The Unnecessary Ministry

Under the Nazis, the German press was rigidly controlled by Hitler's ministry of information. Last fall, when Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's Christian-Democratic government announced plans to set up its own ministry of information, the free press of Germany howled objections. Political reporters banded together, passed a resolution charging that information ministries are "unusual in democratic states and, [if set up in Germany, might] strengthen tendencies aiming at infringement of the freedom and independence of the press."

The uproar forced Chancellor Adenauer to call off his plans for the information ministry. But last week the government quietly announced the formation of a "press coordinating committee" under Christian-Democratic Deputy Otto Lenz, who had been scheduled to head the original ministry of information. All over Germany this week, the free press locked arms to prevent the government from slipping through the back door what it had not succeeded in bringing in through the front.

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