COMMENTS EDITORIAL PAGE opinions
..EDITORIALS..
~THF, OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phanes: WEbster 1517 or 1518
Entered as Second Claaa Matter MarriT 15, 1927, at the Postoffice at
Omaha, Neb., under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879._
TERM SO F SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR_
Itace prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brother
hmKl of Man must prevail. These are the only principles which will
Stal'd the acid test of good.
Ail News Capy of Churches and all Organization, must be In our
.ffice not later than 6r00 p. m. Monday for current msue. All Ad jer
kin,, Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, proceed
ing date of issue, to insure publication.____
“The Hitfh Cost of Electricty” Myth
A,s every householder kitotvs, the monthly electric hill in
n microscopic item in a family budget*—totaling, in many install
ees. less than the cigarette hill or amusement hill
Electricity is likewise a microscopic item in the overhead
expenses of thiei great hulk of businesses, as a (diieago 1 ribune
editorial points out. The Tribuuecites its own experiences.
One of its subsidiaries manufactures paper. Electric power rep
resents less than 0 per cent of total cost of making paper and
delivering it. This could be> reduced to under 7 per cent with
more efficient machinery. The Tribune maintiaiuH a radio sla
Hion—power amounts to 2Vi per1 cent of its overhead. The Tri
bune has a garage. Power repre three fourths of 1 per cent of
cost of operation. The Tribune owns an office building—and
the cost of electricity used in it for all purposes is about 1 Vi
per cent of the revenue it produces. The Tribune has a dock and
%varehouse and power comes to7—10 of 1 per cent of the entire
cost of operation. -
Finally, the combined cost of all electricity u»ed in print
ing, distributing, advertising, editing and managing the paper
comes to about 1—30 of a cent per copy.
Wityi a very few exceptions, such as electro chemical in
dustries, electric cost is one of the smallest and least consequent
al cost* to business and industry. Tftemember this the next time
you hear the politocians damn the electric indusrtry for rob
bing thw people. Tf all, tjh<> facts fye known, it1 woulld probably
be found that no government venture gives the taxpayer less
for the money spent, than do tax free, tax subsidized Federal
aVul municipal electric plants l>eing erected throughout tJhe
country.
Peterson’s Comment..
Now I know ju*t what it means to be ashamed of being
Colored. Pick up any daily newspaper and see what their fea
ture story is. The so called Father Divine and his latest bid for
the crown of America’s Clown Prince.
I think he ajpd his followers have a right to pat together,
even stay together (I wish they would) and go through what
ever foolishness that strikes their fancy. They have a right tb
think he is anything he can persuade them to think he is. Put
when their sties serve to put the race in a had Tight), with
the penchant of achieving the front page, that is only matched
by the president when lie brings another pet theory out of his
liat, then it is high time for us to take stock of how much
harm the whole race will receive from Father TWviine.
W0 have the unfortunate liahit of receiving blame for the
individual acts of any one person or sect, provided that act
will he a discredit to us. And one Father Divine r Tlev. Solomon
Lighfcfoot Michaux (the Happy Am T map from the hanks of
the Potomac) can cause more harm to the raee as a whole than
a flock of Joe Louises, Jesse Owenses, or Congressman Mitchell*
can counteract. As long as we continue to produce, fosterhand
build up into national figures men like Divine and Michaux, wc
will never he taken seriously by the rest of the country.
I doubt not that Michaux and followers were sincere in
their goingR on, hut even the youngest, radio listener was aware
the broadcasting chain that put them on the niP was presenting
their patrons with a comedy program that, was second tb none
As long a« we dont take ourselves seriously, how enn we expeei |
different treatment from others. T know oumeighkors have kad ,
their Carrie Nations. Billv Sundays and Aimee Semple MePker,
sons and lots of other onlts nnd soot's that make onrs seem in
noeent pienios. knt their whole raee never got klamed for the
flow anties tkov nrodueed. Tkov still have Aimee akd John S.
Summers, hut tkpir nnklieitv ngentR ouvkt to turn green wfth
jonw when tkov see just wkat Patikor Divine has achieved.
Bomemher tkat apartment, konse mnrdor of several montlis
eo-ia in tko Bronx tkn* tkov pinned on a, Afnior Oreenet Well, for
weeks after that hardlv a eolored person in Now Tork Citv had
a eknnee to land a ink of nnv kind Somr. of tkoqp that Sverk
worlrino were fired wkile others wfprp looked on ns samples of a
rare that nrodneed a ekarnetor like Maior Proeno And vet a
^*aw waaVq Yiftfovn tTi a» we kad wkat was palled the Tittorton
Bntk Tnk Afprder kv a foreigner, knt kis raee was neeorded no
'different (watinpni for their one man’s erime
Wo haw* a soientist down at Hkiskegee Tnstitnt'o who has
dono wondorq untk tko uoannt and vnm to konofit ns nnd ovorv
contkorn fp|tnr*f»r knt for tko liflo of me T ean t think of kis name
muis illustrate n"’ -noint Do is unknown to von and mo and the
ki«* oitv npnons. Do is doinrr frwa nvnok to mako tko kondknes.
T Vnow kan-o soiotioo liVo tko “Sonv of T Will Arise” knt ns
Ion" as tkov V»«a in tkoir own nieko tkp wkolo rako does not
guff or or is not olassod as likolv svneopknnts for Pntkor Divine’s
rmilo it is timo to oall a kalt.
Bv tko wav tko aoinnfiot's nalme ia Prof. floorge W. Carvor. a
very fine gentleman, too.
KELLY MILLER
SAYS
The readers of my weekly re
leases will recall that I was com
pelied to undergo an operation
for eatarnnt last June. For sev
eral months my eyesight was
in a state of total eclipse which
caused suspension of my releas
es for several months, T became
so deeply interested in events
of the political campaign that I
resumed the discussion of the
issues despite my almost total
blindness. As a matter of fact
many of them were dictated in
total darkness. .Since my first
operation 1 have not been able
to read one word of a printed
page, and have been compelled
to rely upon the radio and and
ihle read by others.
Let me stop here to pa.y my
comvliments to the radio. One
can keep fairly well posted on
what is going on in the world
at large through the medium of
sound. Persons who are bom
blind oftentimes acquire acute
intelligence, who can not only
keep pace with current events
but can actually contribute to
the thought and opinion of the
world.
There must be * world of dif
ference between those who are
born blind nnd have never en
joyed the blessings of sight and
those who after being educated
have become afflicted with
blindness. These have but to
live upon the momentum of past
accumulation. The loss of sight
may intensify the power of re
flection. Indeed, whenever one
wants to think deeply upon his
observations and experiences
in life, lie is prone to shut his
eves and close out the floating
occurences of events about him.
The poet ITomor was blind
and yet, he could, with a keen
inner vision visualize and por
tray the (Story of the Trojan
War immortalized in Ihe Iliad.
One also thinks of John Milton,
the blind poet,, who not only
was the author of Paradise Tiost
hut was Secretary of State in
the cabinet of Oliver Cromwell.
I can recall two members of the
United States senate who were
totally blind, hut who kept
abreast of their colleagues in
discussion and analysis of po
litical events.
Some people are essentian>
Bye minded, who tube in at a
glance all occurences that come
within range of vision, but the
mental process is characterized
by quick preception rather than
by deep reflection, while others
see little but think much. There
are two circuits of thought, the
long circuit and the short cir
euit.. The short circuit proceeds
directly from the tongue thru
the ear to the brain, as when a
speaker addresses his hearers.
The long circuit is symbolized in
written letters which bv light
vibrations are transferred to the
eve and thence to the brain of
the recipient. The short circuit
is more immediate and instant.
#ie long circuit is more round
about and involved. Others are
ear minded. They lack the abil
ity of receiving knowledge by
the medium of the printed press.
When one loses hirt sight, he be
comes illiterate; tbat is, be can
neither read nor write. After
passing through the actual ex
ienee, T am fully able to appre
eiate the value of literary and
the disadvantage of losing it
when once attained.
But illiterate people are no1
necessarily ignorant!, >ior arie
Full Understanding
Needed to Solve
Race Problems
The Negro problem in the United
States ami in Omaha is by no
means unsolvable, were the senti
menta of the M<»st Rev- James H.
Ryan, bishop of Omaha as h® ad
dressed the Catholic Students
Mi'tsion Crusade conference in the
Creighton university auditorium
Sunday afternoon.
“I am noil denying it is difficult,”
lie said. “The most helpful sign is
1 that I find is that the colored man
himself M cms to bear no ill will a«
yet in spite of the fact that he has
been discriminated against and has
been an object of racial prejudice.”
The problem can only be solved,
he pointed out, by complete under
standing and then by the will to
H'dve it. Bishop Ryan "a* in high
praista of the Rev. James Pruess,
S. J., former Creighton university
professor and present pastor of St.
Benedict colored parish, for thte
wonderful work he is doing among
the colored ptoople of Omaha.
Bishop Ryan said, in closing,
that there was no racial prejudice
among children and that it develop
I'd as people matured. All races
“are brothers in Christ” and every
one should accept that platform
they less deficient in thought
power than their more fortun
ate literate fellows. Visual sym
bols of knowledge are a wonder
ful aid in facilitating the pro
cess of thought, but they can
not originate it
The poet Gray tell* ua in his
Elegy of a Country Churchyard
that “Some mute inglorious
here may rewt.” Indeed we have
had the remarkable example of
Helen Keller in whom the lossi
of sight, sound and speech did
not estop the expression of that
wonderful thought power with
which she was endowed.
Out of the depths of hits blind
ness «7ohn Milton pathetically
asks: “Will God exact day la
7>or, light denied?" The kind,
character and quantity of work
exacted is in proportion to the
faculties and nl»iBities vouch
safed. One is called upon to la
bor according to his ability;
however great or small that may
be.
Ah for myself, I was compel
led to give up for the time be
ing, my platform work and the
preparation of my autohiogra
phy, and was compelled to limit
my output to my weekly re
leaser and sundry newspaper
contributions to the white press.
But my interest in things in
general was no whit abated.
T have had a, second operation
which seems to have lifted the
scales from my eves and enal)
led me to see the outside world
as if through a glass darkly. My
oeeuliSf informs me that 1 have
good hopes of early restoration
of wight by means of which T
will be enabled to make normal
use of my eyes. Even with the
present, degree of recovery 1
can repeat with keener under
standing the Methodist hymn
which I sang as a boy in South
Carolina,:
“I once was lost, but now 1
am found,
Was blind, but now 1 see.“
T am nO| bragging. Although
I have passed beyond the shad
ow of total eclipse, I am still in
the penumbra mid moving to
wards the fuller light. I feel
that I can about resume my full
share of work and complete m>
autobiography which my origi
nal operation caused me to sus
pend.
I cannot forego the sermonic
purpose of advising all who
read these lines to take care of
their eye sight. In the modified
language of the tooth pa3te an
nouneer: see your occulist twice
a year.
Calvin’s Digest
By F,loyd J. Calvin
_ Herndon’s Release
It seems that when the presi
dent exolaimtd recently that he
wanted the Supreme Court
changed NOW, he arouised the
staid justices to a new sense of
appreciation of what “this day
and age” wants in its court de
cisions. The freeing of Angelo
Herndon, a Communist, for al
legedly insurrectionary activi
ties in Georgia, is a healthy sign
that civil rights are not to be
lost sight of in our very “ma
terial” and prejudice ridden
civilization.
The Communists are people,
and citizens, and have their
rights as well as other citizens.
[Of course we are against some
of the basic doctrines they may
preach, but we do not approve
sending them to the ehaiugang
for comparatively trivial of
fenses, such as the alleged Hern
don offense.
We welcome the decision in
the Herndon case, and congrat
ulate the LL.IX for seeing the
young Communist through to
victory, against what at times
appeared to be overwhelming
odds.
Tha Divine Oase
_It is otar belief that colored
editors should be very careful
how they play the news of the
sensational Divine case, lest
they inadvertently violate the
principle of upholding and not
ridiculing Negro leadership. Af
ter all, the so called “Father
Divine41 has demonstrated his
power to lead the masses, white
and colored, and jealousy or
fear of his power should not be
allowed to warp the editorial
judgment. Venting editorial
spleen, either in the news or the
editorial columns, whethr it is
editorial columns, whether it is
not Rood journalism.
We have never seen Father
Divine, but we ^ave a healthy
respect for some of the people
associated with him, for we do
know' them well. We recall that
his chief counsel, A. A. Madison,
w'as not long ago a postoffice
clerk who studied law at night
and was admitted to the bar
long after he was a man. We
have had business dealings with
some of the white people in the
organization, and have found
them uniformly men of their
word, who stick to what they
say, and on whom you can de
pend to carry out their stipu
lations.
As to the essential value of
the Divine teachings, we know
absolutely nothing, not having
taken them seriously enough to
investigate them. We prefer the
orthodox religions, or brand of
religion, as we know them, in
the established churches, so the
philosophy of th e cult is of
no interest to us now, nor do we
think it will be. But as a Negro
leader, we feel Divine should be
given the respect due his sta
tion, and to that extent we will
support him or any other indi
viduaJ who demonstrates his
power to lead. Until Divine does
something for which the law
can restrain him, without delib
erately going out to “get“ him,
we say let him alone.
_President Hornsby’s Views
The views of President Wal
ter Spurgeon Hornsby of the
National (Negro Insurance Ajs
aociation, as expressed in a re
cent statement to the country,
and in an address before the At
ianta Negro Chamber of Com
merce, are worthy of careful
consideration by the leading ex
ecutives of the group.
The insurance leader made
this significant statement in At
lanta: “Although we are unal
terably opposed to segregation
on account of race, we must face
facts as they exist and by intel
ligently directed and adopted
recourses mould this sorry idea
nearer the heart s desire. Segre
gation on aetount of race, is a
fact, and an accepted fact in
America today, and will con
tinue to be so long as the Negro
stays with the mudsill group.
He will maintain his mudsill
status until there arises within
his ranks a type of leadership
able to bring about in his way
of thinking a real and abiding
desire to become a respectable
American citizen. He must first
acquire something which, 1 am
sorry to say, he has to date ac
quired very little of, that is
Self Respect—personal self re
speet and racial self respect.
Our leadership must divest it
self of the idea that personal
acquisition of wealth is the high
est good and the supreme end
of human existance. We need
a consecrated leadrship that is
willing to sacrifice personal
I
An Echo
\ i
i
From My Den
By S. E. Gilbert
t- t- t t t tltiittsiti.. ■'
Ad I sit here in my DEIN with
pen in hand meditating as it were,
there comes to mind the thought
that DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
AGAINST THE CHURCH IS FU
TILE.
There is apparently no end to
he amount of cxiticim that is dire# (
ed against the ohurch today.
These critics havfe used the class
morns, the press and all other avail
ablo means in order to spread their
nefarious propaganda in opposition
to thle very thing that gives man
kind life, restrains him morally and
makes him a better citizen.
I admit that the churdh as an
organization, has not attained the
height of perfection. There is room
for improvemlent. However when
improvement is made, it will be
made by the church itetelf and not
by those who merely critcize and
stop there
Recently here in Omaha, the Oma
ha PresbyUery inaeted a deed
worthy of praise when it elected
a Negro minister as its moderator,
in the person of Rev. John S. Wil
liams. Here is a case where a
group of gentlemen who believe in
the principles of the Fatherhood
of God 'and the Brotherhood of
Man, acted on the merit of quajlifi
acation irrespective af color Such
action is a step toward better race
relation and ia indeed worthy of
commendation.
The action of the Omaha Pr«e
bytery W the antithesis of the M«
thodist Episcopal church which in
its effort to satisfy race prejudice
attempts to throw the Negro out.
Surely if the price of unification of
the Methodist dhurch and the Me
thodist South is the elimination of
the Negro then it is unchristian
like and should not succeed*
Examples like hat set by th*
Omaha churchmen strengthen faith
in Christianity as far as Negroes
of Omaha are concerned; the exam
pie attempted by the Methodist
church shakes it.
ends for racial ends, and final
ly racial ends for human ends;
a leadership that can neither be
bought nor sold. A leadership
that will evince that they are
so thoroughly imbued with the
righteousness of their cause
that all who come under their
benign influence will realize
that: ‘It matters not how
strait the gate, how charged
with punishments the scroll,
they are the masters of their
fate, they are the masters of
their souls.' For it is true that
before one may with success as
sume a position of leadership
over others, he must have first
conquered himself."
The youth of our group will
do well to study this paragraph
from President Hornsby’s ad
dress. Here is a man who helped
found a company (Pilgrim Life
Insurance Company of Augusta,
Ga.,) 39 years ago, and who haa
been its general manager since
its establishment. The company
has admitted assets of $661,994
and a surplus to policy holders
of $114,088. It owns stocks and
bonds to the extent of $535,106.
Mr. Hornsby’s creed, in the light
of his success, would seem to be
worthy of adoption by all who
would succeed.
Alabama Visitor Elated
Frequently we hear many un
worthy things said of the South
so that when we find something
in favor of that section it should
be broadcast. Hr. Thomas Roy
Peyton, young specialist in proe
tology, has returned from his
first trip to Alabama, where he
attended the annual meeting of
the John A. Andrew Clinical So
ciety at Tuskegee Institute, and
he is filled with a glowing ao
count of the fabled southern
hospitality, and notes how well
the group appears to be doing
in that section. ,
i