Evening star., 1952-11-30
Constant Check Urged
By Senators 10 Curb
Government Secrecy

The staff of the Senate anti
censorship subcommittee reported
yesterday that a constant and close
check is necessary to prevent Fed
eral agencies from using Presi-
dent Truman's order on security
of information as a cloak "to hide
errors, mistakes or misconduct" :"
The Executive order, opposed by
many press groups. gave the agen-
cieS power to withhold informa-
tion in the interests of National
security. The subcommittee staff
found that one result of the Or
der has been a tendency on the
part of some Government officials
to "overclassify" security informa-
ton.
The report continued:
1T is therefore imperative that
adequate machinery be set up to
maintain continuing surveil-
lance of the actions taken under
this Executive order"
Suggest Periodic Checks.
The staff suggested that some
branch of the National Security
Council should make periodic spot
checks to see whether government
agencies are following the spirit
Of the Executive order to estab-
1ish uniform methods of safe
guarding security information and
to make proper information more
easily available.
In making public the report, re-
tirlng Senator Moody, Democrat, !
of Michigan, subcommittee chair
man. said that while the work of
the subcommittee has not been
completed. some changes have
been brought about which open
up previously blocked channels of
information.
Senator Moody was defeated in
the recent election. Since he was
filling an uneXpired term by ap-
pointment, his successor, Repub-
lican Representative Potter, is en-
titled to succeed him now instead
Of on January 3.
Fear Too Much Secrecy.
The staff of the anti-censorshipI
group expressed the belief that if
some system for making indie
pendent checks is not inauguratedI
"there will still be tendency to
overclaSSify security information.
Such overclassification would re-
suit in withholding facts which
the public is entitled to know"
The new channels of informa-
tion which the subcommittee staff
reported having opened up were
in the Internal Revenue Bureau.
They involved applications for
hearings on liquor permits, and
the release of information con-
corning compromise settlements in
adulterated liquor cases.
The staff also reported that the
Justice Department is now work.
ing on a method by which con-
siderable information on Presi-
Dental pardons can be released in
the future.
The staff reported that gen.
eral invitation to the press to sub
nit complaints brought only 18I
specific cases, which were investi-
gated.
The first specific case listed in
the staff report was a complaint
that the Department of Agri-
culture had refused the Buffalo
Evening News permission to use
pictures on elm disease.
when the committee staff
called the department. it admitted
its mistake" the report added.
Another complaint was that the
Navy refused to release names
of midshipmen appointed to the
Naval Academy. The Navy advised
the subcommittee that it pre-
ferred to release the names but
encountered objections from Con-
gressmen who made the appoint
ments.
Koje Riot Story Delayed.
The staff reported that it
brought vigorously to the attention
of the Defense Department a
complaint that an Associated !
Press story on the Koje Island
Korean prisoner-of-war riot was
delayed half a day pending an
official statement. The staff report
said the story OF the initial riots
at Koje should have been made
available to the press promptly.
Upon investigating complaint
that OPS withheld summaries of
the proceedings of its industry
advisory committees. the staff |
was advised that these hearings
involved production practices and
trade secrets. and that industry
opposed release of such informa-
ton.