Will Not Vote in AJC Elections

ready been offered by one or the other of the existing Jewish organizations.

2.—In regard to the situation in Germany, the American Jewish Congress has stressed the fight against Hitlerism as a purely Jewish issue. The Jewish Labor Committee consider the Jewish plight in Germany as only one angle of Fascism and are of the opinion that only by conducting our campaign as a part of a general labor campaign against Fascism, can we succeed.

3.—The slogan of democratic elections does not impress us much. First of all there is no possibility of a real democratic election under circumstances under which it is impossible to register and control the voters. Any small group bent on victory can get a large vote by means which are impossible in a regular political election. Besides, the American Jewish Congress has for several years now assumed to be speaking for the whole Jewish community without practically having been elected by anybody.

This makes it possible for some of us to think that the slogan of democratic elections is nothing but a political move on the part of some leaders of the Congress who feel that the Congress has been compromised and needs new sanction. That some aspects of the activities of the Congress are purely political and are motivated not by a desire to serve the Jewish people but by a desire to clinch leadership in Jewish life, is obvious to many impartial observers. The Jewish Labor Committee is composed of organizations managed along strictly democratic lines.

Please do not interpret the foregoing as an indication that the Jewish Labor Committee is unwilling to cooperate with other Jewish bodies. Just the contrary. We are more than ever convinced that in matters of real importance there should be cooperation between all Jewish agencies and for the ten months of our existence we have proven our willingness to cooperate and our desire to limit ourselves to the sphere of activity which we have originally undertaken, claiming to represent nobody else but our constituents.

Dr. Joshua L. Goldberg, national secretary of the American Jewish Congress, declared last night:

“Mr. Vladeck’s communication will have to be submitted to the administrative committee of the American Jewish Congress for considered action and reply.”

Referring to Mr. Vladeck’s comments, he said:

“The American Jewish Congress does not presume to impose a program of its own devising upon the American Jewish community. It proposes instead that every group of Jewish opinion in this country which is a part of Jewish life shall have a voice in deciding how these problems shall be solved. That is the underlying principle of the national democratic elections which will be held on April 28, 1935. The convention of delegates elected at this time will discuss and formulate the program which is to be followed.”