Evening star., 1942-03-12

tIldtly puUl1C iC1deAOAc CAAP1OyCo
in the individual departments
and independent agencies Of the
Government. on the theory that
the o. G. r. Is issuing press re-
leases. This Is incorrect. The
new central building and the In
creased personnel are not to take
care Of the press, but to give in
formation to those who come
here to get it. or write to Wash
ington for 1t. The only press
release the o. G. r. puts out Is .
weekly summary of news about
Government activities. a column.
which is sent at the special re-
quest OF the National Editorial
Association, to the newspaper
members of that association, in
cluding hundreds of smaller city
and country newspapers. The
rest Of the work Of the o. G. r.
is gathering and disseminating
information about the Govern
ment, whether contained In
Government reports or In the
press OF the country, for the
benefit Of Government ofiicials,
including members Of Congress-.
and for the benefit OF American
citizens who ask for 1t.
Just as there is no duplication
or overlapping Of work 50 far as
the regular press divisions Of the
departments and agencies are
concerned, so there is no duplica-
tion Of work by the o. G. r. with
the once of Facts and Figures.
headed by Archibald MacLeish,
which acts in an advisory ca
pacity to the Government, or
with the office Of Co-ordinator Of
Information, headed by Col. Will
liam j. Donovan. which is par
ticularly engaged IN furnishing
information through short-wave
broadcasts to foreign peoples. or
with the Inter-American Com
mission, headed by Nelson
Rockefeller, which is engaged ex-
clusively with information and
relations with the other Ameri-
can republics.
VIII Save Time and Money.
In the new building OF the
o. G. r. there will be . large
central information lobby to
which visitors will 60 tmmedi-
ately. Many Of them will be able
to get the exact information they
desire at the desk In this lobby.
Others will be directed to stafi
specialists, who have of1ices i'm
mediately adjacent to the lobby.
In addition, the War and Navy
Departments, the Once Of War
Production and other agencies
will send special representatives
to the new building. They will
be able to take whatever action
may be necessary In some cases,
and in others will be able to ar
range interviews with the right
officials, or even to take the visi-
tors to these officials.
AS for the money being used to
erect the new o. G. r. building,
1t comes from funds appropriated
and placed At the disposal Of the
President to construct new build
ings in Washington for war work.
Mr.. Mellett has asked the COM
mittees of Congress for the addi-
tional s285,000 he will need for
operations. If Congress fails to
make the appropriation he will
have to spread the money already
appropriated Is best he can
although the service will not
then be as efficient.
The new central information
Office Is calculated to serve and
to save. It will be able to give
quickly the information required.
1t will save the time Of men who
wish to do business with the
Governmental Is admitted on
all sides that q tremendous waste
has occurred in the past months
and 1t will save the time Of
many Government officials who
now have to see visitors who have
not been properly directed.