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_E^UAL OPPORTUNITY ~~2420GRANrg~ PHONE HA.0800
VOL. XXI—No. 21. OMAHA, NEBRASKA—THE OMAHA GUIDE— Saturday, June 19th, 1948 ONLY TEN CENTS PER COPY
Doing the Work
Those who have been be
mused by the wild claims made
on behalf of government pow
er development should consid
er a recent release from the
Edison Electric Institute. Ac
cording to it, the job of taking
electricity to rural America
will be practically complete in
1951. Work now in progress or
definitely planned will connect
an additional 1,330,000 rural
dwellings, most of them on
farms, to power lines by the
end of that year.
What that means to rural
America needs little amplifica
tion—electricity is the cheap
est and the most efficient ser
vant ever devised. It can revol
utionize the life of the farm
family, doing away with much
manual drudgery and increas
ing production and income.
And one of the most interest
ing aspects of this revolution
ary process is the agency that
is responsible for it.
At the end of lost year, 12,
million nine hundred thousand
rural dwellings were taking el
ectric service. REA co-ops
served two million, and thirty
thousand or 16 percent. Muni
cipal and other government
agencies brought power to 300
thousand, or about 2 percent.
All the rest—10 million six
hundred thousand dwellings,
representing 82 percent of the
whole—were served by the
business-managed electric com
panies !
In other words, free enter
prise, as represented by the
regulated, heavily-taxed utili
ties, is the driving influence
behind the stepped-up rural el
ectrification program. The tax
subsidized government power
ventures get most of the pro
paganda, while the private
companies are doing the work
Read the Omaha Guide for
all the news.
ELECT NEGRO STUDENT
HEADS MEN’S GROUP IN
OREGON COLLEGE
LaGrande, Ore. — Eastern
Oregon College elected Robert
Terry, Negro football player
and honor student as president
of the associated men students,
while co-eds chose Hisako Kid
0, a Nisei girl, as president of
of the associated woman stu
dents.
The entire 726 enrollment at
the state supported college in
clude only three Negro boys
and two Nisei girls.
Terry, a resident of LaGran
ge has a long string of high
school and college honors to
his credit.
Oscar Micheaux, author and
p u b 1 i sher of the sensational
novel, “The Wind From No
where,” which has been adapt
ed into movie of epic proport
ions under the title of, The Be
trayal. Mr. Micheaux announc
es, that the movie will open at
the Mansfield Theater, 256 W.
47th Street, New York City, on
Thursday, June 24th, 1948. It
will be the first time that an
all Negro written, financed pi
cture will be shown on Broad
way. Mr. Micheaux expects a
long Broadway run and in
tends to exhibit the picture in
every major city in the nation.
$2,252,000 A DAY IS U. S. FIRE BILL
$2,252,000 a Day U. S. Fire Bill
During the past 12 months
fires, largely preventable, de
stroyed $703,262,000 worth of
irreplaceable property in the
United States.
Fire destruction continued at
a rate of $2,252,000 a day for
the first 121 days of this year—
the equivalent of two conflag
rations a day.
During the month of April,
an estimate $63,751,000 worth
of property went up in smoke.
This was a decrease of 6.29 per
cent from losses of $68,029,000
in April last year. This was the
tirst time since March 1944
that monthly fire losses had de
creased compared to the same
month in the previous year.
However, it is too early to tell
whether this indicates that the
peak of fire destruction has
been reached.
The $703,262,000 figure does
not include losses paid as a re
sult of the Texas City disaster,
neither does the Texas City
loss figure in the April 1947 est
imate. Texas City losses were
largely concussion losses, paid
under extended coverage, not
under fire policies alone.
PIE IN THE SKY ' ” By COLLIER~|
WINS 1ST CITIZENSHIP
AWARD AT COLO. U.
Boulder, Colo —By popular
vote of the student body of 8,
000 Anthony Rav, 21, has been
awarded at the first Dunklee
Citizenship award at the Uni
versity of Colorado.
Considered one of the sch
ool’s outstanding graduates,
Anthony was chosen for the a
ward because of his many sch
ool activities and high scholar
ship. The Dunklee award was
established May 8th, by Ed
ward V. Dunklee, Denver at
torney, and graduate in the
class of 1913 from Colorado.
Ray holds a membership in
the oldest honorary fraternity
as former* governor Carr of
Colorado, Robert L. Stearns,
president of Colorado and the
“Whizzer” White, Rhodes sch
olarship student and football
all* American.
Besides playing the ball lyre
and the alto clarinet in the
band, he is an active member of
Psi Mu Alpha, honorary mus
ic fraternity; Alpha Phi Ome
ga, Kappa Kappa Psi, former
vice-president of the Independ
ent Student association, larg
est organization on the cam
pus, the Players club, Viking
club, and the Cosmopolitan
club, former to further relat
ions and create better under
standing among the students.
His major is music, He is a;
'native of Colorado, his parents i
coming to the state from Fay-)
ette, Missouri. )
A BARRIER FALLS
Although colored physicians
in Dixie are denied admission
to the American Medical Ass
ociation, qualified Nfegro nur
ses in the South may now be
come members of the merican
Nurses Association.
Last week the controlling
"board of the American Nurses
Association, the house of del
egates, voted to admit some
3.000 Nurses who have been
denied membership in several
Southern states.
Neck and Neck
On the average, 80 million
gallons of oil are eing sup*
plied each day to the consum
ers of the Unitebd States. That
is an incredible figure, and rep
resents an all-time high. Yet
demand has kept up with pro
duction and the race is close.
The efforts of the industry
to establish a comfortable mar
gin of supply over consump
tion deserve national recogni
tion. Expenditures for new
construction during 1947 and
1948 will total some $4 billion
dollars. Last year 33,000 new
wells were drilled, and about
37,000 will be sunk this year.
And this number will be in
creased if sufficient tools be
come available.
The job of making usuable
oil products only begins when
the crude comes out of the
ground. So the industry is
working overtime on building
new refineries and moderniz
ing old ones, on construction
of storage plants and pipe lines,
and on the expension of its
marketing facilities. This is
the reason why, in spite of
DEEP SOUTH TOTALI
TARIAN, NOVELIST SAYS
The South had a totalitarian
regime long before Hitler or
Stalin rose to power, Lillian
Smith, well known novelist of
Strange Fruit,” stated in a talk
before the Independent Vot
ers of Illinois last week in Chi
cago. The I. V. I. ist the Chica
go Area Affiliated of the Amer
icans for Democratic action of
which Miss Smith is a board
member.
Each totalitarian regime isj
characterized by a sacred idea, I
Miss Smith continued; in the
South it is white supremacy.
The South practices three for
ms of segregation : moral, rac-!
ial and intellectial, Segrega
tion, Miss Smith said, is a pat
tern of death and the only per
fect segregation is that of the
coffin.
billion people in the world
today according to Miss Smith
are looking for what the Unit
ed States has to offer. The
treatment of the Negro in this
country has become a symbol
of our failure as a democracy
to other peoples. President
Truman’s Civil Rights Com
mission report and his message
have dramatized civil rights in
the eyes of the world and this
country must make good its
promises.
CATHOLIC STUDENTS
ORGANIZE BOYCOTT
AGIANST INTOLERANCE
Dubuque, Iowa, (Special)—
Students at Immaculate Con
ception Academy, Catholic ac
ademy for girls here, have re
solved to boycott places of
business in which intolerance
of any kind is fostered. The
resolution has been approved
by the faculty at the school,
and student committees have
been sent to other Catholic
schools of the city to colicit
co-operation.
The resolution reads as fol
lows : “We the students of Im
maculate Conception, have
pledged ourselves against in
tolerance, whether -racial or
religious.
We purpose not to patronize
places in which these un-Chris
tian and un-American views
are practiced. We hope thus to
make the owners of these
places realize the selfishness of
such view's and reverse their
attitude. Such action, however
will not be taken without noti
fying them of our intentions.
By this, we mean no person
al offense to the proprietors of
the places where intolerance is
practiced, but let it be known
we shall do all in our power to
combat such intolerance; for
we are convinced that a defin
ite step taken against undemo
cratic relations will make Du
buque a better place, and a
better Dubuque means a better
world for us, the citizens of
tomorrow.”
_ I
doleful predictions, we have
not had a real oil shortage, and
have been inconvenienced only
by temporary and localized
“dry spots.”
Next winter, when the heav
iest demand comes, there will
be need for voluntary conser
vation of fuel oil 'by users. Un
expected developments may
make the supply-demand situ
ation tighter than can e fore
seen now. But the public
should know that all the re
sources and energies of this
highly competitive industry
are being devoted to the en
ormous task of seeing that no
one really suffers for lack of
oil.
BISHOPS COMMEND
HENRY A WALLACE
Nine Bishops of the African
Methodist Episcopal church
join in a statement commend
ing the Honorable Henry A.
\\ allace for his contribution
to the causeof a living Chris
tianity to which our daily lives
are dedicated.
Full text of the statement
“We, the following Bishops
follows:
of the African Methodist Epis
copal church, in recognition of
Henry Wallace as a Christian
and as a leader in the cause of
(Contnued on Page 4)
N. P. Dodge, Jr. Elected to the
Board of the Metropolitan
Utilities District
N. P. Dodge, Jr., 5014 Cap
itol Avenue, memer of the firm
of N. P. Dodge & Co. was ap
pointed Director of The Met
ropolitan Utilities District at
the regular meeting of the
Board, June 9th. The appoint
ment was made to fill the un
expired term of Allan A. Tuk
ey left vacant by his death.
N. P. Dodge, Jr. wras born in
Botson, in 1910. He is the son
of N. P. Dodge and Grand
Nephew of General Greenville
N. Dodge the engineer in
charge of the building of the
Union Pacific. He was educat
ed in the public schools then
went to Milton Acadamy in
Boston and from there natur
ally gravitated to Harvard. He
was a member of the Harvard
Track team running a pretty
rugged quarter mile. He cap
tained the track team in his
senior year graduating in 1933.
He married Miss Constance
Wentworth of Boston and bas
two children Constance Lem
oyne, known to all her friends
as Lee, age 14, and one son
Phillipe, Jr. age 11.
He spent three years with
his father learning the real es
tate business then feeling the
call to public service entered
the O.P.A. and at the time of
his resignation from the ser
vice to rejoin his father in the
real estate business. He was
food administrator for six of
the southern states.
During the second World
War he served as flying in
structor first in Lincoln and
Sioux City later wishing for
more active service he was at
tached to the U.S. Ferry Com
mand taking planes from Buf
balo overseas later to Africa
and the Mediterrai an. He re
joined his father’s firm after
the war to look after their ex
panding real estate holdings,
which are pretty well scatter
ed all over the United States.
He is a member of the Om
aha Post of The American
Legion.
.tie is a tireless worker, a
good administrator and elieves
that a usiness man owes the
cobmmunity which gives him
support a share of his time for
public service.
OPEN LETTER
Director of the Rent Control
Board
WOW Building
Omaha 2, Xeraska
Debar Sir.
I understand that a vacancy
exists in the Rent Advisory
Board. I, therefore, readily re
commend Mrs. Viola Beeson
for that vacancy.
Her past participation in the
Rent Board and her deep con
cern for the welfare of the rent
er has earned her the priviledge
of serving on that board again.
With increasing prices of the
necessities of life since the eli
mination of the OPA and the
inflation that is already playing
frightful havoc with many an
American family: it is most vit*
at that the community and the
area have on its Board of Rent
Control, one who will express
the elementary needs and de
fend the econoipic positions of
those that are forced tjo rent.
Hoping such a qualified per
son as Mrs. Beeson will serve
on your Rent Board, I remain.
Very truly yours,
, , H. Mendelson,
CHILDREN HIT HARDEST BY
FIRE
Fires and burns account for
nearly one-fourth of all fatal
accidents to preschool-age boys
according to Metropolitan Lite
Insurance Company's Statist
ical Bullitin. The rate jumps
to almost two—fifths among
girls. Accidents now outrank
every other cause of death for
this age group and have shown
the .least inmprovement over
previous years.
Since 1930, child fatalities
from common diseases have de
dined as muct as 75 to 90 per
cent, where as the accident dea
th rate for the same period has
dropped only 9 per cent and
19 per cent for girls.
The U. S. Office of Educat
ion reports that 3 out of every
10 fires deaths occur to child
ren of elementary school age
and under.
_(Photo by Ransome.l
WILLIAM HARMON BROWN, experienced housing manage
ment consultant whose appointment as manager of the famed
Theresa Hotel in- New York City was announced last week. Mr.
Brown succeeds Walter W. Scott, and will assume full respon
sibility on July 1. Born in Harrisburg, Pa., he is a graduate of
Howard University. Before coming to New York he lived in
Boston for some years where he wc.-tud with the Federal Public
LHousing Administration. __,
WHITE BAPTIST URGE SEGREGA
TION END
WHITE BAPTIST URGE
SEGREGATION END
Milwaukee—Elimination of
segregation and discrimination
in education housing, employ
ment and the armed services
was urged in resolutions un
amiously adopted by delegates
attending the Northern Bap
tist Convention here last week.
The delegates endorsed the
report of the President’s Com
mittee on Civil Rights.
Other resolutions of the con
vention deplored the “all toq
common pattern of enforced
segregation within its own in
stitutions, and urged these in
stitutions aucLfche local church
es to renounce and correct the
condition within their respect
ive fellowships,” affirm the
right of the individual to free
dom of speech and association :
and opposed compulsory peace
time military conscription.
Participating in the Conven
tion program was Walter
White, NAACP secretary, who
with Dr. Bernard Clausen, the
Cleveland clergyman upheld
the negative side of the quest
ion : “Will increased military
prepardness help to make Am
erica secure and contribute to
an enduring peace?” In the de
bate the affirmative side was
advocating by Dr. Daniel A.
Poking, a member of the Pres
idents Commission to Study
Universal Military Training,
and Perry Brown, chairman of
the American Legion’s Nat
ional Security Commission.
“No nation in human hist
ory,” Mr. White maintained,
“has veer gone in for militar
ization of its people and the
building of a vast war mach
ine without eventually suffer
ing defeat, the bankrupting of
its economy, the impoverish
ment of its people, and the set
ting in motion of retaliatory
able to war and destruction.
Elected »
NANKING, CHINA — (Soundphoto) — Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek
beams with her husband as they read messages from abroad con-'
gratulating Chiang on his election as the first President of the Chi-!
nese Republic under the new Constitution. Chiang was elected in4
April, but he has been top man in China for many years with the
.title of Generalissimo. ~~---—^
SOUTHERN CATHOLIC
MEN ARE FOR UNITY
New Orleans, La.,—An inter
racial committee of leading Ca
tholic .laymen was set up last
week by Holy Name Societies
of this Southern, Catholic city.
Its stated purpose was “for
mutual exchange of thought &
action between the racial group
“This interracial group is a
first step, too long delayed in
the direction of concerted act
ion toward a higher spiritual
development for Holy Name
men.” said J. Elliott Sheehan,
retiring president of the Metro
politian Council of Holy Name
Societies, in announcing the
move.
Mr. Sheehan and Albert A.
Levy Sr., his successor as the
president of the Metropolitian
council, were chosen among
those to serve on the commit
tee of three white and three of
the Negro Holy Name officials
There are about 3,000 Holy
Name members in New Orlean
of whom a fourth are Negroes.
BMtwrw Qt Crtyi
Ball item dwtroy mora fan
cropa Id AmariealfaaD tornado**
SPEBSQSA CONVENTION
Omaha will be host to the
1950 convention of the
SPEBSQSA, the Society for
Preservation and Encourage
ment of Barber Shop Quartet
Singing in America. The an
nouncement was made Friday
by the Omaha Chamber of
Commerce Convention man
ager, Norman Haried, who
went to Oklahoma City early
this week to invite the group
to Omaha.
Approximately 3.000 Barker
Shop Singers are now in Okla
homa Citjr for this year’s con
vention.
Mr. Haried said that Omaha
secured the 1950 parley large
ly thruogh the help of C. E.
Wilson of Omaha. Mr. Wilson
is a Past President of the Ak
Sar-Ben chapter SPEBSQSA
and is now a member of the
Board of Directors of the In
ternational group.
Omaha’s invitation for the
convention was accepted over
similar offers from Toledo,
Miami and Kansas City.
More than 60 Omaha mem
bers of SPEBSKSA are in at
tendance at the Oklahoma City
convention.
KING-SIZE FIGURES
The United States economy
cannot be air-lilted or truck
borne, says the San Francisco
Chronicle editorially. If it is
to move it must mve by rail
or not at all.
Back of that statement lie
what the Chronicle terms
King-size figures. This coun
try has 227 thousand miles of
railroad—29 percent of the
world’s mileage. It has a mil
lion, 750 thousand freight cars,
which transported t)54 billion
ton-miles of freight last year.
Along with it, the lines rolled
up nearly 40 billion passenger
miles. And the value of the
railroads is something like
28 billion dollars, according to
conservative analysis—or al
most 120 thousand dollars per
mile of line.
It would take an astronomer
to visualize figures such as
these. But there is one easily
assimilated comparison which
points to our dependency on
the railroads. They haul seven
tenths of the nation’s freight.
All the other carriers—the
waterways, the trucks, the
pipe lines, the air carriers, the
lake steamers—move together
only three-tenths of the whole.
The Chronicle’s editorial
was occasioned by the threat
ened strike which was (pre
vented by government action.
As it said, ‘we would find even
a week’s rail strike inconveiv
able and intolerable.’ Going
farther, all the activity in this
country is tied in one way cr
another to efficient railroad
service—the kind of service
that moves the goods when we
want them moved, and takes
them swiftly and safely to
where they are needed. That
is the enormous stake we Am
ericans have in our railroads.
DON’T BLAME PROFITS
A short time ago a survey
was made of the way families
are attempting to meet current
living costs. Heavy majorities
reported that they were buy
ing only necessities, ’(doing
without things, and trying to
make food and clothing go far
ther. They also reported, gen
erally speaking, that it was nec
essary to spend a higher pro
portion of their income for
food.
This is the inevitable conse
quence of an inflation which
has not yet spent its course.
Some groups have managed to
increase their earnings suffici
ently to offset price increases.
Some have bettered their pos
itions. Millions of people, on
the other hand, have been for
ced to steadily reduce their
purchasing, and there is no re
lief in sight.
It is easy and perhaps natur
al to blame business for creat
ing this problem. From various
quarters, we hear ominous talk
of the size of industrial profits.
Retail stores have been pick
eted by people, with angry ban
ners protesting the going pric
es of food, clothing and just
about everything else. Natural
or not, this attitude is based
on serious misconceptions. For
the truth is that the net profits
of industry, the money which
can be retained by the owners
of the tools—millions of invest
ors who have put their savings
in industry—are one of the sm
allest items in the cost of doing
business. And surveys of retail
trade, including both the chain
and the independants, show
that most stores earn a profit
of only one to five or six cents,
according to type of goods sold
out of each dollar they take in.
Certainly there is no margin
there that will permit price cut
ting.
Business of all kinds is as
worried about high prices as
any consumer. It knows that
mass production and mass dis
tribution cannot survive if peo
ple cannot afford to buy. Price
have gone up in spite of its ef
fort to hold them down
YE CORNER CUBOARD
Ye Corner Cu'ooard on 26th
and Patrick wish to announce
it is now open We specialize
in fresh vegetables meats and
notions— Our aim is to satis-*
fy you.
Mrs. V. Anderson, *<?
Manager '