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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1926)
m The Monitor hi tfl r+ ® NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS % THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor. $2.00 a Year—5 \ nts a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 8, 1926_Vol. XII.—No. 15 Whole Number 585 OIL MAKES FORMER SLAVE RICH THE NEGROES PLIGHT IN FLORIDA’S GREAT DISASTER Ily Mary Mcla*od Itethune Daytona, Fla.—Having just returned from the storm-swept area of Florida, and naving received numerous tele grams of inquiry as to the true condi tion.- existing there, especially as they pertain to our group, I hereby give forth the following information: Morehaven Morehaven’s condition indescribable. Two-thirds of its inhabitants destroy ed. Dead bodies beyond recognition. The remaining inhabitants forced to evacuate town. Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale heavily hit. Ne gro's condition here serious. Home ess, foodless, swollen faces, lame limbs for rheumatism brought on by exposure. Homes surrounded by wa ter. Miami Miami’s Negroes very fortunate as to death toll. Hard hit as to proper ty. Only one Negro’s death reported. Storrn swept around Negro section. Almost all churches destroyed. In all the history of my life I have never witnessed such destruction and such sorrow. When I got into Fort J-auderdale, it seemed that little town had been swept away. Numbers of men, women and children were still huddles! in their little cabins and huts, in ponds of water. Their faces were swollen from exposure, and many of them were lame, huving con tracted rheumatism. There were mothers refusing to Dave their little homes with their children, because they have no place in which to house themselves and were trying to find dry places on planks and fragments of house tops—white people and Ne gro people alike. The heroic spirit of readjustment, patience and resignation with which they are accepting conditions was a revelation and a benediction to me. I found that food, clothing and med ical care, as far as possible, were being supplied from the relief or ganisations. The Negro people were receiving the same kind of help that the white people were receiving. We need strong, capable committees of Negroes to work with the committees o| whites, hut they are rapidly being formed. Particularly in Fort Laud erdale do we need nurses, provided with rubber boots, who can plunge through the water to reach these suf ferers. Hundreds of the refugees are be ing provided with tickets by the rail road officials and general authoritie. to any part of the country where they j have friends or relatives, until con- ; ditions .ire better. \ lent to lakr rarf of llie fryer caftHf* has been erected at Fort Lauderdale. We brought hundreds of Negroes from • Hollywood. Fort I.auderdale and smaller towns along the coast, having lieen pro tided with tickets, foot! clothing, enroutr to other sections of Florida, Georgia and the Carol inas, anil wherever they could find homes with relatives or friends. The organization for the handling of sufferers in Miami ia very good. The American l egion is dealing with all race* alike There it a general supply station for whitest, and a general supply station lor Negroes. The one for Negroes in Miami is well organized under the leader ship of Capt. Scott, (colored). Mr*. Rosa Brown, colored, is a graduate Red Cross nurse, sent down from Jacksonville tiy the Peoples' Industrial Insurance company, with all her eipenses paid, is doing splrn did work there, with the assistance of nth er volunteer nurse*. Working with them are the club women, (lurch organizations and civic organizations. We found Dr. Kershaw and the other piiysicians of Miami well lined up and giving all aid j h to the Negro group that was necessary. Mr. Vanderhomt.v Manager of the Peoples' Industrial Insurance company, has spent all of the week in this derailed area, giv ing valuable service in the work of car iag for the refugees. Rev. Frans and the other minister* of the city are doing all they possibly can in this work. The grounds of the church Rev. Evan* pas tured, and the remains of the church, are beaag used as headquarters for a relief station for Negro people. Mr. W. M. Mitchell, supervisor of the Peoples’ In dustrial Insurance company is rendering most valuable service in co-operation with the city authorities in seeing that workers are not overpaid and all volunteer service possible rendered. I he heroic way in which these people are co-operating with the authorities of the cities in clearing up and relieving those who are worse off than themselves, is commendable. God has been wonderfully good to the Negro people of Miami, in the sparing of their lives The death toll in Miami for Negroes, as far as we have been able to learn, is one. We cannot make such a statement, however, concerning Fort I^aml erdale, Winter Haven, Morehaven. Liberty City and other smaller towns. In the congested sections, where the little three-room cottages are almost jam med together and where the poorest classes of people reside. God wonderfully blessed them. I think the most pitiable conditions that I have seen Negroes in. is in Fort ILauder dale. The conditions at Morehaven are indescribable. Two-thirds of the inhab itants went under, and those who were left have been forced to evacuate. AH of our churches were almost totally i demolished in Miami. 1 cannot describe the destruction. I can only say a great j storm passed our way. We are putting , forth every effort possible in raising funds, j We held two meetings in West Palm Beach ! for this purpose. The club women and civic organizations are working night and day. Belief stations are !>eing placed at every station along the coast to give med ical attention and such assistance as the refugees will need. We are sad and sorrowful, hut not discouraged. Our God is able to lift the cloud from us. Our group is working hand in hand with the I Beil Cross. May the appeal to our friends ; everywhere to SEND MONEY TO FLOR IDA l>e answered. MONEY is what is needed. We are not asking for separate contributions for our people, hut for con tributions for the people of Florida. I wish that all moneys sent by Negroes and Negro organizations be so designated. so that when the final report is made, it will lx* seen that we. Negroes, are trying to shoulder our share of the responsibility. SEND AM. MONEYS TO THE HED CROSS At present the Bed Cross headquarters at Jacksonville is receiving station for the fund. There is some talk of having it changed to Palm Bcarli. Iii case you are confused, all moneys sent me will he for warded to the proper destination. HOUSTON (TEXAS) N. A. A. C. I*. WINS FIGHT FREEING CONDEMNED NEGRO Luther Colliiu, in Jail Five Yearn, Now Free and Hack at Work. After five years of unremitting ef fort, the Houston (Texas) branch of the N. A. A. C. P. has won a spectacu lar fight resulting in the liberation of Luther Collins, a colored man who was successively sentenced to death and then to 99 years in prisin, and has spent in all five years in jail. Mr. Collins was convicted and sen tenced on the testimony of a white woman of ill repute, and the contra dictions in the testimony she gave, together with evidence of Mr. Collins’ good character, made it evident he was innocent of the assault charged. The Houston N. A. A. C. P. not only raised $2,000 to carry the case through the Texas courts on repeated appeals, but interested prominent white peo ple in the case. Financial aid offered by the national office of the N. A. A. C. I’., was refused by the Houston branch which declared it could and would finance the case itself. Recently Luther Collins’ 99-year sentence was reversed and the district attorney of Fort Bend county, Texas, gave the Collins attorney authority to try the case in any county he wished. The attorney promptly names! Washington county, where the attor ney had practiced law for 25 years. The bond was at once reduced from $7,500 to $2,500 and Collins was re leased under bond in March of this year. Bond was signed by four of EDITORIAL rPHE election is less than a month distant. The political cam ! paign is on full swing. In order that there may be no doubt as I to The Monitor’s position we desire to make it plain, right here ! at the outset, where we stand with reference to certain candidates. And first, let it be distinctly understood that The Monitor1 subscribes to the principles of the Republican party and conse quently is generally favorable to and supports the candidates of that party when we believe them to be the l ight kind of men— whom we believe will best serve the interests of all classes of citizens, irrespective of race, creed or color. In other words we are not chained to the party badge or label. In municipal, county and state pollitics we are for men, rather than parties. As a i republican we prefer to give preference to republican candidates, provided that we believe them to be fair-minded and square and not unfriendly to our people. We hope we have made it plain that while we are republican we are not chained to every candidate whom the party calls upon us to support. With two or three exceptions, The Monitor expects to support the nominees of the Republican party. The two exceptions which we wish to state at this time are the candidates for Sheriff of Douglas County and the County Treasurer. We are for John Hop kins, the democratic nominee, for sheriff and Otto J. Bauman, democratic nominee for county treasurer. We are for John Hop kins because we know that he is not a member of the Ku Klux Klan and is a high-class, broad-minded Christian gentleman, who has made good in the public office which he now holds and in which he has been fair and square with our people, as with all classes. His opponent on the republican ticket, Charles B. Mc Donald, is a young man whom we like personally and have known from his boyhood, but the persistant and insistent charge that he is a member of the Klan—which charge, so far as we have been able to learn, Mr. McDonald has never publicly denied—disquali fies him, so far as we are concerned, for this important position. It was for this reason that we did not support Mr. McDonald at the primaries and it is for this reason that we cannot consistently support him now. We are rather surprised that many who were most loud in their denunciation of him as a member of the Klan, prior to the primaries, are now so humbly “eating crow” and vociferously urg ing his election. Some of our people loyally supported Mr. McDonald before and at the primaries, which, of course, they had a perfect right to do and they are to be respected er.d commended for their loyalty to their convictions. They, of course, are consistent in supporting him now. The same cannot be said of those who were so loud in their denunciation and condemnation of him and of his support ers at that time and who are loudly beating the tom-tom for him now. If it were such an awful, unwise, dangerous and traitorous thing to vote for Charles McDonald at the primaries by those who asserted that they positively knew him to lie a Klansman, how can they who professed to have this exact knowledge then sup port him now-? The Monitor made no such charge. Others did. We had our suspicions then, and we frankly admit we have them still. Therefore, we are for John Hopkins, whom we positively know is not a Klansman and whom we believe will make a fail-, faithful and impartial law' enforcement officer. Otto J. Bauman, present county treasurer, has made an ex cellent record for efficient and faithful discharge of the duties of his office. Moreover, he has been absolutely on the square with our people appointing Orlo South as a clerk in his office. Mr. j Bauman, in this merited recognition of our young men, has kept faith with our people, why then should we not keep faith with j him and show our appreciation? One good turn deserves another< and one good term deserves another. Fulfillment beats promise a thousand leagues. Otto Bauman has made good as a public of-! cal and has dealt fairly with our people. These are our reasons j for supporting him. HELP FLORIDA When Mary McLeod Bethune speaks, colored America listens and willingly and cheerfully answers. She has visited the storm stricken section of Florida and reports the conditions she found there, particularly as they apply to our group. Her story is told elsewhere in this issue. We are sure that it will l>e read with interest and sympathy and will awaken a desire in the hearts of many of our readers to contribute towards the relief of the suffer ing and privation which Mi s. Bethune describes. We hope that our race in Omaha will contribute generously to the fund which the Red Cross is striving to raise and which will be impartially administered according to the needs of tne afflicted. Being far distant from the scene there is danger that wre do not appreciate the need for help. I,et us think now' only of Florida’s need and suffering and cheerfully help as Mrs. Bethune suggests. The Monitor will glodly acknowledge contributions, publish the names of contributors and forward whatever is given to the Red Cross. Who will be first to give? Much or little will lie appreciated. the most prominent white and four of the most prominent colored men of the city of Houston, one of the white men being secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, two of them batikers and the fourth a prominent merchant. After a number of consultations be tween the district attorney of Wash ington county, the judge and the de fense attorneys, the district attorney moved that the case be dismissed. Collins was freed early in September and is now working at the job he held before his arrest. Had it not been for the fight made by the Houston N. A. A. C. P., Luther Collins would long since have been dead, as he had no friends to inter cede for him and the public took it for granted he was guilty. Texarkaga, Tex. I By the Associated Negro Preset The Negro woman whom police had been looking for in connection with attempts to burn the homo of James Hooper, turned out to l»e a fifeen-year old white girl, Mary Swanger, daughter of I,. E. Swanger. She was caught in the act. When questioned, the girl confessed that Hoo|>er had pul her up to it, by prom ising that if ahr would destroy the house by fire, he would leave his wife, collect the insurance, and then go away and build a “love nest” for himself and Mary. She also was quoted hy the officers as acknowledging that her father had had improper relations with her for months and had several times “sold” her to other men. Swanker's wife is dead and his daugther has been keeping house for him. Both men are being held. METHODIST MINISTER MEMBER OF RUN RESIGNS, HITS BACK i Rev. Edgar Merrill Brown, Pastor of Dietz Memorial Church, No linger Subject of the Invisible Empire. SAYS OBJECTED TO DICTATION Became “Naturalized” or Joined Or- ! ganization as a Civic Improve ment Body. Rev. Edgar Merrill Brown, for eight years pastor of Dietz Memorial Meth odist church, Tenth and Worthington Place, who admits to a long-standing membership in the organization, has divorced himself or been suspended from the local klavern. According to a statement issued by the erstwhile reverend “subject” of the Invisible Empire, he was influ enced to bcome “naturalized,” the klan term for official attacment to the “Empire”—because of his well-knuwn zeal for civic righteousness, and lie cause the organization was represent ed to him as a civic improvement liody. The Rev. Mr. Brown, it seems, has not measured up to the requirements of servility demanded by the oath of allegiance given to the hooded order and resented dictation as to what he should preach and with whom he should associate. His statement in part follows: “I became a member of the old klan organizatons some years ago before the present organizer came to Omahn, and joind it as a civic improvement body. Those who are familiar with my record in this city know that I have always been an ardent advocate of civic righteousness and was influ enced by a personal friend to become affiliateil with the klan for that pur pose. This friend after unjust humili ation, severed his connection with that body and has refused to have any thing to do with it since that time. “Unscrupulous Leadership.” “The purposes of the old klan were defeated by the unscrupulous leader ship. The old organization was taken over by the reorganized klan under the leadership of a man named Fred Cook. As a member of the old organ ization, I automatically became a member of the new without admission fee. I attended the meetings with more or less irregularity, and as a close observer of all proceedings soon ' discovered that the klan was despot ically ruled, and by no means impar tial in its official administration. Mr. Cook frequently chastized me for not being more enthusiastic in my efforts, publicly criticized me in klan meetings seeking to hurt my influence and my church among the klan members, and later tried to force me to subscribe to his program. “I will allow no man within or with out my church to dictate to me what my message as a minister of the gos pel shall be. I had rather surrender my credentials as a minister who is called to preach under commission of the church and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. “This sort of coercion is undemo- j cratic, un-Christian and unAmerican. , I have many friends among the Cath olics, Jews and Negroes and other for eign groups in the city of Omaha and I refuse to surrender my relationship ! with them without just cause. “Consider Character of Doctor." “Mr. Cook also accused me of hav ing too many influential friends among the business, social and politi- i cal interests of the city, and informed me that I would have to sever my relationship with them if I remained a member of the organization. "On one occasion he attacked the character of a prominent doctor in ; Omaha who for many years has been I a loyal citizen of the city and state!. I defended this person and refused to concede that this statements were true. The indirect result was that I was asked to surrender my card which I was about to do. I do not care to be affiliated with any organ ization that assails the personal char acters of men and women or attempts to dictate the policies which they shall pursue or threatens to control and monopolize the political life of the city, state and nation for personal advancement and glory and is not above showing favoritism to certain individuals and groups who happen to be of their same narrow mind. “I am opposed to blacklisting and boycotting methods used by this or ganization across the country.” Seminole, Okla.—Another Oklahoma Indian tribe has set its feet on the trai followed by the Osages from pov erty to wealth. But in this instance, not only the remnants of a once proud tribe is win ning independence again, but also the descendants of those who 65 years ago were the red men’s slavs. The drilling of a series of oil gush ers in the center of what was former ly the Seminole nation and now is Seminole, county, Oklahoma, has re vealed that 90 per cent of the farm owners and tenants in the rich new field, are Seminole Indians, Negro freedmen and mixed blood—red and black. The discovery well was drilled on a little farm owned by Mose Janes, a Negro, son of a slave. Over night, Mose might have exchanged his com prone for caviar had he been so in clined, for his income jumped in that brief period from nothing to $200 a day. Mose, however, prefers the tra ditional humble fare of his fellows and may be found as before on the porch of his log cabin though the latter is partly screened from view by the two automobiles of rather more than medium price, by which his ac cession to wealth is demonstrated. Whites, too, have felt the magic touch. The biggest well yet brought in—a 6,000-barreler—is on a farm owned by Dr. W. E. Grissold, for a quarter of a century a physician among the Seminoles and Negroes of the vicinity. The old doctor is draw ing $1,000 a day in royalties. WANTED—BABIES Wife of Well-Known Minister Has Di rected Him to Advertise for Sev eral Baby Boys and Girls. Mrs. John Albert Williams, wife of the rector of the Episcopal church of St- Philip the Deacon and president of the Omaha branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has directed her hus band to advertise for several baby boys and girls. You, no doubt wonder what she wants with them. Well, she wants to give one of them $10 in gold, and another a $5 gold-piece and the third $2.50 as prizes. The executive committee of the N. A. A. C. P. has appointed Mrs. Wil liams, chairman of a committee of women to conduct a baby contest for the branch and help raise a fund that will make conditions better for the race. Babies all over the coun try are doing this. Raising funds to fight for justice. The Baby Contest will begin on Wednesday, October 20, and end Oc tober 28, covering a period of 40 days. Have you a baby whom you are sure will be a prize winner? Send the name of the child, its age, and name and address of parents with child’s picture from which a newspa per cut can be made, to Mrs. John Al bert Williams, 1119 North Twenty first street. Secure your voting cou pons, line up your workers and win a prize. The pictures of the contestants with their standing will be carried weekly in The Monitor. Any child from 4 years of age and under, may be entered in the N. A. A. C. P. Baby Contest. No coupons will be given out until October 20th, so all may have an even start, but names and photographs should be sent in at once. Fort Huachuca, Ariz.—Eighty men of the 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry, who have given a total of more than 2/100 ;years service to the United States were recently lined up before Senator Ralph Cameron of this state. The eighty men have an average of more than 25 years in the service.