The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-09

CNCLl 6 ALldbVCA O4 BSAlCA dA hAAOWACN5C in 0 single community need not go any further. In February 1940 the giant liner Queen Elizabeth was fit- ting out in the Clyde for her first venture to sea. Thousands on the banks of the Scottish river had the evidence before them daily. Just be- fore the first of March she left her fitting-basin and eight tugs pushed her along the clyde to Greenock When the Queen Elizabeth stood down the firth and out to the At- lantic 85,0oo tons of prize for eager U-boatS commanders planes of the Royal Air Force circled overhead. It was an event of the first order, the maiden voyage of the worlds big gest ship, and the excitement was multiplied by the dangers ahead. Yet according to British censorship officials the Elizabeth reached the safety of New York Harbor before word of her departure came to the people of South England.
 Kept Secret ...
 Thousands of Clydeside people knew the Elizabeth had left her berth nine days ago" the British press association said at the time, and yet the secret was kept the lives of the crew of the grea: ship were at stake, not to mention the pride of the British Navy itself Clydesiders remembered Brit. aims guardian motto, Careless talk costs lives"
 ! As an example of the times that word of sailings does leak out, OWI ted how 8 U-Boat captain taunted his American victims. Obviously the details of this sinking must remain secret, but substantially the facts are these
 Your ship is several hours be- hind schedule" the Nazi jsered. They knew 1t was true. He knew their orders.
 Isolated instances are not to be regarded as measure of conpara- tive security in England and Ann erica, OW1 emphasized. but pointed out at the same time that the Brit ish have been schooled more in- tensively in keeping silence than Americans. Posters all ever the United Kingdom advise the people not to talk about the war, and ac- cording to censorship officials they just don't-eXcept for news that has been cleared by the Ministry of h. formation and printed in the papers.
 There are five places where na- 6 act leakage of information. One is at the frontiers where mails and cables can spill vital facts abroad, and ;n both Britain and America the cen- sorship watches over this dam.
 U. s. Press
 Another is at the printing presses. Here methods differ somewhat. In England. all news must be cleared by the Ministry of Information, in the United States, the press polices itself according to code prepared by the Office of Censorship.
 Still another dyke impounds the mass of war information ill Govern ment workers at the source of in- formation to classify 1t according to degrees of secrecy which must be observed. with security officer the final judge of each agency.
 Most familiar barrier to the escape of war information is counter-es- pionage. In the United States the Army, the Navy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation work in close contact to trace down all ene- my agents. These services are par ticularly anxious that Americans avoid playing private detective. They have urged that any suspicious DC kept secret and be communicated at once to the FBI.
 The place where the security agencies do want the publics help is on the fifth and last dyke-the dyke against unguarded statements in casual conversation. Only the public, they say-and that means every man, woman-can prevent the spread of bits and pieces of informa- tion from which the enemy can re- construct American secrets.
 HecIgIe The Government
 None of this means a person can't have opinions. Tn England and the United States. Q man can heckle the government all he wants, provided he doesn't give way the secrets. The Governments may not like what he says. but they viii fight for his right to say it-as when . police- man protects soap box critic from Q jeering mob. Opinion, of course, is just what Q man can't have In Axis countries. II Hans Braun breathes his discontent to his neigh Dor. the chances are the 0estapo will hear of it. In Germany and Japan. the remedy for opinion ls the