EDITORIALS
The Omaha Guide
Published every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St.,
Omaha, Neb.
Phone WEbster 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 Mar. must pre
vail. These are the only principles which will
stand the acid test of good citizenship m time
of peace, war and death.
Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, AUGUST 31, 1935
THE ONE SOLUTION
By E. Hofer
A ecording to an article in The Index, federal ex
^ ■- penditures during the past four fiscal years
have totaled $25.000,000,000—a sum which repre
sents more than 80 percent of the wartime expendi
tures of 1918 and 1919. and which is about equal to
the total of all federal expenditures from 1789 to
1914.
Tine inevitable result of that spending has been
increasing federal deficits, followed by an astound
ing expansion of the federal debt. The deficits
started in 1931, with a littie les.-> than one billion
dollars, and rose steadily until 1935, when that
year’s deficit fiscal year ended June 30) reached
$3,500,000,000. And the gross federal debt, since
1930, has increased $12,000,000.000—more than 75
percent .
As the Index says, a basic question raised by this
program “is the extent to which present spending
can be continued without threatening the financial
stability of the government,” There is no relief in
sight—the 1936 deficit will be as great or greater
than any of its predecessors. More spending on a
vast scale Is contemplated. And for every dollar the
Treasury is taking in, in spite of abnormally high
taxes, two are going out
Some friends of emergency spending say that the
whole problem can be simply and easily solved by
inflation—in other words, by turning the printing
presses loose to issue currency without backing. The
w'htfle history of government finance points to the
tragedy of that. Inflation cannot be controlled—
once it takes the wheel, it runs away with the driver
and collapse of the nation s credit follows.
The only sound solution is to change our policy
before it is too late—to trim our financial sail to
meet the wind. Only by balancing outgo with income
can the government maintain its solvency and in
tegrity.
$2.75 A MONTH FOE POWER
A dvocates of destructive legislation toward the
* *■ electric industry usually attempt to justify
their position on the ground that electric rates are
exorbitantly high, that they represent a real burden
to the consumer, that the most severe and punitive
measures are necessary if the public is to be protect
ed.
The fallacy of that is shown by the statisics;
Last year, gross electric light and power operat
ing revenue totaled $1,847,000,000.
$1,169,000,000 of that was paid by industrial pow
er users.
The remainder. $678,000,000, was paid by 20,500,
000 household users, and their monthly bill, on the
average, was $2.75—less than ten cents a day.
It is safe to say that the average user spent much
more for tobacco than he did for power, much more
for amusement, for magazines, and beverages and
sweets. And he spent infinitely more for taxes.
The disposition of the $1,847,000,000 received by
the power industry is also of interest Wages took
$317,000,000. Taxes took $240,000,000 — close to'
half the industry’s total revenue from householders.
Fuel, replacements, maintenance, etc., took $450,
OOu.OOO. The balance of $670,000,000 was spent
for debt service and dividends—and it amounted
to a 5% percent annual return on the industry’s in
vestment of $12,200,000,000.
Few industries of comparable size earn a more
modest profit than does power. No industry serves
the public better or more efficiently. And it is an
irrefutable fact that the cost of power is an infinit
esimal item in both household and commercial budg
ets.
T^he farm cooperative movement continues to go
forward, as recent statistics from Pennsylvania
demonstrate.
In that state, farmers who buy and sell through
co-ops aid a total bus mess of almost $35,000,000 in
1934, as compared with $27,000,000 in 1933. Both
volume and sales were substantially larger.
Milk marketing associations handled five per
cent more milk, and the value was 40 per cent high
er. Egg marketing groups sold 50 percent more
eggs and livestock associations increased their vol
ume by 60 per cent.
Finally, the total membership of Pennsylvania
farmers in cooperative associations in 1934
amount xl to 67,953—an average of 16 per cent over
tilt, *.rev iv.us year
similar records have been made in other states,
on greater or smaller scales. Each year shows ad
vances in the size of cooperative groups—as well as
improvement in the work done by the associations
on behalf of their members. Cooperation is one
thing that has actually flourished during depres
sion.
SHOULD WE WEAKEN THE CONSTITUTION?
Suggestions to change the Constitution, in order to
give the Federal Government powers the Su
, preme C-ourt has decided it does not now possess,
should be critically weighed by the American
people.
Whether we realize it or not. it is the Constitu
tion which protects the ownership and the sanctity
of the home. It is the Constitution which safe
guards the independence and rights of the worker.
It is the Constitution which maintains the sanctity
of contract. And, finally, it is the Constitution
which guarantees and supports the rights, the liber
ties and the privileges for which the forefathers of
the nation foujrht when they changed America from
a foreign-dommated colony to a free nation, dedi
cated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
Those who would change the Constitution would
do so on the supposition that it out of date—that
it is no longer capable of meeting the problems,
the conditions, the issues of the times. If that is
true, human liberty is out of date. Individual free
dom is out of date. Democratic government—which
has as its jruiding principle that the people are the
masters, not the servants of government—is out of
date. Private initiative and individual ambition
are out of date.
Even** time we tamper with the Constitution we
weaken it Under the existing Constitution, a deli
cate balance of power is maintained betw'een the
central government and the 48 state governments.
The Federal Government is enabled to do that •
which individual states could not efficiently do—
while the states are left free to make laws, rulings,
regulations and policies that are in aeeord with .the
beliefs and needs of their people.
If we broaden the powers of the Federal Govern
ment we shall simply be giving bureaucracy a
greater free and unchecked field for action—at the
expense of t h e states, of industry, of ■workers, of
every citizen.
$25,000,000 A DAY FOR SECURITY
T'he Life Insurance Sales Research Bureau reports
that during the first six months of the year
sales of ordinary life insurance in the United States
equaled the relatively high mark set during the
same period of 1934.
During every working day the American people
purchased more than $25,000,000 of new insurance
protection, in addition to the enormous sums being
invested in annuities.
Social security obtained throusrh life insurance is
of permanent, real worth—ft is obtained through
tic efforts, the thrift, the foresight and often the
sacrifices of individuals. They are working out
their own economic salvation—they are not depend
ing on government or any other outside source to
provide it for them.
Every working day $25,000,000 of protection is
being contracted for the dependents of wage earn
ers—and to safeguard the future of the wage earn- ]
er himself. That is worth thinking about.
BACKBONE OF TRANSPORT
¥n spite of all claims to the contrary, the railroads
remain the backbone of the nation’s transpor
tation system.
Other carriers may supplement the rails, and per
form a valuable service. But it is a limited service. I
Trucks can handle but a fraction of the nation’s
freight, and almost none of its heavy, transconti
nental freight—wheat, machinery', ertc.
Buses can provide inexpensive and excellent
short-haul passenger service—but the vast bulk of
travelers still go by rail when embarking on a
1 lengthy journey
There are definite limits to the airplane—its high
cost, its relatively sparse coverage of the nation,
its.-inability to handle freight.
The waterways are limited by gwgrapby and by
seasons. In addition, they have proven to be con
stant money losers, and can only be kept in opera
tion by vast governmental subsidies.
The railroads touch every portion of the country.
They provide service to remote areas, tiny hamlets,
little known farming and mining districts. They
run on regular schedules. They provide maximum
service at a minimum cost. The railroads did much
to bring civilization to the wilderness in the be
ginning of this nation’s expansion—they do much
to keep civilized places from degenerating back to
, wilderness now.
In addition, the railroads ane one of our greatest
taxpayers, employers, purchasers of supplies. They
offer a gigantic market in normal times for lumber,
steel, copper, coal. They are the bulwark of all in
dustry.—and an. essential public servant .
ECONOMIC
HIGHLIGHTS
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
Pails. Dividend Creeks and Tax
B'lls of Every Individual. Na
tional and ’international Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare.
_oOo—
Statistics indicate that both the
current business situation and the
business outlook are improving.
Many important industries are
doing better now than since 1930
—some are actually running
ahead of their 1929 experience.
A much asked question is:
“To what extent are government
policies responsible for the im
provement A few think they
should be given credit for stimu
lating business. But most busi
ness men seem to feel that we are
making recovery in spite of. not
because of. political activities.
They think that if Congress took
a swing to the right, the course
of recovery would be immeasur
ably accelerated. That is a mat
ter of opinion—and. in the light
of recent Presidential statements,
there seems little chance that the
Administration will go conserva
tive. Here are some business
briefs of inf crest:
RETAIL TRADE : AY ell above
last year, with chain systems hav
ing a particularly favorable ex
perience (Sales for J. C. Penney
dry-goods chain recently broke
all records for first-half-vcar
sales.) National Retail Dry
Goods Association forecasts that
the fall season will bring a 10 to
15 per cent additional increase.
CONSTRUCTION: Sub stan
tially above last year. Resi
dential awards in a recent month
were 143 per cent over the same
month in 1934. General Motors
has. announced that it will spend
$50,000,000 for new plant capac
ity—this represents the largest
sum any corporation has decided
to spend for building in a long
time. For the first seven months
of this year, industrial contracts
totaled $99,000,000—within a few
millions of the total for the en
tire year of 1934.
FARM EQUIPMENT: Belief
is that 1935 will be the best vear
for this industry since 1930
Farmers are buying again be
cause their existing equipment is
inefficient or worn-out, and they
want to replace it. Most farm
equipment manufacturers have
taben heavy operating losses in
recent years—now they are
again in the market.
AGRICULTURE: It is fore
last that total farm income for
1935 will be more than $1,000.
000,000 over 1934 — which ex
ceeded 1932 by $1,000,000,000.
Some crops will b% short—but
better prices will make up for
that. At Chicago, incoming hog
shipments recently touched an
all time low. while prices reached
highest level since 1929.
ELECTRICAL PCOVER : Dow
Jones News Service, expert fact
finding and forecasting organiza
tion. says there is considerable in
dication that power production in
the third quarter will establish a
new record for any comparable
period in the industry’s history.
However, this experience may not
be duplicated in earnings—rate
cuts in many localities have re
sulted in the industry selling
more, but netting less. The fear
of new tax and punitive legisla
tion discourages normal progress
in the electric industry.
AIRCRAFT: Big manufactur
ers are doing better. The Army
and Navy are both carrying on
aggressive air-defense programs
and manufacturers naturally
benefit.
STEEL: Operations are stable
with price firm. Machine and
machine-tool makers are es
pecially heavy buyers of the basic
metal
LUMBER: Production h a s
spurted. This is partly due to
the temporary settlement of la
bor troubles—and partly due to
the fact that lumbermen are pro
ducing heavily no win anticipa
tion of additional Pacific Coast
labor difficulties this fall.
ELECTRICAL MAUFACTUR
ERS: Seventy-eight makers of
storage batteries, household pew
er devices, industrial equipment,
etc., reported 10.5 per cent more
business in the second quarter of
1935 than in the first. Demand
is still gaining in most parts of
the country.
While the foregoing are facts,
they should not be taken to mean
that all is clear sailing for in
dustry. Much remains to be done,
and constant fear of government
al interference, at expense of re
covery, is prevalent. The new
tax bill, for example, seems des
tined to be a seriously dampening
influence on industry. On the
other hand, adjournment of Con
gress, which may be effected by
the time this is read, will be a
relief to business.
V V/ V
A few months ago it looked as
if there MIGHT be an Italian
Ethiopian war. Now it lo#ks as
if there MUST be. Pressure and
argument by the other great
powers has not changed Musso
lini's determination a whit—and
Ethiopia answers that she will
fight for her independence until
her last man has met death on the
battlefield
Italy wants Ethiopia for one
simple reason—n atural re
sources. Today, Italy is depend
ent on foreign supplies of raw
cotton, oil, coal, iron, copper.
Lack of these national essentials
—which Ethiopia is supposed to
possess—is harnpei ing Italy
badly.
It's the old case of a big nation
going after a small one when the
later has something it. can use.
Reduce It Further
During the past few years
there has been a slow, but
steady, decrease in the nations
fire loss.
The decrease is extending into
1935, according to figures issued j
by the National Board of Fire
Underwriters. During the first
six months of this year, loss to
taled $136,460,000, as compared
with $158,064,000 during the
same period in 1934.
The trend is encouraging—
about a decade ago the annual
fire loss ran in excess of $500,
000,000 a year. However, it is
still much too high. At least 80
per cent of fires are unnecessary
—at least 80 per cent of them
could be prevented by thought,
care, perhaps the expenditure of
a little money.
Every citizen shoul dvoluntar
ily enlist in he fire-fighting army
in an effort to further reduce this
useless waste. He should period
ically inspect his property, and
correct any hazards that exist
from basement to attic. Piles of
papers, improperly stored, in
flammables, old or amateur elec
tric wiring, defective furnaces,
pipes and flues—these are among
the great causes of fire in dwell
ings- And a prolific outside
source of fire that is especially
dangerous during summer
months, is dry, uncut grass.
Any local fire marshal or fire
department is glad to give a citi
zen assistance in the matter of
discovering and eliminating fire
hazards. Insurance companies are
equally cooperative. Ignorance
of hazards, like ignorance of the
law, is no excuse—the knowledge
that will prevent fire can be eas
ily obtained ,
In the long run, fire loss de
termines the cost of insurance,
and if we lower losses it will be
reflected in our premium rate as
soon as it is proved that the
waste is going to stay down. Fire
loss increases taxes and is a bur
den to every member of the com
munity. Fire prevention should
be regarded as both a privilege
and a duty—that saves lives and
money and preserves irrepdace-'
able resources.
England Will Lose
India If Italy Con
quers Ethiopia
Nigeria, West Africa. July 27
(ANP) England cannot afford tc
permit the rape of Ethiopia unless
she desires to lose her Indian em
pire. writes Duse Mohamed Ali,
editor, in the current issue of the
Comet, weekly magazine publish
ed here.
Mr. Ali, an Egyptian historian.
ENGINEER
Titus Alexander, one of Los
Angeles’ best known citizens and
who occupies an unique position
in the civic, official and business
life of that city. Mr. Alexander,
a native of Arkansas, educated at
Oberlin and the University of
Michigan, where he took en
gineering. is associated in a re
sponsible capacity with the busi
ness division of the Los Angeles
Bureau of Power and Light, the
largest municipally owned and
operand plain. n the United
States.
A life long Democrat and mem
ber of the state Democratic com
mittee, Mr. Alexander has served
as president of the Los Angeles
Democratic club of which he is
the only colored member. He has
received the annual Fellowship
award for outstanding service to
his city and group and wears a!
gold badge, symbol of his election
as an honorary captain of the Los
Angeles fire department.
(ANP) I
spent many years in Europe and
America. Critical of European di
plomacy in respeet to Mussolini’s
Ethiopian venture. Mr. Ali writes
further1
“Sir John Simon’s (Sir John
Simon was British foreign secre
tary) lack of diplomatic courage
in 1931 has greatly assisted in in
ternational, immoralities. Should
* I
war start in Africa, Europe may
say goodbye to the League, be
cause the big European powers
will no longer consider them
selves bound by covenants w’hich
no one respects,” "
Churchmen Call Atten
tion to Horrors of Mus
solini’s Designs On
Ethiopia
New York City, Aug. 28.—In
a ringing challenge that must be
taken up by every thinking hum
an being who is appalled by the
horrors of the imminent war, I.
Alieyne, chairman of the Action
Committee of the Provisional
Committee for the Defense of
Ethiopia, yesterday called upon
even* black man and woman,
“who smarts from the blow*s of
oppression the w*orld over.” to
join the August 3rd march against
war, scheduled to take place in
the Harlem section of New York
City.
“ A victory for Musolini would
wipe out centuries of progress
and would lay the foundation for
a system of slavery more brutal
than any that existed hereto
fore,” Mr. Alieyne declared.
“Defeat of the war plans of the
Italian govrnment, now* bent up
on applying internationally the
imperialist maxim of Nordic su
periority, would be a gain for the
Black people of the wror!d over
It w'ould also add in furthering
world peace and progress,” he
continued.
In calling upon members and
friends of the Provional Commit
tee, to march on August 3rd, Mr.
Alleyne pointed out the necessity
of acting “with all groups fight
ing for the defense of Ethiopia in
the present crisis against Musso
lini’s plans for invasion.”
“Make this a monster demon
stration of the indignation of the
people of Harlem against the rob
ber war and their will to fight for
rthe independence of Ethiopia.”
Alleyne urged all members and
friends of the Provisional Com
mittee.
Captain Alitori .former Italian
army man who was cited several
times for heroism under first and
wounded in the last World War,
haiLed the Provisoinal Commit
tee’s statement as a milestone of
working class unity of Negro and
White. Recognizing that many of
his former countrymen now face
death and destruction in Africa
due to the vicious war plans of II
Ihiee, he cited the fact that re
cently, when the class 1911 was
sent to Naples, prior to their em
barkation to Africa, they refused
to leave the country. The eara
biniori, Kings Guard attempt
ed to force the soldiers to board
the shop. A conflict took place
resulting in three deaths to the
forces of the king. Many others
were wounded.
The Italian people do not
want war.’ Altiori asserted.
“They hate war, and it is up to
Italians throughout the entire
world to reveal to mankind that
li Luce does not speak for the
Italian people. Rather he is the
spokesman of a small band of in
dustrialists and financiers who
seek to plunge Italian youth to
its death in Africa.”
Calling upon every worker,
student and profesional to come
out on August 3rd. Altiori stress
ed the achievement of unity as a
result of the honest sincerity of
the American League Against
War and Fascism in building
a strong united front
Hold State-Wide
Sunday School C.
E. Leagrue
Tampa, Fla., (AXP The An
nual Institute of Sunday School
and Allen Christian Endeavor
Leagues elosed a five-day session
here at St Paul A. M E. Church,
Friday. Bishop J. S. Flipper is
the presiding Bishop, L. M. Moore
State Supt, of Sunday Schools,
while C. S. Williams is State
President of Leagues A regular
class school was held each day at
the Harlem School, where teach
ers of credit were used. Rev. R.
L, Pope is the pastor of St Paul.
Senate Passes Bill
For $35,000 For Safety
of Masons and Elks
Washington ,1). C. Aug. 28.—
The Senate last Monday, passed
the joint resolution authorizing
an appropriation of $35,000 for
the maintenance of publie order
and the protection of life and
property during the conventions
of the Imperial Council Ancient
Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine and the Im
proved Benevolent and Protec
tive Order of Elks of the World.
The resolution is now awaiting
signature of President Roosevelt.
The bill as originally intro
duced by Senator William H.
King -of Utah, chairman of the
committee on the District of
Columbia, made the “ppropria
tiort available only during the pe
riod cf the Elks convention. It
was amended so as to make the
fund available during the Shrin
ers’ convention as well.
The fund will be used to pro
vide additional police facilities,
including personnel, from August
16 to August 31.
The resolutions provides also,
$4,000 for facilities for comfort
[Stations, including the employ
ment of personal services in con
nection with them.
The $39,000 fund, when avail
able, will be disbursed through
the regular disbursing officers of
the District of Columbia and can
not be used for any purposes oth
er than those stated in the resolu
tion.
Similar appropriations in the
amount of $54,000. were made for
the white Shriners who met here
in June.
Six drinks and a fellow pete be
i iow “see level.”
_
Statistics prove that Americans
are drinking less whiskey than
they did prior to 1917. True. They
have less money to pay for it at
double the price was prior to
1917.