News stories from Saturday May 17, 1975

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Charles Miller, the captain of the Mayaguez, the American freighter that was released by the Cambodians Thursday in the midst of a United States air, sea and land assault, said that he and his crew were aboard a fishing boat that was strafed and tear-gassed by American planes. He had brought the ship into Singapore, and he answered reporters' questions on the pier alongside the ship. The session with the press was arranged by the ship's owner, Sea-Land Service of Menlo Park, N. J., whose executives wished to demonstrate that the Mayaguez was not a "spy ship." Captain Miller told reporters: "I don't blame the pilots. They were only trying to keep us out of Sihanoukville. They wanted us to return to the vessel." [New York Times] Thailand formally expressed indignation that the United States had used a Thai base in the rescue of the merchant ship Mayaguez from Cambodian forces, while 3,000 demonstrators marched on the United States Embassy in Bangkok. The Thai Foreign Minister informed the United States charge d'affaires that Thailand planned an immediate review of "all aspects of cooperation and commitments" between the two countries, specifically the agreement under which the United States has been permitted the use of bases in Thailand, which played an important role in the Indochina war. [New York Times] A new law, not yet widely known except among political technicians and professionals, seems likely to jar the American political process out of its accustomed tracks once again. This is the 1974 campaign-financing rules, which basically reorganizes completely the way campaigns for federal office are financed and, consequently, the way they are conducted. It will bring a number of major changes. [New York Times] Nonmetropolitan areas are growing faster than metropolitan areas, according to Census Bureau surveys, made since the 1970 Census, that show a surprising shift in population in the United States, This is the first time this has happened in the 20th century and perhaps the first time in the Republic's history. This new rural growth seems to be due to several reasons, including the spread of manufacturing to remote areas and the migration of retired people to places once inhabited by woodsmen and hardscrabble farmers. [New York Times] The United States Embassy in Vientiane lost contact with American officials of the Agency for International Development and their dependents who are being held by students in the south-central Laotian city of Savannakhet. The Americans may number about 14. In addition to seizing the A.I.D. compound, and taking over the Laotian government offices in the city, the students took over the American agency's radio transmitter with which the Americans had been sending messages to the embassy in Vientiane. There was no word from Savannakhet today. [New York Times] The Shah of Iran said that he expected the price of oil to rise again later this year because worldwide inflation was cutting the purchasing power of the oil-producing countries. The Shah, who was completing a three-day visit to Washington, made the statement in a news conference. A State Department official who had met the Shah said it was clear that the Iranians "want a price increase and they've begun talking it up big." [New York Times]