The Wrangell sentinel., 1943-01-01
CENSORSHIP

The whole subject oI eensoEsnlp Was brought 10 the attention of Congress through an inquiry made by the Senate Judiciary Committee iu Executive Session with respect to the bill. H. R. 7I51. the proyi- sions or which would explicitly au- taorize Ihe censorship of communi- cations between the United States and it's territories and possessions Since the inquiry was made in EN- eeutiye Session, those who appeared before the Committee are not al- lowed to disclose anything which occurred there. However. several of the members of the Committee have permitted themselves to be quoted on the subject. and one of the local newspapers even carried in quota tons a statement said to have been made by Attorney General Riddle. Nothing contained in this letter Is based upon any personal knowledge that l may have of what occurred in the inquiry of che Committee when was present. -
 The only statutory authority for censorship is 10 be found in what Is known as the First War Powers Aet. approved December Is. 1941, and is embraced in Section 3Q3 as follows
 Whenever. during the present War. the President shall deem that the public safety demands il. he may cause to be censored under such rules and regulations as he. may from tme 10 time establish, communications by mail cable. ra- dIo. or other means of transmits si5u passing between the United States and any foreign country as us may from time 10 time specify, or which may be carried by any vessel or other means of tTansporta- ton touching at any port, place, or bound to or rom any foreign eoun- try.
 section 5o5 also contains penal provisions Tor violation or evasion oil censorship and prescribes punish . =nt lot To exceed SI0,000 in fine !
 Although il will be seen that nothing in Section 303 expressly | authorizes censorship between theI United States and any territory, aach as Alaska. or any possession, 1 under executive order censorship h~s been continuously exercised oY-l e communica tions between theI states and the territories and pos sessions. So lar as known to me, no attempt has been made to cen-I sor any printed material or tele-| graph messages passing between any OI the forty-eight states.
 At first il was suggested that theI legal authority for existing censor-I ship as regards the territories andI possessions is to be round in Sec-l ton 303, but l believe that posi- ton is ont now relied upon. Ac-I cording 10 an article appearing inI the Washington STAR on Decent Der fl. Attorney General Riddle isl of the opinion that the President as Commander in Chief, has the. power to impose domestic censor snip Tn cases or need and, therefore il would seem to follow that the officials of the Department of Jus tice believe the authority for the censorship as to Alaska, Hawaii, and the possessions is to be found in the general war powers of the President as Commander in Chief Of the Army and Navy. These war powers have never been accurately defined, and in undertaking censor ship anywhere it may be argued that the President is merely exer- eising one of his powers as Com mander in Chief to aid and supple ment the military operations which are directly under his control by the provisions of the Constitution.
 The inquiry thus made by the Senate Judiciary Committee was in- stituted at the suggestion of Gov