With delegates from all over the country converging on New York City for the convention of the Amateur Athletic Union in the Hotel Commodore this weekend, battle lines began to be drawn on the Olympics participation issue.
An advance analysis shows that of the 211 delegates about 90 are committed to vote against participation and 60 intend to vote for participation. The votes of the 61 undecided delegates will swing the issue.
With the bitterness of the pre-convention controversy auguring one of the most hectic parleys the A.A.U. has had in years, plans were made to bar all but delegates and bonafide press representatives certified by the A.A.U. office.
Forces aligned on both sides of the question are deluging the A.A.U. delegates with propaganda urging them to vote the “right” way on the Olympics issue.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned definitely today that the keynote address of former Supreme Court Justice Jeremiah T. Mahoney, president of the A.A.U., will deal almost entirely with the Olympic issue. He will, in vigorous terms, demand that the convention, on the basis of the resolution adopted by the A.A.U.’s Pittsburgh parley in 1933 to withdraw if discrimination against Jewish athletes is shown, boycott the Berlin Olympics.
Pro-Olympics forces, it was learned, have decided on three plans of attack. First, they will drag in every parliamentary trick possible to block a vote on the issue. They will contend that the Pittsburgh resolution was satisfied by the pledges Hitler made that no discrimination would be practiced, and that, consequently, further discussion is out of order.
Failing in this — and it is thought they will fail — they will launch an offensive against Judge Mahoney, the leader of the anti-Olympic forces. They will attempt to oust him from the presidency and substitute Avery Brundage, former president of the A.A.U. who is now, chairman of the American Olympic Committee.
As a last resort, in the event the convention votes against participation, the A.O.C. will drop the A.A.U. overboard and accept the certification of colleges and of the Amateur Athletic Association, a predominantly collegiate body, for Olympic athletes.
This will mean that the team will be entirely composed of college athletes.
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.
