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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1925)
j THE MONITOR I A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS _ PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY AT OMAHA NEBRASKA, BY THE MONITOR PUBLISHING COMPANY' _ Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2, 1915, at the PoetoKlce at Omaha, Nebraska, under the Act of March 2, 1879._ THfe 'rev.'’John albert williams--- Editor W. W. MOSELY, Lincoln. Neb--Associate Editor LUCINDA W. WILLIAMS..—--- -Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES, $2.00 A YEAR; $1.25 6 MONTHS; 75c 3 MONTHS Advertising Rates Furnished Upon Application Address, The Monitor, Postoffice Box 1204, Omaha, Neb. Telephone WEbster 4243 v_ i ■. . ARTICLE XIV. CONSTITUTION OF THE | ;; UNITED STATES X ' ’ Citizenship Rights Not to Be Abridged y X 1. All persons bom or naturalized in the LTnited States, y II and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 4 ;; United States and of the State wherein they reside. No X ■ • state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the £ ! I privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor A ;; shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or prop- X erty without due process of law, nor deny to any person y !", within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. % I —wiw SI m II. BB'J M"1 !!'■ THE LEPROSY OF LEWDNESS THIS is an appalling disease which is claiming hundreds of thousands of victims yearly. Last year alone in the United States 363,000 new cases of this dreadful scourge were re ported. These statistics, startling as they are, do not tell the whole story, for all cases are not reported, nor can they be until brought to the at tention of the medical authorities. But one-third of a million of new cases of venereal diseases reported is cause for alarm. No wonder that the National Bureau of Public Health is waging a campaign against this scourge and striving to arouse the nation to a sense of its danger. In its educational campaign of combat ing what we have called the leprosy! of lewdness, for that is unquestionably what venereal diseases is, the govern ment is calling upon the press of the country for assistance in disseminat ing information. The Monitor is glad to respond and take part in this vi tally important work. Venereal diseases come in the first place from lewdness. From ignorant, unrestrained, promiscuous and sinful use or abuse of the sex organs. Those wonderful and delicate organs of the body which God has given for a high and holy purpose, to be vehicles and instruments of life, become by pros titution and debasement channels and instruments of death. Sins of impur ity invite a heavy and far-reaching penalty and that penalty is the lep rosy of lewdness or loathsome venereal diseases which, bring blindness, in sanity, paralysis, painracked wives, stillborn children, and inconceivable misery, anguish and suffering in their train. And a great deal of sexual sin is due to ignorance. Young people are not taught, and especially among 'our group, the beauty and sacredness of the sex-organs and sex-relation, at the time when the sex-impulse is be ginning to manifest itself. A prudish silence seals the lips f those who should teach their children in purity the secrets of life which they are left too often to learn in impurity from others. There is large room for amendment in this important me.cter of which we hope to speak at some subsequent time. While venereal diseases are in the first place the penalty of lewdness there are thousands of people, men, women and children, who lead pure and moral lives who become innocent victims of these dreaded diseases through infection, because they are deadly infectious maladies. One whol ly unconscious of being infected may kiss your innocent baby girl or boy; and impart to your child the virus that may blight its life by blindness; or insanity, if the infection in thatj child is not discovered in time. You,! yourself, may be exposed and suffer dire results. All then should welcome the infor mation the United States government is giving concerning this scourge and co-operate in every way possible to combat its spread. The importance of clean living needs to be emphasized again and again and the penalty of the sins of impurity and prostitution in terms of physical suffering, im paired mental powers and spiritual anguish unhesitatingly proclaimed, if we would save humanity from the leprousy of lewdness. FACING THE MUSIC OBSERVERS of racial relation- in this country who are keenly alive to the signs of the times must realize that we as *a people simply have to face the music and do our full duty. In communities where we have en joyed certain civic privileges there seems a determined effort upon the part of many to curtail and restrict our privileges and rights. This ten dency is nation-wide. It should not discourage us, but only make us more determined, first, to DESERVE, and then to contend for those rights and privileges, while at the same time being very careful to fulfill all our responsibilities. WHY NOT? WHY should not North Twenty fourth street be as beautiful and at tractively lighted as the corresponding section of South Twentyfourth street ? Whose fault is it, that it isn’t? Tne Northside merchants should wake up. There are outlying residence sections, better lighter than this busy section of Northy Twenty-fourth street. WE received a letter last week thainking us for our editorials on call ing attention to the necessity of co operative work in helping make Om aha a more beautiful city. VENEREAL DISEASES AS DESTROYERS OF HEALTH AND WEALTH By the United States Public Health Service. I. History and Distribution Three hundred and sixtey-three thousand new eases of venereal dis ease were reporter! in the United State- in the year ending June 30, 1024. To many folks this may seem to be a trifling announcement of no more importance than a statement that 363,000 persons had caught cold; but to one who knows the true facts about venereal disease, it bring- a vision of misery, of lost time anri mo ney, of an economic burden to work ers of the nation, of the suffering of innocent women and children—all of which have been the accompaniments of syphilic and gonorrhea from time immemorial, and which in the present day can be escaped only by the ap plication of the knowledge of the cause, prevention and cure of venereal diseases. Although the absolute knowledge of syphilis as a distinct disease dates back to only 1494—when the sailors of Columbus brought the disease to Spain from Haiti, and when the armies of Charles VIII of France and Ferdinand of Spain spread the disease through Italy—there is evidence tending to show that syphilis has existed ever since cities were first built and peo pled. In the poems and writings of the ancients, mention is made of com municating a loathsome disease by | kissing, as well as by other relations 1 between sexes. Emperor Ho-Ang-Ti, who ruled China more than 4,500 years ago, caused the medical knowl edge of that day to be collected into a single work, and in that work can be found a description of gonorrhea, as well as of a disease similar to syphilis. Down through the ages venereal dis eases have come. They have been nursed by immorality, by ignorance, and by a false idea that they were punishments visited upon sinners—an idea that ignored the fact of innocent infection. In secret, ami therefore unchecked by medical science, these plagues ran their full courses, leaving d j. th, insanity, lothsome sores, para lysis, pain-racked wives, stillborn chil dren, and untold misery and suffering in their wake. Then, as now, venereal diseases took their toll from all classes of people. Rich and poor, idler and worker, moral and immoral, all who became exposed were infected. But there is one difference. In ages past there was no remedy, no medical care, no hope for victims of syphilis and gonorrhea. Modern science, however, has evolved a method of cure. Though it is not always possible to undo all the harm which has been done, today an infected person has the comfort of knowing that early treatment by a reliable physician or in an officiial public clinic may prevent the worst consequences of venereal disease. It has been said that in Russia to day there are communities in which 90 per cent of the people are infected with venereal disease. From Canada comes the report that 81,931 citizens of that country—men, women and children, many of them innocent have been reported as new cases in the last three years; and these are said to be only a fraction of the actual existing cases. In the United States the figures for the last fiscal year show an increase of 24,382 cases of venereal disease over the numher re ported in the previous year; but the ' increase in this country may be laid to better reporting of cases rather than to spreading infection. As late as the year 1873 there were 286 more deaths than births in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian national gov ernment and its board of health ac ! counted for this situation in these I words: “Syphilis may be considered ; as the most important cause of de population.” Such a statement needs j no comment. In discussing the distribution of ve nereal diseases in the United States ! it is necessary to remember that al I though 363,000 cases were reported to 1 the various state boards of health last year, there undoubtedly were many other cases which escaped discovery or which were not listed with the state authorities. As far back as 1915, Osier estimated that syphilis (includ ing stillbirths, deaths of infants under one month, and other syphilitic con ditions) took 60,000 lives in one year. This was a number sufficient to place it at the top of the infections—a lead ership which it may still hold. Out j of 4,807 cases of infectious diseases jin New York City in September of last year, 1,639 were cases of venereal disease, while tuberculosis claimed but 820. Syphilis and gonorrhea, there fore, were responsible for 34 per cent of the total number of infectious cases. Among the Negroes the rate of ve nereal disease infection is double that of the whites. It is said that syphilis is probably the greatest cause of death and disability in the colored race. With these facts in mind, when faced with the necessity of providing able bodied men for the army and navy, Congress in 1918 created the Division of Venereal Diseases in the United States Public Health Service. Since its formation, this division has co-operated with the state boards <)t health in checking the ravages of syphilis ami gonorrhea and has been active in spreading the true facts of life, of sex, and of disease. Among other things, this government bureau has published a set of pamphlets pointing the way to prevention and cure. These books may be obtained from the various state boards of health. Set A is for young men; set B, for officials and the general pub lic; set C, for boys; set D, for parents; | set E, for girls and young women, and 1 set F is for educators. This article has shown something of I the history and distribution of vene real diseases. A second number of the series will point out and illustrate the economic burden to the worker and the nation caused by these plagues through the loss of time and wages, and increased number of accidents, and the upkeep of asylums and other institutions. A third account will lift the curtain on some of the human misery resulting from syphilis and gonorrhea; while a fourth will de scribe community, industrial and in dividual measures which must be taken if these twin scourges are to be effectively combated and controlled. SUPPORTING RACE ENTER PRISES One of the things that is most need-! ed in the business world today is co- j operation. It is not only needed in the business world, but in other walks of life as well. Business is so compli cated, so complex, that co-operation is needed there more than in any other walk of life. The Negro business is a phase of social life with its peculiar problems. Here that very thing which is most needed is lacking. There is no co-operation. This is very true of many cities. It is especially true of Omaha. Here we have quite a few businesses which should be supported to overflowing capacity by the color ed people. Instead these businesses are very poorly supported. When any one does go to one of these places for necessities it is apparently more out of sympathy than out of the fact that the party actually needs the goods which he buys. There should be no such thing as sympathy in business. One should go to a place to buy what one actually needs, not from a sym pathetic point of view. I am sure that if any one of the Colored bus inesses knew that the parties who trailed with them did it from a point of sympathy, the owner would losr-j his knowledge of courtesy; he would' not lie able to wait upon the party as capably as he would if he were made to feel that he was rendering a real service, filling a long-felt need. There is some improvement for the proprietors of the business in this city also. There is a matter of ser vice and courtesy. Service, to my mind, is letting the people have what they want, when they want it, like i they want it. Courtesy is due regard ! for the customer. Anything which! goes for the satisfaction of the cus tomer is to be looked for and cared for. In fact it is up to the business man to go out of his way in seeking for the comfort of his customers. If a customer wants to buy only a very small item it should be given the -ame attention that a bill amounting to several dollars would be given. The; wife .of the jaery common laborer should be given the same considera tion that the wife of the doctor wouio be given. Dollars and cents are ad the sam* whether from the hands of a bootblack or from the hands of the president of a college. There is no special class in business. If a bus iness man is to succeed he must “treat ’em all alike.” This is the secret of that thing called business. Business must be run by men who attend to business alone. It is a mis take to think that the doctor is to be the man to succeed in the business world simply because he has been thru school. The same is true with the dentist and the preacher. Social or professional leadership cannot keep j a business sound. There must be bus- j iness in the business. Men must study! business in order to do business. If ■, efficiency is a quality in any walk of life, it is doubly a quality in the bus iness world. Young Colored man, study business if you would go into the business world, study business for your race needs you. Your people are losing confidence in the ability of your leaders for the many business failures which your race has had within the last few years. Look at the Standard Life Insurance Company which went to the walls a few days ago. Is not this a concrete example of a lack of real business men among the race ? Now comes the time for real co- j operation. Capital is the principal element in the building of a business l concern. A large amount of capital is needed for the development of any business. This means a pooling of small sums of money by many indi viduals. There must be great care in the pooling of this money both by the persons themselves and by those who take the money for the purpose of organization. There must be men who are trustworthy, honest. There must be men who are going to take the money and expend it as if it were j their last money, as if the future of: himself and whole family rested on the way it were spent. Such a man should be supported to the last point! by his fellowmen. The people should be as willing to put their savings In to a business sponsored by him as they would put it in a bank. They should not, however, go at it blindly, they should investigate the matter before they invested a penny. Again comes the last word. The matter of supporting these businesses which are sponsored by the Colored man. They should be put before the people, kept before them all the time. The people should visit them and buy their goods from them. They should not buy them out of sympathy alone, but the businesses should appeal to them as offering a real service, as offering as good goods for the money as could te bought elsewhere. The Colored man should advertise his bus iness. The failure to do this is a vital mistake. The Colored buyer should buy his goods from the Colored man when it is possible to do so.—R. A. G. :: % ;: THE NEGRO’S CONTRIBUTION NOT NEGLIGIBLE f ,, A .. - A % A moment’s thought will easily convince open-minded £ !! persons that the contribution of the Negro to American f nationality as slave, freedman and citizen was far from £ negligible. No element of American life has so subtly and ’£ «> yet clearly woven itself into warp and woof of our thinking | • I and acting as the American Negro. He came with the first jj* • > explorers and helped in exploration. His labor was from ❖ < > the first the foundation of the American prosperity and | * < > the cause of the rapid growth of the new world in social and y <; economic importance. Modern democracy rests not simply $ ;; on the striving white men in Europe and America but also •£ ; > on the persistent struggle of the black men in America for j ;; two' centuries. The military defense of this land has de- ■> ; pended upon Negro soldiers from the time of the Colonial £ ; wars down to the struggle of the World War. Not only does *j; ; the Negro appear, reappear and persist in American litera ; tare but a Negro American literature has arisen of deep y ' significance, and Negro folk lore and music are among the £ \ choicest heritages of this land. Finally the Negro has played ! • psmliir spiritual role in America as a sort of living, ; breathing tost of our ideals and an example of the faith, < > hops sad teieraaee of sur religion.—Du Bole, “The Gift of o BM Vtfk.” . ‘r ' 1 0* ’ * Ml I.... »»♦* | J* F. Taylor Dairy Products \ ff SOME OF OUR SPECIALS FOR FRIDAY ❖ AND SATURDAY ff Sf Fresh Country Butter every day. Contains no oily | 2 fats, per pound. 45c *f 2 Cottage Cheese, fresh daily, per pound ’ 15c 2 ❖ Fresh Sweet Milk, per quart . 10c 2 2 Fresh Cream, per pint. 20c 2 if Buttermilk, per quart. 2 [Buttermilk, per gallon... 25c % y We Feature Only the Best Dairy Products 2 QUALITY, SERVICE and SATISFACTION—Our Motto j. 2116 North 24th | /WWW.Vd'WWAV/W.V ;■ Ever feel sick and ■: *: don’t know why? > > % S Consult f £ DR. SMITH, Chiropractor £ £ By appointment only. £ < DR. HAROLD M. SMITH ? d. c., Ph. c. y $ We. 5122 ? £ Mil N. 24th Street £ _ y X | The Dew Drop Inn f 'jf. Omaha’s Newest and Most t'p- *:* ’j' to-date Race Cafe ^ X OPENS SATURDAY, FEB. 28 y y . 2 y at * 2420 LAKE STREET % y Workmen’s Pox Lunches a Spe- * X cialty—Home rookinp y ;j; OPEN NIGHT AND DAY £ •j. Leon Thompson, M(;r. X V y X0X^~X~X“X~X~X~X“X~X~X~X~:* We handle a complete line of FLOWER. VEGETABLE. GRASS AND FIELD SEEDS BULBS—For Spring and Fall Planting When in need of CUT FLOWERS don’t forget our Moral Department, as we have a complet seasonable assortment. STEWART’S SEED AND FLOWER SHOP 109 North 16th Street | (Opposite Post Office) JAckson 3285 I Lustgarten Drug Co. ? | 2701 Q Street :j; 4 Ma. 3435 I — l £ PROMPT, COURTEOUS % £ service 4 FREE DELIVERY 4 i — l •{. We treat ’em all alike £ f A ■X“X-X”X“X**X"X“X~X~X"X"X*-X. USED CARS bought, sold and exchanged. Used parts for ail makes of cars. AMERICAN AUTO PARTS COMPANY 1011-1013 No. 18th Street - A ❖ A A £ EPISCOPAL $ $ Church of St. Philip the Deacon ? ♦♦♦ 21st near Paul A A Rev. John Albert Williams, Rector y f ? | SUNDAY SERVICES $ £ 7:30 a. m. Holy Communion X ♦j* 10 a. m. Sunday School | 11 a. m. Sung Eucharist With Sermon ♦♦♦ Y 8 p. m. Service and Sermon X Y X | The Church With a Welcome t % and a Message^Come ❖ ♦♦♦ y ♦ t Y Y ❖ y . | Genuine Four String Tenor Banjo :: | Full size, nickel-plated brackets • j | Calf skin head SPECIALLY PRICED AT | $12.50 __ a I I I_I I % % GET YOURS EARLY Y 1 Ed Patton Music Co. J 16th and Farnam $ \VE REPAIR ALL KINDS OF INSTRUMENTS X Friday and Saturday The Record Breaking Millinery Event of the Season 2,000 jgl HATS gfi| jl In Our Great ^ W REMOVAL w HB fl^B] For W(mien—Miss, Child and Matron A pile of Millinery Odds and Ends from otir wholesale stock. Not the newest styles or trims, but every hat the host value ever of fered in Omaha. Come Early—Extra Saleewomen A Hate That you would and Cashier*. Every Sale Final. pay up to $5.00 for No C. O. D.’e. No Chargee. when they were at their Style Peak i I ; Street Hat. ^'is'ses^H^s Imported Placques Misses Hats Peanut Bra ds P°1 u3t? m . Satins School Hat. Ribbons Ornaments Matrons’ Hate We are what you would call cleaning house anil every hat mil.si go before we more to our new place of buglru-f at 131113 Karnam St., to the W. O. W. Bldg. Don’t forget—2,000 Hat* to aelect from—The frame or the trim mlngg on many of them are worth three timeg what you will pay | fo the hat and trim. The thrifty woman will buy five or six I Masterson I Millinery Co. i 12th and F&mam I IVatch for Our New | 1311-13 Farnatn | Farnam Car 8top« at Our I Door
