"Abuses of the power in federal agencies to suppress information of value and interest to the nation were never so rampant as now." Thus, the American Civil Liberties Union last week summed up a report on the suppression of Government news by official agencies, usually hiding behind the subterfuge of classified information. Government secrecy is not a partisan issue, the report made clear; the Truman Administration was guilty of the same kind of suppression. But, it added, "invisible government is now worse than at any time in many years."
The report, which was issued as a House subcommittee prepared to open hearings and question reporters on the same subject, was the work of Allen Raymond, 63, a veteran newsman who won his credentials at home and abroad on the New York Times and Herald Tribune. To measure censorship-at-the-source in Washington, Reporter Raymond spent six weeks interviewing capital newsmen as well as officials. His sober, 70-page roundup put together facts that have long rankled reporters in the capital. Samples:
¶Security labels—"secret," "confidential," etc.—which were intended primarily for military and state secrets, seal off information not only at the Pentagon but at the Post Office and also such agencies and departments as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Treasury and the Department of the Interior.
¶The Securities and Exchange Commission, in a well-meaning attempt to ensure accuracy, has revamped its rules, making it virtually impossible for a Washington correspondent to get timely information about proxy fights in important corporations—though ironically one of SEC's main jobs is to keep the public informed on corporation activities. Two months ago the SEC tried tightening its regulations to go even farther. "The new rules," said the report, "make liable to criminal prosecution any reporter or publisher who secures such information from trade or .other independent sources, and publishes it."
¶The Agriculture Department drags its feet about releasing recommendations of its advisory committees. Recently, after a five-day delay, it made public five out of 50 recommendations by one group; eight weeks later the full report showed that many of the 45 suppressed recommendations had opposed department policy.
¶Even in the genuine realms of national security, the Defense Department and the Atomic Energy Commission have withheld from the U.S. public information already available to the Russians. For example, more than a year after the Northrop Snark and Bell Rascal guided missiles had been parked at public airports for all to see, the Pentagon was still trying to keep their photographs out of print.