MEESE SEES A PLUS IN CHRYSLER-AMC MERGER

  Attorney General Edwin Meese said he
  saw some benefit in the proposed purchase of American Motors Co
  &lt;AMO> By Chrysler Corp &lt;C> in that it would return the smallest
  of the U.S. auto manufacturers to American hands.
      Meese told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that
  consideration would be part of the Justice Department's review
  of the proposed merger. He said the agency has not yet received
  a formal notice of the merger which would start the review
  process.
     Chrysler has made a 1.3 billion dlr bid to buy AMC from its
  French parent Renault.
      "I think one of the things that has to be recognized in that
  merger is that it appears, at least, that a good portion of the
  ownership of American Motors, which has been in overseas hands
  will be put back in American hands," Meese told the
  subcommittee.
      "That may be one of the factors that would be weighed in the
  judgment," he added.
      Renault currently holds about 46 pct of AMC.
  

