"Less Than Frank"

The most disturbing aspect on the contemporary USA scene is the feeling that the Johnson Administration has been less than fair to its critics and less than frank with the American people.

The New York Times bitingly summarised this view when it editorially noted: "That high-ranking representatives of government in Washington and in Saigon have so obscured, confused or distorted news, or have made such fatuously erroneous evaluations about the course of the war, that the credibility of the United States Government has been all but sacrificed."

This comment attains greater significance when it is remembered that a spokesman for the Newspaper Editors of the USA felt compelled to state that "the American Press in South Vietnam faces stronger restrictions than it ever has in war-time" and that the Press in the USA "is getting contradictions, double-talk and halftruths from the government concerning the situation in South Vietnam."

These criticisms are among the most serious that can be levelled: so far I have seen no answer from the Administration to them.

Turning to a more optimistic note one can observe that it is a healthy sign indeed that the criticisms levelled in the "Great Debate" were done so before the nation as a whole: the nation benefited from such an experience. One can but hope that the academic community in New Zealand and the Government also will play a similarly important role in the affairs that affect that country some time in the not too distant future.