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VOL. VII.— OMAHA, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17,1934 ' NUMBER 61
____
Owner of Daily and Weekly Newspapers Killed
Lynching Bill Tobc
Heard Feb. 20th
(From the Long: Branch. N. J
Daily Record, Feb. 6, 1934)
A significant point in favor of the
Costigan-Wagner anti-lynch bill now
in the United States Senate was
brought up by Walter White, execu
tive secretary of the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, at a meeting Sunday in
Asbury Park.
White, a Negro, pointed out that
although lynchings are decreasing in
number, the ferocity with which
lynching mobs conduct their crimes
has reached a point equal to the bar
barism of the middle agees
“If we allow public opinion to re
main unaroused at such atrocities,”
he declared, “we might picture the
decay of this nation’s morals to a
point where radicals, communists,
socialists and such would be dealt
with in this manner. We might even
picture a day when Democrats would
be mobbing Republicans, and vice
versa.”
. Continued On Page Two
Irving Mills
Irving Mills, who handles some of
the greatest colored attractions in the
country, sails for Europe February
17, one week ahead of Cab Calloway
and his Cotton Club orchestra, whom
he has booked to be featured during
the month of March at the Palladium
Theatre, London
IRVING MILLS
This is the second colored hand that
Mr- Mills has sent over to Europe
'within the period of one year and
marks a regular European routin '
for all his attractions who will
henceforth be booked for appear
ances abroad as well as here. Duke
Ellington and his Famous Orchestra,
also handled by Mr. Mills, were
featured in Europe during the past
summer where they were a sensation
and drew the plaudits of the English
press
Mr- Mills is going to Europe to ar
range for additional engagements for
Calloway following their Palladium
booking. The orchestra, during their
stay in London, will give a concert
for the ber.i tit of the London music
Continued On Page Two
Resignes Posi As
U. S. Attorney
PHILADELPHIA, February 13—
(CNS) — E Washington Rhodes.
United States Assistant District At
torney in Phiadelphia, has resigned
> his Federal position and retired from
' office last week. District Attorney
Charles McAvoy, in receiving a dele
gation that came to see Mr. Rhode*
retire, said: “Mr. Rhodes has been t
credit to this office and personally ]
am sorry to see him go ”
Missouri Pacific Watchman On Trial For Murder
---
Third Texas Prima
ry Case Won in
Federal Court
El Paso, Tex., Feb- 9- — For the
third time in the last seven years
the efforts to bar Negroes from the
Texas democratic primaries were de
: feated when Judge Boynton of the
federal district court here handed
a decision Wednesday, February 7,
: awarding damages to Dr. L- A- Nixon
i for his having been denieed the right
| to register and vote in the spring pri-!
i mary of 1933
This is the first time such a victory
has been won in a Texas case in a i
1 i
court lower than the United States
supreme court. The first two cases,
in which Dr- Nixon was also the
plaintiff, were won in the highest
court in 1927 and 1932. The National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People has financed and han
dled all three cases.
Fred C- Knllenberg, Dr. Nixon’s El
Paso attorney, who was assisted and
advised by Arthur D- Spingam and
James Marshall of the New York
legal staff of the association, has tele
graphed the New York office as fol
lows:
“Judge Boynton held Justice Car
dozo’s decision in Nixon vs. Condon
binding and resolution of State Dem- j
ocratic Committee wrongfully de
prived Doctor Nixon of his right to
vote in primaries, so gave him judg
ment. Under this decision every
election judge, county chairman, and
member of state executive committee
would be equally liable for refusing
all negroes the right to participate.
Attorneys expect state democratic
convention to pass resolutions barring
Negro vote hoping to comply with
the inference left by supreme court
that the party itself could bar them,
but I think any action under Texas
comprehensive primary law would
fall within the prohibition of fifteenth
amendment-”
Economic High
Lights
Happenings That Affect the Dinner!
Pails, Dividend Checks and Tax
Biiis of Every Individual- National
and International Problems Insep
arable from Local Welfare.
_
When economists disagree, the lay j
public is in for a puzzling time- And j
economists who formerly saw eye to j
eye are disagreeing with a vengeance j
over the new money bill, with its j
$2,000,000,000 stabilization fund, in
- ternational gold bullion standard, and I
1 credit expansion features- There is
| no lack of well known financial au
thorities to say it is vital to recovery. I
i Others say it may be paving the I
j way for the greatest collapse- of all- j
At any rate, the Administration is j
now working on the problem of credit!
expansion for private business- The
problem is especially imposing, as
during the next few months the gov-:
ernment will offer some gTeat bond -
issues to finance continuance of the j
recovery program, and these will ab-!
sorb much of the money that is avail
able for lending. Credit is to be ex
panded, if possible, to a degree suf
ficient to offset this. Every effort
will be given to depreciating the dol
lar in foreign exchange, and holding
it at a lower and more stable level.!
In keeping with this the price of gold
was recently fixed at $35, in the be
lief that it would send the franc
dollar exchange rate to about 6.63
' cents, and the pound to above $5-10.
The immediate result was a disap
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point'.nent—the London gold price
t ,ei: a imp and the franc-dollar and
pound-dollar exchange became still
more unfavorable. The next day,
however, devaluation of the dollar in i
foreign markets started.
There are two obvious ways to ex
pend credit. One is to create more
d’ Hais—and 2 000,000.000,000 were
automatically created when the”dol-1
lar was fixed at the 59.06 point- The
ether is to make a given number of
dollars do more work. Both ways are
to bo used. The two billion new dol
lars are at the disposal of the treas
ury, and are to be used for buying
n :w gold, foreign exchange or carry
ing on other transactions deemed ad
visable for pegging foreign exchange
rates. When they are so spent, ac
ccrding to the theory, they go into the
hands of persons with bills to pay in
this country. The bills are paid, and
the, dollars find their way into the
banks, inflating reserve balances,
which are now nearly a billion dollars
above the point required by law
Clitics of the money bill say that the
stabilization fund money will make
possible credit expansion of from
i
Continued On Page Two
Seven! indicted in
Kentucky] lynching
Hazard, Ky—(CNS)—After exam-1
ining more than 200 witnesses a
special grand jury returned an in-1
dictment chaiging seven men with j
participating in the lynching January I
24 of Rex Scott. Petie Carroll, Lee!
Gibson. Ed Bentley, Bill (Wooden) i
Kinser. Ordley Fugate, George Wat-1
kins and John Watts were named
Warrants were immediately placed,
in the hands of the sheriff.
Scott was being held, in the Perry
County jail charged with slugging
Alexander Johnson, a miner, when he
was taken by a mob of 130 men, car
ried fifteen miles south of here and
hanged. A score or more bullets
were fired into his body- Johnson
died shortly after the lynching.
In The Senate
Of The U.S.
MR. COSTIGAN AND MR. WAGNER INTRODUCED
THE FOLLOWING BILL: WHICH WAS READ
TWICE AND REFERRED TO THE COM
MITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.
A BILL
To assure to persons within the jurisdiction of every
State the equal protection of the laws, and to punish the
crime of lynching.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem
bled, that the phrase “mob or riotous assemblage”, when
used in this Act, shall mean an assemblage” composed of
three or more persons acting in concert, without author
ity of law, for the purpose of depriving any person of his
life, or doing him physical injury.
bee- <2. ii any btate or govern
mental subdivision thereof fails, neg
lects, or refuses to provide and main
tain protection to the life or person
of any individual within its jurisdic
tion against a mob or riotous assem
blage, whether by way of preventing
:>r punishing the acts thereof, such
State shall by reason of such failure,
neglect, or refusal be deemed to have
denied to such person the equal pro
tection of the laws of the State, and
to the end that the protection guar
anteed to persons within the jurisdic-1
tions of the several States, or to citi- j
zens of the United States, by the
Constitution of the United States,
may be secured, the provisions of
this Act are enacted.
Sec- 3 (a) Any officer or employee
of any State or governmental sub
division who is charged with the duty
or who possesses the power or au
thority as such officer or employee
to protect the life or persn of any in
dividual injured or put to death by
any mob or riotous assemblage or any
officer or employee of any State or
governmental subdivision having any
such individual in his charge 'as a
prisoner, who fails, neglects, or re
fuses to make all diligent efforts to
protect such individual from b^hg
so injured or being put to death, or
any officer or employee of any State
or governmental subdivision charged
with the duty f apprehending, keep
ing in custody, or prosecuting any
person participating in such mob or
riotous assemblage who fails, neglects ;
or refuses to make all diligent ef
forts to perform his duty in appre
hending, keeping in custody, or prose
cuting to final judgment under the
laws of such State all persons so par- j
ticipating, shall be guilty of a felony,
and upon conviction thereof shall be |
punished by a fine not exceeding
35,000, or by imprisonment not ex
ceeding five years, or by both such
fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any officer or employee of j
any State or governmental sugdivis
ion, acting as such officer or employee
under authority of State law, having
in his custody or control a prisoner,!
who shall conspire, combine, or con-!
federate with any person to injure or
put such prisoner to death without
authority of law, or who shall con
spire, combine, or confederate with
any person to suffer such prisoner
to be taken or obtained from his cus
tody or control for the purpose of be
ing injured or put to death without
authority of aw shall be guilty of a
felony, and those who so conspire,
combine, or confederate with such of
• -
(Continued on Page 5)
Judge Takes Case
Away From Jury
Mr. Charles Readon, who was
charged with second degree murder,
•vent to trial in District Court No. 1,
Monday, February 12, for shooting
James Buckner, last winter in the act
of stealing coal, from the Missouri
Pacific Coal cars, was discharged by
Judge Yeager, Wednesday February
14.
The evidence brought out the fact
hat James Buckner was in an un
lawful act of obtaining property that
id not belong to him, that Charles
Readon was a special police officer,
who was employed for protecting
said property, and when he screamed
’alt, the man who accompanied;
Puckner ran instead of obeying the:
* rder of “halt”- Buckner put up a
fight, resisting arrest. The officer'
pulled out his revolver, and in the
struggle for possession of the wea
pon, it was discharged and Buckner,
vas killed. After hearing the evid
ence that was presented by the j
County Attorney, Judge Yeager said
there was not sufficient evidence to
i ’ arrant further prosecuting of Char
les Readon, on the charge- He took
the case away from the Jury and
rendered a verdict of acquittal.
—
Three Notables
Die
i —
-—
Tom Dennison, OHie Jackson and
Gilbert Hitchcock Pass To The
World Beyond.
__
Tom Dennison, commonly called the
old man by his North Omaha, cap
tains and Lieutenants, died in San
Diego, Cal., Wednesday night from
injuries received in an auto wreck,
when a friend of his from Denver,
Cole., with whom he was riding tried
to avoid striking a small child.
Dennison, was said by his North
Omaha friends, to have been a man
of charity, trustworthiness and de
pendability to those who had been
true to him in his political manuever
ing. They said his word was better
than his signature- His greatest dif
ficulty amongst his North Omaha un
derworld colored friends after the
death of Jack Broomfield, was to find
a Negro Leader, able to stand the;
pressure and had the tactics and di
plomacy to keep the gambling fac
tions of the underworld in the line.
It is said by some of the North Om
aha underworld element that the split
between he and Johnny Broomfield
as he called him, after Broomfield
chose John Andrew Singleton as act
ing leader under Broomfield and Den
nison chose Harry Buford. This split
is said, was the cause of the early
death of Broomfield. It was heart
breaking to the underworld down
town element when the gang Candi
dates received only two out of every
five votes cast in the primary of 1929
Mr. Dennison began to look for new
leadership, some said Otto Mason, or
Richard Ward, others John Andrew
Singleton. Some said it appeared as
though the underworld element could
not get together on the matter of
leadership, and there might be a white
man in charge of the underworld ele
ment of North Omaha harvesting the
dough- It is said that Dennison nev
er paid his underworld Lieutenants
any cash, but furnished them with po
lice protection for operation of gam
bling houses, houses of prostitution,
horse racing, books and policy games.
Dennison considered this money chick
en feed, and did not care to be both
ered with it. But the leader who had
these underworld activities in charge,
(Continued on Page 5)
W. A. Scott Atlanta
Publisher Slain
ATLANTA, Ga., February 13—(C
NS)—W. A. Scott, 31, publisher of
the Atlanta Daily World, and head
of the Scott Newspaper Syndicate,
which serves a number of weeklies
throughout the country, died tonight
from mysterious wounds received in
the garage of his home a week ago.
A police investigation failed to
throw any light on the identity of the
assailants, who shot the publisher in
the back as he drove his car into the
garage.
Besides the daily, Scott also owned
the Weekly Atlanta World and semi
weekly papers published in Memphis
and Birmingham
Weekly newspapers owned or con
trolled by the Scott Syndicate are
The Columbus (Ohio) Advocate, De
troit World, Richmond (Ky.) Broad
cast, Okmulgee, (Okla ) Voice of the
Nation. Youngstown (Ohio) Chall
enger, Cleveland Eagle, Hannibal,
(Mo.) Register and Des Moines By
stander.
Lsngston Hughes
Back On Job
New York—Langston Hughes, poet,
and Eugene Gordon, journalist, have
joined the editorial board of the New
Masses the editors of that publication
announced simultaneously with turn
ing the magazine into a weekly per- .
iodiea! beginning with the New Year.
A powerful cartoon on lynching de
picting a “lynch tree” with its two
Negro victims growing out of a build
ing marked “U- S. Courts” and bear
ing the swastiea symbol, of Fascist
oppression, is contributed to the cur
rent issue, now on the stands, by
Hyman Warsager. n accompanying
editorial points out that at least 47
Americans, 42 of them Negroes, were
lynched in 1933. To combat these
lynehings, the New Masses sees hope,
it says, only in “irresistible mas£
pressure—defense corps when lynch
ings threaten—death penalty for
lynchers”.
lhe same issue of this magazine,
which announces itself as “America’s
first revolutionary weekly”, also con
tains an article on “Zaffra Libre”, by
Harry Gannes, based on his recent
trip to Cuba; “Writing and War”, by
Henri Barbusse, the famous French
author of “Under Fire”, and an edi
torial on the Second Five-Year Plan
in Soviet Russia. Jacob Burck,
Adolph Dehn, Bernada Bryson and
others contributed the cartoons and
other drawings illustrating the mag
azine.
One of the articles in the first is
sue of the weekly, entitled “No
Rights for Lynchers” attracted wide
spread attention- The article stated
that “to permit lynchers and Nazi
agents full freedom of expression”
amounted to “outright aid to Fas
cism.”
Continued On Page Two
Boy Journalist Dis
plays 109 Papers
Cuthbert, Ga. — (CNS) — Henry
George Washington, 17 year old stu
dent in journalism at the high school
here, displayed 109 Negro newspapers
in an exhibit that he made accom
panying an address before the stu
dents and teachers. In the exhibit
was a copy of a paper published in
Africa.
Washington took as his subject:
“Why the Negro Press sho*ld be
supported.”