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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (July 20, 1935)
The Omaha Guide Published every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St., | Omaha, Neb. Phone WEbsrer 1750 Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927 at the Post Office at Omaha, Neb., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Terms of Subscription $2.00 per year. - ' ^ - - .’ Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man must pre vail. These are the only principles which will stand the acid test of good citizenship in time of peace, war and death. Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, JULY 13, 1935 ETHIOPIA APPEALS IN VAIN The white world has just about voted curtains for Ethiopia. The only nation active in her behalf is Great Britain, and her motives are always sus pected. Indeed, the British government has been barring the exportation of arms and amunition to Ethiopia for months. The French, who control Djibuti. Ethiopia's onlv port of entry from the outer world, are putting such great obstacles in the way of arms manufact urers wishing to export arm to the black empire that they arc reluctant now to accept Ethiopian or ders. Last week Haile Selassie complained bitterly that French, Belgian, Danish and Czechoslovak au thorities were blocking the exportation of arms to his country, even though many of the orders had been paid for and were actually awaiting shipment at European ports. From. Russia, that great Union of Socialist Soviet Republics which has long pretended to be deeply interested in the problems of weaker peoples, not one word has come about Italian agres sion in Ethiopia- Maxim Litvinoff, the erst while traveling salesman, who, as Russia’s foreign minister, used to annoy European diplomats by de manding immediate disarmament, has not lifted his voice in condemnation of Italy. The French, great believers in liberty, justice and fair play, are said to be working hand in glove w-ith the Italian robbers, especially since her old al ly. England, recenty gave her bessing to Germah naval expansion. Even America, the Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free, has seen fit to reject Ethiopia’s appeal. The Emperor asked President Roosevelt to find some way to make Italy observe her obligations under the Kellogg-Briand pact by which all the sig natories, including the United States, renounced was as an instrument of national policy. Mr. Roosevelt declined to invoke the pact which America signed w'th such a flourish a few years back, saying that this government is “loath to be lieve” that either Ethiopia or Italy “would resort to other than pacific means as a method of dealing with this controversy, etc.’' Th>s after Italy has attacked and killed hundreds of Ethiopian troops over (i(J miles within the Ethiopian boundary, mob ilized 100,000 trops nearby and publicly announced that nothing can stop her from invading Ethiopia. So it looks like curtains for Ethiopia- There is no great power to come to her aid except Japan, and Japan is too busy robbing China and exploiting, Korea, Manchuria, Formosa and other stolen ter ritories. It looks as though Haile Selassie wlil just have to do the best he can by himelf. Meanwhile the old belief of Afra'Americans is corroborated: that what the white nations say solemnly about honor, justice, love of mankind, Christianity and peace is to be taken with a shovel of salt. A STRANGE PROVISO Secretary of the Interior Ickes is to be com mended for awarding to the Harlem section of New York a $4,700,000 housing project which will pro vide dwellings for 1,627 families and single per sons. There is admittedly a great deal of congestion in certain areas of Harlem where a large propor tion of New York’s colored population lives. It is difficult to understand, however, why Mr. Ickes should have made the provision that title to the land on which the apartments are to be erected must be obtained by condemnation proceedings within 30 days. This has been done in no other in stance that we know of. Land has been condemned all over the country and title turned over to the government before building began on it, but this is the first time that a deadiue has been set. The land in this instance is owned by the Rocke feller interests, which do not care to part with the property at the price the city of New York feels is adequate. If necessary the Rockefeller interests can go to court and tie up the project indefinitely while the colored people continue to suffer. The PWA statement on the project assailed the property owners of Harlem for exacting extortion ate rents from the Negro tenants and thus boosting the price of land far beyond its value, and also pret ty thoroughly demolishing the old argument that Negroes depreciate property values 4 Mr. Ickes is in error, however, when he asserts that there is a “lack of other areas to which the present tenants could be transferred’’ from con EDITORIALS ... ges.ed llariem because of the “many peculiar local problems complicating a program of direct clear ance of sites.” There is no lack of other areas either in New York City or other communities in the North. East and West, to which Negro tenan;s ma ybe trans-! ferred. Government-owned or subsidized apart ment houses are going up everywhere. All Mr. Icks has to say is that on all such housing pro jects erected with government money, tenting agents will see to it that there is absolutely no dis-i crimination against tenants because of race, color and creed, and see to it that the law is enforced. If the Federal Government has not become committed to a policy of fostering residential seg regation, which the Supreme Court outlawed in the Louisville case decision in 1915, t will make a far more strenuous effort that it has to see that colored people are not barred from housing projects else where tha nin the so-called black belts. In States like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, with strong civil rights laws, there is even less excuse fo rthe government being lax in this matter. Negroes will be very foolish, however, if they sit idly by and wait for the Federal Government to fight their battle. No Administration has ever real ly done that since Grant's and then the Repubicans permitted the South to re-enslave us in exchange for the election of Hayes. Negroes must demand the right to move into ALL PWA housing projects, and where and when they encounter refusal they must carry the matter to the highest courts. Otherwise, with most new buildings being done by the government, we shall find ourselves isolated as never before. YOUR LIFE AT STAKE During 1934, accidents of all kinds caused 101, 000 deaths—the highest total on record—in addition to almost 10,000,000 no-fatal injuries. The total cost of those accidents, including wage loss, medical expense and property damage, amounted to $3,500,000,000. Accidents are responsible for more deaths to persons between the ages of five and nineteen than any other cause. Among persons of all ages only three diseases result in more deaths than do acci dents. Thee are facts that should make the public pause think and remember. The waste of accidents,' both in lives and materials, is complete and irrevoc able. It cannot be re paired. And it is almost en tirely unnecessary. Of all forms of accidents, those caused by the automobile are of course the most serious. Between 1913 and 1934 motor vehicle deaths increased from 1,227 to 36,000 a year, whie other kinds of accidents dropped from 78,233 to 65,000. That is largely due to the increased number of cars in use—but the fact remains that at present motor accidents per thous and gallons of gasoline conumed, are on the rise. The reckless driver is becoming more reckless—the incompetent driver is becoming still more of a men" ace to all who use the streets and highways. The automobile accident record is in striking contrast to that of industry, which has made magnificent prog ress in reducing both the severity and frequency of accidents in even the mast hazardous factory opera tions' ’ ^4 The war on accidents is every citizen’s war, and every citizen should “join the colors.” Thous ands of lives, to say nothing of billions of dollars, are at stake—and your life and your dollars are among them. ELIMINATING THE FIRE-BUG One of the more encouraging phases of fire prevention work is the decline in arson. Accord ing to a committee report from the National Board of Fire Underwriters covering the fiscal year that closed on April 30, 1935, conditions now are better tha nat any time since the committee was started. Incendiarism is at a relatively low ebb and is furth er declining. Investigatons and prosecutions are being made more efficienty, and with better results. M eak and ineffectual arson laws have been cor rected and strengthened. Pubic officials especially prosecuting attorneys, are showing themelves to be much more determined than in the past to stamp out the fire-bug. The statistics tell the story. During the year, arrests for arson were the lowest in any year since 1928. while the rate of conviction was high. Con victions were obtained in 77 per cent of the cases tried as against 70 per cent in the year before. A Number of these convictions were of mem bers of organized arson gangs which had caused hundreds of thousand of dollars of property loss throughout the country. Much of the credit must go to the fire insur ance industry which has worked unceasingly against the inc-endiarist- It has perpared model law. which have been widely adopted. It has sent out trained investigators to aid local officials. And it has carried questonabe fire-loss cases to cc^rt, and helped to uncover evidence of arson that might otherwise have never been unearthed. The arsonist, who works in the dark, has been called, with justice, the most depicable of criminals. He deserves no mercy. N The Way Out Loren Miller Best Seller If all of the sympathetic senti ments uttered in behalf of« Angelo Herndon were placed in a book they would make a sizable vol ume- The book in turn might get to be a best seller and win a place in the magazine sections of the Sunday papers. Unfortunately this is not the ease and as the matter stands much of the genu ine sympathy with him has been lost‘to posterity. On the other hand it was never so necessary to gather up the va grant Indignation expressed over the performance of the Supreme Court in ordering his return to the Georgia chain gang. A peti tion for a re-hearing is pending ; and the court has always ex jhihited- a strong tendency to temper ’ts decisions to the winds j of public opinion. Animal Cage. With that in view the Interna tional Labor Defense has just [completed plans for a novel tour of the country by Herndon. He will make it in a track that is a replica of the contrivances used to haul convicts to their daily la bors down in Dixie. The sght is gruesome enough and reminds me | of the cages n which the small time circuses used to exhibit their animas in the street parades. To give it added weight pic tures and documentary proof are on display which portray in a | startling fashion the tortures awaiting any Negro unfortunate enough to get a chair gang sent cnee. One glance is convincing proof that Herndon's is really a sentence of death. Vou can get, a bad case of the jitters with a i glance Sympathy Not Enough. It is hardly necessary to argue the merits of the sentence. It’s pretty well understood that Herndon’s “crime” lay in organ izing white and Negro unem ployed to demand a host in relief rations. At a time when every Negro in the country is author ity for the statement that we must organize or perish i is es' sential that we protect those who dotry to organize their fellows. Nor will this protection be aeh eved if those who seek the truck content themselves with sighc of sympathy and go home to their bridge games and crossword puz zles. Coupled with the tour is a plan to get two million name on petitions urging Hern-don’s free dom and the aboltion of the old slave laws on which he was rail roaded to jail. A Big Job. The easy way out will be to sign one of the petitions and call lit a day. More needs to be done. A lot of us ought to pich in and constitute ourselves agents for se curing names. There’s really nothing hard about it. For example those who go around “just making pop calls’’ could carry petitions with them The business of expainng the case would be no more difficult than an evening devoted to panning the next door neighbors. Seriously, it is very important that everybody understand the case. The more you study it and talk about it the more you will come to understand that this at tempt to curb Herndon is but a prelude to a wider attack on civil rights and freedom of speech. With the country going from bad to w-orse it is self evident that a lot more will have to be said in the next few years by way of stiffening up the fight against encroachment on our very ailing standard of living. To speak out now for Herndon is to put in a word for your own bread and butter. At the risk of doing violence to my reputation as a gentleman I find it necessary to question the popular belief that Mrs. Roosevelt is a tried and true friend of the Negro people. The ta. k is not one to be undertaken lightly. So widespread is th theory that the motives of a lady are not to be looked into that—look he’s bragging again—it is a job reserved for the brave. Mrs, Roosevelt’s reputation has been gained chiefly because of her willingness to speak her piece at various gatherings. Contrary to the 'old maxim, the First Lady’s words are so well chosen that they serve to obscure her actions. WHAT A PAL! Those who remember the first daz zling days of the New Deal will re call the fanfare of trumpets that heralded the establishment of a “model” rehabilitation town at Malden, West Virgnia. Nor did the press agents forget to add that Mrs. Roosevelt was behind the project re spite opposition of the landlords who live on high rents and bad accomoda tions. What they did forget to add was that the project was a lily white af fair from its sacred environs. I can not venture to speak for the Negro people but I refuse to award palms to this kind of friendship. Rather it seems to me a bolstering up of plain old fashioned segregation and cer- | tainly it will add nothing to the cur rent struggle to break down racial lines. NEW TECHNIQUE? There is a possibility that the lily white character of the project escap- j ed attention but the newspapers took great pains to see that word of Mrs. Roosevelt’s speech to a recent Wash ington N. A. A. C. P. pow-wow was spread far and wide The presdent’s wife painted herself as quite a friend of the Negro people on that occasion • and also announced that she had worked out a technique for minority group action. The import of her words was that her experience in working with wo men had taught her that minority groups must work harder for less and give just a little more if they are to establish themsel\*es in the world, follow that advice, she intimated, and all will be well. OLD STUFF The words may have the sound of wisdom but translate them into action and they simply mean that Negroes should accept differential wage scales at longer hours. And the plan isn’t new. It has been in vogue for these many years. Its practcal workings may be seen in the disproportionate number of Negroes on relief and the general economic ills-being that is our ; lot everywhere. I can’t believe that those who advise this course of ac i tion are friendly even if they do .mile sweetly while giving it out. Resolutions Adopted at Annual Conferrence N. A. A. C. P. “As th economic crisis deepens the plight of 12 million American Ne groes worsens. Discrminination in employment in works and other re lief, and in other ways, continue, par ticularly in those sections of the country where eight million, or two thirds, of the Negro population of the United States live. Notable in such discrimination is the edict from Washngton establishing monthly wages of $19 and $21 respectively in regions 3 and 4 under the Wprks Re lief Act; it is no accident that in the expenditure of the four billion, eight hundred and eighty million dol lars appropriated by the Congress, the taxes for the raising of which are extracted by the federal govern ment from the pockets of black men at the same rate as white, wages far below the level of decent subsistence should be established for those states in which the bulk of the Negro pop ulation of America resides. “Collapse of the cotton market and of the antiquated credit system of the south, the unmitigated terrorism used to perpetuate economic, political and social enslavement of Negroes in the south, combined with indiffer ence, vacillation and weakness at Washington are creating even more insufferable conditions net only for Negroes in the south and elsewhere but are working irreparable harm up on white Americans as well. “We, therefore, in the name of 12 million American Negroes and of many white Americans who are su perior to race prejudice, do pledge ourselves to renewed and increased struggle against these conditions. We do this in no spirit of racial selfish ness. We conceive our struggle to be for better conditions for all Ameri cans in that it is a self-evident truth i that there can be no lasting peace or justice for any race as long as one race can be exploited because of ra cial, religious or other prejudice. “If the American Negro is to sus- i tain himself in an effective existence in this country, and some day be lifted from the threat of pauperism, there must be developed everywhere, not only interracial contacts in the field of labor, but also in the busi ness world. “We urge, therefore, that every where in America more attention be givn by Negroes to independent and interracial ventures in the business world. BUSINESSS EDUCATION “We urge the colleges devoted to the education of Negro youth to in troduce and develop adequate courses in business in order to help make our race more self supporting, LYNCHING “We vigorously and unequivocally condemn the impudent and disgrace ful filibuster led by a small reaction ary’ block in the United States Sen ate against the Costigan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill. The temporary success in preventing orderly debate and vote by the Congress is a sur render by the federal government to the lowest element in our national life. To surrender was a confession of the importance of the federal gov ernment to protect its own citizens. Lynching, as the most dramatic form of racial bigotry, is a test of the sin cerity and integrity of the Congress and of the nation. We do not accept any excuses of alleged unconstitution ality for failure of each individual member of the Congress vigorously to fight for the passage of this bill. The Judiciary Coommittee of the Senate and other distinguished jur ists with social vision declared the Costigan-Wagner bill to be consti-! tutional. We urge all those who are opposed to lynching, both Negro and white, to qualify without fail, for voting, especially in the pivotal tates, and to register with their bal lots, in primaries and general elec tions, their uneguivocal disapproval of all those who nposed or were in different to the Costigan-Wagner bill, and to give their support to those courageous members of both houses of Congress, regardless of party af fliation, who did their duty. We must let enemies of the bill know that we will accept no excuse. “We express our deep apprecia tion to those organizations with a to tal membership of more than 50 mil lion Americans who have endorsed the bill. Especially do we appreci ate the efforts of those who have ■ worked hard and faithfully for pas 1 sage. We urge more effective work | in the next stages of the struggle by j those who have thus far limited their endorsement to moral support. AGRICULTURE “We vigorously condemn the wide j ipread discrimination against share ; croppers and agricultural workers t generally, both Negro and white, un der the Agricultural Adjustment Ad ministration; the shameless and re buked stealng of government cheques made out to sharecroppers and ten ant farmers; the economy of scarcity through the destruction of crops and other abuses which have flour ished, We condemn the supression of reports of conditions affecting share j croppers, such as the Myers report, and the ignoring of complaints a-* inst maladministration, fraud and dishonesty. we are unalterably opposed to the present form of the Bankhead farm tenant corporation bill. “We vigorously condemn the flag j rant violation of the rights of share croppers and agricultural workers generally by planters, their retainers and officers of the law to organize themselves into unions for their own protection. We further condemn the terrorism and violence waged against these workers by planters, their rep resentatives and officers of the law. We call upon all Americans to pro test there fascist practices, and to forward the struggles of disinherited and enslaved farm workers in all pos sible ways. WORK RELIEF ACT “We vigorously condemn the set ting of monthly wages in regions 3 and 4, embracing the states of Ar kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Okla homa, Texas, Virginia and of Ala bama Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, at the sub normal figures of $19 and $21. In the setting up of machinery for ad ministration of the Works Relief Act we urge the appointment of qualified Negroes, as Deputy Administrators in each state where Negroes consti tute any apprecable porton of the populaton. We urge that Negroes be integrated into all Work Relief projects on the basis of actual need and proportionate population and that the utmost vigilence be exercised by the Federal Emergency Relief Ad ministration to prvent discrimination. WHJTE PRIMARY “We urge upon the Congress the pas age immediately of adequate laws against baring of qualified Negro voters from the so-called white pri mary of certain southern states “While we do not believe political action to be a panacea, we realize fully that the ballot it a potent weapon. W'e, therefore, urge upon Negro voters throughout the United States to qualify, and vigorously and unselfishly utilize their ballots with out regard to political party or creed in their own and the public’s best in terests. EDUCATION “We hail the victory won in the trial court in Maryland for educa- J tional equality in the granting of a writ of mandamus for the admission of a qualified Negro student to the School of Law of the tax-supported University of Maryland* This is the opening step in the persistent cam paign we must and will wage against every form of discrimination and seg regation in all branches of education. LEGAL DEFENSE “The rights of Negroes in courts of law are today gravely endangered. We pledge our support to the defense of Jess Hollins in Oklahoma. Brown, Ellington and Shields in Mississippi; Angelo Herndon in Georgia; the Scottsboro boys in Alabama and oth er Negro victims of injustice in whose cases fundamental rights are in volved. THE SOUTH “We hail the growth of courageous opinion in the south, especially as seen among younger, more intelli gent southerners, both white and colored, and in the press. We pledge ourselves to do all we can in the de velopment of enlightened self-inter est among the increasing number of white southerners who see they can never progress as long as the Negro is oppressed. LABOR We welcome the growth of labor consciousness but we again warn the leadership of organized white labor, especially American Federation of Labor and railroad brotherhoods, they can never attain freedom for their groups by climbing on the backs of black labor We urge all workers, white and black, to speed industrial as against craft unionism We hail the recent victory of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. LEGAL DEFENSE “We urge the re.-rponsible officer}! in all states and in the federal ju diciary system to give full recogni tion to the right of Negro citizens to jury sendee the same as other citi zens, without evasion, subterfuge, or procrastigation. We further urge all Negroes who are brought before juries to insist that there be no dis crmination on account of race or col or in the selection of their juries not only as a means of securing for themselves the equal protection of the law.- but also of insisting on the participation of Negro citizens in the administration of justice n all states and the federal courts. ITALY AND ETHIOPIA "We unequvocally condemn Italian agresion in Ethiopia and the imperi alist selfishnes of all nations in their shameless aggression upon the sov ereignty of other nations, and we v.g orou. ly urge the President and de partment of State, to voice publicly their disapproval of the Italian gov ernment’s action in Ethiopia. We urge 'the United States government to put itself squarely on record against encroachment, HAITI ‘‘We regret and condemn the su pres. ion of free speech by the Vin cent administration in the Republic of Haiti, and the imprisonment of critics of the Vincent government, among them such distinguished Haitians as Jacques Roumain, poet and patriot. GAG LAWS “We condemn the forces which are press for passage by the Congress and by the several state legislatures of laws against the rights of free speech, free assemblage and a free press. Whenever there is any en croachment upon these fundamental constitutional principles minority groups, like the Negro, are the first to suffer. Fa'.elsm with all of its evils can be postponed or prevented only by maintenance of traditional American adherence to the principles of fre speech. NEW PROGRAM FOR THE N. A. A. C. P. / “We approve and pledge our fi nancial, moral and active suppor1 to the broadened program of the N. A. A. C. P, We shal intensify o«Sr ef forts to make our organization an even more effective machine for jus tice to all men men regardless of race or color. APPRECIATION “The National Asociation for the Advancement of Colored People in ts 26th Annual Conference expresses thanks and deep appreciation to the St Louis Branch of the N. A. A. C. P. and to the citizens and city of St. Louis for tne hospitality extended the delegation and visitors.” Mothers—Let your boys be Guide newsboys. Send them to the Omaha Guide Office, 2418-20 Grant Street. Protests Segregation of Negro Diners New York. July 17.—Following admission by Mr, L. Smith, West Indies Pasenger Agent for the Fur nes Lines that colored passengers aboard its Caribbean boats are seg regated in the dining room, Walter Whte, secretary of the National As sociation for the Advancement of Col ored People today charged the lines with “catering to the prejudices of bigoted whites.” “J do not question your statement that you have been complimented by J some 'members of the colored race upon this method adopted by you,” Mr. White wrote, “I wish to state very positively, however, that these members of the colored race who may have made such statements to you are in no way representatives of the attitude of intelligent colored people. This s indicated by the fact that among those who have com plained to this office against such discrimination is a highly intelligent colored woman, a librarian in the city of New York, who is holding up her plans to visit the West Indies aboard a Furness Line boat because of this stiuation.” The Ny A. A. C. P. ecretary ex pressed the hope that “the Furness Lines wil abandon its policy of seg regation and will permit passengers, regardless of race, to be accommo dated percisely as all other passeng ers are taken care of. I trust we may receive from you prompt asur ance to that effect-” The Association is suggesting that all prospective passengers on the Furness Lines boats protest against this segregation of Negroes in the hip dining rooms. Special Week-end Beauty Kit Given Free—Write For It In order to quickly acquaint read ers with their new Week-End Kit, the Dr. Fred Palmer Laboratories of Atlanta, Georgia, through special ar rangement, wil] send anyone who writes for it and who sends 3c to pay postage charges, this valuable and useful gift without charge. The Week-End Kit contains minia ture sizes of Dr. Fred Palmer’s Skin Whitener Ointment, Dr. Fred Palm er’s Skin Whitener Soap and Dr Fred Palmer’s Skin Whitener Face Powder, 2 shades. To get it free, just send your name, address and 3c for postage to the Dr, Fred Palm er Laboratories, Dept. 891, Atlanta Georgia. Notice, Subscribers: If you don’t get your paper by Saturday, 2 p. m., call ebster 1750. No reduction in subscriptions unless request is com plied with.