The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1948-08-20
BY JULES ARCHER in June 194S
issue of Everybody's Digest


Reprinted by special permission Of
the editors of the Digest. Subheads
ours, The Editors.)
There seems to be little doubt that
two and two add up to four. But -four
WHAT, Or rather, for what? The
Nazis gave their answer in a mathe
MATES textbook used in their grade
schools, which posed such problems
for children as, How much phosgene
$4,000 inhabitants who live in an area
of four square kilometers?"
Many American educators today ap-
parently agree with Hitler that math-
ematics should be less an exact than
political science. What you get
when you add up two and two may
soon depend upon the ticket you vote,
as illustrated by the recent action of
the California State Board of Educa-
ton.
The board forced the publishers of
two mathematics textbooks to make
certain revisions before permitting use
of the books in California schools. A
phrase used in one problem, cone
third of our people are poorly housed"
had to be purged. 1t gives" said the
California State Board of Education,
"a pathetic picture of life in the Uni
ted States" The phrase was first coin
ed, of course. by Franklin d. Roose-
welt, a well-known mathematician for
whom two and two added up to the
sum of four-TERMS.
"Horse-and-Buggy Days" Got Under
Hides of Gov. Warren's Appointees
Another expression. "the horse-and-
buggy days." had to be wiped out be-
cause cit was used as a term of re-
proach by President Roosevelt against
the Republicans The words "slums
and slum clearance" were also forbid |
den, presumably because these dang
erous thoughts were un-American pro-
paganda
Seven years ago, Professor Wesley |
G. Mitchell, chairman of the Commit |
tee on Textbooks of the American |
Committee for Democracy and Intel
ectual Freedom. issued warning to
parents and educators.
There have been numerous on |
ilaughts upon textbooks" he said, "by |
groups that have condemned brief
isolated from their contexts,
md have brought pressure upon
school boards to ban the books with
tut ado. Loyal citizens must be
more alert to protect Jour free) insti-
utions against the misguided at
,ome."
His warning went unheeded. The
ynching bees against school texts
lave increased in number and vio
ence. Today, ultra-conservatives in {
America are attacking every school
md college text which does not goose
tep in perfect rhythm with reaction t
.ry thinking.
Deliberate Perversion of Thinking of {
Our Youth In the Offng l
The timing of the attack is perfect.
lever in our history has there been
UGH a crucial shortage of school
ooks So many new ones are needed, q
nd so many WORKOUT texts must be
ep1aced, that in the next decade more
f them will be printed than in the
asst fifty years. In the minds of the
Using generation. two and two will
id up to ultra-conservatism if the t
are successful in their t
ight to gag and emasculate texts now il
n use which are not SO A ZOO per e
ent pure lingo. S
Summed up, the dangers to Ameri- g
an education are, first, that honest n
nd intelligent textbooks may be TAX a
n out of the hands of our youth Sec il
nd, that dishonest, prejudiced, and
infatuated texts may be perpetuated. n
bird. that even more dishonesty and "
rejudice will be introduced into the 7
ajority of future textbooks. d
The attack on our textbooks is we'll Il
rganized. In congress a while ago
ong. Charles R. Robertson OF North e.
akota sounded the tocsin with a a.
cree denunciation of the two-volume tt
)llege text, Economics: Principles p
nd Problems" by Paul K. Gemmell a.
of Pennsylvania and b
aInb IT PJodgett University of Illi- RI