College Democrats Stir Dispute on Civil Rights

Delegates from the University's two Young Democratic clubs and other college and town groups touched off a heated controversy by their proposed platform provisions on civil rights at the organization's biennial state convention in Boston last Saturday.

Their proposals, which were voted down by narrow margins, included censure of State Senator John E. Powers and other Democrats for their civil rights records, abolition of the Massachusetts Commission on Communism, and an attack on Attorney General George Fingold's recent "censorship drive."

"It is pretty bad," argued Alexander J. Cella '51, leader of the minority and chairman of the platform committee, "when we cannot criticize the senior members of our own party like Powers and Boston Post editor John Fox, who are dragging us down to defeat."

This was said in answer to a charge by state chairman Coleman L. Bornstein that the proposed platform would only succeed in "parading our dirty wash before the public."

Gordon Martin, vice-president of the HYDC, told the convention that "The Republicans have had a better record than the Democrats in Massachusetts on civil liberties."

A solid front made up of HYDC, Law School, Wellesley College, Boston University, Framingham, and Springfield delegates provided six votes for the defeated proposals. But the opposition led by Bornstein put up seven votes even after some of the delegates had gone home.

The other provisions of the platforms were adopted unanimously by the convention. Martin said the platform remained a "strong one" even after the "civil liberties" section was deleted. These provisions included foreign policy, labor, civil rights, state government, small loans, and education.