-irT,n — OMAHA GUIDE ———
s v e r The eye of a Master will
Glorious who w*> „„t do more w#rk than his
Lahorous. ---- ----_- , ,
= City, ana Nat’l Lite March ot Events ~ - =
_ _ __ ___Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, July 15, 1933. Page 5
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♦ EDITORIALS! ♦
i _J
SMARDICK WARNED BY JUDGE
Inspector Robert Smardick was warned of con
t marge by a Municipal Judge in conference a few
da> s ago, if he did not return slot machines as ordered
by the Court—just another Judge judging wrong. Smar
dick the underlings in this matter thoroughly. His
15 year." of public life has proved beyond a reasonable
d >ubt that he is not the man to hold personal grudge, or
has he ever attempted to persecute an individual or group
Smardick knows evidence and knows when the law is be
ing violated, and stands ready at all times to advise. We
have known him, in many cases to advise to discontinue
the practice of violating the law or they would have to
suffer the consequences two or three times before any
action would be taken. The Judge may as well awaken
to that fact. If Robt. Smardick could get the full coop
eration of the municipal Judges with the loyal support he
now has with the present city commission, in 18 months
he would be able to make up even the police department’s
deficiency without cutting a single man’s salary. For 35
year." Omaha has had a lot of do-nothing political plums
standing around with a badge, a gun and a club on, not
to protect life and property, but to persecute law abiding
citizens and to destroy life and property from the chief
down—we should have said from the city commissioners
down.
Why would a Judge force a Police official to re
turn a slot machine that is solely invented for the pur
pose of taking ignorant players’ money away from them;
any more than he would demand a policeman to return a
revolver that a highwayman had used to holdup a travel
er with. In our opinion, if a judge was trying to use
good judgement and common sense, he could find a bet
ter excuse for returning the revolver to the highwayman,
than he could the slot machine to the Inn keeper, for the
slot machine is a daylight robber and will rob a child as
uicklv as it will a man, for the slot machine is used solely
for robebry, and a revolver is used once in a while for
other useful purposes.
If Inspector Robert Smardick could win the sup
port of the Municipal Judges, and the confidence that he
now has with the city commissioners, and the police de
partment heads in trying to stamp out crime of all nature
in Omaha it would be a God-send to our community. If
our municipal judges are to play the part of protecting
criminals and letting our police be destroyers of property
and life, they may get by with it for a while, but they
ought to be judges enough to judge that Omaha citizens
showed in the last city election that if the paid officials
didn’t judge for the interest of all and stop judging for
tr.e special privileged few, those officials would be judg
i not fit to judge on judgement day, viz. ELECTION
DAY. We have some ivonderful municipal judges, some
tr.ui we all are proud of, and we hope that they will coop
c-rate with our present Police department fully when the
department is rendering a service that wTill even benefit
the criminal. One honest straight-forward policeman,
with no strings on him, clean in character—this kind of
a police officer with the same kind of city officials, with
the same kind of department heads —can demand such
respect in the community tha he may be placed to serve—
tt at his influence will be felt in the air, even when he is
absent from his post. In other words, a clean character
t policeman that is told to do his duty without fear or fav
or, and who knows that he will be backed up by his super
ior officers, will soon establish a prestige and respect, in
-act a love from his fellow citizens, to the extent that the
young criminal will be stopped by his older fellow citizen
before he commits a major crime. This kind of a police
officer can take the place of a half dozen political plums
put on the force by gundum itself, and is afraid to touch
a criminal for his origin came from the criminal world.
A police officer is tickled to death to know that his sup
erior officers will back him up and that the courts will
sustain him and carry on his duty as a servant for the
protection of life and property. The public wants to get
coperation in and with our law enforcement bodies from
the top to the bottom.
COMMISSIONER MYERS TO BE COMMENDED
Commissioner Frank Myers was commended by
many citizens who were privileged to see him take the
stand he took in the City council chamber on the report
made by the committee that Was appointed by Mayor
Towl to hear the grievances of the Union Operators and
the Motion Picture owners. When the city clerk read the
report that was agreed on by all concerned in the com
mittee room, after 5 hours of discussion on Saturday July
8. The President of the meeting called for a motion on the
matter. At this point the attorneys for the meeting called
for a motion on the matter. At this point the attorneys
for the Union Operators requested to be heard in the
matter. An attempt was made to disregard the agreement
these same attorneys had went into with the motion pic
ure operators and exhibitors on Saturday July 8. When
the clouds was hanging heavy and the attorneys for the
Motion Picture Operators were displaying their oratory
ability, Commissioner Frank Myers rose to his feet and
motioned that the discussion come to an end and that the
committee’s report be given the proper consideration.
About this time another attorney stepped forward, repre
senting the Union Operators, “Your honor, if you please,
may I have just one word to say?”, and a full discussion
was started again of questions asked and answered, pro
and con and agreements disputed.
Mayor Towl requested Chairman Butler to assert
the time as to how long it would take—some one remark
ed just 15 minutes. At this point a representative of the
Motion Picture exhibitors came forward and explain to
the Council it was just a matter that the Motion Picture
Union Operators was trying to delay a thing that had al
ready agreed to unfairly. Commissioner Myers took the
bull by the horn and demanded the chair to stop the dis
cussion, and made a motion that the council stand behind
the committee which they had appointed and recommend
the report of the committee to the regular meeting Tues
day. Commissioner Knudsen seconded the motion. Chair
man Butler said that he thought that after spending 5
hours Saturday with all parties concerned and had agreed
ori the amendment, which had been offered to the Amend
ed Ordinance, that Mr. Myers’ motion was in order, and
the motion was put forth by the chair and carried uni
amously.
-
WHO IS MISS EYES?
That is what you would like to know. In some issue
of the Omaha Guide between now and September 15, the
acting editor of the Omaha Guide will answer that ques
tion to the many inquirers in some column of our paper.
Watch every issue.
Well, we arTi going to tell you what we would like
to know. We would like to know, do you get anything at
all out of reading “Miss Eyes” columns that is worth your
time in reading it, that is what we would like to know. We
mean constructive. Does it make you think what you have
done or what you will do before you do it. Does Miss Eyes
column give your brain any exercise that could be con
sidered an advantage in the future. Did you ever try
working a crossword puzzle? and if you did, did you get
anything out of working it. As editor of the Omaha Guide,
my job is to find out what you get the most out of what
we print in our columns. How are we to do that? The only
way I know is to do what all merchants that have some
thing to sell do. Maybe I need help, if I do, since a news
paper is a vital asset to a community it’ is your job to give
us that help. If Brandeis store’s merchandise manager
wants to send a buyer east to make a purchase, the mer
chandise manager picks out a man for the job that has
made a study of what the people will buy, and when the
buyer returns with his merchandise that he has purchased
stock is taken, and in a few days there is a double deck
advertising appearing in the daily papers. The merchand
ise manager and the buyer that was sent east watches the
sale, and if the pile of wearing apparels goes quickly, the
buyer finds that he has done his job well. As a rule he will
ask for permission from the merchandise manager to wire
the firm for an additional supply.
Now we have said all the above to say this. We can
not make you spend your money like we would like to have
you spend it. Our job is to find out what you will,spend
your money for and then give you what you want. Now
the next question is how are we going to know what you
want. Our only way on earth of finding out is to watch
the pile of merchandise that we have piled on our counter
for sale decrease or remain there. The following is a few
of the many things that we have attempted to print and
then cast our eyes on the merchandise that we had on the
counter for sale: A full page of the N. A. A. C. P. releases
from general offices, George W. Schuyler, the story of
slavery in Liberia today, Kelley Miller series, and stories
and race relationship, Carter Woodson, W. E. DuBois,
editor of the Crisis, Dean Picken, Industrial News Survey
by E. Hofer and son, two pages of clean, educational local
society notes, editored by Mrs. Cecelia Jewell, a full page
of the Mirror, edited by Mrs. Rae Lee Jones, and many
other items that we considered educational, interesting
and beneficial. We watched our merchandise on the
counter and we found a 40 per cent sales on our merchand
ise decrease from the counter. No later than last week we
had 3 constructive items in our paper that we ask the pub
lic at large to respond to for the benefit of our economic,
social and religious condition in our community. With the
exception of one of these items that appeared in our pa
per where we asked for expressions from the public at
large, we haven’t received one reply.
All of the above items that have been printed in the
columns of the Omaha Guide was for the purpose of in
i creasing the sale of our merchandise. We fail to see any
| increase in the sale of our merchandise from the edu
cational constructive above things printed in our columns.
The following is sad, but it is true, and it is not our fault.
The column which is being printed in our paper now
known as “Town Talk” and Miss Eyes” has caused quite
a great deal of unfavorable street comment, for which we
are indeed sorry, but did you know that the pile of mer
chandise on the counter has decreased 5 to 1 on any other
columns we have printed in our paper, almost a hundred
per cent sales results.
We are asking you to mail your constructive critic
ism, and if you do not want your criticism published in the
paper close by saying “not to be published,” and we will
assure you we can betrusted.
After all a newspaper’s job in a community, so far
as it is humanly possible and means will permit, is to serve
all the people. Some people read the front page and some
read the part that is news to them, the editorial page.
When children opened a paper they look for the funny j
page, the other parts are not of interest to them, when the
investor opens the paper he looks for the financial page,
other parts get secondary consideration; when the house-!
wife opens the paper she invariably looks for the society
columns and good household hints; when a musician opens
a paper he looks for the musical page when the sporting
fan opens the paper he looks for the sporting page; and a
few look for what the other feller says in the public pulse.
Nobody is forced to read any part of a newspaper that is
not to their liking. What we are trying to do is to put the
Guide in every home and in the adjacent neighborhoods.
We should have 12,000 subscribers in this era. With a
boost from you for the parts that you dc like to your
friends, and a letter from you to us for the parts that you
don’t like will be highly appreciated by the stock holders
and the Acting Editor of the Omaha Guided
BIRTH CONTROL AND NATIONAL POWER
Some interesting and rather sad statistics on the
birthrate and related subjects have just been released by
Federal Census Bureau.
Statisticians used to calculate that the population
of the United States would become stationary some time
between 1950 and 1960. Now, the birthrate is declining so
fast that they are bringing that guess closer to the pre
sent time by several years. The old estimate of a pop
ulation of 140,000,000 to 1940, too, has been revised- down
ward to 131,000,000. Our birthrate has dropped from 25.1
per 1,000 in 1915 to 18 per 1,000 in 1932, the lowest on rec
ord.
i
The research artists go on to say that we can now
begin to reconcile ourselves to being a nation in which the
older and less energetic and ambitious people will more
and more of them and fewer young people. The United
States in distinctly past its first youth.
Why Birth Control
Some people are inclined to blame our declining
birthrate on those women who for years have been mar
tyring themselves in the cause of making birth control in
formation accessible to anybody who wants it. Mrs. Mar
garet Sanger is the high priestess of this group.
We doubt that Mrs. Sanger and her followers are
to blame for the birth control that is being more and more
widely practiced in the United States. It looks to us as if
these crusaders merely have been expressing a desire to
slow down the propagation of the species which has been
growing in the United States for a long time; that the
birthrate would be no higher today if Mrs. Sanger had
never talked about birth control.
Every analyst has a different reason to offer for
all this race suicide as Theodore Roosevelt called it—wo
men's desire for more fun or public life and less home
handicaps, men's dislike of too much responsibility, eco
nomic uncertainties, and so forth and so on.
We'll get into the analysis game by offering the
theory that it is a matter of the differentiation of species
—the scientific principle that the more highly a species
develops the less proflific its members become. The amoe
ba, for instance, reproduces by the million. The Russian
peasant reproduces by the dozen or thereabout. The
French, the most highly developed individualists on earth,
reproduce less and less all the time. It looks as if Ameri
cans, highly civilized in the matter of machines and mat
erial comforts, are becoming more and more like the
French in his respect. Certainly our Slavic and Italian
newcomers are much more prolific than our Harvard gra
duates.
Twilight Of The Nordics?
To rage against this decline in the birthrate is
about as useful as to command the tide not to go out. But
it does put you in mind of those melancholy books, Loth
rop Stoddard’s “The Rising Tide of Color,” and Madison
Grant’s “The Passing of the Great Race.” Those books
were based on the decline of the Nordic stock, as their,
authors saw that decline. Their contents, while disagree
able, are re-inforced by these latest birthrate statistics.
There isn’t any doubt that a nation whose birthrate
is on the downgrade is itself on the downgrade as far as
its national power goes, though most of its individual in
habitants may be fine and happy and energetic people.
And maybe it is too much to expect any nation to be a
perennial instead of an annual, so to speak.
The Japs and the Chinese, however, seem to have found
the secret of being perennials so far as reproduction of
their species goes. There are 400,000,000 Chinese and 80,
000,000 full-blooded Japanese with no signs of a declining
birthrate in either country, come fire or flood or war or
world depression.
And the moral of that is, we see it, that our grand
children will have problems of their own to solve, con
siderably more serious than the problems that challenge
us. New York News.)
June 16, 1933
Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt,
President of the United States,
Executive Office,
Washington, D. C.
Dear President Roosevelt:
Some time ago I wrote you regard
ing a living salary for the average
working female; also seeking inform,
ation and consideration as to what
provision can be made for men forty
years of age and past who today re.
ceive very little consideration when
seeking employment.
I am sure the importance of these
situations is realized. If men hold
ing the executive positions of our
country, state and city were rejected
and restricted on account of being
advanced in years, what a predica.
ment our country would be in! Today
unles the average working man past
this age has prepared himself for a
profession, or has been able to pro.
vide a necessary savings to take care
of himself and family the rest of his
natural life, or endowed otherwise,
he has only; a minimum chance of se
curing employment. With no regard
to the fact men of this age and be.
yond are more serviceable to their
country and to tnemselves.
Some legislatures have enacted
laws providing pensions for those past
sixty.two years of age, but what will
become of those between forty and
sixty.two who do not have employ,
ment? If there is some way employ
ment or a pension can be provided
for these men, and a living salary
or rate of income adjusted for the
average female, there will be less
despondnecy, crime, wrecking of
homes, separating of families, insuf.
ficient means of providing the nec.
essaries of life, poverty and disease
among this group.
The country as a whole is depend
ing upon your superior judgement to
help them with these situations, and
few that a materialization of condi
tions will be secured through your ef_
forts as have been obtained the short
space of time you have been in office.
Heavily burdened and solving many
of our country’s distressful problems
of today, we are indeed glad the
fame has strenghtened ad proved
stimulating to you, instead of weak
ening as so many of the opposite
party thought when you were elect,
ed. At this time I am sure you will
further prove to these citizens your
versatility in taking care of the a
bove situations by providing employ,
ment for all and a living salary.
I am hoping you will give this mat.
ter your hearty support, and some
means will be provided for all to re
ceive employment and a living salary.
Thanking you again for whatever
consideration you may give, and par.
don me for monopolizing your prec.
ious time, I am
Respectfully yours
Dr. G. B. Lennox.
Department of Labor
Office of the Assistant Secretary
Washington
July 6, 1933
Dr. G. B. Lenox,
2131% North 24th St.,
Omaha, Nebraska.
Dear Sir:
Your letter of June 16th to the
President has been referred for con
sideration To the Secretary of Labor.
The Secretary wishes me to thank
you for calling attention to these
matters.
Respectfully yours,
Robe Carl White,
The Ass't. Secretary.
THE URBAN LEAGUE
(from The California Voice of Oak
land, Calif.)
There is being agitated the subject
of an Urban League or a similar or
ganization. No one questions the
splendid objects of an organization
»f this kind or the sincerity of those
sponsoring the project, but we would
advise caution and a thorough under
standing of all the elements that we
have to successfully launch this en.
terprise. Make haste slowly, and you
won’t have any regrets.
26 YEARS IN PRISON, ONCE IN
NEBRASKA
KANSAS CITY, Kans.—In his cell
in the Wyandotte county jail, a man
who said he was Luke Parsons today
told of spending 26 of his 61 years in
prison.
He. was arrested after saying he
burned a barn in the hope of being
sent to the Kansas penitentiary.
“It's the best go when a man is 61,
as I am, and has no friends,” he said.
Parsons said he once served a term at
Clay Center, Nebraska.
