a law to prohibit secret meetings of official bodies, save under the most exceptional circumstances, should not be necessary. public officers above all other persons should be imbued with the truth that their business is the public's business and they should be the last to tolerate any attempt to keep the people from being fully informed as to what is going on in official agencies. unfortunately, however, that is not always the case. instances are many in which officials have contrived, deliberately and shamefully, to operate in a vacuum of secrecy.