l =’ i The Monitor i — .1
A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor
$2.00 a Year. 5 tf/Zopy OMAHA. NEBRASKA. OCTOBER 30. 1919 Vol. V. No. 17 (Whole No. 226)
WitiiiiObYtatg the Truth—Associated Press Abets Mob
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MONITOR SPECIAL ^VESTISATOR
ON THE JOB IN ARKANSAS
Associated Press, as Usual, Withholds
Significant Facts—Vicious Whites
Under Pretense of “Suppressing
Negro Uprising." Moll and hill
Scores of Negroes and Imprison
Hundreds of Others—Interesting
Details of Motives and Causes Print
ed for Benefit of Monitor Headers.
(Special to The Monitor.)
HELENA, Ark., Oct. 28.—Your spe
eiai correspondent, detailed to in
vestigate the recent wholesale killings
of Negroes in Phillips county, Ar
kansas, quietly dropped into Helena
and visited the scenes of the recent
troubles, talked with scores of Ne
groes, overhead the conversations of
many whites, read the leading Ar
kansas newspapers, asked and got in
formation and opinions and left the
state without disclosing his identity
and even being suspected of being a
news writer.
The reason for this is obvious. We
did not know whom to trust. We
wanted to get the news—the whole
truth, not to be lynched. For in the
present state of mind of the white peo
ple of Phillips county, any Negro is as
good as dead if he be even suspected
of writing for a northern Negro pub
lication.
Summitry of Half Truth Circuited by
Press
From reading the news as sent out
by the white press of Arkansas, and
as given to the Associated Press, we
would be led to believe that the Ne
groes in and about Elaine, Phillips
county, Arkansas, were a bloodthirsty
set of ingrates who had deliberately
plotted to “rise up against the white
^ people and commit bloody slaughter;”
that they had marked for slaughter
twenty-one of the leading white men
of the county; that a Negro organiza
tion the Progressive Farmers' House
hold Union, and Its leaders were the
instigators of a plan to force “social
equality" of the Negroes on the white
people, and to seize the lands of the
white folks; that some Negroes wan
tonly fired on some white men who
were on a public highway and doing
nothing at all and who were wholly
innocent of any impending trouble
with the Negroes; that four of the
leading Negroes of the state, the John
son brothers, viciously attacked some
white deputies and possemen and were
killed while unlawfully resisting the
officers; that the "insurrection" of the
Negroes was so serious and threaten
ing ttiat the governor had to call on
the federal government for help and
the “uprising" was only suppressed by
the aid of federal troops,
v* The Heal Truth of the Organization
Here is the real truth about the
whole matter. The Progressive Farm
ers' Household Union was a Negro or
ganization incorporated by the state
of Arkansas and authorized by the
state to do business. Us charter
stated that It was organized for the
purpose of advancing the “Intellectual,
material, moral, spiritual and finan
cial Interests of the Negro race” and
“to make the Negro a better farmer
and a better citizen.” The charter Is
on the public records and can be In
spected at. any time. The application
blank is very short and asks but few
questions, namely, "Do you believe In
God? Do you belong to church? Who
Is your pastor? What is your age?
Do you believe in the law? Do you
believe in court? Are you married?’’
. - * and a few others as to his religious
beliefs. At the top of the application
arc Die words “The Torch of Liberty
the Light of the World.'' At the bot
tom the applicant signs a pledge to
obey the law and to support the con
stitution of the United States. 1 saw
one of the applications and a copy
was printed in the Times-Democrat, a
white newspaper published at Little
Hock. There is not one word in all
Its literature about “social equality."
The Motive Behind the Hullabaloo
All the hullabaloo was raised to
conceal and camouflage certain vi
cious conditions existing in Phillips
county and in all southeast Arkansas,
which were about to be exposed in the
courts. All the white plantation own
ers had a system whereby the Negro
tenants and share croppers are "fur
nished” their supplies. They get all
their food, clothing and supplies from
the "commissary” or store operated
by the planter, or else they get them
from some store designated by him.
The commissary or store charges
from 25 to 50 per cent interest on the
value of the money and supplies ad
vanced or furnished. If anyone doubts
this statement, let him ask any planter
or store keeper. As a rule they admit
it. They boast that the commissary
Is the safest and best paying depart
ment of the plantation. A northern
white man bought a big farm In Mis
sissippi. not far from Helena and
across the river from his Arkansas
white neighbors. Of course he had a
“commissary." When the season was
over he complained that be had' made
but little money. His southern neigh
bors asked him questions as to his
methods, etc., and found that he had
charged the cost price for his supplies
and had added ten per cent for profit,
and had settled with his hands at the
actual market value of tile cotton at
the time it was sold. They said "Hell,
man, you haven't got the right sys
tem. You don’t make money down
here on your cotton except in good
years. You make your money off your
oinniissary. Besides never give your
niggers a statement of their accounts.
If you do, you will ruin every nigger
in the country, .lust tell them what
they’ve got coming and pay them off
and don’t let ’em argue or ask any
questions." That is only part of the
"system." The landlord takes the cot
ton. gins it, soils It at the highest mar
ket price and settles with his tenants
at the lowest market price for their
"share" of tlie crop. They play both
ends against the middle and get the
Negro going and coming. If a Negro
objects, he Is classed as “an Insolent
nigger” or a "bad nigger." He is beat
up by the “agent" or "boss man” and
either driven off the place, or else he
admits lie is wrong, becomes tlior
ougjily cowed and then is allowed to
remain.
White Lawyer Hired lo Take Cases to
Court
That was the situation in 1918.
Many Negroes had their cotton taken
by the planter in October, 1918, but
did not get a settlement until July.
1919. They had never been able to
get a statement of their accounts
from month to month, hence when
July came, how could a man dispute
an account made the year before?
How could he say that he did not get
certain supplies in June, 1918, when
lie did not know until July, 1919, what
he was charged with? The Negroes
got tired of it. Sixty-eight of them got
together and decided to hire a lawyer
and get statements of their accounts
and a settlement at the right figures.
They decided not to hire a Negro law
yer because they knew that It meant
Mural Tripartite Unveiled at Poro College,“St. Louis, Mo., on October 19.
~ fX/rJ> t-oo$cj> The Foftcesr oy £ v< L
mobbing and death to any Negro law
yer who would have the presumption
to take one of these white planters to
court. They were afraid to trust any
white law'yer in Phillips county for
fear their attorney w'ould lay down on
them and fail to get results after get
ting their money. They canvassed the i
situation and found that the firm of j
Bratton & Bratton, white, of Little i
Rock, was a good, reliable firm, and j
would fight for a Negro client to the
last. They made contracts with this
firm to handle all the sixty-eight cases
at $50.00 each in cash and a percent
age of the moneys collected from the
white planters. Also some of these
Negroes and their friends planned to
go before the federal grand jury and
charge certain white planters with
peonage. These men had meetings
from time to time for the purpose of
collecting the moneys which were to
be paid In advance and to place the
same in the treasury; also to collect
evidence and gather facts which woul 1
enable them to successfully prosecute
these cases. These meetings had to
he secret to prevent harm and danger
to the men concerned and to their
families.
Cotton Pickers \sk Higher Wages
Meanwhile another organization
sprang up. The Negro cotton pickers
organized a union to raise the wages
of cotton pickers and refused to pick ,
cotton until they received higher j
wages for their work. These meetings
were secret. Also, at Elaine were a j
great many Negroes who worked in |
the saw mills and who received fair j
wages, and who refused to allow their |
wives and daughters to pick cotton or »
to work for a white man at any price, j
They did tills as a measure of protec
tion to their wives and daughters, who
were subject to the advances and in- I
suits of white men on the cotton
farms.
All these movements became known
to the white planters and they re- i
solved to break up the whole business
and tint the Negro “in their place." It I
Is the unwritten law of the cotton I
planter that his Negro tenants “must
not take the boss man to law." Woe
(Continued on Page 8.)
THE ORIENT SPEAKS
TO THE OCCIDENT
Li Moy Charges Hypocrisy in Practice
of Democracy.
A Chinaman, Li Moy Foo, of New
York, wrote to the New York World,
a letter which we reprint and respect
fully refer to hypocritical Caucasian
Christians of the U. S. A.:
“If a Chinaman may be permitted
to suggest, would it not be possible to
found a better and more lasting peace
upon the Ten Commandments than
upon the fourteen points? * * *
Why does not the west now, after
1900 years, try the experiment of
founding a state upon the teachings of
its Christ?
“We Chinamen believe that trade
restrictions beget war. The west had
been at war for and because of its
markets ever since your modern civili
zation was created.
“When the guns of Germany worked
destruction to the cathedrals of
France, we heard you weeping aloud
in your market places because of the
loss of the architectural beauties of
Kheims and Louvain. Not one voice
was raised in honest protest because
of the desecration of the inner taber
nacle.
“I attack not your Christian relig
ion, nor would I compare it unfavorab
ly with our Confucianism. Yovi, how
ever, do not practice your religion.
With you a commercial relation comes
first in all things; the moral relation
is forgotten.
“Lasting peace will come only when
you accept honestly the teachings of
the Christ whom you now only pre
tend to worship.”
THE OTHER SIDE OF
THE LYNCHING QUESTION
White Clerk Dismissed for Insulting
Colored Woman—Headlines in As
sociated Press Dispatches Con
spicuous by Their Absence.
Washington, D. C., Oct. 28.—Mrs.
Ida Dorsey, colored, employed in the
adjutant generals’ office of the war
department, was insulted by a white
clerk, who indecently and wilfully ex
posed himself to her. Mrs. Dorsey
called for assistance. The would-be
assailant was placed under arrest and
then released. The matter was latci
brought to the attention of Secretary
of War Baker, who summarily dis
missed the clerk.
—-—
BUYS 3.">,000 ACRES IN ARKANSAS
Kansas Oily, Oct. 30 — H. P. Ewing,
a Negro, who has a 1.000 acre farm
near here and Is known locally as the
potato king and originator of the
back-to-the-farm for Negroes move
ment, lias acquired control of 35.000
acres of northern Arkansas land.
He is getting together responsible
men of his race and returned Negro
soldiers whom he will settle on the
land with the understanding that they
will buy It as they develop it.
COLORED WOMEN PROVED
ABILITY FOR LEADERSHIP
Mrs. Eva H. Bowleg. National Y. IV.
C. A. Worker, Makes Interesting
Report.
NEW YORK—In reporting the work
of the Colored Work Committee
at the final meeting of the War Wo -k
Council of the Young Women’s Chris
tian association, held recently at Na
tional Headquarters, 600 Lexington
avenue, Miss Eva Bowles was heartily
applauded when she declared that the
war gave opportunity for colored
women to prove her ability for leader
ship, and that she had her chance and
made good, and that the time has
passed for white leadership for col
ored people.
Miss Bowles, during her report said: i
“As we report our achievements we j
find ourselves facing the future that !
will test all of our powers and con
serve the work already launched, and j
the problem f promotion is our im
mediate task. All the problems that
faced any girl in war time were ours,
together with the more serious prob
lems of race relationship and under
standing.
“We have ministered to our prob
lem from three outstanding ends; (1)
The immediate one of the hostess
houses in camps which was so acute
and the most picturesque of wartime
activities: (2) the colored girl as she
entered the industrial field; (3) in
communities affected by camps and
cantonments where abnormal condi
tions affected the life of the girl, here
were organized club and recreation
centers.
“Today this committee with the
other committees of the national
board, is facing the great problem of
reconstruction. The giant task that
lies ahead now that the world has
been saved for democracy is to make
democracy safe. The colored women
leaders stand ready to do their part.
The war has given opportunity for the
colored woman to prove her ability for
leadership; she had the chance and
she made good.
“With all the strength of having
suffered she will be able through the
patience born of suffering to lead the
women and girls whom only she can
lead. The time has passed for white
leadership for colored people. As
white and colored women we must
understand each other; we must think
and act, plan together, for upon all of
us rests the responsibility of the girl
hood of all nations.”
OFFERS TO FAY FOR
WEDDING RING AFTER
THIRTY.SIX YEARS
Batesville, Ark.—Thirty-six years
ago Charles Mosby, now a local jew
eler, extending credit to a Negro, then
in his employ, for a ring which the
man wished to give to his bride. Soon
afterward Mr. Mosby moved to one
town and the man to another, and the
man did not pay for the ring. This
week the man came to Batesville,
hunted up Mr. Mosby and offered to
pay for the wedding ring which his
wife had been wearing for thirty-six
years. Mr. Mosby refused to accept
the money, but instead gave the man
another ring as a reward for his good
intentions.
BALTIMORE Y TO HAVE
$7,500 SWIMMING POOL
Baltimore, Oct. 28.—The Y. M. C.
A. will close a campaign this week
and add some other features to its
$100,000 building. Rev. J. Milton
Waldron, of Washington, delivered an
address at the association Sunday aft
ernoon.
MORGAN COLLEGE PURCHASES
FORTY ACRES OF LAND
Baltimore, Md.—Morgan college re
cently purchased an additional tract
of forty acres. This purchase enables
the school to minister more effectively
to needs of its student body. Dean
Pickens has brought many desirable
changes to the college.
INDIANS AG AINST SEGREG ATION
Three hundred members of the
American Society of Indians, in an
nual convention at Minneapolis, voted
for the abolition of the U. S. govern
ment Indian bureau.
The reasons given by speakers are
that Indians should be regarded the
same as other American citizens and
do not need supen’ision.
FIRST FOUR SENTENCES
IN RIOT CONNECTION
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Lester Price, Colored. Given Thirty
Rays for Carrying Concealed Weap
ons—Three Plead Guilty of Com
plicity in Disorder—Get .Maximum
Jail Sentence—Seven More Held for
Murder and Arson Charge.
LESTER PRICE, 16 years old, a
Negro orphan boy living at 2226
Seward street, was sentenced to thirty
days in the county jail by Judge Red
ick in district court when he pleaded
guilty to a charge of carrying a con
cealed weapon on the night of the riot
in Omaha. Price is the first person
to be sentenced for alleged complicity
in the recent disorders. He was in
cluded in the first eight indictments
returned by the special grand jury.
Judge Redick made the boy’s sen
tence retroactive to date from Septem
ber 28, when he was arrested and
confined to jail.
Price is the lad whom the mob at
tacked when detected in a street car
on Farnam and was only saved by the
presence of mind of the conductor
who concealed him on the floor of the
car. He was later rescued from a mob
at Eleventh and Jackson streets and
taken to Council Bluffs by police for
safekeeping before the rioters threat
ened to burn the city jail in their hunt
for him.
The Negro told Judge Rediclt that
he heard a mob rush by his house
yelling “Lynch the nigger!” and
slipped the gun in his pocket for pro
tection when he started downtown for
work.
Maximum jail sentences of ninety
days were given by Judge Redick in
district court to three youths who
pleaded guilty before him to indict
ments charging them with complicity
in disorder September 28. Eli Snyder,
16, 3027 Valley; Ernest Morris 17, 533
South Twenty-second, and Harold
Thorpe, 19, 2917 Douglas, were the
trio who received the sentences.
DISREGARD UNITED STATES
RULING ON INTERSTATE
COMMERCE LAWS
Refuse to Sell Pullman Accommoda
tions to Negro—Beaten by Group
of Unmasked Whites.
JACKSON, Miss., Oct. 30.—Taken
from a Yazoo and Mississippi Val
ley train at Annie, Miss., six miles
north of here, by several white men
unmasked, carried into the woods and
given a severe beating. Drummond
Leonard, Negro barber of Yazoo City.
Leonard attempted to buy Pullman
tickets for his wife and two daughters
in Jackson, and a quarrel with the
ticket agent because the sale wras re
fused followed.
TWO INTERESTING NEWS ITEMS
Colored Laborers Leave Anniston—
Farm and Aline Owners Seek
Causes of Migration.
Anniston, Ala.—Many laborers are
leaving for the north, lured from
farms, mines and lumber camps. Ef
forts to determine if labor agents
have been soliciting them to quit for
jobs in the north have failed to reveal
any evidence of them. There will he
a serious shortage of labor gathering
cotton and other crops.
A Judious Observer Might Give This
as a Reason.
Hobson City, the exclusive Negro
town, cannot secure annexation to An
niston. A committee of the Anniston
city council which was appointed to
investigate conditions in Hobson City
and report on the advisability of tak
ing the town, has reported against
such a move.
TO SEEK COMMCTATION
OF SENTENCE FROM
PRESIDENT WILSON
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Baltimore, Md.. Oct. 30.—An appeal
for signatures to a petition to be pre
sented to President. Wilson, seeking
clemency for the Negro soldiers who
are serving jail sentences as the re
sults of the Washington race riots, ■
will he asked by the Rev. Simon P. AV.
Drew, Colored, president of the Na
tional Evangelical Ministers’ Allianre
of America, in an address recently at
the Enon Baptist church. The Rev.
Mr. Drew is making a nation-wide
tonr in hope of obtaining the signa
tures of 500.000 persons on the peti
tion.