Norman Thomas Talks at Second Peace Rally Slated for Thursday

Attacking the "pseudo-peace stand" and Communist affiliations of the Student Union, which is backing Thursday morning's Peace Rally, the Harvard Anti-War Committee yesterday announced a rival meeting for Thursday afternoon with Norman Thomas, Socialist Party chief, as the main speaker.

Both meetings will be held in Sanders Theatre--the Peace Rally at 11 o'clock and the Anti-War Strike at 2 o'clock.

The Anti-War Committee, a--group formed last September which now claims 65 members, mostly graduate students, precipitated a battle of words last night when it described the H.S.U.'s peace policy as "tied directly to the course of one of the partners in the present war, the Moscow-Berlin axis."

Rally Committee Counters

The Harvard Peace Rally Committee, which contains three H.S.U. members, promptly countered by accusing the rival group of making "political capital out of the question of peace."

The Anti-War Committee was challenged to drop its plans to bring Thomas here and to "demonstrate its sincerity by joining with the rest of Harvard in supporting our rally."

Headed by Milton Soffer 2G, the Anti-War Committee supports a peace program opposing "increasing militarization under the Roosevelt regime" and war propaganda, and calling for "a constitutional amendment to take the war-making powers out of the hands of Congress" and "united action and active cooperation with labor."

Charge Changed Position

In its statement the Anti-War Committee said, "The Anti-War Committee distinguishes itself from the Harvard Student Union which is presumably also carrying on anti-war activity. The American Student Union has distinguished itself in the past three years by carrying on an intensive activity in favor of collective security, a pro-war policy. Today we find them changed in position. To the students who have followed the course of the anti-war movement in America, it must be strikingly apparent that the new position of the A.S.U. corresponds too closely to that of the Communist Party to be thought coincidence.

"Those of us who have been active in the A.S.U. in the past know that the platform of the A.S.U. was directed and dictated by the Communist Party. . . . This alliance means that the Student Union does not follow an independent peace policy but is tied directly to the course of one of the partners in the present war, the Moscow-Berlin axis.

"For this reason the Harvard Anti-War Committee finds itself called on to expose the pseudo-peace stand of the A.S.U., and it calls all sincere members of the student anti-war movement to its own banner, the banner of the third camp of youth and labor."

"Political Capital"

In replying to the charges brought against it, the Peace Rally Committee said, "We regret deeply that a group of students at Harvard University should endeavor to make political capital out of the question of peace. We hoped that all Harvard could unite on April 18 in an expression of its determination to keep out of war.

"Our efforts have been based on the premise that peace is a precious possession today and not a political football. We have endeavored and are succeeding in rallying around our program the united support of a rapidly growing number of Harvard students. We regret that at this late date a group sees fit to attempt to divide this growing unity which is so essential to the fight for peace. We call upon this group to demonstrate its sincerity by joining with the rest of Harvard in supporting our rally.