•eh the Monitor m
x NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
| THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor.
I $2.00 i | r—8 Cents a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1927 Vol. XIII—No. 10 Whole Number 632
Pullman Porters Will Carry
Fight to the Emergency Board
New York.—A. Phillip Randolph,
General Organizer of the Brother
hood of Sleeping Car Porters, has
returned to New York to plunge into
the work of planning to push the
Brotherhood's case to the Emergency
Board. According to Randolph,
there are three remedies under to
Railway Labor Act for the settlement
of the dispute: 1. Mediation Broad.
2. Arbitration Board. 3. Emerg
ency Board. Since mediation failed,
and the Pullman Company, fearing
the victory of the Brotherhood in ar
bitration, refused to arbitrate the
case, which is a violation of the Rail
way Labor Act, and is contrary to
the policy adopted by any of the
other railroad carriers, the next step
is to so establish an emergency con
dition so us to require action by the
Emergency Board, which is appointed
by the President.
During mediation under the super
vision of Hon. Edwin P. Morrow, the
Pullman Company claimed that the
Brotherhood did not represent the
Pullman porters but that the Com
pany Union did inasmuch as the
Company Union, known as the Em
ployee Representation Plan, was vot
ed for by 85 per cent of the men.
This contention was met by the
Brotherhood when Randolph present
ed 1,000 affidavits to the mediator
showing that the men voted for the
Company Union under coercion and
intimidation, which was a violation
of the Railway I-abor Act.
"When the Emergency Board is in
voked,” says Randolph, ‘‘Hon. Edwin
P. Morrow will be required to, appear
and testify before the Board to the
effect that he used his offices, which
was his duty under the Act, to in
duce both parties to the dispute, the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Por
ters, and the Pullman Company, re
spectively, to submit said dispute to
arbitration; that the Brotherhood ad
[vised him that they were ready and |
willing and desired to submit the dis
pute to arbitration, and the Pullman
Company advised him that there
was nothing to arbitrate, that they
had a contract with their employees.
This will materially strengthen the
case of the Brotherhood against the
Pullman Company since it will show
that the Union, in harmony with the
spirit and principle of the Act, was
ready to arbitrate the dispute, where
as the Pullman Company, which, be
ing a member of the Association of
Railway Executives, which together
with the Standard Railroad Unions
initiated and agreed upon the legisla
tion, was morally bound to stand by
it and submit to arbitration as other
railroad carriers have done, flatly
defied the law.
“It is the intention of the Broth
erhood,” according to Randolph, “to
mobilize public opinion through the
Committee of One Hundred so effec
tively as to compel the Company to
bow to the spirit und intent of the
Railway Labor Act.”
Messrs. Randolph and Totten are
planning to proceed forthwith on a
nation-wide campaign tour to present
the present situation of the case of
the Pullman porters in particular and
the public in general. Their trip will
take them from coast to coast and
into every Pullman district. The
Brotherhood was just informed by
Dr. Freeman, president of the Na
tional Medical Association, that his
Association, which recently met in
Detroit, indorsed the organization.
Delegates from all over the country
to the Elks’ convention are piling into
the Brotherhood’s office expressing
their interest and co-operation with
the Brotherhood’s effort to secure
moral and financial support from the
convention. Brotherhood officials [
claim the case of the Brotherhood
stronger now than ever.
. .
PENSION CLERKS PROTEST
SEGREGATION IN SIGNED
LETTER TO SECRETARY
New York.-—The National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, 00 Fifth avenue, has re-1
ceived a letter from Neval H. Thom
as, President of the Washington, D.
C., Branch, including text of a letter
sent to Hubert Work, U. S. Secre
tary of the Interior, protesting
against the segregation of colored
clerks in the Pension Bureau in
Washington.
Mr. Thomas writes: “I met the
clerks of the department in confer
^ ence at one of their homes, and of
fered to take full responsibility for
the fight, since we all know the re
prisals visited on the manly Negro,
but almost to a man they wanted to
share responsibility, so we framed
the enclosed protest for the Secre
tary of the Interior, a copy of which
goes to the Commissioner of Pen
sions.”
The letter of protest, signed by up
wards of thirty-six colored clerks, is
as follows:
"The Honorable Hubert Work,
Secretary of the Interior,
“Dear Mr. Secretary: The reor
ganization recently instituted in the
Pension Bureau has, it is believed,
by the undersigned, meant segregga
tion in its most insidious form. Be
lieving as American citizens and em
ployees under the Civil Service that
such a condition should not exist, we
take this occasion respectfully but |
earnestly to enter our urgent protest, j
"We have not in the past objected I
to being transferred and detailed to
other divisions, but when almosti
every colored clerk is put in one di
vision we feel that we have every
right to complain. This division,
which has been created for colored
employees exclusively, all the white
clerks having been removed, is known
as the ‘Files Division’ and the alloca
tion in it are among the lowest in
•. the office. In citing a few incidents!
for your information we would refer
to the following cases and the dis
position of those concerned. Every
colored clerk in the Bureau of Pen
I . - . I
sions except four examiners, one
medical reviewer, and a clerk in the
Special Examination Division, one in
the Law Division and one in the of
fice of the Deputy Commissioner, has
been put in the Files Division, was re
moved from his former location and
placed in a room to himself. The ;
four examiners referred to above ;
were placed in a room to themselves. ;
Two of these, however, have since
been sent to other parts of the Pen- !
sion Bureau.
“From the foregoing it can be j
plainly seen that colored employees
are being segregated. Segregation
on account of race is un-American
and undermines the morale of the
employees affected, some of whom
in this instance are ex-service men.
The undersigned respectfully request
that you take action with a view to
having this condition remedied.”
ROSENWALD MAKES
GENEROUS DONATION TO
MANY NEGRO SCHOOLS
Report Shows the Philanthropist Has
Given $3,032,511 Toward School
Buildings for the Race—North
Carolina Leads in Total
Chicago.—North Carolina received
laid from the Julius Rosenwald fund
| in construction of eighty race school
I buildings for the year ending July 1,
| and total contributions to that date,
j $629,430, kept her at the head of
j fourteen Southern states sharing in
jthe fund.
Figures issued Saturday by S. L.
| Smith, general field agent, showed
I that rural school buildings for Ne
j groes, teachers’ homes and additions
to schools totaling 8,912 units have
| been built at a total cost of $17,641,
664. To these structures, with a
I total pupil capacity of 446,896, the
Julius Rosenwald fund has given $3,
032,611.
Philadelphia.—Mrs. Sadie T. M.
Alexander, 29 years old, wtfe of Ray
Jmond Pace Alexander, Esq., passed
J,he Pennslyvania state board of legal
i examiners. Mrs. Alexander holds a
Ph. D. and an LL. B. from the Uni
versity of Pennslyvania.
EDITORIAL
Every little while some one tries to play upon the credulity
and emotions of our people. This has been tried so often that
it is becoming stale and has lost much of its effectiveness.
There was a time when almost any “sock and bull” story would
be taken at its face value and many of our people would be in
fluenced by it. Fortunately, the time is fast passing, if not al
ready passed, when those who have some axe to grind can prey j
upon the credulity of our people and sway them at their will.!
We are not quite so easily stampeded as we once were. We
are inclined to do a little thinking fot ourselves and are becom
ing quite suspicious of appeals to our race prejudice.
As a rule, there is never any good motive back of such ap
peals and particularly when those making such appeals are
afraid to disclose their identity. Truth is never afraid of the
light. Falsehood seeks darkness. Anonymous notes or publi
cations, seeking the injury of another’s character, reputation,
business or profession by an appeal to race or religious preju
dice are almost invariably the weapons of cowards and of those
who have some selfish purpose to serve, and therefore, are to
be discounted both as to their truthfulness and sincerity.
The more ignorant among our group, like the ignorant of all
classes, may be more or less easily ftwayed by an anonymous
appeal to their emotions and prejutfices, but among the more
intelligent and thoughtful such appeals fall flat. The impres
sion, however, largely prevails that Negroes are easily influ
enced and stampeded. Some are, of course, but this is not a 1
racial trait of which we have an exclusive monopoly.
LOS ANGELES N. A. A. C. P.
WINS AGAINST BATHING
BEACH SEGREGATION
New York.—The Los Angeles
| Branch of the N. A. A. C. P. has won
its fight to prevent exclusion of col
ored bathers from Manhattan Beach,
California, according to a telegram
sent to the N. A. A. C. P. National
Office by Dr. H. C. Hudson, presi
dent of the Los Angeles Branch. Man
hattan Beach had leased its pier and
bathing beach to a private individual
for the sum of one dollar, in an at
tempt to evade the Civil Rights law.
To test the legality of this procedure
Dr. Hudson and three companions
submitted to arrest and fine and ap
pealed their case.
Dr. Hudson’s telegram reads as
follows:
"Manhattan Beach fight won. Only
forty-five days from the first inti
dation of colored citizens in Manhat
tan to complete victory by Los An
geles Branch. Attorney Hugh E.
Macbeth of legal committee conduct
ed case on broad Americanism with
vigorous legal fight and thorough
propagation. Manhattan arrested
judgment and cancelled lease.
(Signed) Dr. H. C. Hudson.”
The victory is the more striking in
that it shows the militant stand in be
half of Civil Rights being made by
the city in which the N. A. A. C. P.
is to hold its 19th annual Spring Con
ference next June.
YOUNGEST PERSON EVER
ELECTROCUTED IN THE
STATE OF TEXAS
Huntsville, Tex.—Firmly declaring
himself innocent, Ed. Joslin, 18-year
old boy, Monday became the youngest
person to ever be electrocuted in the
state of Texas, when he was execut
ed for an attack upon a young white
girl. Joslin walked to the chair with
tears streaming down his face. “I
have made my peace with God and
am ready to go,” were the last words
spoken by the condemned boy.
“1 am innocent and they intend
for me to take the death walk. What
a breath of cruelty!”
THE PRESBYTERIANS
DROP 67,060 MEMBERS
New York. — The Presbyterian
church in the United States placed
the names of 67,060 members on the
suspended roll last year. This is the
largest number in years, according
to the annual statistical report of the
denomination by the Rev. Dr. Lewis
Seymour Mudge of Philadelphia, the
stated clerk of the General Assembly,
made public recently. Members are
suspended when they disappear and
no trace of them has been found for
several years.
HOSPITALS INADEQUATE
Negro hospitals in this country are
unbelievably old fashioned and inade
quate, according to the American
Hospital Association, which is joining
i with leading Negro doctors in an ef
[fort to improve conditions.
PERIOD FOR PROPOSAL
OF CANDIDATES FOR j
HARMON AWARD ENDS |
—
New York.—The period for pro
posal of candidates in the Harmon
[Awards for Distinguished Ach*eve'
ment Among Negroes closed at mid
night August 15, according to a state- I
ment issued by Dr. George E. Haynes, I
Secretary Commission on the Church ■
and Race Relations of the Federal
Council of Churches, 105 East 22nri
street. He said that a larger num
ber of candidat es have been nominat-1
ed this year than last. The exact I
number could not be given because 1
of the heavy mails bringing in nomi-!
nations and data about the candidates
during the last four or five days.
“The correspondence with the Com
mission this year indicates that a
number of people seem to be under
the impression that the Harmon
Awards are a contest, but they are
different,” said Dr. Haynes. “They
are not offered for some special ef
fort which the candidate may make
to win a prize, but are designed to
bring recognition to persons who have
done creative work of national sig
nificance through their strivings for
self-expression and creative achieve
ment in the various fields or art,
science, education, eac.”
The names of the candidates chos
en by the judges will be announced
on or about January first.
THUNDER SETTLES ARGUMENT
- I
Rocky Point, R. I.—A clap of thun- '
der and a flash of lightning settled
an argument between two colored
gentlemen, saved a hospital bill and
a possible jail sentence here.
Just as Edward Smith of a small
Connecticut town had reached the
climax of his argument and was
about to settle the dispute with a
half-filled quart bottle over the pat
ent leather haired head of Emanuel
Jones of New Bedford, Mass., a sharp
clap of thunder and a flash of lightn
ing shattered the bottle in Smith’s
upraised hand.
Both men were mometarily stunned
by the shock and immediately vowed
not to carry their discussion to the
point of violence, but instead, need
less to say, the combatants are run
ning yet, if the speed from which
they left the spot is judged.
FRENCH FEAR SOVIET PLAN
TO ARM RIFFIAN TRIBES
Paris. — A categorial accusation
that the Mosco wgovernment and the
leaders of the Third (Moscow) Inter
national are working together to
wreck France’s colonial empire was
printed by the Matin August 19. The
newspaper says the Soviet military
attache in Paris, M. Wolkoff, and the
Soviet ambassador at Berlin, M.
Krestinsky, are (-collaborating to
bring about a fresh uprising of the
Moorish tribesmen.
Dance with Roosevelt Pott No. 30,
American Legion, at the Emancipa
tion Celebration at Krug Park, Sep
tember 12th.
FOURTH PAN-AFRICAN
CONGRESS ENDS SESSIONS
AND ISSUES MANIFESTO
New York.—The Fourth Pan-Afri
can Congress, ending its sessions here
Wednesday night, published a mani
festo in the name of its delegaets
“from twenty American states, from
nearly all the West Indies islands,
from Germany, Japan, South Amer
ica, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Ni
geria, Liberia and South Africa.”
The manifesto states the following
main desires of Negroes throughout
the world:
1. A voice in their own govern
ment.
2. Native rights to the land and
its natural resources.
3. Modern education for all chil
dren.
4. The development of Africa for
the Africans and not merely for the
profit of Europeans.
5. The re-organization of com
merce and industry so as to make the
main object of capital and labor the
welfare of the many rather than the
enriching of the few.
6. The treatment of civilized men I
as civilized despite differences of i
birth, race or color.
The manifesto further demands the '
withdrawal of American armed forces *
from the black Republic of Haiti and
the restoration of self-government
there; condemns the attempt of the
whtye South Africans to monopolize
the land belonging to the black na
tives; and after touching on African
conditions, says of conditions in
America:
“We believe that the Negroes of j
the United States should begin the |
effective use of their political power
and that instead of working for a
few minor offices or for merely local
favors and concessions, they should
vote with their eyes fixed upon the
international problems of the color
line and the national problems which
affect the Negro race in the United
States.”
The manifesto urges the entrance |
of Negroes into trade unions in the '
country, and says:
“We urge the white workers of the !
world to realize that no program of j
labor uplift can be successfully car
ried through in Europe or America
so long as colored labor is exploited
and enslaved and deprived of all po
litical power.”
On international affairs the Pan- I
African Congress expresses itself as
desiring freedom and national inde
pendence in Egypt, China, and India,
and the cessation of interference by
the United States in Central and
South American countries.
Two members of the staff of the
N. A. A. C. P., Robert Bagnall, Di
rector of Branches, and William Pick
ens, Field Secretary, served as regu
lar delegates to the Congress. An
international committee has been
chosen to plan the next session of the ,
Congress two years hence.
Commenting upon the sessions just
ended, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, found
er of the movement, said: “The
Fourth Congress with its upwards of
200 delegates, was the largest in
the series and that it had received
the largest amount of carefully se
lected catalogued information con
cerning the peoples of African de
scent presented to any such session.
The international committee chosen
to plan the Fifth Pan-African Con
gress was also going to work out a
permanent international organization,
said Dr. Du Bois.
PARIS PROUD OF ITS “HARLEM”
Paris, France — Parisians boast
proudly that that city now has a
“Harlem” of its own. They are
proud -to tell white Americans that
gradually the large Negro population
that has poured in upon the French
capital since the war has gravitated
toward Monte Mortre.
Many of the cultured and ambiti
ous Negroes who call Paris home have
come to France from many places in
the United States. Quite a number
have come here from Africa and the
French West Indies.
Many of the members of the Negro
section are dancers, artists, musicians
and others are servants, messengers,
etc.
NEGRO EXECUTED
FOR MURDER WHICH
WHITE COMMITTED
Conscience Stricken, Mrs. Sadie
Mendel, a Young White Woman,
Swears She Committed Crime
for Which Mays Died
I -
Ijealousy was her motive
Tracked Her Husband, Whom She
Suspected of Infiledity, to Home
of Woman, and Disguising Her
self as Negro, Shot Her
Knoxville, Tenn.—This city was
very much shocked Saturday, August
20, by information sent the police
authorities that Mrs. Sadie Mendel,
aged 28, white, claiming to be con
science-smitten, had volutarily con
fessed to the police of Norton, Va.,
that she had killed Mrs. Bertie Lind
say, also white, in this city, August
30, 1919, and was being held for ad
vice from the Knoxville authorities.
This was the crime for which Maurice
Mays was executed.
The police of Norton were ordered
to release the woman for asmuch as
‘Mays, a young Negro, had been
electrocuted for the crim five years
ago, and there was no charge against
the woman.
Mrs. Bertie Lindsay was killed by
a midnight marauder at her home
in a section of the city inhabited
wholly by white people. She and a
relative, Miss Oro Smyth, were the
sole occupants of the house. The in
truder, after described as a Negro,
entered the house through a window
and carried a flashlight. He is said
to have told Mrs. Lindsay that if
she screamed or moved, he would
shoot. When she jum.ped from the
bed the intruder shot her, killing her
almost instantly, whereupon the in
truder fled from the home without
doing injury to Mrs. Lindsay’s bed
mate, Miss Smyth.
Maurice Mays, who was the son ot
highly respected people, but consider
ed a sport, and it was said had con
sorted with Mrs. Lindsay, was arrest
ed on suspicion of having killed her,
as it was said “a Negro did it."
On the night following the killing
a mob formed, later storming the
jail, and precipitating a race riot in
which two men were killed and six
teen injured. Mays was removed to
a jail at Chattanooga for safekeep
ing. He was indicted for murder in
the first degree on September 3. The
case was tried before Judge T. A. R.
Nelson in the Knox county criminal
court and resulted in a guilty verdict
being returned and a sentence of
electrocution. The case was appeal
ed to the supreme court and that
body returned the case to the lower
court for another trial. The second
trial resulted in a conviction and a
sentence of electrocution of Mays,
and several months afterward he was
forced to pay the death penalty.
The crime had been almost forgot
ten until it was revived by the con
fession of Mrs. Mendel who, in an
affidavit sworn to before Mayor
Charles I. Fuller of Norton, de
clares positively that she is the slay
er of Mrs. Lindsay and that her mo
tive was jealousy.
Q. What is your name?
A. Sadie Mendel.
Q. You say you wish to make a
statement about the murder of Bertie
Lindsay in Knoxville, Tenn., a few
years ago. What are your state
ments?
A. My husband was a traveling
man, and I had good reasons to be
lieve that my husband had improper
relations with the Lindsay woman.
I followed him to her house once
in the night, and saw him enter the
house. Afterwards I saw them to
gether on the streets. About two
weeks after I saw him go to her
house at night I put on men’s clothes
and blackened my face, and about
midnight I entered her house through
a window and found her in bed with
another woman. I shot her once with
a .45 caliber revolver. I then left
the house through the window which
I had entered and ran from the house
to the street, where my car was park
ed, and drove back to Devonia, Tenn.,
where I was then living.
