The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1944-05-29


Actually, Chief Censor Byron
Price isn't at all enthusiastic about
opening peoples mail, and recent
ly took q confidential vote OF diff
ferent Government bureaus to see
whether the system Of intercept
should be continued. Out Of 81
agencies, the vote was to 8 for
and against the continuing of in
tercepts until the war with Ger
many has been won; then only
against Japan. Three agencies were
-committal.
The intercept system means
the opening Of all mail be-
tween the United States and
foreign countries, copying i'm
pOrtant portions and routing
about twenty different copies TO
different agencies Of the gov
eminent. Main purpose Of this
system Is to detect important
information regarding the en-
envy or to block information
which might help the enemy.
All mail between the United
States and foreign country is
opened. Mail to neutral coun-
tries, such as Portugal and Ar
gentina, is studied with especial
care because those two countries
are among the chief pipelines for
Nazi information. Miss Vivien
Kellems' letters written to a Nazi
agent in Argentina naturally were
opened, and copies were sent to
the War and Navy Departments,
the FBI, and other agencies sup
posed to watch Argentine Nazi af-
fairs.
ECONOMIC INFORMATION
Although Censor Price has con-
Cured with the Army and Navy
regarding the necessity of opening
foreign mail, he has hung back re-
garding the turning over of econ
omic information to interested
agencies such as the Foreign
Economies Administration. This
economic information is what the
British were criticized for pick
ing up during the last war, and
which some government insiders
feel they are doing again in this
war.
For instance, the British be-
gan preparing for censorship as
early as the 193O's, when Nor
man Elmsley, chief British cen
scr expert in Washington, began
building up a staff. Elmsley
handled the same job in the last
war, and now has eight British
ers in the U. S. censorship Of
flee looking over U. s. inter-
cepts.
Several times Leo Crowley's
Foreign Economic Administration
has pressed Price to let them put
trained economists in the Brit
ish censoris office to get informa-
ton on British cartels. But Price
has opposed this.
Meanwhile, lot of u. S. COM
panies doing business abroad find
ways and means of lodging CEN
sorship by sending reports home
via the diplomatic pouch.
The censors themselves would
be delighted to get rid of the
whole thing. Meanwhile, Gov
eminent experts interested in fu-
ture U. s. trade believe we should
watch British information just as
carefully as they watch ours.
AS WORKER TO WORKER
Secretary of the Navy Forrestal
and War Production expert Char
lie Wilson were visiting the bravo
company plant on the Ohio river
near Pittsburgh, In order to spur
production OF landing barges.
A meeting OF all kinds of work.
ers-men. women, Negroes, foreign
born-was called to listen to the
Secretary OF the Navy and the
vice chairman Of the WPB. First,
the head Of the bravo company
talked. The crowd listened polite
ly. Then Forrestal gave nice
speech in his best Princetonian ac-
cent. Again polite attention, but
no enthusiasm.
Then Wilson spoke. He spread
out his hands. large and power
ful from working In factories from
the time he was thirteen until he
became an official and later the
head OF General Electric.
"You see those hands?" he
said. Those are hands that
have done what you're doing.
The bosses alone can't do what
yeu're doing. We've got 70 ad-
pend on y0u - OF some one
over there on our side Is &C.
Ing 10 get licked. 80 you give
rs twice ~ many barges during
the month Of May
Tremendous cheers from the
crowd.
~WeIl give you not twice Is