The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-08-27
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National and International Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare

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Some of the most effective criticism
of the government in its handling of
1.-THE war effort has been based on the
theory that there has been definite
land lamentable lack of frankness in
ttelling the people what is going on
Many officials, this argument runs,
seem to regard the people as children,
lfrom whom unpleasant truths must be
kept On of the most common sayings
| in Washington circles today is that
l"the people aren't awake" The de-
TENDERS of the people say that the
lpeople are more completely awake than
la good many of the bigwigs in govern
ment-and that the extent of popular
lbewilderment as to the course of the
war is directly attributable to a stu
lpid kind of censorship.
In the newspaper fraternity, peak
| of disgust was reached during the long
drawn out trial of the eight NaZi
lsaboteurs The high Army officers who
made up the trial court seemed to work
on the principle that the people should
| he told absolutely nothing. Not until
the strongest kind of pressure was
brought to bear were newspapermen
even permitted to view the trial cham
ber. And even then they We're allowed
in for only a few minutes-and the
presiding General stopped all proceed
ings until they had left.
That is simply one example out of
many that could be cited. There has
been much criticism of what some
authorities regard as the refusal of the
Navy to tell the whole truth about
Dutch Harbor and the occupation of
certain Aleutian Islands. And lately,
a San Francisco Judge brought serious
charges against the ranking Army
General in the Far West. Defenders
of this General say that, in truth, he
has done a first-clasS job, and they
have much evidence to substantiate
that But again, as Time phrased it.,
THE trouble seemed to lie in the
Army's tell-the-peopIe-nothi attitude -
| There are obvious difficulties i'm the
WAY of deciding precisely what infOr-
nation would be of benefit to the
enemy, and so must be suppressed and
what can be told the public fully and
frankly. But it seems virtually certain
that in a long series of incidents the
military authorities have leaned over
packard to an extraordinary extent in
sit, TO ;,I,
ing to the American tradition, should
land must be told. And the fault is by
no means confined to Army and Navy
authorities. Time and time again, vari-
GUS non-military officials of the govern
ment have made completely conflicting
statements about the same subject-as
for instance, in news releases on the
oil, rubber and automobile problems.
Under those circumstances, it's no
wonder that a very considerable part
of the population is lost in welter of
confusion.
The main hope for ironing out this
unfortunate business lies in Elmer
Davis, the cool and canny head of the
Office of War Information. Mr.. Davis,
it will be recalled, was given his ap-
ipointment some month ago after the
other governmental information bur
IeauS had made an almost complete
failure of the job. SO far. Mr.. Davis
doesn't seem to have been able to make
Ia great deal of headway. But accord
ing to reliable reports, he is working
lstubbornly, and is determined that
Eventually the American people shall
be promptly and truthfully told every
Ithing it is possible to tell them. He is
said to have the confidence of the
President, and he isn't frightened by
either the military or the civil brass
hats.
In the meantime, Mr.. Davis OWL
is apparently doing the best job pos
jSible under the circumstances. On
August s, it issued statement on the
war situation which is hearteningly
different from the usual Federal pub
licity releases. The statement is not
GLOWING optimistic. 1t isn't full of high
sounding phrases. Instead, it is simple,
'"''""' anu '''l'''Nsi''' ~ l''hLo 'u'
| that 50 far our Allies have done most
iof the lighting, and that this state of
|allairs can't continue indefinitely. On
the subject of production, it says that
I'VE have done pretty well, but not well
enough 1t observes frankly that ''we
could lose this Wal"-and that it's GO
Ing To take an infinitely greater effort
Than we have So far made to win it.