Evening star., 1950-04-30

Qocl VI.
At Secretary of State Acheson'!
direction, Undersecretary of Statt
Webb has dug deeply into tht
problem of making it easier fol
newspaper and radio reporters Il
get timely news at the depart
ment. He has welcomed advice
of delegations from the Statt
Department Correspondents AS.
sociation.
One basic result is adoption O
a positive, affirmative policy fol
putting out all the news tina
officials concerned believe safely
can be published. This policy
should. in the long run, overcome
one of the things reporters cover.
ing the State Department have
complained most about over the
years-a tendency by some Off.
cialS to hold back any information
they control until a "leak" in some
foreign capital or other circum-
stances forces its publication.
There is some hedging even in
the new policy. It calls for giving
the public all possible information
on this Governments relations
with other countries except in
cases where there are valid Sc
curity reasons for secrecy or where
officials believe negotiations in
progress would be prejudiced by
disclosure of information.
Most Overworked Excuse
This leaves plenty Of room for
possible undue censorship at the
source by officials who still have
a personal negative" attitude to-
ward news. OF course, there are
bound to be real security reasons
for not making public some in
formation in the State Depart.
ment's possession. But many other
things are classified secret" with.
out valid reason. A study /,
going on now of the possible over.
classification of cables exchanged
with the departments overseas
missions.
In the opinion Of many veteran
reporters in the State Department
pressroon, the most overworkec
excuse of some officials for hold.
ing back news is that it might
jeopardize negotiations in prog.
ress. There may be occasion!
when this may be a valid excuse
But it too often is abused. Deli.
cate judgment is necessary al
times in weighing the advantage.
of secret diplomacy" against tht
advantages of an informed public
opinion supporting the objectives
sought by American negotiators.
Former Secretary of State
Byrnes appeared to like the idea
of secret negotiations during his
first few months in Office, but he
learned fast. Soon after he left
the State Department, he pub
lished a book. Speaking Frankly" :"
in which he asserted:
I'VE must leave behind the era
Of secret diplomacy. We must
make sure that our people have an
opportunity to know the problems
their diplomats confront so that
they can judge properly the pro-
posed solution. The right of the
people to know is a basic element
in the development of a peoples
foreign policy. -.
Efficiency Improves
THE people can exert their full
influence in the conduct of foreign
affairs only if they know more
about them. That basic demo-
cratic right, the right of the
people to know, must be applied
increasingly in the conduct of
foreign affairs. To carry this
policy into action involves a break
with the diplomatic habits of the
past. Such habits are not easily
broken. Time, effort and a con-
slant demand by the public to
know what is happening will be
needed"
Mr.. Acheson, Mr.. Webb and
many other top officials in the
State Department now appear te
be as much against secret diplo-
macy as Mr.. Byrnes was at tho
end Of his experience of directins
foreign affairs. But they still
have a long way to 60 in breakine
some other officials away from the
diplomatic habits of the past"
At first glance, 1t would seem
that the Acheson- Webb attitude
would be controlling. 1t usually
is on major issues. But under the
new decentra1ized organization
OF the State Department, there
are many matters that do MOI
come to their attention directly
Some Assistant Secretaries ener
getically pursue the idea of makins
available to the public all possible
information. Others pay lip serv.
ice to the idea, but for one reason
or another shy away from makins
1t really effective in their areas
The State Department reor.
ganization Of the past year ha.
increased greatly the efficiency o.
most operations. It has relieved
Secretary of State Acheson of ur
to 80 per cent of the routine
paper work that used to go to the
Secretary's desk. leaving him more
time to handle the major cold wal
problems and consider broac
policies.
Under the reorganization, AS.
siSCant Secretaries have full re.
Sponsibillty for most day-to-day
decisions. Their responsibility
covers economic and informationa
as well as political activities ir
their areas. Formerly, economic
and international matters were
handled separately by officials re.
porting to the Secretary level.
Sectional ReSnonSibiIitv