The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-14
A Thought for Today
Give the News, Good or Bad

Some of the most effective criticism of the government in its handling of the war effort has been based on the theory that there has been a definite and la mentable lack of franknesS in telling the people what is going on. Many officials, this argument runs, seem to regard the people as children, from whom unpleas- ant truths must be kept. One of the most common sayings in Washington circles today is that "the people aren't awake" The defenders of the people say that the people are more completely awake than good many of the blgW1gs in government - and that the extent Of popular bewilderment as to the course of the war is directly attributable to a stupid kind of censorship.
 In the newspaper fraternity, a peak of disgust was reached during the long drawn out trial of the eight Nazi Sabo- teurs The high Army officers who made up the trial court seemed to work on the principle that the people should be told absolutely nothing. Not until the strong est kind of pressure was brought to bear were newspapermen even permitted to view the trial chamber. And even then they were allowed in for only few min- utes - and the presiding General stopped all proceedings 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, 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 flrst-claSs job ana they have much evidence to Substant1ate that. But again, as Time phraSed It, s'The trouble seemed to lie in the ArmyS -people-nothing attitude"
 There are obvious difficulties in the way of deciding precisely what lnforma- ton 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 long series of incidents the military authorl- ties have leaned over backward to an extraordinary extent in refusing to release news which, according to the American tradition, should and must be told. And the fault is by no means confined to Army and Navy authorities. Time and time again, various non-military officials of the government have made completely conflicting statements about the same subject = as, for instance, in news re- leases on the oil, rubber and automobile problems Under those circumstances, it's no wonder that very considerable part of the population is lost in welter of confusion.
 The main hope for ironing out this un- fortunate business lies in Elmer Davls, the cool and canny head of the Otflce of War Information. MT. Davis, It Will be recalled, was given his appointment some months ago after the other govern mental information bureaus had made an almost complete failure of the job. 50 far. MT. Davis doesn't seem to have been able to make great deal of headWay. But, according to reliable reports, he is work ing stubbornly, and is determined that eventually the American people snail pc promptly and truthfully told everything it is possible to tell them. He IS said to have the confidence of the President, ana he isn't frightened by either the military or the civil brass hats.
 So it's reasonable guess that in the future, the American people will gradu- ally get more and more accurate 1n- formation on all the phases of the war than they have had before. There IS a definite and growing movement against unnecessary and unreasonable censor ship. either direct or indirect. And there is a growing feeling that John Jones, who must do the fighting, working and paying that total war demands, is entitled to every fact good or bad, which would not be of real aid to the enemy.