The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-03-13

Grary CO cNc1y~
 EdsOn thing that the
 American people have been taught, that 1t is a nuis- ance. It is, however, a wartime nec- essity, so the job is to make the best of it.
 The censorship established is called voluntary. The general pria- ciple is that information cannot be printed or broadcast which will give aid or comfort to the enemy. It is then up to the newspapers and the radio stations to observe that principle. When in doubt, ask the censor.
 The experience thus far seems to be that 99.8 or 99.9 per cent of the i press and the radio are not only ] willing but eager to abide by this voluntarily rule. In fact, they lean over backward to observe 1t, often voluntarily suppresSing information to which the censors, if asked, might give approval That's all to the good. for it's better to be safe than sorry.
 WOULD SLIT THROAT
 There have been mistakes. There will probably continue to be mis- takes. Some information has slip ped into general circulation which should have been censored. When these slips have been called to the attention of the editors and broad casters. they have promised not to repeat. As one editor put 1t, he had installed an automatic throat cutting machine in his office, for use if he was ever guilty of the of fense again.
 One of the most amazing mani festaticns of his voluntary censor ship has been the way the general public has checked up on it's favor ite newspapers and radio announc- CTS. Let little news get out which some keen reader or listener-1n thinks an aid or comfort to the enemy and, wham!-in come letters; of protest accusing this or that dirty dog of being a spy. Even the Office of Censorship sets scores of these letters from self-appointed, volun- teer censors. Some are from cranks who think they find hidden mes sages in crossword puzzles and so on. Others are useful tips, for no office could be set up to read all the newspapers or listen to all the broadcasts. Checkups of this kind from sharp-eyed and -eared citizens are pointed to as perfect examples of democracy functioning at its best.
 As for the i or the 2 per cent who won't play this war game ac- cording to these rules = We will crcss that bridge when we come to it." says Director of Censorship Byron Price, eff we come to it. {" And he hopes and believes it won't be necessary to put on the screws.
 As a matter of fact, anyone who wants to beat these voluntary cen sorship codes can probably do it. As far as publications are concerned, there is no law that can be ap- piled save the espionage law, unC2r which intent to give information to the enemy must be proved before conviction can be obtained. And newspapers can be kept within the U. S. borders. Radio is different, for radio automatically enters the field of international communica- tions. Some 40 high-powered Sta- tions can be heard as far as the Andes, so closer check is put on radio than on printed matter. WHAT IS APPROPRIATE?
 Biggest loophole in censorship iS perhaps the provision that any in- formation coming from govern mental appropriate authority" is okay. What this boils down to is the fact that there is voluntary cen- sorship on the part of the govern ment, co. Office of Censorship has no control over what other depart ments of the government give out for publication or broadcasting These other departments can call Up Censorship and ask for advice, l hut that's as far as it goes. Conse- ouently, when an appropriate au- thority" issues news, all the Office of Censorship can do is give clean Dlll CI ueaIlIl LO NdIlyOkle WHO uses this information, even If 1t contains military secrets.
 There is no list of appropriate authorities" An army corps con- mander, the head of any govern ment department is an appropriate authority. Any skunk wanting to beat censorship could probably save his own skin by pulling some ap- propriate authority out from under a haystack or old board, and get ting this ap. auth. to stand for having 8 few quotation marks hung on him.
 If this happens, if the fringe of from i to 2 per cent of writers, editors, publishers, aI1nouncers and broadcasters proves so irreconcil- able to self imposed discipline that voluntary censorship breaks down, there is only one alternative-to slap on an ironclad censorship that will make the Shackles imposed on free speech in Germany look like tissue paper garlands.
 Fortunately, no one in this coun- | trv wartS any mart of that.