

                   FREEDOM'S BOOKS IN CHINA 

               CHESTER L. DITTO, 32, KCCH   
            Box 45, FPO Seattle, Washington 98762




   DURING THE SUMMER OF 1988, I had the wonderful opportunity 
of being an exchange professor for the second time at the 
Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, People's 
Republic of China. From the experience gained on my previous 
visit, I went prepared with several books and other special 
training aids and publications. Among the materials I carried 
were copies of The Supreme Council's books Let's Celebrate 
America and Anchor of Liberty. 

   Let's Celebrate America, because its intended readers are 
elementary school children, proved to be an effective and 
interesting textbook for my introductory courses on 
conversational English. 

   At the end of the semester, a competition in English 
fluency was held between two classes, and winners were given 
the choice of several gifts. To my surprise, I found that the 
most desired prize was a copy of this book! Luckily, I had 
twenty copies with me. 

   I would also let students, who were mostly Chinese 
professors and graduate students, take Anchor of Liberty home 
to read and review. There was always a waiting list because I 
had only one copy, and most of the students asked to keep it 
for two days so they could fully appreciate its contents. The 
students were anxious to hear and learn everything they could 
about America  its customs, traditions, and history. Both 
books proved to be wonderful reference sources on those 
topics. 

   When I left the university, I donated my copy of Anchor of 
Liberty to the university library with the notation "On 
behalf of the author, the Sovereign Grand Commander of 
Scottish Rite Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of 
the United States of America, Illustrious Brother C. Fred 
Kleinknecht, I am happy to donate this book to the 
Northwestern Polytechnical University in the hopes that it 
will help promote better relations between our two great 
countries." 

   I made similar notations in the copies of Let's Celebrate 
America which I also donated. Recently, I was pleased to find 
there is another fine new children's book, Let's Meet Great 
Americans published by and available through The Supreme 
Council, 33. 

   Unfortunately, since my stay in China, the tender first 
buds of liberty have been blighted. The turning point was, of 
course, the bloody massacre of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 
when 10,000 students and workers marched only to be crushed 
by the tanks and troops of the Chinese Politburo on June 3-4, 
1989. Death toll estimates ranged from 500 to 7,000 with up 
to 10,000 dissidents jailed and 31 executed. By July the 
conciliatory Communist Party chief was ousted and nearly all 
reformist movements stopped. 

   The flame of freedom has, it seems, been extinguished in 
China, but I am hopeful that somewhere, still hidden 
carefully in a home or library corner, the copies I left of 
Let's Celebrate America and Anchor of Liberty exist waiting 
to kindle the spark of liberty again in China. 

   To The Supreme Council, 33, I say:  "Congratulations  on  
the  caliber and scope of these books.  Please keep up the 
great work. We need more publications of this type. Serving 
in the U.S. Navy until retirement, I have always been very 
proud of America. I can assure you, however, that personally 
presenting these texts to the Director of Foreign Academic 
Affairs at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, 
People's Republic of China, was a high point in my sense of 
being an American and Mason." 

Editor's Note: 

   The books mentioned in this article may be purchased by 
sending checks payable to The Scottish Rite Foundation to: 
The Supreme Council, 33, 1733 Sixteenth Street, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20009-3199. 

   Prices are: Anchor of Liberty, $5 each; Let's Celebrate 
America, minimum order 10 @ $1 each ($10); Let's Meet Great 
Americans, $2 each. 

------

Chester L. Ditto is a member of Francis Drake Lodge No. 376, 
California, Yokosuka Lodge No. 20, Japan, and the Tokyo 
Scottish Rite Bodies. He served two years as Grand Master and 
is currently Grand Secretary in Japan. 





True Measure
   The true measure of a person is not what he possesses in life, but
what possesses him. We have but a short time here on earth. Let us
leave memories of a job well done and the legacy of personal achieve-
ment affecting all for good.
                                                          Paul L. Helzer, 32

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