Nebraska Newspapers

    __”_i Xhe Monitor i———
A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor
$2.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, JUNE 26, 1919_Vol. IV. No. 52 (Whole No. 206)
RACE RIOT
IN CHICAGO
Hundreds of Police Called Out
White's Army Masses Agains
Blacks in Flat War.
CHICAGO.—A race war, threaten
ing for weeks, assumed sinister
proportions on Chicago’s South Side
last night, when 200 extra police were
rushed to the Washington park dis
trict.
One Negro is dead; another was
said to be dying last night. Both
were victims of a small army of white
men who early yesteiday set out with
the avowed intention of “cleaning out
the blacks.”
Plan Night Battle.
Information was generally distrib
uted among both whites and Negroes
that a big fight was to be waged
, sometime during the night in Wash
ington park.
Police of the South Park board, 200
strong were rushed to the park and
kept an all night vigil. Several hun
dred reserves were ordered on duty
at Englewood, Fiftieth street, New
City and Stock Yards Stations.
A special police guard was estab
lished at Kenny’s undertaking estab
lishment, 5438 S. Halstead street,
where the body of the slain Negro
was held.
Negro Stabbed and Shot.
The Negro killed was Robert Rob
inson, 514 W. 54th Place. Robin
son was pimply walking to his home.
There had been no fight or disturb
ance. A gang of savage hoodlums at
tacked him.
He had been shot several times,
i tabbed repeatedly in the back and
beaten over the head with billiard
t cues. The murder occurred shortly
after Saturday midnight at 55th street
and Princeton avenue.
Ollis Harris, 5647 Grove avenue,
is the Negro said to be dying. He
was phot through the stomach, stabbed
; nd hep ten at 57th street and Lafay
ette avenue.
Both blacks weer attacked by the
same mob. Persons questioned by the
police say. the whites numbered 150
men.
Lieut. Fred Guemey of the stock
yards station and a squad had ar
rested about two score suspects yes
terady, but only eleven were being
held last night.
Lieut. Guerney refused to give the
names of the men held, because, he
explained, the Negroes might obtain
vengeance by attacking the homes of
those held.
Won’t Discriminate—Alcock
"The situation is most serious,”
First Detiutv of Police Alcock said
last night. “We had better meet it
now than later. I have instructed the
precinct commanding officers to sec
that their men do their duty. There
will be no discrimination.”
Battle Prearranged.
Yesterday mornings excitement ap
peared to have been prearranged. At
12:30 a. m. the stock yards station
received a telephone call that a white
mob was “out to kill all the blacks.”
A small squad of police was rushed
out, but failed to connect with the
gangsters. Knives, razors, billiard
cues, clubs and several revolvers were
picked up along the trail taken by
the whites.
Yesterday’s developments convinced
police, city officials and others who
have studied the racial problem that
Chicago must deal with one of the
If
I
Mr. Advertiser: j
! The Monitor is read in prac- |
tically every Colored family |
in Omaha, Council Bluffs and I
Lincoln. j
^ Tt has also a wide circulation
in Nebraska and other states. I
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roost difficult situations in its his
tory.
The actual conflicts between whites
and Negroes come, it is pointed out,
as to be expected climaxes to the
* series of bomb outrages perpetrated
he South Side in the last few
hs.
^ one of those who yesterday dis
>d the matter believed any policy
-- igro lesidence segregation would
3 solution.
2. is IJosenwald, who has given
£ ime and money toward the de
v ^ nt of the Negro people, said:
2. rial problem in Chicago has
be 2. too iong awaiting solution.
Th< “* ..papers can perfonn a big
service by bring the public to a reali
zation of the seriousness of the prob
lem.
“I have no panacea. This question
is to big to be solved with an off
hand word. It is our duty to begin
studying it at once, for situation is
critical.
“Of one thing I feel certain—any
policy of segregation is out of the
question.”
Our own leaders are inclined to
blame the rough element among the
recent immigrants from the south
for the increasing evidences of fric
tion as well as the tough whites
who are encouraged by the sensa
tional daily newspapers. Movements
are on foot among the leading white
and Colored organizations to get to
gether in an Cfort to cope with the
! situation.
“THE HENS OF THE
EAST HAVE COME”
—Senator Phelan.
Philosophy of Democrat Senator From
California Has Slightly Familiar
Sound—Counsels Cancellation of
So-Called Gentlemen’s Agreement
With Japan.
Washington, June 25.—“The Huns
of the east have come. Already they
have spread over California and are
stripping the state of its American
ism. They have invaded South Amer
ica, and have obtained a firm foot
hold in Mexico, where they are pro-,
tected and are a part of the Carranza
machine. Some day the Mexican and
Japanese problem will come to smite
u.s with united force.”
The Japanese are not to be com
promised with. They must be elimi
nated entirely like a swarm of locusts,
which they alone equal in economic
i destructiveness. Not a quarter of a
* tier cent should be allowed to come.
Legislation should be enacted to bar
them entirely. This might hurt Ja
pan’s feelings, but America comes
first. The sore spot of the world is
in the Orient. It is the place which
we must watch zealously and unceas
| ingly.”
NEBRASKA NEGRO BAPTIST
ASSOCIATION TO MEET AT
BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH
The second annual meeting of the
Negro Baptist Association of Nebras
ka and auxiliaries was held at Bethel
Baptist church, 29th and T streets.
The meetings began on Monday, June
16 and and closed on June 20.
An unusually attractive program
was rendered. The session was one of
the best in the history of the state.
Rev. W. F. Botts, B. S. T., moderator.
Bethel Baptist church has earned a
reputation for hospitality that is com
mensurate with the reputation for do
ing things quickly and well which it
already holds.
For Monitor office call Doug. 3224.
-rstiisfcr
ROOSEVELT HONORED AT TUSKE
GEE FOUNDERS’ DAY EXERCISES
Hon. J. O. Thompson, of Birmingham, Ala., Pays Wonderful Trib
ute to Most Democratic American President Since Lincoln—
Immense Crowd Eagerly Listens to Eloquent Message.
“I am very grateful to you here at
Tuskegee for the opportunity of pay
ing a slight tribute to the memory of
one of the nation’s greatest men, and
one whom I had the honor to call
friend over a period of eighteen years.
I had two other invitation to speak
today in Birmingham, but I felt if
I were to speaK at all on this me
morial occasion I should speak in this
presence, for it was another of the
nation’s greatest men and one whom
I had the honor to call friend over
a period of thirty years who favor
ably presented me to President Roose
velt in 1901. I held both Colonel
Roosevelt and Dr. Washington in the
same high esteem; they were men
whose characters were so definitely
fixed that their friends knew just
what they would do as new situations
arose. Their friends throughout jjie
country had with them a spiritual
understanding. Just such an under
standing as the devout men and wom
en of any congregation have with
their pastor.
“A gentleman asked me the other
day how long Colonel Roosevelt lived.
I replied, ‘He died in the sixtieth year
of his age, but when we consider his
activities, as compared with the ac
tivities of other men, he must have
lived six hundred years, so full was
his life.’ I thought of him at Harvard,
and his activities there; I thought of
him as a leader of his party in the
New York legislature at twenty-two
years of age, and his activities in
that assembly; I thought of him as a
ranchman in Dakota, and how readily
those men of an entirely different
type from the men among whom he
was raised in the east, adapted them
selves to him, and they somewhat
rose to his ideals, and how he gave
to the cattle business a new impetus,
a business which has finally grown to
be one of the great industries of the
west. I thought of him as United
States civil service commissioner,
helping Uncle Sam to work out a
merit system for his employees
throughout the length and breadth of
the land. I thought of him as police
commissioners in the City of New
York, giving to his municipality such
reform as they are enjoying today,
and beginning the first great move
ment against the grafter in office, and
which movement has finally spread
into every state in the union.
“I thought of him as an assistant
secretary of the navy, as giving the
order which turned the guns of Dewey
loose on the Spaniards at Manilla bay.
And then hurrying to his chief, Mr.
Long, tendering his resignation, and
Mr. Long’s protesting that his serv
ices were needed there, and his reply
‘No, I am not willing to remain with
in the protection of these walls while
other men fight the battles of my
country.’ I thought of him as board
ing the fast train in New York for
San Antonio, and how his coming
through the south was heralded by the
Associated Press, and how his patriot
ic zeal fired the hearts of the south
ern youth. I thought of him as the
train paused at Charlotteville, Lynch
burg, Danville, Charlotte, Atlanta,
Montgomery, Mobile and New Orleans
| id how the southern boys swung
I on his train and begged to become
( nbers of the Rough Riders regi
t t. I thought of him in that me
morable charge up San Juan hill, un
der the command of our own general,
little Joe Wheeler.
“I thought of him in his triumphal
entry in New York as the hero of the
Spanish-American war and the ex
pression of appreciation of his serv
ices to his country by the people of
the Empire state in making him their
governor, and his many activities in
that position.
“I thought of him as vice president,
and as president at forty-three years
of age, and his thousands of activi
ties as chief executive of the nation.
I thought of him as sending for the
mature and dependable senators to
discuss with them the serious affairs
of state, men like Morgan and Pettus
of Alabama, Berry of Arkansas, Ba
con and Clay of Georgia, Frye of
Maine, and Lodge of Massachusetts,
and the next day putting the machin
ery in order for the impeachment of
other senators who had violated the
laws they had helped to make. I
thought of him cabling the Sultan
of Morocco, ‘I will give you twenty
four hours in which to produce Peri
Carris alive, or Rosolleau dead, and
in less than twenty-four hours Peri
Carris was released and allowed to
go upon duties as an American mis
sionary, and that without the pay
ment of a dollar’s ransom. I thought
of him as cabling the Russian gov
ernment in the Russian-Japanese war,
‘I will give you twenty-four hours
in which to remove the contraband on
cotton; you shall not deprive the
southern fanner of the fruits of his
labor at the moment he is seeking a
market for his product, and in less
than twenty-four hours the contra
band was removed and cotton allowed
to seek the markets of the world
through its usual channels. Twenty
four hours was about the limit of time
Theodore Roosevelt gave the individ
uals or a nation to get right. I
thought of him as sending for the
German ambassador and saying to
him, ‘However much I regret Vene
zuela forgetting the due date of her
obligation to Berlin bankers, the Mon
roe doctrine still exists, and shall be
maintained. I do not appreciate the
menacing attitude of German war ves
sels in Venezuelan waters,' and as the
German ambassador turned to leave
without making satisfactory reply,
President Roosevelt called to him and
said, ‘You will please cable the em
peror, I will give him ten days in
which to withdraw his men of war and
you might add in this connection that
Admiral Dewey is now cruising with
his fleet in South American waters,’
In less than ten days they had fired
up and steamed away.
“I thought of him as turning things
‘topsy-turvy’ in this country, and ar
ranging for the building of the Pan
ama canal over night, W'hile congress
debated and how the press of the
country, in scare headlines, called at
tention to the reckless daring of the
young man in the White House; but
rs an earnest of the appreciation of
the American people for the initiative
and character of Theodore Roosevelt
in building the Panama canal, there
is a movement on foot to change the
name of Panama to Roosevelt canal,
and to erect a suitable monument to
his memory somew'here in the zone,
and in this connection, I hope at the
same time there will be a suitable
monument erected to the memory of
our own senator, John T. Morgan, for
it was he wTho kept up the agitation in
the senate for thirty-odd years.
“I thought of him in the panic of
1907. You will recall it w'as the
panic resulting from too much, rathej
than too little business; industries
were developing faster than capital
could be fouml to finance them. The
Tennessee company, one of the larg
est corporations of the country, was
unable to go any further, and appeal
was made by a committee of the best
business men of America to Presi
dent Roosevelt to allow the absorption
of the Tennessee company by the
United States Steel Corporation and
after hearing their argument at great
length, and giving due consideration
to all of the angles in the case, he
smiled and said, ‘This is a complete
reversion of my insistence for a strict
enforcement of the Sherman anti-trust
law; but, however, that may be, I
shall make this the exception that
proves the mie, and as an earnest of
the appreciation and character dis
played by Roosevelt in saving this in
stitution, which meant so much to the
people of this state, I will be disap
pointed if there is not soon a move
ment on foot to erect somewhere in
the Birmingham district, a fitting
monument to his memory.
“I thought of him leaving the White
House sending for John Burroughs to
discuss animals and birds and flowers
and trees. I thought of him sending
to South Hampton, England, for Sir
Harry Johnson to discuss the charac
teristics of the big game in Africa. I
thought of him in the jungles of Af
rica, killing big game for several
months. I thought of him as emerg
ing from the wilds of Africa and lec
turing at the capitals of Europe to the
‘Ph. D.’s,’ ‘U. L. D.’s’ and statesmen,
and how they marveled at his learn
ing. I thought of him at Chicago,
surrounded by 15,000 red-blooded
Americans, literally destroying the
(Continued on Page Eight.)
HUMANITY AND CONSTITU
TIONAL PROVISIONS CALL OUT
FOR JUSTICE AND FAIR PLAY
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Chicago, June 25.—A careful sur
vey, covering the entire nation, has
disclosed to the Associated Negro
Press the fact that theer is a new
awakening for justice in behalf of the
people of our racial group.
In speaking of this change of sen
timent, the outrages of various sorts,
are not overlooked. It is a fact, how
ever, that theer has been more writ
ten and spoken in truth, in the last
six months, relative to the injustices
heaped upon us, than has ever before
occurred since slavery was abolished.
The expression quoted herewith,
from the Pittsburg Chronicle is typi
cal rather than exceptional, so far as
the newspapers are concerned. For
some reason, the editorial writers
seem to have “struck their gait,” on
the subject of fair play, and are go
ing at the hypocracies in a fashion
that should bring good cheer to any
people.
Speaking with reference to the de
nial of rights, in the light of the con
spicuous attitude of the peace con
ference, the Chronicle says:
“These American citizens are not
merely denied their political rights;
they are denied that “protection of life
without distinction based on race, col
or or previous condition” to which
they are entitled by ordinary consid
erations of humanity, as well as by
specific provision in the constitution
of the United States. In effect they
are calling attention to the humiliat
ing facts that the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth amendment to the federal
constitution are virtually dead letters.
They have heard that the proposed
League of Nations is to insure jus
tice to all the peoples of the earth,
end they want their share. Our Ne
gro citizens are not to be blamed
for their appeal to what they suppose
to be an all-powerful, super-natural
organization. Other races are doing
i exactly the same thing with refer
; once to their own particular problems
| and injustices. But how humiliating
it must be to our delegates at Paris
tc hear a body of their fellow citi
zens appealing to the League of Na
tions for relief from cruelty and op
pression. They can scarcely escape
the conviction that reform, like char
ity, should begin at home and that a
splendid start could be made by safe
guarding the life and liberties of our
host of Negro citizens of the southern
states.”
Concerning this, A. D. Baker said:
“That kind of sentiment cannot swing
in the air very long without hitting
something.”
“IRISH QUESTION LOADED
WITH DYNAMITE: NEGRO
QUESTION LOADED WITH TNT”
(By Associated Negro Press.)
New York, June 25.—The bringing
of the “Irish Question” into the peace
conference, has caused the American
delegates no end of embarrassment,
because that question has been re
garded as strictly domestic. It has
been argued by many different peo
| pie that if the Irish be permitted to
' air their grievances before the con
ference, the Negroes of America have
! the same right, and many of the
! delegates from various nations have
! taken that stand.
Concerning the logic of it, the New
York Sun, daily, says:
“Now if the Irish question is load
j od with dynamite, the Negro question
is loaded with TNT. Outside of Ire
land nobody questions the legality of
the kingdom’s rule in that island, and
inside of Ireland a good many persons
do not question its legality, however
much they object to it as a political
fact. But. inside the United States
and outside of the United States
everybody knows that the political
condition imposed upon the Negro in
the South is brutally, openly and com
pletely illegal. That condition is im
posed on the Negro in direct violation
of the Constitution of the United
States, and this violation of the Con
stitution is tolerated with the full
knowledge and consent of a large ma
jority of the white population of this
country, North and South.
CITY TO CELEBRATE JULY
FOURTH AT FONTENELLE PARK
The city administration and many
Omaha business men are lending their
support to the annual Fourth of July
celebration to be held at bontenelle
park July Fourth. The fireworks dis
play will be on an elaborate scale. This
celebration is open to all Omaha citi
zens with a special invitation to re
turned soldiers and sailors.
Archibald H. Grimke
Is Awarded Fifth
Spingarn Medal
Ex-Consul to San Domingo Earns
Recognition for Seventy Years of
Distinguished Service to Race and
Country.
Cleveland, O., June 25.—The Spin
gam medal, presented every year to
the American of African descent who
has made the highest achievement in
any field of elevated human endeavor,
has been awarded to Archibald H.
Grimke, of Washington, lawyer, au
thor and ex-United States consul to
Santo Domingo. The announcement
of the award is as follows:
The fifth Spingarn medal has been
awarded to Archibald H. Grimke, of
Washington, D. C., for seventy years
of distinguished service to his coun
try and race, as consul to Santo Do
mingo, as president of the American
Negro Academy, as author and scholar
and especially as president of the
District of Columbia branch oi the
National Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, which under
his leadership has become the safe
guard of the rights of eleven million
people at the capital of the nation.
Mr. Grimke was born in Charleston,
S. C., August 17, 1849.
He was graduated from Lincoln uni
versity in 1870, took his master’s de
gree in 1872, and the degree of L. I. B.
at Harvard in 1874.
For a number of years Mr. Grimke
devoted himself to journalism, edit
ing the Hub, a Boston periodical, and
writing for the Boston Transcript and
the Traveler.
From 1894 to 1898, Mr. Grimke was
United States consul in Santo Domin
go.
Among his literary works are Lives
of William Lloyd Garrison and Chas.
Francis Sumner.
Since 1903 he has been president
of the American Negro Academy.
Mr. Grimke, in addition to being
vice president of the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, is president of the Fred
erick Douglass Memorial and Histori
cal association, and is a member of the
Author’s club of London and the
American Social Science association.
WHO SHALL PAY FOR
THE HOUSTON RIOT
(By Associated Negro Press.
Chicago, June 25.—Houston citizens
who suffered personal and property
losses during the mutiny of Negro
soldiers on August 23, 1917, may be
held for all damages suffered at that
time if a bill that Senator Morris
Sheppard has introduced into the sen
ate is finally passed. The bill pro
vides for the investigation by the
court of claims of all complaints for
damages made by Houston citizens as
a result of the mutiny, according to
advices received from Washington
Wednesday night.
The bill was introduced in the sen
ate during the last session by Sen
ator Sheppard, but no action was
taken on it. Under the law these
suits against the government cannot
be instituted until congress author
izes the court of claims to proceed
with the investigation.
Major John H. Crooker, who was
district attorney at the time of the
riots and active in preparing claims
for personal and property losses, said
Wednesday night, there were about
fifteen claimants. The amount asked
for in reparation at first was more
than $80,000. Major Crooker said, but
this was cut down at Washington to
about $35,000.
KANSAS CITY GETS
PAROLE OFFICER
Kansas City, Juno 25.—Mrs. Sallie
C. Rogers, who has been identified
with the schools for a number of
years, employed in several of the
largest grade schools of the city, has
discontinued her service in that ca
pacity, and is now a member of the
force of the Board of Public Wel
fare. She is eminently qualified for
the work. The municipality is to be
congratulated. Her work will be pa
role officer, with young girls her es
pecial province.
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
IN CHURCH CIRCLES
Richmond, Va., June 25.—Before
leaving Richmond today Mary E. Tay
lor, of New York, Negro woman evan
gelist, announced that she would en
ter the race for bishop of the A. M. F..
Zion church.