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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1916)
The Monitor A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Eight Thousand Colored 1 | e In Omaha and Vicinity, and to the Good of the Community $ THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor \ ' .. .-... .. ' -- - —--- 'o $1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, Sept. 16, 1916 Vol. II. No. 1. ^ Vhole No. 64) . _ O --- Republican Nominee At Nashville, Tennessee ‘‘I Stand For the Maintenance of the Rights of All Citizens, Regardless of Race or Color.” —Charles E. Hughes. Nashville, Tenn.—Nearly two thous and Negroes gave Charles E. Hughes, the Republican nominee for president, an enthusiastic welcome and listened to a fifteen-minute speech by Mr. Hughes, at Hadley Park to Fisk Uni versity students and others Monday afternoon, Sept. 4, in which the speak er told his hearers that he was for a government that stood for equality in all things and for all people, irre spective of race or creed. Mr. Hughes avoided political issues, dwelling on American citizenship and lauding such great Americans as Ab raham Lincoln and Booker T. Wash ington. He was presented with a large offering of American Beauty roses, the gift of the colored school children of Nashville. The Fisk Jubilee Sing ers furnished the musical program. Mr. Hughes’ Address. Mr. Hughes spoke as follows: “Mr. Chairman, Fellow Citizens:— It is with the greatest pleasure that I come to this educational center. I re member as a boy listening to the me lodies of the jubilee singers. It has always been my desire to see Fisk University and become better ac quainted with the educational oppor tunities which are afforded in this favored place. As I recall the days to which I have just referred, when as a boy I listened to those distinguished makers of melody, I think of the tre mendous progress that has been achieved by the colored people of this land. To me it represents an extraor dinary advancement which carries with it the hope of a successful solu tion of many of our difficult problems. “I am told on very high authority that there are now one million colored farmers, with farm property of the value of one billion and a half dollars. I understand you have church prop erty of the value of seventy-five mil lions. You are represented in the var ious activities of life. I believe that you have some forty thousand school teachers, some twenty thousand clergymen, some five thousand doc tors, some fifteen hundred lawyers, and upwards of twenty-one thousand engaged in the real estate business. “I understand that you are conduct ing upwards of forty thousand places of business; that you have three hun dred and fifty newspapers and other publications. Considering the condi tions that existed little more than one half century ago, I submit that it is an extraordinary record of progress which should fill with pride every American heart. It holds the promise of the future. Believes in Negro Advancement. “You have schools of agriculture and of industry; opportunity for high er education. Now, in all this I most thoroughly believe. There is nothing that makes for the advancement of the colored people of this nation that I do not earnestly desire. I think that the lesson which must be learned by you, as by others, is the hard lesson of industry and perseverance in adapt ing yourselves to all the activities of life, and in becoming citizens of thrift and ability you become agents for the advancement in every practical direc tion in the communities in which you live. “Now, there is no easy road to suc cess in the attainment of what is worth while. From my earliest years, when I first began to read at the knees of my honored father, I have been working hard. I have never known an idle week. I have never known the time when the strain of burden was not upon me, when I was not trying to do a little more than seemed possible to be done, in the en deavor to realize the ideals which my father placed before me. There is no different law of attainment for the black than for the white. It is the work of study; it is the lesson of thrift; it is the lesson of industry; it is the lesson of good citizenship; it is the lesson of aptitude; it is the lesson of special knowledge and training. I want the colored people of this land, in every useful activity, to be adapted to it, to be fitted for their work, to progress by showing their aptitude, their training and their knowledge. I want them in every form of effort which is esential in our civilized com munity, by the perseverance of their application, by the thrift of their character, by their honesty and fidel ity, to be commended as they should be commended to the entire people of this country. “We have many, many difficulties. I believe it was that great leader, Booker T. Washington, whom I had the pleasure of knowing, who said that freedom was not a bequest—it was a conquest. There is a very great truth in that statement. It means this, as I understand it, that no one can confer upon another the blessings of free dom; they have got to be won by in dividual qualification. We need in our homes evidences of care and industry; | we need to have in every direction in which we apply our talent, efficiency. Wants An Honest Ballot “We want thrift and honesty; we want honesty with respect to the bal lot. I want an honest and a pure bal lot. We desire whenever there is a particular thing to be done, to prove that it can be done. All that you have to do, in my humble judgement, is to take advantage of each opportunity, and when there is a thing that you have to do, do it so well that yoa command the admiration of everyone who knows about it. That is the only rule that you can give a boy or a man ior .success in this world. It is not looking at the mountain top miles away, it is like looking at the next step, it is looking at the opportunity of today, it is look ing at the duty of tomorrow; it is always measuring like a man and like a woman to the task of the moment that builds character, that insures respect, that wins general esteem. Black men and women can do that They are doing wonderfully in these various avenues of progress to which I have referred. They are taking ad vantage of educational opportunities. I want to see those opportunities ex tended. I want to see them practical. Ir. is well that you have higher educa tional opportunities, but do not ne glect the things that lie close to you in connetcion with the every-day ne cessities of life. It is the little things that count in this world; the little things that make the community. It is what the man does with the time when he is not crowded by anybody that tells the story of what he makes of himself. It is how he employs his time, the way he disciplines him self that determines what he will ulti mately achieve. Men and women, we are together in a great co-operative enterprise in this land where every on must do his part. “I say to you that I stand, if I stand ! for anything, for equal and exact jus tice to all. I stand fo; the mainten i ance of the rights of all American cit izens regardles of race or color. The one word that I love above all others is the word ‘justice.” We want in this country what is right. “I am sure you do not wish particu lar things done because of color. You want what is right and fair. I desire to see such fair and decent and just treatment as will make you proud of your manhood and womanhood. “In connection with the work that I have spoken of, education—with re spect to the various activities of life, I give you the best of wishes. “I have frequently said there is no color line in good work. Do good work. Be thrifty; be honest. Never let anyone have the right to doubt your word. Be diligent. Watch every opportunity to improve your mind. Do every task thoroughly. Never slight anything because someone is not look ing. Be thorough, be honorable, and you will honor American citizenship.” Alleges Wife Has Negro Blood. Crawfordsville, Ind., Sept. 15.— Austin E. West, of Crawfordsville, a carpenter, has filed a suit for divorce from his wife, Juliet Osborne West, al WellKno Attorney Commits Suicide Silas Robbins, the First Colored Man Admitted to Practice in State Shoots Himself. VVAS TEMPORARILY DERANGED Hao Undergone Operation for Cancer on the Brain Which Only Checkeu Malady. The community was shocked Mon day by the news that Silas Robbins, the well known and highly respected attorney, had shot Siimself at his home 2883 Miami street, dying in stantly from a self-inflicted wound in the temple. Mr. Robbins some months ago un derwent an operation at St. Joseph’s hospital for cancer on the brain from which he erceived only temporary ielief The malignant growth con tinued and it was known that his case was hopeless. Still he maintained his usual cheerful disposition until Thursday of last week when he seein e.l to become somewhat gloomy and nioiose. Monday morning he got up and dressed as usual and came down stairs for breakfast. After berakfast he held a brief conversation with his son, Guy, who later left for his office, but missing his car, decided to return to the house and wait for the next one. In the meanwhile his father had gone up stairs. Soon after a shot was heard and Guy went up to the bath room and found Mr. Robbins seated in a chair with blood oozing from his temple. Dr. J. H. Hutten was summoned but lief was extinct. Silas Robbins was a native of Ohio, where he was born in 1859. He taught school in Ohio, Indiana and Missis sippi, where he was admitted to the bar. He came to Nebraska in 1889, being the first member of his race to be admitted to the bar in this state. He stood high in the estimation of all who knew him, among both races. He is survived by a widow, two sons, Guy and Clifford, one daughter, Freeda, Mrs. William Penn, all of Omaha, a stepson and other relatives. The funeral was held from the fam ily residence Thursday afternoon at two o’clock, the Rev. John Albert Wil liams officiating. Interment was in Forest Lawn cemetery. Jones and Chiles had charge of the funeral. The pall bearers were M. F. Single ton, Joseph Carr, James G. Jewell, Chas. G. Galloway, Alfred Jones and John Logan. There were many beautiful floral offerings, a notable one among many being a large pillow of roses given by several members of the local bar. leging that after nine years of mar ried life he has learned she is of more than one-eighth Negro blood. They were married in November, 1907. Wert alleges his wife deceived him. They have no children.
