THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St.
Omaha, Nebraska
Phone WEbster 1517
Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927,
at the Post Office at Omaha, N'ebr., 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 office not later than
5:00 p. m. Monday for curren isBue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than
Wednesday noon, proceeding date of issue, to
insure publication.
Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood af
God and the Brotherhood of Man must prevail.
These are the only principles whil will stand
the acid test of good.
James H. Williams & James E. Seay—Linotype
operators and Pressmen. Paul Barnett—Foreman.
■ ■ ■ ■■---r*
EDITORIALS
BETWEEN the LINES bY Gordon B- Hancock
for Associated (|egro press
Negroes Losing Their Land—
—Dangerous Symptom
In a recent survey conducted by
the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, it
was revealed that gradually land own
ership by Negroes in Virginia is de
creasing. Wherein this phenomenon
represents an isolated situation in
time and space it need not occasion a
larm; but wherein it represents a gen
eral tendency it becomes an alarming
economic symptom and one that
should cause Negro leadership grave
concern. The desire to own land was
one of the fine and constructive obses
sions of the older Negroes and because
of it much land was acquired.
For some years there have been
Negroes Losing Land —
indications that this land purchased
through sweat an blood was gradually
slipping from the present Negro gen
erations. In far too many instances
lands are going to waste that a few
years ago wrere in fine states of culti
vation, wThile thousands of younger
Negroes from the South are languish
ing in the slums of the Northern cities.
What is worse, these lands are being
repossessed by the whites who more
more are returning to the farm for
sustenance. One reason the younger
generations of Negroes is indifferent
to the possibilities of land ownership
resides in the fact, that Negro leader
ship has been remiss in its great op
portunity to hold before the race the
futurelessness of a landless people!
The group that relinquishes hold on
the land is on its wray out. The future
of the Negro lies on the farm and not
in the city. The city is of the white
lhe Negro need not hope lor
more than “what is left’ ’; and this is
becoming less and less. While a few
Negroes may “spread out” arid win
economic competence, the masses are
going to be more and more distressed,
If this fact were more generally press
ed upon the Negro he would be more
hesitant to let his land get away. But
the matter of urging Negroes to stick
to the land is not popular and does not
savor o fthe ‘fight’ that Negroes are
wont to manifest. But, as about the
farm, so about many other matters of
vital concern. Negro leadership is
more desirous of being ‘popular’ than
in being helpful. It has come about
that little or nothing is being done to
point out the shortcomings along with
the long-comings” of the race. No
body is doing anything to provoke the
race to serious thought on a racial pro
gram. Aside from protest, we have
no program; and this writer has point
ed o'ut time and again! that a program
based on protest along will not suffice.
Negroes need vocational education
most keenly today, but there is nobody
fro press the matter upon him.
Teachers Apathetic to Vocational
Training
This matter must be sold through
our school systems but our teacheae
are not sold on the matter of vocation
al education. They do noi believe in
it and therefore cannot commend it to
their pupils. It is safe to say that the
major results of the entire program of
Negro education can be resolved into
two fundamental reactions to the
world about us, the “white collar com
plex” and the “protest complex”. A
side from these two reaction]* the mor
al effects of o'Ur education are neglig
ible. The situation demands that some
body do some straight talk to Negroes
themselves. When we shall have got
ten the white man ‘told’ and have learn
ed to “speak up to” and “back” at him,
we are still a long way from the Prom
ised land of economic an social salva
tion. Negroes have faults no less than
the white man and they should be toid
of these faults.
Should See Our Own r aults —
A spoiled race in this age is at a
serious disadvantage and this will be
more disadavantageous as the gener
ations come and go. Israel must be
told of his sins. We are not doing the
cause of Negro advancement to direct
all of our criticism at the dominant
white man and fail to exhort and ad
monish our own people along the ways
of survival. The white man makes us
race conscious, but we ourselves must
achieve vote- consciousness, job-consc
iousness, dollar consciousness and
farm consciousness. Strangely enough
almost the entire Negro press is ad
dressed to the white man rather than
to the Negro. This need not be so with
the columns of the white press open to
Negroes. The Negro press should be
addressed to the Negroes and when we
would address the white reading world
let us do it through the white press.
Our race needs some straigt talk on
many matters. Our inclination to e
vade this is a dangerous symptom!
---0O0
ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Mr. Chamberlain’s “Stop Hitler
drive started out with dolovs flying
and bands playing. But, as some ast
ute observers anticipated, the march
rapidly slowed down. It may be pos
sible on some future day to really
round up the powers in a united front
against Dor Fueher—but, at this writ
ing, it certainly isn’t an imminent pos
sibility.
The drive involved obtaining de
clarations opposing further German
aggression, and threatening economic
and military action against the Reich
in case she again stepped off the reser
vation, from France, the Soviet Union,
Poland, Rumania, and a number of les
ser powers. France agreed eagerly—
never in her long history has she been
in so dangerous a position as today,
with enemies facing her on three
fronts. But with Frances enthusiast
ic cooperation came to an end. The
Soviets were interested, but were dis
tinctly distant—Stalin makes no bones
of the fact that he regards Mr. Cham
berlain in particular, and British for
eign policy in general, with extreme
doubt as to its basic motives. Poland,
a key nation if the agreement were to
be worth the paper it was to be written
on, said No. The Polish foreign minis
ter, Josef Beck, has been called, right
ly or wrongly, the most astute and
most unscrupulous foreign minister in
Europe, and he is fairty well satisfied
to let Britain and France sweat. His
ace in the hole is a non-aggression pact
with Germany whose expiration date
is 1944, and he app.uvrtly be’ieves it
is to Hitler’s interest to keep his word
to the letter in Pound’s case
Rumania was in the difficult posi
tion of wanting to say Yes, and not be
able to. For King Carol’s rich little
kingdom is today in the most precar
ious position of any European power.
If he threw in his lot whole hog, with
Britain and France, there is a definite
danger that Germany would attack—
and Carol seems to be somewhat du
bious as to whether his proposed allies
put to the acid test, would do any more
for him than they did for dissolved
Czechoslovakia. And there is always
the chance, he feels, that if he plays
ball with Hitler, his country will main
tain at least a nominal independence.
Carol is playing ball with Hitle'*,
I and with a vengeance, as the terms of
the new German-Rumanian economic
treaty, disclosed in synopsis form on
March 25, attest. As an AP dispatch
phrases it, “Germany will soon have
her fingers so deep in Rumania’s eco
nomic and industrial life that the in
fluence of other foreign nations there
will become neglible.” The treaty giv
ess the Reich virtually free access to
Rumania’s agricultural, oil, metal and
timber resources—all of which she
needs. And the consummation of this
immensely important treaty brings up
the question of German-Russian rela
tions again.
It has been widely believed that
Hitler desired Sovet Ukraine above
all else. But, with the grasp he now
has on Rumanian raw materials, the
experts are coming te the opinion that
he will not find the Ukraine necessary.
And that may mean that he will at last
seek peace with Russia. This might
take the terms of a non-aggression
pact, such as he has with Poland. And
if that should happen, Hitler’s power
over Europe would obviously become
unlimited. If Britain and France were
no longer able to regard Russia as a
potential ally in cast* of trouble, they
wrould be almost pitifully ineffectual
in opposing Hitler. And Russia would
be free to turn her attention to Asia,
where she has vital interests.
What it all seems to add up to
nowr, is this: Hitler is still going places
and the farther he goes the better he
Incomes able to go farther still with
nothing more important than diplom
atic correspondence and conversation
in his way.
In this country, we are seeing, to a
small extent, the result of German ag
' gression. Duties have been upped 25
percent on imports from Czechoslov
akia, and all other German-conquered
areas. Our American foreign policy
is about as strongly anti-Nazis as it
could be, and diplomatic relations are
strained. But there seems to be little
sentiment here for giving the Europ
ean democracies more than our moral
support and a modicum of economic
support. And in the meantime, we are
being forced to build up the greatest
war machine in oit Mstory against
the possibility that Hitler will *one day
menace some country er some terri
tory in which we have a direc* interest
There is little to report concerning
domestic business. The foreign rwix
up has continued as a depressive fac
tor, and the possibility of war (even
though few experts think one is really
coming soon) casts a lengthening sha
dow.
The President’s statement to the
effect that will be no reduction in the
tax burden, plus White House inist
emce on increased WPA appropria
tions, have likewise dimmed the out
look.
On the favorable side is a substan
tial increase in new industrial orders.
Automobile sales havei been good, the
market for electrical equipment is ex
panding, farm equipment buying is up,
and railroad purchasing has been at
comparatively high levels.
—-0O0-•
FOR YOUR CHURCH NEWS
READ THE OMAHA GUIDE
BUYERS GUIDE by —
Clarence H. Peacock •
The Works Progress Administra
tion has become the nations biggest
industry, employing some three mtf
lion men and women. These three mil
lion employes support a theoretical
seven million to eight million i>er3ons
including themselves. They draw
wages of about six million dollars a
day, while devoting part time work to
scores of occupations. A staff of more
than 35,000 Federal employes super
vises them, together wtih a pyramid of
State, county and municipal agencies.
The WPA, is primarily a financing
agency for construction projects, but
various Congressional acts have put
its funds to work in many other way**
ranging from relatively small grants
for direct relief to communities unable
to meet these needs to the supplying of
funds to the corps of engineers, the
water conservation agencies, the pub
lic Health Service and a large number
of other Federal agencies.
The dispute in public circles is not
with the benefits of WPA, but with
the method followed in its operation.
As a means of putting money into
otherwise empty pockets, of giving in
comes to people who otherwise would
need the dole of charity, the project is
acknowledged success.
But the grave questions are asked
whether it is economic in the sense
that the country can afford to support
this system indefinitely, and whether
it is not encouraging a low grade leis
ure class from w'hom incentive fle«s
with the certainty of subsistence in
come regardless of W'hether they per
form tasks efficiently or simply loaf
through their jobs.
The most discussed among alter
natives to the present WPA set-up is a
possible plan to turn all relief expend
itures over to the States, with Federal
supervision acording to arbitrary
standards on the basis of population,
and proved need.
For greater economic security
read our papers, and patronize their
advertisements.
CALVIN’S DIGEST —
by Floyd J. Calvin
(listed by Editor & Publisher)
WOMEN’S ADVANCE — —
Before the Marian Anderson inci
dent is closed we think the great ad
vance which this episode has brought
to colored women should be mention
ed. Usualy colored men get the spot
light in prestige-budding and status -
raising flares, but this time a woman
precipitated and was the heroine of a
national furore, the glamour and pene
trating quality of wni :li is just as po
tent as the rise of Joe Louis to the
heavyweight boxing championship, the
climax of the career of Dr. Geo. W.
Carver, or the record of constructive
endeavor left by Booker T. Washing
ton. *
When Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
was catapulted into the spotlight of
Federal officialdom at Washington
under the New Deal, colored women
felt proud; but Marian Anderson went
serenely through the DAR. hysteria,
and then sang so movingly at the Lin
coln shrine, the star of colored women
shone even more brightly in the heav
ens of achievement.
The Birmingham Age-Herald,
great white daily of the South, says
aptly in an editorial after her voice
had rung out: “Woman and singer
Was always the woman. A woman of
griefs, fears, and trials. A woman
who has dewlt amid aspirations and
frustrations too deep for mere words
—that must seek expression in song.
A woman acquainted with subjection.
A woman come to triumph.”