Evening star., 1951-12-01
Welfare Association
Directors Condemn
Relief Rolls Publicity

Full protection of the identity
OF needy persons and of informa-
ton on their personal circum-
stances was urged today in a res
olution unanimously adopted by
the Board of Directors of the
American Public Welfare Associa-
ton.
The board. meeting at the Hotel
Statler, reafhrmed it's position that
full information regarding the
administrative operations of pub
lie welfare should be available"
1t also reiterated its stand that
publication of lists of needy per-
sons for its own sake is not the
economical or humane way to i'm
prove public welfare.
Increased Productivity Cited.
Evan Clague, commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Labor Department. told the con-
ference that l million persons
annually are being added to the
Nations labor force. He said this
increase results in a production of
SIS billion annually in additional
goods and services available.
Further. he explained, the Ma
ton is advancing at the rate of
81 billion annually on the basis
Of increased productivity resulting
from technical advances. machin-
cry. greater labor efficiency and
other factors.
In this expanding economy, ad-
ditional money becomes available
for public welfare and other
things, he said.
Dean Fedele F. Fauri of the
School of Social Work, University
of Michigan. presided at this
mornings discussion. Other par
ticipants in the discussion were
Arthur ]. Altmeyer. commissioner
for social security, Federal Secur-
fy Agency: Harry Becker, director
of the social security department |,
>ef the United Auto Workers.
cIO; Emerson Schmidt, director
OF economic research, United
States Chamber of Commerce, and
Charles I. Schottland, director of
the California State Department
Of Social Welfare.
Group Hears Editor.
SenSatlonalism for its own sake
Is "mdefensible." but nothing is
OF any value in any newspaper
unless it is read, Erwin D. Can
ham. editor of the Christian Sci |,
ence Monitor, told the association
last night.
Mr.. Canham pointed out that
the big newspaper problem today
Is making important news inter-
esting.
1T is easy enough to make SEN
sationalism interesting" he said.
The story about the little girl
who fell down the well is simple
enough to get into peoples minds.
1t is far more difficult to interest
them in the failure of the rice
crop in 1ndo-China. which may
be Infinitely more vital to their
very welfare and to the chances
Of peace and war.
Responsibility Curbs Abuses.
Again, a sense OF responsibility
Is the best way to curb abuses.
This is the only way to discrim- |!
mate between the invasions of
privacy which are justifiable In
the public interest and those
which are not
Mr.. Canham urged the public
welfare groups to abandon Sc
cretiveness for it's own sake on j
the one hand c'I am not here
attacking the right of privacy,
which also needs careful attention
and respect") and to abandon the
false and delusive position of the
propagandist on the other"
In speaking of the right of the
public to know, the speaker also
stressed the right of the indi-
vidual to be protected in his pri-
vate life from unnecessary and
degrading publicity and to "as
much protection as possible for
the victims of tragedy"