LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS Entered as Second-class Matter at The Post office, Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, November 23, 1940 OUR 13th YEAR—No. 36, City Edition, 5c Copy Under Act of March 8, 1874—Business Phone: WE. 1517 _ _ ______ Knox Gets Protest On Arrest Of Negro Messmen Who Complain LAND GRANT COLLEGE PRESIDENTS HOLD SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE Supreme Court Ruling On Residential Covenant Case Opens Up Hundreds Of New Homes To Chicago Negroes; HAILED AS BIGGEST SOCIAL VICTORY IN YEARS-1 CHICAGO, Nov 22 (ANP)—Hailed here as the biggest social victory in many years in tlhe U. S. Supreme court, the Carl A. and Nannie Hansberry decision handed down, Monday in Washington is expected to open up 500 new homes to Chicago Negroes in a district from which they previously have been barred. The high court ruling reversed an Illinois supreme court decision barring Negroqg from residence in tlhe old Washington park subdiv ision on the *tfc?e of the overcrowded Negro district. Stress was laid >t Monday* decision as a social victory in contrast with other decis ions of an educational nature or giving Negroes the right to a fair trial or personal safety. When Hansberry, a prominent realtor, and his wife bought property in the area along with other Negroes and moved in. suit was Drought by white property owners, signers of a restrictive covenant which barred sales of home* to Negroes for residential purposse. That was four yeans ago. Lower courts upheld the covenant and When the case reached the state supreme court, it was agani upheld on Oct. 15, 1939, on the ground that an earlier decision had declared such coven ants legal and therefore it could not again be challenged. Taking the matter to the United States supreme court, attorn eys for the Hanaberrys, including C. Francis Stradford, Alderman Earl B. Dickerson, Truman K. Gibson, Jr.. Loring B. Moore and Irv ing C. Mollison, argued last month that the restrictive agreement ras not effective since only 54 percent of the property owners had signed it whereas it stated specifically that 95 percent must sign to to be valid and binding, and that the Illinoi* supreme court ruling was unconstitutional because it deprived the Hansberrys of due procses of law as guaranteed under the 14th amendment since they were not parties to the earlier case The U'. S. supreme court opinion, written by Justice Harlan F. Stone and concurred in by all the justices, held that the earlier court proceedings did not control the present suit, and said the covenant (Continued on page ISP 2) Uncle Sam Gives $830,000 Back To Policy Kings | Washington, Nov. 21 (ANP)—Last March the Jones brothers, Chicago’s policy kings, were indicted on charges of income tax evas. ion. At that time federal agents seized assets which converted into cash and deposited in the United States treasury amounted to nearly $1,350,000. Monday it was learned that the government has turned back some of the money to the Joneses. The amount turned back is approximately $850,000. This rep resents wjhat was left of the original seizures after slightly less than $500,000 was deducted for taxes, interest and penalties back to 1931, plus an additional sum covering a more recent claim on their 1939 tax bill. According to a secret compromise agreement with the govern ment the criminal charges of tax evasion will be dismissed agamst two of the brothers, McKissack McHenry and George P. Jones- The third brother, Edward P-, regarded as the leader of the trio, will plead guilty whenever his case is called to trial, accepting whatever sentence the court imposes for a crime whose maximum punishment is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Julian Black, co-manager of Joe Louis, has been in difficulties with the government over income taxes, too. Recently he had to pay several thousand dollars in back taxes to escape more serious trouble. According to a reliable source, Black was one of the many wit nesses reported to have appeared before a federal grand jury investi gating the incomes of Chicago gamblers several months ago. For a time it was thought that Black received all the proceeds from a gam bling establishment known as the North and South, Blast and West club, but he was able to shoiw partnership with two others, Robert E. Jones and Sanders Scott, which reduced the government’s estimate of his income. It is also reported that Black was questioned about blocks of prize fight tickets, particularly tidkets to Joe Louis’ championship Douts, which William R. Skidmore, alleged political go-between for the gambing syndicate, is known to have passed out at various times to politicians in the city hall and the county biulding. The govern ment is said to have been anxious to know how Skidmore got them and whether they could be charged against him as another source of his income. Skidmore, who reputedly arranges for the protection Which makes policy and other forms of gambling possible, was indict ed on charges of income tax evasion and is awaiting trial. Fisk Jubilee Singers Are Coming On the night of Friday, November 29th, The World renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers will appear in public to offer their musical talent8 to the City of Omaha. They will appear here under the auspices of the Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church of which Rev. Stamms is the minister. The program will start promptly at 8 P. M. in the main audit orium of the Zion Baptist Church ,22nd and Grant Street. Soloist For Book Review Mrs. Minnie Herndon of Council Bluffs, Iowa, pill sing for the book review whidh will be «iven by Dr. Frank G. Smith at Clair Chap, el Church, Tuesday evening, at 8—November 26, under the auspices of the Modern Priscilla Art and Study Club Literary Dept. Mrs- C. K. Ross will also appear on the program. Mrs U. S. Matthews is chairman of the event with Mrs. Reuben C. Price, Pres. Tickets may be secured on the night of tihe review. The title of the book to be review is “How Green Is My Val ley”—by Llewellyn. DALLAS CITY C’UNCIL FORC. ES 2 COLORED FAMILIES TO MOVE Dallap, Nov. 22) (ANP) - Be cause of the action of the city council last week, two colored fam flies were forced to move from their newly purchased homes. The families involved are the George Johnsons and the C. L. Walkers who recently moved into a white neighborhood after having to va cate their former homes two months ago to make way for the new low-cost housing project now being built. As soon as the families moved into the white neighborhood their homes were stoned and) bombed, all this in spite of the police pro tection they Were supposed to have. As a result the city council vot ed $1,300 last week to purchase Walker’s bungalow and to move the Negro families. The money, was turned over to City Manager James W. Aston to whom the re sponsibility of ‘‘settling the mat ter” was given. Many colored citizens view the moving of the two families as “bowing to the mandate of the mob”, and fear that “this thing of conceding even one thing to mob rule is but the entering wedge fer the molb to ask many other illegal things’! They are greatly per turbed oven what the next move will be. GREENVILLE MAN CONDUCTS DEFENSE AT OWN TRIAL Greenville Nov. 2 2(ANP) — After he conducted his own de fense in proper legal fashion and convinced the jury he had no part in the automobile theft with which he was charged, I. B. Harris was acquitted of grand larceny in gen eral sessions court here Thursday. Harris presented his own wit_ nesses, cross-examined those pres ented by the state, and took the stand to testify in his own behalf. He was asked by Judge G. B. Greene: “Would you like to argue the case to the jury?” “Mr. Judge, your honor”, he said, “I hardly think that will be necessary”. It wasn’t. The jtlry returned in less than ten minutes with a ver dict of not guilty. , SCHOOL BOARD SETS DATE FOR HEARING IN KY. TEACHERS SALARY CASE Louisville, Ky„ —A ^bearing on the petition fijled with the local school board by Miss Valla Dud ley Abbington, a teacher in the Jackson Junior High School, who seeks to have her salary made e qual to that of white Junior High School teachers doing similar workt has been set for December 3, it was announced today by Pre ntice Thomas, her attorney. Mr. Thomas is representing the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People which is handling the case. Thur_ good Marshall, special counsel for the association, is associated with Mr. Thomas in the case. Miss Ab Ibington seeks to have her yearly salary increased from $1,490 to $1,750 the salary paid to white teachers of similar classification and experience. In her petition she declares that she is acting not only in her own behalf but also in behalf of all the Negro teach ers and principals in the puLlid schools of Louisville. FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE CODE NOW BARS RACIAL DIS CRIMINATION Washington, Nov. 20 (ANP)_ Racial discrimination in hiring fed eral civil service workers was banned Wednesday by an order from President R/oosevelt. The new rule amended a section of the civil service rules which prohibits discrimination on political or reli gious grounds. Roosevelt’s order, representing the firtst general revision of civil service rules eince 1938. was is sued to bring employment policies in line with defense needs. It also reduced from one year to six months the probation period for new employes, during which they are eligible for transfer or promotion, and gave the civil serv ice commission authority to en force a bar against employment of perlsans advocating the over throw of conBtitutionol govern ment by force. DR. F. D. PATTERSON IN PLEA FOR TUSKE GEE AIRPORT Chicago, Nov. 22 (by Daniel J. Faulkner for ANP>—Tuskegee In stitute airport hysteria reached new height^ Tuesday morning when President F. D. Patterson, addressed an enthusiastic group of Airport Fund campaign work ers at Poro college. In championing the cause for airport withip( walking distance of the campus, Dr. Patterson plac ed great emphasi® upon his con tention that the Negro should be integrated into all plhases of Am encan democracy. Thq noted educator exclaimed, “If Tuskegee is successful in rais ing sufficient funds With which to develop the work in aviation, I am convinced that it will be a service to the Nctgroes of the na tion at large We shall through thig means be able to make avail able to the United States army an adequate number of efficient men who would be needed to est ablish a branch in this service. If this done another signal victory for the Negro in attaining full rtatus in American democracy will have been achieved. I ami sure that you agree with me that sudh a possibility makes this effort a worthy one." Among the other speakers were Dr. U. G. Dailey; Claude A. Bar nett; Col. J. C. Robinson; Percy R. Hines; Miss Janet Harmon Wa terford, veteran aviatrix: Dr. W. i D. Giles, and Daniel J. Faulkner, Brig. Gen. S. C. Dickerson, the general chairman, acted as master of ceremonies. U. S. CIVIL SERVICE TO HOLD EXAMS FOR VARIOUS DEPTS. Washington, D. C ,.Nov. 21 (A NP)—The following examinations were announced this week by the U .S Civil Service Commission: Chief Laboratory Mechanicj $2,600 a year (when actually employed) in the Cotton Hosiery Investigat ions> Bureau of Home Economics, Department of Agriculture; Prin cipal Translator. $2,600 a year, with optional subjects Portugese and Spanish. Full information concerning the above may be ob tained at any first-class post of fice. Also announced was an open competitive^ examination for the position of Inspector of Miscellan eous. Supplies, salary, $1,800— ' $2,000 a year. Place of employ . ment: Jeffersonville Quartermas. , ter Depotf Jeyfersonville, Ind. Ap ! plications for this exam may be 1 obtained at any firsts or second class post office in the States of Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky. >JOIN BUSINESS MEN IN DISCUSSION OF MUTUAL PROBLEMS (BY H .S. SMITH FOR ANP) CHICAGO, November 18—To secure a closer alliance between business and education was the theme which dominated the 18th an nual conference of Negro Land Grant Cadlege Presidents in Chicago, November 12-14. Bringing together some of the most outstanding Negro educators, business men, and government agents the entire question of how education, especially aK carried on by the 17 Land Grant Collesee, could aid in the economic life of the race by training workers in industry and business, increasing the actual purchasing power of the race, and generally interesting the college graduate in business as a vocation. —■—m BROADCASTERS AND MUSIC COMPOSERS FEUD SIZZLES AS DEADLINE NEARS Ney York City, Niv. 21 (ANP) This week, the controversy be tween the nation’s major broad casting stations and the ASCAP American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers—wag the sole topic on Broadway and in Harlem, as the deadline neared for expiration of the contract be tween the composers and broad casters. ASCAP which ihas many famous Negro composers in its member ship charges the National Broad casting company and the Columbia Broadcasting system with trying to monopolize the “music” end of Hadio, and the broadcasters hurl the same charge at ASCAP. The networks and affiliated stations, it is said, are planning to boycott ASCAP after Dec. 31, when the old contract expires. To strengthen the proposed boycott and be able to send “independent” music programs over the ether waves, radio has organized Broad cast Music, Inc.. Ihas 250 composers at work, turning out swing tunes and other melodies to take the place of ASCAP tunes, ghould ‘the boycott become effective. Russell Clevenger, BMI director of public relations, explaining the controversy, said this week: “ASCA^1 has refused in 1940, as in the past, to deal with broad, casters on a “per program” bas is of payment when its music is played, but insists that broadcas ters pay a percentage of their en tire revenue, including that which they receive frt)m the sale of time for news, dramatics, sports and other non-musical programs. The broadcasters are willing to pay ASCAP, as a licensing auth ority, for programs using one or more ASOAP selections, but they are unwilling to continue to pay that omanization for programs that use no ASCAP mu^ic. 85 YEAR OLD WOMAN ATTENDS WPA CLASS Chicago. Nov. '21 (ANP> Bom of slave parents down on a Miss, issippi plantation, Mrs. Anna Hay es had never had a chance to go to school. But that had notning to do with her desire to learn, so when she heard of the WPA class-' es in adult education> slhe decided to enroll. At 85 she finds going to school a real pleasure, ome that she has no intention of giving up. BAND IS ORGANIZED AT VIRGINIA UNION Richmond, Nov- 20 (ANP) Ev ery afternoon from the music studio of the Martin E. Gray hull on the Virginia Union university campus strange sounds may be heard. These sounds represent the fulfillment of a “dream” that for speculation among the student body. For at long last tihe school has a band. At present there are 16 mem bers in the band who have been organized and ara directed by a Norfolk sophmore ,Dewitt Proc tor. M'i'3. Aldean W .Davis head of the music department of the school is their supervisor. 1 he only requisites for admission are knowledge of the fundamentals of music and familiarity with some musical instrument. Among the business men who presented tiheir problems to the conference was Dr. J. E. Walker, president of the National Negro Buteiness League, who like the message tq the conference of C C. Spaulding, president of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, stressed the wisdom of Booker T. Washington in emphas the race, and asked for a ’‘stream lined” adaptation of this great lea der’fc advice. James A. ^Jackson, special represenetative af the Es so Marketers, while discussing the purchasing power of the Negro as a basis for Negro businss, warn ed his audience of the danger of trying to create a separate econ omic setup and said our greatest problem was integrating our bus iness into the general national system . A great deal of emphasis was placed by the employers of Negro labor at the conference on the fact that at present the colleges are not doing much in preparing tne young Negro college graduate ei ther for business opportunities or encouraging them to seek these opportunities. '‘Dick” Jones, well known and successful Chicago business man, discused the prob lems and difficulties of retailing and the fact that special training is essential. Gilesi A. Hubert, assistant to the direction of the Director of the Rural Rehabilita tion division of the Farm Security Administration, spoke of t'he diff iculty of finding adequately train ed Negroes to administer the var_ ious local projects and outlined in detail the opportunities open to those who were even partially trained for the work. As one solution for the building up of Negro purchasing power the cooperative was suggested- Fol lowing a scholarly discussion of the problem of consumer educat ion by Dr. Bookei* T. McGraw, de partment of economics and busin ess odministration, Lincoln univ ersity, Mfcsosuri, Cornelius King, special assistant to the governor of the Farm Credit administra tion, spoke of the potential econ omics inherent in ooperative buy ing and selling. The concluding! address on this session was by J. H. Gadson, Jr., Georgia State In dustrial college, who told in prac tical terms what had been done at the Georgia school in the estab lishment of a faculty-student co operative store. National defense and the Negro port in this current movement, in a military way and economically was the theme of the banquet meeting. Dr. Rayford W Logan, Howard university, and Dr. Rob ert C. Weaver, National Defense council, were the speakers. The importance pf having the Negro play his proper role in the def I ense and preparation of our nat ion caused this session to be par ticularly interesting. While both speakers admitted the Negro had not yet received the opportunities wfhich are rightfully his, Dr. Wea ver was optimistic as to future de velopments. Dr. F. G. Clark, president of Southern university of Louisiana, was elected president o - New York—A vigorous protest aoainfet the reportecj detention and punishment of nine Negro mess attendants attached to the U. S. S. Philadelphia was sent to Se retary of the Navy Frank Knox November 15 by the National Ass ociation for the Advancement of Colored People. The nine mien were reported in the press to have been placed un der virtual arrest with a view to punishing them for writing and signing a letter to the Pittsburgh Courier in Which they outlined the toeatment of Negroes in he Unit ed States Navy. The NAACP. letter declared to | Colonel Knox that the colored peo pie of thig country “are bitter a> bout the treatment of their men in the armed forces of the nation. We wish to enter a most vigorous protest against this action and to request you, as Secretary of the Navy, to intervene. ‘‘Tlhe Army has made some ges tures toward improvement, but the Navy seems unable to adjust itself to the times. This associa tion believes and urges once more —as it shall continue to urge— that the United States Navy main tained by the money of all the people> should tear down every re striction against enlistment and training, Which is based upon race, creed or color, and should open up enlistment in all branch es of the Navy to American citiz enh without regard to color.” The NAACP. letter upheld the action of the nine mess attendants in bravely signing their names to the published letter of complaint, asying they had done so, “in be lief that they had a just complaint Baying they had done so “in be lief that they had a just complaint which ought not be weakened by an anonymous letter.” Scruggs, Lincoln university, Mis souri; President F. D. Bluford, North Carolina A. & T. college; President W. R. Banks, Prairie View State College, Texas; Pres dent John M. Gandy, Virginia State College; President John W. Davis, West Virginia and Presi dent F. D. Patterson of Tuskegee BROTHERHOOD WINS INCREASE FOR ALT ON R. R. PORTERS As a result of a series of conf erences held with the Manage, ment of the Alton Railroad in Chicago, a contract was negotiat ed by A. Philip Randolph, Inter national President and M. P. Web ster, First International Vice Pres ident of the Brotherhood, and sign ed in tlbe interest of the ParloT Car Porter8 on the Alton Rail road. The contract' secured for the men a $6.00 wage increase per month. It also achieved a desir able regulation of the hours of wprk. The Agreement was sign ed in Chicago in the offices of the Alton Railroad Company by Mr. Randolph for the Brotherhood and Mr. Voorhees Vice President, for 9 the Alton Railroad Company. MEMPHIS BEGINS DRIVE ON SWITCH BLADE KNIVES Memphis, Nov. 20 (ANP) Memphis police launched a drive Tuesday night against carriers of swtich blade knives, arresting 66 persons in 10 Beale street estab lishments on charges of carrying a dirk and being a suspicious per son. Knives of all descriptions were taken from the suspects, among them many known as “Arkansas toothpicks”. Weapons of this de scription are knives with blades four to six inches long that have bbeni resharpened so much they resemble the general shape of a toothpick. Persons possessing nail ond pen knives were not molested. Commissioner Doyle said the drive was launched ‘to rid the city of all forms of lawlessness’’. LOW WAGE AND UNEMPLOY ED WORKERS MOVE The Low Wage and Unemploy ed Worker® Organization have moved to 1837 North 24th St. to the Church of Deliverance. Meeting will be held on Monday November 25tlh at 8 p. m. for the civic, industrial and commercial welfare of our people. The organizations urges all of the group to learn to bear each others burdens and make jobs for one another. The Rev. A. C. Oglesby will speak on Missionary Work. All WPA. workers are urged to join this organization for protection, and to get further consideration on the WPA. projects. V. Bailey P/Resident, Miss Celeta McFall, Sec’y .