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WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State James A.
ker III said Wednesday he was encouraged that the
viet Union seems to be considering a referendum in
thuania to determine the future of the indepen-
nce-minded Baltic republic.
“A referendum is, of course, one way for parties to
press self-determination,” Baker said as he opened
reedays of talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard
Shevardnadze on such diverse issues as Lithuania,
ms control and the Soviet economy.
“We will be exploring the question of the degree to
lich there is, in fact, the beginning of some dialogue
Moscow,” Baker said.
Talking to reporters, Baker said he intended to ask
icvardnadze about the cancellation of scheduled
eedngs between Lithuanians and officials of the So
rt Interior ministry. Shevardnadze, however, seemed
be unaware of such scheduled meetings.
“What happened today I have no information yet,”
e foreign minister said through an interpreter.
Responding to another question, Shevardnadze in-
ited the Soviets had not used force to deal with the se
ssion movement in Lithuania.
“Of course,” he said, “in any country, in any state,
easures are taken in order to have order, in order to
ive a normal situation. And this is this elementary or-
:rthat is being established.”
The State Department lobby was cordoned off and
dozens of uniformed guards and security agents in ci
vilian garb kept watch. A guard with a German Shep
herd dog stood at the entrance.
Lithuania is expected to be high on the agenda when
Shevardnadze meets Friday with President Bush.
“It is a matter where we want the Soviets to know our
views,” said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers pushed Bush to take a
stronger stand on Lithuania.
House members voted 416-3 to approve a resolution
urging the president to reaffirm his commitment to an
independent Lithuania and take steps to normalize dip
lomatic relations between Washington and Lithuania.
The resolution, which carries no legal weight, is simi
lar to one passed earlier by the Senate.
Meanwhile, 3 1 senators told Bush in a letter that U.S.
warnings against the use of military force in Lithuania
have not been effective. The administration, the letter
said, must spell out the consequences Moscow will face
if more force is used.
Gennadi Gerasimov, the Soviet foreign ministry
spokesman, told Mutual NBC Radio News on Wednes-
day that under no circustamces would force be used to
keep Lithuania within the Soviet Union.
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English government
refuses to give up tax
Ryan named
S&L regulator
amid conflict
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Senate confirmed T. Timothy
Ryan Jr. as the nation’s chief sav
ings and loan regulator Wednes
day despite Democrats’ com
plaints that he lacked banking
experience.
President Bush’s nominee, a
W-yeav-old labor law attorney,
won approval on a 62-37 vote to
begin a five-year term as director
of the Treasury Department’s Of
fice of Thrift Supervision.
He will regulate the industry
during a period that analysts be
lieve will be crucial to its survival.
S&Ls lost a record $ 19 billion last
year. Ryan will administer the
rules deciding which institutions
stay in business.
Seventeen Democrats joined all
45 Republicans in voting to con
firm Ryan, who was nominated
less than two weeks ago. Thirty-
seven Democrats were opposed.
The administration lobbied
hard for Ryan, with Treasury
Secretary Nicholas F. Brady mak
ing daily calls on his behalf. The
victory margin was wider than
both Democrats and Republicans
predicted.
LONDON (AP) — Recognizing it
is in serious political trouble, Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher’s gov
ernment has moved to blunt the im
pact of its unpopular new local gov
ernment tax.
But even though the so-called poll
tax has provoked protest and a dem
onstration that turned into a riot Sat
urday, the government shows no
sign of backing down.
Instead, Thatcher is taking a gam
ble that she can make the tax palat
able by the mid-1992 deadline for
the next election. And that, even
close aides acknowledge, is an uncer
tain prospect.
“That’s the question, and I don’t
know the answer,” said a Thatcher
aide, speaking on condition of ano
nymity. “It is not easy to be popular
when you are taxing 17 million more
people.”
On Tuesday, Environment Secre
tary Chris Patten ordered 20 high-
spending local authorities to impose
lower taxes and cut their budgets for
the current fiscal year. He said the
move would reduce the bills of 4 mil
lion people by $50-$ 160 a year.
The tax that took effect April 1
averages $592 a person a year, about
one-third higher than the govern
ment target. It must be paid by most
of the 38 million adult Britons. Pre
viously, only some 12 million prop
erty owners paid local government
taxes.
But the immediate effect of Pat
ten’s “capping” of the high-spenders
was to exacerbate the controversy.
The opposition Labor Party was
angered that no authorities ruled by
Thatcher’s Conservative Party were
on the list.
The targeted authorities claimed
they would have to cut services and
accused the government of being
vindictive. Some threatened to fight
the measure in court.
Patten, who is in charge of the tax,
is dropping hints of further fine-
tuning. But Thatcher says she will
not abandon the community charge,
as the tax is officially called.
She introduced tne reform believ
ing a head tax was fairer than a
property tax because it would net ev
erybody, not just homeowners.
She also believed that once the
bills came in, taxpayers would blame
them on Labor high-spenders.
Instead, the blame is falling on
her. And the Patten refinements ap
pear to consist largely of spending
more central government money to
bring down the levels of the poll tax.
That’s precisely what Thatcher
did not want. It smacks of a retreat
and prevents her from cutting in
come tax and boosting old-age pen
sions, health spending and other
pre-election favorites.
Two killed as ship goes down;
fake distress call causes anger
BOSTON (AP) — The call, on a marine hailing fre-
uency, was urgent and chilling: A ship somewhere on
ic freezing waters off Massachusetts was transmitting
last-ditch plea for help.
This is the fishing vessel Sol E Mar,” a male voice
touted in frenzy. “We’re sinkin’. We need help now!”
The plea rose into a scream. The transmission was
bruptly cut. Then, there was only crackling static.
Coast Guard radio monitors on Nantucket and Mar-
pa’s Vineyard tried desperately to get the caller back to
tcate the ship and send help.
Butjust over a minute after the first call, another dis-
ess signal came in.
“SOS, I’m sinking,” a male voice said. And then he
wghed.
The Coast Guard officers didn’t dispatch rescue
lanes or boats. The calls, they thought, were just part
fthe rising number of hoaxes.
Last Friday, five days later, they discovered they were
rong. The Sol E Mar was reported missing and the
bast Guard began a search for the father and son who
lianned the 50-foot fishing vessel.
By then, it was too late.
The Sol E Mar and the two men were presumed lost
t sea somewhere south of Martha’s Vineyard. The
;arch was called off Sunday night.
The family grieved, fishermen along the New En-
land coast mourned the loss of more of their own and
I 'e Coast Guard was left wondering how to deal with
•axers who think they are being clever by faking a call
rhelp.
“Things might have been different,” Lt. Paul Wolf,
eCoast Guard spokesman in Boston, said. “I can’t say
e fake call killea them. But it certainly lessened their
ances.”
Bogus distress calls were once just a nuisance to Coast
lard rescuers. Now they are considered a serious
oblem.
This is the first case that I know of where it was a
ictor in a rescue,” Wolf said. “It definitely influenced
iieway we responded.”
In 1989, 16 hoaxes were recorded on the coast from
anada to New Jersey, and the Coast Guard responded
'most of the calls, Coast Guard Cmdr. Bill Armstrong
lid.
This year, there already have been 11 known hoaxes.
"We have limited resources, and every time we re
pond to a hoax, those resources aren’t there for some-
newho may need them,” Armstrong said.
In 1986, a man was sentenced to a year in prison af
ter he broadcast a bogus distress signal that triggered a
massive sea-and-air search for a sinking yacht with 10
people aboard.
Emergency responses often are hampered because of
the constant chatter on radios, largely by inexperienced
boaters. The problem is so acute in the jioston area that
the Coast Guard and the Federal Communications
Commission will experiment with an additional distress
frequency beginning next year, Armstrong said.
Lost with the Sol E Mar were William Hokanson Sr.,
44, and his 19-year-old son, William Jr. The two Fairha-
“X
I hings might have been different. I
can’t say the fake call killed them. But it
certainly lessened their chances.This is
the first case that I know of where it was a
factor in a rescue. It definitely influenced
the way we responded.”
—Lt. Paul Wolf,
Coast Guard spokesman
ven men set out March 22 from Kelley’s Landing for
Cape Cod, hoping for a large flounder catch.
Manuel Aguiar, William Sr.’s brother-in-law, said he
had heard the Coast Guard tapes. He said the first call
was clearly from the son, and the second was a different
voice. He said the family was angry at the Coast Guard.
“They’re out there to serve the public, fake call or
not,” he said.
Wolf said the Coast Guard was reviewing its actions.
More detailed instructions on how to distinguish hoaxes
from authentic calls are being sent to radio monitors
with added urgency because of the Sol E Mar sinking,
he said.
Even if the fake call had not come in, the Hokansons
might never have been rescued, since their boat appar-
enuy sank before they could radio their location, Wolf
said.
“If I could change anything, I would have given
them five more seconds on the radio,” he said.
“The Coast Guard saved 6,000 people last year. I just
wish we could have rescued two more.”
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