l= The Monitor l
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A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COIvORED AMERICANS.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor %
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$2.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, APRIL 26, 1919 Vol. IV. No. 43 \ Vhole No. 198)
National Conference
\ to Suppress Lynching
The Persistent Agitation by the Race
Press and the Insistent and Unceas
ing Work of the N. A. A. C. P.
Arouses Conscience of Country.
IMPERATIVE NEED FOR ACTION
Leaders of Thought From All Sections
of Country Cnite in Issuing Call for
Convention to \rouse Sentiment
Against Barbarism Which Disgraces
Country.
—
TVTEW YORK, April 22.—From tlic
-L x headquarters of the committee in
charge, 70 Fifth avenue. New York, |
announcement is made of the rail for !
a national conference on lynching “to j
take concerted action against lynching
and lawlessness wherever found,” to |
be held in New York City, May 5 and
6, by a group of 120 leading men and
women of the Country. The call for
the conference, which is being sent
—out extensively, is widely representa
tive of the country, twenty-eight
states and the District of Columbia
being represented by signers. Twen
ty signers are from eight southern
states. Among the signers are At
torney General A. Mitchell Palmer,
former Attorney Generals Charles J.
Bonaparte and Judson Harmon; five
governors: Hugh M. Dorsey of Geor
gia, D. W. Davis of Idaho, James
P. Goodrich of Indiana, Henry J. Allen
of Kansas, Emerson C. Harrington
of Maryland; four ex-governors, Em
met O’Neal of Alabama, Simeon E.
Baldwin of Connecticut, Edward F.
Dunne of Illinois; L. F, C. Garvin of
Rhode Island, Elihu Root, Charles
Evans Hughes, Cardinal Gibbons, Sen
ator; Arthur Capper of Kansas and J.
Merlill McCormick of Illinois; Repre
sentatives l.. C. Dyer of Missouri and
Martin II. Madden of Illinois; former
minister to the Netherlands, Henry
Van Dyke; prominent judges of the!
higher courts, including Chief Justice j
John Bradley Winslow of the Wiscon
sin state supreme couit; Justice Orrin
N. Carter of the supreme court of Illi
nois; Judge Julian W. Mack; nine
university presidents, George T. Page,
president of the Association of the
Bar of the city of New York, and
Anna Howard Shaw.
The southron signers are ex-Govcr
nor Emmet O’Neal of Alabama, Gov
ernor Hugh M. Dorsey of Georgia, cx
Congressman William H. Fleming,
Rev. John D. Hammond, Mrs. John D.
Hammond, Rt. Rev. Frederick F.
Reese, Episcopal bishop of Georgia;
Desha Breckinridge of the Lexington
Herald, Lexington, Ky.; Quincy Ewing
of Louisiana; A, T. Stovall, J. R. Bing
ham, J. B, Hutton. Jack C. Wilson of
Mississippi; W. D. Weatherford of
North Carolina; Bishop Thomas F.
v Gaylor, James H. Kirkland, Fayette
A. McKenzie, Bolton Smith of Ten
nessee; James II. Dillard, William H.
Huntley, Henry St. George Tucker of
Virgina.
In announcing the call, the commit
tee representing the signers, of which
Moorfield Storey of Boston is chair
man and John R. Shilh-dy of New
York, secretary, says that 2,216 lvnch
ing.s, exclusive of the East St. Louis
and other mob riots, have occurred
in the United States in the last thirty
years, 702 of which have been lynch
ings of white people and 2,514 lynch
ings of Negroes; that 62 Negroes
and 4 white persons were lynched in
1918; that some of the recent lynch
ings have been particularly atrocious,
involving burning at the stake and
torture of the victims.
The opening session of the confer
ence will be held at Carnegie hall on
the evening of May 5. Morning and
afternoon sessions will be held May
6 at the Association of the Bar of
the City of New York and the dos
ing session at the meeting house of
the Society for Ethical Culture on the
evening ot May to.
The call is as follows:
The prevalence in many states of
the spirit which tolerates lynching,
accompanied too often with inhuman
cruelty, and the inability or unwill
ingness of the public authorities to
punish the persons who are guilty of
this crime, threaten very seriously
the future peace of the nation. Not
/only is lynching a denial of the right
secured by law to every man of a
fair trial before an established court
in case he is charged with crime,
not only does it brutalize the com
munities which suffer it by breeding
a spirit of lawlessncs and cruelty in
the young people who see barbarities
unpunished and uncondemned, not only
does it terrorize important bodies of
(Continued on Page 2)
OMAHA’S BEAUTIFUL SCHOOLS
Liberia—The Land of Promise
An Inside Story of the Black Republic Which Nations Have Called
a Failue—Its Past, Present and Future—Why Liberia
Must Become the Home of Thousands of
American Negroes.
George Wells Parker
fTTAKE down your geography and
turn to the map of Africa. Along
the western coast and about four de-j
grees north of the equator, you will j
find a country by the name of Liberia. |
Of course you all have heard of it
before, but to all of us it is but a
dim recollection. We have a hazy j
remembrance that the United States ;
had something to do with it, that j
years ago many' of our people went
there and that time and time again
we have read that Liberia was a;
failure.^
There is a saying as old as man
that every question has two sides and ,
that there is a modicum of truth upon j
each. It is easy for the world to
say that Liberia is a failure, but the
world does not always know'. To one
who has studied Liberia there comes
the conviction that she has been far
from a failure. Few men, indeed,
are acquainted with the factors that
have worked against that little black
republic from the day of its founding,
but when these factors are known we
are apt to wonder if, after all, Liberia
has not been a success, and that this
very success is evident in her con
tinued existence and triumph over dif
ficulties that have swept away nations
fat stronger.
Let us with brief words explain
the cause of all Liberia’s trouble. To
the north of Liberia is Sierre Leone,
a British possession, while almost sur
rounding her is a part of the French
African Empire, an empire larger
than Europe itself. The British and
French are there because Africa is
rich beyond the world's imagination.
Liberia is rich, too, wonderfully rich,
and Britain and France know it. They
want Liberia and have wanted it for
a long time, and had they only the
weak Liberians to contend with they
would have had it. But the United
States has been Liberia’s protector
and because of American protection
these greedy nations have hesitated
from exploiting the country and tak
ing it for themselves.
But even in the fact; of the nonii- |
nal protection of the United States, j
Liberia has suffered many aggres-1
sions. By a treaty of 1892 she lost
to France sixty miles of coast line
and extensive territories in the inter
ior, and by the treaty of 1907, 2,000
square miles of territory. In 1885,
bv a treaty with Britain, she lost con
siderable coast line to the north. Two
loans of very small amount by British
capital almost led to Liberia’s undoing
and there have teen other and various
schemes attempted whereby this lit
tle country would fall to Britain and
France. Is there any wonder, then,
that Liberians dislike the English and
French? The story of England’s Af
rican empire and the story of France’s
African empire are as bloody a tale
as German’s ever was and Liberia
knows it. That is why little Liberia I
is holding out her arms to the United
"states and to the American Negro
for help, and these are the reasons
why the United States and the Ameri
can Negro should give help.
Liberia is America’s child. In 1847
Liberia was founded by the United
States to the end of making a home
for such of her black citizens who j
wished to return to the land of their |
Sirth. The plan was originally ad
vocated by Thomas Jefferson and al
though the plan grew into disfavor,
the really thinking Negro of today
mows that some sort of colonization
nust some day become the means of
solving the so-called Negro problem
n the United States. Of course there
ire millions of Negroes who would not
ro and, too, there are millions of Ne
rroes who should never be asked to
co. Liberia needs farmers, laborers,
ind business men, and those farmers,
aborers and business men who will
<o to Liberia, shall find fortunes
waiting them there. This is no idle
iream, no fantastic reverie.
The day will come when race men
jf vision shall arise and turn the eyes
jf the American Negro to Liberia. We
ire asleep now. But others are not.
France has offered to build a rail
road into interior Liberia to tap its
irexhaustible wealth, but Liberia says
no.# Why ? First, because she knows
it will mean her ruin; secondly, be
cause she is longing, hoping and pray
ing that the American Negro will
awaken to the opportunity and come j
back to the land of his fathers and
partake of the wealth that she has |
been fighting to hold for him these
many years.
And so some day when the call
shall come; some day when Liberia is
ready to welcome and handle the im
migrants; some day when ships be
come burdened with black folks going
back to the land of their fathers;
do not laugh and sneer. They will be
going back to real freedom, real hope,
real opportunity. You may stay here
if you will; it is your privilege. But
over there those who went will be
singing amid the cotton blossoms, the
I’ubber forests and among the palms.
They will be singing as they bring j
their wealth to the market place, sing- j
ing as they pile it aboard the winged [
vessels, and singing as the world !
drops its gold into their palms. They)
will have dreamed a dream and shall
live to see their dream come true.
Liberia is only waiting for us to
awake.
( LEVEI.ANO ORC,AMZES
ADVANCEMENT LEAGUE
Advocates Enforcement of Law, Home
Ownership. Business Co-operation
and Efficient and Progressive Citi
zenship.
By the Associated Negro Press.)
Cleveland, Term., April 23!—The
Colored people of Cleveland have or
ganized a league of the advancement
if the Negro race, and it is hoped
much benefit will result. C. V. Hard
wick, is president; Dr. E. T. Stevens,
secretary. The object of the league
is: The enforcement of law, the juv
enile law included; better schools and
churches,, the buying and owning of
roperty, more business in the race,
better streets in the Negro section;
i>etter light, water and sewerage con
ditions, and to discourage loafing.
“Certainly,” said one of the off
■erR, “this kind of an organization
■ould work with equal force in any
’ommunity in America where our peo
ple .reside, for in all cities in these
respects we have many needs and
requirements.”
WASHINGTON Y. M. C. A.
ADDS 1,055 MEMBERS
A Great Campaign—Women Take
Active Part.
WASHINGTON, D. C.—In a drive
Vt which had as its goal 500 mem
bers in five days, the Washington
Y. M. C. A. added 1,055 members
to the roil. The enthusiasm through
out the campaign and especially the
last night was the greatest ever
known in the history of the Twelfth
Street branch. On the last day of
the drive men from all ranks left off
their daily work and went from house
to house securing members for the
Y. M. C. A.
The organization of the campaign
was largely in the hands of R. P.
Hamlin, international secretary of the
Y. M. C. A. Dr. J. Hayden Johnson
was general chairman with D. O. W.
Holmes and Dr. R. T. Nelson as di
vision leaders. There were 18 teams.
The work of the teams cannot be
too highly commended.
Several features of the campaign
deserve special mention. The most
striking of al! is that more members,
676 were secured the last day than
during the first four days. Another
fact of interest is that women for the
first time in the history of the branch
took conspicuous part in the drive.
Mrs. R. O. Robinson was captain of
the team that secured 276 members,
the largest number reported by any
team. Mrs. Robinson reported in the
midst of deafening applause 211 mem
bers on the last night of the drive.
Too much credit cannot be given to the
enterprising young men who did some
of the best work of the drive. The
team of which Mr. Edgar Westmore
land was captain distinguished itself
by its work in the high schools and
by its great spirit. The Soldiers and
Sailors team under P. A. Tolson as
captain secured 115 members.
Splendid addresses during the cam
paign were made by Dr. Jackson of
Wilberforce university; John W. Lew
; -, president Industrial Savings bank;
Dr. J. E. Moreland, Clifford Johnson, j
associate general secretary of the !
Washington association; Prof. John R.
Hawkins, financial secretary of the j
A. M. E. church; Dr. C. G. Woodson,
editor Journal of Negro history. Dr.
John W. Davis, secretary of the
Twelfth Street Branch Y. M. C. A.,
was called upon to make the closing
address of the campaign. In a most
virile address Secretary Davis review
ed the progress of the Twelfth Street
Y. M. C. A., showing the various ways
that the association has served the
community, the large number it has
reached and the much more extensive
fields which the associat'on must in- |
vade and conquer.
BUNDY JUROR INSANE
Suffering From Malady of Long
Standing—Is Sent to Asylum—At
torneys for Defense Ask for New
Trial on Ground That He Was In
sane at Time of Verdict.
St. Louis, Mo.—Daniel Davis, a
farmer living in Prairie de Long, Illi
nois, one of the jurors who convicted
and sentenced Dr. Leroy N. Bundy
to life imprisonment at Waterloo,
March 28, was declared insane, April
7 and ordered committed to the asy
lum at Anna, 111.
Attorney's for the defense in their
motion for a new trial, filed Wed
nesday', among other grounds set up j
the insanity of Juror Davis as reas- i
on for a new trial; basing their con- |
tention upon the fact that he was i
insane at the time he was a mem
ber of the jury that convicted Dr. j
Bundy.
Their contention seems to be borne
out by the facts developed by' the
commission at the time Davis was
examined, in that it was found he was
suffering with an insanity of a prog- j
ressive character, and that diseases
of this kind developed slowly and ex
tend over a long period of time and
are not the result of excitement or
shock.
The motion for a new trial is be
ing argued in Waterloo today (Fri
day'.) After the same is passed on
the attorney's for Dr. Bundy will ask
that bail be fixed, but in the mean
time Dr. Bundy remains in jail.
SOFTH CAROLINA ERECTS
TUBERCULOSIS SANITARIUM
Columbia, S. C., April 23.—The state
of South Carolina has appropriated
510,000 for the purpose of erecting a
tuberculosis sanitarium on state
grounds, for Negroes of the state.
To this amount the Negroes are ex
pected to add $6,000.
-
For Read/41 tment
of All Industry
President Wilson to Issue Call, I'pon
His Return From Europe, for Rep
resentative Industrial Conference.
NEGRO LABOR LARGE FACTOR
Personnel of Conference to Be Com
plete Must of Necessity Include Rep
resentatives of Race Now Recotr- •
nized as Important Asset in Indus
trial World.
(By the Associated Negro Press. )
HICAGO, April 23.—That there is
a determination to really “Get
Somewhere” in the new conditions
arising out of the results of the “world
war,” is strongly evident from the
discussion relative to the big indus
trial parley to be held in Chicago or
New York, on return of President Wil
son.
It is stated by leaders of thought
here that there must be no “parley”
of the magnitude suggested without
representatives of the Negro group
being present and taking an active
part in the deliberations.
The information was sent out from
Washington during the week that
President Wilson upon his return to
this counti-y, will issue a call for an
industrial conference, the purpose of
which will be to enable, capital, labor
and the government to join hands in
an amicable program for readjusting
industry. It is to be held late in May,
or early in June if possible.
The president has already received
the suggestion in a repoit from Wash
ington and is understood to favor it.
The report suggests a clarification of
the industrial' situation by the two
following moves on the part of the
chief executive:
1. A calling for an industrial con
ference, or parliament, to devise a
constructive program to meet the
peace needs of the country's business
life.
2. The reaffirmation of the author
ity of the war labor board as a co
operative tribunal of justice, during
the transitory period, or until the in
dustrial conference conclusions are
put into effect.
It is pointed out that the personnel
of no such conference would be com
plete without the presence of repre
sentative Negroes. During the last
three years the Negroes of the coun
try have been a most important asset
to the industrial world. While there
is a temporary scarcity of work in
some quarters in the north, where
more than 500,000 Negroes have mi
grated, there is a demand for labor in
the south. While southerners are mak
ing all sorts of inducements to start
i flow of migration back south, not
two per cent of those who have come
north have returned, or have the in
clination to do so.
The American Federation of Labor
s seeking to organize the Negro in
ill avenues of employment both north
Mid south, and while some look on
:he motives with suspicion, others are
accepting the plan as the greatest
jpportunity for industrial justice.
That the American Negro will never
again be reduced to the limited lines
if employment in which he was held
orior to the was, is being attested
:>y both whites and race leaders every
where.
One leading business man remarked
with reference to the proposed con
ference: “If we are not officially
nvited, hundreds of us will be there
inyhow to find out the reason why.”
ii VP ISTS FORM $10,000
CORPORATION TO OPERATE
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Columbia, S. C., April 23.—The exe
cutive board of the Baptist state con
tention of South Carolian, represent
ng a membership of 260,000, in a
•ecent meeting formed a $10,000 cor
roration to operate a weekly news
paper in the interest of the church
,vork. The state Baptists will, also,
aise $50,000 for education.
COLORED PEOPLE OWN MUCH
PROPERTY IN PHOENIX
Phoenix, Ariz., April 23.—There are
1,700 Colored people in Phoenix, who
>wn property valued at $700,000; they
ire represented in all the professions
?xcept law, and in all the trades. Nine
ty per cent of the Colored people own
their own homes. There are four
;hurches and the Tribune is the local
race newspaper.
