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“All persons born or naturalized in
< the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein
they reside. No State shall make or en¬
force any law which shall abridge the priv¬
ileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any State de¬
prive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without, due process of law;
nor deny to any person within its juris¬
diction the equal protection of the laws.”
Amendment XIV
ABOUT OUR YOUTH
f Edgar Hoover, chief of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, revealed in a
recent release that the situation as re¬
gards juvenile crime and delinquency is
still serious. Parents of the land
should be especially concerned. It is
already the concern of law-making and
social service agencies, but they can ac¬
complish very little as long as parents
are apparently complacent and indiffer-
ent about the rearing of their offspring
into responsible citizenship.
The report revealed that the over-all
increase Sn crime and delinquency f<>r
1948 vas 40 per cent; that the increase
among girls was about 20 per cent, and
among boys 3 per cent. We do not
know how these figures compare with
the situation here in Savannah, but .re¬
ports, more or less casual, from compe¬
tent observers indicate that parents and
others who should be interested in the
welfare of our youth need to get on their
toes and ope'n their eyes in order to see
what is going on right here in our city.
Two important reasons given for what
is happening are fhlcohol .and parental
complacency. Broad and East
A walk along West
Broad streets, a visit to many of the
beverage shops, or listening to the leaks
from gossip centers, will he sufficient
to convince one that something needs to
be done to change the direction in which
many of our youth are traveling.
This conclusion is corroborated by sev¬
eral unfortunate incidents that occurred
during the last four or five weeks.
One city in the Northwest has adopt¬
ed a plan to control or curb delinquency,
which so far has been effective. Par¬
ents of delinquent children, or those who
tend to become delinquent, are punish¬
ed by the court with fines or jail sen¬
tences. Parents 'are learning to keep
up with their children. Some such plan
in operation here would he a blessing to
a great many children. We know of
nothing better to suggest to alert and
sensible parents than that they return
to the In customs and ............ sanctions __ of former
days order to check the behavior of
their children. It certainly needs check-
ing
BLOCKED THINKING
Prejudice inte r f e r e s with clear
thinking. Prejudiced people can not
have open minds. They arrive at strange
conclusions. This is true even *>f those
who wish to appear sincere. Perhaps
they are as sincere and honest as they
can be.
We are thinking of the excuses some
have offered for the belated efforts to
locate or apprehend the killers in the
Mallard case, and for the trial of two
men who voluntarily surrendered, for
some reason or other, to the sheriff.
While the details of the trial are too
____
H“1 ' H"I ♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦ ♦♦ ft* HII
THE ROAD TO HEALTH
By Paul T- Robinson, >1. I).,
Member of the Surgical Staff,
Flint Goodridge Hospital
New Orleans. La.
CLIMATE AM) TB
One of the questions Mrs
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post
Office at Savannah, Ga. under the Act of
March 3, 1879
National Advertising Representative:
Associated Publishers
562 Fifth Avenue
New York 19, New York
fresh in the record to need retelling, yet,
because critics of those who called the
trial a miscarrriage of justice, wince
and squirm at the publicity it has receiv¬
ed, we are constrained to recall the invo¬
cation of an old trick, sanctioned by
Georgia law, which permits a juror to
testify for or against a prisoner at bar.
Rather than being pome thing to exult
in, it should be something to be deplored
that this state has such a law, that can
be used to the obvious obstruction of
justice.
The mention of an act of heroism in
connection with a case like the one in
Toombs county, seems irrelevant to us
unless it is intended to suggest that
people of heroic mold should be selected
as sheriffs, jurors, and attorneys.
STRENGTH’ FOR THE PRESIDENT
The inauguration of Mr. Truman is
in some respects similar to the inaugu¬
ration of Abraham Lincoln. That is,
the atmsophere .surrounding the inau-
guration is attended, more or less, with
wisps of controversy concerning his pro¬
gram. There still is a tendency to dis¬
v for Mr. Truman’s elec¬
cuss the reasons
tion, his overwhelming defeat of the
Republican candidate; whether certain
items of his program were included for
sordid (?) partisan advantage, whether
they represented his honest convictions.
Mr. Truman has made it very clear
that he stands by his program, and as
far as he is able, will see it through.
That he will need a great deal of sup-
port and strength to holster his moral
courage and his faith in humanity is
certain. Many millions of the Ameri*
can people were unable to be present in
person to take part in the spectacular
ceremonies designed to congratulate
him and wish him success m his new
administration. were there in
spirit.
We are old fashion enough to sug¬
gest that, even though the inauguration
ceremonies will he over before we are off
the press, all of us pray that the Pres¬
ident of the United States be given the
strength to deal with the problems of
his office in the spirit of justice and
liberty for all-Americans, for all people.
And, here at home, we congratulate
the new city administration about to
assume of Tea. We pray too ,for its
success in the spirit of justice and lib¬
erty for all.
It seems almost certain that the leg¬
islature will pass some sbrt of education¬
al test for voting. It may not he such
a test as to require an explanation of
some part of the Constitution of the
United States. It will not be easy to
get around the courts with such a pro¬
vision. The question arises at once as
to who would be the judge to decide if
the explanation were correct. Such a
law would not simplify the situation.
The re-registration proposal is more
open to criticism. It possesses a very
serious weakness. There would be
nothing to prevent a faction with plenty
of money at its disposal to re-register
enough votes to carry any election.
At any rate, we suggest that every¬
body secure a copy of the United States
Constitution and give it serious study.
In Mississippi Negro voters committed
it to memory so that registrars could
not turn them down easily.
„
j ed she had tuberculosis was
i whether she wo«l*l have to
move to another climate, gpe
would not mind goiry to a
sanatorium, she said, if she
would not be too far away from
her family.
Mrs. Glen had had an X-ray j
during a community-wide sur- j
vey and it had showed sus¬
picious shadows. After addi¬
tional tests, it was discovered
that she had tuberculosis in an
early stage. She was fortunate
j that her illness had been found
early, before it had reached a
more serious stage.
When Mrs. Glen told me she
Jhad heard somewhere that peo¬
ple with tuberculosis usually
had to go to a warm, dry cli¬
mate and said she was wor¬
ried over going far away. I re¬
assured her immediately.
“In your case, it isn’t even
necessary to go outside the
county, Mrs. Glen,'’ I told her.
"There is a sanatorium not i
many miles from your home
£, US "Hr
relatives and friends will be
able to £ ct there b v bus t0 see
-
you
“But isn’t it too damp in
’ section cf the country?
Wouldn’t I get better more
quickly in a warm, di’y cli¬
mate?" she persisted.
“Many years ago, Mrs. Glen,
neople argurd about whether
mountains, or the dry
s t a t,es, or cold, crisp air was
best for tuberculosis patients,”
I answered. “Nowadays, w?
know 'that c, imate isn’t thwt
important in treating tubercu¬
losis. On the other hand, we
know that the basic treatment
cf tuberculosis — complete bed
rest under medical supervision
in a good sanatorium — is far
more important than the geo¬
graphic location of the sanato¬
rium where the treatment is
given."
Mrs. Glen confessed later
’hat she was determined not
to go to a sanatorium when
she first heard my diagnosis.
Continued on page Three
THE SAVANNAH TRIBE!*!
£/ hese/Hands rs
By George Matthew Adams
There is a world of truth in that old
familiar saying that “the hand that
rocks the cradle rules the world.’’ Hands
certainly do. Not only that, they carry
on the work of the world in every phase
of endeavor. The road bulkier, the
carpenter, the electrician the stenogra¬
pher, the pianist, the painter, the writer
—hut can you name any work that does
not depend largely upon the human
hand ?
And how expressive the hands are
even in common conversation. One of
the great sculptors of modern times was
the late George Grey Barnard. I knew
him well, and used to love to watch his
hands as he talked. He literally modell¬
ed his words in the air with his hands.
You can get a very good idea of a person
merely by watching and studying his,
or her hands. There is character in
them. And the most beautiful of all
hands are the ones that show work and
loving service. My mother had that
kind of hands.
1 have sat near to Fritz Kreisler as
he played his violin, and the way those
hands touched his beloved instrument
fascinated me. The very strings seem¬
ed to be connected with his soul. I
think this is true of every great musi¬
cian or conductor, i once sat within a
few feet of the great Toscanini that I
might watch those marvelously expres¬
sive hands and fingers as he conducted
his orchestra.
Watch the hands of a bricklayer, or
any artisan, and you will note how the
eye, the mind, and the hands work in
unison. And think upon the millions of
BETWEEN THE LINES
By Dean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP
THE MAN OF THE YEARS
11 President Truman is the man of the
year of 1948, Walter White is the man of
the many years, as director of the destinies
of the NAACP. The Negro race in partic¬
ular and the friends of human freedom in
gen ral, owe to this intrepid son of a-noble
sire, a debt of gratitude that it would be
difficult indeed to discharge.
Quite naturally when Dr. Dubois and
the late James Weldon Johnson had done
their best in the propagation of the NAACP
and its programs aif.l policies, the Negro
race realized what a tremendous task was
looming to fill the national and interna¬
tional niche in world affairs that was made
vacaij when the labours of these mortal
stalwarts for the NAACP were ended. What¬
ever there may have been of anxiety and
misgivings was soon dispelled when Walter
White took over. He took hold with both
hands and a stout heart, and how well he
has carried on through the years is a mat¬
ter of modern history.
Walter White has been an unrelenting
fighter who like Napoleon’s old guard, would
die but never surrender. It is doubtful if it
were really possible to find a man who
could mere successfully have succeeded men
of the mould of DuBois antf Johnson. But
Walter White filled the requirements fully.
There have been times when his program
appeared rash and ill-advised, but time has
vindicated him on almost every count.
He like his distinguished predecessors,
first concentrated on, segregation in the
North and discrimination in the South. But
While soon moved over and began his fight
not alone against discrimination in the
South, but against segregation also.
Cf course we all know that it was the
valiant DuBois who taught the Negro the
art and science of fighting for his rights.
Events have vindicated his poirv of view, for
it is apparent to even -a casual observer that
the Old South will not surrender its right
to dominate and subjugate the southern Ne¬
groes without a bitter fight.
So when Walter White took up the bur¬
den of advancing the NAACP he took over
the DuBois method of moral warfare and
how effective he has been in the pursuance
of his course every Negro in the world must
be gad to testify. Walter White has done the
impossible in race relations in this country.
Of course it was trerfeh warfare; but little
by little he lias won for the Negro race a
reegonition that amazes thoughtful men
books that have been first written by
hand, corrected, and revised, many of
them becoming masterpieces that never
grow old. I have watched women in
subways and on trains, knitting, and
always I wonder at the responsiveness
of those hands—trained to create.
Collectors of manuscripts greatly pre¬
fer them all in the hanndwriting of the
author, for there is an intimacy at¬
tached to every word that the hands of
the authors created. The very words
then become most personal—touched by
the mind and heart as well! I pribe
in my modest collection of rare ‘books
the ones that the author inscribed with
feeling to a friend. A book from W. H.
Hudson, for example, to another great
writer,Joseph Conrad.
The most beautiful hands are not
those that are carefully manicured,
with nails highly polished, but those
that show work and service to others—
used hands, for the glory of God and
one’s beloved. These are the great
hands. What wonderful hands those
were that dropped two mites—all that
she had—as a gift to others, and known
in the Bible story as the “Widow’s
mites.” Or those hands that touched
the hem of the garment of Christ—and
their owner was immediately healed.
Hands at work—any work—and hands
lifted in prayer. Hands of the skilled
surgeon, or hands of the nurse, gently
soothing the brow of one in pain. Use¬
ful hands. Wonderful hands. Hands
that are the creators of happiness.
Hands that are never idle, except for
rest.
and women everywhere. Because Walter
White stood up to his task instead of back¬
ing down before it, the gates of full-fledged
citizenship in this country are somewhat
ajar, as we stand upon the threshold of
1949.
The thing that most of all elated .this
writer when he would extol the greatness
of Walter White, is the fact that Mr. White
deliberately chose his portion, and that was
a share of the ignominy anp odium and in¬
dignity and the embarrassment of being a
Negro.
Walter White could have “passed” as
we are wont to say. He had dangling be¬
fore his youthful eyes the emoluments and
the endless advantages of being white in a
white man’s country; he had the opportu¬
nity of enjoying the dubious luxury of
looking down upon a race with scorn and
contempt; he might have enjoyed the pleas¬
ures of the court of the Pharaoh of white
supremacy; he might have basked in the
sunshine that a white skin gives one in this
and other countries. But Walter White, like
Moses of old, chose to share the afflictions
of his enslaved people. There is something
in the choice of Walter that is majestic and
thrilling, that should inspire Negroes for
endless generations. A mar, who was white
might have “Jived white” but preferred to
live Negro. The greatness of Walter White
indicated in the choice he made will stand
out in history as one of the moral epics of
the twentieth century.
The fight for freedom is forced upon,
most of us by sheer necessity, but it was
not so with Walter White- He looked as
did Paul and saw the things that awaited,
but none of those things moved him from
his high and holy purpose. We hail Tru¬
man, our great President, as Man of the
Year. Let us hail Walter White as the mar,
of the years!
“POEM”
By John Henrik Clarke for ANP
I heard one doubtful mortal say
“Beauty i4o lortger dwells in our day,
Bells of joy no longer ring,
And friendship is a forgotten thing.”
Ah, if he would but walk
Atmidnight . . .
And listen to the songs
That the midnight sings.
THURSDAY. JANT.VRY 20 194R
HOME EDUCATION
SILENCE
“The Childs First School is the
Family”— Froebel
(Lssued by the National Kin-
c'lergarten Association, 8 West
4Cth street, New York city.
Tnese articles are appearing
weekly in our columns, i
Billy was a well-bred little
boy who often received invita-
tions uims to iu uuuici dinner ui or luuvii lunch from *
a friend of his mother’s, even
1 wh• n Biilv’s mother was not
invited. The old - fashioned
housekeeper, whose table w r as
always loaded with good things
excellently cooked and served
in a generous way, was under
bond to tell, privately, how
Billy behaved. Occasionally
Billy made some slip natural to
children, but generally he de¬
voted himself to keeping his
plate with a vacant place tor
the next helping and spoke
only when he was spoken to.
Eut alas! One day Billy took
it into his head to attract some
attention to himself. He drum¬
med on the table to get a re¬
sponse from his ifxttess and
then asked to be excused to go
and look after his dog, Buttons,
that had sneaked after him
because he had not securely
fastened the snap on his leash
When he again came to the
table, he hummed a little tune,
broke into the conversation
while someone else was speak¬
ing, and otherwise spoiled his
fine record.
“Well, did you have a good
time?” asked Billy’s mother
when he returned.
“Why, yes, a pretty good
time,” said the little boy who
was beginning to feel the pangs
of a guilty conscience as well
as the result of his overindulg-
ence in desert, of which he
had asked for three helpings.
“Buttons followed me, Mother,
and I had to go out and tie
Jim to the apple tree.”
“Was Buttons barking loudly
or making any fuss, Billy?”
“No, but he was lonesome
and I thought he needed some
dinner. I took him the piece
if meat that was left on my
plate, Mother.”
“And so you interrupted tne
dinner to take a piece of meat
in your fingers to your dog
that should have been safe at
home?”
“Well, I guess nobody missed
*■—O' ««■»<> «r. <>«■»<>
LABOR VIEWS
By George F. McCray for ANP
NEGRO RIGHTS AND
In his message to the 81st
Congress last week, Mr. Tru¬
man presented the country
with another surprise. In the
days before the National Dem¬
ocratic convention last sum¬
mer, he had tr iotde
mer, he had tried to reach an
“understanding” with the
South on the issue of civil
rights. But the same civil
rights plank proposed by the
resolutions committee of the
•onvention was thrown out of
the window in the face of a re¬
volt by northern Democrats.
Even during the campaign,
Mr. Truman spoke with evasive
softness about civil rights
while the Dixiecrats attempted
o make his civil rights propos¬
als the one big issue of the
election. But today Mr. Tru¬
man shows no inclination to
ippease or to compromise with
the South on the civil rights
issue. Consdering the fact
that anti-Negro prejudice is
strong all over the U. s , his
sticking to his demands for ci-
dl rights legislation is as com¬
mendable as it is surprising.
In other respects the mes¬
sage to Congress is of particular
interest to Negroes. Again Ne-
’.roes must think of themselves
as citizens, Negroes, workers,
and consumers.
The civil rights program
with its opposition! to poll taxes,
discrimination in travel, edu¬
cation and employment would
bring us closer to real equality
of citizenship.
As workers, we would be
greatly benefited by raising
the national minimum wage
from 40 cents to 75 cents per
hour. In each of the big in-
ludtrial centers in the country
here are literally thousands
Of Negro and White workers,
oarticularly women, who earn
far less than 75 cents per hour.
Also the proposals to extend
social security coverage and to
raise social security benefits
would improve the lot of tens
me, and Mrs. 31ake said I could
j be excused, Mother.” BUiy was
'mentally and physically squirm¬ I’ll
by this time. T guess
go out and see where Buttons
is.” And as guests were arriv¬
ing, he was able to make his
escape. a?
During the days that follow¬
ed, nothing was said about Bil¬
ly's behavior at Mrs. Blake’s.
His mother made no mention of
and ---- Mrs. Blake was as • cor;
dial as ever, but the ,, invitatiQns ,
suddemy ceased At first it was
a real relief to Billy not toibe
asked, as he feared that his
mother might remember what
he had told her, but as time
t/ore or, the memory of the de-
heious chicken pie smothered
in gravy, the good candied
sweet potatoes, his favorite
peach puddmg, the ice cream
that Mrs. Blake could make J to
perfection, the dish of bonbons
always passed when the meal
and all the rest 1 of
was over,
the things that small boys K>ve
rose up to distress him wjth
the thought that probably he
would rtever again be invited
because of his bad behavior.
Finally the burden became
too great, and he chose an af¬
ternoon when his mother was
comb not at his home hair, to put wash a hiru^gj, br^>
on
new suit, and to see that But¬
tons was securely tied to the
doghouse. Then, very slowly,
he wended his way to the hos¬
pitable house across the street.
“Mrs. Blake, I’ve come to tell
you that I’m sorry I didn’t act
right that day a long time ago
when you asked me to dinner,”'
he said. “Mother didn’t send
me to say this, but I’m Sorry
and I’ll never do it again. Apd,”
now it took quite an effort to
speak what was in his mind,
“doryt you think I’ve repented
j ong enough?"
When Billy was safely away
on an errand, his mother and
Mrs- Blake discussed the inci¬
dent with amused satisfaction,
but they said nothing to him.
The very next week, however,
an extremely polite little boy
partook of chicken, candied
sweet potatoes, and homemade
ice cream at the Blake home,
and the other guests remarked
iij his hearing that he was
surely a well-bred child with a
good mother.
The treatment had accom¬
plished its purpose.
MR. TRUMAN’S MESSAGE
of thousands of Negroes. Most
Negro industrial workers be¬
come paupers long before they
can qualify for old age pen¬
sions. This situation is due
largely to discrimination against
older workers by employers.
The inclusion of farm labor
and domestic servants in. the
sccial security program would
be of the very greatest help
to one of the most poorly paid
groups of workers in the U. S.
Most Negro physicians with
whom I have discussed the
matter are opposed to Tru¬
man’s proposals to create fed¬
eral health insurance program.
In the face of the facts there
are no other practicable p^»
posals for providing miSP
needed medical care to Ne¬
groes and other American citi¬
zens, the opposition to so-call¬
ed “socialized” medicine fails
« Continued on Page ll
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Files of The Savannah
Tribune
JANUARY 21, 1899
The 111th anniversary of
First '
Bryan Baptist chu
celebrated during the w <
Rev. w G. Johnson of Ma
preached the sermon.
The Whitman Sisters to
pear at St. Philip Monumer
Church Sunday.
City election takes pi
next Tuesday. The Candida
Myers and McDonough,
oppose each other.
Ambrose M. Harris, who k
ed Rogers Broughton sevc
years ago, but pardoned by
Governor, died Thursday.
Miss Georgia A. Horton, 1 £
Mr. Cicero Horton married
Rev. J. w. Whitaker Wednesc
-evening.