Evening star., 1951-09-27

FOLLOWING is the teTt OF Presi-
dent Trumaf,'s message to Con- !,
nreSs today requesting Legislation
to require all top Government
officials to oiue public account
ing each year OF their total
income.
To the Congress of the United
States:
I recommend that the Congress
enact legislation requiring officials
in all branches of the Government
to place on the public record each
year full information concerning
their incomes from all sources,
public and private. I believe this
will be an important step in aSsur-
ing the integrity of the public serv-
ice and in protecting Government
officials against false and un-,
founded charges of improper con-
duct.
The overwhelming majority of
the people who are working for
the Federal Government in the
legislative. judicial and executive
branches are decent, honest and
upright citizens who are doing
their very best in the public in
terest. I believe that the stand
ards of conduct now prevailing In
the Government service compare
favorably with those of the past
and with the standards now pre-
vailing in business and the profess
sions. Nevertheless, it should be
our constant aim to improve these
standards. AS the burdens of the
Government increase during this
defense period and more and more
citizens enter into business or
financial dealings with the Gov
ernment, it is particularly neces-
Sary to tighten up on our regula-
tory procedures and to be sure
that uniformly. high legal and
moral standards apply to all
phases of the relationship betweenI
the citizen and his Government.
Urges Constant Vigilance.
In operations as large as those
of our Government today. with so
much depending on official action
in the Congress and in the execu-
tive agencies. there are bound to
be attempts by private citizens or
special interest groups to gain
their ends by illegal or improper
means. Unfortunately. there are
sometimes cases where members
of the executive and legislative
branches yield to the temptationl
to let their public acts be swayedI
by private interest. We must
therefore be constantly on the
alert to prevent illegal or i'm
proper conduct, and to discover
and punish any instances Of It'll
that may occur. -
We must also guard against the
danger that the misconduct of a
few will result in unwarrantedI
suspicion and distrust of the
honesty of all Government Of
ficials.
In recent months, there has
been something amounting to al
deliberate effort to discredit the
Government service. Attempts
have been made through implica-
tion and innuendo, and by exag-
geration and distortion of thel
facts in few cases, to create
the impression that graft andI
corruption are running rampant
through the whole Government.
To my mind the most disturb
ing feature of the charges and
. rumors stirred up by these at
tenpts is their effect on the con-
f1dence of the American people in
their Government and in all the
individuals who make up the Gov
ernment. I am told that people,
all around the country are getting
a mistaken and a distorted i'm
preston that the Government Isl
full Of evil-doers, full of men and
women with low standards of
morality, full of people who are
lining their own pockets and dis
regarding the public interest.
Contends Facts Distorted.
This is a terrible distortion of
the true facts about our Govern
ment. 1t would be tragic if our
citizens came to believe it. ItI
would be tragic for the American
people themselves to have such an
idea ABOUT their Government, and
it would be terrible tragedy for
all those who serve within the
Government. None of us can af-
ford to let the whole body of
public officials be given a bad
name by accusations, rumors, and
sensational publicity tending to1
smear everybody.
I believe the best thing we can
do to spike this effort to discredit
Government officials 81 to place all
the facts right on the record. The
facts themselves are the best cure
for public doubts and uncertainty.
I recommend. therefore, that
the Congress promptly enact a
statute which will require all full.
time civilian presidential ap-
pointees. including members of
the Federal bench; all elected
officers of the Federal Govern
ment. including members of the
Congress, and all other top Off
cials and employees Of the three
branches of the Government-say
those receiving salaries Of $4,000
or more, plus flag and general
officers of the armed services-to
file annually a statement of their
total incomes, including amounts
over. and above their Government
salaries, and the sources of this
outside income. Consideration
should also be given to requiring
other Government employees to file
such statements If their outside
income exceeds specified amount
perhaps $1,000 year. Some
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