CHAPTER VII. Government As a Source of Information

GOVERNMENT AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION

See e.g., the collection of essays edited by Harry Elmer Barnes, Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace (Caldwell, Idaho: 1952, Caxton Press). In his brilliant history of American naval operations during the Second World War, Professor Samuel Eliot Morison leaves little doubt that President Roosevelt recognized the eventual need to come to military grips with Nazi aggression: “President Roosevelt, considerably in advance of public opinion, apprehended the threat to American security contained in the seizure of the Atlantic Coast of France, and the strong possibility of a German invasion of Great Britain.” Samuel Eliot Morison, The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1943, (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1947) p. 27. Chapter III, “‘Short of War’ Policy” dramatically describes the efforts of the Administration during the critical months of June 1940-March 1941 to sustain Great Britain by any means at our disposal that did not involve an outright declaration of war by the Germans. In Professor Morison’s estimation, Roosevelt guessed right; Hitler could not afford to bring the United States into the war in 1940 or 1941 despite the trade of destroyers for bases with Britain, Lend-Lease, and American aid to British convoys. Id., p. 36.

In this regard a group of distinguished American historians wrote to the New York Times as follows:

“On May 7 President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10816 amending an earlier order regarding the treatment of official documents. This order was generally treated in the press as a liberalization of existing procedures, and we have no doubt that this was the intention of its promulgators.

“However, in our view, the order proceeds in the wrong direction. We fear that its consequence will be not to liberate the historian for the writing of independent history but to entangle him in a series of potentially compromising relations with the subject of his researches--in this case, the Government.

“The new Executive Order lays down three prerequisites before a student is permitted to consult classified defense information in the writing of history.

“First, the head of the agency must rule that access to these records is ‘clearly consistent with the interests of national defense.’ Second, the historian himself must be determined to be ‘trustworthy’--a phrase which could be interpreted as requiring security clearance. Third, his manuscript must be cleared.

“The enforcement of these three prerequisites will plainly make it difficult for the most undaunted of historians to exercise the free and unfettered critical judgment which is the heart of the historical enterprise. And, under prejudiced or incompetent administration, this Executive Order could easily result in the restriction of such official records to those historians prepared to accept and defend official views.” (New York Times, October 25, 1959.)

48 Stat. 58, May 18, 1933.

64 Stat. 798, September 8, 1950, Sec. 102.

54 Stat. 714, July 2, 1940, Sec. 5 (a).

Proclamation No. 2497, 55 Stat. 1657, July 17, 1941.

52 Stat. 631, June 8, 1938, Sec. 4.

61 Stat. 136, June 23, 1947, Sec. 208.

Id.

62 Stat. 21, February 19, 1948, Sec. 2 (b) (c).

67 Stat. 230, July 30, 1953, Sec. 207 (e).

64 Stat. 1245, January 12, 1951, Sec. 201 (f).

65 Stat. 293, September 1, 1951, Sec. 3 (a).

67 Stat. 417, August 7, 1953, Sec. 4.

48 Stat. 1, March 9, 1933, Sec. 203.

The trend is discussed at length in the section on the “Legislative Veto,” below.

54 Stat. 670, June 28, 1940, Sec. 20.

Id.

48 Stat. 943, June 12, 1934, Sec. 4.

56 Stat. 23, January 30, 1942, Sec. 2 (a).

48 Stat. 211, June 16, 1933, Sec. 8.

Id.

Id., Sec. 9.

SUPPRESSION OF INFORMATION BY THE GOVERNMENT.

56 Stat. 351, June 11, 1942, Sec. 12. See the similar provision in the R.F.C. Liquidation Act, 67 Stat. 230, July 30, 1953, Sec. 217 (b).

62 Stat. 1231, July 2, 1948, Sec. 3 (c).

67 Stat. 23, April 1953, Sec. 5.

48 Stat. 1064, June 19, 1934, Sec. 4 (f).

55 Stat. 31, March 11, 1941, Sec. 5 (a).

56 Stat. 19, January 26, 1942.

65 Stat. 373, October 10, 1951, Section 518.

58 Stat. 723, July 3, 1944.

Id.

49 Stat. 1277, May 15, 1936.

53 Stat. 1000, July 13, 1939.

Id.

54 Stat. 676, June 28, 1940, Sec. 2 (a).

54 Stat. 712, July 2, 1940, Sec. 5.

James Phinney Baxter 3rd, Scientists Against Time (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1946), Ch. I.

55 Stat. 838, December 18, 1941, Sec. 201.

61 Stat. 585, July 30, 1947.

Id.

63 Stat. 208, June 20, 1949, Sec. 7.

Cf. Sec. 19 of the T.V.A. Act, 48 Stat. 58, May 18, 1933, discussed above.

54 Stat. 710, July 1, 1940, Sec. 1.

66 Stat. 3, February 1, 1952.

56 Stat. 23, January 30, 1942, Sec. 202 (h).

63 Stat. 1949, February 26, 1949, Sec. 6.

REGULATION OF PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES.

52 Stat. 631, June 8, 1938: quotation from 1942 amendment, 56 Stat. 248, April 29, 1942.

Id., Sec. 3.

Id., Sec. 4 (a).

Id., Sec. 4 (b).

Sec. 10, September 22, 1950.

CENSORSHIP AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS.

52 Stat. 3, January 12, 1938, Sec. 1.

Id., Sec. 3.

54 Stat. 670, June 28, 1940, Sec. 1. (a).

Id., Sec. 2 (a), 18 U.S.C. 2385.

Id., Sec. 3.

63 Stat. 7, February 26, 1949, Sec. 3 (a).

67 Stat. 363, August 5, 1953, Sec. 4 (b).

65 Stat. 710, 719 ff, October 31, 1951, Sec. 24; 18 U.S.C. 798.

Id.

Public Law 557, 83d Congress, 2d Session, July 29, 1954; amending