The Child Buyer Read Online Free PDF Page A

first, very cautious. Tin afraid of anything too special for these clever children,' he said to me. Tin afraid of it for our community. We don't like anything that smacks of privilege. But don't worry/ he said, 'we'll reach these children. We'll take care of 'em with enrichment.' Phoocy! Enrichment! He made it sound as if schools were bakeries and children were loaves. I may as well tell you at the outset, gentlemen, I have nothing but contempt for the wordy soft-hearted-ness, or maybe I should say -hcadedness, of the educational world, in which a simple spade is commonly called an Instrument for Soil Development. Mr. Owing was leaning back in his swivel chair, and he was toying with a pair of binoculars. Through the Venetian blinds behind him I could see, beyond a stretch of lawn, the backs of three white houses, and at first I assumed that Mr. Owing was an office-hour voyeur, but a little
    later in our conversation I saw in the yard a feeding station around which a number of birds were playing who had a curious way of clinging to the wood, heads downward, looking out nervously at the dangerous world. He was a Watcher. I asked him what the birds were. 'Nuthatches/ he said. 'White-breasted. I think so anyway. I'm not positive. We have a child/ he said, 'of the kind that interests you. He can tell you the family, genus, species, and subspecies of every bird—every living thing you could imagine. In Latin/ And that was the first I heard of the Rudd boy. But of course the moment I expressed interest in him, Mr. Owing backed off. Began giving me the on-thc-other-hand treatment. Afraid he'd gone too far. Mr. Owing never asked why I was interested, or what my errand was. I guess he assumed I was just another teacher working on a doctoral thesis so as to get ahead. lie said he thought he'd better turn me over to the Guidance Director—a likable young man, he said, certainly a useful man, he said, on what he calls, with a characteristic parsimoniousncss of imagination, his 'educational team.'
    Mr. BROADBENT. You mean to say he at no time asked you the actual purpose of your visit?
    Mr. JONES. Not at that interview.
    Mr. BROADBENT. And it did not occur to you to force this information on him?
    Mr. JONKS. Indeed it did. At the end of our talk I expressed interest in buying one or more of a certain category of children. I didn't tell him the whole story then. I had measured Mr. Owing—as a matter of fact, I had had some briefing information beforehand, tabbing him—as a vacillator. He was liable to turn to all sides for help if a difficult problem was thrown at him, and to talk indiscriminately. And what I wanted least of all was talk, until I'd had time to look around and be ready to jump. Later, of course, I gave Mr. Owing the full picture, but by then complications had set in.
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    THE CHILD BUYER
    Senator MANSFIELD. When you say 'buy/ I suppose you mean that you actually buy the child from its parents?
    Mr. JONES. It's not quite that simple, sir. Everyone who has the slightest hold on a child that I begin to dicker for asks—and usually gets— a price.
    Mr. BROADBENT. So Mr. Owing sent you down the line to Mr. Cleary.
    Mr. JONES. What I needed most at that starting point was an ally, and Mr. Cleary—
    Senator SKYPACK. Was willing to do your dirty work for you?
    Mr. JONES. At the beginning Mr. Cleary was rather interfering. He took it upon himself, without my knowledge, to meddle with the Rudd family. Later he was more co-operative. Much more.
    Mr. BROADBENT. You told Mr. Cleary your whole story?
    Mr. JONES. I saw in Mr. Cleary a man more interested in advancement than in ideas. He's the sort of man you can trust.
    Mr. BROADBENT. You saw this right away?
    Mr. JONES. My business is sizing people up.
    Mr. BROADBENT. And Mr. Cleary?
    Mr. JONES. Is a realist. He distrusts emotion of any kind. Explains exuberance in himself by the keenness of the weather, the lack of humidity in the air; depression or a feeling of shame he can