n=n The Monitor \r~i
U--...... % --
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, JUNE 1, 1918 Vol. III. No. 48 (Whole No. 152)
The United States
Indebited to Africa
Rev. Ix>uis G. Wood, Field Secretary
of the General Hoard of Missions of
Episcopal Church, Presents Some
Significant Facts to Omahans.
WOULD LOSE WAR IN GO DAYS
If the Twelve .Million American Citi
zens of African Descent Would
Strike and Refuse to Aid and Sup
port the Government, Says Speaker.
"TF there is one country on the globe
A to which America is deeply indebt
ed that country is Africa,” declared
the Rev. Louis G. Wood, field secre
tary of the General Board of Missions
of the Episcopal church, before a
large congregation in All Saints’
church Tuesday night.
“We went there, or if we did not go
ourselves, we bought from those who
did go, the citizens of that country
and brought them here to fell the
forests and dig wealth out of the
earth for us. A vast amount of the
wealth of which the United States
boasts today is the direct product of
their toil.
“And think, if you please, of the
great debt we owe to the twelve mil
lions of African descent in this coun
try, and how largely we are depend
ent upon them for the necessities of
life in certain sections of our land.
What would become of the rice plan
tations, for example, in the South if it
were not for them ? White men would
die of the swamp fever to which they
are immune. Where would you get
your cotton for your explosives or
khaki to clothe your soldiers? If these
people were to prove disloyal and go
V on a strike and refuse to labor or to
♦ support the government we would lose
/ the war in sixty days. Let us not for
get the debt we owe to Africa. And
what are we doing as Christian men
and women to send the gospel to
Africa? What are we doing Tor the
people of African descent here?”
The Rev. Mr. Wood then spoke of
flie work the Episcopal church is do
ing in Liberia, where the first work
was begun in 1834 and carried on un
der the late Bishop Ferguson, who
died some months ago.
This was part of the address given
Tuesday, night in connection with the
intensive missionary campaign for
mobilizing the man power of the Epis
copal church which has been conduct
ed in Omaha this week. The campaign
opened last Sunday morning with an
out-of-town speaker in every pulpit,
the Rev. Dr. Rollit speaking at St.
Philip’s. At 3:30 in the afternoon
there was a Sunday school rally in All
Saints’ church and on Sunday night a
united service in Trinity cathedral.
The music was given by the united
choirs of the city and the cathedral
was packed to the doors. The music
was inspiring and stirring addresses
were delivered by the Rev. F. J. Clark
of New York, the Rev. Louis G. Wood
of Charleston, S. C., the Rev. Charles
C. Rollit of Minneapolis and Bishop
‘Williams.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
afternoon and evening conferences
and instructions on the world-wide
mission of the church were given by
the Rev. Louis G. Wood, who is an
eloquent and lucid speaker and a man
of great spirituality. He illustrated
his subjects by means of charts and
maps, and made every one who heard
him feel the importance of doing his
bit in helping to evangelize the world
in this generation.
Sunday afternoon every Episcopa
lian family in the city is to be visited
by a committee and to be given the
privilege of making a definite weekly
pledge for the support of the church
at home and its extension wherever
needed throughout the world.
A great deal of preparatory work
for the intensive campaign, which has
made a great impression upon the
city, has been done by a central com
mittee under the chairmanship of Mr.
John T. Yates. The Rev. Arthur H.
Marsh has been the efficient secretary
of the committee and the various
> parish chairmen are deserving of
praise. All who have taken part have
received a larger vision of church life
and its responsibiltieB.
APPOINTED CITY NURSE
Philadelphia, Pa., May 20.—Miss
Louise H. Saddler, R. N., a recent
graduate of the Mercy Hospital and
School for Nurses, was appointed city
nurse on May 6 at a salary of $000 a
year.
American Huns
Rampant In Georgia
Lynch Four Men and One Woman;
Men Alleged to Have Been Impli
cated in Murder; Woman Claimed
to Have Made “Unwise Remarks”
BODY RIDDLED WITH BULLETS
VALDOSTA, Ga. — Mary Turner,
wife of Hayes Turner, was hanged
the afternoon of May 24 at Folsom's
bridge over Little river, about sixteen
miles north of Valdosta. Hayes Tur
ner was hanged at the Okapilco river
in Brooks county last Saturday. His
wife, it is claimed, made unwise re
marks about the execution of her hus
band and the people in their indignant
mood took exceptions to her remarks,
as well as her attitude, and without
waiting for nightfall took her to the
river, where she was hanged and her
fcody riddled with, bullets.
This makes five persons lynched in
this section as a result of the Smith
tragedy at Barney. All of Sydney
Johnson’s relatives, including his
mother and father, were landed in jail
here last night. Owing to the in
creased feeling among the people the
jail is being strongly guarded to pre
vent trouble. Besides the chase after
Sydney Johnson posses are looking
for other Negroes in this section and
feeling among both white ami black
seems to be growing more intense.
On Thursday night two Negroes
stole a shotgun from Hampton Smith
at Barney and shot and killed Smith
in his home. Mrs. Smith fled from
the house and was attacked. She
awoke the following morning in a
creek and went to a Negro cabin for
aid. Those who investigated her story
found Smith’s body and the Negroes,
farm hands, had disappeared.
Since then the farming section of
that part of the state has been great
ly aroused.
A double guard was placed around
the jail.
It was learned that posses were
searching for still another Negro be
sides Johnson, known as Julius. This
Negro, it was said, aided Johnson to
escape from the posse.
Court Renders
Important Decision
White Race Cannot Continue Practice
of Sequestering All Revenues
From Corporation Taxes.
F3RANKF0RT, Ky., May 24.—Inso
far as it provides that all the rev
enues arising from taxes on corpora
tions shall go to the support of white
graded schools to the exclusion of the
Colored, Section 3588a, Kentucky ]
Statutes, was held unconstitutional
and void by the court of appeals today
in an opinion by Judge Sampson, the
whole lourt sitting.
This was decided in the case of the
trustees of the Mayfield Colored
graded school district against the
trustees of the white graded district
for its proportionate share of the cor
poration taxes. The amount involved
is $2,797.43, and the Graves circuit
court decided in favor of the white
trustees under the statute. Mayfield
is a fourth-class city.
The court, said: “The white race
under the rule sequestering all rev
enues from the property of white peo
ple to the support of white schools—a
very questionable right—has decided
ly the best of the situation,” as it is
cutting the Colored schools off from
any share of the corporation taxes.
Such a rule is an “open invasion of
the Bill of Rights” and violated the
constitutional direction for the sup
port of education. The court went on
to say that ignorance is a menace to
the republican form of government,
and the extension of free opportuni
ties for education to both races is es
s< ntial as a safeguard. Corporations
are neither white nor black, and taxes
from them must be apportioned be
tween white and Colored schools on a
per capita basis of the number of
pupils.
NEW OFFICERS* SCHOOL
AT CAMP MEAD E
Camp Meade, Md.—The second of
ficers’ training school at Camp Meade,
Md., opened on the 15th of the month
and will continue until September 1.
The school will train men for com
missions in the infantry and the artil
lery. Nine thousand additional acres
have been added to the original 4,000
acres, making a total of 13,000 acres
in this camp.
LIBERIA HAS POWERS
OF DEVELOPMENT
_ I -------
Should be Judged by Her Ideals
Which She Has Been Patiently
Working Out. Bishop Arthur Sel
den Lloyd Gives Sympathetic Re
port of Conditions Found by Him
in African Republic.
□EW YORK.—The Rt. Rev. Arthur
S. Lloyd, president of the Gen
eral Board of Missions of the Epis
copal Church, was sent to Liberia to
investigate the work of that Church
in Africa. The following impartial
report of his investigation will be
read with interest by those anxious
to learn about Liberia;
* When we reached our journay’s end,
I had hardly landed at Monrovia be
fore I realized that all my notions
about Liberia were essentially wrong,
hut I have not written it down be
cause this was so great a surprise to
me that I have waited to test my im
pressions. Each day has made it mo;e
evident that the impression was cor
rect as it has become unmistakably
clear that all my thinking about Li
beria had unwittingly been colored
by the idea that here was a weak
people whom some strong arm must
carry. This conception had been un
consciously strengthened by the el
most universal exhibition of kindliness
and good nature with which men
speak of this Republic. It is as 'f
men would say, “The aspirations and
ambitions of Liberia are most praise
worthy, but we know they are futile
because the people are not capable of
establishing free institutions,7 just
because it was taken for granted that
they were incapable of developing the
necessary' moral force. In face of
this I found a people possessing a
quality I had not dreamed of; clearly
realizing the obstacles to be over
come, recognizing that any mistakes
on their part will be immediately
seized upon as an excuse for exploit
ing their country; facing problems
which demand for their solution the
most perfect skill of experts, and nat
ural obstacles which only wealth and
wisely used can control; yet calmly
and courageously proceeding with
their splendid enterprise, depending
on the Almighty God to bring them
to their desired haven—and there are
certain well-authenticated records
which tell of other peoples who have
rested their cause in this dependence
and have not failed of their hope.
Meantime Liberia is beset without
and within by many difficulties. The
governments of England and Franco
are both friendly towards Liberia and
yet under due process of law England
has pre-empted a large and very valu
able territory on the north. I am in
formed that this territory alone makes
the Sierra Leone railway profitable.
On the south, France by the same to
ken controls an even larger area, per
haps the richest of the territory over
which her authority extends. After
the war is over the civilization pre
vails in the earth, it is to be hoped
that by some means these nations may
be induced to cede back to Liberians
what is theirs by every right which
civilization respects; for the present
these “benevolent occupants” are a
constant reminder of what may befall.
The war has caused desperate loss to
a nation already embarrassed finan
cially. The commerce of Liberia is
practically suspended so that receipts
from customs have fallen to a very
small amount. With commendable
fidelity to her allies, Liberia has sev
ered all intercourse with Germany
and has thus eliminated an important
factor in her economical development.
These conditions have increased the
difficulty of establishing for the pres
ent an adequate school system with
out which free institutions must al
ways be in danger. The immediate
result of illiteracy shows in the se
duction of tribes to which the ideals
of human liberty are unknown by in
dividuals whose interests are served
ty Liberia’s internal unrest, so that
at a time when Liberia needs to con
serve all her resources much of her
strength must of necessity be expend
ed in protecting the law-abiding and
in preserving the respect due to law
and order. The difficulty is made
more serious by the malcontents be
ing well armed and provided with
ammunition as if from the clouds. The
law of the land purposely forbids the
importation of fire-arms. Add to
these the difficulties so well known
in America and which must beset
democracy everywhere until all mor
tals become free, and quite a clear
impression can be formed of the trials
to be met and the problems to be
! solved by Liberia.
If you were on the spot you would
see how all these things emphasize
the ability and courage and industry
[ with which the Republic is facing
these obstacles to its growth; and
when you had learned the story of
what had actually been accomplished
by men who had no resources except
their own strong arm and their faith
in God to sustain them, you would
share the conviction that has been
growing in me ever since I landed at
Monrovia that the problem can t.e
solved by the people to whom God has
committed it and that when it is
solved it will throw the light which
the Revelation in Christ Jesus caused
to shine all over Africa, as it has
shined from America over our hem
isphere.
Let Liberia make good and she wiil
have made possible the realization of
the phrase “Africa for the Africans,”
whereas the benevolent occupations
which now control the greater part of
Africa mean inevitably that Africa
also must become the white man’s
country. That Liberia can do it would
be evident to any one who coming in
contact with her people has the wish
[to see and comprehend the miracle
I that has been wrought in her civilized
people by their surrender to the splen
' did ideals which made men of the
first settlers.
However, we came to see what the
church is doing and how affairs have
been administered. From what I have
witnessed it must he evident that no
mission of the American church has
been beset by so many difficulties, nor
is confronted by so many perplexing
and delicate problems as this. And yet
it is with profound satisfaction that I
am able to say to the American
church that I have seen no sign of
.neg’igence, nor of wasted money, nor
of weakness in administration. In
deed the respect in which I ever held
the late bishop of Liberia has growm
into definite admiration since I have
seen the results he accomplished with
entirely inadequate means and in the
face of obstacles which confront no
ether bishop of the church with whose
work I am acquainted. With oppor
tunity for education which we would
not dignify with the designation of op
portunity, the church here has a body
of clergy who need not be apologized
for. I had the privilege of ordaining
three young men as deacons. Exami
nation showed that they clearly under- ;
stpod the significance of the work to
which they were being set apart as
well as apprehending the church’s
standards and doctrine. They were
bealthy and good looking and made
definite impression of single-minded
ness. They were trained at Cutting -
ton. To see the poverty of equipment
there, is to have new demonstration of
cur Lord’s ability to accomplish His
purpose in spite of man’s heedlessness.
The American church ought to make
Cuttington very good.
With a task to be performed that is j
literally colossal they are working at i
it with a good will and full of hope.
rl hey need everything, but they accom
plish good results in spite of condi
tions. The religious life of the body of
the people in the church reminds one |
of the manner of life which used Lo
prevail in America before America be
came rich and sophisticated. In every
home where I have been, family pray
ers have been a matter of course and
the reverence with which the house
hold has taken part has been most re
freshing.
The service the American church
lias rendered Liberia has been alto
gether out of proportion to the cost of
it. The service she may render if
she will is beyond estimate. To think
of what would be the effect through
out the continent of Africa if in Li
beria free institutions were definitely
established, is to make one tingle
with enthusiasm. Nor is there any
question that this is entirely within
the ability of the people if they have
such help as only the church can ren
dor. Liberia’s resources are most
abundant. Her people are fine. I
have not seen the least sign of de
generacy.
If one were writing the true story
of America, the great things the na
tion is striving for would be empha
sized. The discouraging features and
the weakness resulting from the
wrong-doings of evil men would be
recognized as those inevitable obsta
iles to be recognized and overcome.
These would not be reckoned as ex
Hampton’s Fiftieth
Annual Report
This Famous School Has Splendid
Record of Notable Achievements in
Social Uplift During Its Half Cen
tury of Service.
Hampton, Va., May 31.—Dr. George
r. Phenix, vice principal of Hampton
Institute since 1908, in his report to
the Board of Trustees, discussed the
School’s work since the death of Dr.
Hollis B. Frissell and reviewed the
growth of Hampton during fifty
years.
He said: “General Armstrong had
to justify his new project in the eyes
of three groups of people: The Negro
race, who would supply the student
body; the white North, who alone of
all the people of the country were
able to finance the venture; and the
white South, who were skeptical as to
the value of any kind of education
for Negroes."
The average annual enrollment at
Hampton has been as follows: First
decade, 220; second, 660; third, 661;
fourth, 765; and fifth, 878. These fig
ures do not include Hampton’s neigh
borhood school or the summer school.
Dr. Phenix said:
“That the people of the North have
believed in the type of training for
which Hampton stands is proved by
the generous manner in which they
have supported it. The same friends
who have contributed to current ex
penses have created an endowment
fund to assure the permanency of the
school.
“The sympathy of the white South
with Hampton’s work is absolutely es
sential. Sympathy has grown with
understanding, and the school today
enumerates among its most loyal
friends Southern men and women of
influence and prominence.
“The financial aid which the Slater
Fund, the General Education Board,
and the Jeanes Fund have contributed
for Negro schools in Southern com
munities has done much to acquaint
Southern people—especially school
men—with this type of education,
which was literally ‘new’ not so long
ago.
“The close of the first half-century
hf Hampton’s history finds the rela
tion between the races in the South,
the progress of Negro education, and
the school itself, in a condition which
the most extreme optimistic of fifty
years ago could hardly have dared to
hope for, and there is every reason
for facing the second half-century
with faith and courage.
“Generations of children yet unborn
will have a better chance in life with
out ever knowing to whom they are
indebted, because of the life and work
of Hampton’s late principal, Dr. Hol
lis B. Frissell.”
hibiting the truth about America. I
have told the truth about Liberia. If
the church will help her to attain her
ideals, we may be sure the ugly and
deplorable details would disappear as
they will from America when a ma
jority of us desire that which is high
and clean.
FORCE CHILDREN
TO VIEW MURDER
Tennessee Moh Makes Race Women
and Children Witness Atrocious
Crime.
Johnson City, Tenn., May 20.—
When a white mob here cornered and
shot to death Thomas Devert, a Color
ed man, accused of murdering a white
woman, the mob dragged the body
back to town and, invading the Negro
(,uarter, forced the Colored population
of sevonty persons, mainly women and
children, to come out of their homes
and line up while the gathering mob
piled wood and crossties on the body,
setting fira to the pile.
Several Colored women fainted at
the barbarous spectacle and young
children clung in fear and terror to
the skirts of their heartsick mothers.
MAN GIVES IIP
TOBACCO TO AID WAR
Lufkin, Tex.—A party of ladies who
vent out to Colwood Lumber company
to organize a war savings society re
port the neighborhood 100 per cent—
every cne having joined. An old Col
ored man bought $50 worth of stamps
and said he would give up his tobacco,
although he had been chewing for
f'fty years, and put the money in
thrift stamps. The mill manager has
promised to give all employes their
rent free if they will put the money
m stamps.
Murderous Huns
of Tennessee
Endangering National Welfare by
Frequent Lynching* and Burnings
of Human Beings; Governor Urged
to Take Action to Stem Peril.
New York.—John R. Shillady, on
behalf of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple, of which he is Secretary', makes
public a letter sent to Governor Tom
C. Rye of Tennessee, in w'hich Mr.
Shillady repeats the text of a tele
gram sent by him from Washington
on Wednesday night in regard to the
lynching and burning of Thomas De
vert at Erwin, Tenn., on Monday
night. Mr. Shillady points out that
the forcing of the whole Negro pop
ulation of the town to line up and
witness the burning of Devert’s body
added to the horror of lynching that of
terrorizing innocent and law-abiding
citizens whose only offense lies in
their color. The letetr follows:
May 24, 1918.
Hon. Tom C. Rye, Governor.
Nashville, Tenn.
Dear Sir: I wired you on May 22
• from Washington as follows:
Lynching and burning of body of
Thomas Devert at Erwin, Tenn., Mon
day night, again makes it patriotic
duty of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
to urge that you bring to trial in Ten
nessee courts lynchers who by re
peated burnings of Negroes accused of
crime are imperiling unity of nation
at this most critical time. Five out
of the six lynchings occurring in your
State since our country entered the
war have been accompanied by burn
ings either before or after death.
This last case adds to previous hor
rors that of forcing the whole Negro
population of Erwin to line up Aid
witness burning of Devert’s body,
thus avenging crime of an individual
by terrorizing innocent law-abiding
people who only offense lies in their
color. Every patriotic American must
realize danger to national welfare in
volved in allowing lawless elements
to believe themselves free to lynch
and bum Negroes without fear of
swift and certain punishment. Your
State cannot sit back and say as you
have in the past that your law’s are
inadequate to punish lynchers. We
implore you in the name of our com
mon country to exhaust every resource
of law, money and patriotic endeavor
to stem .the peril .which these burn
ings show’ to be one of terrible real
ity.
The frequency with w'hich men are
lynched and burned in Tennessee as
well as the recent lynchings in Louis
iana, Mississippi and Georgia, seems
to point to an epidemic of this crime.
Lynching is indefensible at any time,
but when the nation is at war the
lynching of Negroes by whites be
comes a matter of extreme danger
tc the country as a whole lest such
outrages be regarded as an attack by
the white elements of our population
upon the Colored. I need not point
out to you the patriotlfc duty owed by
every American in such a crisis as
the country’ now' faces. The duty and
responsibility of a Governor to stop
these lynchings, it seems to us, tran
scend every other duty which the law'
imposes upon him.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) JOHN R. SHILLADY.
Secretary National Association for
the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple.
1,500 RACE CHILDREN
IN PATRIOTIC PAGEANT
Louisville, ICy., May 20.—A pa
triotic pageant, in which more than
1,500 race school children appeared in
representation of all the nations at
war with Germany and which was
witnessed by ah audience of more than
1,000 men, women and children, was
held on the athletic field adjoining the
general offices of the Board of Educa
tion at Ninth and Chestnut streets
last Thursday afternoon.
HUNDREDS OF WOMEN
ARE WANTED
New Orleans, La.—Hans Jacobsen,
director of the Federal Employment
Bureau, with an office at the city ha’l,
has been asked to recruit 300 Colored
women for the Lake Shore Land com
pany to do light work on the com
pany’s property eight miles from the
city. This is the first movement of
any consequence in the South looking
to the employment of women on the
farms.