8-16-95. NYPaper: "The F.B.I. and Ruby Ridge." [Editorial] Since the paranoid days of J. Edgar Hoover, the F.B.I. has been struggling to free itself of an institutional incapacity to admit its mistakes and punish wrongdoing by senior officials. Mr. Freeh, who was entrusted with this task, seems to have put misplaced confidence in a longtime friend and associate. Mr. Freeh is said to be infuriated that his trust was abused. Well he should be furious -- especially at himself. "Separatist Family Given $3.1 Million From Government." The Government agreed today to pay $3.1 million to the family of a white separatist whose wife and teen-age son were killed three years ago by Federal agents in a standoff on a remote Idaho mountainside. The decision to give Mr. Weaver and his children any money was particularly stunning, since Federal prosecutors tried two years ago to have him convicted in the killing of a Federal marshal at Ruby Ridge, and sought the death penalty. Federal investigators involved in the case were rebuked by the judge who presided over the trial. The case has also taken on political dimensions. Some conservative groups have cited the shootout, along with the 1993 F.B.I. assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex., as examples of Government abuse of power. BUY_lou