Providence Anti-War Ratty Draws 20,000 Despite Rain

(Special to the CRIMSON)

PROVIDENCE, R. L, April 18-P??? Yarrow sang "If I Had a Hammer," a small plane flew overhead towing a "YAF asks: Why Help Hanoi?" banner, and the spring antiwar offensive was launched by a rain-soaked crowd of 20,000 on the grounds of the state capitol here this afternoon.

What drew the national press here today, however, was not the first significant anti-war rally in 1971, but the presence of two Democratic Senators- Edmund F. Muskie of Maine and Birch Bayh of Indiana- who are seeking their party's presidential nomination and the right to oppose Richard M. Nixon in November 1972.

Might Be 'Interested'

For the moment, both Senators denied that they are candidates, though with a grin they said they might be "Interested." But as much as Muskie and Bayh tried to deny it, their presence transformed today's rally into a decidedly "political" affair.

"I hope it's not blasphemous for me to say that providence brought me to Rhode Island," Muskie told a group of state leaders before the rally, but it was obvious from the way he courted Providence mayor Joseph Doorley, Gov. Frank Licht, and Sen. Claiborne Pell that Rhode Island's presidential primary early in 1972 had more to do with his being here than any kind of divine intervention.

But Bayh, generally considered to be a long-shot candidate for the Democratic nomination, seemed unperturbed by the support Muskie appeared to be winning from Rhode Island's most powerful Democrats.

"My presence here," he told newsmen "is not designed to appeal to any group or to draw any particular group."

Both Senators took pains to impress the rally with their opposition to the war in Vietnam. They were generally well-received, though there was one "dump Muskie" sign as well as intermittent chants of "dump the whole bunch."

In his speech, Muskie referred to his earlier support for the war and admitted he had been mistaken.

"Nightmare"

The Maine Senator rejected the administration's claim that a "right-wing reaction" and a "nightmare of recrimination" will result from the setting of a fixed date for troop withdrawal.

"I tell you the real nightmare of recriminations will come if the war is perpetuated, if American and Vietnamese lives are thrown away long after compelling reason for their sacrifice has vanished," he said.

The rally was sponsored by Citizens for Alternatives Now (CAN), a bi-partisan coalition of Rhode Island labor leaders, businessmen, students and educators. Allard Lowenstein, the former New York Congressman who was one of the architects of the "dump Johnson" movement in 1968, was an advisor to the group.

Lowenstein hopes that today's rally was but the first in a series of "Dump Nixon" rallies across the country.