GUIDE I OMAHA_
The eye of a Master will „XT
...... 1 ?vo Man \*as ever
do more work than his . . ,
_.__ ____ Glorious who was not
- —March of Events City, ana Nat’l Lite Laborous."
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, FEB. 10TH, 1934 paa, -
TH E OMAHA GUIDE
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EDITORIAL
FOUR STAR LETTER
Washington, D. C.—During the past year the sub
ject of lynching has been forcefully brought to the atten
tion of the American people through the lynching in Som
erset County, Maryland, of a young Negro who confessed
to the brutal assault of an aged white woman, and chru
the lynching of Thomas H. Thurmond and Jack Holmes,
confessed slayers of Brooke Hart, handsome twenty-two
year old son of a California merchant.
Lynching derives its name in this country from Charles
Lynch, a patriotic citizen who lived in Virginia, and who
during th Revolutionary War took it upon himself to pun
ish lawless persons. It was, however, practiced in Eng
land before this country was ever settled.
In the Maryland case the people had become incensed
over the delayed punishment of another Negro whose sen
tence of death by a court of that state had been delayed
for months through the nfluence of a group of people—
mostly of t he city of Baltimore—styling themselves ‘Com
munists.’ Mode up from the ignorant classes of both the j
white and colored population of Baltimore, this group j
through its size alone had political influence enough \o
importune the Governor to delay the sentence of the of-j
fender—although his guilt had been proved beyond a;
doubt—and their wishes were carried out.
As in all large cities, Baltimore is made up of many |
strata of society; but outside of that city the State of
Maryland is made up of conservative people, many of
them descendants of the first settlers of our country. The j
colored population of the state is, on the whole, quiet and'
peace-loving. Consequently, when one of the citizens of I
the town of Princess Anne, a woman of advanced age, was!
assaulted by a Negro, the entire surrounding country was:
shocked. In their opinion, state officials had proved by I
past actions that justice could not be expected; so they I
took matters into their own hands and, borne on a storm
of righteous indignation, swept all law and orc^r before
them and punished the offending man summarily. Al
though the participants were citizens of the surrounding
country, subsequent investigation failed to identify any of
them.
In the California case, when advised of the lynching
of Brooke Hart’s murdrers, Governor James Rolph of
that state declared: “This is the best lesson that Califor
nia has ever given the country. We show the country
that the state is not going to tolerate kidnapping.”
It is for the people of the United States, and the peo
ple alone, to do away with the necessity for lynching. We I
have petty laws governing our daily movements—our 1
drinking and various manners of living—but no uniform
laws for the control of the serious crimes of assault, kid
napping, murder, etc. We desperately need the enact
ment of uniform laws governing all serious crimes, en-1
forcement of such laws by honest authorities in whom!
power has been vested, and complete carrying out of the;
judgments of our courts in these cases. Until such a sys
tern is put into effect there will always be lynching.
Think of the money we spent for the enforcement of j
the Eighteenth Amendment, Instead of stemming the
drinking of a nation, it merely served to increase it. A
free people would not tolerate such childish treatment,
and nowT, after the expenditure of millions of dollars, the
Eigbreenth Amendment is unanimously declared a fail
ure and repealed.
Would it not have been better to have expended this
money for the- protection of our people from the human
vultures who are so freely preying upon them? We are
on trial before the entire world. Our country is no longer
a child. It is f or the people of the United States to decide
whether they shall go on behaving like beleaguered fron
tiersmen at the mercy of a handful of savages, or whether
they shall capture and put them where they can do no
further harm to life and limb and to the progress of hu
manity.—Margaret E. .Jordan in Lioerty IlagarLie.
HOW TO COURT DISASTER
Hope springs eternal—and so does the belief that a
community, by setting up a fire insurance fund to protect
municipal property, can save iis residents money and
make a profit for the city.
As a matter of fact, city insurance funds have usual
ly demonstrated that there’s no better way of courting
economic disaster. Some years ago, for example, Mont
real set up a fund—and suffered a fire loss of $1,660,000
with but $200,000 on hand with which to pay losses. The
state of Minnesota carried its own insurance and created
a fund for the purpose. There was $25,000 in the till wThen
the teachers’ college at Mankato burned, the loss being
$500,000. Then, with the fund in the red, another college
at Moorhead was dstroycd to the tune of $750,000. A
classic example of the danger implicit in self-insurance
is the Buffalo armory fire, where the loss was $7,000,000—
enough, according to expert estimate, to pay insurance at
private company rates for 129 years!
Perhaps the greatest of all arguments against self
insurance is that less than two per cent of the private
property of the country is so protected. Thousands of
private corporations have larger investments at stake
than most towns. Many of them, such as railways, chain
stores and the like, have their property widely scattered
about the country, so that a single fire, no matter how
great, could destroy but a small percntage of it, where
one fire can entirely wipe out a town. These great busi
nesses insure their holdings precisely as does the individ
ual who owns a home—with a private insurance com
pany.
The American fire insurance industry offers absolute
protection and safety—and it charges a very modest price
for it. The insurance buyer, whether a person, o corpor
ation or a town, gets full valur and then some for the
money spent.
DEATH ON THE RADIATOR
About one out of every ten of the automobiles that
use the public streets and highways, should wear as an
emblem a large, staring death’s head.
It wouldn’t be a pretty sight. But it would be an
accurate symbol. Ten per cent of motorists are responsi
ble for our gigantic death and injury toll. Not oil of them,
of course, have an accident every year. But they all take
chances. They are irresponsible or incompetent or con-'
genitally careless. They drive cars with defective breaks
and steering mechanisms and poor lights. They cut in
and out of traffic, missing oncoming cars by an eyelash
and feeling a thrill of achievement while doing it." They
pass on hills and curves, and regard even the most basic;
and sensible traffic laws as being inimical obstacles which1
should be avoided whenever possible. They drive at high |
speeds when road and traffic conditions make it exceed- i
ingly dangerous.
And—every year—they leave behind them 30,000
corpses and hundreds of thousands of injured persons
whose sole offense was that they happened to be present
when the recklss driver was taking one of the chances he
didn’t get away with.
Yes, there should be the emblem of death on a long!
line of automobiles which otherwise look no different than'
any other cars of their kind. This suggestion may make
some of the recklss dribers think twice before running a
risk the next time.
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SCORES AGAIN
The Union Pacific Railroad started something new
in transportation with its streamline, three car train. Al
ways a pioneer, this railroad has set a pace that will revo
lutionize passenger transportation in the United States.
The fastest trains now take 76 hocrs from coast to
coast. This new type train can probably cover the dis
tance in 38 hours, or less, as roadbeds are improved.
From the standpoint of comfort, these new trains
will surpass anything ever before offered to the traveler.
From the standpoint of safety, they are following modern
automotive methods. Center of gravity will be 20 per
cent lowTer than in old railroad cars, putting the weight
nearer the ground where it ought to be. This will give
better balance, less sway wThen taking the curves and
cause the cars to “hug the rails.”
Just as th modern automobile combines gre ater safe
ty with greater speed, so will these trains bring a newT day
in railroad transportation.
Thus (toes this railroad pioneer slay the ghost of anti
qcated methods.
ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
J*ais, Dividend Checks and Tax
Hills of Every Individual. Nation
al and International Problems in
separable from Local Welfare.
The Republicans call it gag rule—
tiie Democrats, for the most part,
simply smile and say nothing. What
ever it is, the Roosevelt Parliamen
tary technique works
A major test of Presidential power
came early in the House when Demo
cratic .leaders adopted a rule of pro
cedure whereby no amendment could
be offered from the floor wrhich would
affect the economy sections of the
Independent Offices Bill, then under
consideration, or any other appropria
tions measure that would appear
during the session- The rule was un
precedented—and it passed. There
were heavy Democratic defections,
which resulted in Democratic leaders
’working over the mavericks in their
party. Result of that was that a
move to recommit the rule was
slaughtered, 240 to 141.
Most dramatic victory came on
January 20, when the Roosevelt de
valuation bill swept through the
House by the colossal margin of 360
to 40. It is doubtful if any piece of
legislation of comparable importance
ever carried so fast- Debate was al
most entirely shut off- All opposi
tion amendments shouted down. Doz
ens of representatives who admit they
do not understand the present dollar
policy thoroughly, voted for it.
The measure has four specific
phases. First, the treasury is given
title to all of the nation’s monetary
gold stock, including that held by
federal reserve banks:
Second, it fixes 60 per cent of the
dollar’s present gold content as the
maximum of gold value after reval
uation
Third, it gives the Administration
a fund of $2,000,000,000, obtained au
tomatically from the added value of j
the treasury’s gold after devaluation
has taken place, with which to sta
bilize the foreign value of the dollar.
Fourth, it gives the treasury great
er power in issuing and floating gov
ernment securities, thus simplify
ing the great refinancing task ihat
confronts the federal government
now. The treasury is allowed to pur
chase any type of government secur
ity with any other type, may sell is
sues privately without offering them
to the general public.
Main opposition to the bill is based,
on the fear of putting so vast a pow
er in one man’s hands—it obviously
makes Mr. Roosevelt a monetary dic
tator with hardly a restriction. Sup
porters of the New Deal claim that is J
what the country wants; that it is es
sential to recovery that the Presi
dent be given free rein
The American Federation of La
bor’s Report on 1934 prospects was a
good deal rare interesting and im
portant thaQ documents of the kind
usually are. Forecast was that pros
pects for employment and earnings
are considerably brighter, but that
one phase of present recovery efforts
—threatened inflation by fiat money
—endangers the whole show
Four specific changes for the bet
ter in 1933 were chronicled: a gain in
employment of more than 6,000,000;
a drop of 4% hours in the average
work week; better organization
among industrial workers of all
kinds; an increase in workers’ in
come of 11.7 per cent.
The report pointed out, on the debit
side, that business is 30 per cent be
low normal still, that most important
tiling is restoration of business con
fidence, that private initiative is still
of paramount importance- Belief was
expressed that workers always lose
through inflation—that only wealthy
speculators have a chance to gain
At about the same time the report
was issued, the National Recovery
Administration was making plans, as
best it could, to find jobs for as many
as possible of the 11,000,000 people
still registered as unemployed. The
President has laid plans where public
works’ activities and expansion jn
j private industry will absorb the 4,
j 000.000 now on CWA rolls- That will
j still leave the problem 60 per cent
; unsolved. General Johnson believes
j the working week must come down
from its present 40-hour average—
I said that changes would have to be
made gradually, in the light of in
dustry’s financial ability to carry
lai-ger payrolls. Hope is for an 8
hour day, a 4-day week. Lopping a
day from the week would, it is esti
mated, create 1,500.000 jobs. How
to reduce working hours, employ more
men, raise wages, cut production, in
crease business’ capacity to pay the
bill, is the problem,
—
If you like big figures, take a look
at the Reconstruction Finance Cor
poration’s first complete report to the
public Between February 2, 1932,!
and December 31, 1933, it had dis-j
bursed or authorized disbursement of1
6.000,000.000 to 8,541 institutions |
In 1932, $1,500.000,00(1 was distribut- j
uary 22, 1934. But it was given a new'
to railways, the balance to insurance
companies, building and loan con
cerns, relief agencies, etc.
The RFC was to pass away on Jan
uary 22, ’934. But it was given a new
lease on life—bills went smoothly
through Senate and House extending
its activities until February 1, 1935,
permitting it to sell another $h50,
000,000 of debentures to the treasury
with which to finance future opera-1
tions
NEW CALI, TO ARMS
SOUNDED BY N. A. A.
C. P. on 25th BIRTHDAY
—
Association, Citing Call to Battle
Feb. 12, 1909, Presents New Appeal
From Osw ald Garrison Villard and j
Pledges Renew ed Efforts for Race !
Advancement.
New York, Feb. 2.—A new jail to
arms in the cause of race advance
ment and a renewed pledge to “com
promise not at all”, to “speak out in
season and out of season,” and “to
carry on the battle without lot or
hindrance” was issued here today by
tiie National Association for tho Ad
vancement of Colored People in ob
servance of its twenty-fifth birthda;,
on Lincoln s birthday, February 12- j
The n v.- call, written Ly Oswald
Garrison Vilkrd, who drafted ;/ ■!
call oi 1909, and Miss Man ffaLei
Ovmgtcn, one of the found' s c
N. A. A. C. P. declares:
“In February, 1909, in connectio?i!
witht the centennial of the birth of
Abraham Lincoln, fifty-four promi-!
nent American citizenes men and wo- j
men, white and colored, issued a call
for a conference on the Negro to take
stock of the nation’s progress since
1865, to ascertain how far it had
lived up to the obligations imposed
upon it by the Emancipation Procla- j
mation. “How far,” the question was
asked, “has it gone in assuring to
each and every citizen, irrespecive of
color, the equality of opportunity and
equality before the law which under- ;
lie our American institutions and are!
guaranteed by the Constitution?”!
The conference met, and out of it'
grew the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, j
born because of the belief that “if Mr
Lincoln could revisit this country in
the flesh, he would be disheartened
and discouraged-”
4 Since that time the Association
has been inseparably connected with
the rise and the development of the
colored people of the United States.
And now in 1934 it celebrates its first
quarter century with a score of the
original signers of the call still alive.
It has achieved great things, and
won remarkable battles. It took to
the Supreme Court of the nation’s six
vital cases in defense of the Negro’s
constitutional rights. Three of these
cases relatted to the right of suf
frage and citizenship, and beyond
question helped to check the tide of
disfranchisement and the drift toward
depriving colored people of their citi
zenship which swept over the ex
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NEXT WEEK
HE'LL’ ^
NEED
slave states in the first decade of the
! century. For twenty-five years the
Negroes of America have known that
' there was a fearless militant organ
ization ready to fight for them at any
time in the maintenance of such
tights and privileges as they have,
and for the winning of those that are
denied them. For years it has waged
war upon lynching; in war and in
peace it has sought equal opportun
ities for Negroes in the industrial,
the military, and the intellectual life
of the country.
Innumerable times it has pit-ad the
causee of the blacks and of the whites,
too, before the Departments of the
government in Washington, and in
the White House itself. By day and
by night it has sought to get the facts
as to the conditions of the Negroes in
America before the country that jus
tice might be done- It has unceasing
ly sought to interpret the aspira
tions of the colored people, and to
record their achievements in its pub
lication, The Crisis, under the bril
liant leadership of Dr- W. E. B. Du
Bois, ever an inspiration to aspiring
youth. Against segregation, and Jim
Crowism, and the whole list of social
injustices that inevitably accompany
race prejudice, it has made its pro
test in the spirit of equality, and fra
ternity and liberty. Its leaders dur
ing all these years have been among
the most distinguished men and wo
men of both races
“Today the Association celebrates
its quarter-century by a call for the
redoubling of efforts to make the
work of the Association more effect
ive and more telling. It starts its
second quarter century with a demo
cratic appeal for the raising of mon
ey,—A PENNY FOR EVERY NE
GRO IN THE UNITED STATES.
Not a penny from every Negro, a
penny for every Negro,—twelve mil
lion Negroes, a hundred and twenty
thousand dollars. It needs money
for the full continuance of its work.
For while in the last twenty-five
years great progress has been made,
there are still ignorance and prejudice
and greed to be overcome. There is
still a determined effort to deprive
the Negro of what he asks, which is
merely the right guaranteed to him
by the Constitution of the country he
has loyally served in every war, and
in every decade o, peace- Hence the
National Association for the Advance
ment of Colored Peop, pledges itself
anew to carry cn the battle without
let r hindrance iv.'il ; ends are fin
ally .hi •• t- . 'll compromise
:i al:. it vvil: .k out in sea
son a.,- • and it will do
so in the fervent belief that as it
serves the colored people and helps to
make them contented and happy, ef
ficient and well-trained, it serves
best the interest of the entire nation;
for no more in 1934 than in Lincoln’s
day car, a nation remain divided a
gainst itself.”
A FORTY YEAR OLD PROPHECY
FULFILLED
In a recent editoi-ial, the Portland
Morning Oregonian quotes a predic
tion made by Justice Brewer of the
United States Supreme Court soon
after that body had declared the in
come tax law of 1894 unconstitution
al. The Justice made a commence
ment address on the subject, and in
giving it to a young editor for pub
lication, said:
“We shall probably have an in
come tax. They will amend the con
stitution so as to permit it- None of
us are very long remembered, but if
I should be remembered at all I should
like to be remembered for my posi
tion on this question- Let me indulge
in a little prophesying, which is said
to be a dangerous business- We shall
have, as I remarked, an income tax
It will turn out to be the greatest in
centive to extravagance the world
has ever seen. The boys on Capitol
Hill will think that they can put the
screws on a comparatively few with
out endangering their popularity, and
they will increase the pressure and
squeeze until there is nothing left
to squeeze.”
Today Congress is working on a
bill designed to make the income tax
yield $270,000,000 more a year, at a
time when money is vitally no - led by
industries which provide the nation's
payrolls, jobs, taxes, investments. As
the Oregonian comments. Justice
Brewer s prophecy “has been more
than fulfilled. Regarding the income
tax as an unfailing source of new
revenue, congress has indulged in ex
penditures on new adventures in gov
ernment until even that : i;; j^g
proved insufficient, and thh govern
ment is borrowing ' billions,"’ The
Oregonian might have added that ex
orbitant income tax or any other kind
of tax puts the screws on all of us
and makes it more difficult for everv
Person to hold or to find a job. It
discourages capital and forces it into
non-productive channels, such as tax
iree bonds. In brief, it slaps pro
gress in the face.