The monitor
A Weekly Newspaper devoted to the civic, social and religious interests
of the Colored People of Omaha and vicinity, with the desire to contribute
something to the general good and upbuilding of the community.
Published Every Saturday.
Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2, 1915, at the Post Office at
Omaha, Neb., under the act of March 3, 1879.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor and Publisher.
Lucille Skaggs Edwards and William Garnett Haynes, Associate Editors
George Wells Parker, Contributing Editor and Business Manager
Joseph LaCour, Jr., Lincoln Representative, 821 S St., Lincoln
SUBSCRIPTION RATES, $1.50 PER YEAR
Advertising Rates, 50 cents an inch per issue.
Address, The Monitor, 1119 North Twenty-first street, Omaha.
Telephone Webster 4243.
A “WET” TEETOTALER.
We regret that by publication of the
full page advertisement of The Ne
braska Prosperity League we have
grieved some of our warm personal
friends, whose friendship and good
will we most highly prize. We have,
however, no apology to make for car
rying this perfectly legitimate adver
tising. We shall be very glad to carry
a full page advertisement for the
anti-prohibition publicity bureau, if
they will be fair enough to give it
to us.
As a matter of fact, newspapers are
published for the purpose of getting
facts before the public. The public
is entitled to have both sides of any
public question presented to it, and
publicity promoters have demonstrat
ed the fact that the best way to edu
cate the public is by liberal use of
advertising space in newspapers
reaching that class or portion of the
public they desire to influence.
A young man who is a close reader
of The Monitor said to us: “The anti
prohibition argument and facts issued
by that Prosperity League in its ad
vertisements in The Monitor are cer
tainly convincingly strong.”
No, my good prohibition friend, he
is not “allied' with the brewery or the
liquor interests,” but like ourselves, is
a teetotaler. He recognizes the force
of an argument well stated, and the
Nebraska Prosperity League is put
ting its side of the case strongly. It’s
up to the other side to refute these
statements or to counter-balance or
offset them by use of the same ad
vertising medium.
The Monitor is admittedly an influ
ential medium, in fact, the most in
fleutial medium, of reaching the Col
ored people, and it is the knowledge
of this fact which so greatly dis
tressed our friends who are ardently
conscientiously and unselfishly inter
ested on the other side, that we should
be carrying this advertisement, as we
did in three issues and expect to carry
in other issues.
But aside from selling advertising
space, which does not determine the
policy of a paper, we believe it only
fair, however, to state what our own
position is on the prohibitory amend
ment. We are opposed to it. And here
we join issue with some of our dear
est and closest friends who recently
have become converted to prohibi
tion. We respect their opinion and
they respect ours. They are going to
vote and use their influence for the
amendment, because they believe it to
be the only way to curb and eventually
overthrow an admittedly great evil.
We, with just as clear a conscience,
intend to vote against it, because we
do not believe that it will better con
ditions, but make them worse. We
believe that the present sumptuary
laws, honestly enforced, will be more
effectual in making for temperance
than will the enactment of a prohib
itory law which will not be enforced,
and, in our judgment, will make for
espionage and hypocrisy. This is our
opinion. Locally, we know that this
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is not the popular side. Of course,
it’s easier and pleasanter to be on the
popular side. But from childhood we
have been taught to stand for what
we honestly believe to be right and
we have striven to be true to that
teaching.
We shall give our reasons for
opposing prohibition more exten
sively in a future article, but we want
to make it known now just what our
position is. Paradoxical as it may
seem, although a teetotaler, in the
political parlance of the day, we are
“wet.”
THE PARAGON
In the days of our adolescence we
were taught that George Washington
was America’s greatest man, the Fa
ther of his Country. We read of his
masterly conduct of the revolutionary
war, we lingered over his state pa
pers so pregnant with wisdom and
regarded his farewell address as a
classic. But now we know that Wash
ington was a lemon.
Jefferson, too, claimed a share in
our admiration of America’s great
men. His immortal declaration was
memorized by everyone of us and we
wondered whence came the vision so
deep and wide. His Virginia letters
still stand in the bookcase and when
we read them we say: “Here was a
statesman!” But it is all womg, fa
ther, it’s all wrong. Jefferson was a
joke.
There was another tall, lanky,
homely man who made his way from
a cabin to the nation’s mansion. In
all the times of men we have never
found a character so broadly human,
so kind, so lovable, so truly great as
he who was called Abe Lincoln. Even
the world porclaimed his genius, but
we have found out that the world’s
opinion is bunk. Lincoln was a huge
mistake.
The only great man the world has
ever had is Woodrow Wilson. True,
he has messed up everything he ever
tried to handle; true, he has broken
every promise he ever made; true, he
has mistaken petty politics for states
manship; true, he acts first and
thinks afterward, but the Democrats
have placed the chaplet of immortal
fame upon his brow and we fall down
and worship. Let the waves of years
sweep on to the ocean of ages; let
world memories fade away like shad
ows into dusk; for all future days
, let us write human deeds upon the
seashore sands. The human paragon
1 is here, but durned if we will ever
want him to be president again.
IN PASSING
A tall white fireman was standing
at 24th and Leavenworth, waiting
for a car, when accosted by a well
dressed man of the same race.
“What is there to the charge that
the Colored firemen were responsible
for that woman’s death?” he asked.
“Nothing,” replied the fireman. “If
she could have been saved the Col
ored boys would have saved her.
That’s what we white firemen think
about it.”
“So do I,” replied the inquisitor.
Thank you, gentlemen, so do we.
WHO ARE THEY?
We have it upon the most excel
lent authority that certain of the
county commissioners have told some
candidates for county offices not to
take seriously the appointing to of
fice of Colored men. They say a
promise is merely political bait to
catch votes. We guess it is about
time for The Monitor to get busy and
separate the wheat from the chaff.
I I
Omaha National Breaks Record of
City With $19,415,806 in
Deposits.
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The top notch of all bank deposits
in Nebraska’s history has been at
tained by one of the Omaha banks,
the Omaha National, tnis month. Re
sponding to the general call of the
comptroller on all banks for a state
ment of condition, September 12, this
bank reports deposits on that date of
$19,415,806. At the last previous call,
June 30, it had on deposit $15,752,556.
Half a dozen years ago when any
one of the three biggest banks in
Omaha attained deposits of $13,000,
000 or so, it was accounted a big
event.
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The Omaha National Bank
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CAPITAL - - $1,000,000.00
Surplus and Profits - 1,000,000.00
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Pays 3% on Savings-Compounded Semi-Annually
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McQuillin
1512 Farnam Street
JOHN B. STETSON HATS
HIGH GRADE FURNISHINGS
“The House that Jack Built”
Sheet Music
THE MUSICAL HITS OF ALL PUBLISHERS
10 TO 30 CENTS.
HOSPE MUSIC SHOP
ED. PATTON, Manager.
YOUR VOTE, PLEASE
—FOR—
MIKE L. CLARK
For Sheriff
Republican.
Election Tuesday, November 7th,