T/t eSU sC- National Baptist Convention
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- 0maha- N*bra*k*, Saturday, September 3, 1932. Number 'Twentv-Eight
ITunetln.|
DIGESTING1
rile NEWS" f
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Every Week from this Column }
by CLIFFORD C. MITCHELL \
Suggesting a Solution.
* • •
Recently. I journeyed a few
» from the ’village” in which
1 have lived for a number of
weirs. and thoroughly inspected
a mammoth institution. The iin
pre saion given, and the subsequent
thoughts, no doubt, would have
been equally as productive by au
inspect mu of a similar institution
in any state in the union. The
ouly difference being that the in
stitution 1 visited happened to be
the largest of its kind in the
world.
• • •
The institution is new, costing
millions of dollars, the buildings
and inside yard cover an acreage
of fifty-five acres; it is thorough
ly model u; at the prcscut tune it
will house five thousand men,
with ample room for expausion.
All of its r- udeiit occupauts aro
prisoners, and with a small ex
ception, practically all of them
are idle, resorting to artificial
methods of producing physical
exercise in order to maintain nor
mal health.
... I
la the iii»tmition, or prison,
a'-e enougn idle no n, if the laws,
unions and propagandists permit
ted them to d<> so) to raise and
prepare enough food to feed ev
ery hungry man, woman and
child in the entire state; enough
idle men to manufacture foot
wear for every poorly shod mau, I
woman and child in the state;
enough idle men to manufacture
textiles to clothe every raggedy
man, woman and child in the
state, and enough willing inmate
labor who would rejoice at the
opportunity of producing some
thing constructive instead of lol
ling in idleness
• • •
Stretching the thought a little
further it seeuis ouly reasonable
that the men and women who
would be directly bcuefitted by
such inmate productiveness, and
who are otherwise unemployed,
could give sufficient of their lab
or to the governmental units, in
lieu of taxes, and thus help to re
duce, and to solve, the problem of
an ever-growing tax expense.
• * m
Industry and politics might
well put a practical premium ou
mdustriousiieso aud honesty; re
warding only those who have
earned the right through years of
service and faithfulness. There
should be a law to compel each
worker to first acquire and own
a home and these homes should be
forever exempted. Thus when
industry is slark each worker
will have a home and if he needs
further itrovi&ious he can draw
them from the surplus created bv
the now idle prisoners, and pay
for them by giving his labor, or
part of it, for constructive com
munity purjxMtes.
• • •
This thought, aud impressions
of my visit, may be entirely im
practical . and there may be reas
ons why it is better to build more
and bigvrer prisons to support men
in idleness; why it is better to in
crease taxes in order to support
the unemployed: why it is better
for men. women, and children to
starve and go raggedy merely to
maintain artificial market prices f
Nevertheless. I am presenting my
suggestion for a solution.
“VIRTUAL SLAVERY” Says M.A.A.C.P.
Expect ight At National
Baptist Convention
U N E M P L 0 YED MARRIED
MEN'S COUNCIL STARTS
PLANS
The meeting of the Unemployed
Married Men’s Council was held
at their new home (formerly the
Telephone building) at 22and and
Lake Streets, Monday noon. A
very large attendance. President
Redding of the Central headquar
ters was present and spoke. Pres.
Redding stated that he had con
tartrd the Farmer’s Holiday as
sociation and they promised to
• ass the trucks through the block
ade belonging to the Unemployed
Married Men’s Council. Rev.
•Jones of the Mt. Moriah Baptist
t’hurch assured the council his
support in any way needed.
Rev. Burckahrdt and Rev. Jiell
of the board of advisors also
spoke.
Mr. Gerald LaViolette, legal ad
visor of the U. M. M. C. stated
that any member of the council
in need of legal advice, to call
upon him and he would take care
of them.
Several women were present
and expressed themselves. Plans
are now under way to move into
the new home and the canning of
fruits and vegetables are to begin
very soon. Watch the Guide for
the opening.
BURKE INVITES COLORED
i
VOTERS TO HEAR GOVERNOR
ROOSEVELT AT SIOUX CITY
Ed. li. Burke, candidate for
Congress from the Omaha district
told a gathering of ex-servicemen
at he Castle hotel, Wednesday
■ hat he was for payment of the
soldiers' bonus to needy ex-ser
vice men and that if elected to
Congress, he would vote accord
ingly.
"When I make you this prom
ise I'll keep it’ said Mr. Burke.
"I 11 not tell you one thing to get
your votes and. then when elected
vote the opposite way just be
cause some big corporations try
to change me”.
Burke said that nothing is
worse than being hungry or hav
ing a hungry family and that he
would vote to allow the needy ex
-obliers to collect their bonus.
However he did say that those
not needing their bonus at this
ie should not be allowed to
have it.
Speakers especially berated the
Republican administration for us
ing tear gas and machine guns on
the ex-soldiers in Washington.
The speakers said that they have
positive proof that the Republic
an administration was unusually
brutal iu driving the soldiers
from Washington.
Hurke sain that was forming
a caravan of 100 cars to go to
Sioux City to hear Governor
Roosevelt on September 29, and
that already he has six cars of
< olored Roosevelt boosters who
will make the trip. He would like
tn get at least twenty cars of col
ored voters. Reservations should
be made at the Burke headquar
ters in the Fontenelle Hotel.
Ed Lane Tennis Champion
A smiling, colored youngster,
formerly of the Technical High
tennis team, ceded Xo. 1. Satur
day, August 27th, defeated Wil
liam Karos, one of the leading
South Omaha players. 8-10. 6-2,
6-3, 6-4 in the finals of the south
Omaha Tennis tournament. The
victory climaxed a sensational
campaign Lane began earlier in
the summer, when he won the
colored city championship spon
sored by the Racquet club at 24th
and Maple Sts.
RUMORED BOYD FORCES
SEEK TO RETIRE PRESIDENT
HURSE
New York, Aug. (ANP) The
organization of a new state Bap
tist Association here by Henry
Allen Boyd, secretary of the Na
tional Baptist Convention unin
corporated, is a harbinger of live
ly doings when the convention
meets at Houston, Texas, next
month, it is reported in Baptist
circles here.
The New York Baptist State as
sociation of which Rev. Bowles is
president is said to be openly in
dignant at the invasion of the
state by Mr. Boyd and his spon
so ship of the new organization
which is known as the Progress
ive Baptists State Association.
Its chief purpose, according to
rumor, is to promote the fight be
ing made upon I)r. J. W. Hurse of
Kansas City, present president of
the National Baptist Convention
(Boyd Faction). Opponents of
Dr. Hurse are said to have worked
very quietly spreading the report
that he was incompetent, and
lacking iry vision ami ability to
lead the Baptist hosts. Tn order
to line up opposition in New York
it was necessary to start a new
state association.
“VIRTUAL SLAVERY” SAYS
NAACP. —‘‘NEGRO LABOR
ERS” GET 10c AN HOX7R
New York, Sept. 1,—Negro
workers in the flood control
camps ^ong the Miasissippi river
are being paid an average wage
of ten cents an hour for a twelve
lmur day and a seven-day week,
it was revealed in a sensational
expose made public here today by
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People,
i 69 Fifth Avenue. The Associa
tion sent an investigator on a
personal tour of the camps from
New Orleans to Memphis.
The flood control work is be
ing done under U. S. Government
contracts by private companies.
The report declares conditions
of “virtual slavery” exists in the
camps. Physical violence in the
handiling of workmen, unsanitary
camp sites, irregular pay days,
overhanging by means of the
, camp eommissionary system, as
well as the long hours and low
wages were cited as abuses found
to be general.
One Fourteen Hour Day
“Colored labor is hired at $1.50
to $2.00 a day. The contractor
Negro labor, but said he made up
admitted this was high pay for
for it by working them hard and
long > hours. They work -two
shifts from 6 to 6. Pay days are
irregular. At the time of this
visit there had been no pay day
for five weeks.”
“Is the Educated Negro A Liability?”
(The Assoc, for the Study of
Negro Life and History, Inc.)
I found some ‘‘highly educat
ed Negroes denouncing me the
other day on the charge that I am
advocating for the Negro a sort
of education different in many
respects from that now given the
white man. I plead guilty. I
am fearlessly advocating this very
thing.
Such Negroes are afraid of any
thing that sounds like discrimin
ation ; and, in a sense, you can
not hlame them. They are anx
ious to have everything the w'hite
man has. even if it is a razor to
cut his throat. A sort of nomin
al equality can thereby be main
tained. If the whites decide to
take up Mormon ism, then the
Negroes must follow their lead.
The possibility of originality in
the Negro therefore, is discounted
one hundred per cent.
T must confess, however, that I
do not have such insanity. I con
sider the educational system as it
has developed both in Europe and
America an antiquated process
which does not hit the mark even
in supplying needs of the white
man. If the white man wrants to
hold on to it, let him do so; but
the Negro should develop and
i ,arr.v out a program of his own.
r uthermore. I do not consider
imparting information as educa
| tion. Tn real education we must
leal with the person to be taught.
We must consider his past and ap
proach him through his environ
ment. If these happen to he dif
ferent from those of others, the
method of attack must be differ
ent. The facts presented mar be
of one sort or of another. ' but
these facts must deal with life as
it is. and the training must result
in making a man think and do.
The element of race does not en
ter here. It is merely a matter of
exercising common sense in deal
ing with conditions as you would
in the case of others similarly cir
cumstanced.
The soealled modern education
with all its defects, however, does
others so much more good than it
does the Negro, because it has
been worked out in conformity
to the needs those who have en
slaved and oppressed weaker
peoples. It will he a fatal error
then, for the Negro to continue
t
to hold on to what has worked his
undoing.
For example, the philosophy
and ethics resulting from our ed
ucational system justified the re
cent lynching in Hawaii. The
oppressor has the right to kill the
oppressed. The god of the op
pressor heartily approves this; an
therefore, he will be praised for
evermore. Negroes daily educat
(Continued on Page 3)
WEIGH WELL THE END
by R. A. Adams
(The Literary Service Bureau)
Whatever you may have in mind,
Whatever you may have designed,
Of deeds you’d do or words you’d
say,
Without cavil, without delay,
Tis my advice to you, my friend,
Ere you begin, “weigh 'well the
end.”
i t *
Whatever others may advise,
If foolish it may seem, or wise,
It will be found, in every test—
Under all circumstances, best—
This vital truth to comprehend—
lin all things, first “weigh well
the end.”
So I advise you, friends of mine,
Whatever may be your design.
W hatever may your purpose be,
If you’d escape calamity,
Unto this warning grave attend:
In all you do, “weigh well the
end.”
COLORED BOY SERIOUSLY
WOUNDED AFTER EATING
BREAKFAST IN LINCOLN
CITY MISSION
An article taken from a Lin
coln, Xebr., daily states that, a
colored boy. Hezekiah Smith, 24
years old of Columbus, Ohio and
a white boy, Dewey Ross, 17 years
old. of Springfield, Mo., ate
breakfast in the Lincoln Mission
an argument started while thev
were leaving the mission, which
resulted in a street fight, the
white boy stabbing the colored
boy in the left side, half an inch
below the heart with a four inch
blade knife. The doctor report
ed that the colored boy has less
than an even chance to recover.
An Omaha reporter promises the
story in full details and to state
the nature of the argux»ent.
Big Food Carnival
Delights Housewives
PRIZES AWARDED
300 people attended the 1st
night of North Omaha’s most lav
ish Food Demonstration being
given under the auspices of the
State Ladies’ Clubs and The
Omaha Guide. Mr. Ollie A. Wil
liams 2407 Grant St., won the
first prize which consisted of a
package of assorted Haskin Soap
Products. Miss Jean Terrell,
daughter of Price Terrell, 2502 N.
24th St., won second prize, a box
of assorted chocolates, awarded
through the courtesy of the Wood
ward Candy Co., Council Bluffs,
Iowa. Many other prizes includ
ing flour, hams, soap products,
cookies, and candies will be given
away during the remaining three
days of the exhibition. A variety
of sandwiches are being supplied
by the Cudahy Packing Co., and
Roberts Dairy. The booths which
are said to be the most beautiful
ever contracted in this commun
ity, are in charge of schooled
demonstrators, explaining the
merits of the different products.
The first nighters seemed to be
unusually pleased with the flavor
of the AD VO coffee being served
by McCord Brady & Co., Other
demonstrating are Uncle Sam
Breakfast Food Co., Urego Min
eral products Co., Nebraska Pow
er Co., Harding Cream Co., Mod
ern Priscilla Cook Book and Art
and Study Club.
Survey Depicts Industrial and
Business Conditions of Omaha
A study of the industrial and
business conditions of Negroes in
Omaha has recently been made by
J. Harvey Kerns, Executive Sec
retary of the Omaha Urban
League and released for the pub
lic. The study was made as a
thesis for a partial fulfillment for
the degree of Master of Arts of
the Municipal University of Om
aha. Mr. Kerns tells the causes
of Negro migration to Omaha and
the early emphasis placed on his
work and his relation to industry.
He shows the comparative move
ment of Negroes to industrial cit
ies North and West depicts the
various sections which have at
tracted Negroes from certain
Southern communities to North
ern and Western Cities.
The study shows how the
change of environment and occu
pations contributed to many of
the problems of the earlier mig
rant. He states the first impetus
Negroes received to migrate to
Omaha was the development of
the Union Pacific. The second
impetus for Mass Movement was
the industrial opportunities af
forded by the World War. The
process of change in industrial
opportunities from 1910 to 1920
and from 1920 to 1930 are des
cribed and analyzed.
“The early migrant,” said Mr.
Kerns, “Were employed largely
as domestics and in personal ser
vice, the latter ten years finds
Negroes engaged more largely in
industrial work as may be indic
ated in the packing houses and
smelters.”
ine stuuy combines a wealth ot
documentary materials, extracts
from letters, interviews, to show
how the city in which the Negro
lives and acquires status looks at
him. Mr. Kerns points out in the
study obstacles which prevent
Negroes securing employment. (1)
Lack of reliability and dependab
ility, (2) Lack of specialization on
the part of Negro workers. (3)
Clannishness of foremen and
straw bosses. (4) prejudice, (5)
attitudes of labor unions tow-ard
Negroes.
The study devotes considerable
space to the Negro and trades un
ions and attempts to analyze lab
or attitude toward the Negro and
the Negroes’ attitude to the lab
or union.
Mr. Kerns states in the thesis
that three queries were raised by
persons interview-ed w-hich have
a definite bearing on the Negroes
relation to local industrial condi
tions. He lists these queries as
follows:
1. Why did the Negro come to
Omaha.
2. Is it becoming less difficult or
more difficult for him to secure
work.
3. Will he be able to survive the
competition.
L What is the Negro’s future in
Industry.
Answers to these questions are
j oil owed in detail by the writer,
as one of the most interesting
chapters of the thesis.
He states the chief changes in
Omaha since the World War fav
orable to the Negro as
(a) Accumulated experience of
the Negro in Industry.
(b) Expansion of Negro business.
(c) Entrance of Negroes in new
occupations.
(d) A growing feeling of race
consciousness.
(e) Chances in attitudes of em
ployers.
(f) Increasing political influence.
The second part, of the study
is devoted to Negro business.
Those business establishments are
studied in which there is a keen
competition with establishments
operated by other racial groups.
A discussion follows of the prob
lems of the Negro business man,
and an attempt on the part of the
writer to analyze criticisms of
Negro business men and their
merits.
In spite of the obstacles of the
Omaha Negro Business Man, Mr.
Kerns states that they have a
great opportunity for success.
Though he faces a number of
problems which seem unsurmount
able. He possesses also a num
ber of highly important advant
ages. The study points out, first,
as contrasted with the units of
larger organizations he enjoys a
greater freedom of action. He is
at liberty to adjust his methods
and his stock to the particular
tastes and moods of his patrons.
The close personal contact he has
with the trading public, most of
which are members of his race,
makes it quite possible for him
to render a pleasing individual
service, which is one of the great
est assets of the independent mer
chant. The fact that he has start
ed business with limited capital
may be a handicap, on the othrr
hand the local Negro business
men who have achieved under
similar handicaps seems to prove
that willingness to work and util
ize new methods, and take advan
tage of new conditions partially
overcomes this handicap.
as an am to the Negro business
man the writer makes the follow
ing suggestions :
1. Acquaintance with Domestic
Commerce literature dealing with
small business units.
2. A system of joint advertise
ments as practiced by some of the
local chain stores.
3. More careful study of business
methods and an application of
these methods to the various busi
; ness enterprises.
4. Cooperative purchasing.
The study does not attempt to
completely cover all phases of
industrial relations nor all busi
ness enterprises. It attempts, ac
cording to Mr. Kerns, from the
synthesis of data revealed and an
alyzed based on methods of social
research to serve as intelligent
guidance in two of the major
WHITE MEN fONFESS BEING
PAID FROM $25 to $125 FOR
KILLINGS
Jackson, Miss, Sept. 1—One of
the most dastardly murder plots
in the bloody record of a guilty
South was revealed here in the
arrest and confessions of five
white men, who allegedly admit
ted their participation in a plot
by discharged white employes to
murder Negro firemen of the Il
linois Central railroad in order to
that white men might get their
jobs.
Cold-bloodied attempts to mur
der Negro firemen resulted in a
“reign of terror” on the Louis
iana system of the railroad for
the past six months, during which
five Negro firemen were killed—
shot from am'bush—and several
others were wounded. The shoot
ings for which the arrested men
are held did not result fatally to
any of their victims, although all
of the men were seriously injured.
The would be murders were
paid for their attacks from a pool
made up by persons yet unreveal
ed, on a basis of $25 to $125 de
pending on the accuracy of the
intended “killer” and the result
of his shot, they stated. One
man admitted that he was to re
ceive $25 for his part in one of
the attempted murders, but lie
actually got only $5 which was
to pay for the gasoline to drive to
the scene of the shooting and to
buy his supper.
(jeorge Koyan or New Orleans,
a special agent of the Illinois Cen
tral railroad, who has been in
charge of the investigation, said
the confessions dove-tail in almost
every particular. Royan said the
confessions revealed that Varnado
was the “trigger man” in all of
the shootings in which four of
the Negro firemen were wounded,
three at MeComb and o ne at
Brookhaveri, and that Lee’s auto
mobile was used in connection
with each affair.
problems confronting the Omaha
Negro.
The published study may be
seen in the reference room of the
Public Library and in the Library
of Omaha Municipal University.
HARRY BRADLEY SERVES 30
YRS. IN NEBR. LEGISLATURE
Mr. Harry Bradley, colored is
one of the few men of the race to
have held such honor as was
given him in the Senate Journal.
Mr. Bradley has been assisting in
the legislature for thirty years,
having started under Goveruor
Dietrick, as custodian, being then
employed in the House of Repre
sentatives. He witnessed the
election of two United States
Senators by the Legislature in
joint session that year, as the eul
imination of a deadlock which
lasted more than ten weeks.
Mr. Bradley has never missed a
session of the Legislature since
then, and makes himself so useful
that many solons have come to
regard him as an indispensable
adjunct of the business of law
making. His home is in Seward,
Nebr. He has worked at both the
Seattle and Portland expositions,
serving as special guard to Susan
B. Anthony, the famous suffrage
leader, now 'dead.
Bradley’s mother come to Ne
braska about 64 years ago with
the family of Senator Hitchock,
father of Gilbert M. Hitchock.
OMAHA GUIDE WORKING
MEN S COMMISSIONERS
The regular meeting of the 0.
G. W. M. C. was held at the Guide
office, Tuesday noon, Dr. G. B.
Lennox, President, presided. Rev.
Alfred day was the newly elected
member. Rev. day expressed his
willingness to campaign in inter
est of the organization. Interest
ed members are asked to be pres
ent next Tuesday, Sept. 6 at the
Omaha Guide, 2418-20 Grant St.