" '■ ^ The monitor A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans. Published Every Thursday at Omaha. Nebraska, by The Monitor Pub lishing Company. _ Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2. 1915. at the Postoffice at Omaha. Neb., under the Act of March 3, 1879. THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor and Publisher. Lucille Skaggs Edwards and Madree Penn, Associate Editors. Fred C. Williams, Business Manager. SUBSCRIPTION RATES, $2,00 A YEAR: $1.00 fl MONTHS: 60c 3 MONTHS Advertising Rates. 60 cents an Inch per issue. Address, The Monitor, 304 Crounse Block, Omaha, Neb. Telephone Douglas 3224. _____ . ... A \\V.SV.V.%V.VoV.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.%V.B.V.V-> ARTICLE XIV. CONSTITUTION Of THE :■ UNITED STATES. I Citizenship Rights Not to Be Abridged. I; 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States. \ and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the J United States and of the State wherein they reside. No ;• state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the \ privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor I; shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or prop erty without due process of lawr, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. j; THE WORLD AT PRAYER. •tote do not know how many of our W readers have seen or were among those who offered up the prayer set forth by a committee of the Interchurch World Movement and which was said or supposed to have been said, by millions throughout the world at the ushering in of the New Year. It was printed in every known tongue. Doubtless, millions repeated it with fervor. With one voice, though in many tongues, it calls for the "ele vation of justice and brotherhood,” and appeals for the hastening of that Kingdom in which mercy and love rule in the hearts of men. It is rather significant and stresses the unity of the human family that Christian people of the white race, the black race, the yellow race and the red race heard and joined in the prayer that went round the world for guidance to replenish a devastated earth and stay the unrest of per plexed people. No one can estimate the power of prayer. The individual, race or na tion that genuinely believes in it and sincerely offers it is sure to triumph over all its foes, spiritual and tem poral, and what counts more than all, to conquer its own sins of hate and greed and selfishness. These are the sins which keep men and nations at variance. Let prayers like this one continue to be offered throughout the world and strife and hatred and discord will speedily cease. The world was called to prayer and here is the prayer that millions were lequcsted to offer as the old year closed and the New Year daw-ned: “Almighty God, Father of all man kind. at the end of a year in which malice has so often thwarted love, ve join the prayers of all Thy chil dren around the world for peace, the elevation of justice and of brother hoed. "Thou Creator, Possessor of all thing*. Who didst make the earth for the race1’ of men and didst set bounds for the’r habitation, forgive us our greed as we repent of our sin. and restore to all hearts the recognition of the transcendent right of human life to live. "Open our eyes, we beseech Thee, to the dignity of labor, the saeredness of human service, and the privileges of production, that nation may join nation and man may join man justly in honest work to replenish a devas tated earth. "Quicken the sympathy of hearts made dull by reports and sights of suffering, incomprehensible and need less. "Call us again that we may bow be fore the eternal laws of creation, put ting aside malice, envy, covetousness and brutality, to enter into the peace of the sons of the Most High. Hasten by Thy gracious Provi dence and by the consecrated efforts of Thy children the coming of Thy world wide Kingdom where justice, mercy and love shall rule the hearts and hands of men. "Create in us, O Lord, clean hearts, tnd renew right spirits for the com ing year. “This we ask in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our holy Hope. Amen!” MOMTOR MISTAKE*. THE Monitor will always be found manly enough to acknowledge its mistakes and make due apology for the same. We try to be -absolutely sure of our facts before making a statement or taking a stand. We have the reputation of being reliable and dependable and we are jealous of maintaining this reputation. We find that we are mistaken in the purpose of the advertisement for waiters and bus boys which we withdrew from our advertising columns last week, because, as we said, we had reason to believe that its purpose was to find men to take the place of waiters who refuse to have their wages cut. We 9 j have been reliably informed that this in not true, and that these men are wanted for other projects. We there ; fore reinsert the advertisement. The insertion of advertisements comes under the business manage 1 inent of the paper. This department i uses the same care in trying to se ■ cure dependable advertisements as ! the editor does in maintaining the | literary standard of the publication j and it frequently occurs that the ; editor does not know what advertise j ments are in until the paper is pub lished. We have absolute confidence | in the business management and, as yet. have never had any reason for | calling their good judgment into ques I tion. This advertisement, was re ceived in the regular way. Later, the editor, knowing that there was a pro posal to cut the wages of certain waiters and having been informed that the advertisement was inserted by an employe of that bouse, conclud 'd that here was an underhanded ef fort to supply the places of these men. Having, however, since learned that the gentleman who Inserted the ad vertisement is not now' an employe of that house and having been assured that these employes are not to be dis I laced. The Monitor acknowledges its mistake and will continue to list the names. Al'IMtECIATE FOAH’I.IMF\T: BI.’T DESIKE CREDIT THE Monitor feels complimented that ho many of our exchanges consider us a model in news matter and editorial comment. Several bor row our news items, headlines and all. News, of course, is common property. It is in the matter of head lines where originality is shown. Where, therefore, our contemporaries borrow our news items, headlines and all. it might not be amiss or lacking in courtesy to occasionally give The Monitor credit. This is not absolutely necessary in the matter of news, but when it* comes to editorials credit should he given. Not infrequently are editorials from The Monitor published in full in the editorial columns of our exchanges as their own editorials. This is dishonest and unethical. Our editorial on the New A'ear is one of the most recent cases. We are glad to have our editorials quoted, but please, brethren of the quill, give us credit. SELF-RESPECT. ITNFORTUNATELY through a long J process of wrong education many members of our race have, perhaps unconsciously, imbibed the spirit of | self-depreciation which is most re grettable and must he overcome. What we mean is this: Because of the enslavement of our forefathers there has arisen, very naturally, the disposition to believe that the race which furnished the master class is an inherently superior race. Conse iquentiy, there is a tacit concession to his right to rule and to be deferred to in any and all matters of moment. This process of thought has engen dered and bred upon the part of one insolence and arrogance and upon the part of the other fawning and servil ity. Too many of our people, even those who lay claim to more than the average degree of intelligence, as sume this latter attitude. They speak in laudatory terms of the dominant race and in deprecatory terms of their own. They reflect in their tone and attitude those of the dominant race toward our own race. This is a se rious mistake. It Is a fatal mistake. No individual who is constantly under-rating and belittling himself can win, nor does he merit, the re spect of others. This is equally true of races and nations. Would we gain the respect of others we must not be wanting in self-respect. We must not accept for one minute the popular American doctrine that a dark skin is the infallible and unques tioned credential of inferiority of race Almighty God, and we speak with rev erence, knew His business when He made of one blood all nations of men to dwell upon the face of the whole earth and. fixed the bounds of their habitation. He created no inferior and no superior raceB. He created man in His image and likeness. He has given to each race its peculiar gifts and characteristics which are to be used for the welfare of all. As these gifts are used and developed, not selfishly, but for the good of all, men and races rise to prominence or sink into decay. He who is in the master class today may be in the slave class tomorrow. The race that does what the Creator intended it to do for the advancement of mankind is the superior race. The one that fails to do this or hinders His prog ress in righteousness is the inferior race. Judged by his service to humanity, not by the manifestation of brute force, but by the exercise of kind heartedness and the nobler virtues the African race can successfully hold its claim to equality, if not superior ity to any other race on earth. What we ■would have our own peo ple more fully appreciate than they do is the nobility and grandeur of the race to which we belong. And we would have them live up to their highest traditions. Instil this into your children. Never let them be I lieve that they belong to an inferior race. Never let them think for one moment that they capnot rise to the same heights in anv field of achieve ment that any other similarly en dowed human being can. Point out to them and hold up to them as ex amples anti an inspiration the men and women of the race who have ! achieved success in any given legit imate line. Encourage them to aspire. I Do not teach them racial insolence or arrogance, but teach them racial self-respect. Sing to then, no thren ody, but a paen of life and victory. LEADING EDITORIALS Dangerous Times Ahead for the Race When the politicians of a nation become convinced that a proposition is popular, that there are many vot'-s in it, they usually fall over themselves in adopting and advocating that prop osition, even if it amounts to a radical curtailment of personal and political rights and liberties. The activity of alien socialists, Russian reds and the like has been seized upon by both the dominant parties as an excuse for fa voring such legislative enactments as will amount practically, to the en slavement of the people to the party in power, whichever party that may be. The action of the New York legis lature in refusing to scat the five so cialist members because of their po litical beliefs is a case in point, and one that has drawn out a strong legal protest from Judge Chas. E. Hughes, the last republican candidate for president, and from other strong men 'n t • natif rt, a in ing i1. subversive of the political freedom of thought which has always been free ly tolerated in this country, and de nial of which is bound to lead to con fusion and, perhaps, violence. If the sedition law pases congress as it has been adopted by the house of representatives, any of the states of the south can have arrested and ultimately hanged any Negro editor who should protest against any injus tice, such as is now commonly prac ticed against the Afro-American cit: zens, including denunciation of mob law and of the state government that allows mob law to prevail within its ' jurisdiction. We should have to ac cept without criticism or protest the vile condition of affairs that prevail? now in the southern states or be tried for sedition and hanged for criticising and protesting against the condition. There is plenty of trouble ahead foi the Negro people. The republican? and the democrats in congress arc working together to hitch upon us the awful condition of affairs that has been allowed to grow up in the south ern states, and to try and hang us when we criticize and protest against it.—The Amsterdam (N. T.) News. TilK A>TI.SKIMTIO\ HILL. Organized labor is opposing the anti-sedition bill now before congress on the ground that it would violate j the constitution and rob the whole American people of their most cher j 'shed and basic guarantees of free j government.'* “If the American people, and in fact ! a majority of the members of con 1 press." eeys Mr. Oompers, president of the Amer'Can Federation of I,abor, i"were awake to the dangers concealed in this till, a storm of indignation | would sweep the nation. It has been j widely advertised that this measure [ protects free speech fully, but pre sents advocacy of forcible revolution. I bolshevism, and anarchy. In fact, it | would perpetuate an autocratic cen jsorship over the entire American I press. It can be used to kill free speech and free assembly. “Section 6 perpetuates the censor | ship of the postmaster general over : all newspapers and printed matter. ; The so-called Borah amendment, pro jtiding a court review of the postmas ter general’s action, is sound in prin ! ciple, but is inadequate to afford pro jection as a practical matter to a pub lisher against the autocratic action of Jhe postmaster general. “More amazing still, the proviso sets up a censorship over any man's private correspondence by the post master general. It would be crim inal. for example, for a man to send a letter advocating resistance to an injunction issued by a federal judge ordering workers on strike to go back to w’ork. “Moreover, this section can be used to prevent the organization of col ored labor on the grounds of inciting 'racial prejudice, the intended or probable result of which appeal is to cause rioting, etc.’ No doubt advoc acy of, or opposition to, the cause of Irish freedom would in some sections tic prohibited.” We have seen enough of the work ings of the espionage act—during the war and after—to be suspicious of these so-called anti-sedition hills. The : espionage act was in many instances 'used—not as an instrument for the j protection of the nation—but as a ■ weapon for autocracy and petty tyranny. Too often private malice found it a convenient cloak to hide sinister purposes. Just now, a widespread effort is ijejng made to bring all labor organ izations into disrepute by classing them all as bolshevist. During the steel strike and the coal strike this was especially noticeable. We have little doubt that the anti-sedition lulls now before congress have been de signed to hamper labor organizations, | even at the cost of taking away the ' liberties of the rest of us. We should not allow ourselves to be carried | away by the present “scare” that has l been worked up for a purpose. us j preserve our liberty even though a few “Reds'' sometimes abuse it. Our ^ present laws are sufficient to deal with them. The True Voice (Omaha). We Hare a Complete Line of FLOWER,GRASS AND GARDEN Baiba, Hardy Perennials, Poultry Supplies Fresh cut flowers always on hand Stewart’s Seed Store 119 N. 16th St. Opp. Post Offics Phone Douglas 977 I ... .... !H. LAZARUS SHOE REPAIRING | 2420fz Cuminjj Street £ s»..-e-»e.. » > Petersen & Mfchelsen Hardware Co. GOOD HARDWARE 2109 N St. Tel. South 161 **».»—♦ »s s S ... >vfvvfvyyvvvfTvvyvvvTTvvw | Liberty Drug Co.:: \ EVERYBODY’S DRUG STORE ;; We Deliver Anywhere. ■ • % Webster 386. Omaha, Neb. <> w ♦ EstabUshsd 189* Phone Tyler 897. g \ HitmvtniiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiifiiiiiiiiiiiiititiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiitiiH Eureka Furniture Store § | Complete Line of New and Sec- $ ond Hand Furniture PRICES REASONABLE fi Call Uh When You Hava Any 8 Furniture to Sell I 1417 N. 24th St. Web. 4206 g I