Nebraska Newspapers

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' _ March of Events X U XL X XX U City, ana Nat’l Lite - Laborous’'
___■ ___OMAHA, NEBRASKA OMAHA GUIDE, JAN. 13,1934 p 7
TH E OMAHA GUIDE
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EDITORIAL
ROOSEVELT IN LATIN AMERICA
Some leading Democrats of color have come to the]
conclusion that President Roosevelt does not consider the
African, at home or abroad, within his scheme of things.
Especially awakened are t^ey just now since the pro
nouncement of the President of his Latin American policy
before the Woodwrow Wilson Foundation at Washington
on Thursday night. He decreed a new’ Monroe Doctrine.
He urged the nations of the world to agree not to
■violate the territory and sovereignity of any other nation.
He pledged his country not to cross its ow’n orders with
armed forces to g ointo the country of another American
Republic. He declared that the new policy must be, that
when conditions necessitated a correction of conditions i
and Amerian lives be protected in those Republics, that
the correction by Americans must be with the consent and
eoopration of the Republic in Travail.
May the Lord save the black Republics. Certainly the
President could not have Haiti and Liberia in mind. De
cember ^ard the President tell Haiti at the begnning of
the Pan-American Conference at Montevideo, that the
marines must stay in Haiti until the private debts of
American bankers there were paid in full. The new agree
ment forced upon Haiti, and against which she is now
rebelling might and main, runs to nineteen-forty four.
A fortnight previously witnessed the demand of America1
the great powers at Geneva that Liberia accept a Cau
casian receiver, forthwith, or surrender its sovereignity
and all in the protection of the property of the Firestone
Rubber interests. Surely President Roosevelt places the
black Repupublics, like he does his fellow Americans of
l color beyond the pale of “The Forgotten Man and the
New Deal,” outside the realm of Republics.
THE BANNER LYNCH YEAR
T'HE country must go back to the days of the war,
t> * to make the world safe for democracy, to see
America functioning in all its pristine lynching glory;
comparable the year just ended.
It seems as if the troublous years of the Republic
bring added troubles to the colored citizens of the Re
public. When nordic America feels desperate and dis-j
tracted it apparently “takes it out” upon the colored peo-,
pie. We repeat what we said to an editor of “The Na-j
tion” a few days ago. This editor contended that the
economic depression was responsible for the terrible mob
law record of nineteen thirty-three. Surely this could not
account for the reason that economic conditions have
been on the upturn during nineteen thirty three. Un
employment has been somewhat lessened, and the mass
es have apparently more hope and courage, than they had
in the years proceeding since nineteen-twenty nine.
Nineteen twenty, nineteen thirty one, and nineteen thirty
two especially, under “The Nation’s editor’s line of
reasoning, 1932 should have seen the peak of the nation’s
lynching fever. But eight lynchings are recorded for
that year, the smallest number in a decade.
The reason we repeat, that lynching increased so
greatfy in 1933 was due to the emontional inflatcus from
which the South suffers during every National Demo
cratic Administration. Neither the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, the National
Urban Lague nor the National Inter-Racial Committee,
headed by Dr. Will Alexander, nor the Tuskegee Move
ment, nor all combined will affect or abate this rising tide
of racial outrages, unless stopped by the strong arm of
the law. Neither will the Federal Anti-Lynching Bill,
necessary and vital as it now is, unless the nation forges
the will to enforce that law. It will be more respected m
the breach than in the observance unless the department
of Justice has more care and concern for its enforcement
_ than it has had in enforcing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Amendments to the Constitution, in Dixie.
The great correction of the Nation’s criminal pastime i
against colored citizens rests in the hands of the colored
eiticens themselves. Unless they turn around and fight
and make costly to the mob murderers the taking of their
•olives without warrant of law, lynching will continue to
1 increase in 1934. There is no need for the problem solv
ing associations to cry: Peace! Peace! when there is no
peace. The colored man must fight for every right with
all his might. That is the cure for lynching and for all
the other degradations of which he is now the pitiful
victim.
THE NRA SERVANTS CODE
WE trust that the National Recovery Administra
yt ir 2*2° ^ accePt the recommendations of the
Neu \ork Department of Public Welfare and include the
domestic servants of New York City within the code.
Cruel advantages have been taken of the tens of thous
ands of the household employees of New York. Not only
have they not benefited during the regime of the NRA
but they have been doubly hurt by its provisions.
Collector of Internal Revenue, James J. Hoey, cour
ageously declared during his WOR Radio Forum hour on
last Sunday that the NRA has been a blight rather than
a blessing to colored America. We trust that Dean Kelly
Miller and all the other apologists, national and local, will
cease now babbing falsely and blithely about its benefits
to the group. Both by practice and provision, th NRA
has excluded colored America. •
The increased cost of living has inflicted itself upon
servants more greviously than upon the rest. Their hours
have been longer, their work has been harder, by reason
of the fewer servants their employers cduld afford as a
result of the depression, and their wages for the same
reason have been less.
Domestic and agricultural labor specifically exempted
them from the benefits of the NRA at the time of its
adoption. Stories of the plight of the domestic servant
which have come from sources official and unofficial are
too well known to repeat. As a matter of justice and
humanity we urge General Johnson to forthwith include
them within the scheme of the NRA.
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
AT the outset of nineteen thirty-four we turn all
our readers to look in retrospect over the past
year. They must be thankful not only that they are alive
but that they are enjoying a more abundant spiritual
life. They may feel assured that the world is working
along hard roads toward the promised bloody but un
bowed they may thank their stars that are the masters
of their own fate and the captains of their souls.
For every adversity during th twelve past months,
there has been a corresponding spiritual blessing. De
spite woes and wickedness in high places, despite hypoc
risy and bigotry in official realms, they have come
through t all smiling. Retribution is beginning to come
swift and terrible hpon the people and' the leaders who
prate Christianity, but know not God, individually or col
lectively.
we are on the road for better things.
“I TNLESS taxation is reduced, it cannot he very long
^ before private property is destroyed entirely,”
said Dr. Milbank Johnson of the California Taxpayers’
Association.
That is a thought which has been engaging a great
many minds of late. Excessive taxation has closed fac
tories and caused the loss of jobs. It causes people to lose
their homes. In some states a large percentage of the
farm land has been taken over by government for unpaid
taxes—in others taxes are years in arrears.
Budget Director Lewis Johnson has pointed out that
the United States Treasury will sustain another great de
ficit at the end of the 1934 fiscal year, and that additional
appropriations can be met only by increased taxes. State
tax rates are far above any normal figure. Many county
and municipal governments are on the verge of bank
ruptcy, with tax rates established which local citizens are
unable to pay.
The American people face no greater issue than tay
ation. Economical government means progress, jobs,
good, wages. Wasteful or overly developed government
means continued depression, more unemployment, more
distress.
SILVER AS MONEY
The Administration’s recent remonitization of silver
is a definite step toward solving problems that have been
talked about for generations. It means immediate ben
efits to workers, investors and the public. This is especial
ly true of the West, where American silver mines are lo
cated. The mining depression in many states has been
more severe than the general depression. Thousands of
jobs have been lost, a vast amount of purchasing power
has disappeared, and one of the most important sources
of governmental revenue has dried up. Revival of silver
will help this condition.
As for the economic side of the move and its influ
ence on monetary matters, only experience can supply the
answer. But it has long been the opinion of many able
economists and industrial leaders that, in this complicated
modern world, gold is not enough. Proof of this is in the
fact that cheap silver has destroyed the purchasing power
of half the world’s population, and has come close to de
stroying foreign trade.
The move, it is believed, will be followed by action in
other countries. It is a great experiment, with almost
limitless possibilities for achievement.
EASY CREDIT FOR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
The President has signed an order creating a corpor
ation to be known as Electric Home and Farm Authority,
for the purpose of extending cheap credit to home owners
in the Tennessee Valley (Muscle Shoals power develop
ment) for the purchase of electrical appliances. If the
plan proves successful, it is stated efforts will be made to
encourage private capital to assist a similar nation-wide
movement.
To increase use of power, private electric companies
had to pioneer the sale of electrical equipment. They
have made easy terms to customers. But for several
yearspast there has been an aggressive campaign in a
number of states to prohibit private electric companies
(private capital) from selling electrical appliances on the
ground that such companies offered terms to buyers that
small stores could not make.
Will the merchants who objected to the electrical
companies selling electrical appliances on easy terms,
raise tre same objections to the present governmental
program?
Birmingham. Ala., Jan. The North Alabama
Conference, at its recent annual session here, denounced
mob violence in unmeasured terms, assured the colored
people of Alabama of its sincere good-will and interest
in their welfare, and appointed a commission to make a
careful study of interracial conditions in Alabama and
make recommendations for their improvement.
The commission appointed by the Conference is head
ed by Dr. Guy E. Snavely, president of Birmingham
Southern College, and its seven members are known for
liberal and fair-minded attitudes on interracial matters.
Their report is expected to be a significant and helpful
document.
Following are the resolutions proposing the commis
sion, which were presented by Reverends E. W. Corley,
J. E. Morris, and M. E. Lazenby and unanimously adopted
by the Conference.
“We do not believe lynching is ever the right way to
right a wrong. It is the abrogation of the processes of
law and civilization so slowly built up through long cen
turies. It is a reversion to the primitive and the savage
which, to America’s shame, is characteristic of no other
nation on the globe. Our missionaries testify that Ameri
ican lynchings are one of the heaviest handicaps which
they face in their efforts to Christianize the people of pag
an lands.
“We therefore call upon our preachers and people to
renounce and resist every suggestion of recourse to this
barbarous practice, to support the officers of the law in
their efforts to maintain its majesty, and to build up a
state of public opinion which will no longer condone this
type of crime.
“In view of the peculiarly troubled racial situation in
Alabama at the present time, we recommend the appoint
ment of the following committee, with instructions to
make a careful study of the total interracial situation in
the state and to report to this Conference and to the
Church gt its convenience the result of its findings, to
gether with recommendations as specific as possible as
to what the religious forces of Alabama may do to amel
iorate these conditions: Guy E. Snavely, A. M. Freeman,
Harry Denman, Foster K. Gamble, Clair Purcell, R. E.
Branscomb, M. E. Lazenby.
“Meantime we wish to assure the Negroes of Ala
bama of the genuine good-will of this Conference and of
its desire in every wray possible to promote their welfare
and assure their safety.”
Contribution Aske d
For The Defense
Of The Scottsboro
_*
Boys
Dear Friend:
Mob lynching in Maryland, Missouri, California
LYNCH LAW IN ALABAMA!
For the third time Heywood Patterson, and for the
second time Clarence Norris are sentenced to die in the
electric chair.
Both convicted contrary to the evidence.
Ruby Bates’ testimony that they are innocent was
disregarded.
Judge Horton’s opinion, reversing the last jury’s
verdict as contrary to the evidence Was disregarded.
Judge Horton was “removed” and replaced by
Judge Callahan.
This judge “forgot” to instruct the jurors how to
bring in a verdict if they found the boys “not guilty,”
instructing them only how to word their verdict of
“guilty.”
The State’s Attorney admitted before the court
that his plea to the jury was “an appeal to passion.” The
court was turned into a forum from which to appeal to
the basest passions of hatred and violence against black
men because they are black.
The Scottsboro boys stood between such “justice”
and violent lynching.
SEVEN OF THE BOYS HAVE A SHORT RESPITE.
THEIR LIVES DEPEND UPON US.
We must take appeals to the Supreme Court of
Alabama—and should we fail there—to the Supreme
Court of the United States.
The printing alone for these briefs, in the State
Supreme Court will cost $3,500, and they must be com
plete and ready within 30 days of December 7th. In ad
dition, $1,500 is immediately required for the court
stenographers’ fees and other fees connected with the
appeal.
Again we ask all those who feel outraged by in
justice, lynching, and class discrimination to help us in
this struggle for elementary justice.
WILL YOU SEND US A CONTRIBUTION
QUICKLY?
Do not fail these boys in this critical moment.
Sincerely,
Signed: William L. Patterson
INTERNATIONAL LABOR DEFENSE
National Office 80 East 11th Street. New York City.
(Reprinted By Request)
The wave of commodity buying,
which followed the first flush of ex
citement over the NRA, has 'weaken
ed, and retail outlets find business
slower, with strong consumer opposi
tion to higher prices. The volume- of
Christmas buying, on which reports
will be available after the first of the
year, will be an excellent indication
of just how far recovery has advanc
ed so far as the average citizen is
concerned.
| Economic Highlights.
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
Pails. Dividend Checks and Tax
Bills of Every Individual. National
and International Problems In
separable From Local Welfare.
What might be termed the "battle
of the bottles" got into full swing at
Washington during the week before
prohibition repeal became an actuali
ty. The distiller^ came forward with
a code of their own making, saw it
at once discarded. It was replaced
with a code drawn up at the Presi
dent’s suggestion, which gave a very
different slant to the picture than
manufacturers had hoped- Under it
a government corporation would be
formed to handle the entire whole
sale liquor business. Provisions in
clude:
A Federal Alchol Control Admini
stration, with czar-like power over
the industry, which would rule with
out liquor representation; complete
control over production and distribu
tion through a quota system; author
ity to fix and regulate prices;, no
additions to existing distilling capa
city could be built without a certifi
cate of necessity from the Admini
stration; an agreement with the Sec
retary of Agriculture to pay '‘parity”
i prices, fixed by him, for raw materi
als used in distilling
The liquor industry had anticipat
es! some sort of Federal control, but
they had not thought it would be so
relentless as this- Particularly dis
tasteful to them was the provision
concerning plant additions—practical
ly every major distiller is in the
midst of expansion. Plants are part
ly finished, which may have to be
scrapped if the code goes into effect.
Their protests found small sympathy
at Washington; it was intimated in
some quarters that if they didn’t like
it they were liable to be met with a
plan for a gigantic Federal sales sys
tem. *■
In the meantime, the states have
been rushing plans to control sales
within their borders. Influence of
the Rockefeller report is seen in
many bills; there is strong sentiment
in favor of eliminating private profit
so far as the 3ales end is concerned.
Bulk of states which have definitely
' passed laws allow sales of beer and
wine in restaurants and hotel dining
, rooms; about half allow all drinks to
be sold in this manner. Minors and
known drunkards are forbidden to
buy or to be sold to. Drug, grocery
stores and hotels and restaurants will
be allowed to sell in bulk for the most
part. Montana will operate its own
liquor stores, and Oregon probably
will do likewise. Nevada will permit
local control; Reno will have the old
time saloon without closing hours
Most of the states have yet to make
definite regulations, but this indicat
es the trend of thought on the
matter.
Cost of liquor is a burning subject.
The hope is expressed that it will be
possible to sell legal whiskey and gin,
of fair quality, for $1.50 or $2-00 a
quart within a short time. If prices
are much higher than this, it is be
lieved that the bootlegger and the
speakeasy will have little trouble in
keeping their trade.
Direcborof the Budget Lewis,
doesn’t often appear in the headlines.
But no man knows so much about
government income and outgo; none
is so well qualified to speak oh the
financial state of the nation.
The other day he did speak, and ■
it wasn’t very cheery. In the fiscal
year 1934, he forecast, the national
debt will be substantially increased,
because of the Public Works bill, the
Agricultural Adjustment Administra
tion, and similar new bodies. He
didn’t say how much the deficit would
;be, observe that he couldn’t until
certain governmental policies had be
come better defined.
The brighter side of taxation came
out when he talked about 1935- He
said that if industry is ten per cent
recovered by then, 1935 income would
be close to a billion in excess of ex
penses, barring additional extraordi
nary expenditures. General Johnson
recently said that business was 25
per cent improved.
Mr. Douglas wound up by saying
that if additional obligations are con
tracted, additional taxes must be im
posed; he addrressed himself to the
great American middle class which
bears such burdens principally.
The business indicators, which have
been showing a gradual let down
from the summer peak, are looking
somewhat butler. ICore recent re
ports show: OCAL production up.
Heavy CONSTRUCTION contracts
more than doubled in recent week.
Lumber orders for a recent week
were the heaviest since May, 1930.
Steel production, after a long period
of downward tendencies, showed an
up flare, but is well below summer
average. Commodty prices continu
ing steady, advance- Business fail
ures at a low point. ,