Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 8
February 14, 1957
NUMBER 40, PAGE 5a

When Will The Book Be Published?

Cecil B. Douthitt, Brownwood, Texas

Inquiries concerning the publication of the debate between Brother Thomas B. Warren and me in South Houston last October have come to me from various parts of the country.

Due to the following facts I cannot say when the book will be printed:

1. On January 4, Brother Warren and I met to examine the corrections that we had made in the manuscripts of our speeches as typed by Brother Wesley Jones who had been employed for that work.

We glanced through five or six pages of the first two speeches, and neither of us objected to any change or correction that the other had made.

2. Then, Brother Warren reached into his brief case and brought out fifty or sixty extra pages of material which does not appear in the Jones manuscripts or on the tape. He wanted these extra pages to go into the book in addition to the Jones manuscripts. (He denied that there were "fifty or sixty" of these pages, but when I asked him how many there were, he did not tell me, neither was I given an opportunity to count them. I still think that fifty or sixty is a close guess to the number of pages.)

This extra material consisted of two booklets which he had distributed to some in the audiences during the debate, and also about ten or twelve pages which I had never seen before.

3. I told him that I, too, had distributed two books during the debate, and that he had no more right to include his two booklets than I had to include my two booklets in the debate book.

I reminded him that we had signed an agreement to prevent either of us from pulling the old J. Frank Norris -E. R. Harper - Walter Nichols trick, and that the thing he was trying to do is a manifest violation of Article 4 in our agreement. He asked to see a copy of our agreement.

I presented it to him and he read this Article 4:

"Each speaker is to read and correct his speeches before they are sent to the printer; also the speakers are to read and correct the galley proofs, and the page proofs. Each speaker has the right to check the speeches of his opponent. The speakers have the right to make grammatical and clerical corrections; but there shall not be permitted either disputant any alteration, amendment, deletion, or addition to the subject matter that will in any way change an argument. In case there should arise a disagreement as to the nature or content of subject-matter, or as to the extent and nature of corrections, the original tapes shall be accepted as the final basis of appeal and adjudication."

Brother Warren then declared that he had not signed that agreement. I replied that Brother A. G. Hobbs had misrepresented him, if he did not approve of the agreement, for Hobbs had told me that Warren approved the agreement and had authorized him to sign it, and to negotiate with me as co-publisher of the book.

4. After I was convinced that he would not agree for the book to be published unless he could include this extra material in addition to the Jones manuscripts, I proposed that he include his two booklets which he had distributed to some in the audiences during the debate, and that I then be given the privilege to include the two booklets which I had distributed during the debate.

He first agreed to do this, but almost immediately changed his mind for two reasons which he gave. He said (1) that he did not want some of the pages in his booklets to go into the debate book; and (2) that he had several pages which are not in the two booklets which he did want to go into the debate book.

5. After much argument and some bitter words had passed between us, I made this third and final proposal: I told him to add to the Jones manuscript just as many or just as few pages as he wanted to add — whether six, sixty or six hundred made no difference to me — with the understanding that I be given the right to use exactly the same number of pages in reply to the extra pages that he added. He flatly refused this proposal.

Brother Warren very obviously was displeased with the manuscripts that contain every word of his speeches. When I told him that I thought he was trying to pull that old J. Frank Norris - E. R. Harper - Walter Nichols trick of adding extra material to his speeches, but that I was one of the publishers and he never would be able to get away with such unfair practices, he accused me of lying, gathered up all his material and left in a huff.

I am receiving orders almost every day for the book of that debate. Brother Warren knows that I am anxious to get the book printed, and to fill these orders. But if he thinks that I am so anxious to fill these orders that I will let him run the J. Frank Norris - E. R. Harper -Walter Nichols stunt over me, he can just change his mind right now.

The book will not be printed until Brother Warren agrees to one of the three proposals which I have made to him:

1. Publish the book according to Article 4 of our agreement, which allows no addition to the manuscripts of our recorded speeches, or changes except grammatical and clerical corrections.

2. Publish the book with his two circulated booklets added to his recorded speeches, and my two circulated booklets added to my recorded speeches.

3. Publish the book with as many pages added to his recorded speeches as he wants to add of any kind of material that he wants to use, with the understanding that I be given the right to use exactly the same number of extra pages in reply to his extra material.

If these proposals are not fair and equitable, I humbly confess that I have no sense of fairness whatsoever.