The Southland Times SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1942. The Need for More Information

Southland Times, Issue 24883, 24 October 1942, Page 4

The Southland Times SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1942. The Need for More Information

THE member for Auckland East, Mr F. W. Schramm, has made another protest against the practice of holding secret sessions. He appears to have had little, if support from either side of the House; but he can rest assured that he receives plenty of support outside Parliament. There are times when secrecy can be justified. The British House of Commons is in the habit of debating certain phases of the war behind locked doors. But it is a practice which should be indulged sparingly. “I think,” said Mr Schramm during a tea adjournment interview on Thursday, “that the greater part of what is told to members in secret session could be given to the public. Moreover, I think that the time has arrived when more information should be given to the public on questions relating to the war.” Mr Schramm was not speaking at random. He has attended numerous secret sessions, and knows what is to be expected of them. Yet he still believes that “the greater part” of the information made available to members could safely be published. The Government’s position would be stronger if some attempt had been made to establish an adequate publicity service. It would be easier to understand and approve the policy of official reticence if it were known that an organization comparable with the British Ministry of Information, orthe United States Office of War Information, stood between the Government and the people. There are many facts which, after official discussion, could be passed on to publicity officers for dissemination through the ordinary news channels. Under the present system they are now revealed only in statements by members of the War Cabinet. These Ministers are so deeply engaged in their administrative tasks that statements cannot be made frequently. New facts are constantly replacing those which previously received their attention, so that inevitably a mass of information remains undisclosed.

The value of intelligent publicity was emphasized this week in a report on American aircraft issued by the United States Office of War Information. It w’as a clear, precise and unemotional document. The public was told the truth about matters which had aroused wide speculation and controversy. Certain types of fighter planes were admitted to be “definitely inferior to the foreign types in high altitude combat.” The fault, in most cases, was traced to “the tardy and incomplete development” of a liquid cooled motor which had been widely advertised as a fine engineering achievement. This was plain speaking; but it was just what the American people have been wanting. The report was by no means pessimistic in tone. It contained encouraging references to the quality of American bombers, and it claimed that the latest Navy fighter, dive-bomber and torpedo planes are “the best carrier planes in the world.” This last statement was easier to believe because of the candour that preceded it. And although the report contained a warning of possible defeats it pointed to the secret of national morale. “When we meet reversals, and the pull to victory seems to grow long and hard, Americans will do well if they indulge to the full their genius for critical self-analysis.” There can be no “critical self-analysis” for those who are not in possession of the facts. We believe that New Zealand people would respond as freely as the Americans to a boldei’ official news policy. Hard facts may have unpleasant implications; but they must always have a bracing effect upon free minds. It is better to know the truth than to stumble towards it amid the exaggerations of rumour. “A free people,” said Mr Elmer Davis, the distinguished author and journalist who directs American publicity, “wants to know, and has a right to know, how the battles are going, and will fight all the harder if it realizes how hard it must fight for victory.”