Evening star., 1951-10-04
President AssaiIs
Press Publication
OF u. ). Secrets
Continued From First Page.)

given to an enemy. through the
clandeSt1ne operation of spies"
AS the President read his state
ment, he commented that the
Central Intelligence Agency re-
Gently had Yale University make
a survey which showed that 95
per cent of all secret information
was public property.
Order Followed Survey.
Then he interjected d-per-
mltting direct quotes-''remember
that 95 per cent of our secret in
formation has been revealed by
our newspapers and slick maya
zines and that's what I'm trying
to stop"
When the President was asked
what bearing the Yale survey had
on the issuance of his order. he
replied that the order had not
been put out until after the
survey.
Later, the President modified
this statement to some extent by
saying that the information had
been classified, that is, it had been
assigned to one of these four cate
gories: Restricted, confidential,
secret and top secret.
Cite Atomic Article.
The President also said that he
would be glad to consider "rea-
sonable suggestions for changes
that are advanced in good faith"
Then the brisk interchange
started.
A reporter wanted an example
Of the secrecy breaches that had
brought the order. Mr.. Truman
responded that the most outstand-
ing example was the publication
in Fortune Magazine of pictures
and maps of atomic installations.
Then he referred to the civil
defense map of Washington and
other cities stressing that these
even had arrows pointing to tar
gets that would lie before an
enemy air attack.
Given Out BY Military.
When a reporter retorted that
the military had given out that
information the idea was to
make the citizenry more aware
OF the dangers of atomic warfare
Mr.. Truman declared tartly that
he didn't care where it came from,
that the publisher shouldn't have
used it.
He went on to say he wished
he had the same sort of informa-
ton on Russia.
Another reporter raised the
question Of the dangers that lie
in oVerzealous enforcement of the
presidential order, recalling that
an aftermath was the Shortlived
Office of Price Sterilization direc-
tive proposing to suppress news
that might reflect unfavorably on
that agency.
Security Training Indicated.
Mr.. Truman answered that the
sponsor of that order had the rug
pulled out from under him. He
added that he hated censorship
as much as anybody and intended
to protect the press under the
order
Asked how he would weigh the
relative value of a free press
against military security, Mr.. Tru-
man asserted that the free press
is just as important as the bill of
rights In fact, he added, it is
part Of it.
Mr.. Truman also said that Sc
curity officers would get training
So their ruling would get uni
fornlity.
Hits AP Story on Bomb.
Asked what he thought about
the rights of publishers in the
recent printing of the 'Matador'
guided missile and if he believed
tIIdC llICJ oI4Oulu 11OG IldNC pl IlIISu
this information from the Penta-
gon, he replied that they should
have the same regard for the
country as he does.
1t was in this connection that
the President hit at the Associated
Press story on the bomb yesterday.
Asked then if he was suggesting
that editors and publishers should
question some agency whenever
doubt of publication arose, Mr..
Truman responded that he was
not. He reiterated that he was
asking newsmen to take the same
viewpoint of safety of the United
States as he does and he added
they ought to know whether a /
thing should be published or not. |
Information Put on Record.
One newsman raised the point
that members of Congress give
~ StNf