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Show Merry-Co-Round By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT 8. ALLEN (MHafi N.te Tk. WMtoa Mrrr-M-a Ih al-r4 al-r4 IteM tfc. Mt-wr,fM , toMM. mmmU, rMMM, rtl( ima KuMOTtlt m, tW vm nWn Imim. J.T tfc. VmttmU uit M tka bMl.l WASHINGTON When a well-known senator returned from his recent trip to the Pacific coast he told Senator Byrnes of South Carolina, Caro-lina, who is leading Roosevelt's fight to amend the neutrality act: "The big thing you've got to lick is the Catholic church." At the time the senator said this, he was probably right The pressure of the Catholic church was then far greater than the scattered scat-tered and much less effective lobby of some Protestant groups. Many members of the church hierarchy, dominated by Irish who hate England, Eng-land, were on their way to making of the neutrality embargo another fight similar to that against Loyalist Spain. Undoubtedly the attitude of the church had much to do with the stand of Senator Walsh of Massachusetts, and probably caused the backing and filling of Senator Lodge, who changed his mind on neutrality several times. In fact Catholic pressure, especially on the house of representatives, was so strong that it created much concern in the administration. Catholic' Lobby Despite the neutrality position of many high-placed high-placed Catholic leaders,' it remains a fact that the most violent of all the opposition to lifting the embargo comes from Father Coughlin and other groups within the church. The Sunday Visitor, a Catholic weekly sold at churches all over the country, recently published pub-lished a strong front page editorial and an article by Gertrude M. Coogan, formerly associated asso-ciated with Father Coughlin. Copies of this were sent to a large number of congressmen. In Cleveland, Archbishop Schrembs recently sent out a pastoral letter which was -read in all churches in the Cleveland archdiocese denouncing de-nouncing attempts to lift the embargo. In Brooklyn last week priests took a strong stand against Roosevelt on the embargo, and friends of Al Smith say that this had much to do with his sudden decision to deliver a radio broadcast supporting the president All members of congresa testify that far and away the strongest pressure against them, either Catholic or Proetstant is brought by Father Coughlin. About one-half of their neutrality neu-trality mail is from Coughlinites, while even more potent are the Coughlin delegations which have been storming Capitol Hill. Conghlia Threats When congress opened, delegations from New York (the Christian Front) and Massachusetts Massa-chusetts (the Paul Revere society) packed the halls in rowdy mood. As they entered the house office building to talk to New York congressmen, con-gressmen, one husky young delegate called out: "Don't smash the furniture, boys, we're going to take over this place soon." The Paul Revere society raised such a ruckus in the office of Representative Thomas A. Flaherty Fla-herty of Massachusetts, who voted to lift tha embargo last summer, that employes in adjoining adjoin-ing offices summoned the police. Led by a husky Joung bus driver who shook his finger under laherty'a nose, the Coughlinites demanded: "We want a yes-or-no answer, and no pussyfooting. pussy-footing. How are you going to vote on the embargo? We know how you stood last session and the people of your district don't like it You represent us, not yourself. Now how are you going to vote?" "Listen here," remonstrated Flaherty, Tm not going to be browbeaten by you or anybody any-body else. I'm representing the people . . ." But the bus driver began pounding the congressman's desk. "You can't get away with that" he yelled. "Tell us what you are going to do!" The argument continued at acme length with the atmosphere becoming so tense that women in the delegation got hysterical. Christian MebUisers Another ally of Coughlin that stormed Washington Wash-ington was the Christian Mobilizers, headed by Joseph McWilliams, probably the most violently violent-ly outspoken nazi in the country. His paper, The Christian Mobil lzer. has been flooding congress con-gress with editorials, claiming that "Roosevelt adventurers can't wait until they hear American blood gurgling into tha dust of Europe." "Those who try to drag us into war!" McWilliams McWil-liams declares; "Their blood will fill the gutters. And this is a threat; indeed it is a promise." McWilliams openly boasts of his association with Fritz Kuhn. the bund leader, in addressing address-ing bund and Christian Front meetings. Note The Coughlinites and affiliated groups have concentrated their pressure largely upon Catholic congressmen. Distributed by United Feature Syndicate, Inc. |