1 ... EDITORIALS ... f
THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published every Saturday at 24618-20 Grant Street.,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WEbster 1750
GAINES T. BRADFORD, - - Editor and Manager
Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927, at the Post Of
fice at Omaha, Neb., undertheActof Congress of March 3, 1879.
“ TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man must prevail These are the
only priciples which will stand the acid test, of good
COUJRED ENTER YOUTH PROJECTS
Colored people throughout the country, and especially
those individuals and groups working with young people, arc
urged by the NAACP to formulate projects to sec that colored
young people participate in the ten million dollar National
Youth Administration program just announced.
In Bulletin No. 4 of the Nalional Youth Administdation, is
Buod January 3, 1936, is an outline of four projects upon which
ten million dollars will he spent. They are:
(1) Projects for Youth Commuity Development and Re-!
creat'onal Leadership; in which part time emp'oyrnent of young j
people from relief families will hi* given ns leaders and assist-j
ants in the establishment and conduct of recreational and com-j
iminity nctivii os.
(2) Projects for Rural Youth Development; to provide
part-time employment of young people from relief families in
rural communities.
(J) Public Service Projects; to provide part-time employ
ment as assistants in various public services, such as traffic,
sanitation, heelth, and investigaion of local and slate govern
mental records.
(4) Research Projects; to provide part-1 ine employment
in, researches :n local history, tax records, safety campaigns,
etc.
Colored groups, in order to secure some of this employment,
must formulate projects coming under tdese four headings and
submit them to tlie State Youth Director for approval. De
tailed informal on on how to prepare a project may he obtained
from the National Youth Administration in Washington, 1). C.
by asking for NYA Bulleitn No. 4, issued January 3, 1936.
The NAACP urges that all efforts which seem 1o he at
tempts at discrimination he .submitted to tlm National Youth
Aibniirsfration in Washington, D. C., and that similar com
plaints he forwarded to the NAACP, 69 Fifth Avenue, New
York City, so that disci''’initiation may ho checked and a fair
sliure of his project appropriation he allocated to colored youth.
► ______
THE ONLY THREE
'
A most ironic, “editorial" on the subject of speed appears'
quito inadvertently in an engagement book issued by the New
York Telephone company. It presents the name of speed re
cord holders'in three fields, ns follows1
Air—Lieutenant Francesco Agello of Italy.440.29 mph.
Water -Garfield A. Wood of United States.124.80 mph. j
Loud—Sir Malcolm Campbell of England.301.337 mph.
What a blow this must be to the thousands of amateur speed
ers thorughoul the country! the only places their names may
apppear is on the police, blotter or the obituary page.
Statistics show, according to the National Bureau of Cas
ualty and Surety Underwriters, that 0,800 persons were killed
and 134,000 injured in automobile accidents during 1934 as the
direct, result of excessive speed. But the statistics cannot show j
how important a factor speed was in nearly every other cause
on the motor accident calendar. Driving cars too fast for con
ditions played a prominent part in thousands of accidents charg
ed to violating the right of way, cutting in, passing a standing
Btreet ear, passing on a curve or hill, driving off the road way, j
and reckless driving.
The smart, twentieth-century nttiude on speed is that it j
is no longer a question of how fast, you can go, but of how fast
you can stop.
Remember that excessive speed is relatively so insignificant
that out of the whole world only three names arc given any men
tion for it.
Chemists at Los Angeles have discovered that, placing wal
nuts in ethylene gas speeds up the removal of hulls and decreas
es the number of nut kernels discolored by adhering hulls.
The Danish State Railroad has adopted Diesel motored
streamlined trains for service between Copenhagen and the
cities of Jutland over the new bridge crossing the Little Belt.
World absorption of crude rubber reached a high record
of 930,000 tons last year, 15 per cent greater than that in 1933,
the United States consuming about half of the total in each year.
For advertising purposes a Parisian has invented a hat that
is revolved with its inscriptions when a wearer closes a switch
to turn on current from an electric battery in a pocket.
Experts of the United States ('oast and Geodetic Survey
have devised instruments that show that large buildings are
constantly in motion, being vibrate dby passing traffic and
winds.
Pedaled in the usual way, a bicycle invented in Denmark
has a small wheel in front and is steered with a single handle,
the rider sitting upright in a seat instead of astride a saddle.
Government scientists in Washington, have found that cer
tain foods packed in grass-green blass containers do not become j
rancid as soon as when kept in containers of other colors.
MAXIE MILLER
WRITES |
(For the Literary Service Bureau)
(For advice write to Maxie Mil
ler, ca e of Literary Service Bur
eau, 616 Minn., Ave, Kansas City,
Kan. For personal reply send a
self addressed, stamped envelope.
Maxie Miller: I have a very del
icate matter to bring before you
for advice. I am 28 and never been
married. I love a man and he
wants us to get married, but folks
say he had a bad disease and he
has some scars on hi face and
neck, and the folk say they come
from this bad disease. This man
seems to be in good health, but J
don’t want any of my children to
bo marked by something their fa
ther did. I do want to get
married, but I don't want to make
ft hard for my children. What do
you say about it. What would
you do if you were as old as I
and wanted to get married real
ly bad? Do you think J ought to
marry this man and take a
chance? —Pollyanna.
Poly aim a: I would talk this over i
nth this nuin and hear what he
ias to say and by all means I
vould insist on a blood test. If he
houid refuse to do this it would
rive weight to what you have |
leard and would give you ample |
'rounds to reject him
Maxie Miller
THE NEED OF MODERN
ZEALOTS
By R. A. ADAMS
(For Literary Service Bureau)
Usually the term zealot is used
in derision. Often it is used as a
synonym of fanatic. In almost any
dictionary or encyclopedia you
will find, "zealot, one of a fanati
oal sect of Jews which carried on
r. desperate struggle against the
Romans until the fall of Jerusa
lem, A. D. 70." But even these
“fanatics" are due commendation
for fealty to a cause they consid
ered right, though it was unpop
ular and a losing cause.
In this age of shameless mater
ialism, when tho sense of value
seemsuttorly lost, in an era when
ideals and standards are mocked
nnd trampled, there is a need for
modem zealots who w?ill contend
for principles of right, for integ
rity, and against the flagrant and
arrogant moral lnxness now ev
erywhere prevalent.
For those purposes and for
this work there is need for spirit
ual and moral zealots who, re
fusing to be undaunted will fight
against that which is wrong and
against the dograration of our
There is need for those fighters
to contend for the reestablish
lishment of customs, conventions
and safeguards which have stood
the tests and demonstrated their
intrinsic value. All honor to sane,
honorable and honest zealots. And
may their tribe increase.
A. M. E. Sunday School
Holds Limelight In
the Church
(By J. H. Adams for ANP)
Waco, Texas, Jan. 18 What is
the A. M. E. church going to do
wth Ira T. Bryant, secretary
treasurer of the A. M. E. Sunday
School Union at Nashville, Tenn.,
and admitedly the most dynamic
layman m the denomination? It is
the one question among ministers
and laymen, and the angles from
which the question is approached
and argued afford the first defi
nite clue to the answer.
There is a division of opinion as
to what constitutes > Bryant’s
‘Crime’ and as to what charges to
be brought against him. Is he a
murderer? Is he a thief? Is he a
traitor? Is he a moral stench?
Is he a doctrinal renegade? Is he
an incompetent physically and in
tellectually? No one seems able to
find here an indictment that will
stick.
Is Ira T. Bryant failing to do
his work with credit to the church
and the Sunday School union? Is
he misappropriating the funds en
trusted to him? Is he abusing his
office to promote unholy and un
justified ends? Is he involved in a
scandal now or running back
through the years? Is he ambi
tious to defeat the best objectives
of that church? No one seems able
to produce a charge here.
iTs he insubordinate? Is he dis
courteous? Is he lacking in either
his blood, his breeding or his
caste ? Finally, is he a coward ?
A charge that will stick is the
thing needed for the church to get
rid of a general officer who hns
proven himself to be the one en
livening, energizing, thought-pro
voking source in the A. M. E.
church since the days of Henry
McNiel Turner.
Mr. Bryant occasionally runs
amuck in the exposition of things
and men in the church which do
not square with his theory and
understanding of duty. He is
smart enough to know that he is
protected by the constitution of
the United States. After all, a
man need not be very smart to
know the law. He is very, very
smart when he succeeds number
' less times in going within one
sixtenth of an inch in breaking
the law. As long as he is editor
of the Sunday School literature,
ho is protected in expressing his
individual opinion. Country eritors
know that.
Personally and frankly, I do not
could no more follow his course
than float upstream. This differ
ence between us is not a matter of
character or fitness but rather of
temperment. There must be some
body in the church to keep it
awake and thinking. Bryant is
tempermentally cut out to do that
thing. He pricks us, sticks us,
! stings us, bites us and all of it
hurts. Like the aggravating flea,
ho is no respector of persons and
attacks us in our most vulnerable
| spots and where complacency is
! the rule.
| What is the A. M. E. church
ALTA VESTA
A GIRL'S PROBLEMS
(By Videtta Ish)
Alta Vesta to Her Father (No 27)
Dear Father: I am so happy
that I feel just like jumping up
and down like a little bird I saw
today. I wonder if birds think and
if they know when they are happy.
I like birds, Father, and J wonder
if that is foolish. Sometimes I
wish I had a nice little bird in a
beautiful cage. I’d be so kind to
him that he’d just love me and
sing for me lal of the time.
Now, Father, Christmas is past
and I wish I could see you. That
would have been a wonderful
present for me. I know I saw you
Thanksgiving but when I think of
you I want to see you, it seems
like it was a long time ago.
Oh, yes, Daddy, I paid Santa
Claus to buy you a present. Aunt
Cornelia saw him for me and I
hope you liked it. Oh Daddy, i did
love the Christmas music coming
aver the radio. They sang “Silent
Night, Holy Night” and I sat up
so close and listened.
Alta Vesta
NOT LUCK NOR CHANCE
By R. A. ADAMF
(For the Literary Service Bureau)
There’s no such thing as luck or
chance,
And never do men make advance
By means of Fate’s benign decree,
But by persistent industry.
'Tis folly undisguised, to wait
Upon the whims of fickle Fate,
Since it is true even the stars
Only are reached “thru bolts and
bars ”
By fallacies be not deceived,
For, whatever has been achieved
Of things worth while, was at the
price
Of patient toil and sacrifice.
And always will the truth remain,
All who would eminence attain,
Striving, must win full victory
Against hostile adversity.
12,000 Hunt For
Food In Alabama
As Relief Fails
Montgomery, Ala. Jan. 18—
Although there are as many
Negroes as whites unemployed
and hungry in Montgomery,
loeal relief projects have a sys
tem whereby they employ three
Negroes to ten white men.
More than 12,000 people roam
the streets searching for jobs,
even though a resident declar
es, there are enough WPA pro
jects to employ thorn all.
A man can be without food,
or a job, but if lie owns a small
shack, he is not eligible for re
lief or a NVPA job.
going to do with Ira T. Bryant?
Nothing! What is Bryant going
to do with the A. M. E. church?
That is the quetion. My answer
is that Bryant is going to keep
the A. M. E. church alive with
corn over its too evident compla
cency,cency, self-sufficiency and
needer reforms in the face of lo
cal dissensions that are all but
alarn>ing.
/4r
V COTTON ?>,
fraUMCY
The deplorable condition in which cotton
farming and share-cropping has fallen, in the
South has thousands of black belt farmers
chained to the land under conditions little bet
ter than serfdom. The situation, is graphically
shown in the book “The Collapse of Cotton
Tenancy” by Charles S. Johnson, Will H.
Alexander and Edwin R. Embree. After an
exhaustive survey by a large corps of investi
gators. Hhe University of North Carolina
Press published the volume.
KELLY MILLER
SAYS
HIGn TIME IN WASHINGTON
The first week of 1936 *!li go
down as a memorable week in the
history of the nation. On Jan. 3rd,
President Roosevelt delivered his
annual address to Congress in
which he set himself up as Cham
pion of the “New Deal’’ for the
new day, and offered battle to the
death to the old order. The chal
lenge was at once accepted by the
opposition and the presidential
campaign of 1936 was launched.
The press and the radio resound
ed with this challenge and accept
ance for three days before the de
cision of the Supreme Court, in
validating the AAA, was handed
down on Jan. 6th. The nation was
startled out of its breath. The de
cision of the Supreme Court in
validating the acts of Congress es
tablishing the NRA and the AAA,
and which at the same time fore
shadowed the invalidation of all
essential “New Deal” legislation,
sharply drew the issue not only
between the legislative and judi
cial branchi|.iof the government,
but between the legislative and
executive branches, on the one side
The Supreme Court set itself up
as superior to both the president
and to congress. Nine men have
assumed the right to determine
the fate of 130,000,000 free peo
ple against the almost unanimous
will of their chosen representa
tives. The nation has never ben
in such confusion since the issue
of human slavery reached its cli
max in 160. The issue was then es
sentially the same as it is today.
Property in man entrenched be
hind tradition and the Dred Scott
Decision sought not only to over
ride legislation passed by congress
and approved by the president, but
also to thwart the progressive
voice of the people. Today this
same spirit of property owner
ship seeks entrenchment and pro
tection behind the same tradition
and the sanction of the same ju
dicial tribunal. When the progress
meets with the reaction it is easy
to predict, if not the immediate re
sult, certainly the ultimate out
come. All history tells the same
story.
when I was a school boy the
question of what would happen if
an irresistible force met an im
movable body was used to con
found the student of physics and
of metaphysics. Although in sci
ence and philosophy the answer to
this question is deemed unthink
able, yet in politics and practical
human affairs the immovable al
ways gives way to the irresist
ible. An impossibility of thought
becomes a possibility in action and
gress and the administration, rep
resenting the contettriporaneous
will of the people, constitute an
irresistible force in American pol
litlcs. On the other hand, the court,
typifying the crystalized will and
purpose of the nation a hundred
and fifty years ago, stand for the
stablizing immovable factor. Vest
ed interests always seek to en
trench themselve behind the bul
wark of the courts and traditions
built, as they suppose, on founda
tions which cannot be moved. But
in the case of the Dred Scott De
cision, the infallible decree of the
Supreme Court was thrust aside
by the imperial will of the people.
There are two factors In human
society—the progressive and the
conservative. When the two come
to rips the conservative must
needs give way. The progressive
force of American politics runs
like a stream through our his
tory, and although impeded and
delayed by obstructions and hin
derances it has kept its onward
way to the ocean of human ad
vancement to which it is headed,
coin, Grover Cleveland, Theodore
Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson aind
Franklin D. Roosevelt have blaz
ed a progressive path in our po
litical history. Although in each
case the progressive presidents
were followed by reactionary suc
cessor, thee but represented back
eddies in the ever onward moving
stream. Jackson was succeeded by
VanBuren, Lincoln by Andrew
Jomson, Cleveland by McKinley,
and Harrison: Theodore Roose
velt by Taft, and Woodrow Wil
son by Harding, Coolidge and
Hoover. And yet these conserva
tive or reactionary interludes but
typify valleys between successive
mountain 'peaks. Franklin D.
Roosevelt and the congress rep
resent the progressive voice of the
or reactionary spirit of the courts,
which should not be condemned
because they are disposed to re
action, for it Is their nature to
be thus disposed.
In 1860 the issue in a nutshell,
lay between a hand full of slave
SERMONETTE
By Arthur B. Rhinow
Blithely the children sang, “I
must be true, for there are those
that trust me.” They probably did
not understand the depth of mean
ing in those words, but I could not
help asking myself questions.
Why must I be true because
others trust me? Surely not ev
erybody thinks so. Jn fact, many
a man regards It as very stupid
not to take advantage of those
that trust him.
“He thinks I am all right,” his
perverted logic reasons. “Very
well, I think he is easily duped,
and it would be just too bad not
to ‘use’ him for my purposes. I am
clever.”
Sooner or later, however, he
will find out that he Is not at all
clever, for the abuse of confidence
ends in the loss of confidence, and
where are we if we cannot trust
one another? Think, for instance,
of the wall between parent and
child when they have lost faith
in each other. Is there a sadder la
ment than “I can no longer trust
nijy child” or “I can no longer
trust my friend?”
On the other hand, responding
to the faith others have in us
Faith is a miracle worker. Men
have been roused out of sloth and
degredation by the discovery that
somebody really believes in them;
etven the memory of such an one
has at times worked wonders. And
when they feel the touch devine
“I still believe in you” they are
conscious of a mighty urge to take
the proffered hand, and in the aw
ful stillness of that moment they
hear the psalm of Bethlehem sung
for them as never before. They
realize they must be true, for
there is one who loves them.
Metal trimming for base
boards and wall panels has been
invented that is held in place
by a spring clip base.
holders who claimed the constitu
tional right of property in a man,
on the other hand, the great mass
es of the American people who
did not believe in that type of
property. The issue today, in a
shell, lies between a hand full of
rugged individuals who have accu
mulated much material property
which they seek to hold against
the great multitude who have lit
tle or nothing and seek unhinder
ed opportunity to make a liveli
hood. President Roosevelt is the
champion of the many against the
few;, while on the other hand, Ex
president Hoover might well be
selected as the champion of the
few against the many. Jn 1860
Abraham Lincoln, who stood for
the common man, came out of the
farthest down in the West and the
East. The entrenched champions
of human slavery belonged in the
South. Today, Franklin D. Roose
velt, a product of the East, be
comes the champion of the “for
gotten man’’ in the South and the
West, against Herbert Hoover,
who belongs in the West, but as
sumes to champion the claims of
the powerful against the weak in
the East. Then it was the South
against the North and West: now
it is the South and West against
the East.
In the Dred Scott Decision the
Supreme Court based its opinion
upon the right of the slave-hold
er to his human property on the
grounds of states rights against
the collective authority of the fed
eral government. The decision of
the supreme court on the “New
Deal’’ issues is based on the same
ground of local sovereignity over
federal encroachment. Anomalous
ly enough, the two great parties
have exchanged positions on states
rights. The doctrine of states
lights and local sovereignity is
against the progress of events
and the policy and practice of the
great nations of he world today.
Science, invention and discovery
hoary doctrine and relegated it to
the darker ages of civilization.
No decision of any tribunal can
turn badk the hands of the clock
of progress and make the age of
| steam, radio, electricity conform
I to the age of the horse and buggy
j of a hundred and fifty years ago.
! Forty eight local sovereigns can
j not administer the vast economic,
i industrial and social estate of
I 130,000,000 American people. The
dead hand of the past should not
bo allowed to restrain the pro
gress of the events. Roosevelt and
Congress are moving with the
stars in their course. The supreme
court and Hoover, with his fellow
conservatives, are trying to stem
the tide of human progress.
The first week of the first
month of 1936 marks a turning
point in the direction of progress
or of reaction.
Kelly Miller.
