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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1917)
The Monitor \=n '<? A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americana THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor * $1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA. NEBRASKA. JULY 7. 1917 Vol. III. No. 1 (Whole No. 105) -~ ' - ' ' ■ -T- II I. ~1 If The Negro Civic and Industrial League of Nebraska ■i, .I, .. , . .. °-j DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND CONSTITUTION. Believing that there should be some central organization for conserving and promoting the best interests of our race in this community and state, we do hereby organize the Negro Civic and Industrial League of Nebraska, and set forth the following as a declaration of its purposes and principles, and the constitution for the government of said league: I. NAME, CHARACTER. OBJECTS. This organization shall be known as the Negro Civic and Industrial League of Nebraska. It shall be non-political and non-sectarian in character. Its general object shall be the conserving and promotion of the general interests of our race and the good of the community along all lines of useful, self-respecting and upstanding citizenship. Its activities shall be directed along the following specific lines: Industrial, Housing, Social, Edycjation. Protection, Charity and Hos pitality. ' il. SPECIFIC OBJECTS DEFINED. Industrial—The league shall seek to find industrial and business oppor tunities for the race and endeavor to encourage members of the race to make good by showing promptness, efficiency and dependability wherever they may be employed. Housing—The league shall interest itself in trying to secure proper housing conditions for members of the race, encouraging them to purchase homes whenever practicable and to take pride in maintaining the premises owned or occupied by them. Social—The league shall endeavor to improve in every way the moral and social conditions of our people by encouraging them to provide whole some recreation and to be diligent in attendance upon divine service and in the discharge of their full duty to the fraternal organizations with which they may be identified. Education—The league will encourage education not only for the chil dren, but all members of the race, advocating attendance at night school for those who cannot attend during the day. Protection The league will endeavor to protect members of the race in securing and defending their civil rights, and will oppose all legislation aimed either directly or indirectly to injure us as a race, and will investi gate individual cases in order that justice may be secured and prosecution does not degenerate into persecution. Charity—The league will endeavor to extend a helping hand to those in need to the end that those temporarily in want may be succored until they may be able to help themseivc-s. Hospitality—The league will extend hospitality and welcome to strangers of our race coming into the community in order that they may be made to feel at home, be guided and directed as far as possible in adapting themselves to their new surroundings, in order that they may become an asset and not a liability. III. MEMBERSHIP. All persons belonging to our race, who are bonafide residents of the community, are of good moral character and are willing to abide by the rules of the league and promote its interests, are eligible to membership and may become members by filing in writing their application with the membership committee—which is hereby empowered to act upon the eligi bility of members—by signing the roll when notified by the membership committee of their eligibility and paying the designated membership fee. IV. OFFICERS. The officers of the league shall be a president, vice-president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer. The duties of these officers shall be those customarily falling upon such officers in similar organizations. They shall be elected annually by ballot and shall hold office for tht term of one year or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The president or first vice-president, in the absence or inability of the president to serve, the recording secretary and the treasurer shall be the committee on membership. V. STANDING COMMITTEES. The president shall appoint, and the organization confirm, the following standing committees, consisting of at least three members each, to lool after the specific work assigned to said committees: Industrial, Housing Social, Education, Protection, Charity, Hospitality. These committees shall meet weekly at such time and place as theii chairman may designate, and shall report to the league at its regulai monthly meeting the work done by it. If at any time any committee meets an exigency mat demands the at tention of the league the president of tW («igUe stall call a special meeting. VI..’ d EETING8. TV iefoe meet rrgul*.'*' once a i»onth on the second Tuesday n' . m . Tnonth at 8 p. m. •ecial meetings may be call'd from time to time when i-n exigency .re demanding the same f' \ |i. FINANCE. 4 For carrying out the objects”* the league an admission fee of 50 centi ►e paid ach member. aes* fee *o accompany application for mem „ - -n annual fee of 50 «fits Bfcall be paid by every member withii <mns o: beginning of each fiscal year, and each member shal some ee \pav a monthly"**. 28 eenti. *'ry member three ..mrith* >n iirrmr,' shall not be entitled to vote or any quostinn. Members six months in arrears shill be dropped from the roll. , bt-ie shall be no promiscuous outside solicitation of the public, eithe: >> direct oi indirect mri for raiwing funds for the objects of thii rWfi league. w Any lwr8°“ or 'H‘rMOnh att«*npUng ft, use or exploit the league for per *onal >'a'" or P^tige shall he repud it. . ;,y the league. v»ii advisory Committee. i !>n .oi ,t and secretary of the league, with the chairmen of th< respective committees, *h«U constitute an a\uory or executive committer d 'try oil tie Will St tie . - -■ . i. ■*— __ I IV HKS IN THREE !*Ub omUi, tJNWAR * EARS AT HARVARD |k RANTED DISCRIMINATION Harrisburg, Pa th.ive Payne, S. The guard of F.'ifucation of San An 14th street, has returned T-mr after tonio, 1%., has granted an increase graduating from Harvard at (am- of flQ a month to all white grade bridge, Mass. He finished ids fotu - teachers on account of the high cost year-course in three years, making^a oi Tying and $6 to the Colored teach good record in scholarship. ers. n»e board Aid not make known --- why the Waite teachers were given an REFUSES COMMISSION * increaae of r.0 per cent more than the IN CUBAN ARMY Colored teacht... Havana, Cuba.—Sergt. Thomas of HAS NEW THEATRE the U. S. Tenth Cavalry, who trained the republic’s first soldiers, has re- Roanoke, Va., has a new C eatre for fuseii to accept a commission in the Colored people, known as tly Hemp arm v here. Iton Theatre. *1'899^ iiiiiiTV i i Foreigner Leads Machinists’ Strike Schnectady Firm Employs One Young Negro and Twenty-Five Hun dred Men Strike. LEADERS’ NAMES ARE FOREIGN Officials of Company, Believers in Real Democracy, Disposed to Stand lor the Right. Schnectody, N. Y.—Demanding that the color line be drawn in the l<yge plant of the General Electric Light company here, the same as the United States Government practices segre gation in the army, 2,500 machinists and toolmakers went on a strike said to be one of the most peculiar labor strikes on record in this section of the state. The color issue was created when a young colored man—Wendell King— was put to work in the machine shops of the General Electric Company. King is of a good family in upper Troy, N. Y., and was graduated from the Lansingburg High School in 1916. He entered Union College, Schnecta dy, last September, and soon attract ed attention as an excellent student in wireless telegraphy and French. It is rather suggestive that the strike leaders bear names of a de cided foreign Davor, the chief spokes man and ringleader being Joseph Lef kowitz. It is therefore not at all un likely that this shallow-pated indi vidual anti many of his confreres are but a slight remove from Russian oppression. In haranguing his striking coll ogues he said: “ ‘Do not lose sight of the fact that we are not fighting on the grounds of race prejudice, but on the grounds of moral convictions.’ ” The speaker went on to explain that the real issue of the strike was the employment of one Negro, who was put to work in the shop under tne jurisdiction of the machinists organ ization, which act is contrary to the laws of that organization. “ ‘We are not unfair in our de mands,” said Mr. Lefkowitz, in end ing his address. “ ‘We ask no more than the United States Government. This nation has several regiments of Negro soldiers. It is known that those Negroes are not allowed to fre quent the same recreation grounds as the white soldiers, nor are they in any manner, allowed to mingle with the whites. What this government | sees fit in practicing, we feel justi fied in demanding,’ " company onciais claim me issue to he the employment by the company of a young colored man. According to Mr. Emmons, Wendell King is a student at Union College, and was , | recommended by the faculty with twenty-five or thirty other young men in the college as being a worthy boy to aid in securing his college ed | ucation. The young man was put to work June 8, and is at present em ployed in building 23 operating a drill press. The first intimation of any dissatisfaction, Mr. Emmons said, vas last Tuesday afternoon, when a committee of machinists protested against the young man being longer ■ employed in the capacity of ma chinist. Mr. Emmons contends a committee ; of the machinists practically demand ed that the young colored man be taken off that work to which Mr. Em | mons replied that he could see no reason for establishing a color line. 1 He told the committee that the young ■ man was a college student and worthy of being aided. Mr. Emmons Believes in a Beal Democracy. There were about 2,500 machinists who left the works, practically all the machinists employed by the company, and many of them were busy on gov ernment work. All other branches of work contin ued as usual after the machinists walked out. In a formal statement Mr. Emmons expressed himself as follows: "It is contrary to the policy of the company to take any action detri mental to the best interests of its em ployes, but it will tolerate no discrim ination against any worthy individ ual on account of nationality or color. “The management believes th|at every person should be given an op portunity to improve his condition which the young man in question lis trying to do." ■ — The Monitor is growing. Help grow, „ :i : 7 ' LINCOLN REPCBLICAN LEAGI E HOLDS RECORD BREAKING MEETING (Special to The Monitor) Memphis, Tenn., July 2.—What was a record-breaking meeting of the fa mous Lincoln Republican League was held at Church’s Auditorium Friday night, June 29. The largest political organization among Colored people in the country, the Lincoln League, is the rallying point of 50,000 Ne groes in Memphis and all the Negroes in west Tennessee. The first time the League had met since the burning of Ell Persons, and the beginning of the exodus of the Negro from this city and section, more than 3,000 people packed them selves in the Auditorium, while hun dreds were turned away. No organized condemnation of law lessness had been heard; no word of advice had been forthcomig from the leadership, and no speech of hope and courage had been uttered. And the people said their cup was running over. The pent-up feeling of the patriots and patriarchs, together with a thou sand women, found expression in a burst of cheers when Robert R. Church, Jr., president and founder of the league, took the gavel. What the people expected is exactly what they got. „ After his speech, dealing with rout ine business, Mr. Church read the res olutions prepared by the Executive Committee on the death of the great Foraker, and then launched into a declaration against lawlessness. “I would be untrue to you and 'to myself as your elected leader if I should remain silent against shame and crime of lawlessness of any char acter, and I could not if I would, hold my peace against either the lynching or burning of a human being,” he said. He went on: “We must not lose hope, but keep our eyes open and press forward. What the Lincoln set out to do is exactly what the Lincoln proposes to do without a shadow of turning. The President announced that the League endorsed heartily the work of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People. .UK NEGRO CIVIC AND INDUS TRIAL LEAGUE As the result of a meeting held in i the office of Amos P. Scruggs some weeks ago an organization, to be I known as the Negro Civic and Indus trial League of Nebraska, has been organized. The principles and consti tution of the league are published elsewhere in this issue. The officers of the organization as thus far elected are: Amos P. Scruggs, president; Henry W. Hlack, vice president; Mrs. J. Alice Stewart, secretary, and Nate Hlunter, treas urer. For the present it is planned to hold the monthly meetings at the various churches of the city. The first monthly meeting will be held next Tuesday night in the lecture room of St. John’s Methodist church, Figtheenth and Webster streets. The public is urged to attend this meet ing. Immediately following the East St. Louis race riot in May Mr. Scruggs invited twenty-five of our representatives to a conference in his office to take under advisement some form or plan of organization for the protection and guidance of our people, who are coming in large numbers from the South. This league, con ceived along sane and broad lines, [ which should have the co-operation of all our people, is the outcome of that conference. The non-sectarian character of the organization is indicated by the fact ' that the president is a Roman Cath I clie, the vice president is an Episco palian, the secretary is a Methodist and the treasurer a Baptist. Its non partisan character is equally well de , fined. BISHOP HURST ILL — Baltimore, Md.—Dr. T. P. Hurst, bishop of the A. M. E. Church, is ill. It wras first thought that he had a paralytic stroke but physicians claim tliat he was overworked and had poor circulation in one of his legs. He is secretary of the Bishop’s council, which position together with his other duties has taxed his nerves greatly. NEGRO BAPTISTS PURCHASE COLLEGE Nashville, Tenn.—The Baptists of the United States have purchased the Bascobel Colege on Sevier street, East Nashville. The school will be used as a National Theological Seminary. * Riot Is Blot on the State of Illinois Tribune Declares Governor Low den Must Investigate Thoroughly and Guilty Must be Brought to Trial. Chicago, 111., July 3.—Under the caption, “The Shame of Illinois,” the I Chicago Tribune this morning says, 1 editorially: “The riot at East St. Louis is one of the w orst blots on the good name of an American community in our whole history. Illinois must bow heg head in shame before this disgrace. We have no excuse. There can be no excuse for such a breakdown of the most primitive safeguards of civil government, for such betrayal of the first duty of ordered society. "The Tribune, which has flayed the evil of lynching and especially re proached its countrymen of the South •'or their failure to stamp it out, does not propose to offer any palliation of this outrage in Illinois. The blood of victims spatters the state. The riot will burn as an unforgettable dis honor in our memories. Eruption of the Brute. “We do not propose to talk now about race hatred or economic rivalry or any other learned aspect of the of fense. There is just one truth, one -ickening, shameful truth—in an American city, in a city of Illinois, ; here has been a loathsome eruption | of the brute, and neither civilised ! ublic sentiment nor constituted au thority was capable of arresting it. "If Illinois has a conscience it wjll ..olemnly resolve that no such dis honor shall ever lift its head among n We ask Governor Louder., and, if need be, the legislature, to < xarnine at once the conditions which created this outrage and the condi tions which eft society at the mercy of brutishness in thia region. "We demand • .peeiaiijr that it be lade clear wjiv neit.be- Die police woe the militia were capable of strangling the riot at rhe beginning. We de pjl DAYBREAK _ i BY GEORGE MARION MCCLELLAN. Awake! Arise! Men of my race— I see our morning star, . . K And feel the dawn-hrerze on niy face Creep inward from afar. 1 feel the dawn, with soft-like tread, t Steal through our lingering night. Aglow with flame our sky to spread In floods of morning light. Arise, my men! Be wide-awake To hear the bugle call For Negroes everywhere to break The bands that hind us all. Great Lincoln, now with glory graced. Ail Godlike with the pen, Our chattel fetters broke and placed Us in the ranks of men. But even he could not awake The dead, nor make alive, Nor change stern Nature's laws, which make The fittest to survive. Let every man his soul inure In noblest sacrifice. And with a heart of oak endure Ignoble, arrant prejudice. j ...__ 4 If iSH Endurance, lore, will yet Against all laws of hate; Such armaments can never fail Our race its best estate. I Let none make common cause with sin. Be that in honor hound, ' For they who fight with God i|^‘ v'n On every battleground. Though wrongs there are, and wrongs hare been, And wrongs we still must face, We have more friends than foes within The Anglo-Saxon race. j I . . In spite of all the Babel cries Of those who rage and shout. God’s silent forces daily rise* To bring His will about. Our portion is, and yet will be. To drink a bitter cup In many things, yet all must see The race is moving up. Oh, men of my race! Awake! Arise! Our morning's in the air; There’s scarlet all along the skies! Our day breaks everywhere! ...-i-f—.—" ji \ mand the guilty be tracked down re morselessly and punished to the full extent of the law. White* and Blacks Guilty. “We understand the dificulty of this task. We understand how a mob ' and even its leaders escape in a jungle of anonymity and political in fluence. "We realize how race prejudice and j other complications will block discov . ery and punishment. We know that whites are guilty. We know that blacks are guilty. But we know also that the community and the state are guilty before all, and if we cannot punish the community and the state more than in the punishment already visited upon its good name we can at least study its guilt and do our ut most to root it out.” MUST NOT DISCRIM INATE AGAINST NEGROES Fort Des Moines, la.—Several of the local restaurants and picture houses in the city of Des Moines have refused to accommodate members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Camp, 1 The proprietors of these places have been notified by Lieut. Bell, provost guard commander of the City | of Des Moines, that the men in train ing at the Fort are here because the United States Government has or dered them to come and any discrim ination whatever shown toward them in restaurants, church rooms or the atres would not be tolerated by the 1 military authorities. Consequently all owners and proprietors who have been known to have discriminated against one or two of the cadets have been notified that at the first unfa ! vorable report againts them their li censes will be revoked. Discrimina tion in the city has not been wide spread. It was only shown here and there by some narrow-minded pro prietor. The city as a whole has been frank and open in its welcome of the cadets. ^7 Be sure to attend public installation of officers of flmnd Temple ao<r __ Tabernacle at Auditorium Friday night.—Adv.