j err., i The Monitor iveeti
A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans ^
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
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$1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 13, 1917 Vol. III. No. 15 <W c No. 119)
Will Be Trained
In the South
Drafted Colored Men Will be Sent to
Cantonments in Every Section
of the Country.
MOBILIZATION HAS STARTED
Eight Thousand Negroes from North
and South Carolina and Florida to
be Trained at Camp Jackson.
Washington, D. C.—The first of
the drafted Negroes will be mobil
ized during October, and Secretary
Baker has announced that a complete
unit of Negroes will train at each of
the sixteen cantonments, instead of
training them only at cantonments to
which a considerable number report.
The size of the unit will depend up
on the number of Negroes there is
from the divisional area which sup
plies each cantonment, but where
there is a large surplus men will be
sent to posts with smaller numbers
for sonsolidation with the training
units there.
According to orders issued by the
Provost Marshall, General Crowder’s
mobilization of Negroes enrolled un
der the selective draft has been or
dered at various camps in the South,
for them to receive the proper train
ing. This indicates that the War De
partment has at last decided upon the
policy of training the conscripted men
of the race at the camps adjacent to
the localities in which they were
drafted.
Thousands to be at Southern Camps.
Under the orders just issued 8,000
men of the race from North and
South Carolina and Florida are being
mobilized at Camp Jackson, near Col
umbia, S. C. This will include 26 per
cent of the entire quota of South Car
olina, composed entirely of Negroes.
The order the Colored troops at all
cantonments call for the same per
centage, making the totals from the
three States as follows: South Car
olina total draft, 10,081; 26 per cent,
2,618. North Carolina, total draft,
15,974; 26 per cent, 1,45.3. Florida
total draft, 6,325; 26 per cent, 1,645.
In Virginia provision has been made
for the housing of Colored recruits at
Camp Lee, near Petersburg. Buildings
for the housing of these soldiers have
been completed and all is reported in
readiness for their reception.
In compliance with a recently is
sued order the Colored troops at all
cantonments will be trained separate
ly. This, however, does not in any
wise mean that they will be trained
less thoroughly. This precaution is
taken as a matter of safety and to
guard against any possible breach of
the discipline and good feeling that
is desired to maintain in the army,
which is an unnecessary precaution.
OPEN ORGANIZATION TO
COLORED MEMBERS
National Labor Organ Takes Ad
vanced Position in Advocacy of
Industrial Recognition of Race.
Chicago, III.—“Let us open all
unions to the Negro,” says the Chi
cago Labor News, in commenting on
}\ report of the East St. Louis race
riots i/ which discriminations of
unions ag’inst the Negro was crit
icized. The labor paper admits that
“many of the unions have discrimin
ated shamefully against the Negro.”
It adds "and we condemn them hear
tily for so doing.”
The News continues, “It is ridicu
lous to say that the I. W. W. is the
only labor organization that welcomes
the Negro. In the United Mine
Workers alone, at the present time,
there are more Negroes that the I.
W. W. has had all told in its ranks
since it was founded. And this takes
no account of the thousands of Ne
groes in scores of other trade unions.
The Asphalt Pavers Union of Chi
cago, one of the best in the city, is
composed entirely of Negroes. So
is local No. 228 of the musicians.
And of the Chicago Flat Janitors
Union, which ranks high among the
most powerful and militant organiza
tions in this city, fully 26 per cent
of the 7,000 members are Colored.
Various other similar examples could
be cited.”
A STEVEDORE DIES IN FRANCE
Washington, D. C.—In a cablegram
from Major General Pershing intel
ligence of the death of Benjamin Hay
ward, a stevedore, which occurred
September 24 of heart disease, was
made known October 1st.
AK-SAR-BEN PARADES ARE
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS
If there was a Nebraskan or Iowan
who attended the great parades of
Ak-Sar-Ben last week and was not
thrilled with love of his country and
the privileges of democracy, then he
was a poor citizen, indeed.
For never has there been such a
vizulation of Liberty and Democ
racy as that ofefred by the electrical
parade and the Liberty parade, the
former the evening and the latter
the aftemon events of the big days.
Eighteen wonderful creation of
electrical achievement told the story
in the evening. As many more, sup
plemented by thousands of boys in
Khaki, told the afternoon story to
hundreds of thousands.
CHARLES STEWART NOW
A FOOD ADMINISTRATOR
Washington, D. C.—Charles Stew
art, the noted correspondent and ora
tor, has been placed in charge of pub
licity work among the Colored peo
ple in connection with the conserva
tion of food movement.
New York Regiment
Resents Insults
Col. Hayward's Men Tear Down Ob
noxious Sign Posted by Southern
ers in Army Building.
Camp Dix, Wrightstown, N. J.—
Only a back down on the part of
those who gave offense saved Camp
Dix from riot and bloodshed Wed
nesday night, October 3. The trou
ble was brought about by a group of
Southerners in the Twenty-sixth En
gineers.
These Southerners posted a sign
reading, “No niggers allowed in this
i building.” It was promptly torn
down by one of the guards of the
15th Infantry. Another sign took its
place, reading, “For w’hite soldiers
! only.”
The last sign remained throughout |
the day, but at midnight 200 men of
the 15th shouldered arms and with
martial tread and song stormed the
building and tore down the sign. The
Southerners being cowed, sent runners
to the white officers of the 15th, ask
ing them to call off their men. The
white officers of the 15th used their
good offices to restore peace, but told |
them some of their men needed a j
beating up.
The men of the 15th N. Y. have
been on guard duty at Camp Dix since
August 16th, and have maintained
peace and order in a dignified and
soldierly manner. They have walked
the streets of Camden and philadel
• phia day and night, and their deport
ment has been first class and the citi
zens have commented upon their gen
tlemanly bearing. The Southerners
came to camp three weeks ago, and
I have been trying to stir up trouble
ever since arrival.
It is expected that the men of the
! 26th will be severely reprimanded, as
I the Colored soldiers were compelled to
pass through the building where the
sign was placed in discharge of duty
and the insult was deliberate and in
tentional.
SUICIDED BECAUSE AD
JUDGED TO BE COLORED
Soldier at Chillicothe Cantonment
Thought He Was “White” Till
Surgeons Examined Him.
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Washington, Sept. 29, 1917.—Al
fred Lord, twenty-seven, physically
[ fit and ready for service in the new
national army, committed suicide
' when the army surgeons at the Chil
j licothe, 0., cantonment told him
I there was Negro blood in his viens
and he could not serve in a regiment
with white men. Lord had always
thought himself white and had asso
ciated with white men all his life.
Lord left his home at Mineral City,
O., last Monday in fine spirits and
eager for service with 105 of his fel
low townsmen, but when the army
physicians examined him they said he
must go with a Colored regiment.
WHITE GIRLS STRIKE
IN GOVERNMENT OFFICE
Washington, D. C.—Because Col
ored women were put to work beside
them at a power press in the bureau
of engraving and printing yesterday,
: the white girls went on a strike, ac
cording to information brought out
i last night at a meeting of employees
[ of the bureau in the Typographical
Temple.
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
TROCjPS; 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.
(Continued from Last Week.)
Whether the service of the black
man as a soldier to the wars for
American independence was prompted
by a selfish desire to gain his indi
vidual freedom from slavery, or
whether it was due to a broader sense
of patriotism is a matter for students
of sociology to determine. In per
fect candor it might be stated that
many of the Negroes in the Southern
colonies repudiated the soil of their
birth and went with Lord Cornwallis
in his Southern campaign (1779) when
he offered freedom to the Negroes
who would join the British forces. It
was esl sled that he gained 30,000
Colored troops by this offer. Thomas
Jefferson lost thirty of his own slaves
to Lord Cornwallis on account of this
temptation, but, he said, it was all
right if Cornwallis was sincere.
In the civil war things were quite
different. It was natural to suppose
that, since the ultimate result of the
war between the States involved, one
way or another, the freedom of the
Colored population of the country, Ne
groes would flock to the Union side,
leaving the plantations of the South
and deserting their masters. But this
did not happen. While many Negroes
fought on the Union side, many also
fought in the trenches with their mas- 1
ters, and many more remained at
home to till the soil of their masters
and protect the homes of the whites
they loved so well. Such a condition
has no parallel in history. While
some of the Negroes were leaving the
South to join the forces of the North,
quite as many were asking their mas
ters to send them to the trenches of
the Confederate Army. Breastworks
around most of the Southern cities
were built by loyal slaves with an ut
ter disregard of their freedom as an
issue of the war.
President Jefferson Davis of the
Confederate States issued a proclama
tion that all Negroes who deserted
their masters and joined the Union
Army, if captured by the Confederates
should be treated, as felons and shot;
but no one was ever executed under |
Jiese orders. In truth, the military j
leaders of the Northern army were,
themselves, very cautious about taking
too many Negroes into the Union lines
until their capacity and courage as
soldiers had been tested. Not until
July 16, 1862, did Congress pass an
act authorizing the President to accept
Negroes as soldiers "for any war
service for which they may bn found
capable." On Jan. 20, 1863, Thaddeus
Stevens of Pennsylvania introduced a
bill in the House of Representatives
providing for the enlistment of 15,
000 Negroes with the same pay as
white soldiers. This brought on a
bitter debate in Congress. The House
passed the bill by a vote of 83 to 54,
but the Senate turned it down.
President Lincoln ^as strongly in
favor of employing > igro soldiers, as
may be seen from '.ne following ut
terance made by him in a letter to
Governor Andrew Johnson of Tennes
see on March 26, 1863:
“The bare sight of 60,000 armed and
drilled black soldiers upon the banks
of the Mississippi would end the re
bellion at once, and who doubts that
we can present that sight if we but
take hold in earnest? If you have
been thinking of it, please do not dis
miss the thought." (From “Great De
bates in American History,” edited by
Marion Mills Miller, Litt. D.—Current
Literature Publishing Company.)
In a report made to the Secretary
•
of War (Edwin M. Stanton) on June
23, 1862, General David Hunter gave
testimony of the Negro’s efficiency as |
a soldier.
So according to the best military
authorities, the Negro made good as
a soldier. Can there be any wonder
that he has been making good in Un
cle Sam’s battles since the civil war
—since he was emancipated and came
into the enjoyment of individual free
dom, which was before then denied
him ?
W hen alarmists, under the cloak of
rac.io-sociology have done their worst;
when scientists have been silenced and
doctrinaires have been subdued; re
freshing, indeed, will it be for future
generations of Americans to read with
calmness what the impartial, unpreju
diced historian will have to say about
the part the Negro soldiers of the
United States army played in the war
with Spain.
Things that are too raw to state
publicly now—facts that, perchance,
bring embarrassment now—may be
accepted with grace a few decades
from now. The official report of Gen
eral Kent, for instance, now a part
of the records of the army at Wash
ington, telling how he led the Twen
ty-fourth Infantry, (a Negro regi
ment,) over “prostrate forms” of pan
ic-stricken white soldiers in the Cuban
campaign—such official documents
some day may be taken less sensi
tively by Americans than they now
are, or recently have been. One of
these days such documents may be ac
cepted earnestly, seriously as a means
of arriving accurately at the Negro’s
comparative merits as a soldier.
In the regular army, there is an
other regiment of Colored infantry—
the Twenty-fifth—and two of cavalry
—the Ninth and Tenth. All of these
did good service in the war with Spain.
After the declaration of war the
Twenty-fifth was the first regiment
to encamp. It was with the first ex
pedition to Cuba, and was the second
regiment to land on Cuban soil, and
had the "honor,” as one of them put
it, of digging the entrenchments near
est to the enemy’s lines. It gives one
a pretty fair mental picture of the
Twenty-fifth to know that in physique
the men were large and so sound of
body that only one man from its ranks
died in the Cuban campaign from cli
matic disease, and only two from dis
eases of any kind.
The Twenty-fifth, according to Col
onel Daggett’s report, occupied the
right of a short, reconstructed line in
the battle of San Juan Hill with the
Fourth Infantry on its left. To the
right of the Twenty-fifth were about
fifty Cubans, who took little or no part
in the fighting. The Twenty-fifth’s
firing line consisted of two companies
—H and G. Company D was ordered
to deploy as flankers on the right.
The firing line battalion was under
the command of Captain W. S. Scott,
and advanced in line with the Fourth
I lfantry, all being under fire until
they reached a point about 500 yards
from the fort. Here the line found
cover, halted and delivered effective
fire. But at this point the Fourth
Infantry was blocked by natural ob
stacles, according to official reports,
and could make no further advance.
Nevertheless, it continued to scatter
destructive bullets on the enemy. Col
onel Daggett ordered an advance,
which was quickly made by the Negro
soldiers of the Twenty-fifth, but in
doing so it broke away from the
Fourth, which was halted on its left.
This separated the Twenty-fifth from
the brigade and exposed its left to a
severe oblique, or nearly cross fire,
from the village and blockhouses,
which were on the left and a little in
front of El Carney. Company C was
then ordered to reinforce the left of
the line, and Lieutenant Kinson’s com
pany was called from the reserve to
replace Company C in the line of sup
port, thus making five companies in
action. The battalion in this forma
tion proceeded to within fifty yards of
the fort, and fifteen or twenty minutes
before any other troops came up the
enemy put out the white flag.
Under protection of the rifles of the
Negro regiment, a delegation from the
Twelfth Infantry went forward and
took the emblem of surrender from
the Spaniards; but, not to be outdone
in the celebration of so joyous an oc
casion, and hungry for the trophies of
the fray, two Negroes from the Twen
ty-fifth rushed upon the scene and
began tearing the Spanish standard
to pieces for souvenirs.
(To be Continued)
Conference On
Food Conservation
Interesting Addresses Made by Na
tional, State and Local Repre
sentatives of Food Commission.
A meeting in the interests of food
conservation was held in the Guild
rooms of St. Philip’s church Tues
day night, in connection with the reg
ular monthly meeting of the Negro
Civic and Industrial League. The
pastors of the local churches and the
heads of various fraternal bodies
were invited to the conference. H.
A. Chiles attended as the representa
tive of the K. P.’s; J. C. Belcher as
the representative of the Oddfellows,
and Messrs. Nate Hunter and W. L.
Seals as representatives of the Ma
sonic fraternity. Several ladies were
invited, but the sole representative
of the fair sex were Mrs. R. K. Law
rie, the well-known cateress and Mrs.
John Albert Williams.
Amos P. Scruggs, president of the
League called the meeting to order
and announced that inasmuch as rep
resentatives of the national, state and
city food conservation commissions
were present for a conference with
representatives of our people, the reg
ular monthly meeting of the League
would yield place to the conference.
By common consent he acted as chair
man of the meeting.
Mr. E. G. Foote, a prominent busi
ness man who had been summoned
from Shang Hai, China, by President
Wilson to assist Mr. Hoover, was in
troduced and in a very simple, lucid
way explained the necessity for the
saving of food. He told how that by
the substition of beans, potatoes and
corn meal for wheat flour the United
States would be able to send abroad
for the sustentation of our army and
allies the food which they must have.
Wheat, meat and dairy products must
be shipped abroad. The consumption
of less of these foods at home will
enable the government to make these
shipments.
Mr. J. C. McKelvie, who is the
state representative, told in a force
ful way how Nebraska is being organ
ized to help in this national move
ment. Every man, woman and child
I can do something in this work.
Mr. Harry Palmer, whose work is
| the organizer of the food saving cam
paign in Douglas county, explained
how it was proposed to reach every
individual in Douglas county, and in
this work the cooperation of school
children, school teachers, churches,
i lodges and every organization is
' needed. The first work is that of ed
ucating the people to the need of
! food conservation. This will be fol
; lowed with the pledge-signing cam
paign, in which the people will be
: asked to sign a card pledging them
selves to keep one wheatless day and
one meatless day each week.
Those present at the meeting
pledgeg their cooperation.
NEW HEAD FOR HAMPTON
Newport News.—The Rev. Dr. An
son Phelps Stokes, secretary of Yale
University, has been chosen as prin
cipal of Hampton Normal and Indus
trial Institute to succeed the late Dr.
Hollis B. Frissell.
“DISGRACE OF DEMOCRACY”
Washington.—Kelly Miller’s pam
phlet entitled the “Disgrace of De
mocracy” on motion of Senator Wes
ley Jones of Washington, was printed
in the Congressional Record of Sep
tember 15th.
Tuskegee Secretary
Made War Advisor
Emmet J. Scott Has Been Appointed
One of Three Civilian Advisors
to the Secretary of War.
A MAN OF MARKED ABILITY
The Administration Makes Wise
Movement in Giving Recognition
to Well-Qualified Race Man.
Washington, D. C.—Emmett J.
Scott, secretary of Tuskegee Institute,
has been appointed civilian advisor to
the Secretary of War and will take up
residence in Washington, D. C. He
will be in daily communication with
the other two members of the commit
tee, Felix Frankfurter of the Harvard
University Law School, and Walter
Lippman, editor of the New Republic.
This committee will be in direct con
sultation with Secretary Baker.
For the last twenty years Mr. Scott
has been in the public eye. Before be
coming private secretary to Booker T.
Washington he attracted attention as
a newspaper man, first on the Hous
ton Post, Houston, Tex., and later as
editor of the Texas Freeman. He
also served as private secretary to
the famous Texas politician, Wright
Cuney.
In the early days of Tuskegee Mr.
Scott became private secretary to
Booker T. Washington and for eigh
teen years served with great credit in
a confidential capacity to the cele
brated Negro leader, proving a most
valuable and trusted assistant. It
was Mr. Scott who framed the plat
form and handled the machinery of
the National Negro Business League,
who managed all the many trips that
Booker T. Washington made through
the Southern and Atlantic States, and
who in all detail work of Tuskegee
Institute as well as in the public work
upheld the hands of his chief. He
has a wide acquaintance and is the
author of several pamphlets and
books, among which are “Is Liberia
Worth Saving?” “Tuskegee and Its
People,” and “Booker T. Washington,
Builder of a Civilization.”
RACE SOLDIERS FORGOTTEN
Dayton, O.—The surprising fact
was made known to the public Octo
ber 4 that Company C, Ninth Bat
talion, Colored troops, encamped near
the Soldiers’ Home since June, has
not received a cent of money or shred
of clothing from the government since
the company, 200 strong, went into
camp. In some manner the govern
ment overlooked the battalion, which
is composed entirely of Dayton boys.
A large number of the men are
without shoes and the majority with
out underwear. Thus equipped they
are compelled to drill six to eight
hours a day and often march a total
distance of 18 miles. Citizens have
become interested and will appeal to
the government.
ADVOCATE GOOD GOVERNMENT
Philadelphia, Pa.—One hundred
prominent race men formed an or
ganization known as the Committee
of One Hundred, of which Hon. Chris
J. Perry is chairman, and donated $1
each toward meeting on Thursday
night at the Academy of Music for
good government in this city.
COTTON PICKERS IN DEMAND;
PLANTERS OFFER HIGH WAGE
Shreveport, La.-—A record breaking
price of $1.50 per hundred pounds,
nearly three times the usual price in
past seasons, is being paid by some
planters in north Louisiana, partic
ularly in the Monroe section, for cot
ton picking.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY OPENS
Washington, D. C.—Fi « hundred
and fifty-nine students have regis
tered in the academic departments
at Howard University. The Fresh
man and Sophomore classes are as
full as usual but the draft, training
camp and higher wages have caused
many Juniors and Seniors to be ab
sent. The registration is about one
hundred and fifty below that of last
year.
FREIGHT HANDLERS STRIKE
IN NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans, La.—Approximately
500 union Colored freight handlers
quit work here Sept. 24, making a
total of about 2,600 dock workers on
strike at this port.
