Evening star., 1947-12-09
Appeal to Bar Religious Glasses
Gives Hiqh Court Hard Problem
Justices Indicate
Gravity by Extended
Cross-Exuminutien
By Joseph HanIon
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

By Joseph HonIon
ST. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Supreme Court heard argu-
ments yesterday on the Illinois case
involving religious instruction in
public Schools matter likely to be,
however the court may rule, the
most controversial finding it will
submit to the court of public opinion
at its current session.
AS If to indicate the courts own
appreciation of the gravity of the
issues presented, the justices vir-
tually took the presentation out OF
the hands OF the lawyers who ap-
peared by subjecting them to ex-
tended cross-examination.
Before the court was the appeal
of Mrs. Vashti McCollum. Cham
paign, ILL.,, who objects to the prac-
tice of the school board in that city
in permitting teachers of religion to
use school property during school
hours for religious instruction of
children whose parents have indi-
Gated desire that they attend these
classes. The religious classes are
taught by instructors provided
through the Champaign Council OF
Religious Education.
Wife of Professor.
Mrs. McCollum. wife of q Uni
versity of Illinois professor and
daughter of Arthur G. Croweil
president of the Freethinkers So
ciety of Rochester, N. Y. chose to
rear her son, James Terry McCol-
lum, in the family tradition Of
atheism. AS a taxpayer, she sued
the Champaign Board of Education
charging the religious instruction
classes violated that part of the
First Amendment to the Fedora
Constitution which states: Con
gress shall make no law respecting
the establishment of religion. ol
prohibiting the free exercise there
Of"
Illinois courts decided against her
But the case aroused widespread
interest in church groups anc
others. Jewish and Unitarian or.
CARNATIONS filed briefs with the Su-
preme Court supporting her posi-
ton; a New York Protestant grour
interested in religious instruction In
public schools of that State filed Its
brief in support of the opposite po.
sition. Two Baptist groups disa.
greed between themselves.
No Easy One to Decide.
All this makes it clear the cas-.
will be no easy one for the Supreme
Court to decide. This is the NOR,
evident when it is recalled that tn,
court divided. to 4, last February
in upholding New Jersey law au'
thorizing payments to parents O.
Catholic children for the cost o.
transporting children to parochia
schools when regular school bus
service was not available. A further
complication is that proponents o.
Mrs. McCollum's viewpoint have
found in the language of the major.
ity opinion in the New Jersey cast
what appears to be support for hel
position.
The majority in the New Jersey
case consisted of Chief Justice Vim.
son and Justices Black, Reed, Doug.
las and Murphy. Justice Rutledge
Frankfurter, jackson and Burtor
dissented.
The major facts in the Illinoi,
case are not in dispute. The religion.
classes have been attended by about
800 members of various Protestant
faiths and between 18 and ~ Cath.
olics. For time there was a smalle,
class for those of the Jewish religion
but this was dropped by adherents
of that faith, presumably because Of
the small attendance.
Questioned by Reed.
Attorney Walter F. Dodd of Chi
cago, principal counsel for Mrs. Nc
Collum, had hardly begun when
Justice Reed interrupted him to in
quire whether parents asked the
school to permit their children to
attend the religious classes.
The reply was that the schools
distributed cards, prepared by the
Religious Education Council, on
which parents might indicate their
approval. This didn't satisfy Justice
Frankfurter, who said: What you
are saying is that the school asks
the parent. I assume the contrary
the parent asks the school,"
Justice Reed wanted to know
whether those children who did not
attend religion classes were taught
reading, writing and arithmetic"
while religion classes were being
held The answer was that they
were.
Justice Frankfurter asked wheth-
er Illinois had a statute authoriZ-
ing the school board to provide as it
has done for religious education
The answer was there was no spe-
cific statute, but another question
produced the information that
school boards have statutory author.
ity to make general regulations or
how the schools shall be operated.
Church Leaders Set Curricula.
The curricula for the three princi
pal groups - Protestants, Catholic
and Jewish, while the latter partici
pated-were determined, Mr.. Dodt
said, by the leaders of those groups
each for It's own.
Mr.. Dodd suggested to the cour
that friction was created among ad
herents of the various faiths by th'
very fact that they were separated
for religious instruction, and arguet
that anti-Semitism, anti Catholicism