 Honored watch is Laun Jean. Laun Jean watches have won 10 World Fair Grand Prizes, 28 gold medals and more honors for accuracy than any other timepiece. Laun Jean, the world's most honored watch, is made and guaranteed by the Laun Jean Wittemaw Watch Company. It's time for the Laun Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour, brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A presentation of the Laun Jean Wittemaw Watch Company, maker of Laun Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wittemaw, distinguished companion to the world-honored Laun Jean. Good evening, this is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Laun Jean Chronoscope. Mr. Donald I. Rogers, an editor of the New York Herald Tribune, and Mr. William Bradford Huey, editor of the American Mercury. Our distinguished guest for this evening is Mr. Paul Martin, Washington Bureau Chief of the Gannett Newspapers. The opinions expressed are necessarily those of the speakers. Mr. Martin, where are the Gannett Newspapers in the United States? Well, we have 22 newspapers and they're in four different states and Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. And you are head of the organization in Washington that's responsible for gathering the Washington news for those newspapers. That's correct, sir. Are there Republican newspapers? Well, they're a mixture of some are Republicans, some are Democratic, some are independent. Now tonight, I'm sure that the Chronoscope audience would like, we've, now people have heard a great deal about the president's war with the press. Tonight I'm sure that our audience would like to hear some of your views as to that. Now, sir, what's at the bottom of Mr. Truman's seeming criticism of the press? Well, I suppose that the press finds out things that aren't very pleasing politically to the administration. Is the press generally antagonistic to the president? Well, the press is always inquiring. As far as I know, regardless of what kind of a party is in power, you always try to find out things. And when you find out things, sometimes the things aren't politically copacetic for the administration. That's particularly true of this administration, isn't it? Well, we've been treated to quite a bit of revelation here. I can't recall at a time. Certainly, I'm no timer down there, but I can't recall a time when we've had more investigations of alleged scandals in government. You'll figure it's fear behind the president's war with the press. Oh, I wouldn't say that altogether. I think that you've got to remember this, that the spring of that office must be tremendous. I don't suppose any one of us can realize what tremendous pressures are brought to bear upon the president of the United States. Makes him grouchy? Well, certainly, he's got, he has a matter of war, peace, the lives of citizens, the future of our country. And much of this depends upon the decisions he must necessarily make. Now, as a newspaper man said, do you think that it's proper for a reporter in Washington to maintain a critical attitude? Well, I think it's, let's don't say critical, let's say an inquiring attitude. I think was it Socrates said something about a divine gadfly? Well, we're sort of gadflies. Your inquiring attitude, not a critical one. You're one of the checks and balances in our precisely government. And it's up to you to question the information that the government seems to put out. Well, in the wisdom of our founding fathers, they guaranteed freedom of the press and the Constitution of the United States. And we try to perform that. Is it your opinion that the press has been unfair to the president at any time? On the whole. No, no, I very objective, isn't it? Well, yeah, I suppose that there are certain people who perhaps take unfair advantage, go too far one way or another. Individuals, but the press as a whole, you feel as objective. I would stand up in its news column. Yes, I think so. Now, you mentioned that there have been a great many investigations. Have those investigations been initiated by newspapers? Yes, that's an interesting thing. Now, I cannot recall a major investigation of the last several years that has not first had its origin in an expose in a newspaper. Would you care to cite an example? Yes, I will. I'll say that Jack Steele and Bert Andrews, the New York Herald Tribune, the world a brilliant run on the five percenter inquiry of 1949. And then the key for investigation was stimulated in large part by the press talking about the racketeers and the gamblers and then the St. Louis Post Dispatch comes on with the Finnegan matter out in St. Louis. We get into the tax scandals. I think that the press has stimulated these but Congress as our legislative branch of government or and with its inquiring function has gone ahead and made the the legal investigations. You mentioned the five percenter investigation. What was the final result of the five percenter investigation? Well, one man went to jail, John Maragon. What happened to General Vaughn? Well, the Senate Senate committee officially censored General Vaughn, the president's military aid, but the president didn't dismiss him over despite cries in Congress and in the press and from the public for dismissal. Do you think that that might have something to do with the continued wave of corruption in government? Well, I think that certainly sets up an attitude if you're going to protect people who have been officially censored by a Senate committee and have been found to be doing all sorts of favors for people on the outside of government. Well, it just doesn't quite concur with where would you spend that responsibility? Well, who does it work for? I'd say Mr. Truman. Well, I think that now, sir, on this business of Senator McCarthy was on this show not long ago. And you've mentioned investigations. What is your personal attitude toward McCarthy? Well, he's very controversial figures, members of the United States Senate elected by people in Wisconsin. They're trying to create a smear word nowadays they call McCarthyism. They're going to run you down if by just labeling you as being product McCarthyism. And yet I think that the discussion about communism government has has been a good thing. You think you think Senator McCarthy to paraphrase one of the well known magazines deserves well of the Republic. Well, yeah, I'd say so. My goodness, you got a lot of you got 96 people in the United States Senate. And if you had to rate him, I'd say that he's he's a very useful purpose for the time that he's now now, sir, the president apparently is fighting back some that the security order there that he is. Is that an effort of the president to restrain the press? Well, he elected to issue an executive order that he terms a security order. And what that does is delegates to every head of a department or federal agency, the part who to automatically classify material as security information. Is that an effort towards censorship? It's not. It's a little different from censorship. Censorship is for you find information might be damaging to your national security, you take it to an official agent, and he senses it here. This stops the information before it ever gets to never never be available to you. No, you won't be able to get it. Isn't that dangerous? Well, dangerous to the Republic. Well, I'm I just find them only believe in as much information as we can possibly possibly release. Because I think that if the American people are given the opportunity to judge if they have the facts at hand, I just have faith in the American public. Now, at the same time, I wouldn't want us to be releasing willy nilly. Well, have we information that benefit an enemy? Have we have a single instance of any information that's ever been published in newspapers or magazines that has not been cleared by an official agency of the United States government. Do you think you think then that that it's an effort more to cover up in aptitude and perhaps corruption than it is to protect the country from certain information that might be useful to the enemy? Well, Mr. Huey, that is assuming a motive or a purpose on the part of people. I won't say that. I don't believe that they actually had that in mind. But what I do say is, it could be abused being that very easily abused in your experience in Washington Do you see a trend as they have in totalitarian countries? Do you see a trend toward control of the press? Well, I see a trend toward concentration of power. And I see a trend toward great growth of government. And I see a trend of people who get in a position of power and they feel that responsibility. And then are they going to be the sole and automatic judge of what should be released to the American people? Well, maybe decision might be wise. And then again, maybe it is not wise or maybe they're even trying to cover up. Are you any examples where this might have happened? Well, yes, I know a certain thing. I can't name the particular names and places. But I can't tell you this. That there was an airplane that went down in the Far East not so long ago. And there were Americans killed on board that plane. And that was not an accident. That was sabotage. And that has been hushed up. And there's still not been released. And that's been deliberately withheld from the American people deliberately withheld and I cannot see what security information there is in that at all. Well, Mr. Martin, as I understand what you've said then, you do think that the press is continuing to be vigilant that it has rendered a service. And that the American people can still depend on the press to bring in the news. Thank you very much for being with us tonight, sir. The editorial board for this edition of the Long Jean Chronoscope was Mr. Donald I. Rogers and Mr. William Bradford Huey. Our distinguished guest was Mr. Paul Martin, Washington Bureau Chief of the Gannett Newstapers. The world's most honored watch is Long Jean. And the worldwide prestige of the Long Jean watch is proof of its unsurpassed accuracy and dependability. Long Jean honors result from the excellence of the Long Jean watch movement, the beating heart of every Long Jean watch. 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And you should insist on getting a Long Jean, the world's most honored watch, premier product of the Long Jean Wettner Watch Company since 1866, maker of watches of the highest character. This is Frank Knight again, inviting you to join us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening at this same time for the Long Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour, broadcast on behalf of Long Jean, the world's most honored watch and Wettner distinguished companion to the world honored Long Jean, sold and serviced from coast to coast by more than 4000 leading jurors who proudly display this emblem, Agency for Long Jean Wettner Watches. This is the CBS television network.