INNOCENT NEGROES SHOT
BY LYNCHERS
ATLANTA. Ga. November &—Of
the four Negroes recently shot by
lynching mobs in the vicinity of Tus
caloosa. Alabama three of them
fatally, one was undoubtedly inno
cent and all the other three possibly
so according to a report made pub
lic today by the Southern Commis
son on the Study of Lynching after a
careful investigation of the whole
situation. No convincing proof of
guilt was found in either case.
County officers charged with the
protection of these men either con
nived with the mob says the Com
mission or else “exhibited inexcus
able inefficiency and stupidity.” It is
suggested that certain of those offi
cers should be impeached by the Su
preme Court of Alabama and be re
moved from office by the Governor,
if found guilty of either charge.
The courts of the community have
failed completely in their duty, ac
cording to the Commission. “Both
mobs were made up largely of Tus
caloosa people” it says. “Many in the,
community knew their identities and
a really vigorous investigations
would have been productive of indict
ments.”
The community has been in a state
of extreme hysteria, according to the
Commission induced partly by the
efforts of the International Labor
Defense to force its way into the
case. “Much of this hysteria” the
Commission says “was traceable to
unreasoning fear that communist
agencies had actually organized
among the Negroes a conspiracy of
violence outrage and insurrection.”
As a matter of fact the Commission
i'ound no evidence whatever of any
uch spirit among the Negro popula
. ion or of any sustained activity on
the part of communists to organize
' hem.
With regard to the community’s
effort to excuse itself because of
communist interference the Commis
sion fires this telling shot: “The
Tuscaloosa community could hardly
have placed itself in a worse light
than it did by insisting that the Ne
groes’ defense be left in local hands
and then permitting them to be mur
dered.”
In conclusion hope is expressed
that the authorities of Tuscaloosa
county may yet make some effective
effort to bring the lynchers to jus
tice. Should this hope fail the Com
mission lays upon the Supreme Court
and the Governor the responsibility
for exercising the punitive power re
posed in their hands by the constitu
tion of the state.
‘GREEN PASTURES’ COMES
. HOME
By R. B. Eleazer
ATLANTA Ga. November 8—
"Green Pastures” has come home at
last—not to the place of its birth
but back to the land of its descent
where through the centuries its es
sential significance has been slowly
shaped in the thought the experience
and the emotions of a great race.
And what a homecoming it has
been! What enthusiastic welcome the
play has received; what unstinted
praise on the part of critics and
public! What appreciation offstage
of the venerable artst who dared es
say the role of God and had the
dramatic ability—and the essential
greatness of character —to make of
that role the most sensational
dramatic success of the century!
In its tour of Southern cities ev
ery where successful the play opened
| Monday in Atlanta for eight perform
ances. Pressed with invitations far
beyond the possibility of acceptance
I Richard B. Harrison who plays “de
Lawd” appeared three times Sunday
j before large church audiences gath
ered to greet him. Two hundred
I white and colored college students
j heard him at the Central Congre
■ gational Church in a meeting ar
ranged by the Interracial Student
Council. An hour later a crowded
house greeted him at Big Bethel A..
M.. E.. Church; and at the evening
hour he addressed the largest aud
ience ever assembled in Druid Hills
Methodist Church South one of the
leading white churches in the city.
Every seat was taken every inch of
standing room was occupied upstairs
i and down the vestibule was packed
j and people looked in from the out
side steps through two sets of open
ed doors.
At the conclusion of his Sunday
evening address simple unpreten
tious and winning Mr. Harrison was
thronged as on the other two oc
casions with people eager to express
their appreciation and to grasp his
hand. The fine unstrained courtesy
extended him by the pastor a native
Vh^ginian late from Louisiana the
rapt attention given him by the aud
ience and the ovation accorded him
at the conclusion of his address
would have been an interesting study
for those who think of race relations
in the South solely in terms of lynch
ing bees. It might at least have sug
gested the idea that the worst in
Southern race relations is not neces
sarily the best.
On Tuesday morning Mr. Harrison
spoke to the student body of Agnes
Scott College one of the South’s most
notable and conservative schools for
the education of young women. He
was introduced by the president and
made a most favorable impression
upon faculty and students. On Thurs
day morning he spoke at Atlanta
University and on Friday he has
been invited to address the 1200 stu
dents of Emory.
On Monday night the play opened
before a packed house. Of the effect
the dramatic critic of the morning
Constitution wrote: “There is a spell
woven over the audience during the
opening scene, and they leave still
with that spell upon them. The only
thing to say is to give thanks that
we have been privileged to come un
der its effect.” The house has been
sold out at every performance and
hundreds have been turned away.
There has been no suggestion of un
1'ayorable criticism from any source
whatever.
This is not an effort to “press
agent” Green Pastures. No such ef
fort is necessary. I felt however that
your readers might be glad to know
how this great all Negro production
has been received in the South and
that they might be encouraged by the
answer as I have been to a little
more of confidence in the essential
soundness of human nature and to
greater hope for the improvement of
race relations in this section.
NINE OF NINETEEN CHILDREN
OF ONE FAMILY ENTER FIRST
GRADE IN SCHOOL
FORT GAINES Ga. Npvember 8—
(CNS)—Reuben Davis and his wife
live a few miles from town with a
family of nineteen children. Recently
they decided that nine of them rang
ing in age 6 to 15 should enter
school. Davis came to town last week
and bought nine primers asking for
and receiving cut rate prices on the
wholesale deal.
POLICE CONTINUE “GORILLA”
' MYTH
NEW YORK, November 8—((CNA
j )—The police department Freeman
Piikett a, largsic footer Negro here
today and held him on charges of at
tacking women and robbing men in
Central Park. The white press in New
York has been yelling about the act
ivities of the Gorilla man in Central
Park for the last months. About ten
days ago a large man was captured
in the park and charged with the
same crime. Upon examination it
was discovered that the man was not
a Negro at all but a white man who
had blacked his face. This has been a
common occurrence in these parts
lately.
The police department has no
evidence against Pinkett except that
of two old men who hazily recollect
that he took money from them at the
point of a knife.
TELEGRAM RECEIVED TODAY
ON ARMWOOD LYNCHING FROM
L. S. N. R HEAD
NEW YORK, November 8—(CNA
Maryland lynching part wave of
lynching and Mass terror provoked
by Roosevelt-Johnson driving force
putting across wagecutting starva
tion program NRA unprecedented in
History of America stop safeguards
for lives of Negro People only guar
anteed by nationwide mobilization
working class toiling Negro Masses
in Mass protest action stop masses
white and black face terror program
if common enemy stop build League
Struggle Negro Rights in fight for
Equal Rights Negro Masses and as
ally of oppressed native and foreign
j bora white workers stop make Ny
! gad Rockland meeting starting point
, mobilization.
Signed Robert R. Moore.
! EVEN MARYLAND DEMOCRATS
ADVOCATE GOVERNOR RITCH
IE’S IMPEACHMENT
—
BALTIMORE, Md. November 9—
The impeachment and indictment of
Governor Albert C. Ritchie for his
“criminal negligence” in failing to
prevent the lynching last week of
George Armwood, was urged by
Isaac Loeb Strauss, prominent local
lawyer, in an address before the As
sociated Democratic Clubs November
1.
Mr.. Strauss was a former attorn
ey general of Maryland and joins
with many others in condemnation of
Ritchie’s “do nothing policy” in re
cent Eastern Shore lynching orgies.
- Head
The Guide
Spend a Dollar and Make a Job
Square Deal Stores
Free Delivery - __-_Nov. 9-12
FRESH
COUNTRY EGGS, *',iozen18c
SQUARE DEAL
COFFEE ,b 19c
SWEET
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No. 2*4 cans j^i^c
PUMPKIN No-2 cans 10°
AMERICAN CREAM
CHEESE lb 18c
FULLER’S TOOTH
PASTE’ E*rge lube 39c
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MELO CUP
COFFEE can 29c
BLACK-EYED
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MINCE MEAT packagI 10c
MACARONI, SPAGHETTE
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TIT? A T TTT PT TfR
BAKING POWDER 12 °z can 10c
SWAN DOWN OR GOLD MEDAL
CAKE FLOUR package 29c
_MEAT SPE CIALS_
PURE LEAF
LARD 3 !bs 25c
BEEFHEARTSAND^
KIDNEYS lb 5C
CHEEK MEAT71*7
CHILI ?,b Brick 17c
STEAK-Short Cut lb. ~15C
SMOKED ' .
PIG HOCKS-,b. 7*c
SALT PORK ,b- !0C
Hens and Springers Dressed While You Wait. At very reasonable prices.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables of all kinds
Carey’s NaborhOOd Grocery Colquitt Grocery Haydens Market
27th & GRANT ST. WE. 6089 2754 LAKE ST. WE. 3091 2637 FRANKLIN ST. AT. 8812
Montgomery Grocery Voner & Houston Adams’ Grocery
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HUGE MASS MEETING TO BE SPONSORED BY SQUARETdEAL STORES AND HOUSEWIVES
LEAGUE, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 3 o’clock p. m. AT ST. JOHN’S A. M. E. CHURCH.
Coffee will be demonstrated at Hayden’s Market Friday November 10 and Voner and Houston, Satur
day, November 11th, 1933.
We cash Federal Relief Orders. Ask that your order be written on the above named stores.
_ 4«» •■"■* *•
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS RE
WARD OFFERED IN PRINCESS
ANNE LYNCHING
NEW YORK CITY, November 8—
Declaring that ne genuine effort is
being mace by public officials to
identify the lynchers of George Arm
wood Negro at Princess Anne, Md.
the American Civil Liberties Union
offers a reward of one thousand dol
lars for information leading to the
final conviction in the courts of any
member of the lynch mob which mur
dered Armwood on October 17 1933.
“The A.. C.. L.. U.. has posted this
offer of a reward” said Roger N.
Baldwin director “because it is plain
that without such an incentive wit
nesses will not talk. It is already
apparent that no genuine effort is
being made by the public officials
charged wiih the investigation. The
state of feeling on the Eastern Shore
is evidently such that any witness
iuns considerable risk in coming for
ward with specific identification.)
Yet obviously many members of the
mob can be identified by State troop J
ers officials and by-standers.
“In no lynch case in recent years
were members of the mob so easy to
identify. Failure to do so condemns
the administration of justice in Mary
land. While we offer this reward in
the hope that identifications will be
made indictments found and convic
ions obtained we have already indic
ated our doubts by appealing to the
Attorney General of the United
States for a federal investigation to
| be followed by appropriate action in
the federal courts. Our attorneys
■ advise us that such an investigation
! is authorized by statue and that pro
j eeedings may be had in the federal
courts where the State courts fail to
j act.”
CRAWFORD CASE IN VIRGINIA
ATTRACTING WIDE ATTENTION
LEESBURG Va. November 9—(C
NS)—While there is a sensational
undercurrent of scandal and charges
leged murder case flying about the
of a frame-up in the Crawford al
vicinlty here leading citizens of the
State are determined that no one
shall justly accuse the Virginia au
thorities of trying to railroad Craw
j lord to the electric chair. To this
end the Richmond Times Dispatch in
i leading editorial “Eyes on Virginia”
says:
“The eyes of the country will be
upon Virginia when George Craw
ford, Negro goes to trial on a charge
o* murdering Mrs. Agnes Boeing
Illsley spotswoman and her elderly
white maid.
“National attention wias called to
the case when Judge James Arnold
Lowell of the United States District
Court in Boston granted a stay of
an extradition order on the ground
that Virginia does not permit Ne
groes to serve on juries.
“It is safe to say that the trial
will equal in interest the famous
I Scottsboro case.
“Certainly the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People will keep the limelight of
I publicity turned on the courtroom.
The association already has raised a
defense fund and chief counsel for
1 Crawford will be Dean Charles Hou
ston of the Howard University Law
School a Harvard graduate and one
of the leading Negro attorneys in
the country.
“Virginia will let its justice be
swerved neither to right nor left by
the public interest expressed in the
case. Virginians are certain in their |
own minds that Crawford will re
ceive impartial judgment. It remains1
only to convince the rest of the coun-!
try that such is the case. ~ i
“Virginia is moving circumspectly
in the case. This is wise. It should
make plain to the rest of the coun
try that a repetition of the race
hatred evident in the Scottsboro case
is an impossibility in the Old Dom
inion.
“Let Crawford be given every
benefit of the law. Let the facts, pro
and con be developed clearly. Let the
jury act without prejudice. Be the
decision what it may let Virginia
stand forth before the nation as a
State in which justice is administer
ed fearlessly and in accordance with
the evidence.”
-----
MARRIAGE REQUEST OF DOOM
ED MEN BY OFFICIALS
WASHINGTON, November 7—(C
NS. — After lengthy consideration
the requests of two men convicted of
murder and awaiting execution, to
permit them to be married were den
ied by the District Commissioners.
Dr. Luther H. Reichelderfer, presi
dent of the Board of Commissioners,
merely announced the board had de
cided that as a matter of public
policy the requests of the two men
would be refused.
One of the men was executed Fri
day, October 27, and the other, who
is the father of two children by a
common-law7 wife whom he now wish
| es to marry is scheduled to be exe
j cuted November 29.
It was learned, however, that the
Commissioners were guided by the
feeling that to permit the marriages
would establish a precedent which
might embarrass the District govern
ment, and were convinced that no
good would be accomplished by per
mitting matrimony. They felt also !
that the staging of marriage cere
monies under such sensational cir- i
cumstances would give to the Dis
trict unfavorable national publicity. I
SIX ARRESTED IN NEW TERROR
REIGN IN TALLAPOOSA, CHAMB
ERS COUNTIES. ALA.
By JIM MALLORY
DADEVILLE, Ala. November 9—
Seven Negro members of the Share
Cropper Union have been arrested
here, charged with assault with in
tent to murder. Nine more who are
sought for, are in hiding. Carloads of
armed deputies are touring the Ne
gro communities, Negro cabins are
being turned inside out in a search
for literature, guns and lists of
members of the Croppers Union. A
new wave of terror has been let loose
in Tallapoosa County and Chambers
County and a wave of lynching is be
ing arranged in preparation for the
S-cottsboro trial coming up Novem
ber 27.
The excuse given for this particu
lar series of raids is that a Negro
stool-pigeon and strike breaker, Paul
Powell was given a severe beating
recently. The landlords sent Powell
into the Union as a spy, ordering
him to get the names of leading
members and turn the list over to
the sheriff at Lafayette. Powell
worked under the direction of Frank
vVood, a white landlord who has an- I
nounced that he is ready to kill ev- j
sry member of the Share Croppers
Union. Wood’s cotton fields were
Kiycotted this fall by the union
I members, because he refu-ed to pay
: the standard price of 50 cents a hun
dred for picking, the only person who
entered Wood’s cotton fields was
Powell. Powell was warned by the
Union to stay out of the fields. A
few days later he went with Wood
to Lafayette, and the next day car
loads of deputies arrived in Dadeville
The croppers who have already
The croppers who hrjve already
been arrested here: James Kimball,
George Sims Jim Spence and John
Tut Carl, John Willis, Perry Hill
Taylor. They are held in $1000 bond
each..
The Share Croppers Union has
grown until its size and power are a
nightmare to the landlords.. The year
has been a bitter one for the small
farmers, the croppers and the ten
ants. This, and the steady end bril
liant organizational work of the Ln
ion leaders, have brought the mem
bership to the 5500 mark..
The Dadeville croppers, under the
leadership of the Union, have re
fused to sign the government cheeks
made out jointly to them and to the,
landlords, for the cotton the crop
pers plowed under.. The joint checks
are a scheme agreed on by the land
lords and the government, which
makes it possible for the landlords,
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once he-has the cropper’s signature,
to steal the entire sum. The landlord
need merely put forward the claim
that the money is owing to him for
food and clothing furnished the crop
per in the past.
A cropper from Dadeville writes
the following description of how the
landlords steal the money for the
plowed-under cotton.
Landlord Smith meets a cropper
on his land, John Brown, “John”
says the landlord—in the South, in
accordance with a well-established
system of Insulting practices any
white man may address a Negro of
any age by his first name—“John I
just got the cotton check in from the
Post Office. Come on up to the house
and make your mark and get your
share. ” John Brown goes to the
house where he finds the landlord’s
wife. The presence of the white wo
men is a silent threat that a rape
charge will follow any attempt of
the cropper to demand his share of
the ch^ck. “Now, John,” says the
landlorij “I’m signing my name here.
Just tjjuch the pen, while I sign
yours, jj>r make your mark.” If the
cropped signs, the landlord goes on
as follows: "Now John less run up
your ajcount. You owe me $150 for
the sermon. But your share of this
check 4 for $100. So we’ll count that
off and now you only owe me $50.00
The croppers of Dadeville and sur
rounding areas, however feeling
strong in their organization, refuse
to sign these cherks. They are also
preparing a determined struggle a
gainst eviction from the land which
is one of the results of the campaign
to reduce cotton acreage. “You can
either become cash tenants or get
off the land” say the landlords.. This
will not mean an increase in cash
tenants for the croppers have less
money than ever this year.. It will
mean—unless the organized power of
the croppers agricultural workers
and small farmers can prevent it, the
mass eviction of hundreds of thou
sands of croppers from their fields
and cabins.. These evictions may take
the form ol starvation the landlord
refusing to furnish these croppers.
Or in many cases the croppers will
be driven off by the sheriffs and
deputies.
More than ever this winter the
landlords are determined to smash
the Coppers’ Union.. The arrests in
Dadeville are the beginning of a new
terror drive . The ILD. has called
for speeding of protests to Bob Slay
High Sheiff at Lafayette Alabama .
Stop the hand of the landlords in
their new attack on the brave share
croppers of Alabama.
NAZI CHAIN LETTER
STARTED IN LOS
ANGELES ATTACKS
NEGROES. JEWS
NEW YORK November 9 — A
chain-letter started by the Aryan
Book Store 902 South Alvarado St.
Los Angeles California and signed
by Paul Thumlitz the proprietor and
a swastika emblem of Hitler’s Nazis
attacking both Negroes and Jews is
reproduced in the November num
ber of “Red Front” a magazine pub
lished here..
The letter reproduced in fascimile
and attacked in an adjoining column
by the editors of the paper says “The
Jews are not of the White Race they
are Semites (Half Niggers.”)
I he letter instructs its recipient to
copy it ten times and send it to that
many friends..
LAWYER DENIED
LEE’S AND OFFICERS
GUARD THE GRAVE
BALTIMORE Md. November 8 —
(CNS)—Immediately after Euel Lee
j condemned for the murder of an
' Eastern Shore farmer was executed
by hanging last Friday Bernard Ades
| his attorney claimed the body on the
j ground that Lee had willed it to him.
It was claimed that Ades wanted
to take the body to New York and
stage an elaborate funeral service.
The claim was denied and contested
in court for two days. Willis R. Jones
deputy attorney general argued that
inasmuch a- Lee had no relatives the
duty of burying him rested with the
warden of (he penitentiary here un
der a provision of Maryland law.
The court ruled against Ades and
the body \ias buried in Maryland
and a guard of 30 officers placed
over it.
The rumoit that Communists might
attempt to disinter the body and
take it to flew York for a demon
stration did r>ot materialize and later
the guard dwindled to our two State
policemen am: two deputy sheriffs of
Anne Arundel County in which the
cemetery lies.
VIRGIN ISLAND CHIEF SAYS
rOBS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL
WASSINGTON, November 8— (C
NS)—Paul Pearson, governor of the
Virgin Islands cables from St. Croix
that all of the 800 unemployed in
that city will soon be at work and at
St. Thomas 700 of the 950 workless
are to be taken care of in public
works projects. The unemployment
problem in the Island has thus been
solved.
kvery project authorized for the
Virgin Islands is already under way.
The allotments include roads, build
ing repairs building a leper asylum
construction of a government hotel
and building low-cost housing.
