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THE OMAHA GUIDE Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, August 16, 1941 rage 5
THE OMAHA GUIDE
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Published Every Saturday at 2418 20 Grant St
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
PHONE WBbster 1617
Entered as Secoiid Class Matter Manch 16. 1927, at
the Post Office at Omaha, Nebraska, under Act of
^ Congress of March 3, 1879.
M. J. Ford, — — — Pres.
Mrs. Flurna Cooper — — Vice Pies.
C. C. Galloway, — Publisher and Acting Editor
Boyd V. Galloway, —■ Sec’v and Treas.
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YOU ARE IN THE ARMY NOW
Many young men and their par
ents thought that the recent draft law
was put into effect merely to train
young men. They were mistaken men
were drafted for military service a
gainst the Axis Powers.
War is war. It requires suffer
ing and sacrifice and death. It may
require death on our soil or ten thous
and miles from home.
If we are fighting Hitlerism, we
should combat it everywhere; at home,
in the Dutch East Indies; in China;
in Africa; eveitywhere beneath the
shining sun, until Hitlerism is done to
death; no matter what the price, we
should pay it gladly.
We can join heartily in the thrill
ing challenge of Winston Churchill,
“WE WILLC ONQUER OR DIE”.
We know what it means, if Eng
land is beaten; we shall be next to feel
the steel legions of Hitler. We do not
care to live under such a master. That
is why we have fought through the
years against little dictators here in
our own land. We are as dead set a
gainst big dictators. And we shall
meet and crush them, if we can. At
least “WE CONQUER OR DIE”.
Boys, you’re in the army now.
—^
THE HERMAN LEWIS CASE
Last week the two cases which Mr
Herman Lewis appealed from the sen
tences imposed by Judge Battin were
continued until October 6th for Jury
trials. These were the sentences im
posed by Judge Battin after the police
officers entered Mr. Lewis home with
out a warrant and brutally assaulted
him.
Mr. Lewis, as a result of being
beaten by the officers, was dismissed
from the Fire Department by the Pres
ent City Council, which is composed of
Mayor Dan B. Butler, Harry Knudsen
Richard W. Jepsen, Walter Korisko,
Roy N. Towl, John Kresl, and Harry
Trustin. They voted unianimously to
fire Herman Lewis.
In this instance, we know Mr
Lewis was in the right. Butfeven if he
had been wrong, the dismissal was a
punishment so severe as to show on its
face that something more than the
charge entered into the verdict.
The case is now in the courts
where it will probably be for the next
two years, And other cases will be
brought into court as a result of this
one, and the end is not yet in sight.
Mr. Lewis is right, in this instance
and he should carry his cases through
every court in the land until bis civil
liberty is vindicated.
It must be understood that “THIS
IS A GOVERNMENT OF L\WS
AND NOT OF MEN”, and that all
public servants, of high and low de
gree are bound by the law. It binds
public servants inside and outside the
council; it binds white and black pub
lie servants alike.
Lewis will win through, make no
mistake about that.
INDIA
Mahondas Ganhi, Indian leader,
expresses the hope that the British
Empire may endure and overcome Hit
ler. He w’shes this in face of the fact
that England has for many generat
ions opposed and exploited India and
the Indians. He thinks a Hitler vict
ory would be fatal to civilized life and
all liberty and sacredness of human
personality as we know them. India,
he says, may wait for her liberation
from the Crown.
Such a generous attitude on
Gandhi’s part in the present crisis will
brng to his side in the coming post
war years men of good conscience the
world over. And he and India will be
buttressed by the knowledge that what
he did was right when the desire and
the opportunity were great to seize
power at Britain’s expense.
We hopefully wait to see the land
w hich produced Guatama-Buddha, at
tain its rightful place in the family of
Nations.
JOHN L. LEWIS
John L. Lewis, President of the
United Mine Workers, is a great Am
erican, a GREAT MAN. He is doing
for workers here what the present war
is doing for workers in England, lift
ing them to the higher levels of econo
mic and social life. The problems in
England, met and mastered by Ernest
Bevins, had their roots deep in centur
ies of caste, that status developed by
class prejudice, sometimes misnamed
class interest. Here in America ,John
L Lewis has faced a more difficult
problem than that faced by Bevins in
England. For here in America, Lewis
has faced the class and caste problem,
and with it, always making solution
difficult, the COLOR PROBLEM,
created by the presence here of 15,000
000 Negroes, ninety per cent of whom
are workers in the commonly accepted
use of that term.
WLen the history of our time is
written in the clear perspective requir
ed, John L. Lewis will be assigned a
place beside Washington and Lincoln.
Washngton gave some Amercans free
dom, leaving some in slavery. Lincoln
moved the principle a little farther
forward to embrace physical freedom
for the Negro, at the cost of a MIL
LION LIVES AND A BILLION IN
TREASURE. And then only partial
physical freedom became the posses
sion of the blacks. They had been
worked; now, they must learn to work
as freemen, and they did. But they
suffered from low wages and incomes
and bad working conditions. John L.
Lewis is moving successfully to alter
this condition and make the Negro, a
long with other workers economically
free. And such a service, rendered
without shock to our social order, is
the most important single contribut
ion made by an American since the Re
public was founded.
We say thes£ things now, be
cause we wish John L. Lewis to know
that his work is being evaluated and
appreciated during his lifetime. And
we but express the thought of 15,000,
000 Negroes of the United States.
OUR YARDS
Frequently Colored People com
plain that they cannot buy and rent
pretty homes. Often that is too true in
this land of ours. But there is no rea
son why our yards may not be well
kept. Green grass will be green grass
in the yards of Colored People, and
flowers will be flowers. Roses and
pansies and lilies and honeysuckles
wil grow in your yard just as well as in
other yards owned by the white Mr.
X.
We suggest, therefore, that in the
Colored District, garden clubs and
yard clubs be organized in each block
and that every one be urged to plant
grass and flowers and keep them in
proper condition. And this whether
you be an owner or a renter. It may
be necessary to help your neighbor in
this respect. Alright, do it. Lend him
your sickle, your lawn mower, your
hoe and rake, and if need be, teach
him how to use the tools on his yard.
It might be well to offer two or
three prizes, not too expensive, to en
courage effort and create rivalry.
The Omaha Guide would like to
hear from its readers on this subject.
ECONOMIC HI-LIGHTS
National and International Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare
The government’s present tax pol
icy has two distinct phases. First and
most obvious phase is the necessity of
raising more revenue. Second phase
is to reduce consumer purchasing pow
er. as one means of fighting inflation.
War priorities will result in a consid
erable reduction in the amount of
goods available for consumers. War
spending, on the other hand, will re
sult in a great increase in payroll Is
and income. That situation, unless
corrected, must almost inevitably re
sult in price inflation. And one means
of correcting it is heavy taxation.
Few authorities oppose these
purposes. But a good many authorit
ies are extremely dubious of the wis
dom and justice of the new tax bill as
tentatively approved by the House of
Representatives committee. Their op
osition is based on varied grounds.
The new tax bill places its heav
iest burdens on the middle income
groups—present rates of taxation on
big income groups make it impossible
to substantially increase revenue from
them. Persons and families earning
from $4,000 to $12,000 per year will be
forced to pay the bulk of the increas
es in taxes. Writing in the New York
Times, Godfrey N. Nelson says that,
if the proposed bill passes in its cur
rent form, less than 4 percent of the
population will have to make returns,
and nearly one half of these will not
be required to pay a tax because of
their exemption credits. In other
words, the tax does not reach down in
to the smaller bracket incomes. Mr.
Nelson, like other economists, suggests
that it is advisable to reach these low
er incomes either by reducing amounts
of exemptions, or by levying a flat tax
payable at the source, on all incomes. .
“It seems reasonable to assume,” he
says, that it the national debt is ever
to be paid, all earnings should be made
to contribute to the liquidation.”
Furthermore, it is clear that the
middle-income groups—which are com
posed largely of salaried people— wiH
share the least in war spending. Wag
es for workers are going up far faster
than salaries for white collar helm
On these grounds alone, the new bill
seems defnitely inequitable.
Some are convinced that the bur
den the new bill will place on industry
is dangerously high. No one wants
“war profiteering.” But it is clearly
necessary for industry to earn suffic
ient profits for expansion and to at
tract new capital, if it is to continue
as a healthy, progressive factor in our
national life. For this reason the
soundness of the excess profits tax
provisions of the bill is gravely doubt
ed in many quarters.
Still another provision of the bill
is now coming in for severe criticism.
That is the provision which would
force husbands and wives to lump their
income in one return, even though
each earned separate incomes which
were in no way connected. Govern
ment experts estimate that provision
would provide some $340,000,000 of ad
ditional revenue. Commenting on this
F. L. Lipman, outstanding Western
banker, said: “Such an important am
ount as $340,000,000 must not be sup
erficially dealt with, but one would
scarcely argue that the size of the am
ount determines the justice or propri
ety of the tax.” Bishop William T.
Manning assailed the provision on
other grounds when he said: “If Con
gress retains this provision, those who
have been divorced—or who live in im
moral sexual relationship—- will be
called on to pay far less to the govern
ment than the married couples.” And
David Lawrence points out that *dhe
Supreme Court has even gone so far
as to hold that, even where a husband
au:l wife receive a joint income ft*on
a single source, they hav 3 the leg:!
rght to file separate returns for tax
purposes.”
Still another general criticism of
government fiscal policy is that almost
nothing has yet been done to reduce
non-defense Federal spending. Vari
ous authorities, including Treasury
experts, have estimated that $1,000,
000,000 to $2,000,000,000 could be sav
ed by pruning unnecessary and avoid
able items from the budget.
Summing up, the feeling is almost
universal that all of us, without except
ion, must pay greatly increased taxes,
and make all necessary sacrifices for
defense. But many economists regard
the next tax bill as a helter-skelter af
fair, unsound, and in some cases con
fiscatory, which needs a thorough ov
erhauling.
We have barely begun to feel the
pinch that the defense effort will pro
duce. Next year, many a consumer,
who goes shopping for items that have
been produced in abundance in the
past will come home empty handed.
Evidence of the way the wind
blows is found in the fact that motor
car, electric refrigerator, and washing
machine production will be cut about
50 percent in 1942. Anything which
requires aluminum, rubber, or basic
metals will be harder to get.
HAVE PATIENCE!
(by Ruth Taylor)
“Wait on the Lord and He will
save thee.”
Patience is one of the most dif
ficult of virtues to acquire, but once its
lesson has been learned* it is the most
soul satisfying. To be patient is to
have self control plus faith—to know
that in the last analysis, “all things
work to good for them that love God.”
Think of those whom you ad
mire most, and you will see how this
quality stands out. It was patience
and the ability to wait that enabled
Washington to hold out long after the
more zealous and daring of his col
leagues felt the game was up. It was
patience and the ability to wait that
carried Lincoln through the darkest
hours of the Civil War. And so has it
been from time immemorial—with lit
tle people as well as great—with un
sung heroes as well as with those re
nowned in sons; and story.
But patience does not mean just
sitting down to wait. To wait patient
y requires constructive action. It
means careful consideration of the end
you wish, and the taking of every step
to bring that end about with due re
gard for others. It means doing your
duty day in and day out, working hon
estly and sincerely at your daily tasks,
and' fitting yourself bodily and mental
ly for the day when your ship comes in.
When that has been done, it means
waiting patiently and cheerfully and
working while you wait.
And this applies not only to the
individual but to all groups within the
nation and to the nation itself. The
changes, the reforms we all want to
see made require patience and waiting
while we are actively trying to bring
them about.
There are many sincere reform
ers who are vociferously advocating
all sorts of panaceas. “Destroy the
old,” they cry. “Anything is better
than what we have.”
But this is not the American wav.
Reform means to remake, to reshape-^
not to break. In our impatience we too
often feel that to reform a situation
we must change it completely over
night. We can wipe out all abuses in
America. We can reform our country
into the Utopia of which we dream, if
we will work together and utilize the
thought and brains and abilities we al
ready possess. We can do this if we
work together—possessing our souls in
patience. Neither Utopia nor Rome
was built in a day.
y y
;Dark Laughter . x . ,, «r ot hamiwtoh
“Oh brother dear, I want you to meet
Mr. Bootsie, the gent I was telling you
about, who said he could get me a job
singing with any of the big bands.”