New-York tribune., 1921-03-16
Old Glory to
Flv Alone at
Garden Rally
Proposal to Have Allied
Banners at All.American
Meeting Provokcs Firm
Opposition From Legion
Voted Down Will, WhooO
Plea of Courtesy to Asso.
ciatcs i'll War Only Stirs
Up a Spirited Argument

The American flag will ay alone at
the All-American mass meeting in
Madison Square Garden Triday n;qht.
suggestion that Allied flags also BE-
used in the decorations provoked so
spirited dispute at a meeting of the
arrangements committee yesterday and
was opposed so vigorously by repre-
sentatives of the American Legion that
the proposal was shclved.
At the beginning Of the meeting.
which took place at 4 East Forty-third
Street, motion was put through
recommending to the executive COM
mittee the use of Allied flags. The
motion was sponsored by the Rev.
Percy Gordon, assistant pastor of st.
bartholomcw's Church, and seconded bv
Cass Gilbert and Miss Georgiana Har-
rnman Owen. 1t was not until the vote
had been taken that those opposed
awokc to action. Somebody moved that
the motion be reconsidcrcd and then
the fur began to fly.
Hugh II. Robertson, assistant TO
Charles G.. Blakcslcc, commander Of
the department Of New York, American
Legion, protested cmphatically against
the use of the Allied colors in decorat
ing the Garden He had authority to
speak, he said, for Commander Blakes-
lee and was confident he expressed the
sentiment of the great mass of World
War veterans
want But One Banner"
"Thcy arc loyal 10 the cause for
which they fought" Mr. Robertson de-
clared, "and loyal to their comrades
IN arms, but they are going to partici-
pate in this meeting because they have
been led to believe it is to be just what
its name implies-all-American-and
they want bat one flag there"
Henry ". Buxton, New York County
chairman, American Legion, echoed Mr..
Robertson's opinion
BY this time several men and women
were trying to get the attention of
Robert Gricr Cooke, chairman of the
meeting, ana gain the floor all at once.
Miss Owen managed to obtain rccog
nition
II am all Americana she said, "but
believe that common courtesy de-
mands we fly the flags of the twenty
TOUR Allied nations with our own flag
IN the center at this meeting, That
German meeting at the Garden the
other night was a wedge which some
people are tryinr to drive betwoor tbo
United States and France 1t is all
very insldious, and we must do all we
can to counteract it. ! would be
ashamed to think that any member of
the American Legion was afraid to
bear the Allied colors."
This last remark brought Miss Anna
Hoyt to her feet with the declaration
that she resented any such aspersion
on the bravery Of American veterans.
Fails to Stem the Tide
Alvin M. Owsley, of the Americaniza-
ton committee of the Amer rcan Legion,
defended the Legion's attitude as ex-
pressed by the other speakers. The
Rev. Mr.. Gordon tried to stem the tide
against the use of the Allied flags, but
the. majority Of the committee was
plainly of another mind. The motion
to reconsider was carried with whoop
Mrs. Regina, Demarcst, representing
the Women's Auxiliary of the G.. A. r.,
then moved that it be the sense of the
committee that the American flag only
be used in the decorations. The chair
man was about to put this motion
when the Rev Mr.. Gordon offered as
substitute that the matter be referred
to the executive committee, with its
attention directed to the strong pro
tests that had peen heard" This was