Evening star., 1940-02-11

| Z
Green's answer to my proposal"
Refers to Roosevelt's Talk.
Mr.. Green plunged head-on into
his address by referring to Mr..
Roosevelt's earlier address to the
congress. The delegates shouted
their approval when he took the
President to task for some of his
advice he gave the young people.
Noting that Mr.. Roosevelt had
suggested that they not adopt reso-
lutions concerning subjects on
which they were not expert, Mr..
Lewis commented that the Presi-
dent would lose the next election"
if he applied the same rule to the
Democratic party
I'm not sure that the President
himself, if he applied the rule to
himself. wouldn't find his efficiency
impaired" he added
The youths laughed heartily when
Mr.. Lewis remarked that the Presi-
| dent had said substantially that
under certain forms of government
you would not have had the oppor-
tunity of standing on the lawn, in
the rain, to ask for jobs"
Takes Issue With Remark.
Point by point, he took up the
Presidents speech. He told the
delegates that the President had
said the resolution against aid
to Finland was "twaddle.''
Well" Mr.. Lewis added. that
statement comes to head-on clash
with my concept Of the principles
of democracy"
when the President of the United
States calmly suggests today that
| the American Youth Congress has
no right to say what it thinks about
the Finnish question, or the Rus
sian question, or the European
question, the peace question, or any
other question, I wonder where we
are drifting. He says, go back
and sin no more"
1t might interest the President to
know, he added, that the United
Mine Workers Convention had
adopted the same kind of resolution
on Finland. ,-..
II wonder if the President of
the United States would call the
resolution by the United Mine
Workers of America 'twaddle,'" he
declared.
These resolutions, he said, repre-
sent the "ever-present fear that
in some way the politicians and
the statesmen of this country and
the warning world will in some
fashion drag our country into that
War-and it is a protest, it is
protest"
Family Conference Suggested.
For three years, Mr.. Lewis said,
the c. I. 0. has been trying to get
the President to call a huge con-
ference on employment, a conference
OF industry, finance, agriculture,
labor and others, to hold clinic"
on the subject and submit recon-
mendations for sensible course
of procedure.
If we are all one great happy
family in our country, as the Presi-
dent says, why not hold a family
conference on that question and
give to Americans the right to parti-
cipation in the internal economy of
this country?
Aside from the economic situation
which he declared remains unsolved,
Mr.. Lewis assailed the eight South
ern States which maintain poll taxes
and declared in favor of the Presi-
dent and the Attorney General in
Structing the Civil Liberties Bureau
of the Justice Department ito bring
in the Federal courts a judicial pro-
ceeding and carry it to the Supreme
Court, attacking and striking down
these damnable provisions inflicted
upon the citizens Of those Southern
States IN these iniquitous poll taxes"
The Youth Congress met until late
in the afternoon, coming to the hall
after hearing the President. In con-
trast with their reaction to the Chief
Executives remarks and advice, Mr..
Lewis "stole the show"
Agitation in the Youth Congress
for expulsion of its Communistic
elements-one of its 63 afflliates is
the Young Communist League
stirred unusual interest in what Mr..
Roosevelt might say on Communism.
Applause Greets Statement.
The Chief Executive asserted any
Communists in the organization had
right as Americans to call them
selves Communists and to peace
fully and openly" advocate certain
ideals of theoretical Communism.
But, he added, it was the sacred
duty" of such elements to confine
their advocacy Of changes in law
to methods prescribed by the Con-
stitution. He said they had mo
American right, by act or deed of
any kind. to subvert the Government
and the Constitution of this Nation"
Whistling and applause greeted
this statement. Earlier there had
been some boos and kissing, mingled
with applause, when the President
mentioned the resolution by one of
the affiliated councils opposing
American loans to Finland on the
ground that such action was "an at
tempt to force America into the i'm
perialiStic war" It was not clear
to some whether the applause was
Tor the resolution or for the Presi-
dents criticism Of it, although there
was distinct booing when he de-
scribed as "unadulterated twaddle"
the reasoning behind the resolution.
f-AnDEY