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, DECEMBER 29. 1917 Vol. III. No. 26 (Whole No. 129)
Entire Division of
Colored Troops
rp
Ninety-Second Division is to be v e
*
mantled by Brigadier-Genera.
Charles Ballou.
OFFICIAL STAFF IS ANNOUNCED
Every Branch of Service to Be Repre
sented; Company Commanders Will
Be Colored Men.
Washington, D. C., Dec. 21.—Briga
dier General C. C. Ballou, who had
charge of the reserve officers’ training
camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, has
been designated to command the 92d
division, to be made up of 30,000 fight
ing troops of Color. General Ballou
was chiefly responsible for the mili
tary training of the 1,260 Colored of
ficers who attended the training camp
at Fort Des Moines, nearly 700 of
whom up to this date have received
commissions in the United States
army, including quite a number who
have been commissioned since the clos
ing of the training camp on October
16, 1917. General Ballou was at the
war department for conference with
officers of the general staff, and with
Emmett J. Scott, special assistant to
the secretary of war, who is advising
the war department in matters relat
ing to the Colored troops in the na
tional army, and with regard to the it
terests of the Colored people of the
United States generally.
It is announced by the war depart
ment that, included in General Bal
lou’s staff, are to be three brigadier
generals who will command the one
artillery and two infantry brigades. In
the largest measure possible General
Ballou enjoys the respect and confi
dence of the men whom he trained as
officers at Fort Des Moines, and his
sympathetic attitude toward Colored
soldiers in general, together with his
splendid ability as a commanding of
ficer, make his selection as command
ing oficer of the 92d division an ideal
,nue. The complete staff of the 92d di
vision follows:
Co..inlanders of Infantry Brigades—
Brigadier General M. H. Barnum and
Brigadier General W. H. Ray.
Artillery Brigade Commander —
Brigadier General J. E. McMahon.
Adjutants to Brigade Commanders—
Majors Edmund A. Buchanan and Her
man S. Dilworth, infantry, and Harvey
D. Higley, artillery.
Chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel
Allen J. Greer; assistant chief of staff,
Major E. F. Graham; adjutant gen
eral, Major Sherburne Whipple; in
spector general, Major Robert P. Har
bold; division surgeon, Lieutenant Col
onel Perry L. Boyer; assistant to di
vision surgeon, Captain Homer Nicoll;
sanitary inspector, Major Jonas S.
White; signal officer, Major T. C.
Kpencer; commanding officer, head
quarters troops, Captain E. B. Tur
geon.
There still remains to be appointed
to the staff a judge advocate, an ord
nance officer and a quartermaster;
also one chaplain for each of the five
regiments not already provided with
chaplains, there being eight regiments
which will compose the 92d division,
and the three chaplains thus far ap
pointed being: Rev. A. E. Rankin,
349th field artillery; Rev. E. A. Love,
r<68th infantry, and Rev. E. O. Wool
folk, 351st field artillery.
Officers of Color with the rank of
cuirtain and first and second lieuten
ant will be company commanders in all
branches of the division. It will be
noted that every branch of army serv
ice is to be represented in the 92d di
vision of Colored troops, and it goes
without saying that this large fighting
unit will uphold the honored traditions
of Colored soldiers who have fearless
ly and gallantly fought in every war
that has ever been prosecuted by our
great and invincible republic.
ARKANSAS ELECTS
COLORED BISHOP
The Venerable Edward Thomas Dem
by, Archdeacon of Colored Work in
Tennessee, Is Unanimously
Chosen,
WELL QUALIFIED FOR OFFICE
Little Rock, Ark.—At a special coun
cil of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkan
sas, held in Christ church, this city,
December 12, the Venerable Edward
Thomas Demby, archdeacon of Colored
work in the Diocese of Tennessee
and principal of Hoffman-St. Mary
Industrial Institute at Keeling, Tenn.,
was unanimously chosen on the first
ballot as Suffragan Bishop of Arkan
I sas. In the event of his acceptance and
consecration he will have charge of the
work among the Colored Episcopalians
'"{ this diocese, with possible jurisdic
on in the other dioceses and districts
the Trovince of the Southwest.
<£> 'lft May, in order to adequately
de for aggressive missionary
imong both races in Arkansas,
t' ese decided to elect a Suffra
t 'P for the white work and one
fb olored work. Archdeacon
Saj \s elected for the former
and iiteacon Russell, principal of
St. Paul’s Normal and Industrial
school of Lawrenceville, Va., for the
latter field. Archdeacon Russell de
clined the election. This necessitated
the calling of the special council which
has just elected Archdeacon Demby,
who received the second highest num
ber of votes at the time of Archdeacon
Russell’s election.
Bishop-elect Demby is well qualified
for the responsible position to which
he has been chosen. He was educated
at Howard and Wilberforce universi
ties and at Matthew Hall, Denver. He
was ordered deacon by Bishop Gailor
of Tennessee in 1898 and ordained to
the pr esthood by the same prelate in
1899. He began his ministry as rector
of St. Paul’s, Mason, Tenn. Subse
quent cures held by him were St.
Augustine’s, Kansas City, Mo.,- St.
Peter’s, Key West, Fla., and Em
manuel, Memphis. In 1912 he was ap
pointed by Bishop Gailor archdeacon
in charge of the Colored work in Ten
nessee, in which position he has shown
tact and administrative ability of high
order. As a young man he was a suc
cessful teacher in Delaware, Texas and
British America. He is a man of wide
experience and sound scholarship.
He has not yet signified his de
cision, but it is believed that he will
accept the. election.
CALLS HOUSTON HANGING
“MILITARY LYNCHING”
The Rev. George Frazier Miller, Rec
tor of St. Augustine’s Episcopal
Church, Brooklyn, Expresses Opin
ion of Tragedy.
New York.—The recent hanging of
! the thirteen Negro soldiers convicted
| of participation in the Houston, Tex.,
rioting was called a “military lynch
| irjg” by the Rev. George Frazier Mil
j ler, speaking from the pulpit of St.
’Augustine's Protestant Episcopal
j church, Brooklyn, Sunday morning,
j December 16.
He referred to the soldiers executed
i as “the thirteen martyrs” and inti
mated that their “sacrifice to appease
the people of Houston” would under
mine the patriotism of American Ne
groes. He sharply criticised the mili
tary commander of that district who
carried out the court-martial’s death
sentence.
Mr. Miller told his congregation that
he had been warned he might be in jail
by Monday night if he delivered his
sermon. He said he had determined
to say what was to follow and did not
fear arrest.
He said that the law permitted a
military commander in time of war to
carry out a court-martial death sen
tence without getting the president’s
confirmation of the sentence. He re
ferred to news dispatches which told
that the thirteen had been hanged bc
I fore President Wilson or high war de
partmeht officiaFs knew it.
“I am glad to know',” he said, “that
the authorities at Washington did not
know anything about this. But if 1
were president that military comman
der down there would report to me be
fore carrying out such an order. If 1
were secretary of war and the presi
dent didn’t demand such a report I
should resign my portfolio.
“The military comamnder who car
ried out that order was guilty of mili
tary lynching. It was done to uppease
the people of Houston. In order to ap
pease them the commander took ad
vantage of the state-of-war situation
which made their execution possible
without a report to Washington. If
this thing had been reported to Wash
ington we in this country would have
had a chance to plead for mercy. Thir
teen men in the United States army
were denied the right of appeal, which
is accorded to any criminal.
“We want the entire country to
know that we of the Negro race feel
we have been seriously wronged, not
because the thirteen were killed, but
because they were denied the right of
appeal—to appease Houston.
“These thirteen were sacrificed on
the infamous altar of Southern preju
dice. Yet we are still expected to
glorify in patriotism. That deed is not
calculated to enhance the patriotism
of American Negroes, but to destroy
it.”
The 24th Infantry Tragedy
Comments by the White Press
Houston and East St. Louis.
From the Pueblo (Colo.) Chieftain,
Dec. 14.
“The people of the United States
will generally approve of the sentences
that were imposed on the members of
the Colored reigiment who mutinied at
Houston, Texas. At the same time
the people of the country will demand
that a similar punishment be meted
to the white men who killed the Ne
groes ;n East St. Louis a few weeks
Ls'oro the occurrence at Houston. If
anything, the acts of the white people
in East St. Louis were far more grave
thou the acts of the Negroes in Hous
ton. In no manner was either act ex
cusab'e, and the military authority ex
ncwd wise judgment in inflicting a
sure and quick punishment on the Ne
groes. If the civil population in East
St. Louis fail to Inflict a similar pun
ishment on the men who wre guilty
of those murders and crimes, it will
only go to show that our government
falls down in certain circumstances,
and it will only go to increase the feel
ing that punishment is not fairly
meted eut.
I nitorm Should Have Protection.
From the Buffalo Courier, December
12, 1917.
The prim, melancholy sequel to the
mutiny and riot of Negro soldiers of
the Twenty-fourth Infantry at Hous
ton was enacted yesterday when on
a government res a vat' n thirteen of
these, including five non-commissioned
officers, with heads erect, untrem
bling, singing a hymn, as the dis
patches recite, marched to the place of
execution and on a great gallows were
hanged until they were dead. As
further prescribed by the court-mar
tial findings, forty-one others will go
to prison for life. A few received
shorter sentences. Of the sixty-three
tried, five were acquitted.
Hardly in the history of the Ameri
can army is found a parallel of thii*
tragical chapter. The men who have
suffered death were guilty of dis
obedience of orders, and of lawless
conduct, and of killing civilians. They
were as guilty of murder as are the
white lynchers of Texas w-ho go un
punished. Justice and military dis
cipline required that the extreme pen
alty be exacted. Probably with the
military court procedure no fault can
fairly be found. The judgment can be
accepted as righteous and the execu
tion as necessary.
Nevertheless, the Twenty-fourth
Regiment of Negro infantry of the
regular army has a long general rec
ord of efficiency and constancy which
this gloomy episode may hardly im
pair. During the time when a battal
ion of the organization was in garri
son at Fort Porter in this city, never
was a complaint of misconduct heard.
As far as deportment is concerned,
never did any troops stationed here
preserve a cleaner slate. There is no
doubt -that in the minds of the soldiers
who mutinied at Houston passion and
bitter resentment were stirred by con
tinual abusive aggression by whites as
low iu the intellectual if not in the
common social scale.
The states have authority within
their territory. They may allow Tex
ans to lynch a Negro because he is
black, Georgians to lynch a Jew lj?
cause~of his race. But the uniform of
the United States army should every
where in the United States have both
protection and respect, whatever be
the race or color or creed of the wear
er, and, especially in this time of great
war, the whole civil and military power
of the nation should, if needful, be
exercised to insure such protection
and respect.
Mistreatment Not Excusable.
From New York World.
“The hanging of thirteen Negro sol
diers, who participated in the Hous
ton'riot last August, was the most
drastic military punishment in the his
tory of the United States. Forty-one
others were sentenced to serve shorter
terms.
“It was a terrible crime that these
men committed. It has been terribly
punished, and justly and properly pun
ished. No excuse could be made, no
leniency shown to the men in the
United States uniform who set out de
liberately to commit indiscriminate
murder. They were soldiers who had
been trained to military discipline,
and in defiance of officers they organ
ized a mob under their own leaders
for a general massacre or any and all
persons who crossed their path.
“At the same time, the Houston j
riot and the events growing out of
it. should be a warning to Southern of
ficials. At the start the Houston po
lice were to blame. By their attitude
toward Negro soldiers they created a
feeling of bitter resentment that was
finally responsible for the bloody out
break that followed. The Negro sol
diers who planned to do wholesale
murder at Houston have been hanged
or sent to prison for life, as justice re
quires, but nothing in the sentences
imposed upon them can excuse the
mistreatment of United States sol
diers because their skins are black.” i
Had a Good Name Here.
Buffalo Daily Express, Dec. 13, 1917.
It is not so long since the Twenty
fourth infantry was quartered in Buf
falo. That Negro regiment was not
only tolerated by its white neighbors
at Fort Porter, but it grew to be
popular here. Not a complaint reached
the police of misconduct on the part
of the soldiers. Its baseball team
played games with white clubs and
was respected for its sportsmanship.
Buffalo was sorry to see the Twenty
fourth leave and ever since has re
garded it is a local institution, to be
cherished in memory next after only
the immortal Thirteenth.
“These were all soldiers of the reg
ular army, men of the Negro race.
We have not heard of any white men
being punished for that riot though
members of the Houston police depart
ment were under suspension at last
accounts. Nor is it likely that any
will be adequately punished. White
civilians have privileges in Texas
which are denied to black soldier.s.
“Being soldiers, the dead men should
have learned to keep their tempers.
Being Negroes in a southern state
they should have learned this, any
way, for their own personal safety.
Then they might have saved their
lives, though they lost their self-re
spect.
“But isn't it time that the war de
partment started playing fair with its
Mack troops? If it cannot protect
them against southern mobs it should
not order them to duty in the south.
“By the way, how many able-bodied
white citizens of Houston have enlisted
for the war?”
HOME FROM CAMP FUNSTON
FOrt THE HOLIDAYS
Wynn D. McCullough and El nun'
Morris came home from Camp Funs
ton to spend Christmas with their rela
tives and friends. They are the pic
ture of health and enjoy camp life.
They report that the Omaha boys are
well and getting on nicely.
NEW LIBRARY FOR KNOXVILLE
Knoxville, Tenn.—This city will have
a library for persons of color costing
$21,000. Miss Mary Miller will have
charge of the day work and Mr. Mer
chant the night work. The library will
be maintained by the city. Andrew
Carnegie gave the site upon this condi
tion.
•• • . - C_i'V ■ s -u . - ■ ■-- : _ V . • . ' * . . 1 *"*"*"** ^ -, _ .-• . .*
WILL HELP FAMILIES
OF EXECUTED SOLDIERS
The National Colored Soldiers' Com
fort Committee of Washington Plan
to Provide Relief for Dependents.
ISSUES AN IMPORTANT APPEAL :
Washington, D. C., Dec. 21.—The I
National Colored Soldiers’ Comfort i
Committee, which has headquarters in
this city at 1105 U street, and of
which Prof. Kelly Miller of Howard
university is president and J. C. Na
pier and Ralph W. Tyler, treasurer and
secretary, respectively, have issued the
following statement relative to its in
tention of providing relief for the fa
milies of Colored soldiers executed at
Fort Sam Houston last week:
"No calamity in many years has so
depressed the Colored people of this
country as the execution of the thir
teen soldiers of the Twenty-fourth
United States infantry at Fort Sam
Houston, Texas, last week, and the
sentencing of forty-one others to life
imprisonment. It was a tragedy that
could not but help to cut deep into our
hearts.
“While at this time we are not ques
tioning the right of the government to
inflict so severe and summary punish
ment upon men who before had ren
dered valiant service to the country
while wearing the uniform of an
American soldier, and while we do not
purpose to waver in our loyalty to the
only country we know, we feel that it
is the innocent who must suffer most;
that the families of these executed and
imprisoned soldiers will soon be suf
fering for the necessities of ilfe.
“Unfortunately, and tragically un
fortunate, the government that took
from these families a support has no
provision for caring for the families
left dependent, so it is up to the race
to offer these bereaved families sup
port. The National Colored Soldiers’
Comfort Committee has decided that
out of the $2,000,000 being raised for
the relief of the dependents of Colored
soldiers, it will provide for the fami
lies of the men executed and imprison
ed, under sentence at Fort Sam Hous
ton last week, and we call upon the
Colored people of the country to re
spond quickly to our appeal for con
tributions, giving what they can, if but
the widow’s mite. Those thirteen Col
ored soldiers met death stoically, as
stoically as John Brown at Harper’s
Ferry; those forty-one sentenced to
imprisonment for life met their fate
unflinchingly. Now let us cheerfully,
loyally and quickly respond to the ap
peals for funds to aid their bereaved
and needy families. We owe this as a
duty to the men who drank to the
dregs from the cup of bitterness. Let
every Colored man, woman and child
now show race loyalty by responding
quickly.”
....
GENERAL HARRIES
PLEASED WITH COMMAND
Washington, D. C., Dec. 27.—Gen
eral George Harries of Omaha, for
merly at Camp Cody, but now in com
mand of a Negro brigade at Camp
Jackson, S. C., visited the capital to
day. He expressed himself as pleased
with his new command.
“I believe my Colored men will ren
der a good account of their services
for Unde Sam,” the general said.
General Harries was well received
at the Press club where he is an old
time active member and where he is
ranking officer of eighty members
who are serving the country in the
army and navy.
DELAYED CHRISTMAS
MAIL ARRIVES
Paris, Dec. 27.—Four carloads of
Christmas mail which arrived at a
French port from the United States
were forwarded today for delivery at
the headquarters of the regimental
units of the American expeditionary
forces.
WILL REDUCE NUMBER
OF PASSENGER TRAINS
Chicago, 111., Dec. 27.--An immedi
ate and radical curtailment of pas
senger service in the central west was
predicted by railway men today as
one of the first results of government
control of the roads.
1
Omaha Goes Clear
“Over the Top”
Nearly Doubles Quota in Red Cross
Christmas Membership Campaign;
Outruns All Competitors.
THE COLORED CITIZENS COUNT
Conservative Estimate Shows Mem
bership to Exceed Fifteen Hun
dred; Final Count May Show
Two Thousand.
Omaha has covered herself with
glory in her Red Cross drive. Other
cities of larger population competing
with Omaha for the largest ratio of
Red Cross members have been left far
in the rear. In fact, they dropped from
a race to an old fashioned funeral pro
cession, which moved with painful
steps and slow.
Denver in her ill-concealed pride and
egotism, challenged Omaha to accom
plish in a week what she would do in
two days. Well, this was Omaha’s
answer to Denver: Christmas eve
Omaha had turned in $77,460 in cash
to Denver’s $55,339, thus surpassing
the wealthy mountain city by more
than $22,000.
The following table, compiled from
campaign committee reports from
cities which accepted Omaha’s chal
lenge, tells its own story:
Popu- Mem
City. lation. bers.
Omaha ..190,000 75,000
Denver.268,000 *58,283
Dallas, Tex.174,000 48,986
Birmingham, Ala.290,000 42,000
Minneapolis .411,000 68,393
St. Paul .263,000 46,500
Toledo.222,000 61,000
*Denver reports in amount of money
tumed in, so her members cannot num
ber more than dollars received.
Omaha’s quota was 40,000 members.
When the returns are all in Omaha’s
total will be mighty close to 80,000
members. Isn’t that great?
The Colored People’s Share.
And what have the Colored people
of Omaha done? Have they been slack
ers? Not on your life: A conserva
tive estimate places the Colored mem
bership at 1,500. When it is checked
up it is the opinion of The Monitor
that it will be pretty close to 2,000.
The following incomplete returns have
been tabulated by the general chair
man of the special committee, as turn
ed in by chairmen of committees:
Members.
James A. Clarke.218 $236
W. H. Robinson.104 113
Joseph B. Lacour. 86 88
Nat Hunter . 72 75
Dr. L. E. Britt.. 34 35
Mrs. L. B. Burton. 31 31
Mrs. Isaac Bailey. 20 20
Rev. John Albert Williams.. 16 16
Mrs. W. S. Metcalfe. 10 10
Totals .584 $621
This shows a total of 584 members
and $621 paid in. To these returns
must be added at least 1,000 more from
the following sources: Union Pacific
railway employes, 300; packing houses,
300; smelters, 300; various firms,
stores, etc., 100. Two of these items
are under rather than over the count.
The following are the amounts cred
ited to the various individual workers,
but included in the totals credited to
the chairman of each group as former
ly published: W. H. (Bob) Robinson,
104 and $113; W. II. Lewis, 94 and
$100; James A. Clarke, 58 and $62;
Frank Blackwell, 40 and $48; Miss
Lena Paul, St. Philip’s church, 36 and
$38; Dr. L. E. Britt, 34 and $35; Mrs.
L. B. Burton, 31 and $31; Walter It.
Brown, 26 and $26; Mrs. M. H. Wil
kinson, Mount Moriah Baptist church,
22 and $22; W. J. Andrews, Bethel
Baptist church, South Side, 21 and
$21; J. C. Belcher, 20 and $23; Mrs.
Isaac Bailey, 20 and $20; Dr. Scott, 18
and $19; Rev. J. A. Williams, 16 and
$16; Dr. Gooden, 10 and $12; W. H.
Ransom, 9 and $9; Mrs. W. S. Met
calfe, 10 and $10; Nat Hunter, 5 /
and $6.
Scores of our people are 100 per
centers, too, if you please. Mr. S. S.
Caldwell was told that the Colored
Omahans could be counted on for at
least 500 members, and he thought
that would be a very good showing.
The promise has been more than ful
filled.
If you haven’t got your Christmas
membership card and button yet, get
one. We went “over the top” with a
whoop!
ENGLAND WILL PAY DEBTS
London, Dec. 27.—Great Britain
will not repudiate her war debt, de
clares A. Bonar Law, the chancellor
of the exchequer, in an open letter.
A