Yale University - Banner / Pot Pourri Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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Ni AEK' DW 4' 44 5 A W , 5 ',.. - i X 862 cs W If af' I i YX iifxx i tlnvw The best economic system for American: Ca, Uncontrolled free enterprise Cb, Gov't con- trol of monopoly plus individual ownership Ccj Gov't ownership of major industry Cdl Gov't ownership of entire economy. POLITICAL GROUPS The groups which were active in the political field on the Yale campus in March of l948 fall into three principle groups. QU The Veteranr Organizations. Strongest of these in point of numbers, is the dmericnn Veterans Committee, which has an active Yale chapter at- tracting some 675 of undergraduate veterans. AVC leadership in the past has been of a left-of-center character, many of its leaders also being active in the Labor Party of the Political Union. Its membership declares itself by a 9-l margin to be l'Liberal', or 'lLabor in its sympathies rather than Conserva- tive . The old-line American Legion draws 4.529 support. Its membership expressed itself by a 3 to 2 margin as Conservativel' over Liberal and there is only minuscule Ulaborn senti- ment. Of indeterminate character be- tween the two leaders are l'Amvetsl' and the Veterans of Foreign PVarr, each appealing to PZ, of veterans at Yale. CZD The Political Union Was orig- inally designed Hto serve as a training ground for men interested in develop- ing political techniques, and to arouse interest in political matters among un- dergraduates . Its three parties repre- sent a spectrum of student opinion, all of which hold caucases, issue plat- forms, participate in debates Coften with outside speakersj, and nominate candidates in the hotly contested battles for control of PU offices. The Liberal Party represents major- opinion in the University QSLVZQD and, in the spring of l9-l8, dominated the Union with some 90 regular members and control of the PU presidency. Tlze Conserfontifoe Party is the next strongest both in the University as a whole C4-ZWD and within the Union, having about 85 regular members. It speaks largely for the anti-New Deal, traditional policy reprinted on the na- tional scene by the Republicans and old-line Democrats . The Labor Party presents a stronger appearance within the Union, with some 25 regular members, than in the University where its adherants number only -VZ, of all undergraduates. Its leaders characterise it as Hpredomi-

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l'Republicanism', espoused was pre- dominantly of a left-wing, or 'fliberal variety. Uncontrolled free enterprise, for example, mustered only a scant 792 as 'fthe healthiest economic system for American, less, indeed, than did gov- ernment control of major industries CSZQD. Individually owned enter- prise plus government control of monopoly received the support of four out of Eve answers, while government control of the entire economy received only a dribble of 329. In the Held of labor legislation and tax policy, Yale undergraduates showed general approval of the Taft- Hartley policy and the Truman tax policy. Only lOC7O favored repeal of the-Taft-Hartley Act, while remaining opinion remained divided between leaving it as it is and amendment. In the latter category, however, were found many Q68'Z,j who favored greater restrictions on labor, so that the endorsement of the line of policy laid down by the Republicans in Con- gress is stronger than that indicated in sentiment concerning the bill itself. These views hinge on the expressed at- titude of 621, of those voting that labor unions today are too strong , while only 67, said- that unions were too- weak. Those contented with the status quo accounted for the remainder. Tax policy, however, is the one point on which the majority of Yale under- graduates differed widely from the policy esquosed by the Republican leadership in Congress. Only 2X5 of those voting favored reduction of in- come taxes at this time, while H70 actually favored raising taxes. Below is Eliot Roosevelt in a meeting at the Yale Daily News. 29

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:p - ,gtg-y,Q.,,g-J--.0--,j1', 1..-- lg.,-. E' ..:'. H . ,. .-. t-3 11- .:' fu nantly Anti-Wallace , and its platform has a strong 'lNew Deal flavor . Q35 Special Interest Groups. Most of the following groups are of rela- tively recent origin, and information on several is conflicting due to their highly controversial character. Read- ing from left to right: The American Youth for Demo- cracy. Articles by Fredrick Woltman of the New York World Telegram, in january, 1947, Cleading to a Pulitzer Prize in that yearj provide extensive documentation for the statement that AYD is not only Ha- Communist Front Groupw Cquote from J. Edgar Hooverj but the relabeling of the Young Communist League, Which was dissolved at a meeting in the Mecca Temple, New York City on October 16, 1943. The AYD was formed in the Mecca Temple on October 17, 1943, by the same delegates. While AYD once had nearly 17,000 members in 14 Most outstanding characteristic of the Yale political community was apathy. Leaders of the PU assemble for a Caucus.