i The Monitor i A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans ' THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor # $150 a Year. 5c a Copy _OMAHA, NEBRASKA, MAY 18, 1918 Vol. III. No. 46 (Whole No. 148) Chicago May Elect Race Congressman Rapidly Growing and Progressive Race Population, Recognizing Polit ical Strength, Grooming Candidate for House of Representatives. TWO SERVING AS ALDERMEN Edward H. Morris, Prominent and Popular Attorney and National Grand Master of Odd Fellows, Is Mentioned as Congressman Mad den's Opponent for Lower House. CCHICAGO.—Chicagois the onlycitj J in the country that boasts of hav ing two Colored members of its Board of Aldermen. The men are Louis B. Anderson and Major Robert R. Jack con, both representing the old Second ward. Ten years ago Colored republican leaders were insisting that some Col ored man be nominated for the Board of Alderman. White republican lead ers opposed them. Former County Commissioner Oscar DePriest, the first Colored alderman elected, is said to have then agreed with the whites. Colored voters defeated a white re publican candidate when the bosses refused to name some Colored man. Oscar DePriest was nominated and elected when the next election came < ff. He is said to have been one in a compact made between white and Col ored republicans that the Second ward should have one white and one Color ed alderman. Things were getting along swim mingly until DePriest was indicted fo» alleged connection with graft and the running of gambling houses. He an nounced two years ago. following his i. dictment, that he would not seek re election. Assistant Corporation At torney Louis B. Anderson was nomi nated and elected. DePriest was tried and acquitted on what many consider one of the weakest counts in the in dictment. He will be tried in a week or two on other counts. At the recent aidermanic election tie ian as an independent republican can didate against Major Jackson, who is a former member of the state legisla ture. The fur flew thick and fast be tween the rival candidates, hut Jack son won out with a substantial ma jority in a three-cornered contest, one cf the losers being a demperat. De Priest received a flattering vote, the vote in the “black belt” having been largely increased by people moving l'.om the South within the past three years. He appealed to the newcomers on a sort of vindication platform. Congressman Madden, who has de fended the Negro in season and out, ctme on to urge the Jackson candi dacy. The story is now going the rounds that DePriest and some of his followers are now boosting Edward H. Morris, national grand master of the Odd Fellows, for the republican nomination for congress in place of Congressman Madden. This does not please some of the Colored leaders who were with DePriest before his in dictment, however. They claim that i* would be bad politics to turn down a real friend of the race because he is white and send a man to congress just because he is Colored. Morris is an able lawyer and has served as a mem ber of the state legislature. The indi cations are that should Morris decide to run against Madden that the De Priest followers will be able to line up a goodly number of the recent addi tions to the electorate, the newcomers not being very well informed as to ac tual political conditions here. HOME FOR EX-SLAVES STARTED IN ATLANTA Atlanta, Ga.—Numbers of donations to provide a home for ex-slaves on four lots in Meadow Brook, near De catur, recently donated for this pur pose by E. R. Craighead, secretary and manager of the Meadow Brook Land company, have been sent to the committee. April 24 was designated as “tag day,” when the Negroes of Atlanta were asked to contribute lib erally to this fund. Work on the first building has begun. MEMBERSHIP NEARING 1,400 k ... f Washington, D. C.—Great enthu siasm marked the close of the cam paign of the Twelfth street branch, Washington Y. M. C. A., in which the goal was 1,000 new members. The teamwork went far above that mark by bringing the total up to 1,365 new members, the first Colored organiza tion in the city to get so many mem bers in five days. Black Race May Save Human Liberty Prophetic Words of Abraham Lincoln Are Recalled by Emmett J. Scott, Special Assistant to Secretary of War, in Recent Notable Address. DEMOCRACY MVS T IJE INCLUS1V E Impossible to Exclude the Colored Race in the I'nited States from Sharing in Whatever Advantages May Come to Humanity by the Downfall of Autocracy. OT. LOUIS.—Emmett J. Scott, spe k} eial assistant to the secretary of war, spent a busy day here May 8 from the time of his arrival at 7:30 a. m. until 11:30 p. m., when he left for Indianapolis. He made a most fa vorable impression and won the hearts of his thousands of hearers. All who heard him were impressed with the fact that he is no apologist for the wrongs which the race keenly feels, but is wisely and patiently helping to work out the problems confronting the nation. His principal speech was delivered in the evening at Central Baptist church, under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. The edifice was crowded to the limit. His subject was, “The Negro In the War.” Mr. Scott spoke in part as follows: “I know of no auspices under which I would rather come to your city than that of the Y. M. C. A. There is not a single camp in this country or across the seas where the Y. M. C. A. is not represented. It is the Y. M. C. A. that welcomes the soldier boy and tells him that he has a friend. “Your country and my country has joined hands to make this world safe for democracy. We are face to face with the flag. The national emergency and great need is, the country is ex pecting every man, woman and child to do his hit. We are engaged in the greatest war of all ages and the coun try is faced with the greatest crisis of all its history. If we must accomplish our purpose, the north and south, east ard west, must give up their sectional feelings. A man’s creed nor color oT his skin should not be counted. “I should regard it an honor to come to St. Louis at any time, but especial ly at this time, when civilization is tottering to its doom. The Colored people, who have come up under ad verse conditions, are better prepared to fight for democracy than any other race. I am not here to review the period of the reconstruction days, when injustices and all forms of atrocities were committed. I have but one thought, and that is, may out country live forever. Negroes Not a Liability. “There are twelve million and morn of us in this country. We are an as set and we are not a liability. Oppor tunities go hand in hand and not be hind. We have been seeking in every part of this country to prove our fit ness to civilization. Now we must fight for it and heed the advice of Booker Washington, who said, ‘Free dom is not a bequest, but a conquest.’ I'nited States Counting on the Negro. “I say advisedly the war depart ment is counting on our race as never before. They know the Negroes are eager and willing to be used in de fense of this country, and it is the I urpose of the war department to see to it that a square deal is given every man who is willing to shed hi} blood for his country. I know that is the spirit of the war department and I knbw that is the spirit of the presi dent of the United States. Never be fore have 1,000 Colored men been asked to serve as officers and repre sent the United States army. There is to be a battalion of signal corps men, which has never been before. Colored men are being trained in Washington and Virginia for that ser vice. There will be a Colored chaplain in the army for every 1,200 men. Be ginning May 15 three artillery regi ments will go in training at Camp Meade, Maryland, and of twelve tech nical schools each is to receive $0,000 for the trainig of telegraphers and radio men for service. Black Race May Save the Jewel of Human Liberty. “This war is calling for scientific training and our schools are respond ing, so that our boys won’t be found wanting. I am confident that wher ever they go they will quit themselves like men. They will remember that they are on trial. Thank God, they are on trial as far as their race is con cerned. It can be said of us that there (Continued on sixth page.) MRS. FLORENTINE FRANCES PINKSTON The Talented Pianist Who Appears in Recital Tuesday Night, at the Y. W. C. A. Auditorium. The Children of the Sun By George Wells Parker A black man was the author of the oldest known book in the world. This book, the precepts of I’tah Hotep, was written about 3700 B. C., and became greatly treasured by the Egyptian people. It is a collection of maxims and wise sayings intended to guide one’s daily life and, excepting a few minute instances, is as valuable today as it was the day it was written. Here are a few gathered at random: “To throw' obstacles in the way of the laws is to open the way before violence.” “Do not lose the daily opportunity of increasing that which thy house possesses. Activity produces riches and riches do not endure when it slackens.” “Compose thy face even in trouble; these are the people who succeed in what they desire.” “Be not arrogant because of that which thou knowest; deal with the ignorant as with the learned; for the barriers of art are not closed, no artist being in possession of the perfection to which ho should aspire.” Art, literature and science, are the measure by which men judge the worth of a civilization and by such measure Egypt is entitled to a very high place. I shall treat of her art in the next article; of her literature and science in this. Her literature is indeed voluminous and hardly a year passes but what some scholar trans lates for us some new papyrus that gives us a deeper insight into the great culture of that dark race that once ruled beside the Nile. Thou sands of mummies have been recover ed and in the fine linen which wrap ped many of them we discover rolls upon rolls of papyri, but as soon as one touches them they crumble into dust. Yet enough have been pre served to prove that the ancient Egyp tians were a literature loving people and that much of what we find com pares favorably with the greatest which the world has produced. Of course you know that the Egyp tians wrote in hierglyphics, that is, in pictures and signs. For many years their works were enigmas which none could decipher, but about a half century ago a stone known as the Rosetta was discovered and en graven upon this stone were the Egyptian hierglyphics with their Greek equivalents. Immediately scholars delved in Egyptian lore and from out the mass collected has come forth a fine literature. One of the most renowned writings is the Book of the Dead, a book which we might < all the Egyptian Bible. It represents the beliefs belonging to the various periods of the long life of the‘Lgyp tian nation, and the opinions held by several schools of thought in Egypt, the object of them all being to help the departed spirit on to perpetual peace. The Judgment scene is espe cially interesting since it gives the many many questions asked the soul by the judges, before it is allowed to pass to the other side. We discover in these questions the same moral standard that guides men today and those things which were necessary to an honorable and righteous life among the Egyptians are the same as are necessary to us today'. Among the many' writings left us by the Egyptians which have been translated and which may be found in almost any well equipped library, I might mention the following: Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor (f800 B. C.) Story of Sanehat (2500 B. C.) Song of the Hary (2000 B. C.) Hymns to Amen-Ra (1700 B. C.) Book of Mysteries (1700 B. C.) Epic of Pentaur (1650 B. C.) Chronology of Kings (1600 B. C.) Maxims of Amy (1500 B. C.) Story of the Doomed Prince (1450 B. C.) Tel-el Amama Letters (1400 B. C.) Story of the Two Brothers (1300 B. C.) Story of Setna (1300 B. C.) All of these are entertaining and among them one will find many in stances that hint of the stories to be found in the Christian Bible. Indeed, many commentators claim that most of the old testament stories were bor rowed from the Egyptians, especially do we find such an instance in the Story of the Two Brothers, it being almost identical with the story of Joseph. The Tel-el Amama Letters consist of 320 bricks or tablets found south of Memphis in Egypt in 1871. They are state documents and are con sidered among the most valuable re mains ever discovered. If you read these letters in translation yrou will he struck with the many instances of respect paid the Egyptians by all the great nations of that day. There are among them many recorded intermar riages, state marriages, between the princes and princesses of such states a: Persia, India, the Hittintes, etc., which naturally leads one to believe [that all these peoples were of kindred ! blood. As I mentioned in the last article, many of the Pharoahs of Egypt were scholars and writers, and it is recorded that Meneptah, the sup posed Pharoah of the oppression, founded the first library in Egypt. It must have been a very large one, be c ause its fame spread as far : Greece. The fame of Egypt as a land of mystery has persisted throughout all , the ages and today, no less than five thousands years ago, the home of j n.agic has been ■ entered in the Land ! of the Sphinx and Pyramids. Rut the truth is that Egypt knew t o more cf mystery than we. What she did know was much of chemistry, geom etry', mathematics and physics, and knowing these she was able to eon * found the many wise men who trav eled from far to *— The i Egyptians were great astrologers ar.c! | astronomers. They were acquainted i with many of the plants, could pre j diet eclipses, conjunctions, and fore ! tell storms on land and sea. Few of her contemporaries could do these things and that the Egyptians could do them was a source of endless won der. The Egyptians were also famed physicians. Some of their rulers were very learned in medicine and wrote works that became famous, especially works dealing with intestinal diseases and eye troubles. Their knowledge in this line greatly impressed the Greeks and it is claimed that Hip pocrates, the patron saint of modern medicine, received his training in Egypt. It is good for us to have some real knowledge of what Egypt has con tiibuted to mankind. We cannot ob tain this information in school or col lege. It is only in recent years that scholars are beginning to realize what a wonderful influence Egypt has ex erted upon the birth and development of human civilization. We must go to our public libraries and look for the books that deal with Egypt alone. They are many and large and every one worth reading. They will give you an insight into life as the Egyp tians lived it and you will be im pressed with the happy and cheerful picture. As you dose the book you cannot help from saying, “Yes, the Egyptians were Africans. No other people could have enjoyed existence as they enjoyed it and laughed away the years as though they were all Maydays vouchsafed them by their great god Osiris. Judge Terrell Is Again Sworn In Noted Jurist Is Highly Honored by Members of the Washington Bar as He Enters Upon His Fifth Term as. Judge of the Municipal Court. TANEY’S DECISION RECALLED Timothy Thomas Fortune Cails At tention to the Fact That the Race Has Traveled Far Since 1856, When It Had No Legal Status. WASHINGTON, D. C., May 4.— w This day will long be memorial in the annals of the Afro-American people, as it marks a distinct advance of the race in a department of the government in which it has not had much oportunity to serve and to dis tinguish itself. It is a far cry from the opinion of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in Dred Scott vs. Sanford, in 1856, that “it is held to be good law and precedent that a black man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect,” to the swearing in by a fed eral judge of a Colored man for his fifth term to be a judge in the munic ipal court in the District of Columbia. The Taney decision is made all th