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THE SAVANNAH
Established 1875
By J. H. DEVEAUX
SOL. C. JOHNSON........ Editor and Publisher
1 . H. BUTLER .................... As so. Editor
MISS WILLA M. AYERS, Asst, to Pub. & Manager
Published Every Thursday
1009 WEST BROAD STREET
Telephone, Dial 5338
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—..... ....*----—
Entered at the Post Office at Savannah, Ga.
as Second Class Matter.
TEACHERS’ SALARIES
The Negro teachers of Columbia, S. C.
have gone to the courts to get equal salaries.
They tried every other means without
avail. Some communities have equalized
salaries voluntarily, but as a rule it has
taken court action. Recently Birmingham.
Alabama, has joined the list of cities grant¬
ing equal salaries without court action.
Aside from having suffered for years the
injustice of lower salaries, Negro teachers
find it necessary to use a part of their lim¬
ited income to finance a suit through the
courts—for it is oftener than not that they
must use several courts—to get what should
ccnie to them as a matter of simple justice.
'J he South Carolina teachers, if they are
required to follow the device and line laid
down . by the state legislature,
will . have to
go through many courts. However un¬
democratic it may be, Negro teachers will
have to make up their minds to institute
suits, if they want txiual salaries, and must
set aside the money in their budgets with
which to do it. We regret that it is so.
Court suits, as a rule, do not leave people
better friends. We can not afford to lost
friends.
GAMBLING
Several articles on the question of gamb¬
ling have appeared in our papers recently.
M e have spoken of the prevalence of gamb-
hng in our city, and \ye are glad to see that
ether citizens are interested also. It is
true that it is no secret. Once people used
to try to hide the tact that they gambled,
but now they seem proud to let it be known
that they won last week and do not mind
telling the number they played. People in
nearly all walks of life play “the numbers.”
It is hardly necessary to try to give the
reasons why gambling is thought to be a
bad thing, an evil thing. There are some
very obviously bad results attached to the
habit. For poor people, anything which
takes their means without in return giving
value equal to their means, is an evil, is a
wrong perpetrated against them. The
element of uncertainty involved in all games
of chance, constitutes in part an evil.
Moniey represents value, is based upon
something of value. Anything which takes
a person’s money without giving in return
equal value is suspect. The act of doing
this sort of thing is fraudulent and is a
■ swindle. The fact that people ha,ve lost
-Jiot only their money but their lives
Jjng bad the* odor, practice whether of gambling, places it in
one considers it an evil
'or not. Calling gambling a sport doesn’t
-,*to j~lift the it to mother, respectability. whose children It is poor comfort
need food.
•clothes and shelter, to be told that husband
and lather used the money he worked all
j,the week or month tor, indulging his flair
for “sport.” Many small fry justify their
indulgence in the fact that, as they sav,
-jmany “big men” follow the “Sport.” This
nought: to be a good reason why they
^shouldn’t because they usually mean rich
men when they say “big men” who ‘can
mbetter afford to misuse money this way.
*The evil of the thing is accentuated by the
* fact that poor, hard working, people can
‘less afford to misuse the little they earn.
£ It is these tolk, the ixror people, who are
u being taken in by the numbers game which
threatens to pauperize so many of them. It
; is only the swollen payrolls of these busy
* times that keep the dire effects of this
t business from showing at their worst. It
is the responsibility of the community to
•’save these people from themselves, and to
» save itself in the future from the bother
“and expense of caring for people who.threw
away their “substance” following a sport-
*tess “sport.” A post-war problem is east-
ing its shadow before it.
2 THE COST OF EDUCATION
* Chatham county spends $60 per white
student and $45 per colored student; Bibb
county spends $107 per white student and j
$‘2d per colored student; Fulton county !
spends $96 per white student apd $38 per
colored student. The report reveals that!
in Chatham county the difference in cost
Along The Interracial Front
J Henry B.v George Wallace Edmund has Hayes forcused
*
gur attention upon the basic is-
sue of the right of the common
than to economic security,
This is as fundamental and as
far-reaching as the issue of
chattel slavery settled more
than 75 years ago. Wallace lias
become the symbol of this new
issue as Abraham Lincoln was
the symbol of the freedo;n of
the slaves.
The controversy oier Wal¬
lace’s appointment as Secretary
Commerce is only one inci-
that has recalled our at-
of educating white and colored pupils is less
than in any other county. It also shows
that the cost to local taxpayers per pupil
is less than in Bibb, and in Fulton counties-
Taxpayers in this county could double the
per pupil cost to themselves and still be
behind Fulton county. So far as colored
schools are concerned, the per pupil expen¬
diture in the counties named, is an index
of the kind of schools these counties have
provided for their children. The differences
here cited are explanatory of all the differ¬
ences, accumulated through the years, which
exist between the accomplishments and as¬
pirations of the two races. They account
for the difference in social, economic, and
political status of the races. By the same
token, they account for the difference be¬
tween the South and other sections of the
country. The reduction in the differences
between the expenditure for the education
of white people and colored people will be
felt in many ways. The more people are
educated, the more intelligent their desires
become, the better their sense of Values
and consumers of goods and services. They
want better houses to live in, and better
furnishings to put into them. They rear
better families, and become better citizens
in every way. Eleven millions of the
South’s population will become an asset in
the South’s economy. The South will
come to realize how inept its treatment of
such vast human resources has been.
STANDARDS OF VALUE
(A Lenten Meditation)
By Ruth Taylor
A great man of letters once defined a
cynic as someone who knew the price of ev-
erything and the value of nothing.
There comes a time when each of us must
pause and consider just what our standards
of value are, just what we, as individuals
and as an integral part of a great nation,
hold most dear.
If we were asked what is the motto of
the United States, we would surely answer,
“In God we trust.” America gives to its
citizens freedom of conscience, not license
for unconscience; freedom of belief, not the
destroyal of all belief.
For our standard of value- we have a
of common belief in the omnipo-
fence, the omniscience and the omnipres-
fence of God, no matter whether we learned
cur faith in cathedral, church or synagogue,
[Commandments It is our common denominator. The r Jen
belong to all alike-
We are a God-fearing people. We know
what our standards of value must be. They
were laid down by the Prophet Micah cen¬
turies ago when he said, “What doth the
lord require of thee but to do justly, love
mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.”
All three great faiths subscribe to that
yardstick.
Inasmuch as all religions are based upon
the same fundamental principles and con-
cepts, religion should be the means of bring-
ing about a better understanding between
people, and should unite them in common
bonds of fellowship. If, however, people
will persist in regarding religion as ai
sourqe of separatism and a divisive thing, j
iheir religion may do harm rather than
good. If it does, it is the fault of the fol¬
lowers rather than of the creeds themselves.
are not following their own faith.
Dr. Bennett in, “Christianity and Our
World,” went still further when he said:
“Unethical religion is a far greater danger
to true religion than secularism. It is pos¬
sible to be closer to God in seeking what
God wills while denying his existence, than
in ... defending __________„ an ___ unjust order of things
while praising him.
From our own religious teaching we know
what our standard of values must be. It
is up to us to follow them as individuals
and as a nation.
RABBI SOLOMON
About a half century ago, the Jewish
synagogue had as minister a remarkable man
in Rabbi Mendes. After his death Rabbi
George Solomon was called. He served ac¬
ceptably for long years. He was not only
loyal to his faith, but to the city of his adop¬
tion, and all of its interests and people. As
colored citizens we have great cause to feel
grateful and appreciate Rabbi Solomon* He
was interested in the efforts for uplift
among our people, especially so in charitable
causes- No appeal to him for encourage¬
ment went unheeded. In no way will he
be ever forgotten for the unselfish task per¬
formed in behalf of Charity Hospital. It
was largely through his influence and labor
that funds were raised for the erection of
the present building. Not only that but
be served to the final day as a member of
the executive board of the hospital. In
recent years this great friend of ours did
not enjoy usual good health. Through it all
he persevered and determined to do all fcf the
good he could. Last week the end came,
All of us sincerely regret his passing, His
will be ever revered.
i tention to the basic theory of
our democracy the dignity and
rights of the common man.
The basic difference between
j the maning of ‘we, the people’
j ! as European a foundation ideologies, of society .whether' and
! fascist or communist, is clear,
Many people in America do
not see this difference. Many
a "little man” in America does
not believe in himself, in his
own worth and dignity as lie
nr, ,■ ii. Be pic fur* . himself a a
beieng homebody” after he
! gets to be a big man ”, a “iuchr-
’ er”, lie wants tiic to
or state
mother him or be Santa Claus.
Many Negroes, Indians and
Americans of Japanese or other
national origin fail to grasp the
meaning of American democ¬
racy which makes them equal
in dignity and worth with their
white fellow citizens.
In his statement before the
Senate Committee on Oommrce,
Wallace said that the American
people will answer their peace¬
time problems as they have
successfully answered their war
time problems by assuring ‘that
when our boys return home
from this 1 ar t-hc will eohw
back to the brightest possible
the ireest possible, tlie latest
possible place on the lace of
THE 18AVANNAH TRIBUNE
*@UA.PD AGAINST CARRLCSS
TALK- FWRTICULARLY NOW WITH
90 MANY THOUSANOS OF
SOLDIERS HOME ON KURUDUGM
FROM'OVERSEAS. HARMLESS INFORMATION
FRAGMENTS OF WAR
MAY BE OF VALUE TO THE ENEMY."
MCw« iTtn •
IF YOU HEAR IT-DON'T REPEAT IT:
this earth—toa place where all
persons, regardless of race,
or, creed or place of birth, shall
live in peace, honor and dig¬
nity free from want and free
from fear.”
He said also he regards eco¬
nomic functions of government
such as those of the Reconstruc
tion Finance Corporation as
vants of “little business” as well
as of ‘big business”. The Farm
Credit Administration and the
Farm Security Administration
and the Agricultural Extension
Service he regards as function¬
ing for the little farmer as well
as the big farmer, for the black,
brown, red and yellow farmer
as for the white.
Wallace says we are called
upon to do in the coming peace
for all the people what we have
done in war, that we can pro-
duce an abundance of houses
and cars and clothing and pro¬
vide education and recreation
and all other things Tors till
Americans”. This is the tight¬
rope which our nation must
walk between fascism and com¬
munism. The same cooperat-
ive free enterprise that made
prodigious production of war
goods and prepared in “jigtiflrie”
to fight such a victorious war
that we have astonished the
world, the same cooperative
free enterprise can and should
go into gear for an 'all out”
production and distribution for
all the people in times of peace.
In other words, if Americans of
all colors and creeds can co¬
operate in lighting wars we can
do the same in times of peace.
This is the challenge to a free
peopel who are fighting for a
free world now to work fo.*
peace in a free world.
What has made Mr. Wallace
the storm center both before
the last Democratic conven¬
tion and now about the Depart¬
ment of Commerce post? It is
not his lack of experience and
incompetence as many might i
think. It is because he sees
that this all-out cannot security be for brou- the | !
common man
edy or about cure-all by^' any that quack can be rem- au- |
tomatically applied. The sober
facts are that the genuine pro-
gress will be achieved only
through effort”. concrete It Wallace’s plans and real J
was con-
crete plans and real effort
when he was Secretary of Agri- \
culture that speak so loud that'
great fear is aroused less he j
show the same qualities as Sec- I
retary of Commerce. "Big Busi [
ness” has cause to be appre¬
hensive lest the high and free
way billions were heretofore
loaned is changed.
What disturbs the conserva¬
tives, too, is that when Secre¬
tary of Agriculture, he propos¬
ed concrete plans and made
efforts to give farmers, es¬
pecially the small farmers, a
day and a new outlook in
the American way of Hie thiu
credit at low' cost avail¬
able to them. He made mis¬
takes but he helped the little
farmer.
This democratic ideology is
what makes Wallace's endorse¬
ment of the economic bill ol
rights, a new basis of security
prosperity for all regardless
of station. ra«w or cried" have
such far-reaching significance
Racial minorities, especially
should, therefore pon-
der his statements about these
I 1. The right to a useful job
through government guarante¬
ed loans to business, privately
owned, privately operated and
financed by private creditors.
2. The right to adequate
food, clothing and recreation
through work and wage suffi¬
cient to purchase decent living.
3. The right of the farmer
to raise and sell his products at
a rate to give him and his fam¬
ily decent living by means of a
floor on farm prices, stable in-
come through Federal crop in-
surance and by farm improve¬
ment.
4. Freedom for all business
and trade from unfair compe¬
tition and domination of mo-
noply at home and abroad, and
this for the many and not simp¬
ly for the few.
5. The right of every family
to a decent home brought about
through a housing program to
rid this country of its urbar.
and rural slums.
6. The right to adequate med
icai care and the opportunity
to achieve and enjoy good heal-
th. "Every person should have
the right to go to the doctor
hospital their choice. ’
or o own
7. The right to “adequate
protection from the economic
fears of old age, sickness, ac¬
cident and unemployment”,
through a broader social secur¬
ity program which in itself will
and to the purchasing power of
the people requiring more jobs
to make the necessary goods
and service.
8. The right to a good edu¬
cation. What Wallace says
here applies doubly to .Negroes,
Indians, and other Mexican minority Americans groups J
.
“Even now most of our rural >
areas and some of our urban
areas are poorly provided with j j
schools. Our teachers are un-
der paid, Our schools are bad-
Jy understaffed”,
As American people, “wej
know our way and the road J
ahead is straight and broad,
although there are many hills)
which we must climb.” j
, j
____
"Those very groups who are
opposed to the President’s Com-
mittee on Fair Employment
Practice, would perhaps be the
very first to yell the loudest if
they were mistreated. i
— ............ '----
Pvt Melvin Hubbard, Detroit. MichJ* sketches S/1C Henry Bertacchi,
Calif, during Hebby Show a t the USO Victory Club,
Honolulu The Show «j< pan of a dne-day Jubilee. an»nded by nearly
29,000 servicemen a«d civilians, in honor of Negro enlisted personnel in
th e.Pacific area., j,,.-—.....
This is a serious, trinle indict •
ment of John E. Blandford. jr..
administrator of the National
Housing Agency. It arises out
of the recent switch over from
Negro to white occupancy of a
200 unit housing project in New
Boston, Tex., near Texarkana
It raises a question of Bland-
ford’s fitness for the job he has
1. Blandford is guilty of aid¬
ing and abetting a fraud a-
gainst the government of the
United States.
That is a serious charge. But
here are the facts.
The New Boston Independent
School District applied to the
Federal Works Agency in early
1944 for $66,500 to construct
and equip an elementary school
for Negroes. The Lanham Act
under which the FWA operates
provides that the funds must
be equitably administered
where separate schools’re main¬
tained.
The FWA previously had re¬
fused to make a grant for con¬
struction of an additional
school building for whites—
they had sufficient hut it did
give them *6000 for additional
facilities. So, the New Boston,
Independent School District jus
tified this request for *66,500 on
the basis of Negro need.
After pointing out the inade¬
quacy of present buildings and
facilities for Negroes, the school
told FWA: “The FPHA
n o w constructing a 200 fami-
dwelling unit project, east o
almost adjacent to New
Boston, from which it is antici¬
pated that students.....Upon there will come j
some 140
the construction of this project I
the applicant plans to leave the j
high school and the upper ele- :
mentary grades at the Shadv !
Grove School, thereby utilizing i
all existing space. This wou.d
leave the new school, which is
adjacent to the housing pro¬
ject, for enrollees in the lower
grades, and since the
employment of Negro mothers
in the Lone Star Ordnanca
is quite possible, this plan
to be most advantageous.
approval of this project is,
therefore, recommended in or¬
der that adequate educational
opportunities may be afforded
Negro children whose parents
are employed in the direct war
On the basis of this justifica¬
the FWA turned loose $66,-
500 of your money and mine,
the school was built for
Now, however, with Bland •
decision to turn over the
project, originally programmed,
built and advertised for Ne •
groes, to whites, the school
which the whites wanted but
need, will go to whites too. I
was so planned that it is part
parcel of the project. To
it, one must pass through
project.
L. P. Sturgeon, white super¬
of schools in New
leaders was in cahoots one of with the Con-1 ring j
Wright Patman (D. of j
who brought pressure on j
to make the project:
from Negroes to whites, j
wired Blandford on
“New 22, 1944, Boston as is follows: in dire need j
200 Courts housing for units white in Red defense Riv j
WHAT’S THE
ANSWER
by W. Douglas Brown for ANP
1. What Negro woman has
the honor of being the first
chosen under the employment
selective sponsor plan to chris¬
ten a liberty ship at the Bethle¬
hem Fairfield shipyards in Bal-
timore? ,
2. Who was the first Negro
supervisor of the obstetrical
wards of Fordham hospital
the Bronx, New York?
3. Who was the first Negro
Pilot to parachute to safety, af-
ter his plane was shot down, in
World War II?
4. Who was the first Negio
woman in the armed forces to
assigned as a commissioned of¬
ficer in charge of diettitians?
5. Who was the first Negro
photographer to be rated pho¬
tographic specialist in the U. S.
navy?
6. What American general
pinned the DFC on Col. B. O
Davis, Jr.?
7. Who was the first Negro
to be elected to the Vermont
state legislature?
Files of The Savannao
Tribune
FIFTY YEARS AGO
MARCH 2, 1895
Ex-priest Slattery and wife
lectured to 2,000 at Masonic
Temple, Liberty and Whittaker
Attempts were made to prevent
it. At 9:15 Big Duke rang ii
bells, calling out the military to
prevent a riot. The colored
troops, under Col. Deveaux, re¬
sponded at their armories.
Sergt. Julius Maxwell was
elected first lieutenant of the
Savannah Light Infantry, Wed-
nesday night.
Rev. W. H. Heard of Athens
was appointed minister to Li-
by President Cleveland.
( Afterward, bishop of the A. M
E. church).
Attempt made by the Presby¬
terians of Hoboken, N. J., to
prevent Col. Robert G. Ingersol
from speaking at that place.
The colonel delivered his ad¬
dress.
xwxwvwvvmwvvvvi
MASOmC-EASTERN STAR NOTES
+ + ++***•** * * * * * * * * ** +*** 1
The princes of Ezra C'onsisto-
No. 27, were given much in-
last Sunday
Illustrious J. W. Dobbs.!
for this section, was in
city and attended the meet¬
He always cheers his
Illustrious Command¬
Black i 5 doing his part in
the work of the con¬
* » •
At the communication of Eu¬
and Hilton lodges several
were initiated on
night. These two
adhere strictly to prin¬
in receiving candidates.
Severay laggard lodges are 1
to renocr annual
It has to be done, why
do su.on time rather than
THURSDAY, MAR. I, 19«
UNCOVERING
White House Correspondent Released
through the Atlanta Daily World
by the NNPA
By Harry S. McAIpin *
workers. 500 applications now
m file for white housing. No
demand for Negro housing. We
would appreciate your investi¬
gation of nousing needs before
committing to Negro housing ”
Sturgeon probably was right
in saying no demand for Ne¬
gro housing.” Negroes in New
Boston dare not “demand” any¬
thing. But the Army and War
Manpower Commission had cer
tified the NEED for Negro
housing. Otherwise, Bland¬
ford never could have program¬
med this war housing for them.
By giving in to the pressure
brought by Patman and the
school superintendent, despite
his clear cut duty otherwise,
Blandford is guilty of aiding
and abetting the fraud perpe¬
trated by the New Boston In¬
dependent School District upon
the treasury of the Unite!
States.
2. The second indictment df
Blandford has to do with his
disregard of the war production
effort he is dutybound to pro¬
mote. ■■-b.-i
Thats a serious charge,, too.
But here again are the facts.
On January 5, 1045, Col. Mur¬
chison, commanding officer o
the Lone Star Ordnance Plant >
New Boston and war depart¬
ment employment officer .'
for East Texas, told Joseph P.
Tufts^NHA regional manager )
Texas, that he certainly j
not say that it would be
to his plant or
Red River Ordnance plant
to change the project to
occupancy.
Col. Murchison pointed out -
the plant can get adequate ;
labor, but has consider- !
difficulty getting common
which is all the Negrons
hired to do.
Negroes have to travel 6 to
miles to work every day bj
of no housing facility
for them in and around New
The turnover of Negro labor
been double that of the!
One of the important
left to Negroes is loading
unloading freight—a bot¬
of the production line.
Both Col. Murchison and Co'..
the commanding officer
the Red River plant, express¬
the view that the denial of
houses to Negroes at this •
would be a serious blow to
production urgency drive”
has been aimed primar¬
at getting Negroes to stay on
job. ■ i
But, Blandford has decided,
the urgency of pressure
Rep. Wright Patman
neck, that the more im¬
war job is to fill up the
: unit project immediately -
hell with the production of
materials! It may take 6
to fill up the project
Negro families. He be¬
it can be, illed by whites
60 days—he has the word of
C. Dunlap for that. Dunlap
the same fellow who tried to :
Negroes, from getting a
unit project in Texarkana
year ago.
3. The third indictment has
do with Blandford’s poor ad-
judgment in NHA'
is a story for a full cci-
in itself, and will save it
next week.
delaying?
♦ * •
Efforts are being made to
have a lodge at Egypt. Thisj
may be realized in the near fu-j
ture.
• * •
Grand Master Dobbs will or¬
ganize a lodge at Arlington this
week. Southwest Georgia has
always been an ideal spoi^for
Masonry.
It is cheering to note the in¬
terest that is being manifested,
by the ladies of the Eastern
Star, especially the younger 1
ones in learning the ritual, ect.
Tire members of Solomon
Temple chapter are endeavor-
io make rapid increase, not
in membership but in in-
among themselves. r ’ sm '