The Monitor
A National Weekly New . Devoted to the Interests of the Colored
Am?of Nebraska and the West
p.® -»£V. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
$1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, June 16, 1917 Vol. II. No. 50 (Whole No. 102
Serious Accusation
By Southern Mayor
Openly Charges that Whites Have
Systematiopily Robbed Negroes
Since Close of Civil War.
MONTGOMERY MAYOR HAS SAY
If Negro Farmers of South Had Not
Been Exploited They Would be
Living in Brownstone Mansions.
Montgomery,. Ala.—The State of
Alabama has lost over 50,000 Negroes
s.nce the great migration movement,
and many white people have become
greatly alarmed over the loss of so
many Colored people from this sec
tion.
The following startling charge has
been made against the white people
ol the South by Mayor W. T. Robert
son in speaking of the unfair treat
ment to which Negroes have been sub
jected since the Civil War:
“There is money in farming, lots
cf it, but the Negro farmer has been
systematically robbed by the white
man since the close of the Civil War.
They haven’t been treated right and
no one can blame them for quitting
the soil. If the Negro farmers w'ould
te returned all the interest in excess
of 8 per cent, charged them for money
advanced them, they would today be
living in brownstone mansions, just
as the rich white advancers do. How
the Negro has been treated is borne
out by an instance which happened
last week. An old Negro came to
mt and asked me if I could ‘advance’
him this year. I asked him if he had
a ‘falling out’ with his wrhite folks.
He replied that his white folks, who
had been making money off him for
twenty-five years, had decided to re
fuse him any credit this year, as they
feared he was growing old and Per
haps would die before another crop
was made.”
SIX COLORED AMONG
200 DENTAL GRADUATES
At the recent commencement exer
cises of the College of Dental and
Oral Surgery of New York, at Car
negie Hall, the degree of Doctor of
Dental Surgery was conferred on 200
candidates.
Among them were six Colored, Drs.
Pottinger and Hansen, from Howard
University, and Clifton A. Norman,
Louis Corbin, Chauncey F. Levy and
Eugene C. Williams.
NEGROES ROLL UP HEAVY LIST
« ..
Original Estimate of 18,000 at Bir
mingham is Exceeded Probably
by Two Thousand.
Birmingham, Ala.—Registration of
ficials here reported that their first
estimates of about 18,000 would he
exceeded by probably two thousand
owing to the fact that a much larger
proportion of the Negroes within the
specified-age-limit* came forward... ..
LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARLES H. YOUNG
Only Negro Graduate of West Point Now In United States Army. Roose
velt Wanted Him for Over- Seas Troops. May Soon Be
Made Briga dier General.
____ i
: .
“Cut Up the Lynchers’ Rope and
Put Out the Torch of the Mob”
Hcscoe Conklin Simmons Fearlessly Tells South How It Can Stem the
Northward Flowing Tide of Negro Migration.
Little Hock, Ark., June 2.—Before
one of the largest audiences that ever
gathered in this city Koscoe Conkling
Simmons, delivering the commence
ment address for the Gibbs High
School, June 2, laid down the terms
upon which Negro migration to the
North can be stopped.
The audience was mixed, many of
the wealthiest white people of the city
braving a fierce storm to pay their re
spects to the famous Negro orator. No
braver words were ever uttered before
a southern audience than those that
fell from the lips of the speaker.
He drew surprising applause from
the whites, and, of course, kept his
own people in a constant uproar.
Coming direct from Memphis, the
'burning there had evidently annoyed
him, for in a great burst of eloquence
he declared that “this wonderland
called America is the open door. No
man can shut it; the lyncher’s rope
cannot stay its hinges, nor the torch
of the mob bum it away.”
Talking about the exodus of the Ne
gro, about-which- the whites-bad
to hear, he said:
“The hand of war has led ten times
ten thousand of my people to seek
new homes, and tens of thousands
more are eager to follow.
“Their leaders make mistakes, but
the People do not make mistakes.
They follow an Unseen Hand.
“We love our South, and we would
stay to till and possess the soil, erect
cur homes, rear our children, and
grow mighty in the place of our na
tivity, but we know that anywhere
beneath the Stars and Stripes is
‘Home, Sweet Home’ to us.
“I can say for my people that we
will stay. The white race asks for
terms. I will relate them.
“We will stay if the doors of edu
cation are thrown open to the children;
if judges speak tne language of law,
end courthouses become temples of
justice; if we are given a part in the
government we are taxed to maintain,
and the ballot is put in our hands.
“We will stay if the true-blues will
cut up the lyncher's rope and put out
-the^torch o£ -the ihob.-”- p
Roosevelt Wanted
Colored Soldiers
Would Have Organized Two or More
Regiments for the Battlefields
of France.
YOUNG TO COMMAND REGIMENT
Gallant Negro West Pointer Admir
ably Fitted for Important Over
Sea Expedition.
Washington, D. C.—Had President
Wilson allowed Col. Theodore Roose
velt to go to France as the Colonel
had proposed, it is generally conceded
that he would have taken with him at
least two regiments of Colored men.
This was recently disclosed by a let
ter to Emmett J. Scott, secretary of
Tuskegee Institute in which Colonel
Roosevelt makes it known that two
such regiments should be organized
and one of them at least should be
commanded by Lieutenant Col. Young
with the rank of Colonel.
Former Premier Clemenceau, in a
recent letter to President Wilson,
made known the fact that there is
much disappointment in France be
cause Col. Roosevelt is not likely at
present to be seen in the trenches of
France. M. Clemenceau thinks that
the name of Roosevelt would be an
inspiration to the armies fighting the
battles for France. It is generally
conceded here that if Col. Roosevelt
should yet be called to lead an army
to France, large numbers of Colored
men will seek to follow him there.
The following is the text of the let
ter sent Mr. Scott by Col. Roosevelt:
“My Dear Mr. Scott:
“If the volunteer organizations, pro
vided for by Congress are allowed,
I should like to use at least two Col
ored regiments. One of these should
be under Lieutenant Colonel Young,
who is admirably fitted for the work.
I should hope he would consult withl
you about some of the men for of
ficers, but he would himself be the
best judge about the officers. The
other I should hope would be under
another regular army officer with
William Jay Schleffelin as lieutenant
colonel. I trust you will make in
quiries and recommend to Mr. Schief
felin Colored men of the highest stand
ing and fitness for the work, who
could be appointed as some of the of
f cers of the regiment.
Faithfully yours, (signed)
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
PRESIDENT MENOCAL’S
WIFE COLORED
A writer in Pearson's Magazine for
July tells us that all the trouble in
Cuba was caused through the ambi
tions of the wife of President Meno
cal, who, says the writer, is “a wo
man of color.” Just what her ambi
tions were, however, and just how they
affected the sudden revolt of the na
tives in the provinces of Santa Clara
and Oriente, the writer does not make
clear.
