Evening star., 1953-06-26
By Crosby S. Moves

long-awaited press conference
with top information officials.
After nearly an hour of ques-
tioning DR.. Robert L. Johnson,
chief Of the International In
formation section, and his chief
assistants, it became clear that
the confusion has not resulted
from public ignorance about the
program. The more they heard,
the more reporters at yeSter-
days conference became con-
vinced that a firm policy to
determine what books should be
acceptable to overseas libraries
is still to be worked out.
Some Points Cleared Up.
Some points in the book-burn-
ing controversy, however, were
cleared up. They were:
/. Books by 18 authors, repre-
Senting more than 800 different
titles have been specifically
banned from the overseas liz
brarieS by State Department di-
receives since February /. The
authors are avoWed or sus-
pected Communists.
2. The key directive in the Ii
brary purge was drafted by Sec
fetary Dulles in memorandum
to DR.. johnson on March II.
The memorandum prescribed
''great care" in use of material
by Communists or their agents
or Sympathiz RS" The field di-
rective which went out over Mr..
Dulles signature followed closely
the language of the Secretary'S
memorandum.
8. Because of "a natural desire
to play it SAFE" books have been
removed which were never in
tended to fall under the State
Department ban. The program
officials recognize that some
harm has been done to American
foreign interests as a result.
4. A new directive, apparently
designed to clarity the confusion
caused by 10 earlier directives is
in the works. When it is sent
out its substance" will be made
public.
S. The new directive will pre-
sumably permit the use of con-
troverSial" books which serve
useful purpose. but will continue
the ban on Communist propa-
ganda and books by authors who
refuse to discuss their political
affiliations before congressional
committees.
Reads Prepared Statement.
Reporters, who have tried for
weeks to interview DR.. johnson,
found him to be a slight, Studious
looking man. He came to the
conference with a prepared
statement which, he thought,
would answer some of the ques-
tionS.
The statement led off with the
admission that previous instruc-
tionS have led to confusion in
the field as to Interpretation"
I'm keeping with the American
principle that the individual is
innocent until proven guilty, it
has been virtually impossible to
define who is and who is not a
Communist" DR.. johnson said.
1--WE have not been able to
furnish our field staff with a
complete list of authors whose
works are to be excluded. We
have only been able to specify
certain authors who either are
avowed Communists or who have
publicly refused to answer queS-
tionS regarding possible Com
munist affiliations.
"Such refusal to answer ques-
tionS has raised public impress
sion regarding these authors
which, whether justified Or not,
raises serious doubts as to
whether their works contribute
to the purposes of the program"
Other Books Weeded Out.
DR.. johnson pointed out that
in addition to books removed by
overcautious librarians others
have taken the occasion to do
a general wedding out of little
used or out-of-date books" or
books not useful to the program.
Many librarians, he said, have
collections which were taken
over from other sources, such as
the Army, which have not proved
suitable.
In the course of questioning,
DR.. johnson made it plain that
the final say on whether books
should be kept on library shelves
will remain with the local Ii
brarians. There is a great varia-
ton, he said. in the usefulness
of books in different localities.
In general, however, he di-
Vided material into three differ
ent categorieS. There are books,
he said. obviously useful to the
program. There are others which
are obviously Communistic and
should be excluded. The diff
Guilty, he confessed, comes with
material falling between these
extremes which might be con-
sidered controversial.
Einstein Brought Up.
Apart from the content of the
books themselves it seemed that
only one SardStick has been de-
veloped for classifying authors
who are not admitted Commu-
niSts. The libraries, said DR..
johnson. don't want the books
of authors who have aroused
public suspicion because of their
unwillingneSS to speak frankly,
who have hidden behind the
Fifth Amendment or who are
believed to 'have Communist
Sympathies.
DR.. johnson was asked if
under this theory the works of
DR.. Albert EinStein might be ex-
a1r1Gnd DV. u