The sun., 1919-04-05
MEEK BOLSHEVIST
SAYS HE ISN'T ONE
History Teacher in a Brooklyn
High School Only Told Of
Situation.
BOYS TESTIFY AT TRIAL
Inspiration for Their Compost
ton Laid to Conversations
of Glassburg.

II personal appearance counts for any
thing Benjamin Glassburg. teacher OF
history in the Brooklyn Commercial High
School until he was suspended in jan
uary on the charge of being Bolshevist.
isn't a Bolshevist at ALL He Is a small.
mild, meek. rather blond person with ex-
tremely sleek hair and neatly shaven
face and neutral eyes hidden behind
large trimmed glasses.
Anything more unlike the popular con-
ception OF a Red" hardly could be
imagined than the defendant who sat
silently beside his lawyer. Gilbert e.
Roe. in the Board Of Education yester-
day and listened to William T. c.
Meyer, Assistant Corporation Counsel,
and Mr.. Roe scrap over the testimony OF
an endless succession of boys who told
in schoolboy language about a fateful
conversation IN his classroom January
IA OF this year. in which he uttered
words which Mr.. Meyer insists show
that he Is stepped In the wild doctrines
asserts he Is no such thing.
1t was long. long session. lasting
from early in the afternoon till late in
the evening. and even then nothing was
decided and the trial will go on next
week. But long as II was hosts OF
teachers who obviously were on Glass
burg's side remained till the bitter end
many of them standing, because there
were not seats for all
Great Lark for the Boys.
Then there were the thirteen boys
summoned as witnesses by the prosecu-
ton and the thirty-seven boys sum-
nioned by the defence. and perhaps
it wasn't a lark for them Calmly de-
flying court rules. they held long discus
sions with each other in corners about
their testimony. They consumed quaint
ties of chocolates, and a few of the stud
ious conned their lessons in the inter
walls Of being called to the stand but
most OF them devoted themselves to
making the boy on the stand at the mo-
ment uncomfortable by the mysterious
and undiscoverable means known to
schoolboys.
Judging from the testimony the school
boy of New York is deeply interested in
Bolshevisn. That isn't saying he
believes in 1.-THE Just wants to know
what it's all about. 1t was this curiosity
en- the part of the young idea he was
training to shoot that got Mr.. Glassburs
into the tolls of the Board of Education
1t seems that. on January Il he was
PEACEFULLY inetructing. or trying to in
struct, his class of boys In the history
Of the relations between Russia and Tur.
key or some such thing having to dc
with antebellum days. when all their
hands shot up and they wanted to know
things about Lenine and Trotzky. Ac
cor ding to his belief Mr.. Glassourg an,
swered them. and next day some of thos,
hoys were summoned to the Office Of
Mr. Raynor. principal OF that school
and since then the ideas OF Mr.. Glass
burg's class have shot without his guild
Ing hand.
weinstein Holds His own,
Solomon Welnstein was the star wit
ness Of the defence. Some might hav,
thought lie was lacking in dignity, bu
the way he came back at Assistant
Con poration Counsel Meyer when tn,
latter tried to tAngle him up proved tina
his small frame contained another eff
cent lawyer in the making. Solomon
also BOWED over Arthur Somers, presi
dent OF the Board of Education. Will
one calm remark and a whitening look
1T would be better" Mr. Somers re
marked to the boy, whose hands wer,
engaged in swapping an elastic band
perhaps as An aid to brain action. "i
would be better Il YOU paid more atten
| ton to the lawyer and less to that rub
Der band, Robert"
My name" the young witness inter
rupted haughtily. rs Solomon"
/ Mr.. Somers apologized
According to the boys, who did no
differ materially in their testimony, tn
worst thing said by Glnssburg was tina
| this country did not really know tn
truth about the Bolshevists in Russia
because the State Department had di
Tected the Withholding of the truth. Solo
mon. Robert c. Gordon and other boy
testified that in answer to a question
Of enc OF the boys in the history class
asked after the regular business OF tn
class was finished. Glassburg had in
! stanced the statement of certain Majo
| Thatcher at what the boys called
! blanket in Boston-a statement to tn
effect that Red Cross workers had beel
/ told by the State Department not Z
tell what they had seen in Russia.
Then Came the Competitions.
Another question asked by the boy
| January IA was whether Lenine an,
Trotzky were German spies. To this
according to their testimony, lie an
swered that Lenine and TrotZky ha
| their Russian propagandists in Berli
| seeking to overthrow the Kaiser's Gov
eminent, so they could hardly be in tn
I Kaiser's pay. Another boy had asked /
the Bolshevist Government in Russi
wasn't the best they had had. since 1t ha
lasted so much longer than Kerensky'
| and therefore must be liked by tn
| people.
And Mr.. Glassburg said It wpul
seem so, but he was very reluctant I
answer. and he said he was talking nc
as a teacher. but as a private citizen,
related Solomon. And the next day MI
Campbell. the English teacher. told u
TO write something about the Bolshevist,
and some OF us fellows put in the thing
| Mr.. Glassburg had said. and Mr. Camp
bell was mad and told us to write
| over"
And did you change what you wrot
according to Mr.. Campbell's ideas?" in
quired Mr., Meyer.
How could / help it when he wa
roaring at us fellows so?" said Solomo
! in an injured tone.
Dismissal IL Refused.
Just after the prosecution closed II
case, at the end OF the afternoon ses
sion, Mr.. Roe demanded the dismissal @
the case on the ground that Mr.. Meye
had refused to produce the signed state
ments Principal Raynor had procure
from several OF the boys In Mr.. Glass
burg's class the day after the Bolshevil
episode. His demand was refused.