G=g The Monitor
A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
$150 a rear. 5c a CopyOMAHA, NEBRASKA, JULY 21, 1917 _ Vol. III. No. 3 (Whole No. 10V,
WHAT THE AMERICAN
NEGRO IS DOING
Announcement of program plans for
the eighteenth annual convention of
the Negro Business Men’s league con
tains much of information that might
be a revelation to some who have not
kept close track of the progress of
this element of our citizenship. It
comprehends a list of activities that
shows the Colored man to be pushing
ahead in his own sphere with vigor
and success. Capable and competent
men of the race have established them
selves honorably in professional life
and in industrial and commercial lines
and by their own energy have made
their positions permanent. These have
aided in bringing up the more back
ward of their own race and thus the
problem is being worked out. The
American Negro is looking ahead to
his own destiny, which runs parallel
: with and not counter to that of the
; white man. Actual accomplishment
.s the best possible test of ability and
this has proven that color of the skin
is not an insurmountable handicap in
| life.—Omaha Daily Bee.
What Chicago Says of “The
Law of Nature”
“Chicago Defender,” July 14, 1917.
“THE LAW OF NATURE”
The thiid and best of the Lincoln
Motion Picture company’s productions,
“The Law of Nature,” which is now
being shown at the Chicago theatres,
is a remarkable feature in more ways
than one. The fact alone that the
cast ;s entirely a Colored one shoulu
arouse interest, but couple it with the
fact that the producing company is an
housekeeping. Agnes found that in
the large city Jess did not seem as
picturesque as in the west, even the
arrival of a fine baby boy did not
alter her discontent, and she finally
deserts her husband for Kronson, who
existed upon the earnings of any wo
man willing to support him. Jess re
turns to the ranch with the baby. Ag
nes is compelled by Bronson to work
in a cafe and after a period of three
years she is deserted by him while
SCENE FROM THE LAW OF NATURE”
all-Race corporation, and that the
scenario itself is from the pen of No
ble M. Johnson, the Race’s foremost
screen star, and we have something
that we may well be proud of. The
leading characters are capably handled
by Noble M. Johnson, Albertine Pick
ens, a former Chicagoan, Clarence
Crooks, who was seen to excellent ad
s \ art age in the company’s two previous
releases, and others of excellent abil
ity A short synopsis follows:
Agnes Vincent, graduate and so
ciety girl, accepts a position as gov
ALBERTINE PICKENS
erness to two smalt children living
on a large ranch in the west. On the
eve of her departure from the east
she attends a party given in her honor,
act ompanied by Henry Bronson, an ar
dent admirer. She arrives safely at
the Cross Bar ranch on a four-horse
coach, and is warmly greeted by her
employer and family. She is enrap
tured with her new environment and
the novelty of her venture. A mutual
admiration springs up between Agnes
and Jess Allen, the foreman, which
terminates in a quiet marriage at the
justice of the peace’s office.
Jess has a rival in the person of
Pedro Lopez, who, to win the girl’s
favor, does many clever stunts with
his lariet, but all in vain. At the end
of the school season Agnes induces
Jess to go east, where he secures a
lucrative position, and they set up
V
ill; she returns to the west just in
time to be forgiven, dying at her hus
band’s feet.
The photography in this production
is superb, and it is one of the strong
est three-rc!',tra eve - shown on a lo
i al screen.
LEADING EXHIBITORS
Manager George Paul of the States
theatre, where “The Law of Nature”
was given its first showing on Mon
day and Tuesday, was loud in his
praises of the great Lincoln Motion
Picture Co.’s third production.
“While I always.considered “Reali
zation” and “The Trooper” two of the
best pictures of their kind, “The Law
of Nature,” 1 must admit, far out
shines them. This feature is some
thing to be proud of and should be a
revelation to those skeptics who seem
to have an idea that an All-Colored
cast must necessarily use cork and
comedy. This thrce-reeler tells a great
story and the characters are portrayed
in a manner which compares more
than favorably wit the best releases of
what are considered the world’s great
est producing companies. The photo
graphy is remarkable and at no time
is there a chance for interest to lag.
Book me for four days at the Wash
ogton and depend upon this: I will
always be glad to set in the releases
from the Lincoln company, as they are
in a class by themselves and are what
I would call real box office attrac
tions.”
N. Josephs, manager of the Lincoln
theatre, where “The Law of Nature”
is having a four days’ run, had this to
say on Wednesday night: “1 used the
two first releases of the Lincoln Co.,
and they proved to be all that Mr.
Langston, the Chicago manager,
claimed for them; but “The Law of
Nature,” which I am using at present,
far surpasses any All-Colored produc
tion that has yet come to my notice;
it is a remarkable picture and tells
a story full of interest, and one that
teaches a great moral. It is an artis
tic triumph and the large attendance
here not only testifies to the public’s
interest in the Lincoln productions,
but to the popularity of Noble M.
Johnson, the great star, who never
fails to pack the house to the doors.
I have used all of this company’s re
leases, and you can put me down for
at least three days on anything they
may send out in the future. I will
also play a return oik “The Trooper
of Troop K” at anytime you may con
tract for my signature."
Where Are the Inalienable Rights
of These Our Fellow Citizens?
A
The Omaha World-Herald’s Ringing Editorial On the East
St. Louis Massacre—Challenges America to
Protect Her Own Citizens.
In its issue of July 5, the Omaha
World-Herald, which is owned by
Senator Gilbert M. Hitchcock, had
the following ringing editorial on the
East St. Louis massacre:
The irony of it all!
Fugitives from the barbarous mob
violence that threatened them in the
South, hundreds of Negroes reached
this industrial town in Illinois, a
Northern state—the state from which
Abraham Lincoln was elected presi
dent—to make their homes and earn
their livings.
And they found there, in violent
and exaggerated form, the same ra
cial prejudice, inflamed by the indus
trial prejudice of white men whose
jobs they were bidding for, that has
hurried and cursed them in the South.
In the night scores were murdered,
including women and children—in
cluding even little babies. In a night
, 'hundreds of homes were burned over
the heads of their humble occupants,
| and many perished in the flames.
It is not recorded that these Ne
groes had committed any crimes
against white women in this Illinois
I town. It is not recorded, as an in
citing cause, that they had been guilty
of crime of any kind, other than that
they had organized to fight mob with
mob, and in the doing so had killed a
policeman, member of a squad sent to
disperse them. Their real offense,
in the minds of their persecutors, was
in coming where they were not wanted
and in demoralizing the labor market.
Until the shame of East St. Louis
has been wiped out and in some fash
ion atoned for it will not lie in the
mouth of any Northern man or news
paper to launch any more sectional
fulminations at the South for the
wrongs it has heaped upon the blacks.
Until our governmental agencies,
North and South, local, state and fed
eral, have devised means for putting
an end forever to these grisly, sav
age horrors of race violence, it will
not become us to devote ourselves to i
anger and denunciation inspired by
the tales of war-time barbarities in
Europe. We cannot even, with good
grace, continue to berate the kaiser
and his aides for making of interna- i
tional law a scrap of paper so long \
as, without serious and concerted ef- j
fort to stop it, we permit our own
citizens to make of the constitution 1
and the laws of our own land other
scraps of paper. The horrors of East j
St. Louis are just as revolting as are
those of Belgium, or Poland, or Ar
menia, or Serbia. There are crimes
committed under the American flag
,}
that are ghastly and there is blood on
American soil that cries to God for
vengeance!
They are not only our fellow cit
izens, these Negroes, with legal
rights and liberties bom in a great
and bloody war. They are our wards,
as well, the living reminders of the
sins of our fathers. The race is not
mingled with ours from choice. They
are here because our fathers wrested
Ltheir fathers from their homes, where
God had_ planted them, and brought
them here in chains to work in sla
very and degradation that the glory
and comfort and wealth of the re
public might be nurtured in their
blood and tears. It is we that have
obliged them to live amongst us. It
is we that have endowed them, of our
own free will, with an equality be
fore the law which we do not recog
nize in fact and which the law does
not enforce for them. They are what
we have made them. The problem
they present is a problem of our own
creation. The evils that spring from
it are evils that lie at our door, not
at theirs.
We celebrated, but yesterday, the
ideals of democracy. We repeated,
from thousands of platforms, our
stock phrases about all men being
created equal; about their being en
dowed with inalienable rights, among
them life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
Where are the inalienable rights of
these, our fellow-citizens—the vic
tims of our unforgivable national sin?
Where is the equal protection that
should be afforded them in their lives,
their liberty, their unobstructed pur
suit of happiness?
When, since the great war was
fought to right, in small measure, the
wrong that had been done them—
when have we white men of America,
northern or southern, applied our
selves seriously and persistently to
enforce upon ourselves the perform
ance of our plain duty toward them?
Does the fact that the problem is
hard—that men say glibly it is in
soluble—does this lessen our respon
sibility or our guilt?
We have duties to perform at home
as well as in Europe. And it is more
ciearly our duty to bring democracy,
to bring safety and liberty, to our
own oppressed than to the oppressed
of other lands. Most of all we owe
it to ourselves to prove to the world
that we are not hypocrites mouthing
phrases—for the Belgians—that mean
little to us when it comes to applying
them to our own foster-children.
No Need For Nervousness
There was some nervousness on the
part of a few of our people this week
over a rumor that owing to the as yet
unsettled teamster’s strike in Omaha
there was likely to be a race riot
here similar to that in East St. Louis.
The rumor started from remarks that
were made by two white workmen em
ployed on a house on Parker street
when they saw a Colored man driving
the truck of a local firm. Their in
cendiary remarks were overheard.
We do not believe there is any need
for nervousness. Of course, as we I
have before stated, there is always!
the possibility of a “race riot” any j
where in this country until the j
MENTAL ATTITUDE OF THE
WHITE MAN TOWARD THE
HLACK MAN IS CHANGED. There
is therefore the possibility, altho not
the probability, of a “race riot” in
Omaha, as in other American cities,
at any time. It behooves us, in the
fuce of such a possibility, to be pre
pared to defend our lives and our
homes against unlawful and murder
ous attacks.
i.et us hope that such need may
never arise; let us do nothing to pro
voke it, but if the need should ever
arise let us be prepared to protect
ourselves.
Keep cool. Don’t become excited.
There are no conditions in Omaha
to warrant a riot. No Negroes have
come or been brought here in great
numbers. Those who have come have
not come as strike breakers. The
packing houses, the smelters and the
railroads depleted by the cal' of for
eign reservists to the colors have
striven to fill these vacancies. The j
men who have come are industrious
and law-abiding. They have come to
I work because they are needed. There
| is therefore not the slightest shadow
j of an excuse for even the suggestion
! of a ‘‘race riot.” And of course,
! there was none in Kast St. Louis.
And yet we realize the possibility
of some few foolish or hot-headed
men of either race starting trouble.
: We therefore counsel our own people
i to exercise the utmost self-restraint
! and self-control under provocations to
! which they may be subjected; to be
'temperate in speech; mannerly and
j well-behaved; neat and cleanly in
j person and appearance, industrious
[ and dependable wherever they may be
employed. Thus we will do all in
! our power to avoid trouble. Then if
trouble does arise, fomented by union
labor, foreigners or anybody else, for
which we are not responsible we can
demand, and we believe secure, pro
tection from the authorities. And es
pecially so if we show our ability and
preparedness to protect ourselves.
In the present time of unrest and
disquietude, while there is need of
carefulness, watchfulness and self-re
straint, there is no need for nervous
ness or excitement.
SERGEANT BAILEY VISITS
DES MOINES TRAINING CAMP
Meets Many of His Old Comrades with
Whom He Had Seen Active
Service.
Sergeant Bailey and Master Bill
Peebles visited the training camp at
Fort Des Moines last Saturday and
Sunday where the sergeant met more
than a hundred of his old comrades
with whom he had served in the West,
Cuba and the Philippines. They were
as glad to see him as they would have
been to see 'their fathers. Sergt.
Bailey was the guest of Sergt. and
Mrs. Barrows from his old Troop.
He also met some of the officers who
made him welcome to the camp and
excused Sergt. Barrows from all duties
while Sergt. Bailey was in camp.
During his visit Miss Olive Smith
of Des Moines gave a dinner party for
Sergt. Bailey and a number of his old
comrades at which Dr. Peebles and
Master Bill w’ere also guests.
Incidentally it may be mentioned
here that Sergt. Bailey was with the
command that rescued Roosevelt’s
Rough Riders in Cuba during the
Spanish-American war.
KNIGHTS AND DAUGHTERS
OF TABOR HOLD GRAND
SESSION IN OMAHA
The Knights and Daughters of Ta
bor held their Grand session here from
Tuesday until Friday of last week. A
large number of delegates were pres
ent from various parts of the juris
diction. Reports showed the order in
a sound financial condition and with
a rapidly increasing membership.
One of the most successful sessions
in the history of the order ended with
a parade Friday afternoon to the au
ditorium where at night the public
installation and drill and entertain
ment took place. The parade which
elicited much favorable comment was
led by four mounted Colored police,
followed by the First Regimental band
and the Sir KnightB on foot. The la
dies Taborean band led the large de
tachment of the Daughters of the
Tabernacle, who rode in automobiles.
NEARLY ONE MILLION
NEGRO MEN REGISTER
Washington, D. C.—Acording to of
ficial figures just given out, 9,659,382
Americans registered for selective
army draft, between the ages of 21
and 31, of whom 7,347,749 were white
and 963,899 were Colored. The In
dians who registered numbered 6,000.
The claim is made in some quarters
that hundreds of Negroes who have no
difficulty passing for white registered
aa white, some taking offense at the
unnecessary reference to African de
scent printed on the comer of the reg
istration paper, and others because
they are known in their respective
communities as Caucasians.
LABOR AND HOUSING
CONDITIONS IN BUFFALO
Buffalo, N. Y.—Notices are posted
for one thousand Colored men to
work as section hands on the railroad
between Buffalo and New York. A
new canning factory is also soliciting
Colored help to can vegetables.
Three thousand Colored people have
come into the city during the past
month. The housing conditions are
said to be a disgrace. Something
should be done by those in authority
to relieve the situation.
WORK OF RACE
SC U LPT RESS RECOG NIZED
Washington, D. C.—A head of a
child, modeled by Mrs. Mary Howard
Jackson, of this city, has been placed
on exhibition in the lower loan room
of the famous Corcoran Gallery of
Art. “It is an admirable piece of
work well constructed, nicely modeled
and expressive, and it takes it place
well among the works in this gallery
by sculptors of more experience and
greater reputation,” says the Wash
ington Star.
AWARDED PRIZE FOR
WRITING CLASS SONG
Miss Mary M. Gibson, T8, has been
awarded prize for writing the best
college song at Radcliffe College. The
song will be included in the author
ized college song book and will go
down in history as Radcliffe’s great
est number. Miss Gibson is the only
Colored junior at Radcliffe.
The Monitor is growing. Help us
grow.
ANITA PATTI BROWN
TO GIVE CONCERT
The people of Omaha are going to
have the privilege of hearing one of
America’s greatest singers at Grove
M. E. church Tuesday, July 31, in the
person of Anita Patti Brown, who
has but recently returned from a
triumphant concert tour in British
>■
ANITA PATTI BROWN
Guiana. The press and pulpit wher
ever she has appeared have spoken of
her in the most laudatory terms. This
will be Madame Brown’s first appear
ance in Omaha and it is confidently
believed that standing room will be
at a premium for her concert. She
will be assisted by some of Omaha’s
! l est local talent.
—
Mayor Dahlman
Issues Proclamation
_
Calls Upon Citizens to Discountenance
Vague and Disquieting
Rumors.
Owing to certain absolutely ground
less but disquieting rumors which
have unnecessarily disturbed some of
our people, Mayor Dahlman has is
sued the following proclamation:
Whereas, It has come to my atten
tion, as well as to the attention of
other citizens of the city of Omaha,
that there are rumors afloat, more or
less indefinite, to the effect that the
city is being threatened with a race
riot against the Colored people of the
city, and
Whereas, all patriotic, law-abiding
and good citizens deplore any such
conditions, even though it does not go
beyond the state of rumor, and
Whereas, rumors have been suffi
ciently circulated to cause some ap
prehension and fear among the Col
ored people of the city, now, there
fore,
I, James C. Dahlman, mayor, pro
claim it the duty of all law-abiding
and self-respecting citizens to dis
countenance and refute any such ru
mors when heard, and I especially ap
peal to those who might be incensed
or excited by such rumors to use a
calm judgment and deliberation which
becomes the citizens of this city to
prevent any undue excitement or men
tal agitation that might influence the
minds of people to do things as a re
sult of excitement or mere imagina
tion, and I especially appeal to all
dealers in firearms and ammunition
to exercise discretion and caution at
the present time in the matter of the
sale of firearms to the end that they
may not be placed in the hands of
irresponsible or unduly agitated per- -
sons.
And 1 further assure the public that
every precautionary step is being
taken by the city officials and es
pecially all members of the police de
partment to prevent the carrying of
concealed weapons and that any per
son found carrying the same will be
dealt with as one violating the laws
of the. state of Nebraska, as well as
the ordinance of the city, inasmuch as
the carrying of such weapons is for
bidden by law, and I feel that the
people of the city of Omaha cherish
too highly the good name of this city
to permit of any incident to stain
that reputation as has sometimes oc
curred in other places as the result
of undue excitement and lack of de
liberate forethought.
JAMES C. DAHLMAN,
Mayor.
j I ,
