Hal Draper


War Referendum Campaign Notes

Street Meetings, Tag Days Planned –
Members Recruited

(18 August 1939)


From Socialist Appeal, Vol. III No. 59, 18 August 1939, pp. 1 & 3.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.


ST. PAUL ... sends in $45 on the Anti-War Fund and Comrade Dorothy Schultz writes:

“The branch is planning a series of weekly street corner meetings, starting August 16. Since there has been practically none of this type of activity by any party in St. Paul in recent years, this is frankly an experiment. We shall report on our experience ... Weekly tag days to get petition signatures end sell pamphlets are planned. A joint picnic with Minneapolis is scheduled for August 26 to help raise money for the Anti-War Fund.”

CLEVELAND ... held an outdoor meeting in the Public Square on August 7 with 150 in attendance. Good reception to anti-war speakers and hearty response to referendum issue ... Will hold similar meeting in Square every Monday and every other Friday, plus a neighborhood meeting every Saturday night ... Have fulfilled Appeal bundle quota 250 percent, filled one-third of the petition quota, gained one new member.
 

Petitions Beach New People

FLINT ... writes again:

“The campaign is having a fine effect on the Flint branch. We have recruited three new members already, and that’s only the beginning ... To all who are pessimistic and discouraged, Flint is going to serve as a shot in the arm ... We find that through the petitions we are able to reach new contacts, and that the question of a War Referendum often affords us a good starting basis for talking to former Stalinist sympathizers.”

Comrade Geller orders 50 more petition sheets for a tag day and complains that “the petition quota for Flint is absurdly low.”

MINNEAPOLIS ... sends in $50 for its Anti-War Fund quota ... first outdoor meeting scheduled for August 11, several hundred leaflets distributed in immediate neighborhood ... Put up banner 3 by 60 feet across Marquette Avenue in front of headquarters with the slogan “Let the People Vote on War.” ... Orders 100 more petition blanks.

FITCHBURG ... sends in $2 as a deposit on its Fund quota. ...

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. ... will hold a picnic on August 13 to raise money for the campaign.

MANY BRANCHES have still not sent in their reports. In one week we shall start listing such delinquent branches. Take warning and act now!


Last updated on 10 March 2016