Page Twelve 



EVOLUTION 



November, 1928 



The War Against Evolution 



By Maynard Shipley 



Now that the smoke is clearing away 

 from the Arkansas battlefield, and we are 

 able to count the dead and wounded of 

 that temporary defeat, it behooves every 

 "soldier in the liberation war of humanity" 

 to look about him and make plans for the 

 coming campaign. For the war will not 

 be over until either the Fundamentalist 

 enemies of science have acknowledged the 

 loss of their bigoted cause, or until all that 

 modern civilization owes to pure and ap- 

 plied science has bowed its head under 

 the heel of fanaticism and ignorance. 



The first thing to consider is Arkansas 

 itself. An initiative act cannot be vetoed 

 by the governor; the only way to repeal 

 it, short of another popular vote, which 

 does not promise well, is by three-fourths 

 vote of the legislature. Various agencies 

 are contemplating the bringing of test 

 cases to challenge the constitutionality of 

 the law. In Tennessee the Scopes indict- 

 ment was so brought that this was impos- 

 sible; and in Mississippi no test case was 

 ever made. In Arkansas it is possible to 

 work for such a test, which would become 

 a rule for other states also menaced by 

 anti-evolution legislation. Most of the tests 

 considered involve the martyrdom of a 

 teacher. The Science League of America 

 is considering a plan, which would lose no 

 teacher his job, but details cannot be given 

 at this time. 



In the meantime, what of the other 

 states? There will be 43 state legislatures 

 in session in 1929, as against nine in 1928. 

 The avowed plan of the Fundamentalists 

 is to bring the usual anti-evolution legis- 

 lative bill in as many as possible and if 

 the Lower House or the Senate should 

 prove "recalcitrant" and refuse to pass 

 the measure, to have recourse, wherever 

 possible, to direct legislation. Nineteen 

 states besides Arkansas have the initiative 



and referendum system, and a number of 

 these will hold legislative sessions in 1929. 

 The east and north are by no means being 

 neglected by the Fundamentalist anti-evo- 

 lutionists. They are, however, most act- 

 ively at work at present in Oklahoma, 

 Florida, Colorado, and Kansas. 



This method of bringing a question of 

 science to the direct vote of the unin- 

 structed lay citizen, tried successfully for 

 the first time in history in Arkansas, holds 

 grave dangers to the cause of scientific 

 freedom. There is small doubt that if a 

 general referendum on the subject of teach- 

 ing evolution in tax-supported schools were 

 held tomorrow, it would win in many — 

 perhaps most — states. The great mass of 

 the uneducated public is very strongly 

 under the influence of anti-scientific and 

 anti-liberal teaching. And if two thirds 

 of the states should ban the teaching of 

 evolution, a Federal constitutional amend- 

 ment would become not only possible, but 

 probable. 



In this crisis, it is the immediate concern 

 of everyone who values what modern 

 science has achieved, and its right to con- 

 tinue investigation and instruction, to come 

 up and be counted. Magazines like 

 EVOLUTION and organizations like the 

 Science League of America are standing 

 firmly against this invasion of ignorance. 

 But they must have the moral and material 

 support of all friends of science and of 

 freedom if they are to be enabled to do 

 the work for which they were started. The 

 situation is no longer a laughing matter; 

 the war has just begun in earnest; and 

 every man and woman who is on the side 

 of the twentieth century in thought and 

 teaching must lend his personal aid lest 

 America be dragged back from the twen- 

 tieth century to the darkness and ignorance 

 of the tenth. 



LAST THOUSAND PLEDGED 



A friend who has already contributed 

 two hundred dollars during the past year 

 has pledged himself under the name of 

 L. T. B. Light to contribute the last thous- 

 and dollars to our five thousand dollar 

 EVOLUTION PROMOTION FUND 

 when the other four thousand dollars has 

 been paid in. Morris Weinberg has prom- 

 ised $200 when the balance of the fund is 

 raised. The amounts paid in to date are: 



Reported last issue, $735.00; B. Levett, 

 $30.00; Horace Wood II, $10.00; M. 

 Mark, $50.00; Martin Dewey, $200.00; 

 Wm. K. Gregory, $100.00; J. Leon Wil- 

 liams, $50.00. Total received $1175.00. 

 Pledged $1200.00. Grand total, $2375.00. 



This puts us almost to the half way 

 mark. We feel sure that enough of our 

 readers realize the importance of launch- 

 ing an energetic subscription drive RIGHT 

 NOW to make up the balance of the 

 $5,000 fund needed this month. 



As stated in our last issue, a share in 

 Evolution Publishing Corporation will be 

 issued for every ten dollars paid in, and 

 an extra share of voting stock with every 

 fifty dollars. Since EVOLUTION has no 

 "angel" we use this method for raising the 

 necessary capital for its promotion. If 

 you would like additional information we 

 shall of course be very glad to furnish it. 



HONOR ROLL 



This month the list of those who quali- 

 fied for the Honor Roll by sending three 

 or more subscriptions is short. All the 

 more respect to the good warriors listed 

 here, who were busy on the firing line. 

 36 A. W. Watwood 5 C. D. Foreman 



THREE QUESTIONS 



By popular referendum .'\rkansas has just adopted a law to prohibit the teaching 

 that "man is ascended or descended from a lower order of animals." In view of the 

 a\*wed purpose of fundamentalists to force anti-evolution laws to popular vote in 

 nineteen other States, EVOLUTION submits the following questions to members of 

 the American Association for the Advancement of Science, under pledge to keep indiv- 

 idual ballots confidential: 



Yes No 



1. Should teaching that "man is ascended or descended from a lower 



order of animals" be prohibited by law? 



2. Should the American Association for the Advancement of Science 



take a militant attitude against fundamentalist anti-evolution laws? 



3. Should the American Association for the Advancement of Science 

 express itself against the elimination of evolution from biology 



school texts by publishers in fear of fundainentalist influence? ■ 



If any reader who is a member of the above organization fails to receive the 

 special questionaire he should write his vote on any sheet of paper and mall it with 

 name and address to EVOLUTION, 96 Fifth Ave., New York before December 20th, 

 so that it can be counted in the compilation. The result will be published in the 

 next issue of EVOLUTION, but individual ballots will of course be kept strictly con- 

 fidential. Those who wish to write comment for publication should do so on separate 

 sheet of paper, and make it as brief and to the point as possible. 



19 Fr. Masek 

 17 Ewald Carlson 

 10 Paul B. Mann 

 9 F. Cassidy 



5 W. H. Abel 

 + Alia S. Broms 

 3 Karl Froding 

 3 Gustave Weiss 



Watch this list grow next time. The 

 battle Is developing and a lot of our 

 friends are getting into action. Mobilize 

 yourself and tackle your friends and neigh- 

 bors. Many of them have now read some- 

 thing in the papers about Arkansas and 

 will be interested to know what the fuss 

 is all about. Others will have heard of 

 the Tennessee baby with a seven inch tall, 

 and will be in the mood to read more. 

 Every subscriber we gain is forever lost to 

 the funnymentalists. Up and at them. 



SALUTE FRANK MASEK 

 One of our readers who never wearies 

 of spreading the light is Frank Masek of 

 Illinois. Seven times in succession he has 

 merited the Honor Roll. His first list of 

 five subscriptions for EVOLUTION was 

 reported in our fourth issue. Since then 

 he has sent seven, five, five, twenty-one, 

 nineteen, and this month again nineteen. 

 And his lists show that these are real sub- 

 scriptions. He meets them face to face and 

 makes them "sign on the dotted line," 

 which means that they will also read it. 

 A hundred front fighters like Masek will 

 soon make EVOLUTION a power and put 

 the funnvmentalists on the run. 



