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REF -i:n-:A40193 

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Conference for Proposed Legislation Against Unauthorized Dissemination of dommurilcation 

Intelligence - II 

Present: Lt. (jg) John v. Connarton, USNR 

Lt. Floyd w. Tomkins, Jr., AUS 

Place of Conference 

"M6ffi!Hl' 

l. The con:f'erence was held at 1400 on Thursday, 18 May 1944 

at Arlington Hall Station. 

Discussion of Minutes 

2. The minu tea of the last meeting and comments of superior officers thereon were discussed. It appeared that responsible authorities agreed on the advisability of securing legislation; however, present assignment is to be confined to securing the 

background and reaching a decision concerning the obJectives to 

be attained, leaving the actual drafting and procuring of 

legislation to the author! ties concerned. Lt. Connarton 

reported on the progress of his report on the historical background of the proposed legislation. Lt. Tomkins discussed a 

tentative draft to serve as a sample to be included in the final 

report. 

Conclusions from the Study of Certain Documents 

3. It was pointed out that despite the fact that the British 

Official Secrets Act was in force after the last war violations 

of the Act had occurred in England, seemingly without penalty 

to those involved in publlci ty leaks. This may have been due 

to the fact that those responsible were men of important positon. This would indicate that the preventive effect of the law was 

not as efficient as censorship. 

The fact that the British legislation was framed in general 

terms and did not mention cryptographic work specifically suggested the expedient of achieving the result we desire by 

means of similar general legislation, thus disguisine, the fact 

of the importance of cryptographic work and giv~ng broader 

protection for all classified work. In connection therewith 

the advisability or contactine higher authori~ies who would 

coordinate tne problem of protectine, security with other branches 

of the Army and Navy was considered. 

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Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 09-27-2013 pursuant to E.O. 1352e 
REF ID:A40193 

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Estimate of Number of Persona Connected with Cryptographic 

Aotivitz 

4. Information from sources responsible for the distribution 

of cryptographic systems and technical instructions in the Army 

showed that existing records are inadequate to supply an 

accurate estimate of the number of persons entrusted with 

cryptographic documents. Distribution within the Army is 

reported b~ organizations withl.n which a number of persons 

having access to the documents varies widely. Besides the 

armed forces approximately nine executive agencies of the 

Coverrl!"l.ent receive material of this sort from Army sources in 

varying amounts. By a rough estimate the number of persons having access to this material exceeds 50,000. 

It is estimated that over 3,000 persona connected with the 

Army and approximately 5,000 with the Navy have had broader 

training involving cryptanalysis and in connection with their 

work have had access in varying degree either to information 

concerning enemy ciphers or codes or information concerning 

the success of our operations in this field. 

Proposed Form of Final rteport 

5. It was agreed that conclusions arrived at as a result of 

these conferences should be presented under the following 

headings: 

A. Purpose of the Report 

B. Historical Background 

c. Deficiency of Present Legislation 

D. Proposed Legislation 

(1) Necessary Elements to be Contained therein 

(2) Tentative Draft 

E. Considerations in Procuring Legislation 

Interpretation of the Word 11 "Jllilfully" 

6. In connection with ~he word "wilfully" in tl1e Diploma tic 

Code Act of June 10, 19)!3, a cursory investigation revealed a 

general acceptance of the term as meaning "intentionally or 

designedly without lawful excuse, but not necessarily with an 

evil intent 11 • Therefore it would seem that the Act as now in 

force would not reauire proof of an affirmative intent to 

inJure the United States. 

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REF ID:A40193 

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Continuation of Military Censorship 

7. The value of continuing military censorship over all items 

of military information, particularly the subject with which 

we are concerned, as opposed to the laws providing penalties 

for the disclosure of classified information was again considered. 

In view of the anticipated reluctance of Congress to permit any 

continuing censorship this method seemed impracticable, but it 

was suggested that some sort of' control might be enacted without 

the use of the obJectionable term "censorship". The advantage 

of preventin£ breaches of security rather than pun1Ahing them 

after they occurred has already been polnted out. 

Conf'erees: 

Lt. Jg 

Lt. 

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