The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-15
PRESS PROTESTS
 CONFERENCE BAN
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 The Oiilce of Censorship has eX. pressed no concern regarding it The standing committee believes the American people are entitled t0 know the decisions made througl, prompt -the-ground reporting by their traditionally free press"
 Copies of the resolution were sent to Mir. Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and to director Elmer Davis of the Office oG War Infor- nation. Tho committee members, who approved tho resolution unan- imouSly, were elected this yeur to serve . l043-44 term. They arc; Ned Brooks. Scripps- Howard Newspaper Alliance, chairman; Cecil B. Dick son, Chicago Sun, secretary; Jack Bell, Associated Press; Edward T, Pollard, Washington Post; and Bulkley Grimm, Hartford Times,
 The food conference will convene May i8 at the Homestead, Q resort hotel which has been taken over by the state department for the bcca- sion. Delegates will live there. Newsmen and women will be barred from the hotel and from the grounds except during the formal opening and closing sessions. Then there will be speeches general and non. controversial in nature which may or may not reveal all that the con- ference sought to achieve and meth ods by which achievement was un- dertaken.
 There will be a press ofiice es- tablished at e considerable distance from the hotel where newsmen and women will be given such informa- ton regarding day-to-day confer ence developments us the adminis- tration deems the public should have. The decision to conduct a substantially closed conference was MT. Roosevelt'S and was not made by nor, so far as can be ascertained, even endorsed by any of his puh- licity aides.
 The point is made here and in editorial comment around the coun- try that this is a postwar food conference and that secret discus sion scarcely can be defended on grounds of military security. It further is suggested that barring newsmen and women from this conference would offer precedent for further departure from cuS- tomary practice in such negotiations so that there might be a whole series of secret United Nations hud- dles to work out postwar problems, eliminating in peace conference which also might be undertaken at some remote place from which re- porters would be barred.
 T'hirtv-one nations So far have accepted invitations to be repre- sented at Hot Springs. Acceptances are expected from ii more to com plete the full roster of the united and associated nations.
 Resolutions have been offered in both House and Senate providing that the press and representatives of Congress shall have daily access to conference meetings. These reso- lutions have exclusively Republican sponsorship. The Democratic chair man of House and Senate commit tees to which they have been re- ferred indicate that they will be given little, if any, attention.
 There has been sharp editorial protest against decision to limit coverage of next weeks postwar refugee conference in Bermuda to representatives of press associations. Since December 2. l04l, MT. Roose- velut generally has travelled without reporters except on his io42 inspec- ton of defense plants when press association reporters went along but were forbidden to write any, thing until they returned to Wash- ington. The number of newspaper reporters given permanent creden- tials to cover White House confer. ences has been curtalled drastically. Commenting or the overall Situa. ton, the Minneapolis Btar-Journal said editorially on April 9:
 "The war. which is a reason for secrecy about some things. has been made an excuse for secrecy about many more"