Evening star., 1951-12-26
Secrecy '0bsession'
Seen as Growing Evil
In Federal Agencies

Oftcial Washington's "ob-
session" on withholding Govern
ment information drew a warning
from a national magazine writer
today that the system may get out
OF hand and cause abuses similar
to Soviet secrecy evils.
An article, Are Top Secrets De-
moralizing Washington" byI
Demaree Bess in The Saturday
Evening Post, estimated at least
1000 top secrets" in the govern
mental security classification set
up.
Calling for a sharper distinction
between super-secrets and lesser II
secrets, Mr.. Bess declared that few.
II any, Of the lesser ones, ac-
counting for 95 per cent of the |
overall classification, should have |
been marked secret or kept conf
dental for very long.
Incompetency Blamed.
He wrote that most such ma
terial was so classified by "in-
competent security officers, more
numerous in the lower ranks. fire.
quently playing safe by marking
almost everything restricted"
Mr.. Bess recalled that a news
conference last October showed
President Truman was "embar-
rassingly unfamiliar with his own
administrations devices for pro-
tecting official secrets" He re-
ferred to Mr.. Trumans complaint |
that vast amounts of secret infor-
nation had been revealed by
newspapers and slick" maga-
zines.
Apparently it had not occurred
to Mr.. Truman that another in
depreciation would be more logi-
CAL" Mr.. Bess wrote. IF news
papers and magazines, without
previous protest, have published%I
most of the Governments secret
information, that would mean one
of two things: Either Cd the
great bulk of so-called secret in
formation is not secret at all and
should never have been classified
as secret; or (2) the Governments
protective system of official Sc
crets is colossal failure"
Nervous NeIlies" Criticized.
Mr.. Bess held that the major
shortcoming wa over classifica-
ton. often by Nervous Nellies."
But he added that the security
loyalty system, while necessary,
still has major flaws and some
basic problems which must be
solved.
He found general assurance that
the security of super-secrets is
reasonably safe, although no sys-
TEN is foolproof or traitor proof.
In the case of other material, clas-
sified below the top-secret level.
the Government must solve the
problem of quickly making avail
able the information that should
not have been restricted for long,
If at all. by ''timid' officials.
Secrecy methods and fears in
Russia constitute one of the most
serious defects of the Soviet sys-
tenn, Mr.. Bess said. It would be
a gross exaggeration to compare
the situation in Washington, to
the evils of the Soviet system he Il
observed.
But even in Washington" he
said. ''it has been demonstrated
that an obsession with secrecy,
once it has taken root. can easily
get out of hand. It can even mis-
lead the President into making |
himself look foolish"
Macarthur Hearings Cited.
Mr.. Bess cited the censorship
during the Macarthur hearings
before Senate committees as an
example of an effective handling
of genuine secrets. This was &C
complished only by real CO.
operation between leaders in Con-
gress and administrative offices.
"a state of affairs which rarely
prevails" Mr.. Bess reported.
AS for examination of security
Information in general, Mr.. Bess
maintained that Undoubtedly
congressman cause more worry to
security officers than all other
groups combined"
Speaking of the Federal loyalty
program, he contended that "the
Government has paid an enormous
price for its loyalty precautions.
The system, necessary as it is.
has multiplied investigative agen-
cies and hampered departmental
work, he said.
The loyalty setup," he said,
''has degraded very large group
of Americans-Federal employees |
into second-class citizens, not /
entitled to the same brand of |