Evening star., 1948-08-30
Wallace
Continued From First Page \

! II we d had the same kind OF
quiet reaction here We had in Vir- /
ginia earlier in the day, then
wouldn't have liked it at all he
said after the Durham meeting last
night. This is what We want"
/ What the Wallaceites wanted was
provided by perhaps 40 or so dissi-
dents in crowd of about 800
about 80 per cent colored-Who
turned out at the armory to see and
hear the third party's presidential
candidate at the end of the first day
of his Seven-State tour. The nu-
cleus of the objecting group ap-
peared to be a score of World War
II veterans who marched around
the hall before the meeting bearing
picket signs marked with Send
Wallace Back to Russia" Barb /
Que Wallace Now" and stuff like
that.
Pickets Enter Hall
They came into the hall as the
meeting was called to order by Miss
Mary Price. Miss Price is State
chairman for the Progressives and
lilC 1Ol VI
Walter Lippmann, to whom Miss
Elizabeth Bentley has told con-
eressional committee she once was
introduced to Miss Price as a fellow
Communist
Miss Price had heSitated earlier
when this reporter asked her point
blank if she was in fact a Com
iet
the question. But when the hostile
picket signs came waving down the
side aisle she did not hesitate
Quickly she turned the meeting over
TO Peter Seeger. the rowing Wallace
ite troubadour whose uncle wrote
Il Have Rendezvous With Death.
Mr.. Seeger, failing his banjo, soon
got the crowd singing the New
Party's version of Glory Glory
Hallelujah'
Temporarily abashed. the protes-
tors retired from the hall. They re-
turned. however. when Mike Ross,
young Wallaceite from Greensboro,
N. c.. himself a combat veteran,
started making a speech. This time
a group of pro-Wallace youth. all
white. sought to bar their path as
they advanced toward the platform.
Somebody was hit on the head with
picket sign and in a moment fists
were flying all around the area.
Dissidents Elected.
Keep your seats, friends. This
will be taken care Of Mr.. Ross
admonished from the platform. The
audience took his advice and his
prediction proved correct. The dis
Sidents were elected by the nearer
of Mr.. Wallaces supporters through
the side doors. bearing with them
one felled and semiconscious COM
rade.
A young National Guardsman.
who had been assigned to assist in
protecting armory property added
to the excitement by firing his gun
in the air in the alley on the other
side of the building. But order was
restored as Mr. Seegar began sing
ing again.
From then on, however. the or
der maintained was only relative.
Having disposed of their signs. most
OF the picketerS returned to the
hall. where they Joined others in
the audience who had come to try
to shout Mr.. Wallace down. /.
Police Were Inactive.
Durham police, 10 of whom were
IN the hall in plain clothes but
remained conspicuously inactive
during the early melee. had been
asked to provide an escort for Mr..
Wallace when he came to the arm
orv from the home of G. w. Logan.
colored businessman with whom he
lodged in the city This service was
refused the third party candidate.
There was tension preceding his
arrival, as Progressive Party Off
cials ostentatiously dispatched the +
welcoming party" to side en- :
trance where crowd quickly gath +
cred in the street.
Mr. Wallace, however, made his :
entrance unmolested on the other
side of the hall. The dissidents in ,
the crowd opened up with their
boos and cat-calls as he was intro !
duced and began to speak. :
Ignoring his prepared text, Mr.. ,,
Wallace alternated between trying !
to make himself heard above the
din and waiting for it to subside.
L can stand here just as long as
YOU can shout-belleve me on that"
he shouted at one point.
Recalls Ancestors Trials.
The former Vice President re-
called that one of his great grand
fathers was a Methodist minister
whose house was pelted with eggs
because he favored the abolition of
slavery. He said his ancestor had
refused to remove the stains. de-
claring they were a badge of honor
which would stay there until God
washed them off.
L heard that story when I was
little child, Mr.. Wallace said
and you are not going to intimi-
date me now = I want the right .
to speak freely and without inter-
ruption anyWhere-and I know that
95 per cent OF the people of the
South agree with me in that"
MIR. Wallace was nearing the close
OF his remarks when a particularly
loud group of objectors in a rear
corner of the hall exploded a string
of giant flrecrackers, causing a mo-
mentary furry of anxiety in the
gathering. He, himself, however. re-
manned calm.
Sit down, folks, sit down." he
repeated, waving, and soon the aud |
ience took up the chant of we
want Wallace" i
"Stabbing' Is Reported.
1t was about this time that one
OF the local Wallace followers was
reported stabbed, when he and
three colleagues were attacked by
an anti-Wallace group in the street
AS they emerged from the hall The
victim, one James Harris, was re-
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