General John V. Clinnin of Chicago, non-Jewish delegate to the national boycott conference and one of the speakers who paid tribute to Samuel Untermyer, declared to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, that he had consented to serve as a delegate because he was against intolerance “in any form by any group in any country.”
“Intolerance in Germany,” said General Clinnin, “is depriving the Jews of Germany of life, liberty and property and has established a national sacrifice in the person of the German Jews.
“It is proper for all liberty loving humanitarians in all countries of the world to show resentment against Hitlerism. International law does not permit interference with the state policies of another nation. Our only means of showing resentment is the boycott, an economic lesson to be brought home to the German government.”
General Clinnin commanded the 130th infantry in the World War, was chairman of the Illinois Boxing Commission, president of the National Boxing Commission and Deputy United States Attorney General. He is now practicing law in Chicago.
Before General Clinnin left to attend the national boycott conference he received a threat warning him not to go.
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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.
