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LOSES SES Et oR PES AS -Z2e- Aa Pecenber 10, 18bo - porneneneme>—~aneer otic __ — - cr io ous cc COMTPTES FOSTR Et cee . E SNRAY INQUIRY A special House government info. .ation subconnittoa, headed by Concressinan John E. Noss of Cals> crnia, hsa postponed inquiri2s into Cofense Deparizent dnZomutioa policies until danusry. Congressman Ness said that ena resen for tha pos tecaonent yas a Jack of “ceonaza tien from fistert Tripp Ross, Acsistant Secretary of Defense for jegislative and public affairs. Mess alleged that Socretary Ross had refused to give the subcesmittee the recenmandations of a Pentagon group concerned with easing ree .- ztrictions on the flow of technical and scientific information, The House committes has been engaged for more than a year in an investigation oF government informaiicn practices, The committee planned: to give special attenticn tc a report made by a civilisn investigating committee appointed last August by Zecretary of Defensa Charles 5, Wilson, with instructions to plug the leaks in de- fense informaticn to "unauthorized persons." This group, headed by Charles A. toolidgs, Bostcn attorney and fonsar ‘-ststant Secretary of Defense, had indicated wnat Derartment policies were satisfactory for the most part, but had criticized the -sfartment's over-classification of information, The Coolidge ccmmittee also said } tnat the Department's security organization is so large and complex that it could tot function efficiently. Prior to the decision to put off the inquiry, the House committee had planned be to question the three secretaries of the armed forces, heads of research and develop- ment units in the Department of Defense, units that review Pentagon speeches and news releases, und public information officials, sn which lee Hargus, deputy Girect tor of the Departwent's Office of Security Reviau, tad handled a Saturday Ev. @ Fost article on Spain. Tho ecmaittee released the ‘ext of a letter frcm ir. fares Indicating that the article in question weuld be cfiensive to Spanish officials. he article, according to lir. Hargus, had “yot missed ® single chance to insult the Spaniards in their most sensitive spots." Congressman “058 complimented the Fest for publishing the article, which apveared on January 26, tnd said that the Fost had deleted to sentences containing military information 2+ ‘re request of bir. Hargus, © The American Civil Liberties Union has leng cempcipgned against goverrment nays fippression, particularly in recent years when tight security rules impeded the flow "f information to the public. I+ sponsored a major report on tho subject in late ‘ L955 by veteran newsman Allen Raymond which was credited with helping focus public yo and congressional attention on the problem. . i i } | “ At the ccrnittee's meeting cn November 15 Congressman Moss objectad to the way | \ ‘ TIVES! PUBLISHER STRESSES NEWSPAPERS! CONCEQH FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES oe Arthur Hays Sulaborger, publisher of The New York T Tings, recently emrhasized tha “mportance of newspapers and national organizations in WGiending civil rights end - viterties, in an address befnre ths American Jevish Congress, Gceasion for the ad- Sress was the presentation ty the Congress of the 1955 Stephen S, Wise award to the Sirss for “outstanding contribution in the extension of civil rights and civil Ticerties in the United States," Noving that the civil liberties atmosphere is better than it was two or three years ago, the publisher declared: "The country is regaining its sense of hvmor and its sense of proportion. Pri- mary credit for this inrsovamont must certainly be given to the Federal courts, which save stood like a rock sainst the waves of intoleranen anc even of panic, But I ‘aink it not amiss to claim seme credit for the various organs of public opinion, in- cuiding meny of tha national voluntary associations such as yours, and also including Some of the nation's great liberal newspapers among which Tha How York Times forwirately do2zs rot stand alone." re Citing veakmaszea in tho Fs nitrnal security program, Mr, Sulzberger | atate eq that his parer was oprpesed nis nonsensa," not enly within the . | Ooverrnens, but in all phases of cur natin nal life. He also spoke out against the refusal ty tho Lopartmant of Stace 49 insuas passports to a group of reportirs who had been invited to vis .4 Communis’+ China. { | ~Poae i> | { GU ; "A free prass," he said, tis guaranteed by a froe sociaty in ordar to keep free the charrels of information,in orhr to ensure for the public its right to mow what is z0ing cn in the world, in the nation, in the stata, and city. We in the field of Cxmman.tion cra privilecod by tha Constitutions] pusranise but we have no meral claim +o ih tnlesas wa on our part carry cubo the vacidprocal obligation it implies: a fall ert ene’ pinswtation af the news, 6s fairly presuntad as Iuzans with 21]. their faults ara eapable of paicanting 14.0 ULnncecwlid G(—1 90- CO ea a a : |