Evening star., 1947-12-04
Textbook Is Attacked ,
Defended al Hearing;
IRevision Promised

textbook, Building Citizenship" J."
was attacked and defended before
a House subcommittee today as its
author, DR.. r. o. Hughes, promised
to revise some of the text which he
claims has been misinterpreted.
Chairman Miller of the District
subcommittee on health, education
and recreation criticized several pas
sages of the civics textbook, but no
conclusion was reached by the group.
The hearing will be resumed Sat-
urday morning.
Attacked by Charles S. Sullivan
jr., of the Veterans of Foreign Wars,
as ''irrehgious, un-American and
pro-Communist, the book was
stoutly defended at the hearing by
its author and by Maynard De Witt
who appeared for the American
Veterans Committee.
Corning Supports Book.
Support for the book also was
made to the committee by School,
Supt. Hobart M. Corning. He filed
documents showing the Board OF
Education has approved it for. con-
tinued use in the public schools
after an inquiry following criticism
of the book.
Representative Miller invited DR.
Corning and the other witnesses te
return for the Saturday hearing
to conclude their testimony.
DR.. Hughes was cross-eXamlnec
by several committee members on
points raised by the VFW as te
language in, the book. sz...-es
He replied that he feels there Is
mo justification for attacks on this
book" He reported that it had beer
used for about 20 years by teachers
and "a million" pupils but had
never provoked the least criticism
until that raised by the VFW here
Need Facts on Communism.
"I know what is in the writer's
mind" DR.. Hughes said. There
is nothing to cause anybody to lose
belief in religion, or loyalty to the
United States. The last thing
would ever put in any book woule
be a proposal to adopt communism.
The author contended that pupils
in the Junior high schools deserve
to know the facts about communism
in order to stimulate their minds
and to give them factual back
ground on what is going on in the
world today. He stressed that such
information was due the pupils even
on forms of Government to which
he and loyal Americans are strongly
opposed.
DR.. Hughes said some change:
had usually been made in the tex
of the book each year as new
editions come out. He said he nov
is revising it for next year ane
told the committee that he woulc
change and clarity some of the tex
to which the committee member.
objected. In nearly every instances
however, he contended that the
objections raised by his critics were
misinterpretations of what he in
tended to convey.
Passage on Religion Cited.
! For instance, on the question o!
religion, the VFW spokesman ane
the committee critized this language
from the book:
"If there is another world IL
which man will be punished o.
rewarded for the way he lived here
htere is a strong force to make hin
live better than he otherwise would
Perhaps this is comparatively low
motive, but it works with a great
many people"
For the VFW, Mr.. Sullivan saic
this statement was contrary to the
teachings of the Jewish faith ane
every Christian denomination" OBJ
lection was raised to this also by
| DR.. Miller, Representative Young
blood, Republican, of Michigan ano
by Representative Davis, Democrat
of Georgia.
The author promised to rewrite it
II had no idea the emphasis
would be on that little word it,
said DR.. Hughes.
This wording will be changed in
| the next printing"