1,000 Attend Peace Rallies; Hear Quill, Norman Thomas

Sanders Theatre echoed with the strains of peace Thursday as two organizations held anti-war rallies within its walls, one featuring Michael Quill, head of the Transport Workers' Union of the C. I. O., the other headlining Norman Thomas, candidate of the Socialist Party for President.

A thousand students, including a number from Radcliffe, were at the two rallies, with a few more than 500 listening to Thomas in the afternoon and almost as many attending the Quill meeting in the morning.

Brands British Imperialism

The Hibernian labor organizer, speaking on a program sponsored by the Harvard Peace Rally Committee, declaimed against the British imperialism which holds sway in India, South Africa, and Egypt as well as Ireland.

Terming the second World War a continuation of the first imperialist struggle, Quill branded as foolish any participation by the United States before the problem of our own 9,000,000 unemployed has been solved.

Thomas, who spoke under the auspices of the Harvard Anti-War Committee, gave the reasons for his belief that it would be disastrous for this country to enter the War.

Logical Arguments

In a purely logical argument with little appeal to the emotions, he predicted the probable results of participation by the United States in the struggle, pointing out that Japan would be likely to enter and that the United States could hardly hasten the end of the War.

Blasting Russia's aggression against Finland, Thomas explained that his refusal to speak on the same program with Quill was purely on the grounds of the labor leader's "tacit acceptance" of the Hitler-Stalin pact.

On other matters, he said, they might be in perfect agreement, but while that basic difference remained in their desire for peace, he did not want to speak on the same platform.

Olum, Hobbing Speak

Speaking on the same program as Quill were Paul Olum '40, First Marshal of Phi Beta Kappa, and Enno R. Hobbing '40. Both called for organization in the fight against war.

Herbert Robinson 3L of the Anti-War Committee and Hal Draper, member of the Fourth International and one of the founders of the American Student Union, accompanied Thomas on the platform. Robinson explained in detail the reasons why the Peace Rally Committee and the Anti-War Committee were holding separate meetings.

Draper compared the Peace Strike to the student demonstrations of 1934 when he was to college.