Evening star., 1961-05-04
Appeal to the Press

dents request that publishers
exercise restraint in publish
ing material that could harm
the country in the cold war,
reveals that the presS-or The
Star at least-is quite quick
to pass the responsibility"
back to the Government.
Censorship is onerouS to
Americans. AS The Star
points out, almost any form
Of 1t may be unavoidable
without the enforcement ma
chinery Ito cope with the
complex problem posed by
the President"
However, newspaper peo-
pie should know more about
what the President is driv-
ing at than anybody else.
Perhaps instead of editorials
diSclaiming responsibility it
might be more appropriate
for the press to suggest a
workable code Of practices
to the Government that the
press would be willing to see
imposed in the National in
terest Of fighting cold wars,
as well as the hot ones.
Maybe such a proposal is
already in the making.
Robert z. TrimbIe.
With patriotic realism, The
Star weighs President Ken
nedy's plea for our free press
to exercise self-cEnSorShip.
There is no denying that the
ruthless criminal aggressors
in the Kremlin have eyes and
ears everywhere. The Star
makes two self-evident judg-
ments: Our free press must
have guidance and clarifica-
ton Of what the Commander
in Chief has in mind; and
once defined, there must be
governmental know-how pur-
posed to make survival OBJ
jectiveS enforceable. Nothing
would be gained by substitut-
ing vagueness for made
quacy.
But there is more than
governmental regulation Of
a free press involved: There
is our deep mistruSt of any
censorship expediently i'm
posed from above. We, the
little people have no reason
to trust or love the censor.
In both World Wars we saw
them use their bureaucratic
scissors on our communica-
tionS with our loved ones
back home. With reason, we
suspected that our honest
gripes and reasonable hun
gers were the real casualties
Of the cenSor's Self-serving
scissors. II 1t been left to the
censorS, General Patton's ar
rogant slapping Of a hysteri-
cal victim of battle fatigue
never would have reached
home. We have seen the CEN
Sor try to impose its braSS.hat
curtain here at home. Re-
member the withdrawal Of
DR.. j. Robert Oppenheimer'S
security clearance? Remem-
ber the Pentagon paranoia
which branded the torture
extorted confessions Of our
sons abandoned in Commu-
mist prisons, as treason? Yet
these same censors of mill
tary right and wrong, through
the competitive Dragging Of
interservice rivalries, re-
vealed more invaluable tech
nical information to the
enemy than a thousand
traitors and SuperSpieS. Nor
will we forget the brass
hat mockery of genuine
security which slapped
Confidential" Secret" and
Classified" on trivia and
embarrassing evidence of
their own sins and incompet-
ence.
Perhaps once again we
need censorship. Our Presi-
dent has a right and a duty
to command it if it serves
our desperate needs. But we
ask him to beware that a
servant Of high policy does
not become the master and
maker Of high policy. Once
free men, now enslaVed, have
learned this one unforget-
table lesson from history: The
censor is but the shadow of
the secret police, conspiring
behind your trusting should
er.
Thomas E. MattingIy, MD.
Labor and Missiles
# press accounts of cir