Nebraska Newspapers

    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<j
more impressive in the glaring re- v.
versal which has come over the law
and the spirit of the nation by the fact
.that Judge Terrell has been twice ap
pointed by a democratic president and
twice confirmed by a democratic sen
ate, and that he has served with con
spicuous success, and continuously, in
the same federal judicial department
for sixteen years and a half. The rec
ord is a highly creditable one for the
judge, and paves the way for the raco
in its effort to make a place for itself
in the judiciary of the nation.
Immediately after being sworn in
the judge was confronted in his cham
bers by his associates on the bench,
by a number of ladies, by a large
gathering of friendly lawyers, and by
the members of the Washington Law
yers’ association. His courtroom was
crowded. Mr. Royal A. Hughes, presi
dent of the Washington Lawyers’ as
sociation, arose, while the judge sat in
a bower of flowers, and made a feel
ing and eloquent address of congratu
lation and felicitation, and then, on
the part of his associates, presented
the judge with an elaborate basket of
flowers designed by Powell, and a
handsome leather brief case.
Judge Terrell made an eloquent and
feeling address, in which he spoke in
the highest terms of the uniform cour
tesy of his associates on the bench and
cf the members of the bar who prac
tice in his court, and of the honor
which his associates conferred upon
him in this public address and presen
tation. He also said he considered the
occasion as a milestone, marking a
long advance from 1856, when the race
had no legal status.
Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, the fa
mous wife of the judge, was called
upon by Hon. James A. Cobb and
spoke sympathetically of the appre
ciation in which her husband is held
by the members of the bar and his as
sociates on the bench. The ladies pres
ent were: Mrs. Terrell and their
daughter Mary, Mrs. Arthur Brooks,
Mrs. Walter Singleton, Miss Jeannette
Carter and Mrs. George Burrell of
Philadelphia, Pa.
It was a famous occasion, one to in
spire the Afro-American people in all
directions to labor and to tire not for
the highest and the best in our nation
al life. We have had no other occa
sion just like it in the history of the
race, but the opening having been
made we are sure we shall have many
more such as the toilsome, serpentine
years come and go.
T. THOMAS FORTUNE.
23,000 SOLDIERS “OVER THERE”
Washington, D. C.—The Fifteenth
New York, the pride of the state and
of the Colored people of this country,
with their famous band, of which
Lieutenant James Reese Europe is the
conductor, are among the 25,000 Col
ored troops now serving in France, it
is said. Ten thousand of this number
are from America, the rest being
American Negroes fighting with Ca
nadian troops, stevedore regiments
and the allied colonies.
COLORED GIRLS AS
STOCK CLERKS
Pittsburgh, Pa.—The Rosenbaum
company, one of Pittsburgh’s largest,
department stores, has very recently
employed a number of race girls in
their stock department as clerks.