With a bitter battle on the Olympics issue expected to take place on the floor tomorrow, the Executive Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union met in closed session today to consider a resolution on the question as the critical convention at the Hotel Commodore entered its first day with committee meetings the order of business.
Inside the executive committee room, with forces known to be almost evenly divided, Jeremiah T. Mahoney, A.A.U. president, and Avery Brundage, chairman of the American Olympic Committee, disputed vigorously, the one trying to influence the committee to bring in an anti-Olympic resolution, and Brundage fighting to block such a move.
Whichever way the committee voted, it was expected a minority report would also be brought in and the issue placed squarely before the delegates.
Among the delegates, sharp battle lines were being drawn and a tense atmosphere prevailed at the Hotel as tomorrow’s battle neared. There is a good chance that the convention will continue into Monday.
An unofficial caucus made by a member of the American Olympic Committee, who asked to have his name withheld, showed that 90 of the 181 regular delegates oppose participation, and 52 favor it, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned. There are also 20 delegates from organizations affiliated with the A.A.U. who remain unaccounted for.
Petitions containing 500,000 names and resolutions from organizations numbering a total of 1,500,000 members were presented to the executive committee just before it began its closes session. The delegation presenting the petitions, which were brought to the hotel in a truck, include: The German-American League for Culture, the American Youth Congress, the Move-the-Olympics-Committee, the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, the Young Circle League, the Anti-Nazi Federation and the American League against War and Fascism.
With the A.A.U. convention in progress, the American Olympic Committee called a meeting for Sunday. It is reported that the committee is so short of funds that it is negotiating with the National Broadcasting Company and the Columbia Broadcasting System to obtain a commercial sponsor for a broadcast of the Olympic tryouts.
It was learned today that Daniel Ferris, secretary-treasurer of the A.A.U., has received a bulky package from the German Olympic Committee said to contain propaganda for participation. Mr. Ferris would not disclose the contents of the package.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
