COMMENTS EDITORIAL PAGE opinions
THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phones: WEbster 1617 or 1618
®ntercd as Second Class Matter March 15. 1927. at the Postoffice at
Omaha, Neb., underAct of Congress of March 3, 1879.
TI3CIMS 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 principles which will
stated the acid test of good.
All News Copy of Churches and all Organizations must be in our
affice not later than 6:00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver
ting Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, preceed
. jig date of issue, to insure publication.
| ..EDITORIALS.. |
EDITORIAL OF THE WEEK
WHERE THE ONUS WILL LIE
(IVom The Richmond Timed Dispatlch, Nov. 23, 1937.
remains 10 be seen whether
■ the country will hand for a
Senate filibuster lignins, the
anti lynching bill, at.or tin
farm bill is disposed of. Such
a filibuster, if prolonged, iiihj
lie up all the impor ant reeo\
ary measures proposed by the
adminiatra ion, naid greatly in
tenaify the business driline.
No filibuster which thwarts
the will of better than 2 to 1
majorities in (Vuigiress and in
the country as a. whole, is ever
jim’ified. That is* not denioera
vv t( is 'he negation of denote
V!iv<- *o,( when sneli n filihus
t*1" W vi*s°s *ha legislative
uve.iAas 'o ho'» down at a eviti
, ..i n n d delay's for
',M ' ‘s if Tto' months (be en
" *' vf nvn.-ii.'lv i«ntnrtnnt
’ .. !»•»! 'loHmi it is move
lndrttfeno,iT,lrt (ben ovov
'flte filifns'er of the past
eenirts| tbe hnil bns not
"mre Vd srVA’ levislnAion. since
•ho recovery bills are not rendv
for presentation to ('Vtprrvess.
At 'he sente time, if the filihus
1 erei*s had talked dense and
■m*
discussed the issues, ins ead of
reading 14 page speeches deJiv
eretl Iwo years ago, and oJuer
wise consuuning us much time
as possible wi.'h a maximum of
wind and a minimum of intelli
genV'e, the bill would be out ol
the way today, and other mat
icrs could be taken up in their
regular order.
Nor will it be the fault of
advocate* of anti lynching leg (
islatiou if tbo opponents choose |
to filibuster in the future. The t
advocates would have been 4
more tfluui glad to have had ihe '
issue debated on its merits last
week, and to have voted utpon
it immediately thereafter. Thus
the onus for putting sand in
the legisj.n,'ive gears will be on
the opposition, if it dehides to
filibuster again. TThis is espec
ially tfrue, in view, of the fact
that, at leas|t one of t'he scan
'ors listed as ready to take a
part in such an enterprise had
said the bill will certainly pass.
Tf no, why consume weeks hi
fu ile talkt That makes the
whole thing more inexcusable
tli.au ever.
The High Cost of Living
Writing in (lie New Republic
Jonathon Mitchell observes:
Except for war and peace, the
high cost of living is now per
baps the liveliest isbue before
ihe country.’
To anyone who lias watched
legislative developments dur
iug the past two or three years
the present situation is not sin
prising. About forty states
liave passed laws permitting
price fixing of trade marked ar
hides by manufacturers. The
federal government lias approv
<‘d thi^ policy through the Mill
or Tydings Act. Also the Fed
oral government, through the
Robihson Patman Act, has out.
lawed various established mcr
chandislng and distribution
practices which tended to re
duce overhead and the cost
spread between producer and
consumer.
In other words, we have
steadily jacked up prices by
law, until they are becoming
clear out of line with the earn
ingu of the people. No wonder
the High Cost of laving has
jittnped to the front rank of
public problems.
When John Smith Struck A Match
John Smith worked in a sec
iion of a large factory where a
-langeroi<s mixture of vapor
nud adtr was present. One day,
in spite of regulations, John
fctruck a match. Result: John
Smith went to the hospital. The
factory wait destroyed by the
subsequent fire. Hundreds of
hia fellow workmen suddenly
joined the lists of unemployed.
Many times e^ch year a sim
»iar incident occurs. And every
lime it happens it means that
resources are destroyed, taxes
age lost to the community, men
are thrown out of work; pur
chasing power is reduced in
the entire soeibl structure and
a barrier is( put in the path of
progress.
When fire strikes a home or
a farm, the tragedy, though it
may be on a smaller scale is al
•o great. Destroyed hopes, ni|in
ed plans, lost savings — these
are some of the fruits of fire.
Last month the nation cele
brated Fire Prevetntion Week.
Phamiphletsi were issued, and
speeches were made, newspa
per articles and advertisements
were printed—all with the in
'tent ion of acquainting the pub
DELINQUENT SUBSCRIBERS—PLEASE NOTICE
The postoffice department does not permit the delivery
of papers to delinquent subscribers. If your payments are not
up to date, please mail or bring amount due to The Guide office
or call WEB1517 for representative: Your cooperation will be
reatly appreciated' The Management
Adults Attend W. P. A. Night Schools
Denied the privilege of public ed
ication in their youth by lack of
acilitits. apathy on the part of the
tublic, or ignorance on the part of
heir parents, more than 350,000
olored men and women all over the
iountry in the past few years have
been going back to school—in lei ]
sure daytime hours, evening after
work, even late at night. Packing
makeshift WPA study centers, they
ha'e seized eagerly upon opportun
ities for learning which before the
start of the work relief program
did not exist. Their teachers, too,
arc benefiting through the pro
gram, as their work with the WPA.
keeps them in trim for a better
teaching job.
Shown are an elementary class
in reading and writing (upper left),
a shorthand class (upper right)’ a
class in the chemistry of cosmetics
(lower left), and a class in radio
mechanics (lofrer right). The inset
shows a student in a literacy class
learning simple arithmetic with the
aid of his teacher.—WPA Photos.
It was learned in juvenile court
this week that the e'hild who is
permitted to torture and mistreat
family pets frequently develops in
to a hardened adult.
With the widespread sale of
rifles and shot guns to irrespon
sible hunters, there is little won
der that innocent bystanders, live
stock, song birds and family pets
are shot during the hunting sea
son.
So long as this nation adheres to
tho erroneous belief that all red
blooded American boys must be
given toy pistols, air guns and
rifles to play with, we can expect
a murder to be committed in the
United States every forty.five
minutes throughout the year. Fur
thermore, it does not take a mis
guided youth who is skilled in op
erating an automatic revolver or
rifle long to loam how to mani.
pulate a machine gun.
-o
Flying Doctor
Huge areas of Australia are will*
out a single hospital, and often th*
nearest doctor Is .V) miles or more
away. Wireless and airplanes have
to be used to aid the seriously 111
In these vast empty lands. The I
Australian Inland Mission lias de
vised a special wireless system with
automatic transmitters for use by
Isolated stations In the wilds. As
soon as anyone falls III a relation
nr friend can discuss the case by
■ wireless with the nearest medical
officer.— Pearson's Weekly.
lie, with fire hazards and how
to eliminate tlhem. It has been
a common experience for fire
losses to drop during and for
a short period after the Week,
only to rise again. In other
words, during the Week, peo
pie do lirften and learn—and
they apply their knowledge
while it is freph in their mind.
Then laziness and forgetfulness
take hold, and fire loss zooms
once more.
Make 1938 a different kind
of year. Practice fire preven
tion every week and every day
It can be easily done—the ex
penditure of a few minutes of
your time a,t regular intervals
is all that is needed to keep an
average building safe. Is it
worth your while to put in the
time—>to s^ave dollars and per
haps lives.
THE LOW DOWN
-from
HICKORY GROVE
BY
JO
SERRA
About every other day. when
>ou p"k up a paper, you will
see where they are shooting mi
other dozen or hatlf dozen, over
(here in Russia. And pretty
soon they are geui>a have to do
quite a little lookin’ aroired to
find people to shoot, lake n
the en; ly days in the eai Iv days
in the l . S., they had plenty of
buffab and they thiUg'il tie v
would never run out ox ’em, so
'hey shot 'em just for a buffalo
robe.
Aud some day it will be the
same in Russia. And it is fun!
ny that you will find people in
the United States on soap box
es and in other places, here and
there—and you will find ’em
favorin' making over our gov
eminent, and tryin’ out some
foreign idea, or some new ism
that has not been used but, it
sounds great.
But the ducks talking up
these big ideas, they would not
be so hot for them, except they
figure maybe tjhcy can be the
top sergeant, with a nice new
job, and a fur lined overcoat—
and not the gt|y standin’ up
against the wall.
Yours, with the low down,
JO SERRA
-o———
Hew Is Ramov* Tight Ring
If the ring on your Anger cannot
be removed In the ordinary way,
you might try one of the following
methods:
Moisten your Auger and rub It
with soap, then try to press th«
ring over the Anger Joint, turning
It round all the time.
Another way Is to procure a piece
of Ane but strong string. Thread
the end under the ring, then wind
the string evenl> round the Anger
as far as the middle Joint. Take
hold of the end under the ring and
unwind It slowly upwards, when
the ring should move nlong the
string and come off.
Linen Supply of (Ships
One move of any housekeeper at
house-cleaning time is to count up
the lineu and china. On a ship this
Is a major operation; for Instance,
one of the largest ships afloat has a
jmall matter of 80,000 towels nnd
4.",(XX) napkins aboard of tier when
she goes to sea. She need* only
A.000 tablecloths for a voyage, howr
ever.
R»m*n Gold Coins
Roman gold coins were Issuer
about 217 B. (!., and were railed ses
tertii. The head of Mars appears
on the early ones, followed by sttv
era with the head of young Janus
and warriors swearing an oatfc
over the body of a pig on the ob
verse. Still later, the loauea of gold
were resumed by Sulla In 88 D. d,
and Julius Caesar la 40 B. C.
The Psychological Mechanisms
In Dictatorship
By William H. Thompson, Ph.D.,
Head of the Department of Psychology and
Philosophy, University of Omaha
The world today is full of conversation about dictator
ship. The psychologists are interested in many factors in the
political and economic picture. Perhaps their observation is
from a slightly different vantage point than is usually taken.
They feel that dictatorship in the
modem world has been made pos
sible because of certain psycholog
l c a i situations
i which arise at
given times. I
should like to
enumerate a few
of the situations
which make dic
tatorship pos
sible.
Dictatorship is
made possible
Dr. Thompson largely through
crowd situations. Dictatorship is
essentially a product of the psy
chological mob, organized around
a single focus of interest and atten
tion. Mobs are essentially cre
atures of feeling rather than intel
ligence. They are highly suggest
ible and are subject to hypnotic in
fluence.
Must Hare Unity
The essential characteristua of
the mob must be maintained at all
costa by the dictator. He must ob
tain unity in the mob above every
thing. Dictatorship cannot thrive
upon difference of opinion, or upon
freedom of speech. One of the firs*
acts of any dictator is to suppress
all forms of expression which do
not attribute to the particular unity
for which he ia striving. Action
must be restrained to only those be
havior patterns which are consist
ent with the central theme of the
dictator’s objective. All thought
must bend toward the mental fu
sion point of the mob.
1 In politict.1 life, this mob may be
known as the nation or state. In
the crowd the individual is reduced
|to an inferioi position. His per
sonal philosophy becomes one of
hopelessness in the face of the
power of the group. He asks,
“What can I do?” “Ilow can I live
independent of the group?” “I am
too small to do anything but go
with the others,” is tha irresistible
conclusion.
When an individual oecomes
thoioughly inducted into the psy
chological mob situation, he feels a
new power for himself. He be
comes active. He imagines himself
superior. He may assume heroic
attitudes, feeling for himself a part
of the strength of the group.
Man of Action
The master of the mob, or the
dictator, is an interesting study.
He is a man of action, supremely
sure of himself. He knows where
he is going, and, in campus lan
guage, he knows all the answers.
The mob cannot and will not toler
ate a philosopher, a scholar, •
sceptic, or a man of deliberation.
Every dictator has been s man
characterized by superlative action.
Every dictator keeps the group in
tact by appeal to powerful feelings.
Every dictator is a master of emo
tional pyrotechnics. His speech
may have the superficial aspect 'll
thought. His thought is always
in very simple terms, couched in
highly imaginative symbols which
are loaded with violent feeling. He
is a phrase-maker and a name
caller. He shouts battle cries and
coins mottos. He flatters the feel
ing of strength and power in the
crowd.
The dictatoi never loses an op
portunity to encourage this feeling.
He lights the fires of emotion and
depends on the psychology of con
tagion to produce one consuming
blaze of national feeling. When
this unity is intense, dictators are
the absolute masters of men. High
er forms of thought, morality, ami
ethical action have vanished as the
ghosts of some pleasant yesterday,
and liberty exists only as a name,
profanely spoken by uniformed
mockers in a land which was once
the shrine of free men.
An Echo
From My Den
By S. E. Gilbert
--- ■■
As I sit here in my den with
pen in hand, meditating as it
were, there cornea to my mind,
a statement that was made to
*ne la^t week by a young g.u
dent, who spems to be alarmed
at what the future holds for
Ihim. His statement was made
wLtti reference to certain busi
ness houses to he found on 24
street: "They take all and give
nothiiig.’ 'l^hi^ statement eom
ing from a student who is for
<ced to grope ?n the dark oa
his future, struck me like a
thunderbolt from heaven when
I stopped to (consider that the
youth of today iB being handi
capped by nonthinking adults.
They remain in a state of ieth
argy. therefore, in defend of
youth, I write:
Needless to say, many of
merchants on 24,h street usd
in other parts of the city thrive
solely on the revenue they gar
ner from the hands* and tabor
of black Americans. An a ra
suit of this patronage they owa
| beautiful homes in other par a
of the city, educate their ektM
ren, teach them the prinaaplea
of merchandising, and ia faat
launch them on successful ca
‘Vers, business or otherwisa, ai
the while the customer- tin*
black man who foots the bill,
hasn’t the least idea what ha ia
going to do with his on aea
‘who is about to finish high
School. In view of these fact*,
there is one thing this cunw*
er should expect and that ia
reciprocity from rtieSte m<»r
chants iVi the form of empltay
ment, Not only should this hr
expected, but black Ameriaa
should develop the habit af
trailing with those mertehaaha
who through their employing
of members of our own gra»p,
"how gratitude for our suprpart
and thereby forcing thos# wha
decline reciprocity to raova
'Iftiere is no excuse an Vila
part of bQack America ib Out
ha, 16,000 strong, sender# sf
I $10,000,000 annually, allowing
>heir hoys and girls to wonde*
abot.y their future, whes by
making every dollar thnt yes
spend, play a part in ereating
jobs for tlhean, through either
the direct avenue of building
an economy structure of by
the indirect avenue of only
spending your dollar with the
merchant who wild employ you.
The time has come when we gs
a group must 'cease allowing
parasites remaining among U8:
that elass of merchant who be
lieves in taking all and giving
nothing. We must band oursel
v£s tigether and demand a fair
deal, and thereby take our boys
and girls out of a quandry and
aUow them to be able to see a
bright and prosperous fufttre.
-e
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Notice to Subscribers—
Please notify the Omaha Gaide
office, by mail or telephone, na to
your change of address. The post
al authorities make a charge for
the change of address when we are
not notified, in time to prevent de
livery to the wrong address. The
Omaha Guide will bo forced to
charge a small fee of five setts
for each change of address with
out notice. Please call WE 1517 or
mail us a post card with you* now
address on it, at one week before
you move. This will prevent a im
plication of papers and the live
cents eharge. Thanking yoat for
your cooperation in this mattes,
THE OMAHA GUIDR PVB. ••
