..EDITORIALS.. i * ' j ! ! I ' ' ■ ■■«»»«* * ■ t--r- -t-'»■»■<■'»■■»•■»♦■••■•■-*-»« • “ THE OMAHA GUIDE Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street, Omaha. Nebraska Phones: WEbster 1517 or 1618 Entered as Second Class Mnttcr March 15. 1927. at the Poatoffice at Omaha. Neb., undcrAct of Congress of March 3, 1879. ■TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR ___ | Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brother hood of Man must prevail. These are the only principle* which will otsi.d the acid test of good. All News Capy of Churches and all Organizations must be in our affice not later than 5i00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver-, Using Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, preceed tng date of issue, to insure publication. FOR A FEDERAL ANTI-LYNCHING BILL THE TIMES -DISPATCH favors ihe enactment of the Federal untilynching bill just introduced in the House of Rep resentatives and shortly to he introduced in tlio> Senate. It bccn no hope of ever wiping out lynching, the* greatest crime attains Southern eivi'ization, except tlirough Federal action. l!' evt;try State would enact an antilynchiug law similar to that which Virginia [fussed a decade ago, lynching could bo almost, if 14>t wholly, oblitora.ti d. The Virginia law makes lynching an offense agUins! the State us a whole, subjects all participants in lynchings to charges of murder, arid authorizes the Governor to have the attorney genicklr.il aid in the prosecu tion aijl to spend any sum he (the Governoir) deems wise in convicting the guilty parties. There has not been a single lyn-j idling in the Old Domiifiou since that law wins placed on the' kt at ute book's. ...... ............ ...»...I Hut> it has become plain* that few, if any, of the Southern J^tatJ « will follow V i rg in i'll,'h legislative ctxanfple. ASthough the DYEIt an,titynching liill of 1922 and the COSTIGAN-WAG IsEli antilyiiehing hill of 1935 would almost certainly have passed, but. for the filibusters of Southern senators, moist Sou thern Stans seem to have learned nothing from these episodes Southern senator^ on both occasions expressed profound resent in out ovi r the possibility that the Federal Government might be permitted to iijerfdre in the affairs of the States, but tiny do not seem to maleic such intervention miracle easury. This newspaper's primary objective is to put a stop to the seemingly mull ess erie of mob murders wh eh hnive disgraced the South ai/1 Amend* before (lie world. That impresses us as far more important than the preservation of sonie.hing generally referred to as “State sovereignty’ or “State's rights.’ As long as State's rights ant appreciated by thei States, and the admin istrative authorities of the States show that they recognize the duties which accompany the exercise of such rights, this news paper believes in respecting those rights. But when the phrase •“the rights of the'States’’ degenerates into a mere shibboleth behind which the State and local auhoritties earn ignore and flout the law of the land by permitting lynchers to go unpun ished year after year, then THE TIMES-DSPATCH believes that intervention by the Federal Government is not only de sirable but necessary. —.. .. The bill just introduced in Congrdss provides for such intervention. It provides that any resporfeible peace officer who fails to make adequate efforts to protect a prisoner from a mob, or to make diligent efforts to apprehend the members of the mob after a lynching, shall be guilty of a felotay and be fined up to $5,000 or imprisoned up to five years, or both. When the attorney general of the United States is advised through an affidavit from a citizierti that ten officer is guilty ofl either of these offenses, th eattorney general initiates an investigation by Federal G-men to ascertain whether1 the nntilynch law has been violated. If ths conclusion is in the affirmative, act.oil is instituted in the United States District CouJrt against the peace officer or officers. There is no provision for prosecution of members of the mob. ..~. It also is provided ini tJhe bill that a county shall be rote ponsiblo for a lynching occurring within its boundaries, and that a fine of from $2,000 to $10,080 may be levied against the counly by the United States District Court, and paid to the heirs of the person lynched. If a county can show that its p<*u*e officers exercised dud diligence in the protection of the victim of the mob, it is not subject to this fine. Such, briefly stated, are the terms of the act. Some constitutional authorities, including SENATOR BORAH, re gard the measure as destructive of state's rights, said hence un constitutional. Others take the opposite view, and hold that the bill doils not conflict with the fundamental law. PROFESSOR KARL N. LLEWELLYN of the Columbia University haw School has studied the measure carefully, and fins rendered an opinion that it is clearly constitutional. He says, in part: - --- “The Federal Government has 1ho power and the implic it duty to assure to its citizens orderly, due, legal mud even pro cedure in criminal cases at the hands of responsible officials. Whdn States or officials or subdivisions of States are dierelict in this regard* the Supreme Court, as one spokesman^ of the Federal Government, will interfere' to correct. Congress can intervene to prevent the need for correction, and especially to prevent such dereliction as is irremediable. The general scope of the measure has a clear basis in the due process and equal protection clauses.’’ • --—.. On tins, as on many other constitutional questions, there is room for difference of opinion, of course. PROFESSOR LLEWELLYN may he wrong, and SENATOR BORAH may he right. But we hould like to see the hill enacted! and carried to the United States Supreme Court for a cuEug. ‘-If the Su preme Court holds the law invalid, lhat will be unfortunaite But something must he done to end the present intolerable sit uation, and the measure just Introduced seems the best way out. — RAIL DEVELOPMENT The railroads are among our greatest industries, and their development forms one of the epochal chapters of! Amer ican history. —__ Stories of their dramatic struggles against almost insur mountable odds to span the nation with steel lines of commerce across mountains and deserts, in the face) of constant attacks by hostile Indians, thrill every red blooded American. Their history is the very essefnee of true Amen't>>-: ’ *'”b'ic should not allow their future development to be halted by the Widening embrace of polities. Progress such as the railroads typify, could only have been made by the driving force of reas onably regulated private initiative. Speeding across the con tinent in a matter of hours amid the streamlined comforts and safety of a modern air conditioned train would still be an idle dream, if the welfare of thd railroad industry had depend ed upon the uncertain whimw of political management. For many years the railroads have borne staggering bur dens of taxation, and regulation. The present Congress should lay aside proposals for radical Ra3 legislations 'audi cooperate with the roads by passing equitable regulatory laws that apply without favor to ail forms of transportation. UNNECESSARY LOSS Ignorance and carelessness cause an annual waste approach ing $300,000,000 should make .every citizen stop and think. The majority of fires are unnecessary. They could have been prevented had someone exercised proper forethought and care. They resulted from human failure*. We take useless chances with fire_all kinds of chances and the inevitable always occurs—deadly spark, and our liv- i es or property join the endless raster of firei’s till. Fire can be prevented. Is fire prevention*—which means prevention of roasting thousands of men, women and children i yearly and waste of property totaling hundreds of millions- . worth the little time, effort, and thought required to accomplish * THE VASTNESS OF CALIFORNIA Little nations, what now? Actually they are astonish ingly little nations, in area, those world pownjrs that now threaten, will their strutting, to bring) the whole structure of civilization crashing down about the ears of man. Or maybe it’s just that QaJifornita) is such a big state. Any way, you could put thd whole of ltajly, mighty Italy, with her dream of world domination within the borders ofCalifornia a,nil still have enough room, without crowding,, to throw Hun gary in for good measure. - Arrogant Japan would fit into this state with 10,000 square miles to spare, and the proud British Islns would take j up less than two thirds of our room. California) plus half of Oregon would be as large a.s France, larger than Germany and Belgium combined, and larger than Spain. When you realize how small these nations are, and what masses of people are crowded into them, you understand one reason, why w*nr plagues them. They need la.nd and resources, and they'll fight for colonies. California has but 0,500,000 people, while the much smaller Italy has 41,000,000. France lias 42,000,000, Germany 65,000,000, Japan 64,450,000, and the British Isles 46,000,000. TUSKEGEE RACE RELATIONS Dr. Moton in his book on WHAT THE NEGRO THINKS expressed th'd feeling that according to the Negro full stct™ under the law, far from; being detrimental, wins the only way in which the white man could liberate his own soul. In these two viewpoints we have expressed the Seal of spirituaS as well ns material progress. These ends which probably entail the cultural evolution of both races must he attained by increased education and a conscious effort on the part of those liberal liiijded members of both races to destroy the fallac.es regard ing both whites and Negroes which promote antagonisms nanl Misunderstandings. Tuskegee Institute’s final objective is the Integration of its graduates into society. Wp can follow' no tfiiter course than to contribute! to the promotion of interracial Siarmony, for by so doing it will contribute to the creation otf ^n atmosphere in. which people regardless of race, creed or col or can use their talents unstii^ti>a!y to the good of all. For though racial in aspect this institution has sett as its goal serv ce to all humanity. To do loss than this would he to violate the sacred trust, of those who, in spirit of beneficence toward an, under-privileged, people, have made this institut ion possible. No opportunity should be allowed to pass which will prov.de a program of cooperation between the races for the common good. .„ —«—■*■» —— | England Resumes Diplomatic Relations with Liberia Monrovia, Liberia, Fob. 19 (ANP) —Citizens throughout the Liberian Republic were elated over the re cent announcement that Great Bri tain bad resumed diplomatic rela tions with this country after being without representation here for a long period- The new Consul Gen era' and Charge *e sent t° Yapir Excellency his letter acredlting me to the Government of Liberia as His Majesty’s Charge d’Affalres. In presenting these ere dentin's to Your Excellency I am to take the Opportunity to express ho satisfaction felt by His Majes ty’s Government in the United Kingdom at the recent solution of the Kru quesion and to affirm the hope that the Government of Li beria will contine to make good progress in the field of administra tive reform-” Diplomatic acknowledgement of I the new Envoy’s Credentials was rr.r-de by the Hon. C- L Simplon, Secretary of State for Liberia He declared, in part: “In respect t° the administrative and social re forms recently undertaken, I de sire to assure Mis Majesty’s Govern ment 'Vat these efforts indirate th« determination of the Govern ment of the plan evolved by His Excellency the President,” KELLY MILLER SAYS 1 _ . The Premier Netrro Politician In a recent release I casual ly compared the political stat us of Perry Howard to that of Haille Selassie. This compari son was not original, it was de rived from the New York Tim es. The aptness of it seemed so apparent that I could not forbear applying. Mr. How ard takes umbrage at the com parison stating that it tends to belittle his constituency and mini|mize the pedestal on which he stands. I do not think it should be necessary for me to assure my esteemed and much admired friend that no such intention lay in my mind. The reference was only casual. What I had in mind was to point out in as few words as possible the rapid decline of the southern Negro and the rise of his northern brother to local and federal political pow-1 er. Perry Howard is the only surviving Negro politician who holds his own under changed conditions in the South. Im mediately after the overthrow of reconstruction the Republic an Party turned over to Negro leadership the machinery of political organization in the various southern states. About 1890 a new species appeared upon the political horizon known as “lily white” which did more to crush the political rights of the Negro than, the bourbon southern Democrats. The few white Republicans scattered among the southern states were, up to that time, disposed to share leadership with their Negro co-partisans. But asi soon as the lily white bee began to buzz in their bon nets they eliminated the Negro or crushed out his ambition for leadership. In such states as North Caro lina, Vtrgin'n, Maryland, Dela ware, Kentucky and West \ ir ginia and M ssouri, there was a sufficient body of whites with normal Republican lean ing to assume leadership with little or no complication or friction, but in the deep South it was otherwise. The story is an interesting | one. The. head of Cuney of Texas fell in the lily white bas ket. Lee of Florida, Cohen of Louisiana and Lyons and Ben Davis of Georgia were likewise decapitated President Hoov er applied the guillotine to the neck of Perry Howard of Mis sissippi, but it bounded back an left liis tough political neck intact. The spectacle of the President of the United States using the prestige, prerogative power and patronage of his of fice to crush a defenseless Ne gro politican is without paral lei in our political history. In truth and in deed, Perry How ard i sthe last of the Mohicans. In a letter to me he points out that in the midst of insup erable difficulties he maintains a political organization in ev ery county in the state, with the tptal voting constituency of over 7000 not withstanding the disfranchising laws and the persistent opposition of the lily whites. Perry W. Howard and Arthur W. Mitchell are the only Negroes who are on the ground floor in federal polit ics One controls the political organization of a state, and the other that of a eongress'onal district. Perry Howard hopes to sit on the lid in Mississippi until the Grand Old Party re stores the right of franchise to every citizen according to the inlendment of the 14th and 15th amendments. I fear he j will not be able to hold his breath for a sufficient duration of time. Mr. Howard is a Na tional Committeeman and is a trustee of the Republican Party and stands on the ground floor of party management. It is a great advantage to the col lored race to have represent atives in that capacity, especial ly when and if the Q. 0. P. ever regains the seat it once held and for which it still hopes and sighs. I remember that I wrote to President Roosevelt, more than three decades ago, who had just discredited Hon. Justin W. Lyons, that the act would serve to put the Negro effectively out of national politics. At that time Mr. Lyons was the ! only member of the National Committee. Since then a rep resentative from Georgia has been added and eliminated. Perry Howard alone survives. I Howard will probably be the last Negro to represent the race on the National Committee or either great party during the present generation. Long may he live and prosper to repres ent his race in such high con nections as he has done in the past twelve years, with dignity courage and tact. Here's to you Perry, our premier Negro politician. I trust you will be saved the ultimate fate of Haille Selaisse at the hands of “lily white” Mussolini. KELLY MILLER A MOTHER’S REVERIE (by Mrs. T. M. Skinner) Come and sit at my feet, dear little one, Cradle your head upon my knee. Let the light from the setting sun Caress you tenderly. Let each sunbeam weave a web of gold Through each yellow curl that I hold, Close against my knee, As I drift back into memory. To a little white house among the pines, Where the sunlight filtered through, Where the wind whispered lul labies, Where two curly heads with questioning eyes, Rested their heads against my knee, And teased for the tale about the gypsy, That roamed over land and sea And won medals of victory. NYA Youths At Work Washington (Special)—More, than 3,000 beys and girls from the work and student aid projects of the Na tional Youth Administration have thrown fheir weight into the fight against flood waters of the. Ohio river a'ul its tributaries, helping to evacuate stricken families, col lecting and distributing food and clothNig a*nd awstnting generally wherever they are needed, Richard R Brown, NYA Deputy Executive dirctor, has announced “Our state directors m the ai fected area have been authorized to offer help wherever their ser vices are needed,” Mr. Brown de clared ‘Approximately 10,000 youth are available for emergency work in the counties hardest hit.” “The only stipulation we have, made is that youths, because of their lack of experience, be assign-. ed as far as possible to the less I hazardous tasks of rescue and re-j habitation. For that reason, most; ! of them are being employed in the.; second line of defense—receiving and aiding refugees after hey have been removed from danger; assist ing health authorities in maintain ing water supplies, and setting up emergency kitchens ” ‘‘Our biggest part in the dfsas I ter, however, will come after the ! waiters hav® re are the only girl I ever loved. Yon know as well as I do that—” "Oh, that wasn’t the question at all, Bertie,” she answered, 't was just going to ask you If 1 was the only girl that would have you?'1 —London Opinion. 0 ~~~~~~* ~™ Experienced Captain—Suppose you are on duty on a dark night. Suddenly some one slips up from behind ami : wraps two arms around you so that you cau’t use your rifle. What | would you do? Cadet—I’d say, "Let go, honey.’’ I i I