION CAN THE GOVERNMENT HOPE TO ATTRACT ALL THE SKILLED CITIZENS IT NEEDS . MOREOVER, THEY ARGUE, AUSTRALIA CAN NEVER REALIZE ITS POTENTIAL AS A LEADER OF SOUTHEAST ASIA SO LONG AS ITS NEIGHBORS ARE CONVINCED THAT AUSTRALIANS ARE WHITE SUPREMACISTS . PRIME MINISTER SIR ROBERT MENZIES IN FACT ORDERED MORE LIBERAL INTERPRETATION OF IMMIGRATION POLICY, BUT HE INSISTED DURING THE RECENT ELECTION CAMPAIGN THAT HE WOULD NEVER PERMIT ANY BASIC REFORM IN THE LAW . TO DO SO, SAID HE, " WOULD CREATE IN AUSTRALIA THE KIND OF DREADFUL PROBLEMS THEY NOW HAVE IN OTHER COUNTRIES . /
 THE HOLE IN THE WALL THE SWEETEST CHRISTMAS MUSIC BERLINERS HAVE HEARD IN MORE THAN TWO YEARS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BACH OR HANDEL . IT WAS THE UGLY STUTTER OF JACKHAMMERS TEARING GATES IN THE BERLIN WALL, THE WHINE OF CRANES REMOVING ZIGZAG BARRIERS FROM HEAVILY GUARDED CROSSING POINTS . THEN, LATE LAST WEEK, THE CANDYSTRIPE CUSTOMS POLES WENT UP, AND THOUSANDS OF GRINNING, GIFT-LADEN WEST BERLINERS SWARMED THROUGH THE WALL FOR THEIR FIRST REUNIONS WITH EASTERN SECTOR RELATIVES SINCE AUGUST 1961 . A LONG ROW OF GLOWING CHARCOAL BRAZIERS WARMED THE APPROACH TO THE OBERBAUM BRIDGE, AND TWO BRIGHTLY LIT CHRISTMAS TREES GUARDED ITS WESTERN END . ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER SPREE, EVEN THE TRIGGER-HAPPY EAST GERMAN VOPOS WORE GRINS ABOVE THEIR CRADLED SUBMACHINE GUNS . ONLY TILL MIDNIGHT . IRONICALLY, COMMUNISM'S GRUDGING CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO WEST BERLIN SEEMS TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN THE TOY FACTORY OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, WHO RESEMBLES SANTA CLAUS ONLY IN SHAPE . CHILLED BY THE RECEPTION EAST GERMANS GAVE HIM LAST SUMMER AT THE WALL, AND AWARE THAT THE SPIRIT OF DETENTE HAD NOT YET THAWED THE FROZEN PIVOTAL POINT IN EAST-WEST RELATIONS, KHRUSHCHEV TALKED EAST GERMAN BOSS WALTER ULBRICHT INTO OPENING NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE CHRISTMAS VISITS . ULBRICHT WAS APPARENTLY IN NO MOOD TO BE GENEROUS . THE HOLE IN THE WALL IS A TINY ONE BY ANY MEASUREMENT . ONLY THOSE WEST BERLINERS WHO HAVE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES IN THE COMMUNIST PART OF THE CITY MAY PASS THROUGH THE FIVE SPECIAL ENTRY POINTS DESIGNATED BY THE EAST GERMANS . PASSES, ISSUED BY EAST GERMAN POSTAL OFFICIALS, ARE GOOD THROUGH JAN . 5, BUT ONLY FROM 7 A.M . TO MIDNIGHT, EXCEPT ON NEW YEAR'S DAY WHEN THE PASS HOLDERS MAY STAGGER BACK AS LATE AS 5 A.M . THOUGH SOME 800,000 WEST BERLINERS QUALIFY FOR THE PASSES, MANY OF THEM ARE FLUCHTLINGE REFUGEES FROM EAST GERMANY WHO WOULD BE NABBED BY THE VOPOS THE MOMENT THEY CROSSED THE WALL AND THEREFORE WILL NOT DARE TO TRY IT . TEARS & BRANDY . BUT DESPITE RESTRICTIONS AND RED TAPE, SOME HALF A MILLION WEST BERLINERS WILL PROBABLY MAKE THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY BEFORE THE HOLIDAY SEASON ENDS MANY OF THEM MORE THAN ONCE . TEARS AND BRANDY FLOWED AS THE FIRST VISITORS CROSSED THE WALL . GRANDPARENTS SIZED UP SNOW-SUITED TWO-YEAR-OLDS THEY HAD NEVER SEEN EXCEPT IN PHOTOGRAPHS . " DOES THE BABY MEET THE FAMILY STANDARDS ? " ASKED ONE PROUD WEST GERMAN MOTHER. " JA, SCHON, " WEPT THE GRANDMOTHER . ALTHOUGH THE WEST BERLINERS ARRIVED LADEN WITH EVERYTHING FROM LEBKUCHEN TO LONG UNDERWEAR, NOT ALL THE GIFTS CAME FROM THEIR SIDE OF THE WALL . ONE EAST GERMAN LAD BLEW A YEAR'S SAVINGS ON TWO GEESE, A SWEATER AND A BOTTLE OF BRANDY TO WELCOME HIS LONG-IMMURED RELATIVES . SOME WESTERN DIPLOMATS FELT THE COMMUNIST CHRISTMAS PRESENT WAS WRAPPED IN BLACKMAIL, NERVOUSLY AWAITED ULBRICHT'S NEXT MOVE . BUT THOUGH THE HOLE IN THE WALL WILL BE SEALED UP AFTER THE HOLIDAY SEASON, IT WILL NEVER SEEM SO IMPENETRABLE AGAIN . AFTER THIS BRIEF, TANTALIZING BREACH, THE WALL'S UGLY MASONRY WILL LOOK ALL THE MORE INTOLERABLE TO EAST AND WEST BERLINER ALIKE .
 RUSSIA    "WE TOO ARE PEOPLE"   NOT SINCE THE TROTSKYITE RIOTS IN THE 1920'S HAD MOSCOW SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.  WHILE CROWDS OF RUSSIANS WATCHED WITH AMAZEMENT, MORE THAN 400 AFRICAN STUDENTS LAST WEEK BATTLED RED COPS IN THE STREETS, INSIDE RED SQUARE ITSELF, RIGHT PAST NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV'S OWN OFFICE WINDOW . "MOSCOW -- A SECOND ALABAMA," SAID ONE CRUDELY LETTERED SIGN, IN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH . "STOP KILLING AFRICANS," WARNED ANOTHER PLACARD . MOURNING BANDS . THE RACE RIOT WAS TOUCHED OFF BY THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF EDMOND ASARE-ADDO, 29, A SECOND-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT FROM GHANA WHO WAS STUDYING AT KALININ INSTITUTE, ABOUT 100 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE CAPITAL . ON THE EVE OF HIS MARRIAGE TO A RUSSIAN GIRL, THE STUDENT'S BODY WAS DISCOVERED NEAR THE RAILROAD TRACKS OF A SUBURBAN MOSCOW STATION . THE SOVIET POLICE CLAIMED THAT ASARE-ADDO, DRUNK, HAD FALLEN DOWN IN THE 11 DEGREE-BELOW-ZERO WEATHER AND FROZEN TO DEATH . BUT GHANAIANS, WHO KNEW THAT THE MARRIAGE WAS FIERCELY OPPOSED BY THE GIRL'S RUSSIAN FRIENDS, INSISTED THAT THE YOUTH WAS STABBED BELOW THE CHIN AND TOSSED INTO THE SNOW . QUICKLY SWINGING INTO ACTION, STUDENTS AT PATRICE LUMUMBA FRIENDSHIP UNIVERSITY SPREAD THE WORD TO OTHER AFRICANS IN LENINGRAD, KALININ, AND AS FAR AWAY AS ODESSA AND TASHKENT . THE MESSAGE:  WE MARCH ON THE KREMLIN . WEARING THE TRADITIONAL RED MOURNING BAND OF GHANA AROUND THEIR HEADS, THE STUDENTS GATHERED BEFORE THE GHANA EMBASSY ON A STREET A MILE FROM RED SQUARE . "NO TROUBLE," SHOUTED THEIR LEADERS AS THE PROCESSION TROOPED OFF, BUT AT THE END OF THE STREET, THERE WAS PLENTY . SOVIET POLICE HAD BARRED THE WAY WITH TRUCKS AND CARS . WHEN THE COPS REFUSED TO BUDGE, THE CROWD BEGAN ROCKING A POLICE CAR, INTENDING TO FLIP IT OVER . ANXIOUS TO AVOID BLOODSHED, AND OUT-NUMBERED 100 TO 1, THE POLICE GAVE WAY AFTER A BRIEF SCUFFLE . AS ENGLISH-SPEAKING RUSSIAN YOUTHS -- MEMBERS OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE -- BLOCKED THE VIEW FROM WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHERS, THE STUDENTS REGROUPED, MARCHED THROUGH THE HEART OF MOSCOW SINGING FREEDOM SONGS . BUT THE POLICE REGROUPED TOO, AND NEAR RED SQUARE, OFFICIALS COMMANDEERED MORE TRUCKS TO BLOCK THE ENTRANCE . LOUDSPEAKERS BLARED "ENTRY TO RED SQUARE IS CLOSED," BUT THE AFRICANS SQUEEZED THROUGH A SPACE BETWEEN TWO TRUCKS; AS TWO STUDENTS DROPPED A POLICEMAN WITH A FLYING TACKLE, OTHER MARCHERS GRAPPLED WITH COPS ON TOP OF THE VEHICLES . "IT'S NATURAL ." ONCE AGAIN POLICE GAVE WAY . THE HORDE RACED ACROSS RED SQUARE, UP AN INCLINE NOT FAR FROM NIKITA'S WINDOW (HE WAS OUT INSPECTING AN ECONOMICS EXHIBITION), PAST LENIN'S GRANITE MAUSOLEUM, AND ON TOWARD THE HISTORIC SPASSKY GATE THAT LEADS TO THE INNER KREMLIN GROUNDS . AT THAT MOMENT THE HUGE IRON GATES CLANGED SHUT . USING SOUND TRUCKS, THE POLICE PLEADED WITH THE STUDENTS TO DISPERSE, BUT FOR TWO MORE HOURS THEY ARGUED AND JOSTLED WITH POLICE . OGLING THE DEMONSTRATION WERE THOUSANDS OF RUSSIANS, WHO WATCHED FROM THE STREET AND FROM THE WINDOWS OF GUM, THE BIG STATE-OWNED DEPARTMENT STORE, UNTIL EMPLOYEES CURTAINED OFF THE UNCOMRADELY SCENE . FINALLY ABOUT 100 STUDENTS WERE ALLOWED TO INTERVIEW SOVIET MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION VYACHESLAV ELIUTIN, WHO PROMISED AN INVESTIGATION OF THE STUDENT'S DEATH . IT WAS A STORMY, TWO-HOUR SESSION, WITH AFRICANS DEMANDING AN END TO ALL FORMS OF OFFICIAL DISCRIMINATION . "AFRICAN STUDENTS GET BEATEN UP EVERY DAY," ONE PROTESTED . "AND SOVIET POLICEMEN DO NOTHING ." NEITHER DID GHANA'S AMBASSADOR TO MOSCOW J.B. ELLIOT . NEXT DAY, AS STUDENTS AGAIN MASSED NEAR THE EMBASSY, HE CLOSED THE BUILDING (FOR "REPAIRS" TO DAMAGED FURNITURE), RAISED NO OBJECTION AS POLICE HERDED THE ANGRY GHANAIANS AWAY . ELLIOT TRIED TO LAUGH OFF THE MELEE, DISMISSED TALK OF WIDESPREAD BIAS AGAINST STUDENTS AS NOTHING BUT "RUMORS ." RELATIONS WITH SOVIET STUDENTS ARE CORDIAL, HE INSISTED . "BUT IT'S NATURAL TO TAKE A PUNCH AT EACH OTHER ." FUTILE PROTEST . EVEN KREMLIN PROPAGANDISTS DID NOT MAKE THAT NONSENSICAL CLAIM . INSTEAD, THE RUSSIANS CLAMPED A TIGHT CENSORSHIP ON THE EMBARRASSING AFFAIR, FOR TWO DAYS DID NOT PRINT OR BROADCAST ONE WORD ABOUT THE RIOT ALL MOSCOW WAS TALKING ABOUT . FINALLY, IZVESTIA ISSUED A STERN WARNING TO THE STUDENTS, TOLD THEM TO "RESPECT SOVIET LAWS" OR GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY . PRAGUE HAS ERUPTED IN TWO RACE RIOTS WITHIN TWO YEARS . LAST FEBRUARY IN SOFIA, BULGARIAN MILITIAMEN WIELDED CLUBS AGAINST 200 GHANAIANS WHO WERE MARCHING DOWN THE MAIN STREET DEMANDING NOTHING MORE THAN THEIR OWN CAMPUS ORGANIZATION . IN MOSCOW, AFRICANS HAVE BEEN SMOLDERING FOR YEARS OVER THINLY DISGUISED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION . EXCEPT FOR A TOKEN NUMBER OF RUSSIAN STUDENTS, THE DINING ROOMS AND DORMITORIES OF LUMUMBA U . (WHICH AFRICANS SARDONICALLY CALL "APARTHEID U .") ARE SEGREGATED . AFRICANS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO DATE A RUSSIAN GIRL . STUDENTS SQUIRM AT THE STARES THEY GET IN PUBLIC AND OBJECT TO POOR SERVICE THEY OFTEN RECEIVE IN RESTAURANTS . DESPITE PROFESSIONS OF BROTHERHOOD, MANY RUSSIANS STILL THINK AFRICANS ARE HALF-CIVILIZED STRANGERS WHO HAVE JUST EMERGED FROM THE JUNGLE . " WE TOO ARE PEOPLE, NOT ANIMALS," CRIED ONE SIGN CARRIED BY STUDENTS WHO SURGED THROUGH MOSCOW'S STREETS LAST WEEK . TO WHICH ONE RUSSIAN REPLIED, OBVIOUSLY GROANING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE IMPERIALIST WHITE MAN'S BURDEN:  "WE HELP THEM AND GIVE THEM AN EDUCATION . THEN THEY TURN AGAINST US ."
 COMMUNISTS       THE SPHINX ANYONE?  THE MOST RELUCTANT RUBBERNECK IN EGYPT LAST WEEK WAS COMMUNIST CHINA'S PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI . GRANTED ONLY THREE SESSIONS WITH PRESIDENT NASSER DURING HIS WEEK'S SOJOURN IN CAIRO, CHOU WAS PROPELLED RELENTLESSLY THROUGH THE LIST OF VIP TOURIST ATTRACTIONS:  AN AUTOMOBILE PLANT, A MUSEUM, EGYPT'S MILITARY ACADEMY, THE ASWAN DAM . WHEN HIS HOSTS INSISTED ON A CLOSE-UP INSPECTION OF THE SPHINX, CHOU ASKED PLAINTIVELY:  "DO I HAVE TO GO?  I'VE ALREADY SEEN IT FROM A DISTANCE ." THOUGH THE VISIT TO EGYPT WAS ONLY THE FIRST LEG OF HIS SCHEDULED TWO-MONTH SWING THROUGH AFRICA, THE ROUND OF SIGHTSEEING CLEARLY TIRED THE AILING, 67-YEAR-OLD CHOU . FOR THE FIRST TIME, WESTERNERS NOTICED THAT HE HAS ONLY PARTIAL USE OF HIS RIGHT ARM, WHICH WAS USUALLY CLUTCHED TIGHTLY OVER HIS STOMACH . AT ONE POINT, AFTER CLIMBING A FLIGHT OF STAIRS AT AN ASWAN POWER STATION, THE ASHEN-FACED PREMIER STAGGERED OFF INTO A CORNER AS IF HE WERE ABOUT TO FAINT . ONE OF TWO DOCTORS IN HIS ENTOURAGE HURRIED OVER AND APPEARED TO GIVE HIM A WHIFF OF SMELLING SALTS . AS CHOU RAISED HIS HEAD, BLOOD TRICKLED FROM HIS NOSE . "IT HAPPENS WHENEVER HE GETS TIRED," SHRUGGED ONE OF HIS AIDES . "IT IS NOT SERIOUS, BUT THAT IS WHY HE ALWAYS HAS A DOCTOR WITH HIM ." CHOU NONETHELESS HAD PLENTY OF ENERGY FOR SPEECHMAKING, HARPED REPEATEDLY ON THE PEKING VERSION OF MOSCOW'S WE-WILL-BURY-YOU REFRAIN . INDEED, TO HEAR CHOU, THE AFRO-ASIANS WILL BURY NOT ONLY THE WEST, BUT RUSSIA AS WELL . "THE ASIAN AND AFRICAN PEOPLES," HE PROCLAIMED, "THROUGH THEIR LABOR AND INTELLECT CREATED ILLUSTRIOUS CIVILIZATIONS WHICH WERE DEMOLISHED BY IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION AND TYRANNY . NOW THAT WE HAVE BROKEN THE IMPERIALISTIC SHACKLES, WE WILL BE ABLE TO WORK NEW MIRACLES ." FOR ALL HIS EAGERNESS TO WIN AFRICAN SUPPORT FOR PEKING'S SIDE IN THE SINO-SOVIET CONFLICT, HOWEVER, CHOU COULD OFFER LITTLE CASH TO THE UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES . IN SOME AREAS THAT THE CHINESE HAVE CULTIVATED, THEY MAY EVEN END BY MAKING MORE ENEMIES THAN FRIENDS . BY LENDING SOMALIA $20 MILLION TO BUY ARMS FOR ITS CAMPAIGN TO GRAB ADJACENT TERRITORY, PEKING HAS ANGERED NEIGHBORING KENYA, WHERE IT HAS ALSO SPENT HEAVILY TO WOO THE NEW NATION . IT MAY SUCCEED AT LEAST IN RAISING RUSSIA'S ANTE IN AFRICA AND ASIA . AT WEEK'S END, AS CHOU LEFT FOR ALGERIA, NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV WAS REPORTEDLY PLANNING HIS OWN SWING THROUGH AFRICA . BEFORE VISITING CAIRO NEXT SPRING, HE MAY ALSO JUNKET TO INDIA AND NEPAL ON CHOU'S BACK DOORSTEP . THEN IT WILL BE NIKITA'S TURN TO TELL WHO WILL BURY WHOM .
 COLD WAR     IMPROVED BALANCE      ANY SURPRISES AT NATO'S YEAR-END MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE IN PARIS WERE PURELY ACCIDENTAL . AN ELEVATOR GOT STUCK IN THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIANCE, BRIEFLY TRAPPING A DOZEN PHOTOGRAPHERS . THEN U.S . DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT S . MCNAMARA NARROWLY MISSED SUDDEN DEATH WHEN THE FOUR-ENGINE JET CARRYING HIM FROM ORLY AIRPORT TO SAIGON BRAKED TO A JOLTING STOP ON THE RUNWAY, JUST IN TIME TO AVOID COLLISION WITH AN INCOMING PLANE . AS FOR THE MEETING OF NATO'S DEFENSE, FINANCE AND FOREIGN MINISTERS, IT WENT SO SMOOTHLY THAT THE SESSION ADJOURNED AFTER ONLY TWO DAYS, A DAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE . GENTLE REMINDER . MCNAMARA, IMPRESSIVE AS USUAL, TICKED OFF A FEW AWESOME FACTS OF U.S . NUCLEAR POWER:  MORE THAN 2,000 ATOMIC WARHEADS READY IN CASE OF WAR, A 100 PER CENT INCREASE IN TWO YEARS; 500 SAC BOMBERS AND 500 INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILES, WITH 1,000 MORE MISSILES BY 1966; A NEW 155-MM . NUCLEAR HOWITZER TO BOOST THE POWER OF ARMY GROUND FORCES, WHOSE MANPOWER HAS BEEN RAISED BY 45 PER CENT WITHIN TWO YEARS . IN A GENTLE BUT UNMISTAKABLE REMINDER TO U.S . ALLIES, THE PENTAGON CHIEF SAID THAT UNLESS THEY HIKED THEIR OWN CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATO, CONGRESS AND U.S . PUBLIC OPINION WOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY RESTLESS OVER WASHINGTON'S FAR HEAVIER SHARE OF THE WESTERN DEFENSE BURDEN . IN A SENSE, THE FAMILIAR DISCUSSION OF MILITARY PREPAREDNESS WAS OVERSHADOWED BY NATO'S "GENERAL RECOGNITION," AS SECRETARY-GENERAL DIRK STIKKER SUMMED IT UP, "OF CHANGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF WORLD AFFAIRS ." BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY R. A . BUTLER ECHOED A COMMON VIEW THAT IN THE WAKE OFTHE KREMLIN'S RETREAT IN THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, THE SOVIETS "HAVE RENOUNCED THE POLICY OF HIGH RISKS IN DEALING WITH THE WEST ." U.S . SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN RUSK, WHILE WARNING THAT THE COMMUNISTS COULD CREATE NEW DANGERS WITH UNPREDICTABLE AND PERILOUS SPEED, HINTED THAT THE ARRAY OF PROBLEMS FACING RUSSIA MAY MAKE IT FAR EASIER FOR THE WEST TO REACH AGREEMENTS WITH THE REDS . THE PROBLEMS INCLUDE THE DEEPLY SIGNIFICANT RIFT WITH RED CHINA, THE SLACKENING OF REVOLUTIONARY ARDOR AT HOME, AND THE SOVIET UNION'S GROWING DOMESTIC ECONOMIC TROUBLES . JANE'S VERDICT . NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HAS STRETCHED HIS NATION'S RESOURCES DANGEROUSLY THIN, THE 1964 AND 1965 BUDGETS PUBLISHED IN MOSCOW LAST WEEK SHOWED SHARP CUTBACKS IN PLANS FOR SUCH KEY SECTORS OF HEAVY INDUSTRY AS STEEL AND ELECTRIC POWER IN ORDER TO DIVERT MASSIVE ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO THE LAGGING AGRICULTURE PROGRAM AND THE BACKWARD CHEMICAL INDUSTRY . PERHAPS THE LACK OF CAPITAL WAS ALSO THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINING RATE IN RUSSIA'S AIR AND SPACE SPECTACULARS . THE LATEST EDITION OF JANE'S ALL THE WORLD'S AIRCRAFT LISTS ONLY ONE NEW SOVIET PLANE FOR 1962 -- A HIGH ALTITUDE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE LIKE THE U-2 . JANE'S ALSO SUGGESTED THAT RUSSIA'S HIS AND HER SPACE-TWIN FLIGHTS "FAILED TO ACHIEVE ALL THEIR OBJECTIVES, WHICH MAY HAVE INCLUDED ORBITAL RENDEZVOUS," POINTED OUT THAT THE RUSSIANS, IN ADDITION, LOST CONTACT WITH THEIR ROCKET PROBE OF MARS . U.S  . PROJECTS, ALTHOUGH BEGUN WITH MORE MODEST OBJECTIVES, FAR EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS, THE REPORT STATED, CITING MAJOR GORDON COOPER'S 22-ORBIT FLIGHT AND THE MARINER II PROBE THAT RELAYED A WEALTH OF DATA ABOUT VENUS . "WITH THE GREAT SATURN BOOSTER DUE TO BECOME OPERATIONAL IN 1964-65," JANE'S ADDED, "THE SUGGESTION THAT AMERICA AND THE SOVIET UNION SHOULD WORK TOGETHER ON MAJOR PROJECTS LIKE LUNAR EXPLORATION IS BOTH TIMELY AND SENSIBLE NOW THAT THE PROSPECTIVE PARTNERS ARE ATTAINING A MEASURE OF EQUALITY .
 SOUTH VIET NAM     PLEASE SEND ORDERS    IN THE TWO MONTHS SINCE THE OVERTHROW OF PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM, THE NEWS OUT OF SOUTH VIET NAM HAS BEEN MOSTLY BAD . THE COMMUNIST VIET CONG HAVE SCORED ALARMING GAINS IN VITAL LONG AN PROVINCE SOUTH OF SAIGON, WHICH FEEDS THE CAPITAL . FOR ALL THE FANFARE WITH WHICH THEY WERE WELCOMED BY DIEM'S CRITICS, THE GENERALS WHO SUCCEEDED THE SLAIN PRESIDENT HAVE DEMONSTRATED AN UNSETTLING LACK OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP; RECENTLY, THE CIVILIAN CHIEFS OF NINE NORTHERN PROVINCES RELAYED A PLEA TO JUNTA CHAIRMAN MAJOR GENERAL DUONG VAN ("BIG") MINH:  "PLEASE SEND US ORDERS ." LAST WEEK U.S . DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT S . MCNAMARA FLEW FROM THE NATO MEETING IN PARIS TO SAIGON, FOR HIS SECOND VIET NAM INSPECTION VISIT IN THREE MONTHS . JOINED BY U.S . CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY CHIEF JOHN A . MCCONE, MCNAMARA PLUNGED INTO BRIEFINGS AT THE U.S . MILITARY MISSION . THEN HE SPENT AN AFTERNOON CONFERRING WITH BIG MINH AND THE OTHER JUNTA CHIEFS . UNDER DISCUSSION WERE PLANS FOR A MAJOR NEW OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE VIET CONG . BEFORE BOARDING HIS PLANE FOR HOME, MCNAMARA TURNED TO VIETNAMESE DEFENSE MINISTER MAJOR GENERAL TRAN VAN DON WITH SOME STERN WORDS OF ADVICE . "NOW," SAID MCNAMARA, "LET'S BE REAL TOUGH ."
 INDIA     SEA LAWYER     EVER SINCE RED CHINA'S SURPRISE ATTACK A YEAR AGO, INDIA'S TRADITIONAL POLICY OF NEUTRALITY HAS BEEN MORE HONORED IN WORDS THAN IN DEEDS . WHILE MOUNTING THE OLD HOMILIES ABOUT NONALIGNMENT, INDIA HAS PETITIONED THE WEST FOR $1.5 BILLION IN MILITARY AID AND HAS AGREED TO A WESTERN AIR-DEFENSE UMBRELLA . LAST WEEK THE U.S . SEVENTH FLEET PREPARED TO TAKE UP POSITIONS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN . THE QUESTION WAS BROACHED TO INDIAN PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU BY CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF MAXWELL D . TAYLOR ON A VISIT TO INDIA LAST WEEK . UNDER THE PROPOSAL, A TASK FORCE OF ONE AIRCRAFT CARRIER WITH NUCLEAR BOMB-CARRYING JETS AND FOUR ESCORT SHIPS WOULD PATROL IN THE INDIAN OCEAN FOR TWO TO FOUR MONTHS AT A TIME . SUPPLIED BY SUPPORT VESSELS, THE TASK FORCE WOULD NEVER HAVE TO TIE UP AT ANY INDIAN PORT FOR PROVISIONS . PREDICTABLY, THE SEVENTH FLEET PROPOSAL STIRRED UP PROTESTS . THE INDIAN PRESS MAINTAINED THAT THE PLAN WAS ANOTHER THREAT TO INDIAN NEUTRALITY, PAKISTAN CLAIMED THAT IT WAS A HOSTILE GESTURE ON THE PART OF BOTH COUNTRIES, AND RED CHINA SAID THAT IT WAS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE SUBVERSION OF INDIA BY WESTERN IMPERIALISTS . AS FOR NEHRU, HE PERFORMED LIKE A SEA LAWYER IN LUKEWARMLY ENDORSING THE PLAN . "HOW CAN WE OBJECT TO ANYONE GOING WHERE HE LIKES ON THE HIGH SEAS," HE ASKED .
 CAMBODIA     THE SLUMBERING PRINCE     FORMER U.S . SECRETARY OF STATE DEAN ACHESON IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY ESTEEMED AMERICANS IN PNOM PENH . THE REASON DATES BACK TO LAST YEAR, WHEN ACHESON SUCCESSFULLY REPRESENTED CAMBODIA BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE IN THE HAGUE IN A TERRITORIAL DISPUTE WITH THAILAND . LAST WEEK THE U.S . TRIED TO CAPITALIZE ON THIS FRIENDSHIP IN AN EFFORT TO END ITS ACERBIC AND SOMEWHAT MYSTERIOUS LITTLE QUARREL WITH CAMBODIA'S VAIN, UNPREDICTABLE LEADER, PRINCE NORODOM SIHANOUK . THE U.S . WAS RUDELY REBUFFED . SENDING ACHESON OUT TO CAMBODIA ON A PEACEMAKING MISSION WOULD BE FINE, DECLARED THE PRINCE, BUT ONLY ON THREE CONDITIONS : 1) THAT WASHINGTON APOLOGIZE FOR THE U.S . DIPLOMAT WHO DESCRIBED AS " BARBAROUS " RADIO CAMBODIA'S TASTELESS COMMENTS ON JOHN F . KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION, 2) A FORMAL WITHDRAWAL BY U.S . DIPLOMATS OF A QUESTION ASKING WHETHER THE " CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT HAD REJOICED OVER KENNEDY'S DEATH, " 3) AND THE CLOSING DOWN OF A RADIO STATION THAT SIHANOUK CLAIMED WAS RUN BY CIA IN LAOS OR THAILAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF SENDING SUBVERSIVE BROADCASTS INTO CAMBODIA . WASHINGTON TERMED SIHANOUK'S CONDITIONS " TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE . " IN FACT, SIHANOUK IS PROBABLY ONLY TAUNTING THE U.S . OUT OF FEAR OF THE RED CHINESE AND WANTS TO AVOID AN OVERT DIPLOMATIC BREAK . SIHANOUK IS STILL ANXIOUS FOR A GENEVA CONFERENCE TO GUARANTEE CAMBODIAN NEUTRALITY, BUT SUCH A CONFERENCE IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT U.S . PARTICIPATION . AS SIHANOUK HIMSELF SAID LAST WEEK AFTER CLOSING CAMBODIA'S EMBASSY IN LONDON, " IT APPEARS NECESSARY, WITHOUT A DIPLOMATIC BREAK, TO PUT OUR RELATIONS IN SLUMBER . /
 SOUTH KOREA FATIGUES TO FLANNELS SEOUL WAS DECKED IN ALL ITS FESTIVE FINERY LAST WEEK AS SOUTH KOREA OBSERVED THE END OF TWO YEARS, SEVEN MONTHS AND ONE DAY OF MILITARY DICTATORSHIP . BUSES WERE GARLANDED WITH WREATHS AND NEWLY MADE FLAGS DECORATED STOREFRONTS AND STREETCARS . THE MIDNIGHT CURFEW WAS LIFTED FOR THE DAY, AND 5,000 PRISON INMATES WERE RELEASED ON AMNESTY . IN A BONE-CHILLING DRIZZLE BEFORE THE NATIONAL CAPITOL BUILDING, 15,000 SHIVERING SPECTATORS WATCHED FORMER MILITARY STRONGMAN GENERAL PARK CHUNG HEE, 46, TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE AS SOUTH KOREA'S FIFTH CIVILIAN PRESIDENT . PROMISING NEVER " TO PERMIT THE RESURGENCE OF DICTATORSHIP UNDER ANY DISGUISE OR PRETEXT, " PARK SAID :. " THE BRIGHT MORNING OF THE NEW REPUBLIC HAS DAWNED . LET US PUT DEPRESSION, MELANCHOLY, CONFUSION AND PESSIMISM BEHIND US AND CREATE A NEW HISTORY OF OPTIMISM AND DETERMINATION . " DESPITE PARK'S RINGING WORDS, THE ONLY REAL CHANGE IN SOUTH KOREA'S GOVERNMENT IS FROM MILITARY FATIGUES TO CIVILIAN FLANNELS . UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, THE PRESIDENT HAS ALMOST DICTATORIAL POWERS, AND THOUGH PARK'S DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY GARNERED ONLY 34 PER CENT OF THE VOTE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, THE OPPOSITION WAS SO SPLIT THAT THE D.R.P . HAS A WHOPPING, 45-SEAT PARLIAMENTARY PLURALITY . THOUGH PARK PLEADED FOR NATIONAL UNITY, OPPOSITION LEADER YUN PO SUN, WHO BARELY LOST THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BOYCOTTED THE ASSEMBLY'S OPENING SESSION, AND OTHER DISSIDENT ASSEMBLYMEN THREATENED TO INVESTIGATE THE CORRUPTION PREVALENT UNDER PARK'S MILITARY JUNTA . FAR MORE MENACING TO PARK IS SOUTH KOREA'S CHAOTIC ECONOMY . IN THE PAST YEAR, RETAIL PRICES HAVE CLIMBED 40 PERCENT, AND SOME 10 PER CENT OF THE LABOR FORCE IS UNEMPLOYED . FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES HAVE PLUMMETED TO $105 MILLION . DESPERATE FOR A NEW DOLLOP OF U.S . ECONOMIC AID, PARK INVITED A U.S . CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO HIS INNAUGURATION . BUT THE U.S . HAS SLASHED NEXT YEAR'S TOTAL AID COMMITMENT BY $54 MILLION TO $236 MILLION, HOPES TO PRESSURE PARK INTO STABILIZING THE ECONOMY . A CONTINUING DICTATORSHIP IN SOUTH KOREA IS NOT VERY PALATABLE TO THE U.S . BUT WITH HIS DICTATORIAL POWERS, PARK CAN AT LEAST PROMISE A DEGREE OF POLITICAL STABILITY .
 UNITED NATIONS POTENT PYGMY IN MANHATTAN LAST WEEK, THE U.N . GREW TO A TOTAL OF 113 MEMBERS WITH THE ADMISSION OF THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES OF ZANZIBAR AND KENYA . ZANZIBAR CONSISTS OF TWO SMALL ISLANDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, WITH A TOTAL POPULATION OF 310,000, OR ABOUT THAT OF OMAHA . NEVERTHELESS, ZANZIBAR HAS ONE VOTE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND IS THUS EQUAL IN VOTING POWER WITH SUCH NUCLEAR GIANTS AS THE SOVIET UNION AND THE U.S .