THE UMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St.
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WRbflter 1517
Entered a.s 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
cations must be in our office not later than
5:00 p. m. Monday for curren issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles n»t later than
Wednesday noon, proceeding date of issue, to
insure publication. ___
Race prejudice must go. The Father-hood of
God and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail.
These are the only principles whil will stand
the acid test of good._—
EDITORIALS
IN THE DOGHOUSE
We are not qualified to say as to
whether the patrolman placed on the
24th St., beat last week was the victim
qf injustice. However, we are concern
ed, when our daily news publication re
fers to this 24th St., section singularly,
as the “doghouse”. We do have our
share of hoodlums and undesirables,
which is also true of other Omaha sec
tors. The great majority of peoples who
have their residences and businesses on
24th St., and those who visit this sec
tion daily are without police records
and are not iikelfy to have any. They
are striving to better their community,
to be decent and upright citizens
worthy of associating with any others
who class themselves likewise and
rightfully resent any possible infer
ence that they are residing in the “dog
house” district or be the dogs in the
house.
In a later edition this paper states
that the N. 24th St. beat is one of the
longest three beats in town. Not wish
ing to be unduly sensitive, we hope this
is what the frank but not too tactful
writer had in nund when he used the
quoted term doghouse. We wrould not
like to believe such journalism, even
though unthinkingly done is the general
policy of the World Hearld, in-as-much
as w’e have personal knowledge of a
very commendable stand taken by this
paper on matters of much more serious
consequence.
r\( )n_
KEEP ON THE JOB
“Producers principally interested in
the sale of tiuid milk need to keep
on the job if they intend tc* keep a
breast of increased consumption of
other dairy products,” observes the
Dairymen’s League News.
Consumption of fluid milk has to
comparatively unchanging levels, while
consumption of evaporated milk per
capita has increased 50 per cent or
more in ten years, and consumption of
cheese and butter have likewise shown
material gains.
Here is a big lot for prorucers—and
for their marketing cooperative organ
izations. A substantial increase in con
sumption of fuild milk, by both adults
and children, is needed in the interest
of the public health, l’ts up to dairy
farmers, distributors and others invol
ved to “sell” the public the fluid milk
story.
-0O0
A CASE FOR STATESMANSHIP
.. .»
There is an old proverb that often
we can’t see the forest because of the
trees. That can be applied aptly toi
today’s railroad problem.
We hear much of the opinions, po
licies and differences of railway man
agement, railway labor and govern
ment regulating authorities. But we
hear little of that vast, unorganized
group of Amoricans who have most
to lose if the lines continue along the
road to ruin—the owners of the indus
try, who have purchased its stock and
bonds.
Hundreds of thousands of citizens
most of them of moderate means, are
direct owners of railroad securities—
and are thus directly dependent, in
whole or in part, on the railroads for
their livelihood, and old age security.
Millions of other citizens are indirectly
owners of the industry. Every man or
woman, for example, wrho owns a life
insurance policy or a savings account
has a vital interest in the railroads—
for banks and insurance companies
have always been among the largest
holders of the industry’s securities.
The interest of these millions in
the the railroads transcends that of
either railway management or labor.
And it is to these millions that manage
ment, labor and the government owe a
tremendous and inescapable responsi
bility. The crash oi the railroads wrould
mean chaos throughout our whole eco
nomic order. It would mean unemploy
ment, commercial failure and general
business depression on an unpreced
ented scale. It wTould mean the ruin of
an untold number of individuals.
--ouo
“Not Alms, But Opportunity”
We are reminded of this, the Moto
of the National Urban League, by the
prevalence at this time of the year of
those who wtould give alms to the less
fortunate. Charity, we are told by St.
Paul, is the greatest of virtues, but we
dofn’t believe he meant that kind of
charity that w'ould give a man a dime
for coffee and rolls when he is hungry,
but would not lend a helping hand to
aid the same man to secure a job and
rehabilitate himself.
It seems to us that far too many
Negroes are accepting alms of instead
of seeking opportunity and that those
of us who promote the “benefits” that
give Christmas baskets to the poor are
aiding and abetting this social tenden
cy. Were we as diligent in behalf of
making these same people self-sustain
ing there would be fewer Negroes on
the relief rolls or seeking “handout” at
Christmas times.
We fully realized that there are
those who through sickness, old age or
other circumstances over which they
have no control, are in need of food and
clothing and would' be unable to get
these things but for the aid of their
more fortunate neighbors. Neverthe
less, we also know that there are far
too many colored families who make it
?. practice to go from place to place and.
register for baskets or anything else
that is being given away. They have
no scruples about accepting two or even
two or even three such baskets if they
can get them.
Such people have lost al lsense of
pride and have made up their minds
that the world owes them a living. They
cannot become an asset to their city or
race until thqy too adopt as the motto
for their personal lives—“Not Alms but
Opportunity.” New York Age.
-0O0
THE HOME
Government of the people, by the
people, and for the people. This form
of government guarantees the protec
tion of life, liberty, and property to
gether with certain definite rights—
freedom of religion, and of speech both
spoken and written, the right of peace
ful assembly, and all rights that may be
implied in the “pursuit of happiness.”
At this moment we are exercising many
o± these rights because we live in a
democratic country.
On the ether hand democracy pre
supposes the assumption of eer-ain re
sponsibilities such as participation in
government by the governed, under
standing and practice of the principles
upon which our government is founded
intelligent cooperation with govern
ment alertness. The entire structure of
democracy rests on the premise that
the government and the people are one;
thus, is the people fail to fulfil the
functions of government and grow lax
both in attitude and in performance,
then the ideal will become confused,
and subversive propaganda will creep
into our midst. “Eternal vigilance is
the price of liberty" said the statesman
and it is indeed a small price to pay.
h’acism, Nazism and otherisms, are
all in direct oppositions to democracy.
In the latter the people are supreme
and constitute the reason for the exis
tence of government; in each of the
former the impersonal government is
supreme and people live for the state.
“Be it ever so humble, there is no
place like home” sang the poet and we
can testify that it is the dearest spot on
earth. It is a fundamental unit of civili
zation, the cradle of ideal, exerting a
refining and sustaining influence with
out which civilization could not exist.
In this spot held sacred to individual
expression a man may live his life in
his own way so long as he does not in
terfere with the wellbeing of his neigh
bor. Democracy recognizes the home
as one of its most precious components,
nurtures and proptests it, and grants
that “.a man’s home is his castle."
THINGS QNE REMEMBERS
-#
' .—»■ — i — ■ •
By R. M. Hofer
In a conversation with one of the
nation’s leading bankers, I gained a
new impression of banking. The banker
said:
“People think of me as sitting on
top of the world of a pile of money—my
money. They don’t stop to think that
it’s their own money that I am respon
sible for protecting. It doesn’t seem to
enter their heads that I am just a paid
hand, that I lie awake nights worrying
about my responsibility of caring for
that pile of money which can be claim
ed by its owners, the bank’s depositors,
at any time.
“A bank that did not loan money to
businesses and industries that maintain
a local community, would not be pa
tronized by the people, and it wouldn’t
deserve their patronage. This means
that if a community fails, a bank nas
to carry a great share of the load. Peo
c like bankers because they have
to consider the more pessimistic side
of the business picture, knowing that
the public will blame the bank instead
of itself for community failures which
result from the many causes beyond
the banker’s control.
“It makes me laugh when I am
pictured as sitting on a pile of money.
A more accurate picture would show
me with a wrinkled brow trying to
make loans that will be safe from los
ses due to undue business optimism
and all the pitfalls of business risk.
People don’t like bankers, and you can’t
blame them, for too often they have to
turn down the financial requests of
their best friends.”
Yes, l gained a ditierent impression
of the banking business after talking to
this man who is a power in the finan
cial world. I didn’t envy him, or his job.
He gets little thanks for doing it well
and he runs the constant risk of abuse
and criticism for community failure
beyond his control.
-o°o
Billie: Tell me, what is the first
thing that turns green in the spring?
Elmer: That’s easy. It is Christmas
jewelry.
-o°o
Jackson: Are you a man who can
smile when things go wrong?
Stone: Sure I’m a garage man,
and I get paid for fixing them. $
-0O0
Bub: Do you like to play with
blocks?
Sue: Not since I’ve grown up.
Bub: Then why are you forever
scratching your head?
-0O0
Enough is Enough
• •
Dora: I’ve had enough. Next week
I’m divorcing that faithless husband of
mine.
Talma: Oh, so you are part of a
triangle?
Dora: Triangle nothing. I’m part
of an octangle.
[BUYER’S GUIDE by Clarence H. Peacock |
. Certain recent events seem to in
dicate that business and government
might be beaded toward an era of good
feeling. Business men are no longer
leaving the job of explaining their po
licies and practices to public officials,
professional agitators or self styled re
formers, they are now beginning to
state their own case.
Mr. H. W. Prentis, in a closing
address before the annual convention of
the National Association of Manufac
turers in New York City, set forth the
policies of this body. The National As
sociation of Manufacturers admitted
making mistakes in the past, they
changed their policy of strafing the
government and in their resolutions,
they' encourage amity.
The administration is trying in
many ways to put purchasing power in
to the pockets of people who have little.
There aVe subsidies to give farmers
spnding cash, WPA jobs for millions
who can’t find private employment
and minimum wage guarantees for
those who do.
Yet our federal tax system picks
these same pockets. From 50 to 70 per
cent of the governments revenues are
from taxes which are passed on to the
consumer. Corporation taxes and im
port duties raise the prices of the goods
people buy; so do excises on liquor and
tobacco, playing cards and matches,
automobiles and tires, gasoline and oil,
radios and refrigerators and admission
to amusements.
Only five per cent of America’s vot
ers pay income tax, the other 95 per
cent are taxed heavily on the goods
they buy. If the government collected
the bulk of its revenues in direct taxes
on commodities, the very poor would
pay a lot less in taxes, and therefore
have a lot more to spend for the things
they need.
Business believes that; the gigantic
spending program by the government
many achieve temporarily a degree of
success for its immediate objectives,
they also believe that it is dissipating
the resources that are vital to perma
nent recovery and ultimately it must
be paid for by a grinding burden of
taxes. The withdrawal of these addi
tional tax billions from legitimate in
dustry diminishes the ability of busi
ness to provide more goods and more
jobs in the future.