n=n The Monitor .r~n
'a,
--7-I ^
A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans ^
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor \
$1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 6, 1917 Vol. III. No. 14 -ole No. 118)
Extension Carries
No Reflection
General Ballou, in Command of Train
ing Camp, Writes to Correct
False Impression.
MOBILIZATION IS DEFERRED
Wisdom and Commonsense Dictate
That Advantage Be Taken of
Extended Time.
Under date of September 14 Gen
eral Ballou, in command of the train
ing camp at Des Moines, la., has writ
ten the following letter to Dr. Caba
niss of Washington, D. C., in explana
tion of postponement of graduation
of Colored officers:
“I was very much surprised to
learn that any one should construe the
one month’s extension of this training
camp as an indication that the Color
ed candidates for commissions re
quired more time than white candi
dates, and that the month’s extension
was made in order to bring them up
to the standard of the white camps.
As a matter of fact, no one is in a
position to institute any comparison
between the proficiency of the Color
ed candidates and the whites, as no
one has had an opportunity to com
pare their work. The inspector gen
eral of the army visited all of the
training camps and could, therefore,
institute a comparison as to the little
practical work he observed in his
brief visits, and also as to their ap
parent discipline, “set up” and smart
ness of appearance. I am convinced
from his remarks that the candidates
at this camp would not suffer from
any such comparison.
“The fact of the matter is that
there is no reason whatsoever for tup
posing that the extension of this
camp to October 15 was caused by
any consideration of relative fitness
of candidates, and there seems every
reason for believing that this had
nothing at all to do with the matter.
“There was not one word or figure
in the report and recommendations of
the classification boards at this camp
that could possibly have indicated to
the War Department, or any one else,
the slightest reason for believing that
the Colored candidates were not as
well qualified for their commissions
as were the white candidates.
“The War Department has not felt
it necessary to explain its action, and
it should not be necessary, but the
following may explain the matter to
those who see something sinister in
everything they don’t understand:
“The men conscripted under the I
first call are to be actually mobilized j
in several increments. The reason is j
obvious. To dump thirty or forty '
thousand men in a camp all at once '
would be to create confusion if not t
chaos and to entail much actual suf
fering. Most of the officers who are i
to handle these conscripts are the j
briefly instructed men of these three j
months’ training camps. They can’t be j
expected to handle such big matters
efficiently till they have had a little
experience with smaller ones. Then
there is the vast problem of supply.
The machinery needs time to get it to
running at maximum speed and effi
ciency. It needs oiling up and to be
f gin at rather low speed.
“The Colored troops are to be or
ganized in units by themselves, and
not mixed with whites. Since the Col
ored officers’ training camp did not
begin until one month after the white
camps, the white officers were grad
uated and ready one month before the
Colored ones could be. That the white
regiments should, therefore, be the
first ones mobilized is as simply log
ical as that two and two make four.
“It will be well along in October be
fore the last of the several white in
crements can be called out and cared
for.
What is the sensible thing to do
meanwhile with tho Colored candi
dates for commissions? Any man who
know’s anything at all of the neces
sary qualifications for an officer
knows that three months are not one
tenth of the time really necessary for
his training, and that not one of our
officers of three months’ training has
more than made a slight beginning in
learning his duties. If time were avail
able they would all be kept in train
ing a much longer time. NoA', is it
the part of commonsense to graduate
these Colored candidates a month or
tw’o ahead of the mobilization of the
units they are to organize, feed, equip
and train and let them idle away the
interim, or is it good business sense
to continue their preparation by an
extra month of work specially select
ed, with a view to enabling them to
avoid the very mistakes now being
made bj the less fortunate officers
who, however sadly they may need an
extra month’s training, were not so
fortunate as to get it?
“No one but trouble mongers can
have any doubt either as to the wis
dom of this extra month’s work, un
der the circumstances, or as to it be
ing absolutely devoid of any reflec
tion whatsoever on the Colored candi
dates.
“You are at liberty to make any
use you see fit of this letter.
“Sincerely,
(Signed) "C. C. BALLOU,
"Brigadier General National Army.”
OLDEST BANK MESSENGER DIES
Cincinnati, O.—In the passing away
of John H. Troy, the career of a fam
ily long identified with the financial
institutions of this city is closed. He
served three banks of this city for a
period of more than fifty years as a
trusted messenger, the National La
fayette Bank, the Merehants'National
Bank, and finally the First National
Bank, with which he was connected
at the time of his death. He was the
oldest bank messenger of the State,
not only in years, but in point of serv
ice.
The Conservation
of Food Work
—
The First From the Department of
Food Administration for
Nebraska.
—
G. W. WATTLES, Food Administrator
—
I October 21 to 28 Named as Fledge
Card Week.
The first big work of the Food Ad
ministrator is to secure the co-opera
tion of the housewives of Nebraska in
conservation of food products. The
means to this imcdiate end is the
signing of pledge cards by citizens of
Nebraska, giving their voluntary as
sistance in this work. The week of
October 21 to 28 has been set aside,
nationally, as pledge card week and
Mr. Wattles hopes to secure the
pledges of seventy-five percent of the
2H0.000 families of Nebraska.
Mr. Wattles has gathered around
him a strong Executive Committee,
composed of representative men of the
state, to assist in the work. The per
sonnel of the committee assures its
success.
“The purpose of this campaign is
two-fold,” says Mr. Wattles. “First,
to secure the realization of the im
portance of food conservation, and,
second, to get a list of housewives of
Nebraska who will assist in this work,
and that they may be advised, directly,
of the methods and plans. There is
nothing in the card that any one can
not sign. It simply asks the volun
tary co-operation in the work of the
national food administration.
“We, in Nebraska, waste enough
food to feed Belgium. If we can save
what is wasted, we can supply food
to our boys in the war zone who are
entitled to the best there is, and we
can save starving mothers who are
dying for want of nutrition. It is im
portant to the last degree, this ques
tion of food conservation.”
AMERICAN BANKERS’
ASSOCIATION MEETS
John Mitchell Makes Report on Na
tion-wide Thrift Campaign Among
Colored People.
Atlantic City, N. J.—The American
Bankers’ Association met in its an
nual session here the last week in
September. Among the delegates was
John Mitchell, jr., president of the
Mechanics’ Savings Bank of Rich
mond, Va., a substantial institution
capitalized and officered by Colored
men.
For the first time in the history of
the American Bankers’ Association
President John Mitchell, jr.’s, report
as chairman of the Special Committee
on the Nation-wide Thrift Campaign
Among Colored People appeared in
the advance report of the officers of
the Savings Bank Section, and was
distributed among the more than two
thousand wealthy men of the country.
It produced much favorable comment.
Great Producing Power
These reports will also appear in
the financial journals of the country.
Mr. Mitchell showed that the annual
producing power of the Colored peo
ple of the country is $600,000,000 per
year. The meeting of the Savings
Bank Section here is the largest in
the history of the organization.
Give Us a Colored Commander for
Colored Troops
PRESIDENT WILSON, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE
ARMY, TWELVE MILLION COLORED AMERICANS RE
SPECTFULLY PETITION YOU, SIR, TO GIVE OUR RACE A
GENERAL IN THE PERSON OF CHARLES YOUNG, DAVIS,
GREEN OR ANY OTHER COMPETENT MAN NOW SERVING
IN THE ARMY, AND TO GIVE HIM COMMAND OF COLORED
TROOPS; AND WE PLEDGE YOU OUR HONOR THAT OUR
COUNTRY WILL THRILL WITH PRIDE AT THE VALOR OF
THE TROOPS UNDER HIS COMMAND.
GIVE US A COLORED COMMANDER FOR COLORED
TROOPS. OUR LOYALTY AND SERVICE MERIT THIS REC
OGNITION.
The Negro Soldiers’ Valorous
Part In America’s Wars
They Have Been Eager Volunteers and Brave Fighters from
the Revolution Until Today; Only Two Isolated Blots
Were the Outbreaks at Brownsville and Houston.
By Benson Crawford, in the New
York Times.
Ever since the American grew care
less about spilling tea at Boston the
blood of black soldiers has been spilled
for the eagle bird. It was Crispus At
tucks, a mulatto and a fugitive slave,
that led the patriot mob at the Boston
massacre. It was Peter Salem, one of
the enfranchised Negroes who fought
at Bunker Hill, that shot dead Major
Pitcairn, leader of the British marine*,
as he leaped over the breastworks cry
ing ::The day is ours!” Sprinkled w’ith
the blue and the gray alike stood the
soldier in black during the war be
tween the States. The rattle of black
musketry brought the white flag from
the Spaniards on the summit of San
Juan Hill which ended the war with
Spain. It was a troop of black cav
alry that penetrated the plains of
Mexico and dealt havoc to Villa’s band
of guerrillas before being trapped and
cut to pieces by a machine gun.
All this for the eagle bird—and
more. When Congress called it war
with Germany, patriotic Negroes be
gan holding mass meetings through
out the country, even though German
spies or sympathizers were mailing
letters to their leaders in the Southern
States saying ‘‘This is a white man’s
war, and Negroes would better go to j
Mexico and get higher wages.” A
Colored regiment was quickly organ
ized at Norfolk, Va., and offered its
services to the President. More than
10,000 Negroes were among the appli
cants to enlist with the expeditionary
army proposed by Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt. Although the raising of
an army fell upon the United States
in the earl} Springtime, when the Ne
gro population of the cotton belt is
largely under contract to remain in
the fields, many black soldiers enlisted
along with their white fellow-country
men.
Like a pathetic romance runs the
story of our soldiers in black. Too
little has been told about them by the
writers of American history. Certain
ly too little has been taught about
their activities in warfare from school
histories. A better understanding be
tween the races might have long ago
materialized had a page or two here
and there from the musty old Govern
ment reports and official war .records,
long buried in the dustiest corners of
big libraries, been inserted in the text
books on American history giving the
Negro’s part in the nation’s wars.
In the very first war for Ameri
can independence and long before the
Negro knew for himself the meaning
of the word “freedom” his finger got
hungry for a trigger at the tap of a
drum. In the war of the American
Revolution and in the war of 1812
•many Negroes bought their individual
freedom by fighting for the cause of
the colonifcts. Others went to the
front as substitutes for their masters
and the sons of their masters. The
present-day generation of Americans
would probably not believe it, but
official records make it true, never
theless, that at one time right in
New York State, now the Empire
State of the country, Negroes were
put in the trenches to fight for Amer
ican independence, and their pay as
so’diers went to their masters in pay
ment for their own individual free
dom. This by legislative enactment,
too. (Oct. 24, 1814.)
So eager were Negroes to enlist in
the war of the Revolution that laws
had to be passed repeatedly by the
States or colonies to prevent them
from mustering into service. On May
20, 1775, the Revolutionary Commit
tee on Safety found it desirable to
rule that "only free Negroes should be
employed as soldiers;” whereupon
many patriots freed their slaves. In
the Continental Congress Edward
Rutledge of South Carolina moved on
Sept. 26, 1775, that all Negro soldiers
be dismissed from the Colonial Army.
But there was strong opposition to
this move and Colored men were still
received, often as substitutes for
then white masters, who set them free
on this condition.
The Congressional Committee of
Conference with General Washington
before Boston, headed by Benjamin
Franklin, issued an order on Oct. 23,
1775, to the effect that Negroes “es
pecially such as are slaves,” should be
no longer enlisted. This brought much
dissatisfaction among the Negroes who
had already enlisted , and General
Washington reported that he had
cause to fear that those Colored troops
whose time had expired might show
their resentment by deserting to the
enemy. Congress permitted these to
re-enlist Jan. 16, 1776) and General
Washington, who had great faith in
the Negro as a soldier, had the sat
isfaction of continuing his plan of
using the black man in the trenches.
There were 775 Negroes enrolled in
the Continental Army on August 24,
1778. Two days later the Rhode Isl
and Legislature set free enough slaves
to form a regiment on condition they
would enlist with the State militia.
The terms were gladly accepted by
the slaves and they fought with con
spicuous and ^commendable gallantry
in the battle of Rhode Island. In his
100k, "The American Conflict,” Horace
Greeley wrote: “Had the Revolution
ary war lasted a few years longer
slavery would have been abolished
throughout the country.” It should be
stated in reference to the battle of
Rhode Island that Major Gen. Greene
had three regiments—one of them the
enlisted slaves—and they repulsed
three vicious attacks intended to flank
the American Army. The British
thought the Negroes were the weak
spot in the line, but they found they
were not.
One of the great disputes at home
arising at the outset of the War of
1812 was whether the Negroes should
be used as soldiers or not. General
Andrew Jackson issued a proclamation
from Mobile, Ala., on Sept. 21, 1814,
in which he bitterly denounced “the
mistaken policy of excluding Negroes
fro\n the army.” He praised unstint
ingly those Colored soldiers who had
fought under him, and had no cause
to regret his utterances shortly after
ward in the defense of New Orleans
when the Negroes under his command
fought bravely with the whites and
succeeded in driving Pakenham and
his trained British troops from be
hind the breastworks. (Jan. 8, 1815.)
(To be Continued)
CONNECTICUT HAS COLORED
COUNTRY CLUB
Chesire, Conn.—With the opening of
the Chesire County Club in this place,
with all the attractions and conveni
ences of a modern country club, the
Colored men composing its member
ship now over 200, have no doubt
launched the most complete organiza
tion of this kind owned and operated
by Colored men in this country.
Do your level best wherever you
may be employed.
RACE PRESS TAKES
UP OUR SLOGAN
The Monitor’s slogan: “Give Us a
Colored Commander for Colored
Troops,” is being taken up by the
race press throughout the country.
Let press, pulpit and people unite in
this demand, and eventually the pe
tition will be granted.
The Citizens Advocate, of Los An
geles, Cal., has this to say:
“The Monitor, one of our esteemed
contemporaries, is carrying a double
column header on its front page ap
pealing to President Wilson to ap
point a Colored commander for Color
ed troops. We give place to this ap
peal because such an act on the part
of the President will meet with the
approval of one-tenth part of the pop
ulation—and in justice to the Negro
soldier it ought to be done.
QUIZ SOLDIERS HELD IN RIOT
Fort Bliss, Tex.—One hundred and
fonr prisoners of the Twenty-fourth
Infantry have been examined here
by the National Board of Inquiry,
which is making an investigation pre
liminary to filing charges against the
members of the 24th Infantry, alleged
to have had a part in the rioting at
Houston on August 3.
New York Race
Men Nominated
First Time in History of State Voters
Colored Voters Have United on
Their Own Candidates.
BOTH MEN CREDIT TO RACE
New York City.—E. A. Johnson and
J. C. Thomas, Jr., two candidates rep
resenting the best intellectual and
business types of the race, have been
named by the Republican party as
candidates for the Assembly and Al
dermanic Board in Harlem, respec
tively. It is said to be the first time
the party has ever designated race
men as candidates for elective offices
in New York City.
Edward A. Johnson was nominated
as a candidate for Assemblyman for
the Nineteenth district. He is a man
of excellent accomplishments, and has
a fine record as a clean-cut business
man and gentleman. He defeated his
opponent for nomination by 14 votes.
Mr. Johnson is 56 years of age, and
was born in Raleigh, Nl C., where he
was admitted to the bar, and served
for some time as an assistant to the
United States attorney for that dis-'
trict. He is a graduate from both
Atlanta and' Shaw universities, and
for some years was a trustee for the
latter institution, as well as its dean.
Four times he went as a delegate to
National Republican conventions. Mr.
Johnson is also an author of national
reputation. He came to New York in
1906, and was admitted to the bar
here the same year. Among his liter
ary productions is one on the "Nation
al Negro Business League,” a “His
tory of the Negro Race,” “The Negro
Soldier” and a half dozen other author
ative works.
The aldermanic candidate has quite
as interesting history. James C.
Thomas, Jr., was graduated from the
city schools and Cornell University,
where he took high honrs as a scholar
and made an enviable record as a
member of the university track team.
His father is an undertaker, who has
amassed a fortune that is said to ap
proach $1,000,000. Young Thomas
was admitted to the New York bar in
1912, and was a delegate-at-large to
the Constitutional convention, of which
Hon. Elihu Root was chairman. Mr.
Thomas lives at 2229 Fifth avenue. He
is a candidate for alderman from the
Twenty-sixth district of the Tewenty
first Assembly district. Mr. Thomas’
led hig nearest opponent by 150 votes.
HURRICANE HIT JAMAICA;
KINGSTON MISSES DAMAGE
Kingston, Jamaica.—The island ol
Jamaica was struck by a hurricane
Sept. 22 for the third time in as man)
years. The gale was not of excessive
violence in Kingston, and no damage
was done to buildings. No details are
available from the interior of the
island, as all the telephone and tele
graph wires are down.
COLORED SCHOOLS AND
CHURCHES ALMOST EMPTY
Jacksonville, Fla.—It is reported
that schools and churches in the rural
districts of the State are almost empty
this fall, because of the great exodus
to the North. Business men and
preachers are also leaving in great
numbers for northern fields.
Roosevelt Receives
Colored Delegation
Fourteen Representatives of the Race
Wait Upon Militant Ex-President «
in Kansas City.
ASK MESSAGE OF INSPIRATION
Counsels Bravery, Patience, Progres
siveness and Trust in God; Main
tains That Justice Will
Triumph.
Kansas City, Mo.—A delegation of
prominent Colored men, upon an invi
tation extended by ex-President Theo
dore Roosevelt, soldier, statesman,
hunter and traveler and the greatest
living figure in the world today, visit
ed him at his stopping place while in
this city last Monday, September 24,
at 3 p. m. at the palatial residence of
Hon. I. R. Kirkwood, son-in-law of
the late Colonel William R. Nelson,
founder and editor of the Kansas City
Star, and were graciously received by
both Colonel Roosevelt and his host,
Mr. Kirkwood. After being ushered
into the magnificent reception room
of the Kirkwood residence, Mr. Nelson
C. Crews, as the spokesman of the
delegation, introduced the members
of the party to the ex-president, and
after an exchange of greetings brief
ly stated their pleasure in having this
distinguished honor conferred upon
them of being permitted to meet the
distinguished guest, to express their
confidence in him and to thank him
for his manly' and courageous stand
for the race in the recent controversy
with Samuel Gompers of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor at the recent
clash in Carnegie Hall in New York
City. Mr. Crews said that when
Abraham Lincoln uttered those splen
did words in which he said “govern
ment of the people, for the people and
by the people shall not perish from
the earth,” he gave utterance to a
lofty and magnificent sentiment, but
when you, Colonel Roosevelt, gave ut
terance to that stirring sentiment,
“All men up and no men down,” you
forever endeared yourself to every
Negro beneath whatever flag he may
live in the civilized world.
Mr. Crews then presented Dr. Wil
liam H. Thomas, the scholarly and
eloquent pastor of Allen Chapel, who
briefly but eloquently stated the dif
ficulties under which the race has la
bored, the struggles through which it
was passing and the need of encour
agement from strong and powerful
friends, and in conclusion said: “Mr.
Roosevelt, give us a text—a theme—a
message of inspiration to carry to our
people, and we shall feel that our mis
sion has not been in vain.”
Colonel Roosevelt seemed to be deep
ly affected by the eloquent plea of
Dr. Thomas, and though he gave visi
ble evidence of fatigue, having just
returned from the memorable banquet
extended him by the commercial
bodies of the city, yet he entered with
the Roosevelt vim and spirit into a
brief discussion of the conditions sur
roundings the Colored people, told
how it was his intention if he had been
permitted to organize a brigade for
service in France, to have had one
regiment of Colored men with Colonel
Young in command of that regiment
and all the officers Colored, and vehe
mently said: "I would have expected
every man from that regiment to hav*
measured up to the highest possible
standing, because I knew mere would
be expected of them than of other ele
ments in my regiment; but as I was
not permitted to organize that bri
gade I can only say to you: Be brave,
be not weary in well-doing, be patient
but progressive; trust in God and re
spect your fellows; always remem
bering that all things which are pos
sible are not always expedient. I
thank you, gentlemen, for having paid
me this call, and bid you tell your
race that justice and right will event
ually prevail among men.”—Kansas
City Sun.
A SAMPLE OF
SOUTHERN “JUSTICE”(T)
Raleigh, N. C.—Reuben Bailey, a
white man, who was arrested several
weeks ago charged with breaking into
a Colored farmer's house and crim
inally assaulting his wife, in the pres
| ence of her children, was tried in the
Superior Court last week. He was
allowed to plead guilty of forcibly en
tering the house and the court accept
ed his plea, saying: “Let the prisoner
pay the Colored woman $26 and cost
of court, and you give a bond of $100
for good behavior until the September
term of court.”
