Unloosing a barrage of protests against the exclusion of Communist candidates from the ballot in 13 states the recently formed Browder-Ford Club launched its campaign here in support of Earl A. Browder last night.
In a pamphlet entitled "Vote for Peace," which will be distributed throughout the College today, the Browder Ford Club announced that although they were not Communists, they were "forced to the conclusion that only by voting for the Communist candidates can the American people express their true sentiments on these issues."
Organized by Roger Wilcox '41, Dean Morse '41, and Joseph Stein SG.S.D., the Club maintains that "Communism is not an issue in the present election.
"Every vote for Browder and Ford will serve as an unequivocal warning to candidates of the major parties that we oppose all steps leading to war and fascism," the pamphlet says.
At the same time the Student Union, the Liberal Union, and Francis O. Matthiessen, associate professor of History and Literature, issued statements condemning the exclusion of the Communist candidates from the ballot in New York, and Harvard Teachers' Union Civil Liberties Committee released a protest letter which it has sent to President Roosevelt and Attorney General Jackson.
According to Professor Matthiessen, "The most dangerous drive against civil liberties this fall has centered on keeping minority parties off the ballots."
"In Massachusetts three parties, excluded by a technicality, were restored to the ballot only after the vigilant work of the local branch of the Civil Liberties Union. The tactics used in New York against the signers of the Petition of the Communist Party clearly indicate the worst kind of intimidation of the voters.
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