Evening star., 1941-02-26

the Government itself, to members
of Congress and to such citizens as
apply for information where they
can get facts.
Three Divisions Described.
His Office, he said, had three
operating divisions, field operations
press intelligence and information
service He discussed for the COM
mittee the functions of each OF
these divisions.
One of the purposes served by his
Office, he said, was aid to States
when it became necessary to enact
State legislation to conform with
Federal laws. He told the committee
that his Office had been of very con-
siderable service in this regard.
In reply to a question why the bill
authorizes an appropriation of
$1,500,000, which is double the
amount of the current appropria-
ton, Mr.. Mellett said the defense
program has greatly increased the
work of his Office and that further
it was his hope that field Offices
could be established in all of the
States.
Questioned About Article.
Mr.. Bender questioned Mr. Mellett
about an article written by Walter
Davenport. which stated. in effect,
that the administration already had
drafted a plan for censorship of the
press. He asked Mr.. Mellett if Mr..
Davenport was friend and whether
he had called on Mr.. Mellett before
he wrote the article.
He was a friend of mine," replied
Mr.. Mellett with smile, adding:
II don't like to reflect on Mr.. Daven-
port as a reporter" He pointed out
that he already had told the COM
mittee that no plan for censorship
had been drafted.
Mr.. Bender asked if the Office of
Government Reports arranged for
radio time and supplied material
and speeches.
Mr.. Mellett said his Office fur
nished factual material to Repub-
lican and Democratic members of
Congress alike. In reply to further
questions, he said that there are at
present 366 employees in his whole
organization and that it is con-
templated to raise this number to
507, with 325 in Washington and
1872 in the field.
Representative Cochran pointed
out that the request for the passage
of the bill had come from the Presi-
dent and that it had reference to a
part of the Presidents Office. For
that reason, he said, the request
should be granted
Representative BoggS, Democrat,
of Louisiana questioned Mr.. Mellett
about the difference between his Of
flee and the information Offices In
the Government departments.
Defends 'PhiIosophy."
Mr.. Mellett defended the phi
losophy' of the Government press
bureau by saying that all the Pres
identS from George Washington
down had insisted the people should
be kept informed about what their
Government was doing.
Mr.. Mellett, speaking of his own
Office, said the Government has
duty to keep itself informed about
what is being done and what the
people think about it Especially
the President should be kept in
formed. he said.
That's where our duty comes in"
Mr.. Mellett said.
Mr.. Mellett said his Office had
been charged with being a propa-
ganda bureau but that there had
never been produced any cases or
to back up such charges.
In one case, he said, a man al
legged to be connected with his
office was charged with playing
politics. The fact was, he said,
that the man was lawyer at the
time and had not been connected
with his office for two years. Mr..
Mellett said that during the consid-
Grafton of the draft bill in Con-
gress, supported by the admins
tration, he had had to explain to
backing that bill that
his office did not and could not
serve as a propaganda bureau.