Evening star., 1953-04-15

IIVPVSU ~ NVIIlUuI
Government Secrecy
A proposal for a new law to
combat Government secrecy will
get attention from the Nations
leading editors due here tomor-
row for the annual convention
of the American Society of
Newspaper Editors
The editors, more than 400
strong, will hold three days Of
meetings starting with a talk by
President Eisenhower at / pm.
Sessions will be at the Hotel
Statler.
The proposal on Government
secrecy is contained in a new
book by Harold r. Cross, legal
consultant OF the society, which
will be presented to the editors
Saturday.
Examines Legal Methods.
Mr.. Cross, specialist in news
paper law, in the 405-page VOL
ume examines news suppression
and the legal methods for oppoS-
ing it at all governmental levels.
Citizens in general, as we'll as
newspapermen, the book said,
have come to depend too much
on the gracious, favorable ex-
ercise Of a final unreviewable dis
cretion" in the dispensing of
Government information.
THE time is ripe for an end
to Intellectual sputtering about
executive refusals of access to
official records and for Congress
to begin exercising effectually it's
function to legislate freedom of
information for itself, the public
and the press" the book declared.
THE powers of Congress to
that end are not unlimited but
C11cy are CACcIIOINS.
James S. Pope, chairman of
the ASNE Committee on Free
dom of Information, in FORE
word praises the volume as "a
manual of arms for battle we
had only begun to comprehend" !"
Cabinet Officers to Speak.
Ranking members of the Eisen-
hover team" including cabinet
officers, will address the editors
tomorrow afternoon and Friday
morning.
On the program are Secretary
Of the Treasury Humphrey,
Secretary of Agriculture Benson,
Secretary of the Interior Mckay,
Postmaster General Summerfield,
Secretary of Commerce Weeks
and Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby.
Secretary of the new Department
of Health, Education and We'll
fare Mrs. Hobby is a member of
ASNE.
Others from the administra-
ton who are expected to speak
to the editors are Attorney Gen
eral Brownell, Assistant Secre-
tary of Defense John A. Hannah
and Undersecretary Of Labor
Lloyd A. Mashburn.
Gen. James A. Van Fleet, re-
Gently retired commanding off,
Ger of the 9th Army in Korea,
will speak at a luncheon Friday.
That afternoon, some of the
leading Democrats in Washing
ton will appear on a program
called The Loyal Opposition"
Minority View.
These include Senate Minority
Leader Johnson. House Minority
Leader Rayburn, Senators Rus
sell, Symington, George and
Mansfield. and Representatives
Cannon, Sieminski, Cooper and
Boggs. At the same session 1t.
Gen. Anthony C. McAuiiffe, dep
uty chief of staff for operations
and administration. will talk on
THE Selective Service Man and
the Army"
Newspaper problems will be
the subject of a series of dis
cussions Saturday. The conven-
ton will be concluded with the
annual banquet that evening,
with Secretary of State Dulles
as principal speaker.
Wright Bryan of the Atlanta
Journal is president of ASNE.
The other officers are Basil L.
Walters, Knight Newspapers,
first vice president; Mr.. Pope,
second vice president: Kenneth
Macdonald, Des Moines Reg
lister & Tribune, secretary, and
Virginius Dabney. Richmond
Times-Dispatch. treasurer.
The oincers and members of
the board of directors were to
hold a preconvention meeting
this afternoon.
Many of the editors also plan
to attend a dinner of the Wom-
ems National Press Club tonight
at the Hotel Statler, at which
Henry Cabot Lodge. jr.. delegate
to the United Nations, will speak.