i =-1 The 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. DECEMBER 18. 1919 Vol. V. No. 24 (Whole No. 233)
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Lyik "i Endorses Wood-Young Goes (o Liberia
MAJOR JOHN N; LYNCH ENDORSES
WOOD’S CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENCY
_
Well-Known Retired Army Officer, Ex-Congressman, Distin
guished Author and One of the Most Influential Members of,
Race, Commends Monitor Editorial—Served Under General'
in Cuba—Speaks From Twenty Year’s Personal Acquaint
ance of Candidate’s Qualifications.
“His Administration Will He Broad, Liberal, Fair and Just to All
• Races, Classes and Groups of Which Our Citizenship Is Com
posed,’’ Declares Lvnch.
' _._
Major john r. lynch, who has
had a most distinguished and
honorable public career for a half cen
tury as congressman, auditor of tne
navy, army officer and author, and
has a wide acquaintance with public
men, and is therefore in a position
to speak with authority, most heartily
endorses the candidacy of Major Gen
eral Leonard Wood for the nomina
tion for the presidency. Major Lynch
speaks from a personal acquaintance
with General Wood of more than
twenty years, under whom he served
as army officer when Wood was mili
tary governor of Cuba. Writing from
Chicago, where he now resides, under
date of December 11, Major Lynch,
commending The Monitor’s editorial
gives cogent reasons for General
Wood’s nomination which he hopes
will be by acclamation. He writes:
“Dear Father Williams:
“I write to congratulate you upon
and thank you for the splendid edi
torial in The Monitor of the 4th inst.,
in support of General Leonard Wood
for president of the United States.
In this I assure you that you have
made no mistake. I have known Gen
eral Wood favorably and well for
nearly twenty years, and can there
> fore speak of him from personal
r knowledge and contact.
“ For president of the United States
we would have in General Wood the
right man in the right place.
“Some say that we ought not to
have a military man for president.
We have had a military man for presi
dent immediately succeeding every
war in which our country has been
engaged. Why not follow that cus
tom now, in view of the indisputable
fact that we have in General Wood a
man that will measure up to the re
quirements of the occasion in every
particular?
“The present abnormal conditions
growing out of the recent world war
render it imperative that we place in
the presidential chair a man of the
experience, ability and calibre of Gen.
oral Wood. He is not merely a mili
tary man. He has demonstrated re
markable and splendid executive and
X, administrative ability and capacity in
every station he has been called upon
to fill. It was my good fortune to
serve under him as an army officer
while he was the military governor of
Cuba. It will not be denied that that
country never had a better adminis
tration than it had under General |
Wood.
“General Wood does not pose as the j
special friend and champion of any
one race, class or group, but he be
lieves in giving every one a square
deal, regardless of race, color or na
tionality, and that is all we ask, ex
pect or desire. Racial proscription
and official segregation will neither
Ire countenanced nor tolerated by him.;
In matters of official recognition the i
rule by which he will be governed.
will be merit and not race, fitness and j
not color. In other words no race or j
color line will be drawn by him or by!
any one else officially connected with
his administration. His administra
tion will be broad, liberal, fair and!
just to all races, classes and groups
of which our citizenship is composed, |
whatever their race, color, nationality
or religion, provided they are true and
law-abiding Americans. He believes
in national supremacy, human rights
and manhood suffrage, because hej
will see that every American citizen
i: protected in the exercise and enjoy
ment of his civil and political rights
at home as well as abroad, as far as it
may be in the power of the chief exe
cutive to do so. Leonard Wood is
the man of the hour. His nomination
and election will be to the colored1
American a new emancipation. It will
give him new hope, encouragement
and inspiration. It will strengthen
and increase his loyalty to his coun-1
try and his devotion to the flag and
to our American institutions. Let us
hope that popular sentiment in the
party will be so thoroughly concen
trated upon General Wood that the
name of no other candidate will be
presented to the convention and that
he will be nominated by acclamation.
Very truly yours,
JOHN It. LYNCH.
New York, Dec. 12.—As part of of
its work, the section on music of the j
department of religious education of j
the Youug Women’s Christian Asso- j
elation is compiling a book of Negro [
melodies suitable for girls' voices.
M ajor John Roy Lynch, U. S. A., Retired.
SOUTHERN NEWSPAPER MAN, MANAGING EDITOR
OMAHA BEE, SUPPORTS MONITOR’S CHARGE
OF ROBBERY OF NEGRO FARMERS
IN 1917 Taylor Kennedy, a brilliant southern newspaper
man, was on the staff of the New York Evening Post of
which publication Oswald Garrison Villard, grandson of
William Lloyd Garrison and treasurer of the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of the Colored People, was for
so many years the editor-in-chief. Mr. Villard retired from
The Evening Post some months ago to devote his time to
the publication of The Nation. The policy of The Post dur
ing Mr. Villard’s editorship was most friendly to the Negro.
It was the one great New York publication which fearlessly
championed the Negro’s cause. Then, too, it is noteworthy
that in 1917 the United States entered the world war. The
Negro was needed. Newspapers, north and south, were
sounding his praises. There was a vast deal of truth telling
about the mistreatment of the Negro ;n the United States
and especially in the South. Conscience-smitten, America
pleaded eloquently for a square deal to the most loyal of her
citizens, the black American. The patriotic press, and espe
cially that portion of it which was friendly to the Negro,
sought writers who knew the truth about southern condi
tions and specifically the causes underlying the exodus
from the south, and employed such writers to prepare
articles to carry out the policy of the paper in bringing such
facts to the attention of the discerning public. Newspapers
have a policy. It is the duty of members on the staff to
carry out that policy.
The Post could not have secured a more competent
writer than Taylor Kennerly, formerly managing editor of
the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, to prepare a series of
articles on “The Negro Exodus From the South.” Three
articles written by Mr. Kennerly, under this caption and
published in The Post of May 25, and June 2 and 9, throw
such a flood of light upon the conditions responsible for the
so-called “Negro uprising against the whites” at Elaine,
Arkansas, a few weeks ago and for which eleven Negroes
were sentenced to death in SEVEN MINUTES and more
than sixty others were given life or long-time sentences in
the penitentiary, that their republication will prove timely,
interesting and instructive. In this connection, it will be
recalled „.iat The Monitor’s special correspondent, who gave
the facts about the Elaine “uprising,” stated that "The
Negro Farmers’ Protective Association” had been formed to
seek legal redress against a system of robbery of which they
had been victims at the hands of unscrupulous whites for
years. Mr. Kennerley’s articles, and the fact must not be
overlooked that they are from the pen ot a southern white
man who would much rather write a different story, fully
corroborate The Monitor’s position.
Mr. Kennerly has for the past year been managing
editor of the Omaha Bee, which also evidently has a policy.
His articles as published in The New York Evening Post will
be republished in The Monitor under the exact headings
given them in the original publication. They are articles
worthy of preservation. Here is the first:
THE NEGRO EXODUS FROM THE SOUTH
Southern Newspaper Man Discusses the Phenomenon Which Is
Giving the Old South Cause for Deep Anxiety—How
Half a Century of Economic and Social Oppression
Is Beating Natural Fruit
FIRST OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES
II) TAYLOR kL\NEKLY.
"T ABOR agents working In Alabama will be required to pay $500 state and
J—J $250 county license. The State Equalization Board has addressed a
letter to all of the county license officers urging them to greater activity in
collecting this tax or apprehending those who seek to induce the immigration
of Negroes or others without the license required under the Revenue Act of
1915.
“The duty of collecting this license tax devolves upon the license officers,
and the State Equalization Board has been working for some time, attempt
ing to bring about a more rigid enforcement of the statute. The license is
charged against each agent and ail of his sub-agents equally.
"F. C. Marquis, member of the Equalization Board, returned Friday from
Jefferson and Walker Counties, and states that the industrial section of the
State has been hard hit by the emigration of Negroes to the North, brought
about through the operation of labor agents, and that the Board will give
its assistance to the county authorities to break up the practice or make it
yield a larger revenue to the State.’’
The above article was printed on
the front page of the Montgomery Ad
vertiser, one of the oiliest and best
newspapers of the Old South, Satur
day, May 12. To the average reader
this small item means little or noth
ing, but to one born and reared far
below the Mason-and-Dixon line and
who knows that, next to the present
war, the "Negro Exodus” is alarming
certain sections of the South today
more than any issue with which it
has been confronted since the days of
the Civil War, its meaning is very
significant and far-reaching.
THE SOUTH “OWNS THE NEGRO."
First of all it meanH the Old South
still feels that “these Negroes down
here are our Negroes, always have
been, always will be, and you folks
up North and East must let them
alone, or else the low-bred labor
agents you send down here to entice
(hem away from us must pay for his
‘niggers’ just the same as (lie man
lid who bought them sixty years ago.
We have no use for them down here
as citizens and would not think of let
ting them vote. But still they belong
to 11s and no one else has any right to
offer them better wages a£d better
living conditions than we give them.’’
What the large majority of people
outside of the Old South—and when 1
say Old South I mean Alabama, Geor
gia, Florida, and the Carolinas—can
not understand is why the white man
of these States cares what the Negro
does, whether he remains a resident
of their particular State or moves
away to Chicago, lioston. New York,
or some other place. Taking Alabama
as an example, this State having lost
40,000 or 50,000 Negroes through emi
: gration to the North and Bast in the
past year, which is more than some
and less than other States, possibly
no better explanation could be given
than the following statement of the
Hon. W. T. Robertson, present Mayor
of Montgomery, Ala. In discussing
why the Negro was quitting the farms
and seeking his fortune elsewhere, he
said:
“There is money in farming, lots of
It, but the Negro farmer has been
systematically robbed by the white
man since tho close of the Civil War.
They haven’t been treated right and
no one can blame them for quitting
the soil. If tho Negro farmers would
be returned all the Interest in excess
of 8 per cent charged them for money
advanced them, they would today be
living in brownstone mansions, just
as the rich white advancers do. How
the Negro has been treated is borne
out by an instance which happened
last week. An old Negro came to me
(Continued on Page 8.)
COLONEL YOUNG RECEIVES AP
POINTMENT AS MILITARY ATTACHE
Liberian Government, Recognizing His Splendid Qualifications,
Makes Formal Request for His Appointment.
• - '
Washington, D. C., Dec. 18.—Colonel
Charles Young, retired, the only Negro
officer of the army to attain that rank,
has been selected as military attache
to Liberia at the request of the African
republic. Some years ago Colonel
Young organized the military estab
ment of Liberia.
He was retired in 1917 for physical
disability, just before 250 colonels
were promoted to brigadier generals,
but was called to active duty during
the war, and detailed to train recruits.
As the highest commissioned col
ored officer in the United States army
and a West Painter. Colonel Charles
A. Young enjoys a very unique posi
tion in the estimation of colored
America.
Born in Ohio, a graduate of the
High School at Ripley, Ohio, he was
certified to West Point, from which
institution he was graduated after a
strenuous struggle against the usual
odds with which a colored man has to
contend.
In speaking of his school days at
West Point Colonel Young has often
said that the harder prejudice was
brought to bear against him the more
North End Club Openly
Advocates Segregation
Formulates and Circulates Petitions
Praying Mayor and Council to Ar
range Certain Zones or Itistriet for
the Colored and White Persons of
This City.
MOVEMENT FOR A “BIGOER
AND BETTER OMAHA”!!
THE following self-explanatory ar
ticle was published last week in
the North Omaha Booster, a weekly
publication circulated gratuitously in
the territory around Ames avenue:
“The Central Park Men's Club, at
a meeting last week formulated the
following petition and have circulated
about fifty for signatures of all In
terested parties.
“There has been no disposition on
the part of the petitioners to stir any
unfriendly feeling among the popula
tion, but they feel that the situation
must be taken care of for thp future
benefit of our city.
"There were nearly one hundred
members present at the meeting and
al lheartily endorsed the petition with
th spirit that it is for a ‘Bigger and
Better Omaha.’
determined he became to make him
self the best in everything he under
took.
Not only did he finish the prescribed
military course with honors, but also
studied music and art, and has made
some contributions of more than pass
ing merit.
In 1898 at the outbreak of the Span
ish-American war Colonel Young or
ganized the Ninth Ohio. He saw serv
ice in the Philippines and Mexico and
was in a number of brushes with the
Indians in the great West.
Why he did not go overseas with
the American Expeditionary Forces he
will undoubtedly tell readers some
day in his own language:
Colonel Young has done special
work for the government in Haiti;
was military governor of Liberia;
Professor of Military Science and Tac
tics at Wilberforce university. He is
now restored to active duty after a re
tirement of several months.
He offers perhaps the highest ex
ampel of courage, patience and train
ing to the American youth of color.
Colonel Young will sail for Liberia
January 1.
“The following is the petition that
will be presented the mayor and coun
cil when the petitions are filled with
names:
" ‘To the Mayor of Omaha and the
Honorable City Council:
*' 'We, the undersigned citizens and
voters of Omaha, Nebraska, hereby
petition your honorable body to take
such action as may be within your
power or in some amicable manner
or way, if possible, arrange certain
zones or districts for the colored and
white persons of this city.
“ ‘There is an ever increasing dispo
sition on the part of certain white
persons for pecuniary reasons to en
deavor to sell their homes in districts
occupied exclusively by white persons,
to colored persons.
“ There is no disposition on the
part of your petitioners to stir any
feeling between the white and colored
population of this city, but on the
other hand our purpose is to maintain
peace and quietude by so separating
in some manner the colore dand white
population so that there will be no
clash or interference by the white
people with the colored people, or
vice versa. In short, your petitioners
believe it is to the best interest of
both races that there be a proper sep
aration of the districts where said
races may inhabitate,
“ ‘Respectfully submitted.’ ”
Colonel Charles Young, U. S. A., Who (Joes as Military Attache
to Liberia.
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