Chapter VII Government as a Source of Information
432 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.
433 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.)
434 48 Stat. 58, May 18, 1933.
435 64 Stat. 798, September 8, 1950, Sec. 102.
436 54 Stat. 714, July 2, 1940, Sec. 5 (a).
437 Proclamation No. 2497, 55 Stat. 1657, July 17, 1941.
438 52 Stat. 631, June 8, 1938, Sec. 4.
439 61 Stat. 136, June 23, 1947, Sec. 208.
440 Id.
441 62 Stat. 21, February 19, 1948, Sec. 2 (b) (c).
442 67 Stat. 230, July 30, 1953, Sec. 207 (e).
443 64 Stat. 1245, January 12, 1951, Sec. 201 (f).
444 65 Stat. 293, September 1, 1951, Sec. 3 (a).
445 67 Stat. 417, August 7, 1953, Sec. 4.
446 48 Stat. 1, March 9, 1933, Sec. 203.
447 The trend is discussed at length in the section on the “Legislative Veto,” below.
448 54 Stat. 670, June 28, 1940, Sec. 20.
449 Id.
450 48 Stat. 943, June 12, 1934, Sec. 4.
451 56 Stat. 23, January 30, 1942, Sec. 2 (a).
452 48 Stat. 211, June 16, 1933, Sec. 8.
453 Id.
454 Id., Sec. 9.
Suppression of Information by the Government
455 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).
456 62 Stat. 1231, July 2, 1948, Sec. 3 (c).
457 67 Stat. 23, April 1953, Sec. 5.
458 48 Stat. 1064, June 19, 1934, Sec. 4 (f).
459 55 Stat. 31, March 11, 1941, Sec. 5 (a).
460 56 Stat. 19, January 26, 1942.
461 65 Stat. 373, October 10, 1951, Section 518.
462 58 Stat. 723, July 3, 1944.
463 Id.
464 49 Stat. 1277, May 15, 1936.
465 53 Stat. 1000, July 13, 1939.
466 Id.
467 54 Stat. 676, June 28, 1940, Sec. 2 (a).
468 54 Stat. 712, July 2, 1940, Sec. 5.
469 James Phinney Baxter 3rd, Scientists Against Time (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1946), Ch. I.
470 55 Stat. 838, December 18, 1941, Sec. 201.
471 61 Stat. 585, July 30, 1947.
472 Id.
473 63 Stat. 208, June 20, 1949, Sec. 7.
474 Cf. Sec. 19 of the T.V.A. Act, 48 Stat. 58, May 18, 1933, discussed above.
475 54 Stat. 710, July 1, 1940, Sec. 1.
476 66 Stat. 3, February 1, 1952.
477 56 Stat. 23, January 30, 1942, Sec. 202 (h).
478 63 Stat. 1949, February 26, 1949, Sec. 6.
Regulation of Propaganda Activities
479 52 Stat. 631, June 8, 1938: quotation from 1942 amendment, 56 Stat. 248, April 29, 1942.
480 Id., Sec. 3.
481 Id., Sec. 4 (a).
482 Id., Sec. 4 (b).
483 Sec. 10, September 22, 1950.
Censorship and Other Restrictions
484 52 Stat. 3, January 12, 1938, Sec. 1.
485 Id., Sec. 3.
486 54 Stat. 670, June 28, 1940, Sec. 1. (a).
487 Id., Sec. 2 (a), 18 U.S.C. 2385.
488 Id., Sec. 3.
489 63 Stat. 7, February 26, 1949, Sec. 3 (a).
490 67 Stat. 363, August 5, 1953, Sec. 4 (b).
491 65 Stat. 710, 719 ff, October 31, 1951, Sec. 24; 18 U.S.C. 798.
492 Id.
493 Public Law 557, 83d Congress, 2d Session, July 29, 1954; amending section 7 (d) of the Internal Security Act of 1950.
494 Id., the list to include, but not limited to rotary presses, flatbed cylinder presses, platen presses, lithographs, offsets, photo-offsets, mimeograph machines, multigraph machines, multilith machines, type machines, monotype machines, and all other types of printing presses, typesetting machines or any mechanical devices used or intended to be used, or capable of being used to produce or publish printed matter or material, which are in the possession, custody, ownership, or control of the organization or its officers, members, affiliates, associates, group, or groups in which the organization, its officers or members have an interest.
495 55 Stat. 838, December 18, 1941, Sec. 303.
496 56 Stat. 18, January 26, 1942, Sec. 1.
497 65 Stat. 611, October 24, 1951, Sec. 1.
498 Id.
Acquisition of Information by the Government
499 The earlier discussion of compulsory testimony should be incorporated by reference into this section, for sake of completeness.
500 48 Stat. 1, March 9, 1933, Sec. 2.
501 Id.
502 48 Stat. 195, June 16, 1933, Sec. 3 (a).
503 Id., Sec. 6 (a).
504 48 Stat. 881, June 6, 1934, Sec. 4.
505 49 Stat. 30, February 22, 1935, Sec. 5 (a).
506 49 Stat. 1081, August 31, 1935, Sec. 2.
507 50 Stat. 121, May 1, 1937, Sec. 4 (e).
508 52 Stat. 631, June 8, 1938, as amended by 56 Stat. 248, April 29, 1942, Sec. 5.
509 48 Stat. 503, March 27, 1934, Sec. (a).
510 56 Stat. 176, March 27, 1942, Sec. 301.
511 48 Stat. 58, May 18, 1933, Sec. 5 (h).
512 52 Stat. 401, May 17, 1938, Sec. 6.
513 52 Stat 1255, June 30, 1938.
514 64 Stat. 149, May 10, 1950, Sec. 2.
515 Id., Sec. 3 (a).
516 66 Stat. 153, June 23, 1952, Sec. 1.
517 67 Stat. 559, August 13, 1953, Sec. 2.
518 Id., Sec. 1.
519 48 Stat. 8, March 20, 1933, Title II, Sec. 3 (a).
520 48 Stat. 1183, June 19, 1934, Sec. 1.
521 56 Stat. 176, March 27, 1942, Sec. 1401.
522 Id., Sec. 7307.
523 58 Stat. 723, July 3, 1944, Sec. 4.
524 60 Stat. 23, February 20, 1946.
525 62 Stat. 93, March 30, 1948, Sec. 202.
526 64 Stat. 1245, January 12, 1951, Sec. 201 (a).
527 48 Stat. 591, April 14, 1934, Sec. 1.
528 Id., Sec. 2.
529 Id., Sec. 1.
530 48 Stat. 933, June 12, 1934, Sec. 20.
531 48 Stat. 1283, June 27, 1934, Sec. 2 (b).
532 58 Stat. 1120, December 15, 1944, Sec. 2.
533 Civil Rights Act of 1957, Public Law 85-315, 85th Cong., Sept. 9, 1957.
534 Id., Sec. 104 (a) (1)-(3).
535 Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (Washington: Gov’t Printing Office, 1959).
536 House Concurrent Resolution No. 24, August 21, 1937, 50 Stat. 1113.
537 53 Stat. 811, June 7, 1939, Sec. 7 (a).
538 61 Stat. 24, March 29, 1947, Sec. 1 (c).
539 67 Stat. 408, August 7, 1953, Sec. 4.
540 Id., Sec. 9 (a) (6).
541 64 Stat. 435, August 10, 1950, Sec. 3 (b).
542 52 Stat. 436, May 23, 1938, Secs. 1, 2.
543 Id.
544 56 Stat. 351, June 11, 1942.
545 Id., Sec. 2.
546 67 Stat. 230, July 30, 1953, Sec. 212 (b).
547 Id., Sec. 210 (a).
548 Id., Sec. 212 (f) (g).
549 Id., Sec. 219.
550 58 Stat. 276, June 13, 1944, Sec. 1.
551 59 Stat. 845, September 11, 1945, Sec. 2.
552 61 Stat. 495, July 26, 1947, Sec. 102 (d) (3).
Protecting Freedom of Communication
Notes
553 Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, 56 Stat. 23, 34, January 30, 1942, Sec. 205 (f).
554 65 Stat. 75, June 19, 1951, Sec. 1 (d).