Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

Safeguarding Military Information 615
Freedom of information, specifi cally, is our immediate crusade.
. . . Th at the Senate on Monday blacked it out in the United
States was the worst blackout that the Senate has sustained in
our memory. 12
Another Analysis of S.805
On April 13 the New York Times reported on S.805:
Fearing that a bill intended to protect military secrets, passed
unanimously by the Senate Monday, might interfere with
Congressional investigation of government departments and
suppress legitimate public information, Senators have taken
steps to halt the measure and perhaps to re-examine the War
and Navy offi cers who sponsored the proposal.
Senator Homer Ferguson, Republican, of Michigan, has moved
for reconsideration of the bill. Although he sees no sinister
design in the measure, he believes that through misuse the legislation
could impose a censorship on newspapers and deprive
Congressional committees of many facts. . . . Disclaiming any
desire to interfere with proper protection of military secrets,
Senator Ferguson considers the bill so broadly drawn as possibly
to suppress many political questions with which the public
has a right to be informed. . . .
High War and Navy offi cers stood back of the bill, which it
was understood today was submitted by the military authorities
“in perfect good faith.” In its report to the Senate the Military
Aff airs Committee said the bill had approval of the joint Chiefs
of Staff and was deemed essential “in the interests of national
defense and security.” 13
12 Washington Post, April 12, 1945, p. 8.
13 Th e New York Times, April 13, 1945, p. 30.