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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1933)
———. OMAHA GUIDE ——— No Man was ever The eye of a Master will Glorious who was not _^_ i 1 1 i P do more work than his — L*borous' — City, ana Nat’l Lite March ot Events — hand' —= Omaha, Nebraska, October 7, 1933 Page Five THE OMAHA GUIDE Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street by THE OMAHA GUIDE PUBL. CO., Incorporated AH News Copy must be in our office not later than Monday at 5 p. m.,and all Advertising Copy, or Paid Articles, not later than Wednesday at Noon. Entered as Second class mail matter, March 15, 1927 at the Post office at Omaha, Nebraska, under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879. ... , SUSCRIPTION RATES (Strictly m Advance) One Yecrs....$2.00 Six Months $1.25 Three Months. . $1.00 TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION—The Omaha Guide l* issued weakly and will be sent to any pant ef the Uni ted States for $2.00 per year in advance. Foreign subscription* (including postage) $3.00 in advance. Trial six months’ subscriptions. $1.26. Trial Three Months' subscription $1.00. Single copy, 5 cents. RENEWALS—In renewing, give the name juat as H appears on the label unlees it be incorrect, in which case please call eur detention to thr mistake; and al ways give the fail address to which your paper has been sent. CHANGE OF ADDRESS—In ordering a change of address, always give both old and new addresses. If the paper dees net reach you regularly, please notify os at once. ADVERTISING RATES—Given upon application. REMITTANCES—Send payment by postal or express money seder, cash in registered letter, bank ehecfc or •tamps. OUR Address—Send aB communications te The Omaha Guide PobUslsng Company. Incorporated, 2418-29 Great Sl, Omaha, Nebr. n - I '■jiMCMBeWg;—-—I (l b gp-^^3 CA Bit> TUta aar to mwiMto tw emml Jl 9 ' WpL aSwaWsi— to «h» Wtruto ha gW I EDITORIAL -i._I EGYPT Ift NOT ALL PYRAMIDS By M. L. Harris The President of the local branch of the Nat ional Association for the Advancement Colored People, Mr. R C. Price on the Air last week Over Station WOW made an appeal for membership which should strike a responsive chord in the hearts of the Negroes of Omaha There is no gain, saying the fact, that this organisation has did, is doing more good in » National way than any or ganisation up to this date which has yet been eon. oeived by the mind of men, predicated on the lines of an unselfish and a courageous defense of the rights of all the Negroes of America. It is worthy of the support of the Negroes of Omaha who have had a taste of its activities. He sounded the key note when he said: ‘' The white people should read more from the pen of Negro authors, as well as Negro newspapers.” Were a stranger visiting in Egypt only shown the Pyramids on returning to his native land, the only thing he could intelli gently describe would be the Pyramids, to him Egypt is all Pyramids, but this is not true of the stranger who has been shown the beautiful seen., cry on the river Nile, and the wonderful city of Cairo. On returning to his native home he can de scribe all of the wonders his eyes beheld. To him “Egypt is not all Pyramids”. This is in agre«t measure analogeous to the position of our white neighbors who only see through the eyes of the white (and most cases rejudice) press. They, like the first stranger has only been shown the Pyramids. (The Police court, criminally inclined Negro.) They can see nothing only the Pyramids —to them Egypt is all Pyramids. Mr. Price not only appealed to the Negroes in his address before the “Mike” but to the whites »s well. His address was both timely and diplom&ticai, in that he had the courage and lack to branch out into new seas heretofore not, traversed especially in these parts, he displayed broad vision of and deep insight into the re quisetes of the essential factors from which to build a strong organization supported 100% by the citizens of Omaha by enlisting under its banner members of the white race who has from time to time assumed a friendly attitude and has shown a disposition of friendship and sym athy in helping solve our prolems, Mr. Price has shown an understanding of the racial needs and has exhibited the wisdom and courage, in outlining his methods of attaining them. But if they, instead of using the white press for their Guide, would read more from Negro auth ors from such books as: “ Wh*t. the Negro Thinks by R R Moten, “Race Adjustment” by Kelly Miller, “The Guide to Racial Greatness”, Sutton I. Griggs and other books of Negro authors which may be easily procured at the Public Library, and if you are interested in what the Negroes are doing in other parts of America, read the Pitts burg Courier, The Chicago Defender, The New York Age and the Kansas City Call and if you care what the intelligent, progressive Negroes in Omaha are doing and thinking, read your own Omaha Gnide you will then readily conclude that “Egyt is not all Pyramids.” SHOULD THE NEGROES WANT REPEAL? Since the decree has gone forth that that monster of deceit lies, and corrup tion prohibition, should be “dragged forth and cast into the bottomless pit” and there to remain for two thousand yars (we hope.) There has been quite a stir among the ministry of some of the white churches and a few of our church es incirculating petitions against the holding of a convention for the purpose of decleaing for the repeal of the 18th amendment. What stand the white churches may take on this question we are not concerned, but we are deeply concerned as to the actions of the colored churches. We feel it to be a grave responsibility for anyone to advise a group who ab solutely depends on and trusts them to direct them in affairs which have to do with their spiritual and temporal salva tion. In our limited knowledge we could never see the relation which connects a man’s squI with his appetite. Man’s ap petite is essentially the carnal part of him and his soul is the spiritual part. As “meat and drink are not the kingdom of heav en” .^en meat and drink evidently has no spiritual relation to a man’s soul. It is not a moral question nor is it a spiritual one. And not being either it is not a question for the church to handle. It s a question which belongs to “Caesar” and not the Church. We have watched the trend of the “noble experiment” since its inception and while we have never been able to in dorse this law or subscribe to its policies and principles, deep down in our hearts we wanted to see it succeed. Our opposi tion against it was for economic and in dustrial reasons. We never attached any credence to the exaggerated and Utopian promises the advocates of the amendment made for their pet measure, that we would need no more jails; the asylums would be empty; the banks would be bulging with money; every man would have a full dinner pail; after ten years the youth of the land would not knows the taste of booze; For every closed sal oon there would be a thriving busy gro cer, clothing, or mercantile house;, and many other claims. ,How many of these claims are true, a good many of us know! We as Negroes know well as in refer ence to the full dinner pail, no* only did we not have a full dinner pail, but we couldn't even get a pail to fill We feel safe m our declaration that the Negro was injured more than any other; group on the advent of prohibition. Before that event we Were employed as waiters and porters in 95 per cent of all saloons and 75 per cent of all hotels, cafes, and restaurants. The Closing of the saloons threw over 500,000 Negroes out of eiii ployment almost overnight. Soon there after their places in the dining rooms were taken by white girls or white boys Large numbers was used on public works and street work before prohibition. Soon the complexion began to gradually change until now seldom if ever can a black face be seen on a public works job. At the time, most all the janitor work was done by Negroes; as it was with the other jobs, soon it was with this, Negro es were replaced by whites. We awoke one morning to find that two fallacies had been exploded, namely: That the ^ “f W°ULd n0t ?t°°P t0 ^ clean 5f„" h°5” £nd s,u.cPldors> and that the of birth d Jobs whlch were bis by right We are not unmindful of the fact that we are the last hired and first fired. It was obvious to every one who has follow ed the laws of self preservation of what would necessarily happen to the Negro when the white man had been forced off his job. It what has been said here is true, why would a Negro want to petition against the repeal of the 18th amend ment? Had prohibition been successful in only one instance one may be con strained to yet have some hope for the “noble experiment.” Instead of reducing the percentage of drinking, immorality and crime, it increased to proportions never known before. John Barleycorn was almost dead in 1919 when prohibition came in. Any saloon man at that time could tell you that he was not selling 5 gallons of whiskey per week, but when the 18th Amendment went into effect it increased in price and demand by leaps and bounds, where it had been bringing 95 cents and $1.00 per quart, it was bring ing $20.00 and $25.00 per quart. Without the 18th Amendment the percentage of whiskey drink in this country would not have been as much as nine-tenth as it has been since its passage. Why should the Negro not want re peal? “ Advertise It!” SELL or RENT IT thru these Columns Local Observations «y M. L. HARRIS We are hap.jy to note the favorable trend towards the establishment of business enterprises by the Negroes of Omaha since our sojourn in this city eleven years ago Chief cmong them are the Square Deal Stores. Operated at 27th and Grant Streets, Carey’s Naborhood Grocery, WEbster 6089 ; 2754 Lake Street, Colquitt Grocery, WEbster 8091; 2637 Frank, lin Street, Hayden’s Sarket, ATlan tic 8812; 2531 Lake Stret Mont, gomery Grocery, WEbster 0226; 2114 North 24th Street, Voner and Hou ston, JAckson 3543; 1313 North 26th Adams Grocery, ATlantic 2MS Evidently the Negroes have begun to see the light It is a good indica tion that they at last realises, that it i8 not where you earn your money but where you spend it that makes the wheels of progress go around Not only "The Square Deal Stores are to be commended for having the vision to "Cast out their Net” in the sea of commerce but quite a number of in. dependent business enterprises has been launched which dfeserVes oiir consideration, chief among them are: Drug Stores which are operated by Ross Drugs, 2122 North 24th Street; Johnson's Drug Company, 1904 North 24th; ^ and Owens Pharmacy at 2306 Nortii 24th Street, either of which compares favorably with other drug stores'on 24th Street and should be supported by members of our group -••• . Omaha is to be congratulated on | having men of the raise' who aside from haring the vision to ae« the! possibility in establishing such busi-i nessy but had the confidence in them, eelvy to feel that they ©ould suc cessfully gerire the people and had the “guts" to back it up by spending their money for that purpose The whole of America is crying for work And as our group from time: memorial have always been the last! hired and the first fired, we have been and is the hardest hit of all the other racy The time for talking is piSt Now is the time for action. We must band together to establish an outlet for the boys and girls, whom we are grinding out of the colleges and universities each year It is up to us to see that they at least have a chance before condemning them, as —is done too often. “A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump ” Had not Dr Ross seen the ight, and had the nerve to stand to h>s £uns> there would have been no Colored Drug Stores in Omaha Dr Johnson could not have been employ ed; from the fact that he was furnish ed employment in Ross drug store he was industrious and thrifty enough to soen establish a store of his own, as that was true of Dr. Johnson, so was it true of Dr. Owens, and just as we sustain them others will be encouraged to venture , into legitimate business which will necessitate the employing of more boys and girls of our group which will furnish more material to create within our group a greater degree of collective efficiency with .out which no race or people can rise “No chain is stronger than its weakest link ” Is a truthful saying The temporal salvation of any group or nation depends not only upon the directing genius who molds and dir ects the destiny of a nation but it depends upon the willingness of the people to carry out the principles which are from time to time en. nunciated by those who have the ability and honesty to carry to a suc cessful conclusion a program which has for its purpose the establishing of such laws and conditions that will guarantee a full measure of life, lib erty, and the pursuit of happiness A sad gpectace was presented at a meeting held at ‘the Omaha Urban League last Friday night called in the interest of two local young men of this city receiving a position of Oper ators at the Ritz Picture house on 24th and Patrick Avenue by the mem bers of our group practicaly begging representatives of the Motion Picture Operators Union to permit two Ne groes who had passed the city ex amining board and had otherwise qualified themselves for the positions for which they had applied to permit tfiem to work on a job where 98 per cent of the patrons are Colored The time has arrived in the indus trial an economic development of our group when the Negro must learn that if he would hold that which he holds dear, the blessings of freedom, bequeathed us by our fathers bought and paid for by their years of travail and suffering during the dark days of i slavery, and by their life’s blood free. ly given on the battle field that we may enjoy the greatest boon known to man. We too, must fight and die to pass on to our posterity that for which men of all races and climes has held dearer than life itself a man’s W1K> would not die to protect his home should not be allowed to live We have, through our race fur. ished martyrs on every battle field in the defense of Old Glory otensibly, but reaUy to satisfy the insatiable greed and lust of the Money Kings True, there is glory in such a sacri fice of one’s life, to be acclaimed a hero by dieing on the battle field. How greater would be the glory to sacrifice our life for our homes. FIGHT NRA ATTACKS BY CAMPAIGN FOB JOBLESS INSURANCE By I. AMTER Unemployment and Social Insur ance has become the central issue be for the working class. Although mil lions of workers still suffer from the illusion that the NRA will bring back work and prosperity, the application of the codes is showing to the masses that it was not introduced for this purpose. The workers in the shopg are finding in their pay enveopes that N. •R: A. is a fizzle and aims to put more burdens the shoulderg of the workers. The unemployed, looking forward to employment, find that in stead of production increasing and workers being hired, factories are closing down and the lineg of the un employed are growing. Thi#, the fifth year of the crisis, will be the bitterest that the workers of this country hare ever passed through. Not only will the number of jobless grow, but relief is already be ing cut. • Workers doing relief work will b« in direct competition with so called “fret” wolcers whose wages and conditions will be brought down to that of-the relief workers.' This is already taking place in various parte of the country. The only safeguard that the unemployed will come through the winter without further hardship; the only safeguard that the workers in the shops working part time, those fired or laid off because of sickness, accident, old age or maternity, will have, is through Un employment and Social Insurance. The Conference for United Action, which was held in Cleveland on Aug. ust 26-27, recognized this situation and put the struggle for the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill into the center of its program The con ference adopted the following state ment: “We call upon all unions as well as all unemployed organizations and the working masses as a whole every where to initiate, conduct and sup port a sustained struggle for the en actment of the Workers Unemploy ment and Social Insurance Bill, mak ing this a part of every local struggle Steps To Be Taken “To this end we propose that: 1. In states where the initiative referendum is provided for, a for mal referendum &hall be conducted. 2- Wihete this is not possible we shall conduct struggles supported by a signature campaign to force the state legislatures to enact this bill, pending action by Congress. 3. All city and county govern, ment bodies and all individual mem. bers of legislative bodies shall be of. ficially call upon Congress and the state legislatures immediatey to en. act this BiL” The Cleveland conference also not ed that masses of workers are being discharged without any provision for their welfare. The workers have no savings; NIRA does not guarantee them jobs. They work a few hours, a few days—and th*n are laid off or fired. The conference therefore de clared: “This national conference of trade unions and unemployed organizations calls upon all workers’ bodies to in clude provisions for unemployment relief in all codes drafted under the NRA or, in cases where practical, in agreements with the employers. These provisions should include a dis missal wage equivalent to one mon th’s wages to be paid each worker by the employer at the time of discharge or lay off, and relief payments by the employer to continue for the duration of unemployment at the rate of—(to be determined in each situation.) ‘‘All organizations are called upon to work for the immediate amend ment along these lines of all indus trial codes already drafted.” Stimulates Activity These issues face not only the un employed but also the employed workers. The struggle for the Work ers Bill must be stimulated. It is not a fight only of or in the interest of the unemployed workers. It is a struggle for the security of the .WHOLE working class. The Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill is the ONLY bill before the .people of this country, affording full protection to the whole working class and putting the bur. den of providing insurance where it belongs—at the door of the employ, ers and the government. The Cleve land conference unanimously endorsed the bill and now the workers must be mobilized on the basis of the broad, est united front to fight for it In this fight, the Unemployed Councils must take the lead. This is our central task. An Editor Looks at The Railroads The following editorial, which ap. peared in the Fallon Eagle of Fallon, Nevada, shows how vitally the rail, road problem affects all communities, all businesses, all individuals It said in part: “Just how important the railroad is to this county was emphasized when the Southern Pacific and Southern Pacific Land Company, between them, paid to the Churchill treas. urer a total of $58,465.85 for the first installment of 1932 taxes. “Of course the Southern Pacific has been doing that very thing for years — paying a large share of all the taxes paid in this county. But what made it ao noticeable this year was that, with most of Nevada’s banka closed, tax payments were comparatively few and the Southern Pacific checks filled a big gap. “County employes will get their pay, or at least part of it Other peo_ pie who have claims against the county will get all or part of what is due them. High school teachers will have payments on salaries two mon. ths due These folks, in turn, will pay merchants who have been carry, ing them, or will pay their own tax. es, which-had to be allowed to go de. linquent. * '■in snort, as matters stand, tne Southern; Pacific and others who have been-able to dig up their tax money, are Churchill County's bankers and have had a large share, with cream, eries and turkey buyers, in turning enough cash loose in this community to keep business from being com. pletely paralyzed “An institution which means so much to any community is entit. led to fair consideration at the hands of the public The community betters its own condition by supporting and helping to develop the railroad, which, in turn, will maintain and aid to its taxable valuation, returning more money to the public treasury. “Railroads are not faultless. Al. though they have been hedged about with restrictions which have ham. pered their exercise of initiative and judgment in coping with modern conditions, they are still at* least part ly to blame for the situation in which they find themselves today by reason of motor competition. They have found it extremely difficult to alter their methods of doing business, learned in the days' when railroads constituted practically the only mode of transportation. “There is, certainly, a place for the motor truck in the present day dis. tribution setup. If the charges made by the rails are true, however, there is much work to be done by public service commissions in this and other states render the competition of the truck lines fair to the railroads and to the public Here in Nevada, as was pointed out recently by the state auditor, the gas tax is inadequate to care for maintenance of the roads built with federal aid money and there has had to be a tax levy upon property for this purpose . . The truck lines pay comparatively little property tax and the railroads, with their enormous valuations) are placed in the ironical position of paying a heavy share of the cost of maintenance of the rights of way used by their motor com. petition while at the same time bear, ing all of the expense of maintain, ing their own roadbeds, and paying taxes for the privilege “The railroads are entitled to re. spectful hearing and to fair, impart, ial judgment of their rights We can t get along without them and they should be given in even chance to prosper.” NEW YORK CITY—CNS)—After having aroused Keen interest as a drama and then as an opera, Eugene O’Neill’s masterly work, “The Em. peror Jones” was presented on the talking screen here Last week in two theatres, one in Harlem, thus mark ing the culmination of a dream of achievement.” It is proclaimed “a distinguished offering resolute and firm wth a most compelling portrayal by Paul Robeson of the ambitious Ne gro Pullman porter, Brutus Jones. Dudley Murphy was the director of the drama at the Astoria, L I stu dios, where it was produced by Krim. sky and Cochran as a United Artists release It was just eight years ago that Murphy first talked to O’Neill about bringing “Emperor Jones” to the screen, and at that time he wrote a film treatment which he showed to Paul Robeson, who had played the part of Brutus Jones on the stage and who has the same role in the Advance preparation for the an nual campaign for the Omaha Com munity Chest began to take definite form Tuesday when campaign head quarters were opened m th? Insur ance building, 17th and Famam Sts , The campaign will be held from Oct ober 31 to November 9 W F Cozad, general chairman of the 1933-34 solicitation for funds to carry on the work of the 30 social welfare organizations in the Chest, was among the first of tne cam par gn leaders to move into campaign head quarters The Woodman of the World Life Insurance association is donating space for the headquarters, as it did last year De E. Bradshaw, president of the Woodman of the World grant ed permission to use this space All office equipment in the headquarters is also being donated by the following firms: Union Pacific railroad, Nebraska Power Company, Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, and the Douglas county election commissioner’s of fice 4 Mrs Myles Standish, chairman of the women’s division of the Comm unity Chest campaign, will move her office to campaign headquarters on Wednesday A H Clarke ehairman of the in dustrial division, and W Otto Swan son, chairman of the business divi sion, also will have offices at head quarters, go that they can keep in constant touch with preparations "We are grateful to the Woodman of the World for donating this apace and also wish to thank the other firms who have loaned us office fur niture,” said Chairman Cozad ‘‘Ev. ery day until October 31 will be filled with activity This hadquarters will be the hub from which hundreds of Omaha men and women will work as volunteers to meet the social welfare needE in Omaha ” WELL, WE GO TO WAR Condemning the government for dispatching war ships into Cuban waters and charging the Roosevelt administration with ‘‘preparing for large scale intervention in Cuba” to protect the ‘‘financial interests who have approximately f1,500,000,000 invested in Cuba,” The United States Congress Against War with affiliates of 109 organizations representing ov_ «r 700,000 people including Robert Morss Lovet of the League for In_ dustrial Democracy; Dorothy Detzer, Woman’s League for Peace and Free_ dom; Dr Israel Goldstein, Social Justice Committee, Rabbinical As_ sembly of America; Roger Baldwin, American Civil Liberties Union; J. B Matthws, Fellowship of Recon_ dilation; J B S Hardman, Editor “Advance,” official organ Amalga. mated Clothing Workers of America; Annie E Gray, Wbmen’s Peace So_ cieyt; Jack Stachel, Assistant Secre. tary Trade Union Unity League; A. J Muste, Chairman Conference for progressive Labor Action; Lem Har_ ris( Farmer’s National Committee for Independent Political Action, called upon “all workers and farmers to picket and demonstrate before all governmental offices demanding the withdrawal of United States war ships from Cuban waters ” United States Congress Against * War which will convene in New York City September 29th with at least 2000 delegates from every section of the country to deliberate on a united front program against war pointed out that “economic nationalism, which aims at the maximum degree of self sufficiency, requires that the United States control the rich trop_ ical resources of Cuba. ” ine statement proceeaa to condemn the Platt Amendment “which give* the United States Government the legal right to intervene,’ and enu. merates the various financial inter, ests in the United States" who deu mand protection from the United States Navy ” After pointing out that American financial interest* have $1,500,000,000 invested m Cuba, the statement goes on to say that “more than half of the present in. vestment ig in the island’s sugar in. dustry The National City Bank cc®. trols the sugar industry and the rail roads Two Morgan corporations, General Electric and the Intemation al Telephone and Telgraph Company control the public utilities The man ganese deposits are controlled by tb>e Bethlehem Steel" Company Cnase National Bank is the agent for Cuban government loans from this country amounting to $215,000,000 American imperialism has its largest stake in Cuba The right of the over whelming majority of the Cuban peo" pie—workers and peasants—to deter" mme their form of government is be" mg usurped by Washington and the American financial interests ”