Evening star., 1942-03-26

to belittle its usefulness.
These are not to be taken on their
face as contradictory statements.
They merely reflect two contrasting
aspects of the present war. For Gen.
Macarthur is fighting only foreign
war and President Roosevelt Is still
fighting a domestic war as well as
q foreign war.
Mr.. Roosevelt still reveals himself
In the role of political campaigner
coddling the labor vote and New
Dealer fighting on for reforms ir-
respective Of all else. Attorney Cen
eral Biddle gave the keynote Of this
policy when he said in a public ad-
dress-never denied or disavowed-
that the New Deal fight must 60
on even during wartime.
Axis "Alibi" Secuted.
The President has made no secret
of his dislike for the press. The
reason, OF course, Is that the press
criticizes him and his acts and few
people in public life enjoy criticism.
Lately, the press has been bit out
spoken concerning the overtime
penalties that employers must pay
to accelerate industrial production.
The President chose to imply that
the effort to substitute straight
time for overtime may not have
been sincere or spontaneous but
somehow artifically created.
His spokesmen have endeavored to
tell the people that the campaign
for removal of overtime penalties
is connected with efforts of the
enemy to promote friction in our
midst. The enemy must be pretty
stupid about its own interests. For
If it doesn't know that a 40-hour
week and penalties for overtime will
slow up Americas war production,
it is badly informed as to which
side Of the argument will help 1t
more.
Representatives of the press have
no easy time of it, of course. With
an administration in Office that re-
sents criticism, the public doesn't
suffer in peacetimes, because the
truth can be ferreted out and
printed. But in wartime the ad-
ministration has powerful weapon
news suppression, the threat OF
Jail, and the easily offered excuse
that the enemy would be aided or
comforted by the news. This has
now gone so far that the President,
by executive order No. 9103, has
forbidden any agency of the
Government to give out any sta
tistical information whatsoever ex-
cept through the Budget Bureau.
Just what the Budget Bureau knows
about the remote relationship Of
fiscal matters to enemy comfort is
problematical, but it is apparent that
hereafter the American public will
not be told about the details OF
its expenditures and receipts or any
of the major items of the way the
spending program is being con-
Quoted unless it suits the political
purposes of the administration to
give out such data.
The cutting off of this main source
of figures for the economists and
statisticians OF the country is an
adventure in useless censorship. Yet
with the political background of the
whole censorship policy it is under
standable.
Macarthur Cites Morale.
Gen. Macarthur, on the other
hand, speaks of the Importance OF
letting the people know the truth.
He saws it Is essential to morals. He
recalled to newspapermen in Au-
stralia the days when he was press
relations officer at the War Depart
ment. The United States Army, at
the time, had sent a punitive ex-
pedition into Mexico under Gen.
Pershing. 1t was delicate period
in our foreign relations.
This correspondent remembers
those press conferences very well.
Macarthur was q major then. He
always talked with freedom and
earnestness that carried conviction.
He used to put his feet on the desk
in unmilitary fashion and talk for
q half hour or an hour on any sub
ject the correspondents wanted to
talk about. He gained their con-
fldence and when he asked for the
withholding of any particular piece
of information he gave a good rea-
son, and it always appealed to the
newspapermen. They trusted him