Evening star., 1951-10-07
By Ernest B. Voccoro.
Axsorioted preSx StoH Writer

quickly this week but there is /;
lot of life yet in other question
arising from Mr.. Truman's neV
security information" program.
Recent developments in thu
story began September 25 wher
MIR. Truman issued an executive
order extending to civilian agen'
cies the same tight security al
ready in effect in the Defense anc
State Departments. 1t left up tc
them to designate what informa
ton could be safely given out
from a national security stand.
point. and what could not.
The story reached a climax las!
Thursday. at Mr.. Truman's weekly
news conference. and is still un-
folding toward an as yet unknown
ending. Confusion is oe of the
clearest factors. it might be said
Mr.. Truman at one point tolG
his news conference he issued tn,
order because newspapers ane
slick magazines" had published
"95 per cent of our secret infor.
nation"
Publishers Responsibility.
At another point. Mr.. Truman
told questioning reporters tha
publishers have a responSibilit!
not to print anything that nigh
be helpful to an enemy. When tolc
that the items at issue were
cleared by Government agencies
he said he didn't care where ths
Information came from, that the!
ought not to print such matter.
About two hours later the White
House backtracked somewhat OF
this, saying it would be safe tt
print military information tina
came from officials qualified Il
pass on its relation to security.
Still. WaShington's neWsmer
were fearful the Presidential ordel
confronts them with:
l. A greatly expanded censor.
ship at the source of Government
news along with:
2. A lack of a complete system
to make it work, and an absence
of specific guides for security of
ficers to follow in saying wha
news should be withheld.
Some Questions Raised.
While there is no censorship oi
the press or radio and no penalties
for anything that might be pub
lished or broadcast, the order. has
raised the thought in editors
minds that:
Government officials. anxious to
avoid criticism from their super
lors adj the way up to the White
House. might be fearful to re-
lease even information that has
no security value at all.
Also, editors say. undue delays
could occur before a final de-
clsion is made on whether to re-
lease some news which normally
would reach the public promptly
The September 25 order re,
ouires civilian agencies which
handle security information II
classify it as top secret, secret.
confidential and restricted II
the same manner as the State ane
Defense Departments.
-
It's purpose. Mr.. Truman said
was to guard against release o
vital information which might b
helpful to a potential enemy, ant
to have uniform standards TO
classification in all agencies deal
ing with security matters.
Some newspapers protested an,
the Associated Press Managing
Editors Association passed unani
mously a resolution asking that i
be rescinded. It was called q
dangerous instrument of news sup
preston" The editors said ther
was no show of necessity" for i
and criticized the Oder for falling
to define closely" what shoult
be withheld.
In Congress. Republicans. par
ticularly, critized the order. ant
Senator Bricker, Republican o
Ohio, offering bill to force its re
peal. called it a disgusting irol
curtain order" Senators Ferguson
Republican of Michigan, Bridge
Republican of New Hampshire ant
Mundt, Republican of South De
Gotta. added their denunciations.
Committee Suggested
Senator Moody. Democratic o
Michigan. suggested appointment
of top-ranking committee o
newspapermen to draft propose'
changes. Senator Benton. Demo
crat of Connecticut, suggested tina
neWspapermen should serve witt
security officers to protect tn
interest of press and public.
Mr.. Truman himself said h
had mo desire to suppress free
dom of speech or freedom of tn
press" but simply wanted t.
guard against valuable informa
ton falling into the hands o
the enemy.
His press secretary. Josepl
Short, not long ago the Whit
House correspondent for tn
Baltimore Sun, worked hard t
convince editors and reporter
that it could be made to work.
Over and over again, he toll
them that the President mean
what he said, in a letter to Gov
ernment departments that tn
order was not to be used to hid
any mistakes they might make
The order was only a fey
hours old when an Office O
Price Sterilization bulletin ad
vised its employees not to pas
along any information whicI
might cause embarrassment t
the OPS. Mr.. Truman ordere
this one killed as soon as it wa
disclosed. AS he told newsme
Thursday. he promptly pulled tn
carpet out from under that ont
Mr.. Truman further told tn
DreSS that he was ready to max