Evening star., 1941-02-09
; Youth Groups
Praise and Jeer
Lease-Lend Bill
5000 Stage Parade
And Mass Meeting
To Boo British Aid

Youth descended on Washington
yesterday-youth which brought
fruit for the White House and sup
port for the British aid bill, and
other youth which carried placards
denouncing such aid and paused to
jeer the President and Mrs. Roose-
welt as the foster parents" who
''deserted" them this year.
Representatives of three organi-
cations added their voices to the
many expressions of opinion on the
lease-lend bill during hectic after
noon and evening that saw more
than 5000 young people tramping
the streets in a torch-light parade
singing and chanting as they
marched-to a mass meeting at the
Washington Monument grounds.
The parade and meeting were the
last acts in a day which reached its
climax when Jack McMichael, chair
man of the American Youth Con-
gress, was elected by Capitol police
from the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee hearing room when he
attempted to voice his groups op-
position to the leaSe-lend bill.
Refused at White House.
Later, Mr.. McMichael and COM
mittee left the Youth Congress pa
rade to visit the White House. They
were turned back at the gates, how
ever White House attaches declared
they had received no letter asking
an interview with the President,
Mr.. McMichael said.
More successful were a score of
New York college students calling
themselves the Stop the Junior
Fifth Column Committee" who
called at the White House to as
sure the President that the Youth
Congress did not speak for Ameri-
can young people, that the youth
of the Nation were in favor of aid
to Britain, and to bring basket of
fruit for Mr.. Roosevelt. The gift
and the assurances were delivered
to Brig. Gen. Edwin NJ Watson,
military aide to the President and
White House secretary. Their visit
was sponsored by the National
Foundation for American Youth,
founded by former heavyweight
boxing champion, Gene Tunney.
Knox Receives a Third Group.
A third group. whose members
denounce the Youth Congress as
"an unrepreSentative and noisy
group" were received by Secretary
of the Navy Knox at his Offices
yesterday.
They were the Student Defenders
Of Democracy, and were composed
Of Is young people from Smith, Vas
sar, Columbia, Brooklyn College,
Yale, Harvard and Mount Holyoke
College. who came to Washington
to urge immediate passage of the
bill to aid Britain.
Most evident of all, however, was
the Youth Congress group, which
also had its Vassar contingent. The
congress concludes a three day ses-
sion tomorrow with meetings at
Turner's Arena
Police had said 4,500 persons we're
to march In the Youth Congress
parade. By the time it had strung
out along Fourteenth street, how
ever. the ranks were swelled to
more than 5000.
AS they marched they chanted-
Johnny wants job, not a gum
"Old Jim Crow has gotta 60 and
something that sounded like Give
the AK to Halifax"
Traffic Snarled.
Despite efforts of traffic police
men who stopped the line from
time to time to permit cars to pass
through, traffic along Fourteenth
street was in a snarl from w street
NV. all the way to the Monument
Grounds.
At the Monument the crowd
stamped its feet and chanted to
combat the biting cold as they
waited for Representative Marcan-
tonic, American-Labor party, of New
York, to address them.
Last year the Youth Congress was
warmly received by Mrs. Roosevelt
and was addressed by the President
On the White House grounds. This
year, however, Mrs. Roosevelt de-
clined to meet with the organizat ton,
explaining at recent press con-
ference that if she did, her participa-
ton might be construed to mean
she was in agreement with the
Youth Congress foreign policy
adopted by them in convention last
summer.
At the Monument grounds. Mr..
Marcantonio alluded satirically to
the President and Mrs. Roosevelt as
your foster parents who have
(See YOUTH GROUPS, Page B-2D