THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St.
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WEtxster 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
All News Copy of Chrurches and add Organi
zations must be in our otfice not later than
5:00 p. m. Monday for curren issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than
Wednesday noon, preceeding date of issue, to
insure publication.
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of
Gad and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail.
These are the only principles whil will stand
the acid test of good,
EDITORIALS
CATHOLIC WOMAN COLLEGE —
HEAD EXPLAINS LIFTING OF
COLOR BAN AT COLLEGE
New York, Sept. 8 (C)—The lift
ing of the color ban at Manhattanville
College of the Sacred Heart is explain
ed in detail by Mother Dammann, pres
ident in a statement in the college pub
lication, “The Tower Postscript,” sum
mer number. The decision last spring
to let down the bars to colored girls
caused the circulation of an anony
mous letter among the college alumni,
.but replies proved the alumni to be
overwhelmingly behind the adminis
tration. The statement by President
Dammann reads in part:
“For some years we have known
that the racial problem in Catholic ed
ucation would have to bet met not by
us in theory only, but in practice,
.and we have been educating our stu
dents in the principles by which it
should be met. This spring for the
first time a young colored girl who ful
fils the requirements applied for ad
mission to the Freshman class of next
September.
“Now what are these require
ments? First of all high scholastic at
tainments, this candidate meets our re
quirements. Other students from her
high school, white girls with the same
qualifications, would be accepted with
out demur. Would it be just to refuse
her ?
“Secondly, all applicants unless
they have been qualified for a scholar
ship by special examination and by
proven need, must meet the fees stat
ed in the Bulletin. This prospective
student will meet all the required fees
for a registered day student.
“Thirl, we have cultured require
ments. And this is because it is impos
sible to give our type of education un
less there is a well prepared soil in
which to sow its seeds. When we have
taken students with a home back
ground in which books are not loved,
in which truth and goodness and beau
ty, unselfishness and respect for auth
ority are not held in honor—even when
there has been a ceratin veneer of
manners and the material advantages
that money gives-we have not devel
oping the ideal I traced for you a mo
ment ago. This particular student
meets this requirements also. Her fa
ther and mother are college graduates
with dignity, tact, gentleness, good
breeding and the virtues that a devout
Catholic home life develops. She is
not coming to make social contacts
Her ambitions are far wider and deep
er than that. She is coming for an ed
ucation that will equip her to work for
the uplifting of her own racial group.
She need': such an education for leader
ship. We are a Catholic college equip
ped to give it to her. Can we in con
science refuse to do so?
“Knowing that this step-no mat
ter (how just and consistent—wtould
rouse some opposition, we put the
question before the Trustees. They
saw it as a duty to be fulfiled and as an
opportunity to “do the truth in chari
ty.’ We made our decision on the fol
lowing principles—the general princi
ple of the scaredness of human per
sonality from which so many others
flow underlying all that we consider
ed.
“1. There are no scientific facts
and no rational principles which sup
port the theory of an innate racial in
feriority.
“2. There are revealed doctrines on
the oneness and equality of the human
race which show racial discrimination
to be an unjust and therefore an im
moral and un-Christia nthing. More
over, the Pope through a letter which
the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries
and Universities has recently sent out
(we learnt of this after We made out
decision) has condemned vigorously
and roundly the theories of racism.
This condemnation is directly against
those theories of Nordic superiority
which obtain in Germany, but it ap
plies to theories of innate racial infer
iority.
“3. The democratic principles of
our Government have found expression
in the laws of many states by which
institutions which draw a color line lay
themselves open to the loss of their
charters.. All the first class Eastern
colleges for women admit colored stu
dents when properly qualified, with no
consequent ‘loss of prestige.’ Is a
Catholic college founded on superna
turual principles to refuse to do what
Bryon Mawr, Wellesley, Smith, Rad
cliffe and other privately controlled
and supported colleges do on merely
rational and democratic grounds? I
know of one of these colleges where
there are three .Negro girls so embit
tered against their religion by the re
fusal of Catholic colleges to receive
them that they are open to the allure
ments of the Communists, who are on
ly too ready to make capital of such an
attitude on the part of Catholic insti
IUUUI1S.
“4. The Pope and the Bishops in
sist upon Catholic education on all le
vels for Catholic students. A Catholic
colored girl who meets the require
ments of a Catholic college and applies
for a Catholic education has a right to
it, and in consequence the college has
a right to it and in consequence the
college has a duty to give it to her.
“5. It is the duty of Catholics col
leges to advance Catholic Action under
the guidance of the Bishops by Train
ing a Catholic intelligentsia, in the
good meaning of this term .By helping
the lawfully ambitious Catholic mem
bers of the Negro group to subversive
influences which are working to win
over Communistic and atheistic doct
rines and activities. Even the mei e
instinct of self-preservation would dic
tate this. The call of the Holy Father
gives us a nobler and moie inspning
motive..."
A A__
• - v/w v
THE THREE “MUSTS’ OF—
_ TRAFFIC SAFETY
-—
Better law enforcement, ])lus
better driver education, plus bettei
highways, constitute the key to auto
mobile accident prevention, according
to the experts. And none of the three
ingredients can be left out of this
“safety stew” if we are to get results.
Better law enforcement doesn’t
mean tough policemen, and traffic
judges who decree the maximum pun
ishment on every possible occasion. It
does mean modernized traffic codes,
“fixless” tickets, a higher calibre of
motor patrolman his many instances,
and judges and prosecutors who do
their duty without fear or favor. It
means a type of law enforcement
whose purpose is not punishment, but
accident prevention. Often some sound
advice will do more to curb a reckless
or thoughtless driver, than a fine.
Better driver education requires
the scientific approach. Drivers must
be appealed to on every possible occa
sion, by the written and spoked word.
Messages must be made simple, vivid,
and memorable. The great majority of
drivers involved in accidents can be
made into safe car operators. In the
case of the small percentage which is
congenitally reckless revocation licen
ses seems to be the only cure.
Better highway construction is
w'here the engineer comes in. When
you build a road on which it is im
possible to have a major accident, than
you’ve solved the traffic problem so
far as that road is concerned. And mo
dern planning makes it possible to
come remarkably close to that ideal,
through the use of under and over pas
ses, traffic lane separation, and ap
proaches which do not permit cars
traveling in opposite directions to
meet. The highway of the future will
not only be faster than that of today,
but immeasurably safer.
Accident prevention involves the
long pull. It can’t be achieved over
night. But properly directed and con
tinous campaigns, over a period of
time, will turn the trick.
-0O0
Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks -
“The ancient saw that you can’t
teach an old dog new tricks, doesn’t
apply when it comes to teaching old
drivers new skills and attitudes,” says
Dr. Herbert J. Stack of the National
Conservateon Bureau. “This goes for
the adult pedestrian too.”
Dr. Stack describes some of the
work that is being carried on in var
ious communities to promote traffic
safety—work that should and must be
greatly extended if the death and fa
talety rate is to be reduced. In many
places, police departments have taken
the lead in providing scientific educa
tional programs for drivers and ped
estrians. Some departments have es
tablished schools for veolators, and
found them to be extremely effective
in educating the ignorant and curb
ing the reckless. Newspapers, radio
and other media have done a splendid
work in keeping the gravity of the ac
cident problem and its canifold solu
tions before the public.
Also, Dr. Stack said, an intelligent
ly conducted! educateonal program
simplifies the task of identifying that
small group of drivers which refuse to
voluntarily mend theid ways, and can
be reached only by arrests, fines, or re
vocateon of driving dicenses.
One of the vital “musts’’ of any
program is that it be permanent. As
Dr. Stack warned, so-called “safety
weeks” and similar hit and miss driv
es of brief duration, usually accomp
lish lettle or nothing. What good
may be done is lost almost immediate
ly unless the drive is followed by a
consistent educational and enforce
ment campaign that is in contenual
operation.
We’ve “dodged” the traffic saf
ety issue too long. We’ve tried spor
adic campaigns and seen them fail
time after teme. There’s only one
way out—and that is for every com
munity, large or small, to go after the
reckless, inco-mpetent and ignorant
driver with campaigns that will get
results.
Encouraging Marketing Cooperation
The Wisconsin State Department
of Agriculture is carrying on some
interesting activities n behalf of agri
cultural marketing cooperation.
Country-wide co—^ops are being
created. Permanent headquarters
are to be established. The membership
is being brought together at periodic
meetings. During the winter season
round table talks will be held, and ex
perts will discuss cooperative market
ing and other phases of producer co
operation. j
Ths is a worthwhile undertaking
that is bound to produce results if the
farmers are sensible enough to stick
to their tasks and not branch off into
alien fields of business. Cooperation
among producers, and the creation of
a central bargaining authority to dis
pose of crops, is sound and profitable.
Failure comes when co-ops attempt
something which is basically out of
their line, such as merchandising. A
successful marketing cooperative mar
kets the produce of its members, and
that’s all.
-0O0
—CROSSROADS of AMERICA
America’s most efficient steam
railroad systems criss-cross Nebraska
with 8,663 miles of lines, connect Ne
braska swiftly with every nook and
corner of the nation. Nebraska rail
ways pioneered stream-line, light
weight trains, originated free railroad
pickup and delivery service. FREIGHT
RATES ARE COMPETITIVE WITH
THOSE OF ALL MIDWEST RE
GIONS. Nebraska is the center of
transcontinental trucking, with 60,000
trucks operating within the state.
Transconental airways serve both
coasts and link Nebraska directly writh
every U. S. airline. River transport
ation is assured on the Missouri river
with a 6 foot channel in 1938 and a 9
foot channel by 1940. The entire
Mississippi valley become^ available
for river barge service at low rates.
Excellent transportation is but one of
the many advantages Nebaska offers
industry. Here too are found cheap
power and fuel, capable and ample la
bor, the vast mid-American market,
incomparable freedom from punitive
taxes. Nebraska offers: No» Income
tax; No sales tax; No other extra tax
es; No bonded debt; More money for
living. Nebraska’s constitution' pro
hibits state bonds. Moreover, 77 of 93
counties have no bonds, Municipal
debts are low, and steadily declining.
America’s “White Spot”.
-oOo
LAPPING THE FIELD
In foreign countries, Americans
are usually regarded as prodigal peo
ple. But the life insurance totals paint
a very different picture.
No country in the world even ap
proaches the United States in the total
volume or per capita coverage of life
insurance. To use a racing term, we
have “lapped the field.” with the se
cond country far behind.
Equally important, it is not the
wealthy man but the average man who
has contributed most to the growth of
life insurance. Big policies constitute
but a drop in the bucket. Smaller poll
ties, rangling from one to ten thousand
dollars make up the vast majority of
the $120,000,000 of life insurance now
in force in this country.
A prodigal people? We may be ;"i
some wrays—but not wThen it corn^s to
safeguarding the future of our depen
dents and ourselves.