Evening star., 1959-11-02
QUIZ
. Van Doren's Whole Truth Expose
Is Greeted With a God Bless You
Contlnued From First Par,

Learned q Lot"
"I've learned a lot ABOUT life
I've learned a lot about myself
and about the responsibilities,
any man has to his fellow men
I've learned a lot about gooc
and evil" Mr.. Van Doren said
II was involved. deeply in.
volved. in a deception. Ths
fact that I, too. was very much
deceived cannot keep me from
being the principal victim oi
that deception, because I wa,
its principal symbol.
There may be q kind Of jus.
tice in that"
Mr.. Van Doren's father, Pu-
liter Prize-winning Poet Mars
Van Doren, was in the packed
hearing room today. Also pres
ent was the younger Mr.. Van
Doren's wife.
The Legislative Oversight
Subcommittee conducting the
investigation into quiz scandals
was resuming its hearings today
after q three-week recess.
"God Bless You"
At the end Of his 90-minute
appearance. Mr.. Van Doren was
excused with o God bless you"
from Representative Harris,
Democrat Of Arkansas, chair
man Of the investigating sub
committee. He was Immediate
ly surrounded at the witness
chair and little later his wife
pushed her way to his side. He
turned and kissed her.
Suspense over what Mr.. Van
Doren would have to say had
built UP to a high pitch. It had
been predicted he would ask for
a closed hearing, with press
and public excluded, but there
was no such request.
When the quiz scandals
broke, thousands Of Van Deren
fans had wired and written
their assurance that he couldn't
have been involved in anything
dishonest.
The illusion shattered today
as he described in intricate de-
tail his involvement in the
fixing Of the quiz.
Before his first appearance
on Twenty One in November
Of 1856, he said he was asked
by the shows producer. Mr..
Freedman. to visit the latter's
apartment.
Mr.. Freedman told him that
Herbert Stempel, the programs
champion at the time, was un-
beatable because he knew too
much, Mr.. Van Doren recalled
in his testimony.
'He said that Stempel was
unpopular and was defeating
opponents right and left to the
detriment Of the program. He
asked me if. as a favor to him,
I would agree to an arrange
ment whereby I would tie
Stempel and thus increase the
entertainment value of the
program" Mr.. Van Doren
testified.
He said he asked Mr.. Freed
man to let him go on the pro-
gram honestly but was told this
was impossible. He was told
he would not have a chance of
defeating Mr.. Stemple because
the latter was too knowledge
able, Mr.. Van Doren said.
Mr.. Freedman stressed that
"the show was merely enter
tainment and that giving help
to quiz contestants was a COM
mon practice and merely a part
Of show business" he added.
Looking up from his pre-
pared statement, Mr.. Van
Doren told the committee:
'This, of course, was not
true. but perhaps I wanted to
believe him."
Commenting on Mr.. Free
mans argument that he would
be doing a service to intellec-
tual life and to education by
his appearance on the program,
Mr.. Van Doren said:
II think I have done a dis
service to all of them. I deeply
regret this since I believe moth
ing is of more vital Importance
to our civilization than educa-
ton"
Got $1,000 Guarantee
He was guaranteed $1,000 If
he would appear on Twenty
One for one night, Mr.. Van
Doren said:
Il will not bore the commit
tee by describing the intense
moral struggle that went on
inside me-" he said.
Il was sick at heart. Yet the
fact is that I unfortunately
agreed. after some time, to his
proposal"
Before his first appearance
on the show, he testified, he
was called into Mr.. Freedman's s
Office. The producer told him
the questions to be asked and
asked whether he could answer
them, Mr.. Van Doren said.
He said he knew the an
swers to many Of the ques-
tions, but that they did not
satisfy Mr.. Freedman. who said
his replies were not ENTER
tanning" enough.
The producer, Mr.. Van
Doren related, instructed him
to pause before some answers,
to skip certain parts and re-
turn to them, and to hesitate
to build up audience suspense,
The same procedure was
used throughout his IA weeks
on Twenty-One, he testified.
If he did not know the an