Medford mail tribune., April 21, 1957, Image 45

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A display of U.S. ideas attracts a Greek crowd of all ages.
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Sicilian law student, a fu
ture leader of his community, decides
to learn for himself about the conflict
ing ideologies of East and West, both
fighting for his loyalty.
He goes to a nearby bookstall and
finds that by skipping cigarets today
he can afford to buy the communist
teachings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin
in paper-bound editions in his own
language.
What books can he buy to learn
about America? Mostly cheap novels
about dope addiction, sadism, or un
scrupulous business executives.
To read a copy of "The Federalist,"
a basic explanation of our Constitu
tion, the Sicilian would have to travel
hundreds of miles to Rome where he'd
find three copies in English. Lincoln's
writings might be even harder to find.
We've distributed only 25 copies
throughout the world to show why
we think our government is best.
But this failure in providing the
world with "the bibles of democracy"
is being remedied. The political and
social philosophies of Jefferson, Madi
son, and Franklin to name a few
are being translated into 25 languages
and will be made available in crucial
areas of the globe at prices within the
reach of the poorest student, teacher,
or worker.
The books represent democracy in
theory; how they came to be trans
lated and distributed represents de
mocracy in action.
In 1952, a Chicago teacher, Thomas
B. Stauffer, returned home after
government service abroad during
which he saw many situations like
that confronting the Sicilian student.
Something, he decided, should be
done. In American fashion he wrote
his congressman, Barratt O'Hara.
O'Hara was immediately interested
in Stauffer's suggestion that our infor
mation centers not only tell the free
world what is wrong with communism,
but what is right with democracy.
But he pointed out that Congress
would need additional facts before it
could consider subsidizing a library of
American political classics for over
seas book markets.
At O'Hara's suggestion, Stauffer's
neighbors such people as ministers,
office and factory workers, and college
students pitched in to assemble those
facts. They contacted 3,500 leaders in
industry, religion, journalism, politics,
and other fields for suggestions on ex
porting our most precious commodity,
political ideals.
Without any prompting, many of the
3,500 wrote their own congressmen
about "bibles of democracy," and soon
O'Hara was beset by legislators ask
ing, "What is this book idea my con
stituents are deluging me about? How
is it important?"
Thanks to his hard-working group
at home, O'Hara had the answer.
We were losing the battle of books
and minds. In Moscow, the Russian
Printing Bureau, working on a budget
larger than that of our entire informa
tion service, was on a 24-hour sched
ule turning out communist writings in
40 languages. Foreign students in our
own universities told how their lands
were flooded with Marx and Lenin
while they heard only references to
Madison and Hamilton.
"America," said O'Hara, "is known
abroad for autos and tractors, for
riches and technology, but the speci
fically American political philosophy
and the fundamental ideas of political
and social democracy are not widely
known in foreign lands."
The big danger in this, historians
pointed out, was that whenever a na
tion adopted democratic government,
it did so on the basis of political ideals,
not material wealth.
Still there was the question would
people read the "heavy" writings of
America's political thinkers? This an
swer came independently from two
U. S. industrialists who helped finance
publication of "The Federalist" in
Italian. Although relatively expensive,
the publication skyrocketed to second
place on Italy's best-seller list, was
hailed in speeches and editorials, and
excited deep interest in similar Amer
ican writings.
The U. S. government, responding
. to citizen opinion, next tried a test in
Asia by distributing a "year's supply"
of "The Federalist." In three months,
all were sold.
The last doubt about the worth of
the program was dispelled, and Con
gress appropriated funds for 20 mil
lion books. They will be translated
and sold in bookstores which now sell
only communist ideology.
The first of these translations al
ready are in the hands of people who
influence opinion in their countries.
Should they ever feel the books are
merely words, dreams, or ivory-tower
theories, they have only to remember
how the books came to them through
people like themselves who wrote a
lawmaker and moved a government.
Family Weekly, April 21. IS57
17