I think Nigel wrote it backwards, as the saddles are both lower than the bars, and with road bikes (downturn bars) the opposite is more common. Be that as it may I don't know quite where to begin, but I want to give a complete answer (partly in prep for getting my website up) so I'll start with a little history.
Both of your bikes are illustrative of the bike boom, where 10 speed bikes then more common in Europe (especially in racing situations) were imported to the U.S. Quickly though they were adapted to make them more (to use a modern term) "user friendly" - shift levers on the stem instead of the down tube, extension levers for the brakes, and softly padded seats. I have seen it claimed that extension levers were eventually required on bikes sold in the U.S. Those changes were made mainly on the basis of economy rather than effectiveness. The other changes that would have allowed comfort without attendant sacrifices in safety and operation, but at a much greater cost, did not occur.
As a result the design of your bike has successfully encouraged you to ride on the "tops," as you noted with your hands only a few inches from the stem. The problems attending that position are as follows:
1. You have minimal leverage on the bars, making emergency maneuvers difficult.
2. When you shift you exert a turning force on the stem and have to shift your weight on the bike.
3. Your hands are trying to grip a cylindrical surface while horizontal, which is not a strong position, and open to sliding with any significant side force.
4. If you were to hit an object (more on that below) you will likely either break your wrists when they rotate under the bar or your grip will be easily broken as they rotate over the bar (any student of martial arts will tell you that the weakest part of your grip is your thumbs).
5. The extension (suicide) levers insure that your brakes will operate with minimal efficiency. Look at where they interface with the normal levers. That space they take up between the lever and the brake hood is braking distance you no longer have, even if you use the regular levers. Operate the levers and notice that the lever travels up your fingers as you brake - that travel represents a loss of efficiency and reaction time. Now hold the extension levers all the way up as far as you can. The odds are that the regular levers have not reached the handlebars - further loss of potential braking power. The end result is that when one uses extension levers braking will be slower and less effective, to the point that they can be up to 1/2 as effective as the regular brakes. It's likely you can't even make the rear wheel skid with the extension lever. They were not randomly named suicide levers by some bike snob, but rather more likely by someone who saw the end result on the streets or in emergency rooms.
"But I'm too bent over and can't reach the regular levers." Again, that is a result of the wrong solution to a valid concern. Bike frames for 10 speeds were based on what was in production in Europe, which were primarily racing frames, which tend to have fairly long top tubes, and in addition have fairly long stems, to allow a streamlined position and the ability to "pull" on the bars for more speed. Retooling for a shorter top tube and having to allow for different stem lengths was not practical nor economical. Besides, the longer stem looks "racier" and they were called 10 speed racers after all.
I agree the saddles appear to be too far forward, possibly as a result of the seat clamp being in front of the seat post rather than behind it. The distance from saddle to bars problem is very likely why they are mounted that way. I would guess that either an owner or a bike shop did that in order to increase comfort. The problem is that it tends to decrease pedaling efficiency, comfort, and most importantly it increases stress on the knees.
Rather than leave you with a host of problems I will tell you what solutions are available for the bikes at hand.
The first step would be to adjust the saddle for correct position. That is the core of your contact with the bike and the basis of your pedaling - the wrong position can be not only less efficient but painful to harmful to your behind and your knees. The saddle nose and tail generally should be as level as possible. Nose up may interfere with pedaling and cause discomfort, nose down tends to push one toward the handlebars, creating more pressure on both your seat and hands. Secondly the height needs to be such that with a normally heeled shoe on the pedal at the bottom of the stroke and your other leg hanging free (so as to keep hips level) you just reach the pedal. That results in just a slight bend of your knee at the bottom. Higher than that and your hips will rock, causing the bike to weave and your bottom to hurt. Lower than that and your knees may interfere with trunk and arms and you are less efficient (if memory serves about 10% less efficient for 1/2 inch low). Lastly comes fore-aft, the most difficult. KOPS (
http://sheldonbrown.com/kops.html) is a starting point, at least better than too far forward.
Once the saddle is correct the rest of the "cockpit" can be addressed. In your case the only change that makes sense is the stem. A Nitto Technomic stem or this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Kalloy-Bicycle-Bike-Quill-Stem-22-2-40mm-Silver-/371159060425 would allow you to have the handlebars higher at the same time that you would not have to reach forward as far, but ideally a shorter "reach" stem that is not so long would be better.
I'm sorry for the length, but I hope some of the above is helpful to the OP and to other.