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Show U. S. Official Denies Plan For Censorship of Press Presidential Assistant Mellett Opposed to Any Type of Central News Bureau Or Propaganda Drive. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator, WSV Service, 1395 National Press Bldg., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. If you want to start a heated argument among the members of that Washington institution in-stitution which is often called "the third house of congress," but whose official name is the National Press club, just mention "government censorship." Those are fighting words to the men of press and radio and well, did you ever try to put a muzzle on a real healthy airedale? Just to keep the fun going, I dropped in the other day to have a chat with the man whose name has been more closely associated with censorship of late than any other In the capital and how he hates it! He is soft-spoken, gray-haired Lowell Mellett, a keen-minded, middle-aged newspaper acquaintance of mine over many years and one of the best-liked and most highly respected of all of those who have now deserted desert-ed the fourth estate to work for the New Deal. Mellett left the Washington Daily News to become head of the National Na-tional Emergency council in 1938. (The "emergency" in this sense refers re-fers to the 1933 variety and not the "limited" one we are enjoying at present.) The NEC, as the council appeared in the New Deal "alphabet" "alpha-bet" in those days, has since become be-come the office of Government Reports, Re-ports, a less pretentious institution. Mr. Mellett is its head and is also one of the President's administrative administra-tive assistants. These latter are the men who, according to official pronouncement, pro-nouncement, must have a "passion for anonymity." The functions of these assistants differ widely as does the degree of their intimacy with the President, but of all his advisers, ad-visers, Lowell Mellett is one of those in whom the President places his deepest confidence. There is a reason why this former newspaper man's name has been as-lociated as-lociated with a possible censorship of news. When the President asked congress recently for funds to make the office on government reports permanent, per-manent, the house of representatives representa-tives committee on appropriations called Mellett before it to ask him, among other things, what, if any. plans the administration has for curtailing cur-tailing or regulating what should and should not be printed about defense de-fense or other matters, according to the government's way of thinking. Mellett told the congressmen that the administration has no such plan at all. The word "plan" is used in the concrete sense for it is well known that several specific programs for regulating what would or would not be permitted to be made public by press and radio have been drawn up by various officials, who would like to tie a muzzle on the newa hounds in case of war or even in case a full emergency is officially proclaimed, or perhaps even before. Mellett's answer satisfied the committee and the lower house agreed to the measure. Nevertheless, the rumor lingers on that a man with scissors is lurking lurk-ing behind the White House hedge ready to clip the reporters' wings the moment they spread them too widely. I called upon Mr. Mellett in his businesslike office in a building in "downtown" Washington. Although he had no official statement for me (which I didn't want anyhow) we had a frank, friendly, informal chat. As a result, I can confirm what he has told me before concerning his sentiments on censorship, sentiments senti-ments which I believe it is safe to say are those of the President, too, at this writing. This is the way Mr. Mellett expresses himself on the subject: "Even in case of war I don't believe be-lieve in a propaganda drive," he said to me, referring to any artificial effort to mold public opinion in favor of government policy. "I have constantly opposed a central press bureau when I have heard it discussed, because it is impractical. It is impossible to get the news of government through one bottleneck. "My idea," he went on, "is simply to see to it that the press information informa-tion bureau of the army and the navy and possibly the defense agencies, agen-cies, which now exist, are made as efficient as possible." To the newsman, this means that these bureaus would have at their fingertips information which the press ordinarily obtains from individual indi-vidual officials. In an emergency, war and navy chiefs feel these individuals in-dividuals might inadvertently reveal re-veal information which should be kept confidential. "If this method doesn't work," Mr. Mellett declared, "my idea would be to have representatives of the press and radio come here to Washington and offer their own plan for handling han-dling emergency news. They wouldn't offer a plan which the government could refuse. They want the news and the government wants to get it out." He explained that what he meant was that he believed the newsmen would agree on what was sheer good sense and patriotism to print. Such facts would be given out which did not Injure national defense or give aid and comfort to the enemy, and the papers would be left perfectly free, as he put it, to raise the devil with the way things were being done and to criticize the government. Finally, I reminded Mr. Mellett that in the last war there was criticism criti-cism of the Creel committee on public pub-lic information because it not only withheld much news that the public pub-lic had a right to have, but also it gave out information that was pure propaganda. Therefore, I asked, wasn't it natural to expect that any restriction on government news might be looked upon with suspicion by the press, radio and public? Mr. Mellett came back to his original thesis. He reiterated that he did not believe in a propaganda drive such a drive as the Creel committee indulged in. Secondly, he said, if the information bureaus of the various government agencies were efficient, the facts would be available. It was because the Creel committee was a central news bureau bu-reau (which he opposes) that it became be-came a bottleneck, holding back facts that could have been made available to the press and radio even in war time. Statue Troubles In Nation's Capitol It is easier to revise a statute in Washington than to move a statue. That is why Sixteenth street, the avenue that runs almost up to the front door of the White House, is torn up these days. The excavating is taking place at Scott circle. Washington is full of circles, most of them with their historic statues. They make for beauty and also traffic traf-fic jams. Recently certain newcomers new-comers to the city suggested removing re-moving the statues instead of building build-ing million dollar underpasses such as the one now being constructed under the proud figure of General Winfield Scott. But these newcomers newcom-ers Just didn't know Washington tradition. One man who tried to break that tradition got into a terrific mess. It was John Russell Young, then a newspaper reporter, now District Commissioner Young, one of the three "mayors" of the city. It was in Harding's administration when public buildings and grounds were in charge of the engineer aide to the President, Colonel Sherril. Mr. Young conceived the idea that the statue of George Washington, located in a somewhat shabby neighborhood several blocks from the White House, ought to be in front of it where General Jackson sits astride his famous rearing charger in Lafayette park. He persuaded Colonel Sherril to switch the two figures fig-ures and proceeded to write a story of what was to happen. Then came the deluge. President Harding was almost drowned in an avalanche of angry telegrams from ardent Jacksonians all over the country. The state of Tennessee not only legislated its fury over this insult in-sult to its famous son but announced it was sending a delegation to the President It was reported that the Old Hickory Marching club, once a historically potent political organization, organi-zation, was to be brought to life to descend on the capital, possibly with their old long rifles loaded for more than bear. Only a speedy denial of his intention inten-tion to force General Jackson to trade places with General Washington Washing-ton saved Mr. Harding's scalp. No, we don't disturb our sculptured sculp-tured great in Washington. If we can't get around them we go under them. |