REX LEADER RESIGNS

ACCUSES PARTY OF CORRUPTION Degrelle's Unconvincing Reply
From Our Belgian Correspondent The decline of Rex popularity in Belgium among prominent Catholics was strikingly manifested this week in the resignation from the Party of M. Hubert d'Ydewalle who at the same time has made such an outspoken criticism of Rexism that the leader, Leon Degrelle, threatens to take the matter to Court.
M. d'Ydewalle was a member of the political council of Rex and editor of the Rexist daily, Le Pays Reel. He has known Degrelle since their student days at Louvain University and was a joint founder of Rex.
His letter of resignation is explicit and instructive. To give fuller public effect of his resignation, M. d'Ydewalle had it published in the columns of the Catholic, La Libre Belgique.
Certain members are accused of belonging to the Party for personal gain and M. d'Ydewalle declares that there has been a scheme afoot for systematic defiance of the Hierarchy.
Under Certain Influences
"The Rexist Movement today," states M. d'Ydewalle, " is entirely under the influence of certain personages who offer no guarantee from the moral or political view-point, and whose shady activities are far removed from the ideal which won so many enthusi
astic and disinterested adherents. I will leave to these men and to those who tolerate them the full responsibility of the trickery criminal trickery, yet how remunerative for them!—of which they have rendered themselves guilty towards all the men of good faith who continue to place their trust in Rex.
" When the Archbishop intervened (in the elections) on April 9, 1937, I was one of those who most ardently desired and sought for a loyal appeasement of the difficulties that had arisen with the religious authority.
" But within the inmost circle of Rex our efforts were obstructed by the ill will of some, who, for reasons not easy to define, were desirous that the misunderstanding should continue, or by the opposition of others—amongst the most influential — who had resolved to observe an attitude of defiance towards the Hierarchy.
" It today appears that there exists among the leaders of Rex a fiercely hostile majority to any attempt of sincere reconciliation with the religious authority and who therefore attach a very small price to peace of conscience."
M. d'Ydewalle stated that he can furnish proof for every accusation he has made against Rex.
Degrelle's Reply
M. Degrelle on Monday replied to M.
d'Ydewalle's attack. Who is the adversary of a sincere reconciliation with the religious authorities?" he wrote in his paper Le Pays Red. " Give me one single name and not merely a majority."
The Resist leader calls the affair a "diabolical plot " with the, object of breaking down the bridge between Rex and the Hierarchy in the person of the Archbishop of Malines (Cardinal van Roey), Whether Degrelle is merely putting up a wordy bluff remains to be seen. The issue should be made clear if the whole matter goes to the Law Courts. The allegation that M. d'Ydewalle has simply been inveigled into crossing over to the Christian Democratic Party, Rex's most bitter enemy, is widely believed to be untrue, and merely Degrelle's last fling in a losing dice game.
Earlier on in the dispute Degrelle said: "I alone bear the responsibility of speaking for Rex in this conflict. Someday it will become known how far I have gone, and with what patience I have acted for the last two months in the pursuit of peace which is the most ardent desire of our hearts."