i i The Monitor l— i
A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS.
_ THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
12.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA. NEBRASKA. APRIL 1. 1920 Vol. V. No. 39 (Whole No. 248)
Bad Prison Conditions Cause Outbreak
Governor Allen of Kansas Refuses Extradition
iP
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9 —
WILLI AM PICI S
PL'S <ES AUDIENCE
Assistant Field N> £ ary of the Na
tional Associating - the Advance
ment of Colorec % ople Delivers
Notable Address. ®.
•A
DISTING I ISHED YALE
ALUMNUS GIVES MESSAGE
Pleads for Co-operation and Under
standing Between Races — Both
Groups Must Work Sympathetic
ally Together—Neither Can Solve
Problem Alone.
“jVTEITHKR race can solve America’s
’ great problem alone,” declared
William Pickens, assistant field sec
retary of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People,
before an audience which taxed the
capacity of St. John’s A. M. E. church
Monday night. Mr. Pickens spoke
under the auspices of the local branch
of the association.
Mrs. Jessie Hale Moss, presi
dent, presided and introduced Elmer
Thomas, a Y'aio alumnus who, in turn,
introduced his distinguished fellow
alumnus William Pickens of whose ca
reer, said Mr. Thomas in his splendid
personal tribute, "Yale is eminently
proud, for none of her distinguished
sons has rendered better service to
humanity or sustained the scholarly
traditions of his alma mater than has
Dean Pickens, the story of whose ca
reer reads like a romance."
Mr. Pickens said in part:
“The better class of both races must
I deliberately and consciously seek out
co-operation and acquaintanceship
with each other’s aspirations, needs
and worth. Interracial committees
should exist wherever there is an ap
preciable number of colored people to
promote interracial amity.
“And any organized effort to affect
the race problem must be along "the
lines of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People—
that is, it must consist of both white
and colored men deliberately pursuing
this solution. Neither race can settle
the matter alone. The white man has
already failed in that method; the
Negro nets! not try it.
“There is no knowledge, superior to
that of personal experience in the
matter of knowing other people. When
the white man of America knows the
black man of America even as well as
the black people know the white peo
ple in this country, there will be much
less difference of opinion and danger
of trouble between the races.”
Speaking of crime reporting in
newspapers, the speaker said, “It is
absolutely wrong to repeat that a
Negro did a crime, for a Negro didn’t
do it—a criminal did it, who was
incidentally a Negro. If we put the
word white before every crime com
mitted by a white man it wouldn’t lie
long before the word white would
be blacker than the word black and
if each time a red haired person
committed a crime it was announced
‘a red haired bandit,’ it wouldn’t be
long before little children would be
tunning away from red headed peo
ple.”
. “We can say what we like about
* not being influenced but every single
thing we read or hear has some effect
upon us ami the association of ideas
is one of the strongest influences,”
he said.
MILITARY MEN HAVE
MADE GOOD PRESIDENTS
(Special to The Monitor.I
Chicago, HI.. April 1. Thirteen oul
of twenty-five men who made good
presidents of the United States had
seen active military service—Wash
ington, Jackson, Madison, Monroe,
Harrison. Tyler, Pierce, Grant, Gar
field, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley
and Roosevelt,” said Mrs. Benjamin
Arthur Fessenden, chairman of the
women’s Wood committee in High
! land Park, ill., recently.
DIAMOND MINERS IN
SOUTH VFRII'A HOlih
FOR 50 CENTS A HAY
| ( By Edward AI. Thierry, With Smith
sonian-Universal African
Expedition.)
j Johannesburg—Capital in South
Africa either is so lucky in dealing
with labor that it doesn't need brains,
: or else so brainy it doesn't need luck.
With the rest of the world slewing
! in labor t roubles, south Africa has
industrial peace.
Big industry, of which gold min
ing and diamond mining are greatest,
J have been practically untouched by
I labor unrest
What would you do, Mr. Employer,
if you had 900 employes and you
only had to pay 100 of them an av
erage of $7.50 a day and the other
S00 only had to'he pa id 50 to 75 cents
a day and provided with food and
lodging, costing only 12 to 15 cents
a day?
That's the labor situation in South
Africa. Yet capital is gloomy. Most
of the agitation now going on comes,
not from labor, but from capital.
There has been a government in
quiry into tile low grade mine labor
question.
Mine owners, pleading that the cost
of gold production in low grade
mines yielding a low percentage of
gold per ton has gone up so high,
are trying to have the color bar
lifted.
The color bur is a law prohibiting
natives as foremen in mines or jobs
requiring skill.
The white man in the mines owes
his position to monopoly. His task
is to direct the labor of his gang of
natives who are debarred by law
from competing with him, however
capable they may be—and sometimes
are.
While trouble does not appear im
minent, South African students of
situation declare that the artificial
position created by the fact that the
color of a man’s skin and not his ef
ficiency decides whether ho shall be
paid $7.50 a day even as high as $15
a day—or half a dollar a day with
meager food and lodging, is a condi
| tion that cannot be permanent.
Mine operators want to raise the
j color bar, but they don't think much
1 of the idea of raising the natives to
j l he white wage standard.
Capital, in support of the latter
contention, points to a report of the
economic commission that with pay
at only $3.75 a day, 41 out of 52
j gold mines would have to shut down
j and the remaining 11 would operate
! at very reduced profits.
COCORED OFFICER FOB WOOD,
lie Intends to E'ortn Clulis for the
General Among People of Iowa.
Kansas City, Mo., March 30.—
Among tliq -twenty-five Wood follow
ers who applied yesterday at head
quarters of the Wood-for-President
club in the (ilendale building for
membership was Captain W. W. Rus
sell, a Negro, who was commissioned
at the Panama Canal zone in the ad
ministration of President Wood.
He is a graduate of Columbia uni
versity and the Boston Institute of
Technology. During the war he was
connected with various Negro welfare
organizations. Ho is an adfnirer of
Roosevelt, and he believes Roosevelt
would have indorsed General Wood.
He not only intends to vote for the
general, but will leave tomorrow for
Iowa, where he will devote most of
his time to the organization of Wood
for-President clubs among the Negro
population.
Prisoners Mutiny at Treatment of Women
Brutal Deputies Beat and Kick Female Prisoners—Precipitates
Riot in Parish Jail—Men Refuse to Work—Eighteen-Year-Old
Boy Shot Down With Riot Gun by Warden, Who Says He Did
Not Know It Was Loaded—Trouble Long Brewing—Cruet
Beatings Alleged to Have Caused Revolt
GRAND JURY TO INVESTIGATE
CHARGES OF DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS
(Special to The Monitor)
NEW ORLEANS, March 30.—That a new spirit is manifesting
itself among the men of this section, even among those who
have been unfortunate enough to fall or be placed among tne
criminal classes, for it must be borne in mind that in this section
that petty theft and mere street brawls in which Negroes are fre
quently implicated are magnified into felonies, is shown by a
recent jail riot here. Frequent rumors have reached the outside ,
that Negro prisoners of both sexes are victims of unbelievable
brutality at the hands of guards and deputies. Male prisoners
have been growing sullen under this treatment. Matters, how
ever, reached a climax March 19 when screams of terror and pain
coming from the women’s quarters reached the ears of the men.,
The women, too, goaded to desperation, turned upon the jailers.!
Men mutinied and the warden shot an eighteen-year-old boy, Willis,
Payne, who is alleged to have been leader. Here is the story asj
published by The New Orleans Item:
Shoi down in the yard of the par
ish prison by Captain Richard Mere
dith, warden, Willis Payne, 18, of Clio
and Willow streets, a Negro serving
time for the theft of a shirt, is close
to death in Charity hospital. Payne
was shot at 9:20 a. m. His left arm '
is riddled below the elbow with buck
shot. from a riot gun, and several of
the big plugs pierced his stomach.
The scene in the parish prison fol
lowing the shooting was a raving,
lighting, kicking, scratching, biting
chaos as Negro men and women were
herded from their open prison yards
into their cells by deputies with
sticks.
A strike by the male Negro prison
ers. who riotously refusfsl to take up
their morning task of swabbing out
the prison started the affray, said
Captain Meredith This Friday morn
ing's strike had been preceded by
hours of frantic riotousness by the
Negro prisoners, he said.
Conflicting stories are told by the
Negroes in the parish prison. Some
of the prisoners assert that their
strike against cleaning the prison on
Friday morning, after a night of
screaming and battering at cell doors,
was as a protest against deputies
heating und maltreating the Negresses
in prison. They say that the Negro
men in the yard were seeking to es
cape when Captain Meredith fired
the shot that riddled Payne.
Two trusties, Negro prisoners both,
deny this. They say that Payne,
stick in hand, struck at Captain
Meredith, and that the blow by Payne
discharged the gun that shot him.
They say they “don’t know nothin'
'bout women bein' beat up.”
Negress Hurls Shoe at Warden.
"The deputies telephoned me at
my house early this morning und
told me the Negroes had taken
charge of the jail," said Captain
Meredith. HU right temple was
streaming with blood from a cut
where a frenzied Negress had hurled
her shoe and the heel of it had crash
ed against his head. “I came down
at once. The Negroes were shouting
and yelling in the yard. I took tip a
riot gun. On the level, I didn’t
know it was loaded. I simply took It
to bluff them hack into their cells.
"When T got out in the yard the
Negroes wore all bunched up and
raving. Right of them started to
ward me, this Willis Payne boy in
the lead. They had sticks in their
hands. I raised the gun and they
still came on. And the gun went off.
I didn't know it was loaded.”
As Payne, riddled with buckshot,
fell to the ground of the yard, depu
ties horded the Negro men up into
their cells. Payne was picked up
and taken to the Charity hospital.
He has little chance to survive, say
the doctors there.
Madness Reigns ill •Tail.
The parish prison “wireless” sped
the news to the yard where the Negro
women prisoners were grouped. Like
a flash the enclosure became a rav
ing pandemonium. Captain Mere
dith and eight, deputies went, into the
yard, sticks In hand, to herd the
Negresses Into their cells. They
were greeted by a volley of horrible
curses, while the maddened Negress
es hurled cans, pails, sticks and even
tore a big iron manhole-cover loose
in an effort to make a missle of it.
Here it was that Captain Meredith
received the cut. on his right temple
from a hurled shoe. Another shoe
heel hit Deputy Dan Donnelly on the
head.
'They treat us like dogs! They
beat us like dogs!" screamed the
maddened Negresses. Up the stairs
they were herded by pushing depu
ties. One mulatto girl tore down her
blouse. Across her left shoulder
was a long cut "book what they do
to us!” she cried. “That, deputy,
. ‘>n Demmings, did that to me last i
night!" Incoherent screams of rage
arose from the raving huddle of
forty Negresses.
brand Jury to Probe.
His wound given first aid dressing.
Captain Meredith rushed to the office
of District Attorney Chandler Luzen
berg. There he told the story. Mr.
Luzenberg said that he would lay the
whole afafirs before the Orleans par
ish grand jury, in session today.
Captain Meredith, deputies and the
prisoners themselves will be brought
before the grand jury as witnesses.
“We’ve been having hell with
them for days," said Captain Mere
dith. "They seem to have gone
crazy, especially the Negroes. Last
night Deputy John Demmings was
attacked when he went into the
Negro womens quarters, and was
beaten tip before he could get out.
The white prisoners, too, have been
surly, though they haven’t gone to
the length that the Negroes have."
Rebellion Rite Several Days.
Tlie parish prison has undeniably
been the scene of riotous rebellion
during the past few days and nights,
according to the tale told by police
reporters and deputies. Shouts and
screams have echoed from the walls.
Prisoners have grasped the liars of
their cell doors and clashed them
for hours, while shrieks swept
through the corridors.
The whole prison was in such a
state of hysterical frenzy on Friday
morning that no coherent word could
be obtained from the prisoners to
iell the reason for the outbreak.
Tales of Cause Conflict.
A swift tour of the parish prison
by an Item reporter brought from
the Negroes themselves widely di
vergent. statements. Some of the
Negroes assert the strike was as a
protest to the beating and maltreat
ment of Negro women prisoners by
deputies. Others say they know of
no such beatings. Two trustees say
that Willis Payne, striking at Cap
tain Meredith with a stick, hit the
gun Meredith carried and caused its
discharge. This story other Negroes,
claiming to be eye-witnesses, deny.
They say Payne was turning to run
without, striking a blow, when Mere
dith shot him.
Alex Johnson, Negro, of 819 St.
Philip street, in prison on a charge
of carrying concealed weapons, says
that at 9 p. m, Thursday he heard
<Continued on Piip’c Two.)
ARKANSAS MEN ORGANIZE TO
PREVENT RACE CONFLICTS
Arkadelphia, Ark., March 3U.—Race
leaders of Arkadelphia have organ
ized an association which has for its
purpose the quelling of race trouble
and the prevention of crime. It is
called the Colored Business Men’s
League. Fourteen charter members
were admitted at the first meeting.
The league will meet once m<>“thly
and reports will be made any
brewing disturbances of an; nature.
The influence of the league w'ill be
used to stop trouble in its inception.
OHIO PUBLICATIONS
LINE Cl’ FOR LEONARD WOOD
Women Clocking lo the General’s
Standard “Country Needs Another
Abraham Lincoln" Says Prominent
Worker.
(Special to The Monitor) <
Columbus, Ohio, March 31.—Resent
ing the treatment accorded the col
ored voters of the state by the Hard
ing management, two other publica
tions in the interest of the colored
race have fallen in line for General
Wood for president.
They are the Cleveland Advocate
and the Ohio State Monitor, Colum
bus, both of wihch praise the fitness
of Wood and condemn the Harding
ltaiigherty method of hand-picking
delegates, ignoring the rights of 150,
000 colored voters in Ohio.
Tile treatment of F. 0. Patterson,
Greenfield, colored candidate for dele
gate-at-large, by the Harding mana
gers, first refusing him consent to
run and then in forcing him off the
ballot, is strongly denounced.
In most Ohio cities the colored vot
ers are voluntarily organizing their
own forces in behalf of Wood, it is
said at state headquarters.
Mrs. John H. Arnold, wife of the
former lieutenant governor, has ac
ce pted the state chairmanship of the
Ohio woman's Leonard Wood com
mittee and will have headquarters at
the Neil house.
‘.General Wood stands for the thing
1 believe in. That's a woman’s rea
son. He stands for the best things
for the people. This is a crucial pe
riod in our national life. We need
another Abraham Lincoln.
WOOD’S VICTORY IN
MINNESOTA PRIMARY
.Minnesota The victory of General
Wood hy the republican presidential
primary in Minnesota assuring him
a big majority of the twenty-four
delegates from that state to the coli
seum convention in June was the
signal for jubilant expressions at the
Wrood head quarters in the Congress
hotel. At the Bowden headquarters
the Minnesota jolt brought dismay.
Because the state was the place of
Lowden’s birth, the governor made
a "native son" campaign here. His
supporters had been led to believe
that he was strong enough to en
danger General Wood's commanding
place as the leader.
YOUTH NAMED FOR W EST POINT.
Chicago, 111.. March 30.—Congress
man Dyer has recommended Richard
Jackson, a graduate of Summer High
school for West Point military school.
Jackson is only 19 years of age and
has made a very creditable record at
Summer High and friends have used
every influence possible to get the
recommendation. People will recall
that it was Congressman Dyer who
introduced a bill that would make
lynching a federal offense.
SAYS FRANCE ABANDONS
RUHR OCCUPATION PLAN
Berlin, March 30.—France has
abandoned her demand to occupy the
neutral zone and has consented to
grant Germany from two to three
weeks to employ a strong force in the
disturbed Ruhr area, according to an
announcement made to the national
assembly today by Chancellor Muel
ler.
KANSAS GOVERNOR
DENIES REQUISITION
Refuses Arkansas Governor's Request
for Return of Robert Hill, Who Was
Charged With Forming Organiza
tion to Massacre White People of
Elaine and Phillips County.
FARMERS’ ORGANIZED
AGAINST EXPLOITATION
Employed Counsel to Secure Legal
Redress Against Wholesale Robbery
Under Crop System—Hill Active in
Trying to Obtain Justice From
Predatory Planters.
TOPEKA, Kans., April 1.—Gov
ernor Henry J. Allen announced
Tuesday that he would deny the requi
sition of Governor Brough of Ar
kansq^ to return Robert Hill, wanted
by the state of Arkansas on a charge
of having incited the race riots that
occurred there last September. Im
mediately upon the announcement,
Colonel R. Neill Rahn, deputy United
States marshal, took Hill into custody
on a federal warrant charging him
with impersonating a government of- *
ficer.
Attorney General Arbuckle of Little
Rock introduced evidence to show that
the Negroes in the riot district ac
cused Hill of starting the trouble and
of urging them to arm themselves for
trouble. Army officers had testified
Negroes told them Hill had caused
them to join the Progressive Farm
ers’ and Householders’ union, and had
urged them to arm for trouble. The
attorneys for the defense contended
that the Negroes were forced to give
false testimony by being placed in
electric chairs, lashed and otheiwi.se
tortured.
Hill said he was aiding a Little
Rock lawyer to get Negro clients, who
were dissatisfied with the settlements
given them by the planters, when
white men came up and took charge of
the Little Rock lawyer. He testified
that he escaped and, when told of the
riots at Hoopsur, he decided at once to
come to Kansas because he believed
Kansas would furnish him the best
refuge.
Evidence was introduced by Ar
buckle to show that Hill had station
ery and a badge indicating him to be
a United States detective.
Immediately upon being taken into
custody by federal officers, Hill was
taken before United States Commis
sioner White here, where an applica
tion was made to Judge Pollock to
have him removed to Little Rock and
placed under the jurisdiction of the
Arkansas division of the United
States district court.
ASSEMBLYMAN WOULD
PROTECT INSTALMENT
PLAN PURCHASERS
One of the Colored Members of Em
pile State Legislature Introduces
Important Bill.
Albany, N. Y., April 1. — As
semblyman J. S. Hawkins of Har
lem has offered in the assembly
an amendment to the personal prop
erty law in relation to the conditional
sale and retaking of household fur
niture, which is of particular interest
to housewives who purchase furniture
on the instalment plan.
The new section reads in part as
folows:
Whenever household furniture shall
be sold on the instalment plan, the
vendor shall deliver to the vendee at
the time of making such agreement
true copies of all contracts, notes or
other written evidence of such agree
ment.
No vendor shall retake by replevin
or otherwise any furniture after the
vendee has paid a sum equal to 60
per cent of the purchase price.
MAJOR LYNCH TOURS SOUTH.
Chicago, 111., April 1.—Ex-Con
gressman John R. Lynch, who is now
a resident of this city, attended the
state republican convention in Jack
! son, Miss., on April 1 In the interest
of the candidacy of General Wood.
He will extend his trip to other sec
tions in Ihe south.
Go to the Court House'This Week and Register
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