Evening star. [volume], February 11, 1940, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Weather Forecast * | L f
Partly cloudy today, colder in afternoon k /4 4 4 ^B 4 X4^i4ir
or at night; tomorrow fair, slightly 4 V W fl| V I \ ■ ^B W fl \*T CjlIlClC V(OOV
warmer. Temperatures yesterday—High- J fl fl fl fl fl fl /a fl fl fl fl A fl fl - ” I /
est, 40, at«rjn.; lowest, 35, at 5 a.m. | ■ ■ ■ fl B fl fl'fl fl B fl B fl 1 A C*
rrom th. Un.tedSUU, Weather Bur..u report. I VVtTT^ AU ^ClttS
■- _: : ■• ~___ _WITH DAILY EVENING EDITION ^__L
No. 1,821—No. 34,984. A«£i.tedpk.. WASHINGTON, D. C., FEBRUARY 11, 1940-124 PAGES. * EVENING AND SUNDAY 75 CENTS
------ •_ __ ,__ DBUVBRBD IN CITY AND SUBURBS MONTH
Lewis Proposes A. F. L. Merger,
Assails President Before Youths;
Roosevelt Attacks Soviet I n vasion
C. I. 0. Chief Says
He Won't Seek
Any Labor Office
(Text of Mr. Lewis’ Address, Page
A-6.)
By NELSON M. SHEPARD.
A direct proposal that the two
warring factions of labor meet in a
joint "peace” convention here on
March 15 and vote on the question
of affiliating the entire membership
of the Congress of Industrial Or
ganizations with the American Fed
eration of Labor came yesterday
afternoon in a surprise move from
John L. Lewis.
The C. I. O. chief made his pro
posal as a challenging offer to Pres
ident Roosevelt, the sincerity of
whose efforts to bring about a labor
peace he had questioned earlier.
To remove one probable obstacle to
the success of the proposed plan,
Mr. Lewis offered to eliminate him
self by declaring, "I will not be a
candidate for any office in the
united federation."
His offer to “end the labor war”
by the vote to merge brought a roar
from 1.200 clamorous delegates of
the National Youth Congress, before
whom he was speaking
Mr. Lewis described his proposal
for a joint convention as "a practical
plan in all simplicity,” adding that
“one roll call on that day will elim
inate the division in the house
of labor.”
Sarcastic Statements.
Repeatedly during his address the
C. I. O. leader, who has drawn far
apart from his one-time close White
House association, flung sarcastic
barbs at statements made by the
President earlier in the day before
the Youth Congress, whose dele
gates stood in a steady rain on the
White House lawn for half an hour.
His criticisms of Mr. Roosevelt, es
pecially the President's admonitions
against “resolutions’’ and opposition
to governmental aid to Finland,
brought cheers and stamping of feet
from the youthful delegates, who
crowded the Departmental Audi
torium in the Labor Building, over
flowing into the corridors and out
side into the street.
Loud booing and scattered hissing
from unsympathetic delegates as
sembled on the south n of the
White House had greeted Hr. Roose
velt’s plea for aid to Finland and1
his criticisms of “thoughtless" res
olutions. When the President, to
his address, referred to the stand
taken by a New York council of the
American Youth Congress against
loans to Finland the delegates
cheered their loudest. It was like an
exultant shout. According to police
count, 4,066 young men and women
huddled in the cold rain to hear the
President.
That the gap between the Presi
dent and Mr. Lewis may have be
come too wide to bridge was indi
cated by the general tone of the la
bor leader's repeated references to
the Chief Executive. Especially bit
ing was his allusion to Mr. Roose
velt's recent remarks that Mr.
Lewis was blocking efforts to nego
tiate peace.
Lewis’ Plan in Brief.
In his own words, the Lewis plan
to bring about an “immediate peace”
Was given briefly as follows:
“I propose that on the 15th day
of March, next, that a special con
vention of the Congress of Indus- j
trial ^Organizations and a special
convention of the American Pedera- !
tion of Labor be assembled in Con- \
stitution Hall, in Washington, D. C.. i
one convention on each side of the
aisle, that the question to be voted
on by that convention on the same
day shall be:
“ ‘Resolved, That the Congress of
Industrial Organisations in all of
its units and all of its membership
this day become a part of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor, and that
charters of affiliation be granted by
the American Federation of Labor to
each unit of the Congress of Indus
trial Organizations, and that, fur
ther, all question of detail in the
relationship of the two organiza
tions hitherto existing shall be taken
up for later consideration in such
fashion as the joint convention may
decide.’
“Just that,” Mr. Lewis summed up.
"There is a plan to end the labor
war and have labor peace in Amer
ica on the afternoon of March 15.”
All the questions of detail, over
lapping jurisdiction or other points
of friction, he said, can be disposed
of within the machinery set up by
the united federation “without the
public being troubled, or the politi
cians being driven to distraction,
without any American being in
convenienced.
Modification of 1933 Proposal.
"And as an evidence of my good
faith I will assure Mr. William Green
that I will not be a candidate in
that convention for any office in the
united federation. There is a prac
tical plan in all simplicity, with no
sinister attachments, and an offer
See YOUTH CONGRESS, Page A-3.
Hoover Political Speech
Set Tomorrow Night
By the Associated Press.
SAN PRANCISCO, Feb. 10—For
tner President Herbert Hoover will
make his “first political address of
1940” in Omaha Monday night. The
Republican circles organization said
the Lincoln’s birthday speech would
concern “our most important do
mestic issue."
The talk, to be broadcast from 9
to 9:45 pm., Eastern standard time,
will be under the auspices of the
Nebraska State Republican Com
mittee and the Nebraska Women's
Republican Clubs.
Radio Programs, Pag* F-3
Complete Index, Page A-2
* 1
LEWIS GREETS A LISTENER—Shortly after John L. Lewis,
C. I. O. chieftain, berated the President in a speech before the
* American Youth Congress yesterday he stepped down from the
platform to greet warmly one otitis listeners—Mrs. Roosevelt.
Left of Mrs, KOOsevelt is Aubrey Wnflams, N. Y, A. administrator.
kg#**?--:
5. E. C. Not to Accept
Trusteeship for
Associated Gas
Chairman Advises Court
Of Willingness to Aid
In Selection
The Securities and Exchange
Commission announced yesterday it
would not accept trusteeship for the
billion-dollar Associated Gas & Elec
tric public utility holding company
system.
S. E. C. Chairman Jerome N. Frank
informed Federal District Judge
Vincent L. Leibell of New York of
the commission’s decision in a letter
advising that he would be available
at any time to confer on the ap
pointment of another trustee.
Associated Gas & Electric Co., top
unit in the vast utility system once
dominated by Howard C. Hopson,
filed a petition for reorganizatiomin
Federal Court last month. , A similar
petition was filed the next day by its
underlying holding unit, Associated
Gas & Electric Corp.
Appointment of the S. E. C, as
trustee, a role that would give it a
voice in the operation of the 50 or 60
separate utility operating companies
in the system, was suggested by
Secretary of the Treasury Morgen
thau and Attorney General Jack
son.
The Public Utility Holding Com
pany Act of 1935 provided that the
commission might be appointed re
ceiver or trustee in such cases, but
only with its “express consent.”
Judge Leibell asked the S. E. C.
counsel in a court hearing last Tues
day whether the commission desired
the A G. E. trusteeship.
“We have carefully considered the
matter and our answer is in the neg
ative,” Mr. Frank wrote Judge Lei
bell yesterday.
His letter pointed out that the law
provided the court should not ap
point any other receiver without
giving the commission an opportun
ity to be heard on the matter, add
ing he would be available to confer
on the appointment at any.time or
it could be taken up in open court.
Massive Soviet Drive
Still Being Repulsed,
Defenders Report
Scores of Tanks Blasted
As Men Die in Snow
Before Finnish Line
TWO ARMED TRAWLERS sunk,
British admit, with loss of 22 lives;
three m'erchantmen and dredge
damaged in air attacks. Page A-2
DALAblET* WINS UNANIMOUS
vote of confidence from Chamber
of Deputies after two-day secrez
debate on war policies. Page A-2
BRITAIN AND PRANCE stand firm
against any "patched-up” peace,
but watch latest United States dip
lomatic moves. Page A-9
By th* Associated Press.
HELSINKI, Feb. 10.—A rash and
massive Soviet offensive in which
scores of Red Army tanks have been
blown to pieces or captured, un
counted soldiers left to die in the
trampled snows gefore the' Man
nerheim Line and even artillery
shells frantically unloaded from
Russian bombing planes was de
scribed vtonight in graphic military
reports from Finland’s hard-pressed
defense lines.
The Finnish story is that all this
continuing onslaught has been to
no avail. The unvarying phrase,
“All attacks were repulsed,” was
uttered again tonight by the Finn
ish high command in a com
munique issued on the tenth day of
continuous Russian attack on the
Karelian Isthmus.
The fighting on the isthmus and
on other battle fronts tonight had
added 72 Russian tanks in two days
to the scrap heap of modern weap
ons launched against Finland’s in
dependence. Unofficial reports say
more than 650 Red Army tanks have
been smashed or captured since the
war began November 30 and more
than 330 planes downed.
Foreign Planes Arriving.
Equally Important, foreign mili
tary observers said, is the fact that
foreign pursuit planes actually are
beginning to arriye for the defense
or Finland.
Finnish flying men have estimated
(Continued on Page A-5, Column 4.)
_ _ • *. •
Green Suggests Lewis Give Plan
To Joint Peace Comniittee
By the Associated Press.
MIAMI. Fla., Feb. 10.—William
Green, American Federation of La
bor president, suggested today that
John L. Lewis’ “new and practical
plan’’ for labor peace be submitted
by the C. I, O. chieftain to the joint
committee already authorised to
negotiate a settlement.
“If he has serious proposals to
make, let him agree to resume peace
negotiations and submit his pro
posals to the A. F. L.-C. I. O. com
mittee authorised to negotiate a
settlement, ’ Mr. Green said.
The A. F. L. president intimated
t- d
that Mr. Lewis’ “one roll-call" plan
was an effort to cover up what he
called Mr. Lewis’ blocking of peade
negotiations.
In the past Mr. Green has said
differences needed to be ironed out
before an amalgamation of the two
factions could be effected.
He had pointed out, as an example,
that If the C. I. O. Electricians’
Unipii was brought into the A. F. L.
and a settlement of differences be
tween the-two then was sought, it
would bring the labor war inside the
A. F. L. Instead of outside, as at
9NMB*
I
Executive Lauds
, Finland; Hull
Urges Peace Aid
(Text of the President’s Address
on Page A-6.J
By GARNETT D. HORNER.
A scathing presidential denuncia
tion of Russia as a warmaker and
a new appeal by Secretary of State
Hull for world-wide support of
America's objectives for lasting
peace climaxed a series of momen
tous developments in United States
foreign relations yesterday.
With amazing frankness, Presi
dent Roosevelt emphatically ex
pressed sympathy for Finland in its
fight against Russian invasion and
abhorrence of the ‘indiscriminate
killings of thousands of innocent
victims" under the Soviet “dictator
ship.”
He said he once had hoped that
Russia would “eventually become a
peace-loving, popular government
which would not interfere with the
Integrity of its neighbors,” but now
"that hope is today either shattered
or put away in storage against a
better day.”
Secretary of State Hull disclosed
that the United States hopes to line
up the whole world behind a long
range program of disarmament and
liberal trade policies as the basic
principles of lasting peace to follow
the present wars.
understanding or Principles.
Every feasible way will be utilized <
here and abroad to promote under
standing and support of these fun
damental peace principles, which
will be brought to the attention of
every government that is disposed
to take any interest in them, Mr.
Hull said.
He indicated it was considered
futile to include Russia now in dis
cussions going on with several neu
tral nations about the peace objec
tives. but emphasized hope that
eventually all nations would be
committed to them.
President Roosevelt's blunt criti
cism of Russia, the impending visit
by Undersecretary of State Sumner
Welles to Rome. Berlin. Paris and
London, and the current diplomatic
conversations with neutrals, while
officially in no way connected, never
theless were considered closely re
lated manifestations of a gradually
emerging policy presaging more
positive action by the United States
hi Id affairs.
essence of this policy Li to
explore all possibilities of helping
to bring about an end of the fight
ing now going on and. at the same
time, exert every effort to assure
that when peace comes it will be
built on a Arm and lasting founda
tion.
Closer Link With Italy.
Mr. Roosevelt’s verbal attack on
Russia, almost unprecedented as a
statement by a chief executive about
the government of a nominally
friendly nation, serves to clear the
air about this country's attitude to
ward Communist aggression and to
align the United States more closely
with Italy—the most powerful neu
tral voice in Europe. Mussolini long
has been the arch foe of Com
munism.
uaDenng the present Soviet regime
an absolute “dictatorship,” the
President delivered his surprising
condemnation of that regime with
careful and emphatic precision at
the end of an address to more than
4,000 members of the National Youth
Congress gathered on the south lawn
of the White House shortly after
noon.
_He first criticized as “unadulter
< See" ROOSEVELT, Page A-4.) ~
Lord Iweedsmuir Better,
But Still Unconscious
B» the Associated Pres*.
MONTREAL, ^ Peb. 10. — Lord
Tweedsmulr, Governor General of
Canada, who is suffering a grave
brain concussion, still is unconscious,
but has shown definite signs that
this condition is lessening, his doc
tors said in an official bulletin
tonight.
“His excellency has passed a quiet
day.” said the bulletin. “Although
he is still unconscious, he has dur
ing the last 12 hours shown definite
signs that his unconsciousness is
lessening. His temperature, pulse
and blood pressure remain satis
factory.”
The Governor General was op
erated on twice yesterday to relieve
the concussion.
The 64-year-old official suffered
his injury in a fall at Government
House in Ottawa last Tuesday and
was brought to the Neurological
Institute here by special train yes
terday.' $
28 Days Pass
V/ithdut Fatal
Traffic Accident
Twenty-eight days without a fatal I
traffic accident established a Dis
trict record at midnight last night,
according to statistics at the Traffic
Buread. The last fatal accident oc
curred on January 13, although one
man died on January 30 from in
juries suffered in an accident on
January 10.
The previous record compiled by
the Traffic Bureau was 33 days, in
the period between September 11
and October 3 in 1037.
With g5 persons killed in-traffic
during 1938, the Police Department
in January began a co-ordinated
drive for traffic safety based on a
study of detailed statistics about
each accident that were compiled
by The Star. To date in 1940, five
persons have been killed as com
pared to U during the same period
in JJ».
^BRIHGCTi
q^CKAUVE,
Legislators Voice Sympathy
For Blue Plains Improvement
But Appropriations Subcommittee Wants
To Know Where Money Is Coming From
BACKGROUND—
Conditions at Home for the
Aged and Infirm at Blue Plains
and two other District institu
tions, visited and criticized by
Mrs. Roosevtlt for lack of ade
quate facilities, resulted in in
vestigation by Public Health
Subcomnnttee of House District
Committee with Mrs. Roosevelt
as first lintness. Visits to Blue
Plains also were made by Com
missioners, Public Health Serv
ice doctor. District auditor and
director of public welfare. To
date, members of the Senate and
House Subcommittees on District
Appropriations, the groups tvhich
ivould actually appropriate funds
to improve conditions, have taken
no part in the investigation.
A poll of members of the Senate
and House subcommittees on Dis
trict appropriations last night re
vealed that both groups are “sym
pathetic” toward improving condi
tions at Blue Plains and the two
other District Institutions criticized
by Mrs. Roosevelt but feel that the
wholi) problem hinges on where the
money is to come from, whether by
a greater Federal share in District
appropriations or from an increase
in taxes.
Senator Overton, chairman of the
Senate Subcommittee, said the ques
tion revolves around whether the
people of Washington will be will
ing to pay more taxes or the Federal
Government “respond more liberally
to its obligation toward the main
tenance and improvement of the
Nation's Capital.”
Chairman Caldwell of the House
Subcommittee said unequivocally
that the “District people must rea
lize that there will be no increase
by our subcommittee in the Federal
contribution. Therefore, any in
crease in appropriations must be
paid for by themselves in taxes.”
Members of both subcommittees
pledged themselves to investigate
conditions at the institutions, con
vinced that the time Mrs. Roosevelt
has given to visiting the institutions
and testifying before the committee
investigating welfare needs has given
more than ordinary merit to pro
posals for improving conditions at
the institutions.
Several Senators declared them
selves in favor of more local control
of District affairs, through local
suffrage and national representation.
Most of the Congressmen polled
showed interest in the present in
vestigation of the institutions criti
cized by Mrs. Roosevelt and prom
ised to “do what is right” to improve
conditions.
The Public Health Subcommittee
of the House District Committee,
which has been investigating condi
tions at the Institutions, meanwhile,
will hold its next meeting Tuesday
at 10:30 a m., calling as witnesses
three inmates of the Home for the
Aged and Infirm as well as Frank
(Continued on Page A-4, Column 5.)
Vandenberg Urges
'Quarantine of
Third Termites'
New Deal Is Assailed
In Series of Speeches
By G. 0. P. Leaders
Next November the American
people will demonstrate that they
are “tired of life on a flying
trapeze,” Senator Arthur H. Van
denberg, frequently mentioned as a
candidate for the Republican Pres
idential nomination, last night told
a St. Paul, Minn., Republican rally
celebrating Lincoln's birthday.
* Americans, the Senator asserted,
are “tired of experiments that never
end and patent medicines that never
cure. They are tired of bureaucrats,
boondogglers, barnacles, brain trusts,
ballyhoo and bankruptcy. An
eloquent and decisive majority —
composed of Republicans and Jef
fersonian Democrats alike—will re
pudiate the repudiators of the
American system.”
He proposed “quarantine of the
third termites" as part of a pro
gram of national recovery.
Senator Vandenberg said he did
not recommend that the New Deal
be scrapped in its entirity, “be
cause there is no way to retrieve
the eggs after you have made an
omelette.”
Formula Offered.
“We do not weaken our indict
ment against the New Deal by find
ing spots of good in it,” he con
tinued. “Oh the contrary, we
strengthen our indictment by dis
playing a sense of discrimina
tion and good faith * * *. We must
scrap the bad, improve the good,
live by the Constitution, quit reck
less innovation, make Government
solvent, give legitimate American
free enterprise a sustained chance,
restore a maximum of home rule in
States and local communities * • •
and go forward in one consistent
and dependable direction alt the
time."
inner itepuDucan leaaers, in a
prelude to the 1940 campaigning,
denounced the New Deal in Nation
wide speech-making last night.
In Louisville, Senator Austin, Re
publican, of Vermont, assistant
minority leader, tfeclared that Su
preme Court decisions had applied
brakes on the New Deal. But he
added: ~
“They do not stop the building up
by the New Deal of new instruments
of public power which the President
has said might, in the hands of
others, place shackles upon the
liberties of the people. What? Is it
Inevitable that we have a third term
(Bea VinbBtBBtO. Page A-4.)
%
Death Toll Reaches
22 Known Dead in
Georgia Storm
Nearly 500 Injured
And Property Damage
May Total $9,000,000
(Pictures on page A-7.)
Bt the Associated Press.
ALBANY, Ga„ Feb. 10.—Striking
through soft, pre-dawn warmth, a
tornado careened savagely across
Albany today, killing 22 or more,
injuring nearly 500 and smashing
property worth $5,000,000 to $9,000.
000.
Sheriff Fort Tarver of Dougherty
County places the death toll at 23
late tonight after a chefck of hos
pitals and mortuaries. National
Guardsmen and State police troop
ers continued to search the debris
for additional bodies.
Rumbling in just after 4 o'clock
the vicious, corkscrew wind started
its mile-long furrow among old
homes four blocks southwest of the
downtown area, smashing dozens of
these residences, killing a young
white woman and hurting scores.
Then the storm lifted the center
of its fury a little and boomed on
Into the business section centered
around the 37-year-old Dougherty
County Courthouse. Here it ripped
roofs from building after building,
battered in windows and doors by
the hundreds and ripped away al
most the entire top floor of the St.
Nicholas Hotel.
Finally, it dropped heavily into a
Negro residential section along the
muddy Flint River and mowed *a
death-pocked path through flimsy
houses before it moved on into sul
len, rainy skies to the north and
east, leaving a swath of destruction
roughly 15 blocks long and 4 wide.
The hour of the storm’s arrival
(Continued on Page A-4, Column 1.)
Pelley Is Held Here
Under $10,CJBond;
Fights Extradition
Says He Has Plenty of
Money to Resist Removal
To North Carolina
BACKGROUND—
William Dudley Pelley, Silver
Shirts leader, appeared unex
pectedly before Dies Committee
Tuesday to deny charges of "col
lusion" between Chairman Dies
and himself. He had been sought
for many months to testify on
committee charges that his or
ganization is one of largest
Fascist groups in United States.
William Dudley Pelley, Silver
Shirt leader, arrested as a fugitive
from justice yesterday afternoon as
he finished testifying before the
Dies Committee, is being held at No.
| 1 precinct today under $10,000 bond,
pending a removal hearing tomorrow
| in Police Court.
He announced that he would fight
1 extradition proceedings by North
I Carolina authorities, and that he
| had “all the money in the world to
1 fight this case.” He displayed a
I certified check for $10,000, made out
' to Floyd Hatfield, one of his at
torneys, by a New York City bank.
Pelley declined, however, to allow
reporters to see the signature on the
check.
"Friends who believe as I do” fur
nished the funds, the Silver Shirt
leader explained.
Probation Violations Charged.
R. R. Williams, who said he was
appointed by Judge Zeb B. Nettles
of Asheville. N. C„ as a special pros
ecutor of Pelley’s case there, said
Pelley is wanted in North Carolina
for alleged violations of probation
imposed after a conviction in 1935
or a count of violating the blue sky
laws and on another count of false
representation. Mr. Williams added
that Pelley was fined $1,000 and paid
about $1,000 more in court casts, and
that judgment was suspended for
five years, enabling the court to im
pose sentence at any time deemed
advisable during that period. Judge
Nettles issued a capias order for
Pellev's arreste last October.
Pelley, whase arrest in the com
mittee room created a sensation at
the hearing, told reporters: “I know
of no outstanding indictment or
judgment against me since the
prayer for judgment in 1935. I have
committed no crime and have gone
(Continued on Page A-5, Col. 1.) '
Tyrone Power's Butler
Arrested as Ex-Convict
By the Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10.—Tyrone
Power's butler was arrested today
and the film actor said he was
“astonished” to hear officers had
identified the man as an ex-convict.
The butler, John Smith. 33, w\s
charged with making a false repoi’
to police and with failure to report
to authorities as an ex-convict.
Power said Smith had worked
for him a year and had been a good
butler.
Smith was accused of telling po
lice that a recent sounding of the
burglar alarm at the actor’s resi
dence was accidental. Officers said
they learned that Smith and two
sailor friends looking about the place
had set off the alarm.
Death and Taxes
DANVILLE, Pa., Feb. 10 </P).—
William Yeager was threatened with
suit today unless he pays $525 in
school taxes by March 6—but that’s
the least of his worries. He’s sched
uled to be executed February 28 for
the slaying of State Trooper John
E. Fessler.
Mrs. Roosevelt Helps Find Beds
For 480 Youth Delegates
By the Auoclated Pregi.
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt sat at
a telephone for two hours late yes
terday and canvassed the Federal
Government from top to bottom to
And beds for 430 delegates to the
American Youth Congress who had
no place to sleep.
Beginning with the President him
self, she called the District govern
ment,' the W. P. A. and even the
Army. 8he got 300 room* in hotels
at |l apiece, free W. P. A. beds for
30 girls at the Industrial Hama and
A
cots for 150 boys at the Army riding
ring at Fort Myer, plus transporta
tion in Army trucks. Forty of the
hotel beds were in the 8horeham.
Mrs. Roosevelt even dialed tele
phone numbers for Commissioner
George Allen, who was assisting her,
and he delightedly told every one
Mrs. Roosevelt was acting as his sec
retary.
Mrs. Roosevelt also obtained a
showing of the new John Steinbeck
movie, “The Grapes of Wrath,” for
two audiences of the congress dele
gates. |
Farley to Enter
Primary in
Massachusetts
State Party Chief
Thinks President
Approves Move
By the Associated Press.
BOSTON, Peb. 10—A letter from
Postmaster General James A. Par
ley authorizing State Democratic
Chairman William H. Burlce, jr„ to
file a slate of delegates pledged to
support Mr. Parley for the Demo
cratic presidential nomination was
made public tonight by Mr. Burke.
In a statement issued with the
letter, Mr. Burke said:
“I personally have no direct
knowledge of the intentions of
President Roosevelt, but I believe
that Mr. Parley’s procedure in
agreeing to engage in a contest for
the Massachusetts delegates has the
approval of the President.”
Farley's Letter.
The Parley letter, as made public
by Mr. Burke, read:
“Dear Bill:
“Your letter of February 7 has
been received and its contents
noted.
“The Democrats of Massachusetts
who speak through you as State
chairman do me a great honor, and
I would not be human if I did not
say to you that I appreciate the
compliment.
“Consider this letter your author
ity, or power of attorney, to file
delegates pledged to my candidacy.
“JAMES A. PARLEY.”
Mr. Burke's statement said he was
convinced that Massachusetts Dem
ocrats “are overwhelmingly in favor
of a third term for Mr. Roosevelt,
but that lacking the opportunity to
support him in such a venture, they
are willing to be committed to the
support of Mr. Farley.”
Precedent Cited.
Mr. Burke said there was prece
dent for his lining up a Parley slate.
“Eight years ago our State com
mittee chairman selected a slate of
delegates to run as pledged candi
dates in behalf of Alfred E. Smith
in the primary,” he explained.
“I cite this precedent merely to
justify what otherwise might appear
to be an intrusion by the State
committee into a primary contes;.
“If there are objections to my
procedure, I predict that it will be
completely justified by the enormous
vote that will be cast in the April 30
election for delegates pledged to
vote for Mr. Farley.”
Farley Entry in Primary
Hailed by Garner Forces
By the Associated Press.
The entry of James A. Farley into
Massachusetts’ Democratic primary
brought expression of gratification
last night from forces of Vice Presi
dent Gamer.
They were disappointed, however,
that Mr. Farley did not say outright
he would be a candidate for the
Democratic presidential nomina -
tion even if Mr. Roosevelt sought a
third term.
Political Washington was puzzled
as to the meaning of Mr. Farley s
action as far as the general Demo
cratic picture was concerned.
Questions obviously presented
were whether it meant that Mr.
Farley was lining up against a
third term, whether it should be
accepted as meaning that the
President had thrown open the field
and would not run again, or that
Mr. Farley merely had decided to
permit his name to be entered in
Massachusetts and await develop
ments.
Active Candidacy Urged.
Mr. Gamer's friends reported he
had been urging Mr. Farley to come
out actively as a candidate for the
Democratic nomination, believing
this would help “smoke out’’ the
President. They added that the Vice
President also had suggested that
Senator Burton K. Wheeler had de
clined to commit himself.
Mr. Farley, who managed Mr.
Roosevelt's nomination campaign
in 1932, long has been regarded as a
loyal supporter of “the Chief."
One member of Congress, in close
touch with the Postmaster General,
analyzed the situation thus:
“Only time can tell what Jim
will do. He should round up all the
delegates he can, because he will
have something to say (at the
Democratic convention) even if he
isn't a candidate himself.”
Politicians waited expectantly for
President Roosevelt's reaction to
the Farley candidacy in Massachu
setts. but most assumed that he
would have little, if anything, to say.
Compliments Exchanged.
Those who wondered whether Mr.
Parley was chiefly “playing ball"
with Mr. Garner remembered that
Mr. Parley praised Mr. Gamer at
the weekly meeting of the Demo
cratic National Committee, and that
the Vice President responded with
compliments to the Democratic
chairman.
Associates said Mr. Gamer’s main
intention was to force Mr. Roose
velt’s hand on the third-term ques
tion. They added that Mr. Parley's
entry into Massachusetts had help«i
bring the issue to a head.
As Postmaster General and Dem
ocratic chairman, Mr. Parley con
sistently has gone along with Roose
velt political policy. He recently
favored Chicago as the site of the
1940 convention after word spread
that Mr. Roosevelt wanted the dem
ocrats to go there.
Representative Plaherty, Demo
crat, of Massachusetts said last
night he was convinced that Massa-'
chusetts would support President
Roosevelt for a third term, but that
if he chose not to run the State’s
Democrats would favor the candi
dacy of Mr. Parley.
“We know Mr. Roosevelt can
carry Massachusetts if he runs and
that If he doesn't run, Mr. Farley
can cany it.” Mr. Flaherty said.
At