to be "agreed that all possible governmental information should be
made available to the people. " I don't believe that anyone here would
wish to quarrel with him on this proposition. In a democracy, the
people's right to know about the government of their creation is so
well-established as not to be questioned. We know that the public's
right to know, as sacrosanct a general principle, a» it is, is not an
absolute right.

I do not believe any of us would contend that the public's right
to know would extend to governmental information which if gener-
ally circulated would give comfort and shelter to enemies of our na
tion. In national defense information, I, of course, am using an ex-
treme example. But we can think of examples on a lower plane, as,
say the premature publication of plans for a public works project,
the general knowledge of which would invite land speculation and
thus adversely affect the public interest. On the level in which we
operate in State government, there are not many of these, to be sure.
And I, for one, acknowledge the danger in giving too great a recog-
nition to the exceptions which do exist to this fundamental right.

I know that you people have complained from time to time of
public officials concealing legitimate information under the guise of
information adversely affecting the public interest An intriguing and
sometimes perplexing question is: Does the public have a right to
know what a public official has on his mind? Well, I think we can
say in general that it has a right to know how he stands on issues
and matters of public interest. But again, it is a question of how
far this right extends.

A reporter asked me the other day: Are you considering a woman
for appointment to a judgeship. This wasn't too hard, for I was con-
sidering a woman, and, in fact, did appoint one. But I had not
reached a final decision, and the unqualified statement that I was
considering a woman just might possibly have resulted in misinfor-
mation.

Incompleted plans, tentative programs, policies not completely for-
mulated in the minds of public officials in my opinion not only may,
but should, remain undisclosed.

I was amused by an article I read in a newspaper the other day
about an interview with Robert L. Gilruth, director of a space task
group of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He
was asked if Grissom's flight info space would be the last preparatory
exercise by this country before a man is put in orbit. He replied that