Simple as this question may seem, it has proved perplexing to public officials, advertisers, editors, and publishers alike. The nature and effectiveness of the informational and propaganda efforts of the government, the financial future of the advertising profession and of publishing enterprises, to say nothing of the editorial freedom of the press, all are to an extent affected by the answer. To focus public attention on the issues involved and to further the cause of clear thinking on the subject, the editors of the Public Opinion Quarterly invited a number of persons directly concerned to state their views. Not all of those invited to participate in the symposium were able to do so, and the array of statements herein presented, taken together, undoubtedly fails to give a carefully balanced and properly weighed perspective of the considerations involved. These are the views, not of the editors of the Quarterly,, nor of a representative cross-section of the American people. These are the statements of five men who have opinions which are eminently worth reading. Mr. La Roche is chairman of the Advertising Council and chairman of the board of Young & Rubicam, Inc.; Mr. Price is mail order sales manager of Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Mr. Robb is editor of Editor & Publisher; Mr. Coghlan is editorial page editor of the St. Louis PostDispatch; and Mr. Dreyfuss, in addition to his position as president of United Advertising Corporation of New York, is civilian defense director for the state of New Jersey. The opinions they express are their own, and not necessarily those of the organizations they represent.