The Savannah tribune. (Savannah [Ga.]) 1876-1960, July 19, 1945, Page PAGE FOUR, Image 4

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PAGB FOUR THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE . Established 1*75 ,* By J. H. DEVEAUX BOL. C. JOHNSON........ Editor and Publisher /. H. BUTLER .................... Asso. Editor MISS WILLA M. AYE RS, Asst, to Pub. Si Manager Published Every Thursday 1009 WEST BROAD STREET Telephone, Dial 6*88 Subscription Rate In Advance One Year-------------------- $2.50 Six Months .................. 11.58 Remittance must be made by Express, Post Office Money Order or Regis tered Mail. _ Entered at the Post Office at Savannah, Oa. U Second Claas Matter. FIRST THINGS FIRST A few weeks ago, a white gentleman, a lawyer, spoke to The Hub, an organization of Negro business and professional men. He proposed several things such an organi¬ zation could do: it could take active interest in purely civic matters, it could do something about improving the political status of Ne¬ groes in this community, it could try to im¬ prove their economic welfare, it could do something about their educational improve¬ ments. He mentioned specifically housing and its coneomitanls-health, crime and delinquen 4 jyq-employment and the political situation ot *,Negroes. Then moixMmmediately he posed the question important as to to 'whether it is !insist upon economic opportunity and equal¬ ity or to woik for political equality whether • it is more important to work for fair em¬ ployment than to use our energy question, in seeking bince ‘to vote. This is not a new reconstruction days, this question has con¬ founded Negro leaders, so that roughly ‘speaking, there grew up two groups among .Negroes; those who believed that the at¬ tainment of full citizenship depended upon •economic security; and others who believed that citizenship could be attained through gaining the right to vote, to participate in 'governmental affairs. But it was soon dis¬ covered that neither of these means worked. It was not uncommon for persons who had ^secured property in farms, homes and bus¬ iness, to be driven away from them. And ! certainly they were not allowed to vote. 'Negroes were disfranchised in all of the 'Southern states, and were terrorized and ! intimidated wherever it was felt they be¬ lieved their ownership and suffrage gave them a modicum of citizenship rights. This whole question of which should be first, which was more important, influenced the education of Negroes for a long time. One v^-eu p of thinkers held that industrial edu¬ cation should be emphasized in order to Jnake qrtisans, skilled workers who would •make money, amass projierty and thereby Jpemand recognition as citizens. Another «roup held that higher academic training jhoirid be emphasized in order to train ^hinkers and leaders who would pass on Sheir training and so guide Negroes into Snaking a life as well as a living, and there¬ by get recognition as citizens. There are Itill those who advise Negroes to get money *‘hi all thy getting.” But this unqualified advice is misdirection. Present day think¬ ing, Shat in the main, inclines to the political view both economic freedom and freedom are so inter-related that they are tooth firsts. No one can deny the import¬ ance of economic security because it condi¬ tions almost entirely the standard of liv¬ ing*—health, the amount and kind of edu- |}atton, and provision for old age, but nei¬ ther can the importance of suffrage be de¬ fied. Econdmic security itself, and decent treatment in the courts and at the hands «f police officers health protections, ade- fluately lighted and paved streets, adequate •ecreation and educational facilities, de- jafftaged peitd very largely upon whether the disad- group has voting power. Those in charge of administering these services fruitfully aware of this fact. On the one and, the FEPC is a plain case of the ex- nt to which voting has to do with econom¬ ic freedom and security. On the other hand, the brutal and discourteous treat¬ ment r e c e i v e d by Negro applicants ftr drivers’ licenses, in the shadow erf the state c a p i t o 1, would never IJnt; happened if Negroes had the pressure •1 voting that they could employ. Yes, IjP h come first, and Negroes should busy t^omselves persistently intelligently, without respectfully, and im- arrogance, to get jfrorement •Well meaning and correction people in both. 1 r ffiar are expressing the lest granting the voting privilege to Jtegroes will bring in a reign of corruption; tint Negroes not being politically literate, \^U,be subject to exploitation by unscrupu¬ lous politicians. So far as that is concern¬ ed. the disfranchisement of Negroes did not casual dg away observance with that in evil this as is well known by Tfie illiterate very community. white voter is just as venal as the illiterate Negro voter. He, too, is finally a prey of the demagogue. A de¬ asd termined the bribed application would have of law salutary to the briber effect a upon the election process. It is not entire¬ ly* the fault of Negroes that they do not hive the background upon which to build political literacy. The state must accept a laarge share of the blame. At any rate tlfrse of are matters leaders. which claim the atten¬ tion our «ff this community is to be one in which citizens may live and rear their children ii£ decency _________ the citizens themselves must. cooperate with the law enforcing authori- 1 ti|- to uncover and clean out the element?' of» evil and unrighteousness in it which make decent living difficult or impossible fof the weak and unprotected. Under the determined leadership of the late Mayor Thomas Gamble, the housing situation has been brought into the public notice and we believe something will be done to get improvement in it with the co¬ operation of real estate interests. Health conditions are being relentlessly attacked by the city’s health agencies. The Grand jury and law enforcing authority have gambling, especially the “boledo” game, on the run. There are other insidious evils with such long careers that they appear to have achieved through insinuation an im¬ munity that defies apprehension. These must be ferreted out and dealt with. WILL THINGS BE DIFFERENT? The French people viewing conditioria in Paris one year after the liberation, ask the question: “Now that the war is over things will be different—or will they?” This question is asked by people all over the World. We in America are asking the same question but with a different reason. We have not felt the pangs of hunger, nor the bite of bitter cold due to lack of shel¬ ter or clothing. We do not feel the stark discouragement of the war’s devastation. We have had to adjust ourselves only to increased taxation, and limited rationing of some clothes and food, and principally of some of the things classed as luxuries. But we are interested, particularly, in trying to figure out which of the good things brought about by the war will remain; whether the gains in employment and in social areas will remain and become permanent; whether the changes as to segregation and discrim¬ ination in governmental agencies and semi¬ public industries will become fixed policies; whether the basic human rights for which our country went to war to secure and for which the material expression of nazism was beaten into rubble, have really been se¬ cured. There are certain evidences, here and there, that some of these things were to be remembered only for the duration, as witness the conduct of Senators Bilbo and Eastland in the U. S. Senate. Yet, there are signs that there are some people who believe that the United States must keep its conscience clear and clean, who believe that it must square its practices with its war aims, that it must keep faith with the men who have given their all in the belief that human rights would be won and re¬ spected for all people without regard “to race, creed, color, or national origin.” We shall continue to hope that our soldiers did not die in vain. / MAYOR THOMAS GAMBLE For more than a half century the hon¬ orable Thomas Gamble was a familiar fig¬ ure around the city hall. We have been knowing him soon after his arrival in the city from Philadelphia where he was a youthful reporter on the Philadelphia Press. He was employed by Editor, Gazaway Har- tridge of the Daily Times, then with The Press after the discontinuance of the Times. He had a flare for politics. This attracted, him to The Tribune office where he kept in constant contact with Col. John H. Deveatiy who was the leader in Republican politics. His constant visits to the Tribune office caused us to be attracted to him. He be¬ came prominent during the administration of Mayor Herman Myers and succeeding ad¬ ministrations. He had the opportunity to study and become aware of city affairs more so than any one else, made so because of his mind for research. It can be truthfully said that he was better fit for the mayoral¬ ty than any one else. Mr. Gamble gave the city a mayor that will be very difficult to re¬ place. The progress of the city in recent years may be traced mainly to him. More recently he seemed more inclined to favor our group. This was shown by his desire to help our cultural side through our library, and a betterment of our health and housing condition. He was wedded to better homes for our more humble people as emphasized by the last visit paid him some weeks be¬ fore his death. May his successor be such a man. We believe in the acting mayor, Mr. Peter Roe Nugent as we did in his fa¬ ther, the lamented Thomas Nugent. May he be the successor. THE MOUNTAINS OF THE HEART By Ruth Taylor Every heart has its own mountains to cross. Several years ago on my way back from the West Coast, I stopped off in Colorado and one never-to-be-forgotten day I drove out tp visit a few of the editors of the small town papers. One place I stopped, was just a little one street town nestling into the heart of the mountains. I stood with the editor at the front door of his office and looked around at the mountains circling the town. It was sheer unadulterated beauty and I said enviously, “How fortunate are you who live here!” He smiled a soul-weary smile and said. “I know what you mean—but our hearts are always striving to cross the mountains,” Every heart has its own mountains to cross. No matter where we live, we feel that happiness lies on the. other side of the range, that had our ways been laid in other places, we would have done so much, we would have gone so far! We condemn those who live on the other side for not making the most of their great opportunities. We forget that they in turn condemn us for not realizing how fair our pathways are. Intolerance breeds on both sides of the mountain, whether it be a phy¬ sical one or a mountain built of our own prejudices and ignorance. Mountains are too often but misunder- standings. They look impassable to those u ' ho only see them from afar. But those who live among them know that there is TH* BATAMAfi TRIBUH1 WAVES URGENTLY NEEDED-JOIN-!’ always a way through. The trials of understanding are not easy. No trail that leads upward is ever an easy road at the start. Carved out of the living rock by the explorer, made by his suffer¬ ings and hardships, it requires the footsteps of many to make it a road. No road can ever be made alone. But the reward of effort is great. When one reaches the summit and sees both sides of the mountains—then is the way made clear. Then is the hour of understanding. Then has the heart truly crossed the moun¬ tains. Fellwood Nursery In Need of Funds The Associate Committee for Negro Nurseries with B. >C Fond chairman,' has mailed letters to citizens appealing for funds to help keep the Fellwood Day Nursery open. It is hoped that the response to these letters will be adequate to meet the budget of $225.00 a month- f Jr operating the center for the next six months. This - sptall budget is made possible through provision of free shelter, fuel and lights by the jSavannah Housing Authority in<; the Fell¬ wood Housing Project. As has been stated in pHfe- ous news articles,’ the •WtEfc’- drawal of Lanham Act funds makes it necessary to obtain funds from other sources im¬ mediately or else Savannah will lose the opportunity of supervised day care for its children which prior to June 15 was supplied through two nursery schools, Belser and FelLwood centers. Persons interested in making a contribution toward this con¬ structive and educational pro- j<nt are asked to make checks payable to Associate Committee for Negro Nurseries and mail to Miss Willa Mae Ayers, treas- FORMER NEGRO ATHLETE GOES WASHINGTON, D C—A fam ous Negro athlete who was bom in Berlin. educated in Lon don and captured and held prisoner by the Germans in the last war was enroute to Germany this week for the third time—as an employe of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration _ The UNRA representative is Harry F. V. Edwards, a track star of the early twenties, who now* resides in Princeton. N. J. Mr. Edwards, three-times win- of the 100 and 220-yard urer, 1009 West Broad street. • Members composing the mil tee besides the qnh'treasurer ard Mrs. R. Jack- Kin, secretary, E. C, BVackshear Trank Callen, Hr. N. H. A W Cummin^. Mrs. Ola Din¬ gle. Mrs. Rubye Gadson, Janette Hayes. Johhn Q. ferson. Sol. C. Johnson, C. Riv- era, Walter S Scott, Walter Scott, Jr., Mrs- Frank D. Thomas, Mrs, J. L- Mrs: Nancy Walker-, Mrs. J. Walker, Mrs. Susan Mrs. Eunice Williams and R. M. Gilbert. PVT. FERGUSON GOES TO SIOUX CITY GOES to SIOUX CITY, Fort Des Moines, ate Minnie Ferguson, of Mrs. Ada Fergusson, West street, Savannah, Ga., member of the Women’s Army Corps recently left First WAC Training Center, here, for duty with the Army at Sioux City, Iowa. dashes in the British Open Championship, left by plane for Germany .his week where he will direct an assembly c nter operated by the international agency to help repatriate peo¬ ple displaced by the war. A former British subject, Mr. Edwards was born in Berlin and educated in London. H has lived in the United States I since 1923 and is now an Amer- ' During the last ican citizen. war he spent three years and nine months in Germany in a | British prisoner of war samp. RECITAL B STEPHEN'S GUILD On Tuesday evening, July 24th at 8:30 o’clock St. Ste¬ phen’s Guild of the St. Mat- thewls’ Episcopal church will present Messrs Edward Law, Leon Grant, Boles Ford, Martin Graham, Wilson Hubert and Dr J. W. Jamerson, Jr., in a mid¬ summer musical at the First African Baptist church. More than 400 patrons have endors¬ ed this program which prom¬ ises to be the outstanding lo- j cal talent entertainment of the season. The admission fee is 50 cents and the public is invited. The program will be as fol- ]ows; The Star Spangled Banner— Audience. 1 Come To The Fair Ave Maria ______________Mr. Law I The Lord’s Prayer A Dream -----------Mr. Grant | Summer Time Graham Passing By ______Mr. Song of Hybrias, The Cretan A Song of Sleep-- Mr. Hubert J^ueL—Violin Duet Love’s Greeting Mr. Ford Dr. jamerson The Brown Bird Singing------- Mr. Graham Ali - Ali_____________Mr. Grant Time and Tide_________Mr. Hubert Invictus _______ Mr. Law America ___________ Audience God showed His displeasure at crookedness when He spoke thru His prophet Isiah saying, “And a highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be call¬ ed the way of holiness; the un¬ clean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those, the way¬ faring mien, though fools, shall not err therein. In an interview at UNRRA headquarters, Mr. Edwards, who captained British track teams to other countries, said that he had tried to use sports to help bridge national and racial barriers Before coming to UNRRA. he worked in New York City for the OPA as chief cilerk of rationing: supervisor of fuel oil rationing; examiner of rent control. Mrs. Edward, a former social worker is on the Princeton. N. J., board o. the League of Women Voters. Last week my sweetheait had a birthday. She was 70 years young and still going strong. Friends ol hejs paid her a fitting tribute at a birthday partv in the Howard theatre, and the home packed to over- flowing. They pail to have the privileg of honoring this woman, and the entire proceeds were used to swell the coffers of her organization which is continuing its drive to raise $55,000 to catry on its* program for improving the welfare of Negroes throughout America and the world with particular emphasis on the role of women. Almost as much as the guest of honor herself, I felt a par¬ ticular pride in the event. Fondly, many people call “Ma". I have always called her ‘ Darling”— and she seems to like it. I think of her as my Washington ‘mother”. She has been that now, for over four years- I can pay her no greater tri¬ bute* than think of her as “Mother,” for then I put her in the same class w’ith that lovely little lady in St. Louis to whom I owe so much—who earned the title of mother the hard way, who prays for my health and success every day and night, who taught me right from wrong, who bled her fingers to the bone in the kit¬ chen and laundries of more fi- BIGGEST NEGRO PAPER ON SALE INDIANAPOLIS, - . (ANP i — The Indianapolis Recorder’s “Victory Progress Edition,” a mammoth special edition of 192 pages, went on sale in the city and state last week. The largest issue or edition ever published by a Negro Newspa¬ per organization, the paper consists of six sections, each section of 32 standarize pages. The edition portrays some espects of Negro people in world history over a period of more than 2,000 yeasr. The six sections contain hundreds of articles by, or about persons active in all fields of human endeavor. These are illustrat¬ ed with art and photographs. The Recorder will observe its 50th anniversary this fall and the editor-publisher.' Mar¬ cus C. Stewart, nursing the idea for more than a decade, has conceived of a history mak¬ ing edition as one phase of ob¬ servance of this anniversary. 111I HHUHW MASONIC-EASTERN STAR NOTES I The first Eastern Star chap- ter organized in Georgia was on July 18, 1898, when more than fifty ladies were initiat¬ ed by Grand Master W. E Terry and Sol C. Johnson, who were deputized by the Grand Chapter of the District of Co¬ lumbia. Electa chapter was its name with Mrs. Dorothy Edwards as worthy matron and Sol. C. Johnson as worthy pa¬ tron. The chapter observed its 47th anniversary last night. The members were not un¬ mindful of its natal date, but did so in a becoming manner. As the mother chapter, Electa is always highly respected as the mother o£ Eastern Stars in Georgia. • • • It did the heart good of ev¬ ery Mason present to note the earnestness of the brothers who attended the school at the lodge room last Sunday after¬ noon. It was in charge of Past Master C. Smith. The ceremonial of the Mys¬ tic Shrine takes place next week. The class will consist of fifty noviates- The Con¬ sistory of Scottish Rite will confer the 32d degree on the 28th. All of the candidates must be present before 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Omar Temple. 21. Mystic Shrine will carry a like number over the hot sand the following day. A number of Sublime THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1945 UNCOVERING WASHINGTON ... White House Correspondent Released through the Atlanta Dally World by the NNPA deft il By Harry 8. McAlpln \l . nacially fortunate per sq<0 in order that I might go to school and have access to more oppor¬ tunities than she had, whose unselfish love taught me to value service to others above monetary returns. Rightfully, my Washington i sweetheart belongs in the same class with the “little lady’ 1 in St. Louis, for she too, has taught me many valuable les¬ sons. For a year and a half I sat at her feet as one of hen as¬ sistants in the National Office of the NYA. I learned more during that time in the way of practical techniques, spiritual loftiness, determination and service than I could have t ob>- in school, even had i Stayed to receive a doctorate; ;>■ I have seen her mind work, her heart beat, her eyes flasil. . I’ve recorded her smootn flow¬ ing words when she’d get in an inspirational mood to walk 1 about the room totally oWlvi- i ous of me and talk to the,-im¬ aginary audience of youths and grownups whose burdens she never discarded. Fortunately, I’m! not jealous. I know that to millions of peo¬ ple all over this land, she ‘Sweetheart”. But I know too, that many of them must envy me the close touch I so fortun¬ ately have had with Mrs Mary McLeod Bethune. LISTS WHAT THE NE¬ GRO WANTS AS Hfe COMMUNISTIC Jt * r —« /-■ CHICAGO— (ANP)—The Chi cago Tribune, called the na¬ tion’s leading anti-communis¬ tic newspaper, listed last week the book, “What The Negro munistic Wants”, as books one now of in many the qqn^-i Con¬ 1 gressional Library. The book containing articles by 14 writers including its tor, Rayford W. Logan, was m:e of 38 termed •‘communistic’", in a total of 55 Evans is alleg¬ ed to hav« recommended for congressmen to read, according to The- Tribune. Twelve of the book’s contri¬ butors, which include America’s most outstanding Negro lead¬ ers, some of whom have been denounced in communistic cir¬ cles as anti-Red, are listed as pro-communist. A Philip Ram dolph, president of the (Brother hood of Sleeping Car porters and heretofore reported to be closely associated with social¬ ist forces, is among those lited. Prinops towAr and Nobles present. Irom o^i t of will be Date for meeting of the elec¬ tive officers of the Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star will be announced after August 1. / i V * • • Dispensation will expire with the last set of applicants be¬ fore the ending of the month. This is hailed with delight when real Masonry can be truly observed. ^ ■*. “S ■ ■ ■ — .»—■ . ..... .— <* Hk4‘!'Ht4+W4+l H H.4++++++ Files of The Savannah Tribune FIFTY YEARS AGO — JULY 20, 1885 Bishop M. B. Salter preached at Gaines Chapel Sunday last- Zion Baptist convention held in Brunswick. The Bibb County Blues of Macon arrived in the city Wed- I nesday night, Capt. J. A. Ma- - son, the guests of the Blues. Mt. Olive Baptist Association presented Dr. E. K. Love a gold headed stick. State Baptist Sunday school convention to meet in Augusta next week.