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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1945)
EDITORIAL- COMMENT 1 Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, May 5, 1945 _ Beware! #» Some Facts Y ou Should Know... (from'tlu- iletter Business Bureau of Omaha, Inc. Lobby Floor, Redick Tower, WE-3033) SPRING IS HERE! Reports of so-called “Spring Racketeers” have already been filed with the Bur eau. Iowa law enforcement authorities warn of two men using the name A. Thomas and R. Howard, alias George and John Williamson, who are wanted for investigtaion. They are said to be peddling fur mats and driving an Oldsmobile sedan with a Lou isiana license. These men are thought to be part of the notorious Williamson gang of peddlers, who come north every spring to peddle their wares of shoddy laces, rugs, fur coats, under various false representations. Should they come to your door, call the Bureau or the Police Dept, immediately. / nm A LOCAL WOMAN REPORTS paying $20 to a “lawn expert” for seeding her lawn about three weeks ago on the representation the grass would come up in 10 days or two weeks. Before seeding the lawn, he burnt off the old grass, and while doing so destroyed a valuable evergreen tree which he promised to replace. When he failed to return as promised and when the grass failed to come up, she called the phone number he left and learned that pfreou* at that number had never heard of the man. This case has been reported to city authorities who are on the lookout for further activities by this in dividual. • . - jm / PHQTGRAPHIC FILM—According to the Mas ter Photo Finishers and Dealers Association, thous ands of amateur photographers are being sold gov ernment surplus film as good new film capable of takhkg g«»od pictures. Results from the use of this film- Which is often out of date, foggy, and improp erly cut are disappointments to the users, and des truction of confidence in developers. After an in vestigation disclosed that some of this film has been noted in Omaha, a warning was issued to all photo graphers and interested parties, suitable for post ing in shops for the protection of the public. Fur ther investigations are continuing. ///// CEASE AND DESIST! The following unregister ed Canadian gold mine stock promoters have been the subjert of hease asd desist orders by Harold ohnson, Nebraska Blue Sky Commissioner. Redmond A: <’o.. Ltd. 330 Bay St., Out., Canada, \Y Rov Marchment, Pres., J. N. S. Dixon, Vice Bowman Stuart A: Co., G8 King Street, Fast Toronto, 1, Candad. H. R. Bain & Co., Ltd., 30TBay St., Toronto, Out. Canada, Henry Rupert Bain, Pres. Lakewood Investments, 9 Adelaide St., Fast Toronto, Out., Canada, olm M. Baird, sole prop. According to Commissioner Johnson, the above promoters should be placed lr the same category as similar Canadian gold stock promoters previously listed in this publication. Persons receiving solic itations by mail or telephone to purhase this highly speculative and often worthless gold stock, should not if v the Bureau at once. BEFORE YOU IN V EST—IN V ESTKI ATE! ///// PUZZLE CONTEST—Information is available at the Bureau office about the Facts Magazine Puzzle Contest, n which many Omahans are participating. Contestants should realize that according to the rul es of the contest, it may be necessary for them to en ter several “tie-breaking” contests each calling for extra cash remittances, before they are eligible for the grand prizes. The promoters of this contest have been the subject of considerable complaint to Better Busncssi Bureaus in the past about similar promotions. Call the Bureau for complete inform ation. CON GAME W arnings w ere issued about a con fidence game operated by an elderly pair giving the name Marguerite and Charles Wells. This case, which received mention in the Omaha World Her ald was reported to the Bureau by a rooming house keeper, who had beeii swindled out of about $300 by tin- pair, who borrowed money on tin* strength of an “inheritance” and then disappeared. After receiv ing the Omaha warning, Oklahoma City reported a similar experience. It is hoped that the network of so Bureaus over the country and numerous cooper ating organizations now alerted, may contribute to the stopping of this racket and apprehending the ope rat* >rs. mu MISREPRESENTATION Prompt action by the Bureau in cooperation with a local magazine agency resulted in stopping a salesman claiming he was making a survey for the U. S, Army Signal Corps, in order to gain admittance to a customer’s house. The salesman’s employer when hearing of the re port, emphatically stated that his men were not per mitted to make such statements, and that those do ing so would be relieved of their samples. • CHIEF CONCERN According to .James S. Twohey, newspaper ana lyst, writing in Fortune Magazine, May issue,— the chief concern of the Negro press is the Negro’s pro gress, w ith editorial policy covering a wide range of attitudes. i Accentuate the Positive ! (by Ruth Taylor) Recently at a luncheon an English newspaperman made the statement that the people were always right. One of the intellectuals present said: “Tome now. Think of he trashy popular songs. Can you say when the people like them, they are right?” To which the Englishman replied: “Well, the only things American I don’t like are the jazz records my daughter collects—but if the people like a song, T say there must be something to it.” He was right. Here’s an illustration. You all know the sonh I mean. It has a catchy melody— but it’s more than the music that put it on the hit parade. “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mr. In Between.” “Accentuate the positive.” Be constructive. Look for the good in people, not the evil. Dwell more on your good fortune than n bewailing the bad things that happen to you. You can’t progress far looking backwards. If you do, you’re sure to bump into some obstacle. “Eliminate the negative.” Stop grousng. Don’t always look on the dark side. The sun always has rsen—why assume it won’t tomorrow? ,Cut out the repining, the wishing that things were different. ' Make them go your way by getting out and work ing, rather than by doing nothing other than sitting down and talking. “Latch on to the affirmative.” There is some thing around you that needs to be done. Do it. Show your boss that on your job whatever you do, you do thoroughly. Don’t be afraid to give your best. That way you’ll always have the best left. “Don’t mess with Air. In-Between.” Don’t al ways try to straddle the fence. You can’t please everyone. Don’t be wishy-washv. Nobody likes an in-betweener. Be a person. Be yourself—and maek yourself the best of all possible people. A sermon is a simple popular song? Why not? What makes a song popular? It is its universal appeal. It is because it strikes a chord in the minds of the listeners. So next time vou hear this song— remember what it means. DYNAMITE -by H. George Davenport " 9 THE RUSHING WORLD The passing of Roosevelt was a shock to the na tion. He’ll go down in history as the greatest poli tician that this country ever knew- He was a mas ter at ridiculing his opponents; he tried to fool them with wise craesk on ins return troni Yalta, but the photos that preceded him told the story—Roosevelt was a sick man during the campaign, but# he showed weakness when lie- got drenched in the rain in order to show his physical fitness, then joked about it This thug called life, grows more mysterious with years One man’s life can shake the destinies of nations, one man’s death can cause a war to stop or Davenport continue— VV lien a can goes up m lire he carries many friends with him; when he falls, others fall The question arises, what will become of Ma Perkins, Wallace and Mrs. Bethune 1—To my way of thinking Wallace was never Presidential timber, but many Negroes were hoping Wallace wold get that RFC. job, so uhe cold give govern ment money to some degree para sites, who make their living carrying tin cups around—We lio^e Mrs Bethune will go back to Daytona Beach and attend to her school During the campaign this writer pointed out to the voters that they may not have liked Dewey, but how about Truman 1 Now Tru man may turn out to be better than Roosevelt, who knows? And then he may not. .Truman owes you Negroes nothing—You voted for Roosevelt The Demcratic platform eliminated any direct mention of the rac—I’ll await the decisions of Truman with glee. .The late Boake Carter used to say quite often, on the radio, ‘Man prooses and God disposes”; man said, “Never hange horses crossing a stream”. God, with one stroke cuts the life of one of the great est of riders of modern times,stream or no stream This thing called life is much, much too much— Wallace almost made it for Yice President Kelly j of Chicago threw in the harpoon that killed Wallace . .He, Wallace, must have been thinking of that at the swearing in of President Truman because he had to be carried out after the ceremony —.If Tru man decides to get rid of Wallace, and we think he will, it is good bye for Wallace politically and he can go raise some more pigs to kill, and coni to plow A ews-letter WHAT’S HAPPENING IN : Washington THU MAX AM) HIS POLICIES — How Good n Prp*dfnI a newcom er will be is unpredictable. Lincoln's record before 1S60 was largely a succession of failures. A single achievement won for hint the Republican nomination, his spectac ular debates with Douglas. Their lucidity rested on a lifetime of cracker barrell philosophizing His experience was limited to that of “a. man of words.” Of Pranklin D Roosevelt. Walter IJppinniin wrote early in 11)32: “He i* an amiable man, who, without any special qualif lent ions for the office, would very much like to he President.” Today, IJppntann in wondering: whether to place Roose velt alongside of Lin coin. In another way, the l(ooKevelt career IllustrateM difficulty of pre diction from a pre-Presidential rec ord Roosevelt'** speeche* in 1932 forecast an orthodox President, a younger Cordell Hull; gave little or no clue to the major policies that characterized Roosevelt fit office No one came to the White House with a greater build-up than Her bert Hoover. His private and pub lic experience in domestic and for eign affairs far transcended that of any other incoming President We know his fate. Warren (J. Harding was the last Senator before Truman to enter the White House 4 Few lemeinber today what a profound reverence he had for the Presidency He promised, then appointed "a Cab inet of the Best Minds"—Hughes Hoover, Mellon. He respected the place of Congress. Himself loyal, he never dreamed any of his friends could be disloyal hough an hon est man with the best of intentions —and the best of advisers—his in timates made him America's great est failure. Andrew ohnson followed Lincoln —in policy as well as in office He resisted the policies that brought the ugly Reconstruction I’eriod. But Johnson could not handle a vengeful Congress led by South hating Thaddeus Stevens Tru man’s problem will not be with Congress, which is fond of him and eager to cooperate. Rather, it iwil be in the international problem— to handle the other members of the Big Three. Roosevelt got' along by acting as mediator between Stal in and Churchill, and by accepting in general, their interpretations of the Atlantic Charter The success or failure of the Roosevelt techni que still has to be determined. Institutional versus Personal Gov ernment: Roosevelt’s leadership was personal. Everything came to and from him Even after government departments or agencies had ren dered decisions which under anyone else would have been final, Roose velt would accept appeal and mod ify the decision according to his } The Omaha Guide { ^ A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER JL ( L Published Every Saturday at 2)20 Grant Street f OMAHA, NEBRASKA—PHONE HA. 0800 ; \ Entered as Second Class Matter March 15, 1927 at the Post Office at Omaha, Nebraska, under ^ Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. \ C■ C- Galloway,.... Publisher and Acting Editor \ f All News Copy of Churches and all organic i ations must be in our office not later than 1 :00 I ’ p. m. Monday for current issue. All Advertising ! i Copy on Paid Articles, not later than Wednesday ! ' noon, preceeding date of issue, to insure public v ation. SUBSCRIPTION RATE IN OMAHA \ ONE YEAR. $3.00, SIX MONTHS .$1.75' THREE MONTHS. $1-25 ^ SUBSCRIPTION RATE OUT OF TOWN \ ONE YEAR. $3.50 SIX MONTHS . $2.00 < National Advertising Representatives— ' INTERSTATE UNITED NEWSPAPERS, lnc\ 545 Fifth Avenue, New York City, Phone:— t MUrray Hill 3-5452, Ray Peck, Manager \ Americans Urged to Help War Victims Abroad by Donating Used Clothing and Shoes. “What You Can Spare They Can Wear.” your idle used clothing is badly needed? personal inclinations. Truman's leadership will he in stitutional H^will tend to up hold decisions made by the proper officials By instinct he does not want to make all the decisions him self; he respects the responsibilities belonging to others TRI MAN'S LOYALTIES are strong. Boss Jim Pendergast made his Senator. Only a few weeks a po, Trulan flew to Penderpast’s funeral. He made no apolopy: “He was my friend.” Penderpast's en emies are Truman’s enemies. As Senator, Truman opposed confirma tion of Millipan, U. S. District At torney, who sent Penderpast to prison. Just recently, Millipan was nominated Assistant Attorney Gen eral. Nomination has not been confirmed; now it will be with drawn. For sponsorinp the nom ination. Riddle may lose the At torney Generalship Biddle has the additional handicap of being a Wallace backer at Chicago Trumnn Committee; Truman is righly regarded by Republicans and Democrats alike who Berved on the Truman Committee to study the efficacy of measures taken for the national defense Committee re ports were always unanimous Tru (continued cn pagejqgjPS) under; his dream of feeding theworld sounds fan tastic—but he can go back to Iowa and dream some more- I know there are thousands of sick Negroes in Chicago over the death of Roosevelt, but what ever you or I think, God Knows Best It’s God’s Work, this war. .The peace to come and after that and there is nothing we can do about it So get busy and start to work, there’s plenty to do And may the soul of Roosevelt rest in Peace. Amen. • The Day is Comin9 by ERIC HASS, Editor, the Weekly People for CNS Before me is a veiy old and very rare document. It was printed in Philadelphia in 1797 and is “The Address of Abraham ohnstone, A Black man, who hanged at Woodbury, in the County of Gloucester, and State of New Jersey, on Saturday the 8th day of July last, To the People of Colour.” The dealer in rare books who loaned it to me says it is the first published attack on slavery by a Negro. Verbose, in the style of the times, the address is nonetheless well written, an.! mingles logic, satire and sober admonition with amazing felicity. But what is striking about the document is neither this, nor the tragic circumstances ir which it was written but the fact that its argument lias a remarkably modern flavor. For Abraham Johnstone’s address was. above all, an indictment of those .who acclaim ed democracy, yet practiced despotism. 11 was a 1197 edition of “The American Dilemma.” “How preposterously absorb,” he wrote, “must an impartial observer think the man whom lie sees one moment declaring with a most incredible volu bility in favour of natural rights and general free dom, and the next moment with his own hands for some very trivial offence inflicting the cruel and ig nominous stripes of slavery, and riveting its shackl es—surely in the eyes of any man of sense such con duct mut be irreconcilable and just reason to doubt the soundness of his principles as a patriot and i lover of freedom—” When Abraham Johnstone wrote this, enthusiasm for slavery was ebbing, even in the South. Compar -ed with wage labor, slaves were becoming expens ive propositions, and the system itself had grown uneconomical. Then came the invention of the cot ton gin, and with it a tremendous increase in the demand for field labor. Slave prices boomed. Slave owners who had toyed with plans to free their hu man cattels abandoned them, resolutely closing their minds to the suggestion that slavery was in conflict with the “natural rights and general free dom” they loudly acclaimed. It was, of course, the material interests of the old South’s ruling class that revived enthusiasm for slavery. And it was the wealth wrung from the : loins of human chattels which blinded them to the contrast between their democratic pretensions and despotic practices. ^ But, if this is true of the slavocrat of 'the old South, is it not an equally valid explanation of the American dilemma today? As preposterously ab surd as in Abraham Johnstone’s day are those who one moment declaim on “democracy” and “human lights ’ and the next moment justifv segregation, discrimination and “white supremacy.” The in congruity is there. It palpitates. We protest a gainst it. We pass legislation to curb it. But there it remains, and will remain as long as class rule re cams—as long, that is, as material interests are served by it.* The slave system was overthrown, leaving as its dismal heritage the system of color caste. But the caste system cannot be overthrown unless, at the same ime, the CLASS system goes with it.’ For the caste system is now an integral party of the class system. The same ruling class that benefits from the exploitation of labor benefits also from the de gradation of the Negro. The employing class needs a ready supply of low-pay labor for arduous and menial tasks. Above all, it needs the racist philos ophy it preaches to keep the workers divided on rae ial lines to their common undoing. • DO’S AND DON’TS: »*--~ y - ■ — — **I*J±1 » -» » Do keep your yard from becoming huge garbage cans. Trash-filled yards lead to disease-rid den communities.