Evening star., 1951-09-26

FONOJOllg Us tfte teIt " EfcS-
ident Trundn'S statement dc-
compdnyino his erecutiUe order
on the classification and han
ding OF security intormdtion:'
I have today signed an Execu-
tive Order to strengthen our safe
guards against divulging to po-
tential enemies information HARM
full to the security of the United
States.
The order provides, for the first
time, uniform standards for clas-
styling and protecting security in
formation throughout the Execu-
tive Branch of the Government.
At the same time, the order pro-
hibits the classification of any
information by any agency unless
1t can show afflrmatively that dis
closure of the information would
harm the national security. There
fore some agencies will never have
occasion to institute classification
and many of the others will have
only infrequent need to do so.
The necessity for this order ar
rises from the fact that security
information occasionally involves,
and must be handled by, agencies
which normally do not handle Sc
curity matters. The order requires
them to protect security matters
In the same manner as they would
be protected in one of the key de-
fenSe agencies which have tradi-
tional classification systems. On
the other hand. the order pro-
hibits any agency from classifying
non-security matters.
No Element of Censorship.
The American people have a
fundamental right to information
about their Government, and there
is no element of censorship, either
! direct or implied, in this order.
The order applies only to officials
and employees of the executive
branch of the Government. The
public is requested to cooperate,
but is under no compulsion or
threat of penalty to do so as a re-
suit of this order. Furthermore.
have directed every agency to
keep constant watch over its clas-
sif1cation activities for the pur-
pose of reducing or eliminating
classif1cations wherever and when
ever conditions permit.
l expect each department head
or his designated subordinate to
investigate promptly and care
fully any alleged instance of un-
justified use of security classical
tions. AS the result of these poll
cies, and as the result of the clear
segregation of security from nom
security information. I hope that
the American people will receive
more, rather than less, informa-
.tion about their Government as
a result of this Executive order.
Under the order, any agency
which originates an item of Sc
curity information is directed to
mark it with the words security
information" plus one of the four
following classifcations: Top
secret" secret" confidential.
sor restricted" The order speci-
,f1es the precautions then to be
taken in accordance with these
tclassif1cations, ranging from the
most stringent precautions for
"'top secret" to the minimum pre-
cautions for restricted" The four
classihcations are the standard
marking used by the Departments
of Defense and State and no new
security classifications are au-
,thorized.
To assure that this order is car
ried cut in the spirit in which it
was issued I have also directed
the National Security Council,
through its Interdepartmental
sCoHmittee on Internal Security,
Ito maintain continuing review
lof classification activities in all
lagencies with view to achieving
uniform compliance with this
order, both as to safeguarding
security information and to pre-
vent the classification procedure
from oelng used to withhold in
formation which can be divulged
without harm to the national Sc
cul'itv
Letter to Agency Heads.
The President also sent the
telloWing letter to the heads
of executive departments and
agencies:
l have today signed an eXecu.
tive order prescribing minimum
standards for the classification
transmission and handling o.
official information relating tt
the security of the Nation.
This order will apply to all de-
partments and agencies in th'
executive branch of the Govern
ment ard. therefore, it is of thu
highest Importance that the re
sponsible officials of all agencie
fainiliarize themselves with its re
quirements and understand it
purposes In this connection
want to emphasize particular,
several aspects of this executive
order.
In the past, relatively few agen
cies. such as the Departments o
State ard Defense, have had
need to classify information fo
security purposes. Now, however
with the broad ramif1cations @
our national security effort, man
additional agencies are require
To handle classified security in
formation This, in turn, ha
made it necessary to prescrih
these minimum standards fc
application throughout the execu
tive branch of the Government
Exclusively for Security.
However, I want it clearly ur
derstood in all agencies, defens