THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St.
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone Wfibster 1517
*■-—----—■
Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927,
at the Post Office at Omaha, Nebr., under
Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR
Race prejudice mast go. The Fatherhood of
God and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail.
These are the only principles whil will stand
the acid test of good.
All News Copy of Chrurches and add Organi
zations must be in our office not later than
6:00 p. m. Monday for curren issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than
Wednesday noon, proceeding date of issue, to
insure publication.
EDITORIALS
COULD THEY^SK FOR LESS
“For many years the railroads
have been the source of a steady flow
of jobs at good wages; huge purchases
of the products of other industries;
and enormous tax payments to govern
ment,” said J. M. Fitzgerald, a rail
road expert, recently. “But this flow
can’t continue if we dry up the source
and wre are drying up the source. As
this source disappears, the investor and
his savings will disappear. So will jobs
and wages. And what is more import
ant, service will be impaired—the best
and the cheapest railroad service on
the face of the globe.”
There are defeatist who claim that
the railroad problem is insoluble un
less some dangerous step such as gov
ernment ownership of the lines is ta
ken. But there is utterly no evidence
to prove this. J. J. Pelly, president of
the Association of American Railroads
has stated that if the lines are given
equality of treatment with their com
petitors- hep will solve their own pro
blems. He added that if the railroads’
specific suggestions for legislative and
regulatory policies are accepted, “once
more we shall see that national pros
perity is geared to railroad prosper
ity.”
The first essential step is to give
the railroads greater freedom to ad
just themselves rates to meet compet
itive situations; to adjust service to
the demands of traffic, and to adjust
their expenses to the conditions of
their business. And finally, a regula
tory policy applied to all carriers alike.
This is the gist of the suggestions
the railroads have made. They ask no
r favors—no ^subsides—po preferential
treatment over their competitors. They
ask only a fair deal, and the rght to
run their business as other businesses
are run—which means the right to
charge rates that will pay expenses and
earn a moderate sum and the right to
fit outgo to income. The railroads say
that if this is done they can solve their
own problems. Could they ask for
much less?
COUNTRY PRESS CONDEMNS—
PUNITIVE LEGISLATION
The National Editorial Association
meeting in convention at White Sul
phur Springs, West Virginia adopted
\ a resolution of nation wide importance
iconcerning punitive legislaton affect
ing b^ness. The resolution reads:
“Whereas there has been a tenden
cy both at Washington and at the cap
itals of many states for legislative
measures to be introduced and spon
( sored v;hich we discriminatory and
pun it' e in their application, and
“Whereas- there is considerable
fear d hesitation among business
men because of the uncertainties aris
l ing from such tendency, and
“Whereas, we believe it the duty
of the Congress of the United States
; ard our state legslatures, in view of
unermoyment and other distressed
conditions and uncertainty among
business leaders to encourage, aid and
as-w t business rather than take any
action through discriminatory and
punitive taxes which, in our opinion,
would further retard commerce and
would tend to increase living costs,
therefore be it
“Resolved that the .National Edi
torial Association goes on record as
opposing such legislative enactments
and
“We further recommend that the
..Board of Directors be requested to
dispatch a copy of the above action
duly signed by its officers to the mem
bers of any legislative committee at
Washington or at a state capial at such
time when united action by he non
metropolitan weekly and daily papers
of America is deemed, in the Board’s
judgement, to be prudent.”
That resolution coming from the
country press of America, is highly
encjouraging. These newspapers have
become more and more concerned with
legislation and taxation which unfairly
penalize business. And the majority of
editors have come to the sound con
clusion that all such laws and class
taxes are indefensible in a democratic
country.
_A_ I
THAT “GENERAL FEELING”
AGAIN
The recent improvement in secur
ty values after many months of dis
heartening declines, has been received
with mixed sentiment. Under normal
conditions' the gains would be regard
ed as the start of an upward cycle. But
under the abnormal conditions prevail
ing today, there is a strong and well
grounded fear that the gains will be
merely temporary, and that they con
stitute only a flurry of no real signifi
cance
In other words, wKat the country
lacks today is confidence. That “gen
eral feeling” of uncertainty and worry
is as strong as it ever was, and perhaps
stronger. Millions of people feel much
as if they were living above a volcano
that might erupt at any moment. There
is no stability- And to say that this
sentiment is unjustified, as some of
the politicians do, is claptrap.
The tax problem has barely been
touchd. The national debt, in spite of
past promises to reduce it, soars to
new record after record. More labor
troubles are imminent. The govern
ment, instead of encouraging produc
tive business' has continued with it ini
mical policies, and it threatens to go
further into business on its own hook,
at the expense of existing private in
vestments. The chaotic political situ
ation is a thorn in the side of industry
and investment
No one expects such problems as
these to be solved at once. But if an
honest start were made with them,
there would be an amaxing restoration
of cinfidence. If government actually
cooperated with business—if govern
ment put into effect a plan for gradu
ally reducing the debt—if government
gave the investor assurance his sav
ings would not be destroyed by govern
itself—we would be on the way to sta
bility. And then improvement in secu
rity values or in industrial production
or in other economic matters, would
be greeted with faith and optimism,
investment or capital and “real” jobs.
NEW SAFETY HANDBOOK
Industries, engineers and others
will be interested in the publication of
a revised edition of the “Handbook of
Safety,” just announced by the Nat
ional Conservation Bureau of the As
sociation of Casualty and Suerty Exe
cutives, 60 John St., New York
The handbook is a complete guide
fpY safeguarding working conditions
in industrial establishing of all kinds
The material in the earlier handbook
has been reorganized, amplified and
revised' and consideral new material
lias been added both in text and illus
trations. All the material is based on
standard codes for the subject treat
ed where such codes exist, and was
compiled under the direction of com
mittees of safety engineers who have
had long practical experience in vari
ous phases of industrial accident con
trol.
The 32 chapters of the book touch
on such subjects as employe education
and supervision; first aid and hospital
treatment and facilities; sanitation
and illumination; the handling and
transporation of materials, engines,
turbines, traveling cranes, elevators
and other machinery; guards for
woodwork, metal working, paper, tex
tile, alundry and other machines, acids
and caustic liquids; explosive vapors
and gases' etc., etc
Consistent progress has been made
for a decade in reducing industrial ac
cidents, and this new handbook will
undoubtedly be of material aid in ex
r
pediting further progress. It should
and will be used extensively by all
manner of industries, large and small,
which are interested in the accident
problem and its solution.
-o
ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
Pails, Divident Checks and Tax Bills j
of Every Individual. National andj
International Problems Inseparable
from Lpcal Welfare.
* * *
According to one dispatch, “Wall
Street has on of the quickest and most
complete changes of heart within mem
ory of oldest veterans ” The week end
ing July 2 saw another steady advance
with the shares of industrial corpora
tions reaching their best level since
October. On Juty 2, the vollume of
trading was the largest for any Satu
rday in eight months, and the “tradi
tion” that buyers are always wary be
fore a holiday we*k end was shattered.
In two weeks, quoted bond and stock
values increased some $10,000,000.
I he big guestidn now is' will busi
ness—which so far has gained but lit
tle above the exterme depression lows
—follows the appreciation in security
prices? Precedent holds that the stock
market senses major changes in the
state of business, weeks or even months
before they occur. And it is a fact
that the sentiment of business leaders
wfiile far from who’Hy optimistic, is
getting better. Even some of the most
cautious commentators are now com
ing out of their shells and forecasting
that a strong upturn will be underway
by Labor Da,v, and that the fall will be
active- At the same time ti must be
pointed out that the country is still
confronted with a number of exceed
ingly grave problems which must be at
least partially solved before any real
measure of recovery can be gained.
Unemployment is one of these
problems. There has been a certain a
mount of reemployment lately, parti
cularly in those industries which are
directly benefited by the new pump
priming program. However, on the ba
sis of the best figures available,, it ap
pears that about 12,000,000 people are
out of work, with several millions more
on part-time.
The railroad problem grows worse
not better, and is easily the most im
portant specific industrial problem we
have on our hands today. Railroad net
operating income is running far below
last year—in April the decline was
526 per cent. It is regarded as inevi
table that unless a miracle occurs a
cconsideral number of lines will go in
to! receivership this year, fltyie joddj?
seem to be at least even that a special
session of Congress will be called in
September or October for the purpose
of doing something for or about the
railroads. There is congressional talk
of plans for scaling down capital stru
ctures, for effecting consolidation of
lines, and for making loans to the in
dustry for buying ney equipment and
other purposes. The industry |fselfj
favors these measures, but insists j
that its main need is higher rate,s and j
that until it is allowed greater leeway
in changing its rate base to meet con
ditions the basic problem will remain
unsolved.
National income will be material
ly lower this year than last, when it
reached its post 1930 peak of $70,000,
000. The President recently offered
the hope that 1938 incotoie will not drop
below $60,000,000,000- Some experts
believe the total will be less than that.
However, it will be well above its 1932
low of $38,000,000,000.
The national debt, of course, will
shohv another stiff rise this year, and
that is always a disturbing factor.
There is a very strong sentiment in
favor of complete overhaul of the tax
system, to eliminate inequalities,
broaden the tax base, and increase re
venue.
To sum up, the outlook is improv
ing, but remains to be seen whether
tangible betterment will follow the up
turn in sentiment. Watch the heavy
industries—utilities, steel, transpora
tions, etc-, The trends they take will
determine the course of business as a
whole.
-O
The New York Herald-Tribune’s
Lolndon correspondent recently ob
1 served that if the Franco, Hitler, Mus
solni combination continues to sink
British merchant men carrying sup
lies to Loyalist Spain, it may eventual
ly “sink the chamberlain government
to boot.”
At this column has pointed out be
fore, sentiment in England against the
Prime Minister’s “rpeace at any price
policy” is growing- A short time ago
the Government suffered a major loss
when Viscount Cecil of Ohelwood,
president of the League of Nations
Union, a winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize, rose in the House of Lords, de
clared that Chamberlain’s policy was
“inconsistent with British honor,” and
resigned his position as conservative
Party whip. That is about as startling
as if Majority Leader Barkley should
rise in the Senate and declare himself
opposed to the New Deal.
In the Commons, Chamberlain
easily defeated a Labor Party motion
of censure- But ten members of the
Conservative wing, led by brilliant,
erratic Winston Churchill, refused to
vote and one Conservative M. P. voted
for the motion. Chamberlain’s re
cent speeches have tended to be worri
ed and apologetic—something that is
next unknown in the case of a Prime
Minister with a top-heavy Commons
majority.
The Spanish Loyalist are last
much better than it was believed they
could' and there is a rumor that Hitler
and Mussolini are planning to give
Franco enoght troops and supplies to
enable him to win a fast and decisive!
victory. If that happened, the fight
against Chamberlain would undoub
tedly reach a fever pitch
-n
SAVED BY A THREAD i
It sounds incredible—but at least j
once in recent years a good-sized city
in America was saved by a thread!
The thread in this case was that
of fire-hydrant coupling. A great fire
started in the city, and soon grew be
yound the control of the local depart
ment. Help was summoned from an
other city a few miles away. The need-1
ed equipment arrived, attached its hos
es to the hydrants, and the city was
saved.
Here is where the thread comes in
A comparatively short time before, the (
city struck by fire had changed its
couplings to the standard size. Had it
nlot do|ne this- the out of town equip
ment could not have used its hydrants,
would have had no water suppy, and
so would have been worthless. And the
probability is that the city would have
been destroyed.
This is an example of a little-known
but immensely valuable work that is
constantly pursued by the fire insur
ance company, ^through the National
Board of Fire Underwriters. It seeks
to have all communities use standard
equipment, couplings, etc- And it has
met with noteworthy success.
Other activities of the industry in
volve surveys of communities toi de
termine the quality of water supplies,
alarm systems, and fire departments.
Structural (/ondldons are likewise
surveyed and specific, detailed suggest
ions for eliminating hazards made. And
the industry has prepared a Model
Building Code which has been adopted
in whole or in part by many progress
ive communities.
A. city was saved by a thread! Its
the little things that start fires—and
its the little things that make it poss
ible to successfully prevent and control
them- And those little things can be
the means of saving tens of thousands
of lives and hundreds of millions of
dollars. i
.... -— ——- —_
“SOMEWHERE”
Somewhere out and we who drive,
The heart and sould through the
city’s hive,
Where life is found in the city walls,
Have little heed where the red road
calls:
Or little choice where the trail may
wait'
So that they lead from the city’s
gates.
To—The Sunset West-To the
twilight dew,
Where the rose sweet dreams of the
years
Come true.
JAMES WELDON jj
JOHNSON |
(Read by William Picken at u
Brief Memorial Service held at
tho Anneal Conference, NAACP
Columbus, O.
“God of our weary years
God of our silent tears—”
Our colleague is dead. Among
us his body wi|l no more be seen.
But omong us he erected his own
imperishable memorials; storces,
poetry, music- J3ut as long as
those of us who knew him live,
our best memory of him will ba
his friendship or his personality.
This memory will sanctify every
other meorial of him.
When we heard of his tragic
death, what was the expressed or
suppressed exc|sjnation of our
tongues or of our thoughts ? “Why
him? There art many useless
creatures with legs and. arms
whom Fate could have taken!**
That reflection or utterance was
natural, and is forgivable. But
uappns em -jug; a\ou^ om op
death has not better riveted our
attention upon him,—and may not
cause us the more eagerly to ap
propriate everything that he has
left us? Would a |onger life and
a slower death, of old age, have
given us a saner estimate of him?
Thoso who called him ‘Mini,” had
anticipated reminiscent talks m
tho twilight of life. We humans
always think, or feel, a? if we arts
going to Jive forever, hr almost
f irever. That is a protection
whk-h nature gives us against
th burden of the inevitability of
Death.
We do not know, but timely
death is not altogether an evil. If
Abraham Lincoln had l|ved three
decades logmen would the 19th
century have come to regard him
as the topmost man of the mo
dern world? The struggles, tin?
f’ghts the bickerings and the re
cessions from his best ideals
would not only have pained h's
years, but would have sujlied or
clouded for a long time his true
greatness.
If Marius had died after turn
ing back the bar barmans from
Italy ho returned to Rome, if he
had been struck down ns he mov
ed trimph in his chariot, he would
havo died a greater Roman that
Caesar. But the subsequent vicis
situdes of his life wore down his
moral and social statute among
men.
If Napoleon had died at Water
loo, it would certainly have not
lessened the glory of Napoleon.
If the poor man who threatened
King Edward the VIII of Eng
land now Duke of Windsor had
actually assassinated the King,
that poor man would have been
more severely punished, but ho
would have saved the idea) of the
most promising emperor of the
world's greatest empire.
Who knows whether to weep
when Fate strikes? James Wel
don Johnson would not choose
“mourners” fen* his funeral. He
would think of ex-comrades and
grateful people gomg forward
with the work in which he so
honorably shared for so long a
time.
Natural as they are, there is
no |ogic tears; no plan or pur
pose i ngrief. Men learned to
sorrow because they knw not what
eslo to do. We now know some
thing 'better to do than to sorrow
merely when wo lose a great fel
low worker. There's still the work
to be done.
) The virtues of men usually live
after them. Their foib|es have
shorter life. "Jim” was dignified
but not uncongenial or cold. He
was warm-hearted and normally
* in "the life of the party." To tho
present secretary of th NAACP,
i who succeeded hirti, he was al
ways a big brother. He boasted
that ho had discovered the young
man in an office of a Georga inr
suranco company, and had engiiv
eered the bringing of his suc
cessor into the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Col
ored People.
When “Jim” went to the Fisk
True to our God
True to our Native [and "
university faculty, he did rot
|eavo the association; he became
a member of its national board
and one of its vice-presidents—
and he kept the respect and af
fect of his colleagues until the
end.
His greatest monument is the
one with the widest bass; "Lift
(Continued on Page 8)
