———. 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
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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 ”
