NYTimes T wo Cheers A4 AY 2 1973 For Mr. Nixon

By James Reston WASHINGTON, May 1—There is WASHINGTON more, much more, to be uncovered in the current Washington scandal, but table if the President's future acts much has been accomplished in the measure up to his words.. last few-days, and this may be a good ,Already, there are signs of a new time to. pause and recognize what has attitude in the White House. The Presi- been done. dent has not only cleaned out the top President Nixon has made substan- of the White House administrative and tial progress. He rejected the course domestic staff, but has givenlVir. Rich- of defiance and sentimentality. He was ardson the right to appoint a special urged by some to "tough it out," even supervising prosecutor from outside to portray the Republican conspiracy the Administration to carry on the as a defense against a dangerous plot investigation. by militants of the left, and to stick Also, immediately after his speech, by his two principal assistants, H. R. he had the Congressional leaders in Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. But for a talk and called his Cabinet into he accepted responsibility, though not session. Meanwhile, Ronald Ziegler, the blame, for the mess, and let Haldeman White House spokesman, actually apol- and Ehrlichman go. ogized to The Washington Post for Ins Meanwhile, he taplaced Richard contemptuous remarks about that pa- Kleindienst with Elliot Richardson at per's reporting on the Watergate, and the Justice Department, Patrick Gray. the President himself visited the White with William Ruckelshaus at the F.B.I., House press room as a gesture of rec- and John Dean with Len Garment in onciliation. the White House. And John Mitchell, These are small things, but they are Maurice Stens, Jeb Stuart Magruder, important. At the heart of this long Charles Colson, among others, are no tragedy has been an assumption on the longer in positions of power. part of the President and his principal The President's speech was full of aides that those who dissented from self-pity and unconvincing alibis, but his policies were not only wrong but as usual it is wiser to pay attention malicious, and if he is now going to to what he does rather than what he try a different course, the chances are says, and he has done enough to make he will get a fair response from both a new beginning and turn the cover-up the Congress and the press . into an objective investigation. There will be a period of disruption Time and again in his speech the for a while. The centralized and iso- President talked about getting "to the lated White House staff will have to bottom of the matter," about doing be replaced by new men or a new re- everything in his power to assure that liance on the, departments and "such abuses are purged from our agencies. New chiefs will be at HJE.W., political processes," and about getting Defense and Justice, and while it will "a new set of . standards, new rules take. time to break them in, the much- and procedures to ensure that future maligned bureaucracy will undoubtedly elections will be as nearly free of such carry on through this crisis as before. abuses as they can possibly be made." In the long run, the danger is that This, he said, "is my goal." a vulnerable Administration will try to con the opposition again and encour- Well, if ther is to be "no whitewash age excessive partisan conflict, result- at the White House" and the President ing in a stalemate between the execu- is determined "that the truth shall be tive and the legislature. But in truth fully known," he can begin on the task there is more sadness in both by disclosing where the Republicans , parties got all that money before last April 7, about this tragedy than partisan vin- for money is really "at the bottom of dictiveness. This is not to say that the political the matter." espionage and sabotage will not and The restoration of public confidence should not be a party issue in the corn- in the integrity of the White House ing elections. The chances are that it and the political process begins pre- will take months and maybe even years cisely with following general Presiden- before all the investigations, trials and tial sentiments by specific Presidential appeals are over. acts that match the rhetoric; and the So Mr. Nixon cannot now turn away disclosure of the campaign booty of from it and, as he said in his speech, 1972 and the presentation of new fair turn his full attention "to the larger laws to finance future campaigns is duties of this office," for there is no about as good a place to begin as any. larger duty than restoring public con- This town is full of gloomy conclu- fidence in his Administration. sions that the President and his Ad- Nevertheless the work of the nation ministration have'been crippled in the has to go on while the new investiga- short run and irreparably damaged in tions proceed, and this is still possible the long run by these scandals, and if the President follows up on his while this may be true, it is not inevi- promises.