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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1941)
EFENSE m - - b„y Ma-rch of S Events OPINIONS COMMENTS THE OMAHA GUIDE A WEEKLY NEW'SPAPEk Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant St OMAHA, NEBRASKA PHONE WEbster 1517 Entered as Second Class Matter Ma-x:h 15. 1027, 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 arid Acting Editor Boyd V. Galloway. — Sec’v and Treas. SUBSCRIPTION RATE IN OMAHA One Year — — — — $2 (0 Six Months — — — $1.25 Three Months — — — .55 One Month — — — — .?• 5 SUBSCRIPTION RATE OUT OF TOWN One Year — — — — $2 50 Six Months — — — — 81.50 Three Months — — _ $1.00 One Month — — — .40 All Nev/s Copy of Churches and all organizat ions must be in our office not later than 1:00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Advertising Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, pre ceeding date of issue, to insure publication. . . * THE MODERNIZATION PLAN The Douglas County Commiss ioners are wrestling witn tne so-calied modernization plan oi DoOKKeeping es pecially m relation to tax records. The plan, it seems does not have legal auth orization, out is desired by a large ele ment oi the larger tax payers, tne Tax Payers League, some oi umana's news papers and other important interests. During the last session of the Ne braska legislature, an enort was made to enact a law legalizing the modern ization plan. The law was not passed. The people of Douglas county have not expressed themselves on the matter at the ballot box. The Treasurer of Douglas county insists he is following the law; that the modernization plan, if followed by him would jeopardize his bondsmen and his own liberty. The County Clerk and the Couhty Assessor take a similar view. f Meanwhile, some of our newspa pers are demanding that the modern ization plan be revived. And like a ringmaster in a circus, it has the offic ials performing, except Otto Bauman, who insists he intends to follow the law i—that if the law is bad and stands in the way of human progress or the con venience of large property owners, it should be repealed and an acceptable law enacted. But as long as the law is as it is, he must follow it. Friday last the County Board called in Mr. Paul Garrotto, Chief Dep uty County Attorney, and he advised the board that he thought the modern ization plan should be tried out “with in the law", with the cooperation of the county officials affected by the plan, namely, the Treasurer, Assessor and County Clerk. Many persons in Douglas County suspect that this modernization plan is a prelude to the county Manager Plan, and that that PLAN will take the gov ernment out of the hanlds of the peo ple. This opinion is widely held and it based upon observation of the work ings of si^ch plans elsewhere. The common people are feeling very deeply now that if they count as “cannon fodder”, they should count as citizens. JOHN L. LEWIS The blitzkreig against John L. Lewis, growing out of the strike of coal miners in the “captive mines”, reached an all-time ferocity. The news papers ignored the fact that the ques tion involved was primarily, in princ iple, the right to strike. Because this was involved John L. Lewis, tenacious ly held his course. And John L. Lewis, the friend of all workers, black as well as white, will win through in this instance as he has done in so many others for all the sons of toil. One fact cannot be refuted: John L. Lewis is the unfaltering friend of Negroes. And we wonder if that fact has not had something to do with the vicious attacks made upon him by the Metropolitan dailies of the country. Ninety percent of the Negro wor kers in the commonly accepted use of that term, and one hundred percent of them are hoping that only good may Come to John L. Lewis whose religion is HUMANITY and love of it, his HIGH PRIEST. HALLOWE’EN The festival of fun which bears the name of Hallowe’en, annually brings out four or five hundred young sters of the Negro Community, who parade lip and down North 24th Street and demonstrate how noisy and harm lessly gay they can be for a few hours on such an evening. Last Friday the elements inter fered and the “FUN FROLIC” was transferred in doors where the merry makers held their shows. We know many white men and women who come out this way to see “the show” on Hallowe’en were disap ppinted. Come out next year, unless Hit ler forbids it. The war may be over by that time, and a rip roaring jamboree may be in order. Remember, the mask of fun you see, hides many tragedies. SABOTEURS PREFERRED TO NEGROES Admidst the hue and cry for Na tional United and an all-out effort for defense, the monster of COLOR PRE JUDICE bulks large upon the scene. A recent story from Baltimore, Md., describes the exploits of the FBI. in tracking down and arresting a young man of German descent whose special ty was sabotaging parts of bombing planes in the Martin Bomber plant at Baltimore. When arrested, the young man explained that he was crippling the planes because he did not want them used to injure the German peo ple. In other words, the young man was pro-German. When he was em ployed at the plant no questions were asked: he was “white” and, therefore, preferred to non-white Americans. While the young pro-Nazi and many like him were being employed, Negroes, about whose loyalty to Amer ica there could be no doubt, stood at the gates of the Martin’ Bomber plant, begging for a chance to work. But the management said no! Better a Nazi bent on sabotage, than a loyal black workman. The incident at the Martin Bomb er plant in Baltimore, is but one of hun dreds throughout the land where trait ors and wreckers are preferred to skill ed black workers. Thus, it would seem a majority of the whites in America would rather hand the country over to Hitler than give the Negro a chance to work. All this, and we are not engaged in a “shooting war”. What will hap pen when that time comes; when our soldiers will be on the high seas and be yond them, needing vitally the prod ucts of our factories. The precent trickle of sabotage will then become a deluge, and the leaders in government and industry who have placed color prejudice above NATIONAL SECUR ITY will rue the rui^s of their folly. The Negroes themselves must be awake to this danger to their country, because their interests and security are identical with those of the NA TION. And, therefore, the men and women who oppose including the Neg roes in our all-out effort are the enem ies of their country of civilization and mankind. They shout stop Hitler while they employ Hitler agents in defense indus tries whose duty it is to make such vic tory impossible. For our own safety, we had bet ter recall and remember Washington’s admonition during the American Rev olution: None but AMERICANS ON GUARD TONIGHT”. May we change this splendid charge and say: LET A MERICANS ONLY WORK IN OUR FACTORIES FOR DEFENSE. PRACTICAL DREAMERS (by Ruth Taylor) The present decade may be an age of realism, and the time may call for realistic thinking, as some men say. But too often realism has meant stoop ing to the mire, reflecting only the ugly rather than reaching upwards toward the beauty of the stars. Realism has its value—’but the great things of life have been done by the dreamers—by those who looked ahead and then made their dreams come true. Thoreau once said: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost: that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them” This is the task confronting the practical dreamers of today. They do not deny the evil and ugliness abroad in the world. They do, however, look through and beyond and build, even if only in visions, the world as it should be—a place where all groups and indiv iduals can and will recognize each oth er’s rights as they recognize their own obligations, where all peoples, regard less of race or creed or color, can work together in a spirit of cooperation, and live together in mutual trust, friend ship and brotherhood. The dream of a world such as this must be fulfilled. Firm foundat ions must be built for it, if the world is to emerge from the chaos which now envelops it. We must begin to dream now and to build now, for foundations are not built all at once, but stone by stone, slowly and laboriously. There must be no defective material used, nothing that will not stand the strain and stress of the winter’s gales. The foundation must be absolute jus tice toward all—not justice according to man’s deserts, but justice which af fords to every living soul the opport unity to build his life without fear, and with freedom from want, to worship in his own wa,y, and to hold his head up as a free man. Such a task will require the self less devotion on the part of all those who honestly desire a permanent peace based on international understanding. In our common reliance on one another in a time crisis, we are linked together as never before. Not only is there a national unity developing steadily, but there is a unity of thought and pur pose among those whose interests in clude the future as well as the present. Now is the time for all dreamers to get together and work to put a firm found ation under their dreams for a better world for all mankind. NEGRO PARTICIPATING ACTIVELY IN DEFENSE SAVINGS PROGRAM Washington, D. C.—The Americ an Negro, both individually and thru his organizations, is participating act ively in the National Defense Savings Program, according to information reaching the Treasury Department. Of 50 Negro insurance companies of various types, in the United States, more than 25 already have notified the Treasury of initial purchases of De fense Bonds amouriting to a total of $469,074. Six of these companies bought $50,000 worth of Series F and G the maximum amount any corporation is permited to buy in one year. They are: Mammoth Life and Accident, Lou* isville; Supreme Camp of American Woodmen, Denver; Atlanta; Southern Aid Society of Virginia, Richmond; N. Carolina Mutual, Durham; and Univer sal Life, Memphis. The Federal Life Insurance Com* pany of Washington, D. C. reported purchasing $33,800. Other companies include the Pilgrim Health and Life, Augusta, Ga. and the Metropolitan.' Funeral System Associations, Chicago each $20,000; Virginia Mutual Benefit Life, Richmond, $15,000; Domestic Life and Accident, Louisville, $15,000. Five companies reported purchas es of $10,000 worth of Defense Bonds each. They are: The Great Lakes Mu tual, Detroit; Golden State Mutual Life Los Angeles; United Mutual Benefit Association, New York; Guaranty Life Savannah; and Afro'American Life of Jacksonville. In Memphis the Negro Division of the Defense Savings committee has laid out for itself the following five* point program: (1) Canvass all Negro business houses to explain the allot ment plan; (2) “Buy-a*Bond” Sunday; (3) A speakers bureau to serve club and lodge meetings; (4) School parad es; <5> Distribution of posters and pla cards, etc., by Negro Boy Scouts. The Litchman chain of Negro theatres in Washington, D. C. has in* augurated the sale of Defense Savings Stamps in their theatre lobbies, and a notice on the screen asks patrons to take their change in Defense Stamps. Many business organizations, churches and social clubs are actively interested in promoting the sale of De fense Bonds and Stamps, the reports show. In addition, special meetings designed to stimulate interest in the Defense Savings Program have been arranged in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, 0., Indianapolis, Ind., Brad dock, Pa., Durham and Greensboro, N, c., St. Louis, Mo, St, Paul, Duluth and Minneapolis, Minn,, Spjokanb, Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., Portland, Ore., Stockton, Sacramento, Salinas, Venice Los Angeles and Pasadena, calif., El Paso, Texas; Pueblo, Colo, and Omaha, Nebraska. DEFENSE BOND QUIZ Q. I cannlot find the word “De fense” anywhere on the Defense Sav ings Stamps I have bought. Are they merely Postal Savings Stamps, or does my money invested in these stamps go into the Defense Program? A. The money you use to purch ase these Stamps goes indefinitely into the Defense program. The Stamps bear the words “America on Guard,” which indicates that they are an inte grad part of the Defense Program. Q. What is the Treasury’s pur pose in putting Defense Savings Stamps on sale in retail stores through out the Nation? A. To make it as easy as possible for Americans everywhere to buy these Stamps, which, as everyone knows, may be exchanged at many post offices and banks for Defense Savings Bonds. Note.-To buy Defense Bonds and Stamps, go to the nearest post of fice, bank, or savings and loan assoc iation ; or write to the Treasurer of the United States, Washington, D. C. Also Stamps now are on sale at most retail stores. Dark Laughter.. ol harrington “Well Jest tell me this Bootsie—How tha devil can Hitler whup us with fij/ our great wealth”.